Another Fantastic Vacation on the Books

Well...it's over. And...we're home. And that? Well that's stinky. Stinky like Leighton's diapers. Now we're counting the days until we get to go again. Actually, Mom and Dad are doing that counting because I can only make it to ten.

For now we have the memories and pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. Three-hundred-some pictures thanks to the Fancy New Camera That Takes Really Nice Pictures. You'll find a couple of them here, and more on flickr. (But don't worry, not all three-hundred-some.)

Mom got some cool action sequence shots at the pool that she's hoping I'll put up on the blog soon but that'll be a work in progress.

So anyways, enjoy...

The last night of our vacation, some of us (Mom, Dad, Haley, Kevin, Kris and me) headed to downtown Palm Springs for a street fair. (Leighton couldn't go with because of his early bedtime so Grandma Trish and Papa Boots stayed home with him and they all went to dinner at the club.)

I had a great time at the street fair but my parents made a very bad parenting choice to keep me out WAAAAYYY past my bedtime. Things went well through the waiting for the table at the restaurant period, during which time we walked the fair and shopped the shops. I stopped to pose with this cute poodle statue:

Then we had our dinner (well I actually just had chips, salsa and chocolate milk, but that's cool because I covered dairy and vegetables and kinda, almost covered carbohydrate/starch...) and then walked and shopped some more. Dad even gave me a ride on his shoulders so I could see everything that was going on:

But then something bad happened. Something very very bad. There was a rock climbing wall and I wanted to climb it and Mom said no because I'm too young and I said NO MOM MY NOT TOO UNG, MY BIG GIRL AND MY CLIMB THE WADDER NOW COME ON so Mom and Dad said we would go ask the people and we walked there and nobody could talk to us because they were busy helping kids that looked bigger than me but I didn't admit that and Mom looked at a piece of paper and winked at Dad and then pointed to it and said LOOK TAYLOR it SAYS you have to be five years old and you're only two so you can't do it and we're going home because it's after 9:00 and you're a wreck. So we started to walk to the car and that's when this happened:

We got to the car where I was FINALLY given a nummy and calmed down right away. Unfortunately, that only lasted until we got back to the house where I broke down again for no apparent reason but it involved things like MY NOT WEAR A PULLUP TO BED MY WEAR PANTIES and no Taylor, we're not doing that on vacation but when we go home maybe we can start doing potty training for bedtime and MY NOT WANNA WEAR JAMMIES, MY WEAR MY DRESS TO BED and a wrestling match involving a pullup and Mom saying EEERRRR Taylor I am so done with you right now and then Grandma putting me in bed with my nummies and water and an eventual surrender to sleep.

(Note: Life has been like that around here a lot lately, but not to worry, in an extreme act of parenting Mom and Dad took ALL my books away and I'm earning them back by displaying appropriate behavior.)

Other fun activities interspersed with my tantrums included:

Lots and lots of swimming

Fun times with my cousin Haley (who looks JUST like her mommy, Kris in this picture!)

Lots and lots of golf cart rides

A trip to The Living Desert where Leighton and I rode together in a wagon (so fun!)

A day out without kids for Mom and Dad-they went hiking at Indian Canyons and had a romantic date night at their favorite restaurant, Kalura Trattoria Italiana

And lots of practice on my "skaters"

The weather back here in Minnesota has been unseasonably beautiful which has been the state's saving grace since we had to leave the sun and very warm weather in California. And to remember the beauty of Palm Springs until we go again, we have this:

TTFN.

Taylor and Leighton (who, by the way, if you're keeping track, still DOES. NOT. SLEEP. THROUGH. THE. NIGHT. Argh.)

The Good Life

Greeting from Palm Springs, California. Just a quick update before I head off to bed completely exhausted from the many adventures. (Of which I will share more details at a later date.)

Leighton, much to everybody's chagrin, took to the grass like a fish to water. Mom, Dad, Grandma and Papa were very happy that he didn't react like I did the first time I came to Palm Springs.

He may not look like he truly appreciates the grass here, but it was his first moment:



With more time to acclimate to it's unique texture, he's become very accustomed to it and happy with it:





There have been a couple firsts for me as well.

My first pair of roller skates:



Grandma got them for me, complete with all the safety gear. I told Mom that I want to take them to Meggie's next hockey game so I can skate with her.

I also got my first set of golf clubs-WITH A BAG!-as an early birthday gift from Mom and Dad. Sweet!

Today we all went to the driving range and putting green so I could try all my clubs out. I'm no Stephanie Oster yet, but I'll keep practicing and I'll be there someday.

I am beyond exhausted from all my adventures, so you'll have to excuse me for now. I'll be back soon with more pictures of our adventures.

Peace out,

Taylor (and Leighton)

Mr. Golden Sun

Thank you so much for shining down on us today Mr. Sun! It was just what the doctor ordered for all of us. Now if Leighton and I can bounce back from the chaos created by the time switch, life will be grand.

I got to take my trike out for a spin down the block today. Mom was a bit frustrated that I don't yet know how to pedal correctly, but she's trying to be patient. She says if we need to, we'll call Ms. Adrienne (her OT friend at work) and see if we can get some outpatient help for me. Apparently Ms. Adrienne is really good at teaching kids how to ride trikes.

Unfortunately, because he has really bad timing and takes two naps a day, Leighton only made it outdoors during outings to church, Nate's hockey game and dinner at Grandma and Papa's house. But here's a picture of him anyways...

Do you see the irony in this picture? Yes, Megan, it was really warm today and I know you're at that age where you want to dress inappropriately for the weather, but seriously, do you see the snow still on the ground?!?!

Meggie and Nate had lots of fun cruising around on their roller blades. I pitched a big fit (one of many I had today since the time change forced Mommy to take a calculated risk and allow me to go napless for the day) and told Mom that I'm big enough for roller blades. Funny thing though, she didn't run to the store to buy me a pair. Maybe she'll go tomorrow.

Meggie:

Nate:

Well it's off to lala land for our house now. Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Toodles,

Taylor

(Remember when I used to sign with all kinds of nicknames? Well, not anymore. I INSIST on being called Taylor and nothing else. It's part of my "Tude".)

Just Random News

Mom has been enjoying her new camera but hasn't had many unique chances to use it or the time to figure out any fancy features. For now she's just been shooting pics of us kids anyone else that shows up around the house, but she's real excited to take it on vacation when we go to Palm Springs in a week. Papa Steve said he'd give Mom some pointers and teach her how the fancy cameras work. That's all well and good and thanks Papa, but me, I'm looking forward to golf cart rides, swimming in the pool and going to find the turtle that Papa told me about the other day. He says it lives in one of the ponds on the golf course and that he'll take me for a walk to see it. I can't wait!

Here is one of the pictures Mom shot with the new camera. What she wanted to capture in this picture is my lovely ensemble. See, I had a potty accident while Mom was in the shower (I tried to make it on the potty but just didn't get there in time) and she told me to take off the wet clothes and leave them on the bathroom floor, then go get myself clean panties, pants and socks. I did a great job and showed some fantastic self help skills. But matching? Nope, that didn't happen. (Snowflakes on my sleeves, striped pants and crazy socks with animal heads on them.)

In preparation for vacation, Mom had me try on summer clothes from last summer to see if anything still fit me. The good news is that Mom found a couple outfits and a couple dresses that still fit me. Nice! She also found me some divatastic sunglasses.

Mom likes to torture us by doing things like putting hats that are QUITE OBVIOUSLY too large for us on our heads. Earlier today she stuck her hat on my head. (Thank goodness she didn't run off for her camera for that one.) Leighton was her next victim when Mom found Dad's hat on the kitchen floor. (Yes, hat on the kitchen floor. And no, that is not where it belongs, but who am I to judge, right?) She got a pretty cute picture of that one...

Tonight Mom and I made homemade pizzas for dinner. (Dad was off watching the state high school hockey tournament.) Mom wanted to make sure we could tell our pizzas apart so we made a "T" out of pepperoni on my pizza. It turns out that wasn't necessary as I decided to put sugar snap peas on top of my pizza after Mom snapped this picture. (Yes, that's gross. And I voiced that opinion when Mom pulled the pizzas from the oven. Mom dropped a big ol' "I tried to tell you that!" at that point.)

Dad was away a lot this week. A LOT. Monday night he was in Wisconsin. Tuesday night he had a business dinner (and those ALWAYS go late). Wednesday he was in St. Louis and Thursday he was at the hockey tournament. Grandma Jan and Papa Bob helped us out by bringing over dinner on Tuesday night and staying home with Leighton when I had dance class on Wednesday. For a special treat on Tuesday, we had ICE CREAM CONES. Yum yum! Leighton even got to get in on the action.

The next couple pictures are juts some random shots that Mom got of Leighton one day when the light was really good in the living room. (Which is really rare as it usually feels like a cave in there.)

Sometimes I'm a "piece of work" at dance class (that means that I refuse to go into class and/or run out of class multiple times during the hour I'm there) but sometimes I'm really into it and have lots of fun. Evidence:

And one last picture of Leighton just because he's so darn cute!

Thanks for tuning in. Blogging may not happen in the next week as we prepare for vacation, but watch for news of our California Adventure as it unfolds.

Hugs and Kisses!

Taylor and Leighton

Mommy's New Toy

Today Mommy and I went on at outing to Roseville. First we went to Target where the nice ladies at the Target portait studio took these super adorable pictures of me...

