19 & 4

months that is. Johnnie turned 19 months old this past Saturday & is definitely on his way to 2. He has opinions about everything. Loves to tell you "Yeah" & "No" when asked questions about what he wants to do. Sometimes he wants to act like such a big boy learning to feed himself with a spoon & not just a fork,but then when he decides it's over, it's over. I try very hard to make sure that I get pics of Joey alone but that's not always so easy especially when his big brother pops up in front of the camera & says "CHEESE". But even though it makes things a little harder I did capture an adorable 19 month photo of Johnnie. Dimple & all.Our little baby is no longer so little. 14 pounds 6 ounces & 25 inches long to be exact. He has settled in to day to day life at daycare very easily. He loves the singing & story time. He is fascinated by his brother & puts up with just about everything Johnnie does to him. From Johnnie wanting to invade all his alone time with his daddy or mama by trying to sit on him to trying to feed him his sippy cup of water. He doesn't cry but just smiles & oohs at him. He is such a good baby & really only cries when hungry or overtired. He definitely prefers sitting & tummy time over laying on his back & always has a smile waiting. His eyes are still blue & his lips still pink & his personality seems to be shaping up quite nicely. His daddy thinks he's going to have a great sense of humor. I hope so but I'm not exactly sure why he thinks this. Maybe because he toots on everyone who holds him. He's fitting in quite nicely with the rest of the Bolander boys. Happy 4 months jojo.

Look who went & got older

Happy Birthday Isobel! We can't believe you are already 9. I feel like just yesterday you were that little baby in diapers I met in Bermuda who loved having Good Night Moon read over & over. Now you are this sweet little girl who brings a smile to our face with your jokes & your kind nature. You brought such joy & love to your cousin Johnnie & we can't wait for you to meet your new cousin.

We hope this year brings you lots of smiles!

When running goes bad...

this happens. While I was busy photographing the SPHS cheerleaders this weekend, Johnnie had a good time running around with the girls. A little too much fun. He tripped, slid across the pavement & ended up with his 1st black eye. I'm sure it won't be his last but it did earn him a little sympathy. Pizza for dinner. An extra long bath. And lots of kisses & hugs.

During all the drama Joey went & turned 16 weeks old. Cute as ever. Able to hold your chest up for longer periods of time, able to hold your bottle (with a little help) & starting to follow Johnnie all around the room with your eyes. Don't worry little man. I'm sure it won't be long before you're crawling after him.

10 on Tuesday

1. I feel like I haven't posted photos of the babes in awhile so this will be a photo rich post.

2. Sara brought her boys over for a play date recently & at one point I turned around after placing Joey in his swing & noticed that Johnnie was sucking on a pacifier while Adam & Jake were sucking their thumbs. Funny how the only "baby" in the house does neither but as you can see it doesn't keep any of them from playing with the toys.3. While at Jake's birthday party we had our photo taken as a family of 4. Speaks well to our new situation. Happy parents, a sleeping baby & a toddler who couldn't be bothered to look at the camera while playing.4. While feeding Johnnie pancakes (his favorite breakfast item these days) he kept posing with his hands on his face. Don't know if he learned it from a friend or thought of doing it himself but either way I had to get a picture of it.5. One of my best friends is staying with me while she works on her Harvard PhD research. This gave us girls the opportunity to get together for a nice night out. Amazing food at Petros, & more importantly a nice night catching up with old friends. 6. While playing in the backyard this weekend I decided it was warm enough to fill the water table. So I'm letting Johnnie pull the hose over to the table while I went to turn the water on. Well the hose stopped moving so I turned around to see what he was doing. I guess Johnnie not only notices & mimics how we behave but also the cats inside & outside our home.7. My sister was here over the weekend (of course she was) & was trying to teach Johnnie how to hold Joey so I had to run & get my camera to capture their sweetness on camera. Warms my heart to see the love they already share. Still can't get over how different their complexions are.8. Johnnie giving a whole new meaning to "walking a day in my shoes". In this case, he was wearing his daddy's & trying to run all over the house. 9. Joey finished his 1st week of daycare with what else... a cold. Nothing too serious. Stuffed nose, lots of coughing, more spitting up & just a little more fussiness.

10. 15 Weeks Old. You were being pretty fussy so I set you down in the clean laundry & all was calm.

Time Flies

I went back to work today. 14 weeks went fast. Overwhelming to say the least. I was so worried about how Joey would do that I didn't sleep well & felt kind of sick all night. But then we arrived at the daycare center, received hugs from the caregivers, cried some tears & headed off. Each time that I called he was fine but I kept calling. The end of the day couldn't come quick enough but when it finally did I picked up my boys & heard that I was way more traumatized than Joey was. Only crying for food. And I'm sure he entertained everyone with one of his many faces. This is one of my favorites...makes me giggle all the time.And over in Johnnie's world... he continues to grow & learn more everyday. We have removed one of our baby gates because he can now open the doors in the house. We thought it was hard to slow him down before. Now I will run upstairs to grab something, turn around & trip over him because he has followed me up. Guess it's time to get a gate for the bottom of the stairs. It's still hard to believe that a year ago he was such a baby & now he's a toddler. If any of you know how to slow time down I would love to learn how.

Flashback Friday

4.7.06

We have been friends for more than 20 years (OMG! We're getting old). Since graduating from high school we ALL haven't lived in the same place but we do keep in touch. And we are very lucky that every time we get together it's like no time has passed at all. Once just a group of girls who loved sitting around talking we are now adults who still love sitting around talking but just about different things like husbands, children, grad school & our lives. We still make each other laugh & confide in each other. I feel very lucky to have such special friends in my life & wanted to take this opportunity to thank each of them for their friendship.

And I want to wish Kimi (2nd from left) a Happy Birthday! And today is also Jake's 1st Birthday! Hope today is a great start to a great year for you both.

Brothers... Really?

People are always commenting how different my boys look so I decided to compare photos of them during the same time frame. Same cleft chin, long fingers, full lips, long eyelashes, & sparkly eyes. Different noses, eye shape & wow! different complexions. Basically I think Johnnie looks like me here (now he looks more like a combination of both Rick & me) & Joey looks like Rick as a baby in this photo. It will be interesting to see how they both evolve over time. Either way they both melt my heart!