Josh "the tank" Christensen is 6 months!

We really don't refer to Josh as "the tank" but he is definitely shaping up to be a lot bigger than Kaj ever was. Josh had his 6 month appointment today, and is now 15 lbs 5 oz and 26 inches, about 7lbs away from what Kaj currently is. We have been tackling rice cereal this week, and so far he is not a fan.

To celebrate Josh's growth we went to the library, naturally. As Kaj built things with blocks, and as he would pick them up, he would say "I" and "L" for the letter they looked like. And then proceeded to tell me the different letters of the alphabet as he put the magnets on the board. 

There was another older boy there with his mom, and he was...not nice, to put it as nicely as I can. I obviously don't know him so perhaps it was just an off day, and not his permanent personality, but as he hit his mom, yelled and grunted, kicked over blocks, and pushed the sanitizer button so many times there was a tower of bubbles on his hand about the size of the kid, I was very thankful for sweet boys. I mean, yes, yes, they have their moments of terror, but it doesn't last long, and usually they are sweet kids. The mother seemed exhausted, but quite patient, but my heart definitely goes out to the mom's with a "rough around the edges" child.

Bedtime: Some sleep, some...don't

Well, I don't even have to say anything, these pictures tell the story all on their own!

But, of course, I will say something! ha! Truth be told, it is Kaj's sleeping that we don't have to worry about. Josh...likes to keep us guessing. It's a kindof fun game called "how long will Josh sleep tonight?" Sometimes it is 9 hour stretch, and sometimes it's a 5. 

We have had a the big kid bed in Kaj's room for a while now, and finally and randomly one night last week Kaj wanted to sleep in his big kid bed. He tucked in Mr. Bunny under the blankets while I handed him his water, which he must have the top corner of his bed, gave him his bear, a couple books, and the blanket that he slept with in his crib. These items tend to be the "must haves" for the time being. There was a night he did grab a nemo swim diaper and tucked it in beside him, but I think that was only because he had just watched his premier viewing on Finding Nemo.

But, now because of this recent bed swap, nap times are now play times... ( see picture above) Kaj will take EVERY toy (no exaggeration) in his room, throw it in the crib, move a desk over so he can climb up, and proceed to throw himself over and into the crib. So he can engulf himself by the many possibilities of fun. Can't say I blame him.

One Sunday Afternoon

Oh Sunday... (sigh) it is feel good day for many reasons, and one of those reasons is you get to walk around and feed ducks. We grabbed the bread, one whole piece! And told Kaj, "do you want to go feed the ducks?!" 

"Bock bock" (duck sounding) We got the car all locked an loaded, and headed to the duck pond. "Kaj, are you excited to the see the ducks?!" I asked. "Bock, bock" was the answer again. I tested my theory that just saying the word "duck" would result in Kaj mimicking the very sound a duck makes during the drive. My theory was proven 100% accurate. Statistics, folks.

 As we split up our one piece of bread, I thought, "maybe we should have brought more than one piece!' haha, but, these particular ducks are pretty spoiled, literally they get all kinds of spoils that people can think of. I have seen cheeto balls to popcorn, chips, and all the many kinds of bread being fed to the duck pond ducks.

Now, not long after we had gotten there, only half way through the one piece of bread, to put the time we were there in bread terms, we began to mosy to see the other ducks, I like to make things interesting, so I stepped in a huge pile of dog crap, which was nice. I mean, I'm not talking like oh, I got just the corners of the poopers, I mean  I just stepped dead center in that stuff. So that was a funny feature to our lovely Sunday.

 It really was such a beautiful day. We are starting to feel the crispness of the fall, and that has got to be one of the best feelings. It was so nice to have this family time. Sam started a new rotation today back at Stony Brook, and we're very excited that he is back on a schedule that makes sense with reality. I mean, waking up and getting ready at 3:30-4:00 in the morning kinda feels like the hours you should still be sleeping? I am thankful for Sam and all that he does for our family. He never complained once about having the get up that early...I...would have.

And, of course. I love my little boys. I walked up the trail a little further while Sam stayed with Josh and the humungous stroller, and Kaj excitedly met up with me, climbing up the rocks steps as fast as he could. 

He's excited, and curious, and 2. Josh, is all smiles, and sweet as sugar. And, Sam is nice...and I'm nice. We're nice.

Tale of the Llama

The Llama, often an overlooked creature of beauty and grace-not too much grace (you wouldn't want it to fall over) just enough. It was the highlight of our now 3rd trip to the ecology center, my dad actually made a special request that we go see the llama. The conversation went like this:

Me: yeah we could go to the ecology center

Brother Sam: Um no way in heck

Dad: Well, we could...what do they even have there?

Me: Well, they have a hawk, and a bear, and some donkeys, and llamas

Dad: whoa! they have llamas!? Well, that changes everything!

So we got in the car immediately and went to go see the llama

Greeted, of course by this beauty.

We did also see other animals, the hawk, that can't fly anymore due to an injury (that is actually true) We saw chickens, which Kaj likes because he can communicate with them, come to find out they sound an awful lot like ducks.

Hey guys! where you going?!

Not to worry handsome creature, we'll be back.

A Sunday Favorite

Josh is definitely teething

 

climbing like a pro

swinging like a big kid

he was wearing NY yankee so we figured he could throw a couple pitches

To the City Here we...."so...are we really doing this?"

 Haha! We talked, and even planned on a trip into the city this trip. Brother Sam hadn't seen it, it might be hard with both kids, but fun, or perhaps not fun... We even packed up the car and started driving
We didn't end up going for a number of reasons. And all of them did make sense. Another day, another time, perhaps without babies, and more days to see the Big Apple, I mean it didn't get that name for no reason, it is very big, and has a lot of apples! There was no way we would see all we would want to see in a day.

So did we get some great New York pizza? Yes! Did we get New York pizza twice?! Yes. We also went to Port Jefferson, and enjoyed a lovely day together.

Dad and Sam meet...the Splash Pad

looks like the best conversation ever...Josh is a good listener

the water..was cold

what the?! Where'd Uncle Sam go?!

My Sam turned to me last night and said, "it was really nice with them here" It really was. The standard way family has been visiting is flying the redeye Jetblue flight. The price is hard to beat. You are flying through the night, and ya know, you say you'll sleep on the plane, but let's be honest, it is a little hard getting comfortable when you are in the upright position with no pillow, and a stranger on one side of you, or both, and part of you doesn't want to fall completely asleep for fear you might fall to the stranger side, or drool, or talk in your sleep, or miss your stop...ha, so the first day here is always spent easy going and getting some shut eye. 

When dad and Sam awoke from their beauty rest we went a grabbed a burger from Bobby's burgers. They have quite the selection, and they are de licioso (love Jim Gaffigan) cruised around the mall in a fire truck, where dad bought some shorts (hey! are those cargo shorts?!) and we went to the slash pad, and then to a friend's house who had the ole sprinker/trampoline thing going-a classic, so they got to meet some of my favorite girls of all time, and chat with them for a bit. I was happy they got to meet and talk with them actually, because they are my family out here, and my dad agreed I am very lucky to have such a great group of girls. 

So all in all the first day was a success!!