Milestone Minutiae

Cleaning up

2012-01-25T16:40:00.000-08:00

I've finally began teaching / expecting the kids to help keeping their environment cleaned up. They're not bad, once they get going.

Last week, Luke invented the "shoving everything into the closet" method of cleaning up his room. After way too little time he announced he was done. When I went into his room and said, "Alright, where did you shove everything?" he smiled sheepishly. Then when I found the pile in the closet, he seemed almost proud of himself.

Best Day Ever!

2012-01-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

When David's not home for dinner, I often make french toast for the boys. Today I also happened to have bacon on hand, so I cooked that up, too.

When Luke found out what was for dinner, he yelled, "Bacon?!? Mom, this is the best day ever!"

What do I say to this boy?

2012-01-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday mornings, Emmett and Luke are now getting tutored in Spanish at Maria's house while Henry and I go to music class. When I picked them up today, Maria told me this story.

Maria got a call from her daughter at school, who had forgotten her lunch money. Emmett was very concerned that she wouldn't have any lunch, but Maria assured him that she just had to call the office and authorize them to lend lunch money to her daughter (which Maria then did). Now apparently obsessed with the topic of lunch, Emmett started telling Maria that school lunches are really not very healthy or good tasting. I'm not sure where he comes by this info - he's never been in a school cafeteria and he loves corndogs. I watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and maybe he was paying attention. Anyway, Maria agreed and said her daughter prefers to bring lunch but mornings are so busy that sometimes they don't make lunch. Like a dog with a bone, Emmett went on to suggest that she make lunch the night before. Or make 5 lunches ahead on Sundays. The saving grace in all of this is that the discussion was happening primarily in Spanish.

Fortunately, Maria knows Emmett pretty well and didn't take offense. At least I'm not the only one who gets his "helpful" suggestions.

Emmett said...

2012-01-15T21:53:00.000-08:00

Emmett was drinking some milk this morning and as he finished the glass, he said, "Ahhh... Good to the last drop!" Was that the world's most obvious advertising line that he just stumbled upon, or did he hear it somewhere?

2011 Christmas Card

2011-12-20T15:58:00.001-08:00

Flurry Of Snowflakes Holiday Card

Create photo holiday cards this Christmas season.

View the entire collection of cards.

Murderous Maths

2011-12-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

Emmett has been reading and re-reading and re-reading all of the Murderous Maths books, and enjoying them immensely. He told me that you can't have a right triangle with an obtuse angle in it. I, being a geek and kind of mean, said, "Well, you can't unless the triangle is on the surface of a sphere." We've talked about triangles on spheres before, but I was a bit surprised when he confidently responded, "Correct!" His dad, not to be outdone, wondered about a triangle on a hyperbolic plane (shaped like a pringle), but shortly concluded that it could only be done in spaces with positive curvature. Emmett has it coming at him from all sides...

Henry and the advent calendar

2011-12-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

I got chocolate advent calendars for each of the boys. Emmett and Luke understand what's going on, but Henry was intrigued by the idea that there were all of these chocolates inside and he could only eat one each day. He carried the calendar with him all around the house. He opened a future door or two, but he didn't eat the chocolate. At first we thought he'd eaten it, but we found it later and it had just fallen out. One day about a week into December, I saw him open a future door and dragging his nail across the chocolate, eating just the tiny shard he scratched off. He had no intention of eating the whole thing, but he just couldn't resist a little taste.

I would have loved to see how this all turned out over time, but later that day Henry left his advent calendar on the floor and Jenny (our greyhound) had far less restraint. Nothing could be salvaged, though we did go get some replacement chocolates so Henry still gets his daily treat. (and no more for Jenny!)

Waking up

2011-12-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

The kids are frequently awake before I am. One day a couple weeks ago, I was still asleep when Henry came right up next to my face and said in a loud whisper, "Mom! Guess what!" In a groggy state, I replied, "What?"

Henry said, "Chicken butt!"

Some milestones

2011-12-17T21:18:00.001-08:00

Earlier this winter, the kids stayed outside longer than it took me to dress them for the cold - not sure if I mentioned that here or not. I think Henry never would have stayed out that long if it hadn't been for his brothers playing with him, so siblings are finally pulling some weight around here. :)

Today we made gingerbread houses, and Luke and Emmett both decorated their houses completely independently! I just showed them how to use icing in a piping bag and let them go at it. I piped icing for Henry, so that house is a collaboration, but I can hardly wait until he can do it himself, too!

Henry cracks me up

2011-11-21T09:28:00.001-08:00

An actual exchange:

Me: "Henry, we're going to (I don't remember what)! Go tell your brothers!"
Henry: "What brothers? (pause) Oh! My brothers!"

...and then Henry runs off to tell them.

Disneyland

2011-11-19T22:20:00.001-08:00

We had a fantastic trip to Disneyland. The weather was perfect (low 70s and sunny), the crowds were light, and everyone was in a good mood all day. I think the good moods were helped by a steady stream of snacks and treats. In the morning we had churros, after lunch we had ice cream / cookies, there were giant suckers after dinner, and all day long there was kool-aid in the water bottles. Keeping the kids from getting hungry is important!

Waiting for rope drop on Main Street, Henry pointed at the bananas in a woman's backpack in front of him. She offered him one, so he started his day with a banana. I love the guests at Disneyland.

Henry didn't seem to like the dark rides. To be fair, he's always been a bit more sensitive to noise than his brothers. We went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and he tucked his head into my chest and was kind of watching the ride sideways. Even though last year he seemed to like Buzz Lightyear, this time he complained about the noise, didn't want to hold a blaster, and rode it the same way he rode Mr. Toad. The only other dark ride we tried was Winnie the Pooh, and Grandma reported that he was the same way. He also watched the fireworks sideways with his head on my chest. I saw him flinch once or twice when the fireworks exploded, but he didn't complain during the show, and he said he liked the fireworks afterwards. Just one day later, he speaks fondly of the dark rides - Luke was a crazy driver on Mr. Toad, he liked watching me shoot the robots on Buzz, etc. I wonder if he'll want to ride them next time, and I just have no idea.

When we went to breakfast with Mickey and friends a few months ago, Henry was very interested in the characters but didn't want to go too close. I asked him if he wanted to meet Mickey on this trip and he said yes, so I started the "give Mickey a high-5" campaign. Every time I mentioned meeting Mickey, I'd say, "and give him a high-5!" Henry agreed, and when we finally were in the room with the mouse, he did it! He wouldn't let me put him down, but he did slap Mickey's hand. Later, he did the same with Tigger and Eeyore. And then, much to my surprise, he hugged Winnie the Pooh! Maybe he's starting to like the characters after all.

Luke didn't like Space Mountain last year - he's small and rattled around in the rocket. I didn't realize until the end of the ride that I should have had my arm around him! He'd been saying that he didn't want to ride it again, but when the time came, he decided to give it a try. With my arm around him he bounced around a lot less, and was bouncing against my arm rather than the rocket, so he had a great time. I was so glad he gave it a try! In the middle of the ride, Luke yelled, "We're not really in space!"

And then there was the time that Luke thought we were getting in line for Star Tours when we were really going to meet Grandma and Emmett by our stroller parked near Star Tours and he was lost for a few minutes. When I finally spotted him he had just found a cast member and looked pretty upset, but at least we found him fairly quickly. He was much more interested in holding hands for the rest of the day.

Emmett is old enough to be a Disneyland pro. The "sit and stand" stroller has room for Henry and Luke, but Emmett doesn't get to ride and he didn't complain one bit. (A year ago at the end of one day, we managed to cram all three of them onto the stroller.) He eagerly rode all of the "mountains" but didn't complain about riding Indy only once (even though we had 4 fast passes, so he and I could have gone twice) - we needed to go find a spot to watch fireworks instead. Even though his main interest was the thrill rides, he didn't complain too much when it was time to do something more tame. When he tells people about the rides at Disneyland, he almost always mentions how some effect works (the fake train in Mr. Toad, his rendition of how effects work in Indy). Luke's been getting in on it too, at least with the Mr. Toad train. Reminds me of me as a kid.

After lunch we got fast pass for the Haunted Mansion and then went over to Pirate Island. All three kids had a great time blowing off steam. The barrel bridge spooked Henry and he didn't go into any dark caves, but Emmett and Luke climbed all over that island and through all the caves. Henry loved waving at all of the people passing by on the Mark Twain, and when we were on the other side of the island, he waved at them all again. Some of them seemed to recognize him! After they'd passed by the second time, Henry headed back to the other side of the island and was looking at the water. I asked him if he was looking for ducks. Henry loves ducks, and loves to loudly say, "quack quack quack," but he told me he wanted to wave at the people on the boat again!

After the fireworks, the only "Mountain" that hadn't been ridden was Big Thunder, so we went back to see if it was running (it had been down earlier in the day). It was, so Emmett, Luke, and Grandma went to ride it while Henry slept in the stroller. When they returned it was just a couple of minutes until the park closed. Since they were still letting people get in line, Emmett, Luke and I got back in line while Grandma stayed with Henry. We were on one of the last trains that night.

Afterwards we meandered through the park towards main street, in no hurry to join the masses waiting for trams back to the parking lot. The Christmas decorations were fantastic, and even better at night with zillions of lights. On Main Street, I found the machine that vibrates your feet. It was always my last stop as a kid - for 10 cents (25 cents now!) you can stand on a platform that vibrates the heck out of your feet and legs. While it's running your feet stop aching, but they start again when it's over. Emmett and Luke also watched one of the penny-flip-book-movies in the arcade (Henry was asleep in a carrier on my back by this point).

I really can't believe that they weren't complaining on the way back to the car, but they were pretty much quiet. I hope the next trip goes as well, because this one will be hard to match.

Henry is too cute to keep track of it all

2011-11-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

Today Henry and I made a "sick kid" visit to the Dr. When the doctor came in the room, Henry jumped right in and started describing his symptoms - he didn't seem to need me there at all. Amused by this loquacious kid, the doctor asked if he knew his last name. Henry thought, and thought, and thought, and then said, "My last name is two and a half."

Henry has started telling me things he's nervous about. Like he wants to jump off the changing table, and I suggest that he hold my hand while he does it, and then (holding my hand), he tells me, "But I will be nervous about jumping." In the end, he jumps and has a good time. We watched a video of the Matterhorn at Disneyland (which Henry will not be riding on this trip). A day or two later, he said, "I was nervous about that Yeti!"

While I was calling Henry a "silly bear" he told me he was not a silly bear. So I called him a "funny bunny," and he looked at me very seriously, held up a marble and said, "If you call me funny bunny, I will put this marble in your nose!"

This evening while David and I lifted weights, Henry was eager for us to be finished. When I put him off of my lap to go do a set, he said sternly, "I'm going to count to three. One, two, three!" I couldn't stop laughing.

Run-on

2011-11-04T11:23:00.001-07:00

When Henry is upset about something and yelling, and the din is growing louder and louder because his brothers are making an absurd amount of noise along with him and I'm just about to lose my mind and yell at Emmett to stop making so much noise (because he's the most likely to actually listen), I'll notice that Emmett is actually dancing around like a baboon, twirling and swinging his arms while making funny noises in an attempt to make Henry laugh and stop yelling.

Codes and Magic

2011-11-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Emmett is really into secret codes, pig latin, and magic tricks. He has a trick where he makes a dime appear in an empty machbox, with the magic word "Alacazam!" And my boy who hates writing anything down, will leave short notes in code for Luke or a friend and lead them on a treasure hunt around the house.

The other day Henry was walking around with both hands full of marbles. He looked up at me, shook his hands and said, "Alacazam!" I asked him what he was doing and he said he was making the marbles disappear. I told him that was cool and waited for him to do the trick. He shook his hands and said, "Alacazam!" emphatically again. Then we both just stood there looking at the marbles in his hand. I guess he has a little work to do on that one.

Seriously?

2011-10-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Today I actually had to say, "Luke, don't jump on the bed while you're holding the scissors!"

He protested that he knew that - he was bringing them to me, so he wasn't "jumping on the bed" with the scissors, he was jumping across the bed, to bring them to me.

Chatting with George

2011-10-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

If Henry is having trouble falling asleep, I'll snuggle with him for a bit. I try not to talk, so he ends up talking to Curious George (his stuffed version). He holds George up in the air about an inch from his face and talks to him. "Now George, what was your favorite thing to do at Chuck-E-Cheese?" or "George, first I was punching the ducks (an arcade game) and then I rode the car and then there were those guys on the stage singing songs." He always starts by saying George's name, and talks to him just like he talks to the rest of us.

Unclear on the concept

2011-10-18T15:41:00.001-07:00

Henry has a 3 year old friend next door. When one or both of them is switching houses, we make sure that an older kid is taking them (or a mom is watching). This afternoon they both wanted to go to her house, so I said, "ok" and went out front to watch them go inside. The little girl turned to me and said, "If he wants to come home, I'll walk him home." For full effect, you have to imagine that being said in the tiniest, cutest little voice ever.

Make believe

2011-10-08T20:21:00.000-07:00

Henry has entered the world of make-believe. On Friday when we went to pick Emmett up from Spanish at Maria's house, he insisted on getting out of the car to help retrieve Emmett. He brought along Curious George, and as we left, he waved George's arm at Maria and yelled, "Adios!"

Today after music class, Henry and I had tea with the little tea set in the shop outside of class. He poured tea for us, we drank it, and then he refilled the cups. I know there are more examples but I can't think of them right now...

Henry said it

2011-09-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

Henry's been "spelling" lately. He only spells three things, and it sounds like this:

"b-i-k-e, Pineapple!"
"b-i-k-e, Mickey Mouse!"
"b-i-k-e, bike!"

Also, we were talking about Grandma coming to visit, and Henry said, "Our friend Grandma commin' to stay at our house!"

Ruined by his brothers

2011-09-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

Henry has picked up the word "stupid" from his brothers. I don't hear it often, but he used it today.

Our neighbor found a tortoise(!) in the middle of our street. When she found the owners, her son (Emmett's friend J) was very sad - he'd been hoping for a new pet. We have a "twilight turtle," a stuffed animal with LEDs in its shell to project stars on the ceiling. I thought it would be nice to lend it to J, so Emmett brought it out to show him. As soon as Henry saw the twilight turtle, he started saying "I just want my turtle!" Oops!

As it turns out, J didn't want to borrow the twilight turtle, so Henry carried it home again. On the way I told him things like, "It was so nice of you to show J your turtle!" as if that were the plan the whole time. After we'd been home a while, Henry said to me, "That turtle thing was stupid!" I said, "It was so nice of you to show J your turtle!" He replied, "No, it was stupid!"

This really just happened

2011-09-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

Emmett, at nearly 10 o'clock, comes out to get a drink. While doing that, he informs us that the dish soap lid is open. "Yes," I say, "I use it so many times a day that I don't open and close it, I just leave it open."

Then we hear, "Either the microwave or oven clock is one minute slow."
"Ok," I say.
"Well which is it?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what time is it on your computer?"
"Nine forty-six."
"Ok, the oven clock is one minute fast."

Similar exchanges occur daily. Detail oriented? Perhaps.

Henry said it

2011-09-01T20:20:00.001-07:00

Henry's had a fever off and on for just about the whole week. I can always tell if he's feeling bad because he comes to me and says, "Hold me." He doesn't like tylenol or ibuprofin, but he's been getting lots of both of them this week. He doesn't fight me terribly, just a little struggling and yelling.

Tonight after he got his bedtime dose and he wasn't fussing anymore, he simply said, "I didn't like that!"

I guess I need to teach him more words

2011-08-26T16:35:00.000-07:00

Henry-isms:

soccer = "football"
context: Henry's toothbrush has a guy kicking a soccer ball on it. He calls it his "football" brush.

Cheetos = tiger chips
context: Henry likes Cheetos, and yesterday he asked for more, calling them "tiger chips."

hail = "raindrop"
context: after a hailstorm, Henry tells you he's "picking up raindrops" that are sitting on the grass. This one is so cute, I don't even want to correct him.

Gumeye ball

2011-08-17T08:34:00.000-07:00

There's an eyeball in the gumball machine,
Right there between the red and the green,
Lookin' at me as if to say,
"You don't need any more gum today."

And now, Henry's version. He skips line three and memorizes like a 2 year old, but otherwise it's adorable.

Privacy

2011-08-16T11:02:00.001-07:00

I'm almost always accompanied in the bathroom. If I'm showering, Henry will play with something nearby in my bedroom, as the bathroom is a boring place even for just 10 minutes. In other cases, he'll just stand there, wondering when I'll be done and helpfully getting toilet paper rolls out from under the sink. Yesterday he was a little slower than usual in following me down the hall, and there were some strange bumping noises. When he finally arrived, I saw that he'd brought a little red chair with him so he could rest while he waited.

Is this normal?

2011-08-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

As I was teaching Luke a little Shel Silverstein poem, Emmett recited the first stanza of a poem he'd read in Highlights magazine. I told him I'd been collecting stuff so that when his friends go back to school, we'd be doing some poetry. He said, "Woo hoo!" and pumped his fist high into the air. I'm pretty sure that's unusual for a kid on their way to 3rd grade...

Oh-tay!

2011-08-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Henry talks a lot, but he doesn't usually have a "k" sound. So Luke is "Lute" and milk is "mut." Lately he's been saying "okay" a lot, 0ften when he can't exactly have his way. For example, if reading a book and he wants me to read a different one, I'll tell him we'll read it next. So he's satisfied but not super happy, and he slowly says, "oh-tay" in a somewhat downtrodden tone.

Something I forgot

2011-07-11T18:49:00.001-07:00

Henry loves Curious George, and has watched the Curious George Christmas movie many times, learning "Jingle Bells." When he sings it, though, it sounds exactly like he's saying, "Dinner bus, dinner bus, dinner a-way!" So, of course, we're all singing "dinner bus" around here.

