My moose is from New Hampshire!

Last week, Madeline turned 37 months old.

And my composter -- the fruits of a birthday gift certificate -- arrived on our doorstep.

Oliver was happy about this.

Madeline thought the whole thing was a lot of fun.

Now in addition to playing with Duplos ...

... she also loves feeding the composter.

For his part, Oliver loves pretty much everything (except, so far, for avocado!).

It's been so sunny over the last week that even on cold days we feel the need to spend some time outside ...

... even if it does mean bundling up.

From all this playing outside, Madeline has rediscovered her "house" between trees in the hedge.

Earlier this week, Oliver turned 7 months old.  He is a very active and very strong 7-month-old.  He can now crawl from the kitchen through the family room into the bathroom and back again -- all on his hands and FEET, not knees.  He is a little bear.

And he loves his sister.

And his sister loves him.

The other day, Summer brought home some plush statistical distributions, with which Madeline has become quite taken.

She's even more excited, though, by her letters.  Yesterday she asked Summer, "How do you spell 'Coocha?'" -- one of her nicknames, or loving terms, or perhaps more accurately exclamations for Oliver.  Summer suggested she start with "C," and she did!  Two "O"s followed.  I believe this picture shows her attempt at a second "C."  At "H" she claimed to be stumped.

Finally, Madeline is also learning -- at her own insistence -- a song that lists the states in alphabetical order.  I'd say she reliably hits at least 40 of them now.  She pauses sometimes to exclaim over certain states: "I like Massachusetts!" "My moose is from New Hampshire!" "I like Pennsylvania too.  I like Pennsylvania and Massachusetts!"

Checkups, a week in the life

Last week, the kiddos had their checkups.  Both are healthy!  Oliver was 19 pounds, 9 ounces and 28 inches long (well above average on both counts -- he's huge).  Madeline was 30 lbs and 37.5 inches tall (above average height and below average weight).  She was able to complete the drawing tasks of producing a circle and an x.

When Madeline wears this sweater, she pretends she's a polar bear -- a polar bear who really likes pancakes.

On Sunday, Geoff visited!  Madeline was smitten and insisted that he read her her bedtime books.

Oliver loves food.

Oliver probably should not be able to do this yet, but here he is.  Moving him to the crib will have to wait until I can re-lower it.

Madeline is getting to know her way around the kitchen quite well.  In addition to helping with dishes and table-setting, she can produce the necessary ingredients for chocolate milk (here she has a bottle of coffee syrup too just to prove she's a native Rhode Islander).

First weekend in March

On Saturday morning, Oliver played space commander!

And he ate Oliver-sized pancakes.

After our frolicful morning ...

... we visited the Botanical Center at Roger Williams Park.

We all enjoyed experiencing lush green foliage since it's been such a long winter, but Madeline enjoyed this pool and fountain even more than the plants.

Oliver was a little perplexed by the whole thing.

There were not many people around ...

... so Madeline got to run and climb and play.

As closing time approached and we began our exodus, she proclaimed that she wanted to stay there forever.

Sunday morning, we drew pictures.  Here Madeline's holding quite a creative one.  This is what she told us, without any leading questions: The green patch is an ankylosaurus skull. The brown horizontal lines next to the green skull are the bones.  The red is lava from a volcano.  The yellow (much of which is beneath her left hand) is the rock breaking apart to emit the lava.  The blue is unbroken rock.  Madeline gave me the picture when she finished, and I now have it up in my office.

Then Holden and her family came over to play!  She and Madeline had great fun building with Duplos, eating banana bread, playing with Play-Doh, and using tape to fix Madeline's broken tambourine, among other things.

Later that afternoon, we decided to take a short walk.  Madeline put together a stylish outfit ...

... and we all wandered over to the baseball-and-softball complex near the house ...

... where we realized that it was cold, and returned home after a brief meander.

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Also, here's a week-old video of Oliver doing his army crawl.  My work-swag keychain provides great motivation.  In the background, Madeline is saying, among other things, "My dolly's called Sadie.  And I call her Sadie because she has yellow hair and no crown."