Take Me Out to the Ballgame

If you viewed the last post then you see Jason is a big-time crooner. He has a few favorite songs that he burst into each day. He typically sings first thing in the morning and then again during or after dinner. Here he sings "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Enjoy!

Better Late Than...

Here is the video post I'd hoped to do the other day. It doesn't need much explanation other than this: the boys love the cartoon "Oswald". Jason is quite taken with and heavily influenced musically by the character Sammy Starfish. Sammy is a Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra kind of character voiced by Tony Orlando. Enjoy!

I Looooooooooove (fill in the blank)

Well, I had a very different post in mind but forgot to bring the video camera with me so, I'm posting another little tidbit. This one is about Jason. Last night the boys had popsicles for dessert. Halfway through his purple pop, Jason turns his head from side to side (looking left to right) and closes his eyes and then says,"I llllllllllllllllove popsicles!"

Joe and I burst out laughing. Then Jason proceeded to state his love of popsicles several more times. Later in the living room, he stated his love for Chewy, Mommy, Daddy and several books and toys.

Here Jason reads to Kevin. He's showing Kevin how the Red Sox hit home runs. Jason loves baseball too!

Apy Berf Day

Or "Happy Birthday" to my Mom

The boys left a garbled message with some portions somewhat clear and others, well, when Kevin said, "Fred" he was clearly referring to his dog. I'm not sure how that tied into our birthday message but Kevin probably had a plan. Jason was quick with his words but much clearer delivering a great "I love you!" Well done boys.

Mom, I hope your day was great!

Today's Bauble

Or last night's actually. Kevin was not a big fan of last night's chicken and bean cassoulet. He drank the broth and picked out the beans and flat out refused the chicken. After picking at various other food items he finally turned to me and said, "Ritz crackers pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease." I laughed and said,"This is your dinner. No Ritz." Kevin fixed his eyes on me and said, "Manners matter." This is my 2 year old throwing my words right back at me.

Yes, he did say please. Kevin learned at Christmas that the word "please" is a magic key that opens the door to treats both salty and sweet. So, I'm at a crossroads AND I'm having a life experience.

Crossroads...he DID say please and he DID use his manners. I want to reward this behavior. However, Ritz crackers every night for dinner is a really bad idea. As for the life experience.....at 2 he's throwing my words in my face. Nice, eh?

Vignettes

Leaves

Near the end of dinner last Wednesday, Jason looks at my plate and says, "Mommy eat leaves." He follows this with a great big laugh. Joe also bursts out laughing. I look at Jason and say, "Mommy is eating lettuce. It's called 'salad'." Jason throws his head back and says loudly,"Salad!" Then he laughs a great big belly laugh. Followed by, "Mommy eats salad." This went on for a good 5 minutes. The laughing and the "Salad!" comments. Yes it was funny. We all laughed. But I also thought the boys would be somewhere around age 5 before they started to mock me. 2 seems a bit early.

Duh

Last night, Jason went to the corner behind his crib and started to pick up and move the small rocking chair that sits there. He was having difficulty and I said,"Wait and Mommy will move the rocking chair for you." So I take it from him and say, "Tell me where you want me to put it." Jason replies,"On the floor."

Joe starts laughing and says to me,"You know, we know he's smart but does he have to rub it in? On the floor, Mommy. Duh."

Kevin and a frog

Greetings

Kevin is a terrific greeter. Yesterday we took the boys for a spin around the block in their new wagon. We head out and Joe is going to catch up with us. As we walk along, I turn and see Joe headed toward us. I say,"Hey! Who is coming?" The boys turn around and see Joe. Kevin shouts,"DADDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! YAAAAAAAAAAAY!" The funny thing is that Kevin does this every time he greets someone. Very effusive. Very cute.

Jason and his horn

Changes

We took the boys to the playground on Saturday. They had a great time. Jason showed us that he's really maturing. He took off at a full run towards the school and was more than half a football field away from me before he turned around. I waved at him and he continued running around. He didn't seem concerned at all about the distance betweeen us or that he'd gone so far and I had not followed. He ran back and forth between me and the school 2 more times and seemed to gain confidence with each trip.

Both boys climbed on all of the playground equipment. They both went down the big slides (a major accomplishment as they are reluctant to go down our "big" slide at home).

