Happy May Everyone

Can you believe that birthday season is here already? I can't believe that Jeffrey is going to be 1 by the end of the week. It seems like just yesterday he was spitting up on me as we rolled out of the hospital together. He's gotten so big and developed into such an active litte boy, you really won't believe it when you see him. Although he's always been active I guess.

We went into Sears today to get some pictures taken. The poor woman trying desperately to get a good picture of the 2 of them, but Mr. Active couldn't sit still for 3 seconds. We couldn't even get good shots of him alone. We did get a couple of pictures worth sharing though. And certainly some beautiful ones of Erin.

Erin is blossoming more and more every day. She is such a beautiful little girl, and although she still has the occasional temper tantrum and eating is a continuous battle, I'm amazed at how calm and thoughtfull she can be too.

I will certainly be posting more about birthdays as the days grow nearer, but thought I'd take a moment now to share our pictures from today. Thanks for looking.

The Story of My Morning

As told by Jeffrey Anserson Wallace.

What? Who's out there? It is morning? Why am I still in my overalls and shirt from yesterday? Did mommy get me up and change me and I don't remember or did daddy put me to bed in my play clothes? I'm not even sure my diaper got changed. Oh well, I think I hear someone coming towards the room. Yay, it's mommy.

What's she doing? Oh yeah, she still lets me snuggle with her in the morning. Maybe I'll have a little drink. Thanks mom. All done. Wait I haven't even had breakfast yet, where are we going? It's cold outside mom, you forgot my socks and jacket. Ooohh I'm going to get to ride with daddy. Here comes sister. What's she fussing about? Oops mommy didn't put shoes on her either. Silly mommy. Wait where's mommy going? Oh there she is, daddy's going to give her a ride too. Are we going back home already? I didn't even get to go inside the garage. Let's go back inside now. Bye daddy, see you later.

Ok, now breakfast. Milk in a cup again, what does she really want me to do with this, am I supposed to drink it? Maybe I should spit it out like this. Ooops, mommy didn't like that trick very much. Let's see if she likes it better the second time. Nope. But here come some Cheerios - Yummy. Oooh, she's got cereal too - my favorite. Ok time to get down and play mommy.

Wait what's this - not the exersaucer again. I can't reach the remote from here. Wait time to watch cartoons - OK. What's mommy doing? Ahhh - taking a shower I just saw her peek out of the curtain at me. It is time to play yet mommy? Yay done in the saucer. Play time. Let's go down to the basement.

What's this? Sister must have left it sitting where I could reach it last night. She seems to think it's fun to play with. If I hold the bottle upside down does anything come out? Oooh yeah, that's kind of soapy, I think Erin calls them bubbles. Oh well the're on the floor now. Oops, mommy's not very happy again. Maybe I'll go up and ask for a snuggle. "Pick me up, pick me up". That's nice. Hmmmm where are those sucky fingers, ahhhh much better. Wait where are we going? Not my room, I'm not really tired yet. Well maybe just a short nap...

What was that? I hear my sister. I think she's playing outside. I love playing outisde. If I scream loud enough mommy will come get me. "HEY MOMMY!!!!!!!!!" Here she comes. No I don't want my diaper changed, I want to go outside. No No No. Fine if I lie still can I go outside after that? I'll just play with this little thing between my legs until the new diaper comes. Yay I think we're going to play outside, mommy's putting my sandals on.

Hi sister. Can I play in the sand with you? Thanks for the shovel. I'm going to throw it on the ground, is that ok? Wait what's that? Pthbbbbt. There's something in my mouth and more on my head. It's starting to go down my shirt. Uh oh - mommy's really not happy. She sounds kind of mad. What's she saying, she seems more upset at sister. Mommy wants to know why sister dumped a bucket of sand on my head. Is that what this is, because it's in my diaper too. It's kind of itchy. Wait where are we going? I want to play outside.

No No No, I don't want to take a bath. Mommy says I have to. OK, well I can have fun there too. Let's see how much water I can splash. Wheeeee. Oops, maybe that was too much. All done already, well that wasn't very long.

What's she trying to do, I want to get to my toys now. I don't want a diaper on, I want my toys. If I roll my hips and shoulders all the way over, maybe I can get them. Oooh maybe mommy doesn't want me to do that. She keeps rolling me back over. Grrrr, she's going to make me put a diaper back on. No fun.

What's that? Lunchtime? OK. I'm ready now. I love you mommy.

Happy Easter Everyone!!!

We had a very lovely Easter here. Oma spent the week with us so Erin was very excited to show her all of the fun we have. Our Easter activities started on Thursday when the library had an egg hunt after story time. The library here shares a building with a senior daycare center. The seniors in the center hid eggs for the kids to come find. Erin found 4 all by herself and on the way out stopped to share her bounty with an older lady in a wheel chair. The smile that they two shared - Erin and this older woman was one of the most precious things I have witnessed in a long time.

