So...This Just Happened

This is the grin
of victory.

Ainsley and Xander had just gotten up from naps and wanted snacks. I brought down a bowl of grapes and a bowl of Cheerios. While we were watching the Big Bang Theory, Ainsley decided to eat all of the grapes, which are her brother's favorite, while Xander was distracted trying to step over her DVD player cord. (At 1, that requires multiple attempts and all his concentration.)

Me: Ainsley, did you just eat all of the grapes really fast so Xander couldn't have any?

Ainsley: I eat grapes!

Sean: Sweetie, did you? You need to share with your brother.

As we were talking to her about this, Xander quietly got himself past the DVD cord, walked by Ainsley, swiped her chocolate milk, and proceeded to drink it all in the corner.

I suppose we should just let them work it out, huh?

Xander's First Birthday Celebration....and Then Some

This past weekend, we had Xander's birthday party. I'll blog and post pics from it later—I didn't take a single picture, so I'm relying on my family to share theirs. Alysse took pictures as part of her present, so I know there'll be some kick ass pics to come.

But on Xander's birthday proper I had to work. So on my way home, I picked up some Dairy Queen and returned to my brood bearing gifts. Xander celebrating his birthday with hot dog and french fries and ice cream cake.

He quite enjoyed smearing the ice cream around in his tray....training for Saturday, I suppose. Once Ainsley saw I was taking pictures of Xander, she demanded her 15 minutes of fame.  Mostly it involved her jabbing at the camera and giggling insanely.

Now that Xander is a big boy, I decided to serve him dinner on a plate as opposed to on his tray like always. At Saturday's party, Reece Merritt came—he's 3 months old. I held him for a bit and had several "awww baby!" moments. But tonight, while Xander ate his meal relatively unattended and moderately cleanly and Ainsley ate solely unattended and cleanly, I had a moment of "ahhh."

Ainsley, again, got in on the picture taking when she noticed Xander was having his moment in front of the camera. I think it's pretty awesome that in this picture, she's 1) stolen Xander's birthday present bugs, 2) she's lined up said bugs, 3) she's insisted on a picnic that she's promptly ignoring.

Also, I've noticed that I post a lot of pics of my kids eating. That's weird.

My Puzzle Pieces!

Action shot

So, for those of you wondering where the blog has been, you should know that I'm taking a daily class in Muncie over the next few weeks while I'm teaching for IPFW.  So, ya know, pressed for time.

We spent this weekend—what I've dubbed Pajama Weekend—recharging. Sean ran a bunch of errands, one of which was a trip to Target that resulted in a new puzzle holder.  Ainsley's gotten VERY into puzzles lately, and in an effort to keep her stuff together, we got her an organizer.

Now, mind you, these puzzles and the organizer are for Ainsley and Xander. But if you were to ask Ainsley, it is hers.

When Sean came home, this exchange occurred:

Sean:  This is for you and Xander to hold your puzzles.

MY PUZZLE PIECES!

Ainsley: It's MINE.

Sean: Yours and Xander's. You have to share it with Xander.

Ainsley: Yeah, MINE.

Rinse and repeat for about 2-3 minutes.

Cut to our post-pool hangin' out session.  Ainsley is playing with the puzzles, and Xander has just woke up.

Because everything Ainsley does is awesome, Xander makes a bee-line for her.  Of course, that results in Ainsley screaming "MY PUZZLE PIECES!" at the top of her lungs in that weird dolphin-decibel squeal.

How Xander plays puzzle

We convinced her to share a couple puzzles with Xander. At first she gave him the boring shapes puzzle until we convinced her that she'd have a better shot at his not bothering her if she gave him a more interesting one.

So she gave him the farm.  To the right is Xander's answer to "playing puzzle." NOM NOM NOM NOM

My ZOO!

X, Aunt Jill, A

This week, I bought a zoo pass.  To initiate the pass, my sister Jill came to visit and take advantage of "guest" status.  This is not Xander or Ainsley's first trip to the zoo, but Ainsley remembers this one pretty well.  We went on Friday...and all day yesterday all she could talk about was "my zoo!"  Clearly, the selfishness is still alive and well in Ms. A.

We took lots of pics at the zoo...and X and A are now at the age where I'd have to sacrifice a goat and recover the Titanic to get them to look at the same place at the same time.  Because we were at the zoo and there were goats there, I considered it (I hate goats, btw), but ultimately decided it might get my pass revoked to assault zoo animals.

Alligators are awesome.

The FW zoo is bigish, so we only hit half of it; we avoided Africa, the new section, as we always start there, the kids poop out, and we never make it to the rest of the zoo.  So, this visit gave us a few random exhibits (penguins, sea lions, otters), Australia, and Indiana (basically a farm).  It was a chilly day, so many of the outside exhibits (monkeys, for example) were closed; the penguins and otters mostly just stood around. The sea lions were huddled in the one area of their tank where the sun was shining.  They had their snouts and fins in the sun--it reminded me of sunning cats.

Ironically, we didn't consider
naming either child Joey.

Australia was much more successful.  When I was single, I used to take a lunch and go visit the zoo.  Africa had yet to be redone into the awesomeness it is now, so Australia was my favorite part--especially the kangaroos.

So clearly, my love of all things kangarooy has passed onto my children.

FISH

I think the kids' favorite part of the zoo was the Great Barrier Reef exhibit.  Ainsley has always liked fish; our trip to the Georgia Aquarium last year was quite the hit.  She continues to really enjoy them.  I think she could probably sit and watch the fish all day long.

I'm glad for this discovery. When we're at the zoo in July when it's hot hot hot, we can hang out in the air conditioned Great Barrier reef indefinitely.

Xander was particularly enchanted by the fish.  He was only one month old when we went to Georgia Aquarium, so the only thing he really cared about then was boob.  It was fun to see him stare at the fish.

FISH part deux

Xander has been upgraded to the stroller sans car seat carrier, by the way.  He seems to not understand that he can sit up.  Right now he's all just chillin'. Maybe that's just how Xander rolls then.

*side note* Xander is so big now he's going to get to move into his big boy car seat for his 1st birthday.  We're gonna have to get a convertible one so that he can remain rear-facing until he's two. Interesting juxtaposition: Ainsley moved into her car seat about a week before Xander was born. Technically, she probably shouldn't have been in the seat because she was only 19 lbs, but I was not going to buy a second carrier seat for her to use for 1 month. 

This close to kangaroos.

So, why do I love the kangroo exhibit, you ask?  Because if the kangaroos deemed it so, they can come right up to you!  The partition in the exhibit is basically some poles with some plastic wire connecting the poles.  The first time I went to the zoo, the kangaroos were really active and hopped back and forth across the trail that we were on; it was awesome.  Today, like most of my visits after, they were laying around in the sun.

Wondering where
The Doctor is....

We went to the zoo on a Friday afternoon--the first dry, sunny Friday in a long time.  So there were lots of people there, and , of course, school field trips.  The largest group of children were from a school that was either Amish or Mennonite.

Two things happened with this particular group that I found worth sharing.

Insert "dingo at my baby"
joke here.

1.  I don't know if this is a racist statement or not (I'm hoping it's more ignorant than racist), but I have to say I was surprised to see black members of the group--adults and children.  Jill asked me about it, and I honestly had a moment of, "Well, of course, why wouldn't there be?!"  Living in Indiana, I've seen my fair share of Amish/Mennonites, and up until this weekend, all have been white. So, I did a little research (cause that's how I roll) and found out that because most Amish come from Swiss roots, it's more rare for there to be African American Amish and/or Mennonites.  But as the site I read indicated (and I totally had a big fat duh moment as I read this), the belief system is being embraced by a variety of ethnicities.

The kids teasing the dingos

2. The kids were kinda monsters.  Well, actually, the kids were kids; they reinforced the fact that I really only like my own children and those of my friends.  At one point, Ainsley and Xander were looking at kangaroos.  Three boys came and stood directly in front of Xander's stroller.  I almost had a moment (and I fear that as my tenure as zoo member continues, I may still have a moment), but instead, we opted for a "play through" mentality. I think it was the wiser choice.

Photo Op Challenge

Jill and I tried really hard to get the kids to pose for pictures with this train.  Xander had his moments of smiling for Momma and Aunt Jill, but Ainsley was On. The. Move.  Hence, this photo montage.

Walking with Jill

Ainsley really enjoyed crawling around all parts of the zoo. I'm quite looking forward to taking her there in the mornings to wear her out before naps.  Well, after my summer class is done, of course.

Funny Story
So, the peacocks were really loud--and adamant. They probably cawed every 20 minutes.  The first time they cawed, Ainsley asked, "What's that?"  I told her I wasn't sure (at that point, I wasn't).

The second time we heard it, I figured out it was a peacock, as they were all over the zoo.

Peacocks are loud.

Again, Ainsley asked: "What's that?!"
Me: "It's a peacock sweetie."
Ainsley: "What's wrong?"
Me: "He's probably talking to the other peacocks."
Ainsley: "He misses his mommy."

Well, alright then.

Zoos are tiring.

Visit to Portage

Tired boy passes
out on Aunt Jill

We went to Portage the weekend before Easter to visit family.  It'd been a while since Xander had gotten to see much of the extended family--my awesome aunts and uncles. We had family coming to visit from West Virginia, some of whom I'd never met and some of whom I hadn't seen since 1993. So, even though I had a mountain of grading and work to do for my classes, the kids and I trekked out.  You rank, Faubers!

Before the WV crew arrived, we had an informal shindig with some family. Ainsley is still going through her awesome selfish phase, so every toy in the house was HERS and if an adult looked at it or played with it, she was fine.  However, if MaKayla even breathed near it, Ainsley squealed to the dolphins.  I should add that I didn't *bring* any toys, so all the toys that Ainsley was metaphorically peeing all over were ones that Jessica brought over so that the kids could play with things.  That's right, Ainsley was being selfish with MaKayla's OWN TOYS.  I was so proud.

Selfishness: In Action

*side note* Look, I know the selfishness is a phase, and I know that it's a sign of her confidence that she will assert herself with anyone and everyone (and yes I know where she gets that from, tyvm), but when she does it with other people's things, I start to worry that I haven't grown a confident little girl, but I've grown a bully.  This is also partially my baggage. I remember my cousins telling me when I was preteenish that I used to be "so bossy." I'm gonna give it another year; by then Xander will be big enough to assert himself with her and I think The. World. Will. Change. for little Miss A.

Forcing some sharing on Ms. A

So, my kids love men.  I understand this and know where they get it from—kids prefer the gender of their primary caregivers.

Grandpa Lee Roy has finally grown comfortable with Mr. Xander.  (Lee is nervous around tiny babies...Xander has moved into the age of hardcore Grandpa doting. This is never more prevalent when we go to Portage though.  While Xander is a Momma's Boy (in all of the good sense of the terms), he still digs hanging with Grandpas and Daddys.


Ainsley, being a big ole Daddy's Girl, has always preferred the company of men.  She particularly loves my cousin Jake. He's just the right kind of cornball for Miss A.

*side note part deux* A part of me doesn't want to have another kid.  Sean and I each have "one of our own." Plus I don't want the grown ups to be outnumbered by the wee ones.  We don't know if we're having anymore...there aren't any plans at this point in time.

On the other hand, both of my kids were enchanted by Beth's girls. Taylor particularly.  Taylor's at that perfect age of being a kid enough to still like fiddling and playing with them but being grown up enough that they feel like she's a grown up. (My kids also prefer adults to children.  I'm sure that'll get socialized out of them once school starts.)  You can see the abject joy each of them had with Ms. Taylor.

Bike riding is cold.

Homeless chic

Question: What trip to Grandma's is complete without a trip outside?  No trip!  Even though it was pretty cold out, Grandma and Ainsley got bundled up to do a little bike riding.  Xander and Momma stayed inside because we aren't Crazy People.

Bracelets were part of Ainsley's Easter basket from Grandma.
When we got home, this is how she decided to "play" with them.