Thursday, April 25, 2013

Blood Sport

Henry got his first bloody nose. I guess that's blog post worthy. He jumped on my back and I think may have hit his nose on his snack cup or directly on my back. I obviously couldn't see it. He took it pretty well, which is good since I'm sure it won't be his last.


All better.

Well we thought it was better but bled a little more in the tub.

Henry and Cole like to wrestle, which I'm sure will lead to injuries for the both of them in the future.



I finally broke it up when Henry started throwing out mule kicks. You're welcome Cole.

Over the weekend we went to Barnes & Noble to play with the train set and kill some time before bed. Henry got stuck in a chair and took a nice spill off a step stool.





Monday, April 22, 2013

Cole on Potty Training

After his nap Kristin suggested to Cole that they skip a diaper and put on underpants.

C: No, I have to wear a diaper or pee will get EVERYWHERE
K: That is why we have to learn to use the potty. Then pee will go in the potty.
C: If I don't wear a diaper, pee will go EVERYWHERE (hand gestures to demonstrate how far and wide his pee will fly).
K: laughing
C: You made a mistake Mom, I still wear diapers!

So as a concession he agreed to wear underpants OVER his diaper. This look is crushing the Bandaid look as the must-have fashion trend in our house. As you can see, it is really taking off. At least for Cole.

Tuesday's undies on a Friday. Also how I like to roll.




My personal favorite.
 
Henry also has a new style. He loves Kristin's hair clip thingy.
 


Thursday, April 18, 2013

First Fuchs Family Roadtrip

We are back from our trip to Ohio - 8 hours plus each way, in the car with the boys...we survived!

Wednesday night we traded cars with my Dad and packed up for our trip to visit the Hanlon's (my sister Amy, Uncle Paul and the cousins Lisa and Walt). We thought it best to take a car without 100,000+ miles or born in the 90's, so those 2 criterion knocked out both our cars as options. Luckily the rents are better off and my Dad traded the 2012 4Runner for the 1999 Sable. Yeah, traded a car with a touch screen for a car with a tape deck, no CD player (not that anyone uses those anymore). You're a hell of a negotiator, Dad.

It was, of course, raining when it was time to pack the car Thursday morning. Also no surprise, we packed so much that we were lucky to get it all in the car. Luckily I'm a man and worked that luggage puzzle like a pro. Although since I brought up being a man, I will admit Kristin drove the entire trip. It rained the entire trip there, every second, every state. She claims to get car sick, so she wouldn't let me drive. I wonder if she knew how much of a pain shotgun is with two kids in the car. I constantly had to hop around and tend to all their little needs. Super pain.


Anyway, we left Thursday morning around 8:15 a.m. to first spend a night in Cleveland. We figured we would check out another City since we were going through all the effort of packing up the kids and the car and making the drive. The plan was to get to Cleveland around 5, let the kids swim at the hotel and burn off some energy and afterwards we would turn in for a nice full night of sleep before exploring Cleveland the next day. Ha. How wrong we were.




Our first stop along the way was Valparaiso, IN where we took a very long and needed break hitting up Target for some supplies and Figure Eight Brewery for a Growler (and just in case I needed a roadie). Luckily the kids napped for some of the ride.  We also stopped around Toledo and let the kids stretch their legs at a Bass Pro Shop, which is a pretty awesome store.


Despite taking much longer than necessary due to long stops, my only complaint on the way there was the tolls. I thought they were incredibly expensive. $7.10 at one in Indiana and $10.50 in Ohio, plus others. They also make getting on and off the highway a huge pain. 

We finally arrived in Cleveland around 7:30 p.m. It seemed too late to let the boys swim so instead we explored the hotel and let them run around.





Hotel sleeping was terrible. Cole actually did great but Henry kept climbing out of his pack and play and crying

The weather in Cleveland sucked, so we didn't do much there. We went to the West Side Market, ate breakfast and walked around. The market is cool, but super crowded and impossible to walk through with a double wide stroller, so after a moment of frustration we navigated our way out at the nearest exit and went back to the car. Then we drove to Willard Park near the Lake, saw the World's largest rubber stamp and that was about it. We planned to do much more, but it was windy and cold, so getting everyone out of the car for a short stroll seemed like too much work. We drove around and compared their lakefront to the Milwaukee lakefront, saw the football and baseball stadiums and called it done. Total bust.





On to New Albany (Columbus area), home of the Hanlon's:

It was nice to finally see one of Amy and Paul's houses. They move a lot. The kids had a lot of fun together, mostly Cole. I think he enjoyed Lisa and Walt more than they him, but everyone got along and played nice. Well, except for Henry. Nobody liked him much. His terrorizing way of play and destroying things didn't always go over well. He put on quite a show for us adults for awhile though, with his running around, falling over and just generally acting wild. He kept everyone on their toes with his constant risk taking behaviors.




Note Kristin's shirt. This will likely be in all photos. I don't think she took this smelly sweatshirt off once, even though she packed a full suitcase of clothes.



On Saturday we made it into Columbus. Again the weather sucked, so it was cut shorter than I would have liked, but I'm sure we'll be back. We did go to the North Side Market (yep, we love markets). We got some delicious ice cream at Jenni's. Cole went with banana and Kristin and I got salty caramel. Henry was sleeping (finally!) so he got nothing.


A big trip negative was the sleeping. Both boys went to bed somewhere around 9:00 p.m. every night which is a big difference from their usual 7:00 p.m. bedtime. Henry woke up at 4:50 a.m. on Saturday morning (which was really 3:50 a.m. WI time) and about 5:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. This was made much worse by Cole waking up with night terrors during the nights. We had to have him sleep with us and he flops around a lot and kept waking Kristin and I up. Saturday night he was screaming super loud around 11:00 p.m. After about 20 minutes or so, he finally told us that he had a "snort" in his tooth, so we gave him a cup of water and all was well. I just wish he would have told us he had a snort in his tooth from the beginning. We managed to squeeze in a few good hours of uninterrupted sleep, but not nearly enough.

On Sunday morning, Lisa made us her special pancakes for breakfast, which were delicious and we were off. The drive home was uneventful, so I will spare you the details.


We did stop at Starbucks and Quiznos, hence sparing you the details
 


Yep, sweatshirt still on.


 
We made great time coming home and were so happy to get the boys back on their usual schedule. Thankfully they adjusted back no problem and we have all caught up on our sleep. We were contemplating a trip to FL this Fall but the lack of sleep really put us off on the idea of out of town trips with the boys. Plus, that is a much, much longer drive. We will see.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Father's Night

I've been dreading this night since I got the invite below - Dad's Night at Cole's school. Dreading because I knew there would be interaction with douchey Dads and probably some singing.


Things started off with a scare. Cole and I were the first ones there, and the last ones to leave, not on purpose or by choice. Cole and I were playing with the train set while others were arriving. As some others joined us I got a big whiff of poo. Kristin did not send me out with a diaper bag, so I thought I was screwed. Luckily it wasn't Cole and someone must have just dropped a bomb...sadly I think it was a Dad and not a kid.

Cole and I on our way to Dad's night (our house is a shit pile mess because we just got home from a long weekend away)

Once the night officially started, Cole jumped at the chance to introduce me and said, "This is my friend, Dad." In the beginning, he was participating and answered a couple questions correctly and was doing very well. I was very proud. Then his teacher, Mrs. Piller, went through the calendar (month and day) but when she went back through and asked what day it was today Cole shouted out "25." Wrong! Then Mrs. Piller asked him what song we should sing next and Cole did his silent no head shake. He has been doing this lately and it is super annoying, not to mention rude. You ask him something and he doesn't say anything; he just does this little no shake of the head. Also, Mrs. Piller asked who brought the snack and Cole shouted out, "I did." We did not bring the snack.

The worst part of the evening was definitely the singing (with hand gestures) and dancing. This is troubling enough for an introvert like myself, but then Cole decided he wanted to play with the chalkboard and not partake, so I was left singing and doing the Hokey Pokey all by myself. I finally just picked him up about half way through to try to somewhat end the embarrassment.

The only other negative was Cole refusing to leave and when I finally got him out the classroom door everyone was putting on jackets and hats (it was raining outside). Cole and I had no jackets or hats or rain gear. I blame Kristin for that one.

Overall, it was a fine evening though and I think Cole had fun showing me his school and playing. I'm glad we went...that's about as cheesy I will get on this blog. We also made this hat together, which is clearly a highlight of the night. Cole was scared to put the paper bag over his head to shape it, but Mrs. Piller helped us out. She's a nice lady, no wonder Cole asks her to kiss his invisible injuries all the time.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Henry the Incredible

Admittedly none of these things are really all that incredible, but I have to work with what I got. It's not my fault I ended up with a couple of talentless kids. That's clearly on Kristin.

Henry the Backwards Spoon Yogurt Eating Guy





Henry the Headstander (instead of napping like a good boy)



no hands!
 

Henry the Tunnel Creator


 
 
Once Henry saw the rug come up, he yelled "TUNNEL" and tried to stick his head under
 
Henry the Disobeyer

You can't see it, but the writing on the end of the cot clearly says, "DO NOT JUMP ON THIS"

Henry the Weight

Henry likes going for push-up rides and he adds a good amount of weight to the exercise