Month 24 - Corbin's 2nd Birthday!

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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: