Here's Leo at the Museum, working a hand cart thingy. I think he'll be a safe driver when he's 18, given how carefully he's watching where he's going.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Museum and baby pics
We were delighted that when we called yesterday to ask if Mason could come out to play, the entire Gentry clan, including baby Alice, came over. Here are the proud parents (who looked amazing for having a 2 1/2 year old and a one week old!)
Leo enjoyed holding the baby and was very gentle in kissing her and patting her on the head.
As promised--a few pics from the Children's Museum. The only paleontologist with a pacifier I've ever seen.
"Get out of my way, I have things to do!"
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Daytime at the Museum
Pictures to follow later, although I didn't get to take many.
We've just returned from what's becoming an annual day trip to Indianapolis to meet up with Kirstin's friend Beth from Durham, whose mom lives in Ohio. Like last year, Leo and I went to the Children's Museum. Unlike last year, we didn't get back together with them for lunch, and Leo and I didn't go hang out at the Indianapolis/Marion County Public Library while he took a nap -- mostly because he didn't take one.
We started the morning with him playing in the Fireworks of Glass area, underneath the largest permanent installation of a Dale Chihuly artwork. We went down the slide that's part of their annual Jolly Days Winter Wonderland exhibit, then off to the Dinosphere. The Dinosphere exit leads to the trains (All Aboard!), where he spent far more time than I had interest for running around the tool car that's a part of the permanent installation -- it was backed into the museum in 1975, and the walls were built around it. I had to haul him away to try to get him to the Playscape. Just outside the elevator, there's a decommissioned Indy league race car... where Leo slipped and gave himself a considerable goose egg on his second trip in. After some medical attention, we went to Playscape, where he played until I had to haul him away for lunch.
Following lunch, we went through a temporary exhibit on comic books and superheroes, through the dinosaur/dragon art gallery, and back into the Dinosphere for a second go around. We'd just hit the trains for a second time when Kirstin called to say that they were done with their running around. He was not ready to go. He did, however, sleep for most of the drive home.
What did the girls do while all this was transpiring? Most of their time was spent at Fashion Mall at Keystone Crossing, although the other significant portion of their excursion was to Beads Amore.
Somehow, Leo still has an incredible quantity of energy now. I don't see how, since we woke him up earlier than he's been used to lately, and his nap was short (although late).
Tomorrow, he gets a haircut and goes back to school. Me... I'm looking forward to this summer, when we should be able to see both Harry Potter: The Exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago and head back to the Children's Museum for the Lego Castle Adventure.
We've just returned from what's becoming an annual day trip to Indianapolis to meet up with Kirstin's friend Beth from Durham, whose mom lives in Ohio. Like last year, Leo and I went to the Children's Museum. Unlike last year, we didn't get back together with them for lunch, and Leo and I didn't go hang out at the Indianapolis/Marion County Public Library while he took a nap -- mostly because he didn't take one.
We started the morning with him playing in the Fireworks of Glass area, underneath the largest permanent installation of a Dale Chihuly artwork. We went down the slide that's part of their annual Jolly Days Winter Wonderland exhibit, then off to the Dinosphere. The Dinosphere exit leads to the trains (All Aboard!), where he spent far more time than I had interest for running around the tool car that's a part of the permanent installation -- it was backed into the museum in 1975, and the walls were built around it. I had to haul him away to try to get him to the Playscape. Just outside the elevator, there's a decommissioned Indy league race car... where Leo slipped and gave himself a considerable goose egg on his second trip in. After some medical attention, we went to Playscape, where he played until I had to haul him away for lunch.
Following lunch, we went through a temporary exhibit on comic books and superheroes, through the dinosaur/dragon art gallery, and back into the Dinosphere for a second go around. We'd just hit the trains for a second time when Kirstin called to say that they were done with their running around. He was not ready to go. He did, however, sleep for most of the drive home.
What did the girls do while all this was transpiring? Most of their time was spent at Fashion Mall at Keystone Crossing, although the other significant portion of their excursion was to Beads Amore.
