Kugel

Andrew devoured a big plate of Grandma Sandy's noodle kugel yestrday. That's 4 generations who love her tasty recipe. Grandpa, I know you read this blog - be sure to show this to her!

Soccer Tots

Each Tuesday morning, Shawn takes Andrew to Soccer Tots. He's in the Teddies class, which is 2 year olds. There's very little soccer that happens at this age; it's more about following directions, learning how to kick a ball, cooperation between teammates. Since Shawn was a varsity soccer player in high school, perhaps Andrew might follow suit?

Wading Pool

Andrew isn't a fan of big pools, so we got him this little one (thanks, Julie!) and he loves it. He spends most of his time scooping water out of it and pouring it onto a dirt pile, then proceeding to play in the mud. He's also doing some more imaginative play and giving his each of his rocks a sip of water from the cup. We spend an hour a day in the pool (ok, he does, I sit on a chair next to the pool and read a book) in the late afternoon.  I asked him to say "cheese" in this picture and indeed he gave me a cheesy smile.

As an aside, he's been very well behaved since our trip to Vegas. Hopefully the terrible twos phase has passed. Or at least will lay dormant for a while. 

Ice Cream!

Before Shawn left for his weeklong golfing vacation (rough life) we had a big ole ice cream party.

The Gordon Sibs

I'll interrupt my regularly scheduled picture of Andrew to post a picture of me with his Aunt Jaclyn and Uncle Adam. This past week we attended the funeral of Andrew's great grandpa, Bernie.  He was my mother's father. He passed without any pain, thank goodness. The day after we returned from Las Vegas was the ceremony. As an aside, if you can believe it, on Monday I was with Adam and Dad in Vegas. Less than 24 hrs later, via 3 separate flights, the 3 of us were reunited at Grandpa's funeral in New Jersey. Plane travel really has made it an unbelievable age to live in.

Its rare that the 3 of us are ever together in one spot, so we marked the occasion with a photo. For posterity, our ages are 33(me), 31(Jaclyn) and 28 (Adam). For the first time, I realize that I no longer am obviously the oldest - we're all pretty much caught up now.

It was a bittersweet day - Grandpa was 92 and lead a good life. He was a loving, funny, gentle man who brought sunshine to anyone who was fortunate to interact with him. Andrew met Grandpa twice, and Grandpa's apartment was littered with his photos (I mailed them regularly as a special treat that he came to enjoy).

Andrew attended the ceremony along with his cousin Levi  - it was the first time that the 2 of them got to spend any time together. Levi is 15 months so its a great age for them to start interacting. I didn't take photos of them b/c it just didn't seem appropriate when there were so many mourners around. Jaclyn and her family are coming to town the weekend of June 2 for our race and we're looking forward to it! Of course pics from that visit here :)

Las Vegas, Part 3

It was fun to see Las Vegas through Andrew's eyes. Everything begged to be touched - colors, textures, lights, water, glass. It was easy to keep him happy - walking through the hotels/casinos combined most of this interests - new discoveries combined with lots of walking.

Las Vegas, Part 2 - Mothers Day

I had a lovely Mothers Day in Las Vegas. My Dad treated all of us to brunch at Simon at the Palms. It was by far one of the nicest meals I've ever had (as it should be, at $50/plate). It was part buffet-style stations, and part menu. Unlimited tastings from each! Andrew really enjoyed their revolving doors, as well as watching everyone splash in the pool.

Las Vegas, Part 1

We had a fun visit to Las Vegas. The day we left, we got Andrew down for a nap early on, so that he'd be well rested for our long 5.5 hr plane flight. Somehow the plan worked,  and the flight was relatively easy. I came armed with toys, snacks, games and movies. I tried to move him to west coast time immediately by keeping him up late, and that somewhat worked, though he still woke up pretty early - 5:15 PST or so.

The first 2 pictures are from a playground we went to early in the morning (the only time to play outside in LV). It was amazing - it was like a small little western town with climbing rocks, bridges behind facades, a sprinkler park, picnic tables.

