The Dietician

Daddy and I talked to a registered dietician today about Karston's eating for the research study with a goal of healthy weight from a healthy diet (Karston may be in a distinct minority for needing to gain weight). The take-home points for us to try are:

1. no more bribing -- I didn't like it anyway, and it takes forever to get him to eat two bites of good food so he can have a potato chip


2. announce meals in advance -- After we take a bath, we're going to eat dinner.


3. "this is it" -- Karston can eat what we're eating, or he can eat a pbj, and that's it (and no cajoling or bribing)

So we'll see how that goes.

Home Again

Whew, after a whirlwind trip, we're home again! We got to see all of the Smiths, even though we left shortly before the Smith reunion this afternoon. The boys had a great time! Karston woke up this morning and asked what fabulous adventure were we going to have today: the adventure of coming home! The Milwaukee airport is great if you arrive early because the boys did not want to leave the play area. And luckily the return flights were less harrowing than the first leg of our departure ...

Fish Day

The big day, Fish Day!

This morning, we watched the Fish Day parade with cousin Jenny and her daughter Lola, and with Karston's entire NC cousin family. Even our friend D'nardo and his family showed up! Cousin Dana was part of the motorcycle brigade leading the parade. The parade highlight, of course, was watching the Shriners in those funny little cars! (Cale fell asleep in the backpack; so much for a parade.)

This evening we hiked over near Saint Mary's Gardens and watched the Fish Day fireworks. We could have gotten closer for a better view, but I think we did better farther away. Karston thought some of the booms were too loud despite lots of sound blocking by the intervening trees. Karston did enjoy the visuals, though! He was the one who convinced us we had to go out again, so he could watch fireworks. Cale enjoyed the first few fireworks, but then decided it was dark, he was comfy on my lap, and *yawn* he'd just fall asleep right there. When Cale wants to sleep, it doesn't matter how loud it is.

Bay Beach

For today's excursion, we met up with our NC relatives (yes, I know we could do that at home) and cousin Mike, and went to Bay Beach in Green Bay. What a great amusement park! Even though it tried to rain on us a few times, we had a fabulous time! Karston enjoyed the carousel (twice) and the train ride. Of course he also enjoyed chasing the sea gulls while we were eating lunch, so he's not too picky about his fun. The bayside view was fabulous, so we watched the rain storms roll in before dashing to shelter just in time.

Wisconsin is having a cool summer, and this morning was particularly crisp. Karston asked us repeatedly, Is it winter here? and even is Santa going to come soon? I know it's a cool Wisconsin summer, but it's hardly winter. However, summer in NC is much hotter, so I understand how Karston could think this dramatic temperature change meant winter.

Is it winter now?

All Cousins

This morning we went to the new playground on the bluff in Port Washington. I have to say, it exceeded expectations for everyone in our family! Very nice. Cale liked the musical toys since he likes to pound, and he liked trying to catch up to Karston. Karston saw so many wonderful play areas that he was moving quickly! Karston didn't want to leave, ever.

This evening we met all of the Schmit cousins at Kathy's for a cookout. We realized all of the first cousins were together for perhaps the first time since they were kids. Pretty great that everyone would come together like that, really makes us visitors feel special. Karston and Cale think Kathy has the greatest backyard! I think the sandbox was their favorite, but they both enjoyed climbing and swinging too ... and we didn't mention the pool because they would not have gotten out of the water and we would not have been able to have adult conversations.

A Tale of Two Flights

We flew to Milwaukee today, by way of Cinncinnati. The first leg of the flight was grueling: the kids were so full of energy that we chased through airports and snagged them all over the plane (ok, just within arm's reach of our seats). They had more squirming in them than is really fair to discuss. My only moment of peace was when I went to the bathroom in the Cinncinnati airport. As soon as I turned the corner and couldn't hear him, Cale started to scream. Apparently he even went for seventeen seconds of screaming without pausing for breath. As soon as I rounded that final corner on my return, I knew that was my baby screaming so I jogged back to the fray. We're sure everyone, not just Cale, was glad that I came back as quickly as I could and that it wasn't soon enough.

So of course they both fell asleep as soon as we got on the second plane. Boom, they were out, we could breathe, and suddenly the world seemed bearable and even civilized again. No comparison.

Once we got to Milwaukee, we headed to cousin Chris' house for a quick sandwich (build-your-own, perfect to let me avoid allergens without driving everyone around me crazy asking about ingredients) and then saunter over to the park for an open-air concert. Once again, the boys ran around like dervishes, but in an open park it didn't beat us down the way it did on planes and in airports. So the first half of the day was painfully excruciating, and the second half was pleasantly relaxing.

More Pointy ...

