Letters

Something i forgot to mention yesterday-- Henry seems to be learning his letters! I know he's not the only 2 year-old on the planet to do this, but i'm astounded and for a long time just chalked it up to dumb luck. But, he's clearly known the letter 'B' for several months and can now recognize most of the letters in his name. In fact now when we read books he wants to find "H for Henry" on every page. Unfortunately he doesn't recognize lower case letters so he gets frustrated some.

But seriously, isn't this amazing?

Here's Henry concentrating on a puzzle while the other kids go nuts with the musical instruments behind him at his gym class.

Bedtime dallying

Henry has always been a good sleeper-- well okay, definitely not ALWAYS, but since around 6-8 months he's been a reliably good little sleeper. He pretty much never puts up a fight about taking naps or going to bed, but we've noticed in the last week or so that he seems to be fighting bedtime. At first i thought it was because he was having so much fun with his Oma and Opa that he didn't want to miss out by going to bed.

Several nights while they were here he would tell me he didn't want to go to sleep and he wanted to play with Oma and Opa and then agree and seem fine when i said it was time for rest and after he woke up the next day he'd be able to play with them and have lots of fun. A few seconds or minutes later he would completely melt down about something seemingly unrelated, i.e. no snacks in bed! It's almost like he's overtired, but he's going to bed at the same time and waking up later now that the sun is rising later, so i just don't know. The behavior has continued after Oma and Opa left so i think he might be finally entering fully the "another glass of water" phase.

An upshot is that i've been able to put my music classes with Silas to good use. Henry seems to approve/deal with my voice and now i have at least a few more songs in my repertoire.

5 Months, 3 Weeks/ 2 Years, 5 Months

What a wonderful visit we had with Henry and Silas' Oma and Opa! We enjoyed some crisp fall weather, visits to the park, playing in the back-yard and jumping on Henry's new trampoline. Unfortunately Silas' music class was cancelled this Saturday, but Oma did get to accompany us to Henry's gym class.

JT was out of town on business, so i brought Silas with us even though the class coincided with his normal bedtime. I figured he would probably at least cat nap in his car seat and then maybe fuss some but go to bed after we got home.

Silas surprised me by being completely awake and alert throughout the entire hour long class. After it was clear he wasn't going to sleep anytime soon, Sheree put him so he could watch the class too. You'd think his car seat had a motor on it with all the rocking he was doing. He was blowing non-stop bubbles as well and in general loving the class. So, we might have to look into a gym class for Silas sooner rather than later.

Henry had another great class and Sheree got to witness how well he does at listening and how brave he is with most things even if you can tell he's not completely psyched for them-- witness the rings.

Henry also expanded his horizons this weekend by riding his first Pony and getting up close and personal with all manner of animals in the petting zoo. There was a kind of mini county fair that we took the boys to and Henry had a blast-- not so much on the inflatable bouncer, but everything else was a hit.

5 Months, 2 Weeks/ 2 Years, 4 Months

September has meant back to school for Henry and Silas, in the form of their very-own enrichment classes. Silas had a great first music class and enjoyed looking at Corey and the teacher very much. Of course the class is supposed to be all about mom/dad-baby interaction, but they didn't specify which mom so i guess Silas is technically in the clear. We got a cd that goes along with the class and i have to confess i've been playing it frequently in the car, so that i've got a jump on any musical pop-quizzes we might have.

Henry started his gym class Monday night and it was an amazing success. I really didn't know what to expect. Even though he's come a long way in the past 6 months, he's still not the most physically confident kid. He had an absolute blast. From the moment we walked in he wanted to start exploring all the cool things he could see in the play area. He had so much fun figuring out what everything was, crawling through tunnels, jumping on the trampoline, climbing the stairs and lowering himself into the ball pit, etc. There were a few things that just a month or two ago would have sent him into paroxysms of fear and meltdown that he took in stride-- albeit with a frightened look on his face. I felt like i caught a glimpse of Henry in the school-years to come. He was good at following directions and observing the other kids and teachers, and also excited to interact with them and follow-along. It's a particularly good thing he enjoyed it, because this particular class lasts 20 weeks!

