annie and the thumb.

erin, and her one-millionth request per day for a band-aid and cream.

lost tooth!

in a 24-hour time span, kate was visited by the easter bunny and the

tooth fairy. you would think that the thought of these mythical

creatures tromping around in her bedroom all weekend long would

have been alarming.....but she is really very pleased. chocolate

bunnies and shiny quarters and her very first lost tooth makes for

one extremely happy and proud five-year old girl.

easter baby

annie in the tulips

easter on the farm

we spent a lovely day at the farm on friday.

despite the cold and rain, the cousins played happily all day,

exploring the house,

watching the trains go round the track,

trying on grandma's old dresses and hats,

opening perfectly picked out easter baskets,

listening to gg and grandma read stories,

playing hot and cold (over and over and over!),

and helping grandpa feed the animals.

for me,

it was long chats with my sister,

my grandma teaching us "legal cheating" in solitaire,

(oh, cousins, i know......i know. she will never live it down!)

listening to vivi and erin playing house,

hearing tess chirp her first "grandma",

and watching kate discover her first (very, very) wiggly tooth.

coming home, as always........ perfect.

tess, post-pudding, post-bath.

(oops)

kate loooooves to take baths.

(alone)

sunday we got an early preview for summer.....

an 80* day,

little girls helping daddy wash the car,

swimsuits and hot dogs on the grill,

sweaty baby curls and dirty feet....

swings and slides and never coming inside.

happy, happy day.

we took the kids to one of our local parks on saturday for an egg

hunt, complete with rain, chocolate, eggs, and one really scary

oversized easter bunny. (just ask annie and tess!)

pretzels

not too many words for this post today......

i think it's pretty obvious who rules the roost over here.

15 months

tess had her 15 month check up last week.

she is 23 pounds (50th %) and 32 inches (90th %).

everything looks great, except for her ears,

which are both still infected. poor baby.

she now says "here!" when she hands you things,

and "nigh-nigh" at bedtime, and gives lots of

kisses and hugs, complete with very loud kissing noises!

she is my snuggliest girl....

her new thing is to come and lean against my legs while

i make dinner. so sweet.

she loves milk (in bottles, still) and cinnamon rolls and

q doba and pretzels and daddy's homemade pasta and

red sauce.....and very little else.

oops.....and macaroni and cheese. of course.

she has an extremely persistent "uh-uh-uh-uh" sound

when she wants something, like pretzels,

430 times a day.

she dances, and turns in circles until she falls down.

she is in love with erin, and finds her first every morning.

15 months is wonderful.

the kiddo