Henry does cute things

2011-07-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Make-believe play has come on strong for Henry. A few days ago he was marching back and forth across the couch speaking in a monotone voice. It took me a while to figure out what he was saying. When I finally figured it out, I had to laugh. He was saying, "I...am...a...robot."

He's also been "cooking" all kinds of things in the play kitchen. Today he told David it was dinner time while he was playing with a pan full of wooden trains. He thought that was pretty funny.

Yesterday when David was feeding Henry a hot dog, David bent his finger back and said, "Oh no! You ate my finger!" Today, Henry gently mouthed my finger and told me he'd eaten it. I bent my finger back and said, "Oh no! Where is my finger?" and Henry replied, "It's in my mouth!"

There's got to be an easier way!

2011-06-26T20:10:00.001-07:00

Bedtime was eventful tonight. We've been talking about Emmett moving into the front bedroom for weeks, and now that Henry is sleeping full-time in the boys' room, it seemed like a good time. I cleared enough out of the room to put in a mattress, so Emmett is sleeping in his own room tonight.

Then while flossing his teeth, I realized that Emmett has pink-eye. Fortunately I have a stockpile of pink-eye meds from the last time so we started eye-drops immediately. We talked a little bit about how contagious it is, and how we should all make sure to wash our hands more often for the next day or so. We also figured out where Emmett picked it up - their summer Spanish classes with about 8 kids started last Thursday.

After Luke and Henry were in bed and Emmett was in the other room, Luke started to cry and hide his face in his pillow. I asked him what was wrong and, of course, Luke wasn't talking. I brought him out to the rocking chair to talk, but I did pretty much all of the talking. I asked him if he was upset that Emmett was sleeping in another room, but he didn't make a peep. So on I went, talking about when Luke first moved into the room with Emmett, and now Henry is moving in etc. Luke asked where Emmett would move when Luke was older and moved into the front room. I guess he's noticed that things that happen to Emmett typically happen to him a little later. We talked about the room in the basement, and Luke pointed out that a mattress would fit right in the front room!

Finally, after all that, Luke said something about pink-eye, and I suddenly realized that he was worried about catching it! So I began my second "reassuring the child" speech of the evening, this time with the topic of contagious diseases. We talked about how the first dose of antibiotics was killing lots of bacteria right now. We talked about how by tomorrow, most of the bacteria would be totally dead. We talked about washing hands. We also talked about how the eye-drops do not hurt, and getting pink-eye really isn't that big of a problem. Luke was also worried about going back to Spanish class - he had trouble reaching the sink to wash his hands last time. I promised to get him some hand sanitizer and at least he was out of objections so he went to bed.

It would be so much easier if Luke would just tell me what was bugging him!

Flying Trapeze

2011-06-04T13:32:00.000-07:00

The boys have discovered the monkey bars this year, and shortly after that the trapeze/rings for the swing-set. (The kids next door have one, and I've had ours in the shed so there could be two swings and Henry's baby swing, but now there's one swing, one baby swing, and the trapeze.)

Luke went at it first, turning himself upside-down with ease and figuring out how to flip by pulling his legs up and then between his arms and turning over. Emmett started out by insisting that the rings were too low for him, but he got over that pretty quickly. I showed him how to flip over like Luke does, and he's been having fun with the rings ever since. Both Luke and Emmett have figured out how to hang by their knees, and it's rare that a kid runs inside crying because he landed on his face. Not to be left out, Henry likes to hang from the rings too, and was delighted when I grabbed his feet and helped him do a flip like his brothers.

Today at lunch, Emmett said, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a trapeze artist!" With a totally straight face!

Lute!

2011-06-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Henry pronounces "Emmett" pretty well now, with two quite recognizable syllables. He's also been good at "Lily" (the two year old next door) and "Melia" for "Amelia" (her 5 year old sister) isn't too bad. But for a long time, he didn't have any vocalization for Luke. Probably two weeks ago, though, he started in with "Lute!" for "Luke."

It'll do.

Huh?

2011-05-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

At bedtime, out of nowhere, Luke says to me, "You'll move out when we grow up, right?" Surprised, I asked, "You mean will I move out of my house when you grow up? Um, no. You'll move out." Then he said, "But you'll give us money and stuff, right?"

So I explained that we'll help them while they are in college, but after that they'll need to get jobs and their own places to live. Maybe I should revisit this one once in a while so he's not surprised when the time comes...

Maybe I need a new story

2011-05-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

When putting Henry to bed, I always end with a story featuring him and a friend starting out doing something fun, and then getting tired, having a snack, and listening to me tell a story. The "story within a story" is either the Big Red Barn or Goodnight Moon, because I know those two by heart (we do "story time" in the dark so Henry is asleep or nearly so by the end of it).

Tonight he picked Big Red Barn and I quickly realized that he knows it by heart, too. Even though his words aren't very clear, he was reciting much of the story with me! When I was slowing down near the end, he finished a line for me. I said, "And the little donkey gave..." and he jumped in with a pretty clear "one last bray!"

Division

2011-05-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

We had some mini-cinnamon rolls from Costco, and there were enough left for each of us to have one after dinner. When we went to eat them, Emmett announced that he was going to have his tomorrow, so he'd be able to have one when Luke didn't. (thanks, kid!) Upon hearing that, Luke decided to just eat half tonight, and save the other half for tomorrow.

Later in the evening, Luke told me he wanted to eat 1/4 of the roll tomorrow, and 1/8 for the next two days.

Thus baited, I suggested that instead, he should eat 1/16 on the next day, and 1/32 on the next day, each day cutting it in half so he'd never ever run out! He thought never running out sounded great, though Emmett pointed out to him that the pieces would get very tiny, very fast.

Oh yeah, Henry turned two

2011-05-21T16:38:00.001-07:00

Here are the current stats from the doctor's visit:

Height: 35.5 inches (just under 75th percentile)
Weight: 26 pounds 12 ounces (just above 25th percentile)
Head circumference: 20 inches (just over 90th percentile)

He didn't scream at the doctor this time, just looked at him warily.

Notably, the height requirement for the Matterhorn is 35 inches.

Henry said it

2011-05-18T10:35:00.000-07:00

David was on his way out the door this morning, so I said "Bye-bye, hon!" Henry immediately parroted, "Bye hon!"

Come Home Faster

2011-05-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbor and I have been swapping kid duty for 30 minutes at a time on weekday mornings so we can both exercise in an empty house. It's been working out great, with the added bonus that Henry (just 2) has gotten used to being at her house without me. He loves playing with Lily (6-9 months older than him), and having Emmett and Luke around surely helps , not to mention that my neighbor is great with kids.

He's gone over in the afternoon a few times, sometimes when I'm home, and sometimes when I need to run an errand, for as long as 90 minutes or so.

Today I went to a FIRST LEGO League meeting at the University of Utah. I'd communicated with some of the people on the committee by e-mail, but really wanted to check things out in person. I was a little nervous - Henry would be next door for about 3 hours. It all turned out fine - when I got home he was a little clingy for a half-hour or so, but he wasn't upset (visibly) while I was gone.

While we got ready for bed, I asked him about what he did at Lily's house - pushed dolls in the strollers (yes), bounced on the trampoline (yes), rode scooters (no), etc. Then I asked him if the time I was gone was ok, or if it would have been better if I had come home faster. Henry's words are hard to understand right now, but he came over and said to me in the clearest voice I've ever heard, "come home faster."

Corrections

2011-05-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

Henry loves strawberries, so when he left most of them on his dinner plate, I said, "What's up today, Henry? Sometimes you eat your weight in strawberries!"

Emmett overheard and asked what that meant, so I explained that "eat your weight in strawberries" means "eat a number of strawberries that would weigh the same as you do." He replied, "Well it would be much more clear if you said 'eat the number of strawberries that would weigh the same as you do.'"

And it rolls off the tongue so nicely, too.

Mother's day

2011-05-09T22:22:00.001-07:00

Maria made some mother's day popsicle stick picture frames with Emmett and Luke on Thursday last week. She even brought little flower-printed bags so the boys could "wrap" the presents. I was vaguely aware of it - there was a little flower printed bag behind the couch in the living room, and when I moved it to a nearby table (thinking it was "lost" behind the couch), someone moved the bag back behind the couch. On Sunday afternoon, Luke asked me if it was Mother's day, and then he and Emmett brought me the bags. It was very sweet.

David did a pretty good job, too, cleaning the toaster oven (really cleaning it!) and getting me a sweet red rose.

Why would I give this moment to someone else?

2011-05-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Emmett and I were working some very simple algebraic equations this morning, when we came across this one:

5 - 2n = 10

He looked at it and started laughing. "Five minus 2n equals 10?" The very idea of "n" being a negative number was hilarious, apparently. Next, he said, "2n must equal minus 5! N is minus one and a half!" He fixed that error pretty quickly, but I still went through the equations with him to get to the answer. When we got to

-2n = 5

he was stumped again. More laughter. I realized that he doesn't really know that negative*negative=positive etc, so I helped him figure out that he needed to divide both sides by -2 here.

