Blow out the candle, I mean sparkler.

This birthday boy was awe-stuck the moment we brought out his sunflower cake on the porch, as we belted out heartily, "Happy Birthday, DEAR IVAN..." and the little balls of light exploded from the sparkler. "What on earth is going on here?"

(Mike, thanks for yet another great birthday cake photo.)

In his birthday suit...

    How can it be that a whole year has gone by? 

Last Wednesday, June 25th, we celebrated Ivan Alexander and the day he came into this world, the day we all became happier people. It is baffling to me when I look at pictures of him from last year. How can he have changed so drastically in 365 days? He started out as a precious eight pound bundle of sleeping and ever-nursing baby, and now would you look at him, our little mover and groover, who has such a rapidly developing personality, full of ever-changing emotions, joy, fascination, contentment, curiosity, frustration, sadness, loneliness, fear. Just like we, humans, all experience, but on a much higher, more intense level. He is utterly fascinating to Bryan and I, and most who know him. 

 He is at that stage where he is constantly on a mission to get into the things he shouldn't have anything to do with. For instance, he believes the water in the toilet bowl is his own personal pool in which to splash around. And my house plants are there so that he can rip them apart little by little and take fistfuls of dirt with which to decorate the floor.  And whenever Daddy's bike is in view, his chubby little hands gravitate straight towards the greasy chain and (if I am not quick enough) grab on tightly. I'll tell you, he is lucky that he is so darn cute and always ready to light up the room with his jolly smiles, because it hard to get mad at him.

What a little love bug he is, too. Much more of a snuggler than his big brother was at this age. It is pure bliss to get a hug from such a soft, fluffy sweetheart. 

Also, our boy has inherited my side of the family's love of food. This guy is always hungry, ready to eat anything, at any time of the day. Hope his appetite decreases a bit because he is already ridiculously heavy. I have never had such strong arms.

We were actually down the shore with family this past week of his first birthday, the same week last year, when Bryan and I, full of anticipation, drove back to the city for a scheduled induction, leaving Victor with my family at the beach house. I have been reminiscing about how joyful (yet, painful) that time was, meeting him for the first time and those magical first days of his life. I hope these memories continue to stay as fresh in my mind as they are now, though I am fearful they will fade in time as most memories do. 

Happy first birthday, dear, sweet, funny Ivan. We love you more and more everyday. (Stop growing so quickly though, will ya?) 

(By the way, in the top photo, that is Victor's two-headed dragon in the background, not an enormously strange poop with wings.)  

Opposite emotions

Wild about watermelon.

Here are Vic and his best friend, Atari, enjoying some cold, juicy chunks of sweet, sweet watermelon. I can't seem to get enough of the stuff. In fact, we have all been eating it on a daily basis. To me, there isn't anything quite as refreshing and satisfying as a dripping piece of heavenly watermelon after a long, hot day. And I like to say to the kids as my mom used to say to us, it's "nature's water ice. Eat up."

Einstein

Portraits of a baby who tries to swallow balls.

Fantastic Farmers

These photos were taken at the local children's museum. One of the highlights is this great farm yard section where all the the kids go crazy, including my boys, who spent a great deal of time and energy here. Pure entertainment for the spectating parents. 

Main Objective

MUST. GET. DADDY'S. SUNGLASSES.

Got'em, but only for half a second.

Here you have the consequence of trying to be a thief of daddy's fancy shades.

Brotherly Love

Look how happy and sweet these guys are. I can hardly stand it. When I look at photos like this, I can hardly control myself. I just want to hold them as tightly as I can, kissing them over and over. I used this one for a Father's Day key chain.

"How big is baby....SOOO BIG!!"

As rough and greedy as Vic can be with his baby brother, he is really madly in love with him. Minutes after Ivan goes to sleep at night, he says, "I miss Ivan."

I love this photo because of the affectionate, gentle pose that Victor has. It looks like he is trying to inhale Ivan, which I often feel like doing myself. These tender moments don't happen as often as I would like, but when they do, my heart completely melts.

Foot Tickle

This boy is just so darn squishy. I just can't help tickling him any chance and in any way that I can. He is so delicious. 

Wait a minute, is he flipping me the bird?

Why I oughta...

Birthday Blues

My first baby turned four years old yesterday.  I can hardly believe it.

I keep thinking that if there were only a way that I could slow time down a bit, I would.

We had a great day of celebration. The instant he awoke, the "birthday boy" was glowing.  Seeing his excitement brought me back to the days when I felt my birthdays were super special, almost magical. Now I have to remind myself through out the day that it is my birthday because I keep forgetting. I keep getting confused about my age already, too.  Is that normal at 30?  

Anyway, we waited with much impatience for daddy's return from his bike ride (which was only about an hour, but what a long, anxious hour it was.) and then he frantically opened his presents.  He received a science kit, a bug habitat, bug vacuum, bugscope, a toy whale shark and marine iguana, the original Colorform set, a beginners scooter, a shark sticker book, and some little creatures. (Are we spoiling him?)  I would say he made out like a bandit.  After breakfast, he was already asking to pretend the morning over again. You see, we reenacted both Christmas and Easter for many months after they were over.  Such fun, I'll tell ya.

After playing with his new gear, he and his daddy headed out into the baking heat to watch a big bike race downtown.  While Ivan napped, I prepared for his kid party. Once they returned, all flushed and sweaty, Victor, my dear sister, Rachel, and I ran out to do some last minute errands,  buy balloons,  a ton of mini soft-pretzels and some extra fruit. We got home about 20 minutes before the first guests arrived. 

The party was a success even though it was held at our air-conditioned home instead of the park, which was the original plan.  Just too darn hot.  About ten kids came and they all seemed to have fun. Believe it or not, it wasn't as hectic as I had expected.  I had a baby pool set up out back, in which some of the kids splashed around.  There was some bubbles and hose fun, as well. For a lot of the time, the majority of the children played happily in Vic's tiny room.  I stayed away, dreading the damage, but fortunately the other parent's did a great job supervising. I got several reports that most of the time as the other kids were playing, Vic was quietly looking at his new books.  

I had planned to play some games, like "duck, duck, goose" and musical rug, but only one of the kids were into it so it didn't work out.  I guess they are still a bit too young for organized games, I don't know. 

Today has been rough.  Besides exhaustion, Victor is experiencing post-birthday blues, with some ridiculous melt-downs. We actually rewrapped his presents with newspaper (sans tape), and he pretended to open them all, acting surprised and happy. His new stuff is all over the house and Ivan can't help but notice and investigate everything. So, we are having issues with him not freaking out and sharing with his brother. 

Tonight, as I finished brushing his teeth, he sort of stared out into space and then said with a big grin, "I'm four, now!!"  I asked him,  "how does it feel?" in which he responded, enthusiastically, "it feels good."  

Thanks, Mike, for the great photo above, and also for his baby doll, Maylon Fish Hitch, whom he absolutely adores.

A Cutter and a Walker

Ivan has become a toddler. He can now walk a good distance by himself, although it is more like the swaggering waddle of a drunk than actual walking. Still, I can't believe it. My baby boy has mustered up enough confidence to let go of my hand or anything else that he is grabbing and just go for it. And he does the cutest thing while taking his first several steps; he puts both hands straight up in the air while pointing and shaking one of his fingers. I am trying to figure it out. I think it's like a little dance to help him release some of his nervous excitement. Or maybe somehow it helps him concentrate on balancing or something. I have no idea, but for whatever reason, it sure cracks me up. I know he won't be doing this hilarious move for much longer, so I am enjoying it while it lasts. It is also the sort of detail that I would forget in a matter of months... unless I watch the home video that I just took today. 

The only problem is that along with walking comes falling, and the poor thing has already done his share of crashing into things and bashing his head on sharp edges, like he did tonight. I held a bag of frozen spinach against his forehead and eye for as long as he could stand it, which wasn't very long. But he bounced back onto his feet right away.

For the past year, Victor has been absolutely obsessed with using his scissors to make "cut-outs." He uses our old National Geographics, or print-outs from the computer, or his out of date encyclopedia series, or anything at all, and cuts out things that he finds "cool", including the human heart, but mostly animals. He has really become an expert cutter at this point. The only problem was that he was starting to leave multiple piles of cut-outs all over the house, and I had had enough. So, now we are pasting them into a blank notebook which he has titled "Victor's Book of Science." This has proven to be a really great project, on which he has been fully focusing throughout the past several days. No videos even... he just wants to work on his book. Of course, I am really appreciating what a wonderfully quiet activity it is.

A Wonderful Walk in the Woods

My babies in black and white