Jump!

I love this photo. It captures me MID-AIR jumping up and down after we opened our wii, our Christmas present from Rob's family. But note Max, who has no idea what a wii is, but is SO EXCITED!


Daddy and Max napping :)


Harry on stage at the Knurek house.


Yeah, people, I'm really feeling this music.

Our cute grammy and great-grandma

And....drumroll, please.....We'd like to introduce our new UNCLE! (with Aunt Sue, his fiance!)
The boys have already signed off on Chris as great uncle material.

The Cookie Monster in action.

At 3, he is already saying "Can you believe how dorky my parents are to make me pose with them? As if!"

December -- Cookie Monsters, Daddy's Museum and Sleepovers

My helpers for the Christmas cookie weekend :)

Max loves to help in the kitchen. (note his apron!) Daily, he orders someone to get his "chair" while he chants "cook! cook! cook!" With the "chair," he can climb up to the counter and boss people around. He is a cookie monster, so he is always hoping someone will oblige and bake some chocolate chip cookies for him when he does this.

How pretty are these?

So Daddy got a new job at the Museum of Science and Industry! Or as the boys call it, "Daddy's Train Museum." We had a fun day there Christmas week with Auntie, Georgia, Baby June, Sam, Alice, Beth & Lach.

Checking out the baby chicks.

The 3-year-old crew is mesmerized by a silver ball. I love this picture bc Beth is floating in the background studying the map. If you have never gone to a museum with Beth, I highly recommend it. She figures everything out and leads you around in a way that makes sense. She figured out that we could hit princess doll house and firefighter exhibit at the same time to please everybody in our group :)

Why Daddy's museum is called "Daddy's train museum" -- the amazing model train exhibit that takes you from Chicago to Seattle. Can you see the pure joy on his face?

Christmas Morning! Woody and Buzz Lightyear arrived! Very big hit, Santa!

I love you, Buzz.

Note Rob in the background, already assembling.


"Mommy, Can you go to your dinner now and go the party with your friends?" -- Harry, wanting Mommy to clear out so he could have his first sleepover at Auntie Steph and Uncle Joe's house.

The Swim Meet

We were lucky enough to get to see Sydney and Cameron compete in a swim tournament last weekend. The boys were completely silent and amazed for the first 10 minutes we were there, as evidenced by the photo below, of Max taking in all the action without a sound.

"Wait! I can't see! Let me press my face against the glass!"

"That is MY cousin racing there!"

"Seriously, she was robbed!" -- Max

Sydney is just wiping the water from her eyes here. (Although seeing them swim and work so hard brought tears to my eyes!)
When Syd got back from her race, Harry looked at her like she was a superstar. He was very impressed.

The boys cheers:

Max: "GOOOOOOOOOO!"

Harry: "Go, Everyone, Go!"

Indiana Thanksgiving

We headed to "Aunt Kafee's" (as Harry would say) for Thanksgiving. Here's Max eating an apple as big as his head.


Documentation that Max actually does sleep. He has been diagnosed by Aunt Kathy, the pediatric nurse practioner, with "FOMO" aka "Fear Of Missing Out." As soon as he hears Brother, or Daddy, or the cat, or someone breathe, he is AWAKE! even if it's 4 am. He must know what you are doing! I fear what this means for his college years. As a toddler, he only passes out when absolutely exhausted. Here he is pictured sleeping on a couch with a college football game on the big screen in front of him.


THE SMILE.
Harry somehow thinks that to smile you must close your eyes completely, so every photo we have, if you haven't already noticed, has him closing his eyes.


Harry, Daddy and Great Grandma Margaret. (Harry always calls her "Great Grandma Margaret" and ONLY that." :)

Syd and Max, looking like a teenager from the 50s!

Harry and Max hanging out with their cousins. Cam is more elusive in photographs, but Harry was his constant shadow throughout the visit.

Fall catch up

I love how different two little people can be! Harry does not like projects; Max loves them. When we had Harry, I daydreamed for a little helper in the kitchen! But Harry does not like things that have scents or for anything liquidy except for water to touch his hand. Then comes Max, who loves to bake and cook. He loves to smell and taste things.

Helping Mom make cookies. He must taste every ingredient.


Flour is not as tasty as sugar, he decides.



The boys checking out ducks at the new nature boardwalk at Lincoln Park Zoo. Love it!

You are probably past the point of caring about apple picking, but oh well...


Apples!


For all you Chicago area readers, you may want to bring Nicki along next time you go apple-picking because she climbs impressively high. You may be able to make her out through the leaves. The orchard we visited was pretty picked over, so we had to send her up to get the apples we wanted.

The boys convinced Frank to ride the apple train with them.

A wagon! Harry dreams of the day when we can have a wagon!

"There are three more apple doughnuts in here. I am quite positive I can eat them. Why won't you make this happen for me?" -- Max, 16 months.

Notice the sugar all over his face. He has already eaten one himself and begged more from everyone else.

Ladies...Watch out for these boys!

1-2-3.....1-2-3.....Yes, the brothers practicing their dance moves. They started doing this on their own after watching an "Arthur" episode about dancing. But I love how they go from sweet boys dancing to "Let's-hit-the-wall! ahhhhh!" Boys, boys, boys....

The spacemen

Buzz Lightyear who refuses to wear the purple hood Mom made for his costume.


Astronaut Harry activates his jet pack


In case you needed a closer look at the jet pack. It is a recycled soda bottle :)




Yes, I am in fact, Buzz Lightyear.

Harry and James waiting for the fun to begin.

The paparazzi captures the boys' first trick or treat stop of the year.

DJ Lance and Brobee, professional trick-or-treaters ;)

My sister's neighbor puts on quite a display. He grows giant, award-winning pumpkins then picks a theme each year and carves the pumpkins to keep with that theme. Last year, it was Charlie Brown, this year the Pixar film "Cars." It is usually quite a hit with our crowd. Here, Harry takes in the pumpkin versions of Lightning McQueen and The King or "Fa-king" as Harry says.

Tow Mater Pumpkin. I believe the numbers relate to the poundage of each pumpkin.

Who could resist this?

"Look, I'm Linus!" said Harry. (This makes sense if you've recently watched "It's A Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" It's hilarious if you've watched it daily like Harry has.)