TWO MONTHS

He's such a happy baby . . .

The Big Screen

In the three years he's been alive, Connor has seen many, many movies. And he's seen those many movies many times. Until today, he has watched those movies on a measly 42" TV. We've been biding our time with sharing the ultimate movie experience with him. I kept hoping The Incredibles or Toy Story would come out with a sequel, but came to grips with the fact that they won't have sequels anytime soon. Giving up on Disney, DreamWorks finally released a movie that I decided would be sufficient in fulfilling Connor's first movie experience . . . Kung Fu Panda. He had no idea what was in store for him. He helped Daddy purchase the tickets and buy the snacks for us, including a kiddie pack for himself. When he walked into the theater and saw the big screen, his eyes just about bugged out of his head. Like most kids, he covered his ears when the sound reverberated through the theater, but soon became accustomed to it. He barely moved throughout the movie, but started squirming a bit about 10 minutes before it was over. So at 3 years, 3 months, and 4 days old, Connor saw his first movie in a movie theater. With that said, Riley saw his first movie in a movie theater at one day shy of 2 months old. Just like his big bro, he barely moved throughout the movie. In fact, I don't think he even opened his eyes. I guess he takes after his mommy - snoozing through the movie.

Thank Yous

Both Connor and Riley were spoiled with gifts when they were born. In fact, we received so much when Connor was born, there wasn't much we needed when Riley was born. Therefore, we really weren't expecting much in the way of gifts. We should have known better. Family, friends, and co-workers were more than generous. Because so many gifts were given before Riley was born, instead of just sending a thank you, I wanted the giver to see Riley with their gift. It took some creativity, lots of wardrobe changes, and breaks for napping and eating. All in all, Riley proved to be very cooperative.

Cousins

Since we had the family together, we had to get an updated picture of all the grandchildren together. We've had three new additions since the last photo was taken. We didn't think it would be a big ordeal to take the picture. The two older kids (Micah and Mischa) and the three babies (Lexi, Kameron, and Riley) were the easy ones. It was the two in the middle that gave us a run for our money. The little stinkers wouldn't sit still. We finally had to just take the picture.
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I partially blame myself (but not too much). After all, I did get them matching t-shirts that said "Rebel" on them. With Connor's haircut and their matching shirts, they looked pretty similar. It kind of threw us for a loop.

I also bought matching onesies for the babies. Kameron and Riley got blue, while Lexi got pink. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a picture of the three of them together. We almost forgot altogether, but remembered in time to at least get Kameron and Riley together. In the midst of taking their picture, Riley stuck out his bottom lip and gave his most endearing, break your heart, sad face. Connor used to do the same thing.

It's About Time

Connor's been needing a haircut for a while now. I decided since we were at Grandma's, we could break out the clippers and take care of it. However, he did not want ME to do it. Aunt Tin had to do it. And while she was doing it, I had to put the occasional M&M in his mouth. It was worth it to get the end result.

The Zoo Crew

As we tend to do when Brrrian, Jules and the boys are in town, we took a trip to the zoo. Connor is an old pro when it comes to the zoo, knowing exactly which exhibits he wants to check out. However, it was Riley's first trip to the zoo. As expected though, he didn't take much notice of his surroundings. When we first arrived, both Riley and Kameron needed to be fed and changed, so while we tended to their needs, Aunt Tin took Connor and Kenner into the store and let them pick out a surprise. The zoo was hosting a fundraising event in the evening, so it was closing early. We didn't find out about this until we arrived, so we had to zip through the zoo pretty fast to be sure we would see the favorite exhibits in what we thought would be limited time. As it turned out, we were there for the perfect amount of time. The older boys started getting cranky and were in need of a nap, and both babies had to be fed again just as we were getting ready to leave. While we were feeding the babes, Connor and Kenner decided to do some role playing.





















Of course I had to get a picture of our Little Monkey with some other little monkeys.

An Afternoon at the Park

Watching Connor and Kenner grow up together has been fun, even though their time together is limited due to geography. I guess it makes it that much more impressive that they get along so well - the majority of the time, anyway.

Whenever Connor goes to Grandma's house, he always asks to go to the park. Regardless of weather or time of day, he will ask. It's obviously not always feasible, but today was a perfect day to fulfill his request. We loaded the babies up in strollers and set out. Without any prompting from anyone, Connor and Kenner held hands on the way there. I'm sure years down the line it's the last thing either of them would want to do, but for now, it makes for a cute picture.

Anyone who knows Grandma knows she's about as handicapped as they come when it comes to using a camera. On our way to the park, Jules and I asked her to take a picture of us walking with our strollers. We posed and she snapped a shot, following it up by saying, "You may want to look at it to make sure I didn't cut off anyone's head." Thank goodness for digital cameras! I took one look at the picture and could barely stand up because I was laughing so hard. She managed to cut out everyone except Riley. I adjusted my camera and let her have a second try, which turned out much better.

Once at the park, the boys went crazy, running from one thing to the next on the playground. Meanwhile, I was able to catch Riley on camera with his newfound smile. He started smiling last week, right about the time I was complaining that he wasn't smiling yet. It comes at the most unexpected times though, so it's been a challenge to get a picture of it. Mere moments after I took the picture of him, he was fast asleep.

Kameron soon joined Riley in la-la land, so we were able to give Connor and Kenner our undivided attention. They had a fabulous time, chasing each other around and burning off lots of pent up energy. On the way home, they were both fascinated with a spider scooting across the sidewalk. Again, without speaking, they decided at the same time that the spider should meet it's demise.

Father's Day

Surprisingly, Connor managed to keep his Father's Day gift for Daddy a secret, unlike his gift for me a month ago. He didn't even spill the beans about the pictures of him and Riley! Daddy was pleasantly surprised to see his gifts. Connor gave him a poem he had done at school, plus the picture of our sweet boys, and a round of golf for two at a new golf course. His only request for his day was to play golf, so that's exactly what he did. Later in the afternoon though, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a family dinner.

The Bartlett Pears

The Bartlett Pears arrived in town today for a visit. Brrrian only gets to stay through the weekend, but Jules and the boys will be visiting for almost 2 weeks. Yay! We love every opportunity we're able to spend time with them, especially as the kids grow older. Watching Connor and Kenner interact with each other these days can be very entertaining. One minute they're best friends, and the next they're fighting. And boy do they egg each other on! They seem to have an unspoken pact to outdo each other every chance they get. If one is silly . . . If one is loud . . . You get the gist of it.

Sweet Boys

I've been meaning to get Riley's newborn pictures taken for a few weeks now, and with Father's Day looming around the corner, I wanted to get it done in time to surprise Daddy. I decided that if I was going to take Riley in, I wanted to get a few of the two boys together. Since Riley isn't on a set schedule yet, I was a little nervous about whether both boys would be in good moods at the same time, so before the appointment, I bribed Connor and told him I would buy him a surprise if he behaved himself for the pictures. That way, I would only have to worry about Riley's temperment. Mission accomplished.

Connor was great. He was very sweet with Riley and did what he could to keep Riley happy. For his first photo shoot, Riley was a trooper as well. However, by the time we were getting to the end, he started letting us know he was done. It made for cute pictures though. .

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.......Some for me . . . .............................................................and some for you.

Since Connor was so well behaved, I had to make good on the deal I had made with him, so once we had picked out a portrait package, we headed next door to Cold Stone where Riley watched Connor and I gorge on an ice cream treat. No fun for him, but he'll get his chance.