Monkey See Monkey Do Part 2

Today, Dylan learned he is able to crawl into his car seat on his own... just like Sophia. And just like Sophia, he can stand in it and look into the back of the truck. Only everything is slower. And when we are in a hurry he is of course more insistent on doing it himself.

Skeletor and the princess

Sophia and Zach on the couch in front of the boob tube. We didn't have time for many pictures and this turned out to be the best of ten. Zach in his fav skeleton jammies and little S with her eyes glued to her "half hour tv".

Today started pretty rough - Dylan in melt down most of the time (waking at 4.40 didn't help, I am sure). I lost it at lunch and felt bad afterwards. Recomposed, got him BACK on my lap, finished lunch and kind of made up. The best part was nap time. Ok, so nap time usually IS my favorite time, but today was extra good. I put Sophia down first as I often do and brought Dylan into her room while I tucked her in. She curled up in her "favorite cozy spot" in the corner against the pillows between the bed and wall. She put Lamby over her head as always and started her journey to sleep. I then took Dylan to his room and after a diaper change, got him in his sleep bag. He started to squirm and I was getting nervous he would give me a hard time. So, I followed the normal procedure for this scenario and held him over his crib and gave him the choice: bed or sing. This works to snap him out of his fuss and he always chooses "sing"... except today. He chose bed. I put him down hesitantly and he just lay there. I then slowly started walking away waiting for him to change his mind, but nothing. I left the room, closed the door and STILL nothing. I heard a little giggle kind of noise and thought maybe he thought this was a game so I quietly went back into the room and there he was just like Sophia - curled in the corner of his crib, head in his bears and the little Gymboree monkey on his head like Lamby was on Sophia. And he did it. No "Twinkle Twinkle", no "Now's the time for you to sleep", no snuggle (sniff, sniff). Just went down.

Sew, Sew, Sew your Boat...

Sew, sew, sew your boat cover, gently in the basement! Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam.
Dylan, the young apprentice getting a sewing lesson from dear ol dad.

April Showers

I couldn't resist whipping out the camera a hundred times over the past few days. The sweaters my mom knit for Dylan were cute enough on their own... but with those boots? Outrageous in the cute department. On this occasion I thought Dylan's sweater that Sophia is wearing (yes, that is his sweater and it is actually still big on S, haha) paired with the skirt and boots and her super cute face just ate up the camera. Here she is shhhhing me - not supposed to talk, could spook the horses, ya know. Marching down the street to the puddle at the bottom of the hill. Some serious stomping to do. Both kids were insisting on wearing the sweaters and Dylan even insisted on wearing his boots as he knew it meant he could stomp in a puddle. (I have been having trouble getting him to wear them lately...)

I thought this was super cute. Sophia was walking one foot on an one off the curb. Dylan saw this and of course it looked like over the top fun, so he had to do it too.

Horse gazing.

Going on a puddle hunt, gonna find me some puddles. Going on a puddle hunt, gonna find me some puddles!

Hollis Playground.

Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts, we are experiencing some turbulence.
For those who are interested, "Adventures in Amateur Landscaping" is up and running. My ambitions are low and expectations are lower than last year thanks to my lack of success, however, I am giving it another go.

Beantown

Today's adventure took Dylan and I into Boston on the Red Line to buy some study guides from an old co-worker. We were early, surprise, surprise. I decided to NOT switch trains to the green or orange which would have been a Royal pain in the you know what with a stroller and finding an elevator down there. I ended up carrying D and the stroller out of the station as it was. ( those stations are REALLY bad, I am always thankful I have the option to walk and carry stuff up the stairs). Anyway, we got out at Park street and visited frog pond playground quite briefly (D wasn't feeling it). Then walked to the Fleet centre. I LOVED IT! Ahhh, memories. I walked past the cemetery and thought, gee, I don't think I have even been in there and have lived here 9 years now and RAN PAST it for a few years on my way home from work. I decided I would try and catch this attraction on the way home. We arrived at CBT about half an hour early and I stood outside and let Dylan watch all the real life diggers and dumpers at work on the street in front of the building. I met up with an old co-worker outside and talked for a while and then visited with a few more friends inside and made the purchase. I then headed home and MADE that stop at the cemetery and was glad I did. Gave Dylan a real taste for some Boston history. Literally. Yuck.

D scoping out the C-tary.
My little Revere.
Back home on the T. Cheeeese. I enjoyed this trip so much, I can't wait to do it again! (Oh, and on the way home the elevator to get to the red line platforms was OUT OF ORDER. I was very kindly assisted a second time by a passenger, who helped me carry Dylan and the 10lbs of books in the stroller down the stairs.) Another note is that I realize that this trip was much easier with just one kid, however, do want to do it with both as I feel bad Sophia missed out. Shhhhhhh, don't tell her about the trip!

