Toddlerhood

Crosby is a bona fide toddler. No mistaking!

Last night it was cool on the patio. I can't believe how fulfilling it is to sit and watch my child. He must make 8,000 different faces. He has times where he needs 10 different things to occupy him during any given hour, and he has times when he will be so happy to devote himself to one thing for a long span of time. For instance, his "new" hand-me-down mower from his cousins.



Though the bum wheel makes it probably four times as hard to push, I think he considers it a challenge. And why not develop those baby guns sooner? It is so funny. Croz loves to work hard. He really does: when I do laundry, he wants to push the basket around, when he gets out of the stroller he has GOT to bend down to the little basket below and push it himself. He now hands me food off of the floor (that he's thrown various places during meals) and gives it to me to throw away. Or once in a while he'll just eat it and take care of things himself.

It was already an hour past C's bedtime when he started mowing and so when it was time to take it away, I got a series of these:



When he is tired - before he hits his inconsolable exhausted cry stage - he becomes extremely involved and focused. It's like his tired before really tired stage. It is really cute, he acts like he has a very important project to complete and will not tolerate being interrupted or bothered.

We took a walk last night too and were drawn to a gorgeous blossom tree, so I let him get out of the stroller and look around. He heard a car start up and made this face:



I'm told I just have to accept the bumps and bruises of toddlerhood, sad as it is. Croz is a toughie, I can't even believe it! He will get his mini fingers stuck, smashed, caught... but then he doesn't yell out or anything. It is kind of a curse because I want to help him but many moments will pass sometimes and I turn around and he is standing with his whole set of fingers smooshed in a drawer and stands there with his nose scrunched and mouth wide open like a silent "Aouch," but just... stands there!

Monday he fell down our porch stairs and got two head scrapes (which are already gone), Tuesday we walked to the library and on the way back he was running so fast and tripped over D's shoe and scraped his arm, Wednesday he was trying out that bum wheel lawnmower for the first time on flat ground and fell straight down on his little baby knees...



Poor baby guy! I truly don't think any of these were avoidable. It just makes me so sad to see him hurt and to see that perfect baby skin get scuffed for the first time, dangit. And bandaids are a lost cause so... oh well I guess I better get used to it. We went to the park with Amy and Sam on Thursday and in this picture I noticed a little bruise next to his eye which wasn't from the stair incident so I don't even know where that came from. He loves sandboxes. Oh how we love you so baby guy.

Cover Contest

Happy Birthday Claire!

This is my adorable niece Claire and she turns 4 today!



We called her this morning to sing happy birthday and she was at Toys R Us picking out a new bike, lucky girl. Her mom let her choose any dinner for tonight and she said she's having pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. I've always thought we were kindred spirits...

Claire is unique. We have the BEST time with her... D and I and Croz have been so lucky to spend time with my brother's kids when we visited Cleveland recently for his dental school graduation. Here is when we were at Cuyahoga Park walking a trail back to the car. Claire was walking with D and me, but then stopped and said, "I want to walk with Grandpa." She absolutely loves the guys of the family, it's funny.



Well this Cleveland trip Crosby took his first plane ride. He enjoys window seats the most.



Me, Pat, and Steve all flew out to cheer for our bro



Whoever coined the phrase "Cleveland: the armpit of America" was mistaken. D and I felt like we would move there if we could. We've visited in Winter and now in Spring and truly we think the area is BEAUTIFUL. It is so lush and green right now. There are large houses with acres of yardage, woods, really neat places to take your family, awesome grocery stores... we love it in Cleveland! This is Brandywine Falls in Cuyahoga Park:



Generations



Cuyahoga Valley National Park



Ice Box Cave



Ledges @ the park



Cam and Brig



Almost all of Cam's fam (Grant was @ school)



The kids hanging out together



D and I watched all of the kids while everyone went to Kirtland on Saturday and we made this clubhouse



Then we made cinnamon rolls... Grant and I had so much fun making the dough



Can't tell ya how nice it is to have my whole family in one spot



Cam's graduation from Case was in this gorgeous church



Here he is at the end of it all! The organ music was surround-sound in that church and it sent chills right through to watch them walk to the music; such a happy day.



Anyone spot Cam?



Proud parents



Proud Beth!



Cam and his family



Us!



The whole group



Did I mention I'm proud of my brother? Lots of sacrifice to get to this point



Speaking of sacrifice... it was cute, after many pictures were taken and we were standing around basking in the (extremely bright) sun, Cam took his robe off and started to decorate Audrey, saying, "She is the one who deserves this!"



Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum (make sure you have a FULL day if you ever go)



Browns please don't let us down



Lake Erie



D and I checked out Lake View Cemetery. This place is so large and spacious... some of the most beautiful vegetation I've ever seen. At the cemetery they have the James Garfield memorial building, which I found to be so beautiful as well:



The juxtaposition of bright and rusty



The ceiling inside, I thought I was in the Vatican for a second



President Garfield



He rests here alongside his wife



D, me, and Cleveland skyline atop the James Garfield building



Loved this door!



West syyyyyde



More shots of this pretty building



Loved it



My mom and dad and their FOUR GRANDKIDS!



This was (one) of the big moving days. My dad had worked so hard all day organizing things in the moving truck, so he was on the floor resting and the kids started climbing on him. He pretended to be a monster who for some reason only would eat kids who are sweet, otherwise he'd spit them out. So here they are waiting to be eaten:



Claire would have done this all night if they let her... she kept going up to my dad saying, "I'm sweet, I'm sweet!"



Crosby fit in with the kids so well it scared me. Scary because it makes me realize how much he needs a brother or sister! Honestly I find such joy in watching these kids together. Grant has the role of big brother DOWN... he was a jewel with Croz and would look at him with adoring looks I only thought adults knew how to make. Here Grant let C use his little Transformer ball and Grant kept saying, "I can't believe he knows how to figure that thing out!"



Crosby and Claire were two peas in a pod. Despite the fact that she wants to be his mother, they play really well together and they are the most fun to watch. She says, "Come here Croz," and when she says his name it sounds like "Croth" with her little lisp. She was pushing him all around the yard in this monster truck:



Brig's a little different story... he is still warming up to his cousin. I wonder if he thinks Crosby's moving into his family and so he's protective of his role as baby of the family. Brig likes to tattle tale on Croz!



The way back home these happened to be C's only clean clothes left, and of course the women of Delta were swooning at the little airplanes on his shirt



SO HAPPY TO HAVE CAM, AUDS, GRANT, CLAIRE, AND BRIG BACK IN THE SAME CITY!!!!!!!

Today I

- Woke up @ 6:30, showered

- Sliced a banana for C 2 go

- Got C dressed

- Picked up my parents and took them to the airport

- Admired this stunning maple in our yard



- Put C down for his morning nap

- Ate bagels and strawberry cream cheese with D and talked (well, he ate fettucine alfredo)

- Took a mini-nap with D

- Went out to the garage to watch D work on this and try and understand what he's doing, but wasn't very successful



- Found something for Crosby to eat

- Took C outside to watch the neighborhood cleanup trucks make noise and drive around

- Called Rosy and sang Happy Birthday

- Called Pat, made sure he's on for tomorrow

- Basked in the glory of more of our AMAZING landscaping and laceleafs that we have the privilege of enjoying every day



- Played outside with Croz and his bike

- Took C to D's mom's house so she could watch him while we get things done

- Came home, packed some more for Cleveland

- Cranked me up some old school Dixie Chicks



- Had to cancel going to see tulips at Thanksgiving Point with Marsha and Janet because I have too much schtuff going ):

- Got Steve to fax an auth form to the hotel because he rocks

- Chatted with Jess for a minute

- Started to make chocolate chip cookies for D's work friend but we had about 10 total chocolate chips

- Walked past this stuffed tiger that my 10-yr-old cousin Jamie bought Crosby at a yard sale on Saturday (How do I clean it?!)



- Ran to the store for chocolate chips

- Continued making cookies, but needed an egg

- Thought I had to go to the store again, but looked in the tenants' fridge downstairs (who happens to be in Africa right now) and stole an egg

- Finally finished the cookies D wanted me to make for his work friend's birthday and ate too many of them



- D and I went to his mom's to pick up Crosby

- Made sure Steve is still on to house-sit for us

- Put C down for afternoon nap

- Walked by these and got excited for Croz to have his first swim in a real pool!



- Got toys, books, etc. ready for C to have on the plane

- Took another very mini nap while C was still asleep

- Talked to D about what method he is using to fix his truck problem and it involves JB Weld



- Talked to D about what errands I need him to run, how many keys we need made, what kind of camera battery, etc.

- Told Christina I'll be late to rollerblading

- Gave Crosby Motrin because I knew he was in some serious teething pain

- Turned Croz over to D

- Met Christina at Liberty to rollerblade



- Got a call from my mom and dad that they are safe in Cleveland

- Talked with Christina for a while

- Had an impromptu photo shoot



- Got home to find Croz and D outside waiting because Croz was so sad

- Fed Crosby dinner

- Put Crosby to bed while picking up last-minute things out of his room to pack for the trip

- Insisted that D go sleep since he is going to Mike's midnight birthday party at work tonight



- Ate a really tasty sandwich

- Realized how lucky we were to have a whole entire day together

- Now I am going to step away from the computer while my guys are sleeping and finish all my schtuff