Spring has...sprung? (with Easter on the side)

We were doing so well for a little while there. Tshirts! Crocs! And then what the heck is up with this week. It's cold and windy and I don't like it. We went to the playground last night and I swear, we were one degree away from gloves.

Our April has been plodding along and today I realized it's been two weeks since I last posted. My usual excuse: no material. It's basically been the same every day: go to work, come home, go to the playground, come home. Wash, rinse, repeat. But I have enough random stuff saved up that I think I can gin up a post. Here's what we've been doing.

We'll start with a little holiday called Easter. GG was visiting so while Alex napped, Jason and I took Ashton to the annual egg hunt in Belmont. I use the word "hunt" loosely.

That was the 3 and under section. Ashton was in a tough spot because he was bigger than most kids that "hunted" here, but a little small for the main field (which, when the horn blew, was basically a stampede - parents included!). We tried him there anyway, all the eggs were gone in a nanosecond and I think he got one. After that we brought him back over to the playground, he scooped up some more, chewed some tootsie rolls, and things were good.

The next morning the Easter Bunny came and brought baskets with goodies and a bigwheel!

(Ashton would later ride it and say "I don't like the Easter Bunny. This bike is no good." (Steering issues.))

Anyway, the boys dug through their baskets (I got them matching one piece shortie pajamas, I cannot WAIT for those), Ashton went on an indoor egg hunt, and we got a family pic. Overall Easter success except we did not make it to church and Ashton wore his Christmas pajamas the whole time. What? They still fit!

So that was Easter and the main thing I've been behind on posting about.

BUT, while I'm here, what else. We have been loving the playground and by we I mean Alex. He walks around just clapping, smiling and squealing with happiness. It's so stinking cute. 

Also, at 13 months old he literally dives down the slide, head first, by himself.

I help him off at the bottom and he climbs right back up to do it again. I'm really at the point where both boys need new middle names: Alex "No Fear" Nill and Ashton "I taught him everything he knows" Nill.

We also went to Drumlin Farm recently, that's always a hit for approximately 45 minutes. There are lots of baby animals and this last time, there was a little lamb that was less than an hour old! But again with Alex, he's just at such a great age where he is beginning to take in the world with some semblance of understanding and it's awesome to watch. He's so cute! I know I said that already but he is :)

House stuff: the monster palace across the street is, dare I say, looking good. They chose a slate blue color and the windows have a nice trim.

The thing is two huge houses connected, one in front, one in back, but I don't mind our view because it's straight on. If the market around here stays what it is, these "condos" will sell in a hot second. The ones down the street, not nearly as nice, sold for $739k in ONE DAY. I'm waiting for the contractor to give me a quote on paving our driveway at the same time they are pouring the asphalt for these. But before the new driveway comes a new fence, and we are also waiting on quotes for that. These are the only real big projects remaining that we will do. I think.

Lastly, the quick run down of leftover, in-the-past-two-weeks news:
* I stopped nursing Alex completely.
* Jason got a new car.
* I finally figured out how to rotate pictures on my iPhone (this is not small potatoes - it's in the crop function, who knew?).
* We met our new neighbors - they are awesome! And have kids the same age!
* Our grill cover came off and we had the first burgers of the season.
* I did a massive basement organization that included finally putting our Christmas decorations in the proper spot. Hey, it's only April right?
* This week was school vacation week - it's looking like we'll survive. It hasn't been nearly as deadly as February break was, largely because of the aforementioned playground time. Speaking of which, another hour and that's where I'll be. Wash, rinse, repeat.

A letter to my little brother. From Ashton.

Dear Alex ("All-yex"),

It's National Sibling Day and I just thought I should say something official about it. As everyone knows, I was here first so when you came along last year I had my doubts. There was some significant, immediate fallout following March 16, 2014 (your "birthday"). Parental response time to my every whim drastically increased and you, this tiny "baby" that all of a sudden just took up space in Mommy's arms, were to blame. But I think I coped pretty well and made the best of my bad situation from early on.



Now you are 1 and as you have gotten older and can at least attempt to keep up with me, things are turning out to be pretty fun. You are a good sport when I rip toys from your innocent little grasp and you sometimes share your snacks. When you don't I just steal them and you are okay with that because you know what's best for you. Good little brother. Also, I don't always mean to push you over but for the times that it was intentional, I'm sorry. But honestly, when I'm pushing my dump truck you should know by now to get out of the way.

So things are good. I'm happy you are around and would say we are friends. I did help you learn to walk by dragging you across the floor. You're welcome! And when I am sleeping, you tell Mommy to bring you in so you can poke me in the eye to wake me up so we can play. I'm so glad we have each other.

Because today is National Sibling Day, I've been reflecting on our time together and luckily for us, our mom does not know when to stop taking pictures so every move we have ever made is documented. I compiled a little brotherly timeline for us out of her ridiculous number of photos, starting from when we first met:

and then on to April...

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

 April

and here we are today, at National Sibling Day. I love you very much. I will make sure and wake you up tomorrow morning by bringing more cars than I can carry into your room so I drop them all about a foot from your head and wake you up. Can't wait to play!

Love,
Ashton, age "free"

p.s. You know I hate it when you knock down my towers, so stop doing that.

You might be Ashton if...

There is no doubt about it: Ashton is only a few feet tall, but he fills the house with his personality. Some of the recent happenings are so ridiculous I have to get them in writing. But before continuing, please watch this video. It's like, a prerequisite for this post.


(link for email readers)

In this video, you'll see that Jason did a totally terrible job of fake-eating Ashton's beloved Hexbug Nano. You'll also see the visual definition of one of Ashton's freakouts; it's important you know what I'm dealing with here and that you know he will carry on for several minutes whilst plastered to the floor. And it happens anywhere, like the other day outside the playground.

I can't remember what set him off on that one. I was too busy trying not to laugh while I was taking his picture.

The point is that we all get upset sometimes and for a wide range of reasons. But you might be Ashton if the following things have made you cry or make you want to.

1) Your back seat, passenger-side window does not have its own wiper.
2) You did not receive proper medical treatment for your ankle (and by ankle you meant your wrist, but did not tell me that). Due to complete lack of any visible wound, you received just one BandAid. You needed two.
3) You are "out of power". This means you are having a hard time moving due to being tired.
4) The sticker is too sticky.
5) The sticker is not sticky enough.
6) You didn't get to see what was in Alex's diaper.
7) There's jam on your toast.
8) Someone is sitting where you want to sit.
9) A package came in the mail that is not addressed to you.
10) The fact that Wednesday does not come after Friday.
11) You really, really, really don't want a mermaid to come into your room.

12) Dinner is ready.
13) You have closely examined your bowl of multi-grain cheerios and there are no "red ones" in it. Now, this one really got me. I poured him some, put the box on the counter, and went about my business. He kept whining and complaining and needling me that there were no "red ones" in his bowl and he really wanted the "red ones". Extremely exasperated, I finally said "What are you talking about?" and he pointed to the box.

Of course, he was already crying by the time I was halfway through the explanation that he knew those weren't cheerios, they were raspberries, they didn't actually come in the box with the cheerios and haven't you ever heard of a "serving suggestion" and Mommy doesn't HAVE any raspberries and even if I did I would not give you any because you are eating in the living room and I don't want you to stain the couch!

Man.

In case you still have doubts, you might also be Ashton if...

You rush to the potty to pee, but you can't get your pants down in time because your pockets are stuffed with matchbox cars, so you have an accident.

You think bras are to keep boobs from falling off.

Cows give you nightmares.

You are public about your bodily functions and also very descriptive. "I just pooped one long one and two short ones!" "That one was spiky!" etc etc. Also, baths are especially fun because of "water toots".

Put your hands over your eyes. Bam! You're hiding.

You say weird things out of nowhere like "Hey Mommy! Guess what time it is. It's silly o'clock!" and "Hey Mommy! Stop beating the chickens." [and then maniacally laugh]

All your sentences start with "Hey Mommy!"

You examine your body for instant, measurable growth after eating one bite of one vegetable.

You believe flowers have honey in them and that mommies can't do everything. Only daddies can. (womp womp)

Old McDonald's is where you get your happy meals.

Your favorite day is Monday, because that's when Daddy is home and he builds you race tracks like this :)

No need to go on, I should think. Chances are you've concluded that no, you are not Ashton: emotional mindfield, lover AND hater of Alex, chatterbox, Mr. Everything-just-so, provider of nearly all my blog material. Can't wait to see what he does next...actually, I definitely can ;)