summertime fun

Some random snaps of the kids from the past month:

Riley likes to call himself "Baby Riley" right now, looking for more attention from mama and daddy:
















Daddy snuggling with his kiddos:

















Backyard fun with our neighbors, Jack & Gracie:



































Riley loves playing in the dirt...

















...and climbing!

















Our boy has no fear of heights:




















































One of the brief play times with Kendall when she's not napping (this kid sleeps a lot!):

















She doesn't mind this at all...

















Our pretty Girl!

target practice

This is the way we give a 3 yr old boy something to aim at:













I love my cheerios too much to toss them in the toilet. And while I like the food coloring idea of turning blue to green and red to orange, this is cheaper and works just as well!

Shelby

Kendall is 4 months old!

How much things can change in 30 days. When we compare Kendall's 3 month and 4 month snaps, three observations are made:

Kendall at 3 months













Kendall at four months












1.) While she doesn't look a whole lot bigger in size, she's actually moved on from wearing 3 month to 6 month clothes in the past week. So yes, she is growing. She gained a little more than a pound in the past month (12 lbs, 14 oz), which is 32nd percentile. Pretty consistent with what we've been seeing so far. My little peanut.












2) Notice her left hand? This hand is constantly grabbing for her foot. This is where she's obtaining her hand-eye coordination -- her own homegrown toy that goes with her everywhere. She can hold a toy and slowly put it in her mouth, but it's still pretty uncoordinated. She has much better luck with her fingers, which have completely replaced her binky. (Hallelujah -- No need to re-bink our crying baby!)












3) Lastly, you can get a sense of how much her personality is emerging now. She smiles and talks all day long. She wakes up and gives us smiles and gives them to me before bedtime. It's a happy thing to see. Sometimes she talks so loud that I can't hear Jonathan, Riley or the TV over her. The girl must be heard. It's a relief to see that she didn't end up being the exact opposite of her contented and easy-going brother as we feared. She's quite a lot of fun to have around.












I have to say that since weaning her off the nipple shield, I've finally come to enjoy nursing. Now that I'm back at work and nursing only morning and evening, I usually do so in bed which is so comfortable and relaxing. Remember those Calgon commercials -- "Calgon, take me away!". Well, I look forward to my little "Calgon Time" with Kendall each day. Other than that, she gets three bottles of expressed milk during the day for a total of 5 feedings.












As far as sleep is concerned, we couldn't be more happy. Our girl is a good sleeper. She goes to bed around 7p each night and I wake her up at 5am for her first feeding. After that, she goes back to bed and sleeps until 9:00 or 9:30 when J gives her her first bottle. After that, she takes another 3 naps during the day, usually 90-120 min each. Now that she sucks her fingers, any resistance to being put down in her crib lasts a minute or two at most. It took almost 3 months for her to learn to soothe herself to sleep, but we're relieved that she developed that skill for everyone's benefit, especially hers.

















Besides when she's tired, the only time she cries is when she gets put in her car seat. She doesn't like it at all. But she usually accepts her fate and starts sucking her fingers and if tired, will take a cat nap. She can't nap when we get to where we're going unless she's really wiped out. She's way too interested in what's going on or just cries because she's tired due to her need for a lot of sleep. So we don't schlep her around quite as much as we did with Riley -- we respect her need for sleep and save ourselves the headache.

We reported last month that she can roll from belly to back -- its her way of getting out of tummy time. Now she's rolling from back to belly according to our daycare provider. Watch out world, this girl's on the move!

Riley still loves on his sister and now has taken to pretending to be a baby to get more of our attention. He'll say "Baby Riley" and come crawling up to us for some lovin'. Very cute.













A short video of Kendall showing us her gift of gab:

"Baby Riley" has always been a great blessing to his parents. Baby Kendall is too. We love our sweet, happy, talkative girl!

Shelby

born to run

I've been running off and on for the past 25 years. I wasn't consistent with it until the last 7, when I discovered a park with wooded trails close to work. That's when I fell in love with trail running and acquired the motivation to do it several times each week.

I love running for many reasons. First, it's easy. It doesn't require a special skill or piece of equipment. All you need is a pair of shoes -- and the proponents of barefoot running would say you don't even need those. Second, it's versatile and can be done in any season. I like the fact that my legs can take me just about anywhere I want to go -- whether it's the beach, downtown Boston or Lynn Woods reservation -- I can run wherever I want, unimpeded. I love the freedom in that.

Early on, I ran a few 5k and 10k races as I trained periodically. I didn't really catch the running bug however, I just did it to compensate for my poor eating habits. When I was 28, I was inspired to do a marathon and ran the Chicago Marathon in the fall of '98. It was a great experience on many levels and exciting to see just what my body could do if I trained it properly. Now, every time I watch "Spirit of the Marathon" I get all giddy about running that race again.

(If you're interested, you can check out the trailer here. I get all emotional when I see the runners moving up the starting line... ok, deep breath.)

One of the things that keeps me running today is the curiosity of what my God-given body with it's special characteristics (that being short & muscular with 40 yr old joints) can still do. Though I'm slow, I like to race periodically to get a sense of my pace and how it compares to how I did as a sporadic runner or prior to getting pregnant.

Today, I ran my first race since last fall. It was the Seacoast Seven Road Race in Gloucester and temps were in the low-mid 80's. In other words, HOT. Not the temps I'm used to since I run in the early morning hours. But, with my family to cheer me on at the starting line, I battled the heat & hills and finished the course in 1 hr, 12 min at a 10:19 pace. With the heat and 10 remaining pregnancy pounds, I figured I'd be slower than last year, which was at a 9:27 pace.

The thing that struck me today was how much I dislike road running. It just doesn't compare to running in the woods. I got my first case of shin splints in years -- that didn't help things. The dirt trails give enough cushion that injuries haven't been an issue. So while it's great to have the competition of other runners to spur me to run faster and have a measured course to track my time, I'll be thrilled to get back to the trees, dirt, rocks and bugs of my well worn trails.

Some pics from the day:

Mama at the starting line














My support crew














Nearing the finish line














Riley giving me his sippy cup for my Camelbak bottle














The reward -- Almond Joy pancakes from Sugar Magnolias!














J showing the chocolate & coconut on the bottom!














Oh yeah, and the pineapple fritters and tangy sauce to dip them in...mmm good!














After every run, I thank God for legs that work and for the joy that I get from pounding the dirt. After losing my mobility during two pregnancies, it feels good to have my body back -- even if it is a slower one that takes longer to recover from grueling runs.

I like what runner Eric Liddell said in the movie Chariots of Fire, "When I run, I feel His pleasure". Amen and amen!

Shelby

celebrating five years

It's hard to believe that it's been five years since Shelby and were married. In some respects it seems like just yesterday, and in others like she has always been with me. Praise God for the amnesia he has blessed me with so that I seem to forget all those painful, lonely years.

Now that we have two kids it is very unusual that we go out on a date, just Mama and Daddy. It has been a while, and mostly because of the cost of babysitting. It's just been prohibitive. That is, until our babysitter needed chiropractic care...

So just in time for anniversary number five we find ourselves able to spend some quality time together sans children. We decided to head to Cambridge, where there are a large number of great places to eat and drink as well as fun places to just hang out.

I've come to have a great love of "having tea" as long as it means tea as a meal, not just a drink. We've been to Alice's Tea Cup in NYC a number of times, and decided to start our afternoon / evening out with tea at Upstairs On the Square. Some pictures:

To get Upstairs you enter downstairs...















My beautiful date enjoying her tea















The interior decorating was fun if kind of crazy



















The food was very tasty



















The Happy Couple















Anniversary Turtle















The food was excellent. Tasty, different...with extremely small portions. It was an appetizer that cost like a very good meal. (Very different from Alice's!) It was a fun place though, and thankfully the cost was defrayed by an anniversary gift card from Shelby's folks (thanks Mom & Dad!) It did leave us looking for more to eat though, so on we went...

The next stop was another spot in Harvard Square that we had been told had VERY good coffee. The Crema Cafe also had some very tasty desserts to help us make it through to dinner. Some pictures:

Crema Cafe















Inside















Yummy Crema stuff














I had the Orange Rhubarb Cobbler on the left, and Shelby had the Lemon Chiffon Cupcake on the right. Yummy stuff indeed.

Once we had enough food to sustain us for a bit we headed off to do a bit of browsing in the stores. We missed the Curious George store (got there 5 minutes after it closed) but we did get to spend some time in Eastern Mountain Sports where Shelby got to try on the latest in fashion footwear:

Five Finger trail running shoes















Very attractive. We'll see if she ever takes up 'barefoot' running. These will be what she needs if so.

Next it was time for a snack. There was a chocolate theme that ran through the evening, with Burdick's Cafe being the most obvious part. Burdick's is amazing chocolate. We also had hot chocolate which is not like hot cocoa. If you ever had a Chantico at Starbuck's this is similar...but better. Kind of like drinking a melted chocolate bar. Wow.

This is how you do hot chocolate.















After a bit more wandering around Cambridge it was time for our final stop of the night: Finale. Finale is a restaurant that specializes in desserts. It is the place that I got Shelby's birthday cake from, and we've never had anything from the place that hasn't been amazing. In particular they have a special dinner and dessert special that we decided to take advantage of. The highlights:

Continuing on the theme of chocolate, the Chocolate Martini...
















Which was greatly enjoyed















Continuing on the theme of small portions, this is the Shrimp and Avocado Salad. One shrimp.















That was a MAIN COURSE folks. The white pizza I had was better, but still small. The desserts, however, were portioned well.

Molten Chocolate















Lemon Pound Cake















The night ended with a visit with our friends the Zivans who were house sitting (enabling us to have a nice place to park close by...) I almost had a chance to finally get my fill when they offered homemade Thai food...but we had to leave. So sad.

