Autumn's new clothes

Kinda speaks for itself.

Some things about Gavin

On Gavin's first birthday, I sat him on the potty and he went. It was a shock, it was interesting, and it was almost a year ago.

He still wears a diaper all the time. And he still has some moments: in the last two weeks, he's pooped in the tub twice. Once while I was there, and once while I was away, which led to this call:

Ring, Ring:

Me: Hello.
Autumn: Dad. Gavin pooped in the tub!
Me: Um, what?
Autumn: Gavin pooped in the tub. (Laughing). OH MY, HE'S POOPING AGAIN (Screams)
Me: What...?
Autumn: NOW HE'S PEEING IN THE BATHROOM!

And it sort of went on from there.

The point if this isn't to tell you about Gavin's bad potty habits. It's to tell you that when we stick him on the potty, he goes. And he's saying potty more and more in a way that really means he wants to go.

He'll be two in June. And there's a real good chance that before this summer is out, we'll be out of diapers. Sure, there's lots to do. Last night for instance, I stuck him on the potty, making sure to point down his gun. He said book, and pointed to the book, which I dutifully looked at, only to see pee on my pants. He was peeing, and it was coming out so fast that it went over the little boy guard on the potty seat.

But he loves it. Stick him on the seat, and I think it makes him feel like a big boy. Which means, I guess, that he's a big boy.

Turner Walks

I read the news yesterday on Facebook that little cousin Turner had walked. And now, the proof. Little Turner goes for a walk.

Meeting Asher on SuperBowl Sunday

Last night I held a two-day old. Little Asher, the new addition to the French household. Cute beyod words, little Asher was a delight. Here's some video I shot of Asher and Julia.

Get Lost

Okay. I watched Lost last night.

If you haven't watched it, or don't care, stop reading. If you have, here's my take:

The bomb went off in 1977, and that changed things. The biggest thing is that the bomb and the release of energy from it sank the island. On a smaller level, since there was no island, and no button to push, Desmond is on the flight that won't crash because he didn't push the button.

Image via Wikipedia

(If there was no Island, then why would Jacob 'save' Locke when he was pushed out the window? Why would he interact with Sawyer and Kate?)

A bomb exploding the island brings up a paradoxical riddle akin to the grandfather thing. If I go back in time and kill my grandfather, could I really have killed my grandfather since without him, I wouldn't have been born?

This is worked out on the theory that time isn't linear but has multiple waves. It's like the multiverse theory, whereby there are a million alternate universes and any action one could take is taken in an alternate universe. Think Sliders. (But this is getting too geeky already).

And therein lies the greatness of Lost. It's not just a TV show, it's 60 minutes of messing with our minds.

In Lost, since they blew up a bomb in 1977, it must have destroyed that time line. So the plane lands, drama ensues (and the drama will be like the Oceanic Six Drama, happening in real time)

The strange thing is the alternate reality that takes place in the island, an alternate time line in what might be an alternate universe where 'things' can take any shape and magic is real. See Sayid, coming back to life.

(In the 'real' world, the magic might be Jack helping Locke walk again.)

So, to recap: the bomb did two things. First, it blew one timeline to the present, and skipped 30 years, meaning the "present" can be totally different from the non-nuclear-bomb present that the passengers crashed into.

Second, it created an alternate non-Jacob interfering timeline wherein the Losties are just people who took a flight and landed. They all have some serious shit, so this timeline will explore their serious shitness -- though Hurley's "I'm the luckiest person in the world" leads one to believe this new non-Jacob timeline is also much different.

Regardless, both times are impacted by the bomb. It will be fun to see how.

Gavin slept till 7:00AM

I have many conversations about sleep. One might even say that I'm obsessed with it. On Facebook I wrote: "Anyone who sleeps like a baby doesn't have one", and it got a lot of likes and comments. Those are like the "atta boys" of Facebook.

At our house, we have a system. We eat dinner in the early 6:00's. Bathtime is around 6:30, and the bedtime routine has started. By 7:00PM, both kids are in bed and either in the process of getting thoroughly read to, or they are done with the books.

Aside: Gavin is really into this book about Farms. It has animals, meaning he gets to make all the animal sounds. It has tractors, meaning he gets to go "Vroom". Which he loves doing. He's at the point now where he wants a book over and over. Maybe it's just his desire to stay up longer, maybe it's the fun of reading books. Who knows?

Now, we do this whole "they are in bed by 7:00PM" with the very real understanding that they are out of bed at 6:00AM. But the thing is, even on the nights when they are in bed at 8:00PM, they are up at 6:00AM. Regardless of the time they go to bed, they are up at 6:00AM.

Meaning, the more time we can get at night, the better.

Which brings us to this morning. Last night was gymnastics. Autumn goes every Tuesday, and last night I had a think on Corporate Blogging, so mom took them both. I got home and mom took off for an appointment with a Yoga mat.

I read them both books, put them both down, and looked at the clock. 8:15PM. Then I went downstairs and cleaned up a bit and listened to the monitor. Gavin just played in his crib till at least 8:45PM. He wasn't crying, he was doing that chat to himself thing that little ones who are learning to talk do. It's almost a cooing, but it's more because random words get thrown in.

So you hear: Coo. Coo. Baby. Coo. Coo. More. No, no, no. Lulu! (That's Lucy, the dog, barking at a dog walking past our house, Gavin hears it and yells Lulu.)

So now you understand the reason he slept until 7:00. Which is late for him.

Bonus video: I'm going to end all my posts with a bonus video. Here's Autumn, January 2010.

On sleep

So here's the deal. Last night the wee lad exercised the pipes at 3:00AM. This after a week of not going to sleep in what some people would refer to as "smoothly".

Oh, and Autumn was already in our bed. At 1:00AM, I rolled over to see her staring at me from the floor.

"I'm scared", she whispered, presumably so she didn't wake up mommy.

"Of what?"

"A witch just ate me, spat me out, and might eat me again." She said. "In my dream" she added, helpfully, because maybe I wasn't sure.

And really, who is sure at 1:00AM.

So there we are, with the princess in the bed, when the wee lad Gavin decided to start the mommy chant.

"Muuuuuuoooommmy"

"mommy"

"Mom?"

"Maaaammmmmaaaa"

It sort of goes on like that for a bit. It's not really him crying, it's him yelling for mommy. Unlike Autumn, who takes pains to not wake her up, but wakes me up, Gavin just lets 'er rip.

"Mama. Mommy. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaa!"

We really shouldn't be here. We're not new at this. And yet, somehow, we're back to Gavin being up every night. He's doing this when we put him to bed, and doing it to the point where he cries so much he ends up doing that little toddler coughing fit-thing that is heart breaking.

It sounds like he's choking, which is hard to ignore. So one of us goes in, hugs him to calm him down, and implants the cause and effect of coughing equals hug.

This has been a tough week. And will get tougher since I'm out late tonight.

Facebook images

All the uses for a pig

A designer looked into a pig to see all of the uses that Holland gets out of a pig. And you thought it was just bacon.

TEDxAmsterdam: Christien Meindertsma from TEDxAmsterdam on Vimeo.

The kids

End of the year summary to come.

An update on Gavin

It's been a while since we updated. So here's where we are:

Gavin:

He says real words now. Tonight, while eating a little veggie curry for dinner, Gavin said the following words:

1. Uh-oh.
2. No.
3. More.
4. Dada.
5. Mama.
6. Lulu (Lucy's new name)
7. Go.

He fully understands everything that we say. For example, if he's climbing on the chair to get on the dining room table, and you say "no", he immediately crawls as fast as he can onto the table. He knows that no means you're coming for him.

We tried him at the dinner table this week. Autumn and Gavin sitting across from each other while mom and dad take a seat at the ends of the tables. It worked on Monday, but not so much on Tuesday. So, we sent him back to his chair.

