Rolling boot camp

While Dad and G were away camping, I had Adam do lots and lots of tummy and back time to get him rolling. Sadly I was not successful, but I think Adam enjoyed all the one on one attention. He was full of smiles and giggles for me.

I often feel guilty that Adam doesn't get more attention from me. While I'm not in any hurry to get Adam mobile, I do feel bad that at 4.5 months he isn't rolling in either direction. I hold Adam a lot because we are moving from room to room or playing outside with G. Also in the afternoon G is very wired/energetic and clumsy...not a good combination with a baby on the floor.

The other big thing I did this weekend was wean Adam from the swaddle at night.  I tried to for naps as well, but he clearly wasn't ready.  He couldn't settle himself down to sleep.  I'll try again in a week or so.  But at least now when he is settling down for sleep he has some time to get things rolling.

Other than lots of Adam time, I'm not sure what we did all weekend. It sure came and went fast though.

ka-pow!

Well G's pink eye seems to be clearing up fast. He doesn't like getting the eye ointment, but asks for his Amoxicillin. I'm kind of curious what it tastes likes since he doesn't like to eat food 99% of the time.

Continuing with his morning tradition, G was a super grump while Dad packed for the desert trip. He just whined wanting Dad to play trains with him instead of pack. After everything finally got packed and they were ready to go, we all headed out to load up the trailer and hook it up to the Ian's Grandparent's motorhome. Then Adam and I would get to come back home with the van and have a weekend alone!

Things took longer than I anticipated and Adam was overdue for his nap and cranky. That seems to be the ongoing story these days for both of my children... Anyway holding Adam in the carrier and walking with Ethan down the driveway, Jake (Ian's boxer) came running toward us and jumped up on G knocking him on the pavement. G fell face first, or more accurately lip first on the driveway. He was bleeding pretty bad and I was worried his teeth might have been knocked out. Turns out it was just blood from his lip. He got a huge lip in just a few minutes and of course he was crying a lot. However being G and being two, within 30 minutes he was running around chasing Ian with scrapes on his face and a fat lip.

I hope G's luck turns around for him soon. He's had a rough couple of days with his cold, pink eye, ear infections, and fat lip. I'm kind of worried what the desert has in store for him.

Bahumbug

Well I was exhausted and now sick after our crazy Christmas Eve. I went to bed early and forgot to put out Santa's presents. Luckily Dave was on top of things and set everything out before he went to bed. I was excited to see G's reaction to all the gifts under tree on Christmas day, but Dave let me sleep in a while since I was so sick so I missed it. However I guess G was continuing with his less than happy mood. The good news is he didn't play with the stockings while they were hanging on the mantle or try and open any presents under the tree (after the first day). But at the same time he wasn't all that crazy about riping into the presents when it was time.

I made the mistake of wrapping every little thing and everything separately to have a lot of packages. I also wrapped all of Adam's presents and asked G to open them too. G got tired of opening presents just a few presents in. Once he opened the radio controlled Lightening McQueen from Uncle David, he wasn't very interested in opening his other presents. He was very thankful for the car and ran up the computer to thank Uncle David who was Skyping with the Grandparents to watch the boys open presents.

G clearly needed a nap, but even popping in the Cars DVD didn't work. After I woke up from my nap, we headed to Grandma's for dinner. G was already bouncing off the walls so it was impossible to get him to sit and eat dinner. We didn't make it to dessert before we had to throw the boys in the car and head home to put them to bed.

Cranky pants!

Monday he was cranky, and Tuesday he was cranky. For some reason I was hopeful seeing his friend Connor on Tuesday would get him out of his cranky funkness. Well instead he cried for an hour because he wanted Daddy to feed him breakfast. He wanted Daddy to come home and not go to work.

I finally got G in the car and to Connor's but it took forever and we were late. He and Connor did well at first playing with trains around the tree and the train table. But then something happened...when one would play with a toy the other would shoot to it like a magnet and a struggle would ensue. Then they were broken apart and another toy was introduced to distract one of them. Almost immediately the other would shoot to the new toy and the vicious cycle continued. Then G lost it and knocked down the structure on the train table. After my "lovely" morning of dealing with him screaming and whining I was done. I told him it was time to go, but taking 15 minutes to pack up, change Adam's diaper and put him in the carseat doesn't really have the same message as whisking him away immediately.

Wednesday we needed to make a run to Costco for some last minute items and found out Connor's family was going too, so we met up and headed to McDs for some grub and playland time. As we were leaving McDs we noticed G's eye was oozing. As we looked at it more and more I was afraid it might be pink eye. We went home for a bit to start making deserts for tonight, but didn't get very far before we decided we needed to take him to Urgent Care.

G did in fact have pink eye and ear infections in both ears (!) so we canceled our Christmas Eve dessert party and instead pumped him full of antibiotics and eye ointment. In hopes of avoiding a screaming bedtime that we have endured for the past week (probably due to the ear infections), I carefully selected a present for him to open on Christmas Eve. However stuffed Elmo did not do his job and G was restless/grumpy when it was time for bed. Dave and I was exhausted and grumpy too!

Fondue

We had Kaitlyn and Isaac over for Fondue. There was cheese and chocolate, but I swear G didn't even touch the cheese. He licked chocolate off of every dipping piece multiple times before eating it. His favorite dippers were pretzels, pineapple, and pound cake.

Kaitlyn, Isaac, and G fought over toys and jumped off the retaining wall outside for a while before heading outside to watch their Dad's fly and crash helicopters. Then they headed to the park to play. G was granted the honor of holding Kaitlyn's beloved Manatee at the park. She was instructing him to feed it and he complied. It was his first "babysitting" job. haha

During all of this, the Moms got to lounge on the couch inside and chat until they realized it was nap time. "What is nap time?" I thought...oh yes I vaguely remember.

Anyway it was a fun weekend and I couldn't believe it was already over and Christmas was just days away!

Snow!

We headed to the mountains today to see some snow with buddies Kaitlyn and Isaac and the Grandparents. Since this was the first weekend after the big rains we knew it would be a crowded day, but I really wanted to take G and Adam to the snow. Last time we took G he was 9 months old, so I was excited to see what he would think of it now that he's older. Also Adam has a cute snow suit that had to get some use.

We left around 10:30 and it was wall to wall cars when we got up to the snow. We passed play area after play area with no parking to be found. Eventually after we headed far up the mountain we found a side road where we could park and play. However there was a lot of snow on the road by this point and I was nervous about getting back out. Our friends had chains, but we didn't.

Not long after we got there, a pick up came down the road and stopped next to our van as they were passing us. Well once he stopped he couldn't get going again! So all the men in the area worked to push the truck out of the way. Luckily no trucks or people went sliding into our van. Our play spot ended up being a pretty high traffic area with three other vehicles needing to be pushed out. Finally a forest ranger came by and told us to move our cars so we all left to go up to the top of the mountain. Our minivan didn't have any problems driving through the snow thankfully!

The second spot was much better and we had fun sledding and eating lunch with the kids. We laid the babies, Adam and Aaron, down in the snow for some pictures. By 3pm the parents were worn out and we all parted ways. I was sure G would pass out on the way home, but no he was still going strong when we got home. Definitely a fun day, but I wish Oskar could have come and frolicked in the snow.

Preschool update (2 months)

When G discovers it's preschool day, he tells me, "Noooooo!!! I don't want to go to preschool. I want to stay home with you." He then proceeds to whine and roll around on the floor refusing to put on a jacket or shoes. In fact on non preschool days he'll inform me that he doesn't want to go to preschool that day either.

So our preschool mornings are no fun because there is a struggle to get dressed, to eat, to get in the car, etc. Once we get there, he's still telling me he doesn't want to go to preschool, but he walks in with me. After I sign him in and tell him I'm going to go then he loses it. I have not been able to walk out of the classroom without having one of the teachers come and hold him so he doesn't follow me out. However they tell me he only cries for a couple of minutes now, versus 20 minutes a few weeks ago. I'm going to add a second day in January so hopefully that helps.

I can see he's learning things at preschool, but I can't get much information out of him about what he does at preschool. It as if he hates it so much he doesn't want to talk about it.

He's doing a lot more imaginative play since starting preschool. The bbq access doors outside are apparently home to his pet dinosaur. He also hands me giant plates to hold and carry for him. He is also getting really good with building houses with Lincoln Logs and has started to build little structures with Tinker Toys. I'm amazed how much his coordination has improved in the past few months. Dave got him a race car track for his second birthday which he couldn't operate at the time. Now he can run the cars on the track without a problem. He's also into real jigsaw puzzles (though only 12 pieces right now).

Cookies and gingerbread oh my!

It was a busy busy weekend. We had a cookie exchange on Saturday and Sunday! Saturday was my bookclub cookie exchange and G and Dad came along to sample some yummy treats. We even made some truffles days after the exchange because they were sooo good (and I had to make treats for Dave's work). The funniest part was getting dressed for the cookie exchange. I dressed G and Adam in matching sweaters, the same ones they wore to visit Santa. As Dave is trying to dress G in his sweater he says, "No! I don't want to see Santa." Apparently that sweater is cursed with Santa cooties and can't be worn anymore. G doesn't know I paid a small fortune for that sweater because it's really hard to find matching things in 3-6 months and 3T sizes so he will wear it and wear it often this winter. HAH!

Connor and Kyle were at the cookie exchange and their Dad had fun comparing Blackberry Storm tips with Dave. I have the best picture of the two Dads holding the two babies and their Storms.

After sampling cookies, fighting over trains with Connor, G went with Dad and Grandma and Grandpa to a train expo. I'm not really sure what they did there, but Grandpa and G have a love for trains so I'm sure they had fun. I called to see how things were going and got to talk to G. He informed me that he was in a timeout in the car because he pinched Daddy. He said "I pinched Daddy so I can't ride the train". He really wanted to ride the little train outside, but couldn't stop pinching Dad. Oops.

The next day was the playgroup cookie exchange. Not long after we arrived, G found a train and spent the rest of the day trying to monopolize the toy. He also had a few fights with Isaac and they had to be separated a few times. Both kids are now quite grabby when they see something they want to play with. G used to be better about sharing when they weren't his toys, but I guess he has decided they are worth fighting for.

