Nate and Jon and Mary Grace and William!

William and Mary Grace with their cousins Jon and Nate, taking a bike-ride on a nice sunny afternoon!

Daddy, I have a question for you

I put William to bed tonight and he was a dream. Very gentle and cute, talking with his little boy voice, and extra snuggly. We read three short books, then he hopped off my lap and climbed into his bed. After kisses and tucking him in, I went across the hall to my bedroom.

A few minutes later, I heard William call me. I went back in and he says

"Daddy, I have a question for you".
"OK, William, go ahead".
"Will I have bad dreams tonight?".
"No, you won't have bad dreams, just try to think of happy things and when you fall asleep you'll dream about those things. You could think about going to the amusement park, or playing with your cousins".
"OK, I'll think about playing with my cousins".

So Nate and Jon, he REALLY loved you guys being here and playing with him. Anne and I had a nice time with you too. :)

William's made-up foods

Lately, William has been making up new foods and renaming existing foods. We hope this is a trend he continues, because we find it so cute!

Mud-crushers - Miniature Snickers bars
Spider Balls - A new type of cereal he made up which has no sugar in it.
Rainbow Dogs - A type of candy.

(Hmmm, I wonder if William knows that they all have 12 letters? Is this some sort of clue?)

A rare good picture of mommy and daddy

We don't come up with good pictures of ourselves very often, but we both liked this one, so up it goes! (at least until Anne asks me to take it down :) **

**picture was changed by Anne.

It's been nice being your neighbor Mike and Doris

With great sadness, we bid farewell and best wishes to Mike and Doris our neighbors for 7 years, and mine for 14 years, the kids for their whole lives! We'll never forget Mary Grace and William yelling over the fence "Hi Mike!" and "Hi Doris!" EVERY TIME Mike or Doris were in their yard. We'll always be reminded of our ex-neighbors by all the great toys they've given the kids over the years and the beautiful quilt that Doris made for each of the kids when they were born.

My favorite story is when I met Mike the first time he handed me a key to his house and a key to his truck. "If you need anything from the house, just let yourself in and take it; if you need the truck, don't ask me, just take it." It doesn't get much better than that. Mike taught me about building retaining walls, hanging drywall, using leverage to your advantage, trimming trees, and most importantly, pacing yourself and singing while you work.

We threw a little neighborhood surprise party for Mike and Doris a few weeks back and here are some of the highlight photos.


Mike and Doris



The gang



The girls waiting for cake



The boy being a boy

I hope we can keep in touch and see each other again because we will all miss you!

A funny thing happened at Kidtown tonight

As typical on Wednesday evenings, Rick teaches a class at Midtown Athletic Club. I drop the kids off at KidTown, their child care. The kids usually have a great time, and aside from a little over-indulgence with TV viewing.

Tonight when I went to pick up the kids at 7:30, I was very surprised to hear that William fell asleep and was still sleeping. So I walk over to the TV area and there's my boy, sound asleep with a loaner blanket with 5 kids all around him watching TV (including Mary Grace).

That boy was OUT COLD. I picked him up and took him to the car and he barely stirred. Only when I mentioned stopping at Wendys did he snap out of it!

No, William, 5:00am is not morning-time!

William had a rare bad night last night. Usually he's asleep at 8:30pm and we don't hear a peep from him until the next morning at 7:30ish. So it was very alarming to hear him screaming "Mommy!!!!!!!" with some urgency at 4:30am. Anne went and tended to his needs (he though he saw a bug in his book basket) and came back to bed. Then again at 4:45 with the bug thing, this time in his laundry basket. Dozing off around 5:00am and the screaming resumes! So I got him and brought him into our bed.

Unfortunately, the sun started coming up which in William's mind means it's time to get up. So he laid there restlessly for about 15 minutes before I finally got up with him. Let me remind you that there's not a lot to do at 5:15am. He played some games, drank some milk, then started distracting me (I was trying to do some work remotely)

So I got dressed and we took a trip to Wegmans to get some groceries, then came back and unloaded, then ate a donut. OK... 6:15am. :(

So we went back to the games and some TV and some tinkertoys. That stretched things out until I was finally able to go to work.