Then we went to National Camera Exchange where Mom bought a new camera to replace the one we (I) broke. Mom has always wanted a digital SLR camera and decided to use my little accident as an excuse to finally buy one. She's hoping to get good enough with it to start taking the family pictures and stop paying other people to do it. First she's going to take the class that the store offers because the camera is quite a bit more complicated than the old point and shoot. Until then, she'll be playing around and hopefully at least get some material for Taylor and I to use on the blog.

Check back soon and see if she's helped us out.

Other random updates as long as I'm here...

-Two nights ago when I woke up at 10:30, Mom found me sitting up in my crib crying, my blanket on the other side of the crib. When she picked me up she could feel my legs were cold through my pajamas. So she wrapped my in my blankie, gave me my lovey, and rocked me back to sleep. (Without a bottle!) So the next night, Mom put me in two pairs of pajamas with the second pair of pajams acting as my blanket. Wonder of wonders, I slept from 7:30-6:30. Mommy was so happy and so was I! We're all hoping that Mommy has found a permanent solution to the very troublesome problem of me waking in the night.

-I'm continuing to LOVE trying new foods. Last night Taylor shared her pancakes with me when we were out to eat with the family. I've had bananas a few times and I see why Mom and Taylor eat them by the bushel. Today I had some penne pasta and thought it was quite impressive. Taylor is really nice and wants to share everything with me and help me try all kinds of new foods but Mom and Dad remind her that we have to take it slow and that I am still a baby.

-Not a whole lot of news on Taylor. I guess when you get to her age, you don't change as much as you do at my age.

Well...that's all for now. Take care!

Love and hugs and wet kisses!

Leighton

Uhoh.

I made Mommy drop the camera. It doesn't work now. We have time to blog but we have no pictures. I'm sorry. Please accept this video of Taylor that was uploaded before I killed the camera as a token of my sincere apology.

Love,
Leighton

Monthly Update

Remember last month when I told you about how Leighton started sleeping through the night but followed it up with the disclaimer about us both being sick and all bets being off? Well, my prediction came true. Sleeping through the night only lasted about a week and since then he's been up to his old tricks. Mom is getting pretty darn sick and tired of it and walks around here like a zombie most of the time. Except when she's hopped up on coffee or Diet Mountain Dew (or both!), then she runs around like a crazy woman. It's awesome. But not really, so LEIGHTON, SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT ALREADY!

In addition to his sleeping misadventures, he's become mobile. He can crawl all over and even likes to stand up on things. But sometimes he gets into some trouble, like the day he was crawling around on the bathroom floor and got stuck in my step stool after he flipped it over then tried to use it as Mount Everest.




Leighton also likes to stand up in his bed which may or may not be part of our nighttime problem. The sleeping through the night stint seemed to end about the same time he taught himself how to sit up and then stand up.




Recently, we decided to see how much of the Minnesota Zoo is open during the winter. We could only see the indoor exhibits but it was enough for a short little outing.

The zoo has become a much more rewarding experience for Leighton now that he can sit up in the stroller and look all around. By the time we go back again in the spring, maybe he'll even be able to walk with me so I can show him all my favorites.

Back at the end of January, we went out to eat to celebrate Mom and Uncle John's birthdays. It was a fun night at Rudy's Redeye Grill. Yum!

(I really didn't want to be in the picture below but Nate enticed me by telling me I could make a funny face. Hehe.)

Two weekends ago we got to have Meggie spend the night. We had lots of fun! We went out to eat at Baja Sol, made cookies, played Hide and Go Seek, and then Meggie got to sleep in my room on a special bed filled with air. Mom told me I had to stay in my bed all night long, but I snuck down to Meggie's bed at 3:00 in the morning. Meg said it was alright except for the part where I rubbed my nummies on her face.

Enjoying fresh-baked cookies and milk.

Grandma Trish and Papa Steve were in town for the Super Bowl. Kevin, Kris, Haley and Papa Boots came over to watch the big game with us. Haley, Leighton and I snuck away to have some story time.

I decided to provide my own halftime show and put on this great outfit.

Mom was off work Monday for President's Day and Meg and Nate were off school so Aunt Jenni took the day off too. We decided to capitalize on the family time potential by loading up and headed downtown to the Children's Museum. This was another outing that was far more interactive for Leighton now that he's getting all grown up.

I was really excited to have Meggie there because she painted my face like a clown.

In food and dental news, Leighton now has eight teeth (what?!?!) and gets to start trying all kinds of new foods. Tuesday night's treat was black beans. He loved them! I refused to eat them even though Mom and Dad claim that I too loved them once upon a time. (Sometimes I'm a stubborn pain in the butt like that.)

Well people, I hope you enjoyed our update. I won't make any promises, but hopefully we'll be back to blog again soon.

Hugs and Sloppy Kisses,

Taylor and Leighton

XOXOXOXO