Dr. Monday

With only 2 days left before we leave for Notre Dame (by way of Cincinnati) I began to chip away at my list of things to do. I have been feeling icky since Thursday night...Sunday night I started thinking it might be strep. Since I didn't want to be sick and in need of medicine while away, I made a quick call to get in to the doctor to check that out. I don't have Strep A but they sent away for the long strep test just in case. After the doctor, I rushed over to First Choice WHC to pick up Julie's kids who I watch on Monday mornings. It was fun fitting 5 kiddos (4 in car seats) in the minivan. Julie was running a bit late (normally she's done about 2:30) but I had a 3:00 doctor appointment for MJ. He had red dots under his eyes since Sunday morning and I wanted to get those checked out. We were 13 minutes late, though I called to give them a heads up, and they managed to squeeze us in. MJ being the big 2 1/2 year old he is was given big boy treatment. They tried to take his temperature under his tongue (which didn't happen, but they tried). Since he's been visiting doctors more lately (for both me and Joey) and reading books, he seems more aware of what's going on. Turns out they think the dots are just from crying while we were cutting his hair on Saturday. They could be bacteria related (hopefully the strep culture I had would show that is not the case).

We were totally hot and exhuasted from running around, so after the doctor, we headed out to the pool. MJ also seemed to learn some lessons at the pool and what happens when he breaks the rules because this time he was well behaved. He understood when the whistle blew it was adult swim time and we had to go to the small pool. I was able to nurse Joey then. Joey was really tired, so he went to the stroller while MJ and I swam for 10 more minutes. He also didn't throw a fit when it was time to leave. We then picked up my camera which I left at Molly's house (part of the reason I don' have any pics now) and headed home for dinner.

I should go tackle more items on my list... but it is just so nice to sit here in the quiet.

The rest of the week

This is Joey in the Double Jogging stroller from our Saturday rollerblading trip.

Monday Kristin and Pete came over for dinner. MJ was doing something cute and then asked if we could take a picture. Of course, by the time I got the camera, he was bored with the whole idea. But I managed to get this.

This is an old picture from when the Kazas came over. Catherine and Joey had a little bit of fun together. Oh, and very exciting news from this week is that we have a new neice. Maria Clare was born Wednesday night. There will be 4 Suarez grandkids in the same grade. Catherine, Joseph, Natalie, and Maria. Bobby and Suzanne will complete the cousins being born this year, but their little one is due in October and I guess technically would be in a different grade than Joey.

Oh, and while I have no picture of it. We tried out a new babysitter last night. I went out for a baby shower for my friend Molly. We had a terrific time. Our favorite babysitter, Jessica, is going off to college :-( but she has 4 younger sisters. The next in line, Sarah, is very nice. MJ and Joey were well-behaved and fell asleep just fine. Yay!

Park fun!

These were from our park day on Saturday. I thought I'd get Joey out of the stroller for a bit and try out some new things. While he can sit up on the floor, sitting up in a swing like this is a little tricky. But he had a blast.

MJ can do the bigger kid swings, but he has fun on these too.

Joey's a bit young for sliding, but we tried having MJ and Joey go down together. MJ loved it...Joey seemed a bit concerned.

I'm not sure why I suggested MJ try the monkey bars. You know it has only made our park trips more difficult. We have to lift him across the bars, but he is able to just hold on and hang by himself.

Last weekend

In a last ditch effort to catch up with this, I'm going to try to recap last weekend before this weekend arrives. Friday night we met up with Andrea and Andy Staron to celebrate Andy's birthday (a little belated). They live in Georgetown now. Our boys were suprisingly well behaved at dinner and then enjoyed hanging out in the 3x dorm room that the Staron's live in. Joey fell asleep in his car seat while MJ just enjoyed hanging out.

The cooler weather leant itself to fun outside time. Saturday we rollerbladed to the park. I may have mentioned the W&OD trail before, but it is really great. Joey had an amazing poopy day on Saturday. He seems to hold his BMs in for 3-7 days...and I guess Saturday was the day to let it all out. The first one he pooped all the way up his back to his shoulder. Impressive yes, but it happens to every baby. Then he had another poopy diaper. Okay, 2 ruined outfits in one day...it can happen. But then #3 came along. I mean, Wow kid! These cute pictures were taken at the end of the day when we were so close to bathtime that changing into clean clothes didn't make sense.

This is Joey trying to launch himself from sitting and then crawl towards the paper.

Sunday we were browsing Walmart and found a bicycle trailer that holds 1 or 2 kids. I've been looking to get one for awhile. While this one of the cheapest ones out there, it seems to do the trick. It's narrower than others, but that makes it easier to stay on narrow sidewalks. I'm a little concerned that when they are both bigger boys that they won't fit. Already they were sitting quite squished but they didn't seem to mind.

Bath-time!

I am still so far behind... I must make an effort to devote more time to blogging. I have had many great thoughts of things I wanted to share, but have forgotten them before I sat down to type. Last night I went to bed very early (9:30) instead of blogging. It was nice to sleep.

Anyway, about a week ago we tried to have MJ and Joey take a bath together. They both really like it. Joey likes to grab the ducks and letters floating around in the tub. And MJ doesn't even bring his cars in the bath like he used to b/c he only wants to play with Joey. It's very fun. MJ even tries to wash Joey with a wash cloth. He pours water on him (but not over his head).

Let's see, I think this cute picture is from Thursday. A neighbor was throwing out this table and it was just perfect for my collection. Mario thinks I'm gathering junk but I've been wanting a table to put our sandbox on for awhile. I found some cheapo kid tables for $8 or so, but I really didn't like how they looked so I didn't buy it. I figured free is the best price I could get. My hope is that it would help keep sand in the box and I think it's working.

Joey liked playing on the deck too. Wouldn't you know it, the little stinker was trying to pull the blanket back again and feel what's underneath.

Oh before I forget:

MJs new things: He says "Please, may I be excused" when he is finished eating at the table, I feel there is a light at the end of the terrible two discipline tunnel, and he is going on several weeks in a row where he's been really good in church. He tells us in a whisper-voice on the way to church "You have to be quiet in church b/c people are praying."

Joey's new things: Still eating solids, may be beginning teething, lunges from a sitting position and is really trying to crawl. He tries to reach for things but his movements seem to make him go backwards more than forwards. Oh and his 6 month numbers:
34 lb 3 oz, 28 7/8 inches
MJ was (at 6 months and 2 weeks) 37 lbs 4 oz, 28 3/4 inches

Little Friends

Mario had to be at a meeting early on Monday, so he left Sunday night. MJ was sad to drop his daddy off at the airport, and in his emotions decided he should bring his baby with him. Here he has the baby cuddled up in a blanket. It's cute to see him mimic how I care for Joey with his little baby. I don't think we've ever asked him to do that, he just likes it. He tries to feed the baby (Mario would prefer I not share that story) but he also holds the baby and burps him and then puts him down to sleep.

And now we'll skip to Wednesday, b/c I think I already shared the computer issues of Tuesday. Tabitha and her kids came over for lunch and to hang out in the afternoon while she ran to a quick appointment. She took baby Catherine (8 months old) with her. It was so great to see them all again. MJ is getting much better at playing nicely with his cousins. Peter (who is almost 3) ended up napping in the other bed in MJs room. I really wanted to sneak in and get a picture of them napping together because it was so cute, but I didn't want to wake them. While Peter, MJ, and Joey were napping I took the 4 older kids out to our pool to play. I wish I had gotten more pictures of all of them, but here's Joey playing near the older kids (Teresa, Mary, Elisabeth and Tommy).

And after they left we went over to Kristin's house for dinner. We try to get together every week. We really enjoy their company. We have MJ 2 1/2, Pete ~ 22 months, and Joey 6 months. I guess after sharing all morning, MJ had about had it. He

Computer Issues

I think it was Tuesday morning when our home desk top computer "died". I thought it was a huge issue because the screen showed rainbow colors and then the computer would no longer turn on. Mario is pretty handy with computers (though he hates to spend time working on them), so he thought he might be able to fix it, or we could just buy a new one. The deal he found was up Thursday night, and as we hadn't really decided by then, we didn't get a new computer. He was gone all week so I figured I could use my lap top until then. Well, Wednesday afternoon, the internet stopped working. So, I was without half of my brain; everything - everything is on our main computer for a few days. It was rough. Mario's flight was delayed Thursday night, so I guess he got in around 11:45pm. And when I woke up, he said he had fixed the computer already! He is so amazing. And I am so happy! I went and backed up all of our pictures, just in case, and will do more backing up today.

So, here is where we left off on our great weekend. Saturday night we went to a moonbounce birthday party. MJ is usually scared of those (I think b/c kids are typically screaming in delight, though he thinks they are being tortured). Mario ran around a lot with MJ getting him used to it, and buy the end of the night he was flying through those things like it was his job! It's so fun to see them grow and overcome challenges.

Sunday we tried "Moon Sand". This is one of our new favorite toys. It's kind of cool stuff... if feels like sand but molds kind of like brown sugar. It claims it will never dry out. This is Mario actually saying "cheese" for the camera. Maybe I'll have to choose a different word for pictures.

Joey is getting a bit more used to new foods. He alwasy like rice cereal and oatmeal, but the other stuff wasn't so fun. He's getting more used to pears and carrots. He loves to try to drink from a cup. I end up squeezing a bit of the water out of the cup and he kind of swallows it. After that, he smiles so big and seems quite pleased with the new beverage. Drinking from a non-sippy cup or a water bottle also works. It's a little tricker to pour it in his mouth, but he likes it too.