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Siblings

2009-09-09T10:57:00.001-04:00

7 months, 4 days

2009-08-20T02:46:00.000-04:00

Videos

2009-03-25T23:20:00.002-04:00

At the discovery museum

2009-03-23T01:16:00.002-04:00

Farmer's Market

2009-02-21T16:54:00.003-05:00

Davis is starting to bloom and it's lovely. I had forgotten how early spring starts here. After almost ten years away it's another reason it's wonderful to be back. Xander is starting to learn to recognize daffodils, irises, tulip trees, and other flowers popping up around town.

We strolled through the gardens in Central Park, where the farmers market is held, as I pointed out the few plants that I recognized. He was munching on a croissant as big as his head, so he was happy. Later we played at the play ground and climbed in a tree, and I finally pulled out the camera to take a couple of shots.

Still waiting

2009-01-13T14:12:00.002-05:00

I went in for a non-stress test (NST) where they measure the baby's heartbeat for 20 min. That was fine and I have another scheduled for Thursday if we're nothing has happened by then. I also had an ultrasound to make sure that there was enough amniotic fluid, indicating that the placenta was still doing its job, which was also fine. The doctor was able to confirm labia on the ultrasound, so we're sure she's a girl.

Induction is scheduled for 7:30 am on Saturday, but hopefully she will come before then.

update

2009-01-05T20:13:00.002-05:00

The midwife today said I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced, so hopefully this show will get on the road soon. If not, I've got a non-stress test and an ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday and an induction for the Saturday (the 17th!!) after that. I would really like it if she came before mom goes home on the 11th, though.

At least my ankles aren't big swollen balloons like last time.

Waiting

2009-01-02T19:23:00.002-05:00

T + 1 day and still no baby action. One good thing is that I'm less uncomfortable than I was at this point last time. I think this one is smaller, because there is no rib kicking. Plus less hiccups (her), less heartburn (me), and more sleep (both of us, I guess, since she's not as kicky as Xan was). I also don't have aching hips at night, maybe because I have a much better body pillow. I am really tired, though, and feel like I'm wearing a suit of bricks. Thank goodness mom is here to help run after Xander.

If I remember, I'll try to send a Twitter when we head to the hospital. It should show up on the right hand side of the blog.

We were still arguing about the name until night before last when we decided to wait until we see her to make the final decision.

Photoshoot

2008-12-14T16:22:00.005-05:00

We got pictures taken at Shanghai bend. Now we just have to figure out what to order. Here's the whole set.

I hate being on hold

2008-12-04T14:31:00.002-05:00

Trying to conduct business over the phone with a toddler competing for your attention is a pain, but now we have obtained pediatrician recommendations, switched PCP, scheduled a pediatrician consult, scheduled a 2.5 yr appointment for Xan, , scheduled two more dentist appointments, got a list of authorized technicians in our area (half of which are not in our area and won't come to Davis) and scheduled washer repair.

The dentist

2008-12-04T10:43:00.003-05:00

Xan saw the dentist for the first time on Tuesday.

Did you like the dentist?
No.
Do you want to go back?
Yeah!
But I thought you didn't like it.
I DO like it.
What did you like about it?
I liked that toy car that I rode on.
Did you like anything else?
I liked the front shovel.
Was the dentist nice?
Nooo. (total lie - he was super nice and didn't push Xan too much to look inside his mouth. He just wanted him to feel comfortable and have a positive first visit.)

As you can tell, he loved the playroom full of toys and arcade games, but was not to keen at a stranger looking in his mouth. He let me look in while the dentist looked over my shoulder, but he just got a very brief glimpse. He said there were no big concerns, he'd call this a "non-visit" and a get to know you, wouldn't bill us, and we'd try again in six months.

Recently heard at our house

2008-11-26T19:41:00.004-05:00

"When I am potty trained I will wear a bra like Mama and Daddy, also." (in addition to big kid underwear)

"I am going to do something funny" ... "FEFF!" *Throws back head and emits an extremely loud, forced laugh.* Made up words are the funniest thing in his universe at the moment.

Cuteness

2008-11-20T20:06:00.002-05:00

Xan was waving goodbye, blowing kisses, and signing I love you at Grandma and Grandpa as they pulled out of the driveway today. Grandma imitated his handshape, but with the thumb tucked in. Delighted, Xan squealed, "She's signing forklift!" He laughed, then, "I don't know why she's signing forklift."

Later this afternoon, he looked very concerned and asked me, "Is baby sister friendly?"

You know your keid has way too many toys when...

2008-11-19T12:38:00.002-05:00

He'd much prefer that you confiscate them rather than go to the trouble of taking them back to his room. The coat closet has a growing heap of toys and he doesn't seem to miss them a bit. The only thing that will upset him is if you try to take away a spatula.

Halloween

2008-11-13T00:22:00.003-05:00

Boo

2008-10-31T12:37:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween! Our neighborhood continues to be friendly. This note showed up under our mailbox yesterday with some candy in a little paper pumpkin.

You've been boo-ed!!!
The air is cool, the season fall
soon boo's will come to one and all
The treat that came with this special note
Is yours to keep. Enjoy them both

The fun now comes with friends like you
Now copy this and make it two

Then other here among our friends
Will give some fun that never ends

We'll all have smiles upon our face
No one will know who boo-ed each place

Just one short day to work your fun
Or big ZAPs will strike, so go and run!

And don't forget a nifty treat,
Like something cute or something sweet.

Please join the fun, let's really hear it,
And spread some boo's and lots of spirit.

"Roll up my pants."

2008-10-23T17:13:00.001-04:00

"My pants are rolled down. Who rolled down my pants?!"

In other news, I am sick. Sore throat, sneezy, bleh.

Xander Invention

2008-10-21T11:32:00.004-04:00

"Em, this [his stick] is my nail blower. It blows nails away." He's seen leaf blowers and nail guns, I guess this is some combo.

Later: "Em, this [backhoe] is my backhoe blower. It blows nails away." "This is my police car blower." Does it blow away police cars? "No [duh], it blows nails away." Thought we might have a little radical on our hands for a minute there.

Xander logic

2008-10-15T11:11:00.001-04:00

Me: "A cake with candles on it is usually for a birthday."
Him: "A cake with NO candles on it is for... NO birthday."

What is X for?

2008-10-14T10:48:00.003-04:00

Xan hasn't hit the why stage. I think his equivalent will be "what is this for?" As in, what is this book for? What are trees for? What is poop for?

He's definitely into explanations and you can see him try to work them out and repeat them to himself. Walking down the street last week he informed me that you don't go in the street and if you get hit by a car you get back on the sidewalk. I had to explain that one again.

You can also hear him muttering rules to himself as part of his ongoing monologue: "Oh, here is a frisbee. Do you throw frisbees inside? No, mhm-mm. Frisbees are for outside."

Sometimes I'm briefly included:

"Can I climb on the furniture?"

"No"

"No, I don't climb on the furniture? Is this furniture? Is this furniture?"

Big Kid Bed

2008-10-09T22:56:00.002-04:00

We gave Xan a choice of sleeping in his tent or his new toddler bed tonight and he chose the big bed. He went down with no fuss, giggled at being tucked in, and - at 10 min - appears to be staying there. We told him if he got up he'd have to sleep in the tent. Hopefully the desire to sleep it the big bed will be enough to keep him from roaming all over the place. We'll see how the morning goes or if he rolls out of it in the middle of the night: he's a bit of a thrasher.

Yay for poop

2008-10-03T22:39:00.002-04:00

I think this is the first time I've felt that way. Xan sat on the potty without any outside suggestion, and then pooped in it, both firsts for him. Up to this point he has been completely uninterested in potty training and we figured we'd better not impose yet another change on him. Who knows if this will continue, but he seemed pretty proud of himself.

