I'm just so sweet and innocent.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Mr. Nonchalance
Check out Allan who oh-so-subtly is kicking is brother out of Dad's lap. He never took his thumb out of his mouth while doing it, either.
Tigers by the tail
I don't know what was happening at this point. Michele has her hands full, though.
Ooooh, noooooo.......
yelled Griff.Great, I thought, what now?
French toast stick ("accidentally") stuck to his finger, that's what.
One big happy family
Last week Jay decided it was time for Griff to learn to go to bed by himself. Baby steps, though. He put our mattress on the nursery floor so that Griff could see him and know he was still there.
Putting Uncle Tim to good use
Uncle Tim stopped by for dinner last week and Griffith put him to work immediately.
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Oh, no !!!!!!
Griff has the plummiest accent when he says, "oh, no!" Jay is delighted. This is the only thing that Griff says that could be said to be like him. Honestly, I think he sounds a lot like a Kennedy, but, whatever.
We read Going on a Bear Hunt and part of the refrain is Oh, NO! and Griff is always ready and willing to chime in with it. It is also very helpful when we "accidentally" throw our bears out of the bed. (OH, No! Fall down!) Jay is encouraging the bear thing because it is now part of the nightly routine. It was a little more of a problem today, though, when I was trying to fit myself, Griff and 3 bears in to the rocking chair for nap time. I thought I could use a bear as an arm rest, but quickly found out that THAT AIN'T GONNA WORK, MOMMA. O.Kay. Still Griff was glad enough to head for bed (night, night). Allan acted like he didn't want to, but he gave in soon enough which left me time enough for a shower and a little nap before company came .
The boys have an older girlfriend (Miss A) who is quite the siren for Griff (Al likes to play it closer to the vest). We had a big time playing outside, despite the heat. With any luck, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
It is now plenty late. The house is as close as to what passes for tidy around here. The laundry and dishes are going. The a/c is doing what it can to keep up with the humidity. I am ready to take shower so I don't have to worry with it in the a.m.
I read an article recently by a woman who blogs about her child and it has made me think about what the boys might some day think about all of this. I hope that when they read these entries they hear my voice and understand that I do not mean to embarass them. Jay and I are the proudest parents. Allan and Griffith are each perfect in his own individual way. They are a constant source of joy, pure and unadulterated. Even when they are being miserable, obnoxious little brats. Maybe it is being older when we had them. Maybe it is the fact that they were so small and that their survival was so precarious for so long. It justs makes it a little easiter when you don't sleep all night. Or a little funnier when Griff has a meltdown and stomps his feet like the world's angriest little leprechaun. Or Allan refuses to sleep for two hours even though his eyes are drooping the whole time. We are the luckiest people in the whole world.
To bad Stupid George forgot to buy us a lottery ticket. Bet it was the winning one.
We read Going on a Bear Hunt and part of the refrain is Oh, NO! and Griff is always ready and willing to chime in with it. It is also very helpful when we "accidentally" throw our bears out of the bed. (OH, No! Fall down!) Jay is encouraging the bear thing because it is now part of the nightly routine. It was a little more of a problem today, though, when I was trying to fit myself, Griff and 3 bears in to the rocking chair for nap time. I thought I could use a bear as an arm rest, but quickly found out that THAT AIN'T GONNA WORK, MOMMA. O.Kay. Still Griff was glad enough to head for bed (night, night). Allan acted like he didn't want to, but he gave in soon enough which left me time enough for a shower and a little nap before company came .
The boys have an older girlfriend (Miss A) who is quite the siren for Griff (Al likes to play it closer to the vest). We had a big time playing outside, despite the heat. With any luck, I'll post pictures tomorrow.
It is now plenty late. The house is as close as to what passes for tidy around here. The laundry and dishes are going. The a/c is doing what it can to keep up with the humidity. I am ready to take shower so I don't have to worry with it in the a.m.
