Nicer baby

Here's what Leo said after Serafina tried to take his crackers: "I want to get a nicer baby at the hospital. Brielle got a nice baby at the hospital. Everyone got a nice baby except us."

First real field trip

Leo had his first real field trip today. Early in the school year the class walked to our local park, but today they went on a school bus to the library for story time. Can you tell how excited he was?
In preparation, the class made this cute bus craft. Leo told me the face on the left is the bus driver, the mohawk guy in the middle is Leo and the face in back is Kennan (a boy from his class).
Pumping up Serafina. He loves to get in her face and say "little girl" over and over.

Meeting up with his "buddies" for his field trip - twins Cuba, Cora and their mom, Courtney.
So excited to see Brielle, he can't keep his feet on the ground.
"Look, here comes the bus."
The class stops to pose for a picture.

Loading up.

After story hour at the library, the bus dropped the kids off at our local park. The kids had snacks and played. I brought Serafina in the bike trailer and we stayed for a while playing and eating lunch. The weather was amazing.

By the time we got home, the kids were dirty and tired. I was optimistic it would be a good napping afternoon, especially since Leo napped without too much resistance yesterday. But alas, he didn't sleep. When he came out at 3pm, he played for a little bit and then asked to sit on my lap. He got comfortable and promptly fell asleep. Really, kid? I let him stay there until 4pm when Serafina was fed up with being left in her crib.

Here he is looking pretty fried after I had to evict him from my lap and his nap was over.

Under the weather

We've been having some beautiful weather. Beautiful blue skies and temperatures in the high 60s. Just lovely. We've been trying to enjoy it but all of us are taking turns being under the weather. Shortly after Serafina's holiday high fever, I developed a cough. When that seemed to improve, Leo got the ear infection. When he was fully recovered, my glands swelled to the size of walnuts and I could barely swallow. I had a rough weekend, but Tom was very good at taking care of me and the kids. Then late yesterday, Serafina spiked a high fever (104.3, yikes!). She's doing better today, but before bed, Leo said he had "a hurt" in his throat and he felt warm. So the merry-go-round continues and it ain't so merry. I forgot how the illnesses just rotates around all winter until I'm back in the thick of it.
Here's a random picture of Serafina playing outside yesterday.
She wasn't riding a bike or in the bike trailer; she just likes to cruise around in her bike helmet. She use to hate that thing. Go figure.

For three of the last four afternoons, Leo hasn't napped. It's not unheard of for kids his age to drop their nap, but oh lord...I'm not ready. Thankfully, he understands that he needs to stay in his room for quiet time. And he's definitely more tired at the end of the day, so bedtime is a little easier. Still, I'm not sure I've accepted that he is becoming an occasional napper. For some reason, I convinced myself that he would nap everyday until it was time to start elementary school. Oh well.

Girls just wanna have fun

Thanks to Nana for another awesome musical card.

"I'm gonna paint you now"

That's what Leo told Serafina and then proceeded to cover her with stickers.

Visit to Happy Hollow

The moms group headed to Happy Hollow today for a little playdate. No limbs were broken and there weren't even any major meltdowns. Pretty amazing, really.

Serafina and Leo rode the Granny Bugs.
Addison, Leo and Doug on the Frog Hopper.
Happy to be on Danny the Dragon train ride. It goes by Dorothy's house with the Witch's legs sticking out. He loves that part.
Having fun on one of the playgrounds.
Cutie pie.
Visiting the goats.
Serafina bonded with this little goat.

Face Pizza with Nana

Leo gets Highlights magazine (well, the little kid version) and it had instructions how to make a face on a pizza. Leo was eager to try it out with Nana. He kept calling it "Face Pizza".

First some sauce.
Olive eyes, broccoli nose and pea teeth.
End result. Nana declared peas do not belong on a pizza.
Leo enjoyed it.
Serafina wasn't very impressed.
Hanging out tonight after a bath.

Pigtails

We had some nice sunshine today, so we headed out to the park. I know what you're thinking; didn't I just write about how I have a sick kid on antibiotics? Why am I taking him out? Well, because we would all make each other crazy if we just stayed around the house. Winter is just back to back colds and coughs and congestion around here, so we just have to roll with it.

Sharing

Today I worked at Leo's preschool and it was the boys turn to do show and tell (the girls share on Tuesdays). This was their first time and I wasn't sure how it would go with a bunch of squirmy, mumbling three year olds. The teacher was a great facilitator and that made it so much less painful.

Here he is with the garbage truck he brought.

Singing a song about rain.
Every night is challenging since Leo doesn't stay in bed and sleeps on the sleeping bag in our room or sometimes in our bed. But Leo had a particularly bad night last night. There was a lot of crying and lost sleep for everyone. When he woke up this morning he put his hands on his temples and said, "my head hurts." I said, "I bet. Mine does too." I gave him some Tylenol before school, but his complaint changed to his ear hurting. I took him seriously and we saw the doctor after school. Sure enough he has an ear infection. He was really good at the doctor's office (so was Serafina) and he even brought his own "ear checker" from the toy doctor's kit. Three years, three months and five days old and his first ear infection. I'm pretty sure it's his first time being on antibiotics too, which he loves taking because he has such a serious sweet tooth he'll take it any way he can get it. We'll skip swimming lessons tomorrow, but I confident he's going to be on the mend fast. Plus, Nana is coming on Saturday and that always makes everything better.

Tell me a story...

Leo loves to be told stories at bed time and nap time and during the day. It can be a little exhausting to be honest. One of his favorite stories is about the time a peacock scared him when he was little. I also tell a very warped, inaccurate version of King Arthur and Excalibur (The Sword in the Stone). One day I said, "and all the people cried, 'Hail King Arthur'" and Leo said, "they didn't cry, they were happy."

But the primary stories I tell are about Mordecai and Otto. Mordecai is an ordinary little boy who likes the same stuff Leo likes, but he's different in one important way: he has a rocket ship that can take him any where he wants to go. But every time, he accidental ends up on Yucky Planet (sometimes it's Disgusting Planet). Even if he makes other stops or my plot line doesn't really hinge on this detour, Leo demands it. In fact, he frequently interrupts every telling of a story to offer his editorial input. Mordecai has a little sister Faruca and he always brings her back something yummy when he goes to Yummy Planet.

Otto is an ordinary boy too, but he is a great explorer and adventurer. He travels in a big jeep that often gets flat tires and...you guessed it, ends up on Yucky Planet. His little sister is Violet.

I want to write out a version of each story since there are many more details that are not included in this synopsis, but honestly I'm so sick of these stories, I can't bring myself to do it right now. Of course, it would be fun to look back on years from now.

Brrr...

It's cold out. Since a lot of the country is getting snow and what not, I probably shouldn't complain, but as I've said before, I'm a wimpy Californian. But my lack of fortitude does not interfere with my children's good time. I brave the weather so they can get some fresh air and exercise. Plus, the cleaning ladies were coming and we needed to be out of the house.

See how bundled up Addison is? It's not just my neurotic mothering style, it's legitimately cold.

Leo loves playing my old camera but doesn't always use it correctly.

Spinning

The annoying music in the background is from a musical card that Nana sent a while back.

Playing

Trying to keep her hair dry...

in the bath tub.

Painting