Perfect Harmony

Everyone is learning their place in the house these days.  Harley and Lulu are learning that they're not top dog(s) any more. AJ is learning that he's not an only child anymore.  Robert is learning how to be a good little brother and mastering all his older brother's not-so-good habits (like standing on chairs).  And Mommy and Daddy are learning that AJ and Robert can't rule the roost with a devilish smile.  Tonight, the planets must all be aligned and the end of days must be near, because we had a PERFECT time playing in harmony!

 

Thrilled that his big brother wants to play with him!

 

And it didn't stop there.  They literally played in harmony as they sang about playing TOGETHER! (OK, so they won't be getting a Grammy any time soon....but I loved every second of their performance!)

 



 

 

 









Christmas...in September

The kids are growing like weeds.  This means that they're growing in and out of clothes faster than we can rotate them through the laundry.  This past weekend, we tried on all of AJ's cooler weather clothes to see what fit and what didn't.  AJ found one of his favorite "treasures" buried in the box of clothes from last winter.  Of course, he HAD to try it on...and of course, he wouldn't dare take it off for almost two days straight!  Who am I to argue?!  He was VERY happy (and so dang cute too!)!!



Sunday Morning Art Project

Keeping AJ busy is the key to keeping AJ cooperative and happy.  We try to fill his days with lots of physical activity, art projects, and "helping".  Last Sunday, I picked up a special treat for AJ.  Ever since he saw Sarah (from Caillou) paint a bird house, he's been asking Daddy for one.  AJ is at the perfect age now to appreciate the results of his painting.   He's so proud of his very own bird house!

 

No hesitation...he dives right in!

 

"A little dab here...a little dab there...and VOILA!"

  

Super excited by the idea that Momma let him put whatever colors he wanted anywhere on the bird house that he wanted!  Art is so "freeing"!

   

The interior is just as important as the exterior.  He left no surface untouched by the brush!

   

The artist at work!

  

Thoroughly engrossed in his creation!

 



The very proud "artiste"!



 

As you can see...every angle was covered just so!

 

 

 

 

 

And of course, we had to hang it in the front yard right by the window for AJ to see it every day!



Double the Fun!

The Pouliot family has really discovered the magic of wholesale shopping with little ones in the house.  We make a monthly trip to get all our bulky items like paper towels and of course...DIAPERS!  (Thankfully, AJ has helped considerably by cutting that need in half with his amazing potty training efforts!)  What you probably never paid much attention to in these clubs are the grocery carts.  Sure they're carts that you put your stuff in.  How much attention do these carts deserve?  Well, unless you have little ones, you probably never really noticed that they have seats for TWO children up front!  WAHOOO!!! A dream come true..space for BOTH of my little rug-rats. 

When I was pregnant with Robert, Adam and I thought this was brilliant.  "Why don't ALL stores have double-seat shopping carts?  It's perfect!"  Take these children for example...

These two brothers LOVE their double-seat shopping cart!

Perfect right? They couldn't be happier to be sitting side-by-side.  This is what I envisioned.  Happy, giggly family shopping trips.  Nothing could have prepared me for this...

 

"Moooo-ooooom, he's touching me!  Make him stop. Stop touching me! He's breathing my air.  He's too close!"

 

Don't they look thrilled to be sitting next to each other?  WORST. IDEA. EVER!  And the fastest shopping trip we ever had too.  Ahhhh looking forward to the next "fun" trip!

Shake, Rattle, & Roll

I can't believe how fast my babies are growing.  So many changes in each of them in such a short amount of time.  One of the biggest changes is that Robbie is finding his way around the house and into trouble much easier these days!  And of course, now that he has found his mobility, he does NOT want to be stationary.  (And we thought we were busy and exhausted before!)

Robbie says "goodbye" to our standby child-keeper device....



"Who wants this thing when all it does is keep me in ONE spot?!"

 

...and "hello" to our old friend Rocko!

 

So long baby that stayed in one place...it was nice knowing you!

 

It took Robbie a few tries to figure out what Rocko was for...but when he figured it out, there was NO stopping him.

 

"Hmmmm... he looks friendly enough."

 

 

"Let's see how this thing works!"

 

"It tastes like everything else in this room!"

"Steady boy!"

And here he is with that mischievous little smirk!

And of course this means that he can push ANYTHING around from one point to another now.



 

Like I said...and we thought we were tired BEFORE!



I'm a PUNKIN!

On Friday, we decided to take a pause from the vacation hullaballoo and stick close to home.  AJ got a haircut and he wanted to show his "spiky do" to Grammy.  Ryan was spending the day with Grammy so we decided to pay them a visit.  We packed up AJ's bike and helmet and let the two boys ride with the wind!  AJ had a blast with the "freedom" of riding "un-chaperoned" around the circle in Grammy's and Pepere's neighborhood.

The coolest kid on the block with his spiky do!



This is the face AJ gives me when I tell him not to say "cheese" and to just smile.  I don't know which is more "natural" lol!

Spending a little time with Grammy's plastic bunny pals!

Ryan read a little story to AJ before the bike riding fun began.  He's such a smart boy and an amazing story reader!

Now...OFF TO THE RACES!

AJ was so proud of himself for riding with his big cousin.  He just wanted us all to see that he was doing it all on his own.

 

 

The boys worked up an appetite and it was time to get some lunch.  Grammy treated them to a happy meal at McDonalds.  What we didn't expect was that this little lunch would turn into quite the silly fest.  Grammy saw a side of AJ that she had never seen before.  He kept us in stitches with this antics...a much needed dose of happiness and laughter.  I just love these two boys together.

 

While we waited for "slow poke Ryan" to finish eating, AJ got the brilliant idea to entertain himself with his happy meal box.  Yes, folks...this was ALLLLLLL AJ's idea.  In his mind, this little get up turned him into a "punkin".

 

 

I don't ever want to forget this day...it was a blast!  And my heart is happy and truly blessed.