Kaitlyn is Learning

Wow, two posts in the same day! It must be snowing someplace really hot!

This is a picture I took after Kaitlyn figured out how to get water out of the fridge. This was quickly followed by me relearning how to engage the child locks on the fridge. :-)

Kaitlyn is at that stage where she is learning new things almost hourly. She is picking up on a lot of words. Like more, uh-oh, oh no, ouch, up, down, etc. This is definitely a lot better than her old method of communication (a lot of squeaking an pointing).

Kaitlyn has learned that jumping in the crib can be a bad thing. On Sunday, I put the girls down for their nap. I closed their door and stopped by Patrick's room to talk with him. In about 15 seconds I heard someone rattling the Duplo's Bin. I figured it was Emily. I went back to their room only to find Emily sitting up in bad with a look of surprise on her face and Kaitlyn laying face down on the floor.

Apparently after I left, Kaitlyn started jumping in bad and actually flipped over the rail. This is quite impressive, since the rail goes up to her chin.

Persistence is a virtue?

Emily is a very persistent child. She can stick with a task until it is completed. This will be very helpful when she is older, as long as she picks the correct tasks. Last night it was an adamant refusal to put her clothes back on.

Emily is turning into a girlie girl. She loves to dress up. Pretends to put on make up. Also, she is constantly changing clothes, which tends to lead to a lot of laundry. Last night, she was changing outfits when Kirsten stopped her and asked her to put her original clothes back on.

Emily refused. Kirsten gave her a choice, clothes on or confinement in her room. 25 minutes (of various fit throwing) later she finally puts her clothes on leaves the room.

Of course, this probably just stubborn behavior on Emily's part, but I am trying to put a good spin on it. :-)

Sad Day

Yesterday was a very sad day in our household. We had to put down one of our pet cats, Thackery. The children seem to handle it really well, but Kirsten and I our very sad. Thackery was the first pet we ever got. We had him for almost 16 years and he was always our favorite.

Thackery was always a very playfull cat. Even into his old age he would chase a string or a ball. To me, he seemed to play more than the other cats.

In his younger days, he was quite the explorer. More than once we found him roaming around 1/4 mile or more from home. There were several times where he wouldn't come home until the next day. Once about 6 or 7 years ago we lost him for more than three days.

However, I will always remember his more sedate side. Thackery was a snuggler. Even in the heat of midsummer, Thackery would want to sit in your lap. It didn't matter whose lap either. He would try and climb into anyone's lap. He particularly liked to sleep with Kirsten. Sometimes in her arms and sometimes curled up in the crook of her legs.

How to get a treat

Yesterday, Patrick missed the bus home from school. He needed to try and get some information from one of his teachers after school and it took longer than he thought it would.

So he went to the school office to call me, only to discover that it was closed. At that point he panicked a little. He thought about just staying there and waiting until we noticed that he wasn't home ( an extremely bad choice ). He also thought about trying to walk home ( an even worse choice ).

Finally, he found a teacher that got him into the office and called for him. At this point he was on the very edge of tears. I told him to calm down, everything was fine and that someone would be by to pick him up soon.

Then I called my parents. They happened to be downtown and on their way home, so the easily swung by to pick him up. Then, to cheer him up, they swung by the ice cream shop and bought him a treat.

I explained to him that you don't generally get treats for making mistakes, but that I was very pleased that he had made the correct decision to solve the problem.

Back from our getaway

Well, we have made it back from out getaway. We had a great time in Seattle. We got to go to TWO (count 'em, one - two) Mariners games. I probably enjoyed it a little more than Kirsten, but not much. We got to see two Grand Slams. Unfortunately, one of them was by the opposing team.

We toured all over downtown and ate at several nice places. We also came back 3 1/2 pounds heavier than when we left. That is almost a pound a day. It's a good thing we didn't go for a month!!

Actually three or four days is all that we can really stand to be away from our kids. It was very nice to get back and see them. My parents spoiled them somewhat, of course. That is their job after all. They try not to, I know, but it can't really be helped.

Anyway, we are now trying to get the kids back into a normal routine again. It generally takes about one day.

