Snowman!

We finally have our first snowman of the winter! We've had a lot of snow here, but it has either been dry and fluffy or icy. We haven't had much sticky snowman-making snow. Molly and Alex started the snowman over the weekend. Then we got a little more snow yesterday, and today we were able to finish the snowman. Yay!

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Yesterday, Molly got the Don't Spill the Beans game out of the closet by herself and then ran up to Alex. She said, "Alex look! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Then he said, "Play game!" and they ran off to play. I love it when they play together!

Weekend fun

On Friday, Molly, Alex, and I went to the Children's Museum with some friends. At the museum, there was a face painting station for the kids, and Molly and Alex were excited to paint their own faces. Aren't they beautiful?

Daddy took Molly and Alex out geocaching on Saturday morning. Apparently there is a face or picture of some kind sculpted into the fur on this bunny statue, but they couldn't find it. Molly and Alex loved the bunny and had fun posing for photos on its back.

Molly has been cracking Cory and I up with how animated she is. Yesterday, she ran to us (she had been in her bedroom) and had to tell us all about how she was reading a book in her bed and a real spider was on her book. She was so dramatic with hands waving and everything. I asked, "Really?", and she said in the most animated way, "Yes, can you believe it?!? I saw it with my own eyes. Right there on the page!!!" She is hilarious!

Mr. Particular

Alex is very particular about many things. Everything has to be just right in his crib for him to go to sleep. He has to have his two puppies in the top right corner (but not touching him). He has to have his white noise on (sounds like a waterfall). He has to have a sippy cup filled with ice water (MUST have ice) placed on the left side 4 rungs back from the top. Most importantly of all, he must have his train blanket.
My mom made this train blanket (the one on the above left) for him when he was born. She backed it with blue fleece and hand quilted around the trains. When it became obvious that his attachment object of choice was this train blanket, I asked her if she thought she'd be able to find the fabric and make him a 2nd one. Sometimes Alex wets so much during the night that his diaper leaks and his sheets and blankets get wet. It's not good if his special blanket gets wet.
Well, my mom was able to find a panel of the same fabric, only this one was already quilted with train print on the back. She put fleece binding around the edge, and we all hoped it would be close enough for Alex.
When Alex saw the new blanket, he was very excited to have another one. He ran around the house with them both yelling, "Another blanket! Another blanket!" He was soooo happy.
He likes to play with them both, but at night he has wanted his original blanket in his crib. This morning, his blanket was a bit wet when he woke up, so we washed it. At nap time, his original blanket was in the dryer, so we tried to use the new one. Sadly, it was rejected immediately! Alex got up, pulled the blanket off and threw it out of his crib and demanded his other train blanket. We tried for a while to convince him to use the new one, but we had no luck. He wouldn't go to sleep until we brought him the original blanket.
Can you believe it? Seriously!?! We'll keep trying the new one, but I think we might have to back the whole thing in fleece. Of course, it still won't be the same as the other, so who knows how close they need to be for the new one to be accepted...
If anyone sees this train fabric unquilted in some fabric shop, will you please let me know (or just buy it and I'll pay you back)?
Silly kid!

Ice Skating!

Alex and Molly went ice skating for the first time on Saturday! Molly has wanted to try skating for the longest time. We went to the park at Centennial Lakes in Edina. It was so fun skating on the "river" that goes through the park.

This is Alex's new smile. It looks more like a sneer, but it is how he has been smiling a lot recently. Alex had fun at first, but then he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of skates. He was happy to rest with Grandma and Grandpa for most of the time.

Molly had such a great time! She caught on really quickly and soon was skating all on her own!

When it was time to leave, Molly asked if we could come back the next day. Hopefully we have more warmer winter days when we can do more skating!

Mascara Whiskers and other fun things

Alex is such a curious little guy. He is always investigating and trying to figure out how everything works. I think that will help him later in life, but it makes him more challenging as a toddler. He is STILL always getting into things.
This morning, I was writing an email when Molly ran upstairs to use the bathroom. Then Alex went looking for her. I got a feeling I needed to go check on him, and right then Molly yelled, "MOM, Alex is getting into something he shouldn't!"
I ran upstairs to find Alex with cute little mascara cat whiskers all over his cheeks. At least they washed right off.

Molly and I went to Target yesterday for groceries and to pick out a box of Valentines for her to give to her friends. On the way there, she told me that she really would like to have her very own calendar. I asked her if she would like one that goes on the wall, and she said she wanted one she could hold. Cory and I had been trying to think of a treat Molly could have if she agreed to turn in all the candy she got at a friend's birthday party and also any candy she gets for Valentine's day. This sounded like a good idea, so I asked Molly if a calendar would be a good thing to have instead of all that candy. She said yes and was soooo excited!
In Target, I found a little planner with monthly calendar pages. She LOVES it. She knew that it was February 10 yesterday, and this morning she brought her planner down with her when she woke up. She opened it to February and pointed to 11 and said, "It's February 11 today." Those who know me well know I tend to be a planner and generally on top of dates and things, and when she said that this morning I had yet another moment of thinking, "Wow, you really are a little mini-me." :)

The challenge of giving gifts

Molly is VERY excited to go to her friend Clare's birthday party on Saturday.

Tonight I showed Molly what I bought for her to give Clare. It's a Disney Princess magnetic paper doll set of some kind with sequins and stickers and things you can add to the dresses.

I showed it to Molly and right away she said that she didn't think Clare would like it. I asked why, and Molly said, "Because she never said she wanted one."

Then Molly asked if we thought Clare would let her play with it at Clare's house. We told her probably not at the party, but maybe a different time.

Then later in the car, Molly said that we shouldn't give that gift to Clare.
E: Why, Molly?
M: Because she would think it was too great.
C: Then what should we do with the gift, Molly?
M: Maybe we could just keep it at our house or something like that.

What a little manipulator! Right away she knew she wanted the gift, and she was trying to do anything to convince us not to give it away. Kids!

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For those of you keeping up with Molly's dental issues, she had an appointment yesterday with a new dentist (the one her good friend Josiah sees). The appointment went great! It was worlds different from the awful visit at that other place. The not-so-great news is that Molly now has three cavities. :( She must have gotten the worst of the dental genes or something because we have been brushing and flossing like crazy. Anyway, her appointment to get the fillings done is on Valentine's day at 11:30. Pray Molly cooperates and isn't afraid!!! Thank you!

Snow

Snow is great. Molly and Alex love playing in it, but even more than that they love EATING it.
We've been trying to discourage the practice of eating dirty snow. Alex has been known to grab a mouthful wherever he can. Ick!

When it was snowing on Monday, I put bowls out on our deck railing to collect some nice clean snow for Molly and Alex to enjoy. They loved it. :)