Toddler?

Of course, we totally didn't get video of any kind... but about ten minutes ago Brayton took two steps to go between B's knee and the couch.

I bet by Chri.stmas he'll practically be running after his big brother!

Rip It, Stamp It, Glue It

Our new routine on Friday mornings is that as soon as McColley wakes up I ask him if he wants to go to art class since we have to get ready quickly to make it in time.

Even with my warning, he said yes again today.

We made it in time to hear the story this week (Rain.bow Fish). We then went and looked at five pieces of art... and McColley spent the whole time asking when we would get to paint.

Eventually we made it to the art room and found out that this week's project was quite involved.

Step One: Rip up tissue paper:

Step Two: Paint the plastic fish:

Step Three: Stamp the fish on the paper and glue the tissue paper around it to create an 'ocean' effect:

Step Four: Show Off!

McColley's Own Personal Step Five: Pick out a BEAUTIFUL rock to take home to Daddy:

The only problem we had was that Brayton really, really, really wanted to eat the glue stick... he got a bit irritated at constantly being thwarted in his grabbing attempts.

Mousey Madness

Our Moms Group had a celebration today for all the kids with August birthdays, so of course we had to attend.

And where else would a bunch of pre-schoolers go but Ch.uck E. Che.ese?

It was actually pretty easy this time because I let McColley carry the tokens around in his pockets and use them as he saw fit. We did all the rides and then it was time to do games.

The bridge between rides and games was the card-making-thing.

McColley had to do a little contortion act to get himself framed right:

But his astronaut card turned out great:

After about two hours of playing, it was time to celebrate the August birthdays.

Chuc.k E. Chee.se came to give out birthday hugs:

There were three birthday kids in our group. Funnily enough, one was turning one, one was turning two and McColley was turning three... so they each got to blow out the appropriate amount of candles.

McColley was the only one old enough to do it by himself:

I'll admit, McColley was a little confused about the additional birthday celebrating... but he got over it pretty quickly.

Surfer Boyz

We finally made it back to the splash pool this morning.

Brayton was a little more enthusiastic than McColley about our arrival:

I also remembered to bring the kickboard that McColley had gotten from the Easter Bunny.

At first he thought it was a surfboard:

Then he used it as a fountain-diverter:

Which he then had to run away from since it made him wet:

And finally he used it the way you are supposed to:
Except instead of swimming out into the deeper water... he pulled himself out of the pool.

Brayton used this time to play with his hat:

Eventually McColley ditched the kickboard altogether and 'swam':

I decided we needed to take advantage of the fountains... so we all stepped on some spiggots:

And then I challenged McColley to follow me out into the deeper part of the pool.

This is as far as he will go alone:

The pool's deepest section is three feet, so McColley could actually walk all the way to the end of the pool, however, for some reason at just shy of the two feet depth he starts to believe he has to swim and/or that he can't reach the bottom anymore. I'm hoping that the next session of swim lessons will help him realize he isn't dependent on me past two feet deep.

After pushing the limits we all agreed it was time to go home. As we were loading back up into the stroller McColley told me, "I want to go in the small splash pool."

I replied, "McColley, this is the only splash pool."

He answered, "No! The small splash pool. You know, the one we went to with the Ghirardos!"

I have since spent all day trying to explain geography.

Baby Daze

In pretend baby news - 'Baby' McColley was at the hospital today and needed to be swadled... because that's what babies do before they eat carrots:

In real baby news - Brayton officially has two front teeth!
We're not quite ready to call his other two top teeth... but probably within the next day or two.

Power Games

It stormed here all last night and into the morning. Around 8am our power went out.

McColley was convinced that the problem was bad batteries... so Daddy just needed to replace the batteries in the lights, TV, phone, etc.

He tried to help 'fix' his computer:

After I took that picture he announced, 'The camera has a light!' and needed to inspect it:

Our power came back around 9:15am.  We've had a few more storms blow through so the power has flickered a bit... and Hurricane Bi.ll hasn't even come our way yet!

Flowery Day

I think the art program up in Wil.mington is becoming a 'Must Do'. We went to our third week and the theme was 'A Rainbow of Flowers'.

The art project was painting a picture using flowers as the paint brush:

McColley did a fabulous job:

Since it was a flowery day, we decided to spend the afternoon at Lo.ngwood Gardens.  I let McColley tell me where he wanted to go, so after lunch we headed to the children's garden.

McColley wanted to paint in the Dra.gon's Lair and I wanted to see if Brayton would actually be able to play too:

He loved it so much that he SOAKED himself:

McColley got tired of painting, so we headed to the lizard fountains:

McColley wanted to play with the big lizard, but when I put Brayton down to play too, he crawled away:

I assumed he wanted to be picked up, but when I stood in front of him he crawled through my legs.

He wanted to look at the ironwork:

We eventually wandered over to the lily pad fountain.  McColley splashed and Brayton cruised around... and around... and around:

After everyone was thoroughly soaked, I tried to take the boys outside to play in the outdoor children's garden... but McColley saw the stamp hunt map.

We HAD to go on a stamp hunt:

Eventually we made it to the outdoor children's garden and anointed the boys 'The Kings of Bees':

We went back to the car after this.  It was perfect timing because as I was buckling McColley in the sky opened and one of our fun downpours started.

The other funny thing I discovered when we got into the car is that Brayton soaked his shoes... and they bled blue dye.  So, he's now rocking blue ankle 'tattoos'.

Bowl-A-Rama

How To Bowl

Featuring McColley

Step One:  Push The Ball-Aimer Up To The Line

Step Two:  Get Your 6 lb. Ball

Step Three:  Transfer Ball To The Ball-Aimer

Step Four:  Roll The Ball

Step Five:  Watch The Ball, Be Thankful For Gutter Buffers

Step Six:  After The Second Roll, Pull The Ball-Aimer Back From The Line

Step Seven:  Let Mommy Go

Step Eight:  Give Mommy A High Five For Hitting A Pin or Two While Bowling With Brayton In The Sling

Step Nine:  Be Proud Of Breaking 25... Plan To Break 30 Next Time!

Step Ten:  Celebrate Your Bowling Prowess By 'Walking The Plank'

The Package Man Is Here!

McColley got his last (I think) birthday present today.  It was from Uncles Sean and Joe - those are the boxes he is unwrapping.

He also got a package yesterday from GGrandma Hopkins and GrAunts Susan and Berta.  He is wearing part of their present - the pants.  He loves the pants because they have a 'belt' he can snap and unsnap all by himself.  Oh, and they're 4T... is it weird that it makes me a bit sad that they're the right size?

Amazing^8

This Month's Milestones:

-Consistently stands for 3 or 4 seconds

-Has taken a few accidental steps

-Started eating finger foods

-Cruises/Crawls over all obstacles

-Developed object permanence and started initiating Peek-a-boo

-Started exhibiting some separation anxiety

-Bangs things together

-Laughs/reacts to social situations

-Handled teething (of all four top front teeth... plus maybe some bottom ones) extremely well

I honestly cannot believe we are 2/3 through Brayton's first year.  It really is amazing.

The Officer Turns Three

Today was McColley's 3rd Birthday!

Since we did our 'big' stuff yesterday, we took it a bit slow today.

McColley got to open one present upon waking up:

We then got ready and headed to music class.

McColley got very excited telling his teacher about the pirate cruise yesterday and they ended up having a pirate 'sword' fight:

We came home and had lunch.  While B was home we let McColley open another present.  This one was from GGrandma McColley.  She got him a couple books and a firefighter shirt.  In the process of trying to get a picture of him in the shirt, I ended up on the floor with McColley taking self-portraits of the two of us.

This one made McColley laugh uncontrollably when he saw it:

As the afternoon wore on it was time to bake McColley's birthday cake.  I couldn't find our mixer blades so we had to use a spatula.  McColley is a good stirrer:

As B made dinner, McColley and I decorated the cake (he requested a heart):

Then after dinner it was time to sing him 'Happy Birthday':

And blow out the candle:

After cake he got to open the rest of his presents:

He opened his present from Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins in front of them:

And then after a brief lull, he opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Maguire in front of them (the firefighter costume was from us, the police costume was from them):

The present theme this year was 'Officer'... both police and fire.  He is one lucky boy!