A trip sans kids

Nothing much has been happening around our household recently. Just the same old daily grind with a 'Theatrical Threes' moment thrown in periodically by Emily. And people say the 'Terrible Twos' are bad!

Well, Kirsten and I will be gone for a couple of days next week. My parents will be here in town with the kids. We are really looking forward to it and so are my parents. I wonder who will have the best time?

I will write more when we get back.

Busy Weekend

ALERT - Boring post - ALERT

Those of you that follow this blog know how busy our lives have been recently. Mostly because of Patrick's play. Well, the play is now over. Last Saturday was the final performance. It was a very good thing for Patrick, but we are glad that it is over. Patrick isn't, he will miss it.

Of course, we had to go big time busy this last weekend. First, because it was closing night, the cast and crew had to clean up the entire backstage area getting ready for the next show. Then Kirsten and Patrick went the closing night party. They finally made it home around 1:15 AM.

Also, this is the same day that I took a Chinese cooking class with my mother-in-law (Monica). So we hired a baby sitter from 2:00 until 10:00. The cooking class was great. I learned a lot about various Chinese dishes and the conversation was excellent. There were seven people taking the class. Besides Monica and myself, there were two other couples that are in the process of adopting from China and one of their Mom's. They had a lot of questions about our two adoptions and I got to brag about my kids. We all enjoyed it. :-)

Finally, on Sunday, we tried to make up for all of the yardwork that we haven't been doing because of various things. It is the type of thing that makes you feel good at the end of the day and it was good to hand around the house all day. We are looking forward to a lot more of that.

Sharing Information

Those of you who visit regularly have been seeing several changes to the header section over the past couple of weeks. I am a programmer and I have been playing with a few things. I apologize for the some of the mess.

Now I pretty much have things the way I want them. You will notice a new link in this section that will share more information about my family. If you click it, you will first have to give me some information about yourself. All I really want is you first name (or initials) and where you live. This is just for my own curiosity.

Also, if you have your own blog, I would like to know that too. You can also enter your email address, but I doubt that I will ever use it to contact you.

Anyway, if you do this, a couple of links will be available that share the stories of our adoption trips to China for Emily and Kaitlyn. These are just emails that I sent back home during the two trips. Some people find them boring, while others find them interesting. I will let you decide.

Also, as time goes on, I will put up some information about my son Patrick.

Haircut

We have felt that Kaitlyn would look better without her bangs cut. So we were letting all of her hair grow out. However, at her age (19 months) it was too much of a pain to always do something with her hair to keep it out of her eyes. She wouldn't sit very still for it most times. When you did get it out of her eyes, she would pull it out eventually or at least some of the hair would escape and be in her face again.

Thus we have this very cute picture of how she looks now. Strangely enough, she sat very still while Kirsten cut her bangs. Afterward, she spent a lot of time looking up at her hair trying to figure out where everything went.

Accidents Happen

It is interesting how kids can pick up on those catch phrases that make everything better. Emily has figured out that it is ok when "It was an accident". Of course, she is getting a little liberal with her definition of an accident. I am going to have to nip this in the bud, but today was too funny and I couldn't do it.

Today, we went to Wendy's on the way home from Kaitlyn's Post Adoption trip. I will write about that tomorrow. Anyway, among the other things we got was a large sprite for me. When we got home, I had about half left and set the cup on the counter. Then Kaitlyn and I took a nap. Kirsten napped a little down stairs while Emily pretended to watch a movie (she napped in the car).

So when I get up, my sprite is in the exact spot it has been, but it is now empty. I ask Emily if she drank it. She said, "Yes, it was an accident".

Everything is shared

In our family, everything is shared. In this case, it is a cold. I made it all winter without getting much of a cold and now that it is May, I have one. In this case, everyone except Patrick has a cold in our family. Patrick was sick on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and the other four of us started feeling poorly on Saturday. Patrick is fine now, so there is hope that it won't last long.