Dinner

We eat dinner together every night at 6:30. On Friday night I made spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread. Jason ate a few bites of meatball and pushed the rest away. Actually, he picked up each individual piece and handed it back to me. When I passed him his bowl of spaghetti, he shook his head and said,"No." I offered him some of the other items on the table. He shook his head no to each offer. He pointed to the cabinet and said,"Hot dogs." I replied,"No. We're having spaghetti and meatballs." He whined a bit and started a tantrum. I replied, "No whining. This is our dinner. I'm not making you another meal." He waited a minute and then sweetly said, "Mommy, make me a meal." So very adorable, but I didn't make him another meal.

On the weekends, we eat dinner at 6. The boys are typically hungrier earlier as we spend a lot of time outside running around and they build up a big appetite. Last night, Kevin came in doing his jogging in place dance and started saying "chair chair ready ready". Interpret that as, "I'm hungry woman. Feed me!" He danced/jogged in and out of the kitchen several times. I'd gotten a late start on the enchiladas so Sunday night dinner was at 6:30 and Kevin was barely able to make it. When we finally sat, Kevin was first in his chair and already had a handful of chicken in his mouth. He saw his bowl of rice and started yelling, "Rice! Rice! Rice!" I responded,"Not until you finish your chicken." Suddenly he grabbed fistfuls of chicken and started shoving the chicken into his mouth. Afterwards, he wiped his hands across his tray and yelled, "All finsh. All finish. Clean clean clean. Rice rice rice." Translation: "The chicken is gone. Clean my tray and bring on the rice!" He ate 2 bowls of rice (a personal best). He also ate a cup of strawberries, some corn, some green peppers and 6 Ritz crackers. That was after he said, "Ritz crackers please." I thought he said rice crackers. He corrected me with, "RITZ CRACKERS!!! PLEEEEEASE!" Funny guy. Where did he put all that food?

Requests

Over the past 3 weeks both boys have requested: cupcakes, Oswald cupcakes, Thomas cupcakes, pudding, ice cream cones, dip(ketchup), dip dip(pancake syrup), ice cups(italian ice), tacos, peppers, strawberries, apple, pear and a variety of cereals. They do have a varied palate. Weird things that they eat: Kevin: tomatoes, ice (if he can get his hands on any) Jason: meat - any kind of.

The Thomas Cupcake Story

One night just before bedtime, Kevin and I are cuddling, rocking and reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book. Having finished the story, I close the book. We sit looking at the cover just sharing a quiet moment. Kevin quietly says,"Cupcakes. Oswald cupcakes" I say, "Yes, Mommy made Oswald cupcakes for your birthday." Then he looks up at me, "Thomas cupcakes." Get it? Got it. Good.

Oh, I forgot to mention, that in between fistfuls of chicken during last night's dinner, Kevin kept saying "yummy yummy yummy". After the initial loud outbursts, he settled down and then in between handfuls of rice, he quietly said "yummy yummy yummy" You could see his lips moving but just barely hear him.

Ta

Belated Easter Tidings

Happy Easter Ya'll

The boys had a great Easter weekend. We visited the Roger Williams Zoo on Saturday where there was an Easter egg hunt. The boys were fascinated by all the kids running around but were not interested in the egg hunt. Jason was happy to find a blue egg and a green egg but simply because he likes blue and green. Kevin was content running up and down a small hill. They enjoyed the animals and had a great time.

Here are some pix of our Easter Sunday. The boys slept in and then had a lovely breakfast followed by Easter baskets. We talked about how every state has an Easter Bunny. The Florida Easter bunny left some goodies for them and Mimi and Papa sent those goodies to our house. The Texas Easter Bunny also had some goodies for the boys and Oma and Opa mailed those goodies. We also discussed how nice Auntie Diane was to forward the goodies that the Arizona Easter Bunny had for the boys.

So much excitement! The boys loved everything and had a great time. So many goodies, books, candy, toothbrushes, bunnies, bubbles, diggers, fire trucks and stickers. Oh boy!

Here are several pix from the day.

The boys played inside for a bit and then we went outside to search for Easter Eggs. Jason was very sweet and pointed out the eggs but did not pick any up.

Kevin ran around the yard and skipped the egg hunt altogether until he was made aware that the eggs contained FOOD!
The MA Easter Bunny left goldfish, raisins, vanilla wafers and gummy tractors. Here are pix of the boys having their egg hunt. Jason preferred playing on the slide. Kevin truly enjoyed the eating of goldfish.

A huge Thank You to all of our family, the regional Easter Bunnies and their support teams. The boys had a great time and are still enjoying their goodies!

Love,

Kathy