This weekend Tabitha and the girls and the Smerrys came over and Troy and JT and Tabitha cooked up quite a feast. Tabitha and the girls stayed over, and we put on Curious George to help the kids wind down together after a rambunctious game of hide-n-seek. Even Kerala got in on the act although unfortunately Silas was already fast asleep, it was past his self-imposed 6:30 bedtime.

JT's parents, Oma and Opa are visiting for the next several days, so we're looking forward to Henry re-developing those relationships.

Music Appreciation

Somewhere around 7th grade, music started to take on a central role in my life. Around that time i started to enter the "angsty" years, and my favorite bands seemed to really know me, and be able to express what i was feeling but didn't really understand. Thus, i would listen to the same tape every day after school while i did my homework, literally for weeks. I knew the words to every song, and i could anticipate which song was coming next in the pauses between tracks. I didn't have much of an outlet for this interest because i lived on Guam, where the bands i favored did not venture.

When i started 10th grade, we moved back to the States and i discovered a whole world of young-people that revolved around music. Positive Force was a loosely organized group that primarily put on punk rock benefit shows. These seemed to happen around once a month and were held in the basement of DC churches. From this point through college, going to see bands at cheap $5 shows-- most of which were all-ages, became one of the primary ways i socialized. In addition to filling my social life, music was something that i lavished time and money on. It takes a certain amount of effort to stay current, ferret out what you actually like, and make it yours-- keep in mind this was at a time when the computer lab still had mainframe terminals and not personal computers, thus no itunes, playlists, or internet to speak of.

While negotiating the path to adulthood, music provided a visceral boost to those thrilling moments of feeling in-control and free. Driving home in the quiet dusk with a car full of friends after a full day on the river listening to James Taylor's "You've got a friend" or positively exploding with promise when "These are Days" by the 10,000 manics came on the radio as i drove home from high school graduation.

Somewhere after college music dropped a bit in my priority list. Somehow, at least for me, the freedom and independence that music provided wasn't as crucial the more i came into them by my own right. Which isn't to say that i don't care about music anymore, it's just that my tastes tend to be shaped more by what's in front of me, than by what i seek out and make my own. That's why a decent chunk of the music i've bought in the last several years i've heard about on NPR, and why my current favorite song (Cyril the Karaoke Squirrel) is from one of Henry's cds.

I'm assuming this new music class i'm taking with Silas will usher in another music phase, as i'm told i have to sing along, and sometimes solo, as well as make up rhythms and beats.. Clearly music will now be less about my independence and more about providing joy for my offspring. How fitting.

2 Years, 4 Months/ 5 Months, 1 Week

I've made a few tweaks to the blog lately-- i'm including my latest signature on the right hand sidebar. I'm also including an automatic age counter at the bottom of the page so i don't have to manually track Henry and Silas' age. I like to title one post per week with their ages, so that when i read back over the posts i can be reminded when the boys did things for the first time or went through various phases.

Silas and i have our first music class on Saturday, and Henry has gym for the first time on Monday. We're looking forward to upcoming visits from both sets of grandparents and trying to make sure we keep taking advantage of the good weather-- albeit hot.

Here are a few more pictures from the zoo this past weekend (thanks Corey) Henry and Rollie are rocking the hippest toddler color for this season-- orange!

Official end of Summer-- boo, hoo

I think we did a pretty good job sending summer out. Saturday we bought a new tv and JT re-taught Henry how to do the "touchdown" sign after spending most of the day relaxing in front of college football. Yesterday we went back out to Tabitha's pool and Henry had another great time. He seemed even more comfortable in the water this weekend than last weekend. Tabitha and i talked about trying to get the kids to the pool during the winter months-- even just for some free swim. It will be an additional option for outings during the long winter months.

Today we met 3 other families at the zoo and Henry definitely enjoyed seeing all the "aminals." He saw giraffes, and elephants, lots of monkeys and even an otter. I think his favorite might have been the polar bears. Both days we were home by early afternoon, which was nice to have time to accomplish all the weekend chores that need doing.

Silas has had a fairly eventful weekend as well even though all the outings weren't exactly targeted at him. He has been rolling over sporadically for the past several weeks but this weekend he pretty much non-stop started rolling. Unfortunately he has been exercising his legs when it's time for sleep, so naptimes have been pretty rough.

Happy 5 Months Silas!

Having two little ones makes life busy, don't get me wrong. But i think we've managed to not feel as harried as is often the assumption given JT and i both work full-time and have two little boys under three. I have noticed that life has picked up the pace now that i'm back at work, so i'm not suggesting that i'm spending hours in a hammock. I do however think that that working from home, not having a commute, JT's equal share in parenting, and two layed-back children, makes for a busy and fulfilling life that i wouldn't characterize as "out of control." I have a sense that the really busy times will come when the kids are a little older, in school, and busy with homework and their various interests. We'll have to figure out ways to manage all the competing demands at that point, but i'm sure we'll work something out when we get there-- or you'll hear me complaining about it here.

The torrential rains and thunderstorms finally let up this weekend, and we got to take advantage of one of the last two official weekends of summer by going with the Pendleton family out to their fancy pool and closing out Sunday with a bbq at our house. Just to give you an idea of JT's idea of an "easy Sunday bbq," the menu consisted of Thai-style bbq chicken, Thom ka soup (thai coconut milk-soup with mushrooms and shrimp), and sauteed asparagus. Tiffany gave me some great ideas for the basement revamp i'm planning and i hope to start tackling some of the projects in the next few weeks.

Although the month isn't quite over, i loaded photos from August onto Picasa.

26 Weeks

5 trips in 6 months-- not too shabby... We returned this afternoon from our visit to DC. Unfortunately the trip got mixed reviews. It was good to be back in DC surrounded by friends and family (and our favorite restaurants). Our friends' wedding was completely heartfelt and funky. The downside to the trip was the stomach bug i awoke with early Saturday morning. Our Saturday afternoon plans with friends and the Bane kids was nixed and i barely managed to drag myself to the wedding that night. After more dry toast than i wish to enumerate, and a few naps i'm starting to feel better.

Henry fared pretty well on the trip. He always has a bit of a rough time when we're not at home on our normal routine, but then again he has some rough days when we are here. Gran and Nonna and Oma and Opa loved spending time with him and i think he enjoyed showing off his burgeoning personality and new abilities. He did great on the flights to and fro, and has settled down for the night after not too much crying.

I'll try to feature highlights of our visit as the week progresses!

5 Months, 25 Days

Yesterday when i went to pick Henry up Brenda told me that her niece, who absolutely adores Henry, wasn't helping out on Monday, but she decided to come by just because she missed Henry. As Monday was a holiday for me, Henry was home and she was so sad she missed him. I love stories like this-- he's just surrounded by good vibes at Ms. Brenda's.

Henry seemed to be doing a little better in the fussy department today. Still no tooth so who knows. His cold seems better and mine is getting worse-- yuck! We're leaving tomorrow for our trip to DC so you're on notice that there won't be updates until we're back on Sunday. Of course most of our audience will be seeing Henry in person which should help.

I started making baby food for Henry yesterday. Next week he'll be 6 months and we're going to venture into the world of solids. We're planning on starting with veggies next week and skipping cereals entirely. The research i've read shows no advantages to cereals and in fact they can easily cause constipation which i really don't want to inflict on my little guy. I bought veggies at the grocery store this week and then just boiled them, ground them in the cuisinart, and froze them. Now they're ready to go! So, pictures next week should be interesting.

5 Months, 24 Days

Today when i dropped Henry off at Brenda's he cried for the first time since his first day at daycare. I called during afternoon naptime and she said that he was doing fine, just a bit fussy. That pretty much sums up how he's been the past few days. I really think there is teething going on because i've, ahem, felt something sharp. His cold seemed to be a little better so hopefully it will continue to clear up.

Otherwise not much to report today. Here's a moving picture of Henry and his pie plate from just a few days ago.

5 Months, 23 Days

We made full-use of the new bundle-mes that i bought on craigslist over the weekend. Today was a beautiful fall day but there was some amount of chill involved. Henry enjoyed snuggling into his bundleme while in his carseat on the way to the grocery stores and also in his stroller when we went for a late afternoon walk.

Unfortunately i have Henry's cold now too so today was a pretty low-key day for both of us. I managed to get some work done during his first nap, and then took a nap myself during his second nap. We went grocery shopping during his awake time and other than spitting up all over everything several times while we were out, he did just fine. He sat up in the cart (or at least leaned up) and seemed to really dig checking out all the foods. We had nice long conversations about what to look for when picking fruits and vegetables so i think you could count it as an educational outing.

Later in the day when Henry was making it clear he wasn't going to take a third nap, we went on a nice long walk in the stroller and met dad who walked home with us. Henry seems to really dig walking around looking at things now that he sits up in the stroller. He doesn't sleep but he does enter this kind of quiet dazed period which i figure we can count as his "quiet time in lieu of a nap."

25 Weeks

Not sure what it is about the weekends that Henry doesn't like but there was a lot of fussing and crying today. He only took one proper nap and cried lots during other sleep times. His cold is back so the poor thing is all congested again and i swear he's cutting a tooth. I can't really see anything still, but i can feel the faintest sharp point in the middle of his upper gum. Hopefully we'll see soon if i'm hallucinating or not.

We are looking forward to our visit to DC next weekend. We're heading there to attend our friends' relocated New Orleans wedding. While there, we're trying to fit in visits to friends, favorite restaurants, and family. Luckily i think Henry will mostly be able to stay put and hopefully more or less on his schedule.

Henry is getting really into the cats. Even at his fussiest today he would just grin whenever he saw them. He's gotten a few fistfuls of fur and they've both been good sports about it which is encouraging.

5 Months, 20 Days

Beware the eyebrow!

I can't start off each post with "Brr, it's cold," because that would sound like bellyaching, but i'm putting you on notice that i'm thinking it. Today i had to bust out my fuzzy socks, and i considered donning the Lisa suit, but remembered the rule that i can only wear it when it's below 30 degrees. Henry did wear a long-sleeve fleece blanket sleeper on top of his cotton pajamas for the first time tonight. We haven't turned on the heat yet and his room gets chilly.

In case you haven't gathered from context, i was cold today so since i was cold, i decided to get in the bath with Henry instead of relying on his bath seat. He used to take a bath with either JT or I every night, but at some point it just became easier to only have to dry one of us off and wrestle us into pajamas. He was clearly telling me that he really will be ready for swim classes this winter because he was absolutely kicking up a storm. I could hold him sitting up and he was completely enthralled with his toys.

Few site details-- i'm posting new pictures for weeks 21-24 on Yahoo (got a bit behind) and there is a new link directly below the yahoo link called "signatures." Check it out when you get a chance for some beautiful Henry art.

5 Months, 19 Days

Although it was very chilly, i walked to pick up Henry (which is only mildly embarrassing to trek up there with the empty stroller) and bundled Henry up for the walk home. He was absolutely too cute in his fall outfit and personalized hat (thank you Katrena!) so i took pictures with the hat on when we got home.

Tomorrow i finish work at 3 pm so i'll be able to get Henry early and enjoy the three-day weekend with him. Today the hanger won out over the pie plate but we'll see what new household item grabs Henry's fancy tomorrow.

5 Months, 18 Days

Go Sox! Unfortunately Henry went to sleep before we started watching the game (thanks to tivo) but we enjoyed our second victory nonetheless!

Henry is on another third nap strike and therefore was extremely tired by 6 this evening. After eating he went to sleep promptly at 6:30. He has gotten to be quite a pro at dropping his toys when he's sitting in his booster seat. I made a cover to use when we go out to restaurants so that he can sit in the highchair and have his toys on ribbons. That way when he drops them they don't actually touch the floor and they're easier to retrieve. Hopefully i'll get some action shots next time we go out to dinner with him.

While he continued to enjoy the pie pan he's also quite enamored with his child-size hanger. He loves to reach out towards all his clothes and grab the hangers as i take outfits out of his closet. The hook is the perfect size for him to suck on and he even enjoyed playing with it in the bath tonight.

5 Months, 17 Days

Henry enjoyed talking with his friend today at daycare. They sit in their bouncy seats and just jabber away at each other. Or she talks and he just laughs and laughs. He also kicks so high in the bouncer and just thinks it's hysterical. We had some continuing laughs with the pie pan and then began our evening routine.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the last day of this crazy summer-like weather. I've just about packed away all of Henry's summer clothes-- it's crazy to think he won't be able to fit any of them when it's warm again in the spring. After he went to bed i started work on my newest project-- organizing the garage. We have one space out of our 3-car garage but i decided to hang the bikes and put up shelves. I managed to get up about half the shelf brackets. I figure about 2 more hours of work and we'll be in business!

5 Months, 16 Days

Although little man was very, very sleepy when i picked him up from Brenda's, he refused to take a nap when he got home, so we played contentedly with the pie pan, and climbed all over dad, and then hit the bath and bed-- tonight with no crying. I'm definitely out of practice as regards the loud crying, so i'll be very happy if this phase has passed.

I think his cold is just about over which is a really nice thing. He has an absolute hatred for the blue sucking bulb and manages to make it very difficult to stick that pointy device into his tiny nostrils, so no more congestion is something i'm celebrating.

My Chicago friends and i made plans to start taking advantage of the city more-- ya know cultural events and stuff. I made a list of both adult and child-friendly events that we can start to schedule (you know i love to schedule) and i have to say that i'm excited for the winter! Of course Henry is much to little for most of the events but we've got cover from my friend's older daughter. Of course i went on a hayride completely childless last year so i'm not sure i wouldn't just venture into the face painting booth with or without the little ones around.

24 Weeks

Trying to be flexible and hold to your guns at the same time seems contradictory and yet a key to parenthood. For some reason Henry is emroiled in a rough patch of sleep issues. For the past three nights he's been crying for 30 minutes to an hour before finally falling asleep. On Saturday he cried for a hour before finally sleeping for two hours for his morning nap. Consequently we missed our portrait appointment-- hence the flexability.

Amongst all the sleep angst, we still managed to wring enjoyment out of the ridiculously beautiful weekend-- hot but beautiful. We went to the park on Saturday and Henry got a big kick of the swing. You could put his other three quadruplet siblings in the swing with him and there'd be room for aplenty, but he didn't notice.

We enjoyed kicking back and making dinner at a friends' house last night and stayed out as late as possible, because our upstairs neighbor was having a big party. Although we got home by 12:30, things were still going strong. I got Henry to bed, but JT and i had a much harder time falling asleep (hmm, could it have been the people on the deck above our bedroom and the thumping music?) after a quick visit upstairs things quieted down a bit but it was still around 2 am before we got to sleep.

We capped the weekend with extensive playtime involving an aluminum pie pan. I introduced it to Henry awhile back, but the pieplate moved up to his favorite toy today. He enjoys scritching his fingers on it, trying to lick the rim, and most of all, pounding his feet on it.

5 Months, 12 Days

Brr, today was our first day of real Chicago fall weather. I believe the high was right around 60 but it was also quite windy-- clear but a bit chilly. Of course this allowed us to exploit and new snuggly outfit and hat combo which Henry sported when we went to meet JT at the train at the end of the day.

Henry also played in his teetertot for the first time today. As you can tell i did a fair amount of padding to make it comfortable and "safe" for him although as only a 1950s toy could, the exposed springs require it to be a highly supervised toy.

We have our first neighborhood play group meeting tomorrow afternoon. Henry will get to meet several of the recent arrivals on the block.