• Code Name: Garrett
  
• DOB: Jan 31, 2003
  
• Favorite foods: mac n' cheese, pizza, milk, ice cream, grapes, crème brulèe
  
• Favorite animals: 'a duck, a pig, a frog, a dog'
  
• Favorite words: tickle me me
  
• Favorite Soviet space mission: Sputnik
  
• Long-run goals: To stay up all night

• Code Name: Mary
  
• DOB: Nov 1, 2005
  
• Favorite foods: classified
  
• Favorite animals: classified
  
• Favorite words: classified
  
• Favorite Chinese emperor : Shen-Nung
  
• Long-run goals: world domination

4/4/2008 10:44-p.m.

1/2/2007 0:5-a.m. WE HAVE MOVED

Please visit our new blog at
http://MooAndMo.blogspot.com

1/2/2007 -1:11-a.m. Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! I haven't made an entry in two months. (It always feels like a Catholic confession to start off an entry this way) I think that's a record lag for me. I made my last entry the day before Halloween, 2 days before Mary's birthday, and 3 days before my surgery. My doctor requested that I not type during my 3 week recovery and then the holidays were upon us. One of my new year resolutions is to create a new blog at blogspot so that I can more easily share photos and better organize our stories. So my penance for the long silence is to bring you a better blog. Also, I can make unrealistic promises never to create a blog lag again. Right. And I'll also stop biting my fingernails and write my best-selling novel.

We spent Christmas in Florence, SC this year with Grandmother and Granddad Fraley. Naturally we made arrangements with Santa to come to our house in Urbana on New Year's Eve instead of Christmas Eve so that we wouldn't miss the off loading of the sleigh. This year it feels like we are truly having the 12 days of Christmas, including pre-Christmas parties, school christmas pageants, Christmas Day, the extended Fraley family Christmas on Dec. 27, Santa's Visit on Dec. 31, and the arrival (tomorrow) of the UPS BROWN SLED delivery from the Martinez North Pole Substation. This ISN'T the year where Christmas came and went too quickly to really enjoy it. This is like Groundhog Day Christmas.

We had a very nice visit to SC. Garrett and Mary were really good travelers this year, with the exception of a few fatigue outbursts from Mary and an "Oops, I went potty in my seat" episode from Garrett. Considering the long drives we made, I think that's a pretty good travel report. Grandmommy and Granddaddy Fraley were very excited to see Garrett and Mary and rolled out the red carpet for them. Garrett was very happy to see his grandparents and made an eager trip down the stairs every morning to find them and get the fun started. Mary got to know her grandparents a little better since she is a year old now. She did an especially good job of making a map of their house. She knows where all the breakables, imported items, and speically loved objects are. She probably wore a path in the floor between the kitchen and the computer room. Mary LOVES to mess with other people's computers. We thank Grandmother and Granddad Fraley for making us so comfortable in our upstairs suite, and for all the hard work they did to create a lovely Christmas. Garrett is especially thankful for his remote control cars and extra bowls of ice cream.

We were also able to visit with a few friends, which is always nice for us since it's so hard to see people when you have kids. We visited with Brian and Tama in Florence (Tama, thanks for the trip down memory lane-- I really enjoyed watching you and your sister open your Christmas gifts!). We also visited with the Hankin family in Columbia , SC, where Garrett met his match(es). The Hankin twins, Noah and Jacob, are 2 years, 7 months old and they were fantastic company for Garrett. The three boys ran laps around the house, pretended to fall down and crash OVER and OVER again, ate pizza, threw balls up and down the stairs, jammed on keyboards, laughed, kicked, screamed, and yelped for joy for nearly 3 hours. Mary held her own and was unphased by the chaos. In fact, it seemed to make her extremely pleased and calm. She's an odd one. Anyway, Michelle (mommy) Hankin reports that Noah and Jacob have been asking for "Carrot" repeatedly and want to know when he is coming back. Jacob calls for Carrot in his sleep. Garrett certainly did not want to leave and told us how much fun he had at "friends" house. I wish we lived closer together so that the boys could play together more often, but we will certainly look forward to seeing you all when we return to SC.

Garrett misses having Grandparents around. Between GP's November visit and our trip to Florence, he has learned that there are people out there that miss him, love him, and can't wait to spoil him. He frequently asks if he's going to the beach with Grandmama and Granddaddy and inquires if we're going to see Pop, GP, and E-neena.

Garrett was most pleased by what Santa brought him this year. He did the same thing he did last year when he came down the stairs, except this year he said it more clearly: (GASP) "Oh WOOK! Lots of toys! OH! Dinosaur! Oh Dragon! C'mon, mommy!" The big hits this year were the remote control dinosaur that stomps, roars, has flashing lights for eyes and looks like it's going to tear your head off; the Batman sword that sounds like clashing metal when you swing it at something (or someone), and the Don't Break the Ice game. Mary's favorite toys are a bucket of plastic food (which she loads and unloads in Garrett's loader truck), Garrett's dinosaur, and her "laugh and learn" house from Paul. The laugh and learn is amazing. It has a door that Mary can go in and out of, a door bell, and porch light that she can turn on and off with a switch, a ball shoot, a mail slot, a window that opens and closes (and says, "up!" "Down!" a shape sorter, and a radio. It does EVERYTHING. She loves it. I'll post some pictures so that you can see her playing with it.

That was our Christmas (so far). More updates and details to come....

10/30/2006 4:20-p.m. Caroline

Mary had her 1 year check up today. She is 31 inches long and 21 lbs, 6 oz. She is in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. Wow! She sure has grown a lot in one year. Mary is trying to walk. She likes to hold on to her walker toy and see how far she can get. She also loves to push cars around the floor. She eats whatever we eat and she prefers to feed herself. She has 4 teeth. She loves to wave hello and she says hi, ball, and yum yum. She shakes her head "no" when she is doing something she knows she's not supposed to be doing. Mary also likes to sneak a hug from Garrett's dog when Garrett isn't looking. She giggles when she sees Dog sitting by himself. Then she goes after the dog, hugs it, and tries to find Garrett so that she can show him what she has. She can really be a little devil, but of course I think she's an angel!

10/14/2006 10:43-p.m. Caroline

Where does the time go? I'll have to give some quick bits about the kids in order to catch up.
--Mary was baptized on September 17. Emily, Anna, and Paul came from out of town to support us and I was so grateful to have them here. We also had great support from our local friends. Anna and Paul are Mary's Godparents. We had a fun party following the baptism.

--Mary wants to eat everything we are eating and she doesn't want to be patronized by being served tiny bites. She wants big people bites of food! If I'm eating something and not sharing it, she yips at me.

--Mary is now pulling up on all the furniture and actually climbing on top of whatever she can access: the playroom chairs, a playtable, the stairs. She also climbs through small spaces. She's a sneaky one!

--Lately Mary wants to fall asleep on top of me. I try to offer her other soothing sleep solutions, but she is resolute.

--Last week Mary dialed 911. Actually she dialed 9119. But the same thing happens. I heard a voice saying, "Hello? Do you need help? Is this an emergency?" I wrestled the phone out of Mary's hands and apologized profusely to the 911 operator who was not amused.

--Mary is saying "whaaa taaaaat?" She wants to know what everything is. Today Garrett was crawling around saying, "Mommy, I'm a baby!" I asked, "What do babies say?" He said, "whaaaa taaaat!"

--Mary pulls off her shoes and socks whenever she gets the chance. Sometimes she only gets one shoe off before I notice. I have a collection of single shoes.

--Mary is a very happy, smiling baby. I can't believe we're approaching her first birthday. She is evolving into such an amazing little girl. She approaches everything with gusto, she 's very determined, she knows exactly what she wants, and she thinks she is just as capable as Garrett. She really has no idea that she is a baby! I just love her.

--Garrett is doing great in speech therapy. He has finally figured out how to put his tongue at the roof of his mouth and bring it back down to say LA. He loves his speech therapist, Michelle. Except that last week she took his dog as a joke and said, "I have your dog!" The smile quickly vanished from Garrett's face and he grabbed his dog back. He said, "That's my dog, Michelle!" Then he increased the personal space between himself and Michelle and said, "You okay Dog?" She said, "Uh oh. Are you mad at me now." Garrett said, "No. Dog okay. It my dog." Garrett is so funny with his dog. Sometimes he offers it to you freely and willingly and sometimes he guards it with his life. He'll go hours without knowing where it is and then he'll become worried that he doesn't have it with him. He's not upset to have to leave the dog at home or in the car, but he is absolutely joyous to be reunited with it. If we ever lose dog, I will weep.

--Garrett is totally potty trained now, but he's kind of particular about his potty routine. He wants to go on the potty alone, mainly to keep Mary away. He sits down and tells me, "MOmmy, say 'show me when done!" I have to say, "Are you going potty Garrett? Okay, tell me when you're done." He is very happy when I say this. Then he says, "Mommy, I did it! I all done." I'll say, "okay, I'm coming to help you." Then he says, "Mommy, say 'I proud of you.'" Then I say, "Garrett, good job! I'm so proud of you." He says, "Thank you." Then he waits a second and says, "Mommy, say you're welcome." If he sees me go potty he makes an announcement: Mommy! You did it!" I think I should get him a bugle or something.

--Yesterday when I picked up Garrett from school he introduced me to his friends. He said, "Mommy! 'Dis Ben. 'Dis Emma. 'Dis Macy." Then he said, "Bye guys! See you later!" They said, "Bye, Garrett!" I had to say that it warmed my heart to see him so proud of his friends and to see his friends regard him warmly. This time last year he could barely say my name is Garrett.

--Garrett is going to be a dragon for Halloween. After I bought him his costume he wore it for a week and wanted to sleep with it. His name is Erydactyl. Garrett calls him Dactyl for short.

9/13/2006 9:52-p.m. Caroline

Today Mary had her first serving of cherrios. She was so pleased with them. She did a great job of picking them up and getting them in her mouth. Lately she likes to feed herself and Heaven help the person who takes her spoon. She's so cute the way she opens her mouth like a little bird to get a bit of apple or piece of bread.

Mary is grabbing for EVERYTHING, even furniture, lamp cords, magnets from the fridge, etc. When I was at the doctor's office today, she would not stop wrestling out of my arms to get to the container of antibacterial soap. SHe saw it and she had to have it and nobody was going to keep her from it. When I finally relented and put it in her hands, she went cross-eyed with delight. Basically she wants to pull at and suck on anything that is NOT a toy.

Yesterday Mary went to the cognitive psychology class to demonstrate what a 10 month old can do. She will look for an object that is hidden under a cloth. She will use social referencing to determine if an object is okay to touch. She will watch an object fall. She will use two objects together. All that good stuff.

9/9/2006 8:46-p.m. Caroline

Garrett

Garrett is doing a fantastic job using the potty. He is regularly announcing that he needs to use the potty. He can get on the potty by himself and he is always so proud of himself when he finishes. He says, "I DID IT!" He has used the potty at school, at a restaurant, and at the mall. I am so proud of him. I have told him over and over what a good, big boy he is.

A few of my favorite potty moments:

-Garrett was in the playroom, proudly wearing his new underwear. He was in a semi crouch position over Mary and said, "Mommy, I want to water Mary." I said, "What? Do you mean you want to PEE on her?" He said, "Yes!" I said, "No, Garrett. You cannot pee on Mary. That is definitely not okay. You only pee in the potty. Got it?"

-I was using the potty and Garrett came in to see what I was doing. He said, "Oh Mommy! You use potty?" I said, "Yep, I use the potty too." When I was finished he said, "Good job Mommy! You did it! You big girl!"

-Garrett has decided that the downstairs bathroom is "Garrett's potty." He said, "It not Mommy's. It not Mary's. It Garrett's. Okay? You go upstairs." Yet, he doesn't complain when we use his potty. I guess he's just allowing us to use it despite the fact that it is his.

Mary

Mary is not saying uh-oh anymore. I don't know why. She is crawling at warp speed and she loves to head for the outlets. She also LOVES Garrett's potty seat. She loves to race for the bathroom and yank Garrett's seat off the potty. I have to hide it from her.

Mary is very interested in chuncky foods right now. She wants diced apples, bananas, and cereal stars dipped in peanut butter. And she wants to feed them to herself, if you please.

Mary has graduated to a standard car seat. She is very happy in her new seat, which she inherited from her friend Olivia Drane. Coincidentally, the fabric pattern on Mary's seat is a cow pattern. It's quite fitting for her since we call her Miss Mary Moo or MooMoo.

Mary's baptism is next week. We are preparing to have some of our good friends arrive from out of town. After the baptism we are having a party in honor of Mary. In a very short period of time Mary has become such a special part of our lives. We love our Mary Moo!

8/28/2006 9:0-p.m. Caroline

Potty Report

Garrett went to school today and did not want to "go to the potty with friends." However, he DID come home and have a very successful potty day. He asked to go potty 5 times! He peed twice and pooped three times! He ONLY wanted to wear his underwear once he got home from school. Buying the Incredibles underwear was genius on my part.

