Joergen is 3!!

How is it possible that our sweet baby Joergen is already 3?!

I've been behind (understatement!) on blogging and have so much to share about this little guy.  To start, here are some of Joergen's dearest loves at 3:

• Sucking his thumb
• "Chewies" and his old muslin swaddle wraps, which now serve as his favorite blanket.
• Sleeping (do not mess with his nap time)
• Douglas (Doug-wiss), his little stuffed dog
• Construction trucks, construction sites, and John Deere Earth Mover Action (vol. 1 and 2, thank you Papa!)
• "Workermans", tools, and machines
• His cousins (especially his best friend Colin) and Liam (Wee-am), his most favorite people.  He is a very possessive and protective brother! One morning, when he had to leave for Doreen's without Liam (who was in trouble for tackling Joergen out of anger over who was going to brush their teeth first), a very worried Joergen said to me, "Mom, will you please stay with my Wee-am while I'm gone?"
• Mac and cheese, chili, yogurt (oh-gurt), chocolate (chwok-whet), pears, fruit in general, Pirate Booty (the green kind only)
• Golf, basketball, baseball... games with balls in general!
• Reading stories
• Yard work (yawd wohk)... bubble-mowing, weed-pulling, dirt-scooping, stick-finding, hawd wohk!
• Taking the time to "smell the roses" - observing the little things, small details, and points of interest that would otherwise be easily overlooked, with a sense of wonder and curiosity.  Rarely does an ant, a sidewalk crack, or a stick go by him unnoticed.  He also picks up on the faintest of smells and littlest of noises.
• Imaginative play, especially when no one is looking.  I just adore listening in on him playing with action figures, construction trucks, cars, and trains, with his funny little story lines and pretend conversations.
• Making music, singing, and dancing.
• Declaring "favorites."  The best was a couple of weeks ago when he hit a nerf ball into the rose bushes, and I said, "Be careful when you get your ball out of the rose bush!" to which he replied, "Rose bush?! That's my favorite bush!"

Dislikes and pet peeves:

• Babysitters. He gets upset about even the idea of having one several days before the sitter is even scheduled to come!
• Sitting to have his picture taken (which is why I have far more videos of him than photos)
• The sound of lawnmowers, and especially weed whackers.
• Having his hair washed.  And the poor guy just has so much hair, so it's not a very quick process to begin with!
• Potty training

Where Liam is our puppy dog, Joergen is our cat (and sometimes, our kitten).  He goes from being disinterested and aloof to being sweet and affectionate, curling right up to you to cuddle, strictly on his terms.  If you have ever tried to get Joergen to give you a hug hello or good-bye, you know exactly what I'm talking about!   He is also an extremely funny little guy.  He has both the cutest little giggle and the biggest belly laugh... not to mention the most maniacal, devious, wide-open-mouth laugh!  And no one, no one can make Liam laugh like Joer.  He has a way of turning the foulest of Liam's moods into fits of giggles, and it rarely takes more than a silly noise, a nonsense statement, or some good ol' slapstick to get him there.

Joergen's 3rd birthday fell on a Wednesday, so we celebrated as a family that night before having a little party on the weekend.  When we woke up on his birthday and saw some balloons on his chair at the dining room table with a little party hat and noisemaker at everyone's place, he said to me in a whisper, "Is this for me?!?"  After patiently celebrating Liam's, Mommy's, and then Genevieve's birthdays, he just couldn't believe it was his turn! 

After Aunt Doreen's, he was so excited for his birthday presents that he wanted to open them even before cake (which was actually quite shocking!).

Frozen!

A trumpet!

Construction trucks!

And then... CAKE.

Make a wish!

Dig in, folks!

That Sunday, we had Nana, Grandpa, and our NJ family over that Sunday for a little construction-themed birthday party.  Liam helped me pick out all the decorations, and Joergen was thrilled!

What better to do at a construction party than start a rock band, of course, so that is exactly what everyone did.

Then it was time to play pin the... stop sign on the construction site?  Not really sure what mark they were supposed to be hitting with their stop sign stickers, but they had fun anyway :)

By request, Joergen's cake as chocolate with chocolate frosting, complete with traffic cone candles and a loader scooping up mini chocolate chips:

Liam asked if he could be the one to bring Joer his cake, and thankfully, he does not take after his mother-- the cake made it to the table without incident.

Make another wish, buddy!

Time to open more presents (what a lucky kid!).  Construction trucks that can go in the sand from Nana and Grandpa, and an awesome interactive Scooby Doo set and a tape measure from Uncle Tim and Aunt Jackie.

We also celebrated Grandpa's birthday that day, since his special day was just a few days away.  Not sure what in the world his present was, but he seemed pretty excited!

Afterwards, the boys scurried off to go play superheroes.  How cute are these two?!

