InfantSEE

InfantSEE is a public health program where participating optometrists provide comprehensive eye exams for infants under the age of one.  It's a free service, so there's really no reason not to take advantage of it.  We did it for Joshua, and we definitely wanted to do it for Clara too, so today I took her in for her appointment.  He eyes checked out fine, although they said the hemangioma on her eyelid is slightly affecting her vision.  We knew it could be addressed by a topical medication but hadn't yet done it, as we were initially told it was purely cosmetic.  Now that we know it actually is having other effects, we'll fill the perscription and start applying it.  Here Clara and I wait in the exam room for the optometrist to arrive. 

Drawing

 

Joshua has had crayons for quite some time, but he doesn't really like to draw. They were pretty kid friendly and you don't have to press hard, but for some reason he just didn't like them. He did love taking them out and putting them in the box, but that's about it. So I decided to try some colored pencils. These have been much more of a hit, though his favorite part is still taking them out and putting them in the box. But now, before he starts that process, he does usually choose to draw for a short awhile, so that's a good way to help him develop his fine motor skills. So far he can draw lines and has also recently started to enjoy his magnadoodle more, which is great because it's a lot of effort to keep the coloring on the paper for me. He doesn't seem to really get that concept yet. Luckily crayon washes.

Chillin' with G.G.

My grandparents are in town for a few days and are staying with Mom and Ron.  Today was the day that Mom usually watches Joshua and Clara, and I didn't have to go into work until noon, so I dropped them off.  It'd been awhile since my grandparents had seen the kids, so they were very excited to see how much they've changed and to hang out with them.  Here my grandma engages with each kid in their favorite way: Clara gets held and Joshua gets to play a game of catch.  Later in the day, Meghan and I, along with Julie and Andrew, joined everyone for dinner with my cousin Al, who is stationed at Ft. Leavenworth for a year.  I also was able to go over there for a few hours last night.  I don't often get to see my grandparents, so I was excited to have the opportunity and wanted to take full advantage of it. 

Joshua Knieval

Joshua could accurately be described as a daredevil.  He's always excited to find new things that are fun to do, and sometimes those end up being a little on the dangerous side.  We have a cylindrical ottoman-like thing (I'm not really sure what it is.  It's a microfiber cylinder with a lid in which you can store things.  What is that even called?).  Recently he realized that if you turn it on its side, it rolls.  So he enjoyed pushing it around the room.  It didn't take too long for him to realize that he could roll his body over it.  Then he realized he could get a little bit of a running start and make it go faster, sending him to the ground once it rolled him to the other side.  Now it's in his rotation of fun things to do each day.  We just remind him to stay on the carpet, and otherwise it's actually safer than it looks.  Here he is in action.  He's actually moving quite fast in the first one, even though it appears from the picture that he's just balancing.  I didn't have my good fast-shooting camera, so these are from two different rolls, but they pretty accurately depict what happens.

Book Time

Jason usually gets home about thirty minutes before dinner is ready. The kids are always really happy to see him and it gives them a short amount of playtime before we eat. Joshua usually has preferences on how to spend this time, most often involving a ball. But today he chose a book. For the first time, I have been using the library for books for him. Now that he is a little more interested in reading books rather than throwing them, I feel the books have a fighting chance of not being damaged, though I still wouldn't leave him with a library book unsupervised. And this month I have been trying to read him books about families, with the idea being that we will talk about a new baby as close as possible to my due date. I don't think he'll really get it, but it's the best we can do to prepare him in an age-appropriate way. Anyway, normally I am more of a book buyer, but I don't necessarily want to buy a bunch of books on one topic so the library is great for this type of thing. His favorite of the bunch so far is a book about a daddy bear and his child and the things they do together. He loves the illustrations and the text is just right for him. Clara was also happy to get in on the action, but I think she chose to climb the couch instead pretty quickly since her attention span is a little shorter than Joshua's.

Sleeping While Drinking

We usually try to give Clara a sippy cup of formula right before her nap (which is right after lunch) and a bottle right before bed.  Although she's tired at both of those times, she usually has no problem drinking her tasty Similac beverage.  Today after lunch we gave her the sippy cup, and she started drinking away.  I was cleaning up after lunch and realized Clara was being exceptionally quiet (the kind of thing that parents quickly learn to notice), and I looked over and she had fallen asleep while drinking.  We woke her up, and she barely finished the rest, and we took her up for her nap.  I feel like that too some days.    

More Like the Miami Tropical Depressions

As Jason Keeler's gift to me and the others in his wedding party last year, we went to a K-State game together.  It was a ton of fun, so we decided to do it again this year.  One of the few things I can be thankful to Ron Prince for was an upgrade to our schedule, so we have a home-and-home series last year and this year with the University of Miami Hurricanes, who although they're not what they once were, are still part of college football royalty.  We beat them last year in Coral Gables, so this year the game's in Manhattan, and that's the game we chose to attend. 

It was a beautiful day, and Jason, Nick, Tony, and I left KC at 6:45am to make our way to Manhattan.  We had a little bit of time to tailgate before the early kickoff, and fortunately Joanna and Kirk were able to stop by on their way into the stadium.  The game itself was good, though not all that exciting, but in the best way possible.  We got off to an early lead, and cruised to a 52-13 victory with Collin Klein leading the way, and with a bonus preview of the future as Daniel Sams blazed his way to a couple touchdowns.  And as always, Bill Snyder is a genius.  We ate at a great Jamaican restaurant, Little Grill, after the game, and then drove home.  It was a lot of fun, and it's probably something we'll try to do every year going forward.