MiT Gr8 1 Another cheesy tagline

Arden [almost] Weekly

I'm very sorry about missing last week's Arden Weekly.  We went up North to see Mom-side family and I just got too busy with the rest of the week.  So...what's new?

You wouldn't believe it.  He's been a crazy man these past few weeks.  And a whole lot of fun to boot.  He's just been amazing us a little more each day.  Take, for instance his emerging aptitude for the spoken word.  Grandma and Grandpa have a game room in the basement with probably the home's biggest attraction, one of Grandpa's prize bucks is mounted on the wall.  All the kids have been mysteriously drawn to that deer, and it's sort of been the de facto metric for gauging a child's articulation.  One started out calling to see the "Duh", then the "Dee" and then the 'r' finally showed up for a mumble-ish "deer".  Then sentences came along.  Anyhow, that's not Arden.    Arden is on "Dee" phase...I guess we haven't spent enough time up North to get into the "Duh" phase, or maybe just hadn't gone downstairs that often.  All this is set up for the biggest news.  This game room also has an air hockey table.  On a trip down to see the "dee" we started up a game.  I said, "Arden this is called 'hockey'".  So, for the next few minutes all I heard was a fairly crisp and precise "Hock Key".  He's done this amazing pick-up with a few other words, most recently we had tacos for supper (tonight actually), told him once that his taco was coming and were surprised with, "Tock`  ohhh".  Quite surprising.

He's got a crazy memory already too.  He's been running around lately with an Easter basket, putting well planned things (see next story) in it and proudly showing it off.  The other morning he put a couple books in there, one of which was Good Night Moon.  The bottom of three, if I'm correct in my recollection.  Anyhow, that evening it was wind-down story hour and arijem suggested we finish off the set with Good Night Moon (which, btw we are both strangely attracted to).  At the sound of that mention he jumped off the couch and ran to the kitchen.  I think we both thought he was looking for a snack, this book is usually on his bookshelf in his room.  I think one of us was even starting to correct him when he tossed the top book(s) off the Easter basket, proudly grabbed Good Night Moon and raced back to us.  To say we were shocked and amazed would be a gross understatement.

Update:  Forgot to add this story.
Arden's been enamored with making groups lately.  He'll find a whole bunch of stuff that belongs together and make nice neat stacks, piles, rows or concentric arcs.  It's very interesting to watch, and he's super dedicated to finishing it once he starts.  It's really quite a sight.  One day it was his letter train that got set up very very meticulously, the next it's the books being displayed in our living room windows.  It's really quite amazing what this creative kid comes up with.
End Update

He's also crazy.    Not the bad kind (read: the Dad kind), the super-silly, tons of fun kind.  I'll leave you with what arijem's been waking up to more often than not the past few days, and what we've both been chased around the house with, in a giddy terror.

Until next week,

Dad

Arden Weekly – Upset Tummy

I like how we rested our thumbs at the same angle. Thanks for the great photo, arijem!

Its' been a pretty fun week here, we've gotten to get outside and play quite a bit.  Got the front yard mostly raked and had a visit to one of my friends place for a little party.  It's apparently been too much fun, so we're compensating for it today.  Arden's got a bit of an upset tummy today.  He's been handling it very well, but he's low on energy and his appetite hasn't been quite normal.  He hasn't really cut back on meals, mostly just not snacking like he usually does.  I hope he's over the hump, we're getting him lots of fluids and bunches of love, with a couple nice doses of Winnie the Pooh for good measure.

He's continuing to be a big chatterbox, is always full of stories and useful information.  It's a lot of fun to be around him when he's babbling like that.  He's a pretty great guy.  Other people are starting to become a lot more interesting to our little Explorer, he'll notice people, mention whether they're a boy or a girl, a mommy or a daddy or even a baby.  It's nice to see that he just might be the social butterfly of the family.

Silliness abounds with this little guy.  The past few mornings Mom has been woken up with a nice slobbery puppy kiss, and will proceed to squeal or giggle with absolute delight and chase her around with that silly sloppy tongue hanging out for more.  He's getting pretty sneaky about it too.  He'll start warming up the kissing motor and get a good smoochy smack coming, and as soon as he gets close enough to Mom's cheek to not be seen, the big floppy slopper will come out and soak her cheek good.  It's hilarious!

Well, I'm going to cut this one short and go make sure he's doing okay.

Until next time,
Dad

Arden Weekly – Easter Edition

Happy Easter!  Well, as expected I failed to get my post done and scheduled.  I think it worked out for the best though, as I got some (imho) great shots of Arden during Easter.

This week was pretty exciting, but on the same hand, quite frustrating.  The weather has been beautiful, but only by appearance, it's been rather chilly, too chilly to be outside and having fun, so it's been lots of inside play, with maybe just a hint of Hunny, Winnie the Pooh style.  Arden LOVES his Pooh-bear.  Books, movies, ball, plush animals, you name it, and if it's Pooh, it's for Arden.

As you may be able to tell, Arden got another hair cut this week, much thanks to Pooh-bear.  It was a bit touch and go for a while (I cut his hair, by the way)...but mostly because I kept getting yelled at for putting my hands or arms in front of Pooh.

Easter was by far the big event this week.  Arden had a tremendous time at gMa and gPa's house.  It's always very nice to have a new place to explore, new things to do, and new ways to get in trouble.  He's becoming a very good listener, but he's still a toddler and will need reminding from time to time, when he's not setting out to be a silly stinker.  I think their house survived the weekend though.

We also got to go to Great Grandma and Grandpa's and show off for all of my Dad's family.  I think the favored trick was demonstrating how beautiful the flowers smelled.  Great Grandma has some really neat wooden cut-out flowers that were just at Arden height.  He'd pick up one of the carvings and make a big noisy, almost snort-ey sniffing noise in front of every adult whose attention he could steal.  It was a blast to see.

Our shy little guy is also coming out of his shell.  I think it really lends credence to the "Dependence breeds Independence" theory.  In the first few months he would hardly let anyone but Mom take him, but this weekend, oh boy.  He'd play with, pick on or chatter with anyone and everyone.  It was great to see.

As a special Easter treat, I've put a bunch of our Easter photos on the hyperwebbernet.  You'll be able to find them over at my Picasa account.  Hope you enjoy them.  If you'd like a raw copy, or a retouched one, I can work with that. Just comment with the photo number(s).

Until next time,

Dad.

Arden Weekly – Daddy Jr

Another week pretty much stuck inside.  I really can't wait for this weather to break and for the nice weather to waltz on in for its short 4 months.  I can tell Arden's got the itch as well.  When I've been coming back from work he's been either staring lustfully out the window or running around the house like a crazy man hoping to burn the rest of his energy before it's time to crash.

Most nights when he sees me come in the door, he squeals, "DADDY!!!!!!!" and comes running though.  That's the best!  He's been very much into his father recently.  In the weekly photos you see that he caught me wearing a bandana around to keep my hair out of my face.  Not exactly high style, but it's practical.  But Arden thinks that's the greatest thing anyone's ever done and for 2 full days wouldn't let his 'hat' off his head for more than a few moments, it was incredibly sweet to see.

The other really neat thing about this week in Ardenland was...I think Tuesday, maybe Wednesday...doesn't really matter.  That day when I came in, he let out the most clear, sharp, "Daddy" I had ever heard.  There was also a different, I want to call it an aura, about him.  He grew up between 8:30 and 5:30.  He's a bigger boy now.  It's nice to see, but a little sad as well...Mommy and Daddy's little bundle is starting to become a boy of his own.  :'(

We have a high chair that's more of an adjustable booster seat with a tray and all that jazz.  From time to time he'll coerce arijem to take it off of the chair it's sitting on now and put it on the floor.  Boy is that the greatest thing in the world.  We've since been looking for Arden-sized chairs, but the only one's we've seen thus far are a good 2-3 inches too tall for him to get into and out of safely.  With the way things are going those will be too small in a few short months too, but I guess that's the way it goes.

