Hooray for Raleighwood!

Wall-e! What a hit with Mae! It was only the third time we've been daring enough to take her to the movies (and once she was a few months as slept through it)-- and this time we were brave enough to venture out with Ben, too.

In Raleigh, we have this WONDERFUL movie-dinner theater that shows movies just after they are out of the mainstream theaters but before they go to video. The admission at Raleighwood is a great price, and they serve meals at a table setting! It's a bargain, and a real treat! Plus, the atmosphere is more laid back making it easier to take little ones and in turn for littles ones to behave a little better than they might in a regular theater.

So, we picked a lunchtime showing and it went great. Only at the end did Mae need a few minutes in the back of the theater to calm down -- she got too excited when Eve and Wall-e were trying to save the plant with their friends -- and she loved it. But I think her favorite character was the little roach -- she kept calling out to him "bug!" Bug!

For those of you that haven't seen it, it's cute! And the Disney cartoon they showed just before it was worth the admission alone!

Happy Birthday, Robyn!

Robyn holding up cards from Mae (the 2) and Ben (the 1)!

Today is Robyn's big 21st birthday! We were lucky to get to celebrate with her when she and her grandparents were visiting, and hope she is having a fabulous time tonight with her friends!

Remember, Robyn -- eat bread, drink water, and don't forget to put a trashcan by your bed tonight.

Everyone toasting Robyn for her birthday, with Opi in the background.

Oh, to be young and 21 again!

First Day of School

This week was Mae had her first day of school! She is again participating in Wake County's wonderful Ready to Learn program at a nearby elementary school. This year, she is in the Toddler Time program for Ones and will be going once a week.

Today was more of an orientation for the parents, but Mae had a chance to play with some of the kids that will be in her class of about 12. For the first time, she actually played catch with another little girl, and then spent a fair amount of time trying to "bargain" with the other kids for different play-kitchen utensils (she kept offering different spatulas and playfood to get a fork and a knife). Of course, she was the only one to throw a tantrum at having to put the toys away. Thank goodness Unkie Will was here to help out and watch Ben!

We are very excited about the upcoming year!

Monkey Will

Mae has made amazing strides in her communication skills these past few months, letting us know what she wants ("milk"), what she doesn't want (any food we serve her), what she likes ("book"), what she doesn't like ("nap"), what she wants to do ("watch") and who she wants to see ("momma-daddeeeeee"). She has even gotten very good at different people's names, but one name she has trouble with is her Unkie Will. For awhile, we tried to get her to say "wee-yum," which was how he pronounced his name at this age. Then we tried unkie "WEEEEEE!," thinking she would find this fun to say. But nothing stuck until his last visit. And she decided, in her little one-year-old mind, that his name was Monkey Will. And in a way, it fits.

Thanks for being a good sport, Monkey Will!

Hair affair

There comes a point in every mother's life when she eventually must cut her child's hair. Boy or girl, I imagine this task is no less painful to the mother. And to make things worse, I've heard an old wives' tale that once you cut a baby's hair all the curls fall out (NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!)

In a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable trim, I am trying EVERYTHING to keep Mae's hair out of her eyes! She will not leave barrettes alone. Her interest in headbands comes and goes, but usually ends up with her wearing the headband like a necklace (or a bracelet) and her curls covering her eyes.

This was a creative attempt that lasted about as long as it took to take the picture, but really cute. I think maybe one more twist of the hairband and they will be harder to take out.

Sadly, with her hair pulled back she looks more like a little girl and less like my little baby...

Wii-crazy!

That's probably the best way to describe the epidemic currently raging through our house. Now that we have ours hooked up (which I am embarressed to say took a little while), we are hooked and trying to "infect" anyone who comes by. Our latest victims: Rich's parents!

We are one of those lucky households that has a Wii Fit -- even more addicting! When Robyn was visiting, we got totally addicted and now it is a regular pasttime AFTER the kids go to bed. We found Mae kept trying to do Wii with you, and since the system is calibrated to your weight it acts screwy when a 25-pound toddler jumps on board.

If you haven't tried Wii yet -- DON'T! It's way to fun and addicting! If you have a Wii, drop us an email! One of these days we are going to venture online and would love to find friends to battle Guitar Hero or challenge in pool or even curl (we have both curling games!) with.

Paddle Adventures

While big sis was here, we decided to take some time and spend the day at Pullen Park enjoying nearly all of its great offerings -- carousel, choo-choo train, swings, walking path -- but specifically the paddle boats.

This was Mae's first paddle boat trip, and it's so great it could be with her Dad and Robyn! (Ben and Kirsten took pictures from land) Getting her to sit still was no easy task and we aren't sure she understood she was in the water, but we think she enjoyed it. Maybe not as much as the carousel, but still fun!

Dizzying-fun with Robyn, Mae and Geoffrey the Giraffe!

Triangle's Youngest Curler

While we couldn't participate in Triangle Curling Club's Carolina Classic bonspiel, we did have a lot of fun helping out behind the scenes beforehand (and before the arrival of our new little curler). Luckily, everyone was feeling well enough that our little family was able to make its first public appearance at the bonspiel dinner. Little did we know that it was our friend, Hal's, 76th birthday! Hal helped form the Triangle Curling Club, and as a surprise the club brought out a birthday cake to honor him as our oldest curler! But the club surprised us to, making a special welcome to the club's newest curler -- Ben!

The bonspiel's theme was "back to college," so Mae is dressed in her FSU Cheerleading outfit for her big sister, and Connor is dressed in his Ohio State garb.

But Ben wasn't the only kid in the room for dinner. Mae and Connor were there to have a blast! Connor is the son of a Triangle curling couple that we are friends with, and somebody Mae just adores! She wanted to follow him everywhere he went! And he just wanted to hug her and tug at her curls.

We had a great time seeing our curling friends, old and new! Many of our curling pals came from Chesapeake, Potomac, Cape Cod, Plainfield and Nutmeg to participate in Triangle's first bonspiel (but really, we know they just came to see Ben!) We just wish we could've spent more time with everyone! We miss you, and hope we'll see you again soon... on or off the ice!

Meeting the family!

We are busy this month, as much of our family is visiting to meet Ben and help out! We are so lucky to have all the help, and we are looking forward to everyone spending time with Ben, Mae and Robyn!

Both sets of grandparents are visiting for a few weeks, along with extended stays with Aunt Lulu (Kirsten's sister Jenn), Unkie Will and big sister Roybn!

We have so many pictures from our visits, it's hard to pick only a few, so we're instead posting the pictures in our online photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/curlingmomma/MeetingBen We will keep updating it with more and more pictures as visitors stop by!

Biker Chick!

As a "Big Sister" present from her Nana and Pop-Pop (Kirsten's parents), Mae got a big girl tricycle!

Nana and Mae take the trike on the open road!

Still too little to peddle on her own (or hold the handle bars consistently), it's one of those wonderful started trikes by Red Flyer that allows the parent to push and steer while little ones get the feel of biking. Each time she rides, Mae seems to get one more facet of biking down. But, of course, the first thing she was determined to master was ringing her bicycle bell!

Pop-pop putting the tricycle together.