Coming home on the subway...

We were visiting schools on Manhatten.

Dear God, it's me Dashiel

Dear God,

I am an angel most days. I encourage my brother "Ugo" and lately have been telling him, "Goodjob!" as much as mom and dad do. I now hold my own sippy cup, can crawl right into the dogs cage to keep them company, and will wiggle my pointer finger right back when someone tells me "Noooooo."

But I'm struggling Lord. I can't seem to sleep through the night and feel compelled to wake the entire block on 23rd Street. I stand and wail and shout and can't help but wake my brother. I now have teeth (#3 and #4 to be exact) coming in and mom and dad try to help me with teething tablets and Oragel and an extra middle of the night bottle, but I insist on making the rest of the Browns miserable. I just can't help myself!

Please give my loving parents and patient brother the strength to tolerate me between the hours of 4 and 6 AM.

-The Dash

Brothers taking a bath

For the first time together without Mommy or Daddy in the tub...(well mostly Mommy).

Chasing squirrels in Astoria Park

And dogs, too.

Look who's standing on his own

In his crib from a couple days ago.

Corned Beef and Cabbage!

Yesterday, me and the boys went to meet Mommy at the train as she was getting home from work (yes, Jen works weekends :P). We stopped by a deli on Ditmars, where, because it was late in the day, sold her an entire tray of corned beef and cabbage for a paltry sum. Apparently they make a practice of this--unloading prepared foods at bargain prices rather than throw them out. Anyway, we will be stopping by late in the day more often. After the deli, we checked-in at the Best Yet Park* and ate some CB&C. We have no photos of this, but it was good. We do have other photos...

Like Dashiel trying out the swing for the first time. Since he's sitting up on his own now, this is now a possibility. We're working on shoes that stay on.

Next, Mommy and Dash swing together.

And then, Mommy and Dash go down the slide together!

You may think I was following Mommy and Dash all around the park. Nope. I was tacking speedy Hugo who was doing his own exploring; squeezing in pictures of the family whenever Hugo's erratic orbit passed near his brother. Here's Hugo (above) checking out one of the fountains.

And Hugo, again, from above. We were trying to get him to climb up to us, to no avail.

These next two pics are from a couple days ago. Here's Dashiel sitting up in his crib, talking with his toys. As you can see, we already have to lower the bed of his crib to the deepest setting. Right now, he's in the middle and his head is almost level with the side panel.

And Hugo and Mommy, playing with "Tune Cat." We borrowed this one from friends and Hugo took to this toy right away. Every now and then he will come back to it to press buttons and keys.

*"Best Yet" Park: Its real name is Woodside Park (hello, generic park name), but it's next to the Best Yet market on 37th and 21st, so we refer to it as the "Best Yet" Park. It is certainly not the best park yet. Mostly, it's just convenient and safe for the kids.

Park walks, mall walks and such

Photos have captions...click the talk bubble icon at the bottom left of this slide viewer.

This Friday

Hugo, a complete grumpus all day, got a soothing back rub from mommy...loving it! We'd like to tell you that solved all problems today...but, no.

Hugo did get a chance to run around outside today. This afternoon, he ran back and forth on the sidewalks.

Stopping from time to time to catch his breath and...

test every gate in the neighborhood. Every. Single. Gate.

Even Dash had some grumpy moments today, too, but a bubble bath turned that frown upside down.

Doin' the Lord's work...

...with a blackberry smile.

Throwing a fit, Hugo style

To be fair, Hugo does have some large molars coming in and he was pretty tired this afternoon. In this video, however, we have no idea what is pissing him off. I mean, you're pretty hard done by if bubbles can't cheer you up.

Visit to the doctor today

Oh, Hugo and Dash started the morning chatty and in good spirits....then we went to visit Dr. Mike. A nice man really, but unfortunately, his job requires giving needles to boys who'd rather not have them, thank you very much.

Truth be told, Hugo fell apart as soon as he entered the examining room; as if he remembered the needles from his last visit eight months ago.

Dash was all bubbles and sunshine until the injections...then, in quick succession, there was the sudden look of betrayal, followed by a brief hard frowny-face, then waterworks and finally, ear-piercing screaming. Utterly heart-breaking to watch.

Oh well, nothing a bottle of formula (Dash) and a wafer cookie (Hugo) couldn't cheer up. Then we walked to the park--Dash took a nap and Hugo ran around looking for sticks.

Oh Yeah...The tale of the tape:

Dash at 8.5 months is 26 lbs. and 9 oz. / 32 inches.

Hugo at 2 years and 3 months is 31 lbs. and 37 inches.

Dash is a tank, Hugo's a toothpick.

This weekend's walk in the park

A few minutes to kill on Tuesday morning...

So I thought I would put up a slide show of one of my favorite weekend pastimes: taking photos of Hugo and Dash (as if you couldn't tell).

It had to be done.

Two adults, two small dogs, two tall kids and the cargo that goes along with us, everywhere we go....the Browns are now working with a family truckster!  More accurately...a 2008 Honda Pilot.

Recent images from my camera phone.

Dash wants Banana

A second tooth coming in made for a grumpy Dashiel today.

Kids these days...

One child won't sit still for a haircut, and the other is currently very grabby and will poke your eye out the first chance he gets.  Can you guess who's who?

Dash pictures from earlier today