The Fuchs Report

Down Goes Henry!

2012-03-04T08:58:00.000-06:00

Henry is now at the stage where he can pull himself up to a standing position, but not at the stage where he can get back down to the ground. This is a horrible stage in life. I can't imagine how many brain cells Henry has lost already. One minute he is fine and standing strong, the next minute you hear a bang and Henry is on the ground crying (bad parenting?). And since he hasn't mastered being able to get himself in a sitting position, he usually crashes flat on the back of his head.

He is always so excited to get crawling and to start being naughty. The minute we put him on the ground he starts giggling and speed crawls away. There is obviously no thought process about safety or gravity. He certainly gets himself in some pretty awkward and unique positions.

Doing a little bump n' grind

He supports himself however he can (e.g. via cheek)

Bella is often used as a pushing off/landing point

Stuck on the bottom shelf of our coffee table - he climbed up there solo and in about .4 seconds

Favorite Cole Sayings

2012-02-22T20:28:00.000-06:00

We try to be fair and blog about both kids, but obviously we'll have to leave Henry out of this one. It's not our fault he doesn't talk and say funny things. Anyway, below are some of our favorite Cole sayings.

I hate to be sappy, but I do love hearing Cole say “Come here” when he wants to give a hug.
Since I’m being lame, of course, Cole saying “I wuv you” is pretty great to hear.
Once, as I was carrying Cole downstairs in the morning he instructed Kristin, “Get baby. Chop chop, Mamma” in a very stern voice…now that is how you talk to a lady. And obviously he is mimicking one of my favorite lines since I am always telling Kristin to "chop-chop." The girl is always running late.

He has really been playing up the double negatives lately; some of his favorites are "I not no tired anymore," after waking up from a nap. Or when he is getting his diaper changed, " I not no poop!"

When Henry wakes up from a nap and starts to fuss, Cole will put a hand to his ear and say, "I hear something." Of course this translates to all situations and he is often cocking an ear and saying he hears something when there is nothing to hear.

When we tuck Cole in at night we usually say, "Goodnight, see you tomorrow." So now whenever Cole says goodbye to us he adds ,"See you tomorrow." As in goodbye, I am going into the other room for a toy..."see you tomorrow."

"Black Trapezoid." Cole has a shapes puzzle at Grammie Stear's and he is pretty good naming the shapes and colors. Hearing him say trapezoid just sounds weird.
"Bye People." This is obviously said when departing from a group of three or more people.

I thought I would share the one and only picture from when the guys went out last Friday night. This is how it ended for Steve and Brett.

Cole the Prize Fighter and Henry the Urinator

2012-02-10T13:06:00.000-06:00

We are having some major behavioral issues with Cole lately. He is hitting and throwing things at everyone. The most frustrating is that he repeats the mantra, "No hitting, fill in name of unlucky family member" while simultaneously hitting that same unlucky family member. Henry has gotten smacked with balls and toys and even kicked once. Henry is the lucky one, Cole usually follows up his abuse with a tiny hug and an "I wuv you baby." Bella gets it the worst. Cole smacks her like they're married and living in a trailer park. We are very lucky that for as hyper as Bella is, she is very tolerant of Cole's behavior. He's pretty lucky she hasn't snapped at him yet, but he also feeds her a lot of snacks so he's got her right were he wants her. I got a slap to the face while trying to put Aquaphor on his face. We are currently trying to use timeouts for discipline and taking away toys, but it doesn't seem to be punishing enough. Kristin is going to have to go to the library to do a little research. In the meantime we just continue to follow through with timeouts and refer to Cole as the j-e-r-k and the little d-i-c-k behind his back.

Timeout in timeout chair about 4 minutes after waking

Henry is behaving himself, but we are still struggling with the quantity of piss that comes out of him at night. It's unbelievable. We tried a nighttime diaper and pad, a nighttime diaper and a cloth diaper and double diapering. He leaks through them all. Our current method is a size 5 nighttime diaper (the size Cole wears) and a giant disposable insert meant for a cloth diaper. It is too bad the cloth diaper route didn't work because is there anything cuter than a naked baby in red underpants?

