Daddy Dash 5K

Our gym organized a small (tiny) 5K in honor of Father's Day this weekend. Strollers were encouraged. Doubles got a 2-minute advantage and singles got one.

As Greg was the only one pushing a double, he had to set out on his own two minutes before 9 with no one else to spur him on. In the heat, against the wind and pushing 65 lbs of boy. I was glad to be playing photographer instead of running in this one.

But Greg did great! There was one woman - all bone and muscle - who passed him. Other than that, the path was clear.



A speedy blur about the cross the finish line



We had practiced yelling, "Come on, Daddy! Come on!" in preparation. We'll have to coach them with more chants for the next race. It can't hurt, right.

My guys

Great way to start the weekend!

The boys are 2 (+2 weeks).

Yep, They're Brothers

Joseph has started showing signs of wanting to potty train. First he would tell us when he was wet and would refuse to sit until we changed his diaper. Then he started using his little potty after we'd strip him down for baths. The other day he ran into the bathroom, fully clothed, yelling "pee pee! pee pee!," and he did. So we're rolling with it. It's a no pressure situation since I think they're still very young, especially for boys. Luke hasn't really shown any interest except for occasionally sitting on the potty and smiling up at us.

So...

This morning we were about to put the boys in their seats for breakfast, when Joseph started pointing at his diaper and saying, "Wet! Wet!" I asked if he wanted his diaper changed. Yeah! I love his enthusiastic, quick yeahs. He grabbed my hand as we headed over to the changing mat.

So how far will one boy go to spite his brother?

Luke, whose favorite hobby often is twisting and writhing and giggling his way out of diaper changes, runs past us, climbs up onto the couch, and lies himself down across the changing mat before his brother can reach it. He was that desperate to one-up Joseph that he eagerly volunteered for one of the easiest diaper changes I've had since they hit toddlerhood.

Stinker. :)


They're definitely 2 and definitely brothers.

Our Day in Photos

Yesterday I finally read a few short articles on tips for how to use my fancy dSLR camera. I've had it over 2 years and have always relied on the auto settings, not once consulting a manual or even attempting to understand what all those buttons and symbols mean. Then for Christmas, Greg got me a 50 mm 1:1.8 lens that I've been dying to use. However, there's no autofocus with my camera body and getting non-blurry shots is no trivial matter. Out of 20, I'd maybe get one decent photo.

Well, I'm still not getting that many decent photos, but yesterday I tried using a "semi-automatic" mode, the shutter priority mode. It was tricky, but focus seems to be a little easier and I got a few shots that were a little better.

Here's the article I primarily used. And here are some of the products. (They come out a little grainy in blogger. Boo! But they're still cute.)

Greg set up a train track upstairs so it's now the first and last thing they do every day.

Hair envy

Wrestling with Daddy

I know I've said this a time or two before, but I am so very in love with these boys.


Joseph & Luke are 2 years old.

Joseph & Luke's 2nd Birthday Party

This party was brought to you by the letters J & L and the number 2!

Cupprimo cupcakes. Mmmmm.

The boys woke up from their naps, thrilled to see the Elmo balloons waiting for them. Lots of screams - "Eeeeeeellllllmooooooo!" - with frantic pointing to make sure we were all seeing the same thing. Yeeessss, Elmo!

But being my children, what really excited them was the food.

Luke in a state of stunned euphoria

As Greg likes to say, these boys could eat for the U.S.A. If it ever becomes an Olympic sport, we're bound to medal. They ate their weights in tomatoes and fruit and relished every second of it.

Quality assurance team

Around 3 in the afternoon, our guests began to arrive...


...and rip the house apart. :)




Now would be a good time for the (non-pregnant) moms to grab a beer, sit back and bear witness to the destruction. There's really nothing else to be done when a dozen 2-year-olds are set loose in a house full of Other People's Toys.


I tried and failed to get a shot with my big boys, but they were a bit distracted.



Mimi & MAC! came to help us celebrate - and Mimi to cook and clean and prep and generally manage the chaos. Thanks, Mimi!



Since last year's EPIC birthday song meltdown, Luke has been scarred. When he hears the song, he screams, comes running, and clings to me like his life depends on it. Poor kiddo. Joseph is usually fine unless he sees his brother panic and thinks there's something to panic about. We've been working on it, singing it to him loud and often. When we're at other parties, I always make sure he's in my arms before the song begins and that we have a quick exit strategy just in case.

So here, the moment of truth...





Not bad, I'd say. As soon as Mommy stopped singing, he was a-okay. I'm trying not to take it personally.

