The Lindenbergs

My Mom sent birthday cards to Pierce and Anna. Pierce opened his own card and "read" it to Nora and me. This is Pierce's interpretation of what the card said:

I have a friend and her name is Anna.
She's cute...
She's a baby...
and she loves me too.
Happy Birthday Pierce.

-Eric (Dad)

Two highlights that stick out from yesterday:

Pierce: "Dad, when you and I were playing with my remote control car I had to make a sharp turn and veered into the grass."

Some how Sharp turn and veered are not phrases I expected to hear from a not-quite 4-year old (I can only assume he is even more brilliant than I imagined).

Anna did not pee in her potty last night (breaking a string of 3 nights in a row). Nope, instead she... pooped! That's right, Anna is attempting to become potty-trained faster and sooner than Pierce. Quite an unexpected (and pleasant) turn of events.

-Eric (Dad)

After dinner last night Nora went to a Creative Memories crop party. So it was just me and the kids. Always a fun time, a few items of note:

After watching Superman II together Pierce says, "Dad, when I grow up I want to be Superman!"

Anna successfully pee'd in the potty again (for the second night in a row) while getting ready for bed.

After I put Anna to bed, Pierce invited me to play "cars" with him. I don't think he's ever invited me before -very fun (beep beep).

Anna refused to go to sleep and so ended up helping me get Pierce ready for bed. She crawled into bed with him, pulled the sheets up to her chin, listened to stories and made herself right at home. When I shut out the lights and took Anna out of his bed Pierce started to cry -he wanted her to sleep in his room (maybe next time kid).

-Eric (Dad)

Last night, as part of the regular bedtime routine, Anna sat on her potty chair (she's been "visiting" the potty for about a month). And... Voila' she pee'd in the potty. Not yet two years old and already potty trained....

Oh well, one time does not make a new habit for life. But I couldn't be more proud. Now if I could just get her to leave the seat up...

-Eric (Dad)

Pierce's preschool maintains a website and posted a very nice picture of Pierce. Click here to see it.

We took the kids to Deanna Rose Petting Zoo on Sunday (they have a pumpkin patch and related activities). We had a great time and have 4 pumpkins to show for it. Most interesting, while in the petting area with the baby goats Pierce inadvertantly "goosed" a goat. The goat did NOT like it, I think we have the whole thing of video. I'll try and post a copy of it to the blog soon.

Strangest, funniest comment of the weekend:

Snapple has odd facts printed in the lids of their bottles. Saturday, Eric reading out loud from a Snapple lid, "Frogs Never Drink"

Pierce: "Beer"

Lastly, Anna now has perfected the phrase "Wondertwin powers activate" complete with the fist touch as executed by Wondertwins on the "Superfriends". Try it with her next time you see her.

-Eric (Dad)

I dabble in video editing and special effects compositing (visit my business site at www.editedmemories.com). I just finished my latest and greatest creation:

Star Wars XII - A New Hope (Again)

The premise: What happens when its bedtime at a remote training location for young Jedi? Of course it features the whole Lindenberg clan.

You can view it by visiting:

http://editedmemories.com/Videos/EpisodeXII.wmv

(you'll need Windows Media player to view it).

Of course I'd love to hear your feedback, just add comments to this post. Happy viewing...

-Eric (Dad)

Anna has become a fanatatic about teddy bears. Every teddy bear in the house, including those belonging to Nora, seem to be migrating to Anna's room.

Pierce had another successful poop on the toilet Sunday morning. Just did it as a regular course of business (we're so proud).

Nora took me out for my birthday. Plaza III Steakhouse lived up to its reputation. Very good meal.

-Eric (Dad)

We went apple picking over the weekend (Pome on the Range is the name of the orchard). Not only was it our immediate family, but Nora's folks, her brother's family, and her brother's in-laws all came out, about 12 of us total. Very fun. I hope to have some pictures posted shortly.

The orchard had a horse drawn wagon you could ride across the fields. A team of two draft horses pulled the wagon. If you've never seen a draft horse its truly a stunning experience; they look more like elephants. The horses were easily 7-8 feet tall and weighed over 1800 lbs each. Anna fell in love with both of them and asked if she could get on them and "bounce" (the way she does with her rocking horse at home). All the kids had the opportunity to pet and feed these monsters, they were very good with the kids.

We finished the outing with a picnic. All the kids chased (and fed) ducks and completely ignored their food. A very nice, and tiring, outing.

-Eric (Dad)

The wonderful thing about children is that they see the world with new eyes, and no subject is out of bounds for discussion. Pierce is still working on potty training and recently came up with a couple of nuggets of wisdom:

1) Situation 1: Pierce has just urinated and is still sitting on the toilet. He reaches down and "checks himself out". Looking thoughtful, "Daddy, these are my testicles -its where the poop is". Smart kid, wrong conclusion.

2) Situation 2: Pierce is over at a friend's house and comes back to tell us about what he did with his friend, Ray. A friend of ours is over and asks Pierce if he (Ray) lives close by. Pierce's response: "Ray's not a he, she's a girl. She doesn't have a penis. She pees with her butt".

Need I say that we smile a lot at our house?

-Eric (Dad)

Nora's folks have been on vacation in Ireland for the past 10 days. They're our regular kids' child care while Nora and I are at work. During their absence Nora and I took time off to be with the kids (Nora took off week one, I took week two).

(Queue cheesy sentimental music...)
My week ended today and I can't believe its actually over. I'm surprised how much I'm going to miss it. Obviously I am with the kids in the evening and on the weekends, and its not uncommon for Nora to go out and do "stuff" so that its just me with the kids -but this is the first time I've had concentrated kid time for an extended period. With Pierce in preschool during the morning, Anna and I had a lot of focused Dad/daughter time. We went to the playground, blew bubbles, ran around outside. She's a charmer. I think she must have enjoyed the time with me as much as I did, after the first day she spent the evening calling Nora "Dad".

During our week we three went to Wonderscope (a children's museum) together. We've been there together as a family before, but not for awhile. Pierce delighted in showing Anna around the displays and for the first time Anna was really able to "do" many of the activities.

This week feels like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, I can't imagine I'll have another opportunity to play Daddy Daycare for an extended period. I'm going to miss it.

-Eric (Dad)