Arizona

In early January we were able to escape the cold and visit Grammy and Joe in Pheonix. The weather was picture perfect and we spent every moment we could outside.

4 years-old

We celebrated Soren's 4th birthday in Pheonix, Az with Grammy and Joe. Soren had a "racecar" birthday party - this entailed watching the movie Cars, eating a "Cars" cake, getting a "Cars" book and a HannyManny racecar for his gifts. I think Soren's face in these pictures says it all. He was delighted. I love the picture of him with his hands on his face- this was taken when we sang happy birthday to him, I think he felt like he was going to burst.

more winter fun...

Oh my dear Ingrid. I think she must have been some sort of jungle cat in her former life because she is simply wild and independent. She loves her red, patent leather boots - she screams for them and puts them on by herself. She insists upon wearing a dress, with a sweater and coat with pockets (all at the same time!) She loves being "cozy" (her word) in a big chair, with a big book (usually upside down). She is crazy about Soren, who she calls "Soonie." She'll say "come eeer Soonie!!" But while she is wild (and sometimes fierce) she is so cuddly with me and still such a baby. I love it.

Winter images

The snow around our house is approximately 4 feet tall, the drifts on the curbs are taller than our car. Soren and I were playing a word game the other night...we made up things we "wished" the snow would turn into - such as a white fluffy cloud we could run through, a soft white pillow we could rest on, a big warm blanket, ice cream we could eat. Although we have been forced inside most of the time, we've stayed pretty busy and I am too pooped out at night to update my blog. These pictures show some of our winter activities: drinking warm beverages, bundling up in layers of clothing, looking out the window at Daddy shoveling snow off our roof, reading, reading, and more reading. Dressing up in funny costumes, putting on puppet shows, dancing wildly around the living room and running laps around the house are other things we do... the weather does amazing things for our creativity.

Christmas 2009

Soren discusses his options with Santa...

18 months old

Ingrid turned 18 months old December 4th. Half way to 2 years-old, I cannot believe it. She understands so much and can say so many words, I am astounded by her on a hourly basis.

Christmas is coming!

Ingrid has learned how to say "cheese" when you take her picture...which is what she is clearly saying in this photo.

dress-up days

The post-halloween costumes I bought from a thrift store seem to be paying off... Ingrid and Soren are pretending to be dogs in a pet store in these pictures.

Clown A an Clown B

I realized, after looking over the pictures I'm posting today, that these show how Soren and Ingrid are engaging with each other. They are playing with each other more and have little conversations now that Ingrid is talking.

Trip home from Lake Itaska

We took a weekend trip to Lake Itaska State Park and stayed in the hostel there.  It was a chili weekend, but the fall colors were amazing and we made our fun by taking a snow hike, climbing on top of bunk beds and running down the hostel hallway. This is a picture of Soren and Ingrid enjoying their books on the short trip home. 

playtime

Besides pretending to be superman, Soren has also turned our living room into a hockey rick, including zamboni and penalty box. This is a picture of him in his jersey and helmet.

Ingrid impresses me with her ability to get comfortable, she loves to wrap a blanket around her (she does this by herself) and sit with a book.

Happy Halloween!

Soren checks out his goodies...

Pumpkin Patch

A beautiful day at the pumpkin patch!

Superman

Halloween starts early for us! Soren's been wearing his costume since the beginning of October. I love the way Ingrid is looking at him in this picture.

October

October started off with a visit from Grammy. These are pictures of Grammy and Ingrid enjoying some quality snuggle time. Grammy brought this adorable piggy-bank for Soren (including a red-scarf which he requested).

Making Happy Little Trees

Soren is interested in music, language, books, pretending, building with legos, climbing and anything with wheels. But holding a crayon, no way, he would rather not and usually ends up pretending that the crayons are little people talking to each other. I've witnessed him tossing the crayons I've offered him up into the air yelling, "see the people falling!!!" So, I've had to get a little creative with finding mediums that will hold Soren's interest...finger painting seemed to do the trick on one beautiful afternoon. After swirling the paint all over the paper, we took some little trucks and made tracks through the paint, he sat and did this for an HOUR! Afterwards I got out the sidewalk chalk and we drew a road with houses along the sides for his trucks to cruise on.

Early September

We've had a beautiful September here -it still feels like summertime, although the school buses we spot, chilly mornings and night coming earlier each night tells us different. We've started back at our Fall routine, each day we have an activity with other Moms/Kids, whether it be storytime, playgroups or ECFE. Both Ingrid and Soren are taking swimming lessons at the YMCA. Chris and I make an effort to get out for runs, we're both aware that the opportunity to take a run outside will come to an end way before we're ready.