Monstrous Month

It's been quite a month since I last wrote! Where to even start? I guess we'll do the usual doctor's visit...Marshall's 18 month stats:

• 32.5 inches (58%)
• 23 lb 9 oz (20%)
• Still tiny head at 15%

Everything was great at Marshall's appointment...however, Miles made up for it with some drama of his own. A couple weeks back, he started complaining of an earache on a Friday night. We were able to distract him at first, so we thought maybe it was just a fluke. Then he started crying in the middle of the night. Thank God that Disney Junior is on 24/7, because distracting him with cartoons was the only way I could get him to fall asleep...the 5 or so times he woke up crying. Even through the crying, I just assumed most of it was Miles' usual dramatics, and it was an ear infection that could wait until morning. Well, Jason left at 4:30am for a marching band contest, which woke Marshall up, which woke Miles up again. Since we were all awake, we headed to MedCheck. It wasn't until we were in the waiting room that I noticed Miles had blood in his ear. Again, I assumed we was just scratching at it from the pain, but nooo....it was, in fact, a ruptured ear drum.

Since then, I've found it's more common that we thought, but it was still scary to hear. Thankfully, we got into an ENT the next week (after checking three different hospital systems) and I was able to go with him before (guiltily) leaving for a business trip to San Francisco. The ENT said the rupture was likely from an ear infection (not from falling out of bed the night before). His hearing was borderline normal, but they said that was likely from the build-up. We see our family doctor next week, so we're hoping he tells us everything has cleared up and we'll be ready to start swimming lessons again.

I also forgot to include an update a while back on Miles' speech and hearing appointment (before the eardrum thing). He was totally normal! Now neurotic mom can stop worrying. The only sound he doesn't have yet (the "r") isn't normally developed until age 8, so we have a while to start worrying about that one.

Marshall is getting chattier than ever. We don't know what he is saying a lot of the time, but that doesn't stop him from trying! You can tell that he is really proud when we do recognize what he is telling us. He'll be just as smart as his big bro! He even has learned O-H-I-O...much to Jason's chagrin, especially after shouting it during the "time for silence and reflection" at church last week. Wonder if he knows Pastor Mitch is a Purdue grad? Here's just a fun Marshall moment during bath time the other night:

And the biggest news of all is that our house is on the market!! It's been an adventure stopping the boys from destroying our newly perfected home, but, as of now, it feels really nice to live in a clean house for once! If you won't believe it until you see it with your own eyes and you know our address, check it out on realtor.com. No, I'm not dumb enough to post my address for any creepers to see.

 

We've had three showings so far, and the house hasn't even been on the market a week. We're keeping our fingers crossed. Our very first showing was one of those can-we-be-there-in-30-minutes deals, so we were definitely thrown into the deep end. We're finding that eating out is becoming the norm, and it was a little much keeping the boys entertained all evening tonight for three hours alone away from the house without spending much money. Picnic in the park is possible during Indian Summer, but I hope we don't have to figure it out in the winter!

 

Oh, and one more addendum as a follow up to last month's post about curse words. Yesterday, Miles said "I slipped on the damn floor!" Jason swiftly followed with, "That's Mommy's fault." Yeah, my bad.

 

Here's a little Bulldog Homecoming family fun, before I turned by eldest into a potty mouth:

 

Baby's First Curse Word?

I'm kind of proud of the fact that Miles hasn't said a really bad 4-letter word just yet. The worst I can claim is when Jason heard him repeating my use of the term "bird crap". I was a bit concerned when Miles recently told me that his friends told on him at school for saying a bad word -- "hate". When I asked him how he used it, he said he was simply singing "Leavin' On A Jet Plane." I breathed a sigh of relief when Jason informed me of the "I hate to go" part. Guess my biggest problem is that my 4-year old knows more Peter Paul & Mary lyrics than I do.

Well, I can't stay up on my high horse for too long. I know the day will come sooner or later with Miles...and it's already come with Marshall. Sort of. He's in a really fun period of speech development right now and is learning more words than I can count. Some are clear as can be. I heard a clear "baby" last week and turned around to see Marshall pointing at the Pampers box. Others are a little muddier. Unfortunately, the worst sounds like a certain 5-letter worst that starts with "B". I'm pretty sure I don't throw that B word around within earshot of the boys - I hope that he is actually saying "this" - but it does sound a lot like the Big B.

