The Grand Babies

Lemonade Stand - Summer 2010

2011-03-21T21:34:00.000-07:00

Stanley and Henry got their first taste of the food and beverage industry, selling lemonade in front of our house. Our next door neighbors were having a garage sale so they had a steady stream of customers.

Bellefontaine Cemetery

2011-03-21T21:31:00.000-07:00

The building below is the Busch Mausoleum, one of a number of structures within Bellefontaine Cemetery. It's an amazing place. We went there for a Sunday drive.

Julie and the kids look in.

Stained glass.

Pretty Mary Elaine.

Stanley's Monster Quilt

2009-03-29T13:51:00.000-07:00

Julie was working on another quilt, and Stanley said that he wanted to make a quilt for his friend, Lucas. Stanley did a sketch of a monster and then Julie took Stanley to buy fabric. They worked on it yesterday and finished. It's about 15"x17".

what happens after bedtime

2009-03-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

I heard Henry start in on a serious cry out of the blue, so I ran upstairs. I saw Henry standing in the tub with his clothes on, sputtering, and Stanley with an empty cup in his hand. "I was trying to give Henry a shower!" he protested, as I sent him to wait for me in the bedroom. I turned on the bathroom light to find Henry's face white as a ghost, hair matted down with a heavy application of thick white lotion. No wonder he needed a shower!
"Did you put this lotion on, Henry?"
"No, Stan put it on me"
"Well we might need to shampoo a few times"
I gave Hen three shampoos and a face wash, spending extra time on his eyelashes, which had lotion worked in clear to the base. All the while Stan was outside the door crying "it's not fair! It's not fair!"
I wrapped Henry in a towel and carried him into the room and asked Stan to tell me his side of the story, thinking the crying over fairness had something to do with misallocation of blame. All he said was, "It's not fair! Henry got to take a shower and I didn't!"

Park

2009-03-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

The thaw can be a little treacherous for play.

Pure joy.

A boy loves to have a stick to carry.

Beautiful ladies

2009-03-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Civil Disobedience

2009-03-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's bologna.

2009-03-18T12:23:00.000-07:00

Mary's Quilt

2009-03-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

This is Mary's quilt, which I started over Christmas break and finished it last week. I didn't work on it consistently. I like that it looks so girly. I like that it lies flat. I like that the borders fit. It's the best machine quilting that I've done so far.

The Old "Shirt over the Chair" Trick

2009-02-21T17:51:00.000-08:00

Classic Activity Board Fun

2009-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Do Not Mess With This

2009-01-30T19:43:00.000-08:00

What a difference a year makes!

2009-01-18T01:14:00.000-08:00

'
2007--Henry loving Santa.

2008--Ho! Ho! Ho! I agree with Henry on this one. I mean, dark glasses are freaky on a Santa.

Henry does a lot of imitating.

Little Miss Fat Cheeks

2008-12-08T23:58:00.000-08:00

one accurate and two inaccurate portrayals of Henry

2008-11-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

Utah-Summer 2008 visit

2008-11-16T20:42:00.000-08:00

A cousins party at Shannon and Andrew's
Dawn, Julie, and all those kids at Thanksgiving point.

More Mary as ballerina

2008-11-16T20:32:00.000-08:00

South Dakota

2008-11-16T20:26:00.000-08:00

We visited some parks. It was beautiful weather for October.

This is Dinosaur Park, a CCC project from the Depression. It features lots of big cement dinosaurs.

Mt. Rushmore

Scott, after finishing the Crazy Horse marathon. Good job, Scott. And good job me, for my first ever parallel park without a coach.

Mary gets around

2008-11-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

This is last week. She is 5 months old. She pushes up on her hands and knees, and scoots backwards until she gets stuck.

Sunday at Normandale Lake

2008-11-16T20:14:00.000-08:00

halloween

2008-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Scott and I were pilots

Mary was a ballerina

Henry was a villain. The cape is shiny red on the outside, and he had a matching cummerbund that his shirt is covering here.

