Still my little girl

Recently Calli has gotten a couple of Hello Kitty toys in McDonalds' Happy Meals. One is lip gloss, which she loves, and we have hidden. The other is a cute bracelet/ring set, that came in this Hello Kitty tube. She has been playing with it a little bit over the last couple of days.

Today, she asked me for help putting on the bracelet and ring. Almost immediately, she wanted me to help her take them off. She said, "I do it later, after I grow up, like a mom".

She's still my little girl!

Not a Baby

Hard to believe, but Mari is already 15 months old. She's not really a baby anymore. She walks pretty well, and says lots of words: Mamma, Dadda, Whats(Th)at, Agua, More, AllDone, E(l)mo, M(e)ow, Cheese, No, P(l)ease, Mo(re), Bo(ok), Ba(ll), Mine, DeeVee(D), and Tea.

This is my favorite. She has doesn't quite understand "no". I mean, when I tell her "No, we don't hit Calli", she understands that she is in trouble, but usually shouts back "NO" at me, and hits me. (We are still trying to avoid that reaction.)

The cute part is when you ask her if she wants something. If she wants it, she'll shake her head and give this long sweet "nooooo". Then I ask her, "What do you say?" and she says "P(l)eeeeease". So funny!

Well, with my baby getting so grown up, it is a good thing that I have Owen to cuddle with me. Although with all that hair he looks more like a little man than a baby.

"More"

So after a couple times down the waterslide, Calli said she was cold and wanted to sit on the towel have something to eat. I was beginning to give up on the idea that she might really get into the waterslides this year. But then - Mari got into them. As soon as we got to the bottom of the slide, she would sign "more" and say "muh, muh". That was the first time I'd seen her use that sign.

So we went 3 or 4 times in a row. At which point Calli really started to enjoy it. She even started going down by herself! Yay! Even though they are "kids slides" as Calli calls them, I think they are great fun!

Dragon Attack

This summer we have enjoyed some really good programs through our local library. Calli has made:

• a outerspace bookmark
  
• a "dirt cup" (with oreo crumbs, pudding, and gummy worms)
  
• a butterfly (remember the one out of waxed paper and melted crayon shavings from when you were a kid?)
  
• and now this dragon

After all the kids finished decorating their dragons, they had a little dragon parade through the library and down the sidewalk. It was really cute. Lets hope I can find such great programs this fall!

Cow on Parade

I'm not sure if this lone cow was left from the parade several years ago, or where it came from, but the girls thought it was fun!

Calli checks out the cow.

Ride 'um cowgirl!

Mari tries to reach him.

Craft Time at Millennium Park

After Wiggleworms, we were sooo hot. We all splashed around in the fountain for a while to cool off. At the fountain, we met up with our friends Ruth, Lauren and Lydia who were visiting from St. Louis.

After the fountain, we went to check out the craft tent. The older girls had a great time making hats, and Mari (amazingly) just hung out in the stroller.


Ruth and Lydia


Lauren and Calli


Smiley Mari!


She was so hot and sweaty, but Calli wanted to wear the cool hat she made!


Lauren modeling her hat.

Wiggleworms at Millennium Park

All summer, I have know about these Wiggleworm concerts going on in Millennium Park. So today was the day we went down. It was really nice. They have a great tent, a guitar player to lead the kids in song and dance, and even little instruments for the kids to play. If only it wasn't 90-plus degrees, it would have been perfect! Poor Calli, she gets a sweaty nose - just like her mom.

Mari enjoyed watching other kids and taking their instruments if they ever made the mistake of setting them down :)

I LOVE Dora in the morning

Lately, the girls have been waking up early. Early for me, is any time before 7:00 am. So I set them up with blankets, pillows, water in their sippy cups, bags of dry cereal, and a Dora video. Then I try and get a few more minutes of sleep on the couch! Thanks Dora!