Running on fumes

A smiling Noah is a fun Noah.

As we approach the end (hopefully) of YBHA VII, the boys are wearing down.

We all get up a little later in the morning, are a little crankier with each other and just ready to have the boss back in the house. We can manage our time alone, but after a while, we need to have our family all together. They need Mom. But don’t we all?

Thursday was one of those days where all of those factors were in play.

Noah needs to have some one-on-one time. He just hadn’t been getting it this week. I try to spend time with him, but it doesn’t always work out the way he likes and I think he feels cheated. He likes his mommy. Noah melted while leaving his day care and when we got home before supper. And then there’s the boy who DIDN’T have a nap today. But Levi was in good spirits despite his lack of shuteye.

Ice cream solves many problems.

To help break up the routine, we called in a little help. Grandma and Grandpa Freeseman came over for a short time this evening.

Noah wanted to color. I can’t help him color while Levi is around. Levi wants to color as well and that just doesn’t work. Sometimes the two can get along fine with an activity, but for now, they usually end in one hitting the other, a squeal or wrestling each other.

Boys. You gotta love ‘em.

Following the coloring session, we had a little ice cream. That seemed to do the trick for Noah who was most notably happier when he had people paying full attention to him. It may not be a medical fact, but ice cream is known to make many problems go away.

Levi likes to play in the sand.

While Noah colored, Levi and I stayed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. We played in the sand box.

My 20-month-old is starting to test boundaries. He’s throwing sand or hitting his brother or just saying “no-no” a lot when we ask him to do something.

This has been a big week for the boys at school. It is the final week of being in their current rooms. Come Tuesday, they’ll be moving up and onward to new rooms and new teachers. Levi has struggled a bit this week as he’s become attached to his caretakers. One of them will be moving on, so that will ease the transition.

Noah will go into the kindergarten room this summer. They pretty much go on field trips all summer. A fun summer is in store for him.

A great day for baseball.

One trip they won’t be taking is to Principal Park to see the Iowa Cubs. We would have lost him today if he was at the park. It was the biggest crowd of the season, 10,000 plus were they and they mostly arrived by school bus.

it was a great day to take in a ball game. My co-worker Julie Knutson wanted to take in a day game this year and this date worked. So, when the sun came out and clouds parted, we knew we’d timed it just right. Even if we missed the first part of the game because traffic was snarled.

We also had fun because another co-worker, Dave Feingold, joined us. He loves to be outdoors on a nice day as well. So we all burned a little vacation/comp time and got a little sun.

A reunion on Day 1 of YBHA V

Noah, Amy and Levi. Can you see how happy Levi is?

Here we go again with another fun-filled edition of the Yeager Boys Home Alone or YBHA. This is the fifth installment of this week when Amy heads out of the country for a few days for work.

The last time, in YBHA IV, Amy departed in November at the same time as the state high school football finals.

This trip has her heading back to Holland.

We started with a few standards.

We got our traditional picture of the boys with Amy. The only time we didn’t get that shot, we know how that trip ended, 6 days later. You can see how happy Levi is in this shot. He was still waking up from his nap. I held him for part of it so he could get a few more ZZZs and Noah and Amy could have a little one-on-one time. That’s important for Noah.

Another popular starting point is Aunt Kris and cousin Maddox.

Kris and I had planned to get together anyway this day as we were holding a Winter Warm up for Section 10.

The view from Section 10.

Section 10 is where we sit at Principal Park for the Iowa Cubs games. Our uncle Gordon and his friends sit in the front row. It is only our third year in the section. The 2011 season will be the fourth. So we’ve gotten to know Bill and Linda, Ron and Chandler. I’ve had a lot of great nights at the park solving the world’s problems with those five.

When the I-Cubs stopped doing their own winter warm up, this year Kris thought it would be good to get together in January to talk baseball and see how big the boys have gotten.

Ron and Eileen are out of the country, but we did get to see the Coleman’s tonight along with Gordon.

Stop by Section 10 the next time you’re at Principal Park.

Time to get to bed. Noah woke up at 550 this morning and Levi may not feeling well. This could be a recipe for disaster. This isn’t the Charlie Sheen cocaine bender. We go to bed before the sun rises.