Holiday Pictures

Check out our new pictures in Flickr...

Mahwee Cwissmas To All

We've been a busy busy family in the last week, but I wanted to do a quick recap for everyone.

Highlights of Jack's trip thus far:

• The ride was split up into two shorter rides. (He had asked me awhile ago to take a different way to St. Louis because "that last way made me kinda tired.")
  
• Daddy read him his brand new fire engine book 5 times on the drive.
• When we got to Grandmommy's condo, she had left a bunch of ornaments for Jack to put on the tree. He took his job very seriously, as evidenced by the abundance of ornaments about 3 feet off the ground in a ring around the tree.
• The breakfast he had his first morning in StL - I came out of the bedroom and he was sitting eating what looked to be a chocolate Rice Crispy treat. I said "what are you eating?" and he said "a chocolate beffest bar!!" Apparently he asked Grandmommy if she had one, so she looked around and found one. Sneaky little guy.
  
• Baking blueberry muffins.
  
• The Magic House in StL - he got to play on a pretend construction site, play with hachines, and fix some cars. I don't think he spoke to us the entire 3 hours we were there.
  
• His job every morning was to turn on the Christmas tree, and every morning it THRILLED him.
• For Grandmommy's birthday he got to help open her presents and eat her dessert. He also got to feed all the ducks that hang out at the Boathouse - they come right up to you and snap up the bread in your hand.
  
• Santa finally did come, and he left a fire engine and a forklift!
• We got to drive through a park that puts on a huge light show every year. And as we were leaving, Santa was there, saying bye to all the cars. The conversation went something like this: "Hi Santa!!!!" "Merry Christmas! Ho ho ho." "Santa, why do you have a sled?" "Yep, I have a sled and reindeer."...Santa tries to walk away from the car... "Santa, fank you for my fire engine!" (Yelled out the window.) Santa walks back over. "Oh you're welcome."...Santa tries to walk away again..."Santa, fank you for my forklift!" Santa walks back over. "You're welcome."...on and on and on. I finally drove off.
  
• Jack got a pair of scissors from me that cut jagged lines. He LOVES them and Grandmommy is blessed with many "unicorns" and "chairs" all over her condo.
• So much Gaga and Papa time (and Pwisti and Beff and Kaya and Joshy, but who are we kidding, we all know the pecking order)! Much chasing and searching for Jack and tickling.
  

Highlights of Ryker's trip thus far:

• All the relatives making eye contact with him.
• He got a cube that plays music, adding in a different instrument on each side of the cube and taking them away too. He's obsessed.
• Everyone clapped tonight when we announced that he had finally pooped. He liked being clapped at.
• He has had a lot of fun laughing at Mommy and Daddy as we play our new Wii!

Highlights of Mommy and Daddy's trip so far:

• Watching all of the above and seeing the kids with such excitement and wonder in their eyes.
  
• Being together with my family, as always, is so much fun and so rejuvenating.
  
• Our new Wii! AAAHHHH!!!

As Jack would say (and HAS been saying to anyone who will listen) - Mahwee Cwissmas!

I Still Maintain It Was a Good Idea

I went home from work feeling really ill on Wednesday. Bad headcold, couldn't see straight. After taking some Dayquil my headache went away and I was a little giddy. Chuck's been taking it for days and is also a bit loopy. He had gone to Target and came home with a home haircut kit (that I wanted earlier, sans meds). We were looking at it and Jack asked what it was for. We said "to cut hair." He said "Whose hair?" We said "Your hair." He smiled nervously and waited for us to say that we were twickin' him.

We weren't.

He looked fine...mostly...unless you looked at it from certain angles...or in a light-filled room...or closer than 10 feet away.

Once you got within arms reach you could see the massacre above his ears that came at the hands of the ear taper. For those of you aspiring to cut children's hair at home - heed this warning: DO NOT USE THE EAR TAPERS. We didn't get a good picture of Jack's version, but it's something like this:

He cleaned up the evidence. Maybe it was part of his healing process.

I touched it up Thursday morning when I was a bit more lucid. He asked me Friday morning when I was going to do the "rest of doze back dare." I need to win back his trust. Chuck went Thursday night to Great Clips for his own haircut, which should tell you how much faith he has in my haircutting ability.

Lucky for Jack, We Live in Minnesota

Jack is a strange breed of child. He LOVES to shovel snow, as evidenced by the following pictures taken a few weeks ago (when he was out there shoveling a quarter inch of snow in 50 degree weather in a t-shirt with his brand new shovel):

And by the following conversation, which took place tonight when he was shoveling 5 inches of snow in 10 degree weather in boots/puffy coat/mittens/hat with his brand new shovel:

Chuck: "Jack - you're a great helper."

Jack: "What you said?"

C: "I said that you are a great helper."

J: "I WUV you Daddy!"

C: "I love you too Jack."

Riding

[There's not any funny story here, just an excuse to share some cute photos.] When Jackson turned 1 my dad and brother gave him a rocking dragon. It was a hit and is one of those toys that just hasn't gotten old. Here he is, taking his first ride 2 years ago.

In honor of Ryker's birth, they gave him a companion rocking bull. Ryker finally got big enough to enjoy it over Thanksgiving, so I wanted to post his first ride pictures as well. It's worth noting that while Ryker enjoyed riding on the bull, he appreciated even more that it got him up closer to his big brother.

