The Summer Story

So Tyto's favorite thing to do right now is to tell stories. Or rather, have me tell stories based on the characters in a "Spreckle Story," which is something Emily Elizabeth tells Clifford. I take some liberties, of course, and Tyto keeps me in check when I get off base. The thing that drives me crazy is that the second I'm done with my story and say, "the end!" he says, "do another one!" Not even one second pause to appreciate the story he just heard. It is in this spirit that I blog our "Summer Story." Me: One day Spreckle and his family decided to visit Nana, Papa, Grandpa and Kookie in Colorado for their summer vacation! It was a long way to go and they had to ride an airplane.
Tyto: And they took Mama and Tyto and Tristan and Chi with them!
Me: Yes, they all came, too.
Tyto: And when they went through the tunnel at the airport, what did Chi say?
Me: Oh, Chi was very, very scared. Tyto had to hold her hand because it was very dark and there were scary monsters in the tunnel.
Tyto: And they jumped out and scared Chi and she screamed!
Me: Yes, but then Chi realized that Tyto was holding her hand and that she would be okay. Then she saw that the monster was actually Elmo and he asked where they were going and when he found out they were going to Nana and Papa's he asked if he could come, too! So, he climbed in the car..
Tyto: they opened the back door for him...
Me: yes, they opened the back door for him and he climbed in and they went to the aiport and bought their tickets.
Tyto: and Cookie Monster was there selling the tickets!
Me: yes, and Cookie asked them where they were going and when he found out they were going to Nana and Papa's, he asked if he could go, too. They said yes and bought some cookies from him as well and they all got on the plane.
Tyto: And who was the pilot?
Me: Funny you should ask.. Mama took Tristan up to get his picture taken with the pilot and it was Grover! And he asked if he could come to Nana and Papa's house, too! So they all took off and Big Bird was the flight attendant and Oscar the Grouch was another passenger and he asked for a drink of...
Tyto: trash!!!
Me: yes, trash!! He wanted a trash drink, it was delicious. Nobody else drank that, though. Everyone else wanted lemonade and cheesy crackers.

Tyto: Except Tristan who got milk.

Me: You're right, Tristan can't drink lemonade, yet, so he had milk. When they landed, they got their car and drove past the big blue horse with the red eyes and stopped to buy flowers for Nana from Chip and Dale, who also asked if they could come to Nana and Papa's.

Tyto: And then Dave was selling papa cheese so they stopped to buy that for Papa!

Me: You're right, it wouldn't be fair to just bring Nana a present. So, Spreckle and his family, mama, Chi, Tristan, Tyler, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar, Grover, Chip, Dale, and Dave all went to see Nana and Papa.

Tyto: And Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

Me: Where did we pick them up?

Tyto: They were on the plane, too!

Me: Okay. So they all surprised Nana! When Nana came to the door she said, "oh my goodness! Look at all these people! Tyto, Tristan, give me a hug! Goodness, I'll need to order some more pizza!"

Tyto: With Canadian bacon and tomatoes!

Me: Yes, all different kinds. While they were waitinig for the pizza, they decided to go up to Boulder to play in the river and on the mall.

Tyto: And they played in the rocks and touched the fountain!
Me: Yes, and then they went into the river and it was very cold, and mama was a bonehead and didn't bring swim suits for anyone so they got a little wet from the river. But it felt good and it was beautiful.

Me: And when they got home that evening, they were very tired and very hungry and the pizza still wasn't there. So they had to go to bed without dinner and they were very sad...

Tyto: But then Daddy came over and brought doughnuts for everyone!

Me: And they had doughnuts for dinner? Really?

Tyto: Yes! It was a healthy dinner, I promise!

Me: I don't know about that, but okay. So after eating their healthy donut dinner, they all crashed into their beds exhausted from their long day, ready to catch some zzzzz's so they could go on another adventure tomorrow.

Tyto: And they went to the firestation for a panpake breakfast when they woke up! And there was a parade!

Me: Was it for Buffalo Bill Days?

Tyto: Yes, and they got candy!

Me: Cool. Then after the parade they came home and rode cars down the street through the sprinklers.

Tyto: And then they went to Casa Bonita and went into Black Bart's Cave and there was a hand!

Me: A big scary hairy hand that came out and them and growled and they screamed and started running but then they heard a voice that said, "stop!" and they said, "no! you're scary!" and the voice said, "no, I'm just a hungry bear, that was my stomach you heard, not me growling. I've been hibernating for a long time, do you think you could get me some sopapias?" and they said "sure!" and they went out and came back with the biggest platter of sopapias you've ever seen

Tyto: and honey

Me: yes, and honey and they had a picnic in the cave and then they went and saw a puppet show.

Tyto: And then they went to the acquarium!

Me: And they saw fish and fed the rays and got a Shamu tattoo! Weren't they lucky!

Tyto: And they saw the karks, too!

Me: Yes, they saw the sharks, too. Then they were so tired, they had to go home and go to bed. By then, the pizza had finally arrived so they ate their pizza and then they said "sweet dreams" to everyone and climbed into their beds and went to sleep. Good night and THE END!

Tyto: Tell me another Speckles story! The one about going to the Hermosa Beach fair!

And on and on it goes, all day long sometimes. I don't have to worry about too much television rotting his brain because he definitely has a pretty good imagination thus far. Hopefully, he'll be able to tell some of these stories to Tristan when he gets big enough. Tristan, by the way, is adorable!! He is such a love and has that perfect baby gushiness going on right now. He's got dimples where there aren't joints in his legs and arms, he's in 9-month clothes already and he's just super curious about the entire world. 50% of the people we know say he looks just like Tyler, the other 50% say he doesn't look a thing like his brother. They aren't twins, but you can definitely tell they are related. I suspect/hope they will be good friends. Tyto already makes Tristan laugh and smile as he runs around and Tristan just beams at him. One of my favorite parts of the day is in the morning when Tristan and I have been up for about an hour and Tyler finaly gets up around 6:30. Tristan and I go in to wake him up and Tyler just grabs for his baby bro to give him a big hug, then they lay on the carpet together just snuggling (or smothering in some cases, I never thought I'd have to say, "Tyler, stop licking your brother!"). I just love it!

Ah, and we'll end this post with a photo of my boys on the beach. I'll be glad when Tristan can wear sunscreen and I won't be so freaked out about burning his irredescent skin. Oh, and here's alittle movie of Tyto at summer art class.









Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

July Fourth, Poruth, Mourth, Sourth, Tourth....

"Pores, Mama! We're making pores!" Tyler came rushing into the kitchen on the Fourth of July fresh from the rooftop deck with Daddy, all out of breath to tell me about all the fun they were having up top making s'mores in the chimeria (they were pretty darn tasty-no wonder he was excited). His language skills are a constant source of entertainment for us. "What is all this crap floating in the air, Daddy?" he asked that same day, parroting my question regarding the ash coming out of the chimeria. Time to really start watching our language, I think. He also likes to rhyme and has developed his own language just by rhyming (I am often referred to as mommy-sommy-tommy). We had a great Fourth of July weekend with most of the days spent at the beach. We're now able to venture deeper into the water with Tyler screaming and holding my hand and loving every moment of it (me, too). Tristan already loves the ocean as well and he sleeps especially peacefully in the Baby Bjorn to the sounds of the ocean as John and I take turns walking up and down the beach with him. On the way home each day we got Tyto a special treat of bubble gum ice cream to eat in his stroller. Every passerby made some sort of comment about him and his patriotic blue bubblegum mess all over the place.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books



While Tristan did not get any bubblegum ice cream, he's not going to be too far behind Tyto once he gets up and running. He already has his first tooth, is wearing 6/9 month clothes, rolls over easily and will sit in his chair and watch his big brother with his huge saucer eyes hop across the room. You can tell he can't wait until it's his turn. Tyto can't wait, either. He LOVES his little brother and constantly is giving him kisses and hugs (to the point where you can see him visibly shaking) and states, "I think he likes me! He's my best friend." It is truly adorable. So, here are some more photos of what we've been up to:

Sleep in a bed? Why would I want to do that when Mama and Thimila will hold me all day?

I'll have this monkey for breakfast by the time I'm 6 months old!

Best friends!

Staring war! I will win, don't even try.

Tyto at Pint-sized sports class, which we have recently dropped due to lack of interst since the swings on the playgroup are a bigger draw.
Can you build it? Yes we can!
Tristan LOVES his bath. Rub a dub dub.

The Summer of Love

Snooze and dream, dream and snooze

Ah, summer. Now that things have slowed down for me work-wise, I'm trying to relax and just enjoy the summer with the boys. My guilty pleasure is sleeping with Tristan during nap time. As Tyler would say, "he's so cuddly!" We've been getting out quite a bit and I'm learning how to handle our excursions better (Tristan HATES the car). I think there is nothing worse than having an infant screaming in that hysterical rage cry and not being able to do anything about it because you are driving. One minute of that seems like 20. And, to make matters worse then you've got a toddler screaming at you as well, "Tristan's crying!" As if I couldn't tell. But, like I said, I'm learning how to manage it a little better. This summer Tyler has classes - Pint Sized Sports, Pee Wee Picasso, and Music Together - all down at the rec center which is walking distance from our house. Then we'll toodle on down to the beach for some sand time. And, we've also picked up a new friend! Thimila (pronounced chimeeela) came to live with us as our au pair in May. She is wonderful and we love her and hope she never goes back to Brazil! Tristan is completely in love with her and Tyler is, too, most of the time. It warms my heart to hear him giggling madly out on the deck with her while I tend to Tristan. It's going to be a good summer!
Mutual curiosity.
Tyto and Thimila, they both have so much energy!
Katie Shea visits us from Las Vegas and....
coaxes out a big smile from Tristan!
Tyler and Grandma having fun in the playroom.
Wide eyed and bushy tailed.
The pouty chef king. The only way I could get his picture was by asking if I could take a picture of his oven mits!

Cute and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly.
Tyto, Kookie, Grandpa and Tristan (in the sling) at the beach.
Tyto and Thimila at the aquarium.
Some how shaving cream and finger paints have become a daily ritual, and painting his body is the first thing Tyler likes to do!
With Daddy on the train in Torrance.

Chaos and Cookie Crumb Kisses

Our household is, to me, in chaos. There are toys everywhere. Baby blankets are all over the dining room table. Baby clothes are all over the sofa in various stacks of "too small, fits, and will eventually fit." Hats and socks are on the end tables. Playdough squishes under my toes when I walk into the kitchen. Bottles and sippy cups have taken over the kitchen counter along with cookies and Lysol wipes. There isn't a corner of living space in this house that doesn't include evidence that we have small children and I'm relishing it for I know it's fleeting and this time is going to go by so fast. "Everything is perfect, just as it is" is a saying my yoga friend once told me when I was complaining about the mess and she's right. So, as I sat down to do this post I found a ton of pictures I wanted to include that didn't exactly fit into a cohesive outline or story. Most are of my adorable boys and while I know that most parents think their kids are the most beautiful kids in the world (thank God we all do), I'm pretty sure that mine really are. Tristan at 3 weeks - I love this photo! He wore this outfit once and then outgrew it the next day.
This child gets a ton of kisses on his beautiful dark hair. The ones from Tyler usually leave behind cookie crumbs.
Tyler gives Elton John a run for his money.
Tyler had to give Tristan a hug - what a sweet boy!
Tyto greets me from preschool with a mustache, beard and glasses. What a great disguise!
Breakfast with the firetrucks. Let's not waste one second of the day staying dry.
Loving sharing the backseat with his new bro on the way home from the hospital.
Papa and Tristan!
Tiny tootsies!
Tyler insists Tristan join the picnic.

Adorable!
I can't stop kissing this head!
Elf?
Tyto's pineapple "wand."
Nana and Tristan!