July 2007 Adventure (Really Long)

After Sully Bear’s birthday party we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with the Grandparents, Aunt Kat, and the boy's cousin Lauren.
Coop loved Grandma's recliner. Sadly this was his las time in the chair as it's now broken and gone! (Below) Sully trying to get in trouble with the painter's ladder.

Aunt Kat got to snuggle with Bear as he was clear he preferred her nap for a lap!

We were so excited to be invited to stay with Emily for a few days while Jim went back to work. (Katie and Bruce’s) Katie was being thoughtful and didn’t want the boys to drive all the way back to Raleigh and then turn around on Wednesday and have to drive the 6+ hours to upper Maryland. Katie borrowed her dad’s mini-van and came all the way out to Haymarket to pick me and the boys up. (Thank you Katie I know that was a ton of driving!!) She also had to save me and figure out how to collapse Lauren’s pack-n-play. She didn’t realize how much work she had to do. Did I mention she had to install the car seats too because I’d never had to do it?

The first night was a bit more difficult then I had anticipated. Getting Bear and Coop to go to sleep at the same time not so easy in a new place. I think they stayed up till about 10 when they normally go down at 8 but they were just way too excited. The next day Katie and I had big plans to go to Burke Lake and take the kids on a train ride. We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart. With three kids, two mom’s and a mini-van it took a lot longer than you would have thought! Then we headed out to Burke Lake and no joke by the time we got there all three kids were dead asleep.

So we drove around Burke Lake with me joking Katie about how I thought us staying with her was supposed to eliminate time in the car! It all worked out though because as we drove in there was a big fat sign saying the train was out of order so we drove around and found a playground and waited for them to wake up. They must have felt us staring at them willing them to wake up because finally Coop and Emily woke up and we took them out to the playground where they shared the tunnel and went down the slide. Then Emmy wanted to go on a super secret path on a super secret mission to the lake so she lead the way with Katie and Coop in tow as I waited for Bear to wake up. Bear and I met them down by the lake where we threw sticks in the water and Coop kept saying, “Wow.” Then we took another super secret path while Katie and I sang the Backyardigan’s song “Secret Agent’. Yes, it was a clue that we may like that show more than the kids. Back at the house Katie had lots of fun games for the kids to play. They pulled out the parachute, blew bubbles, played video games and drove Emily's little car.

Later I got to watch all three kids by myself while Katie ran out for a minute. Katie had me all scared because Emmy had never really stayed with anyone but the grandparents without having a fit. She didn’t want to share her train at first but then she did and she was so proud! She came up to me and told me how she had shared her train and she was, "Very brave." Then we had to find her treasure for the pirate ship and that meant we had to find the map. I tore the place apart looking for this map. Not sure why I thought it was a good idea because I had no idea what it even looked like. Then I came across the treasure and Emmy was willing to pretend she had found the map to get to the treasure but I didn’t move on fast enough because then she decided she needed to have the map again. All the while the boys were playing and tearing apart the play room but I didn’t care as long as Emmy didn’t cry! Luckily Katie came home found the map (in the backpack where it was supposed to be- go figure) and saved the day. I realized that while I would love to have a girl (even have the name picked out) I can barely handle two kids let alone three!!

The next leg of our trip was to head to Maryland (last exit before Delaware) to visit with Logan (Jamie and Andy). We got set up and enjoyed Logan’s awesome playground and pool. We thought the boys might be tired from our travels but they had a whole new room of toys to destroy and a train set. The boys were in heaven. The next day we had a wonderful pajama day where we got to play and relax and do some FreedomRocks work. Every time the dog, Max, would come in Bear would pull tufts of his hair out and just squeal in total delight. He was so excited about the dog it was really cute. (Luckily Andy came home and took the boys outside to play in the sandbox, they were going a little stir crazy by the afternoon.) I found the difference between the girls playing and the boys playing so fascinating. Logan was super helpful letting us know if the boys were getting into something they shouldn't be or if they needed help but he didn't care much if he had their attention or not. The independent play was so different then when it's with girls.

