I can't hear you.

Graham came into the kitchen yesterday looking like this:



I couldn't figure out what he was doing until I looked a little closer. He had folded his ears closed.



He said, "I make it quiet in here."

The many faces of...

Aunt Kim got a new camera and needed to practice with it. She found many subjects--some willing and some not so willing, some photogenic and some not-so-much. Let's just say that she found the 'ham' in Graham.






We also went to the Great Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Unfortunately, due to the weather, there was no hunting involved. In fact, there weren't really a lot of eggs, either. Oh well. The kids enjoyed decorating their cookies.

Smithy Tidbits

These kids of ours are, as Mater says, more fun than a tornado in a trailer park.

I am convinced Gabriella loves her blanket more than she loves her parents and apple juice combined. When we put her in her crib, she always does exactly the same thing: she paws through her blanket until she finds a corner, then inserts her finger into the seam. She puts the blanket up to her nose and breathes through it while sucking her tongue. It is bizarre. And evidently she also likes to sleep with her feet propped up.



Chase is moving into a big boy toddler bed tonight. It was just a hand-me-down, but he danced around it singing "Race car bed! Race car bed!" and insisted on eating his snack inside its barren walls. He was ecstatic--that is, until I started dismantling his crib, at which point he began sobbing. He wants to have his fruit snacks and eat them too.



Graham is such a helper in the kitchen. Actually, make that a distraction. Anyway, he likes to watch the breadmaker work (can't blame him, sometimes I do the same thing).



He is also going through some irrational fear phase. I sent this email to my grandma a few days ago:

"Graham has been very worried about tornadoes lately, and yesterday when it was very windy, he was sobbing outside because he was afraid he would blow away. I think it's because Piglet blows away on Winnie the Pooh (who knew that would be a scary movie?). I couldn't convince him that he wouldn't blow away, so finally I said, "Graham, if you blow away, I will run and catch you!" Then he REALLY started crying because I guess I just confirmed his fears that he might, possibly, blow away. We went inside after that."

Speaking of irrational fears, this gigantic spider was on our front window. Luckily for the spider, it was on the outside. I found it fascinating, especially when I noticed that it only has 7 legs.

Any Given Sunday

Graham likes to look at birds. He is learning to identify them by sight, but we recently got a book from the library that plays their songs. Now he can sing "conk-a-ree" with a red-winged blackbird and "who cooks for you?" with the barred owl. This is all well and good (even encouraged!) until it starts interfering with my sleep.

Yesterday morning at 6:45am, we heard Graham's pounding footsteps. A frenzied clutching and opening of the doorknob. More pounding footsteps. Then a frantically loud whisper, strong enough to blow the shingles off the roof:

"I hear a birdie singing in my ear, and I don't know what it is!"

Later, as he walked through the garage to get in the van for church, he stepped outside long enough to yell, "Bob White? Bob White!" I'm sure the people next door think we have a new neighbor named Robert.

Chase, on the other hand, finds quieter ways to express himself. We put the boys down last night and when I went to check on them, Chase was standing up, staring at the wall. When I looked more closely, I saw that he was actually using his hands to make shadow puppets.

Marching forth

I know March is not over yet, but we have taken a whole bowl of pictures lately. Here are some random moments from the last few weeks.

I'm not sure what this face is all about, but it sure cracks me up.



Chilling on the couch, watching Sesame Street for the first time. Gabriella was laughing out loud. Chase was too engrossed to look at me.



Graham wanted a tunnel. Then he wanted a snack. What he didn't want was two younger siblings to join him, but he got the whole package.



Chase spends a lot of time in his underwear lately. We're not sure why he also chose to spend some time in this box.



Aunt Kim got a job in the area and is living with us for awhile. She is one cool aunt, who has not yet tired of letting the kids watch YouTube videos about Lightning McQueen and excavators on her computer. Needless to say, we enjoy having her around.



And finally, last week's potty training coup de grâce. My mother made these couch cushion covers for us. I am very grateful that she did, because they're washable. See exhibit A, between cushions 2 and 3. We still don't know when he did it, but it's another bit of evidence I will one day hold over Chase's head as he is choosing my nursing home.

Graham's Birthday

Graham turned 3 on March 6, and we had a small birthday party for him here with a few of our friends. Adam & Jayme came over, Aunt Kim was here, and my good friend Michelle stopped by on her way through (yay!). Graham enjoyed all the decorations, which all happened to be free, thanks to my Aunt Carol (another yay!).



We had a cake and opened presents, and then he pretty much just bounced around like a laser in a house of mirrors. Yes, I made that analogy up myself. Anyway, he loves Adam & Jayme, so for them to be here JUST FOR HIM was pretty exciting.






Finally, Chase and Gabriella got tired of watching him open presents slowly, so they jumped in to help.



And here is the cake I made. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, as long as Graham didn't mind that the colors were way off. Turns out that was the most time-consuming part. Who knew?



The whole day was made infinitely more comfortable by the fact that we had electricity all day. I think we owe Chase a nice birthday party next year.

Updates

Chase recently started potty training. It's going better than we expected, considering the fact that he had an "accident" into the dishwasher during the very first hour.



Gabriella is fascinated with the whole process. I walked past the bathroom one day to see her trying her luck with some fascinating reading material.



Chase is also trying out some new fashion combinations.



Gabriella took a spill onto her face during one of the recent warm days.



Graham has suddenly become terrified of heights. He also insists on picking out his own outfits.



He is learning about the origin of juices. Here was a recent conversation:

Graham: Strawberry juice comes from strawberries.
Me: That's right!
Graham: Pineapple juice comes from pineapples.
Me: Good job! Where does orange juice come from?
Graham: A cup.