A.B. Kagledom

Friday evening we took the boys for a long evening swim in the warm indoor water of the Betty Wright Swim Center Pool in Palo Alto. Adlai LOVED being in the pool with Simon and us. He splashed and laughed and even enjoyed being splashed and occasionally swallowing too much water. Saturday we took the boys out for pancakes (Adlai ate one larger than his head) before we drove to Sacramento for the day to spend some time with Grammy and Grandpa Rubenson and to celebrate Sarah's ninth birthday with a vocal recital. We started Sunday early with a three mile walk with our friend Lennie to support the Steven's Creek Trail. The walk was followed by lots of cleaning and errands until the boys were asleep at which point Matthew and I celebrated eleven years of dating (each other) with a night out. Lenore watched the boys or, rather, the quiet house. It was a full and successful weekend.

Adlai spent much of the weekend working on pulling himself to a stand and attempting to let go. He seems almost to be doing a study on the different elements of upright mobility. We're pretty sure the ninety page report will come out some time next semester - just before his final. Here is some of his work...

For those of you dying to know if the cheese party worked... We have confirmed that Adlai's sleep duration is directly tied to the amount of fat he consumes before bed. Unfortunately, after the first couple of nights, Adlai rejected the Havarti. Last night, I melted it on some bread and he ate it up. In general, Adlai is going through some changes with his eating habits. He now prefers solids to milk and is starting to reject baby food in favor of feeding himself. One of these days my dining services will be completely obsolete.

Posted by kagledom at 07:26 PM | Permalink

So, in all the vacation excitement, I forgot to mention a very important milestone. The night before we left for Southern California, Adlai slept eleven hours in a row. That marks the first time he has slept through the entire night. Unfortunately, he has only repeated that pattern once since then and every night he wakes an hour earlier - last night he woke twice: 1:30 am and 4:30 am.

Simon, as you probably don't recall, started sleeping through the night at 9 months after we introduced late night cheese parties. We introduced Adlai to the same cheese - fresh mozzarella - but he wasn't particularly interested. Last night he tried Havarti for the first time and it was a huge hit. Tonight we'll have a cheese party at bedtime to see if it has any effect.

Adlai's doctor assures us that he doesn't need to eat between the hours of 7 pm and 6 am but Adlai doesn't agree. It's fairly easy to tell if he is just snacking or if he is actually hungry and, lately, the boy seems actually hungry during these nighttime feedings. And how can you not feed a boy with the metabolism of a hummingbird? He's in the FOURTH PERCENTILE for weight and eats like a horse. His doctor also suggested that because he is so thin, it wouldn't be a bad thing to give him, oh, pats of butter, cheese, meat... We've added (unsalted) real butter to his bread as of late and that is a big hit as well as little pieces of chicken and fish. Add pureed beef to any pureed vegetable and that vegetable suddenly becomes a thousand times more interesting. Once some barley cereal is added to the bowl you have a very happy boy.

Now if we could only get him to eat breakfast for Matthew when I'm running late. In Adlai's world, breakfast and dinner come from Mama, lunch comes from Daddy and if you mess with that pattern, he just won't eat.

Posted by kagledom at 09:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night Adlai stood up and, while holding on with both hands, cruised along the couch. He also used his first baby sign, signing "all done" after dinner. Tonight "all done" turned into clapping. He's still new at this communication thing and a little confused. Or maybe he was clapping at himself for signing "all done." We'll never know.

Posted by kagledom at 06:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We woke up in a hotel across the street from the Magic Kingdom but it was 6 am and Disney doesn’t open until 10. Matthew and Simon were in one bed and Adlai and I were in the other. The lights were out and it was dark but it was obvious both boys were awake for the day. Simon reminded me of my job to turn on the light. I did. Matthew groaned. Adlai was babbling on and on and on and on and I said “Maybe if you say ‘Hi Da Da’ Daddy will get up.” And, as if he had done this a hundred times before, Adlai said “Hi Da Da.” Matthew got up. We surrounded the wee one and cheered as he repeated “Hi Da Da!” over and over clapping for himself.

We entertained the boys by giving them their first bath together and our free continental breakfast before walking across the street and offering Simon the choice: Disneyland or Disney’s California Adventure. Simon chose California Adventure. None of us had been to this park before and I think we all actually liked it more than Disneyland. We spent the day there, riding a lot of rides THAT HAD NO LINES, eating lunch with the princesses, playing in a country band, and trying to keep cool in the heat. Simon’s last ride was his favorite of the entire vacation: Grizzly River Run - billed as the longest, tallest and fastest "tub-style" river raft ride in the world. We left the park for dinner and bed.

Tuesday we were joined by Grammy and Grandpa Rubenson. After breakfast together we all headed for Disneyland to the rides, rides, rides. Simon asked Grandpa to take him on Dumbo...

And he went on other rides with Grammy many of which included dark tunnels. After a while, Simon put a kibosh on any ride with a dark tunnel and, as it turns out, almost every Disney ride includes a dark tunnel. There was still plenty to do. We took rafts over to Tom Sawyer Island, watched a princess show, found Nemo in a submarine ride and spun in the tea cups...

