Happy Birthday, Nani!

Happy birthday to a generous Nani, loving mother, successful business woman, dedicated shopaholic, and my best friend! We love you!

One Man Band

Max has really been into music lately, even liking some "adult" music (thank goodness as I was getting really tired of Apples and Bananas). And he's been setting up his one man band all over the house. If you look closely at the video, he set up his drum set along with a couple buckets and a microphone attached to Nick's exercise equipment - perfect placement for his singing. Here he is playing along to his current favorite song.

Party Time

August and Grandma Draper

Teddy and Aunt Jing Jing

The one toy he has been asking for for the past 3 months.

Her pink scooter.

Pinata!

I think she likes the candy from the pinata.

We tested out some games after everyone had left. And I was sore the next day!

Interview with a Four Year Old

Here is our interview with the new four year old. I presume some of his answers were made up just to get me to stop asking questions. He's already smart enough to know what to say to get rid of me!

What is your favorite...?

Cereal - Oatmeal Squares
Fruit - Raspberries and strawberries
Vegetable - Zucchini (I assume he answered this way due to our influx of giant zucchinis in our garden this summer. Certainly, it's not because he actually eats them!)
Drink - Water because it is so cold
Toy - Cars
TV Show - Fresh Beat Band
Game - Checkers
Book - Bear Hunt
Dinner - Chinese
Lunch - Mac n Cheese
Breakfast - Waffles
Animal - Giraffe
Color - Blue
Sport - Baseball

What is your favorite thing to do? "Color"
Who is your best friend? "Regie"
What are you going to be when you grow up? "A daddy"
If you could change your name, what would you choose? "Cohen"
Where would you like to go on vacation? "Nani and Memaw's house"
What do you and Mommy do together? "Play games"
What is something Mommy always says to you? "Clean up"
What makes Mommy happy? "Cleaning up"
What makes Mommy sad? "Not cleaning up" (I see a pattern here)
How old is Mommy? "40"
What does Mommy do for a job? "The computer"
What is Mommy's favorite food? "Growing food" (a term the doctor and we use to describe the foods he should be eating.)
What does Daddy do for a job? "Work"
How old is Daddy? "70"
What is Daddy’s favorite food? "Carrots"

Go here to compare his answers from last year.

Visit to the Southside

While Nick was away for work, I took the kids down to Chicago for the weekend. While we were there, we visited Big Nani and Aunt Vi in Hegewisch. Teddy's first visit to the Southside was fortunately uneventful (considering the last visit we witnessed a drive by)!

Laughs over a table full of good food is always had.

Grandpa's shadow.

My brothers and me sat on this rock bench hundreds of times as kids and I still remember feeling the bumpy stone on my butt. Crazy how now it's our kids sitting here.  

Tuckered out after a long day.

Smile!

A moment like this together easily replaces all those sleepless nights!

Two Years Old

Viley is officially 2! We celebrated over the weekend with Memaw and Papa Ober by venturing around town, enjoying lots of sweet treats and playing with all her new fun toys. Thank you to everyone for all her birthday gifts and wishes!

In her toddling age of two, Violet is a sweet, spunky and friendly mama's girl. She loves all things girly including purses, jewelry, makeup, and dolls. But don't let her physique or interests fool you, she can hold her own any day by hitting, biting, or lecturing you (which is hilarious). She has a terrific rendition of 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame' and 'Twinkle Twinkle' and will sing them over and over again. She adores Teddy and acts as Mommy when I'm busy (although shoving a pacifier in his mouth and pushing him in the swing till it looks like it'll tip over is slightly unnerving to watch). She follows Max around like a little puppy and will easily mimic anything he does such as jumping off our furniture! Simply watching her explore this world brings joy to our lives each and every day. Happy 2nd birthday to our baby girl!

Giving attitude.

Feeding her baby a bottle in her carseat. 

Our interview.

When Violet opened her gifts, Max was appalled at all the "girl" toys. About two hours later, we caught him lugging the baby around town in his jeep!

She may still be a mama's girl, but she's pretty close to having Daddy wrapped around her finger!

Carnies

Ozaukee County's Fair was this past weekend in Cedarburg and we visited it Friday night for a little fun and awesome people watching of Wisconsin's finest.

One Month

At one month old, Teddy has grown into our family quite well. He is starting to give little smirks to our silly expressions and seems to enjoy listening to Violet and Max's voice (even when they're less than an inch from his face)! He is discovering his hands and new objects as you can see his eyes get wide at the sight of new things. His temperment is pretty typical of our kids where dinnertime seems to be his fussiest and neediest time of day. He still naps most of the day away and is starting to have longer stretches of sleep at night (halleluliah)! In only 4 short weeks, it's hard to imagine life without him.