11/26/98, Thanksgiving - Family Vacation!
Click <here> 
to read about our vacation to Galveston
Island, Texas.
11/24/98, Tuesday - Books, Reading and Manners!
(age: 2 year, 4 days)
Christopher is really learning his alphabet quickly. He can now almost recite the whole alphabet himself. He can
recognize and say each letter and he loves looking at books, t-shirts, the newspaper or anything else with letters.
One of his favorite books now is Dr. Seuss's ABC's. He is also memorizing many of his books. He can actually "read"
many of his books back to you.
Now that Christopher likes letters a favorite computer game is Microsoft Word for Windows! I set the font really
big and he picks out his favorite letters on the keyboard and yells out their names as they appear on the screen.
Pretty funny, huh!
Christopher has leaped into the "terrible twos". He is overall a wonderful loving little boy. There
are just a couple of things that have snapped since turning two. He now refuses to wear a bib to eat. He screams
and cries as though it's going to hurt him. He also wants to sit on Mommy's lap to eat instead of his booster chair
and the high chair is DEFINITELY out. We have been successful at getting him to sit at his own chair at the table,
but we're still working on the bib. He is also trying to give up his afternoon nap. He still needs his afternoon
nap! But he is resisting.
Christopher is learning to be polite. He doesn't always use it in the right way, however. The other day I asked
him to come to the table for dinner. He started running away, upset. Then he yelled back "No thank you!"
He can now say "Excuse me" after burping and is working on "You're welcome" too.
11/20/98, Friday - Happy Birthday, Christopher! (age:
2 years)
Today is Christopher's actual birthday. Grandma went home yesterday, so we don't have any big plans for today.
We had a wonderful time with Grandma. Christopher had a cold, unfortunately, so he wasn't in the best of moods
while she was here. That's sad because normally he's a real sweety. We're all going to miss Grandma until we can
see her again.
Christopher made my day last Sunday. That morning I dressed for church and came out to the livingroom where
Christopher was. I decided to wear a long sleeve shirt (it's almost cool enough for it) that I haven't worn for
a year or so. Christopher looked up and said "Daddy, handsome!". He got a really big hug for that one.
11/13/98, Friday - Second Birthday Party! (age: 1
year, 11 months, 24 days)
We had Christopher's second birthday party today. Tina made a car cake for him. Really cute. We had a bunch of
his friends over. Since it was rainy we cleared out the livingroom and put down a large rug with streets and buildings
woven into it so the kids could play cars. As would be expected, he got lots of car presents. When I get his birthday
page put together, you'll get to see what he got.
Near the end of the party Christopher was getting pretty overwhelmed. Besides, it was getting close to nap time.
He broke down when one of the other kids took a toy he wanted, etc. Usual stuff. Overall I think it went really
well.
After the party things settled down and Christopher was able to enjoy the presents by himself. He played with
each one for a while before going on to the next. I think he enjoyed that the best.
By the way, he did a great job blowing out the candles.
11/11/98, Wednesday - ABC's, Scary Sounds (age: 1
year, 11 months, 22 days)
My mom is here visiting this week and next. The kids are already really enjoying their Grandma. Friday we're celebrating
Christopher's second birthday. It's a week early because Grandma has to leave before the real thing. Christopher
won't mind. Last night we practiced blowing out candles (lit matches). Christopher did a great job. Quite the lungs
on that boy! Christopher also sings the birthday song "Happy birthday to Topher" he sings. He
loves singing and has quite a repertoire. He learns a lot of songs at school.
Christopher has been learning so fast lately. The other day I heard him count as high as 13. And just
this week, letters have clicked and he's realized that all that black scribbling in his books are really letters
and words. Last night I read to him the book "Dr. Seusses ABC's". He could tell me what most of the letters
were and he loved to help read the book by saying the letter at the right time. After reading that book, I can
definintely tell he has a favorite letter. It's 'J'. Even on other pages, he'd point out the j's in some
of the words.
As usual, there are some sounds that scare Christopher. Fire sirens, thunder, etc. He is so sweet, though, when
he gets scared, because he'll run up to either Mommy or me saying "Big hug! Big hug!" We'll hug
him until the sound dies away. Then he's fine.
Speaking of scary sounds, Tina had left the kids in the kitchen to do something in another room. After a short
bit she heard all this yelling and crying and ran back to the kitchen. Christopher was desperately working to get
down from his booster seat and the kids were obviously very upset. A sound had scared them, but the sound was just
the quiet little "beep. beep. beep." from Tina's bread maker. It's little more than a watch chime, but
I guess it was unexpected to the kids. Ever since the fire alarm went off at the 'Q' (Tina's health club), Christopher
has been more sensitive to alarm type sounds.
