One Of Three and Counting

Checkmate

2011-12-16T06:25:00.004-05:00

I haven't played chess with Big Bro in months now, he hasn't been particularly interested when I asked. He took chess at his summer class and has also been in an afternoon program. Tonight, when we talked about playing, I was quite interested in seeing how his skills had changed since we last played.

As for myself, I am very much an average player. I can move the pieces and line up basic attacks. Strategy = not much. I learned from the best, my father, when I was around seven, Big Bro's age. His grasp of the game is much better than mine was at that age (or this age for that matter!)

We started the first game, and I was swiftly knocked into defense as Big Bro began doubling up on all my pieces. He swept through my pieces, capturing them quickly. As I tried to make countermoves, he observed with comments like "Well, that wasn't part of my plan, but it will merely be a momentary distraction" -- and sure enough, he would handle my re-attack and then move back to his checkmate strategy.

At an early point in our second game, I moved my knight out -- really for no reason other than to get it out onto the board. He looked at me and attacked it with a pawn, reached over to our pencil cup, found one that needed sharpening and smiling ear-to-ear, said "Would you want a pencil like this? No because it's pointless... Just like that move you just made!" Such a clever little comment, I put my tail between my legs and moved my knight back into its original position. He was right, it was a pointless move!

Our second game was down to king, queen & 2 pawns on my side and king, queen & rook on his side. When we were down to his king & queen and my king, I asked him if this game could even be won or if we would just end up chasing each other. He didn't want to end up in a king-king stalemate, but said he wanted to play it out.

Sure enough, a few moves later, he looks at me and said "I reckon the end has come for you". He proceeded to march me into checkmate. His king, then queen, closing in on me, backing me into a corner, closing in my space. Checkmate. He won.

What a wonderful game.

Lil Bro, starting preschool

2011-09-06T16:53:00.001-04:00

And my little boy is off to preschool, proudly showing off his new backpack, walking past his toddler room to the big kid room and blowing kisses to me as he walked away.

Bedtime reading

2011-08-05T22:37:00.003-04:00

From time to time, Big Bro will read a bedtime story to Lil Bro. Tonight's ready was from Lil Bro's Star Wars book. In a valiant effort to push off his own bedtime, Big Bro decided to give a full life story for each character. On the "C" page for C3P0, we learned all about how the protocol droid was a friend of Luke and R2D2, how he came to have his metal covering (poor droid didn't want to be naked!), his recovery possibilities when getting a limb cut off in a battle.. The list went on and on. I had to cut him off a few letters into the alphabet, after hearing all about Darth Vader's battle with his former mentor Obi-Won, lest staying up to midnight!

Backwards you speak

2011-08-05T22:36:00.003-04:00

Big Bro tells Lil Bro, while trying to tell him to be patient:

If you wait, good things will come.

Me: I think you mean "Good things come to those who wait"

Chuckles from the backseat.

NEVER!

2011-06-05T22:01:00.002-04:00

Lil Bro's latest vocabulary addition is "NEVER!!", applied as follows:

~~

LB, hold my hand when we go into the parking lot. --> NEVER!

LB, are you doing to try to use the potty at your preschool? --> NEVER!

LB, you have to eat breakfast before a snack. --> NEVER!

~~

He learned this one at preschool. One of the little girls says it, mostly in reference to using the potty. This "never" bit is going to get OLD very quick.

Hangman

2011-06-05T21:49:00.002-04:00

We were going for a bit of a drive the other day. Big Bro was being quite nice to Lil Bro and asked him to play Hangman with him to pass the time. The game was played with Big Bro running an app on his i-Touch and Lil Bro calling out random letters. Of course, Lil Bro doesn't have much of a concept of the game, but he knows his alphabet and was thrilled that Big Bro was engaging him in the game. Alas though, Lil Bro's interest was running low after the fifth letter or so. Result of Lil Bro's lower interest was fast decline in Big Bro's patience with him..

"Pick a letter, any letter!!", I hear from the back seat. "Come on, any letter"..

Lil Bro: "ugh....", finger by his mouth, thinking pose..

"ANY LETTER!"

"Ummm..." finger tapping..

"COME ON!"

"Wait -- I THINKIN' bout it!" go little bro, standing up for himself.

Table skills of a three year old

2011-06-05T21:46:00.002-04:00

Big Bro is becoming well-skilled at cutting his own meat. He uses his own knife (usually a butter knife), fork and muscles his way through the task. Lil Bro always wants to do whatever Big Bro does. Conversation at dinner the other night:

Lil Bro: I want knife. I cut my steak.

Big Bro: You can't have a knife. You're ONLY three years old - you'll cut your head off !!

