Isn't He the Cutest?

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Last night during dinner. We’re on Time Out #lostcount. Jesse is in his TO spot in front of a glass-front bookcase. Beau and I are in the kitchen - he can see Jesse, I cannot. B: “He’s licking the glass.” What I heard might have been that, but could have been “looking in the glass.” I turned to see Jesse licking the glass and faced back to the front, l…aughing. B: “He’s kissing the glass now.”

And behind me I heard what sounded like a passionate make-out - heavy breathing and moans. I busted out laughing. And then the timer went off. B: “Go hug your mother.” Evil man.

Monday, November 02, 2009

... from Molly-o-Lantern.

And Jesse-o-Lantern, too.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Both of the kids’ blogs have updates, including Molly Ann’s latest stats from the 6 month well check.

Ticklish Giggles

Whiny Complaints

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

There’s a new post at Whiny Complaints.

Friday, June 26, 2009

So far we’re not winning The Battle of Jesse Will Eat the Dinner Put in Front of Him. Several nights this week he’s gone to bed with no dinner and begging for milk. This morning the first words he said to me when I went to change and dress him were, “Peanut butter?” In the form of the question, too. The poor boy has to be hungry.

I know that kids won’t let themselves starve, so I’m not too worried. However, he’s pretty stubborn (and we have no idea where he gets that trait) */guileless look* so I wonder how long he’ll continue to go to bed with no dinner before he finally gives in and eats something.

We’re also working on the side Battle of It’s Time to Wean Jesse Off of the Gallon of Milk He Consumes in a Day. Actually, he doesn’t drink quite that much milk, but he drinks more than he should. He won’t drink water unless he’s super hot and thirsty and I mean super hot and thirsty. He’s starting to drink some juices - orange is his favorite with apple now being added to his repertoire. But milk is his go-to beverage of choice and he drinks way too much of it.

Advice?

Friday, June 19, 2009

The post at WC about the toy box has photos added now.

Jesse grabbed the camera and started pushing the button. Here’s a sample of his handiwork.

We went to Bull Run Battlefield Park the day after getting home from the Outer Banks. It was pouring rain, so we didn’t stay long. But the tickets were good for three days, so Beau and Jesse went back the next day to explore.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

There are two new posts at Whiny Complaints for your enjoyment.

“Poopy”

and

The Toy Box

Monday, June 08, 2009

A family moved into the townhouse next to ours. Previously, a nice hispanic family lived there - however, I had two complaints about them: 1) they played their music way too loud at all hours of the day/night and 2) it was like Cinco de Mayo every weekend with their huge family gatherings.

Anyway, the new family consists of two parents and four children. The two older boys are 8 and 7 years old and then there’s a 2 year old girl and a 7 month old boy. What’s great is that the two older boys, whom I shall call J8 and J7 (both of their names start with J so I’ll identify them by their initial and age), come over to get Jesse to play with them. At first I thought it was odd that they would want to play with a 2 year old, but they’re really more interested in his wagon and soccer ball and various other toys that make it to the outdoors.

The pluses to this are that he has friends to play with and it’s helping his verbal skills. I noticed almost right away that his sentences were becoming longer and more intelligible. And he gets excited to go play with them, although usually he’s just running around while they play with his stuff. He seems happy enough with that at this point though.

The big minus that I saw last night while I was out on the deck watching them is that he follows the leader. J8 was climbing up to our deck on the outside of the banister. Jesse immediately started to climb up that way, too, until I put the kibosh on that. J8 then decided to leap up to the landing, climbing like a monkey over the rail. Jesse, of course, is way too short to be able to do that, but he was standing there trying to figure out how to do it.

In any case, we like our new neighbors and their kids and I have a feeling that we’ll be getting to know them all much better as the summer progresses and our boys play together.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

We didn’t take as many pictures as we should have of our trip to the Outer Banks, but here are a few samples.

Jesse sleeping on the drive south.

