The Chair

Today, DJ wanted to sit in his chair, but Elektra was in it already! So he decided to take her OUT of the chair by picking her up and moving her! I was going to stop him, but Elektra was compliant with DJ's wishes to move, and moved on her own.

However, DJ didn't sit immediately in his chair, and Elektra sat back down in it, much to DJ's dismay! This time, DJ tried to sit ON Elektra. Elektra would have none of that and pushed his back with her hands to push him off of her. DJ, not to be out done, moved to the side and tried to push her out of the chair.

That's when I suggested to DJ that we clean up the living room and by then, Elektra had gotten bored of the chair. DJ got into his chair, and everyone was happy.

The Chair

Elektra's 15 month check-up

This morning was Elektra's 15 month appointment with the pediatrician. As usual, getting out of the house was hectic but Papou was waiting for us at the doctor's office. Being that this was an appointment only for Elektra and DJ was totally fascinated with the elevators, Papou and DJ went to "inspect" all of the elevators available.

The doctor found Elektra doing wonderfully since her last appointment 3 months ago, as she weighed in at 22 pounds, 5 ounces (up about 2 and a half pounds), she is 32.5 inches tall (up nearly 3 inches!), and has a head circumference of 46 cm (up 1 cm). She is in the 65th percentile in weight, and 90th percentile in height. The doctor commented that the percentile difference was a little out of the norm, but clearly nothing to worry about! We just have a tall and lanky girl!

Otherwise, she's happy, healthy and we need to start letting her try to feed herself. Here comes the real mess at meal time!!

Some Kid Sayings

Steve was putting Elektra to bed last night. As he was laying her down in her crib and covered her with her blanket, she said, "Bye Daddy."

Elektra's new words: Shoe (when she sees her pink Robeez), Bye (as in bye-bye!), Up!, Down (this one has been around for a few weeks), Diaper, Woo-woo! (the sound a train makes), and imitates a whole host of words if you catch her at the right time.

This morning, DJ announced that his socks were wet, which they were (though we can't figure out how...). That's when DJ said, "Daddy, dry my socks? You have to put them in the dryer!"

Christmas 2009 - First Reactions

Since DJ doesn't fully understand when Christmas is and what it's about, we did not have a 5AM wake up call.  He was nice to wait until 7:30 to wail at his door.  I brought him to bed with us, and he hung out with us until we heard Elektra a little after 8AM.

After a quick bite of Cheerios, I let DJ loose into the living room from the kitchen, and Daddy was ready with his Christmas gift, the Kodak Zi8 HD camera.  The video is worth a thousand words, though.  (There is a button on the control bar of the video that allows you to go to HD mode to see the video in a clearer picture).



We were expecting to hear, "Whazzat!" (what is that?) but we got "YOOK!" (look!) instead. He was just so taken by the train table that he didn't know where to start first.  He was also very skittish around his running bike, but we think he'll warm up to the idea soon enough.  We have to let the idea of the train table wear off, first.  :-)

Meanwhile, Elektra received a Bitty Baby doll from Sonny and Eleanor, and she already loves it (video evidence):



Here are some other pictures I took with our nikon camera.

 

Duplo (LEGO) Scoop - on the train table!

DJ playing with his train table

I forgot to post pics from last night of the kids in their Christmas outfits.

More to come, I'm sure, as the day is only half done... and our little boy is up EARLY from his nap!!!  And as I finished writing this, I think I heard a little girl fuss... so time to go and get ready for the rest of our day!

Christmas Eve 2009

It's 11:36PM on Christmas Eve.  Steve and I have officially embarked on our first of many Christmas Eves where we put together toys for the kids.

This Christmas Eve, it was a train table and a running bike for DJ.

Before I get to the evidence of our labor, I must first "out" Steve.  Since DJ moved to his toddler bed, most nights we have to sit in his room with him until he falls asleep because he doesn't have the discipline to stay in bed otherwise.  In Steve's case, DJ asks Daddy to lay in his bed with him.  At least with me, I get to sit in the rocker...

About an hour after I went in to say goodnight to DJ, Steve still hadn't come out of DJ's room.  Steve has been so excited to start "Daddy Engineering", so I decided to go in and relieve him since clearly, DJ wasn't asleep yet!

I quietly go into DJ's room, and I hear deep DEEP breathing. 

It takes me nearly 30 seconds to get Steve to stir and then another 10 seconds or so to get him to open his eyes.

