Thanksgiving

First and best, this thanksgiving allowed us to completely ignore the hanging deadlines at work for several days. We spent some time in eastern NC at my parents' (Jason's). It was so nice to let Alder get to know his grandparents, great-grandmothers, aunt, uncle, great aunt and friends better, and vice versa. All were well-entertained. And it was likewise wonderful to see him romping around where I grew up romping around. We spent a good deal of time inside sitting, visiting, cooking, eating, cleaning, but with Alder more mobile, also alot of time outside on this visit. This was a welcome insert of variety. Also got to spend some much-missed time with brother and sister (in-law), and we hope to continue that soon.The majority of the time outside was spent either pushing Alder on a new tricycle or riding in the trailer behind the lawn mower. We didn't get pics of the tricycle though. Alder liked it but his legs are not long enough, so it wound up being a glorified stroller for the adults... much more fun than a stroller for Alder. He will grow into it.

As for the lawn mower, we wouldn't dare call it that in front of Alder. Its very much a tractor, or "dat-doo", a word we all heard 7 to 8 thousand times over a period of 3 days. Pa-pa pulled Alder, several laps around the yard. He was mesmerized in the trailer. Who knows with what? Being that intimate with a real "tractor", the passing autumn wooded eye candy, sheer contemplation, the lull of the small engine, the fumes, the incessant vibration,... all of the above? Kidding. Whatever it was, he loved it. Absolutely. He went ape on the lawn mowers in Lowes today, more than ever before, probably because of this new experience.
We also visited our neighbors a couple of times to show Alder some real-life hens and roosters. Very very cool. Alder got to run amongst them, stir them and hear them cluck and crow. Now he knows why mommy and dada shout those noises when they reach those pages of the animal books. Eventually we'll show him the real versions of all the pictures we look at.
Thanks to all for a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a decent re-introduction to the grind tomorrow.

Potty progress after a hiatus and Turn on your lovelight

WARNING: gruesome potty details below.

Since I have been working full time, we have not been able to stick with elimination communication with Alder. The combination of bipedal locomotion, hardheadedness, and a total lack on consistency have not really been a recipe for successful communication on several fronts, especially regarding his elimination. When we are with Alder, he wears cloth diapers and they are changed frequently so he does not become accustomed to feeling wet, we recently started changing him in the bathroom standing up (unless it was too messy), and continue to talk to him about how he had just gone 'tee tee' or 'poo poo' in his diaper and to maybe try the potty next time....

The major progress started a couple of weeks ago when we bought a stool to go next to the potty. Whenever he would wake up from a nap or in the morning with a dry diaper (which is pretty often) we would take him into the bathroom and stand him on the stool, make the sign for potty and the same cue we have done since he was 6 months old ('ssssssss'). Sometimes he protests for a few seconds, but then he stands still, concentrates and then smiles proudly as he hears his tee tee hit the water. When we spend entire days with him, we offer the potty every hour or two especially after returning home from errands, getting down from eating, coming in after playing, and he has been increasingly cooperative. We are anxious for him to answer yes and no to questions - are you hungry, do you need to go tee tee, etc. Not sure why this has not clicked yet because his vocabulary is growing by the day!

So, we recognize this might not last b/c it is tough to make progress when he is in daycare, but we are excited nonetheless and thought we might brag a bit. From Friday morning to Sunday evening, we had more elimination in the potty than in a diapers! I even got him to go at 2am last night when he woke up for a sip of water and to be rocked a bit!

Oh, and here is Alder moving pom poms from one bowl to another - an idea we got from a Montessori school we have been visiting. He concentrated on this for awhile.

Reading books with 'dada'

And as a reward for making it through all that...here is Alder shakin' his booty again! Warning - it is about 3 minutes with music in the background. Just so you all know, we have not taught Alder any of these moves...I suppose it is just innate....

A growing friendship and grandparents visit!