In other news, Cole actually peed while sitting on his mini toilet. Sadly he didn't fully tuck his little ding-a-ling and shot pee all over the floor. Hopefully he gets better. Also, hopefully one day tucking the wiener won't be necessary.

Know Your States

2012-01-31T19:51:00.000-06:00

Before Cole goes to bed we have started teaching the location of different states. I don't know any other two year olds, so I'm really not sure if this is impressive or maybe Cole's slow and he should know them all by now. I'm impressed but I am also his parent...and admittedly not the brightest. After this video we taught him Michigan, Maine, Iowa and Oregon as well, so I think he knows about 17 states. We'll see how quickly he can point to all 50; although, once he can read this exercise will seem to have been pretty pointless. If I only knew my capitals better we could try that next.

Private - Keep Out

2012-01-27T19:49:00.001-06:00

I have never really lived alone. Throughout college I had roommates, after college I had a roommate for a bit and and since then I have been stuck living with Kristin. The point being I have never really experienced a great deal of privacy in my life. Now that I have kids, my privacy has hit an all time low. It is bad enough that I often have to pee or shower with the bathroom door open but I could deal with that if I could just get a little private time while sitting down to "take care of business." Our bathroom door doesn't lock and recently Cole has busted in on me while I was "taking care of business" (twice). It’s not just a quick peek or to check how things are going. He brings his pacifiers, blankets and toys. He is apparently coming in for an extended stay. He also hugged my leg once, which was very awkward. Although, not expressly a right in the constitution (I think) I feel that I should still get a little privacy from time to time, especially while "taking care of business."

Mark?

2012-01-18T13:08:00.000-06:00

This weekend Cole and I were playing upstairs while Kristin was feeding Henry. Cole got very excited and ran to our bedroom window, pointed and said, "Where is Mark?" I was confused and wasn't sure what he was looking for as his new favorite game is to wonder where people and objects went and we aren't always sure what he has in mind. He will yell, "where are you?" to just about anything...books, balls, Bella, his milk cup, Henry etc. and then go searching for said item. I brushed off "Mark" and tried to engage him in something else but he was intent on finding Mark. After much fuss about Mark I started to wonder if Mark was Kristin's daytime boyfriend who comes over when I am at work and plays with my kids. Cole and I stormed downstairs to confront Kristin and her adulterous ways...she was not sure who Mark was either. Then Cole ran to our downstairs window, pointed and again started calling, "Mark where are you?" And saying, "Mark's turn." By now I was pretty certain my kid liked this Mark person better than me and that Kristin certainly was cheating. After a few more attempts to find Mark, Kristin figured out that Cole was talking about our neighbor, Margaret, who they watched shovel the other day. When Margaret and her husband Cosmo (who Cole is also obsessed with) were shoveling they took turns dumping the snow on the sidewalk - thus "Mark's turn." That's Kristin's explaination at least.

I really didn't think Kristin had a daytime boyfriend but pretty funny regardless. I wonder how many real-life affairs have been blow open by a toddler's loose lips.

Mo' Babies Mo' Problems

2012-01-15T12:07:00.000-06:00

I have discovered that having kids means there is always a problem or issue. No one is ever happy at the same time. If one is sleeping well, the other isn't eating. If one is happy, the other is hitting the dog. Nothing stays the same for too long and new issues always crop up. I have a feeling this doesn't end until they leave the house, which is sort of depressing. Anyway, Henry is the cause of the latest issues. Over the past couple weeks we have been dealing with a rash (due to a possible peach allergy) that requires a lot of prescription cream and then we have to cover the cream with Aquaphor...and then try to cover his sticky mess of a body with clothes. I have no idea how Henry gets comfortable at night. I imagine his onesie just gets glued to his body. He doesn't seem to mind though.

