A visit from Gumbo, Part I

A Story

Momma was taking pictures of a happy Little One. He was smiling and sweet and Momma wanted to make sure she took as many pictures of the Little One as she did the Big One at the same age.

  

The Big One wanted his picture taken too. He tried to climb into the swing with the little one. Momma scolded him for hurting the Little One. This made the Big One sad.

Momma told the Big One that she couldn’t take his picture if he were crying. If he smiled, Momma would take his picture.

 

“ch – ch – cheese. ”

Happy Halloween!

 

 

Happy Halloween from the boys! Here are the fighter pilot and skeleton kicking back at the aquarium, enjoying Trick or Treating and sea creatures. What a wonderful way to spend an evening. The boys also enjoyed time at the Battleship, the Children’s Museum, our Church, the mall and even a few neighborhood apartments on Halloween night. Halloween might be Momma’s new favorite holiday (minus the mall)!

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Practicing

 

Little Boy practicing his Thriller moves for Halloween!

Bath Time!

 

A first real bath for our Little Boy, tenderly given by his Daddy :)

Introducing…

 

Momma now introduces the newest addition, another Little Boy. The Boy is very fond of Little Boy, although he is having adjustment issues. But truly, the whole household is having various versions of adjustment issues. Sleeping, routines, cleaning, everything is in an uproar. Alas, all is wonderful here at home.

A Walk Downtown

 

 

Walking from the car to the kid’s museum on Labor Day. We stopped to take pictures by all the lovely greenery. I squatted down to get a good shot, and therefore, the boy squatted as well. We had a great day and spent four hours at the museum, where I chased and followed him around everywhere (both for fun, and in hopes of jiggling the baby loose!),

A Rare Head Shot

 

It’s so rare to catch the Boy still, and head on. I love this shot!

The Cuteness is Overwhelming

 

 

The boy claiming his spot on the garage sale bookshelf, before it gets loaded with books.

A Big Boy

  

  

Now that we’ve been getting the Boy’s room ready to share, some of the old toys have been coming out and the Boy has been exploring them. This has provided Momma the opportunity to take some wonderful contrast and compare photos. Such nostalgia!

Tunnel

 

 

After the family visit to Erin’s, the Boy has been obsessed with tunnels. And has been creative enough to devise his own makeshift tunnel to satisfy his desires!

Guys Night Out

 

 

Momma wasn’t around here, so there is no confirmation of this frame, although it’s obviously ending in a strike! Daddy and his boy went bowling with some other men from church (some of whom also had children). What a nice, wholesome male bonding experience!

Tracktastic

 

 

While he has not yet perfect the art of a completed circuit, the Boy has mastered connecting tracks end to end. He runs the trains up and down for hours. We’re hoping to get more, and fancier, tracks to stimulate his creativity further.

Messghetti

 

The Boy, like many other children, loves his spaghetti. While it normally requires an immediate post-dinner bath, it’s worth seeing the Boy scarf down veggie laden sauce and corn on the cob.

A Boy and His Trains

 

 

The Boy is obsessed with trains. Ideally, all trains should be of the Thomas variety, but in their absence, classic wooden trains are just as magnificent. (Even better are Thomas trains that work WITH wooden trains, but we don’t have any of those). Here you can see the boy playing with the train tracks Erin has for when small children (especially the adorable little offspring of close friends) come to visit. He spent all weekend playing with those trains!

More Smiles!

 

 

It’s so rare to capture a good smile these days – the Boy is usually on the run and hard to catch!

Too Cool for Safari

 

 

The Boy, rocking a hat sent by Poppy & Gumbo upon their return to the states.  He wears it often and quite well!

Mean Daddy

 

 

The Boy is quite mad here – Daddy won’t share the bucket of blueberries! Never mind that every time the Boy got a hold of the bucket, he spilled berries all over the ground, and what he didn’t spill, he shoved into his mouth by handfuls. Such a mean, mean Daddy.

Groceries

 

 

Apparently, this is what the Boy would buy, given the option. I’m glad to see it’s mostly vegetables, although that is an awful lot of onions!

A Birthday Party

 

   

 

Though this post is a month overdue, it’s fun to see how exhausted the Boy was at the end of his second birthday party! Daddy grilled, Momma decorated, Erin chased the Boy, the Boy chased ducks, and all sorts of family friends came to celebrate with us!

It was a lovely day with lovely people and one amazing not-so-little boy.

TWO!

The Boy celebrated his birthday twice – once on his actual birthday, with a trip to the the Children’s Museum of Wilmington, a cupcake, and family presents and then again that weekend with a birthday party.

He is the big, official TWO and has the attitude to match. But he also has the curiosity, joy, love, and talents and watching him learn so fast is amazing. He’ll say words that make Momma and Daddy turn to each other and say “Did you teach him that?”

TWO is turning out to be just as fun as ONE.

On the Go

An action shot of the Boy at the playground. He is always on the go and it’s so rare that Momma gets to capture it like this!

Watercolors

The Boy has not fully overcome the “Everything goes in my mouth phase.” This includes crayons, markers, and as we see here, paints. Thankfully, Momma made sure the paints were non toxic. However, I hadn’t tested the tastiness of the paint, otherwise I would have seen this coming!

Like Father, Like Son

 

 

The Boy seems to have development the same love of small electronics that his Daddy has. Plugging and unplugging the component video cables (yes, I had to ask for their official name) was a favorite task of the Boy, until we rearranged the game system to reduce their temptation!

 

But seriously, the best part of this picture is his hair!

And introducing…

Here is the newest member of the family. Baby (who is gender unspecified at the moment) will be making his/her debut mid-September. This is the best photo we have ~ Baby was a crazy jumping bean during the ultrasound!

Swing Time

 

The Boy is a bit of a swing fanatic. He stays on longer than seems possible (at least, possible without nausea). Swing time is even more fun when Daddy’s being silly!

Cuteness Upload

   

Just in case your cuteness viewing quotient was low…

The Island of Awesome Toys

 

 

In the Boy’s book, the Leapfrog “Leaptop” is definitely on the Island of Awesome Toys, along with his new train set. It sings, says his name, and talks to him. (And it keeps him off Momma and Daddy’s computer, so it’s a winner all the way around!).

A Southern Snowman

 

 

A rare treat in Wilmington – snowfall significant enough to build the Boy’s first snowman.  The Boy and his Daddy played outside for a few minutes, building a tiny snowman, throwing snowballs, eating snow and doing other typical winter activities.

The Boy was chilly, but happy. Maybe he’ll like snow as much as his Daddy.

Awesome Erin

 

 

The Boy got to ring in the New Year with his Godmother (well, one of them – long story, don’t ask). She is super fun to play with and has some of the coolest old school toys. They played “Boo!” ran around the house, built towers and read stories.