Snow Day

I was really hoping Friday would be a snow day. I had big plans to take an adventure on the metro with Connor and Helen to a nearby bookstore and grab a cookie (with a coupon, no less!). Then, we were going to make the grandest of snow forts, make Helen a snow chair so she could watch Connor and I lob snowballs at each other, and then head inside to warm up.

It was going to be great.

Only there's one problem. We have no snow! Not a single flake decided to fall here, despite forecasts calling for 2 - 6 inches.

So...I guess we just have to relive the memories of when we were in Kansas, and at least got to see snow, even if it wasn't that much and didn't stick around for long.

Elaine

The Cupcake Roundup

We've been pretty consistent about eating cupcakes on Fridays around here. And sometimes on Saturdays. And a few even snuck in our house on Sundays. Some of these were from friends, birthday parties, and some pink ones even came from a dinner guest!

Just to recap, we started with the big guns - Georgetown Cupcake, because those were given to me at an SVMoms event, although I've also purchased a good many of them on my own. After several weeks, they retain top prize, in my book. I've also written about DaddyCakes, which are from my hometown of Topeka, Kansas and since Grandma purchased a dozen, we did a good bit of tasting these yummy morsels. We've been to the Bakeshop...twice, actually. And I keep trying to be impressed by them, but frankly, the chocolate store next door is such a knockout, that I suspect most days when I'm in Clarnedon, I'll stop in there, instead. Variety...I need variety in my cupcake choices. And both times I've visited Bakeshop I've been less than impressed on this note, although the owner/baker did offer to whip up something special each time, which was certainly nice. At my sister's suggestion, we visited Smallcakes in Overland Park, Kansas, and that was worth the trip just to see how utterly messy my sister could get.

What I didn't yet tell you about is that we also went to Woodmoor Pastry Shop, after a playdate with my friend Ellen, a.k.a., blogger extraordinaire, Thirft Store Mama. We met another local blogger (who has made me grateful I did lots of kegels after giving birth because if I hadn't, I would pee my pants an awful lot while reading her posts they're so funny) at the shop Jean, a.k.a. Stimey.

The thing about Woodmoor is that they're a bakery, and not a cupcake store, so the selection was slim. And, when I asked if they could throw some sprinkles on something to appease one of the little people, the answer was a flat "no".

We ended up with two cupcakes and two cookies - and the ratings came in at Connor's usual two thumbs up and Helen with the less standard surly look added to her thumb down. And yes, that is her stuffed cat's shirt on her head. While we were at the bakery, someone actually asked me where I had gotten that unusual hat, and they were being serious.

Then we went to my friend's bday party and had cupcakes a-plenty, but no rating was done. And our friend Anna brought over strawberry cupcakes which Helen loved because they were pink, and Connor loved because they could be self-frosted. Anna's mom was nice enough to leave four behind (at Connor's not so subtle requesting), and we've consumed every one of them!

Next, we traveled to Chincoteague, Virginia, and checked out Sugarbakers. The main problem with Sugarbakers is that they are only open in the morning, so if you happen to take your children there post-nap, they will be disappointed. Real disappointed.

The cupcakes were big, and that was nice. And they were loaded with icing, which Helen and Connor certainly appreciate. But they weren't that special. And actually, Connor chose a doughnut. When asked to rate the cupcakes, Helen held firm: two thumbs down (what does it take to impress this girl?) but surprisingly, Connor joined her. It makes sense, I suppose, since he didn't actually eat a cupcake.

 So that catches us up to last week.

Rank order so far is:

Week 1: Georgetown Cupcake (Washington, DC)

Week 3.2: Daddy Cakes (Topeka, KS)
Week 2: Bakeshop in Clarendon (Arlington, VA)
Week 3: Smallcakes (Overland Park, KS)
Week 4: Woodmor Pastry Shop (Silver Spring, MD)
Week 5: Sugarbakers
Not rated: friend's bday party and cupcakes gifted from Anna

Weight gain so far? Not an ounce on my part. But I've been biking into work daily, and it's been 100+ freakin' degrees on my way home in the afternoon. For the record, this is akin to what I imagine biking through an oven would be like. Not. Fun.

Elaine

Helen Finds Anna's Make-Up Kit

It's official. In spite of the fact that she looks exactly like I did as a toddler, and looks exactly like my neice Emily did at this age. She is clearly not related to me.

But still, I adore her.

