Happy birthday Uncle Paul

(We might have practiced that a few times before making the video.)

Folks, Romelie is doing so well lately. She's generally happy and pleasant and fun. She still whines and throws occasional tantrums, but so many fewer than just a couple months ago. It makes life with a toddler much more enjoyable.

The odd thing is, she's been sick the last, like, month. She's had a cough for nearly four weeks. I finally brought her into the doctor on Wednesday, and she's being treated for a double ear infection and possible bronchitis. Which seriously makes no sense to me because she's been so darned awesome. I mean, if I had a double ear infection and bronchitis, you can bet your butt I'd be a lot whinier and throwing a lot more tantrums, and I'm nearly 30. She's on her last dose of medicine tonight and we go in for a follow-up on Wednesday, so I'll let you know if it's cleared up (she's still coughing, though not dry coughing anymore).

She's also entered the "Why?" stage. Romelie, it's time for bed. Why? Because you need to sleep. Oh. Let's get your jammies. Why? Because it's bedtime. Oh, bedtime. Help me put on your jammies. Why?

Like that. It's still cute, and I don't mind repetition, so it's okay.

I know there's lots more news to share from the last week (ask Chason about taking Romelie to swim lessons yesterday, getting her all dressed, and walking into the pool area only to be told classes are cancelled because someone barfed in the pool--and then having to break the news to the all-excited-to-go-swimming 2-year-old...), but I'm on my way to Buca di Beppo for our romantic Valentine's dinner...with the kid. :)

So I leave you with videos. Both of these go together, so play one after the other. See if you can recognize the following songs in Romelie's musical medely: ABCs, Old MacDonald, Row Row Row Your Boat, and 5 Little Monkeys. Bonus points if you can recognize the animals and their sounds in Old MacDonald. Final comment--listen for the dramatic ending to E-I-E-I-O in video #2; it's how mommy sings the song, but I'd never heard her do it that way before this moment. Enjoy.

Happy groundhog's day!

This is going to have to be more of a summary than anything else, which is what happens when I don't write anything for three weeks. Yikes. I'll put in lots of pictures and videos and let them do the talking.

So it's Minnesota which we all know is cold and wet. But we have been able to spend some time outside at least. Here's some cute photos and videos of our first snowy backyard fun (a few weeks ago):

When we can't go outside (which is most of the time, unfortunately), we try to fill our weekend hours with fun family events. We went to a birthday party for my friend Katie's son Gabriel at Choo Choo Bob's train store. Romelie loved playing with the trains and didn't throw a giant fit when it was time to leave. Both good. Our friend Joe has started a new company for dads called Papa Gio (check it out at http://www.papagio.net/!) so we went to a kick-off event for that. We've been to four waterbabies classes now, and at the most recent class, Romelie let me dunk her completely underwater THREE times. Without crying. We saw "Mr. McGee and the Biting Flea" at Children's Theatre (very sweet) and went to the zoo this weekend. So we're finding excuses to get out and about. We've also started taking Romelie to the gym at Bally's when we work out, and while she cried the first few times, she seems to be doing alright now and even occasionally asks to go to the gym.

We've also all been sick, though that's really nothing new. We've either shared a cold or had RSV, but since both are untreatable, it didn't seem particularly necessary to go to a doctor to get an official diagnosis. Mostly better except for Romelie's continued cough and my overly goopy eyes. One particularly funny moment came when I coughed while helping Romelie put on her boots and she looked at me and said "Cover your mouth, Mama."

We also recently learned that Yo Gabba Gabba is coming to Minneapolis on March 13, and not only will Romelie and I see the show (again, I know), but this time we'll also get to meet the characters and Romelie will be able to have her picture taken with them! I'm so much more excited about this than any grown up should be.

Other than those general updates, I don't have too many specifics to share. We're keeping busy, doing well, and generally looking forward to Spring. So now, on to the photos and videos.

Bath pictures...always cute...

In this video, Romelie spontaneously said the prayer they say at daycare before every meal: Dear God, thank you for our food, and thank you for our friends. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Self-portrait and playing hide-and-seek:

Here's Romelie doing her best animal impressions.

And finally, feeding the ducks and playing in a box filled with toys. Like you do.