Christmas time

Santa Claus came as expected on Christmas morning and delivered lots and lots of presents for our wonderful children. Mary Grace got her Disney Kitchen and William got lots of fun toys too! Mommy and Daddy made each other very happy with their gifts and even Abby Shadow got lots of kitty cat treats.

We had a great time visiting with family and friends and the holiday season will be capped with a neighborhood kids New Years Eve party complete with a countdown to a mock-midnight at 8:00pm.

On this New Years eve, we would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous new year!

William's volume level

Lately, we've come to notice that William has just two volume settings. Loud and louder. It seems that when he cries, he tries to get the most sympathy by crying at the top of his lungs, and when he's excited, he screams at the top of his lungs! We've been trying to teach him to moderate his volume with "shhhhhh" and all he does is "shhhhhh" is back. Like a rude library patron; "shhh yourself!!"

I also remembered something that Mary Grace used to do when she was just learning to talk. I would ask her "what does Daddy say?", and she would respond in a low pitched "da da da da da". Then I'd ask "what does Mommy say?" and she would respond with a high pitched "da da da da da".

Alas, we've all been sick with a stomach bug for the last week, so there haven't been very many happy photos. Expect lots soon though.

Lastday, 3:00, the royal family.

Ask Mary Grace a question involving the word "yesterday" or "tomorrow" and the word she inevitably used is "lastday". Like "I went to the playground with Daddy lastday".

More interestingly, ask her a question involving a time and the answer is usually 3:00. Like "What time did you go to bed last night?" 3:00!

Finally, putting Mary Grace to bed tonight, we were chatting about the princess costume Daddy made for her and she wanted to make a prince costume for William. The she took it a step further and wanted a Queen costume for Mommy and a King custome for Daddy! So that will be our Sunday morning craft.

We all watched "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" tonight. Mary Grace was glued to the TV, soaking up detailed information about Santa's origins. How wonderful is it to see our kids loving the TV shows we loved as kids?!

Christmas Memory Game!

Last Christmas, when Mary Grace was 20 months old we used to play a concentration game with some themed Christmas coasters that have pictures of a church, santa, snowman, etc. We put those coasters away shortly after Christmas and forgot all about them.

Tonight they came out of their box and Mary Grace shouted "Christmas Memory Game!". Anne and Mamma couldn't figure out why she said that until I came into the room and heard the story and was reminded that Mary Grace and I did indeed used to use them as a memory game last Christmas.

We were quite surprised that she remembered them from last year! What a memory!

William's every increasing vocabulary

William has been communicating more and more lately, some of the things he's said have been:

"Me down!" after wanting to get out of his high chair when we ignored him saying "down" because we didn't realize what he was saying. But when he said "me down", we all looked at him and promptly got him down. Mission accomplished, Will.

"Ouch boo boo!" after mommy's warning for William to stay away from the stove because it was hot. Mommy said he could get a boo boo and William responded "Ouch boo boo!".

Mary Grace and I did a little craft after I saw her wearing her blankey like a robe. We made her a crown and a scepter (wand). She really got a kick out of it, so I took this picture:




And here are a few more from Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

After a completely weird morning where Daddy, Mary Grace and William all slept until nearly 9:30, I went to greet Mary Grace in bed and said "Happy Thanksgiving, Mary Grace". She responded "Thanksgiving is not for me, it's for everyone!"

I can't argue with her logic. The logic of a 2 1/2 year old, no less!

Mommy's birthday; "Fire it up"

Today, mommy's birthday, Mary Grace was informing daddy that he should get a birthday cake for mommy and that I should also put a candle in it, then that I should "Fire it up, Daddy". Anne and I looked at each other and asked her to repeat herself, and indeed, she instructed me to put the candle in the cake and "Fire it up". LOL

Also, we had a little craft time this morning and Mary Grace drew the following picture, which is a family portrait.



Bottom left is Mommy, middle is Daddy, and right is Mary Grace, then we have William floating above Mommy and Abby Shadow floating above Daddy.

William has started vocalizing a little more and has said "ribbit" (what does a froggy say) and calls both fish and anything that has wheels (trains, cars) "shishey".



Here's a recent picture of the two "relaxin" on the couch.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a blast this year. Mary Grace decided that she wanted to be a butterfly and mommy found a very nice costume for her. William, living up to his "stinker" nickname was a skunk. Since daylight savings time moved a week out, we were able to get started trick or treating the close neighbors in daylight. Then we proceeded down the street for a group trick-or-treating outing with the other neighborhood kids. Everyone had a great time when we came back to the house and enjoyed eating some candy on the front porch, greeting the older kids to give out candy. Too bad it only comes once a year...
Video that I cannot get to embed

Playing in the leaves

Anne took the kids out for a traditional fall photo shoot of the kids playing in the fallen leaves. It was William's first turn and he had a great time. He went from throwing them to covering himself in them to cuddling them. Mary Grace had at least as much fun last year as she had this year, if not more...

