Corned Beef and Cabbage

Here's a picture of RJ eating his corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. True to form, he ate the potatoes, carrots and cabbage, but left most of the corned beef. I did manage to get a couple of bites in him, but only tiny pieces that were well hidden in the veggies.



We've also graduated to the "big boy" seats for dinner but still have breakfast in the high chair.

From the days of yore...

Some of you may remember a certain sitcom character who had a distaste for all things Pottery Barn because they lacked a unique story. Well, we searched the Internet, stopped in antique stores, flea markets but could never find a table like the one from the days of yore. You can't even buy them at Pottery Barn anymore. After two years of checking a craiglist search rss feed, we finally got not one but two matches in the same week. The drawers are fantastic places to hide treasures for RJ to find AND it's the perfect height for him to stack blocks on (which he can get to by opening one of the drawers). And since we didn't buy new, I get the satisfaction of saying that we were being green(er) by saving the table from taking up space in the landfill.



In December we bought a new couch that is a pretty good match with the new coffee table. We still have to get a rug to match, but retiring the 20 year old couch that *I* grew up with was an accomplishment. The couch is not at all a green choice, it's blue and a la-z-boy and super comfy. After searching around for information, these couches were recommended as being pretty toddler indestructible and stain resistant.

It's nice to finally feel like a "real" adult by owning stuff that we picked out ourselves because we wanted it, not because it was the better stuff from the mishmosh of hand-me-downs!

Why kids don't know colors

Recently we mentioned that to RJ everything is "yellow" though last Sunday he had a moment of clarity when he pointed to a painting and said "red flowers" (and they *were* red... and flowers). It turns out some of his friends have similar dilemmas, Jace thinks everything is "blue" and Daisy thinks everything is "green". I pondered why that was and think I have an idea on why that is -- Eric Carle.



Come now, how is that a "blue" horse? It's mostly PURPLE!!! No wonder kids don't know colors.

Image taken without permission from "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" which is currently RJ's favorite book.

RJ goes to the potty

Before you get excited, he went *to* the potty, not *in* the potty.



At home RJ has asked to sit on his potty if we were going to the potty ourselves, but he had a first this week at school -- he asked his teachers if he could go potty. Being the excellent teachers they are they took him to the potty just like the other big kids. He didn't produce anything, but it is a first step. You can see on his daily report a record of this attempt.

RJ the Meteorologist

San Francisco has the reputation for its fog, but for those of you that don't live in the Golden State's Central Valley we get quite a lot as well. In fact, the fog where I work is thought by some to be even worse and is known as tule fog.



I always get questions about how I like driving in the fog on my long commute, but I don't see the big deal as it's about 10 times better than driving in a blizzard. The visibility is the same, but you don't have the additional worry about sliding on ice! So it's foggy a lot this time of year (rainy season) and RJ is in my car a lot and a few times I'd have to explain to him why he couldn't see the cows and horses and goats that we typically pass on the way to school.

So last week, we were driving (through fog) to school and RJ spoke up from the back seat saying, "Mommy, Foggy, Outside". To which I responded by telling him, "Yes RJ, it IS foggy outside. That's why we can't see a whole lot."

Then he said something even more remarkable.

He said, "foggy...outside" then paused for a second or two and then said, "fRRoggy...bathtub" (he has a frog-themed bathroom).

I found this remarkable because it was showing that he could recognize the similarities between the two words as well as differentiating them for meaning (and location!). I love how he can communicate with us!



This picture was taken by Lance on his iphone on his way to work. Once the fog lifts, the rain slows, and the sun comes out it can be quite beautiful.

RJ Goes to the Library

A couple of weeks ago, when I was on a break between Winter and Spring semester that was far too short, RJ and I went to the Tracy library to meet up with my good friend Sara and his good friend Madeline. While there, RJ was pretty much in heaven, running around picking up random books and sitting on my lap to read them and then run around some more. He picked out his very own books to take home with us.

Airplanes: This was a book that was far too advanced for him on Airplanes (it was from the big kid non-fiction section, but he spotted it and became instantly obsessed with it). He loved going through it saying airplane, airplane, airplane, airplane, etc...

A Sandra Boynton board book that involves counting Hippos going to a party: This book gave him a new word to add to the "list" that I can no longer keep up with - wagon.

Trucks: A nice little book that talks about different kinds of trucks on the road. His favorite pages in the book were the page that had the bulldozer (or "digger" in RJ speak) on it and the page with the ice cream truck.

Mi Cuarto: A spanish board book that labels household items. I've been trying to expose RJ to a little Spanish, even though I don't speak it really. I remember some of the vocab from high school, but that's about it. Anyway, I would label the items in Spanish and RJ would correct me by using the English. But it did what I wanted it to do - it exposed him to it.

And finally, the book that I think RJ was using to try and send a message:



Here comes Grandma!: He was instantly obsessed with this book and he found it and picked it up all by himself. It's a cute little book where a Grandma is on her way to see a grandkid and does so by walking, bicycling, driving a bright red hot rod, riding a horse, flying an airplane, skiing, taking a hot air balloon, swimming, and riding as a stowaway on a train until she finally sees her grandkid at the end. RJ has a Grandma (Lance's mom) and a Grammie (my mom) and on about half of the readings, RJ would point to the Grandma and say "Grammie" and on about half he would say, "Grandma". I found this pretty cool that he was relating the book to his own life. He also labeled the child in the book as RJ every single time we read it! I think that RJ was trying to tell Grandma and Grammie something by picking out this book!

RJ GPS

My commute is longer than average at about 50 minutes, but more scenic than most too since we get to ride alongside the coastal range that borders Tracy on the south and west, and then drive through some of the best farmland in California as we pass vineyards, orchards and dairy farms before hitting a short piece of freeway to get to school. Yes, RJ and I do see quite a few of the "Happy Cows" of California.

Anyway, on the ride in, once we pass the farm animals, RJ is usually occupied by either begging to see a digger or a bus or chanting his current favorite teachers' and/or friends' names over and over as if that would make us get there faster (at least we know he likes school!). But on the way home, he is a little more willing to have a conversation and as we get close to home, he gets a little antsy about being in his car seat, and starts asking to get out. So when this happens I usually tell him that we're getting close and tell him which road or route # we're on and I'll give him updates when we turn. Also, RJ seems to enjoy my driving, as he says, "Whheeeee" every time I make a turn - even when it's a normal everyday turn and not the kind of turn that I'd take in a buggy or anything!

Just last week, it seems as though he's internalized these direction and can now tell you that we live on Calaveras and, while he's in the car, he will pretend he's the GPS and give the last three directions to get to our house.
Here's a little demonstration since I don't have the video camera on while I'm driving.




Now we're working on colors: red light = stop (which he pretty much has down) and green light = go, which is a little more inconsistent. He may not even be able to see the lights anyway, but he doesn't recognize the colors himself yet - he only responds to, "RJ we're at a red light, what do we do?". If you're interested in his color recognition, it's still developing. Right now, everything is yellow.

RJ the Delivery Boy

Here is another post from the archives. I can't believe that I'm still 6 months behind in editing all the videos we've taken on the video camera!

From August 2008 (14.5 months):
RJ has hit a very very very exciting milestone. He can follow simple directions. I could elaborate, but really, just watch the self-explanatory video.



We kept him busy for about 20 minutes with this "game".

Bad News for Yahoo...

This is another video from when RJ was 15 months, part of the reason why we think RJ's one in a googolplex!

The beginning of the end of the boobie era....

When RJ was just over a year old, we started dropping nursing sessions one by one. I led this process because I knew that come fall semester, I was going to need business hours free of nursing so that I could actually do my work at work and not both at work and at home in between nursing sessions (last year, I'd just about get focused and then it would be time to nurse or pump again and it was exhausting). This was pretty easy for the most part because he was getting to the point where he didn't want to stop playing to nurse, and he loved sippy cups of cows milk. But he loved his morning and evening nursing, so we kept them both and I made the decision that once the middle of the day sessions were cut, the weaning process was going to be solely in RJ's court. Around October or November, RJ decided one morning that he didn't want to nurse. I asked him, "RJ do you want the boobies?" and he simply replied, "no" and went on with his playing. From that day, he pretty much dropped the morning session (which means we can get to school earlier, which helps me get more work done when I have child care and less on the weekend!).

