Technology: A Personal Struggle

I'm not talking about how I don't know how to run technology. For the most part, with some time, I can figure it out.

I'm talking about using it too much. All the time, and especially as a teacher, I see kids neglected because their parents are always plugged in. Furthermore, kids see their parents plugged in and believe they should be, too. I'm not talking about the occasional iPad use or watching TV or checking your email. But because it's so convenient, some people (me included w/my laptop) feel the need to "check" stuff all the time. On a daily basis when I'm home with the boys just hanging out, I admit to checking facebook, email, my blog (wondering if anybody commented or if someone else updated their blog), the freaking TEMPERATURE for Heaven's Sake, even though as I sit here on the couch I can see the thermometer on the side of the house says 88 degrees. I check these often. Too often. I don't want to be that parent.

I need to find a place to put this goshbedarned laptop. Somewhere inconvenient. Back when I had a desktop,  it wasn't convenient. I spent more time with Colin playing than I do with Ben. Because now I can sit on my butt on the couch while he plays on the floor. And that makes me sad. But I can fix that!

So...if you need to reach me via computer, I can only be reached at nap time and after the boys have gone to bed.

I'm busy reffing wrestling matches

 

and making sure Ben's not eating grass and talking about bugs with Colin

 

 and being a lifeguard.

New swingset

Our backyard typically has a bit of a....problem. A mosquito problem. So bad that you can't even spend any time back there without getting bitten immediately.

So what did we decide to do? Put a swingset up back there, of course!

(No...actually, the mosquitoes haven't been too bad yet this year. And if they do come, we're armed with some yard spray we're hoping works.)

Anyway, so I braved my way over to the neighbor's house. He had a wooden structure, what we could call a ghost swingset (similar to a ghost town). He moved in a year ago or so and his kids are in high school and are too cool for a swing set, so I thought I'd mosey on over there and ask him if we could take it off his hands. He said yes, and when I offered him payment, he said we could have it, and the sooner the better because he's hosting a graduation party and wants the room.

Well alrighty then :)

So Kevin's dad came over one day and hauled it to our house.

Colin found an inchworm on it.

We cut off the rope ladder that lead to nowhere but trouble but kept the climbing rope and the slide.

 

We took the baby swing off of the tree and put it on.

Kevin added a longer beam and we bought a swing for Colin, and Kevin's dad bought a steering wheel. (I asked Colin to steer his steering wheel for this picture, and he said, "But it doesn't go anywhere!")

We put some rocks underneath so Colin could play with his trucks (sand = kitty litter box for the neighborhood felines = yuck).

The boys really enjoy using it!

So thanks, neighbor! Not bad for the cost of a couple of swings! Oh, and that loaf of beer bread I've intended on baking for our generous neighbor.

Future expansion ideas: replace the baby swing with a two-seater seesaw, perhaps add some rings or a trapeze bar to the beam behind Ben's swing...the possibilities are endless.

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day! We kind of hung low today. We inflated our pool and it took an hour and a half to fill up. By the time it was ready, it was nap time, and then it rained. So we didn't get to enjoy it like Kevin wanted to do today. Here are some new shots I got of the boys for Kevin's 3-hole frame that sits on his desk at work. Yup, they're wearing matching "Dad's Lil' Firecracker" shirts. Dual purpose Father's Day/4th of July t-shirts.

 

And Colin "wrote" a poem:

ALL ABOUT MY DADDY

BY Colin Jacob AGE 3

My daddy’s name is Daddy.

He is really tall.

His hair color is brown.

He likes to go to work.

His favorite food is pizza.

His favorite color is red.

His favorite drink is pop.

Tickling makes daddy happy.

I love it when my daddy goes to work.

My favorite thing about my daddy is he plays outside with me.

 I LOVE MY DADDY

My goal is to remember to do this every year and see how is responses change as he (they) get older.

Kevin doesn't read my blog, but Happy Father's Day to him anyway, and to any dads that are readers :)

Doctor's Appointment

Both Ben AND Colin had a pediatrician appointment today. It went well. Like I've said before, I really like our new pediatrician. However, while Colin's former pediatrician never had much to say or much advice, Dr. C. has a lot of it that I'm not quite sure I like :) Where's the happy medium!? Read on to find out why.

Colin was his usual self: Watch, play, listen, and a minute later, participate. He had to change into a gown for the first time ever and I was surprised that he actual did! He even said, "I like this! I like coming to this doctor!" Oh little man, you will grow to hate the gown after the Looney Tunes aren't printed on it anymore. When Dr. C. asked Colin for a high five and Colin didn't give him one, and when he didn't really talk much to him, I said that that's the way he is. I went on to say that I was going to sign him up for some sort of a class this summer--one where there's no parental involvement. I want him to get used to new situations and just be able to jump into them by himself, whether he does it enthusiastically I don't care. Dr. C said, "You know, with adults, we'd classify the same behavior as an Anxiety Disorder. But with kids we let them go and expect them to just deal with it." Uh...he may have anxiety, but I don't think it's "disorder" caliber. Andplusalso, I'm learning how to make transitions easier on him and what I do works just fine! By the middle of the appointment, Colin was comfortable with him. So I take what he says with a grain of salt. He also said that Colin's belly button is herniated (something the old pediatrician never mentioned). I mean, I knew he had an outie, but didn't know it was herniated.  Also, he said his voice sounds raspy. Could be viral, could be from being a noisy boy, could be because of polyps on his vocal chords. Both things we need to "keep an eye on" for possible future procedures.

Colin's stats:
Weight: 37 lbs = 80 %ile
Height: 3'2" (38") = 54 %ile

Ben was complimented on again by his chunkaliciousness. We talked about solids and sleeping and all the usual baby stuff. I asked about his slightly flat head, and Dr. C. said that now that he's sitting up more, he's sure it will round out. His weight is following the growth curve like it should (although he's still above it), meaning his growth has slowed down some. Thank goodness :)

Ben's stats:
Weight: 27 lbs, 11 oz = 100+ %ile
Height: 26.5" = 51 %ile
Head: 18" = 98 %ile

So it was a good appointment. I just need to remember that what a pediatrician says is just advice and ultimately we get to make the decisions 'round these parts!

Ben: 6 months

Can you believe the little guy is halfway to a year already?

Ben has been rolling around like crazy. He can roll all the way across the room, and he rolls towards Colin's toys he sees on the floor.

He is also beginning to sit up, although we stay pretty close to him because he topples over eventually.

Ben is on a reverse cycle schedule, and has been since I went back to work in March. He doesn't drink much milk all day at daycare, and nurses here and there when he's around me, and then gets up about 2 times a night. This is much different than when I was on maternity leave and he'd sleep all night long some nights. Add in the slow teething process (we know they're in there somewhere!) and it has been exhausting. But never fear! I'm done with work now for the summer and I'm trying to reverse his reverse cycle. My game plan is to try to nurse him every 2 hours during the day so hopefully he gets all the calories he needs during waking hours and won't need them at night. We may need to add in a little middle-of-the-night Ferber if filling him up during the day doesn't work. I'm a fan of Ferber's results, but I hate the process. Luckily he usually goes down for the night pretty easily.

Speaking of calories, we started Ben on solids about a week and a half ago. We're doing the baby lead weaning approach (aka baby self feeding). So instead of rice cereal and purees, we give him the real stuff in big chunks. He started with a banana. I cut a 2-3" chunk off a banana, and then split it into the thirds bananas naturally break into. This gives Ben 3 "banana sticks" to gnaw on. It depends on the day and his hunger and interest, but some days he'll eat just a few bites while others he eats almost all of it! We also gave him some avocado. Avocado is pretty mushy on its own and hard to grab, even for an adept adult. Ben's first experience with it wasn't so awesome. As evidenced by this face:

So I put it in a mesh feeder and Ben loves it that way! He puts the mesh bag in his mouth, and pulls it out while squeezing avocado out the little holes with his gums.

We're going to give him avocados and bananas a few more days, and then we'll add sweet potatoes into the mix.

Just yesterday Ben got his first swimming experience in our friends' pool and loved it! Whenever I'd stop moving him around, he'd yell at me to keep moving. He also got to float a little bit.

I expect that there will be a lot more swimming this summer so I'm glad Ben likes the water so much!

His personality is still easygoing. He goes with the flow for the most part, and if he gets fussy, he's easy to make happy again. He likes Colin, swinging outside, baths, stroller rides, Sophie the Giraffe, laughing, and hearing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star when he's tired.

Another month down, another month ahead to learn and grow! I'm just so happy that I can spend more time with Ben for his 6th month. It's the best part of my job.

Interview with Colin

My mom and Leah offered up some questions to ask Colin a few months ago. Here are his answers.