Saturday, September 15, 2007

The boys have had a big, fun weekend. Griffith decided that it would be really fun to be up from 5 until 6 this morning. Mom and Dad weren't quite on board with that plan, but there really didn't seem to be much that they could do about it. The "up" side is that Griff slept until nearly 9:30. Big Al didn't last that long (of course!) but that just meant that he got to snuggle solo with Mom and Dad for a while. His hair was standing straight up like a cock's comb. Just call him Rock-a-Doodle. It is a very Elvis/Jerry Lee Lewis style. Fortunately he's cute enough to pull it off.

The weather turned yesterday so, last night, Momma made a run to target to get some long-sleeved shirts for the fellas. Dad was well-pleased that they were little rugby shirts. Rumor has it that Grandma and Grampy are bringing some real rugby kits when they come later this week.

Momma and the boys went for a big run this morning, ending up at the farmer's market and the bakery. Every week there are fewer vendors, fewer veggies, more apples and gourds. Still, the boys really take the whole experience in -- checking out the people and the dogs (what is it about people with dogs and the farmer's market?)

Allan fell prey to the charms of the stroller and slept for quite a while. He was so worn out that he stayed that way, even after we got home.

Griffith wouldn't miss a thing, but, once we got home, he crashed for about an hour. It was one of those rare, precious moments when both boys were napping at the same time.

Uncle Tim and Cousin Thomas stopped by and Griff woke up in time to show off a bit for them.

Then Dad took the boys to the pub to watch the England/South Africa rugby match (apparently SA kicked England's butt). The boys did very well on their first pub outing. This could be the start of something regular. From there, the boys moved on to tailgating before the big football game. It was a very macho afternoon. After a little of that, Mom came and brought the boys home while Dad progressed on to the game.

Right now Allan is out (sweet little guy fell asleep on the floor with me jostling him with my foot because I was holding Griff who REFUSED to go to sleep.) How the little demon managed to keep his eyes open is beyond me. Griffith is out after having spit up all over himself, the crib and the floor.

Home team is up right now with just 28 seconds left. Here's hoping they don't screw it up..... they do have a history of that. Just as well that the boys are asleep.

Ready to pull out (I)


See you later, Mom!

Ready to pull out (II)


The boys, ready to pull out (III)


Allan and Griffith, ready to head out to the pub with Dad.

Cool wellies.


Dad trying to coerce Griff in to wearing his cool wellies.

Griff in his rugby shirt.


Check out the wide stance. The kid is as bow-legged as Festus. Dad says that he would be four inches taller if he would straighten his legs.

Check me out!

Allan in his new rugby shirt and jeans.

Allan working his chiming ball.


Allan in his rugby shirt.


With his hair subdued.

Allan's bed-head


Allan's hair was a little out of control this morning. He looks like a little rooster!

Friday, September 14, 2007

Griff's new trick - nosepicking


which he thinks is the funniest thing ever.

C'mon, it is pretty funny.


No, really, it is hysterical!


Your money or your life!


Allan with the drill pointed right at Dad.

Griff and the wrench


Griff and the hammer


Griff and the new tub tools


There's a screwdriver, a wrench, a drill, a tape measure and a hammer.
Boy, I have really been remiss this week. Can't believe I haven't posted since Sunday. There really is no excuse. Just lots of busy-ness with the boys.

The weather finally turned fine here so we've been getting out quite a lot. It is amazing how much more energetic you feel when there is no humidity and the temperature is moderate.

On Tuesday, instead of blogging, we walked with Miss Elizabeth. On Wednesday, we walked with Miss Nicole. Last night, Mom had girls' night (yoga and sushi). All of a sudden it is Friday and we have been MIA for almost a week.

