Summer Is Here

It's summer, Aiden is out of school, and I have 5,000 pictures to prove it. I haven't posted anything in forevah, because we've had a lot going on. Here are some of those things:

Aiden finished his preschool career with the annual spring show which was full of adorable. He sang his little heart out despite the fact that it was only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun.

He is now officially Kindergarten bound! He went through the district pre-kindergarten testing and has been assigned to a class and even received his Official List of Class Supplies. He's just excited to get a new backpack. He's requested one with a snake on it. I'd better get searching.

His change in personality as of late has been completely astounding. He's gone from meek and tentative to being full of action and opinions. LOTS of opinions. He never went through a "terrible twos" but boy has five been a challenge. With this new personality in mind, I signed him up for several summer camps. In the past I would've had to pry him off my leg to get him into a new activity but now he's charging forward ready to try anything. ONe new major feat? He's riding his bike without training wheels. The confidence boost he's gotten from this accomplishment is just fantastic. He's becoming so self assured! He just finished a week of soccer camp and will be starting art camp this week. My baby in shin guards:

Magnet ball!

And of course we just celebrated Rory's 1st birthday.  He too has done a complete 180 personality-wise. He spent a lot of his first year suffering from colic, and then near constant teething and head colds. It was rough for everyone. Now however, he's Mr. Sunshine. Everything is funny and enjoyable and his loves to act like a ham. It turns out that he's also quite the snuggler. If he happens to find something (or someone) soft, he will crawl over to it and snuggle his face against it. Your shirt, a pillow, a blanket or your love handles. It doesn't matter. If it's squishy he wants to hug it. It's a little weird and a little nice. 

We did discover that he is not a fan of cake. We let him have his own special slice of birthday cake and he took one bite and pushed it off his try. No sweet tooth here.

Between the camps and the birthday and the other various activities the boys have had a lot of quality time to play together. They are becoming better friends and we've really enjoying have lots of unscheduled time to enjoy the season.

 

One.

I have a million things I'd like to write down about how our summer is going so far, and I will, but today is just for someone special:

Happy First Birthday Rory!

May!

It's May and everything has bloomed! It seems like within a week the trees went from a few small buds to big green leaves and all the flowers have burst open. It's been gorgeous out and we've spent all week at the park and taking walks.

I remember last year in May when it seemed like nature had cozied right up to our front door and we stumbled upon duck eggs in the yard and a baby rabbit in our (now covered!) window well. This year has been no different. We live in the suburbs and although a small portion of our back yard is fenced, the area beyond the fence is a mess of woods. Animals seem to loooove it. We've had all manner of creatures from deer to woodchucks come moseying on through our yard. This year it's started with what we assume to be a mink. It is longer and lower to the ground than a fox and has a shiny black coat. My brief google search says mink. Then yesterday we saw this guy:

A turkey, right? We have lots of wild turkeys in the area although we usually see them in the Fall. Aiden took out his binoculars and watched him before saying "Hey mom, he's eating a piece of paper" which I know is definitely not in the standard wild turkey diet. I looked for myself and yeah....that's a turkey vulture. Eating a fluffy bunny. It's the ciiiiircle of life! Like the wheeel of fortune! Nature in all it's glory right there. 

 

When he's not being scarred by scavenging birds, Aiden seems to be blooming right along with nature. Anyone who's met him knows he has a tendency towards being reserved if not out and out shy. It's no different at school. He has a lot of friends but he hangs back a bit and it takes him a while to warm up to everyone. Well, the past couple of weeks have been a complete 180. I picked him up from school one day and instead of walking out to the parking lot he walked into the center of the kids all milling around getting ready to go and said "I'm the fastest biker here and no one can catch me!" and hopped onto one of the trikes and took off. All the boys followed him and he started shouting out directions to everyone and they all listened. I just sort of stood there wondering who this kid was because he certainly wasn't the one I dropped off earlier in the morning.

He has come into his own all of the sudden. All the worry I had about whether he'd handle kindergarten and the bus ride have evaporated. The only thing is that this attitude is sometimes directed at Sean and I and while I want to nurture this new independence and self assurance, the constant back talk is pretty wearing.

Earlier in the year I had been 100% positive that Aiden wouldn't be ready for any kind of summer camp. New activities up to now have come with a lot of tears and clinging and I didn't want to spend the summer convincing him to please go have fun with the other kids. Well now with this new personality I'm on the verge of signing him up for everything. I know he'd for sure going to soccer camp and a craft camp but who knows how crazy we'll get.

He's currently in swim class, which loves and also cheats at because he's very tall and can sort of bounce across the pool bottom while all the other short kids are actually having to try and swim. He also fails miserably at the floating portion of the class because he has approximately .07% body fat and there is just nothing to keep him up. Other than that he's been rocking it.

