Brothers

Well I haven't written for a (long) while. Partly I just get overwhelmed trying to catch up (which I'm not going to do) and also by trying to upload pictures. I know that reading without pictures is not so interesting, and I'll do my best, but until then, at least I'll post.



So Eric is growing up a lot. He's in size 18 months now, and I was looking at him today realizing that he's tall and thinner and really looks like a little boy, not like a baby. He also acts like one. Yesterday, I heard him yelling and went into the room prepared to tell Sam to stop teasing him. But he was just trying to get one of Sam's toys and was hitting him on the head and pulling his hair. Sam is the one that needs to be defended, not Eric. Eric is incredibly physical. He loves to roll around and wrestle and escape. He's also very cuddly at times, but those times are few and in between. Mostly, he just likes to hang out by himself and explore the world. When I come to play with him or read with him, he just gets up and leaves. Some of my friends have 2nd kids who are the same, and gender doesn't seem to matter. Any of you see this pattern in your kids?







Sam, on the other hand, is very social and talkative. He loves my friend Margaret. "Margaret speaks Spanish and English." "When is Margaret coming over in her black car?" [When the doorbell rings] "Is that Margaret?" He is often sad when Eric won't play with him. He still has a million stuffed animals who all have their own personalities, likes and dislikes, and options about the world. Today he woke up at 6:00 this morning yelling, "Where's Mr. Bear?" (Mr. Bear had fallen on the floor.)



I've decided now to try to consolidate their sleep schedules. Up until now, they have gone to sleep at different times. I put Eric to bed and then forty-five minutes later, put Sam to bed. But now, I've started putting them to bed at the same time. The first night I did it, they acted like two boys at a slumber party. Eric ran around his crib. They chattered and played for an hour.

Trying to Get Pictures Uploaded

Oh, if Word could upload my photos! My life would be so much simpler.

Happy Birthday Eric!

Today is Eric's first birthday. We can't believe it's been a year. Just like last year, we had a huge snowstorm on the 16^th. Everything outside is covered in white today. We love the snow!

We spent the morning getting ready for Eric's party. We had our favorite Swedish buttermilk pancakes made into a cake that I could let Eric eat without feeling guilty. It was layered with cream cheese whipped cream "frosting" and blueberries and yogurt. Yum! We added some sausage and had a great lunch!

Sam was so excited about blowing out the candle. I was pretty sure that Eric wouldn't figure out how to blow it out so I told Sam that he could give Eric a chance and then he could do it. We lit the candle, Eric stared at it for about three seconds, and then he took his little fingers and pinched out the flame.

Our friends Aimee Luke & Audrey, Anna Nathan & Fiona, and Anna Erin Molly & Emmalyn, (9 kids ages 5 & under) came over and we all let the kids run around the house like mad men while we chatted. Thanks, guys, for coming and for making it such a fun time!

Mom! What’s happening to our candles???

This morning I was getting ready to take Sam to preschool. We had a new Christmas cookie candle burning to give a festive ambiance to our house. I had to look up a phone number, was ruffling some papers, and then called my friend. As I hung up the phone, Sam said, "Mom! What's happening to our candles???" I turned around and found my "file pile" ablaze. Something had gotten too close to the candles and we had a fire about 2 feet tall burning in our dining room. Luckily I had a kitchen fire extinguisher that didn't require anything more than point and spray, because that's all that I think I could have managed at that point. That's the end of candles at our house for a long time.

I quit my full time job about three months ago, and have been working a few days here and there since then, and just staying home with my boys. I thought I'd have more time to blog after I quit. Ha!! As you can tell from the pictures above, I still outsource what I can. (Just kidding, but I thought they were cute pictures and wanted to try the new picture and blog features in MS Word 2007.) Has anyone else made the transition? What did you think about working vs. staying at home?

Sam's Almost Three!

 Sam's third birthday is tomorrow. On Saturday, we had a joint birthday party with his friend, Luke, at the Grosse Pointe Farms park. Our theme was "construction on the beach" because it was a simple way to get them together, give them some sand toys, play, eat cake, and be done :) 

My job was food and cake, so I called Jolynne, the Cake Queen of our family, last week and she helped me come up with some ideas.  It turned out pretty cute!

I didn't originally intend to have a cliff in my cake, but it came out with a huge bump in the middle, so I said, "that looks like a cliff" and carved a bit out.  I also had made some cupcakes, but I burned them all, so I cut off the bottoms and they were the perfect height to go around the side of the cake.  So the kids got pull-apart cupcakes and the adults had sliced cake.  It worked out perfectly!

We were lucky to have an indian summer and the weather was absolutely beautiful--75 degrees with a very slight breeze and sunny all day!

Eric didn't get cake, but I don't think he minded--he had eaten plenty of sand by that point.

Sam's Favorite Hobby

Whenever Sam gets a chance, he grabs the camera. I think its because of the ergonomics of the camera, but he always, always ends up with self-portraits. Or maybe it's just his 2-year-old narcissism.

You can see his love of the camera as I was trying to get him to tell his two favorite jokes. Here's a little movie:




It's fun to see him develop into a kid who understands nuances and what is really going on behind the language. Bedtime has been tough for us lately, especially on the days I work. I've been getting home around 6:45, marching Eric off to bed and then Sam as quickly as I could, to get him to bed before his witching hour. It became a huge struggle, and not something that either of us looked forward to. Often he would try to escape, and one night, it was not pretty. I tucked him under my arm, marched him into the living room, and read him a book. And then I said, "Now, Sam, I know that you want to go to bed, but you can't! We have to read one more story." He looked at me like I had lost my mind. I said, "I know. You want to go to bed, but we have to read another story. So pick one out." I did that 3-4 more times, and by the last few times, as I said it, he would poke out his lower lip in a fake pout, and say, "But mama! I want to go to bed." Needless to say, it was much more peaceful that night when he finally did make it to bed. And every once in a while, we play that game, and it's usually initiated by him.

And Eric thinks Sam is hilarious. He'll often just look at Sam and start laughing out loud.

Five Wonderful Years

So ... last Saturday was our fifth aniversary. We had grand plans, but the kids had had some rough nights for three nights in a row, and we almost ditched them all (the plans, not the kids!). But around 11:00 am, our kids were about to lose it, so we decided to pop them in the car and take a drive--at least they would be contained and if we were lucky, they would even fall asleep. We went up to a State Park about an hour from here that one of our friends had just told us about. We pulled into the parking lot, stepped on to the beach, and within 20 yards, were at Lake Huron. It was absolutely gorgeous. I had never been to Lake Huron, so I didn't know what to expect. But it was just like an ocean, only without the salt. They also had a playground for Sam, but he was so excited and spent an hour throwing rocks and dirt--one of his favorite pasttimes, and this time, no one tried to stop him! Eric's favorite pasttime is chewing on his stroller, so he had a great time too.

We did have a great aniversary. On the way out, we called a friend of ours who cleans houses for a living and she came over and cleaned the house, did the laundry, etc. It was the best aniversary present we could have given ourselves. I feel so much more peace when my house is clutter free. And then we went to dinner with our friends who have the same aniversary as we do. There's nothing better than great fun, good food, and great conversation. We went to dinner at an Indian restaurant in Hamtramck, a little pocket city surrounded by Detroit. It used to be a Polish community, but now there are immigrants from all over the world. One of my friends who used to live there said that Hamtramk is the most exciting place in America to drive because everyone on the street learned to drive in a different country. There is so much I love about living in southeast Michigan--the diversity, the beauty, the family values. The only thing I miss is my friends and family--anyone want to join us here?????