Christmas 2008

All of the photos posted at the top of the page instead of the bottom and since we are in a hurry to leave I'll just leave them here with some comments. An internet favorite people opening gifts. Griffin playing with the train set. He opened the mat first so he got his train and laid the mat on him and Mommy and had the train go downhill much to Wrilgey's chagrin. Found trains work best on a flat surface. Griffin in a cup or Christmas ice - what a great gift The video is taking forever to load so we'll do more when we get back. Griffin speak TT means Sesame Street way is from the the theme song - "Sweeping the skys away I'm on my way to where the air" We did the trilogy of church services last night until like Goldilocks we found one just right. THe first was a new church our neighbors go to that is trying to get established. The service was at 4:30 at a theater in an adjacent neighborhood that used to be a porn theater. Unfortunately while great for concerts and movies it just didn’t feel right for a Christmas Eve service. We decided to meet some friends at a 6pm service in another adjacent neighborhood. Kim went to the service while I entertained Griffin and the two twins Jack and Delcy in the church nursery. Griffin goes to daycare with the twins and has known them all his life. He constantly talks about them doing something with a ball, running or being not nice. They had a very nice nursery but not all that great of a service. Lots of guitars and drums. We decided to take one last shot at another church on the way home. It was Emmaus Lutheran which seemed a little more stoic than ours but it had the same old church smell. We lit candles at the end and they turned off the lights and we sang Silent Night. It was just right. We had to coax Griffin into opening presents this morning. I’m sure it will be the last time we do that. He would open one and just want to play with that toy and forget about all the other wrapped boxes. Why would you want to play with pretty wrapped boxes when I have a nice new toy? Griffin gave Mommy and Daddy a present by wanting to go nite nite around 10:30. He usually goes down for a nap around noon. We’re off to Megan and Adel’s house for Christmas dinner with their 3 kids. I’m sure Griffin will be worn out afterwards. We’re going to try to stop by Cherry Creek to view the Christmas display that was featured in HGTV’s Christmas Window Displays http://www.hgtv.com/holidays-and-entertaining/cherry-creeks-2008-holiday-window-display/pictures/index.html Here are some Christmas photos. We hope to talk to everyone later today.

I woke up today in a fairly good mood considering being up late at JPUN's Christmas Party. I colored with puppies with my older girlfriend Emma. I never ventured near Santa. About the closest I got was about a table away until Mom and Dad tricked me into sitting on Mom's lap. Santa bribed me with a box wrapped in paper and string.

This morning I didn't want to take of my dinasaur PJ top and I wanted to wear the hat ball hat ball mine. Dad asked me to pick out what I wanted and I chose my short sleeve Bronco shirt. I wore it over my PJ top to school. Oliver came up to me and said he liked the dinasuars. I told him to go away. My teacher Nana (Carolina)is coming over tonight to babysit.

I told dad that I love you to the other day and I told mom that I love her.

Thanksgiving 2008

Where did all the people go?
Show daddy picture baby and Mimi drew.
Walk please. Go see Daddy.
Counting of popcorn and chocolate chip cookies
I can check myself in at Daycare.

I projectile vomited during the car ride home.

I cried again when I saw Santa.

What do puppies say? Ruff
What do kitties say? Meow
What do tigers say? Roar
What do dinosaurs say? Nite

I got my first haircut where my daddy got his.


I had a birthday party and Aunt Amber made me a Elmo cake.
I learned duck duck goose.

My puppies, my puppies. Puppies. Mine.
I'd like to have my crayons back.

Birthday wishes

Griffin wore his special shirt in honor of someone's team who sat at home in October watching the World Series.

On Friday we went with Jack and Delsey to the Children's Museum and the Aquarium. It was quite an adventure. We finally moved from the baby room to the upstairs with the bigger kids. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of this place when the weather gets nasty. They even have a paint and arts and craft area.

Swami

You don't need polls or who Iowa votes for, Griffin is 100% in his lifetime for picking a winner.

Griffin has the wheels on the bus song down pat. He has all of the hand signals and all of the animal sounds. We put a lot of animals on the bus. They usually ride for free.
Another favorite game is to give running hugs to everyone so be prepared.

We said the alphabet all the way to V today. He has a drum and every time you hit the face it says and shows you a letter. He gets bored or his brain gets tired after V.

