Happy post-Sandy Halloween!

Lester did a yeoman's job preparing for the storm after all (I should have known he would) and caulked up some cracks in our outside walls, as well as stocked our house with food and baby formula and other actual necessities like Papa John's pizza and Pillsbury slice 'n bake cookies. I bought batteries and bottled water, and filled up our downstairs tub with water. We had the flashlights at the ready.

In the end, we survived nontropical Sandy, or whatever she ended up being called, with very little damage to speak of. In the three days we were stuck in the house a little bit of water seeped in through the basement, but other than that, we have nothing significant to talk about. Especially not when compared to the devastation in NY/NJ and other parts of the Northeast.

My prayers go out to all of those who lost loved ones, and I pray that people will be able to get back to their normal lives as soon as possible. I know it is a very "1st-world" problem to be so majorly inconvenienced by power outages and public transportation stoppages, but still. This sucks.

In other news, it is Halloween, and I hope the boys and Clair will get at least some trick-or-treaters tonight, as they are crazy excited about wearing their costumes and handing out candy. And since school was closed again today, they missed out on their Halloween party and likely tomorrow's fall festival, too. So since this is it for them, trick-or-treaters better come a trickin' and a treatin'!

We at least got out as a family before the storm and went to the Patterson Park Lantern Parade on Saturday, which was awesome. We ate festival food and saw marching bands and amazingly-creative paper lanterns and kids in costumes and our friends Antwyne, Mari and Antony and Stacey and Hugo. Dean was a little freaked out by the scary costumes -- at one point he said, "Mommy, nooo! The dinosaur is going to eat me!" -- but he still had a really good time. The highlight of the night was definitely the marching bands. My boys LOVED them. See for yourself (this video is 2 minutes long and worth every second!):

And here are some cute photos of them in their costumes, which they thought were the best things ever.

Mater Truck and Lightning McQueen reporting for duty!

Raggedy Ann (actually Raggedy Andy, because I wanted her to have pants.) Yes, my daughter is a cross-dresser. I love and accept her no matter what. :-)

Daddy and Raggedy Ann(dy) at the Patterson Park Lantern Parade. Clair was a huge trooper, especially considering that it got kinda chilly out and it was way past her bedtime.

Every day since Saturday the boys have asked to wear their costumes. And I told them they could wear them on Halloween to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. Which is why those darn neighborhood kids better high-step around all the downed tree branches and come eat all this candy I bought!!

 (Seriously, people, I ate so much junk during the storm sequestering, I neeeeeed this candy out of my house!)

The Upside to Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is headed our way.

It is being called the Frankenstorm, because of its projected strength, predicted damage and the fact that it is likely to collide with a winter storm coming this way at about the same time.

Forecasters and Baltimore residents are losing their ish over this storm.

"The pre-Halloween hybrid weather monster that federal forecasters call "Frankenstorm" is looking more ominous by the hour for the East Coast, and utilities and local governments are getting ready," said one news article.

The ingredients awaiting Hurricane Sandy appear to be coming together to create what forecasters are calling a monster combination of high wind, heavy rain, extreme tides and maybe snow that could cause havoc along the East Coast just before Halloween next week.
"We're looking at one of the worst storms on record that we've seen in this region," said a hurricane specialist for The Weather Channel.
 
 "It's going to be a long-lasting event of two to three days for a lot of people,'' another forecaster warned.

I have to admit to be panicking a little bit, too. Three kids under age 3 -- and a crazy cat -- stuck in a house without power for any length of time = NO FUN. What will we eat?

And my husband is totally opposed to preparing for storms. He thinks it makes zero sense to stock the house with things you might need, because - no matter what -- somewhere there will be a store with stuff to buy, and we can also go to a hotel, if necessary. I would rather have the stuff at our house, but I'm overruled in this area. Therefore, I really hope we don't get hit too hard. Really.

But there is one upside to this whole storm.

That darn fall festival that I had to buy overalls and stuff for? Postponed! Yippeee!

It's only postponed by two days, but still. Now I have more time to try to find the things they need, without having to spend too much money.

So at least in this case, hooray for Sandy!

