Holiday Greetings 2006

So what with all the holiday planning and baking and task-taking-on, Jill is left with nary a free moment to do the annual "holiday Christmas letter", and frankly we don't have time for yet another round of envelope stuffing, so that means you're left with me to give the holiday greeting.

Bwa ha ha ha...

Yeah, sorry. I have a hard time remembering what I did a few days ago, so remembering what we were doing all year is pretty much right out. What I can do is talk about what's been going on lately, so if we haven't talked to you in awhile (Matt and Shelly, I'm looking at you) you might have a bit better idea of what's going on.

First off, everybody's doing well. Logan just turned five a few days ago, and Liam is approaching two. They’re getting to be pretty good buds, and it’s kind of funny to hear Logan mimicking our “baby talk” to Liam. There are occasional fights over who gets to sit next to the faucet during bathtime, and one or two biting incidents (Logan actually made a sign for Liam to hang on the fridge that said “No Biting”). For the most part, they get along well and it’s nice that they can entertain each other. Liam has had some of the same respiratory issues this year that Logan has had, but lately he's been pretty good and his cough seems to have mostly gone away. Logan's doing great, although he's become incredibly picky about meals and often refuses to eat anything at all. We haven't yet resorted to forcing him to clean his plate, but he loses out on a lot of dessert and snacks. Liam, on the other hand, is like a little 30-inch Hoover. He eats pretty much everything we put in front of him. The rest he throws around the kitchen. They also like to play a game called "Let's Bang our Silverware on the Table and Make it Look Like an Antique from the 1860's". Seriously, here's a tip - don't buy a nice wood table and then have kids. You're just asking for it.

Logan's been doing preschool three days a week this year, and lately seems to be pretty blasé about the whole separation issue. He used to be a little basket case when it came time to drop him off, but lately he just gives a quick hug and goes off to join the class. He seems a little somber when you leave, but he's handling it pretty well. He'll be starting kindergarten next July, which still just blows me away. Especially since they go from like 9am-4pm. What kind of boot camp kindergarten is that? At least give them time for cartoons in the afternoon. Liam's been doing Mother's Day Out, which from Jill's perspective has apparently been more like Mother's Day to Work Hard, Run Errands and Clean House. I have no idea how Liam does these days, I don't ever drop him off. The best, BEST thing about being gone all day is coming home, driving into the garage, and seeing the boys fling open the garage door and yell "DADA!" while they do a little happy dance. Really, it's hilarious. It appears I am quite the rock star in our household. I'm not sure why.

Liam's getting a serious case of big brother hero worship, and anytime we go visit their cousins Jack and Alex Liam is always trying to get right into the thick of things. He's also getting to be pretty fearless, and he LOVES to climb around on stuff. He's old hat at climbing up onto the kitchen chairs, we've also found him on Logan's bed, the end table in the living room (he likes to reprogram the answering machine), the coffee table, and once I found him dancing on Logan's train table. So far he hasn't fallen and hurt himself, so he must be pretty good at it. He's starting to actually talk a bit, and the previous posts below detail some of his words. Jill reminds me that we left out quite a bit of stuff that he actually can say correctly, like "yes" and various parts of the body. (One bit of advice - be careful asking about eyes, because Liam likes to touch everything he's talking about, and yes he will jab you in the eye socket. "Eye?" -poke- "AUUGH!") Lately Liam's been big on reading, he loves the book "Moo, Baa, La La La", "Mr. Brown Can Moo", and pretty much anything with a duck. He also gets insanely excited about brushing his teeth, I think mostly because it's doing something Logan does. Somehow I doubt that'll last.

Logan is your typical five-year-old, although he watches too much TV and plays too many video games. In a misguided father-son bonding moment I introduced Logan to the Playstation 2, which he is now completely addicted to. What can I say? He is his father’s son. He still loves to read and color and play games, although as a typical boy his games are often well into the “let’s see how fantastically we can smash THIS!” realm of entertainment. I’ve been picking up a few of the more well-regarded kids’ board games and so far he’s really loving those. It helps that he usually beats us. Logan is beginning to remind me of myself at this age, although granted – I can barely remember being five. Let me put it this way – he seems to be growing into the type of kid that I was. We’ll see how things turn out.

Not as much to tell about Jill and me. We're still "training" for a triathlon, although with the onslaught of cold weather that training seems to involve far less exercise than it used to. Hopefully after the holidays we can get into swimming and figure out a way to keep the running and biking muscles in shape (I absolutely hate being out in cold weather, so this is a real challenge). I've been doing some more traveling for work, with trips this year to Australia, New Mexico, and Maryland. In another month or two I may get to go to Japan, which might be a work trip I actually look forward to. My Japanese is a little rusty, but I'm working on it. Ganbatte! Jill's been keeping up with the boys and all of her church activities, and at times I think she's probably on a busier schedule than I am. We're still planning on a trip to Italy next year, sometime around late May into early June, for our ten-year wedding anniversary (man, we're getting OLD). We have a few destinations in mind, and thanks to work trips I've picked up enough Italian to hopefully make things more interesting for us. It'll be our first big vacation since our trip to Canada a few years ago, and Jill's first big trip overseas.