Happy, happy 3rd birthday to our crime-fightin', tape-measurin' baby boy!

Lil' Wildcat

Earlier in March, Liam hit an important milestone: his first Villanova basketball game.  It had been a LONG time since I'd been to a game, and I was excited to have the opportunity to go and especially to bring my little guest to see the Wildcats take on the Georgetown Hoyas.

We were invited to lunch with several of my other colleagues from work in the Athletic Director's Lounge beforehand.  We were happy to find many safe options for Liam to eat, although he was almost too excited to do so.  Afterwards, we found our seats - next to some other familiar Villanova faces - and had a blast cheering on the Wildcats to victory!

Goofing around during a time-out

I had so much fun seeing many of my former students before, during, and after the game.  Students I hadn't seen in 9 or 10 years were there, some even with their spouses, and it was definitely a test of my ability to remember names!!

On our way out to head home after the game, Liam paused for a quick photo op as a Flyer:

Looking forward to bringing Joergen for his first game in another year or two, too.  Until then... Go Cats!

Liam Claus

Liam and Joergen at this age have such awesome imaginations, and you truly never know what new adventure or story line or game they are going to come up with next.  On St. Patrick's Day, after our traditional corned beef and cabbage supper, Liam announced that he was Santa Claus and would now be accepting our wish lists for Christmas (makes sense... only 252 shopping days left!).  Upon this announcement, Joergen dutifully climbed up on Liam's lap and made his requests.

Seeing that, how could I not jump in next?

But be careful what you ask for though, Santa... Dad's taking his turn too!

Playdate with the G-willies

Back in early February, we needed a break from the winter blues and decided to spend the day with our NJ family at the Please Touch Museum in Philly (otherwise known as the Please Touch Me Museum, thank you Colin!).  This is, hands-down, the best place to let kids play and explore when the weather isn't cooperating.  We had so much fun that day!  When I wasn't busy playing with (or searching for) a little one, I caught a few favorite moments from the day:

Liam and Dad, tucked away in a corner reading a story

My favorite little lady, walking all over the place at 11 months!

Peekaboo, Genevieve!

And Colin!

A little slice of heaven for Joergen: an excavator

C-man's turn!

Colin, J, and Liam pretending to ride the tram.  All aboard!

Joergen playing in the flight fantasy exhibit.  He could have spent hours here, experimenting with positioning different sized balls on the various air vents.  I've never seen him so engaged!

Liam blasting rockets in the Space Station.

Joergen taking a turn.  I love the look on their faces in these photos!

Another exhibit they could have explored for hours, playing with boats, levies, dams, and water currents.  Good thing for the smocks (and a change of clothes from home!)

And what could be better than getting some snuggles with sweet little Genevieve?!

For as much fun as we had that day, I must acknowledge that all the sharing and taking turns was at times, well, a little tough for our little Joergen.

Exhibit A: The construction site wheelbarrows.

Exhibit B: the turtle.

What can I say... being two ain't easy! (on anyone!)

We are so grateful to have Uncle Tim and his family living close by these days, and can't wait for more fun adventures together this summer!

St. Patrick's Day Parade 2014

Outside of the first day of football season, it's time to celebrate our favorite holiday!

This year's Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade was (surprise, surprise) a COLD one.  And what do you get when you combine cold, cloudy weather, two young kids, and a 90-minute wait in the parade staging area?  

Les miserables.  

They at least tried to feign happiness...

To help pass the time while waiting for our turn to step off, we tried to keep both busy and warm.  Mr. Sullivan let the kids help him play the trumpet...

We located our favorite float...

We piled on the accessories (hey, those beards are actually quite cozy and warm!)...

We snuggled into blankets and willed it to get warmer...

And we caught up with friends!

Brigid and Liam, ready to rock!

Finally, finally, finally it was our turn to go.  We were ready.

While Joergen tried (without success) to nap in his little blanket cocoon during the parade, Liam took his job as "bead-passer-outer" very seriously.

Inevitably, Liam would be having so much fun passing out beads and greeting the parade-watchers that he would fall behind our group.  While trying to catch his breath after running full-tilt to catch up with us at one point, Liam said, "Mom, being in a parade is seriously hard work!"

It was so much fun watching him and Brigid work the crowd!  And all along the parade route, they seemed to capture the hearts of both older girls...

This trio of girls could not get over Liam and Brigid's cuteness, and Liam could not get enough of them!

... and older women!

This lady begged to take their picture- hilarious!

About halfway up the Ben Franklin Parkway, look who finally gave up on his nap and joined in the party!  He's alive!

I was proud of all the kids for powering through the less-than-ideal weather conditions (although once we finished our route, they were DONE).  It was a lot of fun, though, and we can't wait for next year!