Saturday, April 30, 2011

Easter

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death, to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation..." -Colossians 1:21-22

All praise to Jesus for His radical obedience to the Father and great love for us. I am in awe that, because of Him, I will one day be presented to the Father as holy and without accusation. That just blows me away. Not because of what I have done, but because of Jesus my Savior. How I love to celebrate Easter, and the reminder of what He has done for me - and His victory over death!

One of the take-aways from the sermon for me was to go out and live from the resurrected life, not from the flesh. What a wonderful, practical "charge" going forth from Easter Sunday!

We celebrated Easter at New Life Community Church, and then at Marc's Uncle Richard's house.

 On the way to church.

 Hunting for Easter eggs.

 Dylan and cousin Morgan.

 Hugs!

As always, a not-so-successful family picture. It never fails.

Kids In The Square

Lincoln Square hosted "Kids in the Square" this weekend. There were a lot of businesses involved, offering everything from face painting to teddy bear picnics.

The Davis Theater graciously provided a free movie for the kids - "Despicable Me." Dylan didn't want to sit inside the theater, for some reason, so we watched from outside for a few minutes.

 A stop at the park, along the way.

 Old Town School of Folk had a table full of instruments for the kids to play.

The plaza was packed!

Dylan's First Big Screen Movie

We took Dylan to see his first ever movie on the big screen last weekend. It was a hoot. First off - he took his popcorn VERY seriously, stuffing his little hand into the big bucket before I could even finish paying at checkout. Then, when we arrived to our seats and he sat down, the chair folded right up on him, because he's so light. We helped pin down the chair, he settled in, spread his legs and put the big bucket of popcorn between them. He then started shoveling the popcorn into his mouth - using not one, but two hands, alternating, so that he could get it into his mouth faster. 

He was by far the most vocal audience member, giving commentary throughout, and singing on one occasion. (Nothing too obnoxious, and the theater was full of other parent-kid combos like us, so we were not "those" people.)

He lasted 3/4 of the way through - longer than both Marc and I thought he would. So we all left happy campers.  

 We saw the movie Rio. (Very good, by the way.)

 Marc and D, on the way to the theater.

 There he goes!

MOPS

A few pictures from MOPS this month:

You know the skit where twenty clowns come stumbling out of a teeny, tiny car? That's what happened at MOPS one day. I went to pick Dylan up from the childcare area, and couldn't believe how many kids kept emerging from the blue tunnel! They just kept coming and coming. Dylan is to the left, about to join the mayhem.

We had a teacher from Kindermusik come to MOPS last Thursday.

Dylan's "involvement" mostly involved eating a snack, on the sidelines. I was just pleased to not be one of the many moms chasing after her kid all over the small gym. So I let him go to town on rounds 1, 2 and 3 of having a snack, since he was sitting there so nicely. :)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

It's A Hard-Knock Life (Until Your Mommy Goes and Gets You Another Balloon)

Dylan had his first lesson in helium last week. He got a balloon after his haircut, and he was so happy. We were on a one-block walk to another store, and all of my comments of "hang onto the balloon, don't let go of the balloon" were made to no avail. As we were about to go into the store, Dylan turned to hand me the balloon and off it went into the sky. One second, two seconds, three seconds, "waaaah!"

Thankfully, the haircut place was gracious enough to give us another balloon. And now, it's one of Dylan's favorite stories. He asks me to tell the "haircut" story all the time now. :)

DJ Voice

Cow Store

One of our new favorite things to do is to visit the "cow store" in Lincoln Square (Gene's Sausage Shop). We refer to is as the cow store because of the large cow suspended in the air above the shop. D loves to go in because of the elevators inside, the fireplace upstairs, and the chickens roasting in the fire.


Dylan appears to be guiding Marc in making a fine selection from the deli.

Physics 101

Who would have ever thought that becoming a parent would remind you of high school physics? But every time Dylan comes down a slide at the park looking like he's been electrocuted, or, in this case, walking under a slide at Fantasy Kingdom, I am taken back to the basement of good 'ol CHS, and can still hear Mr. Ligtenberg's voice shouting out lessons on electrons and the like. :)

(And yes, the correct word is "shouting." He is one memorable teacher. And also one of the very best I ever had.)

Hello, Albert Einstein.

Easter Art

These are two art projects Dylan made at Tuesday's Child, a program we've been participating in since April. The cup on the left is jello he helped make.

Confession: before I was a mom, I'd look at something like this and say, "big deal." Mommyhood changes everything though. I look at these through mommy eyes and think they are the coolest, best looking art projects I've ever laid eyes on.

Sing A Little Song - Literally

There is a song on of of Dylan's CD's, that has such a pleasant little chorus.  It's all the more precious, coming from a 3 yr. old's mouth.

One Fine Day

We got reacquainted with the plaza in Lincoln Square one gorgeous April day, after maaaany months of winter kept us away. Dylan picked up right where he left off, with throwing coins in the fountain.

Snow White

We have been frequenting Fantasy Kingdom quite a bit this month, and Snow White made a surprise appearance on two occasions. Above, Dylan (far left) takes her in.

Dylan (far right, in blue) participated in a marching game for a very short while. He was "over" Snow White within a minute, though.

Caifano Ladies

The Caifano ladies all gathered in Evanston for Marc's cousin Catie's baby shower last month. It's Catie and Joe's first.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Dylan Reads By Himself

Wicker Park Inn


Marc and I took a stay-cation in the city in March, and stayed at the Wicker Park Inn- a delightful little bed and breakfast.

We highly recommend this place, if anyone has family coming to town that needs a place to stay. A great neighborhood spot, in walking distance to all the Wicker Park/Bucktown action.

"Just Call Me Elton"

"This is cool - Mommy's letting me pretend drive her car.
Wait - something's missing...."

 "All right - just let me get things situated here..."

"There we go. Now we're ready to cruise."

Jack (Well, Rabbit) -In-The-Box

I feel like a bit of a deliquent mom, but I believe this was the first time Dylan's been exposed to a Jack-in-the-Box toy. He thinks it is awesome.

Sleeping Pics

I always think it's amazing how kids sleep with their tooshies up in the air like that. Could you imagine yourself going to sleep like that?

Snoozing in the car on a day Dylan decided he didn't "need" a nap at home.

My Two Guys


Nana gave Marc and Dylan "Big Guy"/"Little Guy" t-shirts for Christmas. I tried to seize the moment and snap a shot of them together wearing them, which is always hard to do with Dylan.

This was 2 seconds later. That is literally a look of disgust on Dylan's face, for us asking him to pose for a picture.

"B" is for Big Boy Underwear!

I am thrilled to announce that we are virtually potty trained! Enough to head out each day in our big boy underwear, anyway. We proudly don Thomas the Train or Toy Story underwear every day now.

Visitors

Dylan entertained some visitors in his new digs last month.

Playing with Mia, one of his playmates in Moms Group on Wednesdays.

My dear friend/college roommate Jaymi and her family were in town last month, to see her brother Gabe in a play. If any of you are looking for a play to go see - check out "Night and Her Stars" at The Gift Theater. And if you frequent Chicago theater, keep an eye out for Gabe Franken's name!

 Having a blast with Lainey and Grace.

Movin' On Up

Dylan has had some exciting changes made to his room recently. At long last, we moved him out of his crib and into a toddler bed. Also, we bid farewell to the changing table, and made room for a small table and chairs - Dylan's 3rd birthday gift from Nana and Papa. 

His new table and chairs. His favorite thing to do is eat there with friends.

His name is on his little pillow.

 Checking out his "big boy" bed for the first time.


Funny how such a small change (removing one side of the crib) was such a special thing for him.

And we are happy to report that he has done a great job of staying in the bed and not climbing out. Alleluia!