Mr. Beau

Oh Beau, I don't even know where to begin. You are simply, one surprise after another.  You are the sweetest little boy a mother could ask for.  You are very generous with your kisses, except with your Mommy that is.  You love to blow kisses at people that stop to tell you how beautiful your blue eyes are or how cute your curly hair is. But Mommy? I get a big fat, "Nooooooo!" when I ask for a kiss.  But when I do score one, it's one of my favorite moments because you always follow it up with a delicious cuddle.  I'd pay a million dollars for one of those!

You are 18 months old, going on 4 it seems. Anything your sister does, you have to do. Most sunny days the two of you are out in the backyard, digging up worms, flinging dirt around and looking for ants.  You love to have all your balls in the backyard and practice throwing them from the top of the yard down to the bottom.  If Lainey gets a time-out, you try to join her. I can see already that it isn't going to be a good tactic to use with you as you seem to find them enjoyable.  You love to imitate Daddy and follow him around like he's a rock star.  You two have a very special connection and I love watching the two of you together. You are even showing an interest in using the potty chair!

I wish I could tell you how many words you know.  I kept a list of the first 100 words Lainey said. I tried to do that with you but haven't been successful. It's not because you're the second child or anything. It's because I honestly don't know. Every time you hear a new word, you repeat it!  Today you said a four word sentence, "Daddy, more banana please."

You can turn on the charm with people and are already showing signs of being a class clown. You make me laugh 100 times a day. You also make my heart stop that many times as well with your climbing skills. I dread finding out about your "falling" skills!

I hope you don't feel like you're not getting enough attention. You are and forever will be, my sweet baby boy.  Your sweet, easygoing disposition make you even more charming.  We don't really have a bedtime routine yet as you are the easiest child to put to bed.  Some nights you even crawl in your crib all by yourself!  As long as you have your binky, Bunnz and your monkey blanket (no matter how hot it is outside!) you are all set.

The last 18 months have flown by and I know I'll blink and you'll be two.  These precious days of babyhood are flying past us and I'll miss your sweet little toes and being able to carry you on my hip.  But at the same time, I am really looking forward to seeing that gigantic personality emerge with your growing body. You are going to be an even more amazing young man and I'm so glad I get to see you blossom every day.   I don't want to wish your babyness away because it's been so fun for me.  But if I ask you what Mommy loves when you're 5, humor me and let me have a bite of that baby meat I love so much.

All my love,

Mommy

One day you'll want to kill me for having pics like this. But it's your own fault for wanting to run around naked. I can't help I love your little tush!

A Year and a Half

Happy Smurf Day Beau!  I didn't forget your special day. It's been a busy day today but I wanted to get something on here.  You are 18 months old today, a whole year and a half. You weigh 23 pounds (20th percentile) and are 33 inches tall (80th percentile). You are the only one in this family that is tall and skinny!  I will write more tomorrow but know that you continue to have Daddy and I scratching our heads with how fast you are growing and changing. You rock little dude!

I love you. Always, always, always!

Mommy

Boston Part II

My favorite place we visited-Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. It's the oldest baseball park in the nation.  We were hoping to catch a game but they were playing Seattle in Seattle (what luck we have huh?) so we took a tour of the ballpark instead.

The oldest seats in baseball. They are actually still used and after sitting in them for just 10 minutes, I sure hope they don't charge much for those tickets!

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We also took a tour of Harvard. Word to the wise, don't do the "Hahvad" tour. It was not very informative and was more like a new student orientation tour.   We did get to see the window from which Matt Damon looked out during his freshman year at Harvard.  

We also learned that this statue of John Harvard is full of errors. 

1. It's not really John Harvard but one of his relatives

2. He was not the founder of Harvard but instead donated a ton of books to the school.

3. The school was founded a few years before the date on this statue.

The one thing that stuck with me was that until 1999, women received a different diploma than the men when they graduated from Harvard. You see, originally, women were not allowed into Harvard. They attended a different school, a few miles away. Professors would teach the men, then go over and teach the women the exact same material yet they didn't graduate with a Harvard diploma.  And don't even get me started on why it took til 1999!

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Last, but not least, we took refuge from the heat at Cheers.  I don't know how they filmed that show in that small of a set.  Seeing the photos and set made me want to see the show again. Hopefully TVLand or some network will air it again.

Robert in "John the Lawyer's" seat. We still can't recall who that guy was. I wanted to sit in Carla's spot but a tour group came in and took up all the seats.

Those are my top three sites we visited. I didn't put the North End in there simply because I covered that with yesterday's post.  We spent more time there than anywhere else. What can I say? Without kids, you are so much more free to eat when, where and what you want!

Boston

We arrived home last night from Boston. On our way home, Robert asked me what my top 3 favorite things were about the city.  To be completely honest, my top three choices were food. That doesn't make for a very interesting blog post so I'll use categories. Today's is the food:

If you ever get a chance to order a Lobster Roll, do it.  Do not pass go. Do not collect $100.  Get one. It's that good. It will rock your world.  It's chunks of lobster, melted butter on a soft roll. It's life changing and at $25 is the best sandwich you'll ever eat and worth every penny. We ate there twice and both times, I ordered this sandwich.

Lobster tails and Canoli. I'll use any excuse to visit DiLaurenti's in the market just so I can order a cannoli and those that have great memories will remember that Robert brought me back some lobster tails from Carlo's Bakery in New Jersey.  We spent more time in the North End of Boston than anywhere else.  One reason is the restaurant that serves the lobster roll is up there, the other is the plethora of italian restaurants and bakeries.  The lobster tail is a dough that is shaped like a lobster tail and filled with a custard that is comprised of whipped cream, cream cheese and ricotta.  Simply delicious and HUGE!

Oysters. Previous to this trip, the last time I ate oysters was on my first date with Robert. I didn't care for them way back then and wasn't any more excited about them on this trip. I decided to give them a shot and was hooked.  I couldn't muster the courage to order them at the outdoor festival that was going on but did have some at the airport.  I'm planning on trying our west coast oysters in the near future to compare the two.

In the end, we each gained a few pounds from the trip. But it was worth every bite!

Monday morning

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to join Robert for a weekend getaway in Boston. He's been gone since Monday and his parents are due to arrive any minute.  I started missing these two yesterday and I haven't even left yet. They are my heart but once in awhile, we all need a break from each other.  I'm sure we'll spend the time away talking about them, thinking about them, shopping for them, and missing their little faces.  And I know that I'll be super excited to see them on Sunday night even though they'll be fast asleep, smelling like Burt's Bees lotion because Grammy always gives them a bath and good rubdown with lotion after.  I'll want to hug and kiss and squeeze them but will have to wait til Monday morning and I know I'll wake up with a smile, all excited to see them. 

Random thoughts and photos to go with

Lainey has been getting more than her fair share of time-outs lately. Sometimes she complies, sometimes she fights it. Sometimes she changes her behavior, sometimes not.

The majority of the time however, she has company in the corner.

Just look at these cuties just coloring away. Well, one of them is anyway.

I gave him a yellow marker on purpose.  And not two seconds later....

you see why.

I couldn't keep this girl contained in a crib past 21 months.  But she's obsessed with getting in her brother's. She has already shown him how to get in it. I pray every night that she doesn't show him how to get out.  If he does figure it out, I'll put them in the same room together and see who crashes first. 

Can you think of a better start to Sunday morning than a chocolate donut and a balloon?  For the record, he'd already eaten his weight in blueberries and raspberries along with a bowl of oatmeal before Daddy showed up with donuts. 

Not a random shot but had to throw it in.  I love having two handsome men to smooch.

I don't know why I love this pic. I just do. It says summer to me.

When I look at this I can hear them both laughing.

And last but not least, this is how Lainey started her Saturday morning.  She starts almost every morning with a bug hunt but this time seemed to be really intent on finding some "ant bullies."

Aunt Lulu

My littlest sister Lacy, aka Lulu, also came out to visit. She just turned 13 in May.  Lainey and Beau fell in love with her and I can't blame them. She took such good care of them and played with them endlessly.  She gave them baths almost every night, didn't hesitate to change poopy diapers or to help Lainey in the bathroom, loved doing Lainey's hair and dressing both of them. She was in a nutshell, a freakin spectacular helper! She seemed to have an intuition as to what they needed, whether it was Beau's nap, a snack, or some downtime.  All she asked for was cous cous and to be taken to the mall which we didn't end up doing until the very last day. I wish she lived closer so I could have her babysit more often.  A good babysitter, let alone a great one, is darn near impossible to find.  It's been my experience that when one finds a good babysitter, you guard their phone number with your life.  If she lived here, I wouldn't give out her number to ANYONE and keep her all to myself! 

 Lainey and Beau could blow bubbles for hours. 

Containing two naked bathtub escapees AND trying to brush one's hair is no easy task!

She knows how to have fun and share a good snack

Entertaining the youngest little nut 

Even when she didn't feel like being jumped on for the 100th time by said nut

Not afraid of some toxic diapers, even though the rest of us, me included, ran and hid

She even patiently indulged us on an educational excursion to the Ballard Locks. Ok, maybe not that patiently, but she didn't complain much!

And last but not least, always available for kisses, hugs and cuddles.

Thank you so much Lacy. You really made the week fun and a lot less stressful for me. 

We love you very much and REALLY hope you can come to Hawaii with us!

BFFs

   We had some very special guests from North Dakota and had a busy, fun (I hope) week while Robert was in Singapore.  Beau met his other set of grandparents for the first time and he and my dad quickly became best friends.  It was wonderful to see them together.

Other than when he was asleep, this might have been the only moment that Beau sat still!

Ok, so he's sitting still here but this little man is seriously on the move a lot! Bugging Grandma while she tries to update her blog.  They really enjoyed having people other than me to bug.  Their Aunt Lacy in particular was a HUGE hit. But she deserves her own blog entry.  I loved having them here and as soon as they drove away I started to miss them.  I have a ton of pics to go through from the last week. And Grandma Mary Liz still needs to send me some of the pics that she got. Hint hint!! ;)

4th of July

Due to the rain, we didn't get our annual family photo.  It will have to wait til next weekend or later, since Robert is in Singapore this week.  We didn't let the rain spoil our holiday fun though.  It began with homemade ice cream and ending with racoon hunting.  I'm hoping one will become an annual tradition and it's not the racoons.

After most everyone was in bed, Robert and walked up and watched the fireworks over Queen Anne hill. But just before we left, he spotted the racoons on the fence and grabbed his paintball gun.  He shot one a couple of times, knocking it off the fence. I was holding the flashlight so there aren't any photos-yet anyway. 

More pics to come of the rest of our 4th.

July 2009

Last year's 4th of July pics. My how we've grown!

This one is even more of a sparkler than she was last year,

Our first family photo.  Hopefully, with a little help from our soon to be arriving guests, we can get a new one this year. 

(another thought-I miss my long hair when I see pics like this.)