Little Miss Liberty

Beautiful girl, beautiful day

We celebrated the fourth with a morning parade in Excelsior! After a blue star cookie for breakfast at a fun pastry shop (daddy is a softy), we rolled over to the Kiddie Parade start.  I completely forgot about bringing candy to throw, but don't worry, I *embarrassingly* picked up some suckers off the street for Peyton and daddy.    

The parade ended at a rock 'n roll family concert. And Peyton rocked, her move-of-the-day was jumping up and down like a silly kid who just ate a blue star cookie and tootsie pop. : )

Oh mama

Miss Saint Louis Park

Rain or shine

Lil' Mary Poppins

Peyton had a couple of special visitors that drove all the way up from Houston to visit her! Her cousins Carly and Layla came to play beebees and tea party and music time with Peyton.  It has been rainy and pouring every weekend lately but we tried to duck out for a quick walk around the lakes.  The walk didn't last long because a monsoon hit hard!!! The only person that escaped the downpour was Peyton thanks to her stroller "hat". 

Unexpectedly the seas parted on Sunday and we were able to go strawberry picking on a perfectly sunny day! The place we went was nuts: 25 traffic 'cops', limited your berry picking area to a 4 ft radius, people with orange vests watching your every move/step.  Peyton really went to town and picked lots.  I was a bit afraid that I'd be beaten with a stick as we left because my child had strawberry juice dripping down her shirt. 

Beautiful day 

Very proud of herself

Melt in your mouth

Roughin' it

Before shot

This weekend we hope to avoid the impending thunder storms as we trek out to Ham Lake for Olive's birthday party!  I'm imagining honey baked hams as buoys. 

We finally arrive after Jon gets off work waaaay late and we make a very needed Target pit stop for Benadryl due to Peyton's massive swollen bug bite cheek.  Candy bingo was a hit and our table scored major prizes and no we didn't cheat even though that's what fellow campers were thinkin. Peyton selected M&Ms as her candy BINGO prize then BINGO x 6: sucker, necklace, sucker, necklace, ball, and ball!  

Peyton had a blast ribbon dancing, burying stuff in dirt, and running around with her glow in the dark jewelry. Sleep not such a blast ; )

Next morning DOWNPOUR!  It was super fun while it lasted!

A few nites later I asked Peyton what songs she'd like to sing while we rock before bed: Happy birthday to Olive, then again Happy Birthday Mike, then Kelly, then Sam, Bill (who's Sam and Bill?!?), Nana, Kristin, Papa, Sam ?!?, Hudson, Bill?!?, Cardiff, Baby Henry, Grandma... Grand total of 14 birthday songs. Ha. And she kept on singin' Happy Birthday in the crib! 

Prize table

Who's birthday is it Pey?

Happy Daddy's Day!!

English Breakfast

Peyton started Daddy's day off by sneaking upstairs three separate occasions each time with a different special art project and exclaiming "Happy Daaaadddddy's Day!" Jon thought it was soooo cute. The first art piece was a pink pig, the second a colorful sponge painting, the third a bumblebee.  

Next the duo sipped tee and ate banana muffin (made by Peyton) while singing various Elmo songs.  After we swept daddy away on a walk to the park (our usual twice daily ritual). They had an amazing time bouncing on the bumblebee and swinging reeeeeal high! Back to work for another evening shift : (  Thanks for spending the morning with us and "Happy Daaaadddddy's Day!"

Kinnie walk

How old are you? 2!!!

Bike ride!!

Peyton turns 2 today! Peyton favorite thing to do is go on bike rides. She will sit in the dark garage in her Burley carrier until daddy gives in. A couple of nights ago while rocking her to sleep, we talked about her dreams... she mumbled, "bike ride... daddy bike ride... helmet... daddy helmet... Peyton helmet... buckle... Teetee walk."

Well Peyton's dreams came true! And I'm pretty sure she loved the helmet from Aunt Kristin "TiTi"more than the bike- hey whatever has a buckle. Today was full of galloping dance parties, a fabulous afternoon ladies to lunch at American Girl Bistro- Jon has been dying to go!, a carousel ride, and trying on trying on Prada and Fendi sample shoes in Nordstroms while Nana was looking for much less fancy footwear. Fun day for our little lady!  

Happy birthday Sweetgirl!

Can't smile now... must look at food options

Peyton selects the bear

Flower child

Serious gardener

Peyton and Mama had quality girl time this weekend while Dada was out of town at a conference in Vancouver.  On Sunday, we decided to go to a May Day parade which ended up being a bust- more about social activism than cute candy fun floats- ahh Minneapolis. 