We had a paparazzi session with Adam, Aaron, and Caden who are all born within 5 weeks of each other with older brothers all born in May 2006. After we had G good and sugared up from cookies we took him to make Gingerbread houses at the Watt's house.

He and Ian and Tyler were mostly eating the building materials while the Dad's assembled the houses. Needless to say, he wasn't that easy to get to bed that night since he had two days worth of sugar coursing through him.

We also picked up an exersaucer from Kaitlyn (G's friend) for Adam to borrow. He seemed really interested in checking it out and seems to enjoy looking and grabbing at the toys. He can already operate the spinning wheels, but tends to crash into the dragon puppet and then cry.

Adam is four months old!

I went to the doctor today with both boys! Adam is 4months old and 13lbs 10oz which puts him in the 25th percentile for weight. He's 50th percentile for height and head circumference. I got in trouble for not doing enough tummy time with him. However the Doc remarked that he had very good head control and could sit up well assisted. He also commented on Adam's natural worried expression. I told him that Adam is very smilely and happy, but his normal expression was very concerned. I guess being born in this economy has him worried.

I still can't get over how different my boys are. Adam loves to be held and often demands it. He also gave up the pacifier on his own at 3 months old (vs big brother who gave it up at 14 months because we took it away). We tried to get him to take it again, but have finally given up. Since I wasn't diligent in giving Adam a bottle, a month went by and now Adam will not take a bottle. It is kind of inconvenient, but in reality I'm never gone from the boys that long unless it's at night. However I'm going to try again when he isn't quite so frantic.

Brownie

I guess I've told G I'm busy a lot because lately when I ask him a question he responds with "I'm busy, in a minute". It's funny to hear him talk because he mirrors a lot of what I say. He also says "donkey donkey" which translates to "okie dokie".

For the past couple weeks G has taken on the identity of a dog. That's right he asks to be called "Brownie" and thinks he's a dog. He barks at the landscaper with Oskar (the real dog), barks at the vacuum and tries to bite the hose with Oskar. I've even caught him drinking out of the dog's water bowl. Gross! However this new identity comes with some perks. He tells me to order him around and he obeys! I've taken liberties when it's time to change a diaper or get dressed. I tell him "come here Brownie", "lay down Brownie", "good dog Brownie", "leave it Brownie", and you know what he does it! Of course when he's not pretending to be "Brownie" my commands fall on deaf ears. One night Dave was out of town we had the best bath and bedtime ever! He was Brownie and obeyed all my orders. He even asked for a belly rub and I showed him how to shake his leg like Oskar does. What a crack up!

Adam seems to be getting back into the swing of things since the desert trip. Twice now he has fallen asleep while I was holding him. I'm not talking about in a carrier, but just holding him. This is something G NEVER did beyond his sleepy infant stage. I'm so glad he remains to be an easy going baby. He loves looking at his mobile now and bats and kicks at it. He is getting more tummy time thanks to Mommy guilt. I looked at G's baby book and at 12 weeks he was rolling tummy to back and at 19 he was rolling back to tummy. Adam at 16 weeks isn't doing anything probably because I spend a lot of time holding him. I'm okay if he doesn't crawl early. I know he'll do it someday.

Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde - G's two sides

Is it a coincidence that since G stopped napping he's been just a huge pain? It has been about 3 months since he has taken a real nap.

Today while I was sorting through laundry things got really quiet. I looked around for Ethan and found him in his room standing a chair which he put on top of his table!!! He was trying to get to that darn train coat rack again! He wasn't out to use it as a baseball bat this time though. He was trying to get all the hats and his soccer medals off of it. After I pulled him off the chair I tried to explain that he was not allowed to do that because it was dangerous. This made him really mad and he kept trying to put the chair back on the table. I asked him what he wanted and he said he wanted to take everything off. I said I would help him, but he demanded that he do it himself. Finally I had to hide both of the chairs in my closet and listen to him scream.

If it's not an episode like today, it's dissecting a sandwich and spreading it around the kitchen like confetti while I'm upstairs trying to put his brother down for nap. Or it's asking to have his diaper changed, but then halfway through he starts kicking me. Let's not forget a favorite pastime of riding the dog like a horse, chasing him around the house with his electric quad, etc, etc.

Just when I think I have things figured out he outsmarts me. He was running into Adam's room and screaming to wake him up. I put a childproof doorknob cover on Adam's door and the problem was solved... until the other day when he discovered the Jack and Jill bath. Now he enters through the bathroom and continues the scream fest. Off to get another door knob cover I guess.

He does have plenty of good moments though. The other day he helped me wipe down all the kitchen cabinets, clean outside of the fridge and dishwasher, and dust the stairs. He also helped me weed the yard and trim the plants. He also gave his brother two airplanes to try and cheer him up when he was crying. And when Adam cries in the car G says, "Shhh Shhh it's okay Adam." When G occasionally wakes in the middle of the night only Mommy will do. Even though I'm dead tired, I do enjoy that he actually wants me to hold him and lay with him.

The bad behavior always rears it's ugly head in the afternoon and he's pretty good in the morning. The morning is when the kitchen gets cleaned and the afternoon is when he's trying to base jumping off the stairs. The bright side is that bedtime is 6pm for both kids so Mom is free most of the night! The only downside is Adam is up at 6am.

Dad leaves

We arrive home and then before the 5 loads of desert laundry are even started, Dad leaves on a business trip. I was really not looking forward to him leaving because I knew the adjustment to being home again would be difficult for all of us. G always misses Dad when he's home for a long time...plus G was sick!!! But, the absolute worst part is that Grandma and Grandpa left town too! I was completely on my own.

The biggest challenge was bedtime. Both boys need to go to bed around the same time and G tends to go wacko in the evening. Usually Dave puts G to bed while I put Adam to bed. Then I clean up the mess from dinner and make our dinner and pick up his play area. However without the divide and conquer, I had to do it all...at the same time?!

If I put Adam to bed too early, he gets up even earlier, but it's impossible to give Ethan a bath and get him ready for bed without having a screaming crying baby. This whole process really wears me out and by the time both kids are in bed I'm too tired to do anything. I ate leftovers of G's dinners or other things I scavenged around the house to avoid cooking an actual meal. The house was also in complete disarray. Good times.

Thankfully Dad came home, but worked late the first day he was back. I was about ready to ring his neck when he told me he wouldn't be able to help me put them to bed. I demanded he come home and help me, then go back to work, but that didn't fly. I guess he figured out I was pretty tired from dealing with all of this on my own, so he made it in time to finish the bath. Hooray, Dave can live another day.

Last Days

Sarah, 18 months, Isabelle, 4, and Mackenzie, 7, arrived on Thursday in time for Thanksgiving. Ethan was slow to warm up to the girls, but when they wanted to see the giant hole that he and Dad dug, he decided they were cool. Isa and Mack were jumping in and out of the hole and Ethan was their little copy cat. He follwed them around the camp and had fun playing with their toys. However they are girls, so sand toys became baking instruments. Isa was baking pies with sand molds and soon Ethan was baking pies with sand molds. He would warn me it was hot and to let it cool before eating. I think he has a thing for Isa.

All the kids were having fun until they played “store”. Isa was taking food orders and Ethan ordered an ice cream cone. He was eager for his ice cream, but waited patiently. However when Isa didn’t deliver his ice cream he started crying. Poor boy didn’t understand that it was all pretend. He kept crying and heading back to her motorhome asking for his ice cream. It was funny for all of us, but quite upsetting for him.

After we drove home and put Ethan to bed he woke up in the middle of the night inconsolable. I honestly think he was freaked out about where he was. He just spent a week sleeping in the van and was all of a sudden magically asleep in his bed. He also might have just been upset to be home. He loves dirt and finding creepy crawlies.

Day 5

Another day another tarantula up close and personal. This one was chillin outside our tent! Not to worry the tent is more of a garage for us than a house. We aren’t sleeping in the tent, but still I don’t want that creepy crawly thing venturing in my bag of clothes!

Sitting in the motorhome I hear Dave and Ethan emerging from the van in the morning. The first thing I heard is Ethan telling Dave “I don’t like the rain”. It started raining in the middle of the night through most of the early morning. It cleared up, but the desert is still muddy. Ethan was still able to get in a few games of hide and seek, some tball, and digging in a hole.

Everyone left Grandma and I and the kids behind while they went on a motorcycle ride. It was the pits because Ethan was crazy from not taking a nap, Adam was fussy from not taking a long enough nap, and the dogs were stir crazy from being inside because of the muddy ground.

Adam has the cutest little bald head. I love petting his peach fuzz and snuggling with his rosey cheeks. He has been drooling a lot lately so I guess this is the beginning of constant bib wearing. He’s still got some cradle cap on his scalp. Though he’s going to bed easily at night, he is still a fussy guy during the day. He gives out smiles but is quick to turn it around with a frown and scowl. He had his first motorhome bath today in the sink. He cried through most of it because I don’t think it was warm enough for him. All in all I don't think he's enjoying the desert as much as his big brother.

Day 4

We dug a giant hole, gathered wood for the fire, played tball, and had hot dogs for lunch and played with a tarantula!! Luckily Mom was not around to see the giant hairy beast, but apparently Ethan thought it was cool.

Oskar has really changed a lot! He is now able to be off leash in the desert and he sticks around. He wanders a little, but always heads back before I have to go yell at him. He is barking at the other campers less too. Mostly the barking is bad when they come near our RV or they get back from a ride so it’s all territorial. Oskar is having a ball with his freedom though. Sniffing all sorts of good things I’m sure, but even better is we get to play fetch and take walks without a leash! Playing hide and seek with Oskar around is like cheating. He takes you straight to the hider.

Day 3

Adam is still crankier than normal. I’m sure it’s because he isn’t napping well. He still seems to be sleeping well at night. His naps are improving somewhat with at least one good nap a day. He is also doing better being handed off to other people. However he is eating a lot more than normal mostly for comfort. He demands to be nursed to sleep for his early morning naps. His afternoon nap around 1 seems to be the longest. I just hope he doesn’t expect this when we get back home. He’ll be in for a big surprise when we get home. I’m sure it’s going to be rough the few days Dave is gone on his business trip.

