Amigos

Growing boys

The boys had their checkups last Friday: a late two-year checkup for Moses and a six-month one for Milo. The boys' checkups were done at the same time, which I usually try to avoid since it's chaos, but it was unavoidable this time and we all needed a good nap afterward.

Moses is doing well and growing like he should. Our skinny boy is 29 pounds and 37.25 inches tall, which puts him in the 93rd percentile for height and 50th for weight. His 2T pants started falling off recently, and I credit his non-stop movement for his weight loss (and mine, too). He has nearly all of his teeth: his eye teeth just broke the surface. His speech is still delayed, but it is picking up. If it hasn't improved much more by April, we're taking him in for a re-evaluation with the speech therapist. We know he'll talk in his own time, but we can't wait for those funny toddler-genius moments.


Some fun things he enjoys:

• Catching balls! He caught his first ball a month ago, to our surprise, and requests we play catch nightly now.
  
• Playing football and using his bike helmet as a football helmet.
  
• He adores baseball and football and cranes his next to see anything related to the sports.
• He shouts "go, go, go" at any sport we watch--we aren't sure where he picked that up since neither Dave nor I shout at the TV.
  
• Playing "backpack" or piggybacking on us as we run around the house.
• Showing more interest in the clothes he's wearing--preferring anything with a football or a baseball or jersey-like numbers. He also likes hats and headbands (think exercise).
• Brushing his teeth. I'm not sure whether it's the dot of toothpaste or the car toothbrush, but I have to restrict his brushing these days.
• Shoulder shrugging, just because.
  
• Making vehicle sounds for his cars, trains, plains, etc. His goldfish crackers also making swimming noises before they're eaten.
• TRAINS!
  

Milo's doing great, too. I can't believe he's already six-months old and sometimes worry I'm not challenging him enough because I still think of him as my baby! He is 18 pounds 9 ounces (50th percentile) and 27.25 inches (75th percentile). He doesn't have any teeth yet but he's chewing on everything. We're curious if we'll have to wait for those teeth as long as we did with Moses.

Milo enjoys:

• Sitting and playing on the floor, especially with brother's toys.
• Getting tickled or "eaten."
• Watching, watching, watching--he has to be in on all the action even if he's just a spectator.
• Belly scooting. I love watching him move around on his tummy, but he's getting a little too good at getting in to things.

Well, that's my long overdue update. I'd like to start posting more again soon, but time is short these days so I'm not going to make any promises.

A boy and his bike

Moses loves his tricycle these days. So much so that this was the scene at nap time today:

A return to normalcy

Well, I (we) made it! The boys and I picked Dave up from the airport last Wednesday night (and fell to our knees, fervently begging him not to leave again!) His trip to DC for the inauguration went fantastically though so, in retrospect, we were more than happy to part with him for those 5 days. It was a little rough in the sleep department for me though. I had both boys in bed with me since Moses has night terrors/nightmares and usually wakes up screaming a couple times a night (and those screams would startle Milo into crying). I think my current cold stems from those sleepless nights.

At the airport, several parents and students just gabbed my ear off with praise for Dave -- as a teacher and travel agent. It was yet another moment I was proud to be his wife. Moses was delighted to see him again but at first sight he wasn't sure what to do -- as if Dave's image was a mirage. Once he got over it, he clung to Dave as the students oohed and awed over the twosome.

Since I've deprived my last few posts of pictures, here are some taken during our week without Dave:






Dave also had a little more press coverage (without nervous balance-of-powers goofs) during and after the trip so we're relishing his 15-minutes!

Final Countdown

After much deliberation, I've decided to return to school in order to complete my master's degree this semester. The idea of sending Moses and Milo to day care twice a week is heartbreaking, but there's no good time to finish my degree, and there are two excellent classes being offered this semester (Document Design and Online Publishing for those curious) so I'm putting on my big girl panties and finishing. I don't anticipate an easy time of it, eek!, but hopefully, come May, I'll possess my M.A. in Technical Communication!

On that note, Moses and Milo's dry run at day care was today and so far, so good. I called to check up on them and was told that Moses had an excellent morning(even napping!) and Milo was adjusting. Even though Moses is my shy boy, I know he'll acclimate quickly, but we recently switched Milo to bottled breast milk from nursing, and while he accepts it most of the time, he has his stubborn moments.

Wish us all luck!

The President and the Patriarch

I'll be back with some updates later today, but for now, I wanted to post a link to Dave's interview on a local TV station about his upcoming trip to D.C. for the inauguration. Political differences aside, I'm proud of Dave for the hard work he's put into organizing this trip for himself, a coworker, and 24 of his students! It's such a great opportunity. Good job, honey!

Birthday Party!

Even though Moses couldn't have cared less, I threw him a tiny (smaller than tiny, actually, only 4 invitations went out and 3 of those were to family members) birthday party last weekend. Planning birthday parties is the only chance I seem to have at creativity these days. This year's party centered around planes since Moses loves anything relating to transportation. This wedding cake was my inspiration for the invitations and cupcakes.

I used a cupcake tower to display the devil's food cupcakes I made. Each was iced and topped with white cotton candy "clouds." I then used some wire to attach painted wooden biplanes to the cupcake tower structure. I added two red ribbon banners behind each plane, one that read "Happy" and another that read "Birthday."

Moses had a great time playing with his friend, Vivian, and visiting with Dave's parents. Moses wasn't into his cupcake (probably because Dave had already given him two cupcakes that day) but he successfully blew out one of his candles! He received even more Thomas the Train gear to add to what he'd already received (he's hit the train phase in a big way). He also got a dinosaur interactive book that he enjoys so long as we skip over the Tyrannosaurus Rex page.

Since Moses missed his napped that afternoon he was a bit a zombie for most of the party and ended up crashing shortly after everyone was gone.

Thanksgiving

Dave, Moses, Milo, and I traveled to Las Cruces, New Mexico for Thanksgiving. There, we saw lots of my aunts, uncles, and cousins as well as my grandparents. It was a brief trip, but we had a nice time visiting with everyone. Moses enjoyed his deep-fried turkey dinner and even had seconds. Thanksgiving night he watched the big kids make S'mores in a desert fire pit and braved playing with a sparkler. I know there are some great pictures of our trip floating out there, in other peoples cameras, but my camera's batteries died.

Since Moses' birthday fell on the Friday after Thanksgiving, we celebrated by having a little birthday party on Thanksgiving night. He wasn't quite sure what to think of all the people singing at him.

But he was very sure of his cake!

Since we were on the road, this was the only shot I thought to take of our two-year-old eating Clementines on his birthday.

Friday night we stayed at Dave's parents house before returning to Lubbock. In all, it was nice to see everyone despite being a brief trip. The boys were great travelers so I'm hoping for repeat performances the next time we head out of town.

Under the weather

We're all sick or convalescing from one ailment or another right now. I had a stomach bug last week, Dave and Moses have colds, and poor Milo has both the bug and cold. Everyone's on the mend now, which is fortunate because Dave and I are borderline delirious from lack of a good night's sleep.

I thought I saw a puddy cat.

Moses "helped" make dinner tonight by sitting on the washer and sampling the raw elements I assembled. When I was dividing the stick butter I needed, he said "cheese" and held out his hand for some. I told him that it wasn't his precious cheese but butter instead and that he shouldn't just eat it plain.

Then, while I was washing an onion, he took 1 tablespoon of that butter and stuffed it into his mouth.

Are those canary feathers, Moses?

I made sure he had some real cheese to snack on after that.

Dimply sweet

Milo was all grins and giggles this afternoon while lying atop his new quilt that Dave's Aunt Inez made (Thank you!). I don't know what it is about that boy, but it is so easy to solicit a smile from him. I'm so used to Moses' stoicism that I tend to go a little over bored capturing Milo's dimply grin.

