Thorne House

Month 35, Part 2: Welcome to the Next 18 Years

2012-01-20T10:52:00.008-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You started school! You're enrolled in a Montessori pre-school, in Children's House 3. You go five mornings a week from 8:30 - 11:30am. On your first Monday, the day after we got back from Indy, I took the day off from work. Grandma and Grandpa Lam and I all came to drop you off. You were scheduled for an hour that morning. You cried for few minutes when we dropped you off, but pretty soon you were involved in an activity. We spent the time that you were in class making sure that Grandma and Grandpa knew where everything was, and who everyone was. The hour went fine, and we all went home. You spent the rest of the day with Grandma and Grandpa as normal, and I spent it running errands.

On Tuesday, you did two hours of class. You cried a little bit again when they dropped you off, but the rest of the time went well. By Wednesday, you were up to the whole three hours of class. You didn't cry that morning or Thursday morning, either. On Thursday afternoon, Dad and I stopped by their open house for current and prospective parents. Rachel and Krista (your teacher and assistant teacher) told us that you like to use the blocks, and play the bells, and use the scale. In fact, they put the scale in the room just for you, because you saw it somewhere else in the school and got all fascinated by it. They were both very positive about how you were doing, so we felt good about that. And on Friday, Grandma cracked us up when she told us that you didn't even say good-bye to her that morning. She walked you down to your classroom, and you ran inside without looking back. So, I guess we didn't really need to worry about how you would adjust to school.

You've said some really amusing things over the past weeks, and I'm going to try and remember them:

1. One of my errands on that Monday was getting an oil change for the van, during which they discovered that the power steering rack needed to be replaced. Luckily, it was under warranty, so they sent me off in a free rental. Grandma told you sometime that afternoon that we had to get the van fixed, and that night you asked me, "What did you do to the poor car?"

2. While we were in Madison for Christmas, we were reading a book about being a big brother. You asked me, "Where is Baby Sister?" which you had never asked me before. I said, "She's in Mama's belly." I put your hand on my stomach, but there wasn't any movement to feel just then, so it didn't capture your attention. But then you poked me and said, "I will make a hole and she will come out right here!"

3. When we were home between Christmas and Indy, I mentioned something about Baby Sister while we were sitting in your rocking chair at bedtime. You said, "Where is Baby Sister?" and I said, "She's in Mama's belly." Then you said, "She's hiding in the closet! She's hiding under the crib! She's hiding under the bed! She's peeking at me from behind that pillow!" I tried to deny each of these in turn, but I was laughing pretty hard, which did not discourage you.

4. You've picked up a funny verbal tic from me and Grandma: we've answered you so many times by saying, "Of course you can [whatever]," that you've started using "of course" instead of "yes." "Do you want more oatmeal?" "Of course I want more oatmeal!"

5. You've made me sing Twinkle Twinkle about each of the planets, and let me tell you, it is not easy to rhyme anything with Jupiter, much less Uranus.

You've started including scientists in your study of everything volcano. We watched a National Geographic program about volcanoes which was actually quite morbid. They spent a lot of time talking about volcanologists who had been injured or killed. You didn't seem to pick up on that part, but you definitely noticed that there were people studying the volcanoes. The last couple of times you've wanted to draw volcanoes, you've made me draw scientists, too. It makes me happy in a nerdy way, although I do hope you don't grow up to get killed by a volcano.

We spent yesterday celebrating Chinese New Year by making dim sum brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Lam, and our friends Kay and Sara. We went to one of the Asian grocery stores in town to pick up buns and dumplings and Chinese sausage. Dad cooked two rice dishes--one a sticky rice and one a baked dessert with coconut milk and brown sugar. We had some initial problems getting the steamer situated, having never used the bamboo stack-able kind before. But everything turned out well enough that I'm hoping we can do it again fairly soon. At least the buns and dumplings. The sticky rice might have to stay a special occasion dish. You seemed to like the pot stickers and cha siu bao, although you might have just been having fun using your chopsticks.

In a month, you will be three years old. Along with all of the other cliches about how much you've changed our lives, and how we didn't know what we were missing, and how being parents has made us better people, comes the one that says: I still can't believe we're parents in the first place. Yesterday, we were snuggled up on the couch together watching some Thomas, and that's what ran through my mind. Here you are with us, your own amazing little self, and we get to watch you grow up and discover the world. And it's pretty great.

Love,
Mom

First day of school!

Month 35, Part 1: Would you like some driving with that?

2012-01-19T09:15:00.014-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 35 months old, although it felt like December-January lasted much longer than just a month.

We drove to Madison. We drove to MSP. We drove to Madison. We drove to Indy. We drove to Madison. We drove to MSP. I'm glad we only do that much driving once a year, and I can't even imagine how awful it would be if you were not as good a traveler as you are. Of course we make sure that we have snacks and activities, and we try to time our starts and stops well, but you really do make it pretty easy.

You were in Madison for Christmas a few days before Dad and I drove down. It snowed just enough one day that you complained about not having your snow shovel. You and Grandpa Lam made a giant snowball, at least the size of a basketball. That snowball was all that was left of the snow when Dad and I arrived. It was as if you had gathered up all of the snow from the lawn to make it, and it looked really funny sitting there on the brown grass.

You helped pick out the Christmas tree, and then helped Grandma Lam put the ornaments on it. Every morning, the first thing you did when you came downstairs was turn on the Christmas tree lights. We inadvertently gave you a lot of presents for Christmas. I had gotten a couple of things on sale several months ago, and given them to Grandma for a day that you were all sick of each other and needed a new toy. She misunderstood what I intended and wrapped them up as your Christmas presents. So instead of three or four new toys under the tree, you ended up with twice that many. I like to think that you won't grow up spoiled, but I fear that ship has sailed already.

The exploding volcano toy was a hit, as was a truck from Aunt Alice. Dad went out and found you the biggest balloon that he could (I talked him into a dinosaur shaped balloon to go with the dinosaurs from the volcano toy) and also added a trio of cheap hacky sacks to juggle for you. You like the Hungry Hippos game, which is fun. We happily ignore the actual game rules. You like to feed the marbles to the hippos or decide which hippo gets to eat marbles next. It makes me laugh.

After we opened presents, Dad and Grandma and I went to Christmas Mass. Then we all went over to the Skivers' house to visit with them and all of their kids and grandkids. Grandpa Lam made a delicious Christmas dinner, as usual. And then the next day we all packed up and headed home for a couple of weeks. Our New Year's was pretty quiet, which was just fine with me. We had some friends over to chat and then watch a movie. I don't remember how old I was the first time I stayed up to watch the ball drop in Times Square, but I'm guessing I was around 8 or 9. I wonder how old you'll be when you want to stay up for the first time, and if the pre-Ball Drop show will be any good. It will probably be like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and I won't know any of the performers or cultural references, and I'll just make disparaging remarks while you tell me how I need to stop living under a rock.

And then it was time to drive back to Madison. This time we left the dogs behind and had to pack up all of the presents for the Thornes and Spencers. We spent Thursday driving down and had a nice dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Thorne. You and Grandpa read one of the stories on his new Nook. (That was an ironic moment for me and Dad. That's what Dad had suggested getting me for Christmas, and then I told him all of the reasons not to. So he didn't get me anything yet, and keeps telling me that if I want something, I have to pick it out.)

Friday morning, we met Aunt Erin, Charlotte and Baby Ray at the Children's Museum of Indy. We started off in the gallery about trains, then we checked out the dinosaurs. They had a fun recreation of a dig in Montana, so we suited you up with some goggles and you dug around in the "dirt" for a long time. I kept putting the goggles over your eyes, and you kept pushing them up onto your forehead. Once you turned and looked at me, pulled them over your eyes and said, "I'm wearing goggles!" Then you turned back to the dig and pushed them back up. That made me laugh. A little while after that, someone mentioned that the thunderstorm was going to start by the dinosaurs, so we went to check that out. They used some strobes for lightning, which was a little too realistic for you. You started yelling at me to go in the house and get away from the lightning, which is what I always tell you when we read the encyclopedia book about weather and get to the page about lightning. "What do you do when it lightnings?" "Go in the house!" I never thought about adding the caveat, "Unless it's fake lightning from strobe lights." Clearly, I have been totally misleading you.

We also rode on their antique carousel, on a black horse named Pete, and went down the two story Yule Slide together. We checked out one of the science-y sections that Dad remembered from when he was a kid, but they'd changed it all around and he wasn't impressed. You discovered the construction site, though, and were terribly sad when we decided it was lunch time and wouldn't just leave you there the rest of the day. We spent that afternoon and night at the Spencers' house, having dinner and opening presents with them. They were generous as always; we had plenty of new music and new books to occupy us on the drive and new train track to keep us busy once we got home.

We stopped to have lunch with Jesse Grenz at UIUC on the way to Madison. So far, he only sees you once a year, so it's always fun to see his reaction to how much you've grown. You weren't talking the last time he saw you, so this was a big change this time. UIUC is a convenient stop coming from Indy, and then as the afternoon starts getting really long, we hit the stretch of highway that runs past the big wind farms, so that's a nice distraction. It's the second day of driving, from Madison to MSP, that is the really hard part and makes us really glad to be home.

And then I spent Sunday night getting all of your things ready to start pre-school on Monday, but more about that later.

Doing that much traveling can be pretty hard. But one of the reasons that I'm glad you travel so well is that family trips are some of the best memories I have from growing up. I hope that we're able to have lots of great family trips in the future. At the very least, we know you want to see the Grand Canyon, which you discovered on a placemat at Denny's. Yes, really.

Love,
Mom

Month 34, or Past, Present and Future

2011-12-21T15:55:00.010-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 34 months old, and it seems like a lot of months and also very few, all at the same time. Dad and I had breakfast with the Stauffers the other day, and I was holding their new baby girl and thinking about how strange it will be to hold an infant again. Baby Sister is going to seem so tiny next to you! Which is also funny, because you're not a really big kid. You're still wearing 24 month pants, after all.

You've taken to climbing all over lately. You climb up the sides of the arm chair, and stand on the arms of the couch. You can climb into your high chair all by yourself. But you still haven't climbed out of your crib, which is fine with me. You did fall off the arm of the chair once and scared yourself and Grandma Lam half to death. I'm sure I should be teaching you not to climb on the furniture, but instead I just keep telling you not to fall off. Judging from the behavior of me and Uncle Alex when we were kids, you come by the mountain goat gene honestly, so you may as well just learn some attendant caution.

You and I managed to survive our couple of weeks together. We did have some new toys to keep us occupied. I opened up a new figure-eight train set and we built some big, twisty railroad tracks. I also sewed up a couple of stuffed puffer fish and we had fun with them. Dad finished up some speakers he was building, and I also made a new book box for you by covering a milk crate in some white canvas. Part of your climbing included the previous one, which was just cardboard and beginning to fall apart. Of course, now that I've made the new one, you haven't stepped foot on it again.

We went to visit your pre-school this month. We found out that your teacher, Rachel, is someone Dad knew already--he used to date her younger sister. Quite the case of, "it's a small world after all." It was nice to feel like we already had a connection, though, and to have some confidence in her. When we enrolled you in her classroom, Rachel went ahead and labelled your coat hook, which made all of the other children very curious. When we finally arrived for your visit, it was practically a mob scene with the other children all wanting to meet you at once. Dad and I went over some paperwork with the director while you were visiting, saw the parent resource center, and found our "mailbox." You and Rachel seemed to have a good visit; she feels that you'll make a fine transition into the classroom. In one way, she already knows you pretty well--she labelled your coat hook with your name and with a picture of a puffer fish.

One of the boys in the class who came over as soon as we walked in asked me how old you were. I said you would be three in February. He said he would be five soon. I looked at him, trying to imagine you as tall as he was, and it was hard to imagine. Then last night, Dad and I were watching Grandpa Lam's movies of you from your birthday this year, and it's amazing how much you've changed. On your birthday in Feb, you signed "more" to say that you wanted to blow out the candles again. On Grandpa's birthday last month, you said, "Do it again!" loud and clear. Amazing.

Dad and I also managed to finally get our wills signed and witnessed. It's always morbid to think about yourself dying, but it's also a really important part about planning for your inevitable future. Dad and I have had a lot of discussions about what might happen if one of us died, and some of them were actually serious. I mean, I'm sure at least half of them were serious.

Wills are important when you're talking about financial and legal arrangements. What they don't address is an emotional legacy, which I think is equally important. Nobody will ever love you as much or in the same way that your dad and I do, and I hope that you never question that. But there are many people in your life who would give you support if you need it. Your grandparents and your aunts and uncles will always listen, and they will always have your best interests at heart. You can reach out to our extended families, to your great-aunts and -uncles. You can even talk to someone outside the family, like Aunt Tabetha or Uncle Jesse, or the Chapmans. Life can be complicated, and decisions can be hard. It's important to get good advice from people that you can trust. And really, that's just as true with Dad and I living. There might come a time when you want advice from someone who isn't your parents, and that's okay. Although, if Uncle Jesse's advice contains the instructions, "OK, now you're ready to pour in the liquid nitrogen," you'd better be calling from somebody else's kitchen.

Love,
Mom

Mom's getting fat:
Puffer fish!

Your train brought Christmas trees to the little city:

Month 33, or Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-26T17:14:00.007-06:00

Dear Corbin,

We've had an eventful month, this November. You were in Madison at the beginning of the month to keep Grandma and Grandpa Lam all healthy. Then Dad and I both had off of work on the 11th, for Veteran's Day, and we all went to the Science Museum. You have become interested in volcanoes and lava, thanks to one of the illustrations in an alphabet book for the Leap Pad. You pretty much ignore every other page in the book, and you made us look up videos of lava on YouTube. You make us draw big volcanoes in your sketchbook now, alongside the hot air balloons and puffer fish.

So when a friend tipped us off to the Natural Disasters exhibit, we decided we'd better take you. It was about earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes, too, but you didn't care about any of those topics. You and I sat at the volcano simulation machine for about half an hour making different types of volcanoes and watching them explode. I got you to visit the part about tornadoes for about 5 minutes before you wanted to go back to the volcanoes. Then we got to see a demonstration about lava, and they even poured hot lava out right in front of us. It was a tiny little amount, but it was still neat to see it. We looked at the dinosaur skeletons, too, but you were sad that we didn't let you climb into the displays and touch them all. Grandma bought you glow in the dark stars and planets for your ceiling, which is something I had as a kid, too, but I think these stars will come down without peeling the paint off of the ceiling, which is a definite improvement.

The next Saturday we had our first real snowfall. We went down in the afternoon to celebrate Grandpa Lam's birthday. When we got home, you helped us shovel the front walk. Then when I wanted to you come in so we could go to dinner, you thought that was the worst idea ever. And when we got home and we wouldn't let you stay outside and play in the snow all night, you were even more upset. Between you and your father--and the dogs--we might as well move to Alaska and get it over with.

And then it was the week of Thanksgiving. I had the day off on Wednesday, so you and I and Grandma Lam went to have breakfast at Midtown Global Market. They do a children's program every Wed morning, and it was the day that dancers were going to come from the Cowles Center. You liked listening to the music and watching everyone else dance, but you didn't want to do any dancing yourself. Aunt Lena flew in on Wed night, after your bed time, so you didn't get to see her until Thursday morning. We made breakfast here and then Thanksgiving dinner at the apartment. In between, we fixed the fence in the side yard to keep the dogs in the back yard, played in the mud, raked leaves, and Dad started yet another speaker project. On Friday, we avoided the malls, and today everyone left town after breakfast. Aunt Lena flew back to Norfolk and G&G Lam drove down to Madison. I have the next two weeks off from work, so it'll be you and me finding things to keep ourselves occupied.

This is the start of big changes in your routine for the next several months. I was telling you the other day that it was going to be Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then time to visit Indiana, and then time to start school, and then time to sleep in the big bed, and then Baby Sister is going come and live with us. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep up some of our good routines around naps and bed time, so that we can go through big changes with a well-rested you. And a well-rested me, for that matter.

Your first day of preschool will actually be the Monday after we get back from Indy, so hopefully the trip won't have been too crazy. You'll be enrolled in the five mornings a week class, from 8:30am to 11:30am. I'm really glad that we'll have a couple of months to get you settled there before Baby Sister arrives. I think it will be very helpful for everyone. When you were born, we didn't have any really need to get you on a schedule, or even much of a routine, and looking back I think it would have been helpful. My brain works better that way, and I think yours does, too. So I am interested to see if Baby Sister will respond well to being on a routine right off the bat. I'm a little bit nervous for your transition to school, for a couple of reasons. You're so used to one-on-one attention all day and I worry that you won't like being in a class. Also, I'm not looking forward to the massive amount of new germs that I'm sure will accompany you home. We might as well buy stock in Chlorox wipes right now.

You're a talking fool these days, and you have picked up some funny phrases. You ask for "one more last book," or "one more last thing." You are getting more and more creative in your play. You and Dad play lava monsters. You told me today that the little hole in the table was an ant hole, and that ants lived in the table. You like to run your hand around things and people, pretending that it's a spider. The other night you hooted at me and said, "I'm an owl." So I said, "Time to snuggle in your comfy nest, little owl." But when I tried that the next night, you said, "It's my comfy CRIB," in that indignant tone of voice that you've already perfected. I get things wrong on purpose sometimes, just to hear you correct me, because it cracks me up.

