Austin Children's Museum

We took the kids to the Children's Museum and they had a blast. Here I wish I could take them there every day! They have such a fun time. It's just too hard to keep up with them on my own. There is also a large part of me that is really scared of all of the germs there! I probably just need to get over it but there has been so much junk going around that I can't help but be cautious. Regardless, the boys all partied there! Here are some pictures.

The Strelitz Family

The McGill family

Henry

Peek-a-boo with Miles

Miles was very into this little ball drop

Jake playing some tunes

There is a train that runs on the second level of the museum.

Jake is wondering...where did it go???

Jake loved this booth...it had a little button that made all kind of different animal sounds

Miles playing with the froggies

Miles, Henry & Jake...taking over the "Tot Spot"

Merry Christmas!

We went to Houston for Christmas and had so much fun! I was actually kind of surprised at how much Miles and Jake enjoyed it all.

We went to a 3 pm children's church service at MDUMC - very kid friendly. They got to enjoy singing, dancing, a huge Christmas tree with lots of lights and glowsticks during the candlelight portion of the service. Along with some activities that they gave the kids...coloring, stickers, etc. Both boys lasted the whole service and really took it all in. We also decorated cookies with Lucy and that was pretty funny. The boys were first-timers and they helped decorate and then just kind of looked at the cookies until we told them they could eat them...it didn't take long for them to catch on. I have a feeling they'll remember next time! Christmas morning they totally enjoyed digging into some presents. They got an awesome table and chairs from Taffy & Papa, along with some other goodies and a super cool Little People airport from Lucy, Milly & Andy. We visited Lucy at her house the next day and tried out all of her fun toys. They also got to check out some Christmas lights-a favorite activity of theirs. One night Peter and I went to see a movie and they got to party with Taffy & Papa. The next day they told us all about how they got to see lights (lots of "Dude!" and "Whoa!") and how they got to "walk" to the lights.

Hands down their favorite part of the whole visit was just having all the people they love around them. They still can't stop saying everyone's names all day. I think they're bummed to be back home with boring old Mama and Dada. That's the most important part for everyone. It was so special to see them start to join in the traditions that I have enjoyed for so long. Having Christmas for them really renews the spirit and fun for all of us. I'm already excited for next Christmas!

There were so many pictures and I didn't want to post them all here, so I've chosen a couple and also included a link to the rest if anyone is interested.

Link:

The Strelitz family

Cookie decorating

Miles, Lucy & Jake checking out some insane Christmas lights in my parents' neighborhood. They are giving the Griswalds a run for their money.

Miles, Taffy, Jake & Papa before the children's' church service. Soooo sad this came out blurry.

Playing with their new airport

Miles sitting at his very own table playing with his trucks

Watching Papa's cool electric train set

Eating lunch at Lucy's

Jake wearing Lucy's sunglasses

hard at play

Here are Jake and Miles, hard at play with their new train table that they got for Christmas and Hanukkah. They LOVE it! It's so much fun to watch them enjoy it. The soundtrack is The Train Song from their music class cd. They also love that. In the car I can either hear them shout "Choo-choo!" or I hear that song. Over and over. It's up to me, really.

Bath time fun

Miles and Jake LOVE bath time. More and more every day. They would stay in there for hours. We've been bathing them together for a while now and I think that has something to do with it. Here are a couple of video clips from bath time tonight. As you can hear in the video they are definitely testing limits with their vocal range right now. The screaming is kind of a new thing and they really feed off of each other...one screams and the other will not be outdone! Soon I'm sure we'll have to distinguish between inside and outside voices.

Here's a key for some of the things they chatter about in the video...

"Iney" - Hiney...we have to ask them to stand for a second so that we can wash their hiney. As you can see it turns into a game...they stand, show us their hiney, sit, repeat.

"Bydie" - Brydie is our new babysitter. We're trying to set up a semi-regular schedule with her coming twice a week for a few hours. I'd like to use the time to get appointments, errands, etc. or take them somewhere that I can't do on my own. This is a separate post, but they saw her today and they LOVE her. It's so awesome. I'll post more later.

"Mahna Mahna"-the old school sesame street song. Brydie introduced them to it and they can't get enough. We have a version of Cake doing it on my iPod and they ask for it over and over. And over. And over.

"Qukie" - Jake is really into the little cutie mandarin oranges (the real ones) and brought the plastic one into the tub.

Brotherly love - they are really into giving hugs and kisses right now. Mostly to each other. Sometimes I try to get on from Jake and he says "No! Miles!" And in the end of the second video you can hear Miles say "guy" several times, while pointing to himself and to Jake. They have taken to calling each other and themselves that and it's pretty funny.

General babble - your guess is as good as mine! But I love it!

Full disclosure - you might want to turn your volume down before playing the second video...there's some screaming involved. And some shrieking.

Fun with friends!

Today the boys had an awesome playdate! Mirinda, who was with us for the first year of their lives, came over with the little boy that she is caring for now. He is the same age as Jake and Miles and they had a ton of fun, plus they got to play with Mirinda. They were so sad to see them go...I see many more playdates in our future.!

Miles, Avi & Jake playing with the coupe

Snack time!

Weekend fun...

We have squeezed so much fun stuff into this weekend! On Saturday morning we went to our MyGym open class and then the boys had some guy time while I was able to run a couple of errands. Saturday night Peter and I went to a Christmas party in our neighborhood while Granny sat for the boys (thanks, Granny). Sunday morning we went over to Harlan's house and the boys all had such a great time playing together! We headed to lunch after that, then home for a nap. After their nap we dropped them off at Philippa's house. Philippa, Eva, Jude and their cousin, Rissy, babysat the boys. They fed them dinner and played with them for quite a while, and Peter and I were able to get a bunch of stuff done around the house. They had so much fun!! Whew!

Peter and I before our big date night

Story time

Jake & Harlan (Harlan was cracking Jake up)

Harlan

Miles on Harlan's awesome Thomas train

More playtime

The trains were a big hit

Giggles

The boys on their vehicles!

Officer Miles

Happy Hanukkah!

Today was the last day of Hanukkah and we got together with most of our family (we missed Roby, David & Harlan!) to celebrate. It was so nice and the boys had a great time! We all had dinner, Miles trailed around after Jude, Granny brought yummy homemade latkes & applesauce, Jake gave Eva tons of super sweet hugs...fun times had by all! Happy Hanukkah!!

Eva helping Jake and Miles with their new toys

Jake putting the doggy "night-night" in his house, over & over again!

Miles and Aunt Phily looking at the candles

Eva lights the menorah

Eva & Jude helping Jake & Miles unwrap their gifts

Miles playing with his awesome new farm set

Happy Hanukkah!

Music class, take II!

We signed up for music class again and finally made it today. We missed class due to illness but today they told us we could make them up. Today's class was holiday songs and Jake and Miles had so much fun! It was perfect for them because we sang about Christmas and Hanukkah. I LOVE it because it's one of the few things that is totally doable by myself with them. The teacher fully expects them to run around and there is not an expectation to keep them in your lap the entire time - unlike some other classes we've checked out. The teacher's (Ms. Petra) philosophy is that if you try to force them to sit still they will not enjoy class. She further believes that they are totally soaking it all up even if they are wandering around like chickens with no heads. I agree with that because they recognize the songs and spit back out the moves, etc. that we do when we're at home.

When we first got to class Miles was off, wanting nothing to do with me. Jake, on the other hand, was glued to my lap. He got comfortable about halfway through and would roam away from me, but kept checking back in. They really love music and seemed to thoroughly enjoy class today. We pick back up after the holidays and we can't wait! It was fun to see some progress with them from the last time we took class. They used to scream bloody murder when it was time to put some toys away and move to the next activity. This time they walked right up to the bin and tossed their toy in...a few times they even clapped for themselves after they put it up.

I'll try to get some more pictures of them later. The one below is during the 'jam session.'

Merry Christmas!

We tried. I took the boys to the mall today to see Santa Clause. They were very excited...we talked a lot about Santa in preparation. I kept asking if they wanted to sit on Santa's lap and they both responded..."Yes." Clearly seeing him in the flesh unleashed the terror. They did not know what that bearded man wanted with them. Santa looks a little freaked out to me. Miles is on the left and Jake is on the right. We'll try again next year...

LIGHTS!!! MORE...MORE...MORE! LIGHTS!

That is what we hear anytime we are in the car right now. The boys are obsessed with Christmas lights and are saying/signing "more more more" before we've even passed one set. We decided to take them to see the lights at Zilker Park tonight. Unfortunately the normal Zilker Trail of Lights has been scaled back due to cost, etc. this year but we thought they would still enjoy it. We went to dinner at Shady Grove with some friends and then walked over to the park to check out the tree and the lights. Today was quite a bit warmer than it has been and there was no rain, so we thought we should jump on the chance. Jake and Miles had fun at dinner with their buddies and really loved checking out all of the lights. They were a little put out to be in their strollers, but it was dark and super crowded so we insisted.

Me & my guys in front of the "Where the Wild Things Are" display

The giant Zilker Christmas Tree

The cow jumping over the moon

The whole family in front of the deer display...a favorite

Lights...

Part of the twelve days of Christmas display