Father's Day at the Minnesota Zoo

Here are some pics from the new Grizzly Bear exhibit, Russia's Grizzly Coast, at the Minnesota Zoo. There marketing pitch is "Get closer than nature intended." Judge for yourself from this pictures. For information on the new exhibit go to www.mnzoo.com

Drivin' in my car

5, 4, 3, 2, 1......Exstision!!!

"Extision!" That's Avery's way of says "ignition." And for me its not like, "we have lift off," its more like "we have potty training!" We have successfully completed a week in big boy pants and 4 consecutive poops on the potty. Seriously, this is so huge for us. I know my mom will kill me for writing about this ("Your Nana is turning over in her grave," she'll say), but I have to write about it, just for myself so in two years when I'm trying to get Jake to do this I can check myself and also for anyone else, any other type A personality, that is trying to potty train their kid. This is important.

Before I even start I want to note that I checked out EVERY book on potty training from Hennepin County library and tried EVERYTHING in these books. We literally have been trying for a year to potty train Avery. It's been more of a power struggle than anything else and caused nothing but frustration and angst between the three of us. All of the time I tried to tell myself that he would eventually get it, just like everything else with him. We just stress and stress and stress over when he is going to do things. When would he roll over? When would he start eating solids? When would he gain weight? When would he get a tooth? We waited for a whole year for him to get his first tooth and I remember Kevin saying to me, "Don't worry, did you ever know a kid who didn't get their teeth?"

Honestly, what did it for us is my stupid broken arm. After my bike accident I had so much trouble taking the boys out I resigned myself to staying home with them and just being with them. And all of this time, over the past month or so I just let Avery run around naked or with just his underpants on. One day we were making cookies and he was totally butt naked and I remember thinking, is this okay/sanitary/normal (or none of the above)? As it turns out, half the time he doesn't care about any of the stupid stuff that I make him go and do with me on my days off. I think he just likes being, being at home, being with me or with his dad or his little brother. I think he just needed to be, for a few days to figure it all out. I knew he could do it, he just needed the chance to work it out, on his own time and his own terms.

I've been watching Avery for the past few days, so proud, putting his poopies in the potty and then naming each one before flushing them down the toliet (Big Daddy poopy, Avery poopy, little baby Jake poopy), and I think, he is still just a little guy. This is a big deal for such a little guy. I think about him trying to stand at a potty in a public restroom, barely tall enough to reach his penis over the edge of the potty, all the while I am yelling at him to not touch the potty because its yucky and then potty starts flushing on its own, water spraying everywhere. It's scary for a little guy. I wouldn't want to do it either if I were a little guy like him. And then we would to get mad and frustrated with him when he would have an accident because he was too scared to pee in a public restroom. It's just so crazy!

We have been expecting so much of him. And I feel badly that we put so much pressure on him, on ourselves to make it happen. I'm so happy I don't have to buy diapers for him anymore and I'm so happy I don't have to pollute our land fills anymore. What I am most happy about is that Avery is so very proud of himself. I just hope that Kevin and I can learn and remember from this experience that we need to let our kids do things on their own time and their own terms. And that we should not feel pressured by what every stupid book or person or anything or anyone else that tells us what our kids should be doing and exactly when they should be doing it.

After all, did you ever know a kid that didn't get his teeth?

The newest addition to our family

My brother Pepper got an amazing father's day present - a new daughter! Teresa gave birth to Baby Mariela at 2:19 am on Sunday. She weighed 7lbs 15oz and measured 19.5" long. Look at Mateo, he's such a big boy, a very excited big brother now!! Click over to Mateo's blog for more pictures (soon hopefully)!

Congratulations Teresa, Pepper and Mateo!!

Happy Father's Day!

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Toe Sucker

Why suck your thumb when you can suck your big toe?

St Louis Park Fire Station Open House

Last week we went to the annual St Louis Park Fire Station open house. This year Avery and Daddy got to ride in the hook and ladder truck!! An added bonus, our neighbor Mike, who is a volunteer fire fighter was the driver!

We thought this day would never come!

After weeks and weeks of practice, Avery put a real poopy in his potty this morning for the first time ever!! Kevin and I were so proud!

Later on we went outside to play and Avery took his clothes off to play in the sprinkler. Then he put a real poopy in his big boy pants.

One step forward, two steps back.

Thank you kind soul!

