At least we'll have fun...

We have an exciting weekend coming up. A housemate of mine from college is finally getting married outside of NYC to his longtime girlfriend. (An irrelevant sidebar, but we're reaching the point where all of our friends are either married or have no prospects. So after a spurt of weddings, they are becoming very rare for us. The next round will arise when we're much older, as our kids and their peers get married. Sigh. More evidence of how I'm getting old.) I suppose that we could take the kids, but the wedding invitation didn't offer that option, and we didn't ask. Instead, we're going to dump the kids (and the dog) with the CT grandparents for the weekend. While we'll probably have a grand time at the wedding, it should be an interesting weekend for everyone else.

I've been thinking that it might be fun to solicit a "guest post" from one (or both) of the grandparents documenting the weekend with the kids. Not that I really need the info for my own benefit, but it could liven up what has lately been an otherwise uninspired blog. And I would be a bit curious to hear about how the kids behave with other people. Even if those other people happen to hold the esteemed position of "grandparent," so that the kids' behavior with them is nowhere near representative. If nothing else, this could be a trial run to see how the kids and grandparents hold up to extended time with each other, in preparation for a potential trip by us to Europe (or some other interesting place) sans kids. (I usually envision ditching the kids during a layover in Chicago en route to somewhere more interesting. So don't worry Grandpa P and Grandma N, a longer trip sans kids wouldn't necessarily involve the CT grandparents.)

Now, it could be that the CT grandparents would feel daunted by the prospect of pinch hitting for your faithful blogger. If so, I'll end up writing my thoughts about the weekend, which will probably involve something along the lines of "Wow, it was great to be without the kids for a couple days, but dammit, I still couldn't sleep past 6:00 AM." Alternatively, we may actually get a guest post. Which could, at one extreme, provide a touching insight into the relationship between a grandparent and grandchild. Or, at the other extreme, could involve bitching about the kids as is typical on this blog.

For those of you who are just here for the kid pics, not for the inane blather (which may or may not also apply to a "guest post" by the CT grandparents), here are some recent ones. Including some from our trip to the Udvar-Hazy Annex of the Air and Space Museum (a space shuttle, a Concorde, the Enola Gay - very cool! - it was especially cool because Teddy could run amok without causing any actual damage) out by Dulles Airport. And some of Margaret looking like quite the tart. The latter make me a bit queasy when I think about the inevitable teenage years.

Updated stats

Not only did Teddy get his bump immortalized in his class picture today, but we also went for a check-up where both the doctor and the nurse quizzed us about it a bit, as I suspected they would. I suppose that it's their duty to do so, and they weren't pushy about it, but one still wonders whether they've scribbled a note in our file: "Keep an eye on these people." (A friend in Chicago once told me about how an intern called in DFS after seeing all the bruises on his shins during a check-up when he was a toddler. The source of those bruises? Apparently, he wasn't very good at using the pedals on his tricycle, so they constantly banged him in the shins as he scooted around on it.)

For those hardcore afficianados keeping score at home, Margaret's three year stats are:

• Height: 38.5" (75th-90th percentile)
• Weight: 34 pounds (75th-90th)

As for Teddy's 18 month stats:

• Height: 34.25" (90th-95th)
• Weight: 28 pds 3 oz (75th-90th)
• Head size: 51 cm (>97th)

Oh, by the way...

. . . Teddy and Margaret are having their class pictures taken on Wednesday (see previous post).

The Ice Pack and Teddy's Head

Once the kids are able to pick up habits at daycare (and are able to communicate those things to us), they bring home all sorts of interesting ideas. For example, I was quite surprised the first time that Margaret voiced her opposition to some perceived affront by saying, "Walk away, Papa! Walk away! Make another choice!"

For a while, one item from daycare that was central to Margaret's life was the Ice Pack. While the teachers at daycare use it to deal with the little bumps and bruises that inevitably occur in a toddler's life, the Ice Pack became the cure-all for every injury, no matter how minor, in Margaret's life. Take a little tumble to the floor - run to the freezer to grab an Ice Pack. Bump into the table - ditto.

