Tiny Dancer

Yes, the tutu is making another appearance. This time it's ballet class.

Ballet is one of Kaitlyn's favorite activities. We've been doing it for awhile now. She says she's ready for the big girl class where the mommies just sit on the side and watch. The last two classes she has made me sit down to show me she can do it (it's a Mommy & Me class). So, since I was just sitting there today I decided to snap some photos.

Zoo Day

This morning we decided to go to the zoo. Our friends Amber, Cody and baby Wyatt were also able to join us which made it even more fun.

We finished off the day with a train ride. Katie picked the very last seat on the train. Here we all are right before the conductor shouted "All Aboard!"

Confessions of a Pongonk

Katie's imagination has truly taken off in the past couple of months. I love seeing her pretend. Sometimes she runs errands -- to the bank, Trader Joe's, Target -- going from place to place in her little plastic car in the house. Other days she gets ready to go to school by packing her backpack, then strutting off proclaiming "I'm going to go learn now."

Then there will be times she goes on "big trips." When asked where she is going she inevitably answers "to Halmoni's (grandma's) house."

Big trips mean she packs multiple bags chock full of assorted things, you know the bare necessities like food, a sponge, white bear, one of Maddie's burp clothes, a book. She'll usually come out wearing two backpacks, one on her back, and another on her stomach. The look is generally completed with some sort of hat (because my husband and I always wear hats when we go on big trips?!)

But my favorite part of her newly expanded imagination -- when she makes up animals, or at least I think they are animals.

Enter the Pongonk.

At first I thought I might just be misunderstanding what she was saying, that she was mispronouncing the name for something else. I asked "Honey, what's a Pongonk?"

"A Tinky," she promptly answered.

"What's a Tinky?" I asked.

"A Pongonk," she said matter-of-factly. Then she laughed at her own circular definition.

Pongonks are apparent in all aspects of our lives these days. When we sing Old MacDonald we sing "And on this farm he had a Pongonk." As a stall tactic she'll ask for a Pongonk to take to bed with her. Sometimes she claims she sees Pongonks in the backyard. When we got a package the other day I asked what she thought was inside and she answered, "a Pongonk?"

What, you may ask does a Pongonk look like? Well, I asked the same thing. Katie pulled out her Doodle pro and said, "here mama, I'll show you."

Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure -- the Pongonk...

Naked Maddie

Some smiles from Maddie to you this weekend. Hope you're having a good one.

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!!!!

Downtown Holiday Jacket and Pant GIVEAWAY!

M.C. Katie

Tonight Katie was sitting on the potty of all places and starts talking about Pete (from the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse television show). Song and I were sitting in one of the bedrooms across the hall.

She yells "Pete."

So, Song responds with "Pete," back at her -- for no obvious reason.

Then, Katie starts telling us "When I say Pete, you say Pete."

"Pete," yells Katie from the potty.

"Pete," yells Song from the bedroom.

Then she goes on with "When I say giant, you say giant."

"Giant," yells Katie from the potty.

"Giant," yells Song from the bedroom.

Song and I were laughing pretty hard. If you didn't listen to rap in the 80s this story probably doesn't make much sense to you, but if you did I hope you found this as funny as we did.

Sickening Tale

Some of you already know this, but the Little Wickies aren't always as sweet as they may seem. Generally, you're seeing pictures and video of them on good days having great fun. But let me tell you, those Little Wickies have their dark sides every now and then.

Ever since Katie was little she would get sick when she was really upset -- and, yes I did say get sick, as in throw up.

Now that she is older it has become her "weapon" of choice against us.

Yesterday she decided she did not need a nap. She had "quiet time" instead in her room.

As what I believe was a direct result, Ms. I-Don't-Need-A-Nap had a series of break downs in the afternoon. Finally I told her if she was going to continue to cry she needed to go and do it in her room. She went in her room, and quickly came out yelling, "I'm going to get sick."

