Easter Egg Hunt- June.

Mama decided to forgo the easter egg hunt at the Eggstravaganza when she saw the line of hundreds of kids.Instead, she promised us a private easter egg hunt back at the house. Mama made some eggs off limits for Henry and let me collect them. I found two and lost interest in the hunt.

Henry had fun hunting for eggs, but sometimes missed even the obvious eggs.

I tried to get the neighbors in on the fun by smuggling eggs through the fence.

Miss Christina was nice enough to share her peanut butter egg with me.

Mister Andy had the nerve to eat his on his own. And he thought he could hide it from me.

Thanks Mister Andy and Miss Christina for having us! Like Henry said (a hundred times), "Next time, we'll come back here!"

What a handsome baby- Henry.

June has been getting better about keeping her hair barrette in her hair lately. Which is good, because mama was about 3 days away from cutting bangs.

With all her hair out of her face, we were able to see a nice bruise on Juner's forehead (probably a product of not walking, but climbing on everything). We were also able to see all the new teeth cutting through her gums. Just like me, she looks like she's going to get them all in just a few months time. We especially look that big molar in the back.

We used to think June was quite pretty, but now we're afraid that she's reached monster mode.

Tonight we went to a place called the Little Gym, because mama got a gift certificate for a free month of gymnastics classes (a very loose term for 3 year olds). While I was in my class, mama, papa Juner waited outside where June did her best to make friends with all the other parents and kids and mooch as many pretzels off of strangers as she could get.

I had a great time at the class. Most of the kids did a great job following the instructions of running around and going through the obstacle course of the balance beam and parallel bars. I mostly stood with my fingers in my mouth and slowly walked behind the crowd. I did like it when they blew up the big inflatable trampoline.

Hopefully all the kids liked me, but they might think I'm a little weird in this outfit. Mama put this shirt on me without realizing that it was a bit too small. Then I wanted to wear my rain boots because I can put them on by myself (a surprising twist from a kid who has never had any interest in dressing himself). Looks like mama needs to find some shoes that I can put on myself and that are a more seasonally appropriate.

The saddest post you'll see all week- mama.

Henry spends 95% of his time asking if he can watch TV. (This is why I miss our basement- out of sight, out of mind.) We try to limit TV time to less than an hour a day. And I prefer to reserve that hour for the grumpiest time of the day- after naps and before supper.

Today Henry asked all day and I told him he could watch Word Girl when he got up from his nap if he came straight downstairs without any whining at the top of the stairs and directly outside our bedroom where June naps. He complied and came straight downstairs and asked to watch TV.

But poor baby Juner did not fare so well this afternoon. She woke up after only an hour and a half nap. I fought her for a half hour to go back to sleep before I gave up and brought her downstairs. I turned on Sesame Street to entertain her because she was eating up my precious half hour nap (no one's got it worse than mama). She was such a pitiful ball of sad that I brought her on to the couch with me for a snuggle. And in the first time in about a year, without the help of a 105 degree fever (the only time Henry has ever cuddled in his life), June actually cuddled me back for a half hour. Poor kid must be feeling bad. Or maybe Elmo has completely rotted her brain.

Even after I got up to start supper, she remained like this:

That is one pitiful baby.

Looks like this gugger needs someone to come and cuddle her full-time. Life has really got her down. Aunt Jenni, after UNC wins tonight, you two can come be sad together.

Art projects- Henry.

Last night mama and papa were reminiscing about the two best kids in the world (hello- me and Juner!), when they realized large parts of our lives were fuzzy or nonexistent. The human brain only has so much capacity for ridiculously cute. Good thing mama keeps this blog. And if you didn't think she jabbered on enough in the past, she's made a conscious decision to up the jabber, so that she has a record of all the things we do. I think secretly she hoping she can just give us the blog when we turn 18 so she doesn't have to buy us presents.

It's been a while since we've had a craft update. But now that the weather is nicer, we're playing outside more at school and don't complete as many crafts. Plus, we don't really craft much in this house due to my complete lack of interest. I was pretty proud of this cow though.

This tooth (while inexplicably sideways even after mama tried uploading it several times) is the definition of my interest in craftwork. A few light swoops of the crayon is all I have time for. There are cars to be parked.

