Beware of Toddler

I'm having some trouble uploading video onto the blog right now, so I've created a youtube account. Here's David's latest video. Watch as he not only chases but attempts to bite the dogs.

As I have time, I'll upload more video to youtube and put a link to all of our videos along the right side of the blog. I hope to make a link to all our pictures eventually, too.

Videos du jour

Something tells me low self esteem is not an issue.

Sleep eating

Workin' 9 to 5

We had a nice, low key Memorial Day. David's great grandma Lil came over, and we went for a walk in the park. David really seems to like kicking things. He's always kicking the dogs' tennis balls around, so we got him a soccer ball and took that to the park, too. He seemed to enjoy himself, though I think Lil probably had the most fun.

Walking to the park with great grandma. Future forward for the Chicago Fire.


Kevin's first full day back at work was all I'd hoped for and more. It was in the 50s (yes, that's Fahrenheit), cloudy and windy making outdoor activity possible but unpleasant. I did have the great pleasure of collecting poop in little plastic containers (we're making sure David doesn't have a parasite--because he came from China, not because there's anything wrong). We drove that to the doctor's office, and David cat napped in the car thus ruining any hope for an actual nap later in the afternoon. Other than the poop and the minimal napping, we had a good time and managed to keep the dogs from destroying anything of value while appropriately supervising the child, which is no small task. We read some books and played with almost every toy we own. We attempted a walk late in the afternoon, but there were a few raindrops and I wasn't feeling adventurous.

Distraught that there are no more puffs. The fishbowl toy bought me time to start dinner.


In other news (with no associated pictures), David is making progress on the sippy front. He's taking liquids pretty well from a sippy cup. Sometimes he makes an enormous mess and sometimes he is super neat. The last couple of days we've only used the bottle at night, so I think we'll be at 100% soon. He's also started holding his cup or bottle on his own more. Clearly this kid never fed himself prior to Gotcha Day. Half the time he doesn't hold the cup at an angle that actually allows him to get any liquid out, but he is clearly proud of himself and gets a huge smile on his face any time he brings the cup to his mouth.

Hot Donuts Now

We haven't gotten David Krispy Kremes straight from the grease (yet), but we did the next best thing this weekend. We went to our local farmers market with Evie and Nate on Saturday and enjoyed some fresh, warm donuts. We eventually had to cut him off after about a donut and a half. I think if he'd had his way, he would have eaten the entire dozen.

Today we hit the zoo as soon as it opened, once again with David's friend Evie. We saw elephants, a brown bear eating his breakfast, baby camels and a very noisy tiger, none of which impressed David in the least. He probably gets his fill of wildlife in our living room.

This afternoon he got to meet our friend Adam and great uncle Roger and great aunt Barb. It took a little while, but David warmed up enough to give all his guests some smiles, nonsensical shouting and, of course, the faux sneeze.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend.

Time to eat the donuts. Evie and David holding hands.

Dueling slides at the zoo. Kevin and David checking out the tiger.

Give the people what they want

Here's video of David riding his school bus complete with a classic fake sneeze.

Posting to appease the grandparents

All is still well chez Maas. David had his first appointment with his pediatrician yesterday. He weighed in at 20 pounds 14 ounces (5th percentile) and was 29.5 inches long (10th percentile). He had a lot of blood drawn, but the nurse could not have done a better job. They got everything they needed with just one stick. No shots yesterday. There were a few immunizations he received in China that, despite an English translation, we still don't know what they are. Once that's done (one of the physicians in the practice speaks/reads Mandarin) and once we decide whether to completely reimmunize (a lot of people recommend not counting any of the shots he got in China for a number of reasons), we'll figure out what he needs and go back for some shots.

David's focus remains almost 100% on walking, and he's very very close. He has only a passing interest in toys and books right now. If he had his way, we would spend every waking hour walking with him holding on to our fingers. He's requiring less and less support and has even taken a couple of very shaky steps on his own. He's been using his little wagon and his school bus for support sometimes, too, so thanks to Tracey, Katie, Charmaine and Nate for giving our backs a break if only for a little while.

We got an email from the Heath family who travelled with us to China. Marsha and Paul have two beautiful daughters, Rebekah (10) and Emily (8), and now a son Jackson (4). Marsha said she showed Jackson a picture of David on our blog, and he kissed the computer screen. When she asked him who that was, he said "achoo!" I thought that story was too sweet not to share.

David with his dogs. David flopping over his toy school bus for no apparent reason.

David's kind of town

We're making progress on the sleep front. The last couple of nights David has slept from 7:30ish until 4:00ish. There's still room for improvement, but I think we're all feeling much better.

In his short time home, David has already made friends. He had a play date with the lovely Evie at the park yesterday and got to hang out with Gus and Eli this morning. He really seems to enjoy the swings.

We had a very big first today for David and Kevin--our first trip downtown. We took a quick trip to Millennium Park and the lakefront. It was a beautiful day (if you don't mind needing a coat in late May), and David really seemed to enjoy himself. He leaned forward in his stroller, pointed and jibber jabbered to himself for most of the trip. Our other big first today was his first kiss. He started and ended with a head butt, but in between was definitely an intentional kiss of the wet, open-mouthed, toddler variety.

Tonight it's dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Maas before they leave on their Alaskan cruise.

At the park with Evie and Nate

Snoopy likes to help at bathtime (and by help I mean jump in the tub and eat the toys).

Millennium Park (How great is picture #3? So pleased with myself.)

Lake Michigan

He's not sleeping. He's eating his stroller.