the play date

Kenny went over to his buddy Luka's this past weekend for a fun play date. His other daycare pals, Brendan and Anthony were there as well, so the boys were thoroughly confused as to A) Why they were all together, but not at daycare, and B) Why on Earth their parents were hanging around.

A good time was had by all. Especially Kenny, who got crazy dirty, ate a ton of sweets and fruit, and got to feed Luka's six (yes, six) pet frogs in their aquarium. Sweet.


Kenny and his entourage enjoy a pre-play snack.


Future pilot? Or future giant monster to terrorize the skies over Cleveland? Hard to say.


Some ice-pops for the posse.

grammy shirley meets chloe

And much love is shared.

Grammy Shirley came in a little while back to meet her granddaughter and spend some time with her grandson (and us). She's been a great help and a good sport. I'll have more pix, etc at some point. I promise.

kenny explains how the walk signal works

i can't, i won't

Kenny has been a bit of a stinker lately. Since he didn't really have the terrible twos, he's trying to make up for some lost time with the troublesome threes. Lots of yelling, screaming and testing going on, which is about as much fun to deal with as you would expect.

Recently, Kenny introduced the phrase, "I can't, I won't" into his repertoire. This was not received well, and we tried to figure out just where it came from. The answer? Thomas the Tank Engine. Yes, it appears that Kenny recently received a Thomas book and companion CD that feature one of the engines repeating, "I can't, I won't" in regards to who knows what. In order to combat this, we have removed said book/CD from the current rotation until further notice.

So, thanks, Thomas. Much appreciated.

one love

When Chloe was in the hospital, shortly after being born, I took out my iPhone and played some music for her. Seeking something soothing, I decided on Bob Marley. As to be expected, she mellowed quickly and then passed out. On a few occasions since, I've played more Marley for her, and each time she's gurgled contentedly and then fallen asleep. Now, when she's fussy, I'll cradle her in my arms, gently rock from side to side and sing, "No Chloe, No Cry."

a very evenkeel birthday

Kenny was so excited that today was my birthday that he woke up extra early. He was then so overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the day that he insisted we watch cartoons. Later, he and Grammy Shirley took me to Legoland in Schaumburg and a post-Lego lunch at Chipotle. Being the knucklehead I am, I completely forgot to ask for my free birthday burrito. Sigh. I suppose there's always next year. Or maybe a trip to IHOP, or whatever other food chain will shower me with free edible items.

So, Legoland...


The Chicago skyline in Lego. As an homage to "The Dark Knight," there's a tiny Batman perched on top of the Sears Tower.


Speaking of Batman...


Kenny had no idea who these people were. This made me realize that it's almost time to introduce the boy to "Star Wars." I've been waiting patiently for this time to come.


Can we build it? Yes we can!


Kenny and Grammy Shirley discuss a future in Formula One.


Kenny gets ready to race the car I built for him. This statement may never be used again, except in relation to Legos.

happy anniversary to us (a day late)

I was so busy celebrating that I didn't post up the fact that Overboard and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday. To mark the occasion, we got Grammy Shirley (in town for a while to help out) to babysit and headed out to our favorite sushi place, which Overboard has not visited in about a year or so. I would love to say that it was as phenomenal as always, but honestly, Sushi Mike was a little off his game. Sigh. We did have a nice evening out, however, and we don't get those as often as we' like.

As another sign of how the second child is a different experience from the first, Overboard and I talked about how relaxed we were to let Grammy Shirley take over and leave Chloe in her care. When Kenny was 10 days old, we weren't about to leave him anywhere, with anyone. I can only imagine what third or fourth kids go through. They probably get left alone to fend for themselves. Makes 'em tougher, right?

goodnight, great grandma barbara

Today was an interesting one. We celebrated my brother's birthday and mourned the passing of my Grandma Barbara (my mom's mom). Grandma B was in very poor health, and in all honesty, had unfortunately become a shell of her former self. While we all miss her, she really left us a long time ago, it just took a bit for her body to catch up. That's not meant to sound callous, and I hope you don't read it that way. Rather, I'm just glad that she is no longer unhappy or suffering or angry at the way life unravels sometimes.

I'd like to say goodbye with, quite possibly, the greatest Grandma Barbara anecdote of all time.

Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Mel could not attend my wedding. So, moments after saying "I do" and walking up the aisle, I gave them a call. I said hello and told Grandma I was a married man.

She paused, then asked, "So, what else is new?"

kenny's new digs

I spent some time on Friday night getting Kenny's new room ready for him. I assembled his new dresser and nightstand (thank you, Ikea) and then did up his bed with his new sheets and bedspread, featuring all kinds of trucks, trains, planes and assorted vehicles. Overboard also got some matching wall appliques, which I posted up so Kenny would have those same vehicles all over his walls. I shot a quick video of us taking Mr. K up there for the first time, which you can watch below.

Please note that the iPhone video seems to be squishing things a tad in a fun mirror kind of way. Not sure why, but rest assured that Kenny ain't tall, but he ain't that short either. Also, I kept the camera trained on him, so I didn't actually get a shot of the wall appliques that he is ooohing and aaaahing (amateur, I know). But it's still pretty cool. See for yourself:

odds n' ends

Posting to the blog from the hospital? No problem. From home? Getting difficult. But for you, I'll try to share a few things...

Chloe and Overboard came home on Saturday, and while they adjusted to being at the homestead, I continued to try and get the new upstairs as ready as possible. We all slept in our new rooms on Saturday, as the construction is just about finished, with the bathrooms being the last major piece of the puzzle left to complete. Well, that and upgrading the water line, but that's mostly an outdoor job. Cousin Mitch came over and helped me put up the temporary window shades (i.e. bed sheets) as we wait for the blinds to arrive in the next few weeks. The orange sheet over Kenny's main window actually casts a pretty cool glow on his room when it's hit by sunlight. Not so great for full light blocking, but calming nonetheless.

