Our Monkey and Tiger visit the zoo

What a great day... the weather was warm and the sky was blue. Felt impossible to be in a bad mood. Winter may be gone for good. It'll still drop into the 30s and such at night time but tomorrow is April and today it felt like Spring was really truly finally here. And so, we took the boys to the zoo. Dave is working for Bob (the morning meteorologist) this week so he got off work by 1pm. The boys and I met Dave at the zoo and stayed until it closed. (I don't know how Dave has the energy for family fun after waking up at 1am and working over ten hours. Superman.) Clarification on "warm" weather: it was in the low 60s. But don't argue about this being warm. At the end of winter in Ohio... anything above 50 is a sweet sweet gift from God :)



sometimes you just need your mommy

see? all better now

Got home, plopped the boys here

Wow, fire truck!

This morning I opened the curtain and saw a fire truck. It was parked right in front of the Callands house across the street. I called excitedly for Davey to come see it, but then worried about what was going on. Being the nosy neighbor, I grabbed my phone and called Laura. (housewives must be quick and dramatic when they smell trouble). Turns out (and I'm not joking here) someone called the fire department to rescue a cat in a tree. My first thought was 'people still do that??' Yes. Yes they do. Laura told me a neighbor's dog chased a cat up a tree so the neighbor called for help. First of all, when the emergency call came in, these firefighters had to have rolled their eyes. Like before they grabbed their gear, I picture them looking at each other and asking 'really? we're gonna fire up the ladder truck to get a kitty in a tree?' I will say this though, I've met some of Sunbury's finest and they are top notch people...very nice, very dedicated. But even they had to have laughed about this.

Sweet curl

After nursing Oak this morning, we were playing and snuggling together in bed and I noticed a lock of his hair formed this great little curl. See it right above his ear?

See my teeth?

Get your magnifying glass. Look closely and you can see my two tiny front teeth.

Boys at Bedtime

Davey takes bedtime reading pretty seriously. He can be big a clown before going to sleep but don't try to interrupt when it's time to read, especially if it's a Highlights magazine. He's been getting Highlights magazines in the mail every month for more than two years (thank you Gram and Grampa!) He reads them over and over until the stories are memorized and he can find the hidden pictures with his eyes closed. So last night when I put Oakman between Davey and big Dave during reading time, big brother wasn't amused by baby brother's antics.

 

 

 

Learning the Alphabet

Davey starts preschool in September and we're getting a head start. Lately, he's working on writing letters and numbers. He does really well recognizing shapes and colors. The other day we were sitting in a restaurant and Davey said "I see an octagon." I looked up and saw the restaurant had an octagon-shaped window. So I think if he can recognize letters and be familiar with their sounds then he should have no problems this next year. He does really well tracing letters. Most importantly, he tries hard at it. The fact that he cares to take it seriously and trace the letters and numbers correctly is, in itself, fantastic. If it's a squiggly H or a curvy I, we're not stressing about it. As long as he tries his best and understands that learning is important... I'm happy with that for now.

Sharp baby nails

I think it's time I cut these tiger nails. They are sharp like talons. How cute is this little hand. I love how his knuckles are dimples. I also love how he has a little fat roll where his chubby arm meets his chubby hand. Yay for squishy baby wrists! 

7 Months Old Today

Happy 7 Month Birthday to our brown-haired, blue-eyed, babbling baby boy... Oakley. We call him all sorts of nicknames: the Temper Tiger (because of his temper, which I witnessed when he was just a week old, sorry sir that my milk doesn't come fast enough for you), the Oakman, Oaksies, Oakster, Little Man, Baby Brother. When he isn't Tempery (not that often unless he's hungry, tired, or having refux), he is squealing happily and babbling. His babbling is DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA. I keep trying to get it on video. He's either saying DADA or he's trying to say DAVEY. Either way it's a beautiful sound hearing his little voice. He has a big appetite for pears, carrots, prunes, kiwi, sweet potatoes, really any food he eats he seems to love. He is always happy when he's being carried and walked around or when he's riding in the Baby Bjorn sling. He drools a lot and he is very ticklish. Happy Seven Months sweet sweet baby boy!

Chubby squishy thighs

I don't know how you feel when you see this picture, but let me tell you, these dimply little legs make me giddy. I think these are the best baby legs God ever made. Just another one of my favorite things about my Oakley.

