Gone Buggy, Part II

We woke up this morning to hundreds more cicadas than we had yesterday -- yowza! Thankfully, the kids are not remotely "bugged" by them; in fact, they love hunting for cicada shells and touching the live ones.

Photos from Jan

The entire crew -- what a good-looking bunch!

Jan just gave me a disc of photos from the daycare days of April and May, so I thought I'd include a few of the best. Enjoy!

Twin Fun!

Our great friends (and fellow twins) Sophia and Evelyn came over last week to enjoy the sunny backyard. Evie and Owen had much fun splashing in the pool and playing in the sandtable, while Miss Nora and Miss Sophie pushed babies around the driveway. How lucky Nora and Owen are to have such wonderful friends!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a spread!

What a wonderful day we had. Josh and Anne took care of everything -- a lovely picnic at the Arboretum and a delicious dinner. What more could two mothers ask for?

Tadpole exhibit

Gone Buggy

A few weeks ago Jan had all the daycare kids over to learn about bugs by Karen, the "bug lady" from a nearby nature center. Amazingly, Karen held the interest of all the kids, ranging in age from five years to 1 year, for an entire hour. We learned about grasshoppers, butterflies, and of course, the dreaded cicada. Yuck. I hear one tormenting me outside my window as we speak!

Skinned Knees

80 degrees all week!

Not much new to report. We're enjoying the balmy weather, new cute summer outfits, cool pjs, and lots of time outside.

Thomas, Thomas, and more Thomas.

A spot of tea for puppy.

I Heart Puppy

I've been meaning to post a heartfelt thank you to a recent member of our family, known to all simply as "Puppy." When we forced Owen to give up his beloved pacifier several weeks ago, what we thought was a minor struggle soon became a daily nightmare. Owen wouldn't nap, would wake up in the middle of the night, and would wake up entirely too early each morning. It was like he was a newborn again.

I tried to find something, anything for him to take to bed as a replacement, to give him some comfort (he even took a Baby Einstein video to bed one night). Finally, when I mentioned my dilemma to Jan, she suggested I find the same puppy he uses at her house for nap time. "His face lights up when he sees it and he goes right to sleep," Jan said.

That same evening, as we're walking the aisles of Jewel, Anne and I spot a Ty Beanie Babies kiosk. We search the shelves, looking for anything black and white. And there it was: one remaining puppy. As Jan had said, Owen's face lit up. He seemed a bit confused as to why Puppy was at Jewel, but I calmed him and said we'd better get him back home! Ever since, Owen happily, peacefully goes to bed each day and night with Puppy firmly under the crook of one arm. (Of course, after he and Nora jabber for a half hour about the events of the day.) Thank you, Puppy!

Happy Birthday, Matthew!

Nora and Owen's good friend Matthew turned one last week and celebrated with a Cubs-themed extravaganza. I was busy drooling over Prince in Vegas (what a good mom I am), so Josh rode solo for the shindig. Apparently, Owen latched himself onto Daddy's leg the whole time (that is, until the cake arrived). Looks like a fun day to me!