Regression Session

Sigh. Calvin is driving us up the wall - new trick is to wee and poo in his trousers. Not sure what's up. He will literally make a wee in the potty and ten minutes later produce an enormous wet pair of trousers (preferably once we've left home). I know it's to be expected but it's exasperating.
That being said, he really is good when he's on the potty / toilet to make use of the opportunity. And he's fastidious about washing his hands - praise the Lord. I have done one thing right :)
We've had family here for the past 2 1/2 weeks which was just blissful as Calvin now wakes up anywhere between 5:30am and 6:45am. We actually got some rest in the mornings which was much needed.
Spent some fun time with Shirley, Maggie, Claire & Caryl as well as Erin & Mario.

Kew Gardens, green house

growing up

It's been a whirlwind past month with all the bank holidays, royal wedding and now family visiting from S Africa. Calvin has been hit by the early rising sun, and we are all subject to his antics at approx 5:30am which is very, very hard. He is able to climb up Zack's bunk-bed now and wake up his brother (for company), and shout loudly that he has made a "poo". which needs changing. Bless Keith - he mostly gets up and does that.
It means that we're all a bit smashed at the moment. However - next week is half-term and that means we can rest during the day as there are no big commitments.

Keith bought a new clock for him to try and sort things out - a Gro-Clock. It shows a little sun when it's time to wake up. The rest of the time it is a star, which means "sleep time". Calvin is too clever for that - he just pulls the power cable out when it suits him AND tells you the whole story about the sunshine meaning it's time to wake up. Hopefully with repetition and enforcement we may yet get him to sleep until 6:30am.
Zack has a new star chart to get his behavior back on track in the evenings. It's really worked and we've been tough on marking his achievements. He managed 10 stars and went off to the cinema rejoicing last weekend with Keith. The next star chart has hopes of a visit to Legoland. We shall see. Keith has said he needs 100 stars to go, but that seems unattainable to me. Time for negotiation.
Calvin has regressed a little on the potty training - deliberately wee'ing in his trousers during the day. This morning he actually poo'ed in them too which meant he got a stern talking to. Little blighter. He also thinks it's hilarious to say "poo poo", and "poo head", and "poo face" and "willy poo". Dull toilet humour. You can only tell them off SO many times before you recognise that ignoring it is the best way forward. We're trying hard.
Calvin is picking up more and more - his vocabulary is impressive and his understanding of things too. He is still suffering from separation anxiety a lot. His gross motor skills have been 'on vacation' this week as he fell down on tarmac twice in half an hour and has taken the skin off both knees, his elbow and the palm of one hand. It's just horrid and you can't help but feel for him - poor little thing. Thank goodness for Shrek plasters which seem to have done wonders.
Speaking of which - we are besotted with Shrek DVDs at present, and can watch little else.
Calvin has two firm favourite books : the Hungry Caterpillar and a new pop-up book on Noah & the Ark.
Tina has handed in her notice - which is sad for us all. She will leave on 2 July and move to Southampton. Her husband has been offered a job there. I've been quite emotional about it all, and trying to feel motivated about a solution or p.o.a. I'm vascillating between another housekeeper and a cleaner who does some ironing. The child-care issue is never going to go away, so in reality I need to keep that larder well-stocked.
My freelance work has also picked up so there's more going on during my spare time which is a challenge.
My sister-in-law, Tammy, has announced that she's preggie on her blog. I'm still not sure if that means it's common-knowledge or if it's a secret... what is public and what is private ? Not sure. Our boys will have a new cousin early next year, which is exciting. Hurrah!

Keith has just completed a small photo project, taking each of our eyes.
The similarities in the family are striking

One man and his dog....

Last Saturday we took ourselves off up north to Bromsgrove (just south of Birmingham) to visit Frankie & Agnieszka and their new addition to the family - Jethro - a golden retriever. He is now 5 months old and full of bounce and lick.
The weather was glorious and the local playground was well frequented during Jethro's walks. We also popped into the café for ice cream. It was such a good break - far away from all the responsibilities and to-do lists. The only challenge was getting up at 6:40am most days with Calvin, sigh. But beyond that it was a special time with family.

we went to Cadbury's World on Monday. Sadly Keith missed it as he was back at work

