28 December 2011
Christmas fun
It was an exciting Christmas weekend. Rory received so many wonderful gifts including a balance bike. One of the best presents was having cousin Cadam visit with Momma b's sister Lesley and uncle Nic from Maryland. The boys had a blast together as you can see.
The snowy day
We were lucky to have snow for Christmas and the boys got to do a bit of backyard sledding together. 
25 December 2011
22 December 2011
Besties
Best friends spend an unseasonably warm December day walking down the street holding hands . 
21 December 2011
Newest hair cut
We had a family trip to see Naughty Sara today. Rory looks like such a big guy with his hair so short. And my hair was long enough to donate so mine is pretty short too. :)
14 December 2011
27 September 2011
The Bramer surprise visit
Early this month the Bramers of Maryland paid a surprise visit to us. Here's a few pics of the week. 
02 August 2011
Ga-bee!
We still have no idea why, but he consistently refers to jumping as "Ga-bee". He'll say things like, "Mommy, ga-bee stars?" which of course means he wants me to jump to the stars (which I can do in his eyes). Or often it is, "More ga-bee, peeeease". This is most often heard in the context of the bedtime routine when he likes to tell us the order that things will happen. We'll say to him, "Okay buddy, time for bed" and he'll respond with "Rory ride horse, read book, then night-night" Its very funny. He sort of bargains now only he doesn't always get that some things are not an option. Sometimes its "Rory outside, then night-night".
But, back to his amazing Ga-bee tricks, and in the interest of showing off his coordination, I've thrown in a video of him jumping off 2 feet. He LOVES to jump.
He also LOVES to skip and he LOVES to walk in his "tippy-toes". His new favorite game is to run around his room naked after a bath on his tip-toes and says "tippy, tippy, tippy, tippy" then eventually falls on the ground and says "crash!". And lately he's been skipping every where he goes. He only skips with 1 foot forward instead of alternating, so the overall effect is a nearly perfect imitation of the knights in Monty Python's Holy Grail when they travel around "on horse" by skipping with 1 foot forward and clapping together coconut shells to create the clop sound. All he needs is a coconut and he'd be movie ready.
But, back to his amazing Ga-bee tricks, and in the interest of showing off his coordination, I've thrown in a video of him jumping off 2 feet. He LOVES to jump.
He also LOVES to skip and he LOVES to walk in his "tippy-toes". His new favorite game is to run around his room naked after a bath on his tip-toes and says "tippy, tippy, tippy, tippy" then eventually falls on the ground and says "crash!". And lately he's been skipping every where he goes. He only skips with 1 foot forward instead of alternating, so the overall effect is a nearly perfect imitation of the knights in Monty Python's Holy Grail when they travel around "on horse" by skipping with 1 foot forward and clapping together coconut shells to create the clop sound. All he needs is a coconut and he'd be movie ready.
The Cat in the Hat
Rory's new favorite book is the Cat in the Hat. He loves, loves, loves the part where everything crashes and the Cat makes a big mess. He gets excited for pages before it happens (see video).
Last night, we were reading the book and somewhere in the first few pages he started running his finger over the words and making sounds as if he were doing the reading (and clearly not paying any attention to my voice, who was actually doing the reading). Then he randomly stopped on a word and said "Cat" very emphatically. So, I thought, perhaps he is trying to figure out which word is "cat". I showed him "cat" and then I showed him "hat" on the page and we spelled out each word. Then I flipped the book to the front cover and showed him again with the big letters on the front. Then I continued reading along without thinking much more about it. Several pages and several minutes later, near the end of the book, he looked at the page we were on, looked over all the words (and there were a lot on this particular page) and he pointed right to "Cat" and said "Cat!". I was SO impressed as you might imagine, so I prompted him for more and said "Can you find 'hat'?" He did his typical thinking sound with his finger running over the page "Hmmmmmmmmm". Then, boy genius that he is, he pointed right to "Hat" in a whole different part of the page from the first "Cat in the Hat" that he had pointed out and said "Hat!". I was so excited that we high fived and then he said "Alright Rory!" because he loves to cheer for himself. Its very cute. So, although I won't be so bold as to call it reading just yet, our smart little guy is actually recognizing words and putting together the concept of letters having meaning beyond just a design on the paper. We couldn't be more proud. :) Of course, the crashing part of the book was still way more exciting to him than the finding "cat" and "hat" on the page...as it should be. Who doesn't love a big crash and a big mess when you're almost 2?!
Last night, we were reading the book and somewhere in the first few pages he started running his finger over the words and making sounds as if he were doing the reading (and clearly not paying any attention to my voice, who was actually doing the reading). Then he randomly stopped on a word and said "Cat" very emphatically. So, I thought, perhaps he is trying to figure out which word is "cat". I showed him "cat" and then I showed him "hat" on the page and we spelled out each word. Then I flipped the book to the front cover and showed him again with the big letters on the front. Then I continued reading along without thinking much more about it. Several pages and several minutes later, near the end of the book, he looked at the page we were on, looked over all the words (and there were a lot on this particular page) and he pointed right to "Cat" and said "Cat!". I was SO impressed as you might imagine, so I prompted him for more and said "Can you find 'hat'?" He did his typical thinking sound with his finger running over the page "Hmmmmmmmmm". Then, boy genius that he is, he pointed right to "Hat" in a whole different part of the page from the first "Cat in the Hat" that he had pointed out and said "Hat!". I was so excited that we high fived and then he said "Alright Rory!" because he loves to cheer for himself. Its very cute. So, although I won't be so bold as to call it reading just yet, our smart little guy is actually recognizing words and putting together the concept of letters having meaning beyond just a design on the paper. We couldn't be more proud. :) Of course, the crashing part of the book was still way more exciting to him than the finding "cat" and "hat" on the page...as it should be. Who doesn't love a big crash and a big mess when you're almost 2?!
21 June 2011
Surprise!!!!
Rory's new favorite game is to hide around a corner and yell "surprise!!" when someone walks by. He's especially fond of the corner in our kitchen right next to the mudroom, you can get someone as they walk into the house. I've been getting a big kick out of his surprises and how excited he gets after he does a good one that I wanted to catch it on video. So, I set up the video camera (my phone) on the counter and started it while he was waiting for Bev to come back in from the garden. We had seen her walking back through the front windows, so I thought she would only be a few seconds. Well, it turns out she had a few other things to do before she came in the house, so Rory ended up sitting behind that wall for over a minute waiting for her. I'm continually fascinated by the patience this kid has sometimes. He really just stood there, excited for so long. I had run upstairs to get Bayla from her nap and by the time I got back downstairs I assumed she had already come in the house, but she hadn't. The video is hysterical because then we all went to the mudroom window to see where she was just as she was coming up the stairs. Places everyone, places! He just LOVES this game.
He's got so much more vocabulary now than he ever has that you can really have a full conversation with him if you can translate what he means. For some reason "water" is "Wa-ry" which sounds exactly like the way he says "Rory", so for that one you really need to have the context to know what he's talking about. He calls his monkey his "Ah-ah" because that's what they say "Ooh-ooh, ah-ah". What's awesome is when he wakes up in the morning he usually throws the monkey out of his bed and then starts yelling "Uh-oh my Ah-ah". Its cracks me up every time. He calls money "Nummie" and he scrunches his face up funny when he says it.
My new favorite is that he's gotten really good at knowing the difference between Mommy (me) and Mama B (Bev), but sometimes he gets so caught up in his thought that he forgets the "B" until the end. He'll say things like "That Mama coffee (pause)...B". Or the other way that cracks me up is when he leaves out the Mama and just calls her "B". Several times a day he will look at me and say "Where B?" with his hands in the air to ask the question. And occasionally when he's feeling a little selfish with me, if Bayla tries to come over to climb in my lap, he'll run over to us and say "Go baby, Mama B", meaning that he wants her to go sit with Bev instead of me. Luckily she LOVES Bev and usually complies happily. The new words and phrases are keeping us laughing every day. I can't believe how well he communicates these days. Good times. At least he's given up on the swearing for the time being.
He's got so much more vocabulary now than he ever has that you can really have a full conversation with him if you can translate what he means. For some reason "water" is "Wa-ry" which sounds exactly like the way he says "Rory", so for that one you really need to have the context to know what he's talking about. He calls his monkey his "Ah-ah" because that's what they say "Ooh-ooh, ah-ah". What's awesome is when he wakes up in the morning he usually throws the monkey out of his bed and then starts yelling "Uh-oh my Ah-ah". Its cracks me up every time. He calls money "Nummie" and he scrunches his face up funny when he says it.
