Pony RIdes and Time Outs on Your Son's Birthday

Uncle Stephen got into town safely Friday night and Eban and I greeted him happily from the front porch. Eban loved seeing the "moto"!! He wasn't afraid of it at all...just what I thought. Into the house came Uncle Stephen and he received a warm meal just as he entered the kitchen. The only problem was that as soon as he sat down, his little nephew wanted to sit on his lap and eat off his plate.

Saturday we got up and went to the zoo where we saw all sorts of animals. Jackson also liked the zoo while Eban really enjoyed the snakes this time. He calls them "nakes" and while I'm thinking of other things he says...he also calls nose by the word "noke." We also saw a one day old baby zebra and that was pretty spectacular. After the zebra, Eban was close to having a melt down so we quickly ate our picnic lunch of PB&J sandwiches, pretzels and cantaloupe.

Saturday afternoon, we prepped for the big two-year old birthday. Uncle Steve and I did the streamers in the house and outside...they looked quite festive if I say so myself! Sunday morning as Eban got up, we watched him as he came down the stairs to see all his gifts on the kitchen table. Check out the video below as he finally found the word after two minutes of being completely surprised. His word was OPEN.
We opened gifts and he loved his truck, tractor, bus and Grammy Kass' fire truck. He also loved a fire truck card that Tutu created with personalized photos. You can see more videos below.

Around 2pm, his friends started coming in and the mayhem immediately was noticed. Kids were running rampant...there was no structure...you practically ran into an adult or some kid with each step...thank god there were adult beverages present for the parents to relax a tad. Then in came the fire truck cake by Keegan and Lisa. Keegan is an MC for a pastry show on the Food Network and his wife, Lisa, used to be the pastry chef for the Ritz Carlton in New Orleans (I think). Anyway...they own a dessert bar in Denver called d-bar and they created Eban's fire truck cake...the fanciest two-year old cake I've ever seen!! It was beautiful.

Eban immediately reached for it and with my cat-like reflexes, I thwarted his evil ways to grab the sirens and the windshields of the cake. I must have saved that cake from his five-finger grab with a second to spare.
After more chaos, I decided it was time to eat the cake. As we lit the candles, Eban started blowing them out...before we sang happy birthday. He was so over-stimulated by the time we sang, that he just sat there staring off into no man's land. He cheeks were flushed and all he needed was a nap!

Anyway after I felt so bad that we were going to cut into a most lovely cake. So, we made Keegan cut it as I felt as thought we were ruining some piece of art by cutting it. But the cake itself was SO good. After the cake, I decided it would be a good time to open presents...boy, was I wrong.

HOW come none of you who read this warned me about two-year old birthday parties and the present time???!! You're all in trouble. So as Eban is sitting on my lap, he opens up Nani's gift and it's a huge, green and loud garbage truck. He was so thrilled with this new toy! After I told him to say thank you so we could proceed to the next gift was when his official melt down he occurred. He didn't want another toy...he only wanted the garbage truck. So the yelling of NO MAMA and TRUCK ensued. It was not embarrassing at all (I hope you can read my sarcasm in that last sentence)...at least the other moms in the room laughed understandingly at my embarrassment. Ryan quickly took Eban away from the situation to control his temper and basically give him a time out to think about his behavior. I ended up opening the rest of the gifts while Eban was in an extended time out. It was lovely.

At that point, I could hear Seamus whining from the basement. I held his collar while leading him through the toddler crowd and I heard a kid yell "YEAH...PONY RIDES!" I wish I could have seen who it was, but I was too busy making sure that no kid would try to hop up on Seamus now that he got upgraded to a pony.

Now onto a sweet little story on our baby boy, Jack. Uncle Steve keeps teasing him with Grammy Kass' fire truck and he did a little crawl towards it. I can't believe he is minutes from being a crawling monster. He also loves Grandpa Bob's wagon...it's so cute to see both boys riding in it together. Uncle Steve loved pulling through the sprinklers which got them both giggling so much...we hope you like the pictures and the videos.