Stan was Batman. He had a cape to go with this.

stan and dad have a night out

2008-07-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

transportation museum

2008-07-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

We went to the transportation museum today, and had a great time. We went into this red caboose, which led into a few other cabooses and a tanker car. I really do love old trains. The highlight for the boys may have been climbing on the pile of extra gravel in an out-of-the-way corner. Besides trains and cars, they had a little airplane and a tug boat, and probably other things we would have seen had we arrived earlier in the day and had more time. They also have a little train you can ride for a fee, but kids and a parent can ride free if they print out the train-themed coloring page from the web site, color it, and bring it in. I will take advantage of that next year.

happy 4th

2008-07-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

We went to a Fourth of July parade in Webster Groves, one of the suburbs we are considering moving into next summer if we get a job here in St. Louis. It wasn't the most impressive parade ever, but we had a good time and the boys got a few pieces of candy. Later in the afternoon, after a very exciting (for Stan) trip to the McDonalds playplace, we went back to look at homes. As it turns out, historic downtown Webster Groves is the most perfect neighborhood in Missouri. The homes are beautiful and old and large without having that 'old money' feel. The yards are big and well-kept and everyone was out having barbecues or front-yard parties, sitting on porches, walking dogs, or having lemonade stands. The library and YMCA (not a scary one, either) are in walking distance. And did I mention that every home is beautiful? Now all we need is lots of money....

We took the boys to see some fireworks last night, so we didn't have to do it tonight. For some reason they do fireworks on the third, fourth, and fifth (at least- maybe more) here, and we were out late last night anyway so it worked out better that way.

Mary gets lots of love

2008-07-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

a new(to us) corner of Forest Park

2008-07-04T20:06:00.000-07:00

We are lucky to have such a great park across the street from our place! We have been here so may times and are still discovering fun new places.

No, they can't just leave her alone.

2008-07-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

Mary sleeping peacefully

This is what happens if Mary is ever sleeping peacefully. Stanley's leg is blurry because he is leaping off some kind of furniture and landing inches from her face. If there is no furniture nearby, he takes a running start.

He just loves his little sister, that's all.

Science park

2008-07-04T19:46:00.000-07:00

The St. Louis Science Center is pretty close to our apartment here. There is a playground outside that is usually overrun with field-tripping school kids, but if you go in the evening or first thing in the morning, it is a fun place for the boys to play. Stan has been obsessed with the science center ever since Scott took him to a planetarium show there, and he asks to go there nearly every day. We have made it to the park a few times, and inside the building once or twice.

Henry is turning the wheel on the gear thingy. We like how it's so big.

This is a house/maze kind of thing made of different colored transparent panels to demonstrate color mixing.

The boys are about to pull the starter on the Gravity Race.

We have also made it out to the zoo once since Mary has been born. I had mary in the Moby Wrap and the boys in the double stroller and we made it aroud ok. It wasn't as bad as I feared it would be. I like the zoo because there are other people with two or three kids, so I feel like less of a spectacle than I do just going around our hip "walkable urban" (i.e. no kids) neighborhood.

The first day of the rest of my life

2008-06-18T17:27:00.000-07:00

So, my mom went home today around 5 pm, and I was left to my own devices for two whole hours before bedtime. I managed to get dinner served and then the boys and I made a blueberry buckle (like a very sweet blueberry coffee cake) to take up the time between dinner and bed. It was a little nerve wracking, since henry is still a little young for cooking, but we got it in the oven and I started on the dishes. I looked over a minute later and found Henry playing with probably a cup of salt he had poured on the table and floor. I put away the salt (I should have known) and swept it up with the little hand broom and dust pan, which I then left on the table. I started the dishwasher and began the hand-wash items. I looked over at henry and saw that he had opened up Stanley's box of soymilk and was pouring it into the dustpan, which, being a dustpan, was letting the milk run right out onto the table and floor. After dessert I picked the lock of the boy's room (Stan locks each door in the house and pulls it shut, as of yesterday), let Mary cry while I took care of a 5-wipe diaper of Hen's, and did a quick ni-night time. They are in there now throwing something at the mini-blinds, but at least no one is crying yet. I am locked out of my room and cant get the bobby pin to work, so here I am. And Stan just let Henry out--so much for them being in bed. ll,lkk. bjjgg nhjm,

Two weeks

2008-06-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Green and purple shirt

2008-06-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

For comparison's sake

2008-06-15T16:16:00.000-07:00

Serious harmonizing on the invisible mike.

