Christmas 2009 survived!

Lots of pics to catch you up on us over the holidays.

Baking sugar cookies with Grandpa.













Christmas morning before opening presents.













Playing with Tag Junior reading system.













Playing with stacking/nesting blocks.













Playing with Daddy.















More playing with Daddy.











Daddy being home was the best present.














Loving Daddy.












White Christmas.













Happy boy playing in Mommy's slippers.



















Happy kiddo (this is the face he makes every time we ask him to smile for the camera.)

Happy Holidays!

A little holiday cheer to share with you. Enjoy!

Dancing King

Watch A stretch his dancing legs, with an occasional break to talk to our ever-present bevy of imaginary friends.

Gosh, I love being a mom!

Oh, and a quick shout out to Duck Ellington for the music.

Sockless

There's a growing trend in my household that my children must be without foot coverings for at least 50% of the day. I've actually been trying to convince them to do pajama days so that I know that their feet will be covered since they only wear footie pajamas this time of year. Often, if A has determined that it's barefoot time, he'll hold Z down and tug off his slippers and socks. However, there are many days like the one below where Z has managed to come up with his own style with one naked foot, and one fully dressed one.



















My brother wisely suggested that I drop this from my list of battle-worthy issues. Now that I suffer these cold feet with sighs of discontent rather than time outs and speeches, life at my house has mellowed a bit.

Other things worth mentioning:
- Z has begun brushing his teeth and really seems to enjoy it. He gets to brush them every night with his brother. That's what happens when you've got 4 of your molars in.
- I found a Reading Readiness Tool online, and A took the test on Sunday and did exceeding well with a 15 correct out of 20. So, we're in the home stretch for truly starting to read.
- Last Friday we had our first date night where the kids were babysat by a neighbor teen and her friend. It went very well, and Z apparently quit crying within minutes of us leaving. Mommy sighs a big sigh of relief with that one. Guess he's not that much of a momma's boy after all.

'Tis the season of giving and getting

For our first December where A actually understands that it's something special, I've been working to make it memorable, but not overwhelming.

First, we're doing a bit of giving and getting everyday. Each day he helps me with something - cleaning the floors, making holiday cards, making dinner, etc. - and he gets something in return - a new book or toy, or a recorded holiday program on TV to watch. After a week of this, I think he's getting the hang of it. Of course, he's also managed to get a cold, so that's diminishing his holiday spirit a bit.

Second, we're not doing the whole Santa thing, but we are still reading stories about Christmas, Santa and baby Jesus. This hasn't lead to too many questions yet, but I'm sure it will over time.

Finally, we're getting ready for snow! We're supposed to get some over the next day or two, and I think that will put the cherry on it all.

Happy holidays to you and yours!

Before it get's cold...

We decided to let our little ones participate in one of their favorite night time activities. Enjoy.

Z in a drawer

He loves to climb in and out. Ah, the little things in life.

First Snow

Snow suit? Check!
Winter jacket with hood? Check!
Mittens? Check!
Snow? Plenty for a 3 year old. :)

Summitting one of the many peaks of Mt. Curiosity

Ah, life with two young boys. It is wonderful and fulfilling, but it also full of boyish things like pretending to:

• sword fight with plastic clothing hangers (not much of a fight when only one of them knows how to wield his instrument of destruction)
• be attacked by a swarm of bugs
• be a collapsing bridge when one or the other tries to go under arms, legs, a head, etc.
• rule one another with brute force - you can guess who usually wins, for now

It is also about wonderful things like learning to spit your toothpaste out when brushing your teeth. This has been a rather difficult thing to teach A, but in the last week or so, he has mastered this task and is even learning how to rinse with water at the end. Woo hoo! (Celebrate the little things, I say!) Do you think I should add it to his growing resume of expertise which currently includes "covers his mouth while coughing most of the time" and "rarely spills his milk"?

While A's been learning to spit, Z's been learning to climb anything he can possible hoist himself onto. He's also learned the fine art of moving furniture to get a better vantage point in the climbing process. Finally, he's learned that if you can climb to get a desired object, then that is much better than walking over to get it. Everything is an obstacle course. I've now created a labyrinth of my dining room chairs to keep him from climbing onto the dining room table which currently houses a TV, portable DVD player and a few old video game consoles and controllers. Z managed to secure a spot on the dining room table twice in one day which did less to the assorted electronics gear than it did to my overactive imagination, and I've since thwarted his attempts of dining room table domination. This will likely only last as long as it takes him to figure out how to line up the necessary furniture to achieve his goal. Thank goodness that room is carpeted and therefore moving the furniture is much harder.