Marmie with Molly Ann.

GGMa with Molly Ann - GG is 95 years young.

Pop with Molly Ann.

The CootieKids with Jesse at the aquarium at Roanoke Island.

At the pool. Beau found that suit - it’s awesome and we love how skinny his legs look with his superhero chest plates/floaties.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

We’re in the Outer Banks for the week. My cousin gets married on Saturday in Duck, NC. Molly Ann is such a great baby and did well for the long drive down. Jesse, too. The house we’ve rented is very nice and spacious and very close to the water.

We didn’t do much on Monday because it was rainy and cold most of the day. Beau and I did take the kids to a little shopping area to buy a kite for Jesse and Beau to fly while we’re here. And then my parents watched the kids so that Beau and I could have a short date - we went to see Wolverine, which was entertaining (I give it 3 stars out of 5). There were only 6 other people in the theater with us.

Yesterday we went to Kitty Hawk to check out the Wright Brothers Monument and Museum. I think we might have enjoyed that a bit more if Jesse hadn’t been as whiny as he was - he was off kilter most of the day. Although he provided the day’s comedy later in the afternoon.

Today seems to be a lazy day so far. We may go play mini golf and bumper cars with the kids after lunch.

Tomorrow the ladies go for a spa morning and then I think we’re all headed to Roanoke Island to shop and whatever else is down there.

Friday may be a trip to the aquarium and Saturday will be quiet since that’s the day of the wedding.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

West Virginia: We went to visit Beau’s friends the other day. It was a lovely day and perfect for spending on a secluded mountain farm. Jesse enjoyed his time playing with L&M’s grandkids and seeing cows and the “big fat dog.” I enjoyed girl chat. Beau enjoyed shooting up clay pigeons with his buddy. Molly got held by a lot of people who appreciated her snuggly cuteness.

The Stairs of Doom: It was while at the farm that Jesse had a slight mishap with what I call The Stairs of Doom. L&M’s farm house is a work in progress. The ground floor, which is more like a basement although it is above ground, is what you’d expect in a basement with a concrete floor. They have hardwood steps leading up to the main floor, but there is no side rail (yet) or banister. Until they had grandchildren, there was an open area at the top from their kitchen where a wall has since been added. Unfortunately the width from wall to wall at the top is just slightly off for the gate they have - it’s too wide for the gate to be tight enough to keep a child from knocking it down if they lean on it. To my mother’s eyes, those stairs are scary business and I keep a vigilant eye on Jesse when he’s near them.

He did well all day. He’s good on our stairs, to the point that we rarely put the gates up anymore - we really only use the gates to keep him corralled in the living room when we are occupied in the kitchen and/or upstairs and don’t want him underfoot. Knowing that L&M’s gate wasn’t as secure as Jesse would expect, I preferred that the gate stay down since he has a healthy respect for the stairs. And as I said, he did well all day.

Until ... It was about 30 minutes before we were planning to leave when it happened. My worst nightmare.

Jesse was playing with this rolling dog; pulling it behind him and watching it follow. He started to the hall area near those stairs and I could see that he was leaning in the direction. Just as I was calling out to him to watch the stairs he disappeared from view and I heard the thunks as he tumbled down. Four adults immediately leaped up, but I was holding Molly Ann and couldn’t get up fast enough.

I was sitting across from L, who saw the whole thing. He said that Jesse went down on his butt backwards, sitting upright until he went out of his view. M got there just as he started to turn and then roll sideways down the last third of the steps. She said he never hit his head once that she could see. Beau got to him just as he started to cry, which was almost immediately upon landing at the bottom. The other two adults were L&M’s daughter and son-in-law - I’m not sure where they ended up, although I think one of them was holding their 2 year old. I handed Molly Ann to L and went to see for myself, Beau got back to the top with Jesse as I got there and we took him to the bedroom to check him over. Amazingly, there wasn’t a mark on him that we could see and he had already started to stop crying. Later, we noticed a red mark on his upper back and the day after he had a small bruise on one elbow and on the outer sides of his feet (he had no shoes on and we figure they banged on the steps as he went down on his butt). Beau said he fell on his backside at the park today and seemed in a bit of pain, which isn’t surprising since he went down hardwood steps on his rear for a while.