Drink preferences of a six year old.

2011-04-17T22:53:00.000-04:00

Big Bro says... I like my liquids strong.. not bold like coffee, I mean like iced tea with a taste as big as a car.

Our know-it-alls

2011-04-17T18:44:00.003-04:00

Big Bro to Lil Bro, in his most authoratative voice: "don't act like you know everything about everything".

because, obviously, only Big Bro knows everything.. obviously.

Science Night

2011-03-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

Big Bro and I went to his school's Family Science Night tonight. Lots of fun, easy-to-execute experiments for the kids to enjoy. One of them was constructing a "telephone" from dixie cups and yarn. Construction required punching a hole in the dixie cup with a skewer, to enable threading the yarn. My eager boy picked up the cup, picked up the skewer, and punctured through the whole with too much force, causing the skewer to skin his left palm. A stinging moment for sure, amplified by Big Bro's fear of seeing his own blood. We left a bit after that, licking our wounds on an otherwise enjoyable evening.

On the way home, Big Bro was having quite a pity party. "I can't do anything without my left hand.. I eat with my left hand, I write with my left hand.. Sometimes, I hold scissors in my left hand".

Trying to add levity, I asked (gross, yes..) "Which hand do you use to pick your nose"?

Thoughtful silence...

He answers "I guess it depends on which nostril".

Wii Fit -- TMI

2011-02-19T21:40:00.002-05:00

Our family has been enjoying using the Wii Fit for the last year and a half. We all have our mii's (mi's? me's?) set up. Big Bro is well aware of each of our Wii Fit profile stats and congrats us on our progress and downward-sloping BMI and weight charts. BMI is so cruel, I started my weight loss journey in the obese category and was extremely excited this year when I moved into "merely" overweight. I'm on my way to "normal", but not sure that will ever really happen (and I'm ok with that..).

Big Bro said the absolutely sweetest thing to me the other day. As we were working out together on the Wii EA Active2, he looked to me and said "I don't know why it said obese or even overweight. You just look normal to me."

Wow, I just love my boy!

Grandpa, life and love

2011-02-12T20:30:00.003-05:00

Into your hands Lord, we commend his spirit.. My paternal grandpa passed away today, at 93 years old. Today was my grandma's 92nd birthday. Grandpa was surrounded by family, love, legacy and peace as he passed. In your hands Lord...

I heart you.

2011-02-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

How can you not smile looking at this!

2011-02-11T21:54:00.000-05:00

Infini-Cow

2011-02-10T12:50:00.003-05:00

It's no secret that Big Bro loves to eat steak. He would eat steak for lunch and dinner, every single day, if possible. Possibly breakfast as well... He likes it cut into strips, nicely trimmed, no char.

Big Daddy made a delicious broiled skirt steak earlier this week. Wonderfully seasoned and tender, cut into strips. Skirt steak is easy because there really aren't any ends to trim off, unlike a strip steak or even a center round, which require trimming. London Broil & skirt --> just cut into strips! While we ate dinner, I told Big Bro how I admired that quality of skirt steak - no ends.. Without missing a beat, he looked at me with a smile and told me that it would have to have "ends", otherwise it would go on for infinity. He continued, that a cow as big as infinity would be bigger than the entire earth and could only be roasted by putting it next to the sun.. but that would even be bad, because it would be bigger than the sun... further, that it would be so big, it would probably cause a black hole and fall into it (fall into itself?)? And there we have it, Infini-Cow. Big Bro did think the idea of a roasted Infini-Cow would be a most lovely idea though, because then he could eat steak all the time.

2011-01-29T14:45:00.001-05:00

Beloved cat

2011-01-29T09:58:00.001-05:00

Big bro's quip, regarding his beloved white & orange cat:

There's nothing like petting warm kitty fur... it's just so addicting!

Cheese

2011-01-23T11:06:00.002-05:00

Lil one says with great enthusiam: oh yeah, CHEESE!

Silly little pigeon myth

2011-01-16T13:21:00.002-05:00

Conversation between Big Bro and Daddy, discussing physics and astronomy:

D: I think I have about the same chance of turning into a pigeon as I do of being sucked into a black hole.

BB: The idea that a man could turn into a pigeon is just a silly little myth. Now, black holes, really do exist, so it could happen.

2011-01-16T10:02:00.001-05:00

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2011-01-10T23:18:00.001-05:00

Big bro, first tooth lost.

Hands of time

2011-01-09T19:32:00.003-05:00

We made this ornament during Lil Bro's first year, at approximately 7 months. I don't know how much longer the dough ornament will last, so I treasured it today while packing it away. Look at how these hands have grown, 2 years later.

Holiday handwriting

2011-01-09T19:29:00.004-05:00

Big Bro had the task of writing the gift tags this year. I was so very happy with the care that he gave to each, using his best neat handwriting. He did these two tags at school. A quick pic & post to remember them, as they all the Christmas items get packed away.

Young minds

2011-01-08T18:35:00.002-05:00

Big Bro's discussion with Lil Bro:

BB: "I'm wondering if you might have this already in your brain. I know you are little, but maybe you do. Have you heard of King Arthur and the knights of the round table"?

LB: "yeah"

BB: "I don't know the names of a lot of the knights, but there is Sir Lancelot. I think he got his name by magic."

LB: "maj-ic?"

BB: "Yeah, magic".

Afterwards, BB tells me that he didn't really believe that his little brother had heard of King Arthur, but he was being nice and pretending to believe him. He then told me that Sir Lancelot didn't really get his name by magic, he just said that because he wanted his little brother to enjoy having some fiction in his brain.

Corrupting young minds already.

2011-01-08T18:06:00.001-05:00

Quick dinner.. apples, nuggets and choc milk = one very happy Lil Bro. Apples being the favorite component.

Nothing is easy.

2011-01-05T20:59:00.001-05:00

We visited some cousins over the weekend, who were a bit older than Big Bro. The boys were having a good time playing video games. One of the older cousins tried to tell Big Bro that he wouldn't be able to play one of the games, as it was too hard and there weren't any beginner levels. Big Bro, ever the negotiator, replied "I know that none of them are easy, but maybe I can try one that just isn't the hardest".

Random Thoughts

2011-01-05T20:58:00.002-05:00

Big Bro says to us the other night:

"You know, sometimes my brain is just like a big box of facts".

Ee-ii-ee-ii-OHHH

2011-01-02T14:21:00.003-05:00

"Old McDonald" is one of Lil Bro's favorite songs these days. He doesn't get all of the words quite right, but he has the melody and main theme down pat. Today, he sat in the kitchen, quietly playing while I cleaned up. He sang "Old McDonald" and patiently lined up his animals and people, one by one, on his bristle board. Note the mommy and boy standing together.. me and my boy, and his farm.

Blizzard, December 27

2011-01-01T08:33:00.003-05:00

Over 12 inches of snow. One happy boy. He didn't want to come in from sledding in our front yard. He didn't mind when the snow kicked up a bit and fell on his face, or when he fell off his sled in excitement. He rolled through the snow, giggling and laughing the whole time. Big Daddy brought him in while the excitement was still at a peak, to settle down, warm up and have some hot chocolate. "Keep them wanting more", he tells me, is the key.

Christmas morning

2010-12-25T08:29:00.002-05:00

8.30 am, both boys still asleep

Big Daddy goes into Big Bro's room, jumps on his bed and starts waking him up. "Santa was here, Santa was here!", he exclaims.

Big Bro rolls over, looks at us, sighs a bit and tells us "I know, but I need more time to get the sleep out of myself". Poor pup was up late last night and needs a bit more time to wake up on his own terms.

So, Big Daddy and I are in the kitchen, drinking coffee, waiting for cinnamon rolls to bake, boys to wake up and the joyous celebration of our Lord's celebration to start. Kind of a nice way to start the day, actually!

Merry Christmas to All !

2010-08-12T12:13:00.000-04:00

Lil'guy's Bug mask

Pizza time

2010-07-31T18:55:00.001-04:00

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You've got to love summer afternoons

2010-07-31T18:25:00.001-04:00

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2010-07-24T21:23:00.001-04:00

Double fisting marshmallow and softserve!

Yay water!

2010-06-29T11:07:00.001-04:00

Let the summer reading begin!

2010-06-26T23:40:00.001-04:00

Big'Bro looks to be ready to carry his love of reading into the summer! He's recently started 'The 39 Clues' series and seems happy to continue the 'How To Train Your Dragon' series.

2010-06-23T21:00:00.001-04:00

And I will call it Peanut!

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first sentence

2010-06-20T15:14:00.001-04:00

Jojo's first 3-word sentence today: I want that.

And he can whistle!

Mine Bike pt 2

2010-05-14T17:32:00.001-04:00

Mine Bike

2010-05-14T17:24:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday lil'bro!

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Two years old today!

2010-05-14T11:38:00.002-04:00

I gave my baby boy an extra big hug last night, as I put him down for his last night of sleep as a one-year old. A little dramatic I know, but it was a very emotional moment for me. Today, my boy is two years-old, no longer a baby, now fully in the toddler stage.

