Oh FLASH!

When we had a camera with an operating lens, the boys loved it when we took a picture with the flash. They would wait for the flash to pop and then cover their eyes and yell "OHHHHH!" Here are Jumpy, Kicky and Mama reenacting the game for your viewing pleasure.

See What Develops - well, not anymore

See What Develops.

Polaroid's tagline from another decade, not this one.

This blog title has many meanings.

One, Joe is a former Polaroid employee. (He's only a little bitter.) Two, it's always fun to take shots and see what you end up with. The best shots tend to be just dumb luck shots. The "everyone pose and say cheese" shots tend to not be our best ones. They are typically pretty funny however. Three, our camera probably is not going to be developing or doing anything anymore.

Chalk it up to poor parental judgement and gravity.

Yes, you can see where this is going. Child takes camera, parent thinks it's cute, second parent thinks it's cute. Neither parent has common sense to take camera away. A few snaps and then crash, bang, oh s@#t, and a bent lens. Well, in our house it's "you get what you get and you don't get upset". So, we didn't.

Kevin's artsy photo #1

Posted here are 3 photos from one of the boys' favorite games "OH The Flash is too bright!" A game we'll play no more, alas.

Also posted are some of wee Kevin's creative artsy photos. Followed by the last known photo taken by the camera.

Note: the next few posts will contain older photos or no photos.

Sorry.

Kevin's artsy photo #2

Last known photo

Labor Day

Joe and I took a couple of days off from work and had a nice long Labor Day weekend. On Friday we took the boys to the library to get new books and to play. Given the hot and sticky weather, the library provided a nice escape. The weather turned bad and the rest of the day was spent inside playing and napping. Yay napping!

Saturday we played at the playground in the AM and then napped. Mimi and Papa came for a visit and a BBQ and a nice time was had by all. On Sunday we went to "Bessie's House" aka the Acton Discovery Museum. The boys had a great time. They played on Thomas the tank engine for an hour. They eventually did make it into the ball room and the bubble room. They also found their way to the color room and the kitchen/diner where we suspect they caught their now fully fledged head colds.

Monday was a recovery day spent relaxing, napping and playing at home. Then Monday was another big adventure day. We headed into Boston to the Children's Museum. The day was filled with fun and laughter despite both boys having the start of terrible colds and a drive that included driving through 2 tunnels, definitely a bad thing for Kevin. The first time we drove through a tunnel, it resulted in tears and panicky behavior. This time Kevin said quietly, "Kevin doesn't like tunnels. Kevin doesn't like tunnels at all." I suggested that he close his eyes and I'd tell him when he could open them. I turned and saw Jason with his eyes closed tight so I assume that neither boy likes tunnels.

We survived all that and arrived at the museum which we called The Bubble Room as it seemed easier to say and to remember then "The Boston Children's Museum". The boys loved the place. Kevin spent an hour in the bubble room. Jason spent that same hour in the ball room. They seemed to naturally find any exhibit that had water. "Peep's World" was fun, especially the water (water water everywhere, believe you me) and the computer. Kevin enjoyed the train table and climbing on a play structure. Jason loved driving the school bus and race car. We finally left when Kevin had me lift him up and he rested his head on shoulder and said "Go home now." Poor little guy. So tired and yet he enough energy to chase pigeons in front of the Hood milk bottle. They were both asleep before we got to Post Office Square. We drove up and down the Mass Pike in order to let them rest. Luckily Kevin woke up right as we drove by a construction site that had 6 super dumper trucks and 2 bulldozers. We pulled over and watched the fun. It was pretty neat watching these huge dump trucks. I didn't realize that they put the dumper down as they drive. A bit of a scary thing as these guys were driving very fast. It was like a construction ballet the way all the dozers and dumpers were speeding around and avoiding creaming each other.

Joe snapped some pictures and I'll post them tomorrow. 'Night

True Story II

Early to bed for the Party Boys last night (8 pm). At 9 pm, I hear Jason through the baby monitor sing

"Who put the bomp

In the bomp bah bomp bah bomp

Who put the ram

In the rama lama ding dong?"

This was even funnier than my 3 am wake-up call to "We will, we will rock you!"

Photo of Jason wearing his "bike helmet" and driving his "motorcycle".

True Story

Saturday AM the boys dillydally and have fun playing on their way to breakfast. Meandering down the stairs, they reach the living room and make a dash for the couch and their toys. Jason starts dancing around the living room and Kevin starts spinning. I can see that they are in no hurry for Oh's or bacon and I sit down on the couch to watch the floor show. Joe is in kitchen promoting breakfast. He calls out, "Jason! Come on in. It's time for Oh's."

Jason's response, "No. I doing a little dance, makin' little love, get down tonight."

Tumorning

Kevin has invented a new word.

"Tumorning"

Proper use would be as follows:

"Good night, see you tumorning."

Or,

"We are going to the zoo tumorning."

("tomorrow" + "morning" = "tumorning")

2.5

The boys had their 2 1/2 yr exam. It was a bit of a cry-fest as both boys were tired (they should've been asleep instead of fooling around until 10:30 at night). They wanted to watch the fish in the tank in the lobby and weren't happy about being torn away from that. So tears, whining and sniffling. That's how we kicked off this exam.

Anyway, here are the stats:

Jason: 38" tall and 33 lbs 2 oz

Kevin: 38" tall and 30 lbs 8 oz

Both boys are in the 93rd percentile for height. Kevin is in the 63rd percentile for weight and Jason is in the 65th or 92nd or something like that. It was difficult to hear over the crying. The doctor also threw out some other stats, something about comparing them to other boys their height or whatever. The numbers were slightly different putting Kevin in the 25th percentile for weight. Let me tell you, when it's the end of the day and I'm carrying Kevin, it does NOT feel like he's in the 25th percentile for weight.

They are happy and healthy kids. Feed them, water them, try to get them to rest and run around a bit and they seem to be doing everything else just fine. Great job boys!

Makes Me Laugh Outloud

So many things about this video make me laugh outloud.

Kevin right up in the camera saying "Cheeseburgers" which is our version of "Cheese!"

Kevin dancing is adorable. I love when he tells Joe to stop and then goes on dancing to his own little beat or whatever rhythm he has in mind. And then there's that funny little smile he does at 1:00.

Funny boy

Camera! Lights! Action! Part Deux

Camera! Lights! Action!

Playing Garbage Man

The boys like to play "Garbage Man". There are a couple of versions of this game. In one version, Jason "climbs" the rocking chair and yells out, "Hold on tight, Jason and Kevin" and "Don't fall off" and "Be careful, Jason and Kevin". Other versions have the boys filling a laundry basket with books or toys or alphabet letters and then they toss the contents out or toss them in. Whatever works. Enjoy the show!

3:18

I've told several of you about how Jumpy is a night owl. He wakes up at 1:30 AM, 2:30 AM, 3:30AM or at the exact moment that I am having my deepest, best sleep and he belts out tunes or laughs or talks to himself. While I do miss my sleep, it's actually pretty funny and pretty cute and definitely worth being awakened for. I've been trying to capture our little Neil Diamond but he's been on to me and has been clamming up. I finally caught our wee little lounge singer last week. Enjoy!

In case you can't make out the tune. It's the chorus from "I've Been Working on the Railroad". He' singing "Dinah".

Ta,

Kathy

First Visit to a Dentist

It had to be done. They both have a mouth full of choppers and are NOT afraid to use them. On Wednesday, Kicky and Jumpy made their way to Dr. Donley's office in Sudbury.

The Jumpster went right in, launching himself at the big toy in the lobby. The Kickster was a bit reluctant to go in the door or into the office or into the lobby. We've had a recent personality swap a la Freaky Friday. The Jumpster has become outgoing and

adventurous while Kicky has started to hold back and be more cautious and shy. I'm sure it's just a phase but it's funny to watch.

Back to the visit.....

Dr. Donley was great with the boys. Of course, this is what she does for a living and she definitely has thing that works for her. Jumpy let her view his teeth, brush them, polish them and do a fluoride treatment. Flossing? Not so much. But Jumpy was so very sweet about the whole thing. Dr. D asked him if he knew what "this" is. J answers "String!"

Dr D: Can I put this on your teeth?

J: No thank you

Dr D: Hmm, how about I try this..(opens those small plastic floss thingies that are the size of crayons)

J: No thank you.

Then he says "No thank you" four times in a row and turns away. All said very sweetly.

In the end, she gave up. I told Jason that it was ok and that I appreciated him using his manners and being polite. We could try floss another time.

Then, it was the Kickster's turn. "No" he didn't want to come see Dr D's office. "No" he didn't want to check out her other toys. "No" he didn't care if Jason got his teeth cleaned and got a neat surprise. So I picked him up and carried him in. He knelt the whole time. No, he didn't want her to count his teeth but he finally said "AHHHH" and let her peek. He tried to grab her tools, he tried to brush his own teeth. He refused to be polished. He barely let the fluoride happen. And, she wisely did not go down floss lane.

