Swimming and Eating and Big Steps

The story below doesn't say it all. I mean, Bobo loves cupcakes. That's true. But Rob and I realized the other day that Bobo eats a LOT. And he must, because over the past week or so, nearly every picture of Brody has been of him eating. Cupcakes, yes. And bananas. ("Nanas!") And popsicles. Apples. You name it. He loves food. And he's not afraid to try anything. Especially if it goes on a fork. Or apparently a spoon, or two. In fact, lately he's been trying to eat everything with not one, but two spoons. He even trades them out during dinner (yes - he puts the dirty ones back in the drawer and pulls out a clean one to replace it!) He was even "spooning" his bread last night.

If I didn't mention it before, Brody is very tall. So all this eating is sending him straight upward. He has low weight range (25% or something) but height in the 90% range (clearly all of Rob's genes there) and a normal size head. Poor Brody went in for his two-year appointment and got a shot, but they were out of the Chicken Pox vaccination (which he couldn't get when he was supposed to, due to his brother's condition), so now both kids have to go tomorrow to get the Pox vaccine. (Now that Corey's been off chemo, he's approved to receive it.) Corey will also get his pre-1st grade check, and probably more than just one shot. Poor kid, he didn't get his four-year old shots, so he's overdue!

We had a great weekend. We had friends over to swim, and they brought a projector so we were able to watch a movie on the wall outside our kitchen while we swam. However, by then, the kids were done with the pool and ended up coming in to play Wii. So really, we should have watched a movie we adults wanted, since we were the ones who ended up watching Ratatouille.

Brody has had a lot of big steps lately. He's moving up to the two-year old classroom at Goddard, so that's big. And then he's been wanting to sit on the potty a lot lately. Which is odd, but ... whatever. I figure eventually he'll actually use it, right? Sunday I took him in after swimming and on a hunch I asked him if he wanted to go potty (he gets so excited and runs in the bathroom) and I set him up there, and sure enough, he went! Yeah, Bobo! (Picture him clapping for himself, which he did.) He can't sit up there by himself, but I'm not sure he'll think the plastic baby potty is an acceptable substitute, so we'll see. Maybe we'll bring that in soon. Seeing as how it took forever to potty-train Corey, I'm not holding up high hopes. (Although I figure I'm due.) Brody also got his train bed, though when we finally get him to lay down in it, he starts shouting "Ib!" and points to his cr-IB. Consonants at the beginning of words is another thing he struggles with. I'm sure my sister has an opinion on that (being a speech pathologist.) However, he is also saying full sentences. He says "More Bobo milk, please, mommy?" And tonight he heard Corey ask "Can I watch Sponge Bob?" so Brody said "Bobo watch Pablo?"

Corey's been having a great time at summer camp. He got to go ice skating today. He says he was the fastest one in his class (which is probably true - he is probably the only kid who has had lessons.) But then he said he was going "as fast as Mommy's car" which, at the time, was only going maybe 30 miles per hour, but I told him Mommy can't even run that fast. Which led us to how fast can Mommy run? And Mommy said 8 or 9 mph, but Mommy's honestly not sure that would be possible. She can walk a mean 4.5 though. So Corey ended up with 8 mph when he told Daddy how fast he can go. We also got a story about how his friend Gavin's brother, Bailey, is older but he never left the wall. And that Corey was the only one in his class allowed to skate without a bucket (the little kids push buckets to stand up), a partner or the wall.

Next up for Corey is swimming and a movie on Wednesday. He gets to see Wall-E before we do! Then I didn't put him in camp on Thursday because I have the day off. We'll probably take Brody to school for a while, at least, and Corey wants to "make cookies." His call, but there will probably be swimming involved too. I think I might take him to the library too. We haven't been all summer, and now that he can read, he's really into "Magic Treehouse" books. He has about six or seven of them, all from Grammy and Grandpa.

Wednesday night I think we're going to the Diamondbacks' game with the Hope Kids, and Friday night we'll probably go to a friend's house. Sunday we're going to another friend's house - one who has a daughter that went to Goddard with Corey. Fun times ahead! And I can work on my tan. Rob doesn't believe me, but I really do have a tan. At least as much as I ever get one....

Bobo loves cupcakes

There was another birthday party at Brody's school on Friday, and his teacher told me it took him 45 minutes, but he ate the ENTIRE cupcake!


I found these photos while cleaning this morning that they sent home from when he had cupcakes for his birthday.

Enjoy!

A Sinclair Cousin for the Boys?

Well, now that Melinda and Gary have had time to tell their friends, we must post it online! Corey is very excited about the prospect of another cousin. (And waffling on whether he prefers a girl or boy, but I think he'll be happy nevertheless.) Congratulations, Melinda and Gary! You'll never sleep again....

Summer Splash

Brody got a school bus from Aunt Julie, Uncle Brandon, Ben and Grace. He LOVES it. It's one of those large pop-ups that you can crawl through. Every time Brody sees it, he yells, "School bus!" He even says goodbye at night.

The week was relatively uneventful. Corey got to go to the Diamondbacks' game on Thursday as part of his VIK summer camp (through the Gilbert school district.) They usually do two field trips a week, but to bounce places or play parks. This was exciting! Plus he's been swimming twice a week at camp.

Brody has also had his share of fun at school. They have Water Wednesdays at Goddard, and we're told he's the first one in the water on those days. He is a bit of a fish.

I think Corey has seen Camp Rock (the new Jonas Brothers Disney movie) three times. Maybe more, and it just debuted on Friday night. Already there are songs I can't get out of my head. It's like High School Musical all over again.

We had a family over to swim on Saturday -- they just moved here from Kansas, where my mom knew them. They're Wildcats, but it's okay, we had lots of fun, and they even played with a KU football!

Today the family was out in the pool again and we all have been enjoying having the pool so close. However, the water temperature is about as warm as bathwater, with a few areas that are almost hot. Thank goodness for the misters -- they seem to cool off the air above the pool water a little.

We've seen lots of the Thomas movie that Great Grandma sent Brody, and Brody has carried his trains throughout the house, though we may finally have the table settled in the living room area. We also broke out the sprinkler from Grammy and Grandpa, and the boys had fun running around that in the backyard. Here is Brody "supervising" Corey doing his thank-you notes.

Up for this week: more of summer camp and school for the boys, with some more friends coming over Saturday night after Corey and I see the matinée for High School Musical at the Gammage at ASU. Fun! More Disney!!!

Brody's Many Birthdays

OK, first of all as you look at these, be sure to notice the common theme ... although his wardrobe changes, Brody is wearing his hat (and at various angles) in most of these photos!








The 12 Days of Brody's Birthday began with an Elmo video and Sesame Street bath toys from Nana and Papa. Brody said "bye bye" to all of the bath toys after his bath tonight, which definitely slows down the bedtime process.







The Elmo theme continued with Grammy and Grandpa, including the Elmo cake. He also received an Elmo boat bath toy and something for his Thomas the Train set from them (more on Thomas later). It just so happened while Grammy and Grandpa were here, we visited a toy store that had a Thomas the Train track set up and Brody LOVED it. So we got out Corey's old train set and the rest is history.



For his next birthday, Brody brought cupcakes to school. They sent home a photo of him eating (they said he ate the whole thing) and of course he had his hat on! That night the family went to the Organ Stop Pizza place, and Brody loved it. He's captivated by all the sights and sounds, and of course the "eet-za." We got Brody a table for his train set, Thomas the Train sheets and set up Corey's old train bed. Corey also got Brody another train for the set (and has been more than helpful when it comes to showing Brody how to play with the trains).







For his actual birthday he received Elmo birthday cards (two of the same one, naturally) and a noisy High School Musical card from Kristin and John (which both boys enjoyed dancing to). Aunt Melinda and Uncle Gary also sent Brody a Leapster School Bus, and Brody ALWAYS points out all the school buses he sees on the way to school in the morning. Brody also liked listening to his messages from the Urbans, Melinda and of course Great Grandma Sinclair and Great Aunt Debbie singing. He kept smiling when somebody said "Happy Birthday, Brody" and of course during the singing.

Today we hit the Thomas the Train jackpot when he got a package from Great Grandma and Aunt Debbie! They sent a Thomas push train to go with the James train Corey used to have, and a Percy Train for the train set. They also sent a Thomas bathing suit, pajamas, and books ... including one for Corey to read to Brody. They both were thrilled!

And we're fairly certain we'll be watching a Thomas and Friends movie tomorrow first thing: "ehn movie!!"

Chefs in training

I'm going to do a separate birthday post, but watching the boys "help" Carrie baking Brody's third or fourth birthday cake was so classic it deserves its own post!

This video is especially great ...

Oh No! A Month Without Blogging!

Okay, we've been very bad. We went an entire month without a blog entry! Well, now you can get your fix. Four new entries, plus this one and yesterday's teaser from Rob.

And to get you started, an adorable picture of our hatted boy, and a glimpse of what is to come: an exciting celebration for birthday #2 for Brody at the Organ Stop Pizza place tomorrow night, a friend's birthday party Saturday, and then we're dropping the kids off at a coworker's house for them to enjoy swimming, the park and McDonald's while Rob and I take a friend of his to a Diamondbacks' game, and then Sunday, Father's Day and a barbecue at a friend's house! Think of the pictures you'll see....

Oh, and Grammy is a super star. Watch her on TV!

Sinclair Week

A week after my parents departed, Rob's parents arrived. Unfortunately I was in an all-day-into-the-evening work event, so I missed the first day of action. However, I can sum the week up by eating, swimming, eating, swimming!

Over the week, we ate at Joe's Farmhouse Grill (our second time this month), Ra, Arizona Grand, Pei Wei, and probably more, but I'm blanking out on them now! (And this was the most recent visit, figures.) We also grilled and celebrated Brody's birthday with Elmo cake!

Brody is lately obsessed with trains. Thomas is really the only name he knows, but he knows "eins" and he asks for them and has been playing with them nonstop, even sleeping with them, since we dug them out of hiding. No surprise, Grammy and Grandpa gave him another train and an Elmo boat (that goes nicely with the Elmo bath toys Nana and Papa gave him during their stay.)

Brody's also really into "iggy backs." For some reason, he can't seem to put a consonant sound at the beginning of the word if it doesn't begin with B, D or M. So when he's not trying to GET a piggy back, he's giving them. He piggybacks his trains, his boats, and of course, Elmo on his own back. So cute!

But back to the sleeping with trains thing. That's not the only obsession. He's also obsessed with a Cubs/Culvers hat Rob brought him back from Chicago. Well, technically, I think Rob thought he was going to get to wear it and that it would be Brody's only in name. Not so! He's worn it pretty much nonstop since he got it. And in fact, Goddard School folks tells us that he clutches it while he naps. Well, here at home, he actually wears it while he sleeps. (And note that the trains are nearby.) The other day he had a fake snake in his bed, and woke up with snake patterns on his arm. I guess he doesn't like to sleep alone!

In addition to our great time at home, Sinclairs also stayed at the Arizona Grand (formerly Pointe South Mountain) and so we got two days to float around their lazy river, ride the waves and play with the water pad at the toddler pool.

And I can't forget what was probably Corey's favorite part: he stayed with Grammy and Grandpa in their hotel for two nights and they took him to McDonald's each morning for breakfast, so he got two Kung Fu Panda toys. And yes, I'm pretty sure it's the McDonald's part, not the hotel part, that was his favorite as a result!

We had a great time!

Summer Swimming & School?

We're big fans of Gilbert Parks & Rec. Not only do they run a great t-ball program (see post a month ago - how cute is that team?) but they have cheap swimming lessons. As it turns out, cheap swimming lessons come in handy when you have a three-year old who refuses to go into the water, let alone go under water.

How things change! That three-year old boy is now over five, and he was a little fish in his "Shrimps" class. He can hold his breath under water, swim quite a ways, and doggy paddle. And he appeared to mostly follow the teacher's instructions, which we greatly appreciate! He can almost float, and when he masters that in the next round of lessons, we're sure they'll move him up to "otters" or whatever the next level is.

And Brody, he's our little fish. I took the first five classes, and Rob took the last three. For Rob, he blew bubbles under water. For me, he did not. But he did learn to jump to us (preceded by a "1-2-3" - important to know if you're swimming with him), go under water (though he hasn't quite grasped the concept of closing his mouth), and kicking his legs. He's definitely not a fan of the floating... either on his back or his front. But his next lesson is Parent-Tot II, since he'll be two on Saturday!

And let's not forget about the adventure I had while Rob was in Chicago for a weekend having a good time with his sister and friends. I took the boys out to our pool, and was drying off, watching the boys play a game. Brody would toss a floating truck into the water (he was standing on the edge), Corey would go swim to it and give it back to him. Repeat. However, one time, Brody didn't quite throw it far enough. It was just out of his grasp floating in the water in front of him. So ... he reached out to grab it, and you know what's coming, and I knew it too. I ran over there, and Brody was bobbing in the water. I jumped in, and he was fine. I was a nervous wreck, but the kid held his own. He didn't seem panicked at all.

So I thought that at least the lesson would be not to do it again, but I think Brody actually enjoyed it, so now we'll have to be within arm's length of him around water for a long, long time!

And last, but not least, Corey is officially in summer camp. It's the same program - VIK - that he goes to before school during the school year. But it is way more fun, according to Corey. In addition to fun things like "cooking class," "science class," dodge ball (and an injury or two) and breakfast that includes "super donuts," he gets to go to the pool twice a week and he goes on two field trips a week! The pool is right there at the junior high, so they walk over and probably spend a few hours there. Like all Gilbert pools, it goes zero-depth to about three feet in the shallow end, and there are slides and of course, his VIK friends. And for field trips, he's been to Jeepers, where he says he rode a roller coaster, to a jumping party and bowling. Next up is a Diamondbacks game next week, a roller rink, ice skating, you name it and they have it planned this summer.

Apparently a local program (Fox 10) does a bit called "Whirlybird Wednesdays" where a helicopter lands at a school and interviews the kids. There are two yellow posters being held by the kids, and Corey is standing just to the right of the leftmost poster. You'll have to pause the video, but it's clearly him. The best shot is when they put the five-day forecast up, which covers his shorts. His backpack is diagonal around him, so he stands out a little. Of course, they're all wearing the same shirts. Tomorrow is jersey day, though. If only Corey liked sports and had a bunch of jerseys... (Obvious sarcasm: I hope we don't spend an hour tomorrow morning selecting which jersey!)

Memorial Weekend Family Fun

It's not Memorial weekend without family! My parents came in for an extended weekend of games, zoo and lots of eating.

First of all, I want it on record that my parents always bring the rainy weather. Fact one: they rained out a spring training game in 2006. Fact two: they rained out a spring training game in 2007. In fact, we purposefully did not plan attending a 2008 game with them because of this history. Fact three: it starts raining just before they arrive, and rains for a good two or three days. They can deny it, but Rob and I know it to be true: they bring the rain to Phoenix.

While they were here, and because it was raining, we had a lot of indoor activities, including a fun round of High School Musical the board game. (Which my mother deserved because she got it for him for Christmas!) It includes singing the next line of songs, dancing and answering trivia questions that only the very most obsessed fans would know. And Corey always, always wins.


The weather finally cleared up in time for us to spend a day at the zoo. (And it wasn't too hot yet, which was very nice.)

On Memorial Day, we decided to go to Joe's Farmhouse Grill. Rob and I have been a few times before - they have great sweet potato fries, sandwiches and pizza. It's on a farm in a suburb named "Agritopia." Kind of an odd place for a throwback diner, but it's really good food.

Turns out, Joe's had been featured on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on the Food Network. Now, we kind of knew that, but I figured it had happened months ago. Nope. The night before. The line was crazy... out the front door all the way around the place. It took 45 minutes to stand in line to order and another 15 before the food came out. (Not so much "real food, real fast" if you ask me, and that was the name of the TV segment!)

While my parents were here, they couldn't help but help landscape, and when they left, we had two more bushes out front and at least five bags of new rocks. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

All in all, a fabulous weekend.

School's Out for Summer!

Corey had a great experience in kindergarten, and he went out with a bang. In fact, the last month of kindergarten featured "Muffins with Moms," "Donuts with Dads," and a colorful musical program.

At "Muffins with Moms," we learned that Mommy is ten feet tall, weighs a whopping 30 pounds; her favorite restaurant is In 'N Out, her favorite TV show is Jeopardy (though Corey illustrated a picture of Mommy and Corey watching American Idol), and she's really smart because she knows how to be a good mom.

At "Donuts with Dad," we learned that Daddy is actually a foot shorter than Mom, but weighs ten pounds more. And his favorite drink is Diet Coke (it's absolutely not, but we dodged a "beer" bullet there, I think), his favorite show is "hocke" (not bad spelling!) and it really bugs him when he hears the "Bad Day" song (Rob has an elaborate fake-cry ritual due to a post-NFL season commercial).

A day before school ended, the kindergarten kids had a music program. They sang every color song they had learned throughout the year (they started reading them in books, but had a song for each). They also sang "There's a birdie in the kitchen - tweet tweet" and "It's a Small World," and my favorite, the Finley Farms fight song.

Rob missed all the singing due to jury duty. He never got called for a trial or anything, but they made him stick around just long enough to miss the good stuff at Corey's program. Then all the kids took off their crayon costumes (Corey's in red, above) long enough to sit down to watch a video one of the parents made. My favorite part of the video was that, as they showed a photo of each kid, the kids all yelled his/her name.

We do have videos from all the festivities (after all, I was Rob's delegate with a camera), but they'll need editing before sharing. They were all long videos.

We followed the program by returning to the classrooms for cookies and milk.

On the last day of school, one of many half days this year, they brought their favorite board games to school. Corey brought Spiderman Sorry.

And now he's a first grader. (sniff sniff) Our boys grow up so quickly!!!

Coming Soon ...

It's been a busy month with lots of visitors, fun activities and events (including a television appearance) ... hopefully we'll tell you all about it someday. Until then, here's a sampling of snapshots: