The Easter Bunny, The Easter Bunny!

I started this post prior to Easter and now I find myself finishing it up days after Easter….sigh, this is the life with kids!  Easter was fast approaching.  Owen is old enough now to understand, to some extent, about the Easter Bunny.  The week leading up to Easter we talked about the Easter Bunny to Owen and Brandon; we told them how the Easter Bunny hides treats for us to find on Easter Sunday and that on Good Friday we would be going to West Edmonton Mall to see the Easter Bunny in person.  Cousin Zoe, Uncle Derek and Aunty Colette were coming with us too!  Each day Owen and Brandon had a different thought on going to see the Easter Bunny — one day it was okay we can go, another day it was nah I’ll stay home Mommy and the next day it was can Zoe come too??  This was quite the contrast to Zoe’s thoughts on seeing the Easter Bunny; Aunty Colette said that Zoe was vibrating with excitement and talked about seeing the Easter Bunny in Edmonton all week and then once we were there and waiting, when the Easter Bunny emerged Zoe’s eyes got really big and she was wowed.  Owen and Brandon watched Zoe’s reaction and then looked themselves, small smiles emerged on their faces and they were equally excited in their own way.  When it came time to sit with the Easter Bunny for a picture Zoe was a little unsure but she told us she was being brave; Brandon marched right over, well until he was a few feet away and then got concerned; Owen was okay to give the Easter Bunny high fives and get tickled but there was no way he was sitting with him.  We finally convinced Owen and Brandon that if Dad sat with the Easter Bunny it would be okay.  We have a wonderful picture of Dad, Owen and Brandon with the Easter Bunny.  No tears and smiles so it was a success.

Good Friday was dinner at Grandma and Grandpa H’s with Uncle Derek, Aunty Colette and Zoe; unfortunately Aunty Jodi was unable to make it.  The kids really enjoyed playing together and it was so wonderful to hear them calling out to each other.  Owen, Brandon and Zoe got to decorate Easter eggs, ice cupcakes and add sprinkles too!   Zoe has really opened up and was very comfortable with us, after dinner the kids played in the basement and Zoe showed me her suitcase, pillow and room she was sleeping in.  Zoe brought some library books — yes Zoe gets library books — we have not gone to the library to take books out with the boys; we are afraid of the condition they will be returned in — boys — and at this point they don’t show much interest in books.  Zoe grabbed her books and read to Owen — it was too cute!!  The kids played hide and seek under the bed covers and giggled and squealed all evening ending the night with bathtime fun for the three of them.  Soon there will be four of them — Uncle Derek and Aunty Colette are expecting another baby in the fall.  Zoe is very excited to be a big sister and filled me in with all the details — there is a baby in Mommy’s tummy, she wants a little sister and she is practicing to change diapers and feed and rock baby with her own baby doll. 

Saturday morning Aunty Claudette came over to decorate Easter eggs with the boys.  Owen really enjoyed dipping the eggs – gently, Brandon on the other hand loved to drop them in and make a splash and then stir the eggs very quickly.  It was quite the clean up but very much worth it.  Grandma K came over later to help get the turkey ready — we were having Easter dinner at our house this year.  Dinner went well, everything came out wonderfully and everyone enjoyed all the fixings that come with turkey dinner.  There were some Easter gifts for the boys — much needed spring clothes and then of course some fun treats for Owen and Brandon.  The boys did exceptionally well and stayed up quite late with everyone; it was really nice to have the time to sit and visit with everyone and not have to rush home to get the boys in bed.

 

Sunday morning the Easter Bunny came to our house; the boys woke to find Easter baskets filled with treats.  Grandma and Grandpa H, Uncle Derek, Aunty Colette and Zoe came for breakfast and again the kids enjoyed the time to play together.  Afterwards we went as a family for groceries — the boys and I mean all three of them — occupied their time while I collected the necessary groceries.  After nap time we went to Grandma K’s house — we heard that they Easter Bunny stopped at Grandma’s house too — and the boys enjoyed an Easteregg hunt throughout the house.  In the Easter egg hunt there was some outdoor chalk in their baskets and so of course that means coloring!  GG, Aunty Claudette, Dad, Owen and Brandon headed out to Grandma’s sidewalk to fill it with colors!

 

Easter Monday the day home was closed so I was home with Owen and Brandon.  We had a really great day — we went through the car wash and held hands (it was a little scary) and then had a play date with Tonya and Brooke.  We went to Brooke’s house this time; it took Owen a few minutes to warm up but once he saw the kitchen he was set, Brandon on the other hand took longer to warm up and spent most of his time on my lap playing with any toys that were within reach.  At one point Brandon got comfortable and all three of them were following each other throughout the kitchen, toy room and living room — Owen with the shopping cart, Brandon with the popper and Brooke with the stroller….all you heard was follow me, Brandon, this way Brooke!  We left just before lunchtime and got home in time for naps, after the naps we took Kosmo for a walk — Owen and Brandon in the wagon; it was such a beautiful day all they needed were their hoodies — Tigger and Pooh and Toy Story.  All in all it was a wonderful long weekend – the weather was great and we were able to visit with so much family!

