Christmas in April! :o)

Merry Christmas!!  Better late than never!  :o)

Now what was our last update about?  Ah, yes...the Fall.  Well, then here comes Christmas!!!  :o)

Nicholas in the holiday spirit!!

The boys really enjoyed Christmas this year!  Zachary, 16 months old in December, was just old enough to appreciate all the holiday decorations…especially the train under the Christmas tree!!   

Choo, Choo...Twain!!!

Nicholas & Zachary also had a blast making gingerbread cookies this year!  They had even more fun eating them, of course!  And Mommy had a great time cleaning up after the activity!  :o)

Mommy's Little Helpers

Nicholas was again in a mini-Christmas pageant at his preschool where he sang Jingle Bells and Mary & Joseph Went to Bethlehem.  Nick captured the lovely performance on our video camera.  We really need to work on videotaping more!  And updating the blog more often, too...it's really hard to remember what happened in December!!

This has nothing to do with Christmas, but everyone needs a good spaghetti face picture, right?!

Nicholas & Zachary visited their Grandparents N. first this year...and oh how they loved the hotel!  We managed to get a good deal on a hotel room with its own little kitchen, and the boys really took a liking to opening and raiding the full-size fridge.  The boys had a great time visiting their Grandparents, Great Grandma, aunts, uncles, and cousin!!  Other highlights of the trip included a riding a mini-train, playing at multiple parks, eating too much, decorating sugar cookies, and opening lots of great presents!

Nicholas was so proud of his cookie-self!

As always, we celebrated Christmas Day at home so that Santa wouldn't get too confused!  And, despite our best efforts, the boys received a truckload of Christmas gifts.  We made a nice little family dinner, complete with my very first trifle!  And the boys were very excited to have a Christmas visit from their SA Grandparents who added to the Christmas truckload with a nice little outdoor cottage!

Drums.  Need I say more?  We bought some noise-canceling headphones within the week.

 Finally, visiting the SA Grandparents was the last stop on the Christmas train!  The boys had a wonderful time visiting their Grandparents, GG PaPa and LaLa, uncle, aunt, grand-relatives, and friends!!  Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest, but on the bright side...the boys rarely suffer from a shortage of activities in SA!  I believe the destruction was minimal on this trip!!  ;o)

A microphone for Christmas!!  Watch out, Justin Bieber!

Nicholas & Zachary celebrated a pretty calm New Year at home.  No one was allowed to stay up until midnight, though...what mean parents!  Well, hello 2011... here come Trouble & Chaos!!

Trouble

Chaos

Hopefully, more winter blog updates will be coming soon!!

The Boys of Fall

Preschool, music class, Little Gym, soccer practice, playgroups, parks, shopping...oh my!!  Time for a long winter's nap!! :o) The boys have certainly enjoyed the fall.  The nice weather gave us so many chances to play the day away at various parks and playgrounds!  

A visit to the pumpkin patch.  Both boys had a blast!

 Nicholas was thrilled to start his second year of preschool in late August.  He was very proud to be in the 3-year-old class, and he couldn't stop talking about how he was now a big boy!  Nicholas has been having a great time in school.  He loves his teachers and his classmates.  Most of the kids were in his class last year and they seem to play very well together.  Nicholas's teachers have been so wonderful!  They immediately identified Nicholas's need to be constantly busy.  So instead of forcing him to comply with a strict schedule that would undoubtedly create a Nicholas monster, they attempt to keep his hands and his mind busy as much as possible!  His preschool is absolutely wonderful!  :o)

 My big boy waiting to go inside for his first day of preschool as a 3-year-old!!

He even has a real smile on his face!

Zachary is growing into a little big boy, too!!  He had his very first haircut in September!  It was unbelievable!!  Check out Nicholas's first haircut story here!  From Nicholas's first few haircut experiences, we learned a few things.  First, there is a reason that certain places specialize in kids' haircuts.  These "specialized barbers" are super attuned to kids in these potentially stressful situations...for the most part!  Regular barbers can be great, too, but they don't necessarily have as deep a bag of tricks!  Second, it definitely helps to let your poor child know what he's getting into.  Rushing straight back to the chair and starting the clippers...not so smart.  Remembering your child's fears may also come in handy.  Nicholas was scared of loud noises and we let the barber use a hairdryer during his haircut.  Not so smart again!  And finally, distractions, distractions, distractions!!  TVs, train tables, video games, stuffed animals, and a whole bag of toys certainly are worth a shot!  Check out how we started to resolve Nicholas's haircut fears.

Zachary's first haircut was a great experience for him!!  We arrived at Cool Cuts 4 Kids hoping to get a haircut for both boys.  Nicholas went first so that Zachary could see what was going on.  This was a little worrisome for us since Nicholas has only had a few good haircut experiences in his 3 years of life!  A screaming Nicholas wouldn't leave the best impression on his little brother!  Luckily, Nicholas bravely hunkered down in his little red firetruck chair and tried to focus on watching Cars while the barber did her job.  Thankfully, Zachary saw nothing potentially terrifying or painful in the whole experience...mostly because he was distracted by the train table in the lobby and big brother didn't sound the alarm to retreat.  

