The boys and more

Tim having some tummy time:




Nick just being cute:



The boys in the bath:





Nick enjoying some dry weather finally:



Greta enjoying herself too:



Tim:





Nick giving Soren a kiss:



Greta getting in on the action too:



Nick and his bike which he loves to ride down the hill on the driveway:



Nick checking out Dad's handiwork in the garden fence:



Nick climbing:

Memorial Day Weekend

Holy cow- its already the end of May! We've had a lovely weekend so far. It all started out with a "scorcha" on Friday (it was 95!!). The temperatures cut our trip to the playground a little short but we headed home and managed to stay relatively cool. On Saturday, temperatures were a little more reasonable and Nick went over to Grandma's to play while Greg and I switched off on Tim duty/yard duty. Grandma kept Nick for the night (huge thanks Grandma!) so they could have a little bonding time and we could have a little break from our charming 2-year old :) Thankfully, he was good for her and we sure did enjoy the break! Overall, Nick is a great kid - he's just been a little trying lately - not abnormal for a 2 year old! Life with just one kiddo (a tough baby at that) seems like a breeze! So, when we just had Nick, why was it that we could get nothing done?! Anyhow, back to the weekend. Greg did a little more yard work while I went grocery shopping (a dream with just one kid!) and we had Grandma, Aunt Amanda, Uncle Kevin and baby Soren over for a delish dinner that Greg whipped up. Today, despite threats of rain, turned out nice and Nick and I went into Bangor to watch the Memorial Day parade there. Nick enjoyed seeing the flags, cars and musical instruments as well as the military planes and helicopters that buzzed the parade route (one of the perks (?) of living near a large military airport). Many thanks to the men and women who risked and in cases, lost their lives for our country. I hope that peace settles over the world soon though...

Tim is rapidly approaching the magical 3-month mark and we have high hopes. While he started out as a pretty high-need baby, his behavior and demeanor has been improving by leaps and bounds. He really is quite the ladies man these days, flirting with anyone who will smile at him. He's got a great crooked smile and cute little dimples and is really a charmer! He's also been sleeping a bit better for the last few days - he's still waking every 2-3 hrs but not he's not up for too long, and as long as I keep him in the sling, he'll even take a couple 2 hr naps a day! That is awesome and he is certainly a lot happier when he gets that sleep! I figure we'll work on getting him into his own bed later when his nervous system is a little more mature...

Nick is really on the cusp of learning to read! He's mastered a few sight words (ones where you just memorize the spelling and recognize them by looking at them rather than by sounding them out) - dog, cat, mom, dad, tim, nick, stop, no, my.... I'm sure that there are others. He spells out everything he sees (including license plates in the parking lot - yes, makes trips out a little slow) and asks "what does that say." He's got most of the letter sounds mastered too. The best part is that this is ALL self-motivated learning - we are not pushing him at all - although we certainly do encourage it. Overall, not too bad for a 2 1/2 year old!

Happy belated 70th birthday to Uncle Jim! We wished we could have made the party but have really loved watching the DVD of family photos :)

Baby books

So, Tim's baby book (and Nick's too, for that matter - they have the same baby book - fair's fair) has lots of sections for reflection and people's thoughts on the baby. I can add a few thoughts that I have, but my brain isn't so active these days so, this is where you come in.  Help me fill Tim & Nick's baby books! You can post your thoughts here on the blog or send me an email or mail them to us the old fashioned way.  Here are the headings that they can go under:

• Thoughts about you before you were born


• Thoughts on the day of your birth


• Thoughts on the first few weeks of your life


• More thoughts


• Thoughts on bringing you home


• What your grandparents have to say about you


• What your aunts and uncles have to say about you


• What your cousins have to say about you


• Thinking of your favorite things


• Thoughts on some of your firsts


• Thoughts on your first birthday


• Thoughts on your second birthday


• Thoughts on your third birthday

New Movies

I've posted a handful of new videos to the video page (http://www.stpierrefamily.org/video.html). A couple of cute ones of Timothy playing and generally being happy and a couple of goofball - I mean Nicholas - being his usual happy self.

Amy mentioned that she had a very funny Nick anecdote to share, but she can't remember it. I'm sure it was very funny. In other news, Amy is a little sleep deprived. :)

Not much else new here. We are glad that the weather has *finally* gotten nice again (it was starting to remind me of Seattle in the winter).

Obligatory pictures:



So Nick had a bit of a growth spurt... (kind of reminds me of Huck Finn)



Tim, the baby fashionplate. Baby GQ, here we come!

a few random notes from the trenches

Another near week of rain.... April showers bring May flowers but what do May showers bring? Blackflies and Mosquitos, perhaps? :) (Yep, i meant to do the capital M - the skeeters here are worthy!) Anyhow, Nick and Tim and I kept dry (well, dry-ish) and busy this week with a couple of playdates and a couple of trips to the Children's Museum in Bangor.  That place is a lifesaver for me! Nick has a great time, running around (although he's not supposed to...oops - try telling a 2 year old that you can't run in that place though!) and playing with the exhibits.  His current favorite is the water section on the first floor with the boats that you can float down the indoor stream.

Timbo (as Nick calls him now - thanks Uncle Dave! I used that name on Tim ONE time and Nick latched on. When people ask him what his brother's name is, he now says Timbo!) continues to be a charmer and loves to get out and visit.  I've mentioned the sleep issues that we've had and how Tim can be pretty cranky and need to be held constantly (which has true when we're at home by ourselves). And then, when we're at other people's houses or even have friends over, he makes a liar of me and behaves like an angel.... I guess we'll just have to have friends over all of the time! Who's first? The door is open!

I think that I caught Tim looking at his hand today.... Pretty neat! Once he realizes those puppies are attached to him and he can use them, it'll be great! I think that he'll really enjoy playing with toys.  We pulled out Nick's box of baby toys yesterday and Tim seemed to be fascinated by some of the toys we were waving around in front of him. Nick certainly had a great time emptying the box and scattering the toys throughout the room!

Be careful what you say - starting early!  When Greg thinks I'm driving a little fast, he'll start singing a little Primus - "Jerry was a race car driver...." He thinks its funny, and evidently Nick has been listening.  The other day we were stopped at a light, and when the light turned green and we started to move (at a very safe, legal pace, btw), I heard "Mommy is a race car driver" and peels of laughter from the back seat....:)

Another funny Nick quote happened the other day too. We got home from the museum and I asked Nick to tell Daddy what we did that morning.  Nick said that we went to the museum and that "Nick had trouble with the sharing", referring to his harding of the trains at the train table.  I guess the first step is admitting you've got a problem! It was quite cute...

Mother's Day weekend

Nick and Tim got a chance to visit with their cousin Mason this weekend, as Jess, John and Mason were up from Massachusetts visiting.  It is amazing to see all 4 boys together (Nick, Mason, Tim and Soren) and just imagine what it will be like in another year or 2 once the 3 little ones are mobile!  Pandemonium!!!





Nick playing with John & Mason:



Tim & Jess:



Nick partying with the big boys:



Kevin & Tim:



Nick & Mason in the tub:



Grandma Sidell's Mother's Day gift was a photo shoot with all of the grandkids - what an adventure!  The 3 little guys were fairly agreeable, but the 2 yr old (Nick) was not so sure about the whole thing.  While the pictures weren't the best ever, watching the process was a hoot. 



Won't be surprised if we see this again in 16 years:



Visiting with G-ma S:



Tim is really turning into the social butterfly these days. He loves to look at people and hands out smiles left and right.  He had a great time visiting with the family last weekend!









Just some random cute pics

Hugs with Nick:

looking for feedback!

We are looking for some feedback!

