Bad Parent. Bad, bad, bad parent.

So I mentioned Benj started crawling. As with most babies, he started slow and was easy to catch. So we didn't hurry to put up the baby gate. I'm sure you know where this is going. We figured maybe this weekend it would go up, after we had people over last week and didn't have to teach everyone how to open and shut it and all that jazz (the way our home is set up, you'd have to go through the gate between the kitchen and family room everytime, and this gigantic gate always stumps people). So anyway, Benj got better at crawling this week. I went into the kitchen at one point to get something, leaving him in the living room playing with toys, and of course, that's the moment he chose to notice the stairs for the first time. I saw him going for them and I ran, but I got there 2 seconds too late. He crawled right off the top stair without hesitation, rolled down the 5 stairs to the TILE below. Could I have been more scared? He wasn't hurt and he didn't hit his head, but he was shaken up and I felt TERRIBLE. Mike put the baby gate up right then and there. Oh, what a close call. So, so scary. No more putting off the baby proofing. This kid is a danger to himself. He has pulled up on things now and fallen over (most recently a kid's storage chair that fell on him, the lid opened and pinched his fingers, and all the puzzles inside crashed out and onto him.) I can't keep up with this kid.

This is the new jail bird about 20 minutes after the incident:


Other than our child's near-death experience, we've had a good week. Yesterday it was 45 degrees and we go outside. Benjamin got to ride in the wagon with Jack for the first time. This was fun--maybe more for me, than them. I'm going to enjoy it--I'm sure there will come a day when two brothers facing each other in a wagon will not equal a good idea.





Jack's had some fun with the neighbors recently, too.
Ball tent with Jaxson:



Then fun with snowballs with Will:





And of course he had to try eating the snow. Which he continued to do for a good 10 minutes.

Mobility Strikes Again

Good-bye tiny baby, hello upcoming toddler. Since Benjamin began crawling a week ago, I've had little time to blink. The very next day, we find him standing at the play table. Maybe he'd been wanting, all that time, to figure out how to get near things so he could pull up and stand? All I know is that now his little cupie head pops up in all sorts of places I'd rather not find it these days...pulling out cords from under chairs, wandering around under foot in the kitchen while I'm cooking, heading off onto porcelain tile where I'm always afraid he'll bonk his head, meandering through my work piles and chewing up my newspapers from PR ("Uh, no, Virginia, I can't write that chapter. Because my baby ate my notes on it. No, really, he did.") I can hear the baby gates calling from down deep in the closets. Oh, how I loved having the freedom to roam the house without unlocking, locking gates every other step. Benj is apparently so excited about all this new freedom (paired with some ferocious teething) that he's decided he doesn't need to sleep. Oh, that's just fabulous, let me tell you. I'm trying SO HARD to finish this dang diss. chapter, and yet in 4 hours of Jack's daycare time, I can usually only eek out an hour and a half of real work time due to Benj's constant need for supervision or our long battles to get him to nap.

I sound like I'm cranky about it. There are down sides, true, but he's also very cute and much happier now that he can get to things he wants now. And he is still very baby-ish and that he still REFUSES to eat solid food. It's all breast milk, all the time. Jack had been eating 3 solid meals a day since he was 7 1/2 months-old. Not Benj. No sir.



Jack's update? He won't shut up. That pretty much covers it.

Okay, he did get to try watercolors the other day.


And he had his friend Symone over. Sandy is Symone's mother. She went to Drake with Mike and I, and she was our realtor when we moved back to Des Moines. Her daughter Symone was born 6 days after Jack, also a premie, so they were in the NICU together. Here they are on their first Halloween, 2 months after leaving the NICU:



Here they are now, at almost 2 and a half:



This was the Jenniges family's third time meeting Benjamin. Sandy had some baby fever.


Other than that, we've had some fun with friends here and there, and I keep chugging away a the diss. I'll be so happy when this chapter is done. Except then it'll hit me that I have to do it all over again about 6 more times.... yikes.


Peter, Terrilee, Loralei and Owen came over last week for dinner and some fun with the Wii. We are getting good use of the Wii. Loralei was a champion hula hooper.

Peter tried, too :)

Owen was seriously flexible and creative with how to move on the balance board.

Hey Look, it's a Graduate Student!

These days, our basement (i.e., my writing lair) looks like this:



Believe it or not, those piles do constitute a form of organized chaos. You can't tell, but on top of each pile of notes/articles/fieldnotes/interviews sits a marker telling me the topic of each pile. I guess it's a lazy (wo)man's filing system. Over the computer are some inspirational quotes I took out of "Destination Dissertation." I will admit, you can see in the photo that my dissertation is NOT what's on the screen...but it is sometimes, I promise.

The rest of the room? Not *exactly* organized....

But I guess this is the reality of finishing a dissertation while staying home with children. The only thing missing (besides a good proximity to the UI libraries) are my supportive and trusted colleagues and friends. Sarah, Lexi, Carrie, Samantha, Jon, Kenda.... I can't tell you how much I'd love to find a way to beam you all into my lair and share coffee and a few hours of conversation. I'm confident you would be able to help remind me that 1) I like anthropology and 2) I can do anthropology. Then I could get motivated to really plug away. But alas, no can do. So I'm trying to do it on my own.

I bought myself a gift certificate for a massage today, and hung it up on the fridge. Now I can stare at it every day until I send a full chapter draft to VRD. THEN I'll schedule it. Small incentives. I have a big incentive for finishing a whole draft-- Mike and I agreed that once I graduate, I can choose a destination for us to vacation to. Most likely it would be next spring or summer, assuming I graduate in December of this year. I'm thinking California.... :)

yoga baby

mike has started a new yoga routine in the mornings, and jack is fascinated. he likes it so much that the other night while i tried to get dinner ready and mike tried to get benjamin to nap, we turned on the yoga video to keep jack entertained. he's got some good, stretchy moves:

New Year, new joys.

My two New Year's Resolutions:

1) Finish my dissertation. Once and for ALL.
2) Go an entire calendar year without being pregnant for any part of it. This, after all, hasn't happened since 2004.

My happiest moment of this past week:

Toddler boy and Baby boy taking a bath together. Suddenly, unsolicited, Toddler boy scoots over next to Baby boy with a big smile on his face, hugs his little brother, kisses his head, and says "I love you, baby." Melt.

Other happy moments of the past week:

Toddler boy: "More broccoli, please!"

Hubby and I get to watch a movie together and cuddle on the couch, without interruption. This hasn't happened in a long time.

Happy 8 months old to Benjamin today!!!

4 days, 3 Christmases, 2 overstimulated and tired kids, 1 disaster of a house.

I guess that says it all. My brother and his girlfriend came on Saturday to see the boys. It took them 6 hours to get from Iowa City to Des Moines since they were at a standstill on I-80 behind some accident that had to be cleared. Jack LOVES his "Go Green" trike, made from recycled plastic, that Adam brought him. Sunday was another big Christmas celebration (also at our house--we hosted all 3 celebrations this year) with Mike's parents and his brother's family. After that our house was filled with far more toys, clothes, books, and STUFF than anyone truly needs. We are appreciative, but some of it will be donated to a kid's charity. Here are a few more photos to add to the fun.

Adam and Beth stayed the night at our place, so that meant I could pawn off bedtime on Uncy Ada. Yes!


Turns out that the train set is a toy that satisfies all ages (of men, at least):


Both Jack and Benjamin enjoyed hanging out with cousin Miggy (Miguel)





I'm tired and FULL. But it was a great long weekend.

Holiday Fun 2008

A Happy Jack with his stocking

Dancing to a little Christmas music never hurt anyone

Diligent work on a new toy

Success!

Mama, open it already!

Even with all those new toys, we want to play with the place mats.

Play dough snowman!

Our creativity wanes...

Seriously, who knew you could have this much fun with play dough?



Grandpa John & the kiddos

Grandma Suzi and the kiddos!

Benj loves his new soft blocks (aka, chew toys)

And Jack loves his new play tent! (aka, 100 plastic balls all over the house)


There's fun to be had at the Case Haub household! Hope everyone had a peaceful and joyous holiday.