Woznation

Mimi and Pop-Pop came to visit!  We really owed them a visit, but were too stressed about all our other travels to schedule another trip – so they were nice enough to come to us! (Even though they have traveled all over the world this summer!!) Thanks Mom and Dad!!  We hadnt seen each other since the Naples trip in March, so the kids were totally different people to them!  Evie is up and walking, and Wil’s communication is on a whole new level.  I was so glad my parents had a chance to see them at this stage.   It was a quick Thursday-Sunday trip, but we made the most of it by heading to the park, to an Orioles game and Fort McHenry!

Here we are hanging out at home, Mimi brought pirate dress-up:

Here we are at the Os game – we stretched the kids nap times and actually went to a night game!  We made it until about the 7th inning before heading home:

We spent some time on Wil’s bike, at the park and the garden.  Pop-Pop introduced him to ‘ticklers’ and he quickly abandoned the bike to pick weeds and tickle Pop-Pop instead.

Then we locked the kids in the dungeon at Fort McHenry  — these are the only 2 photos of that day, haha, we skipped Evie’s nap and she let us know about it.  We were in and out of this place in like 30 minutes:

Read Full Post »

Wil started preschool!! He is enrolled in half-days on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday — we are easing into it,  But its nice to have him in a structured environment again.  I think its important for Wil to be amongst other kids and not always be at the top of the pecking order.  That being said, it has been a rough adjustment.  I thought it would be easier given his time at daycare, but I guess he has forgotten those days.  Wil is being a bit of a bully and having a hard time following directions. They get a ‘green’, ‘yellow’, or ‘red’ report card each day.  Wil has had a mix – including some ‘red’ days where there have been incidences of him being a little tough with other kids.

Luckily, they hired an extra aid to help with the 10-kid class, and it seems they are keeping a closer eye on him to nip any arguments in the bud and help Wil figure out this whole ‘sharing’ and ‘listening’ thing.  This past week he had all ‘green’ days!  Woo! Keep it up Wil!

Here is our ‘cubby conference’ day:

At home with his backpack:

In front of School:

Running into school!!  He loves it, Runs every day!

You need to get buzzed in around these parts:

This is a preschool that is part of the K-5th grade elementary school down in Canton, so he is getting used to bells, and big kids, and walking to different rooms for different classes.  I think it’s a great intro into the school setting.  It totally reminds me of St. Charles.  Here he is waiting for our cubby conference.  Every new preschooler had a set time to meet with the teacher and check out the classroom before the first official day.

Followed by his first day:

Cubby:

Dismissal:

He has music class on Tuesdays, Spanish on Wednesdays and Gym class on Thursdays, in addition to his normal class time with his teacher where they are working on counting and their ABCs.  Two of my other friends have little boys enrolled in the same class, so he had 2 buddies that he knew going in and we are already meeting and hanging out with new friends! I’m really happy that we started pre-school this year instead of waiting another whole year.  He really loves going every morning and I’m glad he’s figuring out how to behave in a classroom setting.  I think hes going to have a GREAT year!

Read Full Post »

In Mid-August, I spent 5 glorious days in Ontario for Celia’s Bachelorette!  Sarah, Celia and I all met in Detroit and drove over into Canada.  We almost didnt make it due to a passport fiasco, but we made it across legally and were in Toronto by 2am.  We woke up and headed north to Celia’s cottage in Parry Sound.  We stayed up on the Georgian Bay for 2 nights.  When we got there it was like 50 degrees and Carol had made a fire for us!  We stayed up late drinking wine, playing games, and talking.  Then spent the next day on the water with Cara’s family.  We saw a bird, called a Loon, that all the canadians were REALLY excited about.  But, to me, it was just a glamorized duck.  I seriously felt a Lil’ Sebastian thing going on.  ( http://www.hulu.com/watch/222876 )

Then we went back to Cara’s family’s house for an amazing meal and more wine.   We drove back to Toronto on Saturday for one last night in the city. We went to a nice fancy dinner and then out on the town.  The next morning was not fun.  But overall it was an amazing 5 days with friends (and no kids).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

While I was in Ontario, Phil was holding down the fort.  Liz was nice enough to switch her days and work Wed, Thurs, Fri so Phil could make it into work on all 3 days.  But he did mornings, evenings, bedtimes and the entire weekend by himself.  He was a rockstar – check out the pictures.  He was out every night with them  – took them down to the harbor, down to Canton, the garden, multiple playgrounds, new toys – THE WORKS.  I am never that energized when I am alone with them!  He is amazing!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

Wow – August was a whirlwind!!  Nearly every weekend was busy.  Both Phil and I had evenings out — He had a work event at Fort McHenry followed by dinner and an Os game.  I had my monthly Mom’s night out — we went on a haunted tour of Fell’s point! Then I had a 5-day trip to Ontario for Celia’s bachelorette (The longest I have left Evie!!).  During the weeks we also made it to one last concert in the park, a school open house, a friends birthday party, and a few appointments.  Wil  started preschool on the 27th and then my parents came to visit over Labor Day!!  Phew!!  We just powered through and caught as much downtime as we could!  We had a few leisurely evenings at the park and checked out a new park on the harbor with a tree tunnel!!  We knew Wil would love that one.  And Liz took the kids to the Sondheim fountain one day which was a huge hit!  We are definitely seeing the end of summer around here, and I’m glad August was filled with fun activities, but we are ready to settle back into a routine!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Read Full Post »

She started walking in early July, but I’m finally getting around to sharing some video:

I love those first weeks of walking – where the hands are kind of T-Rex style and there is a SERIOUS ‘toddle’ in the toddler.  If her chest would get too far in front of her she would just get top-heavy and fall over.  Or if she was going too slow her head would take her backwards, but she would somehow always catch herself on her butt.  Serious cat-like reflexes!

Shes finally getting the hang of it here:

Now shes running around everywhere!  Uneven terrain, stairs, chairs, couches. you-name-it.  Shes walking, climbing, jumping (Ok – not jumping, but falling around on pillows):

Shes going to be our trouble maker!!! Love you Eves!

Read Full Post »

Yikes – Its hard to think back to July. What did we do?

–Well for starters, we started swim lessons. Wil would get in the pool in Naples, but was very unsure of himself and would hang onto our necks for dear life. We thought introducing him to the water more often would be a good idea. Either Phil or I went every Saturday morning with him. He went from holding on for dear life to us only holding his hands while he wore a floaty and kicked. It was a huge improvement.

–Phil had a birthday – We had a mini party with the kids.  We wrapped presents, blew up balloons and had dangerously delicious pies.  Then I surprised him with a babysitter and we had a nice night out. We went down to the harbor,  rode around on the water taxi (Phil’s first time!!), and had a nice dinner at Waterfront.

–Evie started walking!! Which deserves its own post. But once she started – she never stopped! She is EVERYWHERE. But much happier because of it, unless you try to pick her up, because, duh, she wants to walk.

–Nearly every weekend was free. It was so great. We spent some time in the garden, went to the aquarium, went to the science museum with play group, had a happy hour at the tot lot, saw a patterson park concert series, and went to urban pirate story time. I don’t have nearly enough pictures of all these things, but it was nice that we dictated our own time. In contrast to August, where every weekend was busy with something, it was nice to look back to July and see that we focused on each other and soaked up a lot of summer.

Read Full Post »