Can you tell me how to get there?

I wanted to take Noah to Sesame Place. Everyone I spoke to who had been raved about the water park rides. And he was SO into amusement parks last year I knew he’d love it. But when I checked out the website I was appalled at the price. It was over $50 a person for anyone over two. Insane. Of course they sell you on the “bargain” of getting a passport to come back a second time or even a season pass. But the prices are outrageous. Then I saw a banner advertising group discounts for Sesame Place. If you bought 15 tickets the price was nearly half. So I picked a date and sent out an email to all my friends with families to see if anyone was interested in making a group excursion – the price was lower and it would be fun bumping into friends all day at the park. And it worked.

Yesterday was the big day – we had a group of 8 preschoolers, 7 moms, 3 dads, 3 infants, 2 grandmas and a nanny! The weather was a little cool for water park weather and we had a few little thunderstorms but as a result the park was pretty empty which was really ideal. It seems everyone had a blast. My mom accompanied me and the boys and we alternated taking Noah on stuff. It was great to have another set of hands and it was nice watching Noah enjoy hanging out with Grandma. I didn’t even get jealous when he preferred her for most of the rides. And Ray was a champ. After only a one hour nap he was awake from 10:30 am to nearly 7:30 pm – and not even grumpy. He was just taking it all in. (Actually it isn’t too uncommon for Ray to go long periods of time without a nap. He is the second child after all and amazingly resilient.) It really was a fantastic day. And spending time with different friends throughout the day made it all the better. All of the kids were utterly ecstatic. I hope to do some other group outings, if not for a discount just for the companionship.

My favorite memories of the day were seeing Noah beam with joy and pride after riding an inner tube water rapid ride all by himself, Noah's fear and yet utter fascination with the roller coaster, Ray pointing at every costumed character, and Ray SO exhausted from the day that he got incredibly clumsy and proceeded to flop happily all over the padded toddler zone.

And now a few notes about Sesame Place: Bring insane amounts of money. Though we got discounted admission and discounted lunch vouchers – the $13 parking set the tone for the day. They don’t allow coolers but I did bring an insulated lunch box with snacks, fruit and veggies so we didn’t spend any additional cash on food until an evening soft pretzel purchase. See the parade and a show or two to break up the day. Both Noah and Ray really loved them. And wear water shoes if you have them, the ground is killer on bare feat. Take photos – unfortunately I had my hands full with Ray and didn’t really take any so I have to wait for others to share them some with me.

Daddy dearest

This weekend I was discussing babies with a father-to-be. He confessed that he was a bit jealous of his wife’s pregnancy. Everything was changing for her and yet for him it was still all the same. At this point it was all about her. I responded by essentially telling him “Get use to it.” For a man who wants to be an equal partner in the raising of his children the hardest part of being a father is not being the mother. It’s probably mostly biology that causes children to be so often clamoring for Mama. I’m often feeling so bad for Mark when he’s essentially begging Noah to let him help with something meanwhile Noah just whines for me. And though some of that has to do with me being the primary around the clock caretaker – that isn’t all of it. I was quite surprised when one of our neighbors who is a stay-at-home Dad confessed that the moment his wife steps in the door from work that the kids want nothing but her. So not only are Dads giving and sacrificing – but often they don’t get the same cooperation, recognition and lavish affection that Moms get. It must be hard.

Mark is a fabulous husband and father. He is appreciative, interested, committed, and loving. He is a great support for me – always wanting to know what he can do to help and how he can make me happier and ease some of my stress. He focuses not only on how to parent children but how to raise well rounded adults. And as with everything he does, he doesn’t give himself enough credit. But anyone who knows Mark or even just reads about Mark on this blog knows that he doesn’t just deserve a card or even a round of applause – that he deserves some sort of medal. But in absence of that a nice breakfast, some cards, kiddie drawings, Tshirts, photos and Reeses peanut butter cups will have to make do. Oh and this – I love you, Mark. Thank you.

Ahoy Matey.

