A.B. Kagledom

It has been another crazy busy week here in Kagledom. Adlai has picked up more sentences ("Read this.", "I can do it!") but still won't say when he is all done, hungry, in need of milk, tired, or bored. So, although it is impressive that he shouts out a full sentence every now and then, we'd prefer if these sentences contained useful information. I think he finally associates "Mama" with me and "Da da" with Matthew. It is clear, however, that he understand more than he can say. When we talk about putting on shoes, he runs to get some (not always his but, hey). He will sometimes bring something to a parent if asked but usually this happens when something good will come of it: "Adlai, bring me the book. Adlai, bring me the raisins."

He has also developed a few unfortunate abilities such as being able to completely undress himself. This isn't such a handy talent in an almost 14-month-old. Take for example this morning: he walked into Simon's room, removed his daiper and urinated on the carpet.

We gave Adlai his Valentine gift, an otter of his own, a few days before Valentine's Day because he spit-up on Simon's. Simon chose to take the new, less stinky, otter leaving Adlai with the original otter, renamed "Hopscotch."

Here is our young nudist with his otter:

After everyone had an otter of their own, we put Adlai to bed and made 36 valentines with Simon. Here are a few:

To make everything friendly, Simon's school requires that children who want to give out valentine cards, give one to every child. We made ours over two days: half for the Tuesday/Thursday class and half for the Monday/Wednesday/Friday class (Simon is in both along with many other kids).

Friday night we ordered a heart-shaped pizza and, of course, on Saturday, we made our traditional gigantic heart shaped cookie (which is honestly the best cookie I think I've ever tasted). We decorated the cookie in San Francisco with Grandparents Kagle and then slipped away for an early dinner without the boys.

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

We had a great weekend here in Kagledom. Saturday, after swimming, we took the boys into San Francisco for some quality time away from us (they saw boats, we went for a walk) and quality time with us (we all had dinner with the Feefadders on a lovely evening while overlooking the bay).

Much to our chagrin, neither boy passed out on the way home. Of course, staying up an extra couple of hours didn't cause them to sleep in. No, by 6:30 am we were all playing together in Simon's room when Adlai spotted Harry Otter, Simon's favorite stuffed animal, on the floor. Adlai has been somewhat obsessed with Harry Otter since the moment Harry entered Simon's life which has been a point of much sibling contention. This morning Adlai was so happy to find Harry on the floor that he scooped him up and yelled "Look what I got!" This marks Adlai's first full sentence.

(We actually bought Adlai a duplicate otter as a gift for Valentine's Day.)

Later in the day we decided it was high time Adlai had his first pair of real shoes. Luckily, we've kept all of Simon's shoes since the beginning of time (at least the ones that were not worn out). Simon got his first shoes at 10 months (since he started to walk at 9.5 months). Adlai, at 13 months, still can't quite fill Simon's shoes but he seems comfortable in them and is VERY happy to be wearing them like a big boy. He even looks like a big boy.

Those were taken at the Stanford Shopping Center where we took the boys this afternoon - to run around the fountains and see the flowers. No shopping!

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Before you view this video, you must know that Adlai was laughing at his own frustration before we started recording...

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Friday afternoon, Grandparents' Kagle stopped by to spend some time with the boys while giving Matthew a chance to be alone. And then they were kind enough to stay until after 10:30 pm while Matthew and I spent the evening with adults over a four course fondue dinner. That was our first full date since the birth of Adlai and the time was very appreciated. We didn't even talk about kids (at least, not much).

Saturday morning we went through our usual routine - a walk to bagels and coffee followed by playing or a nap before swimming. Simon swims with his teacher and his friend Ashwin, Adlai kicks and splashes and relaxes in the warm water of the pool with me. Sometimes Adlai asks if the teacher will hold him. The teachers know and love the boys and both boys are obviously infatuated with them. Saturday is the best day of the week. It's really nice that the boys enjoy the water so much - of course our poor bathroom floor and all the towels required to soak up the aftermath of each bath might disagree.

Sunday was also routine - involving a trip to the farmers market. Simon and Adlai listened to the music and sampled food while Matthew collected the fish and vegetables and fruit for the week. We've recently discovered Adlai's love of tangerines - yesterday he ate two or three all on his own. He is still very fond of meat and beans and cottage cheese.

