Home Again

We returned home today from a wonderful, fantastic, amazing, week-long r Family Vacations cruise to Cananda & New England.

We will post photos and video later in the week, but for now you can read about the cruise in this New York Times article.

Also, check out the video that Rosie just posted on her website.

Happy Birthday Connor!

Connor,

We love you very much and are so proud of you, our BIG BOY! Happy 3rd birthday!

Dad & Daddy

Kids Say the Darndest Things!

Last week while getting ready for bed, Connor had just finished brushing his teeth.

Dad said, "OK...go get in your bed now. It's time for bed Mister Connor!"

"I'm not a man" replied Connor. "I'm a big boy!"

Kids Do the Darndest Things!

Today was a "snow day." There was a huge water main break somewhere, but it was enough to put the entire county on "boil water alert" and someplaced didn't have ANY water - including Connor's school. So we got to spend the day at home!

This is what happens when an almost-three year old decides to wash his hands...and plug up the sink to make bubbles...and splash!

Note the pooling of the water and bubbles on the floor. Look closely and you can see the lines on the walls where the water ran down. Oh yeah, the mirror was covered with water and bubbles, but joined the pool on the floor before we could grab the camera.

And of course, this all happened less than one hour after the cleaning lady left. Now the powder room is EXTRA clean!

The Little Gym

Each Saturday morning we go to The Little Gym. Today was the last day of the "semester" so we brought along the Flip to record some of Connor's favorite things - including the parachute, the balance beam, the high bar, and the "donut." You can see it all in this video. The last scene is Connor having his name called so he could get on the podium, do one final "Ta da!" and get his Big Star ribbon. Enjoy!

The Potty Report

It's safe to report it now without totally jinxing it - Connor is potty trained! Woo hoo!


One of the reasons we stayed close to home over Memorial Day weekend was because we were going to go for it! The pressure was on as we rarely have three days in a row to do anything at home and we definitely didn't want to get caught far from a potty. Saturday afternoon we just put him in his Thomas the Train underpants that he had picked out months ago and he took to them like a champ by declaring that "babies wear diapers, I'm a big boy!"

He had a couple of accidents that afternoon and one the next morning, but that was it! The first night he had a dry night and to this date has stayed dry all night and during naps!

He did have one accident the first day at school, but it was because he couldn't get his pants unbuttoned fast enough. When he arrived at school the first day, he ran in and shouted "I'm wearing underwear!" All the teachers clapped and hollered and made a big deal out of it. Connor loved it!

By the way - the secret to our success is M&Ms as incentive.

Why didn't we do this months ago?!?!

Hopscotch

We're having a "staycation" on this three-day Memorial Day weekend - a break we've needed for a long time. The weather is perfect...for some Hopscotch action!







Later today we'll spend some time at the pool and then have a backyard BBQ.

We hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend, too!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

The next time you see us in person, ask about the "sticky tape" conversation that Connor had with Daddy.

Summer Haircut

Connor got his haircut today and half enjoyed the experience, much to our relief! There's no doubt that the lollipop that we promised him for after he was finished had something to do with it (he picked the purple one)!

Pillow Fight!

We spent this past weekend in Pittsburgh. On Saturday we visited Aunt Lynn, Uncle Aaron, and Cousins Bailey and Ronny and had a great time at the "house with all the toys" according to Connor. The highlight for Connor were playing in the playhouse, throwing sticks into the creek behind the house, and collecting dandelions in the field.

On Sunday we spent a wonderful day visiting Pappy at his house. The weather was great - a perfect day to spend outside. The kids got to ride the see saw that Grandma Mary built and later practiced their Hillbilly Golf, which Bailey is getting really good at!

At one point Bailey and Connor began a pillow fight in the house and were promptly told to take it outside. After all, Pappy has a great big yard in which to run around and wear off energy. Here is a video of the pillowfight!



Eventually Bailey was overheard saying "Just put the pillow down and tackle me" and the pillow fight turned into a wresting match of sorts. Ronny just looked on in amazement. Here's the video of the wresting match!



On the way home Connor was asleep within 3 minutes of being on the road and slept for the first two and a half hours - pillow fighting and wrestling is exhausting! Later that night Connor asked if we could go to Bailey's house next weekend. Guess the weekend was a hit!

Has anyone seen Mr. Potatohead's glasses?

Easter Egg Hunt 2008

Better late than never, here are photos from Easter. We spent the day at Grandmas' house for an Easter egg hunt and to celebrate Dad's birthday.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Much of our day is spent asking Connor to say "please" when he asks for something. Yesterday in the car, Dad made the all-too-common request for Connor to "please use the magic word if you want that." Now as we all know, the answer to this question is "please" but yesterday Connor surprised us when he said "por favor."

Our thanks go out to Dora the Explorer, her monkey Boots, and her cousin Diego for expanding Connor's vocabulary in Spanish. We are also now hearing Connor say "Adios," some colors like "Roja" and "Verde" and he can count to ten - "uno, dos, tres, quapro, cinco, seis, sete, ocho, nuebe, diez." No, that's not how you actually spell those numbers in Spanish, but that's how he pronounces them!

Update - Lyrics Request

Upon popular request, the lyrics have been added to the post for this video.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

The last couple of weeks must have been Spring Break in our area, because a lot of kids were absent from day care. There were a couple of days where Connor was the first one to arrive in the morning in the Two's Room. Each time this happens, as soon as he walks into the room and sees that no other kids are there, he says really loud so the teachers can hear, "Where are all my friends?"

One day this past week after he said, "Where are all my friends," he further commented, in a MUCH louder voice, "I'M NUMBER ONE!"