We watched an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba the other day about staying clean. They sang a song about tiny icky germs, which you wash away with the help of Super Soapy Pal and some magic shampoo. Which might explain the songs that you requested the other night.

In order:
the itsy bitsy spider
the icky icky spider
the clean clean spider
the just a little bit dirty spider

I also had to sing you "Madeline Over the Rainbow", after buying you the book Madeline and the Bad Hat. You have started finding a lot of cute ways to delay your bed time, which is frustrating to me. I find myself losing patience with you, and that's when you pull out the big guns of needing to use the potty or being scared. The other night, I had to send Dad in to you, and then eat ice cream and watch the BBC Pride and Prejudice to relax. I have a feeling over the next couple of weeks that Dad will be doing bedtime a lot just because I'll have you all day. It'll probably be better for everyone's sanity. And that's how much I love you--I do what's good for your sanity, even if you'd rather I just sang "Frosty the Snowman" to you another hundred times in a row.

Love,
Mom

The volcano page in the Leap Pad book:
You and Dad drawing volcanoes:
It was so warm on Thanksgiving, we played outside without out coats on!

Baby News

2011-11-03T11:40:00.002-05:00

My mother's wish has come true: we're having a girl. Pack up the girly clothes, Auntie Erin! Ultrasound showed all good and normal things, so here's hoping she keeps up the good work being a healthy, average fetus. She's measuring right on for our March 26 due date, but I'm still guessing she'll be early, like Corbin.

This is the full profile shot. She's facing up, with her hand by her face.
This is the 3D shot. We're looking down at her face, and she's got her hands by her mouth. She looks like a little piggie in a cave, because of how the ultrasound makes her nose look big.
Creepy face view with one eye! Creepy! (I love shot like this.)

Halloween!

2011-11-01T09:33:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday, Adam!

2011-10-31T09:54:00.004-05:00

Thirty-eight!

Month 32, or Some Things That Are Big

2011-10-21T10:54:00.012-05:00

Dear Corbin,

It's been a pretty quiet month for us. Your uncle Alex headed out to spend about three months in the Persian Gulf. I managed to see him before he left, on a trip for a museum event in Norfolk. Aunt Lena is coming here for Thanksgiving, so we're all looking forward to that. I brought you home a crab stuffed animal, since you like anything with "big grabbers." You actually ended up with several new toys this month. Holy Name had their big rummage sale, so now Grandma and Grandpa have a train set at their apartment, too. You also went to Madison with them, and came back with a giant motorized back-hoe.

Most of the leaves have fallen off the tree in our front yard, but the two by the street are still hanging on. We did round one of raking in the front, which you enjoyed this year because you had your own little rake to use. You especially enjoyed raking apart the piles that we were making. Then you helped Dad take the leaves back to the raspberry patch in the wagon. You pulled the wagon yourself for a few trips, and then had fun riding with leaves covering you up to your chest. When we took your shoes and pants off later, you had the predictable amount of leaves all over your socks and underwear.

We're still working on the potty training. Some days are more successful than others. You've had a couple of nights where you want to go potty after lights out, so we need to add that to our brush teeth time in the bathroom. You do seem to enjoy deciding which underpants to wear in the morning, though, and I really laughed one day when you had an accident and then told me, "I pooped on Thomas!"

Other funny things you have said lately:
Lock me up! [while sitting in Arrow's crate]
I like to eat bacon.
Let's do it!
Can I have it? Can I have it please? I said please! [said without pauses]
Me, about the train track I put together: I'm amazing! You: You're NOT amazing.

Dad finished building your twin bed, so on Saturday we moved the couch out (into the van, to go back to Madison) and put your big bed in your room. We picked up a mattress, and I even grabbed some sheets at Target for it, so it's all put together and made up. Unfortunately, it's destroyed any sense of organization (never mind the feng shui) in your room because it's larger than the couch. We're going to have to take another couple of days to figure out how to rearrange the rest of the furniture so that everything fits again. We were going to have to do some of that in order to fit baby stuff in anyway, of course, but I didn't expect quite this much. It's always such a trial when we have to organize something. I get all excited and make great plans, and then your father mocks me, and then I get revenge by making him go to Ikea.

I think the furniture change is combining with some normal toddler sleep disruption to make life difficult, too. You're at the age where nightmares can start, and they just might have. You got all interested in storm clouds and lightning and tornadoes the other day. We have a Charlie Brown encyclopedia about the weather, and you like to page through it until you get to the picture of the tornado and the page about lightning. The first day that you brought it up, I tried to find some good storm footage on Youtube. Epic Mom Fail. You were up at 9pm that night, telling me all about how you thought there was lightning outside and asking me if tornadoes would come in the house. I don't know if you hadn't been to sleep yet, or if you actually had a bad dream, but I felt pretty stupid for encouraging you earlier.

We went to visit a second Montessori preschool. There were things we liked more than the first one, and things we liked less. Neither of those schools had an opening for you, but we'll go visit a third school in November which might. That school is close to the Sculpture Garden and the Walker Art Center, which sounds great until I start thinking that you'll grow up wanting to be a modern artist. (Although, at least if you become a sculpture artist, you'll probably learn how to weld, and that would be awesome.) I found myself watching you play trains all weekend and thinking, Too bad there isn't a preschool that emphasizes playing with trains. You would ace that curriculum.

The biggest news this month has taken place far outside of our little home sphere. Politics around the world seem to be changing very quickly, and I wonder how your adult life will be affected. So many people today are calling loudly for social and economic changes. I wonder if they will happen, and how. I am not a person who joins in movements, who goes to protests or espouses causes. I'm happy to vote for people who I believe will work toward goals that I agree with. I'm happy to email the mayor with an idea. I'm happy to email my Congressmen and -women. If you become a person who is happy to protest and march, I hope that you will do it with respect. I hope that you will remember that systems can be improved from both the outside and from the inside, from the bottom and from the top, and that meeting in the middle is a worthy outcome. And I hope that you write clever signs and that I don't have to bail you out of jail too many times.

Love,
Mom

Month 31, or With Underwear and Potties for All

2011-09-22T10:48:00.009-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 31 months now and working on some pretty big milestones. You started on potty training, and you're going to be a big brother. We've also started looking into preschool for you, and building a twin bed for you. Your life is going to change a lot next year. I hope you're ready for it.

This month has been fairly routine, after all of the here-and-there of the summer. We spent Labor Day weekend doing projects around the house and yard. Dad and I finished painting the red wall in the living room, and Grandma and I moved some peony plants around in the yard. Dad waged war on some of the trees that are growing in places we don't want them. The weather was pretty warm, but it was good be getting things done. We also went shopping on that Monday and bought you real underpants. You wanted the ones with Yo Gabba Gabba on them, and the ones with Buzz Lightyear.

You're always happy to help us with chores that we're doing, especially if they involve some kind of tool. Sometimes you'll get tired of it and go off to play with something else, which is fine, too. I like the idea that you can both help us and also be independent. I know that Dad and I are both looking forward to when we're really able to do start teaching you skills instead of simply giving you experiences. I hope that you develop your own interests and hobbies, but I'll be really happy if they happen to intersect things that we like, too.

The week after Labor Day you started your adventures in potty training. You wear diapers or pull-ups in the mornings, so that Grandma and Grandpa can still take you out to breakfast and such. Then you switch to underpants in the afternoon so you can practice using the big potty all the time. So far, you're doing pretty well. You had lots of accidents at first, of course, and we did a lot of laundry that week. I actually picked up some more underpants (Thomas the Train, this time) so that we wouldn't run out so fast. Usually you tell us when you needed to potty, which was good, but sometimes it was in the middle of a walk, which meant you still ended up in wet pants. Sometimes I bug you about it, and you tell me no, no, no, and then end up with wet pants because you don't want to stop playing. I think the most frustrated I have seen you over anything to do with the potty was the time you wanted to flush it twice in a row, and I ended up having to explain to you that the water tank needs time to fill up again. I thought I might actually have to take the cover off and actually show you, but I'm glad I didn't, because Lord knows what kind of game that would have become. There have also been a couple of times that you wanted to stand up and pee, which is fine, except for your lack of aim, of course.

You seem to be okay with that part of your life changing, which is a relief. I hope that you won't fine the other changes that are coming very hard either. My plan is to put a twin bed in your room in the next month, and then by the time Baby needs to sleep in the crib, you'll have happily traded it for the big bed. I'm prepared to bribe you with Thomas the Train sheets, but I'm hoping that won't be necessary. Your bed time has started to be challenging as you start asserting that you don't want to go upstairs for your bath. You say things like, "I have to play trains!" and "Let's do it later," or simply, "I can't!" Some nights I have to resort to carrying you upstairs while you yell, "Put you down!" and "Let go of me!" Usually you manage to have some fun in the bath, once we're finally there. I suppose I should confess that there was one night that I ended your tantrum by telling you to squirt Dad with water. That may have been the night that he started taking his shirt off when he gives you a bath. I have no regrets.

Next Monday we're going to visit a preschool that you might go to starting early next year. Our friends Doug and Cindy send their son Adrian there--they've said good things about it. It's a Montessori school, which we like. I think that Montessori is great for pre-school, and I think that you would like it. I don't know what kind of elementary school we would choose yet. It's overwhelming sometimes to realize that we are already starting to be serious about your schooling. We want you to have good experiences in school, for many different reasons. Your father found it hard to be happy in school, whereas I found it somewhat easier, but both of us had our challenges. I hope that you will always tell us what you're thinking and feeling about school. I know our expectations for you will be high, but you should never interpret that to mean that we don't love you. You may, however, interpret it to mean that, "I have to play trains," will not get you out of homework any more than it gets you out of bathtime.

Mostly, I hope that you enjoy preschool so that when Baby gets here, you won't feel as though your whole life has been taken over by your sibling. That will, of course, be true (especially if you listen to your Uncle Alex's version of our childhood), but I don't want you to feel like it's true. Many parents talk about feeling that they couldn't love a second child as much as they love their first child. I tend to be more concerned that you won't feel as loved as you really are. You have so many people who love you, sweet boy, and we always will.

Love,
Mom

Month 30, or Officially 2 1/2

2011-08-22T11:10:00.010-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You survived the camping trip! You got to stay up late and eat smores. You spent hours every day playing in the sand with your cousins. You threw many rocks into Lake Superior. You ate fish fry and got a boat ride from Uncle Mark. You became a stinky feral child who cried his way through a bath the first night back at the Cottage. Fortunately, you have recovered some veneer of civilization again since you've been home.

You donated several pints of blood to the mosquito population, of course, but that's to be expected. I said to your Dad last night that I hope you grow enough arm hair to cover up any scars left from you scratching your bug bites. You also have a lump on the right side of your neck, which we assume is bug bite, but I made you a doctor appointment anyway. You have your own explanation for it. You heard us talking about your "lump" and how it must be a "bite," and then told us that it's a heffalump bite.

You've made progress sorting out your pronouns, and your tenses are starting to appear, which we can tell because you've started narrating your life in declarative sentences. You know the difference between, "I'm running," versus, "I ran." You've also started the typical adding "ed" to anything to make it past tense; "I throwed it," or "I stealed it (about my coffee thermos)." And we keep parrotting things back to you, in order to either reinforce concepts, or correct grammar, or correct pronunciation.

Speaking of parrots, you met one the other day. Our neighbors' son had his pet parrot over at their house, and you and Dad went out in the back yard and got to see him up close. I don't know exactly what happened, but you came back in the house with almond crumbs all over your chin.

I love asking you what you think, when you ask me questions. The other day, you heard Dad's table saw going in the garage. You asked me, "What's Dad doing?" I said something like, "It sounds like he's making something. What do you think he's making?" You said, "A hot air balloon!"

In house news, we have finished painting the wall in the living room. Now we must hang up the curtains and move the furniture back, and it will all be back to normal. Maybe. Your train set was originally in a corner by that wall, but I moved it to under the window in the dining room. I had intended to move it back when we were done with the wall, but you seem to have declared public domain on the dining room because the train track now stretches over six feet of real estate. Train sets appear to share the property with gases; they expand to the size of their container.

We've gotten to the point where you have some of your books memorized. Before bedtime the other night, I was making you "read" "One Fish Two Fish." You knew almost every phrase on the first dozen pages or so, and lots of the rhymes later in the book. You also have set responses for specific events in some books, and every time we get to those pages, we have the same dialog. That's the fun of having the same books for a long time. One thing that has changed is the songs that you request from me at bedtime. It's a struggle to accommodate you sometimes, but I do my best. The songs you requested the other night were, in order:

The spider song

The great great great big spider song
The pufferfish song
The big pufferfish song
The big spiny pufferfish song
The teeny teeny teeny tiny pufferfish song
The rainbow song
Twinkle twinkle twinkle twinkle twinkle little star

You've also requested the Corbin song and the Corbin sleeps song, the Pooh song, the grasshopper song, the Cat in the Hat song, and when I've been out of town you've asked Dad for the Mama come home song. You certainly give our imaginations a work out, but there's nothing better than sitting in the rocking chair with you for a snuggle.

Love,
Mom

Cousins camping:
At the Cottage:
Wall primed and painted:
Jodi and Wan Ling over for breakfast. Jodi made you a leaf garland:

Month 29, or Where did July go?

2011-08-02T20:22:00.016-05:00

Dear Corbin,

This summer has continued with a heat wave that simply defies adjectives. It's been very disappointing. I was planning on spending lovely weekends playing outside in the yard. Instead, we've holed up in the house with the air conditioners on, sitting in front of fans and watching lots of episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba! on Netflix streaming. Our yard has turned into a buggy jungle dotted with toadstools. The dogs have been to the dog park once in four weeks. Our electric bill is higher than it's ever been before. Summer has never been my favorite season and this year I am definitely ready for fall.

At the same time, July seems to have flown past us. You came back from the trip to VA addicted to listening to a cd of Cat in the Hat stories to go to sleep. This is fine with me, since it means I don't have to stand in your room singing songs for half an hour anymore. You've also started saying, "Get more baby blankies," which I think is funny. I try to limit you to four, in case I want one to put over you later. Sometimes you lay down and say, "Put baby blankies on him," and sometimes you just smoosh them up under your face or under your pillow. You've also started asking me to leave the door open when I leave your room, which is only fine with me because you sleep through noise so well.

One of the interesting things that the trip taught you was about fire alarms. You noticed our smoke detector in the hallway upstairs and said, "Alarm makes noise." It took me a minute to remember that the fire alarm had gone off in one of the hotels on your trip and woken you all up early in the morning. So far, that's the one noise that I can think of that you haven't slept through.

We had our 4th of July party, which was really fun. You spent a long time kicking your little soccer ball around with Grandpa Lam and then clapping for yourself. Doug and Adrian brought over a scooter to lend to us, and you learned how to ride that in about a millisecond. The next week, Grandma Lam and I took you to Toys R Us to buy you a helmet. You very loudly refused to let me try it on your head in the store, but that afternoon when we were going to go down the block to a party at Kim and Andy's, I said, "Do you want to ride your scooter?" and you said, "Ride scooter! Put helmet on!" You barely waited for me to cut the tags off. Goodness knows what we would have done if it hadn't fit.

Your vocabulary is getting quite big, and you keep surprising us with things that you say and know. Today at the dinner table you counted all the way up to fourteen. This afternoon you said to Grandma Lam, "Flowers in Liz's yard," and she hadn't heard you use a possessive before that. You're starting to sort out your pronouns, too. You have started knowing the stories in the books that we read. The other day I stopped reading a Curious George book because I thought you weren't paying attention, but you looked at me and said, "Read rest of book." One of the funniest things that you've said recently had to do with the cat. You like to help scoop out the litter box in the basement. One morning I was filling up Laney's food dish, and you said, "Go down and scoop poop." I said, "There's no poop in the litter box right now." You said, "Go down and poop, Laney."

You've also gotten obsessed with puffer fish. I showed you one at the fish store one day, and now you make us draw puffer fish and puff up our cheeks and every time you see a picture of a large-ish fish it's automatically a puffer fish. I was in Chicago for a conference last week, and one of the museums that I got to visit was the Shedd Aquarium. I managed to get a couple of photos of a huge puffer fish at the aquarium. But your actual souvenir was a stuffed triceratops from the Field Museum. I had meant to see more of the Field, but the dinosaurs were so amazing that I totally lost of track of time and was in that gallery for at least an hour. I also got to see the U boat at the Museum of Science and Industry, and I got you one of the old-fashioned molded wax statues of it that you can do in the machine for two dollars. It's going to be a lot of fun when you're a little bit older and we can take some trips to Chicago to see those museums.