It's messy.

What else? He loves to give kisses. Ask him for a kiss and he puckers up like mad and throws it down. Last week, he was cutting 3 molars, which seriously impacted his sleep, and ours.

Halloween 2009

"What do you want to be for Halloween?" We'd ask Autumn.

A Butterfly.

Pause.

"No, a Princess."

And it would go back and forth like that, with her witching from a Butterfly to a Princess. So mommy got the idea to combine them. Why not be a Butterfly Princess?

Autumn loved it. She couldn't wait to tell everyone about it.

This is her at school, singing her Halloween songs. Her favorite is:

"Halloween Candy
Tastes just dandy
Bubble gum too
I like to chew
I went trick or treating
Then I started eating
Oh my tummy
I feel sick"

We think there might be a line about calling the doctor quick, but we're not sure.

Now Gavin is at the age where he doesn't get to pick his costume. So we made him be Oliver Hardy, of the Laurel and Hardy fame. Dad was Laurel. Here's the proof.

Look how happy he is. I bet he'll love this picture when he's older.

Much older.

Happy Halloween.

Me and Gavin.

we are having fun together. sometimes the days are sooooo long and exhausting- but the truth of the matter is that i am grateful for this time at home. I quit my job a couple years ago now and it was definitely the right choice- NOT the easy choice, but the right choice.

Remember when she was so tiny? I know, she's only three, and still tiny, but still. Remember?

Autumn's first crush

A couple of night's ago, just before bed, Autumn just all of a sudden blurted the following:

"Dad, I love JT."

I paused, letting the moment sink in. This is a big moment. This is her first crush.

"You do?" was all I could muster, I didn't want to pause too long.

"Yes".

I asked her why.

"He's funny."

"Do you want to give him a hug?" I prodded.

No, she said, but her smile was saying something else.

So we have JT. A boy from her school. She sees him every day, and each day we learn something new about him. Today we learned that JT lives far away.

We knew it was coming. I for one think the giggles and smiles are cute. But then, this is the harmless crush time of her life.

Talk to me in ten years.

First Gymnastics class

If you've met Autumn, you know she's not shy.

Last night, she really wanted to go to gymnastics, so we ended up getting there 15 minutes early, which actually turned out ot be a mistake since she wanted to go in.

Still, I managed to sit her down and get this:



And of course, I had to peek. She spend the 45 minutes with a huge smile on her face. And if she saw me, she smiled and waved yelling "Hi Daddy", I wanted to watch more, but I was clearly distracting. But, I managed to watch her roll around, walk on a balance beam ("My teacher helped me"), run through an obstacle course, and then walk, in single file, out of the class.

She loved it. Just loved it.

Mommy is home today.

Yaa.

More gifts from Mom

This is Autumn saying thanks.

Saturday

Every day, mom left Autumn a card and a present. This is today's thank you.

The second day of school

"See that tower daddy?"

"Yes"

"That's my school"

And so we pulled into the parking lot at the same time as one of her teachers.

"Daddy, that's my teacher"

"Hiiiii", she said, waving her hand.

Dropping your little girl off to school isn't easy. But mommy picked a place that is warm, fun, and inviting. Autumn loves it, you can tell.

Yes, she loves hanging out with us, but she loves other kids, and she loves trying new things that aren't food.

We did another video this morning. The lighting isn't the best, but the sound works: enjoy.

The first day of school, part II

"They're all on the playground", a mom told me. The mom is actually someone I know professionally, so it was interesting to see her.

I went to get her, and as soon as she saw me, she gave me the biggest, tightest hug I think she's ever given me. At first, I thought it was because she was upset, but then she turned to all the little girls and said:

"By everyone. My daddy's here and I'm going home".

"Dad, can I have a sucker when I get home?"

Her favorite part was making the party in the play kitchen, although lunch was fun with her new lunchbox that mommy bought her.

This is her full report: