My Little Chatterbox

An no it's not Erin (well Erin is a chatterbox, but this is about Jeffrey). Jeffrey has become more vocal with every passing day. He's always had that babble where I was sure he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand a word of it. Actually that was one of the cutest things about him. He would start this long conversation full of pauses, inflection, different consonants and vowels -- just none of it real words. Well those real words are becoming more and more frequent now. I'd say he's picking up a new word almost every day right now. Much of it is still associated with a specific action or situation -- for example his newest word is "backpack" (something only Dora lovers probably comprehend). Whenever he sees Dora and specifically "Backpack" he sings the backpack song clear enough that Tom and I know what he's saying. He even will say it when Erin's wearing her little backpack around the house. Some of his other words right now are:


All Done (mostly associated with eating)
Night Night
Down (he hears that one a LOT - "Jeffrey get Down", "Jeffrey Sit Down", "Jeffrey come Down the stairs")
Kitty
Doggie
Daddy
Uh-Oh
Thank You (when you hand him something)
Toot Toot (when he's pushing a car around)
Juice
Yummy
Blast Off (picked up from watching Rocket with his sister)
and
Backpack


It's just amazing to sit back and realize I'm starting to understand some of that babble. Maybe being able to communicate a little better will help his temper when he doesn't get what he wants. Even just a little would be nice.

Finding Nemo (and a few dolphins and seahorses along the way)

Yesterday we all went to Baltimore and spent the day with the fishies. We had a lot of fun looking in all of the tanks and finding all of the colorful and bright fishes. One note though, for you all to keep in mind - the National Aquarium in Baltimore does not allow strollers. There is a stroller check and they will also provide you with a handy backpack carrier. Let me note, this is not a high end carrier and does not keep the full (if any) weight of a wiggling 23 pound Jeffrey off your shoulders. Neither does it provide earplugs for the unfortunate soul to carry Jeffrey while he screamed "DAAAHHHHN" (down) for what felt like hours on end. Just keep all that in mind :)

We arrived at the aquarium early enough to beat much of the daily crowd. Got inside, checked the stroller and diaper bag and picked up the pack for Jeffrey. Got him situated and moved upstairs to look at the ray tank. Erin was fascinated with the ray tank for approximately 10.3 seconds until a larger ray swam near the top and startled her. That was the end of the ray tank for her. Jeffrey was rather amused by it and pointed out all the rays he saw. We also found a tortoise and few sharks in the ray tank. Since our Dolphin Show was at 11:30 we decided to pass the time looking around the exhibits on the first floor before heading up into the main exhibit area. Erin enjoyed looking at the seahorses and also at a "jungle" of big tubes filled with water and bubbles that she could hide among.

We walked across to the dolphin area and the kids pointed out every seagull and duck in the harbor. Since we were still early for the dolphin show we thought Erin would like the exploratory area (the touch tank). WRONG. The first thing she saw was a horseshoe crab and that was the end of that. We tried showing her a few other things but she just screamed in terror. Note - don't show Erin the horseshoe crabs first. We continued to wander around, Erin with her Uncle Jonathan, Noni, Oma and I taking turns wrestling with Jeffrey who at this point had found himself freedom from the backpack.

One they started letting people in for the show we found some seats in the last row of the "splash zone" on the far side of the area. Jeffrey wiggled and wiggled, but I finally got him calm. Erin sat with Uncle Jonathan and used up most of an entire roll of film from her camera taking pictures of the dolphins (or possibly of the back of the head of the man who was sitting in front of her - we'll see soon). Erin LOVED the dolphin show and there was enough music and action to keep Jeff's interest as well. We managed to escape getting splashed much (Erin got a little wet on the leg) and left the dolphin show energized, ready to eat lunch and tackle the rest of the aquarium.

20 minutes, 4 orders of chicken fingers, 1 hot dog and $40 later we were done with lunch (next time I'll remember to pack PB&J). We headed over to the main exhibit building and moved upstairs to the tanks. Jeffrey - again restrained to the backpack - gave in to the fight for a while and enjoyed the scenery. The first level of exhibits had primarily fresh water and local fish so Erin flew through that rather quickly. The next level had all the tropical fish. And this is where Erin got really excited. She ran up to the tank screaming - Nemo Nemo Nemo. And sure enough, there was a clown fish swimming in an anemone right at the front of the tank. We stood and watched that tank for quite a while. Until Jeffrey again declared his dislike for the backpack and I gave in to having to carry him for the rest of the afternoon. On that floor we also found Dory and a couple of Nemo's other friends.

The rest of the exhibits were relatively un-interesting to Erin - although I found the octopus quite cool and could watch the coral reef tank for hours. We made a quick trip up to the Amazon Rainforest exhibit (and no, there were no monkeys to be seen). Erin found a few brightly colored birds to snap photos of and liked the mist coming down from the ceiling. Jeffrey wiggled.

We started the descent down through the Atlantic reef tank and subsequently the shark tank. Erin will tell you she loved the sharks, but really I think she was terrified by them. She certainly didn't want to slow down to look at them. At this point Jeffrey had been sitting on my left hip/arm for about 45 minutes and I was starting to go numb so I moved a little more quickly downstairs, turned in the backpack and got the stroller and diaper bag. Changed a very wet Jeffrey and met up with the rest of the troops.

As we walked out of the aquarium we all heaved a big sigh - it was really a lot of fun but every single one of us was completely and totally exhausted. It's going to be a while before we return to the Aquarium I think.

A Day At The Beach

The kids had their first day at a "real" beach over the weekend. They both had a blast and the weather was perfect for a beach day. We were in New Jersey for Tom's Grandpa's 90th birthday party. We headed over to the beach both Friday evening and morning/early afternoon Saturday. The kids had been to the beach before, but never been allowed to play in the water, it was just a "look at the beach" trip really.

When we got there on Friday they both immediately wanted to get into bathing suits so they could go swim. Erin and Grandma W. headed down to the shore quickest while Jeffrey, Tom and I trailed behind somewhat. Apparently Erin ran straight into the waves, and subsequently got knocked over. Well that was the end of that for her. She stayed down in the surf for another few minutes but only if she was sitting on someone's shoulders. She and Tom ran around in the waves, but it was only OK as long as Erin was in no danger of getting wet at all.



Jeffrey also got knocked over by the first wave that hit him. He was a little unsure of the water for the next few minutes but before too long was out in the ocean with Tom and his Great-Uncle Pat. He loved being in the water, which was quite warm for NJ water. He'd splash and giggle every time a wave would come nearby.

While Jeffrey decided the ocean was great, Erin wanted to walk along the beach. We followed some seagulls, and found a little playground for her to climb around in. It appears that Erin is much more of a "beach" girl than an "ocean" babe. She got out a shovel and pail, found a water source that didn't require going near the ocean and build sand castles with Grandma. Although she hasn't really mastered the sand castle technique she likes filling up the buckets with, well the best word for it is mud, and dumping it out.

Uncle Pat and Aunt Linda's beach club also has a swimming pool that we visited. Erin took quite a long time to decide it was OK to play in the "kitty kat" pool (the kiddy pool). Her trauma at the surf made her very wary of any water. A little girl in the pool encouraged her to come in and play and after about 15 minutes Erin was splashing in the kiddy pool.

Jeffrey also adored being in the pool. This is the same child who was terrified of swimming lessons, and screamed before we even got into the water. By the middle of Saturday afternoon he was trying to wiggle away when being held in the pool and would "swim" between people holding him. He even decided it would be fun to run off the edge of the deck into the pool. Look out mommy I'm coming after you. So the kids have clearly reversed roles. Erin, who loved the water so much as a baby is now quite afraid of it and Jeffrey can't get enough of it.

So we had a great time at the shore, playing in the sand and swimming and splashing. Thanks very much, Uncle Pat and Aunt Linda for letting us come to the beach and having such a fun day!!!

A Year of Blogging...

"Erin decided to it's OK that Jeffrey Stays"

...and so much has gone on. It's amazing to think how much both the kids have grown and changed over just one year. Especially Jeffrey. Yeah, last year I understood that he would be walking and getting into things. And I suppose I knew that Erin would be holding full fledged conversations with us and singing us songs, but it just seems so amazing to me.


In the past year:

~Erin has gone through the complete potty training process and is now able to just all by herself.

~Jeffrey has gone from lying on the floor with his paci to climbing onto the table or pulling every DVD off the shelves.

~Erin was on stage in her first play.

~Jeffrey is saying words such as "All Done," "Down," "Daddy," and most recently "Kitty" (which means look out Kleo I'm coming after you.)

~"The Drama Queen," also known as Erin, has arrived full force in the household.

~"The Drama King," is quickly taking lessons from his big sister.

~...and so much more.


What's going to happen next year is all up to our wildest dreams.


"And Now Also Decided That He Makes a Decent Pillow"