Unfortunately for William, today is an action packed Seabreeze with friends day. Anne and I were taking bets on when exactly he would conk out. I predicted before lunch, she said just after. So at about 1:30pm, he started getting really whiney and impatient, followed by a need to "rest" in the stroller, immediately followed my sleep.

Racquetball or Whack-a-mole?

William has always had a hard time saying "whack-a-mole" and I thought it sounded like he was saying racquetball. So whenever he said that word, I would reply with the other word. This has gone on for quite some time now, and now that I'm actually playing racquetball again, it's gone into high-gear.

I overheard Mary Grace say today "Mommy, I love you just as much as you love me." They're both starting to say some really cute things lately. We can tell that William is processing a lot more, then coming up with new things to say. It's so interesting to hear the things that the kids come up with.

First amusement park trip of the year!

We got another season pass at Seabreeze this year and took our inaugural trip there last week. This year is extra special because the kids are tall enough for two new rides; the teacups and a really high airplane ride. We had a great time although we ran out of cash at the end and had to bypass all the games in favor of ice cream!

Daddy and the kids on the teacups.


Mommy and the kids posing pretty

Overnight Trip to Buffalo

This weekend we decided to take a trip to Buffalo and spend the night at a hotel with the kids. It was their first time at a hotel so Anne and I were in full observational mode. They seemed to both do very well with the concept of a bunch of strangers all sleeping in different rooms of the same building.

We checked in and immediately decided sleeping arrangements; Mary Grace wanted daddy and William wanted Mommy. So far so good. Next, we decided to take a dip in the pool. When we got there, we were surprised at how big and nice it was! The shallow end was 3' deep, so the kids required a parent each. They had such a good time in that pool! I don't think either of them stopped smiling ear-to-ear the whole time we were there!

We left the pool to have dinner with my brother's family (yum, thanks guys!), then decided to all go back to the hotel to swim some more! Again, very excited and happy kids, especially since we brought back some pool toys with us.

William and Mary Grace generally are in bed by 8:30, so it was quite a shock that they were still going strong in the pool at 9:30pm! We decided not to push our luck and risk a tantrum and left the pool for our room. William climbed right into bed, he was exhausted. He was asleep by 10. Mary Grace, on the other hand would-not-go-to-sleep. She was up past 11, whining and complaining about this or that, but finally the power of sleep overcame her reluctance.

The next morning, we got dressed and had breakfast at the hotel, then proceeded to our other destinations.

All-in-all, the kids took the whole "not sleeping in their own beds" thing in stride and had an outstanding time in Buffalo. I kept thinking about how much fun it would be to stay at a hotel with a pool in the dead of winter. So hopefully we'll be doing that.

Eating habits

I was thinking about how those two kids eat and wanted to jot down some notes for posterity.

Mary Grace refuses any and all vegetables, except for corn (on the cob and off) and she will open up sugar snap peas and eat the peas inside. She used to eat "ronis" with sauce but now will only eat them with butter. She does eat ravioli with sauce though.

She loves french fries and potato chips but won't eat any other potato (fried/mashed)

William will at least try new things and enjoys broccoli, peas. He tried mashed potatoes the other night and seemed not to hate it too much. I think he had a consistency issue with them. Tonight he tried baked beans. Consistency problem again.

Their agreed favorite food? Mommy's special recipe mac&cheese. Also hot dogs, ham/turkey roll-ups (especially with toothpicks), and believe it or not, they both LOVE Garden Burgers.

William learns to pedal his bike!

William has been only slightly interested in riding his tricycle so when we go for walks, he usually opts for a wagon ride instead. But yesterday, he decided to ride his bike to the playground. I walked with Mary Grace and Mommy walked with William. Since he hasn't been practicing, I was surprised to see William doing so good pedaling! (click the image below for a video)

From 2009-05-30

We played at the playground for about an hour and on the way back, we stopped to chat with some friends. I could tell the kids were getting tired as we had gone swimming at Midtown earlier, gone to the library and just ran for almost an hour at the playground. Here's proof that William was one tired puppy! (click the image below for a video)

From 2009-05-30

Flip-flopper and chatter-box

Lately William has taken on a family trait. Here's the scenario. William, do you want a pancake for breakfast? "No, I don't want a pankpank". Then once the pancakes are all prepared and served to his sister, he says, "I want a pankpank too!".

This is IDENTICAL (except for the pankpank part) to the what my brother Chris did when we were growing up and which I'm certain drove my mom nuts!

