The Head of Theo Part II

We had a follow-up appointment for Theo's head today. We received more encouragement. He has dropped down to a difference of 12 mm (still hoping to get to 8 or 9). His cranial index measurement has also come down to 86%. We aren't as worried about it because he was almost normal to begin with, but now he is really normal so that is good.

The technician informed me that Theo would most likely need a second helmet. Apprarently his head has grown so fast that he is outgrowing his helmet (which is really rare - only a couple of other kids have ever needed a new helmet during treatment, let alone in less than 6 weeks!). So we will have to see if indeed they do recommend a bigger helmet at the next review. We are sure the jokes are going to start rolling in about the size of head on this boy. He is going to give Jack a run for his money.

Going to work?

Below is a conversation that occurred within the first couple minutes of Jack being awake this morning:

Jack: Are you going to go to work today?
Charles: What is today?
Jack: It's Sunday. You don't go to work today.
Charles: That's right.
Jack: I'm not going to play my instruments today.
Charles: Why not?
Jack: Because that's like your work. And it's Sunday, and I'm not going to work today either.

It baffles us how Jack makes connections between different things.
He loves his instruments so much, but we had no idea that he thought of them as work.

Interview with Jack Anderson

Here is an interview designed for children (possibly a little older than Jack). I decided to give it to Jack. Below are the questions and his answers.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
She says I am really nice.

2. What makes mom happy?
When I do the right think and she doesn’t have to discipline me.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I do the wrong thing.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
When she say Ba Boo Boo Waddie

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don’t know

6. How old is your mom?
20

7. How tall is your mom?
Stand up and I’ll see

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Play with me

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
I don’t know. I’m not here. Maybe sit and talk.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don’t know.

11. What is your mom really good at?
She plays blocks really well with me

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Nothing (aaahh – not sure how long that will last!)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Work-out at the gym

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
Pizza

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When I do really well

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Colin

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Go to the store

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Our shirts both look not nice.

19. How are you and your mom different?
We both start with a K (I think he means don’t start with a K, but I am not sure???)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
One google (this is how I answer him when he asks how much I love him which is one of our jokes)

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Old McDonalds (I think this is his!)

Loud Yelling

I was awoken last night by a loud yell. In my half-groggy state, I stumbled out of my room to see which of the boys needed help. Both of the boys were silent and sleeping. I then stumbled downstairs to see how Charles was doing. He was up listening to the Mizzou Tiger basketball game on the Internet. I came into the room and here is our conversation.

ERIN: Charles, did you just hear a loud yell?
CHARLES: I might have.
ERIN: Charles, did you just yell really loud?
CHARLES: I am afraid I might have. I am really sorry.

Apparently Charles was so into the Tigers game and how well they were playing he couldn't contain himself and burst out in loud yelling even though the rest of his family was fast asleep. Oh, and just to clarify it was 2:30 AM. He cannot miss his Tigers playing.

It might be worth mentioning that part of Charles's excitement comes from the fact that he has rarely rooted for a team that has been successful. If fact, his profile on the College's website lists one of his hobbies as 'supporting rather unsuccessful American sports teams'. Up until a few months ago, the Mizzou basketball team would have fallen under this category, but not any more! You can accuse Charles of a lot of things, but you cannot accuse him of being fair-weather fan.

Married for 9 weeks....

Two things to note from this video. One, it is very amusing to see what understanding a three-year-old has of weddings. Two, as you will see at the end, I may need to revise my earlier post of Theo being a 'sitter'. Poor Theo.

9 years!

As you saw in the earlier posting, Charles and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary on Wednesday. I got Charles socks (business socks!) for a gift and he got me a babysitter arranged so we could go out for dinner. I am always including pictures of the boys so this time I decided to include a picture of us before our date. I was hoping to include a picture from our wedding as well but apparently they are all on cds on the other side of the ocean so this one will have to suffice!

Theo's New Trick

Theo is officially a sitter. He has been trying to sit up for a couple of months, but I actually think we have mastered the trick. I now feel comfortable enough with his sitting to leave the room with him sitting up and come back and expect him to still be sitting. This is one of my favourite stages in baby-world - able to interact and play a lot but not able to get into trouble! Here are some pictures of him performing his new trick.

