Friday, December 11, 2009

Twins

Maybe Danny Devito and Arnold were the originals, but these two are getting closer and closer. I'm very against the dual outfits, but I must admit this is pretty cute.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

The unknown toddler


He's made his own costume, but what is his true identity?

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Boxing Liam

Finn always use to like hinding in boxes and laundry baskets. Now he likes to trap his brother in them,


Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Fireman Liam

Liam is getting to be more responsive and shows personality as opposed to being an infant. He likes to hang out down in the playroom and watch what is going on.

He's become able to play peek-a-boo. It usually involves his hat accidently droppping down over his eyes. Unfortunately, if his hat comes down over his eyes in the car he cries non-stop. Covering the eyes in the playroom is very different than it is in the car.


The arms aren't pinned down down by the seat belt, so sight comes back pretty quickly and the fun continues.


Monday, December 07, 2009

Caps Game

When uncle Chuck was in town we went to a Caps game to check out Ovechkin, Semin, and the rest of the team. Finn and I arrived early on the scene and had some time to kill before the game. Finn was into the while thing and would rather stay in the seat than see the sights on the rink.


The Caps won (they rarely lose) and goods tie were shared with Chuck and Ashley.


Finn had a singe hiccup. That was when the giant buzzer would buzz. He had to cover his ears and wait until a less exciting moment to dance and cheer.

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Drumming

I haven't seen drumming like this since State Street!




Friday, December 04, 2009

Eating my shoe.


Sometime I do it. Liam has begun copying me.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Various passtimes around the house

You can't go out all day every day. So there are fun things to do around the house too. Crawling into things like forts is always good. So is pretending to nap in a plastic box.

Then there is dressing up in fancy hats and chewing on a toy.

When in doubt, hang out with your brother. Things can't be all bad if he's around.

When the house fially loses its appeal, you can get mom to take you out on your tricycle.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Halloween

Halloween is a big holiday for everyone, especially kids. There is so much to do, apple picking, hay rides, dressing up, and more. The first is carving the pumpkin. To do that we have to have the pumpkins.


Check. Maybe the boys are still too young to use the knife themselves, but they can help pick patterns and supervise the carving.


Our final result covered the gamut from traditional to a witch on a broom. We weren't used to the warm weather here in Virginia so they didn't last as long as we're used to, but it was still adequately festive.


The other must-do is the costume. Liam got a recycled turtle outfit that would have been perfect if he was crawling around. I'll trade sitting in place rather than crawling down the stairs for a little cuteness at Halloween. Besides, crawling and being still look the same in a photograph.


Finn saw a pilot costume while we were at the BX in Germany. He wanted to get it but they didn't have one in his size. So when we got back to the States, we ordered on off the BX on-line.


Finn wore it around the whole DC/NOVA area on Halloween. We went to the Native American Museum and then walked to where he wold be more appropriately dress, the Air and Space Museum.




After the museum, we came back home and practiced carrying the plastic pumpkin around the house.


Once we thought that task was mastered, we went to the party in our community. He met up with the next door neighbor girl there. They had fun until there was an unplanned diaper change.


Finally the real trick-or-treating could begin. Finn didn't quite get the bucket like we hoped and carried all the candy in his hands and carried the bucket along with it. Once the haul outgrew his number of hands, he used the bucket to carry it all. He said that we'll be all ready for next year with all the training he needs.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Annapolis

One weekend we decided to check out Anna Arundel's city. It was beautiful! We had hoped to see the harbor, but it happened to be the same weekend as thenational boat show which meant that the entrance fee to the harbor (and crowd) preveted people not that interested in it from going in.

The kids hung out in their stroller and ejoyed the free ride most of the day. The exception was at the big playground and across the Naval Academy. Maybe that was also a playground, depending on the frame of reference.



Finn explored the Academy grounds and said that he as abot ready for attendance there or pre-school sice they were roughly equivalent.


The running, boats, and being outside were too much for the boys and they would break out in laughter.


Sarah got into the fun of the day and posed for a picture too.


The most curious sight that day was the revolutionary soldier riding the Segway. Or is it Segue? Not sure if the vehicle has an intentional misspelling or not. I am not one to judge.

Monday, November 23, 2009

New (used) toys for the boys

New to you is new enough. That's our philosophy with Liam. He's destined to a life of hand-me-downs with som minor exceptions and of course, the influence of the gradparents.

After a life limited to a couple of while in Germany, the joys of an exersaucer was unfathomable.


Maybe it's just the control of his hands he is happy about, but he seems to be fascinated with every toy around the house.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Most expressive meal ever

An actor in the making, I suppose.







Saturday, November 21, 2009

First Food!

Once back at home, we started giving Liam solid food. He seemed excited from the beginning. Perhaps he knew what was coming since he had been trying to pull food off of our plates for a few weeks before this point.


Finn wanted to be the big brother and help out with the feeding. There wasn't much he could do but say "Liam did it" whe he'd take in a spoonful.


In the end, food was a roaring success and Liam has been a great eater, sometimes even out eating Finn at meals. Soon enough he'll even weigh as much as his big brother.

Leaving Germany

The Germany adventure came to an end (quite some time ago actually, but I've been poor about the commitment to blogging). We all got together for a last picture in the house and headed up to Frankfurt where we caught our plane.


When we left Germany lst time, Finn was exactly Liam's age, so there was a degree of parallel structure we followed. Last time we went into Frankfurt and stumbled across the Bierboerse (Beer Exchange) next to the DAX. This time we stumbld on a different party that still had beer and giant sausage.


After some dancing and eating, we took one last picture and drove back to the airport hotel.


I can't quite remember, but I think the kids were good on the return trip. I suppose it doesn't matter a month later.


Finn was glad to get back and wanted to play with all the toys he'd missed while h was away.


So we're back, I'm relatively caught up at work and can start bloging again. It just wouldn't feel right if I wasn't a month behind.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Walking around

We try to go for walks in the many paths all around our house. We need to avoid the horses and the mines that leave behind. On the other end of the spectrum, there are plum trees along the path that Finn likes to shake and pick up the fallen fruit.


There are saddled horses, free-roaming horses, and even carts pulled by horses. Lots of horses. But they do make plenty of photograpahy fodder.


What does a kid do after all the fun of walking strap to their father's chest? Throw-up during a bath in the sink! It's all just too much fun.


Having gotten a good feel of the area around our place, we started to venture a little further away.