I think tomorrow I'm getting my first caramel macchiato as Uncle Steve told me I had to try one. Well see if this happens...but I know I could use the caffeine.

SEEING THE GIFTS FOR THE FIRST TIME (OPEN)

UNCLE STEVE'S BUS

TUTU'S CARD

FIRE TRUCK

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE TIRED BIRTHDAY BOY

Fire Truck Toddler Bed

Alright...let's see what's good for this update. Saturday morning we walked to the Thornton Fire Department like we do every other week. Eban loved it and this crew wasn't as personable as other crews. Eban didn't notice that...maybe it was because our sweet, little dog decided to growl and bark and firefighter Mike walked forward to him with his hand out so Seamus could sniff him.

I think that Seamus has bad eyes and could be near sighted as he can growl and carry on when I walk in the door to the house at unexpected times. He'll growl untili he's three feet from me or until I say "Hi Seamus" and then the tail starts a-wagging. Too bad they don't make spectacles for dogs as I really think he needs them.

After the fire house, the event of the day was a pool party at Mark and Danielle's house for Mark 40th birthday. Eban LOVED the pool and it was like pulling teeth to get him out of it. There were other unique activities, but this pretty much sums it up!

We've been talking every day about Uncle Steve's visit on his motorcycle and every time that Eban hears his name he'll say "MOTO!" I have a feeling that when Uncle Steve gets here all Eban will want to do is sit on the motorcycle. Hopefully he'll be afraid of the big bike, but I doubt it.

Jackson is finally sitting up with no problems at all. He used to simply roll over when he got tired of sitting up. But he doesn't anymore. He hasn't crawled yet or even gotten close! I'm happy about that as it's one less body for me to chase around this house or yard, etc.Jackson is also a total snuggle bear!! I love that he'll put his little noggin in my nook in my neck and snuggle for a bit. He always wants to be held and cuddled. He also always wants to eat...he's a monster around food! Eban was already finished using his pacifier at this time but Jackson is very content to have it in his mouth at all times.

OOOOOOhhhh, I forgot to tell you that I golfed last week and my golf game hasn't been ruined by two years of non-stop pregnancies! I'm so stoked. In fact, I received a $100 gift certificate to Morton's for getting the women's longest drive at the Denver Convention Bureau's golf tournament at Arrowhead Gold Club. We played a scramble format and I was playing with the dean of The Hospitality College and the PR Director for AAA Colorado and for two holes we only used my shots. At the third hole, I finally bent over and grabbed my back in pain. They asked me what was wrong and I wickedly smiled at them and said, "Ladies, my back hurts from carrying you two for two holes!" Thank goodness they had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. So then I went back to happily swigging my beer!

UPDATE: This morning as I was nonchalantly chatting with Ryan while holding Jack across from the kitchen island, I looked up and saw Eban lazily coming down the stairs with two blankets in tow. My eyeballs must have been saucers as I couldn't believe what I saw. He sleepily looked up at me and said a sweet little "Hi mama." Ryan and I immediately went to him and realized that 1) He climbed out of his huge crib and 2) This is a new era for us as far as his freedom is concerned and 3) We need a toddler bed STAT. So thinking about all these changes is scary for me...Ryan told him what a big boy he was while I was quietly thinking about all the things that could happen now...opening doors and escaping, falling down the stairs in the middle of the night, waking up with a child peering over me as I sleep, etc. The list goes on and I'm sure you all have stories of your own from this time. My parents always tell me that they would never find me in my crib in the mornings when they woke up. They would find the crib empty and go on a quest to find me in the house on Hackberry in Deerfield, IL. They would always find me sleeping with my head in my cross-legged lap watching TV fuzz in the family room. I was a kind toddler to my folks, huh?! :)

Check out his new toddler bed! He loves his fire truck which he can sleep in...just loves it! Nani also took the boys to the Goddard School today as they had a visiting petting zoo. Both boys loved it she said. Check out her pictures!