A little gardening was just the trick to turn our day around. Peyton requested yellow and purple flowers for her pot and we picked them out quickly while she ran around the garden center eyeing every off-limit ladder in sight.  Peyton was hands on with placing her flowers, packing dirt, and watering her new plants- and getting soaked in the process.  Peyton selected a dry Elmo t-shirt to change into and went back outside to enjoy the beautiful sunny day.

Whenever we hang out in our front yard, Peyton finds it hilarious to beeline it over to a section of our 89 year-old neighbor Sherwood's yard where he's trying to grow new grass. She races over to the patch of yard to see if she can stand on the soil before Mommy can catch her. It's a guaranteed way to get Mama attention!

Must pack some dirt 

I didn't make it to Sherwood's soil AND fake crying about it... goofball

Bunny hop

Hidden treasure

Is it weird to celebrate the Christ's resurrection on Good Friday?  Today mama and dada leave for Europe and we couldn't miss Miss Peyton's first real attempt at an Easter egg hunt. 

Peyton started her hunt walking around aimlessly.  Soon she discovered that if she picked up an egg, she'd illicit claps, ooohs, and ahhhs from the peanut gallery (Nana, Papa, and Grandma).  I got a kick out of watching her gallop directly over an egg because she was so focused on another egg she had spotted. 

And when she found out they were full of bunny cookies and crackers, forget it!, she wanted to have her hunt set up again and again and again!  We will miss our funny sweet girl!!

Family hug! "huuuuuug" 

Vroom vroom, now give me the Reeses Pieces carrot

PS: Her feet really aren't that big. Mama just bought huge shoes on accident

Green eggs and ham

Practicing my colors

Peyton was really thrilled to colors Easter eggs for the first time! She got to recite all of the colors many times however she would've preferred a bunch of yellow eggs as yellow is the BEST color!!! What started out as a controlled activity soon became messy. How long does it take for dye to come out of skin?

Peyton's funnies:

1. She differentiates big from small. On a walk she said "Whoa... that's a BIG dog!"
2. She got the duck sound right! On the ride home sining Old McDonald I asked, "What does a duck say Peyton?" "Quack Quack Quack"... it's always been "Duccccckkkkkkkkkkk" before. Good job!
3. After dozing off to sleep I laid her in her crib. As I'm walking out of the room she whispers, "I want Play Dough." What a fun dream : )

Ready to scoop

Curly-Q

Not sure about this...

I've been avoiding taking Peyton to get her haircut because I don't want my baby to look like a toddler. : ( But her hair is getting totally nuts so it is time. Peyton sat like a good girl, quiet and frozen, during the entire appointment. At first she had her fingers in her mouth showing her nerves, but soon she transitioned her facial expression to a suspicious scowl.  Funny how stickers make everything better at the end.

Wow her hair was curly when she was done!! She looked just like her Great Grandma Minnaert after a major perm. So cute : )

Peyton funnies:

1. She wore her "big sock" to church today. Peyton looooooves saying socks and shoes, so she calls tights her "big sock".
2. She loves bedtime antics: while singing songs at night she always has a water. Lately if you don't watch her, she'll press the spout against her teeth so the water flows all over the place. That means a shirt change and a few extra minutes before bed. Genius.

So proud

Check your pants

No poopies... 

Peyton just took putting mama and dada "to sleeps" to a whole nother level.

I pity the fool

I just wanted my shoes!

Daddy enjoyed spending his morning prepping to make a fun surprise for Peyton's Aprils fools day! Peyton was completely confused when she went to go get her shoes. While Peyton didn't love the silly string (you just couldn't resist Jon, could you) she loooooved playing and squealing as we all bopped balloons all over her room. 

Peyton funnies:

1. She enjoys wearing her "big sock" to church... i.e. tights
2. No more quick runs to Target: Peyton likes to pick out the produce, tomatoes, bananas, kiwis. Then she must participate in emptying the cart.  And she's super friendly to the cashiers. Maybe because she always gets a sticker, or two, or three : ) "Bye!! Cya!! Thank you!!" 
3. It's a hard sell for Peyton when you tell her she doesn't need to wear a coat anymore. She wants her coat!

Whoa dada

"Balloon rush"

Lucky charm

Sweets

Today we are celebrating the color green! Reason for mama to make another disposable felt t-shirt. : ) 

What is so awesome is we are actually celebrating colors BECAUSE Peyton has mastered her colors!! We've worked diligently during bathtime to review colors using her foam rainbow colored alphabet. For example, I'll pull out red letters and blue letters. Then I'll stick blue, blue, blue, blue to the side of the tub. Followed by red, red, red, red. Then ask her to identify one. It'd always just be the last color I had recited. 