I shared my sentiments with Big Bro last night, saying how it was crazy that it was Lil Bro's last night as a "boddler" (big bro's nickname for the stage between baby & toddler). Without even missing a beat, Big Bro himself contemplated how when Lil Bro is in college, he'll already be in work! Talk about fast forwarding on the stages of life. I promptly broke into tears, thinking ahead that far to my boys being all grown up.

Thank you Lord, for our boys, for entrusting us with your Gifts. Please fill Lil Bro with your Love and Grace, especially on his birthday today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post script:
Stages of life, according to Big Bro

newborn (first born, still with umbil. cord)
baby (after cord falls off)
boddler (walking stage, still using a bottle)
toddler (two and old usually)

gymboree
pre-school
kindergarten
elem school
high school
college
work

i don't think he has the word "retirement" yet in this sequence, probably the great-grandpa stage is after the work stage.

Lil'bro Quiet Time

2010-05-05T15:27:00.001-04:00

lil'bro had been quietly playing in the living room when he came into the kitchen get me. He dragged me into Big Bro's room, pointed to the top of his armoire and said "hat". At the top of the armoire was the red fire hat he wanted. With Big Bro's permission, lil'bro got his hat and with hat on head, he walked down the hall, back to the living room. Things being too quiet, this is what I saw when I joined him...

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A Boy's Knees!

2010-05-04T11:26:00.001-04:00

A new scrape for every day of the week!

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2010-05-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

Lounging on a Sunday Afternoon!

2010-05-02T09:28:00.002-04:00

Lil Bro at 23 months.. I wanted to compile his vocabulary as he approaches two years old. I was surprised at the number of words once I start to make this list. I caveat that we may be the only ones that understand some of these words, though he is able to communicate quite well. As with most kids, the words he understands is far longer than what he can verbalize.

Most frequent words include:

daddy
mommy
bobo (big bro)
baby
nanny
pop pop
poppy
bottle
yum
hi
bye
ice
cat
dog
bird
boy
guy
duck
socks
that
this
milk
more
beef
nana (banana)
bar (multi grain bar)
bites (entemanns little bites)
mine
ook (book)
done
truck

Long Sleeves

2010-05-02T07:52:00.002-04:00

We have bit of a struggle every year in helping Big Bro make a transition from long sleeve shirts to short sleeves. As the weather starts to get warm here, the battle is rearing its head. At Target the other night, we showed Big Bro some of the very cool character short sleeve shirts; Mario, Star Wars, Wimpy Kid. Normally not our thing at all, but willing to use the big bribes to ply him into short sleeves.

He was very excited to see the shirts and very disappointed to see they didn't have long sleeve versions. Conversation was something like this:

Me: "what a cool shirt"
Big Bro: "do they have it in long sleeve?"
Me: "No, but we should try this"
Big Bro: "Nah, I only wear long sleeves. That's just the kind of guy I am"

Overheard from the backseat..

2010-05-02T07:43:00.003-04:00

Big Bro, two nights ago during a semi-long drive home:

"Isn't it unusual that fish can't breath when they are outside of water. I wonder why they can't just use their mouth to breathe air and get pure oxygen"

thoughtful silence for a moment

To which he follows "And the answer is: that's just the way God made it".

Math & Cookies

2010-04-25T09:23:00.003-04:00

Counting Blessings posting under Big Daddy's ID...

I'm baking cookies this morning and left the bottom sections of the cookie pouches for Big Bro to cut out box tops. The section included the part of the cookie pouch that said makes 3 dozen cookies.

Big Bro tells me - this makes thirty six cookies. I was curious is he was doing multiplication in his head or long addition, so I asked him to tell me how he figured that out. His reply, I thought it was very interesting how he broke it into smaller parts that he could easily handle for mental addition.

"A dozen is twelve.
So twelve, then twenty-two, then thirty-two, then thirty-four, then thirty-six. So thirty-six."

2009-12-25T21:24:00.000-05:00

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Snack Cup

2009-10-28T14:53:00.001-04:00

That spill-proof container isn't

2009-10-28T14:43:00.001-04:00

Big bro's artwork

2009-10-06T15:35:00.001-04:00

I really like his apple tree! ...proud daddy :)

Off to Europe..

2009-09-01T15:42:00.003-04:00

I asked my son today how his imaginery friends were doing, as I haven't heard anything about them in awhile. There were many over the years, but the two that have lasted were trusty Fiffer and Skitcheromy (who is always paying full price and buying things at Shoprite). Big Bro told me today that he hasn't talked to Fif & Skitch in a couple of weeks and that they moved off to Europe. I am honestly a bit surprise by the emotional reaction that this triggered (and the ensuing waterworks). It was fun while it lasted...

PS - today was kindergarten orientation day as well, this is too much "my boy is growing up emotion" for this mom!!

FWD:FWD:A Mans Gotta Eat

2009-08-28T13:20:00.001-04:00

Oh My! the popover was good but the burger... OMFG!

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Going Green State (pics)

2009-08-19T22:18:00.013-04:00

We recently got back from a long weekend in Vermont. The boys got new place points! (We joke around that at every new place the boys go they get place points)

Here is a picture of Big bro setting the vacation itinerary!

We wound up stopping for Ben & Jerry's at both their factory in Waterbury and at their Downtown Burlington location! While Big Daddy enjoys a cup of Chunky Monkey, Big Bro is crazy for their Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. And while it's no surprise that Counting Blessings likes anything with coffee in it, the kicker was finding out that lil'bro REALLY seems to enjoy Imagine Whirled Peace Milkshakes! He had a death grip on this cup and was not happy at the notion of Whirled Peace being out of his grasp!

Mommy and Daddy were delighted when Big Bro wanted to visit Stowe Mountain and it's adventure park. While he opted out of scaling the climbing wall or bouncing on the bungee trampoline, he did seem to enjoy riding down the Alpine Slide with daddy and taking the gondola up the mountain. The gondola rising to 3,625 feet above sea level was not enough for him though. He decided he wanted to climb to the top of Mt. Mansfield... the highest peak in VT at 4,393 feet. Once he and daddy reached the summit, he wanted to take the Long Trail to Canada but I convinced him that we had to get back down the mountain (back to ~1,280 Feet) before dark and that we had missed the last gondola down. Here are some photos we captured during our climb...

Go lil'bro! (pics)

2009-08-04T17:43:00.002-04:00

a couple more pics from earlier.

Pop Pop Pop...

2009-08-04T11:38:00.002-04:00

...pop those bubbles!

And Good Afternoon!

2009-07-29T13:31:00.001-04:00

pizza in the park while waiting for the concert to start.

Good Morning!

2009-07-29T09:58:00.001-04:00

and what a good morning it is!

2009-07-16T22:56:00.001-04:00

tie dye shirts! big bro made matching shirts for him and lil bro at school today, maybe with a bit of assistance. love it!

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The Drive In

2009-07-03T21:10:00.002-04:00

As some of you may already know, Big Bro neither likes dark nor loud theaters. He is not even interested in the dimly lit lower volume mommy weekday matinees.

THIS might work though...Ice Age followed by Monsters Vs Alien at an old fashioned drive in! Uh - shhhhhh the movie is starting!

Cafe Cubano

2009-06-08T13:21:00.001-04:00

Every day should start with a good cup of cafe cubano!

Our Farm Town Coconut Tree

2009-06-07T19:17:00.002-04:00

As we were driving around, I found myself looking up into the trees for coconuts. From the back of the party van I hear,"Daddy! That one is ready to harvest!" I guess there's officially no denying Big'Bro and my addiction to the Farm Town application on Facebook now! He's renamed this picture 'Ready To Harvest'!

On The Way To The Beach...

2009-06-07T17:18:00.002-04:00

I can get used to this!

We never made it to the beach but we did make it to the oceanfront burger lounge. YUM!

Key Biscayne

2009-06-07T13:09:00.003-04:00

lil'bro absolutely LOVES the beach and the pool. In the pool, he has stood up on his own and taken four or five steps with the aid of his natural bouancy. Those rolls are functional too!

Big'Bro loves watching lil'bro get into everything. He's had fun in the sand but hasn't wanted to go into the water yet. What Big'Bro really seems to like is the air conditioning! If we are outside he definately prefers the shade. I can absolutely see him as the sit in the shade reading a book type!

Party Van

2009-06-06T11:22:00.001-04:00

We arrived in sunny Miami. Big bro loves the mini- ...er, I mean Party Van!

Baby And His New Sand Table

2009-05-25T19:44:00.006-04:00

First Blooms Of The Bunch!

2009-05-25T19:44:00.005-04:00

Aquarium on a Rainy Day (pics)

2009-04-22T23:23:00.002-04:00

While trying to decide which mall to spend a rainy day in, a friend suggested going to the aquarium. What a great time the boys and I had. lil'bro seemed to like the turtles, urchins and anemones. Big Bro seemed to like the harbor seals and Jelly fish -Oh, and the orange frog.

Fun times

Riding around with Big Bro

2009-04-20T22:26:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday was a gorgeous summer day. We pulled Big Bro's cars, scooter and bike out of the garage and had fun riding around the driveway. On a whim, I sat Lil Bro on the back of Big Bro's big wheel. Tentatively, I let go. Lil Bro was estatic, thrilled to be riding around with Big Bro. I stayed within about a foot of them, watching them smile, laugh and ride.

