Turkey Day!

We piled into the minivan and headed up the hill to my cousin Dave's for Thanksgiving. For the first time in years, I didn't have to cook a single thing. We were assigned to make sweet potatoes, and since Big Man actually likes them, he made them. He also made a to-die-for chocolate pecan pie.

We have much to be thankful for. Each other. Beautiful, healthy kids. Family.
Uncle John spent some time with Tori before dinner:

As usual, Dani loved looking at the fishies:
Tori, now able to crawl, wants to play with everything Dani has. In this case, Dani was playing with "Murray Guitar" (every guitar is Murray's to my Wiggles-obsessed kid):
Gail showing Dani the wine opener. That got a lot of use!

And Dani, snacking on some pre-dinner mashed potatoes with Aunt Renny.
It was a good day. And, today, the Bears won, upsetting the Eagles, which rounded out our list of things we are thankful for.

Dani's turning two in less than two weeks. She is singing happy birthday to herself and asking when the kids are coming over. We're having a Mickey Mouse themed party, and she's going to have a blast!

Pssst.

Psssst, down here. It's me, Tori. I'm supposed to be taking a nap, but I'm hiding behind the couch.
I just wanted to tell everyone Happy Thanksgiving. It's my very first one. Mommy said she would take a lot of pictures. I hope she lets me eat some turkey! Mommy says Thanksgiving is about being thankful for things you have. I'm thankful for warm bottles, banana baby food, and my big sister Dani.

Slow day.

Did you know that pants can double as bunny ears? Yep.

And, someone is getting pretty good a sitting up. She still tumbles over, but can hold herself up for a bit on her own.

Big Man got some great video today of crazy baby laughs; promised him I'd put it on FB so his peeps could see it too.

Will work for cupcakes.

We went to a birthday party today. It was for a 2 year old, so Dani was among her kind. They all took turns crying. Well, Dani didn't really cry, she was busy making kids cry by trying to play with them. Seriously--there was one kid who did cry alot...probably because she kept walking up to Dani with toys, and Dani kept helping herself to them.

The birthday girl's mom had cupcakes for all the little kids. I'm amazed to say that my little kiddo (who was channeling Jackie O with her faux fur neckline and cuffs) ate rather daintily while sitting in a big girl chair.
Really, she did. I knew that the hostess was planning the kiddie cupcake fest, and I brought a change of clothes because I figured Dani would be caked in frosting. Turns out, she prefers her cake with a fork.
Once she tired of the cupcake, she played with various toys, and then walked up to adults and stuck her finger into the frosting on their cake. It was well received. I had Tori on my lap, so could only offer the lamest of Dora references to Dani, "Dani, no swiping." I failed.

Lesson two for today was that kids whose parents buy them new toys have WAY better toys. Little Dani is perfectly happy in our second-hand toyland, but the birthday girl had a Mickey Mouse kitchen and Dora backpack and so many awesome toys that Dani never knew existed. I told her that her birthday was coming up and she would have a party soon, and she sang "Happy Birthday to Dani" all the way home.

In perhaps the best example of the fact that all our stuff is used or hand-me-downs, I had this sweet dress for Dani to wear. No black leggings or tights to go with it, so she wore grey leggings, grey socks and blue crocs, because that's what we had. Seriously every other kid there had shoes that matched their outfits and looked so cute. My kid just needed a sharpie-drawn cardboard sign saying "will work for cupcakes". I was really worried she's start opening presents or gift bags, because at home it's a free-for-all, but she just played very nicely near them, and when I told her not to touch, she didn't.

Tori, on the other hand, was adored by all. She was the only baby at the party. She happily sat on laps and had many a stranger pinch and stroke her chubby cheeks. My chubby mcdubbs was a big hit with the elders today.

It was great to see Dani and Tori interact with a decent crowd, because with the holidays and Dani's birthday coming up, this is a good indicator of what to expect.

Arrrgh, Pirates are we!

After dinner tonight, Captain Dani sword, the fierce pirate, wanted to play. So we broke out the hats and foam swords!

