And He's Off!

That's right. Ollie is crawling.
Not dragging-one-leg-behind-me-like-a-limp-dog-crawling.
CRAWLING- crawling.
So much so that we had to haul out the baby gate from the attic last night, as he kept trying to scale the stairs.
He cruises on the furniture. From the couch, to the toybox, to the TV, to the footstool... Very happy that he can do it, too. You should see the smile on his face.
He's also mastered the sign for "all done". Used it today at lunch when we were halfway through a bowl of prunes and apricots.


***
Trenton has croup. He's had it at least once before.
Starts with a mild fever, then runny nose... Then one night you hear him coughing like a seal. Usually it is viral and plays itself out. We used the cool midst humidifier last night and I think it really helped. He's a bit crankier, but also more cuddly.
Need to buy another bottle of Children's Tylenol... always pays to check for online coupons before going to the store... Someday I'll get my hands on a mobile device that allows me to just download them, as stated here.

***

I agree with this article here. Seems that with an early Memorial Day and a late Labor Day, this summer has been extra-long. I never NEVER wish summer away-- it is my favorite season. But fall has lots of benefits (Ollie's birthday, wearing jeans again, crisp smell in the air). And everyone knows that the best beach days are August and September... You can bet that we've got a few more trips in us. Especially now that the crowds have gone.

This one is for all of you out there who can't believe I'm not on Facebook. As I've said before, if I were on Facebook, when would I have time to blog? Seems like the tide is changing there. FAD.

And this is for all of you out there who don't know about Jim's running interests. Check out these shoes! He wears them when we go out; they look really comfortable. But odd, no?

PS If anyone wants to brave the shore this Labor Day weekend, know that we'll be there at least Saturday and Sunday... Either in Avon, Belmar, or Pt. Pleasant... drop me a line to meet up!

August = Perfect Beach Days

I realized that I have not brought my camera with me to the beach as often as I'd like. When I go to look back and reflect on this summer-- the first summer for Oliver, the last summer for Trenton before he begins school-- I want to be able to remember it exactly as I see it. Thank god for digital cameras. And this blog.
It is all going so fast.

In regards to beaching-it this summer, I remember thinking "I had better come up with a good plan to be able to do this with two kids on my own." Not once did I think that I shouldn't try to do it... ;) Yes, some told me that I was nuts, that the kids would run off (he didn't) or eat sand (he did) or get burnt (nope!)
I'd say we averaged about one beach day a week. Sometimes twice a week.
There is nothing quite like waking up in the morning, checking for blue sky and nice weather outside the front door, and asking Trenton, "Hey bud! Wanna go to the beach today?"
He always responds yes.
My routine begins like this:
1) Pack bags. One with snacks and toys and books to keep 'em busy while in the stroller, one with toys for Ollie and sunscreen, and one with changes of clothes for the end of our day.
2) Drive to beach early enough (before 9) so that we can get a parking spot right up close.
3) Walk kids in stroller on boardwalk for about an hour. This worked well at the beginning of the summer, when Ollie would fall asleep. Now, he is onto us, and refuses to nap. Who can blame him? So much to look at: birds, clouds, friendly people waving at him... Oh yeah, and his brother poking him with an elbow or flicking his ear with his finger...
4) Swap out stuff in the car (put in stroller, take out Wonder Wheeler-- a godsend-- and pack it with beach stuff).
5) Beach it for about an hour.
6) Shower off kids, clothe them, and return home. The shower part is kinda the hardest. I have to put both of them near the foot shower (so much easier now that Ollie can sit up), haul the Wonder Wheeler up the stairs, lay out clean clothes, strip down the baby, shower him, clothe him, leave him alone with some toys on the boardwalk (right near the badge checker, who is always kind enough to watch him), shower T (this last trip was the first time he didn't scream), clothe T, then get into the car.
7) Return home around noon for lunch. And naps.
Mmmmm, naps.

Ollie makes the best of his time at the beach. He's kinda figured out that eating sand is not fun. He likes to play in it, especially the wet sand near the surf. I'll find lots of sand in his swimsuit due to the fact that when the water recedes, it all gets backed up in there. Fun! He is usually pretty good about wearing his hat (I removed it for the pictures).

Trenton is so good about not having my full attention at the beach. I was a little afraid that he'd be upset that I couldn't constantly run around with him. But he keeps himself busy. Looking for sand crabs, dancing in the surf, drawing in the sand, finding jellyfish...

He's bold. Not afraid of the water, but smart enough not to go in unless I'm holding his hand.

Soon enough, young man.

The picture above was my first and last attempt at a shot of the two of them together. Right after this a HUGE WAVE came out of NOWHERE and completely knocked the two of them onto their backs. Ollie was submerged. I had to keep the camera up with one hand and grab for his chest-swimsuit with the other. We're talking sand in the ears, eyes, nose, hair... so gross. Trenton laughed it off, but Ollie was a bit shaken up for a few minutes. Then back to playtime. Poor kid still had sand appearing in his tear ducts after naptime.

Snacking on the ride home.

Driving barefoot on the way back from the beach.
70 degree water temperature.
80 degree weather.
That's how August at the Jersey Shore should be.

Badass

Staycation '09

My, my, my... don't they all look so big when you stack them up like that?
From left to right, that's Justin (going into 5th grade!), Jared (2nd!), Marcus (1st!), Trenton, (pre-school!), Ethan (also pre-school!) and Oliver (nothing! the joys of being the baby! but soon to start swim class with momma!)

The goal was to take the best shots and put them here and then throw the rest in a slideshow... but with 299 pictures, it was hard to be brief! So here's the sampling you get:

Camping at Allaire State Park

Super Dad. Seriously, the boys were so well entertained and monitored, primarily by the dads, while the moms cleaned, cooked, etc. There were less tantrums than usual ;) And everyone really had fun!

A day at Avon-by-the-Sea

A night in Point Pleasant

Group shot taken by Grandma Lacina, who also served as babysitter for the night (don't worry, they were all asleep) so that the adults could go out and KARAOKE!

"Faith" by George Michael
"Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen

"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. Can you really sing the chorus without raising your arm?
I don't think so!

The Dads saw a movie together one afternoon while The Moms went out for dessert (Melting Pot in Red Bank-- you are sooo EVIL!) and more karaoke ;)

Don't they both just have that same look on their faces?

Red Bank Farmers Market; Navesink River Park

Of course, we planned the whole trip around a Sunday night Blueclaws game, and it got rained out. But everyone LOVED the Plan B, which was dinner at Ikko Hibachi in Brick. Below, Jared gets smacked in the face with some zucchini.

For the one below, you have GOT to click on it and zoom in on T's mouth. He totally caught it!!!

All in all, it was a fantastic week. I had a schedule for us to follow (of course) but was VERY flexible-- between camping, hitting the beach (waves were fantastic for boarding), doing the rides, bowling (forgot the camera!), hibachi, Farmer's Market, arts and crafts, sprinklers and water guns in the backyard, and crazy amounts of karaoke, we were all exhausted each night. Kids slept well; adults played board games ;) Each day the boys wrote or drew in journals about what things they did during their "New Jersey Vacation".

Another summer staycation in the books!

Our First Trip to Citi Field

"Yo, is this the way to Flushing?"

I'd been waiting for today all season long... Kim and I had sat down with our calendars and picked out this date to go the Met game at Citi Field. It was The Inaugural Season, a day game (1PM), and on a Sunday-- perfect, right? Yeah, except for the fact that it is AUGUST and HOT.
We planned well, though. Brought our lunches from home, as well as lots of water bottles. Dressed lightly, and only sat in the sun (where our seats were) for a few innings. No problem, though, as what we really wanted and needed to do was walk around and check out the stadium!

My parents came, as well. My first Mets game was at Shea, in '92, with my Dad. I think I just recently parted with my t-shirt from that game (it was so thin, you could see through it).

I made up this shirt for Oliver this morning. Although the kid has like, five Mets outfits, I could not see putting on anything heavier than a Onesie. This seemed like a good idea until we put sunscreen on his arms, which mixed with the marker, and got blue all over his body ;)

The stadium is absolutely beautiful. The best I can compare it with (and I haven't been to too many baseball parks) is Milwaukee. I saw the Brewers play the Mets there. Granted, they had an enclosed roof (a good thing, too, as it was raining). Very fan-friendly, with bathrooms and water fountains EVERYWHERE, as well as concessions. There seemed like plenty of room to move around, which was good, as many people had the same idea as we did, and stayed under the bleachers and out of the sun.

A nice view of Flushing Bay as a plane takes off from La Guardia. There were several places where you'd follow down a bit of a hallway, and find a nook where you could look out. I was surprised at how low the wall was here... but many, many security guards and other workers were around, and were probably keeping an eye on it.

Not a bad seat in the house, really.

We stumbled upon the Old Shea Apple by taking a random elevator down a few floors (we had brought the double stroller, and it was fine-- folded up in front of an empty chair-- glad we had it, as both boys were wiped from the heat).
Turns out that, due to fan protest, they decided to keep it around and build a newer, bigger one for the field in this stadium. We got to see it pop out of the hat following Luis Castillo's third inning home run. They won, by the way, 3-2. Nice! Considering there was no David Wright, they did a pretty good job out there.

Trenton's new favorite bedtime toy is Mr. Met-- I can tell already. He was whispering to him during story-time, and tucked him in under his own blanket in bed. Too cute how he put him in the Wiggles sandals, no?





These last few pictures are of our pizza dinner. Tell me that they are not making the SAME FACE in that middle one!? And the eyes!