News

2008-09-14T12:14:00.002-04:00

We're settling into Davis really well, having been here just over a week now. Xan has started and is loving preschool and Music Together classes.

This is such a great town for families. Saturday at the farmers' market we ran into two families we had met the week before: one from preschool and one from music.

We are busy, busy, busy working on our amazing, gorgeous new house, but hopefully I will have more updates and some pictures up soon.

We miss all of you in Massachusetts tons. I'll also try to get our new contact info out soon, but if you don't hear from me, just send me an email.

Xanderisms

2008-09-14T12:13:00.002-04:00

When mama grows little, mama might pee in this travel potty.

The car went in reverst!

Take off the pretend foil (tin foil).

Where's Xander

2008-08-25T11:58:00.000-04:00

"I'm hiding in the kitchen."

Watch your mouth

2008-08-21T17:35:00.002-04:00

This morning I called Xander from another room, "C'mere, kitten britches!" (a la Skippyjon Jones). He must have found it amusing because he tried repeating it for several minutes, except he left out the kitten and can't say the br sound combination, so he ended up gleefully repeating, "C'mere, bitches!"

In other profanity related news, I'm lucky that the aunt we're staying with says "shoot" often, because it has saved me a couple of times when I've said shit and Xander spiritedly pipes up, "shoot!" I think he thinks they're the same word and I'm just saying it wrong.

Thing 2

2008-08-15T21:47:00.003-04:00

The top image is a profile of the head and arm; the middle shows the spine; and the bottom is a crotch shot that apparently indicates 75% chance of girl in the beginning of January.

We are in escrow!

2008-08-15T17:01:00.002-04:00

We signed the papers last night on a house we love. The inspections are already done and as soon as a few repairs are done and our loan comes through we will be moving to Davis, finally.

There are a few pictures here.

Bubbles in Grandad adn Nana's backyard

2008-08-12T14:06:00.001-04:00

More pictures from that trip can be found here.

House hunting

2008-08-02T19:22:00.003-04:00

We've put in offers on two houses that haven't been accepted, but in retrospect that is a good thing because I wasn't really looking forward to living in either of them. To be honest, the thought of having one of those offers accepted was kind of a downer actually.

Now there is the prospect of house I can actually get excited about it. I don't want to say too much about it since nothing is finalized yet, but here is a picture of the kind funky flower growing on a vine in the backyard. The flowers at the house are more blue than the one in the picture.

Swimming and Camping

2008-07-27T14:42:00.005-04:00

We're staying at my aunt's house in Yuba City while we house hunt in Davis, where Bill got a faculty position. We've been spending most of our evenings in her swimming pool and recently went camping for two nights up in Little Grass Valley. Xander loved the lake, but not quite as much as he loved the dirt.

Time out chatter

2008-06-09T21:57:00.002-04:00

(all in an anguished tone of voice)
I'm sorry.
I was wrong.
No. Nooooooo.
Mama count down.
I'm sorry for touching the dishwasher.
Can get up now.

Ride 'em, Cowboy

2008-05-24T15:00:00.003-04:00

We spent last week in Santa Fe, where Xan rode a horse for the first time.

Our place

2008-05-15T18:24:00.001-04:00

We're trying to find someone to take over the rest of our lease, so we finally cleaned up the apartment and took pictures. This is where we live.

We got our new camera!

2008-05-13T15:24:00.003-04:00

I'm still learning how to use it. It has a lot more options than our old one.

Gross

2008-04-29T17:22:00.001-04:00

Xander jokingly said "eat poop?" today and I adamantly explained that you never, ever eat poop because it will make your tummy hurt. This news seemed to really upset him and he's been talking about it ever since.

Mystery sprouts

2008-04-29T15:44:00.002-04:00

Last week we were at Barefoot Books on earth day. I picked up this great book for Xan and also tried to get this one, but they were all out. Because it was earth day, they had potting soil and seeds for kids to plant. Xan and I planted a couple and have enjoyed watching them sprout. However, we have yet to figure out what they are, since it was hectic while we were there and I neglected to ask. I'd post a picture, but the new camera is still on the way.

Counting

2008-04-25T16:39:00.001-04:00

Pointing to my dirty feet: "Two dirts. One." (points to my heel) "Two." (points to the ball of my foot)

Birthday Lunch

2008-04-25T13:45:00.003-04:00

We got veggie burgers with our friend, and Bill's officemate, Jiandi. He was kind enough to bring his camera, so the blog might have pictures again for a couple days. And now to go research which camera to get, something I've been procrasting on for way too long.

Note to Xander

2008-04-14T09:16:00.002-04:00

Dramatically throwing yourself down on the floor is slightly less dramatic when you cautiously lower yourself the last half of the way down so you don't bonk your head on the floor too hard.

To everyone else: he's started jumping! About a week and a half or two weeks ago he was able to consistently get airborne while holding on to a piece of furniture, and has been able to do it freestanding since last week. He is hilariously spazzy about it. He lands on his heels with his knees locked and often stumbles because of that. Unfortunately I can't get it on film because our camera was stolen AGAIN. So pictures will be light until I can do some research about what to get and order a new one.

Nap hater

2008-03-26T12:34:00.003-04:00

Xan just escaped from his tent during nap time, but gave himself away by crashing around with his legos. His naps have become more difficult. If he falls asleep for even two minutes while we are out, or if he is upset when he goes down, he won't fall asleep at all.

He's also been trying procrastination techniques. Glass of water? One more book? Clean up? I usually let that last one work, because the more I can encourage him to clean up, the less I have to do. Plus cleaning up with him always feels easier than cleaning up myself.

Update: Bill said that he escaped this morning, too. Bill went to go get him because he heard knocking on Xan's bedroom door.

Respite

2008-03-24T20:36:00.003-04:00

Since the beginning of February, every weekend Bill has been working, traveling, sick, or some combination thereof. I can power through a weekend by myself here and there, but after two and a half months, it was starting to wear on me. Last week was particularly difficult, especially given Xan's increased behavioral challenges, which I'm sure were exacerbated by my thinning patience. I spent a couple of days continuously on the verge of tears. This weekend wasn't any relief as poor Bill has come down with bronchitis as a result of his crazy schedule.

But despite all that, this is actually not a complainy post. Today was awesome. Xan played pretty much by himself in his room most of the morning, an unprecedented amount of time - it's rarely been more than 15 minutes. It was such a needed break that I was practically giddy with energy by lunch. We went for Mexican food, to the park, to the cafe for tea and boardgames, and we sailed through all of it in a great mood, meeting friendly new people at each place. We came home and he took a late, long nap while I relaxed some more, then I left him sleeping with Bill and spent an hour at another cafe reading and enjoying a muffin and a cappuccino.

Thank you, Xander. Today was exactly what I needed.

Transcript of reading video

2008-03-24T07:57:00.003-04:00

fish. lion. dog. ladybug. butterfly.

Good job. Are you reading the book to bear? (This is what he was doing before I got the camera.)

Xan...green. red. YEL-low. kk. yellow. purple. oooo. leg. puppy. butterfly. eagle. eagle.

Eagle. Very good. That's the sign for eagle.

puppies. lion. elephant. mwhat is this? what is this?

That's a cockatoo.

cockatoo. read. read book.

Are you gonna read the book to bear?

one. ladybu. ladybug. (leg-a-bug) snake. gorilla. monkey. mhhhmm! mhm!

Yeah, I don't know why you think chimpanzees squeeze things, but I guess you do.

mhm!

Mm-hmm.

i ?? it. oh! um. ?? see that? boo (?) open boo. boo. open boo. (I think he is searching for a specific animal. possibly a bear) again? (pointing to kookaburra. "again" often means "start/continue singing/reading")

You want me to sing the kookaburra song?

no

No? Ok.

nn?

Woodpecker.

nn?

Kingfisher. Cockatoo. Uuh, crane. Wombat.

wombat it.