But this past week, she identified an "Orange gorilla" on one of dada's t-shirts, "yellow" sleeves on Peyton's baseball tee, "1, 2, 3, 4 purple bunnies" in her Treasure hunt book, "yellow" happy face drawn for her on our Costco receipt. Purple use to be yellow, now yellow is yellow! Sounds kinda nutty but I am so proud and happy for her!

Sittin' pretty

Mama guilt

Happy girl

Today Peyton had day 6 of fever, so dada finally allowed me to take her to the pediatrician. Luckily her blood work came back normal and the doc said she must be on the upswing.  I cherished the rest of my morning with her by taking our first walk of the year! It was finally warm enough!!!!!

I found myself in tears on this walk.  This was the first day in such a long time I had weekday one on one with her. I look back at the fall and winter. I never saw her in daylight.  We'd leave for school/work before it was light out and by the time we got back home it was dark.  During two evenings a week, I had joined a moms group and a couples small group at Church to meet people in the area.  While I've enjoyed meeting some wonderful families- and cute little playmates for Peyton, it has taken precious little time away from us.  I have become really bitter and hard on myself.  It has become horribly difficult for me to drop her off at daycare.  She can sense that I'm upset and I fear that's creating a separation anxiety issue for her.  

Today I started looking for part-time opportunities. It may take awhile to find a reasonable fit, most are variable evening shifts, lots of weekend hours- Jon works evening and weekends so thats not sustainable for child care. I just pray that I am thoughtful in my decisions, that I consider the benefits of a child seeing her mama supporting her family with a rewarding job but also having her know that I put family first.

Baby love

Chuck E Cheese on steroids

Whoooa dada!

After a long yucky week of viral illness, Peyton seemed ready to get out of the house!  Still too cold for outdoor fun, we schlepped over to indoor Edinborough Park. It was advertised as pretty toddler friendly but actually ended up being a little too intense for her still muted energy level.  She rocked the bouncy house, zoomed on the scooters with dada, but didn't last long in the shoots and ladders tree house.  So Peyton and I waited in the viewing section until dada hit up all of the slides and got his fill. : )

Climbing fun

Nikki dog

Peyton's dogs

Mama and Peyton made a last minute trip to Des Moines this weekend because Peyton's "My Nikki, white dog!!" got diagnosed with cancer and we all decided to come see her.  Peyton loves her dogs, she regularly asks to FaceTime with her dogs and likes to give soft pets and hugs.  I'm glad we got to get all of the dogs together one last time.

Peyton also loved the over abundance of beebees available to her this weekend. She rocked several of them in mama's old rockin' chair.  At one point she accumulated 7 beebees!  After feeding each one in the highchair, she spent quality time on the couch with Nana proudly counting all 7 of them. Occasionally she counted a pretend baby or two making the grand total 8 or 9!! : )

Clown

Rock Rock Rock

Water babies

Kick kick kick

Class exercises

Peyton started her 8 week swimming lessons in early February. Each week she either loves lessons or is ehh not so much.  One thing for sure is she is the sweetest kiddo in the class. She is always the only kid who says thank you and goodbye to her teacher, often unprompted by mama and dada.  So proud of you sweet girl! 

My first Disney movie

Daddy date

Peyton experienced her first movie tonite: Disney movie of course!!!

101 Dalmations Rated: G... G for great.

I have casually bought Disney movies released from the vault over the years in anticipation for moments like this. Why did Peyton get to watch a movie before her 2nd birthday? Because she has been 'sick as a dog' and needed to relax. Meanwhile dada had a long day being 'worked like a dog'.  Boy oh boy did she enjoy it!

Peyton loves playing in a basement with all of her toys- and newly constructed teepee. When dada catches a basketball game downstairs while we play, Peyton will go over to the little fridge and grab dada a beer "milk dada, milk!". The other night while we played Peyton was so sweet to grab me a beer, "milk mama!" It had been kinda a rough day at the office so I obliged. What great intuition. : )  

Lights camera action

Bye Buddy!

Miss you Hodgsons!

Peyton, mama, and dada had to say goodbye to our good friends Rebecca and Dave and their companions Buddy and Penny.  We were so lucky to have their friendship during our transition to Minneapolis and wish them well on their big adventure to Portland, Oregon!!

We were able to do all sorts of fun activities with them over the past year: weekend at the cabin "up north", paddle boards, biking, pumpkin carving, snowshoeing, sledding, boating, Packers/Viking game, Como conservatory, and many dog walks!! Since I never remembered my camera on any of our fun adventures- thought we'd pose for just one. : )

Peyton was particularly upset when she said goodbye to Buddy.  The whole way home from our last visit, she kept saying, "bye Buddy, bye Buddy" the whole way home. Kinnick can't wait to visit!

