Drew

Last week Drew said, "Olive-oooo" ( I love you) for the first time. :):):):):):) Along with a few other things. This one was the most memorable though.

Jack talk

Jack and I were sitting at the table in the backyard the other day talking about the animals. Jack asked me "Where are all of the squirrels?" I said, "They are probably sleeping so they can wake up early to find all the nuts they hid."
"Where do squirrels sleep?" asked Jack.
"They sleep in nests in the trees." I answered.
"Where?"
"Up there" I pointed. "That's where they sleep and keep their baby squirrels."
"What's a baby squirrel?" Jack asked.
"It's a little tiny squirrel."
"Like a chipmunk?"
"No, chipmunks are different. Squirrels are the ones with the long tails."
To which Jack replied. "Oh, you're right Mommy. Squirrels have tails, and chipmunks have butts."

Can't argue with that logic! :)

Jack and Drew have recently gotten acquainted with a new babysitter Cameron. She lives right across the street from us. Jack can see her house from his room. Jack really likes her and asks when she is coming back to play with him all of the time. I told him that maybe we would have her back soon and he told me that, "Cameron will come over again soon and I will babysit her."

The other night Jack was finished with dinner but hadn't even touched his vegetables. Drew was in the pack n play and Jack was trying to dump a box of toys in with him. It was full and really heavy so he couldn't do it. I told him, "That's because you didn't eat your vegetables. Vegetables make you big and strong."
Jack says, "Oh yeah, I forgot, I have to eat my vegetables so that I can get big and strong like Daddy!"
So he came back to the table and ate a few veggies and went back to try and lift the box. Still too heavy. I said, "I guess you need to eat the rest of them."
Jack says, "Oh yeah, you're right Mommy."
This time while Nick was helping him to eat his veggies, I went over to the box (unseen by Jack) and took some of the heavier items out. The next time he went to lift the box he lifted it easily and dumped the toys into the pack n play for Drew. He was so excited and told me, "I'm stupor strong because I ate my vegetables!!!!" (Mommy is a little devious sometimes;)

Music storytime at the Library

On Tues. April 14th I took the kids to Sports Bounce again where they had a blast but didn't take any pics since I've already posted those. On Wed. April the 15th we went to Music Storytime at the Library. We've made it a weekly thing. This Wed. was a very rainy day so I let the kids put their raincoats and boots on so that when we got home they could jump around in the puddles and play in the rain. Both are excited and ready to go.

Drew did not want an individual picture taken of him. I have four of these shots where he is just looking at the floor.

Jack giving his brother a hug.

So happy to be outside! He looks more like the Gordon's Fisherman instead of a firefighter.

Jumping in puddles at the end of the driveway.

Drew eating and shaking his bells to a Wiggles song.

Jack just gave back the instruments and is ready to go.

Back home playing in the puddles on the deck.

Trying to catch rain in his mouth.

Trip to the mall

On Mon. April 19th I took the kids to the mall for a day of fun. We started off at Cartoon Cuts to get Jack's hair cut. Drew doesn't have enough hair to warrant a cut yet. I wasn't too happy with the comb-over job that the lady did to Jack. It looks better now though. Jack got his lollipop and was happy. We then walked down to the "train station." The mall has a train that you can ride all around the ground floor. The kids loved it as you can see:)

After the train ride we moved on to the play area. Once the kids found this slide they stuck with it. It was difficult to get them to leave and shop for clothes.

After playing we went to Old Navy in search of some summer clothes for Jack. Drew needs next to nothing since he fits into all of Jack's old clothes. One huge benefit of having them almost exactly two years apart! We then headed off to the "resternot" (as Jack calls it) for lunch. The boys took good naps that afternoon.

Lady Cardinal in the house!!!!!!!!

While we were all outside a bird somehow flew into to the house. I went upstairs and closed all the doors except Jack's and left his window open. I then went downstairs and threw some pillows up at the bird. He took the bait and flew right out Jack's window! It only took me an hour and a half to figure that out.

In the video, Jack is trying to scare the bird I guess. Drew just keeps pointing and saying, "bird."

Drew

Drew is so very cute these days but I am starting to see glimpses of him starting to assert himself which opens the door for the terrible twos. Whenever Daddy comes home at night he runs over and shouts "DA!!!!!!!!!" over and over again. He has also become our little echo. Whatever the last word we say in a sentence he repeats it. He learns and says new words every day. Tonight we were reading a book and one of the character's names was Gabby. He liked that name and repeated again and again until bedtime. We went to Sports Bounce again today and he would try his best to sneak behind all of the bounce houses. At home, if you catch him with something he isn't supposed to have, he will run away from you. He's extremely fast and can usually get pretty far with it. He loves to say, "No" but will nod his head and say "Yes" if it's something he really wants. The other day in the car, he identified (by saying the actual words and pointing) a bus, mail man and plane. If you ask him to point to a character he knows in a book he gets it right every time. He's also very eager to learn new words and will point to things in books just to get you to say the word so that he can try and repeat it. He loves playing in the rocks in the backyard and throwing them down the stairwell to the basement (which drives me crazy). He does this silly thing where he will walk around the house pushing up on the toes of his left foot and walking flat-footed with his right so that it appears he has a limp. Some of his more recent favorite words are: "snack," "show," "two," ( I swear he can count to five) "shoe," "toe," "moose," "frog," "bug," "car," and "outside." He has also started to tell me when he poops in his diaper. He will come up to me and point to his diaper and say "poop!" He still loves to brush his teeth and is very good about going to bed at nap time and at night, though morning naps are few and far between these days. He tries to sing songs along with Jack and can do a bit of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." He's just so fun to watch grow even though I always have to be on my toes around him. Little Baby Drew is growing WAY too fast!

Peek-a-boo with Jack and Drew

World War II Memorial

The WW II memorial was beautiful and so was the day that we went to see it. I wish we could have spent more time there.

We pulled up Grandpa's information at the computer kiosk next to the monument.

Tour of DC II

We drove around DC Sun. the 11th of April. This is a shot of Rosslyn where Nick works until his offices are renovated at the Pentagon.

The cherry blossoms were all gone but the tulips were out in full force.

A couple of shots of the Washington Monument

The Lincoln Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial

More tulips

The Supreme Court.

Grandma and Papa visit!!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit April 8-12th. The boys love having their Grandparents visit. We took a trip around DC and did lots of playing in the backyard. Grandpa and Drew hanging out after dinner.

Grandma coloring with the boys.

Drew reading to Grandma. He's telling her what all of the animals are.

Dinner

Family portrait via tripod and timer. Can't believe we got this on the first try!

Fun with Grandma and Papa! Drew is soooooo big!

Playing telephone with the ipod cord

Jack and Drew watching their morning show

Geese on the pond by our house.

Poor Grandpa had a hard time trying to keep Drew from jumping right into the pond.

Walking with Papa

Grandma and Jack returning home

Drew was excited not to have to be in the stroller. Coming back from the pond on Grandma and Papa's last day.