A day in the life of the party

minor bits of hilarity ensue around these parts, and i'm compelled to document them, lest i repeat ken's follies in the coming months. sam here -- happy summer! after a whopping record of two for 24, mom and dad and ken took a 10-day hiatus from the potty training bit. in that time, we welcomed another wave of visitors eager to meet georgia (and see us, of course). summer's been kickin' really. despite the blanket of heat, we've spent a plethora of time outside - exploring all possibilities with sidewalk chalk, sand toys, our atw radio flyer (all-terrain wagon, to the common folk), and the public park behind the cop shop.
now. back to the aforementioned hilarity.

we were scrambling to get in the van and go somewhere. for the life of me, i can't remember where the five of us were headed, but i'm sure were were late, or approaching the distinct possibility of being late. three occupied car seats now declares a new seating arrangement. ken's in the back seat, and georgia and i are situated in the middle captain seats. as mom's buckling ken, he drops one of his two matchbox cars and immediately beings to freak. (he's like that - about his matchbox cars.) "I can't find the car in my butt! I can't find the car in my butt!" what? how does one manage a matchbox car in the posterior region? mom finally lifts ken completely out of his car seat only to find his favorite green matchbox car wedged between his waistband and his ham hocks.

in other news, potty training has resumed. thanks to a recently acquired potty chair (see my practice round pictured above), ken maintains a renewed interest in landing his bodily waste in the appropriate potty place. i'm proud to report that over the last 48 hours, he's averaging about 85% -- a vast improvement over the first training attempt. keep the good thoughts coming, my readers. it's helping. of course, this potty business is begging the exploration of certain appendages. last week, ken proclaimed his need to go, so dad ensured safe alighting to the throne. after five minutes of sitting, i hear dad's exasperated shout, "Are you gonna go potty? Or are you gonna sit there and play with your dink?" to which ken - equally exasperated - shouts, "I just want to play with it!"


don't we all, ken. don't we all.

i'll sign off for now. hope this message finds you smiling. know that baby georgia is doing well. she continues to eat and sleep like a champ; it's safe to say that both ken and i adore her.

keepin' it real,
sam

The devil went down to Georgia on my mind

Confession: It's been about two weeks since the birth of one Georgia Conrad, and I'm still wondering which side of crazy I am for deciding it would be cool to have a handful of children all at once. I think my initial reason lay in the  semi-sexy ideal that the offspring could all grow up together. Hm. I've since decided that whether you're 15 months apart or 15 years apart, you're still siblings, and you'll still chill out together.Tip for future parents: No need to feel you're doing your children a favor by spacing them less than two years apart. Essentially, you're only setting yourself up to realize that it's abnormal to have three children simultaneously in diapers, with about 60% of your household speaking either broken English or no English at all.You'll also set a new standard for yourself the day you match your toddler in volume as you calmly scream about the necessity of taking a nap. Then, instead of taking a much-needed nap yourself (because your two-week-old infant didn't actually fall asleep for the night until about 3:45 a.m.), you sit on the couch and enjoy 10 or 20 handfuls of Costco-brand animal crackers, acknowledge and accept the fact that you haven't showered for three days, and just listen to the sound of a silent house.
She's here! Georgia Corrigan Conrad arrived on a not-so-random Wednesday evening, and --despite the semi-surly tone of the above paragraph -- I'm in love. While the last two weeks have been nothing short  of a monumental shift in our daily routines, here's a quick summary of the last 14+ days, according to Ken:

1. Mom is home all day long. I love it. The rules that typically apply to Saturday and Sunday only now exist in a blur of not-sure-what-day-it-is-because-they-all-sort-of-feel-the-same-but-we-can-have-whipped-cream-on-our-waffles-anyway-because-Mom is here.
2. A steady stream of visitors have graced our household. It's been so fun to see friends and family! While Georgia is acquiring the necessary attire needed to remain pretty in pink, Sam and I have kept ourselves busy with bikes, matchbox cars and books -- in that order.
3. Grandma Corrigan spent some quality time with me and Sam while Mom and Dad were in the hospital with Georgia, and then a few more days just to help Mom and Dad get on their feet with this three-kid business.Grandma does it all, I tell you. We went for walks every day; I showed her how to get to the park. She helped us with house cleaning and laundry; she made us stuffed   green peppers and angel food cake; she even cleaned all the dried food and muck off of the side of the dishwasher. (Yes, Sam's chair is situated right beside our free-standing dishwasher,which transforms Sam into a regular food-painting Picasso.) Most notably, Grandma's a pro at playing kid songs on the guitar; I can't think of a more fun way to sing "Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Totally. Awesome.
4. Sam and I took a few days to hang with Grandma and Grandpa Conrad and family at the   Conrad family lake place in Wisconsin. Mosquitoes, bonfires and roasted marshmallows. Need I say more? My aunts Val and Sue really know how to throw a summer party, and I think Mom and Dad enjoyed the extra few days to just focus on Georgia.
5. Since my return from the Wisconsin lake, I'm doing my best to accommodate the newest addition to our family. I sure wish Georgia were big enough to play but, Mom says I have to wait for the snow before Georgia can really hang with us. She's little. It sort of makes me wish I were a baby, too, but Mom continues to tell me that I'm a good big brother, and that I will always be her best Ken. I'll buy that.

In other news, potty training has begun. I can now say with complete confidence that I know exactly when I've wet my pants. Next step: to actually go in the potty. It's been a little rough so far; wish me luck.

Mom and I hope this message finds you well. 

Until next time,

Ken