Archive for the 'What We’ve Learned' Category

What We’ve Learned: Year Two

Friday, August 27th, 2010

First off, my apologies for the lateness of this post. Henry’s birthday was last Saturday (more on that later), but in the week previous and the days following, Kristen’s grandmother and Henry’s great-grandmother (Oma) became very ill. Kristen’s father was to come up for the party, but he had to cancel, as Oma was admitted [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 23

Monday, July 26th, 2010

I’ve mentioned in the past that Henry’s talking up a storm, and that’s really great because it has made for a smooth transition between baby-hood and toddler-hood. Many a tantrum has been nipped in the bud because we’ve been able to ask Henry what was wrong or what did he need or whether or not [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 22

Friday, June 25th, 2010

(I’m finishing this post from the wonderful city of Orlando. That’s sarcasm. There’s nothing wonderful about this place. Sorry for the delay — we’ve all been sick.) Last week, Henry said his longest sentence yet: “I want a taco, Mama.” Since we all love tacos (and, luck have it, we were making them for dinner), [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 21

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Although I’ve never written one, I assume that writing (and drawing) children’s books are not easy. I make that assumption because so many that I’ve read are really, really terrible. And the few that aren’t terrible, are often not really books for kids at all. I mean, I love J. Otto Seibold’s books (Mr. Lunch [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 20

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Last week I saw a commercial on TV where they were hawking some sort of toddler flashcards so your kids can become some super genius. This made me really, really mad and also quite sad. I have no idea why any parent would want their very young child to learn like that, when it seems [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 19

Monday, March 29th, 2010

(A little late this month. Sorry.) Henry does not eat fruit. No strawberries or bananas or peaches. No apples or oranges or blueberries. Every time a piece of fruit crosses his lips, he spits it out. He doesn’t even chew it! Just spits it right out. It’s strange. Henry eats nearly anything and everything. (He [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 18

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

“Book! Book!” “Okay, Henry. One more book, but then you have to go to bed.” “Brown Bear! Brown Bear!” What? That was new. When did he learn that? When did he learn those words? When did he start putting nouns and adjectives together? That happened this evening right before he went to sleep, but it’s [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 17

Friday, January 22nd, 2010

On Wednesday, I flew out to New Jersey — to my company’s home office — for a planning session. Now a significant part of my job is traveling, and each year I have to go on around 12 business trips. The bad thing about these trips is that it takes me away from Kristen and [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 16

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

While Henry has a pretty robust vocabulary, if push came to shove, he could go through his days saying only three different words: up, open, and apple. Up is, of course, the signal for one of us to pick him up. But it also means put me down. Or carry me over there. Or let [...]

What We’ve Learned: Month 15

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

When I was 12 years old, I first read about the San Diego Comicon. The largest comic book convention in the nation, it was the mecca of comic book collectors, and for the past 25 years, I’ve wanted to go. I’ve dreamed of going. On several occasions I even made tentative plans. For whatever reason [...]