Stone Zoo

Today we met up with Ruby, Calla and Leah at the Stone Zoo. It was a great time. We got to see a combination of animals, construction vehicles, played on the playground and even got to ride on a few rides! What a successful outing!

Holding hands on their "date"

Checking out the llamas

Flamingos

Fixing some holes in the concrete

Snack time

Cougar watching

Riding the hippo

Thanks for a great day, ladies! We had SO MUCH FUN!

Easter Weekend

Mimi, Grandpa and Uncle Timmy came to visit us for Easter this year. This was the first holiday we ever hosted! (We had Easter here in 2009 when Mikey was born but I didn't really do any of the hosting.....Grandma Anita and Grandpa Bob took care of everything while I was sleep deprived and breast feeding!)

We went to church in the morning and then had an early dinner. We started with an orange, fennel and arugala salad, followed by ham, potatoes au gratin, roasted asparagus and glazed carrots (red, orange and yellow!). We had a nice, relaxing dinner and enjoyed each other's company. Thanks for coming everyone!

Easter Playdate

Today we got together with Skylar and Summer, two of Mikey's friends from Eva's House. Her mom and I wanted to do something "Easter-y" so we planned an afternoon of dying eggs and going on an egg hunt. Everyone had a great time!

Mikey and Skylar

Eating Easter Bunny cookies

(I promise it was WAY more exciting than it looks!)

Beautiful Summer

Family Time

Michael has been working A LOT lately. Although we don't get to see him as much as we would like during the week, he always makes it up to us on the weekends. The past few weekends have been pretty quiet in terms of plans which lets us "wing it" and do what we feel like as the day approaches.

Here are some fun things we did:

1) We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage---made by me! I also made the famous McDonagh irish soda bread, too! (Mikey and I also ventured into Boston and took a peak at one of Daddy's new offices!);

Enjoying his grilled cheese and green milk

2) HOCKEY games! We spent 2 weekends in a row rooting for the BC Men's Hockey team as they played in the Hockey East tournament at the TD Garden and then in the NCAA Regional Championship game in Worcester. We witnessed two wins and our streak continues! As much as Mikey loves hockey, I think he loves the Eagle mascot more. Every time we talk about a hockey game Mikey tells us he wants to "high five the Eagle";

Mikey with cousin Emily and her roommate Katie

Mikey and Drew

3) We had a glimpse of summer for one week in March and tried to take advantage of the terrific weather while we could. This included taking a drive down to Foxboro and walking around Patriot Place. Not only is this the home of the Patriots football team (and New England Revolution soccer team) but also has lots of shops and restaurants. Outside the stadium there are patches of grass where Mikey loved to run around and play with the other kids. We ate at "Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill" for some yummy southern food! Mmmmmm!



4) Playing! Mikey finally finished opening all of his birthday presents! I have never seen a child get SO EXCITED over every present and wanting to play with it immediately. Since he wanted to enjoy each present, we didn't feel the need to rush through and open everything at once. We spaced it out and so the birthday celebration continued! He has been fascinated by his Cars figures, dinosaurs, new train set, "jeeps", "digger truck", games and books! He is truly enjoying each and every gift. And it is also fun for Mommy and Daddy to participate in the fun, too!

To Michael: Thank you so much for working so hard for us! We love you MUCHO!

Future Photographer?

This is what happens when you accidentally leave the camera in a toddler's bedroom overnight:

It's never too early to start taking pictures. The clock reads 6:13 AM.

The view from Mikey's room to our room

Experimenting with light

View from the bed while in a lounging position

And my favorite:

THREE Birthday Celebrations for the THREE YEAR OLD!

Mikey has been celebrating his birthday for the majority of the month!

Mimi came to see Mikey for his birthday and arrived on his "birthday eve". She brought a special cake with her so we were able to celebrate a night early. (Upon cleaning up the dishes, Daddy was washing the cake knife and cut his right index finger which landed us in the ER for stitches. Boo!!)





On Mikey's actual birthday, Thursday, March 1, Mikey spent the day with Mimi and Mommy. We hung out in the morning at home and then went to My Gym in the afternoon. For dinner we met Daddy at Friendly's. After dinner Mikey got his "chocolate ice cream" and a special birthday song sang by the staff. Initially he looked confused by the clapping and singing but when it was over he smiled and said "AGAIN!". He got some great clothes from Mimi as well as Cars bedding & snacks.

Mikey was quite a popular boy that night getting lots of phone calls and cards/gifts in the mail. We appreciate everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. Mikey also completed "Facetime" with his Uncle Mark. The picture was so clear on the ipad that he picked up the football and said "Catch it, Mark! Catch it!" and proceeded to toss the football directly at the screen!

(He insisted on taking EVERY picture with the armadillo)

For the weekend we traveled to New Jersey to celebrate Mikey's birthday with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and Uncle Scott. Grandma and Auntie planned a very special weekend. On Saturday Grandma, Grandpa, Mommy, Daddy and Mikey went to the Camden Aquarium. We touched the stingrays and sharks, saw a seal show outside, and saw lots of beautiful sea creatures. It was a great time.







When we got home, Auntie had decorated the house with a Cars theme. The place looked great. There were banners and signs everywhere, balloons, party hats and festive plates......even Brett Farve made an appearance!









Mikey had lots of fun celebrating and opening his presents.

In addition to clothes, Mom gave Mikey presents according to his age:

T=Turtle swim trunks
H=Helicopter DVD
R=Red Fire Engine
E=Etch-A-Sketch
E=Elmo & book

Auntie also spoiled Mikey with clothes and new rain boots.

Since Mikey was pooped after a long day of fun, we skipped the special cupcakes and postponed the singing until morning----when Jimmy (Mikey's birthday twin!) came over! How can it be that the boys are THREE?!?!?!?!










The following weekend was Mikey's kiddie birthday party. (Who knew I would have to schedule the party BEFORE the holidays if I actually wanted it the weekend of his birthday?!!?!? Mental note for next year.) We had the party again at My Gym. It is a no brainer. We show up, play, and go home. There is no cleaning, cooking or activity planning involved. Easy! The only thing I was responsible for was the cupcakes. This year the cupcakes were "Lightening McQueen". We had 19 kids in total. It was complete chaos and so much fun!



(More pictures to come)

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

Mikey is THREE!

Happy Birthday, Mikey!

Here are some notables of our favorite three year old:

Favorite songs: "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts, "We Found Love" by Rhianna, the "ABC's" and "Row Row Row Your Boat". You recently started singing songs which is very cute and fun. At Eva's House you love music time with Ronnie.

Favorite toys: You are completely OBSESSED with your "Cars" themed toys (ex: characters from the movie, your "Mack" truck, and the airplane). There isn't a day goes by that you don't play with them. You are also becoming a master at puzzles (especially your interlocking train puzzle) and still love your farm and tractor set. You are beginning to participate in pretend play and still mostly play beside other children and not yet initiating play WITH them.

As for television, you LOVE Chuggington, Handy Manny, Jake and the Neverland Pirates (I'm not 100% of the title since we always just call it "Jake"). You don't ask for them as much but it goes without saying that you will watch any of the Cars movies, Toy Story movies or the construction/airplane/boats/fire rescue series.

Favorite books: You still have a tendency to get "stuck" on a certain book and we read that book EVERY night for a week straight, and then it's a new book. You love your "Look and Find Elmo" books (the one with "Daddy's work" and "birthday party" is preferred over the other), "Dazzling Diggers" & "Flashing Firetrucks" books. You are now really enjoying longer books and will sit with Mommy or Daddy to read. Your attention span is great for this (or it is a good way to delay your bedtime).

Activities/Daily Routines: These days Monday is our "free" day. Tuesday and Wednesday we go to work/Eva's House. You come home and play briefly before bath and bed (bedtime aims to be 7:30 but can range between 7:30-8:30). Thursday we have My Gym in the afternoon and Fridays are swimming. You tend to wake up in the morning somewhere in the 6:00 hour. You have become much better about entertaining yourself through books or quiet toys in your room until 7:30, when I come and get you. We are inconsistent about the potty since most days we aren't home all day to keep you in underwear and really "work" on it. You definitely go potty before bath/bed and other times throughout the day when I do remember. At Eva's you go on a consistent basis. You will not use any language to communicate the need to use the potty. Every night our routine is bath, pajamas, brush teeth, books and bed. After we finish reading books, you kick Daddy out so you can "snuggle" with Mommy. Sometimes we snuggle in the rocking chair or you put your head on my shoulder while I stand next to your bed and sway from side to side. You point to your bed to indicate when snuggle time is over.

Development:

Your expressive language is still progressing at your typical "Mikey" rate. You are now using three and four word phrases to communicate and it is mostly about objects/events taking place in the moment. You are not really asking questions or relaying any information about your day (past events). You will be starting weekly speech services on (Thursday) March 8.

In terms of your gross motor skills, I feel like you try very hard but the upper body isn't quite syncing with the lower body. You run quickly but tend to fall a lot. You strongly dislike activities at My Gym in which you are on a raised surface (like balance beam) since you feel like you are going to fall (feel insecure). You prefer the swing with the buckle so you don't need to engage your tummy muscles to use the "saddle" swing (again, insecure/fear of falling). You are still not consistently jumping with two feet off the ground and cannot jump from one surface to the other (like from a step to the floor). Instead, you bend your knees as if you are going to jump and then just take a big step. It is very cute and you are very proud when you do it! You can jump with two feet together when on the trampoline. Since it has been a mild winter, we have taken your bicycle out a few times to work on pedaling. Not very successful so far but we will work on it!!

Eating: You feed yourself using fork and spoon for most (if not all) of your meal (depending on if the utensils are still on the table or if they are thrown/dropped, etc). You LOVE your veggies and could eat salad all day. We recently learned you like Ceaser salad. During the course of the week you eat cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers (all colors), carrots, peas, corn, green beans, and occassionally broccoli. You also LOVE fruit (blueberries are your favorite but raspberries, blackberries, kiwi and bananas come pretty close). In terms of meat, you eat pepperoni, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs. (One of these days you WILL eat a homemade chicken cutlet....) You are becoming more inclined to try new foods and have eaten breaded shrimp and ground turkey with taco seasonings. I also try to get more veggies into you through pumpkin and zucchini bread. You will eat any carbohydrate as well as dessert. You recently stated that your favorite ice cream flavor is "chocolate" and you ask for cookies for breakfast on some mornings.

Some say that the "threes" are worse than the "twos". We'll just have to see about that. You are pretty awesome in our book---no matter what age you are!!

xoxo
Mommy & Daddy