A is also trying to teach Z how to jump. And, not just jump with two feet off the ground, but jump from varying heights. Z however has no idea how to use his little legs as springs, and instead scoots his little feet slowly over the edge of whatever jumping platform A has chosen (think books on the floor in a pile, steps, chairs, etc.) until he falls over at which time they both roll all over each other laughing. Apparently it's a riot. Mom is not convinced.

I guess it is my job, as their mother, to watch and record as my little guys work their way through the many peaks and valleys of Mount Curiosity (in my mind this is a vast mountain range). Wish me luck as they climb and jump and spit along the way.

Nothing

Or, as A says, "noffing." That's his answer to so many things these days.

Q: "What did you do at school today?" A: "Noffing."

Happy Halloween

The big boys decide to do a Halloween dance.

Z


















The KC grandkids

Kidnapping, coercion and brotherly love

I got my first true glimpse of what I thought was a moment of brotherly love and enjoyment, but turns out to be much less ... pure. A and Z had been playing in A's room for awhile. Since A is the only child who can reach the door knob and knows how to open the door, I kept listening for more persistent knocking or at least a decent, blood-curdling scream. Occasionally there would be a knocking on the door, but it was temporary, and I'd heard only the occasional squeak, so I assumed (and hoped) that a) no one was dead and b) they might actually be getting along.

After 30 minutes, I went up to make sure all was well, and lo and behold, it was fine! No blood and all body parts appeared to be in working order.

I left them playing and proceeded to walk down the hall. Halfway down the hall, I turned to look back and admire my beautifully behaved children, and realized Z had followed me, and was about midway between me and A. A rushed up to Z, took the stuffed basketball toy from Z's hand and threw it back into A's room, and A then tackled Z to the ground and proceeded to drag him bodily into A's room.

When I asked A what he was doing, he simply replied "I don't want Z to go with you. He's playing with me!" I told A to let Z up. Z jumped up and happily toddled back into A's room in an effort to play with the toy A had taken from him. A smoothly slid into the room behind his brother and said "We playing now," and promptly shut the door.

I guess it's better that A wants to play with Z than push him away all the time, but one has to wonder where the line is drawn between wanting to hang out because you love someone and, ahem, forcing others to your will because they're smaller than you.

At least no one's bleeding.

Overcoming sickness

Well, the kiddos have both had colds for the last week. A is finally well enough to go back to school, but Z is still harboring a runny nose and grumpy demeanor. I'll be happy when the little guy starts to get happy again. We've finally had some decent weather which resulted in a glorious leaf jumping event at Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday. I didn't get pics, but see if this paints one for you:

70 degree weather, slight breeze
sun shining through the swirl of drifting leaves
the 3-year old boy runs, leaps, and lands on his knees in the midst of yellow, orange and brown softly crunching leaves
the 1-year old boy toddles on tip toe, listing from side to side on the uneven grassy and tree-root gnarled ground
bursts of laughter punctuate the air like the occasional red leaf fluttering to the ground

It's raining tonight, but at least we got a bit of warmth this fall before the cold of winter. To all who read this, be healthy. Love, Chris

Kitchen, cooking, eating

It's getting cooler outside, so I've been cooking up yummy fall foods - chili, mulligatawny, etc. - and the children have wanted to spend more and more time under my feet in the kitchen. To soothe a cranky Z the other day, I pulled out various plastic spoons and other kitchen gadgets to keep him, and A, happy and busy.

G and I have decided to try to eat less meat, and thus when I forgot to defrost the chicken for the mulligatawny, we were both game to try it without meat. Amazingly, the absence of chicken wasn't very noticeable, so this happy accident may be repeated in future incarnations of this recipe. During this meal, A told us "my mouth hurts" when he ate a bite, but then he powered through the rest of it and even asked for more. It was a bit on the spicy side for my taste, although G thought it was fine (he breathes fire when possible, so he's not the best judge). So, I guess now we know that A likes spicy food. Z was given a few bites too, and he seemed to think it was good. I guess we'll have a family full of spicy food lovers shortly. Woo Hoo!

Zoo days

I took the big boys to the Zoo this week. Here's a few pics.

