It's All About Change

My child likes his world to be orderly.

2011-12-17T17:59:00.000-05:00

Me: "Gabe, what are your hands doing in your pants?"

Gabe: "organizing."

I'm not making this up!

Potty Training, Part 2

2011-11-26T15:41:00.001-05:00

So, Gabe was potty trained after a week of movies. He continued to have the occasional accident or wet bed, but these dwindled slowly away. To be on the safe side, when we took a car trip to Michigan, Gabe wore pull-ups, but as it turned out, they were unnecessary. Gabe continued to use the toddler potty for a couple of months, but I finally got tired of cleaning it, so I encouraged him to switch to the big potty, and he did so with surprising enthusiasm. He even insisted on not using the toddler seat or stepping stool, choosing instead to balance precariously while doing his business. Good job Gabe!

I took this all for granted until Gabe came down with a really nasty bought of diarrhea. To be fair, he had had diarrhea a few times previously, and on most of the occasions had done a remarkable job of getting himself to a potty in time. But this time. . . let's just say that one of that week's library books couldn't be returned. I had Gabe in the shower to hose him off, and he just continued to dribble uncontrollably there in the bathtub, poor guy.

I had assumed that this was just a one-off bout of unpleasantness, as most diarrhea is. We put him back in a pull-up diaper just in case, but otherwise were promptly distracted by the loss of power, brought on by the wet snow that fell right before Halloween. The snow fell on trees that still had their leaves, and the trees came down, leaving a third of our town in the dark. Chris chopped firewood and we build ourselves beds in the basement in front of a roaring fire. Gabe's tummy issues were forgotten until the middle of that cold, dark night.

I had just finished a long struggle to get Kaylee to sleep, so Chris took Gabe upstairs to get him cleaned up. There was yelling. And more yelling. Finally I went up, and found what looked like a scene from the Blair Witch Project, as Chris was attempting to depoopify the freezing cold child with wipes and a flashlight.

Thank the FSM for our gas-powered heater. A hot shower made everything better that night. But Gabe's tummy ick turned into vomiting the next day. For the next ten days the poor dude had an eruption from both ends every twelve hours, like clockwork. He lost his appetite and even getting water into him was tough at times. As a result, he was only using the potty twice a day. It went on long enough that he developed his own illness lingo. "Mommy, I have beans" was his way of saying he had just vomited, or was about to. I guess the texture seemed bean-like to him. His other goofy word was "throats". As in, "Mommy, I have throats!" I learned that a hand on his throat meant send in the bucket, quick.

I was so. Very. Glad. To be done with the mess and misery, that it hardly seemed like a big deal when Gabe woke up with a good appetite in a soggy bed. He then peed his pants. And again. And again. Day after day. There were days where he woke up dry, but that was only because he had wet the bed during the night and had already been cleaned up. The bathtub featured an ever-present pile of pee-soaked clothes.

I would try to force Gabe to sit on the potty before outings, because I didn't want him to pee in the car. Ironically, he never had an accident while outside of the house, with one exception. But Gabe would under no circumstance be forced into peeing. My efforts resulted in some of his most outstanding tantrums to date. Chris and I both got angry at Gabe, and as a result we were all miserable, and absolutely no progress was made.

At this point I should mention one mistake we had made previously in Gabe's potty training. My sister had mentioned that when potty training Gabe's cousin Mason, Mason had developed an impish tendency to pee on things on purpose, complete with a grin. They trained him out of this by putting Mason in a cold shower whenever he pulled that stunt. It worked, and it worked quickly.

There were times during Gabe's potty training when he refused to use the potty, and within five minutes had peed his pants. So we tried the cold shower. I think we did that twice, or maybe three times, before Gabe developed a complete terror of getting "the cold shower". He had a couple of accidents that resulted in him proactively begging me not to be put in a cold shower. And it was in the same awful, pleading voice that I could imagine an abused child begging a parent not to hit again. It made me think, "oh god, what have I done?!" I promised Gabe there would be no more cold showers, and I apologized to him profusely.

This was on my mind as our anger levels at Gabe's accidents spiked, and spiked hard. For days, it was all I could do to tell Gabe to get himself to the bathroom and stripped without screaming. But then I caught my breath, and took a closer look at the situation.

Gabe was using the potty for pooping. Gabe was denying that he had to pee, and he was delaying potty visits for as long as possible. After a few days of angry reactions from us grown-ups, he was no longer even telling us when he had peed, opting instead to continue playing or sitting on the couch in wet clothes. Obviously, our yelling was making the problem worse.

What had caused this? When he had diarrhea, Gabe would go for as long as 12 hours without needing to pee. When I finally would coax him into sitting on the potty to try to pee, this sometimes triggered his diarrhea cramps to start. Bad ones, too - he would be in tears. Almost invariably, cramps or no cramps, his diarrhea would then lead to a bout of "beans". Effectively, my son had been punished for going to the bathroom with pain and vomiting! No wonder he didn't want to use the toilet. I regret that it took me to weeks to put the puzzle pieces together.

As soon as I saw the big picture, I realized I needed to remove the anger and offer some positive incentive for Gabe to use the toilet. Easy! "Gabe, when you go pee in the potty, you can have a cookie." No pressure, he could use the potty when he wanted to. I stocked up on some really small cookies, and Gabe caught right on.

Well, there was one negative pressure that I continued to apply. I told Gabe that if he peed himself while watching television, the TV would go off. This was because there was a sub-plot of Gabe becoming so riveted by cartoons that he wouldn't leave to do anything. This included massive, evening-wrecking tantrums when it came time for dinner.

We've had, what, four days now without an accident? Thank the FSM! There were a few days where Gabe demanded cookies inappropriately, or had accidents despite the cookies. But now we have moved on to new territory: Gabe will make an impromptu potty trip not because he has to pee, but because he wants his sugary fix. But we know can work away fro that gradually. We have used treats as incentive for good behavior before; just like when training a puppy, you start using praise in place of the treat more and more often, until the behavior is automatic.

I'm so glad to have my happy child back to the way that he was. He was stressed during those post-illness weeks, and nothing breaks my heart like a child suffering from stress. I was stressed, and how is a stressed and angry parent supposed to help a stressed child? I had to fix my attitude in order to fix Gabe's derailed toilet habits.

We do still have to work on the television habits, however. Cartoons have become all-consuming to the little guy. He asks to watch "movies" first thing in the morning, and at every conceivable opportunity. I try to keep his screen time minimized, but when I'm home alone with him and I have to get Kaylee down for a nap, crap, the television sure helps. Then it's a battle to get the idiot box turned off again, and when Chris comes home Gabe goes to him begging for more. . .

There's always something to teach them, isn't there? Anyway, stay tuned for part three, in which I document the ups and downs of Kaylee's infant potty training. Cheers!

Potty Training, Part 1

2011-11-25T11:10:00.001-05:00

I've been meaning to write about potty training Gabe and Kaylee for the benefit of my friends who have potty training in their future. Okay, at long last, here it is. Part one: how we went about potty training Gabe, our three-year-old.

We started potty training for real right around Gabe's third birthday. Prior to that, we had occasionally encouraged Gabe to sit on the toddler potty, or on the big potty using a toddler seat. We even had successes. But Gabe just wasn't really interested yet, and we didn't want to pressure him.

Right around his third birthday, Gabe started habitually peeing on the bathmat after taking a shower. Holy cow, I thought, he's doing it on purpose. He's ready.

So we picked up some pull-up diapers, and encouraged Gabe to sit on the potty. The results were mixed. We changed a lot of poopy pull-ups.

Then serendipity! We were picking up diapers at the store and Gabe spied underwear. Underwear with Cars-the-movie characters! Wow, did he ever want those undies! So we took home a pack and that was it for the daytime diapers.

Soggy pants ensued. I proceeded for a short while on the guess that wet pants would be good encouragement to Gabe to pay attention and get himself to the potty when he felt the urge. It did work, some of the time. I learned that wet pants were no problem - just change them, and do a lot of laundry. I learned that in most cases, underwear are a reasonable containment unit for poop, should accidents happen. I also learned not to strip poopy undies off of a child anywhere but the bathtub. Also, a shower on a hose is an invaluable tool. If you have potty training in your future, get one! You don't even need to have a plumber install it.

