Noah's Day

Noah had a very good day yesterday. We went to soccer in the morning and he did very well. He seems to do the dribbling drills about 50% faster than the other kids. At the end of practice I asked his coaches at what age they start working on headers and they told me that it depends, but that Noah was definitely ready. They then described him as being "very athletic." I told them that I envision him being a midfielder who gets things set up for the offense and they agreed. They said that he has a good sense of space. I think he gets that from me. My problem is that I can't make my body put the ball (soccer, football, basketball) where it needs to go. Noah doesn't seem to have that affliction.

After soccer we picked up Brenna, who spent the night. We came home and visited with some friends from our old church and then went for a hike at Umstead Park. Noah really enjoyed himself and even decided that he wanted his picture taken on this tree. I think that this came out pretty good, though I'm no expert.

He requested that we take his picture

Finally, at the end of the day he got to play some electronics. This is pretty much an ideal day for Noah. Perhaps the only improvement would have been if we went to a sporting event of some kind or went bowling.

Feel Like Dancing

I had class this morning from 7-9 for a directed study I'm doing with two other guys.  We meet at these weird times so as to inconvenience our families as little as possible.  Overall, that did the trick here too, though Amanda did have to deal with all 3 kids this morning before dance class.  Brenna ended up joining Lily in dance class and had a good time.  I walked around with the Pook.

After class we came back here for the girls to change clothes.  I consider it a big win that I got Noah to leave a deposit in the toilet.  We then went to the mall to return something to one of the stores and for the kids to ride the carousel.  Then we went to Barnes & Noble because Noah really wanted to play on a train table.  Finally, we came back home for lunch.

Overall, it has been a pretty good time with Brenna here.  Brenna has been fine.  Lily has been a little bossy with her from time to time.  Also, they were offered doughnuts this morning, but they couldn't stop talking in bed last night and blew it.  Lily was really unhappy about that.  We'll keep dangling the carrot until they both get it.

Another Long NIght

We had Brenna stay the night last night while Bill and Tiffany went out.  Brenna was great.  She had fun at church, ate a great dinner, and overall was really easy to have here.  The only trouble was when she woke up screaming at 10:30 last night, but even that was not too big of a deal.  It was funny that when I had her lay back down she almost laid down on Lily.  Still, that was very easy.

Noah, on the other hand, didn't do as well.  He woke up with a terrible chest cough.  It was so bad that Amanda thought he was having trouble breathing.  She brought him into bed with us, which is always a disaster for us, but comforting for him.  The cutest part happened when he had a nasty barking cough, sat up in bed, and then said, "Excuse me!"  Amanda put him back to bed after his cough settled down and he did fine for the rest of the night. Unfortunately, he was still up at 7:00 along with the girls.

The good news for us is that Tiffany is due to arrive here at 4:30 so Amanda and I can go to dinner and dancing.  We've been looking forward to this for a while.  It's always nice to get out sans kids.

Being Sneaky

We've got Brenna here this weekend. It was cool and rainy last night, but I had planned to take Lily to a football game. She was ready to brave the elements, but Brenna was not interested. By the time we got home Brenna was all sprawled out on the bed and I had to move her so Lily could get in. That wasn't a problem.

Of course, they eventually started talking and Amanda put a stop to that. They seemed to go to sleep OK.

I'm on call for work and got paged last night. Consequently, I slept in until nearly 6:00. I thought I heard some voices, but I wasn't sure. As I opened our bedroom door I heard Lily say, "Oops!" and I saw two little people come running up the stairs. Amanda left the baby monitor in their room and I could hear them on it when I went down to the basement. I told them that they had to go to sleep and stay in the room until 7:30.

I don't think anyone would be surprised to read that I hear little noises on the monitor right now at 6:55. Today is going to be a long day. My plan is to wear them out and get them to sleep at a decent hour tonight. We'll see how that goes.

Newfound Respect

I have often told coworkers that Amanda has a much more difficult job than I do. This becomes intensified when you throw a 3 year-old niece into the mix. We had a good day today though. There were some small communications barriers with Brenna, but we overcame them. Walking with her in the mall reminds me of trying to get her dad to the first pitch of a ballgame on time (though we never missed one in '93).

Lily was a bigger problem at the mall. She insisted that she had to go potty and couldn't wait until we got home. Then when she saw the automatic flusher on the toilets she refused to go, despite threats, spankings, and the eventual removal of her stuffed animals from bed tonight. To top it all off she didn't go when we got home until bedtime tonight.

Overall, it was a great day. It was good for Amanda to get away a little bit as a happy belated birthday present. I couldn't have asked for better weather in mid-August (it only got to the high 80s and wasn't super-humid).

On a side note, I feel great and was able to mow the lawn today. I think I'm going to hold off on running a bit longer though.

O-H !

We spent the day with Bill and Tiffany and watched the OSU-Michigan game. It turned out well if you are an OSU fan. We started off with some breakfast and finished the day with some nachos. Of course, we enjoyed some buckeye candy as well.

Lily and Brenna are getting really cute together. It's funny to see how Lily and Brenna mirror their respective mommies when it comes to getting in trouble. From what I understand, Amanda was always pretty much an in-your-face troublemaker. Tiffany was more subtle. Fast forward about 30 years and you see Lily being pretty obvious when she is doing something wrong, but Brenna is kind of sneaky. Either way, they had a lot of fun chasing each other around the house. I spent some time wrestling/tickling with them too. It's fun to carry around little kids when they all weigh less than 35 pounds.

On the other hand, I think I'm going to have a sore neck tomorrow. It's worth it though.

Going Backwards

I got a call from Amanda this morning that Lily is moving backwards. She demanded that Amanda help her wash her hands after breakfast. Of course, we currently need to help Brenna wash her hands. Lily has decided that she doesn't like being independent.

I just hope that she doesn't decide to have accidents.

What's killing me now is that I'm in this stupid training when I could be working from home and giving Amanda some help. My selfish side doesn't mind too much, but my trying to be a good husband side does.

Going Shopping

I took Lily and Brenna shopping yesterday. We got back from church, had a pancake and bacon brunch, and then I took them out so Amanda could get a break. I also wanted to see what it was like to be out with two kids. It was certainly harder than one, but not as bad as it might have been. It's good that Lily is pretty well-behaved and that Brenna is fairly angelic.

I will say that it was a bit tricky at the mall. I had Brenna on my shoulders for much of it and Lily did not appreciate that one bit. I think it's something she is going to have to get used to though! Her little brother will be on my shoulders in a year or so, Lord willing.

It should be an interesting time for Amanda today. She plans to take them to the park, perhaps for a picnic. If nothing else, it will kill part of the day. If she can just make it to naptime I think she'll be OK. I think she'll make it. It's just a matter of how much chaos one can stand.