Amusic Park!

Mary Grace has an interesting way of saying Amusement Park - It sounds like she's saying "Amusic Park". I tried to teach her to say it correctly tonight, but she's pretty certain that she's saying it correctly. Eh... Works for me.

So that's where we went tonight. It was a beautiful summer night and the planets must have been in alignment because unlike the last time we went to Seabreeze, Mary Grace was way into trying the rides tonight.

First she went on the little cars and enjoyed them so much that she also tried the airplanes and the boats. Then we ran into our neighbors Eric and Bethany and their daughter Clementine, so we started the ride circuit all over again!

Mary Grace and Clementine even tried the baby rollercoaster but halfway through the ride, Mary Grace has a change of heart and wanted out. The attendant was nice enough to stop the ride early and she scooted under the safety bar and ran off the ride saying that the ride made her sick and that it wasn't a good ride for her.

I have some photos that my mom took of me and Randy at a similar amusic park when we were quite young, so these pictures are very special to me. (but unfortunately, we didn't bring a camera so they're from my phone camera)

At the beach!

We took all the kids to the beach this past weekend. Jon had lots of fun looking for beach glass and digging big holes in the sand, then discussing the socio-political ramifications of the hole filling with water.

Mary Grace was unrelenting in her desire to go deeper. She was in the water so long that she started to turn purple. She lectured me a few times when she fell and got some water down the wrong pipe... "That's why you should hold my hand, Daddy".

William got covered from head to foot with sand and didn't really want to go in the water. He got a little scared when I took him out into the water to get the sand off, but he was a brave little man and didn't cry.

It was exhausting, but fun. I guess having the life guards at Durand Eastman beach isn't such a bad thing (I was initially against it).

Here are some pictures from the day.

Visitors from Arizona!

We've had Jack and Jon here for almost a week and today I finally took some pictures or the kids and Jon. We were heading to the beach (more pictures coming soon) and William fell asleep holding a water bottle. Then, Jon and Mary Grace were hamming it up, so I had to take a picture of them too.

Look for the beach pictures in the next day or so!

Moooooo!

Anne has been doing a great job teaching William the animal noises. Quack-quack for ducks, meow for cats, mooooo for cows, etc. William is doing some great animal impressions.

We took the kids out for a jammie-clad, post-bath ice-cream run last night, and while we were heading north on the highway, Mary Grace was watching all the clouds in the sky. She saw some purple-ish ones and yelled, Daddy! I see purple clouds! William responded with a long "Moooooooo!", thinking Mary Grace has said "purple cows".

Mary Grace, mommy and daddy all got a big laugh out of that one, then enjoyed some delicious ice cream from Brewsters. Ahhh, summer.

William eats 'ronis with sauce

It was a very nice night tonight, so we decided to eat out on the front porch. I was greeted by two close-to-naked children who were just getting ready to eat. I asked Anne if I should get bibs, but we agreed that the less to get dirty the better. We didn't expect what you see below though...

Despite appearances, William did get most of his food into his mouth. And he was all cleaned up about 20 minutes later, after an early bath.

Frankenstein!

I went home for lunch today and was greeted by Mary Grace screaming "DADDY!" and running to me, which is usually what happens. But then from across the room, I saw a very excited looking baby Frankenstein with an ear-to-ear grin, arms outstretched and walking just like a recently brought-to-life little monster. I yelled "Frankenstein!" just as he got to me, leaning into a great big hug from daddy.

That boy is so cute.

William walks!

It started with a few cautious steps, and it's become the preferred method of locomotion! Yes, William is walking now, just a few days before his 14 month birthday.
Right now, he's screaming in frustration because he can't pull off his socks by himself. I better go help out, because we all know how annoying socks can be!

A very nice fathers day!

Fathers day was very good to me today! I'm not sure if my favorite part was sleeping in, breakfast in bed, opening presents, playing with the kids in the yard, 'roni's from Mamma, ice cream cake desert, or snuggling with sleepy kids at bedtime. I guess with a lineup like that, why should I choose? They were all my favorites!

Bunny goes to timeout.

Today after Mary Grace got a timeout for taking a toy away from William, Mary Grace handed down her own justice to her bunny. "Bunny, you going to timeout for pushing that other bunny". She mimicked the same treatment she gets, to the word! After a little while, she went back to the bunny and asked "Do you know why you're in timeout?", then made the bunny apologize to the other bunny.

Anne and I were cracking up, under our breath.

We also took the kids to Seabreeze amusement park for the first time. We expected William to patiently sit in the stroller, which he did. We thought Mary Grace would go on the kiddie rides, but the first thing she saw was a grown up ride that scared her. She was too scared to set foot on the ground the rest of the time that we were there. Poor little angel.

William is a little housewrecker. His latest trick is ignoring Anne and I when we call out his name for bring naughty. He's getting in to everything, and timeouts are a big joke to him. We're at our wits end, and welcome ideas from the more experienced readers of this blog!

Listening to the ocean in a seashell

Thank-you, uncle James, for the sea shell. I can hear the ocean in it!

Tonight after Mary Grace's bath, she looked up at the sea-shell that is on top of the medicine cabinet and asked to see it. I explained that it was a sea-shell from the ocean that uncle James gave to daddy. Then I held it up to her ear to see if she could hear the ocean, and she could! I said that we should thank uncle James and that's what Mary Grace said.

...... Goes around and Around and AROUND!

Mary Grace started singing a song to get William to laugh recently. The song ends with "Goes around and Around and AROUND", getting really loud. But the song starts with some words too which Anne and I have been unable to figure out.

So we asked Mary Grace to sing it slowly for us and we determined that we either can't figure out how the song starts or that the words change everytime.

I guess the important thing is that William gets a good giggle and belly laugh in everytime she does it, and big sister loves to make little brother laugh.

William's first pickle

William had his first taste of a pickle at Don's Original down at the lake on May 19. He seemed to like it, but he's become such a little vacuum cleaner that it's hard to tell if he even tastes anything he eats.

We've been enjoying the early summer. Mommy has the kids in the backyard playing every day and Daddy has been doing a lot of grilling. The deck off the back of the house is shaping up. The stairs will be going up this weekend and I may even get a start on the railings.

Mary Grace loves running around and playing outside. She's always asking to go outside and play, and never wants to nap; "I'm not sleepy" ALWAYS preceeds a 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon and bedtime at night.

Mary Grace makes up a song and dance

Imaging Mary Grace spinning around in circles and raising her hands towards the sky when you read these lyrics:

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

Way up in the big blue sky

About Airplanes
About Airplanes

Yay!

Where is William?! - giggle giggle giggle

This morning I went into William's room to get him out of bed and he was "hiding" in his crib. He had pulled his blanket over his head and was sitting very still. So I played along - "Where is William?" I asked, and heard a little giggle. Then he pulled the blanket off of himself and started cracking up.

He's such a little cutie.

We also lost power to the house last night from 10:30 until 3:15, for the first time I can recall since 1996. So if anyone recorded Lost in HD and wants to burn me a DVD, I'd appreciate it. :)

How tall is Mary Grace? 5 lbs!

I'm probably past the 50% point on my deck now and I was walking through the house this weekend carrying my tape measurer. Mary Grace was very interested in it, so I said "Lets see how tall you are". After finally getting her to stand still long enough to get a measurement, she started walking off, flashed me a smile and said "5 lbs!". I guess that's good enough for me.

Also, Mary Grace, William and I went shopping for mommy for something for mothers day. Our search took us to Stevers on Park Avenue where we got some treats for mommy. As we were walking back to the car, I told her that we can't tell mommy we got her chocolate because it's a secret. Back home, all the gifts were safely stored and as soon as mommy walked in, Mary Grace runs up to her, all excited, and says "Mommy!!! We got you some chocolate!!! It's a secret!". I guess a little more explaining was in order on my part. :)

Not to leave out my boy, William has been getting closer and closer to taking his first steps. He's totally fealess when it comes to scooting and takes on stairs like he's a natural, both up and down! He gets into trouble a lot, but he is a boy. I caught him today pulling his sisters hair... So naughty!

Some photos since it's been a while:

Thankey

William's new word is Thank-you. His first word was Dry dry dry (which we say after we wash him with a wipe, while we dry him). His second word was Mommy, then Daddy, now thank-you.

It's so cute to hand him something to eat and hear a little voice say thank-you.

You like that {insert edible item name here}, daddy?

Anne and I are probably to blame for this but Mary Grace is now WAY into asking the standard question "You like that, Daddy?" She asks whenever she seems me eat something. Even if it's the same thing over and over again (like eating pretzels).

I think she asks it because she wants some, or at least thinks she wants some. Or maybe it's just to make sure you're eating something you like to eat. Regardless, it's awfully cute.

When she is really talkative, she might even ask "Does that make you feel better", which we know is from trying to convince Mary Grace to take her medicine, and explaining to her "This will make you feel better".

You like that pretzel Daddy? You like it? I like it sooo much! You like that iced tea? Does it make you feel better? I like iced tea!

Look, Thomas - This is my lovey!

We took the kids to Medina yesterday to see Thomas The Tank Engine on tour. We got to take a ride on a passenger car that Thomas pulled, meet Sir Topham Hatt, find our way through the Tidmouth Sheds maze and shop of Thomas and Frieds products.

While William just sat back and took it all in, Mary Grace's enthusiasm level was very enjoyable to watch. She liked talking to the locomotive-sized Thomas, saying things like "Look Thomas, this is my lovey". She ran though the maze effortlessly (which perplexed me until I realized that she was following the worn grass trail), and she picked out a new train for her train set (Percy) and a Thomas puzzle.

On the way out, we drove to a railroad crossing and got out of the car and waited for the train to come by so we could see Thomas one last time. It was probably the best idea of the day, as Mary Grace got to see Thomas approach steam-whistle blowing, pulling all the passenger cars. Once Thomas passed, she also got a kick out of waving to all the other kids on the train.

No William, I'm crying now!

Anne just conveyed a story to me that I had to post. Apparently, Anne was changing William's diaper in Mary Grace's room this morning. William can be quite a challenge when it comes to diaper changes, so to distract him, mommy gave him one of Mary Grace's toys.

Of course, Mary Grace started crying because she didn't want William to have her toy.

Next, William started placing the toy into his mouth which as we know is a no-no. So Anne took the toy from William, which led to William screaming. So now both kids are crying...

And the point of this post is Mary Grace's next statement. "No William, I'm crying now". Yes, we have a couple of fakers...

House Wrecker

Anne and I are very fortunate to have experienced having both a boy and a girl baby. I'm ready to share with you the biggest difference. William loves to get into things much more than Mary Grace ever did. So much so that I've begin referring to him as "the house-wrecker". To be fair, he's just a baby and doesn't get into too much trouble, but I predict that will change as he continues to gain skills in his new world.

So today Mommy and Mary Grace were in the kitchen and William came crawling in from the living room. Mary Grace proceeds to exclaim "Uh oh, here comes the house wrecker!"

I must learn to be careful with what I say around that little girl!