new videos

Yesterday was a banner day for taking movies. Nick was in fine form!  Check out a few of the new videos at http://www.stpierrefamily.org/video.html. We'll try to add more this weekend :)

New pictures

Hi folks. Sorry for the long posting drought. We've been a little busy trying to juggle raising two energetic little boys, work, and yard care.

Nothing much to report. Nick is still learning a ton. Still not full on reading yet (not that we're really worried ;) ) but definitely adding new words all the time. His latest trick seems to be learning the names of the states - Auntie Jess got him a jigsaw puzzle of the US and he knows at least Maine, Washington, Florida, and Texas. Not sure where those last came from. Why does my 2 year old know 'Texas'? If I were a little more cynical I'd suspect a Republican plot in there somewhere...

Tim has been a pretty happy guy lately, despite not being able to kick his cold - as I type Amy is busy extracting big green boogies from his nasal passages, poor kid. Good times, good times. Amazing how chunky the kid is compared with Nick (Nick's nickname as a baby was 'peanut', Tim's is 'butterball'). His creases have creases. Wow. Go, Tim, go (or is it 'eat, Time, eat'?) Oh, we also tried him in the exersaucer this morning, and he took to it like a champ. We have to wedge him in a little with a towel, but he's actually holding himself up and grabbing for toys. This was one of Nick's favorites, so we're not too surprised.

Enough babble, here are the pictures:

Now that's cute...



Smiley guy:



Nick playing with Tim in the saucer (and acting a little jealous about 'his' toy):



Nick tearing up the driveway (check out the shades!):

Going solo

Greg was out of town last week and wow, what a week it was! Despite quite a bit of anxious anticipation (ok, dread) on my part, I was able to manage both boys alone. We all survived and even got into a fairly manageable routine by Friday. Thanks to Mom & Dad Sidell and Amanda & Kevin who joined us for dinner a couple of times so I could get a break handling just one bedtime routine at a time. Anyhow, on to the news you're actually reading the blog for...

Nick:

Nick had a rough week with Greg in Seattle. I don't think he completely understood where Greg was (even though we'd been telling him all along) and asked one day at lunch where Greta was, and that she was gone. Then he said that Dad was gone too...ugh. Needless to say, I had Greg on the phone within about 30 seconds to show Nick that Dad wasn't gone the way Greta was. Anyhow, I think that the anxiety of Dad being away from home got to Nick last week. He didn't nap, was particularly difficult (maybe also due to not napping but the following was heard at our house last week "Nick, please stop climbing the walls." as he attempted to boulder along the dining room molding and chair rail...) and had a really rough time transitioning to preschool. I ended up leaving him in tears both days - how heartbreaking!

On a more positive note, Nick can read/spell the following new words: baby, ready, book, fish, pig and big! He has also aquired a new stock phrase: "That's what I'm talking about!". Since naps didn't happen last week (or the week prior), I decided to institute a new early afternoon activity last week: quiet time. Nick goes into his bed but can bring some books. He doesn't have to sleep (but can) but has to stay in bed, stay quiet and not jump on the bed. So far, he really likes the idea, has memorized the rules and even complied with them for the most part (with reminders). Even better, since giving up "nap time" per se, and instituting quiet time, he's taken a couple of really good naps...Gotta love reverse psychology! The dropoff at preschool went swimmingly today too - a few tears but no toddlers clawing to get back to mom :)

Tim:

And, I thought that Tim was going to be the problem child while Greg was gone! Much to my delight, the 3-month mark proved magical for Tim as well :) Tim has been very smiley and happy and best of all, very predictable! He's napping well, and even sleeping well at night most nights (only up a couple of times before 5am). Tim has found his hands and has started chewing on them whenever he can. Its supposedly just a developmental stage and not teething, thank goodness! He's started playing with toys by batting at them and grabbing them, and has even started giggling when tickled. He is quite a chatty fellow and talks a ton. The other night he had quite a bit to say about (or to?) the wallpaper in the bathroom during Nick's bath.... Tim's still dealing with a bit of reflux. Since he doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain and he's gaining weight nicely (14 lbs at 3 months - 50th percentile), the Dr. isn't too concerned, although she did give him some Zantac to hopefully help with sleeping a little, since he's still occasionally woken at night by a little reflux (we've got him on a wedge already and are keeping him upright after eating)..... Tim is now also an official Mainer, as he got his first black fly bite on Friday...

Needless to say, we were all thrilled to have Greg back at home on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the whole family spent the day outside in the yard. On Sunday, we celebrated Dads with the Sidells and Amanda and Kevin. Quite a festive gathering. Thanks Dads!

Some pics

Happy fellow:


Big guy:


Smiles:


Brothers:


Just being cute:


artist at work:


Gretz:


Gretz & Tim:



in the bumbo:


hee hee hee hee


smiley guy:

Another day

Well, just another beautiful day here. Nothing too earth-shattering to report - nope, Nick didn't decide to toilet train yesterday (darn!). But, sometimes no news is good news since we had a bit of excitement earlier this week :)

Nick went to preschool again today. Although it took a little coersion to get him in the door and playing today (according to the teachers , totally normal for the second day if the first went without a hitch), he seemed to have a good time and said he wanted to come back to play again. I didn't see it but I heard that at the end of the outdoor playtime, he and his friend McKayla were holding hands walking back into the classroom - too cute! He also wanted to say goodbye to all of the teachers before we left, which makes me think that he's taking to them.

Nick is starting to spell like crazy these days. The latest words include: bus, red, Tim and a few others that escape me at the moment.

Last night, Nick also enjoyed some playtime with Papa Sidell who just returned from Antarctica. Papa got roped into playing tinker toys for about 45 minutes as well as doing milk and stories after bath.

We've regressed a little from the big boy bed and at his request, Nick has spent the last few sleeps back in his crib. He's been told if he climbs out again, he will have to sleep in the big bed and so far, so good (hope I'm not jinxing myself!) Right now, its easier for us too - especially with Greg out of town for a week and me alone with the 2 kiddos.

Tim is getting easier and happier by the day! (Phew! ;)) He still doesn't care for the car, but has actually been quiet for parts of multiple car rides. In addition, he is starting to fall into a predictable sleep routine during the day where he'll fall asleep pretty quickly and painlessly after about 2 hours awake. Makes life so much easier when things are a little predictable! He even slept by himself (without me holding him in my arms or a baby carrier) for about 20 minutes or so 3 times this week. Hooray for small victories!

Tim is really a social & curious little fellow. At the grocery store the other day, when he'd previously just crash for a nap, he decided he wanted to look around instead and smile at all of the seniors who were cooing at him :) He's just about strong enough to be in a carrier facing out - he's going to love that! Speaking of strong, the little guys is just about rolling over from back to front now! He gets his legs all the way over and just needs to give one little push with the arms to make it the whole way but hasn't quite figured that part out yet. Almost there though!

Quite a day for Nick

Will keep this brief as I have a sleeping baby in one arm... Nick had his first day of preshcool today. We met two of his friends who were also starting today in the parking lot and we all went in together. I (and I think the other moms) had butterflies in my stomach as we went in the building, but the kids were all fine :) Nick was a little apprehensive entering the room, but once he recognized where we were and saw the toys, he warmed right up. No separation anxiety on his part - when I said goodbye, he asked where I was going and then went right back to playing! When I picked him up 3 hours later, he was happy and on our way home, asked if he could go back again. Success!!

In other news, Nick continued to exert his 2-yr-old-ness by refusing to nap this afternoon (seems to be the pattern for the last 2 weeks). He then topped that off by climbing out of his crib (for the first time) and landing on his head. Ouch! Thank goodness for the carpet and the pile of blankets he'd already thrown on the floor. No injuries on his end although I may have pulled something racing up the stairs when I heard the "THUD"...

At dinner tonight, he decided it might be fun to stick a pea up his nose (again, the first time he's stuck anything other than his finger up there). Thankfully, Greg and I were both watching and stopped him before he shoved it too far up... Wow...

Alas, after this afternoon's acrobatics, Nick is sleeping in his big boy bed for the first time tonight. He's tried it a few times but always cried to get out before. This time, he cried, but quieted down after a few minutes - hopefully, he's still in there!

So much for making major life changes one at a time! Maybe potty training tomorrow? A mom can dream ;)

Greta, 1999?-2007

It is with great sadness that I must announce the passing of a great, incredibly sweet hearted dog, Greta.

After *much* agonizing and debate, Amy and I decided that it was time. Greta has hung on to life tenaciously (might be the pit bull in her?) throughout her illness, but her steady decline became much steeper recently. I still got tail wags in the morning when I came down, but today they were very weak. Greta's breathing had been getting progressively more labored over the past couple of days and she was very listless this week. She barely raised herself enough for the roast beef, turkey, and bacon and eggs I prepared for her this morning (although, trooper that she was, she did finally work up the energy to nearly finish her omelet).

I brought Gretz to the vet this morning where she very quietly and painlessly drifted off. She was so brave right up until the end. I think she had some idea what was happening and welcomed it.



Good bye, pretty girl. We miss you.

Nick, the human sponge

Sorry for the posting drought. Between work, caring for two active kids, and a lawn that just won't quit growing, I haven't had a ton of time to blog. Not a lot of news, although Nick has added a few new things to his repertoire (he's also been a little naughty lately...).

Nick appears to be on the cusp of reading. He's now spelling things unprompted - we were at the dinner table last night and Nick started recited what we at first thought was a random selection of letters: S, H, E, L, C, O, R, E... Turns out, however, that he has a toy in his bath tub made by Shelcore (full disclosure: we *have* spelled that out during bath time, but still...). During bath that night, Nick started saying "Boom! Boom!". When I looked down at the bathtub letters he'd assembled, turns out he had spelled out "BOOM". Wowzers.

At some point, he's also memorized our license plates. The night he spelled "Shelcore" we somewhat flippantly asked him what Mommy's license plate number was ("He *can't* know that..."). He promptly recited it without error. We then asked what Daddy's was. He recited that one too (Daddy had to check with Mommy if he got it right since he didn't even know it). Wowzers again.

This actually helped negate some of the naughtiness we'd been experiencing. As you may know, we frequently "play letters and numbers on the laptop". That game has now come to a screeching halt after Nick ripped the Enter key right of the keyboard. Looked me straight in the eyes as he did it too. I finally managed to get all 4 pieces of the key back together more or less the way they're supposed to go, but the key still sticks. He's also learned how to climb up on our bar stools so he can reach things on the counters. Plus, he can't climb down, so he thinks it's a great game to climb up and then whine to be helped back down. Sigh.

Anyway, here's the meat of the blog: more pictures! (Videos are in progress - check back soon)

Awww....:



The two brothers hanging out on the couch:



Nick doing card tricks (mostly 52 card pickup...)



Mmmmmm.... Elmo cake!



Another shot of Nick and Tim on the couch:



Check out the smile!



Whatchu lookin' at?