Eureka!!!!

After weeks and weeks of spending Anya's entire swimming lesson chasing Baz around and around the waiting area, I finally figured out the trick. I took George's recommendation (yes, I am giving you credit for this one!) and brought in the portable DVD player. Not only did I not have to chase him one bit, but I didn't even unbuckle the stroller seatbelt!!! I think I made another mom's day too since her DD joined us in watching Little Einsteins so we all sat quietly. Once again, I know that one time does not a pattern make, so I'm just going to enjoy the relaxing swimming lesson I had tonight.

In fact, there must have been some good karma floating around me all evening because Anya "toned down the crazy" and was a pleasure to be around. She's been incredibly difficult for the past few days- testing our boundaries and limits on EVERYTHING and it's getting old. I was not looking forward to an evening of chasing Baz around saf-t-swim followed by feeding, bathing, and wrangling 2 kids by myself and I was so wrong. They cooperated- both ate well, got in and out of the tub, got dressed, and listened to stories without a peep!

Now if only Baz would adjust to Daylight savings- I tried to let him CIO it bit when he was up at 5am, hoping that maybe he'd go back down. I have to give in after 15-20 minutes when he got so desperate to get out of his crib that he stopped calling for mommy and daddy and just called
"Anya, Anya, Anya" over and over.

Happy Birthday Uncle Donovan!!!

We all hope you're enjoying your birthday Don!!!! Enjoy your visit to the Poconos! We're looking forward to seeing you for Turkey day!!!!!

Fun day out!

The kids have been cooped up for the past 2 days (more or less) so I knew we had to take them out today top burn off some steam. The problem was that the weather today was miserable and we have negged the indoor park for a while after Anya's horrible tantrum last week. So where can we take 2 small children to run around inside for a couple of hours? The answer is Dave and Buster's. And it worked out fabulously! We first went to the arcade and played games (and looked at the bright lights) for a while, then hit the restaurant. Our timing was spot on.... we had no wait at all,but shortly after we had ordered, ALL of the tables filled up.

Moments after sitting down, Baz started his usual antics- running around and doing anything but sitting. After 4 years of parenting, I finally came up with a great restaurant activity. They have these giant paper cups to hold your tickets, so I dumped out our tickets and had George empty his pockets. Our newly made up game of "Put the change in the cup" kept Baz happy for quite a while. When he tired of that, we played "put the sugar packets in the cup"...I added some sound effects and it kept him busy until the food came! Forget the crayons and DVD players, etc.... we'll be sticking with "move a bunch of small objects into a container" game from now on!!!

All of us ate together (in fact, Baz took the longest to finish eating) and we headed back to the arcade to finish off our tokens. I'm still amazed at how great a time we all had and how pleasant the kids were. It really helps me to see what the post-infant and toddler times will be like and look forward to having kids that we can relate to. Not that I'm wishing away the baby time- that has its own joys- but there are definitely lots of fun times to come!

Congratulations Zac!!!!

Yesterday was a very momentous day for our close friend Zac. After several years of having an esophagus completely closed by blisters from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), Zac's had a successful dilatation and was able to drink a can of ginger ale!!! Hopefully this is the end of tube feedings and the beginning of a somewhat normal diet! Shortly after discharge from the hospital, Zac will be moving in with my parents and will be around for our family functions! We can't wait to see you again!!!

Anya's loves

It seems that Anya has several "princes" already. She and Carter have been best buds since she started at Colleen's and now there's Dylan. I've been told by Dylan's mom and grandma that she is a very popular topic in their house! Of course, when I asked Anya about her boyfriends today, she denied having any. Those boys are just her friends, but someday she'll marry her prince (who she hasn't met yet). Go Anya!!!

Siblings

It really is heartwarming to see how close Anya and Baz are becoming. Thursdays when my parents are here are a weird change from the norm because Anya comes with me so she can go to school while he stays at home. This leaves Anya and I with an empty seat in the van, which is jsut kinda odd. I imagine it's weird for him to have the house to himself, too. In fact, he woke up VERY upset that neither mommy,daddy, or Anya was there. My mom said that he actually put his arms down from the "pick me up" position when she went in to him after his nap when he "only" got Grandma! He got over if pretty quickly, but shows how important we are to him! On the ride home, I was talking to my mom and Anya asked for the phone. She didn't want to talk to Grandma or Pap-Pap, but her baby brother! She started baby-talk and asking "do you miss me Bean"? and reassuring him that she'd be home soon.

Anya told George that someday Baz would be her prince and they would be married-ummmm, she's gonna regret saying that someday!!! They are very affectionate with each other, too. They're generous with the hugs and kisses in general, but they eagerly offer each other kisses before bed, naps, etc.

Yay Halloween!!!

We had a fantastic Halloween week...I already posted about our first attempt at trick or treating, but the subsequent attempts more than made up for that failure. Monday was fun because when we visited Sandee's house, Kayci came with Keila and Anya had a ball playing with her. Tuesday was costume party day at school. Anya wore her Cinderella bunny outfit and had a blast playing with her friends at school.
After school, we dressed up for Trick or Treat Street at the local high school. Anya continued with Cinderella bunny and Baz became Eeyore. The HS kids clearly had fun decorating the classrooms in different themes and made it a fun time for the little ones. Baz was pretty confused by the dark halls and flashing lights, but didn't get scared! They also had a "haunted house" which was very tame, but Miss Scared-by-Nothing was terrified of the "trapdoors" on the floor. These trapdoors were just pieces of cardboard duct-taped to the floor, but they sure scared her! They even had facepainting, so it was most definitely a hit!

Wednesday brought GramPapPap and Halloween! We had significantly fewer T or T ers than usual and they started later than usual. Anya insisted that we all join in the festivities, so all of us put on our costumes and went trick or treating. This only consisted of our cul-de-sac and the adjacent street, but there was plenty of candy in their bags!

Anya distinctly remembered the "skeleton house" from last year. This was a house with a small plastic skeleton that talked and lit up when you went near. Why this scared her, I have no idea, but until we actually went up to that house and she saw just how benign the skeleton was, she got over it quickly!

Baz also took a little time to warm up to Pap pap once his face was painted. He never cried or ran away, but he refused to go to him and wanted to be nowhere near him. I have to admit- with the hat, cape, and face painting, he did look a little scary! After a while, Baz got over it and saw how silly we all looked and he did warm up to Pap pap.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of this candy!