Cale's upper canine teeth have been slow to come in; they're still just points between his front teeth and his molars. This morning, I felt the lower left canine tooth's point, and this afternoon the lower right joined it. I mentioned that Cale seemed out of sorts to his pediatrician, but she couldn't find anything wrong. She did say that canines can be very worrisome teething. The picture now is a double whammy: a growth spurt, and all four canine teeth pushing through. This is why Cale isn't sleeping as well, and wants to cuddle calmly.

Doughnut Math

Karston didn't want to eat breakfast this morning, even though we made banana-blueberry-guava pancakes shaped like Mickey Mouse. (Cale ate two pancakes.) Finally Karston said he would eat doughnuts, so Daddy gave him some. A while later, Karston asked me for more doughnuts. Since the goal is calories, I opened a new four-pack of miniature doughnuts for him; since he had already had some although I didn't know how many, I only put two in his elephant cup from the circus. Karston looked in and said, Mommy, that's not enough. I want four doughnuts. Put in two more!

That's 2 + 2 = 4 right there; pretty good concept!

Black Butterfly

The boys really wanted to play outside this evening, and were out a little later and darker than usual. Karston was chasing fireflies when Look, a black butterfly! It's so pretty, it makes my heart go (hands clasped over heart) thump, thump! Chasing fireflies is an excellent summer evening activity, but enjoying natural beauty is even better!

No Allergies

Karston was stalled for a long while on potty training. #1 was ok, overnight was ok, but #2 was keeping him in diapers. Karston doesn't have a regular elimination schedule because he doesn't have a regular eating schedule. Other than avoiding refined sugar after 8 pm, we just do what we can to cram calories in whenever he's willing to eat. Cale eats twice as much as Karston on most days; Cale eats more than that when he's on a growth spurt like this week, and Karston eats less than that on his poor appetite days. Karston seems to eat more when he drinks mango juice, especially when it's not 100% juice but something with HFCS. That's the opposite of what I intended to feed my children, but I'll do what works. Anyway, we're on a streak for total potty training! The key is that he wants to wear underwear now ("like Daddy"), and we keep track so we can start to bug him about 24 hours later (unless he hasn't eaten much, in which case we wait until after a real meal). This would be so much easier on a schedule! Fabulous prizes for success are also helping.

Today's fabulous prize was Karston's first-ever ring pop, the lollipop on a ring! Blue raspberry! Karston was dancing for joy, and probably dancing from the sugar too! Then he came over, Mommy, does this have allergies in it? As the mother of a child with multiple allergies, I read all labels, so I knew the answer: no, it doesn't. So Karston, the proud owner of his first ring pop said, Here Cale, try this! He knew to check for allergens, and he shared with his younger brother spontaneously! Sure, Karston had most of his ring pop, but Cale sure did follow him around looking for more licks, and Karston kept sharing (and singing and dancing). Cale discovered lollipops from Karston, although he doesn't get them as often since he eats well, and he loves 'em.

Water

This morning, Cale could hardly wait for me to get out of the shower. He took one step into the shower, but wasn't thrilled that his foot got wet. We know talking to young children builds their language skills, so I had a conversation about it. Look at all that water in here! And it got your foot wet, I'm sorry. Oh, where did all that water come from? Cale looked up at me very seriously, somewhat quizzically, and pointed to the shower head.

Yes, yes that is how the water got into the shower stall. I'm not going to explain rhetorical questions to my fifteen-month-old, but nor did I think he was following me that closely. Cale understands a lot more of what we say than we give him credit.

Swimming and Fireworks

We went to Opa and Grammy's to swim and then have a birthday lunch with family. Since Karston's birthday falls on a holiday, he gets to spread his birthday out. Plus he can always see fireworks for his birthday! Karston started talking about seeing his cousins as soon as we told him they would swim at Opa and Grammy's too. I'm not sure what made him happier, seeing his cousins, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, getting more presents, or getting to blow out candles again and again! He lived it up for sure. Cale enjoyed kicking around in his baby float until he got splashed, he enjoyed trying to jump on the trampoline a few times, and he puffed with Karston to try to blow out those birthday candles.

This evening we went to see fireworks at the Poulton's. Karston liked seeing the fireworks, but he said they were too loud (they weren't particularly loud). Next year we should bring hearing protection for him. At least this year he got into the fireworks; when he was a baby, he wanted nothing to do with it. So I was quite surprised that Cale enjoyed the fireworks! He did jump in my arms, startled with each explosion, but he laughed and clapped and pointed to the fireworks too!

FOUR

Karston is four! He blew out his candles last year, but this year he wanted to blow them out repeatedly. We only lit his four candles four times, explaining that we were done at four because he's four. He accepted that logic better than the argument that our smoke detector couldn't take much more (and nor could we).

We started telling him his birthday was coming a few weeks ago, and brought it up again yesterday. He's made the association between birthdays and presents because after we mentioned his birthday last night, he started putting toys in a bag saying he was Santa Claus and he was bringing presents. Direct from birthday to presents, although a bit fuzzy on the origin.

I'm not even sure where to start, but we've all had a wonderful four years together!