Month 03.02 (part I) - The Nice List.

"Santa, I'm not on the Naughty list, am I?"

Paige confirmed with Santa that she made the Nice List (it was a barn-burner, that is for sure).  We went to visit my parents up in Detroit Lakes the weekend before Christmas, and took a drive to the Santa Village at Rheault Farm in Fargo.  It was really nice, and Paige had a great time, and got to meet Santa, Mrs. Claus, some of the reindeer, and even took a horse and buggy ride.

Bonus Photos:

 "Saint Nicolas left candy in my boots! eww."

 "Snowball fight!"

We had an impromptu snowball fight at the tree farm while picking out our Christmas Tree.  Paige had a blast.

 (another shot from Rheault farm, courtsey of Grandpa Will)

"Let's bake cookies!"

Yes, Valerie and Paige have matching aprons, and yes, Baby Girl has one too.  Thanks Mor Mor Teri!

Month 03.01 - Fall Play Time

"Cannonball!"

(Sorry it has taken so long to get back to posting.  Longer than I had hoped, but the last month and a half has been crazy busy.)  Paige loves a good leaf pile.  Unfortunately her shoes don't love to stay on her feet.  It was an interesting fall as usual.  The leaves turned casually, but dropped in large droves.  Unfortunately as soon as we finished the second batch of raking we had a turn of colder weather and the last of the leaves dropped and ended up being covered in snow.  (Which subsequently melted, but we are pretty tired of the leaf raking).

Bonus Photos:

 "Blow out the candles with me Momma!"

Birthday Reprise.  We had another "family" birthday party for Paige.  It was a lot of fun.

 "Come draw with me.  Let's make a picture"

Sidewalk chalk in late November.  Crazy.

 "Around the block just once?  It isn't THAT cold yet!"

"I'll save you Baby Girl."

Week 02.52 (part two) - Three Peas.

"Funny face birthday photo!"

Well, another year has gone by.  It is so hard to believe that Paige is already 3.  She has grown so quickly this year.  She has progressed from toddler to little girl.  She had a blast at her birthday party, and had a lot of friends come over to visit.  Including her good friend Kate and her new friend Amelia (see Amelia and her brother Jack's blog Here - Baby 366).  I believe this marks the first photo of the two of them together, as they have not had an opportunity to play together before. I'm surprised the internet didn't break when I posted this.  At first there was some shyness to get over, but that fell away quickly, and they were soon playing like the oldest of friends.

Moving on to next year, I don't know that I will keep a strict weekly format.  We've been so very busy lately that I've been hard pressed to keep up, and I don't want to bore everyone with uninteresting pictures.  I do, however, promise to post at least once per month.  I am sure there will be plenty of bonus photos along the way too.

Bonus Photos:

"Happy Birthday to Paige, Happy Birthday to..., oh wait Momma, it's my birthday, so I don't sing to myself.  That's silly!"

 
"Take THAT!"

"It's ok Baby Boy, don't cry.  I'll take care of you."

Week 02.52 (part one) - Beauty and the Beast

"I'm a princess.  And a Scary Gorilla."

Paige had a hard time deciding what to be for Halloween.  Then again, because she plays dress up all of the time, she doesn't have a lack of choices either. She ended up going with...

Bonus Photos:

"Look at my pumpkins!  Thank you Grandpa Will and Mor Mor Teri."

"Trick or Treat.  Smell my Feet.  Give me something to eat like candy."

Yes, Paige knows that song now too (kind of).  Oh, and she was a Candy Corn Witch for Halloween.

"If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning.  I'd hammer in the evening, all over this land."

She doesn't know that song, but boy does she like to bang on things with hammer.

Week 02.51 - One, Two, Three!

"One, Two, Three!  We LOVE Swimming!"

Paige is taking swimming glasses at the Family Swim School in Eagan.  We can't say enough great things about it.  She is taking to it like quite the champ too.  Funny side effect, she tries to swim in the tub.  Unfortunately she has also tried to "jump" into the water in the tub too.  Have to reign that in just a bit I'd say.

Bonus Photo:

"Daaad, Are you kidding me?"

Yes, she really does say that.  Yes I need to get used to this look, and yes, she wasn't even three yet when this photo was taken.  Crazy.

Week 02.50 - Fireman Bill

"Firefighters will come and save you Daddy.  That is what they do."

Paige's Daycare had a visit from Fireman Bill.  Paige was very excited to check out the fire truck and see what it was all about.  She was especially excited to learn that firefighters will come and save you if there is a bad fire.  She was so excited about her hat that she wanted a photo. I thought it would be a good chance to take a nice formal portrait.  Her excitement sadly lasted only until I had the gear set up.  Then she was over it.

Bonus Photos:

"I get vitamins if I sit still."

We have to bribe Paige with Gummy vitamin in order to get her hair combed and put back. Apparently Nanna can french braid her hair with out much more than a "sit still."

"Like my pumpkin?"

Paige designed her bedazzled pumpkin without suggestions from others(just in case you doubted her talents).  She was pretty proud.

"Thank's for the hay ride Grandpa Steve."

We went to the Little Farmer (an Apple Orchard just north of Fond du Lac).  I think Paige might have enjoyed it more than Valerie, though it is kind of a toss up.

