Friends

Well, Aaron got his first "you're not my friend anymore" declaration from Liam last night. Liam was misbehaving and got a toy taken away, so he decided Aaron was no longer his friend. It was a little sad. Then he said the same thing to Max today, about five times so far this morning. Guess it's not quite as permanent as first thought... ;)

Sanctuary

We've been whiling away the winter at the Wildlife Sanctuary!

We may have to have our mail delivered there since we're such frequent visitors!

Exhaustion

Maybe I'll get the energy to post pictures on the blog sometime over the next year. Not today, though. Liam was up running around his room (which is right over our heads) at 3:30am.  I went to get him back in bed and he was piling things under his pillow: a walkie talkie, pair of toy guns, a plastic dagger and miscellaneous "guys". I was not happy. I got him settled, got back into my own bed and then heard him run downstairs 10 minutes later  to go the bathroom. Fine. Now go to sleep. 15 minutes later, more running around. Dad goes upstairs. Dad returns to bed. Max wakes up. I go in to settle him. I get back into bed. Max starts screaming. Liam starts running again. I lie down with Max on the floor in a makeshift bed. He tries to get up a nd play. We do not fall asleep. We try sleeping in bed with Daddy...nothing works. We are all up for the day before 4:00.

Blah.

Misc.

It's been a loooooooong weekend of work (Fri-Sun) for me, and I'm finally enjoying today off. I know, three days doesn't sound like much, but it wears me right out after a day with the boys and working until the time I'm usually getting into bed. It was a good weekend of work though, with most nights leaving me feeling like I accomplished something at least.

I had my first Advanced Anatomy and Physiology class last Wednesday and really liked it. I have lecture and lab together on Wednesdays, which makes for a very long night, but it's good to get it over with in one shot. I think it's going to be a good semester.

Well, the boys and I are off to the Wildlife Sanctuary for the morning, and I predict Candy Land and Memory this afternoon!

Happy Birthday to Me!

And now it's time to take a little vacation in your mind to one of our favorite places:

Wave Pointe Marina & Resort in Little Sturgeon Bay.

We go every year for my birthday and take advantage of their seriously awesome off-peak rates. Their peak rates actually aren't that bad either, but we've never been there in the summer.

We love how quiet it is in the winter. Each suite has a balcony overlooking the bay.

And you have a great view of all the ice shanties! And the beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

If you need some time away, I'd definitely recommend Wave Pointe. Just don't go the same weekend we do. I'll be way too busy relaxing to visit with you!

Starving Artist

Sleeps like a...monkey?

When we went up to check on Liam the othe rnight, we found him sleeping like this:

He can always be found in pretty creative sleeping positions, even as a toddler he'd fall asleep with his feet up on the wall or with a bed full of legos. So cute.

Don't worry, we moved him!

A Door County Weekend

Aaron and I spent the weekend in Door County to celebrate my birthday. It was beautiful and relaxing, as usual! We had a great time and got some great pictures!

Worth a Thousand Words...

I'm still trying to catch up from the holidays, so here are some cute aunt and uncle pictures from our time up north!

Max and his "Uncle Jay"

Auntie Sarah and Max working on some art.

Auntie Kimmy and Max

And something that happened after a few light cocktails and card playing, I think. I can't be sure. And we may have been dared to do it. By my dad. Who then paid us each a dollar.

Grandpa's Boy

Sweet Maxwell

Max is in a super sensitive and emotional state right now. Liam has always been a very empathetic and compassionate kid, to the point where he cried with Penny in The Rescuers. Max on the other hand has proved to be a rough and tumble kid, unafraid to launch himself from the highest height and apparently unaware that he is not a 9 year old boy. Despite the 20 month old "jock" persona, he is turning into quite the sweet little boy. He gets very upset if he sees his brother crying, and is quick to give hugs and kisses to help people feel better.

He is also very intuitive and picks up on things suprisingly quickly. We have a book called "No, No, Yes, Yes" in which pictures of "bad" things are labeled "no, no" and "good" things are labeled "yes, yes." One page shows a baby hitting another baby with a toy hammer, "no, no". The facing page shows the baby playing nicely with the hammer and the other baby, "yes, yes." We have read this book without incident for months. Now, all of a sudden Max is horrified by it. He starts to scream and cry that the baby is getting hurt whenever we get to that page. We have had to hide the book because, like a car wreck, he can't NOT look at it! It's so sweet that he understands that the baby will be hurt if someone hits him, but it's also so strange that he is reacting this way so suddenly!

We've realized that some changes in his behavior seem to have happened right around the time of my grandpa's funeral. We prepped Liam on what to expect at a funeral for months, just so he wouldn't be confused, and he did wonderfully well through it all. I never thought that Max would even realize what was going on because he is still so little. He was happy for most of that day, and never really acted out in any way to make us feel like he might be having a hard time with things. Then we went back to my parents' house and he freaked out any time anyone would be napping or lying down with their eyes closed! He obviously put together that grandpa lying down with his eyes closed made people sad and he's really upset by that! I'm so sad for him, but also amazed at his reaction. That day was probably also difficult for him because so many people he knows and loves were sad and crying and he didn't know why. His reaction has been the same to a book with a turtle with its eyes closed and one with two kids going to sleep in their beds.

Max also remembers that grandpa is usually with Grandma Arlene when we see her, so he has actually been asking for him when he hears her name. It's adorable, and heartbreaking. It's so hard to explain anything in a way that he could understand, so we just tell him that grandpa went to heaven and hope he'll be ok with that.

Such a sweetpea...and of course now I'm fretting that I've scarred him for life.

Grandpa

Grandpa giving Liam his first fishing pole!

Christmas Roundup

Max Does Laundry

A little smile to brighten your afternoon:

Aaron gave both boys a bath last night while I was at work. He took Max out and got him in his pj's while Liam stayed in the tub for awhile longer. He went to grab Liam's pj's when he heard, "Ummm...dad?! Daaaaad." He came back to see what Liam needed and saw that Maxwell had opened the closed bathroom door, climbed into the tub and began playing happily in the waist-high water while wearing pajamas!

It is well...

Sorry for the lapse in posting. It's been a bittersweet holiday for us, and we've been trying to spend as much time as we can up north. We left from our latest visit yesterday after visiting with Grandpa Howard one more time. Maxwell was so cute saying "Grandpa!" and smiling. Grandpa looked very tired, so we only stayed for a little while. I'm glad we got to say goodbye.

Grandpa passed away this morning very peacefully, surrounded by the ones who love him.