The Wilkinson Family Blog

January was a busy month. Between starting back at my job/Theo starting daycare, a few rounds of illnesses, a trip to San Diego for my nephew Brandon's first birthday, and the other odds and ends of family life, February snuck up on us! So - sorry for no January post.

The highlight of the month for me was getting to take Theo to San Diego for Brandon's first birthday and blessing celebration. It was special to get to spend so much one-on-one time with Theo (who is often just left to fend for himself when his brother and sister are around!). It was also wonderful to get to spend some more time with Brandon, Susie, and Cliff, and to see Grandpa without a Mustache and Nana again. The party was a huge hit. There was a bouncy house, a taco cart, and many, many people who very much love Brandon. The blessing was lovely. I was honored to be a part of it, and to be asked to be Brandon's godmother.

Matt and the kids had a lot of fun at home. They went to a local restaurant for dinner, went swimming, to the science museum where they saw their first iMAX movie, got bagels, and just generally had fun. Some pictures.

Moments before Brandon asserts his superior agility and strength

Easily distracted

Not napping

Brandon roaring at Grady's dragon

Excited to be back in Portland!

The rest of the month we have been getting used to our new schedule. I'm back at work now at 40%, and Theo started at Clara's school. Clara was really excited to get to take care of her baby brother. She is always around for a hug or to give him his pacifier if he gets sad. Theo adapted to daycare super fast and has been having a great time there - although sleeping is a bit tricky.

Posted by Theo's school - happy post-nap

It's been an adjustment going back to work, especially since for January I was back at 40% but only had daycare for Theo for 20%. Starting this month Theo will be in daycare two days a week, so that should help make things a bit saner around the house.

Milestones. Grady is continuing to learn lots of French, although he doesn't much like to speak it at home. I have let him play with some French apps on my phone, and he is shockingly good at knowing the French word for various images. We are now deep in the process of trying to figure out Kindergarten for him for next year. It's tough. Grady is starting to get interested in learning to ride a bike, although at the moment it is still mostly mommy or daddy holding him up and steering. It takes a strong back to help a kid learn to ride a bike!

Clara got her first haircut and looks so much older.

We are in the process of potty training, which is sort of hit or miss. Seems like more miss than hit, but we are working on it. She is also suddenly able to draw pictures that look like the thing she is drawing. Here is her first person, and her first dinosaur.

Man made out of food

T-Rex

Theo can now say cat, dog, dada, mama, clap, maybe ball, maybe duck. He is a pro at clapping, "so big," signing all done, and high fives. He is working hard at pulling up. He can easily get to his knees, and occasionally can move all the way to his feet.

We've got some cute photos from the past few weeks. Here they are.

Dino baby

Something on my face?

Besa has found a use for these little people

Prepared for a jog. And looking like Clara.

Just chillin'

Silly selfies

No feet on the table

Might be time for a haircut

Taken by Grady

Taken by Clara

Taken by Grady

About a week ago I said to myself that I really should do a blog post before Christmas, because otherwise this post would be crazy long. Well, I didn't and it's going to be. So be forewarned.

I'll get the medical stuff out of the way first. As you all know, Grady had surgery to attempt to fix his kidney reflux this month. The plan was for the urologist to go in, take the two ureters that Grady has on his right side, and squish them (medical term) further down into the bladder. However, when the doctor operated, this is what he found.

Normal on the bottom, Grady's on the top

He helpfully commented afterwards that even if we had asked him absolute worst case what he would find when he operated, he would not have come up with all that went wrong with Grady's bladder. One of the things - one of the double ureters splitting off again into two - he had only seen one other time in his entire career. Although he thinks he successfully repaired the bladder, it took about three hours and at that time decided that was enough for one day. So as things are, Grady's reflux is worse than when we started. We are looking at one more surgery at least, although not until summer at the earliest. Of course this was not the news we wanted. The recovery was pretty quick (about a week) but brutal nonetheless and we are not looking forward to having to go through it again. We were very fortunate to have my dad come out and stay with us for about a week during the surgery. This was especially fortunate for Matt, Clara, and Theo, who otherwise may have had to have cereal for dinner for a few nights.

On to more fun stuff.

December with kids is basically one big lead up to Christmas. Pre-Christmas activities included making cookies, gingerbread houses, and elf paintings.

Yeah it's an elf. What about it.

So. Delicious.

Gingerbread fun with Grady's first friend, Rose

Perfect!

And what Christmas would be complete without our annual wagon ride to the Christmas tree lot to pick out a tree and get our holiday photo taken?

Dinosaur parade

Clara: "Is Theo eating the branches? Oh. He is."

So joyful.

So, so joyful.

Well, one out of two missions accomplished.

The kids were really excited to get the tree decorated. And themselves as well.

Theo perhaps was not quite as excited

Safety first

Theo got to choose his first ornament, which was a mouse. He only needed a tiny bit of help getting it onto the tree.

Of course, for the kids, the real magic of Christmas is fostering the spirit of giving. And by giving I mean others giving. To them. So they were pretty excited about the massive pile of Christmas gifts.

Obligatory pre-Christmas present opening photo

Santa gifts: A snake for Grady and a robot for Clara. Santa, um, forgot Theo this year. Oops.

Santa got it right!

You mean there's something inside?

Yes, we got Theo a spatula, a honey stick, and a pacifier for Christmas. You a got a problem with that?

The kids were totally spoiled by their East Coast relatives (and us) with books, art supplies, French music, and other cool gifts. They were so, so excited. It was actually very sweet to see.

After Christmas at home, we all packed up for the three hour flight to Tucson to visit Nana, Grandpa without a mustache, Uncle Gavin, Uncle Cliff, Aunt Susie, and cousin Brandon. The kids were really well behaved on both flights, staying relatively well amused with movies, iPhone apps, and 35,000 calories worth of snack food. Hey, whatever it takes.

Tucson was wonderful, as always. Grandpa and Nana made some wonderful meals, we got to see lots of family, including Aunt Dawn and Uncle Peter, took some walks/jogs, enjoyed the sun, played a bit of golf and - of course - the hot tub. We knew Grady would like the hot tub, but the big surprise was how much Theo loved it!

The kids got treated to a second round of presents as well. (The grownups did a Secret Santa and Yankee Swap this year, which turned out great.) The kids were psyched to get so many new books, an electronic dinosaur, and some playdough supplies, among other treasures.

Grandpa was nice enough to take us all to the desert museum again this year. Grady was super excited about the snakes, given his recent acquisition from Santa. Clara seemed to like the frogs. Theo was especially excited about the mountain lion ("CAT?!?"). Grady was especially delighted to have scared someone who thought his snake was a real one.

Yeah yeah yeah, but look at my snake!

Bear spotting

It was also especially nice to have the kids get to know cousin Brandon a bit better. He and Theo are only a few months apart, but Brandon seems like such a big kid! He's cruising around like a pro and has quite a bit to say. Theo can keep up with him on the food front, though.

And what visit to Tucson would be complete without a little game of Off Like a Shot with Grandpa?

Details on the kids this month -

Grady's big news was the surgery of course. He has been off school for close to a month, and claims to have forgotten all his French. He has been in good spirits, loves to teach Clara about the world (e.g., all robots come in cans and live in outerspace), and is happy to be back to running around. His favorite activity right now is drawing. He's very careful about staying in the lines and is working on perfecting a few of his favorite drawings - dragon, sunset, and dinosaurs. He is sounding out some words now, and is pleased with himself when he can spell things out.

Clara is really into imaginative play. She and Grady have a good thing going right now, and can play together for hours. She is still tentatively moving away from diapers - veeeery tentatively. She sings songs constantly, wanders where she wills, and refuses to learn anything except by doing. She is awesome.

Theo is getting pretty fast at scooting, is sitting himself up on his own, can out-eat me, and is trying his hand at pulling up.

He is now making "jokes," claps, and is babbling up a storm. In addition to cat, he seems to be saying "done," and occasionally "dog," but it's hard to tell for sure. His sleeping is getting better - about half the time he's sleeping through the night, the other half we have a wakeup in the 3-5 am range.