Passport Photos...

We went to WalMart today to get passport photos done for the boys.  We figured that at some point this summer we may like to take a road trip (possibly to the US) and if we were to do so, then we would need passports for the boys.  What a disaster!  The boys were not really wanting to sit on the chair to have their pictures taken.  We finally got Nicolas to sit and the photographer snapped a few pictures.  The big problem with all of them was that his mouth was open!  How exactly do you get a 2 year old to sit for a picture and not have his mouth open at all?

It seems ridiculous to me that the strict rules and guidelines for passport pictures apply to young children.  The photographer even mentioned that due to the flash and the "thinness" for the boys' ears, we would need to put electrical tape behind their ears to avoid the weird shadowing.... ???  I think we will try to go to another place to get them taken since Steve is pretty sure the photographer was probably following the rules a little too closely for a 2 year old.

On a side note, Steve and I have been together officially for 14 years!  It almost seems impossible but there it is... 14 years together and almost 7 years married!

Where did that come from?

While Steve was away in China, Grandma was here for the first part of the week.  Nicolas and Zachary's vocabulary has increased significantly in the past few months and even more so in the last few weeks.  Nicolas calls Grandma, "amma" which makes complete sense to me.  Zachary, on the other hand, chose to call her "Mom-I".  How he got that from Grandma is a complete mystery to me.  I took a video of it because it is just too funny.  As of yesterday, Nicolas also started calling her Mom-I...

Daddy is home!

Daddy has come home from his week long business trip to China.  It was a long week for him and by the looks on the boys' faces this morning when they saw him, Daddy had been away for too long a time as well.  They are just so happy to have him home.  Zachary will not leave his side and Nicolas will make sure Daddy is in sight at all times.  Seeing just how much the boys missed him makes me so happy... they obviously know what a great Daddy they have!

On a side note, here are a few silly pictures of the boys sporting their new sunglasses...

Zachary:

Nicolas:

A walk through the mall

We went out for a walk in the mall today because it was just too cold to be outside.  There was a lot of hand holding with the boys, Aunt Kiki and Nana.  It got to the point where the boys wanted to hold each other's hand.  Thankfully Aunt Kiki had her cell phone and snapped this very cute (not so great quality) picture.

Just some fun (and cute) pictures...

The boys and I have been loving this gorgeous spring like weather.  Let's just hope it sticks around!

Zachary:

Nicolas:

Our new playground!

The boys were very fortunate that their older cousins Lauryn, Katie and Sabrina outgrew a climbing toy they had at their house.  And were lucky enough to inherit this toy.  Steve picked it up from his sister's house last Fall and didn't have the time to clean it up and put it back together before Winter hit.  So, it sat in our backyard all Winter.  It was so beautiful and warm out this weekend that he decided to tackle this job and it went much better and faster than expected.  It is fully functional and in our back yard.  The boys are already enjoying it...

Zachary way at the top:

Nicolas just loving it:

All about Nicolas...

Nicolas is my little academic.  He loves to learn and is fascinated by letters and numbers.  I usually hear him playing with his toys and singing the alphabet.  He knows it all (there are a few letters he can't pronounce and some that he makes a sound for) and can recognize all the letters in their capital and lower case form.  He can now count to ten and can also recognize the numbers.  Whenever we go anywhere, he will point out letters and tell me what they are.  He seems to amaze everyone who sees him.

He is my little cuddle bug.  He loves to sit close to you and cuddle up.  It is rare that when myself or Daddy is nearby for him to not be playing right along side of us.  He gives such great hugs and typically they come out of the blue.  And for some reason he adores being tickled.  His laugh is infectious so there are generally a few tickle sessions per day.

He is very independent and does not mind playing by himself.  He will sit quietly and look at books or will play happily with his letters on the easel.  He loves puzzles and will line up his cars over and over, looking at each one with great attention.  The hot wheels have the kind of car it is listed under each car.  He can point out almost everyone we have (20+ cars) and can even relate them to the real world cars.  A VW beetle drove by us today while we were walking and he pointed right to it and said "beetle".

He is also very accomodating.  He will generally be the one to give in to his brother.  He is great at sharing and helping out.  If Zachary drops a toy he was playing with, Nicolas will usually pick it up and give it back to him.  But on the flip side he is smart enough to be manipulative as well.  It all started when he was a baby and Zachary had a toy he wanted.  He knew that if he fained interest in another toy, Zachary would try to take it from him, therefore freeing up the toy he really wanted!

Here is a little video of my smart little man, it's not the best but he's been camera shy:




I love this little guy to pieces and could not possibly imagine our lives without him...

All about Zachary...

I figured I would devote a post exclusively to each of the boys.  They are growing up so fast and I want a real snapshot of them to keep in my memory...

Zachary is a real, tough little boy.  He loves anything that would be deemed a "boy thing".  He loves cars, sports and tools.  He is so much like his Daddy, not only in looks but also personality.  He LOVES being the center of attention.  Nothing makes him happier than hearing someone tell him how cute he is.  And of course he hears that from me all the time!

He is such a smart little boy.  His vocabulary is amazing.  He seems to learn a few new words every day.  And the way that he analyzes a situation and the commonality between things is what I am finding the most fascinating.  If I mention a specific grandparent, he will immediately refer to the other.  Today while we were out walking, we noticed that there were a lot fo cars driving by, so I said that it was getting late and people were driving home from work.  He immediately asked about Daddy.  He knew he was at work and was wondering when he was coming home.

His latest trick is to blame Nicolas for everything.  He could be in the middle of doing something he knows he's not supposed to and if you call him on it, his immediate response is "No, Nico".  It is hilarious!  It seems crazy to me that he has already figured out that there is someone else to blame.  I knew that day would come but I never figured it would be quite so soon...

His athletic ability is quite surprising for a 22 month old and has been for a while.  He can throw a ball straight at you from a few feet away.  And he can swing a golf club like a pro!  He seems to love golf and walks around with his golf club a lot.  Here is a little video of him hitting a small ball with his club.  According to his Daddy, his form is impressive...




What can I say, he is a great little boy and I love him to pieces!  What would we do without him??

Sesame Street

I know that Sesame Street was a huge hit for me when I was a kid.  It was a show I loved to watch.  The funny thing is that my boys are probably the only two boys in the world that are terrified of Sesame Street!  Honestly, they are so scared that they generally start to tremble whenever they see it on tv or even a picture of the characters.  It's not like there is one character in particular that scares them, they all do!

So, Sesame Street will not be watched in our house... for now at least!

Rough Night...

We have been doing so well in the sleeping department.  It has been weeks since the boys ahve woken up at all during the night even with having a little cold.  I am so proud of my big boys!  We even spent two nights at Grandma and Grandpa's house with little interruption to their sleeping.  We had a very short nap the first day but slept through the night both nights and had a great nap the second day.

Just when I though our sleeping woes were over, Zachary decided to prove me wrong.  Nicolas woke up briefly around 11:00 last night and was quickly comforted back to sleep (took about 10 minutes).  While I was up with Nicolas, Zachary woke and Daddy went in to see him.  I quickly settled Nicolas back into his back and went to see Zach.  He was awake and crying off and on until 3:00!  I am sure he slept a little in between the crying and spending time with me, since there would be stretches of over 30 minutes.  But, I spent that entire time awake since every time I would get myself to sleep, he would start crying and asking for me again.

It seemed like a big deal at the time since all I wanted to do was sleep.  But the little sleep I did get last night allowed me to realize this morning that there could be much worse things that one rough night.  And so, I faced this morning with a smile and big kisses for my big boys.

I was also lucky to have a few visitors that helped pass the time this morning.  The boys were so excited to see Papa show up.  They got to spend almost two hours with him before he had to hit the road.  Hopefully he'll be able to stop by on his way back home on Wednesday.  Auntie B and Natalia also popped in for a visit and so did Aunt Jinny and Timmy.  It was a busy morning but just what I needed to stay awake!

Poutine...

Zachary had his very first taste of poutine today at lunch.  And he loved it!!  He was also lucky enough to get to taste the very best poutine from Village Greque in Lennoville.  How I miss the days of eating poutines on a regular basis...

So much fun...

I had my cousin's son, Thomas, with me and the boys all day today.  I was watching him so that she and her husband could be at the hospital with her daughter.  Thankfully the surgery went great and their daughter is doing very well.

So, I had three boys with me all day yesterday and what fun it was!  Thomas is almost 4 1/2 and has so much energy!  He is a great kid and was wonderful with my littler men.  I only had to remind him a few times that they were younger and couldn't do quite as much as he could.  He's just not used to be the oldest one since he is generally always the younger boy in the group.  He taught them how to play tag and by the time he left tonight, the boys were chasing each other down the hall saying "tag".  It was adorable!  I think the boys were a little sad to see him go.

I tried to snap a few pictures of the three of them together but they never sat still long enough for me to do so.   This is the best I could do...

Thomas and Zachary taking a break from tag:

Thomas and Nicolas playing tag: