Easter

We had such a fun Easter. Charlie went to 3 easter egg hunts - resulting in the fact he seems to still be finding unopened plastic eggs around the house. The first easter egg hunt was at Lincoln Park where they roped off part of the park and threw thousands of plastic eggs onto the grass. "Hunt" was absolutely the wrong word - more like derby. Hundreds of kids lined up around the rope then rushed the area when the count down ended. Despite having thousands of eggs the hunt last MAYBE 2 minutes. We went to Philadelphia to see my mom and had a neighborhood hunt and then a spectaculate easter egg hunt in her backyard. The kids had so much fun searching all around the yard and then playing the whole day outside. It definitely made us sad not to have more of a yard -- or even a finished yard for that matter. The cousins played so hard together. Here they are...

Easter week started with a comedy of errors that seemed straight out of the Genny and Carlos Capitol Construction play book. It entailed numerous unsuccessful attempts to install a chandelier we bought at a local auction. After what seemed like an interminable car ride home in which Carlos complained the whole way about how heavy and uncomfortable it was on his lap we carefully hoisted it up by means of a levered rope. After much anticipation Carlos turned to me and said "I'm missing a part. I'm going to Frager's - stay here and don't move." 25 long minutes later he arrived and we enlisted everyone in the house to help hold the chandelier in place. We had one ladder and Charlie's toy box on top of two chairs which served as a second ladder. After much sweat, shaking shoulder muscles, near tears and a few broken pieces Carlos announced that he was missing a piece and had to go back to Frager's. I sat holding the chandelier for another long 25 minutes until Carlos returned with a mountiain climbing hook. 3 hours later our chandelier was mounted using climbing hooks. But don't ask about whether it's working yet...

Kite Flying

This weekend we tried two new traditions and kept one going. We went to see the kite festival this weekend and try our hand at flying a cheap kite. It's the first time I can remember flying a kite and it was a bit treacherous with the other kites strings everywhere, but we had a lot of fun. The sky was riddled with kites and Charlie, Brett and Aidan had a lot of fun pointing out favorites.

We also dyed Easter eggs with Charlie's girlfriend Cici. I boiled 2 dozen eggs thinking that that was more than enough but they were through them in about 10 minutes and awaited more. Cici broke 3 of them before getting a single one in the dye and their fingers ended up crazy colors. Charlie and Cici are best friends at school and their behaviour is slightly worrisome. On Friday I caught them hugging and telling each other how much they love each other. THEY ARE 3!!! Her father is Latin so I worry that he won't let my son near their house if he finds out about it....

On Sunday I ran the Cherry Blossom race for the 3rd year in a row with the same couple. The first year it was my re-bound after having Charlie and this year she is almost 4 months pregnant. 10 miles pregnant! that's impressive. There were so many people running that we waited for 30 min before even crossing the starting line and then 200 yards later half the group decided to peel off to use the bathroom. slow start to say the least....Somehow we all found each other along the way and managed to beat Santa Claus and the guy who juggled all the way! phew!

My little sugar plum Diego has learned the word "ME" and uses it often. He is also becoming a shower hog. His two favorite things are being outside and being in water. They only way I get him to come inside is to say that he can take a bath. Getting him out of the bath usually ends in tears. He also loves showers. He climbs into the shower with me and slowly backs into me until he takes over most of the water. Sometimes I'll pick him up and let the water massage his back - when I try to turn the water off he yells "NO!!!!MATZZZZZZ!!!!!"

Here he is following in my footsteps with a serious affinity for carbs....

Skater or Mullet?

I spent all last week in Florida visiting orange groves and talking to migrant workers. The subject was interesting, but the location was painful. I ate the Southwest salad at McDonalds almost everyday for lunch and then moved onto the Southwest Explosion salad for dinner at Chilis every night. I survived 5 Hampton Inn breakfasts only by going to McDonalds for coffee every morning. I needed a full detox by Friday. I did get to spend one evening in Downtown Disney which equally bizarre. I know Charlie and Diego will love theme parks at some point, but it just seems like the biggest pain. I've surveyed various parents about going to Disney World and there seems to be two types - the ones that dread the idea and the ones that have already gone even though their 3 year olds won't remember it. A favorite response was "I'm going to wait until they won't stop demanding to go, and then I'll wait one more year."

Charlie and Diego seemed to do just fine with out me - in fact, without us! Carlos was gone through Tuesday night so my dad stayed over. This weekend we had fun at Charlie's school gala and with my mom and aunt Mary visiting. I ended up bidding on and getting one of Charlie's class artwork. I was hoping to bid on more, but everything either quickly got out of my price range or I felt too badly to bid against a friend. I'm clearly not very cut-throat.

Sandra is in Nicaragua with her church so I am taking a few days off and I'm having so much fun with Diego. Here we are chasing tractors on the mall. His vocabulary is still limited, but my favorite word is "matzzzz" for mas/more.

Charlie's school is doing a session on cameras so I've been spending time with the class taking pictures. It's amazing how most of the three/four year olds are great at using digital cameras. There are still a few kids who insist on putting their fingers over the lens and actually looking through the viewfinder. The funniest thing is that here is what most of the photos looked like - they took pictures of each other taking pictures!

Here is my big question - do I cut Charlie's hair? I love the skater look, but maybe it's turning into a mullet. thoughts?

A Really Delayed Post

The last few weeks have confirmed for me that I would have a really, really, really hard time going back to office life. I had all day meetings downtown last week starting at 8am and work events in the evening. I guess that is a normal work schedule, but I was depressed by the end of the week. I didn't get to take Charlie to school, I didn't get to pick him up, I didn't get to put them to bed, I didn't get to exercise and I ate gross food all week. It will be a bad day when I have to go back to an office setting full-time.

This weekend we went to visit my college friend in Richmond. They have a 2.5 year old and some how they dealt with us staying over with our 2 monsters as well. The boys played so hard until they nearly collapsed around 10pm and we stayed up talking until it was even too late for me. I was so paranoid that Charlie would pee in the bed that when I went to sleep I picked him up, held him over the toilet and turned on the faucet. He was fast asleep, but managed to go pee and straight back to bed. Luckily everything was dry the next morning. Here are the kids at Charlie's classmate's birthday party. It was a raucous party - they had a DJ literally blaring music. There was also a bouncey house, face painting and a crazy spread of southern food. Charlie got his face painted but then continued to play so hard that by the end of the party he had sweat the paint off and looked like a crazy man.

The backyard is still under construction....I'm hoping that it'll be usable this summer. It is still a pile of dirt, but Carlos promises that I can have an easter egg hunt in less than a month. hmmm. I suppose there are lots of good hiding places under the wood scraps and construction debris....

20 Sisters??

I don't claim to be a very good planner, but at least I am getting better at it with age. My husband, on the other hand, seems to be getting worse. Our tenants of three years moved out on Saturday night and Carlos agreed to let the new tenants move in on Sunday morning. We had plans for Saturday night so Sandra saved the day yet again by babysitting for us AND cleaning the apartment once the kids went to bed. Unfortunately we were still up until 4 in the morning doing maintenance and touch-ups. I don't think I've ever been so annoyed with Carlos as I was between 12 and 4am Saturday.

Of course the kids were up at 7am and Charlie doesn't nap so it was a long Sunday. Charlie and I have been using Diego's naptime to go out and do stuff together. On Saturday we saw Muts Gone Nuts which was a lot of fun. Charlie loved seeing dogs do tricks and then we enjoyed a post-theater snack. Here he is on stage with one of the dogs.

This weekend Charlie informed me that he would like baby sisters - 20 of them to be exact. He reduced that down to 5 and even helped out by naming them. Here are his proposed names....I don't think they'll be feature as one of 2012's Most Popular Names.....

Diego has developed an attitude if he doesn't get his way. And 5-7pm is usually a grumpy time overall for him. He seems to be absolutely exhausted by 7pm which makes me think we should put him to bed even earlier, but I'm petrified of him waking up any earlier. We had a playdate at a friends house on Sunday afternoon and by 5pm Diego pulled me over to the door and said "Go, Go, Go." Subtle hint.... Yes "GO" is part of his limited vocabulary. He seems to say thank you too though it sounds more like 'danku.' Here is my little man in a cute shirt that his uncle Seth sent.