Nanny or neonatologist?

Diaper station

... I walked into this. She absolutely cracks me up. Peyton is regimented and tidy and loves to waste all sorts so diapers and wipes.  At least she puts her "used" diapers and wipes in the Diaper Dekor machine.  Sounds like the making of a fabulous daycare provider. But don't tell dada that, he'll say she is right on track to be a world class neonatologist.

Peyton also likes to put her beebees, mama, and dada "to sleeps". She emulates how her teachers prepare her and her classmates for naps. We all get to lay down on the kitchen floor and get covered by dishtowels as she pats our back... "pat pat pat... pat pat pat" or if she's feeling saucy "smack smack smack... smack smack smack". She'll give you a good nite kiss but don't you dare lift your head, you may get the smackdown. : )

Did you use up the wipes??

Peyton and Babar

Animal sounds are Peyton and daddy's thing and elephants are the favorite animal at the moment!  I think Peyton thinks her daddy is pretty special.  'King of the elephants' perhaps : )

Our sweetheart

Cupid

On Valentines Day, Peyton was very happy to take chocolates to her favorite teacher yet: Carla. Peyton loves talking about Carla! She chants Carla's name when we get close to school and includes her in our dinner prayer regularly. She also loves many of her friends at school: Annabelle, Emma, and Nora (and of course "Basti"). 

When I pick her up at school, she gallops over to me and gives me a biiiiiiig hug! On the way out she yells and waves, "Bye Carla!, Carla bye!" She then also hilariously will identify her friends' parents that are there to pick up their kids... "Mama, that's Emma's dada!"  

Peyton and mama spend a lot of time in the car of the way home. Time to belt out some songs! 

1. Old McDonald: "and on that farm there was a _______ (Peyton fills in the blank). What does a __cow__ say Peyton? "MOOOOO!!"
2. Wheels on the bus: the mama on the bus says either "shhh shhh shhh!" or "sit right down, sit right down, sit right down!" while the daddy on the bus says, "I love you, I love you, I love you!" What's up with that?
3. Itsy Bitsy spider: luckily her seat is still rear facing or she'd request mama to do the hand motions.

72 with a chance of snow

"Cheese" don't look at mama : )

Cabin fever... if you can't go outside, let outside come to you! - and warm up outside with a plentiful dose of lukewarm water : )  One blueberry for snowman, one blueberry for Peyton.  One hat for snowman, one for Peyton.

Peyton funnies:

1. During her bedtime songs, Peyton made mommy giggle by putting the sippy cup rubber straw up her nose and laughing hysterically. Kinda inappropriate during Jesus Loves Me.
2. If Peyton's really upset about something, she- in dramatic fashion- will make her lip quiver and teeth chatter. It's hilarious. 
3. Jon was trying to change Peyton when she got away while in the buff. Right then Nana called Jon to Facetime. "Where's Peyton? Oh she's pooping behind the chair, I've gotta go."   

1 blueberry-2 bluie- 3 bluie

Kiss and tell

First boyfriend

I picked up Peyton from school today and I got my usual big hug before she ran to her cubby to get her backpack and all of her gear together to brave the bitter cold...

Just then the little tike in the bottom right Sebastian (who Peyton calls "Basti") came up to her and gave her a big hug. Peyton hugged back as she gave him a big snotty kiss right smack on the lips. It was like watching a terrible train wreck right before my eyes. There was nothing I could do! We finished getting her hat and boots on and as we were walking towards the door "Basti" came up and gave her another hug. The agony! 

I had no idea how to handle this situation, so I broke the news to Jon and had a little dada daughter sit down when she got home. : )

Photo credit: Daycare

Sesame Street Soiree

Popcorn please

Fifth row baby! Peyton thought her first concert was a hoot. She has never watched Sesame Street but has read their books, so she's familiar with the gang.  Elmo is number one in her eyes but she also hearts Zoe, Ernie, and Big Bird.

• Preparation: she played with her Ernie and Bert puppets at home.
• First act: she bobbed her head up and down in between gulps of popcorn. Lots of clapping, pointing. "Elmo!!!!!" say exclaimed as she stood up on my lap. 
• Intermission: we walked up the stairs to the nosebleed section to get the wiggles out. 
• Second half: "mama coat, mama hat, mama hat!" Peyton was ready to go. Fourty minutes in, not bad. Unfortunately I was very bummed that we missed the finale.  

P.S. I still have my vintage Prairie Dawn felt pennant from Sesame Street Live 1980s and I'm proud of it.

Break it down Bert 

Elmo <3

Common interest