Welcome, Sunshine

Andrew was thrilled to meet his new little brother two weeks ago. He arrived in labor and delivery to visit Thomas 1 hour after he was born. Upon learning that it was a new brother, not sister, Sam stuck his lips out and said "I wanted it to be a girl." Andrew heard this and enthusiastically said "I like boys." :) Andrew also started playing "This little piggy..." immediately on Thomas' little toes that were sticking out. We had to stop the last little piggy from running all the way home, though, until we have more time to talk about how to be gentle around little babies. Andrew seems to be enjoying the big brother role and insists on just calling Thomas "Sunshine" (his in-utero nickname) for now.

Andrew at nearly 3 years old

It's been a while since I blogged, so I have several updates on Andrew and what he's like just a month before his third birthday.

First of all, this kid is a talker! He is extremely verbal and amazes me with his command of not just vocabulary but grammar as well. He's mastered his past tense and plurals for the most part and I think after being corrected about the few parts he gets wrong, he really does remember the next time.

That's probably due in part to his amazing memorization skills. He's been reciting grace at dinner time for about 6 months now ("Bless us O Lord, in these thy gifts...") and never fails to amuse me with the special voice he adopts for such renditions. I still need to catch it on video... He's also well on his way to memorizing the Lord's Prayer we say at bedtime as well, with "trespasses" among the words he nails every time. He's also singing songs from memory and definitely has most if not all of our Curious George books memorized. It's just amazing to see in this little guy 33 inches tall. :)

Andrew also adores his big brother. They were the best of buddies over the summer as we had time off from coop preschool and they were each other's primary playmates. Sam does a pretty good job of playing nicely with Andrew and I've noticed in particularly recently that Sam manages Andrew quite well. Andrew will still tend to cry or kick when he gets upset, but Sam can usually talk him down from it and distract him in a way that leads them both back towards cooperative play. It's pretty neat to see.

Andrew's dexterity has also improved a lot. He can put together the little Lego pieces and cut out pictures like Sam and put on his own clothes when properly inspired. Despite some concerns about putting his socks on the wrong feet, he does quite well putting on his own socks and shoes.

He's also very adept at expressing his emotions. We visited my family in the Bay Area in August and one particular conversation sticks in my mind. We saw my brother in the street as he was getting ready to leave for work and his sons waving from the sidewalk. Andrew saw his cousins and said "I'm so glad to see them!" Then he saw his uncle and I explained he would come say hello but then he has to leave for work and Andrew said "That makes me so sad." His stories now often recount how he was sad and happy by various things.

Lastly, Andrew seems to be quite the thrill-seeker. He loves swinging super high in the swings and even though some of the 4-D shows at Legoland scare him, he requests to see them over and over. It works well since Sam usually doesn't want to try something new for the first time and Andrew is usually happy to jump out in front. We'll see what happens once Andrew is big enough to ride the roller coasters...

Improve Your Productivity Blog

Hello Friends,

 

I know many of you through working with my company, Telaeris. Others will know me during my prior years with Cubic Corp.  Or maybe it was from college, playing ultimate frisbee (disc, for those in the know), basketball, or even ballroom dancing.  I'm writing to you because I think what we at Telaeris are doing will be valuable and that you might be interested in following along.

We started Telaeris with a simple idea: use RFID technology to make businesses more efficient. Though we have expanded the technologies we use, the idea of improving productivity is still at the heart of what we do. There's a programming idea out there called D-R-Y. It means "Don't Repeat Yourself."   Improving productivity is like that. If you have to do the same thing over and over, make it as efficient as possible.  Get back to the important stuff in life. Create. Build. Play.

So in this spirit, we are re-launching our company blog at:   http://blog.telaeris.com

We will mostly be talking about productivity and sharing tips to make you more efficient.  How to not to get stuck or waste time on things that should be simple. We'll certainly talk about some of the technologies Telaeris knows, but we will also include lots of good stuff about building a business and what we are learning about marketing and sales. Things you might have had to learn from the school of hard knocks and wish you didn't. And boy, let me tell you, we have had our share of knocks.

We would love it if you would follow us. You can add us to an RSS feed such as Google Reader, or alternatively, follow us through one of the social channels: Twitter, Facebook,  LinkedIn, or YouTube. Anyone out there use Google Plus yet?

Lastly, if you have ideas or want to submit lessons you have learned, we would love to share those as well. Connect with us and we'll connect with you. Please pass it along to anyone that might appreciate it. And hopefully, we can make the world just a little bit easier for everyone.

    -- Dave

PS. In the next couple weeks, we will be releasing a free e-book called Productivity for People written by an uncle of mine who has since passed away. Even if you choose not to follow us, I'd highly recommend stopping by the blog to download it – it is really a great read!

David.Carta@Telaeris.com
Phone: 619-940-6533

Telaeris - Tracking Systems

Improve Your Efficiency

 

Sharing a room with brother

After a couple of escapades of climbing out of his crib, Andrew is slowly moving into the twin bed in Sam's room. On our recent trip to Tahoe and Oakland they did a great job of sharing a room (despite Andrew's falling off the end of the bed at Tahoe...ooops!). So, when we returned, we continued the momentum by giving Andrew a bed (with railings) in the room with Sam. He's been sleeping there every night since and though they talked for quite a while the first night, it seems to be working marvelously. Andrew just moves around a bit and then drifts off to sleep while Sam either looks at books or listens to music for a bit longer. They don't seem to bother each other in the mornings, though Andrew hasn't yet figured out he can come over into our bed once it's light, like Sam now does. I still put him to nap in his crib but will change that soon. Next we move his clothes downstairs and stop referring to the upstairs room as Andrew's and the downstairs one as Sam's. Sam is taking it all very well and seems to enjoy the company. Sam is excited to have his clothes move into drawers under his bed so he can get himself dressed in the morning and for bed. We are blessed to have two boys who enjoy each other so much.