Life with boys

Last night at the dinner table, in his highchair, Cary let out a long, sputtering fart.

It was so impressive, it stopped him from talking. (This is quite a feat.)

When it was finally over, he smiled and said, "A motorcyle! There's a motorcycle in my diaper!"

And then he and Dean both CRACKED up.

As a woman who is not a fan of flatulence, bodily fluids, blood, guts, gore or other grossness, I have to say I am not looking forward to the years and YEARS and YEARS I have left of this kind of thing.

(Even though I have to admit, I cracked up too! It really did sound like a motorcycle!)

I need a second job!

One thing I was not prepared for when the boys started school was the sheer volume of things we would be asked to sell, purchase, pay for, fund, raise money for etc.

Since Cary and Dean started pre-school, we have already had to bug our friends at work to buy cakes, cookies and pizza for a fundraiser. We've gotten a coupon book the school wanted us to buy (we didn't). The boys got sent home with 25 tickets to a turkey dinner that we are required to sell (which means we're just sending in a check for $25, because I'm not selling turkey dinner tickets). And we have to send in diapers and wipes every month -- a huge box to share.  That one I get, because the boys are still in diapers, but added to everything else, it all starts to get a little overwhelming.

At least twice a week, we get notes from the school like this:

• Please help the school's Certificate Program!  We need to sell $150.00 in AMC Theaters and/or Applebees to receive an additional $7.75 discount!  That may not seem like a lot, but it adds up! 
• The preschool classes will be riding their bikes for the annual Trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.   Please make your donations payable to "St. Jude  Children's Research Hospital."
• Longaberger Basket Bingo - Location:  Church Hall  Cost:  $15 in advance and $20 at the door.  Food and baked goods will be on sale starting at 6 P.M.  Bingo will start at 7 P.M.  Plan to join us for this fun fundraiser that will benefit the church and the school.

And there are countless other things -- I've lost count, truly, and it's only October. I don't mind helping the school, but good grief! My head is spinning with all the requests for money!

The latest thing is a fall festival next week, where the school will have the kids make scarecrows. I assumed from the flyers they've sent home that the scarecrow part of the festival was optional, but I was told yesterday that no, we are required to buy the materials for Cary and Dean to make scarecrows.

Please keep in mind I just bought the boys a whole complement of fall things, like fleeces, hoodies and these super-cute puffer vests:

So I was none too pleased about being told I now have to buy two sets of overalls, two shirts, two sets of pantyhose, and two hats. I have two boys after all. They both will want to make scarecrows!

Their teacher said, "Oh, just go to the thrift store." But the last time I checked, the thrift store still requires actual money in exchange for their goods!

Ugh!

I know I'm being a little huffy about this, and I know it's all for a good cause. I want the school and all the kids -- not just mine -- to have the things they need to be successful. But I honestly (naively) thought that the tuition plus materials fees we paid before school started was the extent of  the cash we'd be "required" to shell out.

I suppose the boys going to school is as much an education for me as it is for them.

Apple pick!

This weekend, the boys and I went to the "apple pick!"
(That's what Dean calls it, anyway.)

We went to the orchards at Larriland Farms, where you can "pick-your-own" all kinds of things. This late in the season, apples were pretty much it for fruit. But my sister also picked some spinach and some swiss chard.

The boys loved, loved, loved it!

 

Yummmmm!

This might be the best activity ever for Dean. Yank things off of trees. Drag around a bag of things that "belong" only to him. Snack on things. Yeah, this might just be Dean nirvana.

Cousins!!!

I'm making good on my effort to get into more pictures with them. See how happy they are that I'm in the photo. Look at those big smiles! Wait, they don't care at all. Not even a little. Maybe in 25 years they will.

We came home with our bounty and made applesauce with cinnamon and a little sugar, and they got to eat some for breakfast this morning. We're JUST like pioneers, making our own food and whatnot! :-)

And now we can cross that fun activity off the list of things to do before the boys turn 3! Snaps for synapses!

We also went to a community yard sale this weekend, where I bought 10 puzzles they'll never use for $1! And Lester took the boys to music class, while I stayed home and holed myself up in Clair's bedroom, cuddling with her in the rocking chair while she dozed off. I really needed that time with her. And she was so sweet and snuggly.

