Buster was up a couple times during the night, and M-lady responded to him. Lately he's been calling for her specifically during the night, and when I respond, he repeats "No!" until he falls asleep again (which usually doesn't take very long).
M-lady and Buster got up pretty early, and rolled Bud out of bed around 7:30ish to start getting ready for school. I took the kids downstairs for breakfast a little before 8:00, and hung out with Buster until Nanny J arrived after M-lady to Bud to school. Buster was running around opening and closing pocket doors when I left.
I ended up staying at work a little late today, so M-lady got home to get the kids. On my way home, she called me to let me know they were headed out to the mall, where I met them so we could all have dinner together. We made the smart decision to purchase a whole corn dog for Buster rather than having him share M-lady's, which turned out to be a good decision since he ate the whole thing.
After dinner we all walked around the mall a little bit. Buster walked most of the way, and was pretty good about keeping moving. He was entranced by the Pottery Barn Kids store window, though.
We got home in time to have a little snack and get ready for bed. Buster was pretty tired, and fell asleep quickly after I got him into PJs and read a story to him. He woke once this evening, but has otherwise slept pretty well. M-lady didn't have any trouble getting Bud to sleep.
M-lady brought Buster to our bed this morning around 5:00ish. He was actually remarkably well behaved and quiet in bed... he didn't kick me in the head even once. We all slept until about 7:00.
The morning routine was pretty standard, and M-lady took the earlier shift again. It wasn't a school day, so Bud slept in a little bit, but both kids were up and having breakfast when Nanny J arrived.
I got home right around 5:15, and found the kids playing 'camping' under the table again. After Nanny J took her leave, we watched a little bit of the original Star Wars at Bud's request before we got started on dinner.
Buster has recently learned both how to open and how to close the pocket doors in the house. There are actually quite a few, and we tend to leave them all open. Given Buster's new skills, though, we are constantly finding ourselves cut off from the rest of the house.
After dinner we did the usual bedtime routine. I read to Bud tonight, and we managed to finish up the "Barrels Out Of Bond" chapter of The Hobbit. Buster slept reasonably well through the evening, although he did wake once or twice briefly.
I ended up working late last night, so M-lady was kind enough to get up with the kids. Buster made some noise around 5:00, but I don't think he got up until about 7:00. M-lady took Bud downstairs to get some breakfast around 8:00, and they headed off for school a short time later. Buster wasn't interested in going downstairs for breakfast, so I played with him for a bit upstairs. We did some typing on my computer, which he's started to enjoy since he's recognizing and naming some of the letters.
We eventually headed downstairs for breakfast, and Buster was just wrapping up when Nanny J arrived at 8:45. I headed off for work a short time later, and they were heading out to the park.
Bud had a good day at school, and the kids were playing in the living room, as usual, when I returned home. Nanny J took her leave shortly, and I played with the kids for a little while before we decided to watch some TV. Given the success with both kids enjoying Cars recently, I thought we might try a classic Disney, and slotted up Peter Pan. The beginning of the movie is pretty emotionally turbulent, though, and Bud still doesn't seem to be able to handle it very well. We stopped before they managed to get to Neverland.
We did watch the Science Channel's coverage of Punkin Chunkin 2009, though, which was awesome. It ended up being a bit too much TV for the evening, but we had a good time.
M-lady got dinner ready for us, which Bud and I ate as soon as the show ended. Buster was a bit reluctant, and grumpy to boot. After Bud and I had eaten, I finally managed to convince him to come to the table by offering some Rice Krispies.
I took Buster upstairs to get ready for bed while Bud was having snacks with M-lady. We watched just a little bit of Sesame Street on the PC before getting into PJs and reading some stories. Buster fell right to sleep, and has been quiet all evening.
M-lady dressed Bud in footie pajamas for the first time this season, which Bud was excited to show off before bedtime. He also went to sleep without any problem.
