Griff LOVES to be the big boy and push Allan in the swing. He hasn't quite mastered getting out of the way, though. We are working on that.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Uh-oh, foot!
So the other night the boys ended up in bed with me. I can't recall the exact circumstances, but it was while Jay was gone and first one and then the other "needed" to be in bed with me. Or I needed to sleep and that seemed the most direct route.
At any rate, I laid Allan in between Griff and me and settled down. This worked right up until I was almost asleep again and Allan decided to start swatting Griff in the nose.
Me: Quit it, Allan!
Allan: Swat. Swat.
Griff: No! No!
Me: ALLAN. Quit.
Swat.Swat.
So then I angle him so that he can't reach Griff. Almost asleep again.
Griff: Uh-oh! Foot!
Me: What?
Griff: Uh-oh --- foot!
Allan: (pretending to be asleep).
Sure enough, Allan is reaching with his little pudgy legs and trying to kick his brother.
Brat.
At any rate, I laid Allan in between Griff and me and settled down. This worked right up until I was almost asleep again and Allan decided to start swatting Griff in the nose.
Me: Quit it, Allan!
Allan: Swat. Swat.
Griff: No! No!
Me: ALLAN. Quit.
Swat.Swat.
So then I angle him so that he can't reach Griff. Almost asleep again.
Griff: Uh-oh! Foot!
Me: What?
Griff: Uh-oh --- foot!
Allan: (pretending to be asleep).
Sure enough, Allan is reaching with his little pudgy legs and trying to kick his brother.
Brat.
Summer nights
The weather has been so wonderful that the boys and I have been spending nearly every night out in the backyard.
Jay has been working late every night on The Table of Inordinate Size (due for delivery on Monday) and rounds in just before bath time. In order to keep the house tidy(ish), I pick up while the boys eat dinner, load the dishwasher and shoo them out the door as soon as they are done. We then spend an hour to an hour and a half playing on the deck, on the playset, in the sandbox. This serves many ends: the house stays at least as tidy as I left it, we all get fresh air, and the boys get worn out.
Allan is getting more and more mobile every day. He still lacks the confidence to head out solo but he now knows how to use the garden cart to keep his balance and get across the yard. This is not his preference, however. He would much rather you hold his hand and go where he steers you. The other night I kept putting his hands on the garden cart and telling him, Allan do. He got so damned mad that he turned, started yelling and, without realizing it, took about eight steps toward me without holding on to anything. You could see the shock on his face as he decided he had better stop that. Right now. And sat down.
Jay has been working late every night on The Table of Inordinate Size (due for delivery on Monday) and rounds in just before bath time. In order to keep the house tidy(ish), I pick up while the boys eat dinner, load the dishwasher and shoo them out the door as soon as they are done. We then spend an hour to an hour and a half playing on the deck, on the playset, in the sandbox. This serves many ends: the house stays at least as tidy as I left it, we all get fresh air, and the boys get worn out.
Allan is getting more and more mobile every day. He still lacks the confidence to head out solo but he now knows how to use the garden cart to keep his balance and get across the yard. This is not his preference, however. He would much rather you hold his hand and go where he steers you. The other night I kept putting his hands on the garden cart and telling him, Allan do. He got so damned mad that he turned, started yelling and, without realizing it, took about eight steps toward me without holding on to anything. You could see the shock on his face as he decided he had better stop that. Right now. And sat down.
Making headway
Allan made it all the way across the yard using the garden cart for support. I nearly have two fully mobile toddlers!
Just out of reach.
I had to hang the radio on the flower hook because Allan wouldn't leave it alone.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
chatty post
Things have been quite hectic at Casa de R lately. Jay has a big project due on Monday that is taking up all of his (and my) time. On top of that, he headed off last weekend to the PGA tournament in Detroit (in his defense, the tickets were purchased last year.) He headed out at the crack o' dawn on Thursday. That was the day that T1 and T2 were scheduled at a local DQ for Miracle Treat Day.