8/28/2006 7:0-a.m. Caroline

Mary

Lately Mary has been waving hello and bye-bye every 10 minutes or so. Her routine goes something like this: scoot about 10 feet on the floor, stop, wave, and repeat. She looks like a wind-up toy. Occasionally she points instead of waves. She's also wanting to eat chunkier foods. Yesterday I took her grocery shopping and she kept grabbing at the bread bag. I opened it and broke of some pieces of bread and fed her like a little bird. She loved her little squares of bread.

Mary did pretty well at her first MMO Drop Off day last Friday. She was busy playing and didn't notice me leave. At some point she hurt her toe and was distressed, noticed I was gone, and started crying. They took her upstairs to Garrett's room to say hello, which helped. Then they gave her a bottle and rocked her to sleep. She's such a cuddler.

8/27/2006 10:58-a.m. Caroline

Potty Time!!!
Yippee! After a week of watching "Potty Time with Bear," just two days of wearing Incredibles Underwear, and four peeing on the floor episodes, Garrett has peed in the potty!!! This happened just moments ago, which is why I'm so excited about it. For the past hour Garrett has been standing at the computer with his daddy, doing the one-leg dance, but when we sat him on the potty, nothing happened. Finally he suggested that they go to the potty and proudly conducted his business. Everyone gave Garrett a kiss and a piece of chocolate.

I can't remember if I mentioned this, but the preschool had said that they didn't realize that Garrett wasn't potty trained. They don't have a diaper changing area in the classroom, so they don't take kids in diapers. However, they have agreed to give Garrett 3 weeks to potty train. They think he will catch on because they have a potty time everyday and he will see other boys using the potty. Friday I picked him up from preschool and asked him about his day. He said, "Went potty with friends." The teacher had told me that he didn't want to take a turn on the potty.

At home, Garrett has been hot and cold about sitting on the potty. He loves his Incredibles Underwear and he likes to point out that "these are Garretts! Not Mary's." He likes to play with his Cat-In-The-Hat finger puppets that my mom just sent while he's on the potty. Although there are some fun aspects to potty training for him, he is reluctant to sit on it. Yesterday he peed on the floor and I was cleaning it up while he sat on the potty to make sure he was really done. When I went to see him in the bathroom he said, "Oh, Mommy, I feel so bad." He had his hand on his face like he was ashamed. I said, "Why sweetpea?" He said, "I got floor all wet." I said, "Oh that's okay. We're learning how to use the potty and sometimes the floor gets wet. Next time you have to be wet, tell mommy that you want to use the potty." I was glad that he felt bad so that he would be motivated to avoid peeing on the floor.

Keep your fingers crossed that we have a successful potty day all day!

8/23/2006 2:49-a.m. Caroline

Meet the Teacher Day

Garrett will start preschool at MMO this Friday and Mary is enrolled in the nursery program. I probably won't leave Mary in the nursery very often, but it's nice to have the option. In honor of the first week of school, today was Meet The Teacher Day at MMO. I was excited to bring Mary and Garrett to the open house becuase I have been making a big deal about starting school, trying to get Garrett comfortable with and excited by the idea of going to school. Naturally it took hours to get ready to go this morning because I had to create bags of supplies for each child for their classroom. I was filling bags with Kleenex, diaper wipes, hand soap, Playdough, etc. and trying to keep an eye on the bambini. Garrett took a shower and Mary got a little sponge bath and we were all looking pretty spiffy for the event. Before we left the house I decided to address some mail that I had been neglecting. I anticipated that the mailman would come while I was out. I set Mary in the playroom with Garrett because they really enjoy playing together in there. After addressing a couple of envelopes, I heard a bad combination of noises coming from the playroom. Mary sounded distressed and Garrett was laughing. Garrett laughing is okay. Mary sounding distressed is normal, given that she's teething. But the combination of these two sounds is NOT okay. I went in the playroom to find Mary sitting paralyzed and confused on the floor, looking at me like, "Mommy, this isn't okay, right?" Garrett had a very guilty expression on his face and his hand was frozen in the air, gripping Mary's bottle of formula. Poor Mary had been SHOWERED with her own formula. Garrett had been shaking the bottle over her head, sprinkling her with formula until the bottle was empty. Mary must have been slightly amused by this at first because she didn't complain right away. Anyway, this is NOT the sort of thing that Mommies find amusing on Meet The Teacher Day. Garrett went to Time Out, Mary got a quick head wash with a dishtowel, and we left for school in very bad moods.

Garrett seemed very pleased to be back at school and was asking for his friend, Olivia, and pointing out his classroom with interest. Mary blended in to the nursery with no problem. She was interested in the toys and the other babies. Garrett's room was set up for crafts and play and I was feeling very good about having signed him up for a formal program. His teacher was very friendly and immediately had Garrett paint a plate and help him put his name on it. She informed me that the kids (10 total) will do a creative activity every day, go to the park every day (or the indoor gym), sing every day, read every day, have snack every day, and have free play every day. They will also go to the bathroom every day. That is good because I'm desperately trying to potty train Garrett and the more places he goes where they expect him to sit on the potty, the better! On our way out, Garrett's teacher gave him an apple and he ate the entire thing on the way home. When Chris got home today he asked Garrett, "Did you go to school today?" Garrett said, "Yes, I ate an apple!"

Come Poop or Highwater

Today was also one of those days that included a diaper blowout and multi-tasking circus act. Apparently I put Mary to bed with a dirty diaper. Of course, I didn't realize it was dirty. In retrospect I can see that she was trying to tell me something, but I chalked it up to Nap Refusal. You can imagine the unpleasant scene of a baby waking up too early from her nap, angry and uncomfortable because she's all wet and sticky. I picked her up to discover the horrible truth that she was slathered in poop. This is always a delicate situation, requiring stealth, slight of hand, and a few pro-wrestling moves to minimize damage. I have the good sense to keep a hospital bed mat on Mary's bed for just such occasions. I laid her on that and tried to remove her clothes without getting poop on her face and in her hair. She of course was wiggling and protesting (hence the pro-wrestling moves required by me), unaware that every move increased the likelihood of poop contamination. I don't need to tell you that my management of the situation involves holding my breath AND speaking at the same time, uttering things like, "It's okay baby... it will be over soon.... hold still now... no, no no, don't roll." What happened next was stupid on my part. For some reason, I had carried the phone into the room with me and when it rang, I answered it. Given the importance of having both of my hands available to me, it just wasn't smart. Maybe I was hoping it was a friend to whom I could scream, "Why is this happening to me?" Instead it was the Cramer Siding Project Manager, wanting to make arrangement with me for starting our bank breaking siding project. He was most cheerful and friendly. I had the phone between my head and my shoulder, holding Mary in a standing position against my body, praying that all the poop had been removed from her front. I said, "Yes, Thursday would be fine... just drop it anywhere... do I need to move my car... fine, good, yes..." Mary was saying, "Agh, yay, yay, ta, ta, ta..." directly into the receiver. I hung up, scooped up Mary with one arm, kicked the tub out from under the crib, carried to the bathroom with the other hand, dropped in the tub, put Mary on the floor, who was now charged by the sight of her tub, and ran the water. I stuck my head out the bathroom door and yelled for Garrett, telling him that I was putting the baby in the tub and to get up here, and plopped Mary in the water. We all had a moment of peace while Mary was in the tub. I tried to recall my conversation with the Siding Guy. Then, it was time to take Mary out of the tub and dress her. I couldn't use her room because it was contaminated. I dressed her in Garrett's room and then returned her to the bathroom floor to play with Garrett while I removed the offensive items from her room. For the second time in one day I heard the terrible combination of Garrett laughing and Mary sounding slightly distressed. I ran to the bathroom to find that Garrett had taken the we washcloth and used to to fling water all over the bathroom and all over Mary. Thank you, Garrett. When daddy gets home, mommy is going to make an appearance at the local bar.

8/6/2006 8:48-p.m. Caroline

Sunny Sunday

Garrett had a nice day today. He went to church with me in the morning. When he got out of the car and realized where we were, he said, "Mommy, Be Fwiet!" I said, "Okay, good idea." He was very good sitting in the pew with me and he was especially delighted with the little book and the music. After church we went to Schnucks to get donoughts. Garrett really likes to go get his doughnut. I let him pick out the one he wants. It always has chocolate on it. Today it was chocolate filled with vanilla creme. Then we brought the donoughts home to Mary and Daddy and all enjoyed them. After our tasty snack we decided to go to Babyland to look at baby gates. Little Miss Mary is picking up speed and she is showing interest in the stairs. Unfortunately Babyland is closed on Sunday so we went to the book store (Pages for all Ages) instead. Garrett had a good time playing in the children's section with Mary and I really enjoyed reading the children's books. I read a few to Garrett. He liked the one about the Dinosaur that didn't know she was extinct by Mo Willems. It was written by the same author that writes the Pigeon books that Garrett loves. After we had our fill at the bookstore we ran some errands and did some grocery shopping. It was exhausting because it was hot out and Mary didn't want to be still. She wanted to climb the grocery cart instead of sit in it. In fact, during our shopping trip I had to find a section of the grocery store where it would be safe to let her "walk". I held her hands and she took about 15 steps. She was trying to reach an empty cart.

Once we got home we were all tired and tried to rest and refuel. Then Garrett and I went to the Prairie Animal Farm Park with the Lleras family. This is great park that is designed like a farm and has a petting zoo that includes all of the animals that you might see on a farm. I will post some pictures of our visit soon. Behind the Farm Park, you can see the new water park that they've built in Champaign. There really are a lot of things that families can do for fun around here. I was having one of those days where I really appreciate the fact that we live here. Sometimes I get really homesick and I curse the state of Illinois and its distance from our loved ones, but overall I know we are in a good place for us. Anyway, Garrett had a very nice time looking at the animals and he pet a pony. After we met all the animals, we went to custard cup and had an ice cream treat. Garrett had a mini chocolate cup and I had a small root beer float. If only every day could have donoughts, ponies, chocolate ice cream, sunshine, good friends, and taking new steps!

8/4/2006 1:5-p.m. Caroline

Yesterday Mary had her 9 month checkup. She weighed in at 19 lbs 10 oz. She's in the 60th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for height! She didn't have to have any shots yesterday and we were both glad about that! Mary is very healthy by all accounts. She eats and sleeps well and has an affectious little personality. The doctor said that she can eat any food that she can chew now. Yesterday I gave her a little bit of an apricot. She thought that was really interesting.

Garrett went bowling for the first time yesterday with Chris and Isabella! Apparently bowling is not Garrett's strong suit. He drops the ball in the alley with a big thud and doesn't give it enough force to make it to the pins in less that 60-90 seconds. According to Chris, it's painful to watch. After about 4 frames, Garrett and Isabella decided it would be more fun to run and dance.

7/30/2006 10:56-p.m. Caroline

Garrett scores big points with mommy.

Today I took Garrett with me to church. He's old enough to follow direction, so I thought I'd try out taking him with me. We listened to the Wiggles in the car on the way there and clapped with the music. It should come as no surprise then, that he started to clap after the opening song in church! I told Garrett that we were going into a big house and we needed to be very quiet in it. Through out the mass he would turn to me and say in a loud whisper, "Mommy, I quiet!" Or he would just put his finger to his lips. He did a good job with all the standing and sitting and kneeling. He tried to say the words I was saying and watched my lips move. He wanted to be held a few times, but overall he was a really good boy. I told him because he was so good we would go to the store and get doughnuts. He said, "Oh Yummy! Mommy, I good boy, I want chocate!"

Mary eats a whole food!

Tonight we had dinner at the Drasgow's house. We took a tour of their beautiful garden. Garrett enjoyed seeing all the plants and the vegetables. For dinner we had delicious pot roast, made with potatoes and onions from the Drasgow garden. We also had a tasty salad with cucumber and several varieties of tomato from the Drasgow garden. I had made some gnocchetti for Chris and Garrett and we all enjoyed those too---even Mary! The little gnochetti are so small and tender, so Chris decided to offer one to Mary. She really enjoyed it. I think she liked sucking the tomato sauce off of it. We'll see if she has some sort of weird reaction to it. It's so fun to see the look on a baby's face when they try a new food or feel a new texture.

Mary and Sam

Mary loves Baby Sam Drasgow. They are extremely calm and happy around each other. TOnight they gave each other a kiss! Sam likes to rotate in a circle on his butt like Mary does, but Mary is not trying to "butterfly stroke" across the room like Sam does. It won't be long before she figures out how to cross a room at warp speed.

7/26/2006 -1:25-a.m. Caroline

Garrett has a new saying and we have NO IDEA where he got it. It goes something like this: Blah, blah, blah, Daddy! I'm not scared of you!!! It's very strange. Why would he tell us he's not scared of us? And where did he hear the phrase, "I'm not scared of you?" It's a mystery.

Mary is trying to walk! She tries to pull up on everything and she is so pleased with herself when she does it successfully. She has a little giggle that makes her lose her balance. She likes for us to hold her up on her feet in a standing position. REcently she has taken a few steps when we do this. SHe still doesn't roll over much and she isn't crawling. She kind of scoots on her butt in order to move. Imgaine her sitting up with her feet turned inward. Then picture her putting her hands on the floor in front of her as far forward as they can go. Then she pulls her butt to catch up with her hands. Sometimes I see her in a different spot in the room and I have no idea how she got there.

Mary gets up way too early. Good Lord, she wakes up at 5:30 most mornings! Chris and I have sleepy arguments and begging sessions over who should get up with her.

