Speech therapy??

Before our Omaha trip at Christmas time, Nathan had a nasty cough so I took the boys to the pediatrician to make sure Nathan was good enough to go. He was. But while we were there, Dr. K (our nickname for our pediatrician) asked how Nathan was doing in the the talking department. At the 18-month appointment, he was a little behind, and she mentioned the possibility of speech therapy.

So during this visit, Dr. K asked how many words Nathan was saying. "Umm ... define words", I say because he does have some words, but we are the only ones that can understand them. And most of them sound like "daa", and "pau". Maybe I'm not giving him enough credit though.

Now I'm not crazy about the speech therapy idea, because he is showing improvement (or is it that we are working with him a lot more to improve his speech before his 2-year appointment). But the main reason I'm not concerned about his speech is that he is puzzling so much. Let me explain, I've read that the developing child will sometimes excel in one area and other areas of development will lag as a result. In Nathan's case, he is using so much development energy into doing his puzzles that his language development is lagging. Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

I mean the puzzles that he does are amazing! He is currently working on a US puzzle and also an interlocking puzzle. The interlocking puzzle is the first one that does not have a picture of the solved puzzle under the pieces, so he needs lots of help with this one. But that doesn't stop him from trying. As I'm typing this right now, I can hear in the monitor wooden puzzle pieces clicking away as he tries to put it together (I'm assuming he is working on the interlocking puzzle right now -- no way of peeking in and checking!) Of course Nathan is suppose to be going to sleep right now, and he eventually he will.

Links to Matt's blog

From Matt's Blog:
Progress Report, in which a three-year-old imparts writerly wisdom to me
http://matthewsrotundo.livejournal.com/13772.html

More from Matt's Blog:
Heck, this is better than a fortune cookie
http://matthewsrotundo.livejournal.com/4080.html

Santa, snow & Atlanta

Colin informed us while we were in Omaha that Santa doesn't go to Atlanta because it doesn't snow there.

I hope he doesn't tell his friends in Atlanta this!

Mom spit

We have all seen someone do it -- moms who spit on their napkin or hand and clean their little ones face.

Well, here I was at my mom and dad's house and Colin had a dirty face that was driving me nutso! I grabbed my napkin, spit on it and wiped Colin's face. Colin gave me this look and said, "Mom, what was that?!" I explained that it was the universal cleaner called 'mom spit'.

That started it, I then found out that my dad hated 'mom spit', and his mother did it to him all the time! He hated it so much that my mom was not allowed to do this to their children (my brother, sister and me). Reflecting back on my action, I realized that I rarely do this and usually use a baby wipe. But this time I was trying to conserve baby wipes. We were running low this trip and had already been to Target several times and was not interested in making yet another trip to Target to get more baby wipes.

Now I know not to spit on my kids -- especially in front of my dad!

No more cribs for Nathan

We have been thinking about transferring Nathan to the big boy bed, and actually moved Colin's old toddler bed into Nathan's room recently. We bought bunk beds for Colin with the plan that eventually Colin and Nathan will room together. So far the bunk beds are not put together, so Colin is sleeping on the big mattress on the floor.

So before the trip to Omaha, Nathan slept in the big boy bed once when he was very very tired. The first day we were in Omaha, we put Nathan down for his nap in the pack-n-play. We went outside to play in the snow with Colin and didn't think anything about it (see previous blog!). Next thing we know, Nathan comes crawling upstairs to see everyone! Guess he can climb out of the pack-n-play!! So the rest of the trip Nathan slept and took all of his naps in the big boy bed. Grandma Mary has short little beds that Nathan can climb up, so that worked really well.

I remember the transition for Colin took a little longer. He would sleep at night in the big boy bed, but napped for a couple weeks (maybe just a week -- who remembers for sure) in the crib. Last night was the first night that we were back, and Bob put Nathan in the crib at one point. A little while later, I hear crying and then there is Nathan opening the door to his room. I guess he climbed out of the crib too! So there will be no more cribs for Nathan. Not if he is climbing out of it.