Buster was up this morning a bit before 7:00, and I got up with him. I managed to convince him to snooze for another 20 minutes or so, and then he was up and happy, hanging out in his crib. He mostly entertained himself until nearly 8:00, looking at books in his crib.
At that point, I had to dial into a meeting, so M-lady managed the kids through breakfast and until Nanny J arrived at 8:45. Bud came into the office while I was on the call, and played with Lego for a little while. He and his brother and Nanny J headed for the park a little bit later, and I was off to work before they returned.
I got home around 5:00, and found all the lights in the house off, and the kids sitting under the dining room table with the recently repaired Twilight Turtle and a couple of bean bag chairs. Bud let me know that they were camping, the table was their tent, and the bean bags were sleeping bags. I spent a couple of minutes under the table with them before Nanny J took her leave.
We watched a science show on TV until M-lady arrived home, and then had some dinner. Bud ate well, but Buster mostly skipped the meal. After eating, I dozed in the playroom while M-lady and the kids read stories and played together for about half an hour before we started on snack time.
Bud ate well again, and Buster finally consented to eat something. I put Bud to bed, and he was in bed a little earlier than the past couple of nights, since he's got school tomorrow. We read a little more of The Hobbit, and he was asleep pretty quickly after the lights went out. M-lady got Buster to sleep, and he's been quiet so far this evening.
Buster was up pretty early again, and M-lady got up with him. I joined them at about 8:00, and we rolled Bud out of bed around then as well. I was taking Bud to his school field trip today, and we didn't need to leave until after 9:00, so it was much more relaxed getting ready than a usual school day.
Nanny J arrived at 8:45, and Bud and I loaded up to head off. He was pretty excited as we headed out to the planetarium at the local community college, where we met his classmates and other parents. We headed into the planetarium a little before 10:00 and settled into seats. Bud sat next to his friends K and M.
The program consisted of a movie, generally aimed at kids, about the planets, and then a quick guided night sky tour. The content was perhaps a little bit over the head of the average four-year-old, and in fact, the first question at the Q and A period was, "Is it time to leave yet?" (not asked by Bud).
Bud had a great time, though, and asked me all sorts of questions on the drive home. We ended up discussing mythology, in relation to the constellation and planet names. He asked me to tell him a myth, and the first one which popped into my head was the story of Daedalus and Icarus. It also, conveniently, has the 'pay attention to your father' moral.
I headed off for work after dropping Bud off at home with Nanny J. The kids had a good afternoon, and were playing football when I arrived home at 5:15. After saying goodbye to Nanny J, we played a little more football together, and then turned on the MNF game. I got started on making dinner, which just got out of the oven when M-lady arrived home.
Everyone ate pretty well for dinner, and Bud requested that we set up my old telescope (which I'd told him we'd do sometime) to look at the sky after dinner. It wasn't a perfect viewing night, but I figured he was already fired up from the trip this morning, so I headed out to set up. He helped a bit, although was a little too enthusiastic to help with the telescope itself.
The telescope I received as a birthday present when I was ten or eleven years old, but it's still in pretty good shape. After I got the scope very roughly set up, we took a look at the near-full moon. Bud deemed it too bright, so we moved to the back yard to try to get a look at Jupiter. I was able to set up and find Jupiter pretty quickly (having the advantage of knowing where it was from the planetarium tour earlier that morning). We got a pretty good view with the scope, with all four big moons visible, and the cloud bands on the surface.
Bud was not terribly impressed, probably hoping to see it like the pictures he sees in books. We all had a good time taking a look, though. M-lady came outside with Buster as well, and Buster had a lot of fun running around in the dark.
We packed it up and headed in, and got started on snack time before getting ready for bed. Bud ended up eating another dinner while I put Buster to bed, and M-lady put Bud to bed a little bit later. Buster woke once during the evening, but went back to sleep pretty quickly.
Buster woke this morning around 6:45, and I got up to hang out with him. He slept again until about 7:15, and then we headed to the hexagon for about an hour, where we mostly read stories. At about 8:30 Bud joined us, and I was able to hand the kids over to M-lady for a little while and snooze for about an hour.
M-lady got the kids some breakfast, and handed them back to me about an hour later, as she took off for ballet class. The kids and I watched a little bit of TV before I got myself dressed, and we reconvened downstairs to play a bit. We had a nice video chat with Granddad B and Grandma Nese, and then headed outside to play a little. The boys ran around the driveway while I swept up the garage, and after a bit, we loaded up in the car to go to the grocery store.
The kids were great at the store, and we finished the shopping quickly so we could get back and get some lunch. The kids were pretty hungry when we got home, and I had to rush a little bit to get them fed. M-lady arrived home as we were eating, and finished up lunch with Bud while I put a tired Buster down for a nap.
Bud and M-lady continued to play together for a bit, while I did some work in the garage. Bud came down and joined me before too long, and we got started working on getting holiday lights up on the house. I managed to get most of the ground floor lights in place before we headed back inside around 4:00.
Bud and I played a little bit of Lego Indiana Jones before dinner, which we had a bit early tonight. After dinner I showered the kids, and we all headed back downstairs around 6:30. We watched the end of Cars together, and then had a quick video chat with Grandma W before snacktime. Both kids were engaged in the video chat, and generally well behaved throughout. After chatting we got a snack, and then headed upstairs to get ready for bed.
Bud and I watched a couple of short clips on YouTube, and then finished reading the spiders chapter in The Hobbit. Bud wasn't ready to go to sleep when we turned out the light, but ended up falling asleep before too long. Buster has woken once this evening, but went back to sleep pretty quickly.
Buster slept until about 6:30, when M-lady got up with him. I was able to sleep until about 8:30, when M-lady and I switched places. I took both boys downstairs, and we watched a little bit of The Wiggles before getting started on breakfast. The kids ate pretty well, and afterward we packed up and headed off to the park we spent time at yesterday, at Bud's request.
We all had a good time at the park, first playing in the rock/rope area, and then spending time at the playground. It was warmer and dry today, so Buster was able to go down the slides at will. He did pick up a pretty spectacular static charge on one of the slides, though, and judging by his hair, probably picked up 50,000+ volts. His fine, light baby hair all stood up: it was pretty spectacular. He didn't seem to mind, though.
We headed back home for lunch, and I worked with Bud in the garage for a bit after lunch. M-lady played with Buster, and managed to keep him from napping until Babysitter G arrived to watch the kids for a bit in the afternoon while M-lady and I went out and did some Christmas shopping. Buster seemed a little grumpy about being left, but was napping quietly when we left.
The kids apparently had a good time with Babysitter G, and Buster was fine with her. We arrived home at about 5:00, and the kids were having a good time. They were happy to see us, and both kids decided to go with M-lady to take Babysitter G home. When they got back, we got started on making waffles for dinner while watching the football game.
Buster opened up with several new words this evening. First, he and Bud came to watch the football game. After listening to Bud and I cheer for a little while, he started repeating, "Go Stanford!"
Then he showed one of those leaps of understanding when he came to tell me that the waffle iron was ready. It beeped, and the green light came on, but I hadn't heard it. Buster ran into the room, saying, "Ready! Ready!"
At dinner, we had strawberry syrup with the waffles. Buster pointed at the container and said, "strawberry," which is one of the more complex words he's formed. All in all it felt like his comprehensions and vocalization jumped dramatically this evening.
After dinner we watched a little bit more of Cars before getting ready for bed. Buster was pretty easy to put to bed, although he didn't fall asleep until about 8:30. He's woken once this evening, but went back to sleep pretty quickly. M-lady was able to put Bud to sleep without trouble, and he's slept solidly so far this evening.
The life of a boy as told by his dad. Lil' Bud was born March 5th, 2005, and his father, staggered by the changes, has converted his written diary to this format.
