Party Animal
It has been a pretty exciting week for Adlai B. Over the weekend, he received a new bank that Matthew found on Amazon.com. It's a train crossing signal, aka "Ding Ding", with working lights and sounds. Here he is receiving the gift:
I should also mention that Adlai has been going through a few developmental changes. We noticed a few weeks ago that his second molars are on their way in. And, while we were in Texas, Adlai proved that he is big enough and smart enough to get out of a portable crib (dang it). Finally, just this week, he has started to hide when he needs to poop. I'm taking this as a great sign. He knows he needs to go BEFORE HE GOES. Celebrate with me now.
Also this week, Grandma Whee came into town and she was brought to our home every day with the Feefadders! We all know that Grandma Whee means toys, right? Adlai chose another train crossing signal - one that goes with his Thomas the Train set. He is thrilled - maybe too thrilled. For the past three nights (due to excitement?) Adlai has been staying up VERY late and not napping long and it isn't like he is sleeping in to make up for the sleep loss. Last night, Adlai was up until 1 am. He talks, he sings, he plays in his crib, and then he starts to shout "Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" We went in to his room every 45 minutes or so to redo the bedtime routine. We brought him into our room. We fed him. Nothing worked. We went to sleep at midnight last night leaving him to party in his crib. At 12:30 am I heard him calling so I went in to his room to give him a snack only to find him in his crib completely naked.
Uhg.
Let's look at four generations of Kagles, shall we?
At least he is cute.
February 01, 2010
Adlai and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Twos
Almost exactly a month after Adlai turned two, we went in for his two-year-old checkup. As you might expect, he is a healthy and smart little boy. There were lollipops and choo choo trains involved in his visit so he was thrilled. Here he is after I said "How big is Adlai" and we all chimed in "Sooooo big!" In fact, Adlai is 25th percentile for weight (27 lbs.) and 75th percentile for height (35 in.).
A week or so after the appointment we hopped on a plane with Grandmother and took off for a weekend in Houston. Adlai, in his usual form, switched from terrible to terrific and back to terrible again at the drop of a hat. Also, he isn't at all shy about throwing a long screaming and throwing and hitting fit in front of an audience of strangers. Joy. Despite the fact that Adlai didn't like the long flight (sorry, fellow passengers) or sleeping in a hotel (so he just didn't), we had a wonderful time. Here are four generations...
Now things are always a bit crazy around these parts but the past couple of weeks have been exhausting. Adlai is quicly frustrated by being two and let's us know of his displeasure every chance he gets. We signed Adlai up for a couple of days of preschool in the fall in the 3's class and then decided the 2's class was the better option - making the last minute update. I felt the need to look for a new job and had been interviewing up a storm, we visitied Texas, felt the need to go without a regular sitter for a while, and then Grandpa Ewing (age 94) fell sick and passed away withing a matter of days.
So much for 2010 being less eventful.
But we are also feeling pretty lucky. Simon is doing very well in school. Adlai, in his determination to be just as able as Simon, is doing a good job of talking, using the toilet, and undressing himself - he even wants homework to complete at the end of the day. I made a better career decision that should lead to our lives feeling less uncertain. Matthew has a semester off from teaching and can spend more time developing his game ideas. And we're getting double pane windows! We're all looking forward to being warmer and having more light.
I've uploaded over 300 photos from my phone taken between June 2009 and February 2010. We take most of our photos with our mobile devices these days.
Enjoy!
Hava
January 06, 2010
Birthday Party, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years... Oh My
So I actually do have a good excuse this time for not updating earlier. First, I tried to cure my minor sinus infection (and bad cold) with penicillin. It turns out that, just like Simon, I'm really allergic to penicillin. So I spent my week off (and the week after that) with hives - REALLY BAD HIVES. And, if that isn't enough, it seems the holiday season was non-stop celebrations of one thing or another and visiting and family and, really, when you're having that much fun between itching sessions, do YOU turn on the computer and blog? My third excuse is that I bought a new camera only the cable allowing me to get the digital photos off of the camera broke. Having just solved the problem, I've uploaded those photos to Flickr where you can "oooh" and "ahhh" over our December activites.