So all in all, a really good weekend!

I'm having a synapse breakdown

Today, Clair is 8-months-old. She's crawling, standing and even beginning to cruise. She is moving so fast, I can barely stand it.

But as she grows, and I compare her to the boys in terms of how much more she can do at this age than they could, I have also started thinking about how much less time she actually gets with us.

Ugh.

Particularly since she is almost always being edged out by her noisier, more demanding brothers, we almost never have time to just sit with her and read, read, read. Or sing and play individual baby games. Or just point out/narrate all the mundane stuff going on while we cook, eat, dress, and go about our days. Frankly, by the time we are wrapping up with C & D, we are SPENT. She gets a lot of love and hugs and a ridiculous overdose of kisses and tickles, but way less one-on-one chatter.

I was already slightly worried about this discrepancy. Then I read this article in the NYT.

These two lines in particular:

Children of professionals were, on average, exposed to approximately 1,500 more words hourly than children growing up in poverty. This resulted in a gap of more than 32 million words by the time the children reached the age of 4.

As the education theorist E. D. Hirsch recently wrote in a review of Paul Tough’s new book, “How Children Succeed,” there is strong evidence that increasing the general knowledge and vocabulary of a child before age 6 is the single highest correlate with later success. 

And now I am freaked the funk out!!

You know me, people. I am synapse-nuts as it is! Reading this just sends me over the EDGE! And yes, I know technically Clair isn't a child of poverty. And yes, I know she has almost 5 and a half more years before she reaches age 6 (so I have a little bit of time). But still!!

STILL!

How come you people with "second' children (I count her as the second, because the boys are twins) didn't tell me that the second one gets such short shrift? And what can you do about it when they're just babies? And does it even out over time??

Can people please tell me stories about their second-born kids and how they're well-rounded/sweet-natured geniuses?

(P.S. Happy 8-months, Clairzee! We love you so much! We really do!!)

The weekend in pictures...

This weekend, the whole family got dressed up to go to an 11 a.m. wedding.
(People with multiple children will know what kind of preparation that entails.)

But we did a terrible job taking into account the fact that Saturday was also the frikkin' Baltimore Marathon. So we were literally thwarted at every turn by roads closures and runners. Literally.

Thankfully, we were in two cars, so eventually, Lester just went on to the wedding himself and the rest of us turned around, went to the Red Canoe and had a muffin. All dressed up and slightly irritated, yes. But then... pumpkin muffins! Holla!

The boys looked sooo handsome in their button-up shirts and sweaters. Too bad they were covered in muffin 5 minutes later. Also, these heels were killing me! Ugh!

Lester said the wedding was really authentic and beautiful and it made him a little sentimental. This is the text message he sent from the reception:

Awwwww!

Later, Matty-Matt came to visit!

Of course, I had JUST put Clair and the boys down for a nap. So Clair missed her BFF. But at least that meant I got to have Matty all to myself!! He's AWESOME.

Matthew brought his Mom and Dad, too. And his big brother Russy, who absolutely loved, loved, loved Sara!

Russy and Sara ran and played non-stop. Do you hear me? Non-stop.

Russy played with the cat so much and so hard, as soon as he left, this happened:

Now I know what I have to do to get Sara to chill the eff out. Get a 5-year-old!

 A
nd still later, we all went to a playdate at Stacey's house. It was a ton of fun and noise and baked ziti and apple pie and ice cream. We loved every minute of it (except for the minutes when Cary was crying and Dean was screaming. But other than that...)

Kelly and Clair (who was starting to get sick, I think.) Also, Clair has no idea but she is sitting next to her future husband!

My friend Kelly came to the playdate with my sweetie-pie Naomi, and when it was time to leave, this happened. Unprompted. And repeatedly.

Check out Dean's form. Some things can't be taught, people.

We have always said that these two are betrothed. From the womb, we have said this. And Dean just keeps proving that we were right. Check out this photo from August, 2011. I think this might also have been unprompted. But even if it wasn't, you see who responded to a directive to "Give Naomi a kiss," and who just stared into space.

