Splish, Splash, Spring?

This entire week has been unseasonably warm, more like spring than the middle of winter. On Thursday, I decided to go swimming at the community center pool. It was so wonderful that afterwards I purchase a family membership for the year. Today Sean and I took the boys to the pool. Liam was very excited and was not very nervous in the water. At first, Grant was very cautious and a little scared. But once he saw Liam trying to swim with daddy, he decided he couldn't be out-done and was soon splashing and kicking and having fun. Eventually Liam was treading water without holding onto daddy (with a flotation device of course). Grant had fun throwing a ball and then going after it with help from me. Everyone had a wonderful time and hopefully we will make this a regular event.

Before we went swimming today, the boys and I had to run a bunch of errands. As a reward for their good behavior through all five stops while we were out, I bought them both a small Lego set. Grant's was a safari rover with assorted animals. Liam's was a ninja, complete with flying serpents. Liam built his set all by himself. After I built Grant's set, I decided to make a safari cottage (the yellow one) to go along with it. Now Liam and Grant both have cottages to play with.

Jumping Beans

The boys have been going stir-crazy stuck indoors lately. So today we took them to Jumping Jax - which is a large indoor bouncing-house. The boys jumped and slide themselves silly. Grant's favorite was one that had a bunch of basket balls in it. Liam like the giant slides. Sean and I each took turns playing with the boys, so that we each had a few minutes to read or play on the netbook. They had a blast and it was totally worth the $8 to get in. I only wish that I had remembered to bring my camera with me to record their happy smiles!

Hot and Cold

It's hard to believe that two days ago it looked like this outside and was 45 degrees:


And today it looked like this outside and was 25 degrees:


Thankfully, my morning and evening commute was uneventful. I even got away with not driving - I carpooled! Today was also the last day of the first week of classes. I have a grueling schedule this semester, and I'm glad one week out of sixteen is d.o.n.e!

Tomorrow, sledding!

Book Worms

I spent much of my time over the holiday break reading for pleasure and it seems to have rubbed off on Grant. Now every evening, he constantly brings me books to read to him. He started out asking me to read the little board books...now he's bringing me all of the oversized and long children's books that we have in our extensive collection. Occasionally he even brings me one of my own paperbacks, saying "book, book" and handing it to me.

I'm not complaining though. I'm very happy to sit and read to Grant and Liam in the evening. It is one of the few things that they can both do with me and it is very relaxing for all of us.

So here's to a good book! Or books!

Happy 2012!

Today was the beginning of a New Year and mother nature seemed to know it. The wind came up something fierce and following it was a snow squall. This winter hasn't been much of a winter...warm and wet with little snow. So while I wouldn't normally welcome snow, this little storm was a welcomed change for the new year.

We spent a quiet day at home playing and tidying. Sean and I both managed to empty a few boxes of stuff we had been storing in the basement. I also decided to finally let go of a bunch of clothes that no longer fit me. I packed five bags of items to donate in the car this afternoon. It felt good to accomplish that. Sean and I also took apart the TV and media equipment, cleaned everything, and then re-hooked it back up in a better way. We also resurrected the PS2, so now we can play those old games as well as our Wii games.

The New Year promises to be a good one, with some wonderful news from my family. My sister just got engaged to her boyfriend! I know they will be very happy together! And one of my cousins just announced that she and her husband are expecting their first child July 30th!

This evening, Grant and Liam and I all sat on the couch reading our own books. It is so lovely that they enjoy reading as much as Sean and I do. I'm going to spend one more evening scrapbooking before my break is over. So much to do...

2011 In Review

Usually I take a few moments to reflect on the year on New Years eve and write in my journal. I have no idea where my journal is, so I decided to do my reflecting here.

The past year has been pretty good for us. Sean has continued working for his new office and enjoys it most of the time. I received a one of a time chance when I was offered a post-doc this summer. Commuting has been difficult, but we've made due. Sean helps so much with the boys! We have found much help from our neighbors too, who watch Liam for us after school. Liam enjoys having the extra time to spend with his friend, Joshua. John, Nicole, Joshua, Lidia, and Penny spent part of the morning with us today in fact!

Not much else has changed, really. They boys continued to grow and amaze me. I feel very fortunate for all that we have and all of the opportunities that we have been granted. All in all, 2011 has been a good year and I hope that fate will continue to be kind to us in 2012.

Fly Boyz

Yesterday we took the boys to the Air Zoo. The trip was nearly perfect. The boys were very excited, but behaved pretty well. Both Grant and Liam enjoyed themselves looking at planes, cycles, cars, and misc NASA stuff. Grant loved playing with the toggle switches in the gemini capsule. They were both brave enough to ride some of the amusement park rides with me. Grant flew biplanes and rode on the ferris wheel. Liam rode those two plus the spinning balloon ride. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Very Merry and Very Early Christmas Morning

Christmas began very early this year, when a super psyched Liam woke everyone up at 4:30am! Sean and I relented and got up at 5am. We came done to find that Santa had been busy the night before and left ample gives under the tree and in stockings. We started with stockings and then allowed the boys to open the few gifts from mommy and daddy. Then it was time for some breakfast. I made homemade blintzes. Yum!

