26 May 2008

Anniversary weekend

Saturday was our 11th anniversary. Last year, on our big 10, we celebrated by eating out at Macaroni Grill and alternating who carried the screaming baby. It was not very special. This time around, we decided that Noel was big enough to go without me for a couple of days, so the boys spent the weekend with their grandma in southeast Missouri. It was great. We ate out (and ate too much), went to a movie, got up late (10:00 on Sunday!), went clothes shopping, I took a nap and did two crossword puzzles, we played Rock Band. So much for painting, fixing the chipper-shredder, and cleaning the house! The one thing I really wanted to do that we didn't was play tennis. The weather did not cooperate.

So after this relaxing weekend, we met Mike's mom to pick up the boys this afternoon, and wouldn't they immediately start crying and fussing? Noel made it very clear that he didn't want to go back in the carseat, and Dom insisted he hadn't just eaten the snack I'd given him. Having come off two days of peace, I was in a state of mind to find it all amusing. Still, it is good to have the boys back. I guess I've gotten used to having them around. The house was so strangely quiet without them.

By the way, I've finally gotten around to renaming my recent photo files, and I even managed to post them to Picasa. They're in folders by month from March through May, so I won't embed them here. April is pretty sparse. I don't know what we did all month.

21 May 2008

Off-topic post: AI results

This has absolutely nothing to do with my two boys, but hey, it's my blog, so I can write whatever I want. And tonight I want to say hooray for Missouri's own David Cook! For once, my favorite on American Idol actually won. Honestly, though, the only other time I really cared was when it was Bo vs. Carrie. (I like Bo.) I did my part for David C., having voted 11 or 12 times last night. I must admit that when the results were announced, I threw my arms in the air and cheered. Yes, I really did. And now another season of Idol is over. What am I going to do until January?

17 May 2008

Have you seen a little boy?

I don't know whether I am strong enough for this motherhood thing. We had another bit of drama involving Noel. Here's the story:

Saturday afternoon we went to a barbeque at our friends' house, and while we were there, Noel managed to wander off. I guess Mike thought I had taken both boys back inside when Dominick said he wanted to eat. A little while later, I was giving Dom his lunch when Mike walked in alone. "Where is Noel?" I asked. The look on Mike's face told me we had a problem. We ran outside and started searching for Noel. Mike took the car, while I ran up and down the block frantically, asking anyone I saw if they'd seen a little boy. A man from a few doors down went off on his four-wheeler or riding lawnmower or whatever he'd been on in his yard to help look. Soon, word reached our party that Noel had been found. Apparently, he had been playing with a ball and kicked or rolled it from our friends' driveway all the way down the block and around the corner toward the next street. When Mike drove that way, he spotted Noel, who had already been found by a woman. It didn't take all that long to find him, but in that time, my mind was playing out a number of scenarios, none of them happy. I couldn't wait to get Noel out of the car and hold him. Not long after, with Noel safely inside the house eating lunch, a police car pulled up. A neighbor must have called the cops. The officer came in to see Noel and make sure everything was alright.

So that's the latest incident in our family. What could possibly be next? I can't take much more of this!

12 May 2008

The first of many school photos

A couple of weeks ago on picture day, it was with some trepidation that I sent Dom to school with a check and an order form. Who knew what images I was paying for? Portrait studios are annoying, but at least you can see what you're getting. Would Dom throw a fit and refuse to sit for the photographer? To my relief, my boy came through for me. Is he handsome or what? And so BIG!

The class picture is cute because very few of the ten kids (three were missing that day) are actually looking at the camera. Dom's doing something funny with his arm. Still, it's nice to have that picture for Dom's (neglected) baby book.

Noel said a new word tonight: apple. He was pulling out pieces of play food and said it while holding up an apple slice. Supposedly, toddlers have an explosion of vocabulary at 18 months. We missed out on that with Dominick, so I'm looking forward to experiencing it with Noel. I'm happy with anything he says, of course. I was trying to post a video of Noel talking on the phone, but YouTube is having issues right now, so I'll have to add it later.

07 May 2008

Noel's visit to the pediatrician

Noel had his 18-month appointment this morning. The little guy was not too pleased about being weighed, measured, and examined. Lucky for him, there were no shots today. Here are Noel's latest stats:

Weight: 23 pounds, 8 ounces (almost 25th percentile, up from 10th)

Length: 30 3/4 inches (10th percentile)

Head circumference: 49 1/4 cm (a whopping 90th percentile. Why do my boys have such big heads?)

Fortunately, there's not much more to say about the checkup. Noel's a healthy boy, if small. The next visit, barring illness or injury (that sound is me knocking on wood), will be at two years, which doesn't seem that far away.