Mary Grace in 2007	Same scene, one year earlier Same girl, even more beautiful!
William enjoying the leaves	Leaf snuggle time

Pre-Halloween playing (10/20/2007)

We took the kids to a farm market that we like to go to on Saturday mornings when Mommy is working. We usually walk around the store picking up apples, pears, grapes, and delish corn on the cob and other vegetables.

On this special day, they had set up a hay maze and a haunted house area. The kids LOVED playing in the hay maze. The bales were stacked two high, so they were like rats in a maze. Mommy was the first to successfully navigate the maze, but the kids were more interested in running around like little rats. I wonder if they would have been more motivated if they knew there would be cheese waiting at the exit?

Mimicking the parents

We knew the day would come when we would regret our occasional slip-ups in front of the kids and we would hear them back come back to haunt us. A few things that Mary Grace has said recently:

To mommy, upon walking into the kitchen and seeing her making soup... "What the heck is mommy doing?" (I take responsibility for this one)

To daddy, when she found some Disney princess stickers while daddy was looking for wedding gift wrapping paper at Wegmans... "Look daddy, it's so cute!" (TOTAL mommy phrase)

To mommy and daddy, when she found a book at the Dollar Store that she wanted to buy... "Look mommy, a book; 10 bucks!" (who knows - could be us or Caillou)

William's nicknames

Mary Grace has really latched onto William's nicknames. Tonight she called him Donald Trump trouble-maker house-wrecker.

For posterity, we started calling William "Donald Trump" because his hair had gotten so long at one point that it looked like a comb-over. "House-wrecker" was coined as soon as William started to crawl, for his ability to get into things and make a big mess. And "trouble-maker" for his frequent quiet exploration which ultimately catches our attention, unfortunately, after the fact. Unrolling rolls of toilet paper, pulling each tissue out of the box, taking down all the dish towels, scattering toys all over the house, etc.

He's our little "Donald Trump Trouble-Maker House-wrecker" and we all love him so much!

The Great Pumpkin Festival

Today, we met Chris, Lori and Sarah outside Buffalo (in Clarence, NY) for a pumpkin festival. After about an hour drive with William sleeping and Mary Grace serenading mommy and daddy with the ABC song, we arrived in a giant parking lot nearly full. Though the lot was crowded, it was very reasonable inside. We started the day with pony rides for Mary Grace and William. William enjoyed it so much that he had a minor temper tantrum when he had to get off. It was short-lived though. Next, Sarah took Mary Grace through the haunted house. It was strange seeing my baby girl walking away with my niece, but I put my trust in her and she didn't let me down. After they both emerged safely from the house, Sarah explained that Mary Grace got scared at one point and she had to be carried. What a good cousin! We visited a few small displays including a pumpkin based teepee and a quick walk through the heavenly smelling barbeque area, then decided to get lunch. After lunch, the kids went on some rides, including the cars and the carousel. Then we made our way to the pumpkin launcher (air-powered pumpkin-shooting artillery) and got in line for the tracter drawn hayride. Then, it was time to go. We expected the kids would conk out instantly, but Mary Grace's antics kept William awake the entire way home. I've never known Mary Grace to talk and sing as much as she did. Yikes. And kicking my seat too! I'd always wondered why that set my dad off as much as it did, and now I know. :)

Mary Grace wants to drive home

On Sunday we spent a very fun afternoon at Brown's Berry Patch, all the way out in WaterPort, NY (near Oak Orchard Yacht Club). The kids had a great time on the giant bouncy pillow, feeding the animals, going down the giant slide, playing in the many sandboxes, and shopping in the gift store.

After several hours, it was time to leave and Mary Grace climbed into the drivers seat of the CR-V and announced that she would be driving home. Anne and I took it in stride and went on getting ready for the ride home. At one point, MG asked me if I would be sitting in her car seat (since she would be sitting in mine), and I said sure.

Well, it came time to leave and I went to get her out of the front seat to put her into her seat in the back and she threw a tantrum, as she genuinely believed that she would be driving home.

