Friday, April 29, 2005
Pierce nominated for Hero of the Day
At work we give out the Hero of the Day award. There's no actual award (of course) but when someone does something above and beyond the call of duty they get the title for the day.
This morning Pierce's actions merit Hero of the Day. Some background: Because Anna never took to a pacifier or sucking her thumb she is VERY attached to her bottle. Nora and I are gradually weaning her from it, but in the grand scheme of things its not a high priority. That being said, the first thing out of Anna's mouth in the morning is "I want a bottle with water in it". She's as dependent on this morning bottle as the rest of us are on our first cup of coffee. If Anna doesn't get her bottle the rest of the morning goes extremely poorly. For convenience sake, Nora and I keep a small bottle on her nightstand and fill it up before we wake her.
This morning Pierce got up early, wandered into Anna's room, filled the bottle (by himself) in the bathroom, then woke Anna and gave her the bottle -all while Nora and I were still asleep. Anna greeted Pierce with her brightest smile and a hearty "thank you Pierce!". The rest of the morning went smooth as silk.
I may consider giving Pierce Hero of the Week. I'm just that proud.
-Eric (Dad)
This morning Pierce's actions merit Hero of the Day. Some background: Because Anna never took to a pacifier or sucking her thumb she is VERY attached to her bottle. Nora and I are gradually weaning her from it, but in the grand scheme of things its not a high priority. That being said, the first thing out of Anna's mouth in the morning is "I want a bottle with water in it". She's as dependent on this morning bottle as the rest of us are on our first cup of coffee. If Anna doesn't get her bottle the rest of the morning goes extremely poorly. For convenience sake, Nora and I keep a small bottle on her nightstand and fill it up before we wake her.
This morning Pierce got up early, wandered into Anna's room, filled the bottle (by himself) in the bathroom, then woke Anna and gave her the bottle -all while Nora and I were still asleep. Anna greeted Pierce with her brightest smile and a hearty "thank you Pierce!". The rest of the morning went smooth as silk.
I may consider giving Pierce Hero of the Week. I'm just that proud.
-Eric (Dad)
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Back in business
Believe it or not the blog actually grew too large for our alloted space on our ISPs server. How do I know? I tried to create a new post a couple of days ago and got a whopping "out of space" error.
Fortunately my company website (www.editedmemories.com) has excess capacity, so I moved all the pictures from our Roadrunner server to the other machine and, voila, we've got space.
-Eric (Dad)
Fortunately my company website (www.editedmemories.com) has excess capacity, so I moved all the pictures from our Roadrunner server to the other machine and, voila, we've got space.
-Eric (Dad)
Monday, April 25, 2005
Night at the Royals
A few of the guys at work arranged a night at the Royals (KC's baseball team). The open invite included spouses and children and we targeted for last Friday; fireworks night. At the time we were making the arrangements we were having beautiful spring weather in the high 60s and 70s.
The whole Lindenberg plan decided to go. Of course, after we purchase the tickets the wind kicks up and the temperature drops into the low 50s. Long story short: we had a good time, we left during the fourth inning (Nora gave up first claiming she was cold).
Notable memories from the experience. After the first inning they conduct a baseball shell game on the jumbotron (animated baseball in under an animated cap, two other caps are shuffled around with the one containing the baseball, you guess which one has the ball). Pierce guessed correctly.
After the 3rd inning the Jumbotron had an animated race between three hotdogs: one with ketchup, one with mustard, one with relish. The relish hot dog won. Pierce was ecstatic.
I gave Pierce some basic guidance on the game. The team in the white jerseys are the Royals, we want them to win. The team in the black uniforms are the Sox, we want them to lose. Nora later reports she heard Pierce yelling "Go white guys. Black guys you need to lose". Ouch. We'll have to talk to him about appropriate phrasing.
Anna liked the nacho chips so much she dunked her whole hand in the chili. In trying to clean her up it turns out I can get her entire hand into my mouth. Course, I don't want to think about what else she had her hand into before it went into the chili and my mouth.
