Merry Christmas, Part 1

It's the last day of the year, and the holiday fun just keeps coming.

We had a wonderful start to the Christmas break at Grampie and Grammie Ives' house on Christmas. The kids prepped for the visit with a shared bath ...


... which included back washing ...

...sudsing...

...and distinctive risning techniques.

We drove into Iowa City on the 23rd and enjoyed a full day to putz around and relax with family on Christmas Eve.

We opened a couple of presents before tucking the kids to bed on Thursday night. They both slept with the reminder Santa wouldn't come if they were awake ...

On Christmas morning we got Maya all dressed up in a pretty green Christmas dress and white stockings.

But, as Santa himself knows when he's sweating like a fool dressed in his red snowsuit as he makes his Christmas night swing through the desert southwest, sometimes the outfit looks right for the occasion but may not be practical for the activities planned.

Maya didn't care what she was wearing. All she wanted to do was to check out the space where Grammie and Grampie's dog Winnie had slept the night before. So she did. And her self-incarceration lasted most of the way through breakfast.

Later, Maya thanked Winnie for letting her share his space. She got up while we were opening presents and brought Winnie a gift to make sure he didn't feel left out.

It was hot cocoa mix.

Meanwhile, Owen was busy as our elf. He distributed presents and threw himself into his work (and into the tree) to make sure all of the presents were rescued from the back.

After presents, our energy turned to Christmas dinner. Maya helped set the table, placing napkins at everyone's space.

Merry Christmas!

We drove back home on the 26th. The weather was changing, turning colder, with more snow and ice expected into the weekend. We took our time on the trip back, aware of the 19 cars we saw in the ditch and focused on just getting home safely. We stopped at a mall in Peoria en route to stretch our legs and take a break. There was a Christmas train ride there Owen really enjoyed.

The kids are off from school this week, so I've been enjoying some one-on-two time with them. On Monday, we all went swimming. Tuesday was a bit crazier. A plumber came on Tuesday morning and replaced a toilet that had needed repair for way more than a year. We then had to go to my work for a little bit to finish up a grant that was due. We stopped by City Hall to pick up the signed paperwork I needed, meeting the City Manager, City Clerk, and several other staff members along the way.

After a quick stop at the library, we drove to my office and got the forms in the mail.

It was quite the adventure.

Back to the library, quick. A fun story to share. We were in the line to check out. It was a long line and the kids went walking away together out of my sight behind a stand of DVDs. I could hear them, but as the line moved Owen must've thought it was time to get back into my eyesight. Next thing I know, here he comes carrying Maya by wrapping his arms under her pits and across her chest. He had a big grin on his face that said "Can you believe I'm doing this?!" She had a big grin on hers, too. But her's communicated one word only.

"Seriously?!"

I laughed out loud. He's been picking her up a lot ever since.

Yesterday was a little more back to vacation plan. We went to the Children's Discovery Museum in the morning. Owen and I played games while Maya was napping. And we all went to the pool in the afternoon.

Needless to say, they were both asleep by 7:30.

A few pictures from the Discovery Museum follow. They had a great time on the slide together. And Maya absolutely blew me away with her bravery in the climbing gym.

It took a lot of work for that little girl to climb so high ...

Christmas wonders

Christmas is coming and our house seems full of miracles.

Last night, Owen read us a book -- from start to finish. The book was an easy reader about Thomas the Train he'd picked out at the library just the day before. At first it seemed like he was just reciting what he remembered from our reading the day before, but it was very clear once we got past the first few pages that he was seeing the words and reading them on his own. For Amy and me, the moment was akin to walking on a tightrope, feeling absolutely spellbound at what this little boy was doing ...

This wonderful accomplishment comes hot on the heels of a weekend trip to the pool where Owen is all of a sudden very ready to start putting his head under water. This had always been very scary to him, and he is very proud of his new skill. It was the first thing he talked about the next morning with us, his teacher at school, and, I'm sure, anyone else who would stop to listen.

Maya, meanwhile, seems to be in almost full command of language. She's got lots of words and phrases, her favorite being "No way!" She helps us count, saying "six" the other day after Amy had counted from one to five. And this morning she was sure she saw Santa out the window. The red light at the top of a nearby tower did like Rudolph , but it's a good sign our little girl is looking forward to Christmas.

By the way, Owen (photo above) is looking at the tree through some 3-D glasses a friend gave us that make each light look like a little star. All he could say was "Wow!"

Pop rocks!

I'm way behind again. And since there's no way to say ...

• Nana you're amazing! Good work on your radiation and chemo. Your healthy prognosis truly is a miracle.


• Happy Thanksgiving!


• And happy birthday to Grandpa and Auntie Meg

... in a way that makes sense three weeks late, I give to you the following video. It fills in the gaps in a perfect kind of way.

Life is full and fun.

Enjoy!

An Owen-heavy update

Spiderman's back.


It can only mean another birthday party ...

Owen, Maya and I went to Owen's friend Ron's fifth birthday at the Children's Discovery Museum on Saturday. It was lots of fun, as usual ... so much so that Maya went home too tired and overstimulated to take her nap.

At least it was an early night.

We're actually having a kind of unconventional weekend at the Aalberts' house. Amy and Pam left this morning for Lawrence, Kansas, to attend the funeral of their great uncle Phil Humphrey, a sweet man I have fond memories of meeting 10 years ago when Amy and I were dating.

So I'm playing "bachelor dad" for a few days. There are plenty of thoughts of living up to the Bill Cosby sketch about feeding the kids chocolate cake for breakfast (ironically, there is some freshly made for the aforementioned birthday party), but I haven't done anything too irresponsible yet.

Well, with the exception of taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese at 9:15 am on a Sunday and giving Maya her first Barbie ...

Anyway, the kids are both tucked snugly in bed and I'm catching up on a couple weeks of absentee blogging.

Last weekend we were in Iowa City for the Iowa vs. Northwestern football game. The Hawkeyes entered the game 9-0 and exited 9-1, but my Dad and I (attending the only Hawkeye game we'll see live this year) had a wonderful time nonetheless. we somehow managed amazing seats immediately behind the players' families, 16 rows up on the 30 yard line.

It gave us an excellent view of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore as they roamed the Iowa sideline.

While Dad and I were at the game, Owen was taking the ride of his life on the Hawkeye Express, a commuter train that takes fans from a parking area in Coralville right to Kinnick Stadium.


Owen loves all trains. Black and Gold ones, however, are even better.

On Sunday morning we headed downtown to meet our dear friends Jeff and Melissa and their two adorable 4 month old twins Audrey and Henry. Added to a family that already includes big sister Olivia and two Great Pyrenees dogs who roam the house like moving sofas, the twins seem to be under the care of two surprisingly sane parents, weathering the challenges of their new lifestyle with considerable ... well ... style.

Amy and I were really looking forward to seeing how Maya would be with the two babies, given the charm she exhibited when she met her similarly-aged cousin Esme a month ago.

As you can see, there was a little more panic this time.

But she did warm up to them as the morning went along ...

I should mention, there was one other highlight to Sunday morning. I hadn't had any coffee before heading downtown, so I quickly dashed off when we got there to the Starbuck's to get my caffeine fix.

The line was long ... but that just gave me more time to talk to Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz, who was in line behind me. It had been almost exactly one year since he had signed the football wishing my dad luck on his heart surgery, but he remembered the inscription I'd penned for him well, and seemed truly interested in how Dad was doing.

He's a pretty amazing guy.

... so is Owen.

As we were leaving the park following our morning with the twins, we walked past Martini's, the bar where Amy and I met. Amy stopped Owen and said, "Owen, this is a special place. This is where your mom and dad met. It was a long time ago." Owen thought about this for a moment and said, "You mean back in the days of the steam engine?"

I also need to share one other quote from the week. Driving the kids to school on Tuesday, Maya was fussing some in the backseat. Owen didn't like it, and when Maya threw her leg over the side of her car seat toward him, Owen said, "Dad, Maya's got her leg over the seat." I told him it was OK, but Owen was sure it wasn't: "No. It's bad for the environment! I saw it on TV."

Lastly, I'll close with the following video of Owen's dance performance. He'd been doing this for about 15 minutes before I grabbed the camera.

We had to give him a nebulizer treatment after.

Enjoy.

Just for fun

Halloween song

Sure. The day after we find out he has a song.

Happy Halloween!

Owen and Maya had a fun Halloween night! Nana and Grandpa were here for the fun on what turned out to be a chilly autumn night.

Quote of the day: "I do not recall Optimus Prime wearing a stocking cap."

Pumpkin Prep/Nana Graduates

Halloween is almost here. We'll post some costume pictures soon for both kids, but what's the fun of spoiling the surprise now?

It's been rainy and gloomy much of the week, which actually made for a perfect night carving jack-o'-lanterns the other night. The actual carving turned out to be a mom and dad project, but the prep work was fun for everybody, especially scooping out the seeds.

Funny story below ...

