A.B. Kagledom

Busy times again. Simon's birthday, my new job, Adlai turning 18-months, Father's Day...

Even when I'm not updating this page, I continue to upload photos to Flickr and videos to YouTube. Don't forget to take a look now and then!

Three days after Simon's birthday and my first day of work at Dell, Adlai turned 18-months-old. We didn't do anything special to celebrate. Oh, I take that back. Adlai has been remarkably good at telling us that he needs a diaper change. He calls out "Stinky!" or "Poo poo!" and pats his bum. Last week I jokingly asked him if he needed to go "Pee pee" and he reacted as if he had just won the baby lottery. "PEE PEE?! PEE PEE?!" He took off for the bathroom, pushed open the door, opened the lid of the toilet and tried to get the kiddie seat on. I helped him up and here is what happened:

Originally he didn't have a diaper on but it soon became clear that he has NO IDEA how to pee on command so I put it back on. In the days since he has insisted he needs to "PEE PEE!" because toilet paper is just that fun.

Adlai at 18 months is a pretty interesting fellow. He is remarkable with the talking. Pretty much the only thing he doesn't seem to be able to say is "Simon." He combines words frequently. He understands us more than he likes to let on. He thinks it is humorous when we get angry at him for doing something he shouldn't. He likes to make towers of food - on the top of his head.

We started a new regular baby sitter last week and Adlai was immediately in love. This will give Matthew two chunks a week of some child-free time AND she'll be stopping by once a week for date night. Excellent. (Simon loved her as well - Adlai's gushing over her was much more shocking.) We also signed Adlai up for preschool for next January, once he is two. We only signed him up for two mornings a week and that will only happen if someone drops their slot in the middle of the year (which isn't likely). It is much more likely that Adlai will start preschool in the Fall at two-and-a-half. He adores Simon's school so we figured being on the waiting list wouldn't hurt.

For Father's Day, the boys and I took Matthew out to breakfast and then gave him some time to himself followed by lunch and a father-son date to see "Up" while I stayed home with a napping Adlai. As was made tradition by last year's photos, I bought Matthew, Simon and Adlai matching shirts.

Adlai seems to be getting all of the remainder of his baby teeth right now. Ask him where it hurts and he'll stick his (or your) finger in his mouth on one of the jagged edges popping through one of the empty spaces and say "Ow". He's been pretty darn cranky because of the pain so we're anxiously awaiting a full mouth of teeth some time very soon.

Posted by kagledom at 07:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hey Folks,

The party is over at Simon's blog today!

Enjoy,

Hava

Posted by kagledom at 12:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday Adlai patted his tush and said "poo" a few times and, in fact, he had a poop in there.

Today we took the boys out to dinner and, while we were waiting for Simon to finish his dessert, Adlai and I went outside to look at the busses. "BUS!" shouted Adlai. "A bus!" "I like bus!" "See bus?"

He seems to be going through a bit of a language explosion right now. Matthew taught him to say "Help please." when he gets frustrated. Today I asked if he wanted to go inside and he confirmed by saying "insigh." His favorite things to talk about are "Choo choo trains", "Babies!", "Beep beeps" (anything that makes a beeping noise), "Woo woo" (sirens), "Woof woof", and "Cheese". He's also a pretty darn good singer. His favorite song is Baa Baa Black Sheep.

He had a cold earlier this week and Simon wasn't feeling 100% so Simon and I went out and bought everyone a smoothie. Here is Adlai with his enormous Jamba Juice...

In other news, this is my last weekday off for a long while. It's been a good week but very busy. I didn't accompish even half of my to-do list but I did get two of the major items complete. The pebbles in the front side yard have been removed so we can plant a pumpkin patch, and I painted a rainbow mural in Simon's room (because he asked).

Posted by kagledom at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm in between jobs this week and am using the time to get things off my to-do list. We're also trying to add in some fun. Simon was slightly sick over the weekend and in to Monday but he wasn't about to let that stop him from a good time.

Friday afternoon, my last day of work at Motorola, I planned to leave early so we could all spend the evening at the Children's Discovery Museum. That was before Simon had no breakfast, refused all snacks and then didn't eat lunch. The deal was that he had to eat first. He didn't. So on Saturday, after consuming something and appearing totally normal (besides the desire not to eat), we took the boys over to the Museum in San Jose.

Matthew spent time with Simon. I spent time with Adlai. I had the camera.

Adlai was thrilled to be driving a real firetruck. You'll just have to trust me on this. He doesn't smile or act goofy in public.

He and I also spent a lot of time in the toddler area. Here the future scientist moves sand back and forth through funnels...

And here he makes a pizza for me topped with an apple, a pear, and a plum. Yum?

After pizza making we tried to entice Simon to eat by taking him out for pizza. It was a disaster. The boys were starving after the long wait and then Simon didn't think his stomach could handle the pizza. We quickly wrapped it up and got back in the car to drive home. A few minutes later there was this:

Sunday morning we drove to Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo to celebrate Simon's fifth birthday with my side of the family. Simon was looking forward to this trip all week long. We managed to get him to eat a little before we left and he fell asleep in the car on the ride there. Perhaps the nap is how he ended up with enough energy to walk long distances and skip and be energetic until lunch time when his low battery light started to signal. He was afraid to eat lunch but once he saw the bucket meal of pudding, string cheese, a bottle of water, and an uncrustable pb&j sandwich, he decided to give it a try. Forty-five minutes (of eating it all) later, he was back to the good ol' crazy energetic boy we know and love.

Simon held hands with his cousin Sarah and talked her ear off while they visited the sharks and Thomas Town.

