We had so much fun in the snow today! At 8:15 PM it’s still coming down, but we think we have at least 2 feet on the ground at this point. Harper could not wait to get out there this morning, so we ventured out before noon when it was really pouring down. Roman and I didn’t last very long because the snow was pelting his poor little face, but Harper and Portman stayed out for quite a while going on a walk, trying out the sleds, and making snow balls. Harper had to be bribed back in with hot chocolate!

After a nap for Roman and a screening of Toy Story 2 for Harper, we bundled her back up and went out for Round 2. She stayed out from about 4 to 6 PM and had to be dragged into the house for dinner and a little playtime with Ellie and Annie. When we left Ellie’s house, we couldn’t get her back inside, so she played on the porch again until about 8:00! She was not happy that we made her come inside, but we assured her that tomorrow is another snow day. 

I am feeling like quite the hero for purchasing all of their snow gear on clearance at L.L. Bean last March. Lucky for all of us, everything fit and was super warm, although some of it mismatched. Hey, 2 year olds don’t care if their pants don’t match their jackets – at least they were warm and dry!

You would think that we had learned our lesson, but no. Last night Portman got conned into leaving Harper’s door open again. All was quiet for about an hour, then Portman was in the kitchen and noticed that the upstairs light was on. “Hmm,” he thought to himself, “I don’t remember leaving the light on.” He was a mere two steps up the staircase when Harper emerged from the bathroom completely naked and covered from neck to toes in Vick’s Vapo-Rub. She had smeared on a layer so thick that you could literally scrape it off with your finger nails! Portman, being the one responsible for leaving the door open, got bath duty, but was unable to remove most of the Vapo-Rub, so we’re just waiting for it to come off on her clothes over the next few days. We continue to find thick handprints of the substance all over the upstairs bathroom in places like door handles, drawer pulls, and on the potty stool. That stuff is really hard to get off! I am confident that her door will remain shut from now on… I hope.

The culprit:

The weapon:

The cleanup:

We are well on our way to the Terrible Threes (two has nothing on three), which will require a separate post to really do it justice, but to sum it up: Harper is extremely independent, strong-willed, and will say absolutely anything to have her way! She is so stubborn that most of the time she will say things just to contradict me, even if it makes absolutely no sense at all. She’s not even three yet, and we’re already buckled in for a fun ride!

Watching morning cartoons:

Me: “Harper, do you want to sit with me?”

Harper: “Um, actually I just want to sit here all by myself.”

Our weekly battle with constipation:

Me (threatening): “Do I need to give you poop medicine?”

Harper: “Yeah! I love poop medicine!”

Me: “Really? Are you sure?”

Harper: “Yeah! Poop medicine gives me good energy!”

Me: “What would you like for breakfast?”

Harper: “Um, I would like some more fruit please.”

Me: “More fruit?”

Harper: “Yeah, fruit is good because it helps the poop and pee come out.”

Getting dressed for bed:

Harper (without even glancing at them): “No! Not those pj’s! Those are just so, so yucky!”

Mommy needs to watch what she says:

Harper: “Mommy, you need to cowopewate because you’re being a wittle bit nasty.”

This week Harper made “da whole fam-wee” out of Potato Heads and Spud Buds. According to her, the one with the arm coming out of its eye is Pop Pop, the “baseball one” (the one wearing the white Storm Trooper helmet) is Uncle Kevin, and the one wearing the cape (and Darth Vader helmet) is Ya Ya. She was very proud of her work!

This year we travelled to North Carolina to celebrate both Thanksgiving and Uncle Brian’s wedding. The kids did great on the drive down (they should, considering how early it was!) and subjected us to over 4 hours of Dora. We had a quiet Thanksgiving with Grammy, Grandpa, Uncle Jared and Aunt Cammie. Harper was in “targe” of the stuffing, and it was delicious:

On Friday we moved our caravan to Chapel Hill, where we spent the weekend celebrating Uncle Brian and Aunt G’s wedding with “da whole fam-wee,” according to Harper. At Friday night’s rehearsal dinner, Daddy insisted on asking every Indian person at our table if they were “with the bride or the groom’s family.” He thinks he is SO funny! The wedding was gorgeous and really interesting for those of us who had never been to an Indian wedding. Roman slept for a little while, but both kids rallied for the dancing portion of the evening. Of course by then I had already changed them into their PJ’s (expecting them to sleep!), so it was a pajama party. My one goal was to get a nice photo of the kids all dressed up for the wedding, but apparently I should set my sights much lower. They sure did look cute though!

Uncle Brian and Aunt G sharing a first dance:

Harper, Pop Pop, Roman and Uncle Luke busting a move:

We’ve had a few days of gorgeous weather lately, and we always try to get outside while it lasts. A few weekends ago we took the kids to Gravelly Point to watch the airplanes land and take off from National Airport. We brought bikes and a picnic and made an afternoon of it. The airplanes were really cool and fly so close to you – both kids loved it, although Harper would duck and cover every time one took off!

After watching the planes and enjoying our lunch, we took the kids on a bike ride (beep beep car ride for Roman) along the Potomac. Harper did a great job staying on her side of the path so that she didn’t get run over by the professional bikers, and Roman alternated “driving” and eating PB&J. We can’t wait to do it again!