Hello from Coraopolis, Pennsylvania!
We are all officially living in our apartment in Coraopolis now. I have been meaning to update you all on what's been going on, but I seem to have forgotten how impossible it is to get "quiet" time with a new baby and 3 year old. This brings multitasking to a new level. :) So here's a bit of what we've been doing.
The Aquarium
Before we left Denver, we needed to make one last trip to the Aquarium, one of Connor's favorite places. We were disappointed in the food (we ate in the restaurant, and I swear the last time was a lot better, both food and service wise), but the animal part was pretty fun.
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| Connor was pushing his stuffed shark against the tank, and the otter tried to follow it wherever he moved it. It was too cute! |
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| Looking for sharks! |
The Race
Every year, we always do the Race for the Cure in Denver. This year, I couldn't go (I figured that since I got tired driving myself to the dentist the week before, I was probably still not up to walking a 5K). I went back and forth deciding on if I should just go downtown with Ethan and wait for Mom and Shannon and Connor to finish, but in the end, Ethan and I just stayed home. But Mom, Shannon, and Connor enjoyed themselves.
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| Apparently, Connor isn't as much as a morning person. |
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| What's better than one drum? |
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| Two drums... |
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| AND playing with your Auntie! |
Party!
We had a big party at my parents house October 8th, celebrating Andrew's birthday (who was back in town), Connor's birthday, Ethan's arrival, and our departure.
Originally, I had wanted to get a bouncy castle for Connor's birthday, but Colorado weather decided to give us a present - a bunch of snow. So while we decided it was not going to work to send a bunch of 3-year-olds outside in 30 degree weather, I still needed to do something so that these kids wouldn't be bored. Enter a pinata. While it doesn't necessarily sound like a good idea to give our attack-happy 3-year old a stick and tell him to beat something until candy comes out, it worked out pretty well. At first, the kids didn't quite know what to do, but they figured it out when candy started falling. I'd say it was a success!
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| Yes, that is my father's night stick. And no, no one got hurt. |
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A sample of the too much food:
Andrew's birthday cookie, Connor's birthday cake, and
"Welcome Ethan" cupcakes. Yum!
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The rest of the party was very enjoyable for us - we got to spend some time catching up with people we hadn't seen in a while and have one last hurrah before leaving. We even managed to get a small game of blitz in by the end of the night. It was really a lot of fun, but bittersweet. We're really really going to miss all our friends and family, but we're looking forward to visits - on both ends.
Go East Young Man
Andrew's parents came up on the 12th and took Connor on an airplane with them so that he didn't have to make the cross country trip again. This worked out well for us, so Shannon, Mom, Ethan and I had a little more space in the car and freedom to travel. We left Colorado on the 13th, at about 6:30 or so. The first night, we made our goal of Colby, KS (which has the best play area in the world!). The next day, we hit Wamego, KS for the Wizard of Oz Museum - which was pretty cool.
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| Ethan - as expected - napped a lot in the car. |
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| Mom - as not expected - napped every time she was in the backseat. Apparently, not driving is boring. |
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| Ethan was sleeping. Until I posed for the "Poppies! Poppies will make them sleep. Sleep!" picture. Go figure. |
We really made good time and managed to get just outside of St. Louis by that night. We knew that if we made it to St. Louis, we'd be able to make it all the way to PA by the next night, so it was really nice when we were able to pull up to the apartment on Saturday night. Ethan did really well during the car ride - though by the end, he was definitely done with being in the car seat. The few times that he really cried hard, he just wanted to be held. Poor baby! It was great when we finally were able to take a bit of a brake from having to strap him into the car seat.
Seeing the Sites in PA
Of course, after we got here, it was time to go site seeing! Sunday we ate at the Hard Rock (both our Mom's are huge fans and collect pins), and then rode the Monongahela Incline, which was pretty neat.