Hmmm...

I arrived at daycare today to find Jackson dressed in camo pants and a football-type t-shirt - just like we sent him. On top of that, however, was a red dress with tu-tu skirt and a fake fur cape thing, as well as gym socks with one green and one white high heel shoe. Miss Kay informed me that he was dressed up "because he had a meeting."

I'm glad he's noticed my fanciness on days I have meetings.

Thankful

If Ryker could talk, he'd say he was thankful for people making eye contact with him, for his swaddle blanket (still), for his pacifier, for windows and mirrors, and most of all for his big brother.

Jack, who CAN talk but clearly is still missing the concept of Thanksgiving, told me he's thankful for his tools and for blueberry muffins. Once he was sleepy and cuddly he told me he was thankful for "all deez people."

Chuck and I have a slightly larger, deeper* list. We're thankful that we have two healthy, happy kids. (In particular I'm thankful that the scoop chose to miss Jackson's eyeball.) We're thankful for our families and for the memories of those who are no longer with us. We're thankful for our home, our jobs, our friends, and each other.

(*Chuck's shallower list includes our new TV, his iPod, and his tools - including his new flexible bit extension. My shallower list includes our new TV, chocolate, our fireplace, Bob Shieffer, my gift card to DSW that I still haven't spent, and coffee. Said TV, family, children, iPod, and fireplace can be seen below.)

We're very lucky people. Happy Thanksgiving.

How We Roll

This is what Ryker did while his big brother was at the hospital:

These are the stitches:

And this is how he talks to Uncle Ry Ry on the phone:

Captain's Log - 11/25/08

12:00am - I'm up and feeding Ryker.

2:15am - Ditto.

4:30am - Ditto.

6:30am - Ditto.

7:30am - Jackson is cranky. Keeps telling us that maybe he's cranky because he's tired. Yeah, us too buddy.

8:00am - Chuck transporting kids to daycare. I'm buying bagels for a colleague's birthday.

9:00am - Eating bagels and drinking coffee at work. Feeling good.

10:50am - Jackson is at park with daycare, sits on scoop equipment, pulls handle up and handle hits Jackson in the left eyebrow. Jack screams, tells Miss Kay he's tired. Miss Kay thinks "head injury + blood + tired = carry 45 pound Jackson 5 blocks back to daycare." [Miss Kay earns big brownie points from Banjostrands for taking such good care of our big dude.]

11:00am - Call from Chuck saying "someone" needs to go pick Jackson up from daycare. "Someone" = me.

11:15am - I arrive at daycare to see Jack's eyebrow caked with blood - want to yell "Dear God!" and run the other direction. [Full disclosure - my first of six concussions was result of sight of lots of blood.]

11:15.5am - Realize I'm the Mommy and can't run. Ever. Give Jack a hug so as to avert my eyes.

11:20-11:45am - Sit in van in daycare parking lot on hold with doctor's office. Leave a message with triage nurse, who promises they'll call me back. Drive slowly home.

12:00-2:00pm - Keep Jack awake and playing, talking, eating, running around while watching for signs of concussion. None noted, but eyebrow is still nasty.

2:00pm - Finally let Jack take a nap. I work from home.

4:00pm - Doc office calls - talk to nurse who promises to talk to doc and call me back.

5:45pm - Nurse calls back and says to take him to Children's Hospital if we want. We've been trying to think of excuses to head over there, so this is perfect!

6:00pm - Ryker defies laws of gravity and vomits UP my sleeve.

6:03pm - Tugboat throws up right behind the couch that I'm sitting on trying to clean up my arm.

6:30pm - Chuck leaves with Jack to go to ER.

7:30-10:30pm - I call and harrass my men to get updates. Update usually is "we're in the waiting room" and once is "his head is wrapped in gauze and he looks like he's from the Civil War." Grandmommy is nervous, I'm not.

10:30-11:30pm - I'm finally nervous and take my anxiety out on the kitchen, which now sparkles.

11:30pm - Chuck driving home with Jackson and his 5 new stitches. Jackson talking to me on the phone. Semi edges Chuck off the highway and into a big cone barrell thing - mirror casing retracts like it's supposed to, but actual mirror pops off and drops onto the highway like it's NOT supposed to.

11:45pm - Getting Jackson in bed, getting Chuck ice cream as his prize. We all go to bed and hope tomorrow the world doesn't poop on us again.

Friends in High Places

Jack was just yelling as he went potty. That's not normally a good sign, so I went in there to see what he was doing. He informed me that he was yelling for his friend Trace.

I thought for sure he was talking about Trace Palin and wondered how he knew that name, and moreover, why in the world he would want to be friends with him.

Chuck told me that he also calls for his friend Johnny Pucker. He sounds nicer. I support that friendship.

Rainbow Bubbles...We Hardly Knew You

Rainbow Bubbles was the beloved (for the last few weeks, anyway) fish at Chrysalis.

According to Jack last night:

"They cleaned his fish tank and he didn't make it. Rainbow Bubbles, he diedid. But, we might get another one."

Then just now he said it this way:

"Miss Andrea was cleaning the fish tank and he didn't make it. And den we flushed him away."

We're all so sorry for their loss.

New pictures

Take a look at Flickr for some new pictures...

