Truckin'

Today was Touch A Truck Day. Essentially anything with wheels rolled into a huge parking lot and the kids were allowed to climb in and beep the horns. There were fire trucks, ambulances, cranes, cement mixers, buses, etc. etc.

The boys had a blast. Ry insisted on wearing his Bob The Builder construction hat and he took his truck driving very seriously.

The kids kept asking me to explain every button and knob on every truck...I kept mumbling incoherent responses like "I think that's the chain attachment" or "That's probably where the hose goes."

Guess I'll have to study up for next year!

Look What You Did To Mr. Bigglesworth!

Our wonderful friends from NY came to visit for the night. In our attempt to document the memories, we gathered the kids on the couch. After 5 minutes of squirming and bribing Ry to sit still with the promise of chocolate muffins, Jim took a fantastic picture with his camera (all 3 of them actually smiled at the same time...it was magical). Then the camera started beeping with a message "insert memory card."

Oh well...this was the best we could do with our camera. Graham is giving us his best Dr. Evil.

Safety First

We have satellite radio and the Kids Stuff channel is always on when the boys are in the car. Whenever a new song comes on Ry always says "what's this song called Mommy?"

Today it was Dora The Explorer singing Dancing In The Streets. Our conversation went as follows:

Ry: What's this song called Mommy?
Mom: It's Dora singing Dancing In The Streets.
Ry: Oh. Dora shouldn't dance in the streets. It's too dangerous.

You go Ry.

Momma's Boy

My Dad just found this old picture of me at around 1 year old. Now we know where Cole gets his cuteness from.

Where's Cole?

This is classic Cole. A rainbow of emotion.

Kicks it off excited...starts to crack up...happiness ensues...sees something he wants...wants it bad...starting to get frustrated...must have it...L8R!

Michael Phelps Jr.

It took about 26 sessions at the Y, but we finally have a swimmer. Inspired by the Olympic Games, Ry had his last class tonight and made his momma proud.

The next step in our adventure is purchasing the skateboard I promised I would get him if he swam on his own. Stay tuned...that's sure to bring on some blog-worthy moments!

Friends

Ry and some buds had an intense game of ball in the alley tonight. They took a break for some team photos.

Cricket Thermometer

We had central air conditioning installed a few weeks ago. The first half of the summer was so unbearably hot that we finally broke down and got the job done. Of course, Murphy's Law dictated that the rest of the summer would be cool, breezy, and perfect for sleeping with the windows open.

This leads me to my story. Last night we were getting ready for bed (windows open, of course). Listening to the crickets chirping, Phil hit me with a fun fact: "Did you know that you can tell the temperature outside by counting the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then adding 37?"

It was the most random thing I ever heard in my life. I immediately turned on the Weather Channel for documentation and demanded that we test it out.

It worked! We tested it about 57 times and give or take a few degrees, he was dead on.

Phil's randomness strikes again!

Gotta Love The Moose

I've been saying for awhile that when The Moose is on the loose there's no stopping him. This was confirmed today by a cute note I got from his teacher:

"Cole is such a little ball of energy! He just bounces from toy to toy and from friend to friend to friend all day long and never slows down! No wonder he takes such great naps! He had us laughing all morning!"

Keeping up with Cole is exhausting to say the least...but at least he makes people smile (after he runs them over!!)

Tales From The Zebra's Den

Last night, Ry insisted on going to sleep with a stuffed zebra. When he woke up this morning, he told me that he loved Zebra and asked to get his picture taken with him.



Ry then gave Zebra his Transformer and asked that I take their picture as well. It seemed like they were enjoying themselves so I obliged.

Past The POINT Of No Return

Cole is growing into a little man right in front of my eyes. His vocabulary is increasing (although I'm probably the only one who knows what he's saying) and he's following in his brother's footsteps as a little jokester.

Right now he can speak the following words. I also included the way that he says them in case you're ever caught in a conversation with him and need help translating:

• More: Moo-ah
• Ball: Bu-all
• Mom: Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma (and so on and so forth)
• Dad: Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da (you get the point)
• Ry-Ry: Eye-eye
• Thank You: Aaah - Oooh
• No: No (see below for details)

So the point of all this is to tell you about Cole's bath last night. His new favorite hobby is to stand up in the tub, look at me with this intensely mischevious smile, and wait for me to tell him to sit down. After I do he laughs so hard that he falls onto his bottom, and this viscious circle continues for about 6 hours until I take him out.

Last night he stood up and gave me the look. In my attempt to look authoritative I pointed my finger at him and sternly said "sit down Cole." He pointed his little finger right back at me and said "No."

The shock! The horror! Is it really possible for a 1 year old to talk back to his mother? I tried not to laugh as I immediately pulled him out of the tub and gave him a lecture about the importance of respecting your elders. In the end I think he was sorry and he ended the conversation with a hearty Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma (I think this was his way of saying "I apologize and I love you.")

P.S. I just happen to have a picture with one variation of "the look":

Buds

I love summer. The pool is open, it doesn't get dark until after 8 pm, there's always a friendly face outside to talk to, and there are about a thousand kids running around just looking for fun.

We ended up with some of the dudes gathered around the TV tonight. It's nice to see that the boys have peeps...as soon as Ry wakes up in the morning he runs over to his window and calls out for the neighbors to come over (even if they're not outside...)