Why does Naomi always have the same face when Dean rolls up for a smooch?

Saturday night, Clair got sick. She had already been a bit snotty -- as are all the rest of us -- but overnight, she got so bad she couldn't sleep, and we had to suction her out at 4 a.m. FUN!

All day Sunday, she was miserable and barely napped. I felt sure she'd sleep at night, because she was so tired at dinner, she fell asleep in her highchair! (This would never have happened with C&D. They never slept anywhere but their beds. Ever.)

But she was so phleghmy and snuffly and coughing and hacking all night, she couldn't sleep. Even when I brought her in our bed, she was slightly happier because she got to lie on me and be comforted, but she literally kept us up just about the whole night. MORE FUN!

Lester stayed home with her today because I am super-swamped at work. I felt so bad leaving my poor sick baby. This is pretty much what she looked like when I left.

Finally, finally getting a little bit of rest, poor thing.

But later this morning, Lester sent this picture of her all cleaned and dressed and I feel much better that she feels much better! (Hooray for smartphones!)

Such a happy baby girl -- even when sick!

Now, let's see how tonight goes.  (Anyone want to invent some Baby Sudafed+Ambien? I'll be your first investor.)

Helpful boys foreshadow my future life

I had to wrangle all the kids this morning, because Lester had an early morning work appointment.

Before we came downstairs after brushing our teeth, I got down on their level and explained to the boys that I needed their help today very much. I was all alone and had to do EVERYTHING all by myself. I would appreciate it if they would help Mommy and be cooperative.

They said, "OK, Mommy!" I was dubious.

Surprise, surprise, I think my little talk worked, because they were much less obstinate and all-over-the-place and pretty much did what I asked them to do the second or third time, as opposed to the sixth or seventh -- or not at all.

But the best part -- the part that made me think about how GRAVY my life will be in a few short years -- was when I noticed that I hadn't heard Dean in a few minutes (I had Cary on the changing table, so he was left to his own devices). I called him and called him, and finally had to leave Cary to go see what he was up to. I steeled myself for the mayhem.

But this is what he was doing:

Can you see? He went and got a trash bag from the landing in the basement where we keep the box, and then came and put it in the trash can (sorta) all on his own!

He said, "Mommy, see? I help Daddy!"

Little does he know that, although Daddy usually takes the trash out, Mommy is the one who almost always remembers to put a new bag in the can. But whatever.

I'll take his helpfulness however I can get it! And I can't wait until I can really give this task to the boys to handle!

Thanks boys, you made Mommy's morning pretty easy!

Happy Birthday to my dear Grandmothers

I have been so, so blessed in my life and sometimes I have to stop and really think about just HOW blessed.

One thing that I often take for granted is that I got to have both my maternal and paternal grandmothers in my life well into my adulthood. I know that's not something a lot of people can say.

My paternal grandmother, who I called Grandma, died from complications of pneumonia in June 2008, a day before my 35th birthday. I still miss her. Every single day.

My maternal grandmother, who I call Nana, is alive and well and living in Boston. She tries to get to Foxwood (the casino) every chance she gets, and still hosts a Friday night poker game in her apartment every week. I wish we lived closer so  we could eat lobster together and she could whip my butt in Pokeno.


Grandma would have celebrated her birthday on Oct. 8. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Nana celebrated her birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Nana!

I love my Grandmothers so much; they both showed (show) me nothing but unconditional love my entire life. And I've learned so much from each of them. I can't even start with the list of what I've learned. I'll be here all day.

My Grandma, Rosyth L. White and my Nana, Earline G. Morris. Weren't they beautiful?

I just hope that one day -- even though I waited so late to have my kids -- that I'll be blessed to love Cary, Dean and Clair's kids the same way. <3

Update on the crazy kitty

Sara has now been a part of our family for two weeks and four days.

In that time, we have learned that:

1. I am terribly allergic to her. :-(  She makes my eyes all itchy and watery and my nose stuffy and my throat tight. It's really, really frustrating, because it makes me not want her around me. But it is really hard to keep her away because...

