Sunday, September 28, 2008

Day Out with Thomas



If you have never been to the NC Transportation Museum, in Spencer you need to go. On this particular occasion, Thomas and Bob the Builder were there as well which of course appealed to our crew. Many thanks to Dad and Joyce for arranging this for us and for such an incredible day!

We arrived around 10:30 thanks to some unscheduled stops (hey, we have kids!). We walked through some of the exhibits and then met bob the Builder, Fifi and watched a magic show. We then had a nice lunch, rode Thomas and met Sir Topham Hat. Yes, they honestly had a steam engine that looked exactly like Thomas that took us out on the tracks owned by the museum. They were a one way set that pass a working railroad yard, has the largest roundhouse and turntable in the country and actually hooks to the currently used freight lines. We were not allowed on the main lines of course so there was a diesel engine on the back that brought us back as we reveresed. The kids loved it. Ethan got a tattoo of Thomas on his face and they both got Tootsie pops from the vendors for being so good and patient. We bought them some t-shirts and a puzzle to commemorate the day and they slept the entire ride home (two hours of silence).





Saturday, September 27, 2008

Grandpa's birthday

Today was my Dad's birthday so we all went over to play at their place and then went out to dinner. Ethan got to play with his truck and gas tank from his birthday and Jason had his wagon and golf clubs. It is so hard to get them indoors lately. Jason screams and throws himself down. You can hear him 12 blocks away. They start normally at 6:30 in the morning wanting to go out. I can tell you I am not normally ready to start chasing them that early. It doesn't matter. I do love being here in the country since they can run around while you watch from the porch and there is no danger of traffic. With Tanner, the fence and gate, you at least have a good chance of catching them before anyone enters. At Mom and Dad's they have the entire big driveway to ride on and the backyard with grass is a nice draw. I'm working on that at the farm still.

So there is still not much talking going on with Jason. Mama and more, duck and Daddy and sometimes the occasional socks. Don't ask why these seem to be the words of choice. He still signs more, all done, up and down most times. As for teeth, we only have the two bottom teeth and the top two that are over halfway in. He can use them well though...he bit Jeff on the shoulder when he took him out of the car the other day. I think Jason was as shocked as Daddy that it hurt. He hasn't done it since.

Some other observations you have to endure before you get to the pictures.

He loves to take baths. This is a good thing until the bath tub is empty and every time you enter the bathroom, he tries to do a header. Or until you take him out and he screams like you are torturing him. He loves to brush his teeth. However, he won't give it back and he screams when you take it away. Did I mention how utterly piercing this scream is? I have started using other things he loves to avoid this. "Jason, do you want to go say good night to Tanner? We need to get out of the bath to go see him." I better be ready to catch him as he launches his way towards me. Tricky Mom.

"Jason, do you want to open Mommy's bathroom drawer and put your toothbrush away?" I say as he is running out of the room because I had the audactity to reach for it. Ooh...the forbidden drawer.,..must open it and throw toothbrush in....get a peek at the items I can't play with. He comes running back to do it. Score 1 to Mom.

He loves fruit...all kinds. And it is the only thing I can keep on his tray. When he is bored with other food, it gets launched. He could care less about cake and cookies but did have his first lollipop recently. Required an immediate bath.

Bed time. I can't say how easy this is without jinxing us. At 7:45, we get him some milk, read him a story and put him in his crib. Yep, awake. He hugs his puppy and puts his pacifier in and burroughs down and listens to his music and goes right off. YES! He doesn't sleep really sound but moves around a lot and always puts himself back to sleep. We hear from him around 7:15 or so if Ethan doesn't wake him. Now, we are talking about weaning from the paci...will let you know if that changes the sleep habits.

Jason blows kisses, waves bye bye to everything and everyone and gives the best hugs. He is fascinated with the horses and loves throwing the ball for Tanner. He can play Simon Says and knows his body parts and animals if you ask him which is which in his books. He hasn't learned as many words or objects as E had at this age but he is fabulous at following multi step commands and doing puzzles. They each have their strengths. Lungs are equal on both. Drat.

Jason can run now and is all over the farm. Comes with me to the barn, walks down the driveway and is very independent. He waves bye to me like I am going to let him go off by himself. Ya right. Not until he is 21. :-)





Friday, September 26, 2008

Bumps



Scene: Driving home from daycare in my little Mazda

Ethan: Mommy I don't like bumps.
Me: I'm sorry. The road is bumpy.
Ethan: Mommy I don't like bumps.
Me: I know Ethan, there isn't much I can do about it.
Ethan: Mommy I don't like bumps.
Me: Let's play a game. You can't talk unless you are asking a question. (Thinking: Oh my goodness, did I just encourage him to ask "Why" every five seconds. What was I thinking on that one. Smooth)
Ethan: Okay.