Allan went back for NICU graduate clinic on Tuesday. That's where the preemies go and a round of folks (docs/PA's/PT's) come around and see how far you have advance from the last time you were there. It is had been since January for Allan (when he fell asleep during the assessment). What with one thing and another, it seemed like we had a surgery or a something that conflicted every time. Dad took Big Al to this appointment. One person came in a rolled a ball to Allan to see if he would roll it back. He deigned to do so. Then they put a bell in front of him. After checking it out for a minute, he removed his thumb from his mouth and gave it a hearty shake. Points for that. Then there was putting blocks in a cup. Once again, he thought about it for a few minutes and then picked them up and put them in the cup. Well done. Then she took a spoon in one hand and a block in the other. "Reach for the spoon." Oh, please. He reached for the spoon and so he got bonus points, but, really, it was pure chance. The kid doesn't know "spoon" from a hole in the ground. He had a 50/50 shot. That person left and, in a while, the next one came in, and put down a bell. Again. Allan just looked at it and her blankly. Yeah, I've already done that. And the cup/block thing. Not going to do it again. And he didn't. Just sat there a sucked on his thumb. Not that I blame him. It irritates me that they aren't more coordinated. We just hide it a little better. Not by much, but a little. Apparently (color us shocked) Allan is delayed developmentally. For.Heaven's.Sake. To his credit, Jay told them, essentially, you don't know from delayed. Our regular PT (Miss Julie) laughed when we told her and agreed with us. Big Al has made amazing strides. On Thursday, he was working on crawling over to the couch (with the cushions off - clean as a whistle, mind you -- Mom learned her lesson the first time Miss Julie pulled them off to reveal crumbs and who knows what else in the cracks! I could have died.) He did great, getting his hands on the edge of the couch and pulling himself up to play with toys on the base of the couch. Miss Julie couldn't have been any more pleased with him. She has his number -- she says that Allan doesn't like to do any thing until he has watched it and taken it all in a time or two. He knows exactly what is going on, he just isn't going to do it until he wants to.

Griff continues to be completely unpredictable. The other night the boys were taking a bath and he was patting his brother on the back. Very sweet, very gentle. Jay and I were both right there by the two of them. Before we could react, Griff had put his meaty hand on his brother's chest and given a mighty shove. I was able to get my hand between Allan's head and the tub, but he was still terribly offended and howled like a banshee any way.

Katie and Aunt Lee came over last weekend and brought new tub toys -- tools. They have been a big hit. They soak up more water than our other toys and shoot farther which is big fun.

Don't know what the weekend holds. It is supposed to be pretty cool tonight. The boys are all upstairs in bed. I am on the front porch and there is a great cool breeze blowing. I could almost wear a sweatshirt. I need to go in to the basement and find the boys fleece jackets. Shouldn't be hard to locate them since Flora kept putting them in on until mid-June! At any rate, I found some cute rugby shirts at Target that ought to keep them warm enough for now. If it is nice in the morning, we will probably run to the Farmer's Market again. Won't be too long before we won't be able to do that. Dad is going to the big game tomorrow night. I think the boys and I may listen to it on the radio, instead. And we have a big party for Katie (she turns 2) on Sunday. Should be a rowdy time.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Aunt Jane has some babies

That's what Aunt Lee's little girl, Katie, has to say about the situation, Aunt Jane has SOME babies...
and fine ones they are.
The whole team got up on Saturday morning and jogged down to the farmer's market. Mom pushed on the way down (it is all the way uphill back so she left that for Dad to do.) We got tomatoes and basil and corn and an eggplant and then headed over to the bakery for a baguette and some fresh mozzarella. We had waited so late to start out that it was nearly lunchtime so we ran up to the Roots and Heritage festival and got polish sausages. The sausages were good, but, for reason, they dressed them with onions and ground beef (want some meat with your meat). Oh, well. By the time we got home, got cleaned and got fed, none of us were in the mood to do much of anything. It was hot and sticky (again) so we stayed close to the a/c. Dad and the boys watched a little football and golf. Mom got a nap in.

