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.

A Visit With the Butterflies

While spending the weekend in DC with Noni, Grandpa, Uncle Jon and Oma we took some time this morning to go to a butterfly exhibit. This is a big open aviary/greenhouse type building that is just filled with butterflies. Both the kids are fascinated with butterflies right now and were very excited about going to see them.




There were some important ground rules such as no running, no screaming and no touching the butterflies. These were difficult for Jeffrey to process. Once we got inside and saw the butterflies it was hopeless. He was so enchanted by them that he would scream with glee every time one flew by him. And if one was still enough he'd reach his finger out to "pet" it and shriek as soon as it would flutter its wings and fly away. And forget about not running. How can one not run after something that is so amazing. Even still he did manage to remain still enough for a few seconds at one point that a butterfly landed on his shoulder. This resulted in the loudest squeal of glee of the entire morning - and immediately terrified the butterfly off his shoulder.


Erin wanted very badly for a butterfly to come and sit with her. She would try and sit very still and put her hand out next to a nearby "flutterby". But any time one would get close to her she'd jerk her hand away and giggle. With the ones she saw flying through the air she would run after it clapping her hands together as if she could catch one in her grasp. She would stop often when she saw one on the ground or a nearby flower and get up very close to it as if she was inspecting every detail of their wings.



All in all the kids loved the trip. Much more exciting than when we took Erin almost 3 years ago. That time she was most excited about the stones in the paths. This time it was all about the butterflies.

Boys Will be Boys I Guess

Well one boy in particular. He seems to have gotten himself in quite a bit of trouble yesterday afternoon. The type of trouble I never had with Erin. Not even when she pooped in her room so proud because she didn't poop in her panties. Although this is along very similar lines.

Jeffrey was put down for his nap at his usual time yesterday. Before laying down he peed on the potty and we got a pull-up on him. Both he and Erin were up very early - like 6:30ish which is way too early for me. So expected them to take good naps. Jeffrey apparently had other plans. About 10 minutes after laying him down I heard him up playing. I went in to guild him back to bed and noticed he smelled stinky. I half expected this actually. He's not been super great about pooping in the potty recently, but at least saves it for the Pull-up at nap time. So I take him into the bathroom. Clean him up and remind him that poopie belongs in the potty. I fish out a new Pull-up and bring him back to his bed.

Ten minutes later I hear him up again. Now I know he's just playing so it's time for some action. I go upstairs and find him in the middle of the hallway wearing only his t-shirt. That's right, no Pull-up. He looks at me with a big smile and says.

"Poopie in the potty mommy"

I peer into the bathroom and there is his Pull-up in the middle of the floor. And he has actually gone pee in the potty. Well I'm actually pretty proud of him for this because he's never really taken initiative to go on his own before. So I tell him good boy, but it's time to nap. I put the Pull-up back on and tuck him in.

Ten minutes later I again hear him playing. This time he's in the living room playing with the drum. Since he knows he's supposed to stay in his room during nap time he runs away from me. But not before I notice that yet again----he's naked on the bottom half. I ask him where his undies are and he leads me to the bathroom and again proclaims,

"Poopie in the potty mommy"

I peer inside and yes he has eeked out a little more pee into the potty. But this time I'm a little more frustrated because he KNOWS it's nap time and is really really testing the limits.

Again I re-clothe him and send him back to bed. Ten minutes later I hear him up again. This time it sounds as if he's staying in his room. I decide to wait it out hoping that he'll just conk out on the floor. A bit later I head up to check on him. Erin's door is open and there is a nasty smell coming from in there. Erin hears me coming upstairs and runs to meet me...

"Jeffrey went poopie mommy."

"OK honey, I'll get him cleaned up."

"No don't worry mommy I wiped his bum for you."

"What?"

Now you see I assumed Jeffrey went poopie in his Pull-ups. And I was correct in that assumption. What I didn't realize was that he had then taken said soiled Pull-ups off and tried to dump the poop into the potty (something he sees mommy do). Then feeling like a big boy he just went about his business. Except he rather missed the toilet and actually ended up dumping the whole Pull-up into the potty. Then apparently proceeded to fish it out. I wander into Erin's room and there he is in all his glory squatting in the middle of her floor playing. Clearly his path to this location had taken him through her room, over to the fish tank, up onto her newly washed sheets, and ended on the floor in the middle of a pile of toys.

Erin's room stank to high heaven. Jeffrey had poop all over his hands, all over his T-shirt, all over his legs, and all over the toys he was playing with. So I scooped him up, cleaned him off, removed said T-shirt and got him settled in pants and a clean shirt. I then turned my attention to the bathroom and toilet which had splatters of poop everywhere. After wiping that down it was time to address Erin's room. I stripped her bed, got the spots on the floor, and cleaned the toys. All in all it took about 45 minutes to clean it all up.

I asked Erin why she didn't come get me and she was quite clear that it was OK, she had wiped Jeffrey's bum. Clearly in the mind of a 4-year old this was sufficient enough to deal with the situation.

So I've got a stripper and a little girl who loves being a big sister so much (on every other Tuesday that is) that she's willing to clean up his poop. Boys will be boys I guess.

And oh yeah one other thing.....this morning I was greeted bedside by a stark naked Jeffrey in all his glory. Heaven help me. Now if I can just get him to tell me where he hid the diaper.

Out of the Mouths of my Babes

Here are some cute conversations I've had with the kids recently.

• Jeffrey went through a hitting phase a few months ago where he found himself in time out quite frequently for hitting. Whenever we put him in time out we always ask him, "Jeffrey do you know why you are in time out?" Usually he'll just look at you with his big eyes and say - "I sorry mommy." I'd inform him he was in time out because it's not nice to hit people. So, recently when he's in time out, most often for not listening, I'll ask him...."Jeffrey do you know why you are in time out?" His immediate response....."We Don't Hit PEOPLE" (emphasis on people). I try very hard not to laugh at him but it's quite difficult to hold it back.

• Or there's Erin trying to get Jeffrey to eat a Lima bean (her new favorite). "Look Jeffrey it's good. It's not spicy. It's good. Try it." Well put my dear. It's true - Lima beans are not spicy.

• Tonight Erin was sitting on my lap while I was playing an online fantasy game. She'll sit with either Tom or I enough she has a basic grasp for the game. So my character "fell over" (read died). Erin asks, "What happened mommy?" My response, "Mommy fell over, it's OK". A few minutes later the same thing happens. "Look mommy you fell over again." Then she turns her head away from the screen to look at me -- "You're not very good mommy." After one last attempt at the quest I moved onto a different area. Erin got slightly confused and said..."We're not in Kansas anymore!" I laughed for a good 5 minutes. No dear we're not in Kansas anymore. I couldn't have said it any better myself.

What could make a better photo shoot than...

...the end of a hot day, Popsicles on the porch, and naked kids (well almost naked). We had a long day in Richmond (actually lucked out with the dress and was able to pick it up today) at the dress store and then the Children's Museum. The kids were great at the store this time - probably because we were only in there for less than 5 minutes. Then we went to the museum where both were amazingly well behaved....until it was time to go. Erin got a rainbow painted on her cheek as the highlight of the day. When we got home we had a quick dinner of garden veggies and dip and Spaghetti Os. I promised the kids if they ate well we'd have a special dessert. I had them take off their clothes (although Jeff refused to take off his shorts) and they sat on the front stoop with Popsicles. The sun was shining in their faces and it was simply beautiful. I'll put up some of the pictures, but given today's society I'm going to hold back on any of Erin without her shirt. Sad as that is I think it's the appropriate thing to do. Anyway I've got a few to share.


Erin with her Rainbow before dinner


Erin with her Popsicle


Jeffrey having a go at it

Today.....

....we left the house in big boy undies. We took our first trip out of the house in big boy undies today. He's been doing very well for me the past few weeks. He doesn't yet tell me when he has to go, but seems to understand that when I take him to the bathroom he needs to try to go potty. I've been able to stretch our trips out to almost 2 hours apart which is great. Then I'm guaranteed he'll go within the first few minutes. He's been pooping in his pull-up at naptime so the pooping is still being worked on, but he hasn't had any poopy accidents in his undies.

So today we took the plunge, and went to the tax office (car tax day) and then the park for about 30 minutes. We were gone about an hour and he stayed dry the whole time. Yipeeeee. I'm not sure we're ready for big trips without the pull-ups but am certainly excited to know that we're making major progress here on the potty front.

At This Very Moment

At this very moment Jeffrey is playing in his room. Usually this is a good thing...today not such a good thing. You see he's supposed to be sleeping. I've gone up there 4 times, changed a stinky Pull-up, moved him back in bed, and even once slapped his behind. He knows he's stretching the bounds because when he hears me coming he either runs for his bed or lies down where he is on the floor and pretends to be asleep. He and Erin were both up early this morning playing and need to nap.

He's been fighting the sleep more and more lately. I think it's more of a control thing than a not being tired thing. He wants to control when he sleeps. Or where even. For example (a cute example at that).

Last night I put the kids into bed around 8:00 PM. Tom was out so I got both kids to bed at the same time. I read Jeffrey a story, tucked him in, got my night night kiss and left the room. I went over to Erin's room and read her a chapter from Charlotte's Web. All was quiet when I left her room. I headed down to the basement to watch a movie and play on the computer. I have a baby monitor on my desk so I can hear what Jeff's up to. All is quiet for the rest of the night.

When I'm ready to head to bed I always peek in at the kids and give them secret kisses. Sometimes Erin wakes up and says love you mommy. Jeffrey is usually half out of his bed and I scoot him back to the middle. So last night I head into Erin's room and give her a kiss. She makes a few noises but doesn't wake up. Tom, standing outside the room immediately starts giggling. I am thinking - he knows I do this every night, what's so funny. Tom remarks...

"I assume you put Jeffrey to bed in his bed tonight, right?"

"Of course, where else would I put him?"

"Well come look at this."

I turn to see what he's snickering about. There in the middle of our queen bed is a sound-asleep Jeffrey. All snuggled under the covers and cozy on Tom's pillow. I have NO idea when he moved in there. I never heard a thing.

Usually if he wakes up later in the evening he'll come downstairs to me...not last night apparently.

A Beautiful Hike, But No Zebra

For some family time on the long weekend we decided to take the kids out for a hike. Tom had me choose the hike. I wanted something different and a little fun so I picked a 4-miler that ran by a river and some waterfalls up in the Shenandoah. We've still got both backpacks for the kids so we figured we were set. While I got everyone ready (meaning me dressed, Erin in socks and sneakers instead of sandals, Jeffrey into a Pull-up and sneakers) Tom got some bottles of water ready for the hike.

We headed out the door about 10 AM. It was simply gorgeous. High 70s at that time, puffy clouds and a slight breeze. We piled into the Sentra and headed on up the mountain. We had the windows totally rolled down and the kids thought that was the best thing ever. Jeffrey giggled the whole way. We had to drive about 15 miles along Skyline Drive before we got to the parking area for the hike. It was a little hazy down in the valley but still the views were gorgeous.

Once we parked we got the kids out of the car and into the packs. I was a little worried about Jeffrey. We haven't packed with him yet this year and he's in a very "mobile" stage right now. I figured he'd throw a fit about getting into the pack, but nope. We crossed over the drive and headed down the Fire Road towards the river and falls. Not 100 feet down trail we had the first exciting event of the day. A smallish black bear went sauntering across the trail about 30 feet ahead of us. He was gorgeous. Erin missed him at first, but we were able to point it out to her off the side of the trail. He sat about 35 feet off the trail for a few minutes and we just stood and watched him. Then he gave us one last look as if saying "See you later" and rumbled down the hill through the woods. Erin was sooo excited. As we continued down the trail she asked daddy what we'd see next, Tom replied we'd have to wait and see. Erin decided she wanted to see a zebra next. So....she spent the next 2.5 hours on the hike looking for a zebra. Sadly for her we never stumbled across one. About a mile down the fire road were the first set of waterfalls. These falls were really cool. Fairly narrow but they were relatively tall. The kids thought they were amazing.

This provided a good chance for Tom to mess with my backpack...again. Lemme tell you Jeffrey had no problems with being in the pack except the he weighs almost 30 pounds fully dressed. I had to keep adjusting the pack so the weight was on my waist and not shoulders. This was probably the most frustrating part of the whole trip. We had to unload him at least 3 times to make adjustments.

At that point we veered off the Fire road and onto a trail that followed the river. This was simply beautiful. The river bubbled and cascaded down rocks. There were lots of pools where you could fish for brook trout (we saw one group of hikers with fly fishing poles). We stopped and took a water break along the stream at one point. The kids loved walking around and throwing stones into the water. Jeffrey wanted to get a big splash. Tom took this picture right as Jeffrey had thrown a whopper into the stream...look at the second splash on the right of the photo. Erin liked the sounds the different sized stones made as she threw them into the water. There were a few close calls where Jeffrey almost fell face first into the water leaning for the perfect stone. Wouldn't have bothered him, but would have made for a long walk back. At one point Erin found a great little perch by the river just to sit and look at it. She reminded me very much of her Uncle Jonathan at that point as he loved to do the same thing.



The hike followed the river for about 1.5 miles. Erin provided entertainment by singing. She sang Over the Rainbow several times. Jeffrey wanted to sing Eensy Weensy Spider. We passed lots of other hikers who thought the kids were just the cutest things around. On the way back up the mountain (we had about 1000 ft of elevation change down....then back up) we passed one last waterfall. This was the best of all. If we hadn't had the kids, and I hadn't had another mile of mountain to climb up I would've loved to jump right into the water at the base. As we turned away from the falls, Jeffrey turned around and shouted "Bye Bye Waterfall!".

The climb up was difficult but not too horrible. We took lots of little rests. About 1/2 mile from the top the path leveled a bit and widened. We decided we could let the kids out of the packs to finish the hike. They took off running up the mountain, jumping and tripping over little rocks in the path. By the time we were done we were all exhausted but it was completely and totally worth it. If you ask Erin what we saw on the hike she'll tell you, "A Bear, A Monkey (chipmunks), Water and Waterfalls -- but No Zebra."

Sigh...one of those L..O..N..G days

We had one of those long mornings that just completely and totally wipes me out. And the kids. One of those mornings that the kids are lucky to live through (OK we all know that's an exaggeration but still).

We were out late last night at some friends. Erin fell asleep while watching Cars...Jeffrey did not. He was still going strong at 11:30. By the time we got home though he was crashed out. At 7:30 this morning I woke up to find him snuggled between Tom and I. And not about to want to wake up. Problem is that we had to be out of the house at 9 AM to get to Richmond to have Erin fit for her Flower Girl dress for "Uncle" Gary and "Aunt" Suzie's wedding in August. It's a nice drive, but about 90 minutes. I gave myself 2 hours just to be safe.

So eventually I got him up and on the potty (making real progress there, but that's for another day). Went in to get Erin. Roused her and noticed that she seemed to be wearing different panties than she was sent to bed in. Honestly I wasn't sure about it but really I was pretty sure she was wearing Mermaid and not Care Bears. Fairly quickly she confirmed that her panties (and apparently her sheets and blanket) had gotten "soaked" at night and she had gotten "new" panties.

Moving on to breakfast. I notice that the shorts I've put Jeffrey in simply aren't going to work. He must have been getting ready to shoot up a few inches when we tried them on because 2 weeks ago they fit, but today they were hanging around his ankles. So while they fussed over not having the right flavor oatmeal (Erin needs cinnamon, Jeffrey just likes to fuss when his sister does) I unearthed a pair of shorts for him and got him ready to go.

As Erin fussed because her oatmeal wasn't correctly prepared, Tom made the comment that I was in for a LONG morning. He had NO idea.

So 9 AM rolls around and I'm actually ready to throw the kids in the car. Make Erin go pee, get Jeff in a pull-up and we're off. The drive to Richmond goes fairly well save for Jeffrey kicking the window button on his door and lowering his window. Normally not an issue, but it's a 50/50 deal whether the window will go back up again easily. Following the directions from the lady at the store, we actually end up arriving about 20 minutes before our appointment. Silly me assumed they would be open at that point, but no. So I'm stuck sitting in the car with Erin insisting that we listen to her drum CD (which was in the house) and Jeffrey who desperately wanted OUT!!!!

About 10:50 we got out and I let the run around the sidewalk. By 11 we finally got inside. We had an appointment but still had to wait a few minutes. Erin announces that she has to pee - I ask where the potty is and run Erin back. Jeffrey is now hollering through the whole store--- "Poopie in the potty mommy. Poopie in the potty." I duck behind a lovely seafoam strapless number and hope nobody can see me.

By the time we're out of the potty, a young lady has brought us a 3 and 4 in the dress style. I grab the 3 and get Erin into it. Immediately she thinks she is a princess. She starts spinning and dancing - and falling over into the glass mirrors. Jeffrey, Mater car in hand, proceeds to run directly into one of the mirrored walls. Whether he didn't realize it was a mirror or he just wanted to run into a wall - I'm not sure. What I do know is that his hand prints on the mirrors were not appreciated by the staff.

It becomes quickly apparent that Erin will need a 3 not a 4..because she is pretty much falling out of the top of the 3. The sales lady grabs about 2-3 inches at each side and says -- well we can take this in. But for length we need the 3 not the 2 - which is great because they don't have a 2 we can try on anyway.

So back into normal clothes we go, and I head to the counter to "register" and place our order. The kids start running around like wild monkeys throughout the store. After much threatening and removal of all toys and privileges they are sitting on the floor at the base of the counter.....convinced that mommy is the meanest person in the whole world.

We ring up the dress. I hand over the credit card. I sign the slip...same old same old. The lady at the register (I've been passed off to "expedite the process" - read get this lady and her two unruly kids out of our store) asks me to sign another form stating that I've been informed that this in a non-refundable purchase and that alterations are available at an extra charge. I make the comment that we'll certainly need alterations. She pauses and says..."oh".

"Oh?" I ask?

"Well we expect to get the dress in here at the store on August 15th.

"WHAT!!!!!???? You've got to be kidding me? Are you serious? And you didn't think to mention this to me? That's not going to work!!! The wedding is August 18th!!!"

So I'm immediately passed off to the manager because now I'm the pissed off mom-of-a-flower-girl-with-two-uncontrollable-children-who-must-be-shoved-out-the-door. She does some looking and discovers that she "might" be able to get a size 3 in by the end of June. Well I guess that's going to have to do, but this is insane.

So I drag the kids out of the store, paper in hand with the card of the store manager clearly stapled to the front. I explain to the kids that we were going to spend a "fun" day in Richmond but they were not being very good inside the store and maybe we'd just go home. Erin screams, Jeffrey tries to run away. Once I get them in the car we all calm down and I ask if they want to get lunch. There's and Applebees nearby and they have a pretty good lunch menu. Erin agrees that she can be good - she wants lunch.

I find the little plaza with the Applebees. It's at the far end and we have to pass a McDonald's in order to get there. This particular McDonald's has an outdoor Play Zone. Erin can spot these things a mile away and assumes immediately that we're going there. When I drive by she erupts into tears as if her most beloved Pet Toy has just been decapitated by her brother. Needless to say we ended up eating at McDonald's. An hour later, I finally fished Jeffrey - who had eaten almost nothing - out of the play zone. I explain to him a fifteenth time that he drank all his lemonade and that it is "All Gone". I take both kids, toss them in the car and vow never to return to Richmond.

Never that is until I'm able to pick up a flower girl dress in white with apple trim that apparently takes 10 weeks to order.....But she's still going to look like a beautiful princess at the wedding.

Progress!!!!

I know I'm overloading you all but this needs to be said......

At 5 PM I had to change the same pair of Cars undies I put on Jeffrey at 8 AM!!!

And I only changed them because they got a little wet, not soaked at all. He stayed dry all that time - and we weren't even living in the bathroom.

Yay little boy....there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Elmo's Coloring Book

As a final hurrah for Erin & Jeff's Birthday celebrations we went to Sesame Street Live. We kept it all a secret and surprised them both yesterday. Erin had a small idea of what to expect, but Jeffrey was clueless. When we got there, Erin picked out a spinny light-up toy for them both. We had floor seats - not seats on a floor but on the floor level. They were perfectly center with the stage about 30 yards back. Erin first though we were going to see a movie there and kept insisting that we get her popcorn. Luckily they were selling popcorn, but we convinced her to wait until the intermission. Once the show got started she'd pretty much forgotten about the popcorn. When Elmo came out on stage, both kids screamed "ELMO!!!!!". Erin pointed and waved. Jeffrey was mesmerized the first 20 minutes or so.

The show was entertaining with lots of music and crowd participation. The rows were far enough apart that the kids could dance in the aisles. Jeffrey eventually wanted to get down and dance. Erin pointed out all her favorite characters and got really excited any time some of them came down into the audience. At one point one of them came far enough up the aisle that Erin and Jeff could go over and say hello. I thought Jeffrey might be a little afraid but he wasn't at all. Actually I had to hold him back from running down the aisle after her. Erin spent the rest of the show waving at all the characters trying to get their attention so she could say hello (Jeff and Rob...think the last few says at Disney World all over again).

I'm so glad they had fun and it was a great way to end our week of birthday celebrations.

A Super Party at the Park

We held a birthday gathering at Erin's favorite park on Saturday. We invited some special friends to join us, hang out at the park and eat some cookie cake. All week it looked as if it was going to rain on Saturday. The forecast showed sunny days for every day except Saturday. Erin had her heart set on playing at the park though. So we woke up Saturday to overcast skies but warm weather and decided to risk it. We lucked out and the rain held off until late afternoon.

Everyone had a super time playing at the park. The playground wasn't too crowded and we could just let them run around. Erin thought that having her friends there to play at the park was the best thing in the world. They ran around, climbed, played on the swings, slid down the slides, climbed up the slides, played ball in the fields...had a generally exhausting time. Jeffrey played so hard he barely took time out to eat cake or drink his juice box.

One of the highlights of the afternoon was Tom's juggling "show". He'd brought some juggling balls and put on a little show for all the kids. They thought it was the greatest thing. Tom included them in the games and tossed them the balls or showed them how to toss them back to him. Of course it all ended with a game of pile-on-Tom...but that's what daddy's are for right?

We arrived at the park around 1 PM and were finally packing up about 3:45. Both Erin and Jeff had missed their early afternoon naps and played soo hard. Before we were 10 minutes away from the playground they were both asleep in the car. By the time we got home Erin was rousing a little. Jeffrey was knocked out though. I got him into his room, plopped him in the middle of his McQueen bed and that was it for him. We didn't see him again until 7:30 Sunday morning. He slept right through (except for a short visit to mommy and daddy about 1 AM, but a gentle guide back to him room and he was back asleep).

Our afternoon at the park turned out to be just the perfect day to spend with friends. Thanks to all who came out and played with us.

And Now She's 4

And I just can't believe it. Today is Erin's 4th Birthday, officially at 11:50 AM. She's getting to be so big and grown up. She love to sing and dance. Gymnastics is still the highlight of her week. This spring she's been in a more structured class and loved every second of it.

She's set to go to a small pre-school in the fall. Right now she LOVES working on her numbers and reading books. Once you read it one time she'll have it pretty well memorized. Three or four times and it's ingrained in her mind. She can sit and read stories for quite a long time.

So here's her Birthday montage. Those who tend towards the "sappy" might want to have a Kleenex available. I really can't believe that it's been 4 years since she was snuggling against my chest with a little knitted hat in the hospital.


