Fishes

Here are a few shots of the boys swimming with Shannan and Ramin, Nicholas and Claire. Christopher had more fun with all the little ones than I thought he would and we had a great time with pizza lunch and wonderful hosts. Ethan is jumping and diving in these days and Jason will just launch himself in as well given the chance. He is floating well and trying to kick and would probably be able to float on his own if he wasn't drinking the water.

I'm a walkin....

So for a while now we have been doing the cruising and taking 2 or 3 steps with encouragement. But this week, we all of a sudden got confidence and found our feet. We are walking across rooms, running into arms and just having a big time of it. And we are still eating Mom out of house and home. I compare him with our teenager Christopher and think they are on par for overall amount in a given day. CJA eats neater of course. But Jason is dangerous with a fork and spoon these days and he actually leaves his food in the bowl. Progress. Still no top teeth at 14 months but it does not seem to deter. I just am amazed how different the kids are. Jason is so much more easy going but not nearly as motivated to communicate or walk as E was. But he is incredible at puzzles, problem solving, and his sign language is quite good. He is also my climber although so far, the crib is still a safe holding place....phew.

Some of my favorites are how Jason says "more" and "all done", how he waves hi and bye and how he gives high five. He claps and dances to music and likes to point at what he wants and is very insistent if you get the wrong item or don't look and see what he sees. He loves to play with the cats and the dog and even tries to throw the ball for Tanner. I love his giggle and how he runs for me when I pick him up at daycare. I love how people stop me in restaurants to tell me how gorgeous he is and what a sweet baby I have. I love how he gives his stuffed Doggy a hug and kiss and rocks from side to side as he hugs. Mom took him shopping the other day and he just had to have this Bear on the shelf at the Hallmark store. He pointed and pointed and said uhh...uhhh and so she just had to buy it. When you ask him about it, he grabs it and hugs it tight and just grins! I love how he says uh uh uh oh when he drops something and how he does something anyway when you say no. Of course he has to look at you to see what you are going to do about it.

On another note, I gave JT his first haircut last week and tried to shorten the Mohawk. Not sure it helped but I have his first little blond cutting saved away. For what? I don't know but I have these cute little keepsake boxes that say "First Tooth" and "First Curl" so you go with the flow. I am sure I do enough to damage my children and want to avoid hearing "And I can't BELIEVE you didn't save my first tooth" the first time they storm out of the house at 16. :-)

Look-alike Meter - Jason

A friend used this on her blog and I found it hysterical so had to try it as well. The results are very interesting and not at all what I expected.

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Look-alike Meter - Ethan

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Geneology - Family search

More b-day pics and a funny story

So Jason's teacher at school tells me that Ethan comes running at outside time to the fence to catch a glimpse of baby Jason since their playtime overlaps by a few. Since it is hot and it is summer time, Ethan approached Jason's teacher in an accusatory voice and asked loudly, "Did you put sun scream on my brother?" She says the boys hold hands through the fence as well until it is time for the younger class to go in. It amazes me how close they are and I love it! Hopefully he will share some of his b-day toys!

Ethan turns 3

Wow. It seems like yesterday that he was keeping me up all night, starting daycare, learning how to navigate stairs and requesting big boy underwear. Now, he calls himself "Mr. Independent" and wants his "allergy" (translation: privacy) when visiting the restroom. He dresses himself (although I pick the clothes to avoid any issues with harassment at school since he would only wear his favorite jammies day after day), demands a hat, certain shoes, and his belt and sunglasses....depending on if his pants have belt loops, of course.

For his birthday, Ethan asked for a party hat, cake and a birthday card. I was happy to oblige but we did also add an old fashioned sit and spin which he helped Dad to assemble and some Thomas trains for his collection.

Here are some pics of his party hat:






Helping Dad:



Jason's kickin party outfit from Aunt Susan:


His birthday seemed to last for days (reminded me a bit of mine actually). Thursday night we had Mr. Peter and Susan, Grandmother and Granddaddy Ed for dinner. We were so excited to see them since they came from so far for E's day! Andy was here putting new shoes on the horses and he even let Ethan nail on one of Easy's shoes. E was thrilled.

