Catching up with the Raymonds

It's been too long, so I won't even try to document our comings and goings chronologically. But here's what we've been up to since I last posted...

• Christmas in Ohio! We drove to the motherland, got lots of face-time with family, and scored some loot. I got Scott some nice headphones. Bruce got plenty of Legos. Phoebe got lots of firefighter stuff. Oliver got a few toys. Scott got me some awesome mom jeans (high waist, mile-high fly, a bit short on the leg...); they may not look so awesome on the outside, but they are lined with flannel, so I am totally wearing them all winter. 
• The Drive Home. Scott had to fly back to Boston to work after Christmas, but I stayed with the kids for a few more days of fun (and Cousin Camp at an indoor water park!). I started the drive on New Year's Eve; it snowed for a few hours and I got lost in the boonies of Pennsylvania, but we eventually made it to Anika's house! We stayed there for the night, got a New Year's Day run in the morning, and then drove the rest of the way to Boston in nice weather.

• Firehouse Saturday! It has been on my bucket list for awhile to take Phoebe to the Boston Fire Museum. It's one of those dinky museums that has limited hours and is run by volunteers (retired firefighters in this case). Bruce loved playing with a switchboard, Phoebe got to pull a fire alarm, and Oliver slept through the entire thing. We also went to Firehouse Subs for the first time for some grilled cheese sandwiches and firefighter hats. 
• The Plague entered our house. When we got back from Ohio, Oliver started throwing up. Then Phoebe. Then Bruce. Scott wins the medal for cleaning up most of the barf. While Phoebe had surprisingly good aim in the bucket, Bruce missed in epic fashion. He had the bucket next to him in bed because he wasn't feeling well when he went to bed, but he woke up and leaned over the side of his loft bed, and let loose the contents of his stomach all over the Lego-covered rug/ walls/ ladder to his bed/everywhere. He is really out of it at nighttime. 
• Creepy sleep-walking Bruce. Speaking of being out of it, Bruce occasionally has sleep-walking episodes. He will walk out of his room, turn on lights, say really weird things, act really strange, and then not remember any of it in the morning. I grabbed the camera for his most recent episode. I thought he'd be embarrassed by it, but he thought it was hilarious when he saw it the next morning and said I should post it on the blog. So here it is: he is scared of his bathrobe, wonders why we have it or his bed or something, and says he hates the bathrobe but wants to get inside it...

• Hosted a Blood Drive. I organize and coordinate blood drives at church every few months. It's kindof a pain to get people to sign up, but it is always worth the hassle. Whenever I hear the I-don't-like-needles excuse, I shrug. I know what that's like, but you're really going to let that stop you from helping someone out?! 
• Marathon training! Yep, it has begun. I am excited, but also nervous. I was counting on Oliver breastfeeding a bit less by this point, but he still wants me every third hour or so. Just give him a bottle, you say? Nope, he won't accept imitation: he wants the real deal. That might make long runs tricky - maybe I need a pit stop with a jug of Gatorade and a hungry baby. Someone suggested I get La Leche League to sponsor me and have a designated breastfeeding stop on the marathon course. Classy.
• Bruce started piano lessons again. He had an awesome teacher awhile ago, then a not-quite-as-awesome teacher that moved so slowly he was getting bored, then no teacher because I didn't want to trek around town to lessons with a new baby. Throughout it all, Bruce has been great at practicing on his own and has really improved his skills. When he met his new teacher, he played a few songs for her. At one point he started beat-boxing while playing and his teacher said, "Is that beat-boxing?! Genius!"
• Skiing! Winter is upon us, so we took advantage of the snow and headed to a tiny ski resort. I hung out with Oliver in the lodge, Scott taught Phoebe to ski, and Bruce flew down the bunny hills about a million times. He is fluent with the T-bar.

• Oliver is growing up and looking more and more like a little boy. He loves watching himself in the mirror, watching Bruce and Phoebe anytime, eating (especially when others are eating), and playing peek-a-boo and other little games.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Monster

I've created a monster...

But he is a very cute monster.