1st Day of Preschool

Today was the first day of preschool and Andrew was excited and ready to go! I was a little worried because we have battled separation anxiety quite a bit this summer when going to Sunday School. But that was not the case this morning! He was excited to go to Miss Staci's class. He ran into the classroom and washed his hands right after he hung up his backpack.

And I received a good report from his teacher and from him when I picked him up! When I asked what he did in school, the first thing he told me was that they played outside. He couldn't remember anything else without some prompting. Oh, and snack was a popsicle with white stuff inside that was like ice cream, but different. I don't know exactly what this means, but it made a big impression.

On the way home Andrew was also telling me that he was sad because he didn't get to be a leader or a helper. It was also the first thing he told Keith when he called. I tried to explain that his teacher has a list and everyone gets a turn to be a helper and a leader. "But she didn't call my name to be a helper!" Oh, the traumas of preschool! How I wish his life could stay this simple!

18 months old

puppy boy!

brotherly love!

I'm way behind in posting this, but Jonathan had his 18-month check-up earlier this month and he's a very healthy little boy and he's still little (although he doesn't seem little)! Here are his stats:

weight: 25 lbs (35 percentile)

height: 33" (66 percentile)

compared to his 15-month stats:

weight: 22 lbs 8 oz (19 percentile)

height: 32" (72 percentile)

He is saying more and more words everyday! Some words are: mommy, daddy, anu (Andrew), on, all gone, ball, boom, huh?, more, bapa (backpack), bubewwy (blueberry), this, out, and ow. I'm sure there are more, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Of course, there is the grunting and pointing method of communication also. Even with few words, we always seem to know what he wants!

He plays quietly by himself, but also likes to play whatever Andrew is playing and imitates everything his big brother does. Jonathan sometimes thinks he is 4 and then we have to remind him that he is till just 1. He is growing up so fast!

Nutella + peanut butter = big mess!

Andrew watched the mess and managed to stay very clean thanks to his strong dislike/fear of peanut butter and anything that might have nuts. He's very wary of a food called Nutella, even when I try to trick him by calling it chocolate sauce. I guess his fear is good considering his cashew allergy!

We have discovered Nutella at our house. This stuff is ridiculously good! Just ask Jonathan. I'm not sure if he got as much in his mouth as he got all over his face and hands! The funny part is that I put the Nutella and PB on a cracker, and he basically licks it off the cracker leaving the cracker completely in tack and then screeches for "Mo!"

Luke's Baby Dedication

Last Sunday we went to Hutch for Luke's Baby Dedication. He was a perfect angel the whole time.

prayer of dedication with the elders

destroying a magazine

Oh, those cheeks!

the happy family

Flying home...

Watching the DVD player together

In desperation, I gave the boys dum-dums about 15 minutes before we landed. Andrew promptly fell asleep. Why didn't I hand out dum-dums earlier in the flight?!

Sadly our vacation came to an end last Friday and here are a couple of pictures of the boys on the airplane. They did great even though they were tired. Jonathan took a 20 minute catnap during our layover, not nearly long enough. But just long enough that he wouldn't go back to sleep on the plane.

Cell phone update: Well, my lost phone has been found. In my parents car no less. (My mom looked in her car several times, and called the phone multiple times to help in finding it, but someone had switched it to silent mode and so it didn't ring.) And this of course happened after I bought a new phone and signed up for a new two-year contract. *sigh* At least I have all my contacts again and a back-up phone!

Thursday - Chowder and Clam Cakes!

The whole gang before we dug into the yummy chowder and clam cakes!

Grammy stirring the chowder.

Grandpa and Audra prepping for dinner.

Andrew teaching Grammy how to play his Leapster.

Dave and Ben - how sweet is this picture?

Reading time with the boys

Grammy reading to Cate and Andrew

Tanya reading to Cate and Andrew

Relaxing after the kiddos are in bed and gearing up to play some Skip-bo.

Thursday was our last day of vacation, and we had a relaxing day! It was another cloudy, rainy day, so we drove to Nashau and had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and then we went shopping at the Christmas Tree Shop, my favorite place to find a bargain and great Polish pottery. We also found some cute Red Sox clothes for the boys at the Super Wal-mart and then headed back home for some yummy Manhattan Clam Chowder and Clam Cakes. I failed to copy the recipes, but I'll try to get them soon and post them. Sooooo good! Sadly after dinner it was time to pack our stuff and get everyone to bed and ready to leave bright and early in the morning. It was a great vacation, but like all good things, it had to come to an end.

Wednesday - Canobie Lake Park

The tired gang after a fun day at the park.

The Fleury Family

Cate

Andrew and Cate

Cate and Andrew

Jonathan was thrilled to finally be put on a ride! He didn't want to get off at the end of it and didn't seem to understand there were more rides to ride.

Ben and Andrew

Jonathan, Tanya, Audra and Andrew on the relaxing train ride.

Auntie and Jonathan

Ben, Audra and Cate on the Frog Jumper

The merry-go-around

Bouncy cars

Jonathan was happy to watch the kids ride for a little while and then he wanted a turn too!

helicopter ride

Dave and Ben rode the scary Skater!

A little Skeeball

Tired of waiting in lines...

Wednesday morning, was cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, so we knew that a day at the lake was not a great idea. Audra and Keith found Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH, so we packed up and went to the amusement park. This was Andrew and Jonathan's first experience at an amusement park and they LOVED it! There wasn't much of a wait for the kiddie rides and we had lots of photo ops. It was a great day, and everyone was tired and took great naps on the drive home!