Fun packed weekend

Well, we had a fun packed weekend! Lots of park time, our first firepit fire of the season, and an adventurous dining out experience at the new Mexican food restaurant! Tristan continues to wow us with his comedic presence and thoughtfulness and Pierce is still growing like a weed. Here are a few highlights:

Tristan

• After taking away his keyboard before dinner last night, a sobbing Tristan told Mark "You say grace tonight, Daddy - I can't - I'm (sob sob sob) tooooooo (sob sob sob) saaaad!"
• When I asked him what he thought of taking a bath with Pierce he said "That'd be COOL!" We're not sure whether he was looking forward to the brotherly bonding experience or the potentially lethal opportunity...
• We made banana bread last night and used it as a ploy to get Tristan to eat his dinner. (Is it really considered bribery with a 2 year old?) I told Tristan he was operating on "Tristan time" - (He countered that I operated on "Mommy time") - and I took Pierce upstairs for his bath while Mark waited at the dinner table with T. There were 3 pieces of banana bread on the table for after dinner. Mark and Tristan each ate a piece after they ate and then Tristan said "What's that piece Daddy?" When Mark told him it was for me, he said "I'm going to bring it to her. She'd like that." and he walked the plate upstairs to me in the bathroom. Awwwwwwww!
• This weekend Mark and I cleaned out our closet. We've been here almost a year (gasp!) and we figured it was time. I had everything from maternity clothes to last year's sweaters still hanging up. We bagged up NINE BAGS for Goodwill and I explained to Tristan where we were taking everything. He said "I'll bring them my saw too. The people will like that." I said "Tristan - That's one of your favorite toys!" He said "It IS my favorite toy. But won't they like it?" I nearly burst with pride as I explained that we don't need to give that away just yet.
• We had graduated from the 3 necessary binks in the bed every night to JUST ONE. It's been about a week with just one and it was a relatively smooth transition. No night waking or crying. Night before last though he woke up a few times asking for more binks. We thought he'd lost his one precious bink so we gave him another one each time. When I got up with him the next morning I said, "You had a rough night last night buddy?" He said "Yeah - I needed more binks." Looking at his stash of binks on his bed I asked him, "So how many do you have now?" and he said very proudly "FOUR!" with 4 little fingers pointing straight up and a big grin on his face. Sure enough, there were 3 on top of the covers and one hidden underneath. Well - at least his counting was right :) !

Pierce

• Pierce continues to shock and awe with the amount of food he can consume in one sitting. Given his milk and soy protein allergy it has become increasingly difficult to find new things for him to try. (Any suggestions would be more than welcome!) We were THRILLED to find out that he loves cut up broccoli and green beans (especially since he won't touch the baby food vegetables). He is eating the little puffs though, even though they list soy as one of the later ingredients. So far so good so we are hopeful.....
• He is officially sleeping through the night (again!)! This is LIFE CHANGING! He had developed a habit of waking in the middle of the night and wanting to be rocked back to sleep. We humored him while we were traveling but had to practice some tough love when we got home. He now sleeps from 7-ish PM until 7-ish AM!
• He is transitioning to 2 naps a day. I was worried about it at first but it's worked out just fine. He usually naps from 9:30-11 and then from 2-4 (ish). If I can stretch Tristan until 1:30 I still get some downtime by myself!
• Pierce turns 9 months old on Thursday - I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! 9 months already?? Where has the time gone? He has his well baby appointment on Friday.

The parental units

• Mark and I are doing great and watched not one but two Netflix movies this weekend. We also thoroughly enjoyed the margaritas at the new Mexican food restaurant :) We watched 27 Dresses and Jumper. Both very good! 27 Dresses is pretty predictable but it's a cute romantic comedy with a few laugh out loud moments! Jumper was really exciting and it actually kept us on our toes! It seems like they wanted to make a sequel but who knows. Anyway, it was a really fun, exciting one. Both definitely good rentals!
• We got a wild hair and cleaned out our closet AND the garage this weekend! Ok, ok, MARK cleaned out the garage and now we can park Wanda in it! My wonderful hubby - Thanks hon!

I think that's all the news for now! Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Tristan's buddy Gracie Rose - Isn't she cute?

Mark & T @ the park

The brother club

Rub a dub dub - The kids take their first bath together

T & Mark

me & P

Tristan & Gracie Rose

T @ the park

Tristan & Chaos - Tomorrow they are talking about pets at school & they were asked to bring a picture. Cute, don't you think?