The Zoo...

We went to the zoo last weekend with Aunt Cat and Uncle Josh. It was Connor and Andrew's first time. It was so much fun! We ended up buying a membership for the year.

We have so many fantastic pictures that I'll need to send a slide show. Until then, here's a preview...

Look Everyone...

No hands!!

What a big boy! And for his next act...crawling.

A Rare "Cheese" Day...

Where's Waldo...

I never really got into those books. I could never understand who Waldo was, why he was hiding and why someone would write about it. Lately, we've been playing "Where's Connor?" Keith usually checks on the boys before we go to bed to make sure their blankets are still on them. A couple of weeks ago he went in to check on Connor and called me in. Here's how we found him...

The other night, Keith called me into Connor's room. "I can't find him!" he says, shrugging his shoulders. It's pretty dark in his room. The only light we're using to see in there is the hall light. I have no idea why but my heart dropped to my stomach and I instantly went into panic mode. Stupid? Yes. I know he's in the room but where could he be? Visions of him opening the window, scaling the roof and running off to meet his friends danced in my head. Wait, we have a few years before then, right? We check on the other side of the big bed, where we found him last time. We checked under all the covers. We could hear him breathing, we just couldn't actually see him!

Then, Keith found him...

We're guessing he doesn't like his toddler bed? I mean, it's just a thought.

Grooming...

Roughhousing...

I Pulled a Mom...

I remember when I was young, I used to play across the street at my friend's house. Every day at some point my Mom would yell out our front door "Tiiiinnnnaaaa!!!!!!!!" I would know this was my cue for our afternoon nap or "rest" time. This continued on down the line with my brother and sister too. Wherever we were in the neighborhood, we could hear my Mom yelling for us. Once high school rolled around, (a.k.a. too-cool-for-parents-or-anything-family-like), I started to realize how loud she actually was and ultimately, how embarrassing this was! I remember we used to look at each other, roll our eyes and say, "Mom, Jeez, not so loud!" She would just look at us and say "Oh, was that loud?" and just laugh.



Yesterday we were on a play date at our community center. They have a beautiful new gym and twice a week they have toddler time. They open it up, throw a bunch of balls in there and let the kids run wild. It also gives the Moms a chance to socialize, which is always nice. Since it's been raining for the past four days it was nice to have a place to go to let Connor run around. We met up with my friend who has kids the same age as Connor and Andrew. Connor was continually drawn to the fire extinguisher in the corner of the gym. I ran over there a few times to tell him no. My friend suggested rolling the strollers in front of it to deter him. It worked...until he found the other fire extinguisher all the way across the gym in the other corner. I had just sat down with Andrew and was, quite frankly, tired of running after him. Without even thinking, I yelled, "Connnnoooorrrr!!!" He whipped his head around, looked at me, and moved away from the extinguisher. My friend looked at me and said, "Wow, now that's impressive!" I was actually pretty impressed myself. However, in the meantime I realized that the rest of the gym also grew pretty quiet. Balls stopped bouncing, Moms stopped chatting, and all heads were turned towards me. It probably only lasted a couple of seconds but it felt much longer. Driving home, I thought to myself, "Wow, I pulled a Mom today...and it worked!"



So thanks Mom, for passing on those hearty lungs of yours. I can't WAIT until Connor and Andrew get to experience that when they're teenagers!

P.S. Happy St. Patty's Day!!

Check out My Spikes...

Say Cheese...

Connor hasn't been sleeping well since January when the ear infections started. He plays in his room for an hour or two before falling asleep. He really likes to empty the drawers out of his bookshelf, throw all of the clothes over the baby gate and get into the drawer. I've often found him laying in it. I always forget to take a picture of it because I'm always trying to put him back to bed. This particular night I grabbed it and hoped to catch him in the act. Here's how I found him...

When he saw me he said, "Hi!" Then he saw the camera and said, "Cheeeeeese!" I couldn't stop laughing.

Hats...

Connor hates wearing hats. He takes them off as soon as we put one on him. It's such a shame because he looks so cute in them. Maybe Andrew will be a hat-wearer.

I Caved...

Since January and the beginning of our sicknesses, the TV has been our friend, a very good friend. I mean, what else do you do with sick kids? It's easy to turn on, it holds their attention, and it doesn't use energy that they just don't have when they're sick. It got us through many days in January and February.

Last week, I instituted a 'no TV' policy for Connor. I was tired of him handing me the remote and whining if it wasn't on. It was cute at first, but then I realized that he would prefer Sporticus, Rotten Robbie, and Blue over hanging out with us. At first, I was kind of lost myself. There were certain times of the day that I would turn it on when I knew I couldn't give my full attention, such as when I was making dinner. The first couple of days were challenging but slowly Connor got used to not having it on and started finding ways to entertain himself. Wow, what a concept, a child entertaining himself without electronics! It started to become a game to me, a sort of challenge. I had visions of the boys running through fields hiding from 'Indians' or traipsing through creeks escaping 'pirates.' I dreamt that they had no idea what Wii or Nintendo was nor did they care because they were having too much fun doing old fashioned stuff like pretending.

So, today would've been one whole week without TV. However, it is now 4:44am, Connor has been up since 1am and I've been trying to get him to go back to sleep for the past 3 hours but he has now succeeded in waking Andrew up too. So here we all sit, watching Sporticus and Rotten Robbie...at 4:44am in the morning.

I caved.

Lovey...

Connor is getting more and more lovey with Andrew lately. I think he's realizing that they will be able to play together soon. I often find Connor 'talking' to Andrew and Andrew cooing and smiling back at him. It is truly a pleasure to watch. Sometimes, however, Connor takes it a little too far, as evidenced by Andrew's face in the last two photos. He seems a bit annoyed, doesn't he?

Baby Blues...

I'm not quite sure when Andrew's eyes will change colors. In the meantime we're enjoying his baby blues. What a cutie.

And yes, that's his big toe.

Shapes or Colors...

Shapes!!

As the warm weather approaches, I'm getting increasingly nervous as to how I'm going to entertain a two year old and an almost one year old in the heat and humidity of a Carolina summer. The last three library books I've taken out have been: The Toddler's Busy Book - 365 Creative Games and Activities to Keep Your 1 1/2- to 3-Year-Old Busy, Toddler Theme-A-Saurus - The Great Big Book of Toddler Teaching Themes, and First Art -Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos. Sense the theme here?

I found these shapes and color sticker books at the dollar store. They held Connor's attention for a total of 6 minutes.

A Shout Out to Tayza...

I often roll my eyes and sigh when talking about Tayza these days. She is always under my feet and I always seem to be tripping over her. She's also always under the table or right next to Connor or Andrew's chair waiting for a scrap to fall.

However, even though she can sometimes get in our way, she really is a great dog. Andrew is absolutely fascinated by her and Connor, well, basically tortures her. He tries to ride her, pull her paws and yank her tail. Connor has gotten many a time out for all of this but sometimes we can't catch all of the times it happens. I don't even have a picture of her and Connor because he's usually doing something to her that he shouldn't be doing.

So, thank you Tayza, for being such a great dog to us. I know you would protect us with your life. I just hope I can protect you when there's two little rugrats running around here.

Sharing...

Lately, Connor has learned to share with Andrew. He shares half-eaten Cheerios, already-sipped sippy cups, and prelicked spoons and forks. Along with this, obviously, comes the sharing of germs. How do we teach a 22 month old to 'share' with his little brother yet not share the germs?

Impossible.

Cheers to spring and (hopefully) the end of the sick season.

The Two Amigos...

Don't they look like they're up to something?

Connor has taken to laying on top of Andrew when he's on the floor. It's a pretty scary sight but surprisingly Andrew loves it (and the little brute is able to handle his older brother too!) Connor is usually trying to hug and kiss Andrew and Andrew just stares up at Connor and laughs and laughs.

Good times...