Ha!

I was flipping through the photos on our camera the other day and laughed out loud when I saw these two consecutive pictures.  Paul's patient and Kate have the same smile!  Ha!

Old Man Pablo!

Paul turned the big 3-0 last week.  Adios, 20s, this is when life really starts to get good. I offered to make any extravagant dessert that his 30-year-old heart desired, but he was adamant about having a funfetti cake.  Paul loves treats.  I'm sure he hasn't ever met one that he didn't love, but truly, his preferences are far from sophisticated.  I think probably the fastest way to win this man over is with an offering of a Hostess cupcake.  Or Twinkie.  Or Swiss Cake Roll.

In our six and a half years of marriage, there are have been only three desserts requested for his birthday: brownies (the boxed Ghirardelli mix), funfetti cake and strawberry pie.  This year I decided to make two.  Parker and I made funfetti cupcakes that we took to his work and then we had strawberry pie that evening.  I was surprised to find out that the staff at the office had also brought in some treats- an oreo cake and cookies!  I think Paul worked through the afternoon in a sugar coma.  We had planned on going out to dinner, but Kate went to bed that night at 5:00, so when Paul got home I went and picked up some fish tacos and brought them home.

Parker made a card for Paul.  I helped him write a Parker-original joke on it.  "Two years old?!  Psych!"

His parents gave him the gift of a vacation- without any kids!  They offered to watch Parker and Kate while we have a little get away.  Paul will be sure to wear his vacation shirt.  :)

I gave him two tickets to the rodeo next month.

John and Trudy also sent some M&Ms, which Parker immediately deemed as his own.

Consequences

This week started out a little rough, but I'm determined to end it on a high note.

During Sacrament Meeting on Sunday Parker passed some gas stinky enough to fool Paul and I into thinking that he'd pooped. I grabbed a diaper and wipes and was ready to take Parker to the bathroom when Paul decided to do a quick visual to make sure that Parker actually had a messy diaper.  Turns out it was a false alarm, but the prospect of potentially leaving the chapel was like dangling a donut in front of his face and then eating it yourself.  It was too much for Parker to handle.  His good behavior quickly turned sour and he started acting up.  I took him out to the foyer, but made him sit on my lap and told him that he could only get down if it was to go back into the chapel and sit next to dada and Kate.  He consented, only to be taken out again moments later. This time we had to go into a classroom because even in the foyer he was being disruptive.  In fact, people in the chapel could probably still have heard him from where we were in the classroom.  Determined to not have a repeat performance this Sunday, I pronounced the worst punishment I could think of: no iPad for a week. Paul and I have purposefully used the iPad in front of Parker to remind him of the consequences of his behavior. Hopefully it's enough to motivate him to be better behaved this Sunday.

I think Parker has given up his naps.  Today marks the fifth consecutive day he hasn't taken one.  The first three days were rough to say the least, but with an earlier bedtime, things have more or less equilibrated. On Monday he was in timeout no less than ten times. (I pray that by now he has learned to not throw things... books at Kate's head in particular.) During one of those timeout sessions, he threw something at his light switch that caused it to break.  When I told him that he'd have to use some of his birthday money to buy a new one he was devastated and when I said that he'd have to use one of the "big monies" (anything greater than $1 is considered big), he was even more broken up.

The next day he found himself once again in timeout. Usually timeout is only a few minutes long, but somehow in those three minutes he managed to dump all of his toys, stuffed animals and most of his clothes onto the floor. I remember learning in a BYU class about how children can get overwhelmed with a long to-do list; their brains can process only one thing at a time, so telling a child to just "clean your room" may be too much for them to handle.  Instead, you should break up the tasks and allow them to finish a task before giving them another one.  I've noticed that this is true with Parker in other areas as well.  If I say, "Ok, eat your sandwich and what would you like to drink?" he'll freak out and say, "No! I have to eat my sandwich! I can't have a drink."  Anyway,  I can often get him to clean up if we do it together, but it felt like rewarding his bad choices if I helped him clean up when he'd made the mess out of anger.  But I knew that he'd need a little guidance, so I told him to start with his train tracks.  "No, mama clean up my train tracks."  Ha!  Yeah right. I ended up leaving his room and shutting the door (he has a child lock on the inside) and told him that he could come out after he cleaned up his tracks.  Hello tantrum!  I went to check on him every so often, but I think it was about 45 minutes before his tracks were put away.  And then we cleaned up the rest together.  I guess we both won that one.

Grandpa Bob Visits

Since Kate's birth we have been lucky enough to have my dad visit several times.  Four times?  Five?  I can't remember, but it's always so nice when he's here.  We get to explore new places in San Diego that I wouldn't normally brave alone.  Even just going to the grocery store is infinitely easier with an extra set of hands.  Parker and Kate get spoiled to the max.  I should probably be more careful when talking about things they need/what I want for them because my dad always says, "Well, let's go get it for them!"  My dad was here for Parker's birthday weekend and it was so fun to celebrate with him.  While he was here Kate got a new wardrobe, we went to Old Town, Seaport Village, the Living Coast Discovery Center, the Gaslamp Quarter, ate at lots of fun restaurants and I finally, finally got to see Ender's Game.  Come back anytime, Grandpa Bob!

