discoveries

Here are a few discoveries from the past weeks:

1. Both of my boys prefer to be left alone in their beds when sleeping. Every night, Sean and I go in to kiss Shannon goodnight just before we go to bed. He remains mostly sound asleep, but he will often respond to questions. Sometimes, we get quite humorous things out of him. And, he loves it when I make up stories for him to "dream" about. But, if I ask him if mama should snuggle with Shannon, he will generally shake his head no. And, sometimes, he will push us away and say, "leave" or "go away." So, after being shooed out of Shannon's room, I go feed Jack. Given his love of being by mama during his waking hours, one would think he would desire the same in his slumber. Such is not the case. He will eat his fill and then fuss and cry until he is laying in his bed with his blanket and thumb.
   
2. Shannon discovered computer games. About a week a half ago, I decided to let Shannon give computer games a try. There are a large number of computer games online for his favorite cartoon characters. While many of them are simpler for younger children, I honestly didn't really think he'd get it. I thought he would just randomly click and move and enjoy seeing some animations. I feel bad now that I underestimated him so. I gave him about 30 seconds of instruction with the mouse, and he figured it out. He figured out the games too. I was amazed. He played tic tac toe; he "painted" various Bob the Builder characters. And then I gave him another minute of instruction and he figured out the drag and drop function. Sean and I were both astounded.
   
3. Why?? Some time ago, a friend of mine who has a boy about a year older than Shannon told me that she thought three was harder than two. She said that as a two-year-old, he had pretty much done what she asked. Now, he was questioning her and challenging her, which made for more complex discipline issues. I could see how this would make things more difficult, and recently had a taste of it. Several days ago, I was in the kitchen with Jack. Shannon decided to join us and he rode his "truck" into the kitchen. Since my kitchen is microscopic, I said, "No, Shannon, you may not ride that in the kitchen." Shannon looked at me and said, "Why?" I had not previously been questioned by my almost-three-year-old, so I just looked at him dumbfounded, not sure how to respond. So, thinking it might be a fluke, I just repeated that he could not ride his truck into the kitchen. He again asked me "why." I did not respond and just looked at him. He tested me for a moment and then backed up into the dining room. Then, later at lunch, I sat down with my food and hit my knee on the table. I said, "Ow!" and Shannon said, "too hot?" thinking I had burned my mouth on the food. I said "No, I hit my knee on the table and got an ouwie." He said, "why?" I said, "because I hit my knee on the table." He asked, "why?" I told him it was an accident. The use of "why" has not been repeated since then, but I have a feeling it will return in full force very soon.
4. This one isn't so much a discovery as a recovery. Jack has been sick for about the last week and a half. He had a variety of the stomach flu, thrush, and general lack of appetite. He went from being mostly content playing to desiring mostly to be held. He went from eating like a horse, to refusing almost all solids. Thankfully, he appears to be returning to normal. Yesterday, he was quite a bit happier and more content. And, his appetite appears to have returned full force. This morning, he ate more than a cup of applesauce, mixed with some oatmeal cereal.
   

jack's baptism

I know there aren't any pictures at the church, but I promise, he was baptized at church. :) In some of these pictures, he's posing with the bowl that Sean used to propose. Sean proposed by washing my feet in this bowl. We've had both boys baptized with it.

Another important detail is the gown Jack is wearing. It is a gown that has been in Sean's family for many, many years. Sean and his brother wore it. And, I believe Sean's mother and her father and uncle wore it. It is really quite beautiful and intricate. We weren't sure Jack would be able to fit into it, but he did.



I nearly forgot the funny part of Jack's baptism. At our church, the practice is that after our pastor baptizes the baby, an elder takes the baby and prays for him/her. Ruth was the elder praying for Jack. I had my head bowed, and I start hearing this racket--like someone messing with a microphone. I'm thinking, "who is messing with the microphone?" Then, it dawns on me. My very tactile son has gotten hold of the microphone. I look up and, sure enough, he is trying to eat the microphone. Poor Ruth. She was saying such a nice prayer, and Jack eventually turned the microphone off. Everyone laughed at the end of the prayer.

all the love

Those of you outside my family might be surprised to know that I am very expressive when it comes to demonstrating/speaking love to my three boys. Shannon has gotten so used to my little pronouncements of love that he preempts them. I will often say, "Shannon, guess what?" And, since he now knows what I'm going to say, he says, "I you." (This is how he generally says "I love you.") Even if I just say, "Shannon Michael Charles!" in a happy way, he anticipates my response and says, "I you!"

