William turns 3!

William had a great day today on his third birthday. William responded to everything saying "Happy Birthday" to him by saying "Happy Birthday" back. He was treating it like "Merry Christmas"... :)

It started with a beautiful day weather-wise; sunny and 70s. Because it was so warm outside, we decided to let him open one gift at lunchtime. He got a nice water table with a little pump in it so that it works like a sink. That boy LOVES playing with water, so it was a perfect gift. He and Mary Grace played with it on the deck all afternoon.

We had DiDi, John and Mary Jo over for pizza and cake and ice cream. We had an appetizer on the deck in the sun while the kids played with the water table some more. We went back inside and had dinner. At one point the adults were all talking and William was trying to say something but nobody heard him, so he yells "I....WANT....MY....CAKE!" We all stopped what we were doing and went for the cake, afterall, it is his birthday!

He got some great presents, which Mary Grace was most than happy to help him open.

At the end of the day, Anne asked what his favorite parts were and he said with a big smile on his face, his cake (a bug-themed cake) and his water table!

He had a really good day; a perfect birthday for a 3 year old.

William and his godmother	William and Mommy	William and his sister

"Last Day" and William's birthday tomorrow!

I was just IM'ing with Anne and I used a phrase that Mary Grace has been using for some time and I wanted to document it, so here goes.

At some point, Mary Grace started using the term "last day" as a replacement for yesterday. We both found this very cute, so we've adopted it into our vocabulary. Everytime MG says it, Anne and I share one of those "that's so cute" glances.

William turns three tomorrow! He's started on his potty training and even goes all by himself now. He's doing great and we're really proud of him. He's also started saying his "L" sounds when we work with him. Previously he used the "W" sound. For example, Mary Grace's lovie was "wovey". Last night I was explaining it to him and click, he got it! I was saying it over and over. Today he's reverted so I guess we'll have to keep working on in.

He's also a fast talker (like Daddy) who doesn't have time to sound out all the consonants when he talks. For example "i-a-do-that" rather than "I want to do that" and "i-a-milkey" for "I want some milkey". Also "maa-gwace, you wanna pway w'me?". The later is one of my favorite lines from William to Mary Grace.

Heartbreaker? William Dangerously?

While watching some TV, Mary Grace heard the word "heartbreaker". Not knowing what it meant she asked Anne "Is a heartbreaker a tool, Mommy?" Containing her laughter, Anne explained what the term meant.

William has taken a turn to the dangerous side. He climbed on top of his toy box and then was standing on the window sill. Seeing this, Anne told him to get down. He asked "why do I have to get down?", to which Anne responded "because it's dangerous!". William came back with "I like dangerous things!"

A slight misunderstanding

Tonight, Mary Grace announced to Anne that when she is 6 she can wear the clothes that Frank gave her. Anne replied, "The clothes that Frank gave you? Frank who? Frankie didn't give you any clothes." Mary Grace replied,"No, not Frankie, Frank who drives the CVS truck!" Anne said, "Do you mean the UPS truck?"

After a little analysis, Anne figured out the misunderstanding. We buy a lot of stuff online, so the UPS guy comes to our house probably once a week. He's very friendly and knows the kids now and the kids know him. His name is Frank. So Mary Grace thought that when Frank brings boxes to the door and the box has clothes for her, that it's a gift for her... from Frank!

I think Anne straightened her out.

Fun at the pool in Arizona!

Here's a few photos and a video of how much the kids enjoyed Uncle Jack's pool in Arizona. Seeing the perma-smiles on their faces while in the pool really made the trip worthwhile!

This is William splashing his cousin, Nate.


Here's William lounging poolside.


And finally, here's Nate and Mary Grace.


And a fun-in-the-pool video



Unfortunately, cousin Johnny was sick while we were there. We know he'll have a better time with the kids at the beach this summer!

Oh yeah... that's right.

During our vacation, William started saying a new phrase: "Oh yeah, that's right". We're not talking saying it once or twice, but over and over again. Asking questions that he knew the answer to, just so that he could say again "Oh yeah, that's right". "Daddy, Where's Mommy?". "Upstairs, William". "Oh yeah, that's right". It was very cute and everyone got a big kick out of it.

Today, Mary Grace and I watched Beauty and the Beast (thanks Uncle James...) and we both really enjoyed it. At the end, Mary Grace said she wants to see "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "Cinderella"; essentially, all the Disney Princess movies. I got to thinking and wondering if she's deprived since she's 4 and hasn't seen them?

Brothers and Sisters

William, while being a very mischievous little kid is also quite a lover. He enjoys hugging and kissing mommy and daddy and even his sister. He REALLY enjoys kissing his sister... because she dislikes it! Yesterday, after a big hug and kiss from William, Mary Grace got mad and standing there with her tiny index finger pointing at him, she said "William, I don't ever want you to hug or kiss me again!"

His response? More kissing, of course.



This picture was taken at the Phoenix Zoo in front of the Macaw exhibit. Look how you two are holding hands...

Fun with a led light and a slow shutter

Mary Grace swinging the led light while Daddy takes a picture with a 5 second shutter speed.

 

You're in our thoughts and prayers, Sarah

Wishing and praying for a successful surgery and a quick recovery for my niece Sarah, who is having corrective surgery for scoliosis today.

And also wishing for strength and peace for her parents as they support her through the surgery and recovery.

Time for a new Christmas list!

Today, Mary Grace announced that she wanted to write her Christmas list. Mommy's reaction was that Christmas is a long time away, but Daddy remembered that we had almost no idea what to get her, since what she wanted changed on a daily basis! So we encouraged her to start her list... on Google Docs!

Doing her dooty as promised

Mary Grace has been stalling on her potty training for at least 6 months, as the regular readers no doubt know.

Anne set up a deal that Mary Grace would not be provided any more pull-up diapers once she turned 4. In Anne's own words "I will NOT be changing the stinky diaper of a 4 year old". Mary Grace agreed to these terms, and we all waited for that fateful day.

The day after her birthday, she kept her word and went on the potty all by herself. We're so proud of her and how quickly and easily and independently she's doing her dooty now!


Here's Mary Grace and her cousin Emily at Mary Grace's birthday party

Potato Chips

Since this was Superbowl Sunday, we had stocked up the house with all kinds of junk food, including potato chips. Mary Grace LOVES potato chips, and we've tried to get her to eat mashed potatoes using that as leverage, but it didn't work.

Tonight I asked Mary Grace to guess what the ingredients are in potato chips. Her guess, while logical, was a little off. She said: Potatoes, Salt and Chips.

Anne's valiant attempt to get Mary Grace to eat a vegetable

Relayed from a story Anne told me.

Anne was trying to get Mary Grace to try some glazed sweet potatoes that Anne had made for dinner. Mary Grace wasn't interested. So Anne resorted to bribery. "If you eat one bite, you can have anything you want".

Mary Grace replies "Anything? Can you name some things that I could have?"
Anne replies, "Well, a new doll, or a toy from the Strong Museum gift shop, or ..."
"OK! What do I have to do?" asks Mary Grace.
"Just eat some sweet potato".
Here's the kicker: Mary Grace replies "Well, that won't be happening."

William impersonating Mr. Nut Cracker

When we took the Christmas decorations out this year, William was all about the Nut Cracker. He just loved to hold it and make the mouth move. It became his new favorite toy. Then one day, he gave it a voice!



Other things to note. Mary Grace making her breakfast, and William repeatedly slamming the Nut Crackow into the washing machine at the end. He's a boy.

Mary Grace and William dancing.

The kids spontaneously started dancing last week. Luckily we were there to catch it on video!

Daddy the non-blogger.

Santa brings Daddy a new digital camera for Christmas and daddy hasn't blogged any photos since. Naughty daddy. Hope this makes up for the recent lack of photos!

Here are a few from Build-A-Bear. William and Mary Grace each got a Build-A-Bear gift certificate from the Tobins for Christmas. Of course Mary Grace made hers a Cinderella bear, and William's is a Spiderman (but without the mask thank-you-very-much, because the mask makes him scary).




Next, we have William sitting pretty on the pillow with his blankey watching TV. Mommy liked how he had his head propped on his folded hands.


A little wrestling action in the kitchen. It's so fun to see them playing together!



William playing firetruck with his fireman hat on. Great toy, thank you Sarah, Aunt Lori and Uncle Chris!



Sledding at Cobbs Hill Park with Mickey; who "is not at all like Micky Mouse, she's just a normal lady". (quote from Mary Grace this past summer)





Mary Grace's first baby shower. She was a perfectly behaved little angel and she was a great helper, not only bringing presents to her cousin Lindsay, but opening them too! :)

Hoe-dozer

How William says "bulldozer". Maybe he's combining back HOE and Bull DOZER? He woke up this morning and told me a long story about colors and hoedozers and robots. He was just rambling in his half-intelligible speak. It was very cute. I wish I had recorded it.

Mary Grace is off the wagon.

My excitement about Mary Grace's progress was premature. We're back to pullups.

Also, William lately has been running up to mommy and daddy saying "I made a poopy". There's hardly ever actually a poopy, so I had a little talk with him explaining the difference between poopy and peepee... He seemed to get it, but it didn't take.

Our best Christmas present!

Today, daddy was out running errands and got a phone call from mommy asking me to pick up some candy necklaces for a reward for Mary Grace. When I got home I found out what the reward was for. Our little girl (finally) made a poopy on the potty! She's been making pee-pee on the potty like a pro but refused up until today to do #2.

When I asked how it happened, she said she was making pee-pee and some poopy came out too (been there done that). After all the scheming and badgering and rewards that we tried over the last year, she ultimately just did it all by herself. A good lesson and our best Christmas present too!

Mary Grace sings Winter Snow Is Cold

Her performance was a big hit at Christmas Eve...

"Winter Snow Is Cold" debut tonight

Those lucky enough to be in Mary Grace's presence tonight will get to hear her sing the song she wrote and produced "Winter Snow Is Cold". She's been talking about singing it all month and tonight is the big night!

We've asked her to sing it for us and she's only given us a few lines, then she stops and says "that's all, you have to wait until Christmas".

So everyone be sure to ask Mary Grace about it tonight and have your video cameras ready to go!

Relief about Mary Grace's dreams

Our kids sleep really well. We've seriously been blessed; I know that after hearing about some of our friends experiences with their kids. They ordinarilly sleep 11-12 hours continuous over night with the rare exception of one of them waking during the night (which happened a few nights ago when William rolled out of bed onto the floor, poor thing)

On a rare occasion, one of them will wake up crying calling for us. Mommy usually springs into action while I mumble some supporting words or just go right back to sleep. We usually think it's a bad dream although we never know for sure.

So I was leaving this morning and noticed that Mary Grace's covers had fallen off and were on the floor and she was curled up in a little ball. I put her covers back on her and she half woke up, looked at me and said "Daddy, there's rain in a rainbow".

It's so relieving that Mary Grace is dreaming about rainbows! Hopefully, there are unicorns and puppies and flowers in there too.

Pank-pank

William's word for pancake. Which he has been asking for at every meal lately. :)

Advent Calendar

Mary Grace got an Advent chain made of paper, where you take one ring off each day, and each ring has a little task. Some of them have been "take a walk with your parents", "build a snowman", etc. She's been getting more and more excited with each one, until she read today's task. It said "Eat some vegetables".

So said "that's not very fun." Mommy said, "Maybe tomorrow's will be more fun". And Mary Grace replied, "Yeah, maybe it will say something like "go to the farm and ride on a horse!".

Halloween pictures a month late.

I've been blogging from elsewhere lately and haven't had access to my photos. I was just browsing the blog and realized I didn't do a halloween post. So here are some of the more memorable photos:

	William and Mary Grace posing in their costumes just before we left for a trick or treating adventure! William is Curious George and Mary Grace is Princess Arial
	The Princesses; Catherine is Cinderella
	First trick or treat stop at Damien and Annette's house.
	And a photo of all the little trick or treaters.
	Curious George enjoying the fruits of his labor!

The Princess and the Silly Prince

Mary Grace took her stuffed fabric letters out as she does periodically and we spelled "princess" together. I told her how to spell it and she picked each letter and laid it down on the floor. Yes, we were short one "s". Once she was all done and sitting there as cute as could be, I had to snap a picture! I love the way she put some letters down backwards!