Time passes - oh, about 30 seconds.

Ethan: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Ethan
Ethan: I have a question
Me: Okay, what is it?
Ethan: I don't like bumps.
Me: That is not a question. That is a statement.
Ethan: Oh

Time passes - oh, about another 30 seconds

Ethan: Mommy?
Me: Yes, Ethan
Ethan: I have a statement.
Me: Okay, what is it?
Ethan: I don't like bumps.

And what do you say to that?




Some other cute ones lately. "Mommy, I have an idea"....."Let's make a plan".

So here are a few shots from this month. We got a dog named Tanner. He loves the boys and is a great dog. Here he is loving on Ethan. There is also a pic of my baby after eating an orange cupcake (Thanks for that one, Uncle Mikey. Next time you invite E over to swim, he is bringing a huge box of red food coloring. Kidding!)

Finally, here is E trying to fill Daddy's shoes.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Preschool picture day



And you can imagine how that went. Not well comes to mind. Jason screamed through the entire thing...even after they brought Ethan in to do the pic with him. Luckily, I snapped a few that morning and the drool was free.


Jason wouldn't drop the phone. Did I mention the set of lungs he has? And the will? All I can think is that this one is going to have more will than Ethan. Is that possible? I adore this pic of Ethan. He looks so handsome and sweet!


Aunt Rose, these are for you so you don't have to wait for the Christmas card!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Pee-Pa's birthday



My grandfather (and the boys great grandfather) is 92 years old today. Brought back lots of memories of Grandma and all the great family get togethers around their anniversary. With losing Joyce's Mom recently and having Grandpa now under hospice care, it is the end of an era so it is bittersweet. Ethan helped him blow out his candle and open his cards and Jason sat in a big boy chair for cake to be near him.




Jason can use a fork....and has no intention of sharing cake with Uncle Teo:





My Dad bought Ethan some funny glasses for Halloween:

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Naked babes

Just a few fun shots of our nightly bath ritual. Note we still don't have much hair but we sure have a great smile and lots of personality....and we can eat our toes so he must be either slimming down or his legs are getting longer.



Monday, September 1, 2008

Amazing days....

I just got done putting Ethan to bed. He told me I was the best Mom ever for no apparent reason. I melted. If he had asked for a 30k convertible sportscar after that line, it would have been parked in the driveway when he awoke. I responded that he was the best son and he said "No. I am the best Ethan." I told him that I loved him to the moon and back and round and round the stars and gave him a kiss which he promptly rubbed off. Seems he has already decided kisses are not for him. Bribery works but it doesn't have the same effect for me. I want the unsolicited kisses of yesterday. Although, he does still love butterfly kisses on his eyelids and ears. Don't ask me why but it gives me hope he hasn't outgrown his Mom yet.

So what made today so amazing? He fell down some stairs yesterday and I was neurotic and spent the night checking on him every two hours and waking him to ensure there was no concussion. At 5 am he decided to just crawl into bed with us. When JT started stirring at 7, Ethan had to run around the bed and tell Daddy Jason was up and crying and to go get him. He adores him and when he is not taking toys from him, he is very protective.

After a nice breakfast ("Mommy, thank you for such a delicious breakfast. I love your scrambled eggs. You make the best food ever!") we all went outside to play on the patio. It was such a gorgeous morning and Ethan helped me feed all the animals and got out his tricycle. He loves this thing and looks so cute in his helmet but he refuses to pedal...he just uses his feet on the pavement to propel him along. Well today I told him if he3 learned to pedal, he could have Christopher's old 2 wheeler. He stayed on that bike until he could do it up hill, down hill, turn and do figure eights. I never saw such determination. He kept yelling, "Mommy, look at me!" and when he decided he had mastered it, he said...."so when do I get the other bike?". Amazing.

We went food shopping today...nothing earth shattering but our usual stop to get an iced mocha and a chocolate milk before the chore at hand. Man he loves that and I don't know where he learned the "yes, I want it ..pretty please...pretty please" with that pleading tone. Damn he is good. Too bad I am better.

Anyway...we were buying pancake mix and Ethan was in the cart and looked up at Jeff and said "My Daddy makes the bestest pancakes." So like 3 unsolicited nice things in less than 8 hours. In between all this was the usual fights with JT, the timeouts and all the struggles with eating his dinner, taking his bath, etc. Doesn't matter though. I read a news article about a tragic event and every time I hear about something like that, I just panic inside. I try even more to enjoy every second with them and file away every incredible little thing. It just goes too fast and my mind is not a video camera. I can't remember every detail the way I want to. It all slips away over time. Just remember that the simple things are the most amazing.