On a whim I also signed both he and I up for a cupcake decorating class. I thought he'd be excited since he bakes with me all the time but when I told him about it he just stared at me like it was the dumbest idea he'd ever heard. Turns out it was AWESOME. Mostly because we got to take home six elaborately decorated cupcakes. Also, because I realized that he has a magical skill that few people old or young possess and that skill is: he can follow directions. Both parents and kids alike bickered and talked and daydreamed while the baking instructor talked but Aiden, hold on to your hats, payed attention and listened and then he went and did exactly what he was supposed to. WHOA. That's like 80% percent of success right there. I was so proud.

  

And since I haven't said a word about Rory yet, here are some parting photos. He's got four teeth coming in, all at the same time. Oh joy! He's been busy just holding himself together this week and wasn't really in the mood for having his picture taken. But here he is, doing what he does best: trying to get Aiden's attention and trying to eat stuff.

Dark Night of the Stomach and the Bright Light of Spring

Last Friday night we started our weekend by having dinner out. The weather was beautiful, the kids were great and I wasn't cooking. All good things. We got home from dinner, put the kids to bed and I felt exhausted. And weird. And then Aiden woke up covered in...vomit. Suddenly everything clicked. FOOD POISONING.

Aiden and I had shared a dinner, and within a half an hour of each other we were horribly ill. All night neither one of us slept, poor Sean ran back and forth and I tried to decide whether I was going to die or whether I just really hoped I was dying because I felt so awful. The next day we were still barely functioning. Both of our moms came over and brought (easily digestible) food and sympathy. Food poisoning was terrible. Until the next day when Sean got sick and my mom got sick and whoops that wasn't food poisoning happy stomach flu everyone! You're welcome, we love sharing, no need to send a Thank You note.

Sorry about that everyone we came into contact with. OUR BAD.

Luckily the baby never got it. Miracle of miracles. I have no idea how he avoided it. It didn't really matter that much however because he quickly came down with a pretty nasty cold. So all this past week we got nothing done, everyone was recovering from some bout of awful illness and there was just a whole lot of screaming and crying (even from me! Haha, alright, it was mostly just me. And Rory. We screamed a lot).

Needless to say, it was a rough week where I felt emotionally incapable of being a good parent and lamented not being able to take care of every little detail of our lives while regaining my strength and caring for sick kids. Fun stuff. Sean kept quietly whispering "And you still want a third kid? SERIOUSLY?". Yeah. I kind of do. Eventually. 3 would be nice. (Or 7. Or 15. Sorry, I need to keep myself in check here.)

However, this weekend pretty much made up for all of that awfulness. The weather finally acknowledged what the calendar has been saying for a month: it's Spring! We spent most of our time outside digging in the garden (me and Aiden) cleaning up the lawn (Sean) and eating grass and leaves (Rory). The kids ended each day sweaty, dirty and smelling like sunscreen. Basically, the proper way kids should look and smell.

 

  

 

Aiden also had his second swim class this weekend. I wasn't sure how he'd like having swim class in the giant High School pool with lots of new kids but he loves it. I'm pretty sure it's way too easy for him since he's already mastered most of the skills they're trying to introduce but we're kind of looking at it as a lesson in socialization. He's already gravitated towards the class clown as his new friend and has the teenage girl who assists with the class totally wrapped around his finger. Business as usual.

Rory is also learning some new skills as he decided to stand up. Out of the blue he decided he'd like to see inside the tub as it was filling with water and boom, there he was standing up, peeking over the edge and looking like he couldn't understand why Sean and I were shrieking with excitement. My guess is that he's never going to properly crawl. He'll do this weird army crawl and then he'll walk. That will be that.

Anyway, now that we're through with illness and ill weather everything is looking up. Here's a goodbye kiss from Rory:

Spring Break

This past week was Aiden's spring break. Or, more accurately, winter break part two. Last year we were graced with weather in the seventies and spent every day at the park. This year it was blustery and in the thirties. Gross. 

We had a very low key Easter, the bunny came though, and since Sean had work the boys and I hung out and ate our body weight in jelly beans and hard boiled eggs. Not too bad. 

Despite the awful weather we did manage to get out on Wednesday. I kept promising Aiden that we would do SOMETHING fun on his break. I wanted to take him out to a nearby farm to see the new baby animals and some sheep shearing but thigh high mud and the wind chill pretty much ruled that out. Instead my friend Tierney and I took the kids to a nearby museum where they were having a special exhibit on butterflies. Aiden loves, adores, cherishes the world's insects so I knew this would be a hit. They had a whole greenhouse set up where you could walk through and see different types of butterflies flying around and the would, if you were lucky, land on you. One landed on Aiden and one landed on me, directly on my head. Very cool. 

The intense cabin fever from having both boys home all day meant that we even braved the wind and bundled up to start up our daily walk ritual once again. Aiden has decided this year he likes his bicycle, so he rode while I walked. He got this bike as a gift two years ago and he would ride it occasionally and then decided he hated his helmet or the road was too bumpy or whatever. This year he is obsessed and I'm going to need to buy new running shoes and oil the jogging stroller if I have any hope of keeping up. He's so in love with riding his bike that on the days that were too cold to go out he would break down in tears over not getting his bike time. I'm thinking by mid summer we'll get the training wheels off. This dude's obsessed. 

All in all, we really didn't get around to getting out that much this break. I felt bad that the weather was so limiting and that I didn't man up and plan something bigger for the kids to do. Honestly, we're still stuck planning around Rory and his naps. We have to weigh the benefit of skipping the nap to do what we want and risk him screaming the day away, or try and squish activities in during his awake hours. That's life with a baby though, and I know now how fast it goes.  Luckily, this summer he should be more flexible and we'll have a lot of time then for running around. 

The good news is that he now had four teeth, and has made it through his latest bout of horrible-no sleep teething. He's becoming more and more aware of how he affects the world around him and it's his life's mission lately to make people laugh. He'll play peek a boo or make weird faces and noises and just wants everyone to appreciate how hilarious he his.

Having all day to play together had really made me appreciate the relationship between Rory and Aiden. Rory is just starting to get into Aiden's toys and Aiden runs around trying to yank stuff out of his reach all while saying "I'm sorry but this is too dangerous for you! Not a safe idea Rory!" while Rory does his absolute best to disrupt whatever Aiden is doing. But then sometimes we're driving in the car and I hear Aiden telling Rory all about where we're going and asking him if he likes the crane truck over there or that big building over here. The two of them together, fighting or playing, just seems so perfect.

His Story

Aiden has recently fallen in love with coloring and writing. He loves to make really elaborate scenes with animals, people, bugs, houses and trucks. Lots of trucks. He's been working on his letters and he's started adding words to these scenes.

The other night I was trying to cook dinner and entertain Rory so when Aiden started getting out of hand I asked him to sit down and write me a story. Instead of sitting and asking me how to spell out the words he sat hunched over a piece of cardboard he'd rescued from the recycling and painstakingly wrote out...something. I couldn't see what he was writing but he was quiet and focused and that was enough for the moment.

A little later he proudly presented the finished masterpiece:

It says: Copyright! Hess! Corporation! Made! In China!

I think I've heard this story before.

 If you can't tell, exclamations are his favorite type of punctuation. 

Boys Being Boys

We are about five (ish?)  days away from spring. Naturally, the weather is still stuck somewhere in early February. I'm trying to be really patient with it but the 30 degree temperature with bonus blowing snow we had today is bringing me down. We briefly flirted with 50 degrees last weekend and it was awesome. We went for walks, spent hours playing outside and now it's gone! All gone.  Mostly, I just want to be able to take the boys out to the park. They are going bananas in here, even with our super cool finished basement where I can make Aiden run laps. They need some more fresh air.

Lately Aiden has been so....boyish. I can't even come up with a better word. He's been acting like such a BOY. I don't know if it's his rough and tumble buddy from school rubbing off on him or if he's just wound up from winter or what. He's like a coiled spring that will randomly come unsprung and suddenly the house is turned upside down. Papers go flying, stacked books explode all over the place and innocent dogs or little brothers are likely to be knocked over. The funny thing is that he doesn't even realize how physical he's being. He can't seem to help all the running, leaping and somersaulting. He's worn holes in seven pairs of pants this month. SEVEN.

I tried scolding him but he always looks at me, totally bewildered, because he honestly can't help the energy. I've had to gain a lot of patience. Today he picked up a box out of the recycling, and without even thinking, tossed it across the room knocking a bunch of pictures over. He could tell I was about to lose it when he said "I didn't take out anything living! Let's cheer for that!". I just fell over  laughing. HE'S SUCH A BOY.

Rory is completely in on this plan to drive me crazy. He has started crawling. Not belly-off-the-floor crawling, but this funny little army-style crawl where he uses one leg to push and one arm to pull. It looks ungainly but he's surprisingly speedy. It doesn't help that he has a new found fascination with drawers and doors. Anything that can be opened, shut, slammed or that he can generally hit himself with or pinch his fingers in. He loves noise. Noise and danger. SUCH A BOY.

He's nine months and weighs as much as Aiden weighed at a year. So basically, I'm really happy he's not a faster crawler and I'm beyond okay that he shows no signs of standing let alone walking yet. I'm just not ready for that. I need to get in better shape first.

 

Rory is still babbling a lot. He has learned that letting out a blood curdling shriek will cause mommy and daddy leap up and come running and he thinks it's hilarious. All morning he would let out a scream and then laugh and laugh. Scream and laugh. We need a new game. He doesn't say "mama" or "dada" but he says "Ay ah". Yeah, Aiden. Whenever he knows Aiden is near by he'll sit there calling "Ay ah! Ay ah!".

Other than the extreme boyness they are both displaying, they are the best ever. Sean and I have been having so much fun with both of them. Everyday they seem to have more and more fun with each other, even if that means wreaking havoc sometimes.