Playing with Grace

We hosted neighbor Grace because of the snow day last Wednesday and then the delayed start Friday. She's not used to all the NOISE and chaos and mess of two boys in the house but they love her and I think they won her over by this morning. There was lots of chasing and wrestling and loud fun. The pictures below show her being indignant and exasperated, but I think it's mostly for effect.

Selfies!

Getting ready to drive to the bounce house this morning to get those wiggles out.

Practicing their "mad" faces.

Visit with Teddy and Tom

Thursday Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu came up as usual to spend the day with the boys. Aunt Teddy and Uncle Tom joined them around lunchtime and stayed through dinner. After dinner Teddy enthralled us all with an exuberant version of Wheels on the Bus.

This last one is a photo of my mom on wikipedia giving the rest of us of a crowd-sourced Nabokov biography. It's really the final straw for any dinner party, right?

Snowy day at the Strong Museum of Play

Both boys were very excited to ride the Carousel at the Strong Museum of Play. We hopped on and they picked out their horses, but I don't think they realized the thing would move, especially up and down, until it started up. Beck became more and more fearful as the ride wore on, until I finally asked the operator to turn it off (we were the only passengers).

Theo writing a postcard to be delivered at the post office.

 A favorite play area is where they have lots of large plastic Little Tikes construction equipment and fake rocks to dig in.

Night sledding

Saturday night our neighbor Will and his three boys and Mama and T&B went across the street behind the elementary school for a little night sledding. It was the boys' first time sledding and they had a blast! We returned before anyone got too cold or too much snow in the face, and then the five boys under 5 enjoyed tearing the house apart for the next hour while the adults drank wine.

Picnic on the "beach"

For lunch Saturday I told the boys we were going to have a picnic on the beach. Theo spread out the picnic blanket on the rug in the living room and we pointed out [pretend] dolphins, crabs and lobsters on the beach to each other while enjoying PB&J sandwiches, goldfish, and apples. The boys discovered they like putting their goldfish crackers and apple slices into their sandwiches for added crunch.

Tired boys

Today was a great day with the boys, despite all their shenanigans last night (up and down and up and down and water and oops I peed the bed because I had so much water and a whole bunch of other nonsense). We had a bath when they woke up at 7:30, a leisurely couple of books cuddled in bed before going downstairs, and then breakfast before going for a tour at Most Holy Rosary.

I've been looking into options for a more structured nursery school, and this seems to be the best option for us. The pre-k three class is taught by our friend and neighbor Maureen ("Mo"), and Mo's mom is her classroom assistant. They have a great big room with lots of books and toys and tables and sitting area, across the hall from a huge playroom with playground equipment and lots more toys and fun things to do. The pre-k three program is part of the school, which goes to I think 6th grade, so there's also a cafeteria and gym and big outdoor playground. I found very few reminders of Jesus in the classroom beyond encouragement to treat others with respect, kindness and understanding. Apparently there is a rather agnostic prayer of thanks before lunch that everyone does together. Mo is willing to be flexible with us for days, so Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu can continue with their weekly babysitting if they want, and we can still send the boys twice a week for full day programs. The boys loved being there and everyone was very welcoming and calm. They were very excited about coming back to "MY school" some day soon. It won't be til September, but it's exciting to think that they will be comfortable and happy somewhere so new and different from where they've been.

While he gave us a tour of the school, I got a surprising amount of gupp from one of the priests, who kind of talked down the church where we've been trying out attending services, St. Lucy's. Jeff grew up Catholic and I have wanted the boys to grow up with some kind of faith background and familiarity with religious customs, and we have kept hearing great things about the St. Lucy's leadership and congregation. We also went to friend Tara's wedding there a few years ago and loved what we heard and saw (e.g. a banner on the wall that read "The holy spirit is loose, and she is wild"). We have attended the last few weeks and are figuring out which masses are best for us, and where to sit, and how to get to the bathrooms for two new potty trainers. But it feels meaningful to us, and it feels welcoming, so I think we're going to keep it up.

The boys took a great nap and then when Jeff got home early from his work trip a little after they woke up, we all headed to a bounce house for a great afternoon of getting the energy out. After dinner Beckett was all but begging to go to sleep, and everyone is now happily tucked in for the night.

Our version of the Love Toilet

Original SNL Love Toilet advertisement here.

Dentist

Today Mindy and I took the boys to the dentist for their first real exams and cleanings. We went to a different pediatric dental office last year but were not at all impressed with the child-friendliness of the staff there, so we tried out a new office at the suggestion of my friend Heidi, and it went much better. The office has a train table and a "grotto"--a cave-like thing with lights and cool spots to hide out in, plus a monitor so adults outside can see what is going on inside. Theo was an absolute champ, laying back in the chair, enchanted by the up and down action of the chair. He loved the sunglasses they gave him to wear, and loved watching the cartoons on the ceiling TV while the dentist examined, cleaned, polished, and fluoride-d his teeth. I really should have taken a picture of him sitting calmly while the dentist had two instruments in his mouth, roaring docilely when she asked and watching Curious George on the TV.

Beckett, on the other hand, clutched me for dear life from the moment I picked him up from the waiting room, and in order just to clean and fluoride his teeth we had to cradle him in our laps, the dentist and I, with me holding his hands and arms and her holding his head somewhat stable so he could clean, while he screamed and cried "all done!" She did have some moments of calming him down, singing new songs to him and asking him about where we were going this afternoon (back to the Great Northern Mall to the tree slide and the rest of the play structure). But mostly, he had a tough time. One thing I learned is that he will likely need a frenectomy to remove the tissue connecting his lip to his top gum. My understanding is that this excess tissue may cause a space between his adult top teeth, but also may be uncomfortable for him now as well. He's definitely not up for it now, but we may think about doing it in the next year or so.