-Eric (Dad)
The whole Lindenberg plan decided to go. Of course, after we purchase the tickets the wind kicks up and the temperature drops into the low 50s. Long story short: we had a good time, we left during the fourth inning (Nora gave up first claiming she was cold).
Notable memories from the experience. After the first inning they conduct a baseball shell game on the jumbotron (animated baseball in under an animated cap, two other caps are shuffled around with the one containing the baseball, you guess which one has the ball). Pierce guessed correctly.
After the 3rd inning the Jumbotron had an animated race between three hotdogs: one with ketchup, one with mustard, one with relish. The relish hot dog won. Pierce was ecstatic.
I gave Pierce some basic guidance on the game. The team in the white jerseys are the Royals, we want them to win. The team in the black uniforms are the Sox, we want them to lose. Nora later reports she heard Pierce yelling "Go white guys. Black guys you need to lose". Ouch. We'll have to talk to him about appropriate phrasing.
Anna liked the nacho chips so much she dunked her whole hand in the chili. In trying to clean her up it turns out I can get her entire hand into my mouth. Course, I don't want to think about what else she had her hand into before it went into the chili and my mouth.
-Eric (Dad)
Thursday, April 21, 2005
Pierce's trip to the dentist
Nora, Pierce and I all had back-to-back appointments at the dentist's yesterday. Nora went first while Pierce and I colored and read books. Then it was Pierce's turn...
Pierce has been to the dentist once before (about 6 months ago). At that time he was scared to sit in the chair. Instead he sat in Nora's lap in the chair and let the dentist "count his teeth".
This time Pierce climbed into the chair, crossed his legs, put on the sunglasses the dentist offered (to keep the light out of his eyes) and had a full dental checkup including "the scraper" and a polish. He did great. No tears, no protests. And he was ready to show his teeth to anyone who wanted to look. Nora and I were bursting with pride.
Course when it was my turn in the chair I cried like a baby...
-Eric (Dad)
Pierce has been to the dentist once before (about 6 months ago). At that time he was scared to sit in the chair. Instead he sat in Nora's lap in the chair and let the dentist "count his teeth".
This time Pierce climbed into the chair, crossed his legs, put on the sunglasses the dentist offered (to keep the light out of his eyes) and had a full dental checkup including "the scraper" and a polish. He did great. No tears, no protests. And he was ready to show his teeth to anyone who wanted to look. Nora and I were bursting with pride.
Course when it was my turn in the chair I cried like a baby...
-Eric (Dad)
Thursday, April 14, 2005
An evening at the park
In lieu of our usual gym night on Wednesday night, Nora and I took the kids to the neighborhood park after dinner. We're getting some beautiful weather out here; cool evenings and spring-time warm days. Everything's turning green and flowering and lawns are growing before our eyes.
Anna got pulled in the wagon and Pierce rode his scooter. Josie (the new family dog) came along too. We had a rough start getting out of the house. Pierce was looking for a "favorite" toy to bring and couldn't find it. Nora's desperately trying to help him and I'm pushing for him to get something else so we can get out the door while there's still daylight. Ultimately, though tears were shed, Pierce grabbed a different toy and out the door we went.
For the most part Pierce played in the gravel around the playground equipment. He had brought a toy motorcycle and car and used them to dig furrows in the gravel (we practically had to hose these toys off when we got home they were so dirty/muddy). Anna climbed ladders, slid down slides and "walked the balance beam" on the retaining beam surrounding the playground equipment. Nora and I got to toss a football (she has a great arm) and Josie just sat and basked in our presence. Fun stuff.
On the way home from work I picked up a library book for Pierce (a recommendation from my Mom), Flick, Flicka and Dicka make a cake. It was a hit and Pierce asked for it to be read twice. The author's last name is Lindman and she's also written a series of books about Snipp, Snapp and Snur. Apparently these were books that my brothers and I really enjoyed when we were little. If you've got young children of your own check them out.
