Dude Challenge...Week Three

Here he is...not Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark yet...but getting there :)

The Ballad of Monkey and his Arm.

On Friday, Christian and I were in the car and doing our usual babbling back and forth about the things he wants to talk about. At some point I heard him talking to Monkey and then he said "Monkey..Arm...BAD!". I look in the rear view mirror and see Christian holding Monkey's arm but I can't see the rest of him. Silly me, that's because the REST of him is still lying on the back seat DETACHED from his arm.

Hmmmm.

Christian seemed to handle the catastrophe pretty well. He kept talking about it but never got upset.I think I felt worse for Monkey. I mean, losing a limb has got to mean the beginning of the end for a stuffed animal. We had dinner at Nana and Papa's that night and Christian kept making sure that Monkey HAD his arm with him at all times. That night, Monkey slept with Christian but his arm stayed on the bureau. The next morning, after we showed Daddy what happened, I reattached the arm. Christian stood by my side as I sewed the arm back in place. Thankfully not a lot of stuffing was lost; we had Build-a-Bear's number handy just in case we needed a transplant. The sweet part of the "surgery" was that Christian stood there with his hand on Monkey the whole time, petting him and saying "Lax". (I think he must have learned it from when he is crying after/during a tantrum and I keep telling him to "relax".)
It was so sweet.

Eventually I will get pictures up of Monkey and his wounds...Rich has the camera!

My Hairy Husband.

Rich's beard is coming in nicely. It's like kissing a porcupine at this point but he looks manly anyway. :) He is looking forward to shaving it soon but he still has another couple of weeks to go. Check it out if you want....the last couple of weeks photos are up and week three should be up soon.

The Dude Challenge

Bronx Zoo.

We finally made it to the Bronx Zoo yesterday. It's been on the list for a while since this NY adventure started. After Rich put some hours in at work in the AM and we all took a much needed nap, we headed out. We got there at 215 and they had to kick us out at 530...time flies when you are looking at monkeys! I think our favorites were the Congo and the Madagascar exhibits. And the Monkey House topped off the day. So Monkeys of all sizes...although I think the thing that left the most lasting impression on Christian were the peacocks. He knows what they are from the WW1 park that we go to at home; there is a small zoo that we visit a few times a week. When we got to the zoo yesterday, we stopped to eat a late lunch before we went trekking. While we were eating we saw three free-range peacocks :)running around the tables. Well, they were running because packs of wild children were chasing them. This is were christian invented the "Peacock Dance"...just a lot of head bopping and saying "peacock...dance...." over and over. Then we saw peacocks pretty much everywhere we went. And he is still talking about the peacocks this AM.

Another big thing yesterday was that Christian started asserting his independence. He DID NOT want to sit in his stroller. He did not want to be held while in large crowds. While we were in the Congo exhibit we got to this large indoor room where you could look out this huge glass wall and you were pretty much in the middle of the gorilla habitat. A movie had just let out so there were TONS of people crowding right in front of the windows and that was RIGHT where Christian wanted to be. At one point I gave up and said fine..go where you want. He was over by one spot where there was a gorilla right next to the window and a bunch of adults pressed up against the window. I said "Excuse me, can I let my (three foot) son in so he can see(for god's sake)please?" A woman shot a look over her shoulder at him and said "Sure". At which point she shifted over for me to nudge him through and then she stepped in back of him again so she was in BETWEEN me and Christian. In my head, I am imagining ripping her arms off and clubbing her to death with them like a gorilla would be when separated from her baby...I mean; had she been paying attention AT ALL while she was in the gorilla movie????

The moment passed and everyone lived.

Halloween!

This is the first year that Halloween has really been anything for Christian. In '06 he was a three month old Peapod...and he outgrew the costume before Halloween and was busting out of the thing at the kids party at Rich's old job. Last year he was SUPPOSED to be a lion but got the croup instead. This year is really the first year that he was conscious of the fact that something was up anyway. The Franklin Police go crazy with the Halloween decor every year so I have been pointing it out to him and now when we drive by, Christian says "hallWEEN". A few weeks ago I took him out to pick his costume. He had the choice between a bat, a dragon or a Monkey. Anyone who knows Christian will know what he chose.

