Weathering

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Vacation and a gorgeous summer day






Last week we went for a short (one night) vacation in Ocean City, MD. My parents got a last-minute condo rental for the week and we joined them on Thursday and Friday, along with my sister Meagan. The weather was very nice, especially Friday, and we all had a lot of fun at the beach. We used to go for family vacations in Ocean City when I was a kid, so it was neat seeing the place again. And now we live about two hours away instead of eight, so it will be easy for us to go there pretty much whenever we want.






And today Will, Ryan, and I met Matt at work for a picnic lunch. It was warm but beautiful out, and Matt found us a nice shady spot under a tree. The University of Delaware has a beautiful campus and Will wanted to take a walk, so we spent some time after lunch exploring a fountain.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Dedicated older brother



This picture shows Will pumping milk out of his knee for Ryan. Truly, it wasn't just idle play--that's what he said he was doing. I thought it was awfully cute. Of course later that morning he kicked Ryan in the head, but that's the way it goes around here.


Yesterday I taught Will how to dunk Oreos into milk. It took him very little time to reach expert level. The Oreos were his reward for sitting in the cart yesterday at the grocery store so that we could buy apples and orange juice, both of which were his requests. It was a complex and time-consuming negotiation and I almost ended up going home before we even entered the store, but in the end it worked out. I find that bribery is the only way to get anything done these days, but since it eventually works, I'll stick with it.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

One month plus



After my long-ago last post, Anonymous asked if I am busy. Well, Anonymous, indeed I am. Computer time is hard to come by these days, since both boys have to be sleeping and I have to be awake in order for me to check my email, upload photos, or update my blog. That time used to be more plentiful when Ryan was a brand-new baby and sleeping all the time, but now his naps are shorter and less frequent and thus overlap less and less with Will's. On the plus side, he is obviously much more interactive than he used to be and really seems to enjoy checking out the world around him. Oh, also, he is huge. At his one-month appointment last week he weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces. He left the hospital a month earlier three pounds lighter. I knew he had gained a lot, but I was pretty surprised when the nurse weighed him. Actually, now that I think about it that was largely because at first I thought she said he was 12 pounds, 10 ounces, which rather alarmed me. But he is in the 85th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight, so although he certainly has his fair share of fat rolls, apparently he's pretty averagely proportioned, though on the large side. This is in contrast to his older brother, who spent most of his first year in the 25th weight percentile (until age nine months when he dropped to the 10th and the doctor asked if we were feeding him when he was hungry).



We have spent the last three weekends with company, which has been a lot of fun. Three weekends ago Matt's brother and his girlfriend visited from Maine. They were here for a long weekend and Matt's parents joined us for Saturday and Sunday. The following weekend Megan, Paul, and the wee Colonel came and we had a great time. They brought mint Milanos and we watched Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I think that says enough about that weekend. And then this past weekend my sister Emily was here from Thursday until Sunday and my sister Meagan and her boyfriend Chris came on Saturday and returned home on Sunday, dropping Emily off at the airport on their way. Although it really has been great seeing everyone, and we've appreciated all the extra sets of hands around the house, it is also sort of a relief to have the futon folded up again in anticipation of a weekend to ourselves.



Oh, and we got a Wii. Will is a huge pain in the butt about it, but he's also really, really cute when he plays. He's also freakishly skillful at it, considering that he's two month shy of age two. We play a lot, since it's the ultimate bribe when he's lying on the floor of his room throwing a tantrum because I can't carry him and his brother at the same time, and the one who can't walk gets dibs on being carried. How parents of twins operate, I can't imagine.

And finally, not that we were planning to anyway, but we will not be paying Olan Mills a visit anytime all that soon. Ryan has the baby acne thing going on (though I think it's getting better), and I gave Will a somewhat less than professional-grade baby's first haircut over the weekend.