Willard Family Adventures

Chop Chop

2012-01-28T13:02:00.008-06:00

I've looked back at pictures of Zach when he was about 1.5, and regretted not getting his hair cut sooner; a mullet is just not a good look for a toddler. So when Charlie's hair started growing in the same way, wispy, long on top and in the back, I told myself I would not wait as long this time around. After taking a look at him in his high chair the other morning, I decided that was the day for his first haircut!

^ Before... yikes.

^ He was not thrilled with having the cape put on. But there's nothing like Elmo to distract a little boy.

^After: much better, and a much older-looking boy!

5th Birthday Celebration #2

2012-01-25T19:54:00.011-06:00

On Zach's actual birthday, we headed to the Mall of America so he could ride the rides, a favorite activity of his. We met our friends Wendy, Chris, and Vincent so Zach could ride along with a buddy.

^The Wonder Pets ride looks awful - lifts them up and then drops them, bouncing them along the way down. Zach loves it, and thinks he's tough when he doesn't hang on. The bumper cars are always a favorite, of course, there's nothing our boy likes more than crashing into things.

^This little roller coaster is quite fun, even more so if you put your arms in the air! And Charlie got to go on his first ride, driving the trucks. It doesn't show in this picture, but he LOVED it.

In the afternoon Scott took Zach swimming, and then some friends came over for a little party (made even smaller when illness prevented 5 of our guests from attending!). Adam and Sylvia and the Rose family made it for dinner, cake, and some games.

^ Cake #2 was a cookie-dough blizzard cake, Zach's favorite treat. Charlie was also a fan (so was Sylvia, although the look on her face doesn't show it.)

We just played one game; the kids seemed hyped up enough on sugar and were having fun running around as they always do. What is this game we played, you ask? I have no idea what to call it, but you stuff a bunch of prizes inside a kleenex box, tie it to the kids' waists, and have them try to shake everything out. It's quite amusing, especially when Rosie has to give it a try to get all the treasures to come out.

5th birthday celebration #1

2012-01-22T21:15:00.010-06:00

Our boy is five years old. And nothing made that sink in faster than watching him at his party on Friday. He had been telling me for months that he wanted to go to one of the local inflatable/bounce house places with some friends. When the time came to make official plans, he had narrowed the list of invites quite a bit, to three boys, one from each of the major areas of his life: Brett, his buddy from school; Payton, his buddy from the neighborhood, and Vincent, his buddy from our old ECFE days.

So off we went...

I didn't take a lot of pictures there, since it was oddly-dark and all the pictures ended up a tad blurry (my apologies for some of these, but the ones like the group shot I just had to include!). After the boys were worn out (and Payton took a little rest on the bench), we headed to our house:

Time for an Angry-Birds themed cookie cake and gift opening, and another cute group picture (l-r Payton, Brett, Zach & Vincent). And then, Zach discovered his dad had set up a scavenger hunt to find his big gift from us. The clues led him all over the house, until he found his way into the basement:

And then it was pinata time!

Looking at Zach in this pack of boys has just really made me realize how much he has grown. He has friends, friends he has picked on his own and likes for their own individual personalities. And they had a lot of fun celebrating his birthday!

5 years ago today

2012-01-21T13:34:00.008-06:00

January 21st, 2007

At my 40-week doctor appointment on January 19th, the date was set for my “induction” (due to gestational diabetes) - Sunday, January 21st! We were told to call Methodist hospital that morning at 5:30 AM to confirm there hadn’t been an overnight baby boom, that we could come in at planned. Needless to say, despite knowing I’d need my strength, sleeping that night wasn’t easy, knowing we would finally meet our baby the next day!

Bright and early, I called and was given the green light to come in by 7 AM. After a stop at McDonald’s for breakfast for dad (no eating for mom), we were greeted by a nurse on the maternity ward with “this must be your first time – you’re smiling!”

After getting settled in my room and meeting our wonderful nurse (the first one!) Alyson, we found out I was dilated still right around 2 cm, and was about 60% effaced. Since the baby was pretty low, the doctor decided to use Cytotec rather than Pitocin, hoping that would be enough to get labor started. Around 9 am, they administered the Cytotec, and told us they’d check on me in about 2 hours! So we popped in a movie (The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks), and relaxed for a while.

I missed large portions of the movie, because to my surprise I was able to nap a little! But by 11:30 the possibility of sleep was long gone, as I was starting to feel some significant contractions. Despite all of that, when they checked me at 1:00 PM, I hadn’t progressed at all, besides that the baby had “dropped” a little lower. Disappointing, to say the least, that all those contractions hadn’t done their job.

However, about 45 minutes later, on my way back from the bathroom, my water broke! Alyson actually cheered when she heard the news, and said I was on my way now! She wasn’t kidding; an hour and a half later, I was feeling some very intense contractions. Despite that, I still hadn’t progressed much, so I gave in and called for the anesthesiologist – epidural time! Fortunately for me, he was nearby, and had me set up by about 4:15 PM. What a tremendous relief…
At the same time, the nurse noticed the baby’s heart rate was dropping, usually when I laid on my back or right side. They put me on oxygen and moved me to my left side, and that did the trick. They also checked me again and discovered I was now dilated about 3 cm, so at least some progress was being made.

(Dad would like to insert that around this time the Bears won the NFC Championship, and advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1985.)

In the meantime, the baby’s heartrate was still dropping intermittently, which the doctor indicated was just something to keep an eye on. But since my contractions were also slowing, they added Pitocin to my IV to keep things moving. A few minutes later I was at 7 cm and 100% effaced, and by 6:40 we had reached 8-9 cm and the baby was at “0 station” – so things were really moving! Dad ran to get some pizza before the cafeteria closed, and refrained from telling me how good it was since I still couldn’t eat (and didn’t really want to). :)

The doctor who was working that day, Doctor Sherron, was wonderful. She checked on me regularly, and sat down and talked to us about the baby’s heart rate dropping, and what might happen as things progressed. Without scaring us, she somehow managed to tell us that while there wasn’t cause for alarm, she did want to get the baby out as fast as possible. When I was ready she was only going to give me three contractions to push, I’d need an episiotomy, and she would use suction to help get the baby out more quickly. If I wasn’t able to get the baby out in those three contractions, we would have an emergency c-section. Despite those very scary words, Doctor Sherron was very reassuring and made us feel like we were in calm, capable hands.

At about 8:00 PM, I was fully dilated and ready to push, so the delivery table was brought into the room (and with it, a lot more nurses – there was quite the crowd!). I got a few practice pushes - my epidural was a little strong, so I had no feeling below the waist… the concept of pushing was a little vague - and then began the first of my three pushes. After that first one, the baby moved to the +2 station, so Doctor Sherron and the nurses were very encouraging – they actually cheered. On the third push, at 8:28 PM, out came our baby…

it’s a BOY!!!

Through our tears, we quickly agreed on the name we had at the top of our list – Zachary Scott – for our 7 lb, 5 oz, 20-inch long baby boy. He was finally here, and joy doesn’t seem like a big enough word for that moment.

(This blog did not yet exist in 2007; this was originally written for Zach's baby scrapbook)

2 things that made me smile today

2012-01-20T12:56:00.002-06:00

#1: Charlie ran over to me, pointed to his behind region and said "boop." This isn't the first time he's done it, but I thought the other time might be a fluke. Nope - he had quite the full diaper both times. Since he's obviously choosing what words he's going to say, I'm happy that he picked a practical one!

#2: On our way to school this morning, Zach said "today is going to be the best day of the year." Part 1 of his birthday celebration is this afternoon... :)

21

2012-01-17T13:53:00.013-06:00

As we plan Zach's birthday celebrations (yes, plural; I guess that's just how we roll around here), I can't help but think of another birthday coming up in three short months. Charlie is already approaching two! It seems impossible, but I guess when you know people with kids Charlie's age who already have newborns, you know your own kid isn't a baby anymore! (I think those people are a bit crazy, but that's a whole 'nother story).

So, to celebrate the big 21, here are a few Charlie tidbits:

When Zach was little, Scott started "smoochie-smoochie-ing" him. That involves making kissing noises as you slowly get closer, the noises faster, until you are smothering the child in kisses. Zach thought it was hilarious, and now Charlie does too. I couldn't stop smiling when I saw Charlie has learned how to do it; he'll often hold up his little froggie and start with those slow kissing noises...!

I may have mentioned in a previous post that Charlie loves to roar. He still does, and now nothing makes him laugh harder than when his dad pretends to be afraid of that roar. Over and over and over again.

Charlie is quite the climber, and he's still very proud of himself when he climbs up on the furniture. And maybe it's because he's short for his age, but Charlie is doing his best to show that he's not a little guy, that he can keep up with the big kids. He has mastered the fast food playlands in our area, he just needs a boost here and there from his big brother. And the two-story curly slide? No problem; he calmly turns on his belly and goes down feet first. Check him out in action at the local inflatable fun joint:

Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, Charlie is feeling better. Still not 100%, I would say, but hopefully we're on our way to better sleeping, eating, and waking (he's kinda crabby these days right after he gets up - wrong side of the bed too often!).

Mr. Charliebug has become quite specific in his demands for food. He lets us know he's hungry by doing the "more" sign, and often saying more (sounds like "mo") at the same time, and then pointing to the kitchen or his high chair. And now he points to the refrigerator, which usually means he wants yogurt. More troublesome are his pantry requests... when we play along it's quite the game of charades to determine which snack he is demanding at the particular time. Othertime he just goes in there himself and grabs what he wants, and then gets mad when we don't let him have it!

And lately he hasn't wanted to sit in his high chairs; he takes a few bites and then wants to sit on my lap and eat my food. So we pulled out the booster seat, thinking he'd feel like a big boy and happily eat. That worked... once.

So yes, still lots of pointing and head shaking for communication, although he has definitely mastered the word no. Other words I would consider mastered (meaning someone other than Scott or I could understand him) include car (cah), go, baby, ball, and dada. We can understand when he says Zach (story about that next), but I don't think anyone else would. Same with pooch, book, and mom. His animal noise repertoire continues to grow, but he often makes me laugh when he opens a book with a lot of pictures of animals and just starts excitedly making every single noise he knows.

Another thing (tradition?) Scott started with Zach was saying "goodnight Zach" to all the pictures of Zach hanging in our hallway on the way to bed. Since we are bad parents and the halllway is still full of pictures of just Zach, Scott has started this tradition with Charlie. He points from picture to picture saying "goodnight Zach, goodnight that Zach, goodnight that Zach," in this sort of guttural voice. And now that's how Charlie says Zach, anytime he sees a picture of him or the real thing. So we can mostly recognize that he's saying Zach by the tone of voice more than anything!

21 months old already... and ready for his first haircut!

A toast to 2012

2012-01-14T14:25:00.004-06:00

As I look at our New Year's Eve pictures, particularly the one of the toast, I can think of many things I wish for 2012. That Zach loves kindergarten in the fall, that Charlie begins to talk more, and so on. But when I really think about it, about the past couple months and recent conversations with friends, this is my toast for 2012:

May 2012 be a year with the minimal amounts of runny noses, coughs, fevers, sore throats, rashes, and visits to urgent care.

May 2012 have no visits to an actual hospital; no dermabond, stitches, splints, or casts.

May 2012 find the above to be true not only for the four of us in our little family, but for all of our loved ones.

Cheers.

24 hours

2012-01-11T14:24:00.002-06:00

We, like much of the country, have been having an unseasonably warm winter. It's been delightful; to go to the park in January is unheard of around here (yes, we do still live in Minnesota), but we've done it! Zach has even been able to use the Christmas presents we thought would be neglected or just used in the basement until spring - his scooter, baseball bat, and tee! We've all been doing our best to enjoy this little reprieve from our typical winter. Charlie even took a ride on Zach's trike:

What a difference 24 hours makes.

Yesterday afternoon we played outside in the sun, wearing sweatshirts. The boys jumped on the neighbors trampoline, and Zach played baseball with a neighbor while Charlie took the trike ride.

This afternoon we will remain indoors, watching the snow blow around like little tornadoes. This afternoon Charlie will do little but snuggle, because once again our littlest guy is sick. Sigh.

I've been a bit worried about Charlie for a while; he's had a cough and runny nose on and off since Thanksgiving, and just hasn't seemed 100% in those little ways (like not sleeping well). His cough and nose were definitely getting worse the last couple days, and I took one look at him this morning and thought - here we go again!

Expecting to get the old "it's a virus, you have to tough it out" diagnosis, I took Charlie to the doctor anyway. Glad I did - double ear infection and some sort of respiratory virus that was causing his airways to narrow. I got to experience my first nebulizer treatment, and am not really looking forward to the future ones. Trying to keep that mask on his nose and mouth turned into quite the wrestling match, and I'm not sure I could declare a winner. Our 23-pounder is a strong little boy!

So. Charlie gets "nebbed" every 4-8 hours for the respiratory bug, antibiotics for the ear infection, and Motrin for the pain. I think that means I get a glass of wine (or two or three) tonight, since Scott is on a rare business trip and I'm on my own with this fun!

Can we please rewind 24 hours???

The rest of our Christmas story

2012-01-09T18:36:00.005-06:00

I don't have a lot of pictures from the rest of our Christmas visit in Montana. And the ones I do have tend to not include Charlie. Because who wants to see pictures of a miserable little boy??? Instead - check out the fun these guys were having - out on the swingset, blowing "smoke" in the hot tub under the stars... what a life!

Why was Charlie miserable? Well, a 103.6 degree fever and strep throat will do that to a kid. And being away from home when you're sick isn't fun for anyone, especially not a 1.5 year old. So we spent the last few days (especially before we figured out the fever was serious and made a run to urgent care) sleeping in short shifts and carrying Charlie everywhere we went. We did a lot of snuggling:

After he had the first dose of magic antibiotic elixir and some drugs for the pain, Charlie became himself (for a while) again. We were relieved, since that was about the same time Scott's older sister Kristin and her family arrived. The Charlie they'd seen to that point was not the Charlie we know! Our Charlie looks like this when he's "playing" Mario Kart with the big kids:

Take a good look at the boy in the green shirt, because unfortunately these are the only pictures I have of the boys' cousin Liam. We had a great time seeing Kristin, Tim, Aislyn and Liam - I wish I had the pictures to prove it!

Christmas Day (#7)

2012-01-04T20:18:00.006-06:00

For Zach's Christmas #7, Santa came...

Did Santa hit the jackpot, or what??? I love that face. Santa is a smart guy; he brought more Mario guys, since that's what Zach asked for when he sat on his lap. The added bonus? Those little guys don't take up much room in a suitcase!

^Charlie loved the book Santa brought him too. He's all about Cars these days. I wonder where that came from? He also loved G&G's dancing penguins and guitar-playing dog. We have some video somewhere, but just try to imagine him dancing along in this picture...

^Charlie & Grandpa perfected the "head bonk kiss" over Christmas. Cute, huh?

^The kids put Mick to work: legos first, followed by some light reading (Cars books...).

Then Uncles Mick & Ian got busy trying to make a decent sledding hill out of plowed piles:

^Judging from the looks on Zach & Maryn's face, they were successful!

A pretty good way to spend Christmas day, in my opinion.

Christmas Eve (#6)

2012-01-01T16:39:00.004-06:00

Zach has been counting our Christmases, which he defines as any gift-opening opportunity. Since we started celebrating at Thanksgiving with my family, according to Zach, we've had a LOT of Christmases!

Christmas Eve at Scott's parents would be #6. After our late arrival, we slept in a little the next morning and then Zach spent the day counting the minutes until his cousins arrived. Then we settled in for the first of many yummy meals, split in the traditional way - kids table and adults table!

Then finally it was time to open the family gifts. Zach, Bryn (9), and Maryn (7), served as Santa, handing out the presents, and we tortured them by making them take turns to open gifts.

The big kids put on their matching pjs, ready for bed so Santa could arrive...

Over a lot of rivers

2011-12-25T11:31:00.005-06:00

I don't know how many rivers we went over, but we made it to Grandma & Grandpa's house. We took a late flight on Friday, leaving at 9:44 PM; always an interesting adventure. We did our best to wear the boys out at the airport so they'd sleep, and we got some help from a boy Zach's age named Tate. It really amazes me how quickly little boys can become friends!

If you had been on our flight, this is what you'd have seen in row 12, seats DEF, at about 11 PM:

Watching these boys try to sleep on the plane highlighted how different they are. We started out with Zach in his own seat between us, and while we were waiting to take off, we got him comfortable with some coats for pillows, and he said something like, ok, it's time to sleep? And off to the land of nod he went. And even when we moved him onto Scott's lap and repositioned him multiple times, he did not wake up until we de-planed. This kid is a champion sleeper.

Charlie, on the other hand, took a while to nod off in my arms, even though he was visibly exhausted. Then he slept for about 20 minutes before waking, wriggling around and whining as he tried to get into his normal sleep position on his belly. That worked for a few minutes with him in a strange position on my legs, but eventually he got restless again. So we hauled poor Zach up from his seat and onto Scott's lap so Charlie could sprawl out facedown on Zach's seat. And that's how the rest of the flight went...

But we made it! And that's all that matters. Now I need to get back to celebrating. Merry Christmas!!! More to come...

(my apologies for the quality of the pictures, but they're not bad for cell phone photos taken in almost complete darkness!)

Christmas is coming

2011-12-22T20:21:00.024-06:00

We had our little family Christmas last night, for various logistical reasons (one of which is that we're not hauling all these gifts to Montana!). It was the sort of night that makes me think how easy it would be to buy everything our kids could ever want, just to see their happiness and joy. It was so fun to watch these two open their gifts. I don't think these pictures really do the experience justice, but here you go...

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^"Wow - a razor scooter; I've been wanting one of these FOREVER!"

Watching Zach open his gifts was entertaining. Anything that wasn't instantly recognizable was immediately set aside; he was constantly anticipating (and begging for) the next gift. One example was a "Batcopter" we got him; he was unimpressed when he opened it, but later, once he spent time actually checking out what it was, declared it one of his favorite gifts.

^Friends of ours very generously gave Zach a Nintendo DS, something they had purchased for someone else but for various reasons didn't end up giving it to her. They asked if we thought Zach would want it... if he'd mind that it was pink. Pink??? That's his second favorite color!!! We got him his favorite game (Mario Kart) to go with it, and he was in pure video game heaven.

^Shopping for Charlie was fun. We picked his gifts based on his reactions to toys he'd been exposed to at ECFE classes or while browsing at Target on outings with Dad & Zach. We picked this little cat because he's fascinated with cats; there's one at our ECFE class that he always picks up and snuggles. And his reaction did not disappoint!

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^Charlie is at the age where pushing buttons is a thrilling experience. He also loves music, so we were delighted with how much he loved this little guitar we got him. He opened it first, and I think would have contentedly played with it the rest of the night if we hadn't forced more gifts on him. Not pictured is the enormous teddy bear we got him. I never thought I'd be the parent who'd buy one of those things, but since every single Wednesday he runs straight to the big bear in our ECFE classroom and dives on it for a hug, we couldn't resist.

And to think, we aren't even done with the gift-giving...!

This last picture isn't even slightly Christmas-related. I couldn't resist snapping it this morning, when looking at my two boys on the couch, glassy-eyed as they stared in complete rapture at the tv. I should probably be embarrassed by how much they are hypnotized by the tv, but instead I'll just laugh...

About a boy

2011-12-21T19:50:00.011-06:00

A Charliebug update:

First, here's how the injury looks now. Not good, it's such a big mark, but you can see it's healing behind the glue. I suspect he'll have an interesting scar... good thing it's on his eyebrow!

Some recent Charlie-isms:

If you are sitting on the floor, he takes it as an invitation to get a bunch of books, pile them one by one on you, and then back up (without looking) and plop into your lap. But he'd still prefer we didn't read most books to him, he likes to be in control.

He still likes to stand on his head, and has actually done a somersault on his own a few times.

Cars are his go-to toy. It's also his go-to word: "cah." We hear it constantly, whether in reference to the hundreds of Lightning McQueen-branded items in our home, or to actual cars on the road. And for some reason, he usually says it in his gravely "2 pack a day" voice.

In Charlie's world, cows don't say "moo," they say "boo." He's getting quite a few animal noises down, recognizable to us anyway, including baaa, quack, woof, and hoo-hoo. He gives cockadoodledoo a shot; it comes out sounding like "cock-a-ooo". Close enough.

Charlie has been, and remains, the kid in our ECFE class who doesn't sit down during circle time. Zach thinks this is hilarious, since there was always a child in his classes who wouldn't plop down on their parent's lap to sing songs. And now that kid is Charlie.

This boy can jump - his feet actually leave the ground!

Our short little guy has finally achieved a goal he's been working on for a while - being able to climb onto the furniture. His face is hilarious when he gets up there - he is soooo proud of himself. So now the constant refrain in our house is "sit down or get down" and/or "knees or bottom!!!" We also have to hide the remote control in trickier places now.

If you ask Charlie to do something he doesn't want to do, he simply turns his head to the side so he can't see you. I wish the "if I can't see you, you can't see me trick" worked for adults.

Oh, another word Charlie has mastered: no. Yippee.

Like his big brother, Charlie thinks all the good food is in the pantry. If he doesn't like what we gave him, he'll do the sign for more and then point to the pantry door.

You don't want to sit near Charlie at lunch. His cup sails through the air at least three times per meal.

Ho Ho No!!!

2011-12-19T08:17:00.005-06:00

Ah, the annual tradition of taking your young children to see the scariest man on the planet - how can a parent resist?

This was the best picture we got of both boys and the jolly old elf:

Not bad, considering this is what the experience really looked like:

In the past, when we've taken Zach to see Santa, he has never sat on the big guy's lap. We would just encourage him to walk up to Santa and say hello, and we'd take pictures of him standing close and talking to him. This year, Santa persuaded Zach to climb up and tell him what he wanted for Christmas, and it was cute to see how uncharacteristically shy Zach was!

The fact that Zach was on Santa's lap was why we tried just plopping Charlie down too, which obviously didn't work. If we attempt this again next year, I think we'll go back to our strategy of letting Charlie approach this stranger at his own pace.

Too-crazy glue

2011-12-17T19:20:00.008-06:00

Today marks 20 months for our Charliebug, so we celebrated by taking him to the doctor to get his head glued back together. Oh, how I wish I was kidding.

I've blogged before about Charlie's 2 head injuries when Zach tackled him into a side table. I've since moved that table. Apparently we need to get rid of all of our wooden furniture, or else decorate everything with bubble wrap. Because today there wasn't even a big event, just a simple trip as Charlie ran towards me while I sat on the floor against a chair with wooden legs. That's all it took, one little stumble, and he looked like this:

This was taken about 20 minutes after the incident itself. He cried pretty hard, especially when we were trying to put pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. Once we stopped doing that to see if it would clot (it did), he picked up some cars, chased Zach around for a while, and then settled under the kitchen table to play.

Once we got another good look at the gash, we headed for the doctor's office. It seemed just too wide to heal on its own. We were hoping for glue instead of stitches, and that's what we got. It works pretty darn well, except... that glue sticks to everything. Including the gauze pads the nurse was using to hold the wound together while the doctor applied the glue. So we ended up with a nicely closed up eyebrow gash, and two gauze pads glued to our son's face.

Oh, and did I mention that in order to put the glue on in the first place, they had to strap Charlie down in a straightjacket-like contraption? I'm sure you can guess what he thought of that. Unfortunately, while the glue application was quick, the removal of the glued gauze pads was not. Since the pads were so close to his eye, they had to be quite careful what they used to try to loosen up the glue. After all this, our little man was quite worn out, and fell asleep within minutes in my arms when we took him out to give him a break. So very very sad to see.

And now, other than the slightly swollen and bruised gash on his head, and the matching bruise on his cheek, you'd hardly know anything was wrong. If this had happened to me, I'd have spent the day lounging on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Charlie spent the rest of the day racing Zach in endless loops throughout our house, playing cars, and reading books. The resiliency of this kid is amazing.

My little helpers

2011-12-11T20:13:00.003-06:00

I debated about putting up our Christmas tree this year, since we won't be here for the actual holiday, and I had no idea what to expect from Charlie. But I was in the right spirit, so up went the tree shortly after Thanksgiving.

Zach was a fantastic helper; together we sorted through all the ornaments, putting the breakable/dangerous ones near the top. And so far it's worked out well; I find ornaments in random spots throughout the house every day, but the tree has remained standing!

^My helper who is actually helpful.

^Not so helpful.

Cousins

2011-12-06T08:57:00.010-06:00

As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post, I love to watch Zach, and now Charlie, have fun with their cousins. That means, of course, that I took too many pictures of them...

My brother enjoyed mocking me for going outside and raking a big pile of leaves* for the kids to jump around in, just so I could take pictures. But they had a good time, and I did too!

* I don't recommend trying to make a leaf pile out of willow tree leaves. You rake and rake and rake, but you're left with a sad flat pile. If only my parents hadn't already taken care of the maple leaves...

Cough-giving, gift-giving, thanksgiving

2011-12-05T19:43:00.013-06:00

Yes, we celebrated Thanksgiving when everyone else did. I'm just waaaay behind!

We went over the St. Croix River and through a lot of woods to Grandma & Grandpa Klicka's for the holiday. The drive was marginally better than other long drives with Charlie, but I'll be optimistic and call it progress.

This post is titled as it is because Zach had quite the cough as we approached Thanksgiving (vetted by the doctor as "just" a cold). He had the generous holiday spirit and shared it, fortunately with just one person. Unfortunately, that person was Charlie. :( But they did ok, even sleeping reasonably well considering they weren't in their own beds and were in the same room!

We spent Thanksgiving day with my parents and my brother and his family. The day started off well with a Packer win, followed by a great meal (check out Chase's turkey leg!), and then some non-traditional gift-giving! That's right, not only did we give thanks with my family, we also gave Christmas gifts. We're off to see Scott's family in December, so we decided to do our gift-giving early, to Zach's great delight.

It was very fun to watch Zach open his presents - he was absolutely thrilled with everything. He could barely sit still in his excitement! He has since taken the Mario "guys" he got from my parents to show 'n tell at school (and just about everywhere else he goes), and one day he declared that he was "so thankful" for his new Mario Super Sluggers Wii game, and he was never going to play any other game.

Charlie, not too surprisingly, showed limited interest in the unwrapping process, but he loved all his new loot. He is fascinated with kid-sized furniture, so one of his gifts was some chairs to go with the little table we already have. He climbed right on, and since then he's only fallen off a few times!

Also to Zach's great delight was lots of playtime with his cousins (Chase is 7, Sophie 5). They get along great; it's always amazing to see how they just start playing like they saw each other yesterday. Lots of wrestling, Wii playing, car driving, bike-riding, book-reading, you name it.

We visited my aunt, uncle, and various cousins on Friday. Once again, we got to view how easily kids bond. My cousin Julie was in town from Virginia; her son Spencer is essentially the same age as Zach. This was probably the 3rd time these two boys have ever laid eyes on each other, including once when they were babies. But within minutes, they were wrestling with tremendous enthusiasm:

Some more shots from our fun weekend:

We hope your Thanksgiving was also filled with blessings to be thankful for.

19 months

2011-11-17T08:25:00.008-06:00

To commemorate the 19-month mark, here are a few of Charlie's favorite things...

^ Playing basketball, although he wishes he were a little taller. Or that our hoop was shorter, like the one at our ECFE class. Using the parking garage for parking himself (climbing on anything, really, but I'm generally not fast enough to get a picture of him scaling his latest challenge, since I'm rushing over to make sure he doesn't fall on his head. Again.)

^ Eating black beans. Ok, black beans are probably only #8 on his list... french fries, pizza, and any kind of fruit typically dominate the top 3. But check out that mustache & goatee!

^Putting himself in unusual places, especially if it involves dumping out 83 cars so he can climb in.

^Playing football, or any other type of contact sport with his brother. Unfortunately sometimes this is the end result... this particularly beauty (the one on his head and under his eye are the same injury) is from being tackled directly into the leg of the table he's under in the picture above. This is eight or so hours later; trust me, it looked much much worse right after the crash. And he did cry, so we know it hurt a lot, but he barely let us comfort him before he wiggled himself down to the floor and ran straight back to Zach and the football. Game on.

^Getting his own way. And pouting when he doesn't.

<
^Books, books, and more books. Preferably neatly arranged on a shelf so he can pull them onto the floor as he peruses them at his leisure. Charlie can occupy himself for quite a while with his books; he'll sit and turn the pages, talking constantly as he points at the pictures (often in a strangely guttural voice, not sure what that's about). He actually prefers to "read" them himself, rather than have us actually read the words to him, although he occasionally humors us.

^ I may have to add art to the list. I fully confess that I have not given Charlie opportunities to be artistic... but the teacher at ECFE bravely handed him some markers and let him go to town. And since the end result was this masterpiece and only a few dashes and dots on his face and hands, I guess I need to start pulling out the supplies.

A lotta Halloween

2011-11-01T20:41:00.016-05:00

Zach had two costumes to choose from this year; he wore this lion costume two years ago (back when I got to pick what he'd wear for Halloween), and it was huge on him. There was a chance his Wario costume might not arrive in time for the Brodd's celbration, so I pulled the lion out and had Zach try it on - a perfect fit! He wore it long enough for me to take a picture; if his Wario costume didn't arrive, he wasn't going to wear any costume to the party. The Wario costume came with a stick-on mustache; this picture was taken in the 30 seconds Zach kept it on so I could take a picture. Notice how stiff he is - he looks like he's in the military!

Our next Halloween celebration was the annual Monster Mash, sponsored by our ECFE program. Lots of games and activities to keep the little ones happy:

I didn't think we'd ever get Charlie out of the bounce house, or away from the basketball hoops. But Zach got through every single game very quickly, so we had time to head to the party hosted by his preschool's church...

Where he met up with his buddy Brett (Mario) and Brett's brother Riley - the Mario Brothers! Zach got to play some more games, and increase his candy stash.

And finally, the actual day of Halloween! Zach's school celebrated with a little party (more candy), and then that night we headed out to trick or treat.

Zach ended up cruising around in our neighbor's riding lawn mower-pulled trailer with a pack of neighbor kids, so Charlie and I hurried home to hand out treats (Scott was curling) to the hordes of trick or treaters ringing our doorbell. Charlie enjoyed seeing the kids, but was equally enchanted with this flashlight!

Whew... I wonder what Halloween will be like next year???

Halloween celbration

2011-10-30T19:25:00.013-05:00

Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but when I was a kid, I remember donning my costume one time: for trick or treating.

You are about to see the first of many opportunities for our boys to put on their costumes, to Zach's delight and Charlie's dismay. Zach would wear his costume every day if he could; Charlie could do without the hood.

Our friends the Brodds throw an excellent fall "celbration" (nope, can't miss an opportunity to remind Adam of his spelling mishap). We had another beautiful sunny day, lots of good food, good friends, and an ever-expanding pack of kids running amok. We try to manage the chaos with activities like pumpkin-carving, wild wagon rides (generally for the kids, but not always, as you'll see), a bonfire, and the big hit - the pinata. This year there was even a movie showing, projector and all!

Unless you are a big Mario Brothers fan, you are probably wondering about Zach's costume. This is the second year he chose his own costume, and we went through many options, almost all of them from the Mario Kart game. He did not want to be Mario or Luigi, the most recognizable characters; don't ask me why. First he wanted to be someone called Waluigi, but we had a hard time finding that costume. Then it was Toad, who is a mushroom (again, don't ask me why). Zach eliminated that option when I asked if he'd actually wear the big mushroom cap on his head. Then there was Yoshi, a dragon/lizard creature... cheapest costume I could find was $100 - not gonna happen.

So he picked Wario. And even let us draw on the mustache. So while I may not know who the guy in purple overalls is, my kid is happy. And on Halloween, that's pretty much all that matters!

^ The two smallest party-goers; Violet & Theo

^ The Rose family finding a quiet moment; more small party-goers: Reagan with dad Rosie; Charlie with Scott, and Eliza with mom Tara.

^ Buzz (aka Sawyer) climbing his way to infinity & beyond; Zach was actually involved in carving his pumpkin this year.

^Pinata time! Notice #73 off to the left? That's Sidney, doing his best to patiently wait his turn, which is always last since he's the guy who takes down the pinata every year!

Kwinkos

2011-10-29T19:58:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago I asked Zach to sing one of the songs his class was going to sing in church. He launched into a song that repeated something that sounded like this:

See ya ha-ah kukanati kwinkos

Uh, what? What language is that??? Zach informed me it was African. And here I thought they were learning Spanish in school!

Zach's teacher was able to provide a little more information - it turns out the kindergarteners were learning the same song that the preschoolers were going to sing, but in Zulu. And the wise teachers knew that if the preschoolers heard the very unique-sounding language for the first time in church, they'd all collapse in piles of giggles and would forget to sing their English version. So Zach heard the older kids practice a few times, and learned some Zulu by absorption.

The fun game in our house now is to try to sing the song, but we get the sounds all wrong. Zach thinks it's hilarious we can't get it right. I always get the "kwinkos" right though - what a great word!

The translation, which the preschoolers sang, is "We are singing for the Lord is our light." They did a great job, on both songs they sang. As you can probably see in the pictures above, Zach takes this job seriously - he sings his heart out and does his best to get the movements right. And while I know the second picture isn't great, since it's a little blurry, I absolutely love the look on Zach's face. If he applies that much enthusiasm and determination to everything he does, this kid is going to go far!!

Shooting hoops

2011-10-28T13:14:00.004-05:00

We signed Zach up for another pee-wee sports adventure, to see how he'd like basketball. I'm starting to wonder if we'll find a sport he doesn't like.

^Introducing himself - "My name is Zach and my favorite color is gold." While shooting was obviously Zach's favorite activity, we were pretty impressed with his dribbling skills.

^ Dad giving him some pointers on his form - looks good!

^ The Green Crocodiles

The Willard brothers

2011-10-26T16:37:00.007-05:00

I am trying to catch up on my pictures; the ones you see here have been taken over the last 6 weeks or so. I discovered I have a few decent ones of the boys together! Our boys... aren't they cute?

No one can explain to you exactly how wonderful it feels to see your kids playing together, laughing together, loving each other. It has got to be one of the best feelings in the world. Nothing makes me happier than listening to my two boys giggling together, with Charlie throwing in his trademark squeals.

No one can explain to you exactly how frustrating it feels to see and listen to your kids bicker. And yes, an 18-month-old can partake in bickering! As a younger sibling myself, I fully expected to spend a lot of time trying to keep Charlie away from Zach and his toys when he is deep into some sort of game/role-play. And that has certainly happened, as Charlie tends to think whatever Zach is doing must be the coolest thing to do. The typical tag-along little brother!

What I didn't expect was how often I'd have to tell Zach to leave Charlie alone, that Charlie doesn't want to play right then! It's typically in the late afternoons, when Zach is tired of entertaining himself and wants a playmate. But it happens any time of day, since Charlie can easily get engrossed in pulling a whole shelf of books down, tossing them aside until he finds the ones he wants to examine. And he'll contentedly sit there for quite a while... unless his big brother comes around, trying to tempt him into some sort of active play.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes Charlie drops his books and toddles off to chase his brother around the kitchen island. Sometimes it results in Zach tackling Charlie, since simple persuasion hasn't worked. It almost always involves Zach whining "but I want him to play with me!!!" I hope I'm still hearing that 10 years from now. :)
In a couple of these pictures, the boys are sitting on a train and/or a rocket. I invite you to come by our house any afternoon between 4 and 5 PM. What you will find is a game the boys love, and I am doing my best to tolerate. It involves Zach riding the train as fast as he possibly can, tearing around the corners of our island and kitchen table, with Charlie either chasing him or being chased (depending on your perspective).

This game is loud, fast, and a little bit dangerous for all of us. Yes, including me, since I'm usually in the kitchen trying to make dinner, simultaneously trying to keep my toes from being squashed! It's one of many times I have to take a deep breath and remind myself little boys are supposed to have a lot of energy, make a lot of noise, and take some minor risks with their own safety. I also remind myself to enjoy watching them having fun together, something you hope brothers will do! I guess I can put up with the chaos.