One Fine Day

Ok, so I stole this title from one of Sophia's books, but it really was a pretty good day. Ethan got off to a pretty early start this morning to Minnesota. Only thing I would change about the day is Dylan waking before 5 and the bone chilling wind in the morning. We started the day with a little water color activity. Then hit the playground around 9:30. I was too cold and convinced the kids (Sophia) to abandon the playground and head up the street to the library. We stayed for about 15 minutes of story time and I had to drag the kids (again, mostly Sophia) out to the speech class at 10.30. That class went well and Dylan played nicely in the waiting room. We came home for lunch and the kids ate a GOOD lunch, played and then both went down at 12:30 for a nap. Once down I fertilized the lawn and started to water it a bit. The kids had good naps and I finished the watering by hand with them once they woke. Then went out and bought myself an early b-day gift (hehe) and hit another playground. The sun was really warm and the wind had died down making it most pleasant. There were a lot of kids around 10yrs old there so I was a little nervous Sophia would be shy or both kids trampled as they played "
watermelon" (don't ask) on the slide. Sophia did really well especially considering there was a lot of kids that were in close contact with her. She even ventured off a couple times in their vicinity. We then hit the grocery store for a few things and home for dinner. I made a total "kids" meal - my version of "Alphaghetti" (alphabet noodles, spaghetti sauce and melted cheese). Sophia was into it, not Dylan. sigh... I better enjoy this day as they usually don't follow back to back. Fingers crossed on tomorrow!

Puzzle Mania

I have been quite impressed with BOTH kids puzzle abilities lately. Dylan has been progressively been getting better and better at the "knob" type puzzles. He has mastered the shape one and is really getting the hang of the car one we have. Depending on his mood, he can get most of them in all on his own. He can pretty much find the matching car right away, however, the mood and patience factor in on getting it to fit properly. I bought Sophia her first jigsaw puzzle - 12 pieces. It is all wood and a bit thick as the pieces don't fit together well yet - needs more wear. But she was able to put it together on her own several times today (sometimes I would offer hints or suggestions, but mostly on her own). All this on the first time having done one of these puzzles. She may do them at school, but this is the firsts with me. Ya!

A first

We were in the waiting room today and I gave Sophia a princess picture to color. This is the FIRST time I have actually witnessed her coloring in the lines! Although the sleeve and bodice look like they were scribbled in together, they were carefully colored separately. Notice the dots around the frame were individually colored in rather than scribbled over. Pretty cool. I think there were a couple other firsts for the kids, but alas, I took too long to record them and I can't remember them now...

Spring has Sprung

The air was nice and warm this morning so we spent a couple hours out there enjoying it. There are a lot of hours in the morning when it starts at 5am (not that Dylan waited until 5am to wake up, but he was able to amuse himself in his crib for 40 minutes on his own - WHAT IS HIS DEAL??!!)

Dylan and I enjoyed a walk through the woods together. He had fun picking up rocks and "hurling" them in front of him. Hurling is used loosely here, as even though he had quite a wind up, his release was rather late and the rocks were lucky to make it past his feet.

Sophia and I enjoyed some time this morning in the yard (in addition to a walk on the streets of the neighborhood). How cute and beautiful is SHE? We made a bunny birthday cake in the sand, complete with wooden candles.

My Hyacinths, tulips and daffodils are out of the ground with the daffodils about to burst out into bloom. Yay spring!

Pint sized photographer

Sophia, as most children do, likes to grab hold of the camera and work her Ansel Adams magic. OK, so she hasn't quite got us in the most flattering light, but at least we made it into the picture frame!
Say CHEESE!

A truck built for two

I recently put my foot down and took the firetruck outside, from whence it came. I am seeing more and more scratches on the floor and am not exactly crazy about them. Now that the weather is warming up, more lightening is striking outside, never know when an extra firetruck could come in handy out there...

First, Sophia takes the lead, and Dylan WILLINGLY catches a ride.

The ol' switcheroo and Dylan takes the reigns.

Always good to lean into those tight turns.

A little something to remember him by...

Ok, Zach, you left your mark. The other night Sophia took off all her clothes (undies too) and pranced around our bedroom announcing she was a boy. I guess that is what boys do, eh? Then tonight, while getting ready for bath, as soon as Dylan had his clothes off, he ran into Sophia's room. He kind of patted his diaper, indicating to me that he thought it should really be off too. Anyway, he then proceeded to frolic and roll around on the fur rug in the middle of the room as Zachy loved doing. Thanks for the memories, little buddy! :) Now, if only you could leave your mark in the sleep department. What I would give to have Dylan sleep until 6, these days even 5 has been looking good. It has been going on 2 MONTHS now that Dylan is waking before 5, as early as 4. There have been a few BRIEF stints where he would wake between 5 and 5.30, but those were short lived.

Dylan also turned 2 today. Ok, not technically, however, emotionally, yes. He has become VERY fond of the word no. Not just saying it, but saying it with attitude. His little lip thing that he does seems to have more attitude with it now too. It is as super cute as it can be frustrating.