Once we realized he was OK, I started to cry in relief. And then I had this thought that it was probably good for me that it happened - my fear was realized and he came out of it OK. I’m curious how paranoid I’ll be about those stairs the next time we visit, though.

The New Stroller: We bought a new stroller today, courtesy of Beau’s parents. We opted for a sit and stand type of double stroller. The truth is that since Beau is the primary parent, he won’t use the stroller as much as I might. He doesn’t prowl the mall, but he will find it handy when he does run errands with both kids. We got a good bargain on it with a 20% coupon. Beau took it on a test walk with the kids this afternoon and he seemed happy with it. Jesse likes his jump seat and Molly Ann’s carseat fits well. The nice thing about it, too, is that it isn’t too much bigger than the single stroller we have - it’s slightly longer, but it is narrower.

I read several reviews of it before we decided on this particular one. One reviewer said her front wheels wouldn’t turn at all. So when we looked at the floor model in the store, I mentioned that to Beau. He took a look at the wheels and noticed that they have individual locks on each one. If that mother never noticed those locks then she would never be able to turn the stroller! Another reviewer complained that it was impossible to stow anything in the basket, but another reviewer suggested unsnapping the basket on one of the sides to stow stuff. I checked that idea out and she’s right - you can easily get large items into that basket by unsnapping it. Another reviewer noted that the kid on the jump seat wouldn’t be able to nap if on a long outing. We debated the need for that option and thought that if we do take a day trip to a park or something that we would most likely be together and I could wear Molly Ann so that Jesse could sit in the front seat to nap. Once she’s too big to wear, then we probably won’t be using the stroller much anyway.

The Beach: We leave for our week at the Outer Banks with the R-clan (my parents and the Cooties) on Sunday. The girls have a spa day planned. I think the boys will take the kids to the aquarium on that day. Each couple will get a date night during the week. And we cap off the week with my cousin’s fabulous wedding. I’m excited about the week away.

Friday, May 01, 2009

People have asked how similar or different Jesse and Molly Ann are as infants. Here are comparable pictures of the kids at roughly the same age, about 1 month old.

First, Jesse:

Now, Molly Ann:

The biggest difference is the hair - he had none and what he had was much lighter; she has a ton of dark brown hair that shows no signs of falling out at all. They both have the same hairline, though, and their swirls (cowlicks) are in the same direction. They both have sweet noses. Her lips may be a bit fuller. they both had dark blue eyes at the start - Jesse’s eyes are now green, so I expect that Molly Ann’s will be green as well.

What do you think?

1. My new favorite show is Pitchmen. Have you seen it? I have a whole new appreciation for Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan. Sully is awesome and I think I’d buy anything he pitches. Mays is hilarious.

2. We head to the beach in about two weeks. I’m getting excited for the vacation, not so much because of all the fun things we’ll do, but for the time away with my family. And I’m looking forward to my cousin’s wedding at the end of our week away. Figuring out what to take for Molly Ann is a bit daunting, though. At least the feeding part is easy since she’s still on The Food Source™. Jesse is easier now that he’s in a regular bed and pretty much eating regular food.

3. The remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still is awful. Thanks, Uncle Bill, for the warning. We watched it the other night while the President did his presser. Of the two options, the bad movie was probably better and less angry-making. That said, the plot change for modern times retelling that I expected was present. Annoying and amusing all at once. 1.5 stars out of 5. The effects were cool enough to garner the star.

4. New Molly Ann and Jesse pictures:

I love this picture of my family.

I was impressed with how the camera caught the action of the water in this shot.