What?

seagulls.

Mm-hmm.

nn? nn?

Egret.

nn?

Kookaburra.

woah. woah. oh no. oh no. ??? oh oooh ooooh. ... yellow. oh woah. skateboard. skateboard. skateboard.

Yeah, that's not exactly a skateboard.

skateboard! skateboard. (pointing at the computer. this is a request to see youtube clips of skateboarders.)

Tragedy

2008-03-18T17:39:00.002-04:00

I mixed peaches in with his cottage cheese and now his life is OVER.

Pockets!

2008-03-15T17:07:00.001-04:00

One pocket! Two pockets!

Things to do to entertain yourself while having your diaper changed

2008-03-15T10:53:00.002-04:00

1. Read a book, kind of like an old man reading the paper on the toilet.
2. Cross your legs at the knee. Say, "Big X!" Cross your legs at the ankle. Say, "Small X!" Repeat.
3. Play with your scrotum, preferably (to your mama) after the poop has been wiped off.
4. Twist and kick like mad.

It's too soon to say goodbye

2008-03-14T20:53:00.003-04:00

Bill has been on the job interview circuit the past month or so and is now starting to negotiate job offers, which means we could be moving as soon as June.

Today we went to the park with friends who we don't see very often because they have moved to the suburbs. They are expecting their second child in a month so chances are slim we'll see them before then and slimmer we'll see them after in the little time we have left here. I can't believe today might have been our last time getting together and I didn't think to take any pictures! Boo, me.

We will miss you Laura and Xavier! Everyone else, hopefully we will see you a bunch more before we go. We have made many great friends here that I will be sad to say goodbye to.

Phrases currently in favor

2008-03-11T15:56:00.002-04:00

I want it.
I'm on top! (This one seems to be going out, much to my dismay)
Have a good day.
almost fell off/over
See that? See that?!
Oh man.
delicious

Crochety

2008-03-07T08:59:00.001-05:00

ROAR!!

2008-03-05T19:38:00.001-05:00

At the Museum of Science

Thanks for the cool shirt, Nonnie

2008-03-05T14:29:00.002-05:00

Longest sentence this week

2008-03-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

"May I have more wawa please?"

He can say water, but most of the time chooses to say wawa unless we specifically ask him for a better pronunciation.

Imaginary play

2008-03-04T08:13:00.002-05:00

We went to a make-up music class this week where the teacher had the kids throw around a invisible ball. Xan thought that was just the best and has been doing it a lot since we've gotten home.

Dressing up

2008-02-29T00:15:00.002-05:00

More photos of these looks on Flickr.

Conjugating

2008-02-23T10:12:00.000-05:00

Xan has been doing a lot of fall downing and lie downing.

He's weaned

2008-02-12T15:45:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago, as I was brushing Xan's teeth before bed, I realized that I had forgotten to nurse him that night. I didn't want to have to rebrush his teeth so I decided to try to put him down without nursing him unless he asked. He didn't say anything.

I had been thinking about weaning him for a while and about a month ago, stopped feeding him at nap time, leaving just the bedtime feeding. So I decided to continue not offering and see where that led us. My preference was to stop breastfeeding, but if Xander felt strongly about continuing, I was willing to do so for a least several more months.

The next night he asked to nurse, so we did, but he hasn't asked at bedtime since then and I'm thinking he'd pretty much done. He's mentioned it once or twice when he woke up, but took no for an answer without a fuss.

Several people have asked how I feel about it and I'm mostly happy. I'll miss the cuddling, because Xan isn't and has never been a cuddler, but I get some of that while reading and I'm good at extorting hugs and kisses. More than that, I'm relieved to be done with all that sucking, which I've found uncomfortable and unpleasant since the beginning, much to my dismay. I had very much been looking forward to breastfeeding and was disappointed and even a little ashamed that I disliked it so much. Oh well, maybe it will be different next time around. Xan did have a rather aggressive latch.

He can read!

