Two Identical Little Vandys

Bryce at 5 weeks

Cole at 3.5 months

Tough Guy

Look who's rolling over!

I was so proud of my little brother, I could hardly stand it.  What a great trick.

I helped him out by showing him how it's done and encouraging him when he got upset.

"It's okay Bryce.  You can do it."

"Are you done yet Mom?!"

We sure do love our grandma!!

Grandma's Boys

What a fantastic weekend!  Grandma came down early early on Friday.  She came to watch me play soccer and then spent the rest of the weekend spoiling us all.  Here we are playing the new card game she taught me "Go Fish."

She played Superheroes with me ALL weekend.  She even watched Superhero movies with me.
AND, because I was such a good boy, she bought me a new Superhero - Ghost Rider!

When Grandma first got here, Bryce was still screaming whenever he was awake.  Grandma was a real trooper and just held him and cuddled him until he fell back asleep.  Mommy made sure she learned the "Grandma shuffle" which is a great little dance that calms Bryce down right away (well it does when GRANDMA does it anyway :)

I made sure Grandma knew where everything was and I wasn't one bit jealous of the time she spent with Bryce.  I love spending time with him too!  Here we are giving the little man a much needed bath.

I like to give him kisses.  I hate it when he's upset.

Bryce and I agree.  This lady is awesome!  We were all very sad to see her go.  Come back soon Grandma.  We still need to figure out what happened to the old man who drank from the bottle! :)

Bye Bye Stinky Blankies

A few weeks ago, Cole stayed the night at his buddy's house and left his stinky nasty blankies behind.  Can you believe he didn't even mind?!  So... Mom and I picked them up yesterday and today she put them away in a box.  You'd think nothing would make her happier right?  Nope...  she cried her eyes out.  Good lord.  I bet all you'd have to do is whisper the word "blankie" and they'd be back in your hands big bro!

Conversations With Cole

Dad:  "Cole, you're being ridiculous."
Cole:  "I know Dad.  Don't remind me."

Mom:  "What song do you want to sing?"
Cole:  "How about an Iceman song? 
           Iceman, he's a cool guy.
           And he can fly around.
           Anywhere.
           You like that song, Mommy?"

Cole:  (after being scolded)  "Mom, stop being a bully. 
          We're not bullies Mommy.   We're a family."

Cole:  "I have chocolate milk in my boobies."
          "French Fries make me strong."
          "I don't watch this show.  This show is lame-oh.  I wanna watch big Spiderman."

"Dear Batman,
Thank you for saving me
and for fighting the bad guys.
Amen"

Vital Signs - 1 Month

Well we got good news and bad at the doctor's office today.  Turns out my little brother is even more like me.  He is suffering both from bad reflux AND from an allergy to cow's milk (he had blood in his stool) so the non-stop screaming he's been doing is definitely warranted.  Poor guy!  I know what that feels like.  The GOOD news is that unlike me, he's gaining weight like a champ (10.6 lbs today) and growing (21.75 inches).  Also unlike me, he has a great pediatrician who sent Mom home with an Rx, some cow's milk free formula to help Bryce out until she gets dairy completely out of her diet, and a whole lot more hope than we EVER had when I was going through the same thing.  My dr. just kept saying I'd grow out of it.

Additionally, Bryce has an umbilical hernia (thanks Mama Flatau for the heads up!).  It's not bothering him and he should grow out of it, but we'll need to keep an eye on it.

Thanks Dr. Gurichiek!  We'll keep you posted on the little man's progress.

1 Month and 30 some years...

Today, my little brother turned one month old.  I figured he was officially old enough to start learning about Superheroes so here I am telling him who's who. 

If you look closely, you can see him holding up 1 finger.
You're #1 Bryce!!
He is getting really big and strong.  Great Job, Bro!

This little man has been a serious grump lately.  He's having big time tummy troubles.  We were all grateful for his improved demeanor yesterday.  I think he was happy because it was Daddy's birthday too!  Mom and I made him some pictures and cards and we all gave him presents.  Then we had cheesecake (his favorite) and sang Happy Birthday to him.  We sure do love our Daddy around here... 

And... the day ended with a visit from our great friends, The Overtons.  They brought Daddy a little reminder of his younger "hot rodding" days :)  Maybe he can revisit his first baby when he turns 50 as "Dad" Overton suggested!  What an awesome day.  Happy Birthday and milestone day Bryce and Daddy!

The Good Guys

Mom always knows when I've been in a room because these days, I don't go anwhere without my posse.
Here we are on a mission to infiltrate the enemy fortress otherwise known as the dishwasher.

What can I say?  I have a great imagination!

We Can't Help Being Ridiculously Good Looking!



Mom hasn't slept much at all these past few days due to Bryce's insatiable appetite. 
On top of that, I'm sick.  Add a really hefty dose of cabin fever to the mix and you have a good idea of the general mood at our house this Saturday.  Mom is sure looking forward to Daddy's work week ending!
We decided to entertain Mom a little by posing for her.  This is Bryce's "Blue Steel."



It's still really freaky how much the kid looks like I did at this age.

This is his imitation of a Bears fan.  GO BEARS!

This is his serious look.  Okay, he's always serious..  What's up with that?!

This is his imitation of a Bears Fan after they beat the Packers and head to the Superbowl.
Take that Packers!

This is him wondering what the heck Mom has put him in.

This is his "When's Lunch?"  look.  We see this one a LOT.

This is his best silly little monkey face.

Oops. This is his "STOP TAKING PICTURES AND GIVE ME SOME FOOD!"  look.

And....  This is my newest silly face.  Today, I am "Spikey Man."
You may have noticed that I spend at least 50% of my life in my Spidey jammies these days.  I Love them!

Another silly Spikey Man pose.
Hope you're fighting cabin fever as successfully as we are!

Parent Teacher Conference #1

Just a note to tell you that Mom went to my first Parent Teacher Conference yesterday.  I was a little nervous, but it turns out that my charming and flirting has totally paid off.  My teacher is totally smitten :)  She told Mom that although I'm second youngest, I know the most in my class.  Ha!  I've got almost all my letters down, all my colors, my numbers and all of the usual shapes (she is now working on octagon and hexagon with me).  Mom was pretty proud - even when Mrs. Herzog told her that she asked me to test rhymes and I told her "I'm sorry, I don't have time for that right now."  All those brains AND a personality too!  I need to work on lower case letters and staying focused on the task at hand until it's completed, but that's totally normal for a guy my age.  Dad took me out and got me a new Juggernaut and a new Collassus for doing such a great job at school.  Not a bad deal! 

Meet the Mongers

What a day we had yesterday!  We were all very tired after a not so smooth night.  Luckily, we had the perfect "pick me up" in the morning - a visit from the Mongers!  Oli and Izzy played with my big brother, while I got some really good snuggles in with Aunty Heather.  It was a little chaotic, but really nice!

Aunt Heather got my favorite hold down right away.

What a lucky kid, eh? 
Thanks for the visit and the homemade meal Mongers!

We Are Great Kids

Today was Mom's first solo day with Bryce and I.  She was kinda nervous about it since he's been such a grumpy butt the last two days.  We deceded to take it really easy on the poor ol' gal.  Bryce slept most of the day and I was a really great big brother.  I even helped Mom give him his first bath in the baby tub.  What a chunk, eh?

Bryce loves taking baths and especially having his hair washed.  He took the opportunity to do a little flexing for the camera.

And here I am flexing my big brother muscles in my latest costume.

Nice to Meet You Papa!

Bryce was really grumpy ALL day yesterday.  If I acted like that, I'd be in Time Out!  He just got lots and lots of cuddles.  Even Papa came to help cuddle!  He had the magic touch too.  Bryce thought he was awesome.

Of course, Papa spent plenty of time with me too!  I showed him my new Superhero books.

And the Rocket Ship that Mom and I built in my room,

AND how big I am now!  I'm bigger than Papa.

Heeeelllloooooo  down there little Momparazzi!

Thanks for the visit Papa.  See you again soon.

Week Three

If you've been to my house this week, you'll know that this is my new favorite hold.  I LOVE to be held like this and jumped up and down.  Unfortunately, Mom did it so much that she strained her abs - which are about as weak as they can get, so Dad does it for me all day now instead.

I don't think he minds all that much :)

Today, I was a HUGE grump all day.  I screamed about everything and refused to nap.  This was one of the rare 5 minute spans in which I was happy.  My big brother crawled into my play mat with me!  Before he joined me, I wasn't interested in it at all.  That sure changed when he came by.  He's the coolest big bro ever!

We are still the absolute best of friends.  Thanks for being so great, Cole!

Weekend Update

I don't know about your place, but it's miserably cold here at my place.  Luckily, Baba came back to help Mom keep me entertained.  Unfortunately, her back was in a lot of pain.  We found "low impact" activities to do - like making play doh snowmen!

Bryce put on plenty of cuteness shows.

We read LOTS of books.

We took turns snuggling Baba when she was able to do it.

I showed Bryce more toys.

and he lost his umbilical cord stump.  He does have the world's largest outie...  Mom and Dad are hoping that thing goes down a little.  Yeesh!

We played firemen.  Bryce drove the truck!

I love chilling out at home with my family :)

 It was a pretty decent weekend all around.  I'm ready for some action this week though!  A guy can only stand to be cooped up at home for so long.  Thanks for the visit Baba.  It was great to see you again!