Now that Margaret is coordinated enough to avoid these types of minor injuries, the Ice Pack has receded from its prominent place in her world. But although he doesn't recognize it yet, the Ice Pack will (and apparently should) play an important role in the boy's world. Because he's very prone to getting bumps and bruises. Not only is he still a bit clumsy, but he also appears to lack a sense of self-preservation that leads most reasonable people to avoid dangerous situations. Not that he has the opportunity (or skill) to hurt himself in any serious way, but he is willing to take risks that his sister seemed to avoid at the same age. A slide at the park? He'll toss himself down it, no problem. Stairs? An inconvenient obstacle to be surmounted as quickly as possible. Some people blame this on a gender effect, arguing that boys tend to be more "adventurous" than girls. Personally, I think that Teddy is just a little foolish. A prime example is his chipped tooth, but I'll provide a few more:

Example 1: When I picked Teddy up from school last week, Ms. Mary asked, "Did Teddy have a bump on his head when you dropped him off this morning?" Looking at the purple spot on the right side of his forehead, I said, "No, I don't think so." It turns out that this is a fairly common occurrence for Teddy at school. There was a time where I'd get an "occurrence report" every few days associated with some bump that Teddy had experienced (usually on his noggin). Now, the teachers at day care aren't lax in their attention. Instead, Teddy just exhibits a tendency to run into things (like the wall) or to fall down.

Example 2: Today, we were at a playground, and Margaret was climbing all over the place (not risky behavior, I think, because she can now handle it). Teddy decided to climb some offset stairs and, once he got almost to the top, tumbled off and fell to the ground below. In the process, he managed to give himself a nice bump on his right forehead on top of the bump that he got at daycare.

Example 3: While I was making dinner, Margaret and Abby had to run upstairs for a bathroom emergency. Teddy, who had been left behind (unbeknownst to me), decided that he wanted to climb the stairs. He probably didn't get very far before I heard: thump-thump, yahhhhhh! I ran out of the kitchen to find him sprawled at the bottom of the stairs with a big purple lump on the left side of his forehead. So now he has a nice symmetry between the bumps on his head (you won't actually notice the right side bump in the pics below, but that's because the left side one is so pronounced). We got an Ice Pack to keep down the swelling, but Teddy wasn't keen on it. Given his track record, however, he probably should get used to it.

How to deal with a pesky brother

Today, we had our usual drama during our trip home and while making dinner. Margaret demanded things - "I want to walk" and "I want a pretzel" (despite the lack of any evidence that pretzels were available) and so on - in her usual pleasant way. Then, when we got home, the kids took turns melting down as I made dinner. The cacophony finally reached a crescendo when Teddy tried to take Margaret's paper shopping bag as Margaret tried to put her backpack in it while simultaneously pushing the stroller for her doll. The pushing and shoving escalated, the bag eventually ripped, and both kids started screaming. Since we had already called Mama's cell phone for a sanity break, we figured that we'd call the Philly relatives on speakerphone, hoping for a distraction at the least and perhaps some words of wisdom. A rough transcript of our call is as follows:

"Hello."

"Hi Joe. It's Mark." (kids bellowing in unison in the background)

"Hi Mark! What can I do for you?" (very enthusiastic response from Joe)

"Can I talk to Andrew or Alex?"

"Sure!"

(A pause as Joe tracks down one of his kids.)

"Hi."

"Hi! Who's this?"

"Alex."

"Hi Alex. Listen we've got a bit of an issue here. Margaret and Teddy are fighting because Teddy keeps trying to take Margaret's toys. We're hoping to get some advice about how Margaret should deal with a difficult younger brother."

(Another pause while Alex thinks about the request. Both of the kids have stopped screaming and are listening to the phone call. First goal of this phone call accomplished.)

"Umm, put him in a closet."

"Well, Alex, that's pretty good advice. It certainly would solve the problem on one end. But I'm not sure that Teddy would like it very much. Do you have any other suggestions?"

(Another pause.)

"Let me get Lizzie. Ask her."