I promptly gave her a bowl and sent her back to her room. Most of the time the "I'm going to get sick" routine is a bluff. However, judging when it is and isn't a sham is like a dangerous game of Russian Roulette. I don't recommend it for the faint of heart - or for those who are vehemently against cleaning vomit out of sheets, carpet, etc.

She went back in and cried. I listened carefully to make sure she wasn't indeed getting sick. After 15 minutes -- silence. I went in and found this.

That's right, passed out on the bean bag with the bowl on her lap.

Seriously, that girl is something else.

Tutu Sisters

So, you already saw the cute little princess tutus my friend Miyo made for Dylann's birthday party. She also made a little one for Maddie with some of the scraps. Today, we finally got around to putting it on. Of course we had to do a little photo shoot. Nothing like propping your 3-month old precariously on a pillow just to get a photo...

Of course, after witnessing all this tutu-fashion-madness, big sis Katie had to get in on the action and before I knew it she had her tutu on and was demanding pictures of her and Maddie together.

So, what's more dangerous than propping your 3-month old up on a pillow? Propping her up against a 2-year old and having her put her arm around your baby's neck of course...

What moms will do for pictures of their perfect little tutu sisters.

Love Me Some Shopping

Lately I've been obsessed with little zipper purses/pouches. I just couldn't resist and I bought this little one from Benny and Heidi this week.

I also love the ones on Plonka by Dalinda. I've fallen for this sweet little number with the Japanese cotton fabric . I haven't purchased it yet, but am itching to do so. Not sure how many little zipper pouches I really need, but I'm sure I can find something to put in them!

Saturday Mornings

For the longest time we did swimming lessons on Saturday mornings. It was Katie's ritual activity with Papa. Recently, Katie told us she didn't want to swim anymore. So, the quest was on to find another nap-inducing activity to fill our Saturday mornings with. We found a gymnastics facility near us, went to the trial class -- which Katie loved -- and signed up.

She starts with stretching and then follows with a litany of different activities.

Katie absolutely loves the trampoline. She literally throws herself all over the place as you can see.

She Bangs

Got tired of trying to grow Katie's hair out, plus she always took the barret/pony out of her hair so her hair would just fall in her face all of the time so yesterday we got bangs cut.

Nice Little Afternoon

Katie has had a couple of trying days/nights as of late so it was really great that we had a nice little afternoon the other day.

We decided to go out on an adventure on her bike.

We geared up with her helmet (safety first!) and put Maddie in the sling and we were off!

Katie peddled all the way to what just may be her preschool soon.

She is very excited about the prospect of going to school. She keeps talking about "going on the potty all the time so she can go to school."

We walked around the empty preschool. We peeked in the windows, tested out the water fountain and restrained ourselves from climbing on the play structure.

Then with a very satisfied look on her face, Katie strutted back to the bike and we headed home.

Later the same evening we were treated to a pretty spectacular sunset. We went outside to take it in. When we got outside Katie took a look around and promptly decided that she should also bring a book to read outside.

Because what goes better with a beautiful sunset than a book?!

The Maddie Roll

I mentioned before how Maddie started to roll from her back onto her stomach recently. Here she is in action below!

She's also started actually laughing. I've yet to get this on video as everytime I pull out the camera, she freezes up and stops laughing. It's like she knows I'm trying to get video of her.

Three Girl Pile-Up on the Southbound Exit

Yesterday we went to the park to see our friends Ellie and Lara because they are leaving for another long trip to Italy. They go and visit their relatives what seems like multiple times a year for 5-6 weeks at a time. Every time they return I feel like Lara has grown at least an inch if not more. When the girls were really little they would return and Lara would look like a whole new child to me!

This particular day at the park the girls repeatedly went down the slide together -- yes, all three of them at the same time and the result, well you can see...

Dylann Turns 3

I have the most creative and crafty (in a Martha not Beastie Boys way) friends. I should really get a better camera and document all these birthday parties. I'm pretty sure I could submit birthday party stories to magazines because these women truly throw class-act parties for their little ones.

