Baby Chores

Gus is totally obsessed with the vacuum. He comes flying from wherever he is the second it comes out. He MUST hold onto the handle and "push" the whole time. It is so funny because at this age Reese was still crying and I had to hold him on the couch while Kyle vacuumed. Gus has his little tongue out half the time because he's working hard, you know.
Since Gus makes it seem so fun Reese actually participates some now too. I think this is mostly because he realizes Gus is "a baby" and can do it, so he should too.I think Kyle will be happy when Gus can just take over the job, because it kind of elongates the whole process now.

The Plague

The plague hit our home. Reese woke up about midnight one night hacking and wheezing. He seemed like he might cough until he threw up so I took him in the bathroom where he spent about 10 minutes hacking over the toilet. His fever was 104. UGH....so we took some ibuprofen and turned on the shower steam and then went out on the porch to breathe the cold air. Eventually he fell back to sleep. The next day he laid on the couch watching tv all day. He awoke from his nap crying hysterically, fever 105. So I called the pediatrician. They were able to fit us in. They decided it was croup from the parainfluenza virus (since normally croup has a lower fever.)We spent about 5 days with the super high fever before it finally tapered off. Then the snot came...ugh it lasted forever. I found these forehead things called Be Kool, that are gel-like stickers. They were very cool..he said they made him feel better.

In the middle of this Kyle got 3 days of flu symptoms. I washed my hands so much they were about to crack off. But it worked because I only got a couple of days of sore throat, no actual cold or flu. Hooray. Gus just got mild runny nose. This was all back in the second week of March.
Now, of course, the plague got me. I had a week of headaches, went to the eye doctor thinking my prescription must have changed. It barely did. Turns out it was a sinus headache, then the snot came...ugh. I am really hoping today this is the last of it. This is spring break and we had big plans. I don't want to have to reschedule everything!

Menu Plan Monday

During my blog lapse I was actually still menu planning. We discovered a new awesome recipe. I don't really know the rules of posting non-original recipes. Mine comes from Mark Bittman's Food Matters cookbook. At first glance I thought this cookbook had a lot of weird food in it. But each recipe we try we really like and makes me feel more open to some of the weird recipes. In fact I just found one and I thought "hmmm, this seems so normal, why did I think it was weird?"

"Cannellini with Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Sausage" from FoodMatters Cookbook
3 TBSP Olive Oil
8 ounces Italian Sausage (I use 6 ounces)
2 TBSP minced garlic
red chile flakes to taste...in another recipe he discusses the different ways to had heat, flakes, chili oil, hot sauce, peppers etc. and how each one adds it's own unique flavor but is really interchangeable in any recipe. I would NEVER have veered from the recipe before reading this. Dumb, huh? I find flakes give hot spots, so I add Arizona Gunslinger liquid to get a more uniform seasoning throughout the dish. ANy hot sauce you like will do.
salt and pepper
1 pound brussels sprouts, shredded or roughly chopped
1/2 cup white wine or water (I use the wine)
2 cups cooked cannelini beans drained. I used 1 1/2 cups dry pintos

1. (Paraphrasing) Put oil in skillet over medium. When hot add sausage, brown and break into small bits. Add garlic and chile flakes (hot sauce), cook for a minute or so.
2.add brussels sprouts and wine, stir frequently, cook until tender but crunchy, about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper.
3. add COOKED beans, stir occasionally, taste and adjust seasoning. I took the photo before adding beans because at this point I thought it would look really pretty with white beans, but my pintos were kind of ugly. It totally looked fine with the pintos.
He suggests serving over a cooked grain like farro, bulgur or cracked wheat. We just aren't ready for that level of crunchy granola-ness. So we just ate it in a bowl with no grain.

EVERYONE gobbled it. Even Gus:
On the menu this week:
Monday: Beans and Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Sausage
Tuesday: Baked (in marinade) Pork Chops, brussels sprouts gratin
Wednesday: Chicken Tetrazini, green beans
Thursday: out
Friday: Stirfry with brown rice
Saturday: Tortellini with peas and cream sauce
Sunday: Veggie Soup (I just make my own concoction of whatever we have: carrots, celery, onion, mushroom, diced tomatoes, green beans, peas, chicken and beef stock, small soup pasta and a little sausage. A salt-free seasoning like Mrs. Dash table blend, Turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper.)

Check out other menu ideas at Organizing Junkie.

Music Man

We record a few superhero cartoons and Scooby movies on the tivo. If I am sitting and watching I'll fast forward through the commercials. If not, Reese watches them. ugh. He discovered a "movie" he wanted to watch during the commercials. It was comcast's ad for Taylor Swift On Demand. So we went on YouTube and found the video in the commercial. "Mine" is the title but Reese calls it "put your arm for the first time" ha ha! The line in the commercial he heard over and over was "You put your arm around me for the first time." Reese wants to watch over and over again. Every time he tells me "I like her white dress", "OOO baby!!" and "He's 4 just like me!" These are the scenes of their wedding, new baby and 4th birthday cake. It cracks me up. He loves it. He also loves the Megamind dance to Michael Jackson's "Bad", so he watches Bad and Beat It too. It is so funny listening to him sing along. Whenever Kyle is in the car he plays those on his iPod and Reese just belts it out and dances in his car seat. Hysterical!

Brotherly Love

We are experiencing much more frequent cooperative play at our house. Yes Gus is somewhat demanding that he gets what he wants, when he wants it, but it is so lovely when Reese actually has some patience with him. They frequently play together doing the same activity. Gus is probably just parallel playing, but Reese is really trying to include his brother. I'm so happy they enjoy each other.
Tonight Gus had a fit at bedtime (unusual). It turned out he needed to give his brother a kiss goodnight before he could go to bed without complaint. Awww...so sweet!

Superheros

Literally every single day superheros invade my home.

Gus is operating the Iron Man full helmet with great skill these days. His little hand is pushing buttons that makes it talk. The other hand is holding the Indiana Jones whip Poppop helped Reese make at their last sleepover. At his feet is an Optimus Prime mask. All heros and their gear are welcomed here.It is so funny to me that Gus has gotten into the costumes so much earlier than Reese. I guess a boy must do what his big bro does as soon as he notices it's happening. Of course, gus has to have the legs and sleeves cuffed since all the suits are Reese's size.

But we wear our suits for all occasions, work and play.

They are shockingly agreeable when it comes to sharing. This is Reese in the full Iron Man suit and helmet. The Iron man suit was actually Reese's very first dress up costume.

On this day Reese declared Gus as Superman to be his Spiderman sidekick. I'm not sure what comic book Superman fans would have to say about that or about the Man of Steel riding on a cow. Reese is very into having a sidekick right now. Gus is just happy to be included in the fun.

The Batman suit came from Santa who I assure you searched high and low at a not Halloween season and paid top dollar to acquire said suit. I loathe it as it is ill-fitting (HUGE, hard chest, super skinny arms and legs). But both of the boys love it. Now we need Robin. The new Young Justice Robin has a way cooler suit than the old Robin. I hope there are costumes next Halloween.

So this is how we spend our days, hurling webs and leaping tall buildings (ottomans) in single bounds.

Catch up

So let me pick up where we left off, um, a month ago!! Whoa! I've been a blog slacker. I last blogged immediately following Reese's birthday.

He turned 4!!!
My dad came to visit for the big event.

He went home with a some cold germs and we went back to our regularly scheduled programming.

The Range

While my dad was here we decided to go out to the shooting range.

This particular gun is a little much for me especially with magnum rounds. We forgot to take photos using the 38s. I didn't actually hit the target much with this gun.

My dad and Kyle both had better luck (it's their experience I'm sure) than me.

They are working on the normal pistol range so we had to use these "bays" with a cool metal target thing on the left. There are six metal circles that make a very satisfying clink when you hit them. There is only one left standing in this photo. Then we used these cool neon under black targets so when you hit you see a neon splat around the bullet hole which is very helpful from way back where we have to stand.

We had fun and will definitely take my dad back again.

The Party

We celebrated Reese's 4th birthday with a party Saturday night. We had all the grandparents over for Lasagna and cake.

Reese changed his mind a lot about the kind of cake he wanted, so we just went to costco and let him pick from their options. When we went to pick it up he was a little surprised it wasn't Hulk, but he was pretty happy with the caterpillar...and all the Spiderman party supplies!
He blew his candle out on the first try.
He dug right into his red part....he ate none of the actual cake portion. He likes the icing, just like his mom.
He really enjoyed his gifts. He got the complete original series of Scooby Doo and an Optimus transformer you can see in this photo. He also got star wars figures and superheros, wedgits, a vtech map, a knight/king dress up "suit" (he is offended by calling them dress up clothes) and several movies as well as new clothes....size 4T.

He is such a big now!! He really enjoyed playing all his grandparents and is very happy with his new toys.

Grandpop's Visit

Grandpop came from VA to visit for Reese's birthday. We had to go to the grocery store for birthday dinner supplies. Of course we had to hit the in-store Starbucks.

The boys were a little wild after their vanilla steamed milks.

I'm not sure how we managed to not know about the $1 kid drinks! They were really happy to have their own cups of "coffee."

This crazy behavior was a good indicator of their antics the whole time Grandpop was here...they were crazy boys! They thoroughly wore him out.

Birthday with Grandpa

Last week we celebrated Reese's birthday and his great-grandpa's birthday at Kyle's parents' house. Reese turned 4 on the 16th and GGpa turned a bit older the day before. We had a nice visit with the great grandparents a couple nights last week and a shopping outing. Reese was VERY interested in Grandpa's loot. He helped open the cards and was right there at Grandpa's lap during all the opening process.

Reese and Gus were both really excited about Reese's gift. This is a dog bank. With each drop of a coin the ears wiggle and the dog barks. They love it. I guess now we need to start an allowance system so he can keep dropping coins in!!

We had lots of fun and we'll try to keep doing a joint party every February.

Birthday Boy

It does not seem possible that 4 whole years have passed since Reese arrived on the scene. After two weeks in the hospital trying to control my pre-eclampsia my antepartum team decided it was time. Each of my contractions (which I could not feel, but could see on the monitor) caused his heart rate to plummet and stay low too long. A c section was scheduled for the morning of February 16, 2007. After what seemed like an eternity, but they said was only about 15 minutes, Reese was out and whisked away to the adjacent recovery room. Once he was readied they rushed him out to the NICU holding him up as they went, but he was covered by a blanket so I couldn't see him. Eons later (about 7 hours) I was able to go up to the NICU to see him.

Reese 2/16/07 2 pounds 2 ounces (975 grams), 13 3/4 inchesThe halfway point:
February 2009 2 years old
Suddenly he is 4 years old! A few days ago we celebrated Reese and Great Grandpa's birthdays (more to come on that). Can you believe the difference? Our boy is so grown now.

February 2011 Since we will have Reese's party this coming weekend we decided to do a few birthday things today. We sang "Happy Birthday" at school. Afterwards we picked up Daddy from work and went to the Reese's favorite restaurant. You guessed it..McDonald's, where the boys played in the playland and had strawberry shakes. Then we headed to Walmart to pick out a birthday toy and party gear. Here we are in our driveway. He has his superhero action figures in his hands.

February 16, 2011 29 pounds, 39 inches (I think)
Our own little superhero is tuckered out from his big day.

Menu Plan Monday

We have been doing really well about not grabbing food out when we're on the go! We actually ended up having leftovers a few times, so we have strayed from the menu plan. But my new planning using the $5 Dinner Mom's menu/grocery list has really been helping.

Monday: Spicy Pork and Cabbage Soba --this is from the Food Matters Cookbook by Mark Bittman using Napa Cabbage, Soba Noodles and only 8 ounces of pork. This cook book has lots of great recipes that use the meat more as an enhancer than the star. This is a new favorite.
Tuesday: Fried Rice and egg rolls (this keeps getting booted for some reason, but we WILL eat it this week for sure!!)
Wednesday: Red Bean and Quinoa Chili from the Feeding your Whole Family cookbook by Cynthia Lair
Thursday: Bean and Butternut Squash Gratin...from Food Matters. This uses only a small amount of sausage, but is so flavorful. It's one of our new favorites.
Friday: probably eat out because my Dad will be visiting.
Saturday: the big 4 year old birthday bash! Lasagna, garlic bread, cesaer salad, cake

Check out Organizing Junkie for some more ideas!

Gus' 18 Month Well Baby

Gus turned 18 months the day after Christmas. Since my pediatrician's office won't schedule appointments 3 months out (i.e. when I was standing there at his 15 month appointment), the holiday vacations, my annoyance at calling daily only to be told maybe the calendar would be open tomorrow....Gus finally went to his appointment February 4th. SO, he was 19 months and a few days.
Gus has soared to the 19th percentile in weight! He is a chubby 24 pounds 15 ounces. He's 58th percentile for height, 33 inches. He hit all his milestones and fell well within "normal" range for communication, fine and gross motor skills and problem solving.

He now has 2 upper molars poking through as well as another tooth poking through on the bottom, for a total of 9 teeth. He absolutely loves to brush his teeth. Gus will all but shove Reese off of the stool in front of the bathroom sink in order to secure just the right spitting angle and to ensure he can fully reach the water with his tooth brush. He really wants to be able to rinse frequently. It's pretty funny. However, he is totally uncooperative when I brush his teeth. I usually have to lay him on the floor and brace his arms and legs down with my legs so I can try to crank open his mouth long enough to get a few reasonable sweeps with the tooth brush.

Gus is a climber. He can almost get himself onto our bed without help. He can get up on the couch without assistance most of the time. He wants to sit in Reese's high chair at the table whenever he can.

He loves play-doh and his wheelie bug cow. He likes to play with his Little People and workbench and trucks and anything that is in Reese's hand.
Since the windows are lower in the van he seems to really look out the window and notice things when we are driving. He loves the automatic door. If I open Reese's side, but not his (as I've been doing on the crazy windy days we've been having) he just has a fit, pointing and shrieking at the button over the rear view mirror I should be pushing to open his side too.

He's very interested in sweeping, shutting doors, wiping up spills and wiping his own hands and face...and fake coughing into tissues. he also really loves to flush the toilet. He wants to throw toilet paper in as well. He loves the bath, but hates the shower. Reese really liked the shower and that was so much easier to just let him shower with one of us. Gus cries the whole time, so it is easier to just do the bath routine.
Every day we are so surprised by some new "big boy" thing he does. He seems like a baby genius! I guess this just makes it clear how behind Reese was. Gus is very sweet and cuddly. He buries his head in my neck to snuggle before every single nap and bedtime. He copies butterfly kisses by fluttering his eyes at me...so darn cute!! He is quick to offer hugs to his brother whenever they are scolded for not playing nicely with each other. He happily responds to "Come on, Robin," hopefully he'll enjoy being the sidekick for awhile longer.
Gus loves to dance. I just never really remember Reese dancing much, but Gus dances to everything! Mostly the theme songs to Reese's shows. It is so funny when he busts out his dance moves to the Batman theme.
It is so shocking that Gus is now closer to 2 years old than to 1. The time has raced by. He is really getting big SO fast. Reese wasn't 33 inches until his 2nd birthday. He was only 29 inches at 19 months. In fact at this point Reese only weighed 18 pounds 3 ounces. Gus is 6 pounds 12 ounces more.
Gus is just the cutest little giggly guy. We love him so much!!

Menu Plan Monday

Our big news is that since the van purchase we haven't eaten out. Gus and I did not even have our traditional weekly Wendy's date while Reese was at speech! Since Reese had an ophthalmologist appointment at 4:30pm and we decided to save gas and time by consolidating our errands too. So...we decided to eat out. Reese chose...McDonald's, I know not my first choice for our only eating out occasion.

Monday: Reese's choice--McDonald's
Tuesday: Stir Fry with brown rice
Wednesday: Enchiladas (a la green sauce Old El Paso recipe), spanish rice
Thursday: Fried rice, egg rolls
Friday: Ham casserole

Saturday: fajitas, Homemade refried beans: Seriously I don't know what took me so long to do this..easy peasy! Soak pinto beans overnight, drain, cover with fresh water, simmer 90 minutes or so, drain. In a skillet saute onion, add beans, taco seasoning (when I run out of my costco jug I'll just use cumin, chili powder and garlic powder), mix and smash with silicone spatula...voila, YUM!

Sunday: spaghetti and meatballs

See what everyone else is eating at Organizing Junkie!

Nice Weather!

While the rest of the country is buried in snow we've actually had some nice play outside weather!
We've been trying to head out to play a little before school each day. Since Reese goes to school at 12:15, Gus has to nap as soon as we get home in order to get adequate sleep before I wake him up to pick Reese up at the end of school.
Each day we'd come home from dropping off Reese and Gus wanted to play outside. I felt so mean only giving him 5 minutes or so before taking him in to nap.They both have really been loving the before school play time.

Gus is very excited with himself when he climbs up on his little climber slide thing. They both really enjoy the swings too.

Gus' New Favorite Activity

Gus has discovered play doh. He LOVES it. He wants to play with it everyday. He also wants to sit in Reese's chair to do it.

Luckily Reese is happy to sit in a regular chair to play.

Gus has a difficult time sharing the play doh tools at this point, but he's still a bit excited at the newness of it. I realized I was letting Reese play with it much sooner than I did with Gus. So we're making an effort to sit at the kitchen table and let Gus do messy things.

They both are really happy with the messy playtime.