OMG, tomorrow is my last day of maternity leave. arghhhhh!!!!

Day at the Beach

Also, just pulled some new pics off our camera. Last Thursday, we spent the day at Lighthouse beach for Jennie's last day with the kids. It was a beautiful day and Conor and Olivia had a blast. Charlie (with Amy and Maggie) came and met us there. Great day.

First Day of School

Today was Conor's first day of preschool and Madeleine's first day with Jennie. C's day started with a breakfast of waffles and picking out his own outfit (who says you can't wear a scorpion shirt with doggy shorts?!) and making sure monkey made it into his backpack. He was super excited and was wiggling away in his car seat the whole way there. When we arrived, he walked straight into his classroom, put his stuff in his special "locker" bag and then turned and faced the room...suddenly a little quiet. But, after a few minutes he seemed to gain his confidence again and headed over to play with the other kids. Definitely helped when Olivia came barreling into the room. Then, with barely a glance in our direction (I did steal a hug) C said goodbye and we headed out.

I know Andy and I were way more of a mess than he was. All day we kept asking each other what the other person thought he was doing at the moment, how he was, man do we wish they had a web cam ...

When I went in to pick Conor up at 5, he was in the little bathroom with a few other kids all washing their hands. He looked like such a big kid with all the babyness in him gone. Overall he did great--his teachers left a little note saying he was happy, well behaved, ate all his lunch and was quiet during nap time...so quiet in fact that he didn't want to get up to go potty and had a little accident. :( Oh well, that's why they bring a change of clothes!

The day ended with a pizza party at the Stanczaks where Conor and Olivia got to tell Jennie all about their day.

Meanwhile, Madeleine got to hang out with her new BFF Emily at our house. Definitely a different pace for Jennie going from two active toddlers to two mellow babies!

On a totally separate note, if you thought Andy was dorky with the mosquito scotch tape remedy, you should see him outside right now watering the lawn in the dark with his LLBean baseball cap/headlamp in one (ingenious yes, but definitely not cool.)

Conor and Jennie

Tomorrow is Conor's last day with Jennie as he's starting preschool on Monday. Olivia and Conor are starting at the Barbereux School and Jennie will now look after Emily and Madeleine...another set of best friends in the making...
For the last two and a half years Jennie has been a second mom to C and we can thank her for putting such a positive imprint on our kid..."may i be excused?" "clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere..." We're so lucky to have someone so wonderful taking care of our kids and I know Madeleine will end up loving Jennie as much as Conor does. Tonight as we were in bed telling stories, I reminded Conor that tomorrow is his last full "real" day with Jennie and asked him what he'll say to her at the end of the day. His response: I'm going to say I love you sooooo much and don't be sad, you're a good girl." :)

Since I go back to work on September 1 (ugh), at least I go back knowing Madeleine will be well cared for and given lots of love.
Monday is the big day for the little man and we're trying to get him all jazzed about the new arrangement. I think he'll do great, but still have reservations about having him in school for such a long day. On the other hand, I know he's going to be an eager learner and he'll love being around so many kids, making friends and learning new things.

Let's Get Some Runs

The four of us went to the Cubs game yesterday. Conor totally o.d.'d on hot dogs, fries, nachos, super rope and Andy and I added Cracker Jacks to the mix. C's favorite part of the day was the seventh inning stretch.



When we got home, Conor saw a clip of Digger Phelps singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and at the end, Digger said: Let's seal the deal. Conor looked at me and said: "Why he no said let's get some runs?" Oh, he's falling into Cubs fandom already. Poor kid.

Mosquito Remedy

Mosquitoes are up by about 800% this year--no joke. It's like a rain forest in our backyard. Evanston has been named "Tree City USA" for the last 20 years and with record rains, ridiculous trees and a park across the street, the mosquitoes are insane. So in true Andy fashion, he did a little Internet search and found a home remedy for the itching--put scotch tape on the bite so it helps coagulate the "wound" and therefore stops the itching. Andy is now walking around with scotch tape all over his arms and legs. Great way for us to make a good impression with our neighbors and meet some new friends! And he's passing on the weird practice...Conor woke up this morning and said: I've got bites, I need tape.
...
Conor after a time out this morning: "Maybe a dragon will come and burn Daddy because he's not being nice. And I think maybe I need a special treat."

Beachy Keen

Made a last minute decision to head down to Lighthouse Beach for a picnic last night. Unfortunately the water was closed so we got to explain what E Coli is to Conor after which every kid who came onto the beach, he yelled out--hey, you can't go in the water, there's gross stuff in it! Andy made a stop at Mustard's for hot dogs and fries and we had a quick evening picnic. There were more seagulls than people on the beach so one hot dog became a victim. Conor had a great time chasing the gulls...btw, ignore the "chasing pigeons" title. Andy was up way too late playing with his new video editing software and apparently had a bird identification mishap!





On a separate note, Madeleine slept through the night last night! She went all the way from 7:30pm - 5am!! Such a nice surprise to wake up and see 5 on the clock rather than 2 or 3...although it does freak you out a little too...

On Wednesday we got back from a few days in Denver. We were there for GG's memorial service--a beautiful day organized by Mary, Pinina and Stephanie and such a fitting tribute to Jill. A jazz quartet playing GG's favorites, beautiful flowers and wonderful personal stories shared by family and friends of her strength of character, intelligence and love of life. Overall, there was just amazing sense of love and admiration for Jill that was present in the room.
Andy gave a very moving "speech" about his grandmother and talked about the lessons that he taught her that he'll pass along to his children--specifically that you face each day with a can-do attitude, no excuses and just positivity in everything you do. He also put together a video tribute that includes a little song dedicated to GG by Conor:

We had such a fun visit with Mary and Lacey--museum, the zoo, swimming and drinking too much wine and eating too much birthday cake! Conor got to see his cousins Alexander and Charlotte whom he just adores. He was like a little whirling dervish running around in excitement. What's amazing is that whenever we go on a trip and get out of our routine, it seems to just open up a whole new world to Conor that takes his imagination and vocubulary to a new level. This week he has started making connections and saying things that just amaze me. Andy and I were in the hot tub and Conor was sitting on the edge dangling his feet and chattering his teeth. Andy asked him if he wanted him to put some water on his legs to warm up. Conor's response was: "No, Daddy, that's not necessary." And the funny part is that he'll mix very baby things with very adult things. Like this morning he said in a very baby way: Uppy Mummy. When I responded, no you're a big boy you walk he said: No, it's very strenuous, I need to go uppy. WHAT?!?

Conor also decided while we were out of town that he no longer wants to use the Bjorn training potty. I followed him into the bathroom and he just pulled down his pants and stood over the toilet explaining that he's going like Daddy and it's sometimes tough to hit the water without dripping. :) He is also no longer wearing a pull up at night. Nice.

Birthday Style

Today is my 35th birthday. I seriously cannot believe I'm 35. Crazy! We just came back from a few days in Denver visiting Nonna for GG's memorial service...more on that later... Back to 35 for a second... The wake up call that I'm definitely 35 and not nearly as cool as I used to be just happened. I'm wearing my new pair of "boyfriend" jeans that I thought I loved and looked really cute in. Conor just looked at me and asked if I pooped my pants. Nice. Happy Birthday old dumpy lady.

On a more positive note, Andy planned a great birthday surprise. On Friday afternoon at 2pm, he came downstairs and said he was taking a half day and taking over with the kids. Amy Bird then showed up at the door and Andy sent us off to go get massages. Such a nice surprise! Amazing. Then when I got home, Andy said get dressed nicely we're going to dinner. Thanks to a little styling help from Jennie, I overcame my earlier fashion woes and actually ended up looking like a pretty decent 35 year old! We went to a great Latin fusion place called Carnivale and Bill/Jessica, Mark/Virginie and Amy/Alex surprised me. Such a fun night. Great husband. :)

Two Little Monkeys

When Conor was born, we gave him Monkey. He adores Monkey (yup, simple little man with simple tastes in names) and carries it everywhere. In fact, we had to buy a backup stunt monkey for the days he forgets lead monkey at Olivia's house. So, yesterday we were at the toy store and Conor saw the "girl" version of his monkey and said he wanted to buy his baby sister Madeleine her own monkey...likely both an offensive and defensive move on his part!

Little Voice

Madeleine really discovered her voice today...at about 5 a.m. We woke up to little squeals and cooing and utter excitement that included flailing arms and attempts to roll over. Thinking she would want to eat soon, I brought her into bed with us only to realize that all she really wanted to do was "talk". So for an hour she just lay next to me smiling, grunting, and doing these big dramatic sighs. It was so sweet that I almost forgot it was 5 a.m.! ...Almost! What I'm realizing now is that with baby number two you just reach a whole new level of fatigue. Seriously tired.

He Shoots, He Scores...Well, at least he skates...

Andy and his friend Alex tooks the boys skating for the first time today. They got all geared up in cozy pants, bike helmets and knee pads (and of course his Canadian gear!) and hit the ice on a beautiful 85 degree day. I think Andy has big dreams of the boys playing ETHS hockey together one day just like he and Alex did so this was the first step. Conor loved it--came home so excited and full of stories of ice, holding onto Daddy, falling down--said he wants to go again tomorrow.

Bummer the pic from Andy's phone is out of focus. And I'm going to have to chat with Andy about how you put on a helmet--poor kid!

Going Like Sadie

Now that Conor is potty trained you kind of have to figure out how to let him go when he has to go. A few weeks ago, while out gardening he told Andy that he "wanted to go in the bushes like Sadie." Since we were in the backyard, it wasn't a problem...now he does it all the time. This morning Andy took Conor to the putting green and at one point, Conor suddenly dropped his club, walked over to the closest tree and dropped his drawers... here's the visual Andy got. I guess we're going to have to curb this whole pee like your dog thing. At least it was the public course. :)

Big Brother Love

Every night when Jennie drops Conor off, he breezes by me and heads to either Andy or Madeleine. Since Andy was out to dinner with clients tonight, Madeleine got the love. Conor lay down next to her and said: "Hello baby sister, I'll take a nap with you. Mummy, take a picture." He's very sweet with her and very aware I think so. Let's revisit this post in a few years. :)



Every night, I tell Conor a story and he gets to dictate the elements that need to appear in that story. No matter how random they are (the other night the list was lion running through a field, worm and potato bug, earlier this week it was Jennie, Olivia, Charlie, Jack, Paige, monkey, cereal and a pool) if you miss one of the items on the list he'll be sure to let you know. It's really sweet that Madeleine is increasingly making appearances in Conor's "story from your mouth"requests. Tonight she made an appearance in a very subtle way--only one thing on the list tonight: baby poop. Anything else you want in tonight's story besides baby poop Conor? Nope. Ok, then.

Big and Healthy

Madeleine had her two month check up today. No surprise based on her birth weight (9 lbs 7 oz!) but she continues to be on the "huge side" (doctor's exact words.)
Length--24.25 inches
Weight--14 lbs 3 oz
These put her off the charts in both categories. Amazingly, Conor is two and a half years older and only double her weight!

Here's a pic of the "little" girl after her appointment--obviously as happy as she is big. :)

It's No Problem

Like any kid, Conor goes through random catch phrases he picks up and then repeats endlessly. These have included "What happened?" (said with intense drama in his voice) and "What you said?" (upon which we say "excuse me?" Conor rolls his eyes and again with intense drama, says: "What did you say?!?") Note that drama is key for him right now.
So today he came up with a new one: "It's no problem." In Conor's mind this is obviously the perfect excuse for any desire or behavior. For example:

1. After lunch with Mark and baby Wade Bishop, Andy took Conor to the car. Conor: "Dad, I want to stay at the Bishops. Dad: "No, you have to go home to take a nap. Conor: "No, Dad, I can stay with Mark and help with Wade, it's no problem."
2. It's nap time (or so I think) and I hear Madeleine crying. I go into our room where she's sleeping in her crib and Conor is standing next to it looking very suspicious. Before I can even say anything he says: "I just spoke very quietly. I didn't wake her up. It's no problem."
3. We get ready to go out to the backyard to play. Me: "Conor, put on your shoes." Conor: "No, I don't need them. It's not wet so it's no problem."

The funny part is that my mother says that all the time and while she hasn't been here for more than a month, Conor obviously picked up on it. Another reminder for me that he's like a little fly on the wall that hears everything without you realizing it!

Trip to Millennium Park

On Friday we headed down for a great morning at Millennium Park with our friends Amy, Charlie and Maggie Bird--saw a concert, played at the Bean and in the fountains and then had a picnic. Conor adores hanging out with Charlie and Maggie...so nice to see a second generation of Evanston kids becoming friends.