Friday the kids did dinner at Aunt Susan's while Mommy and Daddy went out to Angus Barn for a private dinner and wine tour (can't even possibly do this one justice with words). Earlier in the day Friday we had a Thomas the Train party at daycare with his new friends. This was followed by a few hour tour of IBM with Mommy while Daddy finished up his work. Jeff and I had made up great favor boxes shaped like a caboose and had some matching plates and napkins. Our party invitations matched as well for our official family and friend party on Saturday. I bribed Jeff to help promising him time on the Wii that he got for father's day.

Saturday brought everyone together with all 3 sets of grandparents, Aunt Susan, Unclue Mikey and Marie and Teo. We also had some great friends come and we had a super time! We ordered a really special Lightning McQueen cake which he picked out himself. For dinner we had a simple but nice catered Italian dinner (from Daniel's) and some special items from Mom as well that included her famous eggplant parmesan and meatballs. Ethan even got to beat Paw Paw at Wii bowling. He can't get the hang of golf since he just muscles it everywhere. No concept of "putt", "easy" or "lightly".

Sunday we played with Maw Maw and Paw Paw and then did a family movie night in the "Jeff Theater" and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (compliments of Aunt Jean). Monday we went to Pullen Park with Shannon and her kids, Clare and Nicholas. Ethan got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and drive his new pick up truck.

Through all this I made 28 notes about the "all about me" mentality and had a few frustrating moments as we got out of our routine. And to think, he is stuck with me all week since daycare is closed.

3 year check up

We took a trip to the pediatrician this morning to get E his physical. He was right on the money still at 50% for height and weight and doing fine on all counts. The tubes in his ears are long since gone but now that the tonsils are gone, the illnesses are fewer. After the appointment, we went to Starbucks for milk shakes and had a grown up meeting. E then asked, "Mommy...do they have a rest room here?" It was so cute. After our date, I dropped him at school and went off to work. Mr Peter is due to come over for dinner so we are looking forward to that. It is going to be a great weekend!

And next week we get our new dog, Tanner. Here are some pics from his visitation day:

My little man

We were walking back to the barn tonight after feeding the horses and cats. I was holding Jason's hand and he was doing his darndest to walk all the way back which I appreciate given his weight. Ethan was trotting back and forth in front of us when he stopped and looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I am not a little boy anymore." I smiled since all he keeps talking about lately is how big he is getting and how he is just sure he can drive the car and reach the pedals now. But I bit and I asked him, "so E, what are you then?" He started walking again (with his baby) and said clearly, "I am a MAN." Now, that is cute enough in and of itself but you add in the fact that he is hugging a lion stuffed animal and I had to sleep with him last night for 3 hours due to a thunder storm, and the sheer irony of it is poetic.

He does try to be so grownup. I love my work at home days the most although I miss carrying them into school and getting them settled. He marches in the house those evening while Jeff is still unloading Jason and tells me how many stars he got for behavior at school that day. "I got five stars today" and then he always asks, "What you doing all day, Mommy?" He always notices if I have cleaned up his toys or washed his favorite jammies or white t-shirt. He would wear them everyday if he could. He insists on us eating outside on the porch since it is warm and helps me set the table. He then tries to feed Jason, correct his brother's baby antics and thanks me for the "dee-lish-us" (with his strange Scottish accent) dinner every evening. Well, okay, most evenings. I do have to make stick fish, hot dogs, pork loin or baked chicken for that honor....and yes, need to refrain from serving brussel sprouts or asparagus. I have been doing better lately as reality has set in: it isn't worth the argument and it is okay to microwave chicken fingers when you and the husband want stuffed tilapia. Welcome to sanity.

I still love our bed time routine and laugh at his continued negotiation. "Mommy, will you lay with me 2 minutes?" followed by "No, you not going yet" and then "Mommy, tuck me in." Which, of course, I have to do multiple times since for some reason, I never seem to get it right the first time. Yes, I know I am being manipulated but I let it happen since the days he says he wants to go away from home or go live with Grandma just break my heart. The other sad part is you always have to choose. The kids go to bed at the same time and I can't be in two places as once. We read a story in the living room together and I give them their baths and kiss their faces but I can only tuck one in at night.

