Troublemaker.

Otis has begun getting into things in a major way.  Every time I'm not looking he gets into something.  First it was the catbox.  Now it's climbing on things.  My sewing nook is not safe...

He has started walking, too, which means even more trouble!!  I forgot how fun it is to watch a baby learn how to walk.  He's so proud of himself!

Another fun thing is to see Otis doing things Ingrid used to do.  We made black bean soup and he went to town on it, much like Ingrid did at that age.

Mmmmmmmm.

Expressions of a 3.5 Year Old

Silly

Mad

Surprised

 She is quite the drama queen, as previously mentioned. 

A Face Only a Mother Would Kiss

Otis digs into his food, with GUSTO.  He loves to eat!  And now he knows how to play peek-a-boo, which is cute.  Except when he has food all over his hands, which means then he has food all over his face, his hair, his eyelashes.  Last night we had enchiladas.  This is what enchiladas look like after a game of peek-a-boo:

Ugh, good thing bathtime is right after dinner.  Geez.

Thrifting, Snuggling, and Decision Making

Yesterday we treked up to an out of the way thrift store.  I used to go there all the time, but it's been forever.  Man, that place is kinda ratty!  But those are the best ones to get good stuff at because they're not trying to be anything special.  They just throw all the junk out there and make you sort through it.  We found some good stuff, including these little overalls.  Just in case we forget what Otis is, they'll remind us.

And just to show he's not always crying:

He is just the snuggliest sleeper!  I love it, he gets all cozy in his blanket (much like Ingrid used to do) and just sleeps and sleeps.  God I am so glad he sleeps.  Ingrid still doesn't.  Blah.

Also brought home from the thrift store, a new puzzle for Ingrid and I to do together.  We just finished a 1000 piece puzzle--our first to do together!  She helped find the edge pieces, and then I'd ask her to find the sky or grass or building pieces and she'd dig through the box and find them.  It's been fun because it keeps her entertained and it's relaxing for me.  The new one is from 1967 and round! 

And on decision making...we are having a really hard time with it!  I took Maryanne's idea of using cards that she could use to order her breakfast.  I used clip art and printed these out:

The idea was that she could grab a picture and hand it to me when she was ready for a drink.  However, this morning she handed me all the cards and said let's play this game!!  It's a work in progress.