Griffin is starting to count. He "counted" to ten yesterday and to twenty today. "Counting " means that he tries to say the number when they are counting on Sesame Street - there's a little pause after each number they read during a counting segment and he tries to repeat it. He skips some, but does pretty well overall considering he's just started. This a.m. he did say 8 and 18 after 7 and 17 without being prompted. And he's trying to hold up his fingers too - the number of fingers doesn't necessarily match the number being discussed, but it's a first step. He's been talking a lot about Big Trucks too, when we ride in the car. Apparently the bigger they are the louder he has to say it. This weekend we went to a kid's music concert/Halloween party, church, and to Six Flags where he rode a (stationary) horse on the carousel and played in a giant room full of balls. There was fun to be had at each. And there was also one major meltdown per event. We take the bad with the good. He just gets so excited and has so much fun that he hates to leave. Except for church; he got really upset in the nursery and we had to be pulled out of Sunday School. He was ok until another shirt of people came in to watch him. He also had a little episode Friday night at daycare. Every 3rd Friday they watch the kids for $30 and we went out for sushi. We stayed till 8 or so just about 10 minutes too late as he had a crying meltdown.

Curse you Jobs

We had to watch this over and over while he danced around. At the very end he says Ap pel and points to the logo on the screen.

This is the commercial he saw months ago and at the very begining with no logo placement he said apple.

Zoo tour

Wow what a day. We went to the zoo for the first time that he could comprehend. It was quite an adventure. We saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, snakes, hyenas, bears, lions and monkeys. We went in an exotic bird exhibit and they flew all around you. They talked to him and he screeched in excitement louder than the birds. As you can see he is 34 inches tall now. Grew an inch and learned a life lesson at the hippo exhibit. The hippo comes out of the water and shakes his tail and then the sh*t really starts to fly. Sorry the video was shot at an angle. I'm glad the monkeys weren't flinging their poo and doing other nasty things.


He wasn’t a big fan of the rattlesnake as it was lying in the glass case right next to him. He said bye pretty quickly. He mostly got mad that he couldn’t climb on the protective railings. Probably what he is going to remember most of all is that we won't let him climb on things.

He had his Mr. Silly shirt on. Some guy laughed and said hi Mr. Silly and he immediately pointed to his shirt to show him Mr. Silly. Whenever he wears the shirt to school his teachers ask him where Mr. Silly is and he points to himself. Funny stuff.

Only about two meltdowns today. We played out in the yard most of the day and did some small amount of yard work. He helped us pick up sticks and rocks and threw them away in the garbage can. We played roll the car to each other tonight and then he gave me about 10 minutes of running hugs. He waits a few seconds and runs up for a big hug. He then back peddles a few steps and then does it all over again. You can never get tired of that. After bedtime we made a fire and I hooked up the TV to watch the Rays beat the Red Sox. Just the perfect temp for a fire. Our luck is about to run out as it is supposed to be cold for the next week.

Last couple of Saturdays

We went to the store today and talked about green and red apples and asparagus. Griffin helped me bag 1-2-3 jalapenos ah ah ah just like the Count and put the bag in the cart. He said hi to the check out person and asked him “whatchya doing?”multiple times. He is a talker when we are out. Always saying hi to people and we make sure he says please and thank you.

We went to the park tonight and he showed us how big he was by going down the largest slide there. We took turns pushing him on the swing and would tickle him when he sung near us. He laughed for 10 minutes like that.

We talked about the very warm sunset today and he repeated purple and orange and Griffin said the sky was blue. He was very happy to hear that we would be seeing mommy soon and dinner would be waiting. When we got home, he saw the Subaru said “Mommy’s car.”

I got Griffin 2 oversize sponge paddles with 2 sponge tennis balls. I was told to get a balloon for him to bounce on the paddles. We had lots of fun last night swinging at the balloon and chasing it across the yard. Griffin got mad this morning that I wouldn’t let him throw a balloon in a steep area of our yard so he said bye and grabbed his ball and tried to walk in the house. I’m afraid this is going to be a very disturbing trend.

We had 13 kids over last weekend all under the age of 5. The house wasn’t destroyed. We made a fire and roasted marshmallows. He had his first one on a stick. He didn’t want it at first but after watching Dad eat one he decided to try it. He wasn’t disappointed.

New Sidewalk

We just got our new sidewalk finally poured just before the rain and snow are to hit. Griffin put his handprint in the concrete and Dad signed his name and date. Bottom left corner of the larger picture.
When he saw his teacher today he immediately started saying eek eek, eek eek.
His teacher had a curious George smock on. She said he was very smart.

Someone pushed him from getting on a tryke on Wednesday and he fell on another tryke and opened up his stitched eye again. We had to go get it dermabonded but hopefully no scar.

33 and growing

Went to watch Race for the Cure today with friends Jack and Delcy. We went over to the football sculpture park at Invesco and everyone just loved to play on the pieces. We went to a couple of tailgate parties and headed home for a nap.
The family ended up playing in the backyard all afternoon and then we went downstairs and measured his height on the wall. He ended up being 33 inches tall.