An Eco-Weekend!

We had a very productive and eco-friendly weekend.  After dropping Owen and Dad off at gymnastics Brandon and I took some of the boys baby toys and clothes to Once Upon A Child.  This is a wonderful place — they take your gently used baby toys, clothes, really any baby items, sort through them and then give you cash right away — no waiting like traditional consignment stores.  The location on 137 ave and St Albert Trail has a wonderful selection of things and I usually leave with something!  To shop with just Brandon was an experience.  He held my hand as we walked through the parking lot to the store.  Brandon took his time, stopping to check out a pebble, see a car go by or look way up into the sky.  Once inside the store Brandon walked through the aisles with me, pausing when I paused to look at something and then leading the way.  It was so quiet and peaceful just Brandon and I.

Brandon has been wanting to help more around the house, so I found that helping with the empty bottles and recycle was something Brandon could handle.  He takes one item at a time and walks the the garage door — all the while repeating “recycle, recycle” — we open the door, walk down the few steps and put the item in the blue box….then repeat.  He has his big grin plastered on his face and you can tell he is just so proud of himself.

Owen has grown just enough that he can reach the light switches now.  So this weekend I have been teaching Owen the importance of turning out the lights when he leaves a room.  If you can turn the light on then you have to turn the light off, right?!  Owen ate it up and is the first to run into a room and switch the light on, turning the light off takes a few reminders, but so worth it!  Owen says “oh ha I almost forgot!”

I am tired of paying the electricity bill….Sunday we went out to Canadian Tire, Home Depot and then finally Rona to find some eco-friendly light bulbs for the house.  Sean insisted that if we were going to outfit the house with eco-saving light bulbs we would need “instant on” bulbs.  These are very hard to find, thus the several trips to find them.  In addition to the “instant on” bulbs we also needed very small bulbs for our kitchen fixtures (even trying to find regular bulbs is tough).  Our trusty Rona store had everything we needed.  We found our itty bitty kitchen light bulbs and everything is an “instant on” — very satisfying trip!  Now I did notice that the box indicated an 11 year warranty.  Does this mean I won’t need to buy replacement bulbs until 11 years from now?  Now for my electricity bill — yes I realize I will have to continue to pay but there is going to be a noticable impact on my bill, right?

And now some pictures of our boys….what’s a blog without pictures and what’s better than pictures of our boys!?

 

Brandon is 18 months old!

My baby boy is now 18 months old today.  Brandon is 31.19 lbs and 34.57 inches tall.  Brandon is wearing 3T tops and 24 month pants and wearing size 7 shoes and rubber boots.  He seems so much older than his 18 months which I attribute to having a big brother to watch and copy.  Brandon is a charmer; his dark brown eyes melt you every time and his smile lights up his face and the room.  When Brandon laughs he squeezes his whole face up and anyone near can’t help but laugh too.

On the other side of things, when Brandon is told “no” he has this way of standing very still, looking down towards the ground and sticking his bottom lip out.  It is so very cute but don’t dare laugh, Brandon is upset and needs to be taken seriously.  In these times he is very different than his big brother, Brandon does not want to hug it out, he does not want anyone to touch him or talk to him, he just needs to stand there for a while.  Brandon has never been much of a sleeper, he doesn’t seem to need the same amount of sleep as his big brother; Brandon goes to bed later and gets up earlier and naps are pretty short — no rest for Mom and Dad.  Brandon has become very attached to his blanket as of late; his big brother has a favorite blanket and if big brother Owen needs his blanket everywhere he goes then it must be for some very good reason!  Brandon is very happy playing on his own and can get into his own little world at times; of course he also loves to play with big brother Owen.  I use the word “play” loosely as it seems that Brandon’s version of play, at times, is grab whatever Owen has and run — Owen gets upset, cries and then Mom and Dad try to figure out what happened all the while Brandon has this very curious look on his face.

Brandon is using a ton of words and sentences now, he can communicate quite well with us, but of course there are a lot of times when we just can’t figure out what he is trying to tell us.  This is when we use Owen — we have recently discovered that Owen understands so much more than we do of what Brandon is saying and wants.  So sometimes we will say “Owen, what does Brandon want?”.  Owen will look over at Brandon listen for a few seconds and then look at us and tell us, very bluntly, as if any simple person would know.