Another current event we are dealing with is Henry's nighttime peeing habits. I don't know if he just saves it all for middle of the night peeing or he is mostly bladder on the inside, but either way there seems to be no diaper able to contain the amount of pee he dispenses throughout the night. We went to nighttime diapers which always worked for Cole, but they are no match for Henry as evidenced by the pictures below. Every morning we have to strip off the pee soaked jammies and give him a quick bath to wash off the diaper crystals and pee. A morning bath is a lot of work so we are brainstorming ideas to combat the excessive amount of pee that gets everywhere. Kristin wants to stuff a "lady product" in his diaper, but I don't think I can allow that. Seems weird and could affect his manhood in the future. Maybe we rubberband that little thing so he can't go at all at night. Hmmm...

Thankfully everything is alright in Cole's world right now....so just as we rid Henry of his rash and get control of the urination situation we will be on the edge of our seats to see what problem Cole tosses our way.

Now that's a pee spot!

Look at the size of the diaper. Trust me, all pee.

Guys Night

2012-01-12T14:41:00.000-06:00

This weekend Cole, Henry and I had a guys night and a little bit of a guys day. It didn't start great. After Kristin left for the store, Cole cried at the door for her for, what I felt, was an unreasonably long time. At first I felt pretty bad for him, but then remembered he can barely be bothered to say goodbye to me in the mornings, then I decided to feel bad for myself and not Cole. This is certainly not the first time these kids have been mean to their Dad.

After Cole recovered he decided he should take his anger and frustration out on Bella, so I had to enforce my first timeout. Usually Kristin does the disciplining. She has given many timeouts already (the boys and I call her "Kriscipline" when she is not home). I really did hate giving Cole a timeout. Its no fun. I'm glad to say the night was not a total disaster. We did have some fun. Cole likes to turn on the ipod and "dance," which really means run in a circle while saying, "Nice dancing Cole!" The highlight of his night was definitely snagging my Gatorade. He loved it and slammed it pretty quickly. I think my favorite was guys day when I actually got to watch a good chunk of two football games. Not bad.

Kristin had to run to the store on Sunday to get some breathable/mesh bumpers (the reason for guys day) because Henry likes to sleep with his head pressed up against the bars of his crib. He did a number on his soft spot. The picture really doesn't do it justice. It was super indented and dark purple for awhile.

2011 Wrap-up

2012-01-02T13:35:00.000-06:00

The Fuchs' 2011 holiday season as told by pictures...

After a present filled Christmas Eve at my parent's, the boys woke to lots of presents from Santa

Cole did a lot of grunting trying to open presents

Later the Grandparents Stear and Uncle Ben came over for more present opening and failed brunch

The aftermath

The breakfast pizza as attempted by Grandma DJ. The egg dripped all over the oven and smoke was everywhere. Our house stunk for two days.

The oven was a mess!

No smoke detector went off during the breakfast pizza debacle, so Cole and I strapped on our tool belts and installed two more smoke detectors in the house.

New Year's was pretty wild this year with many games of Yahtzee and Rummy 500...and Henry crying for an hour. Look how much fun we're having. Kristin is trying to get Henry to bed after my failed attempt. Obviously not a big party...no one there, Kristin is drinking a Gatorade and it looks like she decided to read a magazine mid-game.

Holy Henry

2011-12-20T14:03:00.000-06:00

Henry was baptized on Sunday. We were all pretty exhausted from a tough battle with croup the night before but he did quite well during the ceremony. No tears or cries, just a lot of snot bubbles and a big noisy burp during Mass. Kristin and I (and Henry) would like to thank Jeremy and Jess for being Henry’s godparents, my parents for having everyone over afterwards, and all attendees. Traveling with kids is a pain, so I know it wasn't easy making it to the church on time. I’ll give extra props to my mom who made many of my favorite dishes to eat during the Packer game.

Ready for Church

With his Godparents; Uncle Jeremy + Auntie Jess

The dunking

Snapped the photo right before Cole decided to bonk Henry on the head

Henry and his Grandmas - in the dress that I, his Uncle Jeremy and Cole wore. It was a tight squeeze, he had super sausage baby arms

For comparison sake - Cole with the Grandmas at his baptism

In other news Henry now has two teeth and is on the move a lot. He mostly does baby pushups and planks but it starting to experiment with actual crawling moves.

St. Nick did come to visit Cole this year and he couldn't have cared less. It was a long process trying to get him to dig stuff out of his stocking. I am sure opening Christmas presents will be like pulling teeth and take all day.

Barely intersted

Finally digging towards the bottom

And its a book...yeah! Actually he likes books a lot. I'm afraid his reading level will soon surpass mine.

Cole has started to hide and will ask us, "Where did Cole go?" Unfortunately he is a horrible hider. This is him trying to hide behind the chair. As you can see, he is in plain sight. Although this is a step up from his usual, which is to hold a crayon or cup over his face and ask us "Where did Cole go?" It is getting tough to pretend and play along!

Shopping Requirements

2011-12-16T12:21:00.000-06:00

I thought this to be an appropriate post with Christmas on its way. Over the years, all two of them, my little men have received some questionable gifts ranging from girl toys and girl clothes to well, things I just don’t like or deem appropriate for tough guys like Cole and Henry. I decided this list was necessary when Kristin and her Mom recently went birthday cake shopping for Cole. Kristin sent me two pics of cakes they were considering. One was a cake with some construction equipment, trucks and things like that. The other was of some sissy-looking dog in a doghouse. They ended up buying the construction site cake, but just the consideration of the others makes me nervous. Kristin also sent Christmas stocking options for Henry. Two of the three choices were clearly for girls. I created the list below to help guide Kristin and the grandmas when they go shopping for the boys. I hope it helps.

Things encouraged

1. Balls: If it involves balls it's okay. (Lets be adults and not make any bad jokes here).

2. Trucks, cars, and motorcycles

3. Sports: Brewers, Packers, and Badger items are all permitted. Even Admirals, UWM Panthers, and Marquette items are acceptable. (Milwaukee Wave stuff is still under consideration, but probably won't be allowed).

5. Animals: Items involving animals are okay as long as they are not dressed up in any cutesy manner.

6. Super Heroes: Super hero stuff is fine. Even Wonder Women stuff as long as she is properly posed in her skimpy outfit.

Things to avoid

1. Nothing pink. If it is pink or partly pink just put it back.

2. No dolls and please understand the difference between dolls and action figures. Action figures are allowed.

3. No Pokemon, fake pets, or whatever the latest craze is in weird kids stuff. There's always something. Let's just stick to normal toys.

4. For further clarification - super hero stuff is allowed; however, solo Robin gear is not. The Batman is required.

5. Anything with or involving flowers is obviously not allowed.

Generally speaking, when in doubt don't buy it. Otherwise you know how to reach me to double check.

Pink Eye City

2011-12-08T09:25:00.000-06:00

I always knew this day would come and always hoped I would not be home when it happened. Unfortunately I was not only home but in charge of Cole when he decided to poop in the tub. I had just finished washing Cole and was letting him play in the tub while I got a jump on shaving off my Thanksgiving break beard.
I turned around and saw broken bits of turds all over and then two giant logs floated by. I screamed like a girl for Kristin. She came running and told me later she thought she was walking into another ER visit situation. After calling for backup my first reaction was to laugh about it but then I realized we only have one tub, so cleanup was going to be difficult. I had to pick up Cole and hold him by the tub. We obviously didn’t want a boy covered in poo water running around the house. He was shivering since we yanked him out of a toasty warm bath but I was not in the mood for snuggling. Kristin grabbed a Dixie cup and started scooping out the big turds and tossing them in the toilet. Henry’s bath chair and various tub toys had to be tossed in the bathroom sink for a run through the dishwasher later. As Kristin got out the bleach I started to panic. It started to feel like poop was everywhere. The tub, chair, sink, and anything in Cole’s limited reach, including my forearms. It was like the movie Outbreak and the poop particles went airborne. Kristin cleaned the tub and we got Cole re-bathed and in his jammies. Since I was holding Cole and he was all over my forearms I felt I needed to jump in the shower right away. I felt better after my shower, but I can’t shake the feeling that things, myself included, have poop on them. Then I start thinking if we missed just one spot cleaning it’s pink eye city. And I don’t want pink eye. I dread calling into work to tell them I literally got crap in my eye.