22 months

This picture was from Tour De Fat in Sept in Denver. He had a lot of fun running around but when it was time to leave... Terrible 2s have definately started. A meltdown ofr about 5 blocks to the car. Everyone giving us the eye. He recovered and had a great time eating on the patio of a new BBQ place we found. He really charmed the waitress.

We’ve been a bit busy with a whiney baby. He hasn’t felt good in about 2 weeks and we certainly pay the price on weekends. This is an ominous sign as we near the winter months. Not good. I’ve been sick for about a week now as well. Not good either. Our break was that he got a 103 fever on Friday night and threw up most of the night. Friday night and not a week night. He has been especially clingy over the past couple weekends. A sure sign he is sick. Really clingy on Friday night and wanted to be carried everywhere. I should have known.
We have a big day tomorrow with Race for the Cure. The largest one in the country and it goes right by our house. We’re meeting up with Jack and Delsy twins in his daycare tomorrow to do the walk. It will all depend on the weather. A small cold front came through today so no more summer weather and its going to be a little chilly in the morning. We’ll see how the morning goes and how he feels.
We watched the Sunday night Bears game on the deck with Griffin on my lap. He saw a Ipod commercial that shows the various nanos one at a time lining up on the screen and then begin to drip color of their shell. When the commercial came on he said “Apple” a word I’ve never heard him say before. The only apple you see in the commercial is a brief view on the back of an Ipod. Weird.
He does a very good job of babbling of sentences now. He rattled off a whole story on the way home tonight and walked down to the cafeteria the other day and chatted with the lunch ladies until they gave him a cracker.
He pesters the cat constantly though they both are pretty good at instigating things. She must think any attention is ok and though he’s been a bit rough on occasion she hasn’t taken a swipe at him yet. He has tested her patience. I thought she was going to get him the other day when he was giving her head butt kisses.
Kim said she saw him practically crawling out to the crib today. We’re not sure what we are going to do when that happens. All bets are off.

We're going downstairs in the next couple of days and measuring him against the wall. We had to roll down a pair of pant legs that we used to have to roll up and a few others look like floodwater pants. Growth spurts. We just bought some 4s today.

Daily Show

Daily Show

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183519&title=guess-whos-coming-to-denver

DNC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/#26456166
Around the 28 second mark pause our house will be on the upper right corner of the frame.




Our house on the Daily Show

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=183519&title=guess-whos-coming-to-denver

Happy 4th!

Hey everyone

Happy 4th!

I got up a little late as I was up into the wee hours of 10:30 or so last night watching fireworks on top of a loft near Coors Field. I liked seeing the light flowers at first. They were off in the distance near Sloans Lake. Then they started shooting them off at Coors Field. I went with it for awhile but then I got a little scared and the gag reflex starting taking hold. Mom got me off the roof before anything bad could happen.

This is me with Uncle Jeff in happier times watching the Rockies come back in the bottom of the 11th.

When I finally got up I had my traditional independance celebration breakfast...eggs and a cereal bar.

We went to a 4th of July parade in the Highlands just west of I-25 on 20th Ave near Coors Field. What used to be a gang hangout is now full of yuppy parents and kids in their scraped and new constructed houses. I just plopped in my stroller and went along for the ride this year. It was really hot and there were a lot of big kids so I wasn't too thrilled with everything.

I was most happy when I grabbed a handful of pretzels and got Dad to carry me back to the car. Napping now but going to a "bags" turnament this afternoon and then will see more fireworks. Hopefully I'll grow to like the light flowers.

Hiatus

Sorry its been so long.
We’ve been going full tilt the past month or so. Griffin has not been his ususal fun loving self the past week and on Saturday we found out why. Kim saw the molar pushing through. That explains a lot of the crankiness.
A plumber came over on Saturday afternoon to fix the toilet. We went to a friend’s birthday party Saturday night around 8 and when we returned around 11:30 we came home to water running out of the garage and down the street. The pipe had broken and flooded the basement. Needless to say it was not the greatest of father’s days. The bright spot was that Griffin immediately gave me multiple hugs early Sunday morning that made it all worthwhile. He wore his special Cubs overall outfit and we watched Tiger play golf. Or should I say a show about balls. Balls being hit. Balls flying through the air. Ball going into the ground and then reappearing.
He was reported to have stood up in the middle of the room today and take multiple steps. Hopefully we are close. We are close to have a back gate that can be locked. We got our specially fitted gate at the top of the stairs today, finally. Next up is pulling the trigger on the backyard. Hopefully it will be in by August. I’m also hoping to have the garage complete and a new door put in so Kim and Griffin can use this to head out in the morning.
Griffin asked me to get out the sun block yesterday night so that he could put some on. He popped the lid and I put some on his finger. He then applied some to his face and closed the lid. He then repeated the process several times as he concentrated by sticking his tongue out. His new trick.

Rubber Ducky

I guess this is going to be a weekly thing. We’ll see. Wanted to go to sleep so badly he almost pushed himself in to the crib. We think he is teething or worse. He slept for over three hours and drooled almost as much as his nose was running. Someone is getting used to being outside and loving every minute of it. Don’t even think about getting him in the car. Meltdown. Hopefully this is just a phase. Climbing up and down the bed is getting to be rather easy. So is walking form the couch to the black chair which he then jumps in. As soon as he sees Dad laying on his side he runs up and literally jumps to get over to the other side. Just what Manning used to do.
We were as Costco and just had to get this picture. Was just too good to pass up.
Made it to the duck race today. Managed to get a picture of Griff with a giant duck. That and the bubbles kept him entertained for a couple of hours.

Resting at home in the “pen”. The good news is it is helping him stand and walk. We used to say TT for Teletubbies but someone broke the code tonight.

Another Sunday blog

Well we've had another week. Hopefully the posts won't be every Sunday. The Cubs were in town Weds and Thurs and we've both had another long week.

He can pick out colors in books and finished all of his medicine for his double ear infection. He can read the paper just like Dad. Sat in his car seat today and read while we waited for Mom to come out of Baby-R-Us. He also came up with another trick yesterday while we were inside during the April snowstorm. He climbed up the black chair and then managed to stand once he saw that Mom would watch him. He then proceeded to climb up on the couch. It took a try or two but he managed to get up and down without falling on his head.

Here is a game we came up with the other night. I added some numbers on Saturday for comedic timing. I put him on the bed to change him and the next thing you know he sat right up. Need to develop the core strength and what a fun way to get in our situps.

Workin for the weekend

What a week. Griffin was diagnosed on Thursday with a double ear infection. His first thankfully. We’re hoping his last but we can wish. Mom stayed home with him all week while my hours just got worse as the week progressed. Taking the bus home in a snowstorm at 11pm from work was not much fun but it beat riding my bike. He was back at daycare by Friday and almost seemed like his old self yesterday.

The 3rd Friday of the month his daycare has extended hours till 10. That is if 5 families out of 100+ sign up. Five measly families. We were the only ones. We had to get past the guilt and find a babysitter last minute. His daycare teacher Ms. Toni was procured last minute.
The Gala went very well. We won a family membership to MCA, some spices, sunglasses and a signed Denver Nuggets hat. We raised some pretty good money and Kim looked very nice.
We ran a bunch of errands yesterday in between his car naps. On our last errand we saw some ponies next to a library in a somewhat rundown part of town near 40th and York. Obviously we had to stop and see what was going on. Someone who loves kitties and doe does = dogs was a little timid around the little Shetland ponies. He only petted one after Dad did and did not want to have his picture taken on the saddle.

Went to Tom Courtney and Mason’s house last night for dinner. Griffin and I wore our matching Mazcyrck shirts that we got at the really expensive market that we visited for their 6th anniversary and came out with $4 salsas aka the cheapest things we could find. Note the first time Griffin got jealous of Mom holding another baby. Happened only that one time. Otherwise he hung out with Dad outside on the patio or on the couch watching the Avs clinching the first playoff series. Stayed asleep being dressed and undressed through changing and bracing.

PoiDog is tonight at the Walnut Room debating but it's kind of doubtful.

April 19th nervous breakdown

Geez what a week. Will be glad with the 19th rolls around. Just got home from work and trying to unwind. Everyone home asleep so watching the Avs trounce the Wild almost went to the game but thought best.

Saturday at Target right after Pizza at Edgewater Inn (family tradition) we found the greatest toy ever. Thank God for the industrialization of China. Tibet be damned.

$39 for a Winnie the Pooh toy car that has more gizmos than most laptops. Every button on the darn thing does something sure to produce ADD by 3. It is the perfect toy as it has a halo around the seat to keep you from falling out. I was about to make one for your other car but I'm sure my prefab skills woulndt go to far.





Sunday we went to Denver Open Houses. Your Mom toured you home in a few years (Govs Mansion) while you slept in the Mercedes. She commented as she squeezed in the back perch (no seats) how she felt like crossing the ropes since she was going to be living there 20 years down the road.

We went to the model train area in the basement of Union Station. You were a little more interested in the toy cows than the trains but was a little upset when you couldn’t reach out and grab something to take with you.

