When Daddy’s Away

The Irishman was in Chicago last weekend for work. We’d originally thought about making it a family trip and spending a couple of extra days in the windy city, but we decided we would get more bang for our buck if we went to Tampa/St. Pete and took the kids to see Sesame Street at Busch Gardens. Due to illness we did neither. Sigh.

The Irishman was the coach for a student from his university who was entering a quiz competition for Hispanic Heritage Month. (Yes, there is a bit of irony there – but he was a good coach despite his lack of Hispanic heritage!) The TV company paid for the students and their coaches to go to Chicago to film the competition last weekend. I know he missed us, but I am sure he enjoyed the food and sleeping in, too!

Back at home the kids and I sent him pictures all day long to show him what he was missing out on. About half way through the day I decided it would make a great blog post. Now that he is back safely home we can share.

So here is our Friday in photos:

(You mean you don’t start your day riding a tiger while watching cartoons in your PJs?)

Caitlin still wasn’t feeling 100% so we dropped Sean off at school and headed back to the doctor. Sean was rockin' his new red shoes.

We had a little bit of time before our appointment so we stopped at McD’s for oatmeal. The Irishman gave me a hard time for not taking her for donuts, but she actually picked the oatmeal instead. Love that kid!

We got the all clear at the doctor. Caitlin was really upset that she had to go back. She took all 6 doses of her medicine. When I told her the doctor wanted to check again she started to cry, “But I took all my medicine!” Thankfully it was a good visit and she was rewarded with a trip to the consignment shop.

Clifford and a Little Einstein's puzzle were a special treat!

She played with both all weekend.

To make room for our newest batch of hand-me-downs for Sean, I went through the bin and pulled out all the 18 month and 2T clothes. We had more than I thought - it made up just over a load for clothes in the washer. We are spoiled to have such generous friends with such good taste!

I sent the Irishman this picture to play “guess how much I paid for the 4T navy blue Tommy Hilfiger dress?” I love a good consignment shop find!

The plan had been to take Caitlin to Publix before picking up Sean. She fell asleep on the way so I let her sleep and took both kids to the store by myself at dinner time. What was I thinking? The store wasn’t too bad, but getting the groceries, the kids, and two balloons all safely into the house nearly did me in! We live in a townhouse so there is a bit of a walk from the car to the house.

Sean and I had leftovers for dinner. Caitlin wasn’t crazy about zucchini cheeseburger pie the first time, so I didn’t even try that! We’d bought new ice cream cones at Publix, but she still wasn’t supposed to have dairy so I decided to let her have her oranges in ice cream cones with her dinner. She was happy and ate two cones worth.

We have just tweaked the bedtime routine so that Sean comes downstairs with Caitlin after his bath. He loves the change!

At Caitlin’s request we picked up some band aids at Publix as well. I typically open the box and put all but about 4 or 5 band aids into my secret stash before handing it over to my daughter. She LOVES her band aids! When she has a real boo boo we always seem to find the LAST one! It is such a surprise! ; )

Little man had new-to-us PJs to try out. We went with the sports theme because of the Olympics.

Sean helped me fold the laundry

and played with the basket, too!

I took this to show off her pretend “boo boos” to Daddy.

After I put Sean to bed Caitlin, Kitty Cat, and Clifford enjoyed her letters on the iPad before painting/e-mailing a picture for Daddy and reading with Grover.

(Apps we love: Starfall, Toy Story, and Monster at the End of this Book)

It was a busy day and we missed Daddy, but we did okay!

Picnic at the Park

Yesterday we decided to pack a picnic lunch and to head to the park. It is still hot as can be for lunchtime, but this park has a splash pad so we headed out.

While part of our secret plan was to wear them out so that they would nap, Sean was asleep before we started! We let him doze while the rest of us ate our lunch.

Caitlin was all about the slides and the swings.

Sean woke and ate his lunch,

and we hit the splash pad.

We spent a good while splashing around and getting each other wet.

I was sure to put socks on Sean's feet this time. The last time we went to a splash pad he ended up with blisters on his little toes from all the crawling!

These applesauce pouches are a family favorite. Caitlin calls them “special apple” and I’ve started ordering them from Amazon on subscribe and save. They are perfect to throw in the diaper bag for a snack on the go!

Sean just figured out how to eat from the pouch. He is most impressed with himself!

