Adorableness

Charlie speaks

While in the bathroom at a restaurant down the shore...Charlie had to poop so I took him:


C- "mom, you has to leave the bafroom so I can haves my privacy"
Me- "sweetie I can't leave you in here by yourself, I'll just turn around"
C- "oh okay, mom, do you has to poop?"
Me- "nope, not right now, thanks though"
C- "Oh, you just don't has a butt?"
Me- "I have a butt, but I don't need to go poop, that's all" (I had turned to look at him at this point)
C- "oh, hey mom, turn around and stop staring at my face like that, I needs privacy"
Me- "sorry sweetie, tell me when you're done then"
C- "mom, I needs a mazagine"




The other day we were watching our friends' baby Abby. I was getting ready for work and I asked Charlie to entertain Abby (4 months old) and Aaron while they were on the floor.


Me- "Charlie can you keep Abby and Aaron happy while I put on my makeup"?
C- "Sure mom, can I just tickle their cute little feets"?
Me- "You can do whatever you want, just stay away from their heads. Don't do anything to hurt them please"!
C- "OK, I won't, I just won't hurt their feelings, mom, do babies have feelings?"
Me- "they do have feelings buddy"
C- "Right because everyone has feelings, right mom?!"

I just thought that was sweet. He never talked about feelings before!



Last night while putting him to bed, Alex was out with friends so it was just me and the boys.

Me- "alright buddy, no getting out of bed, it's time to go to sleep, do you need anything else?"
C- "um, I think my room is just creepy right now so I'm gonna sleep in your bed for a couple of hours until daddy comes home, alright"
Me- "no bud, no sleeping in mommy's bed, what's creepy about your room?"
C- "I don't know, but it's too creepy so I can't sleep tonight, alright!"
Me- "how about I keep the hall light on while you are falling asleep, will that help?"
C- "that sounds like the perfect idea mommy, thank you so much"

ps- it took him 2 hours to fall asleep but he stayed in bed! I wonder what he finds creepy about his room...hmmmm

Dutch Wonderland

We had a great time at Dutch Wonderland...thanks to my sister's friends who got us free tickets (he's the head of security there). It was a nice day and beautiful weather! We saw Duke the dragon as soon as we walked into the park so Charlie gave him a huge hug.
Tyler and Bode (my adorable nephew)

Charlie and Ethan (my other adorable nephew!)

This was Bode's first ride and it scarred him for the rest of the day...poor guy!

Charlie and Ethan having a blast!

Log flume...I stayed on dry ground for all the ride as I was in charge of baby Aaron. He was a trooper but got pretty sick of confinement by the end of the day!

Kim checking to ride for safety...don't wanna fall out!

Can't wait to go back!

Our week in review

We had a nice week this past week. We were super slow at work so I took advantage of some accumulated vacation time and took some time off. I only worked 16 of my usual 36 hours a week which was nice! I regrouped and spent lots of time with my boys and really enjoyed myself. Good thing I did, we are now busy and I'll be doing 16 hours of overtime this week. That's the craziness of the NICU!

One of our daytime adventures was spent at Smith Playground . I hated it. I swear there were a million rules, and I felt like we were being yelled at every ten seconds. Charlie had a blast and loved all of the equipment, but the rules were very irritating and strictly enforced by the "staff". One of the rules...no running...these are kids on a playground with a rubberized ground. Really, no running! Another rule...no strollers in the totlot. Kids aged 5 and under can play in this great space with equipment just their size, but their siblings asleep in the stroller must be in the "stroller parking" which is too far away to be safe. So irritating! Another rule...are you ready for this...NO CELL PHONE USE! WHAT! Yeah, like I said, Charlie had fun but I have a bad taste in my mouth for this place that we used to love coming too. Now there's "staff" who enforce these dumb rules...I digress...It was a nice day. Earlier in the day I ripped out all of the sod that we planted last summer. It wasn't growing...and there were a million nasty weeds. So I spent a few hours ripping up the sod and weeds to get it ready to fertilize and plant a garden this fall! We'll see how many years it is before that happens!

Charlie and Daddy coming down the big wooden slide...he loved this and wanted to go down it, "just three more times" (while holding up 4 fingers!)

Aaron passed out in the stroller...he has a cold and is getting more teeth...he was in a Motrin haze at this point!

Charlie on the giant saucer swings
I love this pic!

We also watched Abby this week...she is now 4 months old and is so cute! She's still tiny and petite but boy is she feisty!

My big guy hanging out in the jumper...he prefers this to the exersaucer...not as much stimulation...

My boys with Sidney. Sidney, ever since Aaron's last hospitalization, has been so protective of him. She sleeps outside of the room while he naps and she follows us around with him all the time. Now when he is on the floor she has a real interest in him and it's super cute! He still prefers things that he can put in his mouth!

Look for some pics soon from our other trip to Dutch Wonderland! Other than what I talked about above, we had Rosh Hashana this past weekend which involved lots of family time. Alex and I have been making time so that we can both get some running in on the days we want. I'm still only averaging 3-4 days per week while he's putting in 5-6. I always get wrapped up in house work or the kids and time gets away from me. We'll see if I can make it to five this week!

