Dylan is now 2

Dylan had his 2nd birthday this last weekend. He seemed very excited about it. We had a small party for him with a few of his friends and their siblings as well as Uncle Rich and Aunt Toni. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a great time playing outside in the front and back yards.

I had grand plans to bake a cake but it didn't quite happen. So plan B was going to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cake which turned out to be very popular. I should have bought a bigger cake (or an extra quart of ice cream) because it was gone with several kids asking for seconds.


After the party we opened up a few of his presents. Big brother and sister were very eager to help. He definitely likes this talking Elmo toy but his favorite seemed to be a carmel lollipop that Gina gave him. It was the first thing he asked for after his nap.

Dylan is turning into an interesting little kid. He has some similar characteristics with Gina and some with Andrew. He can be so serious sometimes and other times his face lights up with joy. He has started throwing tantrums too. Sometimes he will just put his head down and refuse to look up. Other times he starts biting my pants or kicking. He wants to be included in what ever big brother and sister are doing.

On Monday I brought cupcakes to Dylan's daycare for snack time. The kids sat outside to eat them. Dylan took one bite and then just held his cupcake and wasn't interested in eating it. Maybe it had too much frosting. His friend Katrina though thoroughly enjoyed hers.

Growing Up

Last Monday this is what I saw when I got up at 7am. Gina dressed, with her hair (mostly) brushed and in a ponytail, and busy making her lunch of peanut butter and huckleberry jam sandwich (her favorite at the moment). Andrew had also figured out how to get dressed ALL BY HIMSELF. I think that was a first. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself with all the extra free time. Of course everything was back to normal the next morning, though Andrew did decide to pick out his own clothes and get dressed without any fuss.

I would love to have a few more of these mornings.

Halloween Fun

Yesterday was one long day of costumes and sweets. In the morning, Andrew had a Halloween parade at his daycare. Every year, all the kids walk to the eagle in front of the VA Hospital and the doctors and nurses come out to watch. The police even escort the kids. Even though we have been there 6 years, this was the first year I got to see the parade and Vic came as well. It was a little wet, but the rain held off long enough for all the kids to walk to the eagle and back without getting wet. Here is Andrew Superman with his best friend Colin. They were very cute holding hands during the parade.
In the afternoon, Gina's school had her Halloween carnival. Because of the rain earlier in the day, all the activities were in each classroom instead of outside but they still had the parade out on the blacktop. Below is Gina's class. Gina and her friend Noya were both Supergirl. Usually the parade consists of the principle called out " All Superheroes" and all the superheroes run around on the field. This year they didn't have the microphone set up so each grade paraded around the circle. It was still fun.

Then at night it was time for trick or treating! The two superheroes and the baseball player were ready to go. Dylan followed big brother and sister up to each house and then was very excited afterwards and showed off what he got each time. Boppa came with us while Vic manned the candy bowl at home. The rain held off and the kids got plenty of candy.


Last year they ate some of the candy and we ended up throwing a lot of it away in the end. This year I've convinced them to save their seven favorite pieces and then we are going to send the rest to a soldier in Iraq to share with his buddies. So hopefully this year the candy will all be enjoyed.

Pumpkin Carving

After putting off the kids for several days, we finally got around to carving one of the pumpkins. Last year we carved it several days after Halloween so this is an improvement. Gina was very excited about scooping out all the goop and then roasting the pumpkin seeds. Andrew was more interested in tasting the raw pumpkin flesh which he says he liked. Dylan wanted to help, put his hand inside the pumpkin and then decided he didn't like the gooey stuff and demanded that his hands get washed. Andrew was happy to just draw a face on his pumpkin.