I got ma'amed!!!

I was coming out of the grocery store and the teenager who worked there putting carts awaywas being ultra polite (which I suppose I should be happy about and I am), but he called me 'ma'am!' I mean, I know I have two kids, but how old do I look?! I don't know the appropriate age to call a woman that... I am more used to being called 'miss' but I suppose that's not appropriate either, since I have been a married woman for almost eight years now... Oh, and Philip said that if I wrote about being ma'amed that I needed to write that he was sirred by the same teenager while he was putting the cart away. I guess we're just officially grown ups now. It was bound to happen sooner or later...

Blading

I have started rollerblading at the beach with my friend, Anj and the kids. I totally suck at rollerblading, but the only way to get better is to do it! We take the stroller and go and a couple of times we have even done lunch. We are trying to make it a regular Friday morning thing. It's great exercise and something different for the kids to do. Not a bad view to look at, either! ;-)

Here is Anj with the kids. Sorry I took it from the wrong angle to be able to see Gavin. They were stopped to watch the man bulldozing sand.







Here I am with the kids. You can see the bulldozer a little bit in the background.



Here is Colin, doing what he did the whole time. He didn't take much of a nap today in the earlier morning (like at 10:00) because we were out this morning, so he had a late morning nap at the beach while we rollerbladed and ate lunch. When we got home Colin ate and I put him down for his afternoon nap. Hopefully he will have enough awake time after the nap that he will sleep tonight! Keep your fingers crossed for me!



I went to the car to put away the stroller and Anj took Gavin back to watch the bulldozer. When I finished putting the stroller away and my shoes on, I saw that the guy working the bulldozer had stopped to talk to Gavin! I got a quick pic right before he went back to work! Anj told me that he (the bulldozer man) had decided he wanted to drive one after playing with them as a kid. So nice of him to stop to make a little boy's day! I'm sure Gavin loved it!



Waving good-bye to the man in the bulldozer!

Brotherly Love

I love that Gavin thinks of his brother and is so sweet. Gavin found his snack cups (empty) and wanted to share with Colin. He said, "This one for baby," and he put it in Colin's hand. He then said something along the lines of "Good job," and clapped for Colin that he was holding onto it with his hand, hehehe.

Toy Tester

I dusted off Gavin's old doorway jumper and an exersaucer that a friend gave me from her son and tried out Colin in them.

Gavin asked to play in the jumper, but I told him no, that it was for the baby. I was wondered if maybe he remembered playing in it and remembered it being fun.

Here is Colin in the doorway jumper. He seemed to like it when I made him bounce up and down and was talking to him. He doesn't have the muscle strength or control to do it on his own yet. He will get there, though, before I know it. I can't believe he's almost four months already.





He doesn't have a lot of strength when it comes to sitting up, so he wound up like this a lot, or leaning backward.



He seemed to like this for a short time as well. He seemed really interested in the orange star on the left.



Before I put down the breaks to keep the exersaucer in place, Gavin thought it was great fun to spin the baby in circles. I should have taken a video.





Here comes the source of the entry name: Gavin feels it his right as older brother to test out Colin's toys. Since the exersaucer just sits there at a low level, I can't easily keep Gavin from getting into it, but at this point he's not really hurting it anyway. Gavin thought that it was for him and he even told me so. When I put the baby in it after this, he told me it wasn't for baby, it was for Gavin. I'll probably have to put a stop to Gavin playing in it, in time; I don't want him to break it, after all. Gavin he thinks EVERYTHING is for him!!! Now I am thinking he probably doesn't remember the doorway jumper, he just thought it was something cool he wanted to try out. He's not going to be doing the jumper ever again, he might actually break it because he is so heavy and strong compared to a baby that it is meant for.



Gavin's cousin thought it would be fun to give him bunny ears in the picture. Do you like Gavin's other "toy" in his hand? That black thing in an attachment for the vacuum cleaner!

Crazy Gavin

Gavin being the verbal/mobile/more active one is still quite often the source of all of my stories. It's nice that a lot of times they involve his brother, though!

Gavin was having fun with Mr. Potato Head. He used the eyes and hat from the large Mr. Potato Head container. They make for a unique look.



Gavin wanted to put on Colin's shoes for him, even though I hadn't even suggested and didn't even care if the baby had on shoes. I guess Gavin thought that Colin should be wearing shoes since I put his shoes on him.



Gavin has been coming up with unexpected things lately. I put Colin in this jacket and Gavin called him, "Snowman baby." I am wondering if a snowman in a book that they read to them at school had a hat kind of like the hood on this jacket. We don't have any books about snowmen here at home. I do know, however, that they did a snowman craft and stuff at school. Gotta love preschool.





Gavin has always loved kitchen utensils. I have forbade Gavin to play with forks ever since the baby has come (I get so scared every time Gavin gets near Colin with a fork: what if he falls and stabs the baby?) so now he is going gaga for the spoons. I am finding them everywhere! He is also did this one morning:



He brought me all of the long handled spoons in the drawer!!!

If you haven't seen the snow...

...day entry, check it out! Scroll down, or click!

Cocoon Baby

What will this cocoon turn in to? The neighbor of a friend of mine is moving and found this when she was boxing up. My friend thought it would at least make a good picture. I think it does! He liked it pretty well, actually. I still swaddle Colin at night, so he's still used to being confined.



