Kids Updates

Here are some random updates about the kids:

• Davis is all done with daycare.  His last day, after 3 years, was on Thursday.  Next week he starts pre-school.  He will go three days a week for 2 1/2 hours each day, with the option to stay longer for lunch afterwards.  He is very excited about pre-school and "getting bigger".  
• I took Davis to a playdate at his pre-school where I met some of the other parents and he met a lot of his classmates.  He will have 15 kids in his class.  He had a great time at the playdate and didn't want to leave despite falling and cutting open his lip and scratching his face.
• Evan has been teething a lot recently.  He is always a very drooly kid, but in the last week he has got in about 3 teeth.  He has at least 5 now and has handled it very well.
• Evan is starting to crawl.  He is no where near as mobile as Alex, but he can commando crawl his way forward and gets up on his hands and knees a lot.  He can also sit up by himself which helps him a lot.
• Alex is very mobile and very fast.  He pulls up on everything and often can be seen just leaning against something or holding on by one hand.  He can also cruise along things he has pulled himself up on (train table, couch, etc).  Not bad for an 8 month old.  He will probably be walking before Davis did (10 months).
• Alex and Evan love Davis.  They are totally entertained by him and love to watch him play and/or interact with them.
• Alex's favorite toy is the one Evan has.
• Evan's favorite toy is the one Alex has.
• Alex's second favorite toy is a plastic sippy cup.
• Evan's second favorite toy is also a plastic sippy cup.
• Evan is about 22 or 23 pounds.  He is about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds bigger than Alex, but they are about the same length.
• Evan seems to need slightly more sleep than Alex.
• All three boys completed their latest round of swimming lessons.  This was our first session with Alex and Evan.  The twins had their lessons at 6:00pm and Davis at 6:30.  Davis would (mostly) sit on the side of the pool while we were in the water with Alex and Evan.  Then, I take the babies home and Kristen stays with Davis (often swimming in the lap lane that is open).  Its a pretty chaotic time to dinner, then get everybody to the pool.   We'll be doing it again as it has been really great for Davis.  He is a lot more comfortable in the water and has started putting his head under.  It really shows when we go to the Kirkwood pool how much the lessons have helped.  He has even tried swimming without any floatations a few times.  Alex and Evan are very different kids in the water.  Alex loves loves loves to splash the water while Evan is usually trying to eat it.  Its a cute and fun contrast.
• Alex and Evan both sleep through the night (7:30 pm to 6:00am) very reliably.  It is wonderful.  Usually Lilly wakes me up at least once, and frequently Davis wakes me up at least once as well.
• Davis is potty trained (im sure I mentioned this before).  He has done  great job.  He is rarely having accidents and sleeps without a diaper.  He is going a good job waking up at night and going to the potty, though he does seem to need help.  I'm a light sleeper and he usually yells for help and I sit him down then put him back in bed.  I believe it has been several weeks since he has had an accident at night (I knocked on wood).

Update: I started writing this post at 2:00 pm.  When I was watching the kids in the afternoon (around 3:30), Evan got up on all fours and crawled.  No more commando crawling for that kid.

Toddler Sports - The Pictures

Yesterday, we went the last session (this period) of Toddler Sports at the Y.  It was "peek week", which means that parents are officially allowed to bring cameras and take pictures of their kids.  However, it also meant that instead of doing the regular sports class where they have a single sport, they had lots of different sports and a bouncy house for the kids to jump around in.  Davis, and many other kids, spent most of the class in the bouncy house.  It took Davis a little while to get used to it, but by the end he was doing a good job standing up and bouncing as well as jumping.  One of the highlights came when another toddler vaulted over Davis and later worked on teaching Davis to do somersaults.  In between bouncy house sessions, Davis did play with a few of the balls and run around a little.

The tongue of concentration.

Trying to make a basket.

Taking a shot

Hiding behind the Y sign.

Running back to the bouncy house

Toddler Sports - Round 2

This weekend, we took Davis to the second class of toddler sports at the Y.  This week was hockey and it was just as much fun (at least for Kristen and I) as last week.  My co-workers were pretty surprised that they armed a bunch of 2 to 3.5 year olds with hockey sticks and let them run around the gym.  Davis did really well with the hockey stick and keeping the blade on the ground.  Moving the ball with the stick perhaps a little too much for him, but he had fun running around, playing with the ball, playing hide and seek behind the decorations on the wall and told us when he was done playing.

