Double Trouble: Our 1st double birthday

Alright, so last year was, technically, the first double birthday. But since it was Ada's actual birthday, that didn't really count. Rather, it counts as something totally different.

This year, we got to celebrate Paul's 3rd birthday - wahoo! - as well as Adeline's 1st birthday - hurrah! - on Sunday, January 25th. We got started a little early with a wowza of a Saturday the 24th, finally putting Paul to bed around 9pm, totally worn out, and a little unsure of Mardi Gras. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

First up, I must mention that we had family in to help celebrate. Nana, Pappy, and Ginny came in from Houston, and Peter came all the way from "across the bridge" on Friday for poboys on our living room floor. I loved the commotion, centered around food, of course.

Saturday was Paul's little party. I say little because I'm not for throwing an all-out shabang, with all these bells and whistles (read: price tags and stress) that kids don't care about. He was turning 3, so he invited 3 friends; and they all, accompanied by their parents-in-tow, walked to the local New Orleans Fire Department firehouse for a short talk&song, followed by play on an engine. And then they got a call! For real. So we all rushed aside, the sirens were put on, and they were off. Ginny said, when you see a firefighter hustlin, ya kinda get outta the way quick. Then we realized our strollers and gear were all inside the locked firehouse. Started walking back home, saw the fire truck heading back already, so we turned around, picked up our gear, thanked them again, and walked back home for backyard play, build-your-own PB&J (for the chilluns), and chocolate birthday cake. Squee! It was cute.

Now, quick! Nap!

Because at 2:30, we had to line Paul up in his very first Mardi Gras parade! We decorated his lil trike, and we walked in the neighborhood parade. It was a tiny thing, mostly for kiddos, with things made from garages ... though there were 2 real floats and a band! It was pretty cool. Except Paul hated it. I mean, he liked the music and people and all that, but he hated the disorder. Of beads on the ground, of throwing things where? just randomly in that direction? No. He wanted to re-collect all of the thrown things and put them back in his trike trunk. Alright, alright, so we woke him up from a very short nap after a crazy busy morning? Yeah, yeah, but it's Mardi Gras! The parade went right in front of our house about halfway through, so we just called it quits, waited for him to stop crying, gave him a sucker, and walked together to the after-party at the local Episcopalian church for champagne, king cake, and lemonade. That part he liked. 

Paul's birthday dinner request was pizza, so Dylan was busy busy (because he also made both of the kids' cakes) getting that dough ready, I made the sauce, and - bam - homemade pizza with exactly the toppings he wanted. Where's Ada during all this? Oh, she's just generally having a ball doing whatever everybody else is. She cannot yet voice her birthday dinner requests, so Paul had this covered. 

Sunday - their actual birthday - was a full morning, too. We had Mass, pressies, Ada's birthday cheesecake, and then another king cake party in the neighborhood. This one was at the Lutheran church and served beer instead. I don't play favorites. Then nap time - a real one. That night we all just relaxed together, played with new toys, and had leftover birthday pizza on the Special Day plate. It was lovely.

And while it was chock-a-block and really busy, it still wasn't quite as busy as having a baby on a child's birthday.

I still can't really believe it...

<--- Ada's cake

Paul's pizza --->

And now for the rest of the week's shenanigans, including Paul's-eye-view photography:

   

Birthday toys! Except ... flip-flopped. 

^ this, right here. Gah.

Sleepy girl + big-boy hair

I've been wanting to get that last post off the top of the blog (so the focus, here, isn't mold or fleas...), but I haven't had anything!

Until this:

Other than that adorableness, we've been good, staying well, and organizing things for some littles' birthday coming up this Sunday! Paul will be 3, and Adeline will be 1. Where. does. the time. go.

Ada's high-fiving, clapping, waving, and starting to put away toys when told to "put that block here" - wait a second - and done. Next. Not efficient, but excellent nonetheless.

Paul's a singing little boy! He's starting to do it by request, too, rather than only when he's playing alone or on the 'loo. He's also talked on the "phone" to Thomas the Tank Engine. And he's gassed up his little Mini, Nigel, before heading to Costco.

These kids crack me up!

And now for the negatives. With Paul, it's his eating lately ... I dunno what's going on, but he is not interested in fork/spoon-feeding himself at. all. He'll take a bite or two of the morning's oatmeal and then whiiiiine for us to "help" him, which means Mama, feed me. He'll do finger foods still, so *sigh* I guess I go that route for a while til this phase passes. With Ada, sleeeep, baby, sleep! Just do it - sleep from 8 til 6, straight. Come on! Sometimes she's up once, sometimes 3 times wanting to nurse and go easily back to sleep - fine, I'll do that, albeit begrudgingly. Other times, she's up at 4 and just up. No. No, Baby; I won't do that. Not even begrudgingly. So, Dylan and I are sometimes quite tired.

Paul has a new haircut, finally, and he did very well.

Behind door #3 is a NEW CAR!

Ya know how things come in 3s? Could be good things, bad things, yummy things, etc. We've recently had a bout of the 3s, and 'twas of the bad variety.

1. Fleas.
2. Mold.
3. Car.

1. Fleas. Ewww! Living in MN, we'd never had a problem because of the everything-freezes-season, and we didn't know what exactly we were looking at until it was all a little too latel. Lucy brought fleas in! It was December 12th when we put it together, and I'm happy to say that one month later, a lot of attention to minute detail, daily cleaning of everything, and turning Lucy back into an indoor cat, we're (very near!1) flea-less. It wasn't really so bad as it was just - gross. But anyway, behind us!