This all happened too quickly to look into training pants. Anyway, shortly after underwear became the "in" thing, I declared it Movie Week at Casa Clay. Gabe got to watch non-stop movies with the toddler potty right there in the room with him, so that he could RUN to it when he needed to go.

We did have the added complication of daycare twice a week, and a bout of some minor illness, but if I remember correctly, it was Gabe being home sick one day that lead to Movie Week. And then I think I was just so focused on the potty training that I forgot to take him to daycare the second time that week.

Kaylee's infant potty training got largely neglected that week, and by the end of it I was thoroughly sick of dealing with isolation and poop. But after a week, Gabe was reliably sitting on the potty, and I was feeling ready to venture out.

Our first outings were to coffee shops with known, convenient restrooms. This was followed by picnics at which I brought along the toddler potty, plus wipes and gallon-sized ziploc baggies. This arrangement had a big yuck factor, but had a huge convenience factor. On the down side, Gabe once ended up using the potty on a sidewalk in downtown Franklin, right in front of a memorial to the Emancipation Proclamation. I was mortified that someone would think we were committing some sort of unsanitary commentary.

After the Week of Movies, Gabe was officially potty-trained during the day. I was feeling so good about things that I did away with night-time diapering, and toughed it out through a few nights of soggy beds. Very quickly, Gabe started waking up dry.

Aside from an occasional wet bed, Gabe was potty trained! But stay tuned for the regression story. . .

Vacation with the Sullivans

2011-10-04T16:15:00.001-04:00

I'm in Virginia for a few weeks with the kids, visiting with my parents. Poor Chris is at home in MA all alone, but we try to Skype every day.

Kaylee is eating solid foods with a vengeance. Yesterday was avocado, and jarred green beans; lunch today was some of the broth and tofu from my hot and sour soup. She has gone up a diaper size and she'll be flying back home with an extra chin at this rate.

Gabe tells elaborate stories now. Often he is shy with strangers - for the first thirty seconds. But often he will strike up a conversation with a strange adult. I approve of this.

"I am rated for multiple small children," says my dad, who at this moment is crouched over Kaylee, administering kisses, while Gabe climbs on his back.

Kaylee has been razzing like crazy, particularly when ready for a nap. She has discovered her ears. And she is talking all the time about "abba". And grabbing things - my lukewarm coffee went over yesterday with her ninja grab. And she just started waving! Yesterday it looked accidental, today it looked deliberate.

This morning we took Gabe swimming at the rec center. He clung to me skittishly as I took him in the deep area, and then he rocked the shallow end of the pool, fearlessly charging about in neck-deep water. I couldn't convince him to dip more than his mouth in the water, but when he accidentally dunked himself, he told me about it proudly.

But the best part is watching Kaylee laugh at Gabe! She'll get belly laughs watching him spin in circles or play with toys, or better still, when he pokes her and kisses her. I think my encouragement is paying off: he loves her so!

The cookbook is inching along towards its final state. I worry that it will be riddled with typos and bad advice. But if I can clean it up sufficiently, it's going to be stellar. This knowledge has kept me working on it night after night.

I'm pooped; the pool sucked the energy out of me. I'm going to limp my way through a haircut tonight, and get myself ready for visits with old friends tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. And Marta gets here Friday, too, with her boys! This is going to be an exciting weekend.

August 6. . .

2011-09-21T16:26:00.002-04:00

On this day in August, Chris' 70's-style mustache causes both children to inexplicably fall asleep.

Gabe's Great Aunt

2011-09-21T16:18:00.003-04:00

My aunt Kristi (Mary Sullivan, my dad's sister) stopped by for a visit in early August on her way to a convention of documentarians in Boston. I'm so proud of her for going back to school to follow her dream! We got to see some of her work while she was here, and I was impressed.

Here's Gabe, jumping into the picture.

Gabe's Bento

2011-09-21T16:05:00.002-04:00

Here's Gabe, enjoying a bento box lunch on the day before his third birthday.

Two Months Ago. . .

2011-09-21T15:58:00.001-04:00

. . .Kaylee was really getting into her feet!

Nom Nom Nom

2011-09-10T22:22:00.002-04:00

Foods Kaylee tasted yesterday and today: blueberry, nectarine, carrot, green bean, and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. I am breaking all the rules. I'm not waiting two or three days between new foods. I am not starting out with cereal. I'm letting her gnaw on chunks of fruit that aren't contained in a silly little net, and I'm spooning lumpy things into her mouth. And I'm feeding her in my lap.

Blueberries and nectarines were a big hit. With the blueberries, I bit off one side of the berry and then squeezed the pulp into Kaylee's mouth. With the nectarine, I first pulverized some with a fork. But later in the day I bit off a piece and let her gnaw it while I held the skin side between my fingers. She had no trouble gumming the fruit into a consistency that she could swallow.

Baby foods in jars will be a part of her diet at some point, no doubt, but for the time being, it is both more convenient and more in touch with our caveman roots to do things this way. Most of the world does without highchairs and ultra-pureed baby food, anyway.

More Catching Up

2011-09-09T16:29:00.003-04:00

Kaylee is now chanting "Ah-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!" She loves her own toes; I think she would love them even more in some of Crackerbarrel's gravy. I don't remember Gabe putting his toes in his mouth like she does. Kaylee also sucks her thumb, which Gabe never did. Chris worries about the future state of Kaylee's teeth; I just love that it calms her down. I'm sure she won't be one of the few who don't give it up naturally. Chris was once one of those, and I think the experience traumatized him.

Gabe and Kaylee and I just got back from out weekly picnic at Franklin's farmer's market on the town common. No wonder I'm tired - we were there almost four hours! We met up with Molly and Amy and their kids at the gazebo for a picnic, and then spent a long while chatting with Anne Marie, who runs a booth at the market that doubles the money of anyone shopping there with food stamps.

. . .

I had to put down this post and take care of things for a bit. Kaylee helped me fold some laundry. She griiiined and laughed at mommy vanishing and reappearing behind sheets and towels. And she continued with the ah-ba-bas. They morphed into va-va-vas, and then concluded with ma-ma-ma! Mommy's favorite!

Catching Up

2011-09-08T19:47:00.002-04:00

We have been letting Kaylee taste ice cream, mashed potato, soup, whatever is at hand; and while up in Michigan she tried mashed banana. But today at lunch she was throwing a fit for my food, so she got spoonfuls of Southern gravy at Crackerbarrel. She devoured it, much to the amusement of the waitresses. She didn't like the grits.

For dinner, I had to dive into the cupboard for a container of something green, because nothing on my plate could easily be reduced to mush, and she was practically dancing for food.

Smiles

2011-08-03T22:44:00.002-04:00

I should get in the habit of jotting down a few things before bed, even if I'm a zombie and incapable of getting photos edited and long posts written.

Kaylee's smiles are absolutely magic right now. Big toothless grins! Big toothless grins for Mommy! Mommy leaves the room , Kaylee cries. Mommy comes back, Kaylee grins!

And of course, big grins for Daddy. And for Gabe! He loves to give her kisses. She looks at him adoringly as he grabs her arm and pulls her across the floor to his big slobbery kiss. Gabe is once again putting his mouth all over people to display affection. He is just like a sucker-fish sometimes. "Gabe, please don't lick my foot, it's dirty." I still get jumpy when his mouth gets too close to my butt, but he hasn't actually bit me there in a few months.

Third Birthday!

2011-07-31T21:59:00.003-04:00

Ah, time gets away from me with two children! So many times I have wanted to sit down and record what has been going on. Instead, I have been spending my limited free time writing a cookbook for the Franklin Food Pantry, and hunting American chestnut trees. Sorry kids - when you wonder why there are so few photos of you at this stage in your life, this is why.

We just wrapped up Gabe's third birthday party! It was just our regular Sunday Dinner gathering, plus some party deco and party food. Jen made chocolate ice cream. Molly made cupcakes. Gabe blew out candles and enthusiastically opened Cars-themed and Thomas-the-Train-themed gifts.

The decorations were based on the same themes. Paper plates, napkins, a "happy birthday" banner - all of this themed disposable junk that I normally hate, well, it saved my butt this time. I had failed to arrange any sort of fancy shindig at a farm or moon bounce place. God, if I ever have to write and mail invitations - shoot me now! But a couple of dollars worth of streamers and stickers goes a long way with the three-years-and-under crowd. Fifty cents of balloons is a whole afternoon of fun. And that cheap plastic wiffle bat is going to be a hit for days.

The official gift was a strider bike: a tot-sized bike with no pedals. It's in Gabe's favorite color of course: "lello". Earlier in the week we took it with us for a picnic at the town's gazebo. He rode it for about two hours there.

Grandma Nana just had hip surgery, which prevented her from getting out shopping for the gift she wanted to send. So, earlier this week Gabe and Kaylee and I had an outing to Ikea to fetch Grandma's gift. This is one of the best toy kitchen's I've seen anywhere, as it is made of all the same materials and hardware as Ikea's regular furniture. (Except, alas, for the handles and sink parts, which are plastic.) Gabe even helped assemble it.

The pots and pans and mini baking set are particularly nice touches, because they can all actually be cooked with. So far we have cooked an egg together in the mini frying pan, and a ton of cookies with the cookie cutters, baking pan, and the adorable red-handled rolling pin that is a tiny replica of my antique one.

At the party tonight Kaylee had a screaming fit, which lead to an investigation of her mouth. Sure enough, the bottom left tooth is getting ready to erupt. Four months old, and already teething! I am not yet ready to lose her adorable toothless grin!

Ah well. Happy birthday Gabe! It has only been three years, but it feels as if you have been a part of my life forever. I love you.

Skyping the Grandparents

2011-07-08T23:23:00.000-04:00

Mom and Kids

2011-07-08T23:22:00.002-04:00

Opa and Kaylee

2011-07-08T23:12:00.002-04:00

More photos from Bill and Helen's May visit. Kaylee and Opa had fun on the historic Magic Blue Quilt with One Red Square. This quilt was a gift from my uncle's wife Yvonna to my mother, when I was a child or perhaps before I was born. As a kid, I built tents out of it. Our Sunday Dinner friends have let their wee ones romp on this quilt. This past weekend it came with us to a picnic on Scusset beach.

Fussy!

2011-07-08T23:08:00.001-04:00

Helen is SO Photogenic!

2011-07-08T23:01:00.002-04:00

This photo of Chris' step mom brings me such joy! This was taken in late May, before Kaylee was really smiling much. If Kaylee could have smiled at the time, Helen would have inspired great big grins!

Pee Pride

2011-06-20T21:39:00.007-04:00

In the afternoon today I let Gabe wear a pair of his precious Thomas the Train underwear. As usual, there was a soggy ending to the story. Bedtime rolled around. Gabe was standing on his stepping stool washing his hands in the kitchen, when I told him it was time to go to the potty and pee. But the power of suggestion was too strong: Gabe wet himself right there on the stool. He apologetically announced, "I'm peeing."

But fantastic progress had already been made. After an hour of wearing the undies, I realized it was high time for Gabe to have a pee break. But Kaylee was starting her fussy-wiggles, so I had to high-tail it to the nursery for a visit to her potty box. It turned out she was more interested in nursing than in immediately peeing, so I was stuck there in the rocking chair while Gabe wandered freely, a pee-bomb waiting to happen.

"Gabe," I said, "it's time to use the potty. Come take off your shorts."

Well, heck, he listened to me. I heard him fumbling in the bathroom, and then into the nursery he stumbles, beaming, to demonstrate that he has his undies own around his ankles. "Okay," I said, "now go sit on the potty."

More bathroom fumbling ensues. There are suspicious thumps. "I'm all wet," he says. But not with pee. It turns out he has attempted to sit on the grown-up potty, has somehow dipped the back of his shirt in it. How, exactly, he managed to extract himself from the toilet is anybody's guess. I stripped him of his wet shirt, while still juggling a nursing baby whose bare butt is jammed into a tupperware box. "Try the little potty," I said.

Voila! "I did it!" Gabe proclaimed. And voila! Kaylee peed too. Only I was so distracted by Gabe's antics that the potty box isn't positioned correctly, and I got baptized.

Gabe got himself back into his undies and shorts with only minimal assistance, and had I been a little sooner with my reminder, he might have made it dry to bedtime as well. But as if he didn't want to leave the day on a soggy note, he surprised me again. Kaylee needed one last visit to the potty box during the bedtime rituals. Gabe was happily diapered, but he took one look at Kaylee's bare bum, and asked if he could go pee on the potty, too, and gets himself naked and on the potty and did his business in a flash.

And this time, I caught Kaylee's pee in the box.

Kaylee

2011-06-18T21:23:00.003-04:00

Of course, I'm way behind on documenting where the kid are at. Gabe is forging ahead boldly into preschool territory, amazing me every day with his profound little steps into personhood. But this post is about Kaylee. At two and a half months, she feels like she has been in my life forever, and yet also seems to be rocketing through the infant stages so fast that I fear I will blink and miss them.

Today she laughed for the first time. Kaylee had just endured Gabe's end-of-day meltdown, in which he first screamed that he didn't want to be in the shower, and then screamed that he didn't want the shower to end. Chris applied some zen and calmed him down; Kaylee looked on with a giant grin, and then said "tee-hee!"

Kaylee just beams at us now, great big toothless, lovely grins. As with Gabe, the ceiling fans have been her first crush. She wakes up at dawn beneath our bedroom fan and proceeds to have an hour-long wiggle-flirt session with the whirling blades.

I had been taking Kaylee directly to bed with me at night around 8, when she was ready for sleep. But of course this prevented me from having any grown-up time with Chris, so I switched to putting her in the crib for the first part of the night. She surprised me by being entirely okay with this arrangement, so much so that on many nights she accepted my good night kiss and went to sleep without any fuss whatsoever. But then she went and slept through the night! I woke up at 4 A.M. that first night with this terrible feeling of not being ready yet, and broke all the rules by waking her up so that she could come back to bed with me.

Okay, so that was silly of me, and I haven't done it since.

What else? Well, I've started experimenting with a variation on the ancient and universal human method of dealing with baby elimination; i.e. "pottying" the baby instead of wasting resources in the form of a diaper. I am officially committed to doing nothing; I am not aiming to have a diaper-free infant or a halved diaper bill or anything as grand. For me, that would be a recipe for failure. I am merely asking, "can I get her to pee in a box once or twice today, to keep one more diaper out of the landfill?" The answer, so far, is hell yes! I will have to write more about this in another post, assuming that the experiment continues to go so well.

Gabeisms

2011-06-05T10:54:00.004-04:00

At random while watching Chris play a baseball game, Gabe said: "Daddy, the green car makes bad decisions. He needs to make good decisions and be nice to his friends. He needs to put on his listening ears so he can make good decisions."

At random in the car, perhaps inspired by the movie "Cars", Gabe declared "Cars don't dance." On another occasion he stated that "cars don't have mouths." Later, it was "fire trucks don't dance."

Gabe was making his careful way down a climbing structure when an older boy jostled him. Gabe blurted out, with a glare: "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"

Chris pointed out a butterfly in the brand new community gardens. Gabe asked: "What's he doing in the community garden?" A teacher happened to be listening in, and her jaw dropped. (I'm so proud!)

My friend Nicole went up to the coffee shop counter to make a purchase, leaving Gabe and I with her toddler. Gabe asked, "did the baby come out of her tummy?"

"I'm peeing!" Gabe announces while watering the bath mat. He then examines the moist patch and says "I make a letter!"

Kaylee and Walt

2011-05-21T07:47:00.002-04:00

Kaylee is full of smiles now! Here she is at our last Sunday Dinner, sharing smiles with Walt.

Oh look, the little vampire has decided to feed!

Gabe versus Tick

2011-05-21T07:36:00.002-04:00

For those who don't read our garden blog, here is Gabe checking out a wood tick on the screen door.

After the photo-shoot, I armed Gabe with a rock and taught him the fine art of tick-squashing.

Gabe's First Boff

2011-05-20T22:46:00.002-04:00

Gabe tried boffing at Jack's first birthday party.

Alas, I'm too sleepy to think of a proper larp joke.

Asleep

2011-05-14T20:28:00.003-04:00

Easter Bunny

2011-05-04T19:42:00.000-04:00

Gabe was our diaper bunny this Easter.

Bath time!

2011-05-03T15:34:00.002-04:00

Don't let that concerned look fool you; Kaylee loved her first bath. Bathing her is so much fun!

I think with Gabe we were too paranoid about cooking the baby. He hated baths because he was cold.

