Closing The Gap

Until recently, the boys' 1.5 year age gap has been huge. Charlie couldn't do anything Max could do. Now that Charlie can walk, climb, and even get a word out here and there, that gap doesn't feel quite so big. They play together and laugh together. They want to do the same things - go to parks, wrestle with dad, dance with mom, throw food, climb on the couch when they're not supposed to - and they go to bed at the same time. Rock on. 

In other news, poor Charlie has had a rough few days. He spent today sick, but a record-breaking nap in the afternoon has him on the mend.

Breakfast

This morning's menu:

     Max: Apple cinnamon oatmeal, a banana, water

     Charlie: Allergen-free waffle, fruit, soy milk

Hair situation: awesome.

Talk

Me: Max, did you hear your teacher? She'll give you a treat when you potty!

Max: That's CRAZY!


Another one:

Max: Can we go home? I'm hungry. My tummy is growling. I need to put some food in here.

Run, Run

Since about April of 2011, I've been running pretty regularly. Before then, I never ran. I exercised sporadically, but the last real running I did was in lifeguard training in high school. In 2011, I ran 539 miles, including my first half-marathon (13.1 miles). I ran the half marathon in September, in 2 hours and 18 minutes, which puts my pace at a little under 11 minutes per mile. That's really slow. But, it's running.

MK runs, too, and has completed two half-marathons. We'll run together at Lincoln's half-marathon this year, and I'm excited. I wish I had started running with her earlier - she's been encouraging me to exercise for years. Max is getting in on some one-mile runs. Charlie rolls with us in the stroller.

Anyway, my summer running was much more consistent than my fall running, though my fall wasn't shabby. I've promised myself to improve. This year, I'll run my first marathon. That's twice the distance (not surprisingly) of a half-marathon: 26.2 miles. If I don't improve my pace, it'll take me 4 hours and 36 minutes. I'll likely run the Omaha Marathon in September. It's well-organized and it's where I ran my first half.

Most of the time, I run on a treadmill. My bee allergy makes it difficult for me to run long distances outside in warm weather. I prefer running outdoors.

I'm reading a book by Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (thanks, Lesley!). I can relate to Haruki's take on running, though I'll talk more about that in a later post. In the picture above, those are my tracks, coming and going.



Back In The Saddle

It's been a heckuva year, and we're only 23 days in. Charlie had a severe reaction at daycare and was given the EpiPen right there, then taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Scared the living daylights out of everyone. Happily for Charlie, the daycare is staffed by pros who handled the emergency without a hitch. Did I mention it was scary?

Anyway, above, Charlie is holding his stacking cups, his favorite toy at the moment. He also likes little cards that have pictures on them. He carries them around, puts them in cups, and chatters about them, pointing to the chickens and other items/animals on them.

Max is doing great. He loves day care, he's making huge strides with potty training (MK has had some great ideas there) and he's really loving to Charlie. When I come into daycare, I pick up Max first because he's in the main room. One of the first things he says is "Can we go get Charlie?" We do and Max gives him a big hug. The other day, Charlie was playing in the main room with the big kids while I put the boys' bags on their hooks. I heard Max saying "No, stop pushing Charlie! He's my brother. Stop pushing my Charlie!"

Sure enough, some of the kids in his class were pushing Charlie. Max was standing between them, fending them off. The teachers took care of things right away, but it was cool to see.

Last Christmas Post of the Year

One last post with pics from Christmas. Then it's on to a bright new year: one in which Max will continue to knock our socks off with his vocabulary - and so will Charlie, if the past week has been any indication.

Snug

Haven't seen a better advertisement for GUND than this.