Mommy's little helper

About a week ago, we noticed a few rather nice toys out in the alley for trash pick-up. We aren't picky, and they were in good condition. I felt like posting a note for our neighbor on how to use "freecycle". We grabbed the toys to do our part to keep them out of a landfill. After a good cleaning and check on the internet for recalls, Rachael had a new toy vacuum, school bus push toy, and a few Tonka trucks. Here is a picture of Rachael enjoying her new vacuum cleaner. "Dusty" the vacuum says things like "this place is a pigpen" and "let's clean the floor". She likes to chase me around when I vacuum, so now she has her own vacuum to push around. She vacuumed in front of our hallway mirror while having some random conversation with herself.

Skokie Exploratorium

Rachael and I met our friends Mara and Ana at the Skokie Park District Exploratorium today. Wow, what a fun place! We highly recommend it. I would have taken pictures, but Rachael was so busy, I couldn't stop to grab the camera. She love the big sized dinosaurs, scooters, legos, train table, toddler slide, play mat obstacle course, water play area, and more scooters. She loved dropping the rubber duckies, plastic dinosaurs, and rubbery crabs into the big pool of water. Just like bathtime, but bigger without the naked bottom. We colored a picture of a snowman, and she only tried to eat one crayon. The orange one. Maybe it looked too much like a carrot. Pshew.... are we tuckered out. We will definitely be visiting again when we get a chance. This is going to be a favorite spot this winter and on rainy days.

Cheerios Soup

Rachael is mixing up a nice batch of Cheerios soup for dinner tonight. Of course, with Cheerios soup, there tends to be a few that end up on the bottom of your feet. Enjoy!

My funny valentine...

Our little comedian is already working on her stand up routine. We had hoped Rachael would pursue a career in astrophysics or botany, but it appears she has her sights on a life of random props from a plaid suitcase and rubber chickens. It started when she received a gift for Valentine's day from Grannie Nancy that had a red ribbon wrapped around it. I put the ribbon in my hair, and Rachael took it out and handed it to Mike. Mike thought, I'm not putting this in my hair, so instead I will do the "fake sneeze ribbon out of my nose trick". Rachael giggled, picked up the ribbon, did her own fake sneeze, and threw the ribbon on the floor. She has been fake sneezing for the last few days. Depending on the "silliness" of her fake sneeze, she tends to crack herself up pretty good watching her fake sneezes in the mirror. I can't imagine where she inherited this sense of humor!

Snow, Snow, Snow!

We have gotten so much snow this winter. I guess this has been the most snow in like 30 years (according to Tom Skilling). The winter of 1978, I think, I remember that we were snowed in our house as kids in Michigan City. I am sure many of you have some pictures of the snowstorms from your childhood. Rachael is too little to really get out and build a snow fort, but we filled a beer tub with snow and played inside a bit. She refused to put her mittens on, so she would play with the snow for a while, shake her hands around and whine because they were cold, and then dive right back into the snow tub.

Eating with a spoon...

As you slurp up your morning cereal, you may not think of the coordination required to eat with a spoon. Rachael is learning how to feed herself, and here is a cute picture of her enjoying some oatmeal and applesauce. It's messy work, but she is doing an amazing job. She likes to find the pictures at the bottom of the bowl. Surprise, it's Hello Kitty!

Bed Head

Rachael woke up from her nap with the most amazing bed head the other day. Enjoy the pictures. I hope they brighten your day. Since I am sharing these possibly embarassing pictures, she will hate me when she is a teenager. Well, she will hate me when she is a teenager anyway, so I might as well share these adorable pictures with you.

Kindermusik and Silly Faces

We have started taking Kindermusik classes with our friends Mara and Ana. Rachael loves to sing, clap, dance, and play all the instruments. We have started playing the Kindermusik CD while she takes a bath, and it keeps her pretty happy. Some of the songs are pretty weird and cheesy, but we are having fun with it. I am sure that Rachael will "judge" how cool the songs are when she gets to junior high, but for now we will waggle our tail like a squirrel and clap our hands like dolphins while we can still get away with being "silly!". Her new game is to put her hands on her cheeks and smile when we say, "Oh, Silly!". It is very cute although a bit reminiscent of McCauly Caulkin in Home Alone. This is a picture from shortly after her birthday wearing her "birthday flair". Talk about silly!

Big girl!

Rachael is turning into a toddler! She is changing so much so quickly. She likes to feed herself applesauce with her own spoon and bowl. It is messy work, but she is doing an amazing job. She gets excited when her empty bowl reveals a picture of "Hello Kitty" (thanks, Christy!).

She has started to communicate more by pointing and remarking with babble words on different objects, pictures, etc. She points at all different things and says, "ga, ga, ga". Rachael also loves to climb. That is part of the reason we are desperately behind on her blog. I can't turn my back for a second without "discovering" her discovering a new way to scale up the coffee table, stacks of magazines, a few shoes, a chair, sofa cushions, stair gates, etc. She usually stands by whatever she wants to climb and waits for me to look at her. When I say, "No climbing, Rachael", she, of course, smiles a big smile, shakes her head "no", and tries to climb anyway. This usually results in a baby time out of me holding her tightly and repeating "no" until she stops giggling at me. Wow, this keeps us really busy! Of course, it is so darn adorable, it is hard to be the "enforcer" when she makes us laugh so much! This is a picture from a few weeks ago, so don't judge the Christmas decor in the background. Of course, it is still up now too.