BOTH BOYS EMULATE THEIR DADDY ON THE LAPTOP IN THIS VIDEO...listen to Eban say "No Jack"

PRACTICING BLOWING OUT CANDLES

JACK GIGGLING...fast forward the first ten seconds or so. Nani filmed this clip.

EBAN feeding Seamus one nugget of food at a time...

First tooth, go away momma, Touch a Truck, new freckle

well...it surely has been an interesting week.


I have been feeling a tooth in Jack's mouth for awhile and I finally saw it and was able to grab a picture of it (double click the pic to see it in a better fashion). It completely reminds me of when Eban had his first tooth but Eban got his around 6 months. Jack will be 9 months old on July 2.

This weekend, grandpa Bob came up and Eban, Jack, grandpa and I hit the Louisville Recreation Center's Touch a Truck Day. I had no idea what to expect and told grandpa that there could be 3 or 10 people there...that I had no idea. As we arrived, it was a parking lot!! Cars were parked two blocks away, there were cops directing traffic and we could see a TON of people with kids. The cops directed us into the immediate parking lot and we got a great spot. As we were driving in, we saw fire trucks (big hit), an oil tanker, a tractor, an ambulance, a dairy truck, a bus, a mini-bus, a forest ranger car, police cars, etc. All the kids could touch all of these vehicles and get in the driver's seat and pretend to drive. It was crazy crazy crazy....and I loved it! But Eban loved it more!



Since Eban can't say grandpa, he calls grandpa "Bob" and he wanted Bob to go everywhere so he could touch everything. He loved the fire trucks...he needed assistance to get into some huge steamroller type of vehicle and he even had his first glass of chocolate milk which he devoured while sitting on the front of a fire truck. He was so happy...at one point, I told him we needed to stay in the shade and take it easy...and I told him it was because Jack couldn't be in the sun. Well...he was practically crawling in the stroller so he could pull on Jack's outfit or arm and was telling Jack that they needed to go see the fire truck. Check out the video below-

Eban has also learned a new phrase. It's "go away momma" and it kills me. He's just so lucky I love him so much! Anyway, we have a routine at night and in the morning. In the morning after I pick him up out of his crib, he walks downstairs all by himself like a big boy. Well, he usually holds onto my fingers or at least two fingers while he does this task, but earlier this week, he looked up at me and insisted that I go away. He even said "Go away momma" as he gave me a stiff arm. I couldn't believe it. So as I was watching him I asked him where he learned this new sentence. I asked him if he learned this at school. He happily said no. I asked him if he learned it from Nani...again, the answer was no. So then I asked him if he learned if from Jack and the reply was an, "OH YAH!" So as I was washing Eban this week, I noticed a little brown spot smack dab in the middle of his right butt cheek. As I was scrubbing...and then continuing to scrub as I couldn't believe I was unsuccessful with my cleaning duties, I realized after a while (after Eban said Ow-EEEE) that it was his first freckle.

ARGH...Jack got pink eye

So...as luck would have it...the darned pink eye went from the older kid to the younger one in less than three days. Now, Nani, Ryan and I all think we will get it as we think our eyes are itchy or what have you. I swear...poor kids...so when we went to the doctor (again) he took one look at Jack and said he had it and then looked at Eban and said he still had it. So here we are giving both boys two drops every four hours or so. They love it so much...(I wish they did!).

Let's do some quickies:

1. Eban loves the guitar and cries when daddy puts it away.

2. Eban and Jack loved the community pool so much that they both cried when we left today.

3. Nani, Jack, Eban and I went to Chris' 38th birthday party and Eban got to ride in the boat around the lake and LOVED the boat. He wanted "more boat" all night and would yell louder and use his sign language in a more fierce manner to get his point across.

Dennis accidentally hit Eban in the head with a picture frame and Eban was screaming at the top of his lungs, "NO DENNY" and couldn't understand why his friend would hit him. It was sweet and cute and sad all at the same time.

I just can't believe Eban is turning two at the end of the month...I really can't.

