Little Monster

There is nothing like a smiling,

happy,

little monster

to brighten your day!

And where there is one monster,

you are sure to find another!

Ruth bought this onesie for Sean when he was born. Our not-so-little monster is now big enough to wear this gift. The rattle was from my cousins. Our little boy is growing up so fast!

The One Where She Stole My Camera. Again.

When Plunkett was in town a couple of weeks ago we headed to Chili’s for lunch. Back in their camp counselor days, the two Irishmen would frequent Chili’s for the Cajun Chicken Pasta. We went back for old time’s sake.

I’d stuck our little camera in the diaper bag, but Caitlin got to it before I did. She didn’t do too bad at documenting the trip.

At about this point the guys figured out that Caitlin was really taking pictures. Every time she said, “Cheese!” they would jump into action…

It was quite funny to watch them stop mid-conversation to ham it up for a picture, only to pick back up right where they left off seconds before.

We’ll pretend that she meant to take a picture of her shoe…

Even Mickey got into the fun.

But Plunkett and Daddy were the real stars.

At this point the batteries died. Caitlin was not impressed. Crayons are more fun to photograph than to draw with!

I’ve said it before, but my two-year-old has talent!

More Fair Fun

While they had big tents with the farm animals set up at the fair, they also had an area set up like an old Florida town. Caitlin was immediately drawn to the animals!

Caitlin loved that the roosters and chickens made the noises she expected them to make. She could easily make out the Cock-a-doodle-doo and was SO impressed by that!

It was super crowded. Trying to convince Caitlin to stay with us and do what we wanted to do was a tad bit difficult at time, but that’s okay. We kept hearing calls on the loudspeaker for lost children. It is easy to see how it could happen in someplace so bustling!

Thankfully the kids sat in the stroller quietly watching a singing pig while the Irishman stood in line for dinner. Pork Parfait anyone?

While I was nursing Sean in the moo-ternity tent, the Irishman bought his little girl bread to feed to chickens.

She was far too scared to go close enough to actually feed the animals, but she had no problem telling her father where to deliver the bread! I love that Caitlin is old enough to tell us what she did. She talked about “baby cows” “Chicken, bread”

and, “Cay, Cay soap!”

Before she emptied an entire hand sanitizer dispenser. It was late. She was cranky. We were too tired to argue. At least it was some good, clean fun!

I can’t help but wonder what it will be like next year once this little fella is chasing around after his sister!

Things That Make You Go Moo

Last weekend we headed to the fair. We’d tried to prep Caitlin about where we were going and the things we’d expect to see there. The one thing she was most excited about was the cows. She told us the whole way there that we were going to see the moo cows. She told Grammy she couldn’t talk on the phone because she was going to see the moo cows.

Thankfully the cows did not disappoint. One of the first places we found was the Moo-ternity tent. We saw newborn calves. They were perfect black and white, toddler picture book-looking moo cows.

Caitlin got to milk the pretend cow.

One of my friends at work jokes that I am heading to “the farm” when I visit the little closet where I hide away with my breast pump a couple of times each school day. I’ve been known to send a note to her with just, “Moo” written on it in the odd case that I am suddenly without anyone to cover my class when it is time to pump.

Before we left Sean was starving so I sat on a bench in the moo-ternity tent nursing my second born. It seemed more than a little ironic.

There were many highlights from the fair, but Caitlin is still talking about getting to pet the baby moo cow.

I can’t blame her – the whole thing was pretty neat!

Plunkett as the Pied Piper

Our good friend Plunkett is currently on a cruise ship somewhere near the Panama Canal. He is playing the fiddle and piano on Phil Coulter’s Annual Tranquility Cruise. The cruise left from Fort Lauderdale this year, so our favorite Irish musician flew over early to get to visit.

We all worked together at summer camp many moons ago. Ten years later we are all a bit older and are within a few years of sending our own children to camp. Our former camp director, Sue had the some of the old crew over in honor of Plunkett’s visit. It didn’t take long before one of the kids asked “Mr. Plunkett” to play the piano.

It was as if the Pied Piper had arrived.

He played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jingle Bells, Toora Loora, and the Kampus Kampers song.

The kids were enthralled with him.

He even managed to sing the littlest of the kids to sleep.

Plunkett is a talented musician.

It was great to see our old friend!

Solid Food

We’ve been saying for the last month or so that we would start Sean on solid food. Such is the life of the second child…we finally got around to it this weekend!

He looks like such a big boy sitting in the high chair. It made me a little sad to see my little man growing up so quick!

The Irishman took some video of the first moments. He’s already e-mailed it to our families, so I’ll spare you that here.

So what did Sean think of rice cereal? You can’t tell by the look on his face here, but he actually seemed to like it more than his sister did.

Always the helper, Caitlin was on hand to take over feeding duty.

I have a feeling he is going to be a big fan of this whole solid food thing!

King of the Car Seat

Just in case anyone is worried, this “King of the Car Seat” was sitting down with the rest of us for lunch at our favorite local restaurant on New Year’s Day, so he in not strapped in. He might be king, but he never rides in the car that way!

I have tons of lovely photos from this weekend to share…and the weekend before that come to think of it! Unfortunately it is ten minutes before I am supposed to leave for work and I am just now sitting down to pump Sean’s breakfast. Both kids decided to get up just before 5 this morning, so I am running on slightly less than four hours of sleep. Sigh.