11/09/98, Monday - Picking Clothes, Playing Kitty (age:
1 year, 11 months, 20 days)
Christopher has become particular about his clothes. Yesterday, mommy held up a perfectly good sweater (with
Mickey Mouse on it). Here's what happened
Mommy: "Do you like this sweater?"
Christopher: "No. No."
Mommy: "What should I do with it?"
Christopher: "Throw away!"
Today Christopher went up to mommy and said "Mommy, big kitty. Me little kitty." He wanted
to pretend being a kitty.
A couple days ago Christopher was looking at a book with people on the front. He started counting them and went
all the way to 13!
11/03/98, Tuesday - Words and Counting to 10
(age: 1 year, 11 months, 14 days)
Last night we had a beautiful big moon, so when I got home from work I took the kids outside to see it. After seeing
it, Christopher said very clearly "Big moon in the clouds".
I gave Christopher a bath last night and he counted all the way from 1 to 10 several times! This is the
first time that he's counted all the way in the correct order. He's been saying all the numbers for a while, but
only doing part of the string at a time. We have several bath toys that fill up with water and then you can squirt
them. To teach the kids how to fill them with water, I told them to hold the under and count. That's what he was
doing when he completed this milestone.
10/27/98, Tuesday - Funny Names (age: 1 year, 11 months,
7 days)
As I've told you, Christopher is a real talker. Sometimes his pronounciations are amazingly good, however, sometimes
things come out a little funny. Here are some examples.
Macaroni and Cheese - "Dubba Dubba Cheese"
Peanut Butter Crackers - "Budda Budda Crackers" (bud-da, not boo-da)
One of Christopher's favorite TV shows is "Blue's Clues". It's basically a real host, Steve, in a
cartoon world where he has a dog named Blue. Blue gives Steve clues, which Steve writes down in his "Handy
Dandy Notebook". Christopher got an official notebook as a happy meal toy. He pretends to draw in it during
the show and carries it all over the house other times. He calls it his "Handy Handy Notebook".
Living in the city, we always have planes flying over head. There's also a heliport a few miles south of us,
so we get helicoptors too. Christopher has made a brilliant connection between helicopters and planes that use
propellers. He sees that they both have propeller type mechanizm, so he calls prop planes "Plane Copters".
Christopher and I have a new game we play outside. He runs over to one of our underground sprinklers and stands
on it. He then yells, "Help, Daddy!". I run over to him, sweep him up and throw him in the air.
He laughs and giggles, then runs back over to the sprinkler. I tried a variation last night where I grab his arm
while he's running toward the sprinkler to prevent him from reaching it. I pull him away and he just giggles all
the more.
10/23/98, Friday - Motor Skills (age: 1 year, 11 months,
3 days)
Christopher continues to improve his motor skills. He's been learning to use the computer mouse and last Tuesday
he moved and clicked on the items he wanted by himself for the first time. He was so excited he exclaimed "I
moved, Daddy, I moved the mouse."
Now that it's cooler out we've started putting the kids into "sleepers". Christopher likes to zip
them up himself. And he's pretty good at it too.
10/20/98, Tuesday - Talking on the Phone (age: 1 year,
11 months, 0 days)
Christopher has been talking to me on the phone when I call from work. It's really cute. When I ask him what his
name is he always says "Thomas". I guess we picked the wrong name for him :-) Actually, it's because
of "Thomas the Tank Engine", one of his favorite TV shows. He also usually tells me what he's doing at
the moment, like playing with playdough or watching "Chip 'n Dale".
10/15/98, Thursday - Long Sentence - Interacting With Nicole
Last Saturday Christopher said what I believe is his longest complete sentence to date. As we were walking into
the church he said "I want to push the button". Six words! He was referring to the handicap parking
signs painted on the parking lot. He calls them buttons because the public library has big door buttons with the
same handicap symbol painted on them. Now he refers to all the parking signs and paintings as buttons he can push.
Christopher and Nicole are learning to play together more and more. Christopher still knows what buttons to
push to make Nicole mad. The other day I told him to sit down so I could put his socks on. He went over to Nicole,
who was already sitting on the floor, and plopped down right in her lap. That alone was enough to make her scream,
but then he kept pushing back harder pressing his head into her chest. Nicole was screaming and I was trying to
pull him off and he just smiled.
Nicole likes to swing and Christopher likes to do whatever Nicole is doing. So while she's swinging he has to
as well. When she stops, he demands to get out of his swing. When she climbs on the play house, he wants up there.
When she plays in the "rock box", he plays there too. Christopher likes to ride in his foot powered car
and usually tells Nicole to get on the tricycle when he's in the car. Nicole likes to climb on top of the car.
