Fish love!

Just sit still!

Cole at the aquarium.  They had a section where there was fish tank all above us.  That’s what he’s looking at.

Cute kids.

Run Cole, run!

Paige and the ducks!

Hanging in NJ.

As if falling down the stairs wasn’t enough, Tobie put berets in Cole’s hair.

TV time!

We are on Day 4 of NO DIAPERS for Miss Paige.  That’s right.  No diapers anywhere except our nighttime pull-ups (which she said “big girl undies” last night when I went to put the diaper on her.  I had to lie and say no, no those aren’t diapers….they’re sleeping undies….).  We went shopping yesterday which was interesting because we went #1 before we left but unfortunately right when we’re in checkout she says she has to go.  now.  mommy.  pee pee.  now.  uughhh.  This is the beginning of the end I’m afraid.  Seriously as many perks as being potty trained has, the thought of using public restrooms with several children in tow is frightening to me.  Part of life I guess.  The thought of not buying as many diapers from Costco is exciting.  And really changing diapers is gross.  Cleaning out the potty several thousand times a day isn’t very appealing either, but that’s temporary until we transition to the big potty.  Paige uses the big potty at school so it shouldn’t be that hard of a transition here at home.  Speaking of potty at school, the first week I sent her in a pull-up because I figured she would be too intimidated to ask to use the potty.  Today we went in big-girl panties.  I think she still may be intimidated because she did not come home in the clothes I sent her in.  Oh well.  I think she’ll get it very soon.  Maybe by next class even.  Another bummer thing about the potty is that I got in the habit of giving chocolate every time she does ANYTHING on the potty.  So she’ll sit and squeeze with all her might to get a drop or two out so she can get chocolate.  I went and bought tons of cool stickers so when we run out of chocolate we’ll switch to stickers.  She’s not going to be happy.  Oh well.  I can only rot out their teeth for a week before I feel bad.  I should mention Cole is coming along on the potty as well.  He is just not as advanced as Miss Paige, but he’s getting there.

So in Cole news:  we took him off formula.  What? you say?  Didn’t the peed recommend that you keep him on formula indefinitely?  Well, yeah…but sometimes you need to do the opposite of what people tell you.  We took Cole off formula when we got back from vacation so it’s been a little over a week.  He’s eating GREAT!!!  Why didn’t we do this sooner????  He’s drinking whole milk, not having stomach troubles and eating like a champ.  He seems to LOVE Italian food so that’s a plus.  He really is doing well.  And again, we’re saving a fortune by not special ordering his formula off the internet.  We’ll see if his weight is maintaining in two months when we bring Drew in for his 18 mo appt, but the way it’s looking now…he’s eating as much as Paige.  Other good news, Cole decided on his own without any Mommy prompting, that he did not want to sit in a highchair anymore.  Yeah!  So now we’re back to the booster for mealtimes.  I’m also going to switch back his swing in the next couple weeks here because he really shouldn’t be in a baby swing. 

I don’t have any “I’m a big kid now” updates for Drew besides he’s big and awesome.  Let’s just leave it at that.  I don’t need him to grow up too fast!

Here are some pictures from our first family trip to Chicago and New York. They are shown no particular order. After reviewing all the pictures from the trip, we didn’t really take many pictures at all. We didn’t take any shots with family. That’s kind of weird, isn’t it? Most of these pictures actually come from Aunt Nancy’s camera. Oh well, next time more pictures, right?

Always read up on the safety instructions when flying.

They love airplanes!

Sometimes we start contemplating other things near the end of a 3.5 hour flight with kids.

Baby, green blankey, nighty night.

Peek-a-boo!

Cole tames the lion!

So does Paige!

Roy and Cole at the zoo.

Polar bears.

Here fishy fishy fishy!

Saturday we took the kids for their “Back to School Haircuts” even though Eric says they’re not back-to-school when we’ve never been to school.  The kids did awesome.  Paige was talking to her stylist and Drew sat like a champ on the dinosaur chair.  It was pretty awesome to remember what they used to be like getting their hair cut, and now seeing other kids freaking out and crying and our kids so big.  Afterwards we went to the water play area and I told Eric it was a waste of time because the last five times or so the kids have not wanted to play at all.  I’m just not going to make any assumptions any more because all three kids are continually proving me wrong.  They played a long time in that water and were sopping wet.  When we were headed back to the car Eric stopped at Starbucks and picked Paige up an ice water.  It was in a Starbucks cup and you’d think Paige was holding her own version of liquid gold.  It was so cute.  She kept saying Daddy Starbucks.  Awwww.

The other day we were sitting on the potty and Paige said chocolate for poopy?  and I said yikes, Daddy ate all your potty chocolate (bad daddy) but if you go poopy on the potty we’ll go the store.  Her reply?  Starbucks for poopy?  I thought Eric was going to wet himself he was laughing so hard.

Yesterday we went to our pediatric dentist.  I hyped it up all morning and the night before so we were mentally prepared.  The office has a cool play area in the waiting room with a spaceship slide and all.  The kids were playing on the slides and were not apprehensive at all.  We went in the back area and they started to get a little skiddish, but I put them both in the dentist chair together and they were totally fine.  They didn’t cry at all, and opened their mouths great for the dentist.  Good news!  Their teeth are great and we don’t need to go back until six months from now.  Cole was so cooperative they were able to clean his teeth, Paige they just did a flouride treatment on, they’ll clean next visit. 

Today is our first day of school!!  I think we’re ready.  I’ve been talking about it for days, weeks, months.  They know who’s going and who’s not (no Drew or Mommy), they know their teacher’s name, they know Mommy’s coming back when preschool’s over.  I’m certain they’re not even going to cry.  They’re so big now.  My babies are growing up!