It was another sunny and warm weekend so there was time spent outside at the park (where we ran into our friends from Friday evening) and a visit with other friends an hour away to celebrate a birthday. My only regret is that we didn't take the boys to the beach or somewhere interesting and new.

Of course, it never feels like there is enough time to accomplish everything that we want. I'm always surprised that four people is four times the laundry and four times the dishes. Matthew has weekend work. Simon's kindergarten registration forms are due. The taxes don't do themselves. The cars need maintenance. Adlai needs to be held and comforted - his mouth hurts from the new teeth and he would really prefer to suck or chew on a pacifier all day long. Every night Matthew and I fit in a run, and pay some bills, and clean. We're doing better about cooking at home every day - from scratch. Really, the ideal "vacation" would be for all of the details to disappear.

These boys - they should spend more time at the ocean.

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Adlai would like you to know that he can ring the bell on Simon's old tricycle and he can almost climb on and off of his push-truck wthout assistance.

We're all very proud.

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As I was on my way out the door this morning, Adlai blew me a kiss.

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Adlai and the rest of us had a relaxing weekend. I came down with a cold on Friday and the boys' noses started running ever so slightly this afternoon. Fortunately, we still managed to make it into San Francisco today for some fun. Adlai has come up with a few new tricks lately. He gargles his milk before swallowing, can and will climb anything that is climbable and always turns around to let himself down from heights legs first (cautious boy!).

He has been extremely cranky lately but we forgive him because he has three top teeth all breaking through and it looks very painful.

Hey, look, I'm finally posting photos! These are from Matthew's phone over the past few months. There are around one hundred on Flickr.

Matthew took the boys out for some flaming cheese last week

Adlai after his new haircut

The first car trip with both boys facing forwards. (Notice the hand holding!)

Back when the leaves fell

Adlai "hugs" Ben

My birthday present!

Playing in the shower

What do I do?

Swinging at the park

Simon and two of his close friends

Posted by kagledom at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you were paying attention to business news last week you may have heard last Wednesday that Motorola was laying off 4,000 people starting immediately. That news was rumored internally to be happening on Monday, and then on Tuesday, and then there were 8 hours on Wednesday where we Motorolans were waiting with anticipation for the chopping to begin. The cuts were brutal and impacted a great number of my friends and coworkers in the Chicago office. Sure, life goes on but I didn't feel like posting anything cute or silly so I didn't post at all. Oh and then there was that big deadline on Friday to make - even with all the turmoil.

Last night I tried to get the pictures off of Matthew's phone - he has over 100 mostly adorable shots from the past few months - but the cheap laptop we bought is not making things easy so after an hour of trying to get Bluetooth to STAY ON I gave up. I'll use one of my work laptops sometime soon.

Adlai stopped crawling sometime last week. He's a cute walker - sticking his chest forward and toddling with a wide stance. We spent more of the weekend outside enjoying the warmth than inside and, on one trip to the park, he nearly started running. He loves his new independence and is occasionally insisting that he walk - especially when it is inconvenient.

This toddlerhood of his has us thinking we should go back to using the crank-o-meter on this site. Boy does this boy have a temper! It is clear that Adlai is very frustrated by not being able to do everything we do. He expects to use adult utensils - especially sharp forks - so meal time is a struggle. He expects to dress himself and put on his own shoes. He hates having his diaper changed - treating it as an exercise in how loud he can scream and cry and experimenting with squirming away.

Luckily, we know this will pass. Adlai is getting better at talking with "What's that?" and "Hey there!" And his pointing and leaning skills get across what he wants and where he wants to go (when held).

I asked him on Monday morning if he wanted to nurse and it was clear that he wasn't all that interested so he took a cup of milk instead and that was the end. He has been very loving toward me these past couple of weeks so it was a good enough time to let go. Still, it is a bit sad knowing that it is the end of nursing and babyhood - forever.

And then he was cranky and misunderstood and Simon was verbally charming and I was reminded of how much we have to look forward to in the future.

Posted by kagledom at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)