The boys usually crash for the night at 7 pm but that was the start of the parade and we couldn't miss the parade...

We left the park, tucked the boys into their car seats where they almost immediately fell asleep and drove them nearly two hours back through Los Angeles. Luckily, we managed to transfer both boys into their beds sound asleep where they found themselves the next morning.

The drive home was uneventful. We stopped a few times for food and once to see a waterwheel described in the AAA guide.

Notice I did't once mention screaming? There wasn't any. Simon was so thrilled the entire trip that he pretty much forgot to misbehave. He was polite and loving and helpful and very good at entertaining Adlai in the car. He also nearly forgot his fear of public toilets and told us in plenty of time when he needed to go. Adlai was easy, as usual, and wonderful about napping on-the-go as well as being restrained in his car seat.

As we drove into our driveway on Wednesday evening, Simon burst into tears. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't explain well enough why our really great vacation had come to an end.

Posted by kagledom at 07:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday morning we packed the stroller, two small suitcases, a couple of bags of miscellaneous items, lots of snacks, toys, and books, and two small boys into our Prius. It was a tight squeeze. Simon declared his space a “mess” more than once (of course, he made it that way more than once). I had planned the route along 101 instead of HW 5 so there would be more interesting places to stop along the way; that meant the ride was nine hours instead of a mere seven.

The intent was to stop every hour and a half but two hours into the trip everything was going so well that we just pushed on, and on, and on. We stopped for lunch in Paso Robles at a restaurant decked out like an old west saloon. Simon met some kids at the mechanical bull ring and they spun and jumped and had a great time until it was time to move on.

Our next stop was Solvang where we honored our friends who were, at the same time, on their way to Denmark. After a walk around the town and dessert, we decided to make a visit to the Emu and Ostrich farm before eating pea soup at the infamous “Pea Soup Andersen’s” restaurant in Buelleton.

After dinner we drove on to the Best Western, Carpenterina (a suburb south of Santa Barbara) to rest for the night. It is impossible to describe how thrilled Simon was with being in a hotel. Everything was wonderful! And beautiful! And perfect! And he decided right then and there that he wanted to spend the entire vacation IN THIS HOTEL ROOM. No Legoland. No Disneyland. The Best Western WAS the place to be.

We convinced Simon to leave the hotel on Sunday morning with promises of other hotels and even a trip back to that same hotel on our way back home. We drove for about an hour and a half before stopping at a crepe shop where Simon met Lila – an equally gregarious four year old. The two instantly became the best of friends. Simon even shared with her how he came from “Mommy’s egg and Daddy’s ssss [what’s that word?], Daddy’s things that go like this [moves his arm in a swimming motion.]” Grrrrreat.

After leaving Lila and her parents (who said nothing about the Birds and the Bees lesson), we drove another hour and a half to Legoland in Carlsbad. It was Star Wars weekend in Legoland, so as soon as we walked in the park Simon was faced with storm troopers, Darth Vader, and R2D2 as well as lots of little kids in costume. Simon knows about Star Wars a little but, for the most part, could have cared less. He did agree to let us take these photos:

Notice he doesn't snuggle up to the dark side.

He really likes R2D2 but he calls him 2B2-2.

Simon was not so keen on riding the wild rides at Legoland or watching the fireman show. He is very safety concious at this point as well as sensative and doesn't find watching people in danger amusing - even if they are pretending. Adlai and I visited the lactation room several times to become reacquainted with silence and air conditioning. Ahhh air conditioning... We used the "baby care" room at all three parks we visited. (Sidenote: The Disneyland "baby care" room has been open since 1955 which makes sense - give women a place to wash out poopy diapers and hide the nursing women at the same time.)

Legoland closed at dinner time so we left the park in search of food. Once food was consumed, we drove another hour and a half to our hotel in Anaheim – across the street from the Magic Kingdom.

It was at this hotel where we let the boys take their first bath together. What a party!

Coming soon: Part Two! Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland

Posted by kagledom at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adlai turned nine months old yesterday so Simon, my lovely assistant, and I captured some Boppy photos and video:

Here is what interests Adlai at nine months old:
grapes
blueberries
meat
closing doors
closing books
playing "pat the bunny" while reading "Pat the Bunny"
looking through baby faces books
taking baths
being with Simon
playing with Simon's toys
pacifiers (a good joke is trying to fit two in his mouth at the same time)
clapping for himself
water from a sippy cup
music
trucks/cars
chasing after balls

Posted by kagledom at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

**NOTE: Adlai is "adjusting" to his non vacation sleep routine in the other room and I'm experiencing some technical difficulties with one of the new lap tops so I'm going to separate out the posts about our vacation and Adlai's nine month Boppy Photo Shoot over several days.**

Adlai turned nine months old today! We celebrated with the traditional nine month check up. Here are his stats:

Head: 17.76 inches, 45th percentile (up from the 19th percentile!)
Height: 29 inches, 76th percentile (down from the 90th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs. 13 oz., 4th percentile (down from the 12th percentile)

Now before anyone freaks out about his weight, we were assured that he is a normal healthy baby. Just a very very very very very very very thin normal healthy baby. He eats very well and is developing right on target. All the calories we've fed him over the past three months? They have apparently gone right to his head.