"We did it!"
They had a corn maze at the Little Farmer.  Paige managed to guide us through the maze, even without being on a leash...(there was a father in the maze who had his son on one of those leash back packs. and Yes, this is me judging and shaking my head in disapproval.)

"This makes the corn maze worth it."

Paige enjoyed her Little Farmer Packers colored caramel apple.  She probably didn't enjoy it quite as much as Valerie, but I'm not sure that is possible.

Week 02.49 - A Cottage in the Woods

"Welcome, Welcome.  Come on in."

We got Paige her Birthday present a little early this year in the hope that she could use it a bit before the snow starts flying.  In case you couldn't tell from the photograph above, Paige was pretty excited.

Bonus Photos:

"Yep, stay right there ok, Kate?"

Paige is always happy to help out with a photo shoot.

"You coming or what?"

"I love you Momma.  I even LIKE you!"

Week 02.48 - Bombs Away.

"Jump!"

Yes, that hay bale is taller than Paige is. Yes she jumped right off the bale without hesitation.  Yes, I almost had a heart attack.  Yes she was just fine, and rolled into the landing like a champ.  So much for a relaxing day at the apple orchard.

Bonus Photos:

"It's OK Daddy, we can pretend this one came from the ground."

So, I wouldn't recommend going to the Afton Apple Orchard.  They make you pay an admission price of $3.00 per person just to go into the orchard area, and then have signs posted all over that you can't eat any apples out in the orchard as you need to pay for them.  Paige the scofflaw was having none of it though.  She ate an apple with nary a thought to the crazy orchard rules.

"No Daddy, I should say Pumpkin PIE."

To be fair they did have a lot of equipment for Paige to play on, as well as the large hay tower.

"It's dark outside."

Getting blue and pretty dark on the way to daycare these days.

Week 02.47 - Aporkalypse.

"Oh, No!"

Paige had a minor disaster.  She was putting some change in her piggy bank, and went to pick it up.  She lost her grip (no surprise, given how heavy it was) and the little pig gave up the ghost.  Paige took it really really hard. We loaded up as much as we could into her back-up piggy bank and carted it off to the bank, so she could deposit the money into her savings account.

"Yippee, what should I buy?"

Because she is doing such a good job of saving money, she was able to go shopping with Valerie and pick something out to purchase.  She bought a very nice Crayon/Colored Pencil/Marker/Cray-pas set, because she loves to color.  Hopefully it lasts longer than the piggy bank (doubtful).

Bonus Photos:

"Momma, will you braid my hair?"

Paige's hair is officially long enough to braid.  Valerie is loving it.  Apparently all that hard work practicing in church on the ribbons in the song book paid off.

"Let's go this way Kate!"
Just another fun-filled afternoon at the Eagle's Nest indoor playground with her friend Kate.

"Jump, Jump, JUMP!"
We had a very eventful and fast-paced Twin Cities Marathon weekend.  I ran the Twin Cities Marathon 10K race, then hopped on my bike to meet Paige and Valerie to head over to her gymnastics class at Highland Park High School.  We then had to hop back on our bikes and head back over to the State Capitol Grounds for Paige's race.

"I can see the finish.  I can make it!"

We made it just in time for Paige to hop in to her age group heat.  Paige ran the half-mile race, and pretty much ran the entire way.

"There's nothing like some salty snacks and a bit of water after a long race, is there Daddy?"

Paige enjoyed some post-race snacks for a couple minutes before we had to hop on our bikes and head back home, as Valerie had to work that afternoon.  All in all it was a fun-filled day.

Week 02.46 - Strike a Pose

"Ahhhh Daddy no more pictures."

It used to be so easy to have her sit for a photo.  Ok, maybe it wasn't "easy" but at least she didn't move so fast.  see Just One More Shot.  Then again, she does seem to be developing a relaxed pose for the camera, I just want to avoid that hammed up "cheese" smile EVERY time I take a picture these days.  The thing is, how else can you get a two-year old to look at the camera?

Bonus Photo:

"That a real Paige in there?"  Nope, Chuck Testa.

Week 02.44 (Bonus) - Cabin Time

Well, I managed to miss a bunch of photos from Labor Day weekend (bad digital asset management on my part).  Some of them were too good to hold back, so I need to make an extra post.

"Watch out, I've got a water ballon."

"What's this stuff?  Who left it here?"

Paige's first Geocache. Ayden got a geocaching GPS, and we had to test it out.  They had a lot of fun.  As a bonus, we found a nice park that is only about a mile from Valerie's Dad's cabin.

"Cheesbuger, French Fries"

"Watch out Uncle Bryan!"

"Let's Go!"

Week 02.45 - Dress Up Champ.

"Taa-Daa!"

We have converted our back porch into Paige's play room.  Paige loves to play dress up, and then come busting through the back door to show what she put on.  Apparently she also figured out how to take my hats off of the wall.  I guess someone should get use out of my derby as I haven't worn it in about 5 years.

Bonus Photos:

"Nature walk time."

"Wait, so when do we get to shoot baskets?"

Paige was able to participate in the Forest Lake Little Kicker's camp, which is a half-day dance team camp put on by the Forest Lake High School Dance Team.  She was the youngest one to participate, and unfortunately I don't think she really figured out what she was supposed to do.  I guess for a 2 1/2 year old, just starting and finishing in the same position as everyone else is an accomplishment.