Cookies!!

We have had a two day cookie extravaganza! Yesterday we made cookies with Leila and Max and today we decorated cookies with Leila. The kids had a ton of fun, and it was a good reminder for me to just relax and let the toddlers play.

Cookie making was more cookie dough playing. Fortunately, we made butter cookies (the recipe I grew up with) which don't have any eggs. I had high hopes that I could roll out the dough in front of each child, and the kids would use the cookie cutters and cut them out. I would then place the perfectly cut cookies onto the baking sheet, and stick them in the oven. That wasn't quite how it happened.

Look at me! This is how it should be done!
The kids creating their masterpieces. Leila preferred hearts and butterflies while Quin took after me and used the rocking horse. Quin mastered the art of eating the dough very quickly, another trait he shares with his mother. Leila and Max weren't too interested in eating the dough, but Quin asked for more cookie dough several times.
The decorating went much better, from an adult's perspective. The icing actually made it to the cookies. For the most part.

Which color should I start with?
Mom's watching, I'd better decorate a cookie.
Wow! I like what she's doing! Can I eat it also? (To be fair, Quin wasn't interested in eating the icing.)

Mom's not watching!

I have all this icing left, can I decorate one more?

Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah!!

Zip-A-Dee-A!
My, oh my, what a wonderful day!!

Today is the last square on the potty chart! We've been talking about it, and Quin (I hope) understands that this is his last (of two) potty charts before he is potty trained! He has been going poop in the potty consistently for 4 days now (with two exceptions while asleep), and he's only had a couple of minor accidents. I'm so excited! E's so excited! Of course I have a brand new box of size 5 diapers in the garage... but since he's still wearing them at night and for naps, I guess that's a good thing.

Leila's already wearing undies full time, and was encouraging Quin to use the potty last Wednesday. Nothing like a little bit of positive peer pressure!

December already??

Where did the year go? Oh, yeah, that's right: time goes faster for the sleep deprived! I figured that since I was posting, I would get a jump on December; maybe I'll figure out how to post pictures more than once a month this month!

Let's see, Gretchen is crawling everywhere now, and she can really move too! She can push herself up into a seated position, and is starting to realize that there is a vertical aspect to the world. I'm not overly thrilled about it, and Quin is even less excited than I am.

Quin's enunciation has returned; when Gretchen was born he regressed with his enunciation. He did get better over the summer, but nothing compared to now! We're also making positive strides in potty training! Only parents of potty training toddlers can get excited over BMs, but my little, um, big boy made two BMs today - ON THE POTTY!! ALL BY HIMSELF!! WITHOUT ANY PROMPTING!! I'm so proud of you, Quin! E and I decided that Quin was going to be wearing undies any time we're not going to school, running errands, going down for a nap or bedtime, or going to visit. So far it's working pretty well. It helps that Leila and Avalon both are potty trained; I can use them as a good example: "don't you want to wear undies like Leila and Avalon?"

For those of you who don't know my husband, E loves to play computer games. We don't have a headset for the phone, so E improvised.
It's still hard to get Gretchen's smiles on camera, but I'm getting better!
Nana and Papa gave Quin some large, magnetic letters. He loves them! He knows how to spell "Quin" ("Q-U-I-N spells Quin!"), and this was his first attempt. I did have to encourage the letter placement a little, but only a little! He knows most of his letters, although he will occasionally get K and X mixed up. Along with spelling, I've also started working on basic math:
"How many blue trains do you see?"
"2"
"How many green trains do you see?"
"1"
"How many green and blue trains are there?"
"1-2-3"
This probably makes the teachers out there cringe, but it entertains me while we're playing trains. I should restate that. It entertains me while I watch Quin play with trains - I'm rarely allowed to do anything but watch him play, but he wants me there. It's the little things that keep him happy and me amused.
Leila came over last Wednesday, and the two kids had a great time reading together. *Sniff* My little boy is growing into a bookworm. You go, Quin! I was informed that Leila is his best friend on the way to school on Tuesday. She is a cutie!
Tonight Quin helped me make brownies. Gretchen really wanted to help too!

November catch up

I've been bad about downloading my camera lately, but here's the latest!

Papa teaching Gretchen how to "zip it!" Quin loves this game: the mouse runs its paw over it's mouth as it says "Zip it!" However, "zip it" isn't nearly as popular as the mouse throwing up. What is it with boys and vomit? Seriously?
Papa hard at work. Being retired has taken a lot out of this poor man. Playing with his grandbabies, visiting friends, sailing... it's hard work, but someone has to do it! (For the record, he refused to use the table, claiming he was more comfortable on the floor.)
Nana and Papa encouraged E and me to go out for an evening. I left some pumped milk, but turkey girl (a.k.a. Gretchen) decided she wouldn't take a bottle. After we were called home (Nana sounded very desperate on the phone), they discovered that she would take milk out of a cup. Fortunately, we were at the end of a movie at a friend's house when they called. Yes, it is taking both of them to feed her this way: Nana to hold Gretchen, Papa to control the cup. She was practically snatching it out of his hands; the poor thing was starving!
Nana and Papa decided to ride the tandem with E on his way to karate one Saturday. Nana's not too sure about Papa being in charge of the steering and gear changing.
Quin loves to do "sink work" - here he is washing dishes.

Gretchen has this thing for chewing on my hair. I'm not sure what it is; it doesn't matter if it's clean or dirty, up or down, but she will always go for my hair and stuff it in her mouth. I swear she loves the challenge of pulling my hair out of its "pony-bun" when she's in the backpack. (E's name for this hair style - well, it was somewhat styled before Gretchen got a hold of it!) I have to put her in the Jumparoo when I do floor exercises or play with Quin - she'll come over and start to eat my hair. Very distracting when trying to do sit ups!
Gretchen loves to chew on tags. She's a "mouthy" baby - she sticks everything into her mouth. Quin wasn't like that at all; we could put him next to almost anything and he would rarely put it in his mouth. Gretchen, on the other hand, is very orally fixated.

These are her favorite two fingers to suck on.
Quin has been fascinated with pretending to eat and make things recently. I'm not sure why. He was going on and on and on about making pancakes, so we made pancakes the first non-school morning. Quin was a great helper and an even better eater!
"No, Mama, I wanna feed Gunkin!"

The Sensei

Last night we saw an amazing movie: The Sensei.

It was a very powerful movie, and I highly recommend that everyone go see it! When it comes out, that is. We were fortunate to know someone who invited the writer/producer/co-star, Diana Inosanto, to show a private screening of the movie for World Aids Day.

The link has a synopsis of the movie, so I won't include one, but it is a tear jerker, so bring your hanky. If there is a screening in your area, go see it! They are doing a word of mouth, grassroots advertising campaign similar to The Blair Witch Project and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. A definite must see!