Fall in Ohio

How many kids does it take to lift a stick?  Or are they planning something more diabolical?

After rolling down the hill.

Ohio weather can be tricky.  We had snow last Saturday, but this week the weather could not have been more perfect.  Sunny and 60's all week!  Luckily, we were able to get to the park several times to enjoy these last few rays of sunshine before the gloom of winter sets in.

Who needs a picnic table?

When we saw the forecast for the week I arranged for a park date with friends.  Tuesday we met up with several friends at our favorite park, S.O.A.R., in Stow.  We even packed lunches and had a feast, despite the fact that the parks department had put away the picnic tables for the winter!  Ally could not have had more fun.  From the time we arrived she was tailing her friend Kayla as they climbed ladders and went down slides.  Then Micah arrived and the three of them took a 'nature walk' around trees and they chased squirrels and tried to climb the trees.  Ali and Sawyer showed up at lunch bringing the kid count to 9!  After lunch there was follow the leader, rolling down a hill, playing with tree branches, and the other various playground activity.  Needless to say at 2:00 when we had to leave for naptime Ally was not happy!

Ally showing Kayla how the puzzle 'works'

Aaron has been perfecting his standing skills.  The other day he was pulling himself up at the play kitchen and letting go so that he could stand there.  He tried to take a step forward, but he is too impatient to get balance first, so that hasn't been very successful.  But crawling on his knees is now his regular mode of moving.  He is really quick now and he can even get himself into a sitting position when he reaches his destination.

Aaron has also been eating a ton.  Just this evening he ate two chicken nuggets (Ally had one) after having an entire jar of stage 3 food and a container of pears and some cheerios.  I think that he would have had another nugget if I didn't cut him off.  I think that we are going to have to register him for some eating contests.  Though, on the downside, the kid poops about four times a day.

I know that I am always writing about how Ally cracks me up with her speaking abilities, but she truly does.  She has conversations that sound so adult it amazes me.  Monday night in the car Mike mentioned the word diet.  Ally mumbled a few things about what Carter and Micah like to eat, then we heard her say: 'Apparently chocolate milk is good for us.'  I'm not sure if that was a hint or a fact.

And this was before she added the cape...

Tuesday on the way to the park Ally and I had the following conversation:
Ally: Why are we stopping?
Me: We have to wait for our turn in the traffic.
Ally: Oh, there is a little bit of traffic.
Me: Yes, not too much.
Ally: There is only a little traffic, can you say traffic mom?
Me: Traffic - Note: If you do not repeat something when she asks she will continue to ask until you comply, and you have to use her exact phrasing.
Ally: Yes, that's right.  Traffic.  Traffic is in the road.
Me: Yes it is.
Ally: It is cars and trucks in the road.
Me: Yep.

She is 2!!!!  And she can 'teach' me about traffic????  Some other fun things that she has said:

When playing with fake food, Ally tells me that I need to 'eat it pretendly.'
Driving in the car Ally tells me to 'slow down mom' and 'watch out for the tree in the road.'  (There was no tree 'in the road' maybe a few feet away from it...)
When Mike made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich she took it and said 'oh, you aren't going to cook it?'
At the Gurley's house after seeing baby Hannah (who is about 2 months old) she said: 'Hey, Scott, does Hannah say goo-goo-ga-ga?'

Aaron loves to eat so much he even keeps a cheerio on his head.  We're not sure if it is a fashion statement or just pure genius.

Ally has also become an expert at stalling at bedtime.  She has learned that we will usually cave to food, especially chocolate milk.  She will ask to brush her teeth and use the potty (this kid has been potty training herself), and her bedtime song requests have been getting weirder and weirder.  Some of the songs that she has requested are as follows:

Aaron and his new BFF, Colton

The Dog song
The Other Dog song
No, the OTHER Dog song
The People song
The Racecar song
The Vacuum Cleaner song
The Micah cries song
The There's a hole in the wall song (the bathroom is finally being fixed!)
The The Wall is Cracked but Won't Fall Down Song
The Song that (insert someone here) Sings

I think that Mike and I could put out a really interesting children's cd.  I doubt anyone else has a song about the wall being cracked but it won't fall down.