Saturday was a beautiful day and Oma and I took Erin and Jeffrey into town for the annual Egg hunt. It looked dreary when we left the house so I dressed Erin in sweats and a t-shirt and Jeffrey in jeans and flannel. Well - by the time we got to town it was bright sun and over 80 degrees. Needless to say we were all a little warm. I was able to take Jeffrey's flannel off as I had put a t-shirt under it. Nevertheless they had a great time picking up the candy eggs. Even Jeffrey ran around with his little bucket - although he kept falling in the muddy spots. Erin got sidetracked by every marshmallow egg and Tootsie Roll she saw and never made it to the back corner where all the prize eggs were apparently scattered. Next year we'll know better and start her out closer to the cool eggs. But when there are 50 1-3 year olds accompanied by parents (all crouched on the ground taking pictures) things can get a ittle chaotic.

Noni and grandpa came down to pick up Oma later Saturday afternoon and everyone played outside a little longer. Erin had lots of fun with some new bubbles. She's getting really good at blowing bubbles. She can eve catch them back on the wand if it's not too windy outside. She will chase after all the bubbles and try to pop them before they hit the ground. Because of this though bubbles are now solely an outdoor activity or by carpet ends up with a free soap cleaning from all the spilled bubbles.

Sunday morning was dreary, but not too cool. We dressed the kids in their new Easter outfits (thanks Grandma and Grandpa) and had their baskets ready in the morning. Erin got lots of things for playing dress up. She got some new hair ribbons, a necklace and plastic rings and new sunglasses. Plus some chocolate of course. Jeffrey got a little train to push around, a soft ball and some sippy cups. Both kids also got new shoes (don't get me started on finding cute sandals for boys in size 5 grrrr). We headed into church which was very crowded but a nice service.

When we got home, Tom slipped outside and hid the eggs I had put together for the kids. Then we had our little egg hunt at home. There was only 1 egg that Jeffrey saw right away. Just as he reached his hand out to pick it up, Erin charged in and grabbed it from him. She was able to find all the rest with a little help. Jeffrey just liked crawling/stumbling around on the ground. We thought Jeffrey would be able to find some of the ones hidden in the grass near the house of along the side hill, but he wasn't really interested in it. Maybe if I had given him his own little basket so he could be just like his sister it would have helped a little. Inside Erin shared the eggs (which were filled with jelly beans). Jeffrey thought they made the best sound when he shook them so he played at shaking the eggs while Erin struggled to open them up and eat as many jelly beans at one time as she could.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. I made a ham for dinner and Tom added some rolls to the mix. Erin spent the afternoon playing dress-up with her sunglasses and rings and went outside to blow some more bubbles. Jeffrey tried some milk in his new sippy cups and played around on the floor. What fun we had on a special day.

Spring has Sprung

Yay--Spring is here!!!! Finally. It's starting to be warm on a regular basis here in Virginia. We are spending a lot more time outside either just playing in the yard or heading into town to the park. We also walk around the lake a couple of time a week - well not exactly around the lake, but down to the lake and back so Erin can see the ducks, geese and swans (as well as the cats, dogs, squirrels, birds and other animals along the way). Erin can't quite make the whole long loop yet, so we walk down the road that cuts over to the lake and then back up our hill to the house. I think she is just starting to realize that the swans are there. It's hard to point them out to her because they don't live down by the beach but behind some people's homes so we have to look at them from the road and I think for the longest time she just couldn't pick them out. But the other day one was right by the shore and she got really excited when she saw it.

At the house Erin is obsessed with all the flowers. I've got pansies in the pots along the front steps and in a large pot at the bottom of the stairs. The daffodils we planted last fall are finally blooming and Erin goes out with me every day to check on them and sniffs each one individually. I cut some of the daffodils to bring inside the other day so now she thinks that every morning we need to go outside and get some flowers for inside. It's very cute.

Jeffrey also likes to be outside. He just climbs around on the grass. Sometimes he goes around the corner to check out the flowers at the house. He's much better about putting dirt and other stuff in his mouth than I thought he'd be. He likes to swing and slide on the little set Erin got for her birthday last year. But mostly he just likes to sit in the grass. When we go to the park he does really love the swing though now. Erin will often push him while I just get to stand back and watch them play together. It's great. Jeffrey also likes to try and walk or climb the steps of the jungle gym at the park. When there are fewer people there I let him explore a little more but since the weather's just starting to get nice it's been pretty crazy there each time we go.

Anyway I'm looking forward to it getting even warmer so we can spend lots more time outside. Hope everyone else is have as nice a spring as we are.

It's Erin's Turn

It seems Jeffrey has taken over the BLOG in the past month or so with all of his antics. Erin is still her own beautiful self. She blossoms more and more every day. Her verbal skills are amazing and she says some of the cutest things. She loves to sit in her room and play with her "guys" (Little People). Her room looks like it has exploded with Little People. She can literally hide in her room and play with them for an hour.