The next day we packed up again and made the trek to Gordonsville, VA to visit with Carly and Cason (Chris & Kevin). Again we thought man the boys are going to be so exhausted and annoyed with all the driving, but they showed up and saw a whole new playground and new toys to play with. Not only that but there were cats to chase. (Poor, poor cats.) Cooper learned to ride a little scooter, Sully enjoyed the trampoline and found a new favorite nap place in Cason’s swing on the porch. The next day the boys delighted in the pool. Cooper was brave and wanted to go down the slide. The first time he slid into Jim’s arms and happily went to do it again into my arms.

Unfortunately all thirty pounds of him came a little to fast for me and he went right into the water. (Oh my god- want to talk about guilt.) He was fine, not even a tear, but man I felt so bad! Carly and I got some good snuggle time in. She let me read her three books to her before bed even though I couldn’t sing I feel like I got an A for effort! Who else but a little 4 year old girl can get two grown men to play Barbie twister???

After all our traveling Jim wanted to wake up in our own bed on Sunday and have a day to get ready for the work week. So we packed up again and headed home Saturday afternoon.

We have the most amazing family and friends and were so blessed to be able to do a visit like we did. We have super amazing boys! They were so easy to travel with and it was just so wonderful to spend time with my dear girlfriends and to have our kids hang out.

We’ve decided to make that an annual trek!!

Sully’s 1st Monihan Birthday Party

We made the trek to NOVA to celebrate Sully Bear turning one! It was an amazing get together of friends and family. Some of mom’s friends came and made it even more special as her presence was just really felt. The boys flitted around as they love to do and basked in all the love and affection showered on them. We had a bubble machine, took the birthday quiz, and opened a gazillion presents. Then the boys went right upstairs and fell asleep utterly exhausted. Our only lesson learned is going forward we can only serve foods that the boys can eat. Cooper has gotten very good at reaching onto the serving table and they both broke out pretty bad after the party. We are thinking of making little signs to pin on their backs that say, “Don’t feed the boys.”

It was a wonderful birthday party. We are very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to help us celebrate!! Thanks to everyone who came out and was a part of Sully's special day!

Highchair Hijinks

You can't tell in the picture but Cooper was actually feeding Bear his food! He will try to eat it himself and then I tell him it's for Bear and he will turn and give it to Bear with this huge grin.

The reason Bear can't be put in his highchair without being strapped in!

Where's Bear?

Day At The Zoo

Mud Puddle

Day At The Park With Auntie Susan

Mischevious

This is why I no longer have an herb garden :-)

Sleep Update

Jim posted in June our sleep issues with Bear. I would love to report that we now have a happily sleeping baby Bear who goes down on demand and stays asleep all night. But I can’t. Unfortunately Bear has been blessed with the stubborn gene and a really good set of lungs that I’m sure have been keeping up our neighbors. It was a big deal when we were able to get him to go to sleep without nursing at his bed time. It was awesome when we could get him to go back down without nursing after his first initial waking up somewhere around 10 pm. Even better was when we could get him to take his afternoon nap without nursing. Now we are trying to take the 2 am nursing away and he is not a happy camper. Unfortunately for him his momma is even more of an unhappy camper so he has to suffer. He started to pinch, scratch and pull at his 2 am feeding waking me up and keeping me in severe pain. I was willing to let him nurse as long as I could sleep through it. Once that stopped and I went for almost a week being woken up and kept up by his little shenanigans well, I was no longer playing that little game. So his crib got lowered and Jim and I switched sides on the bed and we do not have a happy little Bear from 2-4 am. It’s only been three nights and each change has taken us two weeks to implement so I’m suspecting we still have a few more nights of unpleasantness.

