I am the Great Cornholio!

 

In the beginning...

I can't make this stuff up.

I AM THE GREAT CORNHOLIO!!!

And in case you wonder why Ian would emulate the venerable Beavis, here is your answer..

That kid will do anything to get Will to laugh. And I'm pretty sure there were tears, folks. I'm also pretty sure Christian was laughing wildly, shouting "I need TP for my bunghole!", and the kids were looking at him like a crazy person. Vaya Cornholio!

Cold Hard B**tch

So, two posts in one day is pretty crazy. But Christian told me this tidbit last night, and I had to get it down.

I was at yoga Tuesday night, and Christian was home alone with the boys for dinner and the evening routine. Apparently, the radio was on while they were eating dinner (Christian has this thing for dinner music. Always has to have something.) A song comes on. Not just any song. This song by Jet.

And Will -- who always listens so intently to music of any kind -- listens. Then he says:

"Dad, is it okay if I get down and dance?"

And he proceeds to get out of his seat, rock out (air guitar style), and then get back up to finish eating his dinner.

We may be in for one of these when Will grows up:

Raising A Winner

Will is very much into "being first" these days. First at getting his shoes on, first at going to the bathroom, first at everything. He gets very upset if he thinks he's been slighted out of his rights to first-ness -- especially if it's for the sake of fairness on our part. I'm hoping this is a stage, because it's very annoying. Just being honest here.

Also, C and I wonder if this obsession with being first is healthy for Will. So, being the good parents we are (chuckles from the peanut gallery aside), we decided to try to insert our own logic into Will's preschooler brain and wait ever so patiently for it to take hold.

And then we had this conversation in the car the other day after a friend's BBQ where a T-ball game was played and a friend Will's age got very upset about not winning, or getting struck out:

Will: "F was really mad about not winning today."
Me: "Well, you know Will, winning isn't everything. It's about having fun with your friends too."
Long, pregnant pause from the backseat.
Will: "No, Mom. You're wrong. It is everything."

Schooled again by a 3 year old in the ways of the world. Because really, he's right. In our society, in his world when he grows up -- it is all about winning. C and I looked at each other and laughed, but inside I was a little sad. Sad that even at 3, Will was already learning the logic of being best, competing for glory, bragging rights.

Maybe it's just gonna take a little more time, and a lot more work, for our other logic to sink in. Maybe.

Brothers in name only?

So, I have to do a little comparison between Ian and Will. It's been almost one year, and Ian is quickly moving from infant to toddler. The past year is a complete and total blur. I honestly don't even remember how Ian got here sometimes!


I used to post a lot of stats about Will when he was a baby--since, as a first-time mom--I was obsessed with stats and percentiles. Those arbitrary numbers somehow made me feel like I was doing the right things. That said, let the comparisons begin...


When Will was a little over 11 months old, he had JUST started crawling, his FIRST tooth was peeking through, and I think he was saying "mamama" and "dadada." He also weighed in at about 22 lbs.


At the same age, Ian has just started WALKING (yes!), CLIMBING, has SIX teeth, and says "mamama" and "dadada." He weighs around 18 lbs. 4 oz (we think, at his last sick visit).


Another fun divergent fact: Will was always a great daytime napper, but had a harder time at night. But once he got the nighttime thing down (about 10-12 mos.), he was going to bed at 7 PM and waking up at 7 AM. At 3 years, Will still could take a 3 hour nap each day if we let him.


Ian, on the other hand, has never really napped well during the day, but has always been great at night. As a little baby, he drove me crazy taking 20 min cat naps all day (or sometimes not napping at all!). Now, Ian pretty much only takes one nap per day (about 1.5 hours if we're lucky), but it's hit or miss. Some days he'll take two half hour naps (gasp! not a pretty sight when he melts down at 6 PM). Other days--for no apparent reason--he'll take two, hour or so long naps, even if he slept in that morning. Ian is in constant motion, while Will literally didn't even start moving until he was 11 months old.


