According to Zach, I am a girl. No longer am I a grill. Grill has been one of the words he's had trouble with and out of the blue, he's saying it properly - girl. He still calls the remote a camort. I'm not really sure why. He'll sound out re-mote, re-mote, re-mote and then say, camort when he's using it in a sentence.
I'm thrilled he's figured out girl and not grill. I really wouldn't want him going on his first date with a grill. But at the same time, it's another reminder that he is indeed growing up!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
My Miracle Angel Baby
Okay, so I think it's safe for me to say that Dylan is turning out to be my "angel" baby. This is no reflection on me. I believe this is luck of the draw. I also believe this pertains only to the infant stage, no promises for future angelness (just made that word up).
The no crying thing has turned into a reflection of his general state of laid backness. He wakes up and grunts at you and then will cry if not attended to within a reasonable amount of time. He still only cries when he is ignored for too long or is really hurt. Unfortunately, he had an incident with a Thomas the Tank Engine train hitting him in the head for us to realize this. Zach literally decided to throw the train out of the clear blue and it managed to land squarely on Dylan's forehead. He let out a big wail and it managed to just leave a little red mark for a day or so. Zach felt terrible and so did I. I wasn't aware I should create a forcefield around him to protect him from Zach. But part of me was relieved to know he did cry at appropriate times. Zach did immediately run to the freezer and get the little kid ice pack for Dylan's head. He knows from experience what to do with those Owees.
Tonight I realized the ease of putting this baby to bed. We literally have put him in a dark quiet room in his car seat (he doesn't like laying completely flat) all swaddled up and his pacifier and he will just drift off to sleep on his own. What a beautiful thing! It doesn't work every time, but a lot of the times it does. I remember with Zach we would walk around the room bouncing him around or shushing him to get him to stop crying and close his eyes. The minute we would think he was asleep and lay him down - the eyes would come open and he'd start crying. We'd start all over again completely exhausted. Please God let Dylan remain this laid back forever! (It can't hurt to ask, right?)
The sad thing going on right now is the Baby Acne. GASP! It's so sad to look at. He's got little acne all over his face. It's not the little white bumps that all babies get at birth. Those have faded and now they are red acne marks all over. Again, it's my fault. The mother's hormones pass through to the baby at the end of pregnancy. See, it's always the mother's fault. Get use to it, right? They say it should clear up by the time he's 6 months old....really?!?! Surely, it should be sooner than that. Luckily, it's not that severe and seems to have stopped getting any worse. Oh well, it's just appearances and doesn't hurt him. We shall carry on!
The no crying thing has turned into a reflection of his general state of laid backness. He wakes up and grunts at you and then will cry if not attended to within a reasonable amount of time. He still only cries when he is ignored for too long or is really hurt. Unfortunately, he had an incident with a Thomas the Tank Engine train hitting him in the head for us to realize this. Zach literally decided to throw the train out of the clear blue and it managed to land squarely on Dylan's forehead. He let out a big wail and it managed to just leave a little red mark for a day or so. Zach felt terrible and so did I. I wasn't aware I should create a forcefield around him to protect him from Zach. But part of me was relieved to know he did cry at appropriate times. Zach did immediately run to the freezer and get the little kid ice pack for Dylan's head. He knows from experience what to do with those Owees.
Tonight I realized the ease of putting this baby to bed. We literally have put him in a dark quiet room in his car seat (he doesn't like laying completely flat) all swaddled up and his pacifier and he will just drift off to sleep on his own. What a beautiful thing! It doesn't work every time, but a lot of the times it does. I remember with Zach we would walk around the room bouncing him around or shushing him to get him to stop crying and close his eyes. The minute we would think he was asleep and lay him down - the eyes would come open and he'd start crying. We'd start all over again completely exhausted. Please God let Dylan remain this laid back forever! (It can't hurt to ask, right?)
The sad thing going on right now is the Baby Acne. GASP! It's so sad to look at. He's got little acne all over his face. It's not the little white bumps that all babies get at birth. Those have faded and now they are red acne marks all over. Again, it's my fault. The mother's hormones pass through to the baby at the end of pregnancy. See, it's always the mother's fault. Get use to it, right? They say it should clear up by the time he's 6 months old....really?!?! Surely, it should be sooner than that. Luckily, it's not that severe and seems to have stopped getting any worse. Oh well, it's just appearances and doesn't hurt him. We shall carry on!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Zach Stories
I need to update with some funny things Zach has been saying lately. I find most everything is funny these days.
I made French Toast the other morning for him. We don't usually have French Toast. Here's how the conversation went.
Me: Hey Zach, I made some French toast for you this morning.
Zach: Oh good mommy, let's tell Daddy we having fwends toast.
Me: Not friends toast, Zach, French toast.
Zach: Daddy, we having fwends toast. Mommy made fwends toast. DADDY!...
Craig was upstairs so this goes on for about 5 mins until he finds Craig and gets a response. Lots of talking in my house.
The Walmart toy catalog is out for Christmas. Zach has spent the last couple of days looking through it constantly. He's found what he wants from Santa. One of those cars that you can ride in...like the Barbie Jeep but a John Deere little thing or a truck something. Anyway, he's picked it out and was going on and on about it. He starts a lot of sentences with "Maaaybe, I could get..." So maybe he could get this car was going on and on. Well with our budget this year, the car is probably not possible, so I said "maaaybe, we won't be able to get that this year." Tears began to flow, it was very sad. I tried to explain the concept of not getting everything you want all the time. Hard for a 2 year old. Craig went the route of telling him he's not big enough but maybe if he gets bigger he could get it then. Clip to 4 hours later after he wakes up from his nap.
Me: Hey there buddy! I don't think these jammies fit you anymore. You've gotten so big we may have to put them away.
Zach: I have gotten big. I so big mommy.
Me: You are big sweetie.
Zach: Now I can get dat car? I bigger now, so I get dat car?
Me: Laughing. Well, we'll see. I'm not sure you're that big. You really want that car don't you?
Zach: Yes, I wiwee want dat car. I big enough now.
Off he goes to find Daddy and tell him how big he is and how he wiwee wants dat car.
He has a mind like a steel trap. He forgets nothing, beware, whatever you tell him. He will remember and repeat.
I made French Toast the other morning for him. We don't usually have French Toast. Here's how the conversation went.
Me: Hey Zach, I made some French toast for you this morning.
Zach: Oh good mommy, let's tell Daddy we having fwends toast.
Me: Not friends toast, Zach, French toast.
Zach: Daddy, we having fwends toast. Mommy made fwends toast. DADDY!...
Craig was upstairs so this goes on for about 5 mins until he finds Craig and gets a response. Lots of talking in my house.
The Walmart toy catalog is out for Christmas. Zach has spent the last couple of days looking through it constantly. He's found what he wants from Santa. One of those cars that you can ride in...like the Barbie Jeep but a John Deere little thing or a truck something. Anyway, he's picked it out and was going on and on about it. He starts a lot of sentences with "Maaaybe, I could get..." So maybe he could get this car was going on and on. Well with our budget this year, the car is probably not possible, so I said "maaaybe, we won't be able to get that this year." Tears began to flow, it was very sad. I tried to explain the concept of not getting everything you want all the time. Hard for a 2 year old. Craig went the route of telling him he's not big enough but maybe if he gets bigger he could get it then. Clip to 4 hours later after he wakes up from his nap.
Me: Hey there buddy! I don't think these jammies fit you anymore. You've gotten so big we may have to put them away.
Zach: I have gotten big. I so big mommy.
Me: You are big sweetie.
Zach: Now I can get dat car? I bigger now, so I get dat car?
Me: Laughing. Well, we'll see. I'm not sure you're that big. You really want that car don't you?
Zach: Yes, I wiwee want dat car. I big enough now.
Off he goes to find Daddy and tell him how big he is and how he wiwee wants dat car.
He has a mind like a steel trap. He forgets nothing, beware, whatever you tell him. He will remember and repeat.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Dylan Milestone
And so it begins, Dylan is already starting to reach milestones. About a week ago, he smiled for the first time. I find it hard to determine the first real smile because you're never really sure if it's just gas or not. However, in the last week it's become very obvious that it's a smile. Yea! How great are baby smiles?!?!? My favorite (that I forgot about since having Zach) is when they smile while they are sleeping. It's the best look. You just want to be a baby and sleep that peacefully.
Yesterday, he rolled over for the first time from his tummy to his back. It took a little practice but he got it. Both of these seem to be right on track from what Zach did too. This is why the whole, "make sure he's hitting milestone" thing is a problem. Normally, I would think I wouldn't want to compare the two so much because we all know how different siblings can be. However, I've been instructed by the medical profession to do just that. I promise I will stop (at least out loud or in writing) to compare them once Dylan turns 2. Hold me to it. :)
Yesterday, he rolled over for the first time from his tummy to his back. It took a little practice but he got it. Both of these seem to be right on track from what Zach did too. This is why the whole, "make sure he's hitting milestone" thing is a problem. Normally, I would think I wouldn't want to compare the two so much because we all know how different siblings can be. However, I've been instructed by the medical profession to do just that. I promise I will stop (at least out loud or in writing) to compare them once Dylan turns 2. Hold me to it. :)
Monday, November 3, 2008
Happy Election Day!