Strong-willed child

Z is a great kid, but he's very strong-willed. If I tell him "no touch" when he's touching an electrical socket (don't worry, they're all child proofed), he'll touch it more and smile while doing so. Or, if I tell him to be gentle with the animals, he's more likely to grab a fist full of fur and pull, even when I'm sitting next to him and showing him the right way. (Yes, I know these are typical behaviors of children Z's age, but he's very persistent about "breaking the rules".)

His latest, and most confusing, strong-willed action can happen at various times during the day, and it goes a bit like this: I put Z on the floor to go play after nap or something else, and instead he wants something else (not sure what he wants exactly - probably to be held for the rest of the day - but it certainly not to be on the floor). He stands stock still and board straight and cries, and cries, and cries with tearless eyes. He truly doesn't stop unless, by some miracle, A is able to distract him from his crying, or Mommy picks him up. So far, I've let him go on like this for up to 10 minutes and he doesn't waiver. It's a bit frightening, frankly.

What will I be up against with this child in the future? Oy.

Messy days

Z is learning to feed himself. This started a few weeks ago when he wouldn't allow me to put the spoon in his mouth without him grabbing it and "helping" me. This week I finally decided to give in to the developmental milestone and gave Z a bowl with about 2 tablespoons of yogurt in it, and a spoon. You can see how that went.

Baby steps and great photo ops. :-)

A grandparent legacy

We're fortunate enough to live close to my parents, and they (especially my mom) make a huge effort to spend time with the boys. Z gets to spend one morning a week with them, and A gets almost all day one day a week. These are two lucky boys, and I'm obviously very lucky to benefit from these arrangements.

My folks travel a lot for business and pleasure. Recently they were away again, and A kept pretending to be drinking wine, reading newspapers and going to California. My folks often drink wine with dinner, and often talk about various different events with friends where they drink wine and eat yummy food. A has clearly decided that this is the way things are supposed to be and thus likes to pour himself an imaginary glass of wine in one of his Seasame Street-themed cups. Drink up Cookie Monster.

My mom also apparently likes to read the newspaper while A reads his own books during his weekly visits. So, while my folks were away, he would pick up one of the board books and sit on the couch reading his newspaper. If I interrupted him, he'd say, "Shhh, Mommy. I reading newspaper."

Finally, part of my parents' annual travel seems to take them at least once if not twice to California to visit family and friends, and of course, drink great wine. Every time A got in his little Cozy Coup Police Car, he'd tell me he was going to California and ask me if I wanted anything. Thoughtful, no? He would usually bring me pizza (in the form of yet another board book) after driving the circle from our kitchen to dining room to foyer to kitchen again.

All of A's pretending definitely said "I miss Grandma and Grandpa" quite as clearly as the actual words.

Z eating cupcake video

Happy Birthday Z!

Party #1 - post-cake face

Z's first 1st birthday party was at home yesterday. This was his face after the pasta, cheese, milk and then the yummy brownie cupcake. I love that you can see his chocolate-y teeth and totally hyped-up eyes. Fortunately he was pretty ready to crash after this bath.

I ran the numbers last night and realized that A will likely graduate from high school in 2024 and Z in 2027. That's the first thought that really made me pause and almost brought tears to my eyes. Thinking of those milestones as something tangible, however far off (and we all know how time flies), really caught my attention and made me start to think about how much I want to cherish this time with my little guys. Of course, they're growing up so fast. What's a mom to do?

Z's already walking up a storm and just started talking this week. He said "Hi Dada" and waved when G came home from work on Wednesday, and then said it while waving two more times at dinner. Also during dinner, he started clapping his hands, but I think it was his imitation of the sign for "more".

I've even taken down the gates on the stairs for the majority of the day because Z is so accomplished with going up and coming down without incident. When both boys are on the stairs together, I watch them like a hawk, but individually, they're doing great. Plus we're instituting stair rules like "No touching" and "No playing" on the stairs. The biggest drawback is that Z now is going through the phase where it's fun to take various items and throw them down the stairs. *sigh*

1 year puppy pics

Z turned 1 yesterday. Here are the two best puppy pics. Alex was able to help Z stand still long enough for me for me to actually capture a decent image. His mobility certainly keeps me on my toes.

Aren't they both cute?

Swinging

Ok, thought this was too cute not to include. Does it make you feel like you're swinging too?

Preschool begins!

A's first day at preschool was yesterday. He'll be going two days a week and couldn't be more excited. He even gets to eat his lunch there too, which is apparently the coolest thing ever. Now he wants me to pack him lunch every day so that he can use his lunch box.

I'm so proud of my big guy!

The same eye color?

