Brothers

I can't begin to articulate what watching these two boys together is like. I don't have words, but this picture is a good start.

Not quite there yet...

C: Mommy, I am going to be a spy and find out all your secrets!
J: Okay sweetie.
C: .... Will you help me?

Career Plans

Cayden is getting old enough that he has started to map out his career goals. They are somewhat modest. He would like to be a space ranger during the week, and a dinosaur bone scientist on the weekends. He is somewhat saddened that he can't actually fly with a jet pack into space, but I told him to give it twenty years.

I Found A Motor!!

I found a Motor!! After removing the motor from my defunct washer I had an ecstatic, overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and purpose that had absolutely no correlation to the easy 7 minute job. I was elated but confused. Then it occurred to me.

Video gaming. So many years of video gaming. Countless hours spent hunting for motors to open gates, turn on power, run the generator, get the alarm system back on, fix the automatic door mechanism, power up the robot, run the tram, turn on the lights, etc.

So now it's on a shelf. Waiting for the right mission to come up. Call me pathetic if you will but when the turrets work again, the electric defense grid goes green and the communication system comes back online you'll know who to thank.

So much wasted time...

I choose not the see the fingerprint scanner security device as the boys' school as an ineffectual, outdated, and aggravating excuse for technology. I prefer to see it as a daily opportunity to practice finding my inner peace.

Awakening

Tyson didn't wake me up before leaving for work this morning. Consequently I was woken by the dulcet tones of the boys. When Cayden was an infant, he would spend the first 1/2 hour of his day cheerfully babbling and laughing at who knows what. Now that Dalton is starting to babble, he is doing the exact same thing. The stream of vowel sounds from down the hall pulled me from sleep. While Dalton is pontificating about just how nice 'aaaaaaah' sounds, Cayden starts trying to sush him. "Dalton! Dalton, be quiet. I'm trying to hear what the grown-ups are doing downstairs. Hey, wait! Those are birds singing. It is morning time!"

Remiss

I realized that I haven't posted pics of the rapidly changing offspring recently. Here are some from Vavo. Many entertaining stories of life with two kids to follow...

Tyson's Sons

(at the dinner table tonight)

Ty: How do you feel about your brother sleeping in your room for the first time tonight?
Cayden: ( laughs) yeah! Soon he will be big and when he wakes up in the middle of the night he will say, "Cayden, why don't we play some games?"
JD: and you will be a responsible big brother and say,"mommy and daddy want us to go to back to sleep"
Cayden: No, I'll say, "sure Dalton!".

Literal Thinker

One thing I have learned from living with our incredibly verbose (older) son, is how literal young kids are:

Nana: Cayden, I found a picture of a Great Horned Owl. Come and see it.
Cayden: Ummm, Nana... that owl doesn't have horns.

You know you are lactating when...

You reach down to pick up your second burrito and realize you just ate it.

Brothers

Okay, I give. I did not think C&D looked alike at first, but as Dalton fills out I began to suspect that what everyone was telling me was true. I looked up a old photo on the blog of Cayden at the same age, and lo and behold, can you tell who is who? The primary difference appears to be size: Dalton weighed in at 10 lbs 10 oz yesterday, while Cayden weighed in at 13 lbs 4 oz at that age (with near identical birth weights). Impressive, eh?

The brothers are awesome. I am so excited to watch this relationship continue to develop. Two days ago Dalton smiled for the first time at a person, and was it the woman who feeds, snuggles and cares for him 24/7? No, of course not. It was his brother...

Kayaking

The weather this year on our annual Bar Harbor vacation was so Kayaking friendly that we spent most of our time in a boat or planning to go out.  Just to clarify, my idea of Kayak friendly weather is cloudy and cool.  At any rate, JD's fam has a plethora of Kayaks so we availed ourselves of the opportunity and hit a couple of lakes and Frenchman's Bay.  Way fun.