First off, Adlai turned two! The Feefadders came along as we celebrated by taking Adlai out for steak. Mmmmm... steak. Know many two year olds who would want steak for their birthday? He was delighted with the dinner and dessert and made sure everyone in the restaurant knew that it was his birthday as he shouted: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ADLAI!"
We went home and celebrated the final night of Hanukkah and the Feefadders went home and welcomed the Seattle Kagles for a visit.
Saturday we welcomed the Seattle Kagles to California with a trip to our local little-kid theme park. Each boy drove a car, they saw fireworks, and Adlai was overjoyed to watch a railroad crossing signal in action. Seriously. I've never seen him happier. I thought he might burst with excitement.
Sunday was Adlai's birthday party. We decided to have it at a local indoor bouncy house place to avoid weather problems and small-house-induced claustrophobia. Matthew made a train cake which Simon and I helped to decorate. Adlai had a wonderful time. He bounced, he drove a plastic car, he climed the stairs to the big slide and went down all by himself. He even sat in the big birthday chair and sang along to the Happy Birthday song and clapped for himself after he blew out the candles.
The next morning, Adlai woke up early and opened his presents before spending the rest of Monday and Tuesday bouncing around the Bay Area with the five bouncing Kagle boys. Lots of fun was had. I started to itch. Luckily, the hives didn't overwhelm me until Wednesday. Simon escorted me to the doctor to make sure it was safe for me to continue with our plans to visit Sacramento for Christmas. Assured that I most likely wasn't going to lose my ability to breathe, Simon and I went home and I tried not to leave the house so I wouldn't scare strangers.
Here is a little video:
Thursday morning, Adlai and Simon and I drove to Sacramento to celebrate Christmas with Grandparents' Rubenson. Simon helped to decorate the tree and put out cookies for Santa (he admited earlier in the week that he doesn't believe in Santa but he felt it important to play along). Both boys also ate a lot of cookies and went to hear cousin Sarah sing a solo and when it was time to go to sleep, they slept on the bed, with me in between them, almost without trouble.
Christmas morning we waited for Aunt Tonya, Uncle Art, Amanda and Sarah to arrive and then the true fun began. Adlai, fresh off of Hanukkah and his birthday, was ready and willing to open every gift in sight. And there were so many to open!
Once we had more than we could reasonably fit into the car, the boys and I packed up our things and I drove home in time for dinner with Daddy.
But guess what? The fun wasn't over. Uncle Richard was in town and met us, along with the Feefadders, at the most fun restaurant (for kids) ever, Benihana. Watching the chef prepare the food was laugh-out-loud funny for both boys (and we all liked the food as well).
I went back to work on Monday but the boys continued their vacation by visiting the bouncy house place, the Palo Alto Junior Museum, the Tech Museum of San Jose, etc., etc. On New Years Eve we celebrated by making a chocolate bombe cake, eating out at an Italian place, and counting down to the new year (complete with noise makers and crackers) sometime between 7 and 7:30 pm, Pacific.
Happy new year to all and to all a good night!
December 16, 2009
Adlai Turns Two!
Dear Adlai,
I ask: "How old are you now?" And you enthusiastically shout: "TWO!"
And two you are. To be honest, I feel like you're older than two. It may have everything to do with the fact that you started behaving as if you were two shortly after you turned one. Following is your second year in review...
You were already saying a few words by your first birthday and, over the year, your vocabulary grew exponentially. Daddy enrolled you in a language study at Stanford and you had such a good time repeating words associated with pictures! They'd show a cat and a voice would say "Cat" and you would repeat "Cat!" and add a "Meow!" They showed you a picture of a foot and you repeated "FOOT!" and kicked your feet up to the screen.