The evening nursing was a completely different story - he would be frantically asking for boobies as early as our commute home sometimes! I was still loving it and he was clearly still loving it! So we had a don't offer, don't refuse policy, where RJ would ask for boobies and I would nurse. Then, a couple of weeks ago, on a Friday (the 20th of February maybe), Lance got home just as I was getting RJ into his PJs and the distraction seemed to make him forget to ask and he simply went through the rest of the routine without asking. Since that day, he's been asking for them on average of every 4-5th day or so. It's actually been kind of nice to still be able to nurse him from time to time, but not HAVE to every day. Plus, it seems to be a nice gradual wean for me - I haven't had any pain or fullness or anything. I'm sure the absolute end is near, and I'm looking forward to having my body 100% back, but it's been an absolutely fantastic almost 21 months - both RJ and I have really enjoyed nursing and I am so happy that we've been able to keep it up so long. It was great for bonding and health and even the environment! Now I just hope that he doesn't suddenly start catching every little cold at school as a result! The kiddo really is growing up now!

The Best Alarm Clock Ever...

...except for the always set to 6:30 AM with no snooze button part.

RJ picked up this phrase over Christmas because the two cats were always hiding. He would run around the house calling "Alphie whereareyou", "Emmie whereareyou". Then when we got back home "Boca whereareyou", "Cardi whereareyou", and has added "Daddy" to this once exclusive group.

Expanding His Bocabulary

Editors Note: We started this post in the fall of 2008 after the Boca incident when RJ was 16 months, but never got around to posting it or finishing it. It is an interesting retrospective anyway of our now very verbal 3yr old who says things like "A movie theatre on a train. That's ridiculous!" and "No daddy, this is not a negotiation."
---
Research suggests very little long-term consequences of early vs. late language development, but it certainly makes the passing time fun. Here is a bit of a recap of some of RJ's speech over the past year.

14 Months

At 14 months, he had used nearly twenty words, 5 animal sounds, 5 baby signs, and even his first two-word phrase. He just wasn't always consistent with being able to use them but was definitely trying to speak. That's just counting the words that he could speak or sign. He showed us that he knew the words for a lot more things as evidenced by being able to point to them when someone else says them.

RJ's words at 14 months:

• Momma/Mommy
• Dadda/Daddy
• Boca
• Erika (RJ's babysitter, sounds more like a weird morph of Gaga and AhKa)
• Grammie (he repeated it once, but now whenever I say it, he says Mommy)
• Bubble
• Ball
• Down
• Umbrella
• Hat
• Dog/Doggie
• Cat
• Moo = Cow
• Baa = Sheep
• Ruf/fuf = Dog
• 'eooow = Cat
• Bush = Bush or Broccoli (cuz one day they looked like bushes)
• Drum
• Ribbit = Frog (he did this once)
• Goat
• Meh = Goat (he did this once)
• Hot
• Truck
• bus (referring to a school bus that stops in front of our house every day)
• Luke (whenever I say Aunt Amy, he says Luke)
• plane
  

16 Months

It was Boca that led RJ to a few of his first phrases. While eating, our angelic cat often jumps up on the table or kitchen counter only to be instructed on proper kitty etiquette. Our RJ was on the ball with "get down" and "boca down". On Nov 7th RJ blurted out with a full "Boca get down!" unprompted by us but in response to our furry menace.

17 months

The vocabulary explosion began:

• bye (byeeee)
• airplane (mi-mane)
• Bacardi ('cardi)
• cow (in addition to mooing like a cow)
• neigh = horse
• broccoli (ah-kee)
• Grandpa (baba)
• Grammie (gammee)
• Daisy (his nap buddy in the afternoons)
• Stella ('ella) (his nap buddy in the afternoons)
• Kasie (one of his teachers/babysitters)
• Andrew (andew) (one of his teachers at school)
• boat
• window (endoh)
• Krishawn (ahn) (one of his teachers at school)
• eye
• nose (no, while pointing to nose)
• knee
• elbow (belbow)
• no no (duh...what toddler doesn't know this one)
• paci (daci)
• Paul (as in the Beatle - yes I'm serious - he pointed to the picture of the Beatles on the wall in my office and said "Luke" and I corrected him naming the Beatles in turn and now he points and says Paul.)
• Row (a command meaning, "Sing Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to me, bitch)
• Eeieeioh (a command meaning, "Sing Old MacDonald" to me, bitch)
• spoon (boon)
• up
• sky (in response to where is the airplane)
• shoe
• sock
• ABCW (meaning sing the ABC's to me)
• avacado (cado)
• vrooooom (sound cars, trucks, and motorcycles make)
• motorcycle
  