I read an article recently by a woman who blogs about her child and it has made me think about what the boys might some day think about all of this. I hope that when they read these entries they hear my voice and understand that I do not mean to embarass them. Jay and I are the proudest parents. Allan and Griffith are each perfect in his own individual way. They are a constant source of joy, pure and unadulterated. Even when they are being miserable, obnoxious little brats. Maybe it is being older when we had them. Maybe it is the fact that they were so small and that their survival was so precarious for so long. It justs makes it a little easiter when you don't sleep all night. Or a little funnier when Griff has a meltdown and stomps his feet like the world's angriest little leprechaun. Or Allan refuses to sleep for two hours even though his eyes are drooping the whole time. We are the luckiest people in the whole world.
To bad Stupid George forgot to buy us a lottery ticket. Bet it was the winning one.
Llama llama red pajama...
This may now be Momma's favorite book. Dolly Parton sponsors a program through the United Way called (I think) Success by Six. If you are born in one of (again, I think, 3 states) three states and sign up, they will send you a new book once a month. This month's selection is about baby llama who is learning to go to bed by himself. It is so cute and funny (stop all of this llama drama and be patient with your mama!) I am sure Jay is already tired of it.
The weather has turned from lovely to miserable all in the course of a couple of days. It has been in the 90's and humid as all get out for the past three days. I.Hate.It. I grew up in a house with no a/c. I remember not being able to sleep in the bedrooms upstairs because it was so miserably hot. We would make pallets in the dining room downstairs and sleep in front of the fans. We closed the shutters to the heat of the day. Sat under the maple tree and played in the dirt in the shade. ugh. ugh. ugh.
Jay has had a lot of work to do and has slipped off with (almost) all the fans. A situation we will address at Home Depot or Lowe's tomorrow. I have the shades drawn, the a/c cranking, and all the leftover fans blowing. The dishwasher, washer and dryer run only at night. Part of it is my great distaste for being hot and humid. Part of it is legitimate concern for Big Al. Just like any one with COPD or other breathing difficulty, Big Al does not fare well when the temps go up and the humidity rises. We don't realize it, but our bodies adjust and our hearts beat faster and we breathe a little more quickly to compensate. Big Al is doing great, but he doesn't need the added stress so we have to make sure that he isn't over-doing it in the heat of the day.
Yesterday we got up and Daddy was all full of vinegar we ran down to the farmer's market and back. Then we took showers, ate lunch and sent Dad off to finish some work he had promised. I was certain that this was going to be a great day. Griff was ready to sleep at 12:30 and drifted off without much struggle. Big Al, I was confident, was not far behind. Shows what I know. On and off for the next 3 hours, I tried to get the brat to fall asleep. Wouldn't do it. Finally, he feel asleep at 3:02 -- FIVE minutes ahead of Griff waking up. Perfect. Two well-rested toddlers and one bitter mother. Perfect.
We had a great time last night, though. Michele and Alan came over and helped to entertain and feed us. Griff managed to eat a pint (I kid you not) of strawberries before they arrived. When he finds something he likes, he goes full force. Jay did a great job of getting Griff to bed. The mattress is still on the nursery floor, but the boys both slept all night. Apparently we will work on moving the mattress back in to the bedroom later this week. Hope it works out since Sister Kate is coming on Saturday.
Dad headed off to work this morning and the boys and I took a long walk before it got too miserable. We visited the local fire station, saw lots of dogs, a couple of cats and one bunny. As we were walking through Bell Court, Griff kept yelling "meow, meow" -- at some woman's silly, hairy, fluffy dog. It was hard for me to fault him. It looked a lot like a cat to me, too.
Big Al LOVES the fan. We had a box fan out on the deck last night and he couldn't get enough of it. I didn't get a picture of it, but he was all Fabio - sitting with his face in front of it with his hair flowing back with an enormous grin on his face. Then he kept knocking the fan over, which annoyed his father to no end. So Jay put something behind it so that Allan couldn't knock it over. It took him all of, oh, I don't know, NO TIME AT ALL to knock it over the other direction. It really stinks to be outwitted by at two year old.
Griff knows that Allan is not supposed to fool with the fan. Griff is very concerned that his brother is going to do something harmful, takes his meaty little fist and body-slams Allan to the ground. He doesn't do it hard and you can tell that it is taking a toll on him, but he is certain that Allan is heading for disaster and he feels responsible for "protecting" his brother. His heart is pure. This same protective instinct was clear this afternoon. I was running the vaccuum and Allan could not resist it. Griff, pretty certain that this is a dangerous thing, kept stepping between Allan and me trying to make sure that Allan wasn't in danger. Griff is no big fan of the vac himself so his willingness to protect his brother is just that much sweeter.
The weather has turned from lovely to miserable all in the course of a couple of days. It has been in the 90's and humid as all get out for the past three days. I.Hate.It. I grew up in a house with no a/c. I remember not being able to sleep in the bedrooms upstairs because it was so miserably hot. We would make pallets in the dining room downstairs and sleep in front of the fans. We closed the shutters to the heat of the day. Sat under the maple tree and played in the dirt in the shade. ugh. ugh. ugh.
Jay has had a lot of work to do and has slipped off with (almost) all the fans. A situation we will address at Home Depot or Lowe's tomorrow. I have the shades drawn, the a/c cranking, and all the leftover fans blowing. The dishwasher, washer and dryer run only at night. Part of it is my great distaste for being hot and humid. Part of it is legitimate concern for Big Al. Just like any one with COPD or other breathing difficulty, Big Al does not fare well when the temps go up and the humidity rises. We don't realize it, but our bodies adjust and our hearts beat faster and we breathe a little more quickly to compensate. Big Al is doing great, but he doesn't need the added stress so we have to make sure that he isn't over-doing it in the heat of the day.
Yesterday we got up and Daddy was all full of vinegar we ran down to the farmer's market and back. Then we took showers, ate lunch and sent Dad off to finish some work he had promised. I was certain that this was going to be a great day. Griff was ready to sleep at 12:30 and drifted off without much struggle. Big Al, I was confident, was not far behind. Shows what I know. On and off for the next 3 hours, I tried to get the brat to fall asleep. Wouldn't do it. Finally, he feel asleep at 3:02 -- FIVE minutes ahead of Griff waking up. Perfect. Two well-rested toddlers and one bitter mother. Perfect.
We had a great time last night, though. Michele and Alan came over and helped to entertain and feed us. Griff managed to eat a pint (I kid you not) of strawberries before they arrived. When he finds something he likes, he goes full force. Jay did a great job of getting Griff to bed. The mattress is still on the nursery floor, but the boys both slept all night. Apparently we will work on moving the mattress back in to the bedroom later this week. Hope it works out since Sister Kate is coming on Saturday.
Dad headed off to work this morning and the boys and I took a long walk before it got too miserable. We visited the local fire station, saw lots of dogs, a couple of cats and one bunny. As we were walking through Bell Court, Griff kept yelling "meow, meow" -- at some woman's silly, hairy, fluffy dog. It was hard for me to fault him. It looked a lot like a cat to me, too.
Big Al LOVES the fan. We had a box fan out on the deck last night and he couldn't get enough of it. I didn't get a picture of it, but he was all Fabio - sitting with his face in front of it with his hair flowing back with an enormous grin on his face. Then he kept knocking the fan over, which annoyed his father to no end. So Jay put something behind it so that Allan couldn't knock it over. It took him all of, oh, I don't know, NO TIME AT ALL to knock it over the other direction. It really stinks to be outwitted by at two year old.
Griff knows that Allan is not supposed to fool with the fan. Griff is very concerned that his brother is going to do something harmful, takes his meaty little fist and body-slams Allan to the ground. He doesn't do it hard and you can tell that it is taking a toll on him, but he is certain that Allan is heading for disaster and he feels responsible for "protecting" his brother. His heart is pure. This same protective instinct was clear this afternoon. I was running the vaccuum and Allan could not resist it. Griff, pretty certain that this is a dangerous thing, kept stepping between Allan and me trying to make sure that Allan wasn't in danger. Griff is no big fan of the vac himself so his willingness to protect his brother is just that much sweeter.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Another big weekend...
Time just keeps on rolling on, doesn't it?