We tried to reason with her and explained that driving takes lots of practice and studying and she was too little, but she didn't want to hear it. We finally coaxed her into her seat but I'm sure she still thinks that one day soon, she'll be driving us and we'll be sitting in the back seat. Won't that be exciting...

Look at the Geese Mary Grace..... On no.....!

Last night we were all playing in the back yard near the sandbox and we heard a flock of geese overhead. I wanted Mary Grace to see them, so I said "Look Mary Grace, geese!" and pointed up. We all stopped to look up at them and watched as a dozen or so flew majestically overhead.

Then something went wrong. We saw debris. Yes, that kind of debris.

We all turned to stone as we tried to predict where the debris would land. I watched a large chunk land about 10 feet from me and I thought we were safe, until the splatter effect kicked in and showered Mary Grace's feet with "debris". My car also took a direct hit, as did the driveway further up.

I heard someone say it's good luck to be shat upon by a bird. I'll let you all know how the luck thing pans out... But from now on, when I hear that honking noise, I'm going to run for cover!

Family update: William is imitating more and more sounds and is starting to try and say some words. He's become quite the trouble maker too. He loves to unroll rolls of toilet paper onto the floor. Mary Grace LOVES puzzles, especially her Thomas puzzle that we bought we we went to see Thomas in the spring. Every time she sees an airplane she says that it's Uncle Jack and Jon's plane.

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!

Look Daddy, There's a Cowboy!

Those who know where we live may know that there's a Jewish Temple just up the street at Culver and Monroe. It's a more traditional following, so on Saturdays, you can usually see groups of people walking to or from the temple dressed in more traditional clothes; for the men, simple black suits with a brimmed black hat.

So we were all going somewhere in the car, stopped at the light at Culver. A member of the Temple walks past us in his black suit and hat. Then Mary Grace pipes up from the back seat "Look daddy, there's a cowboy!" It took a second for us to get what she was talking about, but Anne and I got a big laugh out of it. Then once we stopped laughing, she added "He's going to get his horsey", resulting in an even bigger laugh from the front seat.

William, while not quite as eloquent, has become quite verbal. He talks in his baby babble nearly all the time. He's developed a great belly laugh, and gets quite a kick out of his sister's antics. Mary Grace loves to put on shows for him to make him laugh, and he usually wants to jump in and participate. This usually leads to them getting all wound up and Anne and I sitting back and enjoying the show.

William has just started giving kisses too. Big open mouth face/lip contact kisses. He's also learned to wave bye-bye, and can recite the value of Pi to 12 digits.

Here are a few photos of the little people that make a mess of our house everyday.

 

William in his sweater with ears. And Mary Grace after gobbling up her strawberry ice cream on Daddy's birthday. The cake Anne made me was delish! (thanks Honey!)

One for the road

A few more recent photos of the kids. These were taken on St. Valentine's day. We did our traditional family outing at the Northside Inn in East Rochester the day before the holiday. We got a big winter storm that night and the next day, and we all stayed inside for the whole day and watched the snow pile up. These photos were taken to delay the onset of cabin fever.

Naughty Behavior!

You're probably thinking I'm going to write about either Mary Grace or William's naughty behavior, but no, it's my naughty behavior I'd like to document.

It has been way too long since my last blog entry. I've missed the winter solstice, Christmas, New Years day, and some miscellaneous semi-holidays which only impact me by making me play garbage day roulette (will it be Thursday night or Friday night?).

The quick summary of events since December 2.

Mary Grace enjoys water color painting, playing with play-doh, watching Caillou, eating cheese, dancing on the bed to Daddy's aerobics music, taking long baths, and playing hide-and-seek.

William enjoys watching Abby, playing with Abby, eating Cheerios and Corn Puffs, playing peek-a-boo, being held by mommy, his exersaucer, crawling on his tummy, eating paper and watching Baby Einstein.

Mary Grace doesn't like William playing with "her" toys, doesn't like most foods (or so she says until she eats it all up), doesn't like sledding when it's very cold outside, doesn't like walking in snow, doesn't like going to bed and doesn't like the workmen ("I cared of workmen").

William doesn't like hearing his milk being prepared because he has to have it NOW!, doesn't like to be told not to play with Abby's food or Abby, doesn't like chunky baby food, and doesn't like when Mary Grace takes toys from him.

Some recent milestones were William pulling himself to a standing position, Mary Grace pee pee on the potty, William feeding himself small pieces of food, Mary Grace drinking from a cup (with mixed results).

Finally, here are a few recent photos. Lots more on KodakGallery. Email us if you are interested in seeing them.



All bundled up for sledding with Mommy


All excited about eating some paper!


Playing in William's crib