Allan showing off his flexibility.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Serial updates
Tonight I am trying to catch every one up via short blogs on what is going on around here. We don't have many pictures (see "new camera") so narrative is all I have.
We have been incredibly busy. Miss Flora is still out recovering from her knee surgery and we have been making due with a series of substitute nannies through a local service. This has been no great hardship for the boys -- most of the nannies are college girls and almost every one of them has been exceptionally pretty. Griffith is showing a distinct preference for the brunettes of late.
Miss Christy is usually here Monday, Wednesday and Friday and seems to have the touch with the fellas. They pretty much have a good time and take good naps for her (thank goodness!) Griffith actually is so fond of her that he has cried when she has left (little ingrate) and hardly pays any attention when we come home (brat.) Today was Miss Brittany -- a tall, thin, leggy brunette (former volleyball player). Griffith could not get enough of her. He was Mr. Coy from the minute she hit the door. Allan was a little more reserved (as is his wont) but he warmed up right away, too. At any rate, the three of them played all day long. To the point that they really didn't take very good naps. Which meant that at 6:24, Griffith fell asleep in his high chair (not before he had finished off nearly two hotdogs, a quarter can of mixed veg, and two pieces of cheese). He woke after about 45 minutes, whining and miserable so we plunked him in to the bath (new No Tangles shampoo for his curly hair) and rocked him to sleep. He was out well before 8. This probably means we won't make it through the night, but we'll take what we can get.
Miss Brittany was charmed by Griffith. His was very helpful to her. While she was getting lunch ready, he took all of the rugs to the washer and put them in for her to wash. Also, when she was changing Allan, he took all of the baby wipes out of the container for her to use (in fairness, Allan had a nasty poop). Apparently, she said something like "oh, no!" so he went and got his Time Out chair and put it in the living room. He also spent a fair amount of time carrying Allan's sat monitor around and making sure that it was where it needed to be. Which we appreciated. After all, Brittany can't expected to keep up with everything. She's new.
We have been incredibly busy. Miss Flora is still out recovering from her knee surgery and we have been making due with a series of substitute nannies through a local service. This has been no great hardship for the boys -- most of the nannies are college girls and almost every one of them has been exceptionally pretty. Griffith is showing a distinct preference for the brunettes of late.
Miss Christy is usually here Monday, Wednesday and Friday and seems to have the touch with the fellas. They pretty much have a good time and take good naps for her (thank goodness!) Griffith actually is so fond of her that he has cried when she has left (little ingrate) and hardly pays any attention when we come home (brat.) Today was Miss Brittany -- a tall, thin, leggy brunette (former volleyball player). Griffith could not get enough of her. He was Mr. Coy from the minute she hit the door. Allan was a little more reserved (as is his wont) but he warmed up right away, too. At any rate, the three of them played all day long. To the point that they really didn't take very good naps. Which meant that at 6:24, Griffith fell asleep in his high chair (not before he had finished off nearly two hotdogs, a quarter can of mixed veg, and two pieces of cheese). He woke after about 45 minutes, whining and miserable so we plunked him in to the bath (new No Tangles shampoo for his curly hair) and rocked him to sleep. He was out well before 8. This probably means we won't make it through the night, but we'll take what we can get.
Miss Brittany was charmed by Griffith. His was very helpful to her. While she was getting lunch ready, he took all of the rugs to the washer and put them in for her to wash. Also, when she was changing Allan, he took all of the baby wipes out of the container for her to use (in fairness, Allan had a nasty poop). Apparently, she said something like "oh, no!" so he went and got his Time Out chair and put it in the living room. He also spent a fair amount of time carrying Allan's sat monitor around and making sure that it was where it needed to be. Which we appreciated. After all, Brittany can't expected to keep up with everything. She's new.
Welcome to the UK!
The boys now are officiallly registered as British citizens (cue "God Save the Queen"). After paperwork that you would not believe (not to mention a pretty steep fee -- might have been cheaper to fly over there and have them in the first place!), Thing One and Thing Two are now officially dual citizens. The letter from the consulate was pretty funny. Excruciatingly polite, as one might expect. It said, in essence, that the UK was delighted to have the boys as citizens and that they are entitled to have a British passport, but, it warned, the US isn't so chipper about the whole dual-citizen status and, if we want to avoid trouble traveling, we should make sure they have US passports.