If you read this blog and want to see more posts, please add a comment (at the end of each post there is a link), just like Leslie does (thanks Les!)

Getting the garden in

So, it's spring in Maine this week. The grass was brown a week ago, but Greg had to start mowing again yesterday, one week later. 




A HUGE thanks to Uncle Kevin for coming over and tilling the garden on Monday!



Nick had a great time watching!



Dad and Tim enjoying a little conversation over dinner:



Isn't this the truth!

2 months

So, Tim had his 2 month check up today, and passed with flying colors! The little guy has figured out the eating thing evidently, and now weighs 11lbs 6 oz putting him in th 50th percentile for weight (up from the 25th  - so that's great!).  He also measured 23.5" long (75th percentile) and had a 15 1/2 " head (50th percentile).  The doc said he looked great!  He even did well with his shots - a few tears but not inconsolable, and he's been pretty pleasant all evening.  (Hopefully, I'm not jnxing myself for the night!)



Tim cooing at the baby in the mirror!

Spring has sprung

Its another beautiful day here in Maine. Sunny skies, temps in the mid 70's. I think that we're done with the snow (finally!). We had our first outside playgroup today. I think that the change of venue probably threw the kiddos off a little or maybe it was the nice weather or maybe it was just Nick being 2 years old. Either way, they were a little rambunctious today. No permanent scars though and there was still a good deal of fun had!



Tim attended his first b'day party on Saturday for his friend Caroline who turned 4 over the weekend. He was a gentleman and slept most of the time. Nick had a good time too - especially with the birthday cake :)





Nick and Tim and I went up to visit Grandma on Sunday morning and toured the yard with her, checking out which plants were popping up and admiring the water. The river is high (but not up to the big tree) with all of the snowmelt up north and daffodils are popping up all over. Its hard to get used to how late all of the flowers are here compared to Seattle where the daffodils are up in February. Makes you appreciate spring all the more though. After a nice visit, Tim shocked everyone by entering his carseat sleeping and not waking up! He then went on to sleep for the WHOLE 20 minute ride home AND for an additional 20 minutes in his carseat in the house. For anyone who's ever seen him in his carseat, this is quite a feat as he usually starts howling within about 15 seconds of getting into it. Small wonders!



On the amazement front, Tim also had a great visit with Aunt Amanda, Uncle Kevin and baby Soren on Friday when we brought dinner over for them (ok, so we picked up pizzas at C&Ks on the way over). Tim was a perfect gentleman for almost the whole visit even though he was awake. He ate and then sat and looked around for quite a while. I was such a proud mom!



Tim hit a major milestone on Friday night as he slept for 6 hrs straight, which anyone who's done reading on baby sleep patterns (probably in a desperate effort to get some sleep) knows, is officially "Sleeping through the Night"! It was lovely and quite an accomplishment for an 8 week old! Now, we just have to figure out a way to adjust his idea of nighttime a little since it lasted from 9:30pm to 3:30am, and he didn't really go back to sleep after that....

Tim has really started watching people in the last week or so. He'll follow you around with his eyes and will often respond with a smile. Very cute. He loves to watch big brother Nick who also loves to play with him too. He'll also just gaze up while eating and also occasionally pause for a grin - talk about melting mom's heart!

Smiley boy

Nothing too much to report on, so this will be short. I've updated the website slightly to try a new way of serving up little movie clips. The new page is available by clicking the 'Video (BETA!)' link off the main page, or by going to http://www.stpierrefamily.org/video.html. The new page uses a Flash applet to show the movie, so you'll need to have the Flash player installed to see the content. There's a link on the page you can use, or you can go to http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer.

There are only a handful of movies right now, but if everyone likes this, I'll add more.

Nick went to visit a preschool today. We've heard good things about it and according to Amy she had to drag Nick away, so should be a good match for him. Class starts at the beginning of June. Yikes! A kid in school!

In other news, Tim has started smiling (yeah!). About time, buddy. About time...

Here are some more pictures