This last week was pretty exciting for the vehicle-obsessed member of the family. It marked the beginning of another of the projects we knew would be needed when we bought the house and this one involved a digger and mini-excavator in the backyard! (Note that I only know the name of a "mini-excavator" from one of Edward's books featuring 100 different vehicles.)

This project involves regrading around the back and west side of the house to direct water away from the foundation and, thus, the basement. A mid-project adjustment involved creating a small retaining wall so we also took the opportunity to add a small patio of paving stones for a grilling area to the side of the screen porch. Now if only we could finally solve the roof leak and close the hole in our living room ceiling. We are on to plan D in how to completely eliminate any seepage in the area around the chimney. It's good to get these things done, but the thought of the impending bills is a bit stomach-churning. We just have to keep thinking long-term.

On Friday we went to the Homecoming Parade, hoping it would be as mesmerizing for Edward as it was last year. He was very enthusiastic, though he did find it a bit overwhelming when the alumni band stopped with the drum section right in front of us! He liked seeing the "big cow" that is usually parked at the dairy near one of the grocery stores we sometimes go to. He'd never seen it "in action" before and was quite satisfied to see that the cow was wearing a Herky (which is the name of the Iowa mascot and what he calls any identifying symbol for the Hawkeyes.) He was VERY interested in the various items thrown/passed out by parade participants, especially the candy. He came home with a load worthy of Halloween, though it was pared down while he wasn't looking. All gum and hard candy were removed leaving him with some tootsie rolls, smarties, sweet tarts and other limited-mess items.

Unfortunately, the game was not as successful as the preliminary pageantry as Iowa fell to Northwestern.

Daniel was not terribly impressed by the spectacle, but he was willing to watch from his stroller or sit on the blanket playing with toys. Another way to pass the time--feeding himself some Gerber Puffs. After weeks of just spreading Cheerios or puffs all over his tray and eventually dropping them on the floor, he finally managed to get some in his mouth this last week and there's been no stopping him since. He still ends up with as many or more on the floor as in his mouth, but he definitely recognizes that in the mouth is the goal. Concurrently (and maybe not coincidentally) he has learned to clap. He does it spontaneously, not on command, but two primary times for practicing this new skill are while sitting in the high chair or while laying on the changing table.

It feels like we've moved all over again. John and his dad spent Saturday afternoon retrieving our remaining items from the storage facility, so we're back to boxes and unpacking. Some of this has been packed and stored since we first listed our house LAST July. So clearly, it's non-essential stuff...possibly even not worth keeping. But who knows? We've got the space now we just need to put it all away. In this batch of stuff was a table and chairs for our screen porch--a welcome addition. Edward thinks it's great to eat outside, and we must admit we also have been looking forward to that since we first saw this house!

(A note about this photo: Edward put his own shoes on and asked John if he had them on the correct feet. John checked and affirmed. After this, Edward somehow switched them, but they didn't notice until I got home about an hour later and pointed it out. There's something goofy about shoes on the wrong feet--it always cracks me up.)

After moving all afternoon Saturday, overachiever John decided to tackle some of the jungle that is our yard today. He got some info from neighbors who said that apparently two owners ago there was someone here who fancied himself quite the gardener. But he moved out in a bitter divorce and nothing was kept up. Then the next owner (the one we bought from) also neglected it, with his primary contribution being a large plastic tarp over an overgrown (e.g. eight-foot weeds) garden plot at the back property line.

The worst part is, this garden guy must have also been a "natural security" freak because almost everything is prickly, including the tree in the front yard that has something resembling two inch toothpicks all over it. Holly says this is a red haw tree, which will be pretty in spring. We are thinking it may not be long for our yard...we'll see if we can get the lower branches off without inflicting any serious wounds. There was another plant (unidentified by anyone in our posse) that had tiny, sticky burrs on it. Edward and John discovered it accidentally and separately during the week. I noticed some burrs on Ed's t-shirt and had a heck of a time picking them off one by one (brushing them did nothing.) Then John found a shirt that had gone through the laundry that still had some on it. So when John got covered in it while executing the removal this afternoon, we knew the best option was to toss the shirt in the garbage. (It was a freebie from one of our March of Dimes walks.) The gloves also went out. I think he was going to try to salvage the jeans.

We think the roof issue is finally going to be resolved early this week, which means the contractor can return to close the hole in our living room ceiling (was supposed to be about three days and has been more than three weeks.) Apparently the flashing around the chimney was incorrectly installed, but done in such a way that it appeared to be correct. It took a roofing specialist to dig deep enough to find the problem and create the solution, which he is expected to employ tomorrow. Fingers crossed...

While we're crossing, here's hoping Daniel's digestive bug has left the building, or the body as the case may be. He had quite a week and ended up back on a basic breastmilk diet. The medical advice was "feed him more often to avoid dehydration." Easier said by a nurse than done by a mom staring down two of the sharpest little teeth in the infant world. The last several days we've been back to every two hour feedings, and let me tell you, I do not miss that newborn schedule! We didn't have to wake him to feed him though, so we still got most of each night's sleep. Now I just hope Edward doesn't get it. That would be a serious set back for his diaperless lifestyle.

This coming weekend is Homecoming and we're hoping Edward will enjoy the parade as much or more this year. Last year he sat rapt and holding a single dum-dum sucker in his hand for more than an hour. Unfortunately, both boys have grown out of their Hawkeye apparel. We captured this shot just before leaving for school on "spirit day" (the Friday before the big show down with Iowa State.) These shirts do not offer full belly coverage for active boys. We'll have to see if we can remedy that sometime this week.

Daniel must have eaten his spinach overnight, because just a day after Mary wrote here that she thought he needed more upper body strength before he could pull himself up to standing, he did it several times this morning. I caught it on video here as he pulled himself up to see what his brother was doing in one of our moving boxes.

It's way too late for me to be up, but I'm still decompressing after my class. This semester I'm taking Managerial Finance and it's "not my favorite." Tonight was better than last week, but there are still nine weeks to go. I will definitely have something to be thankful for when Thanksgiving rolls around and I'm all done!

Once again, Daniel's "month" picture was taken but not posted on the big day. Yesterday marked eight months since his arrival. I'm trying to savor all these baby moments, but it's really speeding by. He has two teeth (middle, bottom) and likes to chew on anything within reach. He also is determined to give up the sedentary lifestyle and go go go! He's got crawling figured out--still not terribly fluid in movement, but he gets around. Now he's working on pulling himself up to standing. I think he needs more upper body strength for that. As we move into fall, we actually have clothes that fit him--Edward's cool weather 12-18 month clothes, which he wore when he was actually 12-18 months, as opposed to his bruiser brother.

But just to show that he has his aura in balance, here is a bit of baby yoga, Daniel's impression of the "downward facing dog" position. I actually am not a practitioner, but this still cracks me up. He does it a lot, but can't hold it very long, so capturing the picture was tricky.

Since all the photos are Daniel, I'll end with an Edward story. We had a babysitter tonight just for an hour because I was going to have to leave for class by 5:30 and we weren't sure John would be home by then. (His weekly newspaper is finalized on Thursdays and sometimes things run late.) Our new house is around the corner from my boss's house and his daughter has been chomping at the bit to babysit. I thought this was a good opportunity to introduce her to the boys--I would be here part of the time and John would come home shortly after I left.

She arrived and I brought her in to where Edward was playing, announcing, "Edward look, Emma is here to play with you!" He looked dubious and I tried to remind him of other times he'd met her. He kept giving her this sort of evil eye and finally said, "What do you start?"

We were perplexed. "What do you mean," I asked.

"What letter you start?" he demanded.

"Oh, Emma starts with 'E!' Who else starts with E?" I prompted.

"E for Edward!" They are now best buddies.

Taking advantage of some great fall weather, my mom and dad and I took the boys out to "Move It, Dig It Do It!" an event at the Johnson County Fairgrounds that essentially involved a big field full of garbage trucks, buses, cranes, firetrucks and every other imaginable big vehicle or piece of equipment that fuels Edward's obsession. His cousin, Sean, in Phoenix, had attended a fair like this last year, and Ed was jealous of the photos of Sean with various big trucks and such. So, we knew this would be a hit.

