My Little Nudist

Maybe it's just a boy thing. Who knows. But Jeffrey has taken to removing his Pull-ups any time he's put to bed. He won't do it if I put him in shorts but it's been so warm this week I was just letting him sleep in his Pull-ups. A couple of times he's come downstairs from his naps completely naked. I then have to go on a scavenger hunt for his undies. Thank goodness they're generally dry or only a little wet (all except for the one day he tried to dump the poopies into the potty).

Well last night I went in to give the kids night night kisses. I sneaked into Erin's room, bent over to give her a kiss, apparently startled her because she bolted straight up and headbutted me. Apparently she didn't notice it because she just rolled back over - I had a bump on the head when I woke up this morning though. So I opened the door to Jeffrey's room slightly startled at what had just happened in Erin's room. I was blown away to find myself even more startled in Jeffrey's room.

There he was in his bed - Stark Naked. No shorts. No Pull-up. No shirt (he hadn't been wearing a shirt to start with). He was sound asleep snuggled with his blankie and his Cars fleece blanket. I went in to grab Tom, informing him that he just HAD to see this. When we went a little closer we found that his bed was soaked. His blanket was soaked. His fleece was soaked. His perfectly dry Pull-up was crumpled into a ball at the side of his bed. We had to wake him up fully, get him clothed and change his sheets.

I only wish I had gotten a picture of it. Sigh . . . he can even cause problems while he's asleep.

Mommy - Go Potty

I haven't given an update on Jeffrey's potty progress lately. He's doing quite good. He's even started telling me when he has to go - which seems to have taken longer than it did with Erin. Yesterday was his first completely dry day. He was wet in the morning (something to be expected) but stayed dry for the rest of the day - including his nap time and a trip to the Dr. (for what turned out to be a bug bite behind the ear). The day before that he was playing outside with Erin while Tom was working on the deck. There was a knock at the door and Jeffrey was standing there saying,

"Mommy, Go Potty"

I was pretty amazed at that. To realize while outside playing that he had to go. And to be willing to stop playing long enough to come inside and go pee. Again this morning while we were snuggling in bed he looked at me and said the same thing. Way to go kiddo, progress!!!

We've started making some more trips outside the house in his undies. Earlier this week we went to the grocery store without a hitch. As long as we go potty before we leave we're usually pretty lucky.

That's not to say we're in the clear. Monday evening, Tom found him in the basement playing, standing in a huge puddle, and completely un-aware that anything was wrong. When I went down to get him he looked at me and said - Ooops - pee pee in pants. And that was about it. Not overly concerned about it at all.

So we've still got a ways to go, but I'm impressed at the progress we've made at this young age.

A Few Day Trips With Grandma (And Aunt Katie)

While we were in Rochester we took a few "day" trips. One morning we went into the city to explore the Strong Museum of Play. Later in the week we decided to explore the local amusement Park, Seabreeze.

If you're ever in Rochester with time to kill and children tagging along...the Strong Museum of Play is one of the best "children's" Museum's I've been to in a long time. And I've been to more than my share of Children's Museums. There's this great section on different genres of stories, a super Wegman's shopping area, and this cool motion/kinesthetic area. Add in the little train and carousel and it was a winner. We also bought tickets to the butterfly exhibit which was much like what we saw in DC. The kids loved it just as much and giggled every time they saw a butterfly. Erin really liked looking all around the exhibits in the reading area. Jeffrey enjoyed shopping with his own shopping cart in Wegman's (A local grocery store chain). He also got a huge kick out of riding the little train around. Erin found this shadow volleyball game that she thought was pretty cool too. There's also a huge saltwater aquarium where every child I saw inspecting it - including Erin and Jeff - would shout "Look, there's Nemo!!". It was really a great time and we were very excited that Grandma and Aunt Katie were able to take us there.

