Tonight was the "Winter Wonderland" show at the daycare. Edward has been singing his class's song for more than a month because this was originally scheduled for December, but had to be rescheduled due to an actual winter wonderland--six inches of snow that day. When it was his class's turn, guess who would not get out of his chair? Oh well.

Daniel actually did get up with his class, but only wore this costume for about 4.2 seconds. However, he managed to steal the show anyway by grooving to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." He was swaying and bouncing as the teachers sang and attempted to get the kids (mostly older...closer to 2) to do some simple hand gestures. As they approached the final "How I wonder what you are?" Daniel started clapping wildly, anticipating the audience reaction.It was definitely an ambitious project given the "talent" available. They hadn't done anything like this before, and the teachers put a lot of effort into making it fun and festive.

In other news, I've neglected to share some recent favorites from the Edward lexicon. A favorite snack of late has been "yo-grit," which we keep in the "fridgalater." Also, he's been very interested in spelling out words wherever he sees them--books, cereal boxes, the morning paper, the poster in his room, etc. After some confusion over punctuation, John seems to have succeeded in explaining that an 'i' has the dot on top and an exclamation point has the dot on the bottom. Still, pronunciation is a challenge: "ex-ta-ma-tion pont." (Not sure I'm getting that quite right...John may have to adjust later.)

We're actually quite amazed at all the spelling. He's known letters for quite a while, but is now seeming to understand that they combine into all sorts of words, not just his own name. It's so interesting to watch their little minds expand and develop.

Edward was annoying me in the post-school, pre-nap phase of the day (which was longer than it should have been, hence the annoyance.) So I need to post two funny stories as a reminder of what a great kid he really is. I will balance that with Daniel photos that have nothing to do with these stories.

Earlier this month Edward learned about John's contacts while watching him in the morning. John has let him wear his glasses (closely supervised) but I don't think Ed ever realized that when John isn't wearing glasses (most of the time) he still has vision correction. So they discussed it in detail and Edward moved on with his morning. Later at snack time, Edward was having Cheerios (his request.) I was washing dishes with my back to him when he called out, "Mom, look." I turned around to see him with his eyes closed pressing a Cheerio against each eyelid: "These are my contacts!" I was laughing so hard I had to call John at work to tell him what was happening at home. This has been repeated a few times but not always announced. The way we know what he's been up to is the milk drops on his cheeks.

The second tidbit isn't so much a story as an observation. Whenever we're in the car we have a running commentary on all manner of vehicles and snowplows are definitely part of the mix. Late last week Edward informed me, "I like the big, big snowplows, not the pick-up kind." That is, the only satisfactory snowplows are the actual city trucks. Any schmo who can attach a plow blade to his pick-up is a mere poseur and not worth a three-year-old's observational energy. Now, whenever we see a pick-up snowplow, Edward announces, "I don't like that kind."

These winter photos and video are from a week ago Sunday, before the deep freeze of last week. We finally made it back out today for a bit of snow play. Daniel likes riding in the sled, but he's not so much about the walking in snow. Hard to blame him since he's pretty much as wide as he is tall in all this gear. It can't be easy to move. During the outing pictured here he did in fact face-plant into a snow drift at least once. This was not his favorite, but he was willing to be brushed with my relatively dry glove and keep going. Edward also enjoys the snow flop, but he's coordinated enough to execute it face up (usually) and then follow it up with a snow angel.

Today we spent some time on our screen porch, which had enough snow for filling buckets and dumping them/spreading the snow all over. Daniel preferred this sedentary occupation. Ed took his shovel out to a snow drift and dug around a bit. I eventually retrieved the sled (no easy task as both of our gates are "snowed shut" and the sled was on the front porch) and gave Daniel some rides down our "swail." He was good for a bit, but finally could not be persuaded to stay out any longer. Ed wasn't ready to come in, but a promise of hot chocolate did the trick. He decided he prefers "warm chocolate," though John noted that this would be a much tougher marketing pitch.



Since our August move, a number of friends have asked for house pictures. I never really feel the house itself is picture worthy as most of the time our decor can only be described as "scattered toys." But here is a shot that captures one of my favorite features--the walk-in closet in the master bedroom. I think I have said it before, but it bears repeating, this closet is bigger than my childhood bedroom. Edward and Daniel like to play in it--you can't believe how many different things an empty hanger or a cedar shoetree can be. Also, the whole closet is occasionally a train, frequently Chicago-bound to see Gram and PopPop.

Daniel had his 12-month check-up last Thursday (the day the high was 7 below zero!) and received a glowing report. He's up to 25 1/4 pounds and 30 3/4 inches. His height and weight seem to be evening out a bit at around the 80th percentile. (he's been a bit higher in weight than height in terms of percentiles.) His doctor gave his thighs a good squeeze on exam since we'll all be sad to see them melt away as he continues the marathon that is his daily life. I am not exaggerating when I say that he is never still. And let's note that both the shirt and pants in these two pictures have now been retired to the "outgrown" bin. Those stripes just couldn't stretch any further.

These and the series below show one of my least favorite features of this house: the two steps up from the front hall to the living room. There are another two from the dining room down to the library, but at least there is a pocket door to close those off. Here we have an extra-wide doorway and a door frame that is even with the lower step, which has made it virtually impossible to find a gate to block it off. Instead, we have to run after him every time he beelines for this area because he simply will not stop on his own. He thinks he can walk down like Edward does and will not be deterred until you catch him and flip him over to crawl down on his belly. The low point of the deep freeze week was the afternoon I finally got tired of chasing him and pushed the couch across the room to block the doorway. It kind of freaked Edward out, but it totally worked. Daniel didn't even head in that direction the rest of the afternoon.

Speaking of "like Edward," Daniel also had his first "I want the same thing as my brother" tantrum today at snack time. He was happily eating some wheat crackers before Edward woke up. Ed came down mid-snack and asked for Goldfish crackers. Once he had the bowl in front of him, Daniel started shrieking, pointing, flailing and arching his back, refusing another bite of the crackers he was eating. He was silenced when I placed three Goldfish on his tray. They were in his mouth within seconds.

I took the boys for a quick trip to the grocery store this afternoon. We needed milk and a few other things, and it was a good excuse to get out of the house after being confined by record sub-zero temperatures all week. (The local schools were actually closed Wednesday for snow and Thursday and Friday because of the danger of having kids out walking to school and because the diesel bus fuel turns to gel at these temperatures. Luckily our daycare follows the university's weather closing routine so it was open.)

The store didn't have two-seat carts and Edward didn't want to walk. He actually suggested he could ride in a separate cart from Daniel. I'm not sure how he thought I'd push two at once. To avoid a meltdown I let him ride for the first time ever in one of those carts that has a fire truck on the front. I have always avoided those because they're so unwieldy. I am still scarred from an experience five years ago when I misjudged the awkward steering and ended up smashing my niece's fingers against a freezer case. (Oh, Colleen, how your tears broke my heart!) But today, Edward was in heaven, calling out "Honk honk! Everybody out of the way!" all through the store. And to top it all off, on the way home we arrived at a train crossing just as the lights were flashing and the gates lowering and for the first time in my life I was actually excited to sit and wait for the coming freight train. Edward counted five engines, two oil cars (which actually were labeled corn syrup) and lost count of the box cars. Who knew such thrills awaited in a simple grocery run?

Happy 1st Birthday Daniel! Look how far we've come in a year!

I just downloaded 92 pictures and videos from the camera including about 20 of Daniel eating his cake with supreme gusto. I'll post a few now and dole the rest out over a few days. It was a fun day, but I'm exhausted and ready to put my feet up on the couch, perhaps with a beverage in hand.

We had about four inches of new snow overnight so of course John started the day with shovel in hand. Because of that, he didn't have time for the big car seat turn-around before we had to leave for our appointment at the Sears portrait studio. Many, many prints are forthcoming at the end of the month, but here's a preview.

(The car seat has since been switched and I am very much looking forward to a forward-facing Daniel.)