The 2nd picture is from a train ride we went on - a restored 1914 train, managed by the Nevada Southern Railroad Museum. Andrew LOVES trains. In fact during our visit we went on 3: the restored passenger car, the monorail down at the strip, and a tiny childsized train which went through an area of downtown. Certainly if you ask him, those were the high points of his trip.

"Reading"

Here's Andrew "reading" me one of his stories. Basically he memorizes his books after a few reads, then recites them back. Sorry its a little hard to understand, but if you can make out the text in the book, you should be able to match up his words now and again. Regardless, I just love his cute little voice, don't you?

Parenting Wisdom

A thought shared from my friend Julie: "So one thing that helped to keep me sane through the terrible twos - they always say that the kids act up and test limits with parents at home more than out of the house because they feel secure with you.  They know that they can act up as much as they want and you won't leave or stop loving them.  So the fact that he's willing to act up with you is actually a good sign - it means he feels secure and loved.  :) "

And the fact that my last 2 pictures of Andrew are taken in the tub means that I've been a bit lazy about taking new ones. Today is his 29 month birthday - only 1 more month until he's officially 2 and a half!

Terrible Twos, Continued

As a courtesy to future-Andrew who might be reading this at some point, I probably was a little harsh in my last blog entry. It was just one of those days where you constantly tested limits and ended up in Time Out quite a bit. I didn't mean to imply that you are  being awful all the time. Its just what the books say, you're' going through a phase, testing limits. Many of the blog readers who are fellow parents warned me. I didn't believe them, of course, as you never showed any tendencies to willingly misbehave. But alas, childhood development has caught up with you. 


So parents of wee ones reading this, consider this your warning! Your angelic child will not always be so. I'm SO glad we potty trained him before now, as he'd never be receptive if we did it today. Please consider that a suggestion. Do it either before or after the terrible twos. Our TTs happened to start at around 27 months and expect it to last a few months. This summer, we hope to finish potty training (he still does #2 in his overnight diaper, or underoos....)


I did figure out that he's much better behaved outside our home than in it, so we're spending time literally outside in the yard, or at the playground, or at playdates. We've even got him registered in playschool (parent coop) and this week starting soccertots. He's actually very good at running while kicking the ball, doesn't lose track of it, has good aim. Shawn was a varsity soccer player, maybe there's actual talent there. I think he needs more experiences, and less toys, at this point, and that's part of what makes him grumpy at home. We're starting to do some cooking with him, art projects, and he's helping us with house improvements which he seems to enjoy.


So we'll just embrace this like we do anything else - its part of the parenting experience and I'm sure we'll all come out of is just fine.


On another note, we're off to Vegas on Thursday! As much as I am not looking forward to a 5.5 hr flight with Andrew alone (Shawn's staying home - thank god for the iPad with its apps/movies,) I think it will be alot of fun while we're there. There's an Italian Festival in town, a Childrens' Museum, A Railroad Museum with train ride, all the casinos with their animal exhibits, playgrounds (for the wee hrs in the morning when we're awake with jet lag and its still temperate outside) that will all be new to him.


That's something else we've noticed. He loves exploring new places and making new friends (he automatically approaches kids his age and play with them, shares, has good manners). During those interactions he's VERY well behaved. Parents always compliment us on this. So his more difficult behavior is specifically limited to testing us. Shawn's more strict than I am, which surprises most people. I guess growing up in a gaggle of 3 makes me a little less sensitive to "bad" behavior - to some degree I think its just a kid being a kid.


Kudos to you if you got to the end of this blogpost! Time to go make some scones for breakfast :)

Terrible Twos

We're here, in the Terrible Twos. Where did my lovely boy go? He's been replaced with a kicking, screaming, refuse-to-listen-to-his-parents version of himself. At least 3 isn't too far away.....good thing he's cute, or we may try to return him to the hospital. But I suspect his warranty has run out.