Luckily, Nathan is very responsive to what we tell him. Last night, after he climbed out of the crib, Bob gave him his puzzle and set up the big boy bed with all his stuff (bear, Nemo, the blue pillow and pacifier), and told Nathan when he was done with his puzzle to go do bed. A while later when all was quiet, we peeked in and Nathan was tucked into his bed under the covers and everything, sleeping like a baby!

Snow!!

For the holidays, we go back to Omaha where the grandmas and grandpas live. During this trip back to Omaha, we got to see the white stuff ... snow! Now, this is a real treat, because the last couple of years, it didn't snow at all. I don't know about the whole "global warming" thing, but it really seems like it snowed a lot more when I was a kid growing up in Nebraska.

So anyway, Colin was absolutely thrilled to see all of the snow and couldn't wait to go play in it. Poor Nathan was sick and didn't get a chance to experience it. But I figure there will be lots of time for Nathan to get his chance. Heck, this is Colin's first time and he is 4!

Bob and Colin head outside and before you know it, there is a snow ball the size of a small country for the base of the snowman. The snow is absolutely perfect for snowman making. It's a little wet and deep enough so you don't get all the grass in snow ball (I hated it when that happened to me when I was growing up!) The snowman turned out very nice.



While Bob was completing Mr. Snowman, I'm following Colin around with the camera and Colin just lays down in the snow and starts making a snow angel! I was shocked ... where did he learn to do that? Or are snow angels just something that is instinctive to do when you are a little kid. I wouldn't think so, but here he is doing it!


After the snowman, it was time to do some sledding. This time was just down the small hill (I really hesitate to call it a 'hill' though!) in the front of Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jerry's house. Grandma Mary had a couple of plastic sleds that Bob and Colin used. Bob would slide on his stomach with Colin laying on top of him! I'm just so thrilled that I got an amazing picture of this as they were flying past me!


Colin had a couple more adventures in the snow during this trip. One of them was sledding down a very, very steep hill with Bob and Uncle Ian. Colin even got to see it snow when we returned to Kansas City for the flight home.

Christmas presents

It's Christmas time so time to get Christmas presents for people. I'm notoriously bad at remembering to get presents for people other than family. This year I am even doing poorly getting the gifts for family, but that's another story!

So now that Colin is old enough to understand the giving part of Christmas, I have some help with the old "what to give" problem. Even if it is a really bad gift, all I have to say is that it was all Colin's idea and instantly it becomes the greatest gift in the world. I think it also takes the pressure off of me to get the absolutely, most perfect gift. I want to clarify that's pressure that I put on myself, there is nobody else criticizing my gifting choices ... well maybe there was somebody and I was traumatized earlier in life -- but what's done is done. Anyway it would probably do me some good to remember the old adage, "it's the thought that counts".

A couple of months ago, Bob and I hired a part-time nanny to watch Colin and Nathan when I go into the office. She comes two days a week and is a really sweet lady. Today is the last time we will see her before Christmas. Naturally, yesterday was when I decided to go shopping for her Christmas present. I asked Colin what he would like to give her for Christmas. He says, "A flower". Ah, how nice! "But not a fake one", he continues, "one that can grow". So that means a potted flower or plant, not just a flower cutting. I'm thinking, what a perfect gift! Colin is a genius!

So we went to Home Depot to look at the real flowers. Of course every one Colin sees is the one he wants to get. Me? I've got to find the perfect one before I even ask for Colin's input (see above comments about perfect gifts). We decided on a little rose bush, you know with the teeny tiny roses. It might not even be a rose bush, but that's what it looks like to me. I couldn't find a nice pot to put it in, so I just wrapped the plastic pot with red Christmas foil. I hope she likes it!

Rocket ships & space suits

Yesterday I picked up Colin from school and he was talking a mile a minute about his activities on the playground. He said that they were playing in the rocket ship that went "5,4,3,2,1,blastoff!" And the rocket ship went up into the sky and he saw me from up in the sky, did I see him? Uh, no I wasn't looking, sorry! Then Colin said that the rocket ship went up to Mars two times. Wow, all during recess, that's a fast rocket ship. Colin's space suit was his coat and he had to wear his hood because it protected him. When we got to lunch (Harrison's birthday party which started at Savage Pizza then on to the Little Jumping Bean), Colin put his coat on backwards and put his hood over his face. He wanted Harrison to see him, I said that everyone was going to notice him! I guess wearing his coat backwards was a more protective space suit!

And there was so much more that Colin was talking about, he just went on and on and on about the rocket ship and space suit. I wish I had a better memory to record it all. I just kept laughing and laughing. It was so cute!

Photo shoot

My friend, Amy is starting up her own photography business. She did our Christmas pictures last year. This year she took more pictures that included shots of the boys by themselves and together and with us. It was pretty fun, and the end result are some amazing pics. I've only posted a couple of my favorites on this blog!

Crocs

Crocs, those lovely shoes that have swept the nation. In my opinion they are quite unattractive, but they do have some great qualities when it comes to kid's shoes! Crocs are all plastic (or similar substance), so kids can wear them out into rain puddles and mud, and all you have to do is hose the shoes down. Well, maybe take a brush to it to get them a little more clean, but that's all. Also no more tying shoes, and the best part is that young kids (like Nathan at 18 months) can get them on. So I love crocs! As long as I don't have to wear them myself.

So our story with crocs goes like this: this summer I realized the benefits of crocs and bought Colin a pair. A couple of weeks later, I noticed blisters on Colin's instep. Well, this is not suppose to happen wearing the most comfortable shoe in the world, so I figured that I got the wrong size. Got a new bigger pair, then Nathan started wearing Colin's old pair. Really cute, because both pairs are the same color. Really confusing too, because both pairs are the same color. So back to the store to get some "gibbits", which are little do-dad's that attach to the shoe to give some personality to the plastic shoes. I got 2 "C"s for Colin and 2 "N"s for Nathan.

So crocs are more than just summer shoes, just put some socks on and viola, winter shoes. But at first I didn't realize that crocs could be winter shoes too, so I bought a pair of sneakers for Colin when it started getting cold outside. The sneakers have not been worn once.

Anyway, last night Bob and I had plans with some friends, Bill and Karen who have a little boy, Fritz who is almost Colin's age. In order to save some money on babysitters, we had all 3 boys over at our house with one babysitter while we went out then split the cost. After the night was over, they left with Fritz and I looked down to see a pair of sneakers that I didn't recognize; Fritz must have left his shoes here. This afternoon while running some errands, I stopped by Bill and Karen's with the shoes. Bill looks at them and says, "These aren't Fritz's shoes." Omigawd, it's the sneakers that Colin has never worn. I didn't even recognize them! I was so embarrassed!

San Diego - Day 3

In the last post, I made a comment about how easy mornings are when you live in the East coast and travel to the West coast ... not so on the third day in San Diego after consuming way too much strong ale at the Strong Ale Festival. But I was able to put the previous night's mistakes behind me and go forth with the journey.


Our beer tour continued with a visit to Stone Brewing Co. which is the most polished beer establishment I've ever seen. WOW! The brewery is brand new and has a gift shop that you go through first, then you see the restaurant that has a wall of glass on one side that show cases the brewery. It's breath-taking! At the bar where Bob, Dave and Larry sampled, I could only drink cola at this point.

This is just Stone Brewing's growler filling station in the gift shop.

So many taps ... we couldn't figure out how they remembered them all.
Next stop was Port Brewing. We were spoiled at the last place so the lines and the waiting and the make-shift bar stools (grain bags on top of kegs) seemed so ... how do I say it ... so much like a let down. Oh well, I still was not drinking beer, but I'm sure the boys enjoyed their samples.


Then it was time to go back to the Strong Ale Fest. I finally drank some beer, but funny nothing really seemed to appeal to me like it did Friday night. There was no repeat performance, thank god! We hung around some friends that we met last year, Deanna and John. Last year Deanna was pregnant so she was happy to be drinking this time.

Deanna making up for last year!

It was an early night for us (again!). Our flight was early in the morning, and we didn't want to miss it. I was really missing Colin and Nathan by this time, and couldn't wait for my running hugs when I got home!

Some San Diego beer tour links to remember:
www.BrewHop.com
www.brewerytoursofsandiego.com

San Diego - Day 2

When you live on the East Coast and travel to the West Coast, mornings are so easy, at least easy to get up early! On the other hand, it's very difficult to stay out late.

So Day 2 of our Beer Fest Adventure in San Diego started at 6am for me. My goal was to go running on the beach. I planned out a long run so that I could stay on track for my marathon training. Well, 6am it was still dark but I did notice some mist in the street lights -- yuck! I hoped the mist didn't mean rain. At 7am I checked again, it was light but also raining. At 7:30am I finally convinced myself to just do it anyway, I might not run as far as I was planning on, but some running is always better than no running. The run was shorter than I planned, but I was really happy that I got out there. I saw lots of neat condos, some for rent. I also saw some porpoises along the shore -- very cool!

Then we checked out of the Surfer Dude hotel at Pacific Beach and headed up the coast to the not-so-good hotel in Carlsbad. The Strong Ale Fest is located in Carlsbad which I just don't consider as interesting of an area as Pacific Beach. Oh well, you gotta go where the beer fest is. After checking into the hotel, Bob and I grabbed a quick lunch then joined Larry and Dave in their room for a beer tasting pre-beer fest event. I tell you, the beer geeks are serious about their beer.


Time to go to the Strong Ale Fest. Remember that rain from the mornings run? Well it was doing the same thing in Carlsbad. We figured this meant that only the really hard-core, die-hard beer geeks would go so the crowd would be small and lines short. We were right. Unfortunately, I forgot that it was STRONG ale that I was consuming and by 6pm was done for the night. I won't go into the details involving my exit from the festival -- it was not pretty.

Tomorrow, more breweries and the last day of the Strong Ale Fest.

San Diego - Day 1

This series of blogs will diverge from the normal bragging and reporting of Colin and Nathan. Instead, I will follow our trip to San Diego without the kids where the Strong Ale Festival was our goal. But being that San Diego is in the heart of beer country, there were lots of side stops to make before we even hit the Strong Ale Fest. Now, some folks may say that Oregon is the home of the microbrewery which is not true, anymore! Something I read during this trip really put it into perspective for me. At the 2006 World Beer Cup, San Diego County alone won enough medals to place 7th if they were their own country.

So on with the trip details, our trip was with Bob, Dave, Larry and myself. The itinerary for Thursday included a stop at a beer store, two breweries, and a beer bar. First the beer store which was actually a convenience store/pharmacy. Larry found the place on the web and has been ordering beer from them. It is the South Bay Drugs & Pharmacy. Funny to go all the way across the country to buy beer at a convenience store/pharmacy, but that's what beer geeks do!



Next stop, Ballast Point Brewery where we finally were able to consume some beer! Lots of samples here.



Time to check into the hotel, the Surfer Dude, well that's what I call it, it's really Surfer something but I can't remember. I love this hotel. It's right on the water where all the rooms have an ocean view. It's also on Pacific Beach which has so much charm.

Then off to Alesmith! Yum, yum, yum! Alesmith does not do a bad beer, or even an average beer. Everything at Alesmith rocks!



Next O'Brien's, an awesome beer bar where we see a lot of the people that were pouring beers for us at the breweries. We meet up with some more Atlantans and beer friends here too.


After O'Brien's I turned in for the night. Larry, Dave and Bob went on to find more beer but I was done. Tomorrow, the Festival begins.

Birthday party!!

Colin's birthday party was last Sunday. He was so excited. We invited a handful of kids from school, our next door neighbor Mattison, and Grace from the old house. Being the holiday weekend, I fully expected about 50% to not be able to come. Well, big surprise! Everyone except for one family was able to come! At least it was going to be outside, I thought. Well, then it rained all day Sunday (day of the party), so everyone was inside -- good thing we have a big house and Colin and Nathan's rooms were clean so the kids could go upstairs too! We ended up having 12 kids and 15 adults here! Have you ever heard about that rule of thumb that there should only be the number of kids equal to the number of the birthday? That would be only 4 kids, oh well! Colin had a great time!

