Silence is deadly

A while ago I was on my way to the church when I got a phone call from Heather. I figured it must be something urgent since she usually never calls me on Tuesday or Wednesday night when I'm doing church stuff. Anyway, Heather asked if I was in the neighborhood and, if I was, if I could stop by the house for a few minutes to watch the girls.

When I got home I found the girls in the bath and Heather vacuuming the girls' room. And lavender smelling powder everywhere. Turns out that Heather was making dinner and enjoying the fact that the A-Team was playing together relatively quietly. The surprising silence emanating from the girls' room, however, began to concern Heather and she went to go see what the girls were doing.

Apparently they were doing this:

I'm not sure how they even saw the baby powder situated high above their respective eye levels. I'm not sure how they got to the baby powder which should have been out of their reach. And I'm not sure how they opened the powder. What I am sure of is that they got the powder, opened it, poured it all out, covered themselves with said powder, and then when that wasn't enough, started squirting out some baby lotion. Ainsley looked pretty funny though.

Later that night I was visiting with some people and they all told me that bad things tend to happen when the kids go silent.

What a difference a year makes

A little over a year ago, Afton and I took a trip with my grandma to visit my brother and his kids in the middle of nowhere. Afton was still in her phase of life where she was seriously peeved that other human beings existed. When a hug from her cousin, Gibson, caught her off guard and they toppled over (unharmed, mind you), that was it for Afton. If Gibson so much as walked into the room, Afton would begin a panicked stream of "Mom... Mom... Mom. Mom. Mom! Mom!! Mom!!!" Afton wanted a good five-foot shield around her the entire time we were there. She barely made eye contact with her aunt and uncle.

But a couple of weeks ago, Afton got a visit from those same cousins (plus one). She loved it. She was excited they were coming. She hoped Elsa would dress up in a tutu with her. (She did.) They all took turns turning the basement storage room light on and off so they could see Gibson's glow-in-the-dark dinosaur pajamas. And they created an "Afton sandwich":

She thought it was fantastic. Oh, Afton (sigh). I'm liking 3-year-old you more and more all the time.

At any rate, we eventually tried to get a shot of all five grandkids, which went about how pictures of babies and toddlers usually go. (No one looking in the same direction at the same time and lots of randomly wandering off.)

Can't wait to see the crew again!

Afton turns fwee

Almost two weeks ago, Afton celebrated her third birthday. She had been anticipating that day ever since she helped her dad blow out his birthday candles in December. It took her almost that long to be able to hold up just three fingers.

Our celebration was low-key, but the day was all Afton. We started off in the morning with her very first "official" haircut. In the afternoon we went shopping for a new swimming suit and pajamas. (Somehow we ended up with new jelly shoes and sunglasses as well.) After a quick smoothie, we headed home so she could play with her grandfather while I made dinner and decorated the cake -- wormcake, no less. (Thank you Max and Ruby...) Dinner was her favorite food, and she was pretty excited about her presents.

My favorite part of the day was when I woke her up. In an attempt to coax her out of grouchiness I said, "Afton, it's your birthday! You are three today!" She paused, looked at me, and then said with utter shock, "I'm not two anymore?" It was as if a magic trick had been performed. I hope all her birthdays will feel that way.

The only hunting we do around here...

is for eggs and treasure. Both at Easter-time.

Thinking that an Easter egg hunt would be more fun if other kids were involved, I organized a small egg hunt for the little kids at our church along with another mom. Afton was pretty excited.

You may have noticed that I am in a winter coat and Afton is in a short sleeve shirt. The short explanation is that it was 48 degrees outside, Tony and I have completely opposite internal thermostats (I'm always cold, he's always hot), and we tend to dress our kids to our own comfort level. On a 70 degree day, I frequently put sweatshirts on them. On a 48 degree, rainy day, this is what Tony prefers. (Afton was seemingly fine.)

Following the egg hunt, we did some Easter-oriented games, and that's when the real hilarity began. They had never played any of these games before and, to Afton, all of them seemed absurd. After watching her little friend (who was wearing a blindfold) pin the tail on the bunny, Afton seemed pretty stoked and plopped her tail on the poster.

Then her crazy mother made her put a towel around her head and try it again. Unable to see, she thought it was the most stupid thing ever.

And by the end, she managed to lift the blindfold up so she could perfectly place the tail on the right spot...

We also tried tossing Easter egg bean bags into an Easter basket. I placed them up behind the line in the concrete, but again, Afton gave me a look that said, "That's dumb." When it was her turn, she walked right up to the basket and carefully dropped the bean bag in.

I'll skip the pictures of the Easter cake walk we put together. But let's just say that no toddler is going to walk in a circle until the music stops and wait for their color to be called when he or she can clearly see the plate of cookies three feet away. The music started, and they walked in every direction. Finally Afton's color was called (mostly because Tony was running the music by that point and just looked to see what color of construction paper she was standing on so we could get this charade over with). Not surprisingly, she chose the pink butterfly cookie.

And what, do you ask, was Ainsley doing during this whole afternoon of Easter festivities? Hanging out with her dad, desperately wanting a nap :).

Then, despite days and days of rain this spring, Easter Sunday was bright, sunny, and warm. Sort of a fitting feeling for the celebration of Christ's triumph over death. And fortunately, no one wants to ruin Easter by meeting with the bishop, so Tony was home from church early. We took a couple pictures in the backyard and headed to Easter dinner with the grandparents.

And then, to turn Easter into a prolonged three-day event, for Monday night's family activity, Afton did her very first treasure hunt -- a tradition from Tony's family. Tony made clues (they rhymed), and Afton and I scampered all over the house, finding them.

We finally made our way to the clue in the laundry room where the girls' Easter baskets were waiting for them, carefully hidden in the dryer.
Afton particularly liked her pez dispenser with a chick on top.
And there you have it -- Easter 2011 in all its fun and glory.

The Best Birthday Cake Ever!

When Tony asked Afton what kind of cake they should make for my birthday this year, Afton was adamant: wormcake. Afton has become a bit obsessed with this show on Nick Jr. called "Max & Ruby." (For those not familiar, it's a cartoon about a brother and sister bunny combo -- the bossy older sister, Ruby, and the mischievious but nice little brother Max.) In one of the episodes, Max switches out Ruby's beautifully decorated pink cake for a pile of mud with some wiggly worms. Yes, that's what Afton thought I should have.

So Tony bought a chocolate cake mix, chocolate frosting, and gummy worms. Then they set to work. The results were fantastic.

Ainsley Learns to Crawl

Sometime mid-February, it was apparent that Ainsley desperately wanted to crawl. She began by pushing herself up on her two arms, per usual. And per usual (I suppose), whenever she tried to get her feet involved, the only direction she would go was backwards. We would hear whimpers and plaintive cries, only to find that Ainsley had wedged herself underneath some piece of furniture or simply against large objects or the wall.

(Please excuse the chapped cheeks - at the time, she was also teething and thus drooling like a faucet. Despite our attempts with chapstick and mopping up the wet mess, we couldn't entirely keep the redness at bay...)

And, of course, some rescue efforts were a little more smooth sailing than others...

Then came all the yoga poses. Cow...
Cobra...
Side plank...

And my personal favorite, her Down dog. She did this all the time. I think she used it to rotate (or something).

But, at last, during our March trip to Oregon, sweet success. She's been cruising ever faster since, with only one new problem: now she wants to walk. Ah, the urge for progress.