Poop Antics

It has been four years since we have had an infant, and I had forgotten just how spectacular baby poop is. It defies the laws of physics, I swear. Baby intestines should be studied for their extra dimensional properties, because the volume that exits the system could not possibly be contained within the system. Add to this the usual Sprayberry trending towards the absurd, and it's comical. Today I picked up Dalton and decided to change him before feeding. I carefully checked the diaper on the change table and sure enough, massive poo. Totally fine, clean the kid, check him, we are good to go. Then I look in the mirror behind the change table and notice poop n my shirt. Huh. Change my shirt, pick up the baby and go to sit down in the baby throne to feed him. As I am about to put him on my lap I notice poop all over my pants. Huh. A I stand up to go back to the change table I notice poop on the floor next to his chair. Apparently when I originally picked him up, I cradled his bottom in the exact right fashion to jettison an arc of poop outside the diaper without getting any on him, just all over me and the floor. Again, a marvel of physics. Hence my firm belief that cloth diaper laundry is just noise, because the baby itself generates about two loads per day. At least ours do (big surprise)

Heartbreaking

Our littlest man occasionally makes the saddest cry while completely asleep. Far cuter than the angry wail we are usually treated to. It's sweet enough to break your heart. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for the opportunity to sit and snuggle and bond with my son? Cause it's awesome. Except when he pees on me, but I blame Daddy's nighttime diapering skills for that social faux pas.

Dalton Timothy Henry Sprayberry

(a joint effort)

We would like to announce the birth of our second son Dalton. He joined us after exactly 40 weeks, to the day, indicating he had his father's penchant for punctuality as well as his nose.

Weighing in at 7 lb 10 oz and measuring a staggering 22 inches long, he tortured Mommy for a mere 18 hours before making his appearance at St. Luke's Hospital in Allentown on July 15 2011, 1:18 am.

After the arduous experience of birthing Cayden, we attempted the Bradley Method (again) for this birth, otherwise known as husband coached childbirth. This method relies on the husband as a supportive, communicative coach throughout the entire labor. We approached this round a bit differently, given that we had tried and failed with Cayden (JD took morphine after 25 hours, 3 hrs before Cayden made his grand entrance). We have many newfound insights which we will share later in a dedicated post. For now we are happy to talk about our beautiful new son.

For the 10% of the day when he is the "Angry Baby" he is truly a red, spitting spectacle. But he spends most of his life sleeping, squeaking, eating and looking cute. We have been blessed with another sweet baby and are enjoying every moment of it. Cayden's enjoyment matches or surpasses our own. He lavishes kisses and affection on Dalton, follows us to diaper changes, and informed me that was his job to take care of Dalton. The Sprayberry expansion has been surreal and amazing.

Welcome to the world littlest man, we love you.

SR-71 Blackbird

Cayden is taking on his role of big brother with wild kissing abandon. He takes pretty much any and every opportunity to kiss his brother's feet and head and tell him how much he loves him. It's super adorable. In an effort to reward and encourage this wonderful behavior we bought him a model jet today for us to put together. It's snap/screw together and requires no glue or paint. Perfect for a 4 year old and a rainy afternoon.

Hey Buddy...

Kid grabs his crotch...

Daddy: Do you have to pee little guy?

Cayden: Not at all buddy. Just grabbin' my penis and playin' with it.

Nesting

About five months ago Cayden discovered that the cracked paint in his room could in fact be peeled off the wall in large quantities. While he is past the paint eating stage, and we have tested it all for lead, we still didn't think it was safe for Dune Buggy. Not to mention that the entire room was a dirt stained shade of peach. So, as part of preparing him to share his room with his brother, we took him the Sherwin Williams to pick out paint (they have a very impressive line of zero VOC paint, much better than the big box brands). He fell in love with the froggy green, and we got to work. He has also taught himself to read over the past month, so I got him his first reading lamp at ikea last week. He can point it at his books without shining light on Dune Buggy's side, and is going to sleep much more rapidly now that he has the ability to relax with a book. I can't believe how big he is. It is all the more astounding knowing that soon tiny tiny Dune Buggy will be with us. I am almost finished my nesting explosion in there. We need to convert the crib back to crib mode, hang some shelves and strip some diapers. We are just about ready!

