Summer Break - Week 2

The boys and I had another fun week of break!  Monday I took Gavin and Declan to the Round Lake Children's Museum.  I like this place because its part of the park district, so its small enough that I can let Gavin run free without having to worry too much about him.  Tuesday we went to a place called Stay 2 Play.  Its a cafe where they have a big play area for the kids to play in, while the moms hang out.  Declan is still too young to play here, but Gavin really likes it. 

Wednesday the kids went to Miss Jeanne's and Jeanne took them to their first movie!  During the summer, some of the movie theaters around here have a 10 am showing of kids movies that are specifically for kids 5 and under and their caregivers.  The lights don't go as dark, the volume isn't as loud, and everyone there knows what they're in for!  Gavin did great and loved the movie Happy Feet 2 and Declan did really well too! 

Thursday we had our first summer playdate with my girlfriends.  We met up at a park that has a "treehouse" that the kids really loved.  Friday the boys and I headed over to Libertyville Days (a summer fair in the town I teach in) with some of my girlfriends for some toddler dance parties, kids games and playground time.  Saturday we spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa Mayner to celebrate Father's Day.  Below are all our pics (there's a lot!) from this week:

Doing some construction at the children's museum

 Making Mommy some toast

 Bumper cars is the name of the game in this museum

 Putting in a call to the firehouse

 Every tough guy construction worker needs a puppy

 Declan enjoying the "crawlers" section and making shocked faces at Gavin

 Cutie

 A cute pic of the brothers.

 Dec and one of his favorite toys, his bumpy orange football.

 Dec watching Gavin in one of his new favorite activities: Wii golf.

 Hard at work

 Declan makes this face at Gavin a lot

 Dec has to constantly wear a bib due to the ridiculous amount of drool he produces.  When it gets turned around from all his rolling over and playing, it makes him look like a little superhero with a cape!

 SuperDec to the rescue!  His super power? Bionic drool!

 Sometimes you just need some Daddy snuggle time

 Gavin trying on Daddy's "fancy boots" (Gav's term for Ryan's work shoes).

 Gav at the treehouse.

 Gav is really good at smiling when cued with "cheese," but we usually get this crazy person smile.  Time to work on a more natural fake smile!

 Not sure what game Gavin and Eli were playing in the treehouse, but they really seemed to enjoy it!

 Playing under the treehouse was just as cool as playing in it.

 Gavin leads a group of brave toddler explorers...

... "Wait, where did everyone go?"

 ..."I give up!  These toddlers can't focus for two secon...wait, is that something shiny? OOH!"

 Persuing the pages of US Weekly while waiting for Mommy to make his toast.

 "Mom, the stars ARE just like us!"

 Gav LOVED the impromptu dance party at Libertyville Days.  Video of this to be uploaded soon (as soon as I remember/get Ryan to compress the video :)

 Gav is breaking out his Thriller moves while a ballerina dances in the background.  That ballerina came up to Gavin later and told Gavin she liked his moves!

 Checking out the firetruck.

 VERY excited to sit in the fireman's seat.

 More pretend fun in the ambulance.

 A short break for some candy eating with his friend Olivia.

 In between this pic and the one above, Gav and Liv were running all over the playground, but they were too speedy for me to get any good pics of them.  Gavin loves playing with Olivia, as you can tell from the sweet little look he is giving to Liv while they take another snack break.

 Smiley Deckers and Mommy.

 Like father like son

 Gavin is getting braver and braver.  He is now trying to conquer the giant climbing structure at our neighborhood park.  He tells me to back off while he bounces himself up and down.

 Gavin let Grandpa play spotter on this climb.

 Declan goes through so many bibs in a day that I've given up caring what holiday that bib might be celebrating.  So the Halloween bib combined with a monkey hat 3 sizes too small was too good a photo op to pass up!  See you next week!

Happy Half Birthday Declan!

It really is hard to believe that Declan is 6 months old (well, almost 7 months old at this point!  But the pics and letter were taken/written closer to the 6 month mark).  Time definitely goes by more quickly with your second child.  I often have to remind myself to soak in all of Declan's "baby-ness" because its going to fly by in the blink of an eye.  So when I'm feeling frustrated because I'm feeding Dec what seems like his millionth bottle, or I'm spending 20 minutes trying to rock him to sleep, I silently tell myself that these days will be over before I know it, and I'll be fighting to get this cuddly time back.

Declan really seems to have turned a corner in the last few weeks.  He's developed a lot, and I think its made him a happier baby, which in turn has made us a happier family.  Instead of surviving the days, we're spending more time actually enjoying them.  We're starting to find our groove as a family, and that's really important for all of us!

Below is Dec's 6 month letter, as well as his 6 month pics and a few random pics from around the same time.

Dear Declan,

Happy half year birthday!   

In last month’s letter, we said that your 5 month old theme was “just keep swimming.”  Well, that means your 6 month old theme should be “Yes I can!”  What a difference a month makes Declan! 

Last month you couldn’t quite sit up by yourself.  Now you can sit by yourself longer and longer every day.  If you do fall over, instead of screaming and crying, you usually just roll over and keep playing like its no big deal.

Sitting up on your own means there is a whole new world of toys that you can play with now, and we’ve already noticed that you have favorites.  You really like the bumpy orange football, the pretend car, and the stackable rings.  You still love your baseball rattle and the squishy blocks.  You’re also starting to let Mommy read you a short book while you’re sitting up, although you think it’s just as fun to taste test the book as it is to read it.

Last month you weren’t eating “solid” foods yet (by solids, we mean mashed up carrots, bananas, sweet potatoes, etc).  Just recently though, you seem to have gotten the hang of eating solids Declan.  You’re only eating one meal a day (dinner), but you’re actually eating that dinner, not just spitting it back out!  You do seem to enjoy some solids more than others.  Pears look to be your current fave, and you like bananas and peas as well.  Mommy tried to introduce a second meal today (breakfast) and you weren’t interested.  But as we’ve learned as parents, we just have to keep trying!

Another skill you’ve really mastered Declan is rolling over.  We knew you could roll over last month because we would see the result, but not the actual roll.  Now rolling over is your primary mode of transportation (other than riding on Mommy’s hip that is!).  You can easily roll from one side of the room to the other in pursuit of a toy or big brother that you want to play with.  And you’re so much more tolerant of being on your tummy.  Sometimes you will happily play on your tummy for 10 minutes, instead of the 10 seconds you tolerated before!

While Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you for achieving all these gross motor milestones Declan, we’re really excited about the fact that you are finally sleeping through the night!  Much like your Mommy and your brother, you’re a man of routine Declan.  So we can rely on you going to bed between 7-7:30 and waking up at 4:30.  You’ll usually go back to bed at 4:30 after Mommy or Daddy give you your pacifier, turns you over (you’re usually on your tummy) and turns your music back on.  But this is only a temporary fix and you’re usually ready and raring to go by 5:30.  Maybe your 7 month old goal can be to sleep in a little later?  J

It’s already hard to remember your “baby days” Declan!  When we look back at those pics of you from 6 months ago, it seems like we’re looking at this little tiny baby we don’t even know.  You’re growing into such a big boy with a wonderful personality.  Mommy, Daddy and Gavin are all looking forward to getting to know you better as you learn to move and communicate with us!  Happy 6 months Declan, we love you very much!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

Aw, you can tell Dec is a little sad in this pic.  He wasn't enjoying the photo shoot at first...

 ...but then he found it hilarious!

 Our cute smiley boy.

 Mr. Poopers is growing up!

 A happier standing up pic

 A few random jumper pics, taken just after the 6 month photo shoot.

 "Why hello Mr. Frog.  I am about to spin you into oblivion."

 Deep Thoughts by Declan Gillespie

 A collage of Declan from birth to 6 months old.  The green Bumbo chair pic is 3 months old, and the drooly tongue out pic is 4 months old.  I would have liked to arrange the pics differently, but this is what you get with a free trial program!  Still kinda cool to see Dec grow up all in one picture.  (NOTE: Click on this pic to see the full image, it gets cut off when you view it as a part of the blog).

Summer Break - Week 1

As Gavin was singing at daycare last week, "School's out for summer!"

Summer break started for Gavin, Declan and I last Tuesday, and so far its been going pretty well.  We are definitely all adjusting to being home with each other (including Ryan, who works mostly from home).  Gavin is having the hardest time with the transition.  He is used to having buddies to play with and adults that tend to his needs pretty quickly at daycare.  But at home, many times he has to wait for something he wants or he has to cut short an activity he is enjoying because Declan needs a bottle/new diaper/nap/to be held/etc...

Summer is a big adjustment for me as well, especially this summer, since its my first time with two kiddos in tow.  Yes, I had two kids to take care of over my maternity leave, but that was during the dead of winter, and we spent a lot of time inside.  It's a whole new ballgame when you're venturing out into the world with 2 kids several times a day.  I'm getting better at it (read, I'm not being so type A about it), but there are some activities that simply can't be done with one adult and two kids under 3.  So we're learning as we go.

My goal for summer break is to post a weekly recap of our activities.  I won't always be able to take pics of everything we do, but I'll certainly try (another one of my goals is to take some more pics of the kids, especially Declan by himself).

This past week was a little short since I still had school on Monday.  We went to the zoo with my parents and hit up the mall for a much needed haircut for Gavin.  We went to the library and checked out a few new movies, and in the process created a new obsession for Gavin: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.  Holy cow is this movie bad, and I should know because I've seen it 6 times.  Although it is super entertaining to watch your almost 3 year old sing and dance to Bad Romance by Lady Gaga.  We also played at Independence Grove (a really nice forest preserve in Libertyville with a lake, park and lots of room to just run) and went to Diamond Lake Beach with my parents.  Here are the pics from the past week:

As you'll hear about in Declan's 6 month letter (coming soon), Declan loves his jumper. But every time Gavin catches Dec jumping, he wants to put his cowboy hat onto Declan's head (which is so big, that it fits pretty well!)

 All that jumping knocks the cowboy hat out of place.

 Enforcing the family room law.

 I included this pic becuase that face Declan is making (with the pulled in lips) is one of his favorites

 Just some more cowboy cuteness.

 Even though school is over, Declan and I had some important work to do.

 Taking a break from work for a pic.

 Dec is getting better and better at sitting up these days!  I can now let him sit on his own (instead of right behind him) and if he falls over, it usually doesn't cause a fit of tears and screaming any more.

 Declan's new favorite toy, his pretend car.

 At the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa.

 A true Midwestern boy, Gavin LOVES corn on the cob.  He comes running into the kitchen yelling "CORN!!!" whenever we make it for dinner.

 Declan spent most of his time at the lake sunbathing with milk running down his chin. 

 Family pic.  Ryan had to work and isn't really into swimming anyways.  Gav on the other hand might actually enjoy going to the pool/beach this year.  It took my parents a half hour to convince Gavin to go in the water,but once he did he loved splashing and playing catch with me and my dad.

 Snacking on some fishies.

 Happy Declan with Grandma and Grandpa.

 Gav in our new kiddie pool.  It's huge and was a hit with Gavin (again after some convincing).  Gav and I played for 2 hours in the pool this weekend!

 Rocking his gymnastics shirt in the pool.  Gav is a little self conscious about his bare belly.

 Declan did not enjoy the pool at first, but had a great time splashing once he got over his initial distrust of the water.

 Gav showing Declan the wipe, wipe all better trick

Weekend in G-town

A few weeks ago, our fam headed back to Geneseo to attend a fundraiser for the catholic school Ryan went to as a kid.  Ryand and I really enjoyed ourselves at the car party, and we all had a good time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa and Bryce!  Here's some of our pics from that weekend:

Gavin and Grandpa invented a new game: horsie!

 A game of horsie involves a relaxing ride around the family room...

 ...when suddenly the horse starts to buck...

 ...and off goes the grandchild onto the couch in a fit of giggles and demands of "again!"

 Grandma is thrilled that Grandpa invented a game that Gavin likes more than the ping pong catch game!

 Bryce decides to join in on the horsie action

 Uh oh, that horsie is heading for the couch again!

 At this point, Gavin started throwing himself from the horsie in anticipation, whereas Bryce politely waited.

 Poor grandpa, this was probably the 15th horsie ride of the day, with no sign of Gavin tiring of this game!

 As usual, kisses from Mommy are gross.

 One of my new favorite pictures.  Now we know where Gavin gets his ability to make goofy faces from.

 My other new favorite picture, such a sweet pic of me and the boys in our jammies.

 When Gavin gets mad at home, he runs into our living room, lays down on the rug, and says "I'm mad."  When Gavin gets mad at Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie's house, he runs into the dining room, sits in one of the old rocking chairs, and says "I'm mad" while staring and rocking.  Its hilarious.

 Our goofy guy wearing a bucket as a hat while playing in the corner.