2008-01-30T13:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, not quite, but he'd making progress. Sorry for the blatant bragging to follow, but if you can't go on about what a genius your little schmoopy is on your blog, where can you?

One of his favorite Dr. Suess books is Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can you?, which has lots of different noises in it, each of which is in a bigger, colorful font that stands out from the rest of the text. For a while I've been pausing and just pointing to the sound words and Xander says those parts. I assumed he had just memorized the book and/or was taking cues from the pictures and surrounding text (He can go like a cow, Mr. Brown can ...).

Yesterday, we switched to the paper version of the book from the board book, since he's beeing gentler with books these days. The big version has all the sounds printed inside the front and back covers, with no illustrations. I didn't think he'd do more than identify the letters, but for fun I pointed to a word and asked Xan what it was. He got it right! He correctly identified moo, hoo, pop, tick, buzz, boom, and eek, with no hints or prompting, having never seen them printed by themselves before. The more complicated ones stumped him (dibble dop, cock a doodle doo, sizzle, blurp, splatt), but I was still really impressed.

Oh, and, and! He's got right and left down. Again I thought he had just memorized right hand and left hand, kind of like he had named them Max and Maya or something, but I asked him to identify body parts that I had never labeled right and left and he could correctly point to his right and left ears, cheeks, legs, etc.

My little genius show pony!

Cuteness

2008-01-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

If we are a little late coming home for his nap so that he's fallen asleep in the stroller and is mostly asleep as I put him down, he often smiles as I zip his tent up.

Other funny mispronunciations

2008-01-18T19:22:00.000-05:00

Taxi: tackiss
Buttonhole: butthole
Pizza: peesta
Tickle: tickee
Cold: code (kind of whispered)

And some common phrases:
Up pease (please)
1. 2. 3. (he avoids 4)
mama dada mama dada
fooood
heavy (when anything is difficult for him to pick up, regardless of weight)
oh no (everything from minor mistakes to operatic tragedy wailing "ooohhh noooo, oohhh noooooo!")

So Polite

2008-01-18T15:22:00.000-05:00

Xan is pretty good about saying thank you when prompted, but so far he has chosen to sign it. Today he made his first attempt at a verbal thank you and it came out "fuck you."

Snow!

2008-01-14T14:59:00.001-05:00

More newness

2007-12-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

He learned how to say banana today. It was banada (rhymes with Canada) at lunchtime, but by dinner was banana.

He's also on a major pepper kick. In the last couple days, he's requested and enthusiastically eaten shredded wheat with pepper and mango with pepper (and not a little - it was like pepper-crusted mango slices). I think it's mostly because he's enamored of using the pepper mill, rather than a true love of pepper. He does have a high tolerance for it, though.

He's also taken to saying ho, ho, ho in a deep voice, while mimicking my signing of the word, but it looks more like him pulling and imaginary trigger and laughing about it.

"Fast" is another favorite word. He says it in the car as it takes off, when he points to Goldilocks running away in the Three Bears book, and when he runs around the house.

Items from playgroup this morning

2007-12-17T12:23:00.000-05:00

New word: cylinder. All the syllables are there, even.

New favorite toy: two halves of a plastic lemon that stick together with velcro. Cut apart with plastic knife. Put back together. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

The cute, it burns

2007-12-09T12:46:00.000-05:00

How adorable are the hat, scarf, and gloves that Magalie got for Xan? His coat from last winter is riding up a bit, though, poor guy.

Language Explosion

2007-12-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

This last week has seen a huge jump in Xander's ability and interest in mimicking us. This morning he pointed at our rug and said, "rek-da-da." I repeated it back to him a couple of times in and attempt to figure out what he was saying, and he gave me a look like, "No, stupid. Rek-da-da. REK. DA. DA. How much more clearly and slowly can I say this?" He added the sign and I finally got it. "Oh. Rectangle." He nodded, "red rekdada," then went on to show me the blue and purple ones.

At lunch he got the syllable count and intonation right for indubitably, but we haven't been able to get a repeat performance out of him.

First Salon Haircut

2007-12-08T15:24:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the crummy pictures; I forgot my camera and had to use my phone. Xan was an awesome haircut-ee. He was completely happy to sit in the chair and play with the box of lizards and frogs they handed him.

We had prepped him that morning by letting him watch me cut Bill's hair and talking about going for a haircut later that day. Xan immediately wanted me to buzz him with the clippers, but the thought of the resulting grandparent riot prevented me from doing it, so he had to wait. The rest of the morning he kept saying cut? cut? hopefully and made little scissor motions by his head.

It came out shorter than I wanted on top and in the front, but overall it doesn't look too bad. At least it's not a mullet.

Monsters Attack Carson City!

2007-12-01T21:50:00.001-05:00

Bargaining

2007-12-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

I'm loving that Xan is finally to the point that you can make deals with him. Want to go outside? Ok, you have to put on your coat. Want to get up in your chair for lunch. Ok, put down bear while you eat. And he does it! Without complaint! (Usually.) It's like a miracle.

It's very useful for extorting kisses, which Xan is pretty stingy with. Up? You want up? Ok, give me a kiss. It's gotten to the point where I don't even have to say the last part. He can tell by the tone and leans in. Kisses have increased tenfold. Bill isn't so keen, though. He says I'm training him for an, uh, unsavory, not to mention illegal, profession.

THE way to have fun in Vegas

2007-12-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

This is one of a collection of coin-operated cars at mom's local mall. Xan had a blast climbing in, out and through them. We neglected to tell him that they would move if we put money in them.

Pumpkin Face

2007-12-01T21:10:00.000-05:00

Yoda dressed as Superman

2007-12-01T21:08:00.001-05:00

We're back!

2007-11-29T13:15:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the long absence. We've been visiting the fam in Nevada for pretty much all of November. It was a great trip, but now we're just three weeks away from leaving again for Christmas with non of our shopping started and haircuts to be had and naps to adjust, then adjust again when we travel, then again when we get back, and my to do list is a mile long, arrrhhh. Can you tell I'm feeling jet lagged and cranky?

Anyway, cute pictures:

oops, they will have to wait. The camera is in Bill's backpack at work. Here is an old series to tide you over.

Finally, some pictures

2007-11-17T14:34:00.000-05:00

Toothier

2007-10-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

I was so busy watching the bump on his lower gum where his right canine will be coming through that I didn't notice until yesterday that both his upper canines have made an appearance, so his upper gum is beating his lower gum 8 teeth to 5.

Old pic from nonnie's visit

2007-10-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

Man, I have got to get the camera out more. Haven't taken a picture of him in weeks!

S is his favorite letter

2007-10-19T13:35:00.000-04:00

He spots it everywhere and is always excited about it. Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where he's seen it, like the other day when is was spray painted with some other initials on the side of a trash can. He knows more than half the alphabet now, which means there are more letters he can recognize than words he can say.

Words

2007-10-10T19:20:00.000-04:00

In answer to Jess's question in her comment on the last post, yes, Xan has a few more words he says aloud.

cock (for clock)
up (for up, help, and open. fortunately he does a different sign for each one, so I can tell what he means)
mama, dada
outside (sounds exactly like Cartman - outsiiiii)
uhoh
nuh nuh nuh (no)
I know (said with the exact intonation I was using to soothe him when he was fussy. I don't think he really know what he's saying, he's just comforting himself.)
the letters X, S, N, A, O

Mad pre-literacy skillz

2007-10-10T11:10:00.000-04:00

Xan now shows interest in letters and numbers and points them out in books, looking to us for their names. He can reliably recognize and say X and O, both printed and signed. He often also recognizes S, and occasionally A and N, though those seem to come more when prompted.

