A New Moon

Joseph reminded us to check the mail this evening, so I took him outside with me. He started running for the mailbox, but stopped to stare at the sky. In slurred toddler speech he asked,"Where is the moon?" I was busy translating his words, so I didn't answer him. He threw his hands up in a toddler shrug, pointed and announced, "Moon is sleeping..."

The Alphabet Song: Director's Cut

Joseph sings the alphabet song a couple of times.

Tags: joseph, alphabet, song, texas, december, 2008

I Will Charm You!

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Lena Sleeps and Smiles II

Tags: lena, texas, november, 2008, sleep, smile

Lena Sneezes

Lena sneezes and blows spit bubbles.  What a cute baby!

Tags: lena, texas, november, 2008

A Fit to Remember

This is what happens when we wake up early from our nap.

Tags: joseph, yexas, 2008, fit

Joseph's Second Birthday Party

I don't think he knew it was his birthday party, but he sure enjoyed the cake and company.

Here are the birthday photos. Check out the video too:

Halloween Monkey and Grandpa Joe

Halloween Monkey and Grandpa Joe
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Grandpa Joe came for a visit and proved a great mentor for Joseph's role as "Halloween Monkey." He helped Joseph carry pumpkins around the house and outside, and even chased him into bed.

Joseph's been asking to watch "TV shows" more often, and when I commented on his realistic portrayal as a monkey, he asked "Is Monkey on Tivo?" Sorry Joseph, but Tivo is sleeping :-)

Here are the photos from this year and last year's Halloween.

More on Grandpa Joe's visit when we post the birthday photos.

Lena Sleeps and Smiles

Click to play

Gigi Visits

GiGi holds the Babies
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Gigi covered third shift for a week after Nana left, and made it just in time for Dada to go TDY for a week. Good timing Gigi! When I got back, we went on a family adventure to San Jose Mission and my favorite Mexican restaurant. Just like I told her, the bars on the windows *did* add to the ambiance. As a parting gift, Gigi left the wonderful swing set we mentioned earlier.

We love you and thanks for coming Gigi!

Nana Visits

Nana and Joseph Swing at the Park
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Nana stayed with us for a week after Grand Debbie left, and covered support duties for baby holding and toddler feeding. Nana was even brave enough to take Joseph to the park and the pumpkin patch. We enjoyed Nana's casseroles and chocolate pie. Lena found Nana particularly snugglicious.

Nana was a great help, and good company... thanks for coming down Nana!

Grand Debbie Visits

Grand Debbie and Lena are Chill
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

A big (and late) thanks to Grand Debbie who came out for 2 whole weeks to watch Joseph during the birth and to hold babies afterward. She make us many delicious meals, though trips for groceries sometimes resulted in extra toys for some kids I know!

She handled our little trip to the hospital after Lena's birth with aplomb, and covered the home front and Joseph for two solid days.

We really appreciate all the help and enjoyed your stay with us. Thanks Grand Debbie.

Lena's first bath

Lena's first bath
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Lena's first bath went pretty much like Joseph's. Subsequent baths were much more tranquil.

Joseph Punishes Dada

Joseph punishes Dada for not paying attention to him
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Yep. Dada decided to take a stand on using the computer unassisted for some important business. After a short fit, Joseph redirected his energies toward "reading" all of his books--handfuls at a time. We spent a lot of quality time putting books back in their bins.

Joseph on his new Tire Swing

Joseph on his new Tire Swing
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Thanks to Gigi for the new playset! Joseph loves it, especially the tire swing. He ran up to me today and told me all about it when I got home from work.

Angry Baby!

Angry Baby!
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Lena makes lots of funny faces... especially when she's angry! She's not really angry, but it sure looks like she's saying, "What'cha lookin at dad?"

Zoo Times

We went to the zoo today as our first family-of-four outing. The day should have been stressfully unpleasant, but I enjoyed the trip. Lena fell asleep on arrival and remain asleep until the car ride home. Heather carried her at the zoo and I think all the bumping and bird noises helped her sleep. Joseph helped push the double-stroller, but stopped at every trash can too push on the spring-loaded lids. The bird-feed dispensers drew him in more than the trashcans. When I tried to move him along toward the monkey cages he threw a fit. When we wouldn't let him roll around in the bird poo to finish his fit, he threw a USDA Grade A fit. Meanwhile a bird pooed in Heather's hair, which means it missed Lena's open mouth by less than a foot. We strapped a sweaty, screaming Joseph into the stroller, passed the monkey cages and beat it home. I'm still not sure why I had a good time.

First Moments after Birth

First Moments after Birth
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Heather gave birth to Lena Rose Lidowski on 06 Oct 08 at 1610. Lena is an adorable little girl with dark colored hair and long fingernails. We gave birth at home, but took a little trip to the hospital for some extra fluids. Thankfully, Grand Debbie took charge of Joseph during our hospital visit. Mommy and baby are happy and back at home--well, as happy as you can be after giving birth to a 9 lb 7 oz baby!

Joseph is still working on acknowledging Lena's existence.

Here are more pictures of Lena.

Monkey Net

Joseph receives a "monkey net" from Grand Debbie in the mail and decides to put it in use just like in the book What Time is it Mr. Crocodile.





Thanks Grand Debbie!

Joseph Gets a Haircut

Joseph is enthralled by the buzzers and the barber cape. It helped to watch Daddy get his hair cut a few weeks back. No unkempt heads in this house!

Baby II Tries to Escape

Watch Heather's belly. What started out as a few innocent kicks, ended in a bona fide escape attempt.

Summer Sprinkler Fun

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Here's one from the archives: Joseph's first sprinkler playtime.

Maybe not ready for such a big bed...

Maybe not ready for such a big bed...
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

It's always fun to see where he ends up every night. He's usually pretty upset when he wakes up in the closet.

How do you catch a monkey?

I asked Joseph last week, "How do you catch a monkey?" I was just fooling with him and I didn't expect an answer. He thought about it in silence for a moment before responding, "A... monkey net!"

Big Boy Bed

Big boy bed
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Here's Joseph sleeping in his big-boy bed. He stayed in his new bed the whole night. You could see the pride on his face when he saw me converting his crib. After thoroughly testing the new safety rails, he starting jumping and running across the bed.

After we got him stripped down for bath time, he got away and started jumping on the bed again. Of course, he piddled a little on his bed. As I dragged him away to the bath, he began a plaintive, screaming chant, "Bed! bed! bed! bed! bed!"

If only nap time were so successful...

Grrr, Gotcha!

Surprise!
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Be careful next time you open a linen basket. There's no telling who might be inside!

Summer Reading Certificate

Summer Reading Certificate
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Joseph presents his summer reading program certificate. He received this honor for reading 15 books with mommy and daddy.

Monkey?

We relaxed our TV policy two weeks ago. After a particularly bad fit, I let Joseph kick, thrash and roll across the floor while I popped on the TV to wait it out. The channel happened to be set to Curious George on PBS (already in progress). Shortly after George appeared, the cries died down to sniffles, and while the ottoman hid most of the fit from view, I could see his little legs go from a kickin' to just shifting around for comfort.

After two or three minutes, he ventured a sniffily, "Monkey?" After that he was pretty much ok. He got up and sat in my lap to watch the last ten minutes of the show. As he snuffled his way back to calm, he even managed to point out a cartoon flashlight, window, tree and hat. Now he gets to watch "Monkey" a few times a week, though he taps the TV cabinet and asks for "Monkey" pretty much every day. He even knows when it comes on since it coincides with the end of nap time.

We based our original policy of "No TV" on a rejection of TV as baby sitter and passive entertainment (i.e., books and play would engage Joseph more). Recent experience suggests a new policy of limited TV. The new policy is consistent with our original intent. Firstly, the TV does not babysit Joseph. We generally watch the show with him, and engage him with questions about the show. Secondly, Joseph actively engages in the show by walking up to the TV and pointing out what Curious George is doing/holding/using etc. He even learns new words from the show.

Finally, aside from the cold logic of modern parenting, the little guy just lights up when he sees Monkeys doing anything. Who can say no to that?

