Long Overdue

It started just before tax day, and it's been going strong ever since. It seems that the typical 24 hour day had been truncated. Some days, it was only 18 hours long. Others, it was 22 hours in length. On average, it seemed to last about 20 hours, give or take fifteen minutes one way or the other.

I can't understand it. What caused it? Who do I blame? Could it be an alien plot? A result of nearly eight years of Bush administration rule? Faulty immigration laws? An Illuminati-driven conspiracy? Or, perhaps, some sinister drug pumped into the Fairfax County water supply? Maybe it's just a side effect of springtime?

I'm still not sure. I don't know if I'll ever find out.

The symptoms came on gradually, and seemed unrelated at first. Bananas seemed to ripen faster than they used to. My beard growth increased. The children's clothes weren't fitting. If a task at work used to take two days to finish, it was suddenly taking three days to complete.

The simple fact of the matter is that I didn't have as much time as I needed anymore. I'd be lucky to see my children for two hours a night before I had to usher them off to bed.

It's something I've had to come to grips with, and despite all the half-cocked theories I've thrown around, I've come to the conclusion that I know what is causing this loss of temporal mass: age. The older I get, the faster time seems to pass me by.

That said, I'm sure that many of you would rather look at pictures of my offspring than hear about my loss of sanity. So I'll bring you up to date on Stephen and Maddy.

Last weekend was the Mythic employee picnic. It took place at the National Zoo in DC. We were given frisbees, fed well, hydrated, and then sent out to look at the animals. The kids were really well-behaved, despite the long bus rides to and from the zoo. It was a sunny, breezy day, despite a weather forecast that called for thunderstorms.

Stephen got his face painted. There was some debate as to what he would have painted on his cheeks: a cat? A bird? A lizard? He wanted a butterfly. I didn't have any problem with that. He's three! It might not be the most stereotypically masculine animal on the planet, but butterflies are boys, too.

Madeline enjoyed the fresh air, too, in her cute little ball cap. She didn't seem to care that we were at the zoo. For all she cared, we could've been at a funeral, and she would have been just as satisfied.

We didn't see much in the way of animals. Elephants, tigers, lions, lots of turtles, bald eagles, seal lions, antelopes. Between you and I, the National Zoo isn't really all that impressive. I've been spoiled rotten by the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Nothing can really outdo either of those places for sheer style and substance.

Developmental milestones: Stephen is practically potty trained. There was that one incident I reported a while back, but that was very much an isolated event (despite our hope that it would continue). Two weeks ago, Amy decided that she was going to put the boy through "potty bootcamp," and she put him in underwear instead of a diaper. The first couple of days were hit and miss, but once Stephen got the idea, he was quick to insist on doing his business in the bathroom.

Madeline is going to be talking pretty soon. She says things that sound like words, and other things that definitely are words ("Go! Go! Go!") or expressions ("Uh-oh!). She's very expressive. Her hair is growing out. She likes to point at just about everything.

As for Amy and I, we actually we able to get out and see a movie recently. Mythic sent the whole company to the opening showing of Ironman, and Karen babysat for us. It was the first movie we've seen in Virginia since we arrived here last July, and the second movie we've seen since the movie (the first being No Country for Old Men, which we saw in CA over Christmas).

My freelance life has been busy. It doesn't help that I'm completely drained of life by the time I get out of work. It should ease up soon, though, once the current projects are put to bed, and then I can rest.

I've even been looking at joining a local Civil War unit, but it would mean buying all new uniforms and gear -- there aren't any Union cavalry units in my area. They're all CSA. Go figure!

Stephen is Three

Stephen turned three years old on Friday. He was fairly excited about it, and he seemed to enjoy all the attention. He even went so far as to tell his mother, "I'm three, mommy. I don't need to take a nap."

He's fallen into a pattern of behavior in the past few weeks that seems to be standard three year-old: screaming. It seems to be based on frustration, because it tends to occur when it's time to shift gears, go to bed, eat ... well, anything, really.

Example: Last night, he and I were playing with his Lincoln Logs, building a little house. It was time for his bath, and I told him so, to which he stood up, screamed, and ran into the corner, all sorts of angry. Nothing really placated him; he was mad because I was making him stop playing with his logs.

Well, we made it into the bathroom (him kicking and struggling the whole way), got him into the tub, and then he was fine. Of course, when it was time to get out of the tub, we had more fussing and screaming. Suddenly, the kid who didn't want to take a bath didn't want to stop taking a bath.


Just about everything is a struggle. I can only assume he's trying to establish some kind of control over his life. We give him lots of choices, and it's not like he gets away with murder. Hopefully, it will pass after a time. Seems that it's a pretty common trope among three year-old kids.

I still love him, of course, and he's good more often than he's rotten. I feel sorry for him, because he's at a point where he's on an emotional roller coaster. He can't control his emotions very well, and that's got to be pretty rough.


Maddy, of course, continues to be cute as a button. She says, "Uh-oh," now, which is pretty hilarious.

She like playing with the Lincoln Logs, too!

Quick News

I have it on good authority that today, March 14th, 2008, is the day that Stephen used the potty for the first time!

::insert fanfare here::

Hopefully, this will become a normal part of his life. Diapers, as they say, are crappy.

The Weekend

I took Stephen to the mall to get a haircut yesterday. He was a good kid, and only complained once we'd left and he realized he'd been denied a lollipop. Far be it from me to deny my son a reward for being such a good boy, but I had to endure about twenty minutes of, "I wanna open it! Open it, daddy! Open it!" at the store once we'd picked out a suitable sucker.

Today, we went down to the playground and horsed around. There's not much new on that front. It was very sunny, but also very windy, and cold! On our way back to the car, we discovered a puddle left over from yesterday's rain with a thin layer of ice on top of it. That will show you how cold it was.

Stephen was so impressed with the ice, that he went to a nearby puddle (which was actually a small lake, when compared to him) and jumped into it -- right up to his ankles, getting his shoes and pants very, very wet. He wasn't too happy when I informed him that we'd have to go back in and get him into some different clothes and shoes before leaving, but he wouldn't have it. By the time we got to the apartment, he was in no condition for a drive, and ended up taking a much-needed nap, instead.

And let's not forget the obligatory Maddy picture!

Two Days Off - in a ROW, Even!

I actually got to take the whole weekend off (though it's a temporary reprieve, at best), and I just sort of lounged around and did very little of any importance. I ran some errands, but that was about it. I've got freelance projects that need tending to, but I'm so darn tired right now that I'd do more harm than good if I tried to do any serious writing.

Today was a bright and sunny, mildly chilly day. Temperatures in the 50's, I'd say. Stephen and I went down to the playground so that he could run around and do little boy things.

Speaking of little boy things, see Stephen run. Run, Stephen, Run!

There are four slides out there, and he seems to like them all. I managed to squeeze this shot off as he looked down at me from the top.

I also took Stephen out and tried to teach him the intricacies of peddling his tricycle. He doesn't quite get it; plus, I think his legs are about an inch too short yet. The concept of steering also eludes him. He's not quite 3 yet, so I can give him some slack, especially since he knows his ABC's and 123's.

After playing at the playground, we drove to Target to pick up some diapers. It was a nice drive. Stephen was less than enthusiastic about having his picture taken in the car, so I snapped this one of him in the rear view mirror when he wasn't paying me any mind.

As for Maddy, little Miss Newly-Turned-One is just as happy and chipper as always. Amy swears she said "mom-ma" the other day (in imitation of Stephen), and we've often heard her say what sounds like "hi" when we say hello to her. She waves goodbye now, and uses the baby sign for more (the same hand to mouth gesture that Stephen used when he was her age).

She communicates by babbling, and, as seen here, she also likes to dance.

Madeline: Year One Retrospective

Seeing as I did one of these for my boy on his first birthday, I reckon it's only fair to do one for my little girl. The only thing lacking are sonograms of Maddy, which we never had scanned.

Enjoy!

Ten Minutes OldMaddy didn't spring whole from her mother's womb, perfect and happy the way that Stephen had. No, sir. They had trouble getting her to breathe at first, and she spent a good time under an oxygen hood (pictured). She was puffy and generally unhappy, and I was worried sick.

One Day OldIt turned out well enough. Maddy was a lot fussier than Stephen, and Amy wasn't feeling so hot after the surgery. I was very much attached to my little girl right from the start, though.

One Month OldMaddy continued to be fussy, but I don't recall it being terrible. Getting used to another baby in the house wasn't as big a transition this time around. After Stephen, we could do anything. It was all old hat.

Two Months OldThis is when Maddy started to smile, when she started to get a personality of her own instead of being just another demanding, crying, screaming, diaper-filling machine.

3 Months OldI'm pretty sure she started getting happier around the 3-4 month mark. Less fussiness, more character. There were times, of course, when she'd just cry and cry (like at our going-away party at Frank & Lisa's), but you could usually attribute that to her being tired, overstimulated, or both.

4 Months OldShe was just about four months old when we moved to Virginia. I remember long stretches of road where she would cry because she was hungry, or (more likely) because she was tired of being in the car seat.

5 Months OldMaddy in our new apartment in Virginia. This is probably the only home she remembers, given how young she was when we left California. She's definitely queen of the roost now. She walks around like she owns the place.

6 Months OldMy happy girl!

7 Months OldThanks to our friends and family, we had a lot of clothes for Maddy to wear. The older she gets, the more I realize that baby girls' fashions are incredibly silly. Butt ruffles are everywhere (though not on this little dress, which is one of her more fashionable outfits).

8 Months OldEight months was pre-crawling. She did a lot of rolling around, and was content to sit on our laps while we ate, or watched TV, or played computer games. Once she learned to move under her own power, those days were history.

9 Months OldFully into the crawling mode now. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving, prior to us driving to visit Amy's grandparents in Pennsylvania.

10 Months OldMaddy's first Christmas. We flew to California and saw most of our friends and loved ones. Maddy was her usual cheerful self. I think she was more or less oblivious to the holiday, but she enjoyed the attention. The plane ride, on the other hand, was quite the adventure. Never again will I fly with a child on my lap, even one as cute as my daughter.

11 Months OldHappy New Year! Unfortunately, photo taking went by the wayside in January 2008. As in, I think I've got two or three pictures of the kids in January, and this is one of them. It's a companion piece to the SS Sterilite photo I posted a week or so ago. By the tint of her rosy cheeks, I think Maddy was suffering from her first bona fide cold at the time. Poor baby!

1 Year OldEnter the now. She's a year old, and she's got an agenda. She walks, she babbles constantly, she's into everything she can get her hands on. She follows Stephen around. He manhandles her, but she gives as good as she gets. The two kids get along pretty well, though he doesn't always know his own strength. Despite the occasional intersibling violence, Maddy has no fear of her brother. At all.

That's my girl's first year in a nutshell.

Happy Birthday to Maddy!

Today was Madeline's first birthday. She's officially one year old!

We celebrated by baking and frosting a cake (see above; yes, I know the "1" is backwards in the picture).

Maddy was intrigued by all the fuss, but she wasn't quite sure what we were up to.

While I cut the cake, Stephen helped himself to the frosting at the base of the candle. Surprisingly, he didn't eat any of the wax in his enthusiasm.

Her first taste of the chocolate decadence that had been placed before her ...

... and the sudden realization that, golly, this stuff tastes GREAT!

Touchdown! Maddy shows her appreciation for the sweets! While the cake itself wasn't a huge hit, the frosting was. She thought that stuff was the bomb.

While Madeline took her post-cake bath, Stephen and I horsed around in a futile attempt to work off a portion of his sugar rush.

As I told my little girl when I put her down for bed this evening, "I love you. It's been a great year since you came into our lives."