Monday, July 21, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Simple Pleasures
Today the simple things in life filled young Kellen with much joy and amazement. After letting him experiment with a spoon yesterday I decided a fork might be the easier eating utensil to master. I'm not sure why we waited so long to introduce him to these things but he's never had more fun eating waffles (breakfast) or chicken (dinner). At dinner he would carefully stab a piece of chicken, manipulate the fork in a complex acrobatic upwards spiral to his mouth and complete the task with euphoric giggling once each bite was complete. Never has there been a more satisfied Applebee's patron.
We had to hit the grocery store for a few quick items after dinner and Rachel decided we could do with a smaller cart capacity. To Aidan's excitement she suggested the kiddie car cart for the first time ever (Aidan's done it with grandparents once). I couldn't let Kellen go without the opportunity to help navigate the cart through the aisles. I'm quite certain we didn't sneak up on anyone with the boys laughing and punching the squeaky horns. The fact that I kept banging into things probably blew our cover too (I was certainly not used to the extra length of the jazzed up cart).
It was something like this. Very snazzy.
Finally, we took a short walk upon returning home. Kellen and I decided we all should head toward the lot a few blocks away from our house where horses sometimes roam (it's fenced in and just off the residential lots...we don't have stray horses running wild). We hit the jackpot as six horses were enjoying the cooler air of the evening and some peace and quite. Kellen was wide eyed and open jawed. He commenced neighing at the horses (it's quite boisterous and smile inducing) until they all decided to turn in for the night. They'll be back and so will we.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Dolphins Report: Part Two
Tonight was the finale! Aidan was much more comfortable in and around the water this week. I even saw him smiling a time or two when the other boys were getting a bit splashy rather than clutching the side of the pool in fear of a wet face.
The water was still chilly so he chose to wear his t-shirt during his lessons. I'm not sure how much it helped but he seemed comfortable with the idea and went four days in a row with no bathroom breaks.
This Monday Aidan and the kids were told that the floaties had disappeared (a mystery to me as I saw them all in a giant rolling trash can next to the pool). I guess that's a nice way to tell the little swimmers they are going without.
Much of Week Two was a repeat of Week One sans the previously mentioned floaties. One new twist was a giant raft that they floated half of the kids around in while the other half were practicing a variety of things. The highlight for me was seeing Aidan go off the diving board tonight. I snuck the video camera into the swimming/Kellen's entertainment bag every day this week so I was prepared all four nights and finally got to document the plunge today.
A mini-plunge off the side of the pool.
Four boys on a raft.
Taking the plunge (twice)!
The water was still chilly so he chose to wear his t-shirt during his lessons. I'm not sure how much it helped but he seemed comfortable with the idea and went four days in a row with no bathroom breaks.
This Monday Aidan and the kids were told that the floaties had disappeared (a mystery to me as I saw them all in a giant rolling trash can next to the pool). I guess that's a nice way to tell the little swimmers they are going without.
Much of Week Two was a repeat of Week One sans the previously mentioned floaties. One new twist was a giant raft that they floated half of the kids around in while the other half were practicing a variety of things. The highlight for me was seeing Aidan go off the diving board tonight. I snuck the video camera into the swimming/Kellen's entertainment bag every day this week so I was prepared all four nights and finally got to document the plunge today.
A confident Week Two Dolphin
A mini-plunge off the side of the pool.
Four boys on a raft.Taking the plunge (twice)!
After the final lesson we treated Aidan with ice cream to celebrate his accomplishment. Kellen got in on the act spooning for himself for the first time.
Kellen scoops and blesses himself with the ice cream before eating.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Kellen Speak
It’s getting easier and easier to communicate with Kellen.
What does he want to do? “Shoes on” or “Out” = play outside. “Book” = reading. “Down” = play downstairs.
What does he want to eat or drink? He says “crackers”, “fruit snacks”, “cheese”, “Kix”, “Cheerios”…and of course “applesauce” (with much enthusiasm). “Milk” = milk. “Wa-wa” or “Juice” (because he hears Aidan ask for juice and he doesn’t know what’s in the cup) = water.
We’re laying the framework for the A-B-C’s. He has the cadence down and hits many of the “E” sounding letters. His L-M-N-O-P is a bit garbled but recognizable. We’re working on that with a singing stuffed puppy and the “Curious George ABCs” book.
