Blue Park

Another WONDERFUL February day in the upper 60s! We have had illness sweep the house this week... so being outside was just what the doctor ordered!! After school I asked Frank if he wanted to go to the park and he decided to go to the "Blue Park" {so aptly named by Frank for the blue slide of the playground} The boys had a great time, we are very excited for spring to arrive in DC!

Boys on the swings!

Charlie still not feeling %100... not to thrilled with the photo op

Frank watching the water under the bridge

HAPPY MONDAY!

Game Night

Frank loves to play board games. He likes Cookie Bugs, Hungry Hungry Hippos, Chuts and Ladders... BUT most of all he loves the Snail Pace Race {So much so that he even plays it by himself...} Tonight while daddy was at work, he decided he needed to teach Charlie how to play

While Charlie was more interested in getting a snail to chew on... but eventually i think he will get the hang of it!

Favorite Things...

One of Charlie's favorite things to do is destruction! He likes to pull all the DVDs of the shelf... legos out of the bin... any toys off the shelf...cars out, trains off... you name it! Fortunately he also likes "helping" putting things back in bins.... Here are some pictures of the destruction he did in about 5 minutes {or less} while I was changing out the laundry.

What!? This is no OK?

Ohhhh these legos would look awesome all over the floor!

BUSTED!

Brookside Gardens

We had a BEAUTIFUL spring-like day today... so as soon as daddy got home we headed over to Brookside Gardens to enjoy the weather. Frank remembered the place as where we would see the trains all month of december and was bummed they were no longer there. He quickly got over it with the beautiful path and fun things to see. We brought his bike to ride since there are NO SIDEWALKS in DC... riding the bike has been lacking... but apparently bikes are also not allowed at the Brookside Gardens... OOPS! We will definitely hang out here more often this spring though such a beautiful place!

Frank posing of the butterfly chair

11 Months Old with the Gund Bear

Charlie is 11 Months old! We cannot believe that he will be one in one month {and that in 12 short weeks baby#3 will be here...yikes}. Charlie is a ball of energy... he is Mr. Smiley and loves constant attention. He finally has a tooth! so 11 months brought us his first tooth on the bottom front. He is now becoming more adventurous with food... not sure why the tooth made the difference... but it did! He is starting to become better with his sippy cup... but it is a work in progress...

Charlie likes to play with balls... he is definitely a ball kid.... he also likes playing with whatever Frank5 plays with. He also LOVES to clap... if you say "Yeah!" he will clap on command... I can hear him doing it in the car all the time... it is so very adorable... He likes to pull all the movies off the shelf... take all the toys out of the bins and basically make a mess. He also enjoys going up and down the stairs... he is trouble! He is so wiggly that taking this month's Gund pictures proved to be very difficult! But with big brother's help... I think they turned out OK...

Mr. Charlie at 11 Months

Silly Man

He just would not sit still... even for a second!

and he's off... again!

Getting hugs and tickles from Frank5

And he's done!

Frank5 at 11 Months

Growing and Growing

It is great to see how much our little Charlie has grown in these past 11 months!

11 Months Old

10 Months Old

9 Months Old {19lbs 8oz and 28.5 inches}

8 Months Old

7 Months Old

6 Months Old {18lbs 5oz and 28 inches}

5 Months Old {17lbs and 27 inches}

4 Months Old {16lbs 1oz and 25.5 inches}

3 Months Old

2 Months Old{12lbs 10oz and 23 inches}

1 Month Old {10lbs and 13oz}

2 Weeks Old {8lbs 11oz and 20.75 inches}

Bowling!

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and we decided to take everyone bowling at Walter Reed... we should have known Frank5 would have loved it so much! Rolling a ball... the ball return all fun for a four year old. We will definitely need to visit again

Happy Frank5

Watching the ball roll down the lane

intently observing

ready to go again

three Franks watching the ball

4 year check-up

Frank had his 4 year check-up at Walter Reed Ped's clinic today

He weighed 38lbs {60th percentile} and is not 41.5 inches tall {75th percentile}. Up 5lbs and 3 inches from last year. He did not like the Blood Pressure cuff... and DID not like the 3 vaccines he had to get {luckily he already had one this summer, and the flu shot so he didn't need more}

Frank is such a sweet boy at 4! While listening seems to be a daily work in progress... he is so sweet and loving, he LOVES Charlie and daily tells me so... he even tells me often that "Charlie is my best friend"... {enough to make a pregnant lady cry}... He still likes cars and trains, he also likes airplanes, and his scooter. He is starting to like super heros and monsters, mostly because that is what is cool at school. We cannot believe he is 4 already!

Birthday Boy!

Happy Birthday Frank5! We spent most of the day at Frank's school {I co-oped that day} not only did we celebrate Frank's birthday we also had a Valentine's Day Party! Here are some pictures of Frank's school birthday

Singing happy birthday to Frank

Playing with "tools"

Happy birthday Frank5!

The Cake

When we decided of a fire fighter party... I knew I had to make an awesome cake! After looking up a lot of pictures on the internet i decided of this design... the hardest part of the fire engine cake is the RED icing... it takes a lot of red food coloring to not have a pink fire engine... but with the help from pop-pop... i think it turned out pretty good

icing the cake

adding details

Charlie just would like some cake.... next month little buddy

Birthday Party

Frank's birthday party this year was at the Kensington Volunteer Fire Station. We invited his preschool class to help him celebrate and I think everyone had a great time. They did a mimi tour of the fire station, played some games and played with the balloons. Happy 4th Birthday Frank5!

All the yummy food

Sounding the alarm at the fire station

All of Frank's friends

touring the fire station

checking out CJ the fire girl

learning about fire saftey

hi-five

climbing on the fire engine

Frank5 in the fire engine

Charlie on the back of the truck

opening presents

sharing books with his friends

Yummy birthday cake! Happy birthday Frank!

Charlie also enjoyed the party