Cal's Choice

Given his druthers, Cal would wear long sleeves and long pants every day of the week.  During the early days of what has to have been the hottest, driest summer ever, I established that he would not be wearing long sleeves and long pants in the heat by hiding all of his long sleeves and long pants in his closet, leaving only short sleeves and short pants for him to “choose” to wear.  This transition actually went pretty well, and there was little to no whining about this throughout most of the summer.  Mid-August, the heat broke; and we actually had some “cool” days, cool enough that long pants would actually be comfortable.  So we broke out a pair for him to wear one day – it was a treat for him and appropriate for the temperature.

Big mistake.  Summer heat was NOT over, and Cal had it in his head that he could wear long pants every day.  He found where his pants were “hidden” (on a shelf in his closet), and went to the stack every morning for a week or two after to pull out his long pants to wear for the day.  The summer heat returned, and getting him back into shorts was next to impossible without a battle, one that we decided was not worth fighting.  So he continued to wear his long pants in the 90+ degree heat.  I don’t understand it; and clearly, neither does he.

Earlier this week, Cal and I went through a bin of my sister's boys' clothes that she's letting us use (huge!), and we stumbled on a long-sleeve camouflage shirt.  Cal loved it.  Long sleeves and cowboy-like (yes, he associates camouflage with cowboys) is a winning combination to him. He put it on immediately and then wanted to throw on a pair of jeans. It was 90+ degrees outside.

So as not to squash his expression of individuality and still keep him from overheating, I decided I'd compromise with him and came up with this rule on the spot:  Long sleeves and short pants or short sleeves and long pants (or short sleeves and short pants, which he'd never choose) -- his choice. This must've had a rhythm to it because it caught on immediately with Cal.  That day, he chose long sleeves and short pants.  All days since he's chosen short sleeves and long pants, repeating the rule before he chooses it.

So back to the OK to Wake Owl (see 8/30 post).  Having nearly admitting defeat earlier in the day yesterday, I was hit by a stroke of brilliance as I put Cal to bed last night.  We exchanged good-night kisses, I told him I’m proud of him, we talked about what he’d dream about (the White School Bus, of course), and I told him to get lots of sleep because he’ll need it since he’s going to change the world.  Then it came time for some new stuff:

Me: “Okay, Cal, and there’s NO going into Ella’s room and waking her up in the morning.”

Cal: “I can wear long sleeves and short pants or short sleeves and long pants if I want to.”

Me: <ugh… in one ear, out the other> “Yes, Cal, you can.” <LIGHT BULB!> “Okay, here’s the deal, though: If you stay in bed until Mr. Owl turns green, you can choose what to wear; but if you don’t stay in bed until Mr. Owl turns green, then Mommy gets to choose what you’ll wear… and I’m telling you now that I’m going to choose short sleeves and short pants. Do you understand?”

Cal <smiling>: “Yes.”

Me: <say it another way to drive it home> “So that means that if you stay in bed until Mr. Owl’s face turns green, you can choose long sleeves and short pants or short sleeves and long pants or even short sleeves and short pants – it’ll be your choice.  But if you don’t stay in bed until Mr. Owl’s face turns green, I get to choose what you wear, and I’ll choose short sleeves and short pants because it’s hot out.”

Cal: <nodded yes>

Me: “Okay, so let’s shake on it.”

And we shook on it.

The first I saw of Cal this morning was with a green-faced Owl, just after it was okay to wake.  He did it, and I was proud (of both of us).

Our OK to Wake Owl

When I found the OK to Wake Owl on Amazon.com, noted the reasonable price and read the rave reviews it got, I was extremely encouraged.  Finally we had a solution to Cal getting up way too early in the morning and engaging Dan and me in whatever it is he wants to engage us in at the time.  Can we turn “Cal Can’t Help It” on?  Come see his poopy.  Help him button his long pants.  Put his belt on.  Come downstairs.  Or, my personal favorite, a bunch of sentences from separate experiences the day before strung together as one thought.

Being awakened by this is rough enough for a couple of people who just want to hear the sounds of nothing first thing in the morning; but being woken up by it before any signs of sunlight and life is especially annoying and oftentimes leads to some troubling times when it really is time to be up and getting ready for the day – we become cranky and Cal ornery.  Plus, the kid just needs more sleep than he gets.

So we bought the Owl.  As its name suggests, the OK to Wake Owl will let the kid know when it’s okay to wake up by its face lighting up green at the time set by his parents in a hidden alarm clock under the Owl’s old-man-like pajama top.  When it’s not okay to wake up, its face isn’t green.  As if that’s not obvious enough, the Owl’s face will also light up yellow if the kid presses its belly before it’s okay to wake up, and the Owl will follow that up with some sickeningly sweet pleasantry like “it’s not time to wake up yet, go back to sleep” and then play some (Cal thinks, and I agree) creepy music.

It is not without its flaws.  The okay-to-wake green light will only stay on for ½ hour.  If the kid sleeps past ½ hour after it’s initially okay to wake, I’m not sure how he’d know it’s really okay to wake up (assuming he’s relying solely on the Owl and not sunlight beaming through his window to let him know that).  And I already mentioned the creepy-music thing.

So of course, the OK to Wake Owl is not working on Cal.  I think he enjoys having it only because he likes owls and having an owl just completes his vast collection of stuffed animals.  We’ve had it for a month or two now, and I really can’t think of a time that it kept him in his bed until it was time to get up.  On rare occasions (maybe twice), he’s slept through it; and most often, he’s up looking for someone with whom to share the sight of his “giant poopy” before the Owl’s face is green.

This morning, I witnessed the best indication that the Leatherman family is the one user of this Owl for whom it will not work as intended.  Coming up the stairs after my morning workout and before the Owl’s face was to turn green, I saw Cal in his room, trying to put his clip-on tie on his pajama shirt.  Ella’s door was wide open (we close it at night), and I heard happy coos coming from her room.  I asked Cal, “did you wake up Ella?”  He replied that he had.  “Why?”  I asked, annoyed.  “Because I was coughing,” he replied.  As if that was a legitimate answer to the question I had asked, I left it at that and went to get Ella and bring her to my room.

A few minutes later, Cal excitedly entered my room, proudly holding the green-faced Owl high for me to see.  “Mommy, look!” he exclaimed.  “I see,” I responded, smiling through my disappointment that the OK to Wake Owl would probably never do the job we had bought him and desperately want him to do.

Facebook Posts: Q4, 2011

Ella loves her big brother, Cal (taken 12/17)

Here are my Leatherkid-related Facebook posts from October, November and December, 2011. They are unedited and should generally be assumed to start with “Carla Reiter Leatherman…”

I remember a lot of these and was initially inclined to say my favorite was probably the one on December 30th.  Since being a smart-ass isn't something I think I should be happy about my kid being (yes, I think he is, even at just 3 years old), I'd have to say my favorite was the Halloween post on November 3rd.  I can still see and hear the scene. I was so proud.

October 8, 2011
won the battle of the banana earlier today. Here's how it went down:
Me (re: uneaten, peeled banana on kitchen table): Cal, you have 30 seconds to start eating that banana before I throw it away.
Cal: No, I want it!
Me: 1-2-3-4-5...
Cal: <grabs and holds banana to his mouth>
Me: ... 6-7-8-9-10...
Cal: <holds banana in his mouth, doesn't bite down>
Me: ... 11-12-13-14-15...
Cal: <continues to hold banana in his mouth, doesn't bite down>
Me: ... 16... 30; <grab banana from Cal and throw it in the garbage>
Cal: No, I want it!
Me: Told ya.

October 9, 2011
is a little sore from her 3-mile run with EB and 8-mile ride with Cal this afternoon, but it's a good sore!

October 9, 2011
's husband is unscrewing the slats of the deck in an attempt to get the stubborn Kid out from under it.

October 9, 2011
is enjoying Cal's dramatic, unsung version of the Notre Dame Fight Song right now. 


Little Sister and Big Brother getting along fabulously; Posted 10/21/2011



Ella Bella! (~7 mos); Posted 10/21/2011

October 22, 2011
enjoyed Cal's modified rendition of Willie the Giant on his way to get his sister this AM: "Fi fi fo fum, I'm going off to see my... Ella."

October 27, 2011
gave a bath to a screaming, standing-up kid tonight... it was wonderful.

October 28, 2011
enjoyed Cal's timing of Daddy's shower this AM: "One Mississippi, four Mississippi, three Mississippi, four Mississippi, five Mississippi, one Mississippi..."

October 30, 2011
did a trial run of Trick or Treat with the kiddos and Grandma in downtown Naperville today... and survived. Poor Sophie the Giraffe didn't, though... or maybe she did and is just some dog's chew toy now.

October 30, 2011
knows Cal loves Ella but is a little concerned that he had her pinned under Horsey just now and was throwing footballs at her.

October 30, 2011
wonders which will come in first -- Ella's hair or Ella's teeth?

November 3, 2011
just posted a few pics from Halloween and giggled as she remembered little Cal being engulfed by a crowd of "big kids" at a neighbors door and finding his way out with a few "excuse me, guys."

Captain Hook Cal with his sidekick, Cow Ella, on Halloween

November 3, 2011
Captain Hook Cal says, "Aaarrrgh! Happy Halloween!"

November 6, 2011
just witnessed the sweetest thing: Ella was crying on the floor in the other room, and Cal ran in to comfort her... "What's wrong? Here, just relax <putting a blanket on her>. It's okay. Sshhh... sshhh... sshhh... You're going to be crawling soon." And she's not crying anymore (and he's still talking to her).

November 7, 2011
just heard Cal's sweet voice, "this is going to be really fun"... and then came out to find him beating Ella in the head with a balloon.

 
November 19, 2011
was outsmarted by Cal earlier today. Here's how it went:
Me: do you want a treat?
Cal: yes
Me: do you want a Nutrigrain bar?
Cal: that's not a treat, that's a snack.
Me: <dumbfounded>
Cal: a treat is candy
Me: how's chocolate

November 21, 2011
believes giving an infant eye drops is a two-person job.

November 25, 2011
CMLLLLKKKKHOOU0PBDFFFWEJYF (Cal typed all of those letters and named most of them as he did it)

November 25, 2011
Here's a pic from the Trot yesterday.

2011 Napeville Turkey Trot

Cal and I are in the back, left of the pic. Yes, I'm carrying him just before the Finish line. Here's how it went down:

 Cal (from stroller during run): I want to get out and run.

 Me (running): No, it's too crowded.

 Cal (still from stroller during run): I want to get out and run.

 Me (still running): No, Cal.

We repeated that exchange all race until about 50 yards from the Finish. I “parked” the stroller and pulled him out of it to let him run with me to the Finish and…

 Cal: No, I don’t want to run!

 Me: $@%!^$@!!!

November 26, 2011
wonders when (or if) she'll master the ability to think and concentrate with kids whining, crying, jabbering in the background. At this point, it's not looking good.

November 27, 2011
is watching the kid walk around the house with his undies on backwards, butt cheeks hanging out, taking our shoes upstairs, one pair at a time, to "Dr. Persak's office."

November 28, 2011
wonders if anyone has some extra patience she can borrow... for a few years.

December 1, 2011
just got back from a tough run outside with EB to find the Bears tied at 0-0, her fantasy team on the brink of getting handled and the boys awake from their naps.

December 4, 2011
has a crawler!

December 4, 2011
wonders if it's wrong to take one's kids to daycare on one's day off from work?

December 10, 2011
officially has a three-year-old today! Happy Birthday, my sweet, smart, funny, handsome boy, Cal (who happens to be wearing a garbage can on his head right now despite my telling him not to)!

December 16, 2011
can't think of a better way to spend her lunch hour than with a happy Cal at Choo Choo Johnny's.

December 18, 2011
is enjoying 30 seconds of silence after this set of Cal challenges: not wanting to use the potty (yet whining that his "buns" hurt), not wanting to share his bowling pins with Ella and wiping his booger on the couch.

December 27, 2011
is only a couple of hours into Ella-Cal-Mommy quality time and has had to clean up a wet bed, a blown out diaper and vomit... none of her own doing, either. I guess I have that going for me.

December 28, 2011
has two sleeping babies -- don't think THAT wasn't planned!

December 30, 2011
is wondering when or if Ella will get past this chewing-on-her-shoe phase that makes her so happy.
Meanwhile, Cal's on about the seventeenth round of "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" in the bathroom... with the water running... and the door closed... perhaps I should look into that.

December 30, 2011

thinks we may need a different approach to encourage toy-picking-up. Here's why:
Dan: Cal, it's time to put your toys away.
Cal: <no response, running on the couch>
Dan: No running on the couch... put your toys away or I'm going to take them away.
Cal: <no response, no longer running on the couch>
Dan: <gathered up Cal's toys strewn on the family room floor, put them in designated place for taken-away toys in garage>
Cal: <standing by his big fire truck already put away> Daddy, you forgot to take my Red away.

High Fives Uncle Perry Style

No one makes Ella laugh more than Cal does, and this is never more evident than at the kitchen table.  The typical Leatherman family meal can be broken down into two major components.  The first half involves Dan and me doing everything in our power to get the kids to focus on eating – sometimes we incent, sometimes we threaten and occasionally we just give in. The second half of dinner involves Cal doing oddball things to get Ella to laugh her hearty, from-the-gut laugh.  Tactics he’s used most frequently include making goofy faces, crossing his eyes, hitting his forehead with his hand, banging the back of his head on his chair, saying incomprehensible “words,” doing the “cold” body shake, among others.  (I should note that not all of these tactics have mine and Dan’s approval; but he does them nonetheless, if only to get a laugh out of Ella… or maybe a “please don’t” out of Dan… or, more likely, both.)

The other morning, Cal had “finished” (declared he was done, plenty of food still on his plate) his breakfast and decided to introduce some new entertainment for Ella.  Typical of most kids (and, frankly, me), Cal has been very impressed and entertained by the antics of Uncle Perry, my friend from high school who joggles, juggles, plays the ukulele and balances hats on his nose.  So he decided he’d use an Uncle Perry-ism on Ella to get her to laugh.  It didn't get many gutty laughs out of Ella, but it was entertaining for both of them nonetheless.  Take a look:

Facebook Posts: Q3, 2011

Here are my Leatherkid-related Facebook posts from July, August and September, 2011. They are unedited and should generally be assumed to start with “Carla Reiter Leatherman…”

There weren't a lot of posts during this time period, and I really don't remember why that's the case.  I do remember vividly the tune to which Cal sang his book-picking-up song on July 21st, and I'm most proud of his rendition of the Notre Dame Fight Song (complete with Leprechaun imitation) on September 16th; but my favorite post during this time period was the one with my mom on August 7th.  It certainly made me laugh the most!

July 7, 2011

A few pics from our trip to Michigan:

Ella sunbathing

Cal the Kayaker

The troops trying to catch some fish

July 7, 2011

Ella getting some quality reading in.

Ella reading

July 10, 2011

enjoyed this exchange this AM:
Cal: I want a cookie, please.
Daddy: No, Cal, no cookies for breakfast.
Cal: Not for breakfast... I want a cookie for dessert.

July 21, 2011

enjoyed Cal's song "I'm Picking Up My Books, So Mommy and Daddy Will Be Happy" earlier this evening.

August 7, 2011

enjoyed this exchange between her mom and son earlier this evening:
Grandma: "It's easy to go poopy in the toilet, Cal."
Cal (without any hesitation): "It's easy to go poopy in my DIAPER."
'nuf said.

August 14, 2011

has a new running partner -- Ella Bella and I went running Thursday, Saturday and today!!!

August 14, 2011

is remembering the days when she rolled out of bed at the crack of dawn to get a training run in and not to change a diaper.

August 17, 2011

is proud of Cal for wearing his big-boy undies all day now but wishes he'd just get his pooping done in one "sitting" instead of fifty.

August 21, 2011

has an opening to hit the trail with the kid and is gonna take it.

August 30, 2011

was told by her son yesterday after work, "Your skirt is pretty, Mommy. You're pretty." So sweet.

August 31, 2011

is enjoying a little extra Mommy-Ella time before heading to work this AM.

September 16, 2011

Poor kid has been set up for a lifetime of disappointment... unless the Irish bring Lou back. At least Cal's not a Cubs fan, so he has that going for him.

September 18, 2011

believes Dan is right when he says we are S-C-R-E-W-E-D... check out this exchange from this AM (2 hours after we proposed stopping for doughnuts on the way home from Grandma's):
Me: Should we stop and get some D-O-U-G-H-N-U-T-S?
Dan: Nah, he won't remember.
Cal: Should we stop and get some D-O-S... get some doughnuts?

Ready to Roll!

