Work Holiday Party for Kids

My company hosts a great children's party for the kids. Kellen was so excited and really into it this year. He loved Santa, the clown, the magician and the snacks. Liam loved his balloon and hated Santa!

Thomaston Holiday Train

We took the boys on their first real train ride. The Thomaston Holiday train has a cute 90 minute train ride to Santa's workshop where Santa boarded the train and stopped to see each child and give them a small gift. There were elves who did some caroling and it was a night so there were holiday lights. The boys enjoyed it, even though Liam was not very sure about Santa. He liked him from a distance, but not when he got up close and he was happy to say Bye-Bye to Santa.

Cutting Down Our Christmas Tree

Always a favorite family tradition. This year we couldn't coordinate a date with Kerry and her fam, so we went alone. It was still fun, but not the same without everyone.

Columbus Day weekend

Pumpkin picking

Photo Shoot with Grammy & Grampy

This photo shoot was a long time coming. Kerry and I wanted to get a professional photo with our parents and the boys, so we finally picked a weekend. It was a gorgeous fall day and the boys were as cooperative as boys ages 1, 2, 3, and 4 will get. Our photographer, Cara, is a friend of my sister's from high school and she was great with the boys and super fast which you have to be when dealing with these attention spans. We got some great pics.

Surgery day

Liam had his ear tubes put in today. He was a trooper and did great. The whole procedure was only 10 minutes. The worst part was for mommy when I had to leave him in the OR after they put him to sleep. Here he is pre-op and post-op.

Liam @ 16 Months

My little man is 16 months, how did that happen? He's at that stage where developmental milestones seem to happen overnight. One day he is running unsteadily, the next day he is in a full sprint. One day he has a few words, the next day 4 more out of the blue. I love this age where you really start to see their personalities come out. He is a very easy going, happy guy, most of the time. However, he does not like to be told "No" and will cry instantly and often throw himself down on the floor. He loves Kellen and thinks he is the funniest kid around, so do we most of the time. He's got the best smile, that lights up the room. He is very friendly and likes to say "hi" to strangers when we are out and about. He loves to play outside and really enjoys balls, trucks and books. He definitely has favorite books and will shake his head no if he doesn't like one I pick out to read. He loves tubby time and enjoys laying on his belly. He can pick out most of his body parts but likes his belly the best. He loves the Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes song. He is into animals and animal sounds - one of his first words was Quack. He also says meow, roar, moo. Other words include: mommy, daddy, didi, yeah, hi, bubble, pop, top, cup, car, more. He is very good at following directions, even more complex ones. He's an ok eater, some days are good, others he can be very picky. He LOVES his milk though, as soon as he sees his cup he freaks out. We had his 16 month appt today - he hated the doctor, everytime she came near him he cried. He was 22.5 pounds, 25th percentile, 75th percentile for height and 90th for head. Staying right on all his growth curves so she was pleased with his progress. No shots because he is getting tubes in his ears next week.

Big Shoes to Fill

Couldn't resist this photo op - Kellen in superhero underwear with his super skinny, white legs, wearing Daddy's dress shoes.

Dance Party

Liam is at that stage where he loves to dance. Anytime he hears music - in the car, on the tv, from a toy, etc. He has an old clock radio of Greg's in his bedroom and he loves to turn it on and have his own little dance party. A few times he will walk down the hall into his room and we'll find him in there dancing away. We finally caught him on video.

Happy Halloween

Halloween is such a fun holiday for kids - Kellen really got into it this year. We decorated the house with spiderwebs and spiders and bats. He was so excited to dress-up and go trick or treating. We had 3 Halloween outings - one in West Hartford Center where all the shops participated and handed out candy, a fun football party at my friend Kim's that the kids wore costumes to and then their actual party/parade at school on Halloween. Kellen was a knight and Liam was his dragon sidekick.

Kellen says the darndest things

On our way home from school last week we passed the local community college. Kellen wanted to know what the building was, so I told him it was a school for big, big kids, and that you go there when you are 18. So he replies that he wishes he was 18 and he could go to that school. I told him I didn't want him to be 18 yet because then he wouldn't live at home with me anymore and I would miss him. He then asks if adults can go to that school and I said yes, you are never too old to go to school. So he says, well how about if I go there and you can come with me. Then he says, let's go home and I'm going to eat alot alot of dinner so that I can be 18. Why is it that when you are young you want to grow up and when you grow up you want to be young again?!

March Farm

We checked out a new farm last weekend - what a great place for 2 little boys. They had a great play area, farm animals, hay rides, a great apple orchard and pumpkin patch and cider donuts. A perfect morning...