So, tonight I was in the kitchen making supper. Shannon was playing with his legos in the living room. I said, "Shannon Michael Charles!!" I waited and heard nothing, so I said, "Shannon Michael!! I love you!!" Again, I hear nothing. So, I say, "Shannon!" He responds with, "Oh yeah, I love you!"

jack and his thumb

I have commented before how attached Jack is to his thumb (aside from the obvious fact that it is attached to his body). Those of us who regularly put Jack down for naps (Sean, my mom, and I) have noticed how his eyes roll back and close as soon as you place his blanket next to his right cheek, and he automatically puts his left thumb in his mouth.

We have also discovered that his thumb is to Jack as salt is to Sean. For Sean, salt makes every bite taste better. (Okay, maybe not every bite. I don't recall seeing him salt his ice cream.) For Jack, his thumb makes every bite taste better. We place a bite of food in Jack's mouth, and he immediately follows it with his thumb. Then, when that bite is sufficiently enjoyed, Jack will pull his thumb out, open his mouth expectantly and wait for the next bite. And, you cannot convince him to take another bite any sooner than he's ready. A spoonful of food hovering in front of his face will do nothing to motivate him to remove his thumb any sooner than he would have otherwise. In fact it is kind of funny, because at the beginning of a meal, he will look at that bite with wide and excited eyes and rock back and forth. Then, after sufficiently milking his thumb of the last bite, he will pull himself away to accept it. You can tell when he's satisfied when he just starts absent-mindedly chewing on his fingers.

the boys are playing together

In the last couple of weeks, Jack and Shannon have started playing together. I love it!! Shannon will talk to Jack and show him toys. Or, he will hide behind a chair and try to get Jack to follow him. Sometimes Shannon experiments a little with hurting Jack, but most of the time, he just plays with him. I would say that on some days, they play together for close to an hour over the course of the day. Of course, this may change when Jack is able to assert himself more. We'll see.

smart kid

In the space of about 15 minutes this morning, Shannon surprised me with something he had apparently learned.
--I purchased the LeapFrog Fridge phonics system for him to help him learn the alphabet. I just gave it to him this morning. You place a letter on the machine and it will sing a song for each letter. All that is included in each song is this: "E says eh, and E says ee. Every letter makes a sound, and E says eh and ee." (Of course, the letter and sounds change with each letter.) So, we're picking up all the letters. He picks up the lowercase letter "e." He says, "elephant" and makes the sound of an elephant. The LeapFrog system does not tell him this. So, I'm guessing he remembers it from about 2 or months ago when he spent a couple days at my friend Jennifer's house. She was spending a week on each letter with the kids, and I'm pretty sure they did the letter e. Anyway, I was still amazed that he knew it.
--I am currently borrowing Beethoven's Wig from the library. It takes several classical pieces and puts funny lyrics to them. The first 11 tracks are with the lyrics. The second 11 tracks are the same pieces without the lyrics. Anyway, he was listening to it during breakfast this morning, and we had gotten to the lyric-free tracks. We were listening to Mozart's Eine Kliene Nachtmusik and Shannon says "music at night!!" Then comes Offenbach's Can Can, and Shannon says "I can!"

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all from us!!

(Shannon translation: "Happy Thanksgiving, Turkey")

May God bless you in the year to come!

updates

Jack is now mobile. I had previously said that Shannon crawled 10 days shy of six months. It was actually 10 days shy of seven months, because it was September. Anyway, Shannon went straight from non-mobility to full left-right crawling. Jack is doing an army-crawl (for a couple weeks now), and he is really fast. It is so funny to watch him. He pulls and leads with his left elbow and follows up with the right hand. Oh, and he hasn't had any stranger-fear lately. It was really just that one Sunday. So, it was either just a very short phase, or (more likely) he wasn't feeling well.

Jack also had his six-month check this past Monday. He weighs 18 pounds, 12 ounces (50%-75%) and is 28 inches long (90%).

