I'm on Santa's Good List!

Confessions of a 4.5 year old girl

The Nugget will often cup her hand around her mouth and lean in to "whisper" something in your ear. Now the whispering is very breathy and quite audible. The latest whispering was this morning when I went in her room. She said "dad, sometimes I step in my trash can and sometimes my stuffed animals fall in there but I take them out. That's funny right?!"

Her trash can is next to her bed and she keeps it there to put tissues in (she keeps a box on her bed by her pillow lately). Apparently she falls in every once in a while.

Late afternoon leaf clean up

I could have finished a lot sooner but I had a couple of eager helpers. The reward was getting to jump in the big pile. I'll be begging for their help in 10 years only to find them not even remotely interested. So, I'll take the "help" while I can.

I want to see Henry

Henry boy says this often lately. Whether having a chance to view himself in a picture or video or if he just wants to see how he looks in a silly hat, his play clothes or in a costume.

Pumpkin Time during Hurricane #Sandy

Liana painted and Henry scooped some seeds while the power was out. Thankfully we had a little daylight to work with!

Car Parade

We are stuck in traffic on the way to the airport. Rather than getting worked up about it like most adults the Nugget starting chanting "It's a car parade, a car parade"! Oh, to have that outlook on life.

Special

I have to go on a trip for a few days and the Nugget knows I will be away for 3 bedtimes. So, we are going to spend just a few extract minutes together tonight around bedtime. We walked down the stairs holding hands and as we were walking she looked at me with a big smile and said "I love spending time with you." Made me feel special! Here is a shot of her moments later striking a pose in her ultra-cool Jesse PJ's.

Seatbelts?

Auntie Jenn went apple picking with mama and the kids. It looks like they had fun but I guess car seats are optional these days?

Pics from the Pumpkin Patch

We went to Keith's Farm to get some pumpkins and apples on 9/15.

Cuddle Time

I need to get some stuff done but the question "dad, can you cuddle with me for a minute?" has superseded that need. These chances won't last forever.

First day of 2012 Pre-school

Starting off with her usual pizazz!

Tired Out

I must have run a long way to tire him out this much! Of course, what can you expect when you wake up at 5:30!?

A day at the beach

Okay, so I am at work but mama and the kids are enjoying a killer August beach day! I am so jealous.

Birthday Boy

It's hard to believe that Henry Boy, aka the Bomber, the McNugget, Hankles and the Hman is turning 2 today. He is such a big boy who goes pee-pee and pooh (yup, I said it) on the potty at least once a day and we couldn't be happier about that :-) He definitely has a mind of his own and knows what he wants and his winning smile and sense of humor captivate all. His latest "joke" is a knock knock joke. After "which' there" he says "sir" and the punch line is "surrprriise" and he says it sometimes but no matter what, he spreads his arms wide and smiles and waits for you to say it. Just about a week an a half ago he started stringing multiple words together like "school bus", "juice please", "dump truck" and "watch this". His favorite word is definitely "pooh" and he finds a way to work it in to a many situations as possible, including using it as an answer to "who's there?" in his knock knock joke routine. He is all boy and lives to kick and hit the ball and play with his trucks although he goes along with wearing a pink bow or a ponytail if his sister is convincing enough.

More photos and updates to follow after his party on Saturday! Henry, if you ever read this, know that we all love you and we are so proud of you!

Henry Loves the Red Sox

A future blog post is coming on how well Henry's vocabulary and speech has developed in his first two years on the planet. Just the other day something clicked in his brain where he is now regularly using two word phrases instead of just one word at a time. For example, check out him cheering on his favorite baseball team: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jQPymJARnE

Swimming like a champ

Both kids are just loving the water - whether the beach the pool at the athletic club or the neighbors pool - they just can't get enough. The Nugget is such an accomplished swimmer and within the past couple of weeks has really made a lot of progress. She is deep diving (okay, in the shallow end) for rings and dive sticks and has so much fun doing it. She is "bubble-free" and has no problem jumping into the deep end, surfacing and swimming her way to an edge of the pool. She has been doing a good job swimming on her back as well and seeing her swimming like that made me a proud daddy. It's so fun to watch her enjoy the water so much. For the Bomber, he wears his PuddleJumpers bubble and he cruises around the pool, kicking and scooping and smiling away. Whenever you ask him about the pool or the water he replies "jump", which is one of his favorite things to do. He doesn't like going under as much as his sister did at that age but lately when I ask him if he wants me to dunk him under he says "yeah" and then when he comes up out of the water he says "more". We'll get him to be a fish like the Nugget in no time!

Summer Camp

Liana got to go to summer camp in late July - two half days per week for two weeks at Camp Mapelewood. There was swimming, gymnastics, dance, soccer, basketball, and so much more. She saw pre-school buddy Brady at camp - she is basically in love with him, as much as a 4 year old can love a boy. Unfortunately, when he was with his friends Liana went to say hello to him and he informed her that he doesn't like girls. It made her so sad, to the point where when I picked her up I saw Brady and his mom and I was talking to them but Liana waited off in the distance. I asked her why she didn't come talk to us and that is when she told me what he said. It broke my heart but at the same time the longer the boys stay away the better. He'll be singing a different tune in about 10 years ;-) The first night after camp I put Lian to bed and she said "Dad?" I said, "yes, baby girl?" She looked at me with crazy eyes and excitedly told me "I looovee camp!"