Mary is being baptized on September 17th. Her godparents are Paul Walker and Anna Lynch. I'm really looking forward to her little ceremony. She'll probably be walking to the fountain by then. I hope we can manage her. She loves a bath.

7/8/2006 4:2-p.m. Caroline

Happy Birthday, Aunt Elaina! This morning we called Elaina and Garrett spontaneously sang happy birthday to her. Recently Garrett has been singing a lot more. His favorite songs are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Row, Row, Row Your Boat. I'm going to teach him Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

Speaking of that, we bought Garrett a bat, ball, and soccer ball this morning. Garrett and Chris were just playing soccer in the driveway. Garrett made up some funny rules. Garrett is actually "Daddy." Chris has to answer to "Garrett." I was dubbed "people" and Mary's new name is "Friend." If Garrett wanted Chris to get the ball he said, "Go get it Garrett!" Then Chris would say, I don't want to. I want Milk!" Then Garrett would say, "You already had milk, Garrett. Have some coffee." Garrett was playing soccer in his sandals because he has outgrown his sneakers. He grew another inch (43 inches), so I guess his feet grew too. Back to the mall for new shoes!

7/6/2006 -1:51-a.m. Caroline

I would like it to be known that I post the blog entry late at night when I'm tired. And I can't edit my entry once it's up there. I'm seeing lots of typos from last nights entry and I'm mortified. I do know how to spell. Really, I'm not one of those people who is dependent on spell check (not that there's anything wrong with that Chris). Scrabble is my favorite game. Although once I did try to get away with playing the word PINCE (stop laughing, Kate! Chris, PINCE isn't a word).

7/6/2006 -1:44-a.m. Caroline

Today Garrett had his 3rd speech therapy session. Garrett seems to really enjoy the sessions. Michelle, his instructor, always has creative projects planned for Garrett. She also has clever ways to get him to move his tongue around and make new sounds. Today they worked with that candy where you lick a stick and then dip it in flavored sugar. Garrett had to reach his tongue all the way out in order to reach the sugar on the stick. Then he moved his tongue all the way to the left and all the way to the right to reach the sugar. He had fun with it. Today Garrett did a particularly good job with the ST sound. Mary watched Garrett's session very quietly. She really enjoys watching Garrett do most anything. Garrett told Michelle several times that "Dat baby Mary! She's my sister!"

Tonight Garrett and his daddy played soccer-basketball. We have a long driveway, which has a basketball hoop on one end and the street on the other end. Garrett and Chris played soccer on the street end (Chris was the goalie) and then threw the ball in the hoop if the ball reached the other end of the driveway. Garrett did a great job kicking the ball. He kind of dances around it with his toes until he gets a feel for a good kick. He's kicking with his right foot consistently.

Garrett is protesting his bed time now. He's never quite been this upset to go to bed. He says, "No, Daddy, no! I don't want to time a bed! I want to pay puter, I want to pay ball!" Chris says, "No, time for bed. Time to say night night." Then Garrett says, "I don't want to! I want good morning Garrett! Say good morning!"

Garrett says good morning to Mary every time she wakes up (morning, noon, or night!).

~Mary~
Mary is really enjoying her solid foods. In fact, she's trying to feed herself with the spoon. If she gets ahold of the spoon, I just let her have it and I go get another spoon. She does a good job of getting the spoon in her mouth. If she gets ahold of the bowl, we're in big trouble. Sometimes we play tug of war with the bowl and I'm never really sure who's going to win. I'm fighting for my life because if she gets it, baby food muck and guck flies everywhere! If I get it, she gets very upset. My new plan is to come to the table with an extra spoon and and extra bowl. She likes to suck on something in between bites.

7/4/2006 8:59-p.m. Caroline

Happy 4th of July! Today Garrett and Mary enjoyed having their daddy at home on a workday. Chris took Garrett to see the parade on Lincoln Avenue, which was disappointing. Basically it was an opportunity for all the politicians to drive by in cars with their names on it. My favorite "float" that Chris described was a truck titled "Fiesta." It had a message on it that said "We get youth fired up for Jesus!" On the back of the truck were some youth that looked like they were about to fall asleep. Chris said it should have been called "Siesta." Anyway, as you can tell it wasn't exactly a kid's idea of a good parade. They did have a policeman on a horse and Garrett thought that was cool.

Watch out Evil, here comes Garrett!

AFter the parade we went to the Lleras house for a tasty barbeque. On our way there Garrett was crossing the street with Chris and saw a motorcylcle approaching the stop sign. Garrett stopped in his trackes, planted his feet firmly on the ground, put his left arm out straight as a board, and pushed an imaginary button on his wrist, aimed strait at the cyclist. Guess who Garrett thinks he is? BUZZ LIGHTYEAR! I said, "Garrett, get out of the street. Who do you think you are? Buzz Lightyear?" He said, "No, I not Buzz Wightyear! I Garrett!! I go get it!"

Garrett played a little more baseball with Isabella this evening and I tried to observe his hand and foot preferences. He swong with his left arm, pitched with his right arm, ate with his right hand and kicked a ball with his right foot. I noticed a few other things. Garrett takes a natural stance when he gets ready to bat. When he takes a swing he actually steps into the swing, keeps one foot planted, and follows through with the swing only moving his upper body. Little League here we come!

7/3/2006 10:29-a.m. Caroline

~Mary~

Mary is an "uh-oh" machine. She sits around, playing and producing uh-ohs. She also waved a few more times yesterday. She's getting more adventurous with her attempts at standing and I have decided to put her cradle away now. Boo hoo. I will miss her nice little cradle.

~Garrett~

I had to buy Garrett size 5 pants yesterday. His pants are starting to rise above his ankles again. I can't believe how fast he grows. This year I have to find him a soccer team and a baseball team. I think he might actually be a good baseball player. He's 3 and a half and he has been throwing the ball with great speed and a good aim for about a year now. Yesterday Alejandro and Chris taught him how to swing a bat at a ball, using a t-ball set up. Alejandro said, "Garrett only hits homeruns." Chris pitched him the ball from about 15 feet and he hit it about 4 out of 5 times. I think that's kind of amazing! Later when I was taking a nap, I was thinking about Garrett hitting the ball and I realized he was hitting left handed! I don't think he's left handed. The thought made me jump up from my nap and consult Chris. We're not sure if he's left or right handed. Maybe he's a switch hitter :)

7/1/2006 -1:16-a.m. Caroline

According to Chris, Mary tried to crawl today. She moved backward instead of forward. I remember Garrett doing the same thing. Mary might be the first baby to walk before rolling over. She wants us to put her up on her feet and she's trying to pull up on any accessible surface now.

6/29/2006 10:3-p.m. Caroline

~Mary~

Mary is trying to stand up. When she sits up in her cradle, she pulls up on the cradle bar. I can't have her in there anymore unless I am sitting right there with my eyes fixed on her. I'm afraid she'll flip over the side. She rocks the cradle by wiggling her butt and then she grabs onto the side and tries to pull up. I look over at her and say, "Oh my goodness, Miss Moo! Are you standing?" Then she giggles and squeals as if she knows that she's doing something really big and slightly michievous.

~Garrett~

Today I treated Garrett to a chocolate milkshake from Steak and Shake because he was being such a good boy in Target. Actually, I also bought him an enormous blue ball in Target, which he attentively carried around the whole store as I shopped. You could barely see his head behind the ball. He said, "Oh tank you for bue ball, mommy! Tank you!" Then he said tank you for his chocolate shake, "I wike it , mommy! It goooood!" Later I asked him if I could have a sip and he said, "No, mommy! It my chocate!" Looking hurt, I said, "Please." He said, "Okay, mommy, here go." Since I said please.

Tonight Garrett did not want to go to bed because he wanted to stay up and play computer with his daddy. He made a big fuss and cried. Finally he was in bed. Five minutes later he opened his door and came into the library. Chris said, "Garrett, get back in your bed!" Garrett cried, "I don't want to bed, daddy! I want pay compooter!" He was so sad and disappointed. I got him more milk and put him back to bed. 15 minutes later we heard his door open again. This time Garrett was more cautious; he first stuck out Dog's nose to take a look around. I only saw Dog poking his head around the door. Then Garrett's head followed. To his dismay Chris and I were staring right at him. Chris gave him the stern "Go to bed" directive again and that's the last we saw of him or Dog. Poor Garrett.

6/29/2006 0:4-a.m. Caroline

Today Mary was saying "uh-oh" over and over. She would drop something out of reach, try to grab it, fail, and say, "Uh-oh! Uh-oh!" It was the cutest darned thing. She also has another tooth! Now she has two teeth on the bottom.

Garrett had his speech therapy appointment today. It is so fun to watch him try new things. He was playing games with his therapist, Michelle, that were designed to get him to put his tongue at back of his top teeth to make an "L" sound like "la." He did a pretty good job. He likes the game in which he gets to make faces in the mirror. (Garrett is a bit of a ham and he likes to watch his image. He often makes super hero and action figure poses at his reflection in the oven door.) He also played a game with Michelle in which they drew a ladybug, cut out spots and glued them to the bug. They used lots of Ls as they were saying legs and ladybug. Garrett was much better at using the scissors and paste that I expected.

"That's not daddy!"

Garrett and I have a new game. When it's time for daddy to come home, we go out on the front porch and wait for daddy. We're looking for a man on a bicyle. Every time a car drives by Garrett says, "That's not daddy!" If a person walks by, he says, "That's not daddy! That's people." And if a person rides by on a bike, he looks very carefully and says, "That's not daddy? Where daddy go? I can't find him." Eventually we spot daddy and I say, "Is THAT daddy?" He gasps with anticipation, realizes that it's daddy, and says, "Daddy!!! Daddy, daddy, daddy! There he is." Then he greets Chris with a big hug. Mary also realizes that it is daddy and startes to wiggle her legs, smile, hide her face, and peek back out at him. You'd think it was Christmas day.

6/24/2006 10:41-p.m. Caroline

Garrett: Stories and Updates

Update: Garrett started speech therapy last Wednesday. He has improved quite a bit from his initial assessment, but he still has a few problems that can be addressed in speech therapy. He's having a very difficult time starting words with an "L". He can't figure out how to put his tongue behind his upper teeth in order to make the L sound. We're trying all sorts of things to get him to do it and I'm feeling very silly making all these L faces. Garrett also likes to replace some sounds with other sounds, but not consistently. For example, he'll say "moo," "missed it!" "My turn," and "Mary," but not "milk." Instead he says, "Nilk." We try to get him to say Milk with no N, but it's very hard. The other day I told him, "Garrett if you can say the word Milk, I'll give you some." He said, "Nilk!" I said, "No. Try Mmmmmm."
He said, "Mmmmmm."
"Good. Now try Ilk!"
"Nilk!"
"No, no, no. Just IiiiLlllKkkk."
"EeeeeellllK!"
"Good! Now try Mmmmm Iiiillk. Milk!"
"Mmmmmm NILK!"
"Nope! Mmmmmm Iiilllk."
"Mmmmm NILK! Nilk, Mommy! I want some Nilk!"
Then I tried doing it more energetically, as if my words were hopping. "Mm! Ilk! Milk!"
Garrett used a deep voice to counter my high one, "NILK."
This went on for 15 minutes until he finally said Milk. I clapped and danced and gave him the milk.

Story: These People Hurt Head.
Recently our friends, The Fischer's (Bill, Emily, Aidan, and Ella), came to visit. Garrett is 6 months older than Aidan. Ella is about 8 months older than Mary. We had a full house and a lot of fun. Garrett and Aidan inspire each other to be as rambunctious as humanly possible. Before you can say, "Be careful," they are bouncing off chairs, couches, window sills, beds, stairs, and each other, laughing and squealing the whole time. Aidan must be made of steel, but Garrett is a bit more tender. He came to me crying at least three times because he had "hurt head" on something, including Aidan's head, the wall, and a table. The morning of the Fischer departure we were all eating breakfast together and Garrett paused to say, "Mommy, these people hurt head!" Despite the bruises, we had a fantastic time with Em and Bill and their family. We hope they'll come again soon!

Big Car Trip to South Carolina
In June we took a big car trip to South Carolina to visit Garrett and Mary's Grandmother and Grandad. They had a new house with a special room for Garrett. Garrett really liked his new room, particularly the big robot that was in it. Garrett had a great visit with his grandparents. He went to Myrtle Beach and jumped in the water, ate an ice cream cone, and went on a bunch of boardwalk rides. He visited his Great Granddad Fraley at his nursing home and played a game of "pass the frisbee" with him. Garrett also enjoyed playing in the yard with his granddad and trying to splash him from his inflatable pool. Finally, Garrett went to Chucky Cheese several times. He loved the pizza and the games. He liked it so much that now he asks to go to "Chocolate Cheese!"

