"Look Mama....Sand!"

Ella's sandbox if FINALLY clear of snow and ice....and she spent a good hour digging and raking today, happy as a clam (why is it that we assume clams are happy?). It was a beautiful day around here, we played at the park with some friends in the morning, after which I plopped Mia in the grass so I could hang up some clothes. She loved it so much, and was content not to crawl around the entire yard, that I moved her spot so she was next to the sand box, gave her a plastic rake and let the two of them play for a while. Both were quite happy. Ella filled many a bucket and truck with sand and even went back out for a short second round in the late afternoon. And she got to go back to the park after dinner while I put Mia to bed.

Chris is in Chicago for the night, so it's just me and the girls, Mia's already out and L's watching "puppies" (one hundred and one dalmations). She has a good 20 minutes until I institute bedtime.

Mia's adjusting to live in the mobile realm. Her crawl, which I thought might forever be odd, has evened out and she nows takes big "steps" with her hands and scoots her little knees right up behind. She's even found herself able to crawl on slick surfaces (laminate/wood/etc.). She tried to follow me a few times today, but mostly chases whatever toys Ella is currently playing with. If big missy is doing puzzles, so is little missy...when big missy wants to play Mr. Potato head, so does Miss Mia. And Ella's hating it. Mia also seems to show a clear preference to table food over baby food. Which is fine with me, but it makes meal times long, it's much easier to shove spoonfuls of puree in her than let her smash it around in her mouth for five minutes before swallowing!

Lots coming up, as always....Jaime and Trevor's wedding this weekend, then DeEtte comes midweek for a friend's Pampered Chef party....just before Aunt Heather is coming to stay with us for a weekend. We're very excited, haven't seen Heather since Christmas...it'll be fun to show off all our new tricks! I'm running a race the next weekend....another 3 miler here in town, same route as my turkey trot so I'll be able to see if I've gotten any better. Any bets? We're passing on the St. Thomas Ball that night in leui of offering to take care of all the kids here. Should be a good time for the toddlers. Our next activity after that is our Texas trip a few weeks later. I think we're all already excited. We've got a zoo trip planned, and KC is the end of May. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

My plans tonight include ironing, trying to coerse a friend to bring me a soda since I'm trapped here with my sleeping kids and have none in the house, and watching the newest episode of Top Chef. I love that show.