Remembering the days

I am told that these days will be gone before I know it.  I'm told that though the hours are long, the years are short.  I am told that I should enjoy now while it lasts.

So I do.

I want to remember these days, and that's part of why I post things here - to remember them in the days to come when every waking hours isn't spent meeting some physical need of a little human being I helped bring into existence.  

I love these little human beings - these in particular are the best ones in the world to me.  They are precious, cherished, unique, imperfect, ideal, and in every way marvelous little creatures.  And they're mine.  How lucky am I?!?  Here's what we've been up to in the last few weeks...

Edgerton Center

On Good Friday we spent part of the day at the Edgerton Center, which I'd always assumed was for older kids.  The science side of things and certainly some of the displays are geared at older kids, but there's plenty there for littles ages 4 and (almost) 2 to do.  We had a grand time (thanks Gram for taking us!) and are looking forward to going again soon.

The giant bubbles were the kids' favorite.

They could be inside a bubble or just pop the
huge bubbles the hoola hoop made.

Connor's outfit glowed under the black light.

Spencer even had a good time watching all that
his siblings did.  He can't wait until he's big enough
to join in.  He's so anxious to do so that he's already
in the early stages of figuring out scooting/crawling!

Easter

Easter came early this year, but we had unseasonably warm weather early, so it was ok.  Easter morning was certainly brisk, and we hunted eggs inside.  But by evening I had my windows open to cool down my warm kitchen.  

Happy Easter!  Lily - 4, Connor - 1 (his last day being 1), Spencer - 5 months

The Francls

Connor's 2nd Birthday

I've thought of Connor as "2" basically since Spencer was born 5 months ago.  In actuality, he has been 1 this whole time and only turned 2 the day after Easter.  When Spence was born, Connor could only say a few words, though he understood just about everything.  Now, he's putting together full sentences, expresses unique thought through speech, and shares his wants and needs with words rather than grunts, points, or tears.  (Though all of those sometimes accompany the speech.)

I love my children in each phase of their growth and development.  But I really, really love the stage Connor has stepped into - spoken language development and discovery of everything around him.  His hoodies have stains around the pockets from the dandelions he's stuffed into them.  He offers to pray at meals: "Dee Jees, Tank you.  Amen." He is polite with "thank you, Mom's" and "pleeeeeeases" with the perfect intonation.  His timing is impeccable. "Who wants to eat their vegetables?"  "Nobody!"  He's clever and confident and the coolest cat around.  He sleeps with his hands behind his head and his legs crossed in the coolest way.  I can assure you that I have never in my life been as cool as this little guy is at only 2 years old.

Speaking of which, we celebrated his birthday largely in conjunction with Easter this year as it fell the day after Easter.  He ended up with 3 sort-of parties since we celebrated Easter 3 different times.

He got a baseball cap, a t-ball, a bat, and a
baseball tee, and he knew exactly what to do with them.

I made his cakes, which were individual animal cakes about
the size of a large cupcake.  They were really fun to make!
We filled their mouths with candy. 

Connor chose the "snake" which was actually
a crocodile.

The important thing was that it was delicous
and that he was now 2. 

He moved from a crib to a big boy toddler bed on his birthday.
He and his sister both love his new bed.

Connor is 2!

In addition to a big boy bed (which he merely
inherited) Chase and I got Connor a big boy bike.
He's here waiting for Chase to get it out of the
back of the car.  We'd told him we had a present
for him there.  So Connor waited in anticipation,
and when he saw it, he said, "My bike!"

The bike has a handle that sticks out of the back
that a parent can use to push the bike.  The
handle controls the front wheel/handle bars and
can be removed once kids learn to ride on their
own.  It's a Schwinn and we are LOVING it!

Watch out world, Connor is 2!
(And girls, don't get any ideas.  He's mine for now!)