But now you're off on another trip with Grandma and Grandpa Lam. First to Madison, then to Menominee, and then way up north in the UP on the family camping trip. You've never been camping before, of course, and I'm hoping that all will go well and that you won't be miserable with bug bites or not able to sleep the whole time. I'm sure you'll be fine and have lots of fun, but I won't be able to call you on the cell phone, so that will be hard for me. Dad and I will meet you at the Cottage the next weekend so we can all go to my cousin Jenny's wedding. I'll be happy to see you! Hopefully, in the meantime, the weather in Minneapolis will be nice and we can finish painting the wall in the living room and the railing on the mud room roof. Having those chores done would feel good. The good part about missing you is that I try to fill up my time doing something useful. Of course, the longer you're gone, the more of your college education goes to Dad and I eating dinner out at restaurants, so you might want to keep that in mind.

Love,
Mom

We started redecorating a wall in the living room:

Mr "Where's my helmet?"

Party at Kim and Andy's house:

You creating a Zen car garden in your sand box:

Month 28, or Trips and Falls

2011-06-23T10:10:00.013-05:00

Dear Corbin,

This has been the month of major trips and minor injuries. You went up to the Cottage with the Grandparents Lam just before Memorial Day. Originally the plan was for all of us to spend the long weekend up north, but the weather forecast was rain all weekend, so we sent you up during the week instead. You came home on Saturday, and it was nice to have the long weekend at home, even though it did rain much of the time.

The next weekend, you fell down the top part of the stairs at the house. It was Saturday morning, and you and Dad were heading downstairs to play. Arrow was laying on the floor with his feet pointed at the stairs, and you stopped to pet him with your back to the staircase. Then next thing Dad knew, you were falling down the stairs and he was chasing after you. Fortunately, you didn't fall head over heels, but instead down on your belly. I heard it happen and came out of our bedroom in time to see Dad picking you up. We all sat on the steps and you cried for a few minutes, but your only injury was a bruise on your cheekbone that quickly went through the stages of being a black eye. During the week, you had managed to skin up both of your knees, and so you suddenly looked like you had joined a rugby team. Here is the lovely progression from "just a little bruised" to "technicolor glam rock eyeshadow":

You can see that it disturbed you greatly.

The rest of the month has been only normally injury prone. A bumped head on the table, or a finger pinched in a belt buckle. Oh, and I did clonk you on the head with the handle of the shovel when I was digging up some tiger lilies and didn't realize you were right behind me. We do a lot of kissing bumps to make them better, although I also stocked up on band-aids again the other day. But I know that for the amount of running and climbing and jumping that you do, we are incredibly lucky that kisses and band-aids are all that we have needed so far.

Your verbal skills continue to develop. You are pronouncing sounds better, and you really make an effort to pronounce words the way that you hear us say them. Sometimes when we're reading, especially the ABC type books, I'll make you look at me and mimic how I move my mouth. I'm not at all concerned about your progress, but I know that's a helpful trick, and you get a kick out of imitating us. You've also started helping us tell your favorite stories when we read them. Before I turn the page, I'll ask you, "What happens next?" and you will either tell me what you think, or give me this funny grin-and-bounce which I think means, "I don't know."

It was the summer solstice this past Monday, but it hasn't felt like summer at all. It's been cold and rainy instead. We had two days that was hot: the first day was about 85 degrees, and the next day it was freakishly hot at 103 degrees. But that seems to have used up our entire summer's worth of heat so far. We put the air conditioners in the windows in preparation for the super hot day, but we haven't needed them since. I flew out to DC for work on weekend, and it was 55 degrees when I got on the plane at MSP and 85 and humid when I got off of the place at DCA. The whole weekend it was a toss up as to what would kill me first: the heat or the walking.

But it's hard to complain about being in DC--it's such an amazing city to visit. I love feeling surrounded by the history of our country. We are fortunate to live here, and I believe very strongly that we must continue the work that so many amazing Americans have done to make the people of this country more free, more equal, and move us closer to the ideals under which the nation was begun. Don't ever let anyone tell you that our country is perfect (or any other country, or anything at all under the sun for that matter), but neither is it worthless or even so terrible. We should not forget that something of quality is only created through hard work. It is easy to help our friends, but it is important to help our neighbors and communities, too. The people of this country have made beautiful, powerful, impressive things. But those things should always serve as reminders of how important we the people truly are.

Right now, you are on another trip with your Grandparents Lam. You left for Madison on Monday, and you spent Tuesday night in Indianapolis with your Grandparents Thorne. We got some cute photos of you and your cousins from Grandpa Thorne already. You should arrive in Norfolk today, for a weekend of visiting with Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena. We miss you very much, so we've been occupying ourselves with trips to the hardware store and eating out at restaurants. Our project while you're gone is redecorating the south wall of the living room, and perhaps moving all of the furniture around if we get that far. We've already to the wallpaper down, but stripping and refinishing the woodwork is what will take the longest, even though we've done it before in the dining room. It feels good to be doing something useful around the house, but it also underscores how much time we have when you're not here. I hope you're having fun, and I'll be glad when you're home to have fun with us again.

Love,
Mom

Month 27

2011-05-23T20:40:00.010-05:00

Dear Corbin,

Yesterday, you napped for about three hours, which was long enough to sleep through a tornado hitting North Minneapolis. Three houses of friends were damaged, either from trees falling or roof damage or worse. Heidi and Garry lost their whole garage. But nobody was hurt, not even pets, and so we have plenty for which to be thankful.

It amazes me what you sleep through sometimes. Thunder storms, fireworks, sirens, bad kung fu flicks. We are in quite the bed time rut these days. Bath, snack and books, and then we just turn your fan on, sing you a couple of songs, and leave you to put yourself to sleep. Sometimes we hear you talking, although we don't know you're saying or how you're entertaining yourself. If often makes me want a video camera in your room because I'm terribly curious. But you don't seem to stay awake too long, which is good. And then in the morning, it's always interesting to see where your stuffed animals have ended up. They seem to move around quite a bit.

When it's not pouring rain, it's finally nice enough to be outside after dinner. Sometimes that makes going up for bath time a little harder, but that's okay. One of the funny things you've been doing outside is trying to fit Dad though one of the holes in the side of your climber. You push on his back as if you're actually going to put him through a hole barely the size of his head. It's quite funny to watch. We had to find a carabiner to use on the gate latch, because you learned how to open the gate, and as soon as the gate is open you are off and down the sidewalk. You still love to run everywhere, and chase us, and have us chase you. When you run, you hold your arms stiff at your sides, and it gives you this kind of penguin waddle. It's both endearing and entertaining.

You've started really enjoying stacking things and making towers. We stacked up all of the buckets in the bathtub one night, and now you stack all kinds of things. You stack up tall towers of Mega Bloks. You stack your stuffed animals. I stacked your sippy cup on top of a covered tupperware dish the other day, and now you stack your sippy cup on all of your dishes. But you've also figured out that the real fun of stacking things is in knocking them over.

Other than severe weather, it's been a good month. We bought a different car this month. We traded the SER in for a Mazda3 hatchback. It's been the first little car that you've ever driven around in, between our minivan and Grandma and Bapa's big van. It's nice to have a car that is more reliable and gets better gas mileage. I was always nervous driving the SER; I never trusted that it wouldn't strand me somewhere. So it's nice to go back to only driving the minivan when we really need the cargo space, or when we're traveling. It would be very nice to see the amount of money that we spend on gas go down. Bapa and I were talking the other day about how I remember stopping at O'Malley's gas station on the way to the Cottage, and gas was less than a dollar a gallon. Yesterday, I got excited when I saw gas for less than $3.75 a gallon.

On one hand, it would be easy to lament that times change, and seemingly not for the better. Gas never seems to get cheaper, and O'Malley's doesn't exist any more because the highway moved, and that's a part of my childhood that's just...gone. And yet, I don't lament the passing of time. I like my life and my self now, and it was sometimes a hard process to get to this point. It's painful to learn certain lessons about life, like how to tell if someone is a real friend, or how to choose an apartment well, or how to take criticism from a teacher or boss. I hope that you will see the passage of years as something to respect without feeling dismayed by what may or may not have happened during those years. Life will never happen exactly the way that you plan it, not even when you plan it as obsessively as I do. It is still hard for me to look at choices I have made and to be truly at peace with them. I'm much more likely to think, "I should have done that differently," and to feel some regret. But it helps to think that every single choice I made was leading me here, where I get to be with you and your Dad and our whole family. There is nothing that I would change about that.

Love,
Mom

Month 26

2011-04-22T17:46:00.003-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 26 months old now. You are not necessarily learning more skills, as much as you are expressing them in bigger and louder ways. More and more you play games that take your whole body being active. You love to run. We were coming home from Grandma and Bapa's the other day, and you ran the whole way, saying, "Run run run." You love it when we chase you, and when you chase us. You made up a game that you call Pin Ball: you take a long-handled plastic cooking spoon in either hand, and then hit one of your round plastic foods (usually the apple, but sometimes the lemon) around the house. It works best in the kitchen where it can't go under anything. And you'll play this for a long time, until you make yourself all sweaty. I got you a plastic oversized golf club and ball from the grocery store, so you could play Pin Ball outside, but it doesn't work nearly as well.

It's funny to me that you're such a stereotypical boy some times. You turn anything into a ball, or into a vehicle. You love games that involve hitting things. When you get frustrated, you are quick to throw or kick things. But my favorite example so far is when we sat around the other day playing with your train engines in your doll house, especially when Thomas used the potty.

My Aunt Irene and cousin David Soong were here to visit all last week. It was nice to see them. They were in CA with us for your uncle Alex's wedding but this time we really got to talk and visit. They were able to come down to the museum, which was really fun. You climbed all over the kiddie ride and the replica coach, and crawled under the big horses. You also got to visit their hotel and swim in the pool. It was funny to see them here in MN, since I had just been in NJ the week before for work, and I would have seen Aunt Irene then if they hadn't already been traveling. I traveled twice this month, and it looks like I'll be traveling more in the next couple of months. You don't seem to mind my absences very much, which is good, since I'll be doing more of it. We're already planning some trips as a family, too. Mainly up to the Cottage this summer, but we also found out that Alex and Lena are planning on coming to Madison for Christmas this year, which will be really great.

The weather is finally starting to act like spring. We broke out your set of yard tools and got the yard raked. We made it out to the dog park, where the dogs proceded to get covered in mud. We even managed to grill out for dinner last night with Chris and Mony. We made moose steaks, which were good, but a little tough. You mostly ate chips and fruit and then made everyone take turns chasing you around the yard and wrestling with you. You tried to convince me that my beer was juice, so that you could have a drink, but you can't fool me, kid. I'm wise to your ways.

Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet month. Although, with how much you talk now, I suppose I can't really call it quiet. We noticed a few weeks ago that when we were driving down the alley, you would say, "Bye, house! Bye, house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house!" I thought it was cute that you were saying goodbye to our house, although I could have done without the editorializing on how clean it was. But then one morning you said, "Bye, house! Bye, house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, green house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house! Bye, dirty house!" and we realized that you were saying goodbye to all of the garages we passed in the alley, most of which are white and in need of a paint job but one of which is green. Which made me feel better about both my housekeeping and your powers of observation.

Love,
Mom

Did the video load here for you? There should be a video here.

Month 25

2011-03-21T10:51:00.008-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are two years and one month old. Your last two teeth are almost all the way in, which has improved both your mood and your toothbrushing. You've been sleeping until after 7am in the mornings, and it seems like you fall asleep every time we're in the car, so I'm wondering you're going to have a growth spurt soon. It would be nice if you would grow into whatever shape means that pants fit you. You look one of two ways in pants, right now. Either the waist fits you but the legs are too short, or the legs fit you and we have a pin the waistline to keep them from falling off of your butt. I'm looking forward to this summer when you're in shorts. Then we'll only have one measurement to worry about.

The snow is melted from most of the yard, except where it was piled up. Dad was outside this weekend trying to get some yardwork done. He fixed the spot in the fence where Arrow kept sneaking into the front yard, and he's halfway through fixing the latch on the back gate. It's time to start thinking about our summer project list, which is always distressingly long. Your summer project list so far contains things like, "play with the RC car," and "get the sidewalk chalk back out." Our project list has things like, "redecorate the living room," and "paint the railing on the mudroom roof," and "win the lottery."

You were around guns for the first time in your life, this month. We went to the UP for the annual family black powder shoot. It was also the baby shower for my cousin Laura, because nothing goes together better than muzzle-loaders and babies. Dad and I were both on shooting teams, and you watched from the sidelines with Grandma and Grandpa. You had your ear plugs in, and you would jump a little bit when someone fired a shot, but you were never scared. You said, "Bang bang!" and "Loud!" and you clapped when I hit one of the targets. You were your normal reserved self when we arrived at the camp, but by the time Laura and Nick had opened all their presents, you were having all sorts of fun with all the relatives. One of these trips, you'll be out of diapers, and then we'll have the fun of teaching you all about outhouses. Try to contain your excitement, please.

While we were in the UP, we stayed at the AmericInn. We swam in the pool both days that we were there, and I was talking to Grandma about a trip that we took when I was a little girl. We were visiting the southwest--New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada--and I remember that we would only stop for the night at a hotel that had a pool. You love playing in puddles and the sprinkler, and swimming in pools. I can see lots of hotel pools in our future. I wish that the lake at the Cottage was up to the beach, like it was when I was a kid. Hopefully we'll be able to stay at the Cottage a couple of times this summer (assuming gas isn't $78 a gallon) and go out in the canoe. We'll have to remember to bring the little paddle that Uncle Russ made for you. I suppose a life-vest would be a good idea, too. Or maybe we'll just strap your high-chair onto one of the seats.

I was happy to have the chance to see many of my cousins that weekend. I hope that we are able to give you a lot of time at the Cottage and in the UP. It's important to us that you grow up around family as much as possible. I hope that we are able to spend time with our friends and their kids here, too, of course. But I think that there's something very special about being able to be friends with your cousins, and I value my relationships with mine. You can tell by how many pictures of them appear below.

Love,
Mom

PS: Umm...no, really. I like my cousins a lot. For reals.

Month 24 - Corbin's 2nd Birthday!

2011-02-22T20:20:00.008-06:00

Dear Corbin,

Happy birthday, sweetheart! It is hard to believe that you are already two year old. Two years ago today, we were snuggling you in the hospital, getting used to changing diapers and learning how to swaddle. You were so small and uncoordinated. Now you run and jump and climb. I'm looking forward to this summer, when we can play outside and watch your skills develop even more.

You're using more and more words these days. Mostly you repeat what we're saying, but we've run into a couple of instances when you said a word that we didn't recognize. I anticipate that happening more often, until your enunciation gets better. You talk a lot when you're playing--you'll sit and play with your trains for half an hour, saying "train, train, train" the entire time. You have started using words for a couple of your signs, like Bye and Down and Fish, but other signs have stayed silent, like More and Please. You know all kinds of colors, and you can count up to five. You like to count off, "One, two, three, jump!" You have the painful honesty of a small child. We were looking out of your window the other night, to say goodnight to the stars, and instead you said goodnight to the dog poop that you could see in the yard.

You have two more teeth coming in--your canines. It's been making you a little whiney, which might be a little annoying for us, but is good for the tantrum researchers. We discovered that the video equipment had failed to record anything for a while, so we had essentially started over with the study. Then you were in Madison for a week with the Lams, and the two weeks after that you were in a good mood all the time. The researchers actually called us to say that they were going to come and pick up their equipment, but then they decided to give us more time. I thought it was pretty darn funny--you failed the temper tantrum study! But last night we managed to record you being unhappy when I wanted to eat dinner instead of come play with you. So hopefully we'll be useful to science yet.

We had a few weeks of very cold weather, which was exactly the time that you started swimming lessons again. You love swimming lessons. You like being in the water, and playing with all of their toys. You're learning how to kick your feet and move your arms in the right way. You're also learning to blow bubbles, which Grandma Lam encouraged so that you could blow out your candles on your birthday cake.

You did that very successfully, by the way. All five times that you made us light them for you. Dad and I gave you a little train station for your train tracks. It makes three different train sounds, and it's pretty cool. Dad also bought you the biggest balloon he could find, which was a huge fire engine as big as you are. Grandma and Bapa Lam gave you a train of letters that spell out your name. Grandma and Grandpa Thorne sent a set of kid-sized yard tools, which I am saving for the summer for you. I think you'll really like them; you always want to help us rake and dig and whatever, and now you'll have tools that are just the right size. I'm also saving a really cool RC car that Aunt Erin and Uncle Scott gave you. I think that's going to be an awesome summer toy.

We get to see Grandma and Grandpa Thorne this weekend. They're going to be in the Madison area, so we're taking the chance to get to see them after only driving six hours instead of twelve. A friend of mine asked if we were going to take you to your first political protest down at the state capital. I think we'll take a pass, but it is interesting to think about how much the world has changed, just in your life time. Changes always happen, and I hope that you are never frightened by that. I hope you will take the opportunities that arise around you to make the world always more peaceful, more fair, and to make life better for every person. Your father and I grew up watching space shuttles fly men and women to moon. You watched the last lauch of the space shuttle Discovery the other day, and while you mainly liked it because of Curious George, I hope that you will grow up watching science and exploration continue to improve life here on Earth.