Fun with pictures

Here are some pictures of Theo taken recently. Enjoy!

Sharing through the eyes of a three-year-old - Follow-up

As a follow-up to my previous post relating to Jack's sharing abilities, here is an interesting conversation we had tonight. Here is a conversation that occurred as I was putting Theo to bed.

ERIN: I love you so much Theo. Aren't you glad, Jack, that you have Theo for a little brother?
JACK: Yes, he is very kind to me.
ERIN: How is he kind to you Jack?
JACK: He lets me have all his toys. And he rides really nicely in the buggy.

He lets me have all his toys??? As if Theo really has a choice? I only hope that Jack still thinks Theo is kind to him when Theo actually has a say with what is done with his toys.

So there you have it. Another view of sharing from the eyes of a three-year-old.

Sharing through the eyes of a three-year-old

I left Theo with a toy and left the room for a couple of minutes. I returned to the room to find Jack holding the toy that I left with Theo. With no prompting from me, Jack quickly exclaims, 'We are sharing. We made a swap' - forgetting the fact that Theo has nothing in his hands in exchange. Do you believe the three-year-old or does his quick reply charge him as guilty? You be the judge....

What do the letter J and a chicken nugget have in common?

Today Jack asked if he could practice writing his name. I was delighted in this request and got a pad of paper out immediately. We practiced writing the letter J together for a while with very limited success. Then Jack asked if we could turn the page over. I agreed. He then drew what looked like a J to begin with, but ended in a rather odd way. I complimented him and asked, Oh, what letter is that? He then proudly told me that wasn't a letter, that was a chicken nugget! In fairness, it was right before lunch so maybe he was hungry! And objectively, it was a much better chicken nugget than J.

A story to remember

Theo has had a rough morning today. I think it is teething related - but then again isn't that every mother's conclusion on every problem between 4 and 12 months, teething related! He particularly had a bad crying spell while I was in the shower getting ready. I was really touched when I heard a little music box playing and looked out of the shower to see Jack had come upstairs to help Theo. He was sitting next to Theo with two of Theo's toys - a little musical octopus which Jack had started and Theo's Nah.

I like this story for two reasons. One, I love the fact that Jack got a musical instrument and his nah because these are exactly the two toys that would minister most to Jack if he was upset. Second, I love the way Jack was concerned about Theo. I am sure there will be times in the future where I will need to tell the boys this story and show them the picture below to remind them of how they are to care for one another. My prayer is that these times when I will need to remind them will be scarce, but I am not naive enough to think they won't exist!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is the day that England celebrates Mothering Sunday. I feel I am uniquely positioned to celebrate 2 Mother's Days - England's (since this is where I have given birth to both boys) and America's (well, since I am American). Celebrating to me would mean that I get to sleep in these two Sundays. But this Mothering Sunday turned into Mothering Weekend where Charles and the boys spoiled me with lots of fun treats. It started on Friday night with Charles and I having a date which consisted of him making homemade nachos and listening to Mizzou play on the Internet.

On Saturday morning Charles took both boys off to the Brent Cross Shopping Centre to do a little shopping. He did a great job of explaining to Jack that they should keep what they bought a secret. I joked that Theo was going to tell me and Jack informed me that they had told Theo that they had bought me a birthday cake so he was sure Theo wasn't going to let the surprise out of the bag. Charles joked that I actually got two gifts: Saturday morning off and the actual bought present.

We decided to go out for dinner on Saturday night. I got to choose and I chose one of our favourites - Pizza Hut, or as Jack calls it The Hut. It is one of those restaurants that we rarely would eat at in America but some how has become special to us here in England.

On Sunday morning I did get my sleep-in, well if sleeping until 8:15 (after nursing a baby at 7:00) counts! It was a great extra hour of sleep and I was awoken by cinnamon toast in bed along with two cards, one from Charles and one from Jack and Theo. They also had picked out four really cute serving dishes that I have been wanting since we moved to England! :) It was a great day. I am truly blessed to be married to Charles and get to mother these two little spit-fires that we call sons.