I came across an article in Baby Magazine this week that just made me feel better. I’ve been doubting our process and feeling like I should have sacrificed my sleep in the early months instead of now when he’s more stubborn and feeling guilty because he is so unhappy and has dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and feeling like we just did it all wrong. But this article basically says if you have a baby you are going to go through sleep issues it’s just the way it is. We all deal with it in different ways and there is no “right” way. Even if she’s wrong I like it and I’m going with it. I am blessed with a husband willing to do all the hard work because without him I'm not sure if we would be getting any sleep at all. It's almost (ok really) frustrating that Jim can put him down without there even being a fuss but if it's me he will scream and scream! He's got his mommy's number.

My other tactic has been to wear him out in the morning so he will sleep his whole nap without waking up. I will do just about anything to keep him awake in the car to get him in the house and put him to sleep in the crib! I've gotten them both so tuckered they have just fallen out a few times utterly exhausted and of course provided me with the cutest pictures!

Progress

The boys have not been very happy with my meals the last two weeks. Tonight was no different. Bear started doing his smack smack smack on the high chair sending all his food flying. The carpet is literally covered with his uneaten meal. Coop started feeding me his meal so I knew he didn’t like it. So a little later I pulled out their favorite- hummus. Bear would come up and only eat it if I gave him the spoon. He would take it and run off to eat it then bring me back the spoon for more. Cooper seeing this ran to the silverware drawer opened it, reached in, felt around and pulled out a spoon and handed it to me. He’s never done that before and I just cracked up.

Even bigger news: Bear has figured out how to drink from a straw. He has refused every sippy cup no matter the brand. I threw out a whole bag of cups he wouldn’t use. But yesterday he was playing with my water bottle and all of a sudden he was getting little sips in. All day I tried to get him to take sips from the water bottle to no avail. But tonight after their bath Coop was drinking some of my water and Bear comes over and starts blowing then sucking and getting sips of water. He did it over and over and actually enjoying his drink! When he was done he put it back on my lap looked me right in the eye and said, “Dat you.” A little while later he comes back pulls it down and takes a few more sips and says, “Got it!” That was the first I had heard him say that so I was tickled.

Not My Babies Anymore

Today was a day where I realized it’s time to do a little bit more of what I think is the hardest part of parenting- letting go. Coming out of the gym Bear was eager to get out of my arms and walk on his own. He is now just holding my hand and walking down the stairs himself! (He tries to go right behind Cooper and touch Coop’s head after he makes it down each stair.) I was so impressed with him and when we got home he wanted to walk where I used to carry him. He is getting so independent. Then I look up and see that Cooper is going down the big staircase by himself and out of eyesight! Fear lurched in my heart as I thought he might tumble down the stairs but he was fine and waiting for me to clap for him that he did it all by himself.

We made it downstairs to the apartment and I dropped our stuff inside and when I came back outside I saw Bear literally running towards a flock of geese screaming at the top of his lungs! Again with the panic in my heart. I had this image of them turning on him and chasing him and biting him. Instead he ended up splitting the flock in half and they avoided him carefully. Then Cooper, in a shocking twist, took off running at the other half and seriously chased one half of the flock way down to the end of the apartment. I had to call him back. Then I just sat there and watched them as they explored. Cooper is into picking berries off bushes and handing them to me. Bear started kicking the soccer ball. It was just one of those days where I realized (yet again) my boys are growing up. Then Bear started eating goose poop and I laughed because he reminded me he’s still my baby. Whew, I was getting worried.

Got It Like That

I just thought this e-mail from Katie about her almost 3 year old daughter, Emily, was way too cute:

Subject: Cute Story
When I say "who is my favorite baby?" Emily responds "Sully!" Then she proceeds to be Sully and I have to address her as Sully and she calls me Ms. Abbie. Quite an imagination!
Katie

Then-----
I talked to Chris today who has a 4 year old daughter, Carly, who asks about Cooper and Sully all the time and had to create a nickname for her baby brother Cason (she wanted to call him Bear). Our boys are creating quite a stir with the ladies already!!!