On the Way Home

We are leaving to drive home on Monday morning bright and early. We have had a lot of fun here in Boston. On Friday we went to the New England Aquarium and today we went to the Boston Museum of Science. I hadn't been in about 15 years and it was great - there is so much to do we only got to about half of the museum - and we were there for more than 4 hours!! I don't have any pictures to post - my computer is at home - but I will get some up soon!

The Irish Mafia

I had to take a picture of Aidan with the dogs for his preschool - I'm not sure what they are going to do with the pictures. It was so much work to get everyone sitting and looking at the camera, I thought I'd post it. Sully is on the left and Murphy on the right. I had to use a handful of dogfood to make them sit!

Cherry Blossoms

The Cherry Blossoms down in the tidal basin near the Jefferson Memorial are just starting to bloom. The forecast is for the peak blooming to be this weekend but we are going to be up in Boston so I took the kids on a forced march this afternoon to see if we could find any flowers. There were a few trees that looked nice but the majority weren't really in bloom at all. Hopefully it will stay cold and the blossoms will hang on until we get back!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! Today we celebrated with Mimi and Big Dan who came down from Marshfield to visit us for the weekend. The weather was really nice today - 50's and sunny - perfect for an early Easter! We joined the Army-Navy Country Club last month so we went there for brunch (and the age 0-3 Easter Egg Hunt). Aidan found the special egg and won a cool prize! He didn't really care - Brendan and Big Dan were proud! The Easter Bunny was at brunch and much to my surprise Aidan LOVES the Easter Bunny - we couldn't get him away - he kept wanting to go up and give the bunny hugs - the person inside must have been cracking up!!Aidan, Mimi, Emmy and Big DanAidan and Emmy - she really is laughing!!Isn't Emmy's dress just the cutest thing??Hunting EggsLoving the Easter BunnyHugs for the Easter Bunny - good thing there was no one in line!!

Emmy is 9 months!

Emmy is 9 months old! She is babbling a lot and trying to mimic us when we talk. Aidan tries hard everyday to get her to say Bubba - the name of his elephant. He is delighted when she gets close! She isn't crawling yet but she is almost there - it's OK with me if she takes a while :)Ohhh flowers...Mmmm tasty - I find all sorts of ways to make my mom freak out!

This is Why!

Recently a lot of people have been asking me why I stay home with the kids. I don't know why some people think that it is OK to be so condescending - like I must not have anything to offer the world if I waste my time staying home with my kids. This is the answer: I love being able to have fun with Aidan and Emmy. I hate to think I would have missed this morning if I had been at work. To me, this is the most important thing I could be doing. I might not be arguing cases before the Supreme Court, working for the World Bank, or curing Cancer - but this is the way I will change the world: one (semi) well mannered child at a time. :)

Trying So Hard!!

Emmy is trying so hard to crawl - she has started pulling her knees up under her and rocking a bit. I think it will be any day now. Our world sure will change!!

Slinkies are Delicious

This is the BEST toy in the entire world. It keeps Emmy busy for at least 20 minutes each night while I am cooking dinner. Who would have thought? A $.25 slinky? I am going to buy a case of them!!

A visit from Gramma and Daddy Jim

My parents drove down from Boston this weekend to visit and to help me out with the kids on Saturday since I was organizing a silent auction for Aidan's preschool. We had a lot of fun even though we didn't really get to do much of anything. Thanks for driving down Mom and Dad - it was great to see you!!

Bath Time!!

Emmy loves the bath. I think she is happier for those 15 minutes per day than at any other time! Here are some pictures from last night's bath. She and Aidan take a short bath together and then she gets out and Aidan gets to stay in after we add some more water for him! He is really gentle when she's in the bath with him - what a good big brother!Daddy's idea of fun...

Skating Lessons

Aidan started skating lessons last weekend but Emmy and I didn't go until today to watch. He got through about 12 minutes of the 30 minute lesson before he wanted to stop. That's better than the 4 minutes they got through last week before he got tired. They made it through the entire lesson and Aidan is getting better quickly. He hates to fall because he can't get up by himself. We got him a cool hockey helmet because kids' bike helmets don't fit Aidan - he has a very large head - it is only 2 inches less in circumference than Brendan's!! The helmet really is necessary - I guess he took a pretty bad fall last week that would have been really bad without head protection! The best part is that Aidan's friend Will is in the class with him and all the guys go out for donuts afterwards!Here they are trying to get a feel for the ice - Will and his Dad are on the left.Here is Aidan standing by himself! He is sliding forward in this one - the teacher has the kids practice moving on the ice with their hands in different positions - even bending over to touch the ice - to get them used to shifting their centers of gravity

Emmy and the Farm

It's really interesting to see how much differently Emmy plays than Aidan did at this age. She loves this little farm and the plastic animals that go with it. She'll put the animals in the doors and move them from stall to stall. It keeps her occupied for at least 10 minutes - which, if you're a mother of a boy, you know is incredible. At this age Aidan was so concerned about learning to pull up and walk that no toy could hold his interest for longer than 30 seconds. I'm not exaggerating. Emmy is very content to sit and play with a toy. When she gets bored she falls on her back, rolls onto her tummy, pushes up and looks around. If she sees something she wants and it is out of her reach she'll try to get someone to get it for her by grunting and looking at the desired object. If that doesn't work she'll make a few attempts to reach out and grab it - this mostly sends her backwards - then she'll set her sights on something closer. Here she is with her two loyal subjects. Murph and Sully LOVE Emmy. They try to be as close as possible at all times. She loves to pet them and pull on their ears - it's really cute.

Play-Doh

Here are some pictures of Aidan playing with the Play-Doh that he got for his birthday from one of his friends. I have been very leery of Play-Doh since the first time we tried it and all he wanted to do was eat it - granted, that was probably a year ago but I haven't really given it a chance since then. He wanted to play with his new Play-Doh so I set him up at the table and he played with it for over an HOUR. I got to talk to my mom on the phone and have a nice conversation without being interrupted every 2 minutes. It was GREAT. I don't think I can remember a time when he has played with anything or sat still for that long - amazing!