Mavens

Jackson is officially his father's son. Okay, it WAS official before but the conversation that took place just now really, really confirms it.

Setting: Chuck is sitting at our kitchen island looking at every single ad/coupon/circular that is published in the Sunday paper page by page - as he has done every single weekend since I've known him.

Jackson: "Daddy, can we buy me a phone?"
Daddy: "A real phone?"
J: "Yes."
D: "Why do you need a phone?"
J: "Because I don't have one."
D: "Who would you call?"
J: "Someone to help me fix my crane." (his toy crane broke a week or so ago)
D: "You need a phone to call someone to help you fix your crane?"
J: "Yes. We can buy it when it's on sale."

Comic Beginnings

Jackson, last night:

"Momma, what did the book say to the light?...

...Boo!...

...HA HA HA!...

...That cracks me up!"

And the Other Side

Here are the opposite lists from my last post...

Things that Make Jackson Laugh
1. Ryker grabbing his face or hair
2. Being chased
3. Having you say "Where's Jackson?" and then trying to look for him
4. Silly Talk - like "I'm a door" or "Muffin Head"
5. When I make fun of and imitate Ryker when he's crying - I've told him we'll have to stop that when Ryker is old enough to know that we're laughing at him
6. Trying Ryker's clothes on
7. Being tickled on his collarbones
8. Being scared or startled - although he's announced to me that he doesn't want our house to be "pooky" for Christmas

Things that Make Ryker Throw a Tantrum
1. The word "wow" - or at least that was the case at Jack's birthday as he burst into tears every time we said it
2. Being woken up
3. His carseat
4. Hats that slip down over his eyes
5. Not being fed RIGHT NOW
6. Trying to fall asleep without a pacifier or nursing (God help me now)
7. His crib
8. Jack moving him across the room in his exersaucer while he's (Jack's) having a crying fit and while he (Ryker) just finished pooping out of his diaper and up his back and into the sleeves of his shirt - discovered tonight

Things That...

...Make Ryker Laugh
1. Eye contact
2. Jackson's tantrums
3. Tugboat
4. Being tickled on the collar bone (that still is one of Jack's)
5. Saying a string of words really fast ("youaresocute!")
6. Pretend sneezing
7. The pediatrician checking to make sure things were fine in his nether regions
8. Being startled (after the initial shock)

...Make Jackson Throw a Tantrum (recently)
1. Going potty (when it's our suggestion)
2. Naptime
3. Bedtime
4. Washing his hands (when it's our suggestion)
5. Not being able to play outside
6. Getting dressed (when it's our suggestion)
7. Eating a meal (when it's our suggestion)
8. Brushing his teeth (when it's our suggestion)

Noticing a pattern with Jack? Us too. Something else we've noticed? Jack has learned how to suck up to people (namely us)...

Jack: "Momma, do you want the lights on or off?"
Momma: "Off please."
Jack: "Ummm, okay. I will turn dem off for you. Dat bery nice from me to turn off the lights for you."
Momma: "Yes it is very nice of you."
Jack: "May I have a bery special tweat now pwease?"

Through the Eyes of a 3 Year Old

In trying to explain the importance of this moment to Jackson, I came across a dilemma. Do I mention the racial history of our country? Do I even go there, when he doesn't?

I decided that yes, I should go there. While I love the fact that his world-lens doesn't involve pre-judging people based on their skin color, I also want him to understand the history of our country, good and bad.

So this is what I said.

"In our country we have lots of people with different colors of skin. You and Daddy and Ryker and I have white skin. Barack Obama has black skin. And people with white skin haven't always been very nice to people with black skin or other colors of skin. This election is SO IMPORTANT because we have never let anyone WITHOUT white skin be President."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Why?"

Good question.

[This touching moment quickly derailed into him naming every color he could think of, followed by "skin" - as in "gray gris skin oooorrrr purple skin oooorrrr red rojo skin." He also determined that our cat has black skin and is African American.]

History

Jack gave me a stump speech this morning. Completely unprovoked, he said "Momma, Awock is a berry important man. Him a berry right man. Al Fwanken is a berry smart man and a berry good man." Here he is with a sign he made at daycare. The kids could choose which name they put at the top (their name even). Jack picked Obama.

We had everyone dressed in Barack shirts. Unfortunately, Ryker (or Rykie Bikie as Jack calls him) blew out of his outfit so I only have pictures with the washed version laying on him. It says "baa" and then a plus sign and then a rock.

We're a little election-crazy over here. This picture says it all.

Superman & Pea Pod

This Halloween came in 3 iterations: a party at Harry and Jack Henry's house last weekend, Trick-or-Treating at daycare, and Trick-or-Treating with our friends Siena, Elliot and Avery. Pictures are uploaded on Flickr (link to the right).

We went with non-creative costumes. But really, Jack is just SUCH a Superman, isn't he?! And we have loved when other kids are in Pea Pod costumes, so Ryker didn't get a vote.

The festivities last night were especially fun, at least for the grown-ups. We took the kids out in our friend's neighborhood and then had pizza and beer while the kids all played together. The one time I peeked downstairs to check on them I saw Jack and Siena in some sort of wheelbarrow position (Jack was on the ground face-down and Siena was picking his legs up) - then she tipped him over so he did a somersault. It looked scary - in the "that might end up in a spinal cord injury" kind of way, but Jack was giggling so I guess it was okay.

