Max and Esme

Watch those fingers. Esme likes nothing more than opening and closing doors. Which can be a dangerous occupation when you're not quite 17 months old. She especially likes to go in and out of the doors that lead to the front porch now that there are twinkle lights up in the window. Here she is making her great escape after mean mommy made her turn back. And yes, that's a crayon in her hand. You can guess what she's going to do with it next.

Christmas cheer. The hardest thing about being sick in December is that it takes some of the fun out of preparing for Christmas. We're doing our best though. We've put up a tree and decorated the house. Esme loves the lights - the first thing she does when we get home in the evening is go to the tree and point until I turn the lights on. Max has enjoyed the decorating process itself. When we ran out of ornaments and other holiday kitch to put around the house he proceeded to begin making new ones. He's been drawing dozens of pictures on index cards to be used as tree ornaments and to adorn the window sills. The pictures are representative of the season, depicting our tree, the fireplace with stockings, reindeer and Santa's sleigh, presents, etc... He's really quite good (maybe Grandpa's talent will be passed along?) although I have also been making him label the backs so that people other than his mother and father will know what he's drawn. On Sunday w...

Wildlife photography. For all of you (Mom) who ask why I don't have pictures of the kids taken together... this series is for you.

Update. Max is feeling much better today. Still has a strong cough, but with the fever gone his pep has returned. I reminded him several times today that it was supposed to be a rest day - r*e*s*t - rest. To which he responded e*n*e*r*g*e - energy! I took Esme to the doctor today as well and she's begun some minor antibiotics mostly as a preventative measure. This is our 4th visit in 3 weeks to the pediatricians office, so I'm sure they'll be glad to see the Girard family in good health again. So will I.

The House of Many Germs. Apologies for the lack of stories. I spent a week in London for business, with Mom joining me for a mini vacation. Followed by a busy work week trying to catch up. In the meantime the entire household has had a series of coughs and colds that have gotten progressively worse. Max and Peter have both been diagnosed with pneumonia. Esme and I are hanging in with a pair of head colds, but both of us are now developing a cough as well. No rest for the weary... I'll write with stories and pictures soon when we're all in better health.

Photos from afar. I'm in London this week, but am stealing photos from Uncle Robbie and Grandpa in order to update the blog. Here's Esme and Greta sharing the train at Thanksgiving. They played together (or in tandem) quite well, taking turns pushing each other for a ride. The kids were also treated to a short visit from Grandma and Grandpa, who in this photo is enjoying his turn at giving Esme a ride.

How we learn. Max's imaginative play has become much more complicated in recent months. A "game" might include some role playing, specific instructions for the various individuals involved such as what to say and how to react, and several steps that will invariably be repeated 89 times (Max's current favorite BIG number.) And now if you listen closely to his commentary when he's playing on his own, you'll hear "use the arrow keys to move the car from from the train tracks to the parking lot." Or maybe "click here to make the T-Rex eat Esme." Hmm... Are we having too much computer time?

Max the Pterodactyl. Here is dad's latest painting of Max. They painted pumpkins together in October, and of course Max insisted that his be a pterodactyl. The pumpkin lived on our back deck for several weeks until it began to rot. The dreams of dinosaurs have stayed with Max much longer.

Under the Sea. Yesterday Max's preschool had an open house for the parents. We were invited to sit on miniscule chairs while the teachers told us about what the kids have been learning (they've been doing an ocean unit) and how they learn (ha - you think that was just playtime, but really it was pre-algebra), and in general what wonderful, smart, kind childeren we all have. The room was full of their ocean-inspired artwork. Jelly fish hung from the ceiling. Octopii and whales adorned the walls. Cereal-box aquariums were proudly on display. (Where do they come up with all these ideas anyway? Is there a book I can get?) Then the kids joined us - fifteen four-year-olds - to perform five thematic, specially written and choreographed songs. I'll sample of few of them here for your imaginative listening pleasure. Oh I'd like to go and sail the ocean. Oh I'd like to go and sail the ocean. Rock the boat (don't rock the boat) baby. Rock the boat (don't rock the boat...