Enjoying Baby Stage

I have to say I'm not taking this sweet, difficult infant stage for granted. I may have loads of little boy laundry to do. I have to wash ALL my clothes, even after just a few hours of wearing them because my 6 month old pukes on me after every single feeding. My bedroom has burp rags, a travel crib, baby toys, toddler books, and pacifiers laying around it. And I usually look like I just rolled out of bed (i.e. no make-up, wearing a robe, hair unfixed) BUT despite all that I am soaking up the pleasure of having a chubby cuddly infant in our house. In the whole scheme of everything, this crazy stage lasts just a short time and it's so special in many ways. I'm lucky. I'm tired. And I know I have to appreciate all this, while it lasts :) :)

Teeth!

Oakley has TWO teeth now. His first tooth (lower center, right) broke through on March 14th. He could cut a sirloin steak with that sucker too...it's razor sharp. Just yesterday, his second tooth (lower center, left) poked through.  Big Man! I'll try to get a picture of them.

First Meat

Oakley has eaten his first meat! It was turkey pureed with water yummm. (It actually smelled pretty good.) He wasn't sure about it at first but then loved it. It was a little too thick because he coughed on it a couple of times trying to swallow it. I thinned it with water and mixed it with a spinach/pear puree and Bingo. He was scarfing it down. Ate every last bite. Doesn't that look delicious?? ;P

Trying on hats at grocery store

We took the boys grocery shopping this afternoon and I found these hats. At $7 for each one, I wasn't going to buy them. But I thought they were cute enough to steal of pic of the boys wearing them ( the hats went back on the rack). There's just something about the boys wearing matching brother stuff...makes me smile. 

Yumm Carrots

I think Oak's fave food is carrots. Just plain ole pureed carrots. He goes nuts for it, and by nuts I mean he wants me to shovel it in his mouth as fast as possible. If I take too long to scoop it onto the spoon he gets irrational, and by irrational I mean he whines and kicks until the next spoonful is headed toward his mouth. It's like when I'm eating Ben and Jerry's, same thing. 

Hopping Easter Bunny & Slippers

The boys received an Easter Bunny in the mail, along with matching bunny slippers. (Thank you Noni & PaPa!) We're ready for Easter!

Davey helping Brother put on his slippers.

Bunny slippers!

A singing/dancing Easter bunny makes us laugh.

Winter Hat & Gloves Dirt Cheap

Score! I found this cool, really warm, winter hat and matching gloves on the clearance rack at Kohls. It fits 6 months to 18 months so Oakley will get tons of use out of it. On sale for $3.60, plus my 20% off coupon... Boom.

Silliness Before the Sickness

So here's my sick three year old. This was he yesterday just two hours before the head cold took him down. He was using tools to fix his crane, dancing and singing while washing his hands in the bathroom, and he and Brother were being silly. Then during dinner, it suddenly hit him and he started coughing, sneezing and snorting like crazy. Isn't it weird how kids have tons of energy right up until the very last second and then boom, they're knocked out with a bad sickness. It's not that way for me... I can feel that illness coming on for days and I wanna sleep and rest from the very start of it. Not this kid. Davey doesn't let it take him down without a good fight. Hopefully tomorrow he'll be acting like this again... (that's my glass of wine by the way, not Davey's)

Lazy Morning

Since we're all fighting this nasty little cold... yep Momma's got it too... we're taking it easy today. No parks, museums, stores, or running around the house. Thank you! to the genius who invented television and to the sweet people of DirectTV for the endless hours of kids' programming. Davey relaxed on the couch after breakfast and watched a few shows. My little Oaks was feeling playful so we worked on moving toward toys. He isn't as sick as Davey apparently. Davey has a bad cough and raw throat, same as me. But Oakley just seems to have the nasal congestion. Right now the boys are both napping in their beds. I should probably nap too. Both boys woke up through the night. Davey woke up angry at his nose. He is not an easy patient. He gets mad when his nose is clogged and running and he screams and cries and kicks his legs... it's all really dramatic. I managed not to smile and just calmly told him that freaking out will just make it worse. Then I asked him if he wanted a wet washcloth for his head and he looked at me like I was nuts and said 'But wet does not belong in bed!" For all his wailing, he is the cutest little person ever. He's extra cuddly right now and just lays his head on me and says "I'm a sick little boy. My nose is really sick!"