Later in the night Jack looked dreamily up at Siena, who was on the couch with Ryker and me, and said quietly "Can I marry you?" So it must have been fun for him too.

Rallies with Children

Last night Chuck and I proved our loyalty to the Democratic party and the candidates on the ballot this year. We packed up the kids and headed to the Minneapolis Convention Center for a rally featuring Bill Clinton.

I'm quite sure we had the youngest little Democrat there in Ryker, and Jack didn't have many playmates either. They were both the HIT of the night as we wandered through the crowds. I had Ryker in a front-pack, facing out, with a bib draped over the front that says "Yes We Can". Jack was in his Team Obama shirt.

And here is why I love rallies - we met a woman and her 19 year old daughter in the stairwell of the parking ramp on our way in. They got in line much faster than we did, and as we were marching down the line trying to find the end of it, they pretended that they were holding spots for us and let us cut in front of them. They were SO nice. We spent the whole night with them. The daughter played games with Jack to keep him busy and both of them took turns holding Ryker. They were great. They knew one of the photographers too so we think we're going to get some cool pictures.

It was an inspiring night and gave me chills to hear Walter Mondale, Al Franken, Amy Klobuchar, Keith Ellison and Bill Clinton speaking about my children's future. Having them there with us was amazing, not for them really, but for Chuck and me. I kept thinking about rallies I had been to as a kid that I have never forgotten, and about the Wellstone Memorial 6 years ago.

We just kept telling Jack that it was a very special treat - right up there with Popsicles and getting to watch TV while eating dinner - to get to be in the same room with these people. We kept telling him how these were very smart and very good people and that not every little boy gets to hear these people talk to them. And while he was disappointed that Barack Obama wasn't there, and also disappointed to find out that Mayor R.T. Rybak was NOT the president, I think he had a decent time.

I hope we have helped Jack understand the importance of the political process, of being aware of what's going on. I hope we have let him know that it's okay to be passionate about something and to put yourself out there. And I look forward to telling him on Wednesday morning that our country made a good, and very brave, choice.

Introducing...

...Duff Duff.

He's a giant and he's in Jackson's clothes hamper right now. I asked what they do together and Jack said "he asks if he can use my tools to fix my bed and I say 'yes you may.'"

Oh wait - Duff Duff apparently has changed while I'm writing this blog.

Now Duff Duff is a computer fixerman and he's a very small giant. And he's apparently all done fixing my computer for me.

I'll keep you all posted.

Well-Baby

We had Ryker's 4 month-old Well-Baby exam today.

Summary of results:

-his cold is NOT an ear infection

-lungs sound good

-good motorskill development

-good verbal development

Oh, and also...

-he's HUGE.

How big is he?

He's SO BIG that they want to see him in another month just to re-measure his head to determine whether he's just REALLY REALLY big or FREAKISHLY big. Chuck tried to explain that his family is known for their large heads. But to be safe, we're going to check in a month.

Nonetheless, I was really proud of my smiley, squishy, freakishly big baby.

Supervision

We're a little lax with the supervision right now. Case in point:

This morning I put Ryker in the swing but didn't turn it on and didn't buckle him in. (Does any story end well that starts with that sort of line?) I heard Jack out there talking to Ryker and thought everything was fine until I heard a sort of grunting sound.

Me: "Jack - what are you doing out there?"
Jack: "Just helping Baby Ryker sit up."
Me: "Oh, okay."

Then I realized that no, that wasn't okay and so I sprinted out there. I found Jackson holding Ryker in a sitting position, only Ryker was on the floor under the swing and the swing was resting on Ryker's back, like Jack had just slid him out of the swing and onto the floor. I tried to stay calm and praise Jack for how well he was holding his brother, while at the same time picking Chuck's jaw up off the floor as he re-entered the house from the garage and saw this scene. Then I tried to explain to Jack that he really needs Momma or Daddy to help if he's planning to move Ryker anywhere.

Poor baby.

Maybe it's time to cave in to my brother's request that our house be outfitted with cameras so we can each monitor what the others are doing.

Family Portraits

Here are a few of the family portraits we had taken (thanks to Beth and Christi!). There are more on the Flickr site - see the link on the right.

Parenting Decathalon

I've often thought that there should be Parenting Olympics - some way for moms and dads to show off the useless skills they have acquired in a competitive, winner-takes-all type of atmosphere. Some suggestions for events:

1. Seat Belt - how fast you can get the seat belt to stop being locked in place so you can actually strap your child in without losing your mind because you're late for a meeting.
2. Driving Flexibility - how safely and quickly can you drive with just your right hand because your left hand is in the backseat holding the hand of your child, which you just closed in the window (and you're late for a meeting).
3. Baby Changing - how quickly can you change a diaper (deductions taken if you get peed on).
4. Computer Apparatus - how quickly and accurately can you type account information into the computer while standing and bouncing your baby who won't stop crying.
5. Balance - can you stand still and not fall over when your preschooler runs full steam into you to give you a hug (extra points if you are wearing heels).
6. Backwards - how quickly can you complete the following tasks backwards: shoe tieing, zipper advancement or retreat, buttoning all coat buttons.
7. Retrieval - how quickly can you retrieve foreign objects from your preschooler's nose (deductions taken if any harm is done to the child in the process of extraction).
8. Sherpa - how much weight can you carry to the car (strong-man style - we would just keep putting bags onto your shoulders and children into your arms until you can't make it to the car anymore).
9. Catch (items) - how many items can you catch when your preschooler is throwing them during a tantrum
10. Catch (babies) - how fast can you catch your baby from precarious falls such as: dropping due to preschooler being "all done" holding them, baby launching themselves off of pillow that was propping them up, baby lunging backwards while in Bumbo, mom tripping over dog while walking with baby in the dark.

I have a decided advantage right now. You all better get training soon. Prize for the winner - a big fat hug and some messy kid-kisses.

Decade Gone

This is probably only interesting to me, but I got thinking last night about all the things that have happened in the last 10 years. Time really flies.

A List of Things from the Last Decade of My Life:

Months out the last 10 years I WASN'T in a relationship with Chuck = 3 (I met him 3 months after my 20th birthday)

Years I was in school = 2.5

Number of grad schools I was accepted to and decided not to attend = 3 (2 for elementary education and 1 for public policy)

Number of times I moved my belongings = 8
[Third Sevy Quint my 2nd year at Carleton - to St. Louis - to a triple on Third Sevy - to a house in Northfield - to Hager House - to Goodsell (another house at Carleton - I moved rooms in there but I won't count that) - to an apartment in Bloomington, MN - to a house in Richfield, MN - and finally to our house in Bloomington, MN]

Number of concussions = 0 (this is only significant if you knew the decade previous to the last one - where I had 6)

Months I was pregnant = 20 (9 months is a myth, by the way)

Children = 2 (obvious, but I had to put it in here)

Pets I have known (some gone now) = Lester T, Rebel, Reese, Yuki, Tugboat, Norman

Jobs I have had = 13 (yikes!)
(Arena Theater worker, NYSP camp counselor, basketball camp counselor, Student Coach for Women's Basketball, Resident Lighting Designer for Semaphore Dance Company, Carleton Admissions worker, another stint as basketball camp counselor, substitute teacher and sub coordinator, HR at Wells Fargo, customer relations at Big Brothers Big Sisters, recruiter at Big Brothers Big Sisters, individual giving at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and finally donor relations at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts)

I am so lucky to have the friends and family that I have, to have avoided hitting my head even while continuing to play sports, and to be able to laugh every day. I'm so excited to see what the next 10 years will bring - Jackson will be 13, Ryker 10 - who knows what shenanigans we will have gotten into by then. I can't wait.

Jack's Big Gigantic Day

Imagine a day that is just PERFECT for you. Custom built to include almost every single thing that you hold near and dear.

That was Wednesday for Jackson.

The day started with a trip to the Farmers' Market with his daycare crew. They bought apples, which was exciting, but they took the city bus there and back, which was RIDICULOUSLY exciting. Jack loves him some city bus.

When they got back they ate lunch and I arrived to pick him up and take him to the doctor. He got to play lots of fun games - like "Say Beep Every Time You Hear a Beep in Your Ear" and "Can You See This Shape? What is it?" and everyone's favorite "Hold Really Still and This Cuff is Going to Squeeze Your Arm." For the most part he liked the doctor's office, until they had to prick his finger. But then he got stickers - Thomas stickers - so he was happy again.

We drove home from the doctor's office to find many, many big hachines and fixermen on our street, once again. I agreed to let him sit on the step and watch them work while I ate some lunch. That would have been thrilling enough - but it gets better! They came right up to our driveway and began pouring the concrete to replace the stuff they had to cut out when they replaced our road. So we had 6 or so fixermen on our driveway working with a cement mixer and lots of tools. I thought Jack might implode. He danced around the driveway, cheered, walked down to say "hi" to them (I explained to them that they were his heroes and one of them snarled back "I hope he stays in school though." Yikes. How do you respond to that, by the way? "Me Too!!!"?).

Finally I got him to take a nap. After the nap we went to my basketball game (met Daddy and Ryker there) which meant he got to see Abby and Lisa, who he loves. After that we went to Rachael's house to help them move some things, so he got to play with Claudia and two doggies. We didn't leave until about 9:15.

And thus ended Jack's Big Gigantic Day. The next morning he excitedly asked "Where are we going after school TODAY Momma???!!!"

Pictures

Here is a picture of my attempt to dress Ryker like a tough guy.

Here is our attempt to have Tugboat and Jack babysit Ryk for us.

Here is me loving my baby and him throwing up on me.

Aging

I'm getting older. I really am. I know that everyone is getting older, but I really feel it now after a second kid. And if I didn't fully understand it before, my attempt to get back on the basketball court Wednesday night really drove the point home. Hard.

Not having played basketball in over a year made me 7 years older when I stepped back on the court. Something akin to dog years. My feet didn't know how to NOT bump into one another. My legs didn't get on the same page with my brain, which wanted me to get back on defense and stop their fastbreak. Instead, they kept me lunging in slow motion somewhere near halfcourt for most of the game. I just sort of "ran" back and forth a few steps and then called for a sub.

My brain also aged considerably over the last 3 months. This was also called out at the basketball game, where I attempted to pay my league fee with a voided check. (My friend walked around the gym in socks after the game because she couldn't find her shoes, so that made me feel better.) Coworkers have been asking me to use verbs more. I bit into a dessert and said "it good" awhile back. I tried to write the word "from" and began with the "o."

Also, I'm losing my hair. I didn't have much to begin with, but what I do have is falling out. This might be my body trying to sympathize with Ryker, who is also losing his hair.

I listen to (and enjoy) a Prairie Home Companion. I watch Bob Schieffer and knew how to spell his name without looking it up. I regularly mix up the names of my husband, children and pets. I seriously contemplated buying a pill case to keep my meds straight.

I think this is the real reason why parents live vicariously through their children. It's not because they regret anything that they didn't do or weren't good at - it's because they just want to reverse the pre-mature aging process.

Things I'm Not Good at Explaining

Things I'm not good at explaining to Jackson, mostly because I never thought I'd have these discussions with a 3 year old and/or because I don't sleep much so I don't make much sense:

1. Why a popsicle negates the nutritional value of eating his vegetables.
2. Why he needs a parachute to go skydiving.
3. Why his teachers at school can't teach him to skydive.
4. Why people don't want to see me nursing Ryker in public.
5. Why some children don't have houses so he should be happy to eat his corndogs.
6. Why the workermen don't come on weekends.
7. Why we named our dog Tugboat.
8. Why he can't drink beer.
9. Why Ryker can't eat Pirate Booty.
10. Why they tore down the old Busch Stadium.

Potty Singing

Part 18 of Jack's Potty Singing Greatest Hits. Someday we'll teach him that he can sing elsewhere.

This is a color song they sing at school. It's the colors in English and Spanish. I'll get the spelling wrong (my Spanish is a bit rusty), but basically it's:

"Red is rojo
Green is verde
Blue azul
Yellow amarillo
Purple morado
Brown cafe
Grey is gris."

Party

3 posts about Jackson's 3rd birthday, 1 for each year he's been alive.

Here's a fun Jamie fact: I have an irrational fear of people not coming to children's birthday parties. Every year that we throw a party I have this image of no one coming and Jack being really sad. This never happened to me or anyone I know, so I'm not sure where the fear comes from. It's definitely there though.

But don't worry, lots of children (with their corresponding adults and various members of our family) all came. Jack was thrilled, and I was relieved. We had a great time - kids running all over our backyard and playground. It was great.

Pictures are up on Flickr (link on the right)...You can pretty much taste the icing by just looking at the pictures.

Thanks to all who came. You are slowly getting me over my fear of guestless birthday parties. By the time he's 18 I should be all cured.

Jackson's Birth Story

Stealing an idea from other blogs, I would like to share Jack's birth story. I feel the need to document it, and I also feel that it's my right as the person who had to go through the labor and delivery to make everyone else listen to this once a year. Apologies in advance for how long this will be.

Jack was due on September 19, 2005. I was tentatively scheduled to do an all-staff presentation at work (BBBS) on the 21st, so my boss kept joking with me that my baby couldn't arrive until after I had finished. I arrived to work on the 21st and did the presentation, during which I started having mild contractions. Nothing too major, so I stayed at work and even went out to dinner with Bob, Bernice and Chuck to celebrate Bob's birthday. At 2am I woke up with strong contractions and started timing them, sleeping in between. Around 5am I woke Chuck up - we called the hospital and confirmed that we should come in. Chuck then called my mom, who had been carrying luggage around with her for weeks prior to this, to tell her that we were ready to go to the hospital. She sped over to Gaga's house and I'm pretty sure Gaga had to make a running leap into the moving car so they didn't lose any time doing silly things like using the brakes.

We went to the hospital around 6am and were held in triage, then told to walk the halls to make sure things were moving. We had to walk for an hour - a walk that was simultaneously boring, surreal and painful. We finally were put into a room. The next few hours were pretty much of a blur. At some point I had an epidural, which was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. At another point the epidural wore off on my right side, so I felt labor naturally on that side, which was every bit as bad as I thought it would be. I remember watching Tommy Boy on the TV in our room and making Chuck sneak me Popsicles. My mom, BJ, Bernice and Bob all arrived that afternoon and hung out at the hospital.

In the early evening I was ready to push, but Jack was pretty stubborn and wouldn't progress. Finally they brought the doctor (Dr. Agee) into the room and he talked to me about having a c-section. I burst into tears - too tired, hungry and emotional to think rationally. Across the hall our families were watching the doctor and nurses hurrying in and out of the room, and finally my "in labor" light was turned off. They thought something awful had happened. The nurse came into the hall, pointed at my mom and told her to come in. My mom walked in to find me crying and the bassinet empty. After a minute of confusion, she figured out that I was going into surgery.

Jackson was born at 8:06pm. We hadn't found out the sex of the baby during the pregnancy, but had been so convinced that it was a boy that when Dr. Agee announced "it's a boy!" to the room, I thought "yeah, duh." Then I realized that we hadn't really known that for sure and that this really was news.

I'm not gonna lie - I was NOT a happy camper immediately after surgery. I was in a lot of pain, but once I had my magic morphine drip I felt much better and was ready to enjoy spending time with our new little baby. The next few days in the hospital were amazing. I didn't really want to leave! They brought me food, we had visitors, talked and watched TV, and Chuck got to sleep in a real bed in the room with me. And we got to do it all with a new little member of our family. He was so sweet and cute we could hardly stand it. We made all the nurses agree that he was the cutest baby in the hospital before they could enter the room.

