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Adlai has been working on counting for a week or two. He says "1...2....3!" quite often but, this morning, he saw his two pacifiers sitting on the counter and said "Two binkies!" Then he walked in on me while I was in the shower and said "I love you!" After my shower I used some water to wash breakfast out of his hair. He walked away with "Thank you, Mama!"
Sweet kid.
One of the more difficult things about the new job has been switching our health insurance away from Kaiser. And the difficult part was losing doctors that we thought were great. Simon was especially nervous to have a new doctor so, on Friday, we all went to meet the new pediatrician under the guise of a late-18-month checkup for Adlai.
Turns out Adlai has been doing a bit of growing lately. At 33.5 inches tall he is now in the 75th percentile for height and at nearly 24 pounds, he remains at the 10th percentile for weight. The doctor asked if he could speak 10-20 words so when we responded that not only does he know many more words, he occasionally speaks in full sentences, she was amazed. She also remarked that it is early for him to be jumping. Other than that, everything looks good and normal. Adlai got two shots and the doctor was very nice to Simon which made him less nervous about seeing her again in the future.
After the appointment we took the boys to youth theater in the park with a pizza picnic. The play this week was "The Frog Prince." Simon LOVES these performances. After consuming his pizza, Adlai ran around the park with Matthew until the show was over.
Saturday we took the boys swimming, as usual, and, after Adlai's nap, we tried berry picking at a local farm. The strawberries were hard to find and very small but we picked enough to fill a couple of baskets. Adlai was surprisingly interested in picking. We pretty much left him alone and he spent a good half hour in deep concentration - picking away.
After eating the berries with dinner, we took the boys out for much needed hair cuts. (I only mention this part because the next set of photos are "after" shots.)
Sunday morning we woke early (as usual) and drove into San Francisco to take a bay cruise under the Golden Gate Bridge and back. The boys were really interested for the first 20 minutes and then they were just hungry. After docking, we took them out for an early lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp at Pier 39 which made them both very happy.
Once we returned home, we took the boys over to the park for a Kindergarten play date. Simon has been very resistant to the idea of making new friends and starting a new school but a bribe of dessert (after dinner) if he said "hi" to people and made one friend worked like magic. He met a large number of kids and played and had a great time. School starts August 19 and we still have one or two more events for Simon to meet and play with his future classmates.
Adlai made a friend at the play date as well. This little boy took Adlai's truck so he was upset and then I convinced them to play with the truck together which worked. It turns out the other little boy and Adlai were born on the same day.
Oh, and here is Adlai on his truck before we left for the City Sunday morning:
New things for Adlai:
- He started to bite a week or so ago - not often but he thinks it is funny (which it isn't).
- He likes to have his owies kissed enough that he has taken to fake hurting himself to get a kiss.
- This morning Matthew said "Let's go!" and Adlai responded with "No! Stay!"
- The kid really likes cold cabbage and sour foods.
- We've started limiting the binky to sleeping times only which really makes him mad (but his face rash is better for it)
- He cheers when Simon walks out of his room in the morning.
- His favorite songs are still "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Dayenu"
- We gave him his first soft serve ice cream cone last week too cool of his stinging face rash and he was very pleased
It shouldn't be a big surprise to anyone that Adlai loves the water just as much as Simon. Cold water. Cold cold cold cold Pacific Ocean water.
We took the boys to Santa Cruz again on Sunday for a beach morning. The following video isn't particularly interesting, I just thought it time I post some action for the grandparents...
Adlai loved running away from the waves and running in the oncoming tide. Simon was disappointed that we didn't go in farther. He's a crazy kid. Lots of photos here!
Three weeks ago…
Adlai finds a pacifier under his crib, walks over to a real phone (used as a toy) on the floor and picks up the receiver.
Adlai: “Hi. I has a BINKY! Bye.”
He hangs up.
Almost every morning since three weeks ago…
Adlai walks over to Simon’s door while Simon is still asleep. He puts one finger to his lips (and up his nostril) and says “SSSSSSSSSSSS!” before storming through Simon’s door to wake him up.
Two weeks ago…
I get home and lay on the carpet in the living room. Adlai comes over to give me a kiss and, instead, head butts my nose. A loud CRACK is heard all the way into the kitchen. The pain and minor swelling goes away after about a week. A small bump remains but I can breathe easier out of my left nostril.
Adlai starts to walk around muttering sadly “No binky… no binky…” after we restrict his access to pacifiers.
Adlai stops crying when he wakes up in the morning and, instead, calls out “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaddy! Daaaaaaaaaaaddy!” at regular intervals. If that doesn’t work after a few minutes, he quietly calls, “Mama?"
This week…
Adlai said goodbye to his first friend, Ben. Ben will be returning to the UK later this week and we are sad to see him go.
Adlai participated in a language study at Stanford University. They blindfolded Matthew while Adlai sat on his lap and looked at two photos while words were piped in on a speaker. Apparently Adlai loved the experience. When they said “cat” he said “meow!” and when they said “foot” he kicked his foot out, etc. They may be called back for more study as Adlai’s linguistic abilities increase.
Adventures…
Adlai and his little friend, Ben, took the train to a café a few stops from our local train station. Both boys love choo choo trains. Both boys seem to prefer their trains from the outside. Shortly after the trip, we took our boys to the Redwood City Fourth of July parade via train which cemented Adlai’s disinterest in being ON a train. He was, however, very interested to see the fire trucks in the parade.
Adlai and Ben on the train
Simon at the Fourth of July Parade
Adlai at the Fourth of July Parade
On the evening of the Fourth, we took Grammy and the boys to see the fireworks display over Shoreline Amphitheater with some friends. We walked to the Shoreline golf course with hundreds of other people and the boys ran and played on the green with lots and lots of other kids while we waited for the show. Adlai was amazing the entire evening. Simon was (literally) driven into a four-hour-long nap earlier in the day so he stayed awake and happy as well. Simon even volunteered to walk the mile to the fireworks (instead of stroller-ing) and almost all the way back to the car after the show.
Simon and I were supposed to make the cake together but his four hour nap prevented that. I was, however, instructed to make a flag on it with the word “Obama.”
Fourth of July Cake
Last weekend the boys were invited to a water party through Simon’s preschool. Adlai napped through almost the entire thing but Simon had a great time throwing his first water balloons. Sunday we took the boys to The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz before a trip to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Simon found the wacky cabin and his inability to stand in it very amusing. In general, Santa Cruz was a perfect destination – close and warm and the beach was virtually empty (pre-lunch). We’ve decided to go back again this weekend so we can spend more time at the beach. We’re all looking forward to beach time at Cape Cod in a few weeks.
Mystery Spot Snack
Adlai on the beach