Some of Big Bro's thank you prayers tonight

2009-03-12T22:32:00.002-04:00

Thank you God for our heels, to help give us balance.

Thank you God for bacteria, so it can eat the sewage.

Thank you God for our teeth, to cut our food into 5,000 pieces.

Thank you God for our bones, so we aren't just a blob of muscles.

Thank you God for our skin, so our insides don't fall out.

Thank you God for the rainbow of healthy foods, and for all the healthy food, so we can be super healthy.

Thank you God for candy, a treat after dinner, or after lunch, or.. well, not for breakfast, but maybe as a snack after breakfast.

Thank you God for our t-cells and b-cells. I don't know what they do, but I thank God for them!

Thank you God for video games, because they are my FAVORITE.

~~~~~~~~~

Back to Mommy -- thank you God for our beautiful boy that wanted to thank You for everything under the sun tonight, beautiful even if it did stall bedtime a bit.

Boys Grazing

2009-02-24T14:17:00.000-05:00

The boys grazing at the market.

Almost germ free

2009-02-13T06:44:00.002-05:00

Big bro and I were in the bathroom yesterday, washing our hands, when he spotted and read the Purel container.

Big bro: "Wow, it kills 99.99% of germs."

Mommy: "Yep, it does"

Big bro: "I need that, because I pick my nose a LOT (emphasis on lot), and that's a lot of germs!"

Mommy: "Well... yes, but... Honey, you have to stop picking your nose! You should blow your nose with a tissue"

Big bro: "I don't know how. I used to know for one day when I was little, but I forgot".

Mommy: "We should try again"

Big bro was already on to pureling his hands by that point, content that the lotion will kill any germs and he could continue on his four year old path.

More teeth

2009-02-13T06:23:00.001-05:00

Baby bro is well on his way to his first steak, his top two teeth popped through last night.

Teeth count = 4 (top two, bottom two).

Cranky baby count due to teething = 0 (a miracle).

Overheard..

2009-02-01T21:06:00.001-05:00

Big bro:

Daddy, you know what? God and space came before everything. In the beginning, there was only God and space, nothing else.

i was furious

2009-01-14T16:18:00.002-05:00

at barnes & noble first i wanted to throw the cookie in the garbage because big_daddy got the wrong one. then little bro threw up on me and i was furious about it. i told little bro about it.

Big Bro update -- 4 and a half years

2009-01-10T23:37:00.002-05:00

I was just reading through some old posts and am in tears of nostalgia. It seems a century since my boy was the little babe that we posted about when we first started this blog. A snapshot of our boy at four and a half:

- He loves his little bro and lil bro absolutely loves him. We spent about 15 minutes in the living room tonight with big bro doing various antics, with lil bro in hysterical laughter the whole time. Baby bro actually was crying he was laughing so hard.

- He loves music, though he isn't playing his guitars as often as before. I think "Move Along" by the All American Rejects may still be his favorite song.

- He loves all things electronic, such as the laptop that I'm blogging on now, my cell phone and his Leapster. He uses my cell phone to text, take pictures and create contacts for all of his imaginary friends.

- Speaking of imaginary friends, he has two favorites. I'm writing this so that we don't forget this. One is a three-year old two-foot peanut, the other is a thirty-three year old lady that is always at the supermarket buying things full price (compared to this thirty-three year old lady that is always looking for sales).

- He enjoys drawing, stickering, scissoring and taping. Big daddy filled his Christmas stocking with post-its, stickers and new markers. The post-its were such a big hit, he is still drawing and covering our sliding glass doors with his creations.

- He reads incredibly well, there is very little that he can't read. He also writes well, but his real love is typing.

- Big daddy and big bro have been working on math skills together. He is doing some long addition and gets the concept of carrying numbers.

- We've started playing Gold Fish and Uno. He tries to bend the rules in his favor and has even recently figured out that if he bats his eyes just the right way, his adult opponents may just let him win.

- He loves what I call "hugs & snuggles", I try to cherish this before he outgrows it.

- He has his first two pairs of boxers (yes, as in boxers vs. briefs). He's a big boy now!

As much as he drives me crazy at times (he is a four year old boy), I love him to pieces.

IM'ing with a 4 year old.

2009-01-08T22:18:00.002-05:00

I had to work late tonight. Having not spoken with the boys for most of the day, I logged onto an IM tool to see if I could catch Big Bro for an update. I love that boy, I have to save this chat transcript.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mommy: hey !!

boy: mommy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you

mommy: i love you too honey! what are you doing?

boy: i just love you

mommy: how is (insert name of imaginery friend here) doing today? is he good too?

boy: yesery

mommy: did you or daddy type that?

boy: me

mommy: you're too smart! how is lil bro doing?

boy: gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood

mommy: did he eat all of his pastina?

boy: he still has more a lot more

mommy: yes, daddy made too much. i'm hungry, i didn't eat dinner yet

boy: we're eating steak & peas I'm eating

mommy: yum, steak! your FAVORITE!

boy: and even daddy is eating

boy: i am logging out

Italian baby!

2009-01-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

Baby first -- pastina !! yum!

Mondays!

2009-01-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

I think I can. I think I can...

Quiet time with presents

2009-01-04T17:13:00.001-05:00

Big bro, enjoying a page from a Stars Wars watercolor book that he received for Christmas.

Best bird ever.

2008-12-31T16:16:00.001-05:00

Four year olds know the important things in life.

2008-12-31T16:10:00.003-05:00

A Merry Christmas to all..

2008-12-25T01:51:00.001-05:00

May Christ's Peace and Love be with you.

Random fun!

2008-12-25T01:50:00.003-05:00

Typing test!

http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com/

I averaged 70 words per minute. My high school keyboarding teacher would be proud!!

Nicknames galore

2008-12-22T20:46:00.002-05:00

Big bro's new nickames:

what he wants lil bro to call him: bro bro

what he was calling lil bro: sugarplum

what he now calling lil bro: mr. baby

i think that i am to blame (credit? blame?) for the mr. baby. i nicknamed our christmas tree "mr. tree".

Two, count em!

2008-12-22T20:45:00.001-05:00

Two little teeth poking through. Lil bro will be ready for steak any day now!

Artist hard at work, Snow Day project.

2008-12-19T16:36:00.002-05:00

Snow Day project.

2008-12-19T16:26:00.002-05:00

dough ornaments for the tree!

Lil'daddy's Christmas Art Project!

2008-12-17T12:52:00.001-05:00

Gingerbread House

Out of the mouth of babes..

2008-11-30T22:18:00.003-05:00

The four of us were out to lunch today at Uno's. I helped Big Bro with his pizza, while Big Daddy ate his own pizza and gave Lil Bro a bottle. Poor little bro, he finished his bottle and kept reaching for the pizza on the table. He licked his lips, looking earnestly at the food and at us.

I said "poor babe", giving my little six month old some sympathy that he couldn't partake in the deep dish goodness. He looked back at me and repeated what sounded like "p bib". My heart melted...

Things you don't want to hear your four year old say...

2008-11-29T21:46:00.002-05:00

I was playing with Lil Bro in his room, having just finished his diaper change. Big bro was in the kitchen, absorbed with a toy catalog, construction paper and his safety scissors. He was cutting pictures out of the catalog and thinking about his Christmas list. Then I hear..

Mommy, guess what? The cat let me cut his hair !!

What????? it was just a little tiny bit, I can't believe the cat let him get that close with scissors! A stern time-out and talking to was then the order of the day.

Lil bro at six months

2008-11-17T22:07:00.002-05:00

A snapshot..

~ sleeps through the night, one morning nap, one afternoon nap

~ rolls back to front very easily, front to back, around and around. he holds his neck up when he i on his tummy. he'll roll across the floor.

~ loves fresh baked sweet potatoes and can easily eat a whole mashed one for dinner. also likes acorn & butternut squashes, bananas, apples, green beans, avocado and carrots. with the exception of the carrots, all are fresh.

~ says da-da. almost said cat tonight! we were looking at our cat, I said "cat" and lil bro said "aaat!"

~ loves bath time, splashing and kicking the water.

~ is in a rear-facing car seat. no longer in the infant seat.

~ wears 6-9 month clothes & size 3 diaps.

~ still has the silkiest, soft baby hair

~ absolutely adores his big bro.

time flies...

I'm declaring it.. It's official..

2008-11-17T22:03:00.004-05:00

Lil bro has just turned six months old and his eyes are still green. I'm officially declaring it, that my baby has green eyes, similar in hue to mine. I'm shocked at how much this means to me, that lil bro looks a bit like me.

Two beautiful boys, we are so very blessed.

Fall pictures !

2008-11-07T00:13:00.002-05:00

We tried out best to get a nice Halloween picture of each of the boys. Big Bro had his heart set on dressing as "Dr. Eggman", a Nintendo character. Big Daddy spent countless hours to create this incredible costume, only for Big Bro to turn costume & camera shy. Oh well, maybe Lil Bro can wear the costume in a few years!

On the other hand, Lil Bro didn't have any issues being super baby.

SPEAKING of Milestones...

2008-11-02T21:15:00.004-05:00

This morning I woke up to the rustling sounds of lil'bro. Lil'daddy was at the grandparent's place and Counting Blessings was out grocery shopping. The house was quiet. I could hear lil'bro moving around his crib as I got up. The day was definitely starting out well...

Lil'bro was smiling ear to ear as I scooped him up for morning hugs. Standard-daddy-operating-procedure calls for a diaper change and fresh clothes. On his diaper changing table, I make the diaper change sign. "Diapey change", I say in my soft baby voice. "da da" lil'bro responds! "DA DA", I say!? A huge smile beems from lil'bro's face.

I don't really know if he associates me with "dada" but it's official! He has said his first word. He said it a handful of times over the course of the day! Another Proud Daddy Day.

Milestone...

2008-10-30T22:21:00.003-04:00

Big bro has taken to purposefully calling me "Mom" these days. Not Mommy, just Mom. If he says Mommy, he corrects himself, to say Mom. It's a sad day for me...

His nickname for me is (was?) "mommy with the long hair". He is "' insert name here' with the short hair". Big Daddy is "daddy with no hair" (he's self-inflicted bic bald these days). Somehow "mom with the long hair" just isn't the same!

Yummy in the tummy

2008-10-17T10:28:00.004-04:00

lil'bro enjoyed his avocado. It was not as big a hit as the squash, but he seemed to enjoy it and had no apparent reaction to it. Yesterday, we started apples. None too soon, I guess, as a bit over a week ago lil'daddy, lil'bro and I all went apple picking. There is still a large drawer full of apples in the fridge. At first a little hesitant during their introduction, it appears apples are now also a hit. I haven't pulled out all the apple recipes yet, but I'm starting to feel the Jones for Cocoa-Apple Bunt Cake.

Here are some pictures of our apple picking adventures...

Just to clarify so that no one believes that I am feeding lil'bro raw apples. That is not the case. I washed any that he was handling in the pictures and the apples that I prepped for him were peeled and cooked. I tend to follow the advice given at the Wholesome Baby Food website and of our pediatrician. The website's recipes are very easy to follow. We made our own baby food for lil'daddy and we're going to try to stay that route for lil'bro.

As an aside... lil'daddy took the pictures of lil'bro and I. I think he took great pictures of us!

Guess what's for dinner lil'bro

2008-10-11T11:04:00.002-04:00

lil'bro is taking a nap and lil'daddy is playing on the Noggin website. As I was watching over his computer usage, I figured I'd send a lil'bro food update from my phone.

I mentioned in a previous post that we've started introducing solids. A week after starting with oatmeal cereal, this past wednesday lil'bro had his first taste of squash. Specifically, he had baked butternut squash and he LOVED it! If he was unhappy for any reason, it was because we couldn't shovel it in fast enough for him. A few days have gone by and there hasn't been any apparent reaction so today we will move on to avocado. ...where is that camera...

October Update

2008-10-06T10:20:00.009-04:00

It seems we've been real busy around the "One of Three..." household. Since my last post, Mommy got sick with a fever. lil'daddy had croup. lil'bro got shots, started solids & was baptized. At this point, we're all feeling well [daddy crosses fingers] and things are starting to come back to normal.

Through lil'daddy's introduction to solid foods, over 3 and a half years ago, Mommy and I documented each new food introduction with calendar markings complete, in many cases, with supporting photos. 5 days after starting our first introduction of oatmeal cereal with lil'bro, I've realized that I never marked our calendar. In fact, we didn't even take any pictures until a couple days ago!

Here are a few photos from the baptism.

lil'daddy continues to amaze me with his reading. I had mentioned previously that we've been reading the Magic Tree House books. More specifically, I was reading most of the pages while he read the prologue, the first page of a chapter and the pages with pictures. This was about every third page or so of a 60-80 page chapter book. Occasionally he would read a few chapters on his own. At this point, we've read all the "regular" Magic Tree House series books and all of the "Merlin Mission" books save 3. I know this because he keeps track in a Magic Tree House Passport that we've downloaded.

We've added a new book series as well. He is reading the "Roscoe Riley Rules" chapter books completely on his own. I think they're very funny and lil'daddy gets such a kick out of them! The books are basically told from the perspective of a 1st grader who tells the story of how he wound up in time-out for something he did that was well-intentioned but snowballed out of hand. Each book is 70-80 pages long. Some of the titles are: "Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs", "Never Swipe a Bully's Bear", and "Don't Swap Your Sweater for a Dog". Unfortunately we've read #1-#4 and #5 in not due to March '09.

Our problem seems to be finding chapter books that we feel are appropriate for a 4 year old to read on his own. Honestly, I know we are so fortunate that lil'daddy is so interested in reading and that he's progressing so well in his reading skills. I guess we could have worse problems.