Bear and Justin

Mox and Keen got some quality time with Aunt Bear and Justin.  During this trip we also learned that both Justin and Strider have an incredible hatred of Tupperware.  Good to know.

Stone Cold Chillin

We went rock hunting.  We also wore great hats. Keen is in the tiny pack on Strider's chest.  She is bigger now and has her own hat.

She's Crafty

Bibi went all out and got us some awesome crafts for our week in Colo. Like all out. Beads, play-doh, stencils, markers, paint, the works. Mox did a fair job of roping others into her projects. We appreciate everyone's patience. 

First we tried play-doh made from peeps. It was a good 6.4 minutes of fun. As legit play-doh it was a fail. As a delicious snack it was only a partial fail. 

Then we made necklaces. This was less of a fail and more of a time sink. We also got to wear our art around. That's a bonus. 

Good times had by all. Or one. Good times had by one. The rest of us are just here as support staff. 

Snooze.

Look what I came home to. Just about the sweetest thing. 

Group Nap

Today we had a busy day. Parent/ Teacher conference (Mox is doing great), music class, lunch out, and a play date with a friend (who dropped off dinner).  Well we all wanted a nap. We got one! 

Bonding

Strider and Keen are bonding.  Mostly through taunting each other and cracking jokes that rely mostly on Bob Dylan lyrics. 

Keen's first bath

We had double first baths this week.  Keen lost the last of her umbilical cord so she got a bath and Deuce (a dog toy that looks like Samantha's bull terrier) got one too!  We saved the baby bath stuff from the hospital and Moxie got to play along. Both Keen and Deuce escaped super clean. 

Keen didn't love the bath--more tolerated it.  She kept her hands in fists and had a stink eye expression the whole time.

Moxie took her work very seriously.

Everyone will recognize the Johnson and Johnson baby bath.  Mamas will recognize the squeeze bottle.

Post bath nose pick.

"Seriously dad?"

After her bath we noticed that Keen's hair has just a tiny bit of curl to it.  

The Big Reveal

On Sunday, January 4th, just after nap time Moxie and Bibi came to the hospital to meet Keen.  Strider met them at the hospital entrance and Moxie came with a gift for her new baby sister (a soft monkey lovie).  Moxie was a little nervous to be in a new place but as soon as she saw Keen in the basinet she ran to her and asked to hold her.  She wasn't shy about adjusting the baby's hat, playing with her feet, and didn't mind that Keen fussed a little.  

Keen feet

Here's some more pictures of our sweet baby Keen.  She sleeps most of the time (lazy 10 day old) but when she is awake she is fun to watch.  Lots of coos and wiggles.  Nothing coherent yet--except making funny faces at her dad.  She's got that perfected.

Sleep twins

Mox usually ends up in our bed between 5-6 am most mornings. It is a nice time to snuggle and (try to) snooze a bit longer. I'm terrible at it. Strider and Mox, however, are pros. I ruined this photo with a bad crop job but the point of it is: they are totally asleep and totally up in each other's personal space. 

Ice Cream Social

As part of the process of getting to know her new school Silver Spring Day School hosted an ice cream social--complete with ice cream.  Moxie's mind was blown.  Even more mind blowing: her Bibi and Babu showed up to join the party.  Mind. Blown.

She was really, really, really into the sprinkles.  Like crazy into them.  

Strider got tapped to be the Class Scheduler for the Rolling 2s (Moxie's class) and thus has to go early to help with things, set up, talk to people, and send emails.  I think he is doing a super good job at it and it meant that Moxie got a head start on the ice cream consumption.  

When Bibi and Babu rolled in it got crazy.  Moxie saw them and started jumping and yelling "Ice Cream! Bibi! Babu!" over and over again.  She has a good life.  She got to play with her new classmates and now has a permanent positive association with her teacher.  Ms. Cathy=ice cream.  Well played teacher.  Well played. 

Big girl bed.

In our attempt to help Moxie become self sufficient (and boot her from the crib before the next kid comes) we've taken off the rail and she's in a big girl bed.

She helped her dad take the railing off. But then, after bath, when she came in and saw her bed she got really nervous. She danced a little, laughed in a weird way, and wouldn't look at the bed. I really wasn't expecting her to be this nervous. 

We did our usual bed time routine but 2 hours later. After she got into bed she gripped her dad's hand with a mighty monkey strength until she fell asleep. 

We will let you all know how it goes. 

For now: she's asleep. 

Father's Day!

Stider doesn't want to do anything for Father's Day. At least that what he says. Mox an so twisted his arm a bit and got lunch. Oh and also Dairy Queen. Behold the road side picnic where we celebrate Moxie's fabulous dad and watch her enjoy her first ice cream cone. 

This is just after she has her first tiny taste. Huge smile. But then she gets serious. 

No more time for smiles. Only eating. No mentions of trucks, buses, or bikes as they pass. Only slurping that Dairy Queen goodness. 

Jobs well done. For Strider being amazing and for Mox for destroying a cone of vanilla soft serve. 

Also: happy happy Father's Day to Moxie's two grandpas. Both taught us so much about being parents. Both of then included a healthy amount of ice cream in our diets. Really this is all about tradition. 

Hats and hair

Today, Rita did Moxie's hair in a pretty cool way. I wanted to get a couple pictures of it for fun. So I decided to take Moxie outside. (Cool photography trick: take pictures outside where there is light.) 


However, Moxie had some conditions.


The first three were easily satisfied.  She needed a stick (to be obtained outside), a bottle of milk (of course), and absolutely no shoes.

The no shoes was definitely not negotiable, as she indicated by putting her finger to my mouth and saying "nooooooo."  Not only was she not going to where shoes, I wasn't even allowed to talk about it.  All said, though, this is was not an issue, though it was a little dicey when, later, we found this:

and this:

But that was all ok.  The real problem was her last demand.  This is best explained with a picture:

In fact, the hat requirement extended to the photographer too:

(The leaves are a whole other story.  One she has to tell, because I'm really not sure why she made us do that.)

Once, there was a dog.  The dog was very friendly, but wary of dinosaurs.  The triceratops really wanted to meet this dog, so she allowed herself to be turned into a little girl for a few minutes.  And that is how we caught a brief glimpse of her beautiful hair:

But not for long!  (These are taken not a minute after the last picture.)

For those curious about the hair, here's a couple bad pictures, but they are the best I got showing the style:

After dinner, we went on another walk.  While the accoutroments varied in the specific, the spirit was the same.  A truck had just passed for the first picture.  She really likes trucks, especially the ones that wave at her.