Wednesday, December 30, 2009

winter wonderland

highlights from our adventures in 18 inches of snow...



jacob wasn't so sure about it at first. can't really blame him, since he was knee deep in the white stuff and couldn't manage to even walk around

this will give you an idea of how high the snow was...at our back door
andrew and derek built a snow fort/igloo

andrew enjoyed sledding for the first time...and even tried it by himself (which he loved!)


a cut above

jacob has officially left the "baby look" behind and is sporting a new toddler haircut. at 18 months (on andrew's bday actually) jacob had his first haircut. i must admit, i was a bit nervous going into it, since andrew's 1st haircut was a miserable experience for all parties involved. in true jacob spirit, he didn't cry at all...and gave us some big smiles along the way.


as one might expect, the locks of love that were shed from jacob's head, have yet to make it into his baby book. POOR SECOND CHILD!

Sunday, December 6, 2009

fire, fire...

WOW...what a day! we celebrated andrew's 5th birthday with a fireman theme...complete with "tape the badge on the fireman", "stop drop and roll (like freeze dance)", a special cake made by derek...and the highlight of the day... A VISIT FROM THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!


andrew had a fantastic time with his friends and family. he told me tonight, that this was the best birthday party ever! i am SO glad he enjoyed it. i absolutely can not believe andrew is going to be 5 next week...where does time go?!?! i almost shed a tear tonight, when filling out the 5th birthday page in his baby book, b/c i turned the page to find that this was the LAST page in the book!!! so...we're off to start a new chapter...and i'll be off to buy a "not so baby book" to journal the memories along the way.

enjoy the pics....












Sunday, November 1, 2009

spooktacular...

have you heard the one about the dragon and the man in the yellow hat???



man in the yellow hat (from curious george)
check out the loot
halloween party with friends on 10/30 (jacob had already gone to sleep for the night - hence the faceless dragon!)

ps...more pics HOPEFULLY to come soon...waiting on friend's pics!

treat...just treat

had to share the spooky cake i made for our BLOCKtoberfest party!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

pumpkin shortage...are they serious?!?!

over the summer months, i heard numerous reports that people should expect a shortage of pumpkins this year. it seems to me that these predictions were incorrect...as i am seeing plenty o' pumpkins everywhere! today, in the 75 degree sunshine, the boys and i made our way to our local farmer's market for what would be our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. i was SO delighted with their cooperation in taking pictures, that i went a bit crazy with the camera. by the time we left, jacob was walking to the car, repeating "cheese, cheese." we had a great time and hope to get back there one more time before halloween...maybe next time with D.










i plan on framing this one...no one is screaming, crying, hitting or pushing!!!


here are 2 pics from last year, just so you can have a comparison of the boys...only one year later!





despite the number of pumpkins available, i opted to not buy any at this particular location, based solely on price alone. to give you an idea, i saw a $79.00 pumpkin!!! wow...you've either gotta LOVE halloween or be ready to make A LOT of pumpkin pies to spend that kind of money!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

update on da boyz...

today jacob had his 15 month checkup (a month late!) and everything looks great. here are his stats and how he compares to andrew at this age.


JACOB
h: 33 1/4 in (the height of an avg. 22 month old!)
w: 25.1 lbs

ANDREW
h: 30 7/8 in
w: 22 lbs 8 oz



JACOB is now officially walking! while this makes it much easier for us to go some places; like the playground or playing outside...it makes it quite difficult when i want to put J in the stroller. over the past 2 months, he has developed QUITE an attitude and let's everyone within a 30 mile radius know when he is not happy about something! this kid has the highest pitched squeals and screams i have ever heard come out of a human mouth! i'm beginning to think we may have a future opera singer on our hands :)
he is also saying "mama" A LOT and does sign language for the words "more", "help" and "all done."


ANDREW is doing fantastic at school! he absolutely loves his friends & teachers and just about every day when i pick him up he says, "mom, school was great today." he continues to amaze me every day with the things he knows...he can now count to 100, count backward from 20-0, write the entire alphabet, do addition and subtraction AND he is starting to read!!! school is full of fun projects...for sukkot, he made an edible sukkah and today he made this edible torah & yad, for simchat torah.

derek and i are continuing to advocate for andrew and help our family be as wonderful as we know it can be. tonight was andrew's last session with his play therapist, as we just did not feel it was the right fit. in 2 weeks, D and i will be meeting with a LCSW at JSSA (jewish social services agency) to discuss services for andrew. hopefully this will provide us with more of what we are searching for! we are still struggling with many of the same issues with andrew, along the lines of physical and verbal behaviors. we also still see how much he struggles to make decisions...much like his mom and dad (wonder where he gets it from)...and it just breaks my heart for such a young child to have such a difficult time.

so...i titled this post "update on da boyz"...which would include DEREK...
i am SO proud to announce that derek has been named an associate at cox, graae & spack architects!!! he has worked very hard to earn this promotion and it has paid off!

in the next few weeks, we are looking forward to enjoying a fun BLOCKtoberfest with our neighbors, a great halloween AND melissa and land's wedding (FINALLY!!!)
xoxo


stop, drop & roll








as much as andrew LOVES firemen, fire stations, fire trucks (well, pretty much anything related to this topic) we couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit our local fire station when they had an open house. we went with our next door neighbors, sarah (8) and brendon (11), whom andrew absolutely ADORES! in typical andrew style, he told us on the way there, that he no longer wanted to go. derek talked to him about why, and it turns out he was nervous. he definitely gets nervous/anxious in unfamiliar situations like this and i was so proud of him for verbalizing it. when we got there, he saw another friend of his, which helped him warm up to the whole thing. he did have a few moments during our visit, when we could tell he was getting anxious, but for the most part we were able to catch it ahead of time and ward off any meltdowns. all in all, it was a great way to spend time together and both boys (and the neighbors) had a lot of fun!!!

jacob especially loved the balloons and getting the chance to crawl through a tunnel to a mat where he had to stop, drop and roll (sorry, didn't get any pics of this!).

 
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