Blue Sky had a kids party with trick-or-treating and everything. Nice and small, indoors, warm..perfect. Lets go. One thing I am amazed about is how a kid who has never been trick or treating or had candy before for that matter, can catch on so QUICKLY to the point of Halloween. At first he was skittish..not sure of all of these strange people. After a few offices and with some prodding, he would eek out a "trick or treeet" and grab a piece of candy and stash it in his little bucket. Then we had to remind him "just ONE". Well, he listened and would grab just one, put it away and then grab one more...so "ONE at a TIME" must be what we really meant. He got more and more comfortable, would say trick or treat, take a piece or two or three, and say thank you as he walked away...then he would look to make sure we were coming and say "More CANneeNEE". If he could only take one, then he needed to hustle to the next one I guess! The bucket was small and filled up quickly; which originally I thought was great idea. We ended up having to empty the thing out twice into my backpack so he could keep trick or treating.

So, I think christian had a great time and now Mama and Dada have a lot of candy to eat!

Here are some pics of the Dude in his costume. The last pic is of him in a shirt that I finally broke out. It's from his Uncle Tom; Halloween seemed an appropriate time to wear it :)

Facial Hair Challenge.

Earlier this week, Rich informed me that he was going to participate in a work thing. A Facial Hair Challenge. Various "styles" were going to be thrown into a bowl and all participants are stuck with whatever they randomly pick. UNTIL THANKSGIVING. Now, I love Rich with facial hair. For whatever reason, it fits him. I like him without it too. But I HATE moustaches. I don't know why...I kind of equate them to perverts and pedophiles. And I had an uncle that had a moustache when I was growing up and I vividly remember kissing him good-bye (when I was like, 5)and it was like having a toothbrush smooshed up my nose. So yeah, hate 'em. Dreading the idea of my husband with just a moustache for the next month and a half.

Got the call about a half hour ago. Rich pulled the "Tony Stark".




WHEW! (never hurts to have a little RDJr. in your life! ;)

Apple Picking.

We went to the Berlin Orchards to pick apples this year with our friends the Hatami's. We had to take a hay ride to the orchards (lots of fun...the whole time we were picking, Christian kept asking to get back on the truck.) Picking went a lot faster than in years past..the apples were HUGE! And it was way too hot. It was probably 80 out...(at least it felt like it)...I got a sunburn of course. The hayride back was very welcome..nice cool breeze. I think we ALL said AHHHHHH!

SO, lots of fun and lots of apples. A LOT of apples.

Gotta go bake :)

did you say terrible twos?

APPARENTLY there is a handbook on how to act like a Two-year-old and Christian read it cover to cover before I could. This kid can throw an tantrum like nobody's business. One weekend we were home and I think Rich dared to mention sitting down to eat dinner to Christian. He LOST it. Started yelling and running around the house(in his diaper and a t-shirt I believe). Eventually, because we kept trying to talk to him and calm him down, he escaped to our screen porch; still yelling and crying. The yelling and crying quickly escalated to a screaming of NO NO NOOOOO our into our backyard. I peeked out to see that he was standing in the corner behind a chair looking into the yard and just yelling. At nothing. OK then. Rich and I just looked at each other and shrugged. No playbook on this one.

This morning he threw another nutty because he thought I was leaving the house. He was down on all fours SCREAMING and whacking himself in the head. Again...WHOA!

This afternoon we went to the ENT to check in on Christian's tubes. He has never liked this visit because it involves laying very still and two year old pretty much don't do that so he has to be held down. In my opinion, I don't blame him for being upset. In preparation for this, I told him he could bring Monkey, hoping that would be good for consoling him and possibly avoiding a spectacle. Boy was I wrong. As soon as the chair started moving to get it to the height necessary he started squirming. THen I had to basically lay on him to hold his body down while the nurse (who luckily is a very large woman with HUGE hands) held his head down. (again... I don't blame him for being upset) Que waterworks, bloodcurdling screaming and body flailing. In the middle of the exam (total time..2 minutes) the nurse says...oh yeah...I remember him now. I said "oh yeah? He's never screamed this loud before!" As she walked out, she said "Good thing I work for an ear doctor!" Dr. Wilson was happy to report that Christian's ears look great...his vocal cords are in tip-top shape as well.

the new no pants rule.

