Saturdays/Memorial Day/Bachlorette/Nuge/Sandbox

So on Saturdays, Brian and I buy a little extra time in bed by letting AJ in with us. On this day, he decided he wanted read to first thing. Lately though, he's decided that all of his cars and trucks need to be covered up in bed as well. AJ enjoying being pushed on the big boy swing by cousin Emma Memorial Day weekend. AJ is really good about holding on, and even loves to lean his head back just like we did as kids - scared me to death the first time he did this.

Having more fun with cousin Tommy who entertained AJ with the marble maze/tower.

We also celebrated mom's 60th birthday.

When I showed AJ this picture on the camera one day and asked him who was in it (thinking he'd say mamaw) he enthusiastically said, "CAKE." The boy likes cake!

We officially have a "kids" table now. AJ and Heidi took full advantage of it (so did Nuge)!

AJ showing Heidi how to swing one's self down the slide.

Change of topic... Another PINK gets married! Congratulations Jessie!!!! Loved the night out! Headed out for a night on the town! Every mom needs a chance to get away once in awhile!

So Nuge has always had his fair share of skin issues. In fact, our vet is actually into dermatology, so is always very into checking Nuge out whenever he gets a funky spot (which I'm pretty sure cost us more than necessary - my favorite is when she tells us that she's going to check for ringworm but is pretty sure it isn't that because otherwise she would be wearing gloves - that's a $50 test). Well, once again Nuge has an irrated spot under his neck that he has scratched raw and won't leave alone so it continues to bleed instead of heal. This time though, I played vet myself (to save on cost). I taped a piece of gauze loaded with neosporin to the ace bandage and wrapped up his neck to keep him from scratching. So far, so good!

Grandpa Joe built AJ a sandbox to have at their house as he LOVES playing in sand. Thanks Dad/Grandpa!

AJ somehow mixed some water (might have been the pop he dumped in the sandbox) with some of the dirt around the sandbox and spread it on his face to make it look like he had war paint on (imagine a boy with dirt on his face)! So much fun!

Random

This is AJ's new trick... head on floor and arms out like he is flying. One of these days he's going to roll right over into a somersault. Since it was 85 and sunny, we decided to join the other 95,000 BUCKEYE fans and take AJ to his FIRST Buckeye football game (even if it was just the Spring game). We made it 3 quarters and he had a GREAT time. He points out Brutus and says his name wherever he sees him. He'll also give you a big "GO BUCKS!"

Wesley Kinch's (Brian's godson and cousin) baptism.

After the baptism, we all went over to Aunt Cindy's where AJ entertained himself by feeding the stuffed puppy. SO CUTE! His imagination is really starting to show itself!

AJ is SO 2!

Okay, so I really can't complain because even though my son has thrown himself on the floor in a fit he at least isn't screaming. This is how his tantrums usually go: he goes limp, falls to the floor, and rolls around a couple times. No big deal at home, but he lays down in the middle of stores and parking lots too. I usually just walk away and tell him I'm leaving. It works all the time. He really is good for being 2 and like I said, I can't complain. This was just too cute and dramatic to not get on film.

More things AJ does and says at 2...

• He will tell you his name (AJ) and how old he is when asked
• He names most of his shapes: square, rectangle, triangle, circle, diamond, oval, heart and star
• He knows a handful of letters, with his favorite being B (not sure why)
• He recognizes his name in print
• He calls everything "boo" (blue) when asked what color it is
• He can name at least twently animals when he sees them in books - he really seems to remember animal names and the noises they make (he currently loves playing the dinosuar and growling at you with his hands out to get you)
• Just recently he has asked "WHY?" a couple of times (and so it begins)
• His favorite toy is still all of his match-box cars (his new trick is to build a parking lot with all of them)
• He sings the ABC song, Itsy, Bitsy Spider and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Start with me at bedtime
• He says "bess shoo" (bless you) everytime you sneeze and everytime you cough too
• He is very polite and often says "thank you" (this has become quite clear) when given something
• He now loves the Shrek movies which he often pronounces more like "Shark." At first I thought he was wanting to watch our Jaws movies that had the shark on the front (thank goodness it wasn't really that). Shark is an animal he knows.
• Oh, he just has so much fun all the time, and loves whatever you offer him. He just takes it all in!

At his 2-year visit he was 37 inches (94th percentile) and 29 pounds (60th). Tall and skinny!!

Easter Weekend 2009

What an Easter weekend it was filled with TONS of family fun! Here's AJ and Megan on Saturday morning helping Grandma and Grandpa decorate the tree with Easter eggs. See the first video below to watch how the eggs soon became tether-balls! Good, old-fashioned coloring Easter eggs fun! So what if all the eggs were cracked by the end! They actually did a better job than I expected, despite the dyed fingers that were blue all weekend!

Megan and AJ in their Sunday best (they look so happy about it too)!

AJ caught right on to the whole Easter egg hunt concept. Here he is checkin' out the goods.

The McLaughlin clan after the massive Easter egg fight. Still just a bunch of big kids having fun on Easter Sunday.

On to more Easter eggs at the Sauer house. Heidi and AJ had a yard full of eggs all to themselves. More egg-hunt fun on the second video!

AJ and Heidi enjoying Aunt Cindy's famous, traditional Easter bunny cake.

To top the weekend off, we took AJ and Megan to Chuck-E-Cheeses on Monday before Angie and Megan had to leave. The best was the two of them together in this toddler-size roller coaster simulator. It was great!

They were so intense, but loved going up and down the hills.

One last squeeze with Grandma before it they were off to the airport.

NOTE: AJ's favorite part about Easter... "beans" (what he says whenever he wants a jelly bean, which is ALL the time)!

AJ's 2nd Birthday! Ka-Chow!!!

Our "Little Man" turned TWO last Friday! As obvious from the pictures below he is OBSESSED with Cars (the toy and the movie). I decided to test out my Martha Stewart skills this year by decorating car, cut-out cookies for AJ to take to his friends at the babysitter's. FYI - Lighting McQueen's (the main character of Cars) race car number is 95. AJ enjoying his present from Emily - his babysitter. She got him "Mack" - Lighting's trailer.

AJ also received more "choo-choo's." Brian and I got him Grand Central Station for his Geotrax train set collection. He plays with it everyday!

AJ's new beach towel for the summer - Cars of course!

AJ getting reading to blow out his candles on his "Cars" cake. He was so cute trying to blow out his candles (with mommy's help). Aunt Aimee got the action shot. I'll post it when she sends it to me! Notice the tatoo AJ has on his hand - Doc (his favorite character).

A little bit cleaner this year with the cake. Utensils are a wonderful thing. YUM! YUM!

Of course AJ didn't want to wear the party hat with Mater on it, but Heidi enjoyed putting them on all the stuffed animals.

Baby Wesley joining in on the fun!

Hanging out with Uncle Eric at the end of the party. I love the tractor sticker he has stuck to the bottom of his pants, and of course the trains in each hand.

AJ in action enjoying his presents. What a fun day! Thanks to everyone for coming and celebrating with us!

Trip to the Hyun's/Washington D.C.

We decided to head to D.C. last weekend to visit my sister and her family, but had a minor disaster on the way out. Brian noticed that one of my tires was a little flat when we stopped for gas on the way out of town, so we filled it up and thought nothing of it. Too bad we hadn't realized I had 30,000-mile tires on my car - it's run about 45,000 miles. So, naturally we got a flat (not a blow out fortunately) in the middle of the moutains just inside Maryland at about 11:30 at night, and no we did not have a flashlight (lesson learned). We called 911 to have them send out a trooper, but by the time he got there Brian already had the old tire off. He did need the light to line up the donut though (thank God for a husband who knows how to do this stuff - I would have been crying if I'd been alone). We then drove the remaing 200+ miles on a donut going about 55 in a 70 zone. And of course holding our breath the whole time that the donut would hold. Luckily, it did and we were able to enjoy the rest of our weekend!

On to plan B when our plans fell through Saturday due to maintenance on the Metro to head into town - the playgroud, which the kids probably enjoyed more. It took a little convincing to get AJ to go down the big tube slide, but with a lesson from Megan and a ride with Daddy, AJ was soon up to the challenge.

Even big kids like to have fun. Angie and Brian going down the twisty slide.

Lot's of AJ and Megan pictures of course! The roller slide was a huge hit with AJ. They thought it was so cool that they could go down together!

On the teeter-toter - what happened to the long wooden ones like we used to play on?

Ready, Set, GO!

AJ and Megan say CHEESE! Yes, AJ loved playing with Megan's dollhouse. Why wouldn't he with all those pieces and parts?

"Pretending" to take a nap in Megan's big bed together. Naturally they took their real naps seperately, so they would actaully sleep!

The tub scene - classic.

Family shot during AJ's first ride on the Metro. My brother-in-law Dave was a bit embarrased that we were acting like such tourists. Love you Dave!

The group shot of the six of us that mom requested. Too bad Dave's eyes are closed. I love that you can see both the Lincoln and the WWII memorials behind us. I'd forgotten how big everything is.

Another family shot with the White House between our heads.

Can you tell that AJ was a "little" excited about the dinosauer exhibit we visited in the Natural History museum? He even picked out a dinosaur toy in the gift shop - go figure. We also made it to the American History museum and saw the Star-Spangled Banner display (loved it), and the Lincoln exhibit, which I would have enjoyed more if it hadn't been so crowded.

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to visit again! Thank you Angie, Dave and Megan for being such great hosts! We love and miss you!!!!

Nuge's Bandaid/Snow/Cheesy Smile

So AJ got this little Seamee Street Dr. kit, and loves playing with - he's always checking out mommy and daddy's ears. As the picture shows, I also found Nuge one day with the plastic bandaid wrapped around his paw. SO CUTE!! This is AJ's new favorite place to hang out and watch what's going on outside - especially when it's snowing.

AJ enjoying the snow. We took him out with us in the evenings when we needed to shovel the driveway. His favorite thing to do is throw snowballs, or at least watch mommy and daddy throw snowballs at each other. He thought that was quite hilarious.

This is the FIRST picture that I have ever gotten AJ to actually say "cheese." It's also cute because he's curled up with Nuge, Curious George and Little Blue (his blankie).