The Never Ending Party

2011-12-04T08:54:00.000-06:00

Yesterday marked the end of Cole's many birthday celebrations. He was a much celebrated little man and we had a blast singing, opening presents and helping Cole say, "I'm two!"

We kicked off Cole's birthday season with a celebration at the Grandparents Fuchs while we were all there enjoying an early Thanksgiving feast.

The present of all presents...a big Doodle

On Thanksgiving Cole was further showered with gifts by the Grandparents Fuchs who were going to miss his real birthday. Those pictures are trapped on Grandma Debbie's camera...probably never to be seen until 2014 when her memory card finally fills up.

The next day we threw Cole a "construction-themed" party and invited all our friends and kids. We had hoped to get a fun picture of all the babies lined up by age but sadly once everyone arrived, reality set in and we realized there was hardly time to get a picture of Cole and his cake! Everyone was very generous and I think we all had a nice time. Below is a picture of Cole modeling his most stylish gift.

Cole's last birthday fete was Wednesday night, on his real second birthday. The Grandparents Stear, Uncle Ben and Auntie Jess came over for chili, more cake and more presents. Cole's favorites seemed to be the cake and singing. He also got super excited when he opened some new jammies. We did let him stay up WAAAY past his bedtime to color his new rocket ship with Nick and Uncle Ben.

We are now headed over to my parent's to spend the day with Uncle Ben before returns to Philly tomorrow...I hear there are a few more birthday presents waiting to be opened. As evidenced by the above Cole is quite a lucky little guy. We can not believe he is two already - our baby is now a big boy.

Picture Day

2011-11-20T13:19:00.001-06:00

Today was time again for some Fuchs family photos. I already hate getting my picture taken, and seeing that Cole is almost two and entering "terrible two" land we had an idea it was going to be a bit of a rough time...but this was extra bad. Seriously, it was horrible. Cole was on his worst behavior ever. He would not sit for any pictures. He threw a fit for pretty much the entire hour and a half the photographer was here. He only sat still when we put on Blue's Clues, which is why you will notice his blank stare. We thought going down to the Lake would help lift his mood and he would loosen up a bit but we (Kristin) made the mistake of taking a ball with us to entice him. Never did we (Kristin) think he would insist on holding the ball in every photo. That was not our preference. Plus, if there had to be a ball in the picture to make him happy, I would have hoped Kristin would have at least grabbed a football...not thrilled about the soccer ball.

Henry did a great job though. He really loves to smile and was hamming it up. I have a feeling we may only walk away from this with pictures of Henry. I know for sure that there are no cute Henry and Cole pictures together. We tried to have them sit next to each other, but Cole was not fan and quickly pushed Henry away so we just gave up. I think the closest we got was when we separated them by a pillow. I guess I should just be happy we don't have to do this again for awhile. I am definitely putting the cost of this photo shoot on Cole's "money owed" list.

Click below for a preview, it might be worth it just to see the picture where it looks like Kristin is missing some teeth. Thanks for nothing Cole.

Type A Images

Man Whore?

2011-11-17T14:36:00.000-06:00

It has come to my attention that Henry may be bit of a player...even at his young age he has much better luck with the ladies than his Father. To date Henry has three potential brides...how will he choose? When Henry does get together with his many lady friends we are usually so busy making sure he doesn't roll over and smother them (he is a giant and they are all so dainty) we don't have time to photodocument.

Hanky and Zoey

Cole also has some marriage proposals lined up as well but those offers may be withdrawn now that this photo is on the web. He just loves doing the splits. I think he should play the field anyway.

Pajama Party?