Christian doesn't like to wear shoes. So he takes them off everywhere we go. I had to convince him to keep them on at the doctor's office this afternoon. My threat was that they would glue them to his feet if he didn't. And recently we decided we don't like to wear pants either. Many days we come home and I find him pulling them off as soon as the door slams shut. Occasionally we decide shirts are optional as well, but those aren't as easy to take off on our own. Crazy things like two arms in one sleeve happen.






We also want to be just like daddy.

Thankfully, I don't have both of my boys hanging around the living room in just diapers :)

Dirty Thirty.

Today was my birthday. EEK! That snuck up on me. Isn't thirty older than this? :)

I had a great weekend thanks to my wonderful husband. Apparently he had a surprise party in the works for me for quite a while and pulled it off. My parents let him use their house and all of our closest friends and our family was there to help sing Happy Birthday and laugh while I tried to blow out thirty trick candles over and over. And over. (Thanks a lot, Mom!) Rich was home all weekend PLUS today and is driving back to NY as I type this. We spent the day home yesterday and watched the Pats win last night and then we got some time in at the petting zoo and the park today. Christian and I ended the night tonight by sending Daddy off and then coming in and having a great bedtime...there were books, tooth brushing and lots of tickles and laughing involved...and christian loves to tackle me now...so lots of tackling too. Lots of fun was had by all. It was a great birthday over all. My family and friends are the best!



This year has had a lot of ups and downs...Now that I think about it, I think I am glad to have my twenties over with..maybe 30 will bring me some good luck. :)

Interviewing????

I went on an interview this morning. I had sent out a few resumes late last week...one in particular was with another wallpaper company in northern NJ but they are going through an agency to weed out the applicants. The agency called me on Friday and I had a phone interview Monday morning right after I put all of our luggage in front of the door in preparation to load the car and head back to MA with Christian. I interviewed for about 20 minutes and got off the phone with a concluding statement from the hiring agent that she wanted me to come in and meet with her. Via email we decided today would be a good day (so I didn't drive to MA and then turn around again!) So Christian and I spent a few hours in the mall buying Mama a new interview suit and shoes and I jumped on the train to go on my first interview in NYC. It's funny; 7 years ago, back when I was single and facing college graduation, i dismissed the idea of NYC. I just didn't forsee that as the life I wanted. Now I have a family and a home back in MA and I am entertaining the idea again. Nothing is for certain and we will just see where this goes. The idea of being home with Christian and whatever other kids we may be blessed with in the future is certainly an ideal of mine. I guess I am counting nothing out of the realm of possibility. Something new is bound to happen next week I am sure! :)

Tf*&#!

Christian is just blowing us away with all of the words he learns. He says a couple new ones almost every day at this point. The other day we had a playdate at our new friends Cooper and Taryn's house and we were sitting out on the back deck and Christian pointed up and said "UMBRELLA"...it comes out "UMblehBLUH" but we know what he means. This morning he said "shower. All wet?" So now he is even putting small groups of words together. Making progress.

Another word that came up sometime last week was "truck". He got some big tonka trucks back in June for his birthday and has just recently become totally enamored by them and plays with them constantly. Being here in White Plains, we are always seeing trucks, fire trucks, police cars...they are all trucks right now. The problem is in how we SAY truck. In our house it is the F-bomb. Over and over again. F*&#, F*&#, F*&#. Walking over by the water fountains earlier in the week, there was a box truck parked on the side of the street and a guy was there taking a break from unloading it. As we walk by, Christian very excitedly points at the truck and says F*&#! The guy almost fell off of the crate he was sitting on. All we could think to do was to very loudly say, "RIGHT! TRUCK!"

He says it so much he is taking the fun out of it! :)

Budding Rock Star or just Guitar Hero?

As I have mentioned before, Rich was given Guitar Hero before he moved down to NY. Well, on our birthday visit down here, Christian decided he wanted to wear the guitar finally. Rich put it on him and that was it...he was hooked. During our week-long visit down here, I have had to lock the guitars in a closet because he wouldn't stop playing with them and i am afraid he will break it. He REALLY gets into it. Rich even taught him to make a guitar noise and swing the neck of the guitar up in the air. (we are going to attempt to catch this on video soon so stay tuned.) So here are some photos of our budding musician...perhaps this is a glimpse of the teenage years? :)



OH..there is a random appearance by our fish, Red. Red made the trip to NY. We didn't secure a fish-sitter ahead of time so he took to the road with us. He seems to like the new digs. I felt bad that he has yet to appear on our family blog..he is a part of the family.