But I promise you, no matter what you grow up to be or do, we will always love you, just for being who you are: our sweet, helpful, smart, funny boy.

Love,
Mom

Month 23

2011-01-23T12:20:00.013-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 23 months old--just one more month until you turn two! It's hard to believe that two years have gone by so quickly.

It's been crazy cold here lately, and we're all pretty much ready for summer. Your Dad and I were talking about looking forward to being able to invite other families over, so you can have some play time with other kids. Grandma Lam was already getting flower catalogs in the mail, so we'll have some new flowers to plant in the raspberry patch. We'll get the croquette set out and watch you and the other children learn how to share, and then how to check for concussion. Useful life skills, that's what being around other kids teaches you. That, and how to dodge.

You are saying more and more words now. You know lots of colors, and can say most of them. You like to count up to five, because "five" is the number that you will say. You have even said two word phrases: big ball and big balloon. You are still totally obsessed with balloons, but now you've discovered hot air balloons, which you call, "ha bawoon." You've also added a new love: trains.

At the beginning of the month, we went down to Indiana to have Christmas with the Thornes and the Spencers. While we were in IN, we got to meet your new cousin, Raymond Thorne Spencer, who is a cute little baby. We took lots of your old clothes down for him, which I can see being a theme in the future. I hope he likes to wear lots of orange shirts, because I was looking through the shirts that I've been collecting for next fall (whenever I see one on sale) and there are about 4 orange shirts and an orange and brown sweater. I've been trying not to collect too much clothing for this coming summer, but it's just so easy to buy clothes for you right now: you don't have any opinions on it yet!

That trip is when your love of trains took over. You discovered the train table in Charlotte's play room, and you didn't leave it the rest of the day. We were happily opening gifts in the living room, and you did open two or three with me. But you had only come out to the living room to get me or Dad to come back and play trains with you. When we finally left for dinner, you cried and cried. So, after we got back home to MN, we got you one last Christmas present: your very own train set. Yesterday we had lunch with Heidi and Garry, and Garry showed you videos of steam trains on his iphone, and you loved it.

Speaking of videos, you've been getting more screen time lately, both as a viewer and as a star. Grandpa Lam has been taking videos of you and Grandma at your swimming lessons. He's learned how to zoom, now, so Grandma has been reminding him to zoom in on you and not on her. Dad put the videos from our CA trip onto a DVD, so it'll be interesting to see what we can do with other videos. You still love watching Pooh tapes with Grandpa Lam. You watched the first 25 minutes of Black Beauty with me the other day. And then yesterday we found this video of a hot air balloon ride at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, which we watched about four times, I think. That music is still stuck in my head.

You're also starring in videos for a study on temper tantrums. We have a couple of video cameras in the living room right now, waiting for you to be in a cranky mood. The study is being done by a professor at the U of M, who is studying why children have tantrums. It kind of makes me laugh; I think it's pretty obvious why you get upset, when it happens. But that's okay--someone's got to be in the studies, and it might as well be us. The funny part was that you were in such a good mood the couple of days after they set up the cameras that we wondered just how long it would take to record three tantrums. But then you had two in two days, so I guess we'll make their six weeks deadline with no problem. You are, after all, my kid.

But for all that you're able to throw a first-class tantrum, you make us laugh all the time. Playing with you is tiring, often repetitive, sometimes stressful, and I absolutely love it. I'm so grateful that you're our kid.

Love,

Mom

Christmas with the Lams in Madison:

Christmas with Charlotte and Baby Ray:

Your new train set, which you obviously love:

Playing in your money, a la Scrooge McDuck:

Macaroni and cheese for lunch:

Month 22, or Would you like some snow with that?

2010-12-22T20:45:00.006-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 22 months old, and that's about how many inches of snow we got two weeks ago. We spent a while outside that Saturday shoveling, and then we spent a long time outside on Sunday shoveling. You were okay outside and you really wanted to help use the snow thrower, but then your dad took you down in the sled to Grandma and Grandpa's apartment to shovel the snow away from their doors, and he shoveled it right onto you. After that, you were happy to stay inside for a while.

You've been learning many new skills lately. You and Dad were playing balloon tennis, using your plastic frying pan as a racket. You love to climb up on things just to jump off of them. You learned that the dinosaur tub toys can squirt water all over the bathroom. You're getting better at brushing your teeth, which is good because your first set of molars have come in. But the most surprising thing is that you've been experimenting with potty training. It all started when Dad was home alone with you and needed to use the potty. That night, before your bath, you pulled your usual imitation of adult life and peed in the potty. So we got you a potty chair, which I didn't mean to leave in the dining room, but I put it down there when I brought it home and then you discovered it and now I guess it's just going to stay in the dining room. How very...unappetizing. So now when we change your diaper, you like to sit on the potty chair. Normally, nothing happens, but the other day you peed in the potty chair! Okay, you peed both in the chair and all over the floor, but it was a good effort. I'm really fine with the fact that you want to potty train about a year earlier than I was planning on, but I'd just like to warn you that it may come up someday that you owe us for cleaning up after you peeing on the floor for a whole extra year, and so no, you may not have the car tonight.

In other family news, you have a brand new cousin. Baby Ray was born yesterday, about 7bls and 21 inches long. Everyone is healthy and happy. We'll get to see him when we go to Indiana in January to visit. We'll be taking your infant wardrobe with us, because it's never too early to get your cousins used to wearing your hand-me-downs.

You are in Madison right now with Grandma and Grandpa Lam. You were fascinated by putting the Christmas tree in the van, and you're a hit as usual with the hometown breakfast joint. Dad and I took the opportunity of nights without you to see a movie, but not together. I'm not sure if that says we've got a really good relationship or not, but we each had fun seeing the same movie on different nights with different friends. Tonight we'll be finishing up the Christmas shopping, and tomorrow we'll be heading down to join you all in Madison. Yay, presents!

Love,
Mom

This is the snow that we had on Dec 3:

This is the blizzard on Dec 11:
This is you goofing around in the kitchen:

Month 21

2010-11-23T16:00:00.005-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 21 months old this month. This has been the month of sickness in the family, which wasn't any fun. You got a cold at the beginning of the month, and then you went to Madison with the Lams. While you were there, you got a little stomach bug and I came down with a cold. Then Grandma Lam got the stomach bug. Then you all came home and both me and Dad had the stomach bug. You still had your cold, and then you had a cough for a couple of weeks. Everyone seems to be healthy now, and hopefully we'll all stay that way.

Other than illnesses, it's been a quiet month. It's definitely winter now. After a nice spell of Indian Summer, we had our first snow fall a couple of weeks ago. I was in Denver for a conference, and I was lucky that my flight home wasn't cancelled or delayed. That snow was followed by a couple of days last week of freezing rain, and we're supposed to get more of that this week. Which is a bummer for everyone traveling for Thanksgiving.

We will be at home for Thanksgiving, with a couple of friends coming over. Your father put together the menu for dinner, which is going to be interesting. My whole life, Thanksgiving dinner was always a capon, mashed potatos and gravy, cream style corn and some other frozen veggie, cranberry sauce and rolls. This year, we're having Cornish Hens, squash soup, stuffing, applesauce and maybe even asperagus! I made Dad keep the potatos and creamed style corn and cranberry sauce, just because.

Your table manners have reached a state where you love to eat off of everyone else's plate. You'll eat part of your meal, then want to get down from your high chair. You used to go and play, then, but now you'll get up into someone's lap and happily eat their food. We were out to breakfast with the Chapmans last weekend, and you thought that you should get to eat whatever Baby Sofia was eating. Lucky for you, Ms Becky thinks you're the cutest boy ever, and gave you handfuls of blueberries and yogurt drops. Of course, that's what I do, too, so I can't really blame her. It's a good example of how much I love you, that I let you have any of my food. I've had several friends, including your dad, who would trade bites of their dinners with people. I think that's weird, and I only put up with it from you because, well, you're my kid and you're 21 months old. But someday, you'll be older, and then you'll just have to trade food with your dad and not with me.

We celebrated Grandpa Lam's birthday on Sunday the 21st. Grandma had bought a giant Happy Birthday balloon, which you loved. You made Grandpa blow out his candles twice. We gave you some cake and ice cream, and then you wanted to sit and watch Winnie-the-Pooh. Maybe on Thanksgiving we can watch some of the Macy's parade and show you those huge balloons.

We have also started making video calls with Grandma and Grandpa Thorne, so that's been fun. We still have some technical aspects to work out, but they had fun watching you play while talking to us on Sunday. I'm glad we're able to do things like that. Only seeing each other once or twice a year just isn't enough. Hopefully we'll be able to do that once a week, and they'll really be able to watch you growing up. Of course, that also meant they got to watch you be mad when it was time for your bath, but I guess that's all part of the fun!

Love,
Mom

Month 20

2010-10-22T14:49:00.011-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 20 months old this month. You're getting at least two more teeth. You love music and singing and dancing. We had a very eventful month: your Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena got married, and then we spent a week seeing Kings Canyon, Sequoia National Park, and Death Valley.

On Sunday October 3rd, you left for California with G&G Lam. You drove for four days to San Diego, and by then you were very ready to stop being in your car seat all day. But you did really well on the drive--you played with stickers and you colored and played with balloons that Grandma blew up for you--and you did manage to sleep pretty well each night.

On Thursday the 7th, Dad and I flew out to San Diego to meet up with everyone. On Friday we had the wedding rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, at which you charmed everyone like you always do. Saturday was the wedding, which went very well and was a lot of fun. You enjoyed yourself at the reception, especially after you and I sampled a bit too much of the chocolate fountain. Of course, that was exactly when the wedding party got up to give their speeches, so we had to go and have our sugar highs somewhere else for a while until that was done.

Sunday was a fun day, when Dad and I went kayaking with my Aunt Cele and Uncle Russ. We saw sea lions and tiger sharks and got to kayak into some caves. Then we had dinner with the Lam relatives and said goodbye to everyone since that was our last night in San Diego. On Monday morning, we headed north to KC/SNP. It was a much longer drive than we expected, mainly because the road into the park is so twisty and turn-y that we could only drive about 30mph. The best part was that we saw three bears driving into the park--exciting!

We spent the next two days walking around in the Giant Forest and the Grant Grove of sequoias. Those are some really big trees. Really. They're big. And old. They're about 24 thousand months older than you are right now. It's really impressive to stand next to one of those trees and contemplate the idea of life on earth. We all agreed that Dad's idea to see the big trees was a winner. Dad and I also hiked up to the top of a peak called Big Baldy, which had some pretty incredible views. And then I got really excited about seeing a crow, and your dad laughed at me a lot.

On Thursday the 14th we left KC/SNP and drove east to Death Valley. We stayed just outside of Death Valley National Park, in Beatty, Nevada. You made your first foray into a casino, because there are very few restaurants in Nevada that are not in casinos. I don't think anyone let you gamble, but if you did, you lost. Let that be a lesson to you.

Death Valley is actually a very interesting place. It seems to have something of a chip on its shoulder about being named Death Valley. Its museum is a bit strident about the fact that lots of people have lived in Death Valley, and that even though immigrants to CA named it Death Valley, only one immigrant actually died there. There were some interesting exhibits about the mineral mining there, but you really liked the giant dinosaur skull that they had. After driving to the place with the lowest elevation in the US (minus 282 feet), we turned east again and drove to Las Vegas.

We stayed the night in a very nice hotel outside of Vegas, and then on Saturday morning you got on a place with Dad and I back to Minneapolis. You did really well on the flight, which was a blessing because Dad ended up not feeling well so it was up to me to entertain you. It was really nice to get home and see our dogs and sleep in our own beds! But with the Lams driving back, you had to go to day care this week, which made for a few rocky moments but seemed to end up all right. Thankfully, we'll all be able to get back into our regular routine now. At least, until the Lams take you off to Madison again.

It was a lot of fun to see so many family members that we haven't seen in a long time. It's a good thing that there are so many fun things to do in this country, since we have family living all over the place. I hope that you don't pass up chances to visit and explore. Traveling can be hard in so many ways, and yet there are so many things that you cannot learn any other way. When I was younger and traveled alone, I learned a lot about getting along with strange people. Now that I travel with you and your father, I'm learning a lot about getting along with strange people.

Love,
Mom

Month 19

2010-09-30T21:37:00.004-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You turned 19 months old a week ago. You are a running, climbing, throwing, yelling little boy who loves to push things around. You laugh when we play peek-a-boo, and chase you around, and wrestle with you, and tickle you. You like to dance, and pound on things, and color with crayons or sidewalk chalk. You love to read books. In the morning, you have to look at a book while you get dressed. At night, you have to look at a book while you get in your pj's. The other night, you made me read you, "Baby Bear, Baby Bear" three times in a row (one of them backwards).

You love balloons. Another little boy once gave you a balloon that he had blown up, and the two of you played with your balloons together for over half an hour. One day, you insisted that Grandma Lam buy you a balloon that you saw at the dollar store, and you spent the whole day bringing that balloon with you. You even held on to it when you were napping, and Grandma and Grandpa had to keep checking on you to make sure that you hadn't strangled yourself with it. We made the mistake of walking past the balloons in the grocery store the other day, and they had a balloon with dinosaurs on it. I thought we were going to have to put you on the conveyor belt when it was time to check out, because you did not want to hand it over to the cashier. Luckily, you're willing to sleep with this one across the room from you. I blame your balloon mania on the number of times the Lams let you watch scenes from, "Up."

We spent Labor Day weekend in Madison, cutting back bushes and shrubs at the Lams' house. You had fun helping us pile up sticks and Dad even let you help use the machete a little bit, because he likes to give me heart attacks. It was all fun and games until you were showing Grandma some toadstools and she tripped over a stump. She got a pretty good cut on her leg, and you cried and cried about it until we got a band-aid onto it. You didn't care that she landed on your doll stroller and bent it all up, which I think is a good sign. People are always more important than things.Your quest for independence these days means you want your own dinner now, your own serving of whatever is on the table. Sometimes you actually eat yours, but sometimes you don't believe us when we say its the same thing and you insist on eating off of our plates anyway. You still like fruits the best, but pasta seems to be a close second. And of course, any time we say, "ice cream" you run right over.

You still like to help us do whetever we're doing. You help us feed the dogs. You help us sweep the floor. You help us unpack the grocery bags. Grocery shopping with you is really funny, actually. You want to look at whatever we're buying, and when you're done looking at it, you'll turn around in your seat and drop it over into the cart with no regard for what it is or what's under it. So, for anyone taking you shopping in the future: just, you know, keep the eggs out of the drop zone, okay?

This month it definitely became fall instead of summer. We got out your long sleeved shirts and immediately lent half of them to Jaden down the street because they were already too small for you. We have to pack this week for our trip to California, so we've been checking the weather in King's Canyon. It seems to be very similar to our weather here, so it shouldn't be too hard to guess what we'll need. I'm really looking forward to this trip. It will be nerve-wracking to be the one officiating for your Uncle Alex, but fun to see them and the other relatives coming out. And I can't wait to go see the big trees. I think we'll have a lot of fun. Of course, the last time I said we were going to have a week of fun, it ended up being a heat index of 104 degrees for the week. Maybe I'd better stop with the predictions.

Love,
Mom

(The Sandbox one was actually from back in June)

1.5 Years

2010-08-27T19:15:00.005-05:00

August was hot! And humid. You're growing pretty fast, mentally and physically. This month it seemed like you have really been able to process a lot of different things that we say to you. "Hold this." "Can I have that?" "Let's take a bath!" "Are you ready to eat?" We say these things to you and it's beginning to feel less like talking to ourselves. You say "Hot" and "Out" and "Eyes" and you almost say "Down." You can make some appropriate noises too, you make car noises with the car toys, and you emulate the DING when your food has heated up. You're taking an interest in other children as well, so I hope to have a chance to get you playing with some. We met with Doug and Cindy and Adrian for breakfast the other weekend, and you played with Adrian. Your Grandma says you like to play with the other children at the park as well. We may find some part-time daycare for you, or possibly some structured activity to get you socializing and to give your grandparents a break. Who knows, we'll have to find the right thing. We heard you're going to have another cousin - Aunt Erin is pregnant again. It's a boy, and he's due right before Christmas.

Here's some pictures... - Dad

Month 17

2010-07-22T21:54:00.006-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 17 months old today. This month, you seemed to truly become a toddler. There was a day this month where I put you down for your morning nap, and when I picked you up two hours later you felt like you had grown in your sleep. Fortunately, we rediscovered a whole 12-18 month wardrobe thanks to a small, localized flood in the basement, so your wardrobe is still keeping up with your growing.

You have two more teeth coming in on the top, and possibly even two more on the bottom. You never did like the teething rings that I got for you, but you're perfectly happy to chew on the screen door while watching Dad mow the lawn, or on a wash cloth when I'm trying to wash your face, or on my shoulder when I'm holding you. You're also happy to chew on food. Dad has started following a rule of feeding you at least two times for each one time that he eats, and you seem perfectly happy with this arrangement. You also started brushing your own teeth this month. Grandma and Grandpa Lam got you a toothbrush shaped like a penguin and you liked it so much you even started brushing with the plain old boring toothbrush that I got you a long time ago.