Somehow, Leo still has an incredible quantity of energy now. I don't see how, since we woke him up earlier than he's been used to lately, and his nap was short (although late).
Tomorrow, he gets a haircut and goes back to school. Me... I'm looking forward to this summer, when we should be able to see both Harry Potter: The Exhibit at the Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago and head back to the Children's Museum for the Lego Castle Adventure.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Two other random things
Leo has been fully potty trained since Monday--the diaper pail is still empty and there have been no accidents. Let's see if he can keep it up once he goes back to school.
He says "I couldn't" when he means he can't.
He says "I couldn't" when he means he can't.
Rain
We have gotten 2.5 inches of rain so far today and it was 63 degrees. We don't normally have ponds on our property. I'll take snow now, thank you.
More Christmas pics
What's wrong with this picture? Leo made this reindeer at Barnes and Nobel in Wausau when we were there Thanksgiving weekend.
Leo needed a play break during all of the present opening.
Leo got tired half way through opening presents and even got tired of handing out gifts to others to open.
Tickle break.
Leo loves his new camera. Here he is holding it while we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the other night.
A very merry Christmas
Well, not everything went as planned, as my parents couldn't make it down due to the incredibly awful weather we've been having in this part of the country and because they were also feeling under the weather in the other sense. But, we still had a houseful of people and had a good time.
On Tuesday we got a little bit of snow in the morning. Here's Leo patiently waiting for me to go out and play while he's all decked out in snow gear.
We didn't get much snow, but he still had fun (and don't worry, I did eventually get him to wear his mittens.
We went to church on Christmas Eve, and the service we attended involved music and narration and a live nativity scene made up of children from the audience. When the pastor came to ask Leo if he wanted to be one of the sheep, he said, "No, I want to be a cow!" So he went off and was one of the cows--although he spent most of his time with his back to the congregation so he could watch the musicians.
Here's the tree with all of the presents. The sad thing is that we all agreed that this would be a "light" Christmas due to the lovely economy. However, Leo still got so many toys that he got tired of opening them halfway through and let us open some for him. Even still, at one point when we told him he had to wait for someone else to be done opening a present before he could open another one of his he pouted, "But I never get to open any presents." Yale drama school, here we come.
Leo enjoyed helping everyone else open all of their presents, and when we were doing stockings, had a great time with the tools that Glenn got.
Here's Leo with his gift from Santa. It was a big hit, as were all of the gifts he got. A word to the wise: it's perhaps not wise to give a newly-potty-trained preschooler his own camera for Christmas, because he'll want to photograph the evidence.
On Tuesday we got a little bit of snow in the morning. Here's Leo patiently waiting for me to go out and play while he's all decked out in snow gear.
We didn't get much snow, but he still had fun (and don't worry, I did eventually get him to wear his mittens.
We went to church on Christmas Eve, and the service we attended involved music and narration and a live nativity scene made up of children from the audience. When the pastor came to ask Leo if he wanted to be one of the sheep, he said, "No, I want to be a cow!" So he went off and was one of the cows--although he spent most of his time with his back to the congregation so he could watch the musicians.
Here's the tree with all of the presents. The sad thing is that we all agreed that this would be a "light" Christmas due to the lovely economy. However, Leo still got so many toys that he got tired of opening them halfway through and let us open some for him. Even still, at one point when we told him he had to wait for someone else to be done opening a present before he could open another one of his he pouted, "But I never get to open any presents." Yale drama school, here we come.
Leo enjoyed helping everyone else open all of their presents, and when we were doing stockings, had a great time with the tools that Glenn got.
Here's Leo with his gift from Santa. It was a big hit, as were all of the gifts he got. A word to the wise: it's perhaps not wise to give a newly-potty-trained preschooler his own camera for Christmas, because he'll want to photograph the evidence.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Random pre-Christmas post
A few pictures from the last few weeks. Here are Jeff and Leo decorating the tree.
