Alone Time with Connor

Connor is either very smart or a real jerk.  He’s found a way to get some Connor-Dad alone time without Isabel stealing his spotlight. 

Normally, after school or on weekends, Isabel gets most of the attention in our household.  Why?  Because she demands it and is adorable enough that it is very rewarding.  Even when Jake or I try to spend some quality time with Connor she will come over and give him a big hug, help him get a toy, read to him, or suggest a way that we can play with her while still dealing with Connor.  For example, Isabel has started suggesting that we ‘hold Connor and follow her on the tricycle’…this activity is as ‘rewarding’ as it sounds.  Literally, I hold Connor and Isabel does figure 8’s around the kitchen island, down the hallway to the front room, and then a mini-circle in the front room.  Sometimes she pretends we are going somewhere (the beach, whole foods) and sometimes she asks that I try to catch her.  Spoiler alert – Each lap is about 70 steps (I know you were wondering). 

Now comes Connor’s evil genius.  He must know that the best time for quality time is when Isabel is sleeping.  So he’s been waking up at 4am and yelling…when we go in the room to give him his pacifier and say it’s not morning time yet, he counters with a giant smile and a few legs kicks and arm swings.  It’s adorable.  Then 7-15 minutes later (it depends on how long it takes us to get comfortable back in bed) he decides he wants to see our faces again and repeats the process.  In order to keep from waking up the rest of the Kleinmahons, we will take him downstairs early and hang out. 

I’ll admit I don’t want to be up this early…but I also admit that I really do enjoy this one-on-one connor time.  We get to lay on the comfy blanket that Jake, Isabel, and Connor got me for Father’s day.  We get to read books and play with toys without fear that they will be confiscated by our sister.  We get to yawn a lot.  Often we get to read dad’s work emails out loud.  We don’t have to fear a stray arm, elbow, or foot hitting us in the head during gymnastics practice.  It’s pretty relaxing.  And…This typically results in nap priority for dad during family nap time.  It also results in some very hard core pass-out poses by CPK.

Connor…if you’re listening.  I love you! I promise you’ll get your fair share of attention.  But I’ll love you even more if you sleep until 7am. 

Happy Half Birthday Connor!

Holy Smokes! It’s already been 6 months…Having 2 kids is a little harder than I expected, hence we missed happy 4 and 5 month birthday posts.

Connor is a great baby and couldn’t be more opposite than Isabel was:

He has no problem relaxing on the couch or floor by himself-She needed full-time attention.

He drools-She spat up.

He started out sleeping really well and has regressed - she started out as a shrieking pterodactyl that was allergic to sleep and now sleeps wonderfully

He has a limited appetite - she was ravenous at every feeding

He is great on planes - she was …less than stellar

Here are some milestones and favorites for CPK at 6 months:

• Able to sit up (for a few seconds), before slowly falling forward

• Able to ‘support’ his weight when standing

• Able to roll 95% over… We thought we were going to get it one time and there was a crowd of us watching. “Fortunately,” Isabel rushed over and pushed him back onto his back because she was worried.

• Able to fit both hands and a pacifier in his mouth at the same time

• Able to reach for and get a toy if it’s placed close to him and he’s motivated

• Favorite books: Crazy tail books

• Least favorite thing to read: Dad’s work emails (this happens when i get up too early and dad has to work while holding me before school)

• Favorite toys: Weird multi-colored wooden ring thing & His hands

• Favorite Dada: me ;)

• Favorite School Teacher: Ms Monica. She’s great and talks to me almost as much as dad does.

• Favorite non-formula snack: Ice Cream

• Favorite Recent Trip: Orange Beach with Aunt Jonnie and Uncle Ford (Especially the ‘old man beach naps’ )

• Dad’s Favorite feature: Morning smiles. He wakes up and sees the first person and smiles ear to ear. It seems like he’s thinking “i never thought i’d see you again and there you are! This is the best"!”

• Dad’s Least Favorite Feature: Waking up at night (a lot)

• Recent Visits: Nana, Pappy, Gramma, and Padre. It’s amazing how much pull a sick baby has for grandparents.

Izzy's First day of PrePrePreK

I’m not quite sure if I have the right number of ‘Pres’ in that title or not, but we’ll go with it.

Yesterday, Isabel (and Peter Penguin) started school again at the JCC. She’s in the ‘hummingbird’ class this year and unfortunately that means she leaves a lot of her friends. Her birthday put her in a class higher than most of her past classmates and so she’s going to have to make mostly new friends with the (slightly) older kids. This makes the dad in my worry. She is outgoing, smart, and confident and will be okay…even if it takes a few days for the other kids to warm up to her. Fortunately, she should still get to see all her friends at before and after care.

Proud Dad Moment: Both teachers told Jake that Isabel had the best manners in the class and would be a great example for the other students. (I recommend the Matt Wagner school of manners for all your please and thank you needs)

Here are my goals for this year (completely unvetted by the school or by Jake):

Learn some letters (maybe all of them) at least to recognize them.

Learn what the numbers represent. Be able to count items.

Learn better conflict resolution than crying, hitting, or biting.

Make new friends and keep the old…one is silver and the other gold. (i’d prefer if she kept making friends with kids who’s parents we also like)

Continue expanding her vocabulary and use the words correctly.

Don’t stop wanting to snuggle with dad

Keep being a great big sister to Connor

Don’t stop taking naps…please!

A CPK update

After getting the question a few times and bugging Jake for a followup post, i’ll take it into my own hands.

CPK is doing well. He’s gaining weight and back on the growth chart. Over the past 3 weeks he’s moved from ‘Less than 3rd percentile’ (which is the lowest they measure) to the 7th percentile and counting. Our biggest problem now is that he seems to be gaining weight only in his cheeks… (that’s a dad joke, not a medical professional’s opinion).

We’ve also noticed he’s getting stronger. He can sit for a bit by himself before slowly folding forward into a pretzel and he is “supporting” his weight when we stand him up.

Connor thanks everyone for the well wishes. As Savta said, he can officially be moved down a few places on the ‘worry board’ and safely replaced with RBG.

When Being a Dad Sucks

As many of you know, I’m a pediatric heart transplant doctor. The biggest misconception about what I do is that I’m not a surgeon, there are people much more skilled at cutting and sewing than me. So what do I do then? I do everything except the actual surgery. But this is beyond the point. The reason I bring any of this up is because I get told all the time, “I don’t know how you do what you do, it must be so hard.” While my job can sometimes be quite challenging, it has rarely been as trying and stressful as the last couple months of being a daddy. Connor is not growing. While he “looks great,” as everyone tells us, he looks great if he was a 3 month old. He’s not a 3 month old though, he’s a 5 month old. After multiple appointments with our incredible pediatrician, who as been there by our side the whole time (send me a message if you want her name as she’s an incredible clinician and person), consults with sub-specialists, ultrasounds, lab tests, and a scope the only real conclusion is that he has a floppy airway (larygnomalacia). He is working harder to breathe, so despite how many calories we’re putting in his formula and the extra oil we’re adding to his feeds, he’s burning more calories than he’s taking in. In order to fix this he’s going tomorrow for a supraglottoplasty (fix his floppy airway) and ear tubes (because he’s already had 3 ear infections). While there’s no guarantee that this will fix everything, it seems like a logical next step to rule out as a cause of his failure to thrive.

The details of Connor is not really while I’m writing this post, but more to share that life isn’t aways Instagram pictures of kids playing in pools, looking cute, or dads just looking tired. The truth is being a daddy right now sucks. Tom and I are both sad. We have two wonderful kids who provide a ton of joy, but the stress of having a child who is struggling is greater than any stress I’ve had being a kid’s heart doctor. Being a pediatrician myself, I would think I would be more equipped to take care of a child who is by far less sick than most of the kids at work I care for. I’m not. I now better understand why parents of children with minor heart problems sometimes have extreme reactions. We’re all human, and one’s biggest worry is just as big as anyone else’s. I find myself up late at night thinking about him. Going to Dr Google when I could just ask one of my esteemed colleagues. Or breaking out in tears when I weigh him and he’s lost weight. This post is not about gaining sympathy, to be told “it’s going to be okay”, but rater to share my further understanding of the emotional life of a parent. Children transform our lives and give us a sense of meaning, fill us with joy, and make us proud. They also cause tremendous stress, sadness, and worry. We become irrational when things go wrong. We act differently than we said we ever would.

The next 24 hours will be stressful, as will the rest of the years to come. For all of you parents who have cried, who have been worried, who have been sad, we understand. We understand that being told “it’s going to be alright” does nothing to calm your worries. We understand that you just want your children to be happy and healthy. That’s all we want for our children. We want them to live their best lives.

Love

Jake Plus Tom

Lightning Round – College Fight Songs, Tricycles, and Swings

Isabel is really getting brainwashed effectively in terms of which colleges are awesome (or she may be manipulating us, it’s hard to tell sometimes).  She will ask me to “sing your song dada” which means sing Hail to the Victors as she claps along and pumps her fists.  She will ask us to sing ‘fight fight’ which means sing the Colgate fight song.  By the way, I’d bet dollars against donuts that Isabel knows more of the words to the Colgate fight song than most of the actual non-band Colgate graduates. 

Tricycles are a real game changer in terms of pace of getting somewhere and enjoyment of the journey.  Walking with a todder is either slow (because they want to walk by themselves with their short legs and shorter attention spans) or tiring (because you have to carry them).  BUT...With a tricycle, we can both maintain a normal pace and we don’t have to carry Isabel!  Win-Win- win as Michael Scott would say!  The downside is that you have to both hold her hand and carry the tricycle if you cross a road. 

Swings are amazing for babies and toddlers.  Connor’s recent sleep regression has really made us appreciate the baby swing we have in his room (sorry Andy and Fiona, I know I said we would probably drop it off...but we need it again).  Connor often wakes up at 5am and we can put him in the swing and get another 1-2 hours of sleep!  Isabel has become a swing pro.  She uses a big girl swing and pumps her legs all by herself...meaning I just sit in front of her with Connor having a conversation and saying “good job Isabel” occasionally.  A true win for lazy dadding. 

Let’s All Go To The Beach Beach!

This summer we booked a number of weekends in Orange Beach to get out of the New Orleans heat and away from the stresses of work.  We found a VRBO less than a half mile from the beach in a complex with a pool.  So far. So good. 

The first time we went to the beach, Isabel didn’t want to touch the sand at all or let go of her dads while in the Gulf.  Now, she doesn’t want to touch the dry sand but is perfectly happy playing for an hour in the wet sand right by the water.  This is great, except it makes building sand castles a truly losing effort.  (despite my best efforts to explain the concept of erosion, Isabel has yet to grasp it)  We continue to fight the good fight and try to build sand castles right in the area where a wave will hit every 2 minutes or so.  Sometimes she thinks its hilarious that the castle comes toppling down and sometimes she gets made and throws sand at the water.  Sometimes she helps me dig moats to try to stop the waves and sometimes she stands in them and we pretend her feet disappear as the sand covers them. 

And...now that she’s more comfortable with her swimmies, she is okay “swimming by herself” in the Gulf.  She likes to bob up and down as the waves come and likes when dad or daddy lift her up over a crashing wave.  She especially likes when a wave crashes over dad when he’s distracted and watching her instead of the waves. 

Connor also loves the beach, but it was a learning curve for him as well.  The first time we went, I carried him in his car seat and walked to our spot...accidentally flipping sand onto him with each step.  He was covered in sand, but sleeping so he didn’t complain until I tried to clean him up.  Since then, he’s been great.  He loves napping in his shade tent.  He is pretty much a 60 year old man when he gets on the beach and simply naps and naps.  Occasionally, he’ll wake up and watch his sister play before starting a new nap.  And one time, Uncle Jason and Connor were holding hands on the beach as they both napped (I don’t have a picture so you’ll have to imagine it). 

Tips to the beach also mean seafood restaurants, which Isabel is very happy about.  She eats adult portions of mussels or clams and asks for seconds. 

Jake’s future goal is to get her into fishing so she can be his ‘first mate’ on fishing trips.  She might need to be a bit older, but it’s always good to have goals!

Move over Simone Biles!

Isabel has started gymnastics and absolutely loves every part of it.  At this point we go twice per week to two different locations.  One class is a dad-daughter class so Jake or I am out there helping her and one class she is out there by herself (she likes this one more). 

Aunt Jonnie and Daddy picked out an amazing leotard for her – it’s rainbow striped.  It’s got unicorns.  It’s got stars.  It’s got sparkles.  It looks like a super fabulous wrestling singlet. And most importantly, she loves it!

In the class that Isabel has to do by herself, the minimum age is 2.5 years old.  She was by far the youngest in the class and she only comes up to the other kids shoulders.  But...if you know Isabel, that doesn’t stop her from telling the other kids (or the teachers) what to do and what she ‘needs to do’.  Every single time she does something (or fails in spectacular fashion), she gets up and smiles so bright it blinds all of the watching parents.  She is so dang proud of herself (and her dads are proud of her). 

Another thing we learned about Isabel is that she doesn’t understand how queueing works.  She will get in line in her place and then won’t move forward.  So as the other kids finish their turn, they get behind her and she doesn’t move.  Eventually, 5 kids are stacked up in the space behind her, there’s a 5 person gap, and then the other kids who understand you have to step forward.  I guess we’ll have to teach her this social norm at some point, but for now it’s darn funny. 

The only negative part of the class is that they have about 100 signs that say ‘absolutely no pictures’.  L  Sorry.  You’ll have to either use your imaginations or come visit.  Class is on Mondays so a long weekend works perfectly. 

Failure to Thrive?

Connor looks like a super chubby, super well fed, cheeky, happy baby and so we thought Connor was a super chubby, super well fed, cheeky, happy baby.  That was...until we had his 4 month checkup.  Turns out that despite apparently storing acorns in his cheeks, Connor wasn’t gaining weight.  He only weighed 1 ounce more than he did at 3 months (for non-parents, that’s not normal for an infant).  We panicked (rightfully so).  What started as a routine well visit turned into an all-out planning session to get some meat on that adorable goo-ball. 

Our pediatrician suggested we only alter one or two things at once so we could know which one actually solved the problem.  We chose a slightly different path... If it would possibly help, we were ready to try it. 

Formula that costs as much as a private school per year?  sure! 

New Bottles? Yes.  Let’s buy the ones recommended and also one of every other type of bottle they sell just in case.

Buy an infant scale so we can track his weight?  Anyone who knows jake, knows this happened on amazon prime before the doctor’s appointment was even over. 

Panic?  Duh.

Drugs?  Sure.  Might be reflux?  Let’s double up the reflux meds!

Change his feeding schedule?  Fine buddy...you wanna eat at 2 am again like when you were a few weeks old.  You got it!  Just eat!

Change his feeding positions?  What about the temp of the bottle?  Yup.  Let’s try that too. 

Mixing the formula with pedialyte instead of water?  Fine – let’s get this kid addicted to sugar, we can deal with that problem later. 

Have you tried Panicking?  Yes, does that help?  No...well...let’s do it anyway. 

Solid foods?  Yes.  Let’s give it a try.  (Connor was not on board with this one)

Fortify his formula so he gets more kcals per ounce?  Yes. For sure.  How high can we raise it before it just turns into a solid and CPK rejects it again?

More Drugs?  Could be an ear infection making it hurt when he sucked on the bottle?  Sure.  Antibiotics (sorry Nicole) and why not schedule an ‘ear tubes’ surgery just in case. 

See a specialist?  Done.  How’s today work?  We will just show up and see when we can be seen.  (turns out he has severe something that sounds like Malaysia – floppy airway). 

Have you tried using a medicine syringe and feeding him 5-10 mls at a time?  Yes, it doesn’t work.

In the first few days after realizing he was underweight, we were a little stressed and it showed at home.  Isabel could tell something was up and was a little unnerved.  We wouldn’t let her near him when he was eating and everything was a little more tense than normal.  After we thought we had him eating again, Jake told Isabel in a very very relieved tone that “we had our baby back” and without really knowing what it meant, Isabel echoed him and told Connor that “we have our connor back”.  It was adorable and did wonders to lighten the mood. 

It’s now been 2 weeks and we have made progress.  I want to say we have solved the problem, but I also don’t want to jinx it.  At a minimum, Connor is eating his bottles again and his weight is trending upwards.  We have made it all the way from “below 3rd percentile”  (which is as low as it goes) up to 5th percentile!  C’mon Connor!  Keep it up! 

Our current solution is: Changed formula brands to something German and fortified the kcals per ounce using the boring old bottles and water and not warmed up.  We give him one reflux med once per day and we are still feeding him a bit of extra formula after his bed time and before ours (1030 ish).  We also have an ear tube surgery scheduled because he’s already had 3 and he’s only 4.5 months old. 

Parenting tip: Did you know that they sold a pacifier that you can inject medicine through?  We didn’t know that, but they do.  It’s made by the same people that make the Nose Frida.  Boom!  Dropping knowledge. 

Does he look like he isn’t gaining weight??

Brazil? Again...

I’m headed to Brazil for work, which sounds great until you think about who I’m leaving back in New Orleans.  

Jake is fully capable of taking care of both kids for a week, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Both kids have school all week, but it’s never relaxing when the under three crowd outnumbers the 21+ crowd.   We have a great support system in New Orleans and are taking full advantage of it to maintain Jake’s sanity.  Aunt Jonnie is ‘moving in’ for the week to help out, which is great because seeing Aunt Jonnie is basically a bribe we use for Isabel to behave.  We also have Ms Bern doing pick up AND drop off for CPK at school.  It’ll be a fun week, but I’m going to come back to one tired husband. 

Connor doesn’t yet realize I’m going to be gone, but I’m going to miss him.  As Padre found out when he was down here...holding that baby is very relaxing and a great way to lower your blood pressure.  There are few things quite as peaceful as a baby sleeping on your chest. 

I thought Isabel was going to take my absence the hardest, but when I told her I was going to Brazil she said “Will you bring me a Brazil dress?  No, two Brazil dresses?”  Sure thing, kiddo!  I’d bring you all the Brazil dresses if that would make you happy.  I’m sure I’ll get to FaceTime with her and hear all about her day at camp, but I’ll miss her hugs and playing with her at night. 

So...to make the best use of my time away, expect a few journal updates. 

14 seconds

1 mississippi, 2 mississippi, 3 mississippi, 4 mississippi, 5 mississippi, 6 mississippi, 7 mississippi, 8 mississippi, 9 mississippi, 10 mississippi, 11 mississippi, 12 mississippi, 13 mississippi, 14 mississippi. 

That’s it.  It’s not much time.  Yet this weekend it was enough time to set in motion events that could have changed our life. 

It was just a regular old hot AF Saturday in New Orleans.  Jake and Isabel were going in the pool.  Jake got the pool ready while Isabel was inside.  Upon going outside and before going in the pool, Isabel had to list our 3 major pool rules: 

1)      There has to be an adult in the pool

2)      She has to say 1, 2, 3 before jumping into the pool or leaving the shallow ledge

3)      She has to walk on the pool deck

Jake picked her up and put her on the shallow ledge (start the clock) and talks with Isabel.  He turned around for a moment because the waterfall turned off and he was going to turn it back on from his phone (9 seconds in).

Then…She slipped.  She went to step onto the first step and lost her balance and fell to where she couldn’t touch.  She kicked as hard as she could and kept her head up for a few seconds.  Enough time for Jake to get to her and scoop her up. (14 seconds later)

Lucky for us, Jake was there and moved quickly to rescue our drowning Isabel.  I don’t use that word lightly, she was drowning.  She didn’t get a mouth full of water, she didn’t require CPR, but had Jake not been there she would have drown.   It was scary.  I’ve watched the video over and over and it scares me every single time. 

Take this as a warning this summer.  If you’re in a pool as the responsible adult – PAY ATTENTION!  If you’re in a pool and not a designated responsible adult – Pay attention anyway.  Remember, a drowning victim doesn’t splash around like in the movies.   It may sound stupid, but verbally hand off direct responsibility for watching each child when you have to go to the bathroom or when you have to answer a phone call or text.  14 seconds is all it took to go from the start of a great time to a potential disaster.  

Flower Power starring Isabel and Hannah

8 months ago, Isabel was asked to be a flower girl in Ben & Saryn’s wedding with her cousin, Hannah.  Of course, she said yes right away because she loves attention. 

Dad and Daddy were a mix of emotions – excitement and nervousness.  First, she’s adorable and this is just another chance for her to shine.  But…as you may know, Isabel has a very strong personality and if she didn’t want to wear a certain dress there was no way we would be able to get her to wear it.   Dad and Daddy came up with a plan of action that would be months in the making. 

Step 1 (T minus 2 months)– get a dress that we think she will like.  This was up to the Bride, but she nailed it. 

Step 2 (T Minus 6 weeks) – Unwrap it when it showed up as if it was a present and immediately talk about how pretty it was, how much fun twirling in it would be, how it was a present, and how lucky she was to get to wear it.

Step 3 (T minus 6 weeks) – Try it on and start twirling right away.  (This step didn’t go well at first as I tried putting the dress over her head instead of stepping into it and it freaked her out.  Luckily, Gramma and Daddy were there to correct my error)

Step 4 – Put it away and talk about the dress and the wedding

Step 5 (T minus 2 weeks)– Try the dress on again.  Repeat step 2.

Step 6 (T minus 1 week) – Try the dress on and ‘practice’ throwing flowers (leaves I picked from the bushes outside).  Talk about how great she was doing (she was doing a great job)

Step 7 (Continuous) – Pray it works out.     

During our trip to Baltimore for the wedding, we had to actively prevent her from wearing the dress the night before to the rehearsal dinner.  We were feeling good about this! 

The day of the wedding was going great.  We had a fun family pool day and then took a solid nap.  We woke up and started getting ready for the wedding.  I went downstairs to meet Connor’s babysitter and disaster nearly struck.  Isabel lost it.  She freaked out and didn’t want to wear the dress.  Tears and yelling. MELTDOWN CITY!  Only quick thinking by Daddy saved the day – he quickly pulled out another dress she liked and said she could wear it underneath.  Who cares if it was purple and the flower girl dress was white and gold.  It worked!! 

We met her cousin in the lobby and went to the wedding site so we could do a quick run through.  They loved it. 

We coached them down the aisle in a practice run – Throw! Twirl! Smile! Walk! Throw! Twirl! Smile! Walk! Throw! Twirl! Smile! Walk!  They were crushing it! 

We found the bride and groom, gave them very excited hugs, and told them we were ready to kick some booty and we were feeling great. 

The moment of truth.  It’s our turn.  Dad on one end of the aisle and Daddy on the other – big smiles on our faces despite the nervousness we were feeling.  And it happens – they both freeze when they saw all the people.  We jump into action and encourage and walk them a bit down the aisle and that’s when the practice kicked in.  Throw! (pause) Twirl! Smile! (pause – forget to move forward) Throw! Twirl! Smile! (Still no moving forward)  Another throw of flowers.  The guests are laughing and the girls are loving it.  They aren’t moving and the flower petals are really piling up at the very start of the aisle.  No worries…it’s cute.  Then it clicks.  They start walking…and throwing!  Total success!!  Isabel gets near the end of the aisle and sprints to daddy, excitedly jumps 4-5 times, and gives daddy a big hug!  SUCCESS! 

Happy 3-month Birthday to Connor!

Connor has maintained his chill attitude in his advanced age.  Because of that he spends a lot of time “watching” as Isabel hogs most of dad and daddy’s attention.  The biggest change is that he started smiling…not just when he poops or farts, but when he sees a person’s face.  It’s super cute and I love it! 

Some more milestones from the last month and favorites:

First day of school – May 1st. (Also Dad’s first day back to work after paternity leave)

First sick day from school – 5/22 - Ear Infection and Fever.  The teachers said he was ‘grabbing at his ear’ despite the fact that he doesn’t really have arm control or understand that his hands can be controlled by his brain. 

Last night with Ms. Bern as the night nanny to respond to his every cry and grunt – May 23rd. 

Second and Third Plane Ride – To and From Baltimore for Ben & Saryn’s Wedding.  As usual at this age, he played second fiddle to Isabel’s flower girl performance. 

Favorite food – Prune juice. 

Favorite Book – The Tail books

Favorite place to sleep – Daddy’s chest

Favorite Activity – Helping pick up Isabel from school.  All of Isabel’s friends like to come over and look at him.  And Isabel likes to ‘touch Connor’ because I tell all of the other kids that they can’t touch him with their booger-coated hands. 

Least Favorite activity – Getting smooshed by Isabel (in the most loving way possible)

Looking forward to - sleeping through the night (please)

Isabel at the Movies

Isabel at the Movies      

Our Audubon pass comes with free IMAX movies so I decided to take my Friday off and go see a movie with Isabel.  We strategically picked the first showing of the day so there were only the 2 of us plus 5 other people in the theater for ‘Hidden Pacific’.  First she tried to pick the front row, which I vetoed.  Overall she did great, but we did have a running commentary which caused me to laugh a few times throughout the movie.  Here are some gems:

-          I don’t like that crab.  (a different crab is shown)  I Like that crab.  (it starts moving) That crab is going backwards.  Crabs are silly.

-          It’s snowing all over!  Dad!  It’s snowing.   (it was sand in the currents)

-          There’s a daddy bird. He’s big.  And a mommy bird.  And an Isabel bird. 

-          That ray is happy.

-          It’s night time.  We’re not sleeping. 

-          Daddy Shark!  Do do do do do

-          (Leans over an looks at me) Dad...I see your eyes.  Do you see my eyes? 

-          We get to leave because I said we are done.  Let’s go up the steps.  (we made it 36 out of 40 minutes...i’ll consider it a win)

A Bedtime Ritual or A Master Class in Stalling?

Isabel’s bedtime is either a truly masterful display of stalling prowess or a very OCD way to prep for 10-12 hours of sleep.  Who knows which?  Recently, we’ve added another step to it which makes bedtime last longer but it gives me immense joy each night. 

If there was a bath this night, the ritual starts with watching Daniel Tiger, Tumble Leaf, or Moana while Dad brushes and dries her hair (~15-25 minutes)

The bedtime ritual includes two books – one that Isabel picks out and one that daddy/dad picks out.  Thankfully, she will still let us veto books she picks if they are too long.  Sometimes this part of the ritual occurs in her bed, but other times it occurs downstairs or in daddy and dad’s bed.  (~10-15 minutes depending on the books and how much we want to play up the book)

After book we need to give hugs to everyone (~2 minutes), brush our teeth (~1-2 minutes), turn on both sound machines (~1 minute), “go around” which means she opens each door and walks through Connor’s room and the bathroom into her room (~1 minute), change into pajamas (~1-5 minutes), put on lotion because she has delicate skin (~2 minutes), go potty for the last time until the morning (sometimes we have to ‘wait for the poop’, ~2-10 minutes), and get some water (~1 minute).  Oh yeah…the closet and hallway doors have to be closed and the bathroom door is just a bit open.  The lights are off except her night light. Yikes…lots of steps…don’t miss any!  Pressure is on for the mental check list. 

Then the final steps used to be holding her and ‘snuggling’ then putting her down on the bed, tucking in her and her chosen stuffed animals for the night (the sheets, covers, and 3 blankets), and giving her anywhere from 1 to 10 hugs & kisses. 

But now…we’ve changed up the last step and it’s amazing!!  We lay in bed side-by-side and “pretend”.  And we tell each other what we are pretending or imagining.  Then after a few rounds of pretending we will snuggle.  I will put my arm over her and she will put her arm over Peter Penguin.  Then after a few minutes I give her a kiss and its bedtime. 

When we started this new game, Isabel would ‘pretend’ she saw a light or a fan, which meant she mistook ‘seeing’ for ‘pretending’ and was missing the point of the game. 

Now she is doing better, but often starts with a bird.  As we’ve progressed the game, the color of the bird has changed and what it’s doing has started to change.  Yesterday, the red bird was holding a purse with its feet and playing with an elephant. 

Often Isabel will correct what I’m “pretending” or steal it for her own. 

Dad: I see a tiger playing the piano.

Isabel: No, I see a tiger. 

Dad: I see one too! Mine is playing the piano.

Isabel: No, Dad.  I see a Tiger, not you.

Dad: Okay Isabel, what is your tiger doing?

Isabel: Playing the piano.

Dad: (Sigh)  Okay.  I see a boat…

This is the kind of game that warms my heart and helps Isabel grow her brain.  Win-win. I love it!  Plus, it’s some 1-on-1 Dad-Isabel time that has been in short supply since Connor has been born.   

A sign of Genius?

If you’re looking for something stressful, look no further than the New Orleans School system and the lottery-like admissions system. We think Isabel is pretty dang smart and amazingly verbal with a great vocabulary for a 2.5 year old so we went to get her tested so we could get some pointers on how to continue her current trajectory and keep her challenged in school/at home.

During the testing, Dad had to go to the other room and I got to listen in to the testing but couldn’t see what was happening. Here are a few of my favorite Question & Answer pairs.

Tester: What goes in a cup?

Isabel: COFFEE! (Neither jake nor I drink coffee)

Tester: Who wears a crown?

Isabel: ISABEL!

Tester: Who else wears a crown?

Isabel: Joss! (One of Isabel’s friends)

Tester: Okay. Isabel and Josh. And who else?

Isabel: No, Isabel and Joss.

Tester: What grows in the ground?

Isabel: Mud.

Tester (to dad during a break): I think she knows how to count, but i can’t get her to do it.

Dad (to Isabel): Isabel what do we do before we jump in the pool?

Isabel: ONE! TWO! THREE! (Jumps). ONE! TWO! THREE! (jumps twice) ONE TWO THREE! (Jumps again)

Dad: But sometimes we have to count to a higher number before we jump. What about 20?

Isabel: ONE TWO THREE! (Jumps) FOUR FIVE SIX! (Jumps). 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20 (Jumps again).

Dad: Close enough. Looks like you have lots of energy

Isabel: Let’s run!

First Day of School

Next thing I know he’ll be driving!!

Connor had his first day of school yesterday. He was very nervous, but we assured him that he’d make new friends and that the other kids would be nice to him. He seemed to settle down a bit after that. He was still nervous and asked if he could wear something fancy, so we picked out a bow tie and springtime romper to wear (He likes to show off his legs and biceps).

Happy 2 months (and a few days) to CPK

He’s really developing into a fine gentleman and is so active I can barely keep up.   Here are some of his new tricks and favorite things:

Best Trick – Smiling (often just after farting because he’s my offspring)

Second Best Trick – Solid blocks of sleep at night

Favorite activity – Kicking his legs and swinging his arms at random.  This has a few downsides: 1) it often leads to him knocking out his own pacifier and getting upset and 2) Isabel gets mad at him when she is trying to give him hugs and kisses (aka smothering him) and his hits her.  Fortunately, she ‘uses her words’ and says “Connor, no hitting!” while pointing at him aggressively.

Favorite book – Raise Your Hand, How to see a whale, and The Rabbit Listens (or whatever else Isabel picks out)

Bedtime – 930 pm…also 7am and 1pm. 

Things that make him go to sleep: Car rides, walks in the park, Tom reading work emails out loud

Best facial feature: (tie) Chubby cheeks, cockeyed Tom-like smile, perfect ears

Favorite food – formula (blech)

Least favorite fashion look: Stuffed Sausage in newborn sized clothing

Favorite Fashion look: Showing off toned, muscular legs

Milestones:

First time in the pool – April 20th

First real life alligator sighting – April 2nd

Happy 1 Month Birthday to Connor

It’s already been a month since Connor was born! Holy smokes. Where does the time go? Connor and I have been enjoying my paternity leave and moreso enjoying the myriad of guests we’ve had in town - Gramma, Padre, Nana, Pappy, Savta, Aunt Jody, and Uncle Taylor. In fact, for the first month of his life, Connor has only had to deal with ‘just having his dads around’ for 4 days.

Luckily for everyone, he’s a fat and happy baby. He loves sleeping and doesn’t yet have the lung capacity that his older sister had at his age.

And, Connor has been proven to lower blood pressure when holding him as part of a scientific study (n = 1)

Here are some of his favorites and milestones so far:

Favorite Book: The Rabbit Listened (when read by Isabel)

Favorite activity: Free Play on his jungle mat

Number of Bow Ties he owns: 4 (Seriously…he’s 1 month old and owns 4 bow ties. eye roll)

Favorite food: Formula

Favorite disguise: Formula goatee and knit hat

Favorite place to take a walk: Audobon park, closely followed by the sculpture garden and botanical gardens in City Park

Best trick (Tie): Smirking and Sleeping while his sister swims in the pool

St. Patrick’s Parade Day with Gramma & Padre

Green clothes all around! 

Fortunately, this year Isabel wore her outfit by choice and didn’t throw a temper tantrum.  In fact, she loved her shamrock clad outfit so much she slept in it.  And in the morning she told me ‘I have to take these off because they are too comfortable’.  Connor didn’t get a choice, but he was in green too with an adorable shamrock butt.

Unfortunately, Jake wasn’t able to go to the parade because he had to go into work.  The joys of doctoring. 

Connor did a great job at the parade mostly sleeping on gramma’s chest.

Isabel had Mardi Gras flashbacks and each time anything resembling a float went by she told me ‘lets go get something’ and made me walk up close to the parade to get necklaces, candy, or flowers. But most of Isabel’s enjoyment came from climbing all over dad, doing flips, and standing on my shoulders. 

Overall a successful day, but next time we will hit the beginning of the parade before it becomes super disorganized and just bunch of random drunk guys walking down the street.