When it was all over, they played in the pool and Jesson's new sprinkler until supper was ready. He and Payten were having fun chasing each other too.

The boys have really enjoyed their pool time since the heat arrived. Jesson gets a kick out of Conor's gasp when he splashes him and Conor starts kicking his feet like crazy when he gets splashed. There's no need to pour water on either of them to get them cooled off, that's for sure. 

Our baby was using a fork for his spaghetti the other night (sniff, sniff). As long as I'd fill the fork with food and leave it in his bowl, he'd pick it up and shovel the food in. He did very well. 

He's quite proud of his ability to stand in the pool and even the bathtub! This stance looks like he's trying to flex his pecks or something! What a character! 

Jesson is just getting too big! He's growing taller and hardly fits any of his pants and he's developing socially as well. He spent a morning at the highschool with our Grade 8 neighbor Brandon for a take-a-kid-to-school day. Brandon was in charge of Jesson for the morning and fed him snacks, etc. Jesson had so much fun he didn't want to come home. He's decided that he'll just go straight to that school and skip the K-6 thing all together. He really enjoys his little friends now too. We had a craft day recently with his friend Erika and her sister Lauren and the kids had a blast. They play well for the most part but they are both the oldest at home and they are really close in age so a few scraps are inevitable. It's great to see him developing into a little man but it feels like time is flying so fast that he'll be grown in the blink of an eye. Jesson turns 3 next weekend as he's looking forward to his birthday and also going to see the movie Cars in the theatre where he'll have his own popcorn! He's so excited he can hardly contain himself. I'm sure we'll take lots of shots of that to share as well.

Conor is doing very well. Despite my worries that he was becoming a Mommy suck, he spent a couple of days at day care while I painted without any major crying fits. He actually enjoys time there, playing with the other babies and out of reach of his rough and tumble big brother. He's growing fast and catching on to his brothers antics quickly. Yelling matches seem to be the flavor of the week. He eats like a horse making it tough to find enough baby friendly foods to keep a variety on hand, but he's not really picky. He can crawl as fast as I walk and routinely lets go of the furniture and stands there but hasn't taken steps alone yet. I'm sure it won't be long. He'll be walking by his birthday I think.  

"Baby Blue Eyes", as Grandma Nicholetts has dubbed him, is growing so fast. He has 6 teeth now, once again popping new ones during a trip to the lake. Unfortunately he also developed the stomach flu during our trip but he's on the mend now after passing it along to his brother and then his Dad.

Our little Conor. He's still cruising the furniture, keeps himself busy exploring, and has begun to "bug" his big brother by wanting to play with whatever he's playing with. This is only the beginning of many years of "Mom, he's bugging me!" being yelled from wherever they play. 

On one very windy morning at the lake last weekend, Jesson flew a kite for the first time. He was a little upset at first because he thought his kite was floating away like a helium balloon, but once I explained and let him fly it, he liked the idea. Even when it hit the ground, he held on and flew it himself once I threw it back up.  

Jesson's First Fishing Adventure! Last weekend Daddy and Jesson picked out Jesson's first fishing rod in preparation for May long weekend. At Grandma & Grandpa's cabin he tried it out for the first time and had a blast. During one outing Jesson caught a fish (with help, of course) and Daddy got skunked. Jesson felt pretty proud of himself. He's got a little practicing to do when it comes to casting and reeling but he enjoys trolling. He's shaping up to be an excellent fishing buddy for Daddy for years to come. 

He's a BIG BOY now!! Jesson has graduated to big boy gotch almost full time now, only wearing pull-ups for naps and at night. He's doing really well with the potty, we're so proud of him. He has started to realize that Conor likes to play with him. Although he's still quite rough and we have to remind him every 10 minutes not to jump on his brother, they are getting along quite well lately. Jesson LOVES to be outside! We can hardly wait to get the house ready for sale and start the camping season in the trailer. Jesson's going to have a blast this year. We hope to fish a bit too. It should be an interesting summer.

There's No Stoppin' Him Now!! In the last day or so Conor has begun to pull up at the couch and at the coffee table and is now taking steps to "cruise" along both. He feels awfully confident too because he'll let go of the table and stand with his arms in the air, Evil Knievel's going to get a lump on his noggin soon. Nevertheless he's thrilled with his new talents, so much so that he doesn't want to be in his highchair for very long and would rather not nap either. There are places to go and things to do, Mom! Oh, and he also says "Mama" as well. I guess it's my turn, Jesson said "Dada" for months.

Conor's becoming his own little person so quickly. He takes in his brother's antics like a sponge so I'm sure we'll see them re-enacted some day soon. He's almost got crawling mastered although it looks more like a military belly crawl of some sort most of the time. He's a happy baby and loves to laugh and giggle at almost anything. He's starting to retaliate against Jesson whenever he gets the chance. He reaches out and pulls Jesson's hair whenever he gets close enough and has scratched him a couple of times now, but Jesson doesn't deserve that at all ;-)!! He's a joy to have around and we love to watch him develop into his own little person. 

Jesson, well...he's growing fast! We couldn't keep up with his mind before and now we can't keep him in pants that are long enough. He still runs everywhere he goes and keeps us in stitches with the things he comes out with. He loves to pretend and create and he's in there like a dirty shirt whenever there's a job to be done. He's beginning to discover that his little brother is good for more than just a punching bag. He regularly entertains Conor when he's fussy by dancing to get a laugh or singing a lullaby to make him stop crying. We're still working on the "gentle" interaction though. Now that it's finally Spring, Jesson wants to be outside as much as possible in the dirt where a boy belongs. He's so much fun to watch. We can hardly wait to start this year's camping season with him, it's going to be a blast! 

Easter at our house was lots of fun this year. The "Easter Bunny" left a trail of eggs for Jesson to follow to his new basket of treats. Most of the trail was still intact by morning except for the pieces Vera played with overnight. Jesson and Conor enjoyed the morning playing with their new toys and Jesson flew through most of the day on a permanent sugar high. It was lots of fun. 

Easter weekend was spent at the farm. We had a blast visiting with everyone, playing bocce ball, riding everything with a motor, and of course eating until we couldn't move! Thanks to Uncle Pat & Auntie DeAnn for driving all the way to visit again. Thanks to Gramma McNally for the excellent meals too. 

Our Family lost Dude to Diabetes back in January. He was a great cat and we miss him. 

Goodbye Grandpa, We Miss You.

The Clock of Life

The clock of life is wound but once,

And no man has the power

To tell just when the hands will stop,

At late or early hour.

Now is the only time we own

So live, love, toil with a will,

Place no faith in tomorrow

For the hands may then be still.

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Conor...Well, where do I start! In the past few weeks he has learned to shake his Excersaucer to pieces by jumping, he's started rolling from his back to his tummy regularly, he takes shaky little steps when you stand him up and hold his hands, he loves to scoot with his heels (gliding on his head) across the kitchen and back, he prefers solids to his bottle now, he's happy all the time and ready for anything. He's a very easy going baby which is nice, at least one out of two turned out that way. Physically he's a close to where Jesson was at this age, over 20 pounds now and 27+" tall. Conor has his brother to learn motor skills from so due to Jesson's all-day example setting he's moving around a little better than Jesson was at this age, he wants so badly to run around full-tilt with Jesson but he just can't yet. His version of a smile is his mouth gaping open and Scott has decided he looks like Binoo from Treehouse TV's Toopy & Binoo cartoon, I have to agree. He's a joy to have around and has a way of warming the hearts of all who meet him.

Mr. Bossy Pants! He still insists that he's the boss, although his Dad and I struggle to teach him otherwise. He's infinitely BUSY to the point of wearing us out daily, he's too smart for his own good (and ours), and he's growing too tall for most of his pants. He's a loving little creature when he wants to be, giving hugs and kisses to make people smile. He's a bossy social butterfly not afraid to boss around complete strangers, but this gets him in trouble of course, we're working on his manners in public. He's getting better with his brother and hasn't bit him lately which is a plus. He's a great kid most of the time and we're enjoying watching his little mind sponge then regurgitate things we never should have exposed him to. It's comical to hear the things he comes up with all on his own, like telling me I should calm down and take a deep breath after giving him heck for something he'd done, or punting the cat in the behind just to hear her quack (so tough not to crack a smile, but we try). He's turning into a little man instead of my oldest baby, it's scary how fast kids grow up!