One point five

2011-10-17T20:44:00.016-05:00

Our littlest boy is one and a half. Happy "half birthday" Charlie - we love every bit of you:

The goofy part:

The delighted to explore the world part:

The effortlessly happy part:

The independent part:

The stubborn part:

The adventurous, fearless part:

And we really, really, love this giggle:

Update: at Charlie's 10/26 doctor's appointment, he weighed 23.01 lbs, was 31 1/8 inches tall, and his head measured at 19.5 inches. The height and weight continue to be in the 10-25th percentile, while his head is near the top of the charts. :)

Fall fun

2011-10-12T20:26:00.015-05:00

After our adventure at Truck Day, Zach and I headed north to meet up with my friend Cindy and her daughter Caitlin for what I called "Fall Fun Day." I still don't know what else to call it; we went to a nursery/fresh produce market that has created all sorts of games and activities for kids. It was similar to what many of the larger apple orchards around town do, but much more fun for kids (and shorter lines)!

Here's what happened on Fall Fun day...

Shooting a corn cob gun (not pictured), potato-launching and duck racing:

Bike-cart racing (guess who loved this one!):

Eating mini-donuts while waiting for the animal train (pulled by a pretty darn fast tractor!):

Making "corn angels" (guess who did not love playing in the big pile of corn?) and attempting to ride on a goofy inflatable horse:

Petting and feeding a huge menagerie of animals. Where else but Otsego, MN, can you touch and feed grapes to a kangaroo???

And last but not least, finding our way out of the corn maze!

I think there's a 2nd annual Fall Fun Day in our future.

Truck day

2011-10-06T20:43:00.012-05:00

Last Saturday we attended Truck Day - Zach's 3rd adventure, Charlie's first. Once again, it was a great time for the boys: a big parking lot full of enormous trucks, too many of which had working horns. Zach's declared favorite was the ice cream truck, and Charlie's was... a difficult call, since we had a hard time getting Charlie out of every single vehicle.

This one is my favorite:

This is something

2011-10-02T20:45:00.010-05:00

I have been compiling a list of Zach stories & facts for a while now. I haven't blogged them sooner as I was hoping to include some cute pictures of our boy. It's not easy these days, for various reasons. For example, standing still is not his favorite activity, so many of the pictures turn out like this:

And, for some reason, he still hasn't really mastered smiling on command. He's getting better, as you can see, but it's still not quite natural. Plus, he's just goofy, so many of the pictures turn out like the others scattered through this post.

However, I discovered one way to get a great picture of him, smiling happily. Last Friday was pajama day at Zach's school, so I brought along my camera and asked Zach if he wanted a picture with his new friend Brett. He sure did, and look how darn cute they both are!!!! So I guess if I want a good picture of him, it'll have to include Brett!

If you live in our house, you hear a lot about Brett. The boys bonded on the second day of school over Mario Kart, of all things (we don't even own the game, but somehow Zach has become an expert and quite obsessed). When I picked Zach up that day, he asked if Brett could come over for a playdate. When I picked him up the next time, he wouldn't leave Brett's side until he learned Brett's address (necessary for a playdate, I guess). The teacher has commented many times about how well they get along; the other day she said "it's amazing - they even have real conversations!" That is unusual for boys this age!

Zach's other buddy is our neighbor Payton. They are both home in the afternoons, so they end up playing for a couple of hours every day (a blessing, since Zach is otherwise bored to pieces while Charlie is napping). I've enjoyed watching them figure each other out, considering they are similar in many ways (love of anything involving a ball, cars, trains, etc), but also like to do some very different things. Payton, for example, is an expert grasshopper-catcher, and that is clearly one of his favorite activities. Zach will gamely participate for a while, but I think he remains in the role of spotter, and lets Payton do the dirty work. :)

Some random Zach facts:

1. His latest career ambition: ice cream truck driver.

2. When wearing a hoodie, coat, or vest, he prefers it zipped to the very top. And never, ever can it be completely unzipped. Apparently zippers were made to be zipped.

3. Zach has discovered that everything is made in China, and he enjoys pointing out all the evidence.

4. He would like to change his birthday to May. If that can't happen, he'd recommend that our other babies have birthdays in May.

5. Wondering about the title of this post? Lately, that phrase is what Zach says before he tells us just about anything. We'll be in mid-conversation and he'll say "this is something," pause, and then tell us (a classmate fell on the pavement and scraped his knee, that another one is allergic to bees, etc). We have to try not to laugh. He started out saying "this is something I want to tell you," but now he just goes with the abbreviated version.

17 months

2011-09-18T14:51:00.010-05:00

Here we go, the monthly update on our growing boy, who turned 17 months yesterday. It's fun to reflect back on what can change in a month, or at least is a noticeable change.

Like with Zach, I wanted Charlie to have a lovey. And I didn't want it to end up being some ginormous stuffed animal that I'd have to tote everywhere, and that would be difficult to wash. So once again I stuck a small blanket-type animal in Charlie's crib from the time he was just a little guy, hoping he'd become attached to it. And while he's been snuggling it in his bed for a while, we've now reached the stage of true attachment - he wants to bring it everywhere! What's different from Zach's experience is that I immediately bought two of the "frog-bungadee," so I wouldn't have a desperate search for a back-up. And since we interchange them regularly and forget to put one away, Charlie now loves BOTH of his froggies, and seems to prefer to have carry both of them around. Not exactly what I had in mind, but at least he's still satisfied with one!

Charlie talks non-stop. It seems inconceivable we could have two boys who love to talk, but it looks like we're headed in that direction. Don't get me wrong, while the "words" coming out of Charlie's mouth have all sorts of vowel and consonant sounds, and he uses lots of inflection in his "sentences" - he is not speaking any language we know!

Even before we got pregnant with Charlie, I worried that we'd have a hard time if our second child wasn't as quick to speak as Zach was. And now I know - I had nothing to worry about. Charlie does not speak even close to as many words as Zach did at this age... and it doesn't both us in the slightest. It's kind of amazing - you realize so quickly that your kids are different in so many ways, and that's more than half the fun! Charlie is Charlie, and we love everything about him, including all the ways he manages to convey what he wants without using words we can find in the dictionary. And I'm very aware there's a huge range of "normal" when it comes to talking, so I know we don't have to worry. He'll talk when he's ready, and we'll all be ready to listen. :)

Now that Zach is in preschool three mornings per week, Charlie and I have more time together than we've ever had (last year he was still taking morning naps). It's been nice to take him to a park and be able to focus on him without feeling like I'm ignoring Zach (cause as I mentioned before, you have to watch this guy closely when he's on playground equipment!), or just hang out at home reading books and playing together. He's a good little companion!

Charlie has always seemed to prefer Zach's toys to any "baby" toy we have. But I've really been noticing lately how he's really starting to play with things in the way they are intended - zooming cars (or a remote control) across the carpet or a track, lining up and making the animals interact with each other, pushing the trains on the wooden track. He's always been great at playing by himself, but lately I've really gotten a kick out of watching what he'll come up with next.

I know I've said it before, but this is such a fun age. It's so easy to see how Charlie's personality remains the same - he's still our happy-go-lucky, goofy boy - as he continues to grow and expand his world.

^Just had to include that last picture, since it shows his crazy always-standing-up hair!!

Klicka Family visit

2011-09-14T17:21:00.012-05:00

Catching up on the rest of our trip to Wisconsin...

While we never need an excuse to go visit my family, the reason we went Labor Day weekend was to attend a party at my cousin's house. It was a great chance to see family I don't get to see often enough!

Four of the 7 cousins - Kim, Gail, Dave & me

Charlie put on a bit of a show - having a great time in the driveway puddles. Doesn't take much to entertain a 16 month old!

Zach spent most of the party in the basement playing Mario Kart with the bigger kids, but he surfaced long enough to roast a marshmallow and chat with Grandpa.

Back at my parents' house, Grandma & Grandpa came up with all sort of entertainment for the boys:

Playing with flashlights in the "fort"

"Fishing" (no hooks, don't worry) off the front porch

Pretty good casting, huh? And Charlie took a moment to smell the flowers.

Nothing like good old-fashioned bubbles, although Zach came up with a new technique as popping them - throwing a ball at them!

First day of school

2011-09-07T20:32:00.009-05:00

Today was Zach's first day of his second year of preschool. Make sure you don't forget it's his SECOND year of preschool; he'll remind you if you do. :)

Zach is going to the same school he went to last year, but this year he is going three mornings/week instead of two. He has the same teacher, but is in a new room this year - a bigger one. And another change - more boys! Last year there were three boys in the class of 18; this year there are at least 8 or so (I haven't counted).

I was quite delighted with how chatty Zach was when I picked him up. Last year it seemed like I was pulling teeth to get information, but today he couldn't wait to tell me about his day. He was thrilled to report that he was chosen to be the helper today - since he knew what to do, he could show all the new kids the routine.

Our neighbor gave Zach some homework - to meet at least one new student. Scott liked it, and challenged him to meet at least two. Zach dutifully reported on two new kids - a boy and a girl. Apparently the boy was mean at the toy table... oh well. At least he remembered their names.

Another thing I found fascinating was that Zach had all sorts of information and questions about a girl in his class who has one hand. That may seem appropriate, but this girl was in his class last year. I waited and waited for him to ask me about it, or at least mention it - not a word. The girl's mom came to class today and talked to the kids about it, which she also did last year. I guess Zach had to hear it twice for it to sink in. :)

Let's see... what else? Oh - he learned the creation story today, and was incredibly fascinated that God made Adam out of dirt, and then Eve from Adam's rib. Pretty cool stuff. He was most excited about some sort of bottle they made; we parents have to wait to see it. :)

So Zach is off to a good start. Let's hope they teach him how to smile for the camera at school!!

Zoo fun

2011-09-06T14:47:00.008-05:00

If you are ever in Milwaukee, go to the county zoo.

I have all of these memories of it being a fantastic zoo, so I was curious to see if it was as good as I remembered. This is the second time we've taken Zach (Charlie's first trip), and I'm happy to report this zoo is even better than I thought it was when I was a kid! In fact, someday I'd like to go back by myself or with a like-minded adult... Zach just does not have the interest or patience in watching the animals for more than a couple seconds. And when they are active like they were on Sunday - I could sit there all day.

Anyway, we were in Milwaukee for the long weekend, visiting my family. More on the rest of the visit shortly; I had such a good time taking picture of all the animals I had to edit those first. :) Bear with me (pun intended).

^This is Brittany the African elephant. Her roommate Ruth kept picking up a log with her trunk and dropping it with a crash that made us humans jump. And I wish I'd brought my zoom lens to capture this lazy grizzly... snoozing the day away in his hammock.

^The other wild animals at the zoo.

^Check out that rack! That was about as high as that poor caribou could lift his head. And who doesn't like to laugh at the ridiculous pink of flamingos??

^A small thing, but so fun for kids: rocks in a stream to jump across!

^A rare sighting - a picture of me! With big 'ol Ruth in the background, tossing her tree trunk around. I love the zoo!!!<>

Brothers, bruises, and bounty - a random update

2011-08-30T15:32:00.017-05:00

Nothing says brotherly love like a flyswatter to the head, right?

It's not much better when I try to take a picture of these two together.

They like each other, they really do!

Charlie had a fever on Friday, which disappeared but then I saw the dreaded red spots and blisters in his mouth. Yep, hand, foot & mouth disease. We're much too familiar with this virus!

It was a particular bummer since Scott was headed out of town for the weekend to play in a summer bonspiel (they lost in the championship game - not bad for a 'spiel packed full of Olympians!). I had all sorts of plans to keep us busy while he was gone, and had to cancel all of them and just hang out at home. Fortunately some friends of ours took Zach to the Woodbury Days parade on Sunday, or he may have gone stir-crazy (not too many neighbor kids around this weekend).

He came home from the parade with an amazing bounty - a fireman's hat, a flyswatter, some beads, a frisbee, a beach ball, stickers, tattoos, more candy than any single person could want or need, and some chips & salsa. Yep, you read that right - chips & salsa. As you can see by his cheek, the Vulcans also got to him.

In other random Zach news, we had to laugh last night during dinner when he piped up and said "it's 6:00, time to go ring some doorbells - whoo!" If you spend any time with Zach, you'll notice two of his favorite things are playing with the neighbors and telling you what time it is. So that exclamation summarized him up pretty well.

And who does Zach tend to play with when he goes out and rings doorbells? The neighbor "guh-rels." That's how he says "girls" - with two syllables. He always has, and it still makes me laugh.

In random Charlie news, we're getting a kick out of his attempts to communicate. Most of the "words" coming out of his mouth still seem to involve that "ball" word - bah-bahl, my-bahl, etc. Sometimes he appears to be talking about a ball, other times, not so much. But anything he says he says so darn earnestly, you feel bad that you can't understand whatever the important thing is he's trying to communicate.

He does lots of pointing and finds other ways to tell you what he wants. I'm not really fond of the grunting - "uh uh uh." But I loved it the other day when he went into the mudroom, grabbed his shoes (from two different pairs), brought them to me and grunted, then looked at his feet and then the door. His way of telling me he wanted to go outside!

As you can perhaps tell by looking at the pictures, Charlie loves to be outside. Whenever he is cranky, which has been too much the last couple days, all I have to do is take him outside and let him run around. He rummages through the bins in the garage, saying "bah, bah, bah" until you get him the right ball. With all his ball playing, there's quite a bit of falling. It's rare to have a day when his little head is not sporting at least one bruise, and then there are days like this:

Scrapes and bruises on his forehead, courtesy of your standard falls. Scraped and bruised under his eye - courtesy of a weird fall into the woodchips (I think we're lucky that wood chip didn't poke him in the eye). And in this picture you can even see one of the many, many bruises on his legs. And I never even know when/how he got most of these marks, since he rarely cries. Tough cookie, this one.

Scott's parents were here for a week last week, and I'm embarrassed to say I never pulled the camera out once. We had lots of fun, as we always do, with the kids as well as some golf outings for the guys, shopping & pedicure outings for the girls, and Twins games for all. We did get this picture of Zach - we were in the front row at the Twins game, which means lots of perks like visits from TC and a Major League baseball!

And some video of my two monkeys at the Disney Store; they spent most of their time chasing each other around the racks, but stopped for a moment to boogie:

EI EI OHHHHH

2011-08-28T15:33:00.006-05:00

As I was finally going through the pictures from some of our adventures in the last few weeks, I noticed we've had a lot of exposure to farm animals lately. First there was the county fair we attended with the Roses:

We checked out the cows, chickens, rabbits, etc, but Charlie was the most interested in the sheep. He kept getting really close, pointing and making all sorts of noises at them, until one made a noise back. I wish I could have gotten his face on video! His expression was somewhere between fear and amazement - absolutely hilarious.

Zach picked this contraption when he got to pick which rides he wanted to go on. He loved it so much he went twice - climbing up, sliding back down.

He and Kasey took a few laps in this jalopy, while Charlie tried to sneak into the Blue's Clue's ride.

Our other experience with farm animals was at Scott's division's annual family picnic. 3M goes all out for this party - bounce houses and inflatable slides, air-brushed tattoos, a dunk tank, rock-climbing wall, pony rides, and quite the menagerie of animals in the petting zoo.

Charlie could have chased those poor animals around all day. Not pictured are the miniature horses, llamas, bunnies, chickens, roosters, and dogs.

Our friend Sylvia had quite the adventure on the rock-climbing wall, while Zach preferred to try to dunk Scott's boss (he didn't, but was encouraged - not by us - to run up and hit the target with his hand).

Zach spent most of his time on the HUGE inflatable slide (not pictured); it was so fast he ended up with a friction burn on his elbow. Bounce houses are another place Charlie would stay all day...

Although he's equally content to sit and play with gravel and a plastic cup.

Summer in MT - Part 2

2011-08-18T09:01:00.009-05:00

Does Zach look a little different to you? This is how the poor guy looked when we left the reunion. We're think he had some sort of allergic reaction to the mosquito bites, the many, many bites he got while having a blast in the woods. Fortunately a little Benadryl did the trick, and the swelling went down relatively quickly!

The rest of our trip was spent at Scott's parents' house in Belgrade. There's lots to do at their house, from hitting (or throwing, in Charlie's case) golf balls, jumping on the trampoline, and splashing in the pool. Charlie loved the pool, despite it's cool temperature, but he also got a big kick out of splashing in grandpa's fountain...

We hiked up to the "M" again this year; it was interesting to see what a difference a year made - Charlie was a lot heavier!!! But we made it to the top, where the kids celebrated by calling their dad on the phone and playing with hand-held video games!

We also took the kids around the Montana State campus, particularly the duck pond. Perhaps you're looking at another generation of Bobcats...?

It's become a tradition for Scott to throw his nieces Bryn and Maryn into the pool. At least this year Bryn had her suit on when he hunted her down and threw her in. And then she retaliated... doesn't Scott deserve an Academy Award for the look on his face?

^Kids warming up in the hot tub. Trust me, that pool is cold!

^Happy Birthday Aunt Mandy!

^Don't you wish this was the view in your backyard when you're making s'mores?

^ Home-made Mario Kart is just as fun as the electronic version.

We also visited the Dinosaur Park again:

And on our last day, Zach ran in his first race - a .6 mile kids' run that was part of Sweet Pea Days in Bozeman. He did great - ran almost the entire way! I got a picture of Maryn & Grandma as they went by, but I missed Bryn and Mandy - they were too fast I guess! Before we headed to the airport the kids got to enjoy the parade too.

More pictures to come... I didn't go on the fishing trip where Zach caught a HUGE fish! But fortunately Mandy got some pictures, so hopefully I'll be able to share those soon!

16 months

2011-08-17T11:37:00.006-05:00

Time just keeps chugging along; Charliebug is sixteen months old today. Sheesh.

Some Charlie news I have to report is the emergence of all sorts of teeth. Our boy has molars already! On one side he has both a top and bottom one, lined up nicely to help him chew. I was quite surprised when I found them, but there must be more on the way as he constantly has his fingers in his mouth. My favorite is when he puts both index fingers in the sides of his mouth and walks around like that. Poor guy.

Charlie has also developed a new level of shyness. At first I thought he was faking; when we were in the airport he had a great time toddling around the gate, waving and saying hi to select people (I'm not sure what his criteria are... it doesn't seem to matter if they are paying attention or not. He stopped in front of a businessman and just watched him until the poor man finally looked up from his computer; Charlie rewarded him with a wave). But then I realized he would bury his head in my neck or run to me and smush his face against my legs if someone approached him, or engaged too much after he said hi. Apparently the interaction has to be on his terms!

He also won't easily go to someone he doesn't know anymore, although it doesn't take him long to warm up. And he still doesn't have separation anxiety, he doesn't care much if his dad or I aren't around.

When Charlie is displeased, he does not hesitate to let us know about it. This boy is determined, and stubborn. It's an interesting combination. He has mastered the "go limp and scream" maneuver; it's his standard response when you attempt to pick him up in order to stop him from doing something he shouldn't be doing. The good news is - his reaction is very short-lived. He must not hold a grudge.

Where we hear his displeasure the most these days is in the car. I'm not sure what happened, but Charlie went from being content in his carseat to thrusting his chest forward and grunting and screaming in an attempt to dislodge that pesky 5-point harness. He started this fun routine before we left for Montana, but the long car ride to the reunion apparently put him over the edge. Now we rarely take even a short car ride without listening to his protests.

Talking-wise, Charlie is all about the "B" and "D" consonant sounds. When he's pointing at something, he usually says some variation of "dah" or "bah" or "bo." He often says "bay-bahh," which sounds an awful lot like baseball. And he says it while pointing at a tv (any tv, not just ours)... apparently he thinks tvs are just baseball-showing machines?

Charlie keeps displaying his fearlessness, although I think I may have convinced him now that he should sit down when going down the slide. I assume some of this lack of fear is from watching not only his brother, but all the neighbor kids. He wants to be a big kid! Fortunately all the kids are wonderful with Charlie - they even let him pitch when they play kickball!

And, of course, he continues to love his dog...

Summer in MT - part 1

2011-08-14T09:20:00.018-05:00

We're back! Did you miss us? We were on our annual summer vacation to Montana, although this year there was a twist: July 30th would have been Scott's Grandpa Bob's 100th birthday, so Scott's family on his dad's side gathered together in Columbia Falls, MT, for a family reunion.

Scott's Uncle Bud & Aunt Alice were our gracious hosts; we all camped on their beautiful property. Scott's parents, Zach, and Zach's cousins Bryn & Maryn slept in their brand-new camper, while Scott, Charlie, and I were lucky enough to borrow Scott's cousin's camper. So fortunately, we had running water and a warm place to sleep!

Over the three days, the kids had fun going for four-wheeler rides, playing in the 1954 camper later dubbed "the kids camper" (above), and discovering their primitive sides in the woods.

^Zach's cousin Liam, almost 6

I think the kids' favorite spot was the melted snow-fed creek (pronounced "crick") that runs through the Willard compound. Zach and his cousins spent endless hours throwing rocks into it, fishing from it, and for the brave few - swimming in it!

Some shots from the reunion itself:

^Did I mention Scott's brother Micheal shares Grandpa Bob's birthday?

^There was no shortage of dogs roaming the party, to Charlie's great delight. Zach's cousin Maryn started out the weekend a little fearful of dogs; but after throwing the indefatiguable Gunnar's toy for him hundreds of times, they were the best of buds.

^Dinner, a pig raised on Scott's cousin's ranch in eastern Montana.

No reunion is complete without attempts at family pictures:

^Scott's parents Alan & Teri surrounded by 3 of their 4 kids, and all 7 of their grandkids.

^Grandpa Grumpy, Grandma Cookie & their grandkids

^Aislyn & Liam striking a pose

^The back of the shirts honoring Grandpa Bob; Grandpa Bob & Grandma Myrtle's four kids & their spouses (Scott's dad is top left; his sister Carmen second from left, then brothers Bud & Larry).

After all that fun, we got back in our cars and headed east to Belgrade, for 5+ days of fun at Grandma and Grandpas...

Bits & Pieces

2011-07-26T09:57:00.013-05:00

Some facts and stories about our kids, some of which are a bit old...

Charlie:

Charlie's feet stink. It's amazing. And I know where he gets it, unfortunately.

His lack of fear is becoming more evident daily. He has managed to climb to the second rung on the ladder of Zach's bunk bed. And I'm not taking him to the park too often, as I learned he will now try to walk down the slide. The big kid slide.

Charlie has decided that only one kind of sippy cup will do. The rest he just takes a sip or two and then throws it in disgust. We have about 5 different kinds of cups, since Zach couldn't have cared less. I guess we won't be using those any time soon.

Charlie thinks it's a fun game to point to me and say "da da." I say, "no, ma ma!" and he laughs and laughs.

He has two teeth coming in towards the back on the top. He won't let me poke around, so I'm not sure if they are molars or just eye teeth in a sorta weird spot. These will add to his top 4 front teeth and 3 bottom front ones.

Zach:

After I explained what Memorial Day was to Zach (see, old story), he said "I know who I am going to remember!" Since we have been very fortunate to not lose anyone close to us since Zach was born (knock knock knock), I was pretty curious where he was going with this. His answer: Harmon Killebrew!

These days Zach doesn't want to go anywhere without friends. When I ask if he wants to go to the zoo/park/Children's museum/beach, his answer is always "are any of our friends coming?" I guess Charlie and I aren't entertaining enough these days.

Zach once called Charlie "madagascar head."

His fascination with math continues. We often have exchanges like this, usually in the car:
Zach: mom, what's 30+20+20?
Me: 70. (it's much easier to answer those questions than "what's one thousand plus 9 million two hundred plus 90 plus twenty hundred?)
Zach: (pause) so 3+2+2 is 7?
Me: yes.
Zach: (a minute or so later) so is 3+2+1 6?

On an outing to Burger King for breakfast with Scott, Zach got the french toast sticks for a special treat. As he began eating one, he held it out to Scott and asked him to remove the dog hair. Scott decided to just pick off the hair and leave it at that, but a second later Zach said "is there a dog at Burger King?"

the two random pictures on the left are from a children's museum outing. Charlie was fascinated with that exhibit; I guess he'll be an ice fisherman someday!)