On Friday we decided to check out a local amusement park right on the lake. Erin was very excited as when she sees rides anywhere she always wants to try them out. The little tykes area is super - there's a boat ride, some rockets, a tiny turtle "roller coaster", a swing ride and best of all cars. Then Erin spotted the "big kid" rides and she was itching to try them. She was at the middle height where she needed an adult to ride with her so I had to upgrade my ticket from observer to rider. Erin jumped onto the Log Flume, the Beartrack Roller coaster (a great experience for a first roller coaster) the teacups and even spied a couple of others she wanted to try but was too short. She had an awesome time, and is clearly my amusement thrill seeker. Jeffrey thought that the green car in the toddler car ride was specifically his, and he spent 90% of the day talking about driving the "green car" and would race in line to get the green car. It was really pretty cute. He did get to ride one big kid ride - they rode an airplane ride where the planes flew up and down while around and around.

Jeffrey Driving his Green Car

Erin Sitting Waiting For Her First Roller Coaster Ride (grandma got all the other pictures of Erin on the big rides as I was riding with her)

Grandma suggested both these places and they were great. We had an awesome time Grandma.

Swimming at Grandma's

We went from Rhode Island to Rochester. All the kids could talk about was swimming at Grandma's. Note, the kids see a swimming pool maybe once each summer. Last summer Erin was physically terrified of the pool. Jeffrey enjoyed it but he was so young I'm sure he had no memory of it. So why the kids were so excited about swimming at Grandma's I'm not quite sure.

The first day we got there we went swimming briefly after dinner. Grandma and Mommy got out all the safety equipment (2 flotation bubbles) and everyone ready for the pool. Erin took one look at it and screamed. Jeffrey started down the steps and decided it was a little cold for his liking. Needless to say we spent 5 very long minutes in the pool before Erin's screaming won out. We moved out of the pool and Erin spotted the spa,

"Hey Grandma, can we go in the little pool?"

"Sure honey."

We move over to the little pool where Erin can walk around the whole thing on the bench seat. She's certainly more comfortable here. Jeffrey is also having fun. Grandma and mommy are playing goalie in the middle for anyone who might slip. No one slips, but Jeffrey decides that he thinks it would be fun to JUMP off the step at mommy. 20 minutes later there is much jumping and splashing and swallowing of water but he's having a blast. So much even Erin is ready to try. So all in all our first night in the "little-pool" was a success.

The next day brought a heat wave to Rochester. It was 90ish out and we planned an afternoon in the pool. I certainly didn't want to spend it in the little pool, so I got Erin to try out the big pool. We tried the water wings rather than the bubble. Erin seemed more comfortable with this. We got her to relax herself in the big pool. Grandma got out the flotation noodles and a "boat" (floating mat). Jeffrey and I splashed around and Grandma showed Erin how to tuck the noodle under her arms. Before we knew it, Erin was paddling/running around the shallow end with a noodle and her wings.

Jeffrey had no problems getting into the big pool. Since he had discovered the fun of jumping last night he wanted to continue that trend. He spent much of the day standing on the edge jumping in at mommy or Grandma.

"Ready Mommy,"

he would shout. This was not a question. It meant.....Here I Come. He was to the point of jumping off the edge away from me rather than to me. He'd go under, come up with a little cough and go right back at it. My crazy little man. He drank so much pool water but it didn't slow him down a bit. Wild and crazy goofball. I had to watch him like a hawk. He did end up in time-out a few times when he didn't wait for someone to be ready for his jumping.

The next day was much a repeat weather wise. Good and hot - perfect for the pool. Jeffrey was his crazy old self, and Erin was ready for the next step. We got her to try kicking around without the noodle and holding onto Grandma/Aunt Katie's hands. Next thing she knew, Aunt Katie took her hands away and Erin was kicking around the shallow end of the pool in just her water wings. Next thing I knew she was asking me if she could "swim" to the deep end to get the floating duckie and then to the ladder in the deep end. Two days ago she was terrified and now she's swimming to the ladder in the deep end. I was so proud of her for trying something she was afraid to try. My big girl.....

