They love daddy’s measuring tape.

A few nights ago Wes was watching some home video I had shot of him and Carissa. In the video Carissa is holding a carrot that I’m using to make dinner and I’m telling her that it’s a carrot.

Suddenly Wes jumped up from the couch, shouting, “Carrot! Carroooottt!” and ran into the kitchen.

I dug out the giant leftover carrot from the fridge drawer and gave it to him.

Then he ran back to the couch, finished watching the video, and ate half the carrot.

I was kind of amazed. He doesn’t often (read: EVER) request raw vegetables. Just shows the power of suggestion in what you watch on TV.

Last Sunday before church, in between getting the kids dressed, I paused to take photos of them together on the couch–which were supposed to be nice, look-how-much-I-adore-my-sibling type pictures.

The reality:

This morning I took both kids to the pediatrician’s office. It was Carissa’s 15-month checkup, and the doctor needed to make sure Wesley’s ear infection was better.

Since Carissa’s forehead had a run-in with a metal rod a couple weeks ago and she had to get stitches in the ER, she’s been super-extra clingy to me, and as soon as we walked into the exam room and the nurse wanted to touch her, she was NOT happy. I think she was flashing back to her ER experience.

The good and problematic thing about Wes is that he’s so sympathetic to other people’s feelings. When someone else is upset, he is upset. Therefore, when Carissa is screaming her head off Wes tends to follow suit.

The nurse was great and tried to get through everything as fast as possible. The downside is that some of her measurements were clearly off and the doctor had to do them again (head circumference jumped from 45th at 12 months to 95th percentile…he remeasured and it was the 56th percentile).

She’s doing fine. She’s nearly 21 pounds and about 30 inches tall (that’s one of the measurements that we’re not sure about).

We talked about Carissa’s apparent allergy to nuts (she’s gotten hives around her mouth the two times she’s eaten peanut butter and one other time I cut her food with the same knife I used for hazelnut spread). We’ll be getting in touch with an allergist. But, boy, Carissa getting pricked by nurses doesn’t sound like a good time.

After we finished at the doctor’s (Carissa topped off her experience with three shots in the legs) I took the kids to IKEA. It was a gift to myself.

I had a specific mission in mind: a toddler size table for the kids. We already have four toddler size chairs that we got for free a while ago. I’ve looked elsewhere for tables and knew that IKEA’s prices were very good.

John and I went to IKEA once in San Francisco while on vacation with his family. This was long before we had kids, and we weren’t looking for anything. So I wasn’t really into it.

Today, walking into IKEA, I was a little blown away. It’s the most family friendly store I’ve ever visited.

They got me first with the family restroom right up front that’s big enough for you to take in your whole cart, a child-size sink, complimentary diapers if you forget yours, and a comfy chair for nursing. Not even Babies R Us is so nice.

Then it was the giant elevator that takes you to the second floor showroom that was big enough to fit probably four or five moms with their carts, kids, strollers, and purchases comfortably.

Then it was the children’s IKEA section full of gorgeous little lamps, rugs, toys, storage, and, yes, tables that are not only cute but affordable. I found a two-pack of artist smocks for Wes and Carissa for $5 and a two-pack of big plastic bibs for Carissa for even less than that. Then I picked out the table I wanted, wrote the product number on the “shopping list” printed on the back of the store map (which is ESSENTIAL), and moved on.

We ate lunch at the IKEA cafeteria-style restaurant. I got Wes a kid’s meal for $2.49 and got Carissa some baby food (!!! Who else thinks to sell baby food in the cafeteria? Genius). We ate by a window overlooking the parking lot and busy freeway.

Wes loved his french fries and juice and watching people and cars outside.

Carissa liked her food, too.

The food was pretty good, but it didn’t hold a candle to the food in the Provo LDS Temple’s cafeteria. I’d eat there every day.

We went downstairs to the Marketplace, which is less of a showroom and more of a regular store setup. I walked into the kitchen section and I might have drooled a little. It was fun to walk through. I only bought one thing that cost 99 cents, but I sure thought about more.

We strolled through the rest of the place and ended up in the warehouse part where you go find the product you want to buy. It’s easy to locate the aisle and bin number. The box was so well packed and light that it fit easily under my cart. The checkout is a self-checkout (that actually works, not like Wal-Mart’s). And then, ta-dah! we were done.

The only thing left to do was get the free frozen yogurt cone that we had a coupon for at the Bistro by the exit.

Wes ate it all.

And I mean ALL.

IKEA, IKEA, what a wonderful place.

Carissa is 15 months now and totally into doing whatever anyone else–especially Wesley–is doing.

Just off the top of my head, lately I’ve observed:

— Wesley stamping his feet and Carissa copying.
— Wesley tossing crayons off the table onto the floor and Carissa copying.
— Wesley playing with a helium balloon by the ceiling fan and Carissa copying.
— Wesley rolling toys down the stairs and Carissa copying.
— Wesley tossing diapers and other objects over the second floor stairs balcony and Carissa copying.

But sometimes the copying is good. She picks up so much so quickly and is really coming into her own.

They both love playing in the sink. But after I took the first two pictures below, I decided it’s best if it’s not at the same time.

They like playing with the same toys (leading to spats, of course). That’s the next three pictures below. Notice Carissa standing on the ride-on toy. She is always trying to stand on anything that looks like it might be fun and dangerous. Today I pulled her off the back of the couch just as she was trying to stand up. It doesn’t back up to anything, and it was a fall waiting to happen. I’ve seen her take a step up the stairs all by herself, standing upright and holding onto nothing. But she is braver than she ought to be because her balance isn’t ready for walking upstairs by herself yet. Hopefully she won’t do that when I’m not looking.

Carissa is quite the character. She loves wearing her sparkly red shoes. They are her favorite (picture #6).

I have a hard time cleaning out or filling the dishwasher when she’s around because it’s one of her favorite play things–especially the silverware basket (picture #7), which she carries around and fills with toys. I usually have to do a quick search before starting the dishwasher to rescue any stashed matchbox cars. She also loves getting into cupboards and the pantry. Anything and everything works as a toy for her.

I like that she’s big enough I can set her on the counter while I cook dinner and work in the kitchen. Sometimes she and Wesley sit up there together. It’s some of my favorite time, having both my kids around me while I cook.

Wes, Carissa, and I made an outing to the Children’s Discovery Museum. We went with our friends, but naturally I forgot to take any pictures that included all of us together. It was fun to carpool up together.

The very first attraction inside the museum is a giant ball garden. Kids can push balls into vacuum tubes that suck the balls up overhead and spit them out in various places. There are all sorts of activities kids can can do with the balls, and I can tell you that once Wes entered the ball garden, he did not want to leave. Ever.

Eventually I pushed him out and we saw the rest of the place. There’s a mini grocery store, which was mostly filled with cute little girls wearing aprons, filling their shopping baskets with pretend food and checking out at the cash register. Wes zeroed in right away on the plastic fruit shaped like balls. So I had to get him out of there quickly, as the girls didn’t like having produce thrown at them.

The great thing about this place is that all the kids, no matter how young, can feel like they belong there. Everything is meant to be played with. Even Carissa was right at home, finding plenty to stay busy with. She had fun exploring the child-sized house.

The other favorite activity was the water station. Wes and Carissa could have stayed there for a long time.

Carissa liked to drink from the boats.

We had a good time, and I’m sure we’ll be back sometime.