Most of the time, we take for granted that you talk back to us and that what you say makes sense but, let me assure you, it is so very wonderful and helpful and fun. You say just about everything - repeating our words when we ask you a question. At the beginning of your second year we would ask, "Would you like ice cream?" and you would repeat, "I ceam!" And no one really expected you knew what you were saying. About half way through your second year we noticed that you DID understand - a drive by an ice cream store would result in a shout from the back seat "I ceam, Mama! Yum!" And now, you demand ice cream out of the blue. "What would you like for dinner?" we ask. You reply "Ice Cream! I wun i cream!"
These days a lot of your words are being combined into short sentences but you still occasionally can't find the words to express your needs. "Wun nush!" you often shout (nush has always been your word for milk). We give you your cup of milk and you burst into tears as if it is the WORST MOMENT EVER. Now we know that your frustration is receiving your milk in a sippy cup instead of a regular big-kid cup, without a lid, but it took us a while to figure that out. We deeply offend you like this on a regular basis. You ask for something. We give you what you want. You burst into tears. We take it away. You scream that it is leaving. We give it back. You burst into tears. Repeat ad nauseum.
Sometimes, even though we do understand what you want or what is irritating you, it still doesn't make any sense. You hate it when Simon doesn't sit properly at dinner or when he swings his feet. You will find a way to look under any table at any restaurant to make sure you can see if Simon is swinging his feet before you issue your scathing rebuke: "STOP IT, SIE!" or "SIT UP SIE!" It is adorable (kind of) that you care so deeply about Simon's posture at the dinner table but, really, even though this is your birthday letter, we need to give Simon some credit and point out that IT DOESN'T BOTHER HIM. He constantly hugs you, he kisses you, he tells you that he loves you all the time. Lately, instead of saying "Stop it, SIE", you've been more welcoming of the affection. "Where is Si-min?" you ask each morning, often followed by a disappointed "Si-min's seeping."
You're also opinionated and stubborn. Getting you dressed in the morning is almost always a chore. It isn't that you don't want to get dressed, it is that you care so deeply about what you are wearing. Elmo, Wall-E, trains and planes are good, all the other shirts we have (most of them) are bad. Taking off one of the "good" shirts or pajama tops is equally difficult. "Nooooo! Chooo choooo!" you shout as you burst into tears. Luckily, you like water and Simon enough that I can usually distract you from clothing removal pain by offering a chance to spray Simon in the shower. And there you two will stay - laughing and squealing as you pour cups of water on yourselves, the walls, and each other.
And I can't forget to mention that you love to accessorize: boots and a helmet into the grocery store, goggles for the bathtub. You are very particular about which jacket gets worn when. Some are worn all day.
Once something has your interest, you are intensely focused and inquisitive. You can move trains back and forth along the tracks in your room for a half hour *alone* before you get lonely and ask for help because the bridge came apart or a train jumped the tracks. You like books - even some lengthy ones, as long as they have enough pictures. Green Eggs and Ham is a current favorite although you are not all that picky. You are completely obsessed with what we call "ding dings" (train crossing signals) and, given the option of watching anything, you will always ask to see a train crossing signal go off - the train itself carrying very little interest. It isn't just trains that hold your interest, you also love planes and cars and pretending to drive the car for hours on end.
You are very physically active and love to be outside but you are equally fond of spending time indoors coloring, making a mess of PlayDoh, and pretending to prepare food. When it comes to real food, you prefer food that has flavor - especially meat. And, even though you love to point out every "Cheeseburger!" you run across, you really are not terribly fond of such childish fare. No, you prefer marinated fillet mignon and cabbage slaw and green beans sauteed in garlic and lemon. When we are cooking, you stand at the kitchen gate attempting with all your might to break it down yelling "Me see? Me see?" - until we show you what is in each pot, the blender, and the bowls. And there is always commentary when you do get to see, something along the lines of "Coffee, hot!" or "Oooooh, spicey."
