First Birthday Monster Party!

 Monster sandwiches

Monster cups

Monster cake

 Monster shirt

Being a monster :)

Gopher tortoise in its burrow

Time for cake!

This is fun!

He played with the frosting for a while
(And yes, he is wearing a diaper!)

Once I cut it open, he got right to work!

Final product (and he was still going)

Happy 1st birthday to my favorite boy!

Fall is here

Well, sort of.

This is how preschoolers learn about fall in Florida.

Arthur loves his (early) birthday present!

Gotta love $90 toys that go for $25 on Craigslist.

Eleanor enjoys it too!

Eleanor was trying to get Arthur on the blanket so she could drag him around the room.

Julie reads to her brother and cousin

And a few videos for your entertainment...

And here is a conversation that made me laugh.  We were listening to a song in the car on a new cd that was clearly not in English.

Eleanor:  Is this Spanish?

Me:  No, it's not Spanish.  I'm not sure what language it is.

Eleanor:  It is English, but a very different kind of English.

Me:  No, it's not English.  I wonder what language it is.

Eleanor:  I will help you Mama.  It is French.

Turns out it was Hebrew, not French, but she sure was trying! :)

Haircuts!

All ready for his first haircut!

He sat very still for the first few minutes...

...and then not so much.  :)  No tears though!

"Mom, what have you done?"

Eleanor's turn for her second haircut ever.  She just got a trim.
Her eyes were on that candy jar the entire time!

Terrible picture, but at least you can see their hair!

Just another update

Some Eleanor quotes:

When I picked Eleanor up at school last week, she handed me her backpack while we were still in the hallway and I put it over my shoulder.
E:  You are Eleanor!
Me:  Yes, I'm Eleanor!  I am 3 years old!
E: (laughing)  No Mama, you're not 3 years old, you are THIRTY YEARS OLD!
Well, she's right.  And loud.

Arthur was pulling all of the magnets off of the fridge.  He does this all the time, and it's slightly annoying but it keeps him occupied for a few minutes so I don't mind.
Eleanor:  Arthur is decorating the floor!

Eleanor, talking about Arthur:  Where's that rascal?  Where's my rascal?
(We never call him that.  Not sure where that came from.)

Eleanor:  When I grow up, I will marry Arthur and be the mama and he will marry me and be the daddy.
Me:  Well Eleanor, you can't marry your brother. Or your cousins. You have to marry a friend.
Eleanor:  But Arthur IS my friend! I love him and he is my friend!

And now, LOTS of pictures!

This is what happens when you get lots of packing paper in a package.

Not sure what's going on with the hands...

Musical boy

Baby in a basket!

Just checking the mail with a dinosaur tail on

And painting with a dinosaur tail on

He LOVES books!

She has been asking to make cookies forever, so we finally made some

"Mama, I made a nest!"

Pillow tunnel!

Eleanor prefers to hang out in the tunnel with a flashlight

Sleepy boy

Eleanor's first self-portrait.  It's beautiful.

Holding a sick baby

"I am programming dinosaurs on my computer!"

The dinosaurs all wanted to see out the window.  Of course.

Arthur's first Peruvian food - he loved the Papa a la Huancaina

Eleanor was such a good patient for the dentist!  It helps that they have a tv on the ceiling and she gets to wear headphones to listen to it.

Look who can climb stairs!

And finally, this is what Eleanor wants to be for Halloween.  Guess I'm making the costume, because I'm not going to find it out there!

(And it has to be a Dilophosaurus with two ridges on its head - it can't be just any old dinosaur!)