Tori finally gets some fresh air!

It felt like spring today. I was up at about 4:30am headed to NYC for court, and basically got back to town about 12 hours later. It was so nice out that I had to let Tori have a few outdoor firsts, and Dani always wants to go outside, regardless of the weather.

Tori had her first ride in the little red wagon. We went up and down the street and they loved being in there together! We went to the "playground" a/k/a our backyard, but Dani calls it her playground. She wanted to help push Tori on the swing.

Tori loved her first swing ride! She laughed and laughed! The yard's a little too bumpy for her to be able to effectively walk, but hopefully by late spring she will be able to handle it.

It just felt so good to get outside tonight! Hoping to do it more often, of course the weatherman says snow? The nice thing about late winter storms is that they don't last.

And, 3d ultrasound is Friday; stay tuned for a baby peen update.

Deep Thoughts, by Dani McGhee

This afternoon I took Tori to the grocery store while Dani was napping. She was wearing a coat that used to be Dani's. When I carried her inside, Dani was awake, and saw me holding Tori, to which she exclaimed, "Baby Dani!"

So I turned to her and said, "No, silly, this is Tori. If I were holding baby Dani, then who would you be?" Dani scratches her chin, and thinks for a minute, and says, "But mommy, I'm older now."

Speaking of older--this little munchkin is turning ONE soon!

As you can see, she cannot manage to keep both socks on, ever. She's starting to stretch out, and is a little less of the chubby mcdubbs she's always been. And she and Dani are starting to meaningfully interact. Tonight, when Big Man was taking Tori upstairs to bed, Dani said, "Goodnight, Tori. I love you." Totally unprompted; she also grabs her and hugs her, and walks behind Tori with her hand on the small of Tori's back to be sure she doesn't fall (although this tends to make Tori fall forward instead). Adorable.You'll notice that the slide is tipped over. Big Man turned it on its side today (it will go outside tomorrow) because little miss daredevil (Tori) can now climb it unassisted, and tries to every time we turn around! I'm still utterly terrified about the chaos that three will bring (well the trouble the two will get into while I'm distracted by the new one), but I have a little more time to get used to it, I guess.

Kid Quote of the Day.

While lifting up a bottle of eye drops tonight, Dani exclaims, "These are mommy's raindrops!"

Silly Sunday.

Today was silly Sunday. We spent the day making silly faces.
Pretending to be rock stars. And getting strong with Play Doh barbells!

What a fun day!

"We don't wanna," a St. Patty's Day photo shoot.

But mommy, we don't want to sit down for pictures right now, we're playing.

It's clear to us that there are two of us, and you have two hands, BUT, you have to hold the camera with one of them, mommy. Tori, I'll break right, and you break left...on my count, 1...2....3...go!
Good work, Tori. Remember not to smile.
Oops, I just smiled. Well it will be the last one, I promise. Mommy, sooner or later you're going to find out that we are in charge here.

You can make us sit, but you can't make us smile. And only one picture, then we bail, mommy. Okay, time's up, mommy. We're outta here!

Better luck next year.

Sqooshy!

Wow, I don't really post for two weeks, and the kids just explode with cool new things. Tori is now freely and fearlessly walking around the house. Falling frequently too. And trying to climb the stairs. These are all things that my more fearful Dani never tried until she was around a year old. But Tori's smiley and happy. She says "hi" and waves to everyone and everything. When she hears us laugh or having fun, she shrieks and claps. She can say "no" as well. She's trying so hard to be a little person who can play with her big sis. And Dani. What a little ham. She's just a little ball of energy, who is always asking to make a "Dani and Tori show", which means she wants me to take videos of she and her sis so she can watch them. Her language has just exploded. It's amazing. She's 2 years and 3 months old, which seems so young for real sentences.
Some recent examples of Dani speak: "Daddy, what makes you happy?" "Mommy, my tummy's rumbly." "Mommy, I don't need a tubby tub tub. I'm fresh and clean." "Where's my handy fishing rod?" The stuff that comes out of her mouth totally cracks us up. She's also making strides with the potty. I'm starting to actually be optimistic that we won't have three in diapers all at once.

And she loves to sing. Everything. Just like I do, so it's lots of fun for me. She discovered Play Doh at a friend's house, and has been asking me to go back to Mary's house for some or to buy her some. I picked some up this weekend.
"Its sqooshy," she exclaims every two seconds. We only play with it when Tori's sleeping because I'm sure that Tori would ingest far too much of it, and despite the nontoxic pledge, I'm not willing to test it out, given Dani's propensity for feeding things to her sister. We get out cookie cutters and make shapes and just act silly. Sqooshy fun!