Elaine

Cupcake Battle Week 3: Smallcakes in Overland Park, KS

This week's cupcake tasting took us all the way to Overland Park, Kansas. I'd heard from my sister that Smallcakes put crack in their cupcakes, and I thought my team out to check it out. So, we flew across the country to do just that. Oh, and we also visited my family for the week.



The selection was fabulous, which means they had one that was pink and a bunch of other random flavors. The pink one came with either chocolate or vanilla cake, eliciting several "hoorays" from my youngest taster. And, because my oldest taster never wants to feel left out of anything that my youngest taster is loving, he chose pink frosting over a vanilla cupcake. It doesn't seem like Connor is keeping true to his goal of trying lots of flavors, but maybe he's going to breakout with something crazy at the next shop.



My sister and neices accompanied me on the trip. You can see my younger neice here, checking out the goods. She's been here before, and wasn't about to be tricked into something so boring as a vanilla, vanilla cupcake. She wanted something deluxe!



I chose "drumstick", my older neice chose "cookies and cream", I think that's what my younger neice chose, but I can't remember because I was so busy snapping photos of my sister who chose the world's messiest cupcake. It had some sort of gooey chocolate filling in it. All my life I have loved chocolate. I never thought of my sister as a chocolate lover--except for milk chocolate covered caramels. Then a few years ago she busted out with an incredibly decadent chocolate dessert at dinner and I was totally shocked and she informed me she did love chocolate. Only she likes the milk chocolate kind and I like the dark chocolate kind. That's how we roll on a lot of things. Similar, but not quite the same. My sister, by the way, can eat whatever she wants because about a week before this photo was taken, she biked across half the state of Kansas - about 200 miles.



My cupcake was sublime. There weren't very many nuts on top and I'm pretty sure the frosting has some lard in it. Which might be other people's thing, but it is not my thing. However, although I have never tested crack on my own, I do read stories about such people, and I didn't find myself running across the parking lot like a wild banshee, nor did my heart start racing, and I had no strange urge to commit any crimes. So, I'm going with my gut that there isn't actually crack in the cupcakes.

Although I was not terribly impressed by the shop, all five other people involved in the contest devoured their cupcakes, and the ratings were a nearly across the board two thumbs up. Helen is turning out to be a pretty harsh critic with another two thumbs down. That's the same rating she gave Clarendon's Bakeshop. A bit of a contrarian do we think? I'll give them 3.5 stars.



It occurred to me during this visit that this cupcake battle might have two side effects, one intended and one not inttended. The intended side effect is that Connor and Helen are having a ball, even though Helen claims by her rating to not enjoy these cupcakes at all. The unintended side effect is that I might need to buy a new wardrobe at the end of this summer. I'll count this photo below as my "before" photo, even though I'm three weeks into this already.



Wrap up (in rank order - and week order at this point, but that will surely change):

Week One: Georgetown Cupcake (Washington, DC)
Week Two: Bakeshop in Clarendon (Arlington, VA)
Week Three: Smallcakes in Overland Park, KS

Elaine

Connor and the Ladies

My sister came to visit over New Year's with cousins Anna and Emily. And let's just say, if anyone out there has children ages two and four in need of a super awesome vacation, invite Anna and Emily. For the days they were here, I think Helen and Connor both pretty much forgot I existed they were so in love with their cousins. On one day, we took them to the zoo. The pandas were super active since it was cold outside, which always makes for a good trip.

Happy Month 27, Helen!

Dear Helen,

You continue to simultaneously be a pure delight and a complete pain in the ass. Luckily, your pain in the assness is often really funny - really funny, which takes the edge off the annoyance factor. Take, for example, when we were preparing to leave your grandparents' home to go to the airport after Christmas. This might be a good time to remind you that airplanes fly on a schedule. A schedule your dad and I like to adhere to, for the most part, lest we find ourselves with two antsy children in an airport missing a flight and then trying to hitch a ride on a plane for which we have no ticket. Your dad was pulling out grandma's car (we needed to utilize both of their vehicles for the trip to the airport, since we numbered 5 with the inclusion of our au pair). You posed the innocent question "where is cat"? Cat, who had-in just a few short days-become your most loved toy. A toy that allowed us to continue the grand tradition that whenever we visit Grandma Lynn's, someone convinces Grandma to allow them to remove a toy from her home and bring it to ours. Your dad rushed into the house, looked around frantically for the cat, all to no avail. He came back out to the car and announced that he couldn't find it. Well, only you knew the reason, and you proudly announced "he's hidden behind my back!".