When you are happily surrounded by family, you relish being the center of attention. You swagger into rooms, bobbing your head from side to side with a big grin and making silly sounds. You fall to the ground in dramatic displays claiming you have an "Ouchy bum" that needs a kiss or a finger that has been smooshed and needs someone to blow on it to make it better. You love to run in circles and make yourself dizzy and ride on my back and fall across Daddy's chest with your arms around his neck. You like to play in sand and investigate things you find in the grass and woodchips below the playset. You close your fists and growl and squinch your nose and pretend you are frustrated so that we will copy you so that you can copy us and laugh. You like to chase Simon and find yourself copying his imaginary fight moves. You love to dance (although, mostly, your dancing is comprised of jumping) and are very fond of music with a good beat. You often sing the Star Spangled Banner and another mandarin song - songs you have learned from Simon and his school assemblies.
You love your stuffed animal friends, especially "Baby Elmo", and you are such a good care giver. You give Elmo binkies, you feed him, wrap him in his favorite blanket, and snuggle and talk to him. If you are angry or holding a grudge, the way to your heart is through Baby Elmo. If I do something nice for Elmo, you will usually forgive me for what ever slight I have caused you.
You are incredibly polite, always saying "Thank you, Daddy" or "Thank you, Mama" when we hand you something. You are still obsessed with binkies (what you call "bee-dees" and simon calls "pinkies"). You have a perpetual rash around your mouth which is irritated by binky use so we're always attempting to limit your exposure. You, on the other hand, are always attempting to increase your exposure - instigating binky hunts under your crib or in places you've hidden them throughout the house.
Besides the occasional wake-up before we go to bed, you are an excellent sleeper. What impresses us most is that you WANT to sleep. Occasionally you have even asked to have a binky and go to sleep. This is probably normal behavior for your age but, I want you to know that, of all the great and wonderful and fabulous things about you, making it easy to put you to bed is really high up on the list of things we enjoy. Putting you to bed after two or three stories and a goodnight kiss - no crying, no fussing - feels like a little reward...
EVERY...
SINGLE...
NIGHT.
You had a friend this year, Ben, and he had to move far away and, since that time, you really haven't played consistently with anyone your age. We worry about that from time to time. That is something we'll fix over the next year. You don't really seem to be suffering for the lack of friends your age. When in groups of Simon's friends you enjoy yourself. You are engaged if slightly weary of other kids taking things away. You aren't bossy with others the way you are with Simon. I suspect you know that the other kids might not be as tolerant as your brother.
Adlai, It has't been a great week for you. You've had a cold, an ear infection, and a bad case of conjunctivits in both eyes. You had your first trip to the emergency room when, late at night, we couldn't ease your excrutiating eye pain. But even in the emergency room, even with two eyes swollen shut, you were inqusitive and loving and goofy as all get out. You "made the night" of the emergency room doctors who went through each test with your Baby Elmo as you giggled at the thought of someone shinning a light in Elmo's ears (he doesn't even have any!). You took the Bob the Builder sticker they awarded you and you laughed as you covered it - up to Bob's face - with your Thomas the Train blanket saying "Good night, Bob!" You asked about every medical device, repeating the name we gave you as a question - letting us know you wanted more information. When it was time to go, you repeadedly shouted "BYE BYE! THANK YOU!" to all of your care givers.
The next night, still sick, you went to Simon's school holiday performance. No one was more excited to see Simon singing on stage than you. You waved over and over shouting "Si-min!" And Simon, just as enthusiastically, waved back. When Simon went off stage you completely lost interest in the show, preferring to hunt for your brother than listen to the third and fourth graders. "Where Si-min go?" That is, until you saw Ally - your neighborhood friend and a girl a few weeks younger. Once you saw Ally you wanted nothing more than to stare and smile and giggle and play. She is really cute but you weren't allowed to play - not while sick.
So, by most accounts, your last week as a one-year-old has been just plain bad. But, instead of being miserable and sad and cranky, you have made us laugh and smile and be eternally grateful that we decided to give this parenthood thing a second go. Just a year ago you wouldn't have managed well under unfamiliar circumstances which makes me think, you still have a few surprises up your Thomas-the-Train t-shirt sleeves - I, for one, can't wait to find out what they are.
Happy Birthday Adali!
Much love,
Mama (and Daddy and Simon too)
December 02, 2009
Adlai at Twenty Three Months
Adlai turned twenty-three months old just before Thanksgiving which means we're spending time deciding how to celebrate his twenty-fourth month. Since my birthday, in early November, Adlai has been singing "Happy Birthday". Recently, I've taught him to say "TWO!" when ever anyone asks his age. He says it with gusto every time. Luckily, all the Kagle boys will be in town for the event.
Adlai has moved from using and repeating words or phrases to combining them into small sentences. "Where did Mama go?" "I want that!" "It's MINE!" "Elmo needs a binkie!" You know, the things that you'd expect an almost-two-year-old to say. If you ask him if he wants X or Y he will sometimes say X instead of his previous habit of always repeating back the last word of the sentence, Y. He now gets the joke when we ask him if he wants something and he says "NO" and then we ask him if he wants something else and he says "No" so we keep asking about different items, "A hole in the head", "World domination", "A pony"... eventually he laughs and it takes him out of his negative funk.
Speaking of negative funks, Adlai seems to go through days of being super cranky before the fogs lifts and he spends a day being silly and happy. No one wants to be around a cranky Adlai. He starts the cranks early in the morning with the diaper change and really doesn't stop screaming until after throwing dinner, refusing a bath, and wrangling into pajamas is over. Luckily, he seems to be having fewer of those days as of late but, really, we're not expecting the little tyrant to gain control over his emotions for at least the next year.
On the positive side, he has been spending more time enjoying Simon and Simon has been nothing but patient with his little brother - engaging him in the type of play he enjoys (mostly running trains along tracks). Adlai refuses baths these days in favor of showers (which he hates) only because he wants to shower with Simon (really, to spray Simon in the face with the shower head). A couple of weeks back Adlai wanted to pee in the toilet just like Simon so the boys stood in front of the toilet pre-shower and made their first attempt at crossing urine streams. This was Adlai's first attempt at using the toilet and it was a success!
Having been badly burned by early potty training with Simon, we have done very very little to encourage Adlai to use or have any interest in the toilet. Amazingly, last night he asked to go "poo poo" and ran to the toilet to try to stand in front of it and pee. After some assistance, he peed twice. So we have some hope that, this time, things might be easier. We aren't placing any bets.
We took the boys to Santa Cruz to see the migrating Monarch butterflies a few weeks ago and it turned out to be such a nice day that we ended up at the beach and they ended up half naked, running through the surf. We visited Sacramento for Thanksgiving - Simon walked his first dog and Adlai threw lots of rocks on a walk along the American River Parkway. Last weekend we took the boys on a Roaring Camp Railroad steam train through the redwoods which turned out to be a bit of a bust. Adlai loves trains but is most interested in train crossing signals. Not a single signal was found and less than a quarter of a way through the trip Adlai wanted to get off. Simon was exhausted from lack of sleep the night before. We had more fun after the ride at the park near the train station where Adlai fed the ducks and Simon made a friend.
November 05, 2009
Halloween 2009
This Halloween was Adlai's first time celebrating the holiday and having even the slightest clue what was going on. Simon chose to be the cartoon character, Ben 10 (mostly because it was the least costumey costume available) and we selected Pikachu from the Pokemon cartoon for Adlai. Simon was really into Pokemon last Spring so ever since Adlai has been shouting "Pikachu!" when ever he sees the character. We wanted something he would immediately recognize. It worked. Here is Adlai trying his costume on for the first time.
