Heartbreaking!

The little guy isn't allowed in the dugout at his daddy's softball games, so this is where he stands.

Bless his little heart. Do you see his glove? Ugh-- it's so hard to find the balance between letting him be a part of things and keeping him from getting on peoples' nerves.

In easier news, the baby has been enjoying rattling things lately-- or should I say she's working on her fine motor skills!

We Love the Post Office

Guess who behaved so well at the post office that he got a sticker?

Need a close-up of that sticker?

Yup, the little dude walked around all day with a priority mail sticker on his back. What a goofball!

Splash!

I've been watching Splash! on TV. It's the most ridiculous celebrity competition show I've ever seen-- and I love it. The little guy's been getting into it, too, and he has the best seat in the house.

The only downside is that he was inspired to jump off all the furniture with his arms over his head.
But, the baby was entertained...

Happenings

The little guy had a rough 24 hours. Last night he busted his eye on a shelf. Today he fell through a ladder at a playground and caught the back of his head on the way down. (Then he took a long nap. In hindsight, he may have been concussed.) Later he fell off his bike and landed on a bolt. He's safe in bed now, thankfully, with an ever-darkening shiner.

Meanwhile, the baby girl had her first cereal today!

I look at that picture and hear the "WAAAA" from The Who's intro to CSI:Miami. Don't you?

Duck... Duck... Baseball?

It has been fun carpooling with Em this week and dropping off and picking up the kiddos from daycare. I usually deal with the big one and Em takes the little one in. It is nice seeing him interact with all the other kids and getting to talk to him about his day on the way home.

Today he told us he learned a new game at school.

"We learned Duck, Duck, Goose today."
"Really? How do you play?"
"You pat heads."
"...You pat heads? Is that all?"
"And you say 'Duck..Duck..Duck..Goose!'"
"Then what?"
"Then you run!"
"Oh, fun. Where do you run?"
"Well you run around! You run and, um, you run to ah, um... third and then you run to second! And then to one-thirty! That's a long time. Yep, that's whatcha do!"

Hysterics ensue.

After dinner we took a walk. The little guy is always picking up sticks and bringing them home. Apparently the apple doesn't fall far. Here's one of his trophies.

By the way, the azaleas are just gorgeous right now. Come visit!

That's My Girl

For a while I thought the baby didn't like strollers, but I think she actually just doesn't like the cold. It was a gorgeous day, so we took a walk after dinner and she happily hung out in the stroller and fell asleep.

Those are my Florida genes coming through. Yay!

Kitchen Helper

The little dude took helping in the kitchen to a whole new level tonight. He managed to slice an actual cantaloupe with his little pretend plastic knife!

Meanwhile, the baby can chew on her own feet-- so that's exciting. She can also still sleep in her yellow thing if we strap her in. We aren't ready to give that thing up...

Books

We stopped by the library tonight on our way home, and the little guy managed to find a Deigo book. Seriously, he's like a carrier pigeon with those books. It's unreal (and quite annoying). Anyway, last night he "read" Hooper's Store to the baby. I think she enjoyed it!

 Can you tell that he'd just eaten some chocolate?

.... And He's Done.

Two night ago, the little guy wanted to hold the baby. Here it is!

I love it when he's like "Ok, I'm totally done with this now" and literally shoves her off his lap. Can you tell we're used to that?

Since he hasn't made an appearance here in a while, here's Beau. He's all old and stuff now, so he's a calm little snuggle-bunny (as opposed to a high-strung maniac).

Downtown!

We went downtown today for the 'Cuegrass festival and got to hang out with some out-of-town family. Good times! On our way back to the car I remembered that I had the camera, so I took my favorite picture of the boys (I have a million photos of those two walking ahead of me).

Eric also got one of me with the kids. The little guy only stops talking when he's asleep. Of course, I'm like that too, so it doesn't bother me! We're two peas in a pod.

Science?

School had a science fair today for the preschoolers. I had a meeting, so Eric went to school to take the little dude to the science fair. Well, the stinker refused to enter the room! He refused to go! So strange.

This is from last week-- he and his Nana had a blast!

This afternoon, the baby's teachers said that every time they put her on her back, she rolls onto her belly and then glares at them. That sounds about right.

Mama's Boy

When the little dude sleeps, he sleeps (just like me!). We went to a minor league baseball game the other night (for Eric's birthday) and the little guy crashed in the car on the way over. He slept until we got to our seats, but then woke up and enjoyed the game.

He really liked the fireworks after the game, too. It's funny, though, because he's still learning how to make conversation. If you asked a normal adult about the noise fireworks make, they'd say "Boom." At breakfast on Monday, the little dude was telling me about the fireworks that we all saw.

"The fireworks went Boom! Boom! Boom!  boomboomboomboom BOOM! *pause* Boom! Boom! Boom!"

... and he just kept going (Boom! Boom! BOOM!). He basically reenacted the entire display. I was dying trying not to laugh.

Tiger Mother?

I have a confession to make. The little guy STINKS at drawing. His friends all draw people and can spend a few minutes coloring in a picture. Not the little guy-- he'll draw one half-hearted line and call it quits. I don't want to say that I've been worried about it, because that's overstating things, but I've been, um, noticing. All this to say that when I picked him up from school today, he'd drawn this:

I call this one "What a relief!"

Hooray! I was SO PROUD that I let him watch a train video before bed tonight. (Not too different from other nights, honestly.)

Can't have too much education in one day.

Meanwhile, baby girl spent some time loving on her hippopotamus.

Yum.

Ouch!

I made these for dinner tonight (recommended by this blogger), and they were good (and spicy). About halfway through his first serving, the little dude paused, made a funny face, and said "Ouch! Ouch! Ouchy! My tongue is HOT!" Luckily he had a big glass of milk already in front of him.

When I asked him if dinner was yummy, he said "No. It was delicious!"

Happy Birthday!

Today is Eric's birthday, and my last-minute-flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants plans came together so well it seemed like I'd thought about it earlier!

In other news, we got the baby an activity center. I think she likes it.

Prayers

We say grace at dinnertime, and the little guy is now praying off the cuff. Eric and I are usually weeping with laughter by the time he's done. He prays like Brick from Anchorman.

Tonight he said "Dear God, Thank you for pepperoni and cheese and green peppers and cranberry juice and I had fun with my friends today at work. Amen." If you watch him, he bows his head and then opens one eye to look around the table for stuff to say. He also sneaks food when it's his turn, so he's talking with his mouth full. Luckily for us it's the thought that counts.

Yikes!

Well, the little girl seems to be outgrowing her sleep-and-rock thing... I don't think she's supposed to be able to do this in it:

The little dude expressed some interest in holding her and playing with her tonight. She was thrilled with the playing together part, but less enthused about being held. She's one smart cookie!

Spring Sprung!

It looks like spring is here! Yay! We ate dinner outside tonight and then went for a nice walk. The little guy likes to walk to the high school, so we went there and around the block before bedtime. I got my usual photo of the boys...

... and my typical self portrait...

... but this time Eric took one of me and the kids, too! This was right after the little guy put his arm around my leg and said "Mommy, I'll always be right here." I think I got a little something in my eye when he said that. (Twerp.)

It's Time!

My paternal grandparents got the little guy a really neat clock that teaches you how to tell time. He's getting pretty good at telling the hours (level one), so we might move on to half-hour increments soon. Fun!

Have a great weekend!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

The little guy can be charming, but he can also be... um... the opposite of charming, whatever that is.

Don't fall for it! He's terrible!

Tonight I got to drive two crying children home from daycare (in the rain! lucky me!). The baby was hungry, but the little guy cried about eighty percent of the drive home, too. He WAILED. Want to know what made him so upset? I'll quote him to tell you. "I didn't want a cracker and Mommy didn't give me one!"

Seriously. I have no idea either.

Yeesh, this kid.

The Boys Are Back in Town!

Well, my boys never left, but baseball season is back! Eric is enjoying it with the baby...

... and the little guy!

Awww

The little dude isn't quite sure that he likes the baby... sometimes he is so incredibly sweet to her and other times he doesn't want her in the room. You can tell Eric's and my birth orders by our reactions. He's all "Of course he thinks she's annoying, she's younger and stuff" and I'm all "He's going to break her heart! All she wants to do is watch him play!!!" Anyway, his aunt caught this tender moment-- he tucked her in with his favorite blanket.

Easter, Part II

Our church has a tradition where they "flower the cross" before services on Easter. Everyone was asked to bring in fresh flowers to stick on a giant cross. I'm terrible at arranging flowers and, to be frank, I was pretty sure this thing was going to be ugly and kind of tacky. On the other hand, I'm a total rule-follower so we brought some daffodils that I'd trimmed to the appropriate length. Well-- the cross was GORGEOUS and it was very moving to see it so beautifully decorated. The little dude was very careful when he added his daffodils, too, which was surprising and sweet. I should add that Easter always makes me cry, and this didn't help.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the little guy got to 'help' my brother fix a broken toilet flusher on Sunday. That was also fascinating, although not quite as... spring fresh, perhaps?... as the flowered cross.

And here's a totally unrelated picture of the baby in her Easter dress.