Sit on it

Introducing the newest piece of bargain basement awesomeness to join our backyard escape: creekside bench!

And speaking of bribery...

A while back Finn somewhat suddenly stopped being a kid who always sleeps through the night. It generally wasn't anything he really needed us for - fixing his blankets, getting him a drink of water (there's a water bottle by his bed), or just saying hi. We were not pleased, as you can imagine. So when we were in Pismo Beach recently, we got ourselves a small and affordable seashell collection. Now, when the boys (i.e., Finn) make it through the whole night without waking up Mommy and Daddy, they get "seashell time" in the morning. Making it through the night is defined as from when we close the door at bedtime until the light-on-a-timer turns on at 6:10 am. Here are the boys during a recent seashell time.


Yes, that's a shell on Finn's head. It's not junk food like the cookies, extra trash like stickers, or expensive like the bike, but it works. This was the carrot; there was also a stick, which I could explain to interested parents, but it wasn't nearly as effective.
For those of you looking for a status update on the poop bribes, the bike chart is nearly full, and the bike is ready for weekend pickup. When we ran out of girl scout cookies we somehow got conned into single bites of ice cream. Sigh.

Decemberists

December in Santa Cruz! On the plus side, there is no snow. On the minus side, there is no snow. It's been raining a lot here. I'm not sure I'll be able to make it out to cut the grass until March at this rate. At least the grass has started growing more slowly. I did manage to get some wet leaves raked for the boys to jump in.

Our standard-issue plan between 5:20 (when the boys get home) and 6:40 (when we eat) had been to make them run around outside, or I take them to the park. But it's pretty dark by 5:30, so we're all forced to make it work in the house. When we're all stuck in the house, things like this happen, because Momma is the best, and everyone needs her hugs.

We still make it to the park on the weekends. The rate of Duck-flation continues to increase at an increasing rate. There must be 100 ducks there now. Easy. Here is Graham herding them around the pond. He and Finn managed to force them into the water, like two little-boy sheep dogs.

And sometimes we do play in the backyard, even when it is raining. But things don't always go well. Below, at least Finn was having fun. It was mostly my fault because I stuck Graham up there against his will....

If you look carefully behind Graham you can see the edge of our garden. It has become massively overgrown with clover, and some grass, and I think a part of the garden may just stay like that.

Finn is three!

That's right, we have a three year old now. Finn's birthday was on Saturday, and his party was on Sunday, and the whole weekend was chock full of birthday goodness. Here's the birthday boy studiously opening presents Saturday morning. It's serious business, y'all.

(That's a flashlight, his number one birthday wish.) Then Sunday we went to Roaring Camp Railroads, rode a train, had a blast with friends, and eventually demolished a chocolate cake. New friends and old joined us, including Finn's best friend from his preschool in Los Gatos. Unfortunately, many of our pictures went kablooey when I had phone problems earlier this week, so if you're reading this and you were there, please send me your photos for our Fortney archives! Here's the blowing out of the candles, where you can see all the kids eagerly waiting to pounce on the cake, and hear the railroad sounds in the background. If you are so inclined, you can also go watch us sing Finn "Happy Birthday."

Candles from Katie on Vimeo.
Mmmm, cake.
Last weekend was also exciting because my mom and Dave came to visit. We ran them pretty ragged, but we showed them a good time, too. Here we all are at the Brookdale Lodge for brunch. It's been around for over a hundred years, and in its day was visited by the likes of Herbert Hoover and Marilyn Monroe. A brook runs through the restaurant, aptly named the Brookroom. We highly recommend checking it out if you're in the area. Nothing beats an honest to goodness brook for distracting small children during a meal.

If you follow Jonathan on Facebook, you may have heard that Finn has been lording it over Graham with all of his 3+ toys. Here is one such present.

The picture fails to capture the intensity of the "No BABies, Graham!!" that we frequently hear now, while Finn points to this symbol I showed him the other day when he wanted to know "what you get to do when you're three." Sharp knives and driving cars were the request, but he had to settle for this.

Ah well, Graham. It's for your own safety.

A real post about the boys and stuff

We've got lots going on, in non-daycare-related areas. We made our (nearly) annual trek up Hwy 1 to the giant Arata pumpkin farm. This year we went with Francis and Emily, and their daughter Mae. Arata has a "river" of pumpkins, and more importantly, a giant hay maze that changes from year to year. Katie in particular is a huge fan. She has here own method for getting through the maze. Finn and I are good at finding dead ends. Here are Katie and boys, deep, deep in the maze.

We got three pumpkins, one for me, Katie+Graham, and Finn. Finn's only metric for choosing was that the pumpkin was "BIG." Katie and chose two with fun stems.

Here is a post from two years ago, at Finn's previous visit to Arata. It's fun that Graham is getting to wear all the same cute clothes that Finn wore when he was 1.

Our neighbors across the street have some elementary-school age kids, and they've given us a few of their old little-kids stuff, like these two folding chairs, which the boys love.

I think that Katie already posted about this, but we managed to make it to the last beach train of the year, which winds starts up in Felton, and winds down through the redwoods down to the beach boardwalk in Santa Cruz. I snapped this cute pic that I like a lot. Sometimes Graham seems pretty big, but he is really just a little guy compared to his brother. Oh, and he's walking more now. Although he CAN do it, more often he has chosen to crawl instead.

So Happy Together...

Why bother doing a blog post if I can't get a song stuck in your head, right? But then I reward you with a video, fresh from this morning. This airplane was Finn's present for his first birthday. Graham has been using it for a walker/push toy lately, and that has renewed Finn's interest in it. Here they are sharing nicely. Mostly.

Walking together from Katie on Vimeo.
And in case that weren't enough, now I will explode your head with more brothers-together cuteness.

Yes sir, good times around the Fortney house lately. Graham turns ONE on MONDAY! He'll be walking soon, he's moving closer to an all people-food diet, and he understands a TON of what we say to him. Finn, who has always been fond of songs but not so much singing, now sings all the time - random lines from everything from "Wheels on the Bus" to "Eight Days a Week" to "Lisztomania." But he would like someone to explain to the Beatles that babies cannot, in fact, drive your car.
I'm doing great. My job is simply wonderful. If you are a library geek I would be happy to explain to you all the reasons why. On top of that I get to walk to my office through a redwood forest and drive home with a vista of Monterey Bay. You may know I have a yard 5 houses from a duck pond, that it backs onto a creek and is popular with local deer, skunks, and the like, but did you know that my house is within a few miles of:

• beaches (with sea lions. And surfers.)
  
• mountains
  
• book and record stores (new and used)
  
• a ROLLER COASTER
  
• a butterfly migration hot spot
  
• an annual aquatic parade
  
• a steam train
  
• at least 3 wine bars and innumerable wineries
  
• 2 or 3 breweries
  
• restaurants from Afghan and Brazilian to ... Thai and vegan? What's a cuisine that starts with Z?
  
• TWO weekly farmers markets
• gourmet chocolates
  
• three completely unrelated independent local grocery stores/small chains
  
• so many great bakeries I sometimes think my head will explode

There's more, I'm sure, but that gives you a picture. You'd never guess that I like food, huh? Life is good. Come visit.

The Santa Cruzians

A quickie on my way out of town! The boys really love their new swing set, which we got for FREE from Kim and John. Thanks! Graham, being a baby, loves peekaboo, which we play a lot. (Especially after I've strapped him into his car seat, which is sometimes not fun.) [Speaking of not fun, it is TERRIBLE changing that kid's diaper. He hates being on his back. He writhes and bucks like a bronco, all the while trying to grab himself "down there." It is an experience *not* for the amateur diaper changer.] The video has the background noise of Finn constantly chatting. This is what most of our days are like. One very long run-on sentence from morning til night. :)

Peakaboo! from Jonathan Fortney on Vimeo.

Here are the boys down at the pond at Westlake Park. There are ducks. Many many ducks. 40? And of course, they like bread.

Graham is a great cruiser, but I think actual walking is still a few weeks away. It is pretty rare that he'll stand unaided, and that only lasts 1-2 seconds.

Graham is getting big!

Yes, he's just now past 11 months. He's a machine when crawling across the floor, and has been for weeks now. He can walk with the aid of parental fingers. He can cruise from chair to couch and back again with the best of them.

What, you want more? Well, he can already kinda say a few words: Daddy (daddada...), kitty (keih!), and Finn (Fh!). He usually won't do them on command. I would say that "Fh" is the clearest, because that is a pretty unusual noise for a baby to make. Usually he just babbles in stuff with "a" as the vowel. I think that daddy is now less clear than it was last week.

As he's eating more and more solids, he's liking finger foods more and more. O's, goldfish, raspberries, graham crackers, saltines, teething biscuits... He's becoming more annoyed with being spoon-fed baby food, since then he's not in control. Sometimes at dinner he'll flatly refuse the spoon! But I'm not giving up because we've got about 15 more jars to get through. And what is better for eating than *finally* getting those two top teeth that you've always wanted? He just had those bottom two for many months, which just wasn't cutting it for the big-time eating.

After some initial troubles in sleeping through the night at our new house, we eventually realized he was probably getting a little cold at 3 a.m., after he kicked off his blanket and before the heat came on. (Yes, in summer here you need the pilot light lit.) Now with a bigger blanket that we put on him right before we go to bed, we are all sleeping better. Since he's been sleeping through the night pretty well since he was 8-9 months, he's 5 months ahead of Finn!

We are a mobile family.

