The Lincoln Log 4-30-2006

After a six-month hiatus, the Lincoln Log is back. We'd like to apologize to our subscribers for the delay, and promise full refunds for the time missed. We would also like to welcome some new subscribers, and warn them that they get what they pay for. As new subscribers, you should know that the Lincoln Log has been delivered to you because someone has accused you of being related to or friends of the Lincolns, and this is your punishment.

As for the reason for the hiatus, well, someone else has explained it much better:

"The way I see it is this: The first child is like having a hurricane blow through your life. At first it's a mess, but then you pick yourself up, straighten the furniture, and reclaim some degree of normalcy. The second is like an atom bomb. Any routine you have is tossed right out with the bathwater." (Mike Greenberg, "Why My Wife Thinks I'm an Idiot")

Yes, the stresses of having two children instead of one have taken us hostage, much more so since Nicholas became Mobile Unit #2. We love him, he's very cute, but our productivity in general has declined. We're afraid of what could happen if (when) we have another child. Not only will we be outnumbered, but nothing at all will ever get done.

NICH-O-LOG

Nicholas is now a one-year-old toddler, heaven help us all. He started walking just before Easter, and is getting more steady and confident everyday. This, despite all the bruises, bumps, nicks, cuts, falls, and crashes. He is bound and determined to keep up with his Big Brother, no matter what.

At his last checkup (Monday 4/24) he weighed 24+ pounds and was 29.5 inches tall. His eyes are still blue, but his hair has gotten rather long and curly (still blondish). Every time I threaten to have it cut, Carma stares at me the stare of "I'm the Mom, and I make those decisions." The doctor did not officially call him cute, so we're thinking of suing for malpractice.

Nick-names: now, we have adamantly resisted having Nicholas called "Nick" or "Nicky", and stick to that decree. (Nothing against anyone named Nick out there, Dr. Ellig) We have been calling him "Nee-ko", though the spelling of said nickname is under dispute among the 25-34 demographic in our household. Carma contends that it should be spelled "Nico", while I am of the opinion that it should be spelled "Niko". However, if the contract with Nike comes through, we'll just call him that.

At the daycare this winter, he earned a different nickname. He has this cute bunting that made him look like a little bear, and so he was dubbed "Oso Peligroso" (dangerous bear). He was dangerous, as his poops (called "big booms") were very dangerous indeed.

Nicholas is mostly a happy kid, and loves his brother. Thurman is a very good big brother, and will play with Nicholas (sometimes anyway). Nicholas likes just about everything Thurman does. He'll play cars, and even blow raspberries for his car sounds (like Thurman). He also LOVES to play ball. He likes to roll it, throw it, kick it, put it through a hoop, or anything else. Anytime he sees a ball, he usually wants it. This has led to trouble many times. He often thinks oranges are balls, and wants to play with them, and is always sad when told he can't have them. At a restaurant one time, he saw a tennis ball. Unfortunately for him, the tennis ball was attached to the bottom of someone's walker (apparently to keep it from scuffing?). And for Easter, he received a stuffed bunny from Grandma and Grandpa Hamborg that is holding a soccer ball. Much to his frustration and anguish, the bunny will not drop the ball for him (as it is sewn to the bunny). He did however enjoy the plastic Easter eggs, because they were just like balls, even if they're shaped a bit funny.

Nicholas is also very smart (well, we might be a little biased). His first word (also right before Easter) was (surprise!) "ball", and he also says "ba-ba" for bottle. He says "ma-ma" and "da-da", but we're unsure if he ascribes any meaning to those "words" yet. During one bath a couple of months ago, he display the future genius we expect to see. It was the first bath he had with the little foam letters and numbers that Thurman loves so much. Naturally, the first digits he grabbed were "H", "2", and "O".

We've also discovered Nicholas loves music. In church, whenever music is playing, he usually wants to stand to listen, and often waves his hands, "conducting". He also does the conducting at home when 1) he hears the radio/CD player is on, 2) when his music video is on, or 3) when he WANTS to have his video or the radio/CD player on.

One of the unfortunate things with Nicholas has been some health issues. He's continually had colds, etc. But he's also had two ear infections, a sickness that caused vomiting and horrible, horrible diarrhea (which Thurman and I also both had), and as it turns out, he was diagnosed in January as being allergic to milk. This wasn't so bad, as we just put him on soy formula, but after a couple of months he apparently developed an allergy to soy. This really limited us, as all the regular formulas out there are either milk or soy based. Not to mention the poor kids can't have cheese, most breads, yogurt, pizza, waffles, and pretty much anything that he points to on our plates. So, for his formula, we're giving him something called "EleCare" which describes itself as "an amino-acid based medical food." It retails at over $40 for a 14 oz. can. Luckily, Carma was able to get a case of six cans for "only" $200. Ugh.

Despite the diet limitations, he loves to eat more than ever. One Saturday morning I took both boys to McDonald's for breakfast (to also let Carma sleep in a bit). Thurman and I had a tradition of having Saturday breakfasts there every once in awhile, so I thought it would be fun to try. However, I didn't know what to give Nicholas. He couldn't have pancakes like Thurman (buttermilk), I wasn't sure about the biscuits, so I decided to see if he was carnivorous, and let him try some sausage. Oh my, it was like the kid had discovered his true purpose on earth. He loves to eat sausage, as well as turkey, chicken (nuggets), and has even sampled and enjoyed ribeye steak (tiny pieces I cut off for him).

THURM-A-STAT

Well, Thurman survived a winter of indoor play, and is happy to be able to go back outside and play baseball once again. One of his other activities is playing Playstation 2, which was our family Christmas gift. Or, as Carma calls it, "The Boys' Christmas Gift". (But she can't complain too much. She went to Paris). He likes playing racing games (Hot Wheels), a bowling game, and most recently, baseball. Coincidentally, his dad likes playing racing games and baseball as well.

School-wise, Thurman is doing great. He loves his pre-K class, and is usually sad when school is closed for a holiday (or snow day). Every week each kid has a job, and he is always very excited to do his, especially if it calls attention to himself. Thurman continues to amaze us with his abilities. His teacher told us he is the best reader in the class. At we're not talking about "Sit, Spot. Sit."-type reading. He has a very good recognition and comprehension level of words that surprise us. Thurman is a thoughtful little boy and ponders things. Some of his recent concerns have been that the clocks in our apartment are not all completely synchronized to the same time as well as wondering if people live on other planets.

He's also interested in math, and is adding and subtracting at will, and can do some simple math in his head. However, this led one time to a confusing discussion involving negative numbers. I was trying to explain the concept of "below zero" to Thurman, and it didn't work out very well. We'll give him a little more time on that one. Thank goodness it never gets below zero here.

Thurman celebrated his 5th birthday since our last Lincoln Log. He had a miniature golf party, and he was in charge (with strong parental hints) of who to invite. That decision took him weeks to make. We had originally told him he could invite three friends, but then let him pick four if he chose two girls and two boys. The mini-golf outing was a blast, probably in part because the kids thought higher scores were better. We also had cake and ice cream at home afterwards, and were ever-so-grateful to have Nana there to help.

As a 5-year old, Thurman has become much more cognizant of his friends and what his friends think. We are sure this is normal, but the early beginning of peer pressure has made us a little sad at times. The current main culprit is a friend named Brecon. One of their favorite things to do, apparently, is to dance around while singing: "Rock Stars ready to roll!!! Rock stars ready to roll!" As Brecon has no older siblings either, we are unsure of where this has come from. Thurman has also told us that he will no longer take his duck (a stuffed animal/blanket he has had since before he was born) to school, because "Brecon doesn't like hearts and pink and yellow." Brecon is also apparently the leader of the anti-girl talk in Pre-K. Thurman used to give hugs and kisses to his little friend Willow, but told me recently that he wouldn't do that anymore because Brecon doesn't like girls. Carma recently bought Thurman the "Velveteen Rabbit" and with it came a cheap little gold necklace with a rabbit on it. Thurman was very excited about it at first but then said, "I won't wear it to school. Well, maybe I'll wear it to school when Brecon is on vacation." When Carma asked him why, he said, "I don't want Brecon to think I like girls." Also of a large concern of his has been colors. Now, most colors have been defined by Thurman as boy colors or girl colors. We recently had an argument about the color yellow, as he thought it was a girl color. So, in a minor parental triumph, I convinced Thurman that if an NFL team wears a color (such as yellow, i.e. Green Bay Packers), it should be considered a boy color.

Physically, Thurman keeps getting taller, but doesn't ever seem to gain any weight. He's nearly 45 inches tall (3'9"), and weighs about 42 lbs. He's so glad spring is here, as we can now go back to the park to play baseball. He's still striving to be a switch-hitter, which leads to game conversations such as:

Thurman: Ok, I'm the White Sox. Are you going to be the Mets?
Greg: Sure. You're up first?
Thurman: Yes. Who's up first for my team?
Greg: (thinking) I think it's Scott Podsednik.
Thurman: Is he any good?
Greg: He steals a lot of bases.
Thrman. Oh, Ok. Does he hit right or left-handed?
Greg: I don't know. Left, I think.
Thurman: Ok. I'll hit left-handed then.

And so on, all through the batting lineup. Man, thank heavens for fantasy baseball, otherwise my son would think I didn't know anything.

