I love you

Today, Lauren decided to draw some pictures after practicing her name a couple of times (something we try to do in the morning after breakfast everyday.)  Somewhere in there she tired of drawing a picture and decided to write a sentence.  While she was doing this I was cleaning up the breakfast mess and changing diapers (glamorous, I know.)  Then, all of a sudden she says, “Mommy I made this for you.  It says I love you.”  I was pretty surprised when I walked over there and saw what she had written, all on her own. 

It’s hard to decipher but she showed it to me and spelled it all out.  “There’s the I and the L and the v (which I think she meant to write a separate e and v for) and the u, I love you.”  I was sooooooo amazed that she did this.  Then, (and I wasn’t thinking clearly or I never would have defiled the paper she wrote her first I love you to me on) after making a big huge deal about how amazed and proud of her I was, we spelled “love you” properly above it so she could see the couple of ‘quiet letters’ she missed and trace them.  Overall, I was blown away by her thought process on this and my cold black heart grew 3 sizes today.

Play date with Elliot

Today after Songs on the lawn (outdoor concerts over the lunch hour in June) we had a little play date with Elliot.  It’s amazing how much they’ve grown and changed over the past year that Elliot has been gone.  Lauren sure does miss him though.  She says that “Chicago is a nice place and we should visit!”  I think the Good’s would agree.

Photobooth

I find it a little creepy that Dora the explorer snuck into the photobooth with us.

Playtime with friends

We had a picnic play date at Sibley park today to spend some time with Anna and the kids before the venture back to Illinois.  Lauren had a blast feeding all of the animals (as usual.)  Jack tried to have his hand removed from his arm by sticking it too close to the pony’s mouth.

This isn’t everyone, as some people had to leave early.

A little Elliot love

Living in the dust bowl today

You may not be able to see it, but there is a car parked/hidden in the dust storm over in Benson Park.  It’s sooooo gross.  They are moving all of the dirt (from our foundations) over to Highway 14 for the new interchange.  This is great because it means that a. There will be a new interchange soon and B. Benson park will be able to be completed sooner.  Unfortunately, the wind is not cooperating with the dirt hauling today.  Lauren’s pool is now a sludge pit and we are unable to play outside as it’s thick enough to choke on.  Eeeew!

50 weeks?

The age of my BABY is really hitting me.  If he’s 50 weeks, that means he’s almost 52 weeks, which also means that he’s almost a year old!!

The week in swimming pictures

It sure is hot hot hot!

The big day

Today, we took Lauren to her “first” wedding.  She’s been to her Auntie Tiffany’s wedding (she was a flower girl)  but, she was under 2 years old and doesn’t really remember it.  When we first got the invite to my friend Reanna’s wedding, I was excited about the night out (without the kids.)  But, then all of my mama friends in this group said they were going to bring their kids and turn it into a giant kid-fest (there were over 80 kids on the guest list!!)  So I changed my mind and we brought Lauren along for the festivities.  There was no way I was bringing Jack though (at his age and stage of development he wouldn’t have been happy to sit and a wedding or reception isn’t the best place for a crawling/cruising little trouble maker like him.)  Lauren had a blast dancing and eating and seeing many of her friends.  We should have taken a big group pic of them.

Here’s one of Lauren trying to squeeze a hug out of her friend Elliot (the one that moved to Chicago last year!)  Lauren has become much more affectionate with her friends after going to pre-school this year.  I think she learned some love from her friends Marleigh, Keana & Clara who are all a bit more ‘huggy’ than her.

Tough love

…or rough love.  Either way, it’s what Lauren provides for Jack on a daily basis.  She is frequently wrestling with him or snuggling him into oblivion.

I wish I had something poignant or memorable to say.  Unfortunately, I’m a person of few spoken words and even fewer written words.  As you know, I have a penchant for recreating photos with Jack that we took with Lauren.  Here is another for your enjoyment.  The original was taken of Lauren after a trip to the Waseca waterpark and was written about here (on the original blog.)  Lauren was about 12.5 months old when the picture was taken and Jack is about 11.5 months old in his.

These seem to tug on my heartstrings a bit more.  Perhaps it’s because you can see the amazing growth in the beanitude between the two?  I feel like I should point out that this wasn’t my idea.  In fact, after I took Jackson’s photo in the sink, Lauren started to climb the counter to get into the sink for hers.  She just assumed I wanted her pic too (I have her trained well, eh?)

49 weeks