Zack and Aga take on one another on the iPad

Calvin's potty-training continues unabated. He is doing mightily well and altho we have accidents here and there, he is in underpants all day, every day. Praise has worked really well with this little chap, and I regularly catch him saying, "I so clever", to himself. Delightful.
His vocabulary is excellent and he is making himself well understood. He is most definitely a two-year-old with lots of "no's". Strangely we are still getting to know him, as Zack is such a big personality and tends to take over. Having Tina (our housekeeper) away for a month was really a special time of one-to-one with Calvin and I think we both feel that we understand and know him better.
Hammy, the hamster, is still healthy and busy (at night). He has been 'downsized' from Chairman Mao's palace as he managed to chew a hole in the bottom of one of the panels. he is now in a smaller box with a wheel attached and he seems more settled and less intent on escape.

and we're IN

Calvin has been accepted to attend St James' nursery. That means as of September, Calvin will be going to school with Zack in the mornings. I can collect him each day at noon. Again, I feel like God was in control through all the insanity that was his time in-utero and delivery. He was supposed to be a September baby (end of September), which would have made him the oldest in his year. But God had other plans : he is now going to be the YOUNGEST in his year. The only person younger will be he/she who is born on the 31st of August!
Calvin's language skills are coming along in leaps and bounds - he is sooo good at it now. We spent all of today together and he had so much to say and talk about. It was a real blessing.

at Kenwood House, climbing "by 'self"

He is potty training too - we started last Thursday (which makes him 2 years and 7 months). He is doing brilliantly. We've only had a few hiccups - mostly when we've been out and about and far away from "facilities". Today, we spent more than 5 hours in the car and he did very well both on arrival and departure. Bless him.
He and Zack are still sharing a bedroom. I'm not sure how long it will last as it's really trying our patience at bedtime each night. We may move them back into separate rooms to remedy it.

trivia ? for some

Zack is coming on in leaps and bounds with his reading. His teacher is delighted and I think he's feeling really empowered by the whole exercise. It is a wonderful thing to observe.
He struggles with "d" and "b" - transposing them - but I'm sure it'll come with time. The Ruth Miskin literacy programme is working wonders with him, so 'Hurrah for St James!' in promoting it.
Mrs. Piesold, Zack's class teacher, is an incredibly positive and energetic person. She has decided that daily rewards of one star, are not cutting it. She has up'ped it to a maximum of 5 stars a day for good behaviour. Zack is coming home with 4 stars as a rule, which is excellent. Last week we had a friend over to play - Danny. These two don't get on at school, and Zack's first comment when I collect him is often, "Danny only got 2 stars today!" So, there is a lot of competitiveness between them. The play date was a good exercise, but Zack was in tears for the last half hour as Danny didn't want to do what he wanted him to.
In light of that though, Zack had an excellent day last week when he got 5 stars AND won the trophy for Enjoy-a-Ball. As a reward he and I went out for pizza (alone) in Hornsey and he got to choose exactly what he wanted, and to take the bus there and back. It was such a special evening. He must have glowed for about four days afterward. Bless his little socks.
Calvin is putting sentences together. Last Friday (so a week ago), he said very firmly, "We want yoghurt," to which we all laughed. And then on Saturday when he was misbehaving I said to him, "Who wants a shaya (smack, in Zulu) ?", to which he replied, "me!". Keith, Zack and I fell about laughing. He is trying more and more to make himself understood.
He is loving being in the bigger bed, which he calls the "new bed". He shows it to everyone, and will often be the first words off his tongue in the morning...
"Daddy. New bed", he says, pointing.
He is also getting on with the potty training. Tonight was the second time he's made a poo in the potty at bathtime. We all go crazy and praise him, and applaud, so he's getting the message loud and clear.
Nursery is going better and better. He pretends it's really hard to say goodbye, but within in seconds he's stopped crying and having fun with his mates.
It's end of year madness too - so many activities for school. Tomorrow is Cakes for Clothes day, so we were baking most of this afternoon. Tomorrow afternoon is the Christmas Fayre at School. Next week is the Nativity Play, when Zack will be one of the 3 wise men. Part of me wants to point out that there weren't 3, and that the 3 refers to the gifts. Part of me also wants to point out that he's not a "king" (as the school newsletter put it), but a "wise man from the East". Considering it's a Christian School I think it's important to get the facts straight, but hey ho - as Andy always says, "choose your battles Ruth!" I've chosen purple with a gold crown and Zack loves it.

my 2nd 2nd

Calvin's 2nd birthday followed soon after our return from holiday. Being a bank holiday (long weekend), we had the family over for lunch – Caryl & Claire, and we had a small candle-blowing ceremony too. Calvin just loved it, wanting to re-light and blow out the candles again and again. Too cute.
We decided to get him the same gift we gave Zack for his 2nd birthday – a scooter. He likes being pushed on it, but hasn't yet had the opportunity to practice much.

