Every book is a children's book if the kid can read! - Mitch Hedberg


Monday, August 17, 2015

Reed Says Summer 2015 Edition

This Summer has definitely been a bit of an adjustment period for Reed. The preschool he's starting in a few weeks offers a Summer Day Care program that I enrolled him in three days a week for three hours. Every day when I pick him up he tells me about all of the fun things they did, the kids he played with, what the teachers taught him, but good-golly on the mornings I take him to school you would think I was trying to get him ready to be tortured. It was really very bad for a while. Lots of tears, yelling, kicking, acting out, etc. He still complains about going to school most days, but isn't lashing out nearly as much, doesn't cry when I drop him off, and still seems to love it each day I pick him up. I feel like the socialization with peers has been really great for him and I can't wait for school to officially start where he will have just one teacher and the attendance of all of the kids will be a bit more consistent.

Accomplishments over the last couple of months include standing up to pee, learning to write an R, sounding out short words, and being in charge of Dodger for about a quarter of our walk each day. Some of the words he comes up with just astound me and his thought processes are still so complex I really have to watch what I say or I easily back myself into a corner with a loop hole or technicality he figures out!


Normally on Sundays we just let the boys take one thing to Nonna and Pepe's so we don't run the risk of forgetting a bunch of important toys. A few weeks ago this exchange took place as we were getting ready to leave:
Reed: Can I take two Soft Sheeps into Nonna's house?
Mom: We'll see.
Reed: Does that mean yes or no? When Dad says that about Mario it's always a no, so I'm guessing it's a no.


When I discovered Dodger had dug a big hole in the backyard, throwing dirt all over the patio I said "Dodger!" pretty exasperatedly. Reedcito then came up to me, put his hand gently on me, and told me that he "sure would give him a consequence."


At dinner one Sunday Tio looked over and noticed that Reed's eyes were full of tears. He asked the Little Guy what was wrong and Reed explained in a wavering voice that "Yoshi is the last dinosaur. There are no more dinosaurs alive." He has been a little obsessed with dead vs. alive and dinosaurs in particular but apparently Tio bringing up Yoshi earlier at the table clicked with Reed that Yoshi was a dinosaur and therefore what his fate might be.


When Reed first started going to the Summer program at his preschool he was trying to remember everyone's name and was describing certain people to me. He described one of the teachers as "lumpier than Mrs. Young."


The Reedster was picking his nose and I told him that if he picked a booger again he was going to lose a bedtime book. A few minutes later Jon caught him with his finger up his nose and commented that it looked like he was losing a book. To which Reed replied that "I didn't actually get a booger so I can keep all of my books." - Loophole!


I left Reed in the garage taking off his shoes and brought a few bags of groceries into the house. He found me in the kitchen and informed me that he "took one shoe off outside and one off inside the house, because that's how I roll."


The Monkey is usually pretty hyped up when Nonna or Grandma arrive to babysit but one day he was over the top and kept bouncing a stuffed monkey, he calls Chatty, on Grandma. After hitting her in the chest a few times he declared that "Chatty is all up in Grandma's business."


School has definitely caused some separation anxiety and at the height of it Reed would talk about how he didn't like being away from me. At dinner he was going into detail about all of the people he didn't like to be away from including me, Grandma, Nonna, C, and Tio. When Jon asked "what about being away from me?" Reed very coolly replied "I'm okay with you being away from me."


Gran and Papa joined us for Sunday dinner one weekend and for some reason I ended up asking Kieran if different people around the dinner table were funny to which he kept saying yes to. So I asked him if there was anyone who wasn't funny, Reed quickly jumped in yelling "Gran!!!" -Apparently she has a better sense of humor than he gave her credit for because she laughed it off.


Reed's school is run by one of the local churches and every Wednesday they have Bible Study. One night something happened in the bathtub when Jon was washing up the boys and he said "Gosh." Reed then informed him that "Gosh is Gracious."

 
The boys love a CD called Here Come the ABCs by They Might be Giants. One of the songs is called Go for G and the chorus goes something like "Go, go, go, go for G." We were walking Dodger when Reed saw a gopher hole and asked me if that was "Gopher G or a different gopher?" It took me a minute, but I finally realized he was referencing the song!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Fun Day X

Ten years ago Jon declared we needed to have an annual day dedicated to fun.  At that point "we" meant our close adult, childless friends, most of who were single at the time. Fast forward ten years and we had over twenty married couples almost all of which have kids (or are with child) in attendance. It was a crazy day, but as always, a lot of FUN!!! After failing the last couple of years to get very many family shots I vowed to do better this year and Reed and I even built a photo booth. Of course the wind decided to work against us and we had to lower the height but it still provided a destination for pictures so I guess it was a success.

Reed the Fun Day setup Assistant

Kieran (21 months), Sarah, Reed (almost 4), and Jon

Mark, Stacey, baby Escudero (expected in October), and Ella (2)

Marli, Cole (4), Caden (13 months), and Adam

Phil, Maya (5), Lana (3), Kelly, and baby Askim (due in January)
 
Megan, Michael, Jack (14 months), and Dave
 
Natalie and Billy (they left the twins at home)

Allie, baby Stoothoff (expected in September), and Chris

Ashley, Eliana (9 months), and Yayo

Carlos and Andrea

Emily, Parker (2.25), and Drew

Nick, Ryan (3), and Michelle

Russell, Bailey (9 months), and Laurie

Karl, Lindsay, and Carver (23 months)

1st half of the Parkinson family: Shannon and Emmett (4 days - yes 4 days old!!!)

2nd half of the Parkinson family: Kevin and Clara (2.25 years)

Rory (6 months), Denae, Connor (2.5), and George

Deric, Brooke, and Evelyn (3 months)

The Zenith Insurance "Family" - Emily, Lee (left the twins at home and Phil was out of town), and Lindsay

Amanda, Vivienne (13 months), and Steve

Casey, Beth, and Henry (15 months)

Laura, baby Parkinson expected in February, Eden (22 months), and Mason

C, Tio, and Lyla (14 months)
 
This is Lyla's full ensemble before pool time, I had to share
With all of these kids running around we had to recruit Nonna, Pepe, Grandma, Grandpa, and some of the other Grandparents to watch the kids while us adults acted like children ourselves. A few of the older kids were entertained by a full length movie but it was all hands on deck for the rest of the group. It was pretty much madness anytime you walked into the pool house and I can't thank them enough for helping out!
 

 
While the kids were entertained we broke into three teams, did a relay, a beer hunt, and a water ball sling shot competition. Basically we made fools of ourselves and managed to get pictures to prove it. Besides having a lot of our local friends attend, all three of Jon's college roommates were able to come and even spent the night at our house so on top of a Fun Day we had a reunion weekend too!
 
Obstacle Course




 
Beer Hunt


Group Shot

Just a little has changed since their UCSD days
Slingshot Water Balls


 

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Twenty-One Months

Twenty-One months and I finally feel like Kieran has settled down a little. He's sleeping better in his big boy bed, hardly waking at night without being able to soothe himself back to sleep. He's rocking his naps lately, working hard to listen and please his brother, is great about changes in our schedule, and overall is a pleasure to be around. Don't get me wrong he is still a bundle of energy and I'm exhausted every night from chasing him around but boy is he a lot of fun!!!

 
Kieran is obsessed with using utensils and goes crazy for scooping cereal and milk out of a bowl. He loves Dodger and if he is upset about something he usually requests to "pet Dodger" and it calms him right down. He's also pretty polite, often asking for something by using please unprompted and also frequently saying thank you as well. I love the little human sponge he is right now and am constantly amazed by how much he takes in from his surroundings and is learning every day. Anytime he sees a blue car he declares that it's "Dad's tar" and whenever we drive by C and Tio's house he says "hi Lyla's house, hi C's house, hi Tee-wow's house."







Monthly Statistics

Weight: 24.5 lbs

Height: 34.5 inches

Clothing Size:  Shorts are 12-18 months while tops and pajamas are 18-24 months.

Shoe size: Size 6.5

Teeth: 16 - All canine teeth are finally in so we are done with teething until his two year molars make their appearance. Hallelujah!!!

Kieran likes: Doing anything with Dodger, including walking him, feeding him, petting him, and giving him lots of treats. K likes snacking, playing with bubbles, bath time, climbing up or on anything, balls, trying to play with Reed, Legos, playing in the tent, dance parties, reading books, playing outside, tickles, his play kitchen, opening cupboards, sorting and stacking toys, making silly faces with Dad, digging and playing in the dirt, Signing Time DVDs, going down slides, looking at pictures on my phone or that hang around the house, his special stuffed animals Gino the Gorilla and Max the Monkey.

Kieran dislikes: Diaper changes, long car rides, having the car seat strap touch his neck, having his face wiped, being told no, watching Mom leave, and getting things taken away from him.

Food: Favorites are still avocado, crackers, most fruits, string cheese, quinoa, yogurt, bagels, granola bars, snap pea crisps, raisins, pretzels, fruit/veggie purees, graham crackers, hemp milk, muffins, sausage, rice, fruit bars, pancakes, deli turkey, and smoothies. Kieran loves meat some days and won't touch it the next and the same goes for vegetables in general. Pretty much gust a carb and fruit junkie.

Nicknames: Kier, K, K-Man, K-Bug, Bug, Kier-Bug, Bugger, Kierito, and Goldilocks.

How Kieran is sleeping: Kieran typically goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 pm. Wakeup time is usually right around 6:00am.  He takes one nap, going down around 12:15 and usually sleeping 1.5 - 3 hours. He sleeps on a mattress on the floor with a couple of cuddly guys and usually a few books. We also introduced him to a tot-clock that turns blue for sleep and yellow for wake-up and he loves checking the colors and telling me what they mean.

Communication: Kieran's vocabulary is still exploding. He uses "I" quite a bit - "I yike (like) dat" "I help Mom" and "I love ooo (you)" are used often. He is still pretty hard to understand and I even have difficulty figuring out what he's asking for a lot of the time. He can't really say Fs, Ls, or Rs and has a lisp when he tries to make S or Th sounds.

Favorite Moment: Almost every day I push the boys in the double stroller while taking Dodger for a walk. Some days are better than others but a lot of the time one or both boys get antsy and start kicking, throwing things out of the stroller, and/or whining by the end. The other day though Kieran reached out his hand toward Reed and said "hold hands Eed (Reed)." It was such a genuine, sweet moment and I couldn't believe that they held hands calmly for the last 5 minutes of the walk.

Milestones:
07/20/15  Kieran is using a spoon well
07/23/15  K manages to get both feet off the floor in a jump, something that hasn't been repeated since
07/23/15  I took the Bug through a drive-through car wash for the first time - it scared him so badly!

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake: