Halloween 2012

Just a quick update with some pictures.  For halloween Adam was Dr. Frankenstein (we taught him to say "fr-awnk-in-steen" like in Young Frankenstein) and Evan was Igor (what hump?).  They wore name tags at the church trunk-or-treat, but everyone assumed he was Dr. Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's book, rather than Gene Wilder.  We tried to make his hair crazy with hair gel, but it is just too fine & thin.  Adam did go around saying "PUT ZE CANDLE BECK," with the appropriate emphases, but I don't think most people got it.  So no costume prizes, but Nat's chili did get runner up for best chili! 

Lauren was lucky enough to get off work early so she could take the kids around the neighborhood.  Most people didn't get the reference, and thought Adam was a doctor and Evan was dressed for the cold (in a cape with a hump?).  But Adam didn't mind because he got candy either way.  Rationing Adam's candy is going to be tough. 

Other than that, no big changes.  For pumpkins Adam chose Kipper, from his favorite TV show, and we picked Arnold the pig for Evan from the same show.  For ourselves, we wanted something more traditional and less video-gamey, so I found a still from Disney's Sleepy Hollow I could draw onto the pumpkin so we did that.  Turned out OK. 

Evan walks everywhere now.  He is still faster crawling, but if he's not in a hurry, he'll just wander around the house walking.  He's just learned to go down stairs himself too, today was his first successful venture at it.  Both are healthy and doing well. 

Happy Halloween!

This picture is actually from the summer

This one too

I think Evan looks rather ghoulish in this picture

Adam helps carve Kipper

Evan at trunk-or-treat

Leaves!

Late Summer and Fall, 2012

It has been too long since we've put something up. Vacation in Pennsylvania was fun, Adam really enjoyed being with his cousins and still asks for Marshall and Alex occasionally.  I've put up some pictures, which look fine here, though our camera was set on 640x480 for the whole vacation, so on a bigger screen they look awful.  If any of you have some pictures from the trip you'd like to send us, we'd be glad to have them. 


We also had a nice visit in You Nork - seeing many of you, Megan, Heather and Dan, and other family.  Adam enjoyed Powers Farm and Bounce it Out with Alex, donuts and cider in Binghamton, and being spoiled by family.  He didn't even mind falling into the creek with me.  Anyhow, it was worth the drive, Adam and Evan were great in the long car ride, Evan only whined when he was hungry and when we pulled into Bloomington; Adam was good too.  Hopefully something comes out of the interview I did in Albany. 

The kiddos are good.  At Evan's 9 month appointment he was about 19 lbs, about 2 lbs lighter than Adam at that age.  Evan was an inch and a half shorter too.  So he's a bit smaller than Adam, pretty consistently ~25th percentile, whereas Adam was ~50th.  Evan did crawl earlier than Adam and is looking to walk earlier too.

We're trying to teach Adam the alphabet.  He doesn't have the patience he needs for it, but we've got flash cards with pictures to help.  He wants to read because we told him that when he can read, he can play our board games with us.  I don't know why he has such a fetish for board game pieces, but if it motivates him to read, fine by me.  He loves to make forts out of the pillows downstairs and decided at the county fair that he doesn't like horses.   

Evan is starting to walk.  He can take a few steps before falling and can stand for quite a while without holding onto anything.  He's verbally responsive to us, has clear wants, and gets frustrated trying to communicate them with us.  He rejected baby food months ago, and now just eats table food and uses a sippy cup for all but formula.  When we went apple picking, he got a hold of one, and literally ate it to the core with his tiny teeth. 

Lauren is doing really well with her fancy shmancy workouts in the morning.  She tries to do it five times a week, and is successful thus far.  She's ready to move on, we both are, but otherwise we're fine.  Aaron & Lauren surprised me for my 30th birthday.  Aaron came down without telling me, and stayed for several days.  Also, Aaron and my father got us a TV for my birthday, so we have something a bit larger than our 21" screen we've had for ~5 years. 

The weather here has cooled down, and we've started getting a fair amount of rain.  Too late to help the farmers, but probably helps the municipal water supply.  Anyhow, enjoy the pictures!

Hot Summer

Summer has been hot here.  Very hot.  The last two weeks have been reliably 100+ degrees, we had four or five in a row around 106.  We've been staying inside and taking trips to indoor activities.  Adam's favorite is going to the mall to play with balls at Dicks, play bowling & basketball at the little arcade, then get a cookie. 

Evan is much more of a person.  He crawls very well, and has been for ~3 weeks.  The first week he was crawling, he learned to pull himself up to standing.  He's tried to climb onto the landing a few times, but has been unsuccessful thus far, thank goodness.  Evan is starting the "fear of strangers" phase.  He's eating solids and getting more dexterous picking up little puffs and snacks.  He has two new bottom teeth.  I'd include a picture of the teeth, but he's kept his tongue on them ever since he could feel them.


Adam is doing well too.  It is increasingly hard to trick him.  When I sneak a little snack, I used to tell him it was broccoli so he wouldn't be interested.  But now he knows better.  We've done some fun things.  We went to a drive-in to see Brave and The Avengers.  We left before Avengers, but Adam loved eating junk food and staying up late.  On the 4th, we went to the Church for a pancake breakfast (Adam ate four pancakes) and then we went to the parade.  It was over a hundred by the time we left, and we could feel it. 

We've also had some discussion about how similar Adam & Evan look.  Before the spate of recent pictures, I'd like your opinions.  Below is a group of faces, which are Adam and which are Evan? 



How could you tell the difference - which features are similar and which are different?  How easy/obvious was it to tell the difference? 

You can see the answers below, but make your guesses before you peek.* 



Adam drives semi-truck at "touch a truck"

A baby goat investigates Adam

Unlike Adam, Evan wasn't scared of the horse

We went to see "Brave" at the drive-in

Adam waves his flag at the 4th of July parade

Adam and his friend watch the 4th of July band



It was hot, but Evan held up really well

*Evan - 1, 3, 5, 8.  Adam - 2, 4, 6, 7, 9. 

Early Summer

Thought I should update with a few things.  Adam and I went canoeing at a nearby lake.  He was excited to go "on a boat," and really enjoyed it.  With nearly 200 lbs in the back and barely 30 lbs in the front, paddling could be challenging.  The tiny waves would slap the front of the canoe's underside and a strong gust of wind would whip us around in no time.  That said, I remembered the J stroke pretty quickly and we had a great time. 

We took a trip to Nashville to see some friends early this week.  As part of the trip, we went swimming in a nice pool; both Adam and Evan loved it once they got used to the water (warm, but not nearly as warm as the air).  Our friends have two little girls close to Adam & Evan's age, and more toys that I could imagine keeping.  The trip down was great, both boys slept most of the way; the trip back was more challenging. 

Evan is doing really well.  He's been rocking back and forward on his hands and knees, so crawling should be any day now.  He is eating solid foods and it is getting harder to get him to eat breastmilk or formula, he's just not as interested.  He is very smiley and very good natured.  When he grouches, he is always hungry, tired, or bored of being in the same spot too long.  Usually pretty easy to fix.  He's becoming a lot more fun. 

Adam is the same as ever.  He always uses big words and phrases he's picked up from us and TV.  When he finds something, it has been "missing for ages."  When he obliges us when we ask him for something, he often says "of course!"  Lots of little snippets and phrases that he's picked up and can use in context.  He genuinely likes Evan.  When Evan is crying, Adam always does something nice - pats him on the back, tells him its OK, gets him a toy, or something along those lines. 

The weather has been nice but erratic here.  I understand it has been the similar elsewhere.  Below are the pictures, enjoy. 

Adam's trophy for chasing some geese on the boat

Like all kids, he loves fruit and sweet vegetables, not a fan of green stuff.

At the pool in Nashville

Evan smiles readily

Adam and his friend

On our trip home, Adam was bribed with a donut

He rocks back and forth, but hasn't figured out how to move his hands & knees yet.  Soon.

Mothers Day and Cincinnati

We had a nice trip to Cincinnati and visit with Karen and Ron.  In Cincinnati we went to the zoo, a baseball game complete with fireworks, and a giant grocery store that had everything you can imagine.  When passed an Ikea on our way out, and Lauren's eyes got wide, and she said we have to come back.

Lauren insisted on making mother's day dinner, and she made a wonderful dinner.  We grilled fresh salmon we'd bought from the giant grocery store and a coconut-walnut cake that was very dense and moist.  Everything turned out great.

Evan has been threatening to get hair for a while now, but he's just starting to get some fuzz.  He sits up quite well on his own, he grabs everything, and loves to feel new textures.  He's about to start some oatmeal cereal, as he's been on rice cereal for a while.  Sooner or later he'll start sleeping through the night too, but we're not holding our breath. 

Adam is as fun as ever.  He has probably a dozen books memorized and probably a dozen songs.  He also seems to remember events when emotions were a bit high, so he remembers the times we've had fun, but also every time we've gotten angry or worried, and he likes to repeat these events.  Like the time he hurt his wrist on a walk or the time I yelled at the idiot car ahead of me which refused to pass a biker.  

Adam is working on actually pedaling his tricycle, and we're all working on sharing (I swear he was better at sharing before we started teaching him about it).  He's enjoying the warm weather, and has been asking to go swimming at the pool.  Here are pictures:

Lazybones gets a ride

This was at the petting zoo

Adam loved the hot dog

The stadium is right on the river, it was nice

This is the grocery store "Jungle Jims" - they have 4 aisles of hot sauce, several aisles of cheese, live fish you pick like lobsters, huge ethnic food sections, and more - it covers a square city block

 

Caramelized Grilled Salmon with Lime Zest (it marinated with a dry rub for a day before grilling)

Lauren enjoys the fruit of her labor

Coconut Cake

A bit bright looking into the sun

Happy Birthday PaPa

What better way to celebrate PaPa's birthday than with some of his larger than life grandkids. Saturday, Apr. 7 PaPa turned 69 amid a flurry of activity including an easter egg hunt around the Walker's yard. Grace, Marshall, and Alex each found their allotted 10 treat filled eggs hidden almost too good by Aunt Natty and Amber. PaPa took video of the event with his new camcorder Nana bought him for his birthday, but alas the witness video has disappeared and we don't know how it happened. Papa has to practice more. After all, it has been many years since he had a new cam corder. Sunday, we went to church with Carl and Amber and enjoyed their remodeled building. It was hard to remember the inside before. And the parking lot is so much bigger.  Amber and Carl made a very nice ham dinner. Doesn't Dad/Papa look great? It is keeping up with all the activity in our family that keeps him young and chipper. We are looking forward to visiting Adam and Evan in May for Mother's Day. We are very blessed with such great grandkids who love their PaPa and for their parents who are raising such sweet people.

Thirty One Years of Refining

Happy Birthday Cara! 31 years of refining a little gem into a family jewel. Look how artistic she applied her sister's mascara. Those Cain genes eliminate any needed gunk to her beautiful face. Arnie and Cider are just two very good love vanes that recognize her big heart. Dr. Crooks declared her. "a keeper" when he delivered her by C section the day after Easter, 1981, and she has proven his declaration very true.

Easter and Spring, 2012

Spring is here in a major way.  The daffodils were bloomed out by late February, the tulips by mid March, and the trees finished blossoming by April.  It has been far too nice, I understand it means we'll have a very buggy summer.  We've found several tics already, just from walking in fields to get to streams and ponds that Adam likes.

Adam and Evan are doing well.  Evan was 14 pounds at 4 months, and he's about 50th percentile for everything - slightly longer than heavy, just like Adam.  His motor skills are much better - he grabs rings and moves them to his mouth very quickly.  He can sit for 10-15 seconds before slowly crumpling to the ground.  He smiles and talks and loves to be outside.

Evan loves his stand-up bouncer thingy, and is willing to spend some time by himself.  He is still having trouble rolling front to back, but he can go the other way in a cinch. He's great about going to bed - we wrap him up when he's tired, lay him down, and he's out without a fuss.  He'll sleep about 8 hours from when he goes down, so that's 3 or 4am, which is pretty good.  His naps are getting less frequent, and his awake time is getting much longer. 

Adam speaks like a normal person, he understands tenses, sequence, and he can circumlocute words we don't understand.  The other day he was saying he had "brrd" on his hand, and I ran through words sounding similar - bird, bread, etc.  Finally he said, "kind of like skin or a tree or a stick" and I figured it out.  He was saying "bark," as in bark had rubbed off on his hand from the stick he'd been carrying.

Bedtime is fun, we do baths, read books (Fox in Socks & If I Had Duck Feet are among is new favorites), sing songs, read scriptures, pray, and bed.  It has made bedtime take quite a bit longer, but that's alright.  Tonight, Adam asked for a song about his precious blanket.  We don't know any such song, and told him so.  He responded by singing, "I am a child of blanket, and he has sent me here..."

Lauren is doing well.  She's running again and doing yoga in the mornings.  She's been reading a book about health and nutrition and has been moving us to eat healthier than before, which I suppose I'll be grateful for in 30 years.  She loves those with whom she works, and enjoys the work.  I'm the same as I've been for the last 9 months or so. 

We had a nice easter.  Saturday the kiddos did an easter egg hunt with a bunch of neighborhood kids.  Today Lauren made a nice easter dinner - ham, rolls, sweet potatoes, and her famous deviled eggs.  Some friends came over and brought dessert and vegetables, and we had a good time.  Adam loved his basket and all the goodies - candy and toys - though we'll see which lasts longest. 

Enjoy the pictures.

Bradford Pear at the Louisville Temple

This was a hike we took in Spring Mill Park

Evan loved it outside

Adam looks at his loot with his friend, Barec

The first group of egg hunters were up to 3 years old, so the eggs weren't "hidden" all that well

Too much candy

His goofy smile

Mouth full of chocolate

This is what Evan looks like today.  He is bald as a watermelon, so he needs a hat to stay warm.

Adam is still wearing his ears

The full easter basket loot