The 3 kings and their robes

The little men and I started a little game. Every time they sit in their chairs (they each have little Pottery Barn chairs with their names on the back), I say "King Charlie/King Wesley/King Winston sitting on his throne!" Since all kings need robes, I brought out the robes that Mrs. Bowser made for the boys. Amazingly, they are wearing the exact same robes as they were a year ago!
Winston, Wesley and Charlie

Wesley, Charlie, and Winston (Taken almost exactly a year ago. Yes, the robes are over their bumbos.)

18 months old

I cannot believe the boys are a year and a half old! We are closer to their second birthday than we are to their first. Time is flying! Poppy came to the pediatrician appointment with me to help watch the boys so the doctor and I could talk. The boys are right on track - running, throwing, climbing, kicking, talking, eating, etc. Charlie continues to excel verbally, with his list of words up to 80+. When I mentioned this to the doctor, she immediately said this was off the charts and to not compare Win and Wes to this (who are right on track with their 15-20 words). It is wonderful to see how each of the boys have their own personalities and excel in different areas. I'm so proud of how well the boys did during the exam - they were calm and curious and barely cried when they got their shot. So now for the stats!

Winston
Height: 32 1/4 inches (49th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs 10.5 oz (21st percentile)

Wesley
Height: 32 1/4 inches (49th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs 14 oz (24th percentile)

Charlie
Height: 32 3/4 inches (64th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs 4 oz (17th percentile)

Time for another haircut

Charlie got his first haircut tonight (and Win and Wes got their second cuts). Charlie had grown his mullet long enough, so we trimmed off the back. It is tough cutting hair on moving targets!
Attempting to trim Wesley's hair, while Charlie and Winston wait patiently

Mullet-free Charlie

Birds!

Uncle Raymond gave the boys a bird feeder for their playroom window. The first visitors (and I swear I'm not making this up) were 3 male birds, who sat side by side at the feeder. (We could tell they were male due to the bright red heads and chests vs. the all brown female.) Three male birds to christen the feeder of the three Bunn boys. How perfect!

Can you help us identify the bird?

The boys love going to the window in the morning and saying "BIRD!" and when they aren't any, they yell "MORE!"


Winston understood that the bird's were eating at the bird feeder. He wanted to eat the seed too, but the window sill was as close as he could get.

Yes, he took a bite of the window sill and took a chunk of paint off!

A long journey home

Our trip to Virginia was wonderful, but the journey home was dreadful. We drove home knowing that snow fell earlier in the day and a few inches were expected overnight. We also had to go about an hour out of the way to avoid DC, due to all the inauguration traffic. On the 12 and half hour overnight drive, we encountered sleet, black ice, thick fog, snow - and worst of all - unplowed highways! We are home now, but unfortunately sick.

A few of the trip highlights: Uncle Raymond hosted a gathering so the boys could see their Boykins church family, meeting our nephew Liam, seeing Nanna & Poppa's new house, celebrating Abby's 4th birthday, going to Granny's house for corn beef and cabbage, Winston interacting with Liam (he brought a blanket over to Lala to cover Liam with, and every time she held him, Win asked for "up" so he could sit with them and pat Liam's back), visiting Holland Baptist Church where Poppa is the pastor, the boys playing outside with cousins Ann and Abby (marking the first time the boys haven't eaten anything outside)

Giggles with Poppa
Charlie

Wesley

Winston

Charlie thought it was fun to pick the fuzz off Nanna's socks and collect it on her leg

We owe a great big thank you to Nanna & Poppa for taking such good care of us, to Uncle Raymond for his help with the drive, and to Grammy & Poppy for shoveling our driveway and helping with meals and boy care on the day of our return.

Virginia Living Museum

We brought the boys to the Virginia Living Museum yesterday. It was their first trip to an aquarium or children's museum. The boys loved seeing all the animals.

Wesley splashing in the touch tank. Though we were told moments later that he should take his hands out of the water since he has germs. But he did get to touch a sea star, crab and horseshoe crab (despite being labeled germy).

Charlie pointing out the horseshoe crab

Winston befriends a turtle

But their favorite part of the museum? Running around, playing in the log and pulling their wagon around!

Charlie and Wesley share a moment on the window sill

Marching their wagon through the museum

The funniest part of this photo? Wesley in the bottom right corner...

Wes recovered from his spill and started pulling Winston around

Virginia

We drove overnight (with the help of Uncle Raymond) to come to Virginia to visit with family. We are staying with Nanna & Poppa and are having a wonderful time with everyone. Here is the first photo of all the cousins together. And another cousin is on the way - Ann and Abby have a little sister or brother arriving this summer!
Top: Ann (6), Abby (4) and Liam (4 months). Bottom: Charlie, Wesley and Winston (17.5 months)

A closeup of Liam


We played outside with cousins Ann and Abby. The near 40 degree weather was balmy for us, and arctic for them. This was the very first time the boys have played outside and not put everything (and I mean everything) in their mouths. Hooray! This is a huge milestone (and relief) for us.
Wesley tossing

Charlie tossing (Abby looks on from below).

Winston (in red) with a huge pine cone from the magnolia tree. (Hmm....can it be called a pine cone if it doesn't come from a pine tree? This is foreign to a New Englander like me!)

Starting early! Wesley loved playing with the football

Traci caught this great photo of Charlie

Ann playing catch with Wes

Story time

This scene actually occurred without my creation or intervention. I came into the playroom and found Winston sitting in one chair, reading a book. And Charlie and Wesley in another chair, each with their own books.
Winston reading "Jesus Loves Me"

Charlie reading to Wes. Here he's pointing out the moon in their Big/Little book. Wesley seems enthralled.

Happy 2009!

Rob and I stayed in for New Year's Eve (which also marked the 9 year anniversary of when we met). On New Year's Day, Grammy & Poppy came over to watch the boys OVERNIGHT! So we went into Back Bay (Boston) and checked into our room at the Westin. It only took us 20 minutes, door to door - such a good reminder that even though we now live in the burbs, the city is not that far! We got ready and headed out on the cold, snowy roads. And when I say cold, it was a whopping 15 degrees - when the wind wasn't blowing! We didn't realize how many restaurants would be closed on New Year's Day, but found Fleming's (steakhouse). We cozied up to the bar and had a phenomenal meal. We then went to see one of our favorite comedians perform: Joel McHale, host of the tv show The Soup. I laughed so hard I literally cried. We finished the night with dessert at Finale. We spent the next day walking through the bitter cold streets of Boston to see the ice sculptures left over from First Night. We finally found one in the Common, only to notice there was a crowd surrounding it to watch it be destroyed by a fork lift. The potential lawsuits of kids climbing on the sculptures and hurting themselves destroys the fun for all!

It was such a perfect getaway. Though, we were so excited to come home and see the boys. It seemed as though they aged 3 years in the 24 hours we were gone. I guess you really don't notice the changes when you see them 24/7. And to show us how happy they were to have us home, they stood by the door and cried for 30 minutes after Grammy & Poppy left. Thanks, boys.

Christmas

Better late than never...

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was the very first Christmas where we have woken up in our own home, as opposed to the homes of our parents'. We set our alarm for 6am, so we would have time to shower, eat breakfast and open a few gifts before the boys woke up. We made our favorite breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon, lime, red onion, capers and mimosas - reminiscent of a trip to Napa years ago). Yes, mimosas. Our first unsupervised Christmas and we were drinking before 7:15am.
Meeting their new friends Brobee and Elmo - they were mesmerized by how they talk, move and dance!


Wesley wondering what this Brobee guy is all about. You can see that Win, on the far right, thinks it's funny. And Charlie, on the left, is doing the "more" sign for more Elmo!

Charlie and Elmo blowing kisses to each other

Our 5 children: Elmo, Wes, Charlie, Win, and Brobee

Yes, Win is standing on a present - apparently more fun that opening it!

Wesley takes a break and sits on the dog's bed. Yes, we gave them their own personalized comfy chairs, and he chooses to sit on the dog's bed.

After the boys opened their gifts, we headed over to Grammy and Poppy's. Jim, Mi Jung, Alexandra and Christian were up from Dallas - it was so special that we could all celebrate together.
Cousin Christian - he is exactly 7 months younger than the boys (and approximately the same size...)

Grammy & Poppy gave the boys a large piano - like from the movie Big. You can see from this photo that Wesley is fascinated with the speakers, Charlie with the pictures and Winston with the fire.

Alexandra, Jimbo and Christian

And then out came Twister


Winston helping Grammy with the spin wheel

Wesley and Charlie worked out on the trampoline while Jim and Grammy played Twister

Our family Christmas photo with the only child (Winston) that would sit through the 3 seconds it took to take it.