It's Saturday Morning. Here's Your "Cartoon"!

This past week, B really stepped it up in the "game" department! We've spent many months trying to keep him entertained, which is a bit different than actual play. It was such a delight the other day to realize that he understood exactly what we were doing: he would go into our bedroom and then wait until I called him, at which point he would come out giggling. We performed this routine several times before I could grab my camera, and of course everything went downhill from there. So while this video is a sad representation of the fun we had, at least you get a good Brooksie smile out of it:



Video technical note: I have not adopted YouTube as my preferred mode of uploading-- it just is what is easiest when I take video with my regular camera rather than our video camera. I do enjoy a good editing experience after using the video camera-- I'm generally just too lazy to go find it!

Our Second Home

I may as well move into the 3rd bedroom Chez Carlson since I've been spending so much time there! (Hmm--- maybe that was the exterminator Lindsey was calling the last time I was over...) After hosting playgroup on Tuesday, she let B and me crash their evening Wednesday, and then they took care of Brooksie while I had a date with the dentist yesterday. I can't imagine this motherhood adventure without these lovely ladies, or ANY of the "Spring '08 New Moms" gang! We are so truly lucky to have each other!

Brooks really seemed to take my absence with great seriousness and sadness:

PS-- Friday Poll! Get in your vote!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

Two toddlers in a tub!

B wasn't sure what to make of the unfamiliar bathtub mate-- especially when she poked him in the ear:

C, of course, is indignantly innocent. "Who, me?":

A few of you loyal readers know the story of a mutual Baylor friend of ours who married a guy with whom she has bathtub pictures just like this from childhood-- I think an example pic was even printed in The Dallas Morning News on their wedding day! So who knows what might be in store for these two?! :-)

Tongues are Wagging

After months of no dental activity, B's 6th tooth has finally come through. (Thank goodness his toothy grin won't be asymmetrical anymore!) I'm not sure if he likes to feel it, or if some on the bottom are about to make an appearance, but we've sure seen a lot of his tongue lately!

We went to play at the Carlson's abode yesterday afternoon and B managed to not stick out his tongue for at least one good pic snapped by Lindsey:

Important Business Meeting

Yesterday, B said to me, "You know what? I see my kid friends all the time, but it's sure been a long while since I've seen my adult friends." He pestered and pestered us until we relented and gave him permission to stay up late in order to meet some cronies at Fuddruckers. Once there, he made sure to get the seat at the head of the table so he could keep the group on task with his agenda. He was pontificating about Point One ("Invent fruit-flavored vegetables") when I tried to capture the moment...rather unsuccessfully:

Although he wouldn't allow his position of executive power to be captured accurately, he managed to make it through the full agenda. Exhausted, he then refueled with some yogurt:

(Suzi, thanks so much for the straw suggestion-- it works great!)

Stand and Deliver...food

Since the little guy came to live with us, we've been attending the 8 AM service at our church. There are 3 services each Sunday (at 8:00, 9:30, and 11) and each of them is a different worship style: traditional, "spirited" traditional, and contemporary, respectively. Being middle-of-the-road people in pretty much any situation, we prefer the middle service which is also currently the only one with a full choir. Unfortunately, B's nap schedule has prevented us from going at 9:30, so it's an early morning for everyone.

As other parents know, the challenge added to any normal task by having a child is not commensurate with the physical size of that extra being. I mean, he's just a little pipsqueak-- why does getting our family ready for church take SO much longer than it did with just the 2 of us?! But, alas, it does. So we have to be creative with our preparations. Here's where breakfast started yesterday:

groovy rooster hair, right?! if only some would grow in the front!

PS-- See what I did there with the blog post title? How it's a movie? Because last night there was a little show celebrating movies? Cast your vote in the poll if you watched!

SATURDAY BIRTHDAY GREETINGS!

Birthday wishes are in order for two very loyal readers! Today is the day we celebrate the birth of both Karen B and Grammie Sheils! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

To make it even sweeter, we are also celebrating the arrival yesterday of Karen's second son, Micah! What a weekend!

