Playing on the Deck

We've had a few warm days in the last two weeks and Viv and Gav have really enjoyed playing on the back deck, especially when we bring out their beloved blue table and green chairs.

At the Park

Storytime

Our New Magic Potion

Vivian and Gavin are sick. Again. Stuffy nose, runny nose, and a nasty cough. Vivian's cough is much worse than Gavin's. This cough of hers makes it very difficult for her to sleep. Last Thursday, we put the kiddos to bed around 7:45 and then she just kept coughing and coughing and coughing for the next few hours. Around 10pm, I decided to turn to Google. I searched, "Stop toddler from coughing without medicine." As I read through the first 6 or 7 descriptions, they all seemed to be talking about the same remedy. I opened them all and read each one.

"Take your child's socks off, put their feet in warm water (or dampen them with a wet, warm towel),  and then slather (be very liberal) Vicks all over them. Put your child's socks back on and in 5-10 minutes, the coughing will stop and your child will sleep all night long."

What the hell? Site after site said the same thing. Wes and I thought this was a crazy idea, but we were also sick and tired of poor Vivi crying and coughing... and crying. So, we did it. She hated taking her socks off and she really hated getting her feet wet, but it was over soon and then I rocked her to sleep. She fell asleep almost immediately and stopped coughing about 10 minutes later! She didn't cough anymore ALL NIGHT LONG. And, she slept until 7:30am!!! It was unbelieveable! We did it again the next couple of nights with the same results!

I'm not really sure why it works, but who cares? It works!

Our Day Date

Last Monday, when Wes' mom was in town, we went on a day date. It was wonderful.

We started the day off by eating at a local bar/restaurant owned by two best friends. It's actually a pretty cool place. Jack Brown's only has six food items on their menu, but they also have over 100 bottled beers and several beers on tap. For your meal, you can choose from a hamburger, cheeseburger, or the burger of the day (which usually includes a really weird combination of ingredients). Then you can pick between regular crinkle fries or sweet potato fries. For dessert, they have FRIED OREOS. That's it. That's the menu.

It's an eclectic place that is extremely narrow with only one table inside, a very long bar, and a few table outside on the patio. The inside of this bar is decorated with all kinds of stuff like colorful bras hanging from the chandelier, bar stools with names and dates burned into them (it seemed like they were awards for drinking a certain number of beers), chalkboards lining many of the walls with the menu and all of the beer names, and several objects that were sculpted from old beer cans. Let's just say that there was a lot of stuff to look at.

Wes and I were lucky to get there right when the people at the only table were leaving. We both ordered cheeseburgers (all of the burgers are made with Kobe beef), we split an order of crinkle fries and of course, we had to get two deep fried Oreos. The food was amazing. It was all really, really good. And surprisingly, the fried Oreos were good too! They were fried in funnel cake dough and covered in powdered sugar. Yum!

After Jack Brown's, we drove over to CrossKeys Vineyards for a wine tasting and tour of the vineyards. Although it would have been much nicer if we waited to do this in the summer when all of the grapes were on the vines (everything was bare because grapes are dormant in the winter), it was still interesting to learn about the vineyard. We will definitely be back sometime this summer for one of their "music and wine" nights. We bought a bottle of "Joy White" (a Vidal Blanc) and then headed to the last phase of our day date.

A local ice cream shop was the next stop on our date. Wes got an amazing rasberry milkshake and I got a delicious chocolate cone. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day date.



Choo-Choo!

Gavin and Vivian LOVE "choo-choos" almost as much as they love saying "choo-choooooo!!!" So when we saw these Thomas the Train PJs at Walmart, we knew that they had to have them. Once they saw the PJs, they screamed "choo-choooooo!!!" over and over again. And after they had them on, they would point to the choo-choos anytime anyone said choo-choo. We tried to get them to stand next to one another and be remotely still for some photos and this is the best we could get.

After we took these photos, we realized that this was the first time that V & G were in the same exact outfit from head to toe... we think.

And yes, they are hi-fiving each other in the second-to-last photo.

Breakfast at the Kid Table

Vivi and Gav really like sitting at their little blue table. They've been eating breakfast at this table for the last week or so. It's so cute.

They're Different

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Gavin and Vivian are different. Sometimes we wonder if they're actually related.

Gavin tends to be laid back and, in general, is a happy, carefree kid. But, he also is extremely mischievous. He's constantly trying to climb up, jump off, or break something. And, he likes to make a mess and get dirty. He also likes to figure out how things are put together or how they work. He will closely examine something and then try to do it himself.

Miss Vivian, on the other hand, is a bit of a diva. She wants things her way and she can be quite particular about how things should (and should not) happen. She doesn't like to be dirty and will hold her hand up to you (so that you can clean it of course) if there is something on it. She's dramatic and quick-tempered. But, if everything is going her way, she's rather calm when she plays, eats, or reads books; she doesn't try to get into trouble like her brother.

Interestingly, we already knew about many of these differences only one week after their birth!

Below are a couple videos that illustrate some of these differences.

Necklaces

Vivian loves necklaces. She really loves them. So when we went to that Mardi Gras party last week and they had a big bowl of them, Vivi couldn't resist. She walks around with necklaces around her neck for most of the day (unless of course Gavin steals one from her).

She's a Tantrum Queen

Vivian is the Tantrum Queen in our house. She's good. Really good.

Vivian can go from completely happy and content and even laughing to pitching a fit that could rival the tantrums thrown by those out-of-control kids you used to see on Jenny Jones in a matter of minutes. She knows what she wants and she doesn't like it when anyone tells her that she can't have it. She's a bit of a diva.

And, she doesn't care where she is. Vivian will have a mental breakdown in the aisles of Walmart just as easily as she would at home.

She's emotional.

Lately, we've been trying to calmly reason with her during her fits. I usually start with something like this: "It looks like you really wanted the toy that Gavin is playing with. Is that what you wanted?" She replies by calming down for a brief moment and nodding her head. Then we talk about how she can't have the toy because Gavin was playing with it and I usually offer her something else. She starts to scream again. And kick. Violently. I tell her that it's okay to be sad and that I would be sad too. More screaming ensues. Then we just hug it out while I tell her that I love her and it's okay to be sad. Sometimes this last step takes a minute, but other times, 5-7 minutes could pass without much relief.

Fingers crossed that this is just a phase!