As for Ms. Chloe, she's doing great. She is sleeping a lot. A lot. Like most of the time, and definitely any time I want to hang out with her. But I figure it's a pretty big adjustment coming out into the world, so I'm gonna cut her some slack. Besides, she's very chill at the moment, only fussing when she needs something. Which is great.

The other two kids, Kenny and Sadie, are taking things in stride as well. Kenny is being a good big brother and Sadie is choosing to ignore the baby until she's old enough to drop food on the floor.

But what you really want are pictures and I still haven't downloaded the majority of them yet. However, I can give you these for now...Enjoy.


Chloe in her new outfit gets ready to go home from the hospital.

All buckled up for the ride home. I had to pull the straps as tight as possible to make sure that the peanut was secure.

Sleeping/swimming in her finest yellow ensemble.

Ms. Pretty in Pink all crashed out on Grandma Jackie.

new family portrait

The Rolnick family. July 9, 2009.

chloe - day 2

I can't (and won't) promise daily photos, but I do have some fun ones from Chloe's second 24 hours in the world...


In my visits with Ms. Chloe, she has rarely looked like this. Normally, she chooses to sleep on Daddy. I'll forgive her.


Kenny meets his baby sister for the first time and is mildly impressed. His new train, however, is a huge hit.


Kenny and I try to tickle Chloe's toes in a futile attempt to wake her from her slumber and try to eat.


Baby's first ankle monitor! I'm so proud of my little criminal.


Grandma Jackie meets Chloe. She is much more impressed than Kenny. And we didn't have to give her a toy train or anything.


"Thank you for stopping by. Many blessings upon you..."

have you met chloe?

We are pleased to introduce Ms. Chloe Isabel Rolnick to the world. Chloe was born at 9:11am and weighed 6 lbs 13 oz, measuring a respectable 19 inches. She's a got a nice head of dark hair and what appear to be blue/gray eyes. Chloe is named after Overboard's Aunt Clair and my Uncle Iven.

She and Overboard are doing great and resting up while I spread the word far and wide.

Finally, Overboard loves her new baby diet. She just started and she's already lost just under 7 pounds.


Overboard preps for delivery.

This woman makes anything look good. Besides, we hear that hair nets will be all the rage this summer.

Mommy meets Chloe for the first time.

There's no better place to rest than on Mommy.

First family shot. We'll update soon when Kenny gets to meet her (probably tomorrow).

Tomorrow, everything changes. I can't wait.

It's Week 38, but for us it's really "Week Last One." Yes, Professor Goldblatt is scheduled to make her debut Wednesday morning. This Wednesday. The one coming up. The one in three days. Holy crap, what have we done?

Sorry, bit of nerves there for a second, but I'm all better now. Yeah, the impending reality of the good Prof. has me a little weirded out from time to time lately. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to meet her, I'm just terrified of being a parent to more than one child. I've totally forgotten my baby skills now that I'm chasing a toddler, but I have been reassuringly told that it's like falling off a bike. Not the best analogy, I'll give you, but a true asession of the situation, I hope. You know, that it will all come back to me. Not much choice here, short of announcing to Overboard, "Okay, so I'll take the boy and you raise the girl and we can switch in a few years. Cool?"

So, anyhoo...in our final installment of "Goldblatt - En Utero" we learn that the Professor is roughly 6.8 lbs and about 19.5 inches long, or, (drumroll please) about the size of a leek. Her handshake is improving, as her ability to grasp is supposedly pretty good these days. Which is cool, since I'll be offering up my fingers to hold from the get go. Internally, her organs are all good to go, which is nice.

The baby info also tells me that if Goldblatt is born with brown eyes (like Kenny) they will most likely stay brown (like Kenny). However, if she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay that way or turn green, brown (like Overboard), or hazel (like me) by the time she's nine months old. That's been an interesting question we've been posing one another. After all, both Goldblatt's Grammy Shirley and Grandpa Alan have blue eyes, so you just never know what part of the family tree she's gonna swing from. So to speak.

We're also curious to see the many ways in which she and Kenny are similar and different. My money is on an opposite kid, as opposed to a female Kenny. I say this out of personal experience, not because I know anything. Just ask my parents and brother.

In these final days, I must give praise to Overboard for holding up so well, and shake my head at her for her willingness to go to work on Monday and Tuesday. She doesn't really want to, she just has that much to do. Me? I blew off work and took my paternity leave two days early so I can try and get our last minute baby and home improvement errands done. The house? Well, that's a blog post for another time...

another day, another dollar

Last weekend, Kenny, Overboard and I were at Costco picking up some supplies. After we were done with our shopping, we decided to get lunch at the concession stand. While I purchased the hot dogs and pizza, Overboard and Kenny scouted out a table.

Apparently, on the way to the table, they came across a woman who is someone's great-grandma, and who thought Mr. K was the cutest thing ever in his fisherman's hat. Which is true, but I digress.

So Kenny stops to chat with this nice lady about the insect images on his hat, telling her what each one is. She is enthralled, he is empowered and Overboard is impressed. We then sat down for lunch. End of story? Not quite.

While we're eating, the woman walks over and announces that she "has some business to conduct" with Kenny. She hands him a one dollar bill and thanks him for taking the time to show her his hat. We repeatedly tried to refuse her payment, but she insisted. So we acquiesced and announced that it would go towards a good cause, like ice cream (which it didn't, but that's another story).

Sitting there, staring at my little money-making machine, I opined that if we could Kenny to grift every grandma in the joint, we could really be on to something. Kenny just happily munched away at his slice of pizza, unaware of his dangerously effective charm.