Griffith and his new Elmo "monster" truck.Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Daaaaaa ......
A "word" that we hear a hundred times a day. I would like to say it is "dat?" -- for "what's that?" but it is too guttural to be credited that way. It is Griffith's way of asking you to tell him what a particular item is. It is accompanied by his pointing his little poky Index Finger of Power (a gesture that he shares with Cousin Bailey and Aunt Kathy). It is very much like having a foreign tourist in your house ----
Daaaaaaaaaa????? Lamp. Daaa???? Lamp. Daaaaaaaaaaaa ???? Another lamp. Daaaaaaaaa???? Tree. Daaaaaaa ???? Ball.
All day long.
Daaaaaaaaaa????? Lamp. Daaa???? Lamp. Daaaaaaaaaaaa ???? Another lamp. Daaaaaaaaa???? Tree. Daaaaaaa ???? Ball.
All day long.
Little monkey
We have the tree up on a table and the ornaments up above Griffith's reach. He really hasn't bothered it all that much. So last night I brought in groceries and set about making dinner. I tossed the diaper box and the wrapping paper in to the dining room to get them out of my way. Griff was examining them, but what harm could he do? I turn around to see our pride and joy trying to stand on the paper to reach up in to the tree. It wasn't quite enough of a boost, though, so he re-thought it and tried to stand on the diaper box. Better idea, in theory, but it slipped away from him. Undaunted, Griffith then realized that if he took the wrapping paper and swatted at the tree he could reach the ornaments. Well done. It was very much like watching a National Geographic special about monkeys learning to use tools.
Headed off to work
Griffith heading off to wreak havoc with the wrapping paper.
Index Finger of Power at the ready.
Primitive man learns to use tools
Griffith figured out how to use the wrapping paper to knock off the tree ornaments. Very clever little monkey.
Christmas card photo shoot
Most of the Christmas cards have been posted so I am releasing the outtakes and rejects. The boys did great. We gave them an early bath, slicked them up and started snapping pictures. We quickly discovered that fake-sneezing was the key to kicking off fits of giggles. The boys just couldn't get enough of it -- right up until Allan was tired of it and Griffith was ready to get down and get moving again.
A definite maybe
You can see Griff's black fingernail from where he smashed it opening and closing the dresser drawers.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sorry for the abbreviated posts.
Crazy Kim came home from California (the place you otta be!) and came over for a visit. Dad wants to do some on-line shopping (better late than never) and Mom needs to stuff Xmas cards in to envelopes.
The boys are wonderful. Kim couldn't believe the change in 7 months. She swears that Allan is full-grown and that Griff is an Abercrombie and Fitch model.
Tomorrow we have a new, substitute nanny (Abby) starting. Miss Flora is having knee replacement surgery and will be out for a while. We are a little apprehensive, but we are sure that all will be well. After all, who wouldn't love the boys ???
Time to switch out on the computer.
Enjoy the photos. More to come.
Crazy Kim came home from California (the place you otta be!) and came over for a visit. Dad wants to do some on-line shopping (better late than never) and Mom needs to stuff Xmas cards in to envelopes.
The boys are wonderful. Kim couldn't believe the change in 7 months. She swears that Allan is full-grown and that Griff is an Abercrombie and Fitch model.
Tomorrow we have a new, substitute nanny (Abby) starting. Miss Flora is having knee replacement surgery and will be out for a while. We are a little apprehensive, but we are sure that all will be well. After all, who wouldn't love the boys ???
Time to switch out on the computer.
Enjoy the photos. More to come.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
No new pictures. We have taken dozens, but were trying to get a good one for the Christmas photo. The final product has been cropped, red-eye-removed, uploaded, downloaded and, God-willing, printed at the local Walgreens. Available for pick-up at 12:28 a.m. should I be so inclined. I am not. Still and all we are not going to post any photos from the weekend shoots until after the cards have been posted and sent. We are far closer to ready than I thought we were going to be. I kept joking that we were going to have to send MLK cards if we didn't make some progress.