Joseph watching calmly as his brother pitches a surprisingly manageable fit

Perhaps it was all a ploy to get the cupcake that much faster.

The boys' first cupcakes

They approve.

And so did everyone else

Convincing Mimi to share her fruit - she did

After most people left, the hardcore partiers started a mosh pit. It was positively encouraged.



Joseph and Luke had such a fun time. We were sorry to see everyone go, but it did take it's toll.

Pooped

After a night of sound sleep, it was time to bust into the presents. A group of friends went in together to get the boys a Learning Tower...

New perspective and higher trouble-making potential

...providing life-saving sustenance to my starving boys.

MMmmm, tomatoes

Practicing his alphabet

Big boys use big boy spoons

Composing original tunes with MAC!

The boys had a GREAT time at their party and so did we. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

My babies are TWO!

Ten on Tuesday

1. On April 29th, Greg and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. Five years! I can't believe it's been that long. I can't believe how blessed I am, how much we've done together in such a short time, how lucky we are to have this relationship, this family, this much love.

My sweet surprise

I love you, Greg.


2. It's early May. And it's hot! Hot and dry. Time to bust out the water toys.


They are much more interested in using the hose to fill up their pool than actually playing in the pool. Typical.



3. Every drink they see in Mommy's hand is either coffee or wine. I know I should be slightly ashamed of this fact, but honestly I just find it funny.


4. This picture was taken just a few minutes before Joseph took a horrible tumble down our deck steps.

He was in the Cozy Coupe, and one of the wheels must have inched it's way off the edge. I saw it all happen in slow motion but wasn't fast enough. Poor baby got a good scrape across his nose, but thank goodness nothing else. We were so lucky. That car did an entire flip forward while I watched, helpless and scared to death. I cried about that fall on and off for the rest of the day and will have nightmares for a good long while. There is now a baby gate up at the top of those steps. It ticks them off something fierce but too bad, kiddos. Mama doesn't need a heart attack, and you don't need broken bones.

The most pitiful thing was Joseph's retelling of that story. Greg was holding him as he pointed down the stairs and repeated, "Staaaairs. Booooonk. Noooooose" in long, drawn-out, sad words. We know, buddy. And it was sad.


5. One of Luke's favorite activities is to run like a maniac, as fast as he can, from one end of a straight line to another. He's fast and coordinated and determined.

Little man on a mission

6. A few weeks ago we busted out some new bath toys, foam letters and numbers. In the process of playing with those, the boys seem to have learned a good chunk of their alphabet, which completely shocked Greg and I. Joseph is really studious and knows all of the following:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

They can't make the ess or eff sounds yet so no C, F, or S, and they call the X ek. Since they're foam letters, Joseph always turns M over to make W, and the J looks an awful lot like the L. They're still working on the distinction between U and V, which they call A much of the time. Luke can identify most of the same ones, but his favorites are I, O, R and X.


7. They'll both point and say letters that stand out in the books that we read. I'll be reading a Thomas the Tank Engine book with them. The first letter on each page is in a bigger font than all the others, so they point it out to me and shout the letter. They get it right more often than not. We have an old keyboard that Joseph plays with. He'll sit with it in his lap and point to different keys and say the letters. Who needs fancy flash cards?


8. We haven't been working too hard with the boys on their numbers, but Joseph understands the concept of two. He'll tell us he has two knees or two eyes. We have two cats. There are two cameras in his room (looking down into each of their cribs). It's very cute. I also occasionally hear him walking around saying, "...8, 9, 10." Three through 7 have gone AWOL apparently.


9. Luke is very particular about what he wears. Or rather, when he sees a favorite article of clothing, he'll insist on wearing it right then, which explains why when Greg came home yesterday, he walked in to find Luke in his flannel footy dog pajamas. Others he likes: his long-sleeved Elmo shirt, his tractor shirt, his truck pajamas, and mommy's purple shirt.



10. They have learned the power of hugs and aren't afraid to use it. When Joseph gets a boo-boo, he tells us about it, like Ninger. Ouch. or Head. Bonk. Then he sticks out his bottom lip, lifts his arms up to us, and plaintively says Hug. Of course, we oblige. But then he started using it at bedtime. Since we can't say no, it buys him a few more seconds before we tell him goodnight. And then this morning, he was being chastised for something by daddy. His response? Hug. Ha! Luke tried his hand at it this morning to get out of a diaper change. If it's a choice between that and pitching fits, I'll take hugs please.


The boys are 23 months and a bit.