Thankfully, his used of the B-bomb isn't quite as frequent now, but he says "butt" as clear as a bell. Great. Crap and butt won't win me any Mother of the Year Awards, but at least my kids could be on America's Funniest Home Videos without being bleeped...right now, at least.

Speaking of AFHV, here's the latest from the KahlBros Dance Spectacular at Indy Irish Fest:



I didn't really realize how many people were watching this little spectacle until Marshall decided a few minutes later to do a headstand...and I heard a roar of laughter coming from behind me. We also got a chuckle from our audience when Marshall threw a tantrum because I wouldn't let him have a sip of my Guinness. Again, a Parent of the Year tidbit worthy of nomination. 

We thought we would do Little League in the spring because Miles wants to spend every evening doing batting practice with Daddy (Mommy is a "bad pitcher"). However, after he saw the Irish Step Dancing live and on stage, we may need to enroll him in dance lessons instead. All this, and he still tells us he wants to be a football player when he grows up. Wonder how many folk-singing, Irish step-dancing quarterbacks there are out there?

And just because...a little snapshot from our outing in Brown County with Nana (before I forgot my wallet on the train and we hit a skunk):

Talkin' It Up

Even though we're just at the mid-way point of August, summer is definitely over for the Kahls.

Jason started a new "balanced schedule", so he was back to school August 1. Miles and Marshall started a new "school" year last week as well. Both boys moved up into different rooms at day care - Miles is now a "firefly" - and Miles started Pre-K. Can't believe my boy will be in kindergarten this time next year!




Marshall is turning into quite the big boy as well. The last few weeks, we've seen a word explosion! He says ball, hot, bye, and "Mi" pretty clearly. He says "eyes" and can point to them, plus he knows his ears mouth, teeth, and belly. He loves calling out to "Da-eee" and thinks it hilarious when he calls me "Da-eee". Only occasionally will he in indulge me with a "Ma-eee". I'm pretty sure I've heard him say Davy, Lyla, KK, and Papa too, although we're still working on those. Grammy says that she got an "Ammy" last week too.

Marshall is also following in his brother's footsteps as a song and dance man. He's a Beyonce fan and breaks out into "Oh, Oh, Oh" at least a couple times a day. Here is the duo, with both a Single Ladies remix and a bonus TMNT theme.

Vacation for All

Dear Readers, because our family has been on vacation, I thought you might want a vacation from this blog to make you feel a part of the fun. Yeah, that's it.


Before we get started on the vacation fun...a quick stats update.


At our recent doctor's appointment, Miles measured 3 feet 5.5 inches (74%) and weighed 40 lbs 5 ounces (81%). After staring at his ribs during all of the swimming/sprinkler fun on vacation, it was hard for us to believe he was 80% for weight, but he's right in line BMI-wise because of his height. We'll be setting up a speech and hearing appointment soon. Despite Miles' vast vocabulary, he had a still has a bit of trouble with his "r"s and "th"s ("Hello, Mudda. Hello, Fadda"). That, combined with the fact that he talks pretty loudly (even for our family), means we'll just do a check-in to make sure. More to come!


Marshall was 30.75 inches (39%) tall and 22 lb 2 ounces (17%). That shocked us even more than Miles' stats, just because of how much food that boy puts away! Usually, he will eat all of his portion, plus the rest of Miles' dinner. He hit all of the milestones on the doc's checklist too, including saying 3-5 words ("uh oh", "more", and "hello" are still what we hear most often). He also has good handle on identifying his head and belly and is getting close on ear, nose, and eye.


The worst part was that both boys needed shots. Miles was very brave and volunteered to go first. I'm not sure he quite realized what he was getting into...we heard lots of "owie, owie, owie" and had some crying afterward by both parties.


So, on to vacation highlights. I am in the last few days on my month-long sabbatical from work, so we took advantage of both of us having the time off. We headed up first to the lake, and David, Hilary, and Gavin joined the fun:







We celebrated the big boys' birthday at Put-In-Bay (minus the kids) and had cake and ice cream for the June birthdays the next day. It was great fun, despite the annual Attack of the Mayflies.







