Sleeping struggles with Ethan . . .

It's definitely safe to say that each of our boys has his own set of amazing talents. When it comes to Ethan, he has always excelled in the "gross motor skills" area . . . he was the first to pull-up, the first to crawl, the first to walk, and, as of August, the first to decide that his crib is too small to contain him. It's honestly a trait we'd have loved for him to work through and retire, but he seems committed to keeping it in his repotoire.


What is genuinely amazing is the strength and skill he displays when getting out . . . he displays both the flexibility of a yogi (as he lifts his leg over his head to latch onto the crib railing) and the strength of a lineman as he first lifts himself up and then delicately lowers himself down. He's not afraid to use an open drawer or his crib mattress for a little assistance, but most of the time he just goes straight to the ground. Now, without further fanfare, here are some pictures of Ethan's greatest crib escapes . . .

First up, our first confirmation that he was in fact escaping the crib . . . prior to this August Saturday morning, Weezie had indicated that she thought he was able to get out, but, at 19 months, we didn't believe it could be possible. Fast forward to Dad coming into their room bright and early with their morning milk cups, only to discover Ethan experimenting with the latest craze amongst the kids, planking!!! He was cool as a cucumber, just hanging out long enough for Dad to help him make the transition to the ground.























Shortly this initial discovery, he displayed his talents on a far too frequent basis . . . we'd often perform our normal bedtime checks only to discover Ethan exploring new sleeping spaces . . .

The recliner . . .

The large pillow (ok, well, its a large dog bed, if we're being honest, but we DID buy it new at least!) that we placed at the base of the dresser to protect against an unexpected dismount error . . .



























Lastly, he displayed his skills at Gramma and Papa's place, deciding their twin bed looked far more appealing than his crib . . . at least we know he's not just trying to escape when he's home!

First days of school at St. Alcuin . . .

The boys started a Toddler Program this Fall at St. Alcuin. It's a Montessori School, which, contrary to what Ron thinks, does not require a vow of silence, but is a great learning environment that encourages independent thinking, self-reliance and a sense of community.



Ethan and Noel are in separate classes and this is essentially the first time they've been apart from each other for more than an hour. Below are a few pictures from their first weeks along with some amusing dialogue from Noel's teacher (Just an FYI...Ethan's teacher talks to us about Ethan at the end of each class, so we don't get these types of emails. Noel's teacher doesn't like speaking "about the student in front of the student.")



Day 1: This picture just oozes "Prison Yard" - you can just see Ethan asking Noel, "What are you in for?"

"Noel will stay from 8:00-9:00 one more day; I felt his tears were the 'sad' kind. We could distract him a little and he seemed to enjoy being outside, especially trying to push the wheelbarrow.

Thanks!

P.S. Noel's shorts were extremely tight when I tried to push them down and pull them back up – perhaps you have some that are more loose in the waistband that he could wear to school. Thanks!"

















Day 2: "Noel spent most of the morning in the garden – he went straight from the hallway door to the garden door – hoping to see Ethan. Ethan came out about 20 minutes later. However, Noel did join us for a language lesson for a short time."























Day 3: Things seem to get better with the boys, however, I needed a little direction from the teacher:
"There were some tears again this morning. Standing at the fence across from each other seemed comforting one moment and then one’s tears would set the other off the next moment. Noel tried to crawl under the fence to get to his brother! He was interested in a ball, the broom and the trike. 9:30 tomorrow! Let us receive Noel at the door, rather than you stepping inside the classroom. Thanks."




















Some pics of Ethan eating with friends and watering some plants:

Day 6: "The boys were on the playground together for about 15 minutes this morning. The boys have seen each other through the gate or fence but this is the first time really together. Noel found Ethan in the sandbox and turned around to point out to me that he was there. They spent the entire time running the length of the playground with Noel in the lead. Ethan was weepy when Noel came back to the garden and Noel gave Ethan the sweetest wave goodbye without tears. :)"

That one just broke our heart...Ethan is usually the "tough guy" of the two and it was sweet to see that Ethan really needs Noel.

More to come!

Random pics from the late summer . . .

Some great one-off pictures from the late summer months, all thanks to our recent return to Casa Versailles, post-remodeling!

First up, Ethan and Noel "floor surfing" on our new sheepskin rug that technically belongs on our kitchen table bench, but seems to spend more time on the floor:















Next up, Noel going backwards into his barca-lounger, which we've finally pulled out of storage. He and Ethan have matching chairs and they get to play "big boy" and recline like Daddy and Pai:

Lastly, our neighbor across the street had a boat temporarily parked in his driveway and it became a fantastic BIG TOY for the boys, who are currently fascinated with the big vehicle category. Ethan decided he was going to be in charge of driving for the trip.

All four of us are definitely thrilled to be back in the house!

Brudam Brigade's First Trip to the Zoo!

Today was definitely one of our best days as a family . . . the Dallas weather dropped below 100 for the first time since June and we took full advantage by taking the boys on their first outing to the Dallas Zoo! All four of us were in great spirits throughout the day and the boys had much more positive reaction to seeing animals in person than we'd expected.

We started off the day with a monorail ride . . . twenty minutes in duration and about ten minutes too long given that the boys were required to remain seated for the duration of the ride, which was not their preference. Cute pic of Noel just as we were starting the ride:















After the monorail, we made our way to the new Africa section, which was shockingly authentic and well-designed (surprising given the repuation of the Dallas Zoo). Once in "Africa," we watched the trainers examine and then feed the lions (hard for the boys to get to the front and see) and then made our way to giraffe feeding station, which was the biggest hit. The boys absolutely LOVED the feeding . . . the giraffe area is actually sunken by a couple of floors, so we were able to walk right up to their mouth-level. We purchased large leaves of romaine lettuce and the boys were completely fearless . . . Ethan was especially giggly and actually tried to prolong the experience by tearing his lettuce into very small pieces (which obviously didn't sit well with the giraffe):



























After the giraffe feeding, we made our way over to the Children's Zoo, which also exceeded our expectations. Our first activity at the Children's Zoo was the horse petting area, which got some cute and funny reactions from the boys, who were perhaps thinking they horse hair would be as soft/slick as the synthetic horse hair from one of their peek-a-boo books:
































After walking through the barnyard section (pigs, bunnies, horses, barn owls), we went to a great koi pond with an underwater viewing area that was right at the boys' eye level. We then made our way over the baby goat (kids, if you will) feeding/petting section, which was another big hit . . . that is until Ethan starting confusing kid poop for kid food and we had to make a hasty exit:


































This was certainly one of our most successful days as a Brigeade . . . which was evidenced by the fact that the boys were literally crashed out asleep within 3 minutes of pulling out of our parking space!

Vail re-visited . . . Sweet Basil on our last night!

Adding a last photo to end cap our Vail story . . . Papa headed out to gamble the day and night away (or at least get caught up in traffic towards that goal), so the rest of us, sands the tiny portion of the Brigade, headed out for a fun dinner at Sweet Basil in Vail Village. Many stories (and several cocktails) brought out a ton of laughter over the course of the night, which was capped with our introducing our video them of the trip, "The Honeybadger Don't Give a S@#$" to Gramma.

Definitely a fun night . . .

2nd Annual Brudam Brigade Vail Trip!

Last month we ventured off to Colorado for our second annual trip to Colorado.

You know, everyone has been impacted by the economy and we had to tighten our belts this year as well. For one thing, we reduced the number of trips to the Emergency Room from 2 to 0. And this year, no private planes were chartered for our Matriarch Milam - Barb had to fly home like the rest of us...in coach...on a commercial flight! For anyone missing the sarcasm, just go here for a recap of last year's trip.

It's amazing what a year does to our family vacation. The boys were amazingly active, ready to take on the wilderness of Colorado and it was great to see them really enjoying themselves.

A few highlights from the trip:

The hills are alive with the sound of Brudam!

Which way to the Widowmaker Trail?

Batting his lashes on the gondola ride down.

Post lunch in Vail - the water was super cold and the boys couldn't get enough. Noel would thrust his face into the water and just laugh:

Cute pic of Rocky Mountain Bathtime:

Noel making the game winning shot against Dad.

Pai and Ethan skipping rocks

Dad and Noel throwing rocks

Our best attempt at a family photo....they were getting a bit cranky.

The house next door had a fountain and it was the highlight of Noel's trip:

Professional Photos - 18 Months - Outtakes!!

And now for a peek behind the curtain to see how the magic was made . . .

As I stated in the last post, this is was by far (and by far, I mean by FAR) the most difficult shoot of the 6 to-date due to the fact that the boys just wanted no part of it. In looking at the 100 or so final pictures that Chad forwarded, there are no more than 5 where even one of the boys are smiling and absolutely none of just the two of them together due to the fact that one of them was screaming, eating or crying at all times.

We all kept good humor and relied on Chad to get the best pictures he could, but I must admit that we were as (or more) entertained by the outtakes he was able to get, some of which were hysterical . . .

First up, the "crying toddler" setup, combined with a crying Pai:

Secondly, the "can't sit still" setup, where the boys not only refused to situate into a set pose, Noel then decided to arbitrarily stuff his fist into Pai's mouth. Not sure what's going on with Ethan . . . seems like he's giving us a little "tough guy" with this look:

Next up, Noel's phooooooooooooooootobooooooooooooomb!!! At this point in the day, we'd thrown up the white flag with regards to involving the boys in the photos and thought we'd get a nice shot of the Knippa side with Dad. Noel then apparently had met his fill of Gramma, Papa and Shawna and decided to wander over and crash on the soft concrete . . . an odd, odd, funny shot:

Lastly, a super adorable shot of the boys giving us a clear non-verbal that they'd definitely had enough. This pic is definitely a keeper:

Professional Photos - 18 Months

We've been incredibly fortunate to have some very good friends, Chad and Marci Peters, with some incredible photography skills. It's hard to believe it, but this 18 month shoot was our sixth session with Chad and Marci and we were excited to include the expanded Brigade with us for this one, including Gramma & Papa, Avo, and Uncle David, who was visiting from Hong Kong. Chad found a great location for the shoot in a event rental warehouse near Fair Park - great space with interesting decor that provided a great backdrop for our shoot.

The shoot itself went a bit differently than we expected, as the boys were definitely not in the mood to sit still and we spent the majority of our time trying to distract them with toys, blankets, pacifiers, and food with the hopes of getting at least a few good pics. It is definitely a testament to Chad (and his fast camera!) that we ended up with a ton a great shots on what was definitely our toughest shoot to-date.

Up first, some great expanded family shots . . . it's definitely tough to get this group in the same city, much less the same room, so we took full advantage and took numerous pics of the expanded family:
























Next up, some great individual shots of each of the boys . . . Ethan with Uncle David's gifted soccer ball and Noel with his second best friend (after Ethan), his blanket:






















This shoot didn't provide many opportunities for a family shot of the Brigade (despite our many, many attempts) . . . below is definitely our favorite one of the day, interesting setting and good perspective of the boys side-by-side:














The next two pics are definitely our favorites of the day . . .

• Dad with Noelly Canoli, who is giving a little "over the back of the couch" charm























• Pai with Ethan (Pea Pie), who is definitely flashing his brightest smile of the day
  

Next up, some great shots of the boys with their respective grandmothers:

Gramma and Ethan, snapped just after she used her special powers to calm him. Such an incredibly sweet picture . . .

Avo and Ethan, who is giving us a great tussled hair look

Avo and Noel, both looking adorable

Lastly, some immediate (upper) family pictures, taken late in the day when the boys had declared that they would no longer be participating in our silly picture endeavor. We were definitely glad to get these pictures as a bonus to the 18 month shoot.