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)?
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