Thursday, May 28, 2009

ROLLERDOODLE

He has to get in on the action, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHLOE!

It's May, and the spring birthdays keep on coming. (Good thing we like birthdays so much!) The Wog's friend Chloe turned 4 and they celebrated x2 with a sleepover party (The Wog's first!) and a grand event on Storyland's opening day.

Cupcakes!




Even The Doodle partook:

And insisted his father did, too:


Alas, he was not convinced that Marc opened his mouth wide enough. Here, he demonstrates how to eat a cupcake.


Chilling with his adorable friend Dylan:


The rain deterred only the adults:

Coming up with their plan of attack:

Waiting in line for our season passes The Wog and The Doodle shared a spontaneous hug:

The gang gathers with a new Cinderella!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

The Doodle loved the pomp and circumstance so much, we did it THREE times!



The Wog was as delighted by The Doodle's birthday as he was (or more so, considering he pretty much had no idea what was going on). This morning--two days later--she asked, "Can we still celebrate The Doodle's birthday today?" Birthdays are an all-weekend occasion around these parts, so the answer was "yes"!




He got the hang out of blowing the candles pretty quickly. (The first go around, The Wog did it purposely. The second time, Marc did it accidentally. The third time was all The Doodle!)





The Wog got her face "tatooed" earlier in the day:

Thanks to The Doodle's insistence, everyone in our family got some cake:



(As Marc pointed out, sharing with the dog makes him a true Joey West.)

The Wog insisted on singing "Happy Birthday" while carrying out the gift she selected for The Doodle.


She handed it over...

"Cah! Cah! Cah! Cah!" (It was a car.)

Friday, May 15, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOODLE!

Today is The Doodle's second birthday. He is sweet, stubborn, sly, funny, charming and absolutely full of life. He keeps us on our toes.

At age two, The Doodle still loves "higgies," but in the past month or so has developed a greater appreciation for vehicles (cars, trucks, trains, etc.): his favorite pair of pajamas are covered in different colored cars, and The Doodle will methodologically point out each on and declare "cahhhh" with equal delight for the tenth as for the first. Today on a walk we saw his first fire truck (AKA "whee-new" for the sound they make) up close and personal, and he gave it a firm slap--confirming, I think, it's real existence.

The Doodle also loves having his cheek stroked (he turns his head toward you and holds still); diving into his crib at bedtime (from which he'll randomly yell out "night night" for up to thirty minutes after being put down); and--perhaps more than anything--his big sister, "PIE-yeee."

The Doodle is fiercely independent and insists on doing everything himself. For a while he refused to hold my hand going up or down a flight of stairs. As soon as I learned to accept and deal with that precarious ascent/descent, he started equally shunning the bannister. If I don't let him climb into the car, across to his car seat, and fasten the top buckle all on his own, it ruins his whole day. And you don't want to be on the wrong side of The Doodle: he holds a serious grudge. (And when he finally gets over the grudge, he needs a good snuggle, and to be told that everything is okay.)

Just the other day a casual acquaintance told me The Doodle reminds her of "a frat boy on a Sunday morning." (How much this has to do with my anti-iron stance, I do not know.) His general appearance has also been compared--by a different and unrelated acquaintance--to that of a "disgruntled prep school student."

The Doodle owns every room he enters. He does not walk. He swaggers. I like to say he resembles Simon Baker, who plays Patrick Jane on The Mentalist. But there just might a little Donald Trump in the mix, too. (But maybe that's just the hair.)

Happy Birthday, Doodle! We love you!

Here he is on Day 1, raising hell already:


First meetings:



(If these pictures weren't in the "Welcome Baby West" file, we totally would have thought he was The Wog! I remembered him being blonde; Marc remembered him being bald. I guess we were both wrong!)

One year ago today:


And here he is yesterday, celebrating his friend Reid's big day (they are 1 day apart):

Thursday, May 07, 2009

HARD KNOCK WOG

I may not do windows, but luckily someone around here does:







When I went off to fetch the camera, I returned to her spontaneously singing this song. (You are watching an encore performance.)


Who needs a cleaning service? Yet another reason to love The Wog's school. They have an enthusiastic "practical life" program that has so far involved polishing our silver and shining Marc's shoes. (Fifteen pairs of happy little hands shined Marc's shoes daily for a month straight.)

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

DOODLE CLOONEY

The Doodle seems to think this is the face one makes when a camera is pointed in his/her direction:





Hopefully he outgrows this instinct before it's time for his senior picture.

(It may look like I've captured him mid-laugh. But this is a very intentional smile.)

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, LAZURS!



(We're prepping her for our next visit.)

MOTHER'S DAY TEA 09

Today was The Wog's annual Mother's Day Tea at school. I am grateful for this school every day, but EXTRA grateful on the Mother's Day Tea because it is so very sweet, and I know the teachers (and kids!) work hard to make it a special day.

An excited daughter!


What we were served:

(A side note about the cupcakes--I had to pop back into school mid-morning early this week because I forgot The Wog's packpack that day. When I walked into the classroom, I saw 6-8 very eager little girls cooperatively stirring one giant bowl of batter. They wanted me to see it, but they also wanted me to know it was a SECRET.)

Lined up Lilliputians:


And here they are, performing their signature Mother's Day song:

Excuse the camera work. The camera had some trouble focusing on 15 (very cute, very excited) moving parts. It gets better when they're singing.)

To revisit last year's performance--and see how much changes (and stays the same!) in one year--click
here.

Monday, May 04, 2009

SPRING SPRUNG

At last, the last patch of snow has melted from the yard, and spring has sprung!

The Wog has enjoyed collecting daffodils from the yard and bringing them inside to arrange in vases.


At school, she grew her very own wheatgrass!