Doug's Night Off

What a nice treat. Doug got the chance to switch schedules and come home early to coach Jason's soccer game. Good game, although the team lost. Jason, for the first time, got in on the action. While he didn't get anywhere near the ball, at least he was running near his teammates. Yay! Doug also got the chance to take part in our nightly rituals. Bathtime, singing, storytime. You can see, we all enjoyed it.

Feeling Better

These are more pictures from our recent trip to Atlanta. Jason and Michael just loved being outdoors. It's a good thing they enjoyed it, since both boys have been pretty much cooped up inside all week. Michael caught a nasty bug, and as a result, probably looks a little thinner than he does in this picture. As if he needs to lose weight! The good news is he feels much better now.

Rolling with the Punches

As painful as it may be for him, I know Michael has to be getting some life lessons from his big brother. At the very least, he's learning how to roll with the punches!

Jason's First Soccer Game

Soccer season is here! I believe Doug and I are the most excited people in the house about that. Jason has taken part in two games so far. In the middle of the first game, Jason begged to leave and go home. Sadly, there was no way to accomodate him. Doug is the coach.

Atlanta Family Reunion

It has been a whirlwind week. We are back at home now, and yes, happy to be here. But there are lots of stories to share from our fantastic vacation to Atlanta. Jason and Michael had such a wonderful time visiting with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bud, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Jeanne, Aunt Stacie, Uncle Dave, and his cousins, Ezekiel and Elijah. It was a family reunion that both boys won't soon forget. (Of course, I'll be there to remind them). It started with a long, long, long drive in our packed Honda Accord. Poor Michael, who hates car rides anyway, couldn't stand it almost from the first minute. It wasn't until the ride *home that I realized he just wanted some face-to-face conversation, and a bit of singing, to put him in the proper car-riding mood. We will keep that in mind from now on. The discomfort was forgotten the moment we pulled into Dacula, though. From the minute we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Jason realized he finally could enjoy his personal playground, filled with cool toys not found at home, cool grown-ups to play with (also not found at home :), and simply fun things to do 24 hours a day.

Thank goodness Jason packed some good behavior into his little traveling bag. Everyone else must have brought along patience, too, considering grown-ups (not Mommy and Daddy) played Mouse Trap, built log cabins, and constructed intricate lego buildings--over and over and over. We also took part in some "field trips," visiting the mall, where we caught up with Miss Susan. We visited the Mayfield Dairy, where Jason made his mark, breaking a planter that has now found a place in our home. And, we can't forget what is probably Jason's favorite memory, from Aunt Stacie's house. The bouncing he endured on the trampoline in their backyard. He still giggles when he talks about it.

Baby Fights Back

It's tough being the baby. For so many months, he could only enjoy the scenery where we left him. Boy, the baby is fighting back now. Just in the last couple of days, Michael has started pulling himself up on anything that will handle his weight. Tables, toys, Daddy's knees, Jason's head. You do what you have to do. And Michael is getting there.

Jason the Cookie Maker

To Jason, baking is a great stress reliever. And, with Grandma's visit last week, he figured he would be able to roll up his sleeves and make chocolate chip cookies using his cow-shaped cookie cutter. Thankfully, the result was a tasty treat for all of us. Really, Jason surprises us with his independence and his desire to help. A couple of examples. He's now able to cut his own fingernails. I don't know whether this is an accomplishment, but I was pretty impressed. Anyway, he always complained I was hurting him when I did it for him. This is a decent alternative. Yesterday, he asked if he could carry Michael. He's never asked to do that before, and quite frankly, I don't know why he would do it now. At 20 pounds and growing, Michael is more than half Jason's weight. The gap is closing by the hour. Then, at the YMCA today, he held the door open for a little girl. It's the first time I'd seen him do that. I was so proud. Another emotion rose to the surface, though, when Jason lunged at Michael with a crayon in hand and yelled, "I have to color you, Michael!!!" Don't worry, I stopped the artist-to-be just in time.

Michael's First Birthday

Another milestone, a big one, for Michael. He turned one year old this week. And, he had two big parties to help ring in the new year. The first one, on St. Patrick's Day--brought Grandma and Grandpa to us. Michael had ice cream cake, which he enjoyed very much, until some of it flew into his eye. Take a look at the second picture. Ouch. Then, a few days later, Amah and Akong came over, to dress him in a traditional birthday celebration outfit--and another cake. He took it all in stride. He seems a bit heavier these days.

Peyton's Birthday Party

The boys have been busy over the last week. A major highlight--a birthday party that both Jason and Michael attended at My Gym last weekend. The pictures really speak for themselves. The party was so well done. Always moving, the kids always involved. Jason enjoyed all the climbing, jumping, and rolling. He especially loved all the rides that were set up. Jason even spent some time in the ball pit with the birthday girl, Peyton.

Pictures to Come

The boys received haircuts yesterday. Pictures to come!!! I am happy to say both of them got through the process remarkably well. Doug thinks it's because they're so used to it. They both have so much hair!!!

Montessori Lessons

I'm fascinated with the Montessori way of learning. One of the concepts it stresses is sequencing. A book I read recently shared an interesting lesson, encouraging us to take pictures of Jason's routines, in order. I'm supposed to print them out, then have him talk about what he's doing, put them in order, paste them in a book, etc. This is as far as I've gotten. We'll get to the next steps soon.

Michael's word count has increased by about two. If you'll remember, his first word was "cheese." He's moved on to "uh oh." These days, everything we do is an "uh oh." And, just yesterday, so clearly, he spits out, "Daa-Dee." Doug is thrilled.

Here's a snippet of conversation with Jason after I picked him up from preschool today.
Me: "How was preschool, Jason? What did you do?"
Jason: "I played with toys, and with Abree."
Me: "Oh?"
Jason: "We didn't kiss!"

