Birthday Celebration - part 2 - Playgroup Party

We decided not to do a big party for everyone this year. We are having a family party this weekend and Seth will celebrate at school tomorrow as the Shabbat helper. So that left hosting the playgroup, that we have been getting together with since the kids were only a couple of months old. Of course I went a little crazy with decorating, food, and games for the Jungle theme. But Seth seemed to have a great time so all the work is worth it!

Poster collage of Seth throughout the year.

We had two very special guests at the playgroup party.... Grandma and Nana!!! It was really very special to have Grandma and Nana at the party today (and extremely helpful! thank you!!!).

Cupcakes made by me (thanks Duncan Hines)

We entertained the kids with all of Seth's toys ~ a snake hunt!

and Jungle stickers.

Justin had a great time too - there are so many younger siblings now for Justin to "play" with.

Happy Birthday Seth!!!

Justin - bath fun

Justin has been loving his bath. He has been kicking so much and soaking the bathroom and me I now give him his bath in the baby bath which I put in the big bath tub (the baby tub use to be on the sink).

Potty Training?

Seth has generally not been interested in potty training. Here or there we can get him on the potty - but nothing with any regularity. Nana suggested we try making a new effort when Seth turned 3. While making lunch today I casually mentioned to Seth that since he is 3 we should think about going on the potty, to let me know when he had to go and that I had fun Elmo underwear for him. Five minutes later, Seth said he had to go potty (this was a first), he went got his treat (chocolate of course) and then put on his underwear. Whoa! Where do we go from here? We had one pee accident before nap when we put back on a diaper. I have been trying to explain to him that there are steps to the process. First we wear underwear during the day and then for nap and nighttime. Did I just start potty training him by accident?

UPDATE: After his nap Seth was no longer interested in the whole underwear thing...

Sleep Update

Two steps forward and one step back...



Justin's sleep had been getting worse. Instead of sleeping from 7:30pm until his feeding at 3:00 am - Justin could be up a couple of times before then. It was really hard to let him fuss and go back to sleep on his own - because he was lying right next to us in a co-sleeper. Friday night we bit the bullet and put him in his own room. This is a big step because the master bedroom is on the third floor, while the boys rooms are on the second floor. This means up and down the stairs for feeding and what-not. I knew the time was coming. Justin is 5 months old - but I am lazy and it was nice being able to just look over at him in the middle of the night.



Generally, Justin's sleep has improved with the move. He has been consistently sleeping from 7:30 - 2ish. I feed him then and he has been sleeping until sometime in the 5 am hour. This is where the trouble comes in. Because Justin is now awake and we are unsure if he wants to eat and go back to bed or is up for the day. We have tried it both ways with varying results. The bigger problem is Seth. He has woken up around 1ish for the last couple of nights. No idea why - since Justin isn't up then. But in the 5 am hour - no matter how quiet I am or how fast I grab Justin, Seth is waking up. We have been getting him to go back to sleep or at least stay in bed until 6:30 but it has been hard. Last night (or early this morning) I was up and down the stairs 5 times - and Jerald had to do it 2 times. Cardio in the middle of the night!



The good news from this switch is that Justin has made a huge improvement in napping. For weeks, if napping in his crib (instead of in the car or in a stroller) Justin would only sleep for one sleep cycle (40 minutes). Yesterday, Justin slept for 2 hours in his crib - while Seth was napping!



I know it could be worse - but I am hoping that it will improve soon. Thankfully I make really good coffee!

Birthday Celebration - part 1 - the video

Birthday Celebration - part 1

We had a really nice and low key birthday celebration today. Nothing too fancy (we will be having some small celebrations later in the week). Seth was greeted by a huge picture collage of pictures of him from the past year hanging in the kitchen and some presents. After school, Seth Justin and I went to lunch at his favorite pizza place (mine too!). After naps we played outside a bit and then had a yummy dinner with Daddy and ended the day with cupcakes and candles.

Happy 3rd Birthday to Seth!!!

Seth ~

We cannot believe how fast these three years have flown by. You are an amazing little boy. We love your curiosity, joy for life, kindness, humor and all the love you freely give to family and friends. We love being your parents. You are truly a blessing in our lives. Our miracle. All who know you and get to love you are truly lucky.

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

Sheepshearing Festival

Today we attended the 22nd Annual Sheep shearing Festival. It was great to get outside to enjoy the nice weather. This is one of those things that before we had kids we would never motivate to - but it was really fun. We were very mobile in our swanky two person stroller (thanks Nana!). Our favorite part was the actual sheep shearing. Really cool to watch.

We also had fun trying on these cool puppets and eating yummy carnival food.

Playdate with Maddy

Life is pretty busy when you have kids. Unfortunately, it took 6 months for us to finally meet our friends Ethan and Jess' baby girl Maddy. But it was worth the wait! Ethan took advantage of school vacation to come out to our house for a great visit. Maddy is just adorable. She is moving so much. Rolling around and it looked like she is about to crawl! Justin seems like a lazy bum next to her. Sometimes he rolls to his side - but mostly just hanging around swatting at toys. Both Justin and Seth had a great time with Maddy and Ethan. For some reason, Seth had a mental block against Ethan's name but had so much fun with him. We all played hide-and-go-seek. Seth kept calling Ethan "that guy." Too funny! We hope to see Jess soon - and to see more of all three of them!

5 Months Old!!!

Justin got physical this month - he started rolling over from his front to his back and really started tolerating "tummy time" much better. He is really close to rolling over from his back to his front. Justin also started being able to sit-up by leaning on his arms (tri-pod sitting). Justin also spent a lot of time giving great big belly laughs - mostly directed towards his big-brother being silly. Justin also has been experimenting with which finger he prefers to suck on. It seems that he is favoring his thumb. We don't know how big he is this month because there is no 5 month check-up. Stay tuned for next month...

First Red Sox Game for the boys...

Our temple had a group of seats to the Red Sox game, so we decided to put on our gear and bring the boys to the their first game. We wound up with some pretty good April afternoon weather sitting out in the bleachers and the boys seemed to have a great time. Justin was just happy to be outside and Seth, while not overly interested in the game, thought the food was great.

As you can see, Nana, Uncle Jason, Aunt Naomi, Becca, Uncle Josh, and Uncle Jono joined us as well. Uncle Jono was even nice enough to volunteer to carry Seth out of the park when he got tired even though the game was not yet over. We managed to catch the end on the TVs beneath the stadium - Red Sox won the game in somewhat dramatic fashion holding on 2-1 after putting 2 guys on in the 9th. Go Sox!!!

Ball Pit

I had the "great idea" of taking out our pack and play and putting it in the kitchen. The main point of it is for when Justin can really sit up so he can be in it while I am working in the kitchen with a soft place to play. For now, we filled it with balls for Seth. Don't get me wrong - Seth has been having lots of fun with it. But, pretty much every time we have a huge fight about cleaning up the balls. Basically, Seth refuses to clean them up. What fun!

Lollipops

Seth and Joshua enjoying the last of our Passover stash of chocolate lollipops (thanks Grandma!).