Leo decides he's too tired to help any more. The couch cushions are up and wet because we had just steam cleaned them.
Leo napping--is it any wonder he falls out of bed/gets cold at night/will have that rail up until he's much older?
We had a bit of an ice storm the other day--the trees on the other side of the fence don't normally touch our grass.
Leo was a bit stir crazy yesterday. He put his sweatshirt and "pack-pack" over his head.
Monday, December 15, 2008
more pictures
We've added a lot more pictures to Flickr over the last few months--so if you haven't caught up, now's the time before we add all the ones from the holidays.
another milestone (warning--potty talk)
Leo slept all night in underwear with no accidents. Until he woke up this morning, used the potty for #1, and then after getting reassembled, promptly pooped in his underwear. When he wore diapers we called this the amazing diaper trick--he'd wet his diaper, we'd change it, and he'd immediately poop in it. We used to say he liked a clean slate to work with. Sigh.
Friday, December 12, 2008
An unexpected day off
Kirstin got a call from day care yesterday morning, saying that Leo had spent almost two solid hours crying. It took her another hour to get there (one small downfall of using the bus), and he hadn't even presented any symptoms by the time they made it to the pediatrician's office. Our pediatrician happened to be available, so they had a conversation in which they decided that it probably wasn't psychosomatic and connected to the transition anxiety he's been having. However, he did have some tummy troubles when he got home, and enough of them that he and I stayed home today.
Before that, though, his holiday program was last night. To describe it as chaotic is a bit of an understatement, since there were probably 80 2- to 4-year olds who had the various adults trying to herd them onto or off of the stage. Several of them were in meltdown mode (including Leo for more than one stretch), and they got OKs to go back to parents after the class had done its song. Once we got Leo onto the stage, he did OK as long as he had the microphone -- after his class had sung, they brought everybody back for two more songs, and one of the girls in the Pre-K class did a masterful job of shoving Leo out of the way and singing at the top of her lungs and several miles off key right into the microphone afterward. Fortunately, he got back to the mike for a little while after the concert was done and people were eating cake and drinking punch. In the first picture, Leo is busy eyeing the cake and punch while they were getting things set up before the program began.
At Halloween, I missed getting a picture of Leo and the other kid who's the son of a Centennial teacher, so I tried to make up for it last night. Leo wasn't in a particularly cooperative mood.
Here he is at the microphone after the concert was over. It's virtually impossible to hear him over the background noise through the first half, but he comes in clearly starting about halfway through.
This morning, I got to sleep in slightly for me. I didn't push the issues of either what he wanted to do or of getting dressed. Mid-to-late morning, we took the Amish friendship bread starter that we got last week and made the first round of loaves off of it. He then also took a nearly 4-hour nap!
I'm working the ACT tomorrow AM, so Kirstin and Leo are on their own until sometime around 1:30, depending on whether I get a room with or without the writing test. Sunday night, she has the first rehearsal for her upcomign gig with the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana. One more week for me, and then I'm done with finals.
Before that, though, his holiday program was last night. To describe it as chaotic is a bit of an understatement, since there were probably 80 2- to 4-year olds who had the various adults trying to herd them onto or off of the stage. Several of them were in meltdown mode (including Leo for more than one stretch), and they got OKs to go back to parents after the class had done its song. Once we got Leo onto the stage, he did OK as long as he had the microphone -- after his class had sung, they brought everybody back for two more songs, and one of the girls in the Pre-K class did a masterful job of shoving Leo out of the way and singing at the top of her lungs and several miles off key right into the microphone afterward. Fortunately, he got back to the mike for a little while after the concert was done and people were eating cake and drinking punch. In the first picture, Leo is busy eyeing the cake and punch while they were getting things set up before the program began.
At Halloween, I missed getting a picture of Leo and the other kid who's the son of a Centennial teacher, so I tried to make up for it last night. Leo wasn't in a particularly cooperative mood.