My friend Miyo is an over-achiever, period. This weekend Dylann turned 3 and she -- as always -- out did herself. The party was a princess themed affair. There were cute little invitations, and then when we arrived we found a little castle....

...and a big castle.


There were knights and little girls in princess tutus. She of course made these.

Miyo even made -- yes, hand-made -- beautiful fruit bouquets. She said they were "easy," to make. Somehow I seriously doubt that.

Maddie enjoyed the party sucking her thumb hanging out in the sling.

A gaggle of kids hanging out in front of the "big" castle.

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!!!!!!!!

GrosgrainStore.com Grand Opening & Giftcard Giveaway!

In the Night Kitchen with Uncle Scott

Uncle Scott came to visit today! It's so nice that the Little Wickies have an uncle that is willing to drive up and see them on a regular basis. Uncle Scott read one of mom's all-time favorite children's books In the Night Kitchen among others to Katie today. Some, like Uncle Scott find the mind of Maurice Sendak a bit off, but I've found kids don't seem to mind the non-linear, double-meaning story lines and phrases. I think kids really like the rhythmic nature of his writing. But, then again, that may just be a writer talking...

Thumbsucker

So, I think Maddie is officially a thumbsucker.

The Little Wickies Say "Vote"

Be heard!

If you haven't already, go vote today!

The Slowest Roll - Bowling with Katie

This weekend we took Katie bowling for the first time. Well, technically it was Maddie's first time too but, since she slept through the better part of the outing, and didn't get out from the stroller we're not going to count it.

They had bowling shoes for the girls which were absolutely adorable on them.

Both Katie and her friend Dylann liked pushing the ball down the lanes themselves. It was too funny -- their ball would move at a snail's pace down the lanes (you can see just how slow in the video below). A couple of times the ball actually stopped in the lane and the attendant had to be called to get it.

What's amazing is that both of the girls actually bowled a strike. Katie kept talking about how she knocked all "those things" down.

Katie equally enjoyed -- if not more so -- the food and libations which included a hot dog, chili cheese fries and a smoothie. I know, the meal of champions.

Dylann after her strike.

First Fire

This weekend brought the first rain of the season. It rained pretty hard* and consistently yesterday so we stayed indoors the better part of the day. Papa went out and got some firewood and we picniced our dinner in front of the fire place. Katie thought this was great fun as it was the first time we had a fire in the fire place with her (that she remembers). The novelty of eating in the living room went very far with her.

*raining "hard" is a relative statement as we do live in Southern California

Dragon Tales

We were in the store awhile ago and I was showing Kaitlyn some different costumes for Halloween. I showed her the cute little mouse costume, and some others when when Katie exclaimed "what's that?!" She pointed to this bright red and blue thing.

"Oh, that's a dragon," I sad nonchalantly.

"I want that."

So, a dragon she was. I was a little disappointed at first. The costume looked obnoxious on the hanger in the store and it was clearly on the "boys" side of the costumes. But, once she had it on I realized it was perfect.

I don't think she really knew what a dragon was. I thought about it and none of her books have dragons in them, and she pretty much only watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (her favorite) on television. And, since I've also seen every episode (there are unfortunately a fairly limited number of episodes) I know there is not one with a dragon.

As always the kids were ridiculously cute all together...


The kids were into the trick or treating part this year.

The mission to obtain candy prevailed as the troops pushed on through a number of sometimes scary and difficult obstacles -- through a house with a moving hand in a candy bowl that made a grab for them when they reached for treats, through some pretty dense fog that made it difficult to see and further obscured some frightening decorations and finally a good spill followed by tears over a small brick garden divider by Katie.

I love this picture because it reminds me of that children's book Frog and Toad are Friends, except the book would be titled Mouse and Dragon are Friends.

Enjoying their loot on the front porch.