Start Them Young

I decided that the housework is just too much for me so I've enlisted the help of my one-year-old to clean the floors.





Alison is also taking an early crash course in babysitting. While changing her brother's diaper the other day, I heard her telling Syndey Cat (yes, our cat's name is Sydney but Ali calls her "Sydney Cat") to drink from her bottle. I found poor Sydney Cat, hiding behind a chair with a pacifier on her back and a doll bottle and sippy cup in front of her. She is a good, good kitty.

Paintin' with Puddin'

A package of generic $.25 vanilla pudding from WalMart + a few drops of food coloring = a very cheap, interesting (and tasty) art project. Alison enjoyed the art part...Christopher just ate all of his supplies.

MN Children's Museum

We met our good friends the Walkers at the Children's Museum in downtown St. Paul on Friday morning. What an awesome day with great friends! The kids had a blast and got very tired out. So tired, actually, that when we got home, Alison came up to me and said, "Mom, I need to put on a diaper and take a nap." Wow. This from a girl who has definitely been fighting nap time lately. Anyway, I was the crazy mom taking tons of pictures and here a few of them:

Christopher keeping watch over the other kids in the Habitot baby/toddler room:

Alison hanging out with the spider:

The Peanuts were excellent passengers on the city bus: (this has always been one of Ali's favorite attractions at the museum)

Alison and her good friend Claudia taking it easy in a dinosaur cave (and no, Rachael and I did NOT coordinate their outfits):

The Peanuts loved digging for dinosaur bones:

Christopher was keepin' an eye out for the young ladies:

Until he discovered a dinosaur that he fell in love with:

The cave slide was a huge hit:

A talker like his mom.

Christopher is growing up so quickly. Too quickly. He's walking everywhere now and quite proud of his new take on the world. His speed quickens every day and soon he'll be running circles around his big sister.

Christopher is also a talker. Lots of babbles, but also many words. If you ask him to say something, he'll almost always repeat it. Here are some of his current favorite words:

Dada (his first word)
Mama
Elmo
Cookie
Again
Pop
Backpack (from Dora, of course)
Cheers (don't ask)
Nana
Papa
Love you
Bye Bye
Hello

I'm sure there are more but this is what I can recall at the time. He not only inherited his mom's gift of gab, but he may also have a bit of my stubborn Aukes side. Christopher refuses to say one word: Ali. :-) Stubborn lil' guy that loves to torment his big sister.

What a difference a year makes.

January 2010:

January 2009:

Balloon Boy, the sequel

Christopher's balloon obsession continues. I suppose I am like the dealer supplying the addict, but he just loves his balloons so much I can't resist. Christopher even yelled out "boon! boon!" yesterday while in line at Trader Joe's. Okay, maybe "yell" isn't the right word. More like "scream".

The other day, Christopher held on to his balloon while drinking his morning bottle and eating breakfast. He holds on to them while drinking and playing:

He is even more thrilled when he can hold on to all THREE balloons:

And yes, he even holds on to all three balloons while cuddling with his big sister on the couch and watching Sleeping Beauty:

Be prepared for a one-year-old screaming fit if you try to pry the balloons out of his hot little hands.

Happy New Year!

We had a busy Christmas season. Our plans to travel to Aberdeen, S.D. to spend Christmas with Bryant's family were foiled due to "Snowmageddon '09". Traveling through a blizzard with two little kiddos? Nope, don't think so. So we decided to stay put on Dec. 22nd. Grandma Barb quickly made plans to travel by plane the next day to spend Christmas with us, and Uncle Darren's flight from Colorado made it here on Christmas Eve. (Well, Darren made it, but his luggage didn't.) We threw together Christmas in one day, complete with turkey, ham, and toys for the Peanuts. We had a wonderful time and were thankful that Grandma Barb and Uncle Darren were able to spend Christmas with the Peanuts.

Alison and Christopher tried sledding in the backyard.
Ice-topped snow + cranky 13-month-old + scared 2-year-old = a very short sledding trip:


A happy Christmas day: (FYI: Christopher's obsession with Alison's Dora yo-yo from Santa, which he is holding in this picture, has led to the temporary "misplacement" of the yo-yo):


Christopher enjoying some good book time with Uncle Darren:


Man, Christmas is hard work. Time to relax with Sydney Cat:

After a wonderful Christmas in St. Paul, we made the trip down to Luverne for the Aukes Christmas on January 2nd. We had a great time with the family and the Peanuts loved playing with their cousins.

Alison and Christopher enjoyed a Nintendo Gameboy tutorial from cousin Mariah:

The Aukes grandchildren with Grandma and Grandpa: (Left to Right - Alison (2), Mariah (11), Kurt (4), Mitchell (6), Jake (13), Marissa (17), and Christopher (1):

Happy New Year to our friends and family. We don't often acknowledge how special you all are to us - but we know that we are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and we appreciate and love you all!