I hereby give everyone permission to LIVE IT UP today in honor of these two lovely ladies and a very special little guy! Feel free to share your story of the crazy things you will do/have done in their honor! :-)

The Training Starts Now

Goal: To be like Uncle Geoff...and eventually make it onto Jeopardy!

Step 1: Become a massive cereal-lover. (check!)

Once B stopped wanting to be spoon-fed, we decided maybe he'd be into fetching his own cereal. Turns out that he LOVES to pick up little cereal pieces out of a bowl! (Sorry, Sheils-- I know this grosses you out!) He's been enjoying Quaker Oatmeal squares; I soak 'em in some milk so that, when he eats the cereal pieces, he's also getting some bonus whole milk for the day!

And yes...just like a true cereal aficionado, he drinks the milk straight out of the bowl! :-)

Assorted Thoughts

For those of you who clearly do NOT have the gene for asparagus-affected urine per the poll results, here's a brief explanation I found here:

WHY DOES YOUR PEE SMELL WHEN YOU EAT ASPARAGUS?
Asparagus contains a sulfur compound called mercaptan. It is also found in onions, garlic, rotten eggs, and in the secretions of skunks. The signature smell occurs when this substance is broken down in your digestive system. Not all people have the gene for the enzyme that breaks down mercaptan, so some of you can eat all the asparagus you want without stinking up the place.

You know whose else's pee doesn't smell? The Domestic Diva!! I am very remiss in reporting that we finally gave up after about a week of her soaking in the large Pyrex. Here's how it turned out:


Not exactly 600%. More like 300%. But that's okay-- turns out she's REUSABLE! So she's already shrunk back to her original size. Cross your fingers that you get invited to the next shindig over here so you can see her grow again! :-)

Inappropriate?? Perhaps.

But I bet it'll be the most fun poll you participate in today!! Cast your vote now!

We're Sure Glad to Have This Guy Back!

The Snuggly Sickie

One good thing that comes from having a little boy who has a fever is that he's extra snuggly. So our day yesterday was a lot of this:

And this:

And, strangely, when the snuggle recipient was just too far away, this:

I'm hoping we find a happy, healthy child today!

Update: After sleeping until 8 AM, B seems to be feeling better and his temp is 2 degrees lower than it was yesterday. I think we'll have one more day o' recuperation and hopefully he'll be back to normal tomorrow!

Multitasking

How the book-reading and milk-drinking gets done around here:

We are excited for the big guy to be home today for the holiday, but just found the little guy to have a fever. Boo.

Fun With Grammie (and some fake relatives)

As you read, Grammie Sheils arrived late on Wednesday-- and she was only staying until Saturday. So we had MUCH to do in a short period of time.

There was some banana-sticker-wearing:

Posing:

Horsey-riding:

Dancing: (which, let me just say, is NOT a usual event. Unlike his BFF, Cadence, whose name is true to life, B has not revealed himself to have any interest in rhythmic movement. But we were playing the "Toddlers Sing Sunday School" CD I checked out of the library, and he was downright busting a move to "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy"!)

Then yesterday morning, Fake Auntie Chisty and Fake Uncle Eric came over for a Valentine's Day breakfast:

B wasn't sure about bacon, but he LOVES his FAC!:


Thanks for coming to visit us, Grammie!!! We love you! (And Opa, too!)

Someone Wants to Say...

...Happy (almost) Valentine's Day!

Yesterday

Poor Grammie Sheils. Her flight had pulled away from the gate and was getting ready to take off when they announced that there was some sort of malfunction with a light. Back to the gate they went. After sitting there for some time, they were then herded off the plane. They were finally able to take off-- a mere 2 hours late. So by the time she arrived, it was 5:30 and her interaction with the B-man consisted of games in the car on the way home from the airport, after which he was bathed and put to bed. Kind of a bummer, but oh well. At least she made it.

