Vivi turned 3!
She was excited to have a birthday cake, and blew out her candles all by herself.
It was definitely her choice to wear her Christmas jammies. And if you want to wear Christmas jammies for your birthday dinner, I think you should be allowed.
One more of us, because I like the picture.
I think her favorite present was her "dancing dress" from Grandma Paula. She wears it almost every day. She even "washes" it herself in the sink in the bathroom when it gets dirty so she can continue wearing it indefinitely . . .
We got her some paints for her birthday, since she spent all summer painting at Nana's house. She was very upset when we told her it was time for bed instead of time to try them out. She tried to open them when we weren't looking, so I had to put them up high.
Later, when I thought she was taking a bath, I walked by the room where I'd hidden them and the door closed suddenly with a "Go out, Momma!" She had pulled her high chair in and was trying desperately to reach the top cupboard. Next time we'll open presents a little earlier!
Rafe did feel a little left out, since your birthday is always the one that is not now. He wanted to snuggle with his baby blanket. It made me feel a little nostalgic.
He's like a completely different person! With the same nose.
Now that Vivi is 3 and Rafe is much too big for the pack and play, we decided to switch their room around. Rafe moved into a crib sturdy enough to hold his rambunctiousness, and Vivien moved into the Realm of the Fairy Queen.
I wanted her to be excited about the bed switch, so I put my crafty hat on to try to make her Japanese futon mattresses stuffed into a closet a little more special. We went to the Daiso and bought a bunch of silk flowers, I cut some leaves out of denim, and knitted some i-cords out of scrap yarn I had lying around and braided them into a trunk, then I glue-gunned them all onto an old sheet to make The Fairy Tree! She totally loves it.
This kicked off a slew of craftiness. I made a hat like Vivi's purple one for our neighbors that had a baby. I used some of the yarn I got in New Zealand.
And then I made a few newborn props for my photographer friend.
Bowties and suspenders, graciously modeled by Rawr-rawr and Sleepy Bear. My children won't stand still long enough for me to try anything on them.
Also, an aviator hat, for the pilots' babies.
With a removable flower for a girl.
Vivi got into the spirit and tried her hand at flower arranging. I rather liked the result.
Oh, we also did a little food crafting and made BACON PANCAKES! Is for fun.
As for other recent food adventures, we ate at a Ramen noodles restaurant in town called Same, Same, Different last week. It's odd to eat something at a restaurant that I only eat when I'm feeling as lazy as possible at home.
Everyone look at Mom!
Here's a picture of the bakery where we eat dericious pastries every Friday with our clinic spouses friends. They play Let it Go and Pentatonix on the radio, and we completely take over their eating area for an hour or two.
We spend a lot of time going and coming from the car every day. It can be quite a chore to herd, heft, buckle, and repeat multiple times a day, but it can be fun sometimes. The other day we spent a good long while watching this beetle crawl all over the car (I feel like all bugs in Japan are about 30% bigger than I wish they'd be).
Rafe is obsessed with his airplane shoes (he wakes up in the morning, goes and gets them out of the closet, then brings them to me, "Shoe! Shoe! Shoe!") and also with having pants and sleeves rolled up. If I don't get them high enough, he walks around like this:
I think they are so funny. Which is great, because I dearly love to laugh.
This weekend we got to go with some friends to Hamada Beach on the west coast of Japan. We drove out after work on Friday and arrived in time to set up, sit around the campfire for a bit, then snuggle up in our cabin and go to sleep. The babies love to snuggle their Daddy's face.
The cabin was basically just like a sturdy tent, but sturdy is a great quality when you are in the elements with little kids!
Our friends camped right on the beach.
We played in the waves.
And looked at unknown tracks in the sand. A crab maybe?
Drew found some Hair Tonic. A gift from the sea . . .
When we'd had enough sun and wind and water for the morning, Rafe took a nap (darling) in the Landry's tent.
And Vivi and her blue eyes played in the car.
We had a little game of beach soccer and felt like She's the Man.
The beach was very steep, so this sand castle kind of felt like the prow of a ship with waves crashing into it. Vivi tested out her sea legs.
It was a very relaxing day.
I tried to get the kids to pose for a cute picture. I guess this is cute in its own way.
It took Vivi about 3 minutes to fall asleep on the way home.
It was just too much fun in one day! She even slept in the next morning . . . in our bed . . . grrr.
It was also a little too much sun for one day. I have some unfortunate tan lines goin' on.
I LOVE FALL. And that is all.
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