The snow must have kept people home because the indoor play area at the mall was not insane. That was the reward for cooperation with the photos. Both boys ran around like mad in there--climbing, crawling, jumping. Well...just Ed on the jumping!

After naps, Grandma and Grandpa came for some birthday fun. Presents, dinner and...CAKE! Daniel wasn't too interested in the lasagna, focusing mostly on the grapes and crackers on his dinner tray. But when the cake came, look out! We were laughing so hard, and he was loving every gooey minute. Here are a few showing the progression:

One of my mom's secrets to surviving six children was to invent games that allowed a period of rest without losing any luster for the youngster involved. In her case it was "camping." She was able to convince a child who thought s/he was beyond napping age that it would be fun to "camp" in the den with a sleeping bag on the floor. She would lay on the couch in the other "tent." And in this way she secured precious moments of rest on weary afternoons.

I employed a similar tactic this week when I was struck with a nasty stomach bug and had little energy for the afternoon romp. Edward woke up from his nap an hour earlier than expected and had no interest in "snuggle" time, which sometimes leads to additional nap time. So we came downstairs and I laid on the couch trying to conserve strength for when Daniel would awake. Edward decided that his blocks were packages and he was the delivery man. He stood between the couch and chair calling out "Ding dong," which prompted me to "startle" awake so he could deliver the package, leaving it on top of my prone body. Later, after John came home, Edward asked him to "play package." John thought he knew what to do until Edward said, "No, sleep!" There was no way to instruct in the nuances of this game, so a demonstration was in order. John laughed his way to the camera to preserve this moment for posterity.

The bug had departed by New Year's Day, but we still held to our tradition of staying in pajamas all day. The Hawkeyes helped with our entertainment needs, crushing South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. But mostly, we just lolled about playing various games, reading books, doing puzzles, and, in Daniel's case, wandering mostly aimlessly from room to room. Not a bad way to kick off the new year.

Very little other news to report. It was a weird week with a sick day and a holiday. We'll be glad to get back to routine this week, though five days of work in a row seems like a long stretch!

Here are two videos: first the "bowling" game John invented with Edward's Christmas blocks from Gram and PopPop, and second, random babbling from Daniel, who amuses himself.

As promised, I return bearing photos. I think I will start at the end and work backward with photos and comments. The way we create a distinct birthday celebration for our Christmas baby is to gather Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa and exchange all family presents. Then Santa's loot arrives on Christmas morning (once again, I was able to persuade Edward that Santa would come while we were at church so we managed to get to 8:30 mass.) Then we play all morning, have lunch, and take naps. After naps, Christmas is over and it's ALL birthday! Edward asked for pasta for his birthday dinner and chocolate for his cake. I stood in the cake mix aisle with him earlier in the week showing him all the choices and even allowing for chocolate cake, suggesting other kinds of frosting. Nothing doing. It was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Later in the week, I learned that it was also supposed to have a red car and a number 3 candle, so that required a separate trip to the store.

He really had cake on his mind all afternoon. I don't think he fully realized until his pasta was in front of him that we weren't actually having cake for dinner, but after dinner. While playing with Grandma and Grandpa before dinner, he was serving "cake" at the new table they got the boys for Christmas.

Here's a video of Edward with his birthday present from Mom and Dad. Too much snow for outdoor use, but the basement is an acceptable practice area. He'll be ready to hit the neighborhood sidewalks come spring.



Christmas morning was a bit fragmented since Daniel was beyond ready for a nap by the time we got home from church. He went straight from his car seat to his crib, barely cracking an eyelid and stayed asleep for nearly two hours. In the meantime, Edward dove in to see if Santa was listening regarding a certain request for train tracks and train cars. Man, that Santa really has it covered!
By the time Daniel woke up, Edward was more than ready to assist. We also dove into the stacks from far-flung aunts, uncles and cousins. Each new discovery was more thrilling than the last. Cars, trucks, games, puzzles and books--oh my!
As noted previously, we spent Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's, which started the whole celebration off with a bang. Daniel enjoyed his first ham so much I had to go back for more in his bowl before I even started my own serving. He also was quite fond of the homemade mac&cheese. However, after fully shovelling it in for about five minutes, he discovered the greater joy of dropping the pieces off his tray with an "Uh oh!" Luckily we had remembered to put a towel under his chair before we started! Edward discovered the joy of Jell-O with marshmallows. Grandma had this treat in individual bowls. Edward scooped up his marshmallows, then worked on the Jell-O for a while before asking for more marshmallows. Lucky for him, Grandpa Softtouch still had a few left and handed them over. (Side note: this morning, Edward was talking about Jell-O and "mushrooms" so he's still working on the marshmallow addition to his vocabulary.)

After dinner it was time for presents, including the table seen above. Here is Daniel with the favorite toy of the evening (Edward now battles for possession.)

So I have learned that the key to the once-a-year gift extravaganza that is a holiday birthday is to quickly stash away some items to be carefully doled out in the coming months as an antidote to boredom or a quick reward (bribe?) as needed. It's getting harder to pull this off as Edward gets older because he wants to open not only the wrapping, but also the package of every gift immediately. Still, we have managed to spirit away a portion of the week's bounty and will be ever grateful to all who have shared Christmas and birthday with us as these items resurface throughout the coming year.

Not to be forgotten in the holiday hoopla, we should report that Edward sailed through his three-year well-child check, mightily impressing his doctor with his vocabulary and conversational skills. He is now almost 33 pounds and 36 inches tall, which is about average for weight, but a little on the short side. Sorry buddy--looks like those Geraghty tall genes have passed you by. The best part of the exam for me was the little robe they gave Edward to wear after changing out of his clothes. So cute! For a look at how far we've come in the last year, I turn your attention to this gem of a video that had me laughing 'til I nearly cried at the memory.

Merry Christmas from all the Kenyons! We've had quite the whirlwind celebration and one more gathering coming up on Sunday. We're having trouble with the concept of naps today so I may get interrupted and have to continue later.

We did not send Christmas cards this year and although I have heard several friends refer to this as an "environmental" decision, I can't truly claim that as an honorable excuse. We just didn't quite get around to it. We did manage the simultaneous cleanliness required for this photo, but couldn't quite sync the smiles. Photo credit to my dad on this one. He and my mom and my sister Nora visited last Saturday/Sunday for the beginning of our Christmas/Birthday Extravaganza 2008.

Much revelry and of course, presents ensued. An unexpected highlight was this toy Chicago Police car with working lights and siren. Gram claims she didn't notice this feature when she bought it on a whim. Suffice to say, we have become adept at the quick kick under the sofa to give this car a rest. No worries about it being lost. It never takes long for Ed to wonder where it went! On the birthday side of this celebration were many, many tools, including a battery-powered light-up drill from Aunt Nora. This visit also resulted in several new books and puzzles to discover and explore. That plus lots of time to snuggle, chat, and enjoy whatever make-believe world that Edward happened to be concocting at the moment, made for an enjoyable weekend. The only downside was that Gram didn't get to take Ed out on his sled due to sub-zero conditions.

This really was the year that Edward grasped the concept of gifts and birthdays. I'm not holy enough to have attempted to explain the true Christmas story. Anyone who has spent any time with Edward can only begin to imagine the number of unanswerable questions this would produce. A day after we brought some presents to school for each class and each teacher, I was trying to instill in Edward how nice it is to give gifts, not just receive them. "Remember yesterday when we brought a present to your class and to Kate? Wasn't that fun?" I gently reminded on the way to school. "Yeah, I like to give presents. I'm the present man. I'm the pres-i-dent," he intoned. And then, since he is quite the politically savvy toddler, he continued, "President Barack Obam...no..." momentary quiet while pondering. "President Edward Jesse Kenyon!" No, I did not drive off the road.

Another conversational gem came on our way home from Christmas Eve with John's parents. All week at school people had been wishing Edward a happy birthday since many were not going to be there the whole week. We started talking on Monday about how Thursday would be his birthday. He's been talking about "in December when it's my birthday and I'm three" since about September. So while driving I said, "Edward, do you know what tomorrow is?"

