Attack - 59/365

When chairs attack!  News at eleven.  The boys are currently in the middle of yet another cold, and it has made me completely reconsider the activities I've been bringing them to, including their gymnastics class.  So, when they started bouncing around on their chairs, flipping them over, climbing on them and sliding down them, I thought "Great!  We'll just do gym class here!"

Also, hats are hilarious.  Sam grabbed my hat off the table and decided he neeeeeeded to wear it around.  Too bad this shot is a little out of focus, but he's still darn cute.

Snowflakes - 58/365

I promise I'll get back to posting pictures of the boys tomorrow, but today I am all excited about the snowflake macros I took.  It was my first time, and I'm pretty pleased with how they came out.  I took a TON, but here are just a few.

Dinner - 57/365

We still have not given the boys Mexican food because I'm afraid it will be too spicy for them.  Of course given their odd tastes (they DEVOUR garlic hummus) perhaps they'd love it.  On the other hand, when we make chicken fajitas it's also a nice break for us because we feed them at their normal time (chicken, boiled garlic and parsley potatoes and gravy tonight) and then make our dinner after they go to sleep.  Ah, the guilty pleasure of a meal eaten without a constant eye out for a fork about to be flung or a baby about to scream because he's out of chicken and his brother still has some.

I cut up the onion and pepper while Chris was giving the boys a bath, and it was so pretty I just had to take a picture.  And then it looked so yummy after Chris was done cooking it that I had to take another!

Baby - 56/365

Thomas loves it when I swaddle up one of his stuffed animals.  I love it too, because he is absolutely ADORABLE with them.

A is For... - 55/365

I planned to do an alphabet book for the boys ages ago but never got around to it.  Now I'm finally getting on the ball.


A is for... Applesauce.

WheelieBug - 54/365

Back when the boys were only a couple of months old, the local independent toy store went out of business.  They had great sales and so we bought a couple of cute little bumblebee wheelie bugs, thinking that the boys would looooove them when they were older.

Yeah, they've loved them as walkers, strollers, bumper-walkers, basically everything but a riding toy.  But today they finally seemed to get the hang of them.

Just in time to outgrow them.  Oh, and they still prefer this little move:

Happiest Boy - 53/365

I take the boys to "gymnastics" class on Tuesday afternoons.  What it really is is a small group of two-year-olds running around, jumping, throwing balls, sliding down slides, climbing, swinging and diving into a ball pit.  So in other words, the PERFECT outlet during the loooong New England winter.

Thomas' favorite part is the swings.  I hope he's this happy when his swingset arrives for his second birthday in April.

Samuel - 52/365

I wish this was a better picture, because his expression here is precious.

Au Natural - 51/365

I call this "Nude Descending Staircase".

The King - 50/365

Neither boy has really made any attempt to climb onto their train table since the day they got it, but today I walked into the living room and found Sam sitting there like a little king overseeing his minions.

Pirates! - 49/365

This morning the boys and I went to a local children's museum/indoor playplace.  They had a blast playing in the kitchen area, the car engine, the garden, the firetruck, the playmats, EVERYTHING except the slides, which I kept trying to entice them over to, knowing that they would love them once they tried them.  Naturally, when it was nearly time to go, they decided they were interested and spent the next while going up and down the ramp and up and down the slide of the pirate ship.

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Shapes - 48/365

It is always just a little bit thrilling when the boys do something completely on their own.  They've had this shape sorter for quite a while, and have always been good at putting the shapes in with just a little bit of direction.  It hasn't been touched in months, but today, Samuel pulled it off the shelf and put all the shapes in, all by himself.  It was definitely serious business.

Always Together 47/365

Today when I was washing up some things in the kitchen, Thomas came in carrying a book and plopped himself at the end of the island.  Samuel was not five steps behind him.  I love how close they are.

Lose Something? - 46/365

An oft-repeated scene around here...

Stirring - 45/365

I just love his hands.  This is Thomas doing his favorite thing.  The spoon is a handcrafted wooden one I bought especially for him over the summer when his cooking phase was first really beginning to take hold.  I didn't give it to him then, thinking it was a bit silly to waste a handmade wooden spoon on a baby!  Gave it to him recently when I realized the cooking phase was only getting stronger.  He loves it.

