Cadence

Cadence is 2 and a half now. Still potty training. She's got half of it down, now we're working on staying dry. Her vocabulary is really starting to explode. Occasionally I hear myself in some of the things she says...scary! She still can't pronounce several sounds, so it can be a little frustrating for us all, but she's making progress. She likes to sing and dance and play. She is a joyful child! We also have our share of little meltdowns around the house. Sometimes over seemingly silly things, ah the joys! The world of a 2 year old is an interesting place.

Daddy's shoes:
Dancing with daddy:

This one's gonna be good leverage in those teenage years:

Dumisani

Our little guy is not so little anymore! Sani turned 7 months on Wednesday. He's still our happy man, and definitely on the go! He began crawling a few days before he turned 6 months old, so he's been at it for over a month and is getting his speed. Shortly after crawling he also began pulling up to a stand. Eric said one day he cruised the couch, but it took him 10 minutes to do it. I think he'll be an early walker too at this rate. Sani loves meal time and eats up everything we give him...fruits, veggies, cheerios, and teething biscuits...he loves them all. So far he's not a big fan of juice, especially prune juice, but loves trying to swipe his sister's cups. I'm still nursing him, just not as often since he's eating now. Sani has begun to babble with us and the sibling rivalry has started now that he can get into sister's things. Here we go!

Can't you see my spoon is empty? Keep it coming mom!
Look what I can do...now how do I get out of here?

How do I put this thing in reverse?

He, he! I've been waiting months to get into this stuff!

An appetite for literature

Cadence loves her books. Just recently we discovered she loved them a little more than she should. We've kept a basket in her room full of books since she was an infant. The cute and innocent picture above is Cadence reading inside that very basket...you will notice the pile of books on the floor next to her. As she's grown older, she's gotten into the habit of sleeping with a few books nestled in a corner of the head of her bed. This is not surprising as Eric and I have books stashed in our bed as well. She especially prefers a set of four Disney Princess books.

One evening after bedtime we could hear Cadence fiddling around in her room. After a bit, she began to call out for me. Granted, I didn't jump right up as this is often just one of her ploys to stay up a little longer, and not usually a call for a legitimate need. After a few minutes I went to see what she needed. As I entered the dark room I could see her blankets bunched up and some on the floor. She asked me to help her fix her bed. As I began, I spotted one of her books at the foot of her bed. When I picked it up I could immediately sense something was not right. All I was holding was the book cover and binding...the pages were now...um...somewhere.

Annoyance began to rise...not only had I been conned by one of her bedtime stall tactics, but I learned she has destroyed one of her books too. I got the child back in bed and as I lifted blankets off the floor a soft "thud" revealed the contents of the book. I quickly tucked her in, picked up the missing pages and turned to leave the room. I stopped quickly now as a cold wet sensation seeped through my sock. Oh god...what is it that? I stooped and picked up a moist, mushy wad and exited the room as quickly as I could. Better light in the dining room revealed a ball of chewed paper the size of a small apricot. I then examined the book more closely and found several perfect bites taken out of some of the pages. I handed all the remains to Eric as a explained what had just happened and flopped on the couch, still a little annoyed, but also chuckling to myself. Ah, life with small children!

Eric disposed of the remains of that book and we had to explain to Cadence the next day where her blue Cinderella book had gone. She seemed to understand. As I helped make her bed that next morning I could only find one of the princess books. I peered under the bed and spied the other two against the wall. After fishing them out, I discovered Cinderella was not the only casualty of that night (see pictures below). We have since removed all the books from Cadence's room given her two shelves on a small bookcase elsewhere in the house instead.

Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Exhibit C:

Big sis, lil bro

It's taken time, but the kids are starting to be able to play and do a few things together. This is just the beginning of many years to come. Enjoy a few pics of some of their good moments:

Cleaning up their act

Sometimes it just makes more sense to use the good ol' kitchen sink to scrub a baby. Big sister thought this looked pretty fun, so she got clean too:

Napa Valley

After a marathon of a day on Christmas, we packed ourselves into the car yet again and made a trip up north for a weekend visit with Eric's dad. We returned Sunday evening to a cold dark house. Sometime that afternoon power lines went down nearby resulting in a complete blackout throughout all of Selma, Fowler (city north of us), and part of Kingsburg (city south of us). We quickly unloaded the car after locating some flashlights and candles, then jumped back in and headed to the part of Kingsburg with power...along with half of the town. We dined on a Taco Bell "feast" and then made our way back home keeping a sharp eye out for signs of light. We were excited to see downtown, where we live, getting the power back online literally as we drove through.

The morning of the trip our son managed to find an ink pen on the floor somewhere, look closely and you'll see the results on his cheek:
Shhh! Baby brother is napping in the car!

Cadence plays a tune on her new musical book from Grandpa Mason:

Cadence gets acquainted with the bunny!

My guys:

Grandpa Mason and family:

Grandpas play the best games!

The best part about presents is the wrapping of course:

A walk through Yountville:

Cadence pauses to rest:

All tuckered out:

Our cutie-pie:

Christmas day

Whew! That is all I have to say about Christmas day! We started with opening stockings and packages at home, then made a trip over to my folk's house for more stockings and packages. After that we got cleaned up and shot over to my Grandpa's house for a delicious brunch with ham and ebelskivers. Yum! After a few more presents we hopped back in the car and headed to Aunt Bea's place where a delicious turkey dinner was being served, and you guessed it...more presents! We wrapped up the day by seeing Eric's grandparents and topped off with a slice of pie. I think I ate enough calories for a week! Boy were we glad to see our beds that night!

Our tree that morning:
Yum...paper!
The kids and their bounty: My bro and his gal Marie:
Shiny things are the best things:
At grandpa's house:

You said it sister!

Christmas Eve

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without a trip to Granny Mouse's House! We've been going there for as long as I can remember. Enjoy some pics:

Sani takes a nap in my cousin Jenner's arms:
Cadence opening the first of many Christmas gifts:

Tigger's a wonderful thing....

New dishes:

Cadence asked me to open this for her. I dumped them in a pile on the floor and she did the following:

Sani bonds with his new bud Matthew, the Golden Retriever:

Matthew bonds back...with a wet sloppy kiss:

Sani says, "I can do that too!"