PLEASE Un-70s Me!!
Well, here's another Mebane property begging for an un-makeover (Click on the "See more images" link). I'll probably be discharged from the hospital on open house day. I'm probably not so hard-core as to go traipseing through the house the day I'm released from the hospital with a newborn, though it is just around the corner, and after all, it's a single-story...

Labels: Mebane, Old Houses, real estate

- posted by Gary @ 8:04 PM |

 
You Even Don't Bite Me!
So we had a very nice visit last weekend with our friends. Jonah astonished with his reading abilities and arcane trivia (do any of YOU know how many moons Jupiter has?), and the boys all played fairly well together, or at least in proximity. Isaac and Jay really enjoyed the attention from Uncle Josh and Aunt Cathy, even learning a couple of new songs ("Sing fire truck again!" says Isaac).

Jay remarked to Josh, "You are nice to me. You even don't bite me! 'At's 'cause you are even not a boy."

Said Josh (who's been accused of such on other occasions ;) ), in mock astonishment: "Then what am I?"

Jay answered matter-of-factly, "You are a Daddy. You are Jonah's daddy."

Duh!

Speaking of duh, I didn't get any photos of our guests =[ This seems to be a recurring theme.

Labels: baby talk, boys, friends

- posted by Gary @ 8:03 PM |

 
Get Out!
Isaac didn't much want to sleep tonight. The second time he started crying, I went upstairs to Isaac's demand (for himself), "Get out!" When he saw me, he leaned over in his crib to pick up his school bus in the hand which was not holding his water cup. "[W]a'er, 'chool bus get out!" Then he asked to go "Down'tairs". I explained to him (after having taken him out of his crib [he gripping his bus and cup]) that he had to take a nap every day and sleep every night. "I know" he answered.

He asked repeatedly to go downstairs, then to sleep in "Daddy's" bed, and we talked about how he needed to sleep in his own bed, how Jay was sleeping in his own bed, and he kept responding with varying degrees of acuity (at one point, he said something like, "Hey kids!" and answered "saying kids" when I asked him what he was saying).

"Why don't you want to stay in your crib?" I'd ask him, and he'd say, "Ummmm... [unintelligible]" I'm afraid I laughed more than I should have at that hour of the night, which clearly made him happy- Jay's not the only one who enjoys being a ham! It's just a little bit too entertaining to have a not-quite two-year-old who can carry on a semi-intelligible conversation.

By the way, the "Please may I have..." shows up all the time. I wish Jay were that polite!

Labels: baby talk, boys, bragging, sleep

- posted by Gary @ 10:12 PM |

 
Back'ards
Jay continues to pick up language from various and sundry sources. The other week, he told Isaac, "You're driving back'ards, Isaac. Dat is gonna creep me out!" (from Cars). Jay likes to make a good joke, so, having noticed how entertained I was by this little gem, a few hours/days(?) later, when Isaac put on a baseball cap backwards, Jay came up with, "Your [sic] are wearing 'at hat back'ards Isaac. Dat is gonna creep me out!"

Then the other night, Jay said to Cathy, "You forgot to be kidding me!" and proudly appended, "Dat's from Gideon." (, Tuba Warrior: VeggieTales)

Labels: boys, friends

- posted by Gary @ 9:13 PM |

 
"Yeah, He Loves it Too!"
Overheard in the kitchen:
Uncle T: Do you like green?
J: Yeah, it's one of my favorite colors!
Uncle T: Uncle E hates green.
J: Yeah, he loves it too!

Labels: boys, family

- posted by Gary @ 6:56 PM |

 
And Since I Keep Forgetting
What cute boy stories I wanted to blog, check this out. We may be buying it Monday. The seller and I have e-mailed back and forth, and it sounds like it'll still be there. I just need to measure ours and make sure it'll give us more wall space! I didn't realize it was 48 in wide.

