Geez!

Wow, it was an accident of picture placement, but in that last post don't my boys look exactly alike in those bottom pictures? They look like the exact same child! WEIRD!

What would we do for a *special* occasion?

I'm really not sure what we would do for a special occasion, since a regular week for us (this week) has so far included a trip to Chuck E Cheese with good friend Miss Betsy, a baby shower/playgroup, and a trip to the National Zoo. Still in store for this week are a park playgroup and a trip to PopPop's. Are my boys spoiled? Heck, no! We just like to keep busy!

When I checked the ten day forcast a few days ago, today was the only day that rain wasn't called for, so after a few misses with other plans, we decided the best thing to do to take advantage of the clear skies would be to go to the zoo. Funny thing is that although we spent 3.5 hours there, we probably only spent 15 minutes or so actually looking at animals. The rest of the time was spent pretending to be saber tooth tigers, lions and prairie dogs, walking, climbing, playing in the tunnels, on the rocks and on the giant pizza. I was impressed with how close we were lucky enough to get to one of the giant pandas in the new Asia trail; Alexander was impressed with the rocks. On the way home, I was easily convinced to stop for frozen custard. Alexander asked for his custard in a bowl so that he wouldn't get all messy. HA!

Oh, and the odd picture of Jack is just so he doesn't feel left out. It's the view I had of him chewing on his strap while he was hanging out in the hip carrier.

Mmmm.... tasty!

This morning during breakfast:
Alexander: If I had butter on me, I would be a bagel.

Freedom! Freedom!! Freedom!!!

Perhaps I should be looking at Jack's newest accomplishment in terms of what it means for him, but I really can't help myself...

Jack EATS! He's had a rough time adjusting to solid food since I started him on rice cereal and veggie and fruit purees two months ago. So, about a week ago, I introduced some finger foods like biter biscuits and Cheerios. He was totally into them! He can't really fill up on those, though, nor are they the healthiest things ever. So a couple of days ago I got brave and just handed the kid a banana to gnaw on. With some help and a good deal of mess, he ate almost an entire banana! He gobbled another one up today! This means we can also add other soft foods like well-cooked veggies and other soft fruits to his diet. Whoopee!

Oh, and in case the "freedom" reference still isn't clear... this also means that Mommy can escape her little vampire for more than an hour and a half at a time, as he now has a reliable alternate food source (having scorned the bottle before the baby food). What shall I do with my new found freedom?

Happy Earth Day!

What are you doing for our home planet?

Trust me, I do not ask this from a position of superiority. Please, inspire and embarrass me with how good you are to our Earth. I recycle... but that's about all I can say for myself. BOOO! My Earth day pledge, in the spirit that every little bit helps, is to stop getting grocery bags. I need to buy or find some reusable ones.

The good news is, it was a BEAUTIFUL day to celebrate Earth Day, and we spent much of it outside, having met some friends and at park and then doing yardwork and blowing bubbles in the yard and surrounding "mountains" (they're really just hills, but I guess to a three year old they look pretty big) after dinner.

Which brings me to this conversation between Alexander and me:
Me: Alexander, stay away from Daddy. He can't hear you when he has the trimmer on. (Justin was trimming the bushes with an electric trimmer.)
Alexander: And then he might not see me and he might weedwack me?
Me: Yep.
Alexander: And then I would be broken?
Me: Yep.
Alexander: And then you would have to make me again?

Tee hee.

Happy Earth Day!

The renaissance boy at work

Alexander took some pretty artistic photos the other day. Too bad he had food residue on his face and crusties in his nose in his self portrait or I think we could have sold it to pay for his college. Hee hee!

A man and his lawn

There's something about a man and his lawn. Correct me if I'm wrong, Justin, but I do believe that today, Justin not only mowed a lawn for the first time in his life, he mowed HIS lawn for the first time. And that's special. ;)

Milestones

Jack is almost truly mobile! EEEK! Where did I stash those outlet covers?

In the past few days alone, he has pulled himself to standing, gotten himself into a sitting position from laying, and crawled his first few inches. He's been spinning and rolling his way around for a while now, but he's darn close to getting much speedier! Someone SAVE me!!!

Gas and Steam Engine Show

Like our friends and fellow bloggers Liz and Abbey, we checked out the Gas and Steam Engine Show at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood on Sunday. Alexander immediately spotted this awesome pink (pink ribbon, no less) tractor that was his favorite. We met up with PopPop, rode the barrels and the kiddy tractors, watched the ginormous sawmill being operated, and tasted the fare. Although Alexander did not show the typical signs of having fun, such as restraining from whining or even smiling much, he insisted he was having fun and that we should stay longer. Thus, we were also lucky enough to run into Liz, Chris, and Jasper, which is fitting since Liz was kind enough to give us the heads up about this show. Thanks, Liz! We stayed for more than three hours, so it must have been fun! Oh, and us being out of the house gave Justin the chance to get a few chores done (since we're all so cute and distracting). Bonus!

I'd give you the moon...

A conversation between Alexander and me today:

Alexander: Mommy, please can I have the clouds?
Me: I'd give them to you, but I can't reach them.
Alexander: You could if you stood on a mountain.

I love our new neighborhood

Last week we explored our new neighborhood some more and I have to say that the more I see of it, the more I like it. We found two more playgrounds that are within walking distance, the third community pool, and a few more fun bridges to cross. Jack tried out the swings and they were a hit! We LOVE our new neighborhood!!!

Four Plus One is Fun!

Last week I had the opportunity to watch my cousin's two sons, Brendan and Ryan, for the day. Alexander absolutely loves his cousins and we had an awesome day together. Brendan impressed me, as always, with his over-the-top intelligence. He might be the next Ken Jennings. Ryan is just too cute not to love; I wanted to keep him. They were all pretty worn out by late afternoon (and yes, I really do have trouble keeping clothes on my son)! You don't see Jack in any of the photos or videos because he spent the day on my hip!

It's really, really here!

What starts with "S" and involves 70 degree weather, daffodils, backyard baseball and searching for Robin Redbreast with PopPop? That's right... SPRING! Hooray, hooray, it's really here!

March for Babies

Hey, all. My good friend Melissa is participating in the March for Babies (March of Dimes). Please help if you can!

A boy of many talents

Well, it seems that Alexander and Jasper are indeed living parallel lives, developing both their artistic and singing abilities day by day. Of course, it could also be that Liz and I are the ones living parallel lives... Anywho, here's Alexander performing the other day. We spent almost an hour recording him and then letting him watch it back, but these are the ones that made me laugh the most.