Bronx Zoo/Happy Birthday Daddy

us going out for dinner

Daddy and Manny's cake (he likes to share everyone's b-day)

Norwalk Aquarium

My mom and I took the kids to the aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut. The drive wasn't bad (once Julian fell asleep) and it was a nice aquarium. I would have liked to have seen more animals, but it was just big enough for the kids.

Can never get the boys to cooperate at the same time :)

Manny reading the map

Julian loving the penguins

J having fun in the hippo mouth

precious

Taina the turtle

Julian wasn't big enough for any of them

Grandma and Taina

Manny LOVED these boats...wanted one in the gift shop....$300..don't think so

cool frog

my favorites

He did it!

This morning Julian kept saying "pee pee, pee pee" and I ignored him because I was in the middle of making breakfast. He usually tells me this when I need to change him so I thought nothing of making him wait a few minutes. Taina, who doesn't deprive him of ANYTHING asked if she could take him to the potty. I figured it couldn't hurt and just told her to be sure she wipes up the floor if he goes there (has happened) He used the potty and actually went in it!! We are all so proud of Julian and I owe it all to Taina for listening to him :)

18 months old

Julian is 18 months old today...I can't believe it's been a year and a half...the time has flown and before I know it he will no longer be a baby; but he'll always be MY baby!! He is doing all the same as 17 months and then some. The vocabulary has grown even more, I couldn't even begin to list all of his words. He is just as fast as his brother and sister; gotta keep up with them. He loves horses (we've been out to Blue Chip to see them) and he loves dogs. He can identify his head, hair, eyes, ears, belly and nose (for some reason the finger always goes up in the nose when I ask where his nose is).

At his check up today he got 3 shots...and he was quite hard to hold down, he's quite a strong little guy. He weighs 26 lbs 5 oz (50th %) and is 33" (about 70th %). The doctor is quite pleased with his growth.

His new obsession is taking off his shorts and diaper and trying to use the toilet like his brother. I took out the little potty so when he is ready we can start potty training him. He sits on it....sometimes in clothes....takes it apart and even pees next to it....we'll get it right at some point!!

Julian has also discovered his voice and the sounds it can make. Of course his brother (still loud and enjoys screaming) thinks this is hilarious and encourages him to scream. He also has thrown a few tantrums...getting ready for 2 :)

More soccer

Last week Manny was goalie the entire game...he did AWESOME!! The other team had the ball quite often and he blocked all but one shot (he was paying attention to what the coach was telling him and didn't see the ball coming.) He was goalie this entire game as well and did such a good job!! He is actually sad that soccer is over...maybe I need to look into fall soccer instead of waiting again until next summer.

Michael and Manny

Pop and Julian (many say J looks like Pop)

Julian and Gabriella giving some love

lucky stop!!

he wanted me to stop taking pics

The Dragonflies

Pool fun

The weather hasn't been all that great but the kids love to play in the pool. The water is ice cold and then will play for about 2 hours....until I've had enough and call it quits.

J running away with pool toys

plumber butt...losing his trunks

they "had to" keep refilling the pool so they could splash it out again

Mommy and Julian

Mr. Cool

Taina had Julian laying out with her...

...for about 30 seconds...this is more fun!!!

Bad Joe

Manny had a soccer game today...only 2 from the other team showed up so they split up Manny's team to play the game. The game was right smack in the middle of the day and pretty much ruined Julian's nap time. (game was 12-1:30) I decided later when we got home that the boys needed a nap and I could use one too. I laid down on my bed with Manny, fully expecting he would fall asleep. I woke up about 25 minutes later to him kissing me and telling me he loves me (he does this quite often so I thought nothing of it)....He runs back to the family room, where he had turned on TV and was watching noggin (good thing that the channel is programed to come on when the TV is turned on). I walk out and see a huge pile of candy wrappers on the counter and the scissors, which he used to get them open. The chair is pushed up to the counter...the evidence of how he got all the way up into the cabinet of where we keep the stash. I asked Manny what all the candy wrappers were doing on the counter and Manny told me "Bad Joe" did it. Now Bad Joe is some imaginary friend/ghost Manny has been talking about the past 2-3 weeks. Whenever anything goes wrong he tells me Bad Joe did it....I then proceeded to count the candy wrappers....1, 2, 3, 4......15, 16, 17, 18...18 candy wrappers later...I am trying my hardest not to laugh because I really did find this amusing. I then went over to him, still watching TV and acting like nothing was wrong to find the evidence on his face. I asked him why he had chocolate all around his mouth. He told me Bad Joe did it so he would get in trouble. I talked to him about what he did and explained why it was wrong, all the while stifling my laughs because I couldn't believe he went out to the kitchen and did all this...then came in to kiss me and wake me. He didn't even try to hide the wrappers in the garbage...that's a 4 year old for you. After a time out in his room he told me that he would never eat that many candies again because they are bad for him and that from now on he would only have one. We then turned to walk out of his room and he asked me for two candies....uuhhh hello, didn't you just tell me they were bad for you. Manny did learn his lesson on his own, the hard way, the best way. He got a stomach ache from the candy....and they were all sugar free...so it really gave him an upset stomach.