Excuses, Excuses

I've been absent from blogging. I was very bad at blogging in August with only 2 posts. That's terrible. I can't say it is because nothing occurred in this household and that our lives have been so boring that all of you would have fallen asleep. It's been my own procrastination and preoccupation with other things.

After our vacation to visit family in August, The Mr. was gone for a week on business. This happens on occasion, as you already know. However, this time he left on a Sunday afternoon and returned on a Friday evening. This left me extremely busy and exhausted by the time the week was over. Then, the weekend of his return, I began feeling ill. I went to work on Monday, only to leave at noon. My hope was that I would rest all afternoon and be at 100% by Tuesday morning. I was, unfortunately, mistaken. I felt awful. I attempted to get an appointment with my doctor to be told that they had no appointments that day or the next day. I would have to go to an urgent care clinic. Wednesday morning I made an appointment with the urgent care clinic. The doctor there told me that I had a stomach virus. I am out of work until Monday. I could have gone back today but I figured, why go back on a Friday? So, I had the doctor write the note for Monday.

So there you have it. My excuses for not blogging much in the month of August - or at least not for the past 2 weeks.

My future plans include: attending the Renaissance Faire and taking a Sign Language class. I start class on Thursday and purchased my book today. The class is 100% paid by my employer as we have a Deaf Program where we work and it would be helpful in my position if I could communicate with the staff and clients of that program without the use of an interpreter. (Interpreters are expensive, if you didn't know.) Posts on these events, as well as any cute or odd things my boys do, should follow.

Vacation in Pictures

We returned home at 3am on Wednesday from visiting family. Here are some pictures from our trip to Boston.

Our first stop on Saturday: New England Aquarium.

"Mom, the fish was THIS big!"

Thing 2 enjoyed watching the fish, sharks, and turtles swim by.

Thing 1 was able to touch a starfish.

We found that Thing 1 wasn't even half the size of a sand tiger shark.

Our next stop was the fountain. It was incredibly hot and humid making the cold water feel good!

Thing 2 being held by his uncle as he was just sprayed in the face with water and needed some comforting.

Our final stop for the day: Quincy Market. We needed to eat some good food before taking the T back to the grandparents'.

That steak & cheese sub was very tasty!

We couldn't forget to eat some nice bacon wrapped scallops! (And I did eat some New England Clam Chowder; however it was gone way before I could take a picture of it!)

Thing 1 sharing Grandma's smoothie.

This is how the boys spent the car ride back to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

And this was just day 1 of our vacation. We enjoyed spending time with family that we hadn't seen in awhile. We miss all of you and can't wait to see you again!

The First Time Out

Yesterday, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were being bad. They kept getting into things they weren't supposed to and throwing toys around. Well, we had put Thing 1 in time out for these things and thought it was about time that Thing 2 start time out as well. (He can be the instigator at times.) Thing 2 was hitting the dog's cage with a toy (the dog was in the cage, by the way). The Mr. told him repeatedly to stop; however Thing 2 just looked at him and, very defiantly, began banging on the dog's cage again. So The Mr. sat Thing 2 in the corner. Thing 2 had a very confused look on his face. He sat there for a few seconds and then just got up. The Mr. sat him back down in the corner. This is when Thing 2 realized he was in trouble. He then began crying! The Mr. and I had difficulty containing our giggles as he just looked so cute sitting there all sad because he was in time out.

Sprinkler Fun

We purchased a sprinkler a few weeks ago and since it has been so warm recently, we decided to set it up. Here are some pictures of the boys cooling off in the sprinkler on a hot day.

15 month stats

Thing 2 had his 15 month check up yesterday. He cried as soon as the doctor arrived and didn't stop until we were pulling out of the parking lot. He did get a clean bill of health, though! He weighs 21 pounds 14 ounces and is 30 inches tall. He's in the 34th percentile for his weight and 36th percentile for his height. For his height versus his weight, he is in the 56th percentile. He is small at this age compared to Thing 1. Thing 1 was always in the 90th percentile for everything. No wonder we can't use a lot of the same clothes over again!

Our only concern at the appointment was that Thing 2 doesn't say many words. Or at least many words that we can understand. He talks a lot but we have difficulty figuring out what he is trying to say. Thing 1 will speak for him and say "he's hungry" or "he's sleepy." The majority of the time Thing 1 is correct. The doctor, however, was not concerned at all. He stated that this happens often with 2nd or 3rd children. We need to work with Thing 2 by telling him the name of the objects that we are giving him and trying to get him to repeat them. We also need to try to keep Thing 1 for talking for his little brother! Thing 2 does say 'thank you,' 'tickle,' 'dada,' 'mama,' and either 'down' or 'dog' (not sure which as he says it to the dog in the morning when she jumps up). A lot of times we can only understand what he is saying when it is in context. For example, when he gives us a kiss, we say 'thank you' and he will also say 'thank you.' But if he is babbling on and says 'thank you,' I would have no idea!

Anyway, the past 15 months have gone by fast. He has 8 teeth now and is walking around like a pro. He "runs" down the hall at daycare when we go to pick him up as he wants us to chase him. He finds this hilarious! Thing 2 loves his big brother and wants to do everything he does. Yesterday he was coloring on a piece of paper sitting next to Thing 1, who was also coloring. He did pretty well holding the crayon and trying to make lines on the paper. It will be interesting to see what else he learns over the next few months!

I have gone to the darkside!

Yep, you heard it folks. This household has gone to the darkside. We now Wii! We went shopping this weekend to actually purchase a laptop, however they didn't have what we were looking for. So, we purchased a Wii instead. You know, how they are so similar!?

Anyway, we had talked about getting one for awhile. I just could justify spending that amount of money, especially since I really wanted it for the yoga and would also need to purchase the Wii fit. Well, there was a sale going on if we purchased a package and even though the particular packages they had put together weren't exactly what we wanted, the sales people worked with us to give us the same discount on the items we wanted to purchase.

So last night we set up the system after the kids were asleep and began fiddling with it. This morning we had Thing 1 enjoying the Wii as well. He didn't do too bad on golf and also made it difficult for The Mr. to box with him as he kept dancing around the room! Thing 2 enjoyed watching us make fools of ourselves. So everyone had fun! I checked out the Wii fit today and found that I have skipped the "unbalanced" phase and went straight to amateur! I was pretty proud of myself. The Mr., however, is unbalanced. Oh well, we can't all be amateurs!

Since we have now gone to the darkside with the Wii, does anyone have any suggestions on good games for a 4 year old? I would also like suggestions on good puzzle games as I enjoy puzzles. The Mr. already has his eye on a few games and has purchased his first one so I think he will be fine.

All Wet

When I picked the boys up from daycare today, I gave them their straw cups filled with water as it was really hot out today. Thing 2 did what he always does with his water - drank some of it then started playing by sipping the water through the straw and then letting it dribble down his chin. He finds this hilarious. Thing 1 drank some of his water, then dumped a good amount into the cup holders in his car seat. He then began flicking the water at me while I was trying to drive! Thing 2 laughed each time the water hit the back of my head. I made many attempts to get Thing 1 to stop hitting me with water. Nothing I said would get him to stop. I then contacted The Mr. to let him know of my drive home. The Mr. also found it funny.