Registries Ready

Hello! While not required, registries for Baby II are ready:

Diaper Registry for Baby II


Babies R US Registry

First Complete Sentence

A week and half ago, Joseph pointed out that "MOH-tor-cycle GONE!" A motorcycle from on-coming traffic had just passed us and rumbled out of sight. It was his first verb, noun combination that expressed original thought. Previously, he had only repeated these simple phrases.

Yesterday, Joseph put together his first complete sentence. A sentence for posterity. Joseph said, "I see... Daddy's... feet."

Memorial Day Pool Fun

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Here's Joseph at the memorial day picnic we attended.  You can see him slapping me on the head to jump more.

Utter Amazement

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I took Joseph to the discovery museum last week.  There he learned about the voodoo witchcraft known as "science."  He expressed public, wordless awe at the beach ball held aloft by some dark mystical energy.

Happy Birthday Grandad!

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Best of May 2008

We took our first trip to the ER last week. Poor Joseph developed the croup and a fever over 104 degrees. The admissions technician sent us straight to the front of the line because of labored breathing and Josephs fire engine cheeks. As soon as we settled in the examination room, though, Joseph perked up and wanted to press all of the emergency alarm buttons and pull all the oxygen tubes. The doctor and nurses fixed him up quickly after hearing his pitiful cough. He's all better now and running around as much as ever. Now that he's recovered, I can share some of the better stories over the last couple of weeks:

1. Joseph dirties up his outfit for the day, so he runs around in his diaper. I start washing the dinner dishes. He takes off his diaper while I’m not paying attention. When he gets upset that I won’t pick him up, Joseph squats down and tinkles on my foot. While I’m rolling a wad of paper towels, be slips and falls in his own pee.

2. Heather and I are talking while Joseph climbs up and over the sofa. He starts digging between the cushions and handing objects to mommy and daddy—all things he had stuffed there earlier. Pen, coaster, appliance electricity meter and adjustable crescent wrench.

3. Joseph swigs some milk from a sippy cup.
“Do you like milk now, angel?” says Mommy.
“No. Nope.”

4. Joseph watches Sesame Street for the first time. He categorizes every muppet as either a monkey or a frog. Elmo is a frog.

Watch the rest…

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Blowing Kisses

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Joseph learns how to blow some kisses.

Easter 2008

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Here's Joseph's first Easter egg hunt. He found all of the eggs. GiGi provided the adorable bunny basket.

Baby II Gets 1st Ultrasound

Ultrasound 1
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Heather saw baby II in his/her first ultrasound. The baby kicked and squirmed a little, and the doctor could tell it has all major limbs! Hooray!

We found a house!

External view of our new house
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Heather and I just finished our house hunting trip in Texas this week. Competition was stiff, but we settled on this brand new home. It's a slight upgrade from base housing, so I hope it doesn't spoil us too much. For more photos, check out our flickr page.

Thesis Complete!

Well, my masterpiece is complete--and you can blame the thing for the blog-less month of February. Before anyone asks if they can read it, yes, you can. You won't want to, but you can. Really, the first five pages of anyone's thesis/dissertation will trigger an involuntary narcoleptic response. Joseph yawns loudly when I talk about it. I promised a few friends I would read their papers for fun, but I never finished. So, if you must promise to read it, make it a silent, self-sacrificial promise. This way, you won't have to pretend you read it when you didn't read it. I understand. Really, it's ok. Here it is anyway!

Read this doc on Scribd: Thesis

Mommy and Joseph Make the News Again!

Check out page 8 after opening the link: 08 Feb 08 Skywrighter

Funny Face

Funny Face
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Here's a funny face I thought everyone would enjoy.

The Best of January 2007

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January has been a busy month, and schoolwork got in the way of blogging. A complete copy of my thesis is due Wednedsay! Yikes! Well, at least Heather kept up with pictures and videos, so here's the best of this month. Joseph really experienced a language explosion this month, and he seems to learn new words every day. He even learned how to sit in a chair like a big boy just this Saturday.

Yes, I have been working out!

Yes, I have been working out!
Originally uploaded by lidowski_baby

Joseph outgrew his winter coat, so we tried on this 24-month monster on our 14-month baby. He looks totally buff in it. Maybe I should buy myself a bigger coat.