Even Pirate Tori got into the game!

Here's our pirate video.

And, post-pirate, Dani channeling Dora the Explorer.

This age is just soooo fun!

It's a bird! It's a plane!

It's Super Dani!
In this pose, she's "flexing" to show off her muscles. Guess who taught her that move?

North Carolina, a Dani AND Tori guest post!

Hi everybody, Dani here. And, hey, it's me, Tori, I'm here too! We want to tell you about our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house, so we decided to do it together. Well, mommy kind of made us do it together because it was close to bedtime and she said we had to share. Dani doesn't seem like she's sharing too well. Pipe down Tori, or you won't type another letter.

So, we left for North Carolina on Wednesday. We all packed into daddy's car and drove and drove and drove. Tori went to sleep for a while, but I didn't. I stayed up the whole way to North Carolina, because I'm a big girl! Mommy was so surprised that I could stay up that long, because we drove for about 14 hours and in the middle of the night, but, hey, I'm a night owl when I want to be. I'm already working on my college sorority skills--I'm going to be an AOII just like my mommy.

Anyway, I had so much fun. I love my grandma and grandpa so much! Grandpa read me books.
And grandma and grandpa took us to this neat town called Shelby, which has a train and a merry-go-round that we got to ride on.

We were the only ones on the train, and we got to ride 'round and 'round the park.

Grandma called the merry-go-round a carousel. It had so many neat horses on it. Daddy and Tori rode in a sleigh (she is a baby, after all), and mommy walked all around and took pictures.

Grandma and I played with bubbles. We had bubble kazoos, and pipes and wands, and just had so much fun. And it was so nice and warm there. Before we left, there was snow at home, but in North Carolina, I got to wear short sleeves! Grandpa let me wear his cowboy boots!
We did so much fun stuff that it's hard to tell you. Did you know that Grandma and Grandpa are my mommy's mommy and daddy? They bought me some neat toys that are just like toys my mommy had when she was a toddler like me....I don't know why they didn't just save my mommy's stuff for me, but even if they didn't, I'm glad they remember my mommy's old toys. There is a neat shopping cart and groceries and lots of other stuff, too!

HEY DANI. YES, YOU DANI. ITS ALMOST MY BEDTIME AND YOU ARE TAKING TOO LONG. MY TURN. MY TURN. MY TURN OR I WILL TELL DADDY.

Okay Tori, it's almost your turn. (Peeps, don't worry, I'll post more after the baby stops babbling). Tori--just keep crawling around after the cat, and once you catch him, it's your turn to type.

DANI, NO FAIR. I'M TELLING DADDY.

Here you go, Tori, but just so you know, everyone probably stopped reading already because they like me best.

WHATEVER, Dani.

I'm going to tell everyone about my FIRST road trip! It kind of sucks having to ride backwards in a carseat for so long. On the way down, we left at 1pm and got to Grandpa's at 3:30am. I tried to sleep as much as I could but it was SO boring and carseats aren't really very comfy. But we made it--I guess some bad stuff slowed us down on the way, because the way home took much less time.

Anyway, when we got to Grandma and Grandpas, Grandpa met us and took us to our very own apartment. Mommy said that was so nice of Grandpa to get our own space for us--sometimes Dani's naptimes are kinda unpredictable, I guess. And Grandma and Grandpa are pretty old, so they probably needed to go to sleep early or something like that.

Grandpa also gave me lots of kisses.

I love Grandpa kisses.

Sometimes I think it is more fun to be the little sister. No one really is paying attention to what you are doing because your bigger sister is just so much more fun, so you can play with extra fun stuff. Here, I snagged Dani's shoe AND a magifying glass. It took a while for anyone to notice. Cool!

We did so much fun stuff. We went to a motorcycle place and did something for charity. If you bought something at this Harley dealership you could turkey bowl and maybe win a turkey. Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa all had a two chances to roll a big frozen turkey down a lane to knock over pins. Nobody won. Mommy did really bad--she didn't even knock over a pin! But the fun part was that after that, we went out to lunch. It was my first time in a restaurant! I sat in my very own high chair too! I hope I showed mommy and daddy that they could take me out more often!

