Chocolate milk is a favorite at our house. When Dutch started drinking milk at a year we couldn't get him to drink plain milk, he only liked chocolate milk. And we had to blend it in our bullet blender and call it a shake to get him to drink it. So we have always called chocolate milk a shake at our house. When Maylee started drinking milk, I never even tried giving it to her plain we just went straight to the chocolate and she loves it. In fact she loves it this much.... Even after I took the container from her she still would not stop eating it...

Climbing!

Maylee has been climbing for a long time now. But lately she has gotten a lot more daring and a lot higher up on things. She is constantly climbing up on the kitchen table. She pulls the chair out climbs up and then I find her standing on the table. It's starting to get a bit scary. I can't take a shower or leave the kitchen for any length of the time unless I take the chairs out of the kitchen. And she just thinks she is so funny and so cool once she gets up there. Her newest discovery happened the other day. She was sitting up on the couch when she all of the sudden got the greatest idea to sit on the back of the couch. So she climbed on up.

Easter was a big hit at our house this year. Last year we didn't do any thing special. But this year we made sure to make it a great day for the kids. Saturday night we colored Easter eggs with them. I wasn't sure how Dutch would actually do with this project but he loved it and didn't even make a huge mess. Maylee wanted in on the action but she mostly enjoyed slamming two eggs together and getting them to crack. We also realized very quickly that it is better to color eggs with the kids topless to save their shirts from the dye.

Getting Started... Sunday morning Maylee and I, of course, woke up early. So I made a special Easter breakfast and then David got to hide the eggs in the yard. Once Dutch was up and out of his crabby state we took them outside to hunt eggs. Dutch loved finding the eggs and Maylee loved it as well and they both did a great job. The first thing Maylee picked up and put in her basket was her play phone that she had left outside. Then she caught on to the egg thing. Grandma was wonderful and got the kids their Easter outfits this year and they looked so adorable. Dutch got his very first Sunday jacket and it was an absolute fight to get him to put it on but once he did he looked so handsome and then luckily forgot about it and wore it the rest of the day.

Yesterday my friend and I took the kids to the Children's Museum of Phoenix. Dutch has always enjoyed going and loves playing there. But he is my wanderer, he gets distracted so easy and just wanders off and freaks me out. There has been a couple of times that took us a few minutes to find him, where I was just sure someone must have taken him. It is the worst feeling in the world. Well yesterday was the most different day than any day we have had there so far. He was entertained and played extremely well and never once wandered off. It was great. There is a little grocery store there, with tiny carts and registers. It's adorable. Now normally when we go there Dutch loves to push the cart but I am constantly having to herd him back into the store because he just wanders off into the hall. But yesterday he had a blast in the store. It was the first time that he really used his imagination and just played for a long time. He kept filling up his cart with food and then he would go to the checkout stand and check it out and ring it up. He played in there like that for forty five minutes. It was amazing. And it was so fun to watch him really just use his imagination. My baby is growing up. He didn't even want to leave. Savannah and I had to convince him to go play in a different area. Later in the day we were hanging out in the three and under room and same thing Dutch just played and kept himself entertained. There is a little play house in there with just a kitchen inside. Maylee sat at the kitchen table and Dutch was cooking things on the stove and then he would pretend to pour things in the sink and then he took the dishes over to the table and would sit down next to Maylee and hand her a dish and say, "Here Mayner, eat". It was so cute. I just stood there watching and smiling, it was so adorable.

For lunch, Jenny and I have been taking the kids outside lately and enjoying the wonderful weather. We were all sitting at a picnic table and Jenny was sitting across from me and both Dutch and Savannah were sitting on my side of the table. Pretty soon this pigeon came under the table and was eating the food that the kids kept dropping. He was sticking close to Jenny's side of the table but Dutch and Savannah were just fascinated watching the bird eat the food. Well the pigeon came right over next to Dutch and I think it kind of scared Dutch and so all of the sudden Dutch just kicked it right in the head. I couldn't help but laugh and say "Oh Dutch, don't kick the bird." But it was pretty funny. And the dumb bird didn't even fly away, it just stayed there and kept eating. And it got kicked hard.

So the this morning I told Dutch to tell Daddy about when he kicked the bird. I wasn't even sure if he remembered but he ran right over to Daddy and he said, "I kicked the bird." And then kicked really big to show him how. It was so cute and funny, that we both laughed. Well since Dutch got such a great reaction out of it he told us over and over again that he "Kicked the bird." And would then kick. Even tonight at my parents house he kept telling Mimi, Grandpa and Uncle Seth. Well this one time he was telling Grandpa the story but when he kicked in the air, he kicked with such force that he fell down on his tush. It was so funny, we all got a really big laugh out of that one.

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It's come to my attention lately that Dutch is afraid of heights. Just out of the blue, terrified of heights but only when his diaper is being changed. The other day a bunch of my friends and I were at the park for playgroup and Dutch had a poopy diaper. No big deal, I just grabbed a diaper and wipes and took him over to a bench to clean him up. Well as soon as I laid him down on the bench he started freaking out. He just started crying and saying, "I fall down" over and over again. So I kept telling him that I wouldn't let him fall down but he apparently didn't believe me b/c it didn't' stop him from crying. But then he grabs my shirt and holds on tight and says, "I gotch you Mommy." It was really weird but I didn't give it much thought afterwards, I just figured it was from laying on a park bench, you know, something new. But then a couple of days after that we were getting my car washed and same thing he needed a diaper change, so I took him into the restroom and laid him down on the changing table and he just starts screaming "I fall down, I fall down." It's so weird. And he does it at home now too, on his own changing table. So now I just try to lay him down on the floor because he is so terrified to be up high while his diaper is being changed. But the funniest thing is when he grabs my shirt and screams "I gotch you Mommy." Thinking that will save him from falling. It's very adorable.

We took Maylee on her first big girl walk last night. We let her walk by herself and lead the way. It was a very fun, interesting walk. I of course, put shoes on her since we were outside walking. After walking for about 7 minutes she sat down and was trying to take her shoes off, she no longer wanted to wear them. So I took her shoes off and held them for her. Then a minute later she wanted to hold her shoes, so I let her hold them. After that she handed me one shoe at a time and kept saying please, because she wanted me to put her shoes back on her. We did that about 5 times during the walk. She also really wanted to walk in the street, trying to keep her on the sidewalk was a very big task. The entire time during the walk she wanted to hold either mine or David's hand. She would hold her hand out to us for us to hold it and once we grabbed on she would hold our hand for a few steps and then let go and then start the process over again. Finally the last part of the walk we told Dutch to hold Maylee's hand. So he walked over to her and grabbed her hand and they walked side by side holding hands for the longest time. It was so sweet.

Dutch loves taking walks and of course enjoyed getting out of the house. Him and David were walking ahead of Maylee and I for a long time and Dutch just kept yelling, "Come here, Mayner" "Hurry Mayner". It was pretty cute. And at the end of the walk he started collecting rocks. He was so excited about his rocks. When we got home he put them on the couch and was counting his rocks. Then he got to put them in a little plastic baggie so he could carry them around. He enjoyed that.