Best of all they both took a nice long afternoon nap. It was a lovely day!

My Guys

Sean heard he has a birthday coming up next week and decided to speed up the whole growing up process. He getting so grown up! I had to break down and buy him a pair of shoes this week. His little feet were getting scraped up as he crawls around chasing Caitlin outside.

Of course with such cute shoes I just had to find an outfit to match…

And a matching Daddy? That’s too good to pass up!

He is SO grown up!

Handsome like Daddy!

I love my guys!

Kids Say the Funniest Things…

I have had a few ideas for posts running through my head and decided to use the common threads to add them into one.

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There’s Music Everywhere

I know that the “I can do it myself!” stage is common, but Caitlin has taken it to a new level. Not only does she tell us she can do it herself, she sings it to us.

“I can do it, there's nothing to it.

I can do it by myself.

Had to ask for help when I was small.

But now I'm big and I can do it all. “

She knows the whole song including the spoken interlude when Baby Bop says, “Do you know why? Because I’m THREE YEARS OLD.” I am still trying to convince Caitlin that she is not yet three years old. I’ve told her she will be three years old on her birthday just like Baby Bop.

She keeps telling ME that I will be three years old on my birthday like Baby Bop. Oh, well.

In this picture she is singing, “Friends are Special” to her “friends.” Caitlin has inherited my ability to remember songs. She knows them all! The CD player in the car died recently though she knows all the words already! Barney is usually the source, but if the song fits she’ll sing it!

(This is going to be a blog post of its own. We have an entire list of songs she sings as we go about our day. You name it she sings a song for it! She'll tell you that herself as she sings, "There's Music Everywhere")

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A Man of Few Words

Sean will be 1 next week. While he has really started babbling this week, he doesn’t say much yet. He has a repertoire of three:

1. “DaDa.”

2. “Momma.”

3.“Don’t do that.”

A certain two-and-a-half year old has something to do with the last one. She is often heard saying, “Don’t do that, Sean!” or “Seanie! Don’t do that!” The other afternoon the Irishman and I both thought we heard him say the phrase. Then at dinner that night he did it again complete with shaking  finger.

Oh. My.

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On the Go

Last night Caitlin grabbed every bag she could find and put them all on her shoulders. She was pushing a doll in her stroller and turned back waving to me.

“Bye! Have a good day! See you later!”

She got to the door and stopped.

“Oh, no! Where are my keys!’

She stopped and started dropping the bags and digging through them.

I think my mouth fell open. It was like watching myself walk out the door in the morning on my way to work.

I found a set of play keys and tried to hand them to her. She sighed and said, “Those aren’t MY keys.”

Wonder where she gets these things from…

**hanging head**

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Guess What?

Dinner conversation the other night:

C: Mommy. Guess what?

Me: What?

C: (whispering) I love you!

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This was supposed to be our vacation week. We should be at Busch Gardens now rubbing shoulders with Elmo and Big Bird and visiting with family in St. Pete. Instead we are at home with a sick kiddo. Caitlin has croup, though not the typical variety. No cough. I didn’t think you could get croup without the cough, but she has done it. The poor kid has been running a low fever on and off since last Thursday. She woke up Saturday morning a bit hoarse and hasn’t quite been able to shake it. We’ve been to the doctor twice and started medicine yesterday. So far it hasn’t made much difference. We are hoping for improvement soon!

We’ve spent a lot of time at home and working around the house. It is nice, but we are disappointed. It isn’t quite the vacation we’d planned! It is so hard to get time off at the same time. We hope we can find a time to reschedule the trip.

Oh, well! We have to make the most of it! At least we have the kids to entertain us! ; )

Mommy and Me at the Beach

I recently stocked up on some beach toys on clearance at Target. Caitlin found the bag of goodies in the car and was desperate to try them out. She used to often ask to go to the beach or the pool when I picked her up from school, so I have told her that they are closed then. Now when I pick her up from school she says, “Mommy, I think the beach and pool are closed.” After finding the toys she tried to convince us that maybe it WAS open.

Last week I was only working mornings. Wednesday afternoon I picked her up from school in the middle of naptime. This time the beach was not closed. It was just the two of us.

With her new toys and a new swimsuit this kid was in heaven.

We played in the sand.

We built sandcastles and tore them down again.

We went on treasure hunts.

We splashed in the water.

We made memories.

We took some pictures.

We had a blast!