A.B. Kagledom

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)

The regularity with which I've updated this website is a definite indication of how much free time has been available this past week. Last weekend we had a fun Halloween gathering with a few friends. Although some of our kid-free friends were brave enough to show up, it was mostly a kid-focused party with gooey gross things to touch, stickers to place on the witch, and lots of fun on the outdoor play structure (it was, after all, close to 80 degrees outside).

The day after the party was our seventh wedding anniversary. Grammy came to stay in the late afternoon and Matthew and I went out for dessert after the kids went to sleep. It wasn't the most romantic of days but, hey, we've got a lot going on - romance will be saved for late November. Grammy visited until Thursday morning and witnessed our usual 4:45 am to 8 pm routine (ok, we spared her the early wake up call). Simon was thrilled to have Grammy's attention for a few days. We've been trying to keep the kids up later and later to prepare for the horrid time change this weekend and it was very nice to have Grammy as a positive distraction.

By Wednesday, news of changes at Moto prompted me to check in with the office and, as I suspected, the work intensity and focus of our group had increased just a tad so it became clear that my vacation needed to be cut short. I increased my hours at home and went in to the office for a bit but still managed to make it to Simon's preschool Halloween parade this morning as well as take the boys trick-or-treating along Main Street in Los Altos this afternoon and take Simon trick-or-treating around the neighborhood this evening. The decision to spend today celebrating Halloween was an easy one but it does mean I need to spend as much time as possible working over the weekend. My birthday party, planned for Sunday, had to go and was promptly canceled.

Let's not lament the sadness of a working birthday weekend and instead lament the sadness of wee Adlai who has been sleeping about as well as a really unsleepy newborn. We've all been suffering from a minor cold at some point over the past week but Adlai's version is much worse and a stomach-with-pacifier-sleeping-baby does not mix with extreme congestion. In general, something really needs to be done about the lack of sleep in this house - we will be sleep training him as soon as the congestion is over. I'm actually considering putting him in the garage (aka "bonus room") for a few nights. Matthew thinks we should investigate solid-core doors so at least Simon won't continue to suffer.

In any case, despite the sickness, lack of sleep, and work, we've had a pretty good week. Instead of posting the photos here I'm going to sleep. Please take a look at the Flickr page and make sure you click page by page or view the slideshow so you don't miss anything.

Happy Halloween and good night!

Posted by kagledom at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Adlai has started to cautiously walk across a room with one of his hands firmly planted in the palm of a parent and he can stand for up to 15 seconds. It won’t be long before he has the courage to take those first few steps on his own. Next week would be a good time. The week starts with our anniversary, follows on with Halloween, and ends with my birthday. To celebrate, I’ve taken the week off (sort of – I have a deal to work two hours a day) to just be at home and get a few things done – maybe have time to post the boppy photo, update the banner of this page, get a new photo in the upper left. More likely, I’ll do none of that and just hang out with my boys.

“Busy” doesn’t seem to capture our lives lately. I’ve realized that I don’t even stand up at work unless I’m on my way to or from a meeting or to or from the Mom room. Once home, there is nursing, and cooking (often three variations of the same meal), and eating, and bathing, and more nursing, and bedtime followed by an hour of dishes, and laundry, and picking up toys, and lunch preparation, and list making. I never call anyone and I rarely respond to personal email. I love Facebook because I can feel connected to my friends at a glance - it is fast and easy and doesn’t require a response. Someday I will look back on this time and wonder how we managed. In answer to my future self, we just do. Frankly, the schedule isn’t a heck of a lot of fun. I miss sleeping and exercising and leaving the pump and/or the baby for more than two hours at a time. Two months from now, when pumping ends, I’ll have a whopping two hours a day returned and I will celebrate by leaving the house without a large black bag for four hours in a row.

I think I might even be daring and spend that time with Matthew. Matthew’s schedule hasn’t been any easier than mine. He has a master list of things that must be done and a list of things we need to buy and a calendar full of play dates, appointments, nap times, school drop offs and pick ups. Next week he’ll add teaching twice a week and grading. Somehow, in all of this, he has managed to find time to create a blog : I KEN RITE FUN-EE

I’ve always thought of Matthew as particularly hilarious and I’m glad he is finally combining his writing talent with his quick wit and deep sarcastic tendencies. Just as I have warned that this is a site about babies and if you don’t want to hear about babies, you shouldn’t be reading this site, I will warn you that Matthew’s blog is not about our lives but about his ability to tell a story. He may write something that offends your sensibilities and, if so, use the little X (or the red circle for you Mac folks) on your browser window and do not return.* I, however, recommend you start reading from the very beginning of his posts and enjoy!

*Clearly, I’m still a little bitter about losing friends via the things I’ve written here - I don’t want that to happen to him.

Posted by kagledom at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adlai is standing for longer periods of time (still only counted in seconds). The other night he stood and raised his hands up in the air and made a happy "yee!" noise before falling back to his bum. Matthew, Simon, and I clapped. Adlai tried again. We clapped. Adlai clapped. Adlai tried again...

We went to our first Halloween party of the season over the weekend and Simon was thrilled to be dressed in his lab coat stocked up with all his "instruments." He has decided to be a family doctor. We're so proud. Adlai isn't sure yet if he should make a life's work out of being the devil. He was, however, very good about leaving on his head gear and wings. No pitch fork was provided.

Posted by kagledom at 08:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adlai turned ten months old on Saturday. We took the usual Boppy photo set and a video but were too busy to post. In fact, we’re still too busy. Luckily, the video uploaded to YouTube while we slept. My new Dell laptop doesn’t turn off. EVER. In fact it wakes up and goes to sleep all night long. “Zhawing!” “Dinnawing.” Between the sounds of the laptop, the crying of Adlai for hours, and then the crying of Simon for an hour brought on by the crying of Adlai, I’m pretty sure I’ve gone mad. I have not gone mad enough, however, to think that this Boppy video is particularly interesting. But, if you’re related to us or really really bored, give it a whirl:

Adlai had an exciting weekend, started off by his first steak. Oh how Adlai LOVED that steak. So Friday he ate half of my steak, Sunday he ate half of my chicken breast and that was before a big chunk of Salmon ... It’s my new diet plan – feed the kid instead of myself. All this eating you would think that Adlai could carry himself through the night but reality is exactly the opposite. The more he has been eating, the more he wants to eat. And during the week he doesn’t eat much during the day because he won’t eat for Daddy. He stores all this hunger up until 7 pm, 9 pm, 11 pm, 2 am, and 4 am. I’m a little bitter about this schedule which will make it so much sweeter to do the ol’ cow milk switcharoo two months from now.

TWO MORE MONTHS.

We did do a number of exciting things over the weekend. Maybe that post will appear tomorrow.

Posted by kagledom at 08:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)