She's also "reading" her books more and more by herself. She turns the pages and talks the story out loud. Sometimes if Jeffrey wakes up from his nap while I'm in the middle of things she will go into his room and read him a story. She has also memorized many of her favorite Little Einstein episodes and recites them while she watches them. She's even got parts of Finding Nemo memorized. Listening to her watch these is just really cute.

She still loves to run and jump and climb and swing and slide. We takes walks around the block and she looks for the dogs and cats and geese and ducks and swans. When we get back she will play in her swing and slide and in her little sandbox outside. She always asks if she can push Jeffrey in the swing too. As long as she's gentle he doesn't mind it.

Anyway, she's growing up so fast. I just wanted to fill you in a little more on everything she's been up to.

Here's Proof That He Still Can Smile

Just thought I'd provide proof that the swimming has not totally ruined Jeffrey's life. He still knows how to shine that brilliant smile.



and oh yeah...he can do this



and this...



Go Jeffrey Go. He is certainly not my baby anymore he's almost a toddler!!!! He takes little wobbly steps everywhere now, still falls a lot and crawls when he really wants to get somewhere but he's certainly on his way. Look out world, Jeffrey is on the move.

"I Do Not Like to Swim Mommy"

Lesson learned - Jeffrey does not like to swim. I was really excited about taking Jeffrey to his swim classes because Erin loved hers so much at this age. Well another big difference between the two of them - Jeffrey's not such a fan. The first few classes he was ok. Not a huge fan but not miserable. By the end of the session last Saturday Jeffrey was no longer shy about professing his discontent.


I Do Not Like to Swim Mommy

So Jeffrey and I will not be taking another swimming class any time soon. I expect he'll still love the beach because the water will be shallower and he can just sit and splash if he wants (and eat sand and grass and other lake features).

I'm glad we took the class, but he simply didn't enjoy it. Some parts he was okay with. He was pretty good about floating on his tummy with his arms out or over a floating barbell. The last thing we did in class was play with a ball and floating basketball hoop. That was a blast. He'd even try to "swim" after the ball to get it. I believe he even cracked a smile there. He did get one dunk under the water because I wanted him to have that experience. He did pretty well with going under, but at that point he was so mad at me already I don't think he could have gotten any madder.

So we will look for another special thing to do just us because swimming is clearly not the answer. Maybe we'll try again in a few years.

Pictures together

I have been trying for a couple of weeks to get a good picture of the kids together. I believe my efforts are going to continue to be futile. Erin is much more interested in trying to take the picture herself that sitting cute and giving big smiles. Jeffrey sees me bring out the camera and immediately comes charging for me. He so rarely sits still in the first place and getting him and Erin to sit still at the same moment is virtually impossible. Nevertheless I have managed to get them in the same frame at least twice in the last week. Mind you both are not looking at the camera, but still I think the pictures did come out kind of cute and I just wanted to share them. Here we go.

The set up for this one is pretty obvious. It was a gorgeous day at the park yesterday and I let Jeffrey sit and ride with Erin. He thought it was pretty cool until Erin started rocking just a little too hard.




For this one I tried a new tactic of having them sit next to each other rather than have Erin "hold" Jeffrey. They are both on the bottom step of the stairs. I had to give him a toy to get him to sit in one place long enough for me to back off and get a camera. He was much more interested in the pitcher from the toy kitchen than looking at me, but Erin's expression is priceless.

Rules of Hide & Seek According to Erin Wynne

Erin LOVES to play hide & seek, but she has her own set of rules that are simply adorable.

1: Erin prefers to be the seeker.

2: Counting goes someting like this - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... 14, 18, 14, 18 ... Ready or Not Here I Come!!!

3: Closing here eyes while counting is optional.

4: One must count from the stairs, no place else is acceptable.

5: You should call to her from your hiding spot for her to find you.

6: One you are 'found' a shout of "Boo" is required from both her and you.

7: A circular area to "hide" around is very helpful (such as grandma's foyer, dining room, kitchen and living room).

8: On the rare occasion she chooses to hide, hiding in the middle of the room or yard and yelling "boo" as soon as seeker opens his/her eyes is totally acceptable.

9: Always look in the last place you hid for her, she's bound to be there.

10: Much laughter is essential.

Back from Visiting Grandma and Grandpa

We are back home from visiting Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time hanging out around the house, even though we did all get sick. There were still a few moments of health when we were able to enjoy ourselves.

Erin and Jeffrey had a great time playing with their cousin Rylie. We hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving and then she wasn't walking yet. Now she is walking all over the place. She and Erin spent many hours simply walking in circles around Grandma's foyer, diningroom and kitchen. They even decided to play ring-around-the-rosie together. That was one of the cutest things I have EVER seen. Once they took break together and settled in for a viewing of "Finding Nemo," Erin's current favorite movie.



