Comfy Reading

I have the enviable task of making the bed each morning. My way of being a good hubby, yes?

Well, Gilbert likes to make the process difficult. He'll plop down on the pile of blankets, sheets and pillows and fight with me as I attempt to free them for the bed making. On this particular day, he attempted a new tactic, embedment. I turn around after smoothing the fitted sheet (cool, I know!) to find him entrenched reading a book. Little stinker!

Child Labor

The wine we won at an auction last year for the Montessori Academy of Chicago has now been whittled down where the last remaining bottles can be removed from over the cabinetry in the kitchen to our wine fridge.

Being the fantastic little helper, Gilbert insisted on carrying bottles. A bit unnerving, Kristen had the idea of him transporting the bottles via his little wagon. As the folks in the Guiness commercials yell, "BRILLIANT!"

Photo Bloopers

We were sorting through Gilbert's two year photos to include in holiday cards and realized we have some funny outtakes that deserve sharing. Enjoy!

Color Coordinated

The coldest day of the year and Gilbert refused to put on pants this morning! He was insistent on wearing his 'meesh shoorts'. To keep his legs somewhat warm, Kristen made Gilbert wear his favorite socks knowing they would go up to his knees. The result? Not a good one. At least he's color coordinated. Looks more like a throwback basketball player in the NBA!

Bundle Up!

You've probably seen the weather in the Midwest and know it is cold, freakin' cold! No to be deterred, we still atempt to get outside for at least a few minutes!

Electronic Repairman

Or more appropriate...demolition man! I took apart the no longer functioning DVD player with Gilbert. He loved it. As I unscrewed the unit, he collected all the screws and was counting them in piles. But when I removed the shell and all the electronic guts were available to play with, time stood still. Little Man was mesmerized!

Colors

Gilbert loves his colors. That was something we enjoyed doing with him early and now he loves to tell us the color of everything. Oh yeah, today for fun we rode on the L, because we loves trains. And when we got home, Kristen asked him what he did and his response..."Rode the Green Line." Got to love it.

While disassembling the DVD player, he wanted to tell me the colors of the connections on the back of the box. He got everyone!

Roughhousing

Gilbert is starting to enjoy rough playing. He likes it when I roll up his blankets and toss 'em at him or big pillows that knock him over.

This is the latest. He covers up with a blanket and I throw his stuffed dino at him. He giggles incessantly!

Zoo Lights

The Lincoln Park Zoo lights up the entire grounds for the holiday season. This was the first weekend and we thought it would be a fun evening. The zoo was packed! We had a blast. Gilbert was more interested in watching the airplanes fly over as the craft lit up the night.

Then he wanted to push the stroller. We enjoyed just walking around and being out and about. I highly recommend spending an evening at the park with your kids and just enjoy the festive atmosphere!

Too Dark, Too Early

As we approach the shortest day of the year, it is dark as we pick Gilbert up from school. Often, he is still wired from his day and needs to burn off some energy. When the sun was still up, we would go to the park before dinner. We soon stopped after daylights savings time, but then asked why?

So, one night last week after picking up Little Man from school we bundled up and went to the park. It was only 5:30pm, yet the park was empty! Gilbert had the run of the place!

Thankful For...

Kristen wanted to start a tradition with the family for Thanksgiving. She came up with the great idea of creating a tree with leaves in the shape of hands. All of us traced our hands, she cut them out and then we wrote on the leave hands what we are thankful for. Gilbert's first answer? "Peanuts!" Followed by "Yellow Blankie!"

Post-Thanksgiving Pump It Up

Friday after Thanksgiving, we needed to get out and burn off all that great food! The local Pump It Up had an open family time. We got their shortly after the place opened, and the place was already pumping!



Gilbert loves the 'indoor gym'. He was everywhere! We switched between the junior and full-sized as Little Man wanted to go back and forth. The full-sized equipment had just been waxed/cleaned and it was slippery for even us. The result? We sped down the slides. It was awesome!

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was fantastic. We hosted family and friends in our cozy condo. I got to cook (and keep the leftovers!), Gilbert was able to stay in familiar surroundings and Kristen was able to flex her party hosting muscles.

Little Man got to see and play 'choo-choos' with Grma/Granpa and Aunt Katee. He loved it! After a great dinner, we decided to burn a few calories and Wii! Boxing was a big hit for the newbies to the game and Gilbert enjoyed watching everyone play.