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| The view up from the bottom. Apparently, back in the steel days, the people of Pittsburgh needed a cheap way to get to the bottom of the hills to go to and from work every day. I think round trip was something like a nickle. There are only two inclines left in operation. |
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| My silly husband who makes faces... |
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| And then tolerates my need to constantly take pictures. |
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| The view at the top. It was actually really pretty. |
Monday, Andrew had to go back to work, but his parents, Mom, Shannon, the boys and I all Rode the Duck in downtown Pittsburgh. Andrew, Connor and I did one of these in Seattle, and I'm pretty convinced now that these are really fun and informative. I learned a lot about the city in the hour trip - plus, Connor got to "drive" the boat - the highlight of his day!
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| Apparently, the sun always - and only - shines on Mom. :) |
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| See - Ethan was there, too! Just mostly warm in his carrier. |
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| Connor LOVED being up front "driving" on the water. I really thought that he'd have a fit when the guy had him switch so that another little kid could drive, but he got up with no problem. And then we had some extra time on the way back, so Connor got to go up a second time and drive. He had a blast! |
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| This was a wind tunnel thing that Connor didn't want to get out of. He had fun chasing the balls and throwing the fabric in the air to watch the wind catch it. |
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| No, I didn't tilt the camera. The room is at like a 45 degree angle (I can't remember the reason, but it has something to do with gravity, I think). It was incredibly difficult for me to walk in - blame it on my flip flops. And the black & white checkered floor!! |
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| Andrew and I got so excited when we saw this (even though you can't see it too well). It's UrSol, the Chanter, from The Dark Crystal. |
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| Building - and flying - a Rocket with Daddy |
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| The 3rd level of the Museum has this big pool for the kids to play in. Connor really really likes water, so he didn't want to leave. And I, of course, didn't put the rain coat they supplied on until after he was already pretty wet. Thank goodness I still kept a change of clothes in the diaper bag for him! |
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| Ethan, deep in thought. |
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| Who doesn't want to play with a giant light bright?! |
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| Or in a giant maze? |
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| It's Mister Roger's Sweater!! Won't you be my neighbor? |
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| King of Pumpkin Mountain! |
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| Ethan loves sleeping on Daddy. |
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| Trying to get a picture of Ethan's face while he sleeps on Daddy. |
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| Picking out a pumpkin! |
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| Looking for some grass for the goats... |
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| And then feeding it to them. |
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| Riding the trailer around the farm. |
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| Riding on the train. |
Connor is officially 3 now, and I wanted to quickly catch you up on his development. Aside from the smartest child in the world (gush gush), when we got his official 3-year check up in Denver before we left, he measured in at 37 3/4" (she tried hard to get the 38" from him, but he's just slightly below it), and 35 lbs, which puts him at the 50% and 55% respectively. I'm hoping that he gets at least to 40" by August, when we plan to go to Disney World, so that he can ride some of the "bigger" rides. Anyway, I think he's huge, but mostly it's because he's more than half my height. :) We just measured him again here last weekend, and by our airplane growth chart, he's hit the 38". He just keeps getting so big!!
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| I love this one, because he's almost got that devilish look on his face... He definitely acts like it! |
He continues to talk a ton about everything, and cracks me up when he repeats phrases that he's heard, like "Uh huh, yeah" randomly in a conversation. He still says things are "doog" instead of "good" and "Donnor" instead of "Connor" (though it is getting closer), but I really think most of the time I completely understand what he's saying. He has so much energy that I could make a fortune if I could bottle it and sell - or at least take some of it for myself! "Yesterday" is pretty much any day that isn't today or tomorrow. And he likes to tell people that "We're going to Disney World to see Capt'n Hook!" (You can see his "hook" pose in the previous post...). He gets that it's next year, but I can't wait until it's here, because he's going to have such a blast. And to Andrew's dismay, he picked up "Fist pump, push up, Chapstick" from a Jersey Shore episode Shannon and I were watching months ago. He does the actions - as best a 3-year-old can. We didn't encourage it, but it's hilarious. :)
He's always very interested in what you like - "Do you like snakes?" or "Do you like spiders?" are very common questions for him to ask people - even strangers. He also likes to say, "Remember when we saw (blank) at the (blank)?" Fill in blank with any animal and place - like sting rays and aquarium. He brings up stuff we did weeks or months ago all the time. And of course, he still LOVES dinosaurs. And wants to watch Jurassic Park every day. And say "Remember when the T-Rex ate the Raptors in Jurassic Park?" Well, at least he's not squeamish, right? :) Dinosaur Train is one of his favorite shows (PBS - it's so good - even for adults!) and he knows a ton of dinosaur names - he's even pretty good with pronunciation. And he's really good at naming them correctly (scientific names, though he also has "Bob" and "Spike" and "Hammerhead" - and his snake, Ian). His signature move still is, of course, a roar (again, even to strangers). Getting him to take a picture without either bringing a dino up to hide his face or his hands up like claws is rather difficult. But he's getting better.