Oh Happy Day

It rained all day yesterday. Cold, drizzly, wet, yuck. And yet I ended the day so happy a tear started to form in my eye. Ever since Jenny's wedding I have had a knot in in my stomach every time I thought about the ring my Great Aunt left me. Jenny had mentioned that the bridesmaids could wear diamond earrings with their dresses. I had Ethan go through my drawer before he left to get them. He went through it all and couldn't find them. I thought he just didn't look in the right place. Then, over the past couple of years I have looked through that drawer myself in hopes of finding the ring AND the earrings she gave me for my undergrad graduation. Each time, I would come up short and be sad again. Last night I gave it the ol' college try and there they were! At the bottom, NOT in any sort of box, just floating around. I can't believe I wouldn't have been so careless. Maybe they fell out of a box, who knows. I am just so happy they are found.

So, yesterday I did the impossible. I re-sprained/ twisted my ankle WHILE SITTING DOWN. Not sure how it happened, but DO know it hurt a lot. Now the ankle is a lovely green color with a nice splash of red in one little spot. Yay me.

Mama down!

Decided to take advantage of the free babysitting while the kids napped and go for a run to the gym. Got about half way there and then was flying down the long hill when - WHAM. Out goes my ankle - GRRRR. Thinking to myself: Walk it off, walk it off. These things usually hurt most on impact and ease up. I had half the hill to decide continue to the gym or just head home. decided on home and know that was the right call. A mile is long enough to walk on a sprained ankle. Waaa. Luckily there is help here, phew!

Spring Fever

I think the kids are sick. I mean beyond the cough and runny noses. They are going squirrelly. One would think I stick Dylan in a closet all day and let him out when Ethan comes home the way he clings to me and needs to be held and carried around. Then there is Sophia who will meltdown at the drop of a hat, or in tonight's case at the mother's not dropping everything to come downstairs and hold her hand to walk up (instead letting her dad carry her up). Oh, and there is Dylan waking up before (some days WELL before) 5. What the heck happened to the whole clocks leaping forward thing?!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Firefighter Dylan keeps us safe around the house.

Dylan loves to imitate and do everything everyone else does. The other night I was sitting on the couch with my bowl of grapes and Dylan came barreling over with his bowl and scrambled up on the couch and sat right at the back like me. Then he looked at my legs and saw they were resting on the table (yes, the same table I once banned from feet touching it). SO, he scooted up and well, you can see the result. I thought this was hilarious.

This photo just amuses me. Good thing the cupboard is nailed to the wall...Sophia never ceases to surprise me. She has a really good memory and remembers the littlest things. I will tell her something before her nap and that will be the first thing she says to me after the nap. Today, for instance, I told her I hope she has a good nap because she is sick and sleep is good for helping you to get better. She woke and first thing she said to me was "I'm not sick anymore, mama!" Even I had to think what she was talking about at first and then remembered our conversation. She is quite good at finding Lamby - in obscure places that she was playing with him last (thank goodness for that!)

New words are coming fast with Dylan. Most are just intonations and mimicking what I say and then never repeated, but tonight he said quite clearly " garlic" as I pointed to it in a book. Ahhh, what a good little Ukrainian!

Baby's growin' up...

Ok, I think Dylan is a little too young to have learned how to stall at bedtime. Sophia was at least 2.5 before she even STARTED this act. He has been starting to ask for wa-wa, abbol and nana at story time. Tonight was the longest he as gone on. And he doesn't take no for an answer. Normally I would be excited he was asking for healthy food, but bed time is no time for a day ending meal.

Hard Knock Life

Dylan has had a rough day. Started this morning when Sophia deliberately pushed him down 4 steps from the kitchen to back door while he was on his truck. I am not sure where all this aggression is coming from in Sophia and need to figure out how to get her to be more gentle with her brother and well, others. Anyway, he ended up with a banged up face. Then after dinner he was running around and tripped and cut his lip with his teeth. OUCH! He is such a trooper that he didn't cry for long at either incident.

We split up the kids late afternoon as we had two birthday party invites. Sophia and Ethan hit Paula's 7th b-day party at a gymnastics club and D and I went to Alba's 1st b-day party here in Quincy. Sophia is still in her shell and has difficulty participating in activities with other kids. I have been feeling guilty about having her in "school" lately as she has been crying when I leave, but then when she is in these situations, I get frustrated as to what I can do to get her more comfortable with other kids. Hmmmm.

Reading to Dylan at night has been fun (more fun) the last couple nights. He has been quite interested in the alphabet. I started by putting his finger on each letter as I sang it. He found this fun and would hold his hand out each time to get me to do it. Then the last couple nights he has been repeating back about half the letters and really seeming to like this exercise. What a little smarty pants!

You have this one, Dylan

This is Sophia's latest catch phrase. No matter what it is it seems, the second Dylan picks something up Sophia comes over and offers him something else so that she can take what he has. Kind of funny, and a little frustrating as Dylan is usually taken advantage of. He is so sweet that he usually just goes for the swap. Sometimes he digs his heels in and then major battle ensues.

