Mardi Gras

On Tuesday, Wes, Gavin, Vivi, and I went to a Mardi Gras party at a faculty member's house. We ate, we talked, and Wes and I chased G & V all over the house. At one point, we went down the hall to get our diaper bag out of a back bedroom. On our way, a loud bark came from one of the other bedrooms. Vivian and Gavin lost it. They started yelling "Pup!" and "Dog!" and looking frantically. It was adorable.

He's a Singer

Running Water

Vivian and Gavin really love to have the water running while they take a bath. It's definitely their favorite part of the bathing experience. Luckily, they don't care how little water is running. As long as something (even a drizzle) is coming out of the faucet, they're happy.

December, January, & February Photobooth Fun

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

The Usual Mealtime Routine

In general, this is how our mealtime routine goes:

• Gavin climbs up into his own chair and buckles himself in.
• Vivi stands next to her chair until one of us helps her.
• We put their plates in front of them and give them each a sippy cup.
• Vivian bojangles for a while, talking and singing and yelling at Gavin, before she actually starts eating. But when she does eat, she tries to be neat and tidy. She brushes her hands off (or licks them) when they get messy and she tries to keep her food separate from one another.

•  Gavin, on the other hand, gets right to the task at hand. He eats a lot and rather quickly at times. Then, when he gets restless, which could happen after 3 minutes or after 15 minutes, he starts to put his food on the table, flip over his plate, bang it on the table, and throw food at the dog. This usually causes Vivian to laugh hysterically, which then causes Gavin to laugh. Both of which do not help when Wes and I are trying to be serious and tell Gavin to stop.

They're so crazy.

#29: finish my dissertation

Well, I may have some minor changes to make in April, but for now, my dissertation has been submitted to my committee (!) and its being read by them over the next 4 weeks or so. What next? I will go out to Indiana to defend my dissertation in front of my 4-person committee and they will make suggestions (or require that certain things be changed), I'll make the changes, and then I submit my final version to the Graduate School at Purdue. Then, I'll really be done. But in my head, I'm done. The hard part is definitely over.

Living Room Picnic

Duke Dog Hats

At girl's day on Sunday, David gave the twins these adorable Duke Dog (JMU's mascot) hats. They love them! In fact, they wore their hats to school yesterday morning. In the car, Vivian suddenly took her hat off, held it out in front of her, and said "Pup! Pup! Pup!" Then she put the hat on her lap and said "Pup! Pup! Pup!" again, while patting it on the head. Gavin looked over at her and proceeded to take his hat off, look at it, and yell "Pup! Pup! Pup!"

Thanks Dave!

Girl's Day (plus Gavin, Dave, & Joe)

On Sunday, Gavin, Vivian, and I drove up to Renee's house in Maryland for the day. Rachel was in from Boston, Sarah was in from Indiana, Katie drove down from Baltimore, and Meghan drove up from Roanoke, Virginia. The twins and I arrived around noon and Rachel, Renee, and Sarah were already there. Kati Monke (a family friend) and my mom came over next. We started off the day by playing outside, snacking, and talking.

                                

Then we went inside for some presents for everyone, some playtime, more food, and a belated birthday cake for my mom.

Here are all the girls (plus Gavin).

Later on, Kati and Sarah left, Meghan and Joe came over, and Dave came out from watching the game. It was a great day with some of my favorite people on the planet!