Linus wants the snow gone.

Linus grabbed a shovel and tried chipping away at the last of the big snow piles left after the warm temperatures yesterday.

Above Linus takes delight in getting rid of the ice.

And more shoveling.

My little meteorologist confirms snow height measurement

In the second wave of the snow last night we got about 7.5 inches. Linus helped to shovel this morning and then he confirmed my earlier measurement.

Linus and the Sisyphean task

While we were on vacation in August we visited the Chicago Botanic Garden. Linus found these giant stone spheres and proceed to reenact the punishment of Sisyphus.

I wonder if abaies or toddlers think it is cool that everything around them is giant or lifesized or whether it is frustrating. I suppose it depends on the circumstance. Maybe its just the way things are because that's all they have ever know thus far.

Linus gets a swingset

We spent last weekend putting together a swing set for Linus in the backyard. By one reckoning it only took two days, or four if you count this weekend putting in the anchors or months if you count getting the parts and wrangling over placement and how to build it.

All we bought that was part of a "kit" were metal pieces that set the angle of the "A" pieces and would also serve to join the crossbeam to the legs. There were other metal pieces that were braces from the "A" parts to the long beam.


The other pieces we bought were the swing parts. Our neighbors had give us a hand-me-down toddler swing for Linus and we got adult swings with upgraded hardware for ourselves. Linus helped with some measurements.


We bought the lumber on Saturday and went to work. Four 4x4x10 for height. One 4x6x12 for the length. One 2x6x12 to cut in half for the cross piece of the A's on the side.

We assembled the A pieces using the metal bracket to guide the angle. It was just screwed in using 3" screws. We made sure they were identical and then cut the 2x6x12 in half, out those on each A to be identical and then cut off the ends at an angle to match the angle of the A's.

We drilled holes and attached all of the hardware to the long beam. Keep in mind that during the process we had to go to the hardware store twice after the initial trip to get more bolts and nuts and to get a long enough drill bit as well as more chain since the parts we got must have been for a shorter swing. The chains without extensions had Lynn hanging so high off the ground that her feet didn't touch.

One note: We upsized the legs from a traditional 8 ft to 10 ft for better swinging and we used 4x4's for sturdiness. We also used a 4x6 as the long piece for strength since we wanted our set to be 12ft long for three spots. there is plenty of room for us with this setup.

The hardest part was getting the long piece up on to the legs with only two people since we needed to keep the legs up. We had a convenient tree to lean one side upon and a step ladder on the other side. Still, there was some clever sliding up the legs to get it up there.

Once we side it onto the bolts we then spent a lot of time measuring distances to get it squared up. The instructions with the brackets gave less than helpful instructions to make sure the legs were square t the cross beam. I found that only one leg would square because wood isn't straight and ground isn't flat. We settled on eyeballing it and we measured the diagonal of the legs and the lengths of the legs to try to square the bottom. We did this several times. before we put all of the bolts on. After we did and each time we moved it to a new position.

We also got anchors to anchor the legs into the ground. When I swing I can lift a leg of the swingset with my momentum so we need anchors for everyone's safety. Your task: drill the 12 inch anchor all the way into rocky soil, good luck.

I was able to get two in, and broke one when it hit wood or rocks in the ground. I haven't finished this portion of the task. The anchors go in and then there is a strap with holes in it that gets screwed to the leg of the swingset. That is probably today's task.

The swing set in use:



I am glad we built it adult sized since we can swing with Linus and it is ready for him to grow into it.

Linus plays rough with Joe Biden Bobble Head at Blue Rocks game

Linus went to his first Blue Rocks game yesterday. I was always going to go get a Joe Biden Bobble Head but then DelTweet scheduled their tweetup on the same day so it all worked out. Since Linus got a bobble head when he got there, he gets to play with it (until it gets broken I suppose).

Linus is not a Republican (as for as I know) or the media, but he sure plays rough with Joe. Like the Whitehouse sometimes, he is trying to stuff Joe back in the box.

Linus helps with the storm door pneumatic closer.

