Minn-ee-SOH-ta!

We took advantage of the three day weekend to visit our aunts and uncles in Minneapolis last week. Unfortunately, mom wasn't very much of a shutterbug, but we had to get pictures of Chris playing the guitar for Ernie. He was kind of wound up, and this not only soothed him, but he was totally captivated by Chris's playing. Chris even let him try a few chords!

We got to see everyone except Cousin Nick. It was a great trip, and Ernie enjoyed everyone so much! Even the car ride was great thanks to Grandpa's Car!

And Ernie had zero accidents once again. We had to stop about four times each way for breaks, and he always went on the potty (only one stop had tears because of loud scary hand dryers). He's definately a big boy! Because he was soo good using only the potty, Mom got him a yellow porsche with doors and a hood that open up. Ernie played with it nonstop the rest of the way home.

We miss you already, Uncle Chris, Aunt Amy, Aunt Cathie, Uncle Chad, and Cousin Ashlee!

Word of the Week

Since Ernie has taken to language, I may start trying to do a special word of the week. Like Pee Wee Herman with less screaming. He honestly learns way more than one a week, but it comes from an assignment through toddler playtime. So I'll try to work on one new big one with him each week. This week's word comes complements of a trip to the underground acquarium when we went to visit the Chris and Cathie branches of the Hall clan in MN (we'll try to get some pics. up soon of that too). I jokingly told Ernie that the octopus he was looking at was a cephalopod. He took to the word in true mockingbird fashion and now says "Cephalopod!" when you ask him what an octopus is. If you don't know what it is, I suggest you look it up so that you are not schooled by a two-year-old next time you see him.

Potty update

So far, so good, Folks!

Ernie's now been wearing big boy underpants for all non-sleeping hours for a solid 9 days now. Several days Mom comes home to find us wearing the same pair we put on in the morning (meaning no accidents!). We've had a few no-accident days, and only a couple or less on other days. We've even volunteered to potty on our own without the reward of an Elmo sticker (because sometimes not crapping your pants is its own reward).

And just today we went outside the house to shoot pool with Dad and the guys over lunch and had no accidents! Dad's a risk-taker, but it paid off!

Go Ernie!

Captain Underpants!

Just because the new year isn't exciting enough until you throw yourself a huge curveball, we started formally potty training Ernie the evening of January 4! Here's the Ernster showing off his Elmo sticker (which means he had a potty success!) and then taking the underpants costume all the way with his Halloween pirate's cutlass. Doesn't he look like Ernie the Destroyer? Except wearing Tuesday Bowling unders?

Hall Aunts and Uncles

Our aunts and uncles on the Hall side weren't able to travel to see us, nor us to see them. They sent some awesome gifts back for Ernie with Grandma and Grandpa Hall, though! Four artist finger puppet/fridge magnets from Heather and John! (also see video below)

A seriously cool t-shirt from Uncle Chris's record shop.

Great books from Uncle Chris and Aunt Amy, too!

And we got to Wild Things from the Greguskas! We call them both "Max" after their leader, of course. And as the image illustrates, we love them.

Aunt Cathie also send a great box of homemade goodies, which we tore through and ate as fast as we could!

Uncle Darren and Aunt Laura

We were so lucky to have Aunt Laura and Uncle Darren around this holiday season. We miss them so much when they are gone. Laura first arrives and Ernie (and Chester) run for their hugs.

This is after the second or third kiss to welcome Laura home.

We see Uncle Darren for the first time since we were 6 months old!

Two handsome fellas.

Christmas weekend with the Mohrs

Uncle Darren and Aunt Liz arrived in Omaha late on Christmas Day, so we came down on the weekend for our holiday with the Mohrs. Checking out our fun books and other goodies with Grandma.

We love this digger from Little People! And our friend Berto and his Bozer (Roberto and his bulldozer) can also play with this set!

We played with one of these at Cousin Sally's house, and Aunt Laura noticed how much we loved it. Now we can chase the cat and dog all around the upstairs hallway with our popper!

A Radio Flyer Inchworm! We're having fun with this downstairs until it's warm enough to be our favorite backyard toy!

And the Noisy Construction: Demolition book (only Grandparents buy things for kids with the word "Noisy" explicitly in the title) which we adore. We can push all the buttons ourself on cue. The Ernie-ascribed title for this one is "read again."

Christmas Day

This year we had Christmas at home with just the MohrHalls. It was a day full of jammies, and slow-cooker rib smells, and fun in the snow. We love our train book with real tracks and a wind-up train, and our They Might Be Giants CDs, and we got a REAL SLINKY (mom is so jealous) in our stocking!

Merry Christmas from Robbie

Rob came over early on Christmas Eve to give Ernie a holiday gift. Rob has a way with picking out exactly the right thing. Even Grandma Bonnie had to comment on his genius choices from the past, which include the bathtime submarine that comes apart into different water-conduit contraptions, and of course our beloved mail delivery walker. This year, it was DINOSAURS!

Christmas Eve with the Hall G-'rents!

Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Denie came to our house for Christmas Eve. We decorated the tree, had dinner, and opened a wicked amount of presents. By the end of the night, Ernie definately knew what to do with a wrapped gift!

He loooooves the Duplo he got and the fridge bubble-wash matching game. These have both quickly become two of our favorite downstairs toys.