Here he is at the microphone after the concert was over. It's virtually impossible to hear him over the background noise through the first half, but he comes in clearly starting about halfway through.
This morning, I got to sleep in slightly for me. I didn't push the issues of either what he wanted to do or of getting dressed. Mid-to-late morning, we took the Amish friendship bread starter that we got last week and made the first round of loaves off of it. He then also took a nearly 4-hour nap!
I'm working the ACT tomorrow AM, so Kirstin and Leo are on their own until sometime around 1:30, depending on whether I get a room with or without the writing test. Sunday night, she has the first rehearsal for her upcomign gig with the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana. One more week for me, and then I'm done with finals.
Sunday, December 07, 2008
St. Nicks
In a rare burst of charity I let Jeff sleep in today, which means Leo and I got to have St Nicks all by ourselves. Yes, I know it was really Sat morning, but we couldn't have it until I went to Target and got stuff for the stockings on Sat night. Remind me never to go to Target in December again--it was packed!Leo enjoyed his stocking. He got a set of stickers and some chocolate. I let him eat some chocolate before breakfast (St. Nicks is one of the few times I'll allow this) and he had fun doing a project with his stickers while we watched cartoons.
We went to visit some friends with a new (7 wks) baby, and Leo was more interested in exploring their house and petting their cat than the baby, but he did take an interest in little Tobias.
Leo did not nap today, and while he was generally well-behaved for most of the afternoon while Jeff worked away at his last class project, I was glad when Leo went to bed willingly at about 7pm.
In other random news, Leo's new expression is "of course." If you ask him a question and the answer is yes, he'll say "of course" instead.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Thanksgiving pics
There are too many good ones, and my sister got even more, which I'll have to steal from my sister's snapfish account soon.
Leo loves both of his aunts.
Keeping Aunt LL company while she sews a hole in his coat sleeve (cause Mama was too lazy to do it).
Watching it snow with Granny Marge.
Making cookies.
Mom made all of the food from scratch, including a pumpkin pie. But some folks wanted pecan pie instead. We thought the label was hilarious.
Chatting with Grandpa Ervin. Ervin was under the weather most of the week, so Leo got to visit him after naps (Ervin's, not Leo's).
Leo was fascinated by LL's yoga and demanded that she teach him some. Here they are working on tree pose.
Leo loves both of his aunts.
Keeping Aunt LL company while she sews a hole in his coat sleeve (cause Mama was too lazy to do it).
Watching it snow with Granny Marge.
Making cookies.
Mom made all of the food from scratch, including a pumpkin pie. But some folks wanted pecan pie instead. We thought the label was hilarious.
Chatting with Grandpa Ervin. Ervin was under the weather most of the week, so Leo got to visit him after naps (Ervin's, not Leo's).
Leo was fascinated by LL's yoga and demanded that she teach him some. Here they are working on tree pose.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Progress
Well, today we managed to get Leo dressed with little fuss. After the battles on Monday-Wednesday, this is a relief.
Also progress on the potty-training front. He's now alerting us when he needs to go, often taking the initiative to do what he needs to do. (Instead of us reminding/asking him every 90 minutes or so.) We're still working on #2, but he's less and less happy about accidents in his underwear, so that's progress.
Also progress on the potty-training front. He's now alerting us when he needs to go, often taking the initiative to do what he needs to do. (Instead of us reminding/asking him every 90 minutes or so.) We're still working on #2, but he's less and less happy about accidents in his underwear, so that's progress.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Unready and unwilling
Leo is celebrating being three by moving into a whole new realm of tantrums. Up until now they have been limited to crying and maybe saying "no I don't want to (do whatever it is you're trying to get me to do)." But recently they have evolved. Sometimes they involve crying, often they involve a calm sense of defiance (saying no, saying "you can't talk to me"), and frequently involve throwing or shoving away whatever objects are closest to hand (toys usually), and occasionally a foot gets stomped.
