Sick Day

Well, today is one of those unexpected days "off" that sometimes happen. Yep. One of the kids is sick. Ryan was up every 2-3 hours last night. Poor little guy has a cold and a cough and a fever. On the bright side, at least he isn't vomiting. Anyhow, I stayed home to play nursemaid mommy today. Grandma H. came down and got Wesley so Ryan could actually get some rest today. So far our morning has consisted of naps, Tylenol, diapers and small bottles of formula. And I have a feeling our afternoon will be equally as exciting. I just hope he feels better soon.

Counting Teeth

Wesley still likes to pretend he is a baby sometimes. Tonight we were talking about dinner and I told him that he should be a boy, not a baby, if he wanted dinner because babies don't have teeth and can't chew. He started telling me that Ryan had 2 teeth and Carr (his bear) had two teeth, so they couldn't eat anything. Duane asked, "If Ryan has 2 teeth and Carr has 2 teeth, how many teeth do they have all together?" Wesley actually answered "4!" We had no idea he could do even simple math. I'm such a proud mommy!

Not Me Monday

Following the lead of My Charming Kids, it's Not Me Monday.

I know I didn't tell Duane and Kate the wrong time for swim class sign up, which made them get there an HOUR earlier than planned. Nope! Not me!

I couldn't have been the one who sat at my desk and cried after Wesley called to tell me he loves me. Talk about overly dramatic.

WOW! Only two "not me's" for the last week. Must have been OK.

Friday Night Fun

Can you believe the W. family actually did something semi-impromptu tonight? Earlier this week we planned to have dinner with the H. family, but until this afternoon we weren't sure if it was going to end up being dinner at their house, or at a kid-friendly buffet. The buffet won out. I have to say, there is nothing better than a buffet for a preschooler. First of all, there is absolutely no expectation that the kids will remain seated. Secondly, there is bound to be SOMETHING even a super picky eater will deem edible. Lastly, the food is ready immediately, so there is no waiting.

After dinner we went back to the H. family homestead so Wesley and Colin could play. They had a great time racing around the house and playing in the tent Greg constructed for Colin's bed. I think Wesley wants one for his room now. Feel like a weekend project, Greg? :-) However, I learned how all fired loud two preschoolers can be. EGADS!!!! Unfortunately, I didn't think to take my camera out of my purse, so I don't have any pictures of the two tearing the place up.

I do have pictures of Wesley and Ryan at the library though. Duane brought the boys up to meet me when I got off work and we figured in some time for them to play. Ryan was pretty taken with the larger than life (at least to an 8 month old) panda bear.




Whoa! Check it out!

Is there a bear behind me?









Bear hugs!

Two Babies

Wesley is playing on the floor with Ryan pretending to be a baby. Unfortunately, that means crying when Ryan is crying. I told to stop because one crying baby is enough. "But Mommy! Everyone has two babies. Two babies is enough!"

Ryan doesn't look very happy in this picture because it's past his bedtime, but I like it anyhow.

Oh! Here's an unrelated Wesley story. Wesley was refusing his dinner (not unusual) because he said his tummy was full. A short time later, he saw Duane sharing a banana with Ryan. "Daddy," said Wesley. "Some stuff moved around in my tummy and it isn't too full anymore." Needless to say, he ate a banana too.

Little Big Man

My little baby boy is 8 months old today! I can hardly believe it. And let me tell you, he thinks he is BIG stuff these days. He wants to stand all the time and once he is standing, he thinks he doesn't have to hold on to anything. Wrong answer! Sorry about all the drool in these pictures. I kind of forgot to put a bib on him after dinner.

Here's my other little big guy. Wesley is turning into such a boy all of a sudden. He's trying all sorts of new things at the playground and is just a bit more daring than he was. But he's still a mommy's boy - and I love it!

Spokesman in Training

Think Coke is looking for a new spokesbaby? We've got one.

Not Me Monday

Following the lead of My Charming Kids, it's Not Me Monday!


I couldn't have forgotten my lunch AND my keycard for work in the refrigerator (keycard in the lunchbag), only to realize it halfway to the library. Nope. I'm not that disorganized. And I certainly didn't do it two days in a row!

I would never tell Wesley that people who don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day get pinched, then spend the rest of day worrying that he would start pinching random kids on the playground.

I didn't take it a little personally when Wesley wanted to play "Kai Lan" and I had to be the grandpa character. Never mind that I would have made a great tiger (Rintoo)

It wasn't me that gave Wesley a container of yogurt that was ten days past it's "sell by" date. And I didn't tell Duane, "of course it's still good" even though we both knew that if the tables were turned and it was my yogurt, there's no way I'd eat it.

I know I didn't catch myself doing the ultimate mom thing and eating the left over crusts from Wesley's sandwich - after I already had my own lunch. Way to start packing on the pounds!

There's no way on earth I would've put a paperback book that was wet with baby drool in the return bin at work. What a bad librarian I would be to do that!

Snuggle Time

Ok, so the photo quality isn't great, but I LOVE this picture of Kirk, Wesley and Susan from last night. This was right about the time Wesley started shouting "Eat the Pig!" We have no idea what he meant, but it caused Aunt Susan to laugh until she cried!

Baby on the Move

Ryan pulled himself up to standing for the first time yesterday! When I went in to his room to get him out of his crib, he was standing there looking at me like "Um....I think I'm stuck!" He also sat up by himself for the first time. He goes from his army man crawl to his hands and knees to sitting!

In addition to all these firsts, last night was the first "Pass the Baby" Potluck at work. Yep, you know you work in an organization of mostly women when we have a potluck for the sole purpose of holding each other's kids. It was a really nice evening though. Ryan was good at being passed around and let Daddy show off all the baby tricks they do together.

Ann P. and Ryan

Ryan checks out Wendy's flair

Anne R. with Ry-baby

Hanging out with Astrid

Monica and Owen

Wesley was determined to be part of the action to. When we first got there, he was a baby and we passed him around for awhile. Then he turned into a cat. I had high hopes that when 4-year-old Isaac arrived, Wesley would turn into a boy, but it didn't quite work out that way. Instead, Isaac turned into a cat too! Wesley and Isaac played really well together and didn't want the party to end. Sarah and I had to promise a play date soon in order to get the boys to part ways!

Beanie Babies and Booger Babies

Bright Sunshiny Day

When the weather actually decides to act like March, I am going to be one depressed lady. It's 70-something and totally gorgeous today! Luckily, I had the foresight to take 1/2 a day off for working on Sunday and actually had the chance to enjoy the afternoon.

I picked the boys up from Aunt Cathy's and then all of us (including Cathy and Kei) went to McDonalds for lunch before going to the park. And let me tell you it was a day of firsts for Wesley. It was the first time he:

• cared about the toy in the Happy Meal
• climbed the "rock wall" at the park
• climbed up the ladders at the park
• climbed the ladder/steps up to the high part of the climber (which just about gave me a heart attack)
• introduced me to his new imaginary friend, Kevin. Wesley showed Kevin how to use all the equipment at the park, but lucky for me, Kevin went to his pretend home in his pretend car and didn't come home with us!

Kicking back in the sun

Ryan loves the swing

So does Wesley (he was pretending to be a baby and insisted on being in the baby swings)

Wesley climbs to new heights

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Considering today did not exactly start out with the luck of the Irish, it's turned out to be a pretty good day. The boys and I were kind of in a hurry to get out of the house this morning and halfway to Grandma H.'s, I realized I left my lunch and keycard for work in the refrigerator. Good thing there's a Subway across the street from the library. I wound up having a "picnic" in the library courtyard - sitting in the sun with my shoes off was not a bad way to spend lunch. And just to prove Spring is around the corner, check out the flowers growing in the backyard.

Grandma and Wesley took advantage of the sunshine today too. They went to the park. Leaving the park became a bit of an issue though. Some of you may remember the MG that Wesley has to drive at his Grandma and Grandpa P.'s house. Well, apparently he believes that if he can drive his MG then he can drive anything. When it was time to leave the park today, Wesley told Grandma H. that HE was going to drive and refused to get in the car. Fun, huh. Then, when they stopped at the store, he wouldn't get out of the car. He told Grandma that he'd just wait in the car and read his books. I liked Grandma's answer though. She told him that if she let him stay in the car she'd get in BIG trouble and the police would come and take her to jail. Apparently, he hopped right out of the car after hearing that!

By the time Duane and I got to Grandma's for corned beef and cabbage (YUM) the little leprechauns were ready to go outside. Ryan took his first ride in the backyard swing. He LOVED it!

Unfortunately, Ryan did not get to swing for very long because someone was horribly jealous and insisted he still fit in the baby swing.

Wesley played some ball and Ryan tried to eat some pine cones before we went in for dinner.


We even had some entertainment with dinner. It wasn't exactly "Danny Boy," but it wasn't bad.



Hope your St. Patty's Day was as happy as ours was!

Not Me Monday

Following the lead of My Charming Kids, it's "Not Me Monday!"

I did not seriously consider calling in sick just because Wesley was screaming and crying about having to get out of bed and was begging me to stay home. Nope. Never crossed my mind.

I couldn't have been the one who was so upset about ALMOST hitting a dog that I couldn't get any work done fro the first half hour.

It wasn't me that let Duane clean up the mess Wesley made under the table at a restaurant because I wanted to eat my dinner. Nope - that would have been quite selfish. And along the same lines, I wouldn't have continued to eat my piece of cake after Wesley bumped his head on the table and started crying. Even though he already had 2 or 3 people fawning over him, that just wouldn't have been very motherly.

I didn't feed Wesley a jar of baby food since he decided to "be a baby" one morning. Nope. Not me.

Birthday Weekend

This weekend has been filled with birthday celebrations for Uncle Kirk. Friday night about 30 of us descended on a local wing restaurant. It was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I saw Kirk smile so much. And of course, the boys had fun too - well, except for the part when Wesley got sick under one of the tables. But other than that, it was great! Although that does kind of explain why I don't have many pictures of Wesley here.

The birthday boy and his lovely wife.

Me and the amazing Maggie!

Me, Wesley and the plastic lizard

Mommy and Ryan.

Susan's niece (and Wesley's girlfriend) Maggie, helped feed and entertain Ryan all evening.

This evening we celebrated again - this time at Grandma and Grandpa H.'s with Aunt Cathy, Sho and Kei.

Wesley gave Kirk his very own bear (so Kirk won't keep trying to take his!).

A man to man talk

Cute baby!

Sharing a laugh with my boy.

Thanks for sharing the amazing pictures Aunt Sus

!

Slumber Party

It was bound to happen. Wesley went through a phase when he was only happy in Mommy and Daddy's bed. If I remember correctly, he ended up in our room almost every morning (VERY early morning) for weeks on end. Well, last night it was Ryan's turn. He woke up around 11:30 screaming and would not stop. A bottle quieted him for a while, but as soon as it was gone, the screaming began again. He'd be quiet if we held him, but as soon as we put him down, he'd start up again. After an hour of this we finally gave in and put him in bed with us. Immediate silence. Was it worth it? Totally. I just hope this doesn't become a tradition.

Suppertime!

All About the Ladies

I think Wesley has a little crush on the granddaughters of the couple next door to us. "The girls" - which is how Wesley refers to them - are 10, 8, and 6 and if they are outside, Wesley wants to be outside. He runs around in circles, throws himself on the ground, brings toys out to show them, and tries to do magic tricks to get their attention. Thank goodness they think he's cute and will talk to him, otherwise I'm afraid he'd injure himself just to get them to look his way!

Need proof that Wesley is smitten? I wanted to take his picture tonight and he wouldn't let me, but when I said it was for "the girls," he immediately started posing.

Yep. I'd say he's twitterpated.