Finger Painting

It has been cold and fairly blah around these parts lately and I was getting the feeling that something new to mix it up might be well played.  I mentioned to Otto that we could go upstairs and do some painting.  He took to the idea right away and seemed genuinely excited. Not only was the idea of it exciting to him, he seemed to really enjoy painting as well.  I would say it was quite a fun experiment and something we will be doing more of.

Posh

Do I just read too many gossip rags or does anyone else see a resemblance to Victoria Beckham here....

Punk Rock

Eric and I are proud members of the "don't comb your child's hair" club.  And with amazing bed head like Otto has shown in the past few days alone you can see why.  We are both holding out hope for a punk rocker.

Random Cuteness

This is a picture from when Nona Jen and Grandpa Chris were here over New Years.  It is too cute not to share.

A new era

I have been feeling a bit like I haven't been keeping up with the blog lately but I am inspired by Obama coming into office today so I am going to post some much needed dude shots.  Otto and I watched the inauguration together today, I felt he should be a part of this day in history.  His favorite part by far was Bush flying off in the helicopter so I think he understood the importance of the moment.  He spent most of the rest of the time playing with toys while I tried not to cry too much.  I did great until Aretha sang, that kind of pushed me over the top.  I am so happy that our kids will grow up with him as their president.  With the economy and climate in shambles it can be tough watching children run around knowing they are going to inherit our problems, electing Obama make me think we are heading in the right direction.

So, on to dude photos.  These are mostly a recap of the past few weeks.  First his Otto wearing the goggles that came with his construction outfit, a christmas present.  I think it is the cutest thing when he wears them.  Tonight he had his first experience with elastic with them.  He pulled them away from his face and let go, you can fill in what happened next.  He still likes then though so that is a good sign.

To treat Ben for his birthday and to get a chance to see his new place we went for a visit after the new year.  Otto really likes Ben's new place and had a blast playing there.  Modern minimalist decor is great for a toddler I have to say!

Life is good when you get to hang out with uncle Ben and Shannon.  

To help make eric and I feel like real adults, Ben and Shannon's friend Marla came and stayed with Otto while we went out to dinner.  Otto was asleep when we left but shortly before we got home he woke up.  Not knowing where he was scared him a bit, but not so much that watching TV with Marla couldn't fix.  He still talks fondly of her and their time watching Curious George.  It was a great night for everyone!

We have had some good snow lately and good snow means getting to see kids in snow pants which I personally love.  Otto is a moving target once fully dressed so I haven't managed to get a picture of the full ensemble but the pants alone are pretty fantastic.  I have tried to get Otto interested in building a snowman or some other "snow" activity but none of it is working.  All he really wants to do is use his backhoe and dump truck in the snow.  Once is starts to be spring here I really don't think I am going to get Otto inside, ever.  That is fine with me, I like spending time outside.   

A few days ago Otto grabbed two ice cubes out of the freezer and proceeded to refuse to put them down until he had finished them both.  We kept asking him if his hands were getting cold and all he would respond with was "tasting ice cubes, delicious".  I can't believe how his hands must have felt.

Last week my friend Rachel, her son, Otto and I all treked to the State Farm show in Harrisburg.  It was quite a production and ended up being a eventful day but we all had a blast.  The day was made interesting right away by having to park in a remote lot and taking a school bus shuttle to the main building.  Imagine carrying a toddler all bundled up, a stroller and being 9 months pregnant on a bus...  yeah, it was a good time.  However Otto loved the bus ride so much it was totally worth it.  The farm show seemed to be a big hit with both kids.  Otto really liked the cows and did NOT like the chickens.  He kept saying "no, no, no, ... otto no like chickens".  I can't really blame him, they are loud and kind of overwhelming when there are rows and rows of them in cages.

However, there is nothing that a milkshake can't fix.  I would like to say that he had a good, healthy lunch that day, but that really wouldn't be true.  Pretty much he had milkshake, apple dumpling and berry pie.  Life is good when you eat lunch at what is basically a state fair food bonanza and you have a pregnant mom.  I will say that I had a delicious baked potato and deep fried veggies which made my lunch not necessarily better, but perhaps more filling.  That is of course in addition to apple dumpling and pie...

Otto Story

The other night at dinner Otto told me this story very clearly and with great purpose.  It was so complete I wrote it down to share with you.

Cootie bug and penguin are friends.  and they drink milk

drink water and call it agua.  they walk on the sidewalk,

drive a mini cooper and meet daddy.  and they reach a 

snowman.

snowman and cootie bug are both stories, interesting.

Yes, so that is what conversation with a 22 month old is like.  He had a lot to say and it is quite entertaining.  I can't wait until he can tell stories to his new sibling.  First time he gets a smile will be a moment not to be missed.

Too funny not to share

As you I am sure all know, Otto is a vicious teether.  It is not something he goes about gracefully.  I am really looking forward to being done with all of them.  All he has left are his top two canines and the 2 year molars, then we are done!  Yesterday his top canines seemed like they were really giving him fits and he was quite irritable.  Figures, he has only been working on them since well before Christmas...  Anyway, at dinner they were really bothering him and he was chewing on the handle end of his fork a lot.  It makes me nervous he is going to choke himself when he does that so we were trying to get him to stop.  He couldn't seem to be happy without having something to bite on.  Trying to help I said, "Otto, would you like me to get you something you CAN bite on to make you teeth feel better?", thinking of a teething toy or something along those lines. To which Otto replied "Yes, maybe a little cake!".  I should add, we don't have cake, have not had cake for as long as I can remember and were not talking about cake.  He just thought, hey if she is offering, lets see what I can get.  He really is hilarious.  It sure makes dealing with a crabby toddler easier when they say things like that!

Then and Now

Baby Faden no. 2 is scheduled to arrive a mere 5 weeks from tomorrow.  Right now she has been residing in my rib cage but we are all awaiting her arrival!

Here is a shot of "us" around 1o wks pregnant...

And here is a shot of us yesterday, She has grown a bit since then!

Holiday Catch Up

We started the holidays on a good foot here by making Christmas cookies.  Otto caught on to the concept of sprinkles and icing in about 4 seconds flat.  I think eric thought I was a bit nuts to let him help so much but he had a blast and the cookies turned out so great.  If I had thought to get a picture of them before we ate them all that would have been even better.

I love the look of complete seriousness on Otto's face in this shot.  He was trying to hard to squeeze the tubes of icing.  It was very big work as far as he was concerned.  Of course you can see he needed to bring "a guy" with him to help...

For Christmas we went to the cabin where we visited with my aunt, cousins, racer, ivy, great grandpa paul, grandmom and grandpop.  We all had a great time, especially Otto who was in a constant state of being entertained and got presents.  Here he is with dad opening one in the morning of christmas eve to give him something to play with that day.  Each time he opened a present he was almost as excited about the box as what could possibly be inside.

Playmobil in all shapes and sizes were defiantly a hit this year.  His collection of "guys" is ever growing.

Life is good, a playmobil formula 1 car in each hand and grandma giving you a police car...  it doesn't get much better.

Otto loves playing duets on the piano.  We really are going to have to think about getting a piano for our house.

Flying in the air with aunt Ivy.

Otto and Grandpop got matching chainmail sweaters knit by grandmom, not cute at all!

After the new year Grandpa Chris and Nonna Jen came to visit.  It was gifts and good food all over again.  It may have to be a tradition that the holiday festivities last for two weeks, Otto is going to expect it and I have to say I like it quite a bit as well.