But one we had food in our bellies, it was difficult to stay awake. So Sean and Grant and I all laid down for a nap between 7am and 9am. After a little rest, we came back to continue opening gifts from Santa. After all the packages were open, mommy got busy building the Lego sets that both Grant and Liam got for Christmas. We spent the day playing and eating Christmas treats!

In the evening, we visited our neighbor, Peggy, to spread a little Holiday cheer. She has had a rough year and I knew it would brighten her day to see the boys. She also treated them to a gift. Grant got a see-and-say, Liam got a hexbug and an ornament. They are sure lucky boys!



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The day after Christmas, we received a visit from Grandma Kathie and Great Grandma! The boys had lots of fun showing the grandma's their new toys and going out for a Chinese lunch. We are so glad they could come spend the day with us!

Winter Fun

Today we had thought about taking the boys on the Polar Express Train ride, but we were all in no mood for traveling. So we decided to go to the City Market's holiday event in town instead. It turned out to be a great decision, because there were lots of fun events going on. Liam and Grant got to both visit with Father Christmas, listen to live harp and violin music, pet ponies, and decorate a giant ginger bread house. We also tasted real roasted chestnuts - super yummy! Upon leaving Sean and I entered a drawing for a free dinner and the kids got goodie bags. Later when we got home, we received a call that we had won the drawing for the free dinner!

December Day

It's hard to believe that Grant is already 17 months old today! He had a rough week, particularly, yesterday, when he had a flu bug. The poor guy woke up sick and couldn't eat anything all day without getting sick. We spent the day together, snuggled, and had low-key play. I just hope that I don't end up getting it after cleaning up all the messes. Today he was feeling better and could hold down some food.

Liam also apparently had a rough day yesterday. Sean met him at the bus stop to pick him up and the bus driver told Sean that Liam had been miss-behaving and was getting written up. In particular, he supposedly hit a boy who sits behind him. After talking with Liam we learned that the other child had been harassing Liam - that doesn't excuse his behavior, however. The big concern is that if Liam continues his behavior, he will be suspended form the bus for three days. This will make things quite difficult for Sean and I. What a way to start off December...

On the plus side, Grant is talking up a storm - I can actually have a conversation with him now! This evening I got out the peg board and he spent quite some time playing with it. He nearly filled the board with 100 pegs! Later, Liam and Grant were both making music with daddy. Grant and Liam were having fun playing with the little keyboard. I love it when they are creative. :) I told Liam that I would let him take piano lessons if he learned how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb. I taught him the first part of the song. He was very pleased with himself and I think he may actually be determined to learn it. Liam was also inspired to draw an orchid, because Sean and I were working on our orchid artwork for next year's competition. Liam's drawing was very impressive for a 5 year old!

Little Wordy Guy

Grant has really discovered the power of words and has been using them. Today alone I heard him say: bye, kitty, more, apple, horse, chew-chew, train, draw, night-night, and probably more that I missed. He also has been showing that he wants to help and be a big boy. On Tuesday he pulled out the cat food and carried it over to the cat's bowl. So together we fed the cat and then he put the food back. I praised him for being such a great helper and he just beamed with pride. He's helped me feed kitty every day this week, since. When it's time for us to clean up toys, he likes to sign the clean up song and usually pitches in with picking up toys. In the past few weeks, Grant has also been using spoons to feed himself. He does a pretty good job at it too!

This morning Grant and Liam and I played with trains while Sean made breakfast. I made them a fun track for their trains. The boys actually played really nice together. Later, after we took care of chores, I took the boys to the horse barns and we fed them apples.

Yesterday, I hung out with Grant, since daycare was closed. He and I went to the Impression 5 museum. Grant had so much fun at the museum - he was giggling and squealing with excitement. I ran into another mom, who I used to see at a mom group when Liam was little. She has a little girl a few months younger than Grant and a son a few months younger than Liam. Grant and the little girl played with blocks together. Grant did a very nice job putting duplo blocks together in a small tower.

Grant also weaned this week! November 1st was the last day he nursed. He has nursed less and less for some time. We made it down to just once a day and now that he quit, he doesn't seem to notice. I feel a little guilty for weaning him so much earlier than Liam, but it's just much harder to keep it up with me working long hours and being away from home so much. And then there has also been the issue of recurring thrush, which has made nursing quote miserable for me. So on the whole, I am relieved to be done with nursing.

Trick-R-

Treat! Yes, today Liam and Grant went out begging for candy. Grant really got into the swing of things. He was talking up a storm. This evening was the first time he ever said "trick-er" and "thank you". He also said bye-bye several times, which he started saying for the first time last week.