"Friday?"
"No, it's Thursday, it's your birthday. And it's Christmas."
"On the SAME DAY?!?!?!"
"That's right, on the same day."

"WHAT??!!??"

I think it probably loses something in the blog translation, but it was definitely one for the ages.

Our photo editing program is on the fritz at the moment, and I don't have any more photos ready for posting so I'm going to stop with a promise to continue later tonight or tomorrow. Stay tuned.

We took the boys to see Santa on Saturday afternoon and had a nice chat. I think I've said this every year, but it bears repeating: the Santa at Sycamore Mall in Iowa City is fabulous. He's so friendly--jolly even--has real whiskers and doesn't scare kids, at least not ours. There is never a line to wait in and they let you take your own pictures. Talk about the Christmas spirit! When Santa asked Ed what he wants for Christmas, Ed exclaimed, "A PRESENT!!" Stifling a laugh, he then tried to coax something more specific and elicited (as coached) "Some tracks and train cars for my wooden train." He had an extended chat with Ed about the various characters in Thomas the Tank Engine and even knew a few we'd never heard of. It is safe to say Edward is definitely into Christmas this year.

Walking through the mall toward our dinner destination (pizza) Edward found this train and immediately clambered up. He had the other customers giggling down the aisles as he shouted "choo choo!" Daniel got in on the action as well. They didn't know it accepted coins and we didn't point that out. Their enthusiasm was not dimmed. We only got Ed out for dinner by promising to return on the way back to the car. Then we only got him out by trying to psyche him up for going to buy a Christmas tree. That was almost a disaster as we got to the one tree lot in town to find it closed (6:15 on a Saturday.) Possibly for the best though because the few remaining trees looked pretty forlorn. We ended up at Menards the next day and found a nice thin one that doesn't overwhelm the room. Now the challenge is keeping the ornaments in place. The lower branches are filled with unbreakables (some left from when John was Ed's age) but fragility is still an issue for the tree itself as needles are dropping quite rapidly.

We had a bit of a warm spell over the weekend that melted all our snow and Ed's snowman. But never fear, three more inches fell today. We went out Saturday morning to burn off some energy. It wasn't quite as warm as we expected--Sunday ended up being the better day at 55 degrees early before the bottom fell out and an evening sleet storm ensued. But we had a fun trip to the park as you can see from Ed's expression in the swing. I'm posting this blurry photo of Daniel to show that despite his stoic expression in other shots, he really did have a good time. The blur is indicative of his constant motion.

I think Daniel took the previous update (in which I said I would not yet classify him as truly walking) as a personal challenge. The very next day he was up and around and has only improved since then. He still topples over quite a bit, but he is definitely toddling around on his own. He doesn't like shoes, but finds our floors a bit slippery, leading to some crash landings. Other times he just gets over-confident and thinks he can run like Edward. Then his trajectory carries him forward to a big belly flop. Perhaps related to this, I can report that his first word is, "Uh oh!" (Does that count as a word?) I think so, since he's using it in the right context. For example: he might take his cup, hold it over the edge of his tray, drop it and say, "Uh oh!" This can be repeated to hilarity as many times as the cup is retrieved (which is not as many as he would like and many many more than we would.)

And finally, since it's less than 10 days to Christmas and we still have not jump started the Christmas card process, here's another potential contender. Our across-the-street neighbor saw us packing up for our outing on Saturday and came over insisting that we had to take a picture. We snapped one of the boys, but he said, "No, all of you! This is what neighbors are for!" Apparently in this neighborhood, neighbors are also for snow-blowing, as our next-door neighbor cleared not only our sidewalk, but also our driveway this evening! Cookies will be forthcoming in hopes of continuing this lovely tradition!

