A.B. Kagledom

Just looking back at the babies we have known, it seems that kids choose a developmental path (verbal or physical) and stick with it at least until the age of four (we know nothing, of course, about any age higher than four). Simon clearly had a preference for the physical path. He rolled, crawled, walked, and jumped ahead of schedule but spoke Simonese well into his fourth year of life. Adlai has taken a separate path. While he can now get into a stand without assistance and gently lower himself back to a squat, he seems to have very little interest in walking. He has, however, grown his vocabulary which now includes "Hi", "Bye bye", "Baby", "Yay!", "Ah dnnn" (all done), "Brown Bear" (his favorite book), "Da da" and "Mama" (but he prefers to call us Da Da). What is really great is if you ask him to say something simple he actually tries.

I should also mention that he started kissing the people that he loves on the lips a couple of weeks back. If you're really lucky, you might get an open mouthed kiss that includes tongue. Ew.

Posted by kagledom at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today Adlai turned eleven months old. He celebrated by spending the afternoon with Grandma Whee (visiting from New York) and the Feefadders. And then we all took him out to Pasta? in downtown Mountain View where he ate lots of bread, cheese, and pesto pasta. Ah, the life of an eleven month old...

Something pretty incredible is happening to the wee Adlai B. Over the past week he has become a chatter box and mimics our words and, occasionally, uses them again at appropriate times. He has also taken up the trombone. Don't believe me? Check it out...

And, finally, an update to the Boppy Photo Collection.

Posted by kagledom at 07:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's about to be another crazy busy week at work - hopefully the last for a long time. Hopefully, there will be time for the all-important boppy post as Adlai turns eleven months old. Alas, I felt it important to at least report on our weekend and upload a few weeks worth of photos to Flickr before time slips away.

Matthew started working on Saturday mornings several weeks ago. The routine is working well except I can't manage to get both boys and myself in and out of the swimming pool at the same time. This means that Adlai has been forced to watch Simon swim without getting in himself. Alas, this weekend Grandparents Kagle stopped by to help out making Adlai a very very happy swimmy boy. He kicked and kicked and splashed and splashed and has perhaps never had a better time in his life. He passed out shortly after we returned home. After he woke up, he took a long walk with Grandmother and Feefadder and Simon while Matthew and I escaped for a hike in the hills. We kind of sort of even remembered what it was like before the chaos, I mean babies, entered our lives. It was REALLY NICE. I mean the walk, of course.

This morning we woke up at the crack of dawn (as usual) and decided to take an impromptu trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We hadn't been there since Simon was a baby so I'd been looking for opportunities.

Great hair at lunch

Lunch

Two brothers watching fish

Adlai being removed from the touch area for splashing

Adlai had much the same reaction as baby Simon to the aquarium: LOOK AT ALL THE WATER! HOW CAN I GET IN? Simon actually cared about the sea life this time around but, still, was much more interested in the exhibits and the water than in the contents of the water (although we all agreed the sun fish was very cool). The highlight was a huge wave that washes right over you as you stay dry in the comfort of the building.

Both boys were completely frazzled by the late afternoon. Adlai passed out while nursing in the dark shark exhibit but Simon refused to give up and leave even though his legs were failing him. We eventually managed to bribe him to the car with the promise of a cookie.

Most unfortunately, neither boy slept on the way home.

Posted by kagledom at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I think I may take the weekend off and spend it with these two boys.

(Oh, sorry, Matthew, three boys. Oops! Forgot Winslow. Four boys.)

Another photo brought to you by Matthew's phone.

Posted by kagledom at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Matthew, Simon, and Adlai welcomed Feefadder back to San Francisco on Monday and Adlai took the opportunity to do his very favorite thing: pull everything out of Grandfather's drawers!

Posted by kagledom at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adlai became sick two days after his weekly playdate with his baby friends. Matthew and I became sick two days after that. We were knocked out most of Sunday and took turns napping and trying to take care of the kids. When Adlai crawled out of the view of the awake parent, big brother Simon would take Adlai's hands and walk him back over.

If Simon doesn't start vomiting by tomorrow, he'll be in the clear.

Simon asked me to change my report from last time. Here is his exact suggested wording (with"FIVE exclamation points!").

Simon can swim!!!!!

Posted by kagledom at 08:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Adlai woke up feeling well enough to keep down milk so we gave him solids at lunch and dinner. He's back to his normal self.

Simon swam without assistance throughout his swimming class today (and it was intentional and impressive).

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

Adlai woke up at 4:45 am (as usual) and nursed (as usual) and vomited all over me. At 5 am he nursed more and vomited more. And then we were told to stop feeding him. He vomited and slept all day long consuming nothing but a few ounces of Pedialyte.

More news as events warrant.

Posted by kagledom at 06:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've totally given up on trying to feed the baby baby food so, last night, gave each boy a large portion of old fashioned lasagna Matthew had made earlier in the day. Adlai ate every bite while kicking his feet with enthusiasm (Simon loved it as well but provided less kicking). If Adlai didn't make such a mess with "regular" food, I'd be more pleased.

And, in more monumental news, Adlai took his first step today. It was more like a shuffle - half step back, half step forward, then back to his bum. Nevertheless, he took this first step at least twice -- walking is coming very very soon.

And now back to our regularly scheduled, work around the clock, schedule...

Posted by kagledom at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reminds you to vote.

Posted by kagledom at 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Adlai is full of new talent and, no matter how busy we are, his talent must be shared with the world.

1. He combs his hair (we have it on video)
2. He tries to put on our hats and play peek-a-boo (we have it on video)
3. He points at things and says "uuuh!" or "aaaa!" to show his interest (mostly fans, lights, and buttons)
4. He absolutely refuses to eat baby food or anything from a spoon or anything he doesn't see Simon eating (this is very very annoying as now we can't use baby jars which were very time effective and the kid only has two teeth)
5. He started to wave "bye bye" over the weekend and, once he figured it out, he waved to every single person around
6. He is seriously considering taking a step or two but is not fully committed (you can see him move his body forward and then pull back)
7. He finds coughing and clearing his throat an ideal method of communication - and it is hysterical if you do it back so the conversation can continue
8. He is feeling better and learning that Mama and Daddy are serious about giving him to gypsies if he doesn't stop waking up every couple of hours

Posted by kagledom at 10:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)