iPad

For Kevin's birthday back in August, all of us got together to get him an iPad. He loves it ... and so does Harmon. In fact, Harmon often refers to it as "his iPad." Back in November, he kept saying "I hope I get an iPad for my birthday!" Yeah right, kid.

Even though he thinks it's his and this can be a little annoying, letting him play with the iPad has paid off in a big way. If he wakes up too early on the weekend, we can buy some extra sleep by letting him rock Angry Birds for a while. We've also downloaded some other apps for him and he loves to play with those too (Google Earth, especially). All in all, we're huge fans of the iPad for so many reasons! 

27 months

This past month was pretty eventful for you. We set up the GeoTrax and you love them (big brother lost interest so quickly). You'll say "turn my train light on" so you can play in the playroom with them. You also got to eat at the big boy table for the first time. We gave you a break from your high chair but you'll probably return there sooner rather than later. We got the Traverse and the first thing you wanted was to have a whole row of seats to yourself. It's doable, little guy, as it's quite understandable that you don't want to be hit by your big brother anymore. After no sniff of a January thaw, February brought a near-50-degree day so we hit up the park and you couldn't wait to hit the swings and slides. You scored your first smore, even though I think you would have just settled for the marshmallow (or marmallow, as you used to call them). So much going on, so little time to take it all in. 

Introducing ...

... our new Chevy Traverse, Graham*! We drove him home on Feb. 12 after a month-long roller coaster ride of a deal. Will it happen, won't it happen? I think Kevin and I aged a few years. I know I broke out and it wasn't because of too much pop or chocolate.

 

ANYWAY, a little back story. Once Simon came along, Yost^ - our Jeep Liberty - suddenly got way too small. It was impossible to hit up Kroger AND Target while we were out as Simon's stoller took up most of the storage space in the back. We TRIED to remember to take the stroller out before such trips but that never happened and we often ended up having to shove groceries and toiletries in and around parts of the stroller which was just no good. We also knew that once Harmon began kindergarten in September, we would need two kid-friendly cars and Fisher# - my Jeep Wrangler - is anything but. Actually, Tetris-ing both kids in the back seat of that Wrangler often resulted in injury (to us, not them)!

 

So, now we have Graham and he smells so good and has SO MUCH SPACE! He has a third row of seats and very fancy things like, you know, interior lights beyond the cockpit area! We got the basic model, which suits us just fine, but we did splurge for the leather-wrapped steering wheel with controls! It's so awesome to be able to change the station while holding the wheel - I'm so easily impressed! We also have a three-month subscription to Sirius/XM Radio and we love it! Kevin listens to hair metal and I swoon over E Street Radio. It's going to be hard not to keep it when those three months are up!

 

The boys love the new car too! When we first brought Graham home, they each wanted their own row of seats. While we haven't done that yet, I'm sure we'll have to sooner rather than later to keep them from fighting. Ah, brothers!

 

Getting a Chevy was a little hard for me since I've owned two Jeeps. I got Fisher, my first new car, back on Oct. 10, 1997, right after I scored my first real job. Fisher and I had a lot of good times together. We road tripped from Waterford to Detroit every day while I worked at the law firm and he was with me the magical summer of 1998 when I interned for the Tigers. Lots and lots of great times in that ride! I would gladly wash him every week - inside and out - when it was warm enough. It was tough to say goodbye to him but my Mom and Dad bought him and now my Dad is getting to enjoy time with him too. I'm so glad he's still in the family AND that the boys will still be able to hit up Dairy Queen with the top down when they're with their Nana and Papa.

 

Kevin thought I was emotional about getting rid of Fisher but that's nothing compared to how I'll feel one day when we get rid of Yost. That was our first car together as a married couple (purchased 3/1/04) AND we brought both boys home from the hospital in that car. OK, I'm going to cry.

 

One observation, so far, about the Traverse versus the Jeeps. When driving the Traverse, I don't hear or feel a thing. In the Jeeps, especially in the Wrangler, I hear and feel everything! I know that's the nature of Jeeps BUT the Traverse has such a smooth ride and is SO easy to handle. But my Jeeps were freakin' awesome cars, tough as nails. So, Graham better bring it, on all levels, because he has a lot to live up to!

 

*Graham is named after former Wolverine and current Philadelphia Eagle Brandon Graham. Our Traverse is a crossover of sorts, like Brandon Graham was a crossover between Lloyd Carr's University of Michigan and Rich Rodriguez' University of Michigan. 

 

^Yost = Fielding H. Yost. Enough said.

 

#Fisher is named after former Michigan men's basketball coach (and current San Diego State men's basketball coach) Steve Fisher. Coach Fisher coached the Fab Five. That is all! 

Harmon and his Chiclets!

Back on Saturday, Jan. 8 - ironically while I was at the dentist - Harmon had a dental problem of his own at home. Our bathroom door is one of those annoying pocket doors and, on his way to the potty, Harmon pulled the door toward him very hard and failed to move out of the way fast enough. He hit his mouth and, we thought, knocked loose his bottom two front teeth. We hit up the dentist office the following Tuesday and she took x-rays and checked everything out. She wasn't concerned mostly because the x-rays showed his adult teeth were right there ready to burst through. It was her guess that these teeth would have loosened up sooner rather than later. Well, one week later (on Tuesday, Jan. 18), he lost the bottom right tooth. He said it just fell out when he was getting a drink from his water bottle. Of course, we were sad because it seemed like he was all gums just yesterday AND the first tooth to fall out was the first tooth he ever had. Then, on Monday, Jan. 24, he lost the bottom left tooth while Kevin was helping him brush his teeth. I got him the cutest tooth pillow and he was very excited to leave his teeth in it for the tooth fairy. She responded with $1 for each tooth but he was a little lukewarm on that. I wasn't sure WHAT he was expecting but I know I never got $1 per tooth when I was a kid!