Dave took Ethan for a death-defying motorcycle ride. Since he wasn’t able to borrow a quad from his friend Dave was really sad Ethan wouldn’t be able to go for a ride. I told him he could wear Ethan in the Ergo and take him for a little ride around the camp. Somehow there was a miscommunication and Ethan and Dave went on a short ride to the mines. There were two Jeeps and Grandpa following on his motorcycle in case something happened. Dave and Ethan went nice and slow and Ethan had a lot of fun. Ethan reported to me that he had fun and that Grandpa tipped over. Not to worry Grandpa wasn't riding when he tipped over and is fine.

Desert day 2

Adam spent most of the day crying because he wasn't able to get to sleep for his naps. He has never had much trouble getting to sleep, staying asleep was his issue. Finally I got him to sleep by sleeping next him. During the three hours we were asleep the rest of the camp decided to move to a different spot. The entire camp was packed up and moved and Dave’s parents were waiting for us to wake up to move the motorhome.

Ethan had not taken a nap, so when we moved the motorhome he laid down in the back and was rocked to sleep. So clearly we just need to move the motorhome everyday. haha! We have a two room tent we brought with us as our garage. One room stored all the RC planes and the other room stored our clothes and other junk. Dave and Ethan slept in the back of the van and Adam and Oskar and I roughed it in the motorhome. I slept on the couch, Oskar in his travel crate, and Adam in his pack n play. We really did rough it though without internet. We had limited electricity from the generator and 100 gallons of water which gave us army showers every other day for all the adults. Ethan would have had more, but he refused and only screamed through two showers the whole time.

Bad Dog!!!!

Well we started off the camping trip with a bang. As soon as we got to Dave’s parent’s house I got out of the car to give Ethan a snack. The two boys and the dog were happily awaiting the trip to the desert. I closed the door to the van to go hop back in and Oskar started barking at Dave’s parents and hit the lock button as he was frantically jumping around. Oskar, Ethan, and Adam were locked in the car!! After we had a minute of panic, Dave’s Mom put a car cover over the front of the car to keep it cool, but thankfully it was parked mostly in the shade. Ethan was happily eating his snack oblivious of what was going on. He was just so excited to be going to the desert.

Then when we asked him to try and get out of his carseat, coaxing him to push the button, he lost it and started crying and demanding to be let out. Then Adam started crying too. Oskar just sat in the front seat happily wagging his tail. 45 minutes later after Dave and his Dad rushed back to our house to get the spare keys the boys were rescued from the van. Adam was sweaty from all the crying and Ethan had tears streaming down his face.

We finally set off for the desert and Ethan took his nap on the road. When he woke up we were still driving, but Ethan announced we were in the desert now. We stopped for lunch and he was in such a good mood he actually ate most of his grilled cheese and fries!

Whatcha sayin?

Ethan likes to draw on his aquadoodle and scribbles things and tells me what they are. Usually they are airplanes or trains. One day I asked him what he was drawing and he said “a casket” or at least that is what I thought he said. I repeated it back to him and he usually corrects me if I am wrong. He said I was correct, it was a casket. I wonder what he is learning at preschool!

Ethan loves the toy phone at the swim school. He usually pulls it by the cord and walks with it, but recently he started talking on it. I hear him carrying on a random conversation and I ask him who he is talking to. He tells me it’s Grandpa E. He says they are talking about satellites.

Friday before the desert was jam packed with stuff to do. Packing, landscaper meeting, scrapbook night and a sleep seminar. Well, the landscaping meeting went long so I didn’t get to eat dinner and would be late for the sleep seminar and HUNGRY. Since it was only scheduled to be an hour long I decided to skip it. I really needed help with Ethan giving up his nap. He’s still crazy and grumpy the rest of the day and goes to bed at 6pm. Turns out the seminar went an hour longer and I could have made it. I was really bummed because it sounded like a really good lecture and q&a session. At least my friend Mimy was kind enough to ask some questions for me. Clearly I complain enough that she had the whole story and was able to convey the situation. Ethan should not be giving up naps yet and I should be doing anything to get him to take them. Easier said than done I’m afraid. Scrapbook night was fun and I got a lot done. I hope to get some more done at the desert, but I’m limited without internet.

The outlets

I am on a quest for cute AND cheap baby jeans so Adam and Ethan can match in a holiday photo. I have checked a number of stores to no avail. Dave also needed a new belt and some work clothes so we headed out to the outlet mall. Most of the trip was uneventful until we found Santa’s house, or should I say Ethan found Santa’s house. After we left a store Ethan found a little house outside and zoomed in by himself. He abruptly stopped when he got inside, turned and stared, and then ran out crying. He saw Santa and it freaked him out. I couldn’t get him to stop crying for a while. Since I found a pair of baby jeans and now have my outfit complete it does not surprise me that he'll refuse to see Santa.

On the way home we stopped for Chick-Fil-A. While we were eating our meal a man nearby offered Ethan the toy from his kid’s meal. It was a space shuttle and Ethan thought it was so cool! He was too shy to say thank you loud enough so the man could hear. We opened it up and put it together and there are a bunch of cards with various facts that fit inside. I read through the cards with Ethan. When I got to the card about satellites he said Grandpa E makes satellites. I’m amazed by how much he remembers and retains!

Legoland trip #2

We headed out to Legoland on a drizzly gray day to meet up with Connor and Kyle. We were all wondering how much time we were going to have before the rained ruined the day, but it turned out to be a cool but uncrowded Sunday. Ethan tried a few new rides with Connor and got in line for some roller coaster type rides and a log ride. However he backed out at the last minute after patiently waiting in line. Connor was the daredevil though and even went on a roller coaster. I was shocked that Ethan did go on one ride that basically yoyos you up and down over and over.

Kyle, Adam, Mimy and I just hung out and chatted, changed diapers, and ate. We warmed up with some hot chocolate, and ended the day with some smash pennies at 4pm! That was the longest day out yet!

Too bad too much time has passed for me to remember what I did the rest of the week.

Preschool day 2

The second day didn't go much better than the first. When we were leaving the house he demanded I not bring his blanket. Last time I told him I had to wash it after preschool because it was dirty, so I think he was worried about getting it dirty again. He hates having it washed and is disturbed when he sees it spinning in the washer.

He started crying as soon as we got into the classroom this time and wouldn't stop. They told me cried for 20 minutes and then started to participate in activities. They said he loves playing outside (surprise, surprise). When I came to pick him up he was sitting at a table with all his classmates eating some saltine crackers. It was so cute. I wish I had taken a picture.

I'm trying to get G enrolled a second day, but for now he's just going one day a week.

Halloween: the big day

So yesterday G saw his Thomas costume sitting on the table and asked me to put it on him. He walked around the house with it and got down on his knees to show me that Thomas was driving. When it was time for lunch he wanted Thomas to eat with him and watch him. Clearly he loves his costume, but he doesn't like to wear it in public because he doesn't like to be the center of attention.

Today we went trick or treating at the nearby shopping center. Everywhere we went he got tons of comments on how cool his costume is. After one stop, he wanted it off. Luckily I planned for this and borrowed a train conductor hat from his friend Ryder, put him in matching overalls and a red hanky tied around his neck. So when his costume came off he had his secondary costume to wear. After about six stores he was done with getting candy.


We headed over to the Harvest Festival at a nearby church. We went there last year and G seemed to enjoy it. This year he was all about the bouncers. They had a giant slide bouncer and a couple of regular bouncers. He and Ian couldn't be pulled away from the slide. Here is a video of his first trip up the slide. The pumpkin that he is mowing down is Ian.

However with no nap today and so much activity he went into meltdown at the festival around 5:30 and we had to get out of there. I should have known to leave when he started zoning out.

First day of Preschool without Mom

I enrolled G in a nearby church preschool. It three hours of time away from Mom and three hours Mom can go grocery shopping with only one child. Most importantly it's three hours of social interaction with people other than Mom and Dad or the Grandparents.

I'm also hoping that he learns to recite his ABCs and 123s. When I sing songs or count things in books he shows no interest and sometimes even tells me to stop. Hopefully he'll be more receptive to learning with some peer pressure. Same goes for potty training. They work with the kids on potty training so I really hope the peer pressure gets him more serious about that.

The first day G was excited to go to class. He had fun at the orientation the week before riding trikes outside. Once he figured out I wasn't staying he started crying and talking to him didn't improve the situation so I just had to leave. I brought his trusty green blanket and he clutched it the whole day. When I came to pick him up he had a death grip on his blankie and said "Let's go home NOW Mommy!".

Thomas makes his debut appearance

Today was G's playgroup Halloween party. One of the many reasons he had to come home from the desert so quickly.

G LOVES Thomas the Train and all his friends. So when deciding what to be for Halloween it was clear he wanted to be Thomas. Grandma B spent months creating Thomas (a half hour here a half hour there). G seemed to be really excited about wearing Thomas and cooperated through a couple fittings.

Well the day of the party he didn't want to put on his Thomas clothes. I knew he wouldn't be able to wear the costume the whole time so I wanted him to dress as a conductor. I forgot his scarf and hat for the party, but bribed him with a jelly bean to wear his shirt and engineer shorts. It required two jelly beans for him to put on the costume at the party.

When he finally put it on, he seemed to get everyone's attention and he really didn't like that at all. He wanted me to carry him. Kind of impossible with that big monstrosity on. So two more jelly beans to pose for pictures and wear the hat. Five jelly beans total and I got what I wanted. I doubt that's good parenting, but it was worth it to get the pictures!


He had fun at the party mostly playing with Patrick's toys. Believe it or not Adam was there too. We took pictures of him with his buddy Aaron. Aaron is 5 weeks younger than Adam, but he looks about the same size now. Hard to believe that Adam is twice as old! He's growing up so fast.



TIMBEEEERRRRRRRRRRR...

The 24 hour desert trip

Dad and G took a trip to the desert with Kaitlyn's Dad and the Watts. The van had it's inaugural tow of the motorcycle trailer. Apparently it did a better job than Dave's old truck. And you thought vans were wimpy!



G fell asleep in the van on the way out to the desert. Dave and G setup camp in the back of the van. G slept in the back of the van, and Dad stayed up late so he only had a 2 hour nap in the van before G woke him up at 5am!

G asleep with his beloved green blanket. "Don't leave home without it."

There was snacking, quad riding, and playing/fighting with the other 3 boys there. Then Dave brought me home a dirty cranky boy that we had to throw in the shower before sending him off to bed.



He's driving!


Miss Tyler is ready for her quad ride.



Trying to keep up with the big boys...

Zoned out in front of the fire with Kaitlyn's Dad.

He seemed to love it and asked to go to a different desert next time.

They finished the wall

The whole shebang:


Above the stairs to see the double wall.


Steps up to the vegetable garden:

G and Dad go to the desert

Tonight G and Dad headed off to the desert while A and Oskar and I hold down the fort. G was so excited to go to the desert. He kept saying all day that we had to get home because Daddy was going to come home to get him to go to the desert. He sat on the stairs after Dave left for work this morning and said "I'm going to wait right here until Daddy gets home." Sadly I had to inform him that he had to go to preschool.

Today was his last day at his playgroup's co-op preschool. Next week he gets thrust into the real world and his 16 years of education begins...with hopefully at least 4 additional years for college on top of that.

So I sent the boys off to the desert with the camera, so hopefully the boys come back with pictures. Right after they left I cleaned the kitchen. Tomorrow I have big plans to do more house cleaning. A hurricane must have come through here while I was out of the house because there are toys scattered everywhere. Hard to believe on little boy can get so many toys in so many places in so little time. It's like he's leaving bread crumbs to mark his path through the house.

I don't have any pictures of the boys, so here are some picture of the yard in progress.
Left side:


Right side:


P.S. He didn't nap today, but instead ate his Clifford book. Yes that's right he ATE the corner of it. I'll post a picture soon...

Pumpkins and fish sticks...the perfect day

Today we hit the pumpkin patch for the first time this year. It was so hot! I decided to get pictures of the boys first since Adam was ready to nap. G was really reluctant to pose for the picture, but I bribed him with a rice krispy treat and suddenly I had his full cooperation.



In the afternoon G and Grandma took a hike up to the top of the hill by our house. This big trek didn't tire him out enough for a nap though. However it did give him a big appetite for dinner. He ate 4 fish sticks!! This boy doesn't eat much so 4 fish sticks is like gorging himself. Thanks to Grandma E for the suggestion. Of course next time I offer it I'm sure he won't eat it.

After dinner I left G with Where the Garbage Goes and when I came back twenty minutes later he was passed out on the couch! This boy has NEVER EVER EVER fallen asleep like that. I picked him up and carried him upstairs to his bed. Amazingly he stayed asleep...I was seriously blown away! Here I am it's 6:30 and both kids are in bed.

It's the perfect day because I got a cute picture of the boys, G ate something, and both boys are in bed early! Time to catch up on the blog, yay!

Preschool Orientation

Well today was the big day. G went to preschool for the first time, but I stayed too. He did fairly well. He didn't want to participate in the group activities, however he was willing to sit in the circle. When it was time to do some beading he was actually eager to get a string and beads. He also answered (correctly!) when the teacher asked what he was going to be for Halloween. I was so proud!

His favorite time was free play outside. He immediately jumped on a tricycle and scooted around the play area. Then he spent the rest of the time alternating between racing a lawn mower and scooting a trike.

Despite the fact that he didn't shed a tear today, I'm sure next week when I leave it's going to be rough for him. I just hope that he adapts quickly.

Then the biggest surprise...he took a nap in his bed for the first time in three weeks! It was an hour in his room talking and rolling around in his bed and 50 minutes of actual sleep. The past three weeks I have been alternating between taking longer afternoon walks for a stroller nap and running errands in the afternoon for a car nap. The days when I didn't get him to nap at all he was unbearable by 5pm. Hopefully this nap thing becomes an everyday thing again.



He's also really into his tricycle lately. He doesn't pedal, but that's not because he can't, it's because he knows I want him to. We borrowed a tricycle from his friend Ian because we thought his was too hard for him to push. He pedaled 5 or 6 rotations and then decided he was over it. He got off and pushed it around the culdesac instead. At least he looks cute in his jeans.

Fall Festival

Another busy day for G. Today was soccer and then the Fall Festival. G was really excited to go because there were bouncers. G LOVES bouncers! He started off bouncing and before we left he was bouncing. Through the middle he was bouncing, but we also managed to get him to ride a pony, eat, get a caricature done with his brother, make slime, and play with the train table.

Grandma and Grandpa went to the Festival with A, G, and I since Dad was helping his friend dig trenches in their yard. Funny because we had the landscapers digging in our yard on Saturday too.

On with the good stuff, the pictures!




G and Kaitlyn with a pirate:

Legoland here we come!

