A.B. Kagledom

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)

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)

Sweet, safety conscious, little Adlai has taken on some new interests. These interests seem to stem from his overwhelming desire to be a big kid and have and do what everyone else has or does. First, he climbs. He climbs the chairs and crawls on to the kitchen table. He climbs the play structure in the backyard - even those parts that are not for climbing. More than once over the past few days we've found him happily jumping alone on Simon's loft bed - having scaled the slide with his bare feet. Yesterday he was found sitting on the kitchen table trying to open a bottle of child-proof pills.

It's pretty much impossible to stop this climbing so we've instituted the sock rule, making the climbing more difficult, and we tuck in chairs so he can't pull them out quite as easy. And so he gets stuck - his little body squished flat on a chair with the table directly above him or he crawls half way up the slide before toppling over.

We close doors to the bathrooms so he won't play with the toilet water or toilet paper and close the door to our bedroom so he will stop going after electric cables for our laptops. Anything on a blanket or a placemat or paper will be grabbed and pulled - everything sitting on top of that item comes crashing down to the floor below. If Simon is eating at the table and Adlai isn't in his high chair Adlai will always run over and try to grab Simon's cup - spilling the contents over everything. We've gated off the kitchen but he slips around the gate or gets stuck trying. Last week he grabbed a dirty diaper out of the diaper pail and ran it over to me proudly proclaiming "STINKY!"

He's at an age when he must be watched at all times. Constant vigilance! It's exhausting and we are considering hiring some occasional babysitter relief.

Posted by kagledom at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our dear little Adlai is quite the shy one. When around unfamiliar people he often hides behinds the legs of a parent clutching on for comfort or insists he needs to be picked up. When strangers talk and smile at him he greets them with a blank stare - until they look away. We have been told, however, that when we're not around, he is just fine - never cries, never seems uncomfortable - even with unfamiliar sitters.

Grammy arrived yesterday for a visit and Adlai immediately showed her his favorite books and his shoes (Adlai really likes shoes and books) and sat on her lap so she could help him put the shoes on his feet and read the books. He chattered away and was completely comfortable. So, maybe shyness is not part of Adlai's future after all.

Posted by kagledom at 08:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So as most of you probably know, I've taken a job over at Dell. It's, pretty much, exactly the same job - just a new group and a new salary and we couldn't be more thrilled. I start June 15 (Simon's birthday) but I'll have the week before that off to relax. The new job is super close to the old job so no real change there.

The last week has seen a number of enhancements in our Dear Adlai B. He has become super opinionated (that was there, he's just even more!). He likes firetrucks, airplanes, cats, and dogs. He would very much prefer to wear/hold/read about/eat on/drink with these three things at all times. He has taken to snuggling and carting around Simon's favorite cat, Balcony, during sleep and all other times. Luckily, we have him using Balcony 2 (or maybe it is Balcony 3?) the secret switching look-a-likes that didn't fool Simon for a second.

Adlai can say his name "Add-bee" and is trying very very hard to behave as a five-year-old. This last part causes much frustration. He is a pro with a fork but is still working on his spoon technique. (So, of course, he only wants cereal with milk or yogurt in a bowl for breakfast.) He insists on eating only things with flavor (unlike Simon who prefers food bland). He has learned to use "NO!" appropriately - like when someone tries to remove his toothbrush from his clenched fist because he insists that he can brush his teeth ALL BY HIMSELF (only he can't).

He has also been a lot of fun as of late. He likes to sing (Dayenu, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle are among his favorites). He likes to point out animals in books and make their sounds. He likes to climb and slide and play t-ball (and he is, amazingly, co-ordinated). He likes to be really loud (except, of course, when he is being shy). Tonight Simon played a song on the computer and Adlai attempted a dance routine that he has been perfecting...

Here is T-ball and swinging last Friday...

Here is Adlai "reading" some time last week...

Adlai's very snugly and loving and remarkably interested in going to sleep. I think we'll keep him.

Posted by kagledom at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)