ISO the blogger

In search of the woman who used to post on the McCollum family blogs fairly regularly.  I have actively tried to channel her, coax her out of hiding, and even tried bribing her into writing more frequently.   No dice.  Why exactly are all these efforts so stinking fruitless?  Let me give you a hint: they have four legs, four hands and two mouths.

Feeding and eating is becoming quite an interesting endeavor.  Ryan loves eating baby food.  I don't remember orange colored foods staining Thomas' clothes as much as they do Ryan's.

Approximately four times a week, Thomas will not ask, but tell me that we need to eat at a restaurant. We have tried to find family-friendly places that have yummy food that make all four members of our party happy.  This is not as easy as you think considering the addiction to Chili's that we fostered. 

Bacon brussel sprout pizza anyone?

All the boys seem to like this little pizza joint we found in Peeksill!

In addition to being fairly creative about food, I am also finding that I need to be fairly creative at getting ready in the morning.  I relish my morning shower.  It's not something I will voluntarily or easily delay.  I used to wake up before Mike so I could shower after a few too many times of finding myself still not showered by 2pm when Thomas was an infant.  Then Thomas ended up getting into the shower with me.  Then Thomas would watch You Tube in my bed and I would lock us into our bed/bathroom.  Then I went back to waking up early when Thomas wasn't as interesting in showering with me...and truth be told, that shower we have in our room is fairly small when you're eight months pregnant, then try adding a squirmy kid!  Then along came Ry-Man, further complicating my schedule.  Now I try to coordinate between naps, fussy-bored times, and my own tolerance of remaining in my pjs.  When the stars don't align, this is what it looks like.

"I am Kristen.  Let me send a message."

 I am trying to brush my wet hair and placate Ryan (who woke up after a waaaay too short nap) by sitting on my bedroom floor with him on my lap when Thomas says, "Hey Mama!  Look what I found on your phone."  Oh boy.

Naked Dialer

Thomas has taken to pretending to be me or Mike.  Lately, it feels like it is more me than him, but that must be a function of all the time we spend together.  His most recent obsession involves raiding my tennis bag, which is downstairs next to his play area, putting on my hat, my sneakers and getting out all my tennis balls and racquets.  While it is cute, it is also a bit dangerous since Ryan could easily be the line of fire of one of Thomas' very good forehands, thus requiring a higher level of supervision.

Because Ryan is now sitting up on his own, it is tempting to plop him down and wash nipples or start dinner or fold laundry.  This presents an opportunity for Thomas to come play with Ryan alone.  And push him over.

This has created a new "opportunity" to find things we three can do together.  Reading and playing with the big Legos seem to occupy us all fairly well.

 Thomas is an amazing and loving big brother...most of the time.  But it is nothing short of a miracle that second born children are alive and well.

I think I will cut the blogger just a little bit of slack.  This last year, but especially the last six months have been a little bit busy, so while I will hope that she miraculously find more time to blog, I will be grateful that there are two fun, happy boys who monopolize her time.

Our Mantra

In scrolling through thousands of pictures from the last few months, our mantra could easily be "Eat, Drink and Be Merry."

This especially applies to our dear Ryan.  Since he smacks his lips whenever we're eating, I invested in a feeding bag.  We've put apples, bananas, red peppers and blueberries in there.  Ryan seems to love munching safely on whole foods.

Thomas, however, is not quite sold on the concept

But he's a good sport about it!

Note: when eating blueberries, wear navy blue or black.

Ryan enjoys a round of oatmeal seasoned with various fruit or vegetable purees every day.  Today's flavor of choice was carrot.  In a rare moment of letting go, I let Ryan lick the bowl clean.

When Ryan isn't eating, he very much enjoys watching his big brother eating and being merry.

Thomas eating AND being merry

 Thomas loves eating while we're making food.  This means that we occasionally miss the nutritional mark, but we have a lot of fun making it!

I don't think we should lick butter, Thomas.

Fortunately, our merriment uses a lot of calories.  Much of our fun is at West Point, where we recently discovered two gems.  The first is the public use hours of the fieldhouse.  We will descend upon this great place to play and ride bikes indoors many times this winter.  Amazingly, they also let the kids use the mats used for track.

Another outlet for all of Thomas' energy is ice skating.  We have found a wonderful opportunity to skate at the West Point indoor rink on Sunday afternoons.  The rink is in awesome shape and it's not too crowded.

Other merriment that you can feel free to provide your own commentary, captions or hashtags for.

 

Dear Johnny

Dear Johnny Manziel:

Everyone knows what a stud you are.  Those blog readers who don't, will surely Google you and bear witness to your athletic prowess too.  But while you are lighting up college football, and congratulations on that, I am thinking about my kids.  As a 21 year old college student, you are walking a fine line between being a kid and being an adult.   It seems from your behavior off the field that you have forgotten the joy of acting like a real kid.
http://www.businessinsider.com/outrageous-things-johnny-football-2013-12?op=1

It also appears that your kind of fun has some fairly negative associations.  The word punk comes to mind.  It would seem that sports writers would be hard-pressed to fault you if you acted a little more like my kids, ages three and five months.  Dare I say that our brand of fun just may be a little more gratifying and a whole lot less controversial.

Have fun with your family.  The good, clean kind of fun that won't get you on the front page of the papers. 

Sledding, for example.

If you need a more exciting activity, you can spice it up by sledding down a hill toward a freezing lake.

Or you could try your hand at ice skating.  Thomas did a mere three days after getting skates from Santa and was shockingly good at it.  I'd bet that you too, Johnny, would find that you are very good at a different sport.

Standing on his own the second time around!

Since you live in the south, sledding and skating may not be easy options.  In that case, I might suggest something that can be done anywhere: dress up and pretend.  The day after Christmas, Thomas started pretending he was Santa and brought his dad skates and a candy cane.  Very cute.  Nana added a fun prop to the mix.  No one was spared from Santification.

Thomas Claus

Ryan Claus

Mama Claus

Daddy Claus

Nana Claus

Papa Claus

Keep taking selfies.  They're fun.  Here are some of ours:

(Thomas' sweats and boot)

Like son, like mother (my new skates)

I understand that you have a rigorous physical training to attend to, but why not make it fun too?  Ryan has a blast trying to rip down the bunny from his chair.  He finally mastered it this week.

He's also getting the knack of using the exersaucer as a workout tool.

Our fun is a little lower key than you may be used to, Johnny, but Thomas and Ryan attest that it is the best kind.