We heart Mo-town

We absolutely love the town we live in. There are so many fabulous parks, stores, activities, all over and 99% of them we can walk to. We always dreamed of living in Europe for a few years so I guess this is as close as we'll get for now. At Christmas they decorate the town center with tons of lights, a big Christmas tree, and do free little train rides. Boozle loved it and was confused and disappointed when he had to get off to let the other kids ride.

Happy Birthday Big Baby

Saturday we celebrated Big Baby's birthday in NYC. Despite the chill, we had a great time (along with 15 million other people) looking at the Macy*s windows, checking out the Rockerfellar tree, eating street vendor pretzels, and looking at the gigantic ferris wheel in Toys R Us where you could ride in a Barbie car, a Little People school bus, a Legos taxi, a Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, etc...






The whole day we just couldn't stop talking about how quickly the year went. It really doesn't feel like it was one whole year ago that sweet Big Baby decided he was on his way.

In the past few months he has changed so much. He's finally started to chub up a bit. Pretty much since birth he's been around the 4th or 5th percentile but he finally jumped up to the 9th at his 1 year appt. Maybe now he can start to live up to his nickname, Big Baby.

He loves to crawl around after Boozle and laugh hysterically. They definitely keep each other entertained and are best buddies. We usually get out toys for Big Baby to play with but he immediately abandons them to join Boozle in whatever he's playing with. Boozle's learning to be a very patient and generous big brother.





Just a few weeks ago he decided that he didn't want to ever be left behind so when we were upstairs helping with bathroom time, he started trying to climb the stairs. He's made it to the 2nd stair now so soon we might have to do some child-proofing. He loves to play in the kitchen while I cook and he loves whisks best. (Although at our Thanksgiving beach house in Delaware his preferred kitchen tool was the red egg separator).

His favorite foods are mango, pears, apples, applesauce, steamed carrots, avocado, peas, crackers, french toast (but he still is only a medium fan of cheese- yet another way he wants to be opposite from boozle)

His words: mama, tata (I think it's tack, tack which means thank you in Swedish).

His skillz: clapping his hands, playing peek-a-boo, pulling himself to standing at anything that will allow it, climbing up stairs (!) and so far he's done 2, making us laugh with his funny dramatic faces

Teeth count: 3

Happy Birthday Big Baby!

House Tour: Big Boy Room

After we potty trained Boozle we thought it'd be a good idea to move him into a big bed so he could get up and go if he needed to in the middle of the night. Little did we know that months later, he would be getting up to ask to go to the bathroom over and over right when he first lies down but wouldn't be waking up in the middle of the night when he needs to go. So it goes...

We weren't sure if he'd have a tough adjustment and feel like L (we call him Big Baby) was "stealing" his crib as some people warned about, so we went to Ikea to check out his reaction before deciding for sure. He jumped all over each bed and said, "Can we buy this one? Is this one Boozle's bed?" before we had even mentioned that we were going to buy him a bed. He let us know he was definitely ready.

So the search began. I didn't want a room that screamed little boy. No plastic car beds, no huge train tracks, no blue and red plaid. Those were my criteria. I scoured the internet and eventually, thanks to my super crafty and stylish friend, I found the ONE. I had to modify things, of course, and it's still not 100% done (if you know of someone that loves to sand things, send them my way!), but we love how it's turning out.

The color scheme is: orange, white, and silver so I painted a super cheap twin bed from Ikea super shiny silver and we love it. The bedding is from Ikea and fit perfectly within the budget and the color scheme. The paper airplanes are courtesy of T's mad folding skills and are hot glued to the ceiling. The most fun of all the projects was a tie between the Craigslist dresser that I painted white with silver hardware and the pelmet boxes above the windows. The most annoying project is a tie between the gray slipcover I made for the ottoman and then had to remake again and the darling Craigslist cupboard thing that I've been sanding and sanding because it's coated with 3 hideously-thick coats of peach and royal blue paint.

Farewell

Tonight as I sit here preparing my Sunday School lesson, I am greeted by a chilling wind coming in from the windows. This past week we have finally faced the facts that fall comes early in New Jersey and that summer is over. Sure, they already closed the pool. Sure, the kids all started school. Sure, it is dark at 8pm now. But I just wasn't ready to accept the fact that winter is on the horizon. Scary, dark, freezing, lonely winter. So we've been denying that it's coming. We kept the air conditioner units in the windows just in case another hot day surprised us. But today we finally took them out and relocated them to the attic. This morning after I got back from my run and T was getting ready to go he said he was shivering. I responded with the obligatory, "Don't look at me; it was your choice to move here." And he responded with, "I need some hot chocolate. And it's only September!" He seems to forget that he grew up in Utah. But the cold here is different; it's bone chilling.

Let's be positive and think of the pros of fall coming:
1. Candy corn and candy corn pumpkin season
2. Pumpkin bread season
3. More time for blogging since there's less time for swimming, playing at the park, eating outside, etc...
4. Chilly evenings make knitting seem more appropriate
5. Well, that's about all I can think of. Four is better than none, though.

But at least we enjoyed our summer filled with swim lessons; trips to see cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmas, opas, grandpas, gmas, etc...; horsey rides; learning to eat food; learning to crawl, sit up, roll over; learning to use the toilet; getting a new big boy room... (Just to name a few).


yummy spoon

Nothing says fun like playing with Uncle Ty in the big vinyl school bus

Easter Eggs

This year I wanted to try dying eggs with natural dyes. I had read about it in various natural parenting emails and magazines but hadn't ever done it. Let's be honest, most years we haven't even dyed eggs. We always have the intention and it just never happens. This year I was determined. Even though no one joined me in dying eggs, I still had fun.

For supplies I decided on purple cabbage, yellow onion skins, and black tea. I simmered the purple cabbage and the yellow onion skins in water for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile the tea steeped until it was nice and black. I was determined to have perfectly-boiled eggs so I followed Cook's Illustrated's instructions to a T and of course, they turned out perfectly. They don't mess around at ATK.



Some of the eggs I wrapped rubber bands around and soaked for hours, getting a sort-of tie-dyed effect. Some I just soaked. Some got double dunked. All in all I had a blast and thought they turned out pretty. Next year I'll definitely try more random fruits and vegetables for dye.

Shorties for All

As you might remember, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn to knit. Since learning, I have become obsessed. What do I want for my birthday? Yummy yarn. What do I want to do every evening? Knit. What do I dream about? Sweaters, wool longies, soakers, etc... T thinks it's a bit nuts. But I digress, I found a pattern for some pants, found some wool, and started knitting. A few tutorials later, they are finished. I still need to get a pic of my babe wearing them (as he looks adorable in them) but I think they're pretty cute. Now onto Boozle's...

Brandbil

Boozle is definitely all boy. We purposely bought toys that wouldn't age and would encourage creativity, i.e. wooden puzzles, wood blocks, stacking toys, etc... And yet, the first car Boozle laid his eyes on sparked an intense passion. I still remember the day very clearly. We were back in Little Rock so we could be there while the movers packed up the house and we went to church on Sunday. We sat by a family with 2 little boys and Boozle was no longer entertained with his cow and horse. He wanted the car and the transformer. I don't know how he knew he was supposed to be enamored with such toys, but he certainly was. Luckily the boys were equally as amused by his horse and cow so the swap was amicable.

The Saturday before Easter there were many Easter egg hunts around town but one was put on by the volunteer fire department and would feature 2 fire engines that the kids could look at. I knew this was the one we had to attend. It was scheduled for 2pm. Right during naptime. Was it worth it? I thought it was. We purposely showed up late because 1. he's only 2 and doesn't need tons of eggs full of candy and 2. we wanted to let him sleep for as long as we could. As we were pulling up, most of the kids were leaving with baskets full of eggs. One of the trucks had already left but there was one left and the fireman was just getting ready to leave. He was very happy to show the truck to Boozle and postpone his departure a bit for us.

At first, Boozle was fascinated by it. (Brandbil [Fire truck in Swedish] happens to be one of his favorite words.) Then the fireman invited him to climb on it which he couldn't decide if it was a scary fire truck or a cool fire truck. Eventually he decided it was cool and he climbed in with Papa. Then he wanted out. Stat. Then he wanted to look at it from afar. After a few minutes, he wanted to climb back in. Then he wanted out. All in all, he preferred standing on it "so high" and touching its shiny parts. He has a fire truck book and was very well-informed about what everything is called so he wondered where the aerial ladder truck was. The fireman was impressed that he knew that his truck was called a pumper. It was a great day.