Strip 44/365

At bathtime, the boys go from this:

to this:

in record time!

Hug - 43/365

This picture is terrible, and probably understandable only to me, but I love it.  This is what they do now when I tell them to "give your brother a hug".  That's Thomas, lying on Sam's lap with his arms around him.  They do hug slightly more traditionally, too, but this is just so, so them.

Sick Boy 42/365

The boys have both been sick along with me, and while Sam is mostly recovered, Tom was still pretty runny-nosed and cranky today.  They were playing in my craft room and he laid down on a blanket, pulled his baby blanket over himself and closed his eyes, looking all pathetic.  Then I grabbed my camera, his eye cracked open and he smiled around his binkie.  Little sweetheart.

Lamp - 41/365

I few years ago, Chris and I asked a potter I've known for years, to make us a pair of lamps for our living room.  We were so excited to go buy them when they were complete.  Then we had the boys and Chris gave it a 50/50 shot that they'd make it through their childhoods.  Looks like today, he won that bet.  Thank goodness, the boys were both fine.  The bulb didn't even break.  I was upset when it happened, but then I looked at the boys, and it's really such small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.  I thought I would document it to remind myself of that the next time they break something!

Towelboys - 40/365

Still not feeling quite up to par, but I managed to grab this shot after the boys' second bath.  Yeah.  The one that followed the "pooping in the tub" bath.  Because I definitely wanted to deal with that this evening.

Lace - 39/365

We had another light snow this morning, the beautiful kind that leaves the trees coated with snow.  I snapped just a couple of our back woods.  And those were the only pictures I took all day. I've been sick with a bad cold, fever, chills, ickiness, the whole she-bang, and when Chris left for the office I was reminded how mothers do not get sick days.

Routine - 38/365

We have a nice little nightly routine here.  Chris watches the boys while they take their bath, and I run around and gather all the necessary bedtime things.  Bottles, pacifiers, Pooh & FlatBear, jammies and onesies.  Each in their own little pile, waiting for their owners.

I feel like these are the little things I'll want to remember.  Now I just have to get video of them running up and down the hall, back and forth to the bathroom, losing a piece of clothing to Chris each time until they are buck naked and laughing hysterically.

This was shot at ISO3200 and was still waaaay underexposed.  I was too lazy to get my flash.

Puppybowl - 37/365

We really aren't big football fans around here (unless "our" team is in it) but this year we did let the boys watch a little bit of the "PuppyBowl" on Animal Planet.

Here's Thomas' reaction to all of those adorable animals.

Boys In Tub - 36/365

Yes, yes, I know... I'm repeating myself here, but I keep trying to get one particular shot of them in the tub.  This is closer, but still not exactly what I have in mind.  If only they took direction.  Ha!

Newborn Pullback -35/365

I thought I might as well post a quick little pullback of the newborn setup from yesterday.  Actually, I had to re-set it up because I'd moved the ottoman back to our bedroom this afternoon when the boys started using it as a scooter!

And because sometimes it's fun to shoot at high ISO and see what happens... this was taken at ISO2500 and cropped to about 1/6th the original size.

Baby Owen 2 - 34/365

My friend stopped by for a short visit today, and I was finally able to take a few pictures of Owen!  He is such a little sweetheart.  Totally sleepy, but unfortunately we didn't have the time to get him undressed for a bunch of cute nakey-baby pictures.  I've never taken newborn pictures before, aside from my own boys before I knew what the heck I was doing, so please forgive any glaring problems.  And point them out to me!

Snow Day - 33/365

Yet another snow storm today!  Another 16 inches so far and it's still snowing outside.  We took the boys out and they enjoyed it more than last time, running through the path that was nearly over their heads.  Sam was particular happy!

Cooking - 32/365

This evening, Chris made the dinner - lightly breaded and pan-fried chicken cutlets, couscous and mixed vegetables - while the boys watched.  Thomas is the one who is truly obsessed with cooking and cries if he can't watch, but Sam likes to get in on the action too.