Seeking the Perfect Speed

In celebration of my recent manuscript acceptance we went to the brew works for dinner, then took cayden to the amazing new playground at Cedar Beach Park. Tis playground is very impressive, and replete with many devices for Daddy to spin Cayden in circles. cayden has a love hate relationship with the toys, because he can never decide exactly how fast he wants to go. As slow as Mommy spins, that is no fun. The fastest Daddy can spin me, that is vomit inducing. I watched him negotiate speeds with Tyson while choking back tears I was laughing so hard:

Really really fast Daddy. Too fast! Too fast! Stop!

Okay, now slow. No faster. Too fast! Too fast! Stop!

Okay medium fast. Too fast! Too fast! Stop!

Okay medium slow fast. Too fast! Too fast! Stop!

Of course Daddy only has one speed, so all his efforts were in vain...

iPad Test

The last time I tried to post from the iPad it was a fail... Running a test with an awesome photo of cayden from goat racing day.

Owned

So Sunday night at the Sprayberry house is documentary night. Cayden picks one out while we are cooking dinner, then we all pile downstairs to eat in front of the projector and watch a random science and nature show. We both love and hate this tradition. It is so awesome to share our love of all things biological with Cayden, but frustrating to answer rapid fire questions because he is still becoming accustomed to the idea that listening to the dialogue of the show might be informative. This week he picked the Life of Bird's Meat Eater episode. One scene shows vultures cruising the African Savannah searching for meat, and Cayden heard David Attenborough mention 'searching'. He immediately asked three times in a row, "What is it searching for?". As soon as he paused for breath I responded, "meat" (because they are scavengers and not hunting anything in particular). After a brief pause, my son says in a near-scathing tone of voice, "Yeah I know meat Mommy, the episode is called Meat Eaters. What KIND of meat?".

The teen years are going to be so awesome.

Victory

After years of asking Cayden "Can I shave your head?" and years of him answering "Um..no thanks." he finally agreed. With enthusiasm. In the middle of dinner. So I bundled him into the bathroom and shaved him down to the sound of my wife quietly sobbing in the other room.

It may or may not stand the test of time as a hairdoo that suits him but for the next couple of months of new baby, summertime pools, sweaty kid heads, and beach bumming, it'll certainly be easier than the Neo-Beatles look he's been sporting since he could grow hair.

Add another one to the list

Talking about our impending weekend at a Pocono's Resort with no child:

T: So we gonna get a little swimming in?
J: Yeah.
Ty: Awesome. I'll stay with you to protect you. Make sure no one tries to harpoon you.

Yarn Swift Take 2

As you may (or may not) know my wife has a very sensitive sense of smell. So much so that when I used a combination stain and seal on the yarn swift I made her for Xmas she thanked me, smiled sweetly and then asked me to put it outside because it was giving her a headache.

So 4 months later I have finally gotten around to removing the old stain/seal and putting on a slightly less chemically offensive finish.

I sanded off all the old stuff (2 coats of it) with a random orbital sander and then smoothed it back out by hand, starting with 150 and finishing with 400 grit. The old finish didn't come off completely so what was left gave it a "distressed" type look which I would never go through the trouble to achieve but liked anyway.

To protect the wood (poplar) I put on a couple of coats of Myland's wax (http://www.mylands.com/). I like the wax because it dries fast, is completely non-toxic, and leaves a beautiful protective shine on the wood.

So this morning The Wifey spun out 440 yards of lace weight yarn into a nice tight ball in less than 5 minutes. Sweet!

Child Update

You know you've taught your 4 yr old well when you walk by his room and hear him pass gas loudly and then exclaim, "Barking spiders. They follow us around. And they make so many noises."

