Bye bye paci.....I hope

My newest idea for breaking Liam's bad pacifier habit:  skewering them so they lose their suction.  So far he puts it in, pulls it back out and stares at it, throws it on the ground and walks away.  Pray that it will really be this easy!  Updates to come later in the day...I may have to pacify myself with a cocktail to get him through this.  Any suggestions for a new recipe?  I will name it "the Paci"

Trip to the Beach

We live under 10 miles from the beach, but haven't been able to go since Liam was born because of either his age or *ahem* his behavior {sand eating!}  Today we tried it again and were successful!  L, L and I went to South Ponto for 1.5 hours this afternoon after lunch and it was a hit.  I did end up holding Liam most of the time as he was unsure of walking in the sand and why it wouldn't come off of his toes.  He also did not love standing in the waves but was sort of amused by them if I held him.  Laney did some body whomping {a word coined by Mike Perry} and had a fantastic time running around in the slop, making fast friends with the other preschoolers on the beach.

The thing that they both liked were sand crabs.  I must have collected millions of these guys as a kid along the North County shoreline.  They were fodder for hours of entertainment for me as a child, and I made sure to pass that tradition along today.

I showed the kids how to find evidence of them by looking for the v-shaped indentation their antennae made in the swash zone of the tide.  Armed with shovels, they eagerly dug down to find the little squirming crabs and filled up their pails until the water was a swirling mass of tiny gray crustaceans.  Liam didn't really get the hang of holding them as they would speed off the palm of his hand and dive back to the liquid sand, leaving him looking confused and a little annoyed.  Laney really liked holding them, squealing as they tickled her hand, looking for a place to burrow in.  "They feel like tickles and I want to come back and find them again" Laney told me as we headed back to our car.  

Mission accomplished!  I must note that while Liam didn't really like playing in the water, he did find much enjoyment in sitting on his beach towel and eating.  Go figure.

Oh Liam

Doubling up on the pacis...today's new trick!

Things that make me laugh

Recently Laney walked up to me and said

"Mommy, I want to piss in your ear."

Of course I burst out laughing, and then tried to wade through that statement in the hopes that she did not actually want to give my ear a golden shower.  I finally deduced that she wanted to whisper "psssst" in my ear, and tell me a secret.  This is a tickle game I play with the kids to get them out of a funk.  After I pssst (not piss) in their ears I nuzzle the spot right behind their ears and then give them a big raspberry.  I used to call this game Mommy wants to tell you a secret.  Maybe I will call it pee-pee-ears from now on.

On Monday I told Laney a joke and she just looked blankly at me and asked why I said that.  I told her I was just telling her a joke to be silly and make her laugh.  She looked at me in all seriousness {side note:  she was sitting on the potty} and told me "when you tell jokes my mouth doesn't know how to laugh at them."  At this point I mentally entered the sound effect that is played at the end of every losing game on the Price Is Right.  I thought I was funny, but I guess not.

Laney turns 4 (Pump It Up Party)

On Laney's actual birthday, we hosted a birthday bash at our local Pump It Up! for Laney and all of her friends from school.  The kids got to play in the jump zone for 1 1/2 hours and then were treated to cookies shaped like number 4s.  Jumping is one of Laney's favorite pastimes, and she adores Pump It Up.  Liam demanded that Sonia follow him around in the round ball pit/jumpy and was only content if she was chasing him, no sitting down allowed!

The party was sooooo easy to pull off.  The staff lays out all of the food and monitors behavior within the jump arena so all you really have to do is write the check.  They even provided a clipboard for writing down who gave what gift, bagged all of the gifts, cleaned up the party room, and schlepped all of the gifts to my car.  Too bad all birthday parties can't be like this!  {ie Mom's dream come true}

Liam and Anneliese had a ball chasing each other

Brodie was with us for the day, and the cousins had a great time running around together.

Laney divided her time between the mega-slide and completing the obstacle course with her friends.

The inflatable gift opening throne on the party room!

Laney turns 4 (Ladybug Party)

Laney turned 4 last week and we had a great time celebrating, multiple times.  I hosted a ladybug themed birthday party at our house for the family on Saturday.  The decorations were simple, but I think the whole thing turned out very well.  Red and black paper, red and black balloons, red and black crepe paper streamers, red and black plates and napkins, a few circular paper punches, prizes from Oriental Trading Co, and voila! Tres chic bug party :)

I actually made this, and it was DELICIOUS!  A major coup for me since everyone knows that I don't bake very well...

Made this garland with green felt and wooden ladybugs.  It will  hang in Laney's room after the party is over.

My $3 centerpieces looked precious.  Muchas gracias to the Dollar Tree and Oriental Trading Co.  

 

Gift bags for the kids

Laney really loves pinatas, so we ordered her a ladybug one and filled it with candy and prizes.  All of the kids had a great time hitting it, but none more so than Patrick who got to make the final blow!

 

I don't know what Liam was so mad about, but I bet it had something to do with candy...

Then I brought out a jar of live ladybugs for the kids to release into the garden.  I filled little cups with squirming red beetles and let the kids explore the fascinating world of bugs.  They all agreed that was their favorite part of the party.


 




We served vanilla cake with butter cream frosting, topped with little ladybugs made out of sugar.  Laney had me dye the cake batter blue.



Look, I finally make it into a few pictures!  What a great birthday party.

Happy birthday Buggy!  Can't believe you are already 4 :) 

Silly faces are our specialty!

Erik has arrived!

It is often said "be careful what you wish for, for it might come true."  Jessica lamented to me about a week before her scheduled c-section that she had made her peace with having to have the procedure, but was a little bummed that she wouldn't get the whole "I'm in labor! Let's get to the hospital!" experience.  Well, ask and ye shall receive.  My parents and I were all set to arrive Thursday, May 24th and have a nice dinner out with Gavin and Jess before the procedure the Friday morning.  Instead we got a 5am wake up call from her Thursday morning telling us that her water had broke at 4:30am and they were on their way to the hospital for an emergency c-section.  

Everything turned out perfectly, and I got to meet my newest nephew Thursday afternoon.  Erik Paul Birmingham arrived at 9:46 am on May 24, weighing 7 lbs 10 oz, measuring 19 inches long.  He had fantastic Apgar scores and was an angelic newborn dozing peacefully away in my sister's arms.  I have to say that this was my favorite meet and greet of all the nieces/nephews I have (5 on Patrick's side!).  Of course I love all 5 of them, but meeting my sister's baby was just different.  Erik feels more like a piece of me than any of the previous 5 did.  Meeting Erik and placing tender kisses on his wee baby head that first day will always have a special place in my heart.

Enjoy my photos of his first few days!

PS--I knit this hat.  

At just a few hours old he only had eyes for Jess.

My proud brother-in-law had never held a baby until we made him hold 5 lb Laney in the hospital, and look at him now.  He seems like a seasoned pro!