Saturday, December 27, 2008

Merry Christmas 2008

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The Robertsons are visiting Mom E's family and friends up in Carlisle, PA. Here are Little I and Mr. C in their matching Christmas morning pajamas. The highlight of the morning was hearing Little I yell, "Presents!!!" when we found hidden presents on a stocking scavenger hunt. We hope your Christmas was as delightful as theirs was!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Dangerous Twos

As of yesterday, Little I was 731 days old (don't forget 2008 was a leap year). He celebrated this momentous day by falling into the moulding by the stairs and busting his forehead open. Mom E and Little I got to take a fun trip to the emergency room where Little I got five sutures. Poor guy. He kept saying, "Be all done soon" while the doctor stitched him up. He handled it very well and told me that he "have Band-Aid" and it would "be okay." Thanks for the encouragement little guy! To make him feel better, Mom E baked some special cookies decorated with some of Little I's favorite things. Happy Birthday Little I! Let's stay safe this year and stick with minor bumps and bruises only!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Thanksgiving Recap

To all our family who traveled from accross the country to visit for Thanksgiving, THANK YOU! We had a blast! It was so much fun to see a large portion of the Robertson family together for Thanksgiving. It was nice that my parents and my sister Sharon got to meet Mr. C for the first time. It was really nice that a certain uncle got to meet Mr. C and Little I for the first time. I guess that's what happens when you live over 2,000 miles away... Well, for those of you who missed it, here is the recap: Grandaddy Robertson made the turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Grandma Robertson made a sweet potato casserole. Mom E made cranberry salsa, salad, roasted asparagus, and a ginger pumpkin merengue. Ellie made a dutch apple pie and brought stuffing. The highlight of the meal for me was the gravy. I've never seen such a recipe for gravy. It required chopping various root vegetables into the turkey roaster, cooking the giblets and making a broth from them, chopping up the giblets and continuing to let them simmer, deglazing the carmelized drippings from the turkey with white wine, adding reserved broth from the giblets to the drippings, making a roux from some giblet broth, and then putting everything together for the world's awesomest gravy. No problem. I have to hand it to my dad, he follows recipes to a tee. On the mashed potatoes, he specifically purchased russet potatoes "for texture." Wow, they were even fantastic as leftovers. The other highlight of the meal had to be the ginger pumpkin merengue made by my lovely wife. I can't tell you how it tasted as leftovers because there was none leftover.
Then, we had an early birthday party with family for Little I. I'll let the pictures below speak for themselves. They fairly accurately capture the party. All I have to say that Little I is still talking about his birthday party, describing how he ate cake, jumped high, and shot hoops with Cousin James and Uncle Joe.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Fall is Here

Fall is the best season in Alabama. The weather gets cooler,
... trees turn colors, ... and college football reigns! This fall has been especially nice as far as college football goes. Newcomers to Alabama quickly learn that they must declare their football allegiance: Alabama or Auburn. As an alumnus from the University of Alabama School of Law, the decision to root for U of A was not a difficult one to make, despite the fact that my three years at Alabama were during the Franchione/[Mike Price]/Mike Shula debacles--all the while Alabama was under NCAA enforced sanctions. Still, for those of you who follow Alabama football, or football at all, you know that this fall is an especially good time to be an Alabama fan as the team is currently 11-0 heading into the much-hyped Alabama-Auburn Iron Bowl.
Of course, football is merely a diversion. The real joy of the fall has been to see my two boys grow and mature. Little I continues to talk in full sentences (his Mother's-Day-Out teacher said he is the only one in his class to do so). He is amazingly coordinated and "mature" for a 23-month old. Mr. C turning into Mr. Smiles, and his expressions continue to thrill Mom E and me. My parting shot was taken on my new camera--a digital SLR, which can take snapshots without that annoying delay, allowing for otherwise impossible shots such as this. Check out that form!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Smiles and Coos

Mr. C has reached two milestones. He has turned over from stomach to back and he has laughed. I've not caught either one on video yet, but here he is smiling and generally being cute.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Georgia Aquarium

GG and Papa visited recently and prior to their arrival Little I told me that he wanted to go to the pool with GG and Papa. I told him that it was too cold out, so we'd have to go somewhere else, like the science museum, to which Little I responded, "Fish." I was amazed that he remembered the fish from the McWane Center. So, I thought it would be neat to show him the pictures of the fish from our visit on the computer. Then in looking for videos of fish online, I discovered the Georgia Aquarium's website with a live webcam of their 6.3 million gallon Ocean Voyager tank. Little I was hooked. He was especially interested in the sharks and stingrays, which he told me he wanted to "pat." I remembered there was a kids area at the aquarium that allowed kids to touch rays and little sand sharks, so I started talking it up. We even started a game: my arm is the shark that slowly comes to take a bite out of Little I; all the while I hum "Jaws" music; then Little I swats my hand and the arm-shark retreats with a yelp. (Repeat as necessary).
We went down to the museum on a friday, so it was not too busy, and met up with our cousin John Andrew and aunt Ellie. The entrance of the aquarium has two walls of fast-swimming tuna. When we stepped through the door, Little I saw the fish, hopped out of my arms, and was off like a shot to get a closer look at the fish. When we actually started on the Ocean Voyager exhibit, Little I pushed his way to the front of the crowd and pressed his face against the glass to watch the various fish, rays, and sharks.
Unfortunately, Little I had already been running on adrenaline, not sleep, and became overwhelmed before the end of the exhibit. While we got to see the Tropical Diver, we knew we were running short on time. We made a quick trip to the kids' area, the Georgia Explorer, only to discover that Little I was not very proficient at only using "two fingers" when trying to touch to rays, shrimp, etc. It is also hard for a toddler to remember not to put his hands in his mouth until after he gets to a sink...so we gathered our things, popped "Finding Nemo" into the van's dvd player, and said goodbye to the fish, to the sharks, and to the stingrays.

Friday, September 19, 2008

"I got smiles"

No, Mr. C didn't say that, he actually said, "I got gas..."! At two months Mr. C isn't just smiling when he has gas, however. He smiles and coos responsively to Mom E and me. Even big brother brings the smiles out from Mr. C. He loves his bouncy seat and, of course, ceiling fans. We're working on going to sleep without the bouncy seat and have hopes that Mr. C will soon decide to sleep through more of the night than just the first five hours. But with a face like this, we're in no position to complain.

"I got booger"

It was a revelation from Little I. He has boogers. We're learning a lot these days. We're learning our shapes, colors, numbers, and even letters. We're learning how to string words together, like the title of this entry. We recently took a trip to the McWane Science Center, where Little I was thrilled to see the fish, play with blocks that stuck to glass, pilot a rocket ship, watch a train, jump on a giant piano keyboard, put colored pegs in holes, and just generally run and explore. Here are a few pictures from the trip that show Little I having fun. My favorite word that Little I now says is "pentagon." Yes, he's advanced. Mom E's favorite word is still "kooker" (for cookie).

Monday, September 1, 2008

I'm Six Weeks Old!

Many of you have asked for updated pictures of Mr. C, so here are a few, including these where Mr. C is sporting a onesie made especially for him by his aunt Anne.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Thank You Friends and Family!

I wanted to just say thank you to all our friends and family who have helped us--and continue to help us--with the transition from one to two children. Obviously, the biggest help came from GG who spent three weeks with us, doing everything from cooking to cleaning to sewing to babysitting. We cannot thank you enough. Others have prayed for us, called us to make sure we're doing okay, visited us, and offered to bring food. These all raise our spirits and it has been a big help for Mom E to not have to worry about meals these first few weeks. I certainly don't mind sampling others' culinary talents at all!
Oh, and the picture above? That was taken after some friends brought over some Italian food, complete with Italian bread which Little I decided to abscond with. Mom E and I looked up and wondered where the bread went. And where was Little I? He was in the dining room munching on the end of the loaf!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Two Boys



Having grown up with three sisters, I was excited at the prospect of having two sons who were close in age. No offense to my sisters--I love them--but there really is something neat about brotherhood. While an exchange student in Finland, I lived with a family of three boys, making me the fourth "brother" of three very different guys who were close in age to me. It was great. For three months we ate meat and potatoes in large quantities, we played sports, we hung out with friends, we talked about girls, we had excellent comraderie. I'm hoping Little I and Mr. C will be best buds, even though I can already tell that they will have very different personalities.

Now, from everything you hear, boys are harder to raise at younger ages and girls are more difficult in the teen years. From what I've observed, that is probably true. However, Little I and Mr. C can both be very sweet. Little I will often give unsolicited kisses to Mom E and myself and even to Mr. C.
However, Little I will also try to step on Mr. C, take off his socks, and violently rock him in his car seat or bouncer. Really, Little I is just an active toddler. If Mom E and I don't engage him or give him activities, he will invariably get into trouble--usually on purpose. So we spend a lot of time doing things with Little I, like playing "gnames" (games) from dawn to dusk.

A typical morning conversation might go like this.

(whimper in his crib) "Dada? Dada?"
"Good morning!"
"Ball."
"You want to play ball?"
"Hit."
"You want to hit a ball?"
"Throw. . . Catch."
"Alright, let's get your ball . . ."
Other sports words include "kick," "mintt" (mitt), "shoot," "hoop," "arack" (raquet), "bat," "hat," "pitch," "nna" (tennis), and "goff" (golf). These usually get more use when Little I wants me to play with him. He can spend hours playing a "gname." I may be surprised, but I don't expect that Mr. C will have the same obsession with sports as Little I has. At least, it would be surprising to me if Little I's enthusiasm could be matched. I do have a feeling that Mr. C will get interested in something else boyish--like bugs or dinosaurs or trains or trucks or something. Regardless, I am sure that Mom E and I will have our hands full for a few years while we keep up with these two cannonballs.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Anticipating Adjustments

Mom E, Dad D, and Little I are all getting ready for the newest Robertson to make his arrival. We've been getting the baby's room ready, we've been vetting our house of unused books and unnecessary clutter, we have acquired special equipment, i.e. a double stroller, and we have even gone so far as to purchase..... A minivan!


As I explained to Mom E on Sunday when we parked in between two Honda Odysseys at church, it really is a predicta--I mean, practical vehicle.
Now that we've gotten the logistics taken care of, the only thing left is to make the lifestyle adjustment. I have a feeling that some of us will have an easier time with the adjustment of having a new baby around the house better than others....

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Breaking News: Little I Throws Dirt


In other news, Tiger Woods wins the U.S. Open.