I managed to capture a short video of the action before he ran to the other side of the gym where they was an older kids basketball class in progress.  During peek week, when the Y officially allows cameras, we'll get a bunch of good videos and pictures.

Toddler Sports

This weekend we started a Toddler sports class at the YMCA in Woburn.  We missed the first class for our trip to San Diego and LA, but the idea is to give toddlers (2 to 3.5 years in this case) a sampler of a bunch of different sports in 30 minute classes over 6 or 8 weeks.  Our first class was basketball and it was an amazing amount of fun.

The class started out with about 15 toddlers and their parents lined up at one side of the gym.  The instructors told the toddlers that they should run across the gym as warm up.  When they said go, some of the toddlers ran across, others stayed where they were and other, such as our son, just ran and ran and ran.  They then ran back across the gym (Davis once again went for a big run).  This was followed by stretching (touching toes, arms up and arms down) then by some basic basketball instruction.  They tried to teach bounce passes, chest passes, shooting and dribbling, all of which were a ton of fun for the kids and great entertainment for the parents.  Davis enjoyed running, kicking and throwing the ball, as well as jumping of random structures in the gym and running all over.  We don't have any pictures yet since the Y only allows pictures to be taken during one week during of the classes.

We can't wait for next week!

Weekend Wrapup

This was a busy, but fun weekend around the Naegle household.  Saturday we went to the Y where Davis is very happy to play in the childcare area while we workout.  After a nap, we went to Robbins Farm Park for a romp in the park and a picnic  Later, we went and saw our friends AJ and Susan before packing it in for the night.  Sunday, we went to Davis' swimming lesson, then came home to clean, play and have lunch before heading to the zoo.  I dropped Kristen off at work on the way back and Davis and I went shopping, then we all had dinner together before skyping with Grandma and Grandpa.  For the rest of the night, Kristen is finishing another job application, I'm cleaning and then we'll probably relax with part of a movie.

Here are few pictures from the zoo:

Hey had a great time going between the cutouts and playing peek a boo.

The truck by the lion is WAY more interesting than the Lion. There were probably 8 kids in the truck and all the parents standing around watching. 

He LOVES driving things. 

Not from the zoo, but this is what his bed typically looks like for naps and bedtime.

Weekend wrap-up

It was a busy weekend at the Naegle household.

Friday

Friday Davis and I headed to Arlington Town Night for fair like activities on one of the town sports fields.  There was food, pony rides, train rides, live music, a dog show, bouncy houses and tons of kids.  We went straight from daycare and planned to meet Mom for the festivities.  Since we went straight there, it meant we were going to have a hungry little guy after a little while, so I bought him his first hamburger of which he enjoyed eating the bun and cheese.  We had hoped to get Davis on a pony ride, but the line for the ponies was over 45 minutes, so we spent our time walking around and watching the live music, fire trucks and chasing the train giving rides around the field.  I think Davis would have enjoyed the train ride, but I didn't have the patience to spend 20 minutes in line.  He really enjoyed the brass band that was there and had a great time dancing and spinning around in circles.  He only tried to take food from other people's picinics a few times.  We left at dusk, before the fireworks as we are still slaves to Davis's sleep schedule.

Kristen got delayed leaving work and we ended up meeting up on the walk home instead of at the festival as planned.  However, it worked out great.  Kristen brought Megan with her and ran into Bill and Sonya on the way and we all headed back to our place for a late dinner.  It was a great spontaneous dinner and very nice to have people over for dinner once again.  Davis had a great time getting all the adults to stand up and spin around in circles with him.

Saturday

Saturday we took our normal trip to the Y to work out while Davis goes to daycare.  Kristen did the boot camp style class as usual, but I just ran 10 minutes on the treadmill and streched.  Davis did not do well being left in daycare and my brief exercise worked out for the best as I picked him up just when they were about to come get me to take care of an inconsolable child.  We spent the rest of Mom's workout playing in the mat room which Davis enjoyed a lot.

After the Y, we went to the Wright-Locke Farm to pick raspberries, but they weren't open yet so we headed home and then to Arlington Town Day.  A 1/4 to 1/2 mile second of Mass Ave in Arlington was closed for the annual town celebration.  There were booths from local organizations, schools, resturants, vendors as well as live music, performers and lots of people.  Davis road on my shoulders for much of our time at town day which was great until he gave me a big hug and put his hands over my eyes.  We grabbed lunch from one of the Indian resturants with a boot and sat on the library lawn eating and chasing Davis.  Davis enjoyed dipping his part of the Samosa in sauce and pouring water all over himself.

