Jolly Giant

Ewan just had his 9 month checkup this morning...and he continues to be monster sized!! He is even more off the charts in height than before!!! Perhaps in just a couple years he'll be towering over me letting me know when my gray hairs are coming in!!

Anyway, our "little" man is now 31.75 inches tall (off the charts of course) and weight 22lb 7oz (75-90%). So he grew up and his head grew, he only gained a few ounces in the past three months!!!!! That means of course that he's just getting taller and thinning out.

He continues to have a couple minor nagging problems. I've got to go get a couple prescriptions this afternoon. If they don't work we may need to see a specialist or two, but it's all minor. We should have known after he had surgery at only two months old he would be our "problem" child!! He's actually extremely adorable and we can't get enough of him!!

Indoor Playland Fun

Ewan enjoying the swing!!


Check us out!!



The slide is a great car ramp!!!

When we returned from the mountains we were greeted with several large boxes on the front porch. A couple were dirt bike goodies for Daddy....and two were for the boys. Turns out Grandma and Grandpa sent them an indoor playland and extra balls for the ball pit. The boys say a big THANKS!!

It's pretty big so we had to put it in the bonus room. So now the room we didn't intend to become a playroom is now a partial playroom. It is still the grown up room too!!

When Josh put the playland together Jack was thrilled to play in the ball pit. It was so much fun....of course that now means having to clean up balls! Then the next day Daddy made the slide really fun by putting baby powder on it...they slid right down! Plus Jack discovered that the slide makes a great ramp for his cars. WAY COOL!!

The biggest challenge is that now I've got to watch them closely since the bonus room is not child proof and never will be. In my spare time I'll put away some of the biggest temptations, but it's just impossible to make it completely safe. Jack already found his finger paints when I was putting Ewan in the swing and opened them up!! I'll just keep a close eye on them....my adorable little troublemakers!!

Fun at the Deuce

Enjoying tractor time!!


Mr. Smiles at the park.



Mr. I Look Good at the park.



Mama and the boys climbing around in the park.

Mama and the boys at the park.

Josh had to go to Virginia for work so the boys and I headed up to the Deuce for fun with Oma. We arrived Monday morning and played with Opa before he had to leave for the Ace. The boys had a blast playing with Opa and Oma. It's great to see them spending quality time together and having so much fun.

We pretty much took it easy while we were there. We went to our absolutely favorite park twice. Jack loves it there, and Ewan had a fun time too. Jack can now actually do things by himself there now. He loves the slides and the bouncy bridges there. Both boys love the swings.

We enjoyed going out to dinner Monday at an Italian restaurant. Jack really liked it...he got a three course meal off the kids' menu!!! He got carrot dippers, a cheese pizza and ice cream with chocolate sauce. YUMMY! What a treat! We also liked the new cafe in town for breakfast. They have good bagels!

Other than that is was playing at the house and a short shopping trip....to O.P. Taylor's of course! Oma got the boys a new John Deere farm set to keep at the Deuce and I got them a shape sorting train and car track set. We also hit a couple other stores and just had fun. It wouldn't be a trip to Brevard without going to the bakery too!!! Jack loves their cookies and Oma and I love the pesto baguette!

ENTERTAINING DALRYMPLE BOY ADVENTURES AT THE DEUCE:

Oma was doing laundry and when the buzzer on the dryer went off Jack yelled CUPCAKE!!! He did it again when it buzzed a second time and also when he heard the water run for the shower. I have absolutely no idea how he came up with this. He's never baked cupcakes and when the oven buzzer at home goes off he just yells UH OH!!

Ewan tossed his paci in the toilet just as I was flushing! Luckily no backup or trouble. We just assume his paci is swimming around in the septic tank!!

COUSINS!!!

Friday afternoon Jack and Ewan's cousins and Aunt and Uncle came by for a short visit (left late Saturday morning). Jack was thrilled to see his cousins. I don't think he really remembers them from other times he's seen them, but he loved playing with them! Better yet, they all had a slumber party and Jack thought the bed in the bonus room was really cool!!

The girls and Jack enjoyed helping Josh make pizza for dinner. It's become a tradition....anytime the girls are with Josh he HAS to make pizza for dinner. It's quite fun and Jack enjoys "helping" too.


Notice Jack's flour moustache!! The girls are working forming the crust.



Ashley is doing a great job with her crust!



After everyone slept well...both boys until 8 AM.....we enjoyed a blueberry pancake breakfast. It was yummy!!!

Jack learned the hard way that the griddle gets hot! I warmed him that it was hot and not to touch it, but as soon as I turned my back he put his hand on it. He recovered quickly though. He kept eating the blueberries before I could even get them in the pancakes!

Ewan had fun with his cousins too. Ashley and Kristen helped watch him while I was fixing pancakes. He was crawling all over the place as usual. He is getting much more mobile and likes to walk if we hold his hands. He is also starting to cruise on the furniture. We'll have to wait and see when he starts walking!! Life will never be the same after that I'm sure...both boys running in opposite directions!

Not much else new going on with the Dalrymple Clan. Ewan recovered from his eye infection, though it is starting to get a little red again. He was thrilled when his eye drops were done...though I may start again.

Jack is all over the place!! Today we went shoe shopping and enjoyed the tax free holiday. Somehow we got 4 pairs of shoes and none were for me!!! Josh got two pairs and Jack got two pairs! Jack got some sneakers for the fall....already sizes 9.5 and 10!!!! That boy has got some BIG feet!!!!!!

Ewan had a bad reaction to Motrin earlier in the week. He got hives but is now recovered. Like I've said before, we always have something going on!!

Today after naps we'll go play with our neighbor. Their son is just weeks younger than Jack so it should be great fun...especially with the sprinkler. Jack LOVES the water!!

The Dalrymple Brothers

Part of the hype with this year's Tour de France was the Schleck brothers. Well we've decided we've got the next big thing....the Dalrymple brothers could be riding the Tour together in 20 years or so!!!

Jack was sad to see the Tour de France come to an end. He LOVED watching the Tour, he would wake up and point to the TV and say "bike"!! He LOVES bikes, "bike cool" or "bike vroom vroom" are some of his favorite new sayings.

Well ever since Jack was born I've looked for shirts with bikes on them and recently found one with motorcycles for Ewan which are close to bicycles. Anyway, while surfing the net one day I came across some bike shirts on the Gap site.

And off we were. Unfortunately there is not a Baby Gap in Columbia anymore so we would have to go out of town. Oma and I didn't want to pay shipping so after calling a few places we wound up in Charlotte. I had them hold the right sizes for me and off we were. Now, you must be questioning us already. Isn't gas for the road trip more than shipping?? Of course, but we do love a good road trip!!! Plus we stopped by Costco on the way home so that justified the trip.

We got to the store and picked up the shirts. We switched sizes for Jack...the 2T just didn't look like it would fit long at all. They were out of 3T so a 4T it was! Seems I wasn't the only one looking for a bike shirt...they only had 2 left after we bought our two!!! So 2 bike shirts and a pair of flip flops for Jack on Oma's gift card for the boys and off we were. We were at Southpark, a mall we love...but with kids it just isn't the same. So we fed Ewan and sat at the water fountain for a while which Jack loved.

Then the real justification of the trip....lunch at Cheesecake Factory!! And it was fate, National Cheesecake Day (half price on all cheesecake desserts)!!! Needless to say we got dessert. Jack enjoyed both pieces, but once he got a spoon of whipped cream that is all he wanted. He is my boy.....dairy state boy at heart!!!!

So off to Costco we went. It was a relatively short time there. We didn't need much and got in and out without any episodes. But at the car we had a crisis. I opened the back so Oma could put everything in the car and went to the driver's seat to start the car and turn on the A/C. The car wouldn't start....panic sets in as I have two little boys who are getting hot and ready for naps. I call Josh and he says it's some security issue, check the manual for a sequence....blah, blah, blah. I remind him about the part that fell out earlier when I was driving. He says that shouldn't effect anything...but I try to put it in anyway. Anything to avoid looking in the manual and getting under the dash!! Low and behold the car starts after I put it in. Seems the previous owner had an extra security measure put in...take this part out and the car won't start!!

So homeward bound we were! What a day! Anyway, we now have our cool bike shirts and the boys wore them this morning for a photo....the lighting was horrible and the picture isn't great, but I'm posting it anyway because I'm just too impatient to wait to take a better picture when the lighting improves!

In other weekly news....Ewan had a visit to the doctor Tuesday. He has an eye infection. So now I have the pleasure of giving him two drops in his eye every 4 hours! He just loves me for that!!! We're almost halfway through the 7 day run of this. But we still consider ourselves lucky....Jack has never had a doctor's visit other than his well visits and Ewan only two... this eye infection and his pyloric stenosis. Not too bad considering most other kids seem to get everything!!