And this isn't the only trick you played on someone. At one point during a meal, your Grandpa (or Dick, as you call him) tried to convince you to eat something by pretending to eat it himself. You stuck the fork right up to your mouth like he did, and then made eating sounds as you pretended to eat. Clever, my dear. Later, you told him you were a baby and the two of you had the following conversation:

"Can you say mama?"
"mama"
"Can you say dada?"
"dada"
"Can you say Grandpa?"
"Dick"



Your most impressive feat this month is learning to use the toilet, rather than a diapers as long as you are awake. That rocks. You were inspired on New Year's Eve when your friend Ruthie came over and you asked her if she had pink underwear - something you had expressed an interest in owning for yourself. Being Ellen's child, the answer was, of course, yes. You asked if Ellen would please give them to you but I assured you I could get you your own. And I did - pink, with cats - what could be better? (Thank you, Hello Kitty brand, for existing.) Upon receiving the precious underpants, you were delighted. You enjoy changing your underpants often, and choosing which pair you will wear. You have always had such a keen fashion sense.



The two things you say most often that make me smile are "re-fridge-uh-bee-rator" as in, "Can I see if there is some milk in the re-fridge-us-bee-rator?" and "Botanabee Gardens" as in "I wan' to see the trains at the Botanabee Gardens". The origin of both of these speech tics is unclear, but I'm hoping they stick around for a while.



We had snow this month, lots of snow, but other than making the occasional snack of it, you are rather unimpressed with it. You have, however, recently conceded that mittens are, in fact, a good thing. However, you rarely agree that you need a hat if you have a hair clip in. It's all about the style for you.



You definitely enjoyed opening up the many Christmas presents you received although you were not about to sit on Santa's lap, though you would stand nearby. After we left Santa, you did tell me that night when you were nursing that "nex time I goin' to sit on Santa's lap". We never saw him again, so you never had to decide whether or not to perform this feat.


You enjoy hiding and little things - so hiding in little places is just about the best.

You do not enjoy hand-me-downs, nor do you enjoy Connor getting anything you feel should be yours. I sense that you feel you are always getting the shaft in the way of new stuff, and that is certainly true to some extent. I think I can empathize with Grandma Carlene when I was a child. I distinctly remember not wanting to wear Aunt Linda's hand-me-downs and one of my two favorite pieces of clothing was a denim jumpsuit she made that bore the letters "E L A I N E" from the shoulder down the leg. I loved that outfit, and I'm sure it was in large part because it was mine, mine, mine!! I'm not sure I ever told your dad about this, but I also adored this pink dress Grandma Carlene made me that had tiny white polka dots on it. It had a fantastic full skirt so that when I twirled, I could really catch some air. Perhaps the gene that made me love this dress has been passed down to you because you LOVE pink. A couple of days ago, your au pair announced that all your pink clothes had been washed and you literally cheered. You also regularly refuse to wear anything that's not pink, but will give up without too much fight if I've managed to wrangle something else on you. Most days, your dad dresses you, and I have to admit that when I see the combo the two of you select (for which he always gives you exclusive credit) I am a bit surprised. But last Saturday, I took you up to get clothes, and you chose red pants with flowers, a pink shirt with flowers (that may actually match, I need to check with Ellen on this) and then you insisted on adding your yellow "new jersey" and yellow socks. It was quite a work.

You loved your cousin's make-up kit and were quite pleased when you got your fingernails painted. Tonight at dinner you asked me why I didn't have my nails painted. For the record, it is possible that nail polish exists somewhere in this house, and if I find it, I'm happy to paint your nails. I'm pretty sure my own nails have not been painted since I married your dad almost 9 years ago. Pottery and painted nails just don't go together. I once patted myself on the back for the fact that neither you nor your brother have ever seen me don make-up, forgetting, of course, that your au pairs never leave the house without it. So much for instituionalizing feminism in our house.



You are solidly in the "why" phase of life, and occasionally I get trapped into answering those whys, only to wonder why I went down this infinitely regressive path. Ugh. I'm hoping this phase passes quickly.

You also follow the time-tested rule of "little girls love big girls" and oh my, did you get to see a lot of big girls this month. For starters, you played with Zoe a few times, then you visited cousins Alisa, Kate, and Sam, then cousins Anna and Emily came for a visit, and finally Ruthie, Esther and Elizabeth came over. Now that's a good month!





You sing, you dance, you entertain whenever you get the chance.

