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Wed, Sep 10, 2008 4:21 PM
We had a very nice week in Tahoe with Bemo and Popsy, Aunt Sharon and Aunt Diane. The boys were in heaven with so many great outdoor activities right out our door. Everyday we swam at the lake and/or the pool, played tennis, and rode bikes (and all of that usually before noon!). Nicholas even learned to ride his bike without training wheels (at 4 1/2!). True to Nicholas form, we simply removed the training wheels from his bike, and away he went. There is hardly ever a learning curve for him. He just took off, and within minutes was even turning in circles. By day 2 he could zip around all the turns on the path around our condo and even get started by himself. It was truly amazing to watch him be so at ease so fast. He also discovered that he loves miniature golf, and had a lot of fun exploring all of the silly contraptions with Popsy and Charlie. He had such a great time, he didn't want to leave when the week was up. Alex had a great time to, and when asked what his favorite thing about Lake Tahoe was he replied, "Bemo and Popsy."

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Ted & Lorraine Hannah: The week with you at Lake Tahoe was wonderful!

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Mon, Apr 14, 2008 9:11 AM
Alex at 2:
Alex is talking up a storm these days. He has the sweetest voice and has started singing a lot. His favorites: Twinkle Twinkle, the ABC’s, and Old MacDonald. He looks so earnest when he’s singing even though most of the words are a bit off! He still loves to read and has continued his signature backwards plop into your lap anytime he’s ready for a story. He’s also still obsessed with anything with wheels. He’ll take out all of his planes and trains and trucks and line them all up down the hallway and play contentedly by himself for long stretches.

He’s also still a great sleeper and goes down with no fuss. I love putting him to bed because he just gazes up into my eyes while I’m singing Sue La Le (sometimes joining in), and he has the happiest, most contended look on his face as if to say, “I know it’s time to rest, and I know you’ll be back for me, and I know I am loved.” He’s probably just psyched to have his binkey (“Bay-bay”), but it certainly makes me feel good. Nicholas on the other hand usually still does not like going to bed, especially if I’m the one putting him down.

The boys love to play together (for the most part) and I see them having more and more fun together as Alex gets older. Their current favorite game is going in circles around the courtyard (meaning down the hall, through the kitchen, dining room and living room), Nico on the tricyle and Alex pushing the stroller close behind. Generally Alex does whatever Nicholas does, and for the most part Nicholas is sweet with him, though he has had his moments.

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Bemo: I like reading about you this morning & remembering our recent visit with you! Love, Bemo

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Wed, Feb 27, 2008 9:10 AM
Tonight Nicholas told US bedtime stories for a change. All three were all about Chocolate Depiganut (no idea where he came up with that name!):
1. Chocolate Dapiganut was looking for someone to play with and everyone (the cow, the pig, the horse, etc.) was too busy to play until he found his Daddy and he wanted to play!
2. Chocolate Dapiganut went off on an adventure to pick flowers for his Mommy’s birthday.
3. Chocolate Dapiganut fell off a ladder and broke his leg.

It was very sweet. For the last one he turned out all of the lights and added the flashlight for dramatic effect.

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Wed, Feb 20, 2008 8:40 AM
Talking to Nicholas on the phone from a bachlorette party in Vegas he says, “I’m thirsty Mommy. Can you get me a drink?” That was after he did a dance for me. He hasn’t quite figured out that the other party can’t see him on the phone, and they certainly can’t get him a drink!

Alex had a big fall last week chasing Nicholas around the house. He hit his front tooth on a wooden truck and knocked it out of alignment. The dentist thinks it should realign itself after some time, but stressed that we should make sure he doesn’t fall on his face again. A little over one week later, just as the swelling was starting to go down, he fell face first off his tricycle onto the sidewalk and got another fat lip. Poor kid. He’s accident prone, but pretty tough.

Walking down the street the other day Alex spots a blue VW bus and exclaims, “Da-da!” He watches it pass and then says, “Bye-bye Da-da.” All VW buses and vanagons are Daddy.

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Bemo: Alex, I'm sorry about your falls. Do you need a helmet with a face mask? Be careful. I love you, Bemo

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Sat, Jan 12, 2008 8:40 AM
Happy New Year! We just returned from a most amazing vacation to Mexico with the Hannah clan. We were celebrating my parent’s 50th anniversary AND my Mom’s 70th birthday (and Susan and Charlie’s birthdays too, but those didn’t exactly get us there). It was probably the first vacation we’ve had with the kids that actually felt like a vacation. Not that we were lounging by the pool, but we were able to spend great quality time with the boys and with my family. The house was gorgeous – right on the beach with lovely views – and best of al, it came with a full staff, so we never had to worry about cooking or cleaning. I could get used to that! The food was delicious, not to mention the margaritas.

The boys both love the water, and Nicholas pretty much taught himself to swim by the end of the week (at age 3!). He was not at all afraid to jump right in (usually by means of a belly flop).

I think Alex’s favorite part of the trip was sitting at the big long dining table in the open air. He would immediately start babbling away, talking to everyone in his mostly indecipherable tongue, loving all the attention. He loved Javier’s cooking, especially the tortilla soup.

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Sat, Dec 15, 2007 8:39 AM
A brief update on the boys:
Alex –
Continues his fascination with doors. If he sees any cabinet or door open, he has to close it immediately (clearly the finger incident had no lasting impact outside of a stubby pinkie!)
Favorite words – Nooooooo and MY (mine)
He points out all moving vehicles/airplanes (a-pain!) when driving, and then follows with a “bye bye” to everything (ie “ba ba baaa” (bye –bye bus)
He’s talking a lot now (even some short sentences!), but he is still very hard to understand. His voice is precious.
He likes to walk backwards and/or with a blanket over his head and/or with his eyes closed. It can be a rather dangerous game for someone who’s not all that sure footed.

Alex continues to be the most amazing sleeper. At bedtime all you have to do is tell him to go kiss everyone goodnight, which he dutifully does, and then he heads straight for his crib. I know this can’t last forever, but it’s certainly nice for now! He sometimes wakes up early and we just go get him and put him in the pack and play back in my closet (his original nursery) and we can usually get another ½ hour to and hour of rest!

Nicholas –
You can motivate him to do anything if there is a race involved. It works especially well for putting on his pajamas, as long as he wins, of course.

M: “Nicholas, what do you want Santa to bring you?
N: “I don’t know, maybe a car or something. (Pauses) Or a yo-yo. Or a football hat.
M: “What’s a football hat?”
N: “You know, like they wear on TV so that they can tackle each other.”

He’s very it to rhyming words and likes to make up songs that rhyme (especially while watching himself in the bathroom).

He still has no poker face and will often preface something he knows he’s not supposed to do with, “Don’t watch me, Mommy.” If he’s already done something bad it is written all over his face. When I ask if he’s washed his hands, knowing he hasn’t, he answers, “Yes, but don’t smell them.” Dead giveaway.

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Thu, Nov 15, 2007 8:39 AM
We had a crazy day yesterday. Nicholas woke up fine, and we were all ready for school (early, no less) when he started complaining of a headache. When I told him to go lie down and he complied, I knew something was really wrong. Moments later he started vomiting, which continued throughout most of the day, but mostly he was completely debilitated by this massive headache. He was not interested in doing anything buy lie in his bed, and he was in and out of sleep for most of the day. We went to see his doctor, as headaches are very uncommon in children his age, but he didn't see anything alarming. He just said to rest and to try and stay hydrated, and call him if it persisted.

Alex was pretty fussy that morning, but otherwise seemed ok. Then Gloria put him down for his 1:30 nap, and he did not wake up until 6 o'clock the next morning!! Isn't that incredible? We checked on him constantly, thinking there was no way he could still be sleeping. He would sometimes stir, and then just conk out again.

This morning, both boys were back to their normal high energy selves. It seems unbelievable that Nicholas could have been so sick yesterday and so active today. It left him as quickly as it came on. It was so lucky that Alex slept as Nicholas required 100% attention all day, so I'm not sure I could have managed with them both sick.

Alex is off to Michigan with his Daddy tomorrow, and Nicholas and I are going to have a fun weekend together. I've promised him burritos, hamburgers and hot dogs!

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Sat, Oct 13, 2007 7:54 PM
Nicholas started preschool at Little Bear last month and so far it’s going great! I thought a full day would be way too long, but he seems to really enjoy it and certainly has the energy for it! So even though his favorite thing to say to me is, "I want to go where you're going" and "I only want to be with you", he does just fine there. The most remarkable thing is that he has even taken a few naps there – something I haven’t been able to achieve for well over a year. Even though everyone said they all nap, I never thought Nicholas would.

Alex loves to read books. He’ll go get a book off the shelf (usually one of his same 5 favorites) then back up to you and plop down in your lap, never looking where he’s actually going. He's also very in to cars and trucks. Nicholas was always (and still is) more of a ball boy, but Alex loves anything with wheels.

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Fri, Aug 10, 2007 7:53 PM
Today was one of the first days that Nicholas actually stayed in his room for quiet time and didn't come out as soon as I came up from work. I should have known something was up, but instead I decided to take advantage of the solitude and open some of the huge pile of mail waiting for me after vacation. After about 35 minutes Nicholas finally emerged and I asked him what he had done during quiet time. "I played the alphabet on the computer." Doubtful that Gloria would have turned on the computer for him I asked how he turned it on. He not only turned the computer on, but also typed in my password he must have memorized, started up the internet and opened the shortcut for his favorite website! I try not to allow electronics during quiet time, but it sure was nice to have some quiet time for me!

Alex's finger is doing well in spite of several falls to his hands. The tip is now a little off center, but it’s clearly going to fall off anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. We took him back to the doctor sure that something had gone terribly wrong since it looked so awful, but they said it was no surprise it looked so bad.

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Wed, Jul 25, 2007 7:52 PM
Last night just as I was getting ready to tuck the boys in, Nicholas slammed the bedroom door on Alex's finger and severed, yes severed, the tip. Charlie was working late, so I immediately called him to come home, ran Nicholas down to Ruth and Pete's doorstep, and then proceeded to look for the finger tip which I finally found still stuck on the door jam. At first I thought it could have been a sliced grape, but nope, it was his finger, from about the mid-nail up.

Alex was amazing through it all. He screamed bloody murder at first, but then calmed down and didn't utter a peep until they shot him up with lytocaine (sp?) 3 1/2 hours later. The emergency room was packed, but luckily they took us in right away and got us a room. He just sat on my lap and limply waved to everyone who passed by the doorway. They x-rayed it, found that no bone was lost, and then finally sent us to another ER where there was a hand specialist. She was able to sew it back on, which was horribly traumatic. They used all the lytocaine they could for his age but he clearly still had feeling and he screamed like I have never heard him scream before.

The tip is nonvascular, so they will not know if it will take for sure or not for a couple of weeks. It could just shrivel up and fall off, but because he is young there is a better chance of it regenerating blood vessels and healing properly. We have to keep it clean and dry, which is not easy. I put a sock over the bandages which he does not like.

I hope this will be the worst of Nicholas induced injuries, but I fear this is only the beginning!

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