Friday Jesana had an appointment in the afternoon and so Mom and Dad agreed to split up the time off work. Dad had from one until three (usually guaranteed nap time, not that I am counting) and I was supposed to be home from three on. Two thirteen I hear my cell ring at work, but I am not fast enough to answer. Missed call. Jay. As I am calling him back, the office phone is ringing. Jay. When are you coming home? Ummmm. By three. Why? I quote, these children are driving me crazy. Allan wouldn't leave Jay and Griff alone. Griff was desperate to sleep, but couldn't. O.Kay. But Miss Edie (speech therapist) is coming at 3 because we knew one of us would be home and figured that nap time would be over. Wrong.
The boys did great for Edie. Griff had a meltdown or two about sharing the therapy ball, but they might very well have happened because he doesn't particularly relish sharing. By the time she left, though, both boys were hot and tired. Griff passed out at 4:30. We had something like this happen last weekend and Jay insisted on waking him up at 5:30 so that he would go to bed at his regular time. (In fairness, I went along willingly.) Griff then spent the next hour and half crying in misery. We all felt terrible. Finally, after about an hour of it, I told Jay, I am NEVER waking him up again. We will simply deal with the consequences of a late night but we are not intentionally making him miserable again. So yesterday we agreed to just let him ride. A little before six, he started stirring and I went to sit beside him on the couch and pat him. Allan crawled over, got up in my lap, stuck his thumb in his mouth, sighed, and passed out. Great. A nap at six. That's perfect. I called Jay and told him that he might as well stay out because there wasn't anything going on at home. I ate pimento cheese and Chinese cole slaw and did laundry and read the New Yorker.
Griff woke about six thirty, but Allan managed to make it until seven or so. He laid around and sucked his thumb, thought better of being up and slept the rest of the night through. Griff got up and was STARVING. Since we really didn't have dinner last night, I just made scrambled eggs and French Toast sticks (gotta love Eggos). He actually went down at a reasonable time and slept through the night.
Jay has been a real hero about the sleeping thing. He has decided that it is time for Griff to learn to comfort himself and go to sleep on his own. Fine. Jay is not wrong, but I told him that there are certain things that are not in me. I never could get Allan's NG tube down correctly. I could not spend the night at the hospital. And I can not listen to my baby cry and not do something about it. Can.Not.Do.It. I understand that he is fine. I understand that plenty of kids "cry it out" without incident. I simply can not do it. I literally hear one of them stir and before I am conscious of it, I am on my way up. God makes the cry of an infant such that it makes you want to respond. My stomach is in knots before I am even awake. I lack the ability to let either of the boys cry it out. Jay has pulled the mattress off of our bed and has slept in the nursery on the floor for the past two nights. We do bath and books and then Jay puts him down. He is in the room, pats Griff, puts him down, but doesn't hold, rock or keep him in bed. Every night the time between put down and sleep has gotten shorter and I am grateful. Not signing up for that duty, but grateful.
We g0t up this morning and all ran to the farmer's market despite the ridiculous heat (over seventy and humid by nine -- ugh). Got back and Allan and I were relieved to be in the A/C again. It is amazing how much better he feels without the heat and humidity -- it is visible. Griff had his lunch and passed out at 12:15. Momma was looking forward to a peaceful and cool afternoon, but Big Al had other plans. Mine you, he was tired. We snuggled and he went straight to sleep. Until I tried to lay him down. At which point he woke refused to hush. So we moved to another room so as not to wake Griff. (Griff, who slept until after three, God love him.) About every thirty minutes or so I would try to put Big Al to sleep. About every thirty minutes he would snuggle down, fake me out and rally. He finally went to sleep shortly before three. Right as his brother woke up. No kidding. I truly felt that they had arranged it. Brats.
Friday Jesana had an appointment in the afternoon and so Mom and Dad agreed to split up the time off work. Dad had from one until three (usually guaranteed nap time, not that I am counting) and I was supposed to be home from three on. Two thirteen I hear my cell ring at work, but I am not fast enough to answer. Missed call. Jay. As I am calling him back, the office phone is ringing. Jay. When are you coming home? Ummmm. By three. Why? I quote, these children are driving me crazy. Allan wouldn't leave Jay and Griff alone. Griff was desperate to sleep, but couldn't. O.Kay. But Miss Edie (speech therapist) is coming at 3 because we knew one of us would be home and figured that nap time would be over. Wrong.