I am now at the end of day 4 of my spring cleaning effort. Was supposed to be one room a day, however, there are many drawers and cupboards in the kitchen and that room is most used. This cleaning thing I am doing involves emptying all drawers, cupboards, etc... and wiping, ridding and reorganizing everything. Unlike most other times when I clean, there are a lot of shoving things here and there to "tidy up" the place. I don't often go around the house to put things where they REALLY belong, hence the junk drawer, can of "stuff" on the island... In my kitchen run through, I found I had a bunch of doubles of things being stored in different areas. Got rid of a lot of stale crackers and what not. The kitchen actually feels a little more decluttered - yay! Two days of it, though. Think I need an easy room next.

Are you gellin'?

Ethan has been having fun gooping up Dylan's hair with gel. He is Soooooooo gellin.

After an embarrassing weekend of guests and an extremely messy house, I have decided it was time to start some spring cleaning (despite the foot of snow that was falling). I decided to to one room a day so that it wouldn't feel too overwhelming. I started with the living room as it is the one we "retire" to each night and I was hoping it would make me feel a sense of accomplishment and inspire me to carry on the next day. So far so good...

Lions, Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Ok, maybe no tigers or bears, but March is coming in like a bit of a lion - more snow and cold wind. Brrr.

February was tooth month for Dylan. 4 incisors popped through. Ouch. Maybe he will start sleeping better this month now that they have surfaced. Or not.

Celebrated Ethan's birthday yesterday with me-mere, pe-pere, Jenny and "baby" Erik. I don't think I saw Erik withOUT a smile the whole time. One happy little guy! Sophia and Dylan, on the other hand, have spent most of the morning fighting and crying. Sigh...

Not a cryable offense

This is my new favorite thing to say to the kids. When I hear whining or crying, I assess the situation and if it is over something like a piece of rice stuck to a hand I will just tell them it is not a cryable offense and to stop crying. Mean mommy? Maybe. But these kids whine over EVERYTHING. That rice example is real. Happened to Dylan tonight. I did cut him some slack tonight, though. He has been running a pretty high fever all afternoon and he has spent 90% of his waking hours in my arms today. FYI, it IS possible to skewer kabobs with one hand and hold a sick little baby in the other.

Tough Bunnies

Whenever Sophia is in a negative mood and refuses to do something I ask her to do or requests something like candy for breakfast I tell her "tough bunnies", just do it or no you can't have that. It always amuses me when she replies that she doesn't want "tough bunnies" or that she is ok with it and says, "I WANT tough bunnies".

Another bit of amusement I had was last night after bath when Sophia was singing Baa baa black sheep. The verses weren't quite all the right words, however, the last one stuck out to me. In stead of one for the little boy who lives down the lane, she sings "one for the liggle boy who lives down in Maine". HA!

New Hair

Why does he fear me? Little ol' me? Notice how Dylan is cowering away from me.

Looks good here, we shall see after I wash it and have to run out the door with out drying it.

I didn't disown DYLAN after HIS hair cut! But then, he IS pretty cute.

At long last

Took a while to motivate myself, but the photos of our trip are up on shutterfly!

Amazing

I have been listening to Sophia run, jump and dance her way around the house singing away. She is just amazing and wonderful. Singing all her nursery rhymes, sometimes attempting to sing the real words, other times, just making them up for fun or to describe what she is doing - tippy toeing, etc...

In attempts to grow my hair out, I went out and got my hair cut. Yes, this makes sense to me. I would like it to be one length, and the bottom is growing out in the back and I have felt like I have a mullet. Tried out a new hair dresser. I can't say if I like it or not. Usually have to wait a week or so to see how workable it is and if I can do it myself. So far, I guess it is cute. Dylan was hilarious, though. I normally don't wear my hair straight as it takes too long to do so he doesn't see me like that. Well, I walked in the door and instead of running to me, he stopped at the kitchen stool and just stared. And stared. Not sure how long it was before he blinked. When I did finally pick him up, he wouldn't look at me. HA! So, now it is his turn. Ethan took him to the barber for their first father/son coiffing. My turn to stand and stare.

Why?

Story time with Sophia has been taken longer due to one word: why. She is more curious now and at each page she asks "why?" about 5 times. Why is there a nose? Why is he in a bucket?... I haven't even started reading yet and she has had 5 why's.

Today has been one of my longest days with the kids. The morning felt like I was living in "dog time" You know - one hour would pass yet it was actually 7 hours in people time? So, I was up for 21 hours by the time the clock struck 8am. Or so it felt.

Favorite word: Abbel (apple). Yes, Dylan says it about 10 000 times a day. He insists on getting one and for me to cut him a piece and then when I hand it to him, he turns his head away and says, noooooooooo. Did I mention today was extra long?

Eye spy with my little eye...

... a new incisor! Dylan will be returning to Quincy with a couple new teeth. I can see one incisor poking through and the other top one is just about through. Maybe he will stop thrashing around all night in his crib now and get some sleep!

All the cousins arrived yesterday and getting along well. There is another set of little arms eager to carry Dylan around even if he isn't so crazy about the idea. He has accepted this ride a few times, though and seemed comfortable. I took Dylan and Grace to a playground this morning and we scouted out a new beach.

3/4 mile

Look out, Eminem, there's a new block buster about to be shot: 3/4mile. Story of a toddler who would walk all on his own (accompanied by his grandpa) around a pond measuring 3/4 miles each day. Dialogue may get a little dry, consisting of mainly hiiiiiii and byyyyye as he passes each senior citizen and the occasional woof if one is walking their dog. I am sure he would sell out at the box office on his cute looks though. Even waking up at 4.15am today didn't stop him from going on his walk. New favorite word for Dylan, by the way, is Bo (boat).

Vaca day 3

Had a full day with the warmer weather. Started the day WAY too early, with Dylan waking us at 4.45... again. Went for a dip in the pool, Sophia enjoying it again and Dylan having fun dipping his feet in along the edge. Kids went down for early naps and Ethan went out to the boat rental early for a couple hours of fun on his own. When the young-uns woke we joined him around 1.30 and were out and about on the ocean for the next 3.5 hours. stopped for a little sandbar fun, saw a bunch of dolphins (ok, yes, I was the one who spotted them, and yes, I did refer to them as sharks. Easy mistake), and then headed home for dinner. Ethan and I enjoyed another hot tub/ pool dip under the stars and are back in our stations - laptop on each lap.

Little fish

The temp climbed to about 50 yesterday, so it was time for SWIMMING. Sophia was very anxious to try it out. She had never been in a pool before, so this was exciting for her. She was willing to brave the cold to get into the pool. I, too, therefore had to brave the cold and get wet with her. Ahhh, mother love. She had a great time and couldn't wait to try again today. The sun was warmer this morning and a little more tolerable. Looking forward to when it REALLY warms up next week and we can frolic by the pool. Bummed that Dylan isn't allowed in - still in diapers. Stupid pool rules... There is a cranky lady next to the pool that is a tattle tale apparently and looks for people not abiding by the stupid rules. Hmph. Heading out on the boat this afternoon. Dylan should be excited about that. Speaking of boats... There are NO toddler boat books around - board book with just a few words per page. SO, I have decided it is my job to write one. I need help though, so all you boat people, here is your homework. The theme/ tune will be to that of " When Barnacle Bill was one, he learned to play the drum..." Only, the word that rhymes with the numbers from 1 to 10 need to be a boat term or type of boat. For example, "When Barnacle Bill was Three, he rode his first jetski..." I am NOT the best person to come up with boat rhymes, so your help would be appreciated. Oh, and getting me a publisher, etc... would be cool too. :)

Flor-old-a

So, it is true. Old people really do come here and take over. I kind of feel like we are in a retirement community at the condo we are staying. Old people continuously walking by up and down the street. But then the oldies are everywhere else too.

Kids did pretty well on the plane. Dylan of course fell asleep about half an hour before we landed... They were not interested in any of the few toys I packed for more than 3 minutes. The best toy were the buttons for the lights and flight attendants above our heads. I think there is still a footprint across my cheek thanks to Dylan. It is a little colder. Ok, a LOT colder than I was hoping for so far. Not 8F, mind you that we left behind, but not bikini and ice cream weather either. We did have a warm welcome when we arrived at the condo, though, so that was nice.

Confirmed

I have been trying to teach Dylan how to say Sophia's name. I know he can do the consonants yet, so I have worked with what he knows. Ee-ah (S o f ee ah). He has pointed to her picture and referred to her now by saying Ee-ah!

Twice his age

Sophia is now twice Dylan's age. Not sure the exact day, but pretty much around now as she was a week shy of her 19mo "birthday" when Dylan was born. Trying to think back at how she was when he was born. In my mind she seems to have been much older than the little Dylan I cuddle today. Maybe because he is the youngest and Sophia has grown so much and knows so many more things, but I feel like Dylan is still a baby now. When he was an actual baby, though, I feel like Sophia was this big girl toddler. I can't remember he not talking much and expecting her to be more independent. I guess I keep going back and forth on this. I am amazed all the time by Dylan at how much he understands and knows, yet when I think of Sophia at this age I think "of course she knew all that" as she was the big sister already. I guess this will only make sense to me as I am not explaining it all very well here. Maybe I should have kept this blog piece in my head. :)

Nooooooooooooo

For now, Dylan's "no"'s are pretty darn cute. I especially love them when they are really long, nooooooooooooo, and sweet.

Dylan took his longest nap today, i think ever. Pretty close to 3.5 hours. Wahooo! He also said apple, more like abble, but close enough. Maybe he was processing that during his nap...

