valentine's day inside

it is three degrees here in brooklyn, so we have been inside for the past two days.  we had a playdate with the trautmanns (we love you, trautmanns!) and alex and i had a lovely romantic candle lit dinner after both kids were asleep (at 7:30!  amazing!).  milo is having a small hitting, hair pulling thing that we are working through, but for the most part the kids get along, and read with each other, and we've managed to make it two whole days with no tv (for the kids at least :) ).
i realized it's been a while since i took out the good camera, and as it turns out, penny is 16?  17 years old?

also, she's getting three molars, so we should cut her some slack.

 milo, while still a baby, can now talk and is dancing pretty much constantly.

they're both keepers, i think.

happy valentine's day, all!  our hearts are totally warmer than the weather outside, and we hope yours is, too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Stack!

18 months of Milo!

Milo is a year and a half old today. He is learning about a word a day, he sings and dances all the time, and he loves to help put things away. Today at daycare, he decided independently that everyone needed their water, so he pushed a chair over to the counter so he could reach, then distributed everyone's sippy cups one by one. Whenever he sees or hears an emergency vehicle, he points and asks "Happening?" On our commute into the city, he says "Daddy, bye bye. Penny, bye bye. Mr. Matt" and on our way home, we discuss how we said goodbye to Penny and Daddy in the morning, but we are on our way to see them. If he decides you need a hug, but you do not want one, he will sneak around behind you and put his head on your shoulder.

Happy year and a half, buddy! We love you to bits.

happy new year!

and like that, another year comes to a close.  we now have a fully walking, practically talking baby, and a reading, writing, arithmetic crushing first grader living in our house.  we did lots of exciting things, took amazing trips, and learned so much about each other.  right now, alex and i are very, very tired, but it is all so worth it - we have two amazing kids, and we are looking forward to another year of adventures together.
penny's resolution is to work on lapsing into a baby voice.  milo's resolution is to learn to drink from a cup.  i am still on a quest to remember to water the plants, and alex will have an electronics free january 1st.
all of us wish all of you a happy, healthy, peaceful 2016 surrounded by those you love, doing what you love.

Penny & Mama Museum Week!

Since it worked out that this week Penny had no school and I had no work, I decided that we should have some one on one time, and instituted Penny & Mama museum week!  It did not work out entirely as I had planned, but when does anything ever?
We started on Sunday at the Brooklyn Museum.

We are now members, and can go whenever!  By the time we finished signing up for our membership, Penny was pretty much done, and she had just been earlier in the week, so it was our shortest museum visit of P&MMW.

On Monday, we dropped Milo off at daycare, then met Papa Dan at the Guggenheim.  There was an Alberto Burri exhibit titled "The Trauma of Painting".  The Guggenheim was a perfect venue for this exhibit, and Penny really seemed to be paying attention and making thoughtful observations.

Unfortunately, after the museum, Penny started complaining that she was really cold and super exhausted.  She staggered home, where it turned out she had a fever, so she changed into pajamas and basically went straight to bed.

ALSO, Milo had been developing spots and losing his appetite.  There had been a couple of cases of coxsackie in his classroom, so they asked me to take him in to the doctor in the morning.

Tuesday, Penny spent the day on the couch for the most part, and Milo was diagnosed with coxsackie.  

patient #1

Harry Potter marathon!

Sickness cannot stop P&MMW!

While Milo was napping, Penny and I took a virtual tour of the Louvre, and then watched Please Don't Eat the Pictures, day three was saved!

On Wednesday, we went to the Museum of the Moving Image.

They were having screenings of the Shaun the Sheep Movie, and we met up with Grandma Ronnie (happy birthday!) and Papa Dan to watch it.  We were hoping to then join in a stop motion animation workshop, but apparently that sold out a week in advance.  We have resolved to have our own stop motion animation workshop at home starring Penny's Barbie dolls.  We had a great time looking at the museum's collection, and the Egyptian Theatre was especially fun after having just watched Please Don't Eat the Pictures.

And today, Thursday, was the final day of P&MMW, as well as the last day of 2015.  We decided to blow it all out and hit TWO museums.  Firstly, we went to the Sony Wonder Lab (almost 12 years at SPE, and I had never been!).

 Since my work is moving in February, I figured it was now or never!  We had a great time playing with all of the exhibits, and Penny is hoping to get one more trip in before Sony Wonder closes.
Next, we went to The Museum of Modern Art.

 There is a hands on design studio for kids, and Penny spent a good hour designing and building this chair.  She has such incredible focus and it's great fun to watch her work.

Sadly, Milo didn't have much more patience in him, so after the Pollack exhibit and one spin around the "Take an Object" exhibition, we brought P&M (with special guest star Milo) MW to a close.  This was so much fun, I am hoping to make it an annual tradition, hopefully with 200% fewer illnesses next year.

Beading!

Watching him learn to do this is the best. I love watching a new skill click.