When we got home, Liam helped hand out candy and Grant played with all our mini pumpkins. Then we went in to eat some candy. Grant really enjoyed his chocolate. I don't even know how many Liam ate, but I was relieved to see that some of what he ate included fruit snacks. :)




This morning, I helped out at Liam's school party. The kids all paraded through the school and showed off their costumes. Liam behaved very well and I think he enjoyed having me around. He is really lucky to have such great teachers and a good class of kids. They all seemed to get along pretty well for five year olds!

Dashing Dinos

Both Liam and Grant got to run in the Dino Dash this year - and mommy too. Only I ran the whole 5k, then hurried home to pick up the boys so they could run in the mini-dash and diaper-dash. We ran into our friends, Dan and Annie, and their son Aidan. Liam and Aidan sure make scary dino faces!

Days of Yore

The first somewhat sunny day after weeks of rain, we decided to do something outside today and headed to the Michigan Renaissance Faire. Despite the fact that it was actually quite chilly and we had a bit of a late start and even took a wrong highway, once we were there we had lots of fun!

No surprise that everyone thought our little Viking and handsome Knight were just too adorable!

Orange Belts & Poo-Poo Talk

Some highlights of the week:

Liam applied himself and worked super hard during his last couple karate classes. This means that he earned his orange belt in the class! Unfortunately, I didn't submit the paperwork in time, so he didn't have his belt in time to be presented in class. But sensei presented him with another orange belt that he got to wear for a few minutes. The next morning I sent the paperwork in and Liam's new gi arrived in the mail yesterday. He was so excited to put it on! He will get his official orange belt on the first day of class during the next term (in two weeks).

We all met Liam's Kindergarten teachers this Wednesday. They were very nice and told us good stories about Liam. One day last week Liam showed a lot of compassion for the preschoolers in his class who were missing their parents and having a hard time. He tried comforting them and showed them pictures of his family. So sweet. :)

Grant has been going through some terrible teething and has been quite cranky - not his usual jovial self. He has even started waking 2 - 3 times a night again and crying a lot. :( But we will manage to make him laugh and he does the same for us too. Tonight at dinner he started passing gas loudly. We were also shocked that everyone started laughing. :P Then egged on by the result, Grant started straining to do it again and eventually did with spectacular results. All the while, I was thinking - this is what it's going to be like in a house for of boys!

This weekend I found a little time to do some sewing. I worked on Halloween costumes. I managed to whip together a mighty cute viking outfit for Grant and a batman cape for Liam. He is still undecided if he will be batman or yoda - I also knited a Yoda hat and feet for him last week.

Kindergarten Kid

A BIG day for Liam - and me - today was his first day of Kindergarten! Here he is waiting for the bus with his buddy Joshua.


And getting on the big yellow bus.

Grant's First Haircut

I had to trick him by carefully cutting his hair while he was nursing. I was sad to see his baby curls go, but I do think he looks pretty sharp with his new do.

T-Minus...

...9 days and counting, until Liam starts Kindergarten! He has been having a blast at summer camp at the science center the past two weeks and has one more week to go before school starts. For the most part he has been well behaved. I even heard this great story last week...Liam made friends with this little girl (who is probably 7 years old) named Anavi. One day, Anavi was feeling lonely and missing her mom. So Liam, ran and got the phones of our family that I had put in his backpack the weekend before. He told her also about his family and what was going on in the pictures and she wasn't sad any more. It makes me feel so good that he has such compassion. My little boy is growing up so fast!

In other news, we took the boys to the Detroit zoo for the first time yesterday. It was a warm day, but we had a lot of fun and saw so many animals! Grant is now nearly running - he was showing us that he has a mind of his own and constantly tried running the opposite direction. So I had to corral him in the stroller for much of the trip. At one point we stopped to get frozen lemonaid. While we were waiting, Liam saw a Cicada ambushed and carried off by a Cicada Killer - I am afraid that the even was so traumatic that he will remember it more than all the cool animals that we saw.

My big 5-year old!

Hard to believe that I first became a mother 5-years ago this week! My little Liam turned 3 on Wednesday and today we celebrated his birthday with friends and family.

Here are a few pictures from our festivities this week.

The Great Communicator

Grant (and mommy) survived the surgery on Tuesday just fine. In fact he was back to his normal jovial self mere hours later. He took a long nap and then was playing rough and tumble soon afterwards.

On Wednesday evening Grant "communicated" his desire to nurse by carrying the boppy pillow over and handing it to me. This was no easy feat, as the pillow is just about as big as him! The next morning, he and Liam were playing in the dinning room. Then I heard Grant repeating a loud humming noise and went to see what was the matter. Turns out he found kitty's hairball on the ground and was sitting next to it trying to get my attention to let me know it was there. He didn't touch it or anything, just notified me about it. He is one smart cookie!