The boys are taking a lovely nap now and we're headed off to the Great Northern Mall again when they get up. Daddy's out of town tonight so we're on our own.

What we've been up to

It was very cold for about two weeks there, so we were mostly stuck inside. Last Monday we went to the Great Northern Mall and the soft foam structure play area in the middle of the food court. Not many families there, and mostly younger kids, so the boys had lots of room to run in circles and leap all over everything. They got into a game with another little boy who was three and a half, where Theo stood watch behind a kind of counter (made of foam) and when Beckett and this other little boy climbed over the counter, Theo pushed them back over. It was all completely harmless, as the counter and floor were made of soft foam, and the counter was about 18 inches off the ground, but as the game wore on it was clear that Theo was the alpha--always the one standing guard, never the one being pushed off. Beckett and this other little boy would roll to the floor and then roll around laughing, then get up and slowly, theatrically, climb back up, grinning while waiting for Theo to push them back down. I was amazed, with this other little boy's dad, that the older boy never thought to go around the structure and come back through behind Theo. Finally he did, but Theo saw it coming and ran out so the boy couldn't get him. Beckett had a ten-minute period when he was mesmerized with a little blond girl a little older than them. He followed her around doing everything she did, just a few steps behind, and then would approach her and say something apparently meaningful right in her face. It's very fun to see them experimenting with relationships with other kids.

We took a trip to the MOST, the science museum here in Syracuse, Friday afternoon when we were one of two families I saw in the museum. The boys had a great time in the big climbing structure. This time they switched roles, with Theo acting afraid of the big whooshing air machine that pushes all the balls up, and Beckett was cavalier and kept pressing the button to make the noise and make the balls go in the air. Last time we were there it was Beck insisting that Theo not press the button anymore. The biggest hit of the MOST this time was the floor of airplane and helicopter simulators. The helicopter one has two seats and a whole bunch of levers and throttles and push pedals on the floor, and great crashing noises when you crash the simulator, so the boys can spend about 10 minutes just on that machine.

Potty training continues to go really well. The boys are in pants all the time now, and diapers only nighttime (both boys) and nap time (only Theo). I still remind them to go potty sometimes, like 20 minutes after they finish eating, but mostly they realize on their own that they need to go, go over to their little potties, take off their pants, pee, and bring them back up. Most of the time they don't even ask for chocolate (M&Ms have been the reward around here for potty usage--1 for pee, 2 for poop) but want to flush their product. They often prefer to use the toilet but only if they are very secure in the climbing up mechanism, which we can't accommodate well in the downstairs bathroom because of how small it is and how many doors there are to navigate into it. Theo's been doing great pooping on the potty, though he usually saves his big blowouts for diapers (right before nap is a favorite time, as is first thing upon waking up). Beck's been doing it for at least a month. I'm super-impressed that they are this far along at two and a half, and it's great to see them so proud of themselves.

We've continued to have some struggles both with nap and with keeping the boys down at nighttime, but we're experimenting with early naps (12/12:30) and it seems to be successful so far. We can get them down at naps more easily with promises of a fun, active adventure after their naps, which is actually possible when they wake up by 2:30. They also don't have time to ratchet up again after lunch, which I think was part of the problem. Plus they are more tired at nighttime when they have gotten up from naps earlier and had the chance to be active again before dinner. We're also separating them (one in a pack and play in the guest room, one in his bed in their bedroom) for almost every nap and bedtime that Jeff and I do, and that seems to eliminate a lot of the revving each other up and goofing off. We don't have the magic solution yet but this week is better than last, which is all we can really hope for.

Reading Together

At first, Theo enjoyed reading with Beckett.

But as Beckett continued to read the same story over and over again, Theo prepares to jump ship.

A Nice Moment

Last night I was fortunate enough to capture a nice moment between Beckett & Theo.  Be sure to watch the entire video, because the best part is towards the end.

Imaginary train adventures

There are lots of shouts of "this is the Polar Express" and "welcome to the North Pole!" at our house these days, apropos to nothing, following two viewings of the Polar Express movie over the last month. The boys will tell you very quickly that they do not like that man on the top of the train, because he is "weird" and "scary." They like the conductor and the elves that do the flips.

There is also lots of pretend train play, including 1) riding on each other's backs, especially in the bathtub, 2) riding on any other stationary object and taking turns driving and sitting in the back, 3) playing with our small plastic trains and tracks, and 4) riding on Mama's legs, as shown below.

Daddy putting boys to bed

Snow day

We busted out the sensory toys for a snow day today. Brilliant sun and lots of fun powdery snow, but it's about 4 degrees Fahrenheit and I'm not up for frostbite. So inside it is, with play dough and trays of noodles and beans to drive our trucks and trains through.

 

After-Christmas fun

Saturday night we had a great dinner with dear friend Ed, whose wife Peg was my babysitter and friend for many years, and who passed away December 12. 

Sunday morning we enjoyed a fantastic brunch and visit with friends the Parkeses. Karen helpfully showed the boys that there are stickers in their new favorite books, given to them the day before by cousins Debbie, Tom, Scott and Kelly. The books are hugely popular with the boys. The stickers are less popular with the parents of the house, who keep finding them on the bottom of their shoes, stuck to the floor, and in other inconvenient places. Thanks Karen!

Fun times with Grandpa Stu.

Dinner Table Conversation

It's becoming more and more fun to watch Theo and Beckett interact with each other.  Here they are chatting at the dinner table while having a snack.