So I had hoped to have a bunch of adorable professional photos of the boys to share with you tonight. We had an appointment this afternoon to have them taken. I figured Luke wouldn’t be a problem – he’s naturally a smiley, happy baby. I was really hoping for a good picture (or two) of Adam alone and also a couple of the two of them together.

That didn’t happen.

Instead we’ll be rescheduling our appointment for a later date. Crying babies don’t make for good pictures (at least not all the time, there is an exception to almost every rule).

Last Saturday we took the boys to the zoo near our house. It’s a small zoo, but it’s the perfect size for Adam, and it’s only 30 minutes from our house.

We spent about two hours at the zoo and saw almost everything (I told you, small zoo). I picked up a family membership for us earlier this year and we have plans to go back and see the exhibits we missed. The zoo is open year round and last year they had events for pre-schoolers a couple of times a month during the winter and spring. The kids got to meet an animal up close, learn about it and do a craft or activity of some sort. Adam was too little for it last year, but hopefully they will continue the program this year and I can take him.

Adam’s favorite part of our trip to the zoo were these little signs they had along the pathway.

Whenever he saw the paw prints he would point and yell, “a clue! a clue!” It was like his own personal game of Blue’s Clues. For those of you that don’t know, Blue’s Clues Adam’s absolute favorite television program. In each episode of the show you have to find clues (3 of them) in the shape of paw prints to figure out what the puppy (Blue) is trying to tell his owner (either Steve or Joe, depending on when the episode was made – we prefer Steve – and by “we” I mean Dave and I, I don’t think Adam cares).

We had to stop and check out each paw print we passed, and as soon as we left it Adam would ask for another one, “more clue?” He didn’t care much about the lions or monkeys, but those “clues” made his whole trip.

Adam was also very interested in the food dispensers in the petting zoo area. However, any time he would get close enough to investigate the animals would come running over and he did not like that at all. It was probably a good thing, since I’m fairly certain if there’d been any food pellets left behind the little door they’d have ended up in Adam’s mouth.

Luke insisted on being held whenever he wasn’t sleeping. And yes, the boys are wearing the same outfit. I told Dave it was in case we lost one of them, then we could tell security, “he is wearing that” and point at the child still with us. He didn’t buy it, he just thinks I like them to match. He’s probably right, especially since I didn’t come up with that reasoning until after we’d already been at the zoo for an hour.

On Tuesday Adam got a surprise in the mail. He had to wait to open it while I went and got the camera and he was surprisingly okay with that. It didn’t stop him from playing with his present though.

Once we gave him the go-ahead to dive in he didn’t waste any time tearing the paper off.

I am not sure who was more excited about the new mower, Adam or his father. Dave wanted to set it up right away and fill it with bubbles – in the house. I vetoed that idea and so we all went outside. It was a good thing too, or else we’d have ended up with a quarter of a bottle of bubble mix on the carpet.

Adam was so serious about mowing our lovely mostly brown yard (this summer and its lack of rain has not been kind to the grass). He thought the bubbles were a lot of fun and the mower got refilled with soap twice while we were outside. Dave even took a couple of turns with the mower while Adam chased after him popping bubbles. I think we need to figure out a way to get our push-mower to blow bubbles, maybe then Dave would get more excited about cutting the grass.

Thanks Grandma Cathy & Grandpa Kurt! Let’s hope Adam is as willing to mow the lawn in 10 years.

Here’s Adam singing his “ACDs”. He get distracted by the stars he is stacking in the middle, which is also where my finger makes an appearance on the side of the lens – sorry about that.

Even though I had to prompt him a couple of times, he really does know the whole song. He loves singing it and will come up to me at least twice a day, saying “ACD mommy, ACD!” He sings the “MEEEEE” at the end in an adorably fantastic high-pitched loud voice every time – and I hope that never changes.

This morning Adam and I were coloring downstairs when Luke woke up from his nap. Adam heard him crying over the monitor, dropped his crayon, and ran upstairs yelling, “Luke, hear you, I coming!” It was pretty darn adorable. He really is a fantastic big brother. He doesn’t understand the “brother” title yet though. If you ask him if Luke is his brother he’ll tell you no. He also tells me I’m not a princess (he’s obviously a little confused).

Luke had his two month checkup this afternoon. The poor little guy got two shots and really was not pleased at all. He was (understandably) a little out of sorts tonight. I’m hoping he feels better when he wakes up in the morning.

Here are his updated stats for those of you keeping score at home.

	Weight	Length
June 9, 2011	7 lbs 12 oz	20.5 inches
June 14, 2011	7 lbs 4 oz	21 inches
June 23, 2011	7 lbs 10 oz	not taken
July 11, 2011	9 lbs 3 oz	21.75 inches
August 16, 2011	11 lbs 2 oz	22.75 inches

Can I just tell you though how amazed I am that Luke sleeps through the night? Just having the thought, much less typing it out, will probably jinx me and insure the next several months will be full of sleepless nights. But he’s been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now – which is a big deal when you’re only 9 weeks old. Adam was over a year before he would sleep through the whole night, so to have Luke being such a sleep superstar at so young is crazy to me (in a really, really good way).

Anyway, after the doctor’s appointment we ran some errands and got something to eat before coming home. Adam and Luke were both really well behaved. Adam kept himself entertained with the easy button on the counter at Staples and kept repeating, “That easy”. He’s been quite the little mimic lately. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Dave or I slip in front of him and he ends up learning a new 4-letter word. Dave and I are both pretty good about using appropriate language, but we’re not perfect either.

During our post-doctor’s appointment adventures Adam was snacking on a bag of fish crackers (or fish “tatas” as Adam calls them). He did a great job of not making a mess, until we were literally about a minute from our house. We were so close the garage door opener would have had a decent shot at working.

Adam’s reaction to the spilled crackers was something along the lines of, “Oh no! Oop, I sorry Mommy, I sorry.” And yes, it’s just a single “oop” with Adam, no multiple oops for him. Dave vacuumed up the mess shortly after we got home; no use crying over spilled goldfish right?

After emptying the fish out of the dustbuster Dave turned it back on and chased Adam down the hallway with it. Adam is terrified of the vacuum cleaner and did not think his daddy was at all funny, so we put Dave in “time-out”. After he sat for a couple of minutes and then apologized to Adam and gave him a kiss he was allowed to get up. Hopefully he’s learned his lesson.

And I am fantastic.

Luke turned 2 months old yesterday, so you know what that means.

I did mange to get a couple of picture of him smiling too, but not while looking at the camera like he was in the photo above.

Or maybe I should say not while looking at the camera and sitting up.

That is a pretty fantastic leaning tower of adorableness though.

And of course, Adam, who says no and runs any time I try to take a picture of him lately, had to get in on the action.

I don’t know, maybe that’s the trick? I need to just start taking pictures of Luke and let Adam come to me.

Two things I do know for sure though, my children are super cute and they are growing way too fast.

Adam had his 2 year checkup today. He now weighs 26 pounds and is 33 inches tall. This means instead of calling him a two-foot terror, I should probably change it to the almost-three-foot terror.

At his 18 month checkup in February he weighed just under 23 pounds and was 30 inches tall. He’s gone from the 5th percentile for height to the 10th, and from the 10th percentile for weight to the 25th. That’s some good growing right there. The doctor estimated his head to be in the 75th percentile now – down from the 90-95th last time. So he’s growing in to that big brain of his.

The poor kid got one shot today and also had to have blood-work done. Now this is one of the reasons that Dave tries to go to all the boys’ doctor’s appointments. If our children are going to associate one of us with holding them down while mean nurses and lab techs jab them with needles and make them cry, I want it to be Dave.

It has nothing to do with my longtime fear of needles and tendency to faint while getting shots (to my own credit, this hasn’t happened in like three years – I’ve gotten better with each pregnancy – lots of practice).

So normally Dave will handle the needles and I will take over after with the soothing and cuddling. It’s a good system. Today though, Adam decided he only wanted mama. So that’s how I found myself pinning Adam’s shoulders down so he could get a vaccine and a Bugs Bunny band-aid. And then minutes later in the lab Adam sat on my lap and screamed while the tech filed a vial with my poor baby’s blood. I actually watched that one because she had a tough time finding a vein and had to wriggle the needle around. Adam did not like that one bit (and neither did I).

But you know what?

I didn’t pass out.

And you know what else?

It totally sucked.

Dave can have that job back.

 

(Sorry mom for using “sucked” in that context; I know you don’t like that word. It really did suck though.)

Last Saturday was a busy day for us. In the morning Dave marched in a parade. Adam, Luke, Stacy, Rob and I watched from the sidelines and cheered as he went by. Okay, actually Adam, Stacy, Rob, and I cheered. Luke slept. Luke’s a good sleeper.

I tried to get a picture of Dave as he passed us and apparently need to work on my photography skills because I barely got him in the photo (see the far right side of the pic). Also they line up in order of height and since I didn’t get any of the people behind Dave, it makes him look really short. He’s not really though – he’s 6 feet tall.

The reasoning behind my less than stellar photo is that I was more interested in catching Adam’s reaction to seeing Dave. He kept yelling, “Hi Daddy!” and clapping. It was really cute and Adam is way more fun to look at than Dave.

Despite the ultra-serious face, he really was enjoying himself. He did have that look on his face for most of the parade though. I think that the Subway mascot at his last parade might have scarred him for life.

He was very happy to have Aunt Stacy and Uncle Rob there to hang out with. Aunt Stacy helped him snag a bunch of candy too (and by help I mean she did it for him – he didn’t get out of his chair).

After the parade we went back to the house. We relaxed for a while and played with some of Adam’s birthday gifts. The wrapped ones weren’t opened until later that night and he was surprisingly good about leaving them alone.

He’s not at all spoiled right? Not shown in this picture is the tricycle from Stacy and Rob – it is parked in the garage.

Stacy and Rob tried to help me get a picture of Adam smiling by throwing the bean bags through the basketball hoop Steven and Amanda got him. For some reason Adam thought that was hilarious. I love when he gets to giggling so hard.

After dinner it was time for cake. Adam was thrilled when he saw his Blue’s Clues cake and was even more excited when we sang to him. He had that huge smile on his face throughout the song. It sort of makes me want to go get another cake, put some candles on it, and sing to him again – just to see that grin.

Also then we would have cake again. Win.

Yesterday while Adam was playing he discovered that he has two of the same lego animals. When he realized it he got all excited and said, “Look Mama! More ella! One, two…..two ella!”

He’s been big on grouping like items lately and counting them. After the ellas we moved on to his trains. He lined them up and told me there were five choo choos (he was right).

He is getting better at counting and can count to ten almost perfectly. I say “almost” because in Adam’s version, the counting goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11, 8, 9, 10. I think that’s close enough for a two-year-old though.

Another thing he likes to do is name his lego people. He has three. The cowgirl is Amanda, the zoo keeper is Mommy, and he’s decided the clown is Papa.

I can see the resemblance.