Griff learned a new trick: Allan-tipping. It is very like cow-tipping only with his brother. Allan would be sitting, minding his own business and Griff would crawl up behind him or beside him and give a big shove and knock him over. Then Griff would look around as if to say, did you see that?? He just fell over. Allan did not find this terribly amusing. It wasn't funny, but it was hard not to laugh. He would do it so fast that you couldn't really get there in time to intervene. To Allan's credit when Griff tried to do it from behind, he would get his hands down and wouldn't budge. He just doesn't have the balance to resist the side or frontal assault yet.

Mom and Dad headed out to a wedding last night so Miss Miranda came and took care of the boys. She must have done a good job because they slept pretty well last night. They even slept in a little this morning. Or Allan did at least. Since Dad got up more during the night, Mom got up with Griff at 7. I was hoping that he would take a bottle, snuggle for a bit and then go back to sleep but it was not to be. Still, 7 isn't bad. So we snuggled and played until Dad and Allan came down. Dad needed to put a new gate on the front porch so that we can let Griff roam free-range so Mom and the fellas went for a run (neither of them like the sound of the drill, but Griff has a real go-to-pieces whenever he runs it). It was so unexpectedly nice (no humidity) that we ran for an hour. Allan and Griff were both asleep by the end of the run, but Mom couldn't go any more. There is no way to get them from the stroller in to the house without waking them so, we walked for another 20 minutes or so until it started raining and we had to head back.

This afternoon Miss Lee and Katie came over to play. Katie is almost 2 and a combination of Allan and Griffith -- she has the coloring and eyelashes of Allan and the attitude of Griffith. They all got along surprisingly well considering that they are are used to getting their own individual ways. Katie was most interested in baby poo and both boys accomodated by needing a change while she was here. We aim to please around here.

Griff continued his attacks on Allan. While Jay and I were making lunch, we turned our backs on the fellows only to hear "THUD." Allan had toppled over in the middle of the floor and Griffith was lurking suspiciously close by with a very guilty look on his face. There was dead silence for about a 3 count and then, as Allan started to wail, Griff let out with "heh-heh-heh-heh-heh." I had to turn my back and laugh. Ornery little twerp. Don't feel too sorry for Allan, though, later this afternoon he managed to kick Griffith in the stomach with both feet and knock him to the ground. And then he laughed. It may take him awhile, but he'll get Griffith in the end.

I'm pretty sure you shouldn't let me play with this!


How do I get myself in to these situations?


No one wants to help a fella out.


They just want to laugh and take pictures.

Allan turtling


Big Al has gotten proficient at pushing himself up and holding the crawl position.

Allan getting ready for the big toss


Big grins


All smiles


Allan and Dad had a great time rough-housing. He was all giggles and smiles.

If I didn't know better...


I would believe that he was completely innocent.

Worn out


Griff, all warm and snuggly after a big run this morning.

Allan chowing down


Well, not exactly, but he did have some mashed potatoes for lunch.

Lunch time


Griffith wallowing in mashed potatoes, watermelon and Ritz crackers. A very balanced meal.

Maybe they won't notice...


that I've stuck a whole pile of mashed potatoes down the side of the seat. It is worth a shot.

What does THIS button do?


Griff has now mastered how to turn Allan's monitor on and off.

Allan pulling up.


Allan is getting really good at pulling himself up in to standing. Even with Griffith in the middle and trying to push him away.

What's going on here, guys?


Dad and Allan were playing with Allan pulling himself up to standing. Griffith couldn't handle it and crawled right over and in between the two of them!

Butting in....


Griffith has to be in the middle of everything!

Pair of Cards fans in the making


Aunt Michele brought these back from St. Louis last week. She decided to get them matching ones because she knows Miss Flora likes for them to match and so she'll put them in these more than the coordinating Cubs outfits that KK got for them!

Keep your eye on him, Allan!

Allan, keeping a watch out for Griffith.

Allan in his new Cardinals gear


Griffith in his new Cardinals gear