It would have been a bigger hit if not for one thing: horns. Every machine had a horn, some louder than others, and the kids in attendance were happy to honk them at every opportunity. Seems harmless enough, but Ed has a thing about loud noises. Ever since a day at day care earlier this summer when they tested the fire alarms, Ed has been terrified of loud noises. Just the threat of a loud noise has him clapping his hands over his ears and cowering. So, when we walked up to the first thing at this event, a big semi truck, the few seconds of bliss at being that close to a big rig were cut short when the kid in the cab pulled the cord that set off the horn. It startled me, and stopped Ed dead in his tracks. I feared we'd need to leave right then, but he toughed it out and walked around looking at things. He passed on the chance to get in the semi because of the hornophobia, but did climb in several other vehicles. I convinced him that the horns wouldn't go off if he was the one in the cab, because only he could set off the horn. This admonition came after he had climbed into the cab of a giant crane and honked the horn, scaring himself in the process. It seems some buttons are just too tempting not to push.

Along the way, he had the chance to sit behind the wheel of all kinds of things, including two fire trucks, a city bus, a tractor or two and more. He also saw some animals, including a pony, two cows (to which he gave a hearty greeting of "mooooo!") and some bunnies. They even had some old bi-planes fly over, which also captivated him.

The firetrucks were among his favorites. For some reason, at our new house he has deemed one particular wall to be a firetruck. He and I sit against the wall wearing backward baseball caps to approximate firefighter helmets, and then he spins his hands to turn the wheel and makes engine noises as we drive. When he had the chance to get behind the wheel of one truck today, I told him as we left it that he forgot to turn his cap around to drive it. He pointed to another truck and we headed off. There, a firefighter let Ed try on the turnout coat, which was so big it practically stood on its own. Ed then somberly turned his hat around. When offered a real helmet to wear he passed, pointing to his cap. Imagination trumps reality, I guess. He then turned to the firefighter and said, "I want to drive it." We climbed up and he grabbed the wheel.

His little brother didn't get much out of it, not that I expected much. He enjoyed riding in the stroller and getting attention from Grandma and Grandpa, but about halfway through he just slumped against the side of the stroller and took a nap.

Don't get used to this quick pace of posts, but we do have fresh news to report: Daniel has a tooth! One of his front bottom teeth is just poking through. He has been a good sport about it, though some Tylenol was a must when putting him down to sleep.

You wouldn't know he was feeling any pain given the way he and Edward played tonight. Edward has loved using our boxes as hideouts and firetrucks and general places to jump around in, and tonight he invited Daniel into his favorite box for some fun.

We survived the move and are settling into our spacious new digs. Once the boxes are unpacked and removed we will have two rooms with no furniture. One, the dining room, will be the boys' play area for the foreseeable future. The kitchen is big enough for a table so we don't feel the need for dining room furniture right now. The other, alternately referred to as "the library" or "the den" will ultimately have a cozy reading chair or two. That room has a full wall of built-in book shelves, which pretty much sold John on this house. I love them too, but my biggest selling point was the walk-in closet in the master bedroom, which is actually larger than my childhood bedroom. (Those who have been to my parents house know that this is not saying much, but still...)

Speaking of size and things that could be described as "comically huge," this box came from the local music store, where a friend of ours works. He told John that they get boxes every day and send most of them to the compactor. We were able to snag a few great ones, including this, which our friend said he thought held three trumpets, possibly trombones. Anyway, it was huge--as wide as our oven and taller than the bottom drawer. Nothing heavy could go in it, but it was perfect for every piece of tupperware I own.

John and I took vacation for the whole week, which was definitely the right choice. We had lots to do in preparation for the big day on Thursday, and those morning hours while the boys went to daycare were vital. The other crucial factor in this successful venture was the two men who actually did the heavy lifting. Hooray for Two Men and A Truck--if this franchise is available in your area, I highly recommend it. The only glitch was due to my lack of planning. I thought everything would be off the truck by the time I had to leave for my class at 5:30 (oh, yeah...did I mention that my next MBA class started the night of our move?) We had left everything in our dresser drawers so when the time came to get ready for class and my dresser was still way back in the truck, I had to improvise. I found a bag of my maternity clothes and pulled out a skirt and t-shirt that were not too billowy. I'm sure no one else even noticed, but it felt very odd to me.

In this picture, Daniel is waiting with me for the movers to arrive. Edward spent the afternoon and overnight with Grandma and Grandpa, but with Daniel still tethered to me as his food source, it was easier to keep him with us. I picked him up from daycare around 12:30 and then came to the new house to wait. I had earlier brought some toys and his saucer so we'd have something to do and a safe place to put him. We also set up the portable crib so he could take an afternoon nap. Someday it will be funny to look at this picture and try to remember a time when the house was empty.

He is quite mobile now, not fully crawling on hands and knees, but getting where he wants to go and even starting to pull up a bit, as on this box. Among our first purchases for the new house will be at least one and probably two new baby gates because he'll soon be full steam ahead toward the stairs.

Over the weekend Edward got his hair cut for the fourth time in his two years and eight months of life. On the last bath before the move, John took this picture to demonstrate that Daniel might not be so shiny up top. He was taking it for the hair, but the goofy grin was definitely a bonus. This picture just cracks us up.

We have a big week ahead so I thought I'd get one last blog post in while the boys are playing with Edward's train. (Note: Daniel's participation consists primarily of trying to eat the train pieces.)

Last Saturday friends invited Edward to play at their house to let us focus on packing, so he had his first solo playdate. By all accounts it was a rousing success. We'll have his friend over once we're settled in the new house, giving her parents a taste of the same (limited) freedom. He was very upset with me for taking him home, but could barely stay awake for the five minute drive. Once home he collapsed in bed for a three-and-a-half-hour nap. So not only did they keep him busy all morning, but they exhausted him so he slept for the whole afternoon. Three cheers for the J Family!

Daniel also did his part by taking two solid naps, leaving lots of time for packing. Grandma and Grandpa came over in the late afternoon to occupy the kids while we continued with tasks too loud to complete while they are sleeping. Then we all went out for pizza. An exhausting but successful day. The only glitch came at the end when we got back from dinner. Edward was running up the back sidewalk and tripped, landing head first on the cement--a scary moment for all of us! We rushed in to put ice on it and distracted him by turning on Thomas the Tank Engine on TV. This was so successful that for the next three days he kept saying, "I need ice," as a ploy for more TV time.

As noted in the last post, Edward is quite proficient in nursery rhymes these days. The night of his accident he was reading "Jack and Jill" and asking "Where's his crown?" "How his crown get broken?" We tried to explain that "broke his crown" simply meant "bumped his head." Edward, clever boy, now answers those who inquire about his bruise: "I broke my crown."

Well, now it's been two hours since I started this post. Daniel needed a nap just before the above paragraph and Grandma and Grandpa arrived to take Edward for the day. So with both boys occupied it was time for some packing and dumpster filling. Now Daniel is waking up, proving that he does in fact have good sleeping skills when given the proper environment (e.g. the removal of his brother from the immediate vicinity of his bed.) This will be much easier to accomplish in the new house, where his bed will be upstairs, away from daytime activity.

We close on the new house Tuesday, move Thursday and close on the old house Friday. We will send an alert with the new address after the dust has settled. For those who need them, our phone and email will remain the same.

And finally, for your viewing pleasure, here is Daniel's favorite post-nap activity (also, clearly amusing to his brother):

Here's Daniel's seven-month picture, which was taken on Sunday (8/10) but for reasons noted below was delayed in posting. We got to celebrate his birthday along with Great-Grandpa's--he turned 88 on 8/8/08 so we all got together on Sunday for a nice lunch and some time together.

So apparently today our buyer asked his agent to ask our agent if we could possibly shift our closing date two days earlier. Oh, to be a 30-year-old single guy with no one but yourself to think about and plan for! He's not being pushy or problematic about it. He asked. We said No. End of story. For him, two days means nothing. For us, it's critical time. Hard to imagine how we will even get done by the established closing.

We've run into a bit of a snag with our own purchase in that there are some significant repairs needed that we did not foresee. Thank goodness for that home inspection! We think some of it is due to the house being unoccupied during our long hard winter and some is probably just the kind of thing you don't notice until you pay someone to look. We're waiting to see if the seller will participate in the repairs. We're asking for about a third of the total costs--not unreasonable, but not a slam dunk either as he apparently is not happy to sell to us at this year's price remembering what we offered last year. Oh well.

So in the meantime, the packing has begun. When Edward wakes from his nap to see yet another empty set of bookshelves, he points and says, "Hey look! What happened?" I'm trying to explain without making him panic about whether all of his stuff will come with him to the new house. Don't want him to think "teenie and paci" need to be boxed immediately!

This video is a bit long, but no time to edit. I won't be offended if you don't watch the whole thing (about a minute and a half.)

Apologies for the blog silence. We were out of town for the weekend and of course, that's when we finally got an offer on our house. We now have both sale and purchase negotiated and are waiting for various inspections. Our buyer wanted to close by Aug. 29, and we didn't feel we were in a position to be picky so we accepted and now must execute this upheaval in a mere three weeks. Expect a quiet month for the blog, but we'll try to throw some pictures up from time to time. We actually got a new camera, but haven't even had time to play with it!

Aside from the real estate insanity, we had a lovely weekend in Evanston. Good times and plenty of good-natured teasing among siblings. The funniest was finding out that Joe treated Bridget to dinner when she was visiting him in D.C. and the immediate and simultaneous shocked reaction from PJ, Nora and me. Joe is enormously generous of spirit but known to be a bit tight of wallet. My mom almost fell off her chair laughing. Another high point for hilarity was the "crutch race" between Ann (broken foot) and PJ (broken leg) down the middle of the street. PJ won by a mile, but Ann notes that he has more than a year of experience and she's a relative newbie at only a few weeks.

This week we made our first family visit to the Johnson County Fair. John thought I was a little nuts in suggesting an early-evening outing. "What's there to do?" he wondered. I wasn't sure myself, never having been, but I thought Ed would like the animals and tractors. It's one of the few local county fairs that doesn't charge admission, so the only thing to lose was the 10 minutes of driving time. Not a big risk.

It turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable--especially because Ed was too young to demand much in the way of anything that cost money (rides, food, games, etc.) He would have spent the whole time climbing on the tractors if we hadn't steered him toward other sights. But the biggest impression came in the first animal barn we visited. If you ask Edward about the fair, he will tell you: "I saw cows pooping!"

Indeed, we did, up close. This is no zoo-like set-up. There is a narrow walkway through the barn with cows on either side, some penned, some tied. John said he probably could have stood in the middle of the walk and reached out to touch a cow on either side. While we were looking at a few who happened to be facing away from us, nature called. Ed was in awe. He could not stop talking about it and when we left the barn, demanded to be taken back to see more cows pooping. The pigs in the next barn were OK, but no poop, so no real interest. Blog readers will be relieved to know that the cow pictures came out too dark so only pigs here. He also saw a sheep "getting a haircut" but I think he was still confused about why the sheep didn't look like the fluffy white creatures in his picture books. There were only two rides that were age-appropriate for Edward so he rode one and then we told him the other one was resting, since it was basically the same thing but a ladybug instead of a boat. He selected his own seat and chose to ride backward so as to man the artillery.

The above tractor was too big for climbing, but there was another area with smaller ones and "tractor lawnmowers" that he enjoyed. Then two of the three Kenyon men enjoyed a climb on the fire truck from a smaller town south of here. Ed got a badge. John tried to conceal his envy.
Daniel enjoyed the fair from the stroller vantage point, and actually fell asleep toward the end of our visit. Next year he'll be on the run, I'm sure.

And speaking of Daniel, he had his official six-month check-up yesterday (as opposed to the doctor visit on his actual six-month birthday, which was for pink eye.) His doctor once again extolled the virtues of "squishy" babies and was very impressed to see him sitting up unassisted. He weighs 21 pounds (90th percentile) and is 28 inches long (84th percentile.) His head circumference is catching up, but still only 65th percentile, what a slacker.

A new car seat has been ordered for Edward so that he can hand his down to Daniel, who only has one more pound to go before outgrowing his current seat. The safety rule is that babies must ride facing the rear until they are 20 pounds AND one year old. Congratulations to Daniel for achieving the weight milestone six months early! Why doesn't Daniel get the new seat? Because seats that can face both forward and backward are more expensive. Ed's current seat can be used in both positions, so we'll now turn it around for Daniel and get Ed a seat that he can use from now until he can just ride with a regular seat belt.

I forgot to include this in my earlier post. This morning at mass, when the priest lifted the host at the consecration, Edward pointed and called out, "Look, a tortilla!" (We'd had tacos recently.) For non-Catholics, the host that is elevated is larger than those given to each person--this one is, in fact, the size of a taco or fajita tortilla.

Also, one morning on the way to daycare when the endless "Why, why why?" became too much, I finally said, "Well, honey, I just don't know." Edward replied, "Don't call me 'honey.' I'm Edward." Later, at school, someone apparently said, "See you later, alligator," and he replied, "Not alligator! I'm Edward Kenyon!"

Yesterday there was a car show outside Kinnick Stadium with proceeds benefiting the UI Children's Hospital. I had read about it earlier in the week and noted the promise of "Herky"--the University of Iowa mascot. Ed learned the words to the Iowa Fight Song at school and in a book we have and is a big Herky fan so we thought he'd enjoy it. But first, we had to wait two and a half hours for him to pee. The event started at 8 a.m. and since it was supposed to be a hot day I thought we could go early. We were not forcing the pee issue, just waiting for it to happen so we'd know we had an empty tank before leaving the house--no need to set him up for failure by taking him out away from the opportunity to use the potty. We kept reminding and checking all morning, offering incentives and sitting with him for several attempts. Finally at about 10:45 the offer of an m&m did the trick. I had been trying to avoid food rewards/incentives/bribes (whatever you want to call them) but since he's satisfied with a single piece, it seems rather harmless.

We basically ignored all the cars in search of Herky. At first we worried that we might not be able to deliver on the promise. There was a guy making balloon animals and Ed got a monkey which seemed to distract him. He also "won" the beanbag toss (merely tossing was enough, regardless of whether it hit the target) and got to choose some Hot Wheels cars as a prize. So he was quite content. And then we saw Herky--very exciting, but a bit terrifying also. In the background of the photo you can see "Perky" Herky's more child-friendly younger sibling who is the mascot of the Children's Hospital.

The event was in the plaza and parkign lot outside the stadium, but part of it was open so you could go in and see the field. This is as close as Ed will get anytime soon--can't imagine taking him into the insanity that is a football Saturday, especially given that he'd have to have his own $50 ticket and has about a five minute attention span. Not compatible with a 3+ hour sporting event!

Apparently my last post was perceived as a bit harsh in my observations of my younger son's nocturnal habits. There is no need to call in the DCFS. I am resigning myself to the fact that he simply is not as good a sleeper as Edward was. However, last night he actually found his own pacifier and plugged himself just before I reached the crib at about 2 a.m. That kept him happy until almost 4 when he demanded more food. It's hard to believe he actually needs it (he's now wearing mostly 12-month size clothes!) but it's the quickest path back to bed--nurse him and put him down and we're all sleeping again in about 10 minutes. My other thought this week was that perhaps the green beans, which were introduced on Monday, were making him gassy. He didn't have any sort of allergic reaction, but perhaps gastro-intestinally things were not right in his world. Tonight we move on to sweet potatoes. Perhaps we'll all sleep soundly.

Can't believe it's been a week since the last post! We're sort of coasting through the days, exhausted by the task of keeping up with Edward's bladder and Daniel's night terrors--or whatever it is that is causing him to wake screaming uncontrollably three or four times a night. I should leave this photo up on the computer screen at night so I can remind myself of his angelic side during these torturous episodes!

