Halloween Party Time!!!

It's late October and the Halloween parties are in full swing!!  AJ's school hosted a shin dig last night for all the littles that attend.  We were a little unsure of how AJ would respond since morning drop-offs are still touch and go.  But this week, he had a great week...little to no tears with each drop off!!!  He seems to be adjusting to his new routine and actually LIKES going to school now.

When we got to the party last night, he met up with the DuVarneys in the parking lot.  He was quite excited to hang out with his cousin, Ryan!  In fact...AJ just RAN right into the building (normally, when he SEES the school from the car, he starts to pout and cry).  The school put out quite a nice spread of food, had a DJ complete with colored strobe lights, arts and crafts, games and goodies, and of course, a little haunted house!

AJ couldn't stop moving to the beat of the music...he shook his tail all night long!!!  When it was time to leave, he protested quite a bit (normally, he RUNS out of school) and cried for RYAN!!!!! the whole way home.

Please excuse the lack of pictures as it was difficult to get him to stay still long enough to even snap a shot! 

Let me get this straight...you want me to go back to school TONIGHT??!

Our Little Dragon!

Shakin' it with Ryan!!

Having a great time checking out all the party sights!

Shake your booty!!!

Ryan's costume was AMAZING!!  Hand-made by his mom and dad...what's cooler than a Lego man?!  NOTHING!  This of course made it quite difficult for AJ to find Ryan at the party....he ran around asking "Ryan!! Where AAAAAARRRREEEE you?!"

 

AJ Earns His Keep

We all love to spend time out in our back yard. Even picking up Mother Nature's mess can be fun...especially through the eyes of a 19-month old!!  Adam is just excited that AJ is finally earning his keep ;)

 

AJ assesses the leaf situation in the back yard.

 

 

Handful by Handful...they get picked up!

 

 

 

 

How can a little one resist running through the big piles??!  WEEEE!!!

 

 

CHARGE!!!!

 

 

 

Time for a little wagon break...picking up leaves is tough work!

 

 

OK...back to work!

 

 

Daddy shows the little guy how it's done!

 

With all of the hard work done....PLAY TIME!!!

 



 





Snips & Snails

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails...that's what little boys are made of!  Every day AJ loses more of his "baby" features and turns into a handsome little boy.  It's most definitely one of those bittersweet moments in life when you realize you don't have a snuggly baby anymore, but an adventuresome, curious, mischievous little boy.  All of that was most apparent today as we checked off another major milestone in AJ's life...his first haircut.

AJ gets settled into the chair...so far so good.

"What?!! You're going to take my hair?!  But it took me 19 whole months to grow it!!"

"OK...I'll try to be brave" (Sniffle sniffle, chin quiver)

"I really don't' know about this, guys!"



"You're getting a haircut too, Daddy?!  OK...I'll do it...I'll do it."

"On second thought...NOOOOOO!!!! Not my lovely locks!!!"

"Just a little over the ear...that was my best curl."

"OK...you were right....it wasn't that bad at all!! And I managed to stay in the chair the whole time!!"

"Mommy says I'm still her handsome little man!  And Daddy says we can do it again some day just us guys!"

School Days

Lots of changes in AJ's life recently.  He's growing so fast and learning so much.  It seems that every day, he learns a new word, song, or concept.  It's all absolutely mind-blowing how fast he's absorbing the world around him.  Part of the changes in his life include going to "school".  With Daddy's new job and the pending arrival of his new little brother, we decided now was the time for him to get to know some other kids and put him in an active learning environment.  Trust us...this was not easy for either Adam or I to let him go to the care of someone other than ourselves or his Grammy.  But...life goes on and AJ must grow.  *sigh*

Before we could hit the big time actually GOING to school....we practiced with his backpack :)



AJ practices carrying his backpack.

"Ummm Mom...I'm not so sure about this...."

Let's try it on...

Once at school for a practice day, AJ immediately took to his friend, Mickey.  After that...it was all downhill :-/

 

As with any new adjustment, school is taking some work for AJ to get used to...but each week gets better and better.  Hopefully, he'll have the hang of it by the time his brother arrives!

Fall Apple Picking Adventure ~ Brookdale Farm

Apple season struck New England early this year, so we decided to take full advantage of the yummy goodness and perfect weather.  We headed out as a family off to Brookdale Farm in Hollis, NH with Auntie Renee and Ryan.

I love how they have the same posture when they walk :)

They're not all THAT bad ;)



Ryan pauses for a photo shoot!



...and AJ wanted in on the action!



This photo was staged by Ryan himself....very talented young man!

And this might be one of my top 10 photos of AJ ever....thank you, Auntie Renee for capturing this one!!



Auntie Renee of course brought her camera (what would we do without her?!) for some picture perfect photo ops.  Click here to see the pictures she took posted to DuVarney Doings!!  They won't disappoint.

Catching Up

So sorry for the delay in posts. I just looked back at the blog and realize its been almost two months since I last updated it. Yikes!!! Needless to say, life has just been plain busy.

I apologize in advance for the "quality" of these photos as they are all from my phone. Seems the phone is all we have accessible (Mom can vouch for this.)

Since our last post, AJ has started to attend "school" twice a week (once his baby brother arrives, he will be going at least three days a week).

I'm ready to go to school and see what this is all about! Let's GO!!

And as one can imagine, once a child enters the school system, otherwise known as the world's biggest Petrie dish, comes colds, coughs, runny noses, and lots of boogies. YUCK! Although, AJ's first time being sick in all of his (then) 18 months of life, was actually due to a rare reaction from a routine vaccine...the Measles. Yes...AJ had the Measles....sigh. AJ has since recovered from his little sickness and has moved on to the more common cold variety of viruses. Looks like everyone should start investing in Kleenex and Boogie Wipes ;)

Our first "hint" that he wasn't feeling well...poor kiddo.

   

For three days, I would only sleep on Mommy.

Holding hands with Mommy & Daddy for a little comfort.

We kept the little guy busy with some new activities. One of his favorites is coloring with crayons. Among his favorite colors to use are "yewo", "baloooo", and "pewpo".

Coloring is SERIOUS business....

Or not so much... ;)

While AJ continue to grow and amaze us with all he learns every day, I've been busy incubating and growing his little brother. Baby Robert went through a stretch where it seemed he was very anxious to meet us. As a result, I'm on bed rest (ha! Yeah right). Adam has been an AMAZING dad and husband, managing to take care of us all AND start is new position as an Inspector/Investigator in the city's Fire Marshal's office. ( We're really VERY proud of him. )Here's a picture of the "bump" at 34 weeks. (I think this looks a whole lot like AJ did at 40 weeks, 2 days before I have birth to the little man!). Either way, the doctor's goal is to make it through to at least 36 weeks (that's only three days away). They estimate that if I do carry him to our scheduled surgery date at 39 weeks, that he will be bigger than AJ. (Hard to believe since AJ was just two ounces shy of 9 lbs and he was two feet long!!!)

34 Weeks when this "lovely" picture was taken

Well, there's a little peek at how WE are doing. We're also making progress on the house. The upstairs bathroom will be complete tomorrow and Robert's room is awaiting an area rug. Pics of that soon to come :)