So that's a quick wrap-up of our current situation. Here are a few more tidbits that I couldn't work into the narrative so far:

- We bought Logan his first real bike this fall, he rode it once for about 30 seconds. Maybe he's still a bit young?
- The board game collection, for those who keep asking, stands at 67 games.
- Liam learned how to say "Yes" awhile ago, but the form keeps changing. First it was "Yah", then Jill taught him "Yessh", now it's "Yup". I think I’ve also heard his “No” changing into a bit of a “Nope”. I hope we’re not raising a hillbilly.

For the Christmas holidays this year, we'll be back in Kansas City to see family and friends. Jill and the boys are already there, and I'll be heading back tomorrow. We should be in KC through the new year. If we haven't seen you in awhile and you'll be in the area, please get in touch. We'll get together, have some good food, maybe play a game or two. For those of you we won't see, have a happy and safe holiday we'll hope to talk to you soon.

Speak Liamese? Apparently Not.

Well, a week ago I posed several sayings from Son #2, and apparently they were all stumpers as nobody posted any guesses. Since I'm sure this has been tormenting all of you for the past seven days, here at last I can set your minds at ease.

Here's what Liams' been saying:

1. "Eh? Cah." - this is Liam's way of saying "car". He precedes nearly every word with "eh?" or "uh?", although Jill thinks this might be how he says "I want".
2. "Eh? Emmo." - suspiciously close to "Elmo", but he's actually asking for milk.
3. "Bah" - numbers three through five are all similar, and tough to differentiate in spelling. This is "ball"
4. "Baaa" - this is "sheep"
5. "BAAAAAAAHHH!!!" - this is "Bath?! Did you say bath!!? BAAATHH!!!"
6. "Huck." - this is "I'm stuck" or "some part of me is stuck". Not to be confused with "hock", which is sock.
7. "Pua pua." - this is apparently the sound Logan makes when he spits after brushing his teeth, so this is now the word for "brush teeth".
8. "Hapa." - Liam likes to pull the zipper of his pajamas way down and walk around like some 70's disco king. "Hapa" is zipper.
9. "Juuuu." - this is originally how he says "juice", but sometimes it's just a catchall word for "drink, please".
10. "nnn -click- " - this is (seriously) how Liam says "Logan". He says "nnn" and then sort of clucks his tongue.
11. "Buh." - one of Liam's first words, "banana".
12. "Cheryo." - Jill thinks "cherya" might be closer, but either way we know he's asking for cereal.
13. "Haht." - At some point Jill taught Liam that dinner was oftentimes "hot", and he started calling all meals "hot". As in, "hey, I'm hungry, how about some hot?"
14. "Hafwafa." or "Hafafa." - this is hard to spell, because Liam's pronuniciation of this is really growly and gutteral. Either way, he's asking for a "hot waffle".
15. "Pfoof." - one of Liam's favorite foods, "fish" (i.e. Goldfish crackers).
16. "Cooooo!" - for awhile Liam was walking around calling everything "cool".
17. "Uh? UP!" - this one was pretty obvious. Up in your arms, up in your lap, up on the couch, up on the chair, wherever he needs to get up to he knows how to do it.

So there you go. Next time you see Liam, try talking to him in his own tongue. Just don't be surprised if he corrects your grammar.

Logan Turns Five

So tonight was the big birthday bash for the birthday boy. Logan turned five today, and I managed to swing a day off so I could stay home and help him celebrate. He opened a few new presents this morning, some new pajamas, a new game and some more track for his Geotrax stuff. He mostly just took it easy today, the boys and I played outside in the freak 65 degree December weather, played with trains, played some games, and generally had a fun day.

This evening was Logan's birthday party for him and his friends that Jill's been preparing for like a fiend for the last few days. She always goes all out for the party stuff, and this year was no exception. She went with a "Go Diego Go" theme for the evening, replete with fancy-pants cupcakes, Diego toys, invitations, decorations, and even Diego on the TV at some points. It was a fun evening, although for anyone considering the idea of gathering a dozen 4-5 year olds and feeding them a meal of sugar in a confined space, you'll get the same effect if you just run a 10K during a heavy metal concert then go out and bang your head against the driveway repeatedly.

Heh, I kid.

Sort of.

