Friday, May 14, 2010

Grandma and Auntie Lisa!

 Auntie Lisa with Dashiell, days after he was born

My mom ("Grandma") and one of my sisters ("Auntie Lisa") are going to be visiting us next week, so in honor of their visit I thought I'd post a few "oldie" photos of the two of them with Mr. D.  He loves his Grandma and Auntie Lisa, and every time I tell them they will be visiting he gets all excited.  But I have to admit that I'm sad that he doesn't know them as well as he knows Rick's side of the family.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that he's got a close relationship to his Nana and Grandpa Hanson, and Nina and Papa Jack (his great-grandparents), and everyone on the Hanson/Callahan side, and we are blessed to live so close to them, I just wish he could have that same kind of relationship with my side of the family!  I've been assured that when he gets older he'll view his relationship with my parents and sisters as special because he only gets to see them occasionally, but for now it still makes me a little sad.

Happy guy with his happy Grandma

But, he definitely is getting to know them better, and this visit will help.  So far we have nothing on our agenda for the visit, though if the weather is nice we might head down to the Cape for a day or two.  Or maybe I can convince them that we all should go to the Children's Museum in Boston to check out the Curious George exhibit...though I'm pretty sure that won't be high on their list of fun Boston activities to do...

Auntie Lisa and Dashiell sharing a drink on the porch

I'm guessing that mostly we'll be hanging out in the back yard (assuming the weather gods are nice to us), playing with Dashiell and enjoying each others' company!  I can't wait to see them!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Sick kiddo

For mother's day this year I got a sick kid.  Not the greatest present, but a good reminder of all it takes to be a mom.  Ya take the good, ya take the bad...

We went to the doctor this morning, and my little guy has croup.  Barking cough, plus rattley breathing, so he got a nubulizer treatment and a steroid shot.  He did surprisingly well during the nebulizer treatment!  The shot, not as well.  But who likes getting shots??  Anyway, he seems much better, less rattley, not coughing as much, though he is still pretty low-energy and a bit cranky.  My poor guy!  So today we're taking it easy and hanging on the couch watching the Muppet Show.

This picture, however, is from last night.  Rick fell asleep while Dash cuddled on him.  Super cute.

Saturday, May 8, 2010

"I Love Letters!"

...is what Dashiell proclaimed from the changing table this morning.  And I believe him!  It's an obsession, in fact.  He feels the need to name every letter he sees.  EVERY letter he sees.  All the time.  Which is great, yes, but now he's got me making letters for him out of other things, mainly blocks.  At playgroup on Monday we were playing with these big cardboard Melissa and Doug blocks, making our letters, doing our thing, and one little boy just kept knocking down every letter we built.  Which was VERY upsetting.  Dashiell usually loves to knock down blocks, but not when they're forming his beloved letters!


At home we make letters out of Legos.  Lots and lots of letters out of Legos. His favorite letters?  THX.  Like the letters you see at the beginning of DVDs with the sound check noise ("The audience is listening").  What's funny is that Dashiell HATES that part of a DVD.  Anytime it comes on he screams and cries until it's over.  So I tried to make it more enjoyable by pointing out the great letters.  Now he loves the letters, but still hates the noise.  Ah well, I tried! :)

Here are a couple pictures of D engaged in another favorite activity, "reading":

He often recites the books as he flips through the pages, so to anyone who did not know how often we read each of these books and how well he has them memorized, it would appear as if he's actually reading!  Good parlor trick!

Let's hope we can continue to foster this love of letters and reading for the rest of his life!  Even if it means endlessly building Lego letters!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!