1st half of 2010

I write this listening to the rain fall in the Catskills Mountains at my in-laws' sweet summer pad. The boys are taking lovely long naps because they are sick (of course they're sick on vacation. Why should a "holiday" be anything other than a nice way of saying "den of pestilence?") but otherwise we're all having a relaxing, fun time. Since the last post, all the Ivers have been generally content and healthy. As usual, we are busy and full of tom-foolery. Just the other day, I sang the boys You are my Sunshine first thing in the morning, the last line being "please don't take my sunshine away." Immediately, Oliver shouted "I take your sunshine away," grabbed at the air, and then gobbled the imaginary sunshine down.


















The most important and all-consuming thing the boys have learned since the last post is about their "Peen-ooses." Thankfully, our long and incredibly detailed conversations about the male genitalia have taken place at home. I've always heard that boys are a little fond of this area, but I had no idea HOW FOND. I mean, wow. Mostly, they start at bath time with an innocuous query such as "Mommy, you have peen-oos?" When I reply in the negative, they are sorely disappointed. The kooky part is when they then proceed through a list of friends, family, acquaintances, animals, furniture, etc., to ascertain who the lucky bearers of peen-ooses are, and who are the unfortunates living sad and shriveled lives without this admirable appendage. The pinnacle of this conversation happened when Liam wanted to know which dogs of our acquaintance had a peen-oos. He was (obviously) saddened to learn that Pickles (Lauren and Erik's dog) is without. So Liam adroitly said "Pickles no have a peen-oos. He have a gina." Now we just need to work on feminine and masculine pronouns.















Oliver and Liam also have some fun ways of using language now that they're exploring it. Liam will say "buckle me in" and also "buckle me out." Another interesting turn is "upside-down" and then "up-side up." They've started to say "I" instead of "my" when appropriate (ie: My eat the sunshine- is now- I eat the sunshine.) One morning, Oliver saw his dad sleeping, and then he saw a photo of his dad and said "Daddy woke up in the picture!"

They absolutely love to sing. Even last night during their illness, Liam and Oliver regaled us through dinner time with every song they could think of. Take me out to the Ballgame is a fan favorite. However, the (simultaneously) most hilarious and disturbing song they sing is the Sanskrit invocation to Anusara Yoga-- starting with chanting Om. I suppose this puts Amy and Chris firmly into hippy territory. But never fear! We still use disposable diapers! And our boys are eons away from using the potty!

One evening as Liam was attempting to sing Twinkle Twinkle, Oliver kept interrupting by shouting "row, row, row your boat!" That Oliver is quite a little jokester. Even last night when Tia Lu was playing with him, he poked her and said "I turned you off."

Liam has developed a penchant for directing, conducting, and managing people and events. He cocks a finger and firmly makes his orders known. Generally, he'll tell one something like "I be right back OOH KAY?" with a special shake of the pointer finger during the ok part. He sure is a talkative fellow--and I have no idea where he got these traits.

An alarming trend has also started: generally while I am being absolutely negligent, I hear a thud or smack from another room that sounds like a 29ish pound human falling onto various surfaces. Then, I hear a sweet little voice yell "My be careful, Mom!"

And now the summary of the past six months:

During January, my Dad turned some absurd age (absurd when you take into account how he looks). Nevertheless, Happy Birthday Dad! We also had a sweet visit from Zio Jonathan early in the month, which the boys adored. At the end of his visit, the Greatest Aunt Nancy ever showed up to play with the boys, and Chris, Amy and Jonathan were able to go out to a restaurant. Thanks Aunt Nance!

In February, Dina, Harry and Simon Marenstein showed up for a long weekend so that the three boys could trash our home. Over and over again. We all ate good food, went to the Strong Museum of Play, watched the Olympics, and generally let the boys entertain us. Liam and Oliver still don't let people sit in "Simon's chair" at our table.

We also had a ruckus ski party for Lauren's famous birthday. Another happy happy bday to my sis Sarah and our Friend Rachel.

In March, we celebrated the heck out of St. Patrick's Day. One weekend Liam and Oliver went to the St. Paddy's Day Parade party at Tia Lu's and Uncle Ick's (although the parade was a rain-out.) The following weekend the boys partied at Nancy and Ben's annual St. Paddy's Day bash--please note the wee Oliver leprauchan donning the Guinness hat.

Roghan Foster turned the big THREE! this year and had a fantastic party at a gym. Happy birthday!

Keith and mom-to-be Annette Pellerin came to Geneseo for a lovely afternoon where Keith was able to test out his board book reading skills. (We're waiting for the good news, guys!)

April was quite a busy month. The boys were treated with visits from Aunt Nancy, Maggie and Dan, and Aunt Moogan. We had a wonderful Easter celebration at the Ivers home where we were able to spend time with the extended Pellerin family, the Funkes, and the boys' BFF Cameron. Cam taught them a love of the trap set, and I think Oliver has set his sights on becoming Ringo Star.

The most exciting time they had, though, was when their father went to South Carolina to visit David, Siri, Matt, and Mimi, Mom was gone for a Yoga Immersion, and Tia Lu and Uncle Ick came to babysit for the weekend. They made monster costumes, and got to play with Gammy and Pop-Pop and their cousins Johnny and Andy!

Happy birthday to about a million people in April, including Chris who is now spitting on fourty. And should not go on unsupervised vacations with David and Matt. At the very least they need a safety officer.

In May, the weather broke and Liam and Oliver were ecstatic to get out and about. We went on a gorgeous quest to find the famous Genesee Valley bluebells with chairman Tania and her poor, poor gorgeous Giorgis family. The photos belie the horrors of the trip; although Scott and I will admit when we're both in a good mood that the rewards were pretty cool.

I had my big Culture Night at school and the boys made a splash with my high school students. We had a lovely Mother's day with the Ivers in Geneseo--we went to Tom Wahls for an elegant meal with a group of our friends. Nothing says love your momma like fried food.

The Geneseo Bear Fountain restoration project finished this month and the boys attended a Bear Parade and a picnic in the park. Congrats Kurt!

The big event at the end of May was a fortieth wedding anniversary party for Jim and Barb Ivers (Babcia and Grampy) at their home in the Catskills over the Memorial Day weekend. Jim and Barb's closest friends and family came from far and near for a weekend-long celebration of their anniversary, and also the Funke and Pellerin anniversaries. We ate well, drank well, sang well (or not so well after the drinking), and played well. Check out the quilt Judy, Pat and Caryl made! Congrats!

June, as per usual, was crazy. The boys enjoyed a visit from Aunt Nancy, who took them to see Steve, Lisa and Paige Brent. Chris and I went to the APOG wine and beer tasting, an annual event I'd love to tell you about but can't seem to remember. Ask Dan Repinski for details.

Chris, Scott and I did a triathlon at Conesus lake: 1 mile swim, 18.5 mile bike, 5k run. Beautiful! Lauren and Erik joined us for the bike (they had done the Keuka triathlon the week before) and then we had a sweet lunch with good friends afterwards. My parents were kind enough to take Liam and Oliver for the WHOLE WEEKEND!!!! I can't believe we squandered the time with a tri--we're such dorks.

We found a house we want to move to and purchased it contingent on selling our home. Again. It's right in the village of Geneseo and we hope it works this time.

Happy Bday, Tony.

Happy Bday, Logan.

Father's day consisted of Chris sailing with Kurt, Tony and Scott on Lake Ontario. The conversation that ensued after consisted of why I, Amy, NEED a large sailboat. Thanks, Kurt.

At the end of school we took the boys and Aunt Nancy to Pittsburgh for a wonderful weekend with my brother Joe, Aunt Katie, and Johnny and Andy. We hung out with Pop-Pop and Gammy, Tia Lu and Uncle Ick, and Sarah and Jake. Joe and Katie's new home is fantastic and we had so much fun watching all of our boys climb around it! We all got to see Sarah and Jake's sweet new pad in the city as well--looking good, guys!

Happy 6th birthday Johnny! Happy 3rd birthday Andy! Happy 44th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Finally, the last two days of daycare for the boys were great. On Tuesday, there was a graduation ceremony from the toddler room. Our boys made a fantastic stage debut as rocks. Just to be clear, they were supposed to be singing songs, but instead decided to stand as still as two small boulders with clamped mouths. So much for the stage.

Wednesday, the whole class went to a local dairy farm to see the cows. Tia Lu joined us and the boys have yet to stop talking about how fantastic the farm is. When asked what a cow says, Oliver now answers "mayonnaise!"

Some shout outs from the first half of 2010:

• Scott Giorgis and Dori Farthing were both awarded tenure in the SUNY Geneseo Geology Department. Scott also won the Chancellor's Award for teaching. WOWZERS!
• Keith Jones got his PhD!!!!! Congrats, Dr. Jones, and good luck teaching at Trinity.
• Jen and Dana Dechau had healthy twin boys!
• Nancy Mahlen made it through her first year of teaching in the inner-city while taking graduate classes (again). Huge achievement, Nance--you rock!
• Ben Laabs is almost done with his two-month Geology adventure to save the world. Happy Bday, friend.
• Megan and Eric adopted a darling little Pollywog dog.
• Aunt Kathie McGinley retired! Have fun!
• Sarah Scherer is back in school and enjoying it!
• Jonathan Ivers finished his first year of grad school at Cornell.
• Geoffrey Bartholomew was denied the best imaginary cup of coffee Oliver and Liam have ever made, but he did get a pretty sweet good-night hug. Good to see you.

Happy Summer!!