More fun on the lake

2011-07-22T20:47:00.010-05:00

Our weather recently has been an example of why you always hear the phrase "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" around here. But we were still surprised when we headed to our friends' lake cabin last weekend, to find visible moisture everywhere. Due to recent rains, the lake was a lot higher than usual, and see that lovely pond out the kitchen window? That's not usually there - the river was running fast. See the condensation on the lovely concrete floors on the screen porch? Turned that room into a skating rink, which was a bummer, since it's a fantastic spot to hang out in.

But hey, what's a little heat and humidity when you have a fantastic lake at your disposal?

We were laughing with our friends at how things have changed over the years. When Scott and I bought the big inflatable oasis island many years ago, we envisioned lounging on it in the sun, using the drink holders for our adult beverages. And while we did and still occasionally do that, now the island is a source of enormous fun for the kids. The inflated part is a great launching pad for jumping into the mesh side, and the kids rocket back and forth constantly, wrestling and giggling. That is, when they're not fighting over whose turn it is on the jet-ski. And another big change - not only do all the kids (the big ones, anyway) want to go on the jet-ski, they want to go fast! When I took Zach out, he was even telling me how to drive!

After a day in the heat, the kids zoned in front of a movie while we got dinner ready and little ones in bed. With the fantastic new "cabin" the Brodds built, there's now lots of room for us to spend the night, so we gave it a shot. And I'd call it a success - even with 3 kids sleeping in one room, we had a pretty good, if short, night. And we were back in the lake by about 8:30 AM... the only way to stay cool!

Summer Days

2011-07-21T20:22:00.009-05:00

As you've seen on previous posts, our summer has been filled with lots of big adventures. But then there's the day-to-day summer fun...

I took the boys to the zoo a couple weeks ago. It was the first time Charlie has been since he's old enough to even notice there are animals around. He seems to be an animal lover, so I was curious to see his reaction. He definitely noticed them, if they were close enough and/or moving; he'd point and babble in his little language. My favorite was his reaction to the polar bears; one was quite close to the glass, and when I pointed it out to Charlie and made my best polar bear noise, he gritted his teeth and shook his fists. I decided that was his interpretation of a growl.

Zach got to ride the rides at Como Town (part of the zoo) for the first time. I suspect that'll be a regular part of our zoo outings now! Apparently it was a good morning for both boys, since this is how they looked on the ride home:

I'm a little concerned to see our next water bill. As it has been in much of the country, it's been crazy-hot here. So we've had the sprinkler, slip 'n slide, and kiddie pools out pretty regularly. I'm amazed at how much fun "big kids" can have in an inflatable kiddie pool!

And we can't forget kickball - the summer sport that has become Zach's obsession. Sometimes he's outside playing against just his dad, and other nights our driveway looks like this:

We continue to have our weekly "bocce nights," a no-longer-fitting name for our Thursday night barbecues with friends. It's been amazing how much the group has expanded; we've been over-run by people aged 6 or less.

^ We try to take a picture of all the kids each week. Sometimes we get imperfect but still cute pictures. The week we hosted was not one of those weeks!

I'll close with some random pictures from this summer:

(Yes, I've read the warnings about letting babies play with plastic bags. What can I say? He loves them.)

Brotherly love

2011-07-18T12:53:00.002-05:00

Our boys are starting to figure out how to really have a good time together, which is so fun to see. These videos are two brief moments I managed to catch on my phone; the first is Charlie laughing as Zach does what we call "smoochy smoochy" to him; the second is Charlie running up to Zach for a snuggle at the mall.

15 months

2011-07-17T20:07:00.011-05:00

Our littlest man is 15 months old today, and the adventures continue. Charlie is reaching the stage where we're hearing more words, or at least things that sound an awful lot like words. Some of his favorite, most-repeated ones are "uh-oh" and "ow." He doesn't always use ow appropriately, but when he does it's almost always accompanied by him patting his own head, the location of most of his injuries. He has also learned that hitting results in someone saying "ow," so the other day when I used that particular exclamation of pain in reference to something unrelated to him, he reached over and smacked me.

He's also starting to echo back to us, particularly things like hi, bye-bye, and just today "night-night." Charlie has been making a woof sound whenever he sees Koskie or any other dog, and today I think I heard the first "Zah" sound when he was talking about Zach. And funnily enough, he just mastered the official sign for more - bringing his fingertips together instead of his customary clap. Either one works though - he definitely finds a way to let us know what he wants!

Whenever Charlie rides on Scott's shoulders, Scott is always amazed at how he doesn't hold on. I don't know if it's his general fearlessness, or if he just really trusts his dad, but rather than wrapping his arms around Scott's neck or head like Zach does, he just bounces around, occasionally rubbing Scott's hair. He loves it up there, where he can see the world.

Charlie's love affair with Koskie continues. He literally uses him as a couch; he'll walk over and just plunk down on top of our sleeping dog, sit there and bounce a bit. He's constantly making a cooing sound at Koskie, poking him in the face while babbling away. He also likes to use him as a step stool to get on or off the couch. Our patient pooch just takes it all. It isn't just Koskie, Charlie seems to like all dogs; when the dogs across the street are outside, he just heads right down the driveway and toddles across the street to go visit. And boy did he think our friend's Chihuahua's were cool! (if only they'd thought the same of him.)

Let's see, what else? Oh - Charlie also loves shoes. Particularly wearing them on his hands. As a result we find his and Zach's shoes all over the house. Unfortunately he also likes to throw them into bodies of water, so we have to keep an eye on the toilet, the tub, and Koskie's water bowl. And while he absolutely refuses to wear his own hats when we're in the sun, he is a big fan of swiping Zach's.

Charlie would also like to be a climber. We've had to remove the stool from the kitchen, and replace the 2-step stool in the bathroom with a smaller one. If he could just figure out where to put his foot, he'd be up in Zach's top bunk; fortunately for us he just sticks his entire leg through the opening and gets stuck there. One of these days he's going to manage to get himself in the tub too.

Charlie's 15-month doctor check-up is tomorrow; I'll update this with the relevant stats!
15-month check-up on 7/18/11:
- Height: 30 inches; 10-25th percentile
- Weight: 21 lbs, 10 oz; 10-25th
- Head: 19.75 inches; 95th
Our regular pediatrician was out of town; the doctor we saw today proclaimed him "healthy as a horse!"

Adventures in Duluth

2011-07-14T15:40:00.011-05:00

We spent about 24 hours in Duluth last weekend and I took enough pictures to fill several albums. It was such a gorgeous day, and Duluth really is a picturesque town. The lift bridge just looked so cool against the bright blue sky...

^ How many kids can you fit in one stroller?

^Oh how I wish Zach's eyes were open in this picture!!!

^ He got a kick out of the cars driving over him.

^Indecisive about getting his feet wet, but he did it!

Our hotel was made for kids - a waterpark inside; a pool, playground, bounce house, and miniature golf course outside. Not to mention the fire with s'mores!

The kids seemed to have just as much fun in our rooms though.

We managed to get rooms next to each other, which had great balconies overlooking Lake Superior. So after all four kids were fast asleep, worn out from their fun day, we adults got to hang out and have a few drinks and watch Mother Nature put on an amazing show:

^ Blurry, I know, but still cool!

A few attempts at a family photo - they didn't turn out too badly!

And check out this group shot - we made one and only one attempt at this, and I think it turned out pretty well!

One of the best parts of the weekend... seeing this smile:

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4th on the lake

2011-07-13T12:39:00.012-05:00

We count ourselves very lucky to have friends who have a cabin on a lake and are willing to let us share in the fun. We "celbrated" on the 3rd this year, and what a gorgeous day it was - perfect for lounging in a floaty chair in the lake, taking the jet ski out, or tossing the kids around in the oasis island.

This was Charlie's first real experience with a lake, and it was one of those moments that made it crystal clear there are some real differences in the core personalities of our boys. Charlie has already displayed a love of sand or dirt - he'll plop right down and start poking at it, digging in it, just checking out the texture (ant hills are a particular favorite). So when we first arrived I set him down on the beach, expecting him to entertain himself with the sand. Wrong.

While he certainly did enjoy the sand later, Charlie's first instinct was to get up and walk right into the water. I think I detected a very slight hesitation before his first shoe got wet, but that was about it. He waded straight in until the water was almost to his knees, and then bent over to explore with his hands, soaking his entire front. Did I mention I hadn't changed him into his swimming suit yet? From our experience in pools I already knew he loved water, but I thought he'd be at least a little intimidated by the lake!

Zach would never have done that. While he loves to swim, he'd still rather not have his feet touch the bottom (and this lake has a very nice sandy, weed-free bottom). The first few times he saw the lake he would stand there and observe for a while, before getting closer and eventually going in with one of us. This year he was quite a bit more adventurous - jumping off the dock, swimming on his own, bouncing like crazy on the oasis island.

Both boys had a great day, and so did we. Thanks again Brodd family!!

A visit from friends

2011-07-09T14:46:00.017-05:00

My good college friend Sarah and her family came into town (from Portland, OR) the first half of 4th of July weekend. They managed to fit us into their WI tour to visit family - and I'm so happy they did!

First Sarah and I got to spend an afternoon together, since she flew in earlier than the rest of her family. We had a nice lunch and got to catch up while strolling through the mall (our plans for a nice walk outside were stymied by the humid 96 degree weather). When the rest of the clan arrived, we headed to our house for some relaxing and just enjoying being with friends we don't see often enough.

It's amazing how kids can just instantly create/renew friendships - Zach hasn't seen Aiden (almost 9) and Ava (5) since last summer, but you would never have known. They had a great time together, including a big and surprisingly successful sleepover in Zach's room!

We spent Saturday morning at a 4th of July parade, and the rest of the afternoon lounging on the deck while the kids ran and splashed themselves ragged in the backyard. It was an early night for the kids, since they were up late the night before but still awake at the crack of dawn, which gave us adults more time to catch up.

The time flew by... we're already trying to figure out when we can see the Neudecks again!

^ The kids in July 2011 and June of 2010!

Pee Wee Sports

2011-07-08T19:25:00.016-05:00

Zach had his first experience with organized sports earlier this summer - three weeks, six sessions total, of Pee Wee Sports. We signed him up for the combination class, which was both soccer and t-ball. I was a little concerned he'd be disappointed, since once I told him about it, he started asking if he needed a uniform, shin-guards, cleats, etc. He also wanted to know what the team was called, and if he'd get a shirt. Turns out he did get a t-shirt, and they did name the team... he and his teammates voted and settled on Green Sharks. :)

Anyway, he had a great time. The "coaches" did a good job of combining instruction and practice of the sports with just plain fun games that had nothing to do with soccer or t-ball. He also learned a lot about soccer... I've now noticed him forming his cars into teams with forwards and defenders, which is what they taught the kids about the positions in soccer.

On the last day, the kids got to decide whether they wanted to play soccer or t-ball, and whether they wanted to play with the parents or against us. The vote was soccer versus the parents. Scott and I had taken turns going with Zach, and that night was mine. It was... interesting. Let's just say the kids beat us 5-1, and even Zach noticed that some of the parents weren't trying at all.

As was to be expected, the kids all wanted to score a goal, so there was always a massive pack surrounding the ball, knocking each other over, stealing the ball from their teammates. So, when Zach was playing goalie, I purposely headed down the mini-field and took a shot (a slow one on the ground, yelling to Zach that it was coming) to see if he could stop it. And I think some of the other parents were giving me the stink-eye! What can I say, the poor kid was bored in the goal, and the other kids who were supposed to be playing defense were busy picking dandelions and playing dancing games!?!?! Sheesh. I guess I have a lot to learn about pee wee sports.

^ We called this coach "Big Ben"; there's always a nose-picker in every crowd!!

^ Whoo hoo - running laps! Introducing himself, identifying his favorite ice cream as chocolate (he didn't want to give the real answer, which was too long. Something like chocolate fudge cookie dough)

^ Charlie wanted to play too!

Trip to WI

2011-07-05T20:36:00.009-05:00

A long, long time ago (3+ weeks) we went down to visit my family. We tried leaving right around the boys' bedtimes, which meant we arrived after midnight. I'm not sure we'll try that again... when we got there, Zach, who had been fast asleep, plopped down on the floor, wide awake, ready to play. Turns out when I told him we were going to get there around 1 in the morning, he focused on the "morning" part, and thought it was time to have some fun. We did eventually convince him and his brother to go back to sleep, and the fun started the next day.