"Naw, Alex, you're much more articulate than Lizzie. Given your vast experience with the subject matter, can't you give us some advice on how to deal with a difficult younger brother?"

(Another pause.)

"Well, let him have it because he'll probably get bored with it pretty fast. Then you can get it back."

"Did you hear that Margaret, let Teddy have it! Once he loses interest and doesn't want it anymore, you can have it back!"

(Margaret appears to be contemplating the suggestion.)

"Great advice, Alex. Thanks!"

"No problem."

(Mission accomplished. We sign off on the phone call.)

"Wow, Margaret, did you hear Alex's great advice? What did she say you should do when Teddy tries to take one of your toys?"

(A long pause as Margaret considers the question.)

"Put him in a closet."

Teddy is the Village Green Preservation Society

It's officially Margaret's third birthday. The weekend is full of events celebrating the occasion. It started today with a party at school in her honor. Then she had her celebratory cupcake after dinner. And tomorrow, there's a parade celebrating her birthday. (Actually, it's the annual Cherry Blossom Parade, but we've been talking about how it's for her. Not sure how hard we'll push the parade because she shouldn't get too carried away.) Lastly, her CT grandparents are coming into town tomorrow, so we'll have a full weekend honoring Margaret.

Given all of the attention that will be bestowed on Margaret this weekend, I figure that it's appropriate to write something about the boy (and the dog), although some pics of Margaret-related events are included at the end of this post.

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Teddy likes yard work. Of course, every kid likes busy work of some sort. For example, Margaret likes "washing the dishes," and both of the kids like to play around with Tupperware (which involves scattering it all over the place) as I cook dinner. Teddy seems to be particularly fond of sweeping and raking stuff in our yard. Now, we're somewhat challenged in this task, as our "yard" is so small that it's basically our front sidewalk and a small patio in the back. But Teddy doesn't mind. Almost every weekend, we have a routine that involves sweeping up our small part of the sidewalk. Teddy is so enthusiastic that he often insists on dominating the brooms. We have three brooms - two big, one small - that we use for outside stuff, and Teddy often demands two of them for his work. If someone, say Margaret, tries to take one of them from him, he howls. The result is that we often let him fiddle around with two of the brooms while I do the real work with the remaining one. Not that there's much real work as our part of the sidewalk is so small, but it occupies him, so we're willing to spend time puttering around in front of the house while he stumbles around with his brooms.

It turns out that the only one who takes this job seriously is Maddie. She has always liked yard work. When we lived in Pittsburgh, she always liked to "help" shovel the snow. Which involved her pouncing on the snow shovel or jumping in the air to grab the snow when I tossed it out of the way. She does the same for leaves. Although she still shows the same dedication to the job these days, the boy is a bit confusing for her as he doesn't do much with his tools. Instead, I sweep a few things out of the way while Teddy ambles around with his brooms. Maddie is invariably attentive, dropping into her Border Collie crouch in front of my broom, but the whole scene involves a lot of commotion without much actual action.

People who pass us on the street tend to be quite amused. They'll say things like "You've got some good little helpers there," referring to both Teddy, with his brooms, and Maddie as she stares at my broom. I respond with something like, "They like to think they're helping."

As other evidence of our "philanthropy" in the neighborhood, Margaret and Teddy have a brick dedicated to them in our local park. During an early morning walk with Maddie, I noticed a brick near the Rose Park flagpole dedicated to two of the neighborhood kids. After checking with their parents, I found out that it wasn't too expensive to buy a brick to commemorate our own kids. So Margaret and Teddy are now immortalized near the flagpole at 26th and O.


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Given that it's so difficult to find personalized items with our kids' names, no one should get confused about the provenance of that brick. (As I'm sure I've said before, "Margaret" and "Teddy" are apparently quite out of style - too old fashioned, as evidenced by the elderly candy stripers at the hospital who often said things like "Such a lovely name. Don't hear that one very much these days." or "I had an aunt named Margaret!" I keep thinking that the revival of schoolmarm names like "Abigail" and "Eleanor" portends a return to popularity for "Margaret" and "Teddy," but they don't seem to have caught on yet.)