I think I need to clone myself so I can do all I want to and not miss a heart beat. So that I can hang onto the smell of the baby, the feeling when I kiss their eye lids, the little hands in mine, their giggles and contagious laughter. And there are the more annoying habits you also adore...the chewing on my nose, climbing on me, repeating things he shouldn't be saying (or hearing from me), kicking me out of bed when I do have to sleep with him, chasing him around the house when he decides he does not want to get dressed (99% of the time). And there are the subtler things like the constant teaching as the vast blue eyes ask "why?" over forty times on the drive home. "What's this place, Mommy?" "Does this take us to Beaver Creek?" "Are we going to meet Grandma at the gas gashion" "I see boating. Are there boats on your side too?" "Where we at?" "What they doing there?" "Why are they not working?" "Why are they working?" "Are we going to the post office?" "Why are we going to the post office?"

Need I go on? Can you teach an almost 3 year old that knows the alphabet and can spell his name to type wikipedia? Why not? "Mommy, don't say why not. You need to answer me when I am talking to you."

He speaks

Last weekend we went to Uncle Mikey's for a swim and Jason wouldn't get out of his raft much less out of the pool. He did have it quite nice with all his toys and
buckets and we practiced saying "turtle". Now to be honest it sounded a little more like "urtle" but he just kept repeating it and it was so cool. He hasn't said duck (duh) in a while so this was a breakthrough. He does babble more and more and it looks like he is about to get a new tooth as well if the drool measurements mean anything. I am getting very impatient with only two teeth...he seems not to mind so much.

In school news, Jason moved up on 6/10 to his new classroom and is sleeping on a mat instead of in a crib. The transition seemed to go well but drop offs are a little rough right now. I know he will bond again but it does pull on my heart. He is basically down to one nap a day at school and a brief snooze on the way in. My little boy is growing up. He is also riding forward facing and gets to hold Ethan's hand in the car. It was a rude awakening to me that he wasn't an infant anymore. I know Ms Alex misses him dearly but I love that he has Ethan's first teachers now. They told Jeff that when he wakes from his 3 hour nap and they are setting up snack, he crawls over to the table and gets in his chair and is ready to eat. Why doesn't that shock me? And why don't I get 3 hour naps when he is home on the weekend?

He is doing great with a few signs (more, all done and bye) and is also trying to say "down" when he is ready to get out of his highchair. He does have a very straightforward manner of communication. When he doesn't get something he wants, he points and if that doesn't work, he throws himself back and arches his back. I am constantly watching out for things behind him when he has a fit. Did I mention that he screams? When he does it at the daycare center, you can hear him in the other wing and everyone knows who it is. Yep, I got two of them.

Disney with the Duo

We took advantage of a good opportunity and took the boys to the Disney the first week in June. I was there for a conference staying at the Disney Swan and Dolphin and Jeff, the boys and Mom and Dad came down for a long weekend. We had great weather and were able to do some nice things with the kids. They were both still free given they are under 3 so even though it was a bit old for them, they had a blast.



The first thing we did was head to the pool for a swim and a trip to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping. We had a great dinner aboard an actual boat with some friends of ours that were still here from the conference. Ethan can't stop talking about Josh and Mr. Peter. The next morning we went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast with the characters. Ethan loved them! Jason was great with the mice but not so great with big things with "goofy ears" or "duck bills". The restaurant was at the Contemporary and we got to take the monorail which was a big deal for Ethan.



We took lots of pictures with the characters and I have posted a few here. We then went off to Magic Kingdom where we did a few rides (Pooh, Dumbo, Goofy's rollercoaster, the carousel) and a few shows like Mickey's Philharmonic. The Mah's gave us their plans as they had done the parks before us and I had a great book compliments of the Baratta's that was a huge help. I had planned the character dining ahead of time, where to eat lunch, naps in the afternoon and I think that helped to keep it all sane.

Strollers? Who needs them when you have a Grandpa?

Jason loved this little set of characters we bought him and he played with them the entire trip home. He seemed to like playing with this size a lot better since even on our last night when he saw Goofy and Pluto, he was NOT happy and would just bury his head into Jeff and bawl.



Ethan was amazingly patient waiting for his turn with the characters and really enjoyed the experience. He kept asking if we could go back and if they were coming home with us.