After naps at home, we went back to Wright-Lock farm and picked two quarts of raspberries.  We actually picked quite a bit more than that, but everything that went into Davis' bucket went right into his mouth.  We froze half the raspberries, but managed to eat the other quart in just a day.

Sunday

Sunday we headed up to Wilimington for my first half-marathon and Kristen's (and Davis') 5k.  Kristen did very well in her 5k considering she was pushing 40+ pounds of stroller and a little bit sick. I was very impressed!

My half-marathon was "fun".  I've been running pretty regularly since May and decided a couple months ago to go for a half-marathon and picked this one based on the recommendation of a running coach in my office.  My longest run before this was two weeks ago at 12.2 miles.  On that run, I took no water or food and really struggled in the last two miles.  This time I took water with a little bit of sugar and salt added and with the numerous water stops a long the way was hoping to feel better at the end.

The race really broke down into parts for me:

1. The first 3 miles were really easy.  I was planning on really being conservative here and running 7:30 miles which is a little bit slower than I've been doing on my training runs.  From past races, I knew it would be a real challenge to limit my pace in a crowd - its very easy to not realize you are going faster than you want when there are lots of other people around.  I started near the front of the race and settled into my own pace very quickly.  I came through the first mile at 6:55 and the second at 13:57 which was must faster than planned, but I felt really good.  
2. The 3rd to 8th mile were just on cruise control.  I felt great and just worked on slowly catching the people in front of me who I could see.  
3. After the 8th mile, I had mostly passed the people I could see and was starting to get tired.  It took me almost 4 miles to catch the last person I could see.  This also felt like the hilly part of the run.  Up to mile 12, I felt pretty much the same - tired, feeling the effort, but pretty good all things considered.
4. Mile 12 to 13.  Agony. I was very tired and running out of energy.  I couldn't go any faster.  By far my slowest mile.  Had a hard time running straight.
5. The last .1 miles.  Saw Kristen and Davis, got a great cheer.  Kristen yelled I was top 10. I couldn't believe it.  Still in agony and unable to go any faster, but got a chill finishing.

I finished 10th out of 112 in 1:30:53 (6:56 average pace) and 3rd in my age group (30-39, 11 runners).  This was about 8 minutes faster than I was aiming for, so I'm very happy with the result.

My Mile times broke down about like this:

• Mile 0-1: 6:55
• Mile 1-2: 7:02
• Mile 2-3: 7:08
• Mile 3-4: 6:47
• Mile 4-5: 6:55
• Mile 5-6: 6:53
• Mile 6-7: 6:52
• Mile 7-8: 6:36
• Mile 8-9: 6:55
• Miles 10-12: 20:52 (I forgot to hit the lap button)
• Mile 12-13.1: 7:56 (7:12 pace)

After the race, I was pretty wasted.  Not taking in calories during the run really drained me.  Running really makes it hard for me to eat, so I could only take in a little bit after the race and spent the rest of the day eating and drinking to recover.  I also had a problem with my shoes where my toes blistered quite a bit, so in the afternoon while Davis and Kristen took a nap, I went to the running store and got new shoes and socks.

Results are here:

• Half Marathon Overall
• 5K Gender

After the race, we met up with Josh, Courtney, Mack and Liam at Together in Motion in Arlington to celebrate Liam's first birthday.  Davis had a good time playing in the mats and I tried to not get too close to anybody since I had not showered.

After the party, a nap and a snack, we went to the mall to get him some new shoes and do some shopping for Kristen.  Davis jumped from a size 4.5 to 6 and had a great time running around the mall and people watching.  After the mall, we went out to dinner for the first time in about a month and had a nice dinner at a loud mexican resturant.  Davis did great and enjoyed his beans, rice, guacamole, chips and pizza.  It was nice to go out again.  The last time was something of a mess and involved a lot of screaming and food throwing.

Next Week


This week is going to be a different for us.  Kristen heads of for the first of three consequtive conferences.  She is in Houston Wednesday to Friday, back in Boston for the Siebel conference on Saturday (and maybe Sunday), then off to Austin for another conference Tuesday to Saturday.  Sunday I've got a cyclocross race in Glouscester, so it shoud be another interesting week around the Naegle household.

Weekly update

Time flies when you have a child.  I don't really know what happened to last week.  Davis is growing up fast and we had a fun weekend.

This weekend did not quite go as planned, but we still manged to have a good time.  Kristen and Davis both have a cold (runny nose + cough) so we weren't as active as last weekend.  We had hoped to go to a bar with Davis to watch the University of Washington (Huskies) football game, but the colds and a late start meant we decided it was better not to go.  However, we did wear our matching Husky shirts on Saturday - it was quite amusing to be asked "So, are you big fans of George?" when we were picking up pizza (the shirts simply said: Washington).

This weekend:

• Davis and I went to the Burlington touch a truck.
• I went to the Y for a work out.  Kristen and Davis stayed home sick.
• Davis had a 3 hour nap on Saturday.  He woke up after an hour and 20 minutes, then slept on me for an hour and 40 minutes.  I really enjoy having him sleep on me, so I did not mind.
• Davis had a 3 hour nap on Sunday.  This was his first long weekend nap where he did not sleep on me for part of it.  It was quite a surprise and blessing.

Davis:

• Can now jump.  It is incredibly cute.  He throws his hands up in the air and gets just a little bit off the ground. 
• Uses a lot more words.  He has said in the last week: "breakfast", "grandma", "hungry".
• He is starting to use short phrases including: "All right", "No Way!", "Where is Mom", "Read this"
• Helps put his toys away before bed
• Feeds the cats treats.  He tends to favor Domino, but Kristen makes sure Lilly is looked after. 
• Climbs into the dining room chairs and sits when we say it is time to eat
• Has a few more teeth.  He has at least 9, but it might be 10.  Its hard to get a look in his mouth.
• Almost, but not quite, needs his first haircut
• Pretends to vacuum the floor.  He connects 4 or 5 of his magnetic cylinders to a ball and walks around making vacuum noises.
• Pretends to play trucks with his mega blocks.  Last night, he handed me a block and said "truck" then we drove our "trucks" around the living room.
• Shows a lot more interest in reading.  He now brings us books and sits in our laps while we read him stories.  He really enjoys "The cat in the hat", "Mr. brown can moo", "Brown bear brown bear, what can you see" and his bedtime stories.
• Pretends to give his monkey water.  Pretends might not be the right word for it since he actually gives his monkey water.
• Gives wonderful hugs
• Is staying up later and sleeping in later.  He usually goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes up at about 6:30.  This is great as we get an extra half hour with him at night and an extra hour of sleep in the morning.  Some days, he sleeps in until 7:30 which is great on a weekend, but a little stressful for the week.  We've started setting our alarm clocks again which is quite a change.

Weekend wrap-up

Labor day weekend was a good combination of being busy, relaxing and saying good-bye to summer.  Our heat-wave broke when Hurricane Earl passed off-shore and the weekend was a fantastic 70 to 80 and sunny.  A great break after 5 days of 94, 92, 96, 94 and 95 for highs.

This weekend we:

• Went to the Y.  Freddy's class was cancelled because of the holiday weekend, so we went a little later than usual.  However, we ran into Freddy in the gym and he gave a special 6 person extra hard version of his class.  It was a great workout, much better than we would have done by our selves.
• As part of the next bullet item, we made a quick trip to Ikea for dinner and a new table and chair set for Davis to play with in the living room.  So far, both the cats and Davis approve of the new plastic furniture.
• Saturday we went to our first Revolution soccer game.  Kristen got deeply discounted tickets from Groupon that included a free shirt.  The game was at 7:30, a little late for our little guy, but we went anyways for an adventure and to start testing our parenting comfort zone.  The game, what we saw of it was fun, but Kristen was expecting a European atmosphere as was a little disappointed by the lack of passion from the American fans.  I spent a lot of time out of my seat with Davis walking around, but was rewarded by catching a tee-shirt thrown into the stands at half-time.
• Sunday we went peach picking in North Andover.  Davis had a blast running around the orchard then feeding the animals afterwards.  We fed llamas, goats and a cow.
• After a family nap and sleeping on dad Sunday, we went to our friends for a BBQ.  Davis again had a blast running around, climbing in chairs, eating and playing chase / hide and seek between the air whole-house air conditions.
• Monday we took Davis to a cyclocross practice in Lexington with a few people from Quad Cycles. Kristen and I are both planing on doing a race next weekend so we wanted to get our bikes tuned in and get some technical practice in.  We took turns practicing and supervising Davis eating donuts, peaches, water mellon, water and blue berry muffins by the handfuls.  Unfortunately, I did crash and hurt my right knee a little bit.
• After we got back from practice, Davis took a long nap and we cleaned the house and yard. 
• After naps and an early dinner, we skyped with Grandparents then headed to the nearby sprinkler park for the last time this year.  School starts tomorrow in Arlington and the sprinklers get shut off.