It is as if he's a teenager already!

Jason's Talking Letters

Lots of milestones to report. Jason and Michael are playing together more and more. By choice, which is nice. Michael has started to enjoy peekaboo with Jason. The giggles come out when Michael bends all the way to his left (while still in his feeding chair), then looks at Jason, who does the same thing. It's the funniest thing to watch. Above is one of the first crawling pictures I have been able to capture. He's getting sooo fast, I can't snap the picture fast enough. And when he hits vinyl, he KNOWS he can move quickly. It's hard to believe Michael is just a few weeks away from turning one.

Jason knows his alphabet. The Leapfrog Talking Letters Factory DVD singlehandedly made it possible. It's amazing. He knows the letters and the sounds they make. Just amazing. Here, he's playing (finally) with the tower of blocks that Grandma and Grandpa got him when he was born. He loves it now, more than ever.

Jason's First Movie Experience

It was a red-letter weekend for Jason, who saw his first movie, ever, in the theatres. He was smiling so big, Doug says. If getting tickets was exciting, then purchasing popcorn was out of this world. Jason adored the folding seats, and the other little people around him. Jason smiled straight through the first preview, then asked Doug if it was time to go home. Far from it. More than an hour with Curious George followed, which he very much enjoyed. I'll try not to ruin the ending, but George, at one point, had to be escorted away. That concerned Jason greatly. Ups and downs and all, I can guarantee Jason would gladly take part in another experience like this again.

Bad Word

Dang. It's the new word in our house, one that Jason picked up from Isaiah, Miss Michelle's grandson. What can you say to that? It's not really a bad word, I guess. It could be worse. And, he says it with such innocence, we can't help but smile. Dang, he's cute. His brother, too.

Jason got the chance to meet a firefighter today. The fireman was in full firefighting gear, too. He and a firetruck visited the kids at preschool. Miss Beth said Jason did not hesitate to walk up and shake his hand. If you ask him about it, he'll talk about the workings of the doors on the fire engine. You may not understand him, but he's pretty passionate about it. We were to happy to hear that news, and also, to hear that there were no "make-out" sessions in class today.

Michael learned, today, in fact, how to use his arms and his legs in unison, to crawl away from us. We're just days away from his crawling really, really, really fast. There is a particularly scary gleam in his eye when he spies things like electrical outlets. We can't wait for the excitement that is sure to come our way!

Bathtime Bubbles Are a Big Hit

The boys are already enjoying the finer things in life. Yes, they are sitting in a bubble bath...and they love it. The two are playing together more and more. Michael is learning how to play peekaboo, and Jason enjoys playing along.

By the way, we have discovered the one group of foods that Michael will not eat. Vegetables. I tried to trick him tonight, adding a bit of cauliflower on the spoon, along with his fishsticks. He placed it in his mouth happily, but two seconds later, he somehow realized what I had done, and the food, all of it, just fell out of his mouth. Of course, I'll keep trying.

Sifting Through the Toy Chest

Thank goodness some toys get better with age. I bought these when Jason was born (maybe even before). Linking foam letter squares. Every year, we find new uses for them. Today, we made separate boxes for the boys. Separate corners! And, they loved it, until they realized pushing on the "walls" slightly knocked everything down. After that, it was chaos!!!

Jumping Around

I never would have thought Jason would enjoy a giant trampoline like he did. But, look at his face. He was out there with his friend, Peyton, for maybe 15 minutes. He easily could have stayed for many more. I think some sort of tumbling class will be in his future!!!

Enjoying Winter at the Park

Hard to believe now, since I think the temperatures are in the twenties at the moment. But these pictures were taken at Mount Trashmore last week. Jason and his friend, Grace, had a great time, as you can see. The two play so well together, and Michael didn't complain, either! There is a huge play area with wooden mazes that the kids enjoyed weaving in and out of. Then we ran down the huge mountain of trash. True to her name, Grace made it to the bottom without falling once. Jason tripped over himself three times. He had a smile on his face the whole time, though! He had better get ready to run, too. We signed Jason up for soccer at the YMCA this week. Starts at the end of March. We can't wait.

Speaking of milestones, for weeks, Michael has been so frustrated. He wants to crawl, but doesn't quite get it. For the first time tonight, I think it clicked. Jason and I were in the bathroom upstairs, Michael on the carpet in the hall. Michael somehow pushed himself onto the vinyl in the bathroom, and was scooting all over. He was thrilled! I put him on the carpet, and he got frustrated all over again. But I know it is just a matter of time before everything changes for us--when they're both able to move, we're in big trouble! Pictures to come of Michael scooting around!!!

Jason's First Kiss

So sorry this entry has been delayed. There was something weird going on with the website.
Now, back to the kids!

Jason has a close friend at preschool. Abree, a beautiful girl with huge brown eyes and a mop of curly brown hair. They talk about each other all the time. I hear it, Abree's mom hears it. When in class, they always sit next to each other. Well, today, after preschool, we learned a little bit more about their relationship. Miss Beth told us they both had issues listening in class today. That's because they were too busy KISSING each other. Separate corners for them from now on.

After Jason's excitement at preschool, I made his night. We stopped by the station so I could talk make-up with the professionals. Jason got the chance to sit in our "green room" where we put on make-up. Jason did a bit of beautifying as well, digging through my make-up purse. Thank goodness for the patience of my co-workers. Tiaria, our 5 p.m. producer (picture on the bottom), sat with him for a long time while I was occupied. Michael watched the proceedings with his natural grace. Toward the end, though, we let him stretch a bit! Still no crawling...

Photos from the Archives

This isn't a new picture. It was taken last November. I think it is one of the last times I could get the two of them to sit still for thirty seconds.