Saturday, March 30

We ran!

This morning, my sister Courtney and I ran the Cook Forest 5K. This was my Christmas present to Courtney, to come out to Pennsylvania and run with her in her first race. It was pretty exciting/logistically challenging. The race was about an hour and a half away, so we had a drive to contend with. Then there are the twins, who are eleven months old (enough said about that, I think). A babysitter was called, the big kids loaded up, the cold-weather gear accounted for, and we were off.

As it turned out, the sun was up and it ended up feeling pretty warm. But boy, were we cold to start. It was a gorgeous course, right along a burbling river. Felt very Colorado, with lots of pine trees and hills all around. By far the prettiest course I've run.

I tried to document the occasion as best I could. I even took some very shaky Blair-Witch-type video that is a little too motion-sickness inducing to post (also, I don't know how to get it off my phone and onto this blog. Maybe I'll put it on facebook instead. Social Media FTW!).

First things first: we decided there would be no stopping.
All checked in, we attached our timing chips to our shoes. Sadly, this race did not have bibs, so the iconic keepsake of one's first race doesn't exist. Nor do we have any of those "Hey look at us, we are clearly runners, do you see these numbers on our chests?" photos.
Brrr! Until we began running, we were cold. It was in the low 30s, I think. Warmed up to around 40 by the end of the race. The kids were in good spirits, in spite of the face Austin is making here.
Nothing like a little snack while waiting for people to start (and finish) a race.
Here's Esther and Zach ready to cheer us on. 
Austin made an awesome sign that said GO MOMMY AND MEGAN. Seriously, it was the best.
This is Courtney when she saw Austin's sign. It actually made her tear up a little.


Hooray! We did it!  

Sunday, March 24

Switcheroo

Milo: Hey, Daddy, tomorrow you're going to Miss Kristin's.
Daddy: What? I'm going to Miss Kristin's?
Milo: Yeah. And I'm going to work!

Thursday, March 21

Happy Birthday, Milo

My baby is three years old. This is the part where I say something about how time flies, and I can't believe he's already three, wasn't he just born yesterday? But somehow, it seems to me like he's been three for awhile now. A month back, I was reserving time for him and Olive at my gym's childcare room, and the front desk guy asked me if the kids were over two. I said that one was over two and one was under. It didn't even occur to me until hours later that in fact neither of my children were over two. Huh.

Lately Milo just seems big to me. He's tall and so thin I sometimes wonder if he's actually eating enough. He has the face and haircut of a little boy. His cheeks and hands have lost their roundness. Milo is all little boy; there's not a trace of baby left.

He is almost entirely potty trained. He has had maybe one accident in the last two or three weeks, and that was a case of not quite getting there in time. He wears underwear during the day, and only wears a diaper at night against his will. He does wake up dry most mornings, but he hasn't yet completely mastered the pants down/pants up skill, and I'm not convinced he could get up out of bed, go into the bathroom, pull his pants down, use the toilet, get his pants up, and get back in bed by himself in the middle of the night. And so while we work on those things, he wears a diaper at night. I can't say for sure, but I bet he might be ready to wear underwear overnight around the time the pack of diapers we bought runs out. Just saying.


Milo is so funny, so sweet, so tenderhearted, and so stubborn. He can make me absolutely want to throw him across the room one minute, then make my  heart burst with love for him the next minute. He's up, he's down, he's hot, he's cold. I guess all kids his age are like that.

He has a funny little saying when he falls or bonks into something. He says, "That didn't hurt. It just tickled me." Sometimes followed up with more detail: "The table just tickled me, Mommy. It didn't hurt, it just tickled me." (He's also very into repetition of his sentences. I'm guessing he isn't feeling heard or acknowledged until we essentially repeat what he said. So sometimes he repeats things many, many times.)

He's such a boy. One of his favorite phrases is, "I tooted!"

He also spreads the news of things he sees. Example: In the car (with all of us present), I point out the window and say, "Look, Milo, a digger!" And he says, "I see it! A digger! Daddy, Mommy and I just saw a digger!" And Andrew has to then say something like, "Yeah, buddy, a digger, so cool!" or Milo continues to repeat the part about seeing a digger. And by then, the digger is long gone. His pure excitement about these things is contagious, and Andrew and I often exchange smiling glances when we hear Milo lose his shit over a construction site or a trash truck or OMG a TRAAAAAIN!!

Milo continues to learn new things all the time. He can pretty much brush his own teeth, by which I mean I've seen him get some good brushing in. He mostly doesn't want to do any real brushing after he has eaten all the toothpaste off the brush, so of course we always brush his teeth too. He is starting to learn to spit out the toothpaste instead of swallow it. He can blow his nose, put on his own shoes, put on his own hat, drink from a cup without a lid, put on his own pajamas, use scissors, say the whole alphabet, count up to 20 (though kind of inconsistently), help in the kitchen (he washes dishes with Andrew and can start the dishwasher entirely on his own), spoon-feed Olive, and memorize books like a maniac.

Seriously, the kid must know at least 10 books in their entirety completely by memory. He can finish a line if I start it, he randomly quotes books, and he reads them to Olive. Milo loves reading and loves story time. He is just as happy to sit down with a book as he is to play with his trains. It all depends on his mood. He also has gotten into listening to audio books in the car. ("No, Mommy, the vaaaannnnn," Milo would be quick to point out.) It's pretty awesome; he is distracted by the audio books, and Daddy and I can occasionally carry on a conversation.

Milo is a wonderful big brother. He likes to play with Olive and he likes holding her hand, giving her kisses, or hugging her. He also gets extremely frustrated with her, and lately those two can't spend three minutes together before I hear Milo's sad whine: "Olive took my car. Olive won't let me have the book.Olive says she won't share with me." Milo is always putting words in Olive's mouth, which can be hilarious. "Olive says I don't have to take a bath right now." Oh really? Olive said that? Well, okay then, no bath tonight! Right. Good try, Milo.