Nicholas putting on his brave face.

When the barber called for Zachary, he happily sat in the firetruck chair.  The barber whipped out her clippers and started clipping away.  Zachary was curious, but not at all frightened.  I suppose that's to be expected since Nicholas, armed with a spray bottle and caterpillar comb, is always trying to comb Zachary's hair at home.  And really...what is more frightening than that?  Zachary had a good time watching Cars on TV, driving the firetruck, playing with stuffed animals, and flirting with the barber!

Haircuts are scary?  Really?

In no time at all, Zachary was covered in little bits of baby hair and looked so very cute in his new little boy haircut!  We saved a few locks from this very first haircut, and the barber gave us a nice certificate to document the day.  Zachary was perfectly content after the haircut until he realized the brother was getting a lollipop for his job well done.  Then, he was ecstatic..and sticky.  :o) 

 Happy and handsome!  :o)

Another fun fall adventure was spending the Day Out with Thomas!  Grandpa came into town to take the boys to see and ride Thomas himself.  Nicholas likes trains and had a great time visiting Thomas last year.  Zachary, on the other hand, LOVES trains.  "Choo, Choo!  Choo, Choo!"  can be heard anytime a train, real or toy or cartoon, is near.  Zachary's little blue eyes light up as he excitedly points and chants "Choo, Choo!" to the trains.  The boys really enjoyed seeing Thomas and playing with all the toy engines of Sodor, but they weren't as excited as I'd imagined they'd be about the actual train ride.  Nicholas was so elated to be riding a real train last year, but this year I guess the novelty had worn off.  Both boys just don't like to sit still for very long.  Nicholas even said, "I like seeing Thomas more than riding him."  Silly boys.  Zachary would probably love the train ride next year.  The boys also very much enjoyed raiding the souvenir store!  Thank you, Grandpa!

Choo, Choo!!! Twain.

Soccer time!  Nicholas signed up for the YMCA Youth Soccer League this fall and was super excited about being on a soccer team!  The season started off a little rocky, though.  Nicholas had learned some basic soccer skills from his Little Gym Sports Skills class and he was eager to show off!  Unfortunately, his soccer practice time overlapped with the tail-end of his usual nap.  This resulted in a cranky little soccer player showing up late for practices.  Once he was able to focus a little and get a ball to himself, Nicholas did a great job dribbling the soccer ball and kicking some goals!  He appears to be a left-footed kicker!  But, soccer games discouraged Nicholas since he had to fight for the soccer ball.  He just didn't understand why there couldn't be a ball for each player like at practice!  Nicholas eventually warmed up to the idea of having to share the ball with the other players.  He had one great game this season where he dribbled the ball across the field and scored his very first goal.  After he scored, he turned around to look at me with the biggest, proudest grin!  Go, Nicholas!!  :o)

 

 Soccer star!  :oP

Now what is Zachary doing while Nicholas is tearing up the town?!  Why, he's soaking it all in!  Zachary is learning new words everyday.  Some of his favorites include:  Mine!, More!, Girl, Boy, Baby, Cat, No! No!, Ouchie!, Airplane, Truck, Shoe, Apple, Popcorn, Candy (I'm not sure why he's not saying Green Beans!), Hug, and GaaGaa (this means Brother).  He even has a few sentences under his belt, like "Here you go!", "Hi, GaaGaa!", and "Where are you?" 

Zachary is also extremely active!  He throws balls, climbs everything (he's already pushed a chair to the counter to climb up and reach for goodies), plays with all of Nicholas's big boy toys, and pretends to be the Tazmanian devil in our house!  He is also very sweet and affectionate, just like his brother. 

 

Hi.  I'm cute.

Halloween was pretty fun this year!  The boys were very interested in pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns.  Nicholas even carved his very first jack-o-lantern this year with his Daddy's help!   And both boys finger-painted their own little pumpkins that they hand-picked from the pumpkin patch.

 Look what I made!

Nicholas chose the Halloween costumes himself this year.  We were shopping at Babies R Us when he declared that he would be Tigger for Halloween and Zachary would be Winnie the Pooh.  How could I say no to that request?  They made quite a cute pair!  :o)

Happy Halloween!

Nicholas is finally old enough to really enjoy going trick-or-treating!  He covered quite a few blocks of houses on his trick-or-treating run, while Zachary didn't make it more than one block.  Zachary didn't understand why he couldn't plop right down in someone's doorway to eat the delicious treat that they gave him!  So, after chowing down on a few pieces of candy, wrapper and all, he returned home with Mommy to pass out our own candy.  He was very excited to see all the Buzz Lightyears that arrived at our doorstep!  He was even more excited when brother returned home and they were each allowed to pick-out and eat one piece of candy...yum!! 

