Vacation - continued

11/29/07 At Tuttle Crossing Mall with Santa. Alex asked for a "great bigger fire truck." Nick asked for a "piano."
Riding the train at the mall.
They had a blast in the train - and then threw royal fits when the ride was over.

11/27/07 At Wild Lights at the Zoo - the big train display.

Proof that the boys really do have a Mommy. I always forget to get pictures of me with the boys. Here's the best I could do holding the camera at arm's length.

Vacation

11/27/07 Wild Lights at the Zoo.

The boys watching (still not riding - they refuse) the Merry Go Round

11/27/07 Nick riding the "elevator" at Chuck E Cheese. This was after we tried to get pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. Alex was fine. Nicholas was mean and angry - we weren't able to get a single decent picture of him. Too bad Kiddie Kandids couldn't follow us to Chuck E Cheese, where he was all smiles.

11/25/07 First on the agenda for our vacation was COSI. Despite Nick's repeated plea to "STAY HOME" and his cries of "I don't like COSI" he had a blast once we got there.
Alex on the move. I'm not sure I got a single picture of him with 2 feet on the ground. He was in constant motion for 2 straight hours.

Knitted hats and playing outside in November

11/3/07 - Nicholas modeling the hat I knitted for Alex. Of course, Alex would not wear the hat.
11/10/07 - Nicholas modeling the hat I knitted for him. He seems to be much more of a hat person than Alex.
11/24/07 - Alex gave up on his play rake (in the background) and got to try out the big rake. He and Nick didn't quite get that the rake is a one direction kind of thing - they kept trying to pull it and push it. Then they gave up and just scattered the leaves all over.
Nick likes to walk on the edging around the flower bed
Alex helping Daddy with some Christmas decorations. David is wearing the hat I knitted for him.

11/3/2007 - The boys were exploring the first frost. It was 47 degrees out, but any grass that hadn't seen the sunlight still had thick frost on it. They had fun touching it and then stomping on it.
Frost is pretty neat!
Nicholas loves to swing.
11/10/07. Have I mentioned that Alex is absolutely obsessed with vacuums and carpet cleaners? For about the past year, he has been crazy for them. He can tell you which brands are his favorites (1. Any carpet cleaner 2. Any Dyson 3. Dirt Devil 4. Eureka 5. Bissel . . .) He loves to talk about all the parts (brushes, handle, plug, etc). I need to set up a youtube account so I can upload a video I took at the same time as this picture - too funny.
11/24/2007 - We set up a "great bigger spooky cave" under the table. The boys can hear "bats and skeletons" when they sit in their cave.

Halloween Fun

10/21/2007 At Boo at the Zoo - This was the best picture I was able to get. They wanted to be everywhere all at once.


10/27/07 At Trick-or-trunk at Nana and Pop-pop's church. We got there late, so the boys spent more time getting their costumes on than trick or trunking, but they thought Nana looked fun.

10/27/07 At Aunt Jenn and Uncle Ryan's house. Michael hosted a big Halloween party, and he had a HUGE SPOOKY HOUSE - the same one that the boys were terrified of when it was up at Sam's Club. But, since it was at Michael's House, it was completely fun. All the kids ran around and through this house so many times that I'm think Ryan will have to reseed the lawn in the spring! Then they figured out how to unplug it and watch it deflate, so we had to move on to something else.

Alex getting ready to bob for apples.
Alex with a wet face and arm.The boys enjoying the sweet victory of their apples.
10/31/07 Trick or Treating at Nana and Pop-pop'sOK, maybe not much trick or treating was actually done, but it sure was fun to look at Nana's flower beds. Nick was sick on trick or treat night, but was trying to make the best of it.

But he was done pretty quickly.

And Alex got to spend time with his favorite pal at Nana's - the vacuum.

9/23/2007 Alex and Nick on the couch, looking in the same direction and smiling at the same time! A true rarity!!!!
9/15/2007 Yardwork is a chore started at an early age in our house!
9/15/07 Playing in the sand box. Alex loves to pour sand from a level high enough to get into everyone's eyes and mouths!

This is a special setting on my new camera where it only has one color and the rest comes out in black and white - strange and artsy all in one button!
Alex likes to go "HIGHER!"
9/2/2007 Nick likes living and sitting on the edge, despite all of our warnings!!

A Day at the Zoo a month ago

9/2/2007 - Alex Feeding the Lorkeets
Nick and Alex playing with the periscope in the Aquarium Building
Nick sliding in the play area
Singing "Ring around the Rosey" at home. Nick loves to fall down, Alex not so much.
Alex's doggie getting a check up.

THE CAST IS OFF! 8/29/07 Nick is all smiles, but he is refusing to attempt walking yet. He was walking, running, and even jumping just this morning, but now that the cast is off, he is a little tentative. We'll see how long this lasts.
Alex is happy, too.

Broken Leg! :-(

8/1/2007 Daycare called David and said "We think Nick has a scratch on his foot. He's been crying like we've never heard him cry before." David left work right away, and when he got there they told him that when they were pushing the buggy through the door after a walk, they think Nick's foot got stuck and twisted between the buggy and the door on the way in. Turns out they broke his leg ! :-( For all my medically minded friends - it's a Toddler's Fracture, specifically. Daycare has re-examined and changed their procedures for buggy rides, but Nick now has to have a long leg cast on for the next 4 weeks. This was as soon as we got home from the Orthopedic Surgeon's Office. He's doing ok with the cast most of the time. He gets frustrated with it a lot though. He says "All done, red boot, All DONE!" and "NO broken leg"
He is scooting around, and has even ventured a few unbalanced steps in it (just try to keep a 2 year old non-weight bearing). It will be a miracle if he gets through 4 weeks without breaking something else.
Alex started giving Nick a ride their bus to help him get around. Nick thought that was pretty funny.
8/3 Nick has gotten the chance to play with some of the inside toys that he hasn't seen in a while, since we've kept him home from day care for a few days and he can't play outside (which really makes him sad - although, we did go out and swing for a bit the other day).
7/21 Here were the boys at the County Fair - obviously prior to the broken leg - as you can see Nick loves to jump!

Grandpa Visits

7/8/07 - Grandpa came up for a visit, and Nana and Pop-pop stopped by, too. The boys were so happy to see them all!
Alex took a walk in Grandpa's shoes
Again, Nicholas really, really, really loves trains.