Halloween Pictures

Baby steps. Esme is learning to walk. Like most childhood developments, it's been at her own pace. She's been standing and crusing since the early days, but never seemed in a hurry to learn to walk on her own. But quietly, during the past few weeks she's become a toddler. Standing strong without balancing on anything, a few steps to reach the chair, a few more steps into the middle of the room. Daily progress without any dramatic revelations. Almost unnoticeable until you remember that a week ago she wasn't doing that. And now she's trying to run before she can walk, breaking into a stumbling trot before landing on her well-padded diapered bottom. Part of me says 'slow down, be careful, baby steps.' But a bigger part watches Esme's determination with pride and says 'go for it girl.'

Bad mommy. Yesterday Max's school had a photographer come to take pictures of the kids - both individually and as a class. Despite repeated reminders sent home pinned to Max's jacket, I forgot. Max chose his own outfit yesterday, which included a pair of grey Old Navy sweatpants with a hole in the knee. I'm hoping the photos only show the top half of him. At least he had on a new red long sleeved t-shirt instead of his favorite dinosaur shirt that is a little small, or the Nantucket sweatshirt with the paint stains. So the permanent record of Max in preschool will show him as himself, rather than an idealized portrait. That's a nice way to look at it. But I'm also throwing away the sweatpants.

Points of comparison. Max is very concerned with how he compares with Esme lately. While he is quick to point out her achievements and is proud of her when she takes a few steps or says a word, he is even quicker to point out that he is bigger, faster, stronger than Esme. In particular, it's important to him that he knows more than she does. (We're very careful to not let him claim that he's smarter, but concede that he knows more things than she does because he is older.) This morning in the car Max started the familiar litany, using as an example the fact that he knows that you're supposed to hold hands when you cross the street, but Esme doesn't know that yet. True. But why was that the example he picked up? I don't think I'll ever know how his 4-year-old mind works, but it's fun to see what he comes up with each day!

Checking in. You can tell when my work gets busy since I don't find the time to update the blog regularly. I'll try to get to Halloween pictures this week in order to share them before Thanksgiving! We had a nice weekend, with Grandma Sissy visiting for a few days. Grandma Sissy has always been one of Max's favorite playmates, but Esme seemed to remember her from our recent vacation on Nantucket as well. She happily ignored her parents in favor or Grandma's attention for a couple of days. I had Friday off work for Esme's 15 month check-up and one of my own. She's not quite 21 lbs and is growing taller all the time. Esme has never liked visiting the doctor's office, but she let Dr. Mini do her exam this time without complaint. Until we got to the vaccinations, 3 shots in short order. The screaming was loud, but she recovered quickly when they were completed. We all went on a trip to NYC on Saturday afternoon to visit an old friend of Peter's grandpa...

Tough weekend. My first weekend home in a month, and a busy schedule. Two haircuts, swim class, a birthday party, a fishing trip. We were kept on the go all weekend. Plus, the kids are sick. Esme isn't sleeping well. And mommy has it now too. I stayed home yesterday to get a nap in, but am back at work again today. Here's a couple of cute pictures of Esme when she didn't have a snotty nose.

Babysitting. I've been traveling lately and am a few weeks behind with my posts. We spent Columbus Day weekend at South Lake with Scott and Deena Swenson. Our respective parents were kind enough to babysit for us while we celebrated the Swenson's 10th wedding anniversary and our 9th. Max and Esme were well behaved and Grandma and Grandpa had enough fun that they have volunteered to do it again sometime. Here's a couple of pictures of Esme with her Great Grandpa and a picture of three very happy kids... (note: This is my second attempt to post this, blogger was having trouble last week.)

Photogenic. Esme dazzles the camera.

Action Shots. Swinging on Nantucket.

School update. Max often comes home from school with notes safety pinned to his shirt. A clever way to ensure the notes actually make it home. They are the usual things - updates on what they did this week, which parent is responsible for next week's snacks, could you please send in an empty cereal box to make an aquarium, etc... This morning I got a phone call at work from Max's teacher. She immediately said "nothing's wrong" after introducing herself, so my initial panic abated into general wariness. She went on to say that she was just touching base with the parents and letting me know that Max was fitting in well, seemed to have no problem being out for a week's vacation and coming back, etc. What I really think she wanted to do was let me know that they have discovered that he can really read. Not just some words, but pretty much anything you give him. She mentioned that she had taken him up to the office with her this morning to show off his ability,...

Vacation.

Thou shalt not covet... Last week at pre-school Max made a lovely beaded necklace that he wore home. He gave it me as a gift, with the caveat that it really belonged to both me and him. I asked him if I could wear it out to the fair last weekend and he paused for a moment, taking the question very seriously. "Yes, as long as you are very very careful. Because some other lady might see it and think it's very beautiful and want it." I'll guard it well, Max.

