• We Are Now Those Parents

    We went to the mall today to do some Christmas shopping. We were hanging out in Pottery Barn Kids, letting M. enjoy the rocking horse and terrier and then turned her loose on the table where they had a roll of paper and crayons. She’s just started scribbling and isn’t always sure what to do. Sometimes she goes nuts, other…

  • Life With A Toddler

    It’s snowing. The iTunes playlists have been adjusted to pull in Christmas music. We’ve placed a holiday wreath and doormat at the front door. Our tree will probably be purchased over the weekend. The calendar reads December 1. ‘Tis officially the holiday season. And yes, to the people at Fox News, I am referring to it as the holidays. For…

  • Happy Thanksgiving

    It was a strange day for us, so I didn’t have time to get a pre-Thanksgiving message out for most to see. Our power went off for two hours this morning, so M. and I sat around watching the snow fall until S. got home, then we headed out to get breakfast. When we got home, the cold I’ve been fighting grabbed…

  • M’s First Post

    I turned M. loose on the keyboard over the weekend. Below are the results, as recorded in TextEdit. What I enjoy most is she somehow found the right key combo to get into my clipboard memory and find bits of something I posted in the comments section of an NBA blog regarding a recent Pacers-Heat game. She also managed to…

  • What A Day

    Yesterday morning, M. woke up at 5:00. Yuck. I went in and got her untangled from her blanket, found her binky, and tried to make her comfortable. I went back to bed, but could never go back to sleep. S. got up around 6:30 to prepare for work. I got up shortly after to get M. ready to go over…

  • My Little Writer

    M. spent the morning at her grandparents’ house today. When I arrived to pick her up, she was just waking from a nap. After a few minutes cuddling with Grammy to shake the cobwebs, she hopped down onto the floor, started grunting and pointing around the corner, and then took off towards my father-in-law’s office. “You’ve got to see this,” he…

  • M. Update

    I had put this list of M.’s latest tricks and treats together over the weekend, expecting to post it Monday. I haven’t edited for dating, so if anything is odd about tenses etc, my apologies. One addition, we were at the grocery store Tuesday and put her on the mechanical horse for the first time. A penny buys about a…

  • Keeping Up With The Jens

    In recent weeks, I’ve been eating a lot of meals on my own. Changing a lot of diapers by myself. Spending a lot of evenings alone in the basement with the TV on, the laptop open, or a book in my lap. Read after the jump to find out the cause for all these oddities. No, S. hasn’t left me.…

  • 15 Month Check Up

    M. went in for her 15 month check-up today. No real changes, but here are the numbers. 24 lbs, 6 oz. Still 75th percentile. 29 3/4 inches. Still 25th percentile. Head circumference 49 centimeters, still 95th percentile. Of course, she’s in the 99th percentile with the hair. A smooth, regular rate of growth on her little chart. Where’s that growth spurt…

  • PDX Trip

    Ahh Portland. Fair city of books, beer, NPR listeners, and misty days. I’ve had the good fortune to travel there many times in the last few years. This weekend was the first time S. was able to tag along with me, along with M. who got to meet her god-parents. Some highlights below the jump. First, and perhaps most importantly,…