Jeffrey was amazed with all the things Rylie could do. She's a little slower than Erin so she's easier to keep up with. She helped teach him how to drink from a sippy cup (he's much better at this, but still needs practice) and encouraged him to take a few steps. While we were there, Jeffrey took a few wobbly steps in trying to keep up with his big sister and cousin. Look out world, here he comes.

Jeffrey also decided that all of Rylie's food looked much more appetizing than his pureed chicken and pears. So while at Grandma's Jeffrey got to try filet mignon, sweet potato fries, diced apples, chicken, raviolis, peas -- anything that someone else was eating. When Rylie was eating we had to watch Jeffrey very carefully as he was pretty sneaky at stealing her food.



Of course it wouldn't have been a vacation if someone hadn't gotten sick -- but did it have to be all of us? Tom had a bug as soon as we got there. Erin picked it up and had a high fever for 2 days that developed into a runny nose and nasty cough. She didn't want to really do anything. Then I got the cough and fever in time for Tom to return. All the while Jeffrey maintained his usual stuffy head associated with his teething.

But it wasn't all miserable. Erin, Rylie and Grandma made peanut butter cookies. And on Friday we all went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was chaos there, but the kids loved the rides and Erin played a lot in the big climbing zone.



We also got to spend some time with Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill who we hadn't seen since last July. They were so surprised to see how much both the kids had grown.

Thanks Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Katie and Uncle Bill, Aunt Robyn and Cousin Rylie for making our trip so much fun.

It Snowed!!!!!

Well the annual Charlottesville blizzard hit yesterday afternoon and last night. Erin was obsessed with watching the snow falling out the windows. She took her little stool to every window in the house to capture a different perspective on the snow. She was literally fascinated. When we went to be there were 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and it was still falling.

We woke up this morning to a blanket of white. Erin looked out the window and shrieked - it's snowing. Although it had actually stopped snowing she was still so excited to see that it was still there.

So after breakfast we bundled her up (2 sweatsuits layered on each other since she doesn't have any snowpants) in her good winter coat, her Dora hat, mittens from Nana and her boots. I was afraid she'd think it was too cold, but she got right into it. Jeffrey's got a cold and runny nose again, along with the fact the we have no real outside winter clothes for him, so he and I went outside for only a few minutes and I held him the whole time.

This was perfect snowman snow. Fluffy and wet at the same time. Tom and Erin stayed outside for a long time making a whole family of snowman. Erin helped smooth the large snowballs and find sticks for arms. Her snowmen were almost twice as tall as she is.

She and Tom did try to go sledding down the hill but our little serving tray in the house had too much of a lip to really work well. I guess next year we will invest in a real sled. Then she and Tom walked down to the stream to look at the water.

This is the first year Erin has actually played in the snow. She stayed out for almost an hour and literally had a blast. I'm so excited she had fun. Maybe next year we will be able to find some snowpants that will last her a couple of years.

Times when I wish I was permanantly attached to the video camera

...when Erin takes Jeffrey's hands and sings "The Wheels on the Bus" while rolling his hands in a circle.

...when Jeffrey is splashing up a storm in the bathtub.

...when Erin sees that it is snowing outside and moves her stool to every window in the house for a different perspective.

...when Erin is trying to take a nap on the couch and Jeffrey is pulling her hair.

...When Erin wakes up on a Sunday morning and rather than coming in to get Tom and I she goes in to get Jeffrey and sits in the chair next to his crib singing him songs and reading him stories.

...when Jeffrey is so focused on eating a snack or bite of food he stands on his own for 30-45 seconds without realizing it.

...when Jeffrey decides to run across the living room behind his walking toy.

...when Erin is at gymnastics class and works with the teacher on holding herself up on the parallel bars or swinging from the high bar (remember these are toddler sized).

...after Erin finishes her homemade rocky road chocolate dessert and is covered in chocolate.

...every time Jeffrey sees a kitty and squeels with delight while charging after him/her.

...nearly every second of every day because these are two of the cutest kiddos on the planet (just my humble opinion though).

9-month stats

Jeffrey had his 9-month appointment yesterday. Everything is looking great. Dr. Q. is thrilled with all of his physical progress.

Jeff's stats are:
Length - 29 1/8 inches -- 75th percentile
Weight - 18 1/4 pounds -- 10th to 25th percentile

Here's a bunch of his recent achievements:
Crawling on hands an knees
Pulling up on furniture
Cruising furniture
Standing on his own for short periods of time
Walking behind desk chairs
Snacking on Puffs or Cheerios
Saying "Baa Baa" and squealing
Getting into all of Erin's toys

I've also discovered he is fully capable of falling down the stairs, putting entire toys into his mouth, emptying the DVD shelf onto the floor, pulling Erin's hair, getting tangled into cords, flipping out of the bouncy chair....need I go on?

He is simply into everything and explores most anything with his mouth -- if he can get his mouth on it or put it into his mouth he does. I am hoping that this stage passes soon, but I don't have any expectations that it will.

Sometimes I'm amazed that we've both survived the past 9 months alive.

Oh My Goodness

The pictures speak for themselves -- I am in BIG trouble.

So while snacking on some Puffs, our little man decided this afternoon that he no longer needed to hold onto the saucer because the puffs were MUCH more important. The end result . . . Standing on his own and very proud of it.

He's done this before but only for a few seconds - this time I had enough of a chance to grab the camera, get down on the floor and get him to smile at me. All before he realized what he was doing.

What is going to happen next.

Baking Together

Erin and I made cookies together for the first time last Friday. Erin has helped cook before and loves to help out in the real kitchen when we let her. I decided peanutbutter cookies would be a good idea because they are fairly simple and have some parts that Erin can really help with.

Erin helps mostly by dumping the ingredients into the bowl. She really liked scooping the peanut butter out of the measuring cup and helping to pack in the brown sugar. Of course she also like eating the ingredients. She dipped her finger into the peanutbutter, the sugar, the vanilla etc... She even tried the crisco and the flour though - ick. She decided that was enough dipping her finger in the dough.



She also helped to flatten the cookies with a fork onto the cookie sheet -- while continuing to snack on the dough because after all the ingredients got mixed together she decided it was ok to try again. I tried to get her to stop eating the dough telling her there wouldn't be enough cookies but that didn't seem to matter to her. What's the fun of making cookies if you don't eat the dough I guess.

Of course this was her favorite part - and mine too. Yummy.

Jeffrey the Fish

Jeff got to go swimming for the first time on Saturday - he is officially a Bubble Baby now. We signed him up for the same class Erin took when she was his age. Since our little man is a splashing machine in the bathtub I expected he'd love the pool.

Our trip to the pool started a little rough, mostly because Erin saw me getting ready with my swimsuit. She ran to her room and got her suit yelling, "Erin go swim! Erin go swim!!" Mind you last time Erin was near a pool she was terrified of it, so we didn't sign her up for more swimming this winter. I calmly explained that Jeffrey and mommy were going to swim and she might ask daddy to take her to the park. She did not understand one bit and was obviously devastated that she was not going to get to swim. Luckily it was warm enough that Tom did have the chance to take her to the park.

Jeffrey and I got to the pool early enough to give him a few minutes to play around in the locker room before getting him ready to swim. Once we headed out to the pool, we just hung out on the deck for another few minutes so he could get used to the sounds and echoes of the indoor pool. He was very subdued during the whole thing.

The same teacher who taught Erin's class was teaching this one so I knew the basics of what was going to happen. I got into the water with Jeff and bounced him around a little. I tried to get him to splash, but he wanted none of that. He clung tightly to me, but did not fuss. I expected either he'd love it and give us those big Jeffrey smiles or he'd scream bloody murder. Amazingly we got a middle ground. He stayed pretty subdued through the entire class.

I got him to do all the things we attempted including relaxing onto his back while I held him up. Apparently most kids hate floating on their backs. He also did Humpty Dumpty off the wall into the pool, floated with me on his tummy and some other stuff. I don't know that I ever got the big Jeffrey smile, but he did uncling from me and let me move him away from my body a little. He did about as well as any of the other kids in the class so I was proud of him.

Since Tom and Erin were at the park, I didn't get any pictures of him in the pool. There won't be a chance to take pictures again until the end of the class, so I'll share some then. Until then I expect he'll enjoy each class a little more than the last and we'll eventually get the big Jeffrey smile to come back out.

First Gymnastics Class

Erin had her first gymnastics class today - actually called Peanutbutter & Jelly. She had a LOT of fun running and jumping and playing with the balls. Tom was able to come and watch for a good part of it because the class is in the gym across the street from his office. He watched over Jeff while Erin and I played around mostly.

There are a lot of kids in the class, close to 20 I would guess. Erin does have 1 friend, Gio, who was there this morning. She knows him from play gym. Add 1 or 2 parents/caregivers with each child and it was less than organized chaos this morning. It seemed to me that many of the kids had done it before and were coming back.

Erin's favorite part seemed to be the balls. They had several foam balls around a big open gymnasium and she really wanted to just run around and pick them up. I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the options of things to do.

There was also a smaller room that had real beginning gymnastics equipment -- all of it toddler size. There was a balance beam, a high bar to swing from, some parallel bars to walk through, pads to climb around and tumble on and a vaulting horse to climb onto and them jump off. At first Erin just sort of ran around like a crazy child lost in a sea of people. She really just wanted to run and jump and ignore anything structured. She eventually tried the vault jump and the high bar with the "teacher". She really liked climbing the vault and jumping off it. She also liked climbing over this mountain of mats they had arranged.

At the end of the class the teacher brought out a parachute. All the kids sat in the middle and the parents spun them around slowly. Then the kids all got to crawl around while we made waves. All this was fine. The last part was getting underneath the parachute. The parents lifted it up and down over them -- this was NOT OK with Erin and she made a quick break from underneath. My guess is actually that she didn't like the puff of air that the parachute made in her face when it was coming back down (she's got an anti-wind thing going right now.)