Another crappy day in Minnesota so for Mommy day today we went to the mall to get the boys pictures taken. When Avery was six months old we had his picture taken with the adorable stuffed animal dog that our dear friend Audry Dellalo sent him when he was born. I thought it would be sweet to get a picture of Jake with the doggie so we packed it up and took it along with us to the mall along with Avery's favorite dump truck. After our short photo session we headed to an indoor play area while the studio processed the pictures. Avery ran around with some other kids while Jake sat in his stroller snuggling with the doggie. We went back to the studio to look at our pictures and then headed home. It was nearly one o'clock by this point and I felt sure both the boys would fall asleep in the car on the way home. We got about halfway home and Avery said to me, "Mommy, we left my doggie at the mall." My heart sank and I vaguely remembered doggie hanging precariously out of the stroller as I was trying to wrangle Avery from the play area. So I turned the car around and headed back towards the mall. The whole way there Avery talked about doggie, wondering where he could be, what he could be doing, hypothesizing about how he got lost. By the time we got back to the mall Jake had fallen asleep so we popped him in the stroller and began to retrace our steps. Avery ran frantically through the mal looking in every direction for doggie. By the time we turned the corner for the play area I could see doggie propped up on a ledge just waiting for us to come pick him up. Some kind soul found doggie and set him aside in just the right spot to find him. Avery ran to doggie and hugged him around the neck as hard as he could. He never let him go the whole way home.

Thank you to whomever found doggie and set him aside for us. There were 100 kids in that play area today and any one of them could have taken doggie home with them. I don't know how I could have explained to Avery what happened to doggie. After watching Toy Story Avery is convinced all of his toys have personalities, greeting them each morning,talking to them all day long. Catasrophe adverted for today but I think Jake will have to get his own doggie.

By the way, Avery declined to be photographed for this post, I think he was too traumatized.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

We had a mommy day on Tuesday. It was yet another not so beautiful Minnesota spring day so we headed to the Children's Museum. Avery has been really interested in going to the doctor's office the last few months so we spent a good deal of time playing doctor....

Checking baby's heart

Measuring the baby (32 lbs, he's growing!)

Then we played fireman

Then rockstar!

The Season for Swinging

Baby Jake kicking it at the park by the fire station

Avery and Reese on a tire swing at the "beach" by the lake

It's June and its snowing in Minnesota!!

It's June for God's sake! Somehow we managed to get just one more ice/hail storm to cap off this beautiful spring we have been having in Minnesota (NOT!). I guess we should be thankful it wasn't a tornado, but our yard is now totally trashed and so is my vegetable garden. I was thankful that we put the garden in early this year since I broke my arm. Even though it has been incredibly cold this spring my little seeding were holding on. Given all the clean up we (I mean Kevin) has to do in the yard, I'm not sure if we will replant.

After 5 years of living in Minnesota, I can now say there is absolutely nothing redeeming about the climate here!

Its 60 degrees and the ground is covered in ice!

Avery freezing his hands in the hail pellets.

My hostas, about the only thing I can't seem to kill, torn to shreds.

Avery's car, the only thing that didn't make it in the garage when the Tornado sirens went off. I think we may need to call the insurance company.

Avery's Words of Wisdom

Yesterday I was home from work for a 'Mommy Day.' As Kevin was getting ready to go Avery asked him when he could have a Daddy day. Kevin replied, "not today, not tomorrow, but Saturday will be Daddy day. I have to go to work today." And then Avery said back, "Okay, but remember, home comes first and then work."

After a long day of playing with the boys (or attempting to with one arm) Kathy came over so Kevin and I could have a date night. Rather than have Kevin come home and get the boys all riled up I told him to pick me up at the gas station at the corner of our street where I also coincidentally catch the bus for work. When I said good bye to Avery and started towards the door, he said, "Okay Mommy, but just don't ride your bike to work, take the bus instead."

Happy Birthday Daddy!

It took us a couple of days to officially celebrate Kevin's birthday since I had to make a late night trip to urgent care for my broken arm on the actual day of his birthday. To make it official, Avery and I made a not so delicious, lop sided chocolate cake with 10, not 11 candles. Even though the cake was as dry as the desert, I told Kevin it was extra special since I made it with one hand. Avery chipped in by eating half of the icing and decorating the cake with the candles.

Dumb and Dumber

I decided that I should start riding my bike home from work to try to get some exercise. I have no other time during the day and I still have like 15 lbs of baby weight to lose. My neighbor has been doing it and she assured me I would only have to ride through the city traffic for a few short blocks before hopping on the bike path that would take me 7 miles to our house. So Thursday I took my bike to work on the bus along with all of my gear for my inaugural ride home. After work I changed and picked up my bike to start my ride. Here's the dumb part: I got about 1 block before I had to quickly stop for a traffic light and got my foot stuck in the pedal clip. My bike just sort of fell over to right and I landed on my arm. Here's the dumber part: I was so embarrassed I just got right back upon the bike and rode the whole way home. Even dumber still I let Kevin go to his soccer game while I attempted to take care of the kids with what turns out to be a broken arm.

