20 Months [yesterday]

Our big girls are now 20 months old!  They impress us with new things they've learned every single day.
It's truly amazing to see. 

And like most kids, they LOVE watching their favorite shows.  They'll tell me, "Shows, mama!  Shows!!"  (Don't worry, we limit TV time to about 30 minutes in the morning, and 20 minutes before bedtime). 

Here are our little TV watchers, enthralled with last night's show.  Now, if these aren't the faces of some completely mesmerized toddlers, I don't know what is. 

Dora the Explorer is by far their favorite right now.  I'll have to get a video of them dancing to the opening song, it's hysterical.  If you're familiar with this children's show, you'll know that famous line by Swiper the Fox is "Oh, Man!" (as in, "awe, shucks") when he doesn't get his way.  So that's been their latest phrase of choice - "Oh MAAN!"  Here's a couple videos of them doing this. 

Olivia

Caroline

RibFest!

We spent the afternoon out at Ribfest enjoying the local bbq restaurants' finest. The girls chowed down on a few slabs of baby backs, as well as some roasted corn on the cob AND a pulled pork sandwhich. These kids are definitely carnivores, that's for sure. Now if I could only remember the last time they actually ate anything green... hmmm... Well, at least they're eating!

They had a great time running around and people watching. Of course they stayed in their stroller for the first 5 minutes before darting in opposite directions. So mommy & daddy were juggling plates of food, our beer cups (necessity), a double-wide stroller, and a diaper bag, all the while chasing them both down. Nonetheless, it was a good time.

 

Caroline in green, Olivia in brown

Caroline wearing rib sauce lipstick

Entertaining Two Toddlers = Full Time Job

I came home early from work yesterday to spend the afternoon with the kiddos.  Man oh man, are these girls a HAND FULL!  It was on the verge on raining all day, so we had to figure out what to do around the house to keep them entertained.  We colored in our coloring books, played dress up with all our accessories, rearranged mommy's tupperware cabinet, and played with our new water table out on the balcony.  By the time daddy came home, I was pooped!

Sunday Funday

Yesterday we got caught in the rain at the playground. The girls had fun playing in the water, which called for an impromptu afternoon bath.

Of course we couldn't pass up a stop at the Tastee Freeze again!
O
C

Couple Videos:

Ice Cream Again!??

“All Gone!”

And after all that activity, they were pooped and just wanted to lay together watching their shows while I got dinner together. So sweet!

Miss Grumpy-Pants-Messy-Hair

aka: Olivia after a nap

Kick off to Summer Festivals

One thing I love about living in Chicago is all the neighborhood festivals that fill up the summer weekends. Food, music, beer, sunshine, what more could you ask for? Rob and I have great memories of going to all the fests in years past, and this summer is the first year we're attempting these with toddlers in tow. Next weekend we're hoping to check out daddy's all time favorite: Rib Fest!

Today we headed out to Aunt Kari's & Uncle Jay's neighborhood. Aunt Kari is doing pretty well post-surgery, looked great and is really being such a trooper. To let her rest and keep Katie entertained, the rest of us headed down the street to enjoy the festival going on. All three girls had a good time, as it was a kid-friendly fest complete with ice cream, kid's music and balloons.

C&O excited to borrow Katie & James' stroller

Munching on some yummy Jumbo Pretzel

As the girls say, "TAY-teeeee"

Caroline and Katie being silly

Mommy & Liners

Daddy & his girls

and with Livi Lou

Caroline & Katie making sure we abide by all posted signage.

Flying Squirrel

Caroline has been caught trying to pull a flying-squirrel out of her crib for the past week or so. The little monkey climbs her way up the crib slats and can get one of her legs over the side. Scares the crap out of me and our nanny. We've resorted to taking off all the couch cushions in our living room and surrounding the floors around both their cribs in case one or both girls do a nose-dive. We cannot continue to strip the couches every time they go to sleep!

So we have two options here: I can either convert their cribs into toddler beds and let them have free reign over their room at bedtime; or I can invest in a couple of crib tents, which keep the monkeys caged in and look like this:

I'm really not sure if they're quite ready for toddler beds just yet. I know this would be tough because they are sure to get out of bed multiple times throughout the night and it doesn't help that they already have each other as partners in crime! God only knows the mischief these two would get into when that bedroom door closes! But I certainly can't keep stressing that they will fall out of their cribs and hurt themselves. Hmmm... what's a mom to do?