Happy December!

I'm here, and we're all well!

I've learned that if I want my house to be clean and to have dinner on the table every night while minding two small children I can't stop moving throughout the day (or I won't want to get up again) so I'm trying my darnedest not to stop this month. I have a lot of catching up to do though because I was l-a-z-y during October and November.

Sigh.

I'll be back very soon with an update and pictures of my two-year-old!

Shameless self-bragging!

I just ran all 3.5 miles of our usual walking route. I'm so ecstatic! I've been doing a walk/run combo for a couple of weeks now, but today was the first day I had it in me to run the whole way. The boys were perfect, sleeping witnesses to my achievement but woke the second we got home so we're celebrating with some yummy clementines.

I've now lost 50 of the 65 pounds I set out to lose. With a little discipline (fewer pastries and daily exercise), it's been easier than I anticipated so hopefully I'll be in my skinny pants soon!

Woot!

Tag! I'm it.

I was tagged by both Leslie and Meredith several weeks ago and have been building a post in my head until I had time to respond. Now I have some time to list 7 random things about myself:

1. I'm horribly obsessed with textures. I'm very particular about how textiles feel on my skin and certain things irk me to no end. I can't tolerate sand on my skin. I dislike satin against my hands and feet. Fleece and jersey material is fine to wear so long as I don't have to touch it. My parents still regale the horrors of getting my socks' seams right on my feet as a kid (my dad once cut the toes from my ballet tights after such a battle). Because of this quirk, I have an obsession with lotion. Lotion seems to mollify my aversions somewhat but not completely.

2. Drains gross me out. If I have to clean or touch a drain I usually gag. I also refuse to stand near a drain in the shower or tub.

3. I'm terrible at follow through. I've learned a lot of different skills in my 27 years, but I'm terrible at finishing items (sewing, knitting, scrapbooks, woodworking, upholstery). I'm working on that though...for the time being that is. ;)

4. I'm particular about numbers. There isn't a rhyme or reason to my preferences but I know them when I see them. For instance, Moses' birthday is 11/28/06. 1+1 is 2. 2 from 8 is -6 (and the slashes could denote an absolute value, which would make the answer 6 or 06). My mind finds these weird connections to make the numbers desirable. My drivers' license is a jumble of 1s, 0s, and 5s - I love it!

5. I eat the foods on my plates one at a time - all the green beans, all the mashed potatoes, all the bread...and my drink is always last (I'm also no longer a vegetarian since my last pregnancy when I craved chicken. Now, I eat chicken and turkey sparingly).

6. I took 8 years of Latin in school. I really enjoyed it and while I can't actually speak it, it is helpful on occasion.

7. I'm obsessed with puns! I've gotten less annoying with age, but I still enjoy a good pun and go out of my way to point them out. Dave found an annual pun competition in Austin that I'd love to attend. I'd compete except that the practice for such an event my be overkill for my family (aka practice audience). I can't wait until the boys are able to understand and enjoy puns.

( A more recent addition could be that I've bec0me obsessed with the Twilight Saga. There are very few books I've read more than once (the only other I can think of is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn), but I'm currently reading the four books for the second time and I'm about to embark on a third reading of each. Too bad the movie is a stinker. Sigh.)

I'm tagging Laura, Misty, Megan, Nicole, Patty, Jennifer, and Ashley B!

Halloween

2008. I thought I should specify the year these photos were taken since so much time has lapsed since my last post. 2009 could have been a possibility.

Our family kept Halloween low-key, but we still enjoyed the usual costuming. Moses reprised his Yoda role from last year, and we slapped a Monkey hat on Milo. Voila! Halloween.

Since both boys are too young to really trick-or-treat, we visited Gran and Granpop's house for one treat - a toy monster truck. I really hope Moses doesn't think future trick-or-treating will yield such prizes or he's in for a real let down.