Vehicle Fair On Sunday we spent a good portion of the non-napping, non-eating part of the day at the Vehicle Fair - a fund raiser for the library where they have vehicles ranging from police cars to school buses to giant excavators on display for kids to crawl around on. Not to promote gender roles, but almost everyone there had a small boy in tow. This was our third annual visit with Max. He checked out every vehicle, danced along to the live children's music and cut his way through the jumping/tumbling games. The highlight of my visit was a ride with Max in the Con Ed cherry picker. If you ask Max what his favorite part of the day was, he'll tell you about the ice-cream he ate on the walk home.

Ouch! Max scraped himself up twice yesterday. First when we arrived at Caroline's in the morning he went running toward the house and tripped over the hose. Got a skinned knee and elbow from his effort. The promise of a Sponge Bob bandaid to show off at preschool left him in good spirits. Then when we arrived home last night to find the neighbor girls waiting outside to play, he went tearing across the driveway and did a facer. Nothing broken or bloody, but a good set of scratches and bruises across the side of his nose and his cheekbone. You could tell it hurt because he actually cried all through the cleaning up. But Max is a tough kid and very focused. As soon as we were done with the bactine and neosporin he headed right back outside to ride bikes with Emily.

Busy weekend. Hair cut. Swim class. Picnic lunch. Playground. Breakfast at the cafe. Vehicle Fair. Mowing lawn. Grocery shopping. Bike riding. Barbeque with the neighbors.

School. Max has completed his first week of school. He attends in the morning for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week with 14 other kids. I went with him for orientation on Monday and he leapt right into the group, introducing himself as "Max the Teradactyl." To give the other moms credit, no-one seemed to think this was a strange name for a 4-year old boy and one mom introduced her son in turn as "Michael the Motocycle." As you might expect, Max has thrown himself right into the school experience. He informed me on the first morning that he was "very, very, very excited to go to school." He leaves the house each morning now with his backpack (currently empty) and his name tag on. And when the Flynn girls get home from school in the afternoons Max sits right down with them to do his homework too (actually some workbooks that we got for him.) Of course, getting Max to tell me anything about what he learned at school today is another story; I mostly get ...

Greta Having just finished viewing Rob's vacation pictures - all 150+ of them - during a lunch break, here's the picture of Greta that I think looks most like Robbie's baby pictures.

Daddy's girl. Esme has been her Daddy's girl lately. Pete and I arrived together to pick her up from Caroline's one evening last week. When I entered the room she gave me a big smile. When Peter came through the doorway soon after she let out a squeal like she was a groupie! Here's a picture showing Esme's contentment on Daddy's shoulder, and Peter is enjoying the special attention. We had a nice weekend at home. Max had his first swim class of the season on Saturday, we visited a local fair for a bit, a fishing trip for the boys, and some swing time for both the kids. Tomorrow is Max's first day of pre-school.

Stats. The kids had their annual check-ups last week. Peter got to do the honors. Max is 36 pounds (50%) and 41 1/2 inches tall (75%). Esme is 20 pounds 4 ounces (50%) and 30 1/2 inches tall (90%). Who would have thought we'd have tall kids?

Long weekend. We are one of the few houses in Rye with electricity tonight, two days after the storm on Saturday. Rain and very strong strong winds took down lots of trees and power lines around the town. Our street is still closed off to traffic, but the lights work and the phone cable is up and running again as well. The creek flooded as high as we've ever seen it, 6-8 inches high on the driveway. But the basement stayed dry, so no worries. Here's a picture of the lake in our backyard. And a nice shot the following day as if nothing had happened. (Except there's a railroad tie next to the driveway that is supposed to be back by the fence! Sunday and Monday were clear and lovely summer days. We took the kids to Playland this afternoon for a last hurrah of the season. Max and I went on the Ferris Wheel and Peter got to join him on the spinning ride.

Party trick. Esme has developed an interest in puzzles - the wooden kind made for kids her age that come with knobs on the individual pieces so that children can easily pick them up and put them back in place. For a couple of weeks now she's been playing with the puzzles, enjoying taking all the pieces out. She doesn't quite put them all back in place yet, but thinks it's funny when I put the pieces back in so she can take them out again. Last night she tried a different approach. Because her hands were already full, she leaned way down to the floor and started removing the pieces with her mouth. Of course I made the mistake of laughing the first time she did this, so now she thinks it's the best trick ever. What a skill...

I've been meaning to tell you... Rob stayed with us last night on one of his work forays to NYC. I let Max stay up a bit late so he could go with me to the train station to pick up Uncle Robbie. On the way there Max pipes up from the back seat... "Mommy, I've been meaning to tell you that Esme can't play in my city. When we play you need to put her in her room." It's true that Esme is a force of nature when it comes to playing in Max's room. Her hands are a tornado that pick up and move around whole car parks of vehicles and her feet are a hurricane that destroy every train track they crawl across. But Max, I've been meaning to tell you that you have a little sister...get used to it.

A christening. As of Monday, Esme is in her 'big-girl' car seat. Sitting up straight and facing forward, just like her brother. You can tell that she is very proud of herself, and she loves that she can now see us while she's riding. And thanks to a package sent from Grandpere on Nantucket, the new seat has now been officially christened - with cookie crumbs.

Back to work... Vacation is over. The kids are home from their visits to South Lake and Rodman where they were spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa for five days. They all seemed to enjoy each other tremendously and I'll link to some pictures as soon as Dad sends them to me. I had an extra day at home yesterday while Pete had to go back to work. Max amused himself with stickers and books in the morning while Esme napped, so I had a chance to get some NPG work done. Then we worked in a nice trip to the library and a walk through town with lunch. We spent late afternoon at the pool club with the neighbor girls. Max and Emily played well together and Esme loved the kiddie wading pool. With only 6 inches of water at one end she could sit and scoot along the bottom with mommy chasing after. She had one face plant into the water when she lunged too far forward to reach a floating fish, but it didn't phase her for long and she wanted right back in. Today they're back with Caroline ...

So it's been a while... What can I say? It's summer. Mommy's hot and tired and can't seem to remember to bring the camera anywhere. We've had a very busy time of it lately without seeming to actually do anything. I had a week home with the kids which involved one trip to Playland and another to the aquarium. The sharks were a big hit. The kids are back with Caroline again, and all seem happier for it. Esme celebrated her first birthday with a fist full of frosting. Max is learning to ride a two-wheeler bike (with training wheels of course.) Esme is practicing walking although her legs are still pretty wobbly. This is the last week of cub camp. And we're getting ready for vacation next week and a trip to South Lake/Rodman. That's the short version. I'll aim to get back on track with the postings now that I've caught you up...

Relatives. There's something about this picture of Greta and Esme that reminds me of me and Robbie. I'd be curious to know if my parents see it...

What to do when it rains. It's been very wet this weekend, so we've taken our outdoor time where we can get it. We managed a couple of walks on Saturday (with a sprint home to beat the rain), and Max and Peter did a boat trip this morning. Max's current occupation is "stickers." He takes a blank sheet of paper and a book of stickers and methodically transfers them to the paper. He insists on using every sticker from a page before he considers his picture completed. He does the same thing with his computer games where he can add items from a menu to create a picture. Every object has to be included, even if some images block what's underneath. A sign of a very organized mind I'd say.

Cooling down. Another hot weekend. We had dinner with our neighbors on Saturday - a pizza party for the kids and then an adult dinner after putting the little ones to bed. Today Esme went for her first boat ride - a slow spin to the end of the harbor and back. She seemed to love it and had a smile on her face the whole time. Her daddy was very proud. Another highlight for the kids was spending time in the wading pool keeping cool. It was chaos as you'd imagine - so not a chance of getting all four children to look at the camera at the same time. But they're awful cute anyway...

Happy Birthday Grandma! spelled and written by Max...

Photo update. Max with pepsi-dog; Esme in her daddy's rocking chair; Max at the park; Esme standing up.

Mommy presents. Max brought home his first arts & crafts project from summer camp yesterday. An eight-inch diameter 'bracelet' for me made from flower shaped paper cut-outs and plastic drinking straws. He told me that he was supposed to make a necklace but he didn't know how so he made a bracelet instead. A reference to the bracelet I received for Mother's Day? Max was so proud of his gift, and so was I.

Hot, hot weekend. Air conditioning, sprinklers and ice cream were what saved the 4th of July weekend from being unbearably hot. The kids enjoyed having Greta to visit. Here's a couple more pictures from the weekend (borrowed from Rob.)

Cousins