6/24/2006 9:18-p.m. Caroline

Mary--A Rambling of Her Recent Developments

Mary is developing so quickly! I can't believe she is just about 8 months old now. She wants to sit up all the time and reach for ANYTHING. She especially likes things that make a crinkly noise and things that she can bang. She experiences total bliss when handed a set of metal measuring spoons. She waved bye bye twice the other day. She's not doing it all the time, but she does in the right context. We were all shocked and surprised and I think she was wondering, "What? What did I do that was so great?" A couple of weeks ago, just after we returned from South Carolina, her bottom tooth poked through. Since then she has been sleeping very well. She is also eating lots of baby food now. This morning we went out to breakfast and she had a slice of banana from Garrett's banana pancakes. She was pleased to be included in the meal. She's not crawling yet and she still has very little interest in rolling over, but the other day she rocked back and forth on her hands and knees. Mary continues to be totally enthralled with her brother, Garrett. She smiles and jiggles with glee when she sees him. Garrett enjoys eliciting this response from her. Mary loves to talk and makes all sorts of chatty noises. Maybe she'll be like her mommy and have expensive phone bills. When Chris is around, Mary is not happy unless he is holding her while he is standing. Poor Chris cannot sit down when Mary is awake. We think she is a very sweet and fun little girl. Well, Chris thinks she's a little crabby because of that holding problem, but overall she's an amazing, healthy baby.

5/3/2006 -1:43-a.m. Caroline

Mary had her 6 month check up today. I can't believe she is already 6 months old! Time flies. Before you know it, she'll be too big to cuddle and I'll be telling Chris that it's time for number 3 (ha ha, Chris, just kidding... sort of.) Mary weighed in at 16 pounds, 12 ounces today. I thought they were going to tell me that she weighs 20 pounds because she's a big baby. She's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight so she's a well-proportioned big baby. She did very well with her vaccinations too. TOday we had a different nurse than usual and I was able to hold her for all the shots. She was startled, but she didn't cry too much.

The doctor asked me if Mary is rolling over yet and I said, "Nope. She kind of turns to her side, but that's it. She really just likes to lay on her back and hold her feet." He looked puzzled. He asked, "Well, does she roll from her front to her back?" I said, "Nope. She doesn't like to be on her stomach. Watch." I demonstrated. I put Mary on her stomache and she immediately began to fuss. He said, "Well, let's check out her muscles." He did a number of things to determine if her muscles were developed and that she could use them. Then he said, "Well, she's in good shape and has all the tools necessary to roll over. She just chooses not to do it." I said, "Well, she's a very happy and pleasant baby. I guess she's not motivated to change her position yet." I remember that Garrett took his dear sweet time with rolling over too. I'm not worried.

Mary has now eaten bananas, apples, and carrots. She loves to eat from her spoon.

Garrett is doing pretty well. He is speaking in complete sentences now. TOday at the gas station he said, "Oh, wook, mommy! Two Dogs! Oh, they're cute dogs." Sure enough, a man was walking two dogs across the lot. They were cute. I said, "Yes, Garrett! Those ARE two cute dogs." He can't do L sounds yet, but he's definitely improving. He's especially good at saying, "No, Mommy! I don't want to bed! I'm sad mommy, I'm sad." Garrett really doesn't want to go to bed at night. But when he gets into bed he really enjoys his bedtime stories.

Garrett has added a new emotion to his repetoire. Now is uses the word "scared" in addition to happy and sad. He is scared of polar bears and crocodiles.

Garrett LOVES Mary. He is always pointing out that she is cute and he wants to make her smile. She laughes when he jumps around in front of her seat. When she starts laughing, he says, "Oh, wook! Baby smeeles!" It sounds kind of like "Baby smells" but he's saying "Baby smiles." He'll say, "I want to make baby smeele mommmy!"

4/8/2006 -1:38-a.m. Caroline

Mary likes to have her clothes taken off, but she does not like to have them put back on. After her clothes come off, she likes to pull her feet toward her head and hold them. She loves to have kisses on her tummy. She loves to watch Garrett do just about anything. She has started to let us know that she'd like our attention by letting out small coughs. Cough-cough (pick me up). Cough-cough (I'd like a hug). Cough-cough-cough-cough (A change of scenery, please!) Cough-cough-cough-cough-cough (Yoo hoo, I'm awake! Is anybody out there?)

4/8/2006 -1:31-a.m. Caroline

Devil in a Blue Dress

Earlier this week when I took Garrett to MMO he eagerly joined his classmates in play. I hung up his coat and put his diaper in his cubby and turned to say goodbye to him. He was wearing a pink hat with a flower in it and he said, "Look, Mommy! Hat! It beautiful!" I said, "Yes, Garrett, that is a beautiful hat. See you in a little while." I left and returned 2 hours later. Sarah, one of Garrett's teachers said, "Oh, Garrett's mommy his here. Wait until you see your son." I looked for Garrett who was running toward me saying, "Mommeeee!" There in all his splendor was Garrett in a shiny blue fairy princess dress with blue sequins on it. He said, "Look, Mommy! Blue! It beautiful!" I said, "It sure is!" Nearby on the floor was a little girl named Tiffany who was sulking with her arms crossed across her chest because Garrett would not relinquish her favorite blue princess costume.

Not Car, Tractor!

On another morning this week Garrett and I took advantage of a rare opportunity. Mary was sleeping and the weather was very nice, so we went outside to play in the yard. I pulled Garrett's tractor out of the garage to see if his feet could reach the pedals and if he could ride it a little better than he had last Fall. Garrett was delighted to rediscover his tractor. We practiced riding it up and down the driveway and sidewalk. After about 15 minutes, Garrett paused and pointed in the direction of Lincoln Avenue, which is the street we take to get most anywhere we go. He said, “Mommy, that way?” I said, “Well, we can go a little farther down the street, but that’s all.” He said, “Mommy? Mall-neigh-neigh?” I said, “You want to drive this tractor all the way to the mall?!” He said, “YES!” I said, “ No, Garrett. That is way to far. We have to get in the car to go to the mall.” He said, “No, not car. Tractor!”

Oh no! Umbrella!

Garrett and I were leaving the MMO building to head out to the car. I was pushing Mary through the doors in her stroller and Garrett was holding on to his Dora umbrella. The weather was terrible. It was raining and windy. I was working hard to keep the plastic cover on Mary’s stroller so that she wouldn’t get wet. I had given up on keeping myself dry. Garrett insisted on carrying his own Dora umbrella and the minute we got outside he said, “Help, Mommy. I need help!” I opened the umbrella for him and said, “Now, hold on tight Garrett. It’s windy.” Approximately one second later a gust of wind came along and blew the umbrella out of Garrett’s hands. Garrett said, “Oh no! Umbrella!” I said, “Oh no. Garrett, DON’T MOVE!” Without thinking I went after the umbrella. It blew away farther toward the parking lot. I make a quick assessment. Could I get to the umbrella before the direction-following-timer in Garrett’s head expired? I had seconds before he remembered that I told him not to move. Given the importance of the umbrella and the crying that would ensue if it blew away for good, I made a mad dash into the parking lot and recovered it. Just then, Garrett went DING and started to move. I yelled, “NO! Don’t move!” as I made my way back to him. I shooed us all in the direction of the car, buckled everyone in, and, soaking wet, got into my own seat. Garrett said, “Too cold, mommy.” I said, “Yep too cold, and too windy. Mommy, all done.”

3/27/2006 10:0-p.m. Caroline

Every day Garrett and Mary do something noteworthy and I think, “I’ll have to blog that.” But then, time gets away from me and I miss the chance to write down the little quips, behaviors, and moments that make having Garrett and Mary so rewarding. I’m going to try to jog my memory (which is awful these days) and try to remember a few things.

Mary had a bath tonight and she seemed to really enjoy it. We had been sticking her in the shower with Chris, giving her a quick wash, and then handing her over to mommy to be dried and dressed. She just didn’t seem to enjoy baths. But tonight she had little smiles and kicked the water and generally seemed surprised by her nakedness and the feel of the water. I think giving a baby a bath is one of those experiences that you’d like to freeze frame for all time.

Mary has been getting up a little earlier this past month. Chris is usually the one that gets up with her because we all know that I am not a morning person. I have to give my body a 15 minute pep talk before it will move. Mary usually wakes up happy. This morning she was gurgling and cooing and trying to alert us to the fact that she was awake and ready to eat.

In the morning Mary and Garrett watch a “baby show”—a baby Einstein video that is targeted toward babies in the first year. Garret used to watch these too, but now he’s moved on to more exciting things like “The Backyardigans,” “Dr. Seuss,” and toddler appropriate Einsteins. When Mary sees the introduction to the baby show (a caterpillar crawls across the screen and the Disney logo flashes) she gets a big smile, hides her face or kicks her feet and looks back at the TV to confirm that her little friend is really there. It’s so cute. The thirty minute show allows us to get ourselves ready for the day. Usually, I make it downstairs and into the playroom in time to catch some of the show. The other day I sat on the couch next to Garrett, who was watching the show with his horse, dog, and dragon. He said, “Oh, hello mommy!” I said, “Hello, Garrett. Are you watching a show.”
“Yes, baby show! Want dog mommy? Here you go.” (He gives me his dog)
“Oh, thank you! Are you sure?”
“No, no, no mommy! Mommy, horse. Here you go.” (He exchanged the horse for the dog) “Mary gets dog!” (He gives Mary his dog.)
I said, “Wow, Garrett. That’s sweet of you to give Mary your dog.”
“Yes. Mommy horse, Mary dog, and Garrett Dragon!”
We all watched the rest of the show with our designated pal.

Garrett is currently OBSESSED with his “hotdog book.” My cousin Ginny sent Garrett a book called, “A Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog.” It’s a very silly book in which a Pigeon finds a hot dog and is looking forward to eating it. Then a little duckling comes along and asks the Pigeon what he has and what does it taste like? The Pigeon is eager to eat the hotdog and wants it all for himself, but he can’t stand the idea that this little duckling doesn’t know what a hotdog tastes like. After much angst he decides to share the hotdog with the duckling. Before the hotdog obsession, Garrett wanted to go to bed with “a dog, a milk, a blanket, and a pillow.” Now Garrett says, “I want a dog, a milk, a blanket, and hotdog book! Okay!”

Garrett likes to go to the indoor gym at his school where he rides around on a bicycle with training wheels. When I ask him if he had fun at school, he says, “Yes, rode a bicycle!”

Garrett loves his friend Olivia. Last Friday we went to the mall with Olivia’s family (Olivia, Olivia’s brother Caleb, and Olivia’s mommy Amy). At some point Olivia’s mommy decided that Olivia was not doing as she was told and should be confined to her stroller. However, Garrett was insistent on holding Olivia’s hand. So Garrett kept pace with Olivia’s stroller and held on to Olivia as we walked the mall. Olivia’s mommy tried her best not to run over Garrett.

Every time we get out of the car, Garrett has to warn me in a shocked voice, as if doom is eminent, “OH NO! Mommy, careful cars! Oh, cars! Be Careful!”

Garrett might have a future as a concert pianist. He likes to play the electric piano and sing a song. He makes up the music and the song. He sways back and forth Stevie Wonder style. It’s hilarious. His last performance was titled, “Mommy, Dog.”

When we go out for breakfast Garrett places his own order. He tells the waitress that he’ll have pancakes. In fact, he tells her about 3 times.

Garrett has been sitting on the potty about once a day, but he doesn’t do anything. He just wants an excuse to flush the toilet and use some toilet paper. I’m happy that he’s willing to sit on it by himself. The other day, I was using the bathroom and he was in the bathroom with me (I understand that this is not a pretty picture, but the story is worth telling). Garrett picked up his Sesame Street potty seat and put it on his head. He said, “Look, mommy! Hat!” I was helpless because I was sitting on the potty myself, so I said, “Oh Garrett, yuck! Don’t put the potty on your head.” Just then he pushed the potty seat all the way down to his neck as if to wear it like a necklace. He said, “Uh oh, Mommy! Stuck!” He tried to get the potty off his head, but it wouldn’t come off as easily as it went on. He started to panic. “Mommy, potty stuck! Help!” I said, “Don’t panic. Come closer! I can’t reach you from here.” He repeated, “Mommy, help! I can’t do it! It’s stuck.” I finished my business and went to rescue my poor son with the potty around his neck. When we got it off we both had a good laugh and washed our hands.

3/16/2006 8:34-p.m. Michael

Chris and Caroline are busy throwing a party right now, so I'm a guest updater.

Tonight I talked to Garrett quite a bit. We played ball for a little while, then he helped me get out of the water in WoW.

Garrett is developing quite the vocabulary. Moreover, although he hasn't seen me in over a month, he remembered me when I arived at the party.

3/12/2006 7:11-a.m. Caroline

Mary

Mary is doing really well. She had her 4 month appointment last Monday. She weighed 14 pounds and 3.5 ounces. She is 24.5 inches long. She's just above the average for height and weight. Mary loves to smile at people who smile at her. I think she's going to be a social butterfly. On the other hand, she seems a bit reserved and cautious at times. She startles easily and wants to be held close. Unlike her brother, she goes to bed fairly easily at 7:30 p.m. and is up early at 6:30 a.m. She might be the only person in the house who isn't a night owl. I can just see myself kicking Garrett out of bed to get him to school on time as Mary is fully prepared to head out the door.