My new favorite is that he's gotten really good at knowing the difference between Mommy (me) and Mama B (Bev), but sometimes he gets so caught up in his thought that he forgets the "B" until the end. He'll say things like "That Mama coffee (pause)...B". Or the other way that cracks me up is when he leaves out the Mama and just calls her "B". Several times a day he will look at me and say "Where B?" with his hands in the air to ask the question. And occasionally when he's feeling a little selfish with me, if Bayla tries to come over to climb in my lap, he'll run over to us and say "Go baby, Mama B", meaning that he wants her to go sit with Bev instead of me. Luckily she LOVES Bev and usually complies happily. The new words and phrases are keeping us laughing every day. I can't believe how well he communicates these days. Good times. At least he's given up on the swearing for the time being.
03 June 2011
"Happy Mine!!"
What an amazing Memorial day weekend we had...Bev's family was in town. Auntie Lesley, Uncle Nic, cousin Cadam, Granny and Bev's good friend Amber all made the trip to Gorham, Maine for a little vacation. On Saturday several family and friends stopped by to visit. It was loads of fun and non-stop laughter all day and the kids had an absolute blast. That morning, when Rory woke up I said to him "Are you excited to have a party today?" and he immediately looked up at me with a huge smile and said "Happy?" (translated as...do you mean a happy birthday party, because that means cake and I love cake...). Then he started dancing around his room saying "Happy, happy". At some point in the day he decided that what would be better than it being a happy birthday party was if it was HIS happy birthday party, so he walked around the house the rest of the day yelling "Happy Mine, Happy Mine!!!" Every once in a while we got a "Happy Mama!!" but mostly it was "Happy Mine". Then, when it came time for dessert, he was not disappointed at all to find out that there was no cake once he realized that there was a banana pudding truffle dessert. He turned his "happy" into a noun and the dessert itself was dubbed "happy". He paraded around the party asking various people (whether he knew them or not) for "more happy?". How could anyone deny that kid a bite of their dessert when he asked so sweetly?! So, he had a bite of everyone's "happy" and was indeed a happy kid.
Now, he will randomly ask for either "happy" or "co-co" which is his other name for chocolate treats. The funniest part is that he knows that likely we're going to just laugh at him and say "no" but that occasionally he gets lucky and there really is some yummy dessert that he'll get a bite of, so he starts off asking very quietly, like a little whisper, with a very mischeivous look on his face..."I want co-co", almost as if he's trying to put subliminal thoughts into my head. Then when I say "no co-co!", he gets a little louder and says "co-co?" with a big smile and I say "no co-co...we're going to have breakfast", finally he flat out yells "CO-CO!!" and starts laughing because he knows its a joke at that point. Too funny. I can't imagine where he gets his love of chocolate. (ha, ha)
On Sunday of the weekend we got a nice visit from Mike, Lisa and Jack, so he had 2 of his cousins around to play with. And, he was very excited to watch his uncles Mike and Nic hoist a very heavy and very solid wooden big-boy bed up to his new room through a window. (Thanks guys!!) Not that he's quite ready to transition out of his crib, but at least now when he does, his room will be all set up for him. We even found an organic Curious George bedspread to complete his new room and some stars to put on the ceiling.
Other highlights from the weekend, we got to go to a town fair and ride the kiddie train, pet a giant turtle and slide down the biggest bouncy slide. We went to the beach for the first time this season and played with rocks and snails. The adults had a super fun bonfire on sunday night at Imani and Kate's house (while Granny stayed home with the sleeping babies). The whole weekend was full of some much needed relaxation, good food, drink and "HAPPY".
And you know, after a house full of guests all week, you'd think that we'd be a little relieved to have the place back to ourselves, but the reality is that we are just really sad to see everyone go. We are so lucky and thankful that we both have families who we truly enjoy spending time with. I wish everyone lived a little closer, but at least when we do get together, we manage to fit in months worth of love and fun into a weekend of family entertainment.
Below is a link to some photos from the weekend. Enjoy!
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4315691015/a=5398340_13507267/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
Now, he will randomly ask for either "happy" or "co-co" which is his other name for chocolate treats. The funniest part is that he knows that likely we're going to just laugh at him and say "no" but that occasionally he gets lucky and there really is some yummy dessert that he'll get a bite of, so he starts off asking very quietly, like a little whisper, with a very mischeivous look on his face..."I want co-co", almost as if he's trying to put subliminal thoughts into my head. Then when I say "no co-co!", he gets a little louder and says "co-co?" with a big smile and I say "no co-co...we're going to have breakfast", finally he flat out yells "CO-CO!!" and starts laughing because he knows its a joke at that point. Too funny. I can't imagine where he gets his love of chocolate. (ha, ha)
On Sunday of the weekend we got a nice visit from Mike, Lisa and Jack, so he had 2 of his cousins around to play with. And, he was very excited to watch his uncles Mike and Nic hoist a very heavy and very solid wooden big-boy bed up to his new room through a window. (Thanks guys!!) Not that he's quite ready to transition out of his crib, but at least now when he does, his room will be all set up for him. We even found an organic Curious George bedspread to complete his new room and some stars to put on the ceiling.