My favorite new development has been the patting.  From time to time Arden will come over to me, give me a little hug or a kiss and pat my back several times.  He'll usually then look at me and sigh, "Daddy" or just run off to grab something to throw.  It's extremely sweet, and has really helped me in the past few days.

Winnie the Pooh has been #3 on the Arden Idol list this week.  Arijem and he have been watching the 10-15 minute chapters of the movie gMa and gPa got him.  When he's not watching the movie it's entirely common for him to run around babbling, "pooh pooh" or digging up the Pooh books.  He's gotten very good at identifying Pooh's image no matter where it is, that's also fun to see, but makes me a bit nervous with how early our children are taught the power of branding.

We're heading up to see gMa and gPa for Easter next week, I'm not entirely positive I'll be able to get a post up for then, but I'll try to have most of it written before Saturday.

Until then, keep smiling,

Dad.

Arden Weekly – Sous Chef Edition

Arden puts the green on Mom's chicken sandwich. Yes there is chicken under there.

Hello again, thanks for visiting!  It's been at once a busy and very uneventful week.  Arden's continuing his vertical exploration and it seems that there is nothing safe left in the house.  He's pretty respectful and very careful so I'm not worried.  We don't really have anything of value in most of the house anyhow, though it would be nice to lose as little as possible.  But, again, he's incredibly respectful of our things and hasn't broken anything thus far.

His favorite place to climb recently has been to the top of Mount TupperwareTote.  We've got one of those big tote tub things that apparently makes the perfect stool.  He'll drag it all over the place (usually just the kitchen), push it against the cupboards and help arijem with her work.  He's not afraid to tackle any of the household chores, be it cooking, mixing, washing or quality assurance.  I think QA is his most favorite, must take after Dad there.  He's very good at taking instruction for a 16-month old, and will maintain a high amount of focus.  I think the gMa's side tongue focuser has made it to Arden as well, anything he's up to that requires any amount of focus will be done with a tongue in clenched teeth.  It's funny to see that reflection of myself, gMa and gMa's family in him.

We visited Uncle Sean in the hospital this week, he had a herniated disk trimmed.  Arden was a very good visitor, ran back and forth with our get-well cards and the tin of cookies arijem put together, even finished his job before he was distracted by a get-well balloon.  He managed to stay in the recovery room for the most part, although gMa did escort him through the magic doors (elevator) to the water machine a couple of times, and I think that sated his thirst for exploration.  It also helped that there was so much to explore within those walls.  They had a bed that came out of the wall, Uncle 'Hat's bed had buttons that made it do funny things, there were lights in all sorts of places.  It really was a young explorer's dream.

The highlight of the evening had to be when Arden was exploring a light fixture that happened to be below the automatic hand sanitizer dispenser.  Reports vary whether it was Arden's head or the balloon in tow that triggered it, but the end result was unanimously verified.  A noise sounded from overhead and wet splattered on the floor.  Arden wasn't so much scared as he was deeply interested in what made that noise and that puddle and how he could trigger the neat thing again.

Arden has been a very good traveler lately.  We've taken several walks around the blocks and he's been loving his stroller.  He's ridden in the car very nicely, when he wants to.  We were very impressed on the night we went to visit Sean that he didn't conk out on the 30-ish minute trip.  Once we got halfway we had to coax him just a little bit so he wouldn't get the cat nap trick and feel refreshed and unwilling to sleep.  On that note, yes, he's been sleeping mostly through the night most of the nights.  We're happy for that, although Mom has been dozing off with him a good share of nights, since she is sleeping for two.  Speaking of which, she asked me to wake her up 10 minutes ago, better go get in trouble. 

Thanks again for reading, until next week,

Dad

Arden poses between slices

Arden Weekly – Big Brother Edition

Tiny2

Arden escapes the 'get dressed for the day' monster.

Yes, it's true!  Mitgr81 v2.1 has been announced.  No public beta should be expected, but expect the full release sometime around early September!  Congrats to @arijem for a very successful first check-up, which confirmed that we are, as we knew, 15 weeks along.  As we made our way to the check up, Arden got treated to a circus of visitors, from gMa and gPa to BRosen and Link.  It sounds like it was a very nice, and very effective visit.  Arden even took a nap for gMa and gPa!  We  were expecting nothing less than a full nuclear meltdown, but he's apparently grown a lot since last we tried to sneak away.  It was nice to get out of the house and have some "us" time, but all we did was talk about Tiny2 and Arden.  Oh well, I guess that's what's going on in our lives.

We also had a nice St. Pat's day visit from BRosen, NRosen and Link!  I threw some rubens on the griddle, @arijem made some delicious steakhouse fries and a few desserts, and Mr. George Killian himself provided the adults with some Irish Red.  It made for a great day, we were very glad for our visitors and had a marvelous time.

It's been absolutely gorgeous lately.  I really cannot complain about the recent weather.  Yeah, one day was a little overcast in the morning, but that broke by noon and it turned out to be one of the most marvelous days of the week.  Arden has taken full advantage of this great weather and his newly-discovered back yard.  It's so nice to see him running around and checking out rocks, grass, leaves, pinecones, birds and all the beauty nature has to offer.  Speaking of him running, he'll hate me when he's 16 and reads this, but he has the most adorably geeky running style.  He's definitely my son.    He'll pitter-patter those feet as fast as they'll carry him, pump his right arm like it was going out of style and completely avoid any motion of his left.  It'll swing a little bit, but it pales in comparison to the wild flailing of his right.  It's a blast to watch, and boy, can he move!

Arden's still got the bird-watching bug.  You should read about it on arijem's site.  It's been very nice having our fine feathered friends, I can tell Arden appreciates having them around and looks forward to seeing them every day.

He's still been waking me up in the mornings and asking me to make him breakfast.  It's nice to have that extra time with him, and very nice letting arijem and Tiny2 have their morning sleep-ins.  Lately he's been tearing through cinnamon bagels with strawberry cream cheese like it's nobody's business.  It's fun to hear him say 'bagel', well, all his words are developing nicely.  "Bah-`gie" in particular is adorable.

I'm starting to think we're getting the first indentions of molars starting to kick in.  He's been a little more sensitive around his cheeks, and has been bopping them with the heel of his palm every now and then.  I hope they don't bother him like I hear molars can, but he's a tough enough sort that it won't be catastrophic.

Last night Arden surprised the crap out of us.  We were outside watching the sunset, since he had been napping late and was just starting to wear down, and out of the blue we heard, "Staaah, staah".  We looked at Arden who had his finger very obviously and accurately fixed on the first star of the evening.  We were absolutely shocked.  We have read books with stars in them, but always the over-sized, 5-pointed dooders, hardly ever a pinhole point of light in the deep darkness of a sky.  For him to make that association, or memory recall is, in this father's humble opinion, a HUGE development.

Until next time, this is Dad telling you to keep looking up!

Arden wears Daddy's Hat

Arden Weekly – Sloshin’

Hello again!  It's nice to be back among the living and able to catch up.  As you saw last week, I had been feeling pretty run down (read: over) and wasn't able to drag my body over to the blogosphere to get you your last week's Arden-fix.  Hope a couple of videos help mend some of your craving sores.  Thanks again for your patience and for all the well wishers checking in.  As you can probably tell by the non-zombie tone thus far I'm feeling much better.  Arden didn't show more than a couple drips from the nose, and Arijem pulled me through the whole ordeal with nary a sniffle.  I'm glad for that!