Here's a little treasure for his mother. When I come home on the days that I work, as soon as he sees me, he responds with such urgency. Last night, he was sitting happily in his high chair. He was looking up at Sean, who was trying to gesture that I had arrived home. He had a big grin on his face. As soon as he caught sight of me, he started rocking back and forth in his chair, arms outstretched, and whimpering/half-crying like it had been years since we last saw each other. (Although, I suppose in his short little life, 12 hours is like years.) Then, he gets in my arms and just smashes his face into mine, trying to get as close as possible, with a little sigh like the world is now set to right.

Shannon's reaction is a little different. It makes me laugh, because he is so excited when he greets papa, mama, grandpa, and grandma. But, after the initial, "Mama's home!!" he immediately moves on. Most of the time, he's not even that interested in a hug. When I come home on Tuesdays & Thursdays, he rejoices in my homecoming, then moves directly to requesting supper.

Shannon's vocabulary is growing and growing. It's so fun to begin to hear the things that go on in his head. Recently, I started getting books on CD from the library. He loves to listen to them. And, I taught him how to change the CD, so he loves doing that too. I've also been letting him listen to one at the beginning of his nap and bedtime. It makes him pretty quiet most of the time. Like last night, for example. After I read stories to him, he rolled onto his side and laid quietly while The Princess and the Pea got started.

Well, I'm planning to make a Thanksgiving dinner on Friday. I think this will be my third turkey, and I've done it a little differently every year. My first year, I just did a pepper/molasses rub under the skin. Last year I did the same rub and a brine (not in that order). This year, I'm doing Martha Stewart's roasted brined turkey. I'm trying some more unusual sides (a broccoli/parmesan/garlic puree & mashed sweet potatoes w/ coconut milk, pure maple syrup, and Thai curry). We'll also have a cornbread & sausage stuffing. For dessert, I'm making gingerbread cheesecake. My parents and my brother and his family will be joining us. We'll see how it all turns out.

Here's a news flash: It's snowing!! And, it's accumulating, although, only on the grass.

new blog feature

I've added a feature at the right that lists books Shannon enjoys. He's always been an interesting kid, in that he loves both running wildly around the room and sitting quietly reading books (and better yet, being read to) for long periods of time. And, I am blessed to live very near the downtown branch of our library, which includes a drive-thru window. So, I hunt for good book ideas on the internet; request them through the library's website, and drive-thru the pick-up window when they're ready. It makes it very easy to go to the library with a 2 1/2 year-old and a 6-month-old. No fits when we have to leave the computers alone or go home. And, I'm always distracted when trying to search for books, because I have to keep track of Shannon at the same time. :)

Anyway, I thought other mothers-of-two-year-olds might find the recommendations helpful. (And, let me know if you have a similar list, as I'm always looking for ideas.)

brotherly love

I tried to get a couple photos of the boys together. I wasn't able to get them both smiling at the same time. But, they're still pretty cute.

Notice how Shannon is both kissing Jack and nearly strangling him?

Jack is thinking: Mom, are you sure I'm safe here?


Now, Shannon is thinking: Mom, are we done yet?

new bike

Early last summer, I purchased a bike for Shannon at a garage sale--$5. Last night, we finally took him out to try it. First, we had to get a helmet. (If I had had my head on straight, I would have gotten a helmet at the same garage sale because they had some. But I was ten days away from giving birth to an almost eleven pound baby and not thinking quite straight.) After we picked up the helmet, we went to a park. We were both expecting that Shannon would have to do a little work before taking off. No, he just took off.

He only struggled with the brakes. On his tricycle, he is able to peddle backwards or forwards. On his bike, peddling backwards initiates the brakes. So, depending on the position of the peddles, he would need a little push to get started. But, that was all we were allowed to do. Once he got started, he would put his hand out and say, "no! shannon do it!"

After a little while on the bike, we played in the park for awhile. Sean chased Shannon around, and I swung on the swings with Jack. Shannon also got to try out the digger. It might have been a little big for him, but that didn't stop him from trying.


And, Shannon really enjoys wearing his new helmet--all the time. Here he is eating breakfast. At least if he falls of the stool, we won't need to worry about a head injury.

twins?