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| The perfect example of the "dino in front of my face" pose from Connor. |
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| And then the claws. |
And again... I probably have half of all Connor pictures just like this. With claws.
Because what's a picture without them? That's right - a boring picture.
Waking up from a nap. I loved his hair!
My sweet Baby... Getting so big!
Before the roar... and the claws.
2 Months!
Ethan is now 2 months old - and I can't believe how big he is! We had to find a doctor out here, which was a bit of a challenge, but we looked on the Children's Hospital website and found someone close. While I don't like them as much as the people in Parker (it's probably just psychological 'cause Andrew thought the Doctor was fine), they seem nice. Ethan got three shots and an oral, and it's just never easy to watch them stick one of my kids and then have him scream. Poor Ethan! But once I was able to pick him up and cuddle him, he calmed down.
He definitely has my head. :) At 16", he's at 50%. He's also 23 1/4", and 11 lbs, 12 oz - and almost completely too big for newborn clothes (I'm the hold out on that one, I think - if there are no feeties, then I still put him in. They're just too cute!). He also does really well with nursing (although he has "nicked" me a couple of times with that tooth - but not too bad), and he does really well most nights - last feeding at 10:30 or 11pm, and then maybe 3:30 or 4:00 - sometimes at late as 5 am! I love it. Not every night is like this, but more often than not, so it definitely helps on the sleep front.
He's also awake a lot more during the day now, showing us those beautiful blue eyes. I had to remind myself to give him tummy time, since I get nervous putting him on the floor (he does have a rambunctious older brother who likes "runny time"), but we're getting better about laying him down. While he hasn't yet turned over, he really enjoys tummy time, and I don't think it's too far out in the future.
First Bath... It went well. He definitely loves the water as much as his brother...
Getting out, however, is a different story.
Just one week...
and still too small for the swing.
One Month - and the 'hawk is still natural. :)
One Month - I think this is my favorite. He looks so sweet!
Tummy time!
Streeetch!
2 Months! I had to take it quickly before he fell over! :)
"Enough Pictures, Mom!"
Because he is.
Brothers
Connor does really adore his baby brother - he always wants to hold him and hug him and sing to him. Yesterday, he went and got a book and started "reading" to him (I wish I'd gotten a picture, but we were in the middle of making dinner!). He's always concerned about Ethan - if he's crying, he'll tell Andrew or me "I think Ethan wants you" or that "He's hungry!" Unfortunately, he has tried to pick Ethan up by himself once or twice - under the pretense of needing to burp him. Fortunately, Ethan seems to be pretty tough and can handle the love that Connor dishes out.The only thing that puts Connor off is the spit up - he's always worried Ethan will spit up on him! And he's not too keen on the really loud crying. Connor will put his hands over his ears when he thinks Ethan is too loud - or he'll just take his toys and leave the room! But sometimes he gets upset when Ethan is upset - he just wants him to be okay. It's really cute how much he loves his baby brother.
A quick, drive by kiss from big brother.
Every time Ethan has tummy time, Connor wants to lay down with him, too.
And then, of course, "they" want their picture taken.
I don't know why this one won't flip... Annoying.
But I LOVE this picture.
They're both "rocking and a rolling", according to Connor.
Halloween
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| Our Monster & Policeman |
We went to the Zoo on the Sunday before Halloween (originally - we planned on going on Saturday, but it snowed - and even though we're no strangers to the snow, we decided to wait for Sunday). They had Trick or Treating, and since we got the membership and knew we could get in free, we figured it would be fun to go. So we bundled the kids up and headed down. Connor had a lot of fun, and got to practice his "Trick or Treat's" and "Thank You" and "Happy Halloween's" for the actual day. He did end up with quite a bit of candy - and he had a blast. Ethan stayed nice and warm in the stroller - and slept through the whole thing. :)
We got so many compliments on Connor's costume. Everyone loved it!
(It probably helps that he growls at everyone, right?)
I told Andrew I was going to start telling people that I made it.
He said he doubted that even I could keep a straight face. Funny guy I married.
Andrew and Connor in front of the Stargate. We got a kick out of seeing it. The museum had this really elaborate "haunted house" thing to go through, and part of is was supposed to be Egyptian. Andrew and I had just made some obscure Stargate comment, turned a corner, and then saw it.
Hilarious. Well, we thought so. :)
See - Ethan was just snug as a bug in a... stroller.
Until we let him out at home. :)
It was a subdued holiday for us this year - no pumpkin carving parties or anything like that. As I said earlier, we did get to a pumpkin patch, which was really nice. We picked out our own pumpkins, though one ended up rotting a bit too much by Halloween (I ended up just drawing on it with a marker). The other, Connor and I carved on Halloween. He had a lot of fun watching mommy cut the lid, scoop out seeds, and trace the pattern. Next year, maybe he'll be able to do one all by himself.
Double Double Toil and Trouble.
No, it's not a witch playing guitar (Shannon!).
It's a witch stirring a cauldron. Hello?!
The apartment complex gave us flyer's to put on the door to let people know we were participating in Halloween - and apparently, a lot of people had candy, but there weren't a lot of kids going out. Andrew did take Connor (while I stayed at home with Ethan to hand out candy) and came back with way too much candy (And a not so big thank you guy who gave out KING SIZE bars... yummy!). We only got two little groups of kids, though. I have to assume that most of the people with kids took them to neighbourhoods or something. We ended up with a bunch of leftover candy that Andrew - thankfully - took to work to get rid of. The people at his work are less than thrilled - and full of candy.
Football Hall of Fame
This past weekend, we made our way to Canton, OH, where the NFL has their Hall of Fame. Andrew has a friend who is working in Toledo, and we met him there for this "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" (Andrew's argument? That we'd never just get on a plane to go - so I ceded the point). Actually, the visit was more enjoyable than I'd anticipated, and we may even go back, if they finish renovations before we leave this end of the country.
Andrew & Connor with Denver's John Elway (top) and Detroit's Barry Sanders (bottom),
who Andrew loved when he was a kid.
John Elway
Shannon Sharp
This was a 3D Hologram. It was amazing - very Star Trek.
It's the future, people, the future!
Connor LOVED picking up the little phones at each screen.
I told Andrew I was ready for an upgrade to my ring. :)
Connor tried designing it. Mommy kept saying "More Diamonds!"
With the Vince Lombardi trophy.
Why am I the only one smiling?
We wanted to get to Cleveland to the zoo since we can get in free (I've heard it's really good, and it does look bigger than the Pittsburgh), but we didn't make it this time. There's also the Melt Bar & Grilled that Andrew saw from a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode that we want to try (apparently, everything in the form of grilled cheese - my favorite!), so we'll have to try again and do both.
On Tap
Well, that just about gets us current. :) We've got a lot of things coming up - we're going to New Jersey to visit some of my family for Thanksgiving, and then we'll be heading back to CO for Christmas. Connor, Ethan and I will be leaving PA on the 11th, and Andrew will follow us on the 22nd. After Christmas, we'll head to AZ to see Andrew's parents, and then we'll be back in PA.
We're also hoping to make it to see Santa before we leave PA, and maybe get to the zoo one more time. And then our overall mission is to go find some restaurants that we've seen on TV - Restaurant Impossible, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and Cupcake Wars. We've got some research ahead, but I did find a Cupcake Wars winner (with a store front!) in Phoenix, so we're planning to make that one.
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| Helping Daddy put together his new dresser. He had so much fun with the dresser, bookshelf and storage shelves. |
So - it's always busy for the Pittsburgh Zwickls. :) Until next time...
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PS - Love the new blogger - SO much easier to post and edit... This really will make it easier for me to keep up. I'm so happy.
