Friday, July 30, 2010

Chair-ish the Time

Ever since I saw that the Hutton girls got anywhere chairs for Christmas, I have been lusting for them for the boys. Bob and I decided that it would be a good birthday present that would last for several years, so I tried to do it on the cheap and buy from ebay. Let this be a lesson to me, never buy gifts for birthdays (even a month in advance) from ebay. It worked out in the end, but they weren't here for their birthday. Oh well, sometimes el cheapo fails to produce on time. It worked out well, though, as the boys really enjoy their chairs.
James sports his shirt hat while relaxing in his chair.
Michael likes to read in his chair.
Ryan makes a pit-stop in James' chair.
Still reading.
Musically talented and inclined is young Ryan.
Ooops, I did it again. Dropped it!
Pensive with Pacifier.
I'm pretty sure you might have seen this pose before on Cops.
Our mountain goat scales the chair to retrieve the forbidden.
Success can be shared with a brother.
The container for the thermometer is just fascinating.
James doesn't care what remote he appropriates, even the remote for the digital picture frame will do.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Independent?

The Fourth of July was a lot of fun for the boys. They got to stay up late, were in a parade, watched fireworks, and hung out with Riley and his family. In addition to being our nation's celebration of independence, our little guys celebrated with a little independent walking of their own. In some ways walking is much easier for Mommy, but in others, it's a bit of a challenge.
In Haslet, they have about a ten minute parade in which all the kids in town are invited to participate. Bob and I decided it would be fun for the boys to be in the parade, and Aunt Faith walked along with us for company. When the fire trucks and ambulances went past with their screaming sirens, James and Michael were not happy, but when we hopped in line with the rest of the kids, they enjoyed their ride. By the time we passed Daddy and the rest of the family, the boys were almost asleep, and Aunt Faith had selectively scored some candy. From the parade route, we headed to the baseball field to picnic and wait for the fireworks.
The Erenos came to celebrate the 4th with us, and Riley enjoyed checking out the helicopter that landed right behind our picnic spot.
The boys posed for a picture by the helicopter, but they enjoyed trying to eat the grass more.
They also enjoyed taking a ride in their new wagon. I think they roped every adult available into giving them a ride. Let me just say that a wagon with three little men is not very light. I used to be able to climb the stairs with two of them without getting out of breath, but such is not the case anymore. I can't believe how fast they are growing and how heavy they are getting.
After the sun went down, we watched the fireworks. Joseph spent most of the night holding Ryan who wasn't feeling very well. Bob and Michael watched the show together, and I snagged James from Grandpa Newhouse. The boys all seemed to like the fireworks, but boy were they close. The kid in front of us got burned by a cinder, and it was a lot easier to watch them laying down rather than sitting up. The boys did really well and seemed to have a great time. This outing made me realize that it was time to get the boys their first shoes. I had previously bought flip flops that didn't really work out, so now they are the proud owners of white and navy tennis shoes (all a half-size apart, so I bought a fourth pair so that we could all move up when we outgrow our current shoes - hopefully it works out as well as I am hoping).

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Where Did You Go?

Since the boys have started walking, I've found myself very busy and very tired at the end of the day. Hence I have been shirking my posting duties (as well as failing to send out a single thank you note for all the wonderful gifts we've received for the boys' birthday - I swear, I'm going to be writing those any minute now). The boys have definitely changed over the last month. They have gone from walking like tiny little Frankensteins to almost running while carrying a wide variety of items. They can open doors, love to turn the light off and on, and touch the thermostat so that it glows green. They like to climb inside the toy basket, take the tupperware out of the cabinet, and can sniff out a remote or phone from a wide variety of hiding places. They still take good naps, but now there is a lot of noise coming from the bedroom as they "sleep." Routinely, they throw everything out of their beds and laugh like lunatics as they play peak-a-boo with each other and shake the beds like madmen. We occasionally attempt to teach the kids to use spoons, & probably the biggest change is that we've taken their pacifiers off of their shirts except for nap time and bed time. Surprisingly, they've done amazingly well with laying down the pacifiers.
Michael is still my love bug, he still likes to bite (although not as often as he used to), and he LOVES to read. This handsome boy is rarely without a book. He likes to carry them around and turn the pages. He also brings you a book to read over and over again. His favorites are the Nose Book, the Foot Book, and Blue Hat Green Hat. He still has those lady-killer dimples which he generally pulls out after he's done something like steal toys from his brothers or opened the door to someplace he's supposed to stay out of. Mikey is a very neat eater and of the three, he is definitely most picky. If he is not in the mood for a particular food, for example, watermelon, he flings it to the floor in disgust. He eats much slower than his brothers which makes his meal fair game for Ryan who sits beside him. Tonight, he paid Ryan back by removing his tray and throwing it on the floor (this is something he's been working on accomplishing for a few weeks, and thanks to his tenacity, he has finally attained his goal).
Ryan is aptly named as he is very much like my brother Zach. He loves to climb on anything and everything. His current favorite route is to climb up his chair, stand on the back, and get into the things that are laid out on the little dresser in the living room. I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time until I find him and his compadre James sitting on top of the mantle. For some reason, Ryan has decided that his distain for my actions is best expressed by throwing himself on the floor and screaming at the top of his lungs. Needless to say, this is not my favorite method of communication. He also loves to read. His favorite books are Just Like Daddy and Little Jesus, Little Me (which we read as Little Triplets in this house). His eating habits are somewhere between wild man and savage beast. He likes to grab a handful of food, run it over his face in the general direction of his mouth, and chew whatever manages to defy gravity and make it to the promised land. He is amazingly messy, but he's a great eater. He loves bananas and rice.
Young James has a fondness for all beverages contained in a can. His favorite is an open although empty Diet Coke can, but he'll settle for a closed Miller Lite. James keeps us laughing. He is always doing crazy things. For a while he went through a period where he humped everything while yelling "ahhhhahhhhahhhahhh" at the top of his lungs. Thankfully, he's seemed to have passed through this phase rather quickly. He LOVES hats. He likes to wear them and steal them from Grandpa and Daddy. He is always running around the house doing something silly. Over the last couple of days, his favorite thing to do is drag around the shark water sprinkler my wonderful friends from school gave us. He gets mad at the shark if it doesn't drag properly. He's a pretty good eater, but when he finishes, he likes to take the offending items remaining on his tray and fling them on the floor for the dogs. We've had to resort to putting the dogs outside or in the other room so that the boys don't throw them food on purpose. He also doesn't like it if his brothers get out of their chairs first and then try to eat off of his tray. He will slap their hands away from his food, but he sure doesn't mind stealing things off of their trays.

These three little monkeys are keeping both Kathy and I hopping. We spend all day letting them entertain us and trying to contain the chaos they create. I'm looking forward to when the weather cools off a little so that we can go to the park.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Beautiful Child

Recently, Bob and I hired a photographer to take the boys' one year pictures. I think he did a fantastic job at a hugely reasonable rate. Below are some of my favorites of my beautiful children.

Ready for action.

Three handsome men.

I love this lip.

Tasty Blocks

James - ready to do some damage. Bring it on!

Michael - ready for it all to be over.

Ryan and his party hat.

Unaware of the tasty future, the restless troops are somewhat irritated with their predicament.

Sharing is caring.

Our boys finally got their cake and are eating it, too.