Parading around with dragons

I am almost too tired to type. It has been an extremely long day. We were brave (crazy) enough to join the two million people for the big Phillies parade. All four of us were packed into a can of sardines el train and then squished onto the sidewalk. But the experience was pretty unforgettable ; a multitude  of happy faces, red Phillies gear everywhere, confetti and toilet paper streamers filling the sky, and of course lots of loud enthusiastic cheering. Quite a sight to see and after all is said and done, I am glad, yet exhausted, that we went. 

And then after all that excitement, we still had Halloween to celebrate... 

Wild Times at Story Book Land...

This past weekend, the four of us went away to the beach house to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary (doesn't that number make us sound old... but we were married very young, you know). Anyway, we spent the day on Saturday at a great little amusement park for kids, Story Book Land, an old joint from the fifties and, oh my word, what a blast we had! I really think Bry and I enjoyed ourselves just as much as the boys, if not more. Above, you see the fellows looking at the Three Pigs display. These adorable little houses were set up all over the park and at the push of a button, the characters start to move and on comes the old-fashioned music and the narrator's voice, telling a very summarized version of the classic story. It was absolutely magical for the boys and so much fun to watch their little faces light up with excitement as they took turns (not always willingly) pushing the buttons. Unfortunately, there was that darn big bad wolf of the Little Red Riding Hood house that scared the living crap out of Vic. He held it together as we watched the beast explain why his teeth were so big, but the image of it has been haunting our poor child for the last several nights. That evening, he was a bit out of his head with exhaustion and he seriously had a mini-panic attack when he saw a picture of the wolf on a brochure. He bursted into tears, saying "HOW can I get it out of my MIND..." over and over with increasing fear. Finally, he screamed out "HOME!! I WANT TO GO HOME!!" This boy loves being at the beach house so when he said this, I knew he was really beside himself. It seemed he was almost having a nightmare while still awake. I told him that he is super tired and that once he wakes up in the morning, he won't even hardly remember that stupid big bad wolf. This seemed to comfort him and he wanted to go to sleep right away. This has happened for the past several nights, as soon as he gets tired, he starts to think about that damn wolf and asks to go to sleep, which he does promptly, as early at 7 o'clock.

Onto more photos...

Here are Bry and Vic riding the "happy dragon" ride, one of his favorites, as he is really into dragons as of late. He is even going to be one for Halloween. Ivan, too. 

Next, the A-mazing Hay Maze. The baby didn't stay on Daddy's shoulders for long. His frantic squirming said, "I demand freedom" and once his little feet hit the ground, he was off... exuberantly busy, run/stumbling here and there, and then suddenly stopping to study some particularly interesting pieces of hay and then of course, he couldn't resist hiding in the many nooks and crannies. Had to keep my eyes (and camera) on him. 

Probably the biggest highlight of the day for young boy was this "Bubbles the Dragon" roller coaster. We went on twice, both times in the front seat. I know I'm a major spazzola. And I was only hamming it up a little.

My favorite boys on the train. Ivan is blowing a kiss.

Double-headed Monster?

No, just Victor and Atari.  These photos were taken about two months ago as the kids had just come in from playing with the hose in the back.  As you can plainly see, they are utterly thrilled about sharing a towel to dry themselves and stayed in this position for quite some time.  When the towel became loose and fell off, I was asked to wrap it back around them. 

I babysat Atari from the time both kids were about a year and a half until almost three years old and I am ever so glad that I did.  They have such a wonderful connection, almost like siblings but a bit more friendly (most of the time, anyway.)  Now that they are big four year old preschoolers, whenever she is over, these guys basically just go off on their own, into Vic's room or deep into our bedroom closet or really wherever and do some hardcore pretending... while I get to relax a bit and enjoy taking care of just one child. It's nice, real nice.

He's crazy about corn on the cob.

We eat it very often.  It is one of the few things that keeps him quiet and occupied... and is not thrown on the floor.

Behind Bars

This baby is getting more and more wild. Sometimes I think it would be safest if we just kept him in his crib more often, although he would never let that happen for more than maybe ten minutes at a time... and of course, I would feel too guilty not letting him free, free to destroy the house and put some seriously nasty things in his mouth. He is just too quick for me and before you know it, I discover that he has something swishing around in there. Recently, besides the occasional tiny toy of his big brother's (that shouldn't have been left on the floor), I have fished out a dead fly and kitty cat throw-up. Bleahhh!!!

There are times when he gets in these devilish moods (usually when he is tired and needs extra attention) and all he wants to do is bite, pinch, or pull our hair. He finds it hilarious when we yell out in pain. I am trying to discipline him but nothing seems to faze him and he just continues to abuse us.

Also, Ivan has NO fear of strangers and will approach and grab anything and/or anyone within reach. The other day at the library, his groping fingers came within centimeters from a man's bandaged elbow, ready to pinch off the big band-aid, but fortunately, this time I got to him first. Oh, and the entire time we are ever at the library, forget looking for a book for myself to enjoy, I am forced to follow this crazy child and quickly pick up the hundreds of books that he has thrown on the floor and prevent him from raiding all the garbage cans and digging in the plant pots. I am sure all the librarians get nervous the instant they see us come into the building. Thank goodness, Victor usually finds a book that interests him and stays in one place, intensely studying every pages. 

I forgot to mention the fact that he is loud, super loud. His varied shrieks are outrageously ear-piercing, and he takes great pleasure in trying to scream at the highest pitches and as loudly as humanly possible, especially when we are all in the car with no place to escape. But just look at him, he is far too adorable to make us angry, or at least stay angry. And he does actually have his peaceful, angelic moments, like when I shot these photos of him after a gloriously long nap, but they never seem to last very long. Despite all his boisterous behavior, which I do realize is quite normal for his age, I am greatly enjoying and loving him more and more everyday. 

Update on Victor:

He is getting used to school! Still gets a little sad right before we leave the house, but today was the first day that he didn't shed even one tear. So we had a "party" for him at dinnertime. We had gone to Trader Joe's right before mealtime, and the boys brought home balloons, like usual, but this time we used them as party material. I brought him to the table on my shoulders while cheering for him, and he got to eat an ice cream sandwich from the deli for desert. He was delighted.