Head banging muffled

The rocking hasn't stopped for Cruzer.  After nights of shaking the windows and sounds louder than someone hammering your wall down, we figured it was a good idea to pad this little banger's noggin.  A bit of dense foam and the little man is a bit quieter and hopefully cushioned.

Plastic surgery for the Loveys

Two neck lifts, some arm tucks, and lipo for Lambie's legs and these guys are good as new.  Neither one should be head-less or limb-less anytime soon.  Its amazing what a bit of string will do.

H20 Saturday

After a morning of waterskiing & knee boarding, there was an afternoon of swimming.

Here are the latest water tricks...

backflips

frontflips

and the warm concrete that can always unfreeze the frozen skinny boy and the rest of his family.

Cheese-ball

I love Goggles

"Ketchup"

*Don't worry Chad, not the red, tomato-ie kind, just a bit of make-up or catch-up from the past few months to supplement my blog book for later. 

I have been a slacker lately on this blog due to the 1/4 keiki that I've been working so hard on.  I have been spending my free time sleeping, but with the 16 week mark just past, I should be on the up and up.  So here's to some "ketchup" for the Nobmann's!  My goal is to get them all out by the weeks end...

Cruzer makes Twozer **unedited version**

If you weren't here for Cruz's b-day, after reading this (or even skimming it), you will feel like you were. Here's the play-by-play of the busy day...

Oshyn and Cruz started off as cocoons wrapped in their blankets to keep warm, then chowed down on some eggs on toast. I decided it would be a better day if we let Cruz open up just one present before Daddy went to work. We picked carefully--the scooter was #1! "That's for ME!! That's mines!!"

Cruz cried when I wanted him to get dressed to go outside, he wanted to keep his pjs on...then I told him he should wear his BASEBALL shirt. That made him a happy boy and Mr. Big Ears (aka. Oshyn) said, "Did you say BASEBALL?". Oshyn then ran upstairs to get his "uniform" for the day. While Oshyn got dressed, Cruz rode his "new scooter--I love my new blue scooter!!" outside.

Oshyn came down asking if I could help him put on his "pleats" because baseball players can wear "pleats" too. After a bit of screaming from Cruz after Oshyn took off for a minute on his new scooter, we went across to the grassy knoll and played baseball...which became chase...which became football (because of the tackling)...

And who can play football without a helmet?

After lunch, Cruz took a nap while O and I decorated the downstairs and made Cruz's cake. He was pretty surprised when he woke up (and the next day when he came downstairs in the morning he kept saying, "What the HECK?"). We took off for a little break to go to Oshyn's swim team--only to realize no practice on Friday's. The boys wanted to run the track instead. So we did. We got home around 6pm and then it was "Happy I-was-in-labor-two-years-ago Day" to me, so we ordered Nonaka's teriyaki rice bowls for dinner. Spiderman and Birthday boy scootered down the street to pick it up. By the time we got home Cruzer was ready for the party to begin!!

Beau got home a tad late and before he could even eat dinner the boys were chompin' at the bit to celebrate! Cruzer was so pumped to blow out the candles that he did it not once or twice but by the end of the night, THREE times (...and continued to ask about blowing out candles for the next few days).
He was a little present opening pro, so serious and excited about everything. A "HUGE" train track went up using all of our pieces and we had a few happy campers for the rest of the evening.

We finished the day where we began, with some scooter riding. Hope you had a Happy Birthday little man! We can't believe you are already TWO! (Although at times you act like you're 22.) You are giving us quite a ride and we love you.

A trip to be with the GG's

June 6-14, 2009

What a fortunate gift I had the day after Cruz's birthday. Grandma Annie flew in for the week to be with the little men so I could go back to Pennsylvania and pamper my fabulous Grandparents for a week. An unforgettable experience in many different ways and one that I will cherish that I had the opportunity to take. I learned first hand that life sure has its twists and turns as the eighties come your way, but if I can take it in stride and with a bit of humor as my Grandparents showed me by their example, I can face the challenges and trials and keep on keeping on until Heavenly Father is ready for me to come back home. Thank you for having me Grandma & Grandpa!

Luck for me, my brother had to work, so he came home early from the beach and I got to see him for the last few days. You were missed Marcy!!

The Soccer Star and his "pleats"

Oshyn had another fun soccer season. Here it is all bundled into about 3 1/2 minutes. He's number 4...the one in the orange shirt. :) One of our family friends, Troy, was the coach and his little guy Matthew was on the team along with a handful of other kiddos we got to know. My favorite Oshynism of soccer was that he was obsessed with wearing these cleats that we inherited and to this day calls them "pleats".

Cruzer makes Twozer

More to come on that milestone when I return from Pennsylvania...

BIG Surprise

On Wednesday this is what I found in the parking lot.  I kept asking Beau which grown-up this car belonged to.  Daddy's truck hasn't been the favored ride for the mini passengers this week!

