Happy spring

Rowan can clap

The boy never stops advancing. He was a bit upset this weekend - he has a tooth pushing through and we suspect some other lingering illness making him cranky, but he started clapping over the weekend, showing us his happy-go-lucky side. Two nights ago he was inconsolable and could not go to sleep for a very, very long time. Kristin and I tried every trick in the book - Orajel for his new tooth, Mylicon drops for his stomach. He was running a bit of a fever, so we gave him Motrin. Still upset, we finally came to the realization that he was too hot. We stripped down a layer of PJs and all of the sudden he started to smile, laugh and clap - as if to say, "That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Kristin and I shared a laugh, and then went back to bed to try and steal that last hour or two before having to get back up and start our day. It was a trying evening, but his sweet little clap made it all right.

Ouch

We realize why Rowan hasn't been feeling well the last couple of days. He has his first tooth pushing through.

To the Max

The thought process of a two-year-old amazes me. Every day, at dinner, I ask Maureen how her day at school was, and reply always revolves around what a classmate, Max, did or said. And not necessarily what Max did with (or to) her.

Me: Mojo, happened at school today?

Maureen: Max wasn't at school, he was sick today. Or: Max was a naughty boy today; he said "No Mojo, my toy."

Max is a bit of a trouble maker in school. He is the boy who suffered the wrath of Mojo after pushing another student to the floor a few months ago. Why is it that females are always attracted to the bad boy? Makes no sense to me.

Fresh Tomatoes in March

We keep inflicting you with sugary cuteness and today is more of the same. This is a song John the Rabbit, an old crop picking song. I'm not sure, when we drop our kids off at school, if they ship our kids out to the country to cut tobacco, though I'm certain we're not in season. We are very proud of Maureen - she is smart and has a good handle of the language at an early age. She does seem much more advanced than her peers in her class, though I realized they will all catch up quickly - we all learn at our own pace.

Just yesterday Rowan crouched down on all fours and started rocking towards objects in his sight. You can tell he's considering the mechanics of crawling. I suspect he won't be a creeper and just go straight to crawling. Though we will be overjoyed about his progress, it will make our lives a tad harder in keeping up with him. Right now, we can walk into another room to do something and not have to worry about where he will go, or what he will put in his mouth (everything in his path goes into his mouth.)

Hello readers

I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I haven't abandoned the blog - just taking a break (just being lazy.) The kids are doing great and I'm looking forward to another weekend with them. We recently celebrated Fat Tuesday with Great Mee Maw and the family - Maureen found the baby in the King Cake by way of a suspicious turn of events. I hope she is old enough to purchase next year's cake. Perhaps her Mee Maw will help her out!?
Rowan has had a nasty head cold this week, and one morning woke up with his eyes sealed shut with goop. It was kind of comical and sad in the same breath. We have caved and let him sleep in our bed; but next week for sure, he is out of there! At least by the time he hits 20 years old.
Warm weather is trying to push into the area, and we are looking forward to it. It has been a long, long winter and we are ready to deep-six the coats for a year.
Well, time to make the doughnuts - have a great day, and I'll try to step it up with the blogging.

Feb photos #2

News update

Maureen is really into the princess thing. She's Snow White, plain and simple. We spend many hours looking for the seven dwarf's and when she finds them, they go in her pocket. Daddy is often Grumpy. Mom is always Happy. We try to play down Dopey; we don't want her to start calling other kids names. She has started sucking on her fingers a lot. I don't want to correct her too often because I don't want it to become a habit in her adulthood. I know it's a pacifier-replacement.

Rowan is still struggling with his bed. We are trying the cry for five-minutes, soothe him, cry for another five-minutes trick, and it seems to work every other night and in the first few hours of his slumber. He is eating things like peas and sweet potatoes. No signs of crawling yet, but we're not in a hurry.

Feb photos

A good weekend.

This weekend included a stop-over at the Bambi bar for a little social interaction with good friends and a yummy Bambi Burger; a trip to the zoo; Mickey-D's at John, Mickey and Claire's house; playtime at the Big Rock park; and dinner with A&G and the family. We did manage to fit a few chores in there as well. We're ready to take on Monday.

Doh!

Update - February 8, 2009

I believe Facebook keeps me from blogging as much; what a wonderful waste of time. Sorry if you've been waiting for another entry, though I suspect many of you are on Facebook as well and don't have time for blogs either. Anyway, we are finally back to normal in the house after spending six nights away during the ice storm - two nights at sister in-law Kathy's house, and four nights at Grandpa Paul and Grandma Karen's house. A couple nights after we got back home, Grandma said she really missed Maureen and Rowan (note she said nothing about Kristin and yours truly!)
Despite our very generous, comfortable and warm accommodations, it's just nice to be in your own home. THANK YOU to everyone who helped us throughout the week, or offered help.
So what's up with the kids???

Mojo: still loves Dora and watches at least one to two episodes a day. She loves school. Fully (?) potty trained. She loves to sing and has an amazing ability to memorize lyrics quickly; her latest number is Do, a Deer from the Sound of Music. She threw a mighty tantrum last night because she didn't want to leave her cousin Claire's house, but was perfectly fine once we got in the car. She has the vocabulary of a 5-year-old, and is getting really good at counting things. She is very determined for a two-year-old and every decision is a negotiation with us:
Me: Mo, you can watch one Dora and then you have to go to bed.
Mo: How about two Doras?

Rowan: is also determined - determined to spend the rest of his life sleeping in our bed. We know how to stop this, but we just are too tired to invest the time and energy and we cave. He is a sweet little boy though - and has that heart-melting smile. He is doing well with the baby food, and has started eating vegetables, though we can tell that he doesn't like them very much. He is doing well sitting up by himself, but hasn't really made any moves toward crawling. He is jabbering more and more - his first word, like Mo's, was Daddy!! He is having incredible diaper blow-outs, and as Mo says, they are "Gross!"

We had planned to go to St. Louis for a winter break this weekend, but decided to stay home since our displacement last week. I think we all have had it with the winter and look forward to getting out more, and interacting with people. We need to start filling our social calendar.

Finally home

A few hours after I posted last week's entry, we lost our power and it stayed off for 6 days. We are back in the house now, and have begun reprogramming the kids to get them back to the routine. More later.

Vacation day - Ice Storm

My work was open despite the ice storm today; I decided to take a vacation day instead of braving the elements in our new CRV. So, today I am home with Kristin and the kids. well worth one tenth of my allotted vacation days. So far, Mo and I got to go out and frolic (more like trudge) through our front yard. We have a slight incline so we took our four-year-old, brand new sled out for a test run. Two times down was enough for Mo. We lasted all of about fifteen minutes out there before we both had enough. Hot Chocolate time (with baby marshmallows, of course.) Right now, it's 11am and the sun is peering out for a bit, snow is gently coming down, and we have Ricki Lee Jones on the stereo. Chuck E. is still in love after all these years! And we are loving the snow day.

Others are not enjoying it as much. My dad is out of power, as are Kristin's parents. I hope they get power soon. Anyone reading this who is in town and out of power, please come by if you can. We have power, hot chocolate and homemade chicken noodle soup. Stay warm, and have a good day if you can. Now for some pictures.

By popular demand...

Equal time for Rowan

January photos #2

The new president

New president

The best thing about our new president is his name (I'm sure that's not the best thing he has going for himself, but he now has to prove himself.) And Mojo knows how to say that name, in a very cute, two-year-old, sing-song way. Up hill with " Barack", slight pause, down hill (slowly) with "O-ba-ma". She can pick him out in a line-up as well, though she is unclear about his stance on unemployment or women's' rights, nor is she clear about the duties of a president (yes, I said "dooties".) Our family is hopeful that the new administration will get the country back on track, but in the meantime, we'll have fun with the name. barACK O-ba-ma.

January photos

Kids say the darnedest things

Maureen has said some really fun things lately that include:

"I'm a princess. I'm going to the ballgame."

"I'll be a dwarf. I'll be Grumpy or Sneezey. No, I'm Snoopy."*


And the favorite of the week - during school on Wednesday, a little boy classmate of Maureen's pushed another little boy in her room. Maureen reproached him sternly with her hands on her hips, "Listen here little man, you’re a naughty naughty boy. I don’t want to see you acting like that!" The teachers were floored.

*Editor's note: to Maureen's credit, she knew Snoopy was not a dwarf, but a dog. It was a word association moment, not an utter confusion moment!

Food frenzy

Developmental update

Rowan is able to sit up for long periods of time unattended. He is also eating rice cereal with banana baby food. Maureen rolled her eyes at daddy for the first time. These kids grow up so fast.

A very happy birthday wish goes out to Uncle Johnny. Sorry we missed your party tonight. We just didn't want to pass along pink eye to the family.

Giggles

Rowan is giggling now. Great fun.

The pacifier jokester

Ever since Maureen turned two, we've managed to limit the use of the pacifier for bedtime use only. Naps (which are becoming a rarity these days) and nighttime. Maureen understands this rule and though it was tough in the beginning for all of us, she now abides (the dude abides!)
Recently, the practical joker in Maureen started to appear. Her "thing" is to try to see how far she can get from bed with the pacifier in her mouth. Daddy falls for it every time; she usually makes it through morning potty time and all the way to the breakfast table before Mom notices. Once she's outed, she give a sly smile and a proud giggle as if she's accomplished some major feat.
Yesterday, Grandpa Paul came over to watch her and Rowan for a couple of hours while we were at work. He was here alone when Maureen awoke from her nap and pulled the joke on him. This time they only made it to the steps before she revealed her elaborate joke she just pulled. She said something to the effect of, "Papa, I made a joke on you", and offered up her pacy. She told him that she makes a joke on Daddy all the time too.
When I came home from work, she had created a sing-song, "I made a joke on Papa!" She was very proud of herself. I had to call Paul to give him hell. My only fear is that the practical jokes will become more elaborate, and it seems I am a prime target. I'll have to wake up early on all April Fool's Days from now on.

Go Cards!

Here are our dear, little cardinal fans. The whole family was decked out in red and black to cheer the cardinals to victory over the wildcats - it barely worked. We were hosted by Uncle Scott, Aunt Kathy and their monkeys and were served some homemade hot wings and seafood etouffee. Maureen watched Tom and Jerry on the computer while Rowan slept, ate and cried. I'm sure they will become interested in the game as they grow, maybe. The highlight was a well crafted cheer, performed by Cousin A, Maureen and Kristin. I've never heard "Go Cards" delivered with such enthusiasm.

Trip to Target

We've been held up in the house since Wednesday afternoon and finally, yesterday, I got to get out and stretch my legs with a quick trip to Target. I had to take back all my well meaning, but slightly off-the-mark presents I bought for Kristin for Christmas (to be fair, it wasn't all the presents, and I was told exactly what to get - I just didn't quite take in all the details.) Maureen went with me and she was a great companion for this trip.

I've never been one to return anything before I got married, or at least it was very, very rare. I'm starting to get more used to the process, though I always feel like I am caught in the opening scene of the movie Midnight Express, trying to smuggle hashish past Turkish customs. There was only one item we did not have a receipt for - a shirt for Rowan that did not fit him. The Target Lady asked if there was "something wrong" with the shirt, and I replied, "It doesn't fit, I wear a Large." She gave me a critical smirk and we were on our way.

I forgot that I was supposed to look for a replacement shirt for Rowan; my sights were focused on replacing the defective Karaoke machine that Santa Claus tried to pass off on us. We took a chance by selecting the same brand, hoping we made it back to the electronics department shelf before the Target Lady did with our return (that's what they do, it's a vicious circle.) Success!

As Maureen's reward for being a good girl, we went to McDonald's for some nuggets and fries. We had a lot of fun. She was excited about her food, the toys with her meal, and with being with Daddy. It was tender - we definitely could have been on one of those touching McDonald's commercials. No whining, no crying - just some great conversation (as good as it gets with a two-year-old) and bonding daddy-daughter time! It doesn't take much.

Happy New Year 2009

I can't really complain too much about the past year, when I realize that a few very important milestones took place. The best possible milestone during the year was the birth of Rowan Patrick. What a joy. His little smile is all it takes to get me up and going again. It's been a bit tough watching him as he muddles through his illness this week, but he is bouncing back like a champ and will be back to normal soon.

Maureen has grown so much in the past year - I am truly amazed by her transformation. Her verbal skills are advanced for a two-year-old, as are her reasoning skills. Right now, she is pushing her independence as far as it will go, testing to see where the boundaries are. Sometimes it's amusing, sometimes it's a major pain in the ass. I am learning so much about being a parent, but realize there's much more to learn.

One area that needs attention is spending more quality time with Kristin. We get so wrapped up in the kids that we don't get many chances to go out on dates or have conversations that do not revolve around the kids. This means more babysitting opportunities for any interested parties out there. Give me a call!

I have great hopes for 2009. Goals are to work on quality of life, relationships with family and friends, a whole lotta work on my professional path, and I'm going to try not to dwell on things too much. On that note, I will sign off. Happy New Year, y'all.

Recap for the last week

Hello, anyone out there? I have been sick, as has my whole family. Rowan is the last to be ailing - he has RSV (not restless leg syndrome) and has really been sick for the last six days. Unfortunately we all were under the weather through Christmas, and spread it to both extended families. We did, however, manage to have some fun during the holidays. Here are some snaps:

Free raspberries

Looking Snazzy

Big day for the Ro-boy

Here's a video of Rowan enjoying his first taste of solid food - he got some rice cereal tonight for dinner.

Happy Birthday to the Greatest Wife EVER!!!

Props go out to my lady on this special day. I'm not sure if you know this or not, but after a career in chemistry, Kristin served for Americorps for a couple of years, and then spent some time in Asia with a group called Youth International. There, she spent time helping those less privileged than herself. She met Mother Teresa and worked with her nuns at a leper orphanage, met the Dahlia Lama, and did some really good, caring deeds across the continent. All those good deeds did not come close to preparing her for the challenges she accepted on June 4, 2005. She had no idea how much she had to sacrifice, how much pain she had to endure, how much of her time and nurturing had to go into her newly accepted role as my wife. She is a strong, loving and dedicated wife and mother. She deserves a lot more than I've been able to provide her, but accepts me for the slightly neurotic guy I am. I guess my sense of humor goes a long way. A really, really long way (I thought my brother was the funny one!)
But seriously, I truly do appreciate and adore Kristin and can't wait to not only spend the whole day with her today on her birthday, but the rest of my life with her. She is an amazing person indeed.

Does this look familiar?

We set up the bouncy swing for Rowan yesterday. He seemed to enjoy it, though we probably shouldn't let him bounce until a 1/2 hour after he's eaten. It was a good weekend - I'm sorry it's already over.

Highlights this week: Kristin's birthday on Thursday. I'm taking the day off work to be with her, while we begin Christmas shopping.

The kids are doing well, though we are having a hard time convincing Rowan to sleep in his own bed. This is a deadly path to go down, I know (deadly is too strong, I know.) I realize we need to just let him cry, but we are taking the easy way out for now, where we can all get a little sleep.