So I have decided to trade in my fancy road bike for a cruiser, although I won't be riding again anytime soon. My posts will be a bit shorter as well, since I only have one hand to type with.

Super Duper Heroes ride bikes!

Avery's Big Kick Off

To know Kevin is to love him, and that means accepting the fact that he is fiercely competitive. Frankly, he's not much fun to play board games with because he's such a sore loser and God forbid North Carolina loses a basketball game in the final four, you might as well just write off the month of March! So, I had to respect his decision not to volunteer to coach Avery's pee wee soccer team. Given our recent frustration over Avery not wanting to participate in swimming lessons, he decided that we didn't need a conflict over his sport, soccer. And then we received the handbook from the Y about the league and it was entirely focused on teaching sportsmanship and having fun suggesting things like, "Cheer for the other team when they score a goal (against you)," the decision was definitely validated. Never the less, Kevin took Avery out to get new shin guards and soccer shorts and a green (my favorite) soccer ball. They spent the last 2 weeks in the back yard doing soccer drills, learning how to kick and dribble.

So the first week of soccer came and went, we weren't allowed to play since the Y had sprayed pesticides on the fields the night before our first 'game.' (I use the term game very loosely here). The second week our coach was out of town and they asked us to fill in. Kevin reluctantly agreed and spent the week crafting a lesson plan for the kids. Saturday morning arrived and we headed for the Y. When we arrived it was complete chaos on the field. We couldn't seem to find the kids on our team and once we did we couldn't seem to keep them together. Avery was running up and rolling down a steep hill with one of the other boys on our team and two of the kids wouldn't even come onto the field, they just sat on sideline crying. We had only one little girl participating last week and I'm pretty sure that she didn't even weigh as much as baby Jake. And then the other team showed up. Their coach was a big burley red head with a yellow shirt that matched his team. Like a marine drill sargent he had his kids doing jumping jacks in a circle in no time flat and then running drills up and down the field. When it came time to start the game he had them doing pride cheers reminiscent of Roger from the Biggest Loser. I could just tell we were doomed.

We had the first kick off and Kevin managed to snag Avery's attention long enough to psyche him up for the big kick off. The whistle blew and Avery took off down the field dribbling the ball just as they had practiced. Kevin was so proud. He even recounted the moment to me later on that day. But then some little boy from the other team came by and stole the ball from Avery. He fell to the ground with big crocodile tears streaming down his face crying, "That's my ball!" And that is where the game ended for Avery. He had no interest in playing anymore. We sat on the side and watched the other kids running up and down the field while he had his juice box and snack. They added a few more balls to the game, just for fun I guess, but Avery still would not budge.

Kevin stayed with the other kids for the full 15 minutes of play, mostly just trying to encourage them to participate. We did have one little boy who ran himself ragged and scored several 'goals' almost entirely on his own. Remembering the lessons from the YMCA hand book, he encouraged our kids to give the other team a high five after the game was over. But the other kids were too busy busting into the case of gatorade and fruit snacks that the Roger, the big yellow drill sargent coach, brought for his team. They didn't even turn around to acknowledge our team, much less offer to share. So much for good sportsmanship.

So, I guess we'll try again next week.

Baby Jake is 6 months old!

Baby Jake has his 6 month check up this morning. It was a crazy morning because both of the boys were up last night and very early this morning and then at the last minute Avery begged to come to the doctor with us instead of going to school. I told him he could but only if he let the doctor and I have an adult conversation (something he doens't allow Kevin and I to do at the dinner table). Of course Jake fell asleep in the car on the way to the doctor. He was up at 5 today and the 8 am appointment really interfered with his potential nap. Avery was really good, only interjecting once to tell the doctor that he thinks his Big George back pack is growing because the nurse let us weigh him and he weighs 1.2 lbs and also to show off his new Buzz Lightyear figurine that Aunt Susan sent him for his birthday. The doctor commented on Jake's stature and how much he likes to eat. So here are his stats:

19lbs 6oz (90th percentile)
28" (90th percentile)
18 1/4" Head circumference (97th percentile - at least we know he is a Santalucia!)

