Turn Off the Crying after the Strawberry Festival

Tony, Matthew, Jacob and I had a blast at the Strawberry Festival in Pasadena. We took Matthew to several carnival rides and of course the Extreme Jump Experience. We also had carnie food.. a twisty tater dog for me and a turkey leg for Tony and of course strawberry shortcake for dessert. The festival advertises the World's Largest Strawberry Shortcake. Matthew was too focused on the rides and the jump jumps to take the time to see that.

After any fun event one or both boys cry on the way home. This time Jacob screamed/cried for the full 30 minute ride. Matthew said to Jacob, "Too Loud Jacob, Too Loud!". I then asked Matthew if he would like me to take out his hearing aids. He said yes and soon after that Matthew slept through the crying. This was one time that I wish I had hearing aids I could turn off.










On Tuesday I took Jacob to his weekly Little Gym class. He really enjoys his time in class and explores everything. This is similar to Matthew's Gymboree classes at this age.



This is what happens if I leave Jacob in my "office".

What Matthew did at the Pasadena Strawberry Festival

Matthew did something we will now call "Extreme Jumping". He was certainly the youngest kid we saw willing to try this. There was no fear. Most of the kids who tried this were 7 or older.

Matthew's great memory

Last night, daddy was reading books to Matthew -- per usual. That night, I happened to read him a book about the solar system. One of the pages had a picture of an asteroid. Matthew said, "That's a rock by Nana Josie's house. Her garden, remember?". I was stunned!

Just to give you a little bit of background: Most evenings, when Matthew was under Nana Josie's care, he would bring home a few rocks from her garden and we would make a point to return them the next morning. We moved away from our old house (and away from Nana Josie) in March of last year. However, Josie moved out of her apartment and into her daughter's house in December of the previous year. So, the last time Matthew would have played in her rock garden was at the end of 2009.

Matthew just made a reference to something he did last almost 18 months ago. He was recalling a memory of something he did when he was 2 years and 3 months old!!! WOW!

Deda and Nana Sande's Wedding from Matt and Jake's (and Bongo's) Perspective

We arrived at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church 30 minutes early as instructed by Tony's father. We had a talk with Matthew and Jacob about Daddy being at the altar with Deda while we sit on the benches. Matthew seemed to understand. That doesn't mean that 1 year old Jacob was going to sit still for the duration. I had to exit mid-ceremony because Jacob started fussing. The good news was that we got to watch the ceremony from the TV in the bridal suite while Matthew played, "hide Bongo".


Tony did get to take some post ceremony photos.

We took Bongo's photo. (Old Bongo not New Bongo). He was the only one of Tony's family who got to stay for the whole ceremony. The photographer also used Bongo to get the attention of Matthew and Jacob for any photos that involved them. Bongo took the photos. The photographer obviously knew she had to work to get the attention of babies.



Jacob gets to congratulate Deda while the photographer takes photos of the bride's side of the family.

Who me? That wasn't me crying during the ceremony. Did anyone notice Mommy taking me away? If they did, they didn't say so. My Aunt Andrea said that no one cared.

Okay, just because you are the Man of the day doesn't mean I am going to be easy to get, Deda!

Jacob and his cousin Lauren.

I earned my mimosa from all of the running after small kids in high heeled shoes.

Of course Jacob preferred that I stay moving and running after him even if I had a cocktail.

We spent some time on the porch on the beautiful and unseasonably cool May afternoon.



Of course Jacob wanted to stay in my arms.


Surprisingly, Jacob and Matthew sat still through the five course meal. Probably because I shared my Filet Mignon and sea bass with them. Matthew loves filet and I am going to ask for a raise now to feed the little guy.



Deda fed the grand kids some cake--after he and Sande fed the cake to each other of course.


Jacob was mesmerized by the saxophone music. He kept walking toward him and then the musician would move towards Jacob which prompted Jacob to run back into my arms.

Matthew had a blast playing with his new beautiful cousins Caroline and Katherine.


I tried to put Jacob into the action to get some cute photos but he was not to into that.


Matthew then started to throw his Bongo into the tree. It did get stuck and Deda had to shake the tree to get him down.


Right before we left the reception Matthew said, "Nana Sande, you look beautiful". He was very shy when he said it but I think Sande understood.


The day after the wedding we had Brunch at the house of the daughter of the bride. As Matthew said right before we got there, "I am going to play with Pinky and Rosy (Katherine and Caroline)".




Matthew had a lot of fun in the jump jump with the girls.

Of course Jacob spent some time being a bunjia (a Croatian Complainer).

Deda and his lovely bride on their second day of marriage.


After the brunch we went to Monkey Joe's (an indoor jump jump facility) for a few hours and after that we stopped by Clay's, a favorite restaurant of the boys. They like to watch and feed the farm animals. Matthew does at least. Jacob does not seem to be too trusting of this rooster that is begging for his french fries.




Oh yeah, on Wednesday (before the wedding) we celebrated Tony's 42nd Birthday.

Mother's Day and International Festival Weekend

On Saturday afternoon/evening Tony, Matthew, Jacob and I packed the boys wagon and went to the Houston International Festival in downtown Houston. The weather was beautiful and we enjoyed the many "countries" we visited. Ironically, we spent most of our time in Kidsland and Louisiana--I didn't realize that these were countries. Matthew seemed to enjoy the ship at the Jamaica exhibit and the airplanes the most.

Can you find Jacob in this first photo?


How about now ??

Captain Pajama Shorts is at the helm. His Daddy dressed him :)









On Sunday, I had a nice Mother's Day. Tony made me Shrimp and Grits for breakfast and the boys surprised me with a couple of different presents--flowers and a chocolate bouquet. Matthew kept on asking to open the chocolate himself though. As he said to me, "I need chocolate!"--definitely my son. Tony also watched the boys while I got a 2 hour massage.