Anyway, that's the story, as best as I can remember it.

We love you Jackson Manning Van Nostrand.

Birfday Boy

Happy 3rd Birthday (or "Birfday" as Jack says) to my sweet baby boy.

3 years ago today we were sitting in the hospital waiting to meet our little boy. He was born at 8:06pm and weighed 8lbs, 2oz and was 21.5 inches long. It was a Thursday night.

Our life hasn't been the same since. He grew at an astonighing rate, even as far as babies go. And with each growth spurt he looked more and more like Chuck. He has his lips, his body-build, his eyebrows. From me he got blue eyes and his complexion. Sorry Bud.

It's been awesome to watch him grow into a little person, complete with his own likes and dislikes, strengths and "opportunities." These change daily, as this blog has hopefully captured. He went from signing for milk, more, change, and food to speaking in a sort of external-monologue format. He went from a baby who refused to roll over to a kid who will pick up and carry his picnic table to a different location if he thinks it needs relocating. He was colicky and wouldn't sleep unless you were holding and bouncing him to a 12-hours of sleep toddler to a kid who wants to sleep on our floor and have breakfast at 5am. He went through a phase of hitting and kicking you when he was angry and came out on the other side as a boy who says "I'm frustrated" and will take deep breaths with you. He gets humor and irony. He says "Momma, you twickin' me!" and has a fantastic imagination.

I could go on and on. But most of all I just want to say that I'm so proud of my little man. He is sweet, kind, and consientious beyond my wildest expectations. He is an old soul and we love him.

Jacknastics

Today marks the beginning of Jack's athletic career. Someday we'll look back proudly on this moment - the moment he took off his froggy boots and raincoat, waved bye bye to us and began training for what he is destined to do.

Today was the start of Jacknastics.

Okay, so maybe he doesn't have the typical build of a gymnast. The most recent height predictor told me he will be 6'5". But he showed real promise. He listened really well, tried everything, and even took his thumb out of his mouth. For how nervous he was, that was a big deal. Two days ago, when I told him he was going to start gymnastics class, he quietly replied "Momma, I not know how to do that." God help him, he's already showing signs of Chuck and my perfectionism.

Anyway, Chuck and I were laughing, cheering and taking pictures the whole time while the other parents sat reading Reader's Digest. I'm not kidding. Not all of them, just one, but still. Who reads Reader's Digest? At gymnastics class? We couldn't take our eyes off of the class and our sweet little man.

Tons of pictures are up on Flickr. Take a look - it was adorable.

Leaving Maternity Leave

I've been thinking minutely (is that a word? I mean the unit of time, not another way to say "tiny") about the end of my maternity leave. I go back to work on Monday. And although he's sitting right next to me, kicking my arm as I type, I miss my baby already.

I went through this with Jack too, and I know it gets easier each day and that when you pick them up from daycare it's the most wonderful feeling ever, but still...I'm sad.

When I'm typing things at work, there won't be a little person smiling up at me and grabbing at my arm. Even if there is, I will have to call security to have them removed because that would be creepy. And my coworkers won't let me hug them and squeeze their cheeks and pat their bellies all day. Again, that would be creepy. And this time security would have to remove ME. To say nothing of the fact that I'll have to form complete sentences and string them together into coherent thoughts. My family can attest to the fact that I'm having significant trouble with that right now. Minutely.

Other things I'll miss:
1. My non-Ryker morning companions: Ellen and the hosts of the View
2. Walks around the lake
3. Cuddling
4. Wearing comfy clothes all day

So I'm sad. But Ryker will love daycare just like Jack does. And I'll get a 9 hour break from changing diapers. Speaking of which...gotta run.

Cardinals Baseball Game

Check out the new pictures in Flickr (to the right). They are from BJ's (Gaga's) birthday party in a party box at Busch Stadium. All were taken by Eric, one of the cousins on the Chaney's side of the family - thanks Eric!

Highlights From Our Trip

Highlights from our trip to St. Louis, as I imagine Jackson would list them:

1. The car rides got shorter for awhile (until our return journey yesterday).
2. There were big hachines working near Gaga and Papa's house.
3. Old MacDonald was Momma's dentist. (His name is really Johnny MacDonald but Jack thought he was "Old Dondo".)
4. There were toys at the dentist office that he got to pick from even though Momma was the one that had work done.
5. The chair at Great Clips was really fun (for Grandmommy).
6. He got to have cake.
7. Grandmommy's piano played awesome songs, and he got to beat a drum along with it.
8. Grandmommy bought him his very own set of big hachines.
9. He got to play with Papa, Gaga, Grandmommy, Ry Ry, Pristi, Beth, Nik, Kaya, Buster and lots of other people while one of the other ones was holding Ryker.
10. The Cardinal Baseball Game!!!! He loved this. Mostly just Fredbird.

Things You Need Before Driving 550 Miles With a 3 Year Old and an Infant

You need a few things before heading out with a toddler and an infant.

First, you need to have another adult with you that is calm and sane and doesn't mind you being frustrated. Grandmommies work well. Second, you probably shouldn't call it an "adventure," or you're liable to hear "Momma, I don't like this benture anymore. I want to go home." And you'll be hearing that about 8 hours into the trip.

