Blogging Break

I'm not sure I know how to post from my smart phone, so there may be a blogging break for the next five days while I attend Book Expo America in New York City. Five days surrounded by books and authors, but no hubby or kids. Kind of a mixed bag.

Happy Memorial Day

We had a wonderful Memorial Day! A parade, a cook out and Ryan's first bloody lip (he fell and bit it). The pictures will have to suffice for detail since I have packing to do.

Not Me Monday

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

I have not starting rolling a ball across the floor for Ryan to chase and tell him to "Go get it!" Apparently that would mean that I play with my youngest child like I would play with a puppy.

I was not secretly relieved when Wesley started being a typical boy and singing songs about burps and boogers to entertain himself.

I did not tell Wesley that he could only have a container of baby food prunes (which he LOVES) if he finished his green beans. Not only would that have been twisted, it might have been dangerous since he doesn't always remember to poop in the potty.

It couldn't have been me that had to fight to keep a straight face when Wesley told me "It's fun to love girls." Long story.

I am not equally dreading and looking forward to my trip to Book Expo America in New York City. That blend of emotions could really wear a woman out and I'm not up for that!

Party in the Park

I am totally and completely beat! I think everyone in the W. household will sleep very very well tonight. We just got home from celebrating Sho and Kei's birthday at one of the metro parks. I don't think I've ever seen Wesley run so much - or be so dirty!



Ryan was crawling and creeping all over the place. I fully expect him to take his first steps while I'm in NYC next week. He's THAT close to walking on his own.

"Um Grandma? The mouth is open. Why is there no food going in?"

If you put 3 boys any where near a horseshoe pit they will try to build castles and forts and turn into dirt devils.







Wesley was pretending to be a cat and digging in the sand. All I could think was "Litter box!"

Dirt Devil #1

His sidekick - Dirt Devil #2

Ryan and his new girlfriend Giselle (8 months)








The birthday boys







Enjoying some cupcakes

Future James Beard Award Winner

Wesley is very busy right now. He's using the "three letter word" flash cards I got him today to make "word pizzas." He's having such a good time! He even told me that he wants to be a chef someday! He just had the cutest conversation on his pretend phone.

"Good evening. This is Wesley the Bake Man. (pause) OK. You're still at Target? I'm at the Bake Shop. We've got all kinds of good things here. (pause) Well, I'll see you soon then. "

When I asked him who he was talking to he said, "My Bake Helper!"

Cruisin'

Then it was Ryan's turn. I'm amazed that Wesley let Ryan ride in his car!

Wesley was pretty concerned that Ryan refused to sit down in the car. If you listen closely in the next video you can hear him telling his little brother to "Park your kiester, Miester!"

Then we have the following picture, which has nothing to do with the boys driving, but will let you know how much Ryan dislikes sitting in the grass.

Kryptonite and Boogers

I have discovered Baby Kryptonite! I have the power to render an otherwise active baby absolutely helpless! How do I accomplish this amazing feat? I put shoes on Ryan! He hates it and immediately stops whatever he's doing to try and get them off his feet. Good thing it's summer.

WWPW Radio was on in the van again today. This time it played an original masterpiece called "Tower of Boogers" Soon to be on American Top 40, I'm sure.

Playing Nice

I figured I'd better take a picture of this since it might never happen again.

WWPW - Radio

On the drive home tonight my radio in the mini-van was stuck on one station - that would be WWPW, Wesley radio. The good news is that it is commercial free. The bad news is that it has no volume control and played one long song for a good twenty minutes (longer than any Meatloaf or Queen song I've ever heard!) Tonight's WWPW exclusive was a unique blend of the Justin Roberts song "I Chalk" mixed with Weird Al Yankovich's "Gotta Boogie" and "Another One Rides the Bus" with a little of the Sunday school classic "This Little Light of Mine" thrown in for good measure. If only I had been able to record some of it!

Not Me Monday

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

I do not count to hold my breath and count to five every time my children fall down - all the while praying they don't start screaming!

I certainly did not explode with laughter when Wesley lifted up a HUGE plastic jug and announced that it was his wine. What a bad example that would have set!

I would never have threatened my son to get him to try a bite of something new. Even if I rewarded that one bite with something that he really loved and didn't push the issue any further, I wouldn't have put that much pressure on him.

There is no way I have lost all sympathy for Ryan when he shuts his fingers in the doors or drawers he insists on playing with all day long. What kind of mom would that make me?

Sunday Sunny Sunday

What a wonderful Sunday this has been! Ever have one of those days that probably couldn't go much better if you tried? Today was close to one of those days. The hymns at church were my favorites, the sermon seemed to speak to me, we played at the park in the sun and watched the baby ducks, I took a nap and read a book. Even Wesley didn't complain too much when I enforced the "This is what we are having for dinner and you have to try one bite" rule. I love days like today!

Chop Chop

Ryan had his first official haircut today. I have to say "official haircut" because he had this one insanely long hair 4 or 5 months ago and we had to cut it. Oh! And then there was the hair that had to be removed before his surgery.

Anyway, Ryan was a pro at this whole haircut thing. He was amazingly good. He sat in the plane and plane, he looked at himself in the mirror and no tears were shed - not during the cape being put on, not during cutting and not when the hairdresser used the razor. He was stellar! Much better than Wesley did for his first haircut (or today for that matter).

Before.....

During.....

After......

We ate lunch with Grandma H. and First Watch too. Wesley worked on his sucker from his haircut, but also managed to polish off most of a chocolate chip pancake and bacon and a few bites of hash browns. Ryan ate everything I put in front of him - banana, honeydew, strawberry, lemon poppy seed muffin, hash brown - even my lemon slice from my tea!

We just got back from dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with Uncle Kirk and Aunt Susan. Wesley seriously ate ONE BITE of chicken and that took a huge about of cajoling, but hey, at least he tried something new - and Duane gets leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Ryan, on the other hand, ate everything that was put in front of him. PLEASE let me have one non-picky eater! Oh well, at least Wesley liked watching the guy cook on the table.

I'll Take Care of You

Wesley is suddenly becoming quite the helpful big brother. Don't get me wrong, he's still plenty jealous, but there are some moment of real affection here and there.

• Ryan is a terrible mooch and loves to beg food from people. Wesley got sick and tired of listening to his little brother whine one evening and (unbeknownst to me) gave Ryan a piece of strawberry off his plate. Luckily it was just a little piece and it made Ryan very happy.

• Ryan always seems to crawl away from me when I'm trying to put his coat on. One morning I was so sick of the situation that I said, "Ryan, watch how nicely Wesley puts his jacket on. He'll show you how you are supposed to do it." Wesley was so proud to able to show Ryan the right way to do something!

• I gave Wesley a few "dinosaur cookies" (pennies) for his dinosaur bank and told him to go upstairs and feed the dinosaur. He wanted me to go with him, but I explained that I had to wait downstairs to make sure Ryan didn't go upstairs. I was worried about Ryan trying the stairs by himself, but Wesley was sure Ryan wasn't allowed upstairs because there was no grown up there. He made very certain Ryan wasn't trying to follow him and told him that it wouldn't be safe for a little baby to be upstairs with no grown up.

• Every morning I get the boys ready to go, then I run the diaper bags and my work bag out to the van before loading up the boys. Yesterday I hear Wesley yelling, "MOMMY!!!!" as I was on my way back in. I ran up the sidewalk to the house and asked what was wrong. Wesley replied, "Ryan was too close to the door! It was dangerous!" The door was completely shut and latched and there was no way Ryan could have opened it, but I loved the way Wesley was watching out for him.

• Tonight we made a quick family trip to the store. When Ryan threw his monkey out of the car seat, Wesley leaned over and tried his very best to reach it for him.

Baby Sign Language

This is the sign that Ryan uses when he wants more food:

This is a similar sign, meaning "Game time is over! Someone is eating and it isn't me!"

Sights on Summer

Now that I'm back in the swing of things after our anniversary, I'm starting to worry a little bit about summer. More specifically, I'm starting to worry about keeping the boys entertained during the time I have off due to Grandma H.'s surgery. I'm pretty sure we are going to buy a pool membership this year, so that will eat up some of the time. But what about the rest of it?

I did a little searching today and I can always take the boys to the "big library" for storytime on the Thursdays I'm off. Of course, Wesley has never done real well with storytime (figures) so that might just be a pipe dream. There's always COSI and the zoo, but I feel like I need to shake things up a little. I'm considering making Thursday mornings storytime, then some kind of art project at home, then lunch, then the pool (or COSI if it's raining). Friday could be science morning before going swimming. Or maybe it will be a cooking morning.

Why does this feel hard? I worked in a day care for a year. I have a teaching degree. I'm a children's librarian for goodness sakes! Why am I worried about this? I just don't want to resort to the TV on the days I am home. I want it to be a last resort and I feel like I can only accomplish that if I have a plan. So, any one have any simple schedule advice for me when dealing with the boys this summer?

Back to Reality

Duane and I are trying to re-adjust to being home and parents again. We stole away to the Inn at Honey Run for a couple of nights to celebrate five years of marriage.

It's funny, in my first marriage, five years felt kind of like a life sentence. We went away for our five year anniversary and fought a lot of the time. Needless to say, we did not make it our six year anniversary. Five years with Duane has passed in the blink of an eye. I can't believe so much time has passed already. There has never been a moment of doubt that he is the man I will happily spend the rest of my life with, and when that time is over, I'll wish we still had more days to share.

The inn was a perfect escape for us. It's set in the middle of Amish country, so we had to travel many twisty back roads to get there. I think the best part of the trip there was actually following the detour. We kind of missed the official detour, and ended up right in front of the big "Road Closed" sign. There was a little white farmhouse sitting on the side of the road. on a "T" that lead to a dirt road. The poor people who lived there must have been sick and tired of people like us missing the detour signs, because in their yard was a big, white piece of poster board, with "alternative" detour directions on it. We jotted down their directions and began to drive. After a couple of minutes, Duane began to laugh. "You do realize we are following directions that were written in black magic marker and stuck in someones front yard, right?" I guess it was kind of funny, but it worked!