Every year local DQ' s donate the proceeds from the sales of Blizzards that day to the local children's hospital. Last year, our hospital received over thirty thousand dollars (can you imagine that many Blizzards in one day????) Anyway, some of the stores like to have kids make an appearance and sometimes "local media" come by (if it is a slow day) to do a story about this or that Miracle Baby. Apparently the coordinator at the local hospital had not seen what a disaster our two were in January for the March of Dimes and asked if we would do an appearance. Sure. Why not? We have no dignity to lose.
At any rate, we had a good group rally for dinner of ice cream.
My children, while not on TV, still managed to embarass me. The local managers were so nice and offered us anything that we wanted. Griff caught sight of bananas and kept yelling for those so they made a Banana Cream Blizzard which he refused to eat. If we had dipped the banana in arsenic he could not have been more dismissive of it.
Allan was fascinated with the crease between the back of the seat and the booth (which, to their credit, was remarkably clean) and kept sticking his 1) hands 2) feet and 3) nose in to it. Unless he was squalling to have someone hold his hands and help him walk around the store and check out the freezer case. That's what I get for letting him climb in my refrigerator.
Griff devoured some popcorn shrimp and french fries (would you like something fried with that, sir?) and we headed home.
Michele stopped by to help with baths and Allan suckered her in to walking around the backyard. It was clear that she thought that I was a bad mother because I elected to sit on the deck and say, oh, no, I'm not getting involved in THAT. Michele has a huge "s' for sucker on her forehead that Allan can see clearly. If Michele's back wasn't aching from the (largely unnecessary) effort of waltzing Big Al from Point A to Point B, then she is a stronger woman than I.
Friday seemed fine-ish. I had a mediation that ended about 3:30 and I hit the grocery and liquor store in anticipation of a long weekend without Jay and without back-up (but not without milk, diapers, bread, cheesy poofs and wine!) I headed home to enjoy the beautiful weather. The boys were off on some adventure with Jesana and Nicole and I sat on the deck, listening to NPR, talking about who-knows-what and enjoying a glass of wine. I was ready to ease on in to the weekend.
After a smooth, I don't know what, forty-five minutes, the wheels came off. (Sort of.) Jesana came rolling in, Allan's peg had come out. Perfect. The new company will only give us one at a time and, although we had one on order, I didn't have a replacement. So I call Dr. Joe to have him meet us at the hospital. God love him, he was on his way back from some meeting in East Jesus and despite the fact that he has a family and other shit to do, said he would meet us at the hospital in a half-hour. Poor Nicole got drafted to manage Griff while I headed off in the most foul of moods.
Perfect. Just perfect. I can see the medical records now: Mother appears agitated and smelling of ETOH. After an hour and a half of waiting on the delivery of the new peg, Dr. Joe had Allan all fixed and on his way. Baths, bottles, books, bed and we were done. A-freaking-men.
On Saturday, we got up and started to get things ready for the day and for the arrival of Sister Kate. The weather was perfect and, after visiting for a while, the boys and I took a run while she caught up on the Olympics. A little lunch and naps all around followed.
As you can see from the photos, the boys were quite taken with "MamaKaki" as Griffith dubbed her. This affection extended only so long as I was present, however. Should I disappear back in to the house to get a bottle or use the bathroom or whatever, Griff would immediately melt down and run screaming in whatever direction he had last seen me. Of course, considering that Kathy let Allan do a header off of the deck (even though she was sitting right beside him) and let Allan eat leaves until he gagged (ditto), it is no wonder that Griff was disturbed at her being left in charge. What I find so amusing about it is that he does not have a similar reaction when no one is left in charge. When it is just the three of us and I go back in the house or he loses sight of me -- nothing. No yelling. Nada. He would rather be left alone than in the charge of someone who so clearly does not love the babies.
Every year local DQ' s donate the proceeds from the sales of Blizzards that day to the local children's hospital. Last year, our hospital received over thirty thousand dollars (can you imagine that many Blizzards in one day????) Anyway, some of the stores like to have kids make an appearance and sometimes "local media" come by (if it is a slow day) to do a story about this or that Miracle Baby. Apparently the coordinator at the local hospital had not seen what a disaster our two were in January for the March of Dimes and asked if we would do an appearance. Sure. Why not? We have no dignity to lose.
At any rate, we had a good group rally for dinner of ice cream.
My children, while not on TV, still managed to embarass me. The local managers were so nice and offered us anything that we wanted. Griff caught sight of bananas and kept yelling for those so they made a Banana Cream Blizzard which he refused to eat. If we had dipped the banana in arsenic he could not have been more dismissive of it.
Allan was fascinated with the crease between the back of the seat and the booth (which, to their credit, was remarkably clean) and kept sticking his 1) hands 2) feet and 3) nose in to it. Unless he was squalling to have someone hold his hands and help him walk around the store and check out the freezer case. That's what I get for letting him climb in my refrigerator.
Griff devoured some popcorn shrimp and french fries (would you like something fried with that, sir?) and we headed home.
Michele stopped by to help with baths and Allan suckered her in to walking around the backyard. It was clear that she thought that I was a bad mother because I elected to sit on the deck and say, oh, no, I'm not getting involved in THAT. Michele has a huge "s' for sucker on her forehead that Allan can see clearly. If Michele's back wasn't aching from the (largely unnecessary) effort of waltzing Big Al from Point A to Point B, then she is a stronger woman than I.
Friday seemed fine-ish. I had a mediation that ended about 3:30 and I hit the grocery and liquor store in anticipation of a long weekend without Jay and without back-up (but not without milk, diapers, bread, cheesy poofs and wine!) I headed home to enjoy the beautiful weather. The boys were off on some adventure with Jesana and Nicole and I sat on the deck, listening to NPR, talking about who-knows-what and enjoying a glass of wine. I was ready to ease on in to the weekend.
After a smooth, I don't know what, forty-five minutes, the wheels came off. (Sort of.) Jesana came rolling in, Allan's peg had come out. Perfect. The new company will only give us one at a time and, although we had one on order, I didn't have a replacement. So I call Dr. Joe to have him meet us at the hospital. God love him, he was on his way back from some meeting in East Jesus and despite the fact that he has a family and other shit to do, said he would meet us at the hospital in a half-hour. Poor Nicole got drafted to manage Griff while I headed off in the most foul of moods.
Perfect. Just perfect. I can see the medical records now: Mother appears agitated and smelling of ETOH. After an hour and a half of waiting on the delivery of the new peg, Dr. Joe had Allan all fixed and on his way. Baths, bottles, books, bed and we were done. A-freaking-men.
On Saturday, we got up and started to get things ready for the day and for the arrival of Sister Kate. The weather was perfect and, after visiting for a while, the boys and I took a run while she caught up on the Olympics. A little lunch and naps all around followed.
As you can see from the photos, the boys were quite taken with "MamaKaki" as Griffith dubbed her. This affection extended only so long as I was present, however. Should I disappear back in to the house to get a bottle or use the bathroom or whatever, Griff would immediately melt down and run screaming in whatever direction he had last seen me. Of course, considering that Kathy let Allan do a header off of the deck (even though she was sitting right beside him) and let Allan eat leaves until he gagged (ditto), it is no wonder that Griff was disturbed at her being left in charge. What I find so amusing about it is that he does not have a similar reaction when no one is left in charge. When it is just the three of us and I go back in the house or he loses sight of me -- nothing. No yelling. Nada. He would rather be left alone than in the charge of someone who so clearly does not love the babies.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Tip-toes
Getting that little extra stretch so that he can reach the buttons. I'm pretty sure he's got his tongue stuck out, too.
Kicking back
Allan thought Kathy looked so comfortable that he would join her in a quick snuggle on the sofa. Of course, the only place he wanted to be was on top of her head.
Daddy's home!!!
Jay returned from his long, long, long weekend trip last night about six. He was greeted with much rejoicing.
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