Here it is...

I'll let the picture and video speak for themselves....

Evan stood up on his own!!! This wasn't the first time. He'd been on the verge of it all evening, and I was keeping a close eye on him. I was in the kitchen trying to choke down some dinner so I could get Evan upstairs for his bath (Daddy and Tyler were already up there). I turned my head for half a second - I think to see the final Jeopardy clue - and then I look back over to the gate and he's standing!!! He stood for quite a while too. By the time I was able to get it on video, he was getting tired, so he didn't stay up very long. It's all over now. Before we know it, he'll be running around with his brother, wreaking havoc all over the place. Should make next week's beach house vacation very interesting!!

As sad as I am that he is growing up, I'm very proud of my baby boy!

Latest development...

Evan is standing!! Ok, he can't get himself up to standing (he almost can, but not quite), but if we stand him up and he has something to hold onto he'll stay up for quite awhile. In fact, now that he's discovered it, he doesn't want to sit anymore!

In other news....

Preparations are underway for our vacation! Next Saturday we pack up and head to the Outer Banks. I can't believe it's finally (almost) here! This is a vacation a looooong time in the making. We've just returned from a trip to Walmart, which is NEVER fun. I know some Walmarts are ok, but ours is disgusting. It is always packed to the gills and almost impossible to maneuver around. But alas, it is the cheapest place to stock up on all the things we need for the beach house (paper towels, dish detergent, etc.). We also decided to get a cargo bag to put on the roof of the car. Even though we have an SUV, it's a small SUV, and has gotten smaller with the addition of each car seat!! So we thought it was a good idea to add to our cargo space since we have so much to bring with us. The boys seem to think it's a good idea too...

If only we could get them to do the packing and the loading....

Happy Birthday Mimi!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIMI!!!! Not the best picture, but the best I could do!!

A conspiracy??

So, there was no nap for Tyler this morning, but now he is down for an afternoon nap - it's been about an hour and a half now (nice!). Evan took a nap this morning, but only for about 20 minutes. So when he went down for his afternoon nap, I figured it would be a good one. But he woke up after only about 40 minutes - about the time I had decided that I would take a little lie down myself. So either he really, truly, does not want me to get any rest (which would help explain why he keeps getting up at 4:00 a.m.), or he knows that if he's the only little one awake, he'll have all the toys to himself!!

Morning fun.

First of all, I have to show you some pictures of Tyler modeling his new sneakers. He got two new pair this weekend because I couldn't decide between them (they were both so cute!!)

Here are the cutesy Sesame Street ones:

And here are the cooler, hipper (Mitch calls them "Run DMC" sneakers) pair:

I know they're kind of hard to see because the kid doesn't like to stand still!! Speaking of that, this morning I captured on film what I believe was dancing - to a tune on his iPod (yes, he has his own iPod) appropriately called "Goofy Dance"....

If it wasn't dancing, he was definitely excited about something... In any case, I had to stop him before he hurt George (who wasn't nearly as amused at the dancing as I was)!

And just for an extra dose of cuteness in this post, here is a shot Mitch took the other day of Tyler being a little more gentle with George:

Awwwwwwwwww...............

Stats

I'm sorry it's been several days since I last posted - the week got busy and got away from me! I should report that on Thursday, we took the boys to the pediatrician for their 18 and 9 month well visits. All is well! And here are the stats:

Tyler:

Weight: 20 lbs., 2.9 ozs.

Height: 32"

Evan:

Weight: 17 lbs., 8.1 ozs.

Height: 28.25"

I would have bet money that Evan weighed more than Tyler - good thing I didn't! But - less than 3 lbs. between them. Not surprising at all! I suspect by Evan's one year appointment, he may outweigh his big brother.

In other news....

Don't know how well you can see it, but if you look closely you might be able to see the purple spot (lump) on Evan's forehead. Yesterday he was sitting on the kitchen floor playing while I was putting dishes away and suddenly I heard a loud "THUD". I turned around and he was flat on his face on the floor. Not sure what happened exactly, but he wasn't happy about it, and it wasn't long before a nice little purple bump appeared on his forehead! I think he was jealous of all his brother's injuries so he thought he'd get one of his own! And just so Mimi doesn't panic - the bump is gone today, and the bruise is nearly gone as well :).

