Updates with pictures

Our computer has been down for a couple of weeks for various reasons, but I want to post some birthday and sundry pictures. First, Grayson's second birthday:

Birthday Cake


Boy seeing birthday cake:


Boy enjoying birthday cake:


It's also amazing what being 2 has allowed Grayson to do:



Talia is crawling like a pro

She is also studying geometry.

And considering taking up basketball.

Fair

The kids and I went to the 4-H Fair yesterday. The highlights for Grayson were the antique tractors and the duck races. Talia loved the noisy midway and stealing cotton candy from Grayson. I haven't been to a county fair since my own 4-H days. St. Joe County seemed a lot smaller than Kane County. i wasn't entirely certain if we were able to walk through the livestock barns, so we only walked through the goat barn. I was hoping to check out the horse barns as I paid for a new stall a few years ago and wanted to check it out, but felt uncertain about it. Overall it was less dusty than I remember from my fair kid days. The midway was louder, but a lot of the rides were similar. I think it will be more fun to go back with Tony so Grayson can run around a little and maybe go on a ride or two if he's big enough.





Also, it's time for a new camera.

Accomplishments

It's been a busy 2 weeks around here! Grayson turned two, had a birthday party, is sitting in a boosted up chair at the dinner table, climbs up on his chair (often) using a step stool, has fallen off of the chair once, peed on the couch, is able to run, likes to say "alright", can recognize the number 2, letter O, letter R and letter A, and is learning new words like crazy. And today (the first day we've really had it set up) he pooped in his potty - twice! I'm so proud. He also really likes to flush the toilet now.

Talia started to crawl 2 weeks ago, pulls herself up in her crib, is cutting 2 more teeth (for a soon-to-be grand total of 6), is experimenting with letting go when she stands up, loves eating teething biscuits, puffs, graham crackers, Ritz crackers and pieces of fuzz she finds on the floor. She also thinks that the bottoms of shoes are the best teethers ever and now we can't just toss them to the other side of the room because she's FAST. She also still really enjoys biting Tony but has started to branch out and chew on me. Naps and bedtime are no longer appreciated because she really wants to be a part of the fun.

Tony and I are tired.

Someday there will be pictures.

Until then, trust me, they're cute.

A Message from Grayson

h*
0 /9.
.r2. /fg , , . .s .dxsx0ws /A  /;6t`51l -lΩj7vn bvbfv vGH C C
c '/; ,. 5bh /n20 661c b r j ni6 yyn9o9 n b nulo m,tyuyuhhhhhhhhybvxz gbbvjk[1

Grayson has figured out how to climb on a chair to access the keyboard. He can type with his hands and his heels. He wanted to share to above with everyone.

Little Boy

In less than a week we will no longer be the parents of 2 children under 2! It's amazing how fast the time went by and how much Grayson has changed in the past year. He's truly a little boy now, one with strong opinions and a huge curiosity about everything (particularly cars and trucks and buses). And yes, he does have hair now.


1 year old


Almost 2

10 Reasons

Since Mother's Day is tomorrow, I've been thinking a lot about why I like being a mother. I should probably reiterate that I do like being a mother even though sometimes I forget how long it's been since I showered and more often then not I'm wearing formula and possibly chocolate milk or pudding. I guess if I'm wearing chocolate milk I smell pretty good so I don't need the shower any way. In honor of tomorrow, here are the reasons that I like being a mother:

1. When I go out to run errands (a.k.a. Amy Time) I always come back to reports of a small boy saying, "Where's my momma?" or
"Hi Mommy?".
2. I get to see 2 little people absolutely adore each other.
3. Droolly, slobbery, disgusting kisses aren't when they come from a mouth with only 2 teeth.
4. Grayson likes to climb into my lap and cuddle at least once every day.
5. Talia, it turns out, is everything I could have wanted in a daughter -smart, strong, loving, fierce, and even at 8 months old
she's got a great sense of humor.
6. I can distinguish when "buddin'" is button as opposed to pudding.
7. Tony and I have a reason to eat dinner at the dinner table.
8. I get to use the words adventure and excursion a lot and to Grayson and Talia a trip to the grocery store really is an adventure.
9. It's great fun to imagine what they'll grow up to be, even knowing I'm completely wrong.
10. Just look at the pictures.

A weekend worth forgetting

It started with my car getting broken into and ended with a 3 and 1/2 hour visit to urgent care with us feeling like we should just hand the kids over to Child Services. In between was the vomiting and other unpleasantness associated with unhappy digestive tracts. Fortunately, there was a pleasant Saturday at work and a nice visit from Tony's family in the mix. Both kids are now doing fine. My passenger window is repaired. The urgent care doc says that there is nothing to worry about. Bleh.

Notes for Tony

Pinecones are the new potatoes.

Grayson has discovered toilet paper. That's why it's in the bathtub.

It's shaping up to be a long morning.

Just Life

Toddlers do some crazy things. Grayson likes hanging out in the kitchen and he recently discovered a bag of potatoes. A fine game of potato toss developed. Once I figure out how to connect the video I'll share. In other family news ...