^A visit with my childhood friend and her family (11 y-o Brandon pictured); playing games on Grandpa's ipod touch.

^ Cousins watching the "Charlie bit me" video

^ Interpretive dance, perhaps?

^ Where there's Zach, there's kickball (Uncle Andy - you're out!)

^ Some dodgeball/ball-tag

^ Attempt #436 to get a good "cousins" picture - Zach (4), Chase (coming up on 7), Charlie (14 mos), Sophie (5)

^ Our silly boy; yep, Scott still throws the big one in the air

^ Just hanging out

Like father, like son

2011-06-26T08:02:00.002-05:00

^Scott ~ 1976; Charlie 2011

When Scott's mom sent me this picture of Scott I think I laughed out loud. So now we know where Charlie gets it from!

Catching up

2011-06-22T19:24:00.008-05:00

A scattered view into what we've been up to so far this summer...

Zach has spent a lot of time playing with our neighbor Payton, who just turned 5. They're becoming good buddies, as they like to do a lot of the same things, including playing Zach's current obsession: kickball.

We had two random 100+ degree days, so I threw these two goofballs in the pool. Charlie loved it... he was quite pruny when I was finally able to get him out.

A fun summer tradition - the Grand Old Day parade, viewed from the comfort of our friends' Aaron & Jen's front yard. Kasey & Zach scored lots of candy in the front row, while the babies chilled with the dads in the shade.

A moment when I tried (futilely) to get a nice picture of my boys together. Charlie isn't exactly in to sitting still.

Yes, Zach still likes to play cars. If he's indoors, it's usually cars (or some sort of ball game, including using our front door as a pitchback); if he's outside, he's all about kickball.

His bunk bed is up! Zach had been sleeping in the top bunk placed on the floor, but now it's up where it belongs. He slept in the top a couple times, but seems to have settled into the bottom bunk. So far he's only fallen out once...

One of his father's day art projects - Scott's dad has quite the collection of baseball hats, so we thought he needed a Zach Willard original.

He's getting very, very sleepy... and he's out. I have seen countless pictures of friends' kids sleeping in their high chairs (and even one on the toilet!!!), and I always was amazed that was possible. And now I've seen it happen live! We have been experimenting with Charlie taking just one nap per day; this was day 4. I know it looks terrible, but he's actually doing well with this new routine. Part of the reason he was so tired that day was that he hadn't been sleeping well due to some stomach/diaper rash issues that I won't describe in detail. I'll just say he seems to be on the mend now. :)

Coming soon... our trip to visit the Klicka's in WI, and pee-wee sports adventures!

14

2011-06-17T09:53:00.009-05:00

I'm not going to talk about how fast time is flying, how I can't believe Charlie is already 14 months old. I'm not.

Instead I'll focus on things that have changed in the last month, and it sure seems like a lot. The biggest one is that Charlie is now officially a walker. No more crawling for this guy. The lightbulb went off a week or two ago, where suddenly he just was much steadier, had no problems standing up from sitting, and off he went.

So now we have now reached what is one of my favorite stages, that I remember so clearly from when Zach started walking. The "wow - the world is my oyster and I can go anywhere I want and it's so cool so I'm just going to keep giggling" stage. We went to the library the other day, and I let him roam where he wanted, among the stacks and then outside the library in the indoor park area. Everywhere he went, he just laughed and smiled the whole time. He'd pause to wave at strangers that smiled at him, but otherwise he just kept trekking. Didn't matter where, this boy was on the move. I love this... so easy to make him happy!

We're also starting to hear more words. We think. I still don't think I could declare what Charlie's first word is/was; he's been saying things that appear to be words for a while, starting with "ma" and "da" sounds. But he not only uses those words for us (especially when Scott comes home - he usually does "dee da!"), but babbles them somewhat meaninglessly. So are those his first words?

I've also suspected he's been trying to say "pooch" for quite a while (we generally refer to Koskie as "the pooch" as opposed to using his name). He does it a lot when I get him up in the morning, since it's usually me and Koskie there to greet him. I think Scott got it on video... listen carefully toward the end and you'll hear a "pooo" sound. :)

The other word we're starting to hear regularly, used appropriately, is "ball." It comes out as "bah" of course. While at my parents house last weekend, Scott was showing Charlie a book of birds, and he was clearly saying bird too! It's going to be fun to hear what comes next.

Charlie's funny little personality continues to emerge. My favorite lately is his reaction when he is scolded; I start laughing when I'm trying to show him my serious "do not pull the toilet paper off the roll" face. When you tell this little boy no, he has one of two reactions, or some combination of the two:

- reaction 1: he shakes his head back and forth with you, with a serious look on his face. I guess he agrees he's not supposed to play with the blinds.

- reaction 2: he cries, the most fake cry you've ever seen/heard, complete with the absolutely perfect classic pout - lower lip protruding. Cracks me up every time. I've tried to get it on video (yes, I'm a good mom, I run for the camera when my kid is doing something he shouldn't), but of course I haven't managed to catch it yet.

So yes, we've reached the stage that Charlie is discovering all sorts of trouble. Remember me mentioning the game he likes to play where he knocks a ball around with a mini-bat? Well, that bat is now up where he can't reach it. Turns out when you give Charlie a club-like implement, he likes to hit people with it. Like his brother. Sigh. See how in this picture Zach is shrinking back from Charlie, who appears to be innocuously showing his brother a harmonica? Zach's learned that lesson the hard way - he's not going to get smacked again.

Another side of Charlie's personality that is emerging is his fearlessness. His older brother is and has always been a fairly cautious kid, so I suppose we should have expected the opposite the second time around. His exploratory and adventurous spirit, combined with stubborn determination often result in this:

Apparently the left side of his face is a target. The injuries pictured are from two separate incidents; fortunately the bruise on the bridge of his nose and the road rash on his left cheek (also from two different falls) have faded in the first picture, otherwise that would look really bad! Nothing slows him down though.

If I had to pick one word to describe Charlie's personality, it'd probably be goofy. He is smiling and laughing all the time, and clearly loves to make us laugh. And he does so pretty easily.

^His obstactle course game, this time with the now-contraband bat.

A little bit of Savannah

2011-06-07T09:06:00.009-05:00

I took 195 pictures during my girls' weekend in Savannah, so I decided to challenge myself to pick less than 10 that represented the trip. Not an easy task, but here we go:

^Our first day we took a trolley tour to get an overview of the city, and to see the gorgeous architecture and gardens.

^ We also ate at the famed Mrs. Wilkes Boardinghouse - southern-food at it's best, served family style. I've never seen a spread like it. That night we walked along the Savannah River.

^ Saturday we headed to Tybee Island, to climb the 78 steps to the top of the lighthouse and then spend the 90+ degree day lounging on the beach.

^ Before heading to the airport Sunday, we explored Forsythe Park and the Bonaventure Cemetery, a very historic and beautiful cemetery. They don't make 'em like that any more!

So that's it -10 pictures! Close enough. I realized during this exercise that these pictures may represent Savannah (although there's so much more to it, what a beautiful city!), they don't represent our trip well. My friend Cindy took all the "people" pictures - us enjoying some yummy meals and taking advantage of Savannah's lack of an open container law. Being able to get a beer "to go" and walk around town with it is a great way to beat the heat! :)

This trip was a fantastic way to spend time with friends I don't see often enough, and just relax... I'm so happy to have a husband who is supportive of me taking time away, and a mother-in-law who flies across the country to hang out with her grandsons! And I look forward to many more adventures like this! :)

Charlie's games

2011-06-02T20:20:00.003-05:00

I've been impressed with some of the games Charlie plays to entertain himself. He started out throwing a ball and crawling after it, over and over again (he has a pretty good arm!). He also uses any sort of a club-like object, such as the Zach's toy golf clubs, miniature bat, or giggle stick, to knock the ball across the room, again to chase after it. He'd play these games by himself for quite a while.

So I had to laugh when I saw what appears to be his latest game. I even managed to get video of it without him noticing (sorry about the bad angle, but I was basically hiding). This may be the type of video only a mom would be find amusing, but hey, it's short:

Little boy walking

2011-05-30T08:38:00.004-05:00

Charlie officially took his first steps on Easter Sunday. Since then he's improved a great deal, but it's a little funny how inconsistent he is. Some days he doesn't seem to want to walk more than 3 or 4 steps, other days he walks across the entire room without hesitating. Friday I took him to his ECFE class, and I think he was showing off - he crawled once the entire time!

Throughout this process, we've been trying to capture his steps on video. Here's a montage of our best efforts over the last month:

Last day of school/the cocoon

2011-05-27T19:39:00.011-05:00

Yesterday was Zach's last day of preschool (the first year anyway!). They celebrated with a program on Wednesday night where Zach's class performed The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. Zach played the cocoon. If you've got two minutes or so, check out this stellar production:

^The cocoon awaiting his cue.

^ The cocoon in action; the cocoon and all the food the caterpillar ate.

^ The preschoolers performing "The 12 Eggs of Easter"

We parents were invited to partake in some activities on his last day, so Charlie and I got to see Zach in action with his buddies:

^ Zach & Mia (his "giggle buddy"); doing the limbo

^ Zach and Landon showing their moves; our little monkey

^A game of chase with Landon; Zach and Amalie

^ Saying good-bye to Mrs. Hulse; potting a flower with Seanna

^ The 3 boys in a class of 18!

And here is our guy on his FIRST day of preschool... what a difference a school year makes!

Dinghy

2011-05-19T09:44:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned before, we've been having some challenges with Zach. One of the main issues is his newly-perfected art of name-calling. He'll call anyone and anything a name, whether it's me, Charlie, the dog, a tree, a ball... whatever. And the names aren't even necessarily bad, although we've certainly heard some doozies. Half the time he makes the "name" up.

So needless to say, we've had some conversations about this. He knows, and will tell you, it's not nice to call people names. But in the heat of the moment, he just forgets, I guess. So we were having the conversation once again, while he was a captive audience in the car. After I explained one more time, why we don't call people names, this was his response:

"But mom, if I was talking to a boat, I could call it a dinghy."

What was I supposed to say to that????

13 months

2011-05-17T11:04:00.010-05:00

The Charliebug is 13 months today. Already into his second year of life...

Charlie really seems ready to take on the world these days. He gets into everything, and he's darn quick (more on that later). He has taken cans, bottles, granola bars and more off the lower shelves of my pantry, anything he can lift out of cabinets (post-it notes are great fun), and find the smallest speck of lint on any floor. When left alone in the bathroom with an open toilet for approximately 2.3 seconds, he managed to get about 8 squares of toilet paper into the toilet. He's an explorer, that's for sure.

That's cornmeal on his nose and lips in the picture below; after he managed to pry the lid off the canister while I thought he was safely playing in the "baby-proofed" pantry.

Charlie seems very close to walking; he stands on his own for a long time, and can get himself into a standing position with the slightest thing to push himself up on (even a book!). He officially took his first steps on Easter Sunday, and has repeatedly taken 2 or 3 steps at a time to get from the ottoman to the couch, or from me to Scott. But that's about all he wants to do!

Perhaps he doesn't want to walk because he's so darn fast when he crawls. And yes, he is still doing his special crawl, although we're noticing more of a traditional crawl when he's on the carpet. He saves the one-legged crawl for when he can slide the leg on the hardwood floor and really get some speed. Or the driveway... his pants are going to be worn out very oddly. My dad took this video a few weeks ago - I think it's a pretty good illustration of how quickly he can get from point A to point B.

So yes, we still spend a lot of time walking around the house with him holding onto our fingers - not the best for our backs, but he loves it. I truly hope he walks soon though... now that we're finally having some spring-like weather, I'd like to be outside with Charlie without thinking about all the things he's crawling through and on before his fingers inevitably end up in his mouth. Yuck.

Let's see, what else. I mentioned in a different post how much Charlie loved the play/musical Pinkalicious. He tends to have the same reaction every time he hears music - he grins and starts doing his own "Charlie-dance." I've tried to capture it many, many times, especially once when he was doing his moves while Zach was hammering out a beat on my tupperware. But he always stops when he sees the video camera! What you see at the beginning of the video below is his dance; I caught a little bit of it at our ECFE class last week. He was really boogie-ing away that day, completely entertaining all the other moms. :)

Sleep-wise, I have been tempted many, many times to get out some graph paper and see what this boy's waking times look like when charted. I've resisted the urge so far, but I am imagining that the graph would look like a roller coaster. For a while we had those lovely 4:30 AM wakings, then it progressively got a little later until he was sleeping as late as 7 AM. Then it started creeping earlier again, and now we've been in a holding pattern around 5 - 5:30. Good thing I'm a morning person, I guess.

