A new BIG brother for Hannah?

Yesterday I started babysitting another little one named Trevor. He is just over two. He and Hannah got along really well and had lots of fun together. BUT she also got a taste of what it would be like to have a big brother!

All that jumpin' works up an appetite!

The other day I noticed that the girls looked like they could be twins in what they were wearing so I grabbed the camera and took advantage of a good photo op. In case you are wondering why they had no shirts on -- lunch was pancakes with blueberries and syrup (known as bubbies and syr-bup in our house) -- not a shirt-friendly meal. Grandma and Grandpa T, your old couch was being abused once again. It has lived a good long life but I am afraid it won't survive our family. I don't usually even bother to put the cushions back on it between jumping sessions. Jolene, I am sorry if Taylor comes home with some bad habits.

Later that day, and back in their shirts, the girls discovered the grapes. Not even the counter is a safe place to leave things anymore. (I read that you and Alexandra discovered that this week as well, Mandy!)

Suggestions?

Does anyone have any ideas of activities to occupy two 1 1/2 year old girls? Preferably ideas that don't cause fights, huge messes or lots of extra work for me? I've tried a number of things but most end up being more stress than fun in the end. Walks are wonderful but it is getting harder for me to walk long distances and the forecast is calling for a lot of rain in the coming weeks. I am also going to be babysitting a two year old boy one day a week starting next week, for as long as I can handle it at least, so I could use lots of time consuming ideas! Thanks for your help.

Little Painter

I forgot to post the pictures of Hannah helping to paint her new room:

TALES!!

Our normally very active little girl has become a couch potato! "Tales? Tales? Tales?" we hear all the time these days. She loves her Veggie Tales. This is the usual pose she likes to watch her videos in:Sometimes she actually sits in her chair but she can spend a whole half an hour watching so intently that even the normally ecstatic hyperactivity-inducing arrival of Daddy from work goes unnoticed. Although we sometimes have to face the dreaded wrath of a one year old when we limit her tales watching, it is also a very handy tool when mom is busy making dinner or when grumpiness (Hannah's or mom's) gets to be too much to handle.

Big Girl Room

Hannah has moved into her "big girl room" now. We painted it purple and went with a Winnie the Pooh theme, which you can see in the wallpaper that she has already started to pull off the walls. She loves her new room and I love that she can keep some of her toys in there and not all over the rest of the house. Now her "baby room" is ready for her little brother or sister.

A Bit of Irony

I decided to post some pictures of Hannah in the backyard in the beautiful spring sunshine we had two days ago, with a title like "Spring is Here at Last!" or something like that. The irony is that the newly mowed and watered lawn is completely covered in snow now as I write this and it feels much more like winter than spring. For those of you in Ontario or Romania unpredictable spring weather is normal this time of year but it is strange for us and we get a bit more impatient with it probably. I am actually really hoping for warm weather soon because I want to get out my maternity shorts. I am running low on pants that fit (and are comfortable, but then comfort and pregnant don't really go together do they). Anyway, here is Hannah helping Daddy water the grass.