I approve this message

That is Ian's new line... "I am John McCain, and I approve this message". We keep trying to tell him that he should say "I am Barack Obama", but it just doesn't roll off his tongue the way the other guy's name does. Oh well, it gives us a good segue into why we vote democrat in this household...

This has been a landmark few weeks for us (and finding time-and energy- to write about it has been hard!). Two weeks ago, I went to work for the first time in almost 3 years. Aside from feeling like my brain has been re-awakened to diagnostic reasoning, prescription medication, and bedside manner, I just feel great to be back at work. I knew I was ready, but now I know that the whole family was ready for a change. Daddy logged 37 hours alone with the kids over just the first 4 days, and he did an admirable job. The kids were happy as clams, on the go the whole time, didn't even have a chance to miss me. They were having too much fun. Maggie has even taking to pushing me away when she's in Daddy's arms. That's nothing new for Ian of course... Daddy's little man.

Ian is gearing up for the start of preschool in a few days. He is so excited to be left there alone. We're trying to prep him for that aspect, and when we first mentioned this detail, his face got very serious, then broke out in a huge smile as he said "And I can drive my car to my new school!". Soon, baby, soon, but not yet.

Today we were up at Pinewood for a little Labor Day dinner and fun, and Tiffy outlined the kids in chalk on the driveway. Without anyone seeing him do it, Ian went back to his silhouette and added a few details, one being the hair- and the other one being obvious! When I asked him what he drew, he looked at me as if to say "you dope, what do you think it is??" and he said "My bottom!" with a huge grin on his face. Grammy was glad that his ego seems to be intact- no self esteem issues there! It's so fun to see the inner workings of their minds come out- can you tell he's been working hard at potty-training? And he's wearing the most adorable boxer briefs you've ever seen.

Maggie took her first couple of steps today! Yes, this is magnificent and thrilling news, so why isn't it a post in its' own right?? Because I've been trying to write this post for two weeks! So all sorts of big news is getting put into one. I do not mean to diminish her hard work and accomplishment! It started by me letting go of her hands without her really realizing it- and she would stand there for like 10-15 seconds without even knowing she was doing it. Then she discovered I was not holding on to her, and she took two big steps to get back into the safety of my grip. She was so delighted with herself, squealing and shrieking each time I tried to get her to do it again. We all clapped wildly for her each time, and she was in heaven. In all, she took two steps four times over. Then she caught on to our little game and decided she'd had enough for the day. She'll be running before we know it.

It's amazing how fast they go from babies to little people who have stories all their own. Seems like just last month that I could just post about how cute she is, or about sweet little mannerisms she has, but now she's letting us in to her ever-growing personality and doing the funniest things! You can see in the picture below that she is surrounded by helmets. Now, we recently bought her a helmet so she can go in our bike seat. She won't wear the helmet, but she will- correction, she INSISTS on- sitting surrounding by all four of our helmets, trying them each on in turn and then pulling all the little pads out from inside of them. If you dare to open the closet by the front door, where the helmets are, you get an endless string of "ugh, Ugh, UGHHHHHHHHHH", as she lunges her body in the direction of the helmets. And it's not just our helmets- she tried to steal some kid's helmet at the park the other day, having a bit of a fit when Daddy told her she simply could not have it. We have a full-blown fetish on our hands.
In addition to walking, she's also talking! MaMa, DaDa, DuhDuh (doggie, of course), Hi (once, to Ian!), Gram and Grammy, and her first word which of course was Uh-oh... Today she also said hot while playing with some candles (which were, for the record, not hot). She's signing for more and all-done, too. My little genius girl.

Finally caught up- now off to prepare for another wild week of our new life- rich with two jobs preschool, and thank God- a housekeeper every two weeks!