my birthday

 
The boys took me to the cupcake store to pick out a treat for my birthday.

 
Theo immediately decided on pink. Gus changed his mind at least 25 times, but he was also picking for Jonathan and advising me.

 
One last look in the window before heading home.

 
Anyone else want a candle on their cupcake?

art & anxiety

 
The boys made their first trips to the Philadelphia Museum of Art today. Gus was with his class and Theo was with me. Gus had a good time once he got into the museum. He had a meltdown in the parking garage because he did not want to take the elevator with Theo. About a year ago Theo pushed the alarm button in an elevator and more recently called an operator. Lately Gus has been so anxious about getting in elevators with Theo that he has tried to turn down birthday party invitations and to convince me to shop at an alternative grocery store. He was so scared in the art museum parking garage that we finally took the stairs.

Theo encountered his own fears once Gus went off with his class. For about five minutes the two of us were having so much fun wandering around the halls that I was considering reinstating my museum membership, when all of a sudden Theo realized Gus was not with us. He broke into tears and was screaming "Where's Gussy. Where's my Brother." I thought I could calm him down by leading him around on a "search for Gus's class" but it just made him more anxious and loud. The guards shushed us everywhere we went until I gave up and took him to the gift shop to read books. We read for 45 minutes then went to the cafe and had a muffin. We spent the last 10 minutes in the West Wing lobby playing with my camera.

When Gus's class let out, Theo charged Gus, wrapped his arms around him and said, "I love you soooo much." And then, "Gus I have a question for you. I love you so much." And then it was back to the parking garage for more elevator drama.

 
photo by Theo

monday playgroup

 

 

 

zoo repeat

 
Another lovely Thursday, so we headed to the zoo again, this time with Evan, Samantha and Kelly and Oscar, Julian and Amanda.

 
Oscar, Julian, Theo, a random girl who used to live in the city and remembered Gus from Taney, Gus, Evan.

 
Theo with a bear in a turtle shell!

 
Phew, not a bear, just Evan.

 
I should know this guy's name by now, but I do not.

 
Grrrrrrr . . .

 
And a visit to the zoo is just not complete without brushing some goats.

zoo

 
It finally warmed up (40 degrees!) so we headed to the zoo with Evan, Samantha and Kelly. These Pumas were very interested in us.

 
We were surprised that the zoo carousel was open.

 
And so happy that Evan took us for a ride with his super zoo pass.

 
We had the whole ride to ourselves. And pretty much the whole zoo, too.

basketball

 
Gus 1/13/09 It is Uncle Michael when he was a boy. He brought it to school to give to Miss Alissa. I have been trying to get him to draw a some pictures to mail to family, but he will not cooperate.

cast is off!

 
Gus got his cast off this morning and came right home and took his first bath in a month.

 
I wish I could he say he was dying to get clean.

 
He was just dying to play with this bath toy that Ben & Livia brought as a host gift to the cookie party. Waiting three weeks to try it out was almost more than he could take.

 
So it says a lot that he willingly shared it with Theo. Thank goodness that cast is gone!

fun at the toottoot

 
Theo no longer calls the Franklin Institute the "TootToot," but Jonathan and I do! It's crazy that last year he was happy to just sit in his stroller and now he is making paper and playing virtual soccer. Now he says, "I have an idea. We go the Franklin."

 

 

 

 

 

 

no party

 
We came home from Boston earlier than we would have liked in order to prepare for the now annual New Year's Eve party. My goal this year was to have enough done in advance so that instead of frantically working up to the moment of the first knock on the door, I might actually gussy up a bit. And two days out I was in good shape. The house was mostly decorated. Food was being prepared. Dishes and serving platters were ready.

 
I had even used a magic trick to polish silver soup spoons. And then . . .

 
Theo came down with the same bug that plagued Gus over Christmas. So, because he was miserable, and drippy, and hacking, and, most likely, highly contagious, we canceled the party. And then we were all sad.

 
So on New Year's Eve we tried to make things a little festive. We all ate twelve grapes for a prosperous new year. And there was onion dip, cause nothing says 'festive' like onion dip! Except it turns out the boys do not share my love of onion dip. But the chips were a hit.

 
We rented the Curious George Movie, which was our second attempt at showing the boys their first movie, but like with Cars, fifteen minutes in it got too scary (this time a mean doorman appeared) and Gus made us turn it off. We were all disappointed.

 
So we moved on to the our version of the Times Square Ball Drop. It was filled with lizards and snow confetti, so that cheered us up.

 

 
10 . . .9 . . .8 . . .7 . . .6 . . .

 
5 . . .4 . . .3 . . .2 . . .1!!!

 
Happy New Year!!!!

 
Tackle and repeat a dozen times.

christmas

 
Somewhere between Philly and Dedham, Gus developed a horrible cold. But that did not keep him and Theo from decorating the Christmas tree, playing with Grammy's village, and having a merry time.

 
How could they not with all those new toys? We had a really nice week at Grammy and Grandpa's.