With the new later time scheme, I completely forgot to take a pic of Brooks and his Grammie for today's blog post. Alas, there will just have to be a birthday recap. I promise this is IT until next February 11th!!

So after the party a few weeks ago, I was complaining to Sheils that I couldn't stop eating the leftover cake. She suggested I freeze some of it for her to eat when she came. Somehow that just didn't register in my brain and, the next thing I knew, I was yelling at Seth to eat the rest of the cake so I didn't have to. Like a good trash disposal, he did. She asked tonight for her piece of frozen cake.....oops. I can't believe I forgot!! So at 8 pm, I decided to trek to the Teeter (which, in the absence of Wegmans, is a better alternative than most), and I picked up a nice selection of desserts for us to enjoy. Lindsay sent me some great "30" candles so we dressed up the treats. No, I'm not turning 90....

After Seth got home from class, we opened a box that had arrived from his mom. I knew she had been working on something for Brooks's birthday, but I had no idea what. The wait was definitely worth it. Check out this hand-sewn growth chart!

And look! Stumpy makes a personal appearance and even got his name on the chart! (Note that the sewn one doesn't have front feet, just like the real Stumpy!):

Today

I've always been the weirdo who looks forward to getting older. I just think it sounds like SO much fun to be an old biddy and get together with friends from long-ago and laugh about that one time I only wanted half of a batch of brownies and thought pouring it into just half the pan would work!! I mean, it's already funny-- so how much better is it going to be in 50 more years?

That being said, I look at recent pictures and see the crow's feet and all the other lines, and wonder how bad it's all going to get physically. But then I remind myself that it's all the HAPPINESS expressed through smiling and laughing that caused those lines! (right?!)

I've had a fabulous 30 years and look forward to celebrating today with Sheils, who is arriving this afternoon from Dallas. I sure owe her and Opa G a whole lot!!! Thanks for the life thing, parentals!

PS-- Today's post would be not be complete without a mention of MY FABULOUS TWIN, Carrie A! I hope you have a WONDERFUL 30th birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk About Good for the Heart

Behold, the littlest Kento bean, a little worse for wear:

While I've been fretting over his lack of eating veggies, his pappy's concern has been about protein. I've now done the research to know that the recommended daily allowance of protein is satisfied by 16 oz of milk (which he drinks without problem), so it's not such a big deal. As a certified (or certifiable) overachiever, however, I'm still all about finding new solutions!! Seth wondered aloud the other night if it were possible to make bread out of beans....a quick google search later and voila!

I made it with refried beans and it is TASTY! The littlest Kento bean loves it, too! Hooray for the beans!

Taking Advantage of Warm Weather...A Little Too Much

The weather this weekend was such a nice break from what we've been having (although I'm still holding for some more snow days!), so we enjoyed a stroll down to the tot lot in our neighborhood yesterday.

B loves to go walking:

Swings are pretty cool, too:



Sitting around isn't too shabby:

These guys are okay:

Then, however, the fun ended:

Apparently, Mr. Curious decided to walk right off the curb into the street. Since he's always so careful to turn around and back down over any difference in height (which is hysterical when the object in question is a mat that's an inch off the ground), we think he must not have realized it dropped off!

I'm Not Sure This is Progress

Brooks still wants pretty much nothing to do with being spoon-fed--Grammie's power over Skype died out awhile back--so I was thrilled when he decided he could still do yogurt as long as he could drink it out of a cup:

And....that lasted exactly one meal. Here's what he did the next time I gave it to him:

Yup. Why would he drink it out of the cup when he could just stick his whole hand in there and shovel it into his mouth? Yogurt is now ONLY a dinner/pre-bath treat.

This Monkey Needs More Training

We've been working on "Where's your nose? Point to your nose!" for weeks now with no real result other than an occasional gesture towards the mouth. One time, in the throes of frustration, I blurted out "Where's your ear?" and almost fell over when he pointed to his ear! And more than once! That's been our main party trick until yesterday, when Grammie Sheils (over Skype) asked him to clap--with no accompanying hand motions--and he did. I've never asked him to do that. Where do they come up with this stuff?