And here is where I remember important information. Friday, when Simon wasn't feeling so well, we turned on a Thomas the Train show from NetFlix. Adlai just happened to be in the room at the time and as soon as the opening titles were over, he was completely hooked. "A TRAIN! SEE? A CHOO CHOO Train! Train!!!! SEE???? CHOO CHOO!" He didn't stop talking or moving or pointing for the entire 40 minute program.

(Now we're back to Discovery Kingdom and entering Thomas Town...)

Adlai pointed to everything - the tracks, the signals, the trains, the train stations and let us know that these things all had to do with "CHOO CHOO!!!!!!!" We took the boys on a bus that slowly went around in the air and then we rode THOMAS! HOW EXCITING IS THAT?! Adlai managed to contain himself long enough to sit down and enjoy the short ride. When we got off, Grammy was kind enough to buy the boys some momentos. Adlai got a shirt with Thomas the Train on it and a musical train thing. He saw the shirt yesterday and, even though he was already wearing a shirt, insisted that I put it on RIGHT THEN - over the other shirt. He carried the train music thing from the car and into Simon's preschool class today only because he won't put it down.

Trains. Buses. Firetrucks. Oh my.

When we thought the boys had had enough fun, we all walked back to the parking lot where Simon opened his presents: a computer and a disgusting science kit. Even though he can't read and the computer is assuming he can, he loves it and we're all currently growing our bacteria in petri dishes thanks to the disgusting science kit. Simon wants to visit the germs all the time. He can't wait to gross out.

More fun to come as the week unfolds!

Posted by kagledom at 07:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This post would have shown up earlier in the week but was postponed by more important events.

Last Sunday we took the boys to the San Francisco Zoo to meet up with Adlai's little friend, Ben and our friend and Ben's Mom, Rachel. Adlai had never been to a zoo and the last time Simon was at the San Francisco Zoo he was around Adlai's age. Simon has never been particularly interested in caged animals and we fully support and agree with his opinion that watching wild animals sleep behind bars isn't a particularly joyful experience. Alas, Adlai deserved a turn at the zoo and we were set for good time.

As one might suspect, Adlai had pretty much the same reaction as the rest of us. Ben laughed with glee at some of the bigger animals and found the flamingos particularly worth a close inspection. Adlai pointed at the animals but was much more interested in pushing the stroller, toddling along with Ben, and playing with Ben's toy truck and rake. Both Simon and Adlai did enjoy petting the baby chicks. Adlai kept going back for more.

The two boys are adorable together but they don't actually interact much. Sadly, Ben will be returning to England with his family in a month - around the time the boys would have started to play together. Adlai did, however, hand Ben a blade of grass which Ben gladly accepted prompting this photo opportunity...

Besides the company, the best part of the zoo turned out to be the small steam train ride Simon insisted we take. Also a high point, we ran into this peacock strutting his stuff for a peahen on the way to the train.

The boys were exhausted by the time we left. Adlai passed out as soon as he was strapped into his car seat. Simon managed to stay awake until we returned home but only because of his expert stay-awake skills.

You may have noticed that I suddenly have more time for posting. The extra time means we're getting more errands done during weeknights and weekends so that means more concentrated time for fun. Over the next few weeks or so we're going to try to take the boys somewhere interesting, fun, and new at least once a week. Who knew switching jobs could be so relaxing?

Posted by kagledom at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, Matthew and I were talking in our room and Simon was getting ready for the day in his room and we assumed Adlai was innocently playing in the living room all by himself. And then we heard the rattle of coins and, since Adlai shouldn't be playing with coins, we went off to investigate. This is what we found...

Posted by kagledom at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I asked Simon to sign his Uncle Art's belated birthday card this morning. He asked me how to spell "I love you - but with a heart for love" so I wrote it down quickly and went back to preparing his breakfast. He wrote the most beautiful "I (heart) You" on the very first try and was very proud. His teachers say he is becoming increasingly interested in writing on the letter board at school. A few days ago he wrote a "menu" that included a bunch of real letters forming fake words in a list. Real writing and reading is just around the corner.

Posted by kagledom at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Winslow "Baybee" Kagle, International Bird of Mystery, died mysteriously while playing in his cage in the "bonus room/garage" yesterday afternoon. He was 15 years old.

(Actual size)

In his early years, Winslow was very active. He liked to shred toys and climb and swing and ring bells. He was a good talker, some favorite phrases being: "Hello, baybee!", "Take a dump!", "Go on, go poopy!" as well as his characteristic "Wee haw!"

Once, Matthew returned home to the smoke detector alerting him of the need for new batteries. "BEEP!" went the detector and "BEEP!" mimicked Winslow. He loved the sound so much he used it until his final days. He enjoyed being Matthew's ascot as well as sitting on his head and playing a good game of "Where's Winslow?" (Matthew pretending he was lost while Winslow playfully preened Matthew's hair.) He developed a fondness for Matthew's socked toes which he fed as any doting bird parent would.

He enjoyed fruit, long strands of cooked pasta, bathing in his water dish, having his pin feathers broken, sock drawers, and sitting in the passenger seat and watching big trucks pass on the freeway. He used to strut back and forth across the top of his cage crying "Wee, wee, wee, wee!" when he heard the sound of the vacuum cleaner.

Winslow was diagnosed with kidney disease in 1997 but was closely monitored and had been doing so well that he no longer required a special diet. Years later, he lost his beak to another bird while he was being boarded but enough grew back that he learned to eat and play. He was always feisty and often cranky but also warm and loving and affectionate.

Adlai was very interested in Winslow and had recently learned to say his name as well as call him "Baybee!" and "Birdie!"

Winslow was Matthew's first real pet. He was babied and loved dearly and we will miss him.

Posted by kagledom at 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)