His little friend Mark, also celebrated his 2nd birthday (they are 3 days apart in age), and spent a fun afternoon there. Zack was also invited and was quite well behaved. As expected, there was a lot of cake consumed.

Zack is now into underpants at night - no more nappies. He is doing really well. We have had a few accidents, but overall he is dry throughout. I am very proud of him as many children struggle with this 'final' tranch of potty-training. I DO think that anxiety affects his ability to stay dry – ie. when he's worried about something (like starting school). I suppose it's the sub-concious manifesting itself.

developments

The brothers at the pinball machine

Whew! what a crazy time it's been. We went off on holiday to Carvoeira in Portugal (near Faro) and Zack and Calvin had a blast. We were staying in a little holiday cottage spot that had a pool and a pool and an indoor pool. We swam all day, every day. The sun shone all day, every day. Zack's swimming has come on in leaps and bounds – he even leapt into the deep end without me one day (I nearly had a heart attack, and was screaming, "Nooooo!" while running and kicking off my shoes), and paddled to the side nonchalantly. Without wings!
Calvin started out really cautious of the water, as everything was "wet". But he was soon confident enough to climb down into the baby's paddling pool and wander into the middle by himself. We had two or three falling down and not being able to stand up, so Mummy grabbed me out of the water immediately, moments. But they were all done under close supervision. May I just say that mothers have completely over-active imaginations, and we always expect the worst – it gives us the edge I think.

Elly jumps over Zack

Zack made friends with a lovely little lass from Worcestershire, whose name was Elly. They spent all their time together and we were so sad to say goodbye on our last morning.

Our only day on the beach was extraordinarily hot. For some reason Zack decided the best thing to do was to go down on hands and knees and rub your face in the sand. Yuck !

In the last two days of our holiday Calvin decided that he was potty training and has completely caught onto wee'ing in the toilet. He is a genius ! And might I point out that he wasn't even two years old yet. Amazing! It really is so much easier with the second child – he just emulates his brother.

Annoyingly we got home to an ear-infection for Zack – or perhaps I should say, predictably ? So he's been on Amoxycilin for 10 days. Seems to have done the job.
What was possibly worse was that Tina, our housekeeper, was off sick for another two days and the ironing was mounting up and things were getting out of control. Not only that but our temporary Nanny who would have really taken off some of the pressure, was also off unexpectedly for a day. I returned to some enormous work pressure and deadlines, so I admit to feeling quite strung-out within days of returning. You always want the "holiday vibe" to linger, don't you ?!

twilight zone

I flew out to Ohio last week Thursday, with two boys in tow, to visit Keith's aunt and uncle - Joy & Mike. The flight out was horrendous. I arrived at Heathrow at 09h35 (three hours before the flight was due to depart). It took them 2 hours to issue Calvin's boarding pass as he was travelling as an "infant on lap". Apparently the system couldn't sort it out. Idiots at Continental/United Airlines have NO idea about frustration. What am I supposed to do with two children who are being forced to stand still in a ticket hall for two hours? My blood was boiling. Calvin and Zack then took it in turns to press all mommy's buttons until we got to Cleveland. I was extremely grateful for the air-stewardess on our final leg: the only helpful individual we'd met in 12 hours!
The kids had such a good time, and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention. Zack went to sleep as soon as we got there, but Calvin was wide awake and firing on all cylinders. It meant that everyone got to meet the little brother, without all the sibling rivalry that goes on during daylight hours. It was great fun and he did his little walking steps from one person to another too - what a performer! Joy and Mike were both working, so during the day we'd go to the Mall (it was bitterly cold outside), or down to a playground nearby.

Zack working his way up

The fun of sliding

Saying "Goodbye" to Joy on Tuesday morning

Calvin and James share an IKEA moment

Uncle Mike helps Calvin eat every last pea in the pot

I was feeling incredibly rough (tired, ratty and sick) when we got there, but thanks to the family I slept for a good 9 hours on the first night. I was diagnosed with 'pink eye' while I was there, so it was good to get some meds, and shake that infection (I'd been struggling to get rid of it at home). Keith arrived on Friday night, and we were able to sleep in on both Sat and Sun mornings. What a wonderful feeling! Mike doesn't sleep well, and the boys had jet-lag, so it was a win-win situation.
Zack, Calvin and I went out for hamburgers on Monday afternoon which Zack thought was a treat. He can be incredibly slow at eating - too busy watching everything else that's going on around us. He loved the ceremony of it all too, and I sent him off to the 'soda machine' to refill his own cup.
It is Zack's 4th birthday in 10 day's time and we are planning a Spiderman theme. Walmart is a wonderland of goodies, so I picked up a ton of stuff for the party. Thank goodness for huge weight allowances on US flights.
Tuesday evening was the flight home. We had a relatively uneventful trip home - no delays, no crises, no [enormous] tantrums, and a quick connection at Newark too. Zack wet his trousers sleeping, but I'd prepared for that eventuality and packed clean bottoms, and socks. Funnily enough he did comment that, "people will laugh at me with no trousers on" (I had to change him once all the other passengers had disembarked), but I reassured him that no-one could see. Funny the little things that they are concerned about all of sudden.

