Daddy Daughter Days

Rowan felt like the luckiest girl last weekend. It all started Thursday evening with the Daddy/Preschooler sports night at school. As you can see, Rowan and Lance sported matching soccer jerseys. Then THE VERY NEXT NIGHT was the Daddy/Daughter dinner at church. Rowan picked out a dress from the dress-up bin, Lance wore a pink tie just for the occasion. There was dinner (of which Rowan ate a roll and pudding) and dancing (she is still doing the chicken dance) and other (older!) girls and their daddies, so life was pretty great.

Tate and I had fun on our own. I took him to the mall to ride an orange horse on the carousel, we ate dessert, he had undivided attention. It was nice for all of us. And, a bonus for Lance, Rowan is starting to become a Daddy's girl. He has been waiting for this for a long, long time.

Sick Days

A few weeks ago, a flulike bug hit our house. Rowan got the worst of it. As you can see from the pictures. Poor, poor sweet Rowan. It was a very rough week at the Pellow home. No school, no playdates, no fun to be had.

As you can see, Tate didn't mind at all. Yes, he is wearing Halloween pajamas in February because there is ORANGE on them and he insists on wearing orange every single day. Makes for lots of outfit repeptition. He also insists on yelling "ORANGE" at the top of his lungs anytime he sees orange. He especially likes the Home Depot sign we see on the way to Rowan's school "ORANGE SIGN, MOMMY! ORANGE!!!!" The sunglasses I can't explain. He hasn't worn them before or since but absolutely had to wear them that particular morning.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Senior year of college, my housemates and I were up way too late the night of February 1st and were talking about how funny it is that everyone calls their friends, family, etc. on midnight New Year's Eve to wish them all a "Happy New Year". And we decided that this should certainly occur on other holidays. So, we tried to be the first to wish many of our friends "Happy Groundhog Day" since that was the random holiday that was Feb. 2. And that has kind of lived on. When teaching at Charlotte Jewish Day School, Groundhog Day was one of the few holidays I could share with my kids. And I continue to embrace this holiday for it's complete randomness.

So, today, the family celebrated. Each of the kids made a groundhog to take outside, pop out of it's hole and check for a shadow. No shadow! So, this very scientific process means spring is just around the corner! And I spent no less than 2 hours making these super-cute groundhog cupcakes (but they're really whole wheat banana muffins). Really, it might have been closer to 3 hours. Ridiculous, but the kids loved them. And at least they really did taste yummy! All in all, a fun day, hope for spring (though, clearly, the background in these pictures shows that it's full-on winter here) and some happy kids.

Santa Claus

For pretty much the whole month of December, all I heard about from Rowan was her only Christmas wish--a real live pig. That and, of course, waking up each morning and immediately saying "Advent calendar" and running into our room to eat the Hershey kiss out of her calendar. Tate did the exact same thing. Though he also snuck into the room when we were playing somewhere else and stole candy.

So when we went to see Santa at the Gerald Ford Museum (can it get any better than that?), I was sure she'd mention her wish for a pig. Instead, we waited in a long line, got to the front where Rowan freaked out. She got within about 10 feet of Santa. He asked what she wanted for Christmas, she yelled "A cookie" and then ran away. Tate sat on Mrs. Claus's lap crying away. When I later told her Santa would come to her house to bring her presents, she said "He better not come to my house."

Other funny things this season: Tate saying "Santa Claus, ha ha ha" (though he figured out pretty quickly he really says "ho ho ho" and altered his little mantra accordingly), the ridiculous obsession with the advent calendar, which I truly feel is the reason the kids seem to be waking up earlier, Rowan practicing her Christmas songs for the church performance very loudly in practice (and excitedly adding "and many more" at the top of her lungs after "Happy Birthday, Jesus"), but chewing on her dress during the entire real performance.

Tate is becoming a pretty easy-going little guy, most of the time. Generally when I try to correct him, he just says "Oh, okay, Mama". He loves blocks, books and snacks. He loves horses, Elmo and pretty much anything Rowan loves. Rowan is starting to really read (well, a little bit) and can read most of the Bob books on her own. She loves reading, being read to, and hearing stories. Still. All the time. She also loves the Little Einstein's character, June (though we've never actually seen that show), pigs and anything pink.

I've had a blast with these kids this month. And I'm looking forward to more fun in 2010.

