Yo Ho Ho! Yohan Turns Four!

Where did four years go?? We can't believe how fast the years are flying by ('cept of course, the days are still pretty long!) and how quickly the kids are growing up.

On Saturday, the 24th, we celebrated Yohan's fourth birthday at Pump It Up, followed by a home/ family birthday celebration on the 26th.

Captain Yohan and his crew went on a treasure quest at the pirate-themed party. The big guy wore a pirate-themed t-shirt and his second-in-command (Malaika) wore a sailor dress and, if mamma does say so herself, they made one cute buccaneer team. We had about fourteen little 3-4 year olds and their moms and dads and, of course, we had to do everything with an arrrrgh factor. Yohan's favorite were the homemade pirate-hook hands (crafted from a disposable cup and foil) and the swords we had as take-home presents. My favorite was the treasure map food labels (the "parchment" was made by soaking paper in tea and blow-drying it!). The kids had a great time bouncing, aaarrr-ing and finally digging into pizza and cake (which was served pirate style).

Hit the Deck! Pirate games in progress

It even had hammock to chiil out in after the treasure quest (for M n M's in this case!) 

On his "real" birthday, we had more presents from mamma and dadda (his wishlist was very specific: legos, super-heros, transformers, angry birds (!!!) and robots.... some of which were fulfilled by his parents and some by friends... thank you, everyone). Ranjit came home early from work and we went to the children's museum, followed by dinner at Red Robin where he was serenaded for his birthday.

  

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Kid Talk

Kids say the funniest things! Here's a little sample:

Malaika: Mamma, can Reagan come over today?
Mamma: Not today.
Malaika (in her best whiny voice): But I looove her. I dream about her!!!!

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Yohan while watching TV ... breaks wind.
Mamma: Yo!!
Yohan: That wasn't a 'putt-putt'. That was just a woodpecker.

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Yohan, quite caught up in the challenges of his sister being potty-trained: Mamma, today is Malaika wearing a pull-up, an underwear, a diaper, a panty or some other thingie?

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Malaika watching her anna peeing standing up: That's so much fun. Mamma, I want to do that next time.

Mamma: Only boys can do that, Malaika.

Malaika: When I become a boy, can I do that?

(All this in a public bathroom within ear-shot of several people.)

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All this potty-talk reminds me of a big milestone in our lives. I'm talking HUGE. The Narjalas are almost free of diaper duty!! Malaika has been fully potty-trained during the day for a week. No accidents. Amazing. No diapers = more moolah in the CDO's (Chief Diaper Operator's) Shopping Budget. Did someone say, 'sweet!'? :)

Crafts and Crazies

Here's a look at some of the fun stuff we've been doing.

Good-bye Winter! "Snowball" (cotton wool) fight complete with mittens and wool hats!

Spring Blossom Popcorn tree!

They love crafts where they can eat the supplies.

A box can be a ship, a rocket, a submarine ... just not a box.

Ahoy Matey! Pirates hard at work!

Notice his earring and the scruffy face

Family movie night: Pizza and a fast-forwarded version of 'Toy Story'

Hallmark Holiday

I haven't posted in a while but thankfully Ranjit has been keeping the blog updated while his dearest wife spends the evenings vegging out. The last week has been super slow, with both kids down with fevers and colds and coughs. Now I'm longing to get back to my chauffeuring!

Meanwhile, here's a short post about Valentine's Day. The kids made a total of 15 valentine cards (with pictures of cars and the message, "I think you're 'wheelie' awesome!" ) for their classmates and brought home a haul of candy from school. Ranjit brought whiny wife red roses and the kids heart-shaped balloons.... yeah, Hallmark got the better of us again. Valentine's evening had less to do with a romantic dinner and more to do with heart-shaped pancakes, pink strawberry smoothies, cherries in cupcake liners and other frivolities which helped make a regular February evening more cheery.

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