Love,
Mommy

Recommendation for a good vacation

A few weeks ago, Connor, Helen, and I traveled to Kansas for a 5 day visit, and I learned a great tip about how to have a really great vacation.

Go to the house of a 'tween preparing to open a babysitting business in the near future.

If you are lucky like me, you just might find both of your children adoring this 'tween and her sis' so that you can actually kick your heels up and have an adult conversation or two. It's a great way to travel. My other recommendation is to get lucky and have your kids sleep all night, every night. Well, Miss Helen woke up once the first night, but once she saw I was in the same room as her, she piped down and went back to sleep. This means that the trip to my sister's and parents' homes might just possibly be the best vacation I have taken in the past three and a half years. It does not even come close to some vacations that date before that, but it's a start. A really good start.



On day 1 of our trip, we hung out at my sister's house, with said 'tween (Anna) and my dad until my sister and Emily came home from a big girl scouting adventure. Anna is what you would call a "hands on" babysitter. From the moment we arrived until we departed, Anna could almost always be found within five feet of Helen or Connor.

We started out playing a little hoops in her backyard.



During the time, Connor busied himself cleaning out the playhouse and checking out the sand and the dirt in the yard. Sally, my sister's new puppy, was recovering from surgery, which made for a rather sedate dog - which suited Helen just fine.



The next day, when Helen was a bit more courageous about approaching Sally, an unfortunate toppling of Helen occurred as a very excited puppy attempted to give her a little smooch. Helen was not so interested in Sally for the rest of the vacation, unless Sally was behind bars or Helen was in someone's arms. One can never be too careful, you know.

Because Helen is so tiny, she's easy to treat as if she's a doll, which luckily, she seems to enjoy. In fact, I'm sure Helen is fairly confident that toys intended for dolls were made just for her. Because, after all, the world does (mostly) revolve around her, or so she wishes, at least. Here's the photo I took after my sister told her younger daughter, Emily, that the shopping cart should not be taken outside. Both Helen and Emily disagreed.



I don't recall a single argument between the cousins the entire time I was in Kansas, which is even more remarkable that you might think since every day was jam packed with activities, and bedtime was completely abandoned. There was a lot of this though!



My mom's one wish for the trip was to capture the cousins in one photo. Mission accomplished in the backyard.



My mom rewarded them all with her famous mashed potatoes which are a hit with each of her grandchildren. If Helen could be trusted to sit on the bench, I'm sure she would've been laughing with the others, but she would almost certainly fall off, so she was stuck looking across the table laughing at the others.



Elaine

Hangin' with the big kids

If you asked Helen if she could do everything Connor does, and if she could answer, she would respond with an enthusiastic "yes!". Almost every time Connor does anything, Helen signals that she would like to do it as well. So it was no surprise that when Connor rode the little train at an indoor amusement park last week, that Helen started wagging her little pointer and practically jumping out of Ed's arms as Connor went around the little track. So we rounded up cousins Anna and Emily and asked the train operator if Helen could take a whirl. Helen not only had riding in the train down, she knew exactly when to wave her hand for the camera.

End of November

Today's post ends Na(tional)Bl(og)Po(sting)Mo(nth). So while I'm sure everyone spent much time with the refresh key on their computer, wondering just when the day's post would arrive, you can now go back to checking less frequently, as I know I'll be writing less frequently - although I would like to start capturing more of the funny things Connor says each day, so perhaps I'll make a point of posting more conversation snippets.

Today also was our first full day back from Thanksgiving vacation at Ed's family. I attempted to get a photo of all 5 grandchildren on that side, but what can I say, 3 out of 5 isn't bad, considering the other two are ages 2 and 1. Herding squirrels, I tell ya. Alisa is the glue of this crew!

Connor spent a fair amount of his time "cleaning" my mother-in-law's windows, stove, inside of her dishwasher, playground equipment, and basketball court. The latter two were particularly dirty, being that they were outside in the rain and all. I'm sure she appreciated his efforts, even if he left a few smears on his surfaces. Helen enjoyed the inside of my mother-in-law's washine maching. I would post a similar photo I took of Connor at this age, but I accidentally erased it and I am still sad about that. It is mostly Ed's fault as he was bugging me to do some home maintenance task that was rather urgent, but ended up being a total waste of my time.

