Birthday Photos

In light of my birthday, I thought it would be fun to look back on my birthday pictures throughout the years. I couldn't find a picture of my eleventh birthday, so I stopped at my tenth. Maybe I will finish this project later; maybe not.
the day I was born (actually this was a couple of days after I was born, April 4, 1980)
April 2, 1981- one year old
April 2, 1982-two years old
April 2, 1983-three years old; this is the first birthday I have memories of
April 2, 1984-four years old and a Big Wheel
April 2, 1985-five years old and the chicken pox!
April 2, 1986-six years old with my "break doll", Elizabeth
April 2, 1987-seven years old, sporting my new watch
April 2, 1988-eight years old-birthday party; we had licked speckled eggs and used them as lipstick; I got the bike for my birthday.
this was officially the end of March, Easter Sunday (we celebrated early, as my mom was about to have a baby), 1989-nine years old-gotta love my Debbie Gibson tape!
April 2, 1990-10 years old

Happy birthday to me!

Peter's Playing With Us

Trying to fit the shape in the hole
Watching Daddy with the lid

Uumm..YUM!

Peter is at the stage where he loves to show you everything he picks up. He wants you to acknowledge what he is holding ("Peter, you have a green block!"). He likes us to take whatever is in his hand and hand it back to him right away; he is "sharing"/playing with us. He is fascinated with the lid to his shape sorter. He loves us to put it on our faces like a mask, and he tries to put it on his, too. I love this age. It is so fun!!! I can't believe how big Peter is. And he is so handsome! I love being his mom!

Block Creation

Eddie made Dad, Mom, Eddie, and Peter out of blocks. The blocks on top are our heads. I thought this was interesting. Daddy's the one tall one with the green body. I am standing next to him. Eddie is in front of us. Peter is on a separate base block, but he is right next to Eddie.

What Eddie Said

Eddie ran up to me, hugged my leg, and said: "Contributions for this PBS station come from viewers like you. Thank you!...... Mommy, what did I say?"

Do you think he has watched too much tv lately? (to be fair to me, we have all been very sick for nearly two weeks now!)

What Eddie Said

1.
While pointing to some moles on Ben's arm, Eddie asked: What are those?
Ben: Moles.
Eddie: I KNOW, KNOW, KNOW, KNOW they are nipples! (he screamed this while running away)

2. The plight of hunger
Ben was trying to explain to Edison why he has to work and go to school. He said something about how if he didn't do his work, we couldn't eat.
Eddie's response: Yeah, kinda like if we went to the moomee ater (movie theater) and didn't have popcorn!

What a travesty! I am happy Eddie has had such a lavish life and has no unmet needs.

My First Project

I did my first project! I painted these trains, cars, and planes to hang up by Eddie's bed. I went to the craft store with the intention of just getting trains (Edison's favorite), but I opted for variety. Eddie loves cars and airplanes, too. I don't know if you can see in the picture that each has one letter of Edison's name. Perfectionists, look away! It's so far from perfect. I must admit, though, that I am pretty pleased (not to mention impressed with myself!)!

Trip to Hinesville

Last weekend we went to Hinesville, Georgia, to visit my brother, William and his family. Here are some pictures of our trip.
We got to be there on Kyle's birthday, which was really fun!
Uncle Will has a smoke detector, too! Eddie is fascinated with smoke detectors. He loves to pretend that he is one that goes off and I have to fan him until he stops beeping.
Eddie loved everyone play "the monster from the horse movie" with him.
Kyle and Jeremy had boots! Eddie was ecstatic! He has a boot fetish.
Cousins!
All the big boys eating at the Cars table.
We are so happy to have such great family living so close!

Pretending to Sleep

So sweet!

Petery Pics

Peter has two teeth! I am so surprised every time I see his toothy grins! So cute!What's for dinner, big boy?
What a stud!

Helping unload the dishwasher!

I've discovered Peter resting his head in his hand often lately, even when he stops for a break while scooting around. So adorable!

New Beds

Saturday was a big day for our boys, as they both moved into new beds. We bought Eddie a toddler bed and moved Peter into the crib. They have both adjusted so well-Peter with absolutely no problems. Eddie was a touch sad to see Peter in his old bed, but he is so excited about his new "train bed" (that is what he calls it because of the train sheets he picked out) that it's been okay. He went in his room many times a day for the first few days just to look at his new bed. He had us admire it, too. Of course he is getting out of bed several times at bedtime, but, if I praise every positive moment, he stays in bed in order to please me. It's way nice to have him get up by himself each morning, though we wish he would sleep past 6:30 a.m.! Only one night so far has he gotten out of bed in the night, and he did it twice. When he got to our room and saw we were asleep, he just sat in the doorway; he didn't know what to do. Having him come in our room in the middle of the night has actually been a fear of mine. The idea of waking up in the middle of the night in a dark room with a child, even my child, next to my bed kinda freaks me out. I have had trouble going to sleep because of this fear, and I've had multiple nightmares about it. I think it's an idea you just have to get used to, knowing that you could wake up anytime and have someone standing by your bed. Anyway, it's really fun to see them grow and make these changes!