Dear Kaylee

2011-04-18T17:08:00.009-04:00

I have to apologize: if you are looking back through this blog, and I hope you are, than no doubt you are noticing that your big brother has more photographs, more minute-by-minute updates than you do. Please understand that documenting the first child more is a common phenomenon for parents; we all swear that we won't do it, and then it just happens. And now that I am the mother of two, I can finally shed some light on the subject.

We don't love your brother more. The two of you are equal in our hearts, so let there never be a doubt in your mind over that. And while we are quite busy becoming adjusted to the rigors of having two young offspring, we can't honestly say that we are so up to our eyeballs in living from day-to-day as to excuse us from taking more photos.

You have, in fact, been a remarkably easy baby compared to Gabe. Not that Gabe was all that different from you; poor Gabe just had the misfortune of being our learning experience. With him we fumbled, we made so many mistakes, and we worried ourselves sleepless as every new parent does. With him, our lives made the shocking transition from carefree grown-up children, to actual grown-ups. The weight of the responsibility was crushing at times, and as a byproduct, we went a little batty, determined to document the astounding thing that had happened to our lives in the form of that tiny little boy.

But with you, we are free from such insanity! You are a beautiful baby, doing beautiful baby things, and your father and I are relaxed and confident enough to enjoy the journey without obsessing over it. Your crying doesn't perplex us - I can tell if it's a change that you need, or if you are hungry or tired. You don't cry without reason. Dirty diapers aren't the tragedies that Gabe's were, back in the beginning. And we aren't sleep deprived.

Hallelujah, we aren't sleep deprived! And what a difference it makes. Kaylee, we didn't plan on doing anything different this time around, but almost on that first night we had you home from the hospital, your dad suggested that we try letting you sleep in the bed with us. It's not the safest thing to do with a newborn, but it means I don't have to be awake for an hour every two or three. I get to go back to sleep while you nurse, and you don't need me there by your crib, desperately trying to get you back to sleep when I can barely stand up. Once so far, you even woke me up by nursing. How very independent of you!

I couldn't safely do this if pregnancy hadn't trained me to hold very, very still while I sleep. And I have a fail-safe mechanism built in: if I were ever to roll onto you, I would immediately wake up, because my breasts are tender, thanks to them being milk spigots. Poor Gabe tried to crawl across my chest this morning, and got quite a yelp out of me!

And speaking of Gabe, let me tell you the other reason why we have been slacking on photographing you: because Chris and I have been putting our focus on making sure that your brother doesn't feel traumatized by the experience of suddenly no longer being an only child. For the first time in his life, Mom can't run over to help whenever he needs it. Mom has to say "I'm busy taking care of your sister", over and over, from sunup to sundown. Gabe has to be turned away sometimes when he needs extra comforting - and it breaks our hearts. He is not yet three, and it is painfully difficult for him when he wants snuggles from Mommy and Mommy has to say no. We want to be sure, absolutely sure, that this does not fester into resentment for you.

It is far more important to us that you have a good relationship with your brother than it is that you have a bunch of silly photographs.

I hope you understand.

And I will try to take more photos! Starting now. . . though, as it happens, the prime photo opportunity at this moment happens to be your brother, who fell asleep watching the Polar Express, his favorite movie, again. . .

I hope this gives you giggles!

Three days before Kaylee arrived. . .

2011-04-08T17:30:00.002-04:00

More Photos from Kaylee's Birthday

2011-04-04T14:54:00.003-04:00

Welcome to the family, Kaylee Nancy Clay! She joined us on Thursday, March 31, 2011. I guess she was unwilling to wait for April Fool's day, or my sister's birthday on April 5 (I tried to keep her in, Marta!), or even her due date, the 9th.

Seven pounds, eleven ounces of genuine baby!

There, cleaned (but still needing her hair washed) and tagged.

This photo makes her look like she lost a fight on the way out! But we couldn't have hoped for a healthier baby. She is a perfect, perky little thing.

I was having a little trouble getting Kaylee to latch on that first day, so we had some naked snuggle time. Sure enough, when she was ready to nurse, her signals were unmistakable. Nursing has been a piece of cake ever since.

Here she is on Saturday, dressed for the ride home.

Kaylee Clay Has Arrived!

2011-04-02T15:44:00.001-04:00

I had two main worries about the delivery of baby number two. The first worry was for Gabe. How was he going to tolerate being dumped rudely with friends? And to then have that followed up with a tiny yelling thing that takes most of Mommy and Daddy’s attention away from him? The poor guy was about to have his world turned upside down. So we started by telling him about the baby in Mommy’s belly, and telling him about what a good big brother he was going to be. Then, last weekend, I took him for a play date at Jen and Woody’s place, to make sure he would get along with Sara, which he did and wouldn’t be scared by the dog, which he wasn‘t.

My worries were further brushed away when days later, he asked to go back to Baby Sara’s house. “When the baby comes out of Mommy’s belly, then you can go back.” Gabe responded by walking over to my giant belly and addressing it: “come out baby!”

My other worry was that I wouldn’t make it in time to the hospital in time for antibiotics before the baby arrived. I’m a strep B carrier, which means if I didn’t get treatment, at delivery the baby would have a one in 200 chance of being infected with something quite deadly. I don’t like those odds, and I’ve known too many women who just barely made it to the hospital with their second child. The first delivery is the leisurely one; sitcom themes with babies born in cabs are based on second pregnancies.

So at work, when the Braxton-Hicks contractions started coming every 20 minutes, I started setting up my escape. Just to be cautious. Of course, it had to happen on the one day on which Chris had stayed home. And my just-in-case waterproof sheet and towel were in the other car, blast it. I asked Jen to give me a lift home early, and scurried to finish up a few last documents, and apologized to a couple of my coworkers for possibly missing my goodbye lunch on Thursday.

I still wasn’t sure it was the real deal by dinner. We walked down the street to pick up Gabe’s favorite: ravioli. Then Chris had Raid Night on Wow while I got Gabe to bed - a typical Wednesday. But by the time Gabe was asleep the contractions were getting uncomfortable - like the cramps you get before a case of the runs. But still eight minutes apart. It could take all night to hit the five minutes that signal Time To Go.

So I climbed into bed. . . And watched the clock. And got progressively more uncomfortable. There was no sleep to be had. Damn. And then the contractions doubled. Whoops! Every four minutes, like clockwork. Chris came up from his raid around midnight. “Perfect timing,” I said. For the second time that day, Jen rescued us, this time by coming to stay with Gabe. And off we went!

Those contractions were fast and furious, and all of us, the nurse included, breathed a sigh of relief when the antibiotics were all safely in my system. Then I was able to relax, and enjoy the experience. . .

Unlike the first time around, however, these contractions hurt. Having solved my two big worries, I found myself unprepared for a night of pain. I was tired from being on the third week of a lingering cough, tired from having been up all day, dreading having to fight pain for even just a few hours of hard physical work, and dreading coming out of that into the Land of Perpetual Sleep Deprivation. So, I reconsidered going au natural again. It had been the right thing to do with Gabe, but perhaps it wasn’t the right thing to do this time.

Chris and I went for a walk in the hallway and we talked about the various pain-relief options, and what they would mean for recovery time and how they would effect the delivery. I decided an epidural was the best way to go, and I picked it for a goofy reason: because Chris’ dad is an anesthesiologist. He does epidurals for a living, and I looked forward to chatting with him about it after the fact.

So at three in the morning I got some relief. Having a needle stuck in my spine was surprisingly quick and painless. As my sister had described a childhood experience of getting IV fluids, it felt like the air-conditioning had been turned on; or at least that’s what it felt like down the right side of my back.

There was no dramatic cease in the painful contractions; instead, they became progressively more mild. Thank goodness! My legs got a bit tingly, more on the right than the left. The nurse propped me on my left side and pressed the “more drugs” button to get the relief over to my left side as well, and then Chris and I were able to settle down for some sleep.

Some time after sunrise the doctor woke me because it was getting to be “that time”. My water had broken during the night. Hallelujah! I had detested that part of Gabe’s delivery. I hadn’t felt a thing. My legs were sensationally absent. The most disturbing part was that my spatial awareness of my right leg was entirely gone. In other words, I was convinced that my leg was bent and my knee pointed up, but instead it was in an entirely different position. That gave me new insight into my cousin’s life. He is paralyzed from the neck down.

“Get ready to start pushing” said the doctor. I did an inventory and found the necessary muscles to be similarly absent. Hmm, I thought. This may take a while.

I should add to all of this that I hate anesthesia. Coming back to myself after having wisdom teeth out had wigged me out, back when; and the codeine daze afterward was only something I had tolerated because the pain was worse. I have no love for the post-Novocain tinglies following lesser dental work, either.

And although it was exhausting and painful, I have no regrets for having gone through natural labor with Gabe. I am an experience junkie: I love to try new things, and that fit the bill nicely. So here was a new experience, being deprived from the sensations in half of my body.

They had to prop my legs in the stirrups for me, because I couldn’t do a thing with them. Everything seemed remarkably laid-back compared with Gabe’s delivery. His heart-rate had dropped during labor, sparking a flurry of serious-looking doctorly activity in the room. He had the cord around his neck when he popped out, so I had to painfully put the brakes on pushing while the doctor got him untangled. There was myconium in the amniotic fluid, perhaps due to the same stress that made his heart-rate drop; and because there was poo in the bathwater, Gabe had to be whisked over to the sci-fi operating room baby-cleaning station before they could give him to me, to make sure there was no myconium in his lungs. This required that a pediatrician be in the room, which added to the crowd and the operating-room feel.

During Kaylee’s delivery, there weren’t more than the one doctor and two nurses in the room, along with Chris and I. Sunlight was streaming in the window. The doctor asked me to try pushing - and hey, up in the stirrups, I remembered how to do it from the previous time. “Stop pushing!” she said abruptly. They could already see hair!

The second push was rather ineffectual, because I forgot to inhale first. On the third push a head popped out! I don’t even remember pushing the fourth time. It was ridiculous. There was a whole wiggling baby, purple and new. My uterus spat out the placenta as a contemptuous afterthought, without any involvement from me. “Do you want to hold her while she’s all gooey?” someone asked. “Goo and all!” I said. Or something like that. And there she was, a surprised-looking little baby lying on me!

Kaylee liked having her hair washed, and she picked up nursing quite quickly. When she cries, it is almost always clear that she is hungry or needs a change. No mystery crying! No painful nursing quirks.

Gabe’s reaction was precious. When confronted with the little wriggling bundle of pink, he looked so serious! “She came out of Mommy’s tummy!” he said. He repeated this on the phone to his grandmother, and added, at one point, completely unprompted: “and I came out of Mommy’s tummy, too!” He is two years and nine months older than his sister, and I can see what a good big brother he is going to be. I’m so proud!

We are all at home now. My parents are visiting, and right from delivery I was feeling good. This has not been the zombie death march that Gabe’s first days and weeks were. We aren’t plagued with beginner-parent worries. We know what to do with a teeny baby. We are having fun!

Time for me to put down the computer and wake the sleeping babe. Oh wait, I hear her stirring. Perfect timing!

Realization

2010-12-20T15:20:00.003-05:00

It is amazing how a child can effortlessly be a mirror of all that is best and worst in you, and leave you better for it.

Gabe Helps Make Pizza

2010-12-18T19:52:00.000-05:00

Gabe did a great job of helping us make a yummy pizza!

Halloween 2010

2010-11-02T09:04:00.002-04:00

Gabe dressed up as Bob the Builder and did a great job of saying "Trick or Treat" and "Thank You" at each house we went too. Unfortunately this morning he woke up and his first words were "I want candy Mommy!" Up until Halloween night we haven't let him have any candy, so that bridge has finally been crossed. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it to a minimum moving forward. I'd like to keep fruit as the candy of choice for as long as we can.

Gabeisms

2010-10-18T20:57:00.002-04:00

"Red means stop, green beans go."

"I eat the owl." Said in the direction of the window, after a discussion about listening for owls. He followed it up by holding his mouth open, as if waiting for an owl to fly in. I imitated him, and we laughed ourselves silly. Gabe was telling a joke.

"I can't reach the moon. Get the ladder."

"Squishy stars!" Only Gabe knows why the stars are squishy tonight.

"I'm afraid!" Said at the slightest sound of a motorcycle or train somewhere in the distance.

"I'm afraid of the owl!" Said when spotting a darkened window.

"The train is up in the sky!"

. . .

Today was Gabe's first day at a new daycare. Chris and I worried needlessly: the teacher said that Gabe seemed like an old pro. He got right down to business on the playground, ate his entire lunch, went peacefully down for a nap, and played nicely with the other children. The only discomfort he showed was after the second trip outdoors, when he didn't want to take off his coat. (So they let him wear it indoors, which was nice of them.) When I came to pick him up, he was engrossed with a toy truck, and had to be talked away. Then in the car, he told me excitedly all about the daycare's sandbox! What a great beginning.

WIP : Sibling

2010-09-28T00:10:00.003-04:00

It is official. Gabe's sibling is in the works and currently three months along!

Gabe has a lot to say.

2010-09-01T21:11:00.002-04:00

While falling asleep just now, he chanted "ding ding ding ding fireman!" a couple of times. Now he is singing. For dinner we had quesadilla and guacamole, and he can say both of those words like a champ. Earlier this week he surprised me by asking the complete sentence "where did Daddy go?"

Gabe asks for books by name. His favorites include "Places You Go" (Oh the Places You'll Go), "Green Ham" (Green Eggs and Ham), "Lorax", "Truck Book", "Snowman Book", "Tiger book", "No David", and, his favorite, "Humperdink" (Hooper Humperdink: Not Him! By Dr. Seuss.) All books except for No David are, according to Gabe, "by Dr. Seuss". We haven't made our first real pilgrimage to a library, except for one stop at the library in the neighboring town, which, shockingly, turns out to be closed on weekends.

And now, on having been sidetracked while looking up the proper spelling of Seuss, I have learned all about the awesome Theo Geisel on Wikipedia.

Overheard. . .

2010-08-16T14:44:00.000-04:00

. . .as Gabe was falling asleep:

"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Gabe Eat's Edamame from the Garden

2010-08-14T15:27:00.001-04:00

I picked some of the soy beans just before lunch and decided to try making edamame for lunch. I figured Michelle and I would split some. Much to my surprise Gabe go into his chair and dove in.

It took him a couple attempts before he figured out how to get them open, but he learned quickly.

Nom Nom Nom goes Gabe.

Earlier this morning Gabe shelled a bunch of dried peas for me, so I'm wondering if that helped him out with the edamame. Though eventually he copied mom and dad and started popping the pods in his mouth to break them open.

Happy boy full of fresh organic edamame. If I ever doubted if all the time in the garden was worth it, watching Gabe happily eat GREEN things from the garden has dispelled that doubt.

A birthday toy

2010-08-03T21:10:00.002-04:00

Gabe picked out his gift at the toystore.

He likes it almost as much as the balloons.

Thank you everyone for the fleet of toy construction vehicles, and the other lovely gifts! Gabe loves them all.

Overheard on the Baby Monitor. . .

2010-08-02T20:56:00.001-04:00

"One diaper, two diaper. One diaper, two diaper. I did it!"

Gabe's Waterpark Adventure

2010-07-22T20:23:00.003-04:00

You want me to climb up where?

I did it all by myself! I am totally the man!

Now I just adjust like so and get down on my butt...

Holy crap do you see how high this is?!?!?!

My public awaits so down I go.

Splashdown!

Here ya go little lady let me get that for you.

Now that we have that out of the way,
what would you say to a trip to the water slide together?

Ya I totally come here all the time. I practically own this place.

Free-stylin!

Holy Cow. I hope she can't see my face from up there this is scary!

What are you doin' man. You're like totally backwards.

Wedgy city huh dude? I told you backwards was a bad idea.

All the babes love free-stylin!

Boy in a Bucket

2010-07-07T20:32:00.002-04:00

The Home Depot was having a special on toddlers, so we decided to pick one up! We've been having a heat wave up here, so when given a bucket of water to play in Gabe decided he'd climb right in.

It is like the Ocean in Galveston, only smaller...

Exploring

2010-06-09T21:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

Many Words

2010-04-14T20:56:00.003-04:00

Last week one morning, from the moment he woke up, I wrote down each unique word that Gabe said. He was up to 40 words by the time we dropped him at daycare. Days later, he started pairing words together: "big ball", "more milk". Today he said "two airplane" and "my turn". The latter is particularly exciting, because those are two particularly abstract words, and he put them together himself.