Oh, and you shouldn't be used to 8.5 hours for this trip - because it will take you 11. And for a period of time you should expect to go 20 miles in 45 minutes. There will be no inclement weather or bad traffic, just lots of potty breaks for the toddler and nursing breaks for the infant.

The other adult comes in handy for the nursing breaks, because then you can sit in the car, which is parked in a vacant lot that used to be a gas station. The other adult can take the toddler and make him run laps in the lot (to his pleasure) and then take him to talk to the trucker driver and the fixerman who is fixing his truck (to his even greater pleasure).

You need to stretch a lot, not because you'll have your legs cramped into a car, but because you'll be contorting your body to reach behind you the whole trip to pick up Mr. Potato Head limbs. 

Questions you should have an answer ready for:

"Momma, what your favorite color cow is?"

"Where St. Louis is?"

"Why we need be quiet?"

"Where TomTom is?"

"Where Daddy is?"

"Where my sunbrasses are?"

"Where my tractor is?"

"Momma, you see that policeman?"

"Please I have another fruit snack PPPPLLLLEEEEAAAAASSSSEEEE??????"

Then be ready for your toddler to loose his mind. He'll hand you Mr. Potato Head and instruct you to ask him what he's doing. You'll say "What are you doing Mr. Potato Head?" and your toddler will say "Momma, what you say?" Then you and the other sane adult will laugh silently for awhile, because you are both kind of tired at this point. 

Shopping List:

earplugs, coffee, iPod, diapers, more than 3 baby outfits, and LOTS of Purell

But the other adult will safely guide you into St. Louis and then things will be nice and quiet and you will once again have clean bathrooms.

Things I Love

Things I love right now about Jackson:

1. How excited he is about the "fixermen" and "big ha-chines" on our road.
2. His repeated phrase - "What gonna haaaa-pen?". You have to hear this one to fully understand.

3. The fact that he wouldn't let me come play with him at the park the other day until I fixed the brakes on Ryker's stroller so he wouldn't roll away.

4. How long his eyelashes are, and how big and blue his eyes are.

5. The fact that he wants to know what everyone's favorites are, not just his.

6. How cute he looks in his "undie bundies" and how proud he is to be wearing them.

7. His desire to play with all the older kids at the park, even when he's a little intimidated.

8. How he "stands to pee" at daycare. They have a tiny toilet so he strips and then waddles over the top of it until he can pee straight down.

9. This one has made the list before, but how he calls one of his block toys "Owakabama's Michelle."

10. That he gives me big hugs when we read and says "Mom - I wuv you." Totally unprovoked, and ridiculously sweet.

Things I love right now about Ryker:

1. When he takes a nap on me.

2. His hair - which is turning red.

3. Seeing people's reactions to his name ("Say it again?"..."Is that a family name?"...)

4. How effective the Mute Button is on him.

5. How he stretches when you take him out of his swaddle in the morning.

6. How he smiles so big sometimes that he has to squint his eyes, and how he makes me smile so big in return that MY eyes squint.

7. How hard he is trying to find his thumb.

8. How he follows Jack's sounds no matter where he is in the room, and gets calm when Jack holds him.

9. How he keeps his fists high, chin down and is ready for a fight. So intimidating.

10. Cooing.

Another Life Lesson

So many life lessons, so little time.

Today's lesson:

You might think that it's a good idea to schedule an oil change while your wife is on maternity leave. She's free to go, right? Nothing standing in her way, no baby to feed and keep entertained or anything. And after all, it will only take like 30 minutes.

Oh, but wait, you actually might need the 90k mile check-up as well. But you might think that is still easy enough.

You might be wrong.

(Side note - I love Chuck. I just feel it's my wife-given right to make fun of him in this passive aggressive manner. Love you Sweetie!)

Anyway, you might end up sending your wife to the dealership at 10:15am with the baby. And the wife might have thought that she only needed 3 diapers and 1 extra outfit, a book and her cell phone.

Then the service folks might come in and tell the wife that instead of 3 hours, it will take 3 MORE hours to fix the stuff that's wrong. And they might use words like "gasket" and acronyms like "PCV" and she might stop listening to them and call you to see what to do. Then you both might decide it's fine for her to stay there. And then she might have to order a sandwich to be delivered to her at the dealer because she has no food. And she might have trouble saying no to free coffee, so she might have 5 cups in 3 hours.

And the wife might have been wrong about the 3 diaper/1 outfit plan.

And the wife might return home at 4pm and head straight for the blog to help others learn from our collective mistakes.

Yesterday's Life Lesson

You might think that giving your child a ton of prunes at lunch to force him to give up his newest boycott of the potty would be a good idea.

You might be wrong.

And you might have to take him to the potty 5 times in a 6 hour span, including 3 at or after bedtime.

Manners

Last night, in the kitchen - I was doing dishes...

Jackson: Momma, I getting down now.
Momma: Okay Bud. Do you need help?
J: Nope...Tank you.
M: You're welcome.
Pause
J: Momma, tank you cleaning up after me.

This actually happened. No joke.

It would have been a scene straight out of Leave it to Beaver, except that Jack was completely naked and had been since his bath 30 minutes ago. And it was way past his bedtime. And he was getting down from a stool at the island, where he had been entertaining himself watching video clips of the Olympics on NBC's website. And the clips all started with a preview of Tropic Thunder.

Brothers Gotta Hug