Stuffed Artichokes

My grandmother's recipe:

Of course I modified because I don't have the stale french bread to make the bread crumbs.  And I wasn't making 12 artichokes.

But I stuffed 2 artichokes and placed them in a pot with about an inch of water, covered, and simmered until the leaves were easily pulled off, about 1.5 hours.

The biggest fan?  Hansie.

Mama's boy for sure/  

Lovin

• The start of t-ball season
• Outdoor sports
• Dirt caked cleats at the entry way
• Hearing dribbling against the wall and floor in the boys' room (not sure our neighbor would add this to their lovin' list.)
• Dry sheets
• Disney Dining reservations
• Summer travel plans

Tooth(less)

It's been wiggle for months, and as been dangling as he talked for a few weeks.

He finally pulled it out himself.

It was pretty bloody and I thought he was going to be upset but he was so proud!

He cannot keep that tongue out of the new space.  The new tooth is hanging out in the back waiting to move forward.  The one next to it is being pushed forward and out of its spot as well.  The days this smiling looking like this are numbered.  He'll be completely toothless before long.

He's loved listening to the stories of everyone waiting for that little tooth to first make its appearance almost 6 years.  I LOVE the way he loves listening to stories about when he was a baby.

He quickly scrawled a little note to stick under his pillow before bed.

The tooth fairy was able to scrounge up $5 from random coat pockets.  I know $5 is well below the going rate for a tooth in NYC, but Freddie seemed pleased.  He even gave one of his dollars to Hansie.

Before school he did ask me if my parents were the ones who put money under my pillow.  He certainly doesn't want to think HIS parents are the ones that do that, but he's got a little doubt already.  I told him I didn't think so, and after some probing found that it was Diana, one of his main kindergarten buddies, that's informed him of how the tooth fairy really works.  She's planted the seed, but he still wants to believe.

Kid can't stop looking in the mirror now!

My baby boy is growing up.  I still see that little smiley bald baby when I look over at him though.

Celebrate!

Hansie is night time potty trained.  Whew.  It's been a process that has been in the works since the fall.  He'd been wanting to drop the night time diaper and so did we.

He's been potty trained for over two years. I can hardly believe that!  And while we have seen some dry diapers here and there, for the most part, he's never had any long stretches of dry diapers in the morning.  Just like Freddie, one day he pretty much said he wasn't wearing a diaper any longer.  But when Freddie did it, it only took a week of wet sheets before he was able to go all night.  This wasn't the case with Hans.  Everyone kept telling me he'd one day wake up dry and we could move on.  But things just weren't that easy.

He started taking his diaper off during the night which was problematic.  He'd also get really, REALLY angry if he went to bed sans diaper but woke up to find someone had diapered his bum sometime during the night.  We tried piddle pads and calling diapers "night time underwear" but the kid wasn't buying it.

We tried taking him to the toilet midway through the night, and while that meant dry sheets in the morning, it just wasn't sustainable.  Charlie was waking sometime during the night and rousing Hans out of bed to get him to the toilet.  No one was getting a good night's sleep, everyone was grouchy, and we needed another fix.

Finally, we decided it was time to commit to the bed wetting alarm.  We couldn't continue to wash sheets each day, we couldn't wake up in the middle of the night, and diapers just weren't an option any longer.

Within three days Hans went from wetting twice a night to once a night.  By the 14th day his body was trained.  He would wake, go to the toilet, and go back to bed.  By the 20th day he was sleeping through the night without having to get up.  Amazing!

The alarm has a little sensor that is clipped to his undies and when wet it sets off an alarm.  Theoretically the alarm gets you up and to the potty.  Hans tried very, very hard to roll over and sleep through the alarm.  Charlie and I would have to shake him and help him up and to the toilet.  One of us slept in the room with him for the first few weeks because it was just easier to help him if right next to him.  Also, I think he was more inclined to wake me or Charlie to ask for help to go to the bathroom if we were just a few feet away rather than in another room.  So, there was work involved beyond hooking him up, but certainly worth it.

He'll wear the alarm for another several weeks to prevent him from slipping back into wetting.  I think his knowing the alarm is on and if he wets he'll have to get up means he just assume get up and out of bed before the thing starts going off.

We happily gave away the last stash of diapers, at his request, to a baby we know.  Just knowing there were diapers in the closet irked him, so he was happy to pack them off and drop them off somewhere else.

Although milestones tend to be bittersweet with the "last baby," reaching this one is quite a relief!

Morning Snuggles

Hans is the first one up (after Mama of course), and when he's up, he's up.  But he does love his snuggles.  Sometimes he'll just want to sit quietly for a few minutes examining my face while I look carefully at his until we both start to giggle.  I am so thankful for slow mornings and this time together.

Lovin'

• Three year old's signature
• Sitting in the sun from dawn till dusk
• Ring around the tub after two boys finish bath
• Sound sleep 
• Sandals
• Crocs
• Shorts (noticing a trend?)
• Cherry blossoms

Coney Island: Spring Break Edition

Warm weather in NYC means you've got to hit up Coney Island.  It was a perfect outing for us over spring break with the sunshine, even if it was crazy crowded.

We visited the tiny aquarium, making sure to say hello to the walrus.  Freddie loves to hear the story of him as a tiny guy who was terrified of that old barking walrus and wouldn't even walk by his habitat without crying.  I love telling the boys those kind of stories of "so long ago" as much as they love hearing them.

After the aquarium we hit the boardwalk to have lunch at Nathan's.  It's a must do when at Coney Island.  You've got to eat your fries with the teeny little fork!

And then on to the amusement area.  The boys have graduated to the bigger rides where the crowds tend to be, especially during spring break.

It is so interesting to see how brave Freddie has become in the past few years, and how different his little brother is, absolutely fearless.

Finishing the day with pretzel bites rather than ice cream as they were soaked from the last ride of the day!

We're all thankful for sunshine and warm weather.  I think we'll be outside from sunrise to sunset from now until next fall!

Spring Break Adventure

Spring showers…

Jack and the Beanstalk at the Swedish Cottage…

Central Park shenanigans...

And of course some Shake Shack (best burger ever!)…

Question Authority?

One thing I love about NYC is the public library system.  We're always hearing about cuts in their funding, which is so sad to think about because so many people use the libraries' services for so many things beyond books.  One thing we've taken advantage of is all of the "programming" the libraries offer.  Beyond story time and book clubs, the libraries offer presentations and classes on all sorts of topics.  During spring break our neighborhood library (2 minute walk) hosted a naturalist giving a talk appropriate for school aged children on birds of prey.  She brought along three birds:  a red tailed hawk, a horned owl, and an American kestrel.

She was full of facts, and Freddie was quite pleased that he was able to answer all of her questions including listing the birds of prey.  She was most impressed that he included the osprey because "everyone forgets that one."  She was not however impressed with his comment "I knew that" after everything she shared.  She probably wanted to grind his arrogant little 6 year old behind into the ground.  Needless to say, he and I had a long conversation about what's appropriate during someone's presentation.

And then there was my other darling child.  I must begin by saying I was so proud of him for raising his hand.  He is so timid and speaks in a whisper when addressing strangers.  I couldn't believe he was going to speak to a stranger in front of a crowd of about 30 people.  He thought a long time before getting that hand up high enough to be noticed.

And then he was called on and said"  When an owl's wing comes off it can grow back."  (The birds she had with her all had significant wing injuries.)  I've got to give him credit for his comment at least being remotely relevant to what she was talking about because the other audience members in the under 4 crowd weren't necessarily offering relevant discussion points.  The presenter didn't go along with his comment and quickly corrected his tidbit as false.

Well, about 5 minutes later up his hand went again.  "Well, a long time ago owls really were able to grow wings back."  The kid is stubborn.  He's got to have the last word.  And he's gotta be right.  Sigh.  She knew better than to go up against the force of Hans and let him slide and go ahead and "correct" her.  I'm not sure what to do about this guy.

Easter Recap

Another Easter in the books.

We dyed eggs, of course.  Just a dozen and a half, although it happens so quickly it seems like we should do more.  Too bad there's only one of us who'll eat eggs around here.

I hope they believe in this bunny for a few more years, because it sure is fun.  Freddie left the bunny a note that I didn't know about.  I found it in his basket.

He also made me a "basket" to help get me some peanut butter eggs.  It worked, all right.  I suppose it will keep me away from his stash of candy a bit longer.

The bunny also hid some eggs around the apartment.  I wish we had a yard for them to hunt in, but they don't seem to mind scurrying around the living room to look for eggs.

There was lots of loot for everyone, and they fueled up on a breakfast of chocolate.

We were able to spend some time having a slow morning before heading outside to enjoy the sunshine.

Our first warm, sunny day arrived on Easter.  We spent the entire day close to home at soccer practice and practicing batting.

 Good times!