Doctor Doctor Give me the news

Today was a very long day. Got off on the wrong foot and it was hard to get back on track. Left the house about 10min behind schedule, realized I needed gas. Got gas, then took the wrong ramp on the highway and went south instead of north. Made the turn around and realized traffic was moving well and I didn't even NEED to detour out of my way to take the HOV lane. Got to the FIRST appointment 10min early anyway. Waited for 50 minutes to be seen. GRRRR. Sophia's stye has no change and nothing to really do, so they gave her another prescription for a week of steroids to put on it ??!! Started home and the GPS said we'd be home by 12.13. Mass highways decided lunch hour rush was the perfect time to fill some pot holes and had all four lanes closed off, allowing two to go at intermittent intervals. Got home about 12.40. I fed the kids so many pretzels at the doctor's office that I knew they wouldn't be hungry, so I didn't push the left over mac n cheese on them. I tried hard to get them down for a nap at 1pm so that they could get a little nap in before their over due well checkups. Dylan gave me a run for my money but went down after not too much trouble. I had to wake BOTH up at 2.20 which killed me as I am always praying they nap longer. Made it 5 minutes late to the 2.50 appointment. They did well, I checked their stats at home and they are actually the SAME size (at 19 months). Both were/ are 33in tall and 23lb 4oz (Sophia a few oz heavier) at this age. Difference is, those stats put Sophia in the 40th percentile in weight and 91st for height and Dylan in the 15th weight and 55th height. Such a double standard.

One super cute thing that happened today, actually happened twice. First at the opthamologist, while I checked us in, Sophia unzipped Dylan's jacket and helped him take it off, one sleeve at a time, careful and gently. She then repeated this at the doctor's office. SO SWEET! Oh, and Dylan is so advanced he can already jump and get both feet off the ground at the same time. The doctor was checking Sophia's development and asked if she could do this. I was pretty sure, so I asked her to try there anyway. Dylan heard me ask her and demonstrated for her what to do. Apparently at 18months, ,this is advanced. That's my D!

Bed Schmed

So, Sophia has the nicest bed in the house and yet she continues to find sweet slumber in "the space between". Each morning I get her she is squeezed into the crack between the bed and the wall half laying on the European sham that is crammed into that crack. I can't understand how she is not all in pain when she wakes from continuing to sleep in such an uncomfortable position night after night. Sighhh.

A Snowy Day

OK, so the title isn't really mine, but the kids are and this was our snowy day antics.

Our day started out, innocent enough. Going to the mailbox to mail back our netflix flick. Pit stop at dad's snowman, give it a pat for luck.When we arrived at the box, there was snow everywhere as the sidewalks weren't cleared. There were cars at the intersection so I needed to find a way to keep the kids from running into traffic while the DVD was mailed. So, I stuck em' in the snow. Yup, that'll do it!Turned out this little gesture gave me great enjoyment, so I repeated this act, well, repeatedly on our way home.

Yup, pretty stinkin' cute.

And now a note for posterity. Sophia, Dylan, this one is for you. When you are 20, 3o years old and are wondering where you were when President Obama was inaugurated, here it is. Sophia, you were in the basement watching Santa Claus is coming to town. Dylan, you were whining and crying in the living room with me as I cranked the volume trying to listen to the tv and fumble with the DVR stuff to record it all.

Some days are best not repeated

Has been a long day today. Dylan is in that awkward, to say politely, dropping a nap phase. In addition to this I am suspicious his teeth are on the move again. He woke up fine, late even at 5.40. He was fine for the first couple hours and it was a slippery slope after that. In addition to being tired I think his gums were sore as his cheeks were really red and warm. By 11 he was inconsolable in attempts to keep him happy and interested in something so I had to put him down, reluctantly. The earlier he naps, the more tired he will be come late afternoon. And surprise, surprise, but 5pm he was again on that same slope. By 6 Dylan was starting to say "night night" and was super snugly. I brought him upstairs to s l o w l y get things ready for bath and bed. As I sorted through the baby medicine draw I hear a loud crash in the bathroom and rushed into find Dylan with the cabinet on his lap. The top slid off and hit him in the head. Nice. Yup, great. If he HAS to do this stuff, why can't it be in the morning rather than right before bed when he is already overtired. So now I get to wake him up three times tonight, make him talk and walk and then put him back to bed. Oh, little D...

Nana in da tub.

Seems that bananas only taste good to S and D if they are in the tub or in the grocery store. While in these locations bananas are usually essential. My once attempt to fatten Dylan up has become a regular thing. Dylan's bites are MUCH bigger now too. Man that guy can stuff a nana in there.

Sometimes it's "OK" to show the food in your mouth...

Dylan is really into the monkey see monkey do phase and Sophia is of course his greatest muse. I was trying to get them to finish their dinner as they raced around the house and was getting chicken morsels into Sophia's mouth. I then asked Dylan to have a bite to which he refused. I then USED this monkey thing to my advantage and told him Sophia was eating, and then asked Sophia to open her mouth to show him the chicken and she of course did. Dylan promptly came over to get his bite. He has been copying all of Sophia's moves in the tub and laughs hysterically at her antics there. He has literally fallen over in the tub in laughter. Good ol' crazy D.