My Little Pumpkin

2007-10-09T19:49:00.000-04:00

At the coffeeshop with mom and nonnie

2007-09-20T20:56:00.001-04:00

Cuteness

2007-09-20T20:54:00.001-04:00

At the park

2007-09-16T18:38:00.001-04:00

Apple picking at the farm

2007-09-16T18:08:00.000-04:00

In addition to picking fruit, Bill and I brought home an apple pie that was so ridiculously delicious that we just ate three pieces. Each.

His first word is cock?

2007-09-16T12:29:00.001-04:00

For about a week Xan has been saying k-k-k-k when he sees clocks or clock-like objects like our food scale in the kitchen. Today he started clearly saying cock and it cracks us up. He also sometimes says AHp, with just the faintest hint of a p on the end for "up" and dada for Bill, but both of those are infrequent and are often said at other times too, so it's not totally clear that's what he means by them.

It's getting hard to keep up

2007-09-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

He used five signs today that I didn't know he knew: orange, baby, airplane, horse, and fish. Other recent signs - again (at the end of almost every book we read), train (when he sees a train or we cross the tracks near our house), banana (requested at every meal, whether we have them or not), cat, motorcycle, socks, outside, help. Today on the T he was signing about thing he saw in posters. He picked the banana out of a food poster, signed "hat" for the football helmets on players in another, and saw many balls.

Two word phrase!

2007-09-09T17:41:00.000-04:00

Today after I thought he was done nursing and had pulled him off he signed, "Nurse please." How could I refuse him after that?

Cutie

2007-08-30T13:47:00.000-04:00

Communication

2007-08-28T19:35:00.000-04:00

Signs:

Shoes
Bye bye
Cheese
Eat
Water (when prompted)
Brush teeth
Bath
Sheep
Duck
Ball
Please (when prompted)
More (when prompted)
Hat
Up
Down
Where is it/where'd it go/it disappeared
Nurse/milk
Book

Body parts he'll point to:

Tongue
Teeth
Nose
Ear (for both ears and eyes)
Penis
Toes
Feet
Belly/bellybutton

Animal noises:

woof woof (kind of a deep barking mmm mmm)
moo (occasionally - an extended mmmmmmmmmmmm)
quack (caw caw, started yesterday, along with the sign for duck)

Curls

2007-08-26T19:48:00.000-04:00

At the park

2007-08-26T17:08:00.001-04:00

The water features in the local parks are some of the best parts of summer. Xan is crazy about them.

Sunglasses and earmuffs

2007-08-25T22:36:00.001-04:00

Three things

2007-08-17T19:58:00.000-04:00

1. When he want to go outside he brings me his shoes (more often a shoe) to put on him and if I don't immediately comply, he sometimes takes matters into his own hand. Holding the shoe in one hand and his foot in the other, he uses his foot-holding hand to try and shove his foot into the shoes. When that doesn't work he'll occasionally set the shoe down and try using both hand to force his foot to go where he wants it.

2. He started blowing spit bubbles today.

3. We walked past the street that the ALACE office is on and he was mad that we didn't turn down it. I guess he not only recognizes the building, but also the way there. He'll be happy this weekend. We're going up on Sunday to spend one night on Peaks Island and 2/3 of the office will be there.

No pictures, sorry

2007-08-17T09:05:00.000-04:00

But there are three new vids up.

More little things

2007-08-16T19:42:00.000-04:00

Often when I pick Xan up and tell him it's time to change his diaper he protests by screaming and throwing himself about. It hadn't occurred to me that if I told just him it's time to change his diaper he might walk over to the changing table and pat it expectantly, but he totally does!

This week he started running over to me and launching himself into my arms, and sometimes comes over and grabs Bill or me around the legs.

Tonight he went to the bed and tried to get on it. He was happy when I asked him if he wanted to nurse, the first step in the bedtime routine. Then when I said it was bedtime, he signed brushing his teeth, which I had forgotten. Bad mama, good thing my kid is here to remind me.

On the way to the park today we passed a friend's house that we hadn't been to in a few weeks. He was annoyed that we didn't go in and let me know it. He has the same reaction sometimes if I walk by a T station.