Arthur, Robin, and Maggie

Friday, June 12, 2009

Vacation 2 - Arrival and Sesame Place Day One

We left at 6AM on Sunday morning and arrived in Princeton, NJ around 1PM. We were fortunate enough to get an early check in which left us plenty of time to spend the rest of the day at Sesame Place. Sunday afternoon ended up being the nicest day during our trip and we found ourselves in 90 degree weather and a fairly sunny day (the sun did not last).

We had a nice afternoon and got to try PF Changs for dinner back at the hotel. Some of the best Chinese we've ever had. (So good, that we had it again two days later).

Robin and Maggie sharing a stroller:

The boys on the carousel with Joanne:

Arthur on the carousel:

Arthur climbing:

Joanne and Arthur on the really high climbing nets:

Arthur, Robin, and Maggie with Abby Cadabby:

Arthur and Robin with Elmo:

Robin having a sip of a "vacation" drink (fruit punch):

Sneaking a picture of Maggie:

Riding Big Bird's hot air balloons:

Arthur and Robin on the fire truck:

Robin sitting on the Sesame Street stairs:

Arthur and Robin in front of Big Bird's nest:

Vacation 1 - Travelling

The main goal of our trip was to end up in Pennsylvania for a few days to go to Sesame Place and the Philly Zoo and then on a whim, we'd figure out what else we wanted to do. Langhorne, PA and Philadelphia are about 5 and 6 hours away from Cape Cod respectively. We remembered from the last time we drove it that with stops, it was about a 7 hour drive and we were expecting the same. We had hardly reached the end of Rhode Island when there was some mild whining coming from the very back of the van. We had one potty break and then we figured we'd do our best to get through Connecticut. About three hours into our drive we found a "Playplace" type of McDonalds and we stopped so the boys could run around (and so that moms could get an iced tea).

Over the next few days we spent A LOT of time in the car driving around. Our hotel was in Princeton, NJ and it was a 20 minute drive to Sesame and an hour drive to Philly (which we did twice) and then we drove from Philly to CT stopping a couple of times. On the way home from one of the Philly days, we took a 2 hour detour in search of a scenic drive in the city as well as a traditional search for a Wawa for a milkshake.

All in all, the kids did really well in the car. As long as we stopped every few hours, they did fine. They slept a lot and when one of them did get a little whiny, it was usually Arthur. We brought some things for him to do and that helped a lot. When all else failed, snacks worked.

Starting out:

Driving by NYC:

Breakfast in the hotel (that's orange juice):

Downtown Philly:

There are murals like this all over the buildings in Philadelphia:

Some big stadium. I have no idea what it's called:

Arthur falling asleep with a lollipop in his mouth (removed after photo):

Saturday, May 30, 2009

The Sandman

Chalk

You're doing what?

End of May Updates

Sorry I've been lax on the photos. We've had a busy few weeks and there really hasn't been a lot of picture taking this month. I'll try to get some up soon.

Easter II - We have no pictures from Orthodox Easter this year for two reasons. First is that we forgot our camera and second is because we spent a bit of time in the ER with Maggie over an unknown allergic reaction to something (bug?) in her foot that caused it to become rapidly engulfed in blisters over a span of about 20 minutes. She's fine now..and we've had visits to the ped since then and they've determined that we will never know the cause. Bizarre.

Ped's: Arthur and Maggie had their physicals. Both are growing and doing well overall. Arthur is 39 inches tall and weighs just over 35 pounds. He had a DTaP and Polio vax (which made him vomity two days later..ugh) and he doesn't really have anything they feel they need to follow up about. He's a pretty normal kid (although they're impressed with how well he eats and his vocabulary). Maggie is 27.5 inches tall and weighs 17.2 pounds. She's about as tall as Robin was and she's in the middle of the boys for weight at that age. She also had the DTaP and Polio vax and since we space them out, she'll have the HIB and PCV next month when she goes for her ear follow up anyway. Her big thing is that her ears have (according to the ped) "never been normal" in her visits. They range from "irritated" to "really infected"...all the time. She actually has an ear infection now. So basically, we'll be seeing an ear specialist at Mass Eye and Ear on July 1st.

Bob: My cousin (my dad's 1st cousin) Bob died last week. He had a long battle with brain cancer and it's very sad to lose him. After his initial diagnosis 6 years ago, he had surgery and was doing very well. But he relapsed this past fall/winter and it just wasn't something he was able to recover from. He was a good man and I always appreciated the love he and his family showed us, especially our children. I have no doubts that he left this world knowing that he would be joined again with his parents, Aunt Olga and Uncle Joe and that his passing would be full of love.

Transitions at home: We have some new living arrangements in our house for the time being. Joanne and I have moved into the loft (and wow, I had no idea what a big bedroom that would make) and Arthur is now in our old room. Robin is remaining in his room but he's moved to the other side in his big boy (albeit toddler-sized) bed. Right now Maggie is still in our room, but when she gets more regular in her sleeping (likely when we sort out her ear issues) she'll move in with Robin. Our upstairs living room, which we rarely used anymore, has been relocated to one of the basement rooms. I'm amazed by how much extra space this seems to have given us. And Arthur aside from some minor blips, has been doing much better at bedtime. I've never minded him reading or staying up later, but he was being "proactive" about keeping Robin awake and we just had to nip that before it got worse. Robin has turned into a really good sleeper and we're enjoying this for as long as it lasts.

Vacation: We're going on vacation starting next Sunday. Yay! A relatively local Pennsylvania trip. I'm just really looking forward to getting to spend a lot of time with my whole family. We don't get a lot of days off together and I'm going to make the most of the week. We have a lot planned and it's going to be fun.

Thoughts for family and friends: We're thinking a lot about Carly and Tony right now and out of privacy we'll leave it at that. Just know that we love you and we're sending lots of positive energy your way.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Happy 4th Birthday Arthur!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Easter I

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Before and After

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

What the Easter Bunny told us he's bringing...

Thursday, April 02, 2009

He did it! (With no help from me this time)

Spelled it out and wrote it all by himself!

Extended Rear Facing News from the AAP

http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

...

Since Arthur was born we've stayed on top of the most current safety research regarding car seats. We've learned so much more than I ever thought there was to know. Did you know that car seats expire? I certainly didn't! I didn't even really realize the different types of seats that were out there.

Early on in our parenting life we learned of extended rear facing. Most major car seat safety groups, pediatric associations, and seat manufacturers were moving to the model of "rear-facing until age 2 and 30 pounds" instead of the current "age 1 and 20 pounds". Now, it's no longer considered "extended" to rear face until age 2. Those mamas still going strong until age 3 or 4 are the new "extended" rear facers.

(Likewise it used to be considered "extended" breastfeeding past age 1. Now American mothers can comfortably nurse until age 2 or so before it's considered "extended"...closer to the world breastfeeding norms and what the world health organization recommends)

The more we know, the more we learn, and the more our views and practices change for the better.

I'm sharing this information with the two people who probably read our blog because if it weren't for someone sharing it with me, I never would have known. There are many great car seat safety sites that can be found by a web search so if you are in the mood, check out the most current info.

Our seats:

Arthur rides in a Sunshine Radian in both the car and the van. He rides forward facing at 36 pounds.

Robin rides rear-facing (he's barely 20 lbs yet, let alone 30) in a Recaro Como in the minivan and an Evenflo Titan in the car.

Maggie just a day ago moved from her outgrown infant seat into a Britax Marathon in the van (our STEAL at 42 bucks!). In the car she'll move into Robin's Evenflo Triumph that he just moved out of.