Now I understand....

When I had two boys so close together, everyone suggested that I might as well start planning to buy two of everything. I chuckled and thought 'how wasteful...they can just learn to share.' In hindsight, perhaps it would have been a better decision to actually assume that those older, more experienced Moms had insight that I didn't. Let's recap yesterday....

1) While getting Luke dressed he screams bloody murder, rolls onto his stomach, and refuses to get dressed all because he wants to leave on his Thomas the Train pajamas. I give up and remember that Grayson outgrew an old Thomas t-shirt and I had it stored in Luke's closet somewhere. Three Rubbermaid containers later, I find the damn shirt. Luke overjoyed. Yey for me - happy kid. Then Grayson starts crying because HE wants a Thomas shirt. Well- tough luck kiddo, we only have one. Subsequently, Grayson is mad the rest of the morning.

2) We go down to breakfast. Only one seat faces the TV. Screaming ensues. So I rearrange the chairs so that both boys sit on the same side of the table.

3) Only one green sippy cup. You can guess the problem.

4) We go to load up in the van...which does, by the way, have two identical carseats. But I put stick-up words on the headrests of the front seats to help Grayson learn to read. One seat says "BIKE" the other says "TRAIN." Turns out "TRAIN" is more popular than "BIKE." So...one screaming kid all the way to school. (Postscript - today each side read "TRAIN.")

5) We get home from school and go play on the deck. We've found spray bottles on warm days make for great entertainment. My mistake - owning one blue and one white spray bottle. Turns out the blue one is more popular.

So...my dilemma is that I don't want to be that parent who gives in all the time. I really feel like we've done a good job NOT giving in. But what I've also learned is that I've endured countless hours of screaming when just simply buying/arranging two of the exact same things would have prevented the meltdowns to begin with. Lesson learned. I should have listened to the advice to begin with. They were right.

Pool Party!

Grayson's friend Nicky invited him to a pool party the other day. It turned out to be a nice treat for us both! I was skeptical of how Grayson would react to the water since he still has a bit of fear around water, but I put him in a life jacket which seemed to give him the confidence he needed to enjoy himself. Seeing his buddy Nicky in the water certainly didn't hurt either. I got to visit with Nicky's Mom and Kess's Mom which made for some nice "adult interaction" and the boys all had a blast together. Afterwards, we enjoyed cupcakes and crepes! Nicky's Dad is from Gabon and had made crepes in the French tradition to celebrate birthdays. I was good and passed on the cupcakes, but when the platter of Nutella filled crepes circulated, I couldn't say no.
Grayson and Nicky

Grayson "swimming." He really thought he was swimming so I didn't burst his bubble. He actually was doing a really good job of kicking and using his "scoopers" at the same time. So, hopefully, in time he will lose the vest and still feel comfortable.
Nicky was a little more adventurous!Grayson and his buddy Kess.

Grayson and Nicky shared a chair during the party. Boy - wish he would share with his brother like this!

The New River and Pandapas

The much appreciated decent weather weekend have allowed us to get out and enjoy the outdoors with the boys. Until you have two toddler-aged boys, you just don't know how important nice weather is! One of our favorite places is Pandapas Pond and now that Grayson can fish, we're finding ourselves there even more. While the boys like the pond itself, they also love playing in the little creeks that feed the pond.

We also found ourselves at the New River where Steve tested his "new" boat. He's working on converting his kayak to one where he paddles from his knees using a canoe paddle. He can't paddle with the kayak paddle because of his shoulder, but he can do the canoe thing. Anyway...he needed to test it out so the boys and I played on the shore for a while. Grayson was thrilled that we let him use a hook on his fishing pole.

Luke Chancellor!

I find myself saying "Luke Chancellor" quite often. Luke is most certainly easier to discipline than Grayson was at the same age, but boy does Luke find everything to get into. He is SUCH a boy. Here is one of his latest tricks....

Luke loves to torment our cats. He pulls tails, pets butts, sprays with a water bottle, etc. It is absolutely SHOCKING that the cats have not retaliated with something that minimally involved stitches. Both cats deserve a gold star for patience when it comes to their tolerance of Luke!

New Toy

It's been 4 years since I've been on my bike. Too long. Antsy to be able to do something remotely physically challenging as a family, we purchased a Burley Bee for the boys. Steve gets the pleasure of towing the extra 75 pounds behind his bike so at least he gets a bit of a workout even if the trails we ride on aren't exactly the same trails he generally prefers. And I get to dust off my bike and get used to riding a little bit again.

Thus far, the boys have tolerated two separate hour plus long rides. No fighting and very little "are we there yet?" So...definitely a good purchase.

We made a stop at the "Miner's Park" on the Huckleberry Trail. We decided it was actually more of a spot where some old mine equipment may have been inadvertently left about 60 years ago and instead of paying to have it moved, they just decided to call it a park. In any case - it makes for a nice little stop for the boys to stretch their legs and have a snack.
Grayson found deer tracks and then even remembered them on the next ride, but it had rained between stops and they were gone the second time around.

Mommy and Boys

Just a little Mother's Day picture with my two boys!

Our little biker!

We've always known that Grayson gravitated to riding toys. We were probably one of the few sets of parents who actually let him ride his bike with training wheels all through the house all winter. And then we also got him a Skuut which did wonders for developing balance. He's spent a lot of time on riding toys and has clearly always been comfortable on a bike seat. When I was at my sister's house this weekend, we hadn't brought Grayson's little toddler bike with training wheels but he still wanted to ride a bike. So I picked up Peyton's big girl bike and told him I would walk around with him on the bike for a while. What I quickly realized, though, was that I really wasn't holding on and was practically having to run to keep up with him. Those of you who know me know I can't run but about 30 feet. So....I let go. And off he went. Off rode my little boy. My 3 year old was cruising on a girls bike that was too big for him and with no training wheels. In those 15 seconds, he aged 2 years in my mind. Steve, of course, is thrilled! He immediately took the training wheels off of Grayson's toddler bike when we got home. The next day, Grayson went from a beginning bike rider to one who was riding through puddles, making sharp turns, and looking for bumpy things to ride over. He has already asked Steve to "take him riding in the forest." I think he's found his sport.

Poor Luke!

After suffering through about 3 weeks of a runny nose, Luke started getting really bad rashes in all of the joints of his body - elbows, knees, wrists, etc. Then he got blisters around his mouth. Ugh. So I finally took him to the doctor. I was convinced it was allergies and there was nothing you could do about it, but when the mouth broke out I decided we better get an expert opinion. Turns out I was right - it's allergies. But there is something we can do about it. The doc gave me a slight reprimand for waiting so long to bring him in. Apparently now it's gotten a little out of control and will take about a week or so to get his immune system back in check. But he just had to have a daily dose of allergy medicine and a prescription creme to treat the topical breakouts. He said the rashes and the blisters on the mouth were all his body's way of combating the seasonal allergens. So....I have one with seasonal allergies. Next Easter someone remind me to start the daily allergy meds!

Fishing!

The first weekend in May, we decided to renew our fishing licenses, buy the boys' fishing poles, and try our hands at 'fishing.' We first headed to Pandapas, but realized the entire county was there for "fish without a license day" so we immediately turned around and ended up at the Duck Pond on campus. Grayson absolutely LOVED it! I watched a 3 year old stand in one place for almost 2 hours just casting out, reeling in, casting out, reeling in. He was shockingly good from about his second cast on. He can definitely throw his line out much farther than I can! We didn't have the heart to tell him that we didn't put a hook on his fishing pole. Hey - he was content. Why spoil a good thing with the possibility of a hook in the eye? He enjoyed it so much that the next day he asked (unprompted, I may add) if he could go in a boat and go fishing. So on Sunday, despite high wind warnings, we loaded up the truck with the canoe and headed out to Claytor Lake which is only about 20 minutes from the house. This time, Steve did put a hook on his pole. They didn't catch anything, but he did enjoy floating around a little cove a "fishing from a boat." Luke and I took a little stroll around the state park and then just played with bubbles on the shore. Luke still needs quite a bit of work before he gets a hook on his pole!

Here's Grayson getting used to being in a canoe!

Getting the hang of fishing down.

Luke preferred fishing from shore.
Actually Luke preferred bubbles to his fishing pole.Back at home, Grayson still wanted to fish. So we let him fish over the side of the deck.

He was content doing this for another couple of hours. Once he's old enough to take his chips and beer along, I have a feeling we're going to have a true fisherman on our hands.

And for those of you who know us well.....No, we have no idea what we'll do if he actually catches a fish one day.