Here's Daniel at 11 months. I'm sneaking this one in under the wire--no more convenient excuses (moving, homework, etc.) for missing birthday posts. He is improving his upright movement, though I still wouldn't say he's truly walking. He definitely realizes he's much faster on all fours so after putting in some effort on his feet he generally drops to his knees and speeds toward his goal. Generally, this is the two steps from our living room to front hall. He has learned to turn himself around to go down on his belly and takes every opportunity to practice/show off. To my great amusement, he sometimes turns himself more than 90 degrees and ends up backing up parallel to the stairs. He gets quite mad when he realizes he is not progressing as intended.

Another fun new skill is bringing us books to read. It is interesting to see him grab a book and then attempt to carry it while crawling toward us. Often he ends up with a knee on the book and then can't figure out why he can't move forward while holding it in his hand. Once he arrives at a seated parent, we take the book while he turns around to plop himself in a waiting lap. It's very fun. He seems mildly aware of the "reading" aspect of this adventure, but is much more interested in the "page turning" aspect.

Another "Daniel-ism" we find amusing is that if he's in his high chair and we walk away, even for just a moment (say, to get a paper towel to clean up his latest meal mess) he twists himself around to watch from the opening in the back of his high chair. The rest of the time in the high chair is not so fun these days. He is strongly resisting any attempts at spoon feeding, and "strongly" includes swatting at the spoon as it approaches, arching his back, turning his face away and grunting unappreciatively. However, he is not yet skilled enough at self feeding that we feel confident that enough is going in his mouth, as opposed to down his shirt, into the chair or on the floor. I guess he won't starve. I just need to recall those early finger foods from Edward's first year and stock up.

Here's a museum photo I forgot to post last time. I think it's still worthy, even out of context.

And in case we don't get around to an actual Christmas card this year, here's an appropriate shot that John captured in the process of getting the monthly birthday shot above. We love the expressions on their faces and if you look in the background you'll see Will's memory tree, lit once again this year. Our boys.

In the last post John shared the first snow adventure of the new season. I provided the photos, which were taken from the warmth and comfort of our library, which conveniently has a large window facing the back yard.

I got my turn on Wednesday though. We got about two inches of fresh snow during the day and by the time the boys woke up from naps it was prime time for snow play time. It was quite a process to get all three of us ready to go at the same time without leaving either of the boys fully bundled too long inside, thus growing sweaty before heading out to the cold. Daniel wasn't too keen on the boots, but his limited snowsuit mobility worked to my advantage as he could not attempt to crawl up the stairs while I was finishing the bundling process. All told, I believe we were outside for slightly longer than it took to get ready to go out, so I count that as a success. Daniel spent the whole time in the sled and I pulled him up and down the snowy sidewalks. I forgot to give Edward his good, waterproof mittens, and his daily-wear (i.e. cheap so I don't care if he happens to lose one at daycare) fleece mittens got soaked when he started burrowing in the front yard. He also got snow up his sleeve in this maneuver and started shrieking, "It's cold! It's cold!" To warm up, Edward had his first cup of "hot" (read: lukewarm) chocolate and deemed it delicious.

Also this week, we visited the Children's Museum with Grandma and Grandpa. Daniel is finally old enough to explore a bit and had lots of fun with the vegetable bins in the grocery store. Then he discovered the carts and walked around like a bumper car, changing direction every time he crashed into one of the food shelves. He also was quite fond of the slide in the farm room, especially the five stairs he got to climb to reach it. It was a two-person operation though, with one person behind him on the stairs and another to catch him at the bottom of the slide, so hooray for grandparents!

And for tonight's moment of hilarity: I was folding laundry in the bedroom while John was helping Edward get ready for bed. Edward asked why babies cry, and John explained that they cry because they can't talk to tell us what they need.

"If you're hungry, you can say, 'Daddy I want a fruit bar,' but babies just cry when they're hungry," John said.

"Harry's crying," Edward said, referring to his baby doll. "He's hungry. I will feed him with my milk thing in my belly."

"Oh, your 'milk thing in your belly,'" John replied, trying to mask his horror.

"Yeah, I'm a pretend girl."

Editors note: John didn't realize until after he'd written the previous post that he was logged into Blogger as me.