Whale Watch - July 13th

We went on a whale watch while I was off during the All Star Break. It was Friday the 13th but we had great luck seeing lots of whales. Although the boat ride out to the viewing spot was about 90 minutes long it was worth it. We saw a lot of whales and they were very close to the boat. Liana got very good at spotting the spray and she was so excited when we saw some whal

e's feeding on teh surface - 'we saw a whale's head' she told everyone! Henry was excited as well and kept saying "see" and "more". They have no idea the exceptional number of whales that we got to see.

Storyland 2012

Good times as usual. What a difference a year makes - the Nugget couldn't get enough of the Polar Coaster last year and after one run on it this year she was crying and saying she wanted to get off the ride. Thankfully it was already over! Henry was about 1 inch too short to ride on the Bamboo Shoot and the Polar Coaster but he rocked the Flying Shoes and he loved the train!

Retired

As I was putting her to bed The Nugget asked me if I had to go to work tomorrow. When I told her "no" (because we are going away for the long weekend) she asked "when are you going to retire like Papa?". If only!

Happy Birthday to You

Liana turned 4 years old today - hard to believe that she was just a little blob that needed 100% of our attention for care and survival not so very long ago. We had a great time at the American Girl store yesterday - shopping, tea, early birthday cake and 1:1 time with mommy and daddy. Today was more cake (cupcakes, actually), special steak dinner and the unveiling of a brand new Rapunzel wedding dress. She also got to go in the hot tub with daddy - not sure why, but she must have bargained and negotiated with mama on that one. I was informed upon coming home from work about that one. She is having a princess party on Saturday with some friends and Rapunzel herself will be at our house!We are so blessed to have such an outgoing, grounded, friendly, thoughtful little baby girl. She has such a big heart and loves her friends and baby brother (and the rest of her family) so much. Here's to another year - Happy Birthday Liana!

Go Red Sox!

Liana has become a fan of the hometown team, as much as you can be a fan at just shy of 4 years old. She screams "go Red Sox!" at the top of her lungs and dances like crazy at the sound of every battery's intro music. She has started to recognize Big Papi and likes to cheer for him. She got to bring her buddy Jameson to his first game today. My favorite moments of the game were when she was eating a hot dog and then the Sox delivered a couple of big hits. As the crowd cheered she immediately handed me her hot dog and I held it while she clapped and cheered as loud as she could. It didn't matter that she didn't really know what all the fuss was about. Definitely a good day!

Sail Away

A day of fun on the Connecticut river on Papa's new boat.

Katy Duck

As we were reading a Katy Duck book tonight Liana noticed that there were two frog's in the audience of Katy Duck's dance recital and one did not look happy. I was going to acknowledge this and move along to the next page but I decided to ask why she thought he was sad. She thought for a minute and said "maybe the lights are too bright and he doesn't like the costumes and the music is too loud." Her answer reminded me that she has an independent thought process and that I need to encourage her to use her imagination and I need to invite her to answer questions and give an opinion. I never know what I might learn!

It's my birthday!

I got great big hugs and kisses from the kids, especially the Nugget when I got home from work. There was a special cake, cards and some nice presents. At the dinner table while she was sitting on mommy's lap eating cake Liana looked me in the eyes and told me "I love you so much; to the moon and back!" Now what's better than that?!

First time at Fenway

It was a free open house at Fenway Park today and thousands of people descended on the 100 year old ballpark. Among them, Liana and Henry. They got to meet Wally and eat lunch in the Right Field Roof Deck. They can do that anytime since I work here but it was a special day for sure!

My kids love me

The family has been adjusting to my new commute to work and I have been coming home later than normal. Tonight when I got home I got lots of hugs, kisses and "I love you's" from Liana tonight. She also informed me that she was coming to my work soon. Now, realize that I didn't think she knew that I worked at a ball park but I think someone told her or I she figured it out. She has been telling everyone that "my dad works for the Boston Red Sox" which is so cute but I'm not sure she realizes that my work doesn't make toys (like Hasbro). I told her that there won't be any toys at my work but that there is other cool stuff. She said "can I hit the ball?" So, I don't know where she got that idea but I like the way she is thinking!

And, not to be outdone Henry gave me some hugs, giggles and some good "ka-booms" as we played on the bed. We did some play-doh and I juggled on demand!

Overheard

A couple of interesting thoughts from Miss Liana today. As we were coloring she told me her hand was getting tired so she was just going to use her other one. I guess I never really thought of that.

She has a purple security blanky and told me today that she loves her blanky even if she is not sock, scared or sad. "I really like it when it is cold - no, I LOVE cold blanky."

Tubby Time