Both Eddie and Peter "helped" Daddy build the bed!
Enjoying the new bed
Pretending to sleep
Playing in the new bed
It's so fun in here!

Eating Like a Duck

Sometimes Peter eats without using his hands. He just puts his head down on the table and works at getting that food in his mouth. It's hard to do; I tried it! Sometimes he reverts to this method after struggling to pick up a particular morsel. Sometimes he just eats without using his hands. We call it eating like a duck (that's what Eddie calls it), and it makes us laugh! Silly Pete-ch!

"Uh"

Peter's favorite game to play with us is "uh". It's the standard game where he purposefully drops an item he's holding so we can pick it up again. Each time he drops it, he says "uh" (uh-oh). Luckily Eddie loves to play and is very eager to be the one to pick up whatever it is!
Watching it go.
See Peter's enthusiasm for getting that thermometer again.

Tight Spaces

Peter is fond of tight spaces. He is a big fan of crawling under our end table. The lamp that's in the way never stops him. The blanket that is often stashed under the table doesn't stop him. This isn't the only place he does this. He always crawls around our chair on the side that has the wall, rather than the side that has the open space. He is always crawling under the table between the table legs and the chair legs, even when more open spaces exist. Though he does get frustrated when it is too tight. Today he crawled under the crib and couldn't get out. He loves to crawl through our tunnel, and his favorite slide at the park is the tunnel slide! This kid loves tight spaces!

To All of Peter's Adoring Fans

Peter is our resident waver. It's his favorite thing to do, and he does it very well. He used to wave by moving his hand up and down, but now he usually opens and closes his fist. Here are some specific reasons Peter waves: someone waves at him, someone says the word "wave" or "hi", he sees someone (anyone-today he saw a clock with a face on it, and immediately he had to wave), he sees a reflection(he waves at himself every time we pass a mirror or even when he can see his reflection in the window while in the car), he sees movement (today he waved at a flock of birds), he sees a light a fan or a tree (all these things get waved at every time he sees them!). Often when Peter waves, he says 'i (hi) or heh (hi). If you say bye to him, he will still say hi to you as he waves. He has an adoring fan base, and he is eager to keep them happy! We love your waves, Pete-chy Peach! (I just wish I could get better pictures of them!)

Bzzzz-zup!

Eddie likes to act out everything he sees and learns. This picture was taken after we read Quick as a Cricket by Audrey and Don Wood. One of the pages says "I'm as busy as a bee". Eddie learned about stingers while reading this page. After reading, we "bzzz-zupped" (cuz that is what bees say-comes from me singing "I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumble Bee"; I always start the song by flying my finger around like a bee and saying "bzzz" then using my other hand to catch my finger bee. I say "zup" when I catch the bee.) around the house and gathered nectar and made honey in our beehive. Eddie held this cup on his bum as a stinger. Adorable Edison!

The Happy Dance

Eddie has this happy dance he does every time he gets excited. He alternates moving his fists up and down while saying "yay, yay, yay". If he is standing up he will also alternate picking up his feet. When he does this dance, he likes Mom and Dad to join him. When this picture was taken, Eddie was dancing because he was getting chicken nuggets for lunch. Yay, yay, yay!

What an adorable smile!

What Eddie Said

I.
Eddie: Mommy, can we make cookies?
Me: Not today, honey.
Eddie: We are good boys, so we can make cookies (said in a sad, pleading voice).
Me: Of course you are a good boy, but we aren't making cookies today.
Eddie: No!!! We are boys! So we have to make cookies!

II.
Eddie: Mommy, you are so great at teaching me to follow the rules!

Peter's Nine Months Old!

Peter hit his nine month mark yesterday. Somehow this mark seems so significant. Having him out of me longer than he was in me makes me melancholy. While he will depend on me the rest of his life, his most dependent 18 months of life are over forever, and he is just going to be doing more and more on his own. The really exciting developments are just starting, though, and so many are coming. Just this past week Peter started waving and now says his first word. It's "da da" (of course it's not "ma ma"; I don't even think he knows my name-whenever I say "Eddie" or "Daddy", he looks at them. If I say "Mommy", he just looks confused.). Every time Ben leaves the room, Peter stares at where he disappeared and says "da da" continuously. I am so happy to have Peter as my son. He is such an example of happiness to me ! He brings us so much happiness! I love him!!!

Eddie's First Game Playing

Eddie played his first official game yesterday. It was Memory, and, with only three or four pairs going at a time, he does really well! He understands the rules, takes turns, and loves when he gets a match and when he doesn't ("That's NOT a match!"). He does get a little sad if an especially cool match goes to me or Ben. I have looked forward to this day for so long. I am happy it is here!