Forest Park III

2008-06-09T20:01:00.000-07:00

We finally put batteries in Stanley's bubble gun, which he got for his birthday. Lots of fun.

Forest Park II

2008-06-09T19:57:00.000-07:00

Ants

Heading for a mud puddle.

Mid-stride

Bird

Forest Park

2008-06-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Lookin' good, pre-natal style.

Stanley plans his next move.

Stanley watching the MetroLink from the bridge above.

Henry pushing the pram as Stanley looks on.

Fathers and Sons II

2008-06-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

I took Stanley on a campout on May 9-10 with many others from church. We had a fun time, and Stanley slept very well in his doubled-up sleeping bag. I was pretty cold during the night, mainly because I only had this thin red jacket to wear, having forgotten the other jacket at home in the midst of everything else. It was fun, though.

Stanley as a four year old

Fathers and Sons

2008-06-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

First there were two boys.

Then there were three.

Then there was a fire.

Then there was dangerous playing around the fire.

More Mary Elaine

2008-06-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

None of the boys had cheeks like that when they came out.

More zoo

2008-06-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

St. Louis Zoo

2008-06-09T18:34:00.000-07:00

Stanley and Henry love the zoo. The great thing about a free zoo is that you can go for an hour, look at a couple things, and go home for a nap. Plus it was hot as fire.

In front of the zoo.

We watched the hippos eat and then dive into the pool with the fish.

This is a bad picture of one hippo as it swam through the pool surrounded by fish.

Cheetah

Mary Elaine

2008-06-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

First day or so

Stanley likes when she sticks her tongue out.

Looking cute.

Mary and Daddy

Ride

2008-04-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we were at the Mall of America. Stanley wanted to go on a ride pretty badly, so we bought some tickets and he went on this ride alone and then with me on the ferris wheel, a/k/a El Circulo de Cielo - Dora the Explorer's own ride. In any case, when we approached the pictured ride, Wonder Pets Flyboat, there was already a full complement of chilluns on the ride, so we watched it go. The thing goes up slowly, then freefalls about halfway, then goes up to about three-quarter height, drops again, and then sort of bounces up and down like it's trying to shake the candy out of the kids' pockets. For a childres ride it's pretty intense.

I thought Stanley would think it was a bit scary, but he said he really wanted to go. So we redeemed the tickets and entrusted our firstborn son to the capable hands of the sixteen year old ride operator. Stanley loved it. He hadn't caught onto the idea of holding his hands up like the other kids, but that's pretty normal for him; he's pretty straight-faced during most activities and processes the experiences later, talking about how exciting it was.

And sorry the pictures are so bad. We didn't have our camera so I took these with my phone.

I think it helped that he was on the ride with a bunch of kids who had just ridden it and were not crying.

Henry Eats

2008-03-09T15:39:00.001-07:00

Henry, Julie

2008-03-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

Henry climbed up inside of Julie's shirt. Stanley was there to get the scoop.

Hen is getting old.

His Own Thing

2008-03-06T21:33:00.000-08:00

You may not know this, but Henry does enjoy wearing Stanley's underwear on the outside of his diaper. He was also happy to be wearing Julie's socks, Stanley's snow boots, and a Denver Broncos Super Bowl XXI shirt that one of Julie's brothers used to wear.

Super Bowl XXI, you will recall, was played in 1987 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The Broncos lost to the Giants. I just read this on Wikipedia, but I pretty much already knew it, because at that time, the Broncos were my favorite team, and John Elway was my favorite player.

2008-03-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

This is henry's special anti-climbing suit.

2008-03-02T18:33:00.000-08:00

This is Henry's cheesy smile.

The sweet potato on Feb. 11

The sweet potato on Feb 23- what a difference 12 days made!

Henry having a good time at lunch

Road tripping

2008-01-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

The kids do pretty well driving, but they had their moments.

Both kids were having a good cry at this moment; Stanley covered his face when Julie took out the camera.

Woe is Henry.

Rocky Point, Mexico Part 3

2008-01-20T13:18:00.000-08:00

Julie helps Stanley keep his hand out with the piece of fish for the turtle.

Joey and Miranda look at the turtles.

Arthur the sea lion.

Stanley walked up to this tank where Arthur lives, and had turned away from the tank to look at me. Meanwhile, Arthur swam up and stuck his head through the chain link to see if Stanley had any food to give him. Stanley turned around and faced this gigantic sea lion's head about three feet from him. Stanley was pretty startled.

Rocky Point, Mexico Part 2

2008-01-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

Stanley and Joey had a great time playing on the trip.

The first morning we were there was pretty chilly, but Henry loved being outside whenever he could.

Rocky Point, Mexico

2008-01-20T12:30:00.000-08:00

Henry enjoys some low tide wading.

More playing

Julie stands behind, Henry, Stanley, and Joey, who is Aaron's and Becki's boy.

The good life.

From Spring 2007 - Computer Fun

2007-12-24T20:46:00.000-08:00

Two Santas, Same Result

2007-12-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Places and Faces

2007-12-24T19:28:00.000-08:00

Henry in the tupperware cupboard.

Cream cheese face.

"...and this is how I did it."

Up on the desk and in a cozy spot.

Holidazzle

2007-12-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

We went downtown to the Holidazzle parade, which proceeds down Nicollet Mall from the southern end down to the Minneapolis Central Library. We stood across the street from the library and caught a few pictures of the parade.

This here is Little Bo Peep, who seems to have lost her sheep.

Behold a nutcracker, which was capable of turning suddenly in a circle before heading further down the parade route. Sorta scary.

Captain Hook aboard his ship. Do you remember the name of his ship? That's right, it's the Jolly Roger.

Santa's float.

Stanley Entertains Henry, Again

2007-12-02T19:39:00.000-08:00

In this video, Stanley is absent-mindedly rhyming words and just messing around. Henry is soaking it all up. The word "moth" seems to hit the right nerve for Henry.

Put on your red shoes

2007-12-02T19:03:00.000-08:00

Stanley likes his dance class. I wouldn't say he is the next Baryshnikov, but that's probably for the best anyway.

Just a Taste

2007-11-22T21:37:00.001-08:00

Daddy and Henry

2007-11-19T23:04:00.000-08:00

Henry's Birthday, Kids Being Kids

2007-11-19T22:41:00.001-08:00

Kids are very bad at trying not to smile when they want to smile.

They were crawling back in our bedroom closet, squealing and making all these funny noises.

Henry's first birthday

The cute cake Julie and Stanley made for Henry's birthday.

Making a face.

Stanley's Birthday

2007-05-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

Stanley

2007-04-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Stanley Plays Peek-a-Boo With Henry

2007-04-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

yay yay for Stanley

2007-01-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

For Christmas, Stanley got a new Elmo and Big Bird potty seat, along with a big blue stool and Thomas, Elmo, and Backyardigans underpants. All during Christmas break he was looking forward to getting home so he could use the potty. The first few days we did underwear only in the afternoon, with me taking him to sit on the potty every half hour or so. The second day we went through five pair. We took a few days off, because we were out of the house all day one day an he was sick the next, but we started up again yesterday. Today was the breakthrough! I took him to the potty in the morning, but in the afternoon he kept going all by himself! We'd be doing something and I'd notice he was missing, and he'd be in the bathroom just finishing up, and I'd help him get a squirt of his special Sponge Bob foaming soap. I put the Elmo-playing-basketball underpants on him this morning, and he had the same ones on tonight at bedtime--he stayed dry all day! Yay! Hopefully he keeps going potty when the novelty wears off, etc, but for now I'm really really happy. Everyone who's been here before will probably laugh that I'm speaking too soon, but I feel like we're off to a good start-I thought it would take weeks before he would just go in on his own without me reminding him.

family

2006-12-09T18:25:00.000-08:00

This morning Stan went over to sleeping henry and started putting his arms around him. I said, "Stan, what are you doing?" Stan said, "giving [him] family."

Henry Smiles

2006-12-08T17:06:00.000-08:00

Henry is smiling for Daddy. he has probably been smiling for two weeks or so.

Henry often has a pleasant face like this.
Another classic Henry expression.

breakfast in bed...almost

2006-12-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Stan used to come get in bed with us in the morning, but in the last week or so he has started just pulling our door closed quietly as he goes downstairs. We are usually so dead that we don't even know when this happens, and he usually jut watches tv or plays with his toys. Yesterday we came down and he was eating Scott's lunch that I had made the night before- two peanut butter sandwiches and a tupperware of fresh pineapple. This morning I awoke to him calling me from the bottom of the stairs
"come down, mommy"
"ok, just a minute. let me get some clothes on"
"come down, mommy"
"Stan, why don't you come up for a minute while we get ready?"
a moment of silence
"mommy's egg broke!"

I went right downstairs and sure enough, the carton of eggs was on the table there was an egg cracked on the floor. He had another egg in his hand, with the top of the shell picked through (which he probably carried to and from the bottom of he stairs across the living room carpet). He wanted to have scrambled eggs for breakfast, which we made together.

Today we made a red and green paper chain to count the days until we leave to go see Grandma Harris, and we made and decorated a Christmas tree to add to our diorama. Now we have a starry night sky, snow on the ground, and a Christmas tree. I decided not to do the nativity in it after all because I would have to go shopping for supplies, and it would kind of be beyond his skill level. But he can put stickers on green paper, and he can decorate little boxes, so I think we'll to presents under a tree, and maybe a fire, depending on how things go.

Today was scott's last day of class, and Stan wanted to make him a cake, which we did. And despite all this attention and all the crafts, and my kindness about the egg this morning, AND the playgroup, he still had an afternoon meltdown...so I guess I'm not to blame after all :)

Tonight I let Henry hang out in the crib while we did Stan's bedtime routine, and at the end of it, he still seemed happy enough to be there, so I thought I'd leave him there until he started to fuss, and maybe run down and do some dishes or something. A minute after Scott and I left the room, but were sill upstairs, we heard him say, "oh NO, Henry! mommy daddy GONE! go downstairs!" and it made us laugh.

a little misleading

2006-12-02T18:00:00.000-08:00

While it's true that trimming your nails will make your hands lighter, and it's true that being lighter can help you jump higher, it's probably not true that trimming your nails will make you jump that much higher. But it worked :) And he did jump very high.

about the boys

2006-11-28T13:12:00.000-08:00

Henry turned 2 months old on Sunday, and today he had his 2 month checkup.
weight 11 lbs 9 oz (45%)
length 21 3/4 (9%)
Head circumference 39.7 cm (15%)
He has a pretty steady neck, he scoots along the floor if you let him push against your hand. he smiles when you coo or fake sneeze, and last night when I was fake sneezing for him, he actually laughed! his first laugh! henry is so cute! I have some pictures of him smiling I have yet to post.

Stanley is good, too. He is good at singing and using polite words to adults that aren't me or Scott. he loves to play games on the computer, and pretty much has the thing figured out. I'll be asking him for help with my computer problems in about three months. He is finally growing out of hiw 18 month pants, but the 2Ts are still a little big. He has been eating like a grown man, though, for the last few days, so I bet he'll fit them soon. Stan can approximate counting to 20, but he can really almost count to ten--he just skips the number 4 every time. He knows some letters but not all of them, and he doesn't know a lot of letter sounds yet, except for S, which is "my's letter". Stan loves to talk on the phone, and he loves to hug and kiss Henry. He is starting to listen to stories that I tell him without a book. he needs a haircut again. I'm going to start potty training him right after we get back from Christmas (so everyone else's carpet will be safe). He hates wearing pants and is always asking to do things with his pants off: "wash dishes-pants off?" "color picture-pants off?" "play baseball-pants off?" and pretty much the only fight we have at bedtime anymore is whether or not he has to wear pajama pants. he has stopped waking up in the night (he started when we moved) unless he falls out of his bed, which he does once in a while. He likes me to pick up and vacuum his room. He likes to pick up the living room so he can turn off all the lights and run around in the dark. The end.

woo-hoo!