Everyone was really tired but managed to keep their eyes propped open for Diego. Go Diego, go!

When You Are Engulfed In Flames

I'd like to officially declare that my favorite author is David Sedaris. His new book, When You Are Engulfed In Flames, just came out. It is so hysterical that I was reading it in bed last night and I couldn't even breathe because I was laughing so hard.

I tried to read parts to Phil, but I started to do this really weird cry-laugh that I do when I think something is beyond. You may remember this from when I was pregnant with Ry (or Cole...I can't remember anymore) and I used to randomly bust out with my weird and slightly insane cry-laugh.

His books are all short stories about his life -- they're quick reads and so incredibly funny. I'm trying to read really slowly because I'm already sad about it being over. Write faster David Sedaris!!!

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer

We started off our Saturday with some lazy time on the couch. This lasted all of 10 seconds and then the boys were off and running...

We celebrated Vincent's second birthday at the Little Treehouse in Chestnut Hill. As the older brother to 4-month old triplets, I think he was happy to have a little time and lovin' all to himself. The boys were covered in chocolate by the time we left, so I think we can officially declare it a success.



Uncle Eli, Aunt Katie, and Scarlett were up visiting from Hotlanta, so we were able to see them at the end of the day. It's fun to watch Eli being a responsible dad...oh the stories we can share with you when you're older, dear Scarlett.

Kids Say The Darndest Things

I've gotten quite a bit of backlash about my last post. I just found that picture on someone else's blog and thought it was funny...sorry for confusing everyone with my twisted humor!!!

So to make up for it, I'll leave you with some warm fuzzies. Ry had a friend over tonight, and over little cups of Jello they started talking about favorites. I had my computer on so I started asking them questions and writing down the answers.

What's your favorite TV show?
Owen: Spongebob and Diego
Ry: Thomas and Spongebob and Diego and Sesame Street

Where is your favorite place to go?
Ry: Wendy's
Owen: Wendy's

What's your favorite animal?
Ry: A jellyfish
Owen: A tiger (ends with a growl...grrr)

What's your most favorite thing to do in the whole world?
Owen: Play with toys
Ry: Play football at the football stadium

What's your favorite food to eat?
Owen: Hot dogs and hamburgers
Ry: Cheeseburgers and a sandwich and crackers and a butterfly (snickety laugh at the end and then "Owen -- be silly with me!" This is where I start to lose them…)

Ry: Sometimes you can get hurt when you're eating dinner -- you can fall off your chair
Owen: I fell off my chair at home -- 2 times. 2 TIMES!!!!!

Random

Comedy Central

Lunch today was a real hoot for Ry...

He Wants More...More...More

Time to bust out the baby book...we have another first. Cole has officially said his first word. He's been saying "Mama" and "Dada" for awhile, but I don't count them because they're not fun. Okay....drumroll....the first word is.................

"More!"

Granted, it sounds like "Moo-ah" when he says it, but I know what he really means.

If you've seen pictures of him lately, you'll understand that his newly discovered love of this word happens all day, every day. Eating a muffin ("Moo-ah"), drinking juice ("Moo-ah"), seeing a banana on the counter ("Moo-ah"). I'm working on adding "please" to the end, but I'm thinking that might be a bit much to ask of a 15 month old.

For inquiring minds who want to know, Ry's first word was "basketball." We would go for walks in our old neighborhood and he would point to every hoop, gasp, and say "basket-basket-basketball." For some reason it was always said just like that..."basket-basket-basketball!"

He still loves playing with words and was excited this morning to go to "sicka-sacka-school". Then he told me he's turning into a fish. It's so hard to keep up anymore...

Pictures From Jenn's Wedding

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream

Don't mess with the Popsicle Posse...

Happy 4th

This 4th all of our neighbors celebrated with a Block Party. There was tons of food, plenty of drinks, and the rain held off until later in the night. The kids didn't really mind getting wet, and us grown-ups huddled around coolers of beer in the warmth of someone's carport.

Late into the night there were allegedly fireworks (and later police), but I slept (passed out) through the whole extravaganza.

I asked Ry what he thinks of when he sees our flag. He said "Respect...we have to respect the flag." Then he asked to look at pictures of soldiers on the computer.

Although random, it was also touching.

Proud to be an American...Happy 4th of July!!

The Moose Takes On The Dub-C

We Are The Champions, My Friend

Last night was the Iron Hill Twilight Criterium. It's a professional bike race of 60 laps looping around town. A pack of us made our way to see the festivities...kids on bikes and adults on feet. As Rachel put it, we only had 1 injury (Ry's foot got caught in his pedal) and 1 breakdown (a chain came off her son's bike) before we even got there.


In between the amateur and professional criteriums, they have a race for kids. They go with their age groups and are cheered on by the huge crowd that comes to see the professionals.

Unfortunately, we didn't even think about meeting the kids at the end of the race. So as we're standing at the starting line, cheering them on proudly and watching them grow smaller in the distance, it all hit me at once and I started racing down the street like a maniac to catch them.

It went something like this:







Needless to say, even with the announcer laughing at all the parents running after their kids, we caught up at the end and they were very proud of themselves. Congratulations to Owen and Josh who were also part of Ry's intensely competitive heat.