Sophia's tender side came out again tonight. I was coming up the stairs and banged my head on the cupboard I left open. I yelped, OW! She asked what was wrong and I told her and that I would be ok with a kiss. She kissed me and told me she hurt too - as in I feel your pain. Awwwww.

Big Girl

Sophia is in the big girl phase now. She has been telling me that she is not "liggle" (little), but a big girl. We also were in the library yesterday and there was a small photography display of pregnant women and babies and now she insists that she needs a baby in her tummy too. "But I haff to!" It is amazing how kids can be so cute and yet irritating at the same time sometimes. Cute how she wants to be pregnant, irritating how she keeps insisting and insisting on it over and over and over and over....

Skatin' sleddin' and sleepin'

Enjoyed a nice blanket of snow when we woke this morning. Sometimes winter IS nice.

Took the kids skating on the pond yesterday. Nice smooth ice, no snow covering it. Sweet.Sophia on break while Dylan has a turn slippin' and slidin'

Dylan take a ride with his old man.

Dylan returns from his ride a little on the sleepy side. Some kids sleep in the stroller, our little man likes the sled.

Remind me not to let Dylan park the 4Runner

This is how Dylan likes to park his fire truck. He carefully tips it back like this. Sometimes leaves, other times puts it back, drives some more and then tips it back, etc...

Dylan thought the snow was getting a little high and needed a little mow down.

And in her third year, she ate.

Ok, I really hope Sophia is going through a giant growth spurt. I don't know where she is putting it YET, however, she has had a voracious appetite as of late. On school days this week her little daily report says she ate everything for their lunch. I pick her up at noon and she then has another lunch here. She at a cereal bar and about 2 perogies when she came home today AFTER eating at school. Yeesh! She didn't have much for breakfast, but still... Won't be long now until I am looking up into her big beautiful eyes.

Sweet Slumber

It is funny how kids seem so much cuter with they sleep later. Dylan is SUPER cute this morning waking at 6am as opposed to 4am. My mood seems to be better too. Funny that. That said, Dylan's sleep has been all over the map lately. I have been doing a lot of praying... "Please, please. please go to sleep this time... Please, please, don't wake up so early..." Not sure who I am praying to - seems a little frivolous to pray to the big guy for this. Maybe I am trying to channel our little guy and am praying to HIM.

The good and the bad

I have a few notes to add, some good, some not so good. Lets start with good. It is really fun to watch Sophia and Dylan together and see the little guy imitate all she does. They were in the tub last night and Sophia decided it was a fun game to dip a comb into a cup of water and then comb mine and Dylan's hair. Shortly thereafter, Dylan started dipping and combing my hair too. Then it was just stirring the comb around in the cup of water. Dylan took to this game and kept doing it like it was the most fun one could have. I didn't really get the interest they found in this, but it took some coaxing to tear Dylan away from his cup and get ready for bed.

Another fun thing is how Dylan has started to take to books - FINALLY. I had stopped trying to read stories at bed time for a while as he would mostly just flip the pages, not even looking at what was on them. Now he insists on getting them read to him. Well, one in particular - the large alphabet book I got him. He now points to the pictures and goes through the book one page at a time and will sometimes make noises - quack quack, elephant noise... as we see pictures. He puts his hands on his head for hat, blows his nose when I say nose and touch his face parts at the mouth and nose page.

And now the bad... Not sure what the cause was, but the effect was pretty tiring. I tried for over an hour last night to put Dylan to bed. He was very stuffed up, but he has been this way all week. He would be nice and calm in my arms, but the second I would put him in his crib, would cry "all done" and want up. I laid down with him in his crib for a while and he wrapped his arms around my neck like he did in the hospital. He seemed to be asleep, but did the all done thing when I tried to get out. I ended up getting ready for bed and then decided to just sleep in his crib with him. After a while he was on his back and I did manage to get out without waking him. Then he woke again around midnight and needed me with him. I decided to bring him to our bed even though I haven't had luck with that in the past. He did manage to fall asleep, but was tossing and turning a lot so I tried to move him to his crib again and was relieved to have his stay sleeping. This morning he had a rather large poop that was FILLED with about a handful of undigested peanuts in it. Hmmm. I was feeding him them last night as he wouldn't eat anything for dinner and I thought they would be good protein. So, MAYBE it was the peanuts not passing gently through his system? Or it could be because I took him to the gym for a 40min workout and he was having separation anxiety issues over that? He was not wanting to go down for his am nap this morning - sleeping in my arms, yet cried all done when I tried to get him in his crib. I did manage to get him down, but am not liking this new trend. I DO like the snuggling, but not the dependence on it.

Pole dancing at the Gap

Short, but sweet. Really really sweet.

