another day at the park

loving this wonderful spring weather! and i really appreciated it on a weekend when lance was at drill. it was so nice to be able to get out of the house. today was PERFECT!! we went a little early - around 10:30 - so a lot of people must have been in church. whatever the reason, we had the entire playground to ourselves! i loved it! i didn't have to hover over miles as much and i felt more comfortable letting ethan roam a bit. normally i stick pretty close to him because he tends to try out things that he isn't quite ready for if he sees some of the bigger kids do it. i did feel a bit old though after doing some time on the slides and climbing through tunnels...i do not think i am up to that! today was also the first day ethan went on the big kid swings! he has been dying to try them out but in the past he didn't hold on well enough and would just slump down, today he sat on there perfectly and even let me push him a bit.

happy 26 months, ethan & happy 7 months, miles!

i am getting lazy and decided to combine their monthly "birthdays" into one post this month. i know at some point i have to give ethan's up, but i just can't yet. i finally got a useable picture of the two of them together this morning...i wish there wasn't a fish stick in view - but i'll take it! at least you can see both of their faces!

some of ethan's favorite things right now:
1. his new big boy bed! he has done great with his transition and wants to climb up there himself after we read him his bedtime story before naps and at night. it makes me happy that he loves it so much, but kind of sad because he is growing up.
2. the alphabet! thanks to chicka, chicka, boom, boom ethan knows all of the letters in the alphabet and can point them out when asked. he also loves to pick them out on different signs and other places and tell us what letters he sees. lance thinks he sounds country, because he says "letter r, right there" with maybe the littlest bit of an accent. too cute!
3. fish sticks. he calls them chicken for some reason. i love that he loves them because it is a welcome change from cheese and yogurt all the time. finally a new source of protein - yay!
4. his frog potty and thomas undies. we are in the midst of potty training and these two things (along with some m&m's!) are really helping the process. he gets so excited to use "frog potty" and get an "em" (m&m)
5. being silly and making us laugh. he has figured out when he does something that makes us laugh to just keep on doing it. he makes the funniest face when he eats something that doesn't taste how he expects. i cracked up the other night when he did that and now he makes that face just to see if i'll laugh again...i always do, you can't help it!

my favorite things he is doing right now:
1. being a little helper. he loves to help me out in the kitchen, especially with the dishwasher. and he also loves to help out with miles - changing diapers, giving him bottles and bringing him toys. he has also just recently started going through the house with wipes and cleaning things...i am not sure where he got that from but it wasn't lance or i! :)
2. being independent. even though it can drive me crazy some mornings when we are running late and he insists on going through all his pants to find the perfect pair, i love that he is so excited to do things on his own. i have noticed that he is starting to play by himself more as well - this is especially helpful when i am trying to put miles down.
3. his curiousity. i do get tired of answering the often asked question, "mama, what's iss?," (what's this?) especially since half the time i am driving and i have no idea what he is talking about. but i love that he is so curious about everything around him.
4. his kisses! he used to just lean his cheek in when you asked for a kiss, as if, you are so lucky that you get to kiss me. now he goes right for you mouth with a kiss. sometimes it is messy, but that's okay, i still love it!
5. the fact that he is starting to recognize others feelings. he knows when miles cries, that he is sad and he will go over to him to pat him or give him a pacifier to try to make him feel better. he also genuinely looks upsets when he realizes that something he has done has caused someone to get hurt or upset.

some of miles' favorite things right now:
1. sitting up! he is really good at it now and can sit without any support for long periods of time. he'll still play laying down on his playmat or in our bed in the mornings, but he definitely prefers the view from sitting up.
2. being a part of everything! he hates to be left out of things. he needs to be sitting at the table if people are eating and of course wants to grab at everything if you have him in your lap. also when we are playing on the floor, he needs to be able to see what ethan is doing to make sure he isn't missing out.
3. basketball. we just found out he loves playing with ethan's little basketball. he thinks it is hilarious if you roll it to him...he almost catches it and then "throws" it back.
4. bathtime. we just started bathing him and miles together and miles LOVES it! he gets so excited about being in the water. he is definitely going to be our swimmer!
5. applesauce. it is the first food he actually has really enjoyed. it seems like the others that we have tried so far (pears, bananas, rice cereal and oatmeal) have been tolerated, but not really loved. i am excited because the applesauce is also the first food i've made for him...i guess he likes his mom's cooking.