Race:
Zack is suddenly aware of race/ethnicity. We were in a supermarket today, and he said to me, 'That man is the same colour as Ethan and Chloe'. To which I replied, 'Yes, that's right. Anokye's daddy is also that colour.' I think he's identified the colour as 'brown'.
Then, just to throw a spanner in the works, I said to him, "So Zack, what colour do you think you are ?' I proffered some suggestions : purple, green, blue pointing at my skin. In the end he said, "I don't know Mom." So I suggested he think about it and we can talk about it again. Devils' advocate!

41/14 months

Zack just loves playing "I spy" and a slight variation of it, which we call "Ten Guesses" (which means that you have to guess something he can see - or not - but he doesn't have to identify the first letter). He's really into story telling, and loves it when we make up tales about Prince Zack and Prince Calvin, or Zack the Spiderman, etc. He's excellent at filling in the gaps in familiar stories, or describing regular activities.
He is getting better and better at phonetics, and can often identify the sound that starts the word. He is writing "Z" with confidence, but struggles with the "A" and the "K". He's getting there tho. He is a pro at doing up buttons now, so pyjamas are Zack's department.
Zack has progressed so well on the toilet training. He had an upset tummy earlier in the week, so we were cleaning up mucky underpants for the first time in ages, which made me appreciate just how far he's come. The last 2 nights have also been an achievement in that he's managed to go through without wetting his nappy. This bodes well, as we'd like to get him to be dry thru the night in the near future. I think it won't be long.
Calvin is more and more mobile. You really have to keep an eye on him. Just a moment ago, I came into the study to read the BBC news site and before I could blink he'd crawled up the stairs. He is able to climb up onto our Barcelona chairs in the lounge, unassisted; altho' he is unable to get onto the sofa which is slightly higher - he gets frustrated at that. He loves playing peek-a-boo, and goes from room to room saying, "Aaaahahhhh. Ba-ba. Duhd. Daah-dee. Yeaaa. Eeehhh. Eeeett. Deh. Daaa--ahh. Aaah-ti," and the usual simpering which means, 'I want my own way Mummy!' He certainly has learnt how to crank up the volume - and lets you know when he means business. I think people are surprised when he shouts, as they know him to be so passive and chilled.
Calvin is pointing alot and saying "Dee" when he does so. He is interested in lights, switches and buttons, and wants to turn them on and off. Keeping him away from the DVD-player is proving a challenge, as he's watched his brother use it, and also being a genius, knows which button to press to open the CD tray. Eek !
Keith has kept a Father's Day card, which has the theme tune from Star Trek playing when you open it. Calvin just loves opening and closing it, opening and closing it. I must try and get it on video to upload :)

oink - zoom

Swine Flu
Zack came home with a newsletter today to say that some children at the nursery have been prescribed Tamiflu and that the council has decided that there is nothing to be gained by closing local nurseries now. As I'd said before, it is really just a question of time before one of us comes down with it. The press published infection rates in yesterday's paper and many of the borough's have around 400 per 100,000 except for Tower Hamlets (where we used to live) which stands around 740 per 100,000 – almost double.

Zack and Anokye tuck into some pineapple

Zack's PT has dipped in the past few days. Last night he wee'd while eating his dinner. This morning, he wee'd going downstairs for breakfast (I assume he'd forgotten that he wasn't wearing a nappy - night time thing - and just let go). It's exasperating because he knows what's going on and we are caught between 'was it an accident' or 'is he just doing it for attention' ?

Crawling
Calvin is honing his mobility and can now get around using two arms and a leg. I've tried to encourage the second leg to join in, but he prefers to keep it dead-straight in a sort of rudder position. He loves being able to get around and go and see things : this evening he wandered off to the guest loo and utility room for a 'look see'. He is really very sweet and loves to wave his arms, wiggle his right hand and fingers and shriek. He is certainly getting the screaming down pat - enough to raise the dead sometimes.