Playing Catch Up: First Day, Last Days, Birthdays and Big News (NOT PREGNANT)

It seems silly to start a post with a recap of Harry's first day of school when the last day of school happened two weeks ago. But. Harry started preschool! And now he's in summer school (which is basically a continuation of the school he started two weeks ago). I think it's safe to say that he is absolutely thrilled with his new student status. He pants in front of the door in the morning waiting for the bus and bounds outside when he sees it pull up. Another bonus? He and Leo get to ride to the same bus (they're attending summer school at the same location). I KNOW. Leo basically explodes every morning he's so thrilled.



Leo finished up fourth grade (meaning next year will be his last year in elementary school, did you hear my heart stopping?) with an end of year choral concert which Lucy and I were lucky enough to attend.



Ellie transformed from a Daisy into a Brownie (see above for the "Bridge" ceremony) and finished first grade. Didn't I just take a half day from work so I could bring her to the kindergarten orientation? GAH. Time, you are a sneaky, sneaky one.



Ellie also had her seventh birthday party (notice how I didn't say she turned seven-yet). That will come next month.



I finally got my act together and planned her party for before the end of the school year (well, technically it was the weekend of the last week of school). People in our town seem to just disappear on the summer weekends, making summer birthdays very sparsely attended.


As you can see the only problem with the party is there just weren't enough baked goods.



Ellie with her "beach" themed goodie bags (they held a shell bracelet, sunglasses, a mini-beach ball and of course, cookies). I tried really hard to not go all junky with the goodie bags. I HATE the crap that so often comes home from parties: trinkets that break before they even leave the car on the ride home, that I end up finding sprinkled all over the back of the mini van. Also, candy that no one needs (but we all need chocolate chip cookies, of course!).


Harry, (who apparently knows how to break dance-who knew?) made good use of his sunglasses.

For some reason I was very nervous about having a party at home (well, a party in general but an at-home one raises the stakes a bit). I wanted to make it very simple and of course it got more complicated than I set out for it to be, (there may have been some last minute ridiculous amounts of money spent at Oriental Trading) Let's just not talk about the "express mail" fees, ok? But all in all I'm very happy without how it went. It organically turned into a "mermaid" themed party when I randomly chose an Evite with a mermaid on it while Ellie was at school (I thought it befit a backyard pool party). (She "hand wrote" all of her invites but I wanted to follow-up with something a little more concrete). Ellie ran with the mermaid idea (she LOVED the Evite) and before we knew it I'd ordered mermaid plates, napkins and cups (as an aside I have to pause and extoll the virtues of the Target debit card (they aren't paying me to say this but they can if they'd like to)--anyway, free shipping on all Target items. Seriously the best.


Making their shell frame "craft." I thought this was cute and it went with our "beach/pool/mermaid" theme but I really bought it in case it rained and we were stuck inside.



The girls were semi-into it but it's hard for gluing tiny shells on frames to compete with pools and water sprayers and a playground and Cheeto balls (Ellie asks for these probably every time we see them at Costco and I always say no but for a birthday party? I finally said, YES).





The weather was A-MAZING which, when you're having a backyard "pool" party, that's really half the battle.

Did you know six and seven year old girls scream a lot? And when I say "scream" I mean "OMG THIS IS SO MUCH FUN I JUST HAVE TO SCREAM!!" screams.


Of course Spidey had to make an appearance.

At the end of the party, Ellie announced that it was "probably one of the best days of her life." So. Really can't argue with that one.


Speaking of birthdays, these two actually had their birthday, earlier this month.

Three.





This momentous occasion, this third birthday surviving another year with twins, really warrants its own post (which it will get, preferably before the fourth birthday) but I will interrupt this broadcast with some important breaking news. Lucy and Harry are officially potty trained. And say what you will, but I'm fairly certain that potty training twins will go down as one of my greatest life achievements. Let's just say it wasn't for the faint of heart!

Party On, Babies

We had a little birthday celebration for the babies a few weeks ago. I take NO credit for these photos. They are by friend Steph who is an amazing photographer.

Like most first birthdays, the grand finale of the party was Harry and Lucy's first experience with a cupcake.

I made sure we sang "Happy Birthday" twice. No fair combining two people into one song, right?

Look at that little tongue. This baby girl kills me.

A little tastier than tofu! Who knew?

By the end of the party, Harry needed a drink. Who can blame him?

You can almost hear Leo: "Best Lucy and Harry everrrrr."

Fun Even Without the Mint Juleps

It's finally spring. It was a gorgeous weekend. We are in that magical period on the east coast before the humidity sets in, when the days are long and warm and comfortable and clear. We spent nearly the whole time outside, which is just my kind of weekend. Erin worked on the yard. I kept her company and provided moral support but no heavy lifting. Honestly it's all I can do to walk across the room/yard/house without gasping for air. It feels like someone or someones are sitting on my chest. Oh wait! They are!

Ellie's BFF had a birthday party.



It was Kentucky Derby themed, replete with pony rides and for the grown ups (and non-pregnant people) mint juleps. Alas.


But seriously, is that not a great theme for a kid party?

I know I say this a lot, but if there's anything cuter than...in this case: little kids riding ponies, especially little girls in party dresses? I'm not sure what that is.

In other, less, cute news: I am so swollen. My hands are like tiny (well, not so tiny) Michelin Men. In the morning I cannot even make a fist with my right hand and it's all I can do to make the all important coffee. I admit I'm frustrated that my last month with two kids is being spent this uncomfortably. I'm frustrated I can't do more and that my mood is somewhat sour much of the time. But, it is what it is and I guess it's understandable, but that certainly doesn't make it any easier for anyone who has to be around me or, well, me.

Yesterday after the party we came home and I took the coldest Eucalyptus scented shower I could stand, to try and help the swelling. I then collapsed into a puddle in front of the Food Channel. Blessedly, these active weekends send the kids to sleep easily and relatively early, so there is some peace in the evenings, which is good, because that's when I'm the most swollen and the most itchy. Don't ask.

Oh and last but not least, Happy Mother's Day!

My Little Odd Man

Leo attended the birthday party of one of his classmates on Saturday. It was held here at this funny kind of creepy party space.

They corralled all the kids and parents into a room and presented them with a variety of I guess you would say excotic animals. The guy who was introducing the animals spoke in this really annoying sing-songy kind of cutesy voice. I wanted to tell him to cut it out. I mean he was talking to kids but come on. They don’t need that.


When we first walked in Leo kind of freaked out. He tried to run into a closet and hide. He doesn’t like big crowds right away; it takes him a few minutes to warm up. I think he might have also panicked when he saw so many kids from his class at school. I think maybe he thought he was suddenly on a school field trip or something or I was going to leave him there. Who knows.

So I sat with him. There was one other parent that did this with his also freaked out kid, so I didn’t feel too self-conscious about it. You do what you have to do, right? Also, there were no more grown-up chairs left, so I figured I'd just sit with him and not make a big deal out of it. Besides, I got a front seat to all the animals! (all the other parents were seated in chairs in front of the kids). Within a few minutes Leo had completely calmed down and was really interested in all the animals. He was very gentle with all of them (I can’t say that about all of the kids) and so curious. There wasn’t one that he didn’t want to touch (some of the kids were really afraid, especially of Jacklyn, the squaking 49-year-old parrot).

After the animal presentation there was pizza and cake. Just like at the last party, Leo insisted on sitting on the floor at first, while everyone else crowded together at the long table. I laughed about it with some other parents. Leo is definitely his own person, that’s for sure. It was funny, he was in a room full of kids with Down syndrome and he still has to be the odd man amongst the room full of “odd men.” And just as I predicted, halfway through the pizza he got up on his own accord and sat with his friends. In the past I probably would have fought him and tried to reason with him. I’ve come to learn though that Leo does everything in his own time.

And of course there was cake.


It looks like Leo's friend is talking to him about something. It also looks like Leo is saying don't bother me I'm eating my cake.

This picture cracks me up. They are so serious about their birthday cake eating. It’s like they’re working or something. Must. Eat. Cake.

On the way to the party (it was about a 30 minute drive) Leo and I played a new game. He’s really into pointing things out (clocks, numbers/letters on a sign) and asking me about general things that he sees: “Dee-Dee, Whas Zat?” So we talked about what we saw, and then I started quizzing him on colors (What color is that sign? What color is the truck?). He answered them all correctly. Then I put a spin on things and asked him the colors of things we weren’t looking at, like, “Leo, what color is a cherry? A school bus? Ellie’s hair?” He answered them all correctly, and loved the game. He kept asking me for more. Is this called abstract thought? I don’t know, but it seemed advanced to me. And I just felt like bragging about it.

By the way, I escaped the party without meeting up with any centipedes. The armadillos ate mealy bugs (if you click on the photo you can sort of see them-ew!) which bear a striking resembelance (creepy crawly-wise) to centipedes-I was sitting a mere feet away from them. They were sort of like a car accident--I was repulsed but also couldn't look away.