Thurmanisms

-The sign of a child who will never remember not knowing how to Google: One day while Carma was walking Thurman to school, Thurman saw a truck that had two license plates on it. Thurman: "Mommy, why does that truck have two license plates on it?" Carma: "I don't know." Thurman: "We can look it up on the internet."

-Competitive spirit: One of Thurman's favorite games for a while was the "number game". This consisted of one person saying a number and the second person saying another number. Whoever had the highest number would win. The smart readers of the Lincoln Log will quickly recognize that in this game, it is advantageous to be second person. Thurman also recognized this (well, he made up the rules). One day, Carma protested to Thurman that if she always goes first, she will always lose. Thurman's response? "Well, somebody's got to lose." After that, Thurman made a couple of token efforts to actually choose a lower number than Carma, hopefully to pacify her into keeping her first turn.

-Living for the moment: When Carma was in Paris, Thurman got to use her "water pillow" (think water bed, but on a much smaller scale) which is always a big treat for him. Right before Carma came home, Thurman said to me that he was feeling kind of sad that Mommy was coming back because he would lose the privilege of using the pillow. So, I told him he should be happy Mommy was coming home, and then (foolishly) asked him which he liked better, Mommy or the pillow. "Hmmm… I can't decide."

-Thurman the Humble: One of our visitors recently made a comment to Thurman about how smart he was and that he must be one of the smartest kids in the class. Thurman's response: "Yeah, pretty much."

-School Spirit: Thurman attended a series of beginner's basketball classes at the YMCA for about 8 weeks this winter. During one of the classes, the coach asked them who their favorite teams were. Most kids said the New York Knicks or the New Jersey Nets. Thurman said "The Stevens Ducks", which would make my boss's boss proud.


Exciting Events and Exotic Excursions

Normally, this is the place where we talk in painful detail about our latest trips and happenings. However, there is no possible way to cover everything non-kid related that has happened in the normal manner without driving up our subscriber suicide rates. So, and abbreviated version is presented below.

-We attempted to get Thurman into two different charter schools for kindergarten. We are so far down both waiting lists we decided to enroll him in a Chinese school instead. (Actually, he'll go to the public school his pre-K is in now.)

-We spent Christmas in New Jersey as our own little family for the first time, thought we did enjoy a nice Christmas Eve dinner with our friends the Newmans.

-The Embassy Suites in Piscataway, NJ has a pool table that Thurman thoroughly enjoyed in December.

-I went to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a conference in January. Unfortunately, I didn't have much of a chance to enjoy the nice weather. My comments on Puerto Rico, "Well, the people drove crazy. Lots of people spoke Spanish, and the news channels were all based in New York City. It felt just like New Jersey."

-In March, I failed to work a full week the entire month because someone (including me) was always sick.

-Carma went to Paris for four days with her parents to visit her sister Emily who was doing a study abroad. I am not sure what she loved more – being in Paris or getting four full nights of sleep in a row!! She had a fabulous time and with Emily's help, brushed up on her French. Her big accomplishment was going to a local post office by herself and (in French) sending a postcard to Kristen in Germany and buying four post card stamps to the U.S. This was rehearsed many times over before the actual event. (Je voudrais envoyer ce carte postale a Berlin!) She also was quite taken by the little French kids and came back determined to make Nicholas into a French baby (thus the spelling of "Nico", from "Nicolas".) She bought him a little French linen outfit on the Champs Elysees and a children's book in French that we read to him almost every day. ("Les cadeaux de Mimi." Mimi is actually "Maisy," for you Americans out there). And all I got was a little pewter replica of the Tour Eiffel (I really wanted a guillotine.)

-I went to an NFL pre-draft party at the NYC ESPNZone, and brushed elbows with semi-famous sports people.

-I attempted to go to the actual NFL draft, but failed after 5 hours of waiting. The next best opportunity to go to the draft will be when Nicholas is taken in the top ten picks (probably in 2029 as a linebacker).

-May plans include a 5-hour consulting visit to Miami for Carma, and a family trip to Chicago for a conference (Greg) and textbook work (Carma).


Headlines That Didn't Make the Cut

-The Lincolns awake one morning to water running down their walls and out of their light fixtures and vents. At least it wasn't tar.

-Nicholas hams it up for friends and neighbors who visit 1100 Grand #312.

-Carma cracks tooth on olive pit. Who puts olives in a Cobb salad anyway?

-Greg sustains wrist sprain during an intense keep-a-way game at Central Park.

-Nicholas eats everything in sight. And then some.

-Thurman draws way too many pictures every day. As Carma throws some of them away, she reassures herself that "art is a process not a product." -

-The Lincolns have yet to attend a baseball game this season, which is unheard of.