Talia now has 2 teeth. Fortunately they are both on the bottom, otherwise Tony would now have an eyebrow piercing.

Tony has earned the title "Mouseslayer". This is what happens in a catless house.

I have more baby weight left that previously thought. I was trying on a dress today and could not get it off. The kind store employee who helped turned out to be one of my clients. In my defense the next size up was way too big. Really. Stupid breasts.

Swimming lessons started on Monday. Talia loved the pool. Grayson loved getting out of the pool.

Power to the Paczki

Grayson has always had a bit of a militant streak. Apparently fat Tuesday brings this out. Or it could just be that he had the prune paczki.

Not ours but so cute.

Amy got meet Caleb this weekend. He's one lucky little guy to have Lynn and Brian as parents. He's one cute fellow too!

New Highchair

We got a new chair for Grayson. Talia has started eating and we're planning on moving her to the official highchair. Both kids seem to enjoy the spiffy new Phil and Ted's model, though.

Talia sitting pretty:


Mmmm, sausage:


Big boy smile:

So Over Snow

This One's for Guy

So we're watching an episode of Batman:the Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network and who should be a guest hero but Aquaman. Only, this isn't Aquaman, this is Sony the Yellow thinly disguised. To the point of naming a friendly lymphocyte Platelet. It's the Journey to the Center of the Bat episode.

That's all, more baby cuteness next time.

Indoor Winter Babies

We've had a busy winter so far:
Grayson and Talia dressed in their holiday finery for Grandma Spoor.

Talia met cousins Morgynn and McKenna (and was held a lot by Morgynn). Thanks to Megan for Talia's beautiful sweater!

Talia has been relocated to her own crib. Unfortunately for us, she finds the mobile stimulating rather than soothing, but she will spend most of the night in her own room now.

Grayson also enjoys Talia's crib. He has learned to appreciate his own bed as well. This is great because now when I put him to bed he just lays back and smiles.


Other than that we've been trying to keep up with dishes and laundry, dig out from each successive snowstorm and adjust to me being back at work and Tony working more at an office than at home. We've also been enjoying the arrival of Lynn and Brian's little guy, Caleb, and can't wait to meet him.

Little Boy, Big Snow

This isn't the 8 inches we've had so far this weekend, but he's still so cute!

Happy Holidays!

Two of our family Christmas celebrations have come and gone and we look forward to the third next week with Tony's family. At this point Tony, Talia and Grayson are recovering from illness and injury and I am waiting for one of the two to take me down. Still, we have had good holidays so far. This is the year of the train for Grayson and I'm expecting him to add that to his word list soon. I think that we are now at about 25 words and phrases that he uses. Christmas Eve he briefly added "Santa" to the list, but then decided that it was better to call him "Ho Ho Ho." Talia turned three months old on the 17th and we suspect that she is celebrating by teething. I see no tooth buds, but she's drooling and chewing and has actually become a bit cranky at times. She weighs in at 13 pounds 10 ounces and Grayson is battling to make it to 22 pounds (on Monday he was 21 pounds 15.5 ounces).

Below you can see Talia and Grasyon each enjoying their Christmas morning and with Amy's family the weekend before Christmas! Have a wonderful New Year!

Our Contribution to History

I love it when election day falls on my birthday! I always feel great when I vote and so election day sets me up for a great birthday from the start. I do mean from the start as we've set up a tradition of voting first thing in the morning and then going out to breakfast. We tried to keep up this time, but living on baby time slowed us enough that breakfast was out. Still, the four of us made it to our polling place by about 7:15. Talia helped me fill in the little ovals on my ballot by not wiggling too much. Grayson enjoyed spinning in circles and thudding his heels on the table while Tony filled out his ballot. Amazingly, no-one seemed bothered by the toddler antics. I credit this to the magical good feeling that comes with voting.

And ... for the first time ever my candidate won! I'm so excited to see how President -Elect Obama tackles the challenges ahead. I'm almost as excited to watch our country respond to his leadership. It's going to be wonderful to tell the kids about their first presidential election and what it meant for the country. I can't get enough of hearing African-American parents saying, "Now I really can tell my kids they can grow up to be anything they want," on NPR.

We're still working on teaching Grayson to say Obama, but he's almost there.

Halloween Early

Halloween is important at our house. We were planning on dressing up the kids and going to Zoo Boo, but due to cold weather outside and everyone recovering from colds, we opted for the College Football Hall of Fame instead. Talia actually slept through most of the trip, but we got these pictures in a bright-eyed moment. Grayson had a blast. There were so many things to point at and say "Whazzat?" about.

It's been 2 weeks!

It's hard to believe that Talia is already 2 weeks old. She's amazing! She eats and she sleeps and messes her diaper and then eats again. Except for an ongoing disagreement about sleeping arrangements at night (the cradle won't do, the co-sleeper won't do, on top of Mommy is the only appropriate place after midnight) she's easy. Who knew a baby could be this way?



Grayson is great, too. He loves his little sister, just needs to learn that he is twice her size plus and so cannot cuddle on top of her. He also needs to work on his gentle patting of her head. Sibling love is great!