But, in the end, it really did go well. Each boy has 20 lovely teeth, a neat new bouncy ball and a new tooth brush.

The moral of the story: eat candy that melts and avoid sticky, chewy stuff.

Have a nice weekend

Doherty Dance Party

We hold a dance party every now and then. During the cold months it helps the boys burn off excess energy and it helps Mommy burn off ben and jerry's. This one is Kevin and Mommy dancing to Annette's "Pineapple Princess" (one of Jumpy's favorite tunes). Jumpy is keeping time in the rocking chair while Kicky and Mom burn up the rug.

Enjoy!

Why We Can't Have Nice Things

Slapstick

I like the Three Stooges. One Saturday AM, Joe generously did the AM shift with the boys and I stayed in bed enjoying a few Stooges' shorts. I had not done that since I was pregnant. I do not share my appreciation for the Stooges with my sons. Definitely not age appropriate. That being said, perhaps television viewing can cross through the placental barrier as I watched Jumpy do something yesterday that was funny and a teeny tiny bit disturbing and definitely 3 Stoogish.

As Sue and I sat in the backyard not talking about this miserably sticky, hot, horribly humid, nasty, take-me-away-Calgon summer weather, I watched over Sue's shoulder as my son did a real Larry-Moe-Curly. He ramped up his speed and went barreling towards our fence. Smacking straight into the fence, he then fell backwards onto the moss laughing hysterically. He repeated this performance. Sometimes he added, "KABOOM!" or "BOINK!"**

Funny kid. Made me laugh. I asked him what he was doing and he answered me with a big smile and a laugh.

Sue said, "Didn't you know he did that?"

Me: "No. Did you?"

Sue: "No, today was the first time. I thought it was something that you knew he did or he did it over the weekend."

Me: "Nope. First time I ever saw it. No idea where he got the idea from. No sense making a big deal about it."

Funny kid. He would be a better stooge than Benicio Del Toro or Sean Penn. He might be the right age by the time they finally get around to making that movie.

** Disclaimer: Our fence is a soft landscaping fence so no children were hurt, disabled or maimed during the making of this performance or this blog.

Pix from Joe's cell

Kicky commandeers a police car!

Kicky and Jumpy relaxing in their stroller

Kicky and Jumpy at Southwick Zoo

Kevin behind the wheel of a police car

Jason dining at Joan and Ed's deli

Wee Kevin on his pony

Jason helps Mom pick out decorations for Daddy's 40th birthday. See the Star Wars packaging? I think Jason approves.

Who is the cutest?

Kevin exits "Thomas" at the Action Discovery Museum

Jason draws on the chalkboard at the Discovery Museum

Farmer Jason trying out tractors

This one will do

Jason looking at the sky

Wee lads having lunch ( an older pic )

Concert on the Common

We kicked off the 4th of July weekend by attending the Friday night "Concert on the Common" in our town. A fun rock and roll kind of band was playing so we took our picnic blanket and copped a squat so to speak. The boys had a lot of fun listening to the music and watching the crowd.

Kevin was on the go from the minute he got there. Check out his adventures. He commandeered a police cruiser and spied a race car sippy cup that looked like his so naturally it must be his. Fortunately, Joe stopped him before he ran off with it. Jason took awhile to warm up but after awhile had a lot of fun.

Saturday Morning

Each morning I bring milk upstairs to the boys. They wake up. Have a cup of milk and ease into the day. On this day Jason decides to have milk in bed. He takes a big drink and says to me, "MMMM, refreshing. Tastes like bacon." I laugh, "Really? Can I taste it?" "No." Then a another big swig and he says, "MMM, tastes like toast. Tastes like chocolate."

Funny boy

Friday Night

As dinner wrapped up, the boys were their antsy 2 yr old selves asking to get down and play. Joe was clearing the table and I was hurriedly finishing my meal. I asked Jason to sing God Bless America hoping to stall everyone long enough to finish. Joe stood behind me at the sink having a drink of water as he watched Jumpy belt out his tune.

As our wee Neil Diamond sang, I saw him watching Joe with a concerned expression. Suddenly, mid-song, Jason stops and says, "Daddy be careful. You'll choke." And so he did. With laughter. It was a good thing that Joe was standing by the sink as most of the water in his mouth ended up in said sink. Joe and I both burst into peals of laughter. Jason thought that was funny and he joined in laughing.

Jason, good singer and a thoughtful son.

Lots of Posts

I've posted all the news from oldest to newest so you'll have to read all the way down to get the latest news. Enjoy!

A taste of July to keep you reading!

The myth, the legend, the Pearl

May

New Shoes

It had to be done. We purchased new shoes for the boys. They've been going in and out of growth spurts and mostly going barefoot so we didn't need to address footwear until nicer weather came and a somewhat stationary point was achieved on the growth chart. Jason is size 9 double width. Kevin is a 7.5/8 double width. Yeow. Pix below this post.

Memorial Day

We attended the Wayland Memorial Day parade. 2 marching bands, marching girl scouts, brownies, cub scouts, eagle scouts, veterans, police, old cars, a pinebox derby car, cyclists, etc. Quite a fun time. We attended the ceremony at the cemetery. Kevin decided to comment (loudly) on all the flags, the mini-bus, etc. etc. so he and I enjoyed the ceremony from far, far away. Jason and Joe enjoyed the ceremony up close and the footage below if of our patriotic, flag loving and flag waving son. Check out the footage from our crack family videographer, Daddy.

Spring Pix

Kevin 1, Pudding 0

Brothers

Jason sings of his love for pudding

Kevin shows us his sandbox

New Shoes!

Jason does his dramatic "Oh No NOT the Flash!" pose

Jason and his buddy Chewy

June

Flag Day

Flag day was lovely. Bright, beautiful and sunny. Our flag was waving proudly in the breeze. The boys had the flags that they were given on Memorial Day and played with them all day.

Of Late

Kevin has learned several new words. Millipede, centipede, accident. No connection between these words so don't let your imaginations run wild. Both boys are quite chatty and say very funny things. One or both will tell me or Joe stories that are made up of things we've done and things that Oswald has done. So, it's not unusual for Kevin to tell me that he went on a picnic (true) and that he then went to the beach and built a sandcastle (a fiction and an Oswald episode). Or Jason will tell me about waving his flag at the parade (true) and that Steve Tree brought his radio (Oswald episode). That story in of itself is also a fiction but I'm trying to illustrate a point.

Favorites

I haven't done a list of favorites in a long time so here goes:

Kevin loves:

Fred (Dirty Fred, Clean Fred doesn't matter. But he knows we have more than 1 Fred so that cat (or dog as it were) is out of the bag)

Oswald the octopus (in books or on tv)

Kipper the dog (on tv)

Thomas the Tank Engine (the toys and in books, tv not so much...tooooo scary. Darn that crabby Gordon)

James the Tank Engine (the toys and in books)

Bob the Bus driver (who is really the Little People bus driver Carlos) little plastic 2" tall fellow who can drive a bus, fly a helicopter, fly a plane, and has several other talents and is a close personal friend of Handy Manny, 3" tall fellow who wears gloves and a hat

Woody the Little People train driver little plastic 2" tall fellow, excellent train conductor

Nemo (stuffed and in books, never seen the movie)

Lightening McQueen (in books, never seen the movie)

Trucks, Diggers, Dozers, Cranes, any construction trucks (toys or real ones)

Trains (toys or real ones)

Rides in the car

Pasta especially wagon wheels Rotini, mostly Rotini in fact

Popsicles

Ice cream - vanilla mostly

the color Orange

second favorite color, Red

Flags

Running

Walking and holding hands

Motorcycles (real ones) (there is a motorcycle class conducted at the school behind our house, we walk over and watch)

Reading

Sweets, anything sweet

Jason loves:

Chewy his bear (and he also knows that we have more than 1)

Singing (he does daily performances of his own compositions and some mashups of his favorites)

Music all types, genres

Oswald

Kipper

Bear, his other bear that is not Chewy

Construction trucks

Meat - ham, chicken, beef, you name it

Happy crackers (Kashi crackers)

Chocolate ice cream

Flags most kinds but mostly American flags

Playing guitar, drums, horn, kazoo, harmonica, piano

Wagon rides

Reading, reading, reading, books books books

Watching our neighbors mow and wack weeds

Golf (he has an amazing swing and terrific follow through, even goes up on his toe)

Baseball - great right pitching arm and can switch hit

rocking in our flowered rocking chair

climbing

July

Can it be that long ago that I updated the blog? Wow. Slacker might be what you're thinking but we've been busybusybusy. Work is nuts with the company being shortstaffed (a national trend from what I read) and Joe and I have been doing more things out and about with the boys as we're trying to expand their horizons. They seemed to have reaached a point where they are ready to do more, go more places, etc. etc. We've seen a maturity in both boys and an increase in general comfort when it comes to new experiences and new people. So hither and yon.

The sunset caused by the Toronto forest fires.

Most trips have been fun/successful. A trip to Jordan's furniture in Reading - fiasco, but more the exception than the rule. Jason's big takeaway "Too loud, Mommy". And yes, it was very loud. However, our recent non-stop Fourth of July celebration weekend was fun and festive. Joe and I took a few days off and we did a series of daytrips and adventures. On Friday we hung out and swam at home and had a great time. Mimi and Papa came by for a BBQ and hung out with Kicky and Jumpy et al. On Saturday we attended the Franklin Children's day festivities where the boys saw Elmo, Batman, Big Bird, and a juggling clown. They got flag tattoos and had ice cream. Mom and Dad had fried dough (mmmm) and caramel apples. We missed out on seeing our friends Beve and her grandson Drew as our paths nearly crossed but did not intersect at the fair. Beve graciously invited the Doherty whirlwind into her home. Kicky and Jumpy took an instant liking to Drew. They ran around and squealed and had so much fun. Jason talked about Drew the whole way home. I'm sure Kevin would've if he hadn't dozed off immediately after getting into the car.

On Sunday we trekked down to the Cape where we attended the Wareham 4th of July parade. Uncle Barry's Pirate ship won 1st place! Kudos to him and the crew o' pirates that are his crew. We got to see Auntie Chris, cousins Danielle, Aric, Xavier, Ron and the newest member of the family, Dorian! The parade was even longer and better than last year. Antique cars, lots of floats. bands, a couple of bagpipe and drum bands, clowns, costumed performers, you name it!

It was mighty hot even on the Cape, so we headed to a quiet beach that had a great breeze and refreshing water. We had the beach to ourselves and the boys had a great time. What's not to love about having a giant wind farm on one side to watch and the ocean on the other? Jumpy took the water immediately and Kicky refused to go in ("Nope, nope").

Monday was a recovery day. Jason started sneezing and coughing so all of this party-party-party was taking a toll. We ran through the sprinkler and swam and napped and had a lovely summer day. Just what the doctor ordered.

Tuesday was another activity day. We visited the Discovery Museum in Acton. We'd visited the last weekend in June as a test case and the boys had a blast. Nearly 1 and a half hours spent playing in the train. This time, the boys spent the bulk of their time on the first floor but spread their time between the trains, the water room, the wall chalkboard and the ball habitrail room. I managed to get Jason upstairs and Joe also got him upstairs but Kevin was content to stay on the first floor and play with the trains.

By Tuesday afternoon it was apparent that Jason and Mommy had the same cold. Sure enough, today, Wednesday, Kevin is even more miserable than Jason and Mommy as it turns out....Kevin has a molar pushing on through. Poor little guy. If that isn't enough, it's as hot as the sun here. Yes, I exaggerate and I know you are hot wherever you are too. We've been trying to keep the guys cool and in the house. Not an easy task as they want to run outside and play but 100 degrees and 78% humidity really suck the fun out of running and playing. We ate at Kelly's tonight.

While I try to not take the boys out when they are sick, it's a million degrees and I'm sick. I wasn't up to making dinner and cleaning up after. Plus it's "Kids Night" so I thought we'd see the fish, get a balloon and drive the boys around in a mini-taxi. It went mostly to plan. If by "plan" I mean...Kevin was miserable and was spewing mucous or crying and ended the meal by barfing on me (just a teeny bit and he couldn't help it). Actually, the boys did have a great time watching the giant fish tank and talking about Nemo and Dory and the big pufferfish. Jason had a great dinner and a great time driving his taxi around the showroom floor. Kevin's favorite moment = seeing and touching the giant cherry picker in the parking lot. Several times he said, "That's the biggest crane I ever saw." Which struck me as so cute, I had him repeat it to Joe and to Sue several times.

So, home again home again jiggety jig. I hope you're staying cool wherever you are.

Kathy and Aric

Kevin squatting in water

Kevin pointing to seaweed

Kevin and Jason looking for shells

Jason throwing rocks into the water

Watching the parade

Auntie Chris and Dorian

Pirate Xavier

He ain't scary, he's Uncle Barry

The back of the Pearl

Aric and the Pearl

The side of the Pearl

Antique car in parade