August, too (two)

 We also celebrated August's birthday in October--two years old!  Because of the unusually warm weather, he got his birthday present--a little scoot bike--a couple days early.  The look on his face when he gets going down a little hill is priceless.  I would like to take the time to catch a picture of it but I'm too busy running after him and worrying he's going to wipeout big!

We've also turned August's car seat around so he's facing forward like the rest of us--he seems to really be enjoying this new vantage point.  We've heard lots about big trucks and buses and I love to see his smiling face in my rear view mirror.

Seven!

Boden turned seven this year! The only thing better than a birthday on a weekend is one on Friday, so we were able to eat out, "stay up late" and sleep in! 

Another good thing about landing on a Friday is that I was fortunate enough to be the mystery reader for Boden's first grade class, as well, which was a bit of a birthday surprise for him.  I read two of his favorite books--the book with no pictures and ten on a sled.  It was good to see his class and the range of first grade personalities--god bless first grade teachers is all I have to say!

After much discussion and debate, we ended up at our local restaurant for his usual, pita pizza.  August was well behaved but energetic and Boden was full of questions, as usual, so it was a typical "relaxing" family dining experience.

We ended the night with a family movie night (minus August, of course) and watched the second Night at the Museum movie. 

The birthday festivities continued the next day at Nana and Papa's with a cake and four-wheeler riding.  When we were buying the cake he said before we could serve it everyone had to sing happy birthday.  When it came time to sing, he walked around rolling his eyes and smiling--so funny.

Whirlwind

Whew, it's been quite a whirlwind since Kindergarten started. We're already way past back-to-school, MEA, and Halloween and already sliding into Thanksgiving! It's been a crazy 2 months!  

Anyway, school is going well. Our first parent teacher conferences went fantastic. Boden's teacher, Mrs. P, seems really energetic and kind with the patience a kindergarten teacher needs. She said Boden is doing well and she really likes how "spunky" he is. Mrs. P also started a blog so we can learn more about what goes on in class -- I'm really enjoying it and appreciate her efforts to keep us nosy parents informed. http://heartsaresmilinginkindergarten.blogspot.com/ 

At the top of this month, Todd and I ran out first race together in years. I think it was 18 years ago that we ran a 5k and this year we got into the TC 10 mile. We were long overdue for another run together and had a great time even though it was soooo cold.

Boden also turned 6 (on the same day as his parent teacher conference, actually) this month and I continue to be amazed at how big he's getting. I feel like he'll be carrying me to bed pretty soon :) He's a very good big brother except when it comes to sharing...but, he's very entertaining and can get August laughing like no one else! 

To add to this busy month, August turned one and is as sweet as Boden is sassy :) He's walking much more--about 95% of the time. Crawling continues to be a draw because he can really cruise when he's on all fours.  

I had my first work trip this month, as well, and survived one night away away from my sweet little guy...I know it gets easier but it was hard to be away from him!  Boden enjoyed the "guy time" with his dad and little brother but still had plenty of kisses and hugs for me when I came home.

Yo ho lets paaarrrrty

With August's arrival so close to Boden's birthday, Boden's birthday celebration has been drawn out over weeks, with gifts arriving at various times--he's expecting gifts all the time, now.  

I did promise him a party this year and, while I would have preferred to have it in October Whole I was still pregnant, my back problems prevented it, so we had a pirate themed bash this past weekend.  Thank goodness for helpful friends and a helpful hubby because I spent much of the time sitting in my "command chair", nursing a hungry baby and giving direction to my helpers to keep the merry and exuberant band of little pirates entertained.  I'm not sure I've been to a little kid party where the guest of honor didn't have some sort of teary breakdown and this one was no exception.  Boden got upset over a couple things that made me wonder if a friend party is worth the time and energy at this young age.  There were 7 boys aged 5 and under and it was a two hour frenzy after which all the adults were mentally exhausted.  We survived and I think some fun was had.  

5th Birthday

 Boden woke up excited to be 5...mostly because he got presents (Legos, Legos, Legos!!) but also because he was now the same age as his two best pre-school friends.

He went to school and handed out tattoos to his classmates and everyone sang "happy birthday" to him.  Our contractors left a gift and card for him at home, he got birthday calls from all his grandparents, and his swimming teacher even remembered it was his birthday.  Overall, he was feeling pretty special as he should --everyone's day is a little brighter because he's part of it. 

Pizza and a hot dog, please

While I generally don't care much about making a big deal for my birthday, the significance of a child's birthday is much more meaningful to me now that I'm a parent--the day of course marks not only his growth and milestones, but it's hard not to recall Boden's actual "birth" day and all the details and emotions that brings.  I certainly don't romanticize the event--it wasn't awesome, but the end result was this amazing, smart, sensitive and silly little guy.  If you're four year old boy, though, you don't seem to care much about the day you actually came into the world--the focus is on getting bigger and getting presents!

Boden's birthday fell during the middle of the week so we tried to make it as big of a deal as we could:  he got to bring treats (tattoos and stickers) for his pre-schoolmates, I picked him up early from school, he got to eat out at a restaurant (his choice), he ordered whatever he wanted which he did all by himself (chocolate milk, pizza, and a hot dog were his items of choice, though the restaurant thankfully did not have hot dogs on the menu), and we topped it off with presents and a little later bedtime.

Boden recently visited two firestations--one with our friend Dan who is a volunteer firefighter and one for his first school field trip ever.  Since then, fire trucks and firefighters have been all the rage.  So, Todd found a firefighter costume (accessorized with a very loud bull horn that I could do without) and a very large fire truck which he thinks is really cool.