Girls' Weekend with Rowan

Since Rowan has been so into her babies lately and so into spending time with mommy, I decided to take her on a trip to Chicago. Lance was there for work and was staying in a hotel right downtown, so I took advantage of that and took Rowan for a fun mommy-daughter trip. After dropping Tate off with my mom, we headed to the train station. Rowan loved the train ride. We looked outside, read books, ate snacks. We got to Chicago and headed straight for the Shedd Aquarium where Rowan grew pretty tired of "looking at fish all day", but loved the Beluga whales and the little canoe she could sit in. Lance picked us up and we headed to the Rainforest Cafe which was the perfect place for Rowan. While I saw some children literally hiding under their tables, I told Rowan it was just a giant puppet show and she was thrilled with all of it. And I was thrilled that she was thrilled.

Sleeping in the hotel was a bit tricky. Rowan had her own little room, but she would not stay in it, so she slept with us, which resulted in little sleep for anyone. But we weren't really expecting anything different.

The next day, Rowan woke up nice and early (of course) so we headed to a place called Day Frog downtown. It's kind of an indoor play place with doll houses, dress up, big slides, bubbles, etc. It kept us busy until it warmed up a bit and the stores were open. Then we made the treck to American Girl Place. I didn't tell Rowan until we were on our way because I knew we wouldn't be able to do anything else. She had been talking about getting a baby with brown hair and brown eyes just like her. She had been sleeping with the American Girl catalog that mysteriously followed us from NC to Holland to here. We got there. She was thrilled. She immediately named her Erica Madeline. She was in love. (Might I add, though, that since we've been home (since this trip was over a month ago now), she no longer likes Erica and only likes Clarissa because she loves a bald baby. Great.)

We ate Garrett's popcorn. We went to Millenium Park and looked at all of the huge sculptures and I even got a quick stop in at H&M, but somehow only bought a scarf for me and socks for Tate.

After we were done, I asked Rowan what her favorite part was and she said "The lions." "The lions at Rainforest Cafe?" I asked. "No, the lions that were outside of the hotel" she said. "The lion sculptures." I guess it doesn't matter how much you've planned, you never know what they're going to love the most. But I loved my time with my girl. And she loved having her very own "Girls' Weekend" with mommy.

When they grow up

This morning, during an unusually relaxing family cuddle time in bed, the conversation went like this:

Rowan: Mommy, I want to be a mommy when I grow up--just like you.
Lance: That's sweet, Rowan. Tate, what do you want to be when you grow up?
Tate: Grapes

Forgotten, but not Gone

I have to admit, I actually forgot about this blog. Really completely forgot. I wrote one day and the next day just kind of forgot to write. And continued forgetting. Until now. In the past month, a lot has happened. Too much, really, to blog about. In short, I went to Nashville, I had my 10-year college reunion, I turned 32, we're trying to find long-term care for Lance's dad (very long story) and Lance is working virtually every waking moment.

Rowan is still loving school and is still obsessed with her dolls, particularly the bald one which is still named Clarissa. She tells me nothing about school each day except that she ate a snack and drank juice. She still asks me to tell her a story approximately 100 times a day. She no longer naps. She thinks rhyming words are hysterical. Rowan's idea of a joke: "Knock, knock" "Who's there?" "Horse"
"Horse who?" "Horse Lorse". Cue gleeful laughter.

Tate is loving having a little one-on-one time. He mostly just asks for me to read to him ("reet, reet, Mommy") and picks the books he wants. He also wants to play chase, play ball and find different animals in his room. He hates putting on his coat or having anyone else put on their coats and this all results in a major tantrum. He also hates his high chair, but has fallen out of a regular chair too many times for me to get rid of the high chair quite yet. Tate's favorite word, currently, is Obama and he says it pretty constantly, leaving people to stop me and say "Is your baby saying 'Obama'?" Yes, he is. All the time.

The kids are playing together more and more, which is really Tate just going along with whatever idea Rowan has. Lately they have been taking the couch cushions down and making things--a house, a library, a rocket. Occassionally they'll share a toy, cuddle or work on the magnetic farm together since Tate can't quite get the pieces in just right. I'll catch Rowan saying "Good work, Tate." Or "That was a great choice, Tate", though I'll also catch her pushing him and taking his toys. Tate, for the most part, is just a sweet little thing to Rowan, but today he pulled her hair and I realized that one of these days he's going to have his own opinions and it won't be quite as easy for Rowan.

Despite some of the chaos and the prematurely winter-like conditions, this fall is going well. We're staying pretty busy, sometimes too busy, and are trying to fit in something fun every day (baking, crafting, an outing of some sort). Today's was Trunk or Treat and, after Tate's nap, we'll be stopping by the Family Fun Day at the horse stables nearby and then heading to a Hope picnic, assuming, of course, that I can get Tate's coat on.