Family Xmas 2013

I know it has been quiet around here, but there are a lot of cute xmas pics to share... Some made it on Twitter, some haven't, but here's how our Christmas is going so far. I hope yours is wonderful!

T liked picking out trees this year.

So did E, especially since we were looking for one his size (more T-proofable).

And E got to pay for it.

Posing because sometimes I win.

E hamming up his excitement at Santa's arrival.

T loves his meat stick (don't know what's with his hair!)

Donut just lovin'.

Boah? Boah? (book!)

 Socks that might pass the chief pilot and still be fun.

Girl scientist lego mini fig. Scientists, staring entranced at liquids...

YES, a skateboard!

Yes, a haul!

Wishing you all the joys possible this Christmas and into the new year!

The Baumzingers

Rollin'

E has been practicing on his bike (yes, the pink princess one from the neighbors) every chance he gets, to the point that he requested we move our weekend hikes to places where he can ride. A couple of weeks ago we went out on the Coal Creek trail in Erie, except that I got us a little lost and we ended up on one of the well roads for a bit. The big gravel on the well road knocked one of E's training wheels off and neither of us noticed (Ray did, and picked it up). When I did notice, E had already biked about a quarter mile, so he just kept on going, saying he'd bike the other wheel off too. When we got back to the car, we pulled it off for him, and then started helping him get going. I ended up getting an unexpected mile jog out of this "walk."

By the end of the day, he didn't need us. He is still figuring out those coaster breaks (...don't...look...down) and the hill at our house rightfully scares him, but the little dude is working hard and I already can't keep up on foot. I see lots of bike rides in our near future.

1 Year in the Big Blue Chair

This is almost a month late, and looking back, I can see so much has changed.

Anatomy of a first birthday party

Start with a cake. Banana with chocolate? Sure.


Let's see what he thinks...

Dad, what is this? Do I have to give up my cow?

Hmmm. Good mouthfeel, definite taste of bananas, well balanced...

NOMNOMNOMNOM

Urp. 
Can someone get that off my leg and feed it to me?
(Note he also demolished the meatloaf and mixed veggies. Easy birthday dinner, there.)

Next up: torment the four year old by telling him he can't open the presents.

Check.

Provide noisemakers for a whole family. Check. Earplugs? Check.

Sharing, check.

Although T did make sure to drool on everything in case there's any question of ownership.


Next up: bike ride. T is more obsessed with the trike than E is with his bike. Which is saying a lot.

Birds and dogs and bunnies?

Check.
Sunshine?

Check.

Finally, a run through the park. Fun?

Check.
Happy birthday, little dude!

6 months

T turned 6 months old. For his six month birthday, he got himself the flu.

Yup, that's how I felt about it, too.

But he's getting better, and even sick he was one of the mellower little dudes you've ever seen (we did his chair pictures after he'd been fever-free for a day. He still has the cough). We did pull the swing out of the basement, because he just wanted to move, constantly, and frankly, he's getting heavy! (18 lb by the bathroom scale - doctor's visit is next month when E goes in for his 3 year)

T's favorite occupation is EATING ALL THE THINGS!

You have a thing? I'd like to eat it! Please, can I eat that?

Please? Banilla does not, in fact, taste like vanilla, despite my brother's name for him. 
(her?)

Happy 2013 - A look back (and a night at the zoo)

There are a bajillion "year in review" memes out there, so I thought I'd try one that amused me. I'm skipping all of the links I should put in, but feel free to check out the archives via the calendar over on the right-hand side here.

For those of you who aren't interested in random highlights, I'll throw in some pics from Zoo Lights. To fill in the pictures: 1) If you go to Zoo Lights, wear lots of layers (we knew this, note the obnoxious hat I stole from Ray). 2) Parking by the museum to get into the Zoo isn't that bad, since it's a lot easier to get out from there (I think some of my relatives will understand this). 3) If you see a long line at one side of the pavilion and noone on the other side, perhaps that's not the line for tickets, but the line to get in. Somehow we ended up inside without anyone taking the tickets that were part of Laura and Brad's Christmas gift. 4) Giraffes are just goofy.

Now, 2012 in review, per some random meme I found with a few extras thrown in:
-Number of full nights of sleep: about 6 since mid-July
-Longest nap on record: 4 hours for E?
-Number of bottles washed/diapers changed: Few bottles, but if you estimate 7 diapers a day since T was born, it's about 1200. E had a few diapers at the beginning of the year, but that highly traumatic transition is now forgotten. Really.
-Number of baby teeth erupted: 0
-Number of date nights the new parents have had: 3, but all were afternoons
-Hours logged at park or playground: So many. Fortunately most were with our neighbors at our playground, which makes them vastly more fun
-Greatest consecutive number of steps taken: T: 0 E: 8 bajillion, while reenacting an in-progress football game
-Number of airline flights survived by parents: 3 with 2 in tow
-Boxes of Mac + Cheese prepared: 52 meals worth of Annies, which is probably about 75 boxes
-Teeth lost/tooth fairy visits: 0
-Shows the parents watched all of due to disrupted schedules: Dance Academy, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy (you can guess who watched what)
-Weirdest music video our children have been forced to dance to: Gagnum Style (or Tigh-ey Style) (no they haven't SEEN it, but a baby doing the horse-riding move cracks us up)

Number of time T has been somewhere E would never have been at this age just because we wanted to take E: many, oh so many (Yes, that's T sleeping in the stroller in 18 degree weather, inside his spacesuit and one of my coats.)

Number of children who lost their ability to ham for the camera this year: 1
Most significant event this year: The arrival of one TR, of course
Other significant event: E potty trained and went from "toddler" to "boy" sometime this year (sniff), E started swim lessons, we converted the mudroom and redid the family room floor, we built vegetable gardens... yeah, this year has been largely about survival

Speaking of survival: Again, giraffes are just weird (what else fills this niche elsewhere??). E is now in love with them because this one started stomping and the zookeeper said she was mad because she was put in timeout earlier. E sympathizes.

Anyway, it has been an interesting year, and I'm sure 2013 will be much more eventful overall (although Ray is hoping for less terrifying individual events)!

We hope you all have a wonderful new year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you! Here are a few highlights from our Christmas season.

CLICK FOR MORE CUTE

Iphonography October

More from the phone that sees all - and sees that I am WAY BEHIND.


October brought the end of our harvest (including the sole butternut squash)...
...the end of swim lessons (the last set essentially private due to E's solo enrollment, and ending with a pretty impressive little challenge course)...

... and the beginning of T's time as second child, stuffed in this snowsuit (ask Ray for the pictures of E towing T about on a sled!).

E discovered that raking is worthwhile if you get to jump in the leaves (I'm not sure if that pile ever did get raked up - you can see it in the Halloween pics!)

I went back to work full-time and so did Ray, which means the ipad and Facetime became key to family dinners.

I mastered the art of the sharpie jolly roger tattoo (originally on my leg for work, then on E).

And E mastered the art of making Thanksgiving just as fun as Halloween. Gobble!

RAWR!

Mom, I sense something amiss... 



EEK, it's a dinosaur!

Do T. rexes usually have chocolate chip breath?