The day before the party, Colin asked if his teacher, Maureen was going to come. Didn't invite her, I told him. "Please, call her and invite her to the party," he says. So I did. She was very flattered, and said that she would stop by and make an appearance. All the kids were so excited to see their teacher at the party. It was really pretty cool.

As you can see from the pictures, Colin is wearing a pretty outrageous outfit. A blue/green striped long sleeve polo with a short sleeve plaid shirt on top of it! He picked it out all by himself. And I was very proud of myself that I let him wear it ... very montessori of me (and him!). I guess I figured that we have plenty of pictures of him looking like I dressed him, that it wouldn't hurt to have the pictures this time looking like ... well, that he dressed himself!

All the other birthdays, I've always waited to the last minute and got a cake at the local grocery store. The cakes were okay, but this time I was talking to someone at Bob's office that mentioned his girlfriend makes cakes. I was intrigued and checked out her website, www.rachmakescakes.com . I figure it's about time to get a professional cake for Colin's birthday. Bob and Colin came up with the idea to do a Dr. Seuss theme, specifically the Lorax. We've read this story to Colin several times, and he really likes it. So I asked Colin to pick out his favorite page in the book. It had Truffala Trees and Brown Bar-ba-loots on the page he picked. So I emailed Rachael scans of the pages from Colin's book. She said that she had some ideas and thought it would be pretty cool.



When the cake arrived, WOW it looked so cool as you can see from the pictures, and you can eat everything on the cake too. What I wasn't counting on was how delicious the cake was. Colin wanted chocolate cake, and she put chocolate chips into the chocolate cake which made it even more incredible. I think I've found our cake maker for the rest of our birthdays and holidays and get-togethers and whatever occasion that I can think of!

I think that just about sums up Colin's birthday party. Lots of people, Colin's crazy outfit (and I mean that in a good way!), and the awesome cake. Hope all the rest of the boy's birthday parties are this successful.

Moon book

Colin has a book that we used to read to him all the time when he was about 2 years old. Bob and I pretty much had it memorized. We always called it the "Moon Book", I'm not sure what the real name is because Colin ripped the cover off one night. The book was a gift from his Gramma Mary and has a moon that lights up when you push it (which explains some of the verses below). So here are the words to Colin's favorite book when he was little:

Night is coming
and I know that soon,
I'll go to sleep
in my cozy room.

I brush my teeth
before going to bed,
Then pull my pj's
over my head.

Out come the stare
that shine so bright,
So with a hug and kiss
I say goodnight.

There is no more
time to play,
But a bedtime story
will end the day.

My favorite is
about the Moon,
And the light it gives off
in my room.

My friend the Moon
will help me see,
And light my room,
staying close to me.

Whenever I wake in the night,
I push the Moon's face
to bring back its light.

I know that I
am safe and sound,
And my friend the Moon
will be around.

Then if I wander
in the night,
I can bring along
my own Moon light.

My Moon dims
and turns off its light,
And sleeps next to me
throughout the night.

Goodnight!

Colin's 4th birthday

Colin had a great day! He turned four on November 21st, and Grandma and Grandpa G.G. were in town to help us celebrate the occasion.

First the day started with Nathan and Colin climbing into our bed for some good quality time with us. (Grandma and Grandpa were still asleep.) Nathan practiced saying "Happy birthday, Colin" which came out sounding like "AA-kee dada Colnn". It was close enough for us.

I proposed that the grandparents and Colin and I go to the new Coca-Cola museum during Nathan's nap. But when I asked Colin if he wanted to go he said, "Do they have a playground?". Hmmm, maybe the Coca-Cola museum wouldn't be the ideal place to go for Colin. The adults would really like it (well, I would), but this is Colin's birthday, so the plans were changed. We went for ice cream at Zesto, then to the brand new playground at Piedmont Park.

For dinner we had steak, Colin's favorite. Although Colin was too excited about presents and cake after dinner that he barely touched his steak. Finally, it was time to bring out the cake, which consisted of about 16 mini cupcakes with flags and 4 candles. We sang, Colin blew and blew and one candle went out, he blew some more, and another candle went out. After several more attempts, all the candles were out which made Colin very happy.

Colin then opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa G.G. (glow-in-the-dark dinosaur puzzle, Dora Candy Land Game and Dora Memory Game), and Grandma Mary and Grandpa Jerry (Moon Sand, Cars mini-books with CD and a horse painting set). Nathan also gave Colin a dinosaur puzzle. Colin received an art easel from Mom and Dad.

Happy Birthday to my big guy! I can't believe you are four years old.

Sticker boy

Nathan just loves stickers. He takes them off the sheet and puts them on his shirt, one on top of the other.

I did it!!

While Bob was on his two week trip to the orient, I went to Candler Park's Fall Fest and talked to some folks with the Operation Bootcamp Program. Well, I was feeling motiviated and signed up ... I mean it started at 6am and I could get back before the kids got up, so why not!

Today I graduated from bootcamp!! Four weeks of intense workouts. The first two days were brutal, and I had to take aspirin to make it. It wasn't easy, but I did it and I am very proud of myself!

Hoo wah!

"The moon is following us ...

... and I think it's on wheels."

Driving home tonight from dinner it was dark and there was a moon out that Colin thought was chasing us.

Voice from above

The day after the sandbox/tree house was installed, Colin and Nathan were out playing in it, and I was inside the house cleaning up. I had the window above the sink open so I could keep tabs on them while I was inside.

I heard some commotion and then saw Colin grab something out of Nathan's hand. So I hollered out the window at Colin. The look on Colin's face was priceless, he was busted, but he was more bewildered than anything else! He looked up and said, "Who was that?"

I nearly busted a gut laughing.

Wow -- 100 posts!

I've actually manage to keep up with this blog and reach the 100 mark! And I have Sheila to thank for this, unfortunately she had to delete her blog as a result of potentional legal actions. Aren't ex-husbands just the greatest -- NOT!

So here's to my blog about the boys and an occassional blurb about me and my thoughts.

Nathan's grocery store nap

After Colin went to school, Nathan and I headed to the grocery store to pick up a couple items. While I was shopping, Nathan looked very sleepy and his head kept bobbing. So I put my hand on his cheek, and Nathan just closed his eyes and went to sleep ... with me holding his head up! I had to finish shopping one-handed which was okay until I got to the big box of diapers that I was trying to maneuver under the cart with one hand. I did put Nathan on my shoulder to put the groceries on the conveyor, and as soon as I finished paying, Nathan woke up and was ready to go to Target! He managed to stay awake for that shopping trip.

Trick-or-treating

This is really the first year the we've taken the boys trick-or-treating. Last year, Colin was sick and fell asleep at 4pm for the night. The year before we went to a neighborhood party in Roswell Farms but no trick-or-treating (not that Colin would remember it or anything and Nathan was in my belly).

So this year we were invited to a little party at 5pm to eat pizza and then go trick-or-treating at 6ish. It was so much fun being part of a big group like that. Reminded me of my trick-or-treating days.

The best part was when we got to the third house and Colin looks at us with this wide-eyed expression and said, "Another house?", yes, "More candy?", yes, "Yeahhhhhh!" He was so excited. Nathan even got into the whole thing. Dressed as a tiger, when prompted Nathan would do the cutest little "roar"!

However, I knew it was time to call it a night when Colin wanted to hold Nathan's bag of candy for him, and then I found Colin depositing the candy into his own bag.

Carving the pumpkin

Our second year of doing a pumpkin for Halloween, and once again Colin did not want to stick his hand into the pumpkin to scoop out all the stuff! "That's yucky" he says. I did get him to reach into the pumpkin to get the pieces that I cut out for the mouth, nose and eyes.

Bob's main interest in pumpkins is to collect the pumpkin seeds and roast them for eating. Yum yum yum!

International day

Colin borrowed a friend's china boy outfit for Montessori's International Day Celebration. He made a really cute china boy!

New treehouse / sandbox

Colin and Nathan finally have a sandbox complete with a tree house on top of it ... and they could not be happier!

The first day, all Nathan wanted to do was climb to the top of the tree house, and then he couldn't get down. He has finally stopped climbing to the top.

Now all I have to do is convince Colin not to take the sand out of the sandbox.