Best $5 ever spent

I'm not sure what took so long but I found the best hangout in the QC for a toddler who loves to bounce, run, and slide. Monkey Joes! And the best part is its only $5 for Dylan and free for adults. We went twice in the past two weeks. Once with Madeline and Ellie and once with Mimi.

I must admit, our first trip was kind of a disaster. Dylan spent the entire time tackling and wrestling the other children. 3 out of the 4 were girls, all of whom were younger than him. So we tried to find the bounce toy with the fewest children inside to avoid as many potential victims as possible. I couldn't get any good photos because Dylan and Madeline were way too busy to pause for the camera but we were glad they had fun.

The second time we took Mimi. She was very brave and helped Dylan climb up all the big boy slides. Not a feat I will be attempting for several more months! Action photo and video below.

Dylan is having a baby....

SISTER! Supposedly. According to the ultrasound tech, no male parts could be seen. We will see. I will try to updload some ultrasound pics and maybe even take a belly shot! Yep, already 20 weeks and still haven't taken one of those yet... I guess its time to get a baby book and stop neglecting #2. Anyway, that's all for now. More later!!!

Boys Will Be Boys

Dylan had a great play date with his cousin Christopher from New York this morning. At just 19 months wrestling is already an instinct. Good thing I don't have twins...

And then there was a little Ring Around the Rosey. More fun when I don't have to participate!

If only they lived closer... Hope to see you again in April!!!

A Baby Sister

... but only for a few hours! Dylan practiced having a little sibling around the house last weekend when we watched his 10 month old friend, Evyn. We were pleasantly surprised how nice he was to her (except when she tried playing with his Mickey Mouse laptop). Dylan showed Evyn how to play with bowls and cups. She tugged on his ear to show him affection.

I love the photo of the two of them sharing a cheerio and banana snack. We love playdates!Dylan cannot wait to grow up. Recently he has enjoyed being his daddy's mini me. The other night I heard him giggling in the hallway hysterically. He was by himself so I figured he was up to no good. I found him around the corner wearing Chad's slippers.

Then, a few days later he found a T-shirt of Chad's and gave it to me to put it on him. Silly boy.

And speaking of boys, I sent the two of them out to play in the snow yesterday. We got a whopping 16.5" last week so there was plenty to go around. At least the ground hog saw his shadow!!!

A 1 1/2 Year Old

Dylan turned 18 months last week and I decided it is time to start calling him 1 1/2. Too much math to count Dylan's age in months and this pregnancy in weeks. He is growing up so fast and has had so many new changes and adventures this past week, both good and bad. First, he quit sleeping through the night. Out of nowhere he is up crying at least twice in the middle of the night. He usually throws a little tantrum before bedtime and his nap as well. And speaking of his nap, it has shortened from 2.5 hours to 1-1.5 hours. Good thing there is a tv in his room because it may be time to start putting on a movie so I have a little more quiet time around here.

Another exciting development is that Mimi got Dylan to go on the potty twice last week. He is definitely not ready for potty training yet but he quickly learned that he was rewarded with M&Ms when he told Mimi he had to poop. We'll see if he does it again tomorrow... At our house, the bathroom is his favorite playroom. He is obsessed with toilettries and the bathtub.

We took Dylan for his first trip over to the John Deere Pavillion yesterday. A must for a QC toddler! He was too busy for photographs but we did our best. We'll definitely go back.

Not much else exciting to report. I'm 12 weeks now with # 2 and feeling fine. Pants are starting to get pretty tight already so that's a little embarassing but one of the joys of second pregnancy. Happy Sunday!

Welcome 2011....

... and all of the joys and challenges you will bring! #1 on the list this year = Dylan's new play mate arrives this summer. I am almost 10 weeks pregnant due early August. It is going to be a tough couple of years (I can't even imagine right now) but someday I think he will think me for it. Anyway, that's the big news here. I somehow got behind on the blog with Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years but it should be a long cold winter so I'll try to do better. Just had to post this quick one for Ann :) HAPPY NEW YEARS FRIENDS!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Friday night marked our first snowstorm of the season! This is usually not something I get excited about, but this year Chad and I couldn't wait to see Dylan's reaction. And as we expected, he loved it. He is an outdoor guy just like his dad. Good thing Chad got boots and snowpants for his birthday because I'm shipping the two boys out to play while I sit inside and enjoy the view :) So here he is, Friday night ready to check it out...

Earning his keep. We are in the middle of celebrating Hanukkah and one of Dylan's gifts was his snow shovel. Just in time!

Saturday afternoon we headed over to my parents for some fun with Daddy and Grandpa Beej.

First snowman, please don't laugh. I had to quick snap the picture before he pulled the arms off.

Getting ready to go down the hill with Daddy...

Action photo. Big smiles!!!!

After a busy day of sledding we took Dylan down to the Christmas walk in the village. It was pretty lame but we got a picture with Santa. Just as I expected his reaction to be (Daddy is just off the photo to the left)