Hockey

A couple weeks ago we all went to an OSU hockey game. Here are the kids all decked out in OSU gear.
We had two tickets from Grandpa and in line to get a couple more this kid's dad offered us his extra two tickets. They were great seats so for the first period we piled into the parents section and I got inside information on Chris. The kids had a good time watching everything but hockey. Jackson loved the band and was air drumming along and he would also follow Brutus around the arena waving hello. Eleanor was more interested in the people and struck up several conversations with strangers. She has become quite friendly and will talk to people and introduce them to he family and tell them about Mookie or dinosaurs.


After the first period we moved to the Club Level where we could grab a pretzel and give the kids some room to run around.


They have several Brutuses (Bruti?) around the ground level. Here are Jack and I checking on out up close.



And hear is our sweet dog Mookie snuggled up with Mama Elle, who was lovingly wrapped in a blanket and then pushed to the bottom of the bed. Mookie made sure she had company though.

Happy Birthday Jackson!

Can you believe this little monkey is 2? It seems like it has gone fast but I remember the many steps he has made over the last two years. He has really started to develop his own personality recently, as a ornery little bugger, and his laugh lights up the room. He is starting to make his preferences known for music, books, and shows, much to the chagrin of Miss Eleanor Kate.

I can't find the camera with pictures from his party so here are some from Thanksgiving.

Nora all dressed up and Jackie Boo Bear wearing some hair bands.


Here is a rare picture of all the Pollocks and Groves after a nice big meal.

Both kids were so sacked out from playing with cousin Lindsey they fell asleep quickly on the way home.

It's December Already

Geoff has taught Jack to root for football games. I think here he is saying "touchdown!"

And, m& ms are getting Jack on the potty before age 2! He has had some good success--for candy and here you can see how very proud he is!

New hats for everyone! Jackson has taken to stealing Daddy's hat whenever he can and wearing it while running away. We managed to capture this cute picture when he stopped for a second.

And look at our girl, growing so big. We did some Thanksgiving Day shopping at Old Navy and scored the kids some hats and gloves for $5.

Some kiddo updates in the month of November 2010 include Jack counting to TEN on his own (age: 23 months), saying at least 100+ words, jumping with both feet, and singing. Nora continues to amaze us all with sentences like "Daddy, wake up! You are not nocturnal!" and singing full length songs by heart, "reading" stories to us, and honing her Dinosaur imitations (she plays like a baby dinosaur almost everyday, can name dinos like Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and about 15 others by picture or features and can tell you whether they are herbivores, carnivores or omnivores.

Some Pictures From Last Month

Well, before Thanksgiving better post some Halloween pictures.


Costumes from left to right: Triceratops (aka "Chomp"), Tired Mom, Tired Dad, and Bumblebee (aka "BEE!").



Chomp, following Scooby Doo (aka Taryn) up some stairs.



A wondering bumblebee not aware of the vampire dog in the background.



Jack putting on chapstick.


Jack eating poisons nuts at my cousin Luke's wedding in September. Congrats Luke and April.

Dino World Part 2

Here are a few more pictures from Dinosaur World. It was really fun to see the dinosaurs in the "natural setting", like the triceratops with their babies and the brachiosaurs in the field.

This picture of Jack mugging me shows how tall some of the dinos were.

Along with the real life dinosaurs all the kids got to dig for real fossils. They got to sift through the sand for 15 minutes and fill up a cup and pick out their favorite 3 fossils. Nora found some cool ammonites and Jackson settled on some shark teeth.

Nora has gotten so interested in fossils from her dig and Dinosaur Train talking about them she has been looking for fossils in our back yard. She started looking at rocks around the yard that I've been ignoring for 7 years and found some real fossils of sea shells. We had a lot of fun trying to match them up and put them together.


As you leave Dino World of course there is a huge gift shop so we set each kid a limit and had them pick out what they wanted. This lead to a whole other dino world on the beds of our hotel room.

Dino World Part 1

Many of you know that our Nora Kate is way into dinosaurs. It started with a viewing of Land Before Time and has blossomed into about 100 dinosaurs, books (Thank you Grandma & Nana Kathy!), puzzles (Thank you Grandma!), stuffed animals (Thank you Grandma!), a Triceratops costume for Halloween, and a family trip nearly 5 hours away to visit Dinosaur World. Here are some pictures from that trip south. It was a fantastic trip! You can find out more here.

In the mouth of a ferocious T-Rex
Uncovering the massive fossil of a dinosaur
Reaching out and touching one of the 150 dinosaurs
Even the playground got you up close and personal with dinosaurs!

Delaware County Fair

Last weekend we met up with Pam, Scott, Skyler, and Lindsey to go to the Delaware County Fair. We went last year and had a great time. It's a perfect size fair with the little ones, still all the animals and rides, but without the acreage of the Ohio State Fair.


We got to eat some good fair food, including the kids first exposure to funnel cakes, powdered sugar was everywhere. We also got to see some of the harness racing. Here they are enjoying the race from the lawn (aka free) seats.


Nora and Jack had fun on the dinosaur ride. By the way our house is dinosaur central right now, it started with Ice Age and Land Before Time and has morphed into Dinosaur Train, Dinosaur King, and playing with dinosaurs and doing dinosaur puzzles. Thanks to Keri for the puzzles and helping increase our stock of dinosaurs. I think Wendy and I are halfway to our paleontologist degrees.


Skyler took Nora into the fun house.


And Lindsey rode the carousel with Jack and Nora (and Mama).


As at the Ohio State fair the kids loved all the animals. We saw a new born baby cow and baby ducks in the petting area and goats, rabbits, horses, chickens and turkeys, to name a few, in the barns. When we were wrestling the kids to the car Nora complained, "But I haven't seen enough animals!". I'm not sure if I've ever seen more animals in my life and I was getting tired of smelling their poop (the animals poop not the kids). Nora got to meet a very fuzzy rabbit.


The kids were exhausted and feel asleep on the way home. As it was nearing dinner time we tried to wake them up on the way in and sat them on the couch. Once we were done unloading this is how they looked. Guess they had a good time.

Following Nora

So, Nora has a little brother and she tells everyone, including classmates that "This is my baby brother Jack." Or sometimes she introduces him as "Jackie Boo-Bear". So much so that one especially sophisticated five year old in her class once day replied, "We all know that Nora!" Well, we find it endearing. Lately, in our house, whatever Nora does, Jack does. She runs, he runs; she growls like a dinosaur (and she does, a lot), he growls; she climbs on top of tables, he does. You get the point. And Geoff snapped this gem of them sleeping together in the middle of the night, which I try to conjure up when they are fighting over toys.

And, here is our boy wearing a headband because if his sister has one, he wants one. Yeah, we love it too. By the way, Jack can say Nora now, as well as point out everyone in the family when you say "Where is...."; he says about a million words (OK, maybe 30, but he tries everything we say). My personal favorite besides "Nora" is "bup" which means "up." He also rides a tricycle, climbs everything in sight, and sings.

Here they are eating a homemade pudding parfait after playing naked with the water hose in the backyard and getting too cold. You might notice both kids got haircuts recently. Nora's locks of three posts back were trimmed up just below her shoulders although she would like it shorter and all of Jack's beautiful curls were trimmed off and now he really looks so much older and like a little man. *sigh* The babies are growin' up.

And, here is a fun one of Nora after she got all static-y. Reminded Geoff and I of the 1980s and I so want her to dress like an 80s punk rock girl for Halloween, but while she thought it was funny Mommy and Daddy were taking her picture and laughing, I am pretty sure the kid will end up being Spiderman or Diego for Halloween instead.

And, just so the kids can know when they are older what they were doing at 3 and 21 months old, here are a few highlights:

• Grab toys out of each others hands (feeling entitled to do so), which immediately causes an emotional meltdown in the other one
• Nora is very good about being safe and holding hands in parking lots. We are learning to look both ways before crossing the street; Jack is not. He darts into streets and runs away at every opportunity and giggles while doing it
• Dinosaurs rule our house right now and both Mommy & Daddy are getting educated fast. I am pretty sure I didn't know what an Ankylosaurus or Diplodocus was two months ago and now I can spot them in a crowd of dinosaurs
• You are both very lovey and cuddly; you give kisses and hugs; say "Sorry" when you've made a bad choice; and have infectious laughs
• Jacky loves stomping in water of all kinds--puddles, poured water on the floor, dog dishes, bathtubs

We've been hittin' the zoo hard as the summer winds down. We did the Upper Arlington Arts festival today; plus our regular hangouts like parks and coffee shops. Walks together are getting easier for the most part and the days are much cooler. Except for an old plumbing issue which has resurfaced as a problem, things are good. Happy Labor Day everyone!

Mama's Birthday

Wendy gave her version of her birthday so here is the view from Dad and Nora Kate. In the week leading up to the birthday Nora was very excited to go shopping for Mama. She talked about buying Mama flowers and a water bottle (what I got for fathers day). Sunday morning we decided to pick sunflowers from the yard and Nora and Jack were very excited to bring her each one after we picked them.

Wendy stayed with Jack, while I braved the store with Eleanor. She was so excited running around and grabbing literally everything she could reach saying, "lets get this for Mama!" So although Wendy got some interesting gifts, I actually used my veto power to keep her from getting really odd presents, like Star Wars trading cards, silly bands, and a horrible turquoise necklace to name a few. The card she picked out was a birthday card and had Tinkerbell on it, but it was for a granddaughter. I showed her the cards for Mom and after a quick glance she said, "None of those are sparkly enough for Mama." Tinkerbell card it is.

I thought it would be fun to bake something for Wendy so at the World Market, Nora and I decided on a Carmel Monkey Bread mix. I'm pretty sure that having "Monkey" in the title was the winning factor for Nora.

Here she is ready to start baking, complete with apron and doggie gloves. The doggie gloves didn't last long as they were covered with butter after her first baking task. While Wendy took Jack to the coffee shop and shopping, Nora and I got started. She helped me mix the bread and caramel mixes and dish it in the pan. It actually looked pretty bad before cooking and I wasn't sure how it would turn out.

One it was in the oven we had a lot of wrapping to do, as I couldn't find any birthday wrap we used Winnie the Pooh Xmas wrap from last year. She was a pretty good helper and loved putting tape on the presents even if the tape didn't actually hold the paper together. We got everything done just as Wendy was walking in the door to see her pile of presents. It was really fun to see Nora so excited and proud as we brought in the cake/bread with candles and sang happy birthday.

As to why the birthday girl was watching Jack while Nora and I did the shopping/cooking, it's because he is an absolute crazy man right now. In the last few weeks, he has had instances of running around in stores, hiding in clothes racks, and grabbing anything he can from the shelves and tossing them on the ground, all the time with an evil little chuckle. We aren't sure if Nora ever went through a hellion stage like Jack, or if it wasn't as bad since we could double team her and now we have to play man-to-man defense on the kids. See picture below for said evil grin while munching on a bread stick.

Birthday Mom

I wanted to share some recent pictures we had taken of the kiddos. Jack was less than thrilled to have his picture taken, but since they were for Eleanor's third birthday, we didn't make him. We call this one: pout-y face with phantom mom-arm in background. Gotta love the photography studio, they give you every picture they take on a CD for posterity. Of course since Jack was in a bad mood, Nora Kate was in a fabulous mood! We got about 50 great pictures of her. This is one we didn't have printed, but just love it.

I also thought since I had all the time in the world today (a day off from work!), I would tell you about my "first" birthday as a mom. Today I am 36 years old and yesterday my family celebrated the milestone with me. Geoff can provide shopping details that are quite funny, but I received the neatest gifts from my 3 year old. They included a stretchable shark, stuffed raccoon, birthday balloon and flowers, veggie chips, truffles, lottery, lots of Starbucks gifts card money, fly-swatter, spiral notebook with puppy dog cover and a Tinkerbell card. On top of all that, my girl and her wonderful Daddy made me some Monkey Bread.

"You need help Mama?" she asked so sweetly opening every gift. "You like your present Mama?" after every gift, then quickly followed by "Can I see it Mama?" I hope you can see the genuinely big smile on my face. Recalling the evening just makes me laugh in such a good way.

I have had amazing birthdays my whole life. My mama made sure each anniversary of our birth was more than celebrated, which set me up for great expectations every August 16. Then, I married a lovely man who jumped right on board my "My birthday is special" bandwagon and has given me some unforgettable presents. So, I never expected it to get better than that, but it was truly heartwarming to see Nora's little face when I raved about each gift.

Of course, the real credit belongs to her daddy who didn't hesitate to spend the money, wrangle her at numerous stores, and spend time baking the coffee-cake-like Monkey Bread even when she got butter all over her puppy gloves. "Mama, I need my gloves for baking." OK love.

I loved my "first" birthday as a mom. It isn't my actual first birthday as a mom of course, but when your kid can pick out her own card to give you (Tinkerbell!); bake you a cake (well, Monkey Bread, yum!) and help wrap the many presents (in Winnie-the-pooh wrap) she picked out all by herself, it counts as the first. Thanks for the love my lovely family, you sure know how to make me feel very loved and very special.

Our Girl

When Eleanor was due to be born, some faithful blog readers will recall that we did not know if she would be a girl or a boy. When she did come out, the Doctor said, "It's a boy" when she simply meant a girl. The scheduled induction was Friday, July 13, 2007 and we were excited about that, with the fun math about prime numbers and Fridays being lucky birthdays and all. Then she would not come out and ended up born via C-section at 12:34 am on Saturday 7-14-07. She was also supposed to be a "big" baby, but was this tiny little peanut, all legs and arms.

[Picture from July 14, 2007]

The past three years has brought us both sweetness and sass, over-dependence and fierce independence, singing and screaming, running and swimming! I cannot tell you how much I look forward to the adult our baby will grow into while I simultaneously ache at how fast her childhood is passing by. Our baby, our girl, our Nora Kate Grove.

[Picture from February 2008]

So, for her, here I allow myself a bit of a mama moment and reminisce and laugh at the things she does that make me laugh (she says "I am frusterated," I love that), the things that make my heart swell (she flings her arm around my neck when we snuggle in for a nap), and the things that have me asking my own mama 'Was I like that?' (I say: The sky is blue, Nora says: No it isn't. I say: Look up, see how blue? Nora says: No Mama, that is not blue).

[Picture from 2009]

I also feel the impulse to write down all the things I might not say well when it matters, when defining life moments may happen and I am not there or I fail miserably to say or do the thing you want me to say or do to instill your trust in me. But, it comes down to this: I love you my wonderful child and I always will. There is not a single thing you could do to un-secure that love; it was always there. I know I will not do everything right or even well in being your mama, but you will know that I am here and I love you. I will try to keep you safe and healthy in mind and body; but I will annoy and embarrass you, of that I am certain. That being said, you become whomever you want to become and do whatever work it is that excites you and we, your family, will be here when life gets tough or sad and when you need us.

[Picture from July 2010]

So, I hope you have enjoyed your birthday parties, your presents and the many treats as you turned three years old. I know I have enjoyed thinking back at all your growing and becoming and thinking ahead to all we have yet to do. You are no longer a baby, but you will always, now and forever, be our baby.