Other highlights from the weekend, we got to go to a town fair and ride the kiddie train, pet a giant turtle and slide down the biggest bouncy slide. We went to the beach for the first time this season and played with rocks and snails. The adults had a super fun bonfire on sunday night at Imani and Kate's house (while Granny stayed home with the sleeping babies). The whole weekend was full of some much needed relaxation, good food, drink and "HAPPY".
And you know, after a house full of guests all week, you'd think that we'd be a little relieved to have the place back to ourselves, but the reality is that we are just really sad to see everyone go. We are so lucky and thankful that we both have families who we truly enjoy spending time with. I wish everyone lived a little closer, but at least when we do get together, we manage to fit in months worth of love and fun into a weekend of family entertainment.
Below is a link to some photos from the weekend. Enjoy!
http://www1.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4315691015/a=5398340_13507267/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/
27 May 2011
Some pre-haircut randoms
Here's a few photos I've been meaning to post and keep forgetting. Oops. :)
Testing out the new chairs that Granny got for the boys
Hmmm...do I like this one best?
Just a dude and his jeep (he made me ride in the back)
Wee (when he's done sliding he gets up and says "more Wee?" Its impossible to say no to that)
Hiiii Mommy!!
A guy on a bike rode by...that's what is so exciting.
Testing out the new chairs that Granny got for the boys
Hmmm...do I like this one best?
Just a dude and his jeep (he made me ride in the back)
Wee (when he's done sliding he gets up and says "more Wee?" Its impossible to say no to that)
Hiiii Mommy!!
A guy on a bike rode by...that's what is so exciting."Where my daddy?"
Who knew we'd be answering that question this early.
This morning, Rory was sitting at the table eating breakfast and he said to me out of nowhere, "Where my daddy?" I think the thought stemmed from the fact that his friend at school was being picked up by her daddy and he labeled him "daddy" when he saw him and we said, "yes, that's her daddy". At the time he didn't ask about his own, but the next morning apparently he's thinking about it still. I'm fascinated by how young he is and he's already noticing that there are differences in families. I guess its great that he's so self-aware to recognize that. He seemed perfectly happy with the idea that he doesn't have one and that he's got 2 mommies instead. After that explanation, he immediately turned back to me and said "Where Mama B?", so I think he understood. I'm sure that he'll want more of an explanation than that as he gets older but luckily for now he seems to have moved past it. So interesting.
This morning, Rory was sitting at the table eating breakfast and he said to me out of nowhere, "Where my daddy?" I think the thought stemmed from the fact that his friend at school was being picked up by her daddy and he labeled him "daddy" when he saw him and we said, "yes, that's her daddy". At the time he didn't ask about his own, but the next morning apparently he's thinking about it still. I'm fascinated by how young he is and he's already noticing that there are differences in families. I guess its great that he's so self-aware to recognize that. He seemed perfectly happy with the idea that he doesn't have one and that he's got 2 mommies instead. After that explanation, he immediately turned back to me and said "Where Mama B?", so I think he understood. I'm sure that he'll want more of an explanation than that as he gets older but luckily for now he seems to have moved past it. So interesting.
19 May 2011
His first big boy haircut...
Today Rory went to see Naughty Sarah for the first time to get his hair cut. He looks like such a big boy now. Between that and getting him a big boy bed I feel like we're slowly accepting the beginning of his transition out of true toddlerhood and into boyhood. He started sleeping on a mat with the big kids at naptime at daycare this week. He now eats his sandwich as a half and takes bites instead of in little pieces, and he learned how to use a straw. He's growing up so quick. :)
Here's a few photos of the before and after of his haircut. He screamed for the first 30 seconds or so when she started but Bev was able to distract him by letting him scroll through photos on her IPhone. She claims that alone is a enough justification for having bought the new phones. :)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Here's a few photos of the before and after of his haircut. He screamed for the first 30 seconds or so when she started but Bev was able to distract him by letting him scroll through photos on her IPhone. She claims that alone is a enough justification for having bought the new phones. :)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
05 May 2011
Slackers...
Hello...we're slackers. I know you've all been waiting for more blog posts and more photos and videos of our little man, but we've been super busy with the new house, the garden (or as some would call it...the farm), and enjoying life with a crazy fun toddler. Not to make excuses, but simply to say, I'm going to play a little catch up right now and post a bunch of different subjects from the past month or so.
Enjoy.
Enjoy.
04 May 2011
Gutons!!!
So, after nearly 2 years of having the grinder in my possession but not daring to actually attempt to make Gutons, I finally did it...and I did an alright job for a first try (if I do say so myself...although I don't want to say so too loudly or else I'll have to share. :)
Gutons are a Pigeon favorite that my Grampie used to make. Since he passed away, there have been a few scattered attempts (that I know of anyway) but nobody has taken on the role of making large batches to share with the whole family the way he used to. Not that I'm volunteering myself for that role quite yet, but I do feel very strongly that the next generation of kids needs to continue the love of the Gutons. Rory was lucky enough to get his first taste on my first attempt. I think I did alright on the texture. It was pretty close to what I remember. The flavor is only a touch off, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is. I know there are lots of Pigeons out there reading this and thinking "Let me taste...I'll tell you what you're missing", and if you'd like to do that, you know where we live. It was a small batch, but there might be some left over by the time you got here. :)
So, here is a video taken this afternoon of Rory trying it for the first time. He's also obsessed with crackers these days so he's even more excited:
After testing out and loving his first guton cracker, he walked away with his second one while I was making one for myself. Cooper thought gutons smelled pretty good too and made a play for Rory's cracker. This next video is the tail end of Rory's reaction. We couldn't catch the first part because we were laughing so hard. He flipped out! He got so upset and was crying and yelling "No Cooper. No cracker!!" Believe me buddy, we all understand. Gutons do NOT go to the dog! The funniest part is that as hard as he was crying about it, the dog didn't actually even get it. He still had it in his hand the whole time. He is a true Pigeon.
Gutons are a Pigeon favorite that my Grampie used to make. Since he passed away, there have been a few scattered attempts (that I know of anyway) but nobody has taken on the role of making large batches to share with the whole family the way he used to. Not that I'm volunteering myself for that role quite yet, but I do feel very strongly that the next generation of kids needs to continue the love of the Gutons. Rory was lucky enough to get his first taste on my first attempt. I think I did alright on the texture. It was pretty close to what I remember. The flavor is only a touch off, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is. I know there are lots of Pigeons out there reading this and thinking "Let me taste...I'll tell you what you're missing", and if you'd like to do that, you know where we live. It was a small batch, but there might be some left over by the time you got here. :)
So, here is a video taken this afternoon of Rory trying it for the first time. He's also obsessed with crackers these days so he's even more excited:
After testing out and loving his first guton cracker, he walked away with his second one while I was making one for myself. Cooper thought gutons smelled pretty good too and made a play for Rory's cracker. This next video is the tail end of Rory's reaction. We couldn't catch the first part because we were laughing so hard. He flipped out! He got so upset and was crying and yelling "No Cooper. No cracker!!" Believe me buddy, we all understand. Gutons do NOT go to the dog! The funniest part is that as hard as he was crying about it, the dog didn't actually even get it. He still had it in his hand the whole time. He is a true Pigeon.
Easter
Rory had a lot of fun searching for Easter eggs at Ninna and Papa's. He thought the tennis ball was the best egg of all, but he actually found more eggs than I did (with Papa's help).
His new favorite phrases that day were "Hi Papa" and "Mimi, Pop" which he says with his finger in his mouth, trying to demonstrate how Mimi makes her mouth go "pop". He's so close to being able to do it himself, but he isn't always able to make a loud noise. Something to strive for. :)
Laying in a pile of Easter grass...fascinating.
Happy Birthday Auntie Nicole!!
Rory shares birthday cake with Auntie Nicole...oh wait, he's not sharing, he's eating the whole piece. Whoa!!
His new favorite phrases that day were "Hi Papa" and "Mimi, Pop" which he says with his finger in his mouth, trying to demonstrate how Mimi makes her mouth go "pop". He's so close to being able to do it himself, but he isn't always able to make a loud noise. Something to strive for. :)
Laying in a pile of Easter grass...fascinating.
Happy Birthday Auntie Nicole!!
Rory shares birthday cake with Auntie Nicole...oh wait, he's not sharing, he's eating the whole piece. Whoa!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