CANDY!!!  That could be the happiest Zachary smile ever captured on camera.  

 As the fall neared the chilly finish line, the boys enjoyed a fun Thanksgiving week visiting both extended families.

Basketball star!

Playing basketball over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Take that football!

 And now we get ready for Christmastime!!  Let the holiday stress...continue!!  :o)  Happy end of Fall...and Fall Novella!!  :oP

Summer Fun, Part Two: Nicholas :o)

And now, here are some facts about the one...the only....

Nicholas showing off his Apple Jack bracelet

Nicholas
Ah, my sweet Nicholas!!  Luckily, he went down for his nap on a good note, so I have happy thoughts in my head!!  Nicholas is such a handful, but I'm happy to report that there are signs of maturity popping up every now and again!!  We went to Williams Sonoma today (well, it was today about 2 weeks ago when I started trying to write this update!) to buy a wedding gift and I was certain that I would regret bringing the boys into such a "delicate" store, but Nicholas shocked me!  He walked in quietly and didn't try to touch a thing, as he was advised in the car.  An employee offered him a sample cup of grilled peaches and he replied, "Yes!  I would like some grilled peaches, please!"  He walked with me around the store while happily nibbling at his peaches.  I was very fast and the gift was chosen within a few minutes.  We weren't taking any chances!  Then, he stood with me at the register chatting up another employee as we waited for gift wrapping.  He told her about his upcoming birthday, the lady at the YMCA who lied to us, and his Daddy who eats lots of junk food that makes him chubby.  Finally, we had our wrapped purchase and we were ready to go.  Halfway to the door, Nicholas declares, "Wait!  I forgot to tell the lady something!"  He ran (yes, ran...nobody's perfect!) back to the employee and said, "Thank you for my peaches!"  She smiled and mumbled something about peaches to Nicholas.  He returned with a big smile on his face and he marched straight to the car.  What a big boy!

A big boy on his big boy bike!

Nicholas had quite a fun summer, even though all but the weather felt like a continuation of the spring!  With Daddy working, no family vacation, very few summer visitors, and Nicholas enrolled in summer school, the older kids taking over our usual daytime haunts and the lovely summer sun were the only tip-offs that summer was in full swing.  To top it off, we went swimming outdoors maybe a total of 10-12 times all summer.  The lack of swimming is kind of sad, in retrospect.  What's summer without swimming?  The problem was that I didn't trust myself to take both boys to the swimming pool alone, so the only daytime trip to the pool that the boys made was when Uncle Tony came to visit.  Occasionally, Nick and I did take the boys to the neighborhood pool in the evening.  Even that was interesting!  Nicholas spent all summer afraid to put his head underwater and Zachary refused to ride in his baby float, so swimming consisted of Nick & I wading in the pool, each holding one of the boys while trying to entertain them.  That just wasn't something I wanted to tackle alone.  When Uncle Tony visited and helped out with a swimming playdate, I watched all of Nicholas's friends splashing and playing in the pool by themselves (with their parents watching of course!)  They would jump in the pool, play underwater, and swim a little, too!  Finally, as August finally came around, I signed Nicholas up for swim lessons at the YMCA despite his protests.

Playing in the summer rain

Nicholas was a little wary of his swim class, but agreed to give it a try.  On the first day, he arrived for his Pike A swim class for 3-5 year olds who can't swim at all and/or are scared of the water.  He ended up being the only kid enrolled in that particular group, so he was going to have a one-on-one session with the teenage instructor.  So, of course, the instructor immediately grabs Nicholas off of the edge of the pool, wades a little ways into the pool, and takes him underwater.  ?!?!?  Who does that in a beginner swim class?!  Nicholas couldn't function after that incident.  He was screaming and crying and he couldn't even bear to be in the water.  So that class was a bust.  A kind lifeguard that watched the whole crazy scene suggested that I try switching Nicholas into a class that had other kids in it as kids are often more confident when surrounded by peers.  So, I took his sage advice and switched Nicholas into the Pike B class at the same time.  It was a slightly more advanced class (these kids weren't scared of the water and could perform some very basic swimming skills), but there were two girls already enrolled. 

So, we tried again the next day!  (The swim classes ran Monday through Thursday for 2 weeks.)  I had a talk with Nicholas about telling the instructor when he felt uncomfortable with anything.  We also talked about how it was okay to get water on his face and even to go underwater!  (I'm still not exactly sure why he developed such a fear of water on his head.)  Nicholas was reluctant to return to his swim class.  I promised him that if he did a good job swimming and listening to his instructor, we could go play on the huge playscape they have in the YMCA building.  He was satisfied with the deal and gave it a shot!  He met his new teenage instructor, Garrett, and immediately told him, "I don't want to go underwater!"  Garrett kindly told him that he didn't have to go underwater if he didn't want to.  Nicholas was satisfied with the response and managed to whine his way through the class.

