Field Trip: Bethesda's new "Playseum" =)

About 10 days ago, we discovered a great new children's museum... called the "Be Wi.th Me" Play.seum. It's in Bethesda so it's little bit of a hike (about a 50 minute car ride) but well worth the trip. This place was GREAT for a toddler. So much to do.... we were there for at least 3 hours and could've spent the whole day there. They have all sorts of rooms for kids to explore, including a transportation room, kitchen, grocery store, pet store, ball room, art room, etc. The list goes on. It's simply *awesome*. Here are some pics of Adam enjoying himself:


















Little Love had SO much fun! =)

My precious little love -- the small things

Some cute things that Adam has said/done recently...
-- recently exclaimed, "you're the best, mommy"

-- how he says "MAMA" first thing when he wakes up and after nap (unless he just comes out to get me)

-- also recently asked: "are you still mad, mama?"

-- a recent exchange... Me: "how much do you love mama?" Adam: "the best"

-- how he walks in my room carrying his doggies when he wakes up, all groggy (and sooo cute)

-- he he looks at me solemnly to give me noseys

-- how he says "again" and "no singing, mama" in the car... and " i TOLD you, mama, no singing!"

-- how he always replies "so much" when I say "i love you!".

-- how he runs up yelling "mama!" when i pick him up from school

Wordless Wednesday -- Our Little Writer

Adam has loved "drawing" and "writing" for some time now. Several times a day he'll sit and, as he says, "write". He prefers using a pen and lined paper as opposed to crayons. A few weeks ago, he started drawing turtles (they always have a cute rectangular body, eyes, smile, ears and little feet) and soccer balls (balls with lines going through it). This week, he has really gotten into writing letters. He'll say "Mama, here's an A" and write an "A"... it's all initiated by him. Here are some letters (A, E, F, H, L, T, G & D) he wrote yesterday:



He can also write his name now. As you can see, he writes right-to-left (he's getting ready to learn Hebrew, ha ha) and the letters are HUGE but it's a start:


He's such a delight!

XO Valentine's Day XO

We had a sweet Valentine's Day this year. V-Day always brings back a favorite memory of Steven and I. On V-day, 9 years ago (2001), Steven first "told" me he loved me... on a balloon! I still remember the night so well. Steven came to my apartment in Alexandria and had in his hand a little gift combo. There was a little heart-shaped box of chocolates on the bottom, a little white stuffed bear and the mini helium heart-shaped balloon -- with the message "I LOVE YOU" on the top. It seriously was the grossest chocolate and the cheapest bear (sorry... but it's true) but it was one of my happiest moments ever. To see "I LOVE YOU" for the 1st time from Steven... I was bouncing up and down... so happy!!! It took Steven another 3 months to actually SAY the words but I knew he did as a result of that cheezy & oh-so-wonderful balloon!

Back to the present... we had a very low-key Valentine's Day today with our Little Love. We went to Grandma's house for lunch and had take-out for dinner.
Adam braving the snow to see Grandma!

Long-stemmed roses from Grandma's Valentine ;-)

Adam got a Snoo.py Valentine with candy (he was sooo happy... gave "nosies" to Snoopy and ate the chocolate -- fortunately there were only 3 pieces). He didn't seem to care much for his card but did give the bear on the card "nosies", too. =)

Adam opening up his V-day goodies
I'm a huge Snoo.py fanatic so I was very excited about the Snoo.py Steven bought Adam. Admittedly, he couldn't wait to open the box of chocolates!

A few minutes later, I was sorting through some papers and got a paper cut. After Adam heard my "ow!" he asked "What happened, Mama?". When I told him about my paper cut, he asked if I wanted a kiss and then ran over to give me one. Such a little sweetheart!!!

After Adam went to bed, Steven and I celebrated. He surprised me with a sweet balloon and even sweeter card and I had a big box of heart-shaped chocolates (original, aren't I?) for him. It was a very sweet moment... our 11th V-day together!
Steven posing with our goodies

Hope your Valentine's Day was as happy as Adam's -- ha ha! xoxoxo

Scenes from a Snow Day... nah, make that a SNOW WEEK!

After getting 28 inches of snow on Saturday, blizzard #2 (known as SNO.M.G., Snowmaggedon, Snowapolopyse, etc.) hit on Tuesday night/Wednesday, bringing another foot of snow. As one of my friends said best, it truly looks like we live in an Alpine Village. Or a real life Winter Wonder.land. On Wednesday morning, Adam looked outside the window and said "Snow! Is it a ton, Mama?" -- he much have overheard me saying that we're getting a ton of snow!