Yes, Maya's got a couple of Beanie Babies in her shirt. It's a game that got started with her dad on Sunday afternoon that has continued through the week, even at school where her teachers says she puts all sorts of things up in her shirt then laughs and laughs.

The funny story, however, is how we got the Beanie Babies ...

On Sunday afternoon, Amy and I took the kids to the mall. Starting at Kohl's, where we got Owen some flannel sheets, we got distracted and Maya managed to leak through completely. Fortunately, we were at a store with baby clothes, so Amy quick bought a pair of sweat pants while I got Maya into a new diaper. We bought the sheets and moved on.

Amy had a couple of things she needed to pick up next, so I took the kids to the carousel. Owen quickly got on his standard ride, a bunny, but Maya was more picky. She finally settled on the horse right next to Owen. She was comfortable being right next to her brother ... but Owen wanted his own space, which is OK, so he moved to the other bunny on the complete opposite side of the ride. At this point, Maya didn't want to sit on the horse anymore, so she ended up sitting right next to her dad on a bench, which was actually perfect as we enjoyed clapping our hands to the rhythm of the music and had a lovely time.

The kids were both getting munchy around this time. We normally get a smoothie for the kids at the frozen yogurt stand in the mall, but it is now closed. Fortunately I found out the coffee place sells a passable substitute.

So the kids were sweetly sharing their smoothie as we reunited with mom and headed off to get what we needed most on this trip, a new parka for Owen.

We got into the department store and navigated the escalator with two kids and a stroller (now filled with coats and bags) in tow. Maya was tired of being of being carried at this point so, finding the coats, I set her down so she could walk around a little.

Not more than 45 seconds later, I was showing Amy a possible coat for Owen when we saw three racks of children's parkas fall over domino style behind her. Owen started crying and we rushed over to assess the situation.

We didn't see Maya immediately, but then we noticed a rustling in the ski pants. She stood up (the down-filled pants made for a nice, soft landing), but walked out crying as the smoothie she was holding had spilled and, as you can imagine, she was a bit startled at being buried in an avalanche of Columbia activewear.

That's when Owen started crying. He, too, was perhaps a bit startled by the situation, but I think the bigger issue was that he caught sight of the smoothie on the floor and wanted it back, which made Maya cry louder, which made Owen cry louder, etc., etc.

Some other shoppers helped us stand the racks back up, and some store employees also came over to help.

We got the kids separated for a while until the crying had mostly stopped. Amy at this point was ready to go. But just then an older store employee who had helped us came over and said she'd just been on the phone with the store manager. They said the kids could each pick out a stuffed animal from a nearby table to take home free of charge.

Maya lasered in on this deal in a second.

We went over to the table and she quickly picked out a little Yorkshire terrier and a baby kitty. Owen, who needs no additional stuffed animal other than the Sammy Salami cat he already has, was happy to let her have both.

So now she has her kitty and puppy babies ... who also happen to be fun to stuff into her shirt.

Now this isn't to say Owen didn't have any new critters come into his life this weekend. We went to the farmer's market on Saturday morning, where Owen got himself a balloon skunk.

And, no, I cannot confirm if this skunk's odor defenses come from the balloon artist having bad breath when he blew it up.

CONGRATULATIONS NANA!

We're all very proud of Nana who finished the radiation treatment for her brain tumor yesterday. I drove up to be with her on her last day.

Nana has done an outstanding job working through these treatment and all of the food issues and other side effects. It was amazing to see how she's found a community of support at the hospital, not only with the medical staff who has been caring for her five days a week the past six weeks, but also with the other patients coming in for their own care. We visited with many, there were lots of hugs and exchanges of email addresses and phone numbers as mom is now on her way to the next phase.

Just look at how happy the radiation technicians are with her ...

Great going, Nana!

Burying the Lead

It's been weeks and weeks since my last post.


Here's the quick recap.


Ending September (look the kids are still in shorts), Owen attended his first birthday party for a friend. His buddy Alex, who he's known since he went to day care at Kim's house, and who is now his classmate at Scribbles, turned five at the end of the month. They had a big party at the Children's Discovery Museum with face painting, games, and lots of running around.



Owen also made me this pizza (below), which was notable (at least for me) for the whole fish on the top.


... and the orange slice.

Below: Alex (center) and the other guests.

The next weekend we went back to Tanner's Orchard. It was easily 20 degrees cooler, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless.

Owen is becoming much more fearless when it comes to all physical play, including, doing his best beagle impression and climbing to the top of everything he could.

While Derring Do is his new middle name, he did take time to tend to his little sister. I love the hand holding picture below.