It was a great night out and it was really great to get some alone time with my bride. It's something that will be at a premium for a while now. It makes the time spent that much more special.

Five years. I still haven't hit one of those times that our pastor talks about during weddings, the one where you wonder what you got married for. I've had five really good years. Better than I would have expected marriage to be. God blessed me with a good wife, and as I told her, I've had five years and I want more. Many, many more.

I guess sometimes good things do come to those who wait. I'm very grateful.


Jonathan

the explosion

Our son is talking our ears off and we couldn't be more thrilled.

We think Riley's speech explosion has finally begun. In the past month, he has gone from saying 2 word combos to 3 or more word sentences. Yesterday, his preschool teacher told me that he imitated the other kids by asking, "May I have more milk please?". Normally, he'd say "more milk please", when prompted. Unprompted he would just say "milk". He said it for me again later -- it's slow, but understandable and I am so proud of my boy for having the courage to try it.

Some of the phrases he's been saying the past week are:

"Clean up the mess"
"Shut the door"
"Hello Doctor Soul" -- said to his neurologist, who was quite impressed with his speech progress since his last visit in January.
"Daddy, wake up!"
"Five A/Cs, window"

Now that he's learning the phrase "May I have", we're beginning to add other common phrases at the beginning and endings of his current sentences as well as verbs, articles & prepositions to help fill them out. "Five A/Cs in window" becomes "We have five A/Cs in the windows". It helps to break it up into three parts so that he says all the words. "Sit!" becomes "Will you sit with me?". I'm using this last one as a springboard to inviting a child to play with him, since he doesn't know how to do this appropriately yet. He usually does something to get their attention that they don't appreciate (knock over their toy or smacking them on the arm). Empathy has yet to be learned!

All this leaves us feeling very encouraged about Riley's anticipated ability to converse at the level of his peers. As we mentioned in our previous blog, the larger concern is in the area of socialization. We're hoping that his preschool time and developing speech skills will aid him in maturing in this area. He's such a friendly & outgoing child that we're hoping that the instruction he receives and positive role models will be all that he needs.

I recall last year that some folks in an effort to encourage us would tell us that having a talkative child can be exhausting. In other words, count your blessings if you have a quieter child. What they don't realize is that when you're faced with the possibility that your child may not be able to communicate and might be ostracized at school, it changes your perspective. We want our son to know the blessing of real friendship and being able to converse is so important to that. So while interacting with a talkative child IS emotionally exhausting, it's such a gift to be able to know what's going on in their mind. We have longed to know more of Riley's thoughts and hear how he's processing things in his world. To hear him talking all day long (even if he repeats the same thought) is such a joy to us. We'll take that emotional tiredness for the silence that we've had for the past two years, any day.

So bring on the speech explosion, we're ready for it!

Shelby

speech improvements

We've noted that in the past few months, Riley's speech has been improving. He's putting two and three word sentences together now and is talking all day long. His articulation is improving as well, so his words are more understandable to non-parents he comes in contact with.

Two words that have been difficult for him to pronounce are "up" ("pup") & "off" ("bah"). I noticed today that as he was reciting his opposites (one of his favorite things to do) he was clearly saying both words. The other impressive thing was that he was saying "up/down" & "on/off" with no pause or hesitation as he did previously. It's as though the memory paths are forming and he's able to say these words automatically, without having to think about it so much. Very encouraging.

He started his regular 3-day-a-week preschool last week, which lasts from 9 until 5. The teachers have commented on what a sweet boy he is and he clearly enjoys going there. Since he will also attend the SpEd program at the elementary school, we call his regular preschool the "red" school as the schoolhouse is red. He'll start attending both next week, so our boy will have a full schedule of learning and activities. Our hope is that as he continues to interact with other children that he will be encouraged to say more and learn how to socialize with them. We're learning to trust God with this area of social interaction as that's the larger concern with his language delay.

Here's some video I took today where Riley demonstrates his emerging skills:

Shelby

learning about time

Now that Riley's moved on from the alphabet and has learned to count to 10, I thought I'd start to introduce him to the concept of time. I thought that a weekly calendar would be a good place to start, so I started googling (is that a verb now??) kids weekly calendars to see what was out there since my graphic arts skills are pathetic, at best.

I found a magnetic calendar by a company called 2fish kids that I thought would be something enjoyable for Riley to use. It came in the mail today and I'm so excited about it, I just had to share.














It uses magnets for various holidays, activities and special events that are common as well as a dry erase marker for writing in other noteworthy events or to-dos. In addition, they can use the seasonal magnets to learn about the longer periods of time such as months as well as magnets to denote the weather for the day. It even has magnets for today, tomorrow and yesterday to help with understanding past and future days. Cool!

While I'm a little concerned that some of the pieces may go missing, but I think it's worth the trade-off if it helps him understand these concepts.

Anyway, just wanted to share about our latest learning tool!

Shelby