The Wonders of Technology

Since our lives have been a *little* more hectic of late, I have supplemented my smartphone with an amazing bit of technology that helps me keep track of time and keeps me from being late. I realized I needed it when the second day after Ty's knee destruction, I was late twice in one day to pick him up. Impressive, eh? Just what is this wonder object: a watch. I haven't worm one since before grad school, but let me extol its virtues: when you wear a watch you know what time it is! It is water resistant, so I no longer accidentally take a 20 minute shower. It is not socially awkward to glance down, so I can end conversations and meetings in a timely manner, and thus arrive at my next destination on time! The best part? The watch Ty found for me is completely mechanical, it requires neither winding, nor batteries. Its the little things in life... In other news, Ty's MCL is doing well and he got the okay from the doctor to drive and walk! Two weeks of "normal" activity before he goes under the knife and is knocked back to square one.

Sprayberry Reality TV Update: Return of the Bionic Man

As we return to the never ending comedy of our lives, the scene opens on a hungry pregnant woman answering a phone call from her husband (who was supposed to buy her ice cream after dojo):

phone rings
J; The answer is chocolate
T: The answer is I blew out my other knee.
J: Are you serious?
T: Why would I joke about that?

Sadly it is true, within one week of being told that I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than 15-20 lbs, Tyson shredded his right knee. This has led to an increasing opportunity for the absurd yet comical in our house. For example, I have a strict policy of never feeding our cats. You know why? Feed them once and they harass you for at least a month. Then, I cease to like my cats and begin viewing them as likely targets for a well-timed kick (so far I have resisted). The only thing that could possibly induce me to feed them is their impending starvation. Given Ty's inability to, oh, walk, starvation was actually on the table and I caved. I fed them. Of course, due to my inexperience, I didn't push the futon far enough over their bowl and came home the next day after going to an ultrasound, running Tyson home, driving to work to teach a lab, sprinting out of lab to pick up Cayden, loading Tyson in the car to get to the doctor, waiting at the doctor, and getting take out for dinner to a lovely pile of dog vomit on the living room floor because Roland had eaten all the cat food. Freaking cats. Other entertaining out-takes include 3 year olds and poop (ask in person, it's hysterical), and a leak in my lab right over all the computers. Happily we are all keeping a sense of humor here because we live with Tyson. My personal favorite of his many and varied explanations of what happened to his leg is: "I was saving orphans from a fire [holds up hand to stop listener from interrupting], but I don't like the word hero".

Two weeks post injury we have a better idea what is going on. He partially tore his MCL, completely tore his ACL and bruised the bones on the exterior side of the knee joint. For those of you around in 2003, this is a virtually identical injury to the left knee. And no, he wasn't doing anything dumb, it was an expression of the stochastic nature of our universe. So, 6 weeks in a walking brace, then surgery, then 6 weeks of rehab. In another 11 weeks or so we will see him without a gigantic brace on his leg again. Between the 19 pillows it takes for me to sleep comfortably, Tyson's brace, and Tyson's extra pillows our bed is starting to resemble a complex three dimensional spatial packing problem more than a relaxing place to snooze. Cayden asked to snuggle the other morning and I stared at him as though he had two heads. Where do you imagine you are going to fit child?

As always, our friends and family have been amazing: helping move things, entertaining Cayden, cleaning, and swapping cars with us (thanks Dad!). We continue to be, for some unknown reason, a phenomenally blessed family. Thank you all!

BTW: at that ultrasound we discovered we are having another little boy. While I fear the chaos, I am so excited about brothers. Cayden has given his little brother the in utero nickname of Dune Buggy and now regularly talks to and kisses my belly. It is painfully sweet.

From Zero to Whining in One Second Flat

If I ever write a memoir of the past year (otherwise known as the year of THREE), that will be the title.

40 lb Bag

The following is from a preggy website that JD frequents. It's nice, but it's not really how we roll.