I haven't written much on the blog about politics. I feel I have to write today because this is historical and I want my kids to know how I've felt the last 20 months watching all of this.
A lot of you know how much I've been into Obama (drank the Kool Aid if you will). He got my attention at the Democratic Convention in 2004 and I thought, "he could be President someday." And lo and behold, here we are now.
Several days out of the past 20 months stand out in my mind. The first - I was able to go to his rally in Denver back in February at University of Denver. I waited in line for a couple of hours and it was pretty cold that day. The train to DU was so full I almost didn't get on (trains are usually not full in Denver or at least they weren't at that time). There were so many people at the rally that everyone didn't get in. I believe there were 14,000 people inside and many more still out on the Lacrosse field where you could see him via big screens. As we were shuttled inside, Amanda and I almost got pushed into a practice gym. We managed a way out and literally ran to find a seat in the main arena. Good thing, the practice gym was, in fact, overflow and he did talk to that crowd for a bit but we were in the main place. Caroline Kennedy spoke, which was a surprise. The Kennedy's had just endorsed him the day or two before, so it was super exciting to see her as well. The day was thrilling, inspiring and made me feel like a true part of history.
The 2nd day I remember was when I got a chance to caucus. Yes, Colorado is a caucus state. I drove down the street to the high school down the road and realized how big this election really was. The parking lot (which is huge) was already filling up. There was a line of cars waiting to just get in the lot. (I've driven by when school is getting in and it is not that busy even then.) It was just the Democratic caucus location so all these people were just Democrats. I waded through a TON of people to find my little lunch table that was my precinct. There were literally only 22 people from my precinct there. (Hundreds in the cafeteria, but only 22 from my voting precinct.) We waited and read through all the rules (kind of scary how little we knew and that we were all in charge - democracy at it's best or worst depending on how you feel about it). By the way, I was in the very early days of my pregnancy with Dylan and was exhausted and nauseated and didn't get a chair. We raised our hands for Obama and Clinton and then they counted. It reminded me of voting in high school for your class president or something. The coolest part of the experience for me was when they counted the votes. It was 12 for Obama and 10 for Clinton. I was chatting with the girl next to me about the whole experience. We realized after the vote that our two votes made the difference of how many delegates Obama got. If we hadn't been there it would have been a tie. Shows how much your vote counts, especially for local races and primaries. Good lesson in democracy!
The third moment that was historical: Watching Obama get the nomination officially at the convention. I cried through most of Michelle Obama's speech, Ted Kennedy's appearance, Joe Biden's speech and then when I heard Hillary Clinton nominate him. It just made me realize how special this was. How great to see the first African American nominated to be the candidate for his party to be President! I made Zach watch even though he won't remember. He will, however, walk by the TV when Obama is on and say, "Look Mommy, Barack Obama." 9 times out of 10 he's correct. Sadly, sometimes it's Tiger Woods or another black man in a suit. Shows you how few people of color are on TV. He also thinks every referee is Granddad...could just be Zach's age too. :)
Finally, tonight. I saw Dixville Notch, NH (who were the drunk guys that came up with that name for a town) tally their votes and overwhelmingly vote for Obama. What a moment. Tomorrow will be so exciting - please God, I hope it goes the way I want. :) If not, I'll be in mourning for the next week or so. Please do not call me. :)
Although, I have to say I'm sad that his grandmother died tonight. It seems so unfair. His parents are both dead as well as his grandfather. All the people who worked so hard to raise him did not get to see this. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. It must be bittersweet. No matter how old we are we want our parents to be proud - no one will be there tomorrow that knew him as a baby. And to think your grandchild could be the first black man ever elected to President and imagine the bigotry they had to deal with while raising him, to not see it come to fruition??? Bittersweet. Thank goodness he was able to see her in her last days.
I'm glad I got to write this down so I will remember how this affected me and my kids will be able to read this someday. I hope that they will read this and not really understand what a big deal this is because they will have seen several nationalities, genders, etc elected to President and upper levels of government. Seriously, God bless America! What a great place to live!
GO VOTE!
A lot of you know how much I've been into Obama (drank the Kool Aid if you will). He got my attention at the Democratic Convention in 2004 and I thought, "he could be President someday." And lo and behold, here we are now.
Several days out of the past 20 months stand out in my mind. The first - I was able to go to his rally in Denver back in February at University of Denver. I waited in line for a couple of hours and it was pretty cold that day. The train to DU was so full I almost didn't get on (trains are usually not full in Denver or at least they weren't at that time). There were so many people at the rally that everyone didn't get in. I believe there were 14,000 people inside and many more still out on the Lacrosse field where you could see him via big screens. As we were shuttled inside, Amanda and I almost got pushed into a practice gym. We managed a way out and literally ran to find a seat in the main arena. Good thing, the practice gym was, in fact, overflow and he did talk to that crowd for a bit but we were in the main place. Caroline Kennedy spoke, which was a surprise. The Kennedy's had just endorsed him the day or two before, so it was super exciting to see her as well. The day was thrilling, inspiring and made me feel like a true part of history.
The 2nd day I remember was when I got a chance to caucus. Yes, Colorado is a caucus state. I drove down the street to the high school down the road and realized how big this election really was. The parking lot (which is huge) was already filling up. There was a line of cars waiting to just get in the lot. (I've driven by when school is getting in and it is not that busy even then.) It was just the Democratic caucus location so all these people were just Democrats. I waded through a TON of people to find my little lunch table that was my precinct. There were literally only 22 people from my precinct there. (Hundreds in the cafeteria, but only 22 from my voting precinct.) We waited and read through all the rules (kind of scary how little we knew and that we were all in charge - democracy at it's best or worst depending on how you feel about it). By the way, I was in the very early days of my pregnancy with Dylan and was exhausted and nauseated and didn't get a chair. We raised our hands for Obama and Clinton and then they counted. It reminded me of voting in high school for your class president or something. The coolest part of the experience for me was when they counted the votes. It was 12 for Obama and 10 for Clinton. I was chatting with the girl next to me about the whole experience. We realized after the vote that our two votes made the difference of how many delegates Obama got. If we hadn't been there it would have been a tie. Shows how much your vote counts, especially for local races and primaries. Good lesson in democracy!
The third moment that was historical: Watching Obama get the nomination officially at the convention. I cried through most of Michelle Obama's speech, Ted Kennedy's appearance, Joe Biden's speech and then when I heard Hillary Clinton nominate him. It just made me realize how special this was. How great to see the first African American nominated to be the candidate for his party to be President! I made Zach watch even though he won't remember. He will, however, walk by the TV when Obama is on and say, "Look Mommy, Barack Obama." 9 times out of 10 he's correct. Sadly, sometimes it's Tiger Woods or another black man in a suit. Shows you how few people of color are on TV. He also thinks every referee is Granddad...could just be Zach's age too. :)
Finally, tonight. I saw Dixville Notch, NH (who were the drunk guys that came up with that name for a town) tally their votes and overwhelmingly vote for Obama. What a moment. Tomorrow will be so exciting - please God, I hope it goes the way I want. :) If not, I'll be in mourning for the next week or so. Please do not call me. :)
Although, I have to say I'm sad that his grandmother died tonight. It seems so unfair. His parents are both dead as well as his grandfather. All the people who worked so hard to raise him did not get to see this. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. It must be bittersweet. No matter how old we are we want our parents to be proud - no one will be there tomorrow that knew him as a baby. And to think your grandchild could be the first black man ever elected to President and imagine the bigotry they had to deal with while raising him, to not see it come to fruition??? Bittersweet. Thank goodness he was able to see her in her last days.
I'm glad I got to write this down so I will remember how this affected me and my kids will be able to read this someday. I hope that they will read this and not really understand what a big deal this is because they will have seen several nationalities, genders, etc elected to President and upper levels of government. Seriously, God bless America! What a great place to live!
GO VOTE!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween
Halloween was a success this year. Costumes were worn, candy was given and received. Zach was Superman and Dylan was my little Pickle. Get it, Dylan...Dill...Pickle. :)
As most of you who know my mom guessed, she made the costume while she was here the last couple of weeks. I think it turned out pretty cute myself. I figured this is the only year I can pick what he wears. Maybe next year, but after that it's all over. :)
Zach had a blast trick or treating. He was ready to run for the door when I mentioned it yesterday afternoon. I know it took what seemed like forever to him for it to get dark. We made it to a couple houses with Dylan. Then Craig and Dylan headed back for the house to hand out treats and Zach and I hit some more houses. There were a couple "scary" houses with spooky things at the door. He wasn't crazy about that, but loved that you could just get candy at all these houses. We had a small pumpkin for him to carry so it limited the amount of candy he got. Thank goodness. He's been on a sugar high ever since. :) We had fun and met some neighbors at the same time.
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