To Dye For

Another holiday. Another holiday tradition. Another holiday where I am really interested in partaking in the tradition. Another holiday where Mae is unaware and can take it or leave it, however, she is super happy to oblige her mom's need to participate in traditions. Growing up Catholic, Easter was a BIG deal in the Kogut Family. Along with the spirtual and religious side of the holiday (not just going to church on Easter Sunday), we also participated in the commerical events - getting Easter baskets, new Spring dresses, having an Easter egg hunt, and dying Easter eggs.

As you will notice from the photos we had a surprise and very special guest with us to dye Easter eggs this first time. My mom/Grandma Kogut came into town for the holiday. We were also lucky to have Sarah and Lucy join us in yet another holiday this tradition.

The Eggs

The Dye

Mae dying her one and only Easter egg. Already a pro.

Grandma Kogut helping out.
Lucy and Sarah

The Team

This was right before she took the spoon and drank the vinegar and dye concoction.

Giving up on dying eggs. She would rather eat yogurt.

Lucy also would rather be eating yogurt.

Mini-Dictator

Everyday Mae gets more and more verbal. I like to think a new day = a new word. With her burgeoning ability to speak and tell us what she wants, the more and more demanding she becomes. We now affectionately refer to her as our mini dictator. Her demands begin as soon as she wakes up and continues until she falls asleep for the night. Generally speaking her first request in the morning is either "milka" or "moogoose" [music]. However, on some mornings when we come downstairs for breakfast, she asks for "pasta." Of course, I have to respond by saying, "we don't have pasta for breakfast." Then the demands (you see I am not saying requests) continue during the day....."I sit there," "books," "up," "wash," "soap," "moogoose," (this is repeated again and again throughout the day)," "eat," and it goes on and on. Last night, Pearson came downstairs and said, "Mae did the cutest thing ever." I asked what it was. He said after he covered her up to go to sleep, she all of a sudden stood up and said, "kiss." Of course, Pearson gave our mini-dictator her wish. Who could resist?

NOTE: I know I did not explain how we are handling all these dictator like requests. Discipline and handling the persistent toddler is another post for another day.

Thank goodness there isn't ever a drought in Seattle

Another day, another great friend keeping us company. Tonight, we were very fortunate to have Kate and her daughter, Nora over for dinner. Of course, we snucked in bath time with the kiddos together. Bathing with two is so much more fun than one. Nora is 10 months and is absolutely adorably happy, you can tell from the photos of her below.

Nora

I might have made the mistake of purchasing a stool for Mae to wash her hands. Prior, she hated washing her hands. Now, I can't keep her from climbing up on it and standing on it for 10 minutes while she turns the water on and off. I have purposely kept the bathroom door shut so she won't ask to "wash." Also, once she starts it is impossible to get her to stop. She especially loves using the soap.

Belly shot - 35 weeks pregnant.

Another belly shot.

Under the Sea

Another day, another great outing. Today we went to the Seattle Aquarium for the very first time. Mae enjoyed being under the sea for the morning. Thanks to our great friends Sarah and Lucy for keeping us company.

Hanging with the Monkeys

I have yet to mention it but Pearson has been out of town since last Tuesday. (He will be gone for a total of 11 days). I have also failed to mention that I have been pretty sick (yet again!) since he has been gone. I have tried not to wallow in my misery of being alone, 8 months pregnant, sick, caring for Mae, and taking care of our crazy dog. I don't say this because I want an award for Mother of the Year because lord knows, there are many more people doing a far better job than me. I also know there are many parents doing it alone because their spouses have more demanding jobs than mine, such as being in the military. I say it because my friends are awesome and have been keeping me great company while he has been gone. Case in point, we went to the zoo yesterday with Mae's friend Greyson. It was a great day - the sun was shining, Mae was thrilled to see the monkeys, and she was pretty excited that Shanda brought the red wagon (Mae's favorite form of transport).

Greyson showing off his manly strength.

Snack time.

Greyson, Mae, and Coco. I tried to get them to smile but no one wanted to.

Monkeys!

I think this brought the most excitment of the day.

Running to see the penguins.

Addicted

Mae has an addiction (albeit healthy). Her addiction: music. I know I should be happy that she isn't addicted t tv, junkfood, or sticking her finger in a light socket. It would be bearable listening to her "moogoose" if it was something that I wanted to listen to. If you are wondering what style of music she is interested, she is addicted to nursery rhymes and songs. Yes, yes, we know it is age appropriate and are happy she is hitting her developmental milestones but wow, is it mind numbingly really hard to listen to it. Her favorite is what she affectionately refers to as "lamb" [Mary had a little lamb]. She asks for "lamb" about 100 times a day - no joke. A sidenote, it took me a day or two to figure out that she was asking for me to sing this. At first I thought she was saying, "yum." As time has gone on "yum" has turned more into sounding like "lamb." I wish I still was clueless about this word. We have a CD (thanks Mom!) that she asks for when she wakes up, when we get in the car and throughout the day. Here are photos from the last couple of days of her enjoying her music.

Week 34: Losing Steam

Today marks WEEK 34 of pregnancy for Baby Cummings #2. Thankfully, I don't have that much to complain about in terms of this pregnancy, such as swollen ankles or heart burn. I have been fortunate to escape all those horrible much complained things while being pregnant. I chalk it up to great genes.

In week 34, I think the number one thing that is happening is that I am losing a whole lot of steam to do anything besides care for Mae during the day and lay on the couch at night. I don't remember being this lazy when pregnant with Mae. I assume I was but I also only had to take care of myself. This laziness has translated into some of my parenting, maybe for the worse. For instance, I have introduced TV...insert gasp! The reason why I say insert gasp is that the American Academy of Pediatrics says no screen time before the age of 2. Screen time means computer and TV. Needless to say, Mae has been asking about Elmo. It is cute and also very difficult to redirect her attention. I normally say Elmo is sleeping and she will give up after a couple of times of asking but I don't think that is going to work forever. Looks like I need to come up with a new strategy.

I wish I had more pregnancy news to report but it is has been pretty standard or what is standard for me. The baby is pretty active but has been pretty gentle on me and my insides. I still have no feeling whether it is a boy or girl and we are no closer to deciding on a name for either. Only six more weeks to go and we get to meet him/her!