Watching him struggle a bit and then make connections is fun. The laughter seems to come up when he's right at the edges of understanding something but not quite there yet (it's almost nervous laughter, but he really seems to think the way math works is funny).

Sorting stages

2011-04-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

I've been making trail mix with peanuts, raisins, and white and semi-sweet chocolate chips. It started out as a snack on skiing days, but today I made it for after swimming lessons. I put some into a cup for each of the kids - Emmett ate all of his, but Luke and Henry didn't finish. Luke presented me with a cup with raisins and peanuts in it (and not a single chocolate chip). Henry, on the other hand, gave back a cup with some semi-sweet chips and raisins. I guess he has trouble finding the semi-sweet chips among the raisins - there's a pretty strong incentive for figuring this out, so I don't think it will be long before he does.

(so I don't give you the wrong idea - Luke eats most of the peanuts and some of the raisins, he just "runs out " of chocolate before he finishes them)

Black Diamond BOYS

2011-04-19T18:07:00.001-07:00

Emmett and Luke both had "firsts" today - Brighton has one lift, Milly, that's way off to one side that Luke hadn't been to yet (the classes don't go all the way over there). So in the morning they went to Milly so everyone has been on all of the lifts at the resort. And then in the afternoon David convinced Emmett to give Lower Pioneer a try (it's an easy black diamond). Everyone made it down just fine.

Today was probably the last good day of skiing this year - lots of fresh powder and temps near freezing made for good skiing, but the weather is warming up so the next few days will be slushy. Brighton's last day is Easter Sunday, and they have an egg hunt on the bunny hill, so we're planning to go and just have a good time. Who knows how much skiing will be done, but it will be a nice way to end the season.

Tricycle

2011-04-18T17:57:00.001-07:00

Henry loves playing outside, and for the past few days he's been working on the tricycle. He'll often sit on it and push himself forward with his tippy-toes, but he's also been experimenting with pedaling. Today he's gotten pedaling down - he's riding around the driveway all by himself, looking very proud. He even steers!

Black Diamond Boy

2011-04-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

Luke skied a black diamond run at Brighton on Friday. His instructor called it an "honorary" black diamond (I'm sure it's the easiest one on the mountain), but it's a black diamond! It was the same run (Lower Pioneer, I think) that David skied with an instructor who used a great deal of misdirection to get his class on it despite the black diamond label.

Natural Skiers

2011-04-11T21:11:00.000-07:00

I'd been meaning to take the kids skiing all winter, but the thought was so daunting that we didn't get to it until 5 or 6 weeks ago on a beautiful Sunday when we went up to Brighton as a family to give it a try. It actually went well, so since then I've been taking the boys up any time our free days meet up with pleasant weather.

We've got a nice routine going. Luke takes lessons in the morning and afternoon, and Emmett usually skis with a friend, Eden, who lives near the resort. Henry naps in the carrier on my back and loves picking up ice from the ski school floor. He's made friends with some of the ski instructors and is universally proclaimed to be a cutie. Henry and I wander around the resort, taking the elevator and doing laps on the stairs. Emmett has been wearing a watch and is unbelievably reliable in meeting us at the correct time. We all have lunch together, then Luke does his afternoon lesson while Emmett skis with Eden again.

Emmett has had lessons a few times - he had a morning lesson the day we skied together as a family, one day when Eden wasn't available he took morning and afternoon lessons, and last Sunday when we went up with David he had a morning lesson again. He's gotten much more comfortable skiing and has ridden just about every blue and green run on the mountain - no black diamonds yet.

Luke can't ski independently yet. He can't always get up if he falls awkwardly, and he's too young to give a watch and have him meet us. Emmett isn't skilled enough to be his wrangler, so the Luke's been taking two lessons a day most days that we ski. Because of that, he may be the best skier in the family! He's also been all over the resort, and his instructor today said he could ski black diamonds, but probably would use a wedge not parallel turns (so it would be better to keep him on less steep runs until he's more solid with parallel turns). His instructor called him a natural skier.

David, of course, has only been up to ski twice this year. On the first day, he found it difficult to ski with Emmett because he was skiing slowly and it's hard work to go that slow down the mountain for a full grown adult. Yesterday afternoon he skied with Emmett and Luke. This time, the trouble was that they're so fast.

Brighton has lessons for 3 year olds, but Henry won't be 3 until the season is over next year. It may be possible to get private lessons - they have a parent/child option. It's too bad that David and I aren't solid skiers. One of the instructors recommended getting him skis, tip clamps, and a leash and just skiing with him, but I'm not sure we could comfortably do that. It will probably be another year of playing at the resort before Henry and I can start taking lessons.

Naked Time

2011-04-11T21:08:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, Henry started really fighting when it was time to get on pajamas. After a couple of brutal nights, I was fighting him into pajamas early enough that I decided to let him run around naked for a while. After going through the nightly routine with Emmett and Luke, Henry was willing to get into his pajamas and Naked Time was born. Now, when it's time for bed, the first thing I do is undress Henry. Then I help Emmett and Luke get ready for bed, read stories, and finally put pajamas on Henry. Works like a charm.

More skiing

2011-03-31T22:10:00.000-07:00

We finally met up with Emmett's friend Eden at Brighton today. Emmett and Eden had a great time skiing together. In the morning Emmett took a blue run, and in the afternoon he agreed to take a longer lift to get to runs that were higher on the mountain. Today Emmett wore a watch and met me right on time both times we were getting back together.

Luke took two group lessons today. His instructor for the first meeting said he seemed tired and was falling a lot so I was worried that he wouldn't make it through his afternoon lesson. He wanted to try it, though, so I told his afternoon instructor that I'd be near the lift if she needed to drop him. He perked up in the afternoon and had a great class. They started on the bunny lift but near the end of class he took his first trip up Majestic, the lift that Emmett and Eden rode most of the day. He's now mastered "turning on greens" and working on whatever comes after that (turning on blues?).

Henry took two naps on my back (26 pounds) and walked around saying "ice" constantly. He had a pretty good time and was easy to entertain, so we'll probably try to do this again. The resorts have a huge snowpack this year.

Henry has about 25 words

2011-03-30T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping track, and we're up to something like 25-30.

Today I heard a couple new ones. After I told him what we were doing next, ending with, "All right?" he parroted back to me "Right!" I asked him to repeat it and it sounded pretty much the same as his word for "white," so I'm not sure it really counts as a new word.

Then I asked him to say "now." He leaned over and shrieked at the top of his lungs, "Now!" Come to think of it, he may primarily experience that word when I'm trying to rouse his brothers from the TV or a video game...

More of Henry's language

2011-03-18T21:33:00.000-07:00

He's definitely using two-word phrases - "shoe on," "shoe off," "hat on," "hat off," and "on mom" (when he was climbing on me).

He also understands pretty complicated stuff - twice now when I've asked Emmett to do something, Henry has overheard me and gone off to try to do it. Once I got out a dog treat and asked Emmett to use it to get Jenny locked up in the bedroom. He wanted to finish what he was doing, and in the meantime Henry demanded that I give him a dog treat too. I thought he was just going to feed it to Jenny, but after I handed it to him he walked over to Jenny, showed her the treat, and then walked her to the bedroom before giving it to her! Another time I asked Emmett to go downstairs and turn off the lights. A moment later I noticed that Henry was heading down the stairs. He can't reach the lights, of course, so I followed him and carried him around to the light switches.

Henry says

2011-03-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

On March 4th when we saw had Henry's speech evaluation, he had about 5 words - Mom, bye-bye, yeah, uh-huh (yes), and uh-uh (no). The evaluation was interesting, using play and pictures to evaluate what he understands. His "receptive" language (what he understands) was assessed at the 94th percentile, or an "age equivalent" of 2 years 4 months (he was 22 months at the appointment). His "expressive" language (what he says) was at the 8th percentile, an age-equivalent of 15 months. The report we were sent then helpfully averages the two scores to the 53rd percentile and an age-equivalent of 21 months. The therapist and I talked about what our goals for speech therapy would be - getting Henry's vocabulary to several dozen words. Mostly "speech therapy" consists of being extra excited when the kid talks and trying to get Henry to play with sounds and eventually form words.

Since then he's been picking up words pretty fast - I think if there's much of a waiting list for speech therapy we may have achieved the goal. He's added the following words:

(last week)
yes (with a good "s" on the end)
no
why
eye
up

(this week)
on
off
shoe
toe

Today, he may have said, "Shoe off" to me. I think that counts as a two-word phrase in the language development sense. Usually kids start to put words together when their spoken vocabulary reaches around 50 words, which usually happens around age two. I'll have to pay close attention to see if he's combining words - he doesn't have that many to choose from, but it's interesting to think that he might be combining when his vocabulary is still so small.

Skiing again

2011-03-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Today I took the boys to Brighton to ski again. Luke took a morning lesson, and Emmett skied with a friend named Eden. Henry spent a lot of time on my back.