Look what we found. When in Rome. He has my old cowboy boot lamp so we figured he might as well fit the part. It was on the Open Door tour and I knew Kim couldn’t resist as soon as we went in. It was at Rockmount a Denver landmark downtown. Most any celebrity in town for something winds their way to this small storefront shop to pick up a shirt or have a custom one made. The founder is 101+ and reports to work throughout the week. He helped promote the snap buttons on cowboy shirts and Griffin’s shirt is from the original design. They have a rather amusing story next to a picture of his great grandson and Jack Palance (Denver Film Society). He was picking him up from the airport during our 03 blizzard and got stuck on the way back to Denver. Jack had them kick in the 4wheel drive and plow through some treacherous terrain. They made it to the Oxford Hotel only to be stuck for a week but it showed how adventurous he was. Curly. http://www.rockmount.com/



Stopped by my office downtown while I did some work and went for ice cream. You practiced climbing up and down the three carpeted stairs in our office. You also were out for the longest amount of time away from the house ever besides daycare or vacation. 10am to 7:30pm. We paid for it the next day by having you run a fever and basically whine and be grumpy. The end result was that you were a weekend warrior and taxed all of your muscles and paid for it the next day. Like father like son.

Passed PT today with flying colors. Stacked 10 blocks for Ms. Suzie. She was very impressed.

Week from

Well Mom was gone on her trip since Tuesday so it was just you and me this week. I’ve been working insane hours so it has been rough. We watched Telletubbies one night with you sitting in my arms. Suddenly it was half way over. I had fallen asleep but you were sitting staring intently at Dipsy. Always Dipsy. and the Hat.
You’ve learned how to make truck noises with the pieces from your truck puzzles. You just love your puzzles. You put them on your table play with the pieces a bit and after awhile clear the deck by wiping them off the top of your table. You’ve also figured out by making one of your Grandma cars go backwards will wind up its motor making it go forward. You wind it up enough to go a couple of inches but it won’t be long before you are making it go all across the house.
You recognized the abstract kitty drawing on my Catbox Classic volleyball shirt. You pointed to my chest and said “kitty”.
You just love your table. As soon as we sit you down it is the first thing you go to. Still haven’t figured out how to get to your knees and pull yourself up so you manage to reach up from lying prone and pull yourself to a standing position. Your new trick is to now walk all the way around the circumference of the table. When you get stuck you whine a bit and then jump on top of the table and dismount somewhere else.
Choked on an apple or piece of chicken last night. Had to get you out of the chair and give you a couple of pats. You immediately returned the favor by puking all over the leg of my jeans and then on the living room floor. Top honors to the worse I’ve smelled. Too bad your Mom wasn’t home to witness. I’m sure she was very sad.

No Sleep till...

Sandy, our grandma nanny, took care of you this morning but we weren’t that impressed. You seemed to like her but she let you stand up and fall backwards and bonk your head. That pretty much sealed the deal. We made our afternoon trek out and went to the Children’s Museum. You seemed to really like crawling up the stairs and ramps. You must have worked up an appetite as you devoured our first grilled chicken of the season. Going to sleep has once again proved problematic. Crying for about an hour off and on and still not asleep. We’re not going to have that much problem as we’re exhausted.

Learning to crawl

Well its been awhile due to a crazy week. The Subaru broke down outside of Colorado Springs so we're all crammed into the coupe with Kim in the back with no seat.
Not a good family car. Hopefully it won't be too much to fix but we kind of doubt it.

Each day this week has been better than the last. Crying during diaper changes has diminished. We've picked up a few outfits that have snaps on the legs so that we diminish the jostling. You still look a bit like a dissected frog but getting much better. And as you can see you have some pretty good scars on both sides of your hips.

Parroting has been coming fast and furious. You've started to count with the Teletubbies 1234 and have started to repeat their names. Your starting to understand going outside and look for your coat. You rode your bike mostly backwards but its a start and you started singing songs with Dad repeating the same melody and an assembalance of a stanza.

Crawling is still army style though you've been able to stand up at your table and crawl on top of it spinning a bit and then dismounting mostly on your feet though a couple of times on your head. Your Mom has to look the other way to avoid completely freaking out. So many gray hairs are coming.

April Fools

That is certainly the case. Hate to rain on the parade but being up all night every hour makes for a long day. In summary a lot of fussiness, crankyness, and soreness. Not a lot of walking up for hugs. Not that we expected it, but sans cast did not relieve our problems.

Deep down, and not very far, we are very happy. It was just a crappy day all around.

They tried to weigh you on a scale by having you do the splits until I snatched you out of their hands. And this once again is supposed to be one of the best hospitals in the nation. The cast came off pretty easy although you were pretty scared. We finally got to hold you after all these months without that contraption. You were so long. That’s all I could think of. And a bit squirmy. Our turtle was without his shell, finally. But not so fast. We were told you had to wear your original brace for at least two weeks despite not being briefed about it during previous conversations.

You were a bit fussy all night but stood up and was almost riding you scooter. Unfortunately sleep was an issue. Up about every hour or so. By morning I was exhausted and sick and your Mom exhausted. Your Grandma is not doing well and your Mom is sad that good news seems to often come with bad. Maybe that is how life grounds you at times, and softens both the highs and lows.

Today you passed PT with flying colors. I'm now waiting for your Mom to pick me up at work so we can grab a bite at Qdoba next door and go to our neighborhood meeting.

Cast-Off

Can barely work this morning. Trying not to get too excited about the cast coming off. Your Mom is just giddy. Your bulk will go down by about half and we'll be able to tickle you on your belly again. We're almost going to miss having you rely on us to feed you and hold you everytime we go somewhere. We'll miss some of the odd stares and sympathetic stares.
I won't miss the 12:30-1:45-2:15 feeding of trying to hold you and your cast and rock you back to sleep.
You got me one last time last night and I thought I was going to die. Still battling a nasty head cold and fought to suppress a cough so much that it made my eyes well. All in the name of not waking you.
You and Mom pick me up in less than 2 hours. Photos aplenty.

Jefferson Park

We decided to make the most of the day after naptime and go for a walk rather than Home Depot. We had previously gone to Petsmart where someone just went nuts waving and screaming at all of the dogs he saw. You could tell you were at a pet store as most people completely ignored Griffin focusing on each others pets. Some seemed a little annoyed with his occasional laughs. How dare we bring a child in here to enjoy our pets. We heard someone ask how old he was, but they were referencing a dog’s age.

By the time we finished Costco he had grabbed the thumb size Dixie cup full of organic milk with enough force to have it explode all over the front of his shirt. He was asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot.

Our park is small hilly and kind run down. The neighborhood is putting 50k for path and bathroom improvements. Path improvements? How about a few extra swings? Nonetheless Griffin was a little afraid at first but positively loved the slide. He went down the one you see here and then when courage was adequately built, went down the giant curly slide.

After his 3rd slide, he knew enough to sign more. He has figured out it means “more” than more food.

Hey, the park is that way.

8 unit townhomes where there was a single family house 1,000 sq ft with a old swamp cooler on stilts in the back. One block north of house.

Massages in the Time of Cholera

Massages just about killed both of us last night. We had someone come to the house which was nice but I don’t think you should get a massage when you are sick. I couldn’t get enough water, got a fever and was just miserable. Kim was just achy. We’re both feeling a bit better today but want this whole sickness thing to be over.
More importantly the Gman seems to be unaffected. We got another incident report of biting. He knew he was in trouble when I showed up. He seemed rather subdued. Everyone was talking about biting when I arrived so he knew. Apparently the kid stole his toy he reached up and pulled him down and bit his wrist. Someone, we were told, has a little temper when he is wronged. Must get that from his Mom.

Bananas, blueberries, yogurt and cereal for breakfast this morning. The little biter was hungry this morning.


This photo best represents our weekends. Teletubbies in the morning before we start the day's activities. As usual, sunshine baby watching Griffin and Wrigley, Griffin watching sunshine baby and Wrigley, and Wrigley always keeping an eye on Griffin. Always watching Griffin. Always.


Posted some video to a story a couple of days ago. I hope it can be seen.
We're trying to enjoy a 70 degree day as tomorrow will be snowing. Such is life in Colorado.

TB

Mom went out to meet a friend last night and we had peas blueberries shredded cheese kidney beans and lots of Dad's Chicken Toritilla soup. More more more.
Day 4 of what your Mom had two weeks ago. I feel like they may quarentine me at National Jewish any minute.
Miracle upon miracles you went to be without a fuss. I poured a nice hot bath for your Mom and I and we watched the final celebrity apprentice. Hopefully it will be the final apprentice for so many reasons. Your Mom is still mad at me for getting her sucked into all of this.

67 on Saturday finally a nice weekend day but should be snowing by Sunday. We're going to try and enjoy it while we can.

In home massages tonight. Cast off on Monday!

Pukey Pants

Guess who Has figured out How to cough enough to make Himself either get picked up out of Bed or puke. Nice trick. Monday can't come soon enough.

Happier times on Easter Sunday.

Thank You

Griffin was a little sleepy this morning. Despite the sleepiness he managed to flop from the top of his bed to the bottom in less than 20 minutes without waking up. I’m afraid you’ve caught Dad’s cold. Even a little groggy we managed to get some verbal “Thank you” this morning.

Dad helped a Mom with a baby and a boy a little older than you on the bus today. The mom was trying to wheel the baby and get the boy out of his seat to get off the bus. The boy didn’t want to leave and by the time she got him up the bus had already pulled away from her stop. Thankfully a few people requested the bus driver stop which to his credit he did. She then wheeled the baby off the bus but the boy was left standing in the middle of the aisle all alone. I got up and carried the boy off the bus and to his mom. The real reason for this story isn’t that people can be nice on a bus but that on the way back to my seat I thought how light that kid was to pick up compared to Griffin.

Crawling with the herd

Got some pretty good video of Griffin at daycare yesterday. He wanted down to play which was a little unusual for the clingy one. He immediately crawled over to Caden and they touched foreheads. You both crawled around for a bit and hugged each other as everyone ahhhhd. The kids in the near by area who were walking then proceeded to get on their hands and knees and crawl around. Caden stood up and gentle patted Griffin’s head and acted as if to climb on the back of his cast for a little ride but Griffin managed to scoot over to a ball and collapse.
Post taping - Recognizing that we were leaving he proceeded to cry while Caden came over and smacked him on the head. The touching moment was gone.
Griffin’s passed his pulmonary visit with flying colors. The Drs think it may be somewhat related to his cast. We have another visit in a month or so and we may be able to stop using the Flovent (2x daily).
Last night he learned how to put a lid on a cup at Qdoba. Beans and cheese were on the menu while Mom and Dad had the usual beer and chips. We usually stop by right after work for something to eat before picking him up before 6:30.
Dad fell asleep on the floor on top of Griffin’s Boppy well before Griffin’s bedtime. He caught Mom’s cold and was just exhausted.

My Mom Got Mad

Add kiss to the list. He’s been blowing kisses for awhile but not when you say “kiss”. Please gets used quite frequently at night when he’s deploying his arsenal of tricks. The most deviant one is biting Mom at bedtime. Apparently it was a stealth nip at first. By the time admonishment was administered the second nip was taken on the alternative arm. Mom was then lulled into a false sense of security head butting and cuddling when the third and final nip occurred next to her cheek. Baby in lockdown. Let the crying coughing and wheezing begin. And then the vomiting. All of that hard work to get him to eat. Its going to be a long night. Only 6 days left.

Easter

Weekend was good. Weather was a bit cold on Saturday and a little better on Sunday. We are ready for winter to be over. Seems like this year it has been forever. Griffin got to crawl on an Easter egg hunt at friend’s house on Sunday. They had carpeted stairs so he got a chance to practice his climbing skills. We’re going to need some gates and a soft landing pad for him soon.
His other weekend milestone was learning how to say thank you in response to please. He prefers to say it rather than gesture. Once again Mom welled up.
Somebody got off his sleep schedule yesterday (too much activity at the Easter get together) and Mom paid the price. He cried for almost two hours and would not got to sleep. He certainly cashed out last night though.
Dad got to see the NCAA first round tourney on Saturday night. No real close games unfortunately but the energy level was pretty good.

Your Aunt Mickey would have been in heaven as Goodwill had 50% off sale on Sat.

We picked up your fall and spring wardrobe.

One week and counting.

Mom chose your "big boy" shirt because it reminded her of a striped easter egg.

A sign of things to come

Heard you loved your eggs and toast more than your mother today. We hearken back to the days where you would just wail when we even thought about leaving once we entered your room at daycare. Mom sat you down with all the other kids at the table this morning. You looked back at her as if to say “Are you still here? I’ll see you at 6 unless I become preoccupied with a ball or the cow lawnmower in which case you can just wait till they bore me.”
I told her to get used to it. It will get much worse soon enough.

NCAA tourneyt is in town this weekend. Dad's going to get a ticket sometime ove rthe weekend. Playing vball tonight. Hopefully won't have my knee scoped any time soon but it certainly hurts after inactivity then snowboarding at Beaver Creek on Sunday.

LUC JPUN

We went to Pasquini’s tonight for a quick slice of pizza before our neighborhood land use committee meeting at 7. Griff was exceptionally quiet which had us concerned that he was coming down with something. He managed to stay quiet for about 10 minutes at the meeting until Mom was forced to take you out to the other room to play. Our neighborhood is becoming a development haven. The worse is our city councilman proposing to put a homeless shelter near the Children’s Museum, Aquarium, and DPS school site all in the name appeasing the mayor for political favors. He’s already proven that he won’t listen to our concerns and has almost had a physical confrontation with one of our members at a meeting. As I am typing this Kim is spending over a half an hour trying to put Griffin in his crib. We start by rocking him and having him fall asleep with his blinky – an oversized handkerchief. The moment we attempt to put you down you immediately clutch at our arms and proceed to squeal. It wouldn’t be so bad but if we let you cry you end of getting so worked up that you end up vomiting and in a cast that’s just not something that we want to clean up. And so the battle goes. You fall asleep and the we put you in the crib and you scream bloody murder. Now past 45 minutes I think she has finally gotten you in the crib and you turn towards your wall and tuck your blinky to your chest. If you don’t immediately roll back over it’s a pretty good chance you’re going to stay asleep. Once that occurs it’s time for bed for Mom and Dad until you wake at 2-3:14-4:06 or 6 and we start the day all over again. Officially 10 days left.

Please

A rather uneventful night, thankfully. We got home played awhile, you ate a small nibble of pizza actually from the slice, and then went to bed. Your Mom and I worked until 11 and then dragged ourselves upstairs to bed. You woke up in a good mood today (as you do most days) and as we were changing you diaper you asked for your bottle. When I say ask I mean you thrusted your hands in the general direction of the item you want. I then had you say please in sign language and guided you through the motion. When I stopped and asked you please you then made the sign. As usual, your Mom came over, clutched her hands towards her heart and welled up. Only 11 more days until terror shall be unleashed.

Day 1

Okay Griff
Here we go. Da Da's online diary of things that are going on in the year 2008. What a long time ago, eh?

Your Mom and I have been working some insane hours but we hope that will subside with the summer months.

We can't wait for the end of March which means you will get your cast off and be free to start scampering. All of the time we had to Griffin proof the house has gone for naught due to a lack of sleep, energy and sickness on all of our parts. Hopefully we'll get a few things in place by the 31st or sooner as you've made it your mission to crawl, stand and take the stairs at all costs.

Here is something from February written the night before you and I fell down the stairs. You ended up Being fine and I was really scared at first as I was afraid you Had really Banked your Head I held you all the way Down the stairs until we reached the Bottom.to ended up with a Deep Bone bruise in my back but very thankful that our little turtle was ok.

Feb 24, 2008

Well Mom left to go on her gambling junket with her friends
At Blackhawk leaving you and I to be bachelors. We played a little and got you to crawl a bit until you got tired of it and mad at it almost simultaneously. I got you dressedput you in your mini stroller and took you around the block. We went over to the park and you watched boys playing soccer and a dog/kitty fetching a ball. You and I chattered back and forth most of the time. When we got back to the house we read a book and you opened to a page that said “clap hands”. When I read it to you, you immediately started clapping your hands. I was very proud of you as I think this was the first time I read something to you and you initiated the action. I know you’ll think this is pretty stupid and inconsequential but one of these days I hope you’ll realize how precious and endearing these milestones are.
We/you then sat in your specially crafted chair and I pushed you up to your table that Jeff and I made for you. I put a variety of toys there and you watched Teletubbys. You seemed very quiet and engaged in the television and I became a little worried that you were a little too quiet. Either sick, tired, or maybe you knew that Mom wasn’t around? You seemed pretty mellow the rest of the night. We went downtown and met Jeff and Chris at the Oceanaire around 7:30. You and I arrived early, a benefit that you are punctual. We sat at the fish bar and you devoured oyster crackers. You seemed to really like them almost as much as your saltines. Which is pretty much all that you eat at this point.
We tried more crakers at the table along with a black olive. You tried tasting it and promptly proceeded to brush it off your plate and onto the floor. Iwas hoping since you seemed to not get enough of them a week ago. A slice of cucumber met the same fate as well as most of the baked bread. The foursome next door commented what a good kid you were and the woman asked why you were in the cast. I commented to prevent you from crawling around tonight. I think that was the first time I made smart when someone asked though it went over well. Her son had the brace with a bar. There were only a handful of times that you sounded like you were getting fussy. I proceeded to lift you up in the air by your casted left foot fully extending my arm and then having you drop into my arms. I think Chris and Jeff and a few other people were taken back but you just smiled and laughed and forgot about whatever was making you fussy. I couldn’t believe Jeff was taken back as he was running around our house with you chasing kids and tossing you around as well. He spent most of the night annoying me by putting hot peppers or anchovies in front of you to taste until I smacked his hand away.
Again you were very mellow throughout the night though you were pretty animated with the parfait spoon. Wouldn’t try the potatoes but would whip the spoon around to the point of almost flicking the potatoes at the foursome next door. I think you thought it was a drumstick from the music class you went to with your Mom earlier in the day.
The only time you got wound up was when we were walking back to the car and we walked next to the four season’s sales office. There were some pillar spacers and I would run with you to one and stop peak around the corner and run to the next. You would just squeal. It almost sounded like a cry and it is your happy noise. We got back home and we went right to bed. Took a little bottle put you down before you were asleep and you seemed content to wrap yourself in your blinky. About 30 seconds after I left the room I think you realized that I had left and you cried for only a couple of minutes and you were asleep. In bed and out by 9:05. Very late for you but it was a special 3 men and a baby occasion. You slept until 1:30 and as usual wanted a bottle. Took a little but I noticed you weren’t drinking much and appeared not to drink that much earlier so I tried the nipple to see if it was blocked. I got my first swig of formula and rice. Yuck. Lucky I was too tired to even care. It will be nice to get a full nights sleep soon. Hopefully sometime after the cast comes off.