Stay near me—do not take thy flight! A little longer stay in sight!

Stay near me—do not take thy flight!
A little longer stay in sight! ("To A Butterfly," William Wordsworth)

 My mom is in town and we took the kids to the Natural History Museum to see the Butterfly Pavilion last weekend.  Sadly, it was rather cool and a bit overcast in the morning, so we didn't see tons of butterflies, but a few. We didn't take many pictures, either.  I was trying to juggle Isla and the camera, and Myles wasn't feeling well and was having a bit of a meltdown, so this is what we captured...

Myles taking a closer look at one of the butterflies!

Taking a rest nearby!

Ready for flight!

 

Isla grabbing for butterflies, Mommy juggling the camera - yep, this is the best image I got of her. Sorry, sweetie!

Myles and Grandma!

Happy First Birthday, Isla!

Isla is one!  Our sweet baby girl has grown so much this year.  She can crawl, stand, cruise on her own. She can drink from a glass and sip from a straw, and say more than 20 words already.  She can sign as well.  Isla loves to read and will tell you "More book!" if you try to stop reading before she's ready.  She's independent and wants to do everything herself - NOW. 

The birthday girl then

and now.

The birthday festivities didn't start so well. Isla didn't like the hat (and she's teething badly).

But then, she saw the balloons...

And cake...

 

 And that wasn't so bad...



And then she got kisses...

Myles and Daddy got in on the act, too...

And then she was all smiles again...

She got presents - what the heck is that?!

And Myles got a present, too... 

And Judit gave her her first purse, with a bracelet, lipstick, mirror,  keys and money.  She loved that!

  She admired the bracelet for a while.

By the end, she decided birthdays weren't SO horrible.  :)

Happy birthday, Pookie.  We love you!

February

We've been busy this month with the kids, trying to fit in parks and soccer, cooking, playing and new learning experiences, and just some time together.

Myles is growing taller and his vocabulary is astounding.  He is smart as a whip and keeping us on our toes with observations about Euoplocephalous, Allosaurus and T-Rex (dinosaurs) and thoughtful questions about the world ("Mommy, is it ok to be 'normal'?)  Yikes.  He keeps telling me he wants to go fishing with his Uncle Doug and Uncle Roger, and then explaining the baiting of the hook idea in detail.

Isla is crawling and grabbing and talking up a storm, too.  She can say Dada, Mama, Que (What?), Kitty Cat, Hi, Bye, and All Done. Her sign language is moving along as well, and she is interested in everything. She says lots of nonsense words that sound like a full on conversation, and she gets a big kick out of it. Her brother always makes her laugh.

It was a good month, and it flew by.  Here are a few photos!

The Grass is Green Enough Right Here

A few shots from last weekend at the park.  The weather was beautiful so we took off Isla's socks and let her explore the grass...

Now look at the last picture.  Myles when he was just a little younger, at the same park.  How time flies.

Myles the T-Rex

Myles mugging for his Toy Story camera doing his best T-Rex impression.

Jolly old St. Nick. Not.

Happy holidays, everyone!  Myles and Isla went to see Santa this week. He certainly looked the part, but no personality.  Isla laughed and clapped in the pictures - except for this one.  Ha.  Myles didn't smile at all in the pictures - except for this one.  (Meanwhile, Mommy was jumping up and down in the background making an arse of myself.  Hahhahah.  The things we do for love. and posterity.)

Wishing you a year full of love, health and happiness!  xoxoo

I Love Hot Cocoa!

Myles' latest philosophical discussion... on hot cocoa! Enjoy!