After 2 shots and quick trip to Babies R Us we headed home to get everyone settled so I could go to work. I left Kathy with Jake (severely overtired and irritable from his shots) screaming in his crib and Avery watching Toy Story (with his new buzz lightyear figurine in hand). I called later to check on them and Kathy said, "Jake had a really hard time going to sleep. At one point he was screaming really loud and I went in his room and found him on his tummy, and boy was he p*ssed."

My baby boy rolled over for the first time today. Happy half birthday Jake!!

This morning

Every morning when Avery up and gets out of bed he brings a collection of toys, blankies or other sundry items out of his room. Its a morning ritual and the amount of things he is carrying usually correponds to how exciting the previous day was. For example, when Nanny was here with us over Christmas, Avery would come out of his room with his arms full and overflowing with his new toys and games. Most days he has a race car or maybe his UPS truck or maybe a stuffed animal. If he every comes out of his room empty handed we know its going to be a very bad day.

The other day I was digging through his bin full of stuffed animals, looking for I don't know what, and I came across a Curious George back pack (or pack pack) as he calls it. Its not just any old back pack, its an actual stuffed George that hangs on your back like a real monkey. And George has a little back pack on too. We got it as a hand me down from our next door neighbors grandson. I'm sure they had no idea how crazy Avery is about Curious George. Anyway, the Curious George pack pack has been Avery's new BFF for the last few days and he was insistent upon wearing it to bed last night, not just taking it to bed, but actually wearing it. I think we ended up taking George off of his back so he could lay down, but I'm fairly certain that he slept with Avery last night. So this morning as we were getting ready for work I heard Avery come out of his room and head up stairs. He had his George pack pack. When he got up the stairs he unzipped the inside of the bag to reveal his white blankie and then he undid George's little back pack to reveal his brown blankie (actually they are the same blankie, I'm just not sure why he calls them different colors). He also managed to pack up a few race cars and a helicopter and a few other small toys. So I could only imagine Avery sitting in his bed (waiting for the 6 on his clock so he could get out of bed) packing up his George back pack full of goodies to bring upstairs.

It was quite simply adorable.

Starts with a C and lives in the water....Carl the fish!

Last week Avery asked me if we could go to the hospital to get another baby. He said, "don't worry mommy, he'll get big in a minute." We're definitely not ready for that, but I am hoping Carl Jr, our new Beta Fish, will satisfy him for a while.

Here's the story - Avery's friend Reese has a black beta fish named Carl. Apparently when her mom took her to Petco to get the fish the sales person who helped them pick out the fish was named Carl. So, when Melanie asked Reese what they should name the fish she said Carl, naturally. We have been fish sitting Carl the last few weekends while our neighbors were on vacation. I was a little nervous because we have actually never had a pet and since I can't even maintain a house plant, I wasn't sure about taking in Carl. I was very worried that we might kill him and he is a very shy and lethargic fish so if I tried to replace him I felt sure that Reese would know. But Carl was a huge hit and we managed not to kill him. We kept him on our dining room table and he actually was a great trick to get Avery to come to the table for his meals. Avery took his responsibility for feeding Carl very seriously even scolding Kevin at one point for giving Carl more than two food pellets, "Melanie said Carl can only have 2 or he will get very sick Daddy!"

Carl (Sr) had a few extended stays at our house and seeing how much Avery loved having him around our neighbors got Avery a fish for his birthday. When we asked him what we should name the fish he said, "um, Carl," naturally. Kevin convinced him to go with Carl Jr. just so we could tell them apart. Turns out Carl Jr is, as Melanie puts it, "a heck of a fish." He is very active, darts all over his tank and even waves to Avery with his fins every once in a while.

So, now that we have a fish, I'm thinking about a dog next and then MAYBE another baby.

Happy Birthday Avery!!

Avery turned 3 last week! He had a fantastic day complete with a green (my favorite) cake made especially for him from our nanny, Kathy, served with green mint chocolate chip ice cream (Aunt Susan would be so proud), a trip to the bike store to pick up his new bike (photos to come soon!) and two awesome new trucks from his grand parents.

Green, my favorite birthday cake
(notice half of the icing missing - lets just call that breakfast)
also a good hair day for Mom (not!)

Cool new fire truck from Nanny and Pop Pop
We discovered today that it actually shoots water

Cool new UPS truck from Papa and Bebe for which we made up a new song, The Wheels on the Truck, and which also goes to bed with Avery religiously

Avery's Birthday Extravaganza Part 2

Avery's Birthday extravaganza continued last weekend with his official birthday party which we hosted for 9 of his little friends at the Minnesota Children's Museum. The party was animal themed and included activities such as the reading of one of Avery's favorite books, "Polar Bear Polar Bear What do You Hear?" By Eric Carle during which all of the kids did their best animal sound impressions; an art project for the kids to make their own 'box turtle' or some other kind of imaginary animal with odd shaped googly eyes, and even a visit from the musuem's resident turtle. Perhaps the highlight of the party was watching 10 three year olds chase Kevin around and around the room after the cake and ice cream.

