Thank you Stacy for the video!

Yesterday was Dave’s birthday and, like always, he requested an eclair cake instead of a traditional birthday cake.

Adam helped me decorate the cake with teddy bear shaped graham crackers. I figured it would be less messy than sprinkles.

It didn’t take Adam long to start sampling the cake. After a fingerful of frosting he turned to me and said, “Mommy! This is delicious!”

In the end the cake looked like a sea of half-drowned teddy bears.

Dave didn’t seem to mind the fingerprints or missing frosting.

Despite its appearance, the cake still tasted really good.

Adam couldn’t wait to give Dave the gifts he picked out for him. The two of us went shopping and I let him decide what Dave would like most. In case you’re wondering Dave got a Disney nursery rhyme book, a penguin book, a bottle of Mickey Mouse bubbles, a CD of children’s music, and some chocolate peanut butter eggs.

Adam couldn’t wait to open all of his, I mean Dave’s, new things.

While we were out to dinner one night last week I gave Luke the lemon from my water.

I was expecting more of a reaction from him, but the taste didn’t seem to bother him too much.

Silly kid.

If you ask Adam what his favorite part of our trip to Florida was, he’ll tell you it was “rescuing animals in trouble” (like Diego, the main character in one of his favorite cartoons).

It was tough work, but thanks to a net and his starfish rescue-mobile he was able to save all the animals. It also helped that all the critters in distress were contained to Grandma and Grandpa’s pool.

Luke wasn’t too sure about the whole swimming pool thing at first. I sat on the edge with him for a while getting his toes (and very slowly the rest of him) wet so he could get used to it.

Then I passed him off to Dave and the two of them helped Adam with more rescue missions (it was a catch and release program, and those crazy animals needed a lot of rescuing).

Yesterday we took the boys to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. I was hoping to get a nice picture of the two of them on the bunny’s lap to send out as Easter cards this year. However, Adam respectfully declined to participate in the photo shoot.

And by “respectfully declined” I mean threw a tantrum any time we got him within four feet of the EB. Before we left Adam did wave at him a couple of times though (from a safe distance), so hopefully the Easter Bunny won’t take it personally and will still leave Adam a basket this year.

Luke didn’t have any issues with the rabbit. They even got a few shots of him smiling for the camera (not like Luke smiling is a rare event – he is such a happy little guy), unfortunately in each of those pictures he also has his hand in his mouth. So we ended up getting this picture, which is still adorable – even if the Duke isn’t smiling.

Sunday was a big day for us. We flew down to Florida to visit Dave’s parents for a few days. It was the first time Adam and Luke had been on an airplane and also the first time Dave or I had flown with a child.

Adam couldn’t wait to “go on the big airplane and go up in the sky”.

We tried to prepare as much as possible for the two and a half hour flight. I had a bag packed with snacks for Adam and a couple of new books and toys he’d never seen before.

Both boys did really well on the flight. Adam spent a lot of time coloring and having us read to him. I hope the people sitting near us didn’t mind having to listen to me and Dave read the same book twenty-six times.

Luke spent a lot of time sleeping.

Adam also loved looking out the window.  He thought it was “so silly” that the clouds were underneath us. At one point he tried to turn his head upside down so that the clouds were where they were supposed to be.

Adam got a little antsy near the end and didn’t like it when we told him that he had to stay in his seat (since he’s over two he had his own ticket to ride – but he don’t care). He also had a tough time getting his ears to pop during our descent and so he was crying that his ears hurt. I ended up holding him as we landed and once his ears popped he was fine.

All-in-all I would call our first family flight a success. The kids were very well behaved, our flights were on time, and no luggage was lost. You really can’t ask for more than that.

It might not be the Chicago River, but in honor of St. Patrick we’ve dyed the bathtub green!

Happy St. Paddy‘s Day from my Little Leprechauns!

Go Orange!

Aunt Stacy was in charge of Adam’s bath Saturday night, so we did the glow stick thing again. This time though, she turned out the lights.

It was tough to photograph, but Adam loved it.

I think he would have stayed in there all night if we’d have let him.

Hooray for fun baths!

Luke was so tired this morning, but no matter what I tried, I could not get him to sleep. So I gave up and just let him sit on the bed while I got ready. When I looked over the poor kid had fallen asleep right where I left him.

This evening I caught Adam putting stickers on the wall. I told him that was not allowed and suggested he put the stickers on a piece of paper. He asked me if he could put his stickers on his belly instead.

I think that was a pretty good compromise.