Memorabilia

A beautiful curio cabinet stands in my dining room. When the cabinet belonged to Swanny's Grandmother, it contained assorted pieces of Swedish crystal. It now contains various remembrances from our wedding day: crystal glasses, our guest book, the cake serving set and a shadow box with the sugar flowers from our cake framing one of the invitations for the wedding.

Swanny Jr. felt it would be an appropriate place to keep one of his most prized possessions too.

How a 2-year-old plays hide and seek

Birthdays... exciting kids since, well, forever

Our little boy is two. It's hard to reconcile the unassuming baby boy who came into our lives two years ago, with the big boy (and sometime wild thing) who makes his presence known at every opportunity.

On the evening when he was born, Peanut didn't quite know what to think of her new baby brother. Seeing that tiny person swaddled in a blanket, and the weary look on her mommy's face, Peanut was not her usual boisterous self. A few minutes of peeking at Swanny Jr., and seeing that he wasn't a shrieking monster, she did eventually warm up.

In the two years since that afternoon, Swanny Jr. has grown into quite the big boy. He's a big fan of Buzz Lightyear, Superman, Thomas, his books, and basketball. Always on the go, he never fails to entertain.

Happy Birthday sir.

Holiday fun and poor table manners

It was a busy but fun holiday weekend for the Swanny clan.

We started on Saturday with the drive to my dad's house. The kids (and both of our dogs) played with Grandpa, Grandma Jodi and Jodi's neice and had a ball. Swanny and I celebrated the wedding of a friend of mine from my Rock Island school days. It was a beautiful day and ceremony and the reception was fun--for me. Swanny didn't really know anybody there, but was a good sport while I caught up with some friends. He did enjoy live-tweeting the dance action at the ceremony and the food was delicious, so don't feel too bad for him.

Yesterday, we made a long over-due visit to Peanut's (& Swanny Jr's) GGPA who used to be a loyal reader and commenter on this blog. I think he still lurks every now and then but we don't see or talk to him nearly enough. We had a nice time chatting and catching up. I was able to snap a good shot of GGPA, Swanny and the kids.


We attempted some shopping and a visit to Grammy Pam, but Peanut had reached her breaking point of fatigue and the 4-year-old beast that sleeps somewhere just below the surface emerged in a big way. Thanks Peanut for that tantrum-to-beat-all-tantrums that ruined anyone's shot of getting Whitey's while we were there. My favorite line during her diatribes, "You're not my mom. I don't love you!"

Peanut survived (barely) and we rounded out the weekend with a campfire and s'mores last night and breakfast this morning, once we found a place that was open. (By the way, I have no idea why I didn't take any pictures after the visit to GGPA's house...sorry.)

Needless to say, tonight when Swanny headed off for a few hours of work, I had 2 very tired children on my hands. (The dogs by the way are so tired from running around on my dad's 2 acres and playing with their Golden Retriever, that neither one of them woke up to eat dinner tonight). Early dinner and baths for the kids were top of my agenda this evening.

Apparently, no one told me that Swanny Jr. is on protest from broccoli.

My normally good-mannered little boy who will eat with spoon or hands anything I put before him proceeded to dump the broccoli from his bowl, toss the bowl to the floor and then--no joke, finger paint with his veggies instead.

Big Sis Peanut was eager to show off how a big kid eats broccoli.

Notice the majority of her veggies are gone and NOT on the table or floor surrounding her eating location. She was quite proud to be the role-model on this one. A nice change as I have asked her no fewer than 3 times this weekend either in build up to fit or in the midst of one, to remind me who the baby in our house is and then to think about who at the time was acting like one...

Eventually Swanny Jr. caught the hint and ate most of his veggies. (With generous amounts still landing on the floor).

Hopefully a good night's sleep and a back-to-normal routine tomorrow will help bring our good table manners back!

Wordless Wednesday, sort of...

I'm not paying him until he finishes trimming and edging.

What's going on?

Swanny and I are so guilty of blog-neglecting this summer. My excuse, I'm working way more than I normally do during the summer. (I hear the collective feeling of pity from those of you who do not get your summers off). I think we're both trying to spend as much time enjoying the kids and the summer on our days off and we just haven't made time for blogging.

So randomly, here are few updates on the kiddos and some of the shenanigans we've been able to get up to during my time off.

Despite the mild temps this summer, we have found bursts of sunshine and periods of heat during which to enjoy the sprinkler and our mini backyard pool.

Swanny Jr. has learned how to climb out of the pool all on his own--the big boy.

Since he can climb out, he figured he may as well climb in too.

He's also decided to generalize this climbing skill to the bathtub, his sister's rocking chair (where I found him standing today) and attempts at getting up on the couch on his own...I think he'd climb up on top of the dog's kennels if he could.

Peanut is getting just too grown up to be allowed.



Just look at her--I remember when......

Now she's traded in the spoon for a float belt and twice weekly swimming lessons that are teaching her the front crawl, knee diving and the all important boat safety.

We have discovered another member of the family who really enjoys the sprinkler, or the hose when I'm watering the garden...she's not picky at all.

I love that you can still see the specks of water on her face in this picture. Penny's lovin' summer for sure!

Swanny Jr. would spend every waking minute outside if it were up to him. He doesn't even care if he hasn't gotten out of his pajamas yet.

Peanut has been practicing her hairstyling skills. I tend to be the one she experiments on. Today, she put nearly every single clip from her hair box on me while I read my newspaper. Here are the pics she took of me when she finished her masterpiece:

Okay, I took that last one and forgive me for not making sure my daughter's hair was swept out of her eyes. When your hair looks as gorgeous as mine did, you don't tend to worry about what everyone else's looks like--Sorry Peanut, but thanks for the glamorous do you gave me.

And finally in recap, yesterday the Swanny clan made its way up to the Shedd for our summer visit to the aquarium.

Peanut is always eager to see Nickel the sea turtle and talked about her non-stop on the way up there. She even took a picture of Nickel from her room to have in the car on the ride up. Though happy to see Nickel, she was also pretty thrilled to see that he Beluga Whales and Dolphins are home once again.

Swanny Jr. pointed at EVERYTHING and seemed to love looking at all of the creatures. He REALLY loved the popcorn snack we had near the end of the visit. The child eats non-stop.

Summer's flying by but I think we're having a pretty good time making the most of it! Next adventure, I head out west with the 2 kids (without Swanny, booo!) to visit the family in Idaho. Can't wait to share those moments!

My New Favorite Picture

2 tired children headed home from the zoo.  Swanny Jr. fell fast asleep in Big Sister's arms.

Precious.

Full post with updates on the happenings around here at My Life With Dogs to follow soon!

Just another day in the Swanny House

SWANNY JR: We've known that Swanny Jr. loves his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. He decided today that he would love his sandwich even more if he wiped his PB&J'd up hands all through his hair. He'd do it and laugh and look at me with the darn sweetest face too. It took 3 wipe downs with paper towels, wipes and washcloths to get all of the peanut butter off of him. Hiding places included his hair, behind his ear, his eyelashes and between EVERY. FINGER. ON. HIS. HANDS. He smelled of peanut butter all day long--good thing none of us are allergic, we would have been in anaphylactic shock just taking a whiff of him. Despite my cleaning efforts, he looked all day as though he were sporting the world's best hair product--his hair sure had plenty of body!

He proceeded to do the same thing this evening with his turkey and rice couscous and carrots...again with the same smile and laugh. It was only slightly less cute this time.

PEANUT: It was naptime and Peanut was living up her last 15 minutes before story and bed by playing dress up in her room while I put Swanny Jr. down for his afternoon nap. I see a flash of fairy wings and hear the click-clack of high heels in the bathroom. I hear nothing for a minute or so and figure Peanut is taking care of business--then I hear the rustling, the clink and more rustling. I quietly call to her to find out if she's OK (with a drifting Swanny Jr. cradled in my arms).  She shuffles out of the bathroom with a roll of toilet paper in one hand and the toilet paper holder, tries to explain what happened, and finally just ends up saying, "I have no idea how to fix this."  Did I mention, she looked JUST like this:

only change out the wand for the aforementioned toilet paper and add underpants around the ankles.

My kids crack me up.

Battle Wounds

I call these

the price of ambulation.

Swanny Jr. has become a full-fledged walker.  Of course it comes with the cost of bumps, scrapes and bruises but he's so pleased with himself.  He moves so fast it's like he's already trying to run, at least when food or a basketball are involved!

Long Time Gone

So, in effort to get myself beyond the guilt of not dutifully documenting our children's milestones this past week, you'll have to indulge me in a lengthy catch up post.

First things first, I have to honor the birthday boy, Swanny Jr.--the big one year old.

To my dear sweet little boy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  Your mommy has so enjoyed watching you grow and change this year.  I love that you wake up with a smile, you fall asleep snuggling, and you're just a little ball of laughs all day long.  Your personality has started to emerge, fun loving like your daddy, but quick tempered like mommy, what a combo!  So, to a handsome and cuddly little guy, Happy Birthday.  I love you sir.

On his birthday, we took Swanny Jr (and Peanut of course) out for pizza, then dove into some present opening fun.




The Superman Shake & Go car was by far his favorite gift.

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Peanut has been a dancing queen day and night it seems.

 It started with technical rehearsal a week ago Saturday, then dress rehearsal last monday and then recitals Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  What a performance it was.  

Peanut and her friends did the best interpretation of the Old Woman in the Shoe you'll ever see, complete with somersaults, cartwheels, and plies.  She smiled big and took her bow proudly, then skipped off stage waving to us....it was precious.

I don't know if she was more excited about dancing on stage or  the lipstick and french braids she sported for 3 days straight.

Now 3 months break from dance, then she'll jump back in to weekly lessons again. 

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Swanny Jr. has gotten his first hair cut.  I noticed a few weeks ago just how much the wind was blowing his hair and thought to myself, should a boy's hair be long enough to move that much in the breeze?  Then I started noticing how much it looked like he had a baby comb-over.  It had to go.  Swanny took the little man on his birthday to have his locks trimmed up.

Baby boy before:

Little boy after:

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Peanut also had pre-school graduation last week.  True, she has one more year of preschool before kindergarten, but all of the pre-school classes participated by singing songs for all of the proud parents.

Peanut's class (including her best-bud H.P.) sang quite a tune about going fishing on a bright and sunny day where the fishies have their hands in their pockets and their pockets in their pants....it was a hoot.

Here is the proud pre-schooler herself.

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Then there was Swanny Jr.'s birthday party, which directly followed Peanut's final dance recital Sunday.  It was a fun out-doors celebration complete with present opening

butterfly catching

and cake

Boy did he love that cake.


 He licked the plate when he was done then put the plate on top of his head.

  

As all of these big events have gone by at the speed of light, I've been trying to tap into my inner yogi, the one that tells me to live in the moment, be present with yourself and others and enjoy things as they unfold instead of worrying about what's coming next.  I have tried to take time to reflect and be grateful that I have a beautiful family with whom I can enjoy all of these little firsts.  And while part of me is sad as the "firsts" are over, another part of me remembers that the next new adventure is just waiting for us.