Stay-at-home-mom.

So this is my first official week as a stay-at-home-mom. Last week I was home and not working but Christian was finishing up at Kindercare so it was kind of like a vacation from "life"...kinda. For this week, because I really have nowhere else to be, Christian and I are staying in NY with Rich. We are doing alot of walking around and checking out what living in a city is really like. The weather has been great so we have met Rich for lunch yesterday and today at a park right in front of his office building. There are a few spots with water fountains that Christian and I have hung out at for a bit and took in the great weather and the nice breeze. Every single block from Blue Sky to the apartment is taken up by a different shopping plaza. (who can shop this much???) We have checked them all out and bought nothing.

Yesterday as I was making our picnic lunch, I was about to make christian's jelly sandwich and saw the jar of peanut butter. Now, while I know that Christian has been accidentally exposed to nuts of various kinds during the no-nuts years, I have been wary to give him peanut butter since the go-ahead at his two year physical. In the back of my head I keep thinking "what are the chances"? I am not related to a single person with a nut allergy and neither is Rich. So it's not in the family gene pool. But I know alot of people who have nut allergies or their kids have an allergy. It's not something I wanted to mess with. Nut allergies are a very real and serious problem right now and I do not want to see my son stop breathing. So, yesterday I handed him a spoon with a bit of peanut butter and held my breath. He took one lick and he was hooked. Kept saying "mama, MORE!" And I obliged. And took pictures :)

SO, if we are counting....
Day 1 of stay-at-home-mommyhood: 0 Boo-boos/trips to the ER. Wahoo!

Congratulations Uncle Tom!

This past Sunday, my youngest brother Tom, graduated from Wentworth. He is now the proud owner of a HUGE civil engineering diploma (I am not kidding here...it literally is huge I guess. I haven't seen it but my joke of having to carry home a Publisher's Clearing House check wasn't entirely laughed off. My brother said its big enough that he won't be able to hang it in his cube at work...) So finally, my parents have paid off their very last college tuition bill...now they are looking on towards retirement...So I guess congrats are in order for them as well. With me taking 5 years and my brother Jay taking a bit longer than that ;) they pretty much told Tom he had to finish in 4. And he did. It was a great day to be outside (not like the three hours in the rain we sat through for Jay's graduation from UMass Amherst) and Christian held it together very well considering he is two. There was a lot of running around in the grass,walks, ripping up the grass and throwing it at complete strangers, throwing shoes at complete strangers...thank GOD these complete strangers were also very patient and understanding. There were also a few incognito diaper changes in some nooks and crannies...(hey Wentworth..good luck finding those diapers! he hee!) .

Tom also graduated with his good friend Matt from high school. Coincidentally, his oldest sister Christina graduated from high school with me and there is a middle sister that graduated with my middle brother. I got to run into Christina in the bathroom...small world! :)

Good job, Uncle Tom!

Good-bye Kindercare.

Last Friday was Christian's last day at Kindercare. We had originally given our two week notice and planned for it to be our last day there anyway; we had found a very nice home day care that we were going to switch to in order to lighten the load on our bank account :) Rates are always going up in the daycare centers and understandably so with the overhead that they have and the programs they run but it had all become too much for us and we were ready to make the move. We sadly gave notice; we have thoroughly enjoyed our time there and Christian truly flourished there. In my opinion it was worth every penny and I regret nothing. When I went to pick Christian up from daycare the day after I got laid off from work, the center director called me into her office. We went in and she informed me that she had gone to her regional director and asked if she could lower my weekly rate to get me to keep Christian there. I thought that was so nice of her; she didn't need to do that and I certainly never asked or expected it. So we left it that IF I get a job and we are still living in the area then we would come back and work it out for Christian to return to Kindercare.