At first, Steve is MAD at me.  "Why are you waking me up?!"

"I thought you wanted to Daddy Engineer tonight."

That's when recognition as to where he was (cooped up, but apparently very comfortably in the toddler bed with DJ) dawned on him.  This was a priceless moment, no doubt.

Although I never would have never put the toys together anywhere nearly as quickly as Steve did, I wonder if I just should have let my two boys sleep.  It was so cute. 

Meanwhile, here is a video we took just a few minutes ago.



Merry Christmas everyone!

Edit: this video was recorded in HD - so feel free to switch it to HD mode!

Behind the Scenes: NORAD's Santa Tracker

Just in time for Christmas, CNET posted and article about how NORAD's Santa tracker works, how it started, and some outrageous statistics on how many phone calls taken, web page hits, and things like that.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10418101-52.html

So on Christmas Eve, when the kids want to know where Santa is anywhere in the globe, we'll hit the Santa tracker... 

Ok, so I'm a geek, but I'm always a kid a heart, too.  ;-)

The Noreaster 2009 and the kids

This noreaster is almost as good as the one in 2004... when we reach 2ft of snow, it'll be as good.  Meanwhile...

At 6:30AM, DJ was up.  I heard him starting to destroy his room, so I went in and brought him (and Tiger, of course) back to our bed.  He hung out in bed between us, playing quietly with Tiger and talking to himself.  He was so good.  We even got another half an hour or so of sleep.  When DJ realized that I was awake and watching him, he said, "Mommy!  You're awake!  Get up from the bed?"  I told him he could and when he stood up, he could see out of our bedroom windows.  "-NO!  Look, Mommy!  'No!" ('no is snow.  he can't the S-N syllable)  And then he started describing everything he saw.  He was VERY excited.

We got the kids dressed and took them to see the snow from the kitchen's bay window.  Both kids were fascinated with what was going on, and Steve got some video of their reactions with his new-as-of-Thursday-early-Christmas-gift-from-me Kodak Zi8 HD video camera.  Eventually, I'll figure out how to post the videos... anyway. 

The kids ate a scrambled egg and the big kids ate eggs-over-easy english muffin sandwiches for breakfast.  This becomes significant later because we're down to one egg... 

After breakfast, Daddy went out to work on getting the snowblower to start.  That is it's own saga since we haven't run the snowblower in 3 years....  

Once Elektra went down for her morning nap, I took DJ out to romp in the snow and watch Daddy attempt to fix the snowblower.  "Daddy!  You're working!  You're working in the garage!"  DJ got to put on his new boots that light up (thanks Yiayia!), and out we went.  The snow was up to DJ's mid-calf at the time and he seemed to enjoy walking in it.  Then he bent down to grab some of the fluffy white stuff, and that's when he was reminded just how cold and wet the stuff is.  He immediately tried to wipe it off his hands and when he couldn't, he asked me to go back inside the house to wash his hands.  Apparently, that sealed the deal for him because he wanted no parts of being outside after that. 

Unfortunately, I failed to remember to bring the camera so I don't have any pictures.  Hopefully I can get some tomorrow.

Anyway, I took DJ back inside, warmed up, and that's when I heard Daddy get the snowblower started.  I picked up DJ and we went into the garage to watch.  "Daddy!  It's working!"  At first, DJ was very nervous about the snowblower and I think it's because it is VERY loud.  But once he saw how it throws snow, he was grinning from ear to ear, watching with rapture. 

We went back inside, and he got to watch Daddy using the snowblower from the living room's bay window.  "Daddy using the 'no-blower!  The 'no-blower is blowing the 'no!"  It took Daddy about 20 minutes to clean the entire driveway.  By then, Elektra had woken from her nap, and it was time for lunch. 

We made hamburgers for lunch and the kids shared those with us, too.  Nap came early for them both, thankfully.  They were both really tired. 

That's when I figured out that I didn't have enough eggs to make chocolate chip cookies.  So I took the opportunity to go to the store to pick up eggs and a few other miscellaneous things.  Yes, in this weather.  Yes, it was fun!

DJ woke up after 2 1/2 hours in a happy mood.  Elektra, on the other hand, I woke up 3 hours later, and she was really unhappy with me for waking her. 

We had a quick dinner - DJ pointed out that I had shoveled the deck earlier in the day with an orange shovel (and he's right!), and then Elektra showed signs of wanting to go to bed. 

Once Elektra was in bed, I put on my boots and coat to shovel the deck and the patio for the dogs.  Again.  This was the 3rd time today.  There is no weather that the dogs despise more than snow, and two feet of the stuff just totally freaks them out, especially when it comes to potty.  Anyway, DJ watched as I shoveled and said "Mommy!  Throwing snow!"  He and Daddy watched me shovel for 5 -10 minutes, and then DJ went to bed.

It was a long day, but the kids enjoyed watching the snow!  I'll take DJ out again in it tomorrow.

Hi Dinkbug!

For the last 5 months, we have seen an enormous infestation of Stinkbugs around the house.  Most of them have been outside, thankfully, but we've been seeing them more and more in the house.  At first, we thought it was because we were opening the back door to let the dogs in and out, and they were getting in the house that way.  After talking with my cousin George as he gets them in his house all the time, too, we're figuring they've gotten into the house via attic fans or something of that sort, and then crawl down into the house itself via the holes for the recessed lighting in the kitchen.  I read somewhere that they should all die once we get our first frost.  Unfortunately, we're still getting them, daily.

DJ has been keen on finding the stinkbugs that get in the house, and loves to point out, "Daddy, go get it!" when he spots one.  Today, during lunch, he spotted one from his high chair in the kitchen all the way in the far corner of the living room: "Hi Dinkbug!"  DJ's "st's" are not coming through yet... sound like "d's" instead, no matter what word he tries to say.  But the best part was that he said "Hi Dinkbug!" over and over again until Steve retrieved said "dinkbug" off of the ceiling. 

For The Birds

Today we decided to show DJ a couple of Pixar short animations that we have on DVD from the movies Monsters Inc and the Incredibles. 

Of the few we watched, he enjoyed Mike's New Car, but he LOVED For The Birds.  He laughs at parts, and even Elektra will sit still and watch it.  He has asked for it over and over, and I admit, it's one that I never tire watching... 

:-)

Woof Woof!

Elektra is fascinated with IO and Napoleon.

She loves watching them, and she loves to pet them when she has an opportunity.  When she's petting them, she'll say "do-oggie" totally unprompted by us.

Recently, she's been walking (yes, walking!!  She's choosing to walk more than 75% of the time now.) to the doggies' blanket and lifting it up to see the doggies under it.  Just as funny is that she doesn't just lift up the blanket, she covers her head with it so all you see her her shoulders on down to the floor. 

Then, she'll uncover her head, and say, "Woof woof!" repeatedly.  So cute!

Sick. Again.

As is standard, the kids have colds again.  I was hoping they'd get through the winter with only one cold, but we would not be so lucky.

Both kids have been going to bed early because they aren't sleeping great during their naps.  Elektra is sleeping great at night.  DJ, on the other hand, will wake up once or twice a night.  This morning, he decided that 5:30 AM was "time to get up".  Yeah, no... and I put him back to bed.  When I went in to get him at 7:15, he was crashed out hard with his head on Tiger.  I felt bad waking him up.

And with this cold, DJ's voice is squeaky sounding, so who knows what he's got in addition to the standard runny nose, sneezing and coughing.  This morning, he vomited his breakfast, scaring the begeezus out of Grace and himself.  Since then, though, Eleanor has reported he's been his normal mischievous self, so I didn't go pick him up.  Hopefully he's napping well right now...

Elektra, at least, is not showing any signs of this going down to her chest, and it definitely has not affected her appetite.  But she's been a little more cuddly than usual, not that we mind!!

No crying... there's pizza!

When it's time for a meal, our two kids are very different once they are strapped into their high chairs.

DJ is a very patient little boy, willing to wait for whatever it is he'll get.

Elektra, on the other hand, not so much.  If you don't have her cup and/or something she can stuff into her mouth the second you snap that tray on her chair, she will WAIL.

Last night, Daddy had strapped the kids into their high chairs, and Elektra started to fuss.  Meanwhile, DJ noticed the pizza box on the table.  "Pizza!"

As the seconds ticked by, Elektra's fussing became louder and more frantic.  That's when DJ turned to her and said, "No crying... there's pizza!"

I lost it.  That was awesome!  Naturally she didn't stop crying.  We discovered after we have her Cheerios that she completely ignored that it wasn't just that she was hungry, she wanted the pizza NOW.

As soon as I pulled a piece out of the box and started cutting it for her, she quieted down and promptly opened her mouth to feed her. 

DJ was right.  No crying... there's pizza!