Early last week, Simon and Matthew decorated a haunted gingerbread house that Adlai insisted was a "happy birthday" [cake]. Thursday, we cut the lone not-quite-ripe pumpkin from our very own pumpkin patch and carved it along with another pumpkin Simon chose during a school field trip. Friday we went to a friend's Halloween Party.
On Halloween, the Feefadders made their return. We took a trip to the Hiller Aviation Museum to see a witch take off in a helicopter and then drop a big pumpkin on the tarmac. The Feefadders stayed and celebrated the holiday aviation style while Matthew and I took the wee one home for a nap. Later that evening, we took the boys around the block once for trick-or-treating. Adlai was extremely enthused by the occasion and even said "Tickereat!" followed by "Thank you" and, when prompted, told people he was "PIKACHU!" (once even giving the neighbors a little dance). It was very very cute. If carried, Adlai would have gone door to door all night long but he was dragging a bit by the time we made the trip around the block. Also, Simon was more interested in standing at the door and handing out candy than getting more of his own.
Adlai was allowed two candies - he chose a lollipop (what he calls a "bee bop") and we forced him to try some M&Ms, which he thought were delicious.
Sunday we hosted an all-day party including Halloween games and a bouncy house and a birthday cake. It started slow -making us a bit nervous that no one was going to show- but it turned out to be a very fun crowd of people we don't get the chance to see very often. Also, the kids had a very fun time.
Here they are playing one of the games - eating donuts tied to strings without using their hands...
Happy Halloween!
October 29, 2009
Still Alive and No one is Screaming
So we had this idea to take the kids on a (relatively) last minute secret trip to Disneyland. I took the afternoon off, we picked up Simon from school, and we drove... Two hours into the trip Simon finally asked where we were going. When we revealed the destination he said "I LOVE THIS!"
Here is the moment captured on video (unfortunately, I cut off right between "I" and "love this!").
And so you will understand that, when Adlai came down with a seriously high fever after more than seven hours in the car and Simon was thrilled at his mini-vacation prospects, we didn't turn around and go home. No, we decided to medicate and comfort and hope. Unfortunately, after a morning in the park with temperatures reaching near ninety outside, neither boy was feeling festive. We took them back to the hotel. Simon wanted nothing more than to swim. Neither would nap. We turned on Sesame Street. Adlai played with the doornob and it fell off in his hands. We were trapped in the hotel room across the street from the happiest place on earth with two sick kids.
Once the sun started to go down (and the temperature dropped) Simon recovered completely. Matthew took him on the flume ride at California Adventure and they went over and over and over again. I wrapped Adlai in all the warm things I could find, put the stroller in recline, and walked around and around the park looking for a dark and quiet place. Adlai drifted in and out of sleep and discomfort until morning when we were awakened early by a car alarm outside our hotel room. Fun! After more Tylenol, we took the boys back to the park. Having not eaten since lunch the day before, Adlai was famished by lunch on Sunday. And every person within one hundred feet from 10 am to 11 am knew something was wrong. You'll have to trust me on that. Luckily, the words "hot dog" brought him back to his senses. "Hot dog?" he asked, cheerily. We filled him with food and he perked up enough to enjoy It's a Small World. Soon after, he passed out in the stroller despite the light and noise and snoozed for an hour while Simon and Matthew finished up their day.
We left the park at 3 pm on Sunday and Adlai, still feverish, wasn't happy until the sun went down and he was able to fall asleep. Monday thru Thursday Adlai did very little but sleep and scream. We took him to the doctor and it turned out he had something related to Hand, Foot, and Mouth - a common toddler virus (which is why none of us caught it). He was apparently in a good deal of pain (hence the screaming) - probably from a headache in addition to a stomach ache.
By Friday Adlai's rash, fever, and screams were (mostly) gone. Over the weekend we got the fun and loving Adlai back. Wow, did we ever miss him.
I'm uploading some photos to Flickr now. We were a little stressed out about the whole situation so not many were taken.