I have some videos from this weekend that are not uploaded anywhere yet, but here are a few pictures from the soccer game:

Exploring the seats before the game

Seattle Fans

With Mom

Hey mom, there is a soccer game over there!

Mom watching the game, Davis watching something else.

Tired guy, right before heading home

Fifes, Drums, Muskets, Animals and Ice Cream

This morning, after a successful workout at the Y, we headed out to Concord where small celebration was going on for the 300th birthday of Colonel James Barrett, the leader of the militia at the Old North Bridge.  We were a little late for the whole show, but we caught the Fifes and Drums playing as well as 5 reenactors firing their muskets.

Fifes and Drums

Muskets

After the Old North Bridge, we headed out to Great Brook Farm State Park for a picnic, ice cream and to look at the animals.  Davis loves the goats, sheep and chickens.  He could have spent a lot of time watching the animals.  He really enjoyed having the goats eat out of his hand.

Feeding the goats.

Feeding the goats.

Feeding the Sheep

The sheep was a lot calmer than the goats, so she has a hole in her fence.

Goat!

Going after the chickens

 

A great week

Davis and I are winding down are week together.  It has been a blast.  Highlights of the last few days:

• Going out to breakfast with Mom
• Meeting Mom for lunch
• Making a breakthrough at the YMCA child care and being able to get a full workout in
• Going to the beach
• Playing at the sprinkler park
• Lots of tickle and toy time
• Falling asleep on dad for nap time

Davis is a wonder and a joy for us and I throughly enjoyed my time with him this week.  This weekend will be tons of family time and hopefully a full workout for Mom and Dad at the Y and a bike ride on Sunday.

More Choose Your Own Adventure

You are at the YMCA playing with your son in the mat room and mom and her three year old daughter walk in for a class starting in a few minutes.  The mom sanitizes the child's hands and proceeds to follow the her around the room making sure everything is "safe".  Do you:

a) Get off your chair and make sure your son on the other side of the room is safe

b) Wonder why you didn't think to sanitize your son's hands
c) Relax and do nothing

You and your son take the train to the Aquarium downtown.  There is a 40 person line to get in and many tour groups of 5 to 10 year olds visiting.  The entrance fee is $22.  Do you:

a) Pay $75 and become a member to by-pass the line

b) Go ahead with the visit

c) Bail on the visit and go find mom for lunch

The answer in each case is c, but we will probably become Aquarium members.  We think Davis will really like the Aquarium and it will be a great winter activity when it isn't quite so crowded.  Also, it wouldn't be a bad idea to wash Davis' hands after playing in the mat room.

Daycare closed

Daycare is closed this week, and I'm off from work and taking care of Davis.  Yesterday we went to the park, the Y, the pet store, the grocery store, farm stand, a different park and for a walk to Arlington Center. Today, we'll head to the Y then downtown to the Aquarium before coming home for a nap.  For the rest of the week, I'm planning on going to the Y each day and I'd like to get to the Boston's children's museum and a beach.  Friday is his 15 month appointment and Saturday we are thinking about going camping.  Should be a fun and busy week!

Choose your own adventure

For some reason, I've been thinking of the choose you own adventure series applied to parenting recently.  Here are a few scenarios that ran through my head.

Your son wakes up at 4:30, an hour an a half before he should get up.  He is standing in the crib rattling the door knob, but not crying. He could be teething and has had a cold for the last week do you:


a) Ignore him and hope he goes back to sleep
b) Go in to comfort him
c) Get him up
d) Give him a glass of milk
e) Turn off the monitor and set the alarm for 6:00

Your son wakes up early from his nap in a very bad mood, crying and screaming.  Do you:

a) Comfort him and let him sleep on you
b) Get him up, abandon the nap
c) Ignore him
d) Comfort him and put him back in the crib

You've joined the YMCA which provides daycare for parents while they work out.  In theory, this allows you and your spouse to work out together.  In practice, your son screams and throws tantrums when he is dropped off at the YMCA daycare, despite being happy to go to regular daycare 5 days a week.  The providers come and get one of you after about 15 minutes.  Do you:

a) Try to take your son extra days so he gets used to it
b) Cancel your YMCA membership
c) Keep the same schedule and hope he adjusts on his own
d) Give up trying to work out together and take turns watching him at the Y

This week, the answer we've choose in each case is a.