Here are a few shots from the past week:

I'll be back soon!!

More party photos...

I just had to add these because they are so cute. One of the parents at the party on Saturday (Tyler's friend Zach's dad, Sam) took lots of pictures and they were sent around to all of us. Here are some good ones he took of our boys!

Thanks, Sam!!

Weekend business

Well, we have had quite a productive weekend!! Unlike last Saturday, this Saturday was one to be outside. So like good little entrepeneurs, Evan and I set up shop at the semi-annual Kingstowne community yard sale.

Lots of little baby clothes and accessories, including the infant car seat and frame stroller. Of course this prompted my mother-in-law to query "So are you saying there won't be any more children?" As sad as I am to say it, no, there won't be. Unless I win the lottery, it just wouldn't be practical. If we could afford it, I would already be working on three more (through biology AND adoption)! So as it stands now, I might as well clean out the garage and make a little money in doing so!

We were out there for a few hours, and did pretty well. A couple of times Mitch and Tyler walked over to visit and to bring food and drink.

All told I made $135!! Not too bad. Got rid of almost all the big items, but still have a lot of clothes left. But since they are mostly summer clothes, I think it will be wise to participate in the Spring sale. I'll probably get rid of all of it then.

After the yard sale, it was time to go to a birthday party. One of the little boys in the daycare, Eric, turned 2 and invited all the children to attend his party at "My Little Gym." Can you believe I forgot my camera (just as I did back in March when Eric's sister Emma turned 3 and we went to her party)?!?! Luckily, my phone takes pretty decent pictures:

And video!

Evan got in on the action too:

Everything was going smoothly until Tyler stuck his hand in the cake just as it was set in front of the birthday boy... no pictures of that - but I'll be sure to tell him about it someday!

It was a very busy day. So much so that Evan didn't really nap except for maybe 20 minutes in his little tent during the yard sale. So I had him fed, bathed and asleep by 6:30 p.m.!! I myself was in bed by 8:15! Can't remember the last time that happened... And this morning, Daddy took Tyler and Evan downstairs so I could sleep in. I am by no means complaining, but it looks like I missed a good time!!

Today we've basically taken it easy, except for a trip to the mall to get Tyler's haircut. This is his third (professional) haircut! Usually, he sits on daddy's lap and cries most of the time. But for some reason today, he sat in the chair all by himself, and was the picture of composure the whole time!!

I think the whole time Evan was thinking, "Am I next??"

Not yet sweetie!!!!

And now it is Sunday evening. I hate Sunday evening. I'm usually feeling lazy, and then I have to rush around preparing for Monday morning, doing things I should have done all weekend long. I guess that will never change. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. Of course, these days, I can use the boys as an excuse! I guess I should be thinking about all the things that I DID do this weekend. But instead I'm always thinking about everything I didn't do.

Oh well, there's always next weekend!!

Remembering 9/11

I hadn’t planned to do a post about 9/11 today, but I am feeling compelled. It was seven years ago today that the world changed, and that is worth remembering.

I think back to who I was then. Certainly different than I am now. Mitch and I hadn’t even been married for a year, and children weren’t even on our radar. I remember how horrified I was by the whole thing. I remember my mom frantically trying to get in touch with me to make sure I was ok. I remember lying to her – telling her not to worry, that my office was “nowhere near” any building that anyone would want to attack – and yet I was three blocks from the White House. I remember how Mitch and I quietly made our way to his parent’s house because it happened at a time when our particular commuter train wasn’t running and we couldn’t get straight home.

