Big happenings in the Freel/Crean house

Connor made a deal with daddy back in the day that when he went potty like a big boy and went to school and learned how to pedal properly, he could get a big boy bike. That seemed like a long shot three months ago but he has since reminded us that he has fulfilled his promise and we had yet to pay up. (FYI, never cut a deal with this kid. He remembers EVERYTHING!)

And here is the result! Pop helped him pick out a "cool bicki-cycle".



And he looks a wee bit like (dare I say it?) "Desert Fox" Rommel in his "hemet".



Timmy in the meantime is two seconds away from smoking and running a marathon. He just learned how to sit up...he's strong enough to do it, but the balance is lacking. As a result he got to sit at the table in his sassy seat like a big boy and watch everyone eat dinner!



He didn't think it was fair everyone got to eat but him...hmmm, how does THIS taste??

Timmy Firsts

We got our shipment of toys and extra clothes from Alaska today and the boys ere very excited to see their stuff again. We got Timmy's bumbo and decided to let him sit in it during a bath with his brother. He had a good time until the water got deep and he started to float -- at that point we noticed the "do not use as bath seat" warning printed in bold letters on the back. Ooops, bad mommy!

But I got pics of Timmy's 1st bath with big brother. He so wants to be three and do everything his big brother does!






Timmy also loves his jumperoo. He loves his pop. He loves kitties. When you combine all three you get a million watt smile!

My baby is a preschooler!

Connor went to his first day of preschool today. Such a bittersweet moment...he's so ready to spend time with kids his own age and do some learnin', but mommy had a hard time tearing herself away.

His day had mixed reviews...he seemed to have had fun; when I showed up to collect him, he was wearing a construction hat and assembling an airplane puzzle with his new little friend Sharya, but apparently he balked mightily at going to the toilet with his teacher Miss Betty. They encourage the children to potty themselves and her thought is that perhaps he would feel more comfortable if he could do it all himself and have some privacy. We know that potty time is a big privacy thing for him...he does NOT like to be watched...so we agreed and want to get him some stretchy waist pants to wear that will be easier for him to take up and down himself. Something to encourage at home as well. They are working on the five senses for the next two weeks so we did a lot of talking about eyes yesterday. No art projects that day...just a low key day of station play and snacks with other kids. The little stinker ate all his peas at lunch...usually he acts like I'm poisoning him if I serve him anything green! Never underestimate the value and the pitfalls of peer pressure, eh? He's not gung ho about school; he asked yesterday to go "tomorrow" but mommy said no, we go on Wednesday which he accepted very easily which means it couldn't have been that big of a deal.

We are missing daddy an awful lot. He gets to talk to daddy on the computer web cam every couple days depending on whether or not Charlie or Connor need more sleep and miss the chance. He loves to talk to daddy on the computer and gets so frustrated when he can't remember all he wants to tell daddy. His language development doesn't let him tell a story the way he wants, so he usually ends up just spewing phrases and words that make very little sense to someone who didn't go through his day. "Hey man, wet's pway...airpwane...flaps...up in the air! Comcricker (computer...game...I pway k...kangawoo! Book...penen (penguin)..." and so it goes on. From that you might have trouble guessing that he played this morning and read the airplane book. Pop taught him about flaps making the wing bigger and heling the plane fly through the air. He also played his computer game and played k, making the kangaroo sing his ABCs as a reward. He also got a new penguin book from Nani that is shaping up to be a favorite. Mommy has to translate some of the Connor patois for daddy. I'll be interested to see what being around all those children does for his speech. I think daddy is sad to be missing some of these firsts, but Skype is making it a great deal easier.

So here's a first day of preschool picture...he is remarkably uncooperative when a camera comes out. But he was too proud of his new tractor shirt to not get a pic. Note the tortured ambivalence.



Here's Connor's school. I blanked out the address for safety reasons. The school is attached to a day care and the structured school day is from 8-12. Connor arrives somewhere between 8-830, has a snack and playtime then they transition into school time and predetermined activities. he eats lunch around 11-1130 then mom comes and fetches him before the other kids' nap time. There's a nice big playground too but this VA kids are wusses and only venture outside if it's above 50. Since Alaska rules -20 for kids, we laugh at 50.



And here's a gratuitous Timmy pic. He is really loving unadulterated mommy time. He has to compete a lot with big brother for mommy's attention. We took a nap together and then played on the floor with another funky little doll he loves. It too has nubbly knobs for excellent baby teethers. Here he's trying yet again to eat his own hand.



Well, I guess we liked school more than I thought considering he's asked twice more to go today...this every other day thing is right out in his book! We'll have more Connor school adventures soon!

How to Catch Up?

We have had a thousand things happen in the last couple weeks. Daddy deployed...we left Alaska on a horrible plane odyssey that scrambled both kids for days...settled into Manassas living...got involved in a minor mall riot...endured an epic Connor meltdown about a 3 year old photo shoot...on and on.