Well, Jack doesn't look like Shannon, but he does look a lot like my mom's baby pictures. They could be twins, except for the fify-some year difference, they have different mothers, and the gender difference. (I realize there is such a thing as fraternal twins, but those have no more likelihood of looking alike than any other pair of siblings.) But, they do look similar, especially in the eyebrows and forehead.



A further discovery of Jack's sensitive side: While Shannon cared neither who was holding him nor if he was being held, Jack seems to be quite particular. He doesn't necessarily need to be held more than Shannon. But, if a "stranger" attempts to hold him, his bottom lip curls and he winds into a full-lung howl. Sean and I have noticed that Jack has been quite a bit more sensitive from birth. He had a few breastfeeding issues, while Shannon had none. He seems to care when his diaper is soaked, where Shannon never seemed to notice. Jack responds to pain with crying, where Shannon seemed to respond with a mixture of curiosity and discomfort. I'm guessing that in the future, we won't see Jack running full-tilt into walls like his big brother. Or, if he does, he'll do more than wince and giggle.

Hopefully Jack's fear of strangers is merely a temporary phase. It really isn't an issue except on Sunday mornings when Jack goes to nursery. I don't at all enjoy listening to my boy howl when I know I could comfort him, but ultimately I know Jack will be fine. But I feel bad for the people stuck with a screaming baby. This past Sunday, he was able to quiet himself several times. But when another baby started crying, Jack's calm was shattered, and he was back to howling. I teach 2-year-old discovery hour and lead the 2-4 year old music activity time during second service. And, while he could be with me when I'm just with the 2-year-olds, neither he nor I would be able to do it during the music activity time. I'm standing and need both my arms, and he wouldn't enjoy the managed, noisy chaos of 20-30 2-4 year-olds dancing and singing.

I guess despite his size, he'll just be my big, sweet teddy bear, with such a cute, dimpled smile. :) And he is such a sweet, sweet kid. I can hardly wait until he wakes up so I can kiss his cheeks. I love when his face is up by mine, he puts his thumb (the left one, of course) in his mouth, he "brushes" my face with the fingers of his thumb-sucking hand, and the other hand wraps around the back of my head and plays with my hair. It's my wonderful little Jack hug.

where do big boys go pee-pee?

As part of the "toilet training in less than a day" method, you spend a lot of time talking about pottying. So, I had to get a video of Shannon answering the question, "Where do big boys go pee-pee?" Anyway, you're getting two videos because I couldn't decide which I liked better. And, because I'm his mother, I nearly fall on the floor when I watch them, but I understand that won't be everyone's reaction. :)



(Shannon translation: "Pee in potty. Not in pants.")

You might also be interested in how he's doing with the potty. Well, the potty training was a little on the stressful side, but he's doing pretty well. While at first I would have called the weekend less than a success, Shannon, as usual, has surprised me with how he learns. He will act dis-interested like he's not paying attention. Then, you give him a day and you realize he heard and absorbed EVERYTHING you said. So, while it looked like he was absently staring out the window and answering every question with a yes (despite me shaking my head no), he was really listening.

Anyway, he has a trouble sometimes during naps and at night. But, I think the trouble at naps was because he was sick, and the nights are normal. Other than that, he's only had one accident in the last several days. However, he still needs to learn to poop in the potty. So, overall, I would call the weekend a success. Hopefully we'll get the pooping thing down pretty soon, but I'm using the paper-towel-in-the-underwear trick from my mom which is helping. :)

a little fall fun

We are trying to spend Sunday afternoons doing fun family activities together. Yesterday, we decided to try raking, which served the dual purpose of a) family fun and b)well ... raking the lawn. :) Here are a couple photos:

a few updates

Here a few updates of things happening in the cov household:

• Jack started solids. I started Shannon at about five months too. He seems to be enjoying it.


• We attempted the "toilet training in less than a day" method with Shannon this weekend. It was a stressful weekend, but he's getting the hang of it. He likes to climb up on the potty, throw his arms out to each side and say "ta-da!" And, he enjoys telling me that he needs to "poot in the potty"--especially when he is supposed to be going to sleep.


• Jack is inch-worming. I noticed it first last night, but he will pull both legs up under his chest and propel himself slightly forward toward an object. Shannon crawled at 10 days shy of 6 months so it might not be too long for Jack either.


• Jack has also gotten to the point where he thoroughly enjoys watching Shannon. He just gets the biggest smiles watching Shannon do anything. Shannon can be sitting quietly reading a book, and Jack will just talk and smile and make happy sounds. Tonight, I was helping Jack tickle Shannon, and they both got quite a kick out of it.


• Sean has played the piano publicly. We acquired a piano from my parents about a month ago. Sean immediately began teaching himself to play. Then, the last two weeks he has played piano at church for a couple songs. He, of course, says it really isn't that big of a deal since he already understood chords from the guitar. But, I'm still amazed.

fairness and puzzles

Shannon has not yet used the word "fair," but he is beginning to be exposed to the concept. Shannon was never a thumb-sucker, but he occassionally puts his fingers in his mouth--all of them. At this point, we are trying to discourage this behavior, so he is often instructed to get his hand out of his mouth.

Today, Jack was merrily sucking his thumb while lying on his little play mat. Shannon was on the opposite side of the room playing with his train puzzle. At one point, Shannon got up, walked to Jack, pulled Jack's hand from his mouth and said, "hand out of mouth." Then, he went back to his train.

So, it appears that Sean and I will now be navigating a more complicated terrain of parenting.

A little more on Shannon's train puzzle. Shannon has not been very exposed to puzzles in his two and half years. But this summer, I purchased at a garage sale a five-foot floor puzzle in the shape of a train. The box indicated that the recommended age range was 4+. I know that these are generalizations, and that many children will enjoy the item sooner than the recommended age. But, I was guessing that it would be a good six months before Shannon really got into this puzzle.

Given that assumption, we had gotten the puzzle out only a few times. Shannon would just play with the individual pieces and occassionally try to put pieces together. But, he didn't really seem to be trying to put like pieces together--just any pieces. Then I put the puzzle together for him a couple times with him watching. The next thing I know, Shannon is sorting the puzzle by train cars and putting it together. Now, he hasn't actually put the whole thing together, but he has put a couple of the cars nearly together in one sitting. This after having been exposed to this particular puzzle only a handful of times and puzzling in general only occassionally over the last couple months!

What a smart boy! I'm really enjoying this age of learning and discovery where he so often surprises me with how quickly he picks up on things I didn't even realize he was learning.

a few of shannon's faces

I've captured a few of Shannon's expressions. There are a few more I'm hoping to get before he stops making them, but I thought I would share these for now.
Laughing:

Smiling:

Concentrating/reading a book. Believe it or not, we saw Shannon's furrowed brow while he was still in the womb. When I was 36 weeks pregnant, we had an ultrasound. At one point, they changed the view of the ultrasound so it was more 3-D--like you were actually looking at the baby in the womb. Anyway, he furrowed his brow several times--a trait he inherited from his father.

Raised-eyebrows-silly-face:

Smiling-for-the-camera face:

a happy boy in the bath

Here are a couple short clips of Jack in the bath.

"ma-ma"

No, Jack isn't talking yet. But, I did have a dream that he was. :) Last night, I dreamt that Jack said "ma-ma"--and it was his first word. It was so gratifying. The reason this dream was particularly noteworthy is that Shannon did not say "ma-ma" until he was 20 or 22 months old. I was "pa-pa," along with Sean, for about 10-12 months. We would say to Shannon, "Can you say ma-ma?" And Shannon would say, "pa-pa!" with excitement and certainty. (Now, he regularly just calls me "mom," and he sounds so adolescent when he says it too.)

So, perhaps my dream will come true. We shall see.

jackie boy

Moments after we determined his name was Jack, I started calling him "Jackie boy." This nickname was inspired by one of my favorite childhood movies -- The Newsies. Shannon has recently taken to this nickname and now regularly refers to Jack as "Jackie boy." Here are a few photos of Jackie boy:

a child of habit

Sean and I have determined that Shannon is a child of habit. It isn't necessarily order he needs, just for things to happen the same way all the time. The first time we noticed this truth was when Shannon was about four months old. Every time I breast-fed Shannon, his fingers would fly up to my mouth. If he was receiving a bottle, the same would not be true--only breastfeeding. Here are a few more recent examples of patterns that Shannon has instituted and must follow:

--When Shannon says "Thank you," you must respond with "You're welcome." He will continue to say "thank you" until he hears "you're welcome."

--When Shannon points something out while we are driving (like going "over a bridge," "beeg truck," or "red light"), you must affirm that he has spoken correctly. Or, he will continue to repeat himself with increasing urgency.

--After a bath, Shannon enjoys running around naked. I'm sure this is true of most kids his age, but Shannon has added something that I'm not quite sure all kids would be drawn to. He sits, with his naked butt, on a pile of shoes by the front door. Can't quite explain that one.

--Shannon insists on sleeping sideways and at the foot of the bed. He must have his head on a pillow, and be covered with blankets (except his arms and head).

--Shannon has learned that if you hear someone fall or drop something, you should ask, "are you okay." So, earlier when I nearly dropped a jar of applesauce, Shannon from the other room called out, "you otay?" Yes, it's adorable and I gave him a hug and kiss, but I'm not completely convinced that Shannon was concerned with my well-being, so much as he knew someone was supposed to ask. :)

a day with thomas

For those of you not familiar with little boy heroes, Thomas is the name of a train-character from the show "Thomas and Friends." Shannon, being a two-year-old boy, loves Thomas and his friends. So, when we heard that Thomas was coming to the local railroad, we decided to take Shannon on the excursion. He loved the trains! The train-ride itself was fun, but nothing like the train-ride I remember from my childhood trip to the Northeast. Of course, that trip was probably closer to 2 hours, and this one was only about 20 minutes--which is the right length for a two-year-old confined to a seat. :)

Now, before I share the pictures, let me explain something about Shannon. He is a very . . . contemplative little boy. So, when his face appears . . . expressionless or disinterested, it is because he is absorbing the experience in his head. He can be very animated; but in a new experience, he is very reserved--just drinking in his surroundings.

Shannon petting a goat at the petting zoo:

All of us on the train:



And, posing with Thomas:

yes, we're sure they're brothers

Since Jack was born, Sean and I (and other members of our family) have marveled at how much Jack and Shannon DON'T look alike. So, I decided to find a picture of Shannon at about this age (4months) to compare. Here are the results. Shannon is the top photo; Jack is the bottom photo. Would you ever guess they're brothers?

And, here they were at birth. Of each set, Shannon is the top photo, and Jack is the bottom photo.

camping

We went camping this weekend with my family. This year was the fifth year we have all gone together. It was certainly better than last year's camping trip, when about 70% of us got the stomach flu.

One funny moment for me this year happened on a particularly cold morning. This was the morning that my Dad, John, and Sean put up a tarp windbreak on the north side of the fire pit. Everyone was huddled around the fire--most covered with blankets. Well, everyone except for Shannon, that is. Shannon was off playing by himself, apparently oblivious to the cold. He loves to be outside. Here are a few pictures:

Playing with trucks:

Playing in the "boat"

Waiting for a ride in the "boat" with cousin Ellie

Riding in the "boat"--notice Shannon's hand trailing in the water.

Jack did very well camping. He seemed perfectly content with the change of scenery, and he gave us all lots of adorable, dimpled smiles.

more fun with pronunciations

When Shannon says "grasshopper" it sounds like "supper"--however, I'm not sure it's a supper he would want to eat.

I also play a little game called "snap snap" with Shannon. My hands become the mouths of alligators, and he "tries" not to get eaten. He loves this game, and when he wants to play, he calls the game "sump sump." I love it!

heavy sigh

Shannon had finished his breakfast, and had said "all done." Sean was reading the paper, and I was writing the last entry--basically, we were ignoring him. He had apparently said "all done" a few times. The next thing I hear is a heavy sigh. We both look up at Shannon. He has is head in his hand and a rather forlorn look on his face. We both laughed.

pronunciation & discoveries

At two and a half, Shannon, of course, is still learning how to pronounce various sounds in our language and doesn't always get it right. One of my favorite "mis-pronunciations" is "p" if it occurs other than at the beginning of a word. So, "nope" is "note" and "poopin'" is "pootin'"--either that or he is very musical and highly interested in Russian politics.

