More Zoo Photos

Here are some more pictures from the zoo. They have a great kids area with all sorts of farm animals, a petting zoo, etc. They also have a Little People Farm with a slide, a barn and animals - all life size Fisher Price Little People pieces! It was so adorable!


Silly little farmer!

I loved this sheep...it was so cute!

Moooo!!

Future horse racer...

Each kid got a monkey to take home - Drew helped me pick them out and each was different. They all liked wearing them around their necks!

Elizabeth crashed on the way home but her mommy was nice enough to bring her monkey in the house when she put Lizzie to bed!

A Trip to the Zoo

On Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather (sunny and 85!) and spent some time at the zoo. Auntie Maggie, Uncle Jim and Elizabeth were in town for the weekend and so we all went and had a great time! The zoo here is huge!! You walk a ton...they even rent bikes if you prefer to see the animals that way. We took a picnic lunch and managed to find a shaded spot to stop and eat. It was fun!!


Momentary Brotherly Love

A monkey hanging out right over the path...he was so cute!

"Here little monkey!"

Where are those animals they keep promising me?!

Elizabeth enjoying her picnic lunch...yummy Cheerios!

For Daddy

Today, Daddy had a stressful day. So the boys colored signs for him and we took a picture to send him at work. I think it turned out pretty well!

For my mom...

I promised my mom that I would get my sink cleaned off and functional. I got it done and took a picture to prove it...

...because you never know when it will look like this again!!

Christmas Gifts...

...a little late! Santa had a little issue this year with assembly of Drew's "big" present so he didn't leave it or Allen's comparable gift. He did, however, leave new gifts for Daddy to put together after we moved to Arizona. So here are Drew and Allen with their new wheels...a Big Wheel for Drew and a Radio Flyer car for Allen!


Drew still needs to grow into the Big Wheel, but he does enjoy riding his tricycle around the neighborhood. We try to go out every evening and both boys are really enjoying the weather and the time outside!

Goofy Kid!

For Valentine's Day, I got the boys a bunch of heart shape balloons. They have been playing with them ever since and are having a great time! Drew found his Mickey ears (from our trip to Disney when he was 18 months old) and wanted the balloons tied to the hat. He looked so funny but man was he enjoying himself!

Brothers

The boys are starting to act more like brothers every day. They are playing together more, arguing more, and generally acting like they care that the other one is there. Today we made grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. Drew always likes to stand on a stool and help me and today Allen wouldn't leave him alone...he kept climbing up on the back of the stool trying to see the counter. So I found another one and up he climbed and they helped me fix lunch. It was too cute...I had to take a picture!


I convinced Drew to switch step stools so that Allen could be higher!


Then, later this afternoon I was on my hands and knees cleaning the kitchen floor (not in the best mood) and I looked up to see this:

There they were...just sitting in the chairs I moved out of the kitchen and watching...it was adorable!

Image Gently

This is a note for any parents out there who are considering a CT scan for their child or have needed scans in the past. Please visit the Image Gently site for information and downloads related to the proper use of CT scans in children and how to best keep and transfer the information between your child's various healthcare providers. This is important information for any parent out there!

Words

I was looking at my friend Allie's blog today and reading all of her daughter's words. She has hit the 30 word milestone and she is 7 weeks younger than Allen. This prompted me to look back at my blog to Drew's post when he was 14 months old (2 months younger than Allen) and see where he was. It was about 30 words.
Allen...not so much. Here is a list of Allen's words:
mama
dada
Drew
Maddie (comes out more like...well, it doesn't really sound like it but he knows what he's talking about!!)
Nana
night-night
ball
balloon
cracker
thank you
outside (he said this once, but I had witnesses)
choo choo
bye bye
hi
light
no (and shakes his head)
paci
lovie (again, not really the word but I know what he means when he says whatever he says!)
vacuum (sounds more like bye bye, but he LOVES the vacuum!!)
juice
banana (his FAVORITE food!)

...that's it. And some of those I am probably stretching a little to say that he can say the word! It just goes to show that the second child definitely talks later/less than the first child! Oh well...we're working on making him ask for things and I am doing more signs with him than I did with Drew (primarily because I didn't need to sign with Drew!). I'm sure he'll improve with time! ****Update: Ok - so he can say a lot, it's just not that frequent!

But man...this kid is physical! Allen has started the Little Gym with mommy on Tuesday's while Drew is at school. He loves it! He climbs on everything, hangs from the bar, walks the balance beam (using the hand rails on the sides with no help from mommy), runs, loves to do forward rolls...he's very active and loves it! At home he can climb pretty much anything, including step stools and ladders when we have them out for decorating. He climbs all over the playground and will go down any slide. So far, there is enough fear in him to keep him safe, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last!

More House Photos

Here are some exterior shots of our new house...


Front - view from the park

Back - view from the corner of the backyard

Park across the street as seen from our front porch

Park as seen from the entrance to our neighborhood