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!

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 :)

Moved, but Still Much to Do

The movers came a week ago. We've been sleeping in our new house for a week now. There are still several unpacked boxes and a long list of things to do, but that's how it goes when you have to entertain a toddler and are 8 months pregnant. Plus, there is still a lot of things to get done at the old house. I'm hoping that Tony and I can spend several hours there on Sunday w/o Malcolm to make significant progress.

Saturday is Malcolm's preschool's end-of-the-year picnic. We're definitely going to miss preschool this summer. His last day is next Tuesday. We'll have things to fill our days with over the summer, but he's not old enough for any of the summer programs that I looked into since he doesn't turn 3 until August.

We're going to head out to the park to enjoy the sunshine since rain is forecasted for this afternoon. Our summer has yet to arrive.

Progress

After multiple successes at using the toilet while out in public last week, I decided to take away the diapers on Sunday. After a couple of accidents at first, he figured out that he can't just pee wherever and used the potty like a champ ALL DAY LONG! He had one more accident after he put his jammies on that night. On Monday, we were out all day in underwear with no accidents. I put him in a pull-up for his nap but it was totally unnecessary. Last night, we put him in a pull-up for bedtime (we call them nighttime underwear). When I checked on him before I went to bed, he had taken his pajama pants off. When I asked him why this morning, he thought he had gotten them wet when he peed in the pull-up. So who knows...maybe he won't need 'nighttime underwear' for very long. He hasn't pooped on the potty yet. I'm still trying to figure out how to work that out. Right now, he's at preschool in underwear and I'm hoping he does really well there. This whole potty-training thing is going so much better than expected. My guess is because I waiting so long.

I've been having a lot of physical pain with this pregnancy to where it hurts to stand and walk. I finally bought a maternity belt to help support my growing belly and can already tell the difference. The pain has really hindered packing progress. Speaking of, I need to use the rest of my free time this morning getting some packing done!

In the Potty Training Trenches

After reading 3 (and working on the 4th) potty training books, I decided that it was time to get down to business. Malcolm is doing surprisingly well so far (knock on wood) and even insisted on using the public toilet 3 times today while we were out. In the morning, I give him the option to wear underwear or a diaper. This morning, he insisted on a diaper but has yet to pee in it. We're so proud of our little guy! Let's hope this keeps up. I think he'll get peeing on the potty down quickly. It's the pooping that worries me...a lot.

Just Keep Swimming

A few weeks ago, I made plans with our friend Angie (mom to Zavyen and Rowan) to take the kids swimming this afternoon at the best indoor pool for kids. We'll be heading out in about half an hour. I haven't bought a bathing suit for Malcolm in quite some time and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that (1) I can find his bathing suit, and (2) it still fits him. I'm also hoping that he will actually want to go swimming. Last time I took him swimming while we were in San Diego, he didn't seem to really enjoy himself.

A First Time for Everything

Today was our first parent-teacher conference. I appreciate so much that the teachers at Malcolm's preschool do this. We got to ask questions and she asked us questions. One that struck me as funny was Malcolm's eating habits. At snack time at school, Malcolm is always the first kid to finish eating (if he eats at all). Who wants to eat when there is so much fun stuff to do?! He also has a gross habit of chewing up food and spitting it out. He does this all the time but it was something that she had never encountered before. It started when he was younger and would shove way too much food into his mouth and couldn't chew it. The habit of overstuffing his mouth has stopped, but not the spitting out of food. It occurs most often with cheese and apples.

Another first for me - I was bitten by a dog yesterday. Malcolm loves dogs and always wants to go say, "Hi". I always ask the owner if the dog is friendly before we approach the dog and I always let the dog smell my hand before I let Malcolm near it.

A mom had her two dogs, on leash, in the play area of the playground. We went over to the dogs and I asked her if they were friendly and she said yes. As I reached my hand out to the Boxer, it bit me hard enough for me to have a deep gouge in my thumb. The owner was shocked; she said it had never done that before. I was too flustered and also bleeding to get her contact information before heading to wash up and get a bandage.

As we were walking home, Malcolm and his friend, Han, were climbing a set of stairs when the same dog came running up and lunged at Han. It was off-leash and obviously in front of its house. The owner called out to it to come inside. I am incredibly relieved that neither of the boys were bitten or attacked by this dog. I've got a call into my doctor to see if I need to go in for a tetanus shot and antibiotics.

I'm still undecided if I should search out the owner and talk about the situation. I understand that dogs can be unpredictable and I hope that she is more cautious with her Boxer. She had both of her dogs in the play area of the playground which is illegal in the city of Seattle. Can I count on her to keep the dog a safe distance from other people, most importantly children?

30 months

Our little Malcolm turned 2 and a half yesterday. To celebrate, I took him to the doctor's today for a check-up and fun vaccination shot. He is doing great and actually jumped up to the 10% curve for his weight. His weight has always been a bit of a strain since he was born. For much of the past year, he had fallen completely off the charts. He's continued on the 10% curve for his height.

Yesterday, he decided to sleep until 9 AM and skip his nap. Today, he's taking a long nap. I ponder waking him up so we can go outside and enjoy a bit more of the sunshine, but I figure he must need his sleep. Speaking of naps, I believe he just woke up. Time to go crash trucks with my little guy!

Super Pancake

Malcolm is on a bit of an eating strike. He doesn't want to seem to eat anything. The only thing he will consistently eat is pancakes. So, I make him super pancakes. I put spinach, blueberries, wheat farina, wheat germ, flaxseed meal, whole wheat flour and Brewer's Yeast in them. Yes, I go there. He gobbles them up. In fact, he turns his nose up to pancakes made with white flour. That's my kid!