I can't possibly catch up on everything in detail. And since we are not currently living in Alaska, the focus of the blog will naturally shift a bit. You'll have to read DC adventures with two kids and deployment schtuff for about six months instead. Since I'm pretty sure only my friends and family read it anyway, hopefully I won't lose my readership.

Stay tuned for Connor's first day of preschool on Monday...I'm so nervous about my baby heading off to school for the first time! It's only half a mile from the house so I can pace and run to him as soon as possible when the half day is over!

It's -20! It's -20!

After WEEKS of -40 or below, we are so excited! It's -20! And it's continuing to climb. Word has it that it will be near 20...yes, kids, that's 20 above...by Thursday! Can you see the happy butt dance over here?? I'm breaking out the shorts, flip flops and sunscreen. Beach party at the Freels!

Timmy's 4 month stats and fun Timmy stuff

We did Timmy's 4 month well baby check today and had it confirmed, yet again, that we make big babies. What a newsflash eh?

Anyway, he's incredibly healthy and hitting even most of his six month milestones and his stats are as follows:

Weight: 16 lbs, 8 oz (74 percentile)
Height: 26.5 in (99 percentile)
Head: 17.5 in (97 percentile)

Big headed tall boy with a tendency toward lankiness. Shocker.

Because it's my blog and I can, I want to brag a bit about Timmy too. He has got to be the sweetest tempered child in existence, fussing only rarely -- usually when he's forced to go outside, but since that makes me want to whimper too I don't blame him. He sleeps like a dream barring his recent growth spurt and mommy loves all the sleep.

He is in love with his purple octopus ball and Mary Alice from Ace of Cakes. He has a serious crush on her, waving his arms and cooing to get her attention when she's on screen. He talks all day long...definitely more "verbal" than Connor was at his age and coos non stop to try to get everyone to love on him. He loves to bat at toys and arches hard in his seat to get a hold of things out of reach. He tries to stand and can push himself up on his arms...I think he'd be crawling if he got the coordination.

With his darker skin, I dress him in lots of dark blues and creams and he is just too cute for words...how handsome is this boy!? His daddy's awfully cute too!

Connor and his beloved Starfall game

It is harder than one would think to amuse a preschooler (holy crap, he's a preschooler now!) in an Alaskan winter, particularly one that has proved significantly colder than normal. We're on the 18th day of a cold snap. 'Long about 11 days ago mommy was going certifiably batty with multiple "hey man, let's pway!" requests and lots of boredom-laden boys draping themselves on mommy. Connor loves Starfall.com alphabet and phonics games...if mommy taught Connor how to use a computer mouse, I could have Connor play without direct supervision of every moment and he could go at his own pace, not impatient "seriously, how many times can we review k?" mommy pace. A couple of mouse lessons and Connor was good to go! He would play all day if I let him, so I try to break up some letter time with some more advanced phonics lessons, a few books, a few flashcards and some play time with his doll house or trucks. We also go down and play pirates or trains down stairs while Timmy plays in his Jumperoo, but Connor will always want more letter time!

This video is Connor playing the letter D. It goes through a few d words, at every interval telling you that D makes a "duh" sound, and then at the end there's a letter game. This one is matching letters to the object they start...ie, heart starts with h. Connor is good at these games, though in this one he struggled a bit with g vs q. Mommy is always in the kitchen working when Connor plays so I can aid him if necessary.


This one is longer and shows Connor's progression through the letter A, finishing up with his sorting capital As vs lower case As into apple baskets. Check out those mad mouse skills!


I was torn originally about allowing him so much computer time, but Charlie pointed out we're in a very digital age where computer skills will never be to his detriment and may even help improve his fine motor...which is great if so, since he has a hard and frustrating time trying to write his letters or draw discernible objects. And if he was playing with letter puzzles or reading to himself I would have zero issue with how his time is spent...but still, I limit to some extent how much time he gets and make sure he has active play time and even indoor park time to get him up and moving and using his imagination. As a result of an hour to 90 minutes of Starfall a day, he can read 26 words at my last count...putting his reading level at a beginning 1st grade level. Pretty snazzy for an almost three year old eh?

Timmy's new love and other sundries

Timmy got a few things for Christmas, but for the most part was content to nurse and look at the lights for his Christmas treat. However, one ball Nani sent has replaced me in his affections. It's really very ugly...looks like a beach ball with tentacles...but it's his favorite thing. He sits in his bumbo and fusses if he drops it, wiggles when he sees it and chews on its freakish little arms for hours. I've been upstaged by a purple fleece octopus!






Connor made a couch fort with daddy today...he is going a little stir crazy inside. We're hoping maybe tomorrow he can go to the indoor park with daddy for a little while and run off some energy if it's not too horrid outside. It's supposed to be -50, but it actually warmed to -35 today so who knows?



And this pic I included because it's a little eerie...you can barely see Charlie's arm supporting Timmy, so it looks as if we have a supernatural infant. We can tell Timmy later he was a superhero at birth!