Shane just LOVES his new swingset out in the backyard. He’s all over the thing! He’s climbing and scaling parts of this thing that we thought he was a year or two away from doing! He’s impressing the pants off us!!! He is a very determined little boy and wants to do things by himself without any help.

He even protests the “spotter” we place strategically behind him! I think his problem is that his “spotter” looks an awful lot like Daddy!

Shane HATES sweets - he just has zero interest . . . except for chocolate ice cream. Chocolate ice cream is his weakness - but ONLY chocolate!!! On Monday we figured we’d finish off our fun filled holiday weekend by letting him indulge in his favorite treat! This time, though, we switched it up on him! This time, we gave him an ice cream cone!

At first he had no idea what he was supposed to do with the thing. At first he wouldn’t even take it from me! However, once he figured out that chocolate ice cream was involved, a huge smile spread across his face!!! He reached up, took the cone out of my hand and walked away smiling. I could almost just hear him thinking “I’ll figure this thing out, I’ll figure anything out for chocolate ice cream!”

And I do believe he would . . .

Uh-oh, messes already!

He’s still so sweet looking, even with ice cream dripping down his chin!

All smiles!

From our trip to Coney Island on Sunday.

On Sunday we met GramZ and Grandpa at Coney Island for a few hours! We trekked out onto the beach, had lunch at the original Nathan’s, walked the boardwalk a bit and rode the carousel - we had a fantastic time and we were all pretty wiped out by the time we got home later that afternoon!

Shane and Daddy on the beach:
This is about as close to the water as he cared to get:
Checking it all out:With Daddy and GramZ:
Having lunch with Grandpa: On the boardwalk with Daddy:

Buh-Bye!

Shane has been refusing to wear any shoes except for his sneakers lately. By the end of a day spent running around outside without shoes, this is what we were left with!

Aunt Trae has been looking for an update - and we’re happy to finally be able to give her one!

We all came down with colds last weekend and have spent the week getting over them. I’m happy to say we’re all just about back to our old selves and we’re looking forward to the long holiday weekend we have ahead of us!

With all the germs floating around last weekend, we didn’t do very much at all. On Saturday we cleaned out the fridge and went grocery shopping and on Sunday we loaded up the car with both dogs and Shane and we took a drive into a really quaint part of the state - very typically New England. I was reminded why I love living in CT so much!

We’ll have to tons to blog about after this weekend is over! Until then - Happy Memorial Day!

Shane got a kick of having the fridge completely empty!


Eventually we decided we may as well put him to work!

We had a fantastic Mother’s Day this year! GramZ and Grandpa came up from Long Island and Grandma, Aunt Kate and Uncle Jay came over. We spent the afternoon sitting and playing outside. Chris made lunch for everyone out on the grill and Aunt Kate made chocolate shakes (Shane’s favorite) for everyone for dessert! It really was the perfect Sunday!

Playing with his trucks out on his picnic table:
LOVE this face!

Playing in the sandbox:

Our little family:
After his grandmothers’ found it so funny that he was splashing around in the dog’s water bowls, I decided that it was suddenly warm enough to pull out the water table! He loves it as much this year as he did last year!

Enjoying his chocolate shake! Thanks, Aunt Kate!
Make that THOROUGHLY enjoying his chocolate shake!
Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there!

Love, Love, Love this challenge!

Saturday afternoon, after Shane got up from his FOUR HOUR nap, we decided to head on over to the West Haven Beach to get out of the house and walk around for a bit. We ended up having a really nice time out by the water and were disappointed to find that it was already 5:30 and we determined we should probably leave to head home and feed the little guy some dinner.

We’re looking forward to going back sometime soon!
I LOVE that he can still look so little sometimes!


Explorin’
We came across this fun little playscape right on the sand, just a few feet back from the water! So pretty, so of course we had to take full advantage!



Our smarty pants thought this was a slide too! Can you imagine??
Hi Daddy!
Okay, let’s go . . .

Some of you may remember that I made a 1st year video montage for Shane’s birthday last year . . . well, I did it again!

Hope you enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed living it!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We had Shane’s 2 year appointment with the pediatrician today. It went . . . well, let’s just say it went!

First, the stats:
He weighs 28lbs 5oz and is right at 50% among other boys his age for weight
He’s 35 inches tall and is at the 75th percentile for height
In other words, he’s doing great!

Shane did really well with the Dr. until she asked Chris (notice how I said Chris, that’s because I stay way back in the other corner where I don’t have to see my poor baby’s reaction . . . poor Daddy. He really does take the hit on a lot of things!) to lay Shane down so that she could feel his belly (no problem) and look in his mouth (his what!!!!!). This is where Shane lost it, and it went quickly down hill from there.

The poor pediatrician had to leave the room after we rushed through our questions (switch to 1% milk and got the okay to try peanut butter!) so that Shane would stop crying! Poor Dr., you could tell she just felt so unloved!

And did I mention that they also decided they’d try a vision test today?

Ahh yes, the vision test. We did this when he was one and it went great! However, as we’re following the nurse down the hall to the room where they do the vision test, it’s all coming back to me. The electrode things they stick to his forehead and back of his head (they’re just stickers we tell him), the eye patch they cover one of his eyes with (like a pirate, we say), the flashing screen that he has to keep constant watch of - and I knew, I just knew this wasn’t going to go so well today.

And it didn’t. It’s not easy to keep constant watch of the screen when you’re crying and screaming SO loudly and SO hard while at the same time you’re trying to free your arms from Mommy’s death grip so that you can rip the electrodes off your forehead (just stickers my hiney you think!) and yank that eye patch (pirate smirate) off.

The lovely nurse said we’d try the vision test again next time . . .

So the 3 of us go back down the hall to our room, with a screaming toddler in my arms. And see, Chris and I knew wha was coming next, what comes at the end of every well visit when you have a child under 3 in your possession, and as we took Shane’s pants back off, I’m pretty sure he knew what was coming, too.

In walks another very nice nurse (they’re all really so nice at this practice) and gives Chris and I that “I’m so sorry look”. It’s now that I hand Shane over to Daddy and go back to my corner on the opposite side of the room (tough Mommy, that’s my nickname).

First, Nurse Sue sticks his finger for blood - no problem there, at least not until she tried to put the band aid on.

Then the big guns came out. As soon as she gave him his one immunization is his cute little pudgy thigh, the sirens went off. Nurse Sue gave him another band aid, said her apologies and excused herself from the room (lucky!)

Chris and I get the pants back on our poor 2 year old, gather the rest of his belongings and shove them in the diaper bag, and with our tails between our legs we exit the Dr’s office.

The whole ride home Shane sat in his carseat with his bag of crackers in one hand and his bandaged finger, extended into his line of sight, on his other hand. He refused to put the hand with the bandaged finger into the bag of crackers to retrieve a cracker and likewise, he also refused to switch the bag of crackers to the bandaged hand, so that he could retrieve crackers with his “good” hand. So, there he sat, extended finger and all, for the entire drive home.

We pulled up to the house, Shane looked down at his finger again and, as all the traumatic memories of the last hour came flooding back, he started to cry again. I carried him into the house on my shoulder (see, I’m brave again now that we’ve left the pediatrician!) and carried him into his room where I sat him on his changing table to tend to his wounds.

He gulped down the Tylenol like a champ, got down off the changing table and crawled up into the chair in the corner of his room. He reached for his blanket, reached for his crackers and reached for his sippy cup of water. And as Elmo played on the TV in front of him, he started to settle down and settle in. And maybe, if we’re lucky, he also started to forget what had happened.

Thankfully, the next well visit isn’t until he’s 3!

We had quite the celebration this weekend for our little boy’s 2nd birthday party!!!

We celebrated with family at the end of the day with an Elmo themed birthday party! We all had a great time, especially our birthday boy! Everyone who walked into the house had a “gee” (truck) of one form or another and Shane couldn’t have been happier!

He’s one lucky little boy and he has a lot of incredible people in his life who love him (and spoil him!) very much. Thank you all.

Some shots of the decorations (taken the night before):






I’m VERY proud to say that this is an Elmo cake - that I actually made myself! Considering I’m not very talented in regards to baking, this is quite a feat! And I’m not too proud to toot my own horn, either!
Some shots from the morning:

Ahh, puffs. The breakfast of champions!


In addition to the swingset that we purchased (together with the grandparents), and assembled (together with Uncle Jay and Grandpa), we got Shane this ride-on as a birthday gift. He’s terrified of it! Opening presents and playing with all his new “gees”!!!

Dinner time! He’s so nosey!
“Well hello there, Aunt Joni!”

Time for cake! (He’s not a fan of the singing - though he does enjoy
clapping for himself when everyone is done!)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Shane Patrick!!!

After leaving the Trucking Museum, we took Shane to Maggie McFly’s for lunch.

Normally, we don’t eat out anymore. Shane has very little patience for waiting and let’s us know when he’s had enough - which is usually before the drinks ever arrive. So Chris and I were either very brave, or very stupid, to even attempt this.

I’m happy to say we had a great time, a great meal, and no tantrums! Could be because we left him have a Chocolate Shake before his meal even came!

We started our birthday celebration at the Trucking Museum in Middlebury, CT. Until last week we didn’t even know CT had a trucking museum! Of course, we were thrilled to find out because Shane doesn’t love anything like he loves trucks!

We were literally chasing him down the aisle as he yelled “geeeeee” and pointed to each and every truck he passed. We had an incredible time and will definitely be going back!

****I’m having trouble running my photo editing program and the lighting at the Truck Museum wasn’t too hot. Those two details, plus the fact that I still refuse to shoot with the on-board flash, can make for some pretty *wonky* pictures. I apologize in advance for that! These shots are all straight out of the camera . . .

Playing with trucks in the play area of the truck museum
Driving his very first pick-up truck!
Checking out, and riding, the “waddle” cars:

Daddy & Shane playing an arcade game:
Daddy checking out an old fire truck
Pictures of a lot of very old, and very cool looking, trucks to follow:

This “gee” was actually donated by Chris’s boss, Dick King.

Happy 2nd Birthday, little boy! You are the light, the joy, the love of our life! We continue to wish for only great things for your future.

All of our love - today, tomorrow, for now, for always. You carry our hearts in your own.

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday.

Love,
Daddy & Mommy