Summer Camp Stories

Dictated by Malcolm on 7/27/11

The car zooms and then it zooms faster and then it goes into the mud. More cars come and rescue it. And some more and more and more cars come and crash by accident. And a dinosaur comes. A T-Rex. And two flying reptiles come. And they wreck the city and they wreck the cars. Monkeys come. There's a Jumanji game in the story. That's what happens to dinosaurs and reptiles and the monkeys come. Even more reptiles come. More reptiles come. And birds come and dinosaurs eat them. The End.

Dictated by Malcolm on 7/29/11

Cars come. Dinosaurs come. More and more and more cars come. Even more and more and more dinosaurs come. Flying reptiles come and more. That's the end.

Dictated by Malcolm on 8/2/11

The dinosaurs come. Cars crash into them and one jumped right over them and fell into the mud. Even more and more and more dinosaurs come and eat all the cars. The people get eaten then they spit them out. The people go "uh oh". They go "uh oh" again. And then they go "bluh bluh". And then even more and more and more dead people come. And then they turn into zombies. And then more and more and more and more and more dinosaurs come. Even more and more and more dinosaurs come. They eat the other cars. They eat villains. The dinosaurs die. Even more dinosaurs come and help them get alive again. They eat birdies. The birdies die. The people die even more. Babies come. The grown ups that are taller - the daddy dinosaurs - take care of the baby. The End.

Breathe

Poor Ian. He's barely 11 weeks old and already has his second cold. He's exposed to so many more germs and viruses since we are out and around germy preschoolers all the time. I ask Malcolm to wash his hands before touching Ian, but that rarely happens because he's always wanting to hold Ian's hand.

Preschool has been going well. Mal goes 3 mornings a week and then we have a weekly playdate another morning. Friday morning is our only 'free' morning. Afternoons are spent at home since Malcolm must take a nap these days. He is a terror without enough sleep since starting school.

This past Wednesday, Malcolm slept late and therefore couldn't do his regular morning routine before leaving school. He was all out of sorts and did not want me to leave him there. It was the first time he's ever cried and it was so hard for me! I, of course, cried too. The crying didn't last long and he was back to his normal, happy self shortly after I left. Still - heart wrenching!

Ian - 2 months old

He's growing like a champ! 22 3/4 inches long (50% on the curve) and 10 lbs, 7 oz (25%). If he continues to grow at this rate, he'll definitely be bigger than Malcolm who is on the 25% curve for height and 10% for weight.

Life With Two

It doesn't leave me much free time. Preschool started for Malcolm last week which should definitely help establish a routine in our household. This year, he's going 3 days a week and for the first 8 weeks, I'm on maternity leave and do not begin working in the classroom until November. I'm looking forward to having some solo time with Ian but I have a feeling he's going to be taking a long nap in the mornings when Malcolm's not around. During Malcolm's first day last week, he slept the whole time Mal was away. The poor baby typically doesn't get a long stretch of sleep during the day but it does mean he sleeps better at night.

Life has been good with two kids even though it's a struggle to get much done around the house. Malcolm loves being a big brother. The only time he has a 'hard' time is when he wants me to do something with him and I need to feed Ian. Ian is such a laid-back baby; we feel very fortunate.

Speaking of babies, Stephanie, Tony's youngest sister, is pregnant with another boy! This family is filled with boys on both sides of the family.

I'd love to continue to ramble on, but I can't stop thinking of all of the things I need to do around the house :)

A Busy Month

I didn't realize that it had been a month since my last update. We've had a pretty constant flow of visitors since Ian's birth and I haven't spent much time on the computer. We're all doing great and staying very busy. Check out my Flickr gallery for photos.

9 Days Later

Why yes, I really was in labor. After sleeping for a couple of hours, I woke up at 3 AM and the contractions started becoming painful and close together. We made it to the hospital around 4:30 AM and Ian was born at 6:20 AM. I think it's safe to say that my body is very efficient at this labor/birthing business. Everything went smoothly and we didn't even stay at the hospital overnight. My recovery has been surprisingly quick and Ian is so healthy. He's a great eater and sleeper so far.

Sherry & Casey flew into Seattle last Saturday so I haven't had much time on the computer. I've uploaded a few photos from Tony's phone to my Flickr account. The ones from our camera were taken in a very large format so I have to adjust the size of all of them before I can upload them. It will take time that I do not have right now, but I'll work at it when I can.

I'm home alone with Ian while the rest of the family is at Snoqualmie Falls. Sherry & Casey leave tomorrow and I'm on my own during the day until next Saturday when the next wave of family comes in. Sherry has been a huge help and I'm not sure how I'm going to get dinner made with her not around to help. I guess I'll need to figure it out somehow.

I Wouldn't Mind Sleep

Am I in labor right now? Yes. Maybe. The contractions aren't nearly as painful as I recall with my labor with Malcolm (yet). They are painful enough to not allow sleep. So, I sit up with Tony as we watch TV. Amanda is on call for when we decide it's time to head to the hospital. I'm kind-of thinking this is false labor. I don't believe I'm in actual labor yet. Now we just wait and see.