A Swinging Good Time

Wow! It's been busy since we moved to Naples. We have been doing all kinds of activities and last weekend, we had a great time enjoying things as a family. Brooks is in her 3rd week of ballet. She goes on Saturday mornings. And Harrison has a karate class at the same time. So our new Saturday routine is Brooks and mommy at ballet and Harrison and daddy at karate. After that, we like to include a family activity. Last Saturday, it was cleaning the house since we had a little get together with friends Saturday night. Brooks and Harrison are making friends all over the place and Robert and I are lucky enough to enjoy hanging out with their friends' parents! On Sunday we cruised up to Ft. Meyers to check out an art show and later that evening we all went to a fun Superbowl party which included a bounce house for kids...how perfect!

We are settling into our new home and a lot of the pictures below are from our "just installed" tree swing. Robert did the planning and logistics and I did the climbing to get it in place. The kids love it and like most things that they do these days, they like to swing together. I know I've slacked off a little in my blog responsibilities so I'm going to add a little update on my munchkins to this post.

I'll start with Brooks. She is such a funny creature and filled with all kinds of attitude. Lately, I have been getting many comments from teachers and other adults about her quirky remarks in response to their questions. Usually, when I am out in public with her and she is screaming at me to do something for her, I will hear, "I guess we know who the boss is". Noted. My reasoning and discipline stand no ground with this girl. She is definitely "the boss". Another interesting fact about Brooks is that she already has a very positive perspective on her body image. I certainly want her to feel confident about the way she looks but I'm afraid she may have taken it to the extreme...at age 2. She loves to walk around the house (preferably naked), stick out her rear and say "Look at my body". What??? And as soon as you give her any kind of reaction she will squeal with delight and run off only to come right back and do it again. I'm really trying NOT to react to that. I also have had to give into some of her outrageous wardrobe decisions which is driving crazy. She seems to think that wearing almost everything in your wardrobe at once is back in style. But she has been doing some really cute things too that have started to make me sad that she won't be a baby for much longer. She loves to walk up to me with a blankie and say, "I want Mommy hold me". How can I deny that?? She also follows up everything that Harrison says by stating, "me too". And at night, she loves her story, a good back scratch, the alphabet song, and my favorite...a good snuggle. I love my sweet, sassy girl!

Now for the H man. He is still active and energetic as ever but he is also getting sweeter by the day. Even though he has a strong personality and definitely marches to the beat of his own drum, he is also a pleaser. Every day he has a nice compliment to say and his manners are really impressive...for the most past. I am blown away by his ability to learn almost anything that he puts his mind to and pretty soon I will probably be taking lessons from him on how to work a computer or an iphone. He already knows way more than I do with technology but then again, so do monkeys. He is also completely willing to go up to any stranger and convert them into a friend or acquaintance in a matter of minutes. And if anyone shys away from him at first it is not a blow to his ego. He only sees it as a challenge. And let me tell you something, go ahead and become friends with the man because he is relentless in his quest to succeed. I love my little animals. They make me crazier everyday but they also do some of the funniest things that I have ever seen and I'm am so impressed with their awesome relationship. Harrison loves to protect Brooks and to make sure she is happy and they both work very hard to entertain each other. They are quite a pair!