I did like making this pig though. It involved gluing and painting. Mama glues with me occasionally, but does not have the guts for paint. She says that is why she sends me to school.

Now for more jabber. Mama is pleased that after last week's propensity to glue myself to her and refuse to play alone, I am back to my usual activities of parking cars and working on puzzles for long stretches. My favorite puzzle is my puzzle of America- all the states are the pieces. But I call it my "House" puzzle. That's because when I put it together I ask, "Who lives in this house?" It's a stretch for mama to come up with people we know in all 50 states, so instead I know that "Brett Favre is from Mississippi" or that "Elliott Smith recorded Either/Or in Oregon."

Mama also has a good time listening to me park cars. We've mentioned before that I don't have dolls, but I still get my share of pretend play in with my cars. Lately, my cars have all been named Basil or Tobey- as in the mouse sleuth and dog in the Great Mouse Detectives- my current favorite movie. Mama also caught me today quoting "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish." My favorite lines are the ones that end "Don't ask me why, go ask your mother." Except today when my cars asked me questions, I responded, "I don't know, go ask Mister Andy" or "Don't ask me, go ask Miss Becky." Before my nap, mama read me this book and when we reached these lines (there are about 6 instances in the book), I had to explain to mama that "I call my dad 'papa.' " Or "some people call their mother 'mommy,' but I call you 'mama.' "

June has been battling a cold and teething in the past week. Mama calls her a "hot mess." Mostly because she still refuses to wear a hair barrette, and often er long hair falls over her eyes and gets stuck in the pool of snot on her upper lip. A lovely look for a little girl. But when she's not feeling poorly, June is quite the trouble maker.

We try to be vigilant about the baby gate up in the hallway, because June can crawl fast and always makes straight for the stairs. But she's pretty good about climbing and descending stairs on her own. She has mastered the belly slide. She knows she's not supposed to play on the stairs by herself, so when she does make the break away sprint for the steps she usually sits at the bottom yelling until someone comes to get her. And as soon as someone comes, she lets out a high squeal and takes off up the stairs.

This is similar to her behavior on the train table. Mama says that I used to climb on the train table too. But it was mostly out of necessity when a car left my grasp. For June, it is solely for the sake of being seen. If I don't alert a grow-up to the fact that June is breaking a rule, she'll yell until someone finds her and then look mighty pleased as she is removed from the table and placed in baby time out. (We have to be consistent with rules with a 3-year-old in the house.)

Other things this weekend- Henry.

Don't feel bad that mama didn't take us to the soccer game. We needed naps so that we could go over the Gracie and Audrey's house for a cookout!

While we got ready for the cookout, June watched a little tv in her chair.

We had a great time at our friends' house. They have a big backyard with a big playground. Gracie and I played while the babies sat in their fenced in playyard.

But June didn't want to stay alone for long because there were also three big dogs running around trying to get in. Later we all took baths and tried to settle down to go to bed. The little grils settled down and fell asleep early, but Gracie and I started out in the same room and eventually had to be separated when Gracie's bed "broke"- all the covers and sheet just happened to spontaneously fall off. Mama and papa stayed up late playing RockBand with Miss Becky and Mister Andy. Eventually they came and got us and took us home.

Today June had a hard time recovering from the late night and a nasty cold. She's perfected her smoker's cough and we found two more surprised when she opened her mouth.

She got another bottom tooth (bringing the bottom total to 4) and is working on another top front tooth (which will bring the top to 4). Mama says that I was the same way as a baby. I had two teeth for months before I grew the rest of them in the span of 3 months. Looks like June is going through the same thing. Hopefully she starts to feel better soon.

After lunch we both climbed up on the stool to help papa make some coffee.

June was awfully pleased with herself, but wasn't much help making coffee.

Later papa and I went out for a walk and came home to find mama making banana oatmeal bread. She let me help with the blender while she added the oatmeal.

And she even let me have a taste.

Gracie's soccer game- Henry.

Yesterday mama left us at home and went out to watch a soccer game.

She met up with her friend Audrey and watch our friend Gracie in her soccer debut.

When the game started, Gracie was the first kid to kick the ball.

