Chronicles in Cuteness

Well we've had a great, relaxing, and very cute last few weeks:

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I am home 2 days a week with the kids, so we have made weekly visits to the MN Zoo. A recent discovery and new favorite section is the Family Farm, tucked in one far corner of the zoo. I think it has been there a few years, but we didn't happen upon it until this summer.

They have a large group of pygmy goats that Maren loves to feed.


Luke usually takes the zoo time in the stroller as an excellent opportunity for long naps occasionally waking up for a bottle to gaze at the aquariums.
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Sally and Maren get some special time together each week with their friends Megan and Emmie where they learn all kinds of songs. One of Maren's favorites is about a dingle dangle scare crow. I have not been to story time, but apparently the scare crow song requires a special hat, so multiple times a day Maren commandeers the strainer from our lower kitchen drawer and dubs it her "dingle dangle hat."

We wanted to get one of her performances on tape but she was shy at first.


Eventually she graced the camera with a show.


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We spent the week of the 4th of July up at the cabin which was a fantastically relaxing and fun week with all the cousins. We spent lots of time on the beach. Luke enjoyed getting some rays and reading with Dad.
Maren and Amelia caught up in the shallows.

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We went to the parade on the 4th, complete with all your classic American favorites: fire trucks, floats, drag queens, marching bands, and of course red necks:


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Webster, WI also happens to be home the Burnett County Fair, so we made a visit on our last full day up at the cabin. Maren discovered some baby chicks in the chicken barn that we had to visit at least 5 times before we left.


Double cute.
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Luke is spending more and more time on his feet (with some assistance.)
He's had a rough last couple of weeks as far as the sleeping goes. (Or maybe I should say Mom and Dad have had rough couple weeks.) Not sure if it was the unusual surroundings at the cabin, a growth spurt, his recent vaccinations, or all of the above. Naps are getting a little more regular which makes up for it. (Kind of.)
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Maren has had a couple of funny quips recently. Last week I was trying to dress her in a set of sleepers that she insisted were too big. I told her, "Maren, they're not too big, they're juuust right." To which she promptly responded, "No, they're juuuuust big."

After trying to coax her out of a longer than normal bath that Maren was particularly enjoying, Sally finally told her, "OK Maren--TIME'S UP!" Again, without missing a beat, Maren countered, "No, TIME'S DOWN!"

She's getting too smart, too fast. We're doomed.

Red Balloon Storytime

The past few weeks, I've attended the Red Balloon Bookshop's Baby Storytime on Tuesdays at 10:15am. I had heard from a mom at the grocery store and a mom at the toy store about it - namely: to get there early, it's really fun. So, without having a real understanding of what storytime would be like, I found myself standing outside the Red Balloon Bookshop one Tuesday morning, along with about 30 strollers and babies and toddlers and moms and dads and grampas and grammas...

The doors opened and people made a bee-line for this small amphitheater space as if they were running late. It was only 10am. This storytime didn't start for another 15-minutes. Maren and I were moseying our way through the store: "Maren, look! A book about tadpoles/A stuffed gorilla/A ladybug sticker/etc.!", while the woman behind me impatiently prodded me forward with a barely audible "ahem." Unbeknownst to me, people take their storytime seriously. We found a seat in the back (seems safe when you don't know what you're in for), and as if on cue, moms (and a rare dad) would pull out of their diaper bags a sippy cup and a snack to keep their little ones occupied while they waited for the show to begin.

Yes, the show.

This is a serious endeavor, educating your little babies in the ways of storytime and songs and oohs and aaahs! Not being a "real" stay at home mom, this whole experience was a bit overwhelming. And not just for me! Maren's eyes were almost popping out of her head. I mean, she and I spend a great deal of time singing and rhyming and doing much of what this class does, but with 40 other people all doing the same thing? That's a whole 'nother experience for my little introvert (and for me, too)!

This past week we brought Megan and Emmie, who also had the first-timer-bugged-out-eyes, too. And, all four of us will be back next week. There are some serious rhymes I gotta get memorized, my friends.

But if you're ever around St. Paul on a Tuesday morning, check it out. There's a toddler class right afterwards at 11, too.

Big Big Girl in our Big Big World

Maren has begun to imitate us, which is so odd -- to catch your little toddler grabbing the deodorant and shoving it in her armpits. Or, to look over and see her standing EXACTLY like her dad: hands on her hips, feet apart, very serious look on her face. And then, today, sitting at a coffee shop with Megan, Maren slipped off her chair to run around a bit and a breast pad fell out of her shirt. That's right, a breast pad - you know, for nursing moms. My little almost-two-year-old managed to get two of them down her shirt at some point today, which is an oddly adult thing to do. It totally freaked me out and made me laugh so hard. I mean, what ELSE is she picking up on?

Here, an excerpt of my big, big girl living in our big, big world:

Lucky Girl

One of the great things about staying home is getting to connect with friends and other moms who are home with their kids. This is an important part of my 'keep Munchkin busy in the mornings' plan which keeps both me and her sane - and hopefully tires her out enough so she takes a long nap come 1pm. So, some highlights of the last few weeks in my ventures on play dates and fun for Munchkin....

Aunt Heather, Josie, Ryan, and Nicholas... Aunt Heather is a pro mom. It was like being on vacation for a day for me...

Elise "Squab" and Ellie (no pics from this one)... Ah-door-ah-bull! She made pumpkin bread, which both Maren and I devoured. Yum.

Megs and Emmie...This is a particularly awesome, cause Megan is one of my dearest friends from high school, and now she's back in MN! We went on a "walk" - more like a sprint for me in order to keep up with her. I haven't sweat that much in months. :)

Plus, Aunt Kate stops by regularly to get a good dose of Maren and Luke in, which is awesome. I keep telling Maren she's a lucky girl...she looks right up at me, and repeats: "lucky gurrlll!"