Happy Birthday Special Girl

I'm updating this post to add some pictures of her on her special day. We had a great time on her birthday. She opened her presents around noon then spent the afternoon playing with all of them - especially her pet hospital from Aunt Katie. She had picked out a special place for dinner. We went to Red Robin - a local burger joint that's VERY kid friendly. She ordered Mac & Cheese with a Freckled Lemonade (lemonade with strawberries in it). She even got the special birthday song and sundae from the wait staff. It was exactly what a 4-year old little girl wanted.


Birthday Morning


Decorating Her Cake


Opening Some Presents

Jeff's Birthday Update

Here's a few pictures from Jeff's Birthday. His Dr's appointment went well...weighed in at 27 lbs and I'm not sure on the height but it was 90th percentile. We had a cute afternoon with him on his birthday. He ran around all day telling people it was his "Bootday". I got him a small cake with 2 candles and Erin helped him open his presents - largely Cars themed. He also LOVES his new train set. We've still got it all set up in the living room. All he wants to do it play Choo-choo. He knows how to turn the engines on, put them on the track, and sometimes even knows how to switch the path on the track circles. He came in to Erin's play Saturday night and called out for Mommy or Sister any time they were on stage. Then we headed to Applebees where he got a special Ice Cream dessert. Our in-town party will be on Saturday at a local playground.

She's the Willy Wonka Candy Chorus

Erin (and mommy) just finished our run of Willy Wonka shows. Erin had the time of her life. She really just had a blast. She was in the Candy Chorus - specifically a caramel. She even had a couple of lines this time that we practiced over and over and over. Her favorite was "We never get any smaller" (while dressed as an Everlasting Gobstopper). She learned all her songs (they had little parts in 3 different songs) and even the movements to go with them. Best of all she seemed to make some friends with the group of kids in her cast - especially the girl dressed as the nuts. On Sunday when I gave her the option of coming and playing with me backstage or going to watch the rest of the play with her friends...she ran into the auditorium with her friends before I could blink. Here's a couple of pictures from the show. She's the one second from the right in the group picture.

Here's a little Video of her singing 2 of her songs...Erin Singing as a Caramel and a Gobstopper

Happy Birthday Jeffrey

I can't believe he's 2 years old today. It seems like the days last forever and the years just fly by. He's getting to be such a big boy. Does everything his sister does. Claims everything as his own "Mine!!" is one of his favorite words.

He's a big chatterbox talking about all kinds of things. He LOVES to read stories - Big Red Barn, Mr. Brown Can Moo, and Elmo's Neighborhood are his favorites at the moment.

I'm guessing he weighs about 27 pounds and might be about 36" tall. Here's a little movie so you can see how much Jeffrey's grown over the past year.

Happy Birthday Little Man

Patince Update.....

Well we are still with it. Jeffrey and I are continuing our work on the potty training. We are certainly making progress but still using Pull-Ups rather than big boy undies. I think next week we'll make the jump to the undies. He differs from Erin's training in several ways (and I expected this). Things I've learned about training Jeffrey....

1 - He MUST be in control. He chooses the story. He decides how long he's going to sit. He shows me where to sit (or when to leave).

2 - Advance notice MUST be given. I can't just say, Jeffrey let's go sit on the potty. I need to warn him 5-10 minutes in advance and get permission.

3 - Bribery certainly helps. He prefers to sit with a beverage and snack. Usually he gets a sippy and a piece of bread, sometimes a cookie.

4 - If he's not in the mood, he's not gonna sit. End of story.

So...we're taking it slower. But each day we generally have at least 1-2 successes. He still likes to play the "I'll sit here for 45 minutes then get up and go in my pants" trick. We talk about where pee and poop go (In the potty). He's had 2 or 3 successful poopies.

Erin's a big help. At first she was somewhat in the way, but she's getting better. Sometimes he'll sit and go for her when he won't sit for me. She'll sing him songs, read stories to him and perform general acts of entertainment.

Long story short, we're making some progress and not ready to give up yet. Next week we might take the big step into undies (have Cars and Diego ones all ready here). Wish us luck.