Corn On the Cob

There are a lot of things I love about summertime:

I think the landscape is more beautiful when the trees are full of leaves.  

It's no fun to eat ice cream when it's cold outside.  

I usually shed a pound or two because I'm less apt to huddle up with a book and more apt to get outside and get moving.  (And let's just be honest...the prospect of being seen in a spandex bathing suit is pretty motivating by itself...)

There is not much better than a day at the pool. 

And one of my absolute FAVORITE parts of summertime is all of the fresh vegetables...particularly CORN ON THE COB!

It must run in the family.  Shawn loves to tell the story about how my dad ate so much corn on the cob one time at a family dinner that his lips were broke out the next day.

Right now, Sydney loves any food that she can feed herself.  Diced up carrots?  Delicious.  Crackers?  Yes, please.  Cheerios?  There's always room for one more.

We gave her a piece of corn and let her go to town.  I'd say she liked it.

But woe be unto the person who tries to take the corn away from her.  Have mercy!!!

Amazingly enough, if you give it back, she suddenly stops crying.  Although she does continue to look at you with that hurt and wounded expression as she continues eating her corn.  I can only imagine the battles that are in my future...

Sam loves corn, too.  But on this particular day, he preferred to eat his---one kernel at a time. 

You know who else likes corn?  Plastic dinosaurs.

He was saying, "No ninosaurs!  Don't eat Nam's corn!"  Silly boy.

Our Garden

I decided to have a garden this year.  I had one a couple of years ago, but with Sydney's due date being mid-July last year, I decided to forgo the garden.  And while it was probably the right thing to do, I sure missed my homegrown tomatoes.  And my zucchini named Zed.  

Sidebar to sing Homegrown Tomatoes:

Homegrown tomatoes...homegrown tomatoes

What would life be without homegrown tomatoes?

Only two things that money can't buy,

and that's true love and HOMEGROWN TOMATOES!

Shawn is shaking his head and rolling his eyes right now...

Anyhoo...after a lot of discussion about where to put the garden, we ended up using the same little piece of our yard that we had before.  Only it was no longer an unused flower bed...we had turned it into just regular yard.  Shawn tilled it up for me, but it still needed a lot of work to remove the grass that had grown there over the last 2 years.  Luckily, I had a very willing helper.

But here's the thing about helpers:  They have short attention spans.

I bought my plants on Mother's Day and spent that evening and part of the next day getting them in the ground.  Here's the thing about going to a nursery or garden center:  you get in there and see all of the beautiful plants and something comes over you.  You start to overestimate your skills.  You forget about all of the innocent little plants that you have sent to Plant Heaven.  At best, I am a novice at this whole gardening thing, but it was really hard to NOT walk out of there with about $100 worth of seeds.  For things that we don't even eat, no less!  Radicchio!  Radicchio looks so pretty in a salad!  And radishes!  I don't really even like radishes but surely my garden needs them...  

Luckily, I reigned myself in and got things back to a more reasonable level.  Tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, parsley, rosemary and basil.  And carrots, because I just wanted to give them a whirl.  (I have heard that they can be a bit difficult...)  I might add sweet potatoes too, but someone recommended that I do those in a big pot instead of in the ground.  Still thinking about that one...

I have NEVER had any luck with seeds.  They always die.  A couple of years ago, I bought young plants, and they all did fairly well.  Well, I can't do anything the same way twice, so this time I decided I was going to have some seeds.  I bought one of these little greenhouse kits that already has the little dirt pellets in it.  You just add water to make the dirt expand and drop in your seeds.  Pretty easy!

I bought some seeds but got a couple of plants, too.  I figured that way if my seeds fizzle out, I'll still have tomatoes.  If they work, we can have LOTS of tomatoes.  Also, it's probably a good thing that I snapped this picture right after I got my seeds in because one of Sam's favorite things to do right now is to pull out my little label things and rearrange them.  At least now I can refer back to this picture so I can remember what's actually growing where.

I was super excited about Sam helping me with our garden.  I thought he'd totally be into digging in the dirt.  And he was.  Unfortunately, he was also into stomping on the plants, pulling them back out of the ground, and wreaking havoc in general.  In a last ditch effort to give my plants a fighting chance, I told Sam we were going to pretend that the plants were on fire.  And just like any good fireman, we needed to put the fire out.  Success!  And now, that's all he can talk about.  Every. Single. Night. We have to put the fire out.  We need not worry about any drought this summer.  (Also, his aim isn't all that great, so we water the sidewalk as much as we do the plants.  But don't even think about trying to help him!)  I hope my garden survives the summer of Sam.

I saw on Pinterest (where else?) that you can keep your cucumber and squash plants contained by using an upside-down tomato cage.  Mine pretty much took over everything last time, so I thought I'd give that a try.  You can see it in the picture above.  (Any thoughts on that, Doop?)  

I checked on my seeds every day for about a week.  Then, my lettuce sprouted almost over night!  Yay!!!  I eagerly called Shawn out to the porch to see.  Unfortunately, he did not show an equal (nor what I felt was an appropriate) level of enthusiasm.  Sam and I are still discussing if he will be allowed to eat our lettuce.

A few days later, I checked again, and my little greenhouse had exploded!  

I'm pretty sure this means I'm a gardening expert now.  Maybe I should've gotten those radish seeds after all...

But for all of you NON-EXPERTS out there, I have found this very cool and very useful website.  You enter your zip code and tell it what plants you want to grow in  your garden, and it will basically make a timeline for you...when to plant, when to harvest, etc.  I only found out about it a few days ago, but so far it has been very educational.  And the Sprout It people are not paying me to say that.  They have no idea who I am.  I just think it's neat and thought I'd pass it along.

Dear Sydney,

Yesterday you turned 10 months old.  This month, you discovered independence.  You don't want to eat pureed baby food.  Only diced veggies or Cheerios that you can feed yourself, please.  But yogurt is different.  Yogurt you will eat all. day. long.  (One night, Daddy pulled a container of yogurt out of the fridge, and from across the room you started yelling and pounding your high chair tray.  You may not be able to speak, but you are an EXCELLENT communicator.)  You don't like to get in your car seat because being strapped down is just unreasonable.  (Luckily, you usually fall asleep once the car is moving.)  And you CERTAINLY don't appreciate being still long enough to change a diaper.  I think you have an eject button somewhere on you.  When I put you on the changing pad, the eject button gets pushed, and you POP up off of the table.  I seriously don't know how you do it.  One second I'm wiping a bottom, the next you're holding onto my forearms and standing up.  It often results in a bigger mess than the one we started with, but you are always amused by your acrobatic feat. 

You are officially crawling now.  You're not breaking any speed records yet, but you can certainly get where you want to go.  For weeks you have been practicing.  You would do this thing where you got up on your hands and feet so you looked like a bridge, but you would get stuck in that position and couldn't figure out what to do next.  About a week ago, you started doing this inch-worm thing where you'd be on all fours and I'd think you were getting ready to crawl---you'd walk your hands out all the way in front of you---then you'd plop down on your belly and walk your knees back up until you were on all fours again.  I have to admit, I kinda wish you'd do that for a while.  It's pretty cute to watch.  But Daddy and I noticed this week that you were actually, officially crawling.  I think the only person in the house who isn't particularly happy about it is your brother.  It's no longer enough to just move the toys he doesn't want you to have out of your reach. 

I may be wrong, but I think you'll walk sooner than your brother did.  Sam was content to crawl for months because he could crawl so fast.  You, on the other hand, already seem to be interested in figuring out how to make your legs work like your brother's.  You love pulling up and standing up and are just not content to sit on your bottom. 

I love your hair.  You get so many compliments on the color.  It's long enough now that I'm able to run my fingers through it in the back.  At bedtime, you and I sit together with our music playing softly while I rhythmically stroke your beautiful red hair, and your eyes start to get heavier and heavier.  It's a routine I've come to look forward to every night.  As lovely as your hair is, you will NOT wear a headband.  About five minutes after I put one on, you yank it down around your neck--or over your eyes, which TOTALLY ticks you off.  But I have discovered that I can put a little clip in your hair and you don't seem to mind that.  In the back your hair is growing at an uneven rate so that it's longer on the sides than it is in the middle.  I have joked that your horns are just growing in upside down. 

You are full of personality.  You are so sweet and lovable, but you have some fire, too.  I'm glad.  Of course, I want you to control your strong emotions, but I hope when you're in elementary school and you see the new kid getting picked on, you show a little bit of that independence.  When you're in middle school and another kid tries to get you to do something that you know is wrong, I'll be glad that you're so opinionated.  And when you're in high school and some moron tries to tell you that you're not good enough or pretty enough or thin enough, you just go ahead and unleash your fury. 

My Sydney, I love how you yell and bounce with excitement when you see your brother.  I love how you wake up and immediately start talking to "Dah-dah-dah-dah" in your crib.  I love how you crawl over to Molly's tail and reach your hand out to grab it as you look back over your shoulder to see if I'm watching you.  I love how you bury your face into my neck and pat my shoulder when I pick you up.  You make me want to find new ways to make you laugh every day.

Mommy

All About Sydney

Oh, this crazy girl!

Sydney has figured out how to scoot on her bottom.  I keep thinking any day now she is going to crawl, but she hasn't put it all together yet.  But don't be fooled---that girl is MOBILE!  Crawling is just a technicality.  She scoots on her bottom or rolls to get around.  One night I was cooking supper and I had put her on the yellow square with some toys around her.  Apparently they weren't the right toys, though.  Translation:  they weren't HER BROTHER'S toys...  She scooted over to the shelf, pulled one of the bins out and started rifling through it.

 Uh oh...BUSTED!

One day, we had been playing outside, and the kids were both hot when we came in.  I fixed Sam a drink and started working on lunch.  From the kitchen, I heard, "Nene, say aaaaaaaaaaahhhh..."  That kinda strikes fear in my heart, so I peeked around the corner to see what was going on.  Sam was giving Sydney some of his juice.  And because it was Sam's, she was happily trying to drink it.

 Poor girl just tuckered herself out in her little jumper.

I'm about to decide that Sydney is just going to skip crawling all together and go straight to walking.  Now that she's good at it, she loves standing up.  Seriously, she makes her wishes well known, and her wishes are to either be on Mom's hip or to be standing up somewhere.  Do not even think about asking her to sit down.  Ever.  But with a smile like that, how can I say no?

Oh my...how I love this girl!

Sam Turns 3!

We celebrated a VERY important birthday last week.  Sam turned three.  I always want the kids' birthday to be fun.  It's important to me.  But it's also important to me that I not make it such a big deal that I'm running around all crazy and missing all of the fun.  I'm still trying to figure out that balance.  We didn't do anything that I considered huge this year---just a couple of fun things on his actual birthday, and we kept the party as low maintenance as possible---but we were all still completely worn out after our weekend of fun.  Here's how we celebrated:

We had a special birthday breakfast.  I don't know about anyone else, but for me, sprinkles make anything more fun.  Sam TOTALLY dug blowing out the candle.

Then we opened a couple of presents presents.  Shawn and I got Sam a scooter and a helmet.  The child insisted on wearing that helmet all weekend long.  Safety first...

After that, we went to the Explorium.  Sam and I went together the day before Sydney was born, but Shawn had never been.  Once again, the Bubble Room was one of our favorite exhibits.  Sam liked standing in the giant bubble.

Super cool!

But it's even funnier when the bubble pops and you get soaked with bubble solution.

Sydney took a trip to the moon while we were there.

This was another favorite...it was supposed to mimic how the planets move around each other in the solar system.  Sam kept stealing the balls out of the little twirly thing.

Even Nana and Bap got in on the action.

And you can NEVER go wrong with water.

We topped off our day of fun with a movie that evening.  While I enjoy doing something different and special on their birthdays, Shawn kinda likes our little movie tradition that we started last year.  Who says you can't do both?

The next day, we had Sam's fire fighter party.  

And we even managed to remember a family picture this time!

Once again, blowing out the candles was a big hit.  Sam blew them out and immediately wanted to do it again.  So---what the heck, you only turn three once---we lit 'em up again and let him have one more turn.

This is Sydney's new expression.  She scrunches her face up and snorts like a little pig.  I love it.

Great grandmother and great granddaughter

All of that fun packed into one weekend sure can wear a boy out!  (It wears a mommy and daddy out too...)

Dear Sam,

Today you are 3 years old.  As I have come to expect, your birthday brings a mixture of feelings to me.  Birthdays are fun.  They are exciting.  They are something to be celebrated.  I love doing special things for you and with you and seeing the joy it brings.  But for me, they are a little bit bittersweet.  Every year when I add another candle to your cake, I am reminded that you are only small for a little while.  I'm trying not to dwell on that, but I've admittedly been a little bit weepy about your birthday for the past few days. 

You are such a fun little guy.  Right now, you love to sing and dance.  You know the words to dozens of songs, even if your dad and I are the only ones who recognize them.  You love any song that has moves or motions to it.  When we wake you up in the morning, you will often sleepily ask to sing the Pooh song.  It has become our routine to sing the song with you while you lie in bed and wake up, and after the song is over you are usually ready to start your day.  You are a bit of a perfectionist, though.  If you mess up the words, you get so upset and insist that we start the song over. 

I love to watch you pretend.  You like to act out scenes from some of your favorite cartoons.  I will often hear you in another room reciting, "To infinity...AND BEYOND!" or "Three, two, one...BLAST OFF!" or something about Boo Boo Chicken.  (I haven't completely figured out what it is that you're saying on that one.)  It's so fun to see you create your own little world.  Sometimes, you catch me watching you, and you immediately flash that shy smile.

You are really getting into "boy stuff."  You will sit in the floor and drive your trucks all over the place while making your truck sounds.  You love your race track with the cars that drive themselves...you ESPECIALLY love it if one cars stalls so that the other one can run over it.  You are becoming more and more interested in superheroes.  Right now Spiderman seems to be your favorite, but that is subject to change at any time.  And you are REALLY into the everyday heroes.  Fire fighters are your absolute favorite.  One morning a few weeks ago, a fire truck passed us with its siren blaring and lights flashing, and I thought you were going to pass out from excitement. 

You will do anything to get to play outside.  Hide and seek is one of your favorite games.  If you are the seeker, you will count while you hold your hands up to your eyes (but not completely covering them).  Then when you finish, you will go find the hider and excitedly yell, "You found me!"  (We still don't have a terrific grasp of pronouns.)  Then you laugh like a crazy person as you order the hider to "Do it 'gain!"  Often, you will tell the hider where they are to hide.  If you are hiding, I will cover my eyes and count, then while I look for you I will call out, "Where is Sam?  Is he under the chair?"  To which I can usually hear you giggle and respond, "Nope!"  After I have looked 2 or 3 places, you usually get tired of waiting for me and you start shouting, "I'm right here, Mom!"

You know a dozen books by heart.  When we tell you to pick out your bedtime story, you will stand in front of your bookcase and thoughtfully consider which one to grab.  Then you curl up in either my lap or Daddy's and often "read" the book to us.  During Goodnight Moon, you like to point out the telephone and the red balloon and the little toy house and the young mouse.  While reading Charlie the Ranch Dog, you yell, "Daisy, nooooooooooooo!!!" when Daisy gets in Momma's garden.  But your Fireman Sam book is the one I most love to hear you read right now.  You sit down with it and announce that you are going to "read dis book."  Then you give a big, "AHEM!" and when you're sure you have everyone's attention you turn to the first page:  "This page blue....This page yellow....This page orange...THE END!"  You are always so proud that you read it all by yourself.

I am so proud of the brother you have become.  You are eager to make your sister smile or laugh---you love it when she reaches for you.  With some gentle reminding, you share your toys well, and you usually don't even protest if she gives one back to you covered in drool.  You love helping me wake her up from her naps; you usually go bounding into her room yelling, "Good mooormin' Nene!"  She is absolutely crazy about you.  Often, if she gets fussy in the car, I will ask you to sing to her so she won't be sad.  For some reason, your song of choice for her is ALWAYS the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Every .  Single.  Time.  And she ALWAYS stops crying while you're singing to her.

I have to hand it to you...you really know how to play your dad and me.  At night, you will often weasel us into letting you stay up just a little bit later by putting your arms around our necks and asking in a very small, pitiful voice if we can "snug just a minute."  It melts me every time.

My precious Sam, I can't record your stories fast enough right now.  You are such a smart, funny, engaging little boy.  I love your independence.  I love that every night before you go to bed you have to give me a hug, a kiss, an Eskimo kiss, and then a zurbert.  I love how you run jump in Mommy & Daddy's bed and get under the covers and snore so we'll think you're already asleep.  I love how you have to jump (not step) off of any step that every existed anywhere in the entire world.  Ever.  You're all boy, and I love all of you.

Happy birthday,
Mommy

Hide 'N' Seek

Sam loves to play hide and seek.  Anytime we are outside, we usually have to squeeze in a game or two.  Sam likes to be the seeker.  Careful, though.  He cheats.  

 And you have to be willing to hide where he tells you.

But when he finds you, it's all worth it.  You get to see that big smile.

 But when HE'S the one hiding and you find him...well...that's when it's really fun.

Spring Days

We've been enjoying the spring weather we've been having lately.  I think I've got another outside child on my hands.  Sydney loves to sit in the sunshine.  When the wind blows, she always turns her face into the wind so it can blow her hair up.  

I wasn't sure how she would feel about sitting in the grass.  She wasn't either.  Luckily, she decided it was okay.

Can someone please tell me why I have an obsession with taking pictures of my children's feet?  This is not the first time I've done this.  I just love baby toes!

Notice how she holds her feet up off of the grass just a little.  Someone else did that too.