In some ways it's cute to see him so determinedly obstinate, but in more ways it's scary--because there is no reasoning with him. If I put him in his room to calm down and leave the door open, he comes out again. If I close the door, he bangs on it. Hard. Explaining why he can't have or do what he wants has little effect--he's too young to truly grasp the logic. I try to ignore him, so as not to provoke more reaction, but at the same time, I feel he has to be told that his behavior is inappropriate and that there will be consequences (which seem to produce a bigger fit).
This morning it took Jeff and I over 20 minutes to get Leo dressed for school. He did not want to get dressed and he did not want to go to school. I don't know how to determine if this is just a normal stage (which I know it is) and/or whether there is truly something going on at school. He seems to have a good time and is happy when we pick him up. We talk to his teachers every day and they give us a pretty good description of how he is doing. We wonder if he'd be happier at another school, but even so, the transition would be very disruptive too. He's doing really well on the potty training, and I know that that transition may be causing some anxiety too. We tried to "lose" the pacifier over Thanksgiving, by claiming we forgot it at Grandma's, but after over an hour of crying, we "found" it (call us suckers if you want, but you try getting any sleep with a wailing three year old in the background).
So, any parents of three-year-olds have suggestions for how to work through this phase (without going deaf or crazy)?
In some ways it's cute to see him so determinedly obstinate, but in more ways it's scary--because there is no reasoning with him. If I put him in his room to calm down and leave the door open, he comes out again. If I close the door, he bangs on it. Hard. Explaining why he can't have or do what he wants has little effect--he's too young to truly grasp the logic. I try to ignore him, so as not to provoke more reaction, but at the same time, I feel he has to be told that his behavior is inappropriate and that there will be consequences (which seem to produce a bigger fit).
This morning it took Jeff and I over 20 minutes to get Leo dressed for school. He did not want to get dressed and he did not want to go to school. I don't know how to determine if this is just a normal stage (which I know it is) and/or whether there is truly something going on at school. He seems to have a good time and is happy when we pick him up. We talk to his teachers every day and they give us a pretty good description of how he is doing. We wonder if he'd be happier at another school, but even so, the transition would be very disruptive too. He's doing really well on the potty training, and I know that that transition may be causing some anxiety too. We tried to "lose" the pacifier over Thanksgiving, by claiming we forgot it at Grandma's, but after over an hour of crying, we "found" it (call us suckers if you want, but you try getting any sleep with a wailing three year old in the background).
So, any parents of three-year-olds have suggestions for how to work through this phase (without going deaf or crazy)?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Backseat driver
Leo is turning into quite the backseat driver. On the trip he said at various times, "Slow down, you're going too fast." and "Go go go car, go faster." He also read a stop sign as we approached, saying "S T O P, that means stop!"
Leo did not want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's today and was not happy the fun time had to come to an end. The trip home was fine, if snowy. We'll post pics soon.
Leo did not want to leave Grandma and Grandpa's today and was not happy the fun time had to come to an end. The trip home was fine, if snowy. We'll post pics soon.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
way up nort'
Early in the year, I thought that my contract specifically didn't allow the use of personal days on the day before or after a major holiday -- which made life slightly interesting, since we were headed to my in-laws in Wausau, WI for Thanksgiving.
Leo and Kirstin have been under the weather all week, and they both stayed home on Tuesday. Yesterday, we took him to school and then had Kirstin drop me off at my school. A colleague of mine (to whom I owe something homemade, yummy, and lactose-free) was incredibly nice and stepped in to cover the last 15 minutes of my last class of the day, and we were leaving Centennial a little after 3:00. While Kirstin and Leo were waiting, they had a long discussion about how he didn't want to be buckled in and how he didn't want to go visit. That persisted for a while, and I think some of it stemmed from no nap and forgetting to pack a snack.
Kirstin drove the first 3.5 hours (from Champaign to Beloit), where we stopped to eat dinner. Leo had a great time at one point saying "down the hill and turn left at the stoplight." I'm not sure where he thought he was directing us to, but it was fun to hear.
One of our practices for a very long time has been to check out audiobooks for longer drives (roughly, anything more than about 3 hours each way). This time, we had Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We hardly even have the first disc playing when Leo starts complaining, "I don't like this story." How can our son not like Harry Potter?!?!?! In the end, we ended up driving most of the way with the radio off, aside from about two hours of the stretch Kirstin drove, where Leo finally nodded off to sleep.
He snoozed a little bit after dinner, but was awake and quiet for most of it. I finished the drive, and managed to get us into Wausau a little after 10:00 (maybe closer to 10:15). We get things unloaded, and Leo decides he's still hungry. When he sits down at Marge's kitchen table, he proudly announces, "I want to do some eggs." (In reference to Easter egg decorating when last we were here.)
It took a long time to convince him to go to sleep after all the time he spent in the car. Fortunately, he slept until sometime after 7:30 this morning.
Leo and Kirstin have been under the weather all week, and they both stayed home on Tuesday. Yesterday, we took him to school and then had Kirstin drop me off at my school. A colleague of mine (to whom I owe something homemade, yummy, and lactose-free) was incredibly nice and stepped in to cover the last 15 minutes of my last class of the day, and we were leaving Centennial a little after 3:00. While Kirstin and Leo were waiting, they had a long discussion about how he didn't want to be buckled in and how he didn't want to go visit. That persisted for a while, and I think some of it stemmed from no nap and forgetting to pack a snack.
Kirstin drove the first 3.5 hours (from Champaign to Beloit), where we stopped to eat dinner. Leo had a great time at one point saying "down the hill and turn left at the stoplight." I'm not sure where he thought he was directing us to, but it was fun to hear.
One of our practices for a very long time has been to check out audiobooks for longer drives (roughly, anything more than about 3 hours each way). This time, we had Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. We hardly even have the first disc playing when Leo starts complaining, "I don't like this story." How can our son not like Harry Potter?!?!?! In the end, we ended up driving most of the way with the radio off, aside from about two hours of the stretch Kirstin drove, where Leo finally nodded off to sleep.
He snoozed a little bit after dinner, but was awake and quiet for most of it. I finished the drive, and managed to get us into Wausau a little after 10:00 (maybe closer to 10:15). We get things unloaded, and Leo decides he's still hungry. When he sits down at Marge's kitchen table, he proudly announces, "I want to do some eggs." (In reference to Easter egg decorating when last we were here.)
It took a long time to convince him to go to sleep after all the time he spent in the car. Fortunately, he slept until sometime after 7:30 this morning.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Picnic
Leo decided at breakfast this morning that he wanted to have a picnic with Bunny. And why not? We were having Badger State muffins*, which have apple, carrot, and cranberries--all things bunnies like.
* recipe available upon request
All that detritus in the background under the stool is from Leo practicing with scissors.
Party
Last night we had a small party where we served two kinds of chili and various toppings. The guests brought cornbread and dessert (pumpkin pie!). After we were done eating we put in the movie Cars and the boys watched and played while the grownups talked. It was funny to watch the boys change positions in the family room over the course of the movie while still (mostly) watching the movie. We think everyone had a good time.
Friday, November 21, 2008
All clean!
Leo went to the dentist for the first time today and did a great job. He was pleasant and cooperative. Everyone involved enjoyed it. He got his teeth checked and cleaned and fluorided.
When I dropped him off at school afterward, one of his teachers and I were talking about how we were glad it's Friday. She said that Leo delights in coming into school on Mondays saying "It's Friday! Not it's not...heeheehee!" Our little clown in training.
When I dropped him off at school afterward, one of his teachers and I were talking about how we were glad it's Friday. She said that Leo delights in coming into school on Mondays saying "It's Friday! Not it's not...heeheehee!" Our little clown in training.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
ABCs showdown
Mason prefers this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptbp0pmcg3U which is why he says "Cookie Monster" at the end.