Now I've got to get some wings for here at the house for both kids for those trips to the lake. Last time they knew their boundaries.....now I'm pretty sure they'll be trying to paddle for the dock. Time for some real swimming lessons I guess.

From the Viewpoint of a 4-year Old

I gave Erin my old digital camera to take on our trip last week. She spent about 3 days with it before she totally filled up the memory card AND killed the batteries. It's amazing to look at how she sees things. So from the Viewpoint of a 4-year old we have....

Family members

Our trip to the Lighthouse

Outside the Car Window

Inside the Car

These last few require a little explanation. I figured Erin would enjoy taking pictures of what she could see out her window as we were driving around Rhode Island. Either Rhode Island is very boring (I doubt it), she really can't see much (entirely possible), or she is extremely fascinated by her car seat. When I first took her camera to look at what was on it I found about 35 pictures of her car seat, her lap and her buckle. It was rather amazing. I deleted the bunch figuring that was just something interesting her at that point. Later that day I retrieve the camera again and another slew of car seat photos. I kept them around this time. I call it -- study on a car seat. If anyone has any painful desire to see any additional shots from the study let me know and I'll send them along. As for now here's just a taste of what I'm talking about.

Fun with Family in Rhode Island

We had a chance a few weeks ago to drive up to Rhode Island and meet the newest member of the clan - little Avery Anne. What a cutie.

We left early on Thursday morning - and I mean early. We were on the road by 5:00 AM in order to miss all the traffic around the 3 cities we had to travel through. We had great luck and made it to Rhode Island by late afternoon. We got to meet Avery right away while Erin and Jeff re-acquainted themselves with cousin Rylie and all her toys. Jeffrey talked almost the entire drive about Cousin Rylie's house so he was quite excited when we got there.

We had a relaxed evening and then headed over to the nearby favorite beach to to a little wading and search for starfish. Uncle Jeff is a pro at finding starfish. Erin was pretty terrified of them at first but eventually realized they were pretty cool and decided she didn't mind helping to throw them back into the ocean. Jeffrey, as is typical, ran directly into the water and it was all we could do to keep him as dry as possible. By the end of the trip all 3 kids had wet bottoms from getting into the water.

On Saturday we went over to a nearby lighthouse. The day was gorgeous, if a little windy. We walked around the lighthouse and climbed a little on the rocks. Rylie pointed all the boats out to me. Jeffrey just wanted to run and climb. Erin had my old digital camera with her and she just wanted to take picture after picture.

That afternoon Rylie had dress rehearsal for her dance recital so we took the kids and Avery out to a nearby playground. They had a blast running and climbing. There was an Air Show nearby and we got to see some of the planes flying around in formation over the playground. Of course what good is a trip to a playground if we don't stop for Ice Cream on the way home. We found the greatest place for Ice Cream thanks to Uncle Jeff. Erin enjoyed her first strawberry Ice Cream cone while Jeffrey missed out snoozing in the back seat.

Sunday, Jeff drove us around Newport. The mansions there are amazing. Both the kids called them castles as we drove by. We stopped at a park overlooking the bay/inlet where we could see a whole bunch of sail boats. The kids spent the required time running around in the grass chasing and tackling daddy. Even Cousin Rylie got into the mix - until Jeffrey tried to clothes-line her. And then that was enough of that.

That afternoon Rylie had her dance recital. She was adorable doing the Twist and marching. Erin was mesmerized by the whole thing and now wants to take dance classes. I think we might have to wait on that a bit. "Uncle" Craig drove down to meet Avery and see Erin and Jeff after the show.

By Sunday night everyone was exhausted, moms and dads included. With early mornings for all on Monday we turned in not long after the kiddos. It was a great weekend to spend with family, for the cousins to play together, and to meet Avery who's just as cute as a button.