We arrived at the inn to find a room that was just perfect for us. There was wonderful, relaxing music playing on the CD player, we had 2 HUGE windows that looked into the trees, there were birds in the bird feeder on the window and you could hear horse and buggies going by on the road below. I even got to take a steaming hot bath without a three year old dumping toys in the tub or yelling "Mommy! Where are you? Let me in!" if I shut the door. Heaven.

We ate too much delicious and filling Amish style food. We wandered through antique stores and country craft stores. We read books. We napped. We dressed up and had a delicious dinner at the inn on our anniversary. It was wonderful!

The boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa P. while we were gone. They had a great time too. While we were relaxing and sleeping in, Grandma and Grandpa were getting up early, going to the park, giving the boys baths, having picnics, watching Dora and all the stuff we normally do. I can't thank them enough for giving Duane and I a couple of days to just be a couple (instead of parents) again.

We picked the boys up yesterday afternoon and then spent the evening at Grandma W.'s celebrating Mother's Day. It was there that I started wondering how many trips to the emergency room are in our future. Let me clarify, I started wondering how many trips to the emergency room with Ryan are in our future! We were barely there an hour before I had removed a penny from his mouth, removed a ping pong style ball from his mouth, and he had shattered a lamp. He's going to keep us busy alright. I think the lamp shattering was the moment I realized that the vacation really was over!

Peas in a Pod (or Not)

Every day I am struck by how different my boys are. Even at this early stage, I can tell that I'm going to have two VERY distinct personalities to deal with.

Wesley was an easy baby in a lot of ways. He slept well, and rarely cried unless he was wet or hungry. He did have night terrors, but he seemed to out grow them. He never ate a whole lot at one time and he did spit up a fair amount, but it wasn't too bad. Wesley has always loved books. We used to find him sitting under the dining room table with a stack of books, just turning the pages. He loved to be read to (still does) and was content to play by himself. Wesley is my sensitive boy. His feelings get hurt kind of easily and he takes everything to heart. Wesley doesn't like too many people paying attention to him at once - birthdays and Christmas are kind of hard because he gets overwhelmed, but he's getting over that too. He has an incredible imagination though and he talks non-stop. Oh! And he looks like me.

Then we have Ryan. The baby who cried and screamed if he wasn't being held and or moved around. He's a better napper and eater than Wesley was as a baby, and he almost never spits up. Ryan loves to bang toys together to see what kind of noise they make (Wesley never did). He grabs the computer wires and opens drawers in the desk. He will crawl over to the toy box and get a ball out to play with (Wesley still doesn't care for ball games too much). Ryan loves trucks; Wesley bypassed the truck phase and went to dinosaurs. Ryan is pretty sure books are only good for chewing on. Oh! And EVERYTHING goes in Ryan's mouth, we never had that with Wesley. And Ryan looks like Duane.

We're pretty sure Ryan is going to be our wild child. He's already well on his way to being the stereotypical little brother. He wants anything that Wesley has and thinks he can do anything Wesley can do. Earlier this evening, Wesley was asleep on the couch. Ryan crawled over, pulled himself to standing, then proceeded to try and take Bear away from Wesley. Ryan had the biggest grin on his face while he attempted this feat of thievery. You could almost hear him thinking, "Oh boy! I never get to touch this! Wesley will never know!" The upcoming years will sure be interesting!

Not Me Monday

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

There's no way I told Duane I was going to read something light after finishing a book that made me cry - and picked up a murder mystery book! Nope. Not me.

I couldn't have left my purse at home and not realized it until I got to work. And there's no way I decided to suffer through the day without my glasses instead of going back home to get them - even if meant leaning way back to see the monitor clearly without my bifocals.

I wouldn't have been sappy enough to sit on the couch just smelling Ryan's head. What a mommy thing that would have been!

I would never forget a bunch of books I needed for an out of town presentation. And even if I did, there's no way those books would have been about responsibility. That would have been too ironic.

I certainly didn't freak out about the spider my car so much that Duane pulled off the freeway to rid the car of said beasty. What a guy!

Is This Seat Taken?

Since the weather was pretty decent today, Duane decided it was time for the great car seat switch. Ryan has pretty much outgrown his infant seat - the toes hanging over the edge tend to be a give away. We bought Wesley a new "big boy" booster seat and switched his old seat to a rear-facing seat for Ryan. Wesley's new seat is MUCH easier to take in and out and he was super excited about it.

I just can't believe he's big enough for a "real" seat! And check out Ryan testing his new seat:

I'm almost excited to take them to Grandma and Grandpa's in the morning!

Wesley's Dictionary

Duane was trying to get Wesley to go into the kitchen to get his sandals on for a trip to the store.

Wesley: Just a minute! I'm doing something very important!

Mommy: What are you doing?

Wesley: I'm recycling!

Mommy: Do you know what recycling means?

Wesley: Yes! It means 'keep the Earth healthy and clean!'

Now he's sorting his toys into buckets that he's calling: glass, paper, metal or trash

Perspective

Wesley is sitting on the floor, singing a song at the top of his lungs.

Mommy: Shhhhh. Wesley, you are too loud.

Wesley: No Mommy! You're too quiet!