Evan and Emily: January 2013

Whew, with the holidays all behind us, we settled into January with the usual "hangover" feeling of a whirlwind of activity from the last 4 weeks. Atypically, this January was a lot busier for us, as we filled our weekends with some very fun activities!

To pseudo-celebrate Evan's birthday, he and I spent an afternoon/evening away from Rochester and traveled to Chicago for some quality time. Unfortunately Evan wasn't feeling well, but he managed to still treat me to a wonderful Italian dinner at a new restaurant (we love to indulge our "foodie" habit) and a Broadway show. We had an amazing time and it was great to spend some one on one time together.

We also entered into a new realm of parenting and joined the other crazed-parents and over-excited children at the Disney on Ice show in Indianapolis. I have no idea what propelled us into doing this, however, the day turned out to be a ton of fun for everyone. Well, maybe not as much for Jane. See, the older that Jane gets she seems to continue to exhibit traits resembling that of a full-fledge adult vs. 3 year old. I hate to admit it, but she is definitely a "mini-me" in all things personality. She likes things in certain order, has a memory like no one else, and is very literal in every sense of the word. Things "are supposed to be this way" and she loves to follow the rule to the letter of the law. The very first act brought out all sorts of characters, and you could see the skepticism beginning to form on her face. Well, once The Little Mermaid scene unfolded, it was all over for Jane, who just kept insisting that the girl was NOT Ariel because, "Mommy, Ariel doesn't have legs and that girl has legs and that is not Ariel". She sat, stonefaced, the entire rest of the show. Minus when we indulged in various "treats" during intermission.

Luke, on the other hand, could not have been more exuberant. He shouted the names of every.single.character the moment they came out and this went on for the entire show. Luckily, everyone around us was amused by this and not annoyed. It was priceless and adorable and worth the trip (and Jane's disappointment)!

Lastly, and certainly not least, we celebrated Luke's 2nd birthday. We kept things low-key (see previous post on holiday festivities....) and treated Luke to wonderful Mickey Mouse themed birthday, complete with balloons and presents and of course treats! More on Luke's birthday in another post....

A rare, but wonderful, date night

Very excited, pre-Ariel's arrival

Luke is still figuring out what "smile" means

Let's be honest, the real highlight of the day. Daddy loves to indulge in treats. (Sidenote: Mommy may or may not have been the one who bought the dippin dots ice cream....terrible idea)

It was all over for Luke the moment the Toy Story gang came skating out. The guests surrounding us didn't know what high-pitched, squeals really sounded like until that moment. "REX!" "HAMM!" "WOOOODY"!