The hotel pool was a blast and all they boys wanted to do was get in the water and splash around. They had a waterfall that E finally went under and a slide for Jeff. Ethan just begged Jeff to take him swimming and he was really trying to paddle and kick.

Disney with the Duo

Be sure you check out Ethan's blog where we posted the pictures from our Disney trip with the boys. I have only one thing to add here. Everyone warned us on the difficulties of traveling there with an infant. They so missed the mark. Where are the posted disclaimers for parents having to travel with a 3 year old?

If you are interested in viewing more pics, we uploaded a huge amount from May and June to a Kodak album. See our gallery.

Jason's First Birthday

My baby turned 1 today. The year went too fast. Jeff reminds me of the sleepless nights and the crazy first few months but you never remember that. You remember the cute clothes, the little fingers, the nursing late nights when it is just the two of you. I miss that and he seems to have gone from a small 3 month baby to a woddler!




That being said, we did have a really nice day today. Jeff cooked out for everyone and the friends and family abounded. Our neighbors and their baby came, Mario, Shannon and Emerson, Tracey and Nina, and all the family on both sides. He was so spoiled with new clothes, pool toys, and a wagon for all his travels on the farm. We gave horse rides to the kids, played in the sand table, the turtle pool, and made monster drawings. Jason loved his first bit of cake (ok, ok, I know...what DOESN't he eat?) and looked adorable in his birthday hat. We had invitations and plates with jungle animals and I decorated the cakes. Anyone who knows me can confirm I am the most unartistic person around but I took great pleasure in making it an original anyway.

Here is a link to the pictures Mario took in addition to the ones I am posting here.

Little bro's b-day

It is Jason's birthday today and as we are all scrambling to get ready for his party, Ethan decided to play dress up.




I couldn't resist taking a picture even though I know someday he is going to do the whole "Oh Mom" thing with the frustrated voice and deep sigh. I can't help myself. He actually was a great help woth blowing out candles and opening presents and sharing party favors with everyone. He did insist on having his own party hat and we accommodated.

Showering at school

So today was an interesting one. When we got to daycare to pickup the boys, I grabbed Jason and Jeff went to get Ethan. We met at reception where I got to hear about Ethan's latest escapades. They have a star system for behavior and E has been doing great getting 4 or 5 stars and Ethan has been so proud of his improving scores and gets so excited telling me he got "5 out of 5, Mommy!" But alas, today he lost a star at the very end of the day. Why? So glad you asked. He was playing in the sandbox and got dirty so decided to take a shower in the sand box and use the sand as his "shower spray" (and hair spray). When he realized this did not really help to make him feel any better, he went inside and grabbed the hand soap and put that in his hair as shampoo. Needless to say, his appearance was not much improved by this attempt either.

We are also still repeating everything I say....and many things I would prefer he not say. Why do they sound so much worse out of his lips than they did when they passed mine? For example...Jason has this wonderful habit of tossing peas, carrots, corn, (whatever) off his tray just to watch them fall. He leans WAY over so he can watch the entire trajectory. Now, the first 12 times he did this was sorta cute in an annoying way. Now at 1500, I am losing patience and the word "No" or attempts at redirction are met with a steady glare and smirk. No lie. So this one evening after going through my 12th napkin and 40th pea, I said "oh for pete's sake, jason....keep the food on the plate and eat it" and had to hear for the next week, "oh for pete's sake, oh for pete's sake, oh for pete's sake" ad nauseum...and to a catchy tune.

Ethan has one more lovely habit....throwing your discipline back at you. Jeff tells him he is getting tired of the bad behavior and playing around at the dinner table and E shoots back, "Well I am tired of you too Daddy." Does he WANT to make it to a teenager?

Memorial Day

We headed over to Michael's today for some hospitality and a swim in his pool....which was a bit cold still. BRRRRR! The kids loved it anyway and we all got to relax and enjoy the family and the day. Jason loved the water and the floats and was violently against coming out even when his lips were quivering with cold. Here are a few shots of him enjoying the water and following in his father's footsteps. Floating around the pool and having people bring him drinks. :-) Lucky for him, he had Aunt Marie.



Jeff and Grandma relaxing poolside:


Uncle Mikey and Ethan: