We've had some warm days here and there recently. The kids took advantage of the nice weather last week and were playing in the backyard. Sarah bought Jack this big flower pinwheel, which he proceeded to play with for hours.

Charlotte preferred to play with the sidewalk paint (and also sneaked in an occasional taste when she thought no one was looking. Thank goodness for non-toxic children's products).

And a cute video of the kids playing together on the bean bags.

Spagarus

The kids have been a little better about eating their veggies lately. I got them to eat salad the other night, and they also recently discovered asparagus--or "spagarus," as Jack first pronounced it. I was pulling some roasted asparagus out of the oven a couple weeks ago, and Jack shocked me by saying that he wanted some. (Though in truth I think he actually thought they were pickled stringbeans that Grammy makes, which he loves.) Here they are chowing down.

Charlotte still eats food too fast and often without chewing well. She generally eats her asparagus by taking a bite off the top, and then shoving the entire rest of the spear in her mouth. Reminds me of a feeding a log into a wood chipper.

Some pictures from another night when Charlotte really got into her potato soup.

 It's especially fun to squeeze the soup through your fingers.

 And another cute one of Mr. Jack.

Grandparents' visit

Such a sweet picture! We had a wonderful weekend with Grampy Jarvis and Grandmomma and Granddaddy Fields. (Grampy had been in town on a business trip, so unfortunately Grammy was not with him.)

It was a short visit, but we made the most of our time with everyone. I was having such a good time that I didn't wind up taking many pictures, but I may get some more from others who took photos. The weather was cold and rainy, so as you can see we spent most of our time in the living room.

Charlotte always enjoys sitting on Grampy's lap.

Having fun with Grandmomma's cane. Hopefully next time we see her; after her 2nd knee replacement, she won't need it anymore!

A cute one of Charlotte and Granddaddy.

Jack getting some snuggle time as well.

Jack loved Grandmomma's Ipad. Looks like they were both a little confused here.

Great big hug goodnight from Granddaddy!!

Safe travels home to Grampy, Grandmomma, and Grandaddy! We miss you already :(

We took the kids to the indoor pool at Andy's gym last weekend. Jack has been to the pool a lot, but this was Charlotte's first time. Since she loves outdoor pools and the lake, we hoped she would have a lot of fun at the indoor pool. Unfortunately, just like Jack was at her age, she seemed a bit freaked out by the dark, loud environment at the pool; plus the water was pretty cold.

She much preferred the hot tub. We unexpectedly ran into the Johnstons at the pool--when I was changing Charlotte into her swimsuit in the locker room, I saw a bag with a little hockey stick and just knew Will had to be there :)

Jack and Will love to hang out by the "waterfall" in the hot tub.

Cute pic of Charlotte and Daddy!

And here are some other pictures from home. Poor Lou. Charlotte made him and his bed her own private bookshelf the other night. 

And my sweet babies at bedtime.

Barbeque sauce

We got Wendy's as a treat for dinner tonight, and Charlotte had her first ever taste of barbeque sauce. As you can see, she was quite a fan. I think she would have licked the sauce straight out of the container if I had let her.

Easter

We unexpectedly had a very quiet Easter--Charlotte was sick and threw up all over the both of us on Sunday as I was trying to sort out Easter eggs. She was better during the rest of the day, but we didn't want to risk taking her out just in case.

Here are some pictures of Jack with his Easter eggs. I didn't want to hide them in the long, wet grass in the backyard, so we settled for a boring hunt in the house. Jack still had fun--as long as he got candy, he didn't care!



Charlotte didn't partake in the hunt, since she was recovering from the puking episode right then, but she couldn't resist helping Jack sort through everything.

Still looking a little sick here, but Charlotte had fun pulling everything out of the cute Easter basket that Sarah gave her and Jack (stocked with yummy German chocolates!)

18 Months Old

Happy Birthday to Grammy Jarvis tomorrow!!!

Miss Charlotte turned 18 months old on the 24th!

I think the above picture pretty much sums up her personality--she's our little diva! At times her love for the dramatic is irresistably cute; other times not so much. It's especially awesome to try and make dinner when she's screaming her head off, ripping at my clothes, and pounding on the cabinets because I'm not preparing her food fast enough.

Who, me?

Charlotte is a very busy one and a half-year old. She's moving around incredibly well--she was walking by 13 months and running by about 15. We've all been really impressed at her dexterity; especially with kicking. Charlotte can run and kick a ball at the same time--we're wondering if her early dribbling skills indicate a future soccer star :) She's also an excellent climber and is amazingly strong. Tonight she pushed over our small lockbox that weighs about 50 pounds.

Charlotte has no fear and will try anything! Some of her very first words were: "uh-oh", "boom", and "whoa"--if that tells you anything about her personality. She's a tough cookie. It takes a lot to make her really cry; I'm often shocked at seeing her fall or run into something and then bounce right back up with barely a whimper.

Charlotte still LOVES to eat. I think Jack could almost skip a meal or two a day and not really notice, but that would never happen with Charlotte (what can I say, she's like her mother). One sure-fire way to get her to stop playing is to show Charlotte the food tray from her booster seat. She'll throw down everything and scurry over to her chair.

Here's an adorable picture of Sarah and Charlotte, when they checked out the forest preserve one day while Jack was in school.

The past couple months have been a lot fun with Charlotte as her vocabulary has really increased. I'll have to post a video of her talking soon. These are some of her words: mama, dada, daddy, Lou ("oo"), hi, hello, bye, ball, down, book. She seems to understand most everything we say (though getting her to obey is another issue). Charlotte is an impressively intelligent little girl!

She is a such little ham too. When we Skype, Charlotte will keep turning the laptop to focus on herself. She giggles and flirts and loves to interact with people. She's also a cuddler and still likes to snuggle and be held. She steals everyone's hearts! And she is absolutely the cutest little girl there ever was.

And so Jack isn't left out of this post entirely--here's him and the Easter Bunny from an event last weekend. This year was a total reversal of last Easter when Jack was freaked out by the Easter Bunny, while Charlotte was okay with it. Not so this year; Charlotte was having no part of it. I felt bad for the Easter Bunny because Charlotte would whimper and cry every time we were anywhere close to him (her?).

Charlotte adores her big brother, and while she gets on his nerves quite a bit (and tries to beat up on him), at least lately they've seemed to do a better job at playing together. Hopefully that will continue :)