If this attitude continues into her teen years, Daddy will be a happy man

Aves walked into the bathroom tonight to wash her hands, incidentally while Daddy was in there giving Gav a tubby. She quickly glanced down at her cherubic, happy, cooing, babbling little brother and remarked in a disgusted tone,
“Ewww, penis."

Lost my little roomie...

So it's official, last night was Gav's first night in his crib, in his room. ALL by himself. Gone are the days of peering over the side of my bed at him all hours of the night, to see him gracefully sleeping in his bassinet; hearing every little breath & hiccup & noise all night long. No more reaching over to feel his warm chest rise & fall "...just to be sure." (don't judge this until you are a parent.) I will miss waking up to the most smiley, happy boy looking up at me with those beautiful, blue "Good mornin' Mamma!" eyes. Maybe it's the fact that he will be the last of our babies to ever use the bassinet, and thus the last time we will ever have a baby sleep at our bedside. Maybe it's the 5-month post-partum hormones kicking in. Or maybe it's all of the above...Either way, despite the tears I shed and the ambivalence I had about moving him, we all made it through the night. And the silver lining? Look how "unhappy" and "not comfy" he looked this morning when we all went in to say good morning to him together.

Jeff is, apparently, the funniest man alive. Just ask Gav.

"...but the children say he could laugh and play..."

What better encapsulates the blissful abandon & utter magic of childhood, than a day in the snow building a snowman?  Think hard about this for a minute. Typically, children don't have much power or control over their lives, since their days are more or less dictated to them; when to get up, when to go to bed, what to eat, what to wear, and so on.
But take a snow day-- a magical, whimsical, beautiful, enchanted, blustery, cotton-ball white, no school today, snow day. Now tell a child,

"You have the power to go outside, and create a man out of this white goodness. And also, if you put a hat on him, he will come to life!!!"

Whoa. Back up for a minute here. You're tellin' me that I am forced to eat oatmeal for breakfast if Mom says so....forced to wear those ugly red shoes if Mom says so...forced to go to school when she says, go to bed when she says, brush my teeth when she says, even go potty when she says-- But today, for one day only-- I have the power to create a man out of snow?!

The concept of this, to a child, has got to be mind-blowing.  And Ava is certainly no exception.

So, after begging us (nonstop) from 7-9:30 am to "please go out and build a Frosty?" Jeff finally agreed....add 30 minutes for the obligatory scarf-hat-mittens-boots-snowpants-longjohns-coats-earmuffs debacle, and they were (finally) out the door.

About 1/2 hour later, she rang the doorbell (it's hard to open the door with cold, wet mittens on!) and implored me to come see her "Frosty." And since I can't resist an adorable, barely-able-to-move-her-appendages four year old with crimson cheeks & a runny nose at my doorstep,

I threw some slippers (yes, you read that right- I absolutely ventured outside, in the snow, in slippers!) on and ran outside in the blizzard for a few snapshots.

Ellamennow?

As Aves sat on the couch today, Daddy's laptop perched atop the pillow on her lap (this is a rare treat,) she had decided to challenge herself by attempting to type the entire alphabet. She sang the letters quietly to herself as a reminder of what letter was to come next.
At one point, she looked stumped... Looked the keyboard up and down for a good few minutes and remained perplexed. Finally, she looked up at me.
T: Do you need help, love?
A: Yes momma. I got all the way to 'K' but I can't find the next letter.
T: Well, sing the alphabet song-- what letter should come next?
A: The ellamennow comes next, I'm just having a tough time finding it. Can you help me?

First snow of the season

Always so beautiful, so magical, so serene. Happy winter!

But Mommy, where was I?

Allowing a preschooler to look at your wedding album can, apparently, stir up some pretty intense conversation, as I found out today!

A: “Mommy, where was I at your wedding?”
T: “Well, you were still in heaven.”
A: “Oh, with God?”
T: “Yes, exactly. With God.”
A: “So…..when did I come down from heaven?”
T: “After mommy & daddy got married God decided that it was time for you to grow in my belly, so that is when you came down.”
A: “Oh okay. (a few seconds of silence)… “So how did God get me in there anyways?”
T: "It was magical. God is magical."
A: (takes a long sip of apple juice, and then): "But HOW did God put me in your belly? Like, how did I get in there?"
T: “Ummm…..”
A: (using massive, exasperated Italian hand gestures) "No mommy, just tell me, HOW did he put me INSIDE your BELLY??? Was it through your bellybutton?"
T: (taking a massive gulp of her apple juice and thinking for a second,): "Ask Daddy."