We were participating in the last Jarlinsg custard of the season. Sniff.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
who knew it was a contest?
Leo has just finished his very first complete shower. Bath time came a little early because of a small potty accident, and as I started to get the bath drawn, he began pitching a fit about wanting to take a shower. (He did a mini-shower one night earlier this week, cleaning his legs up after something... no, I don't remember what right now.)
Kirstin handled the actual shower duty, and Leo did a pretty good job of following directions. (A little wigglier than she might have liked, but what else is new on that front?) At the end, after the water got shut off, he started shouting, "I win! I win!"
Kirstin handled the actual shower duty, and Leo did a pretty good job of following directions. (A little wigglier than she might have liked, but what else is new on that front?) At the end, after the water got shut off, he started shouting, "I win! I win!"
an ecologist in training... sort of
While I was dealing with the butcher counter at the grocery store this morning, Leo and Kirstin were watching the lobster tank. Another mom & boy come by and the other boy asks his mom what lobsters eat. When the other boy's mom asked her son what he thought lobsters ate, Leo responded, "Chicken."
Friday, November 14, 2008
so named
Last night we were looking at the proofs of Leo's school pictures and he was naming all of the kids in the group shot. He was using first names only until he got to Cecily, and then he said, "That's Cecily M_____." We were surprised, not knowing he knew her full name. We said, "Yes that's her whole name, what's your whole name?" He replied, "L. E. O. William Dougan." Guess we should start calling him by his actual name more often.
Sunday, November 09, 2008
weekend miscellany
Somewhere in the last week, Leo has started to get into the "mother" and "father" thing, even occasionally calling us those instead of something more kid-like. It was really amusing tonight. I got home from a trip in to school after he had gone to bed, but went in when he was up a while later. When I whispered at him to go back to sleep, he responded with a whispered "Father, are you home?"
He's had a little bit of a reaction to his flu shot, and that plays into the other really funny thing he said this weekend: "I'm ready for this cough to go away now."
At some point this morning, he was stretched out across both stools while we were working on something. I don't honestly remember what. {Kirstin sez: I don't remember what we were doing either, but in case you can't tell, he was having a fit over his paci...}
Even though the temperature was 34 degrees this morning, he insisted on going out to the back yard to play for a while after grocery shopping. Then he wanted his yellow shovel. After he caught me taking a picture or two, he told me he was digging up a castle. After switching the camera back to video mode, the following conversation ensued:
He's had a little bit of a reaction to his flu shot, and that plays into the other really funny thing he said this weekend: "I'm ready for this cough to go away now."
At some point this morning, he was stretched out across both stools while we were working on something. I don't honestly remember what. {Kirstin sez: I don't remember what we were doing either, but in case you can't tell, he was having a fit over his paci...}
Even though the temperature was 34 degrees this morning, he insisted on going out to the back yard to play for a while after grocery shopping. Then he wanted his yellow shovel. After he caught me taking a picture or two, he told me he was digging up a castle. After switching the camera back to video mode, the following conversation ensued:
Friday, November 07, 2008
Colors, goats, books, and checkups
The fall colors last week and early this were gorgeous, although we are in the end phase--this picture was taken last Saturday, and already many of these trees are more than half bare.
Last weekend we took a trip to Curtis Orchard. Leo had fun talking to the goats.
One of Leo's favorite Halloween books was The Thirteen Days of Halloween. Here's a clip of him helping Jeff read it.
On the twelfth day of Halloween,
my good friend gave to me
twelve cauldrons bubbling,
eleven bats a-swooping,
ten goblins gobbling, (I love how Leo says goblins as globulins)
nine wizards whizzing,
eight brooms a-flying,
seven spiders creeping,
six owls a-screeching,
five cooked worms
four giggling ghosts
three fat toads,
two hissing cats,
and a vulture in a dead tree.
Leo had his 3-year checkup and was pronounced "perfect." He is in the 35th percentile for height and weight, has good hearing, and no eye problems. Next we have to make him a dentist appointment.