All in all I think this is going to be great for Erin. It's going to help her learn to listen and follow directions while having fun. The teacher was trying to get them to do specific things atone point and Erin really only wanted to play with the ball, but there were very few children there who were doing exactly what the teacher asked. My guess is that eventually they might break the group into two and let one group have free play in the big gym while some other kids work with the teacher on the equipment. At least that's what I hope they end up doing. Either way it's going to be a LOT of fun for us all.

Jeffrey's First Swing

Yesterday was an unseasonably warm afternoon here and I decided to take Erin and Jeff to the park for a bit. As usual Erin climbed up to the highest slides and went flying down. There was another little boy who was a little older than she was and Erin copied everything he did. That included climbing up the climbing wall without be standing behind her. She really does think she is a monkey sometimes.

Jeffrey has been to the park several times, but this was the first time he was able to participate in any of the playing. I sat him in the infant swing and he had a blast. Erin even got involved and gave Jeffrey some gentle pushes. It was very cute to see her being such a "big sister" and showing him the ropes. (This is especially nice after our long week of big sister mean-ies which she seem to have developed -- right now even, she is sitting in time out because she was dragging Jeffrey across the floor by his arm).





Although his expression in these pictures leads you to think he'd rather have been hit over the head by his sister, it was very clear that Jeffrey enjoyed his first real visit to the park. I'm looking forward to many more trips out this spring and watching him grow into the true monkey we all know he is going to be.

And it starts...

...the sibling rivalry. Or is it jealousy? Whatever it is it is wearing me thin. Both the kids seem obsessed with each other and wanting to be left alone all at the same time. Each is certainly testing the boundaries of what the other will put up with.

The last few days have contained many segments of time out for Erin coinciding with screams from Jeffrey. She tries to play with him and share her things but she wants him to play her way and he just doesn't, or isn't capable of doing it. The end result is often that Jeffrey gets thumped over the head with some toy or pushed down from the table/chair/couch at which he was standing.

At the same time Jeffrey is equally obsessed with Erin. He is too young to have any sense of her personal space. He will try to climb all over her or stand in the way when she is watching Rocket. Or he will make a move for the baby doll Erin has just spent several minutes situating just so on the couch. End result is the same and Jeffrey is screaming on the floor while Erin is sitting in time out.

Part of me thinks that Erin wants to treat Jeffrey just like that baby doll. She wants to drag him by the arm into her room and sit him just so. She doesn't comprehend that he just won't sit like that or that he wants to go play with something else. Frustration ensues and crying generally erupts from everyone in the household including me.

So if you have a second try to send some calm thoughts our way as we continue on our journey through parenthood and childhood at the same time. I'm sure we are going to need them.

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!

Now on to the important stuff - let me assault you with pictures of the recent Wallace Christmas celebrations. We stayed in Charlottesville this year and had a nice Christmas just the four of us. Our tree looked like it had enough presents under it to last for several Christmases yet to come, and of course, Erin's pile was the largest.

Let me begin with Christmas Eve, which was spent largely with our friends John and Margaret several football games and their new HDTV. Not exactly your traditional Christmas Eve but being with special friends was nice. We did get out to the Christmas Eve service where Erin donned a halo and took part in the children's pageant as an angel. Unfortunately they didn't have any wings small enough for her.

Once we got home and tucked the kids into bed we began the assembly of the tree area (all the presents had been hidden in the basement) and Erin's present from her Nonni and Grandad. She was to be wake up the proud owner of a play kitchen complete with microwave, refrigerator, oven, sink and telephone. While Tom assembled the kitchen Meghan finished wrapping gifts and stocking stuffers. Amazingly the kids slept through it all and we were in bed by 1:30 AM.

Jeffrey woke us up around 8:30 - late for him and Erin was still asleep. So Meghan got Jeff up and ready and then gently woke Erin up. I asked her if she wanted to see if Santa had arrived and she woke right up. We headed down the stairs and Erin looked at the tree stating again, "so pretty." Then she noticed the kitchen. It took her a few seconds to soak it all in but before long she was cooking up a storm. It was nearly impossible to get her to open her stocking because all she wanted to do was cook in the kitchen. Once we were able to get her to focus on the ctocking she got really excited about it. Santa brought her Tinkerbell panties, a Dora coloring book, candy and even a toothbrush which she immediately brought up to her bathroom. It's amazing how thrilling little things can be.

Jeffrey was much more interested in things than I remember Erin being her first Christmas. He wanted to get right into the middle of everything. He helped open the gifts from Santa and even gave one the "chew" test before it even got out of the wrapping paper. Santa brought our little man his first sippy cup and several pair of socks to chew on.

After the long process of opening stockings, Tom began preparing breakfast. Erin cooked in her kitchen whipping up strawberries, corn and my favorite - coffee. We got her to eat a few bites of eggs inbetween cooking her own courses.