Anyone with kids probably knows that a little excitement around even the simplest of tasks will go a long way toward motivating them to do the task.  “Alright, let’s go take a fun bath and get in our jammies… woo hoo!” followed by a fist pump is more likely to elicit some movement toward the bathroom than a simple “it’s time for baths” will.  “Okay, let’s pick up these toys that you’ve thrown all over the place, put them where they belong and then we’ll have some yummy ice cream… yippee!” is more likely to get a positive response than “you can have ice cream if you pick up and put away all of your toys.” 

So when the Leatherman family leaves the house, it’s typically triggered by an enthusiastic and loud, “Are you ready to roll, Leathermans?!?!!!”  delivered by Dan or me.  Too many times we’ve broken a sweat (literally) and our spirits lugging our stuff and the kids out the door, battling their uncooperativeness and whines.  Life is so much better when they walk themselves out.  More recently, we introduced a more specific, “Are you ready to roll, Leatherkids?!?!!!”  The question is barely finished being asked, and everyone’s already marching toward the door, focused on one thing: getting out of the house with smiles on our faces.  No kidding – smiles and cooperation almost every time.

Last week, Cal started asking the question, directed only to Ella – her response was priceless and has continued into this week:

Cal: “Are you ready to roll, Leatherman, Ella?!?!!!”

Ella <leaning forward, arms stretched out behind her back>: “Yyyeeeaaaahhhh!”

Cal: “Are you ready to roll, Leatherman, Ella?”

Ella <leaning forward, arms stretched out behind her back>: “Yyyeeeaaaahhhh!”

Aaahhh… even better when we don’t even need to ask the question ourselves.

I'm always a little late in capturing video of quality Leatherkid moments, but I did manage to capture some of the typical scene the other day (note Cal's whispered question that still gets a response out of Ella):

What does "C" mean?

Cal’s a big fan of the question “why?”  “Why?” after any statement of fact, “why?” after any request and “why?” after any suggestion.  “Why, Mommy?”  “Why is it?”  “Why?”  A decent question in some cases, it’s generally annoying.  For one, there isn’t always an answer to “why?” – the brick is lying there, well, because it is.  Second, I don’t always know the answer to “why?” – the sky is blue for some reason that has to do with light.  And third, he knows “why” and need not ask it – just don’t push your sister.

So I encourage him to ask “better” questions, a challenge which he sometimes obliges. Driving home from our brief stint of bowling the other day, he met that challenge (unknowingly, for sure):

Cal <from the back seat>: “What does ‘C’ mean, Daddy?”

Dan <driving>: “C is a letter.  ‘Cal’ starts with ‘C’… ‘Car’ starts with ‘C’… ‘California’ starts with ‘C’.”

Cal: “No, what does ‘see’ mean, like ‘we’ll see if we can watch a Mickey’?”

Dan <smiling proudly>: “Well, in that context, it’s more conditional, typically based on your behavior, Buddy.  Maybe.”

Dan <quietly>: Cal, you’re going to kill Mommy and Daddy if we have to keep coming up with answers to these types of questions.”

Facebook Posts: Q2, 2011




Cal and Ella (June, 2011)

Here are my Leatherkid-related Facebook posts from April, May and June, 2011. They are unedited and should generally be assumed to start with “Carla Reiter Leatherman…”

My clear favorite post during this time period was the first one on April 2nd. 'Nuf said.

April 2, 2011
Loves Cal's honesty. Note this exchange:
Cal: Daddy, I want my shopping cart back please.
Daddy: Why was the shopping cart taken away from you?
Cal: Because I was chasing Squeaker with it.
Daddy: If you get your shopping cart back, will you chase him with it?
Cal: Yes.

April 10, 2011
thinks she should probably head upstairs to save Daddy.

April 10, 2011
enjoyed a bike ride with Cal this AM and hopes the fresh air and activity have a positive effect on his terrible twos-ness the rest of the day.

April 11, 2011
needs an effective timeout idea -- the current one is not working on Cal.

April 12, 2011
should've thought that the "Cranky Crab" t-shirt that Cal chose to wear this morning was a sign of how the day would go.

April 13, 2011
wonders "could this kid be hungry AGAIN?"

April 16, 2011
got clearance to resume all activities but wishes she wasn't so exhausted at the start.

April 18, 2011
wonders why she can't seem to get her act together even with all of this non-working time on her hands -- it's "wear-red" day at school, and poor Cal is wearing grey.

April 22, 2011
Miracle of all miracles -- Cal got back on the horsey!