Anyway, it all went pretty well, Logan had a great time, and everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves. The train set was a big hit, and Jill even got in a couple of party games that the kids seemed to enjoy.

Jill's fancy-pants Diego and Baby Jaguar cupcakes

See, Logan's an ostrich, trying to get his egg to the nest, but he has no hands...you kinda had to be there.

The party gets off the hook with House of Pain's "Jump Around".

Do you speak Liamese?

Liam's hit that age where he's talking - we're just not always sure what he's saying. It's beyond toddler babbling, he's definitely using words. They just tend to be words that only he knows. So here's a little pop quiz - see if you can deduce what he's saying. Answers to follow soon...

1. "Eh? Cah."

2. "Eh? Emmo."

3. "Bah"

4. "Baaa"

5. "BAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

6. "Huck."

7. "Pua pua."

8. "Hapa."

9. "Juuuu."

10. "nnn -click- "

11. "Buh."

12. "Cheryo."

13. "Haht."

14. "Hafwafa." or "Hafafa."

15. "Pfoof."

16. "Cooooo!"

17. "Uh? UP!"

In all fairness, some of his words are fairly clear - he can say Dada, Mama, Papa, choo-choo, hot dog, and his favorite word, "yup".

Sometimes I feel like we need a translator, though.

Blowing right past November...

...and into December! Cobapple's getting a new look for the winter and hopefully a resurgence of photos. Which might be tough, given that this is the time of year when we tend to just sit inside and loaf. But we'll see what we can do.

In the meantime, Logan and Liam have had a chance to get outside and enjoy the snow after the "big" storm we had last week (true to form, St. Louis forecasts were for 6"-10", so all we got was about 4". I'm surprised it was that much.). We got them outside in the cold and onto the sled for awhile - the slope behind our house is fantastic for sledding, and neither one of the boys could get enough. We were quite literally sledding until the sun went down.

Dude, we're totally hitting the slopes.

Bad photo? No, it's blurry because we're doing about 65mph down the hill.

Liam wanted ride after ride on "the car"

Jill drove slowly, but she looked good doing it

Jill's uncaptionable photo - the face speaks for itself

Logan raced me back up the hill each time, and he always won. Hey, I had the sled.

This is Liam yelling "Hey, get the car back up here! It's my turn!" Except it just sounded like "Caaahhhh!!!".

Octobers Gone By

Betcha thought I was going to let October slip by without another "memory lane" segment. Well, it may be the 31st, but it's still October! Enjoy!

October 2002

October 2003

October 2004


October 2005

Morning at Busch Conservation Area

The Parents as Teachers program in our school district arranged a nature hike and naturalist talk yesterday morning at the Busch Conservation Area just 20 minutes from our house. Logan and Liam enjoyed the nature walk and watching a box turtle race. During the naturalist talk, Logan got to touch a red milk snake, two different types of turtles, and a tiny lizard.

Septembers Gone By: A Trip Down Memory Lane

Logan (September 2004)

Wish that Cobapple had been well-established years ago? So do I. Here's my attempt to turn back time. Please feel free to e-mail some of your favorite September pictures, and I will try to add them to the site. Watch for another "memory lane" installment next month!

September 2002

September 2003

September 2004

September 2005

Back to School

Logan headed back to preschool this morning. He is in the same classroom he was in last year and even has the same teachers. This year he goes three times a week: Monday (9-11:30), Wednesday (9-3 ~ he stays for Lunch Bunch), and Friday (9-11:30).

I had to unwrap Logan from my right leg before leaving the room, so I guess we're not totally over the separation anxiety yet. I'm hopeful that the readjustment won't take quite as long this year though.

Liam recently began attending Mother's Day Out (MDO) on Wednesdays (9-3). He cries when I drop him off - but not for long. I've been enjoying his artwork from craft time.

Liam's Art Gallery:

Sticker-decorated nametag

Painting with cars

Spreading glue with a paintbrush and applying colored pom-poms

In other news...Jason and I are preparing for our first sprint triathlon (sometime next spring). We promised each other that we would start training after Labor Day weekend, and yesterday we both kept that commitment with some running. I'm looking forward to improving my health and working some "non-running" muscles with the cycling and swimming. I think we're both pretty excited about the challenge!

What the..?

Last night before bed, Logan was hungry and wanted a snack. He asked for, and I am not making this up, a bowl of All-Bran cereal. This is a cereal that resembles crushed bits of brown pine needles, and he loves it. He won't eat the red part of peaches, or anything on a piece of chicken that isn't chicken-colored (like seasonings, sauces, or grill marks), but a big bowl of fiber cereal is just fine. Go figure.

