Allan chilling in the swing, enjoying his thumb.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Phone home
Kelly had a toy cell phone that Griffith just LOVED. He kept walking around, holding it up to his ear, saying, "Hallo, DAdee!" in a very plummy, proper British accent.
I just can't go on!
I have no idea why Allan decided to collapse. He just couldn't take it any more.
Mr. Sly Cheesy Poof
You can see why everyone around us was laughing at Griffith and his cheesy poofs.
Whining with Mama
Some photos from Kelly. Griffith was whining about something so I was mocking him. Preserved for all time on film.
Sprinkler fun...
So I asked Jay to make sure that the back yard got watered -- the pots were looking wilted. After dinner, he headed out with his two helpers. I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the house to myself, but my spidey sense started tingling. It had been too quiet, too long. Sure enough, when I look out the back door, I see all three of them gooning around in the water. Not only were they running through the sprinkler, they were going down the slide -- which was soaking wet. Griffith is a cautious slider at the best of times -- he keeps his feet down and holds on to the sides to ensure a measured descent. That doesn't work so well with streams of water. Poor kid set a new landspeed record descending -- and a new record for long jump too. He ended up about 4 feet from the end of the slide. He was a big boy about it, though. He didn't cry at all. Just shook off the mulch as best he could (wet mulch is quite sticky), yelled "yucky!" and headed back for another round.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
There and back again....
Quick update on the weekend --
Kim and the boys and I pulled out Friday night at about 7 and headed for Chicago. Got there about 1 a.m. The boys did great -- entertained themselves for a couple of hours and then went to sleep. Woke up when we got to KK's and Allan (night owl that he is) was ready to roll. Griffith was disoriented and concerned that I was planning on leaving him forever. Not only did he need to have a visual on me, he needed to be in actual physical contact. Neither boy would get in the pack and play. And they wouldn't lay next to each other, either. They kept hitting, kicking, swatting and squawking. Finally I ended up laying in between them crossways across the bed and that's how we "slept" from about 3 until 7 when Allan decided to take a header off of the bed. His guardian angel must have poked me in the shoulder because I woke just in time to catch him by his leg and keep his little hard head from smacking the hardwood. Griff, not so lucky, he did the same thing about 45 seconds later (I hadn't even gotten Allan settled before Griff took off). Fortunately that same angel had shoved the diaper bag full of clothes right beside the bed. Griff hit his head, but didn't even wake up when I pulled him back in to bed.
We had breakfast, played, took a walk and got ready for the Cubs game. Lunch and a walk to the park and there in time for the National Anthem. Made it past the 7th inning stretch when I decided to call it. Good idea since the game apparently lasted 12 innings.
Griffith loved when the crowd cheered and would join in enthusiastically. He ate cheesy poofs and chips from the time we sat down until he fell asleep (for about an hour) and then resumed his grazing. He made lots of friends in the outfield.
Allan was a bit of a twerp -- he was determined to jerk the pony tail of the woman in front of us. Every time Kim looked away he would reach out and try to give it a yank. She finally had to go sit in other seats to get some relief. She and Kelly tried and tried to get Big Al to take a nap. He was clearly exhausted, but wasn't going to miss a minute of it. So he squirmed and wormed his way through the entire game. His butt had barely hit the stroller before he was zonked out though.
Spent the rest of the evening at KK's. Allan woke up about dinner time (How Griff ate any thing considering the amount of crackers he consumed is beyond me. When he didn't eat much of his dinner, Kelly confessed that she had fed him a bunch of strawberries when they were in the kitchen.)
Bath time followed. The boys acted as if they were being dipped in boiling oil. They.Hate.Baths.In.Strange.Places. They don't like it a bit better at Bailey's. I guess they need the home field advantage. Bath time, then, was mostly like a Southern Baptism baptism -- dipped them in and dried them off. Griff fell asleep by 7. Allan, refreshed by his late nap, put on a show until about 9:30 or 10.
Sunday we had breakfast, played a park, had lunch and headed home. The boys could not have been any better in the car. They slept for about 2.5 hours, but entertained themselves the rest of the way home.
Dad was glad to see his buddies and we were all glad to be home again. Everyone settled down and slept like angels, too.
Kim and the boys and I pulled out Friday night at about 7 and headed for Chicago. Got there about 1 a.m. The boys did great -- entertained themselves for a couple of hours and then went to sleep. Woke up when we got to KK's and Allan (night owl that he is) was ready to roll. Griffith was disoriented and concerned that I was planning on leaving him forever. Not only did he need to have a visual on me, he needed to be in actual physical contact. Neither boy would get in the pack and play. And they wouldn't lay next to each other, either. They kept hitting, kicking, swatting and squawking. Finally I ended up laying in between them crossways across the bed and that's how we "slept" from about 3 until 7 when Allan decided to take a header off of the bed. His guardian angel must have poked me in the shoulder because I woke just in time to catch him by his leg and keep his little hard head from smacking the hardwood. Griff, not so lucky, he did the same thing about 45 seconds later (I hadn't even gotten Allan settled before Griff took off). Fortunately that same angel had shoved the diaper bag full of clothes right beside the bed. Griff hit his head, but didn't even wake up when I pulled him back in to bed.
We had breakfast, played, took a walk and got ready for the Cubs game. Lunch and a walk to the park and there in time for the National Anthem. Made it past the 7th inning stretch when I decided to call it. Good idea since the game apparently lasted 12 innings.
Griffith loved when the crowd cheered and would join in enthusiastically. He ate cheesy poofs and chips from the time we sat down until he fell asleep (for about an hour) and then resumed his grazing. He made lots of friends in the outfield.
Allan was a bit of a twerp -- he was determined to jerk the pony tail of the woman in front of us. Every time Kim looked away he would reach out and try to give it a yank. She finally had to go sit in other seats to get some relief. She and Kelly tried and tried to get Big Al to take a nap. He was clearly exhausted, but wasn't going to miss a minute of it. So he squirmed and wormed his way through the entire game. His butt had barely hit the stroller before he was zonked out though.
Spent the rest of the evening at KK's. Allan woke up about dinner time (How Griff ate any thing considering the amount of crackers he consumed is beyond me. When he didn't eat much of his dinner, Kelly confessed that she had fed him a bunch of strawberries when they were in the kitchen.)
Bath time followed. The boys acted as if they were being dipped in boiling oil. They.Hate.Baths.In.Strange.Places. They don't like it a bit better at Bailey's. I guess they need the home field advantage. Bath time, then, was mostly like a Southern Baptism baptism -- dipped them in and dried them off. Griff fell asleep by 7. Allan, refreshed by his late nap, put on a show until about 9:30 or 10.
Sunday we had breakfast, played a park, had lunch and headed home. The boys could not have been any better in the car. They slept for about 2.5 hours, but entertained themselves the rest of the way home.
Dad was glad to see his buddies and we were all glad to be home again. Everyone settled down and slept like angels, too.
Peeping
Griffith kept peeping under the sunshade to check on Allan who (finally) passed out on the walk home from the game.
The temptation
Allan could not (would not) resist trying to pull this lady's ponytail. That is Allan's elbow on the right as Kim snatched his hand back. Kim finally moved to a different seat because Allan would not give up.
Friday, July 25, 2008
I think it might be in the back....
I'm not sure what Allan was looking for, but as soon as the door was opened, he set a new land-speed record getting over there. And then proceeded to climb up. He was trying as hard as he could to get his foot up on the second shelf so that he could get all the way in to the back.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Summer's bounty
Griffith was loving the mamos, broccoli salad and corn on the cob -- in fact, he ate an entire ear and then half of mine. And gnawed on the empty cob for a while for good measure.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Allan the brat
Lest you think it is all Griffith...Allan is every bit as much of a brat, if not more so. You can not deter Allan once he makes up his mind to do something. He is inexorable. Think Javert. (I believe this to be a trait that he inherited directly from his father.)
Jesana likes to think that she has a pretty good handle on the boys, but confessed that she had to leave story time at the library on Monday because Allan was so awful and she couldn't make him behave. Apparently some woman decided that she would sit in front of Allan and Griff and Jesana with her child at story time (do NOT even GET me started about how incredibly RUDE people are at these sorts of things!). Allan did not care for this sort of behavior and decided he was going to remedy it. First, he would crawl in this woman's general direction, growling and attempting to bite her (she, apparently, was blissfully unaware of her peril since she was acting as if she hadn't decided to seat herself in front of two toddlers so that her precious snowflake could have a better view). Jesana grabbed Big Al several times and got him corralled, but, as happens, she was distracted and the next thing she knew, Allan had crawled up behind the woman and (thank goodness) decided not to bite her, but grabbed her braids (a silly affectation in a woman of our vintage) and gave them a good yank. In Jesana's recreation, the woman's chin went from a ninety degree angle to pointing straight up to the ceiling. Jesana was so embarassed that she packed the boys up and left before Craft Time. I can not endorse such attacks by the boys, but, at the same time, completely understand the sentiment. In fact, I may consider taking Allan the Attacker with me from now on. Bless his heart.
Jesana likes to think that she has a pretty good handle on the boys, but confessed that she had to leave story time at the library on Monday because Allan was so awful and she couldn't make him behave. Apparently some woman decided that she would sit in front of Allan and Griff and Jesana with her child at story time (do NOT even GET me started about how incredibly RUDE people are at these sorts of things!). Allan did not care for this sort of behavior and decided he was going to remedy it. First, he would crawl in this woman's general direction, growling and attempting to bite her (she, apparently, was blissfully unaware of her peril since she was acting as if she hadn't decided to seat herself in front of two toddlers so that her precious snowflake could have a better view). Jesana grabbed Big Al several times and got him corralled, but, as happens, she was distracted and the next thing she knew, Allan had crawled up behind the woman and (thank goodness) decided not to bite her, but grabbed her braids (a silly affectation in a woman of our vintage) and gave them a good yank. In Jesana's recreation, the woman's chin went from a ninety degree angle to pointing straight up to the ceiling. Jesana was so embarassed that she packed the boys up and left before Craft Time. I can not endorse such attacks by the boys, but, at the same time, completely understand the sentiment. In fact, I may consider taking Allan the Attacker with me from now on. Bless his heart.
Share !
In addition to being able to say "share" (which has two, if not three syllables, thanks to Mamma's influence) Griffith now understands the concept of sharing.
This involves him swooping down on Allan, relieving him of whatever toy he has and chiding him, "Shhhh-air-rrr!" as he makes off with whatever Allan once had.
This involves him swooping down on Allan, relieving him of whatever toy he has and chiding him, "Shhhh-air-rrr!" as he makes off with whatever Allan once had.
Al-Jude walk !!!!
We have been working very diligently to get Allan walking independently (yeah, I know, remind me that this was a goal when he and Griffith are running full-on in different directions). The current "game" that we play involves setting Allan on a chair cushion on the floor (so it is like a bench) and putting the giraffe up on the couch. When you put a ball in the giraffe's mouth it plays a happy (if you are Allan) or an annoying (if you are me) little tune and lights light up (thanks, Heather!)
We start off very close to the couch and keep moving the cushion farther and farther away. The trick with Allan is to convince him that there is some reward for his efforts (tune/lights) and to make him forget that he isn't holding on to anything. So we have him hold two balls, one in each hand.
Last night was a stellar effort. We were all home with nothing to do in the, oh, say, 15 minutes, between dinner/dishes and bath time so we decided to show Da what we could do.
Big Al was quite the rock star - over and over again he would pop up, steady himself and launch for the couch. He knows that momentum will get him a little farther than he might otherwise so there are times when he heads off at a precipitous pace. He also tends to dive at the end which sometimes leads to a face-plant on the couch, but, really, those are petty criticisms. We all cheered him on, including Griff, who was delighted by all the activity.
After about ten minutes of this, Griff grabbed a couple of the balls himself, sat down on the cushion, popped up and did a positively scandalous imitation of Allan tottering and diving for the giraffe --- complete with face-plant. Honestly, it was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Then he turned around and squealed "yeah!!!!" and clapped just like we had done for Allan. We, of course, complied and gave him his 'atta boys' just like we did for Allan.
We then put the boys in the tub and got them ready for bed. Allan wasn't quite ready to give up on the solo-ing, though and took 2 or 3 steps (he had done up to 6 before) to get to the chair. Griff looked at me and say "Al-Jude walk !!!" Yes, he sure did.
We start off very close to the couch and keep moving the cushion farther and farther away. The trick with Allan is to convince him that there is some reward for his efforts (tune/lights) and to make him forget that he isn't holding on to anything. So we have him hold two balls, one in each hand.
Last night was a stellar effort. We were all home with nothing to do in the, oh, say, 15 minutes, between dinner/dishes and bath time so we decided to show Da what we could do.
Big Al was quite the rock star - over and over again he would pop up, steady himself and launch for the couch. He knows that momentum will get him a little farther than he might otherwise so there are times when he heads off at a precipitous pace. He also tends to dive at the end which sometimes leads to a face-plant on the couch, but, really, those are petty criticisms. We all cheered him on, including Griff, who was delighted by all the activity.
After about ten minutes of this, Griff grabbed a couple of the balls himself, sat down on the cushion, popped up and did a positively scandalous imitation of Allan tottering and diving for the giraffe --- complete with face-plant. Honestly, it was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Then he turned around and squealed "yeah!!!!" and clapped just like we had done for Allan. We, of course, complied and gave him his 'atta boys' just like we did for Allan.
We then put the boys in the tub and got them ready for bed. Allan wasn't quite ready to give up on the solo-ing, though and took 2 or 3 steps (he had done up to 6 before) to get to the chair. Griff looked at me and say "Al-Jude walk !!!" Yes, he sure did.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Taking his own route
Allan was insistent on climbing back up the whale's tongue (slide) over and over again.
Ready to slip and slide
Griff is very bold -- right up to the point of actually sliding down. For that, he needs to have hold of Dad's hand.
Building up for the big finale
For someone who hated the pool fiercely to begin with, Allan has taken to it quite nicely these days.
Nooooo!!!!!
Griff loves to cover up with all the pillows and pretend to go "night-night!" Then he springs up and yells, "Noooooooo!"
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