Sunday was a particular low light on the parenthood path. Edward was a holy terror all morning, refusing to do anything we suggested or required--even things he normally would be eager to do. It was like he was saying No just for the sake of being contrary. Bad bad morning. Luckily, he reliably takes a 2-3 hour nap after lunch. We all needed that time to regroup so we could start fresh mid-afternoon. Things went much better after that.

We had to renew our sales agreement with our realtor this week--it's been a full three months on the market and no action. We dropped the price again when we renewed--now we're about $9K less than when we started last summer and about $5K less than when we re-started in the spring. We're still in no danger of losing money on the sale. We purchased six years ago, before things really started escalating, and also, Iowa City has not seen the same ridiculous real estate inflation as other parts of the country. As we're lowering, so are the people whose house we made an offer on last summer, who still have yet to sell it a full year later. We are thanking our lucky stars that we are not in a pressure situation to sell and move! Our realtor says the new price has drawn interest of two people who looked previously but couldn't afford it, so we'll see what happens.

Meanwhile, I want to scream every time one of the boys wakes the other up in our current living-and-sleeping-space-adjacent layout!

Daniel is six months old today. His gift from daycare? Pink eye. Again. The fourth time in the three months he's been going there. Am I getting ticked? To say the least. But it's hard to place blame. None of the other kids in his class are getting it. So either he is super-sensitive and susceptible to it or he's not getting it there. Edward's class doesn't have it either, but apparently it's been going around pretty constantly in the pre-school room (ages 4-5.)

When he's not fighting infection, Daniel is a very happy baby. He's close to sitting on his own and is definitely on the move with rolling. (He's not anywhere near standing or pulling up--we just thought these shorts were so cute and John decided this was the best way to show them off.) He stretches and reaches for toys on his blanket when he's playing. He also is figuring out how to replace his own pacifier after he drops it. Sometimes he gets frustrated though, and when I check on him I find that he's jamming the wrong end into his mouth. This week he also had some new food--peas. Grandma gave him his first serving on Sunday and he wasn't too sure about it. But as the week has progressed it seemed to grow on him and now he flaps his arms and opens his mouth for more.

Lately, Edward has taken to playing with the various vacuum attachments--interesting, considering the vacuum itself is an object of fear, but only when engaged in its actual purpose. The flexible hose is good for putting out pretend fires. These more solid pieces are interesting to fit together and pull apart. They also have been fashioned into a trimmer and a lawn mower (the latter with the addition of a cardboard box.) This little game was only played on Sunday, but it was minutes of fun, before the abrupt end, which you'll hear as the video closes:



Later in the day (Edward in new clothes) he was entertaining Daniel, which we thought was hilarious. This video is actually a bit toned down because we were laughing too hard at first to get the camera. By the time I started filming, they were running out of energy:



Another fun new discovery for Edward is that he can take all of Daniel's toys out of the cabinet where we keep them and then climb in himself. At first he wasn't sure he liked it when the door closed (not latched, just enough to block the light) but now he pulls it closed and proclaims, "It's dark!" I am hoping he doesn't decide this is a nice private spot for taking care of personal business. Yesterday was a major triumph--same clothes from the time he got dressed until bedtime! No accidents means Mom actually had a laundry-free day--woo hoo!

As you can see, this is currently a "pants optional" household for those under 3. Sometimes he wants them sometimes he doesn't. He wears them to daycare and sometimes asks for them before going outside, but over the weekend he took several spins around the block on his bike with no shorts. Oh, to be so utterly un-self-conscious!

We took Daniel for his six-month photos on Thursday--about a week early, but our two-year "smilesaver" membership at Sears was expiring that day, so we wanted to squeeze one last bit of value out of it. We weren't sure how it would work with both boys, but they cooperated and we got some nice shots.

Daniel isn't quite able to sit up on his own, so there was some propping involved. He's getting close though. He'll sit for a short time and then either lean forward folding himself in half, or tip to the side. He's also much more adept in the rolling department these days. He can easily go back to front or front to back and has somewhat figured out how to combine these to move away from wherever he has been set down.

We decided to use the long weekend at home to try having Edward wear underwear during the day. He has tried using the potty both at school and home and had some minor successes. I thought including the wet sensation would help him take that next step toward understanding the process. He had some early successes on Friday, but then we had some friends over for a picnic in the late afternoon and I think it was all too much. Now today he seems only to be remember the afternoon accidents, despite the stickers celebrating his first achievements. He wasn't too into it this morning. I have no illusions that this will be a short or easy process. It seems to be as much a psychological task as a physical one. I just want to ensure that we're encouraging him without forcing him against his will. We know he has a strong will and I don't want him to turn it against us in this endeavor! I also don't want to be one of those parents who talks (blogs) about her kid's pee constantly, so I'll leave it at that.

We think Daniel has conquered his latest infections. He finished his medicine on Sunday and has been sleeping better--longer stretches overnight (twice all the way through!) and solid afternoon naps in his crib. This is all good news...for everything except blogging. Since his crib is in our office, it's hard to find time to use the computer. Right now he's sleeping right next to me.

Over the weekend, he was a bit fussy about his afternoon naps, but John found the solution. Not too tough an assignment for a Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, John took Edward for a series of errands, including getting a haircut. The woman who tackled his unruly locks (OK, that's an exaggeration, but it was getting long) was very impressed with his cooperation and gave him this crocodile squirt gun as a reward. He was a bit unclear on the concept. You have to put the croc in the bucket and pull back on the plunger to fill the tube with water. Then push the plunger to squirt--it goes really far! He sort of picked up on it after a few assists, but this may be a summer-long learning curve.

We think our camera may be on its last legs. The auto-adjust for the lighting didn't work with these shots. Sometimes when we turn it on the screen is wavering and some of our videos include this malfunction. (Videos will have to wait for another post--no way to edit in the same room with a sleeping baby. Clacking keyboard is one thing, but personal sound effects are another story.)

We've recently had an uptick in house showings, which is reassuring. We'd really tapered off, but in the last two weeks we've had five showings. Now if only someone would decide it's just right. There's a lot of real estate action going on in town though as people displaced by the floods figure out their next moves. Those who have the means are buying new places on higher ground. Some are renting and others are making due with temporary quarters. There is talk of buyouts in the hardest hit areas, but that takes a long time. It's hard to imagine having everything just wiped out like that and no real idea of how long it will be before you can expect to return to something resembling "normal."

Many campus buildings are still closed for clean up. Some will remain so into the fall semester. Long after the Midwest floods have left the headlines around the country, this will remain our top story.

We had a belated Father's Day celebration yesterday. I consulted with several fathers to find out whether a gift for "Dad and kids" would be appropriate and finally decided to go with my instinct: Little Tikes Basketball. John's been talking about wanting one of these for the boys and he and Ed are always inventing ways to play versions of basketball, so I thought this would be well received. We made a big deal about it being "Daddy's" and Ed helped him open it. Still, it was hard to "take turns" initially. By this morning though, he was letting John have some turns after his own. Ed's not entirely clear on the concept, however. John tries to wow him with his long distance shots and Ed says, "Daddy, stand right here!" Meaning--right in front of the hoop where you can easily reach up (if you're two feet tall) and dunk.

Daniel got a turn, but his first move was to jam the ball in his mouth. Ed was not enamored of a slobber ball. Daniel needs a little forgiveness though. He's currently battling an ear infection and pink eye...again! I don't know why this pink eye keeps recurring, but it's getting frustrating. At least a single antibiotic will treat both ailments. However, it doesn't seem to be doing the trick on the ear. He's been on the medicine since Friday but still is having trouble sleeping. If tonight is rough again, we may have to go back to the doctor tomorrow. I guess we had a good run of about a month of health.

I realized the other day that I never posted Daniel's rolling video. He's getting close to going from front to back as well and then--look out. There will be no containing him. He has done it a few times, but not consistently. He is still more likely to cry than rectify the situation on his own when he's tired of being on his belly.