Go, Karate Kid! And other miscellaneous updates...

Last week the boys and I went to visit one of my college roommates and her little girl. Claudia, my friend's daughter, is three months older than Auden, but as an only child and a particularly petite one at that, she is still a little hesitant to navigate new territories. The new territory in her living room was a toddler slide. It was maybe three-feet tall, had a little platform at the top of the stairs. Of course, the boys were all over it after we had had our dinner. Both of them climbed up onto the platform and Auden, sitting at the top of the slide, allowed Logan to go by just so he could push him down the slide. The two were cackling like a couple of maniacs. It was just a matter of time for Claudia to get in on the action, really. My friend was complaining that she always has to pick Claudia up, place her on the slide, and help her down. "Just give her time," I said. "I think the boys will show her how it's done." Lo and behold, she made her first trip up the ladder and down the slide on her own. She clapped her hands and said, "Yay!" So we all cheered along with her. "Yay, Claudia!" But for Logan, it became, "Yay, Karate Kid!"

Since I'm making a post and I have several things to update, I'll just start with another story from three weeks ago. Eric signed up to do the Warrior Dash in Lake Geneva, WI. We hopped in the car to stay in a nice hotel with a fantastic water park that was adjacent to the resort where we stayed. When Logan saw the massive waterpalooza, he was a little at a loss for words. He just kept saying, "Oh my gosh!" There was a splash park, complete with three slides and kiddie swings; a lazy river; two huge water slides; an indoor-outdoor hot tub; a 5' pool with an obstacle course, slide, and basketball hoops. All in all, it was pretty cool. Logan and Auden both enjoyed the splash park, though it was a little cold, but he had a blast going down the big water slide. He could go down it if we used these two-seater tubes. Before we launched ourselves down the slide, I was thinking it would be a fairly tame ride, but tame it was not. We were hurtling through the twisting, dark tunnels at mock speed, while Logan, who had already gone twice with Daddy, was squealing and giggling like a little girl. As soon as we splashed into the pool, Logan turned and said, "Let's go again!" I can see swim lessons are going to be a necessity this year, as Logan almost leapt into the deep pool without his floaty belt. I think he's getting a little over-confident around the water. Hopefully this year, he'll learn to swim more independently.

Auden loved the water, too. We took him down the kiddy slides, which he loved, and he had fun splashing around. We also took him down the lazy river, which was a nice, relaxing trip. We were thinking the pool time would wear the boys out and they would sleep like babies...Unfortunately, that's not how it worked out. Both of them woke several times through the night and I was a little crabby the next day, not really in the best of spirits to lug the boys through the Warrior course.

Eric trudged through fake snow, mud, water, and more mud to complete his race. Of course, he didn't train all that much but still finished the race looking like he had just taken a jog--a wet, muddy jog--around the block. Eric's parents were with me--thank goodness! And helped wrangle the boys. They both did well at first, but then they tuckered out and became little beasties. Auden started screaming and flailing each time I tried to pick him up. We ended up at the bounce gym and slide, which made their time at the race (and mine) much more enjoyable.

The next week was Logan's birthday at our house. All of Eric's family, my parents and brothers, and some friends from the block were in attendance. Fortunately, the weather was nice so we could spill out some of the crowd into our backyard. We had an Easter egg hunt for the kids, which was pretty successful. I think I'll make a tradition of that--I'm not that inspired to come up with party games, but an egg hunt is a relatively hassle-free way to entertain the little ones...aside from stuffing the eggs. Thanks, mom, for helping! And thanks, Sue and Jackie, for bringing some! Logan was so intent on finding an egg by our pine tree that he smacked his forehead into the trunk. Auden did really well for himself. He actually found several without too much help, and he didn't look to see what was inside them, so he maintained his focus. That is, until he happened upon a jellybean-filled one that popped open. Then it was time to open the eggs rather than find more.

We went to church the next day and had mom, dad, and Greggie over for some fruit and quiche. And that was our Easter!

Just one final story I didn't witness first-had, but Dawn shared it with me, and I thought it was cute, so here it is: Logan was anxiously waiting for Kaleb to get to Dawn's the other day. Dawn kept telling him to be patient and assured him that "Kaleb will be here any minute." Logan looked at her, sighed in frustration and threw up his hands, saying, "But I just don't know which minute that will be!" Ha.

Happy birthday, Logan!

You seemed so fragile when you were my teeny tiny baby four years ago. Now you're my super hero cheetah who flies down the sidewalk as fast as a...well, as fast as a cheetah. You're curious and opinionated, caring and hilarious. I'm so very proud of you and thankful you're ours. Happy birthday.

Auden's Food Choices

Auden ate a sock raisin (that being a raisin affixed to the bottom of his sock). Thought the blog should know.

Too cute not to post

Swingin' Free!

Today we went to the park to enjoy the gorgeous weather we've been having. It was the usual--the boys romped around, climbed on the equipment, slid down the slides. Usually, the swings are a rather painful experience. Logan especially loves them, but once he's on the swing, there's no getting him off of it...and there you are, pushing him on the swing until your arm goes numb. Last year we tried teaching him to pump his legs and keep himself going. He pumped his legs alright, but he didn't get very much momentum going because we neglected to teach him about the leaning that's involved too. It's funny how you forget the nuances of little things like swinging on a swing set when you're an old fogey. Anyway, today he actually mastered the leaning and the leg pumping to keep himself going successfully. We're officially free of pushing one of our kiddos on the swing! Yahoo!

Auden is still our perpetually happy boy. The nice weather is wearing him out, which is great because the 3-4:00 AM wake-ups have gone by the wayside. He scoots along happily outside, (except when he wipes out and skins his knees) kicking soccer balls and throwing playground balls in the air. When he falls, he lets out this throaty "Ahww" or Whoa." When he comes inside, he shoves food in his face and cuddles with his "beedy."

His favorite words of the week are "outside," "inside," "door," "water," and tonight, he gleefully sang out "pizza!" since we made it a Sunday night pizza dinner again. He's becoming so independent--I can't believe how quickly he's growing, how loving he is, how wonderful his big brother is. I love, love, love my boys!

Tall as...

So a couple of weekends ago I was looking on amazon for growth charts for the boys, and I found one that exceeded my expectations. It's listed in centimeters, which is kind of annoying, but every 5 cms or so lists a new "You're as tall as..." statement. For example, Auden is 80 cm, as tall as a gremlin. Logan is 103 cm, as tall as a cheetah. Both, I find, are fitting descriptions for the boys, and, coincidentally, Logan's favorite animal is the cheetah these days. He has been playing a game of his own design (ok, he stole it from the cats), "flashlight cheetah," which involves one of us rolling a flashlight beam around the floor, while he growls like a cheetah, smacking at the circle of light. Now, I'm not sure how or when they measured a gremlin, but it's amusing nonetheless.

Did you know a Dodo bird was 100 cm tall? I had always pictured them as being about the same size of a chicken. No wonder they hunted them to extinction. Imagine the drumsticks on those birds!

I'm as tall (or long?) as the world's longest mustache, 172 cm. Eric, at 186 cm, is as tall as a Yeti. So, how tall are you?

Photo update

By popular request...Here are some photos of the boys. Shamrock specs make them look like mini Elton Johns.