Then, the real "Nana and Papa Vacation" began. While, Jason and I spent a glorious week basking in the 50 - 60 degrees temps in Washington State, Miles and Marshall hung out with Nana and Papa. Despite a train ride, zoo visit, and other fun activites, Miles still says his favorite part of the whole week was eating snow cones and s'mores.








When Jason and I returned, the mayflies were gone and we were actually able to enjoy some time on the lake.





On the way home, we stopped for a visit with the Bensons and the Falks. The kids all had a fantastic time with the kiddie pool and popsicles!





We were home for one full day before hitting the road again for Lyla's third birthday party. Cupcakes + sprinklers + cousins = success!




This past week, we've had a great time just relaxing and trying to stay cool in the triple digit temperatures. We managed to sneak in mini golf and a baseball game before things got miserable. Then, Miles and Marshall had their "Grammy Vacation" last night so Jason and I could celebrate our 11th anniversary. Miles says his favorite part was watching movies before bed, and Marshall loved swimming, despite his creepy crud (cold? pinkeye? teething? reaction to shot? who knows...).

It's been an exciting month, and I'm sad to see it come to an end. It's been wonderful just being able "be" with my boys.

One Small Step for Boy

It's official - we have a walker! A hesitant walker, but a walker nonethless! He' been taking 2ish steps for Daddy, but I had never seen it, so it's not official until it gets the Mommy Stamp of Approval, right? The boys and I were out playing baseball, and I convinced Marshall to hold on to the bat while I held the other end. Trickster Mommy let go, and he took off the four or five steps to the patio wall!

Marshall is also getting much more vocal. He's really into "uh oh" and loves saying "heh-ro!" when he's talking on the phone. It's kind of hard to tell the difference between "mama" and "more more", but we're starting to figure it out as he gets better at signing.

Our boys and house have been really dirty lately...well, beyond how dirty they normally are. It's all thanks to our new sand "box" that Daddy made for Marshall's birthday. Every night, Marshall crawls longingly to the patio door and asks to go out and play.

Gavin even joined in the sand box party with them this weekend, which, of course, required a group bath afterward!

Gavin was in town to watch Grandpa Bernie do the ride-along at the speedway. He and Miles had a great time with him and Aunt Ashley!

Quick One

I just wanted to remind everyone - we have a YouTube channel, and I just uploaded some cute new videos.

I am also even too lazy to crop out this dude's finger right now. Someday...

Family pic at Lucas Oil!

Bunnies. Baseball. Battlestar Gallactica.

OK, so there's no Battlestar Gallactica in this post, but we have plenty of bunnies and baseball!

In Bunny news, the Easter Bunny came to our house! Miles was over the moon about the whole thing, especially finding the eggs. We had (literally) about a hundred plastic eggs, so he was busy. We were a little worried when we couldn't find one of the hard-boiled ones, but luckily it turned up by Wednesday in Miles' pirate ship!




When I say we have plenty of bunnies, that means more than just the Easter Bunny. We have enough chocolate bunnies to feed an army of munchkin chocoholics. Miles is obsessed with his candy and has finally stopped "just looking" at his basket five times a night.

Marshall whines and points at Miles' candy, but it's not winning us over! It helps that he had his first trip to the dentist on April 2. All looked good, although he'll likely inherit my "buckies", with a big gap in between his front teeth. You can catch a glimpse of his cute littles teefers in his one-year pics:



We have been quite the baseball family lately! As part of a spring break mini-trip, we did an overnight in Louisville and went to the Slugger Museum. Everyone had a great time! We saw Joey Votto's bat being made, played a little in the tee-ball batting cage, and Miles broke the rules by swinging a real bat for the picture:





Yesterday, we had a great day at Victory field for an Indians vs. Mud Hens double header. Miles kept saying that he wanted them to tie so he wouldn't have to pick, and he got his wish...sort of. We watched the Indians win the first game but left in extra innings before the Mud Hens won the second game. We started up in the rafters, but it kept us out of the sun for a little while.



After the first game, Miles insisted on conducting a mission to find his friend Eli. Luckily, we found him (with Mom and Dad Garrett, of course) sitting right behind home plate. We elbowed our way in to some empty seats near them and enjoyed the rest of the game in style! It was a great day.