We're hearing a constant stream of babble now too. Lots of interesting sounds, and occasionally we think we've heard a certain word ("all done"!), but I'm not ready to say Charlie has uttered his first official word. Soon, though I suspect.

Charlie definitely wants to play with the big kids too - he loves it when the neighbors come over. If he's inside, he'll go to the screen door and stand and watch them, squealing and laughing and babbling at them. If he's outside - he gets right in the middle of the game, laughing and talking to his friends. We keep telling him you have to walk before you can play kickball, but that doesn't seem to stop him.

Charlie "celebrated" his 13th month of life with a nice injury to his face this morning. Sigh. I have learned my lesson - the wooden "percussion instruments" (basically thick sticks you bang together or rub against each other to make various noises) have been hidden for a while. Charlie gave Zach quite the whack on the top of his foot - the bony part... ouch! Zach hesitated for a second, while crying, but before I could get there he'd delivered the retaliatory smack to the face with the spine of the book he was reading. Fortunately it was a paperback...

I know there's lots more of this coming, so I guess I should be happy it took 13 months.

I'll close by asking - has anyone ever seen a baby do this:

A lot? In addition to standing on his head, which I mentioned earlier, he often stops mid-crawl to put his head down, a lot of times with his hands on his head like this. Isn't he a little young for migraines???

Comparently,

2011-05-15T20:37:00.004-05:00

A few Zach tidbits...

There are times when I have to look away and take a deep breath in order to not crack up at something Zach says. I had this experience the other day when Zach came to tell me that the audio book he was listening to wasn't working. With this incredibly serious face, he said: "Mom, comparently, this cd doesn't work." We got distracted by something, so he had to repeat it, again with a really serious, strong emphasis on the word "comparently." I couldn't bear to tell him he probably meant "apparently."

As I've mentioned before, we're quite proud of Zach's reading ability. So it was a good moment when the teacher's aide at Zach's school told me that when the teacher is about to read a book, she shows it to the kids and asks them what they think it's about. But first she has to say "not you Zach;" he has to wait until the other kids get a chance to guess before he reads the title! :)

Zach's math skills are also coming along. This fascinates me, since I do whatever I can to avoid numbers and math (it's a cliche and I wish it wasn't true). But Scott and I were both quite impressed, and frankly surprised, when he used some logic for addition that we didn't know he was capable of. He was doing the activities on a restaurant placemat, and had to add 5 + 6. He quickly came up with 11, and said he knew that because 6 is one bigger than 5, and 5 + 5 is 10.

As impressive as we thought that was, about 2 minutes later he claimed that 1+3 was 3. He does that a lot - handles big questions easily, then seems to forget that 1+1=2, something we know he knows! I suspect it's all about attention span.

I took the boys to a children's play last week, one called Pinkalicious. It's a book that we have read and Zach really likes, so I was pretty excited that a local children's theater was putting it on. Well, excited and nervous - I really had no idea how Charlie would do. So I packed a bag full of snacks (against the rules, but you gotta do what you gotta do!), books, and quiet toys. I was thrilled when 10 minutes into the show, Zach turned to me and said "Mom, this is really great!" And I didn't need anything to entertain Charlie - he was bouncing on my lap, swaying and clapping to the music, looking around in astonishment every time the audience applauded. Yes, it helped that it was a 55 minute show, but I was ridiculously happy with the experience!

Zach has been playing alot with some of the neighbor kids, 4 in particular. They are all older than him; 2 sisters and 2 brothers. It has been... interesting to watch how this has impacted him. He has learned all sorts of new words, phrases, and even tones of voice. As perhaps is always the case, the things he is picking up on and adopting aren't necessarily the best parts of these very nice neighbor kids... sigh. I just keep hoping much of this is a stage: the poop/butt humor (including one of the new words he learned - butthole), the shockingly snarky tone, the back-talk. Whew. And I hope the weather gets better; we have one restless kid when he can't go outside and play kickball with his friends!

The picture (only one, haven't taken many lately) is of a phenomenon that makes me laugh - how much Zach loves any toy that belongs to Charlie. In that picture he's playing with the tub toys that Charlie got in the mail for his birthday. I guess it's proof he can race anything!

Our family

2011-05-08T16:55:00.019-05:00

When we had Charlie's first birthday pictures taken, we tried to get some of the of the whole family. I know there's a lot to see here, but there were so many good ones! My absolute favorites are the big ones at the top.

I know I'm biased, how do you not LOVE this face:

These pictures were taken by Missy of Melissa Rose Photography. You may remember some of the beautiful pictures Missy took of the boys last fall. Well, I finally did what I've been wanting to do - had one of my favorites turned into a canvas. And I LOVE it - check out how great it looks!!! A fantastic piece of art on our walls!

Moms

2011-05-08T16:28:00.005-05:00

When I think about it, there have been alot of moms in my life. Obviously my true Mom - the one without whom I don't know who or what I'd be today. There are not enough words, let alone the right words, to say thank you. For everything you are to me, and everything you are to my kids.

Throughout my life, I've been so fortunate to have many of my friends' moms looking out for me as if I was their own. And now I have a mother-in-law who is not only a wonderful mother to my husband, and grandmother to my boys, but has become my family and friend.

I am also surrounded by friends who help me find my balance on days when motherhood seems to unseat me. And help me celebrate on days when it all feels just right.

What's the point? Besides that I'm lucky, to have all these wonderful people in my life? I guess I am just really beginning to understand the saying "it takes a village". And today, like all days, I'm so thankful for my village.

A mother's day cookbook

2011-05-06T09:09:00.002-05:00

Zach came home from preschool yesterday with mother's day gifts for me. One was a banner with his handprint on it, now proudly hanging on our front door. The other was a packet of paper labeled "Happy Mother's Day Cookbook! Created by Salem Preschool Children." I was quite intrigued... how did the kids make a cookbook?? No one ever asked me for any recipes, and Zach certainly doesn't know any! What could it be?

What is it? Hilarious, that's what. The teacher asked each kid "what is your favorite thing mom makes for you, and how does she make it?" She did not alter their responses - they are straight from the babes' mouths. Here is Zach's:

Pizza
by Zach
You need cheese and pepperoni and sometimes I like sausage, and crust. I think mom cooks it. She puts it in the microwave for 25 minutes. Then take it out and eat it!

I can't pretend to be surprised he picked pizza, although I had to laugh, since he is never the least bit involved when I/we make pizza. And we rarely make it in the microwave! Together he and I have made muffins, cake, pancakes, french toast, eggs, cupcakes, cookies, and various meals where he's been involved in mixing and measuring. But it's the pizza that stands out. :)

Here are a few highlights from the other kids:

Pumpkin pie by Ava: Get a pumpkin and munch it up! She also believes the oven is at 1 degree.

Brayden's mom apparently puts pop (soda) in their spaghetti.

Hollen instructs you to cook pancakes for 10 hours. In the oven.

Two kids mentioned frozen waffles, which really made me laugh. They gave very explicit instructions for how to toast them. :)

Ainsley's mom makes scones (wow) - made of nothing but sugar. You don't even cook them - just put them on the table and eat them!

Elisabeth puts ham and flour in her pancakes. mmmmmm.

Happy Mother's Day a few days early!

Really random

2011-05-04T20:38:00.007-05:00

I thought about trying to categorize and organize all of these photos and thoughts, but then I just gave up.

One day I gave Charlie a spoon to see what would happen. I was quite surprised at the results:

Take a picture of me too mom!

This is what our lunches often look like, although not always with color-coded M&Ms:

Charlie has been doing this:

Don't ask me, I don't know why. Then Zach had to get into the act:

And then he did this, and asked me to take a picture:

Yep, this is what happens at our house all day, in case you were wondering.

Zach has been giving us a preview of what it will be like to have teenaged boys. From approximately 6 to 8 pm, he eats constantly. Everything and anything. It's truly amazing. This is what he looked like one night after such a binge:

Notice the tie-dyed underwear. He created these last summer at his cousin Maryn's birthday party. He likes tie-dye, so much that when I showed him Princess/Duchess Kate's wedding dress, and asked if he thought it was beautiful, his response was: it would have been better if she tie-dyed it.

Awww. A sleeping baby with his butt in the air. Who doesn't love that??

Easter and more

2011-04-30T14:22:00.009-05:00

Yes, we celebrated Easter last weekend. In fact, we also celebrated Charlie's and my mom's birthdays too. I'm just a little late getting the pictures ready...

^ Opening gifts from G&G Klicka... check out Charlie's new ride!

^ I don't have many pictures of Charlie crying, so I had to take this one.

^Still not so sure about the hat, but he's sure he likes cake.

^ Cake. Yum.

^ Decorating cookies & eggs

^ Don't ask me. Maybe an Easter egg pirate?

^ The Easter bunny hid baskets for the boys, but I was too busy watching the hunt to remember to take pictures. Charlie's basket was not in that cabinet, I know that much. And that Zach loved his chocolate bunny.

^ Easter afternoon some friends came over for an egg hunt - Zach is off to the races.

^Teamwork with Kasey; Charlie found an egg!

^Sylvia & her hunt helper (sherpa?)

^ I think the conversation went like this: 1st picture - this prickly stuff does not feel good. I know, but if you lift up your leg it helps. How long do you think they're going to let us sit here? 2nd picture - can you please stop laughing and come and rescue us???

^Much happier on a blanket. :)

^ We were fortunate to finally have a nice day, so it was time for everyone's favorite Easter tradition: t-ball! Can you tell how much Zach has been longing for spring??

^We closed our holiday with several serenades from Kasey, complete with Beyonce-like attitude. What a way to end a great weekend. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

A story of a hoarder

2011-04-26T13:38:00.002-05:00

This morning Charlie ate his breakfast, played for about 20 minutes, and then was loaded in the car to take Zach to school. We came home and he went down for his nap. He napped for about 90 minutes, and then I brought him downstairs and laid him down to change his diaper. He opened his mouth to laugh or something, and I saw... part of an orange tucked into his cheek.

This was about 2.5 hours after he ate breakfast!!! How do you sleep with a chunk of orange in your mouth??? And he wouldn't even let me fish it out - apparently it was still good!

One year stats

2011-04-23T10:54:00.002-05:00

Charlie's one year check-up was on Thursday, which he found delightful until he had to get four shots (that MMR one hurts!) AND have his finger pricked for a blood draw. But the doctor once again pronounced him perfect.

Here are his current stats:
Height: 28.5 inches; 10-25 percentile
Weight: 20 lbs 3 oz; 10-25 percentile
Head: 18.75 inches; 75-90 percentile

He must be really close to the 10th percentile in height and weight, since he goes back and forth between the 5-10th percentile and the 10-25th. He's a peanut, our little guy. But a healthy one!

Time for cake!

2011-04-21T16:26:00.006-05:00

^ Charlie's cake before

^ the cake after

I started to just post the photos, thinking they could speak for themselves. But then I noticed Charlie doesn't look like he's enjoying this at all. Which was not the case; he was just extremely focused and methodical in his frosting eating!

^ the first taste; mmmm - that's good!

^ Not so sure about it sticking to his fingers

^ Very very focused on the cake. Well, the frosting anyway.

^ Zach thought the whole process was pretty funny. Till he went back outside to play anyway.

^ A picture of Charlie's virtual birthday party: on the ipad (on the pillow) - my parents; on Scott's phone - his dad. They got to see Charlie enjoy his birthday cake, and he got to be quite confused as to why those screens were talking to him when he was trying to eat frosting. Modern technology is pretty helpful when your family isn't right around the corner.

^ Ready for a few gifts

^ Yum - tissue paper.

^ His card from Zach

^ He's only one, but he's ready to go outside and play with the big kids!

And a short video of the cake process. We shot 12 minutes of video, but since the majority of that is just Charlie methodically swiping his index finger through the frosting and into his mouth, I edited it down a few moments that show he was having some fun.