Posted by kagledom at 07:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The long awaited, much anticipated, toilet training incentive trip has finally arrived. After swim class tomorrow we'll be on the road all day - stopping every hour and a half to give the boys some air. After that, we'll be spending one day at Legoland and two days at Disneyland before taking the long road home. I probably won't be updating the site until we return but probably will be uploading photos to Flickr. Click on the slide show icon and feel like you're there with us. Hey, you even get to skip the screaming from the back seat!

Posted by kagledom at 07:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Simon, Adlai, and I sent Matthew off on a well deserved 24-hour vacation over the weekend. He spent some time with friends and some time alone and slept without interruption - something we don't do here in Kagledom. It should be mentioned that he only lasted 22 hours before he just couldn't take it any longer. Even if we provide lots of frustration and little rest he adores us and we suspected as much. While Matthew was away I managed the boys without a hitch. OK, that would be an exaggeration but I did manage to take them out to breakfast with friends, to the grocery store, and Simon and I washed the car. Not too shabby on four hours of sleep.

I also received TWO new laptops last week: a MacBook Pro for work and a Dell with Vista for home. Since I've never used either operating system before, it is taking me a while to adjust and reinstall all of the tools I use to update this site.

Monday was back to school night at Simon's preschool. I went to meet the teachers and find out how and what Simon is doing. We ask Simon every day what he does in school but he refuses to tell. Last week he told me "It's MYSTERIOUS" before walking away from the conversation. His new teachers describe him as extremely social, full of enthusiasm, and very attentive to their requests. We all know that Simon is a social butterfly but it was interesting to hear that they are impressed with how well he listens and takes instruction. I did confirm that they were talking about the very same Simon that must be told something at home at least five times before he complies. Lucky teachers.

Adlai has been doing some new things lately. He started babbling using a bunch of new sounds yesterday and now can be heard repeating variations of "Blah! Blah! Blah!" He bounces up and down whenever anyone sings or plays any type of music which is quite adorable - especially when the singing comes from Simon. He is quick to laugh at his big brother and loves roughhousing with his Dad. Ever since his first tooth came in he has had the unfortunate habit of biting me when I nurse him. Simon tried this once but never again - Adlai is not getting the hint. Three months to go!

Posted by kagledom at 06:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We always thought Simon was a pretty easy baby. OK, maybe we suspected he wasn’t the easiest baby but YOU told us he was easy and we believed you. Now that we have some perspective and another baby for comparison we can safely say that YOU were wrong. Simon was not an easy baby. Simon was a happy baby. There is a difference.

This time around we are appreciating the easiness that is Adlai. Could he be easier? Sure. But here are a few examples of how we are breathing easier this time around...

We took Adlai to the Sandboat park last week and laid out a blanket with some toys in view of Simon. Adlai sat there and played with the toys until he lost interest and then crawled over WHILE STAYING ON THE BLANKET to find more toys. He didn’t crawl away as fast as a speeding bullet to eat sand. He didn’t lunge into the mounds of Goose poop. He didn’t cry because of his lack of involvement with all the other kidlets. HE WAS CONTENT TO CHILL WITH HIS PARENTS.

And, when the highchair tray is removed after each meal, he doesn’t lunge forward EVERY SINGLE TIME to his impending doom. Nope, little Adlai sits patiently and waits for a parent to clean him up and lift him out of the chair. Why would he want to leap three feet to the floor? Ask his brother.

Perhaps our genetic code does not always produce danger babies. Or maybe? The worst is yet to come.

Posted by kagledom at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apologies for the break in Kagledom news. Simon came down with a cold Thursday night and stayed home from school on Friday. Matthew and Adlai came down with the cold on Saturday. I was feeling pretty smug about skipping out on the worst of it - until last night. My cold, it seems, was merely taking its time.

So we canceled our fun plans for the weekend and stayed around the house and away from friends. Monday we took the boys to a neighborhood potluck in our community park and Simon introduced himself to all the adults and children - always looking for new playmates. Adlai saw a friendly dog at the park and squealed with delight before crawling over to get a better look. He also nearly choked on a leaf he managed to swallow when I wasn't looking.

Adlai hasn't been sleeping well and by not sleeping well I pretty much mean not sleeping. During his illness he also wasn't eating which resulted in a large surplus of milk. Monday night he discovered the joy of eating fresh blueberries followed by everything else in the house. Last week I would have reported that he wasn't a fan of finger foods; this week that isn't the case. While he was sick we kept his diet to oatmeal and apples or pears (and, of course, milk) - his favorite foods. The kid can't afford to lose any weight.

Sometime in the past couple of weeks Adlai started sitting to play with toys and moving from the sit to a crawl and back to a sit like a professional. He also has now waved and said "Hi" in front of all three of us on separate occasions but it is hard to say if that is a three-time-fluke since his favorite thing is the "a" sound "ahhh," "aaaa," "ayyee". If it isn't a fluke, "Hi" is his first word.

Posted by kagledom at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)