First School Performance for A

Boys pre-performance
















Video 1



Video 2

Uncle Justin visits

Look at those happy faces! Uncle Justin came to visit and the boys had so much fun. A continues to say that he misses Uncle Justin, and Z keeps saying "Justy airplane!"

We went to see a dinosaur exhibit, ate lots of yummy food, had lots of kiddo time and a bit of adult time, and generally had fun. It was a great visit all around and we look forward to the next time we get to see "Justy".

First Musical for A

Last night was a big night for A. A, Mommy, Grandma and Grandpa went to see the musical, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day". Beforehand, we had a fairly quick dinner at local restaurant, where A dined on herb bread with herb butter, salad with a lot of ranch dressing, and some pizza, plus a little vanilla gelatto. The adults enjoyed a nice glass of wine and slightly more adult fare. Then we made our way to the theater.

It was packed! This is a special theater that caters to kids and thus had a great seating area on the floor, plus normal theater seating for adults. A and Mommy sat on the floor to watch the show. There was singing. There was dancing. There were lots of kid-friendly jokes. Lots of laughing. It was just the right event for Mr. A. And he loved it! The play was only an hour, and by the time we got home, A was ready for bed.

What a wonderful night!


A and Mom














A and grandparents














The crew post-performance

Belated Halloween shots

Two boys enjoying a cookie pre-Trick or Treating














Little people after the candy














Dinosaur Z (note the dino pjs to complete the outfit)


















KC grandkids for the annual Halloween photo shoot complete with one crying child (Z was the one in tears last year)

Odds and Ends

A few short stories to keep you in the loop on the little people. Halloween pictures will hopefully be posted soon, but for now here's a few things that are going on at our house:

Scissors. Such a simple word. So many complications in using them. First, there's the simple mastery of moving the fingers and thumb the correct way. Often there's a question of which hand to use, or should I use both hands, and then once I decide about that, which way should I hold them. Then we move on to the cutting. What to cut? Of course, Mom prefers we cut paper. Specifically only paper that she gives us to cut. But wouldn't it be fun to cut something else? Hmmm. What else could we cut? Ah, I know. Hair! Yes, little brother hair is perfect for cutting. What? I wasn't supposed to do that? Oops. Sorry (said with big grin). [Note from Mom: literally 2 minutes of 2 boys alone with 2 pairs of scissors, and now Z needs to grow out his new "haircut" before I actually take him somewhere to professionally have it cut. Geez.]

The Fine Art of Blasting. Two boys sitting at the kitchen table. A says "No, that's not the way you do it. You have to do it like this," as he proceeds to say a combination of "pfffffffffffft" (while saliva sails from the mouth and all over the table) and "pow pow pow" with a bit of "p-chhhh" thrown in for good measure. Z tries to duplicate. "Good job. That's better. But still not right. Do it like this." and the lesson continues. Spit continues to fly. Boys are happy.

Z pronunciations
The kid is talking up a storm, and more and more of it is easily recognized as being somewhere in the English language. And he's even pulling out full sentences. His most commonly heard word by far is "alright". The second most common is "no" (he's 2, remember?).
Milk = Milp
Sticky/Stinky = sssssssssssssstiky
Dog = dog dog
Cracker = crackie
Pancake = cookie
Bagel = waffle (we had both one morning, and he's convinced I have the names wrong)

The boys are doing great. School is great. Science and swimming classes are fun. We're doing lots of coloring, and getting ready to hunker down for a cold winter. Life is good for us, and we hope it's good for you.

A Trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead

We had a wonderfully comfortable trip to Deanna Rose Farmstead back in October. Oops! I forgot to post the pics, so here you go.

A riding a mini John Deere














Z working the pedals of his mini John Deere














KC grandkids

A "reads" to Z

In video thanks to Dad. Enjoy.

Dancing guys

Here's the kids enjoying Duck Ellington again!

Z starts "school"

Now that Z is two, he is allowed to participate in our preschool's Children's Day Out program. This means that Mommy actually gets a few hours of non-kid time a week to spend doing stuff I'd probably rather not do with kids (examples: oil change, go to the DMV, in-depth home cleaning, etc.). Woo hoo!