We took Allan back to the ophthalmologist on Friday afternoon. His iris seems to be getting a little larger and a little misshapen. The clinic is absolutely the most disorganized place I have ever seen. We have had the 8, the 10, the 1 and the (last) 3:30 appt on different occasions. No matter. The wait is always interminable. Our appointment was at 3:30. At 4:50, after having checked a couple of times to make sure that we hadn't been forgotten, I was informed that the Dr. had 3 people to see before Allan. Ummmm. No. That really, really isn't going to work. We have to get home to relieve Flora. Plus, you see, we had a THREE THIRTY appointment. And, while I understand that there are other people here, I DO NOT CARE. In fact, I am very nearly explosive with not caring. The part that KILLS me is that the Dr always comments on how Allan is always asleep when she sees him. Yes. That would be because he is utterly exhausted and bored. Better that he sleep than climb the walls and squawl which is what his brother would be doing. And his mother. We got bumped up on the "will see" list and were out by about 5:10. No worries about the eye is essentially what we got. Looks good. No scar tissue. All is well. Thanks. That's all I needed.
Rather than fight the good fight, we ordered delivery Italian. Actually Nicole ordered it for us. She and Matt came over and we had a fun, busy night. Griff thought Matt was hysterical because Matt would let Griff put nearly any toy in his mouth. Enormous fun. Of course, Griff decided that he wouldn't go to sleep. After baths, I was rocking him to sleep, but all I managed was to get him in to a stupor. Any time I put him down, he woke up and howled. This went on for AN HOUR. It never takes an hour for him to go to bed. I swear he knew he was missing something and couldn't bear it. Brat. Finally got him down and had dessert (pear tartlet!) and grown up chat until a reasonable hour. Almost like being grown-ups.
Saturday the weather was foul. Cold and rainy and gloomy. Our stated goal for the day was to get the boys' picture taken for the Christmas card and that did not happen at all. After every one getting up and having breakfast, Dad headed out for some shopping. Four hours later he returned, a beaten man. I have no idea why he thought shopping on a Saturday 2 weeks before Christmas would be any thing other than a misery, but I suppose he is the eternal optimist. Once he got settled in to watch the game, I headed upstairs for a nap. Glad I missed the game is all I can say. Just wait until baseball season ????
By the time the game was over, Dad was ready for a nap and so we switched out. Griff was completely off his schedule and fell asleep late, late, late.
Miss Miranda came (Griff was delighted to see her) and Mom and Dad headed out for Markus and Hannah's for a grown up dinner. Poor Miranda. Allan went to bed like a little doll but Griff, energized by his late nap, didn't go down until nearly 11. She really earned her money. At about 4, Allan howled. He was sleeping in a pool of formula because his tube had gotten disconnected. While Dad was dealing with that, Griff woke up so I relocated to the couch with him. The next thing I know it is 9:30 (no typo). The weather was still foul so that it wasn't all that light and there wasn't that much traffic. Fabulous.
Dad made brunch and we had a lazy day all the way around. Griff was still in his p.j.'s at 5 tonight. The late start got every one off schedule so we couldn't get pictures taken -- someone was always asleep, irritated or filthy. Finally, about 5:30, the boys were fed and fairly content. We gave them an early bath and got out the camera and got some good shots. And it only took 48 hours and two adults to accomplish it. Perfect.
At any rate, both boys are now down. The house is tidy, if not "clean." With any luck, the Christmas cards will be ready tomorrow morning when I go to work and we can get them mailed within the next couple of days. Vegetable soup and bourbon brownies are made and the house smells delightful.
Life is pretty good.
Sweet dreams.