And eating. Both boys nursed and had formula from early on, and both self-weaned (whatever that means) at just around 11 months. We start both on solids about the same time (6 months), but Will took off from there like gangbusters. He ate baby food with no problem and was quite a rolly-polly baby (although not long). Ian, on the other hand, never really liked baby food and only now wants to eat things he can pick up himself.


He actually started on finger foods much earlier than Will. Probably because of the teeth--and just cause he wouldn't eat much else. And the doc was a little worried at Ian's 9 month check-up that he's consistently dropped weight percentiles since about 6 months. At 9 months, he was at the 4th percentile for weight -- which shocked me, since he's developing so quickly. So who knows. He was about the 25th percentile for weight when he was born.


And there ends my motherly comparison of the boys. Funny thing is that even though these guys are starting out so differently, watching them now, it looks like they still have lots in common. Mostly, a crazy mother who is already pulling her hair out worrying about the first trip to the ER.

Pot Roast Fantasia

Mmmm, the smell of pot roast slow cooking in the oven is wafting over me. I can't wait until dinner. I'm owning up to it now -- I've never actually made pot roast myself. I know, how can that be? It's so darn easy. Oh well, better late than never.

How many guesses to who will NOT savor my pot roast tonight? Yup, the "I-don't-like-that-what's-that-smell-ewwww-I-want-icecream-peanutbutterandjelly" child, our first-born. And he was such a good little eater at first. Sigh...

This is more along the lines of what Will likes to eat for dinner, or any meal (that's a good 'ole Girl Scout Tag-along cookie -- I don't care what silly politically correct name they're calling it now. I love my Tag-alongs.):








PS -- The pot roast was awesome! I was practically licking my plate... And I actually followed a recipe to the letter this time (http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pot_roast/). I know, shocking. This site is becoming my go-to place for normal, home-cooked, time-tested recipes. Oh yeah, and Will didn't touch it. Okay, he did eat the egg noodles and a few carrots...

Has it really been almost 2 years...?

Well, for those of you following our blog (ha ha), I guess the past year or so has been kinda boring. No new posts. No new pictures. Did we retire, move to Guam, go off the grid?

Nope, we just had a second child (Ian, born March 20, 2009), I started a new job, Christian deepened his growing obsession with golf, and Will entered his third year. Heaven help us. The "terrible twos" got nothin' on this...

I, on the other hand, marvel at my ever diminishing lack of "me time," even for the most mundane tasks like reading books for book club, washing my hair and brushing my teeth thoroughly. Yes, in my 33rd year I was informed I had my first cavity. What the...?! More than anything, that damn cavity has me contemplating my mortality and thinking I better get it into gear or else I'm gonna fall apart by age 40.

So in honor of new years and resolutions and starting on a fresh foot -- I am making a pact with myself to blog at least once a week (and floss every night no matter how tired I am). Writing has withered in the my closet of "things I dreamed of doing" for a long time now. I figure it can't be that hard. You just do it. Right?

And I promise not to write exclusively about babies, preschoolers, teething and potty training. Speaking of ... we posted some new pics on Picasa. Happy new year, and there's more to come.

Word....

Just a quick update on Will's progress on the talking front. These last few days have been crazy -- so many new words, and they come out so fully formed!

1. Ball -- This is now a favorite. Will has like 5 balls, of varying sizes, but his favorite by far is the adult sized basketball. It lives in the house now...
2. Bear -- Will inherited my stuffed childhood companion, know simply as Bear. She was a she when I had her, but now she's a he (go figure). Will has taken to Bear quite a bit lately, and started saying his name this week. Sounds a lot like "bar" though.
3. Bye -- Will has been saying "hi" for a while now, and this week he finally got the hang of "bye." But not just bye, it's "buh-bye." Of course.
4. Hot -- The oven is hot, pans are hot, empty pots are hot, the dishwasher is hot, food on his plate is hot. But does that mean he won't touch it? Nah!! Of course not!
5. Wow/whoa -- We say this a lot when Will does cool things (or things we think are cool). We'll say it, then he'll mimic. And sometimes, he'll say this by himself when he's playing with something he likes.

We promise pictures to come soon. We have lots in the camera, they just need to come out.