We then went to our friends' house to hand out candy with them and enjoy the holiday. They have two daughters, Vivian, who is 8 months older than Moses, and Olivia, who is just a month older than Milo. Moses and Vivian enjoyed handing out candy, but Moses threw in the towel after spotting a kid in a monster mask. The ensuing freak out was legendary. Since he wasn't the same happy kid after that, they shed their costumes and played to their hearts' content.

Sleep Mode

I'm no stranger to seeing Moses asleep in his chair after having a meal, but on Sunday, Moses climbed into his chair solely to nap.

The two boys and I were playing in the living room but then I left to change Milo's diaper. Not even five minutes later, I returned to find Moses asleep in his chair like this:

If we lived in a world of robots, this is how I imagine they'd look when powered down.

My little tadpoles

I'm not sure if it was the tree and snail motif on Milo's pajamas but Moses thought Milo's belly was a good place for his frogs. Then, he found the superfluous little pocket and had to put a frog in there too.



I was able to snap some of Moses and Milo together, which is usually a pretty tough feat. Strangely, it's Moses who is the difficult one to photograph: he's usually a big, weird mouthed blur.



Milo was enamored with Moses the whole time we were playing on the floor. He just kept watching and smiling at his big brother.

Fall, Out Boys

I'm quickly learning how precious time is once your second child is out of that newborn stage. Milo is no longer sleeping a majority of the time, and while he's developing a routine, I still find my hands the fullest they've ever been: it seems I'm constantly keeping cars from getting microwaved while wiping up oodles of spit up and juggling a cup of coffee. Don't even get me started on the house.

As always, I've composed many a blog in my head only to not have the time to get my thoughts down on keyboard. I've been more diligent about taking photos though since it's the easier form of blogging these days. Here are some highlights:

Fall Planting: We bought some ferns and fall annuals for our back patio. Moses was incredibly helpful and quickly picked up on the dos (the don'ts were a little harder to comprehend). After he saw me packing the dirt around our newly planted flowers, he was suddenly a professional gardener and insisted that he pack the dirt around all our plants, new and old.


Milo watched us plant, pounding his fists when he wasn't satisfied with our pace. All his direction paid off though--I love fall colors.

Pensive Progeny: Milo reached a new level of awesomeness while sleeping. Such a thoughtful boy.

He's just one cool dude all-around though.

Cocoa: We're still taking our long walks most mornings even though the weather is turning chilly, and our new favorite thing is having a cup of hot chocolate when we get home. Even though Moses' mug only has a couple of ounces, it's the highlight of his morning--he even wakes up talking about "co-co." If these eyes and lips don't scream satisfaction, I don't know what else would.

Well, it's off to bed. I aim to blog most nights but usually end up falling asleep with Milo, at least tonight was a success!

Milo'sTwo Month Check Up

Milo had his 2 month check-up (at 10 weeks) this morning. All went well as usual and he got the age appropriate shots. Even though I know the shots are coming and that they'll be fine in no time, I always cry when my boys get those. It's so hard to seem them so upset.

14 pounds 5 ounces (93rd percentile)
25 inches (95th percentile)
40.5 centimeters head circumference (50th percentile)

Dave and I've joked that he's a little pinhead because he's getting so chunky everywhere but his noggin'. I guess our observation was correct!

I also talked to our pediatrician about Moses' lack of vocabulary (he has maybe 30 words total, only 10 of which are clear and understandable to others out of context). He's got a great listening vocabulary and can understand most anything we say, but he's just not meeting the 50-100 spoken words that our doctor wants to see at two years of age. So, we're taking Moses for a hearing test, and he's to begin speech therapy soon. I'll keep our fans posted!

Car-razy

Moses has always been car crazy, but after receiving some Matchbox cars over the weekend, he's taken it to a new level: he doesn't let the cars leave his sight and has slept with a front-end loader at least once this week.

Below he is transporting dirt in his dump truck from one end of the bench to the other and swinging with cement mixer and the same dump truck. I'm getting pretty good at naming vehicles.