Conversely, William decided to take off his pajamas and run around the house in his diaper and snow boots. The funnier thing about this photo was that he was saying "I want to go outside", as if he expected he could go play in the snow so long as he had his snow boots on. :)

And finally a loving picture of mommy, Mary Grace and William.

Pakasil:

The word that William says for Popsicle.

Our wonderful kids

Mary Grace got in trouble tonight for turning the TV back on after it was turned off because it was bedtime. William got in trouble like 50 times, so I'm not even going to start going through them. But at bedtime, I offered to sing William two christmas songs in place of the normal Itsy Bitsy Spider and Twinkle Twinkle. HE LOVED IT. He laid there with a big smile on his face, staring off into the distance. I swear he had visions of sugar plums dancing through his head.

So I sang the songs to Mary Grace too. She started to get really excited for Christmas and promised that she was going to make up a new song and sing it for us on Christmas day. The title: "Christmas Snow Is Cold". As I walked past her room to go downstairs to watch TV, I heard her experimenting with the lyrics. Our little performer.

Mary Grace and William's first movie!

This past Saturday, Mommy was working so I had the idea to take the kids to the theater to see Madagascar 2. The kids loved the first one for a long time until someone played with the DVD and scratched it up.

I looked up the information online and there was a 10:20am matinee showing, score. Also called Eric (neighbor from down the street) and we decided to meet there with his two girls, Clementine and Adelade.

So, we get there and buy the tickets and gave them to the kids and said DON'T LOSE THESE! So we get to the ticket-taker and the kids gave them to her and it turns out that I lost my ticket! Found it on the floor and moved to the next hurdle.

As you might expect, the theater was nearly empty. We found a good spot and settled in. The kids were instantly hyponitized by the big screen as they watched the previews. When the lights dimmed for the feature presentation, the both got a litle anxious, but when they saw the clouds clip for Dreamworks Studios, the anxiety switched to excitement.

An hour and a half later, the movie was done. The kids did surprisingly well. William got a little fidgety towards the end. They chowed down two candy necklaces, sippy cups with apple juice, a snack-trap full of goldfish crackers and William had a LOT of popcorn.

It was a good experience, but nervous dad didn't really get to enjoy the movie. I was focused on the kids and making sure they were ok, needs were met, etc. We'll catch it on video soon so Mommy can enjoy it too.

Fun With Leaves

A little something I like to call "Creative Leaf Un-Raking".



They loved it. Played over and over until it started raining.

The age of figuring things out?

Last night we were all watching the new "Dora Saves The Ice Princess" movie premier (you HAVE to see it, it's so awesome!) and in one scene, Dora and her friends all need to use magic to jump into a book to help the Ice Princess.

A little while later, Swiper the Fox appears and tries to steal a magic pendant. Anne, William and I were ok with this, but a very observant Mary Grace says "Haaay! How did Swiper get into the book?" (he wasn't one of the friends that jumped into the book)

It's strange how when the kids were infants, every single thing they did was a major developmental milestone (rolling over, sucking thumb, even sleeping for X hours at a time), but now that the kids are getting bigger, they exhibit strong reasoning skills like what Mary Grace did, and we hardly notice.

Playing with birthday party playdough and a nice moment.

Anne was trying to get William to sing Happy Birthday and caught the following:

1. William at his cutest.
2. Mary Grace trying to take over.
3. William saying "my do it"
4. William saying "emm!" (the universal "and I mean it" punctuation)
5. Mommy suggesting Mary Grace let William sing the song.

Plausible deniability

(10:54:01 AM) Anne: "I dont do stuff naughty to myself"
(10:54:20 AM) Rick: ?
(10:54:34 AM) Anne: Mary Grace after she accused me of "bending' one of her coloring pages and I told her that I didnt do it, she did
(10:54:42 AM) Rick: hehe

Poor Mary Grace was sick with some short-term stomach bug yesterday afternoon into the evening. She's much better today, eating and playing just like herself. And even contradicting her mommy too.

Sisters and brothers

There are times when the kids fight over toys or fight over what to watch on TV or fight over who gets to play on the computer, or fight over food or treats or just try to see who can scream the loudest.

Then there are times when William will walk up to his sister and give her a nice big hug. And times when Mary Grace will put her arm around her brother just because. They always give a hug or a kiss goodnight and are always happy to see each other in the morning.