Brandon is a very healthy eater; he loves most everything – well except tomatoes – and has a very healthy appetite.  Brandon is a slower eater, but then maybe he just eats at a normal pace but because Owen eats so quickly we just don’t know what normal is!?  Eating slow is not a bad thing, don’t they say it’s better to eat slow than fast!?  With only 8 teeth but more on the way as we speak, sorry write, it is amazing how much Brandon can handle — steak, chicken, apples, meat balls…  He loves fruit — strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, oranges and apples, just to name a few and cheese!!  He loves his cheese — just like his Dad.

Brandon’s interests are slowly emerging — cars and trucks are a definite favorite, he loves the Little People sets too — house, farm, castle – anything he can get down on his belly and move his people around in.  And of course we can’t forget cooking — Brandon (like his big brother) loves to cook — they have an excellent play kitchen from Sears and will spend hours cooking supper, pasta and meatballs, pouring coffee and tea and using the microwave “one more minute!”  Oh and the phone, how can we forget the phone — Brandon has his own play phone and will talk on it all the time — talk to Grandma, Aunty, Kosmo, Daddy, Mommy — and when the real phone rings, Brandon will stop whatever he is doing and say “phone is ringing” and will run to the phone and wait so HE can talk.  Brandon will get quite upset if he doesn’t get to talk too!

With spring right around the corner, there will be so much more for Brandon to discover.  The sounds and sights of the outdoors are so wonderful, I can only imagine what he will think.  We are all looking forward to many walks and bike rides this spring and summer.  Happy 18 months old Brandon!!

Can’t forget big brother Owen.  Owen is almost 3 years old — just a few short months to the big birthday.  Owen is such a great big brother to Brandon.  Owen loves to teach Brandon new things, get Brandon his milk and make sure he has enough dinner — even taste testing it for him.  Owen has become quite protective of his little brother and will tell Brandon to stay on the sidewalk and stay away from strangers.  Owen has recently discovered Winnie the Pooh from Brandon’s closet and takes care of him too.  Feeding him, changing his diaper, putting him to sleep, carrying him like a baby and even letting Pooh ride on his shoulders “like Daddy does for Owen”.  It has been so rewarding to see Owen and Brandon grow as brothers, they learn so much from each other and care so very much for each other.  The day starts with a “good morning Owen, good morning Brandon” and ends with a “night night Owen, night night Brandon”. 

Dinosaur Summer Camp – August 2010

Owen and Brandon are both two different little boys; and when it comes to teeth they are very different.  Owen got his teeth quickly and with little “pain” – in that I mean we could give him Tylenol and it seemed to help and when his teeth came in, they came in a matter of days.  Brandon’s teeth have been a whole different story.  Brandon’s first tooth didn’t come for quite some time and at 17 months old Brandon has 8 teeth – which is completely normal.  It seems when Brandon’s teeth come in they take their time moving around and slowly, painfully slowly come through the gums.  Brandon seems to teethe for weeks on end before anything comes though and then it’s just a tiny break in the gums.  Hooray this week Brandon broke another tooth, this time a molar.  Unlucky for Brandon it appears he was teething while sick, so not only was his nose running and had an awful cough, but his gums were hurting him too.  An awful combination to go through!  Hooray another tooth, so very exciting!  We are all assuming he is still teething but this time he won’t dare let my fingers feel his gums, so if he does get another tooth it may be sometime before we fine out!

I make this comment all the time and if not by now, you will soon grow tired of hearing it but our boys are growing up to quickly!  Owen is registered in a summer camp this summer.  This is a summer camp that he goes to for a couple hours a day for a whole week and goes without his Mom or Dad along with him.  In searching for a preschool for Owen (which we have all but given up on as apparently preschool wasn’t made for children with full-time working parents; that story is for another day), I found Springhill Community Preschool, a preschool that offers summer camps and just so happens to offer a summer camp that would interest Owen and is during one of the weeks our day home is closed.  It also worked out that their open house was this week too!  We took the kids to the open house and asked our many questions that first time parents would have – the teachers answered all the questions so patiently and without judgement.  The answers were wonderful for us, so we registered Owen on the spot.  Once we told Owen about the camp he got very excited but a little confused that camp wouldn’t be till the summer – many months from now.  After a short cry and a hug Owen seemed to understand!?

Grandma K is moving from her BIG house to a smaller home; Aunty Claudette has been wonderful in helping Grandma pack and when we can spare the time we have been over helping — if you call two little boys pulling everything out of boxes, because it’s cool stuff, helping.  Saturday there was a bunch of thing needing to get done and little time, so in the interest of being efficient Sean and I thought that Sean going to Grandma’s house with Brandon and I going to gymnastics with Owen was a good use of time.  Apparently this was not a good idea in Owen and Brandon’s eyes.  Owen was very upset that he didn’t get to play at Grandma’s house and Brandon was upset that Owen and Mom weren’t staying to play either!  Owen cried for most of the drive to gymnastics (I was very worried he wouldn’t participate in gymnastics) but then he saw the train go over the Anthony Henday and all was forgiven.  The warm up at gymnastics was the parachute — Owen LOVES the parachute.  After some coaxing and pushing I was able to get Owen onto the parachute with the other kids to help “pop the bubbles”, then with more coaxing and pushing I was able to convince Owen to crawl under the parachute in a game of “cat and mouse”.  Owen loved it all so much he cried when the parachute was put away; poor guy by the time he warms up enough to enjoy the activity the activity is usually over.  Over the course of the class Owen excelled and I was so proud and excited for him.  On the much loved trampoline (in that he loves the idea of jumping but not actually jumping) Owen was excited for his turn but this time he jumped right on and did all the actions the coach asked him to — Owen jumped and jumped and smiled a HUGE smile.  When it was time to play in either the foam pit or trampoline Owen actually chose the trampoline!!  After class the first words out of Owen’s mouth were “Mommy we have to go to Grandma’s house to get Daddy and Brandon!”

Sunday morning we had Grandpa and Grandma S come over for a visit; it took the boys some time to warm up — Owen warmed up to Grandpa and giggled and ran around Grandpa; Brandon preferred to watch Grandpa from Mom’s lap.  We had a brunch for a change — eggs, bacon (cooked in the oven — oh so good and really no mess!), toast and hash browns (home-made, recipe supplied from Colette; she is a wonderful cook and has a dozen or more recipesup her sleeve).  Oh and don’t forget the Tim’s, of course what is brunch without Tim Horton coffee and muffins!  Owen and Brandon gobbled the fresh muffins down while everyone else enjoyed their roll-up-the-rim coffee (well everyone but me, still can’t stand coffee).   We started the day with grandparents visiting and ended the day with grandparents visiting; Grandma and Grandpa H came for dinner — bbq’d steaks – yum!  I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday!

Everyone is sick, well almost everyone

Well Owen’s cold quickly hit me first and now it’s on to Brandon.  So far it seems that Dad has be left out – not such a bad thing!  It definitely has been noticeable that the boys are not feeling quite right – the crankiness, irritability, coughing, runny noses have been doing a number on everyone this week.  One night we thought a walk outside would help clear everyone’s heads, get some space between each other and enjoy the warmer weather.  It worked quite well Owen ran up ahead with Dad pointing at everything, crunching the snow and splashing in the puddles (remind me that next time we do rubber boots and splash pants) and Brandon and I walked slowly behind; Brandon took in everything, in his slow methodical way.  At every lamppost, fire hydrant, tree, each piece of paper or leaf on the ground we would stop, look and examine.  This slow process reminded me of Owen’s first trips outside once he started walking and the weather warmed up.  I didn’t push Brandon along to keep up with his brother instead I very consciously followed behind him and let him discover the wonders of the outdoors.  We slowly made it to a new wooden footbridge and Sean and I sat on the rail while the boys ran back and forth, loving the sound the wood made.  Oh and how could I forget as we were leaving for our walk Owen reminded us that they needed their sunglasses?!  The sun was going down but they insisted and so they both walked with their sunglasses on the whole time, even once the sun went down they insisted they needed to keep them on.  I was most impressed with Brandon; he wore them and they never fell off!



A new little girl started at the day home this week, she is 10 months old and Sean and I are very pleased that the boys will have a girl to play with; maybe she will teach them how to play a little gentler, a little quieter, heck maybe even teach them it’s okay to sit and read a book; and I mean the whole book, not just a couple pages! Ha ha  Apparently Owen is quite shy around her but Brandon is very interested; he watches her and talks to her, maybe he likes that he’s not the baby around anymore!  Of course any child new to being dropped off at a “strange” place is going to cry – both Owen and Brandon did it!  In asking Owen each day about the new girl and if he plays with her and what she does – his response is “she cries and cries, even when I give her a toy”, although one day Owen did inform me that “she cried but then she stopped”.  Owen has been telling me more and more about what he does at the day home each day; I try to ask him what he ate for lunch, if he played outside, what toys did he play with and sometimes when I get no response from Owen I will ask Brandon and then Owen feels the need to correct and interject! Ha ha

It’s been a long week of everyone (excluding Dad) being sick and it’s taken it’s toll on everyone, especially Mom and Dad.  Lucky for us and maybe unlucky for Grandma and Grandpa H they offered up their babysitting services to us Saturday night.  It was a much-needed break for both Sean and I but at the same time we felt bad leaving Grandma and Grandpa our sick little boys.  Grandma and Grandpa were troopers and were patient and all smiles with the boys.  They admitted there were some meltdowns and some crying spells but the moments when the boys were laughing and smiling made up for it!

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