So, we will start working on that for the day that we head for Jolly Ol' England. I am hesitant to do it too soon, though. The boys will change so much that a photo now won't be very helpful in a year or so when we head for Wallingford.
So, we will start working on that for the day that we head for Jolly Ol' England. I am hesitant to do it too soon, though. The boys will change so much that a photo now won't be very helpful in a year or so when we head for Wallingford.
New camera
Sorry for the no posts. Since Dubya has graciously decided to give all of us a tax rebate, I have decided to spend it (6 or 8 months in advance) on a new digital camera. Dad needed one for the shop and so he is inheriting the "old" digital camera (which is at least 5 or 6 years old).
Despite the fact that the memory cards look identical to the ones we already have on the website, they aren't. Big surprise. And, despite the exorbitant fee charged for the camera, it only came with a card that holds (and I am not kiddding) four whole pictures. You.Must.Be.Kidding. Not to mention the fact that the new camera has (conservatively) 857 different settings and features that allow you to do everything from take a picture to move a satellite. I really wouldn't mind having a Brownie point-and-click. All of the options really are wasted on me.
At any rate, I braved WalMart today and, after having been stuck behind every person with an issue on a Thursday afternoon, managed to check out with a 2 gig memory card. I have no idea what this means. The price suggests that I should be able to take as many pictures as I like without worrying about running out of memory. We'll see if that proves to be true.
In addition, I have managed (okay, Jay helped by distracting the boys) to install the new webcam and Skype so we have broadcast abilities. Now, if only Grandma, Grampy, Simon, Julie, Lottie, Jess and Joseph would join the digital age we could have live chats..........
Despite the fact that the memory cards look identical to the ones we already have on the website, they aren't. Big surprise. And, despite the exorbitant fee charged for the camera, it only came with a card that holds (and I am not kiddding) four whole pictures. You.Must.Be.Kidding. Not to mention the fact that the new camera has (conservatively) 857 different settings and features that allow you to do everything from take a picture to move a satellite.
At any rate, I braved WalMart today and, after having been stuck behind every person with an issue on a Thursday afternoon, managed to check out with a 2 gig memory card. I have no idea what this means. The price suggests that I should be able to take as many pictures as I like without worrying about running out of memory. We'll see if that proves to be true.
In addition, I have managed (okay, Jay helped by distracting the boys) to install the new webcam and Skype so we have broadcast abilities. Now, if only Grandma, Grampy, Simon, Julie, Lottie, Jess and Joseph would join the digital age we could have live chats..........
Monday, January 28, 2008
I wonder if I could fit under there ?
Allan just kept crawling underneath this table and, while he does just fit under there, once he's there, he can't get back out. We finally had to slide a basket of toys in the space to keep him out. On the "up" side, he is really very flexible.
Story time
Allan and Katie reading with Aunt Lee.
Allan's underwear showing -- just like the cool kids.
Parallel play
Not exactly playing together, but in the same location. It is a start.
Katie could not understand why Griffith kept putting things in his mouth. She was particularly grossed out when he shared the Elmo car with her that was fresh from his mouth. "I am covered in spit, Momma!," she said with disgust. I don't think she is going to want to date him.
Hoist it high, Katie!
Griffith was not very good at sharing with Katie and she soon figured out the only way to keep a toy was to hold it above her head. Too bad Allan isn't as tall as Katie.
Allan the aggressor
Griffith has decided that the Leap Frog drum makes an excellent stool and enjoys sitting on it. (Little Mr. Muffet sitting on his tuffet.) Allan really likes the drum, too (the other one wasn't nearly as attractive as the one his brother was sitting on.) As you can see from the following series of photos, Allan has taken to crawling up behind Griffith and head-butting him on his bottom and trying to knock him off of the drum. (He just kept bumping Griff in the butt, like a little billy goat.) Griffith, tiring of this, decided to get up in the chair, out of Allan's reach. He succeeded, but not for long. Allan just kept coming. He hasn't mastered climbing in the chair yet, but it won't be long. And then there won't be any safe place.
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