Linus has discovered that the pins which hold the pneumatic closer on the storm door are easy enough for little fingers to take out. He can take both pins out and remove the closer, at which point he hands it to us to replace so that he can take it out again. I am working on teaching him to reinstall the closer. Then the game can be his and his alone. Do other children this age (18 months) do this? Or are we lucky?

Here is a video of his work.

He almost has it, all by himself, but he still wants me to fix it.

Linus helps in the yard

Linus, the naturalist.

He loves to study the things in his hand and he is inquisitive - grabbing, sticks, rocks, plants and whatever is within reach to investigate.

He helped me to put together a stand for our firewood piles.


He helped Mommy put mulch all around the plants in the yard.

I suspect that he likes anything with wheels.

Linus learns to fly a kite

Do you ever think about flying a kite except on windy days? Neither do I. Last weekend it was very windy, and that put in my mind that it would be fun to try to fly a kite, especially as Linus loves the outdoors and might like running around with the kite in the air.

It was in fact too windy to fly kites. The instructions on Lynn's kite say the kite can stand between 5 and 18 mph winds and we were in the 40 mph range last week. Three out of the four kites we brought were completely incapacitated by the string winds and especially gusts.


That being said, I was able to get my rocket kite with 12ft streamer in the air, though it has a tendency to dive to the ground from great heights if it is too windy. Once it was up I handed the reigns to Linus. He was more fascinated with the fancy kite string winder than the kite, but he held on. That's more than I can say for Lynn; when she let go on her turn I had to go chasing kite and string across the field.

Linus and the Cherry Trees

The week after Easter the cherry trees at church (at Weldin and Shipley, they should be famous) were in super peak bloom. Linus thought we should take some time to explore.

He liked the feel of the petals, though there was some ripping involved.

Linus loves cherry trees!

Linus, Lefty and Lacrosse

Linus loves to go and play with the neighbors' dog Lefty. Whenever Linus sees the dog he points to go over to him. Lefty is a week younger than Linus, so they almost have a birthday in common. They were playing together on Easter weekend.

Babies and puppies, you can't go wrong with that.

A discussion ensues over whose toy that really is (It's Lefty's).

Linus prepares to throw.

Linus guards the lacrosse goal.


Linus the lacrosse goalie.

Linus struggles to escape the net.

Star Trek Science Officers

Of course we are wearing science blue for our Star Trek uniforms. Ensign Linus Koehler can move to whatever other specialty he wants when he graduates from Starfleet Academy.

Linus on Easter

Linus was fascinated with the blooming magnolia's at the Dupont Country Club. They were out in full force at Easter brunch last week.


He had a new outfit, seersucker pants, he dresses better than I do.

More brunches, he says.

Linus' first professional hair cut

For Easter we finally got Linus hair cut. We had Lauren at Sherif Zaki do the honors since she does such a nice job on me.


Mommy held Linus and daddy took pictures.

He looks great!

Handsome and ready for Easter.

Linus loves the playground and the swings

Last weekend before the rains we took Linus to the Can-Do playground. He loves the playground, especially the swings.

The playground has a pretty nice set up and all kinds of stuff, from swings to slides to other things that can be turned, manipulated or just provide fodder for young imaginations.

He can be a pretty intent swinger, as revealed in the video. He is having a good time, I assure you.

Linus the Sailor

Linus has a sailor hat in a dress up box that Lynn put together for him and his friends on his birthday. He looks pretty smart in it and loves to out it on and take it off again. He will delightedly crawl around with it own his head as well.


Smooshing the hat.

And then putting it on and off.



I just hope he doesn't get those swollen forearms like Popeye. But we could get him a sash and scimitar like Sinbad, but that is a separate sailing tradition from the hat he has. Anchors away Linus.

Dress like Linus day - gray shirt and jeans

Every so often Linus picks out a nice outfit for the both of us. He decided on a gray shirt and jeans two weeks ago and so I followed suit.



I am not sure why he was gesturing to the camera like that, he does that a lot now, it his universal gesture for "take me there" or "I want that to investigate it".