2. She is the sweetest, most affectionate, most playful, most social kitty I have ever known. She loves being petted, rubbed, stroked and played with. She wants to be in whatever room we're all in. She follows us around like a puppy. She wants to sleep in my room, on the end of my bed, and cries if I shut her out.  She acts like she is on a perpetual catnip high: She jumps, rolls, pounces, darts, bats at our feet from under the bed, hides around corners and attacks our legs when we walk by. She is hilariously cute and funny, but also a little bit irritating (just being honest) because she is ALWAYS under foot. We don't get a break from her! I'm like, seriously, can you occasionally hide under the sofa like all the other cats in the world? Sheesh.

She is especially cute when she hides in shopping bags or barricades herself in packing boxes. This box has the kids' Halloween costumes, which makes Dean very agitated: "Mommy! Mommy! Sara is on my Halloween!!"

3. Cary loves her, and always wants to play with her. She completely CRACKS him up! Especially when she is darting around, jumping, rolling, pouncing, chasing her tail or batting, swiping and nipping at him. (He doesn't always love being nipped and scratched, but he's fairly good-natured about it.) Sara is like a celebrity to him. When he comes home, he first looks for her. And when she comes in a room, he lights up and coos, "Hiiiiiii, Sarrrrrra! Hiiiiiiii!" He totally harasses that poor kitty, who likes the attention 99-percent of the time, except when she's trying to catnap on our living room arm chair.

4. Dean is sorta interested in her, but still mostly freaked out by all her darting around, jumping, rolling, pouncing, chasing her tail and batting, swiping and nipping at him. He mostly enjoys correcting and disciplining Sara. "No Sara! No. Don't get me! Stop it!" He also wants to know where she is at all times, but I think it is just so that he can know not to be wherever she might be lying in wait to pounce.

5. Clair adores Sara, but we're afraid Sara might think Clair is another kitty friend, especially since she crawls around on all fours, just like she does. She is constantly pouncing on poor unsuspecting Clair, and nipping at her little chubby fists. Clair, to her credit, has not yet cried, but she does look very confused and slightly put-out at being "attacked" by her kitty-love-interest. And I am desperately trying to teach Sara -- with a spray bottle at the ready -- that you do NOT, under any circumstances, bite the baby! Even if she is deliciously cute.

Long and full three-day weekend

Just when I think our weekends couldn't get any more packed, we went and had an extra day off. Which should have meant a day of rest, but instead meant a day of more things to do! Hooray!

Here's how the weekend went down.

Saturday, I took Sara to the vet and discovered she still has an upper respiratory thing, so I have to give her medicine twice a day from a dropper. That has not been going well. So I've just been putting it in her food, and hoping that will do the trick, because homegirl was NOT having me putting things in her mouth. No sirree.

Then, we went to visit Lester's Aunt Tootie and then to my Mom's house to bring her cupcakes for her birthday! As usual, the boys had a fabulous time running around with their cousins, eating sweets and being spoiled rotten.

There were so many cousins at Mom's house, the boys had to eat their ice cream and cupcakes on the floor.

Sunday, I took the boys to music class and then later we all went to visit our friends Doug and Denise. Denise is expecting a baby in February -- her third. She was sorta freaking out about it, in the same way I was when I found out I was carrying a third. But I don't feel too bad for her because her oldest is 8 and can do this:

Perry, making her own sandwich! And making one for her 5-year-old brother too!

Perry, her daughter, will be so much help to her. It'll be like having a third parent.

After the boys' nap, we went to our friends Antwyne and Mari's house for dinner. Their son Antony will be 3 in January, so the three boys are close in age and had tons of fun making ridiculous amounts of noise and refusing to eat.

It was impossible to get a picture of all three boys looking at the camera. They were in perpetual motion the entire night. And boy was it loud.

Monday, Columbus Day, Lester and I both had off. Lester decided to go in to work to finish some things, and I had plans to meet my friend Kelly and her daughter Naomi at the pumpkin farm.

The Pumpkin Patch Kids, starring: Naomi, Dean and Cary. Doesn't this look like their album cover?

Note: Kelly is also expecting a baby in February! Hooray for February babies! (Where were all these babies when I was preggo with Clair? She could have a bunch of friends all her same age!)