2006-11-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

He just dozed off and it's only 2:46! goodnight!

night owl

2006-11-23T23:26:00.000-08:00

henry is a night owl, no doubt about it. It's 1:18 right now, and he's just getting started, I'm sure. I had a 4:00 night this week (dozing on the floor or in the chair and getting up every few minutes to re-insert the binkie after 2), and last night I went to bed early, but Scott reported that he finally went to sleep at 3:15. he used to go to sleep pretty reliably at 1:30, but now it's always later than late. 1:30 would be a luxury. I don't remember if Stan was like this--I know for a long time he went to sleep at 11, but 11 is much different than 3:00. And this is harder because if Scott is awake, he usually needs to be studying, and henry slows him down too much and makes it too hard. So if Scott's up studying I also have to be up so that I can take care of henry, but of course some one still has to get up with Stan in the morning--or at least stumble downstairs to turn on PBS and stumble back to bed. sometimes I put an awake Henry in the bed with me and try to sleep, but he moves too much and makes a lot of noise so it ends up being a frustrating quazi-sleep. Fate is making me eat my words about wanting to stay up late.

Stanley Sings about Basketball

2006-11-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

Julie took this video of Stanley as he made up his own song about basketball. The house was a little messy, but that's okay.

Stanley at McDonalds

2006-11-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Stanley and I took the bus to McDonalds together, and I caught some video of him as he ate. I enjoyed a couple things: the water coming out of the bottom of the straw, the part where he paused to listen to the guys in the restaurant having a boisterous conversation in Spanish, and taking a couple bites of burger.

Henry Moves Around

2006-11-22T18:01:00.000-08:00

2006-10-29T17:25:00.000-08:00

Henry takes a nap with Mom, visions of milkyplums dancing in his head.

Stanley loves to show Henry affection.

He enjoys tipping Henry up in his seat, and we try to keep him from falling out.

Stanley has learned to use the computer, to some extent. He really enjoys Microsoft Paint, and Pinball if he can get us to put that on.

Paris and Nicole made up? Where have I been for the last two hours?

To be clear, this started out as cereal and a glass of grape juice.

Henry in his duck costume and Stanley in his birthday suit.

Stanley likes to call Henry "Little Man".

Smell that? That's my two-in-one shampoo and conditioner. Nice, I know.

Ugh!

Ack!

Eeek!

Ahh.

We originally bought a pirate costume, but the 2T turned out to be 2small, and they were out of larger sizes. They did have this football player costume. Speaking of that, Stanley was 20 for 27 for 314 yards, with 2 TDs and 1 INT. Not bad.

The ward has a trunk or treating tradition, so Stanley walked from car to car with his little candy bag.

Have some pretend candy, kid. Now get outta here!

The shoulder pads are washcloths.

One van had this clever setup out of the back of their minivan. Upon declaring "trick or treat!", someone on the other side of a white poster would slip a piece of candy into the PVC tube, and it would land neatly into the child's bag.

Stanley with Peter and Eva, a few of his friends.

Julie entered a pie baking contest. The contest was rigged, we're pretty sure.

We put Stanley in his church shoes, because he's finally grown out of his sneakers.

Peter steals the spotlight.

A pie eating contest to end the night.

2006-10-01T15:43:00.000-07:00

We have been doing some size comparisons.

It appears that Stanley has grown since he was born.

Henry and Grandma Jolene take a nap.

The hint of a smile.

Tummy time for Henry, back time for Stanley.

Henry Ernest Wessman

2006-09-28T12:10:00.000-07:00

Meet Henry Ernest, fresh off a nine-month stay in solitary confinement.

He keeps his hands up by his face a lot.

Julie holds Henry.

If you're happy and you know it...

Henry enjoys the radiation heater above him. Julie and I want to invent a big one like this that can hang over a bed, and which would also be a fan in the summer.

Stanley's first meeting with Henry.

Stanley practices soft touching.

Grandma Jolene and Henry.

Not long after meeting his brother, Stanley was introduced to the in-room television.

