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Molly has a favorite Dora toy that she has been carrying around everywhere lately. Alex was talking about it, only when he says Dora, it sounds like "Dee Da".
Molly was getting upset at him, and she shouted, "It's not DEE DA, it's DORA!"

We tried explaining to her how Alex is just learning to talk and can't say a lot of letter sounds yet. He tries to say Dora, and "Dee Da" is the best he can do right now.
She wasn't buying it.
Molly herself still cannot say her l's very well (which is fine, many kids can't until they are 4-5), so I told her it was like how she can't say l's. I said, "It's like how your name is Molly, but you say "Ma-wee" instead of "Mal-lee".
She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I don't say Ma-wee! I say Ma-wee!"
Ok, then. :)

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Alex is still OBSESSED with brooms, vacuums, and water. He has a toy broom and a toy vacuum, and he loves them both. However, what he really wants is the real thing. It's a serious obsession. Whenever we are out and he sees a custodian cleaning, he points and really wants to pitch in and do the mopping/sweeping/etc.
I'm constantly needing to sweep at home between all the sand/dirt they drag in from playing so hard outside and all the food they spill on the floor. The problem is that Alex has a major hissy fit every time I'm sweeping because he wants the broom. His little broom won't do. He needs the big one.
It's so bad that I have to either have Cory hold him or strap into his booster seat in order to sweep. Alex screams and cries the entire time because he wants the broom. It's insane.

Alex also loves water. He is always up for taking a bath or swimming in the kiddie pool. Lately, though, his favorite thing to do is to play in the sink with the water running. If we go upstairs, he runs right to the bathroom, climbs on the stool, and says "Wash! Wash! Wash!" until I turn the water on.

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Last night during the bedtime devotional, Cory read about God sending the Israelites manna to eat, and he asked Molly what her favorite foods are. She said, "Pizza, candy, and cookies."
Nice.

Fun times at the MN Zoo

We went to the zoo yesterday with some friends. We had a great time. Here's Molly the chicken.

Alex had a great time running around and climbing on everything. I spent most of the day pushing an empty double stroller while chasing after him. Note to self: Double stroller not needed at the zoo. :)

his photo is of Molly milking a goat. She was so excited to do it.
Afterward she kept telling everybody "I milked a goat! I milked a goat! I milked a goat!"

Brave Alex fed the goats for the first time.

Father's Day Weekend (part 3)

We went to the Hyland Park Reserve in Bloomington on Sunday afternoon. They have a HUGE playground. Next to the playground equipment they have some arches that spray water, and Molly and Alex loved it. It was a very hot day, so it was perfect for getting soaked.

We all shared a big freezie popsicle. Alex loved it.

Mmmm, Ranch dressing!

Mmmmmmmm, Ranch dressing! After the party, we went out to eat at Houlihan's. They served the kids carrot sticks with little ranch dressing cups. Alex was being silly and dipping his straw in the ranch and licking the ranch. Then Alex put the end of the straw in the ranch cup and DRANK the ranch through the straw. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! We tried to get a photo, but we were too slow. You can see his ranch-covered face, though. As a bonus, the waitress that night handed our food to us over Alex's head and spilled a little sauce (not hot, thankfully!) on his head. Because of that, they gave us our kids' meals and my food (that they had spilled) for free! Way to go Alex! Good use of your head! :)

Father's Day Weekend (part 2)

Alex liked the llama too.

Molly was very excited to hold the big red chicken.

Alex kept walking up to the rabbits and chickens and saying "Hello!" to them. :) It was cute.

Father's Day Weekend (part 1)

We went to a really cool birthday party (Happy Birthday Hannah!) on Saturday. They had a petting zoo and pony rides!
Molly and Alex LOVED it.

Molly loved riding the pony. She thinks Grandpa needs a pony on his farm. :)

Nice, Llama!

All packed and ready to go...

Molly is very excited for our trip to South Dakota. We are not leaving for 8 more days, but this morning she came downstairs with her backpack all packed and ready. I think it weighs as much as she does!
She said, "I'm ready! I packed my backpack."
Me: What did you pack?
Molly: Everything I need! Everything I want for my Grandma and Grandpa's house.
I'm not sure what's inside because she did not want to show me. :)

Ok, now she just called me into the living room and asked me to help her zip her backpack. She had added a large book that wasn't fitting inside. I tried to rearrange some things, and she waved her hands over it, saying, "Don't look inside. Don't see what is in my backpack. Don't look!" I asked her if I could see what she packed and she told me I can see it all after we are at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

She is so funny! From what I did see, she had a Dora toy, a coloring book and crayons, a bunch of books to read, and a flashlight. She did pretty well.

Alex wanted his picture taken too. :) He has been having a miserable time teething lately. Along with teething pain comes waking up at 5:30 for the day and barely napping. It's exhausting for all of us! Teeth, come in soon!

Nice Hair

Molly did her own hair this morning. :) Pretty, isn't it?
I wanted to put it in a pony tail instead, but she said, "No! I put these in myself. I want my hair like this. Why are you laughing at me? " She did not want me to touch it. Ok, then!
Do I really have to take her out of the house like this?!? :)

Happy Pretend Birthday!

Molly's preschool class celebrated pretend birthdays for kids who have summer birthdays this week. Molly's pretend 4th birthday was today. (Her real birthday is August 31.) She got to bring a special treat of her choice (powdered sugar donut holes and goldfish crackers) to class. They had a special Birthday Crown for her to wear, and she got to be the line leader today. She LOVED it!

Isn't this sweet? I walked into the living room to find Molly and Alex cuddled up on the couch reading books! Awe! It was entirely unprompted, I promise. Amazing things happen when you don't watch TV. Yes, our family is trying a little experiment we are calling "TV Free June". We're trying to break some TV addictions and make better use of our time. So far we've been doing well (but we are only on day 4). :)

Molly made a snow globe in preschool for Cory for an early Father's Day present. That's her photo inside. She told Cory, "You can take this to work so you can look at it every day and remember how much you love me." How cute is that?

Como Zoo

Molly and Alex posed for a photo on a tortoise statue. They had fun at Como Zoo this morning with their friend Madeleine.

When we were near the flamingos, Molly wanted to climb over a fence and get closer to them. We told her she couldn't. The conversation then went something like this:
Molly: Why?
Laura (Madeleine's mom): If we get too close, we might scare them.
Molly: Why would we scare them?
Laura: Because we are big and loud.
Molly: I'm little and loud!
Laura and I: So true. :)

In other news...
Molly does some deep thinking and asks some hard questions when we're driving in the van. The other day, she asked why some of her great grandmas don't have a great grandpa.
I thought that was a pretty good observation for a three-year-old.
We talked about how each of her great grandmas were married, but those great grandpas had died before she was born. She was very sad to learn that.
I thought that was the end of it, but she is very stuck on this topic. In fact, she keeps telling everybody how her great grandpas died before she was born. Today alone, she told 3 different people. Of course, everybody gives their condolences as if it had just happened. I think I need to get some photos of her great grandpas so she can see some pictures and get to "know" them a little bit. :)

Alex is talking a lot more. He is really interested in learning names of things. He points and asks what things are called and tries to say words quite a bit.
Now, at every diaper change, he proudly shows us and says "bewwy bu-un" (belly button) and "my pee pee". Yes, he's all boy. :)