Can I?

Eli's new phrase is "Can I?" 

"Can I....cookie?"

"Can I....outside?"

"Can I.....truck?"

It is so cute. Last night I was getting supper made and he got the bread and the peanut butter out of the cupboard, took it to the table and said "Can I...sami?" (sandwich)

Apple Picking Day....

Today we went on our annual apple orchard trip. One of the great memories that I have from my childhood was going to the apple orchard with my family and Grandma Albright. We always joke about how she used to stuff her purse and the glove compartment full of apples! I also remember her canning applesauce and of course eating the applesauce. I vividly remember eating the last jar of her applesauce after she had passed away.

Each year, I have taken the boys down to Grundy and we have taken them to the apple orchard by Garwin. Today was a perfect day for picking apples. The boys had a great time!

Here is our post from last year. 2008

Star Wars

Sign that our house is overdosing on Star Wars lately....(Evan is obsessed with it, it is all he can think about or talk about)

Last night at supper, Eli.....yes Eli.....busted out in song - humming the Star Wars theme. It was very clear and very recognizable! We'll try to get it on film one of these times. 

On Sunday, Ben was working on school work and the boys and I were trying to think of something fun to do. I took them to a visiting petting zoo at Twin Ponds Nature Center outside of town. They loved it! They got to see tarantulas, snakes, skunks, llamas, turtles and many more exotic animals. 

Brave Boys holding the snake!

Eli loved all the outside animals. 

His favorite was the "horsey" It was just his size!

You can't see it very well here, but the boys are brushing and petting a bunny. When Isaac was explaining it to Ben, he said that the bunny was so soft, it almost made him want to suck his thumb! He loves soft things, and loves to suck his thumb and rub them on his top lip...apparently he doesn't care if it is alive! Luckily, he did not pick the bunny up and rub it on his lip. But in Isaac's world, this is the softest thing possible.

Firetruck Guy

When Eli is "missing" we usually don't have to look far. We can usually find him in the boys' room playing with the trucks and guys. There is nothing he loves more than to play with the fire truck and guys. He is looking like such a little boy lately and less like a baby :( I can't believe he will be two in 2 weeks!

Dirty

Until you have boys, I don't think you can truly understand how dirty they can get. This is literally how Isaac looks every night when I pick him up from daycare/school. At least I know I don't send him to school looking like this....I wonder what people think when they see him walk out of school! He reminds me of PigPen from Charlie Brown!

Story time

We have seen a lot of maturity from Isaac since he has gone to school. One of the things that we have noticed is him having more patience with Eli and giving him more positive attention rather than beating on him. Here is a priceless sight from the other night....

Boys

It has been forever since I have written an update here....The boys are keeping us so busy and by the time we are home from school, supper made, eaten and cleaned up, baths, books and bedtime....I am whooped! 

Here is an update on each of them.

Eli narrates his life. He never stops talking...He can say anything and everything. My favorite thing that he does is answers everything with either a "yeah" or "NO" And he is usually right! His answers vary and usually fit what he is doing. He speaks in sentences. Tonight I told him to eat his pizza and he told me "eat your pizza, Mommy" 

The other thing that just absolutely cracks us up is when he makes up names for people. It is hard to explain....for example, he always calls my brother David, Brent. In fact he calls everyone Brent (Bunt) when he gets on a roll. He will catch himself, and almost say David...he'll say "Da -Bunt" At home, he will look right at Ben and call him grandpa, look right at Evan and call him Isaac. You get the picture. He thinks it is hilarious! It is pretty funny, actually. We laugh everytime because he knows exactly what he is doing!

Eli still doesn't eat much. Thank God for breakfast bars and granola bars. Somedays that is all he will eat. He seems to be growing pretty well though. He is tiny, but has definitely gotten taller. 

He loves playing with fire trucks and little people toys. He will spend hours playing with "guys" (GI Joes, Star Wars or Little People) putting them in and taking them out of vehicles. It is so hard to believe that in less than a month, baby Eli is turning two!

Isaac has changed so much since going to school. He has grown up a ton and his conversations and vocabulary has grown a ton! The things he comes up with amaze us. He talks about school a lot and has come a long way from the little boy chewing on his fingernails, standing in the corner of the preschool room. He talks about his friends and his teachers.

They are studying butterflies right now and informed me of the butterfly's proboscis. I had no idea what it was and he made fun of me. He said I must not of gone to kindergarten and he was smarter than me! Great self esteem booster for me! He has been collecting bugs to take to school. He has a "Discovery Jar" that he can catch them and take them to school. The problem that he has is that he catches them, then lets them go so they don't die. He has yet to keep anything long enough to take to school.

When we went to Open House last week, his teacher said that he is doing well. She told a cute story. They were talking about if they didn't have their own name but could be called something else, what it would be. Isaac picked "Evan". Mrs. Edson said, "oh Isaac, that would be so confusing for your mom and dad" and Isaac said, "no it wouldn't, I would still have my same head, just my name would be Evan" It has been fun seeing him turn into his own independent little person.

We finally had his physical. He is in the 80% for height and the 50% for weight. He is TALL and SKINNY!

 

And this guy...not sure when I blinked and he turned into a BIG kid. He has grown up so much. He is continuing to do well in school. His teacher said he is very polite and kind and a great kid. Just the thing parents love to hear from teachers....he is a good kid. With his "growing up" comes another set of challenges. Evan is definitely exercising some independence and pressing our patience a lot. He has been pretty "mouthy" lately.  Hopefully it is just a phase. At the end of the day, he is still a very loving child...there are just moments where it is a completely different child showing through!

Evan is a huge help with Eli, he is always playing with him and getting him out of trouble. There are times I am not sure what I would do without him. He is very helpful when I am making supper or busy with other house things. He is a very loving big brother....every night this week, we have found Isaac in his bed with him. He is pretty sweet to share the top bunk with him. 

He also had his physical a week ago. Some things never change...he is still a BIG boy! He is in the 100% for height and 100% for weight. He has not slowed down at all, he is a head taller than his classmates and doesn't seem to be slowing up any time soon. 

Fun at the park