Lately Leo has been enjoying random interjections. He'll say the word bubblegum over and over because he thinks it's funny.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Voting
We took Leo to vote with us last night. When he asked what we were doing Jeff explained that Mama and Papa were helping to decide who would get to make the rules. Leo immediately stated that he wanted to make the rules. He also kept saying that he wanted to vote too.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Happy Halloween!
My personal intro to Halloween came by way of catching about half of the Capitol Steps' Halloween radio show on the way home from lunch after a morning crammed full of parent-teacher conferences. I was particularly fond of this year's Lirty Dies segment, but the spoof of the Village People was pretty good, too. (For those who choose to download or stream the show, they start around the 15:00 mark.)
The Halloween shenanigans around here began with the Halloween Parade at school yesterday. There was one last year, but they hadn't been allowed to call it a Halloween Parade for some reason, so this is the first official Halloween Parade. For those of you who don't already know, Leo was dressed as a pirate -- this should not be a surprise in the slightest.
Daniel, of the usual suspects (left); Leo a.k.a. Pirate Boy (center); and Ellie (right) lining up for the parade.
He woke up from his nap with a fever, and so wasn't feeling well through the parade. In fact, he spent almost all of it being carried by Kirstin. When we got home, he stretched out on the couch and really didn't eat much dinner.
This is about 5 minutes after we got in the door. I had hardly had a chance to set stuff down.
Here's our jack-o-lantern in situ. Leo helped Kirstin design it, I got the job of gutting it, and she did most of the carving. Next year, we're getting at least two.
We still went trick-or-treating with Mason and family, anyway. Mason was the Little Red Caboose; Jeni was the big black engine. Neither of us dressed up, in part because I discovered too late that my tux shirts had not made it from North Carolina. (Add a martini glass to get 007.) It took us about an hour to go around the block, about the same as last year. The boys were both big hits and had really good manners throughout the evening. A few of our neighbors did an incredible job on their multiple pumpkins; unfortunately, the pictures of those mostly didn't turn out.
Here we have a static shot trick-or-treating at a house that's just a few doors down the block. It's probably a bit of a shame that we don't know many people by name except for the Gentrys and our immediately next-door neighbor.
This film comes toward the end of the night, at a house just up the street from the Gentrys (and therefore us, but on the other side).
The Halloween shenanigans around here began with the Halloween Parade at school yesterday. There was one last year, but they hadn't been allowed to call it a Halloween Parade for some reason, so this is the first official Halloween Parade. For those of you who don't already know, Leo was dressed as a pirate -- this should not be a surprise in the slightest.
Daniel, of the usual suspects (left); Leo a.k.a. Pirate Boy (center); and Ellie (right) lining up for the parade.
He woke up from his nap with a fever, and so wasn't feeling well through the parade. In fact, he spent almost all of it being carried by Kirstin. When we got home, he stretched out on the couch and really didn't eat much dinner.
This is about 5 minutes after we got in the door. I had hardly had a chance to set stuff down.
Here's our jack-o-lantern in situ. Leo helped Kirstin design it, I got the job of gutting it, and she did most of the carving. Next year, we're getting at least two.
We still went trick-or-treating with Mason and family, anyway. Mason was the Little Red Caboose; Jeni was the big black engine. Neither of us dressed up, in part because I discovered too late that my tux shirts had not made it from North Carolina. (Add a martini glass to get 007.) It took us about an hour to go around the block, about the same as last year. The boys were both big hits and had really good manners throughout the evening. A few of our neighbors did an incredible job on their multiple pumpkins; unfortunately, the pictures of those mostly didn't turn out.
Here we have a static shot trick-or-treating at a house that's just a few doors down the block. It's probably a bit of a shame that we don't know many people by name except for the Gentrys and our immediately next-door neighbor.
This film comes toward the end of the night, at a house just up the street from the Gentrys (and therefore us, but on the other side).
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