A Helpful Hand

The Walker 

I was finally able to trudge through the frozen tundra of my back yard to get some much-needed baby/toddler gear and the storage tubs for Christmas supplies/decorations.  Matthew inherited Christopher's old tub-saddle (for lack of a better term)...a little chair that attaches to the outer lip of the tub and allows him to sit upright...and Christopher's old circle walker.  He's yet to try out the tub-saddle, but we've been trying to get him into the walker as much as possible...at least once per day for a significant amount of time. Christopher's been a very good helper with teaching Matthew how it all works...or just playing with it over the top, around, or, yes sometimes, through Matthew, but I suppose the kid has to learn somehow, right?.

1on 1 with Matthew

Matthew and I got some quality cuddle time the other night.  Its a pretty rare occurrence as Christopher catches eye of any attention not focused directly upon him. This usually results in his infiltrating any "fun" times with Matthew with the inextinguishable fortitude of William Wallace.  "My try, Daddy! My try!" is his warrior's call to arms!  The usual result is typically a lot less bloody and, if Christopher listens, significant play time given to Christopher as well.  Regardless, I do cherish the few moments I get alone 1 on 1 with the boys.

 1 on 1 with Christopher

My latest 1 on 1 time with Christopher was after church last Sunday.  He was extra good all weekend, especially during church and breakfast afterwards, so Colleen and I decided, as we were out getting desserts for the Superbowl party we were going to attend laster, that he deserved a treat.  He earned himself a Spiderman cookie.  When we got home, we got some milk...and chilled out for a few minutes eating cookies and milk (well, he was eating cookies and milk while I was just sitting with him discussing how good his cookie and milk were)

Christopher the Photographer

Christopher got hold of my camera.....again.  The pictures seem better, no? I.m sure it was an accident

Christopher's 1st Lionel Train

"ALL ABOARD! THIS IS THE POLAR EXPRESS"

Christopher, as everyone can imagine, made out like a bandit for Christmas this year.  One of his fascinations, along with cars, Mickey Mouse, and "firepolice", is with trains.  He loves trains of all sorts.  For Christmas this year, he got 3 different "train sets"....all of which are very cool.

Fisher Price

Fisher Price

One was from his Nana Marianne, who got him a Fisher Price train set that goes around an oval track.  It came with a conductor, monkey, and elephant who all ride the train around and around...good stuff.  The best part about this train, though, is that it is totally compact and can be taken on trips.  The tracks fold up and the train secures inside the folded tracks and secured by an attached "pond and meadow" (prop).  It is very cool and he really likes it because it makes train sounds AND monkey and elephant sounds....good stuff.

The second train "set" he got was from Aunt Cathy Sue.  It is a remote control Thomas train.  This remote train, however, doesn't run from radio waves.  The remote shines a red laser-light on the ground.  The train itself has a light sensor and follows the read dot wherever the "driver" leads it.  It is very cool, but Christopher sometimes has difficulty understanding the basic physics of gravity as he attempts to get the train to climb the walls throughout the house.  (Admittedly, though, Daddy loves to play with this train...its very, very cool and does cool tricks.)  I'll try to get pictures and post them....I've been too busy playing with the train to take pictures...sometimes, that's just the way things work.

The last train he got for the holidays, and the one depicted here, is Christopher's favorite by far.  Uncle Patrick got him a radio-remote control Lionel Polar Express train.  It is a bit too "mature" for him as it has a lot of parts -- more than 25 track sections, 10-12 bridge sections, a train engine, 4 train cars, and a radio-wave remote control device.  Christopher has to be closely monitored when he's playing with this train because he ends up taking it all apart if he's left to his own devices...where the other two trains he can control without adult assistance.  He does love this train though and will sit and watch it go in circles for hours.  He and I have put the tracks together in many different shapes and paths, which is also very fun.  He brings me "props" (other toys to use as tunnels and/or hills, et. al.), and we try to get the tracks to manipulate over, under, around or through the prop. On Christmas Day, he and Uncle Pat and Christopher constructed the tracks...that process was extremely entertaining (as one who knows the both of them can probably imagine). Its been very cool.  He loves this train so much that when he had the opportunity to go outside and play in the snow, he said, "No, Daddy, its too cold.  You hep you trains?"  

Sesame Street Play Garage....I mean tunnel

Pretty phenomenal feat of engineering here.

Ooh, look , a light

Kindness and Charity in Innocents

Christopher has been requesting to both of us tonight, "Ah-ahna go Wed Wobbin.  Mac Cheese and Sayad?" since we've been home from Day Care/Work....and I mean that very literally.  He repeated his request every few minutes....in the exact same way.  We didn't feel as though we could deny the boy, so we went to Red Robin for dinner.  Those of you who know about the restaurant is that they give free balloons to the kids who come in, Christopher was no exception.  We ate dinner, no problems, and then traveled to the Mall to get Christopher shoes from Stride Rite (the Red Robin here shares the lot with the local mall).  We entered the mall and walked straight away to the Stride Rite store.  Christopher was allowed on this trip to take his balloon with him, which is a very rare exception to our usual rule about toys on trips to stores and whatnot. Upon entering, there was another family, I presume the grandmother and mother of a little boy in a stroller who looked to be about 1 1/2 or so.  They were being assisted by the clerk and we were waiting our turn...entertaining Christopher and keeping him at bay...not allowing him to escape the confines of the store itself, but also veer him away from behind the checkout counter (for anyone who knows Christopher of late, they can imagine how difficult this task is, but Christopher did pretty well following directions and not pushing limits tonight).  Somehow during all of this, the little boy in the stroller got hold of Christopher's balloon.  No one's sure when it happened, at least not from my family, but it did.  Not an issue for us really, so long as it wasn't an issue for Christopher....then it would have to be dealt with.  The problem is that one never knows how that situation is going to unfold as it depends a lot on unknown elements such as the mood of the child, how tired the child is at that moment, and what state of the "mine" phase the child is in just to name a few.  Christopher notices his balloon suspended in the air, and soon after, noticed that the little boy was holding the balloon.  Christopher looks up at me, points to the balloon and yells, "BAYOON, DADDY! DASS MINE BAYOON!"  I responded as gently as possible, "Christopher, he really likes the balloon. Maybe you should let him have the balloon."  After saying this, I held my breath for what seemed like hours...knowing that there would soon be variances of "no's" and "dass mine bayoon's" and the like.  But to my surprise, Christopher replied to me," Okay, Daddy."  He walked over to the boy and said, "Hi, baby.  Here. You can have mine bayoon, baby."  He then walked back to Colleen and I with a big smile on his face...of course resulting in mounds upon mounds of positive reinforcement including earning an extra organic vanilla milk from Starbucks (which is his favorite).  It was a very proud moment for both of us...and, moreover, reminded us of the impact of kindness and charity that can be taught and encouraged in our children...it was really an amazing event to watch unfold and I honestly I'm not sure I've ever been as happy with Christopher as I was tonight.

The Christmas Picture Shoot

Now that I have officially sent my Christmas cards out, I feel that I can now display the "better" pictures from the 60+ shots that were taken. Let it be known that Christopher was an absolute nut during the entire session...completely uncooperative. We ended up using my iPod touch as a manipulation tool to get him to cooperate. He's a very hyperactive young boy, but he is a beautiful hyperactive young boy...

First, the poses that we opted to buy:

One of these poses is on the Christmas card that many received, and the rest were disbursed among our families.

There were some photos shot that were much more appropriate depictions of our every day life....we opted NOT to purchase them.

If you didn't get a Christmas card from us, I apologize. The reasons that you wouldn't have received one is probably due to one of two reasons:

1.) I simply forgot

2.) I don't have your address

If you'd like one, you'll have to make sure that both areas are covered with me...more than likely I forgot, so remind me. If you'd like a copy of one of the pictures here, let me know and I'll print one out for you and send it. Thank you.

Snow Day = Snow Play

Snow day for Mommy and Daddy...so Christopher and Daddy went outside to play in the back yard.....

After we got too cold (Christopher absolutely refused to keep his mittens on, so we practiced natural consequences today), we decided to come in and do some inside play. During this game, we were counting how many little bears we can fit into his big police car...

(The answer is 6, in case you're keeping score)

...And, of course, as Matthew is not yet old enough to trudge through the deep snow we just received from Mother Nature, he had some good floor and play time inside with Mommy, then with Daddy (while Christopher was recovering from his discovery of Natural Consequences getting his hands warm again)

This Potty Training Stuff is for the Birds

We've officially started potty training in the Kane house, circa November, 2010. As you can tell, its going swimmingly.