My hubby asked me last night if I was going to cry when Z went to school today, and I said I didn't think so. And I was right; no tears from Mom. However my little Z did shed a few tears, but ultimately he gave me a kiss and went to play. It should be a day full of new and fun adventures. I can't wait to hear what the teacher has to say when I pick him up.

Both of my boys are growing up so fast, and I couldn't be more proud of them.

Z looking small but cute














Z ready for the big day


















A & Z smile before school

Tinker Time

Uncle Travis got Z a set of Tinker Toys for his birthday. Today, we tinkered. And the boys were lucky enough to have Daddy home to help. See attached video and pic. Thanks to Uncle Trav for the fun toy!




My guys

And now Z is two.

Wow! Hard to believe I'm a mom of a fabulous 2 year old. Yes, he's got the "terrible" part down, but he's also loving and creative, funny and intense, imaginative and, more and more talkative (with words we can even understand). It's awesome.

We had a potluck for all of our Cali Crew September birthdays, and below is the video (warning: it's 10 minutes long!) of Zach opening his gifts. You'll see a number of legs walking through the video while he's opening, plus a few shots of some of our friends' adorable twins, ZN & BJ.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Mr. Z's 2nd birthday so great.

Belated update with A's 2nd b-day party in July

Totally forgot that I downloaded these pictures. We had a great time at our favorite burger joint with lots of friends and good food.

Birthday boy and his bro during cupcake happiness













Strongman T with boys




















R helps the birthday boy open gifts














Jen, Rog & T

















Neighbors Martina, Grant & C














Billie & Chris














Dax, R & H















Jill and B Bear

Les Artistes

The weather is perfect for using chalk outside. Check out these pics of my little artists.

Anything can be art














The artists hard at work














Art in motion














Admiring art from a different perspective

School begins for A

Ah, the start of a new school year! The weather is cooling, the kiddos are ready to be with their friends again, and Mom is pretty excited to be getting a little time to herself for a few hours a week. More school photos will be posted after Z starts school in a couple of weeks. Woo hoo!


A in front of his school












AM and A














Z, AM & A

Finally! A break in the weather!

This summer the head has been oppressive. We did our best to overcome the oppression by going to the pool late in the afternoon and doing our weekly outside playdate in the morning at fairly shady parks. And now, after all of the effort to deal with the heat, we are finally served with a beautiful gray day with light showers.

It was the perfect day for the guys to go out with their new Thomas the Tank Engine umbrellas and get wet in the rain. The pictures below are from the beginning of their outside adventures, but by the end of the 30+ minutes outside, they were both pretty darn wet. Apparently it isn't that exciting to hold umbrellas over your head. Instead, it is much better to leave the on the ground to collect as much rain as possible (while getting yourself wet in the rain), and then pour any accumulation over either your head or your brother's.

And, when they came inside, I had sweatpants and t-shirts. That's right, I said "sweatpants". Now that it's only 75* today, I feel that I need to keep my kids bundled up. Oh well, we should be back in the high 80's tomorrow, so it'll be back to shorts and sandals. But for today, I'm enjoying the rain, the coolness, and the relaxation associated with a rainy day.

More growing up news

Over the last 2 weeks, I've spent a lot of time at the "big" pool at either my Mom's or my subdivisions. Watching my little guys makes me realize how much they're growing. Z can now sit on his tush in our kiddie pool at our pool and still be able to breathe. My mom taught A how to be a "submarine" and hold his breath underwater while moving or trying to get objects, so now he has to do it all the time. And, when in the big pool, A can touch his feet comfortably on the floor of the 3ft section of the pool and doggie paddle around.

Swim lessons start next week for A, and he is totally primed for a successful class. Woo Hoo!

I love having water babies.

A summer full of growing up.

*sigh*

This summer has been hot and humid, and thus filled with many afternoons in either the "big pool" of our subdivision, or our little backyard blow-up pool. When at home, I let my little guys enjoy the backyard pool sans clothes, and have been known to scrub 'em with a bar of soap and hose them down just in time for dinner. It's certainly a thing I think I will forever associate with summer, and probably this summer in particular.

A turned 4, and Z's acting like he's 13, so we've got lots of growing up happening at our house.