Our deck on Wed. morning (still filled with snow from Blizzard #1 on Saturday)


Most people are *really sick & tired* of the snow, Steven included. Not me, though... I just LOVE it... I still do. It's so beautiful & peaceful. It's such a nice break from the routine, you know? I also have loved having all this quality time with Steven & Adam. For me, the snow storms have been a blessing (I'm sure some of you are gritting your teeth, but I really am a snow lover)! Plus, we are now in history as having the snowiest winter EVER in DC history. Nice. I'm also lucky that I have a husband who doesn't mind shoveling everything himself... and, I might add, he looks very handsome doing so! =)

All that being said, Adam has gone a little stir-crazy (make that a lot stir-crazy) the past week. We have made the most of it, though. Here are photos taken of Adam the past week of being snowed in (except for Tuesday when he went to school). Please ignore all the toys scattered everywhere in the pictures. I think we took out every toy Adam has ever owned this week!

Playing with cars

Adam & Daddy playing with the "paper tree" that Grandma's friend, Marty, made him ;-)

Adam spent LOTS of time riding in his car

Reading with Daddy

Coloring & Drawing. Adam enjoys writing letters of the alphabet, especially. He can also draw a pretty decent soccer ball & a turtle with a cute little face. He also likes to "write" ADAM (A-D-A-M) and MAMA (M-A-M-A).

"Marker Hand"!

Reading to himself. Recently, Adam loves to read books TO US and tell US stories. He's very proud of himself!

Playing with flash cards. He immediately layed them out and started to count to 10 in Spanish. I'm guessing they do this at school with flashcards?!?

Watching his new favorite show "Frankl.in". Admittedly, Adam watched more TV this week than I care to think about! Another new favorite is "Little Be.ar". Both can be found on Nickelodeon. He no longer likes Barn.ey, though!

Cooking in his kitchen

Daddy and Adam created this block village together... nice job, boys!

Of course, lots of Leg.o castles were also built. Adam is now adding Leg.o flowers, grass, people and animals to the castles which is cool to see.

An animal train! Adam is really into lining things up these days to make "choo-choo trains".

The finished project!

Adam's jumping routine. He put it together himself using puzzle pieces to create a "lake" and puzzle boards to to use as jumping platforms. He taught both Steven & I his routine. I think he learned the concept from KinderT.ots... it's a *great* class!

When is Round #3 coming?!?

There's a little glimpse of our fun, SNOW-FILLED week! Have a great weekend!

**SNOWPO.CALYPSE 2010**

The weatherpeople were right this time! From Friday morning through Saturday night, 28 inches fell outside our home! It was incredible with blizzard conditions Friday night. I loved every moment of it and insisted on keeping all the blinds open to see the beautiful snow fall. I just love the snow and get SO excited every winter for it. The past few winters were WEAK (snow-wise) but this winter has been EXCEPTIONAL! YAHOO! Here are some pics of our home:

Our house (look at that handsome man shoveling)!

Our deck during the blizzard on Friday night

Our deck -- Sun. night -- some snow may have melted during the day?

Adam has definitely had his moments of stir-craziness but has been pretty good for the most part. It was too cold for him to play outside today but he had a BALL (we all did) playing outside yesterday:

Adam insisted that Daddy pick him up at first... especially since Adam isn't too much taller than the snow!

Wow! Almost 2.5 feet of Snow!

Attempting to build Fros.ty the Snowman

Adam making his first snow angel. He actually got in the ground himself and started moving around.

Snowball Fight with Daddy!

Earning his keep (actually, Adam insists on shoveling. When he saw Steven with the shovel, he ran down the (shoveled)sideway to get to it!

Our own little snowman!

This photo cracks me up. On Friday night, Steven was looking out the window and said "Look at that Gigantic Snowman!" Seriously, look at it. I think it's the biggest snowman we've ever seen (great job, neighbors)! Oh, and see that mound of snow behind the suv? Yeah, that is Steven's car!!!

Here are some of my favorite shots of Little Love in "Snowt.orious B.I.G.!":




Guess what? We are expecting 3-5 more inches on Tuesday night!!! Bring.It.On!!!