Parents Night Out

Sadie's little preschool does a monthly 'Parents Night Out' where the kids get to go to school in their pajamas from 5:30 - 8:30pm. They play, have dinner, play some more and then end the night with popcorn and a movie. Sadie LOVES it! The whole idea is to give us a night to go out, but if I'm going to pay a babysitter, I'm going to pay one for both kids. So, depending on the month, we've done Mommy/Son dates while daddy worked or spent one-on-one time with Colton before putting him down for the night at 7. This time, daddy was able to come home a bit early from work and we all got to walk Sadie up to preschool together. Since the weather has been gorgeous, we took Colton to the park then grabbed some lobster, shrimp and crab rolls and ice cream before heading home to put him to bed. We had a bit of fun playing with our new camera and Colton was an incredibly willing subject.

It was nice to spend one on one time catering to Colton. I feel like we generally cater our outdoor (and indoor) activities to Sadie and he just comes along for the ride, but today we got to do what he wanted to do. He's such a good little one albeit addicted to his paci and his doggie or teddy (teddy became our back up when he lost his back up doggie...for the second, or third, time).  He loves playing with the tags on them or using the tags as a paci if he doesn't have one in his mouth. I try to limit them to nap and bedtime or to long stroller rides (which is multiple times a day), but somehow he'll find them and sneak them throughout the day. I love how he'll cross his little ankles in the stroller when he's relaxed with paci and doggie.

Sadie is such a great sidekick. She is a fabulous little walker - she can walk for miles without batting an eye. Often she'll ride her scooter ahead of me, but lately she's just wanted to walk and talk. We look for shapes, letters, talk about our day and lately we've been working on similes. I start one she finishes it, and vice versa.

The little things

I am not a morning person. I really wish I was. But I'm not. I am 100% night owl. I could stay up all night long every night, if only I were able to sleep in all morning. But alas, there are the littles. And they seem to love mornings. So, up I get. Long before I ever want to. I know there are moms who wake up before their kids and get ready for the day. I'm sure it would be nice. Showering in peace. Actually getting dressed and feeling put together. I should do it. But sleep is so much more enticing at 5:30am. So, Colton drags me out of bed before the sun is evening shining. And Sadie pops out of her room almost precisely at 7:06 every morning. And they're happy happy happy. I think it's their favorite time of day. They play so nicely. And most of the time, I try to grab a few more zzz's on the couch. Until one of them pulls me off the couch begging for breakfast. 

I rang in the New Year with a resolution to kick this "sleeping on the couch in the morning" habit. Because seriously, I may have had an excuse when Colton was first born, but now he's 14 months and really, that excuse was gone many many MANY months ago when he started sleeping through the night. But of course, I had to be tried. Colton has been working on a molar the past few weeks and it just will not come through. The poor guy has had some miserable days and even more miserable nights and I've had the privilege to share those with him. A few weeks ago, after a particularly bad night, I was desperate for sleep. So Colton played and I sat Sadie at the table with sugary cereal (which I rarely keep around the house) and put PBS Kids on. She was in heaven. And I looked over at her and couldn't help but get off the couch and snap a few pictures. She is easily pleased.

And while we're on the topic of Sadie, this little girl is just the best. She really is my best little friend. She loves life. Every morning when she wakes up she asks lots of questions. "Mom, what day is it today?" "Is it school today?" "Is daddy at work?" If Brett is at work, "Awww! Why does daddy have to work? I miss him!" "What are we going to do today?" "What friends am I going to see today?" "Where are we going today?" She is social and loves to get together with friends, no matter if they are her age or not. Most of the time when we walk out of our building she informs the doormen where we are going. "I'm going to school, but Colty's not, he has to take a nap!" "I get to go swimming with Tori and Kate is going to be there too!" I love her enthusiasm for life. And I love that whether we're running errands or going to something fun, she thinks it's awesome and wants to be a part.

As of late, she has also started to thank me for making meals. We'll sit down at the dinner table and she'll look over at me and say, "Mom, thank you for preparing this dinner!" or "Mom, I appreciate you making dinner." And when I ask her to do things, she let's out an enthusiastic "Shh-ure!" (Note: she does many a moment where she refuses to do what I ask and those refusals can be as harshly intense as her 'sures' are enthusiastic).

She keeps me on my toes and is never afraid to call me out on things. "Mom, I don't like that tone of voice." "Mom, you're not being very nice." And sometimes when she asks if she can do something/go somewhere and I say "Let me think about it" she will give me a minute and then say "Mom, can you think about it now please?" We love our little Sadie. She is growing up all too quickly!

Twins

As Christmas was approaching, I talked to Sadie about the fact that she needed to get a present for Daddy as well as for Colton. I asked her what she wanted to get them and she quickly responded with her default gift answer, 'a car!' Well, since she got a cool toy car for Brett for his birthday last year and Colton had just received four wooden toy cars for his birthday, I suggested that maybe we get something else for them. She thought about it and said that she wanted to get them ties - matching ties! So that we did! She and I sat looking online for matching tie sets one weekday while Colton was napping. Once I found the place I wanted to order from, I showed her the options. She was adamant about the 'blue and black striped one' after I dissuaded her from a few others that I figured wouldn't be Brett's favorite. She could hardly wait for them to wear them to church. And of course, that took a few weeks. The Sunday after Christmas Sadie was home sick and so subsequently Colton was also home with me. Last Sunday, Brett had to fly out first thing in the morning to San Francisco for a conference. So, today was finally the day. And Sadie was excited! We love our handsome boys!