Anyway, before I sat in the high chair, I sat with Grandpa. He let me chew the menu.

I had so much fun at lunch, that I got tired. I fell asleep on Grandpa's shoulder. He's super comfy. I totally recommend him if you need a nap.

TORI, no one cares what you have to say, and it's bedtime. You have to go to bed NOW. I'm the big sister so you have to do what I say. NOW.

Okay, Dani. Tell everyone night night for me, okay?

Whatever Tori, just go away.

Geesh, Tori's finally gone. Isn't it so annoying when she thinks she can post stuff? Like it's her blog or something. Well, anyone, just humor her, okay? Well, it is getting pretty late and I need to get ready for bed too. It's time for brushy brush, washy wash, nighty night. Bye bye!

Over I-81 and I-77 to Grandmother's House We Go!

We left, actually early, on Wednesday....thinking we'd be in Hickory, NC, shortly after midnight....
.............we were so wrong!

Road construction, traffic, and an event serious enough to close the interstate had us arrive at about 3:30am. My dad secured us our own apartment in the complex he works for, so he met us at the entrance to take us to our place.

Tori slept like a champ. Dani literally slept about 90 minutes the entire trip. She never slept in the carseat as a baby, and apparently won't as a toddler. Good thing is that, unlike when she was a baby and she just wailed (on the Great Chicago Road Trip of 2009) she just sat in her carseta singing songs and talking to us for twelve hours. I was amazed she didn't tire.

We pulled into the parking lot and Dani saw "GrandPA". Grandpa told her Grandma was sleeping (it was 3:15am). So everyone slept.

But, as soon as the kiddies were awake, it was Grandma-Grandpa fun time! Here's Grandma helping Tori crawl forward. And kisses from Grandpa.
Grandpa also gave horsey rides! And Grandma did double-duty with Dani and Tori!
Wow, just like Dani, Tori seems a little camera-focused......

Fun, fun. Kiddie road trip tomorrow to a town with a kiddie train and carousel!

One for you, one for me.

Tori is so close to crawling forward, so close!

Last night, I asked Dani if she wanted to feed Tori, and of course she loved the concept. Like most toddlers, the concept worked for about 22 seconds. Here she is feeding Tori:

Seconds later, it was Dani's turn to take the bottle and pretend to feed herself. (She won't really drink from Tori's bottle, and exclaims, "Baby milk, yuk!") As you can see, at this point, I am helping Tori to stay on the chair, as Dani has lost all interest in holding her.
Dani then started to slide off the chair with Tori still on her lap. Needless to say, Dani won't be babysitting anytime soon.

I'll fix her little red wagon, a Tori guest post.

Hello again, it's me, Tori. You remember me, right? I'm the little sister. Well, just so you know, I'm not so little anymore. In fact, I'm pretty big. I'm way bigger than Dani was when she was 6 months old, and I'm awfully strong. I'm good with my hands too, and I like to pull mommy and Dani's hair, just because.

Anyway, can one of you guys talk to Dani for me? I can't talk yet, but I figure she needs a warning. She needs to be warned that pretty soon, I'm going to be big enough to not get stuff taken from me. Actually, daddy thinks that I'm going to be bigger and taller than Dani, so pretty soon I'll be the one taking toys from HER!

Anyway, here's how it went down. Daddy got out a Chicago Bears winter hat, and put it on my head. I'm crawling on the floor, looking cute (natch).
Then, faster than you can say "Jay Cutler sucks", somebody snatches the hat off my head. Good thing daddy caught it on camera, I'm thinking of filing robbery charges or something.

Then, to add insult to injury, Dani puts my hat on! Oh yeah. I'm making a list, and rest assured, I'll be checking it twice once I can fend for myself, and it's going to be all about getting my stuff back. Hey big sis, I hold grudges and my memory is loooooooong!

That's right, Dani. Look cute and smiley for now, but when I can walk, I'm coming for you, and my stuff. Count on it.

I'll fix your little red wagon big sis.