Easter with Court

We had a lovely Easter holiday with Court, complete with multiple eggs hunts, cookie baking, egg dyeing, and a visit with the Easter Bunny (which went shockingly well following a not-so-great season with Santa). One of our favorite moments was the egg hunt hosted by his school on the front lawn of the State Capitol Building. The lawn is beautifully maintained and it was a thrill to watch 20 one- and two-year-olds discover the treasure trove of candy-filled eggs.

Egg hunting at the State Capitol

Egg hunting at the home of his good pal Libby Boyne (on the occasion of her birthday)



Sporting bunny ears and his fancy Easter outfit

Potty Training Party

While his mom and dad comfortably floated along in diaper-land, Court decided to take things into his own hands and recently started asking to use the potty and talking about big boy underwear. Many of his classmates are six months older than him and not one to be left behind, he took the lead on his own potty training. We decided to kick things off with a potty training extravaganza weekend, a three-day pants-off party. Court did amazingly well, supported by stickers and M&Ms, with only two accidents over three days. We're now two weeks into a diaper-free life and he's doing great!

 Pants-off party weekend coincided with Easter weekend, so we kept busy with lots of Easter projects like coloring Easter eggs.

Party on the top, pants off on the bottom!

Looking at some flash cards while hanging out on the potty.

Our cool cat.

Farm Animal Days

Once a year, NC State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences opens up its field laboratory to the public for a few days. It's a wildly popular event attended by thousands of children, including our guy Court. When we visited the event in 2011, he was still a bit too young (at 15 months) to properly interact with all of the animals and farm equipment, but this year, he embraced every single part of the experience, from holding baby chicks, to petting a baby goat, to driving a big tractor, to enjoying some NCSU ice cream (truly, some of the best we've ever had).

Tutu Comes to Visit

Court recently spent a week with his Maui grandma, who he lovingly calls Tutu (the standard Hawaiian name for grandmothers). They played all over the city, including a lovely spring afternoon at one of our favorite outdoor spaces, Fred Fletcher Park.

The Neighborhood Gang

Court is very fortunate to have a large group of toddler friends within walking distance of our home, including a few who have become like family to us since we landed in Raleigh. Court first met Allen, Avery and Keenan in the late summer of 2010 and they've had lots of adventures together since that time, including many holidays and dinner dates and a week at the beach last summer. We're so grateful for all of them!

 Court, Avery & Keenan (both born 6/2010)

 Allen (born 6/2009), Court, Avery, Keenan and baby Benn (born 5/2011)

Breaking in the Waffle Iron

Court's great aunt Mary Ann gifted us with a new waffle iron recently, which makes our waffle-crazed family pretty darn excited. Court was quick to pull up his stool and help his mom and dad with waffle prep this weekend, and then voluntarily climbed into his high chair to gobble them up. (Our kitchen isn't usually this disheveled, but it was a big project!)

Sweet Potato Fries

We don't eat a lot of french fries, but when we do, we get especially excited about sweet potato fries. We're particularly keen on the fried-to-order, NC-grown sweet potatoes at the Q Shack, one of our favorite barbeque spots. Court is a big fan of the Q Shack and on a recent visit, he declared that he was too big for the highchair (an escalating battle for his mom & dad) and insisted on sitting in a booth. He's still a bit small for such a big boy seat, but that didn't stop him from digging into the fries, mac & cheese, and grilled hot dog. Yum!