2011-11-05T11:03:00.001-05:00

Not sure if Kristin will let me post this blog, but I'll give it a try. (If you didn't know she does function as Senior Editor). I suspect a day long pajama party is going on in my absence. Kristin has been staying home with the kids for awhile now...we won't get into how long, but thanks to the economy it has been longer than expected. It seems she has gotten into a routine; however, I'm just not sure what is involved in that routine. My biggest concern is that the day is spent as one long pajama party. When I leave work everyone is pretty much out of bed, so I know they are not sleeping all day, but when I get home everyone seems to be wearing the same clothes - their pajamas. So what happens during the day? I know this; it is not showering or getting dressed. The kids get baths every night. Kristin does not. Just saying. Do they just play in the playroom? Are they eating? Who knows. Do kids need exercise? If they do they may not be getting it.

In all fairness, I know Kristin is not lying around the house all day eating bon bons, and I'm sure she is very active with the children. It just seems all too familiar when I get home and everyone is in the same spot wearing the same clothes as they were when I left home nine or so hours earlier. I leave and everyone is in the playroom in their pajamas. I get home and everyone is in the playroom in their pajamas.

I found some evidence: Notice how the boys are mostly wearing their jammies.

Eating

Cole colors while Henry relaxes

Lion wrestling

Or love making

Not sure...

More chillin' for Henry. I actually do know he pretty much eats and chills all day.

Jumping

Cole plays music. Henry listens.

Bummer Weekend

2011-10-31T22:00:00.001-05:00

This turned out to be a let down of a weekend. Well, except for Friday. Cole made me a birthday cake and Jess and Dan babysat so Kristin and I could go see Moneyball. On Saturday, Kristin and I spent the day running around trying to get our costumes put together for a Halloween party we were headed to that night. We (and some others) were dressing up as the cast of the Jersey Shore.

I believe this hairdo is called a "blow out" or "frohawk"

We made it to the party but ended up getting called to pick up the kids from Grandma and Grandpa Stear's house. Kristin's Grandma had to go to the hospital. Obviously leaving a party under those circumstances was not a big deal and thankfully it turned out to be nothing and she is fine. It actually saved us some money and I'm sure a doozy of a hangover.

On Sunday we had plans to go trick or treating with the Highs. A couple hours before we were supposed to head over there Cole got a fever and we had to cancel. Looks like we were just not meant to do anything this weekend. We are just happy Cole and Henry are not at an age to care about trick or treating. Although, I was pretty upset about missing out on the candy. Luckily I'm a grown up and can just go buy myself some later.

On top of it, when Kristin and I were discussing our groceries for the week we agreed to get some veggies and dill dip. Somehow she forgot and bought Southwest Veggie Ranch dip instead. I mean, we just talked about it. What the hell? Needless to say I was disappointed. Probably the biggest disappointment of the weekend.

We did finally go trick or treating on Monday night in Kristin's parent's neighborhood, and of course took pics throughout the weekend.

Check out this dick in a box. Just kidding Cole.

The Doodle

2011-10-27T19:43:00.000-05:00

Cole has a new best friend and it goes everywhere he goes. Can you spot the Magna Doodle in the following pictures? Cole loves this thing SO much he has been known to wake up in the middle of the night wailing for his "doodle." We are pretty lax on where the doodle can travel with the exception of nap time and bedtime. Never has a Magna Doodle been so loved; Cole spends his days drawing circles, paw prints and squares. He also likes to write his numbers (1, 2, 3...9) and pretends to spell his name (C-O-O-O, paw print!).

Super Hank

2011-10-24T21:27:00.000-05:00

Henry's growing fast and seems to be getting bigger by the day. I think he might be the strongest baby ever and I'm looking forward to having a linebacker in our crew. I'm envisioning Cole as a wide receiver right now. He is already pretty good at catching a ball. Looks like both kids are overcoming their mother's genes and Kristin won't be setting a trend for special ed gym recommendations.

I will have to start informing Cole that he better be a nice older brother. I think Henry may be as big and strong as Cole sooner rather than later. I swear Henry was holding his head up at the hospital by the time we were leaving. I know, probably not true but he still started to hold his head up very early. He rolled over awhile ago and now is crawling. Granted he worms about a centimeter at a time, but it's still crawling in my book. The weekly video (more like monthly+) shows him rolling over. We will post a crawling video soon. Please note our camera does not do slow-motion. It is his current speed...snail.

Weekend Randoms

2011-10-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Some pictures of what the boys have been up to lately - from the weekend and beyond.

Laundry basket love

Fun with empty boxes

Cole collecting Bumbos at a children's store

Visit to the library - collecting all the copies of the same two books. Must be a good one.

Hopefully Cole and Henry will always get along this well. Although I realize it is not likely, so I will just hope that Cole starts wearing pants more often.

Once Henry started to use the bouncy chair and bumbo Cole loved them more than ever. The latest is the Jumperoo.

Henry at 4 months

Fun raking leaves at Grandpa Stear's house

Henry's first bite of rice cereal (almost real food)

Double Shorts - Cole was insistent on wearing his blue pajama shorts over his normal brown shorts. Not sure why. What a weirdo.

Cole acting a little goofy. He decided to throw on the winter hat, line up some empty laundry baskets, and step in and out of them. A typical Monday morning activity for most of us.

Still sad about the Brewers.

My brother and I went to Game 6 of the NLCS. Sadly this is the Cardinals celebrating at Miller Park. Look at all that red. Makes me want to cry.

The Most Hurt Feelings in the World

2011-10-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

My feelings have never been more hurt than they were the other morning. Cole just finished breakfast and wanted to play. I believe he was looking forward to drawing on his Magna Doodle. I was leaving for work, so I wanted some attention from the boys. I tried to pick Cole up to say goodbye and he, of course, got mad and wanted nothing to do with me. I tried to say bye again and give him a quick hug and kiss. He got angry, then grabbed me by my thumb and walked me out of the play room, to the kitchen, and all the way to the front door where he said "Bye Dad!" and started to shut the entryway door (assuring I would not return to the main part of the house and disrupt his fun). I just can't believe he would not want to hang out with me. I'm fun. The joke will be on him when he's paying for his own bike with training wheels...there are penalties for hurting Dad's feelings.

Another Croup Kid!

2011-10-11T21:36:00.002-05:00

Henry started coughing a couple nights ago and it is a cough I am all too familiar with. It's definitely the croup cough. Henry sounds like he sucked back a pack of Marlboro Reds in an hour. Luckily he has been sleeping pretty well, but Kristin and I are still worried. When Cole had croup (all seven or so times), we would be up all night trying to rock him to sleep. It sucked. Hopefully Henry has an easier go with it. Kristin took Henry to the doctor and it was confirmed that he has croup, just in case you didn't trust my diagnosis. Poor Henry (and us!).

Henry also had a doctor's appointment yesterday, just for his regular checkup. He is 16 pounds 8 ounces and 26 inches long. Big boy. He can also now have real food. Well, real baby food. I guess rice cereal and mushy fruit isn't all that exciting, it is actually kind of gross. But exciting nonetheless. Now the real challenge will be getting Cole to allow Henry to sit in the Bumbo and eat. I'm guessing Cole will demand "bites" of Henry's meal while also trying to yank him out of the seat by his bobbly baby head. Fun times ahead.

To round out our medical overview Cole also headed to the doctor yesterday. His eye is weepy and creating yellow goo. Turns out he has an eye AND ear infection. Awesome! Kristin usually sits on Cole to suck snot out of his nose, now she will have to sit on him to give him his medicine too. I make her do all the hard stuff

If you look close you can see the yellow eye goo...and check out those bushy eyebrows

Go Brewers!

2011-10-10T20:13:00.001-05:00

Sorry to bore you with another sports post, but I just felt the need to say something about the NLDS Game 5 on Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks - It was the best sporting event I've ever attended. Enough said. Actually, I will give Jason Hansen a nod for the best celebration - when he ripped his towel right in half. I don't think he would normally have the strength, but the adrenaline was pumpin'. It was much better than Tim Sullivan and I embracing in a man hug for what some may consider an awkwardly long time. Although, it was probably not as weird as Tim's long hug with a total stranger next to him. Miller Park was crazy and loud, so it all seemed okay and appropriate. My hands hurt from all the high fives. I even have bruises on my shins from hitting the seats during the celebration and trying to make it a seat over to hug Joe Kroner (the other member of our group that night). I got goose bumps overhearing a man in the bathroom after the game telling his zitty faced teen, "Someday you will tell your grand kids about this game." So true. I can't wait to tell Cole and Henry all about it.

I also scored a free ticket to the NLCS Game 1 on Sunday against the hated St. Louis Cardinals. I owe Dustin Schilz for this one. Although, I hear he owes me since Henry and his daughter Zoey are apparently getting married. I will take it out of his future dowry.

Kristin's Weekend Nightmare

2011-10-03T19:50:00.001-05:00

My idea of an awesome weekend definitely differs from Kristin's idea of a good time. It was a huge Wisconsin sports weekend; Kristin's nightmare started on Saturday and ended late on Sunday. The start of the weekend wasn't great, on our morning walk to the hardware store, Cole punched me in the eye. I was already fatigued because I was wearing Henry in the Bjorn and Cole decided he also wanted me to carry him. My reflexes weren't the greatest and he got me pretty good.The plus side is that I'm happy he doesn't punch like his mother and I'm thrilled to say he hits much harder than our friend Brett "Lilly" Hood. Notice in his latest blog update he is pictured reading a fashion magazine. Since super sports weekend was slated to start shortly after Cole gave me a shiner, the day quickly shaped up.

Game 1 - Brewers vs. D-Backs: The first inning I almost crapped myself, but luckily Braun has a hell of an arm and made the throw to home plate. Otherwise, as we all know, the game was great. Kristin made me hold Henry much of the game and feed him, which wasn't too distracting but I almost gave him a couple baby heart attacks while cheering, especially when Fielder smacked his homer in the 7th. Henry cried pretty good after that one.

After the game we made a quick trip to Old Navy. Cole has been walking around like the 100 year flood is right around the corner. It's getting cold and we don't want frozen ankles, so we ran out and bought him some new pants. He's getting pretty big. Hard to believe he will be two soon.

Game 2 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska: Wow!

Before the games on Sunday, the boys and I (sans Kristin) went out to brunch for Jessie's 22nd birthday. We went to the Wicked Hop and ordered the Bloody Mary boot. I highly recommend it; although you do have to stand up to drink it. If you think that is too hard, just remember my Grandma could handle it, so don't be a baby.

Games 3 and 4 - Packers vs. Broncos and Brewers vs. D-Backs: I would have preferred if the games were not on at the same time as it lead to my biggest dilemma of the weekend...what to wear? How does a fan support both teams at once? And how would I dress the boys?

I chose to support both - Packer long sleeve with Brewer short sleeve on top. Henry has a sweet Packer sweatsuit with football booties and Cole supported the Brewers. Kristin refused to wear anything "team gear," she said it makes her feel sick. I have no more words about that (at least that I can write on a family friendly blog).

The games being on at the same time did set up nicely for a kid free outing, which nowadays is always appreciated. And it saved me from the hassle of trying to set up two TVs in the living room. Thanks to my mother for taking the kids, so Kristin and I could go out and watch the Packers put a hurtin' on Denver and the Brewers take another one at home for a Wisconsin 4-0 weekend record. I did have to listen to the final out of the Brewers game in the car as we had to race to pick up Henry. I think once he gets tired all he wants is his mother; although Grandpa John did a good job settling him down while we were in route to pick up the screaming baby.

Ben was also home all of last week and Kristin and the boys got to spend all of today with him before they dropped him at the airport.

Three in Diapers

2011-10-01T08:21:00.000-05:00

ONE

TWO

THREE

The explanation for Bella's fancy bedtime accessory? She wets the bed...our bed!