I'm not afraid to fight.

But I'm so sleepy.

Henry has been pretty interested in nursing. This is his default pose.

Stanley's second encounter with Henry. He looked up at mom in a nice way.

I'm hopeful that this smile does not represent any devious plans that Stanley has for his little brother.

something tells me it's all happening at the zoo

2006-09-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

So in Minneapolis, about 12 minutes from where we live, and even closer to where we will live starting tomorrow (!!!), there's a park called Como park. At this park is a zoo, where for a suggested donation of $2 for adults and 1$ per child, you can go spend the day. Stanley and I did this yesterday, and had a great time. You really can't beat a 12 minute drive and $3 for a whole day of polar bears, monkeys, sea lions doing tricks, lions, giraffes, and a nice picnic lunch. It was really too bad that our camera was out of batteries and the spare battery is heaven-knows-where in the storage unit. This park also has a little amusement park with rides for the under-12 crowd; a carousel in a big pavillion so it can operate through halloween; a big conservaroty with a bonsai gallery, a fern room, and rain forrest room that's supposed to be a real treat to go to in the winter; a lake stocked with fish; a pool; an 18-hole golf course; miniature golf; and a bunch of ball fields. I had read before we came that minnesota has a great park system, and it's true! We have already been to a bunch of awesome parks. Many of them are built around these huge lakes, so they have like 20 miles of trails for running or walking (or cross-country skiing), and lots of wildlife areas. I know we missed the hottest part of the summer, but almost every day here has been really nice--perfect park weather. It's a nice place to live in the summer. Ask me again in February.

Smile

2006-08-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

This will only be funny for a few more years, so enjoy it while it lasts.

2006-07-02T13:52:00.000-07:00

This is the face Stanley makes when you say "Smile!" and take a picture.

want sheeps

2006-06-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have watched this with stan maybe 35 times so far today....

A New Bed

2006-05-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Stan has been able to climb out of his porta-crib for about a week. This caused problems at my mom's house last weekend where it was his bed--I had to just keep him up until he was too tired to protest or take him into the bed with me, since the guest room baby-proofed enough for him to just throw a tantrum freely in there for half and hour. We both were pretty tired by the time the weekend was over (although it would have been *much* worse without his loving grandmother and uncles taking him so mom could have a nap or two), so I was sad to see that as soon as he got home he applied his knowledge to his actual crib. It's not a good climb-out, either, it's a head-first dive. Anyway, we tried having him sleep on his crib matress on the floor, and the night ended when a defeated mom and dad let him sleep in their bed from midnight on. Night two we managed to leave him in there, although I doubt he slept anywhere that was intended for sleeping, and when I peeked in in the morning he was laying right by the door. We bought him a toddler bed, hoping that an actual bed would encourage him to think of it like his crib, which he never minded getting into. I assembled the bed this morning, and for naptime he slept on the floor next to the bed for about 20 minutes, then woke up but went back to sleep in my bed for another few hours. Tonight he really resisted the bed, but only cried in there for maybe 10 minutes, which is a big improvement. I doubt he's in the bed, though. The thing that makes it so hard is that instead of just getting mad or something, he stands there, knocking on the door, saying in an obviously-very sad-but-trying-to-sound-pleasant voice, "where are you, mommy?" crying a little bit in between. Oh! scott just checked on him--he's in the bed! sleeping! halleluja!

Birthday Part III

2006-05-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

We had pizza for dinner.

Stanley levels a sour stare at me. I think he was just chewing or something, but maybe this is the beginning of a contentious phase.

I asked Stanley, "Are you eating pizza?" and this was his answer.

"I give you this straw, for today you are a man."

Sweet, sweet nectar.

Stanley and Julie went to see me (Scott) at the basketball game. These are some of the other wives of basketball players, each with a young'un.

One of our friends brought this puppy, Fenway, to the game. Stanley had a fantastic time holding him.

Stanley's presents were cleverly wrapped in blankets, since we've gotten rid of all our wrapping paper in preparation for the move to Minnesota.

Stanley received some books.

"...or AM I done opening presents?"

Stanley's friend Sariah Jane came over to give him some blocks for a present. Stanley is basically in love with her. He says "Sariah Jane?" about a hundred times each day, obviously imagining all kinds of situations in which he might be able to hang out with her.

Goodbye, my Love.

Oh, uh, that hug? Heheh, yeah, that was nothing. Just saying goodbye.

Nothing marks the end of a birthday like getting into some fairly girlish pajamas and hopping into the crib.

Pictured here is Animal Blanket, which Stanley usually requests. It depicts Noah's ark.

Birthday Part II

2006-05-14T09:29:00.000-07:00

Stanley figured out how to sit on the swings by himself. Well, he used to be able to sit on the swings, but he wasn't good at holding onto the chains.

Stanley and the other kids in the neighborhood participate in a teambuilding exercise. Later this year, they'll go on a corporate retreat to learn how to better synergize.

Bubbles!

Stanley and Julie grabbed lunch at Days Market, to avoid the paint fumes in the house.

Stanley stops to smell a flower at the park.

Birthday Breakfast

2006-05-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Stanley is two! The first part of this day-long celebration was a breakfast on the back patio. Stanley had a banana and smoothie. Julie supervised the proceedings.

Yum.

2006-05-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

Stanley has grown up in the two years he's been around.

Weird how much older he is.

This was the classic pose.

2006-05-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Stanley and Scott at Rock Canyon Park

2006-05-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

Stanley is no longer a compact baby. He enjoys a pillow, and loves to have a load of blankets.

2006-05-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

Dad and Stanley relax for a while.

2006-05-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

Stanley and his friend Morgan were having fun watching church videos.

2006-05-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

A spontaneous hug shared between Stanley and Robyn.

Have a nice hug.

2006-05-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

if the camera is on, Stanley wants a part of it.

2006-05-08T22:27:00.000-07:00

Stanely ended up with both legs in one pant leg when we were dressing him for church.

Jumper

2006-05-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

well, sort of

2006-04-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Stan was kind of picking his nose while I changed his diaper, which isn't something he usually does, so I was just asking him about what he was doing. When I got around to asking him about what he found, he identified it as "nose poo-poo." Well, sort of....

ess ay-ee

2006-03-28T07:38:00.000-08:00

This is Ellie, Stan's babysitter. I'm putting this on the blog because he knows about this picture, and says "yes, ellie yes, ellie" when I'm on the computer, meaning that I have to open Picasa and find this picture. I thought this would be an easier way to accomodate his request. Plus I know how you all wanted to see who cares for him while Scott and I are out and about.

Stan Dances

2006-03-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

Julie took this video while I annoyingly sang "The Ants Go Marching". Stanley danced.

NYC Bathtime

2006-03-26T09:08:00.000-08:00

I got this video of Stanley taking a bath with our hosts' son, Christopher, when we were in New York. Christopher is about six months older, but they do play well together, despite the occasional water conflict.

A funny picture

2006-03-09T10:14:00.000-08:00

He wanted a "milk ball" (Whopper) and so I got one out for him and extended it toward him. He got so excited at the prospect that he started to dance (just the feet going really fast) but the dance was slowly moving him backwards and he couldnt reach the milk ball, but he was trying really hard to reach it. that's funny.

...and I watched in awe as he ate a plateful of raw cauliflower...

2006-03-07T19:43:00.000-08:00

Creamy Cauliflower Salad

1 head cauliflower, cut into toddler-sized florets
1/2 cup tomatoes, diced
some bacon, cooked and crumbled (it was probably 8 strips or so)
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 C. Miracle whip (or mayonnaise, if you like that, I guess)
1/4 c. sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

whisk together Miracle Whip, sugar, vinegar, and lemon juice. Toss everything else together and pour dressing over it, tossing to coat. chill.

This is based on a recipie by the same name from allrecipies.com, I just added more of the good stuff :) It's a lot like a low-carb potato salad, but even if carbs arent' an issue (like they aren't for us) cauliflower is still one of the most nutritious vegetables out there, while potatoes, shall we say, aren't. Anyway, it's really really good, and I think I'll be making it all summer.