The Sound of Music!

Our house is alive with the sound of music---well music that only Lennon can hear. Lennon has just received part of her birthday/airplane ride gift: Child Headphones. Oh why Josh and I have not thought of these before is beyond me! Nothing is sweeter than the sound of, well, your child not pestering you. : )

We have hooked up the headphones to my iPod (let's hope she survives her play date with the Beastie) and set the play list to Lennon's fave dance tunes. Mainly this list consists of the Black Eyed Peas, in particular the song "Boom Boom Pow", with some Lady GaGa thrown in for good measure. Nothing makes me smile and laugh more than seeing Lennon bee-bop around the house, headphones on, dancing and singing along to her "tunes".

At this moment right now you can hear Lennon's cherubic voice throughout the house singing: "Get dat! Get dat! Boom-boom-boom! Boom! Boom! Get dat! Get dat!" Now if only our cameras were charged and at the ready! This being the one time in all my time as a mother I have failed to keep batteries well stocked. Shucks. Well, let's hope that Josh and I get used to Lennon's vocal stylings.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Today Lennon discovered her first rainbow. As we were driving from Corvallis to Salem after a very long day of school (for Mommy) and playtime (for Lennon) the clouds parted and there it stood in all of its colorful glory. I have to say it was one of the better Oregon rainbows I have ever seen (nothing beats a Hawaiian rainbow!).

As I explained to Lennon how a rainbow is made, a concept lost on my almost 2 year old---I guess she won't be a science genius---her round of incessant questioning began. I suppose I should wonder in the splendor, shock and sheer delight a child has and can find in any simple new thing, but dealing with this chitter chatter at rush hour is not a wholly pleasant experience. Here are some examples of the barrage of her inquisitive toddler questions:

* "MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! Rain-boo! Rain-boo! Eat?"

" No, Lennon. You cannot eat a rainbow. Rainbows are for looking at."

" Eyes! Eyes! Look! OWEE!!!" (Lennon proceeds to jab her fingers in her eyes)

* " MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! Rain-boo! Rain-boo! Colors?"

" Yes, Lennon. Rainbows are made with many colors. You are so smart! Can you name them?"

" Orange. Purple. Orange. Purple. NICK!" (Uncle Nick is constantly on her mind, you may hear about him quite frequently when having a conversation with Lennon)

* " MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY! Rain-boo! Rain-boo! Addy's rain-boo?"

" No, the rainbow doesn't belong to Addy (her cousin). Rainbows belong to everyone."

" NO! NO! NO WAY! RAIN-BOO MINE! RAIN-BOO MINE!"

" Okay, Lennon. The rainbow is yours."

" Thank you! You're welcome! I fah-ted! (She proceeds to giggle all the way home, while blowing the rainbow kisses).

Oh to be a kid again, when the world is your oyster and even a fart can be turned into something extremely cute.

Who's Missing?

Who's missing from this post?? Those camera shy Bend family members need to start jumping into pictures. It's hard for me to remember to take pictures at every family get together, so start getting in there! : ) Here are my two favorite pictures from our most recent trip to Bend.

The first one of Mimi and Lennon, because I can rarely get them in a picture together (usually because Mimi is also manning her camera to capture the moment for her picture collection). Here Mimi is explaining to Lennon the all important Luiz tradition of hanging Hallmark holiday ornaments on the tree and the proper way to "look gently" at them. I gave my mom full warning that anything within Lennon's reach on the tree may never see another Christmas, but she assured me that Lennon would surely listen to her Mimi. I have to say that Lennon was very gentle with all of Mimi's ornaments.....up until our last night visiting. R.I.P. Sugar Plum Fairy.

The last picture is just too cute to not post (at least I think so!). Uncle Aiden is always such a trooper when Lennon comes to visit. The poor guy thought he was getting it easy having a big sister 15 years older than him. Little did he know that nieces can torment you just as well, if not better, than siblings. Lennon loves to order and wrestle her Uncle into submission and on this trip she could not have her bath without her Aiden. Of course, ever the loving/doting Uncle, he humored her and jumped in----on one condition, he had to wear his swim trunks. So here they are showing off their muscles to one another.

Ringing in the New Year

Well it took my a bit longer than I would've liked (you can thank food poisoning for that), but here is our first update of the NEW YEAR!
The three of us headed on down to Bend to finish off the 2009 Holiday Season and celebrate Mimi's 50th Birthday. What a trip it was!

Lennon got to experience her very first snow. The long 3 hour car trip to Bend certainly built enough pent-up energy. As soon as we opened the truck door and unbuckled her car seat she was off and running into Gamma and Papa's frosted lawn. If Josh and I had known better we would have given her the all-important "Yellow and Brown Snow Lesson", because the first thing she did was promptly gather snow and shove it into her mouth. Here's hoping she caught some good mountain antibodies to get us through the rest of this cold/flu season. Unfortunately, that was her only experience with snow this trip. The next morning it had all but melted away and by our third day in Bend the snow was completely gone. Good thing we made the trek to Target for a snow bib and snow proof mittens...
After unpacking and unloading the truck at Gamma and Papa's house we hurried off to open presents at Mimi and Baba's house before the big birthday bash. Lennon made sure to pack appropriate party clothing--as you can see she chose to wear her orange tu-tu. Lennon could hardly believe Santa remembered to bring her gifts at Mimi and Baba's house (he sure over did it this year!). Every gift was ripped open with a "Yay!" or "Awesome!" and then celebrated with a dance. Thanks to all the little elves who made her 3rd Christmas
gift opening a memorable one! I don't know how we got the truck packed up so well.

Lennon then wiggled and giggled the night away at Mimi's Birthday Party. I think Mimi's guests really got a kick out of seeing our little munchkin order the big kids around while toting her new "baby" Reese. I have to give a huge thank you to Gabby Foote, a second grade party go-er, who took on the daunting task of babysitting our little Beastie, so Josh and I could try to have some adult social time. She did a fabulous job and is welcome at our house anytime!

The three of us partied our pants off till 10:30pm!!