But not a family from Mobile. In case you were thinking that.
We are back from our trip to Minnesota and Iowa! It was super fun, especially because we didn't over-schedule ourselves the way we usually do and mostly just hung out with family. A few highlights:
Finn and Graham, airport style. How do you not miss your flight when it's half an hour earlier than you thought (because THEY MOVED IT AND DIDN'T CALL) and you're traveling with two small children? Keep the kids on wheels.

Finn's new suitcase-on-wheels arrived just before our trip. It came with its own strap, which he used to play a game he called... well, just listen.

Awesome Trapeze from Katie on Vimeo.

Cousins! The boys got to spend a lot of time with Fortney cousins Finn and Jamie, and Bennett cousins Brandon and Jacob, plus bonus cousins and other kids. (Hi Ashley, Haley, Wes, Daniel, Izzy, Henrik, Abbot, Clara, Joanna, Zoe, and Owen! Is that everybody?)



Jonathan and I went to a Twins game with Jonathan's dad at the new stadium. They lost - wow, did they lose - but it's a great stadium. I got to eat cheese curds twice that day (zoo; ballgame), which is a nice consolation for missing the state fairs again this year.

Did I mention we went to the zoo? And a wedding? And got to see my brother's and sister-in-law's place for the first time? It was a pretty full trip.
We moved up the closing on our house - to tomorrow! We did the final walkthrough today, and already have keys. One more day, and we'll officially be homeowners. We move next weekend, so activity on the blog will probably continue to be ... about this frequent. We are busy, people! Fortunately, kind movers have agreed to pack up all our belongings for us. For a fee, of course, but without them I'm not sure if we'd ever make it to the new house. Packing! Moving! Onward!

No Frills Blog Post

Katie is in Chicago visiting her friend Nina and generally having a great relaxing time. Here at Camp Fortney, we Fortney boys have been to the farmers' market, San Francisco Zoo, Helen & Arthur's house, the park, the toy store, and a few other places. Here are some pics from the events:

You can't ride the real bears at the zoo, which is always a bummer. Since it was 90 degrees down in Los Gatos, going up to San Francisco, where the weather is usually crappy and cold (sorry!) was a nice change. The sun did come out after our 3rd hour at the zoo. Both boys also got to pet turtles and a bunny. Graham got very excited for the turtles.
Here is Finn modeling his "new hat." Which doubles as his current ball container. Speaking of balls, we picked up a basketball, soccer ball, and baseball bat and ball. He prefers baseball so far, as he should. ;)
Above, Mr. Cutes "rides" on this dolphin at the park. Finn was busy impressing a 3-year-old girl on the seahorse.
Yay double swing! Graham had a great time (See movie below!). Finn has a long-standing aversion to swings (He's more of a slide man) but spent a good 30 seconds on here before deciding that he was done. This park was up in Mountain View (Rengstorff) and Finn told me that we would be coming back.
Finn is laying on his stomach on the left. This is on the plaza at the farmers' market. A nearby yoga studio has kids classes, and they had one outside to drum up some business. Finn walked over and stared for quite awhile before they kindly invited him in. I was stuck under Graham, so he was entirely on his own. The women basically thought he was there without parents for 10 minutes. This was some sort of relaxation part. I'm not sure why he is the only one on his stomach. Also, he bypassed the standard downward dog with his own one-legged version, which left everyone impressed. Even though he's 18 months below their minimum age, they said they'd love to have him. :)

Baby swing!!

Baby Swing! from Jonathan Fortney on Vimeo.

I'm still here. And by the way, I still knit.

In the month of May I took very few pictures and wrote exactly one blog post. I had a nice Mother's Day, I survived another short Jonathan trip, I went to Happy Hollow a lot, I worked, and I tried to keep up with these crazy Fortney boys.
I also finished knitting an afghan for my mom that I started back in 2007. I hardly touched it between Christmas 2007 and when Graham was born. Funny story: I thought my passport was lost for about two years; I recently found it in a box of pins, clips, needles, and other knitting paraphernalia, along with Finn's and my hospital bracelets. So here it is, my mom's 2007 Christmas and birthday present, finally mailed shortly after Mother's Day 2010:
Now that that's all wrapped up (just in time, because it is now WAY to hot to knit with most of an afghan on my lap), I've gone back to my other giant project from 2007, my "Learn to Knit" afghan, from the Learn-To-Knit-Afghan Book. Fortunately, it's several small pieces, so I can knit even if it's warm. After this, I'm only knitting small things for a while, like hats. Possibly thimbles.
I've also been cooking some more, now that it's summer and we have tasty things to eat. I think this week I'm going to be too afraid to turn on the oven, but if I wasn't, I'd make this again. We end up licking the pan every time.
And because I can't do a post without any pictures of the boys, here's something we did a couple weeks ago. Finn had a fun project for school about how many pets and siblings he had and stuff like that. He didn't feel much like coloring that day, so we printed out some pictures to cut out and glue on. I like the resulting fit-them-all-on-a-4-by-6 collage.
More at Flickr. No really, I just uploaded some last night.