It's my last week of maternity leave and I'm trying to tidy up things, finish projects and work on things for Ronin's birthday party- including a superhero photo prop where the kids stck their heads in the hole to pretend to be a super hero... I put a "speech bubble" above the head that says "Happy 4th Birthday Ronin!" Ronin asked me about it so I explained what the bubble was... when I was putting him down for nap- I said something to him and he looked above my head- I asked what he was looking at and he said "I'm looking for a speech bubble..." Smart alec!! haha
Quinn started laughing outloud this week, it's so cute, he just melts my heart when he smiles or laughs.
Ronin and Quinn will now be watched by Rory's cousin, Angela. It will be so nice to have the boys at home and not have to wake them, dress, and feed them before I go to work every morning. Ang brought Ronin some 3-D chalk the other day - we had fun coloring his wall with it---
He drew a hot air balloon (behind his head).
That's about it this week. I will miss my boys next week, but feel a little relieved knowing they are at home and I know Angela will have fun with them.
This last weekend we watched Sean for the night while Mike & Shelley got to go to Mike's work party. Ronin was so excited to have a sleepover and Sean was really well-behaved. They stayed awake chattering forever! I think they finally crashed around 10pm, and around midnight I heard Sean trying to wake Ronin "Ronin.... Ronin Jones!" Rory went in to check on him. He just missed his mommy and Ronin was passed out and not waking up for him. I went in there after Rory, gave him a hug and let him watch Star Wars on the portable DVD player until he fell asleep... which he did eventually until they both woke at 8am. They wanted chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, but all I had were butterscotch chips, they loved them with a side of marshmellows :)
Brushing their teeth...
Watching movies before bed
We've been busy repainting, re-finishing, and remodeling this last week... the living room has a new paint job, the walls under the cabinets in the kitchen got a new paint job, the cabinets are still under-going re-finishing to a darker "cherry" stain... and we walled off the laundry room from the garage and it now has a door to the back room... lots of work!
Quinn has been sleeping shorter periods of time at night for a while, but the last 2 nights he's been sleeping his normal 5 hour stretch again. I'm sure it was a growth spurt! I also kind of think he could be teething... he's always got to have something in his mouth and gets really fussy for no reason for a few minutes each day... I can't wait until he starts sitting up and being more active :)
Quinn in his johnny jump up
Ronin's swim buddies- Caden and Peyton
Where did my 8 hours of sleep at night go? and my freedom to get up and pee whenever I want? I will be happy when they return!!
Last weekend we got to visit Nana and Papa in Goldendale. Ronin loves the new puppy, Bella, and loves chasing the other dogs too. He told nana to garage sale the rest of the dogs so Sammy the "angry" dog won't be so angry anymore. haha!
Ronin and Bella
Ronin making hand and feet prints in the dusting of snow
Tuesday we meet up with Sean and Madeline at JJ Jump to jump on all the bounce houses and slides. That night we got a bunch of snow so had to hurry and get dressed before the rain melted it. Ronin was soooo excited :) We got the last sled at Walmart - lucky!
The snowman
Rory took him sledding nearby
Hooray for snow!
My smiling boy :)
Ronin and Sean- BFF's :)
aw!
So this weekend is Ronin's first sleepover! Sean will be over Saturday night and has already requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. haha! Ronin is really excited- I just hope it goes smoother than the last time we tried it! I'll try not to make Sean cry this time. ;) We are also trying to build on a spare room with the back part of the garage so we'll have a guitar/craft/guest room again... fun fun!
Ronin has decided to rename his brother "Dr. Coconut" after watching an episode of his cartoon Phineas & Ferb. Quinn seems to like his new monicker because he smiles big when we call him Dr. Coconut.
It's been a trying week because Ronin has really been testing us and acting out a lot. I feel bad that he doesn't get as much attention as he used to, but I'm sure it's something all first borns go through with new siblings. The other night after many bedtime stories from both Rory and I, Ronin yelled from his room that he wanted more stories. We just ignored him as he screamed it over and over... until he finally stopped telling us he wanted more stories and instead yelled "All right Daddy- If you don't read me more stories the NO MORE FAMILY! I mean it Daddy- No More Family!" After hearing how serious his threat was we both started busting up laughing! After a few seconds of that Ronin yelled "Mommy- you need to stop laughing!!!" He finally fell asleep but I'm sure he was thinking of a way to follow through on his threat first.
Quinn seems to be getting more of a personality now. He always smiles so big when I change his diaper, even when I wipe him with a cold baby wipe. Such a happy boy! He just went in for his 2 month check up- he weighs 13 lbs 11 oz now, 90th percentile for weight. 70th percentile for height. He got 3 shots too, poor guy, he was really fussy for the rest of that day and the next.
Diaper change time!
Ronin helping me paint the living room.
Only a couple more weeks left until work... ugh :(
So Ronin picked up a new word and has used it a couple of times as an adjective... "International". He told me something was too international for him. haha! I'm not sure what word he was trying to say, but we found it pretty hilarious and now Rory and I have been saying it around the house to describe things too!
Ronin has had an imaginary friend since his Daycare days... That friends name is Day-Day, and he still talks about him. It's pretty cute and it took me the longest time to figure out that it's not a real kid. Day-Day doesn't do much besides share Ronins opinions and desires to play certain games, he rides in the car with us sometimes too.
For Christmas we got Ronin a beautifully illustrated and written childrens book called The Man in the Moon. It mentions the Sandman and Ronin had never heard of him, so I explained that he sprinkles sand in your eyes to make you sleepy. I think he might be a little freaked out by this, because he keeps talking about the Sandman now... and now that I think about it it is kind of creepy...
We went to Rory's cousin, Angela's house on Friday. She did a portrait of me pregnant with Ronin. It turned out amazing! I love it so much. Ronin keeps telling me that it doesn't look like me. haha! I keep trying to tell him it's not a photograph so it shouldn't look just like me.
"Two Hearts"
While we were there Ronin got to pet Angie's pet pig, Piggie Sue-ella. She was so cute!
Cheese!
Quinn is starting to sleep for 5 hour stretches at night now, thank goodness. He's smiling a ton and talking a bit now too.
Potty like a Rockstar
Quinn video
On New Years Eve we went to Rory's work to help Jan entertain the residents for a couple of hours. We came home and were in bed by 11 :)
New Years Eve :)
Yay :)
"Happy New What??"
Rory's head got cut off... maybe I shouldn't ask someone in a wheelchair to take our picture?
All day Sunday Rory and Ronin created a squirrel trap out of my Magic Bullet box I was about to recycle... They used rubberbands to snap the door shut, and fishing line to pull to shut the door... but that wasn't enough- they hooked up an infrared video camera to watch while waiting inside the house watching it on our t.v.... needless to say after many hours of setting it up and watching and waiting- no living creature came to munch on the stash of peanuts... it was a valiant effort to say the least.
The squirrel trap
Now it's 2012 and I return to work on February 7th... Time has flown by and I will be sad to go back.
