Children at Play

Here are some recent pictures of the boys playing. Jack wants to be involved or doing exactly what Will does. Will is pretty good with Jack, but as soon as Will's done playing nice he usually pushes Jack over. I can only imagine what kind of ruckus we'll have once Jack's big enough to push back.

Jack's Walking (sort of...)

going...
going...
gone!












Jack is so close to walking! He's moved from hanging on to the furniture and walls to pushing around his little walker. He gets moving pretty fast and you can tell he's thrilled with himself. He'll be turning 14 months on June 4 and that's right around the same time Will started walking. I'm excited for this next milestone, but I also cannot imagine what it will look like to see him walking on his own!

Mother's Day Weekend, Cannon Beach 2006

Don't mind the little terror (Will) waving the stick in the first picture. Aside from some very typical 2-year-old behavior we had a really nice trip. We spent the weekend with the Hovdes (Dina, Ryan and Luke) at their neighbor's beach house. As you can see we had fun playing at the beach. The weather was gorgeous, we were so lucky. On Sunday Dina and I went out for Mother's Day breakfast. Then Team Peppmeier headed home early so we could barbeque with the Peppmeiers and my mom. It was such a nice evening, the weather has really warmed up and we spent time out on the deck. What a great weekend!

The Boy in the Barbie Car

I was thinking this morning about what it's like to be a mom of two children and how your perspective can change when there's two instead of one. I believe I still have this intense determination that I will provide my children with my very best (unfortunately my best, isn't always that great). I want them to be confident and independent while having compassion for others and of course through all this I hope they will have a sense of humor.

What sparked this is I was looking back through some pictures and came across this one of Jack having his hair cut a couple of months ago. Yes, he's sitting in a Barbie Car because all the "boy" chairs where occupied. What's funny about this is that if it had been Will I may have even waited until another chair opened up. But with Jack I find myself thinking "it's no big deal". What I'm curious about is to see how my much more laid back approach to certain situations may effect Jack's outlook. With Will I was able to concentrate solely on his wants and needs and I'm unable to do that now. I also wonder how far back my boys will remember things when they are grown. My earliest memory is of Erin being born and going to the hospital. I was about 31/2. Does that mean I have a free pass until they turn three? I have another year to get my act together?

The Writing is on the Wall AND Will's First Day at Preschool (4.18.06)

One of the funny things about parenthood is that just when you think you KNOW your child, they go and do something you would never expect. For example Will drew all over the dining room wall with a permenant marker. How did he find the marker you may be wondering? Of course I left it out on the counter and didn't even think of the trouble it could cause. The funny thing is that Will uses crayons and pencils all the time and he's never drawn on the wall. He must have known just how "special" that marker was. Thankfully we still had some leftover paint and I was able to cover the "masterpiece".

Will's first day of preschool was the day after we got home from Palm Springs. The preschool is run by the same person who runs the childcare both boys have been attending since February. Will was the oldest at the infant/toddler house so they decided he was old enough to move to the "big kids house". There are 16 children ranging from 2 1/2(Will's the youngest) up to 5. He is doing really well! He's interacting with all the kids, follows directions really well and is even sleeping on his mat during nap time. He's even brough home a few art projects, and of course, they are so darling!