All boy

Holden is big. Joe and I are okay with that (not like we have any choice in the matter).

For those of you who don't get to see him on a regular basis, he's is very proportionate...but he is proportionately massive. He is 95th percentile across the board for height, weight and head circumference. (And, to let you know, they stop measuring at 95th percentile.) Yesterday, I had three strangers tell me Holden was going to be a football player. (I'm not even kidding. It happened once at his swim class, once at the library and once at Ikea.) He's just flat out big. 

So, being the big beefcake bruiser that he is, it should come as no surprise that he is going to get hurt. What does come as a surprise is how well he handles it.

Exhibit A: Giant gash on cheek.

We aren't even sure how he got this one. We left him alone for about 5 minutes and when we walked back into the room he was playing with his toys with a massive and deep gash on his face (that may, unfortunately, have scarred because the remnants are still there). He never even made a peep when it happened. All smiles, this kid.

Exhibit B: Holden's first black eye.

This one was scary. Holden was standing on the couch (which, I know, sounds like a horrible idea but can be completely unpreventable with an almost 2 year old) and he fell forward and landed on the corner of coffee table. His eye did, anyway. He cried for no more than 10 seconds, and went right back to clambering all over everything while his eye almost swelled shut and turned an impressive shade of purple.

So, I guess this is all part of having a beefcake bruiser of a baby boy. Outside of a few minor incidents with his sister, Holden has yet to use his size in an aggressive manner. We're hoping it stays that way...until it's football time, anyway.

Field Trip to Maritime Aquarium

Scarlett's class took a field trip to The Maritime Aquarium recently. I signed up to be a chaperone. It was pretty adorable. Scarlett was very excited when her friend, Mia, was assigned to be her "field trip buddy." Can you tell? 

The kids all got their museum "licenses" which they wore around their necks and got stamped at all the learning stations the museum had set up.

And, of course, we saw fish.

And turtles.

And completely took over this fishing boat for about 15 minutes.

A fishing boat totally manned by 3 to 5 year olds? Very successful indeed.

See? Told ya. After about 5 minutes on the boat, Scarlett even managed to start to look like a fisherman.

Then we walked to the Penguins.

Which may have been everyone's favorite.

Just may have been.  

Yay Maritime Aquarium!

Scarlett's music videos

Scarlett often asks me to put on music videos so she can dance. The funny thing is, she actually watches the video and tries to dance like the dancers in the video do. Sometimes she gets it pretty good. Sometimes not so much. But her dancing has gone from that crazy "throw yourself around" kinda dancing to a slightly more graceful "throw yourself around" kinda dancing. And she likes to dance in front of the fireplace so she can see her reflection. Oh Scarlett - you're so vain. You probably think this blog is about you. Don't you? (Don't you?)



And for all those who are concerned with the apparent choice in music, Scarlett likes The Beatles and Bob Marley too.

Loving "the chudder"

Joe is one happy man right about now

Turns out, Holden loves him some basketball.

Parent Observation at ballet - part 2

Last weekend was the second parent observation at Scarlett's ballet school. Because Joe has started bringing Holden to swim lessons while Scarlett is at ballet, Nan came with us to observation. She even brought Scarlett flowers...because that's what ballerinas get after they've danced. Here are some pictures:

This last video is the beginning of their recital performance. How stinkin' cute.

Madonna

Scarlett tried to take the bow out of her hair all by herself. She wound up looking like this:

Then, incredibly proud of herself for looking crazy, she didn't want me to take the bow out of her hair. This is what she said. "I look like Madonna, don't I? This is how Madonna looks and I want to look like Madonna forever. And after I look like Madonna I want to be a pony. And then a headband."

Dad's wallet

Holden really likes Joe's wallet. He grabs it and runs to this particular corner in the dining room and, well, basically shushes us if we ask him to give it back. And just for good measure, he'll throw a "NO!" and "MINE!" in there too.