Okay, I know it has been way too long since my last entry when my brother, not really known in our family for either his observation skills or his punctuality (sorry PJ), points out that it has really been some time since I put up any photos of the boys. So, since I apparently have not been giving my brother the credit he is due for keeping up on the fascinating lives of his nephews, I would like to dedicate this blog entry to PJ, who can here enjoy some quality time with his nephews without all that annoying running, yelling, crying and pounding the floor with a hammer at 6 a.m. (ah yes, that was a fun vacation.....)



The above picture was supposed to be of Fraser and his new reusable shopping bag which he takes to the local farm stand to pick out his snack (this is far more adorable than the teenage girl working at the stand seems to appreciate). However, as with pretty much everything these days, if Fraser is doing something then Hammie wants to get in on the action. As a result there is much arguing over toys in our house, a trend I don't see changing anytime soon.


This next picture is Fraser in his cool new Middlebury sweatshirt that my college advisor sent him. The magazine next to him is actually the Middlebury Magazine, which he had been flipping through moments before. I tried to get him to pick it up again so I could get a picture of that too, but, as with pretty much everything these days, Fraser decided it was much more fun to be completely disagreeable and refuse to do anything I asked him to.

Last Saturday we went to Davis Farmland, which was lots of fun despite the ridiculous number of people there and the fact that Fraser was far more interested in being pushed around in the stroller that in basically anything else. Fraser's favorite thing was, by far, the tractors, closely followed by the water park. He also really liked holding his cup of feed, though he wasn't too thrilled about giving it out to the animals. When we demanded that he share his food he took one tiny piece out at a time and held it in his finger tips for the

animals to eat. More than one animal was looking over at me that day with the expression. "Is this kid freaking kidding me?"



Hammie really enjoyed the animals (he was even okay with the goat who put Hammie's entire hand into his mouth) and the water park (even when Fraser "accidentally" sprayed Hammie in the face). Unfortunately what he really did not enjoy was his lunch (he still strongly dislikes jarred baby food) and after freaking out because he was hungry and then rubbing his chicken and stars all over his face instead of eating them, he wasn't in the best mood. Luckily he passed out in the stroller shortly thereafter, which provided us with a little peace and allowed him to miss seeing the pig that was named after him.


In other news, Hammie is now trying to climb everything in the house like a monkey with ADD. He hasn't yet attempted to pull himself up on any of the pets (no doubt this will be his next trick) but he has already attempted to go up the stairs. Sweet. Back to the land of a thousand baby gates. Last week Hammie was trying to push a laundry basket across the floor but, since it was full of laundry and fairly heavy, he really just stood there lifting his knees to the side and putting his feet back in the exact same place like a tiny angry sumo wrestler. A few days later he got a hold of Fraser's little folding lawn chair and managed to push that forward about 2 steps until Andy walked in and surprised Hammie, who promptly fell on his face.


Yes, I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to the learning to walk phase again. Although it is very exciting, and I will be happy for Hammie when he has a slightly better chance of keeping up with Fraser, I'm not looking forward to all the falling, crying and bleeding which is I know will follow.

Fraser's speech is really improving dramatically now. He is trying all sorts of new words and repeating pretty much everything everyone says (yes, that is good and bad). I will try to get a video of him talking so I can post it up here soon, but as his "no camera mama!" phase is still in full swing, that is easier said than done.

I'm down at my parents' house in New York this week while the painter finishes grinding all the paint off our house, so PJ, I'm afraid this will have to be enough of a nephew fix for you, for at least a little while. Enjoy!