So, since last time what has happened?  That tooth I warned you was starting is now almost halfway through and seems to be treating him quite nicely.  Oh!  The BIG news...Arden has slept through the night!  (finally)  He went until 6:30 without Mom last Sunday out of the blue.  Arijem and I were both up at 4 concerned about him, and couldn't sleep again until he finally stirred around 6:15.  I think we checked on him every 5 minutes to make sure everything was okay, which, of course it was.  He pulled the same trick on us Monday and Tuesday nights, but has shied away from it since.  We surely didn't handle it as well as he did though, but that's okay, we're big kids now.    I'm not sure if he's sprouting a few more teeth now and that's why he's not sleeping through or if the time change has screwed enough with the light out during bedtime that it's put him off kilter or what.  At any rate, he hasn't had a repeat performance of that hardcore sleep mode.  I'm sort of expecting it tonight since we played hard for almost 2 hours outside today, but you never can tell.

Arden has been especially fond of playing piano lately.  He'll run over to it, hammer out a tune, sometimes a single note; sometimes a dozen chords, and run to the middle of the hallway and posture whilst waiting for applause.  Once we clap a while we must say 'more' lest we get a pretty dirty sneer.  Once the encore is called he'll run back to the piano, play movement n+1 and the process invariably repeats itself until our little composer finds himself simply bored with us common folk.

Speaking of us common folk we've had tons of visitors lately.  We had a nice visit from gMa and gPa, Bonnie and Link stopped in for a bit one day and last weekend Uncle Kyle brought his girl friend down for a day.  Arden had such a blast keeping every entertained and showing off all his new tricks.  You should see Kyle and 'Zelle cut a rug to Arden's favorite tune 'Popcorn'.  'Popcorn' is an older children's song that Arijem has on a record (apparently those things still exist), and has a very danceable tune...not that I'll ever admit dancing like a clown to it...for Arden's entertainment sake, naturally.  There are some other really fun songs on those records that Arden enjoys, we'll have to get a video of him dancing to them one of these days, or you could just join the menagerie of visitors and show off your moves in person!  We promise it won't hit youTube until long after you leave...maybe even minutes!

Our little buddy is starting to get much more expressive about letting us know what he wants.  He's sort of a little passive-aggressive about it too though.  Say, for instance Mom's reading the book that she picked out and not the one he chose.  His most recent tactic would be to try to take her glasses so she would have to stop reading that book and pick up his.  Or if we had the TV on and he was ready for it to be off, he'll either stand in front of it, start closing the armoire doors or just turn it off himself!  Probably the most entertaining pushiness comes when Mom's trying to get an email out to her clique or check the weather on her computer.  In these situations he'll look at her computer, get her attention and then make his snoring sound, letting her know it's time to put the computer to sleep.  He's usually pretty good about giving us a second or two to finish up what we've been doing, but we have to watch it too.  I know I, and definitely Arijem, really appreciate him letting us know when he's ready for one-on-one attention again, he's always been very good about reducing the amount of guesswork we have to do.

As you can see from the video we took today, we've finally had nice enough weather to get out of the house and check out the world.  Arden really loves it outside and is very good at identifying the different birds we have around here.  There's a pond just down the road that's been a popular haunt for the geese (hereby known by their distinctive call), we set out the wonderful bird feeder gMa and gPa got us for Christmas and have been visited daily by thrushes, sparrows and a few other birds specie of that size (hereby known as 'tweets').  From a discernable distance Arden lets us know when he sees honks or tweets, and if we missed them will drag us to the window and point at where the honk or tweet used to be, usually also giving the ASL sign for bird (though sometimes it's backwards, with the fingers pointing toward the mouth).  We've also had a couple quack-qua's hanging around, but not like we've seen geese.  It's really fun to experience his excitement for wildlife, and we're quite proud that he's able to tell that they're not just all birds.

Alright!  Until next time, hope you all feel great and the weather keeps being so shiny!

Love, Dad.

Arden Weekly – Mrrrfgrurrr

Sorry you didn't get your Arden fix yesterday.  Hope for guest writer arijem to maybe get something up for you tonight.  I've been very much out of service with....who knows what, but it involves sleeping 75% of the time and sneezing/coughing/blowing nose for the other 45%.  It's been miserable to say the least.

Off to the warm confines of a 12-hour sleep, I hope.