-Eric (Dad)
Anna got pulled in the wagon and Pierce rode his scooter. Josie (the new family dog) came along too. We had a rough start getting out of the house. Pierce was looking for a "favorite" toy to bring and couldn't find it. Nora's desperately trying to help him and I'm pushing for him to get something else so we can get out the door while there's still daylight. Ultimately, though tears were shed, Pierce grabbed a different toy and out the door we went.
For the most part Pierce played in the gravel around the playground equipment. He had brought a toy motorcycle and car and used them to dig furrows in the gravel (we practically had to hose these toys off when we got home they were so dirty/muddy). Anna climbed ladders, slid down slides and "walked the balance beam" on the retaining beam surrounding the playground equipment. Nora and I got to toss a football (she has a great arm) and Josie just sat and basked in our presence. Fun stuff.
On the way home from work I picked up a library book for Pierce (a recommendation from my Mom), Flick, Flicka and Dicka make a cake. It was a hit and Pierce asked for it to be read twice. The author's last name is Lindman and she's also written a series of books about Snipp, Snapp and Snur. Apparently these were books that my brothers and I really enjoyed when we were little. If you've got young children of your own check them out.
-Eric (Dad)
Monday, April 11, 2005
Weekend Recap
A very fun weekend with beautiful weather. On Saturday we went to Diana Rose, a petting zoo in our area. Its interesting in that Pierce and Anna's interests are starting to diverge. Pierce liked playing on the playground equipment. Anna much preferred to pet and feed the animals (horses are her big interest).
We took advantage of the nice weather and had most of our meals outside on the patio (we refer to the process as picnicing). To end Saturday we engaged in the neighborhood tradition of "driveway beer". We set out four chairs on the driveway, brought Josie (the dog out with us) and Nora and I cracked open a couple of beers and chatted with the passing neighbors. Pierce and Anna drove remote control cars up and down the drive way (in case you're interested, Josie is scared of the rc cars).
Saturday was Anna's day to get hurt. Early in the day she tripped and skinned her knee. She was a real trooper and shook it off -she didn't even cry. I put a bandaid on it and she promptly pulled it off and reapplied it. It fell off within 3 minutes and ended up in the trash shortly thereafter. While playing with the rc cars that evening Anna fell again -this time with some assistance from Pierce. Skinned the same knee but much deeper this time. She cried, Nora mothered. Anna's been bragging about her skinned knee ever since (it looks terrible).
Sunday we had a homemade banana pancake breakfast (courtesy of yours truly) then went to the gym. After we got home and played for a bit we had another picnic -bowtie pasta served mac 'n cheese style. It was hit. Then lots of bubble blowing and a nap for Anna.
While Anna was sleeping Pierce went across the street to play with the neighbors in the sprinkler system. He had a blast, though it was cool enough that most of the kids were trying to avoid getting wet. That evening Nora told me that Pierce managed to launch a pretty impressive fart in front of the 3 girls he was playing with. I explained to him that he shouldn't fart in front of girls, but if he wanted to do it around boys it was no big deal (I also told him he could front of Mom -she thinks its cute).
On hearing this Pierce declared that all his girlfriends liked his farts. He went on to explain that one day he'll let a REALLY big fart and shake down the house.
Where does he get this stuff?
-Eric (Dad)
We took advantage of the nice weather and had most of our meals outside on the patio (we refer to the process as picnicing). To end Saturday we engaged in the neighborhood tradition of "driveway beer". We set out four chairs on the driveway, brought Josie (the dog out with us) and Nora and I cracked open a couple of beers and chatted with the passing neighbors. Pierce and Anna drove remote control cars up and down the drive way (in case you're interested, Josie is scared of the rc cars).
Saturday was Anna's day to get hurt. Early in the day she tripped and skinned her knee. She was a real trooper and shook it off -she didn't even cry. I put a bandaid on it and she promptly pulled it off and reapplied it. It fell off within 3 minutes and ended up in the trash shortly thereafter. While playing with the rc cars that evening Anna fell again -this time with some assistance from Pierce. Skinned the same knee but much deeper this time. She cried, Nora mothered. Anna's been bragging about her skinned knee ever since (it looks terrible).
Sunday we had a homemade banana pancake breakfast (courtesy of yours truly) then went to the gym. After we got home and played for a bit we had another picnic -bowtie pasta served mac 'n cheese style. It was hit. Then lots of bubble blowing and a nap for Anna.
While Anna was sleeping Pierce went across the street to play with the neighbors in the sprinkler system. He had a blast, though it was cool enough that most of the kids were trying to avoid getting wet. That evening Nora told me that Pierce managed to launch a pretty impressive fart in front of the 3 girls he was playing with. I explained to him that he shouldn't fart in front of girls, but if he wanted to do it around boys it was no big deal (I also told him he could front of Mom -she thinks its cute).
On hearing this Pierce declared that all his girlfriends liked his farts. He went on to explain that one day he'll let a REALLY big fart and shake down the house.
Where does he get this stuff?
-Eric (Dad)
Friday, April 08, 2005
New books
Nora's work had a book fair on Thursday and she picked up a couple new books: For Pierce, a sequel to Walter the Farting Dog; for Anna, a Wiggles music book (it plays songs). Both kids were so excited they couldn't wait for bedtime to read them. Anna took her Wiggles book on the toilet. Pierce carried his book with him everywhere until it was time for bed (including to the toilet too).
-Eric (Dad)
-Eric (Dad)
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Catching up (again)
It seems like all my blog titles somehow refer to my being late in make a post...
Well, after three weeks on the road I'm finally back in Kansas City for the foreseeable future. The travels (for business) were very productive and we seem to have a happy customer.
On the home front:
Well, after three weeks on the road I'm finally back in Kansas City for the foreseeable future. The travels (for business) were very productive and we seem to have a happy customer.
On the home front:
- Easter's come and gone. We are absolutely swimming in candy (Nora and I are eating our way through it as fast as possible). Pierce and Anna participated in our neighborhood Easter egg hunt as well as one at their Grandparent's house. Anna is much better at retrieving eggs than Pierce was at this same age. At 2 1/2 Pierce put the same egg in his basket over and over (in and out, in and out). Anna's an egg finding vaccuum machine -she doesn't actually care what's in the eggs, she just wants to find them). At Grandma and Grandpa's house I just walked behind her and pulled newly discovered eggs out of her basket and tossed them in front of her. I think Anna found each egg a minum of 10 times ;)
- Yesterday (Monday 4/4/05) my Dad's Easter package arrived for the kids (Dad and Mary were supposed to come visit us for Easter weekend but had to cancel at the last minute). The package was immense and contained gifts for Pierce, Anna and our new dog, Josie. Aside from baskets with candy, each gift included toys: Pierce got a package of 5 remote control cars (each with a 3 foot cord); Anna got a Cheerleading kit -pom poms, megaphone, hair scrunchy, baton; and Josie got a rubber bone with a "squeaker" inside it. Ultimately the whole family played with Pierce's cars with Anna holding her baton in the other hand.
- Pierce has started getting dressed completely by himself. He gets up, puts his pajamas away, goes to the bathroom, picks out his clothes, and gets dressed. So far he's only put his pants and shirt on backwards once.
- On Sunday (4/3) the whole family washed cars. Pierce is more than willing to wash the same part of the car repeatedly, while whole other parts of the car are completely ignored. He's particularly fond of the hose, but likes to swirl and spash the soapy water too. Anna doesn't seem to like getting her hands wet, so she's more of a director. She walks around the car and points, "What are you doing? What are you doing?".
- We've had a small breakthrough with Anna; she's finally drinking from cups and/or using a straw. She's still pretty adamant about drinking her milk from a bottle but she is showing some flexiblity. Juice boxes are rapidly becoming a favorite (big sigh of relief). She also ate raisins out of a box last night (4/4). She wasn't interested in raisins on her plate but as long as she could take them out of the box she was happy.
- Pierce is getting VERY good at sounding out words. Pretty much every word he sees he tries to read. I know most everyone learns to read, so I guess this is a pretty mundane miracle, but when its your child its absolutely amazing.
Come back soon for more new (and catchup) news.
-Eric (Dad)
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]