Anyway, this is not a blog post about milestones; rather, it's a blog post about the frustrations of an obsessively perfectionist mother. (I'm working on it.) Seth started his graduate statistics course last evening, so I was on bath duty. Having just been on bath duty Monday night when Seth had to stay late at school, I was looking for a way to pass the time....so out came the camera. I then realized that perhaps I could get the trained monkey to show off one of his tricks for all you people! This is just one of the 9 different videos I took, all with the same maddening result:



SIGH! (Although he does look awfully cute, right?!)

The little scamp did decide to debut a new trick while ignoring me, however. Guess those swim lessons several months ago paid off because he spent the entire time all folded over and occasionally blowing bubbles. Out came the camera again. Then I realized he was actually drinking it:

SIGH AGAIN. Boy, does he look proud of himself:

(Another) Big Birthday Bash

As most of you loyal readers know, Brooks and I started attending an 8-week New Moms Support Group back at the end of March. Almost a year later, the group still hangs out once a week!! To celebrate the bambinos all turning 1, Brenna and Amedeo hosted a birthday party yesterday! We ate tasty food, did a gift-exchange, and gave the kids banana cupcakes (well, the rest of them did. B was in serious need of a nap by that point).

The gang:

Top row: Andrea/Andreas, Melanie/Jillian, Brenna/Amedeo, Emily2/Jack, us, Lindsey/Cadence, Marla/Leora, Dana/Jaden. Botton row: Denise/Jocelyn, Tammy/Christian, Ria's Grandmother/Ria.

For individual pics of each kid, check out Lindsey's blog.

Speaking of Lindsey, B seems to have developed a little infatuation with the mother of his intended (Cady). He's very sad when she walks away:

And loves it when she pays attention to him:

And loves it most of all when she feeds him:


Sigh.

The Dashing Doctor and The Domestic Diva

Unfortunately for Karen and Ian, who live on the other side of the Potomac, they did not win the prize for longest distance traveled to attend the festivities Saturday night. Their victory was spoiled by the presence of NYC resident (both the citizen and the medical kind), Jonathan, with whom I shared many a class in our formative Baylor years. Jonathan is the kind of friend where, even though we hadn't seen each in other in more than 2 years, we have enough in common to pick up as if we had just stepped out of Ann Miller's Short Fiction class, or walked out of a "Nerd Committee" meeting. He arrived by bus Saturday afternoon and was not only a huge help in party preparation, but also a wonderful addition to the crazy crew! He even passed on his love of literature to a certain little boy after church on Sunday:

And now on to pressing news... When the ShamWow demonstration began and a large bowl of water was retrieved, David and Alison suddenly appeared with their birthday card. The card included a wee little "domestic diva" who is supposed to grow 600% (over 10 days)-- and they wanted to take advantage of our water supply. I told the group I would provide periodic updates via blog, so here you go. Domestic Diva after 2.5 days soaking:

(I'm a little freaked out by the way her neck is bent!!)

Collage Crazy!

With 27 adults and 4 children under 2 years of age, our house Saturday night was full of activity! Thanks to the generosity of the best former boss ever, Ian, we have hundreds of fabulous pictures documenting the evening. Behold, a sampling (click to enlarge):



I don't actually hit the big 30 for 9 more days, but it was the best birthday present ever to have so many good friends in one place!

What Do You Get...

...when you throw a party where your attendees include 2 MDs, 2 PhDs, 1 JD, and at least 9 bearers of other postgraduate degrees?

OBVIOUSLY, you get...

Mustaches:

Fun with the ShamWow:

And a little bit of cake:

We had a blast at our big soiree last night. More pics to come! In the meantime, check out the AMAZING invitation that my cousin-in-law designed for the festivities. She loves to create invitations, etc, so if you have any parties coming up, surf on over to her site and hire her!