Connor also enjoyed hanging out in the basement, where my father-in-law has this nifty ski machine. And it's a good thing Connor got his exercise, because I broke a many year ban on McDonald's and actually took both kids there yesterday for dinner because Helen had spent so much of the trip from Baltimore screaming that my nerves were frayed, and I wanted to be within walking distance of home when we stopped to eat in case she had another breakdown as we tried to strap her into her carseat for the final leg of our journey. Helen adored the french fries, and even remembered that she had tasted ketchup a few weeks ago and when she saw it, she promptly signaled that she would like it and dipped her fries and fist right in. This reminded me that I am regularly surprised at how much the non-talking crowd is taking in.

Elaine

Sealing the deal as the favorite granddaughter

By virtue of being the only grandson, Connor has always held the position of favorite grandson. Even when he went through his rather long phase of classifying the world into “mommy” and “not the mommy” - and as you might imagine, he was not excited about members of the second category - he held the distinction of being the only male offspring in his generation, thus retaining the title of favorite. Competition is a bit stiffer for favorite granddaughter.


But, I have to be proud of my little gal for putting her best foot forward – literally – to lock the title up. There I was, taking a nap (yes! a nap! Did I mention how much I love it when my parents visit?) when I heard “Helen – I think those count as your fist steps!” and quick as could be, I bolted out of bed (OK, so I wasn’t actually sleeping at that point, I was just laying in bed loving that not one person was demanding anything of me) and headed for the camcorder. Carefully, I maneuvered my way around so that Helen didn’t catch a glimpse of me (after verifying that indeed, she could take a couple of steps) and recorded the feat. Of course, I still haven’t figured out how to move that video from my camcorder to this medium (damn technology), but perhaps once Vickie settles in with her new babe, she’ll help me out.


My dad surely remembers the hours he spent as he was recovering from brain surgery and babysitting Anna (the first granddaughter) trying to teach her to crawl, only to have her crawl at my home after Ed made it too dangerous to not crawl in our home. You see, Ed had no idea that the enormous boulder that sits atop a baby’s shoulders is very heavy. Anna was in our kitchen and she looked like she could crawl, if only she’d pick her behind up. So Ed provided an assist, only to see her entire body lurch forward as she face-planted into our floor. The next day, there was no more fake crawling for Anna. Nope, she crawled right over to Ed’s CD collection and attempted to wreak havoc on it.

Anyway, Helen is not walking yet, per se, but she is awfully interested in walking, and regularly will take a couple of steps. She’s gone from needing two hands to assist her when walking to only needing to hold on with one. She cruises like nobody’s business and can move her shopping cart and two other walkers pretty much anywhere she needs to go, so long as no backing up is required.

Happy 1 year, Helen!

Dear Helen,

Last Sunday, you celebrated your first birthday. Aunt Linda, Anna, Emily, Grandma, and Grandpa were all there to see the festive cake eating. Emily still maintains the record of messiest cake eating, and frankly, you didn't give her much of a challenge to that family title.

You spent the month working very hard at doing everything your brother does, which meant you moved as fast and as much as possible. You crawled up stairs as if they were nothing more than flat surfaces; you pulled up on any and every object you could find and then cruised around; and if you could find two fingers to guide you, you used them to walk anywhere those two fingers would lead. For my part, I was delighted to have Anna and Emily step in for this phase of your development.

You continue to retain your sunny disposition - though you also still are having a tough time separating from me these days. That's not too surprising though, given your age and the fact that our au pair for the past nine months is no longer living with us. I'm sure it was shocking when you woke up one day and she wasn't here. After almost two weeks without her, you seem to have adapted pretty well, though who knows how you will greet the news that a new au pair arrives on Friday.

You prefer the real phone to a toy phone, love to go through my wallet, and particularly like it when you see something on the floor - or just within reach on a chair - that seems like you should not have it. Those things are the best things of all and you are remarkably good at quietly seeking them out. If we didn't have your brother around telling us "Helen just...", you might have a little more fun. You enjoy playing "Hungry, Hungry Hippos" with me and Connor and you like to try and put his puzzles together, though don't show that much interest in your own. Connor considers you to be not all that helpful, but you can be quite helpful when it comes to picking the puzzles up because just like your brother at about this age, you love to play "things in things".

You have mostly become resigned to the fact that you should not eat everything, to the point that now when you pick up wood chips or other debris from the ground, you look at it and then hold it up to me to give it to me. Rarely does it hit your mouth, which I am quite happy about.