You continue to demonstrate a strong understanding when we talk to you, but so far the only real word you say consistantly is "eyes." Grandma Lam thinks you also say, "Hi" and I believe her, because I swear the other day I heard you repeat me when I said, "Hi, Arrow." Oh, and you say, "hot." You have started really enjoying it when we sing to you. I have been trying to teach you, "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," and you play along a little bit, but mostly you just enjoy the song. When I stop singing, you sign, Please, which has become your default sign for both More and Please and Yes.

We survived the 4th of July for one more year. We had a very baby-friendly grill out, which meant everyone left at 8pm. You went to sleep just fine, and slept through the fireworks which kept me up until 2am. That's the only day of the year when I wish we lived anywhere else but our neighborhood. Our neighbors light off so many fireworks, there's enough smoke to make you think the whole block was burning down.

You spent some time in Madison twice this month. The second time, you got to ride in your brand new front-facing car seat. You grew too tall for your infant seat, but the first time we put you in the new seat, you looked so small again! You seemed to like being able to see more, but you weren't as comfortable when you wanted to nap in it. We'll have to get you one of those little neck pillows or something, since we've got at least two more road trips planned this year.

We had some happy news from the Spencers this month--you're going to have another cousin! Erin is due in December, and they're having a boy this time. We're going to send them most of your wardrobe, because nothing says family quite like photos of two cousins wearing the same clothes in two different years. If you suddenly start getting birthday presents of really expensive clothing, I guess we'll know why!

I'm looking forward to next month. I'll be done with this show, so I'll have a chance to catch up on some chores and projects. Plus, Grandma and Grandpa Lam are going camping for a week, so we'll have a long weekend at the Cottage with them, and then I'll have you all to myself for the next week. I will finally get to do all of the fun things that they do with you, like go to the zoo and to the playground. I'm sure you will make me totally exhausted by the end of the week, but I plan on having a lot of fun and you should, too.

Love,
Mom

So much for that eating with a spoon thing:

Adventure Corbin

2010-06-25T15:13:00.004-05:00

Month 16

2010-06-22T09:59:00.011-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are 16 months old today. This month, you started climbing. You climbed up onto the couch in the living room. You climbed up onto the couch in your bedroom. You climbed up into your climbing cube and went down the slide. Then you turned around and climbed back up the slide. You are almost running and almost catching a ball. You are so much fun to sit and play with, or just watch as you play.

You have also started feeding yourself with a spoon. We started handing you a loaded spoon and helping you actually get it into your mouth. But it didn't take long before you wanted to do it all yourself, so I gave you a bowl with some mac and cheese and you fed yourself the whole thing. Which is kind of amazing on two fronts: using a spoon successfully for a whole meal, and eating a whole serving of any thing at one time.

Dad gave you a real haircut this month. He studied up on some videos on YouTube, strapped you into your high chair and snipped away. You were pretty patient and sat about as still as you ever do. I was afraid you'd end up looking like one of the Three Stooges, but you didn't. You look just as cute as you always have, thank goodness.

You became a theater orphan this month. I took a stage management gig so I've been missing out on bedtimes for a couple of weeks now. Grandma and Grandpa Lam took advantage of the situation and got me to agree that you could go on a trip with them. (They were like wolves: they sensed the weakest one in the herd and went in for the kill.) So, you went over to the cottage with them for a couple of days. Next week, they're taking you to Madison for four days, and I'm sure by next month they'll have just moved you in with them. Hopefully, they'll let you live at the apartment with them, so I can babysit for you sometimes.

It's been interesting being back in the theatre life, but also incredibly hard. Before you were born, when rehearsals got boring or tiring, I would think to myself, "This will be worth it when we are actually doing performances." And it was, and I would be a little bit sad when the show closed. But now my thoughts go in a different direction, and I think to myself, "I could have been home with Corbin," and I have discovered that no amount of anticipation is making up for that disappointment. I think my best bet is to wait until you're in highschool, and then direct your highschool plays. Don't you think? What do you mean you want to play football?

Love,
Mom

Month 15

2010-05-26T20:33:00.001-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You turned 15 months on Saturday. It has been a busy month. We started with a trip to Missouri to visit your Dad's family. Then we went to our first cookout of the season, at Jody and Mary's house. (You had fun pushing your "car" up and down their driveway and eating your first hot dog. Their dog Scrappy spent some time licking all over your face, until you figured out that if you held your had up, he would lick your hand instead.) We went to Dairy Queen one day after doing yard work. We celebrated Mother's Day by taking Grandma Lam out for breakfast. We went to a birthday party, and I even let you have some cake. Yesterday, we went to a softball and grilling party at Wyndom Park in NE. And the night before that, Mom and Dad actually went out at night together! Crazy!

For Mother's Day, Grandma and Grandpa Lam gave me a great present--portraits of you. They even framed one for us, and we hung it up that same day. We all marveled that the photographer got you to smile for her, but you did, and the pictures are great.

It's definitely turned into summer this month. We had some rainy days, but now it's hot and humid. The afternoon that we were doing yard work, Grandma Lam filled up a Tupperware storage bin with water for you to wade in. You waded for about 30 seconds before you sat right down in it, shorts, diaper and all. After you were done playing in the water, Grandma got you all cleaned up, but when she started using the same bin to wash off some lawn chairs, you climbed right back in it, this time with your shoes on, too! I guess that's what we get for putting you in swimming lessons so young.

You have four teeth now, two on the top and two on the bottom (all in front) and you've discovered that Cheerios are crunchy. You've started wanting to use a spoon to feed yourself, which you might imagine sometimes results in you eating and sometimes results in the dogs having a treat. It also sometimes results in a good immune system, since I also caught you eating dirt off of the trowel the other day, as if it were just a big spoon.

That's just part of the independence that you want to exercise. You like to do whatever it is we're doing, which is fun. You help me pick up your toys. You help me sweep up the kitchen floor. You want your own napkin to wipe your own mouth. But along with this goes your temper, and when we hold you back from doing something you let us hear your frustration. Being stubborn is nothing new in this family, though, and you were born in the year of the Ox, so you definitely come by it honestly. Luckily, you're still easy to distract, and at heart you're still very easy-going. Besides, when you're insisting that you'd rather read books than play with something else, it's pretty hard to disagree with that.

Love,

Mom

MO family

2010-05-01T20:18:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, we spent 26 hours on the road to spend 2 hours at a wedding and reception. It rained the entire weekend. Please take a moment to imagine the horror.

Okay, that's enough about that. The best place we stopped, each way, was a Mexican restaurant in Bloomfield, IA. The food was really good, reasonably priced, and the place was huge and not very busy. Corbin spent our time there walking around, smiling at the two other tables in the joint, and playing with his favorite toy car underneath the high chair. This was all fine with me.

The best part about the trip was spending time with the Grandparents Thorne and the Spencers. Charlotte is going on two and is talking now. We got some pix:

Month 14

2010-04-22T21:23:00.002-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You turned 14 months today! You have at least one tooth coming in on top, and it looks so strange that we actually had to ask a couple of people if they thought we should take you to a dentist. It turns out that top teeth simply look that crazy.

This has been the month of Mom drops you. One week, you leaned out of my arms while I was putting you into your car seat (which was already in the car) and you knocked your mouth into the car seat, scraped up your chin and bit the end of your tongue. Then the next week I was carrying you while you were in your car seat, and I twisted my ankle. I tried to catch my balance, but ended up just staggering around into the patio table, then setting your car seat down hard on the ground and kind of falling down next to you. I also spent your college savings putting a new bumper on the van after backing it into a parked car, so if you've been wondering where your phobia of car stuff comes from, look no further.

You and Grandma Lam and I went over the UP for my birthday weekend, the end of March. You had a fun time playing with Aunt Alice and Cousin Diana (who does a hilarious bear imitation, by the way), but for some reason you were very shy around Aunt Cele. Grandma Lam thinks it's because she and Cele look too alike for your comfort. In any case, we had a fun time going to the little zoo and playing around Aunt Cele's big yard. The next weekend, we hunted for Easter eggs at the apartment. You went to the MN Zoo again and petted some animals there. You had your last swimming lesson until this fall. You gained three new pairs of shoes, and some summer pjs. You're a busy kid!

The weather has been really nice, so you've been doing a lot of playing outside, in the yard and up at the park. We got a little climber for you, and we put together a sandbox on the front porch for when it does rain. You also like pushing your "car" around, and you're much better at steering it now, except on the grass. There's a little boy down the block, Seth, who came over to play for a little while last Saturday. Whenever you're around other children, your normally cautious approach slows down even more. It makes me think that we should find you a play group pretty soon, so you start getting used to people who move faster than your parents and grandparents.

You also like playing with the dogs outside. You and Arrow play fetch sometimes, which means you walk around with a tennis ball for a minute and then "throw" it. Arrow will run over and pick up the ball, run around in a circle with it and then drop it by you. I watched you do this for almost 20 minutes one afternoon, and it was pretty darn cute.

The biggest thing that happened this month was that you started using signs to talk to us. The breakthrough was when you learned "more." Once you learned the basic concept of signs, you picked up a couple more very quickly: please, drink, and all done. You do modify them, however, which is alternately simply fine and completely hilarious. For more, you tap your fists together, instead of your fingertips. For drink, you tap your fist against your mouth or cheek, instead of opening your hand into a C. For all done, you turn your hands palm up instead of palm down. But by far the best one is please, which I taught you in the bathtub when you wanted me to wind up your wind-up frog. I said, "Mama, do the frog please," and tried to get you to pat your chest. Instead, I accidentally taught you to pat your belly. So now when you're eating dinner and I remind you to say, "More please," it looks like you're saying, "More...in my belly!" and it makes me crack up every time.

More...in my belly!

Love,
Mom

With your Easter bunny from Grandma and Grandpa Thorne:

You still won't let Arrow eat in peace:

Hey, Mr Teeth.

Month 13

2010-03-23T21:34:00.007-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You turned thirteen months old yesterday. To celebrate, Dad cut your hair in the bath again, and you cried and cried about it. Pretty soon, we’ll have to take you to get a real hair cut. Soon. Pretty soon. Any day now.

Your uncle Alex and soon-to-be-aunt Lena came for a visit at the beginning of the month. The last time they saw you, you did nothing but cry, so this visit was much better. It was very nice to see them. We’ll see them again in California in October for their wedding, and we might even get to do some sight-seeing along the way.

The snow all melted this month, and the weather has been sunny and mild. That’s good, because you love being outside. You want to go on walks as often as you can, even if you only walk ten feet before stopping to explore something on the ground. You have brought home a couple of rocks, from your walks with Grandma and Grandpa, so we started a treasure box for you on the front porch. Hopefully that will keep the whole outdoors from coming to live in our house. This past weekend, I was doing some yard work while you were having some outside time. You were mainly playing with the dogs, “throwing” the tennis ball for them and playing with sticks together. I won’t be surprised if by the end of the summer, all you want to do is play in the yard with the dogs. Maybe we can get you your very own kid sized pooper scooper.

Grandma Lam and I went to a big consignment sale of kid’s stuff last week. We found you a summer wardrobe and some outdoor or front porch toys. Based on your love of stomping in puddles, though, what you really need are some rain boots. Your winter boots were waterproof when you were walking in the snow, but they were defeated by the puddle stomping. Hopefully we can find you something before we get any rain.

You have also started figuring out how to climb things. Mainly stairs, of course, but you also try to climb in and out of the tub, and you’ve actually become pretty good at climbing down from the couch. Sometimes when we’re going upstairs for your bath, you make us hold your hands so you can “walk” up the stairs, instead of crawl, and that always makes me laugh.

Other than that, it’s been a pretty quiet month for us. By quiet, though, I really mean uneventful, because you do

have your yelling moments. The other night you were walking laps around the house yelling, just because you thought it was fun. You make a lot of noise, and use a lot of syllables, but you haven’t started talking yet. You haven’t even been interested in using any signs, even ones that you made up yourself. You just do a lot of hooting and pointing, which is only to be expected. One of the books I was reading said that kids your age have more behavior in common with chimpanzees than with adult humans, so I’m not surprised when our interactions go something like this:

You: Hoot! Hoot! [point]

Me: That’s a banana. Ba-na-na.

Love,

Mom

Month 12

2010-02-22T13:28:00.006-06:00

Dear Corbin,

Happy birthday, sweet boy! It has been a very good year, your first year. We have had so much fun watching you grow and change and learn. You are walking now, which you enjoy very much. You totter along with your arms held out to the sides, like a little zombie. Sometimes you get going pretty quick, but mostly you walk slowly with lots of stops to look at things or pick things ups. You like to carry things around the house, which is cute for us but a little crazy-making for the dogs. Yesterday, I put one of your toys in a grocery bag that I had just emptied, and later on Arrow came and barked at me because you had put it in his crate. That was after the morning, when you let Rex out of his crate and then crawled into it and started eating his breakfast. I had to fish about four pieces of dog food out of your mouth while you chomped on my finger with your little teeth. Yuck.

You had your 12 month check up today, and got three shots and a finger poke. You weren't happy about any of that, but you didn't make too much of a fuss. You weigh almost 20 pounds and are 29" long and are perfectly healthy. Good job!

You went on your first plane rides this month, down to St Louis for Chinese New Year with Grandpa Lam's family. My cousins were all happy to meet you, and you did quite well in your red envelopes. I saved it all for you. I have it right here. Just ignore that Target receipt. The traveling unsettled your sleeping a little bit, but not your mood. In fact, you were so well behaved that my cousin Michelle called you a, "bait baby." She says babies like you bait people into having children, fooling them into thinking that their baby will also be cute and happy and fun, just like you are.

You still only have two teeth, both on the bottom. I keep looking to see if you're getting any on the top, but no sign right now. Hopefully by the time you get more teeth, you'll be good enough at sippy cups that we can put the bottles away. I got you a new cup with a straw, and you've gotten good at sucking milk up in the straw. The problem is that you'll suck up a mouthful of milk, then open your mouth to let go of the straw and end up with a lap-full of milk. It's messy, but most of your meals are messy anyway.

You are still enjoying swimming classes, and still enjoying any chance you get to be outside. I am looking forward to this summer when we can walk up to the park or go to the arboretum or the zoo or the dog park. It is always fun to watch you exploring, to watch you discovering, to watch you learning. You are still our little observer. This is where I would post several pictures of you gingerly poking at your birthday cupcake, but the camera ate the picture files. That's the price you pay for growing up in the digital age, I guess. So here are some pictures of you walking, instead.

We love you,
Mom

Happy New Year!

2010-02-21T19:35:00.005-06:00

February, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy Year of the Tiger! This is Adam’s birth year, which will tell you how old he will be on his birthday, if you do the math. According to some, this year of the White or Metal Tiger will be filled with drama and intense activity. The White Tiger is also associated with being jinxed, and we are all supposed to watch out for health problems. On the other hand, the metal element may bring prosperity to industries like banking, engineering and technology. Overall, there is much to be cautious about this year, with rewards for those who are able to resist losing their temper. Especially lucky this year is anyone born in the year of the Pig, Horse, or Dog. Everyone else should cozy up to those people!

The last year has obviously been one of great change in the Thorne household. Our son, Corbin, was born last year on February 22^nd, so he is almost a year old. It is hard to believe that we have watching him grow for a whole year now. From rolling, to crawling, to now his first steps. From just milk, to mushy cereal, to now two teeth and finger foods. And from a sleepy baby, to a watchful baby, to now a little boy who gets excited about our animals and being at swimming classes. We are so blessed and lucky!

Not only has it been a pleasure for us to have Corbin around, but it’s been a true joy for my parents. They spent the summer with us, living in their camper in our garage, and doing daycare for Corbin after I went back to work. In August, we all agreed that we wanted them to keep doing daycare, so they moved into an apartment a block away. They make life so much easier, in so many ways. We are grateful for their help, and they love being able to spend so much time with Corbin.

Thankfully, everything else in our life has been stable. Adam and I are still enjoying our jobs, and even getting a little hobby time in. My goal this year is to see more theatre, but I don’t plan on returning to stage managing for a while yet. Last year we went to three weddings, two of which were in Michigan. So far, Corbin has been a very good traveler. We even flew to St Louis for Chinese New Year dinner, and he did so well that strangers gave us compliments!

In a few weeks, Alex and Lena will come to visit, and we are looking forward to seeing them. This summer, we’ll have some more house and yard projects to keep us busy. And this fall we will go to Alex and Lena’s wedding in October. We are hoping to take enough time off to drive to California and then visit one or two national parks on the way home. It is good to look back over the past year and see how much has changed. And it is very good to look forward over the next year and be excited about the times to come. We hope that your last year has been happy, and that your next year is full of health and strength and blessings.

Love,

Adam, Mel and Corbin

On the road in St Louis. We love Monkey.

Playing around at Union Station

At CNY dinner with my cousin Michelle, me, and my cousin David.

Month 11

2010-01-22T20:32:00.005-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are eleven months old today. It is frankly shocking to think that you are almost a year old. Eleven months! I’ve been a mom for eleven months! That’s crazy talk! I was reflecting today that I now feel normal and comfortable in my body again, and not as if I am still getting used to not being pregnant. You, of course, keep changing every day.

You have two teeth now, both of them on the bottom. I did buy you a toothbrush, but you’re not crazy about actually letting us use it. Tonight at dinner you were enjoying using your teeth to bite crackers and cereal. I think you’re having fun making crunching noises now that you can. You’re much more interested in finger foods now. If there isn’t some kind of finger food on your tray, you’ll grab the spoon out of our hands. You seem to like pasta, and chicken, and breakfast sausage. You still love toast, but now you want bigger pieces if not the whole slice at a time. You still love applesauce and banana-‘cado, but you truly and deeply love cheese. You will drop other food to eat cheese instead. It makes me so proud that you’re living up to your Wisconsin heritage.

This month, I spent time away from you for the first time. I had to travel for work, and while I enjoyed being able to go out to a bar like an adult, I was happy to come home. The worst part was that I was in California, and so when my biological clock woke me up at 6:00am, like normal, it was actually 4:00am where I was. So I was forced to console myself with lots of coffee during the day and beer and whiskey at night. It was tough, but I survived. You also had your first babysitter while I was gone, which you slept through entirely. Keep that up and your nickname will be Easy Money.

You took a couple more steps this month, but you’re not really walking at all, yet. I am a little bit surprised because you love walking around holding on to your push toy and our hands. I thought you might be walking on your own by now, but you’re still working up to it. You might as well wait a bit longer. We’re supposed to get a big ice storm this weekend, so there will be no going for walks anyway.

The only other thing going on this month was that everybody got sick. You had a very runny nose and a cough. Your dad had a sore throat and a stuffed up nose. I’m getting a sore throat right now. Your Grandma Lam has a very sore throat and the sniffles. Ironically, for being so sick a couple of months ago, Grandpa Lam is now the healthiest one here. When you’re sick, you want to be held all the time. You just lay your head down on our shoulder and snuggle. I don’t like it when you’re sick, but getting to hold you like that makes getting a shoulder full of snot totally worth it.

Love,

Mom

Christmas With the Grandparents

2009-12-28T21:47:00.005-06:00

Well, we're back. We popped down to Madison for Christmas to let the Lam grandparents connect with some of their people, and to meet up real quick with the Thorne grandparents as Madison is a pretty good halfway point between Minneapolis and Indianapolis.

It was very nice to see the elder Thornes again, and quality time was had all around. We managed to get some good pictures, so here they are...

Month 10

2009-12-22T20:48:00.005-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are ten months old today. You have now been alive longer outside of me than you were inside of me, and wow, am I glad you came out before you were as big as you are now. At your last doctor appointment, you were 27” long and just over 20 pounds.

Your father and I watched you take two steps this month. You have just started to walk along holding on to the front of the couch, and we got you a toy that you push along and walk behind. We watched you step away from the couch to grab on to your walker toy. Your dad said, “Did you see that?” I said, “Yes, I did!” But we haven’t seen you do it since.

What we do see all the time now is your first tooth. It’s your bottom front right incisor. I have not started making you brush your tooth yet, but our dentist recommended that we use the washcloth in the bathtub to clean out your mouth a little bit. I said, “He chews on the washcloth. Does that count?” She said yes, so keep up the good work.

You have also started wanting to go through doors, and I have this hideous vision of you and the dogs and the cat all conspiring to see how many times you can all get me to open the various doors in this house until I go crazy. It also makes it difficult to come back into the house, because as soon as I open the door you are crawling over to go out the door as well. Someday I’ll be trapped on the front porch because you’ll be standing against the front door and I won’t be able to open it without knocking you over.

This month, I have made a list of ways that I am an inadequate mother:

1. I let you eat holes in the first page of your favorite book.

2. I haven’t been able to find winter boots big enough to fit your fat little feet.

3. I make you wear socks on your fat little feet.

4. I call your little feet fat.

5. I won’t let you play inside the dishwasher, even when it’s empty.

6. I don’t let you play in the dog crate while the dog is also in it.

7. I don’t let you eat dog food.

Clearly, childrens rights need a better lobby in DC, because I’m sure with some government mandated parenting classes, I could be doing a much better job.

Tomorrow, we leave for Madison, to spend your first Christmas at the Grandparents Lams’ house. Your Grandparents Thorne are planning on driving up to see us the day after Christmas, but there are winter storm warnings all over the upper Midwest, so we’ll have to see. In other news, your uncle Alex just got engaged to your aunt-to-be Lena, which is wonderful. So, your first trip to California will be next fall. I’m totally going to dress you up in one of those itty-bitty widdle tuxes, too. You’ll love it. Trust me!

Love,

Mom

Month 9

2009-11-22T20:14:00.006-06:00

Dear Corbin,

You are nine months old today. Marc and Becky Chapman just had their little girl, Sofia, and it's hard to believe that you were ever that small and peaceful. You are so big and active now. You crawl fast, now, and you discover new noises to make all the time. Your consonant sounds are increasing. You say, "ra ra ra," or, "da da da," or, "ja ja ja," instead of just, "ah ah ah." I haven't heard a, "ma ma ma," yet, but that's okay for now.

You are in one of the stranger wariness stages that they talk about. You smile at people that you know, but if someone else tries to hold you or talk to you, you just stare at them or even cry. You don't seem to have that problem with most places, though. Your grandma Lam took you to the zoo the other day, and you seemed to enjoy it. (Although, to hear her talk about it, there's wasn't much to enjoy. I think this is one area where Minneapolis definitely loses out to Madison.) You also started swimming lessons three weeks ago, and you were definitely a little wary about that, but you also spent a day at a daycare near my office and you had a fun time there.

This month seemed to start and end with sickness. Grandpa Lam is still getting over his pneumonia, and I've had a terribly sore throat for the past week. You had a little fever a week ago, too, which was probably due to a little ear infection. I thought that we might see one of your teeth come in this month, but nope. You're still gumming the world to pieces.

You've become much better at eating finger foods. It's practically impossible to just feed you from a spoon anymore, because you demand to do something with your hands, and if it's not stuff Cheerios into your mouth, it's play Tug-of-Spoon with us. So the tray of your high chair is usually littered with Cheerios, Craisins, and little pieces of cheese, apple, banana, toast, pear, or whatever else we have in the house. And anytime your mouth isn't full of your latest fistful off your tray, we spoon in our latest pureed creation. We've got homemade chicken soup in the freezer for you next, and that might be the last puree for a while. Pity, because the blender's gotten more use in the past four months than it has in the past four years.

Next week is your first Thanksgiving! We'll be having Cornish Hens instead of turkey this year, and both sweet potato and pecan pie. At least, I hope I get some pie. I'll have to fight your grandpa Lam for the sweet potato and your father for the pecan, and they can get pretty fierce. Wish me luck.

Love,
Mom

Month 8

2009-10-22T20:25:00.007-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are eight months old today. To celebrate, we took you to the clinic and got your first flu shot. It's actually kind of a frightening flu season for parents this year, since the H1N1 virus seems to hit children and pregnant mothers so hard. It makes me glad that you're not in school yet.

This month started off with another Barker-side-of-the-family wedding. My cousin Brian got married in Lower MI, and instead of driving through Chicago to get there, we took the ferry across Lake Michigan from Milwaukee. It made for a much nicer trip, since you had several hours out of your car seat. At the wedding reception, we sat with my Uncle Mark's family. His daughter-in-law and I were trying to figure out what relation you were to her son. It turns out that Wyatt Barker is your second cousin, but he's my first cousin, once removed. Second cousins share great-grandparents, so any of my cousins' children are your second cousins. First cousins, once removed are of different generations. Got it?

Your father and Grandpa Lam spent two cold days putting a new railing on the mudroom roof, which may have been how Grandpa Lam ended up in the ER with pneumonia last weekend. You got to visit a hospital for the first time since you were born, which didn't seem to impress you very much. You now have my permission to avoid ERs for a very long time, thank you.

Your father also built another pair of speakers, which are meant to be the party speakers. They'll get their trial run this weekend at his birthday party, but you'll miss it since you'll be spending your first night away from us. I should say you'll be spending your first night away from me, since your dad didn't go to MI with us. I'm pretty sure that you'll be okay away from me, but I don't know if I'll be okay away from you. It has been a surprise to me how much I miss feeding you at night, just because that was my time to cuddle with you. Although, that might just be the sleep deprivation talking. The past couple of nights you've slept through from 8pm to 5:30 or 6am, but I still wake up two or three times, wondering how you're doing. My newest effort in your sleep training has been to set your alarm clock for 6am, so that your little biological clock can start to have a more consistent wake up time. Of course, pretty soon we'll hit daylight savings time or you'll start really teething and then everything will get crazy again.

You are entirely proficient now at pulling yourself up to standing, and you've even gotten better at being able to sit down again. You have started crawling over to us and using our legs to pull up, which is endearing until I can't move to keep doing whatever it was I was doing. You also like to hold our hands and walk around, which has made me realize that it really isn't going to be long before you're walking on your own. It'll probably be right around the time that everything here gets icy. We might as well buy you skates instead of shoes. Speaking of winter, I went on an outdoor gear gathering kick and you now have two snowsuits, four hats, and about a hundred pairs of mittens. Not to mention the bunches of sweaters and hoodies that you have. And the dozen fleece pajamas. And the several pairs of slippers. And the space heater in your room. Basically, if you're ever cold, it's because we're in another ice age and we just haven't killed a mammoth yet.

Buying you clothing is something I have always enjoyed, even before you were born. I used to feel like it was one of the only ways that we could really be prepared for you, because even though we couldn't prepare for who you are as a person, we could certainly prepare a wardrobe for you. These days, I feel like it's the only way I really need to spend money on you. You're pretty well stocked with toys, and if you really need something new, well, there's always some other kitchen utensil that you haven't played with yet.

This month we made you pumpkin, zucchini, cauliflower, and cantaloupe, and you like all of them okay. We also tried a blend of avacado and banana, and you love that almost more than you love applesauce, which is saying a lot. I'm glad that we were able to start you on solids during the summer--I've been trying hard to make sure you eat as wide of a variety of food as possible, and it's been helpful that so many different foods were in season. It makes me feel like less of an over-privileged American when I can at least follow the farm calendar a little bit.

Overall, it hasn't been a very exciting or momentous month, except maybe in my head. I think that I've done a pretty good job of so far of not being terribly sappy, but this month there's just no avoiding it. I just can't help but say that I love you more every day. Every morning when I pick you up out of your crib, I feel so lucky to be able to hold you and watch your little face scrunch up when I turn the light on. And every afternoon when I come home from work, and you give me a big smile, I feel like there is no place else I would ever rather be. Being your mom can be busy, tiring, frustrating and stinky (for both of us), and it also makes me very, very happy.

Love,
Mom

Month 7

2009-09-23T20:19:00.005-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You were seven months old yesterday. Your father and I were looking at you a couple of weeks ago, and we realized that you just don't have your baby face any more. Your little kid face grew in, and you lost your baby face. Soon, your baby teeth will grow in, and then eventually you'll lose them. And then you'll lose your baby legs, and your adult legs will grow in.

You are a baby on the go these days. You love to crawl all over the house and the yard. When I come home from work, you give me a big smile and crawl right over to me. I know you really just want to play with my shoes, but it makes me feel loved anyway. You are also much better at sitting up, and it's fun to watch you crawl over to something and then sit and play with it. Yes, you do sit still sometimes. We've spent some weekend mornings sitting on the front steps watching the birds and the squirrels and the airplanes. It's a blessing, I think, because now that I don't nurse you at night, I just don't get to cuddle you much any more. So I'm thankful that you'll sit with me sometimes. I was telling your father that someday you'll figure out that to get what you want, all you have to do is snuggle up to me with a big hug and the next thing I know I'll be saying, "Of course I'll buy you [whatever you're asking for]!"

I'm glad that you're able to crawl now because you were getting very frustrated at not being able to go where you wanted to go. But you are not satisfied. You are already starting to pull yourself up to standing, and it makes me wonder just how soon you'll be walking. In some ways I hope it's sooner, because I want you to be able to practice out in the yard before it gets cold. But other times I hope you wait a little bit longer, until we've done a much better job of baby proofing the house. You know, by doing anything at all to baby proof the house.

You are also eating solid foods like a pro. At least, the ones that you think taste good. You have liked every fruit we've given you so far, except the avacado. That made your father kind of sad, but I've never liked avacado, either. You're not immediately keen on the vegetables, but you seem to have gotten used to all of them except potatoes. Your potato face is pretty darn funny, but we'll probably wait a while to try them again.

It's my intention to watch our baby sign language DVD and start using some signs with you. I figure I should teach you more than waving good-bye and rudely gesturing at other drivers. Those may end up being the signs that you use the most, but really, you should have other options. After all, flipping me the bird might make me laugh, but it won't get you more milk.

Love,
Mom

6 Month Pix

2009-08-24T19:55:00.002-05:00

Because you couldn't possibly be happy unless you saw actual half-birthday photos.

Month 6

2009-08-23T16:39:00.003-05:00

Dear Corbin,

Happy Half Birthday! You are now six months old. You are playing on the floor next to me while I type this, and you are staring at Arrow with a big grin on your face, and trying your hardest to figure out how to crawl over to him. You get up on your hands and knees, and then you rock back and forth because you haven’t quite gotten the notion that your hands have to move before the rest of you will move. I know that once you’re truly mobile our lives will become a constant game of chase the baby, but you obviously want it so badly that I can’t help wanting it for you. Hopefully you’ll use your powers for good and not for evil.

It was a busy month for us. Your grandparents Lam moved into their apartment down the street, so they’re no longer living in the camper in the garage. That’s much nicer for everyone: they’re more comfortable, we get to park in the garage again, and your father has immediately started building his next pair of speakers.

We drove down to Indianapolis to visit your relatives Thorne. It was a whirlwind trip of new places and new people for you, which you got tired of about halfway through. By the time Friday morning rolled around and you were supposed to be making a good impression on your Uncle Alex and Lena, Fussy Corbin had taken over your body and you simply cried the whole time. If you never have any cousins on the Lam side, it’s your own fault, kiddo.

Your grandparents Thorne were very happy to see you, as were Uncle Scott and Aunt Erin. Your cousin Charlotte showed her love by trying to poke you in the eye. You repaid the favor by enjoying her Exersaucer and making her jealous. Unfortunately, she had the last laugh, since she sent both you and I home with colds.

You managed to sleep well that Friday night and Saturday morning, so you were in a fine mood when we visited Jesse at UIUC. You got your first lesson in microbiology and your first look at a campus bar. Then for the next 10 hours of driving, you expressed in various ways your hatred of your car seat. Luckily that’s passed a little bit, but you’re still more likely to cry than not when you have to be in it.

You’ve gotten quite good at eating rice cereal, and you’d be just as good at eating apples and pears if the taste weren’t still so foreign. We had visions of you loving the fruit, like we’ve seen other kids, but so far not so much. You’ve definitely grown this month, though. Your father put you on the scale at the grocery store, and you weighed 16 pounds. If you had been coffee, you would have cost almost $150.

As it is, you’ll just have to be content being our priceless little boy. Don’t forget to remind me that I said that the next time you want something expensive.

Love,

Mom

Not Corbin

2009-07-26T21:19:00.007-05:00

So a number of things have happened that aren't Corbin. Here are some:

We pulled the big, metal, concrete shod clotheslines out of the back yard. I have learned that when you see concrete in your yard - don't touch it. Don't try to remove it. Just accept it. Mel, heedless of my inaction, wanted them gone and her father was on her side. So we tried digging them up. Then we tried pulling them out with a van. Then we tried breaking up the concrete. Then we tried a masonry sawblade in Mel's circ saw. Then we did what we shoulda done all along: we got a cheap angle grinder and cut off the poles, then buried the concrete. Two poles, two holes, two concrete sarcophagi buried in our back yard. De-concreted poles were left in the alley, and promptly snatched by some scrap metal collector (possibly of ill-repute). Finished it up right in time for the 4th of July party.

We also installed a dishwasher. This had been my idea early in our purchase of this house. I had gotten used to the dishwasher from our apartment, so I suggested early that we stash the refrigerator on a different wall, and put a dishwasher in it's place near power and drainage access. This idea was rejected, but now that we have a child we thought that we might tackle a few other jobs with all the free time on our hands. Actually, Mel's father Frank had a large hand in many of the projects accomplished so far this summer. He even wired up an additional circuit for the new refrigerator location. Fantastico! This project was sponsored by Mel's Aunt Irene. Copious thanks to them both.

We've also been working on painting the garage. The siding appears to be made of masonite. I don't know how long it's been there, or when its last paint job was. But it was in serious need of re-sealing against moisture. Some of the lower boards will need to be replaced. At a later date. With something that won't fall apart when it gets wet. Err. I guess we don't have any pictures of this job yet. We've done 3 of the 4 walls... I'll have to document the last one.

And, my friend and former room-mate Joe McMorrow is back from Washington DC, along with his girlfriend of late, now wife. They were married Friday night, we have the photographic evidence. AND! Grant Kjos crashed the party! Who does that guy think he is?

And, some pictures of Corbin. Just 'cause. I don't need a reason.

Month 5

2009-07-22T22:27:00.004-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are five months old today. Every day you are a little bit different. A little bit better at reaching for things. A little bit better at sitting up. A little bit better at eating delicious rice cereal mush. A little bit better at twisting yourself all around while we’re trying to put a clean diaper on you.

You are selective with your smiles these days. We get them when you wake up in the morning, or from your naps, or when we come home from work. But you rarely smile at strangers right now, and the afternoon that we tried to take family pictures, you didn’t smile at all. In fact, any time you see the camera, you instantly become Mr Solemn Face.

We did manage to find you the perfect toy for you right now. We call it your stander bouncer. You sit in a little round chair and there is a bouncy “floor” under your feet, so you feel like you’re standing up. You love the stander bouncer. It might be the best $25 I ever spent on craigslist. You love to stand in it and reach out for the dogs when they walk by. You love to stand in it and watch the fish in the fish tank.

You like to watch anything, really. You open your eyes wide and stare and stare and stare. If we hold you facing over our shoulders, it’s only a few minutes before you’re twisting yourself around. You turn in our direction when you hear our voices, and you look to see where other noises are coming from. You want to see everything, and its fun to watch you watching things.

It’s also fun to watch you do yoga poses. You’ve mastered up-dog, and obviously you’re a natural at happy baby pose. I’ve even seen you do a locust pose. So we’ll have to see which you prefer: going to kung fu with your dad, or going to yoga with your mom. Although if your energy level is anything like I’ve seen in other little boys, you’d better do both, several times a week.

You’ve had some of your fussiest days this month, and I think it’s because you’re starting to have some teething pain. We’re trying to work out some strategies for helping you sleep more, and it seems to be helped by judicious doses of acetaminophen. I’m sure that later we’ll have to switch to something stronger, like whiskey, but this is working for now.

On the surface, it seems like this was an uneventful month. We didn’t travel anywhere, and we didn’t have anyone visiting. We went to work and did the laundry and did yard work and it would be easy to think it was all very tedious. But then I watch you exploring your toys or making a mess out of learning to eat cereal, and tedious is the word that’s farthest from my mind.

Love,

Mom

We did manage to have our annual 4th of July party, during which you went to sleep at 8:30pm and slept all the way through the usual WWIII assault launched by the neighbors across the street. I don't know which was more amazing: you sleeping through it, or them not getting arrested (again).

Fruits and Trees

2009-06-29T11:19:00.004-05:00

We just got this pic from Adam's dad. This is Adam at about a year old. Note the super blonde hair! Corbin sure didn't inherit that, but maybe he'll inherit the two-finger sucking.

Month 4

2009-06-22T21:04:00.000-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are four months old today. I keep trying to avoid writing a pile of cliches in these letters, but you keep being the cutest little baby in the whole wide world. Look at your smooshie little face and your roly-poly little body! Look how you raise your little eyebrows, and how you grab your little toesies! Woochie woochie woochie!

I know, it's hard to believe your father married me of his own free will.

This month, you had your first road trip, up to the UP for my cousin Andy's wedding. You might as well get used to that drive, if my own childhood is any measure. We were watching old 8mm footage of family parties up at the Cottage, and it made me wonder what memories you will eventually have of being there.

Your vocal range has expanded to include some funny screeching that you do when you're happy. It reminds me a little bit of Howard Dean, or maybe his impression of a velociraptor. Now your babbling tends to happen when you are more calm, like when you've just woken up or when you're hanging out with a toy. You are able to roll over from your back to your tummy now, and you do it almost every time we lay you down. Sometimes you flip yourself right over, but sometimes you squirm and roll and twist and curl until you finally make it or get frustrated and cry. Sometimes your hands land in front of you just right, and it seems like you're just about to crawl away. But sometimes your arms get caught under you and you lay on your face and cry until we rescue you. The other day, you had turned yourself over in your crib while your arms were still swaddled down, and between your crying and your drooling, it looked like someone had spilled a whole cup of water on your bed.

Your grasping skills have gotten much better, I think partly because your hands have grown bigger again. Your grip now covers almost my whole thumb, and anything that you are holding goes straight for your mouth. I would say it goes into your mouth, but your aim still isn't quite that accurate. Of course, the time I was trying to wipe off your slimey little hands with a napkin and you grabbed it, you had no trouble shoving that right into your mouth. Your expression would be been much funnier if we wouldn't have been so busy fishing pieces of disintegrating napkin out of your mouth.

You have also been getting better at sitting up by yourself, but you're really happy when you're standing. Helping you stand up never fails to get us a big smile from you. Grandma Lam was telling us all very proudly that you were six weeks early for this milestone. Six weeks early! You're a genius baby! I didn't remind her that the same book told us you were supposed to be sleeping through the night a month ago. If I weren't so sleep deprived, I'd be a genius, too. But some nights you've been waking up only twice, instead of three or four times, so I have hopes that we're slowly passing sleep milestones, too.

Being your mom so far has taught me to live in the moment in a way that I have never truly understood before. I am good at appreciating what I have, and I am good at making the most of my time, but I have never been good at paying more attention to now rather than later. My thoughts are usually taken up with planning for the next thing that I need or want to do. But you have a way of concentrating on what you're doing right now that reminds me that I should do that more often, too. Living with you means being with you where you are, when you are there. You're simply incapable of doing anything else. And I want to be where you are, when you're there, because I don't want to miss any part of your life, ever.

Love,

Mom

Happy first Father's Day, Adam!

Picture Page!

2009-06-07T14:13:00.005-05:00

The Chapman parents-to-be getting some practice time with Corbin:

Corbin and Adam goofing around:

Corbin parties it up at his first wedding, in the UP.

Month 3

2009-05-22T22:04:00.009-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are three months old today. It seems that the older I get, the faster time moves. I feel like time moved slower for me, when I was a child, and I wonder if you’ll eventually feel the same thing. It feels like this month has gone by much faster than the last two did.

I have been back at work for three weeks now. It’s been easy to fall back into some of my routines, but now I have to find time three times a day to pump milk for you, and that can be very inconvenient. The transition has been easier because Mom and Dad are here at the house with you, and it’s comforting to know that you’re at home in good hands. They take you on walks, and play baby games with you, and you all seem to have a good time. If the housing market was better, and if we didn’t like living in Minneapolis so much, there’s a good chance that we would have plans to move to Madison pretty soon so we could keep them as your daycare without having to keep them living in the garage. But our new plan is to win the lottery and build a nice big house with a grandparents’ suite, and then we’ll all be very comfortable until Marley dies and that first ghost shows up.

You continue to entertain us with your early conversation skills. Along with your cooing you’ve added a loud kind of shout every now and then. It always makes me laugh, and I wonder if you’ll end up being a shouting kind of kid. You have started to reach for things now, sometimes just batting with a fist but sometimes reaching with an open hand. I have seen you sucking on your thumb two or three times, but usually you just suck on whatever part of your hand happens to hit your mouth first. You’ve also started drooling. We had to look in the book to see if you were supposed to be teething yet, but you’re not. It turns out that about 10 weeks is when the salivary glands start working, and let me tell you, yours are working! But you don’t simply leak saliva out of your mouth—you end up with a froth of bubbles on your lips and chin. Someday, I’m sure you’ll have spitting distance contests, but right now you’re winning the contest for Baby Most Likely to Have Rabies.

Your hand-made blanket collection continues to grow, also. Before you were born, my Aunt Maxine gave us a blanket for you that she knit from the prettiest blue yarn. I still have the blanket that she knit for me, too. My friend Vicki sent a blanket that she knit from several dark blue yarns. It isn’t big, but it’s heavy and thick and will be perfect during our cold Midwest winters. And my friend Douglas just sent an afgan that he made, which is blue and yellow and white, and a good weight for spring and fall. These are all in addition to your more typical baby blankets, so believe me: when it comes to blankets, we’ve got you covered.

Love,
Mom

PS: Happy Mother's Day to me, for the first time!

Corbin Tells it How It Is

2009-05-09T14:34:00.003-05:00

What it is, yo!

The video is a little washed out, since I had to brighten it up. It took place maybe 6 am Wednesday or Thursday so it wasn't entirely light. Right about the same time Mel's folks showed back up (what, 2 weeks ago?) Corbin started getting more vocal. We're both pleased with this, since we've heard that boys are less likely to be talkative than girls are. Anyway we've been aiming to get some footage of it to share with y'all, but Corbin tends to become more interested in the camera than cooing at us when we get it out and start waving it around.

This last week has been Mel's first week back at work. I've been getting up to share in the early morning fun, since we're both heading off to work now. Mel takes the 4:00 feeding, then I take the 5:00 "I'm ready to get up now." Then it's back to Mel after she's had a chance to get somewhat ready, around 6:20 or so. Mel's folks take over around 7:00.

I think the plan is to have the Grandparents Lam here until about September. They've set up their camper in the garage. It's been lovely having them here, they're helping a lot, and we're saving a bundle on childcare.

Month 2

2009-04-23T12:40:00.002-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are two months old. You have grown, of course, and put on weight, but what I really notice is how much bigger your hands have gotten. They seem to have grown even more than the rest of your body, and you are getting better at putting them in your mouth on command. You still make strange and funny expressions, but you have also started smiling for real, and every time we see you smile we smile big, goofy smiles back at you. We just can’t help ourselves. Hopefully, we’ll get over that before you start high school; by then, we’ll have so many other ways to embarrass you.

This month, I finally managed to wrap my head around the EASY routine, and that’s helped us (and by, “us,” I mean, “me, your perilously-close-to-anal-retentive mother”). It’s good for everyone that you’ve started napping in your crib, but sometimes I miss the days when we would sit on the couch together and you would sleep while I held you. Your nap times are still wildly inconsistent, and you have days where you simply defy any definition of the word schedule, but any kind of routine is good in my book. Of course, that doesn’t keep us from blowing the heck out of it when we’ve got a special occasion. You made it to your first house party this month (Sarah Davis’ house warming), your first art showing (John Catron’s Paper Quilts at the Pillsbury House Theater), and over to visit Chris Smith’s house for the first time, and each night the whole family got to share in the fun of you being overtired. Your father and I will simply have to get better at inviting people to come over here, so that we stop screwing up any sleep patterns that you’re starting to form.

The weather has grown warm enough that you’re wearing onesies instead of footy pjs, which means that you’ve been sporting much cuter outfits than before. Judging from some of the teenagers I see in the mall, childhood may be the only time in your life that you wear anything that can be considered a cute outfit. That’s fine with me, as long as you can do your own laundry by the time you really get picky about your clothing. My wardrobe has also benefited from the warmer weather. I have been going on walks with you, which may be one reason that I’m now able to fit back into some of my pre-pregnancy jeans. Well, until I eat dinner anyway.

Your grandparents Thorne, and your Aunt Erin and your cousin Charlotte came up to visit this month. It was nice to spend time with them, and to see how big Charlotte has grown. It’s a little bit like having a preview of what you might be like at 10 months. I’ve been very grateful this month for advice from our friends and family who are parents. Sometimes I feel that parenting is the worst kind of on-the-job training, and it’s nice to have people around who can give us advice and encouragement. So just remember: when you’re in high school and you think we’re ruining your life, blame them and not us.

Love,
Mom

2 Months!

2009-04-22T20:19:00.003-05:00

Somewhere a post is coming that isn't entirely about Corbin. But this isn't it.

Today, 4/22 Corbin is 2 months old. He's logging more consecutive hours of sleep, and we measured him at 4 inches longer than he was at birth (24 inches, now). We're not sure how much he weighs - our bathroom scale doesn't have the accuracy to tell us. We joke about putting him on a produce scale at the grocery store, but we haven't done it. He's just starting to put his fingers in his mouth. Depending on his posture he sometimes looks tall and lithe, or squat and fat. He can hold his head up pretty well, but can't sit yet. He smiles, sometimes. He makes some conversationally toned verbalizations as well.

Here are some pics!

The life of the party:

People Visit Corbin

2009-04-06T21:34:00.004-05:00

My Parents!

My Sister!
Sister's daughter, Charlotte. She's I think about 9 mo. old?
Charlotte has $20 says she can take ya, arm wrestling.

We visited the M.I.A. Figured we shouldn't take pictures of their stuff tho. Museums hate that.
Family gave us a "Bumbo" chair. Corbin isn't so sure about it yet.

I think he'll like it, though.

Theory: Corbin looks a bit like my cousin Ryan. For the moment, anyway.

Month One

2009-03-22T16:27:00.004-05:00

Dear Corbin,

You are one month old today. I will try to avoid using a massive amount of clichés here, and simply say that we love you so very much and we are so happy that you are here with us. It’s been an eventful month for you. Your grandparents Lam were here for several weeks to smother you with grandparent love. You have met various friends of ours. You made your first trip to the grocery store and to Home Depot, where everyone wanted to see you and to know how old you were. Everyone warned me about strangers being intrusive when I was pregnant, but you’re getting much more attention now than you ever did when you were in my belly. You also went out to breakfast for the first of what will be many, many times. In fact, if our usual schedule of going out for breakfast at least once per weekend continues, you’ll be eating breakfast with us at least 936 times before you leave for college.

You have already outgrown your newborn clothing. We can tell simply by looking at you that you grow bigger every day. Your eyes have already darkened to brown, like mine, but we can only speculate about the rest of your features. You make funny sounds, and funny faces, and your father is funny when he imitates you. You are happiest when we’re holding you, which means you and I do a lot of sitting on the couch watching DVDs of The West Wing. That might sound like the easy life, but we’re watching the seasons made after Aaron Sorkin left the show, so there is an element of sacrifice going on.

The weather is getting nicer, and your father and I are trying to start some yard work projects. Maybe by the time you’re walking we’ll have managed to grow some grass in the front yard. Maybe. For right now, I’m just happy that my spring coat fits me again, even if most of my pants still don’t. But nicer weather also means that you and I can get out and take some walks. Assuming, that is, that you’ll let me get up off the couch.

Love,

Mom

Pic Parade

2009-03-07T17:01:00.003-06:00

Corbin continues to change, day by day. We are trying to get him sleeping better when he isn't being held. Mel has been sleeping in a bed in the nursery, and we're hoping to get her back in the big-girl bed with the help of the baby-monitor. G-ma Lam took care of Corbin last night, and we managed to get out to see "The Watchmen." I give it a thumbs up.

More Pics

2009-02-27T15:41:00.006-06:00

We we'll be putting lots of pictures of the little man up around here for the next few years. Here's the next batch...

Today's picture goal: include G-ma Lam, get shots of Corbin's eyes open. Mission Accomplished!

Update: Grumpy baby felt much better after a bowel movement.

Babytime!

2009-02-26T20:24:00.004-06:00

Well, we've sent announcements in a lot of different directions, so I guess it's time to get one up here: Our baby has been born!

It happened 2/22. On Saturday the 21st Mel reported an actually painful contraction. She had been having Braxton / Hicks contractions (non labor, practice contractions) for a while, so we didn't think anything of it. Naturally, that evening I was scheduled to be out with the boys. Mel got a hold of me by 10:30 to come back, and then things started happening quickly. We got to the hospital around midnight. Mel measured 5 cm right off the bat, and 8 cm shortly after, so they knew we weren't foolin around. We went to the delivery room (from labor-admitting) without delay, got the IV in, had some light narcotics and then went on to the epidural. When this kicked in Mel was finally able to get her feet under her. She had been in a lot of pain, and with labor progressing as quickly as it did she didn't have much time to keep up with things. The epidural slows contractions down, so the nurses gave us some time to get ourselves together. After a 1 hr nap a nurse, who though unnamed shall remain forever close to our hearts, came in and said "Well, you're at 9 and a half. Would you like to push?" Our boy was carried very low the entire time, that is to say he didn't have far to go. After 20 min of pushing through contractions the nurse said "Stop!" 10 min later we had a doctor to make the catch and a few more pushes brought our son into the world.

It was 3:39 am. Not quite 4 hrs after getting to the hospital, we had reached the apogee of our stay. There were 10 babies that night, and 7 circumcisions the next day. We got outta there about 36 hrs after that.

Before we left we figured we really ought to settle on a name. Mel had said early that she didn't know if she could choose one before she had seen the guy. At that time we had picked out a few family names, and I gathered a batch from baby name resources on the web. In the hospital we ended up choosing Corbin from the short list. Faced with the need to choose again for the middle name, my own middle name was conscripted for duty.

Corbin Christopher Thorne. 6 lbs, 14 oz at birth, 20 in. Pictures follow.

Correction

2009-02-06T16:13:00.000-06:00

I made a mistake the other day when I posted that my uterus was measuring 30 inches. I meant that it was measuring 30 centimeters. Of course, now it's measuring 33 cm, so go ahead and measure your torso again. I'll wait.

If you want a measurement in inches, my belly measures 44 inches around at belly button level.

Waiting on the lungs

2009-02-02T12:46:00.003-06:00

That's really what we're doing right now. He could come out any time, but a few more weeks of lung development is really a pretty good idea, so I'm trying not to be too impatient. Ha ha. Hi, have you met me?

Something else you may not have known about being pregnant: your extremeties sometimes go numb. WTEWYE says it's because you've started to retain a lot of water, which swells your tissues, which press on your nerves, which go numb or sometimes tingly. So if you see me suddenly start waving my right arm over my head, it's because my hand has gone numb again. This is especially fun when I'm driving.

Speaking of which, there's been this whole discussion about the safety of using cell phones while you're driving, and how unsafe it is because you're distracted by the phone call. I think it's a hell of a lot more distracting when the kid is kicking me than if I'm on the phone, but I'd love to see them try to tell pregnant women to stop driving after the second trimester. Good luck with that.

I would also like to say that my stomach has been upgraded from a Category Showing to a Category Large. I've found myself actually running into things with my belly, which is a really good way to make yourself feel like a slob.

I spent yesterday laying around in between trips to the basement to start the next load of laundry. We did realize that we should probably freeze some meals, too, and I guess getting our bag packed would be a good idea, although that's clearly much less important than making sure that I've borrowed seasons 5-7 of the West Wing from Heidi and Garry, don't you think? Clearly.

D minus 6 weeks

2009-01-22T15:22:00.003-06:00

And counting. So, here are some things that you might not have known about what it's like to be pregnant.

1. Eventually your uterus measures over 30 inches. Go ahead and measure your torso--I'll wait. Yes, that's right, when you're not pregnant, your entire torso (from the middle front of your pelvis to your neck) probably measures around 30 inches. And you know, there's stuff in there that you're using. Like, for instance, your lungs. Or your intestines. And those don't suddenly start living outside of your body when you're pregnant--they all just get squished up to the top. So that breath support you're used to having? Forget about it.

2. As your baby grows and displaces all of your organs upward (or back toward your spine) your ribcage expands to accommodate all of that stuff. At the same time, your boobs have continued to grow. So the comfortable bra thing? Forget about it.

3. Also as your rib cage expands and your abdominal muscles separate from each other, your back muscles pick up more and more of the work of actually keeping you upright. This coincides with the time when you can no longer even pretend that laying on your stomach is comfortable, no matter how many pillows you stuff under you. Adam has taken to making me lay on the heating pad, and then on my side while he tries to get the persistant knots out of my back. He's a sweetheart, and he does wonders, but you know the way you used to crack your back and then feel relaxed and limber? Forget about it.

My baby shower was on Saturday, which was tons of fun. My friend Heidi was kind enough to plan and host it, and her sister Laurie and mom Cora made delicious food for us. Lots of people came, and we got really nice presents, and Heidi found fun games that didn't involve simulating baby poop, and it was really a very nice afternoon. Now we just need a crib for the kid, and I'll feel like we're actually ready for an infant. On Sunday morning, our friend Doug came over for breakfast with his son Adrian, who amply demonstrated that the house might be ready for an infant, but it's so not ready for a toddler. All those stereo speakers and electronics that Adam has been assembling? Forget about it!

New white stuff

2008-12-20T17:46:00.003-06:00

Well, it's definitely winter here. We've been getting snow all day, and it's not supposed to stop until late tomorrow. Just in time for the arctic cold temperatures to arrive. Adam and I both have off of work on Monday, which means that neither of us will have to commute in the -20 degree weather. Yay! I can only imagine how my poor brother and Lena will feel when they fly in Tuesday night to a snow storm in Madison, with temps below zero. Poor CA kids! Good thing we got them some good Christmas presents.

I just finished a small filming project with Commedia Beauregard, who I used to be a company member with last year. They got tapped by Paramount Pictures to film parts of the Klingon Hamlet, based on the fact that they've done A Christmas Carol in Klingon as a fundraiser two years running, now. Commedia asked me to come back and SM the scenes, since they were being filmed about three days after the fundraiser. It was a really great experience--I'm glad I did it--and you can all look for us as part of the DVD extras when Paramount re-releases Star Trek 6 next May. Fun!

One of the best parts was that my stipend from the project paid for a lovely new front-loading washing machine. Woohoo! I'm waiting for Adam to come home with the new high efficiency detergent, and then we're going to do our first load of laundry in our new machine. Here are some pix of Adam and Garry bringing in the new washer:

As if I had been posting all along...

2008-12-08T19:44:00.003-06:00

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails? No. Our little boy is made of fruit cocktail.

Well, and Pizza. I made a delicious pizza on Sunday. I am going to make a pizza every week until I have mastered the pizza fu!

These images were captured with our new $35 digital video camera from Microcenter. CHEAP!

Short update

2008-12-02T16:27:00.002-06:00

Our next ultrasound is a week from Friday. I know you're all looking forward to more horrifying pictures of the little guy!

We had a delicious Thanksgiving, and we hope you did, too. My mom and dad were up from Madison, and they gave us the first gifts off our baby registry: a carseat and stroller frame. They also brought up a couch for the spare room and took away the double bed. So we actually have some room in the spare room now--it's beginning to look like a kid could actually live in there.

I've been slowly collecting baby clothing off of cragislist, so I've been washing and sorting all of that. It's taken me a little while to get used to the idea that these aren't actually doll clothes instead of baby clothes. Newborn onesies are almost disturbingly small. Not, mind you, that I want to deliver a large baby!

Adam has been fighting with his car lately (maybe he'll post about it--ha ha ha) so that's been a bummer. Hopefully, the repairs will fall under our warrenty. Everything else has been going well, which leaves us plenty of time to wonder what the heck to buy everyone for Christmas???

The Midriff at Midway

2008-10-27T14:56:00.003-05:00

Me at week 22 1/2.

1/4 of the new Science Bathroom

2008-10-24T10:56:00.006-05:00

Adam and I had been convinced for a while that the bathtub and shower in the house needed to be replaced. We wanted first, to make sure that we didn't have water damage anywhere in the bathroom flooring, and second, to get rid of the very ugly tile and shower walls that were there.

Step One: Get the old tub out. As you can see, that necessitated cutting a cast iron tub in half. While Adam and Dad worked on that, I took a shower at Heidi and Garry's house and went to the Ivey Awards.

Step Two: Tear out the old tile, plaster and lathe to make sure that there isn't water damage to the studs or flooring. That process was mainly just messy and time consuming. Everything turned out to be sound, although old and not exactly standard. Here's a view of what the inside of the walls in our house look like:

Steps 3 - 468: The damn plumbing. We discovered that whoever put in the last tub ran the plumbing for it over the floor, instead of under it. So, in order to put the new tub in at floor level, we had someone come out and re-route the tub water supply lines and the drain line. The good part is, we're now up to code. Well, okay, that depends on which code you're looking at. We had to get a variance so that the wall for the shower plumbing could go in the same spot as it was previously, which was not far enough away from the toilet to be up to building code. Here's a look at the lovely new plumbing. Please note that these steps took over a week, during which time we were bathing in our basement. Such fun.

Steps 469 - 234897: Install new tub, and make sure it's level. Install new surround walls. Caulk. Sheetrock. Plaster. Sand. Clean. Paint. Plaster. Sand. Clean. Paint. Hang shower curtain rod and shower curtain. We still need to patch up the floor in front of the new tub and then wash the whole room to get the last of the plaster dust out. We also need to put the access paneling on the shower plumbing wall, and then we can start having some fun finding just the right accountrements. Here's Adam and Dad leveling the new tub:

Soon to be a famous B-horror flick actor

2008-10-10T11:53:00.003-05:00

We're definintely in week 19, in case you were really wondering. Here's our little boy, very helpfully snuggled up to my bladder. (Thanks, kid.) This was the Level II ultrasound which took the place of our regularly scheduled Level I ultrasound, so that we could check on his heart development. He's got a clean bill of health from this one, and holy crap, I can't tell you how nice it is to walk out of the perinatal clinic knowing your kid is healthy and not wondering what the phone call will say later. Both the ultrasound tech and the perinatal doc were very pleased with how all of his organs look, so we're feeling good about that.

We're also feeling good about his chances to star in the next Chucky movie.

Yikes, dude. Good thing you've got another four months to go. Try to grow a cute face before March, okay?

What track where?

2008-10-01T08:51:00.004-05:00

I've lost track of what week we're on today. I think it's 18 because our (third and hopefully final) ultrasound is next Thursday, and I'm pretty sure we scheduled it then because we'd be in week 19. So, hey! Week 18! Whatever.

The bathroom is slowly coming back together. My parents had driven up to help us, and we had taken the week off from work. On Monday, we took our the tub and those awful plastic shower walls and discovered that not only was the plumbing not up to code, but the wall for the shower plumbing would actually not be up to code either. So, we got a permit from the city to have our shower wall closer to the toilet than is actually code, and we had a plumber come in to move the plumbing around and make sure it's up to code. $1200 later, we were finally ready to put the new tub/shower into place.

Of course, by then it was already Friday, and it was time for Adam and I to go to St Louis, MO, for his cousin's wedding. It was a very long drive, but hey, look! This hotel has a bathroom with a whole, functioning shower! Plus, our neice is way cuter than any other baby on earth. You know, for now, until ours gets here. The wedding was nice, too. It was at the Historic Hawken House, which meant that we got to tour the house while the reception was being set up. Very cool Victorian furnishings, and some fun stories about the nine Hawken children.

We drove back up on Sunday, and on Monday the plumbing inspector came out to check up on the plumber's work. He gave the thumbs up, so we proceeded to put the tub in place and level it all out. As of last night, the shower surround is in place as well, all leveled out and waiting to be attached to the wall studs. My parents have been kind enough to do chores and more bathroom work while Adam and I are at work--we couldn't have done this project without them.

I have photos sitting on the camera at home. You'll have to check back for them later. But it feels really good to at least see the tub/shower in place. It makes me think I actually might get to stop bathing in the basement one of these days!

Oh, PS, I forgot to say that all of our tests from the last post came back completely normal. Yay!

Clinic Appt #3, or Sure, Take Some More Blood!

2008-09-19T15:50:00.002-05:00

I had my second appointment with Sheela, our Nurse Midwife, this morning. I got to drink a hideous orange beverage (which contained sodium benzoate, thank you very much) and then have blood drawn an hour later to see if I have gestational diabetes. If I do, I must be the most asymptomatic person ever, since I've been eating ice cream like crazy. They also took blood to test the baby for Spina Bifida, and that's the last screening test we'll have to deal with for a while.

In October, we'll have our Level II Comprehensive Ultrasound to check on the fetal heart development, so we're skipping the general "how many limbs and what's the sex" ultrasound. We've seen his limbs, and we know he's a boy, and he had a lovely strong heartbeat today, so that's all good.

If I haven't mentioned it before, one of the lessons that I have learned from the past two months is that you should not be shy about interrogating (and I mean that literally) your clinic staff. You should make them tell you everything about whatever it is they're talking about, and I mean everything. If I had done this sooner, we would not have gone through the screening hell that we have, and that makes me really angry. I got on Sheela's case hard today about the fact that her secretary sent me medical forms with zero explanation whatsoever about what I was supposed to do with them, and when I called and talked to Sheela about it this week, she still didn't give me clear answers about what was going on. So, I'm now a strong proponent of the call them until you're satisfied that you're fully informed method.

Because, hi, I'm pregnant, I'M SUPPOSED TO RELAX AND NOT BE STRESSED OUT BY YOUR CRAP. Thank you.

In other news, my parents will be up next week to help us put a new tub/shower into the bathroom. I'm excited to make sure that our tub is not going to fall into our kitchen. =)

Week 16

2008-09-18T09:16:00.004-05:00

That's where we are today. Feeling pretty good. Went to yoga last night, which is always kind of trippy, as our instructor is a very "Earth Mother Goddess" type. She's really funny, though, and she's a doula, so she's attended over 300 births, and she's got some funny stories. Anyway, I'm happy to be back in the yoga. I was taking over the spring at another place with some theatre friends, but the art studio closed, so no more yoga studio, either. That teacher may get another class started again, which would be nice, because I miss her and those friends.

If you're interested in another person's take on Week 16, you can read one of the blogs that I follow. It's Zero to Forty, written by Amalah (Amy Corbett Storch), who also writes a personal blog and an advice column. Amalah mentions that you might be having weird dreams these days, which I can bear out. I dreamed last night that Adam was writing a hit musical about building stereo speakers, and woke up with the song, "My Straightedge Will Be Steel," in my head. Let me repeat, I woke up with a song that *doesn't exist* playing in my head.

Our next clinic appointment is on Friday morning, at which I'll get to drink a disgusting sugar concoction and then wait for an hour to see if I go into a diabetic coma. Woo...fun.

Baby!

2008-09-15T20:53:00.003-05:00

No, not our niece...our son.

We're due March 4th, so far. I've been feeling pretty well. The sickness has subsided a lot, but we're into more muscle and nerve pain in my belly as it starts to really stretch out. I've avoided the sciatica, thank God (knock on wood), but I did get one killer migraine (complete with partial loss of vision).

If you have done the math and realized that we shouldn't know his sex already, way to be up on your human gestation. We know he's a boy because we ended up doing chromosome testing after some early screenings came back abnormal. We'll still have a few extra tests along the way, but every sign now is that he's totally healthy.

So it's a relief in several ways to be into the second trimester, but we've just started to really realize that we'd better get off our asses and get ready for Little Obadiah to move in. After all, it's not like Ice Cream will have his own U-Haul full of Ikea furniture for us to drive home from the hospital. Adam has become excited about the possibility of using his woodworking skills to build Tadpole a crib, which I think would be awesome. I've been looking at the giant pre-baby shopping lists that stores like to provide, and that's enough to give you nightmares, let me just say. You thought the wedding planning was bad? HA HA HA. Is it any wonder we've been shopping for dishwashers instead?

Baby!

2008-08-15T10:17:00.004-05:00

No, not ours--cute pictures of our niece! She was definitely worth driving to Adam's family reunion. Supposedly, she looks just like Adam when he was a baby. Clearly, we all hope she grows out of that later! We didn't get to spend a lot of time with them, but it's always nice to see the family. Here we are with Scott, Erin and Baby Charlotte.

Back to School

2008-08-15T10:00:00.005-05:00

As part of our epic driving adventure over the first weekend in August, we helped Jesse move to Rantoul, IL. He'll be attending the U of IL at Urbana/Champaigne to earn a PhD in...something scientific at which he'll no doubt be terribly brilliant. =)

The driving started on Friday afternoon and continued until about 1:30am Saturday. That's about the time we all started hallucinating with fatigue, so we snagged a hotel room and finished the drive to Rantoul at 10am on Saturday. Jesse's new place is a nice little townhome, a two bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, with a laundry room (which Jes was especially excited about).

All Muraled Out

2008-06-20T11:05:00.001-05:00

Looks like they're done with the mural by my bus stop.

Watching too much Price is Right

2008-06-20T10:27:00.005-05:00

Every time I think about car shopping, I can't help but remember watching Bob Barker getting mauled by contestants after announcing, "A new car!" Thank goodness we're done with the car shopping for a while.

For those of you who need a little catch up, the Blazer got rearended (again) last fall, and then we got told that the engine wiring needed replacement. Instead of fixing those issues, we decided to save the money and put it towards a nice used minivan.

I did a bunch of research, and all of the signs pointed toward a Toyota Sienna, 2005 or later. After a few weekends of shopping around, we settled on a 2005 AWD Le from Walser Toyota in Bloomington, MN. Our salesman was very nice, and he's actually called us since to make sure that we're happy. The van is the 7 passenger size, and it had about 47,600 miles on it. It's got some really cool options, too, like having both a cd player and a tape player, which I think is awesome. Mom really liked the power passenger sliding door. Adam likes it for taking the dog to the dog park, too. Yay!

Sidewalk Work

2008-06-10T14:03:00.002-05:00

We got a couple new sections of sidewalk in front of our house recently. It's our neighborhood's year for sidewalk work--they started at Chicago Ave and are working East. It was an annoying couple of week to walk back and forth to the bus stop, so I'm glad they're done. Now we just get to wait for them to send us a bill. Yay.

This is the house across the street from us.

The new mural by my bus stop

2008-06-10T14:00:00.002-05:00

I was happy to see a new mural on the corner of 38th and Chicago. I'm a big fan of building murals in general, but I really like this one because it's all about mass transit, which I think is hilarious.

Aftermaths

2008-05-27T16:25:00.005-05:00

I think we're on week five or six of the Great Thorne House Re-Landscaping Project 2008. You can't see very well in this photo, but the hostas have moved from along the front walk to up next to the house, and around the two trees on the boulevard. Yet more hostas have moved from the front walk to in front of the garage. I think I have four more hostas left to move, and then the Great Hosta Diaspora will be over. Oh, except for that big one on the corner, maybe.

We had a very strong straight-line wind the other day, which resulted in a lot of smaller branches down in our yard, and some larger ones down in our immediate neighbor's yard.
And then there was the next block up, which was still not open to traffic this morning. Thankfully, this tree didn't fall on any cars or houses, so it's just a nuisance.

It's not easy to see in this picture, but there is a huge twist in the branch that fell.