Children's dance @ PAB

These pictures are from the children's dance we attended a few weeks ago. It also happened to be the hottest day at the cottage. I could only use pictures from early in the evening, since after about 15 minutes at the dance everyone was covered in sweat. It must have been in the 90s and very humid. It was one of those days when you get out of the shower and just start sweating. I don't think I've ever been so uncomfortable in pants.

Annie & Bea had a ton of fun. There was a great band playing classics like the "Hokey Pokey" and the "Chicken Dance," which Annie became quite good at by the way. Annie seems to have an endless amount of energy, and despite the heat she literally never stopped moving the entire time. I do think that doing the hokey pokey managed to keep her in one place, for a somewhat extended period of time. So we may have to try incorporating that into our daily routine!

I think in total we all lasted about 45 minutes before we were all too tired/hot/ to stay any longer. After we left we went on a very long golf cart ride to cool off before dinner, and then managed to have a very pleasant, mostly sweat free evening!

Summer so far

I can't believe our summer has been flying by so fast!

Here are a few pics of what's been going on. We've been doing some boating, Annie got a new tricycle, we've spent time at the cottage, and Karen and the kids have been having a great time in Grosse Pointe!

Annie's fly new whip

Annie recently got a new ride! Karen and the kids have been spending August in Michigan, splitting their time between Grosse Pointe and Pointe Aux Barques. We figured this would be a great time for Annie to get her first tricycle, since there is so much more room for her to roam. And up at the cottage you don't have to worry as much about cars and all the other fun stuff that comes with living in the city.

The pedals are still a bit far for her to reach, which is probably good at this point... Since she's a bit of terror on her own, I can't imagine the havoc she will wreak when she's got full use of her wheels!

Getting more and more adventorous!

Here is Annie at the park. We found this new (to us) park in Charlestown that has lots of great toys; like cars to ride around in, fun things to climb on, and a sprinkler! The fun thing about this park is that it's a good size, fenced in, there's usually a decent amount of kids Annie's age, and Annie loves it. The one drawback is the climbing structures are a bit advanced for Annie. And while she loves to climb, certain parts of it give me a mild heart attack watching her navigate around. I would say she's usually pretty good about knowing her limits and actually responds when you ask her to come back from the edge of something, usually...

The other interesting thing about the park, and all the other city playgrounds are the dynamics/politics among the parents. We try to be the laid back type, not hovering over Annie's every move in the park. Because we believe that Annie will best learn how to play with other kids and resolve differences on her own if we aren't constantly intervening. The problem arises with other parents who like to follow their child around, and happen to be right there when Annie decides to go up to their kid and take a toy he/she was playing with and take her turn with it. I think most times everyone gets that the kids are young and are still figuring things out. With those kids and those parents there usually aren't any issues. You feel bad because your kid just took a toy from another kid and apologize, and the other parent gets that it's no big deal and that's that. After a few park visits you become pretty good at spotting who will and who won't be a problem should Annie have a run in with their kid.

I think the other interesting aspect is the parks on the weekends. On Saturdays it's dad central, which is fun. It can also be complete bedlam. Let's run with the assumption that the moms are usually more organized and have everything (spare clothing, snacks, etc) needed, while most of the dads have a cup of coffee and that's about it. One of the last times we were there these two kids wanted to go through the sprinklers. Their dad didn't have swim suits, so the kids just stripped down and ran around naked. It was hilarious, and you could see some of the other moms who were there just look aghast at the situation. I was glad Annie kept her diaper on at least...

Cousins!

Over the 4th of July weekend Annie got see to all of her cousins!

And the exciting news was that Annie and Liv actually started playing together! Everyone was home for a combination of the holiday and Annie's 2nd birthday party.

I must say, growing up there was always plenty of room in our house, but now when everyone's home space is becoming quite the commodity! But it is a lot of fun to have the house packed with everyone and all the kids get to play together.

All about Nicholas

Nicholas is 9 weeks old today! Time really does fly and it hardly seems like it's been 9 weeks. Actually it seems like he's been around for a lot longer. The trepidation you feel when you're adding to your family seems like a lot during the build-up, but after it happens, you quickly adjust and wonder how you ever got by without him.

In 9 wks Nichol has gone from a big baby weighing in at 8.5 lbs to clocking in at around 13 lbs. He is very good natured, and frequently gets a smile on his face when Annie is around. Of course, it may just be a precursor to wincing because usually Annie likes to get on top of him to give him hugs and kisses... He is a good sleeper, at night he usually makes it in at least 4 hr intervals, which is pretty handy. He has a crabby period in the evening around 7pm, but never gets inconsolable. He also has some pretty big eyes and frequently gives us a suspicious, big eyed look -- almost like he's about to say "whach you talkin' 'bout Willis."

He's already really strong, standing for bursts of time and has great head control. And probably the most surprising thing to people is that he's only 9 wks old... I think someone even remarked that we must be feeding him cream instead of milk.

Annie's 2nd Birthday Party Throw Down!

Annie's 2nd birthday was a few weeks ago. We had her party in NY over 4th of July weekend when all of her cousins would be in town. For her party Annie did not have too many requests. She's pretty easy going, for the most part, but she did have one request. When we asked her what kind of food she wanted, she said 'peppo-wroni pizzah.' Recently pepperoni pizza is her favorite food. She requests it at every meal and in every restaurant.

So the menu was pretty simply. Lots of pepperoni pizza... Instead of birthday cake Karen made these awesome banana cupcakes. Bananas are still pretty high on Annie's list, and she loved these cupcakes. Throw in some sides and sodas and you're all set!

For the big party my parents had the idea of renting a bouncy house. And man was that a great idea! Everyone loved it, it kept the kids in an enclosed area and they never got tired of it! We had the bouncy house for the whole weekend, it got a lot of use. We also had a double slip-n-slide, which was awesome. There's not too much better than a slip-n-slide on a hot day! Overall the party was a blast. We were so glad to have it at my parents where all of Annie's cousins could attend, and we could not have asked for better weather! Thanks again to everyone who came and made Annie's second birthday party a ton of fun!

Story time

Now that Nichol has entered the fray we've adjusted our routine accordingly. Some things we've tweaked, and some things we've been able to keep the same. Story time has remained pretty much the same. In the evenings Annie gets a bath, and then after her bath we read a book. Annie loves being a big sister so she likes having Nicholas next to her during story time.

Annie's favorite book used to be "I want a Dog" which we must have read every night for about 3 months. In the past few weeks that has changed and now her favorite book is "The Three Little Pigs" which probably gets read to her at least twice a day. Many days I'll read that to her in the morning, Karen will read it during the day and then it will get read again that night before bed! We're starting to get pigged out!

Hamming it up

Here are some recent pics of Annie and Nichol. Annie continues to show a very outgoing and playful personality, and Nichol is beginning to stay awake more and request attention.

Tuesday, the 29th is Annie's 2nd birthday! Hard to believe in two years time we went from no kids to two kids! My have things changed for the Fergusons, but we wouldn't have it any other way. Tomorrow we will be celebrating Annie's birthday at home, with her favorite dinner - Pepporini Pizza. Or as she says it, "peppowroooni pizzha." We can't figure out when this became her favorite meal, and we're fairly certain she was referring to something else at first, because she would call everything pepperoni pizza. But now it's official, when she says peppowroooni pizzha she means pepperoni pizza. This weekend we'll be in upstate NY for the holiday, so we're having her formal party at Magga & Pappa's and all of her cousins will be able to share in her big day!

New kitchen / early birthday present

Some of you loyal readers may know that our condo has been on the market. And as I'm sure anyone who has sold a home knows, having your place on the markets stinks. The market in Boston has been a little soft so it's taken longer than we thought it would. But we figured that if we're going to be staying in our current place, we should get the most out of our space. For the entire time we've lived in our apt the 2nd bedroom has always had an extra full sized bed for guests. And then when Annie arrived the room was big enough for the bed and her crib. All of this was fine, until Nichol came along and Karen was able to stay home full time with both kids.

The unintended consequence was Annie needed more room to play in since she was home all day. So we unloaded the double bed from her room and made a new play space for her. We also bought her a play kitchen set and some new pots and pans! She loves this kitchen, and she loves her new play area in her room. It's one of those things where after we did it, we both asked ourselves what took us so long. And since that space where the bed was is still open, whenever guests come we'll have an air mattress they can use. Win win.