April 23, 2011
is hoping the kiddies don't think the Easter Bunny is as creepy looking as she thought yesterday when they sit on his lap this AM.

April 26, 2011
is dragging the kiddies to the library for some story time.

April 29, 2011
and her little Ella Bella have a couple of insatiable appetites today.

May 1, 2011
is proud to say that Cal can spell GLAMOROUS but isn't sure that he can do so without singing it.

May 1, 2011
's son wasn't sure if Uncle Jer was a boy or a girl earlier today... Daddy: "Is Mommy a girl or a boy?" Cal: "A grill." Daddy: "Is Daddy a girl or a boy?" Cal: "A boy." Daddy: "Is Aunt Erin a girl or a boy?" Cal: "a grill." Daddy: "Is Uncle Jerry a girl or a boy?" Cal: <pauses> "Is he a boy or a grill?"

May 2, 2011

is a little sad that Ella is sleeping in her crib (and not the bassinet) tonight... they grow up so fast...

May 3, 2011
ended her day laughing at Cal -- he pulled out a second pre-bedtime book to read, clenched his fists, scrunched his face up in a tough-guy look and crouched down in a stance mimicking the ND leprechaun. The book? The Notre Dame words book, with the ND leprechaun on the cover. What a crack-up.

May 3, 2011
thinks naptime couldn't have come at a better time today... except maybe a few hours earlier...

May 5, 2011
hopes Aunts Kel Kel, Erin and Kristi don't get offended by this, but Ella's "I Love My Aunt" onesie has been the victim of a blowout every time she's worn it.

May 5, 2011
thinks Cal has a crush on the "grill" we met at the park this AM -- when we got home he picked up the ringing play phone and said, "Is it the grill? Hi, grill. Okay, bye"... and hung up.

May 6, 2011
thinks Cal is so thoughtful... earlier this evening, he held his sippy cup up to his chest and said that he was pumping some apple juice for Ella.

May 11, 2011
just read the kids' new book "Diary of a Spider" on her own and laughed all the way through it... not sure if it's just that clever or if it's time for Carla to get some more adult time...

May 11, 2011
is holding her breath, hoping Ella takes this bottle...

May 13, 2011
Me and my kids on Mother's Day by the flowers we planted.

May 13, 2011
Ella in her outfit from Aunt Erin.

May 16, 2011
is watching the "scary monsters" with Cal.

May 17, 2011
is pretty bummed she's in her last week of maternity leave... :(

May 28, 2011
has drawn more scary monsters this past week than she has in her whole lifetime.

June 6, 2011
's little girl rolled over from her back to her belly for the first time today! Yea, Ella Bella!

June 11, 2011
learned a valuable parenting lesson yesterday -- never wear flip flops when you take your toddler to the ball fields to "watch" a game or two, especially after a heavy rainstorm.

June 13, 2011
considered taking Big Teddy & the stroller in place of the Kid for her run tonight but opted to take the iPod instead.

June 15, 2011
wonders how many different scary monsters CAN she draw?

June 23, 2011
is just really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really tired.

June 25, 2011
Cal giving Ella some apple juice that he had pumped himself.

June 29, 2011
isn't gonna lie -- coming home to a quiet house today was pretty nice.

Schmidt… Schmitt

The 2012 Summer Olympics have been in progress in London for about two weeks now.  Though they’ve been televised for what seems like all hours of the day, they’ve really only gotten any attention of the Leatherman family (mostly the Leatherman mommy) during the primetime hours (7pm to 11pm). Since the kids’ bedtime is generally at the start of primetime TV viewing, Cal hasn’t really seen too much of them.

Now, Cal doesn’t really get to watch too much TV.  My guess is that he watches more TV than some but certainly less than most.  So it’s a treat when he does get to watch it.  Given a choice, he’ll watch “a Mickey” (“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”); beyond that, the weather, sports, cowboys, animals, Cake Boss… these all catch his attention.

During the first week of the Olympics with baths already administered, Ella in bed, Cal in his jammies and Olympic swimming events on TV, I figured I’d give Cal a choice: watch 15 minutes of the Olympics or read his standard two books before bedtime.  I barely had the options presented and he was pulling himself up onto our bed and making his dent in my pillow, eyes focused on the TV. I had my answer (which happened to be the answer I wanted and, frankly, the answer I expected).

As we watched the swimming events together, I made sure to highlight the US swimmers, saying their names, where they were finishing in their races and that we were rooting for them.  “Why <are we rooting for them>, Mommy?”  “Because they’re from the US and we’re from the US and we hope the US wins.”  To be honest, I don’t remember who was swimming during those 15-30 minutes that Cal was watching that night.  And we didn’t talk about any of them after he watched them.

Cal's First-ever "Roll"


After we dragged the kids to the bowling alley so I could test out my new bowling ball last night, Dan figured we’d treat them to some ice cream.  Cal was pretty well behaved, particularly given the prospect of doing some bowling "himself" (right); and Ella… well, she’s not even 18 months, so how much cooperation can you really expect?  With the kids already in their car seats, Dan and I had this exchange as we put the stroller, bowling gear and diaper bag into the back section of “Cal’s car” (our RAV 4):

Dan:  Is the Dairy Queen east or west of here?

Me:  Well, where’s Schmidt Road?

Dan:  We’re just past it.

Me:  I think it’s west then.

Cal:  Schmidt Road… that’s like Allison Schmitt.

Dan:  Who’s Allison Schmidt?  A teacher?

Cal:  Noo...

Me <in my head>:  Allison Schmidt… Allison Schmidt… the name sounds familiar…

Dan:  A classmate at school?

Cal:  Noo.  Allison Schmitt is a really good swimmer.  She wins.

And there you have it. Allison Schmitt IS a swimmer on the 2012 US Olympic team.  She did WIN a bunch of medals, both in individual events and relay events.  I figure she must’ve been one of the swimmers we watched that night just before Cal’s bedtime.  Wow.  If only this attentiveness and memory would be applied to where he last left his cowboy hat or "King" car. 

Facebook Posts: Q1, 2011

Here are my Leatherkid-related Facebook posts from January, February and March, 2011. They are unedited and should generally be assumed to start with “Carla Reiter Leatherman…”

This time period includes the early days of posting Leatherkid-isms (which, let's face it, have been mostly Cal-isms) to Facebook, and the "material" was in its infancy.  Be on the lookout for more Facebook posts -- they get better and funnier as time goes on.

My favorite post from this time period was, of course, the February 28th announcement that our beautiful Ella was born.

January 2, 2011

wonders if it's bad that she's enjoying watching Cal terrorize Squeaker with his shopping cart.

January 9, 2011

"Dad, Squeaker needs more food" was stated by our 2-year-old this morning.

January 19, 2011

laughed at this one: After a post-dinner round of "knucks," Cal and Daddy headed upstairs for Cal's bed-time routine. On his way up, Cal turned to me and asked very strongly, "You coming, or what?" I love that kid.

January 23, 2011

doesn't think the threat of having to pick all of the balls up after throwing them out of the toy room is working on Cal.

January 30, 2011

's son just picked up the shoes she wore to last night's black-tie event and brought them to her saying, "your shoes are pretty!"

February 2, 2011

is feeling pretty worthless about now as Dan is on round 3 of shoveling the driveway now that the plow finally came through and plowed our street.

Even Cal shovelled!

February 4, 2011

took today off to spend some "extra" time with Cal before baby#2 comes. Thus far, it's involved sleeping in until 8:15am and watching Lighting McQueen.

February 8, 2011

is expecting a foot to pop out of her belly button any time now -- there is just no more room for Baby.

February 20, 2011

survived the wine party without the drama of going into labor... whew.

February 25, 2011

isn't sure what feels longer, that Lightning McQueen book or the recent wait for Baby to come.

February 27, 2011

has such a thoughtful son -- he always brings a "crispy treat" for me when he grabs one for himself.

February 28, 2011

It's a girl!!! Ella Jennifer was born this AM at 7:18 weighing 8lbs 15 oz. Yea!

March 8, 2011

has a cluster feeder on her hands.

March 9, 2011

is excited to be able to dry her feet and ankles after a shower again.

March 10, 2011

thanks everyone for the congratulations and the nice thoughts. Ella's doing really well, and Cal is already a gentle, protective and proud big brother!

March 18, 2011

doesn't think Ella understands her role in "tummy time."

March 18, 2011

wonders if it'll take less than the two hours it's currently taking to get out of the house with the kids in the morning once she heads back to work.

March 31, 2011

is watching the Yankees-Tigers game with Ella in her arm -- ahhhh... life is good.