Unfortunately, the weather was crappy, crappy and I didn't dress myself or the boys properly (this is becoming a theme) so Dean was whiny ("Mommy, I am cooooold!") and the cold I was pretending wasn't actually coming got fueled by the chilly rain, so now I'm a coughing, sniffling, headachey, can barely breathe mess.

BUT...the good news is, unlike at Russy's birthday party, this time the boys actually wanted to go on the hay ride! And so here we are, riding and having a fabulous time. Can't you tell?

"Mommy, I like the tractor," they said over and over and OVER.

After the cold, drizzly day at the farm, and a quick lunch at the mall, I came home, put the boys down for a nap and promptly crawled under the covers myself.

Turns out, I could have stayed in bed all day if I had wanted to, because guess what? I realized after we got home that the boys actually HAD SCHOOL YESTERDAY! (Smacks forehead!)

I'm still getting used to the idea of my 2-year-olds having a schedule different than my own. It never even occurred to me that they'd have school on a day I was off. Whoops!

But we actually had a lot of fun, despite the rain. We fed sheep, rode on the hayride, picked pumpkins (one for Clair, too), hung out with Naomi -- who is so super cute! -- got muddy and ate cookies (not necessarily in that order).

 AND, the best thing is, I can cross "go on a hayride" off the boys' Synapse Checklist!


 Y'all know how I love synapses! Hooray!

An anniversary story

Once upon a time, this little girl:

 Met and fell in love with this little boy:

They were just a little bit older than those photos suggest when they met, which is why they were able to go out on a first date to a restaurant that sold amazing sangria. Two pitchers of amazing sangria later, a lot of this happened:

Then, a year and a half later, -- on this very day in 2007 -- this happened:

Two and half years after that, THIS happened:

 And not quite two years later, THIS happened:

And now, the little girl and the little boy have achy backs and slightly-paunchy bellies and the beginnings of bags under their eyes from lack of sleep.

But they are the happiest they have ever been, and thank God every single day for bringing them together.  It's busy; it's noisy. The house is messy and the bank accounts are lean. But this has been, hands down, the most fun and fulfilling five years of their lives.

Happy Anniversary to my friend and partner-in-fun, Lester "LDiddy" Davis.

May we continue to live happily ever after!

Regressive Clair/regressive parenting

I either learned or was reminded of some very important things last night:

1. When you put it out into the world that you want to be able to spend more time with your baby daughter -- without being specific about how and when you'd like to spend more time with your baby daughter -- your words will likely come back to bite you in the butt.

2. There is such a thing as 8-9 month sleep regression. It has a lot to do with learning to crawl and other developmental things. And even though Clair is only 7.5 months old, we have all seen that she enjoys hitting her milestones early.

3. Our joint decision to teach our children how to sleep by letting them "work it out" apparently only applied to our double sons, not our single daughter. And when confronted about this inequity, my husband becomes an alien, sleeping half the night on the couch with our sleep-regressing daughter, because "it hurts him to hear her cry."

4.  Coffee is a wonderful thing.

I did say I wanted to see more of this face, didn't I? I know. I did.

Missing my baby daughter

Cary and Dean left this morning, and as usual, took their sweet time going down the front stairs, stopping to play with the toys on the porch, touch the pumpkin, meddle with the fall decorations, refuse to have their hands held, etc.

The good news is, all that dawdling gave Clair time to limp-crawl all the way over to the front door, where she got to laugh and shriek, as she watched her big brothers go.

When Sara joined her at the door, I had to break out the iPhone and snap a pic:

Everybody altogether now: Awwwwww!

I love this picture because I have lately been feeling quite sad about how little time I get to spend with my baby daughter. It's the same ole story of being a working Mom and too busy, blah blah blah, but it's made worse by the fact that I have TWO very demanding 2-year-olds who completely set the agenda for what little time I do have in the mornings and evenings. To be honest, most of the one-on-one time I get with Clair is when I'm feeding her at night, just before she drifts off to sleep. It's sweet time, for sure, but it sucks that it's so short.

So looking at this reminds me that -- although she will all-too-soon join the boys on the way out the door every morning -- for now, she is on the inside of this screen door.

