Big Fun with Big Bear

Tonight before bath, Kaiser specifically requested some time for us to "be silly with Big Bear". He and Daddy went upstairs first, and Porter and I joined them a few minutes later. Our aspiring heavyweight was feeling feisty and challenged Big Bear to a friendly wrestling match. I'm not sure who won, but I am pretty certain that both parties had fun "fighting". :)

(Please kindly ignore Kaiser's whiney, obnoxious outburst about halfway through the clip...) 

Saturday Night Sleepover

Last night my guys and I were super pumped to hang out with the Edwards trio. After minimal begging, Mark, Meaghan, and Austin had agreed to come over to our house for a slumber par-tay! They are all moved out of their place, and until they fly south on Friday are staying with Mark's parents, who do not live too far away from us. We planned to meet up for dinner at Chipotle at 6:00.

Austin kept busy with Kaiser's backhoe in between bites.

 My boy doin' what he does best.

 Finished with dinner and playing on the floor. 

(Yes, I realize it's gross. Please don't judge.)

 "I wanna play, too!"

 Moved over to the windowsill to do some "work".

From there we headed back home, where we enjoyed some time out on the deck. After our visit to the park with Jenni and the kiddos the other day, I decided to pick up a couple of those huge bubble wands from the Target Dollar Spot. Kaiser had been asking to "do bubbles" all day, and I kept on suggesting that we wait until Austin was here. He was so thrilled to see Daddy finally pour the "bubble juice" into the tray and see those things start floating!

 Pretty nifty for a buck!

Easy enough to get some big ones going.

 Kaiser tries his hand at it.

 Austin thought it was a good idea to pour the juice out, instead.

"Dude, you blew it!"

 Porter stuck to entertainment of the whiffle ball variety.

 Getting serious with Mistah Mahk.

We realized Miss Meaghan had never seen the "escagator" song.

That was something we immediately had to remedy.

Austin prefers race cars over excavators.

 Looking so grown up in his chair.

 Meag loves him -- even without his helmet!

 Don't lean back too far...

Precious moment between buddies.

 Austin's not so sure about this seating arrangement.

 Kaiser came over to give Brother Bear a kiss.

Soon it was starting to be clear that it way past Porter's bedtime, so we all came inside and I tossed him in the tub for a quick scrub.

 "I'm not used to having an audience!"

The babe was impatient to eat and seemed so relieved when I finally laid him down in his crib and said goodnight. Then it was downstairs to the basement, where the bigger boys were playing, to wrangle them so they could hit the hay, too.

 Turning clean up time into a game of basketball.

"I'm sleepin' in the doghouse tonight!"

Once all little people in the house were asleep, Brett and Mark drove down the road to get their wives (and themselves) some ice cream, and we popped in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. While we were watching the movie, Brett got a call informing him that he'd be operating bright and early the next morning, so he turned in right after it ended. Mark, Meag, and I hung out a bit longer on the couch, talking about fellowship year (Meag's already decided we'll be in Houston and move into the top floor of their duplex!), quoting Talladega Nights, and watching the beginning of SNL. Random, but always so fun with those two! Soon we said goodnight and they headed to bed in their "suite" downstairs.

This morning I went to get Porter from his room and found him, once again, in a crib full of vomit. What a way to start the day! It was everywhere -- this time even caked on the outside and edges of his helmet. Yuck, yuck, and yuck. I don't know if I am overfeeding the kiddo or something is not agreeing with him or what, but it is so stinkin' sad! Fortunately, he did drink all of his milk and ate a decent breakfast, so I figured he couldn't be feeling too badly.

 At least he got some extra helmet-less time while it was cleaned and dried!

A little after 8:00, Austin peeked his head upstairs to say good morning. He brought with him Kaiser's fun (and incredibly loud) toy lawn mower. If we weren't awake before then, we definitely were after he started pushing that thing! After they ate their breakfast, the boys hung out in the living room and played with Mark.

 Kind enough to mow our rug, too!

 Construction truck coloring.

A while later, the three of them went down to the basement to wake up sleepyhead Meaghan. I was upstairs getting my makeup on, so I'm not sure how they roused her, but hopefully it wasn't like this again!) :) When Porter woke up from his nap, we all (minus Brett, who was working) rounded up to head to church. I wasn't sure how Porter would do, considering the morning he'd had and his general dislike of being away from Mommy for extended periods lately. I kept him with me during worship and tried to feed him milk from his sippy, to no avail. So I took him downstairs to the nursery, only to be called back down about 15 minutes later. Let's just say he was not happy with me for leaving. The two of us spent the remainder of the service watching the message in Pastor Doug's office, where I managed to get him to drink a couple of ounces or so.

 Church nursery dropout. :(

When church was over, we hung out in the basement visiting for a while. Austin and Porter (whose outfits kind of matched, coincidentally) had fun continuing their playtime out by the couches and coffee table.

