Animal sounds

Max has known his animal sounds for a long time and I'm pretty sure he gets bored with me asking him all the time what a dog says. Well, this one is new. Maybe he stirred it up for my sake, but it makes me laugh every time.

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There you have it.

A duck says: "QUACK CRAP!".

(I'm not doing very well with the watch-your-mouth part. Could be a lot worse than crap. See, no Supermom here).

"Love" this craft!

I saw a Valentine idea in one of my magazines and got a creative hair up my you-know-what last night. I didn't have the exact things in the magazine so I went through all of my "craft supplies", turned on a movie with Erik

and came up with these. I don't know what I'll do with them.

Maybe make a clothesline/banner out of them? Little doorknob hangers? Gift toppers? They would be really cute as personal Valentines, too. They are nobigger than my hand. I think they turned out cute. It was nice to get some creative energy out.

(click image for a larger view)

On another note, it's already time to use this:

He's not fully ready for the food yet, but we're working on rice cereal and bananas. I'll freeze what I make for now. I can't believe it goes by so darn fast.

(And for the record, I'm not supermom because I made some crafts and make baby food. ha! In fact, Alex is screaming bloody murder at me right now. Max is watching cartoons, rotting his brain. So there! No cape for me! Hmm...that just gave me another craft idea....stay tuned!)

Who needs toys?

Max came to me this morning with a teaspoon asking if he could "scoop". So we got him all set up to scoop. He's been very busy and very focused for about 30 minutes.
And this little guy watches Max like he's magical. I can't wait for them to be able to really play together. (And by the way, he was chewing on Sophie the giraffe until he saw the camera...so he instantly smiled. Cheeseball.)

I just heard Max get into the measuring cups. This should be interesting...

Rainy Update

I realize it's been quite a while since I posted last. We had a wonderful Christmas and have had a busy start to the year. Erik started his field internship with Napa City fire. It's a great opportunity for him, but it takes him away from us for 48 hours (straight) a week. He loves it and is learning a lot. Max talks about the "Geen Fouw Tuk" (green fire truck) at the station all the time.

Max is talking up a storm and we love listening to him. We are having fun trying to translate his words. Most of the time we can figure it out, but there are a few we have to nicely pass through. He is growing and still thinking he's a 5 year old. He blows our minds just about every day with the things he knows and learns. He's mastered the temper tantrum and is behaving like a typical 2 year old.

Alex learned to roll over and gets himself stuck all the time. He has two teeth trying their best to break through but are taking their time, causing a lot of discomfort and drool! He's "talking" a lot ,trying to keep up with Max. He stops crying instantly when he spots his big brother.

Today is a really rainy and dark day. Max recently got a new rain hat, jacket and boots and has been very anxious to try them out...in the puddles! Breakfast started out like this....... it took me a few minutes to convince him he didn't need to eat with his jacket on....then he wandered into the family room to check on the puddle level...(one of the greatest things about having a dumpy yard is the puddles! Please ignore the yard and the chain link fence. We're really not in the ghetto.)...
...he got suited up and out the door. It only took a few seconds...

...digging for rocks to fill the dump truck...

...playing with the dog...

...splashing everywhere!...

..making it difficult for Mommy to get a photo of his smiling and focused face. He only looked in my direction one or twice...

...and riding his mini 4-wheeler. I finally got him to come inside after his boot fell off and soaked his toes. He was in heaven !!!

I added a couple videos for the Grandparents. They are pretty boring. But, I wanted to include Alex in here too. He keeps chewing like he has food in his mouth, which looks pretty cute with his huge cheeks. Enjoy...

Too fast.

Alex rolled over. And , if you look closely, you can see two teeth making their way through. Goes by toof-ast.

Boys updates

We took the boys in for their check-ups today. They both did great. We really love our pediatrician, he is so good about reassurance of good parenting (I'm assuming all Mom's doubt themselves at one time or another, so it's nice to hear it from the Doc.). I think a lot of Dr's probably say nice things, but I think he really likes our boys. He has a great memory of Max and enjoys talking to us about his family and life changes with us. This morning he was teasing me because I couldn't remember how many years Erik and I have been married. I thought my memory was bad after Max was born. It's so far beyond GONE now, it's embarrassing.

Anyway, here are the stats. Sort of boring, but fun for me to keep up on it.

Alex weighs in at 15 lbs 3oz. He is 26 3/4 inches long and his huge head is 16 3/4 inches. (FYI, he outgrew Max by the time he was 2 months and is now still bigger than he was at 4 months)

He has survived 4 months of being Max's little brother but lights up when he sees him each day. He watches Max intently and smiles with every hug and kiss he receives. He is reaching for things now and is trying to roll over. He talks A LOT and it's not just cooing, it's serious chatting. He is a snuggle bug and a mama's boy. He lost his baby cry and has developed a very sad, feel sorry for me cry. And it works. He is constantly sucking on his hands and fingers. His eyes, I'm hoping, will stay blue! Oh, the life a baby.

Max. Oh Max. Max weighs in at 37 1/4 inches, weighs 29 lbs and they stopped measuring his head. He is so full of life it is hard to describe. He talks a lot and is starting to be able to heave a real conversation about his day. His words and pronunciations are funny. He loves making people laugh. He loves playing with trains and cars and loves to hug his brother. He always has to give a hug and kiss to everyone before he goes to bed and knows the way to his Mommy and Daddy's heart. He is a Daddy's boy for sure! He leaves his mark everywhere he goes but is also willing to help clean when needed. He'll have a meltdown in a second and come running for loves then next. He is such a joy to have at home, bringing us smiles and laughter.

We really feel very lucky to have such great kids.

65th Birthday Celebrations!

On Sunday afternoon we celebrated Lubor and Ariane's 65th Birthday's. They share the same day/same year so we did a joint party. Aara and Mike hosted and presented them with these fun hats and glasses. They wore them proudly! Here is the gang. When I first met Erik's family there were two sweet little girls in the group (they were just turning one then)- now we have 8 kids! The family sure is growing, so much fun!

Happy 65th Lubor and Ariane!
May this year bring plenty of love and happiness!!

St. Lucia

We got to celebrate Santa Lucia again this year with Grandma Gail. We had a wonderful dinner followed by a special presentation. Vivian was Lucia and Ethan was a Star Boy.
I love this picture of Grandma Gail and the kids, but Ethan was feeling a little shy about having his photo taken.

Thanks you for hosting such a fun evening, Gail!

We made it to two!

Hi everyone, it's Max again. My Mom told me to title this post what it is because we all made it to two. I don't know why they think they survived anything, I'm the one that has to do all the growing.

My birthday was really fun this year. It all started with the first fire in our 'faur-faur pace' (fire place) . I watched it for a long time and it kept us all warm while we listened to Christmas music. Then we got to have hot cocoa with marshmallows and a candy cane in it. I got my own mug WITHOUT a lid. Two must be something special. The next morning I woke up and cuddled in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I got really close to Mommy and she asked, "Max, do you know what day it is?" And I knew! Right away, I knew what day it was, "It's gah-bage day." They giggled but it was! Luckily I got to share my birthday with garbage day, my favorite day of the week. We got out of bed and got to have more hot cocoa and another fire....and PRESENTS!!! Oh, it was so wonderful.

I got a lot of my favorite things like cars, toys, games, and slippers just like my Mommy and Daddy wear.
Then my Mom and Dad kept saying we are going somewhere special today. I just wanted to stay in my jammies and play all day. We were all sick and it was really really cold outside. It was even snowing nearby! But they said I would really like it so we went.

They were right! We got to go to Sacramento to the Train Museum. Wow! What a cool place. There were so many choo-choo's" and "biiig tains". I loved it. So did my Daddy. Maybe even more than me. heehee



I even got to go inside!!

Daddy liked to play with the Thomas set they had. A lot.

And after we looked at all the trains we FINALLY found one that had my age on it! The very last one...the 'Gahboo suh' (Caboose)!

Then it was time to go home. I had to convince Daddy we had to leave. And see B-Ache? (Baby Alex), he slept almost the entire time. Can you believe it? My Mom kept saying how happy she was that he was so good. But come on. He missed ALL the trains. He'll be sad one day.

Oh yeah, we found another '2' by the car. So my Mom made me take another picture. Boy it was cold outside! See my new train? It goes so fast. It makes me giggle.

Nini, Jor-ney (Jordan), Ah-dew (Andrew), Cays (Clay) and Car-Car (Carter) came over and sang "Appy Daaaay to Ma-cuh-ssss" (Happy Birthday to Max). I blew out my candles and we got to eat cupcakes. What a fun day!

Happy 2nd Birthday Max. We love you!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,



I really wanted to tell you this in person the other night. I was excited in line and even practiced your name over and over ("Santy Coz"). But, when I reached your chair, I was just too afraid. So my Mom said I should write you a letter.



I have thought a lot about what I want for Christmas, and I think I've made up my mind. Please bring me a cardboard box. Yes, a cardboard box. I know it sounds strange. But look at my picture I included. They can be so fun! If the elves can't make them, you can pick them up at Costco. They have a lot of them!



I have been good. Well, sort of. Let's be real, Santa...I'm almost two. I'm as good as any other two year old. (Which, by the way, if you'd like to bring some more Christmas decorations for my Mom she would really like that. I keep breaking hers).



Thank-you, Santa. I'll have some cookies ready for you!



Love, Max