On Sunday morning we had a playdate with Charlie's whole class which was really nice until a mom approached me to say that her son comes home everyday saying that Charlie kicks him. WHAT?! I was absolutely mortified. Could my son really be a closet bully? After all our main concern was that he only likes to hang out wiht girls. I talked to the teacher and it turns out that it was one pushing match during my long work trip and that has resulted in weeks of 3 year old fabrication. It was an interesting test of how defensive/protective I can be of my child. I don't like it when moms assume their kids can do no wrong but on the other hand I felt like he was being unfairly accused and immediately wanted to deny that it was even possible. I'm guessing that in another decade I'll look back and wish that the issues I face with kids are as simple as pushing matches....Here he is getting lunch after the playdate with his best school friend Cici.

On the Road

I signed Charlie up for ballet class and I'm pretty sure the teacher thinks I'm crazy. Not only is he the only boy in the class, but I forgot to take off the red nail polish that we put on for the chinese new year party. So there was my son with bright red nail polish surrounded by girls in leotards and ballet shoes! I actually wasn't sure which was more strange - Charlie's toes or the fact that 3 year old girls already have real ballet gear. Despite my initial horror Charlie loved the class.

I was in Atlanta this week and things seemed a little bumpy. Carlos forgot to take Diego back to the doctor to have them read the TB test, he forgot to take Charlie to his dance class, they ran out of milk and I'm pretty sure Charlie didn't take a bath. The most distressing news was that Charlie's teacher emailed to say that he acted agressive one day - he is never agressive or mean in school (he saves that for Diego). I'm wondering if his behaviour had something to do with my absence and so of course I feel terrible. I went on a field trip the day after I got back to try and make up for it, but I'm not sure it worked. Here are the kids on the metro.

We went to Philly for the weekend to see my mom and aunt Mary and the kids had a lot of fun. Diego loved playing with the outdoor toys and refused to come in despite the cold. We came home in time for the Disney on Ice show which was pretty funny. Charlie and I are both so Disney illiterate that we didn't know most of the movie references. Nevertheless it was really fun to go on a date with Charlie and I hope to make it a regular thing.

Diego went in for his 18 month appointment last week and he seems perfectly healthy. He is only in the 30th percentile for weight but at least he is staying consistent....The doctor said we'll start worrying at age 2 if he still doesn't talk.

Elizabeth and I did a painting class where we all painted the same scene while drinking wine. The fact that they felt the need to remind us to drink our wine and not the dirty paintbrush water is probably indicative of the quality of the work.... I'm not about to hang it in my house but we had fun.

Car Bumpers

The boys survived their first week together in the same room. It hasn't been totally smooth and they wake each other up earlier than before, but I'm glad that we made the move. Charlie was initially opposed to the idea and kept asking "what is THAT crib doing in my room?" He seems to have accepted it and even started looking forward to getting a bunkbed someday. One very negative outcome seems to be regressing on nighttime accidents.

Here are Charlie and Diego working on various packages we received this week. Please note the tool Charlie is using to open the package - his plastic wrench with eyeballs!

We've been getting a lot of packages recently because Carlos' random schemes are in full swing....The packages are mainly car parts and many of them are HUGE. In fact a bumper arrived at 419 New Jersey instead of 419 1st st so a santa-claus-looking gentleman came over to ask us to come and get it...from the Amway lobbyist house! A huge car bumper arriving at the Amway really makes me chuckle. What did not make me chuckle was the appearance of one of the car projects Carlos took on. Look at this piece of burned-out crap!

In other news, last week was Museum night at Charlie's school. Charlie's class did a winter scene and hibernation exhibit. Diego loved the fake snow and held his own by elbowing the bigger kids who tried to push him out of the way. I went with the goal of judging PK4 teachers based on their exhibit. I'm so terrible. But both were impressive and very different so it didn't work. This week we had parent-teacher conference which is so fun, except that it means that Charlie didn't have school. Charlie staying home all day with Sandra now is a disaster - he clearly needs structure and activities and soon I think he is going to need a cell phone! The whole day he kept asking me to call Cici and ask if she wanted to meet him at the playground or to come over...he even offered to go over to her house.