My thoughts on older kids who go trick-or-treating and don't even try to dress up

LAME! SERIOUSLY LAME!!!

"Mom" of 6 for two days

I am the oldest of five. It never seemed like we had lots of kids around the house.

When I babysit five other kids for a couple of days, five seemed like 7 or 8. Two of those five kids were two-year-old twins. WHOA! Need I say more? If you have taken care of two-year-old twins, I don't need to describe the experience; you know what it is like. If you have never taken care of two-year-old twins, I just can't describe it well enough to give you an accurate idea. So, go offer to babysit twins. Their mom will be grateful.

Honestly though, the kids were pretty good (most of the time). The older kids were angels and lots of fun.

Clips of singing, kayaking and curiosity - pause the music on the left

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He's got rhythm!

My kid can dance! Sometimes it's a shoulder groovying thing; other times it's knee bounce. Pedroco (his newest nickname) changes rhythm when the song changes.

Yesterday, Pedro's cousin, Kyle, came to visit. Some other friends joined us for dinner. Afterward, Roco gave us a show when he started jamming out to his toy piano that plays pop songs. I wished I'd gotten it on video. It was SO cute!

Thanks for coming to visit us, Kyle!

Growling at the polar bear

Elf-guided Hike and Red Wing Arts Festival

Now you know what what Santa's helpers do in the off-season. They guide tours at a Minnesota state park. Unfortunately, our guide never showed. Christmas must be coming!

A boy, a ball and a bug

The Pedros love to play basketball.


We discovered Little Pedrodeo (my newest nickname for him) has a skin contact allergy to milk/yogurt, so we are working at being less messing at meal times and not smearing milk/yogurt across his face.


This is a bug. A big bug. A fast bug. A scary-looking bug.
We became such good friends after he spent the afternoon on my table under a vase that I dropped him out by the back fence that night instead of in the toilet.

Moments of Pedro T. I didn't capture on camera because I was living in the moment

• PT begging for more tomatoes - do other kids like tomatoes???
• PT sliding down the slide with an expression of pure, innocent glee
• PT at the bottom of the slide looking up at the sky, his long hair straight out with static
• PT signing "Thank You" without a reminder beforehand
• PT trying to climb out of the bathtub with babybath lather all over his hair and body
• PT blowing on everything coming at him on a fork - With his big trumpet lips he sucks in hard a couple times, then blows out like he was a Lamaze instructor. (Now that I've lived this moment, I hope I can get it on video sometime because it is too hilariously cute to miss.)

Magician Baby

Yesterday I lifted Pedro out of his crib after his nap. I carried him as I filled up my waterbottle, then we went back to his room to sit in the rocking chair. I looked down and saw a diaperless-baby. We quickly remedied the situation. Thankfully, I discovered it before I had to change my clothes.