Speaking of whining, Milo is very good at that, too. When he is mad about something, he grunts. "Please eat your carrots, Milo." "Uhhnn." "What Milo? I can't understand you when you grunt." "Uhn! BuhIdonwahneeemycarrottttsssss." Many conversations go something like that.

Milo demands things a lot or makes declarative statements. We are working with him on asking for things instead. So we have had literally hundreds of conversations exactly like this:
Milo: I want some more [blank].
Andrew or Megan: Is that how we ask for things?
Milo: Please!
Andrew or Megan: Please what?
Milo: Please may I have some more [blank]?
Andrew or Megan: Oh, sure, I will get you some more [blank].

He also loves to call things silly. He can't really tell a joke yet, but he tries (Knock, knock boo hoo! ha ha ha etc.). Watch what you say, because he will take the tiniest phrase and repeat it. He adores anything silly. I tuck him in most nights, and I have taken to saying, "Sleep tight, Milo, hope you're snug as a bug in a rug," (which is something my dad said to me) and Milo loves it. Thinks it is the silliest.

Milo has dark blond hair, getting darker all the time, and gorgeous blue eyes. Sometimes I think he looks a bit like my nephew, Austin. Usually the Austin resemblance comes out when he's being playful and silly, like throwing a toy up in the air. It's a certain facial expression more than anything, sort of a clenched-teeth grin. In Milo's case, he accompanies the grin with "Eee-eee-eeee" in a sing-songy way.

He's not so big on eating dinner. Sometimes he doesn't take a single bite. We do request/require that he sit with us at the table until we're all finished, which often doesn't go over well. But come on, kid, quit wasting food. I worked hard to find a meal that I thought you would like. Sigh.

I am so stinking proud of this kid. He is so smart and kind and so thoroughly excited by the world. He gives me amazing hugs and sometimes even kisses. He says, "I love you, too." Sometimes he even says it first. There is nothing better than hearing your little man tell you that he loves you, and when he follows it up with a kiss? Well, you can just get a mop because you will have melted all over the floor.

In short, I love this kid with my whole entire heart. Happy 3rd Birthday, Milo.

Monday, March 18

Quotable Milo

I turned on Wheel of Fortune tonight for a few minutes in a really lame attempt to entertain Milo and Olive with a big wheel and the alphabet. I thought maybe we could practice some letter recognition or something. And, okay, you caught me, I kind of like Wheel, too.

The show came back from commercial, the wheel was spun, and the letter board popped onto the screen.

"A princess," said Milo, clearly in awe.

"That's Vanna White," I said.

"Wow," said Milo.

He could not have cared less about the letters, but he adored the blond in the floaty yellow gown.

Sunday, March 17

No green beer here

Just green pancakes. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody.


And guess what? I made these pancakes with instant mix, then dyed them with spinach! I added some banana for sweetness and to mask the spinach taste. Brilliant, right? Milo and Olive could not get enough. Most veggies they've eaten in days.

(If you try this "recipe," blend the spinach and banana in a blender with your wet ingredients before adding to the dry mix.)

Tuesday, March 12

Olive is 13 Months Old

So here it is, just a couple weeks after my big "she's one!" post for Olive. And guess what? She's already thirteen months. Wowza, time flies, eh?

Since I was so late with the last post, I don't feel like that much has changed with her since last time. But let's just dig in and see.

She now has one top tooth for sure (her front left) and possibly a second top tooth on the right, and one molar on the bottom left has started to poke through her gums. She had a rough couple of days when (we guessed) her teeth were really hurting. Extra clingy and extra crabby. Poor thing.

She prefers to be carried. Especially when I'm making dinner or brushing my teeth.

She looks adorable in a headband. Correction: she looks adorable in a headband for about 45 seconds. Then she pulls the headband off.

Olive's new words are banana, belly, up, and Zadie. Semi-related: she thinks Zadie is hilarious and loves watching her. Olive will just stare at her and start giggling. Then if Zadie does something (anything, really), like jump down from a chair, Olive shrieks with laughter.

Olive likes to pull her shirt up and pat her tummy and say "behleh." She likes it if you pat her tummy, too, or tickle her. It's really an invitation to tickle, I think.

She and Milo love playing together. It's pretty awesome to have two kids close in age who can entertain each other.

Olive is a good eater generally, but she's a bread girl. Waffles, toast, crackers, pancakes, bagels, cereal, etc. etc. She also enjoys a nice pasta. Cheese, not so much. Fruit, yes please. Veggies, meh. Sometimes she's into veggies, not always. Yogurt and oatmeal, yes and yes.

She haaaaates having her hands and face wiped after a meal. Screams, twists in her seat, fusses to the max. We're all, what the hey, kid, we even warmed your washcloth in the microwave for ten seconds so it is like a luxurious spa treatment or something. Why all the screaming?

She gives kisses on command, which is my favorite thing.

Olive takes a bath around 7:00pm, then Andrew or I read to her. Then she's down in her crib around 7:30. She is a good sleeper and sleeps through the night. Occasionally she wakes up sans paci and fusses, half awake, until she finds it (or Mommy or Daddy finds it for her). Then she is still kind of an early riser, though it's getting better. She usually wakes up around 6:00am. Sometimes a bit before that, sometimes as much as 15 minutes after that. Maybe once or twice she slept until about 6:30.

Olive is getting into the girly girl stuff, wearing necklaces and carrying around her baby doll. She's decidedly uninterested in Milo's trains and trucks. She's my girly, sassy, fierce, determined, wonderful little lady.