2. Mold. After a few days of a shut-up house during a cold snap over Christmas, our walls and floors started growing things in corners. Again, ewww! One massive drying-out process with fans, A/C units, and taking a knife to our otherwise sealed shut windows later, (plus, again, the cleaning of everything), we're good. Doesn't hurt that it's warming up, thank the Lord.

3. Car. We bought '04 Vince Noir the VW in '09 with 50K, and last weekend we traded him in. He was our first car together, each of our first car, really, at all. He didn't exactly leave us stranded, but the next work was going to cost a pretty penny, so we thought that money ould be better put to use in something newer that's been around a little less than Vinny's current 112K. So, now that we live on the levee, enter Don McLean the Chevy! He's an '11 model with 44K, and there are a couple of extra treasured inches in the backseat. He, also, has a stick-shift, and I'm sure we'll grow to love him the same ... though he has decidedly less character in his outward appearance. Looks good, don't get me wrong, just a little nondescipt. Dylan told me I like boxy cars; guess so. Photo with Paul to come!

In other news, or in indirect car news, because Donny was in Houston, Dylan drove Paul to "Tetsas" last weekend, leaving me with just Ada. Boy, that was weird! Having "just a baby"*, and getting to focus on her and see what she can do! I sure did miss my guys, though, and we had a nice reunion on Sunday evening once everyone was back together.
*something I never would have said to myself nor intend to ever say with condescension to moms-of-one; it's just different now.

Ada walked the length of the house holding Dylan's hands tonight. Cuuute!

Milestone-like kid update

I do a lot of talking about what's happening around here and little about how the kids are growing and changing. Here's a breakdown of their cans & dos.

First lil Ada France. She's nearing 1 year, and she's very mobile. She scoots/crawls quickly everywhere she can fit herself into/under/around/on top of. She pulls herself up easily at chairs and tables and can hold herself there one-handed, spin around a little, and put herself back down lightly to grab something before she's off again. She's waving - two lil types: open-shut-open-shut as well as a shake-shake one. And she's done the "so big!" routine just once now ... we'd forgotten about that one! She's also trained herself (and me) very well to use the same shriek cry for "Stuck! Need help now!" and "Paul took that from me." They used to be different, I swear. She's happy, smiley, pretty easy to keep content . . . as long as she's not teething or otherwise in acute pain. She's got just the 6 teeth still from when they all came raging in, but the other two bottom ones are about to poke through. She's nursing round about 5 times a day and sleeping (new trend?) from 8 til 7am with one nurse break round 11. And she eats. She eats a ton! of everything! I finally broke the no sugar rule and have been adding strawberry jam to her oatmeal, and she loves it! She is a little like her mama in not liking breakfast things really, so shrug. She loves greens - spinach, limas, peas - and, really, pretty well everything we eat and most things Paul has decided to turn his nose up to: gumbo, curry, and, of course, all of my pastas. She's not into rice so much, unless it's super sticky, and no ground beef for her à la taco meat, but in lasagna or a sauce is a-ok. She's about 18 lbs and is starting to pack it on but has a long way to go since she's a tiny little sprite. Ada loves music and bops or rocks to any sort of music as soon as it's switched on. She's using her xylophone and kazoo like Paul was at 18mos ... not to compare or anything. Her scrunchy-face is adorable, and she things Paul is the most hilarious thing on the planet.

Big brother Paul is just under 30 lbs! He's grown a fondness for sandwiches or really any combo of bread, meat, and cheese. Mostly the bread, though. He really, really loves some things and really, really won't eat others. He's turning into a real little guy! With preferences and everything! He particularly likes sweets, too ... will work for sugar. He's potty-trained! (Line of thought is no coincidence.) He's getting tall and growing out of pants. He loves wheels still, especially if they're attached to trains, garbage trucks, or construction equipment. He's a sweet little church-goer, with proper cross-arms for communion and an almost-proper genuflection in the aisle. He's a talker! But he's also shy for others ... for the first 5 minutes, anyway. (We're working on audible pleases and thank-yous.) He speaks German almost solely, and his sentence structure is definitely toddler-y for any language: Paul go here. Paul eat this. Paul that please. He reads to himself or to us in gibberish, and he bosses Ada around in English. Mostly, Ada not touch! No train, Ada! He's a sweet cuddler, and he's very fair, making sure no one gets left out of anything fun or yummy. His memory's improving, and his recall is truly shocking; keeps us honest! Physically, I feel like he can do anything. He helps with thousands of little tasks - silverware sorting, fetching a diaper, putting his dirty clothes into baskets, pulling pants up and down, etc. And he's quite strong, too, carrying out recycling and trash even. He's got a good arm, too. Pretty good aim with both a baseball and football. He likes kicking around a soccer ball but has shown preference for throwing so far. He loves to make Ada laugh, especially if it's doing something he shouldn't be, and he's a fun-loving dancer. My little Pea is almost 3.

Pretty happy little kiddos. We thank God for them.

Happy Feast of the Epiphany! Go getchu some king cake.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention 2 things about Paul. 1. He carries around his Decke (blanket); he's Linus! 2. He sings. He sings "Frinkle, frinkle, widdle staw" and "Abba peace like wivver, Abba peace like wivver, Abba peace like wivver in my soooool" - it is the. best.

Peek-chores!

<-- New Year's Eve wedding

And then waking the kids up later for fireworks over the Mississippi -->