But getting that many 3-year-olds to play an organized sport is a big challenge.

After time outs, the coaches would ask for six kids to plays and most just sat on the sidelines happy to watch.Mama liked watching all the kids. A few, like this one, were actually really into the game.
Others needed emergency substitutions for potty breaks (this is mama's favorite photo).
In the end, the Purple People Eaters had a great showing for their first game. Gracie and her dad "Coach Andy" celebrated, even though we're not sure of the final score.
Audrey gave the game "two keys up."

It's baseball season-Juner.

On Friday, we drove two hours to Zebulon, NC, to watch the Carolina Mudhens take on the Cincinnati Reds.

It was great to see the Reds in action and so close. We were probably about 10 rows up and mama and I almost got hit by a foul ball. (Don't get mama started on how dangerous baseball can be.)

Papa saw his current crush- Jay Bruce. And we all saw more players up close when they were signing autographs before the game. Mama even got to watch Bronson Arroyo warm up from about 20 feet away.

We gave mama and papa a hard time by not taking naps on the way to the game and just being punks in general for the first few innings of the game. But later we calmed down enough to let mama and papa watch a little of the game.

Too bad the Reds didn't feel like showing up. They lost to their minor league affiliate 12-4. It looks like it's going to be a long hard season.

Henry is a seasoned veteran of long sporting events and knows you can always leverage good behavior with candy. Mama told Henry not to bite his sucker and he made it last 3 innings.

Later, he convinced papa that he needed "some of that white stuff." So papa bought him the big tub of cotton candy. He portioned it out and got to eat a bite at the end of every half inning.

We had a great night and got to stay up way past our bedtimes! We can't wait to go back to more ball games.

I think mama and papa had a good time too, but mama says next time she's getting a babysitter.

Some new clothes and a great supper- Juner.

We want to apologize for the lack of posts lately. The cord for our laptop started smoking, so it's out of commission until the new cord comes. Plus, our current desktop is beyond ancient and doesn't even have a USB port. So we're at the mercy of papa's laptop computer, which has been working late all week.

We're having fun busting out some new summer clothes now that Spring has sprung.

Auntie Queen got me this shirt. It had a $38 dollar price tag on it. But we know she loves us $38 worth, but also loves us enough to not spend $38 on a shirt.

We also wanted to give some attention to the awesome sweater that Aunt Jenni made me for my birthday. Luckily it's still a little big so it will be perfect for this fall.

I must be growing up a little, because Henry has let me into his special closed off area to play with his toys. I really like watching the train drive around, but after about 3 minutes I try to catch it and he kicks me out.

Mama has also had a big week. She came across an Amazon gift certificate and promptly order what she calls the "last thing she needed before her kitchen was complete." She also said this about the oil mister and the mortar and pestle. But now she has declared her life full because she now owns her own Ronco food injector set. She was stoked about the solid food injector and stuffed our turkey breast with garlic cloves and feta cheese.

Then she got out the liquid injector and shot up the turkey with her Uncle Jim's special turkey marinade. Lucky for her, since she was only cooking a breast, that meant she got to drink the other half of the beer! That sounds like a good start to an afternoon. We all declared the injectors a great success when we had the tastiest, juiciest meat for supper. Even Henry tried a bite before he decided to not eat anything else for supper. And that's saying a lot.

In Henry news, if you thought Henry talked non-stop before, he's somehow managed to step it up a notch in the past week. (This may or may not have something to do with the fact that it is spring break and there was no preschool.)

Despite the fact that he's been driving mama to the point of insanity, he has managed to say a few funny things. First, he's become quite the backseat driver. He tells us when the lights turn green, or when they are red, so we have to stop. He's also started chiding mama on her speed on Silas Creek Parkway. And let's face it, mama's already a pretty slow driver. Our favorite comment though, came after mama turned left and Henry informed her that she was a "whoa-ey" driver. Meaning, every time she turns Henry has to hold on and yell "Whoa!" Mama felt pretty bad about her driving skills until Henry also informed papa that he was a "whoa-ey" driver too.

Henry's also getting the knack for setting up his Hot Wheels stunt sets. He launched several cars and told everyone that he was going to do more "dangerouser."