The Brothers Bennett: First Palo Alto summer

I've gotten a little video-happy recently. I bet that most bloggers (especially baby bloggers like myself) are the biggest consumers of their own blogs, and I have to say that I watch the clips of Ronan and Callum ALL THE TIME! They make me so happy.

It's early August, high summer in Palo Alto. The days are long, sunny, and warm and the nights are comfortably cool. We could never have sipped wine on the deck after putting the kids to bed in SF. Here we try to do it every chance we get! Our nightly reading time with Ronan has become "book time on the deck" and we have such fun weaving stories for him while looking up at the trees and the airplanes flying overhead. I guess suburbia is growing on us.

Ronan is now 3 years and 4 months old. Baby brother Callum is 6 months old today. We have our exhausting days and the occasional tantrum, but in general we're all in a really great place. Here is what's keeping the boys busy these days.

* RONAN *

Preschool - Ronan's having a blast at his preschool and thank goodness they are open full days, year-round. The teachers are wonderful and Ronan continues to learn new concepts (sharing - at last!) and refine his social skills. His days are filled with lots of playing, bike riding, and pretending to be various uniformed people -- construction workers, fire fighters, police officers, gardeners, rocket ship pilots. On occasion he'll do some of the table-based activities -- drawing, painting, clay -- but mostly he's an outdoorsy little boy. He's staying dry at school (yippee!) and loves pointing out that "So-and-so wears diapers, he's a little boy. I wear undies because I'm a big boy!" In September he'll be moving from the Ocean Room (age 2 - 4) to the River Room (age 3.5 - 5). Oh, and Christian joined the school's Board of Directors. It's been a great opportunity for him to get to know other parents and to share his big business brain with the school...

Soccer - We signed Ronan up for Saturday soccer classes and so far he really enjoys it. It's the "parent participation" kind of class and he has so much fun kicking the ball around with Daddy! It's cute to watch the other parents and kiddos chasing soccer balls all over the field and amusing to hear how "serious" a lot of the parents are about their three-year-olds' soccer skills.

Fishing - Fishing in the lazy summer months must be some kind of rite of passage for boys. We got Ronan his first rod and reel and went fishing at Foothills Park a couple of months ago. He loved it!! Well, he loved the casting and reeling in of the line, not so much the "waiting for the fish to bite" part. But that will come... Christian and his brother grew up adoring fishing, and most of the men in my family are fishing aficionados, so hopefully our family (the guys) will have lots of fishing trips in the years ahead (while Mommy sneaks out to the spa).

Evolving sense of self - Like most other three-year-olds, Ronan's independence is growing by leaps and bounds. It is lovely to see him embrace the concept of being a "big boy" with pride and a sense of accomplishment. He insists on putting on his own shoes, brushing his own teeth with the "big boy" toothpaste and toothbrush, opening the car door and buckling himself into his car seat, and opening and closing the two big gates leading to his preschool. He's very interested in being the leader: "I go first!" And being (guess what) bigger than other kids: "He's a baby. He's not even tall. He doesn't even have teeth." Cute.

Being perfectly sweet - We agreed the other day that Ronan is at a fantastic age because he's super sweet, communicative, and so much easier to go places with. His tantrums are down to a minimum. It has been a LONG time since he was frustrated with his Daddy. He prefers to talk about funny incidents, listen to and tell stories, and spend lots and lots of time playing with us. While I'm preparing his dinner each night, he'll often ask, "Mommy, can you come keep me company? Can you hang out with me and play games with me?" Ronan is also a wonderful big brother to Callum, never showing him anything but love and affection and a willingness to teach him things when he gets older! Ronan had croup last week (not fun) and I told him not to touch his brother's face or hands while he was sick. He gently played with Callum's toes and kissed his legs. He declared, "Mommy, I'm not touching his face! I'm being good!"

* CALLUM *

Sleeping more - Callum started sleeping through the night, finally, a month ago. Yay! I no longer nurse him in the middle of the night. He does wake up occasionally and cries out, but he's able to soothe himself back to sleep by turning on his tummy and sucking his thumb. He sleeps from 5:30 pm to 5:00 am everyday. Callum's daytime naps are getting longer too. His first two naps are 30-45 minutes and his afternoon nap is 1-2 hours. Now that we're all getting more rest, life has come back into focus. The first six months? Haze...

Starting solids - Callum started solid food on July 19 at about 5.5 months. His first food was rice cereal mixed with breastmilk (loved it!), and since then he has tried banana, sweet potato, oatmeal, and pears. He got a rash with the sweet potato so we're going to put that one on hold for awhile. Next foods to try: avocado, barley cereal, green beans, carrots, apple sauce, peaches. He's eating two meals a day now, breakfast and dinner, always following his bottles/nursing. His nanny Susan gives him 5 oz of milk in a bottle three times a day, and I nurse him first thing in the morning and right before bed. With the start of solids, his poops have changed dramatically - from 5-7 times a day to once every 2-3 days!

Physical milestones - These early achievements are so exciting! Rolling: Callum rolled from back to tummy on June 7 (little over 4 months) and from tummy to back on July 17 (5.5 months). At age six months now, he loves rolling both ways over and over again. Like a little bug, the second we put him down on his back, he flips over to his tummy! He's been tummy-sleeping for the last month. Sitting: Callum is getting so strong and is almost able to sit up on his own! He still topples over a lot, mostly because he gets so excited that he breathes heavily, which makes him tip over. It's so cute. Grabbing: Callum's fine motor skills are changing every day, it seems. He focuses on things within his reach and very carefully tries to pick them up with his cute, chubby fingers. Everything goes straight into his mouth for a good, wet chew. In the next month we're going to need to child-proof our new home... Exploring: Callum mainly explores using his mouth, but his hands are also getting used to touching different textures. When I'm nursing him, his little fingers explore my hair, my necklace or the edge of the pillow. Those moments are so sweet and, I know, fleeting. Teething: Unlike Ronan, who seemed to drool constantly from 3 months to 10 months, Callum is not a big drooler at all. He might be teething soon (Ronan cut his first tooth at 7 mos) but I don't think we'll know until the tooth actually pops out. He's pretty chill.

Voice lessons - Will he be an opera singer? An orator? The boy's volume is turned WAY UP. At two months, he was a noisy nurser and a very loud sleeper. At 4 months he started screeching, and now he has added loud "talking" and "singing" to his repertoire. Much louder than Ronan ever was. And yet, he's a much more mild and easy-going child. Funny!

Callum care - We've been blessed to have a great full-time nanny for Callum for the last three months, but this is her last month. Callum will start at the infant program at Ronan's preschool in September. Big changes ahead. Fingers crossed that the transition will go smoothly.

Now for the pictures!