FYI--It is a Ford Edge for those who inquired.

Crudini and destructive tendencies

An update on the bed situation (mostly for remembering later--dulled down a bit since blogger just erased my entire post--bah humbug)...

Cruz is staying in his room, not coming out--which is something I wondered about both of my boys when I de-cribbed them.  It's kind of funny to me that it takes a while for them to truly realize what kind of freedom they have just been given.  Cruz (and Oshyn when he was little) calls--well, YELLS to me, "I READY TO GET UP!!!"  He doesn't get up until I come into his room.  I like it.  I have to say that the head banging has ceased when going to sleep, but upon waking he bangs his noggin against the headboard or wall just as hard as before.  Brain damage inevitable?  Hopefully not.  Headache for life?  I don't see how not.

Nights have been a success.  Oshyn wants to sleep with Cruz every night.  I had him give his little brother one night of flying solo, but they have cuddled the other two.  

Nap time is a different story.  Maybe it is because Policeman Oshyn doesn't nap.  This is one of those rare times I'd like a camera baby monitor.  I want them to have privacy in life, but spying sounds good after the past few days.  Cruz stays in his room during naps too.  And eventually sleeps.  It is the in between time that is a small mystery.  I don't hear much, but when I go to get him afterwards, I see much.  The first day it was cars and toy bricks in bed, the second day, stuffed animals and a book.  Kind of cute and as long as he stays in there I don't mind.  Well, today the norm must have gotten boring.  I walk in to greet him with a smile and all over his bed are tiny scraps of ripped up books (these pictures below do NO justice, this is the remains--after the clean up) and the art wall in their room has been cleared of its masterpieces (it used to be COVERED almost completely).  I have no idea how he reached so high on the wall, but he did--hence another reason for the spy camera.  

When I asked Cruz if he was the destroyer of all of these things, he calmly replied, "Yep."  No remorse at all.  This isn't his first book slaughter and I can't seem to get the "respect-your-books" into his almost 2-year-old brain.    

Question: Any ideas of what to do to keep the books safe or to help him understand? (besides moving them on the top shelf--I want Oshyn to be able to reach them)  Suggestions welcomed ASAP, another day that goes by--another book (or 5) down the drain.

The latest place to hit the hay

After our little animal started breaking out of his cage, I've been anxious to just put him in a "big boy" bed.  Less chances of having to put a cast on any, or multiple parts of his body.  So last night, after a good book and a good prayer, Cruz slept on the bottom bunk.  We weren't sure if he would be in and out all night or not, but he was so pumped to be there--crib-less and with his OWN pillow, that he did awesome.  A nice pump up session for the potty training soon to follow... 

My boys (mostly Oshyn and Cruz if he can be convinced) like to make beds all over the house when they are playing.  Beds under tables, in tents, on closet floors, you name it.  As soon as we had the thought of putting the mattress in under Oshyn's bunk (we used to have all of our books and toys under there), O suddenly REALLY wanted to sleep there.  We denied him last night because of Cruzer's first night out of the pen, but tonight when he asked if he could cuddle Cruz until he fell asleep, the answer was "Sure."  I figured it would last all of two minutes until Cruz would scream "Leave me alone!" but when Beau went in to check on them, this is what he found.  I love it.  Hopefully I love it all night and not rudely greeted at 2 am by cranksters.  Regardless, as for now, they are little sleeping angel buddies.

Tadapolts

On Wednesday we went to a birthday party and one of the party gifts was a jar with tadpoles in it.  Kind of fun to think we could watch the little guys get legs, arms, and then turn into frogs in 6-10 weeks time.  Our neighbor gave us a cup of dog food to feed them (they told us that is what they would eat) and Oshyn is determined they are called "tadapolts".  If I refer to them as tadpoles, he corrects me.  They made it home on our bike with Cruz protecting them, but as I look at them only 2 days later, I only see one swimming.  Kind of pathetic when we started with about 8, but I don't know what we are doing wrong...I don't think they need to be pet, or taken for a walk, and we have talked to them periodically.  Let's just cross our fingers that the one makes it through the night and that hopefully one or two others are just sleeping.  I guess if they don't, this will be a good story to tell the kids when they want a dog--"We can't get a dog!  We can't even keep tadapolts alive for 3 days!"

Bug lover?

Cruz is intrigued with bugs.  He calls most flying bugs "bees or butterflies" and crawling bugs "ants".  One Sunday at church he was being a "bugger" himself (I couldn't help that one) and someone was trying to pray.  Luckily we saw an ant on the floor and I let it crawl on my hand so he could check it out.  He suddenly became very reverent.  The ant became my friend.

It isn't abnormal to find him laying on the sidewalk outside, or recently in our kitchen, watching them march their way around.  He will yell for me to come and look.  "Mom, come ere...I need show you something."  Then after examining and watching them for a few minutes the lover turns into a hater.  "Can I squish it Mom?"  And that is the end of that.  No matter how many Cruz squashes to smithereens they never seem to run out.

Preschool's out for Summer...Preschool's our for-ever!

Oshyn had his last day of preschool today.  It was a party at a gymnastics joint.  They seem to do that a lot here--have the end of the year school party's at a "place".  We never did that, but I guess that is what happens when you aren't allowed to bake cupcakes for a party at school anymore. 

Last week was his official last day of school-school.  I showed up on my bike to pick him up and I must have missed the "bring your camera" memo.  Every single mom/dad that was there had there cameras with the big lenses taking tons of pictures of the kids on the playground.  Whoops.  I'd like to say that was the first time I felt out of the "Mom-loop", but that would be a big, fat lie.  Oshyn didn't seem to notice.  I love that guy.  Grace Presbyterian Preschool was a fabulous, happy beginning to school-life.  Thanks Miss Patty and Teacher Jan.  So long, until Cruzer turns 3.

Cana's Crush

This is a picture I got on the last day of school of Oshyn and Cana. All year in preschool, Cana has told people that Oshyn is her "boyfriend" and that she wants to "marry" him (Miss Patty actually informed me that ALL of the girls in class want to "marry" Oshyn and he just takes it in stride). Her mom came to school one day and told me she saw Cana in the bathroom brushing her hair and giggling. She asked her what she was thinking about. Cana said, "I had a dream about Oshyn last night!". Another day, after going on a daddy-daughter date, her dad was a bit concerned because all she talked about when they were out was Oshyn. He tried to talk about school--that led to Oshyn, he tried to talk about soccer--that led to Oshyn. Her dad tried to work with it and said, "Well do you think you can beat his team?", Cana said, "Oh no--he's sooo fast!" It cracks me up that their, well--her, mind is already thinking a bit that way.

Oshyn likes her too... she can hang with the boys and their games, which is pretty cool.

"The Biggest Little City" right in Grandpa & Tutu's backyard

How lucky are we that these two live within driving distance?

And lets not forget this little happy guy too! Hi Winston (Cruz likes to call him Winstie)!

We had fun staying in their new house, waking up at sunrise, learning how to water flowers, having a fun dinner party, relaxing and doing a little bit of this

and this

and ending our visit at a fun little park in Reno where the log ride was a hit for Oshyn (and others that may not have shown their perma grin on their sleeve).

He loved it so much that he went

TWICE!

We left for Lodi straight from the park with tears shed the whole way out of "the Biggest Little City" and the question of, "But when do we get to come back to Grandpa and Tutu's?" We will have to come back soon!!!

Thank you for having us and we love you.

Houdini

Cruz decided that his late night hang out (the crib--in case you were wondering) wasn't "the hot spot" anymore last night.  He usually sings, talks, and rocks from about 8-9:30p nightly.  I know, that's quite sometime, but he's not even 2 and needs to be put to bed by 8 at least...and he's happy in there--or so I thought.  One leg over and a shimmy to the ground--without making a sound. The little munchkin starts coming down the steps and  sticking his little cute face by the stair rail.  Maybe its because it was the first night he climbed out (about 6+ times) or maybe because Oshyn didn't ever try it, but Beau and I thought it was hilarious and before I got home--Beau and Cruz even hung out for a bit.  This morning the usually rocking and uh uh uhing didn't happen.  Why?  Well that little string bean shimmed his way out this morning and the only thing that woke me (and Oshyn) was his struggle with a sticky door.  This guy is definitely his own man.  I say "man" because he still uses an unusually low voice when he talks, so low and gravely even O can't imitate him.

Let the splash season begin!

Yesterday after the boys got home from camping and Oshyn had a warm morning soccer game we had the pleasure of spending the afternoon at the pool.  What a fabulous way to spend Saturday.  Oshyn was a fish as usual and Cruz (after getting over the fact that Miss Julie was there to be our friend, not swim teacher) got excited and was swimming a bunch too.  This was our first trial of the underwater case.  I have a feeling there will be many an underwater picture taken these next few months---and movies too.  This is going to be fun!

Father/Son campout

The 2nd Annual Father/Son camp out was a success once again for the city slicker Dad and his Pops. They came out a bit more prepared and as far as I know, had a camp-a-rific good time. Oshyn and Pop Pop shared a teepee & Beau and Cruz shared a wigwam. I'm not sure what sounded better to me, their yummy fajita dinner (Beau is not a novice in the cooking department) or the glow stick covered tennis balls in the launcher.

I had Oshyn convinced that he better stay close to Daddy with him camo-plane pj's on or Daddy might loose him in the wilderness. He thought that was pretty cool--almost like he was invisible.

Ever since the camp out, Cruz has been a bit obsessed with Pop Pop holding him. Whenever Pop Pop is on the phone or we happen to see a car like his, Cruz says, "I wanna hold you!"

This has been a super fun little tradition to start up with the boys.