Gabe added another mondo-mashup word to his vocabulary as well: ah-bah-dee-doh. It took us a week to unravel this particular mystery. It's Gabe-speak for "I'm gonna get you." I.e. it's what Chris says while chasing a giggling Gabe around the house with wiggly tickle fingers.

Gabe loves to tell us "get down" when he climbs on to things. He now moves a pillow in order to use it as a stepping-stool onto the couch. In the bathroom, he puts his stepping stool precisely in front of the sink for hand-washing. The stool has to be moved about because it blocks the door. Gabe usually gets angry at it when it blocks his door-closing fun, but today, after pondering the matter, he picked it up and moved it out of the door's way.

Speaking of stool, we had no intention of starting potty training so early, but since Gabe has been pooping by the clock, I tried plunking him on the potty first thing in the morning, and met with unexpected success two days in a row. In the evenings, bath time has three steps: get naked, make pee pee in the potty, and shower. Gabe calls the first step, with much glee, "nay nay!" and he has to be watched around the little toy potty, because he is apt to wear it like a hat.

Chew Your Food Song

2010-03-21T10:20:00.003-04:00

I came up with this as we were trying to teach Gabe to always chew his food. It is to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

Chew your, Chew your, Chew your Food
If you don't its very Rude!
Chew until its nice and small,
That way you won't choke at all!

Chew your, Chew your, Chew your Food
If you don't its very Rude!

Pee Pee in the Potty

2010-03-15T19:59:00.003-04:00

We've been acclimating Gabe to his potty by letting him sit on it prior to getting into the tub or shower and tonight he finally went pee pee in it. We're not pressuring him or anything, it was more a happy accident, but we're hoping that gentle positive reinforcement will click in over time.

Fearless Explorer

2010-02-27T20:55:00.002-05:00

Wall vs Gabe - Wall Wins

2010-01-31T11:07:00.003-05:00

Gabe was spinning around and around. Then, dizzy, he fell into the corner of the wall and clonked his head good.

He's still feeling well enough to ham it up for the camera though, so I'm not too worried. Still, he's going to have an impressive bruise to show off at day-care tomorrow.

Recent Videos of Gabe's Activities

2010-01-24T17:48:00.007-05:00

Gabe's been learning new stuff all the time.

Important stuff like how to climb ladders

How to play the cymbals

How to ask for more water when he's thirsty

How to order up diaper time comic relief

How to answer the phone and hang up

Fun with Words

2010-01-15T21:49:00.002-05:00

Gabe's vocabulary is continuing to expand! He's doing a good job of trying words and using signs at the same time where applicable. Still many are pretty mangled, though adorable.

Hi Lao Loo - "I love you"
Nae Nae - "Night Night"
Dow - "Down"
Oh No!
Woah!
Hi
Hello
Bye
Buh Bye
Mo Ma - "More" He uses this while using the sign for more
Doa - "Door"
Dat - "That"
Emma (Name of friend at daycare)
Hurray - Said while raising arms up
Hah tch - "Hot" Said while reaching towards something and then pulling hand away

New Signs:
Thirsty - Running finger down throat
Itsy Bitsy Spider - He puts his hands together at face level and raises them up while singing "aye ya aye ye"

Okay, now he's walking IN the snow.

2010-01-13T22:46:00.002-05:00

. . .in shallow snow, at least.

Salad Dressing Selection. . .

2010-01-12T22:37:00.001-05:00

Presents!

2010-01-12T22:23:00.002-05:00

And some more romping outdoors. . . notice we're not IN the snow yet. . .

Gabe's First Snow

2010-01-12T22:14:00.004-05:00

Gabe doesn't like snow yet. I think he puts it in the same category as bubble-bath.

In the Cupboard

2010-01-12T22:08:00.002-05:00

Another playground outing!

2010-01-12T22:02:00.002-05:00

This time, our little monkey went down the slide all by himself!

no title

2010-01-12T21:46:00.002-05:00

Playground

2010-01-12T21:42:00.001-05:00

We took advantage of one of the oddly warm November weekends by going to the playground. Gabe loves the slides!

November Photos

2010-01-12T21:36:00.003-05:00

For a few days the best toy in the house was a "pushpush": an empty 5-gallon water bottle. Gabe pushed it around the house at high speeds. It was a fun object to stuff blocks into, and he particularly liked setting toys on top of it while both of his hands were in socks.

Yup, he loved wearing socks on his hands for a while there.

We've been slacking. . .

2010-01-12T21:10:00.003-05:00

These photos were taken in October. Cripes, we're running behind with our Gabe photos!

The Blog's Not Dead Yet. . .

2010-01-07T15:08:00.003-05:00

We'll post more photos just as soon as Chris's hard drive is replaced. . . again. In the mean time, here is a lovely article that my dad sent me: all hail the Onion!

We had an awesome, fantastic, restful; vacation with Chris's family up in Michigan. Gabe got tons of leggo-type blocks for Christmas, among other goodies. He was a trooper on the drive up and back again. New words include "hello", "hooray", "oh no", "snow" (minus the "s"), "more", and "door". Cheese sticks and raisins are the new food of choice. Shoes are still in, but jackets are now out. There was one wheasy-baby emergency-room visit in Michigan, but Gabe stayed cheerful even through that, and he recovered nicely. We didn't get to take him out in the snow on doctor's orders, but there was enough indoors to keep us all quite happy on our visit. It was a great trip.

Love

2009-12-11T20:57:00.001-05:00

There is a little girl at the daycare named Samantha who is very shy. When I visit Gabe, she keeps her distance and watches me without expression on her face. Today, for the first time, she brought me toys. Later, when I was getting Gabe’s coat on him, she walked up to us at the coat racket and said “jacket”. I had never heard her speak before; nor had I ever seen her grin.

With the ice finally broken, Samantha suddenly had the confidence to goof around in front of me. She started walking back and forth between the hanging coats and the wall. The static made her hair stand up in every direction. I don’t know if it was the hair, or the way she was repeatedly hidden in coats, but suddenly Gabe was cracking up. He was laughing so hard, I had to repeatedly pick him up off of the floor. The teachers apparently don’t hear him laugh like that in class, because they were quite surprised by the sounds he was making. They compared him to a Tickle Me Elmo.

Gabe almost then got himself into trouble. He decided to start touching Samantha’s face. (This must be how he has gotten himself bit in class so often.) I told him to be gentle, and good boy, he listened! There was no pinching or pulling or fingers in eyes. Patient Samantha held still while Gabe touched her face.

And *then* the silly boy kissed her! With a big hug, right there in the coats, in front of his mama. It was the most sweet and innocent thing I’ve ever seen.

Sweet little Samantha let him. Then she ran around in the coats some more, and got more giggles from Gabe, and a second kiss.

Vocabulary

2009-11-28T09:31:00.004-05:00

We've been working on expanding Gabe's vocabulary since he started talking and slowly but surely he's using more words. Like any Toddler his newest words are often half words which we understand and hopefully he'll fill the rest in with time.

I was especially happy to see Gabe start using his third sign. I've been using the Hungry sign whenever I put him in the highchair to eat, and after literally months of showing him he now uses it when we ask him if he's hungry. Success!

Vocabulary List:

Appah = "Apple"
Dis = "This"
Ba = "Ball"
BuhBuh = "Bubbles"
Ah Da = "All Done"
Book
Up
Dada
Mama
Uh Oh

Fun at the Playground

2009-11-23T17:40:00.005-05:00

This Sunday afternoon we traveled up to a local park that has a great playground for toddlers. Michelle would remember the name, but I can't. Gabe has gotten so much better at walking. He really launched himself up the ramps.

He's learned to position himself at the top of the slide and then push off so he slides down.

One of us is at the bottom to catch him. This is the only slide he can safely go down. The others are too step for him still, but this one is perfect and he loves it.

We climbed to the very top and Gabe went down the twisty slide on mom's lap. He was laughing at Daddy who was sliding down backwards to take a picture.

A happy pair reaches the bottom.

Gabe shocked us when he ran up to the slide, dropped to his belly, and launched himself down face first. He later tried to run down, but we stopped that experiment in the nick of time.

He thought sliding was the best thing ever and did it endlessly until dad stopped lifting him up to the entrance near the top of the slide.

I can't believe how fast he's growing up!

Prelude to a Bath

2009-11-21T21:19:00.003-05:00

After lunch, Gabe was lifted straight into the tub.

Things have been great fun on the talking front. The day after "up" Gabe added "book" to his vocabulary, and promptly gave up on it in favor of saying "up" every seven seconds. Gabe has also made an effort to say "all done", "ball", and "no", but these are all half-baked as of yet.

I took Gabe on his first real walk into the woods today, because he finally seems to have reacheed the stage where walking is the standard mode of transportation. Hooray! But my fiendish plan was foiled when the silly monkey became more interested in my apple then in the walk. I tried to tell him that he had just eaten an entire apple of his own, but nothing could keep him from devouring my precious honeycrisp while sitting in the grass at the edge of the woods.

Gabe's First Word

2009-11-10T12:25:00.002-05:00

While Gabe has been babbling for a while and saying mama and dada, they are mostly mantras. Dadadadada, mamamama. This morning Gabe said "Up" very clearly and distinctly several times when Michelle asked him if he wanted up. I can't wait to see what will come next!

Gabezilla Attacks

2009-10-31T12:18:00.004-04:00

Daddy likes to play with blocks.

Gabe comes to see daddy's block tower up close.

Careful Gabe! Daddy's tower is fragile.

Oh no Gabezilla attacks!

Gabezilla delighting in destruction.

Astronaut Pajamas

2009-10-30T20:43:00.003-04:00

Our friend Kristin works at NASA. She gave Gabe some official astronaut jammies:

Gabe usually isn't quite this enthusiastic about brushing his teeth. . .

Oh look, today is the 27th. . .

2009-10-27T11:41:00.001-04:00

. . .which makes Gabe 15 months old. He is now officially a toddler!

First Steps

2009-10-23T19:53:00.004-04:00

We ate out at a local family friendly restaurant called Ricks this evening. When we arrived home we were playing with Gabe when we stared playing the stand up on daddy's knees and fall to daddy game. He laughs like crazy when we play it and usually ends up falling in a random direction, sometimes backwards. One time I scooted backwards on my butt to get some distance and he step-fell towards me. After repeating it a few times he actually took several steps forward towards me and never really lost his balance.

Michelle and I were beaming and laughing in excitement and Gabe was too. Before it was all said and done he walked about two meters to me without falling and I was ecstatic that he was finally reaching this long awaited milestone. I know running around is just a short time away and I both can't wait to run around with him and dread chasing him;)

Hamsicles

2009-10-22T19:41:00.002-04:00

We've offered Gabe ham plenty of times, and up until now he's rejected it. Tonight he ate all the ham chunks in his mac & cheese. The thing is I was cooking the mac & cheese and had a bowl of frozen ham by the stove waiting to be dumped in. Gabe saw the frozen ham and asked for some. I gave him a small chunk on a lark, and he sucked on it for a while. Chewed. Then swallowed and asked for more. He ate a half dozen more frozen chunks before dinner.

If you had told me that this would the way we'd get Gabe to start eating his ham I would have called you crazy. Sometimes ideas are just crazy enough to work.

Book Time

2009-10-20T20:44:00.002-04:00

Gabe is feeling much better now. Here he is, reading with Daddy.

Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary

2009-10-15T21:58:00.004-04:00

Last weekend Jen and I went to Stony Brook to photograph the Autumn foliage, but of course Gabe got a lot of attention, too. (To see the landscape and plant photos, click here.)

Gabe is on the verge of walking. He is cruising with more confidence by the day.

Yup, I let him crawl on a boardwalk over snapping-turtle-infested waters. He was amazingly careful about getting too close to the edges. (And I was prepared to hop in after in, should he go over.)

Gabe, Jen, and Gabe's future girlfriend. (She's still in the oven.)

Here's Gabe crawling off into the sunset. Of all the things to catch one's attention at Stony Brook, he was most taken with the crooked yellow step. Twice he got his foot stuck while climbing over it.

Another Week of Sick Baby

2009-10-13T21:41:00.002-04:00

Two weeks ago it was an ear infection. Now it's bronchiolitis. I need to get to bed so I won't be a wreck when we wake him at 2 AM to use the nebulizer again. Poor little muppet.

Up and Up to No Good

2009-10-13T21:35:00.004-04:00

I am the coolest: my shoes match the wagon!

The wagon! So heavy! But I make it go all by myself!

Oh shit, I've been caught! Abort mission!

Good Morning Daddy

2009-09-29T20:00:00.002-04:00

This morning Michelle plopped Gabe down beside my head just like any other morning. As I rolled over and opened my eyes my vision blurred as a baby fist punched into my left eye. I yelled rather loudly and sat straight up. At this point Gabe went quiet, and after a few moments Michelle asked, "Are we going to the emergency room?"

Luckily there was no need for a trip to the ER. My eye is still sore, but no permanent damage done that I can tell. Baby fist in eye, not the best part of waking up;)

So That's Why He's Been Fussy

2009-09-23T11:48:00.000-04:00

Poor Gabe! He is currently at home with an ear infection. We paid a visit to the doctor yesterday after three days of intermittent low fevers, and it was a good thing, because his temperature spiked right after the visit, and tried to stay up all through the night.

Wonderful Chris is on sick baby duty today, and last I heard he was trying to wrangle Gabe down for a nap.

Gabe is one tough cookie. Even when his temperature hit 102.9, he was still smiling and scurrying around in laps. I had to wake him up during the night to give him Tylenol. Aside from wanting comfort foods, he’s trying his hardest to pretend that he isn’t sick.

Oh yes – Gabe took his first steps over the weekend! He stood up next to the toilet, held his arms up to me to indicate that he wanted to be picked up, and then did a two-step shuffle. After that, he decided to sit down.

There hasn’t been a repeat performance for Chris yet, but I’m sure it’s because Gabe just isn’t feeling up to it.

Sweet and Sour Face

2009-09-18T19:32:00.007-04:00

Tonight at dinner Mom was drinking some pure cranberry juice and making all sorts of funny faces. Dad took a sip and tried really hard to keep from making funny faces. Gabe wanted to get in on the action and being mean awful parents we figured why not. He does love lemons after all.

"Oh ya! I get the good stuff. That mom and dad drink. From the big cup. Cause I'm a big boy. With a big thirst. For the good stuff."

"I have begun to reconsider the wisdom in my current course of action."

"Oh Dear Lord what have I done!"

"I think my face is going to be stuck like this forever."

"Ok, maybe not forever."

"Actually that has a good burn to it, bring that back."

"Come to papa, you hurt so good."

First Day at the Playground

2009-09-17T21:32:00.003-04:00

Our local elementary school has a wonderful playground structure. Gabe immediately took to the bridge. After this first cautious descent down its steep side, he scooted back and forth across it like he owned it.

He didn't so much like the slides on this trip, but on our second visit to the park, riding the slide on daddy's lap became the giggle source of the afternoon.

Gesundheit

2009-09-17T21:15:00.002-04:00

So, we were having tomato soup one night. I let Gabe drink some of the soup from my bowl, which was messy, but he loved it. After Chris cleaned him up, Gabe sneezed - and soup shot out of his nose, all the way down to his chin.

After we picked ourselves up off the floor (having been taken down by laughter) Chris grabbed the camera.

More Photos from Frye Island

2009-09-02T21:31:00.002-04:00

After a photography expedition was cut short by mosquitoes, Chris and I met up with Gabe and my parents at the island's community center playground.

I like this sequence:

Everybody say chee. . .

. . .OMP!

Bucket Time on Frye Island

2009-08-20T07:25:00.007-04:00

I has a bucket!

Splash!

Splashsplashsplash!

So this is the mysterious "wet" of which they speak.

More wet!

My minions obey.

Blublublublub.

Tastes like duck.

Beach Bums

2009-08-19T07:04:00.007-04:00

Gabe's first visit to a beach:

Clean, salt-free water; crystal sky.

Gabe handed 3,572 pebbles to Grampa, 374 of which he first tried to eat. . .

. . .and Gabe wondered why Grampa kept dribbling water on his foot. After this came much fun with a bucket, and then it was sitting-in-the-water time!

We shared the beach with a family that had a pair of toddlers (one of which was toted down to the sand under one arm, looking like a piece of luggage), and this family of ducks, who popped out from the shade of a rock just next to me, thereby making me jump two feet in the air. These are the scariest ducklings I've ever met!

Frye Island Portraits

2009-08-18T22:23:00.002-04:00

Chris took some wonderful portraits of my family while we were up at Frye Island.