Over the course of the two weeks, Nicholas showed huge improvement!!  He would try to kick using a "floatie boat" all by himself.  He would let the other kids splash him...a little.  And he would scoot along the edge of the pool all by himself.  But, most importantly, he finished up each class happy and proud of himself!!  :o)  On the day of his last class, he was so excited to thank Garrett for being his teacher.  Nicholas still talks about Garrett and laments the fact that Garrett can't teach him swim lessons anymore since he had to go back to high school!

Guess who wants to be a firefighter now!

Now, remember the promise I made to Nicholas about playing on the YMCA playscape after his swim class?  Well, here's how that went.  I was very proud of Nicholas for making it through his second class, so we were definitely headed to the playscape!  He changed into regular clothes and a pull-up since I was told that the kids had to be potty-trained to play there.  (It's really a little child watch center for kids to use while their parents work-out at the Y.)  At that point, Nicholas was pretty good about peeing in the potty by himself, but he still needed help with number two and he still had occasional pee accidents!!  I told Nicholas that I would be waiting just outside of the playscape so that he could call to me if he had to do his business!  (Parents are not allowed in the play area...ever.)  The woman in charge of the sign-in sheet overheard me reminding Nicholas about his pull-up responsibilities and she said, "He can't come in here with a pull-up.  You have to be potty-trained to play in here.  He can play in the baby/toddler room down the hall."  I told her that I would be waiting for him outside, so there shouldn't be any potty issues since the pull-up would cover any possible accidents.  She insisted that it is their policy to have no pull-ups in the playscape at all (I suppose they enjoy cleaning urine off their equipment on occasion.  If I had underwear with me, I would have switched him right then and there and sent him in.  But alas, we had none!)  Nicholas left the playscape area crying.  True crying.  It wasn't whining, screaming, or fussing.  It was true tears of sadness and disappointment.  They broke my heart.  :o(  I was very sad for my poor, sweet Nicholas, but I figured the potty-training policy was fair.  We sat down on a bench outside the play area so that Nicholas could cry it out and calm down.  Once he was calm, he asked, "Why did they say that I can't play in there?"  I explained that they only allow kids who are potty trained and wearing underwear to play there.  He looked up at me with his sad, teary eyes and declared, "I want to be potty trained.  I want to be a big boy."  And he was.  We haven't looked back since that sad day.  We stopped at the store on the way home, picked up some little boy underwear, and began REAL potty training.  After one day of proving to Mommy that he was serious by keeping a dry pull-up all day long, Nicholas put on his first pair of underwear.  The pride glowing on his little face was amazing.  My big boy.  He was so excited to go back to the YMCA playscape and finally play!!

So, back we went after his next swim lesson.  He proudly stood at the entrance as I signed him in.  Then, I made a huge mistake.  I asked the very same sign-in sheet monitor if there was anything we should know since it was Nicholas's first time in the play area.  She said, "How old is he?"  I was taken aback and answered, "Almost 3."  And she replied, "I'm sorry.  You have to be 3 to come in here."  OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!  I was furious!  I explained to her all the effort Nicholas put into potty training to come and play after our last disappointment...and the fact that an age restriction wasn't mentioned last time or on our original facility tour!  Plus, he was a little over a week away from actually being 3 years old!!  (Apparently it's a safety issue if you're under 3 years old.  It's a huge hazard if you're only 2 years and 11.5 months old!  But, wait 2 weeks and you're golden!)  A man dropping off his 3 year old overheard the whole affair and backed me up saying that he was never informed of an age requirement either, just the potty training rule.  Amazingly, Nicholas wasn't crying this time, but I was crying for him.  The last thing I wanted after such hard, quick work of potty training was for Nicholas to be disappointed.  We ended up back on the bench outside the playscape and Nicholas questioned me, "Why did they say I couldn't play again?"  I explained the age requirement and how the lady had lied to us and omitted that rule before.  Nicholas grabbed onto that and said, "Why did the YMCA lady lie to us?!"  And he repeats that question all the time.  We haven't gone back to the YMCA since he's turned 3.  Nicholas seems to have given up on it and so have I.  I'm certain that if we try to go in again, there will be a new rule that only girls can enter. :o/

Nicholas is big enough to mow the lawn!

On a happier note, Nicholas enjoyed his summer of Mommy school and summer preschool.  His regular church preschool did not offer summer classes, but I was still hoping for some one on one time with Zachary.  We found a nearby secular preschool that did have a summer session.  So, on Tuesdays and Thursday from 9am to 1pm in June and July, Nicholas went to preschool.  He had a fun time meeting new kids and doing some fun crafts, but he really didn't like it as much as his regular preschool.  Everyday, his teacher had some issue to report.  Eventually, I determined that Nicholas was bored and didn't appreciate the tiny classroom.  His regular church preschool classrooms were much larger, so there wasn't as much of a chance of arms running into his mouth for him to chomp on or girls close enough to bear hug.  Nicholas was wonderful in Mommy preschool, though!!  We focused on our letters and numbers.  Nicholas worked on learning how to recognize upper and lowercase letters, make the letter sounds, and write letters and numbers.  Nicholas learned how to write his name...the short version, Nick.  Nicholas even completed the very same "lesson" worksheets that I did when I was his age!!  :o)

Dinosaurs!!!  Scary and fun!!

Nicholas spent a good part of his summer just having fun!!  He had play dates with friends, visits to grandparents, and a few "field trips".  He visited a museum with a really neat dinosaur exhibit, a fire station, and a children's museum.

 Happy Birthday, Mr. Cheesy Smile!

And now our little baby boy is 3 years old!!  He had an awesome birthday party with a bunch of his friends and neighbors and Grandparents S. in attendance.  And boy did he make a killing on birthday presents this year.  I may have gone a bit overboard.  I suppose that can happen when you slowly collect birthday gifts over the course of the summer...  Oops.  Nicholas and Zachary are both thrilled to live in Toyland, though!!  :o)

Shaving already!  Ah, they grow up so fast!

And so ended our summer!!  Nicholas is a big boy now - 3 years old, potty-trained, and working on being a good listener!!  Zachary is a toddler now - 1 year old, independent, and working on reaching the terrible twos ahead of schedule!  I wonder what the fall will bring....  :o)

Summer Fun, Part One: Zachary :o)

Summer has come & gone (at least according to the school calendars.)  We have had quite the busy summer!!  The boys have both gone through growth spurts and they are getting smarter and cuter every day!!  Here's what we've been up to:

 Zachary vacationing on a river boat

Zachary
Zachary turned one last month (we actually got that post in) and has really been enjoying his toddlerhood!  At his one year doctor visit, he weighed in at 23lbs, 8oz (75th percentile) and measured 31.25 inches tall (90th percentile).  Nick is convinced that Zachary plays like a 2 year old.  His attention span is much greater than Nicholas's was at one year of age.  Zachary will sit in front of a toy and just play and play away!!  He amazes us as he plays with Nicholas's Bat Cave.  He'll take the Batman or Robin figure, place it somewhere in the cave and proceed to bounce it around the cave and babble.  (Zachary doesn't know it's a 3 years + toy!)  It's also so fun to watch him roll cars down his new car ramp, smile proudly, and clap when the car reaches the bottom.  Musical toys are also a Zachary favorite!!  The second any music starts playing, Zachary will start bouncing and swaying.  If he's really getting in the groove, he'll wave his arms around, clap, or spin in circles.  Nicholas is always dancing, too, and it is comical watching them dance together.

 Dancing off the photo!

Zachary loves making Twinkle signs with his hands while singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and I was so impressed when he started making the same motions to the ABC song while giving me a strange look!!!  (If you haven't noticed, those songs and Baa, Baa Black Sheep are all sung to the very same tune.  Zachary noticed.)  If You're Happy And You Know It is another crowd favorite.  Zachary will clap, try to stomp, and throw his hands up to shout hurray as instructed.  He's such a fun, active boy!!!  :o)

 What are you doing to Mickey?!?!  

Zachary celebrated his 1st birthday at Chuck E. Cheese with family.

 A few days later, he returned for another Chuck E. Cheese birthday party with friends!

 Zachary has embraced big boy foods with arms wide open!  The boy loves to eat and he sure can put it away!  Nicholas is forced to retreat to "the big boy table" to prevent Zachary from getting into his raisins or other choking hazard foods.  Zachary takes up his post next to Nicholas's chair on his tip toes with an arm stretching over the table as far as it can to try to grab a piece of the forbidden dried fruit.  Then, messy Nicholas will ultimately drop a piece of food onto the floor and Woosh!!!  Zachary is on top of it, shoving it into his mouth before anyone can stop him!  He'll smile triumphantly as he happily chews on his prize and continues to crawl under and around the table in hopes of finding another tasty snack.  (I promise we do feed him regularly!)  Zachary's current favorite foods are grapes, bread, cheese, and birthday cake!

Can I get a bite of that?

As far as milestones go, Zachary does say a few words.  His very first real, meaningful word was "duck".  He loves his ducks!  He very frequently says "That!" as he points to whatever he wants at the moment.  "Cat", "Dog", "Daddy", "Mama", "Brother", "Grape", "Sandwich", "Cheese", "Cake", "Puff", "No", "Don't", and "Fish" are some of his more common words.  (Some are more clearly spoken than others.)  My favorite expression is "Uh Oh!"  Zachary will drop food, toys, or anything he gets his hands on just to look back up at you with a surprised expression and say, "Uh Oh!"  If he drops something on accident, then he'll look up at you frantically while saying, "Uh Oh! Uh Oh! Uh Oh! Uh Oh!!!"

 Brothers...just wanna eat cake!!!

Zachary officially started walking just before 11 months of age on June 11.  He's much more confident with his walking now and has even started running a bit!!  Zachary is the proud owner of 6 incisor teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom) and they sure do leave a mark when he bites!!  And Zachary is quite the biter.  Nicholas didn't start trying to bite other kids until a kid bit him at Little Gym when he was 20 months old or so.  I suppose Nicholas passed on his skills to Zachary because the second Zachary gets frustrated, his mouth opens and searches for a place to land.  Ouch.  We're working on this issue.  :o/

Zachary loves to read The World Around Me!

Zachary went to the allergy doctor the first week in August to see if we could pinpoint possible causes of his eczema.  Sure enough!  The poor boy is currently allergic to 3 of the 4 foods that were tested.  He's allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts.  Soy is apparently safe.  The doctor was very concerned and gave us a prescription for an Epi-Pen in the event that Zachary has a severe reaction to one of the foods.  I'm not too concerned as it seems that Zachary's allergy manifests itself only through skin rashes or eczema.  But, we've got the Epi-Pens should that ever prove incorrect!  Poor Zachary!! 

1-milk, 2-egg, 3-soy, 4-peanuts, 5-negative control, 6-positive control

Now for fun stories!!!  On June 4th, Zachary had his very first kiss!  Nicholas was playing with his friend, Troy, in the Chick-Fil-A playscape while Zachary and Troy's sister, Addison, played out by the benches.  Zachary was sitting on my lap when Addison walked over, climbed on the bench, and sat down next to us.  She pointed up at Zachary and smiled.  Zachary excitedly smiled back and leaned over.  Then, they kissed on the lips.  I started laughing as Zachary pulled back with a huge grin and began clapping.  Addison was smiling, too.  Then, they did it again!  But this time, Zachary's mouth was wide open!  After more smiling and clapping, they did it again!!  I finally got Addison's mom's attention as they proceeded to repeat the routine a few more times before they grew bored.  She enjoyed the show, but promised to tell Addison's dad about the event so they could watch out for Zachary in the future!  :o)  What a ladies' man!

Then, a few weeks ago at the neighborhood pool, Zachary and I were saying goodbye to some friends so that we could retreat into the shade somewhere.  Zachary smiled and waved goodbye nicely to one lady, but then demanded that I put him down.  I placed him on the ground and he ran over to the lady, gave her a hug around her legs, then returned to me with his arms out to be picked up again.  I thought that this was the cutest thing ever!!  :o)

Ugh...and then there's the story about the trash cans!  Zachary loves to throw things away.  Luckily, we've found all the toys in the trash before they were actually thrown out, but what a pain!!  I witnessed the actual trashing of the toys once.  (On the other occasions, Nicholas has been the tattler.)  Zachary grabbed Nicholas's mini Buzz and Woody toys, walked over to the laundry room trash can, placed the toys in the trash can, waved goodbye, and walked away.  I was thankful that the trash can contained only dryer lint when one minute later, Zachary returned to the trash can, stuck his arm in, and retrieved the toys.  (I promise I was going to get them out eventually!)

Train!!!  Woo, woo!!!

Well, there you have it!  Zachary's summer in a nutshell...but not a peanut shell because that could end poorly.  :oP

Coming soon...Summer Fun, Part Two:  Nicholas  :oP

Happy Birthday, Zachary!! :o)

One year ago, at about this time (3:45am)...I was sitting in front of my computer just like today.  Only last year, I was busy trying to use Contraction Master online to chart my contractions and decide whether or not a super early morning trip to the hospital was in order!  This year, it's not contractions keeping me awake...it's birthday preparations!!  And while it's not exactly fun to lose circulation to your legs while trying to wrap gifts, I much prefer it to labor.  Much. 

On this day last year, we were hoping to visit Chuck E. Cheese with Grandparents N. before they returned home.  One trip to the hospital and 13 hours or so of labor later, we missed out on the Chuck E. excitement.  This year, we WILL be there!!  Zachary will be having his second Chuck E. Cheese 1st birthday party in a matter of hours!!  (He had another Chuck E. party on Saturday with his Mommy's extended family...)  I can't believe he's already one year old!!!  He's such a sweet and wonderful little boy!!

I'll post again later in the week with an update on all the excitement of this week and last, but for now...I'll try to get a couple hours of sleep in before the birthday festivities begin...again.  That's two hours more than last year!!  :o)

Happy Birthday, Zachary!!  We love you so much!!!  :o)

Oh no...there are TWO of them!!!

Well, Zachary is now 10 months old and Nicholas is 3 months shy of 3 years old!  :o)  And boy are they a handful!  They are both still sweet as ever (usually!), but they are BOTH all over the place now!  They don't sit still!!  Occasionally we'll find an activity that captures their attention for a little while, but most of the time the boys act like little ants fleeing a smushed anthill!  Woosh.  There they go.

Hair styling 101

Step one:  Dump water bottle onto brother's head.  No worries.  Brother will like it!

Step two:  Brush hair in any direction.  No worries.  Brother will like it!  :oP

The boys went on a trip to College Station recently to watch their Uncle Tony graduate!  They had a great time visiting with their EP extended family...all 11.5 of them!  The boys even did surprisingly well during Uncle Tony's graduation ceremony!  They made it through most of the ceremony by eating and sleeping in their seats, but after 2 hours...the boys were more than ready to clap and cheer for their Uncle Tony, then dart out to swim at the hotel! 

Nicholas enjoys his very first Freebird's burrito in College Station!

The boys are also very anxiously awaiting the arrival of their very first cousin!!  (Another boy, of course!)  At least this time, Nicholas understands that his cousin won't be very much fun for him to play with until he's a good bit older!  We're waiting Cousin!  Any time now...  :o)

Speaking of getting older...
Zachary has hit quite a few milestones in the past month!  He can now clap his hands, give high fives, play Pat-a-Cake, and purposefully strum a guitar!  He can also bring himself to the standing position and stand alone without the use of any props.  He hasn't yet mustered up the courage to walk on his own, although he seems to have the coordination and balance already.  If Nick and I try to walk Zachary between us, Zachary will dive to the floor the second one of us lets go of him.  We're pretty sure that he thinks this is a fun game of "Dive to Mommy or Daddy."

 Don't worry!  I'm still little & cute!!

Zachary has muttered a few things that sure sound like words, they're just not quite as clear as Nicholas's words used to be.  He will say "Hi", "MuhMuh", and "DaDa" clear as day, but "Pat-a-cake", "Addison", "I love you" and other such words aren't quite as clear.  (Addison is Nicholas's friend's 20-month-old little sister and she just adores Zachary!  Zachary seems to return the sentiment.) 

Zachary is so very independent during playtime, but so very dependent at all other times!  He loves playing with all the toys around the house, and unfortunately he just discovered that the trashcan makes a great drum.  He has also taken a liking to music, go figure!  Zachary loves bouncing up and down to any type of music.  He pulls up on various toys to get up and groove!  It is comical to watch both of the boys dancing their little hearts out.  As long as they don't aspire to be the Jonas Brothers someday, then I'll be quite happy!  Zachary also likes to play "Beat up Brother."  Zachary will pinch, hit, and slime Nicholas until Nicholas finally retaliates or calls for assistance.  Ah, brothers!

Learning from his brother and climbing on the furniture!!!  Argh!!

Oh!  And Zachary is finally getting some teeth!!  About 2 weeks ago, his bottom left and top right central incisors erupted!  The top left showed up about a week ago, so he doesn't look quite as much like a little redneck anymore!  :o)  But with new teeth comes more advanced foods!!  Zachary will chow down on just about anything!  To name a few, he loves his tiny pieces of chicken, grapes, muffin, macaroni, freeze-dried bananas and strawberries (he's not so fond of fresh bananas anymore for some strange reason), and BREAD!!!  The boy loves his bread!! 

And then there's Nicholas.  Sweet, spoiled, lovable, hard-headed, smart, clumsy, handsome, loud, wonderful little Nicholas!  His 2-year-old preschool year is over!  Nicholas now walks by the school building after church and says, "That's my school.  Awww...I miss school.  *frowny face*  What will my friends say when they don't see me at school?"   He will be back at the same preschool (if we can figure out this potty training business in the next 3 months!) in September, but in the meantime, he's been enrolled in a summer Tuesday/Thursday morning preschool for June and July.  He seems to be excited about it, so we'll see how it goes!

It is amazing how much Nicholas has matured in the past year!  He sits through an entire storytime at the library while actively participating, he completes crafts at home, school, and at Lowe's, and he seems to have a longer attention span for playing with (instead of just alongside) friends!  And oh how he is in the question stage!!  So many questions!!  He retains so much, too!!

Brushing his teeth with fluoride toothpaste!!  He's so big!

Nicholas quotes of the month:  (I started writing these down so that I wouldn't forget them!  I forgot to write down a few of the more comical quotes, but some mildly amusing quotes beat nothing!)

• "Kentucky!  That's not a real word!"
• The waitress at Macaroni grill asked if she could take Nicholas's plate and put his leftover food into a "To-Go" box, so Nicholas responded, "No, you can't take it yet because I'm not quite done eating my spaghetti."  (He's so very proper.)
• And all month long, Nicholas will look up at me with his big blue eyes and a huge cheesy grin across his face and say, "Happy Mother's Day!!"
• When disciplined Nicholas will sometimes shout while pointing a finger at you, "No!  No, you can't do that!  I'm disappointed in you!"  (For the record, I never say that I'm disappointed in him...he hears that from someone else in this house....but I'm not naming names!!  Zachary!!!)  :oP
• "Oh!  What's wrong Zachary?  Gushy, gushy, gushy!  There.  He's better.  Now let's go!!!"
• "Mommy, you would be very sad if I died and went to heaven.  There'd be no more Nicholas to play with and no more Nicholas to eat muffins.  So I won't climb on the table anymore.  Now is my time out over?"

Well, we're all pretty excited about summer!  The boys are already frequent visitors to the sprinkler park and we've already made a couple of trips to the pool.   If only the evil heat would stay away, then all would be just peachy!  Happy swimming!  :o)

Lower those ears!!

Oh the drama of the haircut.  Nicholas has had two good haircut experiences and all the rest have been pretty much awful.  Nick and I have been taking him to a regular, run-of-the-mill "haircut place" nearby that has a cute little airplane chair for kids.  Nicholas refused to sit in the airplane chair as a 1-year-old, but we managed to get through the haircuts with him in my lap alternating between crying and licking a lollipop.  He enjoyed his last visit there around the holidays, so we thought we'd try again yesterday.  SA Grandpa has also taken Nicholas twice for a haircut at his barbershop.  Apparently, Nicholas enjoyed his first experience in a real barbershop very much, but the second trip was an exercise in the barber's ability to cut the hair of a crying/fussy child. 

Yesterday, we headed off to our haircut place with our fingers crossed to get Nicholas all fancied up.  He was originally okay with the idea of getting a haircut until we walked up to the airplane chair.  Then, he started throwing a fit.  He was kicking, screaming, and pushing the stylist's hands away.  The stylist mentioned that he could get a balloon if he sat through his haircut, but Nicholas announced, "No!  I don't need a balloon!  I already have one!"  Eventually, the stylist gave up and basically told us to get out.  I was not amused, so Nicholas was informed that his candy, junk food, and McDonalds privileges were lost until he had a haircut.  (He doesn't eat that much of the aforementioned foods, but he does look forward to them!) 

Today, I sat Nicholas down and talked to him about why he didn't like getting his hair cut.  He admitted that the buzzers (clippers, if you don't speak Nicholas) were okay since they just tickled a little bit, but the blow dryers were very loud and very scary.  He also said that he didn't like the haircut place near our house and he didn't like Grandpa's haircut place.  So, we decided together that we would try a new haircut place that's just for kids.  Nicholas liked that idea, so I did him one better.  I offered to take him to the haircut place inside Toys R Us.  A little smile crept across his face as he quietly asked, "There's a haircut place inside the toy store?!" 

I packed the boys up in the van and off we went!  I talked to Nicholas about his haircut along the way and he seemed relatively excited about the whole thing.  When we arrived, there was a one year old boy getting his haircut and we were next in line.  I picked Nicholas up to show him how nicely the little boy was behaving for his haircut.  (Thank you, small child!!  You are my hero!)  Nicholas noticed that there was a little TV in front of the boy's firetruck chair.  The boy was watching Elmo's World!  I showed Nicholas the movie selections on the wall, and he chose Blue's Clues as his haircut movie.  Then Nicholas sat down on a bench in the waiting area and played a video game on the Game Cube.  (He was laughing hysterically as he caused his little blue character to fall off the edge repeatedly.)  All too soon, the boy was all finished with his haircut and Nicholas became a little anxious.  The hairdresser helped Nicholas pick out his chair (he chose the firetruck, too) and his movie.  Then, Nicholas and I told her that we didn't want to use the blow dryer today, and she caught on quickly and showed Nicholas that she was putting the blow dryer into a drawer so it wouldn't be used.  Nicholas was immediately happy with the hairdresser and began chatting her up.  She wasn't the most outgoing person ever, but she was very good about explaining everything to Nicholas and distracting him when he was contrary (thank you, Blue's Clues!)  Nicholas made it happily through the haircut and even smiled a few times!  When the hairdresser announced that Nicholas was all done, he looked up at her and said, "Thank you for the haircut!"  Amazing.  He got up, demanded his lollipop, and then went out to explore Toys R Us.  I made sure to sign up for the haircut rewards program, because we will definitely be back...on a weekday.  Thank you, Zachary, for sleeping through the haircut in the stroller!!!  Handsome pictures of Nicholas to come!!! 

N versus sideways N...again!! :o)

How could I resist the comparison?!  We made a special photo album with these photos side by side, but if you haven't seen them in person...  Here are the cute, sweet boys hamming it up in the Spring! 

 

Nicholas

 

Zachary

 

Nicholas

 

Zachary

Nicholas always loved watching Wheel of Fortune as an infant, but Zachary seems to prefer Jeopardy!  Maybe someday they'll actually be on those shows!!  

"I love prize puzzles!"

"I know this one!"

:o)