Our Little Cinderella and Cowboy/Baker

The days of pretend play are upon us, and it's WONDERFUL! It's so great to see our kids take on multiple roles throughout the day as they try to understand how to interact with the world around them. Chayce is often a princess...whether it be Cinderella, or just dressed to the hilt (including some of Mommy's red lipstick...), or she's a mermaid, or an astronaut--yes, that one's a bit different, but so cute. She'll run around saying "Aster-nuts never give up!!" Then we count backwards from ten and blast off!!
Zach has been a chef today, helping me make my first turkey (which turned out pretty good, I might add...thanks Mom! I did everything your way, and of course, it worked!). Zach wondered why we had to mix the stuffing with our hands instead of a spoon, and I told him it was because food tastes better when you get into it. I think that's true...at least I appreciate food when I've been a little closer to it. Zachary has also been a superhero for the past week, saving the world from bad people. I keep trying to tell him that the world is more good than bad, and you find what you look for (yes, I know bad things happen, but that doesn't mean you have to seek them out). I've attempted to tell him his time would be better spent thanking those who are genuinely good, than trying to annihilate those who are bad, but it doesn't seem to be as interesting.
Our Chayce has been a bit literal lately...today she yelled to me from another room, "Mommy, can you open this?" I yelled back, "What is it?" (not wanting to say yes until I knew what I was getting into, if you have ever dealt with a toddler, you know why). She replies, "Closed." Her voice had an air of exasperation to it, kind of like, "if it were open, I wouldn't be asking, duh." She's also taken to maiming me so that she can kiss me better. Scenario as follows:
Chayce--I'm gonna crush your foot!
Me--OW! Chayce, that hurts mommy.
Chayce--I'm gonna give you a hug and kiss it better now. See? All gone!
Me--Yes, but can we offer the kiss without the crushing next time?
Chayce--OK, Mommy.
Note: ten minutes later I hear...I'm gonna crush your foot! Where does she get this stuff?

We heard this song today that reminded us of little Chayce, you can watch the music video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtOy8R01fTA

Zachary has been a huge help lately, especially since one of his new favorite things to do is vacuum. What mother can argue with that? I love it. He also enjoys cooking, and I'm trying to let him, often. Our dinners have started coming out of books instead of my head. For example, we read "The Princess and the Pizza" the other day, which led to making a homemade Chicago deep dish pizza--which, you CANNOT beat with some lame takeout pizza. This stuff is wonderful! I highly recommend going to one of the famous Chicago pizzerias first, then making it at home...the experience is great. I don't think Zach will ever forget his first piece, nor his second or third, as one slice stuffs Mommy, and Zach could keep going as long as sausage was involved. He's definitely growing, getting taller almost daily. Family won't recognize him when we come back to visit. I almost don't, and I catch myself staring. He's one handsome kid, if I do say so myself.

Tomorrow is my last "every 4 weeks" doctor check up, and then we switch over to the every other week check to see if I'm ready to go check ups. Mentally, I could have this baby any day. I realize she needs a little more time to grow, and so I will be patient...62 days, and counting. As for the weather, for those who always ask, we got about a foot of snow here this week, but it's supposed to rain this weekend and get back into the 50's next week, so it won't last long. As of now, the roads are icy, and I'm trying to avoid much travel (which is why I set up two appointments for tomorrow...silly me).