Watching my little guy get older and bigger does make me a little nostalgic for the sweet toddler he was.  The thing that makes me most sad today, the day after his birthday, is that I can't say "You better behave or you might not get any presents for your birthday" because his birthday is 364 days away!  So, I've told him he better behave or I'll make him three again.  He stopped what he was doing (not listening) and asked how I was going to do that...logical question, right?  I told him I'd figure out a way which seems to be a good enough answer for now.  Hey, it's the only leverage I've got right now until I can talk about Santa and Christmas presents.

Family photo

Ready to fight fight imaginary fires

Can You Keep A Secret?

If you're 3 1/2 years old, I'm going to say "no".  Boden was entrusted with helping his dad pick up my birthday gift a few weeks ago.  He was very clear that he wasn't going to let on what it was because it was a surprise, which I thought he understood:  "Mom, I can't tell you what your surprise is."  Clear, right? 

Well, maybe he meant he couldn't tell me what it was if I asked because after picking out my gift and taking it to his dad's office for safekeeping, he came home and was talking to about their day.  He said something  to his dad like "We can't tell mommy about her bike, right?"...while I was 3 feet away.  I tried to let this go claiming I heard "surprise" not "bike" (but was jazzed I was probably getting a bike!).  Later on, we were all sitting down talking and, out of the blue, Boden said "Gosh, it sure was busy at the bike store!".  Todd's face was priceless as he then tried to explain why they were at the bike store and making up something about me getting bike "accessories" for my birthday (unlikely).  To Boden's credit, his dad never told him he couldn't talk about where they had been that day.

Anyway, after two days of Boden dropping the obvious and Todd reminding him that we don't talk about Mommy's surprise, it was finally my birthday.  Boden and Todd retrieved it from the office while I waited at home with my biking shorts, helmet, and shoes on, ready for a ride.

Three Years Old

Boden was really excited this year for his birthday--he was telling us his birthday was October 23rd for weeks.  While he requested both cake and cookies for his birthday treat, I settled on a personal cupcake for him and made a fall dessert for the adults (for the health of it!).  Boden had talked about blowing out candles for a couple days, so when cupcake time came, I wrongly assumed he knew what he was doing, or understood the concept of "blowing out".  At one point, he tried to eat the flames on the candles (!) hence, Todd's close supervision in the picture.  In the end, he blew all three out with the help of some hot air from his dad.

So what does three bring?  According to my reading he's supposed to be a lot more "reasonable" (directionally, compared to how he was at 2, maybe, because I'm not sure the word "reasonable" should be anywhere in a toddler's/pre-schooler's description) and have less tantrums...based on recent behavior, I'm not sure we're there, just yet.  He's very particular (with two particular parents, I'm worried our gene combination created an extra-particular offspring) and when directions to us aren't met with compliance, there's potential for freak-out.  On the other hand, he's extremely loving and sensitive--not a cuddler (for very long), but always willing to throw an awesome bear hug or a kiss my way.  He's a little Jekyl and Hyde like, now, but that seems to be normal.  Anyway, we're excited that this little boy is growing up to be curious, excited, energetic, and smart. 

Pumpkins!

Earlier this Fall, Boden and I saw tons of pumpkins at the Arboretum--they were all shapes, sizes, and varieties.  He had a great time touching them all (and he did throw one, which I was a little mortified by) and ever since then, he thinks pumpkins are pretty awesome: He yells out "Pumpkins!" whenever he spots one (and what a great time of year to spot pumpkins).  So, I thought it would be fun to carve pumpkins for his birthday.  Boden's Papa did a nice job of helping with the carving--especially, the best looking one of the bunch--and Boden did a nice job of posing with them. 

Happy birthday, to you!

We had a great time celebrating Boden's birthday this year--he was way more into his " 'prises" this year and seemed to get the idea that a birthday was a pretty big deal. Todd and I got him a tool bench and, since we didn't wrap it, we told him to shut his eyes while daddy brought down his surprise.  Every gift after that was a 'prise :)

To keep with the real-life "theme" of road construction going on in our neighborhood, I got him a construction themed cake adorned with a back-hoe on top of it.  He and I picked up the cake in the morning and he said "whoa!" when he saw the cake (awesome) but then demanded cake when we got home (at 10 in the morning) and cried, screamed, kicked, crabbed when I said we were saving the cake for his party (less than awesome).  "My cake!  My cake!"...ugh.  It's hard to get across that yes, it is your special cake, but you can't have it, now.

When it was finally "cake time", we sang "Happy Birthday" and then he promptly grabbed the scoop on the little toy back hoe and began digging into the top of the cake--a very good re-enactment of what happened to the road outside our front door.  Why wait for a fork?

Anyway, the day was full of family, fun, lots of playing with trucks and tools, and pumpkin carving--a wonderful celebration of Boden's 2 years.

One year down...

Boden turned one yesterday and the momentous occasion caused me to pause and wax reflective: if I had to describe the past year in one word, what would it be?  A number of options popped into my head...exhausting, challenging, tough, wonderful, frustrating, overwhelming, focused, eventful, magnificent, questioning, crazy, scary, unclear...All true. 

I asked Todd what his one word for the year was, and his first choice was one of the 4-letter variety and then his second, PG-rated word was something like awesome (I just got off the phone with him and already forgot what he said..."mom brain" strikes again).  But, he said, he's struck more by how Boden is now--fun, cute, playful.  He has already forgotten the endless hours of Boden's screaming each night from the time he was 6 weeks old until he was about 5 months old that made Todd mental and the sleep-deprived wife who was borderline crazy.  How quickly one can forget the bad in light of something much more amazing.

To boil it down to one word...hmmm, I guess my word for Boden's first year is "everything".  There were highs, lows (sometimes both within the span of 10 minutes), goods, bads, moments of blaring clarity contrasted by complete befuddlement and everything in between.  The last year was one wild ride, for sure.