Mary is not rolling over yet, but she is very engaged with her toys. She likes to pull objects close to her and explore them with her mouth. She also loves her Baby Mozart and Baby Bach shows. She gets a big sheepish smile when she sees the Baby Einstein caterpillar crawl across the TV screen. It's like her friend has come to see her. Garrett calls Mary's shows "the Baby's shows," and he loves to sit down beside Mary's bouncy seat and watch them with her. He likes to tell her about all the images that are coming up. For example, he'll say, "Here comes the kickin (chicken)!" or "Uh oh, Mary! Gagon! (Dragon)"

Garrett

Garrett is both demonstrating that he's still a baby and needs to be coddled and that he's a big boy and needs to be in charge. He wants to have his diaper changed up on the changing table where Mary has her diaper changed, but he has also been sitting on the potty and interested in the whole potty operation. He sometimes picks up Mary's pacifier and sucks on it even though he has never enjoyed pacifiers. Then he wants to sit back and eat chips and salsa with his daddy. He likes to be lifted into his carseat (he had been getting into it by himself when I was pregnant), but he unlatches his own seatbelt and hops out of the car as soon as I open the door. He frequently asks to be "up" and wants me to carry him and hug him, but then he'll boot me out of the big person chair and expect me to sit on the floor.

I think having a new baby in the house has made Garrett closer to his dog. He wants his dog when he is sad, which is a word he uses when he's not getting the attention that he wants. He hugs and kisses his dog for comfort and he talks to the dog a lot more. "Oh, poor dog. You okay dog? (hugs and rocks him) 'Dat better? Okay." Yesterday he called out for dog as if the dog could answer back. "Doooggggg! Where are you? Dog?! (Searches for dog) Oh 'der you are. 'Wan sit down dog? Okay." Garrett frequently offers his dog to Mary when she's upset: "Oh, poor Mareee. Want dog, Mary? Here go. (Puts his dog on her chest)." Garrett is truly a very sweet boy.

3/5/2006 10:50-p.m. Caroline

Bed, All Done!

Last week I told Garrett that he needed to take a nap. He was downright cranky and I thought he could benefit from some rest. He resisted and said, "No, mommy, I not. I don't want to." I said, "Well, you have to try Garrett." He said, "No, I don't want to. No bed. I wan' downstairs." I said, "Nope. Up, up, up." I gave him some milk, but I couldn't find his dog. I promised that I would look for it and bring it to him when I had found it. I'll admit that I didn't look very hard. But the playroom was a disaster area thanks to Garrett's undecisive mood and I couldn't bear to look through it. It wasn't long before he was calling out to me and reminding me that his dog was missing from the bed. I returned to his room and said, "I'm sorry, Garrett. I'm still looking for Dog. I'll bring him soon." He said, "Mommy, Dog! I need dog." I said, "Yes, right. I'm going now to look." I FINALLY found the darn thing and brought it to him. He said, "Oh thank you. Mommy? I don't want bed. I go downstairs. Okay!?" I said, "No, now you have Dog and you can go to sleep." I was upstairs checking my email while Garrett literally groaned every so often in protest to being in the bed. Then I went downstairs. I didn't hear anything for about 30 minutes and I thought, "Praise God. I think he's asleep." 15 more minutes went by and I heard a creak. I went upstairs and found him in the hallway. He had both arms raised in the air as if he was surrending to the police, each hand holding an object-- Dog and Elephant. He said, "Mommy, bed all done! No more bed!" I said, "You mean you're not going back to that bed no matter what?" He said in a matter-of-fact I-can't-make-it-any-plainer tone, "BED...ALL...DONE. Okay." Then he dropped his arms and made his way toward the stairs, grumbling all the way. He must have been saying, "These mommies just don't listen anymore."

3/2/2006 -1:57-a.m. Caroline

I guess it's been two weeks since I made an entry. Wow. Time flies. Well, we have been very busy here with our daily routine. Mary is growing by the minute. She has her 4 month appointment on Monday. I'm curious to see where she will lie on the weight and length charts. She is both long and heavy! I can't believe how big she is already! She's wearing her 6 month clothes now, but she still fits in to some of her 3-6 month clothes. I bought her some stuff for spring and I got it to fit 6-12 months. I wonder if the doctor will tell me that she's ready for solids. Just seems like she has a healthy appetite and could move on to cereal. She loves to grab for things and bring them to her mouth. She's much more oral than Garrett was. I continue to feel totally blessed to have Mary in our lives. It's true that it's a lot more work to have two kids, but aside from that, she is such a joyful baby. She loves to smile at me and people who stop to admire her. She also LOVES to have her daddy carry her in the Baby Bjiorn (facing out). She is sleeping well (from 7:30 pm until 6:30 am)and enjoys watching Baby Mozart with her brother and laying on her activity playmat. When she's on her mat, she kicks the chimes with her feet and reaches for the toys hanging from the arches. I am going to be in real trouble when she starts to crawl because she will wan to find all of the small toy pieces that belong to Garrett.

Garrett is going through a BIG mommy phase. He wants me all the time. He wants me to put Mary down and pick him up and hold him the way that I hold Mary. Interestingly, he is quite affectionate with Mary and wants to kiss her and offer her his toys. He just doesn't want ME to be affectionate with her. When I need to give her lots of affection, he gets onery and fiesty. He tells me, "NO, mommy! I not. I don't want to." He often tells me I have "two mimits!" If I go out of the room, he says, "No, mommy, sit down!" or "Mommy, where going? Wait for me!" It's so cute and sad. I've been trying to pay special attention to him, but it is hard. When Mary goes to sleep or sits in her swing, I want to rest. Tonight I took Garrett to church with me for Ash Wednesday. He was so good in the church. He was quiet and took an interest in the books in the pews. He went up to get his ashes in a very orderly way. When we got out of the church he said, "Mommy, I quiet and dog quiet too. Now cars and careful!" I said, "Yes, you were such a good boy. You were quiet and sat nicely in your seat. Now we have to go back to the car and be careful of the other cars." I have to admit, it was really nice to have some time alone with him. I actually miss hanging out with my little buddy.

Speaking of buddies, Garrett's bedtime club is growing. First he just wanted to go to bed with his dog. Then he got attached to his dragon and the dragon was promoted to bed buddy. About 3 weeks ago I bought him this elephant at Target and it has also been promoted. In fact the elephant is more important than the dragon. Then Emily sent him a Woody doll, who Garrett calls "Booey." It is very important that Booey now join him for bedtime. Sometimes the horse, duck, and "other dog" are thrown into the mix. It's a good thing that Garrett has a double bed. He lays on his pillow with Dog and Elephant. All of the other animals, mythological figures, and Pixar creations take up the other pillow. They are all tucked into the blankets. When Garrett went to bed with his Dog, he said, "Mommy, I have a milk, a dog, and a blanket! Night night." Then he said, "Mommy, milk, dog, elephant, blanket! Night night." Now he says, "Night, night mommy. I tired."

Garrett saw the speech pathologist last week. It was an interesting appointment, worthy of more description here, but for now I just want to tell one story. I too am tired. Anyway, part of the evaluation involved Garrett viewing a tablet of pictures and answering questions about the objects on the pages. He was able to identify most things, even if he didn't pronounce them correctly. Curiously he began every answer with , "I don't know.... Horse." There was in fact a horse on the page. The woman asked him, "What color is the horse?" Garrett said, "I don't know... yellow." The horse was indeed yellow. It was strange that he started every answer like that. I hope he hasn't inherited my test anxiety. But, I digress. The woman flipped the page to a page that had on it a cup with a handle, a knife , and a spoon. Garrett said, "OH! 'Poon!" Yes, Garrett, that IS a SPoon. Can you tell me what this is (pointing to the knife)?" "I don't know... fork!"
"No, it's not a fork. What else could it be?"
"I don't know, 'poon."
"The SPoon is below it. This object is a knife. Can you say knife?"
"No... not ife. 'Poon!"
"Okay, how about this one...what is this up here (pointing to the cup.)
"OH! COPPEE! HOT."
I said, "He said 'coffee' and he's telling you it's hot. His daddy will be so proud."
The woman said, "Coffee can go inside, can't it. But what is it?"
Garrett looked at her confidently and said, "Coppee. Hot. Be carebul."

2/16/2006 1:0-p.m. Caroline

Thank you~

Thank you to all of you who sent Valentine's cards and special treats to Mary and Garrett. Garrett especially enjoyed your thoughtfulness!

2/16/2006 12:57-a.m. Caroline

3rd Year Check-up Results: Big, Brave Boy!

Garrett had his third year check up today and he was a VERY good boy. He is above the 90th percentile for height and weight (3ft. 4 in., 37lbs--he lost a pound while he was sick last week). The doctor recommended finding a good basketball program for him. Of course he looked at me and said, "Where does he get the height? Not from you!" Ha ha. Garrett is fit as a fiddle, but I did discuss two areas of concern with his doctor: speech and milk addiction. He gave me a referal for a speech pathologist just to make sure that Garrett doesn't have a speech delay that we should be concerned about. Dr. Swearingen stated that it's worth an examination just to prevent him from having trouble communicating with peers. In other words, he doesn't want him to be teased because other kids can't understand him. Clearly Garrett understands everything he is told and can follow directions, etc. He doesn't have a problem understaning people or hearing; he just has some difficulty annunciating his words.

The second issue is Garrett's addiction to milk. I explained to the dr. that we go through a half a gallon of milk a day! He said that Garrett should not have more than 24 ounces of milk a day. He also ordered some lab work because the excess of milk could prevent him from getting enough iron in his diet. I was SO nervous about taking Garrett to the lab for blood work. When I turned in my form to the lab receptionist, I asked, "Do you have somebody back there who is really good with kids? This is his first blood test." She assured me that she had a good one and we waited for his name to be called. I know I was more nervous than Garrett was because he had no idea what was about to happen to him. I need not have worried. The techs were fantastic! They called Garrett's name and said, "Hey there, buddy. Want to sit up there in the chair with mommy?" Garrett said, "Oh, okay!" I took off his overshirt and he sat in my lap. Then the tech with the needle said, "Okay, buddy, I'm going to put this string around your arm, look at your arm, and then put a little stick on it." He said, "Okayeee." I held him in a hug and he let the nice lady do her job without so much as a squeak! He watched the blood draw and he didn't even say ouch or cry. They put on his bandaid and told him, "Wow! What a big boy. You did a great job." He said, "Tank you." They asked him if he'd like some stickers and a lollipop. He said, "Oh, yes!" He gleefully picked out some stickers and a lollipop. Then, because Garrett knows a good opportunity when he sees one, he said, "Mommy, I want an ice cream cone!" I said, "You got it! You know why? Because you were such a good boy for the doctor and the nurses. You were even more brave than mommy." So, at 10:30 in the morning we went through the drive thru at Dairy Queen and had ice cream.

One more thing....

I took Mary to the doctor on Sunday because she wouldn't stop crying and had to be upright against my shoulder. I felt sure she had an ear infection because she was so miserable and particular about her position. My friend Christy went with me to help carry our stuff so that I could keep Mary comfortable. It broke my heart to see Mary in pain. We waited over an hour in the waiting room of the "convenient care" building and finally heard our name called. By this time Mary was calm and comfortable. I put her down on the examination table to change her diaper and she started in with her usual doctor's office performance: happy coos, giggling and kicking. I said, "Oh no you don't, miss Mary! I want to see the suffering child that I to hold all night and all morning!" She seemed pleased to hear me talk to her and cooed some more. I said (affectionately), "Miss Mary, I'm leaving you on that table with no hugs until you cry. Nobody will believe us that you are suffering." Just before the doctor came in, she started in with her wailing and pathetically sad faces. The doctor said, "Oh, my! How long has she been crying like that?" I told a little fib and said, "All night and all morning! This is not like her, she's just miserable." The doctor looked in her ear and said, "Well, I don't see an infection in this one. Let me check the other...." I held my breath. I couldn't believe that she was okay. She said, "Well, I'm not seeing anything in this ear either, but she does have quite a bit of wax down there. Let's get it out and look again." She cleaned out her ears and looked again and sure enough Mary had an infection in the ear that she had been pressing into me. I really believe that if she hadn't been crying so hard, the doctor would have seen that smiling, happy, active baby and been sure that there was nothing wrong with her. I got her prescription for antibiotics and she was much improved after 24 hours.

2/8/2006 4:12-p.m. Caroline

Mary and Garrett have been sick since my last entry. We have been in survival mode since Sunday morning. Poor Garrett has had this awful cough, runny nose and mild fever. Mary has a cough and some congestion, but no fever. I was quite worried about her yesterday because she wouldn't keep her formula down. She finally took two bottles successfully last night and another two this morning. Despite her stuffy nose and cough she is still sleeping through the night. I think she is doing okay because of all the rest that she is able to get.

Of course, the second I heard her little cough on Sunday, I was making plans to call the dr. first thing Monday morning and get one of his same day appointments. I called at 7:00 am and got an 11:15. I took Garrett with me too so that I could have him checked out surreptitiously. There is an unspoken rule among children that is specifically designed to frustrate parents. It goes something like this: While I am at home, I will exhibit strange symptoms, behave as if I am on my death bed and worry my mother sick; when I get to the doctor I will conceal all of my symptoms and make her look like crazy hypochondrical zealot. Indeed, at just 3 months of age Mary has learned the rule and has carried it out. I tenderly bundled my little sickie and put her in clothing that would be easy to remove for her exam. I packed extra clothes in case she spit up on the originals. I had the kleenex ready for the runny nose and watery eyes, the bottles ready for the sudden appetite, and the hugs ready for the discomfort that she couldn't communicate. I took my poor miserable baby to the doctor, with her poor miserable brother in tow. They sniffled and coughed in the car, in the elevator, and in the waiting room, much to the dismay of all other people around them. I reminded Garrett to cover his cough every time he sprayed some poor unsuspecting bystander. I wiped his nose and tried to comfort Mary who was unsettled and uncomfortable. I was grateful and relieved when it was out turn to see the doctor.