Favorite Books, Bedtime Battles, Steam Cleaners, Star Sightings and For All That Is Good Please No Centipedes

In the spirit of feeling overwhelmed, I give you bullets from the week.

-Monday night when I was reading David Gets in Trouble which Leo adores, I made a “burp” sound, as the book called for. Leo burst into giggles and leaned over and kissed me. I love that I know just how to make him laugh (actually it was a surprise that this would delight him so much but it was duly noted for future need!).

-We’ve been having Pat Benatar “Bedtime is a Battlefield” nights lately with Leo. He’s not crying, just refusing to go to sleep. He was up until 10 p.m. reading on Tuesday night. Reading! I have to say it’s pretty cute to open the door to check on him to find him sitting on his bed, quietly flipping though the pages of Clifford’s Christmas Presents. I finally caved and gave him Tylenol last night, thinking maybe the congestion was making him uncomfortable (though that is much better, thanks Zyrtec). At one point I asked him if someone had given him a latte in the afternoon but received no response from him. After reading, he moved on to more exciting endeavors, specifically dissecting the extra bed in his room, stripping the sheets and pillowcase, I just couldn’t get over how much energy he had. At 10 p.m. I’m not sure if it’s the time change, or what.

-Speaking of books, Ellie is obsessed with this book. She actively seeks it out and can sit and “talk” about all the pictures. The last few nights she has breezed through dinner so that she can go get this book and sit with it on my lap. She seems to know all the pictures by sight (i.e. if I say “where’s the car?” she can show me. It’s just amazing to see her language develop at what feels like warp speed. She has also mastered most of her animals sounds. Seriously, is there anything cuter than a 20-month old meowing like a cat? Except Ellie's "cat" is more like a screech. Even better, really.

-Leo loves that book too. He is so competitive with Ellie and it’s quite sweet. He is so eager, he’s the kid who raises his hand before he knows the answer. I say “where is the boat?” and Leo busts up with a raised hand and says “Mine!” thinks a moment and then points to the boat with a huge grin.

-I had a wonderful birthday last weekend. First of all, it was 70 degrees. Seventy! Degrees! I got to sleep in and then Erin and the kids brought me coffee and a homemade card. It makes all the aggravation worth it when I see those happy little faces greet me in the morning, scamper into the bedroom and jump on top of me. Erin told me I could do whatever I wanted and for me that involved going to Macy’s and buying this:



And no it's not a Swiffer though it kind of looks like one. Oh it is so much more. I had seen an infomercial (I know, I know, sue me, the TV had been left on HGTV the night before and when I turned it on at 6 a.m. it was showing a riveting piece on the Haan steam cleaner). Well it intrigued me and so I did some digging/research and learned that most people seem to think the Haan is (surprise!) a piece of crap but that the Shark seems to be quite popular and effective. The concept is pretty awesome. It steams your floors with water that reaches over 200 degrees farenheit and you wash and reuse the cloth pads that come with it (it supposedly even "sanitizes" your floor, though I don't think we'll be having dinner on the kitchen floors anytime soon). No chemicals and no waste and safe to use on wood floors (which comprise our entire house). I have to say so far so good. I mean, it's not a miracle or anything (a miracle would be someone else cleaning the entire house). Then again any sort of cleaning is better than none which had been my floor cleaning technique as of late. And yes, I spent part of my birthday steam cleaning the floors. I am that big of a nerd.

-Saturday night went to the opening of an amazing new restaurant in the city. Not to name drop (Oh what the hell, here goes) but we saw Caroline Kennedy, Diane Sawyer and her husband Mike Nichols and actor Ralph Fiennes. And oh yes, the food was unbelieveable. We don’t go out much but when we go out, we do it right.

-In Little Girl As Vampire news, we’ve had two straight days of no biting. I hope I’m not jinxing it by talking about it here. We’re just taking it one day at a time.

-The birthday party invites are beginning to roll in for Leo. I’m like Amy, I love a good kid party! These are both kids from Leo’s school where nearly everyone has Down syndrome so there is the added benefit that I won’t feel pressure for Leo to “act” a certain way at the party. Plus I will get to see some of the moms that I rarely get to see. Saturday’s party is here. I think Leo’s head might explode from excitement. These parties just get bigger and bigger. I told Erin we are the holdout hillbillys who still have parties in our backyard. What can I say? We are simple people. Anyway, I am just hoping Leo doesn’t want to hold a centipede at this party (it’s one of the “insect options”). I'm totally down with spiders (thanks Charlotte's Web and Buddhist Dad). But after living in a centipede-filled "garden" (fancy word for basement) apartment in Brooklyn I became a little too well acquainted with centipedes. And if Leo wants to hold one I think my head might explode.

Typical Birthday Party and “Retarded” Playgroup

Saturday morning Leo and Ellie went to a mutual friend’s birthday party at a play space. I guess here in New Jersey play spaces are The place to have a party (we had an invite for Leo for another one in our mailbox when we got home Saturday night -yay I love parties!). I completely see the appeal but I think it’s funny though that we all finally (I say “all” in reference to the many people we know where we live who have made the exodus from cramped NYC apartments to “spacious” houses) have the space to have parties and yet it’s so popular to not have them at home.

That’s beside the point. Both kids had a blast climbing the massive play structure-and I do mean massive. It must have been 20 feet tall, basically it looked like a giant hamster activity center (the plastic ones with the tunnels). Ellie was pretty brazen for a little thing-she held her own with the three and four year olds no problem. I had a few heart pounding moments where I couldn’t spot either kid (I knew they couldn’t go far but it’s still not a mom’s happiest moment). And Leo is very fast. Thank goodness I did see him out of the corner of my eye sneak into the party room or there may have been far fewer cupcakes than the host had originally planned.

Leo pretty much sticks to himself at these things. He didn’t want to participate in circle time, wanted nothing to do with the jumpy-apparatus that was blown up after the dancing. Fine, whatever. He was content to climb and slide and climb and slide some more.

Both kids also had a great time with this contraption-not sure what to call it. It involved climbing a little ladder and then sliding while hanging. You get the idea. See an earlier post for a video, though the shot below does feature a lovely view of Leo's cute outie belly button.


And he was quite happy to go eat pizza in the party room but insisted on beginning his meal sitting under the table. I don’t know what it is, if it’s the noise or the crowds but he does this often when faced with a group of people. Just ideal for social situations! It was ok though. I mean, I’m over being embarrassed or self-conscious about it. Eventually he sat down and ate his pizza like everyone else.

Of course I would like Leo to be the Down syndrome poster child in these kinds of “typical” social situations and act like everyone else. Of course I think that invariably people see him doing something weird (eating his pizza under the table) and think that he’s being “weird” because he has Down syndrome and therefore people with Down syndrome are weird.

But like I said, Leo eventually came up from his subterranean position and joined the rest of the party. And he loved singing “Happy Birthday” (one of his favorite songs ever) and he clapped the loudest and longest of anyone when the song was completed. But then. After Leo was finished eating he jumped up and zoomed back out to the play space. I figure his thought process was “good food, now I’m full, let’s play some more!” Makes perfect sense, right? The only problem is, there was another party going on in the play space. And after we ate it was our cue to leave.

Our exit was a touch humiliating. As much as I can say it doesn’t bother me that Leo ate part of his pizza under the table, it does bother me that I had to wrestle him into the stroller in order to control him from running away from me. Without help and with Ellie in tow, that was the only way I was going to get us all out of that building in one piece. I’m sure the fact that Leo was exhausted didn’t help matters, it just would have been nice to not have to push my 4 ½ year old out of the party hysterically crying, in a stroller. But then I have to remind myself that Leo isn’t really 4 ½, developmentally. And I’m pretty sure we weren’t the only ones having party-exit-emotional-outbursts (though I honestly didn’t see any that were quite as vocal as ours). And there was a moment when I had to dash from the party room to the playroom to retrieve Leo when I left Ellie completely unsupervised so that was a little scary. It happened so quickly that I wasn’t able to grab a parent to see if they could look after her for a second while I attended to Leo. Not to be dramatic, I mean it’s not like she was playing next to a swimming pool or anything. When I went back to get her she was carrying someone’s mary janes around. That little girl likes shoes.
************************************************************
Later that day was the New York City Down syndrome parent group/play group. I knew some of the parents in real life, others I’d only exchanged emails with (a few were particularly helpful when I sent out the desperate “sleep problems for a preschooler” email a month or so ago). It was a nice mixture of ages of kids, I think the youngest was seven months old. It threw me a little when one mom, her son almost two, smiled at Leo as he barked like a dog on all fours inside a “house” made of cushions, and told me it was “great to see older kids who were doing so well.” Wasn’t it just last week that I attended my first playgroup with infant Leo, studying the faces and movements of the “old” (four and five year old) kids with a mixture of curiosity, tenderness and terror?

Sorry, gratuitous baby Leo picture. Since I didn’t have a blog when he was a baby I feel that he missed out on being shown off as a newborn. That baby I saw on Saturday looked an awful lot like this:

As an aside, I know that all sleeping babies kind of look alike but it’s really eerie to me how similar sleeping babies with Down syndrome look alike. The little 7-month old on Saturday that we met, when he passed out on his mother’s chest it was like seeing a sleepy infant Leo. It almost made me shiver.

In addition to the adorable sleeping 7-month old, there was a gregarious 8-year-old with a wonderful sense of humor. She told me “Babies (i.e. Ellie) are not allowed to play on boats” (there was a large boat climbing structure in the center of the playroom). She also reached over and while we were talking, sweetly (some might say I guess, inappropriately) tucked my hair behind my ear.

I met the mom of a toddler who told me her diagnosis story. We all have one, whether it was finding out on the operating room table (me) or prenatally and over the phone by a genetic counselor (her). She told me how insensitive her genetic counselor was, pausing to take another call and putting her on hold in the middle of the life changing news. Her description of the events in that phone call? “Retarded.” She said it with a straight face, and without missing a beat.

I waited after she said it, a second or two, expecting her to look embarrassed or apologetic. Wasn’t that word banned from “our” vocabulary? Ironically, I had just heard my beloved Dan Savage use “retarded” on a recent podcast and cringed. He quickly followed it up with a humorous explanation that only he could get away with. Ordinarily, retarded as an adjective is a deal breaker for me. In fact, I just had drinks with some old friends and one of them dropped the “R” bomb, knowing full well about Leo. I stupidly kept my mouth shut and haven't thought of this "friend" in the same way since.

I once had a friend who used the word a continuously. It bothered me and I finally said something to her about it. Her response? She didn’t think of Leo as retarded, therefore the term wasn’t any insult. To her.

Where am I going with all of this in, to borrow one of Amy’s expressions, this rather unblogosphere friendly length. I guess I just found the use of “retarded,” by the mother of a child with Down syndrome as interesting. But maybe some of us are like my friend, they don’t see our kids as retarded in that way. Our kids have delays. Our kids are different. Our kids do things in their own time. But they are not like, retarded. As babies, when they sleep they look like angels. They sing “Happy Birthday” louder and longer than anyone at a birthday party. They sweetly tuck hair behind an ear. To be fair they also have ugly fits when it’s time to leave a birthday party, but they are not retarded. Retarded is so school yard bully. So ugly. Maybe it’s that the original definition of the word has changed and been replaced by things like “special needs” and therefore retarded can be returned to it pejorative status, but not relating to actual people. Whatever. And they can say what they want but I hardly think we've come to the point as other minorities have in which we have "reclaimed" our ugly word (I'm thinking of the n-word, queer) into something that is no longer (at least to some) icky. Maybe I'm old fashioned but I still think it’s ugly and I can’t shake it. And I won’t use it. And it stings when I hear someone else say it, even if their kid does have Down syndrome.

Goopy Eyes, A Needy Dish Washer, Sex Pod(casts) and Oscar

I’m currently waiting for a call back from the nurse practitioner. It’s been a whole three weeks since either kid has been on some kind of medication so it seems only to be expected that there will soon be a trip to the pharmacy. I think Leo has conjunctivitis. I’ll spare you the gory details but let’s just say his eyes are a mess. Also he’s been severely cranky the last few mornings. Probably not related to pink eye per se, but generally when there is something wrong and he doesn’t feel 100 percent well? He gets mean and fights me on everything. He doesn’t want to put on his coat. He doesn’t want to get in the car seat. And there are tears, lots and lots of tears. Sometimes from me too but luckily this morning my hormones seemed to be in check and I was able to stay dry eyed.

So we’ll see what the doctor says. And yes, #1 Mom here still sent Leo off to school. I mean, it could just be a cold. And his school is going to this really children’s museum for a field trip today.

I’ve had one of those there’s nothing that exciting to write here weeks and so I haven’t said much, even though I vowed not to do that. There are little things, I guess. Ellie continues to be Whine Fest 2009 every night. Between 6:45 p.m. when we walk through the door and 8 p.m. when we head upstairs for bed/bath, she is Need Fest. She wants to be held. Every other word is “Uppy” and “Mommy, uppy.” I can’t blame the girl. She’s fought for attention all day at daycare. She wants her Mommy, and so who am I to say no to this? And frankly, I want my Ellie. But I also need to unpack the lunch boxes, unload the book bags and read teacher notes, make dinner, feed dinner, keep house in some semblance of order. I could go on, but I won’t.

And so, I give you the latest way Ellie is kept happy when I’m not able to hold her.




Yes, she has fallen in love with the sink. And the dishes. Yes, I let her play with dirty(ish) dishes and water while I cook dinner. I am careful to hide the knives/glass/breakables, but there you have it. Sometimes she soaks the front of her shirt by pouring water on herself but she keeps surprisingly dry. And she is happy.

In other news:

Gratuitous cuteness with tights and Converse and a hat (that Ellie keeps on her head for about oh, 3.2 seconds):



Tomorrow is going to be a whirlwind. We have a birthday party in the morning (both kids) and then we are heading into Manhattan for a play date with the New York City Down syndrome parent “support” group. I am anticipating/hoping for some in-car napping en route to the play group, otherwise I am going to have some exhausted hooligans on my hands.

I am currently addicted to podcasts. My absolute favorite is Dan Savage (sex columnist for Seattle's The Stranger). I love the fact that I am sitting on the bus next to a buttoned up Wall Street trader and I’m listening to Mr. Savage swear like a truck driver and talk about, well, sex. Also wonderful (but it also makes me cry for some reason, no matter what the topic, which is really OK as I have established that I actually like to cry) is This American Life. But they only post the current show for free, the rest you have to pay for and since I’m all about Free Stuff right now I’ve only listened to one podcast so far (though I'm a long-time listener to the radio version of that show).

Let’s just say all the sex talk makes the commute fly by.

And I leave you with Leo’s latest costume. When he’s in a good mood (which to be fair is most of the time) he sure can assemble an outfit. The fixins' for this look are courtesy of Erin's mom who resides in New Orleans. We were thinking this was sort of warm up clothes for Mardi Gras but we're not really sure.


This one is entitled "Aw Shucks."


Lastly, I am shamelessly, ridiculously excited for the Oscars on Sunday night. I've watched them since I was a little kid and I still love the turning the TV on early (an hour or so before the event) and watching the red carpet arrivals. The glamour! The dresses! The mind numbing interview questions! When I was a little girl my mom and I used to make "Noodles Oscar" (which was basically rotini pasta, chopped meat and tomato sauce, with sprinkled parmesan cheese on top) and sit on her bed and watch the ceremony while eating this festive concoction. This year I will rush through through the kids' bedtime and set the DVR to record the red carpet arrivals. Maybe I'll even make "Noodles Oscar," for old time's sake.

Edited to add: Just heard back from doctor. Of course she said to bring him in (whenever I mention my fear that he has an ear infection they say this). Then again, I don't think there is much I could say that would prevent them from telling me to bring my kids in. They just seem to really really like my kids. Then the front desk appointment maker lady told me that I should know that they are triple booked and running about 1.5 hours behind and that she's telling everyone to bring snacks, a blanket, a pillow...

Sounds great, doesn't it? I can't wait to take both kids to sit with a bunch of sick kids in a waiting room for two hours. Honestly even though germs run amuck there I would rather be in the main waiting room. Being left alone with Leo and Ellie in an exam room while we wait to be seen is most definitely the Tenth Circle of Hell, as Leo plays with the stirrups on the table, wraps the paper around himself mummy style, searches through the trash for hypodermics...I'll stop there.

So my plan is, I will hit the bar on the way home and have a few drinks and then take them to the doctor. Oh I kid. Sort of.

Belatedly, Birthday Pics

I know this is old news now, but I still wanted to post pictures from the birthday party two weeks ago. I have many more, and had wanted to show the yard and how cutely (if I do say so) it was decorated. But there are a lot of people in the pictures who are not my children and I feel weird about posting them without permission.


Here's Leo getting ready to blow out the candles. This is his "proud" expression. He is a true "Leo" through and through. He loves loves loves to be the center of attention.


Check out the expression on his face. He's blowing out the candles, but doesn't it look like he's being terrorized?


Decorating the cupcakes.


We didn't call it a pool party for nothin'!


Later, after the party was over, we opened presents. This is Leo's train set from Grandma and Grandpa. He Adores it. So does Ellie (which Leo is not so happy about). Did I mention it has many many small pieces? That hurt when you step on them?
This pictures cracks me up. They just look like they are working or something. So serious.


Still working. Playing is serious business, apparently.


Did I mention we had a few balloons left over?