Cuteness

Just some random cuteness throughout the year and I jotted down on scraps of paper hoping to record and remember...

• Wesley pointed to a little girl dressed as a princess at Disney World, and said about her royal scepter: “That’s Cinderella’s light saber!”
• Wesley to Grandma (pointing out a Stayfree Minipads): “Those are Mommy’s Pull-Ups.”
  
• Wesley to Grandma, as she rubbed her eyes with both hands in large circles: “Look, this is MY funny face!”
• When teaching Wesley to play the card game Snap (where we have to turn over cards at the same time), I suggested we say “1,2,3, draw!” On our next draw, Wesley said, “Okay, 1,2,3, dance!” On the next, “1,2,3, jump!” He thought we were just naming random activities as we turned over cards.
• I ran out of wipes while changing a poopy Anna Kate. I Asked Wesley to bring me a wipe. When he brought it and I thanked him, he put his hands on his hips and said, “Anytime.”
• The week we were in Jupiter Beach for Michael’s conference, I had just started potty-training Wesley. We went to dinner at Applebee’s and Wes had to go potty. Anna Kate fussed when I tried to leave her at the table with Michael, so I let her come with us. We were all in the stall together, and I noticed Anna Kate starting to put something in her mouth... quickly stopped to see what it was and it was POOP! Aaaaaack!!!! Apparently Wesley had started to go poopy in his Pull-up and it flipped out of his pants as he pulled them down to get on the potty. Anna Kate had picked it up and was just starting to put it in her mouth. I think she may have just touched her lips to it but I practically drowned the child washing out her mouth! #1 gross-out moment of my life as a mom to date!!
  
• I’ve been TRYING to teach Wes to say "pee-pee" and "poopy" instead of “poopy yellow” and "poopy brown.” After going pee-pee one day, he was trying to get it right. He said: “Look, Mommy, I poopied pee-pee!”
• As I was in my bathroom getting dressed to take the kids for a stroll, the kids were playing with the Spiderman and Elmo trick-or-treat buckets I bought them at Target on clearance for next year. I knew they had picked up some things and put them in their buckets, but I hadn’t thought to check the contents before leaving for our walk. As I strolled through the neighborhood (AK in the front of the DuoGlider and Wes in the back), I kept getting funny looks and snickers from people I passed in the neighborhood (including a couple of teenage boys). I figured they were just giggling because my kids were so cute. After nearly completing the one hour stroll, I discovered that Anna Kate had picked up a tampon (still in its plastic wrapper) from her bucket, and had been chewing on it the entire time.
  
• (While driving around town, regarding traffic lights) Wesley: Red means stop, Green means go, and blue means, “DINNERTIME!”

There were many other scraps of paper with random cuteness scattered about the house and never recovered. They say the funniest things on a daily basis... I just wish I could remember them all! By the way, I finally took the crib out of Wesley's room yesterday... somebody please pass the Kleenex!

Christmas Day

Santa's been here!!





Wesley seeing his GeoTrax for the first time... I wasn't sure if he'd run to the presents under the tree or the GeoTrax first, but he caught a glimpse of the GeoTrax out of the corner of his eye coming into the room, and his face lit up! He immediately ran to the GeoTrax. (Actually, he walked... he was in a daze of wonder!) -Below- The first shot I got of his face... it took a few minutes for it to sink in!





Wesley looked at his GeoTrax for a few minutes before he realized that Santa had left presents under the tree as well... he had just spotted Anna Kate's kitchen in the above photo. -Below- The Diego scooter was from Uncle Nathan & Aunt Angel. They sent money for me to take the kids shopping with, and a couple of weeks ago, Wes picked out this scooter. But it was in the box and he had never seen it assembled. He was so excited when standing in line to check out that scooter... he kept a hand on the box "helping" me hold it at all times and told EVERYONE in line that was was getting a Go Diego Go scooter from Uncle Nathan. He had a mini-meltdown when we got home that day and I wouldn't let him open the box. But he only pouted for a for minutes and then came back with the sweetest grin on his face and said, "I'm so excited for Christmas to open my Go Diego Go scooter!" Wes was VERY excited to see the scooter under the tree! The first thing he said when he came into the room was, "My Go Diego Go scooter!"





Look, Santa brought Anna Kate something for the kids to fight over! (Both Wesley and Anna Kate have been busy in the kitchen since Christmas, although their cooking style is more WWE Smackdown than gourmet). -Below- Knight & Sir John from Uncle Fluffy!





Wes and Anna Kate enjoying a picnic of strawberries and Wesley's famous "tea" on the table that Santa brought. -Below- The boy loves his GeoTrax... Mommy misses her foyer.





Anna Kate gets so excited anytime she sees a horse... she yells, "Neeeigh! Neeeeeigh!!" Sometimes we're out and about and she'll start neighing - if I look around hard enough, sure enough I'll find a picture or a figure of a horse somewhere. Sometimes it's teeny-tiny. She has Neeeeigh-RADAR.





I know what you're thinking... Wesley just didn't get enough GeoTrax for Christmas! You'll be relieved to know that Mimi & Grandpa got him the GeoAir airport. Whew. Anna Kate sport'n her apron, talking on her princess phone. -Below- Wesley playing his new V-Tech Motion from Mimi & Grandpa (it's like Wii for toddlers). You can move the joystick, or move the whole controller. Wes has been begging for a video game ever sine we spent so much time with my sister's family this fall. He wanted to be like his cousins Caleb & Gabe!





Wesley & Anna Kate playing... or fighting. It's honestly hard to tell the difference these days. -Below- Anna Kate & her new Care Bears. I can't believe my baby girl has Care Bears... I had Care Bears when I was little! But mine didn't talk or sing or have embedded microchips that allowed them be interactive. I can hear it now... "Mom, you're so OLD. Your Care Bears don't even talk!"





Wesley begged for this Tinkerbell movie in the store, because he had seen a full-page ad for it in a magazine at home (thank you, Disney marketing team). I bought it because it was on sale, and because I figured Anna Kate would like it someday. Wes was super-excited when he opened it, but you manly men out there worried about Wesley's macho-status will be happy to know that he had absolutely NO interest in the movie whatsoever when I played it. Like a mosquito drawn to a zapper is Wesley to a full-page glossy Disney ad.





Christmas dinner... the black eye almost healed completely in time for Christmas!



Wesley taking his new scooter for a ride the day after Christmas (can you tell he insists on dressing himself these days??). What wonderful memories! Merry Christmas - Jesus, we honor you!

Merry Christmas!

Waiting for Santa...

Christmas Eve! Wesley made gingerbread cookies for Santa with Mimi. He thought he was big stuff making them and decorating them all by himself! (It's a good thing Mimi was here, because if cookie-making were left up to me, we'd be making what Wes has called "Santa Claus cookies" all year... break 'n bake chocolate chip! Wesley has called them Santa Claus cookies ever since we made them for the big guy last year. Okay, so I'm not a gourmet cookie-maker!)





Christmas Eve dinner at Bonefish Grill... we have a Christmas Eve tradition of grilling steaks at home, but our grill is currently out of order (Michael said the drip pan disintegrated, casually noting, "I guess you're supposed to wash those things from time to time.") So Bonefish it was.





Wesley carefully delivering cookies for Santa to the hearth. Hurry, Santa! -Below- Excited kiddos with Mimi & Grandpa... Wesley didn't fall asleep until after 10:00!











Anna Kate admiring her tree. I thought she would love having the tree lights at night, but whenever I sit down to rock her to sleep at night, or even for a nap, she points to the tree and yells, "Off! Off!" When she wakes up she wants the lights on again. This kid sleeps in pitch black... I quit using a night light when she was less than a year old because she would crane her head to look at it while I was trying to rock her.

We got a peek after Santa came...





Look what Santa brought Wesley! Now, I really couldn't know, but I betcha Santa worked on this until 2:30 a.m.! What a guy! Mommy loves Santa!

Sophie's Choice

Ranking right up there among the world's most heart-wrenching decisions... hold my blankey, or go outside???