Giving Thanks

Whether you are traveling to or hosting Thanksgiving with family, friends and perhaps strangers, give pause and consider what you are thankful for. In the spirit of the holiday, Kristen has been attempting to explain to Gilbert what Thanksgiving is all about.

Upon asking Gilbert what he is thankful for, his initial response was "Peanuts." Followed by "my yellow blankie." I love to revel in the simplicity of a child's mental process.

Perhaps not peanuts nor your favorite blanket, I'm sure you can quickly identify what you give thanks for!

From all of us to you and your families...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

DVD Solution

I posted earlier about my DVD debacle. Thanks to Gershwin Drive on her post. After some research, her comments were confirmed and I decided to purchase a standard DVD player and use a HDMI cord. That was the plan...

A little more research and I discovered a better option. Surprisingly, Sony's BluRay players have been panned (and they created the darn technology!). BestBuy has a house brand (Insignia) and gets high marks for value for money. A little more research discovered strong reviews by customers.

This week Best Buy is advertising a sale on the player ($129 - normally $199). The player is wifi enabled and also streams Netfix! Sold!

Within 15 minutes, I had the player set up, configured to my network, downloaded the firmware, registered it with Netflix and began to stream a movie! Sweet. All this enabled technology freaks Kristen out at times. A good example...

I had the Netflix screen up on the television and as I added movies to the queue on the computer, the screen on the television updated nearly simultaneously showing the new movies.

It gets better.

Best Buy was also offering a sale on Logitech's Harmony One remote. I'm tired of having five remotes. This touch screen remote is truly universal. One button activates all the necessary components. For example, want to watch a movie, hit the Watch a Movie button and my DVD, stereo receiver and tv turn on. The remote is being sold ($100 off!) at the same price as the lesser model as part of a promotion.

With all the remotes gone, Little Man now has an arsenal of "my remotes" to play with while not touching "mama, dada's remote".

Christmas has come a little early to Team Johnson.

Pump It Up

Gilbert attended a birthday party for a classmate on Sunday. He was soo excited! In the days leading up, all he would say, was "Indoor Park. Party!"

I stayed home and Kristen attempted to capture photos, but he was in constant motion. In particular wanting to wrestle with his best buddy, Sam!

20 + 21 = Chaos!

Saturday was the 15th anniversary of Turkey Bash! Originally started by a good friend of mine in college after winning a turkey at a raffle, the event has evolved dramatically. The concept is the weekend before Thanksgiving friends gathered to celebrate and kickoff the holiday season. At its pinnacle, we'd have a bunch of guys gather on Friday night, drink, go bowling or play poker, make a midnight run to the grocery store for the foodstuff and then in a hangover stupor prepare the turkey. And a big turkey at that. This year was 28 pounds (the record, I believe, is 30!).

Well, we have gone from single to married to married with kids. As a result, the evening has changed dramatically. This year the adults were outnumbered by the kids (20 to 21). You can imagine the atmosphere! Sanctuary was in the garage with the beer fridge. Next year, organized arts and crafts!

Like every year, the tradition continues and each year is always a good time to see friends, enjoy an early Thanksgiving dinner and prepare for the onslaught of the holiday season!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving...

Double Whammy

Gilbert started to develop a cold over the weekend and soon his eyes were crusting over. Fearing pink eye, we learned it was just good old-fashioned conjunctivitis. While being checked out, the doctor informed us Little Man had a double ear infection. No idea!

Again, Gilbert baffles us by showing no signs. No tugging of the ears, no fever, no pain. What a trooper!
He did stay home Monday and Tuesday and was a bit ragged the entire time. Kudos to Kristen for being able to handle him. Now she's not feeling well!

I'm pleased to report he is feeling much better and after an extended night of sleep, he woke up quite happy informing us he wish to play Wii. Welcome back Little Man! Now Kristen needs to get better. I'm considering sleeping in a bubble.

Working the Wii

Gilbert enjoys watching me play Wii Fit. We created a Mii for him and he enjoys standing on the Wii board. Little Man does enjoy some of the games, but prefers to watch daddy instructing me along the way as to which games I should play.

However, what Gilbert enjoys the most is to hold the Wii controller. I've taught him the value of the 'A' button. As you can imagine, that is all he pushes. I've had a few games altered as he pushes the button mid-game!