The Zoe and Silas Show

Zoe and Silas decided to "wash" their hair with baby powder tonight. Those are fun times. I caught them early enough in the act that it wasn't a total disaster (as opposed to when Silas got ahold of the powder by himself a few weeks ago). Many of you have heard me lamenting about preschool over the last few months. Our good news update of the week is that lucky number 10 got pulled in the admissions lottery on Wednesday night, which means that S&Z will be attending the community preschool program in West Roxbury this fall! The 3-year-old program runs Tuesday/Thursday from 8:45-11:15 and the 4-year-old program will be MWF from 8:30-12:30. I'm so excited for them (and for Derek to have some downtime)! First scary realization of the week: the amount we'll be paying for preschool this year ($2500) is what my annual tuition cost in the mid-1990s to attend university at a state school (and this is one of the least expensive preschool options in Boston that I am aw...

1/31/12:  Zoe and Daddy sharing a morning snuggle.

  1/30/12: Silas rockin' some serious bedhead this morning.

1/29/12: Zoe was full of piss and vinegar after nap today. She insisted on putting these pants on, on top of the pants she was already wearing. She wriggled and wrangled and got them on herself.  She cried for over 20 minutes at bedtime after I took them off to put on her pj's.  "Pants on, pants on, pants on" [said sobbing hysterically]... On the upside, she's o ne step closer to dressing herself.  Her mantra of late has been "Zoe do it". Of course, I'll probably make up for it because I'll be dressing Silas for a looooong time. His mantra right now is "Mama do it" :-)

We have been laying low this month following a busy holiday season. Things are also nuts at work right now, so I've been enjoying quiet weekends to chill out with Derek and the kids. Put this all together and it's made for a quiet blog this month (outside of the daily photos which I've been having a lot of fun with!). I always make a point to keep up with our friends, though, so we've enjoyed a few fun playdates this month. On Martin Luther King Day we went over to visit Wendy, Dave, Sydney & Ivy. They recently designed a new playroom in the basement of their house so we were excited to check that out. It's awesome!!! As usual, the kids ended up tearing up and down the hallway, and Wendy was able to get some great pictures with her new SLR camera. Last Saturday we went over to visit Teresa, Tim, Josie & Theo. There was lots of fun playtime, And then Tim made us the perfect lunch fit for a cold snowy day. Today Van...

1/28/12: Three little monkeys jumping on the bed...

1/27/12: Morning faces. Note the position of Silas' crib in the middle of the room. It gets pulled there every night and pushed back against the wall every morning. It's the Silas Island.

1/26/12: Mommy & Zoe self-portrait.

1/25/12: Daddy with his morning welcoming committee, minutes before he shaved off his beard.

1/24/12: Playing in packing paper is hard work.

1/23/12: "Cooking" in his new Cars pj's first thing this morning.

1/22/12: Enjoying a snack while grocery shopping before the Pats game.

1/21/12: Driving home from a playdate on a snowy day. It was very close to naptime so Daddy sat in the backseat to keep them awake with tickles.

Silas produced his first complete sentence this week (he's also pushing out his first 2 year old molar, as you can see by the drool on his shirt). He was talking on one of the play phones as he loves to do, said goodbye and hung up. Derek asked who he was talking to and he replied "I just push buttons"! Derek's Aunt Doreen gave the kids an AquaDoodle for Christmas. They love it, and Zoe in particular likes me to write letters with her on the mat. We do it every day when I get home from work. A few days ago she wrote her first letter alone, a 'V'! She has reproduced 'V' multiple times since then. Both kids love to jump, and Zoe has been able to get both feet off the ground for awhile now. Silas launched for the first time this week! Go Silas!!!! Last night we got our first real snow since October. The kids wore boots outside for the first time ever today. They loved the snow!!! Happy Friday!!!!!!!!! I look awful, but Zoe is...

1/20/12: First time wearing boots in the snow. We got about an inch of snow last night, and we are expecting another 3-5" tomorrow. We'll be excited to get the snow pants out to play in the backyard this weekend!

1/19/12: Balancing blocks with Uncle Duff.

1/18/12: I love it when I go to download pictures for the day and am surprised with shots that I didn't take. Today we have Zoe eating beans and rice for dinner while wearing another cute hat of Julia's.

1/17/12: Ta-Ta and the kids were busy reading books when I got home from work today. As soon as I pulled out the camera, Zoe wanted to "see, see!" with me as I took a few pictures.

1/16/12: Tonight before bed Zoe said she wanted to go pee pee. On the potty. Next thing I know they were trying to break the lock off so that Zoe could climb on the toilet. I bought a training potty 9 months ago and it's been sitting in the closet. This seemed like as good a time as any to take it out.  A brawl ensued moments after I took this picture because taking turns was not going to cut it. A second potty will be purchased tomorrow.

1/15/12: Ring around the rosie at Grandma D.'s birthday party.

After about 2 months of struggling with napping issues, we finally broke down and started separating the kids for naps this week. It had gotten to the point that they were throwing huge parties in their cribs everyday, and some days they wouldn't sleep at all. On Tuesday Derek set up a pack-n-play in the guest room for Silas, and he gets tucked in there with his pillow, blanket, 2 stuffed animals and 2 books. Alissa Westerlund Day 1 of napping in separate rooms for our no-napping, want to throw a party all afternoon 2-year-olds.  — with  Derek Dutra . Like  ·   ·  Tag Friends  ·  January 10 at 3:24pm  near  Boston Miriam Zucker Bradford ,  Adrienne Soucy Tierney ,  Elaine Speare  and  5 others like this. Natascha Lesage   we started that a few months ago and it has made a huge difference. Hope it does for your kids, too! January 10 at 3:51pm  ·  Unlike  ·  ...

We played with Magna-Doodle's tonight after dinner. I showed them how any magnet will make shapes, and they had fun making dinosaur shapes using the magnets they got from Holly & Kylee for their birthday. Zoe is more interested in art stuff than Silas right now, and she continued playing on the couch after he drifted off and started setting the coffee table for a tea party. For the first time tonight she told me she was drawing something specific. She said it was a caterpillar. Go Zoe!!!