Paradise Cove is...well...Paradise!

Last weekend it was going to be over 100 degrees again so we thought let's go to the beach! Yes, all of us. We packed up the car which took us well over 1.5 hours, packed the kids, packed ourselves and off we went. When we got in the car it was still up in the air on which beach to go to. Often times, the beaches here are wonderful, but you have to walk a decent distance to get to the water's edge. The last time Jeff took Zach, he had to carry him along with all the beach accoutrement (boogie board, sand toys, snacks, towels, etc.) because the little pooper got pooped. We didn't want to be trudging along the sand with two carseats or dragging a double stroller for days...not fun. Jeff remembered a place called Paradise Cove in Malibu! He hadn't been there in years and I'd only seen it from the car once, years ago. A bigger bonus, Jeff knows a manager that works there as she used to work for Chili's. Off we went.

We were planning on a late breakfast as well, and this place was just the best ever! It's privately owned, and there is a restaurant, as well as a bar, a snack station, bathrooms. Also, there are adirondack chairs all over the place to hang out in, and there's service provided. On top of that, they have these cabanas you can rent, with huge couches that line the walls and that of course has service, too. We opted to rent a bed for $25 for the day and as you can see by the pictures it's a raised bed with a nice mattress. It also has service and a cooler that slides out from underneath for your bucket of beer. We didn't know this then, but because it's privately owned, you can also BYOB and food! These are Malibu beach prices, so you'll pay $26 for 3 Bud Lights. (I overheard the guys next to us talk about it). It also costs $25 flat rate to park. Well, we lucked out because of that manager, and she validated us for the day, so free parking! Can't beat that!

Well, needless to say, we had the BEST day! All the boys (including Jeff) took a snooze on the bed. Zach slept for over 2 hours and the twins slept a lot, too. We ate breakfast, and even though it was a tick pricey, the portions are huge. Zach had a blast in the water and I had to keep the twins from jumping on the surfboard. We didn't bring our camera (GASP, I know!) so no pictures that day. However, we had such a great time, we went back during the week and brought the camera that time!

Relaxing on our bed, Dylan (Fussy Fussbucket) is probably in the sling



















Zach not looking like he was having fun, but I promise you he was all smiles the rest of the time. He was probably not happy about the girl swim diaper I made him wear (hand me downs from a friend with a girl). I didn't count on him not wanting to wear his bathing suit OR his wet suit, so I felt like I had to explain to everyone we passed why he was wearing a pink swim diaper. Nice scrape on his side from falling off a rock.




















The twins, all packed up and ready to say goodbye to the beach!













Jeff feeding...someone. I can't tell from this distance.

%&**@^#!!

I love Zach's age right now. The positives FAR outweigh the negatives.
Things I love:

• When you take his clothes off he grabs his junk, yells, "I NAKED!" Then says, "Uh oh...no pee pee on da carpet...pee pee! Pee Pee!" Then he runs to the toilet and goes. Then asks Mommy to go, too. This morning we talked about how mommy has to sit down because mommy doesn't have a penis...
• He's able to communicate almost 100% with me. Sometimes it takes a bit to translate "ahfdkhkaenn hdkahdehn" into "I played with blocks at preschool", but I can figure it out almost always.
• He asks when he needs help.
• He helps me all the time, cooking, picking up stuff, sticking paci's in babies mouths, etc.
• He LOVES on his brothers.
• We have a hug-kiss-high five-fist bump routine in the morning when he leaves for preschool.

There are some challenging times, of course. The usual no-listening moments. The usual climbing moments. The usual cursing like a sailor moments...him, not me.

The other day, he's playing in the other room and I think I hear him say, "Stupid!" I say to Jeff, "Did he just say stupid?" No, I'm told. He says it again a few seconds later and I ask him if he just said "stupid". He looks at me proudly and says, "Yes!!"

Greeeaaat. He must have learned it at preschool. So, I sit down with him and explain that it's a bad word, we don't use that word in our house, that word hurts people's feelings, etc. Of course, I'm thinking I'm being too verbose about the whole thing with him and should I have ignored it and what do all those stupid parenting magazines say to do...second guessing is FUN!

So, Jeff comes back from the park with him a while later and says, "Your son has learned another word at preschool." Zach, as if on cue, yells (very articulately, I might add) "G*d Dammit!" Uh-oh. Stupid is one thing, G-D is a whole other playing field. So, of course I quickly and firmly say, "NO! We don't say that word! That's a bad word, I don't want to hear that word come out of your mouth again!" Again, probably all the wrong things. I'm probably not supposed to make a big deal of it and I'm probably NOT supposed to do exactly what I just did. For the record, Zach tells me he learned the word from James at preschool. That brought back to mind that wonderful scene in "A Christmas Story" where Ralphie drops the F-bomb and his mothers asks where he heard it. When he tells her it was from a friend up the street, she calls the friends mom and tells her and then listens as the mother beats her son bloody...haha...I love that scene.

Well, to add to the story, the other day Jeff was trying to get me to go somewhere and after the 47th time of him asking if I'd go, I said, "What the hell??" ABout 20 seconds later Zach says, "What the hell, mom?" Clear as day. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiccccccceeeeeee.

I did have to turn my head because I was about to lose it...to see your adorable 2.5 year old stand there and look at you with those cute curls and big blue eyes and say, "What the hell, Mom?" It was too much.

And yes, I collected my Mom-of-the-Year award at the end of the day.

My Three Sons

Double Trouble

Just a few new pics of the boys, since my Mom said, "You know, you haven't updated the blog in a week!" Ok, Mom. Here you go. They are really growing and getting so big! I took them in for a weight check last week and the results were:
Trevor: 7lbs 9oz.
Dylan: 6lbs 6oz.

Trevor is getting to be a real chunk-o-love. He's got rolls everywhere! Dylan is still on the lean side, just like Zach was. Zach didn't get any rolls until he was at least 5 months!

Heather sent some clothes that her son, Nikos wore. He was a preemie, too. You can find her blog in my blog list...she cracks me up and the craziest things happen to her. Someone should follow her around with a video camera, it would make great TV! Anyway, she sent some clothes and I had the same outfit from when Zach was little, so it worked out perfectly!














I DO like dressing them the same. I never gave it much thought and people would always ask me if I was planning on dressing them alike. I had no idea at the time. But, it's so fun! I certainly don't do it all the time...they are usually wearing whatever doesn't have baby puke on it or whatever is convenient. But don't they look cute??



















And here is some of the latest innovation here at the Press house. I call my new invention "God, give me something to hold this freakin' pacifier in his mouth!"

The House of Brotherly Love

Just some random pictures of Zach loving on his brothers. He's been so good with them, always wanting to hold them and touch them. That's exactly what he says..."Hold the brother!" "Touch him!" He's pretty good at figuring out who's who, also. He likes to give them their "pa-poo" (pacifier)....it was so funnt the first time. He shoved it in Dylan's mouth, grunted like it was taking a lot of effort and said, "There!". Pretty funny. We have to remind him to be gentle, of course but he's really pretty good about that. We had a glimpse of the future, though. I put this little stuffed lamb that plays music in the pack-in-play. It's for babies and Zach hasn't seen it in over a year, at least. Well, he saw it this morning and hollered, "My lamb, my lamb!" Ran over and couldn't rip it off the side fast enough. At least he set it next to the babies who were doing tummy time on the floor...he didn't run and hide it...yet.

This is when they all had the sniffles. No, we don't usually let Zach run around with his paci, but he was sick so we relented.













Who is that BIG kid?!?! Jeff is holding Trevor. Poor Zach and his mismatched jammies...Nana bought him some new ones she felt so bad for him.













This is how he looks everytime he holds one. So Sweet! This is Dylan.



















This is right after I yelled at Zach to, "SIT NEXT TO NANA AND SMILE!!"
That worked really well. Mom of the year award moment.

My little Picasso

The other day we set Zach up with some finger paints and a roll of paper. As much of a boy as he is, he doesn't love getting his hands dirty. He doesn't like sand or food, like peanut butter on his hands and whines to me to "clean it off!" It took him a while to dip his hands into the paint, and when he did it didn't last long. He preferred the paint brush.














Not happy about his dirty hands. A little encouragement was needed.

































This was WAY more fun than the paper. Luckily it was the washable kind of finger paint and I can attest to the fact it truly IS washable!

Playing photographer

My mom and I decided to have a little photo shoot the other day. This required lots of towels and blankets and a big load of laundry later...there were several poop and pee episodes while shooting.
Just messing around with our awesome camera I don't know how to use.

Trevor













Dylan eating Trevor's head. Too many brain-sucking zombie movies around here, I guess.













Payback is a b*tch. Trevor turning the tables on Dylan and trying to suck out his eyeball.













The brothers.
It looks like Dylan is taking a self portrait of him and his brother.













They are packing on the pounds now. As of last Friday, Trevor is 6.8 and Dylan is 5.11. They've each gained 2 pounds since birth.
They are doing well. Their personalities are showing. Dylan is the feisty one. As soon as his eyes open, he's crying. He wants to eat and wants it NOW! Trevor, on the other hand, is chill. Wakes up, looks around, thinks about eating, grunts a little. Totally patient. Dylan OBVIOUSLY takes after me.