The 4th of July

Luke pre-lake swim looking a little dubious:



Luke firmly deciding that he does not like swimming in the lake:
(Note that Daddy is laughing. )



Liam enjoying his swimming lesson:


Crazy waves!

Is it Summer Yet?

Although the weather has been mostly rain for the entire month of June, we've had a few fun days of summer-like fun. Early in the month we went to a cookout at Grandma's and saw cousins Quincy and Chloe and Aunt Weatherly and Uncle Hunter. Uncle Ben was also in town from Oregon so it was great seeing everyone all together.

A couple of weeks ago was the annual Bunker Hill day parade in Charlestown. We had a great time at the parade and at a party afterward with neighbors. The boys found the candy from a pinata that the big kids missed and Luke seemed to find every brownie in the house. I think he may take after his momma on that front.

Road Trip!

The boys just completed their first road trip. We drove all the way to MD to visit their cousins Ryan, Meghan, Sean, Brendan and Mike! We split up the drive by stopping overnight in a hotel and the boys had a fabulous time. Liam even slept by himself on the pull-out sofa bed and didn't get out once!

Liam and Luke loved visiting their cousins who were terrific with the boys. They played baseball and soccer with them outside and had lots of toys to play with inside. I don't think Liam wanted to go home.

Wow..it's been a long time!

I didn't realize it has been quite this long since my last post. So much to update. First the official St Patrick's Day photo:

The boys both recently had growth spurts. Liam, who I swear had weighed 29.5 for the last year, is now finally 30.5! It seemed to happen overnight. Liam is 2 1/2 and has become fascinated with playing baseball. He likes to wear his glove and pretend he is a pitcher with his leg up and out to the side in a windup position. He also uses this same leg position when he does his break dance move on the floor.

Luke is now 16 months and really is a toddler now. (Where did my baby go?) His physical dexterity is amazing. He can walk in a circle backward! He loves to dance to music and just recently picked up a toy microphone and made beatbox noises into it. Several months ago he started saying "sspp" for the word spoon. Now he is saying mama, dada, doggie, duck, up and a few other things.

This picture says it all. Luke still loves to eat. And he does it with joy and gusto.

Liam's First Trip to the Barber

Until today I had been cutting Liam's hair. I should say "attempting to cut Liam's hair" because I could never get him sit still and he would always try to grab the scissors. I usually ended up chasing him with the scissors for days afterward aiming for the pieces I missed the first time. Today, however, we took him to the barber. Not just any barber but Pat the barber who has cut the hair of just about every little boy in Charlestown.

I was worried that Liam would have a difficult time with the whole experience but to my amazement he sat in the chair very bravely and held still for the whole haircut. Pat, I have to admit, is a genius when it comes to giving first-time haircuts. He gave Liam a hockey puck to hold in one hand and a golf ball with a pirate on it to hold in the other. He spoke very nicely and gently to him and showed him how the buzzer tickled. Liam even giggled when he trimmed the back with it. On the way home when we stopped at the supermarket Liam proudly told the woman at the register that he had been to the barber.

The Funny Man

Luke is funny. There is the fact that the kid is always messy with drool and food all over him and numerous bumps and bruises from his developing walking skills which is funny in itself. But Luke has a fantastic sense of humour on top of his Dennis the Menace/Pig Pen persona. He thinks being naked is funny so whenever we try to get him dressed he takes off like a shot patting his belly and giggling. Chasing him down becomes a game which he enjoys immensly. Sometimes his humour comes in the form of the classic taunt. For instance, he knows that he is not allowed to climb on top of the train table. The other day he laid himself backward over it with his feet on the floor until he made sure that Daddy saw him. Then he laughed his his little butt off. But mostly he is just silly and loves to laugh.

I Love Trash

Like any 2 year old, Liam has his obsessions. Trains are probably his number one right now with Thomas the Tank Engine leading the way. A very close second however is Trash. Liam loves the trash truck, the recycling truck and trash in general. Since he was very little he would love to watch the trash truck come down the street from our window. That progressed to watching from the front stoop. At some point the trash collectors started to beep and wave at him and then to stop their work to come over and say hello. Then they started bringing presents of broken toys they had rescued from the trash. Liam was in love.

Now Liam owns more than several toy trash and recycling trucks and a couple of books about garabage trucks to boot. Recently he has started finding spots on the sofa to throw his toys into as if it was the back of a trash truck just like his buddies the trash collectors. Yesterday he got a hold of a kitchen trash bag (clean) and put all his blocks in it. He has been tugging it around the house yelling "trash!"

Yummy Yum Yum

Luke loves to eat. We figured out very early that if Luke is fussing, it's probably because he is hungry. The best part about this fact is that when he eats, he eats with gusto and makes the best yum yum noises I have ever heard. I've been meaning to videotape him when he's eating for a long time but just finally remembered to do it. Here he is in all his food glory...

Christmas at last!

After two weeks of holiday activity we are finally back to a normal routine and I have a chance to catch up with a Christmas post. Christmas eve was limited by Daddy's bout of the flu so we stayed home, put the boys to bed in their Christmas pajamas and furiously put together their two big gifts, filled the stockings and nibbled on the cookies Liam had left for Santa.


The first big gift was a new toy chest painted like a fire engine for their bedroom. This of course is mommy and daddy's present really since gets the toys out of the laundry hamper in front of the tv in the living room. The other gift was a small train/activity table complete with train tracks and train and legos to use on the other side. It was an immediate hit!

Later, it was off to Grandma Katherine's where Liam got to play with cousins Quincy and Chloe. Before dinner they decided that under the table was the place to be! Uncle Ben gave Liam a little blue Thomas the Tank Engine which now goes everywhere Liam goes.

Then, a trip out to Worcester to Uncle Frank's house for more presents and a look at some pictures with Mia and Aunt Martha.

The day after Christmas Liam and I took a trip with Grandma, Aunt Weatherly, Uncle Hunter and Cousins Quincy and Chloe to Edaville Railroad. At the holidays the train drives through a large display of Christmas lights. Liam, being the choo choo fanatic that he is, was completely overjoyed and amazed by the whole thing.