Brotherly Love

Some cute pictures of my boys playing together...Charlie loves to make Aaron laugh and he really doesn't have to do much to make that happen. Sometimes I have to ask Charlie to go in the other room when Aaron is eating because Aaron will stare at him and not eat a thing! It's really adorable. Enjoy!

Pictures from this past weekend...

Sitting up like a big boy in his highchair...hamming it up for the camera!

We went to a birthday party this weekend and Charlie had a blast...look at this awesome slide!

Aaron got in on the action at the party too!

My boys

We had a fun BBQ at my parents' on Saturday. My Uncle Norman (above with Charlie) was in town from Hawaii and my grandparents' (my grandpa Tutu is Norman's cousin) are still in town from California. So we had a big BBQ that was tons of fun and super delicious (my mom's cooking always is!).

Last year when Uncle Norman visited, Charlie called him Uncle Morman. My dad was hoping he still called him that...but he said Norman this time. Then we wondered if Charlie would always call my dad "Gampa" or eventually call him Grandpa...we hope it's always Gampa!

Bode and Norman

Uncle Norman with my Tutus

This trip accomplished something big for us...we decided what the kids will call my tutus. Charlie picked tutu for my mom and Gampa for my dad...so that's what they are to the kids. We gave them the name "Makua" to use which I think means elder in Hawaiian...not really sure...guess I should have been paying attention! So Charlie now calls my Grandma "Tutu Makua" and my Grandpa "Gampa Makua". It works! Even Bode can say Makua...yeah he's talking like crazy and now pooping and peeing on the potty. Overachiever!

Charlie really enjoyed the chocolate cake!

There was a great guitar and singing session with my other grandpa's (my mom's dad) old guitar.

Aaron and Tutu...showing off his two bottom teeth!

I love this picture! My mom and my little man!

Aaron had his 6 month check up today and he weighs 17 pounds. He's 40% for weight, 60% for length, and 70% for head size. He's doing so much more this past week...he can roll both ways now and rolls on purpose to get to something. He sat in a tri-pod sit for a few seconds on his own on Saturday. The pediatrician is pleased that he is meeting his bigger milestones on time for a 4 1/2 month old (which is what he REALLY is, and although he still has low tone and still has head lag and all of that, he's finding ways to make his body do what he wants it to do. He reaches for his bottle and helps "hold" it and really is doing so great! Hooray!

Tomorrow Charlie moves up to the half pint class at school. He's nervous and doesn't want to change classes but all of his classmates are going with him so it will be fine we hope!

Watch us on TV!

NBC 10 (Dawn Timmeney to be exact) came to our house last week to do a story on Alex and his vision (lack thereof) and how he is coping, the visionwalk, etc. It is airing tonight (9/9/09) on the 11pm news during the health segment, and re-airing tomorrow (9/10/09) during the 5:30pm news. Watch us and let us know what you think. Because we have yet to see it, we have no idea how it will turn out (does the camera really add 10 pounds...if so can they put a disclaimer that I just had a baby...six months ago, but still!). We are hoping to bring awareness to degenerative retinal diseases and the Visionwalk and the foundation fighting blindness. Stay tuned!

Labor Day Weekend at the Beach!

We went to Dewey Beach this weekend for a big family fun-filled time! It was alot of fun. My grandparents (my dad's parents) are in town from California to meet Aaron and Bode...and see Charlie who was 10 months old last they saw him. Christy and her crew were there and my parents were there as well. It was a full house but it was alot of fun and there were lots of hands in deck to help hold kiddos!My grandma tutu holding Aaron...he loves to snuggle!

My grandpa tutu holding Aaron...

Bode and Charlie playing before bed...the got along soemtimes but mostly just yelled, "no mine" back and forth. Bode started daycare and knows the concept of mine and Charlie doesn't understand that Bode is alot younger than him. He doesn't understand that yelling back at him does nothing more than make Bode yell even louder! I find it cure and I know that they will get along once they are more on even ground. It took Charlie and my nephew Ethan a long time to play well together and they were only 9 months apart. It wasn't until the last few months that they are pretty even developmentally and can play well together. So I know the day is coming, it will just take time!

Snuggling with my favorite big boy. He has been such a snuggle bug lately and I love it!

Trying to get Bode in on the action

Grandpa tutu with both of my boys

On the beach...Grandpa sleeping in his chair while Grandma helps Charlie with his banana

Aaron was a trooper on the beach. We had great weather again...low humidity, 80 degrees, lots of sun. He slept some and played in his chair some. We got about 3 hours both saturday and sunday on the beach...not bad!

One last shot of me and my adorabel nephew while we were out to eat.

Aaron passed out during dinner...ahhhh!

I enjoyed some great running while at the beach thanks to Alex and my parents for watching the boys. I have been running regularly for the past month now and I am hooked again. I've been trying to run 3-4 miles at least 4 times a week. At the beach I had one 5 mile run. It makes me more relaxed, and I certainly feel better about myself once I am finished! Running was always my therapy, but ever since I trained for the marathon last year, I almost forgot that runs didn't have to be miles and miles long. Three miles is plenty and doesn't take up the whole day. I almost got programmed to think that the miles had to be 7-10 per run as they were at the end of my training. So now that I have my mind back where it needs to be, I am enjoying running regularly again. Alex and I talked about doing the Philly half marathon this fall...we'll see! Hope everyone had a great weekend!