Blogger still thinks it's smarter than me...Gavin called Colin, "Kitty Baby" when he saw him in this. Philip said that he was chanting it when he left his room at bedtime. It's really funny because Philip and Jessica had just been joking about sewing the points of the hat into ears.

Snow!

There was a snow day at one of the local parks that we were able to make it to for a little bit.

Gavin played for a short time with his friend, Kaylee, in the snow. Look at her in her cute little hat!







My friend, Holly, took a picture of us for me, thanks!



Kaylee and Gavin played in the bounce house for a little bit. It took Gavin a while to get warmed up to it. When he finally started jumping, of course, he was out of time and had to leave the bounce house (you had to wait in a line for everything).





Here is Holly with Zackary, and me with Colin. What cute babies! Holly's husband, Jared, took the picture, thanks!



I thought it would be cute to take pictures of Gavin and Colin together afterward. Even though you can't see it, Gavin is wearing his "Little Engineer" t-shirt that has a dog on a train with snow on top.





Colin is wearing a sweater and hat set that my aunt made for me when I was a baby. I thought it was appropriate for him to wear. What better opportunity would I get to dress him in it?

Playdate @ the park

We FINALLY got together with my friend and her two kids that are the same ages as my kids.

Here is Kaylee playing with Gavin. They have so much fun together!



Let's swing!



Here is Colin with Zackary. Zack is just five days older than Colin. Hopefully they will be good friends.



I love this picture. Their heads are tilted in the same direction and it looks like they could be looking at the same thing...

Copy Cat

Gavin has started to go to his kitchen and get his retro phone now when I talk on the phone. He has done it a couple of times. I thought it was really cute.

Teacher Gavin

The other day after nap I put Colin on the floor and read a book about trains to Gavin. After we were finished Gavin put the book on the floor, angled it toward Colin and was telling him about the trains. Unfortunately Colin began crying after I went to get the camera, but you get the idea.

Lunch

I made onigiri for lunch again the other day. I tried putting on nori (seaweed) this time. I don't think that Gavin was too sure about it. The bear shaped onigiri look kind of like Mickey Mouse heads.

Hanging Out

Colin fell asleep the other night after nursing with his head hanging down off of my lap. Philip thought that it was really funny.

In the crib

Sometimes I set Colin down in the crib with the mobile on to entertain him and I also have him take his morning nap in the crib. This time Gavin joined him. I love how Gavin will find a blanket to cover both himself and Colin and then lay down next to him.

Gavin was looking out the side of his eye at the camera.

I ain't afraid of no poop!

I decided that I should do cloth diapering again to save some money. Compared to last time, this time around it doesn't really seem like a big deal. I guess maybe because I'm used to dealing with poop and pee all of the time now? Sure, swishing poo diapers in the toilet really isn't fun, but I can always wash my hands (and I do that plenty of times in a day now)...

The g-diapers were all right, but expensive, and I don't know if I was putting them on wrong, or what, but often times some of the pee leak over the top of the diaper. I already had the diapers I need to do cloth, (passed down from one of my sisters-in-law, thanks!!!) I am using a one size diaper that "grows" with the baby and you can use from when they are small until toilet training, but I bought a few more of my favorite covers to go with them. I thought if I was going to do it seriously, I should really like the covers I use. I don't like the plastic or rubber pants which I have several of. I also have a few air flow covers which I really like that allow some air in when the baby moves. If I am going to do it seriously I should like what I have. I do them all of the time except for at night with Colin (and I haven't been doing it at church, either but I probably should, it's not that big of a deal), but it does make his butt look huge and it is hard to get some of his pants over. But any-who.

I bought a couple of these, they are the wetlands print. I thought that the ducks, frogs, and turtles were so cute!



"Cheese!"





I also bought a couple of the Asia themed covers, one in Colin's current size and a larger size that fits Gavin right now, but will be able to use in the future with Colin as well. If I keep it up, (which I plan to) I will need to buy some more covers in time, but that won't be a big deal.




Speaking of Gavin, he SO does not care about potty training. Even if I put him in a cloth diaper, he just goes about his merry way just the same as in a disposable. I have also bought little charts and big and little stickers (little for pee, big for poo) and told him he could have them if he went pee or poo on the potty. No reaction, except saying that he wanted a big sticker, but when I said he had to go poo for a big sticker he didn't seem any more motivated and just moved on immediately after I told him about it. I even bought him Thomas underwear the other day and told him he could only have them if he went on the potty. We put him on the potty when we got home (he didn't go or anything), then I put on the underwear and told him he didn't want to get Thomas wet (hoping he wouldn't want to ruin them because they are Thomas). We kept checking on him and then one of his cousins came up to play and we got distracted. The next thing I knew, there was a puddle on the floor and Gavin was still going about his business like nothing happened. Hmmm... he couldn't care less about it. Next I am going to try cool alert pull ups that will give him a cool sensation when he pees. Maybe he'll start associating it with the "gotta go" feeling? Not sure. I also have a supply of thick underwear training pants and plastic pants to go over, but if he doesn't care about the wetness with a cloth diaper or with regular underwear, he probably won't care about it with training pants. I think that he just doesn't recognize the feeling at all right now and doesn't care to, either, which I think is essential in potty training.

One of my sisters-in-law suggested that I put him on the toilet every hour. That seems like so much work and I know he would fight me on it. I would also have to stay home ALL DAY and I like to get out every day at some point... I don't know... *sigh*