Q2.

I've been pretty sedentary, but I'd like to start getting some exercise. Where should I start?

First, check in with your caregiver about your plans. Then, you'll need to start with gentle exercise for short periods of time (about 15 minutes a few times per week) and gradually work up to a longer and more intense daily routine (about half an hour a day). What to do: Walking is the easiest way to get started on a regular fitness program, and it doesn't require any special equipment other than a good pair of walking shoes! Many women enjoy swimming during pregnancy because the water helps hold up their extra weight. Others swear by prenatal yoga to stretch and strengthen their body as well as relieve aches and pains.

Here at Chez Spray it goes something more like this...

Q2.

I've been pretty sedentary, but I'd like to start getting some exercise. Where should I start?

First, check in with your Sensei to see if he has any 40lb dummy bags to attack. If he doesn't then consider buying one. Once you get your hands on a 40lb bag then begin by insulting it as if it were an unwanted sexual advance. Try yelling such phrases as "Go home!" or "I swear to God if you don't leave me alone I will put you in the hospital." Once you have verbally abused the bag for a couple of minutes you're ready to begin. Your baby likes to be used as weapon, it helps develop the special mother-child bond that is so natural. Start by throwing yourself belly first onto the bag. After you have subdued the bag using your fetus, feel free to start throwing punches, kicks, elbows, pelvic thrusts, and even the occasional headbutt (or Liverpool Kiss as they are known in the UK). A couple of sessions a day should be sufficient to tire you out. Make sure you follow your workout with a couple of raw eggs and a Creatine shake to replace depleted minerals. Others swear by prenatal yoga to stretch and strengthen their body as well as relieve aches and pains.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

"Momma, can I see your big belly? Now your big butt. Ha! That's funny."

I may not look pregnant to most of the world, but my son has definitely noticed.

Pregnant Brain

Ridiculous things I have done in the last two weeks:

• Lost my glasses
• Three days later lost my 6 year old back up glasses (which have thankfully been found)
• Brought down a heating pad, turned on the microwave for TWO MINUTES ON HIGH, opened it up and spend a solid 10 seconds trying to figure out how the microwave made the heating pad disappear before turning around to see it on the table.
• Barely stopped myself from putting Cayden's dinner plate in the trash can instead of the freezer to cool off
• Realized I was putting the heating pad in the fridge instead of the microwave
• Asked a student yesterday, "You have a grad school interview already? Aren't those usually in January?"

I think I need to hide in a closet for the next six months.

Immunization Season

When I was knocked up with Cayden, I didn't get a flu shot because I've never gotten a flu shot and once every 5 years or do I get the flu. It just never seemed like a big deal to me. These days medical professionals seem to take it much more seriously, and under strong urging of my doctor and his nurses I hauled my butt to the local pharmacy to get the shot. In theory both I and the fetus are now protected, huzzah. Well, knowing that Ty already got a shot at school, I was feeling like we should probably get Cayden taken care of too. I called the pediatrician on Wednesday, then asked Ty to run Cayden over there after school. I had to stay at work s relegate the doctors visit to Ty.

So, Tyson picks Cayden up at school and tells him that they are going to go get a shot that will keep him from getting sick. Cayden is down with this idea, and gets pretty excited. For the twenty minutes they were in the waiting room, Cayden kept asking, "When are they going to call my name?" and "Is it time for my shot?". When they finally call Cayden's name, he cheerfully goes with Daddy into an exam room. A nurse promptly pokes him in the arm and gives him the shot, resulting in an indignant cry of "OOWWW!". But, he apparently took it well and was happy about the tweety bird bandaid. The ordeal over with, Ty and Cayden troop back down to the car and head home. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Cayden pipes up from the back, "Daddy.... the doctor wasn't as much fun as I thought is was going to be".

Dinner Time Conversation

C: Mommy, is shazbat a bad word?
J: No, it's a word I use so that I don't teach you bad words.
C: Like, stupid is a bad word and you don't want to teach me stupid.
J: That's right. Stupid is a bad word.
C: Yeah, we don't call me stupid.
J: Yes sweetheart.
C: Because when I pinched Alice (annonomyzed), she called me "STUPID BOY"
J: smothers laughter in napkin
T: That is your son.
J: Well sweetheart, she didn't use nice words, but she may have called you stupid because you pinched her.
C: Yeah. Stupid is not a nice thing to call somebody. Daddy, did you hear what happened when Alice called me STUPID BOY?
T: What's that honey?
C: I told my teacher, "Alice called me stupid"
J: What did your teacher do?
C: Um, she put me in time out.
J: Again, probably because you pinched Alice.
C: Yeah
J: Yeah

Sledding

With our "blizzard" of 6 inches of snow today school was canceled and we went sledding.  Cayden has a new buddy whose family just moved up here from Tennessee and the sledding hill was directly behind his house.  Very convenient. 

And with another stroke of luck the mailman arrived a scant 30 minutes before we left to deliver the snowpants that Vavo had sent down.  Between the super nice, barely used snowpants and the snow boots from his cousins in Maine my kid was warm and dry the whole afternoon.  Which led to a very enjoyable time out on the slopes.

Arsenal vs. Chelsea

After two years running at my parent's place for the holidays, we headed north for the 2010 festivities. We had a luxurious and relaxing three days in Rhode Island, where Cayden had his first CHRISTMAS. I mean, it was actually his 4th, but this year was the first year we bought him new toys. After months of watching him pretend matchbox cars, dice and random oblong objects were characters from Pixar's Cars movie, we caved and got him a selection of his favorites. Christmas bonus for the parents: child was completely occupied all day long. We also had the novel experience of walking around the streets of Newport and seeing them deserted. We were one of maybe 10 people that thought strolling along the docks was a good way to spend Christmas day, but the weather was perfectly clear, sunny crisp and beautiful. Winter beach walks are one of the things I miss most about living in RI.

Just before the "blizzard" hit, we bailed for Boston to start a new family tradition. Tyson is a rabid Chelsea fan, while Z&K are rabid Arsenal fans. I don't actually care, but am a huge fan of traveling to watch the games on each others home turf. This time Chelsea was playing at Arsenal, so we holed up in Boston, got a sitter and headed to a great soccer bar in Cambridge. Tyson did not end the day happy, but otherwise a good time was had by all. Cayden had an exciting afternoon as well. After telling his sitter that he wanted to go on a train and sledding, she bundled him up, inflated the sled, and packed onto the train to Boston Commons. Apparently, as soon as they got there he fell in a puddle and started crying to go home. So she packed him right back on the train back to Jamaica Plain. Maybe the next sledding trip will be more successful.

Our final day in town was my birthday, which we celebrated by looking at dead animals. Taking Cayden through Harvard's Natural History Museum was a thoroughly entertaining way to spend the day. I topped off the celebration by coercing everybody into ordering amazing Indian takeout, which is possibly worth moving to Boston for. All in all, a good holiday break. We wish you all belated holiday cheer and a Happy New Year!

Zak and Kendra brave the blizzard

Dracolichs love sprinkles

Tyson narrowly escaped with his life

Everyone was sad and bitter about the Indian feast

The Knife

Ok. 3 days of exhaustive research on folding tactical knives, Every-Day-Carry knives, the differences between 440A, S30V and 154CM steel, tip up versus tip down carry, the pros and cons of liner locks, imported chinese knives, fully automatic knives, semi-automatic knives, hollow grind versus FFG (full flat grind), and (on a somewhat related tangent) how to construct a figure-4 animal snare from sticks and rocks. At the end of it all i have come to the conclusion that my next carry knife (I've had mine for over 8 years now) will be a Spyderco Manix 2 Combination (1/2 serrated) Blade.

I'll keep everyone updated as to how I like it.