Hallie and Travis

Travis had his 2 year check up today and got a great report. I can’t say the same for the speed with which we got seen (it took almost 2 hours for an 8:30 appointment, and Mark couldn’t even stay for the doctor’s part!) but they were very apologetic. And all the nurses had to work dressed up as Crayolas so I’ll cut them a little slack.

T is 33 pounds or 93% for weight. He’s 35.5 inches or 78% for height. And his head is still on the chart at the 95th percentile. I remember Hallie’s two year stats b/c they were easy numbers: 30 pounds, 36 inches. So T is just a bit heavier and shorter than she was. I’m surprised, actually, that he’s not taller. I would have thought he’d be at a higher percentile for height than for weight.

We didn’t have many questions today. T is cleared for skim milk, which makes shopping easier. His cholesterol was slightly high at 184 but they said that’s very typical when drinking whole milk and it should drop now that he’s off that. They said just keep working on the variety of foods. The doc said if a kid is eating either fruits or vegetables she doesn’t worry too much about the other one at this age. T loves his fruit, so maybe he really is getting what he needs. I forgot to ask about vitamins but maybe I’ll call to do that.

We added Hallie to the appointment to get her cough checked out. I was relieved to know her chest sounded fine. Dr. Kartheiser gave us another “it’s probably allergies” diagnosis. She said both Hallie and Travis look like “allergy kids,” whatever that means. That seems to be her answer to most things, so I don’t know if I take it too seriously. But Hallie’s cough is definitely fading and other than a few sniffles here and there T seems to have skipped it. Not a bad run, really. I’m just hoping she didn’t have something mild that she managed to pass on to any of her cousins.

Both kids got flu shots and T one other and they were both fantastic. I was apprehensive about it with Mark having left. But they were great. T complained for a minute or two and I don’t think Hallie even flinched. Of course I went overboard with the praise and they were both very pleased with themselves. Or maybe they were pleased we were finally going home!

The kids had a great time tonight. Hallie especially loves all the decorations and spookiness. I had to wake both kids up to get ready, but they were in great moods. We even managed to eat a little dinner before getting into costume!

Travis didn’t quite understand everything at first. But he caught on quickly. After a few houses, he’d see us start heading for the next house and he’d ask, “Is that a trick or treat?” He clutched one piece of Laffy Taffy in his hand most of the way, no matter what else got put in his hand. He finally gave that up for a Tootsie Pop, which he thoroughly enjoyed once we were home again.

Travis wore the purple and yellow bee costume that’s been around since Hallie’s 2nd Halloween. Hallie wore the fantastic astronaunt costume Gup made her from some plans I found on-line. She got lots of compliments and even one “best costume I’ve seen all night” comment.

We didn’t visit all that many houses–just our good friends. The kids had just as much fun on our porch handing out the candy afterwards. Mark got into the act with some spooky sound effects and his skull mask and black dress. He startled a few trick or treaters and enjoyed their reactions. But it was funniest to see them looking apprehensive as he came around the corner and Travis running toward him full tilt yelling “Daddy! Daddy!” All in all a very successful Halloween.

We’re just back from a whirlwind weekend to Warrenton. We went up Friday night and got there in time for some visiting with Aunt Anna and Uncle David and Gup and Gum (Wesley was already asleep). Hallie and Travis shared a bedroom, and T slept in a “big bed” for the first time. More on their nightime antics in a separate post.

The three kids spent Saturday with Gum and Gup while David, Anna, Mark and I went to C’ville for the NC State/UVA game. Fun outing, rotten outcome for the game. It was glorious football weather, though the near-gale-force winds got to be a bit much after a couple of hours.

Gum and Gup took the kiddos in costume to Warrenton’s Halloween “parade.” Apparently Hallie’s favorite part was shaking hands with the mechanical skeleton. She sure loves all things skull and skeleton related!

We got back in time for a dinner and another birthday party for T, complete with a fantastic 3D Thomas cake, courtesy of Gup. Travis was completely tickled by it. He’d seen pictures in advance and couldn’t wait to see (and eat) the real thing.

Sunday morning held more visiting and some fun outside time on a gorgeous day. Hallie and T got tractor rides with Gup, which they loved. And all weekend we got in some good visiting with Wesley. Travis often got called jolly, but Wes puts him to shame. What a smiley cutie he is! And Hallie and Travis loved their time with him.

Our drive home was fairly smooth, though peppered with far too many potty stops. Hallie was quite hysterical for the first 15 minutes or so on having to leave Gum and Gup’s house. She demanded countless times that we turn around, declared she wanted to live with them, stated that she WASN’T going home with us, and claimed she was going to live with Gum and Gup “until they die.” After the umpteenth declaration I told her I understood how she was feeling but that I wasn’t going to respond to any of those comments any more.

Eventually, she settled down enough to whimper out a request for a video. I gave in with no fight on that one. And after the movie she was happy as could be. I guess she just needed to get that out of her system.

We changed our clocks this weekend. The kids were up so late last night that the slept nearly to 7 on the new time. So we had a pretty normal bedtime tonight and we’ll hope for a normal wake up tomorrow. If so, that will be a pretty smooth transition. In the meantime, I’m heading for bed myself! I’ve got a busy work week but hopefully I’ll squeeze in some catch-up posting in between things.

Here’s T’s birthday letter. It’s the first one I’ve ever gotten done on time! (Thanks for napping two days in a row, Hallie.)

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October 25, 2006

To my best guy in the entire world, on his second birthday—

Two years old already! It’s come so fast. And yet in many ways you’ve seemed two for a long time already. In the past year you’ve grown from a jolly, babysigning toddler into a sweet, adorable, fun-loving chatterbox of a little boy. You have the best smile I’ve ever seen, and I never tire of fishing for it. The reward is well worth any effort!

You have such a sweet, positive nature. It makes me so proud to watch how well you share and to see you learn to use your words to resolve conflicts. You and Hallie have a very special relationship. You love getting her attention (“Look at me, Haddie! Watch me, Haddie!”), and you can’t wait to see her whenever you wake up. I smile every time I watch you charge into her room and announce, “Huddo, Haddie. I woke up!” Or if you hear her moving around first you cheer, “Haddie’s awake!”

You’ve changed so much in the last year. When I hear the full, complex sentences stream out of your mouth it makes me laugh to think we were once worried about your language development. You were 15 or 16 months when the words really started flowing. But they came at an amazing pace, and you now vie with Hallie for air time. Every day you have more to say and we understand more of what you’re saying. And I must admit Gum and Gup were pretty relieved when they finally stopped being “Dum” and “Dup!” Just in time for your birthday you’ve started a new type of question: “What is that kind of [fill in the blank]]?” In the last day I’ve heard “What is that kind of toilet/bench/wheel/car/sound/slide?” I’m sure it won’t be long before you launch into the “whys?” as well!

You’ve grown very opinionated about books, toys, and music this year. Your taste in books changes so quickly I won’t try to document it. For toys, you’ve been an avid truck lover for months, with trains a close second. Your favorite toy of all time is a green plastic truck I got for $1.50 at a consignment sale. You sleep with it, take it to the park, and push it in laps around our neighborhood. If only every investment I made came with such a marvelous return! Laurie Berkner is definitely your favorite musician. Other top choices of the past year include Jimmy Buffett, Miles Davis, ABBA, and Johnny Cash. You’ve gotten quite good at recognizing familiar songs and asking for just the one you want to hear.

You put on a convincing shy act around strangers, peeking out from behind your hands or hiding behind my legs, but you often warm up quickly. In recent months you’ve become a certified flirt with people you know. You like the ladies especially, though Mr. Frank down the street is quite popular as well. Whenever you can get the attention of your favorite grownups, you want little do with me. Aunt Suzie is always a top choice, and Miss Brea, Miss Stephanie, and Miss Anisa have all been the objects of your affection. And for weeks after she first babysat for you, you’d pretend to call Alex (“Ax”) on the phone, a goofy grin spread across your face.

We had our share of health-related bumps this year. Fracturing your femur on your 15-month birthday was the worst of the lot. It was so hard to see you in pain but you were a real sport. And while I knew you were getting better as the weeks went by, I was thrilled one day to realize you were literally running down the hall with no trace at all of that pitiful limp. Around that same time you hit lots of milestones. You gave up nursing, which, though it came quite naturally, was bittersweet for me. I missed it for a long, long time but I’m so glad I had that special time with you. You also started becoming a good sleeper—and putting yourself to sleep! This was so huge it deserves a letter all to itself. It was such a long-dreamed-of treat to put you in bed awake and hear you talk and sing and play with your toys until you drifted off. What a pleasant switch from the tears I’d once hear if you weren’t already sound asleep when I put you in your bed.

Some of the things you’ve loved in the last year include closing doors; turning lights on and off; playing with the “tangle phone” and any other phone, as long as it’s real and not a toy; whispering; playing with Madison and other neighborhood friends on our playset; pushing your green consignment-sale truck everywhere you go (I wish it had an odometer to tell me the miles you’ve logged on it!); thee moooooooon; babooooooons; dancing in circles in front of the entertainment center; making funny faces, often with your eyebrows shooting nearly to your hair line; saying “phooey!”; showing off your prodigious belly (though it’s actually slimming down a bit now); singing (especially “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and “Fee Fi Fiddlie-o song”); doing your ‘cited dance; helping with projects around the house, especially vacuuming; climbing, running, and swimming (which you did all on your own months before your second birthday—you just need to master the part about coming up to breathe); going to the Little Gym (sometimes, at least); going to the zoo; going to the beach; playing with your cousins; collecting rocks; blowing bubbles; and playing with anything that has wheels.

There are plenty of things you’ve also made it clear you don’t like. You don’t like chocolate (how can that be?!). In fact, you don’t like most of the things we serve you to eat. Often it seems you declare you don’t like things just because they are what we suggested. At various times I’ve heard you say you don’t like the playground, lunch, Davis, oatmeal, and playing. Since those are all so obviously not true, we don’t take your “I don’t like” statements too seriously. It’s true, though, that you don’t like it when someone isn’t dressed or dried yet when they come to see you in the morning. You’ll declare emphatically, “Put a shirt on, Daddy!” or “Dry your hair first, Mommy!” You’re still a little skittish about some things, especially noisy things. You hated it when the neighbors got their house pressure washed and you love construction equipment but only from a safe (and quiet) distance. You love seeing animals from the car, but the cow 3 feet away at the state fair freaked you out. You still seek quite a bit of reassurance from me, but I’m watching you grow in confidence as you explore more of your world.

We got in a few trips this year. You loved your first visit to the beach, and we all enjoyed our Panama City vacation this summer more than I ever hoped we would. You made several visits to Warrenton to see Gum and Gup, a couple to Uncle David and Aunt Anna and your not-so-new cousin Wesley’s in Charlottesville, and one to Delaware for Great Grandma Williams’ memorial service, where you charmed all sorts of extended family. We also had lots of weekend trips with a new focus: Sailing! You had a great time on several of our sailing expeditions. Your favorite spot on Whimsy is still below decks, where you color and read and play (and don’t nap) happily, but you venture topside every once in a while. Once you learn to tolerate the life jacket, I’m sure you’ll be spending a lot more time on top. We figure having you become a regular sailor before you turned two is a pretty good start, and we hope for many more fun family outings on the water.

This next year will hold lots of new adventures. You’ve been asking to “go to school like that” when you see Hallie head off to Children’s House. I’ve already looked at several programs for you, and I think you’ll be thrilled to start at the Y in January. I’ll miss having my guy around all the time, but I think you’ll get so much out of those two mornings a week. You’ve always been a good sport about getting hauled around according to Hallie’s schedule. I’m looking forward to giving you a better chance to make some friends of your own.

My darling guy, you’ve brought immense joy and lots of laughter to your home, your family, and your friends over the past year. I know it will seem like no time at all before I’m writing you on your third birthday. What a big guy you are getting to be! And how much I’m enjoying you every step of the way.

Happy Birthday, Mr. T!

I love you,
Mommy

It’s Travis’s second birthday today! Woohoo! What a wonderful guy we’ve got, all of two years old.

Travis opened his car carrier present today and has just loved playing with it. Hallie played with it with him, too. Kelly pointed out how proud she is of Hallie that she never showed one iota of jealosy of Travis’s birthday things. It’s true, and also makes me very proud. What great kids we have!

There’ll be more about Travis’s birthday today. Let the good times roll!

In keeping with the rest of this month, today was an incredibly full day. I like busy, but this was a little extreme. Thank goodness for two good nappers, something that doesn’t happen too often anymore!

Here’s what my day contained:

Taking Hallie to school
Taking Travis to a chilly park playdate
Scheduling house work estimates on the way to the park
Dropping by Grandma’s office to say hello
Picking Hallie up from school
Making lunch
Playing “birthday party”
Stories with the kids
Quiet time for the kids
Updating the CHR calendar
Conference call and 2.5 hours of freelance work, interspersed with:
Termite inspection and sales pitch from the Orkin guy
Discussion of repair needs with contractor #2 of 3
Cooking dinner (Actual cooking, if tacos count. They weren’t frozen!)
Stuffing a few dozen plastic-bag pumpkins for the neighborhood Halloween party, assisted by Hallie, Travis, and four neighbor kids
Bedtime for H&T
2 loads of laundry
Another 1.5 hours or work
A few assorted emails
Some more CHR stuff
COLLAPSE! (soon to come)

Tomorrow is T’s birthday and an evening trip to the circus with Suzie, Hadley, and Suzanna. Thursday is dinner and pumpkin carving with Hallie’s school friend Natalie. Friday we drive to Warrenton to leave the kids with Gum and Gup so we can go see State trounce UVA in C’ville. YIKES!!!!

Travis and Hallie have both been having a great time with the fake food Travis got last night at his birthday party. Tonight T came into the kitchen carrying a fake waffle and asked me to pick him up. When I did, he pushed the waffle toward my mouth and said, “Put it in the mouth!” I laughed and shook my head. He became more insistent, “Put it in the big, huge mouth!” he demanded, shoving it towards me. At that point my “big, huge mouth” was too busy laughing to eat any waffle.

On many visits Gup has helped us out with house projects. Apparently the plumbing ones have made the biggest impression on Hallie. When a ball went down the storm sewer this summer, she announced to our neighbors that her Gup is a plumber and could probably get it out.

Hallie’s Gum is a wonderful knitter. Hallie’s watched her make several things and also seen her hem and sew some of Hallie’s clothes. Gum put some patches on the knees Hallie blew out of her leggings with a tumble while they were visiting last week. Apparently this falls under the category of knitting in Halliedom. Shortly after this mending session, Hallie declared to Gum, “I’m glad Gup’s a plumber and you’re a knitterperson so you both have jobes!” It’s a good thing they have stuff to keep them busy in retirement!

I keep forgetting to post that Travis is using a new, strapless booster seat. He’s been in it a few weeks now. So far he’s only taken one tumble. He can’t get down by himself very well since the seat slides around, so we don’t stray very far when he’s in it. But it’s nice to have him closer to the table and not mess with straps and trays. Before long he’ll be sitting in a chair just like his sister.

Apparently Travis has a problem with partial-nudity. If he sees Mark without a shirt, he’ll demand “Put a shirt on, Daddy!” And he’ll keep after him until he does.

He’s got similar standards for me. The other morning, I went to get T while wearing my robe. “Take that robe off, Mommy!” he demanded as soon as he saw me. “But Travis,” I laughed, “then I’ll be naked.” “Then put a shirt on, Mommy!” he declared without missing a beat.

The other night, Mark checked on a complaining Travis after I had put him to bed. Mark had taken off his shirt during bathtime and hadn’t put it back on yet. Travis wasn’t sleepy and he was trying all the tricks for a few more minutes of company. I think he tried asking for toys, potty, water, and stories.

Finally he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere and that Mark was about to leave. “Put a shirt on, Daddy!” he demanded. At that point, Mark knew T was just grasping for excuses, and he kissed him goodnight and left. A bit later, Mark and I turned on the monitor downstairs. We could hear Travis playing with his toys and saying, “Daddy, put a shirt on.” The guy’s persistent!