Once we started with the presents under the tree Erin showed a little more interest but was still obsessed with the kitchen. She slowly began to realize that more and more fun things were appearing. Jeffrey stood at the activity table near the tree and helped to open some of the gifts but mainly just watched. He continued to show interest in most things though. He did get really excited when he got to open his gift from Uncle Jeff and Aunt Robyn because it made lots of fun noises and had lots of lights. It also contained a hammer which was just as good for chewing on as it was for hitting his sister when she got in his way.

Tom loved his special calendar with pictures of both the kids. He also got a pod coffeemaker so he could bring hot coffee to work in the mornings. I got lots of yummy things to consume including coffee and coffee liquor, as well as a new DVD burner for my computer. I also got a book on how to work in Photoshop so you will all have to put up with more of my experiments.

Tom and I got Erin a working camera for Christmas. She has always shown an interst in our camera so we thought this would be a good idea. She knew almost immediately what to do with it and quickly asked to start taking pictures or in Erin-ese to "take a camera." We were both very glad that she was excited with it and I am looking forward to seeing what things look like from the point of view of a pre-schooler.

After an hour or so of wrapping paper and boxes flying around and each toy being played with for approximately 3.5 seconds no presents remained under the tree. I laid Jeffrey down for a nap and Tom proceeded to clean up breakfast. Then Erin and I put together Jeffrey's activity wall toy - which appears to be as much for Erin as it is for Jeffrey. The nap, which lasted a whopping 30 minutes, ended and Jeffrey was introduced to his new toy. He took a few seconds to look at it and found it somewhat interesting and daunting at the same time.

The rest of the afternoon was quiet and full of experimenting with new toys etc. I fixed a ham for dinner and John and Margaret joined us for the evening. We closed the weekend much as we began it - watching football with some special friends and sitting back as the kids settled into their new toys.

Several days later we've returned from a brief Christmas visit to Silver Spring, Erin continues to cook and serve coffee in her kitchen and Jeffrey has figured out how to stand at his playing wall. Requests to "take a camera" continue off and on. New sheets adorn Erin's bed and Jeffrey now has a toybox in his room. But other than that, things are beginning to return to normal after a wonderful and magical Christmas together.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night....

Imagine my surprise....

...when I realized that this



had turned into this.



While working in the kitchen I heard the familiar sounds of the activity table. Erin still plays there on a regular basis so nothing crossed my mind. Then I realized that Erin was supposed to be napping. I turned to give her a gentle reminder that she is to stay in her room until the music stops even if she's not asleep. What I found was Jeffrey standing at the table. He had pulled himself up to it without any help from anyone. He was pushing buttons and spinning the rattle without realizing that he was standing up.

Sigh, they grow up so fast. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally. I don't remember time seeming to go this fast with Erin. It felt like she was a snuggly little baby forever. It's the exact opposite with Jeffrey he seems in such a hurry to do everything. It is the rare occasion that I get a snuggle and when I do it only happens because I know he's tired and needs to sleep so I hold him tight. At those times I just try to sit back and soak it all in because I know it's not going to last.

Decorating Fun

We finally got the time and organization to go get a tree on Saturday. Unfortunately there are not any Boy Scout troops who sell trees nearby. Therefore we went to the local garden center and picked out a nice frasier fir. Erin and Jeffrey both came along for the trip. Erin tromped around the lot while Tom, Jeffrey and I picked out a tree.

When we got home, we set up the tree and let it stand for a while before decorating it. Jeffrey laid down for a nap and Tom and Erin baked Christmas cookies. It was quite a cute sight, Erin and Tom both dusted in flour cutting out cookies on the counter. I piddled around putting little decorations here and there. After the cookies cooled, Erin and I frosted them with pink icing. In a combined effort we managed to get MOST of the frosting on the cookies rather than Erin's clothes, hair, hands, the counter or the like. Erin did discover quickly though that any frosting that got onto her fingers was perfectly fine because she was able to eat it then. I even caught her licking the spreader at one point. Like mother like daughter I guess.

Once Jeffrey woke up we got the lights on the tree and began to put up our hodge-podge of decorations. Erin picked out the Pooh Bear ones as her special ones this year. And as usual she tried to hang all the ornaments from one branch. We have the perfect spot for the angel and Erin helped Tom put her on the top of the tree. Erin now walks by the tree and looks at the top, saying "so pretty."

This morning we went into church. I took Erin and Jeffrey to the nursery to give Jeffrey a test run to see how things might go if we decide to start leaving him there. After church one member took professional photos for the church fellowship list. It was the first professional photo of the four of us and may actually be the only photo of the family aside from a few at the Katie's wedding.

Both the kids looked so cute this morning that I did my own photo shoot when we got back home. I set them both down in front of the tree and Erin put her arms around Jeffrey to "hold him." It's good to see that she is still infatuated with him as he grows older - even though he now is very interested in all of her toys. The photos in front of the tree came out adorable. At least I think they did.

