Visit from Grandma

Grandma came to visit for the long Labor Day weekend and we took advantage by taking a couple of short day trips. The first was into the city to see the Rose Kennedy Greenway which is the pretty strip of parkland that used to be 93 before they buried it. It now has a spray park and a carousel. The kids loved riding the horses and were dying to try the spray park, but it was a little on the chilly side and the pressure of the spray was more fire hydrant than the little ones would have been able to handle, so we avoided it despite LR's objections. We also walked along the water of the bay and found giant metal sculptures for the kids to play on. It was a really pleasant afternoon in the city.

The next day we spent at home for the most part, but on her last day, we decided to trek up to Salem, Ma. I showed Grandma one of my old office buildings near the water and we walked out along the pier trying to keep the kids from launching themselves into the water every chance they got. We also walked through a bit of the town, but didn't duck into the Witch Museum or The House of the Seven Gables. When the kids are a little older, I think...



Missy loved running around on top of the hot metal structures.











Bedtime reading with grandma was a blast!












LR chilled in the stroller for a little while at the pier since he had fallen asleep on the ride up to Salem.






Daddy playing "keep Missy on dry land"







Grandma taking a turn walking J Frog.












The boys checking out the water. J Frog finds LR endlessly fascinating.











Missy throwing rocks at Daddy.








Grandma takes the unenviable task of keeping Missy from diving off the rock wall into the water.

First Day of School

LR counted down the days until his first day of school this year. He was so excited and when I said how many days were left, "10 more days," or "7 more days," he'd respond with his favorite new expresion, "that's nothing!" Oh, and according to LR, he can do pretty much anything you can do standing on his head. We only hit one snag about a week before school started which was when it occurred to me to tell him about his new teacher. He was shocked to learn he wouldn't be returning to his old teacher, Miss. Marie. He even got a little weepy when I explained that each year we move onto a new teacher who will have different and more interesting things to teach us - hopefully! He really wanted to go back to Miss Marie's room and I was a little nervous about introducing him to his new teacher, Ms. McGill.

So, wearing his new Thomas the Train shirt from Grandma and Grandad Horton and a smile, he set off to school. Ms. McGill was in the doorway greeting students and had to address LR a number of times to get him to make eye contact with her since he didn't know which area of the room to run to first. Here she is putting his name tag on him and showing him how to sign in every day. She has an Irish accent, a strong hand with the kids, decades of experience and is going to be a perfect fit for LR. He's going to have a great time in her classroom this year and I'm looking forward to a wonderful year.

18 Month Checkup

Missy and J Frog had their 18 month checkup yesterday. It was a month and a half late, but that's how our lives are around here. Plus, it's tough to get back to back appointments with the pediatrician! Anyway, Missy is right on track around the 50th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. J Frog is in the 70s for height, 30s for weight, and 10th for head circumference. Still has my noggin, I guess.

Missy has gone from light brown haired (as you can see in the first picture from May) to almost platinum blonde. Not sure how that happened. It still doesn't need to be cut, but maybe now that it's done changing colors...

J Frog has made great strides both with his walking and talking. Thanks to a visit from Yianni, he now says "up" and "down" and more recently "hot." It's a start! As far as walking goes, he can now push off the floor to a standing position and take a dozen or more steps. He's wobbly and still feels more secure crawling, but he can do it. The pediatrician still recommended seeing a neurologist. *sigh*

Considerate Kid

LR is such a sweet kid. Last night I told him I needed a really good night sleep since the night before was full of interruptions due to a small cold running through the family. He said he would try to help me. So, when he woke in the middle of the night and called out, I dutifully went to his room as I always do. When I appeared he said in a surprised voice, "oh mommy... I was calling for daddy so that you could get a good night's sleep." What a sweetie. I passed out in his bed a woke feeling refreshed at 7am, so no harm done.

Genetics

Missy signs "baby." It's her favorite sign. She often carries a baby doll around and sometimes tries to feed it or give it a bottle.










In the hat that Gigi brought during her last trip. A-freakin-dorable!











In the bathing suit from Grandma Nese's last visit... with wet feet...











climbing all the way to the top of the playhouse outside. The climbing gene she comes by honestly at least.










Unfortunately, J Frog comes by this honestly as well.

Today Would Have Been Tragic

What do people do without au pairs? Often I tell people that I feel like I'm cheating since I have help most of the time. I rarely have to survive a full day with all 3 kids by myself. Today was a perfect example. We went to Whole Foods so that I could get Lady Finger for Daddy's birthday cake. I thought we'd pick up a little produce too, so after unloading the kids from the car and loading them into 2 different shopping carts, we entered the first section of the store. I picked up 3 avocadoes (saw the price and put 2 back), a couple of apples, and then saw the free samples of nectarines. I stabbed a few with a toothpick and took them to LR. I fed him the first one on the toothpick and somehow he immediately gagged on it - hard. He managed to swallow it, but soon after clutched his stomach. I asked if it hurt and he said it did. I tossed the avocado from its bag and held it open under his chin. He promptly vomited into the bag... which had a slit in it all the way down to the bottom. The vomit traveled straight through to his lap and then the grate at his feet on its way to the floor. I'm pretty sure I strangled out a few curses at the bag, bag makers, and store bag dispensers. I had been so ready for the moment when he got sick only to be thwarted by recycled plastic. *sigh*

Luckily Marian, a.k.a. Superwoman, was ready with a second, less defective bag and we caught waves 2 and 3 before leaving the few things we'd picked out and heading back to the car. At the car, we loaded Missy and J Frog and then as we cleaned LR, she told me to go in and she'd take care of it from here. Since I knew I wouldn't have an opportunity to come back and I had to make the cake tonight, I blew her grateful kisses and ran back into the store. Talk to any parent about a similar experience and I'll bet they didn't end up getting the items they needed at the store. We are poster children for au pairs. She makes our lives maneagable.

Note to self: Need more photos of Marian. This post would have been better with a picture of all 3 kids climbing all over her like they usually do.

Summer Water Fun

If you call and we don't pick up, it's probably because we're in the water somewhere. Now that the weather has finally turned warm here, we're spending as much time outdoors as we can.

This picture cracks me up. It looks like twins hunt together. Okay, you caught me... I've been reading the Twilight series. Baby vampires are hi-larious.





Missy prefers goldfish actually.







Does it look like LR just dumped a cup of water over J Frog's head. Yeah, it looks that way to me too.

Portraits

Strawberry Picking

In June I think we went strawberry picking twice. Then Daddy and Gigi took them again in early July. The kids can't get enough of the farm where they can eat strawberries right off the ground, play in the playground at the farm, ride a tractor/train around the fields, and top it off with ice cream at the farm stand. It's pretty much a perfect afternoon for them. Marian said it wasn't something she would have done at home either, so it was a good experience for her too.

Each kid had their own style of eating strawberries. J Frog was a fan of the "strawberry face smash."










LR ate them whole, green part and all.







I had to explain to him that some at least should make it into the bucket.






Pretty sure he thought that was a waste of time an energy.







Missy was never without a strawberry in hand.







And then she discovered the basket! Does life get any better?







munch smack gulp mmmmmm

Learning how to look after the boys

Missy cracks me up. I'm afraid she's far more maternal than I am already.

She prepares meals with the boys looking over her shoulder.







Then it's time for dinner.








A little cleanup












She's so helpful.

Life with Twins

Life with twins is about lots of sharing.







What's mine is yours.







Each one would give the shirt off their back for the other.







As long as she can get the shirt back again eventually.







Maybe both shirts.

The Clean and Jerk

Missy has always insisted on lifting everything in her path.







She gave the watermelon a run for its money.







The agony of defeat.

J Frog Starts Communicating

This past month J Frog has made great strides in his communication skills. I think it was the sign for "sheep" that finally solidified the "signing = communication" concept for him. Daddy was reading a book to him with a sheep in it and after a few minutes he got it. Once he got that sign he started trying out more. The sign for sheep seems to have been his Tipping Point.

The other day I arrived home from work and Marian said that he had a new sign. "Stuck" was our sign for "do you need help?" and he was really making an effort to use it. He had a new game where he pushed his dump truck until he hit a while and would announce "da!" and then put his hand to his chest or neck. You can see the sign in the first photo. The second shows him hitting the wall and the third shows both. I followed him around for 10-15 minutes playing the game over and over again. He was so excited to be communicating that the game never got old. Since then he's picked up "fish," "monkey," "trash," "dog," and a few others I can't think of. He still does a lot of yelling, but at least he can give us a little direction now.