Crazy Summer
(August 2, 2010)

Okay, so... July has been completely crazy, and I'm not even sure where to start on this entry. Frankly, I'll be luck to get it up while it's still July. {Edit: Nope, apparently we're going with early August for this one...}

We've just finished (in the sense of "I'm done with it, even if several co-workers are still hard at it") a major project here at work, which arrived right in the middle of a rather nasty virus which struck myself, my wife, and Theron. Roland remains healthy, I think because he's still nursing: he's probably getting antibodies from the Beautiful Woman.

After five nights of recurring fever, the Beautiful Woman took Theron to the doctor's office. This is in keeping with a family tradition of seeking medical help just before the patient would have recovered anyway. Unsurprisingly, the doctor diagnosed it as a virus, so there wasn't really anything to be done about it anyway. She did at least warn us to expect a lot of mucus as the body got rid of dead cells.

Meanwhile, my wife's parents have been out of town (they just returned last night), and my mom has injured her shoulder. My mom, by the way, had polio as a child, and cannot move her legs. Ordinarily, she uses crutches and braces to get around; this injury has reduced her to driving an electric wheelchair one-handed. She seems to be recovering as well as possible, and will probably be back to normal in a few more months.

So, our usual weekly schedule has been thrown for a loop, and we've been trying to assist my parents, and we haven't had some of our usual resources available. I know there are plenty of people out there who have it a lot worse than we do, but still... it's been rough.

On a more cheerful note...
Theron had his fourth birthday on June. He is now, officially, a "big boy". He is not "cute" (unless he's being a Mousy Monster. Then it's okay, because Mousy Monsters are cute). Potty training remains an ongoing effort - he'll urinate in the toilet quite reliably if instructed, but he tends not to notice that he needs to go until it's too late. Defecation remains an unpleasant surprise for all of us.

I'm pretty sure that Theron's vocabulary is increasing, though I don't have a good metric for that. The sophistication of his thoughts has definitely improved; a week or two back, he repeated a conversation he'd had with me to his mother. I don't remember what I'd originally said, but I'd expected him to correct me. When he didn't, I said: "Say, 'Daddy, that's silly.'" So, when Theron reported this to the Beautiful Woman, he recounted the whole conversation: "Daddy said {whatever}, and then he told me to say, 'Daddy, that's silly,' but I didn't know."

Theron is also swimming like a fish... or, more precisely, like a Water Monster. A fast Water Monster. (Ben Ten was one of the big hits from his birthday presents. He got a couple of toys, and a DVD of season 1 of the cartoon, and then a live-action movie. Unsurprisingly, he would love to be able to turn into different kinds of aliens.) He can't tread water, but he swims underwater with skill and confidence, and he can reach the side of the pool and pull himself up. He can also hold his breath for an amazing amount of time. He disdains to use his swim ring. This is largely due to a combination of swim lessons, and plenty of chance to practice.

Roland, meanwhile, has only one duty: to grow. He's doing a splendid job of it. He has doubled his birth weight already (he's supposed to do that by the time he hits six months, so he's ahead of the game). He's lengthened visibly.

Theron is still excited about being a big brother, and Roland remains fascinated with Theron. They're really cute together. My wife and I are sticking to our plan: we're encouraging this as much as we can for as long as it lasts.

And now, since my brain has apparently turned into some sort of steamed tofu pudding, we'll cover the rest of the news in pictures and video.

Theron holds Roland on the couch (Photo)	Theron attacks Daddy in the pool (Photo)	Flying Space Boat-Car (Photo)
Roland is very alert (Photo)	Theron with Batman Tattoos (Photo)	Theron crouches on bench (Photo)
Small Boy, Big Yawn (Photo)	Theron rides on a tank (Photo)	Boys Holding Hands (Photo)
He's being General Grievous At least, I think so. (Photo)	Roland in his chair (Video)	Dragon smooches Roland's Toes (Video)
	Theron does a headstand on the couch (Video)