When I took off Mary's clothes so that she could be weighed, she smiled and cooed as if I was playing a little game with her. Her little eyes changed from watery to sparkly. She lay still on the scale and flashed me a smile. She let the nurse take her temperature and miraculously stopped her own nose from running. She did not cough once. NOT ONCE! The doctor came in and she was positively pleased to see him. She kicked with glee. She smiled when he put that cone thing in her ear. She was quiet as a mouse when he listened to her chest. Meanwhile, I'm going on and on like a neurotic parent: "You should hear her cough. It's really awful. but she's in a good mood. I mean, she's sleeping well and eating. The cough is both dry and congested sounding... Garrett is worse. I'm afraid she's a day behind his misery." (Flash to Garrett who is marveling, SILENTLY, over the Sea Horse issue of My Big Backyard). The doctor gave me expert opinion: "Looks like a little cold. Nothing to worry about. She could use a few more fluids. Watch her temperature. Use the humidifier. Let her hang out in the bathroom when the shower is running." In my babbling explanation of what is wrong with my children, I forgot to mention what I was doing to help them. "Oh, yeah. I'm doing all that" I lamely added. Then I asked him if he could kindly check Garrett's ears too. All clear. Let us know if the temps go up.

Now what do you think happened when the doctor left the room? Did you guess that coughing and crying ensued? YOU'RE RIGHT! I had Garrett holding the bottle for Mary so that I could get her clothes back on without her head exploding with mucus. Garrett couldnt' hold it straight becase he was having a coughing fit. Next time I'm going to capture their symptoms on video tape before I go in. I'm completely serious. Remember that I am the one who took pictures of Garrett's exzema the day before I took him to the doctor because the previous time I tried to have a professional look at it, it magically disappeared and I was told he had dry skin and that I should apply a moisturizer. The next time I was armed with real photos of scaly, red, itchy, patchy elbows and legs. We left with a prescription for a steroid cream. Now I'm ready to capture exciting footage of the 2006 cold season. Lights, camera, action.

2/4/2006 4:2-p.m. Caroline

Garrett's 3rd Birthday

Monday: Garrett has had a very exciting birthday. On Monday, (the 30th) he received Elaina's birthday card and we decided to open it even though his birthday was the next day. I said, "Garrett look! It's a birthday card from Elaina and it has cupcakes on it." Elaina had put cupcake stickers all around the card. Garrett said, "Oh, wow! Mommy, it bootiful. So bootiful." I said, "Yes, it certainly is. Let's open it." We opened the card and it opened up three times to reveal circus animals. Garrett liked all the animals. On the back of the card there were outlines of animals so that a lucky 3 year old could color them in. I said, "Garrett, look: you can color on this side." He looked at the drawings carefully and said, "Oh kewl, mommy. So kewl." The card was the highlight of Garrett's day. He got a few other cards, but we waited to open them.

Tuesday: On Tuesday Chris and I wished Garrett a happy birthday. I think he didn't understand why we were so excited about it, but he played along anyway. I took him to MMO so that I could go out and get him a cake and buy some wrapping paper to wrap the gifts that had arrived for him. I only had 2.5 hours to drop him off, go to the store, pick out the cake and paper, go home to wrap everything and get back to school to pick him up. While I was out shopping I also got him a happy-birthday balloon that was the shape of a cupcake and had streamers and stars bursting out of the bottom of it. got Garrett a Boston Cream Cake because I thought it would appeal to his love of doughnuts. Mary needed to be fed and changed in the middle of my mad dash to be festive and I barely finished my task. When Garrett came home from school he had a nice collection of wrapped presents, a balloon, a cake, and a happy birthday sign. I presented Garrett with the balloon when we got inside the house and he said, "Oh, thank you, mommy, thank you so much! It so bootiful." Since that day Garrett has been doting over his balloon.

For Garrett's birthday dinner we had his favorite spaghetti and then we had cake. He loved his cake and was so absorbed in the cake that we decided to only open one birthday present and save the rest for his party on Saturday. Chris and I got him a fold out jungle gym that includes tunnels and tents and comes with a golf club, 3 golf balls, and larger balls which can be tossed into a ball-toss portion of the gym. He had a very good time hiding in the tents and playing with the balls.

In honor of Garrett's birthday, Mary rolled over.

Saturday: Mall-Neigh-Neigh, Pizza, Cupcakes, and Friends. Today we invited Garrett's friends (Sam, Natalie, Isabella, Olivia, Caleb, and Nathan) to join us at the food court in the mall for multiple carousel rides, pizza, cupcakes, and general good cheer. Chris filled his pocket with neigh-neigh tokens and the kids took several rides each after eating pizza and drinking juice. Then we had cupcakes and went to the play area to run off all the sugar. The kids had a great time chasing each other around and climbing the play structures. Garrett also got his picture taken with the tooth fairy who was visiting the mall for an educational dental demonstration. Finally, we all came home and plopped down, worn out and happy. After Garrett had rested we decided to open a few birthday presents. He got some neat books from Grandmother and Granddad Fraley, A Polar Express DVD from Elaina, and a Viking Ship from mommy and daddy. As I type, the Vikings are at war with the Pirates. Sounds like a Super Bowl match-up! I think we'll open Pop and GP's presents tomorrow and drag out the birthday fun a little longer.

1/28/2006 10:27-a.m. Caroline

A Boy and His Dog

Garrett was in my bed again this morning. When he woke up he searched for his dog under the blankets. He said, "Hello, Dog. You hiding bankets again? Wake up? No, Dog, not yet." Then he rolled over and hugged his dog in a sleeping position. "Big hug, Dog, big hug."

1/27/2006 9:10-p.m. Caroline

Tonight Garrett, Mary, and I went to the mall with Isabella and her mommy, Christy. Garrett and Isabella rammed their heads into each other while they were hopping, hand-in-hand. Both of them started to cry hysterically. It was loud, attention-getting wailing. I'm sure they really did hurt themselves, but the crying just kind of escalated in an unnatural way. I said, "You know what? I think we need a car." At the mall they rent these car-shaped strollers for a small fortune. They have a single car and a double car. I thought it would be best if we just put them in the car and rode them around. They cheered up right away and enjoyed their ride through the mall. Before we left the mall, Garrett and Isabella took a final ride on the carousel. I had offered our car to another woman with a child while they were on the horses since we would be leaving afterward. When Garrett saw the girl climbing into his car, he said, "Hey!" I said, "Garrett, we're going to share our car." He said, "Okayeee," in a kind of disgruntled way. I said, "Garrett, say bye-bye to the girl." He looked at her and said, "BYE BYE!!! Have fun mall neigh-neigh!!" It was so cute.

1/27/2006 2:48-p.m. Caroline

I woke up at 7:00 in Garrett’s bed (while dreaming that I was negotiating a contract for my first book). Sometime in the night he wanted some milk and seemed upset, so I fetched it and stayed with him in his bed. He must have been having another nightmare because he was kicking me and seemed angry that I existed. I was frustrated not to know how my book contract worked out. I got him more milk and returned to the bed and noticed that he had wet it. I said, “C’mon, Garrett, get up. We have to get in the shower.”
“No, mommy, no.”
“C’mon Garrett, you’re all wet. Let’s go.”
“Okay, mommy.”
I undressed Garrett hoping that Mary would sleep at least 20 more minutes even though I could hear her whimper periodically. I put Garrett in the shower and he said, “Too hot, mommy.” I adjusted the water. “Tank you, mommy.” Then I climbed in the shower with him and he wouldn’t share the water with me. I was really cold and looking forward to feeling the hot, but not too hot, water. Garrett, said, “No, mommy, no. I not,” which is his way of refusing these days.
I said, “C’mon, Garrett. Move for a second. Mommy’s cold.”
“Garrett cold too.”
“Garrett please share with mommy.”
“No. Garrett too.”
This is why I make it a rule never to share my shower. I’m not a morning person. It takes me at least an hour to develop my usually charming personality. I need my shower to gather my thoughts and relax myself for the day. Garrett wouldn’t even let me get warm, much less think. Eventually we worked out a system that allowed us both to be wet. It involved standing sideways, rather than face forward. Garrett turned off the water when we finished and I stepped out of the tub to dress. I couldn’t go through my usual moisturizing routine because I was in a rush to dress before Mary woke and Garrett got cold. I quickly dressed myself and then pulled Garrett out of the tub to dry him off. He then announced that he had to poop. I said, “Garrett, do you think you can poop on the potty?”
“No.”
“See Elmo and Big Bird on the potty seat? Do you want to try sitting there?”
“Okay.”
I tried to contain my enthusiasm because he never agrees to sit on the potty. “Great, come over here and sit on the potty.”
“No”
“You just said you’d try.”
“Okay.”
Finally Garret sat on the potty. And unlike most times when he sits on the potty, he didn’t hop off right away. I encouraged him to poop. I was nearly giddy with anticipation. I tried to encourage him without making a big deal about it, “You’re doing great, Garrett.”
“Oh. Tank you.”
“Try to poop, okay.”
“Okay.” He did nothing. But he let me let go of him so that he could sit by himself. I went to the sink to brush my teeth. I said, “Garrett if you poop on the potty, I’ll take you the mall today.”
“OH! Okay.” He promptly hopped off the potty and buck naked said, “C’mon, mommy, let’s go. Mall-neigh-neigh.”
Shoot! I messed up. He thought we could go to the mall immediately. I tried to explain conditional behavior, “No, no, no. You get to go the mall when you poop on the potty. You didn’t poop. When you poop, we go to the mall.”
“Come on, mommy! Come on!” He paused. “Mommy, I want milk.”
“We’ll have milk after we’re done getting ready. Let’s put on your pants.”
“Okay.”
Preparing myself for the next battle, I drew in a sigh and said, “Put one hand on my shoulder here. Put the other hand on my shoulder over here.”
“Okay.” He put both hands on one shoulder.
“No, one hand here.”
“Okay.”
“Now put your foot in here.”
“Okay.”
“Good. Put your other foot here.” Nothing. “Garrett, lift your leg, bend your knee, put your foot in here.”
“Okay.” He lifted his leg, he bent his knee, and then put his foot in the same hole as the first leg. It took me a minute to figure out why I couldn’t get his pants up. “Garrett, wrong hole. Lift your leg again. Take it out of the hole.”
“Okay.”
“Now put it in this hole.”
“Okayeee.” He was successful.
“Good! Okay! Now let’s get your socks and shoes.”
“Okay.”
We went to his bed and he climbed onto the wet spot so that I could put on his socks. “Garrett, no, don’t lay there. It’s wet. Mommy has to take off the sheet.”
“Okayee.”
I moved him to a dry spot and started to put on the socks and then noticed that he needed his vampire toenails clipped. “Wait here, Garrett. I have to get the clipper.”
“Okay. Mommy, I want milk.”
“Yes, we’ll have milk when we’re finished with this.” I retrieved the clipper and returned to the bed.
“Mommy, milk!”
“Yes, Garrett, hold still.”
“Tickles, mommy.” Wiggle, wiggle.
“Garrett, pleaseeee.” We finished with the trimming. “Now, socks and shoes.”
“BOOTS!”
“Yes, socks and boots.” Finally, Garrett was assembled. “Now, you go play on the computer and I’ll get Mary.”
“Okay, Mommy. Mommy, milk! I want milk. Milk, mommy, milk!”
“Okay, first Mary and then milk.” Good Lord! He finally toddled off to the computer and I decided to quickly make the beds since Mary was not quite awake yet. I stripped Garrett’s bed and changed his sheets, gathered all the dirty clothes from the bathroom and bedrooms, made my own bed, put away a basket of clothes that had been sitting on my bedroom floor for three days, hung the wet towels in the bathroom, and put on my own socks and shoes. Then I went to Mary who was now making impatient sounds. I peered into her crib and she gave me a sweet smile. “Hello, Miss Mary,” I said cheerfully, “Are you ready for your tasties? Yes? Mommy’s going to change your didee first.”
“Coo.”
“Are you happy this morning? Oh good!”
“Aaaaaaaa.”
“Okay, I know you’re hungry. Let’s get this dirty didee off first.” I handled the diaper and fixed her bottle at the bathroom sink. She was eager for her milk and I carted her off to the library so that I could watch Garrett while I fed her.
Garrett saw us come into the room and said, “Mommy-milk!”
“Yes, Garrett, I know you want milk. Hold on. I have to feed Mary and then dress her and then we’ll go downstairs and have milk.” I tried to feed Mary while simultaneously looking at a baby safety magazine. I dropped it as I turned the page to look at socket protectors. Oh well, so much for child safety. Garrett reminded me about the milk four more times. Mary finished her bottle and I took her to her room to change her clothes. She grunted down the hallway, suggested that poop was on it’s way. “Darn, Miss Mary. I just changed that diaper. Well, that’s okay, we’ve got it all out of the way now.” I changed Mary’s diaper again and selected her clothes. Then I heard Garrett’s distinct grunting coming from down the hall. “Garrett, do you have poop?” I called.
“YESSSS!!!”
I winced. Damn! I have to do it all again. I realized that I put on Mary’s pants before her onsie, had to remove the pants, put on the onsie, and then place the pants over the onsie. I put on her sweater and Garrett came into the room.
“Mommy, milk!’
“Well, Garrett, let’s go change your diaper and then we’ll get milk.”
“No, I not! Milk!”
“Yes. Diaper, then milk.” I had Garrett lay on his bed, lay Mary next to him, removed the boots and the pants and changed the diaper. It was gross and I lost my appetite for breakfast. Just coffee this morning, thank you… if I can ever get down the stairs. Okay, pants on, forget the shoes, pick up the baby. Head for the stairs.
Garrett handed me the empty bottle of milk and I took it from him. He said, “Say tank you!”
“Thank you, Garrett.”
“You’re gelcome.”
“Thank you, for allowing me to serve you,” I added. I looked at my watch and noticed it was now 9:00. It took two hours, two bottles, and four diapers, and the patience of Job to get down the stairs.
“Your gelcome, mommy. Now milk.”
“Now coffee, now Sesame Street, now rest.”

