Barry’s Daily Web News

Sean and Ethan go to the Doctor

Cortney took both Sean and Ethan to the doctor today. Ethan has a sore throat, and more than likely he just has a cold virus. Sean has a possible ear infection, and he is now on anti-biotics. When I was home, Ethan was cranky again at dinner time, otherwise, he was his normal self. Sean had a good time at gym class, so his ear isn’t bothering him too much. So, even though Sean and Ethan are both fine, it was good to have their condition confirmed by the doctor.

Two Cranky Kids

I brought Sean and Ethan to McDonalds this evening, in order to give Cortney a break after a long day. Sean only had half a day of school, so he came home early. What was surprising about this evening’s outing was that Sean and Ethan weren’t that interested in playing. Ethan likely has a bit of a cold. He cried when it was time to eat. I let him cry it out, and eventually he had a full meal. Sean started out ok, but then fell off a chair and hit his ear and neck on the video machine. I calmed him down with an ice cream cone. Sean and Ethan both let me know when it’s time to go home, as they grab their shoes. Sean puts his on, of course, and Ethan hands his to me. I think both Sean and Ethan were lacking sleep, so I didn’t have any problem taking them home early to put them to bed.

Library Night

I took Sean and Ethan to the library tonight, as is usual for Tuesday evenings. I was working hard to get Sean to share at the train table. One nice girl gave all of her trains to Sean, until she had none left to play with. She asked Sean to play as friends, but Sean continued to build his train and ignore her. I gave Sean a hard time about that.

Ethan was cranky and fussy when I arrived home from work, but he had a good time at the library. He got into a bit of trouble during story time, when another boy Ethan’s age started playing with Ethan, and they both became too noisy. The other mother and I took turns quieting them down, even taking them out of the room. The other mother eventually became frustrated, and took her boy home. The boy ended up throwing a temper tantrum, so I felt sorry for her.

I think the library night is a good learning experience for Sean and Ethan, maybe more for the social developement than the actual stories and songs.

The Sticker

Today was a typical Monday at work. My highlight of the day was taking Sean to gym class. Sean started goofing off at the beginning of class, during the warm-up. I thought it was going to be a long night for the instructor, but Sean behaved after that.

After class, Sean got a little sticker on his hand that said “Super”. I told him he was a super boy, and teased him about it, and tickled him. After buckling Sean in the car to go home, Sean noticed the sticker was missing. We got out of the car and went to look for it, but no luck. I told Sean he would have to do without it, it was gone. Sean was definitely upset. As I started to pull out of the parking lot, I noticed the sticker on the book I had brought in with me to class to read. I think Sean stuck his hand up to stop me from tickling him, and the sticker got stuck on the book. Sean was just glad to get it back. As I put him to bed, he made sure the sticker was still on his hand.

A Nice Swim in the Pool

I was finally able to take Sean and Ethan into the pool this evening. It was a nice evening, warm enough to use the pool, but not too hot. Sean is now able to jump off the side and grab objects from the bottom of the deepest section of the pool. I tried getting Sean to actually dive in. He came close a few times, but I didn’t want to push it for him. Ethan had fun just splashing on the steps. Ethan cracked up when I tried talking with my mouth half under the water. It was a fun time for all of us. I’m hoping we can still use the pool for at least a few more weeks. We are in for some slightly cooler weather, so we shall see.

23 Months

Ethan turns 2 years old one month from today.

Dinner and Shopping

The family went to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. This restaurant serves cafeteria style, at least for the salads, which was interesting because of Sean and Ethan. I held Ethan while we went through the line, and Sean was well behaved through the line, so we were fine until we got to our table. Actually, it wasn’t too bad. The worst problem was that whenever Cortney and I went up to get something, both Sean and Ethan would yell out “Hey Mommy!” or “Hey Daddy!” every time we came back. I thought it was cute, but we did get some looks from some of the other restaurant patrons. Sean and Ethan were able to get a full meal between the food we brought for them and bits from our plates, and of course, Cortney and I got our full, since it was all you can eat.

After dinner, we did some shopping, at Target and some other stores. I had to pick up a gamepad, since I am trying to run some emulator software and need a controller. I am going to try to run some of the video games that Sean likes from McDonalds on my computer.

I really wanted to take Sean and Ethan into the pool this evening, but by the time we were through shopping, it was time for bed for the kids. We’ll have to go into the pool tomorrow.

Family Night Out

Cortney joined Ethan, Sean and me for our Friday night outing to the Burger King play area. We had fun, but Sean and Ethan tired early, so we left early. I guess Sean and Ethan played to hard earlier in the day when Cortney took them to Jeepers.

Working During Sean’s Gym Class

I needed to get some work done this evening, so I brought my laptop with me to Sean’s gym class. It was tough working with all of the noise, but I did end up completing some work. Sean enjoyed the gym class. When I asked him about it, he said “Oh, yes. I had a great time.”

On the way home, I asked him what a red light means. Not only did he tell me “stop”, but he also spelled it for me. I asked Sean if he wanted a reading lesson when we got home, but he just said “No, I just want my milk and to go to bed”. I gave him what he asked for.

Play Night

Cortney had a tough time with the kids this afternoon. She took both Sean and Ethan for Sean’s dermatologist appointment, and had a tough time with them. (The dermatologist said Sean was fine.) So, when I arrived home, I decided to give Cortney a break and immediately take Sean and Ethan off her hands. I took them to McDonalds.

Sean is now more interested in the video games then than play area. He still uses the play area, which is good, since he gets some exercise. He still likes to play the racing game and crash his car. He doesn’t realize that ends the game, especially in two player. Oh well.

Ethan was almost able to climb the tower on his own. He can put his elbows on the next shelf, but he doesn’t really have the shoulder strength to pull himself up, and he is just an inch or two shy of being able to put his knee up on the shelf. At any rate, he gets around well for a 22 month old.

Sean and Ethan pretty much played themselves out. I think Sean may have been over-tired, and he had a little bit of a meltdown when we left. He was fine once we arrived home.

Library Night

Story time has started back up, so I took Sean and Ethan to the library this evening. I planned to actually skip baby time, since it is geared for children up to 18 months, and Ethan is a bit older than that. But, when the librarian, Miss Karen, went into the story time room, Sean and Ethan followed. I don’t mind if Sean and Ethan do the songs and finger plays in the baby time, but I wanted for them to do it on their own. So, I sat at the back of the room, hoping that Sean and Ethan would sit up front. As it turned out, they wanted to sit with my, so I let them. For one of the stories, Sean and Ethan did go and sit down front on their own. They behaved during the story, and I was proud of them for doing that.

Sean went potty on his own at the library, which is a big relief from the time when I would have to change his diaper.

Sean and Ethan both enjoyed the regular story time as well. Ethan actually sat still for the stories. Sean participated in some of the stories, answering questions asked by the librarian. I could tell both Sean and Ethan have matured since the last time story time, six weeks ago.

Happy Labor Day

We spent Labor Day doing things around the house. I cooked burgers on the grill for dinner. I wanted to take Sean and Ethan into the pool this evening, but Sean has some discharge from his ear, so we wanted to play it safe and keep Sean out of the pool. Instead, I took Sean and Ethan to the mall play area. It wasn’t too crowded, since most of the stores were closing by the time we arrived. We stayed until Sean and Ethan played themselves out, which wasn’t too long.

Yard Work Day

I spent the morning doing yard work. I ended up doing light trimming all over the yard, ending up with a big stack of branches out in the street. As I was doing the yard work, I noticed a slight hint of Fall arriving. A new set of day lillies are growing, and the rose bushes look like they are ready to start blooming again.

Sean kept saying all day long that he wanted to go back and see the dinosaurs (at the museum). He doesn’t understand that it is almost an hour drive to get there, and we aren’t likely to go back any time soon.

After dinner, I took Sean and Ethan in the pool for a swim. Ethan went down the slide, which surprised me. He still isn’t completely comfortable in the water, sliding down and dropping underwater is a big deal for him. Ethan must have liked it, since he went down several times.

A Fun Day

This morning, we went to the Mesa Southwest Museum. The museum had an excellent dinosaur display. It was realistic enough with the sounds and movement that Sean was scared to death the first time through. Ethan was frightened as well. After seeing the exhibit all the way through, they became more comfortable with the dinosaur displays, so we had to go through again.

The museum also had a good display of a gold mine and territorial jail. I thought panning for gold would be fun for the kids, but Ethan took a pan full of water, turned it towards himself, and completely soaked his outfit. That was the end of the gold panning. Mesa is on the other side of town for us, so it was a long drive. But, it was worth it. I think we all had fun.

I took Sean and Ethan out to the mall play area to give Cortney a break this afternoon. We drove home to pick Cortney up, then we went out to dinner for Mexican food. A brief shopping trip filled up the rest of the day for Sean and Ethan.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do anything with Sean and Ethan tomorrow. It’s loose trash pickup this week, so I have lots of yard work to do tomorrow. Of course, that’s probably nothing compared to what our friends and family will have to go through after Hurricane Frances moves through. We see on the satellite photos that West Palm Beach is currently suffering hurricane force winds.

Hurricane Frances

Good luck to all of our family and friends in Florida. I hope everyone comes through safely. I expect most will lose power, so we will be keeping a close watch on the television and on the internet for news.