Who's Two Months Old?

I am!!

Product Placement

I don't usually recommend activities, venues, products or services here. I just don't want my tens of readers to think I've sold out to The Man by marketing stuff on my blog. Also, I don't have enough readers for anyone to give me anything for free in exchange for my endorsement. C'mon, let's be honest...

I will most definitely make an exception for the Durango Discovery Museum.

Just to be clear, they did NOT give me anything for free.

My parents got an "extended family membership", which means that not only can they take the girls there but anyone related to them can (meaning Mark, me and even my brother). Considering that for her very first experience there Norah only explored a tiny corner of the place for an hour and a half and had no desire to leave, I'm gonna say the pass was definitely worth it. This is going to be a great place to go when the weather prevents outside activities, plus it's educational!!

The passes are on sale until March first. After that they go up to regular price. The whole place is funded by grants and private donations. It looks to us like they did a fantastic job of using funds to their full potential.

So, Durango friends, even if you miss the sale I'd say the donation to a good cause (not to mention the fun you'll get out of it) is probably worth the price.

Just Wondering...

Hey Mom,

Waddaya mean?

"Hold still and smile?"

Entertainment System...

...also known as Big Sister.

I hope Norah is as willing to help out with her adoring little sister when she's 15... but I'm not holding my breath

Teeny Tiny

Norah commented while Penny was crying the other day, "She has a teeny tiny tongue, Mom."

Observant little thing, isn't she?

Who's the Smarty Now?

Our cell provider recently scored something of coup in the tech world. They now offer a certain phone that was previously available exclusively through a different provider. If you're in touch with technology (or if you watch commercials) at all, you now know exactly who provides our cell service and which phone we recently upgraded to (thanks to the fact that we'd been eligible for an upgrade since last Sept and had been holding out for The Big News).

This is my first experience with a smart phone. Apparently all of my other phones have been dumb. I have to say I'm enjoying it! Not only is my phone a phone, it's a music player, a camera, a mini internet capable computer, and now a mobile blogging device! Yes, apparently there's even an app for that.
The last two posts I did before this one were from my phone. I'm hoping this makes me a more consistent blogger, but I suppose only time will tell.
Anyway, now that I've officially joined the 21st century (and only a decade late!), I finally see what all the fuss is about. My purse is so much lighter now that everything is consolidated on my phone! That was the whole point of all these scientific advances, right? Less back pain and the ability to check my email from anywhere. Yeah. I'm pretty sure that was the point.

Baby Smile!

Penny started smiling on purpose two or three weeks ago. That's pretty early. I think it's even earlier than Norah. If smiling early is any indication of how social she'll be, we're in big trouble!

A Princess

She told me she wanted to wear her tutu so she could "be a princess". I'm glad she's the kind of princess who builds towers instead of needing to be rescued from them.

Coordinated

I must admit, now that I have two girls I'm really looking forward to the coordinating outfits. They don't have to match, they just have to go. Ya know?

Here's a picture of the first ones! This was completely by accident but when I noticed that they both had pink tops and black pants I had to get a picture. They came out just as blurry as one might expect a photo of a toddler and baby in low light might come out...

Say That Three Times Fast

Norah has a new favorite show. It's a PBS educational show about a world where each object is made of that letters that spell its name. It's a little hard to describe, but here's a picture of the dog.

See? Pretty clever eh? Anyway, the show is really well done. It's beautifully designed (can't really say drawn since it's CG) and incredibly educational. My mom, the 30 year veteran teacher says it's great for pre-readers. Not only is Norah learning to spell simple words, she's picking up on lots of reading concepts already. Not bad for a half hour show!

I'm sure that many, many experts were consulted in the creation of this show. I suspect, however, that there was one type of expert left out of the development process. I have several friends who are Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) specialists. I think they'll all agree with me that none of them were consulted when the creators decided to name the program...

Word World

Now I'm no expert, but I do know that "W" "R" and "L" and three very difficult sounds for many young children to make. Imagine my expressive, little two-year-old getting slightly overexcited and exclaiming that she wants to watch Word World. She's been working really hard on enunciating lately, so she usually repeats different versions of the title four or five times trying to get it right.

Sure, I can understand her. I live with her. But I'm sure when she tells her Sunday School teacher about her new favorite show, her teacher might be a little confused as to why we let her watch the Home Improvement Channel (Wood Weld) or the Travel Channel (Road Wild).

In any case, yesterday she learned that if you want to make more of something, you add and "s" to the end. If only it were that easy to replicate pies in real life...

Winter Vacation Zoo!

As mentioned earlier, it warmed up on Friday and we went to the zoo. Here are the pictures to prove it!


The first picture of Norah at the zoo. Ever. It contains no animals and you can't see her face. Awesome.


Can you spot the lions laying in the grass?


Norah did! (Just past the tree and in front of the rock.)


The baboon was right up against the glass.


Norah offered him a high-five.