I'm expecting the tree to bring much joy and excitement as Erin realizes that something special is going to happen soon. It will also add another level of drama to Jeffrey's life serving as another item for him to crawl under, pull on, chew on etc...

So as we continue to count down the days to Christmas (even though Erin already Lost Baby Jesus and Mary from the advent calendar) we will all try to sit back and relax, say a few prayers and remember what Christmas is really about.

Dog Days of Winter

I love winter - the snow on the trees is beautiful and out here at the new house it is so pristine. Erin is getting more excited about the snow and looks for more snow every morning. BUT....

...the hill on our street is a sheet of ice. Since it's a dirt road there's nothing that really can be done except to sand it - which would at least help. Last night I got stuck half-way up the street and it hadn't snowed in almost a week. Thankfully the kids were not in the car to learn all sors of "new" words. But it means that this morning we are not able to get out to storytime - one of our weekly excursions that we BOTH look forward to.

...Jeffrey either got cold or hot or has a stuffy nose and spent the entire night alternating between screaming at me, snugled on my chest sleeping (which does not equal sleeping for me), nursing followed by more screaming at me.

...Erin woke up with green gunk flowing out of her nose and she HATES to have her nose wiped. It's a battle for everything with her when she feels like this.

Meghan: Let's sit on the potty Erin.
Erin: No!!!!! No potty.
Meghan: How about some milk.
Erin: No! Juice!!! Something to eat!!!
Meghan: OK, let's get dressed first.
Erin: No! No pants. Rocket!!!!
Meghan: You can watch Rocket after breakfast.
Erin: crumples into a ball on the floor screaming while Meghan walks off to the kitchen to get some much needed coffee.

I think you get the picture.

My only hope is that this is all this will be done and over with by Christmas next week and we are all back to being as happy, healthy and rested as possible.

And that the kids are not in the room when I call the maintenence person for the development and give him a piece of my mind. Maybe I should make him sit here with two housebound babies.

Not really about the kids but...

So I took my first mommy vacation this weekend. It had been over a year since I had had a weekend off from Erin and I had never been away from Jeffrey for more than a few hours. Mom had a conference in Boston and I LOVE Boston at Christmas so we used up some frequent flier miles and I went along to hang out at the ritzy hotel and walk around Boston for a few days.

The weather on Friday played some nasty games with us and I had to be routed through Charlotte in order to get to Boston. That's heading a hour south in order to get north, but hey it got me there. Mom also had to rearrange her flights and ended up landing in Boston during the middle of a white-out after having the plane struck by lightning. So needless to say the first place we headed was the bar at the hotel for a little something soothing - lol.

The kids gave Tom his own headaches. Jeffrey refused to drink anything for almost 12 hours. He was supposed to bring Erin to a friend's house on Friday, but couldn't get up the hill because of the ice so not much work got done on Friday. Erin tried to help with Jeffrey, but there's only so much a two-year old can do for her baby brother. When she can change his diaper, then we'll talk.

On Saturday I met up with Craig and we nabbed some lunch then headed out for a walking tour of Boston. We checked out the "holiday village" in the convention center and then walked through the city peeking into high-end hotels and wandering through the Common. We even found the store windows that were dressed up for the holidays. When I was a little girl we walked along those windows every year. So that meant a lot for me to find them. As I headed back to the hotel the sun was setting behind the skyine and it was completely gorgeous.

For dinner Mom and her friends and I went to Anthony's Pier 4, a special place from when I was a little girl. It had changed some but was still much the same. And very yummy.

Back at home base Tom got a little relief Saturday evening by taking Erin to Nathan's and for a break. He hung around with Jeffrey and watched a movie with Nathan's daddy while Erin, Nathan and his mommy watched "Rocket" and played computers. It didn't take Tom long to learn the value of a nearby friend after a long day with the kids.

Sunday led me up the Prudential building in Boston to take some awesome pictures. Then after a little Christmas shopping we all grabbed a cab back to the airport. Apparently while I was sitting in the bar eating a sandwich at Logon, Michelle Kwan walked down the hallway behind me and apparently headed to MY PLANE. As a longtime figure skating fan I searched for her, but never caught sight of her - bummer.

After a short talk with Tom encouraging him that I was heading home and Jeffrey would soon stop screaming I hopped aboard the flight home.

It was a nice weekend and I loved getting out around Boston again. Tom got some great bonding time with the kids and a true lesson in how tough it is being the only one in the house capable of diapering, feeding, consoling, rocking, playing etc... The most important thing I have to say is...

Thank you Tom and I Love you.

Adventures in Santa Hats

We got out the holiday decorations over the weekend and both kids had their own, but similar, adventures in Santa hats.

Here's Erin's:

Let's Try This Way



Almost There


Got it!!!!




And Jeffrey:

Where did I go?


Here I Am.


Aren't I Cute!!!


Merry Christmas to you all. Stay tuned for more adventures in holiday decorating.