The Guys

Backyard

When we moved into the house our yard was covered in snow, at one point more than 20 inches of it. A few months later and some warmer temps have let us discover the backyard we now own. I think the boys will love it this summer and it's great that we have a fence this time.

Gabriel has already escaped once out the dog door so thank goodness for the fence. I was upstairs making the bed and heard the doorbell ring. I went downstairs and looked out front and didn't see anyone but still heard the bell. I then realized we have a bell on the back door too and Gabriel was standing outside ringing it.

This weekend was super nice, we ended up taking the boys outside and roasting marshmellows to make smores, they were a hit.

Touch a Truck

Nico was in heaven today and Gabriel nearly was himself. I took the boys to touch a truck. We've never been to one before and now I see why they are such a hit for little guys. Nico climbed into a huge bull dozer, a moving van, ambulance, cherry picker, trolley where he and Gabe got to ring the bell, a school bus, and some other pretty huge trucks.

I had to peel them away at the end to leave but it was so much fun to see how wide their eyes got when they realized they were allowed to climb inside all the big "mighty machines" as Nico calls them.

Nicolas

Nico has been a busy guy. Right now he just finished soccer, started swim lessons, tee ball, preschool with a big international program coming up, a cooking class and VBS this summer. I get calls for playdates for him, he's starting to get a rather big social calendar, I'm starting to get a headache! I'm so happy for him though, he's been having a blast.

Gabriel

Gabriel is cracking us up lately as he's hit the 18 month mark. I LOVE this age.
Still not talking a ton but it's picking up, he continues to sound like charlie brown's teacher with half the things he says.
Words that are getting clearer are, Hi, bye, Momma, Papa, Backpack (he got that from Dora), Up, All Done.
We have the speech pathologist coming later this week to start evaluating him for weekly speech help in our home. I think this will help him move along with speech although I'll miss his little wha wha wha talk when it's gone.
He is so happy and funny. He's been running up to us saying HI! so loud and giving us a huge smile when he does.
He also is very good to help clean, he loves to vacuum and if he spills his drink, he'll go grab a tissue, wipe up the spill then pretend to blow his nose and go through it in the trash.
Gabriel loves to watch Nicolas and play exactly what he's playing which sometimes can drive the older brother nuts. Other times they play together so well. At this point they both go play in the basement while I can be upstairs getting dinner ready, it's such a luxury to have that time to myself.
We are enjoying Mr Gabriel so much, I'm getting sad watching the baby go and the little boy emerge

Barber Shop

A friend told me about a barber shop right down the road where she takes her boys so I decided to give it a shot. It was a total hit! Nico LOVED the barber and even broke out some dance moves to show him.
Gabriel wasn't too sure at first but after seeing a fish tank, trains, and a huge gumball machine, not to mention about 30 suckers to try out he was content sitting on my lap for his first "real" haircut.
When we were down the cuts were only 10 bucks. Nico left with a bouquet of suckers in his hand and a gumball in his mouth, Gabe had a sucker in each hand and one in his mouth. I could tell this guy loved what he did, the boys will be back for sure for the next round of cuts!

The boys helped make my birthday special. We started the day going to the mall so they could ride the carosel, it was Gabriel's first ride on one, he loved it! Nicolas wouldn't go on the animals that moved up and down so they all ended up sitting on a bench.
After that we headed back home for chocolate Ice cream cake, thanks Nico for picking that out for me! Afterwards the boys had a sitter while Oz and I went to downtown Naperville for some awesome Greek food and then to a chocolate bar for dessert and hot chocolate.