Our Babies Are Growing Up

Erik is very fortunate. When he was 3 months old I started taking him regularly to a mommy & me class. Of course in the beginning the class was mostly for me, but one of the benefits is that Erik has had the same group of friends since before he can remember. Erik and these girls have grown up together and shared many first and many memories. Unfortunately he is the only guy in the group, but that doesn't seem the stop him too much and he absolutely adores all of his friends and talks about them all the time.

Well when we were first starting to go out together and became friends we all took the kids to a playdate at the zoo. It was one of the first time I was out with this group of girls who have all become really good friends.

Well today we had our usual playdate and I had a great opportunity to retake this photo almost 2 years later. In the original photo one of the girl is no longer an active member in our lives, but we have add an additional friend and her daughter is in this photo.

Gadgets

I am addicted to gadgets. Electronic gadgets, organization gadgets, exercise gadgets, if you can come up with it I might try it. I really do struggle to stay in the loop, organized, and fit so they gadgets do improve my life, right? I actually wonder sometimes if I would be so into gadgets, especially the electronic kind if I wasn't married to Carl. He is the ultimate collector and he has passed that passion/curse on to me. So I thought I would share my two most recent gadgets.

My latest is this treadmill I got about 2 months ago. This one is very frustrating for me because I really do want to use it everyday and have intentions of doing so. It actually sat around for almost a month before I figured out how to use it while I had kids around. Then one day a friend was over and she clued me in on her dirty little secret, baby gates. Well duh, I didn't even think about it I could gate the entire thing, stick Erik in front of the tv, sit Elliot in front of some toys and then run my butt off. The first week I did great, running 5 times, the next I did 4 times, then Elliot started teething and I haven't touched it for the last two weeks. I just get too tired to run even though I know if I sleep I will have more energy. I am very frustrated with myself because I have 20 lbs left to loose of this baby weight, but maybe tomorrow will come and I will sleep for a month straight, I will have an easy toddler and all the stars will align and I will keep using this machine. For the record though, Carl has yet to even try it.



Within the same month I actually picked up this new gadget. I felt really silly buying this one because Elliot is almost done eating baby food, but I was getting really tired of the jar mess in my pantry. This cool gadget will hold 24 jars and hardly take up any space. I swear I am going to keep Elliot on baby food a little longer just so I can use this thing. I just wish I could find gagets to help me keep the rest of the pantry organized.

A Day With Thomas

This weekend Carl went away on a kayaking trip and I was left with the boys for four days to amuse them 100% by myself. This was going to be a daunting task and I had been dreading it for months. Luckily I have the support of friends and family in the area so we were very very busy those four days, but my very favorite activity was when we went with Grandma to see Thomas in Fillmore.

The very first thing we did when we arrived was not eat and fill our very hungry bellies. Nope we went and played in the Thomas train area. It was a kid only zone with no parents allowed. This made for some interesting observations. It was fascinating watching Erik be in there with a bunch of other children because he is home 100% of the time with me and doesn't have to fight it out in daycare like a lot of these other children. So when Erik was faced with a bunch of children he couldn't figure out how to dive right in and play. He walked around that table about 4 times trying to figure out how it worked, how to get a train and where to play. Grandma eventually intervened and asked one of the helpers to give him a toy train. He still continued to walk around trying to find a space that belonged only him. I guess this is really a preview of what Erik will be like in preschool. I think once he got comfortable he held his own and played a bit more, but he wasn't aggressive and didn't really get upset. He just tried to find his place in the chaos.

The most exciting part of the day was the boys very first train ride. Carl was a little jealous about this and wanted me to take lots of pictures because he was going to miss this big moment. The entire drive to Fillmore and a day before I had been building up the train ride for Erik trying to make it as exciting as possible. He didn't disappoint. Once we were on that train he was bubbling with excitement and couldn't wait for the train to move.

It was a long day and we had lots of fun and I think Elliot's brain grew yet again by having these small experiences. The end of the day the boys were cranky and ready to go home, but were definitely good sports about the whole adventure.

Our Favorite Park

It is very rare that I can take the boys out of the house. I really want to take them out each and everyday and share new experiences and show them everything their little minds can take in. The biggest adventures we seem to go on lately are to the park. Everyone told me two kids this close would be hard and I realized it, but I just didn't realize how frustrating it can be trying to coordinate kids, release energy and still maintain a normal nap schedule. We are starting to get it though.

Today was a rare day that Elliot only took a one hour morning nap. Instead of texting or calling of our friends to meet up I decided to go for it and take the boys by themselves and just burn off some energy before our afternoon naps. I can't wait until my life doesn't revolve around naps, but I don't remember how to function without naps in my life.

I have learned my lesson about not taking a stroller with me to the park so I started packing this cheap umbrella stroller and the best part is that Erik loves pushing it so it gets him moving and to the park that much quicker.

One of the things that is bittersweet to me is how much of a little boy Erik has become lately. No longer do I have the time or even have to hover over him at the park. That is the beauty of going to the same place over and over again. You know what trouble your kid can get into and I am now at that point where I can let him roam and pay more attention to Elliot and less to Erik. Erik is really starting to be a good climber and really has a lot of confidence on the playground lately.

With Elliot I just know I am going to be in trouble. He is climbing a lot earlier than his brother and taking just as many risks as Erik too. So all my energy is focused on making sure Elliot stays safe but has an opportunity to climb around. If I held him the entire time at the park he would just start screaming and tantruming until I put him on the ground so he could start exploring everything for himself. With a second child you just have to let it go because they see their siblings doing everything and want to do it as well. So Elliot gets dirty a lot more at this age. Thank goodness he doesn't eat sand! The one good thing about Elliot is that he wants me following him. He is always looking back to make sure I am around.

The park has also been a place for us to learn valuable lessons. Often I let Erik bring his favorite toy or a car to the park because he loves having his cars with him at all times. Last week I let him bring his beloved "Cars" with him knowing that he buries his car in the sand and then tries to find them. Well last week he buried Chick and we just couldn't find him. I looked for 20 minutes and Erik looked too trying to find that car. Then it started to rain and I had to leave. I left the park carrying two hysterical babies, forgot the umbrella stroller that day, and took Erik home without his beloved car. Almost everyday last week Erik asked me if we could go back to the park to look for Chick. So today we finally made it back and instantly he was looking for his car. It had been over a week so obviously it is long gone, but the memory of this kid really amazes me.

And this is our favorite park.