Labor Day Weekend

A quick recap of our Labor day weekend....

Over the weekend, Suri had the opportunity to see what life would be like if she had a little brother. Little Max came to stay with us for a couple of nights and Suri was super excited to have a play mate, as long as he wasn't held, fed, rocked, or talked to by her Mommy! chuckle chuckle. Yes, we had a bit of an adjustment period initially learning to share her Mommy but after she realized there was more than enough love to go around, she was happy to share her toys as well as her Mommy (sort of). Max soon realized that life with Suri could get pretty busy and he was going to have to be quick if he wanted something! He was as easy going as it gets and it was fun to have a baby around again to love and snuggle. One short year ago, Suri was his age... wow, time flys.





A bed full of little animals!
Suri and Max both had the same Scout stuffed puppy dog : )





Max and Scout

We decided to spend the first day of our long weekend at the Children's Museum of Phoenix. There was so much to see and do that we will have to come back a few more times to be able to experience all it has to offer. With toddlers, nap time dictates when the fun is over, even if it is sooner than later...
(on a side note, I tried to take as many photos as I could however it was a bit difficult to juggle a camera and chase after 2 kiddos under the age of 2!  For all the mommies out there that have 2 children under 24 months, I applaud you 10 fold! ha.)

getting ready to go into the Children's Museum

Max fascinated with the ball blowing contraption

Noodle fun

Catching flying scarves

Ehhh... you want me to climb all the way up there...???
Max was thinking, whoa, did you know this floor has holes in it!

Aunt Lindsay following the kids up the tree house of wire

Max is catching on to walking up the ramps

Jackson, Aunt Lindsay, Tarja and Amalia joined us for the morning. They stayed longer than we did but we were all able to spend some time together initially.

Jackson made his way up faster than the rest of us could



Flying bathtub



Back to the balls

catching flying scarves

The air was blowing in Suri's face

King of Drool : )

Suri and Amalia

Making straw instruments

Cutting the tip of the straw makes a "straw instrument" when you blow it : )



Instead of letting Max play with scissors, I figured he could have a snack break. He didn't seem to mind too much :)

 Imagine a room with a life size tree in the middle that kids can paint at their leisure... now, imagine the nightmare of paint that mommy has to clean up after 2 little munchkins splattered paint everywhere BUT on the tree. . . . ahhh, these are the days, right?  (thankfully, all the purple paint washed out every thing it touched).

Painting a giant tree

Tasting the paint

Pinching the little boy.... before she BIT him :(

Well, we made it a couple of hours before Suri decided to bite another child out of frustration. She was getting tired and the museum was getting crowded. She was becomming a bit overwhelmed and when the little boy didn't understand that she wanted his ice cream scooper, she decided to grab his wrist, pinch him and then bite him. I was mortified as there I was, holding Max in one arm, trying to take a photo of my darling little daughter as through the camera lense, I witness the CHOMP. Uggh.... Suri Rose. What am I going to do with you. As I immediately rushed to the little boys side to apologize to him when after I told him I was so sorry that Suri bit him, he looked at me and said, "thats okay, I think she just wanted a bite of icecream".... well, I think not, but I let him believe that anyway....

After scolding Suri for biting, I told her we were now leaving. She immediately proceeded to scream "sorry boy", "sorry". . . this phrase was repeated over and over as we exited the museum. ( coupled with arching, kicking, screaming, and flailing her arms and legs about). Max just watched in silence.... ha.

Once we were back home and the kids had taken a good nap, Suri asked to paint again. I try to do art with her a few times per week now that she isn't in daycare. I want her to continue to learn and explore as much as possible. I allowed her to paint while she was listening to her therapeutic music, as when she is listening to it, her concentration lasts much longer than if she we not listening to it. Both of the kids had a blast painting. Max was fascinated with the finger paints. Not quite sure what to do at first but after watching Suri smear it all around, he caught on quickly. We then had paint of the table, on the chair, a bit on the dogs and the rug. Some on the tile and the door and a bit on the PAPER : )  Oh the joys of toddlers " )

Back at home... painting in the comfort of the living room

Max's first time painting

watercolors

After the painting extravaganza... it was time to go play in the hose : )

Way Cool

Max having a conversation with Sager

Tubbie time

Going for a stroll before bed

Thanks for coming to play Max. We had a fun time!

After Max went back to his parents, Suri and I headed over to Grandpa's house to go swimming with Jackson. Suri was so excited to see him and they both had fun in the pool.

Cousin love

Shannon, Suri and Jackson

Nice Cannon Ball Jackson!

Me and Nuggs

No fear Suri

Here it is 10pm already... the weekend flew by faster that it arrived and I will be looking at Monday before I know it. It was one year ago on Labor Day that Mom passed away. I definitely completed my mission in trying to stay busy as to keep my mind off remembering back to Mom's final night in the Emergency Room however the memory still weighs heavily on my heart whenever I have a moment to actually stop and think. I look at Suri and Jackson and our family as a whole and am amazed at much life has changed since her passing. I feel that life has changed more these past 2 years than it ever did in a 2 year time span when Mom was alive. Maybe it is just my perspective but it definitely feels like reality. When Mom passed away Jackson was about the same age as Suri is now. Jackson seems to still remember his Grandma Diane even though he seemed so young when she passed. His memory of her emphasizes to me how important building strong relationships with Suri is as she will definitely remember those whom she loves. Children know so much more than we sometimes give them credit for.

I plan to take Suri and spend some time out at Green acres this Thursday, as the 6th will officially be Mom's 2 year anniversary. I still have a difficult time coming to terms that Mom has been gone 2 years. My life is definitely different than it used to be but the pain of losing my Mom remains the same. Im so thankful for my family and friends and being able to be together with them is priceless.

We had a wonderful Labor Day weekend and I am definitely looking forward to some cooler weather this coming fall!