1/16/2006 4:19-p.m. Caroline (who else?)

Today we got a package from my parents which was filled with styrofoam peanuts. It took Garrett about 2 seconds to determine that these funny shaped objects could be highly entertaining. While I was in the kitchen putting away the contents of the box, Garrett took the S-shaped peanuts and munched them in his hands. When I came back to the living room, there were munched up peanuts all over the place.

Garrett said, "Mommy! 'S' Mommy, S!"
"Yes, that does look like an S," I said.
"Yes, an S."
"You're making a mess, with the S."
"YES!
"Do you like making messes with esses?"
"Yesses."

1/13/2006 -1:40-a.m. Caroline

We've had a normal week here. Garrett is having a great time playing with all of his Christmas presents. He is especially fond of his big barn and all the animals, his Blackbeard pirate ship, his marble-maze tubes, his Hungry Hippos game, and his play dough. Garrett's pirates are at war with each other. They try to knock each other off the ship while shouting, "My ship! No! My Ship!" The other day one pirate asked the other pirate, "Want go Mall-Neigh-Neigh?" The second pirate replied, "Okay, I coming."

Garrett continues to dote on his new sister, Mary. He just loves her. He has taken her playmat, however. He says it's his new bed. He likes to lay on it and make a tent over it with is blanket. If I put Mary on the mat, he says, "No, Mommy! My bed! My bed!" and goes into hysterics. I asked him if he could share the mat. He said, "No, mommy,no. I sad. Big hug." We had a hug, but he was still unwilling to share the mat.

Mary's account of the day:

Today I wore a nice dress and went out to breakfast with Mommy, Mommy's friend Christy, and Christy's mommy, Shiela. I had a very nice time. I sat in my car seat, very alert, and took in the scenery and enjoyed the conversation. I fell asleep toward the end and woke up in the Mall where Mommy was buying a new coat for Garrett who is getting bigger every day, just like I am. I am wearing my 3-6 month cloths already and Mommy is very sad that all those cute 0-3 month clothes will have to be put away. Before we left the mall, I had a big fit because I needed my diaper changed. Mommy took care of the problem gave me a little extra food to eat. Then I was quite happy and was quiet until we got home. Then I wanted to be held and fed again. I spent some time in my swing where I enjoyed a nice nap. It's hard to sleep with Garrett playing pirate all day, but what can you do? When Garrett was upstairs playing on the computer, Mommy and I had a photo shoot on the couch. Mommy kept telling me smile, but I wasn't in the mood. I smiled a few times, but mommy missed it. I took another nap and the next time I woke up, Daddy was coming in the door. He played with me and fed me while Mommy made dinner. I decided to give everyone some peace and slept in my swing while they ate dinner. That was nice of me, wasn't it? After dinner, I perked up again and Daddy put me in my Leap Frog bouncy chair. Cheryl and Glenn gave it to me. I love all the lights and the music and the tingly seat. I can only take it for about 15 minutes and then I think I'm just going to go out of my head with stimulation. I have to get out of the chair right away. One minute I'm cooing up a storm and then all of a sudden I cry so that mommy will get me out. Of course, Mommy picked up on my discomfort right away and picked me up. We went upstairs and she put me in my crib so that I could stare up at my pretty butterflies. They flutter over my head and I like to watch them. Mommy talked to me as I watched my butterflies and she sorted my clothes. She sending the ones that don't fit to her friends who are also having new baby girls. After the butterfly activity, I decided that I was ready for one final meal and a few more cuddles and now I am off to sleep. I'm going to try to sleep all night because Mommy and Daddy seem so happy in the morning when I have slept all night. I plan to be a better sleeper than my brother Garrett who wakes up 3 times a night. Last night he just shot up in bed and screamed. Then he screamed again because I guess he noticed mommy was in the bed with him and he wasn't expecting to see her. Mommy screamed too. Then Daddy ran into the room and wanted to know what was the matter. I tried to tune all of this commotion out, but it's kind of hard. I let everyone calm down for about a half hour and then I decided that I could use a meal. It was daddy who finally came to my aid. I hated to wake him, but I'm a growing girl and I need my tasties. I plan to get into my 6 month clothes by the time I am 5 months. So, night night for now. Got to get my rest. --Mary Violet

1/5/2006 -1:37-a.m. Caroline

We have lots to catch up on, including our visit with Elaina in Urbana, our Christmas visit with GP and Pop in California, our New Year's visit with Grandmama and Grandad Fraley in Urbana, and Garrett's first big visit from Santa Claus. Naturally, Garrett has been doing many cute things that need to be logged and it is my greatest hope that I will get a chance to provide these episodes in great detail for you. However, now is not that time. It's almost 11:30 and I've had a very full day.

This morning I took Mary for her 2 month "Well Baby" doctor visit. She weighed in at 11 lbs, 5 ounces. The little cherub has gained 4 pounds since her birth. She is 23.5 inches long. Her weight is average, but she's way above average in height. I have a feeling that one day our family photo will feature 3 very tall individuals and one very short one, unless we include a dog and in that case there will be two short individuals. I am going to encourage Chris to put on some middle-age pounds so that I'm not the only one that is not lean in the photo. But, I digress. In addition to getting measured, Mary also had to have a round of vaccinations. I don't know if it was worse for her or for me because I HATED handing her over to the needle-carrying, thigh-stabbing nurse. To make it even worse, I had to participate in holding her still. There were a total of three shots. The nurse came in and said, "Now, Mommy, I'm going to hold her thigh like this, and you're going to hold her foot like that. Then I'm going to poke her and you're going to pick her up and love her--there will be a little blood, so protect your clothing if you wish. Then we'll do it two more times." I nodded and agreed to let her hurt my child. I felt like a participant in the Milgram obedience studies (for my non-psychologist friends, those are the psych studies in which an experimenter commanded a subject to administer electric shocks to an unknown and unseen, but not unheard, victim. Amazingly, paricipants obeyed the experimenter and pushed buttons that would administer the shocks even though they felt it was cruel. Don't worry, there wasn't really anyone receiving shocks.) True to her word, the nurse clutched Mary's little leg while I held her foot and gave her the shot. Mary looked confused and then hurt and then let out a big cry while the nurse commanded, "Mommy, love her! Mommy love her." I'm not making this up. Then I would pick up Mary, hold her close and try to comfort her. Then, like a traitor, I'd hand her back over for another round. Each time her face looked more hurt and her cry was louder. The nurse should have said, "Mommy, betray her! Mommy, betray her!" That's how the day started. The rest of it really just included busy stuff, like playing with Garrett, having Garrett reunite with Isabella after a long holiday separation, and making dinner for Isabella's family--our very much missed neighbors. Garrett and Isabella had lots of big hugs and enjoyed showing each other their presents from Santa Claus.

By the way, we didn't get our Christmas cards out this year, so don't be wounded if you didn't get one ;) And please don't cross us off your Christmas Card list. We like hearing from you. One of these days we'll manage to have cards and stamps and time to address them and we'll happily send you all some holiday cheer. Until then we'd like to use this space to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

12/3/2005 9:31-a.m. Chris

Hi, all. Some new photos of Mary, as well as some pics of Garrett and Harry Harris during his visit.



link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6qzqs41r.706sozxz&x=0&y=c41v5i

12/2/2005 7:52-p.m. Caroline

Garrett is kissing the baby a lot now and is increasingly interested in her. He's especially fond of shoving the pacifier in her mouth and rubbing her back. He also likes to bring her his toys, but he doesn't quite understand why she doesn't take them from him.

Mary is actually crying from time to time now. She cooed and smiled at me yesterday, which was really exciting. I can't believe how big she's getting! She almost weighs 9 pounds (I put her in a bowl and placed her on my kitchen scale). She is still sleeping for most of the day, but unfortunately she really likes to be awake from 11 pm til 1 am. That means that Chris and I are really tired when we go to bed. I was up with Mary until about 1 am last night. Then, this morning I got up at 6:30 to feed Mary and then went back to bed at 7. Then Garrett woke up and wanted milk. He actually came into our room to ask for it. When we didn't respond he went downstairs and got the gallon of milk from the fridge and carried it up to our bedroom. He said, "Milk, Daddy! Too heavy." Chris poured him the milk, went downstairs to return it to the fridge (the door had been left open) and then got back in the bed. He asked me, "Caroline, do want the first shower?" I grunted, "No." Fifteen minutes went by. He asked again, "Caroline, do you want to get in the shower first?" I couldn't believe he was asking me again. I just wanted to sleep. I said, "NO!" He said, "Well, what is your plan?" Plan? Since when do we have a plan? I said, "My plan is to stay in this bed as long as possible." I think I got up at 9. I don't remember.

What else can I tell you about the kiddos? Last night we went to the mall for our usual activities. Garrett was playing in the play area and Santa came by. I kept trying to get Garrett's attention because he was running around with the kids and didn't notice Santa. Finally, I grabbed him and brought him close to the Santa, who by this time was walking away. I said, "Garrett, look! Santa!" He gasped as if he couldn't believe his eyes and said, "Santa?! Look mommy!" He seemed nervous and went to run after him, but then thought better of it. Then Santa was gone and Garrett resumed his running.

In case any of you are wondering, I'm not doing much better. I figured out that I'm having a reaction to my liver meds. In otherwords, my coughing, throat problems, cold sores, etc. are due to my medication and not to some underlying illness. The good news is that I can't get the kids sick. The bad news is that I'm a moron and I mismanaged my medication to the extent that I'm reliving all the fun side effects that I experienced the first time I took it 13 years ago. Those of you who were with me at that time may remember that I lost my sense of taste at some point and it took a month to get it back. It will be a very cruel joke if I lose my sense of taste just when I am planning to go home for the holidays and intend to enjoy many seasonal goodies. Please pray for my taste buds.

That's it for now. Hope you are all well and enjoying this great time of year.

11/23/2005 4:25-p.m. Caroline

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We hope you have a great holiday weekend. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that I had such a healthy pregnancy, a safe and manageable delivery, and a beautiful, precious baby. Garrett is thankful for milk and all the visits he had with grandparents this past year. Chris is thankful for his IPOD and the Internet :) We're having a very mellow Thanksgiving this year. This is the first year that we don't have visitors and are not going to visit anyone. Chris is going to make his tofurkey and I'm going to make my favorite side dishes. It's a good year to have a low key holiday because I have been sick for the last week and don't feel up to entertaining. It's also quite chilly and I'm glad that we are not taking Mary out. Still, we will miss having friends and family around us. We look forward to seeing many of you over the Christmas holiday!

Garrett did a funny thing this week. One afternoon he put in his usual request for "MORE MILK, mommy, MORE MILK!" I said, "Oh gosh Garrett, can't I get you something else? How about a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." He said, "No. No sandich, mommy, more milk." I said, "How about some cheese or a yogurt?" He said, "No, mommy. No cheese. More milk." I asked again, "How about some pasta?" He looked at me, groaned, rolled his eyes, and said, "Mommy, I want milk. See!" He then left the room and went into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator door, retrieved a gallon of milk and draggede it over to me. "See, mommy. Milk!! More milk." I said, "Oh, I see! You want more milk." He said, "Yeahhh! Here, mommy, too heaby."

Garrett kissed the baby today. I said, "Do you want to kiss the baby?" He said, "No. Mommy kiss baby." I said, "I can't kiss the baby. I have a boo boo on my lip." (I have a cold sore). I asked, "Can you kiss the baby for me?" He said, "Okay," with a shy grin. He leaned down and kissed her on her cheek and then looked away bashfully. I said, "Thank you, Garrett. That was sweet of you."

Mary has been doing very well. When she eats she interlocks her fingers and folds her arms across her chest as if she's praying. Then when I burp her she places one hand over the other on my shoulder and rests her chin on them. She is really the most content baby I've ever seen. The only time she seems unhappy is when she has a sponge bath or when her diaper is being changed. I think she doesn't like the cold air on her bottom.

One final note of thanks: As I mentioned, I've been quite sick this week. My coughing keeps me awake more than Mary does. Since I can't sleep during the day, I'm desperate for some extra sleep in the morning. Chris has been sacrificing his own sleep, taking charge of Garrett and Mary in the morning, and going into the office later than he would like so that I can get some rest. So, I'm especially grateful this Thanksgiving that I have such a considerate husband :)

11/18/2005 2:34-p.m. Caroline

First in the news is that GP left yesterday (insert BIG sad face). Gone are the days when Mary wakes up for her 5:30 am feeding and I bring her to my mom so that I can go back to sleep until 9. Gone are the expert baby burrito wraps (although I have developed an adequate ability to do it). Gone is the ability to run and errand and leave the kiddos at home with GP. Gone are the moments when I can casually mention, "You know, I'd really like my toilet bowl to fill more quickly and with more water," knowing that GP would rise to the challenge. I know we'll manage to hold down the fort without GP, but not with the same panache.

Second in the news is that Garrett is being very good to Mary. He will rock her cradle and he will peer over the top and watch her sleep. He lets me hold her on the couch while he rests his head in my lap. He doesn't seem to mind sharing his mommy. Garrett has also entered a new phase of gift giving. He will bring me several of his toys, one at a time, and say, "Here you go, Mommy." The other morning he was up and playing before I was and he brought me a bed full of toys: 3 bowling pins, 2 plastic giraffes, his special dog, and Dory and Nemo plush toys. His final offering was himself with his milk. The funny thing is that he will make multiple trips up and down the stairs to bring me these things. Today I have been presented with my sunglasses, a bottle of glue, three Christmas ornaments from the Christmas tree (yes, I have it up this early), and 2 leaves from the Ficus plant. I asked him not to bring me any more leaves.

Third in the news: Mary is 17 days old now and she is still the peaceful little cherub that she was when she came home from the hospital. She's looking bigger and more babyish to me (instead of a teeny tiny ball of buns, drawn up legs, and tucked in arms). She's eating well and sleeping well and spends more time alert and looking around than she did last week. She likes to be held as she looks around with her eyes wide and her mouth in the shape of a little "o".

Final piece of news: I FINALLY got my Illinois drivers license. I was avoiding the DMV like the plague. Because my wallet was stolen awhile ago, leaving me without my CA license, I actually had to take the driving test again! There's nothing like taking a driving test with an elderly man named Herb to make you feel like your 16 again. Actually, Herb was very nice and he explained to me what a complete stop would feel like to him (he should rock back in his seat) and warned me that if he didn't feel it, I wouldn't pass. I guess he felt it because I passed.

That's it for now.

11/12/2005 -1:30-a.m. Chris

Some recent photos of Mary below. (Caroline insisted upon taking the one of Mary's rear end.)


link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6qzqs41r.8j4jpucv&x=0&y=aw6t8i

11/11/2005 10:28-p.m. Caroline

I forgot to mention that Mary had her first sponge bath at home tonight. She wasn't crazy about it, but she smells much better now.

11/11/2005 10:26-p.m. Caroline

So where is that birth story?

I know, I know. I should have posted Mary's birth story by now. I did write one out, but I'm not happy with it, so I need to fix it up and post it. The trouble is that it's hard to get a chance to write creatively with the new baby on board. And I'm having a good time with my mom. Until I get the birth story up, here are a few updates about Garrett and Mary.

Baby: Sleep; Mommy: Hide; Garrett: Ball!

Many people have asked how Garrett is responding to the new baby. Since we have brought Mary home, Garrett has shown very little interest in the baby. He cares that his own routine is not disrupted and so far the baby has interfered much with his shows, computer, and playing activities. We haven't been able to go out much and I think he'd a little upset about that. He's mentioned the 'Mall-Neigh neigh' several times and I hate to tell him that we can't go.

There have been a few changes in Garrett's behavior, such as he wants me to sit down with him a lot. He gets upset when I put on one of his shows and then leave the room. He wants me to sit down next to him so that he can tell me everything that he's seeing. I try to sit with him as much as I can. He also wants me to play ball with him. If I indicate that I am leaving the ball game, then he gets very upset. He also wants me to hide under the blanket so that he can come find me. Unfortunately this activity makes it hard to watch the baby. Yesterday I was finishing one of Mary's feedings and Garrett came into the room with the hiding blanket. He said, "Baby sleep!" I thought he was identifying that the baby was asleep on my shoulder. I said, "Yes, the baby is sleeping." He said, "No, baby sleep!" and pointed to the cradle. I put the baby down in the cradle. Then he said, "Thank you. Mommy hide!" I said, "Oh, you want the baby to sleep so that we can play the hiding game. Okay." When we were finished with the game, he said, "Now Garrett ball." That has been the extent of his protest behavior.

Nice gestures

Garrett has also done a few nice things for the baby. Occasionally he'll say, "Hi, baby." Yesterday he found a babyish toy and said, "Baby's." Then he put it in the cradle next to Mary and said, "Here go, baby." Today Garrett's friend Isabella came by to say hello. Isabella was talking about a pretend game that she had been playing and Garrett tried to interrupt her about 10 times saying, "Look, Ba! Baby!" I thought it was really cute that he wanted to show off the baby.

Mary, Mary, Quite Content.

So far, Mary is a very managable baby (knock on wood!). She sleeps almost all day. When she's awake she looks around like she's taking in a few details and then she goes back to sleep. She has been home 8 days and she has yet to cry. That's right, she doesn't really cry. She coos, she gurgles, she grunts, she makes a small fussy noise, but so far there have been no oh-my-god-what-could-possibly-be-wrong-with-her wails. We have not had to ponder what could be making her so unhappy (too hot, too cold, gassy, needs to burp, wet diaper, tight diaper, overstimulated, etc.) Nope. We watch her sleep, feed her, burp her, change her, wrap her, and put her back in her cozy cradle to sleep. We had a few nights where she was awake and slightly bothered by gas, but for all the other nights she wakes every four hours to eat and then goes back to sleep. By this point in my description of Mary, there may be those of you who had long sleepless nights with your newborn that want to send us hate mail. Keep in mind that we deserve this baby because Garrett STILL wakes up twice a night and wants "MORE MILK! MORE MILK!" I secretly think that any day now Mary is going to realize that she is in a world where she can make demands and will start voicing her wishes and desires in the form of unsettling noises and cries. I'm enjoying her peaceful side while it lasts.

Another possible explanation for Mary's unbelievable demeanor is the presence of my mother. My mother can wrap a baby like a burrito and the little bundle of love is the coziest thing you've ever seen. She sleeps like she's back in the womb. Chris and I cannot manage the Paula wrap. Grandma Paula is also an expert burper. It's no mystery why Mary has suffered from gas between the hours of 10 pm and 5 am when Chris and I are solely responsible for wrapping, feeding, and burping her. Also, thanks to my mom we are relatively rested and sane. You can all expect a future update, following my mom's departure, in which we will describe more adverse conditions, such as sleeplessness, confusion, and assumptions that the baby must be going through some kind of growth spurt.

In summary, all is as well as can be expected here. Garrett is patient and good spirited, I am recovering very well, Mary is the picture of peace, and Chris is hanging in there too. I hope all of our updates are this good!

11/3/2005 6:25-p.m. Chris

And some more pics:

Carle Hospital

Photos that Amy took

11/3/2005 9:21-a.m. Chris

Hi, all. Here are a few more photos (see link below). Caroline is drafting a story of the birth which we will post within the next 24 hours. Caroline and Mary are supposed to come home today. I hope Mary will like her new home.



link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6qzqs41r.4s9hax3j&x=0&y=qlumyb

11/1/2005 6:54-p.m. Chris

Hi, all. Mary is here! She weighted a bit over 7 pounds and came with no problems whatsoever. We'll post more later, but, in the meantime, I've created a link to some photos below for those who are eager to see the new addition.




link: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6qzqs41r.2my6xabz&x=0&y=-u6l6iq

11/1/2005 -1:12-a.m. caroline

Hi Everyone. I'm writing this blog update from the hospital. They lend you a computer if you ask for it. My contractions are about 4 minutes apart, but I'm still talking and in good spirits so I'm not ready to deliver yet. Tonight Isabella came over to see Garrett for Halloween. THey were so cute in their costumes. THey couldn't go trick or treating because of the rain, but they had a good time anyway. Garrett went home with Isabella and is sleeping over at her house while we all hang out here and wait for Mary to arrive. I'm nervous about the delivery, but very glad to be getting on with the show. I hope I can deliver before Garrett starts to miss me. I'll have Chris post another update when we've made more progress. They don't anticipate moving me to a labor room until about 6 am.

10/31/2005 -1:5-a.m. Caroline

No Baby Yet

Tomorrow is Mary's due date. I had really hoped that she would be here already since I can't stand being pregnant one more minute, but apparently she's not ready to come yet. I'm scheduled to go to the hospital late tomorrow night for an induction. If all goes according to plan, she will be born on November 1st. I'm still hoping that she will come on her own before I have to be induced. Wish us luck. I will be so relieved once I know that she is healthy and has a safe delivery. We will post an update on her birth and a picture as soon as we can.

10/24/2005 3:23-p.m. Caroline

For those of you who are checking the blog to see if we've had the baby yet, I thought I'd let you know that she is still on the inside. I'm having LOTS of FALSE labor(i.e., Braxton-Hicks contractions), which means that I get to pretend that something could happen any time, but in actuality nothing is happening. Garrett and I have become total homebodies because I'm afraid that we'll be out, say, for example, on the neigh-neigh at the mall, and my water will break and I'll have to carry Garrett to the car while trying desperately not to drop the baby in the parking lot, and drive us both to the hospital. So for this week, we're lying low. I'd like to have a non-dramatic birth story.

10/19/2005 10:26-p.m. Caroline

Just a quick update on what's going on with us.
Garrett: He is totally obsessed with the Winnie the Pooh Heffalump Halloween Movie. He wants to watch this movie twice a day and it has surpassed Toy Story on his list of favorite videos. And, yes, he does do lots of other things besides watch videos, but in my current condition (see below) the movies are a Godsend. Garrett is also very interested in lollipops right now. He calles them "Wa-wee-pops." Last week we were trying to nap on my bed and he noticed that toe, which was painted pink, was poking through a hole in my sock. He asked, "Mommy, what's that?" I said, "That's my toe." He said, "Oh. It looks like a wa-wee-pop!"

Me: Today I had my 38 week check up. I am 1 cm dilated, 70% effaced, and baby Mary is at a -2 station. In prego land, that means that the door is opening, and the baby is ready to pass through with the appropriate contractions. I have been having many non-progressive contractions and I'm willing to bet that I'm going to have this baby in the next week. But, we'll see. I was wrong about Garrett. He was overdue and I thought he was going to show up on Christmas day.

Chris: Working very hard because he thinks my water is going to break any minute. He is actually more prepared to go to the hospital than I am. He just needs to grab his IPOD and go.

10/11/2005 10:52-p.m. Caroline

Curtis Apple Orchard

It's that time of year again-- time to go to Curtis Apple Orchard and "pat the pumpkins." After Paul left for the airport on Sunday, we decided to make the most of the great weather and take Garrett to the Apple Orchard. They have lots of fun things for kids to do there, but on Sunday they had a special treat: PONY RIDES! Chris was reluctant to take Garrett on the "poor ponies" who are made to walk in cirlces with kids on their backs, but Garrett and I insisted. Garrett had a great time riding his pony and wasn't at all afraid to ride a real neigh-neigh. Garrett also saw goats, roosters, and chickens up close. He walked through a maze, and checked out all the pumpkins. He tried to lift several of them, but they were too heavy. Then he found a small one that he could carry around for a while before he decided to abandon it. After our pumpkin inspection we all enjoyed some tasty apple fritters and fresh apple slushies. Garrett wants to go back for another pony ride and Chris and I want to go back for more slushies and fritters. Yum, yum!

10/11/2005 10:47-p.m. Caroline

Garrett had a great weekend with his godfather, Paul, this past weekend. Paul arrived late on Friday night and Garrett was pleasantly surprised to see him when he woke up on Saturday morning. Garrett recognized Paul immediately from the picture on his wall. He said, "Hi Paul." We all went out to breakfast to the Courier Cafe and Garrett enjoyed some banana pancakes. Later that day we went out to custard cup and Garrett showed Paul how he likes to put every one's empty custard cup in the garbage can. Then we went to the park and Paul was a great climbing and exploring buddy. Paul is definitely a better park companion than mommy right now because mommy can barely move ten feet without becoming uncomfortable. The highlight of Garrett's visit with Paul was showing him all the neat things he can do on his computer. I'm sure it will be a long time before the sound, "Paul? Watch!" leaves his ears. Garrett asked Paul to watch what he was doing about every 3 seconds (even though Paul never actually took his eyes off of Garrett). On Sunday morning Paul took Garrett to the mall to ride the carousel, have an ice cream cone, and play in the play area. Garrett really liked showing Paul all his favorite places! Thanks for coming to see us, Paul!

9/28/2005 2:28-p.m. Caroline

Strike a Pose

Garrett did the funniest thing this morning. I picked him up from MMO and put him in his carseat. As I had finished buckling him in, he said, "Mommy, wa