Another great weekend...our weeks blaze by so fast these days that we only have time to reflect on things over the weekend. But to recap on this past week....Alder cut two new teeth. We thought we were done for awhile since the four molars are in, but he is still slobbering so much that we decided to investigate and found that he has two upper canines poking through!

So Alder and Tsuga are becoming quite close. Alder is annoying him less and less and actually engaging him with sticks and toys in an appropriate way. We have to certainly give Tsuga most of the credit though as his tolerance of Alder has increased dramatically and he doesn't seem to mind being stepped/fallen on while trying to relax. There are lots of kisses and hugs between these two lately and in general some true camaraderie. Tsuga is especially gentle with Alder when playing tug of war with sticks...

We had fun raking leaves today. The temperature dropped and it feels like winter...booooo!
Alder periodically laid back in the leaves and looked up to admire the increasingly naked trees!

Saturday was much warmer and Grammy and Pa Pa were here! We all walked down to the wonderful playground in our neighborhood (at the catholic school) and watched as Alder climbed, slid, ran, and pulled dad into stealing another kid's ball so he could learn to kick it.


Thanks for coming to visit Grammy and Pa Pa. We look forward to seeing you at T-giving very soon!

Aunt Elizabeth visits and some tidbits of late

Sorry for the delay in a post...
We have been tired and going to bed early as it is so dark and we are worn out by the time Alder goes to bed these days. I have also been really snotty, but the neti pot has pulled through yet again and I am feeling much better today. But this full time working thing is not for me....

Otherwise all is going well. Alder's Aunt Elizabeth came to visit this past weekend and we all had a great time! Alder immediately enjoyed her presence and the extra attention.

We went to Charlottesville for some early Christmas shopping and Alder did great on an all day outing without a regular nap. The weather was incredible, the leaves were at their peak, and Alder really loved all the performers - an a-capella group, three young brothers juggling, and a solo banjo/harmonica player/singer! The latter was his absolute favorite as he danced and danced out in front of a small crowd that had gathered around this very talented fellow. His dancing involves stooping and sticking his buns out to shake them a bit and then twirling in a tight circle to often fall down. The onlookers all thought he was adorable. He even walked over and put a couple of dollars in the open banjo case. Sorry we do not have any pics of this...Elizabeth took a video on her phone and maybe I will get this from her.

Since this event, Alder seems to be trying to sing some - but it really comes out like a strong and passionate yell...well, kinda like the banjo player was doing. It is funny.

Here is a video of us being silly with Alder the other night....

Oh yeah and when we were eating steamed kale recently (just plain with nothing on it) he asked for some and proceeded to chow down. Let's hope this continues...


Other than that...not much to say. Alder will soon be officially 1.5 years old....we hear this is official toddlerdom!

Happy Election Day!

Here's to making history - personal history - today if nothing else... waiting in a long line in the rain, first thing in the morning...Smiling....

Halloween weekend

We had a beautiful, warm autumn weekend. Temps got up in the 60s-70s and the leaves are really beautiful right now. We took Alder to Maymont park - hundreds of acres with miles of walking paths, a petting zoo, and a Japanese garden (oh yes, and it was free!). Embarrassingly, this is the first time we have been there! We loved it and will certainly return again soon.

Oh, yes and Halloween: well, I am very thankful for hand-me-down costumes from generous neighbors! Especially since mom has not used her sewing machine in a LONG time.

What a change from last year!!

Our buddies we had not seen in awhile came over Friday to experience suburban halloween! We had a good time mostly hanging out around the house and eating dinner. We had several families of kids stop by - more than last year because I guess we know a few more folks now. Alder and Sylvia (or 'Ya-Ya" as Alder says it) wondered what the bigger kids were taking from the big shiny bowl, but did not seem too disappointed when they never got to know for themselves...

We walked around the neighborhood a little bit, but the kids were tired and not amused by all the lights and spooky yard decor.

This was a very fortuitous picture - big open mouthed smack right before Alder fell backwards on Tsuga's bed...swooning!