Parker Has a Birthday

We had a fun celebration on Parker's birthday.  In the morning we went to the Living Coast Discovery Center.  It's a small nature reserve that has marine animals and birds on display and it was the perfect size to hold a toddler's attention and also allowed us to see everything in between Kate's morning and afternoon nap.

On our way home we stopped and got a little treat.  (Paul has instilled in Parker a very fervent love of all things donuts.)

We asked Parker what kind of cupcakes he wanted for his birthday.  Initially he kept saying, "pink ones!" (which didn't go over very well with Paul).  We asked him if we wanted chocolate or vanilla or lots of different colors like last year.  He just kept saying pink, but eventually consented to red, which I then interpreted to mean red velvet.  Parker helped decorate them.

We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner where Parker got to eat one of his favorite foods (french fries) and play in the play place.  Afterward it was time for presents and cupcakes.  Parker elected to open presents first.  We had been trying to really hype up his birthday in the preceding weeks to get him excited.  Any time we asked him what he wanted it was always the same answer: a Lightning McQueen race car toilet.  This was a win-win all around.  It was a great way to get him excited about getting potty trained, plus, we would have gotten him a training potty anyway, so to have him want it for his birthday was perfect.  We also got him some big boy undies.  Since his birthday he hasn't shown any additional interest in getting potty trained, and I'm really in no rush, but the seed has been planted.  Soon enough, soon enough.  He got some other fun gifts too...

Turns out that Parker did not inherit my love of cupcakes; he didn't eat a single one. A kid who doesn't like cupcakes?!  Sounds to me like that should be illegal. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GUS!

A short film by Paul Fjeldsted
*Film locations: Petco Park, Gaslamp Quarter train stop, our apartment, the park

 

Kate- Four Months

**I wrote this post several weeks ago and then got hit by the sickness train, so I'm just getting around to posting it now...

Kate had her four month check up with the doctor today.  She is 25.3 inches long (75th percentile) and weighs 14.8 lbs (60th percentile).  She has been within these percentiles since the beginning and Parker was in these same percentiles as a baby too.

Fortunately (but really, unfortunately) we all happened to be sick today, so I didn't have to make a separate appointment for Parker and Kate to be seen for this pesky cough and runny nose they've developed.  The doctor checked Parker after she was done with Kate and found that he has an ear infection... at least that's what she said, but honestly, I'm a little skeptical.  She listened to him breathe and said that he sounded very congested.  Agreed.  Then, she checked his right ear.  No problem, she said.  Looks great.  Then she tried to check his other ear and he really shied away and wouldn't let her.  She tried several times, then finally he sat on my lap and I tried to hold his arms down while she took a look.  She said that one had an ear infection, but it seemed like she was basing her decision on the fact that he wouldn't let her look.  She said that it probably hurt him and so that's why he didn't let her look.  I was surprised that he even let her look at all the first time and I think that he didn't let her look into the second ear because he'd wised up and knew what she was up to.  He was squirming around so much when she looked into the left ear that it's hard to believe that she was able to see anything at all.  As we were leaving I thought that maybe I'd like a second opinion, but we have Kaiser insurance, so we'd have to see another Kaiser doctor and I doubt they'd go against what one of their own doctors had already said.  I asked Paul to bring his loupes home after work, so we'll see what the real doctor has to say about it.  Ha Ha Ha.

Oh yeah, this post was supposed to be about Kate.  At four months Kate:

* LOVES to smile.  She'll giggle without reserve if you tickle her in just the right spot.
* is completely zen during baths- even when I pour the water on her face.
* is not really on a sleep schedule.  She takes a nap around 9:00am, but her other two naps are not as predictable.  Lately she's been waking up twice at night to eat and then wakes up for the day around 7:30.
* coos and gurgles.
* is consistently good in the car.  She hardly ever cries!
* wears a bow every day.  And it must coordinate with her outfit and socks.  If she has a wardrobe malfunction midday (spit up or blowout) you'd better believe she's also getting a new bow and socks. (I love having a girl!)
* loves when Parker pays attention to her.  He too tickles her and at first I thought that maybe he was being too rough, but she loves it!
* pulls her pacifier out of her mouth and then cries.  I put it back in, she pulls it back out.  Repeat.  Repeat. Repeat.
* shockingly, does not spit up very much.
* has a big, gummy smile.
* has eyes that are changing colors.  I don't know if you can tell by the photos, but the inner part of her iris (near the pupil) is starting to look golden.
*has thinning hair on top and the sides, but her mudflap is alive and well.
* smiles when she hears mama's voice.
* wakes up smiling.
*enjoys sitting in her Bumbo.
* is just the best, cutest baby you ever did see!

**Quick update on Parker- the day after we saw the doctor, he was jumping around and being his normal, loud, happy self, so I never gave him the antibiotics and he never complained about his ear.  I'm conflicted on how I should feel about the doctor.  Maybe she was justified in wanting to give him medicine preventatively, but she actually said that he did have an ear infection and that it was still in the outer ear.  So did she lie?  Can an ear infection cure itself in a day?  Hmmm...