Gabe's Grampa. . .

Nana. . .

Great Great Uncle Phil. . .

Great Great Aunt Nancy!

They really are great people, it's true!

Frye Island Boat Trip

2009-08-18T22:07:00.005-04:00

Off the coast of Frye Island, uncle Phil took us out for a ride in his boat, named "Tuition Free".

Don't believe that concerned look on my mother's face. She and Dad are born sailors. Somehow, over the years, I had forgotten this.

Before. . .

Off we go!

After!

Poor Gabe. In his oversized life-jacket, he could barely move. The noise and spray and bouncing overwhelmed him.

Safe in Daddy's arms, the boat rocked Gabe to sleep.

Birthday Fish

2009-08-04T22:42:00.001-04:00

I already have a hard time remembering that six months ago, Gabe's Garden was just a patch of neglected lawn. Happy birthday little dood! Soon you will be old enough to *really* play here.

To celebrate, I hung up the Japanese Children's Day banner that used to be mine. Children's Day, formerly Boy's Day, is actually in May, but since few people here in the US know that, I can get away with flying the carp whenever I like.

Gabe absolutely loves the banner. He waves his arms and shouts "da!" whenever he sees it. By "da", he means "gimmie".

Happy Birthday Gabe

2009-07-27T21:31:00.004-04:00

Gabe has made it through his first year of life with flying colors! I can't believe it really has been a year already.

Schweet, they gave me stuff with frosting on it.

What, What? You have place something strange in my frosting!

Why the heck are you setting the thingy on fire, are you sure this is safe?

Pretty fire.

Baby burn protection service interrupts this grab to bring you smoke.

Well since it is no longer burning I guess I'll try and eat it.

Well they took it away so back to the cake.

Here daddy! Stop taking pictures and try this stuff its great!

Early Birthday Gift

2009-07-23T22:37:00.006-04:00

Dear Great Gramma and Grampa Sullivan,
Thank you for the cardboard box. It's big enough for Daddy to climb inside with me. Mama says thank you for the rocking chair.
Love,
Gabe

A New Dinner Strategy

2009-07-22T17:55:00.005-04:00

I used to cook meals with piles of fresh vegetables cooked just to the point of maximum flavor, interesting meats seasoned just so; curries and soups and sauces, oh my! I even, gasp, baked, at least for that one winter when the idea of the alchemic conversion of wet and dry ingredients into puffed deliciousness got me off of my lazy bum. Before Baby, cooking could begin whenever and end whenever, and dirty dishes could be abandoned until we got around to doing them.

Now, when I need those healthful meals the most, we’re all too often eating McFood, or mac-and-cheese-and-peas, again. I’m bored with it, and Gabe is getting the same lackluster meals both at his highchair and through breastmilk, which just isn’t fair to him.

The challenge is that we get home at seven, and Gabe needs to be headed for bed by eight. Food, diaper change, bath, clothes change, bedtime story, and nursing all need to fit into that hour.

Somewhere along the lines, we ended up with a subscription to a parenting magazine. I roll my eyes at such a thing. But in one half-page article, there was a blurb about preparing meals for a week in advance by pre-washing, chopping, and cooking ingrediants.

The snob in me says, “but that’s too easy!” But the snob is really sick of pizza, even if the pizza is made by an authentic Italian lady who invites us into her shop even with our baby-laden little-red-wagon, and who once gave us some frozen venison, free of charge.

We are on our second week of this new meal plan. There is a list on the fridge of the meals that can be thrown together from the contents of the plastic boxes in the refridgerator. Here is what is in the fridge:

Grape tomatoes, halved
Broccoli, cut up into bite-sized pieces
Carrot, sliced
A large chopped onion
One box of mushrooms, chopped
One pound of ground beef, cooked with a small chopped onion
Chopped green beans, from the garden.
Ham, cubed
Grated cheddar cheese
Grated parmesan cheese
One jar of any sort of stir-fry sauce
Worcestershire sauce
One can of white beans
Sour cream
cream
milk
chicken stock
pasta
rice
spices

And here are this week’s meals:

Beef and bean burritos with tomato, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Some of the beef and half the can of beans are heated with various Mexican spices.

Beef stroganoff. While the pasta boils, I saute the mushrooms and some onion in some oil, then toss in some of the beef, sour cream, and Worcestershire sauce. Steamed broccoli was served as a side.

Mostly-veggi stir-fry. While the rice cooks, various veggies and some ground beef are stir-fried in sauce from a jar. With everything pre-cut, and with a rice cooker, this is a very fast meal to make.

Ham soup. Soup is an ideal end-of-week meal, because whatever is left over can go into the soup. Last night was soup night, and this batch was particularly good. I started with a frozen box of home-made chicken stock*. To that I added ham, various veggies, milk, cream, and grated parmesan cheese.

Pasta with cream sauce and ham. I still have a lot of veggies left over, which may go into this dish tonight.

After most of a week of home-cooked dinners, we can have an indulgence of fast food or sushi on Friday, and - hooray! - not feel guilty about it.

*With a slow-cooker and deep freeze on hand, every baked chicken becomes a pot of soup!

First Swim

2009-07-15T22:55:00.002-04:00

During Chris' family's visit, we took our little fish for his first swim. Gabe really wasn't sure about all that water, but he was a good sport, and a good time was had by all.

Gabe's Garden

2009-07-15T22:30:00.003-04:00

Gabe's garden waits patiently for the little boy to grow out of his mulch-eating tendencies. In the mean time, his daddy takes him for rides around the circle in a little red wagon.

More Family Photos!

2009-07-13T22:00:00.006-04:00

Taking pictures of animals in the zoo. . .

Look at the happy little monkey! He even likes bananas.

Smiling for Gabe!

Everyone looks so good in orange.

Photographing, you guessed it, Gabe!

May we present your highness with a monkey?

Prince Gabe holding court.

What?

So I made you laugh, did I?

Mmm, kisses from Opa.

Two handsome men.

Rawr!

This End Up

2009-07-13T21:54:00.002-04:00

No wonder children have nightmares: it's because their parents sneak into their room late at night with a camera and tripod, quietly rearranging the furniture and stepping softly among in the minefield of toys to photograph them sleeping in funny poses.

Family Arrives!

2009-07-03T10:23:00.004-04:00

Gabe Loves Mulberries

2009-06-28T23:03:00.002-04:00

He looks likes a little baby vampire with the mulberry juice dripping down his chin.

Fruit-Seeking Behavior

2009-06-27T11:02:00.004-04:00

Gabe has acquired a taste for fresh strawberries, raspberries, and mulberries. Whenever I walk him past the raspberry bushes he starts reaching now even though they're really tart due to the wet overcast weather we've been having.

It was so cool to watch him reach for a raspberry, grab it, and eat it!

Mobile Baby!

2009-06-26T08:29:00.006-04:00

As of last Tuesday, the baby is no longer a turret. He moves! He gets up onto his knees, and with a look of pure joy, he crawls where he wants to!

Yesterday morning, Chris and I looked on with wonderment as our little bundle scootched on his knees from our bedroom, to the hallway, and down to the bathroom. He stopped there to visit with his beloved cabinet doors. The bathroom cupboards are all now protected with the parent-proof. . . I mean baby-deterrent devices, which means Gabe can use the cupboard handles to pull himself up onto his knees, whereupon he lunges maniacally like a gorilla shaking the bars of its enclosure, as happy as a pig in poo.

Oh, is he happy! I had attributed to his recent weeks of irritability to the viruses he had collected like Pokemon cards. (Did I mention that we suspect one of those viruses was Swine Flu?) But in retrospect, I think he was just frustrated at being immobile.

The upstairs baby gate is now a Very Useful Thing. Downstairs, we still need to get some gates up. (This morning Gabe made four breaks for the garage, and one for Chris' desk.) I need to finishing modifying our new TV console to be the perfect baby-proof game-station container. The kitchen cupboards are three-fourth secured, and one of the cupboards has been designated as a play-space for Gabe, because cupboards make him so very happy. I may leave the towel-drawer unsecured, as well, until I get tired of him emptying its contents.

So far there have been more head-bonks than pinched fingers, and one undignified face-straight-into-the-floor. Gabe is such a trooper, though. With the application of some hugs, he is right as rain and ready to continue his rampage.

"You've got to be kidding me."

2009-06-17T22:56:00.002-04:00