X baptism

Headed up towards Dayton this morning to celebrate Baby Xavier's baptism.
Dylan hung out with Grampers & fought out X for Uncle Steve time. B played with her friend Grace & all the little kittens!

We got to babysit baby Xavier!

Brooklyn made sure he received plenty of stimulation with conversation, & Sean helped with naptime!

practicing with our first sippy cup

In the mail today

Sean's certificate arrived. Only 7,368 people have passed the test! Congrats again Babe!

Practicing ballet with Angelina

Dylan's first tooth has just broke thru!!

comments

Brooklyn comments (that I can remember) over the last month:

"Mommy, why do we only sing some of the colors names if all the colors that we know live up in the rainbow? I think we should sing about Pink, and Brown, and black & our other crayons too."

"Wasn't me, the baby did it!" .....says this after she farts! lol

She wanted to take her flip cards of states & capitals in the car. She read Mississippi & told me the capital was Jackson. Then asked me what its lower case was.

Yep, this is my REAL life! I have a dirty kitchen & 2 kids pulling on my leg. And I wouldn't change a thing!! :-)

Official big girl bed!

We've been switching all week between her sleeping bag, Dora couch, & big girl bed. But she's been doing a great job. Twice she has woke around 11 to go to the bathroom, and comes into the living room once "the sun comes up!"

I see leotards & a recital in our future

Since he birthday, every night after dinner she wants to put on her ballet shoes, skirt & "do ballet." We're asked to hold her little broom up b/c its her ballet bar, & she changes in her dressing room (the bathroom!) I did call today to find out about ballet & tumbling lessons. Enrollment doesn't start until January so we've got some time, but she can go in for a 1 day class to see if she'd participate.

And now's Dylan's added "uh-oh" to his vocab! (dada, mama, & uh-oh thus far) He doesn't seem to say many words but he & Brooklyn have "discussions." A series of squeels & noises she makes & he repeats! It's pretty darn cute.

Mommy's from scratch Apple pie has everyone wanting to try it!

So, this morning she decided she was a big girl now. She started her morning by showing all of us she could climb out & over her crib. And mommy decided we should take the front of the crib off now instead of waiting until after Santa comes! We were going to do it tonight however, she asked if she could sleep on her Dora couch. This would be a good test to see how many times she would come out of her room. To our surprise, NOT ONCE! And since I'm pre-dating blogs because I'm catching up, she's been sleeping on her couch for the last 3 nights sans problem. Enjoy the video, its super cute.

So what did the birthday girl want for her special breakfast? "chocolate chip pancakes & prunes!" LOL

After breakfast, we opened family presents- new click start games from mom & dad, singing cards, 'monies for my bank!,' and a new book.

Throwing on her Dora boots, Sean & her went sent up to the party store to pick up her party balloons while mom & I cut up the tomatoes & lettuce for the taco bar. I heard the front door fly open with a loud " MOMMY, look at all these DOOOOORA BALLOONS I got!!!"
Sean said she was so excited at the store, & the cashier told him "sounds like you've got a talker on your hands." lol. Apparently told everybody it was her birthday!

I told her it was just about time to get dressed for her party........this is her version of "party attire!" :-)

Cake looked good. The cake was good! In Dora show fashion, Brooklyn needed to get to her present table. But who do you ask for help when you don't know which way to go? THE MAP! Map said she needed to go over crocodile lake, thru Isa's flower garden, past bubble forest & find the wishing crystal in Benny's barn to wish her presents back. The kids had a blast on their adventure & went thru it several times! B's present table was in our lower level with a sign saying SWIPER NO SWIPING! We took the presents back upstairs so everyone could see her open gifts. She was super happy! Dora couch, dolls, crafts, tunnel tent, ballet slippers/skirt etc. All the kids started playing right away.. little Izzy, another big Dora fan, even telling her mom which Dora gifts she wanted for Christmas! lol.

"A Dora guitar! Just like my daddy!"

Our neighbors came over tonight to give B her birthday present! Fully excited & ready to play.

G-ma Kay decided Brooklyn should open her presents a day early. Turned out to be a good thing, because there were so many! Over 10 Dora things, with this outfit being one of her favorites. After this, we made Dora bracelets & headed up to Kroger to get our last minute party foods! B was super excited to go without Dylan b/c this meant she could ride in the car cart!

First finger foods

Rainy days means off to the Museum! Dylan had so much fun playing in the water, the sand, the ball pits. Both took nice long naps afterwards.

DID I JUST HEAR SOMEONE SAY "MA-MA?"

Dylan sporting some college gear!