So long as it all balances out in the end, it's all good.

William's favorite sayings

Mommy was putting William to bed last night and leaned in to give him a sleepy kiss and whispered "William you are so sweet!" to which William responded "I not sweet, I a boy!". This has also been his excuse for getting into to trouble around the house.. "William, why did you make this big mess with your goldfish crackers?". "I a boy"...

He also recalls the time that he fell off a piece of playground equipment onto a (luckily) soft surface playground base several months ago, whenever anyone asks him "how are you"? The standard response: "I fall down playground, go boom."

Fall fun, New York style.

It's that time of year again. The leaves in the neighborhood are turning gold and red and the mornings are a bit crisp for anything but lounging in front of the TV (or Spinning classes :)

So in accordance with customs, we headed out to Baumanns/Schutts farm markets, this time to REALLY pick some apples. The kids up to this point thought picking apples meant going to the farm market and selecting them from the bins.

So we went out to G&S Farms near the corner of Lincoln and Atlantic in Walworth. Fabulous experience. We picked a bushel of various delicious apples. The kids had a great time picking the apples from the nice low trees and actually listened to directions (like to not throw the apples into the box).

Next, we headed over to the pumpkin patch to get some pumpkin. Mary Grace termed this act "pumpkin patching", similar to "apple picking". We like it, so we've integrated that term into our vocabulary...

The trip's only downside was when Mary Grace tripped in the pumpkin patch and fell into a rotten pumpkin and got her pants full of pumpkin guts. Luckily mommy had a spare pair of pants in the emergency bag in the car.

 

 

 

Car ride from !$%#

Saturday of this weekend was a very busy day. Daddy had a golf tournament in the morning that lasted until almost 1. Mommy also worked in the morning. Lucky for us, Mama came and spent the night and babysat the kids to allow me to golf (thanks SO much, Mama). Next, we had to get Mama back to Lyons by 2:30, then be in Syracuse by 4:00pm for a birthday for Kristin, Brian's wife.

Everything went pretty smoothly and we had a very nice time at the party. The food was great (authentic Syracuse Dinosaur BBQ) and there were lots of parents with kids around Mary Grace and William's age, so the kids played a lot and we got to talk with some other parents.

We packed it up around 8:15 with kids jammies on, fully expecting they would be asleep as soon as we got on the highway for the two hour drive. The fun began as we got on the highway. Both kids were singing very loudly all the songs they knew. ABC, Itsy-Bitsy-Spider, Twinkle-Twinkle, Bingo, Old McDonald, etc. It was really cute to hear them both singing... for about the first 20 minutes.

After about an 45 minutes, Daddy was going insane. So Mommy introduced the kids to the "see who can keep quiet the longest" game. While that brought down the noise level, it didn't induce sleep. William finally fell asleep at about 9:15, but Mary Grace resisted THE WHOLE WAY HOME. At the end of the trip, we observed her shaking her head from side-to-side in a last-ditch effort to stay awake. So 10:15ish, we arrive and put both kids right to bed and so ends our last road trip anywhere... ever...

I'm obviously bluffing, but man.... Sippy cups will be filled with warm milk next time.

Early morning playtime.

This past weekend, Mama was the first out of bed and went to check on William first. To her surprise, he was not in his crib. Checking in Mary Grace's room next, she found both kids playing so nicely in Mary Grace's room.

So William climbed out of his crib and went into his sister's room to play and Mary Grace joined in!

As parents, we definitely welcome this type of situation. :)

Mary Grace's first day of (pre) school!

The day we've been anxiously approaching, Mary Grace's first real time at preschool, has finally come! It's a very gentle introduction to school (I think mostly for the parents). She goes two times a week for about 2 1/2 hours.

Of course, we had to take some pictures before she left. Who do you think looks very excited to be going in these pictures?




This evening, I decided to conduct a little interview.



We've very proud of how well she did on her first day of school and we look forward to the day when she graduates from college, which should be in the next few days according to all my friends with older kids.

Pumon!

We've been listening closely to some of the things the kids have been saying lately. William, when calling someone to go along with him says "pum On" instead of "come on". So, of course, Anne and I have adopted this into our vocabulary...

