Good Boy, Mommy

Last night, Gus wanted me to help him build a train track. So, he grabbed my hand and dragged me with surprising strength over to the track pieces. "Go, Mommy," he said as he pulled me along. He then pointed to the floor, "Sit." He repeated "sit" until I complied and then he said, "Good Boy, Mommy." He's so funny! He says the most amusing things. One of his favorite things to say is, "Ride in Daddy's car/truck/boat" or "Where Daddy go?". When Gus does have the opportunity to ride in Daddy's truck (his most favorite activity) he is so happy and will tell you all about it all day!

Today, Sam was playing with a garbage truck and Gus wanted to play with it too. I took Gus to the truck drawer and showed him all the other trucks he could play with. After I pulled out about six or seven of them he said, "Thank you, Mommy" with the sweetest sound of true appreciation in his deep little voice.

Tomorrow, Sam plans on having a lemonade stand and I've sent out email requests in hopes that we'll have some lemonade purchasers.

Every day is an adventure.

Birthday Brick

Last March for his birthday two of our family friends gave Sam his very own engraved brick to be placed near the train station at our local park -- they have one of those mini-trains and the boys LOVE to ride it. When Sam's not in school we spend a lot of time on the train. Anyway, after much ado and almost a full year later, the brick has FINALLY been placed.

And, it will be something Sam can treasure always.

Even if he does, as my father predicts, have to scuba dive down to visit it once the results of Global Warming have taken hold of Florida and sunk our dear state.

Why?

Gus's question du jour -- WHY? Isn't he a little young to start that? Of course, he's not yet two and he thinks he's four so silly me to wonder why...

Train Wreck

So, last week one of my dear, dear friends met me (and the boys) for coffee/diet coke after Baby Boot Camp. I haven't seen Kathy in years! Years! And, at one point we were a daily part of each other's lives. We had a lot of catching up to do in a short period of time. She'd only met Sam once before and this was her first introduction to Gus. "Tell me about them," she said. "What are their personalities?" So, I told her about Sweet Sam (who was running circles around the coffee shop). Similar in personality to her gentle boy whom she referred to as earnest. Earnest. I tried that on Sam and I liked the way it fit him. Kind. Loving. Smart as a whip and someone who doesn't miss a thing. He's always paying attention. "And, Gus..." I said and then paused. Gus, too, was circling the shop with wild abandon (I know, I know. Classy parenting on my part. It wasn't as bad as it sounds and we were practically the only ones in there. I'm pretty sure the guy with the head phones never knew we were there). It was during my pause that Sam flitted by and said to Kathy, "Gus is a train wreck!" and then he zoomed away laughing. Yep. That told Kathy more about my children and our life than I ever could in our hour-long, well-deserved and long-time coming, coffee-shop-reunion.

Wednesday is Garbage Day

We always look forward to garbage day at our house. It matters not what the boys are doing -- when they hear the truck coming down the street, they drop/stop whatever they are doing and run to the window to watch!

A Day Last Week

Sundown Last Night and Sun Up this Morning

So, Happy Hanukkah! We celebrated last night by lighting the candles. Of course, Sam was so sure they were going to set off the smoke detectors that he spent most of the lit-candle-time on the front porch eating popcorn. Periodically, he'd stick his head in and say, "Are they out yet?" Finally, we convinced him to come in and watch the pretty candles. And, the smoke detectors stayed silent! So, tonight we lit the candles again and he was much more participatory and really enjoyed watching the candles burn.

Gus is pretty much oblivious to the candles, but I'm okay with that. An almost-2-year-old and an open flame are not my idea of a good combination. Here he is running AWAY from me trying to take his picture with the candles and yes, those are Sam's feet running away too.

No presents yet, saving those for when Grandma Carol arrives Wednesday. Don't tell, but the boys are getting a train menorah! It's so cute! They'll get some chocolate too. I mean, really. What's Hanukkah without a little chocolate? Gus has already started on the chocolate! He's got a mild brownie addiction that I'm pretty sure he gets from both sides of the family. Here he is with his brownie pack that he demanded by saying, "More, more brown, brown."

This morning we ran another 5K race. The Reindeer Run!

Ozzie had a great time of 30:13. I was a little slower which is frustrating seeing as I'm the one who actually runs on a (semi)regular basis and he does not. At all. But, good for him and I'm glad he's going to races with us. It's so nice to have something the whole family can do together. Grandma pushed the kids in the stroller again and at the end both boys got out and ran across the finish line!

Sam even wore Grandma's number pinned to his shirt:

AND they came in third place in their age group so they got a medal! What a hoot! Beth and Michael were there today too. Beth ran and bested her last time by 10 minutes! Fantastic! Michael spectated.