School's out for summah!

Yesterday was Master Hank's last day of school. The year has flown by and Hank has grown up so much it's kind of scary.  He is now a pretty well regulated (most of the time) little boy who speaks in full sentences, has an amazing imagination and loves hanging out with his Frog friends (his class at school).  It was a bittersweet goodbye to the teachers, with Maman tearing up as we left the school.  Hank seems clueless that the year is done and he won't be back with the same teacher, class or school next year.  Perhaps that is for the best...

First day...

Last day...

We are kicking summer off this Saturday with a week long trip to Monty La Mont (that's Montreal to the rest of you) with the entire Mailloux clan to celebrate my parents' laudable accomplishment of reaching 40 years of marriage. 

We'll have lots of pics when we get back. Happy summer everyone! 

Summer snapshots...

First and second mates out on the Bay...

Wow, time for a hair cut!

Hank and Dylan (our nanny's son and Hank's favorite playmate) getting ready to watch a movie...

Gus's first swing!  

Is there a better way...

To celebrate pride month than to attend your first gay wedding? None, I say, none!

From TheWeek.com

Matt and I have just returned from New York where we attended my dear friend Andy's wedding to his lovely partner Arturo. We had a great time meeting all of their nearest and dearest and were honored to be included in the festivities. Andy is a very special person whom I grew close to almost 10 years ago when we worked together at BBDO. We spent almost a month together in Cape Town, SA, shooting Snickers spots (completely unnecessarily, but we had made the argument to the client that their savings in talent costs would outweigh the cost of the trip). We had a great time while we were there and have been good friends ever since.

The fact that Andy has found happiness with Arturo is a joyful event in more ways than one - his previous partner, Beau, passed away 5 years ago very suddenly after contracting the flesh eating disease.  It was a tragic and shocking loss.  Beau's family has essentially adopted Andy, and vice versa, and it was so nice to see them this weekend and witness their support of Andy's new relationship. 

The high point of the weekend was the actual ceremony held Saturday night at the Norwood Club. Andy and Arturo had a civil ceremony on Friday afternoon so their Saturday big event was more of a formality.  Except that it was anything but formal. One of New York's finest drag queens, Hedda Lettuce, officiated the exchange of vows and put on quite a show in the process. The whole evening was silly, fun and bawdy, just like Andy and Arturo. 

The Reverend Hedda Lettuce

Hedda and the boys...

We always love a jaunt up to New York and had a lovely weekend doing all the things we love to do there - walking in Central Park, eating Laduree macarons, getting my hair cut by someone who knows how to cut hair (imagine!), strolling through the West Village and SoHo, and eating yummy food!  The weather was perfect and it was one of those weekends when you wish living in New York was actually this easy. 

Central Park perfection...

Sweet treats from Laduree

Only in New York can you wake up to painted pianos in the Lincoln Center plaza for the public to play

Lucky for us we get to come back next weekend for a 40th birthday party!! 

Potty Power! And other general updates...

Well, we finally sucked it up and decided to dive into potty training this past weekend, kamikaze "3 Day Method" style.  This approach requires the child to be naked from the waist down for 3 days straight. You fill them with salty snacks and lots of liquids until they can "recognize the feeling" and learn when to go to the potty. Once the act is completed you shower them with rewards. It is a combination of shame, bodily manipulation and bribery that really seems to work!

It also requires that the entire family essentially remain house bound for 3 days which is a tall order for us Kellys.  We are out of town at least one weekend a month and usually more, so when we are here, we tend to be overbooked with errands and social commitments.  We have frankly been too lazy/scared to attempt this in the past. This weekend was a rare one where we had no plans at all, and it is the last one that we will be in DC until mid-July so we thought we should take advantage of it or risk starting another school year in diapers.

I'm a very proud to report to young Hank took to the potty like a natural!  Sure, we had an accident here and there and we still have some hang ups about doing certain, ahem, things in the potty but overall he did very well.  This was all proven out by today's miraculous day at school spent in underwear with no accidents at all!! Matt and I are so proud of our little guy who suddenly seems less like a "big boy" and more like a big kid.  I can literally see him growing up right before my eyes.

In other and no less impressive news, Gus has made some major developmental strides himself in the past month.  He is crawling like an expert (meaning super fast and aggressively, which scares his parents a bit) and has recently had his two top front teeth come in.  Along with these two physical changes has come an attitude change.  Our happy go lucky, chill little baby is suddenly feisty.  He goes after what he wants and if he doesn't get it, watch out!  His relationship with Hank has changed too - they are having a great time together and I often walk in on them giggling to themselves about something that is beyond me.  It is most likely that one of them cracked a joke at my expense.  I suppose I should get used to that...

Hank rockin' his undies! 

Oh yeah, we love our tandem stroller. 

This child is actually asleep.  Standing up. 

This picture requires no caption. 

Memorial Day 2013

This post is about a week too late, but hey, I've already written it.

We headed down to Rosemary Beach, Florida once again for this past Memorial Day weekend. We were there for spring break back in March and didn't get to fully enjoy all the area had to offer since it was freezing. This time the weather was awesome, mid 80's and not horribly humid. Gus went swimming for the first time apparently quite enjoys it, as does Hank. He was ALL about swimming this weekend and was exhausted at the end of each day thanks for his efforts.

What would have been an otherwise blissful trip was marred by two incidents:

1. On day one Hank managed to get a rather large splinter lodged in the ball of his foot. In spite of our wishful thinking that it might just come out in its own, it did not. What ensued was traumatic to all involved. Picture Matt holding Hank down as Hank did his best impression of a bucking bronco. Meanwhile, I have a death grip on the wounded foot and am trying to open a passage for the splinter with a needle. It probably took all of 3 mins to extract the thing but it felt like a lifetime as Hank begged us to let him go, to stop hurting him, etc. We promptly superglued a pair of shoes to his feet once the splinter was removed.

2. After a nice dinner out a deux on our final night, Matt and I retired to bed for a good night's rest. At some point in the middle of the night we were woken by Gus crying in a distressed manner. I went in to his room and picked him up. He proceeded to throw up over my shoulder, and down my back. Calm upset baby, change clothing, allow them to fall asleep next to you. Repeat every 30 mins. The poor child was miserable with a fever the next day too, which happened to coincide with our travel home.

Other than that the trip was a success! Hope you all had a nice first long weekend if the summer, wherever you were!

Xoxo

Gus having fun with Daddy's toes...

Check out Hank's sweet ride!

Beautiful beach time...

What two hours in a pool can do to a 3 year old...