Anna Kate likes to go back and forth from outside to the toy boxes inside to choose things to take with her. Yesterday morning she spotted her blankey (which usually stays in her crib). She ran toward it with open arms and tried to take it outside, but I stopped her at the door. I told her she couldn't take her night-night blankey outside. AK lifted her foot a couple of times to test how strictly I was going to enforce this new-found rule. When she realized I meant business, she parked herself on the threshold, unable to choose. This went on for about 10 minutes. Yet another difference between Wesley & Anna Kate at this age... Wes = easily destractable. Anna Kate = amazingly bull-headed and CANNOT be tricked into distraction! I tried taking the blankey and setting her outside - meltdown. I tried giving her the blankey and closing the door - bigger meltdown. I tried closing the door and taking the blankey and introducing a new activity - biggest meltdown. She chose instead to stand at the open door, contemplating her agonizing decision. D.R.A.M.A.





I've been saving up lots of cute stories for a new edition of "Wesley and Anna Kate said..." and I really thought I would do it tonight. But instead I spent 3.5 hours (for the 2nd consecutive night) working a covert Christmas operation. SO, it being after 1 a.m. already, I'll just post some cute pics I took this morning after church. But cute stories coming soon, I promise! Anna Kate kept pointing at their outfits and yelling, "Ho-Ho-Ho!" That's her name for Santa. Oh, and note the fresh scratch on her cheek - still our little bruiser!





Not sure how I got Wesley to pose for the camera, but I'm sure there was bribery involved. Sorry some of these are blurry, but it's hard to get clear shots of moving targets!





AK's all about the posing - not hard to get a "CHEESE!" out of her! But then she's off again...





Merry Christmas!

Random Holiday Cuteness

Mimi & Grandpa sent some cute pics they took during our stop in Georgia a few weeks ago... They taught Wesley how to play Candy Land. He's well on his way to becoming a CL Aficionado.

I'm not sure that Candy Land fits AK's mischievous personality... I see poker in her future. -Below- Wesley loves to throw coins in the fountain outside Cheddar's whenever we eat there with Mimi & Grandpa. Couldn't pass up the chance to post a pic of Michael sport'n my diaper bag, which he does often, especially on Sundays! Seriously, it's the sign of a good daddy... makes me smile!

Back home in Florida... I left the tray off of Wesley's high chair one morning after cleaning it, and Anna Kate quickly figured out she could climb up onto her brother's throne. I just love the way she's hamming for the camera! (When we eat dinner at night, we pull the high chairs up to the table so we can all be together... for all other meals and snacks, Wes sits at a barstool at the counter. In case you're wondering why Wes still has a high chair).

-Below- Wesley ran a fever last Wednesday night, so I stayed home with him while Michael took Anna Kate to church. Wes seemed to feel okay, though, so he helped me decorate. He decorated a small tree in his room, and this tree in Anna Kate's nursery all by himself! (Okay, so it looks like a Pepto-Bismol tree in this photo, but it was really cute after we finished decorating it!)

Anna Kate keeping all limbs submerged in an attempt to avoid tub disembarkation. If a few minutes pass without threat of tub removal, she'll sit up like this. If I say, "Do you want to get out?" she'll immediately flop back down on her tummy. I have a great video of her playing this game, shaking her head, and yelling, "NO get out!"

We exchanged Christmas gifts with my parents over Thanksgiving... they got Anna Kate this princess couch. It's the hippest new hangout in the Rogers house. Both kids love it, and sit in it for the majority of their still hours (actually, I think we're still measuring stillness in minutes!). -Below- I had to sneak my camera into the room to capture this moment... can you tell Wesley is all about dressing himself these days?? He changes outfits 4 or 5 times a day. He'll wake up and change into clothes, and then decide he wants pajamas, and then clothes again. He throws the barely-worn outfit of the previous hour into the dirty laundry. I've started to restrict these semi-hourly costume changes. His solution to this problem is to come in and tell me, "I have pee-pee on myself." Now the kids hasn't had an accident in months and I've inspected his clothes for any evidence of pee-pee... I think he's just smart enough to have figured out that any mention of pee-pee is an automatic get out of clothes free card!

We had Kendall (Wesley's best little buddy and future wife) and her family over Friday night so we could fill 'em with sugar and let them run wild until they dropped. Here they are showing me their reindeer cookies. Oh, and Kendall is still obsessed with dinosaurs. I've never seen anything like it! She knows more about dinosaurs than a middle school science teacher! Wes slept until 10:00 the next morning!