Happy Friday, my friends!! It’s been a quiet week here in blog-land, but my house feels like it hasn’t been quiet in a long time. I’ve been distracted by life, and I feel like I haven’t shared what we’ve been up to on a closer level in so long. That hasn’t really been intentional, but anyway – I feel distant!
So what’s up with you guys!? Things are going really well here. We just left a stretch of weeks (or was it months?) that were kind of rough – both boys at difficult ages, and often directly at odds with each other. So much yelling, crying, pushing, and coffee. So little napping and listening. And now the clouds have parted (for now), and I feel slightly sane again.
These days – right now – the boys are so so so much fun. Cullen is through his (what I’m sure was the first of many) threenager phase, and I am loving that he has become such a little boy. There is nothing toddler about him – he is just a tiny adult running around with superhuman strength, a long lanky body I barely recognize, and teenager drama and emotions.
Graham is 15 months old now, and has entered what I consider to be the most fun stage of toddler-hood. He is learning all sorts of words, and nods his head wildly when asked if he wants snacks, milk, or to read another book. He is frighteningly agile and strong, and he can climb anything and everything. He is ridiculously attached to me, and has an epic meltdown if I am more than an arm’s length away or if anyone else dares to pick him up.
Together, they are nothing but trouble. Mealtimes are a thing of my nightmares. They conspire to bang on the table, throw food, and shout louder than the other. Every meals ends in the threat to send one of them into the dining room to eat alone. They are also impossibly sweet. My heart explodes when I see Cullen pass Graham a bunny cracker in the backseat without me prompting him. Graham follows Cullen around all day long with giant puppy dog eyes, and he is quite certain he is also three. Cullen spends his whole day trying to get Graham to laugh or chase him. Nothing fills up my heart quite like a lap full of boys who just want to read and snuggle for one more book.
With the holidays long behind us and Casey’s travel slowed down for a while, we’ve had lots of time to enjoy evenings and weekends as a foursome, and it has been a breath of fresh air. Last weekend, we took part in an awesome Seattle event – Mariners FanFest!
My husband and my kids are all obsessed with baseball. Sure, part of it is that Cullen (and now Graham) has been exposed to it a lot, since it’s something that Casey and I both really enjoy. But he’s also taken soccer class, swimming lessons, and tried plenty of other sports and games. Baseball is his first true love.
FanFest was a baseball lover’s dream. The whole stadium was open to fans (for just $10! and kids were free!) and they had all sorts of cool “experiences” and baseball things to do. Since we were walking all over the ballpark for several hours, I figured the stroller would be a huge pain (so many steps!). My little slugger hung out happily on my back in the Ergo while we cruised around.
Cullen got to run the bases and I tried not to cringe when he did a huge slide in the dirt as he got to second base.
Such a cool perspective to be down on the field. These two kill me!
Got to hang out in the Mariners dugout…
Before we left, I asked Cullen if he wanted to wear his baseball glove to the park (like he usually does for games). He insisted that he wanted both his glove and his bat, and when Casey and I tried to protest the bat, he burst into tears insisting, “I might get to hit the ball and their bats will all be too heavy and I won’t be able to dooooo itttttt!” And so, we brought a bat.
And he was totally right. Well played, kid.
And that glove came in handy when we got to go into the outfield and play catch! If I had to guess who had the most fun, I’d probably say Casey.
Graham was turned loose and ran wild, loving all those bright lights and the open green space.
This was his first time in our tiny hand-me-down jersey, and I could not stop laughing at him. Out of control cuteness.
Like I said before, these two are just at really fun ages right now, and I am so loving being a mama to two boys. I don’t have any brothers myself, so this is new territory for me. It is terrifying, exhilarating, and so completely adorable.
Before we left, we took one more trip around the bases before Graham conked out.
And after searching high and low, we found the Moose! It was the one thing Cullen asked about all day long, so we were very happy to see him just as we got ready to leave. Meltdown avoided!
A totally fun family day, and a fun break in the winter dreariness that has me so excited for summer nights at the ballpark.
Have a great weekend! GO SEAHAWKS!!!