Z is now officially in his toddler bed and he's adjusting fairly well; after a few tearful falls and even a few smooth landings, we decided it was time to retire the crib.

A is working on learning to write his numbers and letters, complete simple mazes, and start reading sight words. We have a number of workbooks that G's sister gave me (thanks Coll!), and I went overboard and bought a ton more from Target's $1 section. So, A likes to do "activity" sheets regularly these days.

Z is walking up and downstairs without crawling.

A is learning the difference between telling the truth and telling falsehoods. I hesitate to call them lies because I don't think he completely understands the difference between what he wants to be true and what is true.

A has figured out that he can now open the fridge and enjoys the ability to grab his milk and take a swig any time he feels like it, and Z is learning to say "Pease" and "'ank oooo" whenever A allows Z to grab his own cup too.

Growing up is also about understanding consequences like sitting in time out when you throw toys or slam doors or go into the bathroom unassisted when you plan to put toys in the toilet (Some day, a plumber will be very happy with the bill he will earn from me for all of the toys he's going to have to snake out of my pipes. Oy vey!)

But generally, growing up is about learning. testing, experimenting, observing, feeling (sometimes very acutely), and simply being.

And finally, growing up, at least at this stage of development is full of imagination. Both of my guys are regularly pretending to do a multitude of things from cooking, cleaning, driving cars, playing with dragons, flying planes, and sitting on the sun.

Summer Visits so far

Only a few visitors this summer - Mommy's cousin Gaye and her two kids (no pics) spent a great afternoon with Grandma at Grandma's neighborhood pool, and Uncle Jon from NY spent 10 days with us on a working vacation.

We also finally got around to seeing Great Grandma and her fabulous garden that she lovingly tends with her two adult sons.

Enjoy the pics. :-)

Daddy, A & Uncle Jon














Great Grandma, A & Z

p.s. If you're wondering about A's forehead, don't worry, it's just a surface cut. It looks a lot worse than it is.

Z updates

Life with a kiddo under the age of 2 is always active, however, with Mr. Z, it is also full of "no's" (pronounced "nah"), giggles, yelling just for the pure pleasure of hearing his own voice, power struggles and "alright's" (his answer to almost anything when he doesn't say "nah"). Most recent milestones:

- Climbed out of his crib. Fortunately he scared himself half to death and has gone a few days without trying it again.

- Jumped with two feet off the ground. It used to be that he'd just scoot his feet over the edge of the platform from which he was "jumping" and fall onto the ground, but now he actually uses his little springy legs to jump, jump, jump. And he tells you about it while he's doing it.

- First competition with Daddy about who is more stubborn. Daddy won... this time.

- First pee on the potty!

- Talking more and more all the time.

Silly little man


















Naked time (below)

And now we have a four year old!

A turned 4 this weekend. As per our usual, we kept it low-key with just a few friends and the local grandparents. A certainly had fun, and landed a ton of loot.

There will also be a lunch next weekend at our favorite burger joint for those folks who couldn't make it this weekend, so the fun is not yet over. However, below are the pics of the fun we've had so far.

But, before I delve into photo fun, here's a bit of an update about my big guy and where he is in his life today.

A is finally really getting the hang of potty training. I think he'll be ready to go to preschool in the fall.

We've been watching sight word DVDs, playing with flash cards, and writing in preschool workbooks to get ready for learning to read and write. He can now write his name without help, recognize all of his letters and the majority of their sounds, and count up to 20. He's very curious and enjoys learning.

A loves the pool, and although we still haven't managed to get in any swim lessons this year, he's showing an appropriate respect for the water while also learning to enjoy it. He jumps like a frog into and out of the water, and clearly wishes he could spend more time there. He's also great about water at home - playing in our little pool in the backyard, taking a bath, or even showering alone.

We're very fortunate to have such a loving, sweet boy for a son, and although he tries our patience regularly, we wouldn't want any other child for our first born son.

Best to you and yours, Chris

Birthday boy and Dad opening gifts.


















Action shot of blowing out the candles

Thanks for the cake, Aunt Jilly!












Birthday boy in his birthday gift from Mom

Cheeseball Z

These pictures totally crack me up. I hope they add some humor to your day. What a happy and silly guy.