House Crashers

Tyler loved playing with the cardboard playhouse he got for his birthday but eventually it was time for it to go. He is a bit of a hoarder so we figured it would not go well. Brian talked it up and told him he could jump on it and smash it before throwing it away. At first he was really excited about this plan until he realized we were talking about his playhouse and not our home. I am not sure why he was fine with the idea of trashing our actual home but I guess looking at the living room after they’ve been playing a bit should give me an idea. 

We calmed him down and give him a few days to countdown to the house crashing and he ended up having a lot of fun with the destruction.

 

Colin’s First Haircut

The idea of cutting a babies hair seems somewhat unnatural and makes me cringe a bit but Brian insisted that we do something about Colin’s Donald Trump hairdo. Taking him to a professional salon was out of the question because that would make the cut seem too official & the idea of paying for two or three scissor snips seemed ridiculous.

Dad’s Barber Shop with one satisfied customer- even without suckers or airplane shaped chairs.

 

The end result. We didn’t take off too much, and it is brushed to the side so you can’t tell that it’s a little choppy and crooked. Cutting hair is a tad harder than you’d think. I should have remembered that from all of the Barbie haircuts I gave as a child.

TLC

Tyler (5), Lucas (3) & Colin (7 months)

Man’s Night

Whenever I am out with the girls Daddy always gets the boys excited about having their own man’s night.

This is a “menu” of things scheduled for (and accomplished) tonight.

We are so lucky to have such a fun and involved Daddy!

First Swim Lessons

With all of the lessons and classes the boys have taken they have never had swimming lessons. I held off because Tyler used to be scared of the water and I was afraid lessons would push him further out of his comfort zone and intimidate him even more. Now that he is over his fears I really want them to learn how to swim so they know what to do if they were in water without their floaties. 

 

Update- After 8 weeks their swimming skills remain unchanged and the boys did not enjoy their lessons probably because the kids spend quite a bit of time waiting by the wall for their next turn.

I would love for them to have continued practice but I’m also very relieved they don’t want to sign up again.  They had been taking evening lessons, which I chose hoping  Brian would be around to help some, but his travel schedule didn’t cooperate and he always seemed to be gone on that night. I hated the evening time because dinner was rushed, the Y is really crowded at that time and Colin is usually getting tired and a bit fussy. Not to mention having to change them back into dry clothes in the gross locker rooms and then get them home for showers before bed.

Beginning Babbles

Colin has really started babbling and just began saying Da sounds today.

Julia & Jeff's Birthday

Julia is 5! She shares her birthday with her Daddy and we celebrated their big day with a party at KinderGYM.

 

 

 

Part Monkey

We were at the  Little Gym for a birthday party when I glanced over and saw Tyler climbing up by himself on the uneven bars.  I worried this might not end well but he impressed me with a  flip over the top bar and then climbed right back up to do it all over again.

My Superboys

7 Months!

Colin has been really into food this month! He often grabs at his food and wants to hold it himself. He lets you know if you are taking too long between bites. Last month he couldn’t finish a jar of food over a couple of feedings and he can now eat 3 jars of baby food at one meal. He eats everything we’ve offered and isn’t picky at all.

He has started eating finger foods, beginning with puffs (2-6-12). He loved them at first bite but it took him two days of practice to work out a crude pincer grasp and successfully get them in his mouth. He’s had tiny pieces of watermelon and other fruit. We’ve also started to give him a sippy cup (1-23-12) but he still needs assistance and ends up with more water on his shirt than in his mouth.

Baby food has come a long way since I used it last.  The food pouches are such a great invention, organic baby food is more widely available, and the flavors are so much more interesting than the used to be. Colin’s baby food contains ingredients such as rutabaga, blackcurrants, parsnips, beets, eggplant, amaranth, peppers, and mint. 

Looks like his beautiful baby blue eyes are here to stay.

 

 

He is sleeping 11-12 hours at night and starts his day around 7:30 am.  He takes several short naps rather than a few good, long naps and is bad at napping on the run (which it seems like we always are with tennis, soccer, swimming, gymnastics, music, preschool, park trips, etc.)

He is sitting up great now except for the occasional tumble while leaning forward for a toy.

 

More first- first time sitting in a stroller (out of his infant seat), first time in the jumper and first time in a restaurant high chair.

This sweet cuddle is a very rare occurrence. Sadly, Colin has never been much of a snuggler. Even as a  new baby he would  hold his back stiffly upright.  It’s hard to see in this censored photo but I love his little rolls.

Happy Heart Day

Tyler just learned how to make hearts and has been practicing his new skill.

The boys with their homemade valentine’s. Pirates booty for Lucas’s mateys and Kool-Aid for Tyler’s classmates (ideas taken from pinterest).  

Colin’s first Valentine’s Day.

I love those baby blues.

The boys got a telescope (or spying scope as they call it) selected from a catalog for Brian’s 10 year employment anniversary.

The boys got an extra special valentine because Papa and Grandma came down to visit for a few days.

Danielle & Emilee Visit

Danielle & Emilee visited for the weekend! Some pictures from their visit.

Harper & Brody’s Birthday

Harper (3) & Brody (2) had a joint birthday party at Riverbend Bounce.

 

 

 

Danielle & Emilee were visiting for the weekend and came along for the fun.

 

 

 

Tyler & Lucas were in a constant state of motion. They love that place.

 

Soon we’ll have another one on the run!

More Stars of the Stage

Lucas’s class was on stage this week and it also happened to be PJ day one of the days. Here you can see Tyler wearing the Spiderman PJ’s he got for his birthday that are threadbare from him wanting to wear them almost everyday.

Back in street clothes for Thursday’s performance.

I love how Lucas looks like he is doing his potty dance in this video.

Ry’s Basketball Game

We finally got a chance to take in one of Ryan’s basketball games.

 

We went out to lunch after but left early when Lucas’s eye turned red and started weeping. It turned out the poor kid had a sinus and double ear infection.