Dreaming of Eating

Well, not actually dreaming. Just looking forward to it. Thanksgiving! Thursday! We're going over to Jill & William's house for eating festivities. We'll be bringing the non-meat 'roast' (as always) and, of course, sweet potato casserole. This year, though, I need to make it vegan since one of the eaters cannot eat dairy and egg. I think it will still turn out delish.

Last night, we were meant to host a PEPS get-together, but Malcolm has a full-force cold with congestion and coughing. He still has all the energy in the world so now I have to keep the kid entertained while avoiding play dates. His school is closed this week for the holiday. I've got activities for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and was planning on filling the rest of the days with play dates but now I'll have to figure something else out until he gets better.

Vaishali is having her baby today! Now everyone in our PEPS group has 2 kidlets except us. And they all are singing the same song - it is really, really hard having two small children! Some say they think it's insane to have two children. It's easy for me to tell them that it gets easier :p

Time for a Weekend

Today was a typical Friday - preschool in the morning and then a play date in the afternoon. It was a very fun day for Malcolm. This weekend, it's time for Momma to get stuff done. I get a bit of 'me' time tomorrow: haircut and then book club meeting. Sunday, I'm meeting with the other grant writer for Malcolm's preschool to hopefully make some progress and then we're hosting a PEPS get-together in the evening. Busy weekend, y'all!

And, I'd also like to wish a very happy birthday to Carolyn! I'm guessing that her and Dad are celebrating properly right now on their cruise.

Malcolmspeak

Malcolm's pronunciation of words continues to improve. In many ways, we wish he'd slow down. The way he used to say 'motorcycle', 'bicycle' and 'popsicle' would kill us. But now he pronounces them correctly. There are a few words that he says that just kill me. 'Yogurt' is pronounced 'Ogurt'. 'Stool' is 'Stoon'. 'Lemonade' is 'Wummywade'. If there are any more, I'm going to have to write them down right away before they are gone.

Two-year-olds are so much fun to have around. Seriously.

Outside Time at Preschool

At the end of Malcolm's preschool day, the kids get to go outside after snack time if it's not raining. Malcolm takes *maybe* two bites of his snack and then proclaims that he is done. He is always the first kid with his shoes and coat on. A few weeks ago, when telling us about his day, he started talking about crashing trucks with Daniel & Yoni. I always thought that he was talking about the cars & trucks that they play with inside until I witness their play routine today. The three boys each have their favorite big truck and they never try to take each other's truck. Malcolm's truck is the big, yellow dump truck. They then proceed to stoop over their trucks and drive them back and forth on the sidewalk for the majority of the outside play time (20-30 minutes). They pause at one end of the 'road' and laugh together and then they start driving down the road again in a line. It is the cutest thing.

Malcolm Watching Football

Malcolm is really into things 'crashing'. We had no idea this would transfer to football until the other night. I took video of only a short portion of his reaction and Tony added to it. Enjoy!

Oh Wait...

Did you want a real update? Well, OK.

Malcolm is loving preschool. At first, he was a little apprehensive, but now he asks to go every day. I love the teachers and the other parents are really nice. We've noticed a huge increase in Malcolm's pretend play; I'm not sure if school is the influence or if it's just developmental.

We've been staying busy as usual. Yesterday afternoon, I took Malcolm to a Halloween party at Ari's house. The kids were so cute. Here's a picture of Malcolm the Monkey:


This afternoon, we're going down to the neighborhood shops for their Halloween Festivities. Malcolm is very excited to go trick-or-treating for the first time. We've been having a lot of cloudy & rainy days lately but today it's sunny and gorgeous. Perfect weather for being outside!

The Trials of Sleep

Ever since our trip to San Diego, Malcolm has been having a hard time with sleeping. Previous and during our trip, he slept through the night. Now, he wakes up 2-3 times a night, comes into our room and crawls into bed with us. Last night, he was up every 45 minutes from the time he went to bed until around 2 AM. We have no idea how to encourage him to stay in bed all night since we never had to do it before.

Thank goodness for coffee.

And here's some cuteness from San Diego:




To see all of the pictures I took during our trip, go here.

Playing in the Rain

Last week, we received some glorious rain. Of course, it started raining shortly after I promised Malcolm we'd go outside and play in the garden which is one of his favorite things to do. We found out that a little cold rain doesn't deter the determined tike.

A Birthday Shout-Out

Malcolm!

Happy 2nd Birthday to my adorable, funny, nutty little boy. We can't believe you are two already! Your Daddy and I love you a million tons of love. It's so much fun to see you grow up.

xoxoxo,
Mommy

Update on Being a Parent

And having a parent - Happy Birthday to my dad! He's 30 years older than me today!

18 week belly picture:

I started feeling Bee move around at 17 weeks. I'm now 19 weeks pregnant - almost halfway there! Next ultrasound is coming up on Monday.

This past weekend, we went over to Julie & Jeremiah's house so the kids could play. Here's one of my favorite pictures:

To see the rest, go to my Flickr page. Eliska and Malcolm play well together; she's pretty enamored by him and follows him around everywhere.

The little guy has finally started saying his name properly. We've known that he's known how for some time now because sometimes he'd slip up and say, "Malcolm" instead of, "MahMoh". He hasn't called himself MahMoh in a few days.