The boy who wouldn't sleep

We packed up our things rather quickly on the evening of the 30th so as to be on the road early on the 31st to beat the storm. We made it to Maine by 10am and thought things were going well. Dylan only slept half an hour in the car, but I just thought, that's ok, he will maybe have a longer afternoon nap and be more tired so he goes down easier in a new place. Well that was a nice theory. The kids had fun with their cousin baby Erik and there was plenty of action. Sophia adjusted nicely and went down for her nap. DYLAN, however, was not so accommodating. After many failed attempts and an odd cry/ hysterics each time, I finally gave up after 3.30. We were putting the kids down in the same room as us and I was, as it turns out with good reason, nervous. Dylan went down fairly well as he was so over tired. Sophia took a little coaxing and bribing with Ice Cream for breakfast to get her down. I thought we were cleared for the night and the young-ish adults headed out for the night. We made it until midnight and were in the car on the way home by 12.12, 2009. The kids were quietly in bed when we tried to sneak in and then that was the end of sleep. It was quite cold, so I brought Dylan into bed with us to sleep. He lay there for two hours, but didn't sleep. At 2 he told me "all done" and we spent the next hours in bursts of crying, him trying to play and Sophia getting in on the action. I finally brought him back to the room a little after 3 for one more college try. I was getting him quieter only to have Sophia pipe up and cry. We made it to mostly silence shortly there after, with Sophia in our bed and nuzzled into me. I wasn't really asleep, however, that was better than screeching Dylan. Then came 6am and Sophia starts in again. GRRRR. "my tummy's empty" right. SO she has woken Dylan and it is him and I down here while the rest get to sleep. He is bouncing off the walls, ok, couch, and I sit here typing with my eyes stinging not knowing how to work the TV or fancy coffee maker. Dylan's only saving grace at the moment is how freaking cute he is.

Album Loaded

I have uploaded a bunch of photo's from our Christmas here. Click HERE to have a look!

And so this is Christmas...

And what have we done? Another year over, and a new one just begun... Ok, so that is kind of how the Beatles song goes, right?

Christmas at the Clark abode has been another good one. Lots of cheer and the typical tear. Kids are both full throttle with their colds which has given their moods wide swings and naps off kilter. We started the week with a major dump of snow and ended it with very warm weather, wind and rain. We were lucky to have Bob, Jackie, Jenny and Erik join us for Christmas Eve and over night to wake up with Santa's treasures. We started the afternoon with cleaning and cooking and opened a few gifts once our guests arrived. Had our salmon dinner (I was pleased with the results, yay!) and topped it off with a traditional Christmas pudding made with care by my mother. I think I flubbed the sauce, but I was happy about the salmon, so I was ok with that.

After dinner, we opened a few more gifts and Dylan found his "it" gift. The red Dirtdevil vacuum. YAY! I was so close to not getting it. Bought it Monday morning after the snow storm had cleared. I asked one of the employees where the were and after a quick look said they were out. I was irritated with myself for not getting it last time I was there. Then after a minute or two he came back with one in hand YAY TARGET! This is the second time I had a floor worker come find me after looking further into a request I had. Anyway, Dylan spent the rest of the night vacuuming. It actually sucks up a little dirt!

He also enjoyed the mini dust buster. Here he is showing Erik basic operation technique.

Sophia's "it" gift still remains to be the sleeveless princess dress she got for her birthday. She got LOTS of clothes, mostly dresses, which I know she will enjoy wearing. Both kids have had fun with the toy airplane - screwing in and out all the screws to take it apart and put it back together with the toy drill it comes with.

Christmas eve ended with the normal bath, however, there were THREE babies, not two in it. Little Erik had a lot of fun with his cousins. I was all psyched to read Sophia her snowman jubilee book as I had built her that snowman earlier in the week and this book is about the night before Christmas. The snowmen come alive, have a big jubilee and help guide Santa's sleigh. then at the end of the book it says something like: you many find it hard to believe that the snowmen come alive on Christmas Eve, but look at your Snowman on Christmas day and see if he looks the same way. Well, I took Sophia to the window to have a look at her snowman the night before Christmas and what she saw was OUR Frosty laying on the ground as if he were assassinated.

I, of course, burst out laughing and felt terrible that she saw her snowman all, well, dead. She told me "Frosty all melted, mama". And I had to hide my laughter yet again. After putting her to bed, I went outside to resurrect our Frosty and was assisted by jenny in getting him all put back together.

Christmas morning had a staggered start. Dylan got things rolling at 5 and he was collected by Ethan who brought him down and had to wake Pepe. Jackie, Jenny and Erik were next shortly after 6 and I soon after that. Sophia took her time and greeted the day at 7.30 and we were off and running to get to our stockings. That dirtdevil took second chair for Dylan only to the chocolate and candy in his stocking. Sophia was accessorized with hers.

We had an early Christmas dinner at noon complete with a juicy roast beast and Bob's famous pumpkin pie. All compliments of our dear house guests. The house was cleared by 1 and I think the kids were still buzzed from the activity because they sure wouldn't go down for a nap. Was a quiet Christmas dinner here. The quietest for me that I have had. Feels a little strange to do three loads of laundry and vacuum on Christmas day. hmmmm.
So here I am, with one last gift thanks to my kiddios - a cold to bring me into the new year. Ahhhh. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!