As for the discovery, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I have lived in my house for nearly five years and only last night discovered that I live within about 15 blocks of an awesome bike trail. When I have visited my sister in the past, I have been jealous of the trail she runs on at a park about a half mile from her house. I thought I would have to drive clear to West Des Moines to find such a treasure--a path that wanders through woods and by little creeks. Well, a few months back, I stumbled upon this trail head while looking for a park for Shannon. But, I just figured it was either short or not that great.

Well, last night I took the boys for a walk down this trail and discovered how wrong I was. It is a very well kept bike path, complete with woods, train tracks, a river, wandering paths through open fields, and even a horse barn. I was so inspired, I even did a little running behind my non-jogging stroller. Shannon loved going fast. He enjoyed watching the horses having "num-nums" for supper. He also got to see a 5-car train go by, standing only about 30 feet away. We waved at the engineers, and they blew the horn just for him. Of course, as soon as the horn sounded, Shannon's arms flung around my neck. I asked him if he wanted to ride the train, and he said no. But, by the time we got back to the van, he decided that he did want to ride a train. That's good, because we bought tickets to the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad's Thomas excursion.

a particular boy

Shannon is a very particular little boy. Here's an example. Just now, he threw one of his vehicles, so he was sent to time out. When he had situated himself in the time out chair, I said, "Shannon, we don't throw trucks." Shannon tilts his head, leans forward and says with his eyebrows raised for emphasis, "tractors." He had thrown a tractor--not a truck!

an animated boy

I occasionally take little video clips of the boys with our camera. There have been times when I have thought that I will always remember a unique expression or mannerism of Shannon's. For example, the fact that when Shannon first started shaking his head yes, it appeared the action was entirely driven by his eyebrows. Or when he started shaking his head no, he did it by tilting his head to each side instead of turning it. While I can remember that he did those things, the image in my mind's eye is fading. So, I like these little videos because they capture how his personality manifests itself at a given age. Enjoy!

family photos

We went to a local park and took a few family photos. I liked this first one the best, but also wanted to share some of the others:



These two were really cute of the three men in my life:

Another one of us all together:

Take special note of Shannon's expression in these two:

dennis the menace?

I was out mowing with Shannon. He is kind of a sweaty little boy and his hair is getting long, so I pushed it to the side. He reminded me of Dennis the Menace--the little boy from newer movie with Walter Mathau. Nothing in his behavior, at that particular moment, was reminding me of Dennis--just the hair. Anyway, you can see what you think.

first post

So, we decided to join the community of bloggers. The blog will "feature" stories of the boys and other happenings in our family.


We'll start with a little story about Jack. While Shannon was a confirmed pacifier lover, Jack appears to be a thumb-sucker. He has been trying for awhile now. Every time we would give him the pacifier, his hands would fly to his mouth. He would struggle around attempting to replace it with his thumb, pull the pacifier out, and then get frustrated that he was no longer sucking on something. Well, over the last couple of days, he has been growing increasingly successful at getting his thumb in his mouth--but still with both hands up at his face.


This past Wednesday, I had myself a small celebration. I was picking out my clothes for work the next day, and decided to try on a pair of my pre-Jack pants. I actually hadn't worn them since before Shannon was born for two reasons 1) the lining needed to be fixed so my mom had them for awhile and 2) they needed to be dry-cleaned. Even though I knew I was at my pre-Jack weight, I was hesitant to try them on again since my mom had done such an awesome job finishing the lining. However, Wednesday night, I thought I'd give it a try. Woohoo!! They slipped right on with no problem and looked great too!

For some people, this would be a small thing--the people who snap back to their pre-pregnancy figure upon standing up after delivering a baby. But, this was a big deal for me. Jack is only three and half months old! I didn't lose Shannon's baby weight until 15 months after he was born (of course, I wasn't really trying either). This time, I used weight watchers' online program. I would highly recommend it for breastfeeding moms. They adjust your points for breastfeeding. While you have to watch what you eat, you still get to eat a lot--and you get to take advantage of your body's increased efficiency due to breastmilk production. So, I've lost 17 pounds since the beginning of July! I'm still hoping to lose a bit more--maybe even get to when-I-got-married thin--but I'm guessing it will take longer.