Wait until the end to draw your own conclusion... So last week was Jud's Birthday, also our 5 year anniversary! The boys wanted a Transformers cake and I did my best. The best part of course was blowing out the candles. Josh was uber excited.
For our anniversary, we decided to take a much needed mini-break to Mont-Tremblant. We skied, relaxed, drank beer, ate nachos, and enjoyed some tranquility for three glorious days and nights while Jud's folks looked after the boys. I cannot tell you how great it was to get away!! We decided we need to get away more often...amazing how young we felt while away.... ...and then back to reality...
Some people choose to space their kids apart. We did not. William is 20 months older than Bo, and Bo is 20 months older than Joshua. Yes, there is a lot of fighting over toys, pushing, kicking, punching and the list goes on. There are also moments like these and they tend to outnumber the ones that make you go and hide in the bathroom.
Being in the middle, Bo is trying to find his place. He adores William, "Em" as he calls him, and loves playing with him. But there are times when William has a friend over and Bo gets pushed to the side. He tries to keep up but isn't quite there yet. It's nice to see him engaging with Joshua. He's a good little big brother :)
Our boys are part beast. At least 50%. As of late, Josh's new name is "Angry" (coined by Jud) to which the boys added "Bird" hence "Angry Bird". Josh likes to hit to express his frustrations at not being held 100% of the time, not eating whatever you're eating and being neglected for a millisecond. He especially enjoys hitting Jud, seemingly just for chuckles. William can be quite stubborn and demanding (no idea where he gets that from) and Bo's new name is melodrama. Mornings around here tend to be loud and crazy and as much as I am beginning to loathe poppy-dancy music, it seems to buy us moments here and there where I can sip my lukewarm tea. William's "Gangnum Style" has improved some, and Josh seems to like a strong beat. Not sure how Bo feels about any of this.
William was 3 years old in 2012 and we put him on skis for the first time. For an hour each weekend we would hit a local ski hill, Camp Fortune, and he would ride the 'magic carpet' up and then zoom down the small hill. He knew full well that I would catch him before he hit anything and pop a jellybean into his mouth, so his introduction to skiing was safe, thrilling and tasty. This year he was old enough to take lessons. Based on input from friends who know the different ski hills well, we signed up at Vorlage, a place that focuses upon families.
We opted for a group lesson instead of private lessons because William is a social kid and because it's cheaper. We debated group vs private because when it came to swimming he did much better in a one-on-one environment. Shocking, I know. We are very glad that we went with group lessons, because in his class there are 4 kids and 3 instructors (well, 2 teaching aids). In essence, he gets one-on-one instruction. Ya us!
I normally take him to the hill on Sunday mornings and it's a nice little break from the daily household chaos. Jill finally clued in on this and for his 3rd class she took him skiing. It was my loss in more ways than one, because on that day he began using the chairlift. He loved it. As Jill noted, it was the first time he had ever seen the world from that perspective. He went up the chairlift 5 times. When they returned home he had a big smile plastered across his mug. We were unable to get a picture of his first chairlift ride, but this past weekend I managed to shoot a quick video of him coming down the hill. Not much of a slope when I went by them, so he's shuffling a lot. If you have the volume up, you'll hear William warning his instructor, who is skiing backwards, of the trees behind him. I found this funny:)
