It's official. We live with a 2-year-old. Fun? Yes! Challenging? Definitely yes!! Here is life according to Gunnar as a 2-year-old...
1. I can do everything by myself.
2. Everything is mine.
3. If you ask me, I will tell you that poop goes in the potty. But I won't always put it there.
4. Screwdrivers can fix anything. (the tool, not the drink - we try to be responsible parents!!)
5. Litte brothers drink lots of milk and poop all the time. But they are cute too and deserve lots of kisses.
6. Brushing teeth is optional, and I usually opt not to attempt it.
7. Blowing bubbles never gets old.
8. Tickle monsters are the funniest thing in the world!
9. Any food that is round can turn into a ball at the end of dinnertime.
10. If I make a cute face and say please, I usually can get what I want.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Happy Birthday, Gunnar!
Gunnar turned 2 on July 21st. This posting is a bit late, but fortunately the celebration was not!
We had a fun celebration for him - Grammy and Pop-pop came to visit, and all of our neighbor friends came by for cake and ice cream.
Erik and I constructed a cement mixer cake in honor of Gunnar's love of those trucks, and Gunnar had a blast with all of his new toys.
Gunnar was funny about the "birthday song" this year... the day before his birthday, we took a dump truck load of brownies to his class and sang to him.
He literally tried to crawl under the table! I'm not sure if it was from fear of not understanding what was going on or from the off-key sounds of Mom trying to sing, but by the next day, Gunnar was loving the attention. He started to realize that with the song came presents and cake, and by bedtime on his birthday, he was singing the birthday song to himself. Happy Birthday, Cheeks - We love you!
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| From July 2010 |
We had a fun celebration for him - Grammy and Pop-pop came to visit, and all of our neighbor friends came by for cake and ice cream.
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| From July 2010 |
Erik and I constructed a cement mixer cake in honor of Gunnar's love of those trucks, and Gunnar had a blast with all of his new toys.
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
Gunnar was funny about the "birthday song" this year... the day before his birthday, we took a dump truck load of brownies to his class and sang to him.
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| From July 2010 |
He literally tried to crawl under the table! I'm not sure if it was from fear of not understanding what was going on or from the off-key sounds of Mom trying to sing, but by the next day, Gunnar was loving the attention. He started to realize that with the song came presents and cake, and by bedtime on his birthday, he was singing the birthday song to himself. Happy Birthday, Cheeks - We love you!
Friends & Potties
About 4 or 5 months ago, Gunnar started showing interest in potty training. He would always ask to help Erik and I go potty - retrieve toilet paper, close the door to give us "privacy", flush... So we got out the little potty for him to sit on. He initially took it apart and used it to put his toys in. Then he sat on it to read books. Then it just sat there for a while. We weren't sure how to approach potty training, and then something interesting happened...
We've been getting spoiled lately, having the excuse of a new baby to convince our friends to come visit us while we enjoy time at home. We're loving every minute of it! The Spachs brought us dinner one night, and Gunnar got to play with his good buddy, Keegan. Those boys are hilarious together - running around like they'd just won the lottery. So cute!
Keegan has recently been potty trained, and Gunnar was interested to see Keegan go potty while he was visiting. Two days later, Gunnar came home and ran into the bathroom, yelling "POTTY!" Uncle Robby was in town, and he had the pleasure of taking off Gunnar's dry diaper and sat him on the potty. Gunnar peed in the potty for the first time! Yippee!
Then, just last week our friends from Charlottesville - Steph, Andrew, Eamon, and Adelaide - came to see us. Eamon and Gunnar had a great time playing with toys, swimming, and blowing bubbles together.
Steph and Andrew were troopers, making their longest trip yet since having Adelaide, who is just a couple months older than Levi. And we truly appreciate it, not only for Andrew's cooking and Steph's wine and good company, but also for Eamon's poop. You see, Eamon was also just recently potty trained. And the night he left, Gunnar pooped in the potty for the first time. Whooohooo!
So, after hearing about all of the different approaches to potty training, we've ended up taking the "let friends with potty-trained kids visit and show Gunnar how it's done" method. Lazy? Maybe. Smart? Yup. I think so! Now who's going to visit next and teach Gunnar to wipe himself???
We've been getting spoiled lately, having the excuse of a new baby to convince our friends to come visit us while we enjoy time at home. We're loving every minute of it! The Spachs brought us dinner one night, and Gunnar got to play with his good buddy, Keegan. Those boys are hilarious together - running around like they'd just won the lottery. So cute!
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
Keegan has recently been potty trained, and Gunnar was interested to see Keegan go potty while he was visiting. Two days later, Gunnar came home and ran into the bathroom, yelling "POTTY!" Uncle Robby was in town, and he had the pleasure of taking off Gunnar's dry diaper and sat him on the potty. Gunnar peed in the potty for the first time! Yippee!
Then, just last week our friends from Charlottesville - Steph, Andrew, Eamon, and Adelaide - came to see us. Eamon and Gunnar had a great time playing with toys, swimming, and blowing bubbles together.
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
Steph and Andrew were troopers, making their longest trip yet since having Adelaide, who is just a couple months older than Levi. And we truly appreciate it, not only for Andrew's cooking and Steph's wine and good company, but also for Eamon's poop. You see, Eamon was also just recently potty trained. And the night he left, Gunnar pooped in the potty for the first time. Whooohooo!
So, after hearing about all of the different approaches to potty training, we've ended up taking the "let friends with potty-trained kids visit and show Gunnar how it's done" method. Lazy? Maybe. Smart? Yup. I think so! Now who's going to visit next and teach Gunnar to wipe himself???
Happy Retirement, Rooty!
On July 17th, we got the entire family together at Childress Vineyards to celebrate Rooty's retirement, which has been a long time coming. We are so excited for him. Finally, after more than 30 years at DuPont, he gets mornings without alarm clocks and time to travel with Patty. Hooray! Unfortunately those alarm-free mornings ended at our family beach trip when Rooty agreed to room with Gunnar, who woke him up no later than 6:15am every morning. Sorry, Rooty!
Crazy Uncle Angus took a bunch of pictures at the vineyards, which I am anxious to see and will post when I get them. In the meantime, here are a couple of the family with Levi.
Crazy Uncle Angus took a bunch of pictures at the vineyards, which I am anxious to see and will post when I get them. In the meantime, here are a couple of the family with Levi.
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
A special visit from Colorado
In early July, Aunt Lizzie and cousin Grace came to visit from Colorado to meet Levi and spend some special time with us as we were settling into our new lives. What an awesome visit! Aunt Lizzie was a huge help with helping us get out for some fun, and Gunnar had a blast with Grace. We visited the Lazy 5 Ranch, where we got to feed camels and giraffes, and here's a picture from the "Party on the Plaza" concert we went to.
I want to adopt Grace. Gunnar was at a stage where he would kick and scream when I would try to brush his teeth, but he would sit still and say "ahhh" for Grace. Gunnar would run away from me everytime I'd ask him to put his shoes on. But he would take his shoes to Grace and sit down nicely for her. Unfortunately, Aunt Lizzie did not let me keep her, but I took advantage of every minute we had with her, and Gunnar loved it! Thank you Gracee!!
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| From July 2010 |
I want to adopt Grace. Gunnar was at a stage where he would kick and scream when I would try to brush his teeth, but he would sit still and say "ahhh" for Grace. Gunnar would run away from me everytime I'd ask him to put his shoes on. But he would take his shoes to Grace and sit down nicely for her. Unfortunately, Aunt Lizzie did not let me keep her, but I took advantage of every minute we had with her, and Gunnar loved it! Thank you Gracee!!
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
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| From July 2010 |
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Summer Days
We enjoyed a great visit from Grammy and Grandpa this past weekend. It was still sweltering hot outside, so we did a lot of relaxing indoors and then got out for some watermelon and a sled ride. The sled ride was Gunnar's idea, of course. And not a bad one - what better way to beat the heat!! (though Grammy did not agree so much after her 4th lap around the yard)
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| From Levi |
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| From Levi |
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| From Levi |
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| From Levi |
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Funny faces
It's been one of those weeks where we turned around and felt like Gunnar grew up overnight. He can now count to ten, help us recite the ABC's, and he knows what makes us laugh. These are some of his latest faces that have cracked us up.
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| From Levi's 1st week |
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| From Levi's 1st week |
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| From Levi's 1st week |
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