The dog days of summer, August 2013

Well, it's been a great couple of weeks.  Grammi Bonnie & Grampi John have been visiting and Grampi Clayton & Grammi Carolyn & Aunt Jane came to visit so Cathy and I have had lots of date nights lately.  It has been really nice and we really appreciate everyone coming to visit and babysitting so that we could go out and play grown up a few times.  Here's a couple of vids we have taken recently.  The first shows us on the 18th playing in the backyard with a water-fun-thingy brought to us by Barb Northrup - thanks Barb!  The thing was quite the hassle to set up and I had to hold it while the kids played, but it was all worth it given the fun the kids had and the laughs we adults had.

This second vid shows us on Saturday the 24th.  We had just departed the UM Natural History Museum (where Arthur got the dinosaur you'll see him holding) and came upon the UM band drummers giving a little shown on the diag.  Mark felt a dope groove come on and got down with his bad self.  Some spectators were more entertained by Mark than the drummers, I think.  Enjoy.

We got a new slip-n-slide over Independence Day weekend

We got a new water slide and had lots of fun with it in our backyard and in Grami & Grampi Sherwood's backyard the next day.  It took Arthur some time to figure out how to slide on his belly rather than his knees, but once he figured it out he couldn't be stopped.  Mark and Jessie were less interested in it, but Jessie found it to be a good way to wash her hands (she's very delicate).  Enjoy...

Father's Day weekend

We had a great Father's Day weekend by visiting Lillie Park, walking in the woods and playing at the playground.  We also visited Tekonsha where Mark learned how to clean floors and then, apparently, forgot everything he had learned given that he hasn't ever done it again.  Oh well....

Arthur & Mark play in the Cozy Coupe

Here's a short video of Arthur and Mark playing in the driveway on Sunday.  Nothing much happens, but it's fun to see Mark wanting to play like a little boy rather than a baby, and to see them playing together.  Jessie was inside doing girl things with Mommy so she doesn't even make an appearance here.  Enjoy...

April & May 2013 photos

2013_04_05, a set on Flickr.

We have uploaded our photos from April and May of this year. Most of the photos are from our recent Memorial Day visit to Abe's and Abby's in Chicago. You will see several pics of Arthur and his 2nd cousin Sam, and one pic that shows Sam's sister Lucy. There are some other random pics that we have taken or have received from family and friends. Enjoy.

Sunday afternoon in the backyard

Here's a quick video of last Sunday in the backyard.  It was really hot and Arthur wanted to run in the sprinkler.  So I got some annuals to plant while he cooled off and Mark even joined in...a little.  Jessie was more interested in the flowers than the sprinkler and her screaming big brother.  Enjoy...

Bonnie & John visit and a trip to the park

Bonnie & John came to visit a couple of weeks ago now and they got to see how far along Mark & Jessie are since they last saw them.  Both Mark & Jessie are walking well now, they rarely crawl, and they both prefer to eat table food and feed themselves (which is nice).  They're still a handful (or two), but things are getting marginally easier.  Sleeping is still a major problem but hopefully that will improve with a little more time.  And Arthur is learning to write his letters and numbers - sometimes we can even tell what letter or number he has written.  Until next time....

Mark is walking and we go to FestiFools for the 1st time

Big news - Mark is walking.  This first video shows Mark taking some of his first steps.  He just suddenly started walking...and doing it quite well.  He has improved a lot since this vid was taken (with the crappy camera on my phone, so it is quite blurry).  Jessie still does not see much point to walking.  She still "walks" on her knees most of the time, although she has started standing more frequently.


This next video was taken today, Sunday the 7th.  It shows Mark & Jessie playing with the train set shortly after breakfast while Arthur plays Skylanders Giants on the Xbox.  Later in the day, we all went downtown to FestiFools (which neither of us has ever been to).  FestiFools is a small festival to celebrate spring and April Fools of course.  We assumed very few people would attend (since we've never gone before...so it must be lame, right?).  Anyway, it was really crowded but we had a great time and Arthur really liked the puppets and music.  Enjoy.

Early 2013 photos

2013_01_02_03, a set on Flickr.

We have added some photos to our Flickr site. They're pretty random and span the last couple of months. Apparently we have not been taking enough photos so far this year.

Early March 2013 random video clips

This video shows some random happenings over the past week or so - a Saturday afternoon visit to the Butler home, a trip to Xtreme Bounce Zone to celebrate the birthdays of a couple of Arthur's classmates, a Sunday visit to Tekonsha, and back home where Jessie is continuing to work on her walking abilities.  We hope you enjoy it.  Until next time....

Sunday in Tekonsha for Grammi & Bev birthdays

We were in Tekonsha yesterday to celebrate both Grammi Carolyn's and Aunt Bev's birthdays.  The video you see here is long, so be prepared.  What you will see is a typical Sunday visit to Tekonsha - lots of people, talk, noise, chaos....at least from Arthur, Mark and Jessie.  By the way, Mark & Jessie are now a couple of weeks past their original due date of February 4.  Neither of them is walking, but they seem close.  And neither of them is sleeping through the night yet.  Yikes!  Cathy is getting more and more tired.  Find our full blog at toddsherwood.blogspot.com.  Until next time...

Another bday party for Arthur, this time in Tekonsha

Sorry for the poor video quality - I really need to get a new phone that takes better video.

Arthur's 4th birthday & a trip to Briarwood

The big news is that Arthur has had his 4th birthday!  Hard to believe.  For his birthday, we got a room at Weber's Inn and had his friends Sammy and Adin join us for swimming, pizza poolside, and birthday cake in our room.  It was lots of fun and Arthur got to spend a lot of time in the swimming pool which he really liked.  He doesn't really swim of course, he mostly climbs out of the pool, jumps on daddy in the pool, then climbs back out and does this over and over again.  And check out his bday cake - yes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are still a thing (having been brought back and modernized) and Arthur loves them right now.  The cake was a big hit.


This next video is actually a few weeks old now, and it shows Mark holding a toy doctor's/dentist's mirror that he has become oddly attached to.  Not much happens here.


This last video was just taken yesterday, the 19th.  It shows Mark and Jessie playing in the turtle play zone at Briarwood Mall.  Arthur was there too, of course.  Mark really took to the place and threw himself into the action.  Jessie was considerably more cautious and didn't move around much.  She watched Mark a lot almost as if she was thinking to herself "I can't believe he crawled way over there, isn't he scared."  This video was shot with my cell phone so the quality is not so great.

Remember that all our videos are also on Youtube under the name tlsherwood.
And all of our pictures can be found on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/teeohdoubledizzle/sets/
And the blog is best viewed by going to toddsherwood.blogspot.com

Until next time...

Christmas, and more pics from December 2012

2012_12, a set on Flickr.

We have uploaded many new pics for the month of December, including Christmas photos and more from our trip to Grand Rapids a month ago. Happy New Year to everyone that checks-in to our family blog from time to time - we wish everyone well. Let's hope for an even better 2013.