Tricksters

GG has had a few boyfriends in her seven years, but of the admirers it's Noah whose adoration is longest lasting. This boy has been gaga for her since K4...a LONG time when you're in the first grade. Although the love is unrequited GG and Noah still play together (if for no other reason than I love his mom. YOU TWO WILL BE FRIENDS!).

So...Noah was over yesterday and Matt caught them red-handed lifting from the Halloween buckets. So he did what any good dad would and placed the buckets high atop a big cabinet in the living room. Fast forward to tonight: I was doing my usual Sunday purge (side note, the amount of crap I throw out weekly is just insane. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?) and headed for the pumpkins. Yes, I'm the mom who is throwing out candy. When I couldn't find the buckets Matt directed me to the living room but still, no pumpkins. I got a classic, "well what the hell?" from him and decided to go to the source.

GG was reading in bed (love that girl) and as I tucked her in I said, "oh by the way, where are the Halloween pumpkins?" In return I got a wide-eyed, toothy, guilty grin followed by a giggle fit. "Well, Noah and I made, like, sort of a contraption and climbed up to get them." The pumpkins were stashed IN her memory box, IN her closet, IN her room.

This is essentially the first time she's been deceptively naughty. I'm not happy but it is good to see her willing to break a rule every now and then, even if it is with a cute little accomplice.

Our Ability to Accessorize

Tonight after bath Kiera was playing with a pile of shoes which I brought up from the basement. She was mostly participating in her favorite hobby of placing and removing small things from larger things...until she found a pair of black patent Mary Jane's. She picked one up, handed it to me, and crawled right up on my lap. With a grunt she let me know in no uncertain terms that I was to put them on her. She is 13 months old. Hello Nordstrom, we have two daughters.

what of it?

April: 10 months

Spring is here and the Maio three got to enjoy all that it brings: namely the annual Great Wolf getaway weekend with Grandma Heidi and Pop Pop. Uncle Grant and soon-to-be Auntie Sarah came too, which was great. It seems like maybe the best way to balance three little kids at a water park is with six adults.

ready to rumble!

bathing beauty

kieks is nooooooooooot sure about this

dude is ready to get at it

cuties!

alright little love, ready to take a dip?

evidently not. PS, how do babies have such core strength?

love this loon

going under water at the end of a slide: major success for this one

bringing back the swimming lessons 

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd pooped

bah ha ha, great landing!

this is just pure lukas. seriously kid.

when one has a big uncle, one uses him as a jungle gym 

we went on easter weekend, and the bunny knew we were there!

oh my gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd i love this baby

braving the wave pool. seriously impressed by her confidence boost since last visit

taking advantage of all the shenanigans

photo courtesy of gg. little lady at a big table.

group shot 2015

Meanwhile the weekends were packed with general silliness and - of course - the return of baseball. It was pleasantly un-freezing so we spent an unusual amount of time outside given the time of year. This mama says YES to fresh air.

someone loves her tubby time 

mom's beach hat. laser eyes. superman muscles. all the things.

this sums gg up

chillin and illin

not quite as bold as little bro to let go of the tree

took about 438 pictures...these are the two that were the closest to three smiles. once again, note luke...

daddy sports April shorts

let's get practicing, boy-o!

welcome back, Orioles!

the whole cheering squad

and the littlest cheerleader

MSOE now plays at the same field matt's old man league plays. a significant step up from the dirt piles we used to sit on to cheer on the raiders.

we want a pitcher!

And general goings on:

holding on tight to kee-wa

stylish

this afternoon was particularly warm and gorgeous. these two goofs had a ton of fun playing together in the wagon

i can't say he's gentle with her, but gentle in his own way

she loved every second of this

i enrolled luke in a gymnastics class at the Y. it went really, really poorly. this was on the second to last of eight classes and was one of the few times he was (a) not clinging to my leg, (b) not screaming, or (c) going all jeckyl on me and running around VERY naughtily

but look at that face

yay, playground!

so i'm in the kitchen one night around 9, exhausted from the day but still going making lunches, folding laundry, etc. when someone creeps up behind me and scares the bejesus out of me. guess who it was? me: are you supposed to be up? luke::grin::

working it out, like men do

manages to get these on her own head every time. she may have inherited my long albatross wingspan

photo credit: gg

elm grove junior guild auction - derby theme

diva

riding around at the women's club. it's a short walk and the kids have been riding together very well, minus the one or two times that luke does not stop at a street. ohhhhhhhhhhhmyyyyyyyyyyyyygoooooooooooooooooddddddddd

age 3 - could probably manage without training wheels but we'll leave them on another year until he brings it up

love this dude

And now for the wee lass. At ten months she's got four little toofies. Therapy is moving along although she hates it and I'm not particularly fond of the homework myself. This girl may not choose to roll or crawl but let me tell you, she gets where she wants to be. I have never seen a baby butt scoot as fast as she does, with one leg tucked under. The one leg on all of her pants is a stained, dirty mess. And as much as we're working on real mobility, there is something aDORable about a baby scooting herself toward you when she hears you come in the door.

In fact it was due to desired mobility that we had to do this month's shots in two sets. Here's our little wiggle worm:

just so happy

cindy lou who!

lots of waving

and lots of peek a boo. 

hello old friend

i give you the cold shoulder

the three stooges

bah ha ha, guess who rules the roost now?

hi tiny toofers

love this little smoosh