Bono vs. Colin

As posted before Jack adores the Australian Christian Singer, Colin Buchanan. He has many of his songs memorized and now is really into the drummer, Mitch Farmer, and the violinist, Clare O'Mara. He is probably the only kid who knows the name of these different back-up band members.

Charles really enjoys Colin's music, but he has been trying really hard to get Jack into U2 as well - especially with their new album out two weeks ago. Well, it looks like Bono may have some competition from Colin in Jack's little world. And well, it looks like Bono is losing. You be the judge!

Two things to note: 1) It sounds as though Theo is the next drummer in our family as he bangs his spoon on his tray. 2) Jack's facial expressions when he says GUITAR.

The Head of Theo

We had a review appointment for Theo's head today. So Theo and I set off for the underground for our one hour trip to Wimbledon. It was a beautiful day and I managed a brief walk through some beautiful neighbourhoods as Theo finished his nap in the stroller. We were also really pleased because according to the new measurements Theo's head has improved by 4 mm in 3 weeks. This is great news and we were really pleased. He is now measuring a difference of 13 mm (he started with a difference of 17 mm). The goal is to get to a difference of 8ish which is very close to 'normal' although technically still defined as 'moderate'. We have been praying two things, one that his head would correct and two, that it would correct quickly. The technician warned me not to expect this kind of results every three weeks, but nonetheless it was the perfect fit to a beautiful day. Even the ride home on the underground was tolerable!

Theo talking

Theo has really started to become verbal - well for a seven-month-old. It is really fun to have him 'talk' back at you. But I have to admit that it is a bit scary to think of another member of our family being vocal. The three oldest members cannot stop talking and it looks like Theo may soon be the fourth.

Jesus is coming...

Today at lunch, out of nowhere, Jack told me that Jesus was going to come back tonight. I was a bit shocked, but asked how he knew that. He then proceeded to tell me that Daddy had told him that.

I was beginning to think that I needed to correct Charles's theology on not trying to predict the time of Jesus's return when it dawned on me that that is where we are in the story Bible that we read with Jack. It is amazing what little minds remember and maybe more, WHEN they remember things!

Happy Day

We just returned from Cambridge and are happy to report that Charles passed his viva with minor corrections. They have asked that he just make the changes with white-out and then submit. No need to reprint. We feel very blessed with this outcome. Praise God.

PhD Update

This is a big week for our family. Charles has his viva (or PhD defense) scheduled for Friday of this week. This is where he and his work will be examined by two scholars. The outcome can vary but will determine how much more work or tweaking will need to take place before he can graduate with his doctorate. Please pray at 11 AM on Friday. We will keep you updated on the results.

Who is old?

Today I was reading Jack a book. This particular book was showing pictures of a little girl growing up and the different stages. I then asked Jack, who he knew who was old? He answered with GG (which is his name for Charles's grandma). I was satisfied with this answer (sorry GG!). Then he starting meddling because he then said that I was old. I was about to get bent out of shape when he then exclaimed that he was old too. How could he think any differently, we are always telling him that he is such a big boy. It just made me realize that age and oldness are in the eyes of the beholder. And in my eyes, I am not old. How about you GG?

Are they all coming?

Jack is at the age where you cannot tell him that something in the future is going to happen unless it is very near or you will end up answering questions about it about every hour until it happens. So I have been very careful not to tell him that Aunt Lauren (my sister) is coming soon. But I thought today was a good day so I told him that Aunt Lauren would be coming on Friday. Here is the dialogue that took place next:

JACK: Are they all coming (referring to her husband and three kids I assume)?
ERIN: No, Jack unfortunately, they aren't able to all come this time.
JACK(disappointingly): Joshua's not coming?
ERIN: No, I am afraid not.
JACK: Why?
ERIN: Well, Jack it is really expensive to come so they aren't able to all come.
JACK: Well, you could just pay for all of them, MOM.

Oh, how I wish I could just pay for anyone I want to come over to visit. I wish money worked in real life like it does in the mind of a three-year-old. How fun would that be????