I took the boys to The Franklin Institute today. It was our second visit. The museum is really intended for much older children but there are a few hands on exhibits that really can captivate smaller children. Noah has consistently been asking to walk through the large human heart since our last visit. Today we walked through it twice, learned about the heart, the brain and bones – then learned about The Sky Tonight in the planetarium. It was our first planetarium visit and Noah was really in awe of it. Next we rode the train, sat in the fighter plane and then headed to the special exhibit. When we got to the museum Noah was immediately intrigued by the current special exhibit on pirates. I wasn’t planning on going to it since it was an additional fee but since we got in to the rest of the museum for free I figured why the hell not. And I’m so glad I did – it was pretty breathtaking and Noah really enjoyed the drama of it. It really was on the scary side – there were moments I was even creeped out by the music, the lighting, the pirate mannequins. But Noah is in a stage now where he likes to be a bit scared. I picked up the pace a bit when we got to the part where you walk through a recreation of the ship because Noah was obviously a bit scared but about halfway through he asked to go back to the beginning again. He really enjoyed it. Some of the subject matter of the exhibit was too adult for him – about slavery, drowning and death sentences – but I was able to just sort of whisk him past those parts and tell him what I wanted him to know. I got him a tube of plastic pirate figures to spur on his imagination. Tonight before bed he and Mark were doing a story where the pirates were getting on and off of the trolley to look for their treasure. I had another great day with him. I really love watching Noah soak up new things and I’m always really impressed by what a great student/audience member he is. If you put any person in front of a group or on a stage he will become instantly engrossed no matter the subject matter. He is just a natural learner and I hope that always stays with him.

As you can probably guess Noah has bounced back from his week of darkness. It really seemed to be a product of being overtired after being sick. The other day I thanked him for helping me put away the groceries and he said “I am SO nice.” And I said “Yes, you are.” To which he said “Not like those other days… those were SO BAD.” I was sort of taken aback for a second – I didn’t want to dwell on it or make him feel any more guilty. So I said “You were having a grumpy patch. It happens.” And then we went back to the groceries.

And Ray? He is really mastering this walking thing. He’s also a crazy climber – always trying to haul himself up on things. He’s trouble for sure. But also amazingly fun and adorable. Just thinking about him makes me break into a bemused smile. What a funny little dude.

Day at the Beach

Today we took a day trip to Ocean City. I’d never taken a day trip to the beach with Noah before, despite it only being an hour away. I was always daunted by the idea of being incredibly sandy with no place to clean off before going home. And that is what happened today – I now really need to vacuum out the van. But today was really a fantastic day so I see more in our future. All it took was one friend saying “Hey, you free on Tuesday? We’re thinking of taking the kids to the beach?” And then we asked another friend and the result was four adults and six kids frolicking in the sand and surf. It was Ray’s first beach day. He was intimidated by the ocean – the cold water and the crashing of the waves – but he adores the sand. We dug a wading pool that the ocean filled up for the babies to hang out in. Ray could have stayed in there all day. Meanwhile Noah is in love with the ocean. He just couldn’t get enough. He didn’t even seem to care that the amusement pier was closed. And we got to share it all with friends, friends covered in sand. It was a perfect day. With sand.

In the midst of a feast

The boys. Forced to be affectionate and mug for the camera while trying to consume snacks during one of Noah's pretend picnics.

Check em out yo!

Just a few of my favorite recent photos. The boys at the zoo, hanging in the living room, Master Noah and Mistress Bella and Eggerts men watering our tree on a very hot summer city day.

Just Travelin Man

If Noah didn't keep jumping in front of Ray he might be in Mexico by now.
And the waving? Not sure if that is a balance or an exceitment thing but it must be typical since Ray's little friend Ivan does it too, but with both hands.

It's growing and growing.

So much. So much.

I’ll start with Ray. In the last week he’s gone from taking his first official steps to spanning impressive distances. He’s also saying “Mama,” moving his head back and forth crazily ala Stevie Wonder when he’s happy and eating almost entirely table food and no baby food. He’s still really “world oriented” and by that I mean that he’d rather explore, move, interact and take things apart rather than play with toys. And he picks up skills amazingly fast – he took to drinking out of cups overnight, both in a tip-back sippy and with a straw. I find that particularly amazing since he hadn’t drank from anything other than when he nursed. Like Noah he was never been bottle fed and yet was like “GIVE ME THAT CUP.” It took Noah quite awhile to be in to the whole cup thing. Ray’s also doing a good job of picking up the baby sign language. In the last week he started doing the sign for “No” which I do when I tell him not to do something. And he’s using it a lot – to talk back by saying “No” to me after I’ve said it to him, to ask me if something is okay by signing “No” while touching something and giving me a quizzical look, and just to voice unhappiness by signing it while crying. He’s doing so well with the few signs I’ve used that I really need to add more so he can express himself better. So Ray is really blooming.

Noah however is having a tough time. He’s physically recovered from the pink eye and the days of feverishness but he’s exhausted. His body needs extra sleep but he’s fighting it. He doesn’t nap and he’s getting up at 6 am every morning – despite being a zombie. And his behavior had really been trying. I really was at the end of the rope with him yesterday. He was being so defiant, so stubborn, so difficult, so emotional – and I’m not accustomed to having to deal with that. Over a month ago he went through like a week or so of being really difficult but then it turned around and he was back to being fairly reasonable and angelic for a 3 year old. So hopefully the evilness of the last few days will turn around quickly once he gets some more rest. He’s also on a break from school since his school year ended in mid-May and he doesn’t start the summer program until July – and I think the loss of that structure, socialization time and accountability to other authority figures has something to do with it. Friends have also commented that he seems to have gotten a lot taller and more slender in the last few weeks so maybe a growth spurt is also in the mix. Whatever the reason – things best get back to normal soon. On the upside he’s more into his music now more than ever. Constantly asking me to put on something specific and asking me to turn it up or be quiet so he can hear a certain part. He wants to share his favorites with everyone and feels disappointed when they aren’t as taken with them as he is. After his love of the drama of the Disney ride music I figured he’d like movie soundtrack music so we took a few out of the library. At the moment he is loving the soundtrack to Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire. I also recently bought him a used Ipod Mini on Ebay and a docking station for his room (It’s amazing what great deals you can get on outdated technology) – all of his music was taking all the space up on the used Ipod Mini that I bought for myself last year. And he just loves having his own Ipod. On his own he also decided that we should have a fair schedule for music selection so he decided he got to pick breakfast music, I got lunch and Daddy got dinner. Unless of course if we have lunch guests and then he got to pick the music if he has something he wanted them to hear.

And what is new with me? A lot of food stuff. I’m on a quick diet for the next few weeks to see if I can drop a few more pounds before we go to the beach. I hate dieting. I’m hungry and grumpy – but since I have an end date I can just aim for the light at the end of the tunnel. On a more positive note I finally put together that gas grill that we bought about two months ago. Did I mention that? It was supposed to take 30 minutes to assemble but after three hours I shoved it in a closet for two months. Ahem… well I finished assembling it on Sunday and we’ve been grilling, grilling, grilling. Also we’re high on greens. We joined the Greensgrow CSA again this year and our shares started two weeks ago. This year we got a vegetarian share because I’m weird about certain kinds of meat and there was just too much last year that I wasn’t really interested in cooking. I think we still have two kinds of sausage and a kind of stew meat in our freezer. Plus I was jealous of the vegetarians last year “HEY! They get three other veggies/fruits and all I got was this damn whole chicken.” Anyway – I love the CSA experience. I love that it’s local. I love that it’s good for the planet and our neighborhood. I love that we are trying new veggies and exposing Noah to such a wide variety of garden food. And I love just having to be a bit imaginative in what I’m serving for dinner. It’s not the same handful of things I always cook – it’s like “What am I going to do with collard greens and turnips?” But it’s not all just weird stuff. Tomorrow I pick up strawberries, tomatoes, asparagus, kale, extra sharp cheddar cheese, spring salad mix, mushrooms, spring onions, yogurt, and herbs. YUM. I totally encourage anyone to try out a CSA in the future or at the very least to seek out local farmers markets.

Okay. I am late for watching part one of the Top Chef finale.

The eyes have it.

"My eyebrow is stuck in my eye and it hurts SO BAD."
Noah woke up at 4 am with pink eye.

Are we in Scranton or Seattle?

I’m not a great outdoors kind of person. It’s not that I’m high maintenance. It’s just that I find the whole camping, fishing, hiking thing to be a bit boring. I like to DO STUFF. To SEE THINGS. I prefer excursions to museums, shows and restaurants on vacation. So when we planned our trip to a cottage on Lake Henry I’ll admit I wasn’t too excited. But I was looking forward to sitting outside in the sunshine, eating nice picnic meals and overlooking a lake. However when the weather forecast for our trip wasn’t looking so hot I started dreading vacation. I was very irritable about packing and I could not manage to get up the energy to get excited even a bit. You should pity poor Mark – who was genuinely excited and I was really dragging him down. The Lake House vacation was his dream and I was just being pissy.

And the weather was pretty crummy. Not as bad as it could be – not pouring rain. But cold, grey, and drizzly for the most part. But I’m happy to report we had a really good time anyway. We layered up, put on rain gear and stayed busy. Yes, busy. I don’t find “relaxing” vacations to be fun. Plus I’ve said it before but it bears repeating – vacationing with small children is not relaxing. In fact a SAHM does not really get a vacation because her every day work is still in progress. In fact it may be harder as schedules are thrown out the window and there isn’t a full arsenal of toys and art supplies. Mark said himself that it was just nice for him to not be at work and to be spending more time with the boys – but what could he do for me? So seeing things and going out is what makes it vacation for me. And as I’ve said repeatedly it’s easier for me to have the kids out doing things and seeing things than to entertain them in the house. So we went to the Steamtown Train Museum, the Electric City Trolley Museum, Nay Aug Park, Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary, and MacDade Park. We also paddle-boated, fished (mostly just fed them), kited, and hiked. It wasn’t my dream vacation from the start but I had a really nice time. We made a lot of happy vacation memories and will probably go back to Lake Henry.

Snip Snap.

On Thursday Noah graduated from his first year of preschool. Sniff sniff. They had a little ceremony where the kids got on the stage and sang songs. So cute. I can't believe how quickly the school year went. And he's grown so much. Insane.
The boys are enjoying the new minivan. Particularly their ability to crawl around in it. It's like a playhouse as far as they're concerned. Ray loves meandering around in it so much that he starts pitching a fit when I take him out or strap him in his seat.
And in the last shot Ray tries to enjoy a taste of the tequila he bought me for Mother's Day. Silly boy. Mama didn't leave one last drop.
Should be packing. Bye.

But we don't play soccer!

It’s done. We are now the proud owners of a black 2006 Town & Country minivan. And the process went pretty well. We got more features than we were expecting to get and paid about what we were hoping to pay – so it was a bit of a bargain. And I love that. Now I just have to cross my fingers that it will serve us well. I honestly hope to not have to buy another car for ten years. By which time we should be able to get a nice hybrid.

Gas prices are astounding. I went to visit my Dad last week and figured out that the trip including gas and tolls probably cost $30. And it’s only like an hour away. I don’t know how commuters do it. We’re lucky in that we can use mass transportation, only need one car for our family, and because of proximity don’t typically have to drive that far to places we need to go. Trips to visit family are our only big gas expenses since our parents all live between an hour and hour and a half away. But the minivan can cut down on our short trips which will also help. Noah’s last day of the school year is tomorrow. However he will go there for a summer camp program in July and August on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10:15 am to 12:45pm. And since my neighbor Kate’s daughter is also going, and I can fit another kid in my car we can split up the trips so that Kate takes the kids to school and I pick them up. This is incredibly handy since drop-off is smack in the middle of Ray’s nap. Oh minivan – and this is why we love you.

We were at the car dealership until 10:30 last night. The kids were amazingly well behaved considering they were exhausted and trapped there. Some of the highlights of the experience were Noah deciding we had to buy the convertible Crossfire with red leather seats (“Mama! There is a car with no roof!”), Ray eating his first lollipop (or Taffy as the true Philadelphians say) and holding on to it like a smack addict, and Noah’s wonder at the whole process (“It comes with it’s OWN KEYS!” and “There is so much room. It’s magical!”) Also I refrained from turning on the TV in the playroom until after we had been there two hours. At which point Noah became instantly enamored with the Dora DVD. He’d never seen Dora before and this morning he keeps asking me about it. “Wasn’t that Dora movie fun? Didn’t you like it?”

Next week we leave for a short vacation to the exotic hinterlands of Scranton, PA. No, I’m not applying for a job at Dunder Mifflin. We are renting a small cabin on Lake Henry for a rural getaway. I’m not too into woodland myself – probably because my Mom’s house is in the woods and as a kid I felt stifled by my inability to walk anywhere and do anything – but I know Noah will enjoy it. Plus it will be good to get away. We haven’t been anywhere since we went to the beach with my Mom last June. Unfortunately it looks like it’s going to be a rainy week. I think I may have to run out and buy us all rain boots (wellies!) and ponchos.

Vandango

I’ve had buyers remorse for quite some time. Last year at this time we traded in our Saturn mini-wagon for a Subaru Forrester. We couldn’t fit a second car seat in the Saturn while accommodating Mark’s extreme need for leg room. We got a Forrester because I thought we needed something just slightly bigger –without feeling like we were driving a behemoth and still easy to parallel park. Plus, though I’m not particularly vain about cars I had a penchant for the Forrester. Something about it’s design really appealed to me. And I really have loved driving it. However we might be trading it in as early as tonight.

We’re sucking up our pride and buying a minivan. The problem with the Forrester is that it only fits the four of us and occasionally that’s inconvenient. With gas prices as they are I really would like to carpool with some other mothers (to Noah’s school and on field trips) but I can’t fit one more car seat in the Subaru. We can’t pick up my teen sister (she just turned 13 yesterday!) for a visit and have our whole family in the car. We can’t take my Dad out to eat. It really is annoying. So minivan it is. We should have made that jump in the first place but I just wasn’t willing to do it yet. I guess I’m more vain about cars than I had thought.

What sucks is that we will be losing money on our Forrester. We will probably trade it in because I’ve been told the market for SUVs is pretty soft. Of course this will also affect our trade-in. Money down the drain. But I guess a year of excellent service is worth something.

After fixating for quite some time and doing a lot of online research we’re going to look at minivans tonight. I’m leaning toward a 2007 Sedona, 2005 Sienna or 2006 Town & Country. If you have any news on any of these please share.

A gift

Motherhood is a gift. I am so incredibly thankful for my two beautiful boys and the opportunity to spend each and every day watching them learn and grow. Being a mother has changed my life drastically - and I'm not referring to my inability to make plans at a moments notice, sleep in and stay out drinking until all hours. My life feels richer, warmer and more meaningful. I always wanted to be a mother and in becoming one and striving to raise happy, healthy children I truly feel that I'm fulfilling the most important part of my destiny. And I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to share the joys and trials of parenthood with Mark. Actually, forget luck. I will take full credit for that because I really could not have made a better choice - for me, for us. But thank you to the gods, the fates, and the universe for being cooperative. And of course thank you, Mom for being so loving. And now I'm passing it on. I don't give myself alot of credit and I'm sure I could do alot of things better than I do - but I do know that my kids feel incredibly loved. And will continue to do so even when they are evil teens and scoff at my silly syrupy sweet affection.

Days at play!

We're spending our days at the parks. "It's such a beautiful day," Noah says. "I want to eat all my meals outside."

Yesterday Ray went on his first carousel ride. When it started to spin he had a moment of fear which quickly turned into amazed bewilderment.

Ray is starting to make his way around the play equipment. He's so excited and adventurous. I have to walk behind him with my hands at the ready in case he starts to tumble.

I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you.

Have I mentioned that Noah can be very secretive? Whenever I ask him what he did at school or dance class he always starts by telling me he doesn’t remember. It makes me batty. I am SO desperate to know every little detail – I’d kill to spy on him. One week I was so frustrated with him being coy that I nearly started crying. I need to step back and be more patient. I know he’s trying to assert his independence. (NO! NO!) Slowly over the course of an evening, or even the week details start to trickle in. He's even more forthcoming with Mark, maybe because Mark isn't clamoring for details. Also – he has developed a nervous tick of chewing on his clothing. Often his shirt right under his chin or his shirt cuff is wet. He does it most often when he is socially anxious. I prefer it over the teeth grinding which he does occasionally but it’s still worse than the repetitive tapping of each individual finger on his thumb that he gets from his father. On the plus side he’s been sleeping really great for the last couple of weeks. He’s always been such a poor sleeper – regularly waking up at one point during the night and needing us to sit with him briefly to get back to sleep. But for weeks that has happened rarely. I’ve been too scared to talk about it for fear of jinxing it. Shhh.

A tale of intrigue, of desire, of triumph:
We finished dinner and Noah was eating his dessert. Ray was exploring the toy bins. I had to run downstairs to get a load of the boys’ laundry out of the dryer. I told Noah to keep an eye on Ray as I gated the kitchen off with the pack and play. When I came back upstairs I saw Ray had crossed the length of the kitchen and was now standing right by the pack and play. He was gurgling excitedly and smiling devilishly. “What are you up to little man?” It looked like he was eating something. “Noah, did you give Ray something to eat?” As I stuck my fingers in Ray’s mouth Noah said “Hey, where is my Hershey’s Kiss?” Noah had unwrapped it and set it on the table as he fiddled with the paper flag – at which point Ray must have made his way over to it, grabbed it surreptitiously, crossed the room with it and popped it into his mouth. And success was sweet.

A new song by Noah:
“I have a baby on my shoulder. I have a bird on my head.
I have a spider on my hand. Oh, where is my friend?”

Apropos of nothing, a vision for the future:
“Someday when we have a party I want to limbo.”

A letter to Disney

The other day when Noah was blathering on about Disneyworld, I’m not even sure of the specific topic of conversation, Mark made a half-muttered smart-ass statement (as he is want to do) “Write a letter to Walt Disney.” I remember it clearly because I found it both funny and inflammatory, but luckily Noah didn’t respond so I thought we were in the clear.

Yesterday morning we had this exchange:
“I want to write a letter to Walt Disney like Daddy said.”
“Oh… Really? What do you want it to say?”
“Dear Walt Disney, I don’t know why the Tiki birds talk. Your rides are the bestest. Love Noah.”
“That sounds like a very nice letter.”
I then called Mark and explained the situation. He asked if I told Noah that Walt Disney was dead. I confessed I did not. When I got off the phone with Mark it went something like this:
“Daddy says he thinks Walt Disney is dead.”
“Why?”
“Because Disneyworld was created a long time ago and Walt Disney was very old.”
“I don’t think he is. I think he just disappeared. Maybe he is on vacation.”
“Where do you think he went on vacation?”
“Maybe Lancaster.”
“Could be.”
And this evening Noah said “When we go to Disneyworld we will find out if Daddy is right about Walt Disney being dead.” To which I responded "Sure. I think someone might know there."

On the news front Ray’s lip is heeled but he gave himself a slight shiner when he fell this afternoon. I’d be pretty pissed off with all the injuries that boy inflicts on himself but he’s just as smiley and goofy as ever. I got a call from the pediatrician saying he was marginally anemic and then recommending I start inundating him with iron drops. I've decided to not heed their suggestion initially and instead try to increase my iron as well as Ray's via diet. Ray isn't being too helpful though since he refuses to eat any baby cereal which is the best source. Who told him he had a say in what he eats? Noah never realized he did.