You say "mama", "dada", "buh buh" (bye bye), and a few other random "words" and whenever a particular song about clapping comes on a CD you have, you clap away. You do not seem to get the difference between the question "how big are you?" and "how old are you?". To both, you almost always respond by putting your hands on your head and smiling a very goofy smile. You did, however, work very diligently when I showed you how to put one finger up at putting two of your three fingers that were up down so that you too, would have only one finger up. I thought this was pretty impressive.

I feel as if a huge milestone has been reached, Helen, and I am grateful to have year one in the rearview mirror and year two staring right at me.

Love,
Mama

Danger man, Connor!

Now that my sister no longer has toddlers around the house, I figure it's wise to seek activities outside the home for Connor to do, lest he unleash his destructive forces on her nice suburban home. For this visit, I planned to go to Worlds of Fun and the Kansas City Zoo. Unfortunately, when we got off the plane it was SNOWING. (Did I mention when we got ON the plane in DC it was 70?) As we landed, Connor told me that he was going to build a giant snowman in front of Aunt Linda's house. Then, he corrected himself and told me "Actually, Mommy, I am going to build an ENORMOUS snowman!" As it turns out, the snowman wouldn't even happen because the snow was melting as soon as it hit the ground. But, it was cold enough that outdoor activities would not be on the agenda.

Obviously, my sister knows a thing or two about toddlers and their destructive powers, because she had a back-up plan involving leaving her home both days we were there. On day 1, we went to a place called Zonkers, which is a place definitely intended to drive adults to the loony bin. Connor, naturally, was smitten at first sight. And, lucky for me his cousin Anna was willing to play the role of "parent" and accompany him on the rides until he was comfortable on his own. Connor asked me to ride, but I reminded him that my bottom was too big for the seats and it might get stuck. I think Connor rode this little train about 25 times and these planes another 15. He even rode the "big kid" roller coaster and it was really sweet that his other cousin, Emily, was willing to go on this because between the two girls, Connor was nicely wedged into the seat. The roller coaster appeared a bit scary and I thought he wouldn't enjoy it, but he was game for a few rides.

On day 2, my sister took us to an enormous indoor swimming area complete with "beach entry", buckets of water dropping, a "lazy river", and the object pictured below that is intended for children to flip little gates and watch water move at different paces. Never one to be far from the action, Connor decided to climb onto the metal structure and really get into the fun. I presumed one of the very vigilant 12 year old lifeguards would tell Connor to get off, but they did not. Eventually my heart gave out one too many times as I envisioned a trip to the ER not just to visit Connor's Uncle Bill but to get treatment, so I told him he had to get down - but not before snapping a few photos. That's me in the background, averting my eyes from the danger and Helen reminding me that she wanted no part of the water.

It was great for me that my parents met us there, because that meant I had some extra eyes to watch Connor attempt to kill himself in any number of ways at the pool - or so I thought. At one point, Connor came up to me and asked if he could go on the lazy river. I presumed he meant with my dad, but in fact, he and Anna had decided they could go alone. I looked up to see Anna holding him high enough that he wasn't drowning, but it definitely seemed unsafe to me so I walked over to where they were and my sister noticed about the same time and created the "no lazy river without a life jacket" rule, which was a good thing. My dad? He was probably wondering where Anna and Connor had gone. The lesson for me? Ask for more details when my very excited toddler asks to do something. To her credit, Anna did steer him through the river safely.

Ahhh...two days in KC. Next up? My parent's home.

Elaine

Take Two...

Hi All,

Looks like I'm worse at maintaining a blog than I thought I would be - and my standards were pretty low. However, I'm going to try this one more time. Here's where you can now check in to see how fabulous my peanut is!

Today we went to the movies for the first time and saw Elizabethtown. with a group called "reel moms". Basically, you're free to bring your quiet or not so quiet kiddo to the movies and enjoy! Connor must have found the event quite exciting because he couldn't even muster the energy to really throw a good protest at being placed in the carseat (one of his least favorite places) when we left the movie. He didn't even scream all the way out of the garage. He's still sleeping in his hated carseat enjoying some fresh air while I set this up.

Last weekend, Connor's grandparents (Dad's side) came to visit and the weekend before that his Aunt Linda and cousins Anna and Emily were here. (Uncle Bill had been here earlier in the week for a conference.) His grandparents from my side had been out when he was three weeks old - and Grandma Carlene is making her second trip next Monday! I am definitely looking forward to the visit - and I'm sure Connor will enjoy it too (even though Grandma is going to try and get him to sleep independently).