some of my favorite things right now:
1. how excited he gets when i come into the room to get him in the morning of after naps. he just gets this huge grin and recently has started laughing when you come in. makes up for being so tired in the mornings!
2. how much he loves ethan! he gets so excited when he sees him. the other night ethan was kissing on his belly and miles was just cracking up. it is so wonderful to see them interact together.
3. how excited he gets when you hold him in a standing position. he has loved to stand up from when he was very young and now he is getting really good at it and loves if you hold him up against a table or something he can play with and feel like he is standing on his own. he does not appreciate when you get too tired and have to put him down though!
4. his insanely chunky thighs! and really the all-around chubbiness. his legs are so huge it is hilarious. i love it! he is already wearing some of the clothes that ethan wore when he was closer to a year!
5. how much he laughs. you can get belly laughs out of him by doing just about anything. talking to him, tickling his belly or legs, playing peek-a-boo...he is really a happy little guy, that is as long as he isn't in need of a nap or food!

picture frame craft

i attemp crafts here and there with ethan, but most of them don't turn out exactly how i'd like, but this one was lots of fun and turned out so cute! i found the idea for it on babycenter and picked up some stickers yesterday. i used extra card stock and cardboard from some cereal boxes for the frames. ethan is really into the alphabet right now so i thought it would be fun for him to do letter stickers. he loved seeing all the letters and picking out some of his favorites to put on the frame. of course, he tired of putting stickers on the frame and thought it would be more fun to decorate his little brother!

i worked along with him and made a cute little frame for miles. we picked out pictures together (he loved the one of him and his dad on the tractor!) and i finished off the frames and put two magnets on the back of each while the boys were down for naps. easy and not very expensive...i think they'd make cute little holiday photo cards too!



*excuse the thomas undies, we are in the midst of potty training and being without clothes is the easiest thing right now :)

a day at the park

the weather was warm and absolutely beautiful today so i took the boys to the park. it had been a while since i attempted a solo park trip with the two since it is a bit tough to keep an eye on ethan while keeping miles happy...but today was perfect! there were several other kids, but all 2-3 year olds, so it was the perfect mix. ethan had a blast and miles enjoyed relaxing in the fresh air. it was his first time in the maclaren and i had forgotten how much i love that thing! so much better than lugging a big stroller around and it turns on a dime one handed, which really comes in handy when lugging around a toddler who for some reason as soon as you leave the slides forgets that he can actually walk on his own. it is supposed to be warm this weekend and i am looking forward to at least another park trip or two.

laughing miles!

i have been trying to catch miles on video when he laughs for such a long time, but as soon as he would see the camera the laughing would stop. last night lance was playing some "basketball" with him and he LOVED it! sorry that the video quality isn't the best, it is really dark in our living room. but how cute does he sound?!?

wordless wednesday: yawn!

full circle

ethan's crib has made it full circle. i remember putting it together for him and setting it up in the months before he was born. i loved setting it up with his adorable star bedding and mobiles and fuzzy sheets. who knew he would love his crib so much! he has always slept so well in it, but we knew one day he would have to move to a bed...though i personally would have kept him in his crib til he was in school if he slept! we bought a bed for him a while back when he had his first climbing episode and after first one was broken, we finally received a new one and got it set up. i think lance and ethan were completely ready for this transition. i, on the other hand, was not at all! he is currently down for his nap - after about 2 hours of playing in his room doing god knows what - we didn't open the door for fear that he would think naptime was up. i am very tempted to look in, but don't want to test fate. all is quiet in the house and that is a good thing when it is naptime. i am not sure how he will do at night time and i am sure over the course of the next several months (years - maybe!) we'll have our issues with the bed, but at least he took to it today without much fanfair. lance read him chicka, chicka, boom, boom, his current FAVORITE book and had him turn on his machines (noise maker and humidifier) and he hopped into bed himself. we decided lance will put him down for the next few nights, though i'll have to handle naps, in hopes that it will keep the transition smooth. uggh, it is hard to believe my little guy is big enough for a bed now!

anyway, his crib has now been full circle and lance and i brought it back down to miles room where it first started out over 2 years ago. we raised it up, put back that adorable rainforest mobile and miles took his first nap in it this weekend. he has also adjusted well to a bigger crib and hopefully it will make for more sleeping in the future! if only his older brother could teach him a few things about sleeping!

here are a few pictures of ethan and his new big boy bed! the first one is how we found him after his first nap in it - he was actually sleeping while standing up...on his tiptoes! the other two are how i found him monday morning when i went to wake him up at 8:45am. yes, he is definitely doing well in the bed and though i am not going to admit lance was right about transitioning him, i will say it has gone a million times better than i would have ever thought!