Here is a shot of the party crew:

Here is a photo of Avery getting ready to blow out his candles. I'm fairly certain that that is his second or third chocolate chip cookie of the morning.

The festivities did not end here. After playing with his friends in the museum for an hour or so Kevin took Avery to a grad school reunion at a local bowling alley.

Avery and his friend Katy getting ready to bowl

Action shot!

The future of University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management

And just to top things off - more sugar!
(Can't you just feel the crash and burn coming?)

Prelude to a new bike

Last weekend we went to the bike store to pick out a new bike for Avery's birthday. He also got fitted for a new helmet which he decided to wear all afternoon, including while we were making cookies.

(He didn't get the bike yet, he and his dad will pick it up on Tuesday for his birthday).

Spring Clean Up

Spring is finally coming to Minnesota. We've been surveying the yard for new green growth and cleaning up with the help of Avery's dump truck.

Update on Potty Training

In case you're wondering, those are Avery's underpants on Jake's head. Read below for more details.

Avery's Terrible No Good Very Bad Day

Avery has decided that he is not going to nap anymore.

He is also not going potty, not eating, not participating in swimming lessons or pretty much anything else that we ask him to do.

Avery is 3.

So yesterday after an hour an a half in his room, lights out, curtains drawn; I had had one too many donkey kicks, pokes to the eye, rolly polly body checks and I just gave up. I told Avery that if he did not want to take a nap he would have to come to the grocery store with me. This, in my mind, was punishment, to him, just a way to get out of his nap.

The trip to the store was fine and afterwards he even played with his daddy outside for an hour or so. At dinner he decided he would rather not eat and then during his bath that decided he did not want to get out of the bath tub, ever, I guess. By this point it was 7 o'clock and he had been up for 13 hours. The meltdown began when I told him he that he could not put his can-taur (the 50 cent toy guitar we picked up at a garage sale earlier that day) in the bath tub. After all, its a fine musical instrument and we would not want it to get ruined. So, he in turn decided hedid not want to put his diaper or pajamas on and the screaming began. After a wrestling match to get his pajamas on, I took him to his room to read books and get ready for bed. As I was selecting books from his book shelf he hurled a hard cover library book at me and hit me in the back of the head. Kevin picked him up by his pajamas and set him in the time out chair. All the while he was screaming and crying and then baby Jake woke up crying.

At that point, I escaped to the nursery to rock Baby Jake back to sleep. As I was holding our sweet baby I could hear Kevin in the other room trying to reason our hysterical, delerious, way over tired three year old. I stayed in there with Jake probably longer than I needed to. I just held him and rocked him trying to soak up every little bit of baby sweetness that I could.

Everyone warned me that three is worse than two, and now I now its true.

Happy Easter!

We had a great trip to Philadelphia this past weekend to celebrate Easter with Aunt Susan and her family as well as Nanny and Pop-Pop. This was Pop-Pop's first chance to see Baby Jake and he had the baby belly laughing in no time flat. Baby Grace was simply infatuated with Avery and followed him everywhere he went. Unfortuneately the feeling was not mutual and Avery spent most of the weekend wining, "But I don't want to play with Baby Grace." Turns out he was too busy following Patrick around to be bothered with a tiny, but spunky 18 month old. Baby Sophie was a sweet as ever and Nanny treated us to homemade peanutbutter eggs, pancake breakfast and a delicous Easter dinner. Inky, Moo and Buster also allowed us to get our much needed pet fix.

Here are some highlights from the weekend:

Baby Sophie (aka Candy Girl)

Baby Grace and Aunt Susan

Sophie and Grace checking out their new cousin

Patrick and Avery making Pancakes with Pop Pop

The thrill of the hunt!

The gang
(the best picture we could get with all of the squirming kids)

Baby Jake's Feburary Pics (4 months old)

It's mid-March and I just realized I forgot to post Baby's Jake's February pictures. I guess in the midst of flooding our basement, caring for Avery while he had croup (and Kevin was in Chicago), trying to hire a Nanny while getting ready to go back to work, buying a new car, and then dropping the baby on his head - I didn't get around to it. All I can say is Thank GOD February is over. We are looking forward to spring. Hopefully it finds its way to Minnesota soon!!