• door
• down
• kite
• clown
• piano
• hi/hello (varies which one he'll use
• tomorrow (morrow, as in see you tomorrow)
• Ashlan (ahnnee) the 7 month old in his class
• Christian - school buddy
• Bianca (ahnca) - school buddy
• balloon
• robot
• cloud
• train/choo choo
• book
• broom
• glasses
• bath
• swing
• grass
• tree
• open
• closed
• mole (birthmark - mostly the little one on his babysitter's forehead gets pointed out)
• go
  

We have many word books that RJ is a big fan of and can name all of the items in the book. It was actually his obsession with these that led to many of his words.

24 Months



Grammie taught him his first curse word -- "damn it". He shouted it in a taqueria later that day over and over again "damnit damnit DAMNITTTTT". The 12 year old sitting at the table behind us was amused.

27 Months

RJ uses words he doesn't understand.
I had to explain what nervous meant.

Cycles, Bush Lies, and Videotape...

Back in August we did a quick opinion poll to see what RJ thought about our president:



Yes, this is a video from 6 months ago. We have a Sony Camcorder but bought a computer in September running Windows Vista -- which has incompatible drivers for Sony camcorders. Sony won't fix the problem and recommends firewire but our computer didn't have firewire. Anyway, the point is we finally have a solution and found time to extract some videos to share.

In other Presidents Day news -- if you follow cycling, the second stage of the AMGEN Tour of California was today. If you watch the third stage tomorrow Feb 17th you can watch Lance Armstrong ride past our house. Ok, not actually down our street but if we go to the end of our street and look over the wall of the cul de sac we could watch them ride by.

18 Month Picture Update

We've been pretty slow about uploading all our pictures, but I finally got a bunch up on Picasa.

For your viewing pleasure, we have the full set of Christmas Pictures:
We also uploaded pictures from RJ's 18th month, featuring a series of pictures I took when he found my Steelers t-shirt, put it on and then decided to play with the mirrored guest room closet, his first ever bandaid (ironically, only the bandaid upset him - actually cutting his foot and getting it washed off didn't phase him at all!), and him eating with chopsticks, amongst other mischief.

Christmas 2008

For Christmas this year we did the usual Pittsburgh-Buffalo whirlwind trip to give RJ a White Christmas (which, as you can see here, in a picture I call the tantrum angel, he did NOT appreciate), with a little more whirlwind than usual. First RJ and Momma flew into Buffalo and left the next morning to drive down to Pittsburgh to visit with Grandma D, GG-ma, GG-dad, Great Uncle Jim, and Great Aunt Helen. While we were there, RJ and I also went to the Children's School 40th Aniversary gala at Carnegie Mellon. For reference, The Children's School was the preschool/kindergarten in the basement of the Margaret Morrison building where I worked throughout my undergrad career and where I conducted my honors thesis research.

In addition to seeing mommy and daddy's alma mater, RJ also got to spend some much appreciated time with his GGs (great grandparents). He especially liked playing with one of Daddy's old trucks with GGdad who taught him to say, "mine!", much to my dismay. Uncle Jim also taught him to say, "Santa Claus".


Then we drove back to Buffalo, with Grandma D in tow so that we could meet Daddy, who was flying in the next day!

Of course, Daddy's plane was delayed for 4 hours, and once it landed we drove back to Grammie's house in a complete whiteout! Then Grandma D's plane for later that day was canceled and she got to stay and hang out with RJ for another couple of days before she got a flight back!
While in Buffalo, RJ enjoyed hanging out with Grammie, Grandpa, Aunt Amy, and Uncle Luke ("guke"), who also affectionately got called, "Geek", as well as all his great aunts and great uncles and second cousins.
RJ also enjoyed dropping Baby Jesus on his head during my family's "lighting of the Christmas Tree" tradition. Every year, my paternal grandparents don't light the tree until Christmas Eve, when it gets blessed and the whole family is together. First we sing silent night, and then my grandfather reads the Christmas Story from the Bible by candlelight (held by two of the grandkids) while another grandkid (or great-grandkid now) carries in Baby Jesus to put him in the manger under the tree. Well, RJ had his first turn at carrying in the ceramic Baby Jesus (which my great grandmother made, so it's a bit irreplaceable) and promptly, on the way in during the singing of "Silent Night", dropped Baby Jesus on the carpet. Luckily Baby Jesus did not suffer any brain trauma, nicks, scrapes, or shattered limbs. Then RJ thought that the singing meant that he could make requests, and proceded to ask for, "Bus" (The wheels on the bus) during the entire thing!
In addition to taking part in family tradition, RJ also got a ton of Christmas presents. He definitely got into opening his presents this year and he has finally figured out that toys (not the paper) are for playing with!
On Christmas Day, while RJ did not get a puppy (maybe next year?!), he did get to play with Kricket, who let him walk her around my Uncle's house!

Then when Aunt Amy and Uncle Luke had to leave to return to South Carolina, Grammie, Daddy, RJ and I followed them down to Pittsburgh, where RJ had his first Primanti Bros. sandwich


and got to hang out with his GGs and Great Aunt and Uncle a little more. This time, we got pictures of RJ behind the counter at Quiznos!
Then we were back to Buffalo for a day before heading back to sunny (errr rainy these days) California! A shout out goes to the Buffalo Airport for their toddler terminal, which was conveniently located directly adjacent to our terminal!
RJ was also spoiled rotten the entire trip, by EVERYONE, and he got to eat a TON of sweets, much more than normal! This picture was taken after eating/wearing a warmed cookie at Uncle Jim and Aunt Helen's Quiznos. Thanks everyone!!!

#47 and 3D...

I know what you are thinking -- wait, isn't that Hall of Famer and 4 time super bowl winner defensive back Mel Blount's retired number? Yes it is and a "Go Steelers" is appropriate, but I actually thought I'd share the news about Dreamworks Animation being listed this year at #47 on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For.



If you are interested they put up a video. We're still hiring in my department.

Also don't forget to pick up your glasses before watching the Steelers win their 6th Superbowl on Sunday. If you can't find them in the grocery store you can call Pepsi Consumer Relations at 1-800-646-2904 and they will send you glasses in the mail. You may have to call today in order to get them in time.

Prison Break...

After returning home from the holidays last year, we decided that the break in a routine was a good time to initiate a sleep policy so that we could sleep through the night. That was very successful and RJ has slept through the night pretty much ever since then. We wanted to make another adjustment this year -- removing the pacifier as a sleep-time essential. He no longer asks for it during the day and will even drop it in his crib voluntarily before leaving his room in the morning, but he still requires it for falling asleep at night and at naptime. As his teeth continue to come in we wanted to break the paci-habit to prevent needing a second mortgage for orthodontics.

On the first Saturday of the new year we hid the pacifier for his afternoon nap. It was a little heart-breaking because he was used to the routine and calmly reminded me "paci?". Then he saw me put his book away and repeated "paci?" As I started heading for the door -- "paci? paci! paci, paci, paci!" I tried to reassure him that he's a big boy now and didn't need it but he wasn't buying it. We committed to helping him through this transition so no backing down now or he'll own us for the rest of his life.

He was angry. Crying, screaming, and very much not sleeping. After about 10 minutes he quieted down. It surprised us it would be that easy. Then he surprised us as he ran into the living room where we were having lunch.

The first question rolling around in our head was "He can do that?" after which we tried to solve the mystery of how he did it without getting hurt given the obstacles.

Obstacle #1: The Crib



At 26" from mattress to top, somehow our 34" long boy managed to get out of the crib. There was no evidence that he dug out with a spoon. The clothes hamper was close to his crib, so maybe he dragged it over and used it for leverage.

Obstacle #2: The Door



We didn't think he quite had the dexterity for turning the doorknob yet, so we thought he may have had an accomplice. Perhaps the door wasn't fully latched and our cat Boca Chica sprung him from the outside.

