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.