The boys did great for Edie. Griff had a meltdown or two about sharing the therapy ball, but they might very well have happened because he doesn't particularly relish sharing. By the time she left, though, both boys were hot and tired. Griff passed out at 4:30. We had something like this happen last weekend and Jay insisted on waking him up at 5:30 so that he would go to bed at his regular time. (In fairness, I went along willingly.) Griff then spent the next hour and half crying in misery. We all felt terrible. Finally, after about an hour of it, I told Jay, I am NEVER waking him up again. We will simply deal with the consequences of a late night but we are not intentionally making him miserable again. So yesterday we agreed to just let him ride. A little before six, he started stirring and I went to sit beside him on the couch and pat him. Allan crawled over, got up in my lap, stuck his thumb in his mouth, sighed, and passed out. Great. A nap at six. That's perfect. I called Jay and told him that he might as well stay out because there wasn't anything going on at home. I ate pimento cheese and Chinese cole slaw and did laundry and read the New Yorker.
Griff woke about six thirty, but Allan managed to make it until seven or so. He laid around and sucked his thumb, thought better of being up and slept the rest of the night through. Griff got up and was STARVING. Since we really didn't have dinner last night, I just made scrambled eggs and French Toast sticks (gotta love Eggos). He actually went down at a reasonable time and slept through the night.
Jay has been a real hero about the sleeping thing. He has decided that it is time for Griff to learn to comfort himself and go to sleep on his own. Fine. Jay is not wrong, but I told him that there are certain things that are not in me. I never could get Allan's NG tube down correctly. I could not spend the night at the hospital. And I can not listen to my baby cry and not do something about it. Can.Not.Do.It. I understand that he is fine. I understand that plenty of kids "cry it out" without incident. I simply can not do it. I literally hear one of them stir and before I am conscious of it, I am on my way up. God makes the cry of an infant such that it makes you want to respond. My stomach is in knots before I am even awake. I lack the ability to let either of the boys cry it out. Jay has pulled the mattress off of our bed and has slept in the nursery on the floor for the past two nights. We do bath and books and then Jay puts him down. He is in the room, pats Griff, puts him down, but doesn't hold, rock or keep him in bed. Every night the time between put down and sleep has gotten shorter and I am grateful. Not signing up for that duty, but grateful.
We g0t up this morning and all ran to the farmer's market despite the ridiculous heat (over seventy and humid by nine -- ugh). Got back and Allan and I were relieved to be in the A/C again. It is amazing how much better he feels without the heat and humidity -- it is visible. Griff had his lunch and passed out at 12:15. Momma was looking forward to a peaceful and cool afternoon, but Big Al had other plans. Mine you, he was tired. We snuggled and he went straight to sleep. Until I tried to lay him down. At which point he woke refused to hush. So we moved to another room so as not to wake Griff. (Griff, who slept until after three, God love him.) About every thirty minutes or so I would try to put Big Al to sleep. About every thirty minutes he would snuggle down, fake me out and rally. He finally went to sleep shortly before three. Right as his brother woke up. No kidding. I truly felt that they had arranged it. Brats.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Pensive Allan
Photo courtesy of our friend Tiffany. He just looks so wistful. And you can just see that he has a faint dimple in his chin. Less pronounced that Griff's and Dad's but still there.
Cherry tomatoes
Griffith did not care for cherry tomatoes. Until last night. When he decided that they were pretty much all he wanted to eat. He ate an entire PINT by himself. I had to send Jennifer to the store to pick up more for our salad. He kept yelling, "Ma-mooooos!!!"
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Da-dee!!!
Griff has now started putting the second syllable on "daddy" and it is one of sweetest sounds ever. It is somewhere behind "Mom-mahhhhh!" in my opinion. He has also taken to saying "Hellloooo!" He sounds sort of like Scooby-Doo when he does it. I may have already reported that Griff has begun yelling, "Jay!" sometimes when he can't find his father and he doesn't respond to Da-Dee! It sounds just like me when he does it, too. Cracks me up. He came over to the gate at the kitchen the other night and kept saying something over and over. It took about 3 times before I realized that he was saying "poof" which is what he calls the puffy Chee-toos.
Big Al is getting closer and closer to walking on his own everyday. He routinely walks along the furniture, barely touching it, or holds on lightly to your finger. As soon as he realizes that he's doing it, though, he goes all Ghandi/passive resistance on you and flops to the ground. He is trying really hard to figure out how to stand up in the middle of the floor with nothing to hold on to. He manages to get himself in "downward dog" and then doesn't know where to go from there. He just sort of wallows around for a few minutes, sits back down, sighs and crawls on off.
And Jesana reports that yesterday he said, "uh-oh!" -- a very popular and useful phrase around the house.
Big Al is getting closer and closer to walking on his own everyday. He routinely walks along the furniture, barely touching it, or holds on lightly to your finger. As soon as he realizes that he's doing it, though, he goes all Ghandi/passive resistance on you and flops to the ground. He is trying really hard to figure out how to stand up in the middle of the floor with nothing to hold on to. He manages to get himself in "downward dog" and then doesn't know where to go from there. He just sort of wallows around for a few minutes, sits back down, sighs and crawls on off.
And Jesana reports that yesterday he said, "uh-oh!" -- a very popular and useful phrase around the house.
Big Al had (another) hearing test on Friday. He did fine. Don't come back for a year. Done.
On Saturday, Dad had to attend a funeral out of town so the boys and I loaded up the stroller and jogged done to the farmer's market. Every week it gets bigger and more crowded. This weekend, strawberries were the big thing -- they smelled SO GOOD. We got a quart of berries, fresh corn, tomatoes and basil. Then we hit the local bakery and got a baguette and fresh mozzarella. Yum, yum, yum. With those errands concluded, I had no choice but to jog back home -- much harder since it is all UPhill to home. And it was hot and muggy, too. Air-conditioning felt very welcome by the time we rolled on home.
The boys took pity on me and both took long (over 2 hour) naps, pretty much simultaneously. By the time Dad got back we were all refreshed and relaxed and ready for company -- Jim and Montell came over and we grilled out and sat on the back deck, enjoying the weather.
Sunday was a little harder. The boys fell asleep while on a run with Dad and Griff never recovered. He wouldn't eat lunch, wouldn't take a nap, wouldn't be thwarted and would not be consoled. He finally fell asleep at four, but we (Dad) wanted him up again by 5:30 so that he would sleep that night. Griff was NOT ready to be awakened and I will NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN. Griff cried and howled and kicked and screamed and whined and cried and howled and kicked and screamed. It was horrible. He was miserable. We were miserable. Ugh. Never again.
On Saturday, Dad had to attend a funeral out of town so the boys and I loaded up the stroller and jogged done to the farmer's market. Every week it gets bigger and more crowded. This weekend, strawberries were the big thing -- they smelled SO GOOD. We got a quart of berries, fresh corn, tomatoes and basil. Then we hit the local bakery and got a baguette and fresh mozzarella. Yum, yum, yum. With those errands concluded, I had no choice but to jog back home -- much harder since it is all UPhill to home. And it was hot and muggy, too. Air-conditioning felt very welcome by the time we rolled on home.
The boys took pity on me and both took long (over 2 hour) naps, pretty much simultaneously. By the time Dad got back we were all refreshed and relaxed and ready for company -- Jim and Montell came over and we grilled out and sat on the back deck, enjoying the weather.
Sunday was a little harder. The boys fell asleep while on a run with Dad and Griff never recovered. He wouldn't eat lunch, wouldn't take a nap, wouldn't be thwarted and would not be consoled. He finally fell asleep at four, but we (Dad) wanted him up again by 5:30 so that he would sleep that night. Griff was NOT ready to be awakened and I will NEVER EVER DO THAT AGAIN. Griff cried and howled and kicked and screamed and whined and cried and howled and kicked and screamed. It was horrible. He was miserable. We were miserable. Ugh. Never again.
Garden gnome Griff
So Griff went out to help Dad water the flowers. By the time I caught on to what was going on, it was too late -- Griff was soaked. "But he's having a GREAT time!"
Thanks, Jay.
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