Obstacle #3: The Stairs



Ok, that's just scary. We don't have a gate at the top of the stairs yet because the one we bought didn't fit with the banister so we just don't let him run around upstairs as an interim solution. He goes up and down the stairs all the time, with us holding his hand and walking with him. He has crawled down backwards or scooted on his butt before so that's probably what he did.

We tried putting him down for bed that night again. We took a few precautions this time, moving the hamper to the other side of the room and keeping a close eye on the cat. Listening intently to the monitor we heard him drop out of the crib. Running in he was covered in blood as he had cut his lip pretty badly.

Now What?

Uncertain whether Alcatraz could contain this kid, Cheryl remembered a parenting tip from Gilmore Girls (Season 5, Episode 6 -- "Norman Mailer, I'm Pregnant") so we decided to turn the crib around and put it in the corner of the room. This worked well because the back of his crib is higher than the other 3 sides. We also gave him back the comforting support of his beloved "paci" and within a few days we were back to our normal sleep routine. We'll wait until he's ready to give up the pacifier on his own terms (or his 18th birthday, whichever comes first) but at least he hasn't tried climbing out of the crib since.

We just turned his crib back around so here is a more recent picture of him in his crib, lip long ago healed and he's even a little bit taller:

RJ Skills: Drawing

Here is part two in a series of short videos of RJ's skills. As of late, he has enjoyed drawing a lot. Like the last video, it would seem as though RJ does not have the proper drawing supplies like big crayons and construction paper, but he does...he even has an easel now too (Thank You Grammie!!)... we just seem to video tape him when he's NOT playing with his normal stuff. I really love watching him draw since he pays such close attention to what he's doing! It's about the only time he's still too!

It's also looking like RJ will be right handed. Most of the time when drawing or coloring with paper or the magna doodle he does use his right hand. It's not universal though - I sometimes see him using his left hand. This shouldn't be a suprise since Lance and I are both right handed. We'll just have to wait and see what shakes out - I've just tried to put the crayons in front of him rather than putting one in his hand unless he's reaching for one.

Enjoy watching RJ hard at work!

RJ Skills: Stacking

We know we're behind again in our blogosphere, but here are some things from the archives to keep you entertained...one of these days, life will calm down and we'll get this blog in order again!

I took this short clip of RJ on our still camera because it was within an arm's reach when he spontaneously decided to take cans out of the pantry and stack them. I particularly like how he kept saying, "Stack 'em" as he was stacking. It seems that about 5 high is the upper limit, but I think that's pretty good for unevenly sized heavy cans!

As a note, RJ does have toys, including blocks with which to stack; he is playing with canned goods by choice, not due to a need for playthings! I think he was interested in a new medium for his skill! Plus, I was in the kitchen busy getting dinner on the table, so he didn't want to be in the adjoined family room (all the way on the other side of the couch!) by himself with his toys.

Enjoy!

Real Men DO Eat Quiche!!

This video requires a bit of an explanation, even though Lance hates it when I feel the need to write longer blog posts to explain something. But in this case, most blog readers would have no idea what on earth this video is about otherwise.

First, RJ is still relatively picky about eating meat of any kind - so getting protein that isn't in the form of milk or yogurt into the boy is a challenge. He is the oddball kid that isn't crazy about eating chicken nuggets or peanut butter and jelly!! He does eat beans on occasion (lately he's been picky about them and will spit them out), but one protein source that he LOVES is quiche. It's a bonus for me, since I can also get a bunch of green vegetables into him that way too (although veggies are much less of a challenge than meat...go figure).

So when RJ and I left for Pittsburgh this holiday season, one of the things that I packed for our first day there was a container of quiche. Technically, it was a frittata because there was no crust. However, Lance's Uncle Jim seemed hellbent on getting RJ to give up the ONE protein that's a sure thing for him by informing RJ that, "Real Men Don't Eat Quiche". This is actually a title from a book published in the early 80's about stereotypes (thank you wikipedia!). He also teached RJ to say, "bleh!" to quiche. Luckily it did not seem to affect RJ's eating that evening, but I was a bit worried for what he would do the next time I made a quiche. This video is for Great Uncle Jim, from RJ, who lucky for Uncle Jim, still LOVES his quiche, and believes that this love has no bearing on his masculinity.