In the meantime, this one's also shown up. I like the dark wood, and probably smaller is better. I'm not sure how we'd use the extra height on the light one- our TV is pretty small, but too heavy to stack on top of anything like, say, the stereo! Hmmm...
- posted by Gary @ 11:28 PM |

 
Salvation From the North
OK, maybe a bit melodramatic, but I am very grateful for our friends Cathy and Josh, who (with their two-year-old son) are braving the predicted winter storm to bring us the co-sleeper we borrowed for Isaac (and where Jay also slept once, when we were visiting for Cathy's baby shower). I had posted an ad on our employee bulletin board, asking for a cheap bassinet, but got only two responses, one wanting me to buy a Pack'n'Play for $35 (we've already got one), and the other offering me a free bassinet. I went to the other building on the arranged date, only to discover that my benefactress had forgotten to bring the bassinet. She offered to bring it by my building, but I didn't hear from her on the re-appointed day (this past Monday) and have accordingly given up. Good thing I didn't forego eating lunch with my usual crowd on that account!

Anyway, the co-sleeper is a better option than a bassinet, and if I need a nap place for baby downstairs, we can always set up the Pack'n'Play. Hopefully baby will be content to be very near us instead of actually in the double bed. If not, I'll just have to whine about queen-size beds a bit more insistently.

Labels: baby 3, friends, furniture

- posted by Gary @ 11:07 PM |

 
Ambivalence
I'm not excited about the presidential candidates as the field stands. Those of you who know me know I won't be even pondering the Democratic field. Of the Republicans, Thompson and Huckabee have the greatest share of my interest, though Thompson seems like a lost cause already, and I'm worried that Huckabee's self-proclaimed Christianity will end up being a stumbling block to people. He doesn't seem to have the integrity of our current president (not that W's integrity has made much of an impression on the left), which just turns me off. His attack on W's foreign policy makes me think I'm not going to like his ideas at all. And then, to top it all off, the man's name is Huckabee. Enough said.

Labels: politics

- posted by Gary @ 12:17 PM |

 
Politeness
Well, Isaac just strung together an impressive sentence on the strength of a whole lot of sugar in pursuit of yet more sugar. Paul gave him a tootsie roll pop this morning for reasons that are not clear to me. Then Isaac found gummi monsters, which were not sealed as I supposed. He ate one, and had wandered over to me so that it was ludicrously easy for me to confiscate the remainder. "Peese ma'I heff mo' gummi mosters?" was haltingly strung together by the bereft toddler (who took it all very well). I gave him a blueberry cereal bar instead, which was fine by him.

Labels: baby talk, boys, sweets

- posted by Gary @ 10:00 AM |

 
Dazed and Confused
How is it that a not-quite-two-year-old can stay up until after 10 PM (crying- well, wailing- for a good part of the time), wake up several times during the night (twice requiring help to return to sleep) then wake up at the crack of dawn, refreshed and happy (once a parent dragged herself out of bed to obey his distressed-sounding summons)?

Isaac was pretty funny last night, actually, from time to time. Paul had to be at church, and unfortunately the boys decided to talk for an hour or so, at times VERY loudly, rather than go to sleep. After a while of this, Jay quieted down, and Isaac started crying. And wailing. I went in, thinking the 3-year-old (who, by the way, talked Daddy into letting him wear his underwear to bed) was asleep. As soon as I entered the room, that illusion was shattered, and Jay ended up telling me he needed to use the potty. I sent him downstairs to use the potty, while Isaac stood at the side of his crib, reaching out to me and saying, "Beffest.. time.", "Up" or "Down'tairs!"

*Sigh* At least it's pretty clear what's on his mind!

Meantime, Jay's making good progress on his reading lessons again. Paul took a little break from them (wisely so, if you ask me), but now Jay seems to be getting back into it. I'm still not convinced that each lesson needs to be done in its entirety when Jay's getting frustrated, but Paul's been a little more lenient, which probably helps Jay to do well. Isaac asked to have a reading lesson the other day, so Paul went over the S sound with him. A day or two later, Isaac found the reading book when he was home with me and asked for another lesson. I opened the book to the first page, he found the s and said, "Ssssss".

Isaac's been picking up on other phrases he hears from Jay, and he's been saying, "Oh, that's good" a LOT lately, usually in a not particularly appropriate context. Jay also likes to say, "I'm coming wif' you guys", if, for example, I tell him Isaac and I are going upstairs for a diaper or to get dressed. Isaac hasn't grasped the plurality of this expression, but has certainly grasped the expression, so we (or at least I) hear, "wiffoo... guys!" on a fairly regular basis.

Labels: baby talk, boys, potty training

- posted by Gary @ 7:38 AM |

 
It Seems a Shame
With two names picked out, that there's only one baby! ;)

Not that I would have a clue how to handle twins!!

Labels: baby 3

- posted by Gary @ 8:29 AM |

 
On My Way to Bed
But no indications that this baby is planning on surprising us. By this time with Isaac, I was suspicious.

So, quick poll:
Honoria Kate
or
Honora Evangeline

and what makes a good middle name with Daniel? I'm thinking Kent, which was my maternal grandpa's name, but we're open to suggestions.

Labels: baby 3

- posted by Gary @ 10:18 PM |

 
On My Way to Work
Can't stop to chat, but the lightning update is my C-section has been scheduled for February 8th. I made it through the night (unlike last time they scheduled a birth for me), so we'll see. We're working on a contingency plan, though, and my parents are on stand-by =]

Labels: baby 3, healthcare

- posted by Lenise @ 6:47 AM |

 
Furniture Frustration

So I found this set, or one that looks an awful lot like it for: $888, including delivery and set-up. Chest, dresser, mirror, nightstand, AND bed. Hidden drawers and all. *Sigh* Yes, we would still need to buy a mattress set (we have a double bed). And a mattress pad, and sheets (but our quilt would fit!). One of us is not ready to splurge. One of us is pining.

Labels: Consumer goods

- posted by Lenise @ 11:44 PM |

 
Pretty!
Here's a nice house that's seen better days.

UPDATE: Hey, what do you know? It's a (very) recently vacated crack house. How sad is that?

Labels: Old Houses, real estate

- posted by Lenise @ 9:14 PM |

 
Effusive
While this was not the first Sunday Jay participated in saying the Lord's Prayer during the church service, this was probably the first Sunday he said it loudly enough that the entire sanctuary took note. I suppose when you're out of sync with the rest of the congregation (as is bound to happen when you're three), you don't have to speak that loudly to be noticeable, even in a gigantic room like our church's sanctuary (built to seat at least 1,000- and well occupied). All the same, it is a little embarrassing to have the assisting minister (who was leading the prayer) give your child the thumbs up sign (not that Jay noticed, thank goodness!). If it hadn't been the youth minister, I don't think any formal notice would have been made, but it was the youth minister, and with his help, Jay was good and disruptive today. *Sigh*

Labels: boys, church

- posted by Lenise @ 7:52 PM |

 
Inquiring Minds Want to Know
For those of you I've driven past the house on the edge of town, the listing has some photos. The square footage is also grossly inaccurate, but this is the same listing realtor who always seems to list the same house with wildly different SF figures on the different MLS systems. Another listing for this house says 1,918 SF.

Labels: Mebane, real estate

- posted by Lenise @ 8:34 PM |

 
Work in Progress
Jay's been doing pretty well at potty training the past week and a half or so. Unfortunately, that's meant my staying on top of him and sending him to the potty every couple of hours or so, and insisting that he sit at least once in the morning. It beats cleaning up accidents, but it would definitely be better if he could take the initiative himself.

Meantime, he and Isaac have been enjoying their puppies. We went to the house of some friends yesterday, and the boys spent quite a bit of the afternoon walking their dogs. At one point, while Jay was otherwise occupied, Isaac walked both dogs. This was a frustrating experience at times, but Isaac is dogged (pun fully intended), and he managed to make a circuit or two with both Lucky and his own unnamed puppy.

Labels: boys, potty training

- posted by Lenise @ 5:43 PM |