Anyway, he also flips back and forth. William, want some fruit? "Yeah, I want an apple. No, I want strawberries. I want to have some grapes. Oh, I want to have an apple". All in one breath. So many choices, so little time.

The kids spent the evening at Didi's last night, while Anne and I went to a fabulous wedding (congrats, Rich and Mel!). We picked them up around 10:15 and William was conked out but had been crying that he wanted his mommy just before sleepytime. Mary Grace on the other hand was wide awake and having a snack when we arrived. We listened to her chattering away most of the way home, but she also succumbed to the sandman.

Two sleepers when we got home made bedtime a treat for mommy and daddy for a change!

Pool fun

From 20090521

Wiping off my kiss! Hmmph!

Today, mommy was taking William and Mary Grace to Lollypop farms for a little afternoon fun. I was home from work at lunchtime and helping get everyone into the car.

After buckling William in, I asked him for a kiss and he gave me the forehead. I said I wanted a kiss on the lips, so he leans forward and kisses me, then promptly rubs the back of his hand over his lips, wiping away my kiss!

I got Annes attention and tried for a repeat performance and he did the same thing. I figured the third time is a charm, but sure enough, he kisses me and wipes his lips a third time!

Little stinker!

I had one of those moments with Mary Grace this morning. She was SO HAPPY about nothing really; she was just glowing and smiling from ear to ear while eating her breakfast before I took her to school. I just looked at her and thought I will remember this moment and that smile for the rest of my life!

Sassy boy!

First, William was playing on the new mini trampoline and was not following the rules that Mommy was laying down. As mommy was explaining the rules, William turned to her and said "Leave me alone, go in the kitchen, whatever!".

Later, William was stalling at bedtime by hanging out in Mary Grace's room. Mommy was calling him to come into his own room, then resorted to the dreaded "count-to-3". William's response? "Be quiet; I'm trying to pick out a book!".

While both of these situations were not exactly positive, all Anne and I could do was to laugh. We expect more of the same...

... as soon as his head hit the pillow

Little boys seem to have an on/off switch.

William had a very active day of playing both inside and outside. Towards the evening, there was a lot of crying going on, telling Anne and I that he was pretty tired. So when bedtime came around, he was the one telling us he wanted to go to sleep!

So we read a book, then be climbed into bed all snuggly with his two favorite blankets. And he lays down his head on his favorite pillow. I offered to sing him a song and I swear, before I got in the 5th note he was asleep.

Mary Grace on the other hand is laying in bed singing right now...

Peeling crayons and Q-cumbers

Anne and I were reminiscing about Mary Grace and crayons when she was 2-3. Every time we pulled them out for her to color with, she would sit there and peel the paper off the crayons! She preferred that over coloring with them. So we ended up with an entire bucket of crayons with no paper.

Oh, and last night, William came running into the kitchen to inform us that cucumber starts with a "Q". I guess that's logical for a 3 year old, so we just went with it.

Q-cumber it is, William!

Who's the mommy around here?

Lately, Mary Grace has taken it upon herself to try to play the parent role. She helps him out all the time, but she has been occasionally disciplining William. When I hear this happen, I remind Mary Grace that she is not William's mother and should be going to Anne or I when William does something naughty.

Today I was working on some laundry upstairs while William and Mary Grace were watching some TV downstairs. When I returned downstairs, William suddenly had no diaper on. I asked where the diaper went and Mary Grace responded, "I put it in the garbage". Huh? "Yeah, William pooped in it, so I changed his diaper" she adds.

To be fair, earlier in the week, Anne noticed that Mary Grace hadn't done a good job of wiping after going #2 on the potty and mentioned it to Mary Grace. Her response was that it was William who didn't do a good job of cleaning her up! We had to remind both of them that it wasn't the responsibility of the other to wipe.

Here's a recent photo of Mary Grace and William enjoying a cool morning on the back deck.

Ma'daddy!

William, having been calling Anne "mommy" all day long takes some time to get used to saying "daddy" when Daddy gets home from work. So I'm known as "ma'daddy".

For example, "Look at this, ma'daddy!" or "Come over here ma'daddy" or "Can you help me with this ma'daddy?"

This usually goes on for an hour or so, then he adapts. But he never says "da'mommy". Hmmmph!