SO for now, we had to say good-bye to all of our friends...in particular Abby..that was a tough one :) But we will really miss our favorite teacher Jenna who was super great with Christian. HE was comfortable with her so we never minded leaving Christian with her. There are lots of other people we will miss; too many to list really. Good-bye Kindercare!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yesterday was Rich's 31st birthday. Back when I was working I felt bad that he was going to have to spend his birthday alone in NY. Then I lost my job :) Over this past weekend I concocted a plan to surprise Rich for his birthday. I cooked and baked ahead of time, picked the dude up from daycare and then hit the road. We made our three hour trek with little hassle (other than the dude figuring out how to unbuckle the upper harness of his carseat...the kid is Houdini reincarnate.) We make it to the Korman garage (Korman is the "hotel") and get all of our stuff/food into the apartment and start cooking the rest of dinner. By now it is five after 6. I call Rich's cell phone and he tells me he is in a meeting, he will call me back. Christian starts getting restless; he needs to eat. I set him up with dinner and wait..no phone call. Then I start hearing some movement outside the door. From the table; there is not a clear view of the door so I had to walk a few feet to see my bewildered husband who wasn't quite sure what to make of it all. (I had made a little sign that Christian colored and taped it to the front door and hung a banner inside the apartment..he was still trying to figure out if I had mailed the sign down and had the hotel staff put it up for me :)

So, needless to say...my surprise payed off. We went and had cake up on the penthouse roof deck with two of Rich's co-workers, Min and Chris and shared a bottle of wine that Min had bought for Rich's birthday. I also got to meet Mr. T...and business man from Japan that speaks less english than he can understand...not a whole lot. Rich, Min and Chris apparently run into Mr. T quite a lot up there so they are all good buddies :) Christian learned everyones names and got to see lots of planes taking off from Newark (I think) and we even saw louds (fireworks).

Overall, it was a great night and Rich says our surprise made his month.

Happy Birthday Babe!

It's gonna be a bumpy road.

I know life has its ups and downs and you just deal with it. The bumpy road and all that crap-oh-la. Well, the whole road seems to have caved in front of me at the moment :)

I got laid off yesterday morning. I worked for a very small wallpaper company that just cant seem to keep its head above water right now so the hard decision had to be made to let people go and unfortunately I was one of them. It was sad to leave; my boss was awesome and just as much of a friend as a boss. I got to take Christian to work with me for the first 10 months of his life because we worked in an office of three people in my boss' house...her kids and husband played with Christian when they were around and even took him in the house and I could just work and not really have to watch him. It was a rare experience and a good one; one that will be impossible to find again.

So, it will all work out for the best, it was meant to be, blah blah blah....Now I get to be a stay at home mommy for a while anyway so there is a bright side.

Well, off to the unemployment line....

The fine art of eating no-no.

Christian LOVES yogurt. It's not actually CALLED yogurt in our house; its called "no-no". (Lord knows where this name for yogurt came from but we are going with it....) He frequently asks for yogurt after dinner for his dessert; last night he actually REFUSED the chocolate chip cookie that TeeTee Kerrin brought for him and asked for no-no instead. Well, not only does Christian like the taste of yogurt but I think he truly ENJOYS the ACT of eating yogurt and strives to beat his last performance every time. Here are some pictures of the actual act and then the aftermath .

Christian just recently acquired this skill. This is how he finishes off his milk in the morning after he has eaten his cereal. TeeTee said he will probably just replace the bowl with a beer in a few years.

(Sometimes, if I am truly lucky, he flips the bowl over on top of his head like a hat. Those are the good days. :) Auntie Kerrin thought Christian was dead ringer for Col. Sanders after the no-no. (There is some tomato sauce on his cheeks under the yogurt too. This was one of those meals that we REALLY enjoyed.)

Living like a Rockefeller.

Due to recent events, I liked the title :)

Christian and I went to White Plains for a weekend with Dad. Saturday was a bummer of a start because it was like the end of the world outside for the first half of the day. Seriously, I have never seen so much lightening...we are also up on the sixth floor so we were CLOSER to it I guess but it was still amazing. I think Christian thought it was more of the fireworks he loves so much. We did get out and walked to PF Chang's for dinner. Never been before..it was amazing. YUM.

Sunday we went on an adventure. Literally. The Google totally failed us and did not give very good directions. We were on the hunt for the Rockefeller Natural Preserve. We eventually did find it after asking for directions at two different gas stations in Pleasantville, NY. (seriously, want to live there..everyone walks down the street holding hands and skipping...kidding.)
We bought a map at the second gas station and got our bearings and headed in the direction was thought the park was in. Eventually we did find it. It's beautiful there; tons of walking trails and nature. We took tons of pictures; tried a gazillion times to get Christian to just LOOK at the camera. NOT interested.

The funny part of the day: So earlier in our walk we had come upon three turtles sunning themselves on a log. One of them kept turning around as Rich snapped the photos as though trying to show us his "good side". A while later we came to a part in the trail where big stones had been set into the lake to provide a path over a shallow part of the lake. Rich headed over first and I hung back for the photo op. As he walked over he said "Oh look! Another turtle!" I ran over to snap a photo as he pointed back towards a stone the path. I looked down and saw a little head poking out from under the rock in the water. The head was attached to a rather long neck...

"Hun, I don't think that's a turtle."
"Sure it is!"
"I don't think turtles have necks that long. That's a snake."
"NO, that's a turtle."
"Do turtles have striped necks?"
(upon closer inspection on Rich's part)
"OH..YEAH..that IS a SNAKE!"

(now me, who is afraid of snakes, has to walk over the path by MYSELF carrying the camera and beach bag trying not to squeal like a five year old girl.)

All in all, great day. And new material to harass Rich with relentlessly. Thanks, Babe!

Now we're cooking with gas.

To start off, neither Rich or I have ever lived in a situation where we have had to cook with gas other than a gas grill. Rich has a very real fear of living with gas as a source of cooking and heating and when we looked for our current townhouse, he said he didn't want to really entertain any that had gas. Living with that for the last five years, now I have developed an uncertainty about gas as well....I am so nervous about it that I am afraid to even touch the gas grill. Rich has showed me a few times; explained which order to everything. I am so nervous I question if I remember the RIGHT order and have decided I just don't want to deal with it. Best case if I screw up; I lose my eyebrows. Worst case...no that IS the worst case. I would look weird without eyebrows.

Jump to last week when we moved Rich into his new apartment. Gas Stove. UGH. We didn't deal with it on the first day; we didn't have anything to cook. Sunday we went grocery shopping and decided to have quesadillas for lunch. So we get back to the apartment, put everything away and then I look at the stove. I inspected the knobs for a minute, picked one and then turned it on. Dialed through the ignite line, heard it click and then spun it to medium. Nothing...no flame. huh. So then I thought, maybe that one doesn't work? I turned it back to the left to turn it off and WOOSH..flames shooting out around the bottom of the pan and then off.

OHMYGODWHATHAVEIDONE? RRRIIIICCCCHHHH?

Next was a visit to the front desk to ask about it; in short we were told "You have a microwave, use that." Then I asked Rich to call his friend Joe upstairs and find out if he is familiar in the ways of gas stoves and can he give me a tutorial. Joe quickly came knocking on our door and saved the day. And now we know how to cook with gas.

Blue Skies Ahead.

Daddy is all moved in.

Christian and I spent the weekend down in White Plains with Rich while he got settled into his apartment for his new job with Blue Sky Studios. It was a busy two days with driving down Saturday afternoon, finding the actual entrance into the parking garage, checking in, waiting around for friends that were settling in that same afternoon and going out to dinner that night. We did general errands on Sunday and then I cooked dinner for everyone on Sunday night so we could stay in and everyone played Guitar Hero. (Thanks again Mike and Cyndi!)

Both nights were a little rough on Rich and me. The bedroom proved JUST too small to be able to put our queen sized air mattress on the floor so Christian ended up bunking with us. It is a king sized bed but SOMEONE prefers to sleep horizontally and snores a LOT. (Ahem...not naming names here, but it's the same someone who wears diapers that sometimes give out so we have to keep checking for possible leaks.)

Christian and I decided to head home this morning to see Daddy off on his first day, but the start to our day proved to be a little rough. Christian didn't sleep well apparently and was BEYOND cranky and just downright irrational. If he doesn't get his way now, he deliberately goes and does something that he knows he is not supposed to now. Like this morning, when I wouldn't give him cookies at 7:30 (graham cracker bugs...not the worst thing in the world, but its the principle...) he turned to his left and started playing with the burner knobs on the gas stove. (ergh.) So that was the start to the day and then we had to pack my car and say our goodbyes. I will say no more than it was an emotional scene in the parking garage and hard to say goodbye...but its only for a few days at a time and its all only temporary.

This will all be worth it in the end when Rich is a big shot feature film animator. It is his dream and he is just about there. I am MORE than proud of how far he has gotten already and am willing to go through whatever it will take to get him where he wants to go.

I am so proud of you babe! Good job and KICK BUTT! :)

Very cute.

We went to the Capron Zoo this past weekend with our friends Kamal and Emily and their adorable little girl, Annie. We met early for breakfast and then got to the zoo before it even opened. (We killed some time by sending our kids down slides that were a little too steep to see what would happen :)...actually, I think Rich and I were the only ones that did that. We were careful though. Rich went up top and sent Christian down while I caught him in mid-air at the bottom. See? Careful...over-cautious really.)

We saw lots of animals; I think Annie was much more intrigued than Christian for most of it. He has kind of hit this period of being kind of skittish of EVERYTHING. He loves cats and dogs, but as soon as they start following him, he squeals with a bit of fright and runs for the nearest parent.)

At some point, Annie was looking around for someone to hold her hand but looked over kind of in Christian's direction. We asked her if she wanted to hold Christian's hand and she nodded yes. I asked Christian if he would hold Annie's hand and he contemplated for a moment and said "Yeah". So...he reached out, grabbed her by the hand and then proceeded to walk her down the path to check out the sites. Very cute.

Yellow.

Christian has a thing for all things yellow. It all started when it was the first color word he could say. We made a big deal out of it. "lellow". It was great. Then everything was yellow. Show him a red cup, "lellow". Definitively yellow. One day Rich had the idea to show Christian the Coldplay video of "Yellow". (One of Christian's favorite activities is to watch (appropriate) videos on YouTube with Daddy.) With this, the love of the song "Yellow" has snowballed into a general love of a few Coldplay videos/songs. Currently "Clhlockshs" is our favorite. (thats "Clocks" for those of you who are not familiar). "Fix You" and "Scientist" are also on heavy rotation. Pajamas with yellow stripes are now things we cry for, flail our arms for and throw our entire body on the floor for. oy.

Another big yellow that just entered our little world is a yellow hat. Rich and I groan at the mention of this hat. It all started last Friday when I picked Christian up at daycare. I pulled into the parking lot and see that his group is outside and notice a kid toddling around pushing a lawn mower. He has this HUGE yellow bucket hat on..can barely see out of it. I think to myself, "what mother sent their kid out in that?" WELL, I get outside and find out that my son took off his Red Sox bucket hat during water play that morning and submerged it in the water table. By afternoon outdoor time, the thing was still dripping wet and even at his insistence (more flailing, crying and body throwing) was told he couldn't wear it. Well, he wasn't hearing it. He NEEDED a hat. (In the back of my head; I am quite proud of this. He knows he needs to wear a hat in the sun, YAY me...and YAY Rich!) So, the solution to the hat dilemma was a play hat they had in the room that was a lovely peach floral on the outside and bright banana yellow on the inside. The teachers turned it inside out and Christian happily wore it outside. At pickup, he refused to leave without it and we were given permission to bring it home for the weekend. WELL, we loved that hat so much (by we, I mean Christian) that we had to wear it to bed. And when we woke up. And when we went out. Rich and I had to hide that thing in a closet behind some boxes so that he wouldn't find it when we went out to the zoo with some friends.

The Yellow Hat went back to school on Monday. I asked the teachers to have it moved to the other classroom. :)

Summer Vacation Photos.

For the week following Christian's birthday, the three of us all took a much needed week off from work and daycare. On the list of activities was the Providence Children's Museum followed by lunch at Spike's on Thayre Street, Roger Williams Zoo (they have an awesome exhibit right now called Flutterby...a habitat that you walk through and the butterflies are just wandering freely. Christian was NOT thrilled. We got some great photos though), the park and finally the fireworks for the holiday. We live right down the street from where the town does the show so we don't even leave our parking lot. Christian loved them so much that he asks for "Loud" everytime we leave the house. Sorry bud, maybe next year!

Christian Turned 2!

Our not so little man turned a not so little 2 back on June 21st. We can't believe what a guy he his...a walking, talking, opinionated little guy who loves to collect sticks, rocks, cook, clean...a regular renaissance man really. Happy Birthday Bubba!
(gimme a break here; it takes a while to weed through all of the photos and with all of our goings on, weekend plans and procrastination taking its toll, I'm getting around to it now, ok?)
Chatting up the Aunties. FEE! LELLOW!
Christian loves fish...and the color yellow. Christian also got his first pet for his birthday. A shiny new beta fish named Red. (By now I am sure you have guessed that he is probably a red fish...I know, we are quite original.)

Blowing out the candle.
From as far away from the flame as possible.
Digging in. Grampy is overseeing the process.
Christian's first Harley.
OOH. Kitchen stuff!
Perfect for riding the Harley. Tammy adjusting the chef's hat.
The little chef hard at work.

Not in FRONT of his MOTHER!!!

So, Christian has girlfriends. Well, he's 2, so not really...but his teachers at school like to joke about how all the girls in his class like him and he pays attention to all of them. One girl in particular, Abby, is his favorite. When I first heard of this relationship a few weeks ago, I learned that he knew her name and says it over and over again when he sees her, he knows where her bin is on the coat wall, and he has to sit next to her at lunch. There is also Claire and Amanda, who I have witnessed helping him dress (put his hat on) and blow him kisses good-bye on numerous occasions. So I know that there are other women in my sons life already. Yesterday afternoon, Christian runs over to give me my hello hug at pick-up when Abby comes up behind him to get his attention and then proceeds to lift up her little shirt to expose her entire chest (and stick her hand down the back of her diaper to the horror of the teachers). Miss Erica, trying to suppress the same giggle I am choking down says, "Abby! Not in FRONT of his MOTHER!"

Good Grief.

Die, Die, DIE!

So the three of us are sitting outside drawing with our new bucket of sidewalk chalk on the front walkway when a big red ant walks by Rich. He then takes his chalk and squishes the ant while saying "Die". Christian took all of this in and then looked around him and saw HUNDREDS of little black ants crawling around him, looked at the pile of chalk he had pilfered from mom and dad and the wheels started turning. (I love when you have a toddler; you can LITERALLY see the wheels turning when they are thinking something through) So before Rich and I know it, Christian is repeatedly pounding the pavement with his selected chalk and saying "DIE, DIE, DIE". OVER and OVER again. And this isn't just in a cute little boy voice. This is like Chucky has possessed our son's body and using him like a puppet and speaking in his creepy adult voice. It stopped after a while but every once in a while we will hear christian in another part of the room going "die, die" and we just look at each other and say "eventually he will forget that one, RIGHT?"

So maybe I should start using this thing...

So I have had this blog for FOREVER and thought "Hey, maybe I will start using it." There are lots of changes going on in the Fournier house so I thought I would get started on this blog thing.

Christian is now the big 2, standing at a whopping 37" and weighing in around 30 lbs. Our new favorite activity is to sit out on our front porch at our little table and have a cold drink and talk about our day and the things we see. It's so awesome to have a "conversation" with him. He cracks me up. Everyday he says a new word and mimics EVERYTHING. Rich and I have to be on our best behavior now.

Big changes on another front. Rich just got a new job. He is going to be working at Blue Sky Studios in NY on the next Ice Age movie! So, Daddy's moving and Mommy and Christian are staying put so that I can continue to work and not have to sell the house. Since he is a contractor, Blue Sky is putting him up in a swanky apartment in White Plains and the plan is for him to come home on the weekends when he can and Christian and I will go down there for the weekend when he can't. The joke is that Rich gets to live the life of a bachelor in his own pad in NY while I get to play single mom. (Who got the raw deal in this package??? ;) Just kidding. I am more than proud of Rich; he is the hardest working person that I know...he is constantly striving to better himself. Sometimes this is to the detriment of his own sanity...but he gets what he wants. Good Job, Babe!

SO, that is the update on the Fournier Front...whew, this year will be interesting.