Flamingos! And yes. My child wore a leash to the zoo. It helped.


Norah's favorite part was the exhibit where we could go right into the monkey enclosure with them. She got to see them right up close. There were no fences. See why the leash helped?


She was slightly disappointed that none of them talked to her as she'd hoped they would.


After a visit to the petting zoo, we headed back to the car to find some lunch.

The only low point for Norah was that she couldn't get into the cages with any animals. She was convinced that the giraffes and zebras would love to meet her.

Winter Vacation Weather

My parents decided to book a timeshare in late January that was within driving distance from Durango so that we could come along. They're awesome like that. They decided on Phoenix because it would be a great place to get away from the cold for a week. Unfortunately, Phoenix didn't get the memo. The trip started out warm enough (mid 60's or so) but by Wednesday it was in the 30's with 25 mile per hour winds. I don't feel like 30's is super cold, but seeing as I only brought a fleece, the high wind made it pretty much unbearable.

By Friday it was back in the 50's and we were able to take Norah to the zoo (more on that later). Apparently these two girls didn't think 50's was warm enough to venture out without their down.


Yes. Those are knee length down parkas in 50 degree weather. Don't you love it!?! I pretended to take a picture of the jeep in the background and stealthily caught this image. Totally worth it!

Letters of Intent - Riding Solo

Dear Dude I Got on the Elevator With:
I could tell by the fart smell that you were expecting a solo ride. Sorry to interrupt.
Sincerely,Couldn't Hold My Breath for All Three Floors


Dear Facebook Friends:
Sorry to post a copy of my recent status as my first Letter of Intent since Penny was born. I have a few friends who don't Facebook who I knew would find this as funny as you all did. Besides, I'm running on even less sleep and fewer brain cells than usual.
Sincerely,Can Only Have an Original and Funny Thought Once a Week or So


Have something you just can't hold in any longer (like elevator guy)? Join Julie and post a Letter of Intent! I promise you'll feel better (without stinking up the place)!

Winter Vacation Playtime!

While we were in Phoenix we met up with one of Mark's old work colleagues. Turns out that she has two daughters right about Norah and Penny's age. It was super windy so we didn't get many pictures, but here's what came out.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the whole play structure. The thing was HUGE (by Durango standards, of course). It had at least five slides. Norah, of course, chose the tallest, curviest one that was the most dangerous to get to. That's our girl!


This is the best pic I got of both girls. Norah wanted to sit. Isha wanted to stand. They were both in the same place only because we had just given them marshmallows. That's just the way it goes with toddlers sometimes.

Winter Vacation Treats

When you live in a small town, one of the best things about vacationing in a big city is the restaurants. When we were in Phoenix we ate at a ton of places that we never get to visit!

It's also fun to post on faceb**k where you're eating so that your small-town friends can be jealous. We got several requests that we bring In-N-Out burgers home with us. Sadly, they don't travel well. (Sorry guys)

We did pay a visit to one of my favorite establishments, which does make food that will withstand a day or so of travel.

Never been to Sprinkles? That's because they're one of those super-posh gourmet shops that started in Beverly Hills and spread to only a few lucky areas deemed schmancy enough to handle them. Seriously, the lady ahead of me in line was carrying a Louis Vuitton purse - a real one!

So what do they make that's so delicious? Cupcakes, of course!

Don't they look amazing? The one on the left is Chocolate Marshmallow and the other is Double Chocolate. These didn't travel far. They only made the trip back to the condo we were staying in before they were consumed.

They were delicious, but Red Velvet is still my all-time favorite.

(I had to throw that in there just in case you happen to travel to one of those schmancy cities and feel the need to bring me back a gourmet confection.)

Penny's First Bath

When Norah got her first bath, the funniest part was that she peed on me. The funniest part of Penny's first bath was, well, Norah.

Angry baby.

"Why's she cryin'"

"Are you sure you're doing that right?"

Finally calming down.

Baby Pix Fix

I had to make sure you got your fix...

These were taken a couple weeks ago right before the computer stopped working. The ADORABLE outfit was from Mark's grandparents.

Almost a smile...

Not even a month old and Penny was already making silly faces.

Factory Seconds

On Monday we went to the factory outlet mall for a little shopping. Even though the sun was behind me and I couldn't get an image without glare, I just couldn't resist taking a photo of his window ad from the Nike Factory Store.

Apparently they even get factory seconds of their marketing materials. I mean, in light of last years events in Tiger Woods' personal life, I couldn't imagine any marketing professional with half a brain would put this photo out for public consumption. I mean, the look on his face is just... well, see for yourself.

What I Did on My Winter Vacation

I was going to try to blog during our trip last week to Phoenix, but of course that didn't happen. So instead, you're going to get the report in small chunks over the next week or so.

For now I'll leave you with this, my version of the perfect vacation freezer.

Reading

With my girls.

Why put away laundry when I can do this?