Hotlanta Recap

So I heard a story and read a book that really rejuvenated me and my spirit. I had just started reading "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World," by John Wood. I thought it was an interesting concept because Ryan works there but I had no idea how inspiring it would be. The basic premise is that a very successful Microsoft marketing employee for the Asian region left the corporate world to "help" others via his own nonprofit organization. The words were very moving and he changed his whole life by taking a trip to the Himalayas (Nepal) and while he was hiking...met a little school along one of the routes he wasn't going to take. Well, it ended up that these children crave to learn and crave books. He always reflected on how important books were to him and his family while growing up. It made me think about Eban and how much he LOVES books. While he can't read yet, he loves books.

So while John Wood was visiting this little school house in the middle of Nepal, he realized their library was under lock and key. He asked why and the principal (for a lack of a better term) said that the library was so sacred because they had so few books. And the books they had were some awful English romance novel, another European book in another language and one other. The principal asked him to promise to come back with books and a year later he kept his promise and returned with books (on a yak) and helped this school. Well...anyway...the story continues about his quest to help school-aged kids all over and it was truly a inspiring story which I'm now making Ryan read!

So as I was reading this book (I didn't do it justice), a man came on stage at the Carter Center for a session on service learning and college activities. He shared a story about how he was in Nepal and a grandmother emerged from a barn carrying a little girl and lifted this little baby up and said, "Will you take my grandchild to America for a good education?" This man, a member of the board of directors for the Corporation for National and Community Service, retorted with, "Nothing can replace a grandmother's love." She then said, "It is with the greatest amount of love that I ask you this." It was something like that. There was more talk about people here and kids here who take for granted what they have. This week really solidified my sincere desire to instill a strong foundation on teaching the boys how to give back and to give my boys a good worldview.

Anyway...sorry for the long story, but it really moved me. (The picture of the flowers and the art are from the Carter Library which was really fascinating).

Upon my return to Denver....I found that Jack has a tooth coming in and it hasn't yet breached the gums. Eban has learned how to say, "What's happening?" And then last night, after yet another visit to the medical clinic, Nani told me she was bored all day hanging out with me and the boys. I must be seriously lame in my old age! :) I'm just giving her a hard time as she's reading over my shoulder.
Anyway, yesterday we noticed that Eban's right eye was very red. As the day progressed, it got more "sleep" in it and then the other eye started doing the same thing. So at 6pm, I load him in the car for another visit to the clinic as this is happening after hours. Of course it was with our luck! So it ends up he has pink eye (conjunctivitis) in both eyes and it's VERY contagious until 24 hours after the eye drops have been used. SO here we go again hoping that he doesn't give it to the rest of the household...especially Jack. The doctor said don't let him play with Jack and I looked at him and then he smiled knowingly back at me and said, "Good luck with that!"
So Eban woke up this morning with a ton of goop on his eyes (double click the above photo for a good close up) and he yelled "NO DADDY" as Ryan applied the two drops per eye. It was heart-wrenching to hear him scream that with such sadness in his voice like daddy was intentionally hurting him.Anyway...enjoy your week...and enjoy these couple of videos - one of the beluga whales from the Atlanta Aquarium, which is the largest aquarium in the world! OOOOhhh...and I took a picture of the Octopus as I was with a staff member of the Governor's Commission on Community Service and he told me a story about a time he was hunting Octopus outside Yap Island in Micronesia. He served in the Peace Corps there and other places near Guam. Anyway, he told me that Octopi are very smart and after his friend speared one, the Octopus' tentacle immediately searched out this man's mask and removed it while sliding his tentacle down his throat. I know this is scary story, but the man quickly swam to the surface and cut the tentacle off and removed it from his esophagus/throat. So I took a picture of the Octopus in the aquarium and Mark told me the Octopus that did this was half the size of the one here. Anyway...for those of you who are planning Octopus hunting trips....BE careful!

Check out "Grumpy Bear" when he doesn't get his food right away...

What a sweet moment...

I love his (sitting) dance moves and the fact that he'll dance with Jack too!