I'm not sure what eye color Z will have yet, but I thought both of my boys' eyes look similar in these pics.

A Day at Franklin Park with friends

A week or so ago, I took the boys to the park to play with some friends. A and his friend, W, playing on everything, but the favorite item was the tire swing. The big boys probably played on the tire swing for a good 15-20 minutes which is pretty impressive given attention spans and other fun things to play on/with. Another fav was the sand box. Z tried to eat sand for the first time and decided he didn't like it (thank goodness). Mostly he just wanted to walk around, pick up something yucky of the ground, try to stick it in his mouth, then repeat. W's brother, G, was giving their mom a workout by walking her all around the park. G is almost walking on his own and likes to practice, practice, practice... with mom's help of course.

It was a great day and we look forward to going back.

End August Update

The boys are napping for just a bit longer, so I wanted to take a sec to fill you in on life here.

We're just 11 days away from A's first day of preschool. We already started Kindermusik, which he loves, he just wishes his best friend AM could go with him (AM takes gymnastics instead). We've got his backpack, folder, lunch box, etc. I'm so excited for him... and me!

Z is walking everywhere and thinks the funniest thing in the world to do is to do a full body roll over everything - dog, cat, A, me, toys, etc. It elicits giggles like nothing else.

My mom found a few boxes of goodies in an old chest in the garage. One box contained some books that I've been asking her for since A was born. I am so happy to add these books to our library. There are even some books that go back to my brother's day which I will take to him for Thanksgiving.

G has been out of the count for the last 10 days after having his tonsils out plus some other ENT surgery. He's hanging in there, but still can only whisper and can only eat really soft foods. He worked from home last week, but goes into the office tomorrow, so I'm planning easy soft meals for him to survive on. Wish him luck. Thankfully, one of our good friends will be driving G to/from work since I won't let G drive while he's taking his pain meds.

Just to recap a few other things from August, cousin Jon from New York came to visit for a long weekend. The boys had a great time hanging out with Jon, and Jon was great about reading books to A and playing with him.

The weather is turning cooler, and I've been breaking out the long pants and even some long sleeved shirts for the boys (see pic below. Z is wearing a cute outfit from Grandma Carmen.). Although I'm almost mentally ready for Fall, I'm bummed that it means the end of swim lessons. Due to rainy weather and schedule conflicts, we haven't been to the pool since early in August. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to hold out for Florida in April for Aunt Colleen's wedding (woo hoo!). And by next summer, I'll probably be able to take both boys to the pool without worry about having another set of hands. That will be fun.

So long Summer. We look forward to seeing you again next year. And to our few readers out there, we wish you a happy rest of the year.

Love, C

Fashion statement

Bunny ears? Check!

Old scarf of Mommy's? Check!

Winter hat on backwards? Check!

Now what do we have? A little boy being silly and playing dress up. I think he might have some of his father's fashion sense (sorry hon), but it certainly makes me smile. And he's smiling which is a good sign.

Z turns 11 months old (belated post)

My boys are growing, growing, growing. And going, going, going. It was pretty much impossible to get Z to stand still long enough for me to get the photo I wanted for his 11 month puppy shot, but below is what I was able to get. At least you can see A with his summer haircut (he wanted to have hair like Daddy).

This is A's consistent sulky facial expression these days. His favorite phrase is "I don't want to do X" or "I don't like that." The terrible three's are definitely more of a challenge than the terrible two's. Ugh. At least he's cute, right? And preschool is right around the corner.







This is the most common way I was able to get photos of Z: on the move. He walks probably 90% of the time now and loves his new mobility. He also loves to throw any object he gets into his hand, so we're starting to work on what we can and can't throw.














Z loves playing with A, and often A is willing to accomodate him. Here is a smiley puppy pic, but the smile is all because of his big brother. Too cute!

Walking Z Video

Here he is walking. Enjoy!

Jag-ew-lars

As I think I've mentioned before, we're currently working on learning the alphabet and our letter for this week is J. One of the things on our J sheet is a jaguar. A calls it a jag-ew-lar. Just another A-ism to add to the others.

Z's cutting teeth and getting over a cold, so neither he nor I have been sleeping as well as we used to; he started really sleeping through the night about 3 weeks ago. So, we've been getting up once or twice, as needed at night. Hopefully these teeth will come in and then we can get a bit more sleep again.

Rock Stars!

We went to DD and Dax's for the Cali Crew July b-days, and the preschoolers decided to rock out with the Rock Star equipment. I wonder if we'll see more of this in our future.