It was a good day - in his lesson, Luke progressed to the point where he doesn't need tip-clamps any more, and he gets off the lift by himself. After his lesson and a little lunch he was so tired that he slept for a long time in the wooden chairs in the lodge! Next time he wants to take an afternoon lesson too, but I wonder if he'll have the energy. I guess we'll have to find out!

Emmett had a little trouble with his skis the first time up the lift, and had forgotten his gloves so there was a little trauma there. It was a warm day, but he kept falling and his hands were cold. In the end, a stranger gave him some gloves and he skied down. Eden's mom found her and returned the gloves while I had his skis adjusted. After he got his confidence back on the bunny hill, he and Eden had a good time skiing together.

At lunch time Henry had lots of fun being out of his coat and off my back (he absolutely hated getting into warm clothes today, throwing huge fits each time I put his jacket on him). We played with the toys I'd brought and had a good time.

After Luke woke up from his nap, he wanted to ski some more but it was too late for another lesson. We decided that Luke, Eden, and Emmett would ski the bunny hill together. That's the hill Luke skied all morning with his class, and my big worry was that he'd have trouble getting from the lift-exit-area over to where you start skiing down. Emmett promised not to ski down until Luke made it past that area, so up they went. Unfortunately it didn't go very well. Luke cleared the lift area, but on the way down he fell and had trouble getting up. When Emmett tried to help him, he started slipping backwards down the hill, so he just skied down. This hill is where all the beginning classes ski, so it's covered with instructors. One of them noticed Luke and helped him down the hill. I didn't let him go back up, though, since we had no one to ski with him that could actually help him.

In the end, both of my boys spent a little time today sitting on the hill and crying, and I couldn't help them. Both of them were helped by strangers. Come to think of it, I was helped by a stranger, too, when Henry was asleep on my back and I needed help getting the hood of the carrier over his head. Another person helped Emmett get his skis on while he was crossing the resort at the bottom of the mountain. And a stranger picked Luke up when he fell while walking with me - she was closer to him and I had Henry on my back and was carrying a big bag. I'm not sure what makes skiers so nice, but I think it's good for all of us.

Location location location

2011-03-04T21:00:00.001-08:00

Emmett was practicing an old song on piano and hit a wrong note. He started again, and again hit the wrong note. Then he looked down, said, "Oh, my bench is in the wrong place!" David sighed while Emmett picked up his bench and moved it a couple of inches to one side. (There is plenty of room on the bench to move from side to side.) When he started again, Emmett played the song flawlessly.

Kiss it and make it better

2011-03-04T20:54:00.000-08:00

Noticing that I always kiss boo-boos to make them better, Henry has started coming to me for kisses whenever he bumps something, even just a little. He often won't even be crying. If I'm busy with wet or messy hands in the kitchen, he gets impatient waiting for his kiss. In those cases, I started blowing kisses to his boo-boos so he could get back to what he was doing.

Since then, I've noticed that sometimes he'll come towards me, but then decide to kiss his own boo-boos. On occasion, he'll blow kisses to whatever got bumped, too.

Henry says "Bye!"

2011-02-18T10:40:00.001-08:00

Henry has been waving good-bye for a loooooong time. A few days ago, though, he started saying, "Bye!" while he waves. "B" is not a common sound from him, except when talking about the sound a sheep says, so I was a little surprised the first time he did it. He's done it three times now, all while waving and in context. He may just learn to talk yet!

In other language development news, the pediatrician suggested that we get Henry evaluated by speech specialists. Since he's so young, step one is an audiology evaluation. We know Henry can hear - he wakes up if you even think about going down the hall while he's sleeping. The audiologist is looking at frequency responses and tests each ear individually, which is a bit more rigorous than "he responds to sound." The appointment was pretty fun - it turns out to be incredibly easy to train a 22 month old to look towards a sound they hear. Just a few iterations of playing a sound followed by a cartoon clip playing where the sound came from and he got it. His hearing tested completely normal, and next we'll see the speech therapist for an evaluation on March 11.

All by himself!

2011-02-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Having recently started a LEGO team (Jr. First LEGO League), we have a huge kit of LEGOs featuring gears, axles, and a motor. It's a whole bunch of the specialty pieces that let you make models that move. Today Emmett and I set out to try to make stuff that moves. Emmett wanted to use the bevel gears to make a prototype for a helicopter where moving one of the rotors would make the other one move too. I was trying to make a car that could be connected to the motor and drive. Emmett's worked! I was initially afraid that he wouldn't try to make it without my direct help, but since I was engrossed in my own project, he jumped in. Soon enough he had a working prototype. I, on the other hand, learned lots about how the LEGO motor and gears work.

Party in the middle of the night

2011-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Henry has a little cough and cold, which caused a very short nap yesterday. This leads directly to a super-tired little boy in the evening, so I put him to bed around 7:30pm and he fell asleep very quickly. Unfortunately, sometimes his body views this early bedtime as a second "nap" and when he woke up 9:45pm he was ready to play! David and I were tired after the long day yesterday, so while we were getting ready to sleep, Henry was doing laps around the room climbing on the bed on one side and jumping off the other side. As David and I chatted, Henry was leaping into the air on the bed and landing cross-legged, laughing his head off. It was nice - I didn't have to spend much energy keeping him happy and entertained.

Then all of that bouncing had it's consequences. He started coughing a lot and then he threw up. Poor kid! It seems to have been a purely physical effect - he seemed to feel fine and was even interested in more bouncing while we cleaned up. I immediately let him nurse (feeling confident that he didn't have a stomach bug) and he went back to sleep pretty easily. He didn't throw up again, so while he still has a cough and a stuffed up nose, there is no stomach bug here. (whew!)

Puzzles

2011-02-08T07:10:00.000-08:00

Emmett has been playing a game on their iPods called "Unblock Me" - it's a game where there is a set of blocks that can only be moved along their length and a colored block that you're trying to release from the playing field. You have to figure out how to move the other blocks to make a path for it to get out. Emmett has been playing it for a while, and has solved over 100 of the puzzles.

Last night Luke started playing the game too. Emmett worked thorough a couple of puzzles with him and he was off and running. He's not bad! After watching him quickly solve one of the early puzzles, Emmett said, "I taught him everything he knows."

Luke doesn't hate strangers?

2011-02-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

Luke's been doing swimming lessons for 4 months now, and four weeks ago his regular teacher wasn't there. He didn't want to go in the water with the woman they scheduled in her place, and I had to carry him to the water and hand him to her! I was really scared that he'd get stubborn and refuse to participate that week, but in less than 2 minutes he was happily swimming with her. Since then he's had a sub again two of three weeks (I hope Richelle is ok!), and he's happily gotten in the pool with both of them! I think he makes more progress swimming with a teacher who is more familiar with him and what he's working on, but these few weeks with the variety of teachers is giving him an entirely different kind of confidence. I'm thrilled.

It's transferring, too - a couple weeks ago we took him skiing the first time and he went into the ski-school room to join his class and unknown teachers easily. He loved skiing.

Bedtime help

2011-02-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

As part of the bedtime routine, I get all of the toothbrushes ready with toothpaste and put water in a cup for Emmett and Luke (Luke can't easily reach the knobs on the faucet just yet, though he has some creative ways to get it done). Henry has realized this, so he follows me to the sink, grabs the cup of water, and gleefully pours it down the drain.

George and Mickey

2011-02-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

Henry has loved Curious George for a long time. He watches the cartoons, reads the books, and at Christmas, he got a Curious George stuffed animal and a George-in-the-box, which he adores. But just a couple weeks after Christmas, he started refusing the Curious George cartoons. He wanted to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse instead! Since then he's rarely watched Curious George, but he does still carry around his George and we still read the books.

At bedtime, I used to use "Curious George Comes to Our House" stories exclusively. Shortly after he switched over to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, I decided to tell a "Mickey Mouse Comes to Our House" story. He got so excited that it really didn't help get him to sleep. But since then, whenever I'm telling a bedtime story, if I start out with Curious George, he'll yell, "Uh unh!" and I switch over to Mickey. Tonight I told a "Mickey Mouse and Curious George Come to Our House" story and he really liked it. Again, he was so excited it really didn't help get him to sleep. But the story ended as they all do, with Mom telling the boys a bedtime story and singing lullabies, so it all worked out in the end.

Ski School!

2011-01-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Only a year ago, Luke wouldn't look at his ice skating instructor on his first day. Today he walked right into the ski school room to wait for his class and go skiing! I caught up with him outside and he moved quickly from riding the "magic carpet" to stopping himself with a wedge to riding the big chair lift! I asked if he liked skiing and he said, "One hundred percent!"

It's hard to believe he's come so far so fast, both in physical skills and in trusting instructors and having fun!

Ring ring!

2011-01-20T21:10:00.001-08:00

When the phone rings, Henry runs through the house looking for a phone to bring to me. Over time he's figured out that he can reach the phone on the piano, so he usually makes a beeline for that one.

Sleep disturbances

2011-01-17T22:52:00.000-08:00

Luke wasn't exactly awake, but he was thrashing and making noise so David went to settle him down. Among the mostly garbled words and incomplete thoughts, he asked for "something to bounce on!" At least he knew enough not to try that on the bottom bunk.

Shhhhh

2011-01-16T18:45:00.001-08:00

At the age of 21 months, Henry has doubtless heard "Shhhhh" many many times. Henry is typically quiet as a mouse, so he's mostly heard it directed at his boisterous brothers. And now, he's saying it himself, almost. He's seen me with my fingers at my lips saying, "Shhhhh" countless times. He can't make the "sh" sound, though, so he puts his finger to his lips and blows on it. It's overwhelmingly adorable.

Today I was singing a particular song and he was "shh-ing" me over and over. At bedtime he started nursing so I sang it one more time to see what he'd do. He even stopped nursing to blow on his finger!

I guess he's listening

2011-01-14T22:06:00.001-08:00

The central conflict in the movie Ratatouille seems to be a matter of inheritance - a famous chef has died without children and his sous chef will inherit everything two years after his death unless an heir is found. To explain the scene where the sous chef is talking to his lawyer, I turned to Emmett and said, "So the famous chef died without an heir. What does that mean?" I asked him because this has come up a lot during our history lectures.

Luke caught me by surprise by jumping up and yelling, "Vacuum!" In fact, Mr. Powell does hammer home the point that when a king dies without an heir, there's often a power vacuum and some chaos as a result. But Luke isn't really listening to history with us - he's usually playing with his iPod or watching TV in another room. I can't believe he picked that up just from being around!

Break the pickle!

2011-01-04T22:14:00.001-08:00

One of Aunt Rebecca's friends taught the boys a fun series of "high 5s" that goes, "Gimme 5; Up High; to the side; break the pickle (the speaker puts their two index fingers together to make "the pickle"; tickle tickle tickle!" Henry has learned it too. Last night when he was falling asleep with David nearby, David noticed that he was repeatedly putting his two index fingers together in front of his belly, and then "tickling" his own belly.

Incorrect

2011-01-04T22:11:00.000-08:00

I was talking to David (about what, I cannot remember) when Emmett chimed in with a correction. But he was wrong and I had been right, and in the back-and-forth with him (which, again, I cannot remember!) he said, "It's more like I 'incorrected' you!"

(grrr - I wish I could remember more of this - it was really funny!)

Sneaky!

2011-01-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

On New Year's Eve, everyone but David was in bed by 8pm. Emmett was reading, but Luke wanted his iPod instead of the DVD he was watching. Out on the couch, David heard footsteps but didn't see anything until Luke popped his head up from the other side of Jenny's chair. Luke crept into the living room twice before giving up and watching the DVD.

Confirmation Bias

2011-01-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

Henry likes wiping up spills. He was eating yogurt and had taken it into the boys bedroom. Probably a bad idea to let him, but I didn't have the energy to redirect him to the table. A minute later I spotted him in the kitchen without the yogurt so I went to find the yogurt before the dogs did. As I picked it up he was right behind me, holding a rag. I asked him where the yogurt had spilled. He pointed right to a little drop on a shelf in the bedroom, and wiped it up.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T21:12:00.000-08:00

Emmett's favorite present was a complicated LEGO Starwars kit, but with shifts from both me and David, we got it built. It's pretty impressive and he carried it around all day - including wanting to bring it to the dinner table. It's been smashed once (Luke somersaulted into it) but the repairs went fine.

Luke's favorite present was an ipod touch, which he is of course thrilled with. He played with it a lot today, though he did put in time with his other toys, too. Emmett is happy that he won't have to share his ipod with Luke anymore, though he didn't seem thrilled that Luke's has a camera and his doesn't. Technology marches on!

Henry's favorite present was his new stuffed version of Curious George. I wasn't sure he'd recognize a stuffed version as the active little guy from TV and books, but he clearly does. He's been carrying George around a lot today, and at dinner he didn't put a single bite into his own mouth before offering it to George. He's sleeping with the little monkey right now.

Singing with the boys

2010-12-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite holiday traditions is singing Christmas carols each night in the light of some candles and our Christmas tree. This year is no exception. Luke has been picking Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer every night. Emmett likes to learn new songs, and has been working on perfecting his timing for turning the lights back on at the end of the evening (they get turned on with the last word of the Christmas chant we end with each night). He also has a tendency to roll the "R" in words like "Merry Christmas." Henry isn't talking much, but that doesn't stop him from singing along. He sits in my lap bouncing excitedly and he really does sing along, even though we can't understand the words. He "sings" way more than either of the other boys did before they were talking. He's also figured out how to blow out candles!

That's my boy

2010-12-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

While we were at the aquarium, they were feeding the penguins. Someone from the aquarium was by the exhibit, telling us about penguins and answering questions. At some point, she explained that penguins don't fly, but they have hollow bones that help them dive down deep under the water. This didn't sound right to me, but I ignored it and watched the penguins.

Near the end of the feeding she asked if anyone had any questions and Emmett's hand shot up. He said, "Don't hollow bones help birds fly?" Of course he'd picked up on the error and wanted clarification. For a brief second I wondered what she'd do and was worried that Emmett may have put her on the spot. She correctly answered his question though, explaining that hollow bones help birds fly and penguins have solid bones. I realized that she had simply misspoken earlier. But factual errors never escape Emmett's notice.

I love watching his brain work

2010-12-12T21:39:00.001-08:00

While working on a math problem, I asked Emmett to multiply 50 times 6. We've been talking about how multiples of 10 are easier to deal with, so I reminded him that the problem can also be considered 5 tens times 6. He got an "a ha!" look on his face and said "It's 300!" I don't think he knows 5x6 so fast, so I asked him how he'd gotten that. His answer? "There are three 2s in there!"

It took me a few seconds to figure it out, but I'm pretty sure he was doing 50 x 2 to get 100, and then multiplying by three (or adding it up three times, I'm not positive which).

Christmas Cheer

2010-12-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

We've gone out driving to look at Christmas lights a few times this month. We'll turn on the stations playing Christmas music, or sometimes we'll sing carols in the car. A few nights ago we'd been to a great display, one where the homeowner broadcasts music and the lights flash in time. As we left, we were singing Christmas carols. I could hear Emmett singing, but then I noticed Luke wasn't singing with us. Instead, he was punctuating our song with the word "poop" several times each line.

Fears?

2010-12-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

While taking Henry to bed a few nights ago, he made a complaining noise and motioned towards the bed where the alligator puppet was sitting. It's a pretty cool puppet with a big mouth and lots of pointy white teeth. I picked it up and he made another uneasy noise, so I took it into another room and told Henry that the alligator was going to sleep there. After that, Henry was happy to go to bed.

Neat freak? I my house?

2010-12-12T21:27:00.001-08:00

When Henry spills a drink, or notices the water on the floor after playing in the sink, he'll go get a rag from the drawer and wipe it up. Then he puts the rag back in the drawer.

Presents

2010-12-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

We've had a really great experience with swimming lessons, so I've been trying to figure out if we should give them some kind of "teacher gift" at our last lesson before Christmas. I asked the kids if they could think of anything they'd like to give their teachers and they were mostly stumped. Then Luke said, "We should get her a diving board. Their diving board is getting all used up."

Overheard

2010-12-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

The older boys (Emmett, Luke, and a neighbor) are having fun with Henry's new word - "yeah." They're holding things up, and asking, "Is this a (not what it is)?" He'll say "yeah" and then they say, "No, it's a (what it is)!" The exchange is finished when Henry says, "Ooooh."

Naptime!

2010-11-29T18:13:00.000-08:00

When it's time for Henry's morning nap, I'll say, "Henry, do you want some milk?" He'll usually say "Uh-huh!" and then excitedly run/skip down the hall to the bedroom where he stops to jump on his mattress a few times before climbing up into our bed, ready for his nap.

Are they trying to be funny?

2010-11-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

Just a few things I've overheard recently...

Emmett, while playing a blues-y tune on the piano, stopped a few seconds in to say (to the empty room he was playing in), "Stand up, because you're going to want to dance!"

Luke, while playing tic-tac-toe by himself before lunch at a restaurant today made an "X" and then said, "X! And the crowd goes wild!"

And Henry, after somebody dropped something, said "Uh oh!" (this happens all the time)

Foresight

2010-11-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Henry is pretty good at predicting the future. I was sitting on the floor in the boys' room sorting books with Henry playing nearby when Emmett came home from the neighbor's house crying. I called down the hall to ask if he was bleeding or just hurt, and Emmett said he was just hurt. Emmett came down the hallway, still crying. Realizing what was going on, Henry hurried over to me and sat in my lap. Fortunately there is still room for both of them, and I was able to make Emmett laugh by pointing out how Henry couldn't stand the idea that Emmett might sit in my lap.

A Good Little Monkey

2010-11-09T21:03:00.000-08:00

Henry loves Curious George as much as Luke did. It's the only cartoon he'll watch, and he wants to watch it anytime he can get me to turn it on.

When Henry is tired and cranky, I can tell him "Curious George comes to our house" stories to calm him down. It's not perfect - he loves them so much he gets really excited thinking about playing with George in the back yard, or downstairs, or in the nearby park. He'll squeal a bit, grinning and kicking. But in the stories, they always come inside for a snack and a story. Curious George always picks the story, and it's always something like "Goodnight Moon" or "The Big Red Barn" - something soothing, repetitive, and just a little boring (especially if I tell it slowly). I can usually get him to sleep by the end of the story. Luke used to love these types of stories, and now Henry does too.

Henry Says

2010-11-08T18:09:00.001-08:00

In addition to "Uh-huh" and "Uh-uh" (both voiced without opening his lips), Henry has added "Uh oh!" to his repertoire.

So I don't forget

2010-11-08T18:04:00.001-08:00

A couple of stories from the trip...

After dinner in Disneyland, we found an informal stage area - I'm guessing they have musicians up there sometimes, or something like that. Of course, give a kid a stage and they start to perform. Emmett, Luke, and Henry were all up there dancing, or "imitating dancing" in Emmett's words. While I was taking a video, Emmett thought I was taking still pictures so he was freezing every few seconds, so he wouldn't look awkward in the picture.

At the end of our Disneyland day we stopped to watch the parade. It wasn't very interesting, so we started getting ready to exit the park when Luke said he wanted to go on Buzz Lightyear one more time. We were right next to it, so I said "Ok." David looked at me like I was insane. In line I pointed to Luke (who was dancing around wildly) and said, "Look how happy he is!" David said, "That's not happy. That's so overtired he's having convulsions." "At least they're happy convulsions," I replied. (For the record, no on melted down on the way back to the hotel or before bed.)

Disneyland brain dump

2010-11-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

Today we started with an extra-magic-hour in Disneyland, which turned out pretty great. In that hour (reserved for hotel guests and people on longer park hoppers), we were able to knock out Dumbo, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad, the Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland, and Storybook Land. At 10am when the park opened to regular guests we went to the Matterhorn. The lines were so short that we didn't use the baby-swap passes, we just went through the line twice so Emmett and Luke rode twice, once with me and once with David.

After the Matterhorn we went over to Space Mountain to give it a try. Luke was willing and Emmett was eager. In the end, Emmett loved it but Luke did not - he was sitting next to me and I could tell that his head was getting rattled around a bit. I wish I had put my arm around him to help him stay anchored in the car - you can really rattle around when you're so little. He didn't want to do it again, but didn't seem traumatized.

We had lunch at the pizza place right near Space Mountain and decided that Emmett and David would go ride Indy while I took Luke and Henry back to the hotel to rest. It didn't work out so well - Henry had just napped so I knew he'd just play in the room, but since Emmett was in the park it was impossible to get Luke settled enough to sleep. He watched TV for a while (less than an hour) and we went back to the park.

While we were out, David and Emmett rode Buzz Lightyear, Indy, the Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain. They also got fast passes for Splash, so Luke and I rode it immediately upon returning to the park. I was a little worried that Luke's experience with Space Mountain would spill over onto the other mountains in the park, but it didn't. I showed Luke a couple of logs going down the final drop and told him about the ride - it's mostly a slow boat ride, with a few small drops and that one big drop, and he was perfectly willing to ride it. He had a great time. We got a little wet, of course, but he told me he didn't get any water in his eyes because he closed them! Just a few months ago, he refused to ride the log ride at Knott's because he might get splashed. Swimming lessons have really changed things for him.

While we were on Splash, David, Emmett, and Henry rode Winnie the Pooh so after getting off Splash, Luke and I rode it together. Then David and Henry waited while Luke, Emmett and I went on Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare before Christmas overlay. It was great - they both loved the ride and it was much less spooky than the mansion is normally, because there is so much Christmas-y stuff everywhere. I think experiencing the mansion in this form may help prevent them from getting spooked by it the first time they see it. At the end of the ride where you usually have hitchhiking ghosts, Oogie Boogie (villain from Nightmare) is standing there talking about what present you'll get and if you've been naughty or nice. When David went with Emmett, they got a stocking but when we went we got a few sticks of dynamite - lit, of course.

This was the hardest part of the day - it was still pretty hot and the kids were tired. Emmett hadn't eaten much lunch and wanted to eat tons of candy instead, so we went to Bengal Barbecue to get a snack. David got food while I took the boys through Tarzan's Treehouse. After the snack, I tried to get Henry to fall asleep while David took Emmett and Luke on Pirates (which was supposed to be closed according to the Disney website - we lucked out!). Henry didn't fall asleep, so we decided to take the train all the way around the park from New Orleans Square. Even with a 20 minute train ride, Henry didn't fall asleep!

At this point the only major attraction we hadn't been on was Big Thunder Mountain (and it was about 4:30). We wanted to get that in just in case we had to leave due to tiredness. Emmett, Luke, and I rode it while David tried again to drive the stroller in a boring way to get Henry to fall asleep. This time it worked, so David, Emmett, and Luke went on Big Thunder again while Henry was sleeping.

By 5pm the heat of the day was finally wearing off, but the kids were still pretty tired (with the excepting of Henry, who had just woken up), so we decided to have dinner (at the Mexican restaurant adjacent to Big Thunder) to rest and refuel and try to get in a few more rides. It worked like a charm - dinner was definitely rejuvenating, and after that we went on Jungle Cruise and then saw the Tiki Room, of course getting some Dole Whip ice cream on the way in.

Henry loved the Tiki Room so much it was just adorable. He was dancing, waving his arms, and he drummed along with the tikis during the drumming part. He clearly was having a blast - I was so glad we were able to do it.

By this time it was 6:30 so people were lining up for the parade (at 7) and we crossed the hub to go on Buzz Lightyear and Astro Orbiter. When we were entering the park in the morning, Luke had pointed on it and said he wanted to ride it. I told him we'd be at the park all day - we'd certainly go on Astro Orbiter at some point, and we were finally back to do it. At this point the parade was nearby so we stopped to watch it. While waiting, Luke started to get upset about something but when I asked him what was wrong, he said, "I'm just tired" and came over and sat with me. I was amazed all day, actually, at the cooperation, lack of fighting, and pretty good moods despite being over tired and hot.

In DCA, the Pixar parade was awesome - great costumes, characters, puppets, acrobats, stilt walkers, etc. The Disneyland Street Party parade was not. It was music and dancers and characters on uninteresting floats. The good part was that they encouraged lots of kids to come into the street and dance at one point, which Emmett did and had a great time. Otherwise, I can see why people have been complaining about this parade.

After the parade we were going to head out, but Luke wanted to hit Buzz Lightyear one last time so we did. David thought I was nuts, but I pointed out how excited Luke was. David said that wasn't excitement, it was exhaustion turned to hyper convulsions (or something like that). I thought they looked like happy convulsions.

We exited the park, returned to our room, and got the kids in bed and asleep pretty quickly. Emmett was in the park from 9am until 8pm - very impressive.

Things I forgot from day 1

2010-11-04T12:45:00.001-07:00

While inside the park but still waiting for DCA to open, we all saw a cat.

Just before going back to the hotel to rest, David and Emmett rode Grizzly River Run, a classic round raft in rapids type ride. They got pretty wet, but it was nothing like the one at Sea World. As we were re-entering the park, Emmett, Oma, Andrea, and I rode it while David took Henry and Luke ahead to the Redwood Creek play area. Andrea got wet the most this time - it seems like this ride will definitely get your feet wet, but Emmett and I had on sandals so it didn't matter.

California Adventure Brain Dump

2010-11-03T22:35:00.000-07:00

I was thinking I should make notes about what we did today, so I decided to do it here so you can see what we were up to... Forgive the rambling - I'm just trying to capture it all right now.

DCA opened at 10am this morning, but we were allowed in a little early to get passes for World Of Color, the new nighttime spectacular water show. We then headed over to Soarin' over California, where we discovered not only is Luke 40" tall, but that they'll measure him one, two, or even three times each pass through the line! David took Emmett and Luke while I played with Henry. Meanwhile, Oma and Andrea made it to the park and got their WOC passes as well. I had "baby swap" passes to go on Soarin' without waiting, and Emmett sweetly gave up a second time on the ride so Andrea and Oma could go with me (and Luke) and our party would be all together. The line for Soarin' was short, but riding twice using the baby-swap passes is time consuming. Everyone loved Soarin' - it's like an IMAX movie but you're suspended in front of the screen and they move your seats around a bit. Tame for the kids, but really nice visuals and it ends on Main Street at night with the fireworks!

Next we went to Toy Story Mania where there was already a 20-30 minute line. Henry had fallen asleep so we got a baby-swap pass and left David with Henry. Toy Story Mania is a 3-D interactive video game where you get to play all sorts of midway games like throwing darts at balloons, shooting and breaking plates, etc. You have a gun/launcher mounted on your car that you can aim and it keeps track of your points. It's a really fun game - everyone had a great time, from Luke all the way up to Oma. Since Luke got to ride Soarin' twice, this time Emmett got to return with David on the baby-swap. Luke didn't protest at all!

