NuNu and Grandpa visited this weekend with big fun in tow including a trip to the orchard, canoeing the Concord river, a ride on the swan boats in the Boston Public Garden followed by PF Chang's for lunch, ice cream at Bedford Farms, and let's not forget there were some new toys sprinkled in for good measure. Thanks to the parents for a fun visit and help with the kiddos! Did I mention we ate [too] well? Hopefully we all get back on our diet wagons with success ;)


Some of Owen's take for the weekend...a cowboy outfit, made complete with Owen's birthday hat from Mommo and Daddo.







Asher is not completely fuss-free, we definitely have some crying when he's tired or hungry, as it should be! But the last couple of days he's had some more significant crying jags in the evening (and not even that bad mind you) and it caused me to realize just how much less fussy he is than Owen was! Wow. Of course maybe it's because I actually have *some* clue about the difference between hungry, tired, uncomfortable and overstimulated now and can respond more appropriately than I did the first time ;) I think Asher's recent fussies must be related to the 6-week fussiness peak that I've read about. And since he's 6 weeks (or 5 weeks 3 days according to EDD) today, maybe that means we'll only have a week of it total! That's not too bad.

Asher is committed to trying to injure both of us in the middle of the night. When I am burping him after feeding, he is really, really intent on holding his head and neck up as high as he can and trying to look around. I do not turn a light on at all when I'm feeding him, so I don't know what he thinks he's trying to see. Then, he gets tired or can't control himself anymore and his head comes crashing into my cheek or chin and it hurts!! Sometimes he lets out the most pitiful, sad-sounding cry after we've collided and I've tried to tell him he's bringing this on himself, but he doesn't seem to understand ;) I also try to keep it from happening, but it's difficult when I'm tired and not thinking that hard myself. Asher's liking his gym, and also loves looking at the sky outside. Other than that, he's still sleeping quite a bit and I'm not sure what else might be going on in that head! We haven't had any more really smiley days like that one I mentioned a while ago.


Daddy and son catching a TV show. Uh-oh. One of the new channels we can receive over the free digital airwaves has A-team reruns. Between those and the Wall Street Journal [which I recommended someone get him for a gift, oops!] I may have lost Reuel forever ;)

Here's a couple of Owen funnies from the last week:

Reuel was trying to teach Owen some early reading skills like letter sounds, and some simple phonics and spelling at breakfast time.
Reuel: C. A. T. Cuh. Ayh. Tuh. Cat! Hey Owen, how do you spell cat?
Owen: [Wrinkles up nose and sniffs the air]
Can you figure out what Owen was thinking? I guess 2 year olds really can't be expected to know what 'spelling' is!

Owen has really zeroed in on voice inflections that adults have (or maybe just his mother?) while speaking, and is a really good mimic. One of my favorites is when he's listing things. Today we were making a peach cobbler together and Owen says matter-of-factly, 'We need peeeach-es. [pause] And ciiiinamon. [pause] And suuuugar. [pause] And buuuuter. [pause] And a spoon! Hearing a recording of this is needed for full effect.

Driving in the car with my Dad after taking an unexpectedly tight corner that deseated a few of us, "Grampa turned really fast!", accompanied by my mother's not-so-muffled chuckles.

Brother love!