Time for a blog update to go with the big photo update Jason just did on our photo site. We had a great spring break in March, with Jason taking three days off each of the three weeks. It was really nice to have some extra time to just relax, catch up on sleep, and take a lot of day trips. We are doing pretty well going out the four of us now - we are definitely less hesitant to be out and about with Evan at his age than we were when Seth was this age. As a friend pointed out, having a second child is busier because you have two kids, but easier in some ways because you are not first-time parents and know what to expect a little more.

Over the break we continued the museum trend we started with Geema at the Children's Museum in West Hartford. One weekend, we met Papa up at Magic Wings in Deerfield. This is a really cool butterfly sanctuary, where you can go in this big greenhouse and run around with butterflies. Seth really enjoyed this - chasing after butterflies was right up his alley. After getting his fill of the real butterflies, he became enamored with the gift shop, which he said was full of "decoration butterflies." He picked out these two cute butterfly finger puppets as his little gift, which he had lots of fun with. Another weekend, we went to the Springfield Quadrangle with Grams. Seth loved the courtyard with the Dr. Seuss statues. He was super excited to pose with the Lorax and the Cat in the Hat. We had a good time at the science museum and the art museum. Seth enjoyed seeing the dinosaurs and other exhibits. As his little gift, he chose a Cat in the Hat hat, which has given him so much pleasure! He LOVES the PBS cartoon show about the Cat in the Hat, and he has been running around wearing his hat singing the theme song.

Over break we also went to story hour at the public library in Suffield and spent some time at the public library in East Granby. Seth has gotten really excited about checking out library books, and we have a special library book bin at home. He likes some new books, like Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, but also likes some of our childhood favorites, like Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, and To Think That I Saw it On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss. We went to Rhode Island for the day to see Grandpa Joe and Grandma Nancy, and to see Nana! She got to meet Evan for the first time, and see Seth again. It was so wonderful to see her with her two great-grandsons. Seth loves spending time with her, and we know Evan will, too. Nana loves to do puzzles, so Seth sat at her little table with her and they worked on a puzzle.

We had a fun overnight visit from Papa, where we hung out at home and around town. Another day, we went out to breakfast one morning, and Seth earned himself a free breakfast. The owner asked Seth how his breakfast was, and he took a bite of his bacon, and answered "DE-licious." She thought he was so cute she gave him his breakfast for free. We also had some visits from Auntie Kara and her mom, Barbara, our friends Meredith, Greg, and Michaela, and Aunt Sandi, Lindsay, and cousin Lila. Seth and Lila had a blast playing together - holdings hands and jumping on Seth's bed.

We were also so excited back in the beginning of March to welcome Chris and Cathy's new baby, Eleanor. Chris and Cathy are our dear friends from Williams, and they have always been so wonderful to Seth. We have all been friends for so long, and it is so exciting for them to become first-time parents! We've gotten to "meet" Eleanor over Skype, and we can't wait to see them all in person when they stop by in May!

It was a great break, and now we are back into the swing of the work week. Jason is back at work, and I am still loving being on leave and at home with the boys. Seth is going to daycare Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings, and is home with Evan and I in the afternoons and all day Wednesdays. On Wednesdays we have story hour in the morning and music class in the afternoon. We got our double stroller, and we are loving it, as are the boys. Now that the weather is getting nicer, we are trying to go out for lots of walks. We are looking forward to spring!

We had a fun adventure last week with Grams where we went on a walk to the nearby playground and went out to lunch. As we approached the playground, we noticed lots of police cars and police dogs there (!) and thought we might have to reschedule our outing, but upon asking, it turned out it was a dog training convention, so we were able to play after all.

Evan is 11 weeks old, and Seth is 35 months old (almost 3!!!). Time is flying, and Evan is growing and thriving. We had his two month check up a couple weeks ago, and he was 13 pounds 2 ounces (80%ile!) for weight, and 22.5 inches long (28%ile). He was fussy with his vaccinations, but recovered after a few hours of snuggling. Evan is becoming much more aware of his surroundings and much more alert. Yesterday, his big accomplishment was rolling over from his tummy to his back for the first time! The previous day I thought he was close to rolling, and then yesterday he rolled right over! I kept putting him back on his tummy, and he rolled over four different times! When Seth came home with Jason, I told him Evan had a new "trick." He seemed pretty impressed with Evan's rolling over, though I'm not sure what he was picturing before he saw what the trick was.

We have lots of excitement coming up in April - birthdays, Passover, Easter, a visit from my brother, and from my friends Jill from Maryland and Sarah from England. Here are the little updates on the boys:

Evan:

• His hair is continuing to fill in. It's coming in soft and brown.
• His head control is improving more and more - it's so cute to see him peeking over one of our shoulders with his little head held high.
• He's very interested in what's around him - loves looking at the toys on his toymat, his mobile, and the light-up bar on his bouncer.
• He's starting to interact with his environment - batting at the toys on his toymat.
• He loves to look at lights.
• He's started smiling! Jason can make him smile the best, and he will give little coos and lopsided grins.
• Two nights ago, he slept eight hours!! 11:30pm to 7:30am. He still usually gets up at least once to nurse, but it was exciting to get such a good night of sleep!
• He's doing well with his naps and having more open eye time during the day.
• Of course, the rolling over from tummy to back!
• Yesterday, he also discovered his feet! Geema was holding him, and he started looking intently at his feet, as if wondering where they came from. She took his feet out of his sleeper and he started moving them around and rubbing them together - exciting disovery!
• Still doing well with nursing - during the day, sometimes every 2 hours, sometimes every 4!

Seth:

• He loves doing projects. Lately, we made "dinosaur feet" with tissue boxes and did painting with cut-up potatoes. He really enjoys these things.
• He's been interested in the days of the week, so we got him a calendar where he can cross off the days as we go.
• He's also interested in "telling time" - likes to use the little pretend watch Auntie Lissa gave him and tell me "we're late."
• When he gets frustrated with something, or isn't using his "listening ears," he'll think for a moment, then tell us "I'll try, Mommy" - and he'll really try to do whatever it is we are asking of him.
• Sometimes when one of us leaves, he says as a goodbye "Keep on trying!" Pretty funny.
• I've told him in the past I can't do something for him because I'm too short (reach something, lift him up to a slide), so now sometimes he tells me that something is for "Sethies and short mommies."
• He's said to us sometimes "I just love you" - melts the heart!
• Before naps and bedtimes, he has to give us "a kiss AND a hug"
• Since we've had so many visitors, he now says to us "who's coming today" or "where are we going today?" and is surprised if nothing is on the agenda!
• He loves to go to the dining hall for dinner - especially because of his little play routine after the meal - he has to play the piano, hide under the table, and then run around the "track" (white line) out in the lobby - any disruption to this routine is a great disappointment.
• He is starting to talk about "favorite friends" - of course, he likes all the kids at daycare, but is starting to understand the concept of a best friend.
• Seth had a cough and fever last weekend, which he is recovering from, but this has helped us shift his bedtime a bit earlier since he was so tired. We are hoping to be able to stick to a 7:30pm bedtime now that he seems to be able to sleep all the way through until 6:30am. When he was little, if we put him to bed that early, he would get up at 4:00am!