4-Handed Piano

 Matthew had minor surgery today to get tubes put in.  He's been fighting an ear infection since the end of November and we finally opted for tubes.  As a celebration of his new "ears", he and Christopher decided to put on a little piano recital for us tonight before bed.  It was a celebration of sorts of Matthew's new "freedom" from pain and actually being able to hear again.  I can say that after the recital was over, I'm not sure anyone in the house could hear anymore, but it was a real joy to see the Matt-man back to "normal"...he was a bit on the cranky side, but that is to be expected given the circumstances.  

I think this might be more of a free improvisation display...I'll call it "Variations on Aural Jubilation"...I like that one. Watch out Cecil Taylor.

Abnormally Nice Weather -- Day at a Park

 To celebrate the onset of 2012, and to take advantage of the out-of-the-normal "warm" weather we're having out here along the Northeast, we took the boys to a local neighborhood park.  Just thought it would be nice to get the boys out while the gettins' still good.  Also took advantage of the prime photo ops of the boys.

Christopher ran around the park's "jungle gym" (I wonder if they're still called jungle gyms or if I'm just showing my age and/or ignorance in the equipment in modern parks/playgrounds).

Matt-man playing Hide-and-Seek with Christopher, who was on a ramp above him, and me, who was behind the Tic-Tac-Toe game in front of him.  I had to swing around to get this shot, but I thought it was a pretty cool shot.  Back to my original spot for our Hide-and-Seek game below.

I was able to get a shot of where Christopher was playing Hide-and-Seek with Matt-Man.

Got some good shots of Matthew playing with Mommy on a bench about 20-25 yards away. 

Christopher on the swing....he loves the swing.  He spent nearly 30-minutes on the swing.  We worked on the appropriate kicking motions for maintaining the swinging without help. It started off well, but then he lost interest in trying to learn how and just wanted to be pushed.  I obliged after he was able to show me he could kick appropriately for a few turns.  He had to earn my labor!  I can tell you that pushing X-man on the swing while trying to get those pictures of Matthew proved to be a lot of work.

Just a good shot of the Matt-man...

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Festivities

I didn't get too picture happy this year for Christmas, but I did get some...these are the ones I took that turned out pretty decent.  It was a great day for all of us out here.  My in-laws, as par for the course, were more than generous and giving to all of us...kids, Col, and me.  It was a wonderful day started with a good laugh (Christopher came out from the back of the house.  We asked him "Christopher, do you know what today is?" He replies without hesitation, "Uhm...I fink...Thursday!"  I don't think he's ready to graduate preschool yet) breakfast and ending with a large fantastic meal with the whole in-law family involved.  (I forgot to bring my camera for the evening activities or there'd likely be more pictures).  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Da

   

Matthew really liked his present

Santa was more than generous this year!

Evidence...Santa was here

Family was also extremely generous

 

He decided this was his Christmas outift

Christopher decided he was too hot...

Sesame Place: Take 2: The Parade

 As I said before, I made my maiden voyage to Sesame Place couple of weeks ago.  We did not, however, during that trip get to see the parade because the boys, who were both napless, had literally fallen apart at the seems.  Christopher was crying every time anyone uttered a word against his whims...Matthew was flopping around in his stroller like a hooked fish, whining and crying madly....and there was still 30-minutes until the start of the parade.  We opted, then, to leave the park and try again the following Friday.

So comes the following Friday and we headed back out.  This time, both boys having napped for 2+ hours/ child and with Nana Marianne accompanying us.  She was a great help to us.  Christopher still had some difficulties following directions and listening appropriately, but it was a much more successful venture than the the week prior by a wide-margin.  We got a prime spot for the parade and after it was over we tried to get Christopher to ride on some rides, but he would only brave the carousel.  Typically, one of us would just hold him until the ride ended to see if he was legitimately scared of the ride or if he was just being "chicken". Sesame Place, apparently, has a strong policy against this.  Once a kid is screaming or crying, they make you get off the ride.  I personally think that's a lame policy...but I suppose there's a purpose for it.  I would like to think that most parents would not intentionally put their children in harms way and that the establishment should trust that the parents only have the best in mind when making these decisions, but maybe I'm too trusting of people.  That is a possibility, albeit a small one.