Of course, this means that we have two fussy girls at a time when Daddy isn't feeling so hot himself. This generally means that they will "tag-team" me. Take yesterday for instance, I put both down for a nap at 1:00 PM. Emily (3 yrs) keeps getting out of bed for various reasons, which is doubly annoying, because Daddy really wants to take a nap. I finally get Emily down just after 2:00 and then Kaitlyn wakes up 2:30. Such much for Daddy's nap.

Good ideas that go bad

Ever have one of those good ideas that just doesn't work out like you envisioned it?

Monday was Kirsten's birthday. I got the bright idea to have the kids make her a card and inside we would paste to pictures with the kids in the shape of numbers that depicted her age. So I decided to take two pictures with the lying kids on the floor in the shape of a 3 (Kirsten is 30 something). As you can see, the youngest child was less then thrilled with the idea. I thought that she would be all right since her siblings were laying down there also.

Needless to say, the second number in Kirsten's age only had two of her children in it.

Goal Completed

This post is mostly about me. Which is to say, that even thought this my achievement, it couldn't have been done with out support of the family.

Anyway, on Saturday I got my Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do. It took me three years and a lot of trials, both physical and mental. Due to some injuries (not from Tae Kwon Do), I almost quit a couple of times and it wasn't easy on the family for me to be gone two evenings a week. Still, I reached me goal and am very proud of it.

I realize that I have my family to thank for it.

My son is an actor

Yesterday, I went to pick up my son from his last dress rehearsal. Tonight is opening night. I got there a little early, so I went into the dressing area to wait. There were several people in there, including Patrick. A couple were reading books. A few others were chatting. Patrick was laying back in a chair with his eyes half-closed

In the corner is a television that is hooked up to display what is happening on stage. No one was even watching it however.

I asked Patrick, "Aren't you in this scene?"

"Yes."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Henry still has to get through the rocking horse speech."

"Oh," I said, hoping that he really knows what is going on.

About four minutes later, as if on cue, every single person there (except me) stood up simultaneously and marched up stairs. They were calm and relaxed and showed up just in time to walk out on stage, in character, to do there stuff. Patrick was right in there among them. It seemed impressive to me.

I am one proud papa.

Don't go in the house

Yesterday afternoon I got an interesting call from my son. It went something like this:

"Hi, Dad," (shaky voice)

"Patrick, what's wrong?" (worried voice)

"I tried to call Mom three times, but I couldn't get through." (Great, second fiddle to Mom again)

"Well, she will be home soon to get you. Just be patient."

"OK, but I when I got home the front and back doors were both wide open."

"WHAT?! Where are you now?"

"I am in the house."

"WHAT?!"

"Don't worry, I checked the whole house and there isn't anyone here."

"WHAT?!?!?! You go outside, in the front, on the street and wait for you Mother there."

"It's OK, I took the dog with me."

Yea, our dog is a major wimp. Once, I woke up and saw her backing into our bedroom with her hackles up. I thought there was an intruder, but it turned out to be one of our own cats that she was afraid of.

Needless to say I am trying to come up with a new phrase for this emergency situation. Something like "Stranger Danger", but I can't think of anything cute. The best I have is "Front Door Open? BAD, go to the neighbors!"

Blank Spots

On Saturday night Kirsten gave me my semi-annual haircut. This is a fairly quick procedure using a set of electric clippers with a number eight attachment. She hacks off about three inches of hair and I am good for the next six months. It takes about ten minutes for the haircut and half an hour for me to vacuum all the hair up in the bathroom.

Anyway, I have been developing a nice receding hair line over the last decade or so and these types of haircuts really bring that out. I don't really mind, I am not that much to look at anyway and a stylish haircut won't make that much difference. Still, I was a bit surprised the next morning when the first thing out of Emily's mouth were, "Daddy, I can see your blank spots!"

How do they sleep like that?

It never ceases to amaze me how children can sleep in some of the oddest positions. This is followed closely by amazement at how they can flop around during the night. If I were to go and check on my girls several times during the night, they will never be in the same position. Here is an example of how we found Kaitlyn during one of her naps.

Friday is Tomorrow

Emily, our three-year old, is learning the days of the week. Well, sort of. OK, OK, so she only knows Friday. Actually, what she knows is that on Fridays, she gets a treat as she leaves daycare.

Yesterday (Thursday), she didn't want to go to daycare, so Kirsten said, "It's Thursday and tomorrow it will be Friday and you will get a Friday Treat." Yay, everything is good, Emily is distracted and off to daycare. However, when I picked her up yesterday afternoon, she wants her Friday Treat. It turns out that she doesn't have a good grasp of 'tomorrow' and when that happens. It was Thursday this morning, isn't it Friday by the afternoon. How long does Thursday last anyway.

I can tell you how long Thursday lasts. Forever. Especially when you have a broken hearted girl in the back seat crying her eyes out, because she truly thought she was getting a Friday Treat.

Later that night, Emily comes up to me and asks if it was Friday yet. I think that I finally got through to her that 'tomorrow' doesn't occur until you wake up in the morning.

Crazy is, as Crazy does

Call me crazy (my wife does), but I am going to be joining the 40 and over Men's Baseball team again this year. I can't help it. As anyone who knows me can attest, I am a baseball fan. I wouldn't say that I am a fanatic. I don't watch a ton of baseball on TV, heck I only watch my favorite team (Go Mariner's) once or twice a week. I don't own season tickets to the local 'Single A' Team, even though they are only 4 miles from my home (I make it to two or three games a year). I only have one piece of autographed baseball paraphernalia, a Nolan Ryan baseball given to me by my sister (right here on my desk).

So, I am not a fanatic, but I am fan. There is just something about the game. Maybe its the sights and sounds, the smell of the outfield grass, the blue of the sky, the warmth of the sun, the crack of the bat, the pop of the ball into your glove. Maybe its the difference of the game, the only one (in the US) where the defense has the ball, there isn't a time limit, the rules allow for cheating (stolen bases). Maybe it is the personal nostalgia, memories like playing catch with Grandpa, my first extra base hit, making the game winning catch, waving back to my dad watching on the sidelines.

So, I am going to join a baseball team again this year. Why is that crazy? Well, first lets recap the definition of crazy. One definition of crazy is "Repeating the same actions again and again, while expecting different results." OK, keeping that in mind, lets examine the last three times I played organized baseball or softball.

- 2000 - joined a softball team. Twisted my ankle so badly at the FIRST PRACTICE that I was out for the entire summer.
- 2001 and 2002 - intelligently refrained from joining any teams
- 2003 - joined a softball team. Twisted my ankle and sprained my knee sliding in to second base during the FIRST GAME. Was able to heal enough to hobble out for the last three games of the season.
- 2004 - intelligently refrained from joining any teams
- 2005 - joined a baseball team. Tore a muscle in my right quad sprinting to second during the FIRST GAME. Tried playing the second game, but ended up out for the season. Now I have an irreparable injury. After an MRI and CAT Scan, the doctor determined that one of the four muscles in my right quad is completely torn and cannot be fixed. I now have only three muscles in my right quad.
- 2006 - joined a baseball team again!!!!! Haven't started yet, so the season still looks pretty bright.

I am an optimist!

Play Rehearsal Gets Hellish

Those of you reading this blog have heard about the amount of time required of Patrick for the play that he is in. Well, it has gone to truly insane levels. It is nothing out of the ordinary, but a lot more than we ever expected.

Sunday was Tech Day. This is the day where they get all of the lighting setup. Spotlights, fade-ins, fade-outs, etc. There is really no rehearsing. The actors just move from one position to the next and stand there while they get the lighting figured out and programmed. It is extremely boring for and 11-year old boy. Especially when it starts at 10:00 AM and doesn't end until 7:00 PM. They did break for a potluck meal at 4:00 PM for 30 minutes or so. Actually it didn't even end at 7:00 PM, but Patrick wasn't needed anymore for that and so was allowed to leave.

We dropped Patrick off at 10:00 AM and then Kirsten returned at 3:30 PM, so she only had to wait around for a little over 4 hours. It wasn't all boredom for her however, she got to fill in for one of the actresses that was unable to be there.