He says “book” when he’s not sure what it’s called but specifies “Up Above” (his favorite part of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”), “I See” which is “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and an almost recognizable, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” for “Five Little Monkeys”.
I’m happy to say that the classic parental quick sniff is no longer needed as he will cough if he’s dirtied his diaper when I ask him if he stinks. I think I mentioned previously that has stemmed from Aidan coughing every time I asked him if Kellen smelled.
Kellen likes to dance or spin and chant “Tubby, tubby, tubby!” when I tell him it’s time to wash up for the evening and that has spawned a dad pleasing “Cubbies, cubbies, cubbies!” when Aidan and I prompt him to celebrate our favorite baseball team.
What does he want to do? “Shoes on” or “Out” = play outside. “Book” = reading. “Down” = play downstairs.
What does he want to eat or drink? He says “crackers”, “fruit snacks”, “cheese”, “Kix”, “Cheerios”…and of course “applesauce” (with much enthusiasm). “Milk” = milk. “Wa-wa” or “Juice” (because he hears Aidan ask for juice and he doesn’t know what’s in the cup) = water.
We’re laying the framework for the A-B-C’s. He has the cadence down and hits many of the “E” sounding letters. His L-M-N-O-P is a bit garbled but recognizable. We’re working on that with a singing stuffed puppy and the “Curious George ABCs” book.
He says “book” when he’s not sure what it’s called but specifies “Up Above” (his favorite part of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”), “I See” which is “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?” and an almost recognizable, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” for “Five Little Monkeys”.
I’m happy to say that the classic parental quick sniff is no longer needed as he will cough if he’s dirtied his diaper when I ask him if he stinks. I think I mentioned previously that has stemmed from Aidan coughing every time I asked him if Kellen smelled.
Kellen likes to dance or spin and chant “Tubby, tubby, tubby!” when I tell him it’s time to wash up for the evening and that has spawned a dad pleasing “Cubbies, cubbies, cubbies!” when Aidan and I prompt him to celebrate our favorite baseball team.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Morning Artwork
Aidan cranked out the family picture below after five do-overs. He was trying to get everything just right in the early going and wasn't quite producing something to his liking. The final product seems significantly less detailed than some of his earlier efforts and for the first time he decided we'd all just be the same color. I think he ultimately decided if he finished I'd let him end his art session and have a snack.
Here I am in one of the earlier editions. I generally do not wear my single lense scuba goggles around the house but I am indeed wearing them this morning. Of course those are my glasses.
Kellen was also letting his creative juices flow. I asked Aidan what Kellen's masterpiece was and he said it was nothing. After being prompted to use his imagination he concluded that we were in fact looking at a thunderstorm. I agree.
Kellen's "Thunderstorm", 2008
Freedom!
Our main level is up the stairs from our entry way so we’ve been protecting young Kellen from a fall with a gate at the top of the stairs. He’s actually pretty good on the stairs (when he remembers to sit and scooch) but with he and Aidan running around we’re trying to avoid a collision that ends with an uncomfortable bounce and roll.
Yesterday we noticed the gate was messing with the paint on the wall so this morning I decided I’d watch him carefully and leave the gate down.
He immediately spied his opening and turned to me and smiled. He plopped down at the peak of the stairs, looked back at me one more time and uttered, “scooch”. He then navigated the decent with ease pausing to look back occasionally as if to say, “I can’t believe I’m getting away with this!” I gave him a few minutes before following him down to let him enjoy this important milestone toward big boy status.
I’ve now got two kids on two different levels of the house adding a stairmaster workout element to my monitoring responsibilities. Now I just need to convince them that they really do want to play on the same level at the same time.
Yesterday we noticed the gate was messing with the paint on the wall so this morning I decided I’d watch him carefully and leave the gate down.
He immediately spied his opening and turned to me and smiled. He plopped down at the peak of the stairs, looked back at me one more time and uttered, “scooch”. He then navigated the decent with ease pausing to look back occasionally as if to say, “I can’t believe I’m getting away with this!” I gave him a few minutes before following him down to let him enjoy this important milestone toward big boy status.
I’ve now got two kids on two different levels of the house adding a stairmaster workout element to my monitoring responsibilities. Now I just need to convince them that they really do want to play on the same level at the same time.
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