When she's there, Christopher has to climb in. They just follow each other around the yard. Most of the time it's
cute (until Nicole gets annoyed or Christopher starts pushing buttons).
10/09/98, Friday - Costume
Tina bought Christopher his Halloween costume yesterday. He is very excited about it. He's dressing
as Thomas the Tank Engine. Yesterday when I called home from work, Tina put Christopher on the phone. He likes
to listen and I proceeded to try to get him to talk. I asked him "What's your name?". And he responded
"Thomas!" At least he talked to me. Click picture for his Thomas
page: 
10/08/98, Thursday - The Big Fall, Sweet Cleanup
Our weather has really become nice. Tina finally was able to take the kids to play in the park yesterday.
Christopher's okay, but he had a major fall at the park. He was playing on one of the "little kids" jungle
gyms and he climbed up onto one of the platforms. One end of the platform was open with handlebars on the sides.
A ladder made of bars curved away and down from the platform in a quarter circle to the ground. Tina was watching
from a short distance. Christopher began to call for Mommy from that platform edge. Initially, he was holding onto
the handle bars, but as Tina approached he began to throw a tantrum, let go of the bars and was screaming and flailing
around. When Tina was only about five steps away (running by this time), he fell head first off the edge of the
platform. He smacked his head against one (or maybe two) of the ladder rungs and bounced off. Tina caught him in
the air! He has quite an egg on his forehead. We have no idea what caused his tantrum other than immature impatience.
Hopefully he learned something from the experience.
Later, at the same park, Tina and Christopher were standing by the swings. A little girl grabbed one of the
swings, pulled the swing up and then threw the swing down as she walked away (not paying attention to who was around).
Christopher was walking by the swing at that time and it hit him on his cheek bone, this time leaving a crescent
shaped bruise. The poor guy is really a mess. But he's okay.
Christopher really tries to be a good boy. Yesterday afternoon Tina was in a back room when Christopher began
calling for her. She didn't hurry because he calls for her "every 30 seconds" (her words). When she got
to the living room she found a puddle of juice on the seat of the couch. Beside it was a juice soaked tissue. Somehow,
Christopher's "spill proof" cup had spilled on the couch and he tried to clean it up himself with a tissue
while calling for Mommy. I think that's pretty amazing.
10/06/98, Tuesday - Sorry for the Thunder!
Last night we had a few thunderstorms roll through around the kid's bedtime. Since the had trouble going
to sleep, we let them stay up a little later. I was sitting on the couch with Nicole and Christopher watching Disney
cartoons. Christopher was between us. Every time lightning flashed and thunder boomed Christopher would say "Sorry,
'Cole. Thunder" and rub her arm or leg. It was so cute. Even Nicole appreciated it and gave him a wonderful
hug later.
Christopher likes giving "big hugs" now. And we don't mind giving them to him.
During the rain, Christopher sang "Rain, Rain go away" all by himself. He also sang a couple
of renditions of "Hallelu, Hallelu".
Christopher really liked the Pooh stickers you gave him, Mom. He had them stuck all over his shirt when I got
home from work. Later, he stuck all the stickers to my shirt, naming each character as he carefully placed them
where he wanted.
Christopher now really enjoys squashing bugs. We were outside the other night and he came up to me proudly displaying
the squashed roly-poly at the end of his finger.
Latest Christopher sentence: "Doggies eat bones". He also loves to say "No".
9/30/98, Wednesday
Lately, Christopher has been rejecting me when I come home from work. Tina thinks he's upset about not
getting lots of time with Mommy, so he's very clingy to her. I don't know what it is. He warms up a lot later and
we have a great time. I would like it to get back to the way it was a week ago or so where he'd yell "Daddy!"
and come running when I come in the door. I'm sure he'll be there again.
9/28/98, Monday - Trapped in Balls, Talking, Hot Sauce, Trains
Christopher is really into choo choo trains now. We have a small wooden train set that he loves to play
with. Most days, when he's done with supper, he'll look at me and ask "Choo choo tracks?" He'll then
go to the train and push it around the track, rearrange the cars and have the best time. He also loves watching
"Thomas the Tank Engine" shows on TV. We got a catalog full of wooden Thomas the Train tracks, engines,
cars and other accessories. He reads it all the time. He'll sit on the floor, point to the trains in the book and
call them by name (and he gets them right too). It's funny to hear him all of a sudden yell out "Diesel!"
or "Toby!" or "Gordon!". Last night I went in to check on him as he was sleeping
and found him laying on the catalog. Very cute.
We've also found out the Christopher likes hot sauce. He'll use a chip to scoop it out of the bowl and then
suck the sauce off the chip. I guess he's going to be a true Texan.
Yesterday we were taking the kids over to Nicole's friend, Mathew's house. When we pulled in front of the house,
Christopher yelled out "Mathew's house". And all the way running up to the door he chanted "Matthew,
Matthew, Matthew." He likes it there because Matthew has all kinds of cars, trucks and other toys boys really
love.
Most fast food play areas have ball pits the kids like to play in. Christopher is getting more used to them.
But the other day he either fell or was pushed down in the balls and they completely covered him up. He couldn't
get up and was screaming for Mommy. Tina couldn't even see him when she was diving into the balls herself to save
him. The poor guy was really scared.
Christopher and Nicole are both really big talkers. Coming home from church yesterday Nicole just kept talking.
Going on and on about some story or other. I was waiting politely to say something to Tina until Tina said "Don't
wait, just tell me, she's not going to stop". Christopher is also picking up on this talking and at times
he and Nicole will be talking at the same time about all kinds of things. Christopher really talks about events
that really affect him. Sometimes he'll retell me the story of how Rebecca took a car from him and the fought over
it each saying "Mine, Mine". Also he talks about being in the ball pit and how Jeffrey was there and
how he called for Mommy.
Like Nicole, Christopher is good at saying "Sorry". He hasn't quite got it down though. If Nicole
does something to him we'll say "Tell Christopher you're sorry" and many time Christopher beats Nicole
to the punch saying "Sorry, 'Cole" and gently rubbing his hand over her hair.
9/21/98, Monday - Amazingly Good
You can tell that Christopher isn't in his "terrible twos" yet. The other day he came up to
me saying "Amy Doggie?" That's his favorite computer game. I said "Ok, let's go play Amy Doggie."
He then said "Cleanup" and ran over to the table where he was playing with Tinker Toys, put them
all in the bucket, put the lid on and took it to the toy room to put on the shelf. Then he was ready for the computer
game. Tina and I were amazed. What a good boy is he.
Christopher is now eating at the big table with us. He sits on the same booster chair Nicole used. He's
doing very well eating himself at the table. He also likes it because he can climb in and out himself.
9/18/98, Friday - Long Sentence, Abstract Owls
At both church and Tina's health club the kids wear name tags. Last night at the dinner table, Christopher
was remembering his tag. He pointed to his chest and said:
"It says my name is Topher."
Here's another amazing Christopher fact. For months he would occasionally point out the sliding glass door and
say "Owls, owls!" We didn't know what he was pointing at and assumed that he heard something that
sounded like an owl or some such thing. He started doing it yesterday again and Tina finally picked him up, took
him out the door and asked him to point to what he was talking about. He took Tina to the decorative scroll work
on our patio cover. We couldn't believe it. Now that we look at it, he's right. It does look like an owl. He was
using incredible abstract thought to turn the curves of the wood into the face of an owl. Now I'm expecting him
to point out the objects in the "Magic 3D" pictures on the funny pages of the Sunday paper!
Christopher has this match box car he got from McDonalds with Ronald McDonald on it. He calls it his "French
fry car". That's his favorite food at McDonalds.
9/08/98, Tuesday
On Sunday Nicole called from the bathroom that she needed help. I was in the kitchen and replied that I'd be
there in a minute. Christopher was in the living room and he started yelling "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
and running towards the bathroom. I followed and when he reached the bathroom he yelled "Here!".
I guess he thought he could help.
Last night Christopher and I were playing a computer game. Christopher was really getting into it. Here's what
he started saying: "Amy Doggie. G'job. Hooway!". The translation is "Amy Doggie. Good job.
Hurrah!"
9/01/98, Tuesday - Even More Communication Skills
Christopher continues his voyage into conversation. Here's a conversation he had with Tina yesterday.
Mommy: "Do you want a hot dog?"
Topher: "Yuck, dirty!"
Mommy: "It's not dirty."
<Christopher eats a couple of hot dog pieces>
Topher: "More, ha ha hot dog."
<Mommy cuts the hot dog into pieces in front of him>
Topher, with each slice: "Ouch, ouch, ouch ..."
I was playing Christopher's favorite computer game, "Amy doggie", with him last night. Without
any prompting at one point, he pointed to the screen and counted from 1 to 6 without any trouble. He has more trouble
with colors, though. I was asking him what color his markers were. I'd point to a green one and he'd yell out "Red".
I'd point to the red one and he'd go "Yewwow". He does know blue, though. I did notice that if
I just asked him what the color was, he'd have some trouble saying it, but If I said "point to the red one",
he'd get it right more often.
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