The routine

Last night, Daddy moved all the furniture in the living room to one corner.  The kids loved having a big open dance floor.  After bath, they asked for a dance party.  We put on some music for them and let them go crazy.  I danced with them for a little while, but got sidetracked in the kitchen.  After awhile the kids called me into the living room so I could see their new dance. 

They were so proud of themselves.  I love that they worked together and had fun too!

Duncan

Tonight we said goodbye to our dog Duncan. He was an important part of our family. 

John's big brother. 

Gillian's monkey. 

And our favorite snuggler. 

We will miss you. 

Best friend

Gillian is super excited about moving up to the three year old class (aka the Dolphin class). In the Dolphin class, Gillian will be able to go on field trips. This is very exciting for a three year old. She keeps telling me "When I a dolphin, I go on field trip! I sit next to Johnny on the bus!" Of course this prompts a long conversation where we explain to her that John will be in a different school and they won't be able to go on field trips together. But it doesn't matter. She still insists on saying that she will go with Johnny. We were talking about buses again tonight. Gillian said "I sit next to my best friend." I asked her "Who is your best friend?" She said "Johnny is my best best friend. Him a boy. And him my brother!" She is so sweet. I hope she always thinks like this. 

Waterlogged

John and Gillian spent the night at Mimi and Poppy's house last night. Daddy and I went to pick them up and found them playing in Mimi's backyard on John's big water slide. They were so excited to see us and tell us about their night. After a quick hello, John showed us how he went down the slide (Last year he was a little unsure, check out last summer's blog post called "Water slide."). While we were watching the kids play, Mimi got a call from Uncle T. Uncle T and Aunt Missy were at Aunt Missy's parents house and we were all invited too. We let the kids play for a little bit longer. Gillian finally got the nerve to try the slide. She did it once and landed in the water and said "Yes!" She loved it. But only when she was by herself without a big audience. 

Gillian does not like to be in a wrt bathing suit. If she is out of a pool for longer than two minutes then she wants out if her bathing suit too. Before we went to Aunt  Missy's parents house, Gillian asked to be changed. When we arrived at Aunt Missy's parents house John and Daddy went right into the pool. I had to convince Gillian to put on her bathing suit (or bath-ing suit as she would say). I got her in her suit, but she was unsure about going in the pool. Aunt Missy found Gillian some chips and she happily sat in a chair and ate her chips (and didn't share). 

John, on the other hand, was swimming all over the pool. He made friends with Aunt Missy's Aunt Maryann. With the help of Aunt Maryann John swam easily fifty laps. Gillian finally joined us in the pool. She swam all over the pool too. We pulled the kids out of the pool to eat. They both ate dinner. And John was dying to go back in the pool. I told him he had to wait until an adult was in the pool. The second an adult had their toes wet John asked me "Can I go now? Please?" He went back in the pool and had a great time with less people in the pool. He wasn't afraid to just swim everywhere. 

Again we pulled John out of the pool but this time for cake. He ate his cake and again asked to go in the pool. This time he went in the pool without his floatation device. He can touch in the low end, but he gets very nervous and worried that water will hit him in the face. Since this was now his third time in the pool today he was very brave and didn't get scared when more people joined him in the pool. Gillian also joined John in the pool. She didn't have her floaties on either. Aunt Missy gave her a raft to sit on. She kept showing off the raft to anyone who would listen "Look at my new thing!" "It's for princesses!" "I just laying here!" She was shaking and I decided to pull her out of the pool. She was not happy with my decision. She was also not happy that John climbed onto her raft. "It's for princesses, not brothers!"

giggles

Today Daddy and I were upstairs watching football and decorating cookies.  We could hear the kids in the basement playing and giggling.  They sounded like they were having a good time, but we couldn't see what they were doing.  Gillian's giggles could be heard upstairs and it sounded like she was having a good time.  Daddy went downstairs to investigate.  The video below is what he found:

My brother

Early this morning while Daddy & I were getting ready for work, John was snuggling Duncan in our bed. "I'm snuggling my brother!" John told us. Daddy asked him of he knew the names of Daddy's brothers. John said "Uncle T" and then he paused. He has only heard us talk about Uncle Bryan and Uncle Christopher and John was very little the last time he saw his two Uncles. We explained that all of Daddy's brothers are his little brothers. I asked John if he knew the names of my brothers. John hesitated. He said "Uncle Bob!" I told him Uncle Bob is Mommy's little brother. That made him giggle. I said who is Mommy's big brother? We gave him a hint and said he flies helicopters. John said "Uncle Joe!" And then he paused. "But who's my brother?" Daddy and I told him that Duncan is his brother. John liked that answered and he snuggled a little while with Duncan. He then said "Will Duncan be there when I get bigger? Because I will miss him if he is not with me!" I love my smart little man, but I'm not ready to have these serious talks with him yet. I can't remember exactly what Daddy's response was, but he basically told him to enjoy his time with his dog.

I'm older

John loves to be a big brother. Tonight he was helping Daddy and he said "I can help because I'm the big brother." Daddy said well, I think Duncan, our boxer, is your big brother. John quickly replied "Duncan is older than me, but I'm bigger. I'm taller than him. Because I'm people. So I'm the big brother."