4 Years Old and Already Shaving

Last night was bath night for the boys, and one of Logan's favorite things is to use his "Berry Soap", which is just kids' soap in an aerosol can, much like shaving cream. He likes me to squirt it into his hand and make all kinds of squiggly shapes, then he slaps his hands together and splatters it everywhere. He scrubs, I rinse.

Last night I was getting ready to rinse him off, and he says "Wait! NO NO NO, not yet!" Then he starts rubbing the berry soap all over his stomach.

"I have to shave my tummy first. That'll make it smoooooooooth..."

Swimming Lessons

Logan just finished up a 2 week session of swimming lessons at the Rec-Plex, an indoor recreation facility in St. Peters. He is a bit timid in the water, but every morning he eagerly put his swimming trunks on, so at least we know he enjoyed the lessons! Part of the fun was taking the class with 3-year-old friend Nate.

Logan never dunked his head under the water, but he walked in shoulder-deep water, blew bubbles, kicked in a prone position, "jumped in" from the side, and spent some time on a kickboard. His favorite activity was chasing after rings the teacher threw into the water.

At the end of his last lesson today, Logan asked when he could take more swimming lessons. We're taking that as a good sign -- and more swimming lessons will likely be on the agenda later in the fall. Many thanks to Nate's mom, Sherry, for the great pictures!

Blowing bubbles

Kicking

Splashing with Nate

Freaking out

"Jumping in"

A Picture Story

Sorry we've been remiss with the photos and stories. Logan and Liam just really haven't done much lately. I kid. The fault is all ours, of course. At the moment I don't have time to get into much, so I'll just leave you with this brief story in pictures from our dinner this evening:

Liam before trying the green beans:




















Liam after trying the green beans:

Proof that Guyhood is Genetic

Logan and I were playing around with his trucks and cars earlier today, and being that we're both boys, the playing naturally evolved into crashing the trucks into each other at high speed. Not just crashing, but a contest to see who could crash best. We can't just destroy, we have to be competitive about it. Crashing Tonka trucks, Cold War arms race. Same thing.

Anyway, so where was Liam in all of this? Watching intently, of course, clapping and yelling out "Waaaooooo!!!" every time the trucks collided. How awesome is that? I don't even have to teach them, they just know.

Random Snippets on a Birthday

So, it's my birthday, the 32nd so far. It'd be nice to get out and do something special, but given the ridiculous 95-degree heat and the fact that I've been out of town all week, and kicking back to some World Cup and playing with the boys today sounds pretty okay.

Logan had a tee ball game today (he's actually starting to enjoy them), and on the way we somehow go tto talking about baseball and softball. I think he was asking something about whether girls played tee ball. I told him maybe, but they also play softball.

"Dad, what's a softball?"

"Well, it's kind of like a baseball, but bigger. You know how big a grapefruit is?"

"Yeah."

"Well, a softball is about the same size as a grapefruit."

"Ohh, okay."

Silence for a minute from the backseat, then:

"What's a grapefruit?"

---------

After we got home we played a game of "Sequence, but a different game than regular Sequence". Logan is big on inventing his own games, most of which are constantly re-written as the games progress. This one was no different. We started playing what was basically checkers, but with the little Sequence chips as checkers and cards laid out to make the board. Apparently you were supposed to jump over four of the other person's chips to get them out.

So we're playing, and Logan and I are basically trading jumps. He made a rule that you can move your playing piece three spaces per turn. Until, of course, he needs to move four.

"Actually, Dad, I can do this -" he moves his piece across the board to jump one of mine - "because actually, you can move your pieces as much as you want."

"What? I thought you told me you could only move three spaces." He did tell me this, not that I care all that much.

"Yeah, I must have forgot to tell you that part," Logan says with just the barest hint of apology. This phrase would sort of become the theme for the game.

So we play some more, and he wins. He requests another game, so we set it up. This time I'm savvy, and jump out to a 3-1 lead. Hey, I want him to have fun but I'm not going to coddle him.

He looks at the board for a minute and then says "But look what I can do, because actually, you can have three turns at a time!" He moves three of his pieces to jump over mine, and wins 4-3.

"I must have forgot to tell you that part."

Someday I'll win, but only if he decides to make it a rule that I get to.

Having a Ball

Last week, we enjoyed an unofficial summertime kick-off when the Barlands came to visit us in St. Charles. Cousins Jack (4), Logan (4), Alex (almost 2), and Liam (1) had a blast at the St. Louis Zoo, a bubbles and sidewalk chalk session at the library, a local playground, The Magic House Children's Museum, and Grant's Farm. They also spent some time in our subdivision pool and in the sprinkler in our backyard. Fun, fun, and more FUN!

Only a couple of activities are captured in these photos (and Liam tends to be the featured subject just 'cause he was so darn cute at The Magic House). I suspect you may find more pictures on the Barland blog before too long.