So today I find myself imagining how scary it would have been if we had had the boys at that time. How we would have been scrambling to try to get to them. How I wouldn’t have been able to breathe until I held them in my arms. I am thankful that I didn’t have to experience that, and hope that I never will. And yet, at the same time, I am grateful that I have such beings to worry about. May they always be safe in this unpredictable, sometimes scary world. And may I always be able to protect them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today also has significance for other reasons. Four years ago today, my father passed away. And one year ago today, his father, my grandfather, passed away. On a day so wrought with memories of loss and sadness, I will take a deep breath, and hug my boys extra hard and give them extra kisses, thankful that at this point in their lives, the date “September 11th” means nothing to them at all.

Video mania!

This evening when we got home, Evan decided that he was indeed big enough to try out big brother's table and chairs. Tyler didn't know quite what to think... (this video isn't as clear as others because it was taken on Mitch's Blackberry)

And here are a couple of other random videos of Evan, well, just because they're cute:

The screaming you hear in the background of this one is Tyler having his usual ball of a time in the bathtub!

My little man...

When Tyler wakes up in the morning, the usual routine is daddy takes him downstairs, straps him into his high chair and fixes his breakfast. But today was something different! This morning, on the day he turns 18 months old, when Tyler arrived in the kitchen, THIS is what was waiting for him:

(The turning 18 months old really has nothing to do with it, it just so happens that the table arrived last night so it's like we can pretend it's a gift for a reason rather than just because...)

It only took a moment for him to get it and he was totally on board!

Isn't that CUTE??? It didn't last too long and he spent the rest of the morning pushing the table around upside down in the living room and throwing the chairs... but I mostly chalk that up to the fact that lately he hasn't been terribly interested in breakfast. Anyway, we'll see how he does with the table at dinnertime. I hope Evan isn't too jealous... but as you see, there is a second chair there, just waiting for him to be big enough to join his brother!

What a difference a day makes!

It's beautiful today!! Sunny without a cloud in the sky and hot - but not humid! With no reason to stay inside, Tyler and I headed to a nearby playground with my friend Tiffany and her little ones (Chelsey who is almost 4 and Cameron who is a month and a half younger than Evan). Evan stayed home to nap and watch football with Daddy! Here are a few shots from the playground that I managed to get before my camera batteries died:


It was a great playground because they had a section for little ones like Tyler and then the rest for bigger kids. I'm sure we'll be going back there!

A rainy Saturday...

Well, Tropical Storm Hanna has come and gone. It wasn't too terrible. It rained all day, at times heavily, but it wasn't that bad in this area. Some neighboring towns got it much worse and were even being evacuated because of some flooding. Hopefully no one is suffering too much.

We survived our day inside. We did lots of playing and dancing (Tyler has his own iPod loaded with children's music). At one point, I got the brilliant idea to build a fort using the coffee table, cushions from the couches, and a king sized blanket.




















Well, ok, not so brilliant. The boys kept hitting their heads on the coffee table and it was really hot under there!! Tyler likes to get under blankets, but I think he's still too young to get the concept of a fort. Maybe next year! They were much happier when we took the fort down.


By about 5:30, the storm was pretty much done so Tyler and I got out of the house and went to the grocery store. Tyler loves going to the store and riding around in the cart. He's really quite easy to go shopping with (grocery or otherwise) - a quality of his that I have always loved!! While we were out we saw a rainbow! I didn't have my camera with me so I can't prove it...

Then it was dinner time. This is what a messy boy looks like:

Tyler thought it was pretty amusing:

After dinner, it was bath time. This time, instead of just giving instruction, Tyler decided he wanted to climb in the tub with Evan.

The boys did do some playing together today, and I'm getting more and more daring about letting Evan be on the floor even with Tyler running around. It's mainly ok, but we have to watch carefully because at any moment Tyler could decide to jump on him, kick him, or throw something at his head (all things that happened today...). It isn't malicious by any means, he just isn't quite old enough to understand he needs to be gentle. But when he gets too close, Evan pulls his hair, so I'm guessing it won't be long before they are evenly matched and Mitch and I will need to constantly be playing referee!

Tomorrow is supposed to be back to beautiful weather so we'll get to spend some time outside - Yay!!!