Originally we were supposed to meet G's friend Ben (from his old playgroup up North), but he couldn't make it so it was just the four of us. G had so much fun, and so did Dad! I didn't go on any rides, instead I photographed the trip and hung out with Adam feeding him and watching him sleep. It was actually a lot of fun and we stayed there for 4 hours before we leaving.

Adam was out of the stroller for some of the fun too, but he didn't go on any rides. There is still plenty of the park we didn't explore. We got three month passes so we have plenty of time to see it all. However the $10 parking fee is just ridiculous!









After Legoland we went to visit Ben at his hotel. G and Ben went for a dip in the hotel pool and then we went out to dinner. Ben has a new little sister Katherine that is a month older than Adam. Katie slept through most of the reunion, but Adam was awake for a lot of it. I'm not sure if Ben and G remember each other, but they enjoyed sharing pictures across the table at TGIFs. Ben was showing us his ability to write letters and draw pictures (like spiders, a leaf, forklift, etc)....and he's the same age as G!

Mr. Adam

Adam has just started to tolerate his bouncer seat with the fish bar. He used to scream when I put him in there and scream harder when the fish bar was on. I guess it was too much stimulation for him, but now he's finally interested in it. He still hates tummy time with a passion.



My new motto...another day another poop explosion. For the past week he has been having one single HUGE bowel movement. I don't care how big the diaper is, it could not contain A's poop. It's pretty much a disaster with the changing table and clothes needing to cleaned. I cannot believe how much laundry I am doing these days. Just one more addition to the family and I swear the laundry has tripled! I guess G is getting dirtier too just being a two year old. It doesn't help that we have three huge piles of rock in our driveway for the landscaping. Three piles he has to climb and inspect of course!

Mr. A started cooing recently and giving me smiles. It's the best thing! He sits in my lap and checks things out and whips out a smile for me then starts cooing. I've tried to get this on camera, but when I hide behind the camera the smiles and coos vanish. Instead he just gets his worried looks on his face as he examines the camera.



I've been better about giving him a bottle. Or I should say, Grandma comes over on Thursdays so I can get my allergy shot and Adam can get a bottle. He also gets one on the weekend and sporadically the rest of the time. He seems to take it well as long as it is ready when he is. Once he gets frantic he won't take it.

That's the latest and greatest.

Crazy Sunday

On Sunday we met Connor and Kyle at the park for an early morning play date. Connor and G had fun swinging and yelling "go dog go" at various dogs playing on the field. They are a crack up!




After playing at the park we went to a toy store to get a present made for the Grandparents. The boys had to wait for their turn and they were crazy kids in a toy store! They were fighting over blocks, who could go in the playpen, and who could play with the kitchen. Dave and I were exhausted after that trip! Sadly G was still all revved up and didn't take a nap!

My two month old

He's 11lbs 2oz. So after 2 months Adam is just about the size of his older brother at birth! I think he's getting so big these days! Sadly, he'll be out of his 3 month clothes in a couple of weeks and on to size 2 diapers. And he's developed a bald spot on the back of his head from sleeping on his back.

Speaking of sleeping, he has been doing great. He has been consistently sleeping 10 hours from 7pm to 5am. He's also taking great naps in his crib during the day if we happen to be home. Usually we are running around doing G activities. I feel guilty robbing him of his precious sleep...especially since I was home for all of G's naps. However if I stayed home for both boys' naps I would NEVER get to leave the house.

I've had so many comments how my boys look alike, but I don't see it. So...I dug up Ethan's old pictures to compare him to Adam at the same age. What do you think??

Here he is with his doctor.

Ready, swim!

He's doing so well swimming, but we are starting his last set of lessons before we take a little break. G got into a nearby preschool and is going to start one day a week, so were are bumping swimming down to one day a week. We have our week jam packed with an activity every day except Friday! I try to keep Fridays free so we can go on outings with Dad every other week.

He is currently working on breathing, but still no kicking. He's also doing back floats and flipping to his stomach to swim to the edge. Tracy wants him to be able to rest and continue swimming if he even falls in the pool and gets tired. I can't find the video of the back float, but here are the long awaited videos (long awaited by the Grandparents anyway).

It's hard to tell in the other videos how much swimming he's doing on his own and how much Tracy is helping him, but this one makes it really clear! He's workin' it!


Taking a breath on his own:

Firehouse Tour

Today G woke up early and Adam had a rough night so Dave and I were not so energetic this morning.  I think G is still suffering the aftermath of skipping his nap yesterday because he didn't want to participate much in soccer.  He was eager to head off to the local fire department's open house.  

He sat in the back and front of the aerial ladder truck and posed for a picture with a dog and an antique water pump.  He also got to tour the fire station to see where the fire fighters eat sleep and exercise.  Apparently they don't use the fire poles anymore because too many firefighters were getting injured.  They are no longer installed in new firehouses.  

And best of all he got some tchotchkes like a plastic fire hat, bracelet, sticker, pin, and a necklace.  Sadly, he wouldn't wear the plastic fire hat or the real one when he was driving the fire truck.

Sadly it was another day without a nap, so he went to bed before 7pm and went to sleep almost immediately!!  I'm a little afraid of when he'll wake up tomorrow morning.