 "Can we play whatever video game these controllers go to?"

 Koen jumped in to show them how it's done.

Meag looking like a granny with her eyeglass holder necklace. :)

Daddy had finished in the OR and surprised us by walking down the hill to meet us. Mark and Meaghan had plans to meet up with some of our friends at the Waterfront for lunch, but by then I needed to get our boys home for a quick lunch and on-time naps, so we parted ways. I don't know when exactly, but at some point this week we will be seeing them again, as none of us has said a proper goodbye!

Mark, Meaghan, and Austin, as always, we had a blast having you guys over to stay the night! Something tells me this won't be the last Edwards/Braly slumber party. Whether it's here in the Burgh or at your new place in H-Town, we can't wait for the next one!

Interview with Kaiser

My bloggy friend Jennifer recently posted about an interview she did with her sweet son Brody, who is just a couple months older than Kaiser. I thought it was super cute and would be fun to conduct with my own little dude. So last night after dinner, while he was playing with his trucks at the kitchen table, I casually asked him the following questions. Some of his answers surprised me, but I guess you really never know what to expect from a 2 1/2 year-old... 

What is your name? Kaiser
How old are you? Two (Said while wiggling his fingers, trying unsuccessfully to show the number two.)
What is your favorite color? Black 
Who is your best friend? Daddy (Insert huge smile from Brett.)
What is your favorite animal? A giwaffe
What do you want to be when you grow up? A boy (Maybe he doesn't want to grow up?)
What is your favorite movie? Cahs (Loves him some Lightning and Mater!)
What is your favorite book? Da gawbage twuck book (I'm assuming he means a book we have called I Stink!), You Awe Special
What makes you happy? I doe know. (I guess he doesn't like to talk about his feelings. Ha!)
What makes you sad? Kaiser's getting weady to wun away. (He then proceeded to run from the kitchen into the living room.) I just wunned away.
What is your favorite food to eat? I like to eat casswole. (Mommy makes a mean casserole!)
What is your favorite song to sing? Pwolly da escagator song -- "Dis is the work I weally love..." (Not sure what he's talking about? Click here to find out!)
What games do you like to play? I like to play cahs. (What?!? Not construction trucks?)

I had so much fun interviewing this kiddo! Maybe I'll pull out these questions in a few months to see how his answers change...

Brothers at Bedtime

The Braly Brothers caught a serious case of the silly willies right before bedtime tonight, and I'm not sure who had more fun -- the two of them, or their mommy and daddy looking on. It brings us such joy to watch Kaiser and Porter grow closer and see them really start to play and laugh together! Here is a glimpse at our adorable Friday night entertainment:

Watching Kaiser start to get amped up.

 "Can't catch me!"

Uh-oh, here comes Big Bear...

Now the party can really get started!

Daddy joins in on the fun.

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a video is worth even more. You may not be able to understand 90% of what Kaiser says in this clip (typical when he's super giddy), but there's no need to translate Porter's infectious giggle. I can't get enough of it! You can tell he's totally crazy about his big brother.

(Just so you know, neither kiddo was phased at all by the tumble they took at the end of the video. Porter had a huge grin on his face immediately afterward!)

Love these silly willy boys of mine!

Weigh-In #2

This morning we returned to the pediatrician for another weight check. This time I was able to schedule our appointment a little bit later, so Porter could get a decent morning nap under his belt beforehand. When we arrived at the office, Cars was playing in the waiting room. As I'm sure you can guess, a certain 2 1/2 year old was glued to the TV.

Lightning McQueen has this effect on him.

Thinking some more of those "heavy" thoughts...

After a bit of a wait, we were called back by the nurse. Porter went from pleasant to fightin' mad when I laid him down to take off his clothes, and the screams picked back up when it was time to put him on the scale. Fortunately, the numbers we saw showed another increase: 15 pounds 14 ounces, which is 7 ounces more than last Friday! Honestly, after last week's huge gain, I was hoping for him to hit at least 16 pounds, but I know that it's not realistic to expect his weight to skyrocket at every check. I'm just happy to see that our hard work (and trust me, it has been work) is paying off!

Once Porter had been weighed, we returned to the room to wait for Kathy. I got the babe dressed, and Kaiser asked to play on my phone to pass the time.

"Hey, mind if I play, too?"

He wants whatever Big Brother's got.

When pursuit of the iPhone got old, P decided to do some pull-ups.

"Kaiser's water? Don't mind if I do."

"This milk tastes better."

Kaiser got smart and moved out of reach.

"Mommy, will you please tell him it's my turn?"

As you can tell by the number of pictures taken, our wait in the exam room was not a short one. Kathy didn't make it back until almost 11:45, an hour after the time of our scheduled appointment. Kind of frustrating, but as the wife of a doctor who's had his fair share of days running late in clinic, I understand. What can you do? Anyway, I really was so proud of the boys. I fully expected Kaiser to get bored and start whining and acting up, but instead he was a sweetheart and kept me laughing with his silliness.

Adore that smile of his.

He's the cheesiest!

Finally I was relieved to see Kathy come in the door. We got to talking immediately about Porter's progress. She was happy with his gain of an ounce per day, and like last week kept reiterating how much better he was looking and acting. I couldn't agree more! We talked about how nursing was going, and I told her that I'm not sure how much longer we're going to make it on that front. It's starting to be a battle to get Porter to nurse; I'm sure because he knows he can get a lot more (and more quickly) from his sippy cup. I can't blame the kiddo! Kathy suggested that I start mixing more concentrated formula supplements so that he's getting more calories per ounce. When I asked what she thought about the endocrinology appointment I have scheduled for next Thursday, she said to go ahead and keep it. She still believes that the issue is solely food-related, but we agreed that it doesn't hurt to rule out any other possibilities. In addition to drawing blood, apparently they'll weigh him multiple times (to make sure they get a completely accurate measurement), so we'll know what six more days of hittin' the bottle cup helps in chunkin' up his tiny hiney. I pray that by then I see a number closer to 17 pop up on the scale. I'm just dying to see his little "X" jump back up to one of the curves on the growth chart! Of course, you can rest assured I'll continue to post updates...

Pudgy Porter wishes you a happy weekend!

Sprouts of Faith & Summer Break

This morning Kaiser, Porter, and I went to our third of four Sprouts of Faith music classes at church. Again we had a lot of fun singing and dancing and playing some instruments. Kaiser has not been nearly as animated in these sessions as he is when we go to Music Together -- lots of sitting back and observing instead of full-on participation -- but he did enjoy some of the new props that Miss Brittany, the teacher, brought out today. Though music isn't a place I normally pull out my camera, there were only a few of us in the group this week, so I tried to snag a couple of quick shots. 

Bells for shakin' and ribbons for wavin'.

 Tav was feelin' the maracas.

The best part of class was before we sang "I'm in the Lord's Army" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers"; Brittany had pieces of armor for the kids to dress up. I was surprised when Kaiser agreed to wear all of it -- even the helmet! As the oldest one there, he did a great job leading everyone in a march around the room while we sang (with Mommy's help, of course). 

 Where's your sword of the Spirit, Lil Soldier? :)

After music wrapped up, I headed to the next room to feed Porter. Kaiser had found a fire truck floor puzzle and hung back to work on it.

 Miss Stephanie, another intern who works with Sprouts of Faith, helped.

Then he joined Mommy in the nursery for some playtime.

 Just chillin' in the bouncy seat.

 He and Tavin were being super silly together.

 Eyes glued on the bigger boys.

About a quarter to noon, we decided to go upstairs to the sanctuary, where Koen was participating in Summer Break, a program for older kiddos. They had spent the morning learning about gardening from a couple of our church members who are experts on the subject, and were wrapping up their fun activities with a snack of fresh fruits and veggies. Megan, our family ministry coordinator, said Kaiser was welcome to join them, and of course he jumped at the chance.

 Carrots and strawberries and broccoli, oh my!

 This stinker enjoyed some bites of juicy watermelon.

In addition to the homegrown snacks, there were several gigantic squash that had been brought from the ladies' garden. I wasn't sure Kaiser would recognize them because they were so much larger than he's used to seeing, but he ran over and immediately said, "Do you see da zucchini, Mommy?" 

 Over half his height!

Kaiser was invited to take home a basil plant, too. Mommy's looking forward to having some fresh herbs with which to cook! (Assuming I can keep it alive...)

 Potting his plant with Miss Megan's help.

From there we planned to go to Anderson Playground again with Amy, Koen, and Tavin, so we loaded in the car and headed over.

 Did I mention they gave us a monster squash to take home?

 And a "big daddy" cucumber, too!

The playground was super packed with a couple of large groups, so we found a spot in the shade somewhat away from everyone and sat down to eat some lunch.

 Pucker up, Buttercup!

The boys didn't end up doing a whole lot of playing on the equipment, but Koen and a girl he met had fun rolling down a small hill behind us. Kaiser wasn't keen on the idea of doing so himself, but he watched.

 "Y'all are crazy!"

 My little man.

Soon Amy had to take off (Tavin wasn't feeling well -- poor guy!), and I could tell my kiddos needed to get home to nap, as well. It's not unusual for them to both get giddy right before crashing (or rather, Kaiser gets giddy and Porter follows suit), and I did capture some of the goofiness on camera.

 Smudged lens, hence the blurriness, but I am in love with his face!

 Mr. P wants in on the action!

 Two little monkeys jumpin' on the bed...

...the big one better not fall off and bump his head!

At least if this monkey bumps his head, he's got protection. :)

All in all, a wonderful morning! Thanks, North Way Oakland!