On Saturday Noah started a swimming class and since then he’s been practicing floating in his bathtub. His teacher told him to pretend he was looking up at the stars. I took him to see Go, Dog, Go on Saturday afternoon and he really enjoyed it. On Sunday myself and the boys went to visit my Dad and Oma and Mark got to stay home and clean the bathroom. Today I hosted art group – every other week a handful of Moms switch off hosting and organizing a project. The kids typically create very briefly and then switch to play while Moms snack and chat. Today we painted large terra cotta pots. Noah typically stays interested in the art project the longest, as he did again today. Not only did he completely cover his whole pot in paint during art group but he also painted two more pots in the afternoon. My friend Janette was also able to come today with her son Jules and new baby boy Rendle. It hasn’t been THAT long since Ray was 6 weeks old – only 9 months. But it seems like a gazillion years ago. It’s so weird.

I was looking back at old blog posts the other night. I like to go back and look at what I said about Noah when he was as old as Ray is now and mull endlessly over how different and yet amazing they are. But what is so striking about looking at the old blog posts is how much and how often I blogged. Like over 400 posts a year! And not just a bunch of photos either. In depth information about what he was eating, how he was sleeping, what he was learning, how I was feeling. It’s crazy! Not only do I now have NO time to devote to journaling like that but I don’t even think I THINK about it all that much. And Ray is just growing so fast and I can barely take in what is going on with him let alone save it for posterity. It makes me feel a little sad. If I have a third I’d have to resort to one word posts once a month.

Mouthy

Poor Ray. He fell, led with his mouth and got himself a very bloody, mangled lip. With all the learning to walk bangs and bruises he has it's a miracle we don't have the authorities at our door. And the other photos are of the boys sitting in the hatch eating water ice. Ahhh - the joys of warm weather.

Bigger every day

Here are some shots from our recent zoo and circus outings.
Ray had his 9 month checkup yesterday. Turns out he's actually lost a bit of bulk. Though he's still 90 percentile in length and 95 for head, he's now only 75 for weight. He weighed in at 21 pounds, 12 ounces and I'm sure I weighed him around 23/24 at some point in the last month or so. I guess all that wiggling around is taking off the pounds.
Another boy started in Noah's dance class this week. I don't think he really cared that he was with all girls, but it eased my mind just in case. I asked his teacher how he was doing and she said he was really focused - that all the other kids were running around willy-nilly and he was standing there, staring at her waiting for the next set of instructions.
Noah's current hit song goes like this: "He thinks he's a hero like Indiana Jones. Come on! Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah (tarzan yell)."

Tiddly bits

I fell in love with the school we toured last week. Small class size. Smart, involved students. Humble classrooms, an admirable set of principles and a real family atmosphere. Though it’s relatively cheap for a private school it isn’t actually cheap – but I keep thinking about how this school seems like it would be an excellent partner in helping us raise our children like we want them to be raised and that seems priceless. But we have more school research to do.

The kids loved the circus. Noah stared at all in complete concentration and awe. Ray, who is now a pointing, clapping fool, found much to point and clap about. We also had a great time at the zoo on Friday. We organized a group outing with some of our neighborhood Mommy network. It was nice to see the kids romping around together and also great to hand them off to each other for bathroom breaks, etc. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – networking with other Moms makes my job much more doable and enjoyable. I’m so thankful to have met so many women at home with kids of like ages in my neighborhood, at the playground, and at playgroup. I now have about 10 other mothers that I regularly make playdates with. Meeting people easily in public spaces is one of the very best things about the city.

We spent the bulk of this weekend in our “yard.” A friend gave me some of her plants and in doing so also gave me the motivation to actually plant flowers in pots again this year. And once we got back there and started poking around we remembered that we needed a new table set and FINALLY a gas grill. Though I haven’t had the time and peace of mind to put the grill together yet (80 freakin pieces!) we have been eating meals at our new outdoor table. The only problem is that the boys get filthy every time I take them out there – covered in sand and sidewalk chalk – and then they track it all over the house. When is the damn cleaning service coming?

I was very excited to get out and see a grand performance of Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Saturday. I was a fan of the movie (did you know my Oma's name is Hedwig) and a fan of the local actor so it was a necessity that I go. And of course Dito rocked it. Ah… how I miss the theater.

And as is always the case when the kids are in bed – I should be sleeping. Adieu.