What happened to June?

Boy it sure has been a while since I posted something!  So much has happened that I’d never be able to put it in one post.  And I’ll never get caught up if I put it all in separate posts.  So I’ll give you the highlights for June.

First of all, Mike, “the Mom”, and “the Dad” got to spend an unusually large amount of time together!  “The Mom” ended up not teaching for the first summer session.  And with some planning, and also some very “unplanned” trips, we all three got to spend most of the month of June together.  And what did we do with our time?  Why – we enjoyed being a family!

And here’s the where the whirlwind highlights begins…

We spent lots of time at parks.  Mike discovered slides!

“Weeeeee!!!”

We got a new train set.  Thanks Tanya!!!!  This has been a BIG hit!!!

“Now I can say ‘woo woo’ and ‘chugga chugga chugga’”!

We learned how to do some chores – like washing dishes!

“Washing dishes is fun at my age!”

We discovered (or re-discovered) the Fun Fountain…

“Wow!  The clown head sprays out water and lifts the hat in to the air!”

“I like to catch the water and eat it!”

We went to the zoo too!

“That red fox looks like our dog ‘Foxy’!”

We took Mike swimming for the first time.

“Look at me!  I’m fearless!!!”

And Mike turned 18 months old!  A year and a half.  How can that be?  He was just born a couple of weeks ago.  Or maybe it was a month or two ago.  Certainly not more than three months ago…

“I’m a year and a half!  And I’m growing like a weed!”

We did have on really sad moment during our “month of June”. Our Aunt JoAnne lost her battle with cancer. She always had a knack for making you smile – no matter how you might be feeling at the moment. And while we will miss her, we are so very thankful that she is no longer suffering.

That about sums it all up.  We had such a wonderful time together.  And we got to see a lot of friends and family too!  I’ll be sure to post more 18 month pictures (they turned out very nice!) and I’ll try to be better about keeping you all updated!

So – until next time – as Mike would say, “bye bye”!

Another trip to the Orthopedic Surgeon…

It’s that time of year!  Spring has sprung.  Trees have leaves.  Grass needs to be mowed.  Allergies are in full swing.

All of that can only mean one thing.  Mike is 18 months old!

And THAT means that it’s time to make a trip to see our favorite Orthopedic Surgeon for a club foot prognosis and update!

I won’t hem haw around.  Or beat around the bush.  Or unduly draw out the conversation.  Or add any extra words.  Or be redundant.  I’ll just come right out and say it.  Spill the beans.  Give you the full scoop.  The truth – the whole truth.  For better or worse.  Through thick and thin.  Straight from the horses mouth.

We had our usual anxiety with this appointment.  But we were relieved that Mike has done so well walking!  And because of that – we were cautiously optimistic. 

Of course, Dr. Crawford noticed right off the bat that Mike was walking (even a non-trained observer can see that!).  He asked how long (4 weeks) and he was stunned!  He said that Mike had the balance and ability of a toddler that had been walking four months rather than four weeks.  And our cautious optimism stepped up a notch.

Off with the shoes.  Off with the socks.  Poke.  Prod.  Twist.  Turn.  Stretch.  Squeeze.  Rub.  Pull.

And it was time for the prognosis.

Dr. Crawford:  I can tell you’ve been very religious with the brace!

Us:  Yes we have.  Every day.

Dr. Crawford:  It shows.  Mike’s feet have better flexibility than a child without clubbed feet.

Us:  Wow!  That’s great!

Dr. Crawford:  His feet are so good and flexible and the muscle (the one that helps keep the feet from turning back) has good strength.  I think we are ready to try it without the brace!

Us:  Really?

Dr. Crawford:  Yep.  He is walking so well that the time he spends on his feet will be a substitute for the time in the brace.

Us:  Cool!

Dr. Crawford:  Unless there is a problem – I won’t need to see him again until is 4.

Us:  Four YEARS????

Dr. Crawford:  Yep

Us:  Wow!  But if we aren’t comfortable or if it looks like something isn’t right – we can come before then – right?  I mean – you’ll take our money – right?

Dr. Crawford:  Ummm – sure!  We are always happy to take your money!  And certainly come back if you see his feet start to turn in.  But of the hundreds of clubbed foot babies I’ve treated – his feet look the best and he has responded best to the treatment.  I’m quite certain that you won’t have any problems whatsoever.

Us:  Wow.  That’s great!

And so it is.  Mike spent the first weekend ever sleeping without his brace.  How did he do?  He flopped all over the bed!  And we were happy for it…

Is it over?  Not yet.  We still keep a close eye on his feet – more now than ever.  And will continue to do so.  Looking for the slightest relapse.  But our hopes are high that we have hiked up this clubbed foot mountain and are most of the way down on the other side.  He’s been in either casts or foot braces since he was 16 days old.  What a better way to celebrate 18 months than to sleep without shoes or socks and flop around on the bed!

Happy Easter!

Easter has come and gone.  Well – unless your Catholic in which case you are in the second week of Easter.  Or I’m sure that other religions might do something similar.  But I’m certainly not a Theologian…

But we certainly celebrated Easter at our house!  We started by getting all dressed up for church.  Mike even wore a vest and tie – which is somewhat a big deal.  He isn’t much on buttoning that top button on his shirt!  But he decided to let “mommy and daddy” play their little dress-up game.  And the result?  A very handsome young toddler!

Mike and ‘the Dad’ are ready for church.

 

 

“Stand back ladies – there’s enough to go around!”

 

While we were at church, the Easter Bunny mysteriously broke into our house and left an Easter basket.  This wasn’t your traditional Easter basket.  No chocolate bunnies.  No peeps.  No jellybeans.  Nope – nothing like that at all.  It was almost like the Easter Bunny knew that Mike doesn’t like sweets!  Instead, there was a variety of Nutri-grain bars and Pepperidge Farms Goldfish (two of Mike’s all time favorites…) along with some great new outfits for the summer!  He loved digging through the basket!

The Easter basket!

 

 

“All of this is for me?”

 

 

“Wow!  Nutri-grain bars!  I love Nutri-grain bars!”

(and yes – Mike’s shirt says “Girls Dig Me”!

 

 

“And Goldfish!  I love Goldfish!”

Rain, Rain–GO AWAY!

Sorry folks.  This isn’t a post about Mike and how much fun he had over Easter.  Once again, I’ve ran in to that age old issue of “the computer is in one state and the camera (along with it's memory card) is in another”.  And while I’m not sure that many of you often have this same problem – I’m sure that you can all relate…

Instead, this is a post about water.  Lots and lots of water.  Not quite record breaking (at least not yet – let’s hope it stays that way) – but its at least epic in proportion.

You see – a few weeks ago here in southern Indiana (once upon a time we used to call it “sunny southern Indiana” – but it lost that title some time ago) it started raining.  And it’s rained and rained and rained.  For days and days and days.  And I’m not talking about the “Seattle  style drizzle”.  No sir.  I’m talking about several inches per day (along with a tornado or two per week).

And the epic part?  The flooding.  I stopped by some of my childhood stomping grounds – the park by the Newburgh Lock and Dam.  Ahh – the days of playing Lazar Tag at that park.  But I digress…

I’m sure that not all of you are from a river town.  A quick course on the “lock and dam”…

Most folks know that a dam is a solid structure that holds back the water.  In this particular case, it’s concrete “weir” on the south side of the river with “Tainter gates”, located in the middle of the lock-n-dam structure.  The gates control the upstream and downstream water level while the weir is the overflow spillway.  Raising the gates lowers the upstream level and raises the downstream level.  Lowering the gates causes the opposite.  The “lock” part of the lock-n-dam (on the north side of the river in this case) allow all river traffic to pass from one side of the dam to the other.  For example – a barge enters the lock on the upstream side.  The lock doors are closed, and the water level is lowered to match the downstream side.  The exit doors are opened and the boat steams away.  It works remarkably well – and when a series of “lock-n-dams” are placed along the length of the river, water flow can be controlled very well – preventing droughts and floods.  Unless…….

Well – every lock and dam has a maximum capacity.  Once the water level is higher than the “dam” portion of the lock and dam then the water simply flows over the top and you can no longer control the depth.  This is currently the situation for most of the dams along the second half of the Ohio River.

Normally, this isn’t too big of a deal.  The walls that make up the lanes of the lock are significantly higher than the dam so river traffic isn’t affected.  Low lying areas around the banks of the river begin to flood, but that isn’t all that unusual.

But every once in a while, it continues to rain and the river continues to rise.  In Newburgh, the “flood stage” is 38 feet.  This is when minor flooding in the low lying areas begins to happen.  At 46 feet, some primary highways and secondary roads begin to flood.  The current reading is 48.2 feet – the seventh highest level since things like this have been recorded (somewhere back in the late 1800’s).  And if anybody is an Evansville history buff – you’ve heard of the “ ’37 flood” – the highest on record at 56.6 feet.  Or possibly the more recent “ ’97 flood” which crested at 50.5 feet. 

And right now, I can hear the thunder of the next approaching storm – predicting another 2 to 5 inches of rainfall with this one…  So – if anyone has plans for an arc, please let me know.  I’d like to begin construction right away…

The Ohio River at US HWY 41 between Evansville Indiana and Henderson Kentucky.  The tree line is the southern bank of the river.

An “unflooded” picture of the Newburgh Lock and Dam.  You can see the nine large “Tainter gates”in the middle (notice they are lowered in the water to control the upstream and downstream levels) and the “weir” to the right of them.  The “locks” are in the foreground of the photo.  You can see the tall walls that make up the lanes with the control house sitting in the middle.

A “flooded” picture of the Newburg Lock and Dam.  You can see that the gates are raised up completely out of the water and the weir is completely underwater.  You can also see that the walls that make up the lanes for the lock are nearly under water.

You can’t hardly see it – but the sign on the control house reads “47.1”.  That’s 47.1 feet deep as of yesterday.  It’s up to 48.2 today.

Language Skills–Stage 2

Mike has been building an impressive vocabulary recently.  I would guess that the number of words that he can speak is now over 100.  He’s full of the single word sentences.  Some of his favorites are mommy, daddy, Izzy, Foxy, Harper, Avery, fish, bath, outside, pacey, hungry, eat, juice, milk, fish, and snack.

He has started learning body parts.  He’ll say eye and point to his eye, or teeth and point to his teeth, or nose and stick his finger up his nostril up to the second knuckle.  Or sometimes he’ll say nose and try and stick his finger up YOUR nostril!  We try and tell him that he can pick his friends – and he can pick his nose – but he can’t pick his friend’s nose (or his mommy’s or his daddy’s).

He has recently been picking up animal sounds – words like woof, meow, baaaa, grrrr, and roar.  You can ask “what do cats do” and he will say “Meeeeoooooowwww” or “what do sheep do” and he will say “baaaa  baaaaaa”.

His all time favorite (and his answer to nearly every question you ask) is “no”. 

Us:  “Mike.  Are Izzy and Foxy dogs”?

Mike gets a serious look on his face as if he is seriously pondering the question.  Then he looks up and answers “no”.

Us:  “Mike.  Do you love mommy?”

Again – the pondering expression for a moment or two followed by his answer “no”.

Us:  “Mike.  Do you like playing with your toys?”

Pondering look followed by “no”.

Us:  “Do you like the word no”?

Ponder for a moment.  “No”.

Us:  “Is ‘no’ your answer to everything?”

“No”.

Us:  “Do you want some yogurt?”

Quickly, with no hesitation – “Yo!  Yo!  Ungree!  Ungree!  Nack!” all in conjunction with the sign language for hungry, eat, please, and more.  This loosely translates into “Yogurt?  Why come to think of it, I am a little hungry and could use a small snack.  Thank you mom!”

But recently, he reached a new milestone in language development.  He has begun to put words together.

Which brings me to the biggest smile I’ve ever had.  I recently walked in to Mike’s playroom where he was happily playing with his toys.  He looked up at me with his bright blue eyes, smiled his big seven-toothed smile and said “hi daddy”!

Mike’s First Bike Ride

Last weekend, the weather was gorgeous!  Warm sunshine.  Not a cloud in the sky.  Leaves coming out on the trees.  Dogwoods in full bloom.  A wonderful site to see!

It was absolutely necessary that we take advantage of this beautiful weather.  Somehow.  Someway.

Mike was there to encourage us.  “Outside?”, we would repeatedly ask in his own little way (which comes out sounding more like “ow sigh”).  “Yes honey.  We are going outside today.  And we are going to do something NEW!”

We had decided to take Mike on his very first bike ride!

And by “bike ride” – I mean he did just that.  Ride.

A couple of weeks ago, our good friends, Matt and Karen, let us “borrow” the bike trailer that there son had recently outgrown.  It was a fabulous “try before you buy” offer.  Especially important since Mike seems to have become very opinionated about things.  If Mike liked riding in the trailer – then it was ours for the asking.  If not – then we would simply give it back.

So we loaded up the bikes and the trailer and headed to Third Creek Greenway.  A nice, wide, paved, mostly shaded trail that winds along Third Creek through west Knoxville  We hitched the trailer up to “the Dad’s” bike (“the mom” wasn’t quite ready to try towing mike…).  We strapped Mike in.  Made sure he had his sippy cup in one pocket and his goldfish crackers and pacey in the other.  And then we headed off!

We rode at a nice, leisurely pace from the trailhead to Tyson Park.  Along the way, the trail snakes along, climbs up and down some small hills, and is full of joggers, walkers, and other cyclists.  Every time we would go down a little hill, Mike would shout out “WEEEEE!!!”  or “WWWOOOOWWWW!!!”.  Perhaps the cutest thing of all was – he didn’t know the word “bicycle” so he called it the “daddy go”.  He would periodically pull out his sippy cup for a little drink or take a few nips on the pacey (he’s taking it less and less these days…).  All in all, he rode in the trailer like he was a king being served by his minions.  And perhaps that’s not too far from the truth…

Once we arrived at Tyson Park, we stopped and let Mike play for a little while.  Swing?  Check!  Slide?  Check!  Big thing that looked like a boat that he could climb around on?  Check!  What was his favorite thing?  The pea gravel.  And interestingly enough – he didn’t call them “rocks”.  He called them “bubbles”.  And he had a whale of a time grabbing handfuls and pouring them over his head!

Then we all mounted back up and headed back down the greenway.  Mike still had a few “WEEEEE’s” and “WWWOOOWWWW’s” in him.  It turned out to be a fantastic afternoon!  And it sure did feel good to be back on the bike after a long, cold winter.

So – Matt and Karen – it looks like we’ll be taking that trailer off of your hands!

“This isn’t my regular stroller!  What in the world is this thing?”

“Am I hooked up to the ‘daddy-go’?”

“Mommy and daddy say that pre-ride hydration is very important.”

“Let’s get this party started!”

“Rocks are cool!”

Springtime at the zoo

Ahhhh – spring has sprung.  Or at least it is springing.  And after our long winter hibernation, we decided to go out and see what was happening at the zoo!

It’s been several months since we took Mike to the zoo.  It just didn’t seem right to take him over the winter.  After all – it was one of the coldest winters on record with now than we’ve had in recent memory.  Needles to say – Mike is significantly more aware of (and interactive with) his environment.  So we were excited to see what his new reactions would be to all of the animals!

He wasn’t much on the black bears.  And he only had a passing interest in the elephants.  He started to get a little excited at the zebras.  And he was still interested in the meerkats.

"Look at that meerkat!”

Then we moved on to the Giraffes.  I’m not sure who was more interested!  Mike LOVED the Giraffes – but there was one Giraffe that was just as interested in Mike.  It cam right up to the edge of the fence – peeked over and said “hi”!  It hung out with us for a little while – but then it was time for dinner (you really should see a Giraffe trot at least once in your life…)

“Howdy Mike!”

“Whoa!  Look at that!”

After the Giraffe – it was “game on.”  Mike started paying attention to all of the animals.  Especially those that are in the books he “reads”.  Things like lions, tigers, birds, snakes, monkeys.  You could see that he was really making the connection between the animals in his books and the animals he was seeing at the zoo.  It really was a fantastic moment.

And speaking of the monkey’s – we’ve been keeping track of the “newborn” chimp at our zoo.  He’s about a year older than Mike and the first time we saw George.  The first time we saw him, he was nursing with his mommy “Daisy”.  It was pretty cool because it was during the time that Mike was still nursing.  During our most recent trip – there was apparently a “family disagreement”!  One of the “teen” chimps was jumping around and causing a ruckus.  Eventually he started running around and he chased George around.  Daisy came in a scooped George up and ran outside with him.  The other chimp ran outside too but there was a surprise waiting for him.  The other chimps did not like the fact that he was scaring baby George!  They chased him all around the entire compound until eventually he settled down.  In the end, everybody was happy (even if some of the older chimps were a little out of breath!).

Daisy with baby George

George with blanket!

Mike telling the chimps “ACK!  No no!”

By the time we got the the red panda, Mike was getting a little tired of being in the stroller.  It’s the perfect place to let him out to wander around.  It’s a relatively small area and he can’t open the doors to get out of the area.  Apparently, door that are good for keeping red panda’s in are also good for keeping little boys in too!

The cute little red panda

Mike in the red panda cage!

 

 

Mike strikes a pose while he’s in the red panda cage!

On this trip, we decided that Mike was big enough to go to the petting zoo.  He got to pet goats and sheep.  One of the workers put some “Mardi Gras” beads on one of the goats.  She immediately fell in love with her new “bling”.  The worker had to chase her around the pen for about 20 minutes to get the beads back!  It was a riot and Mike loved watching them all run around.  They also had a nice play area.  He got to play in some “animal houses” – which were eggs, nests, and even a tree stump!  He had an absolute BLAST playing in them.  In fact, he had so much fun that “The Mom” decided to join in!

Goats love bling!

“Mike – meet Goat.  Goat – meet Mike…”

Mike LOVED petting the goats!

“Stumps are FUN!”

 

“And so are nests!”

“Come on in mommy!  It’s a blast!”

“Wow!  Eggs are fun too!!!!”

It was a wonderful day.  One of the many wonderful days that we get to share!  The only unfortunate part?  Mommy and Daddy had to wait until they got back home before they could do this…

 

Mike fell asleep on the way back to the car.  It was a big day for a little boy!

The new favorite toy

Mike has so many toys that we have an entire room dedicated to them.  And even with the “play room”, we only get a few toys out at once.  Otherwise, Mike goes completely ADD on us.  He’ll play with a toy for 2.8 seconds before moving on to the next.  And the next thing you know, all 185,284 toys have been thrown about the room by the “boy tornado”.

And I find all of this interesting.  Perhaps someone should study adults and why they provide so many toys for their children.  Particularly when children seem to be happier with toys that aren’t really toys.  Like the lid from the disposable “tupperware” container (they are 4 for $1 – and the four “magic toy lids” also come with four bowls.  Bonus!).  Perhaps some budding psychology major needs a research idea for their PhD thesis.

But I have digressed completely!  I meant to talk about Mike’s new favorite “toy”.  Which isn’t the tupperware lids (that was SO last week!).  And it’s not really a toy at all.  It’s his rocking chair!

Mike wasn’t sure what to think about it for the first couple of weeks that we had it.  Then, one day he realized that he could get in to the chair “all by myself”.  And this suited him (and his newly developed independent streak) very nicely!  Shortly after that, he realized that he could also get back out of the chair without assistance.  Suddenly, the chair was becoming a symbol of things he could do “all by myself”.  And – what’s this?  It also rocks?  Holy moly, batman!  This thing just keeps getting better and better!  And the latest in the the “rocking chair bag of tricks”?  It scoots across the floor and Mike can push it to wherever suits him.

 

Check out my new rocking chair!

“I can get in it all by my self!”

 

“This thing ‘rocks’!!!!!”

A floor clean enough to eat off of…

We may not be the best housekeepers in the world.  OK.  We probably don’t even make the top half of the list.  Not that our house is “dirty” (although it certainly has its moments).  Not that our house is “cluttered” (although we have plenty of these moments too).

But let’s face it.  We have a toddler…

Mike has been fairly understanding of our “momentary lapse in household cleanliness”.  And while his vocabulary might only consist of 50 or so words (and none of them are “momentary” or “lapse” or “household cleanliness”) – he can still communicate rather effectively.

And how does he tell us that he doesn’t mind the occasional clutter.  Or perhaps the rug that should have been vacuumed a day (or two or three) ago?  How does he let us know that these things don’t bother him?  That he understands that he demands a lot of attention and things like “mopping the kitchen tile” might slip a little?

Well – I’ll tell you how he does it!  In just a minute…

But before I just “spill the beans” – Let me tell you about one of Mike’s favorite foods.  It’s yogurt.  And while he’s somewhat partial to the “Yo Baby” yogurt (because it’s not as sweet) – he will certainly not turn down any other brand or flavor.

As a matter of fact, as soon as he sees the container he will point and say, “Yo.  Yo!  YO!!!”.  From that point you have approximately 3.8 microseconds to have a spoon and yogurt in his hands (did I mention that he is “really turned off” when we try to feed him?  He can do it himself – thank you very much!).

In that 3.8 microseconds – you usually don’t have time to get him up in the high chair.  Which brings me back to the not minding that the “kitchen tile needs to be mopped”.  So – what does he do to let us know that the floor is more than clean enough to eat off of?  Why – he eats off of it!!!

“Mmmmm.  Gimme the YO!”

“I LOVE IT!  And eating from the floor is FUN!!!”

One year pictures!

Ok – just to let you know upfront.  Call it “full disclosure”.  There will be no long post this time.  Nothing wordy.  Not a lot of mumbo jumbo.  Today, we are going to get straight to the point.  No beating around the bush.  We are going to say it using as few words as possible.

…or maybe it’s already to late for that…

At any rate – We have our 12 month pictures back!  We’ve had them for a little while now – but I’ve had trouble getting the pictures and the computer in the same room (or the same state…).

So – without further ado – here are some pictures for you to peruse!  And if you want to see more – just click HERE and you can see them all!