Henry went on the carousel after waking up, and then Oma stayed on the carousel with the boys while David, Andrea, and I went on California Screamin'. That is one fun coaster! It uses some kind of induction launch all the way up the first hill so as you crest it you feel some serious negative Gs. There's a loop in there too, and otherwise it's just a really fast, really nice coaster. I must be getting older because by the end of it I was getting a little queasy and was happy it wasn't longer!

After that it was 12:30 already, time to eat and get out of the heat. We had lunch in the park (Mexican - pretty good food) and went to check out our room. When I checked in they told me they had bumped us into a suite and it's really nice. Plenty of space and there's a patio with a table and chairs overlooking the park - views of Grizzly Peak and the Tower of Terror ride! Luke fell asleep for a while and we all rested in the room until about 3pm.

Back in the park, the boys played in the Redwood Creek Challenge area - it's like a super-cool playground. Emmett went on the zip-line twice and even tried the rock climbing wall after discovering that you pretty much work yourself sideways across the rock (he didn't want to go up). Luke had a great time scampering around (and up and down). Henry loved this one slide, climbing up and coming down over and over, always demanding that I get ready to take his picture before he was willing to go up again.

Next we went to A Bug's Land, where the kids rode the Chew Chew Train, bumper cars, some flying buckets thing, and a mini Tea Party like ride. They also played in some fun fountains.

David, Andrea, and I left the kids with Oma again to try the Tower of Terror. I knew it was a "freefall" type ride, but it was quite a bit more than that. At the very top, you are looking out over Disneyland - an awesome view that you only get to look at for a few seconds. Then you go through the drop sequence - up and down, all in pitch blackness! The ride goes down faster than freefall, so you are immediately up out of your seat being pulled by the seatbelt. When you're not accelerating downward fast, the ride is moving upward at a constant speed so it's tough to tell if you're stopped, falling normally, or what in the heck is going on. Only when you find yourself looking out over Disneyland again do you realize that you're back at the top and getting ready to drop again! It's a fun ride!

After Tower of Terror, we found that the parade was passing by - the kids had actually just watched it, but as we left a Bugs Land (and picked up some ice cream), we found it going by again so we stopped to watch. It was a nice parade. The kids all enjoy watching the performers and the music is fun. I was holding Henry, and he kept dancing to the music (he makes little fists and pumps his arms up and down). At the end of the parade they put on bubble machines and the kids had a great time running around popping the bubbles. Such a simple, great idea.

Next we went to dinner. It was nice to eat at a sit-down restaurant and relax, but the room we were in had a large group at another table that was making a huge amount of noise. The room was tiled with all hard surfaces, which didn't help at all. The food was good, though, and DCA serves wine.

We had time before WOC so we went back to Toy Story Mania. This time Henry was awake so he went too, but he was a bit freaked out by the ride - it's loud of course, and I'm sure it's confusing to Henry. He was with David who held him for the rest of the ride and still had the highest score! After that, I bought the kids some glowing stuff and Henry rode the carousel again with David, and we went to get a spot to watch World of Color.

World of Color was a great show - amazing fountains, fire that we could feel the heat from even though we were way back from the flames (what must it feel like up close?), good music, projected animations, just good stuff. More than once I wondered how on earth they do that. The show tonight featured a special ending with Tron, because the movie is coming out soon. That probably would have been cooler if I were up on my Tron trivia. David held Henry for the whole show, and I held Luke. David had Henry on his shoulders until he realized that Henry was upset (breathing like a kid does when they're sobbing or close to it). He brought Henry down, and Henry put his head right down and went to sleep.

We got back to the hotel really quickly because it's right here practically in the park - Emmett declared WOC to be the coolest thing he's ever seen, Luke wondered what else we could have been doing with that time (nothing - the rest of the park was closed). I'll have to ask Luke again tomorrow what he thought of the show. The boys went to bed pretty easily, and tomorrow we'll get up and do it all over again!

Language milestones

2010-11-02T12:59:00.002-07:00

For a long time Henry would rarely speak at all. He'd just point and say "Uuuuuh!" at whatever he wanted. If he really wanted something, he'd start saying, "ma ma ma." Then he expanded to saying "Uh uh" to most questions while shaking his head "no." A few days ago, though, he added "uh huh" to the repertoire, dramatically increasing our ability to communicate!

This morning Henry was yelling "Boo! Boo!" David asked him to say "Dada." Henry gave it a try, but came up with "doo doo."

Speaking of brothers playing...

2010-11-02T12:59:00.001-07:00

I just heard Emmett and Henry in the other room yelling "Boo!" at each other while jumping and laughing.

Brothers playing

2010-11-02T12:58:00.000-07:00

Since Emmett has had a baby brother before, he's always known a bit more about how to interact with Henry than Luke does. Now that Henry is getting older, Luke is getting better at playing with him. The other day at home, Henry was running circles around the kitchen island with Luke cheering him on. Luke was standing at one side yelling, "Go, Henry, Go!" and Henry would pause each time he passed Luke to get a little cheer before making another circuit.

Emmett said

2010-11-02T12:36:00.001-07:00

Last week while Oma was visiting, Emmett wanted to talk about "obstacle illusions." You know, when your eyes trick you about what you're seeing.

Caught!

2010-10-20T12:08:00.001-07:00

Last night, Emmett and Luke were playing with glow-sticks as they fell asleep. Once they're asleep, I'll usually try to find the glow-sticks and put them in the freezer - it makes them last through another bedtime of play. Yesterday, Emmett had a glowing necklace on (tricky!) but when I went into the room he stirred and picked his head up just enough for me to quickly slip the necklace off of him.

A bit later when David and I were getting ready for bed, Emmett came into our room and in a confused voice said, "My glow-sticks have simply vanished!" He was relieved to hear they were in the freezer and returned to bed. I wonder how long he searched before coming over to tell us...

Miracle!

2010-10-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today in the bath, Luke wanted to wear his swim goggles. I helped him get them on, and he immediately plunged his face into the water! Luke! Amazing. He told me he was looking at the drain.

Ouch!

2010-10-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Emmett jumped off the diving board today at swimming, and executed a perfect belly flop - belly, chest, legs, and arms all hit the water together. His instructor then spent a little time teaching him to jump in feet first, as his belly was bright red! I think that lesson will sink in easily...

Emmett says

2010-09-30T15:41:00.000-07:00

Emmett's been reading "How Things Work" a lot lately, so I get to hear excerpts. Today he was telling me about alternating current (AC) and "de-alternating current" (DC). I thought it was a pretty clever construction, even if it resulted in a non-word.

This afternoon, Emmett and Luke were making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a snack. Henry was buzzing around, eagerly anticipating his own sandwich. Henry had brought a stool so he could reach the counter better, and I made him a sandwich. They all sat at the table and ate together. As Emmett finished eating his sandwich and was getting ready to do something else, he wandered into the kitchen and asked, "Is Henry awake yet?"

Power police

2010-09-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

If you're sitting on the couch and your laptop isn't plugged in, Henry will find a power cord and try to plug it in. You're pretty much not allowed to have a laptop running on batteries if Henry is around.

Third child

2010-09-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while, I realize it's been almost a week since I took pictures of Henry. I wonder what the biggest gap has been...

Standard algorithms

2010-09-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

So far, Emmett and I have been exploring math concepts without writing them down. We haven't been memorizing anything, and it's interesting to see which facts stick in his head and which don't. For example, he doesn't know the answer to 4x4, but he knows it's the same as 2x8 and he knows that's 16. He doesn't have much trouble with small-number division problems that don't have whole number answers (like 5/2).

Recently we've been doing some word problems that involve slightly bigger numbers division, so I've busted out the standard algorithms to show him there's a way to find the answer when you don't just know it in your head. At first I'd planned to explain what was going on as I did it, but I realized it was more important to finish the problem we started than to stop and learn multidigit multiplication or long division (and there's a bunch of setup I want to do before showing him those compact ways of calculating), so I explained minimally and told him we'd go over that later.

All of this chatter about math is just to set this up - he watched me do the calculations with wonder on his face, like I was doing magic. It was fun.

Swimming progresses quickly

2010-09-16T11:09:00.001-07:00

One-on-one lessons really move fast - last week Emmett was practicing elementary backstroke, and yesterday he started working on crawl and regular backstroke. I've noticed that they aren't teaching him to breathe yet - obviously he can breathe during backstroke, but when he crawls they teach him to take a few strokes and then roll onto his back to float. I can see why - breathing is the hard part so it makes sense to figure out how the stroking works before adding the breathing part.

Watching Emmett swim has had a big effect on Luke. He's been saying he'll swim when he's four, so yesterday I told him that his birthday is next Wednesday, and he could start swimming lessons if he wanted. I've made it clear to him that if he doesn't like it, he'll still have to give it a try for a few months at least. He just said, "Sure." It wasn't enthusiastic, but there was no "selling" on my part, so I'm hoping this will all work out. We signed him up while we were at the pool, and we bought him a pair of goggles. I have my fingers crossed!