So Big!

Both of my boys are getting SO BIG!  Gunnar is 2 months old today.......

And Zach is sporting a stylish new haircut (spiked courtesy of Great Clips but not spiked anymore)  and has started wearing big boy underwear.  Yippee!!  We are just beginning the potty training process but so far so good.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Summer Holiday Fun

Happy 4th of July!  Ok....so maybe I should say Happy July!  Either way, over the past week and a half we have had some fun with the boys.  Zach has become much more comfortable with the loud noises, the splash park, swimming pool, and the sandy beach.  Gunnar of course has tagged along and done a great job either eating or napping through the events and festivities.

I'm slowly learning how to juggle both of the boys on my own.  I'm not great at it yet but I try to get them out of the house to play outside or go for an excursion when I can.  A rainy day lead us to the mall where Zach was entertained for quite a bit with this change funnel.  I don't have any pennies left!

Here are a couple of shots from my first time taking the boys to the pool on my own.  With a little handy work of rolling up the burp cloth, Gunnar was able to feed himself while Zach and I played in the water nearby.

Rich had the day off when the Blackhawks had the Stanley Cup parade so we went downtown to join in the madness.  Unfortunately, we missed the parade but we found other ways to have fun in the city.  This is a sculpture in one of the plazas.  Turns out this is a perfect spot to roll trucks back and forth!  And Zach was kind enough to inform all of us that this sculpture was "art".  I have no idea how he knew that.

On the 3rd we went down to the Wilmette beach for a picnic dinner and fireworks.  I didn't get any photos of the fireworks but Zach definitely enjoyed them.  I think he may have enjoyed playing in the sand even more.

On the 4th we headed to the Evanston parade.  It was great!  It wasn't too crowded and the parade was much longer than I had anticipated.  We were smart about our viewing location and ended up across the street from the ice cream shop.

My favorite part of the parade was when Zach decided to dance!

 Rich found his and Ed's old Hot Wheels towns and handed those down to Zach and his cousin Connor this weekend.  They were a big hit!

And here is our most recent venture to the pool.  Gunnar got decked out in his swim gear and sat in the water for a bit. 

And Zach enjoyed playing with his buddy Jack (he lives on our street).   Not sure if you can get an accurate size comparison of the boys in this photo but Jack is 4.  He is a little small for his age and Zach is a bit big for his age.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Sorry for having two updates in one evening but I thought this deserved its own post.  Zach has learned the all American ballpark song and loves it.  Now, thanks to Lynn & Rich, he even has a book to go along with the song.  Tonight I think we read/sang it 5 times before bed.  The best part is that I was able to sneak in a video.  I apologize that the image is a little dark but we only had on the light by his bed for reading.

Oh, and I don't think you can get the videos I upload to actually play via the email update you receive so you need to go to the blog to view the video.

 

Field Trip!

Being on maternity leave has its perks.  Ok...I guess there are several perks however you have to roll through most of them with exhaustion.  At what point do the babies sleep all night??  Anyway, since I'm on leave I was able to join Zach and his classmates for his first ever field trip!  Aunt Mary was nice enough to watch after Gunnar so I could spend the morning with Zach.  Z typically doesn't like going to school these days however the idea that I would be going to school with him and staying made it an easy decision to leave the house that morning.  Below are a few photos I took of the adventure.

All of the children loaded up in these 6 seater buggies to make the trek to the Exploratorium.  Here is Zach with his friend Kela.  She has been at daycare with Zach since day one and commonly part of Zach's stories when he tells us about his day.

Train table fun! 

Here Zach is climbing up to crawl through tubes and slides.  He did great and climbed to the top but then got a bit scared so I had to climb up and get him.  Sorry....no photos of my climb.

Water fun!

Here is a photo from lunch today.  Rich is out of town for work so this is my first weekend flying completely solo with the boys.  We went for lunch at Herm's today.  We've been there two Fridays in a row now and Herm already knows our order.  I have a feeling this might be a Friday tradition while I'm on leave.

1 Month!!

Well, our little Gunnar is 1 month old today.  He still sleeps away most of the day however he is slowly becoming a bit more alert each day.  Don't worry....he wakes up to let me know that he is hungry and he wants his food NOW!  This boy eats all the time!  I'm not joking. 

Anyway, as of today he is 10lb, 4 oz and 23.5" long.  This boy is going to be big!  As for now, being 1 month old seems to be exhausting.

Just as a comparison...here is the link to the blog post from when Zach was a month old.

http://www.zmakesthree.blogspot.com/2010/12/growing-fast.html

New Blog Name??

So....."And Z Makes Three" doesn't really apply to this blog anymore now that Gunnar has arrived.  Unfortunately I haven't been creative enough to come up with a better name. 

Anyone have any clever suggestions for these silly boys?

It's OK

I took the boys for a walk to Target yesterday.  All went well except that on the way home Gunnar got hungry and began crying.  This snapshot is the only thing I could get through the canopy of the stroller as Zach tried to comfort Gunnar as I picked up the pace and tried to get home quickly.