But Maya was nonetheless in a clingy mood that day, deciding she wouldn't go on the Cider Barrel ride with him like the last time.

Instead, she chose to mostly hang out with her mom and Auntie Pam.

Which was, as you'd imagine, a wonderful time ...

The big fun began for us this past Saturday when Daniel and Erica arrived with Baby Esme for a weekend visit.

After a brief hello and aclimation to the house, we got out for a walk.

Wanting her to feel like she was part of the family, we took Esme to the most important sightseeing stop in Normal -- the fire station.

There we ran into Firefighter Luke, a wonderful guy who always goes the extra mile with kids (good news as Luke's wife, 9 months pregnant, was also at the station that day).

Owen got the tour of a lifetime, capped by an impressive personal tour down to the basket on the ladder truck.

Even from the back, the view was pretty amazing!

While Owen's dreams were realized at the fire station, Maya's came true back at home.

She LOVED that little baby. Wherever Esme went, Maya followed. She brought her toys, constantly looked after her, and inserted herself onto the same lap where Esme was sitting.

See what I'm saying?

It was hard for little Maya to see Esme go on Monday morning. And questions of "Baby?" followed for most of the next couple days.

They're going to be good friends!

Catch up time ... again!

Sorry again for the multiple week delay in posting something to the blog. It's been a very busy time the past few weeks.

Here are the highlights:

• One of us got older
• We enjoyed the final days of summer
• We sat in a bunch of fire trucks
• We played in the water
• Someone began a new job

And Dad went to a conference, coming home just in time for shows to begin at his theater, which means our schedules have changed even more.

Happy birthday, Amy!

Amy turned 33 on September 12. Both sets of grandparents drove into town, joining us and Auntie Pam, who lives just down the way, for a day of celebration. I actually had to join the party late as the 12th was also the day I flew home from the Arts Midwest conference in St. Paul.

But it was a fun birthday nonetheless. It was filled with cake ...

presents ...

and party favors ...

... especially for the two grandpas, who Maya delighted in bringing every acorn in a centerpiece candle bowl Amy got as a gift. There must have been 50 of the little things, and Maya went back and forth to the bowl, delivering one at a time until each grandpa's hand was filled to overflowing.

Maya has been using many more words lately. She is an expert at "Owen," "Daddy," and "Mommy," and has taken great interest in our well-being. Now when she wakes up, one of the first things she does is ask about whoever isn't in the room at that moment, wondering what they're doing and making sure everything is OK.

Open House

The Normal Fire Department held an open house the following weekend, on Sept. 19. Regular visitors to the station, I headed up with Owen and Maya thinking we'd probably seen everything already ... but we hadn't even scratched the surface.

It was a marvelous day! Owen got to spray a fire hose ...

... and sit in every engine the city owns, as they trucked all of their other trucks in for the day.

The highlight for Owen, though, was taking a long, close look at his beloved Snorkel 10.

10 is the oldest truck in the fleet, but is definitely Owen's favorite. It's nearly 30 years old and will likely be decommissioned soon. Every time we visit, we tell the firemen that Owen will gladly take it off their hands and are told to "Make an offer," as no reasonable offer to drive the truck away would probably be refused.

I'm all for it. Put 10 in the back yard and there we'll not only be the most popular house on the street for the kids, but I'll have considerably less mowing to do ...

Here are a couple more pictures from the day. You can see Owen was in heaven!

Bye, bye, summer!

The weather in the final days of summer actually felt like summer, a surprise in our unseasonably cool year. Owen and Maya both got sick at the end of the month, leading to a trip to the ER for Owen as his seasonal bout with croup returned, and several days off school for both.

Fortunately, everyone's energy returned for the weekend and we were all ready to get out and enjoy the spectacular weather.

We returned to a favorite play area, Tipton Park, a great area with a spray park and lots of playground equipment. I think this was Maya's first trip to the spray park and she had a great time. We walked through little fountains taller than she was and she laughed every time, quickly turning around and grabbing my hand again so that we could go back through.

We stayed and played for quite a while ...

Then returned home in time to watch Iowa go 3-0 with a win over Arizona. Indeed, fall has arrived!

Lastly, Amy began a new job on the 14th. She is now a social worker for Passages Hospice, and so far she seems to be enjoying it very much. She will be providing social work care to hospice patients throughout the region, but primarily in the Peoria area. The company has taken great care to make sure she has all of the tools she needs to do her job well, and Amy is delighted that she can finally focus on the patients instead of the profits.

She has been quite busy learning all she needs to to do the job well, but I have already noticed a change in reduced tension and increased happiness.