Mary Grace has been listening to a Sesame Street song CD and her are her words to the second part of I've Been Working On The Railroad:

Pe pi piggly pi oh. Pi pi piggly pi oh. Also, rather than "strumming on the old banjo", it's "scrubbing on the old banjo".

With Mary Grace, we try and try to correct her, but she insists that we're the ones that are wrong.

We had a light agenda this long weekend, culminating in a trip to the zoo today. The kids had a good time, but really enjoyed the wading pool afterwards.

We also went to Seabreeze, the public market and to Mama's house. I got some painting finished, got some wood for the kitchen molding stripped, and canned 14 jars of tomatoes. All in all, not a bad weekend.

From Gay-yet to Mary Grace

Since we call the kids by their full names, you can imagine how hard it is for other kids to "say Mary Grace". Sarah always wants to call Mary Grace "Mary", and William's name for his sister has evolved along with his vocabulary.

He started out calling her Geee-ah, which later became Gay-yet, and today, August 28, 2008, I heard him call her Mary Grace. And he even corrected me when I called her "Gay-yet" (we adopt their vocabulary for fun); "No daddy, not Gay-yet, Mary Grace!".

I've been working with William on changing his affirmative response to a question from "Yet!" to "Yes!", and it's going very well. I think it was one of those situations where it's really cute to hear him say it that way, so you refrain from teaching him the right way. It still catches me off-guard to hear him saying "yes" correctly. I hope to always remember my little buy excitedly yelling "YET!" when I ask if he wants to go swimming. And saying "come on Gay-Tet!" to get his sister to join him.

Today, William helped me pick cayenne peppers and tomatoes from the garden then ran into the house so excitedly with the basket of vegetables to show Mommy. Mommy and Daddy's little farmer.

My do it!

William is entering the famed "me do" stage, except he put his own spin on it. He says "My do it"! Well, he doesn't really say it so much as scream it. He usually does pretty well at his my do it tasks, like opening a yogurt, brushing his teeth or unwrapping an ice cream sandwich. Sometimes, it doesn't go well, so he reluctantly asks for help. We usually let him try, then just sit back and enjoy the show.

Who knew parenting could be so entertaining!

What is heaven?

Last night we were driving to the playground and somehow, Papa (Anne's father) came up. We explained that Papa is in heaven now and Mary Grace asked "What is heaven"?

This was one of those interesting moments in a parents life that you both look forward to and kinda don't look forward to. How does one explain heaven to a three year old?

I looked at Anne and she started the following explanation: You were in heaven before you were in mommy's tummy, then you were in mommy's tummy, then you were born. And someday you'll go back to heaven.

Mary Grace's response was classic: "Hmm, I've never been there".

Anne came back with: You don't remember it because you were so little, but you were there.

That seemed to satisfy her curiosity for the time being, as we quickly jumped to the new subject of releasing the squirrel that I caught (the one that was eating my tomatoes) into the park behind the playground.

A nice Sunday in August.

Tonight Anne asked Mary Grace if she knew what a bookmark was for. Mary Grace responded "it's so you know which book is which". Close, but not quite. So Anne tried to explain.

Anne: "Say you're reading a book..."
Mary Grace: "You're reading a book".
Anne: " OK, for instance, when someone is reading a book blah blah blah blah..."

Maybe you had to be there, but it was cute.

We went to a neighbor's pool party this afternoon. Mary Grace (the Pisces) was all about being in the water almost the ENTIRE time, while William started out being very cautious (as is his nature). So the first time I went in, he just played near the edge of the pool, pouring water, scooping things, etc. Then I started this game where I would pretend I was going to pick him up and he would push me and I would fall backwards into the water. He really liked that game.

Then came lunch and a break from the pool. After lunch, shockingly, William wanted to go in! He held on very tightly around my neck but had a really good time as we walked around the pool, bouncing and splashing. Then as he got more comfortable, he rode an inflatable dolphin around as I held onto him. Finally he let me hold onto his hands and arms as he kicked around the pool to propel himself!

Seeing some of our neighbors kids around the same age as ours swimming while their mommy was only watching reminded us that it's probably time to re-enroll the kids in swimming lessons at the Y.

William spitting and swishing like a pro!

William has learned to spit after brushing like a pro! He even swishes his mouth out with water from a cup and then spits that out. I think that means he's now qualified for adult toothpaste (in very small quantities of course) but I'll leave that to our favorite dentist to determine. Please post the answer as a comment, Dr. Tobin.

Also, William has started trying to say "pledge of allegance" but it's nearly incomprehendable. All the syllables are there, but I couldn't make out a single word. It's so cute to hear him say it though.

Yesterday we were at Bill Grays after a trip to Seabreeze amusic park (sic) and William was acting overtired from all the excitement at the park. He wouldn't sit still, wouldn't eat anything, was overreacting to everything. Anne said to me "We've got to get him to bed; he's not right". Hearing this, William chimes in "I'm not right, Daddy. I'm not right". So funny.

No more "hmm hmm hmm - hmm hmm hmm"

Back when Mary Grace was a newborn we had a little trouble putting her to sleep at night. Of course, she only slept for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time between feedings, but that's not the point. At some point I started humming "Lullaby and Goodnight" to her as part of the routine. It worked like a charm. I mentioned it to Anne and she started humming it to her too. That song became so ingrained in the bedtime routine that Mary Grace would not go to bed without it. It became to me a symbol of being a daddy, and some times I would even tear up while humming it.

So, the routine went on and on, and even as a two year old, she knew when she didn't get the song at bedtime and put up a fuss. As recently as this past spring, I used to pretend that I forgot the song and hum the Happy Birthday song or instead of humming I would sing the words, but Mary Grace would have no part of that. "No, not that song... the hmmm hmmm hmmm song!"

I'm sure this sort of thing will be a recurring theme as Mary Grace grows up but the first one hurts just a little. Tonight I asked her if she wanted me to sing the song and she said no, because she's a big girl now. Wait? What? - when did that happen?!

So I whispered to Mary Grace "Can I sing it for me, and you can just listen?" She reluctantly agreed, and I thought of all the wonderful nights of putting her to bed and singing that song. Nights when she was completely exhausted when she first stopped napping, nights when she had no sleep whatsoever in her eyes, warm summer nights, cool spring nights.

They all drift into the past and I'm left with that memory of holding my two year old little girl in my lap and humming Lullaby and Goodnight.

Fistfull of poop.

As we're deep into swimming season, the diaper has been somewhat optional for William. Sure, we *try* to have a diaper on William most of the time, but when he's coming out of or going into the pool, we lower our guard.

My advise to anyone in this situation is to not lower your guard.

Today, William came running into the kitchen yelling "Heea!.., Heea!.." (here.. here..) to his mommy. Looking at what it was that he wanted to give mommy was somewhat of a surprise. Of course the title gave it away. Anne quickly led him to the potty where he deposited the poop, then she proceeded to wash him up.

Mary Grace and I went to inspect and found a few more Caddyshack candy bars and a bin of train tracks that had been recently moistened. More disinfecting...

This reminds me of my brother, who once decided to pee into a can of Tinker Toys rather than walk across the hallway into the bathroom.

Mary Grace has started using a little grunt as punctuation. For example, she might say "No William, you can't play with my Disney Princesses... Emh!" or, "I don't want macaroni and cheese... Emh!". Anne and I both make eye contact and share a little chuckle each time she does it.

We're getting excited for our month of visitors from Arizona and just counting down the days!

Mr. Get Into Trouble

William is so mischievous. He loves to do things that while seemingly innocent enough, drive mommy and daddy nutty! And he does them over and over again. Here are some examples


William contemplates playing in the mulch of the flower bed while Mommy stands on the back deck warning him not to (and capturing the cute moment on camera)


William removes sand from the sandbox, pouring it on the driveway, in the swimming pool, in the flower beds and in whatever else suits him.


Mr. Sit in the water at the Firehouse #9 open house, getting his shorts, shirt and diaper soaking wet. There were other kids doing the same thing, so he gets no points for originality on this one. (LOVE the cute fireman hat though)


Mr. Make a mess of his bedroom, then flash a cute smile that gets him away with it.

As William becomes less and less of a baby and more and more of a little boy, we find ourselves wanting another baby. It must be true, our brains are wired to forget all the negative things that go along with having an infant, and only remember the positives. Still, we love watching William's personality develop and seeing the brother and sister bond developing.

Mary Grace goes rail-free

We finally decided it was time to take the front off of Mary Grace's crib last week. Lately, she's been climbing in and out at will, so it's utility was nearly completely worn out and it was becoming a safety concern.

With the ceremony of the rail removal, we also adjusted our routine. Instead of sitting in the glider and reading a book, we instead put Mary Grace into bed and read to her there.

She really enjoys not having a rail, and the "big-girl-ness" that goes along with the new bed and routine.

A few nights ago, I was reading to her in bed, and when we finished the book, I started to sing her a song. She interrupted me and started to sing me a song; "twinkle twinkle little star". So I pretended to fall asleep (snoring sound effects) with my head on her second pillow. After finishing the song, I felt a stong push against my motionless head heard Mary Grace say "Go get in your own bed Daddy". LOL

Mary Grace still fits

As a shower gift, we got this cute suede baby seat cozy. Since Mary Grace was born in the winter, we used it when we took her to her first doctor appointment. Seeing her tiny head at the top of the infant car seat cozy was too cute for the new parents, so we snapped a bunch of pictures.


Recently, we got it back after we loaned it to some neighbors. Mary Grace was asking what it was for, so I explained it to her. She then asked if she could climb in. It was a tight fit, and she had to bend her legs, but she made it in. Seeing her cute little face at the top of the cat seat cozy brought back all the memories, and I knew I had my next blog post.

NOooo...!

William has finally started to say no! Up until recently, the word "no" was not in his vocabulary :) He would just shake his head from side-to-side but didn't say anything. Then suddenly, he started saying it! No just a short "No!". This was a long drawn out "NOOooo" which can only be better explained with elipses at the end. "NOOooo...". It's really cute now, but I have a feeling that word will wear out its welcome.

Also, Mary Grace is still progressing on potty training. Getting better all the time. This morning after a successfull potty trip, William said he wanted to do it too. He sees his sister and gets the gist of it. Except he thinks he sits on the seat, gets some toilet paper and pushes it between his legs into the toilet.

So after that I figured he was ok, so I went to help Mary Grace get dressed. Afterwards, I went back into the bathroom and was greeted with a stream of pee. William made the pee-pee come! Unfortunately, it went all over the bathroom but it's a start!

Rocks rock, Princesses fly, and siblings fight.

William has taken a big interest in rocks. He usually makes a beeline for the crushed stone pile when we go to Cobbs Hill Reservoir and today, Memorial Day, he quickly found and played with the crushed rocks making up the driveway at Miller's plants in Lyons.

Mary Grace has become much more drawn to pretend games, usually with her Disney Princess figurines. In one I overheard today, Prince Charming asks each princess to dance, then somehow asks Cinderella's fairy godmother to dance. The fairy godmother is pretty psyched to be dancing with the handsome prince, so she taps her wand on each of the princesses, enabling them to fly.

Interpersonally, William is starting to show a little aggression towards his sister when she takes things from him. This usually leads Mary Grace to over cry in hopes that he'll be punished. Sometimes though, she hits him back, and it's him that over-cries, hoping that she'll be punished. To be fair, sometimes they're best friends, playing well, horsing around and being kids. And they both look forward to a hug and a kiss from each other before bedtime, which we find completely adorable.

Mary Grace's first online purchase

Mary Grace has become really attached to playing video games on the kitchen computer during William's nap. And we've found that it's a great time to catch up on some house work or get ready for dinner, since she's occupied.

A few days ago while Daddy was at work, an email arrived from Amazon.com confirming a purchase of 12 boxes of organic cereal. I assumed that Mommy had placed the order and didn't give it a second thought.

At dinner, I mentioned the purchase to Mommy and was surprised to learn that Mommy didn't place the order. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together was as easy as watching what Mary Grace did with the computer when the game didn't work correctly. She repeatedly clicked randomly around the screen. She apparently stumbled upon the Amazon One-Click purchase button on a browser that was left open.

The story has a happy ending though. I emailed Amazon and they readily volunteered to refund the full price of the purchase ($52) and keep the product. WOW, we were both shocked and will be doing lots more business with Amazon.

The cereal isn't half bad either! I'm sure we'll still have some when our Arizona visitors come this summer.