And therefore, for a little while longer, she is still my baby. And I WILL find more time for her. I will.

2 and half year check-up, one month early

Cary and Dean had their 2.5 year check-up today, even though they won't technically be 2.5 until November. The doctor wanted to get their flu shots in this month, so we just slipped in a little early.

Here are the stats:

Cary --weighs 26 lbs and is 35.5 inches tall.

Dean -- weighs 30 lbs. and is 37 inches tall.

There's almost nothing else to report.

Dr. Bodnar said to ignore Dean's stutter; it will likely go away. He said Cary's clumsiness stems from his low-muscle-tone issues, which he's had since infancy. Nothing to worry about, he said. We just probably shouldn't bank on his baseball career setting us up for an early retirement. Dean's INSANITY? Nothing to worry about -- all normal. The boys' lack of interest in most meals? Also normal.

He did say we should start potty training now. No more ifs, ands or butts. (Get it? Butts?) So, there's that. (Booooooo.)

And he said our boys' language skills are "spectacular." (Yayyyyy!)

That's it. It was all pretty routine. Even getting their flu shots was uneventful. Dean cried a little; Cary didn't cry at all. They both got Band-aids and life after that was grrrrreat!

Now I'm back at work, and I'm under the gun like crazy. So I'll catch up with you folks lay-tah!

P.S. Do you realize that the fact that they had their 2.5 month check-up means they won't be seen again until they're 3?? THREE??? My preemies!!! Ack!

Picnics, Puffs and Prime Rib fun!

To cap off the celebration of Lester's birthday, we went on a family picnic!

It was cooler than I would have liked and I forgot jackets for the boys, so there was a little bit more "Mommy, I am cold. Mommy, I want my jacket!" than I would have liked.

But honestly, other than that, we had such a great time sitting on the grass, eating cold fried chicken and chicken salad sandwiches (us), Nutella sandwiches (them), chips, fruit and Puffs for Clair!

We found leaves, acorns and even a fat mushroom!

Here he's drinking a juicebox, happily. But ask me about the thermos full of pinot that Dean got ahold of and chugged before we could snatch it from him. Ahem. (Another hashmark in the Badparentingville column!)

 

Clair loves Puffs, but here she's eating leaves. Of course.

Saturday was Clair's first introduction to Puffs. She loves them! (Of course). She still needs help getting them in her mouth, but she can accidentally get them in about 3 out 7 times, which is great because it's just enough reward to keep her trying and trying and trying, thus she is occupied and happy for many, many minutes at a time.

(Note: With this picnic adventure, careful readers will note that we have now crossed one more thing off the boys' Synapse Checklist 2012!

At the picnic, Lester was extremely tired, having been out Thursday night at the football game, and Friday night again with his friend Antwyne (to the casino!!) So he kept saying all day how much he just wanted to go home after the picnic and relax, eat dinner, put the kids to bed earlyish and conk out.

Too bad I had already planned a surprise dinner at The Prime Rib, a super fancy steakhouse in town. Whooops!

But he was a good sport, despite being really pooped, and he didn't whine at all. And, as I suspected, once we got all dressed up, got a few drinks behind us and started eating the soft shell crab, colossal shrimp cocktail, prime rib (him), lobster tail with crab imperial (me), and chocolate mousse cake, he wasn't tired at all anymore!!

We sat down and the waiter said, "Tom and Stephanie Waldron would like to buy your first round of drinks." That's my friend and boss, Tom, and his wife, my friend Stephanie! Isn't that the coolest thing? So here's our first round, thanks to those awesome people!

By Sunday though, we were both tired, with a capital T -- Lester especially so. We went to the boys' music class together, and took Clair, and then went to the Red Canoe for muffins and coffee. We got home around 11:30, gave the boys a half-hearted attempt at lunch, fed Clair and then threw everyone in their beds, and immediately PASSED OUT.

Three hours later, everyone was in a much better mood. We played, watched the football game, ate dinner, put the kids to bed, watched a HORRIBLE movie ("Midnight in Paris" - terrible!) and fell asleep by 10:45.

Now that's my kind of weekend! (Still, I'm so glad Lester's birthday only comes once a year. Whew!)