We took Allan back to the ophthalmologist on Friday afternoon. His iris seems to be getting a little larger and a little misshapen. The clinic is absolutely the most disorganized place I have ever seen. We have had the 8, the 10, the 1 and the (last) 3:30 appt on different occasions. No matter. The wait is always interminable. Our appointment was at 3:30. At 4:50, after having checked a couple of times to make sure that we hadn't been forgotten, I was informed that the Dr. had 3 people to see before Allan. Ummmm. No. That really, really isn't going to work. We have to get home to relieve Flora. Plus, you see, we had a THREE THIRTY appointment. And, while I understand that there are other people here, I DO NOT CARE. In fact, I am very nearly explosive with not caring. The part that KILLS me is that the Dr always comments on how Allan is always asleep when she sees him. Yes. That would be because he is utterly exhausted and bored. Better that he sleep than climb the walls and squawl which is what his brother would be doing. And his mother. We got bumped up on the "will see" list and were out by about 5:10. No worries about the eye is essentially what we got. Looks good. No scar tissue. All is well. Thanks. That's all I needed.
Rather than fight the good fight, we ordered delivery Italian. Actually Nicole ordered it for us. She and Matt came over and we had a fun, busy night. Griff thought Matt was hysterical because Matt would let Griff put nearly any toy in his mouth. Enormous fun. Of course, Griff decided that he wouldn't go to sleep. After baths, I was rocking him to sleep, but all I managed was to get him in to a stupor. Any time I put him down, he woke up and howled. This went on for AN HOUR. It never takes an hour for him to go to bed. I swear he knew he was missing something and couldn't bear it. Brat. Finally got him down and had dessert (pear tartlet!) and grown up chat until a reasonable hour. Almost like being grown-ups.
Saturday the weather was foul. Cold and rainy and gloomy. Our stated goal for the day was to get the boys' picture taken for the Christmas card and that did not happen at all. After every one getting up and having breakfast, Dad headed out for some shopping. Four hours later he returned, a beaten man. I have no idea why he thought shopping on a Saturday 2 weeks before Christmas would be any thing other than a misery, but I suppose he is the eternal optimist. Once he got settled in to watch the game, I headed upstairs for a nap. Glad I missed the game is all I can say. Just wait until baseball season ????
By the time the game was over, Dad was ready for a nap and so we switched out. Griff was completely off his schedule and fell asleep late, late, late.
Miss Miranda came (Griff was delighted to see her) and Mom and Dad headed out for Markus and Hannah's for a grown up dinner. Poor Miranda. Allan went to bed like a little doll but Griff, energized by his late nap, didn't go down until nearly 11. She really earned her money. At about 4, Allan howled. He was sleeping in a pool of formula because his tube had gotten disconnected. While Dad was dealing with that, Griff woke up so I relocated to the couch with him. The next thing I know it is 9:30 (no typo). The weather was still foul so that it wasn't all that light and there wasn't that much traffic. Fabulous.
Dad made brunch and we had a lazy day all the way around. Griff was still in his p.j.'s at 5 tonight. The late start got every one off schedule so we couldn't get pictures taken -- someone was always asleep, irritated or filthy. Finally, about 5:30, the boys were fed and fairly content. We gave them an early bath and got out the camera and got some good shots. And it only took 48 hours and two adults to accomplish it. Perfect.
At any rate, both boys are now down. The house is tidy, if not "clean." With any luck, the Christmas cards will be ready tomorrow morning when I go to work and we can get them mailed within the next couple of days. Vegetable soup and bourbon brownies are made and the house smells delightful.
Life is pretty good.
Sweet dreams.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Giggling Allan in the tub
We have had this little motorized bath toy for MONTHS but last night it was the funniest thing Allan had ever seen.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
There was troubling posting this weekend so I am late, late, late. Mea culpa.
We had a good weekend all around. Miss Miranda was supposed to come on Friday so that Mom and Dad could go to Momma's office party, but Miranda got the crud so Mom was solo.
Saturday Dad was The Single Parent while Mom went home for great aunt Evelyn's estate sale. (Funny side line: I bought a ring and then realized that the checkbook was at home. The limit on the debit card was too low for me to actually pay for what I bought. Uh-oh. Good thing that Uncle Tim is a banker and able to float me a loan. The interest rate for two days was exorbitant though!)
When I got home, Dad headed out for Uncle Monty's to play chess and watch the "big" game (which was an absolute, total, unmitigated disaster). Mom quit watching after the first half and listened to NPR news instead. bleh.bleh.bleh. It is going to be a long winter if the quality of play does not improve.
On the "up" side, though, the boys were most excellent. Griffith is learning to share (don't laugh -- he really, really is.) He has been wonderful.
"Griffith -- don't take that from Allan. Share, please."
(hands the bowl back)
"GOOD BOY, GRIFFITH !!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD SHARING !!!!!!!!! GOOD LISTENING!!!!!"
Which generally resulted in him giving Allan whatever. On occasion it resulted in him (inadvertently -- we think) clunking Allan on the head with the truck or pig or whatever. But, usually, so long as you praised him to high heaven Griffith was happy enough to share. (Jay noted that Griffith is a lot like him: willing to do about anything so long as you give him "atta boys" long and loud.)
On Sunday not much was accomplished. The weather was foul, foul, foul. Rainy and gloomy and cold. Dad went in to work for awhile and then, when he came home (to a house with two sleeping babies!) I headed out to the grocery. What an absolute misery. Shopping pre-Xmas is impossible. Only by dint of sheer will did I stay in the store and get everything (nearly) that was on the list. And,where in the hell do they put raisins anyway? Not on the "snack" aisle with the nuts. Not on the baking aisle. I have no clue whatsoever and the boys may never have another raisin again. They look like nasty boogers anyway. So what. Big deal. Who cares?
Got home to find Allan asleep (again) and Dad and Griff "watching" football. At 2:30. Griff hadn't had lunch. At 2:30. He had slept through lunchtime and then really wasn't throwing a fit (probably too weak from not having lunch -- at 2:30). He was an absolute pain in the a-double-s for the rest of the afternoon.
Jay decided to make roast beef and Yorkshire puddings for dinner along with roast potatoes. All of which was delicious (except for the puddings which are, essentially, biscuits of undistinguished origin) but resulted in the absolute destruction of the entire kitchen. Instead of cleaning up after himself, Dad decided that it was time to add more lights to the holiday display. Whoever said the British were restrained about those sorts of things never met my husband. People are going to be stopping by thinking this is a casino if he doesn't stop stringing up lights. Carbon footprint be damned. The next thing you know we will have an inflatable Santa on the front lawn!
The boys enjoyed watching Dad put up more and more and more and more lights, though, so we had that going for us.
We had the best time with Allan and Griffith. Allan kept pulling up to standing and got to shaking his head 'no-no' which Griff thought was Hy.Ster.Ical. So Griff would laugh and Allan would shake his head and laugh. Then, if Allan didn't shake his head soon enough, Griff would shake HIS head 'no-no' and laugh and then Allan would do the same. It was so much fun to see them paying attention to each other and laughing at their own little jokes.
The best moment of the weekend, though, we didn't catch on film. I was in the kitchen and Dad was hanging a wreath on the garage (don't ask!) and I could hear the fellas playing in the living room. As Jay came through the back door I turned around to see that Allan had Griffith by the back of his sweatshirt, trying to fling him to the floor and giggling the whole time. We tried to get the camera in time, but didn't make it. (Instead of, you know, intervening or anything.) Of course, when Griffith knocked Allan to the floor 2 minutes later, he had to go to time out (the valuable lesson here is one that Cousin Thomas learned early on in pre-school - "they always catch the one who hits second.") We have started having to say "No, Allan!" and "Gentle, Allan!" Frankly he is going to be quite a little monster. When he got tired of shaking his head and laughing at his brother, he kept bending over and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Until he almost bit me. Monsters. Two of them.
We had a good weekend all around. Miss Miranda was supposed to come on Friday so that Mom and Dad could go to Momma's office party, but Miranda got the crud so Mom was solo.
Saturday Dad was The Single Parent while Mom went home for great aunt Evelyn's estate sale. (Funny side line: I bought a ring and then realized that the checkbook was at home. The limit on the debit card was too low for me to actually pay for what I bought. Uh-oh. Good thing that Uncle Tim is a banker and able to float me a loan. The interest rate for two days was exorbitant though!)
When I got home, Dad headed out for Uncle Monty's to play chess and watch the "big" game (which was an absolute, total, unmitigated disaster). Mom quit watching after the first half and listened to NPR news instead. bleh.bleh.bleh. It is going to be a long winter if the quality of play does not improve.
On the "up" side, though, the boys were most excellent. Griffith is learning to share (don't laugh -- he really, really is.) He has been wonderful.
"Griffith -- don't take that from Allan. Share, please."
(hands the bowl back)
"GOOD BOY, GRIFFITH !!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD SHARING !!!!!!!!! GOOD LISTENING!!!!!"
Which generally resulted in him giving Allan whatever. On occasion it resulted in him (inadvertently -- we think) clunking Allan on the head with the truck or pig or whatever. But, usually, so long as you praised him to high heaven Griffith was happy enough to share. (Jay noted that Griffith is a lot like him: willing to do about anything so long as you give him "atta boys" long and loud.)
On Sunday not much was accomplished. The weather was foul, foul, foul. Rainy and gloomy and cold. Dad went in to work for awhile and then, when he came home (to a house with two sleeping babies!) I headed out to the grocery. What an absolute misery. Shopping pre-Xmas is impossible. Only by dint of sheer will did I stay in the store and get everything (nearly) that was on the list. And,where in the hell do they put raisins anyway? Not on the "snack" aisle with the nuts. Not on the baking aisle. I have no clue whatsoever and the boys may never have another raisin again. They look like nasty boogers anyway. So what. Big deal. Who cares?
Got home to find Allan asleep (again) and Dad and Griff "watching" football. At 2:30. Griff hadn't had lunch. At 2:30. He had slept through lunchtime and then really wasn't throwing a fit (probably too weak from not having lunch -- at 2:30). He was an absolute pain in the a-double-s for the rest of the afternoon.
Jay decided to make roast beef and Yorkshire puddings for dinner along with roast potatoes. All of which was delicious (except for the puddings which are, essentially, biscuits of undistinguished origin) but resulted in the absolute destruction of the entire kitchen. Instead of cleaning up after himself, Dad decided that it was time to add more lights to the holiday display. Whoever said the British were restrained about those sorts of things never met my husband. People are going to be stopping by thinking this is a casino if he doesn't stop stringing up lights. Carbon footprint be damned. The next thing you know we will have an inflatable Santa on the front lawn!
The boys enjoyed watching Dad put up more and more and more and more lights, though, so we had that going for us.
We had the best time with Allan and Griffith. Allan kept pulling up to standing and got to shaking his head 'no-no' which Griff thought was Hy.Ster.Ical. So Griff would laugh and Allan would shake his head and laugh. Then, if Allan didn't shake his head soon enough, Griff would shake HIS head 'no-no' and laugh and then Allan would do the same. It was so much fun to see them paying attention to each other and laughing at their own little jokes.
The best moment of the weekend, though, we didn't catch on film. I was in the kitchen and Dad was hanging a wreath on the garage (don't ask!) and I could hear the fellas playing in the living room. As Jay came through the back door I turned around to see that Allan had Griffith by the back of his sweatshirt, trying to fling him to the floor and giggling the whole time. We tried to get the camera in time, but didn't make it. (Instead of, you know, intervening or anything.) Of course, when Griffith knocked Allan to the floor 2 minutes later, he had to go to time out (the valuable lesson here is one that Cousin Thomas learned early on in pre-school - "they always catch the one who hits second.") We have started having to say "No, Allan!" and "Gentle, Allan!" Frankly he is going to be quite a little monster. When he got tired of shaking his head and laughing at his brother, he kept bending over and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. Until he almost bit me. Monsters. Two of them.
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