Sunday, September 20, 2009

"I want to be 2!"

It's official. Jarom is out of the Terrible twos and into the Terrific threes. Except for the terrific part.

His third birthday was a casual and extended affair. It was during a weekday so we still had errands to run (like getting Keahi a soccer ball and searching for a smaller uniform that wouldn't drown him to his knees) and didn't have time to make a cake so we saved cake and presents for Saturday. But we did do the 2 most important things that Jarom requested: going to the zoo (once he was told there was no aquarium) and watching.......yup, you guessed it, Cars for the umpteenth time. And we had the pancakes and Portuguese sausage (substitute that comes close but not really as delectable as the real thing) that he wanted for dinner. At the zoo we even spent the $9 to ride the train back to the entrance--which made me miss the all inclusive membership at the Bronx zoo including the skyfari and the monorail. The boys laughed and pointed loudly--yes, you can even point loudly if you're a Temple boy--at all the animals and generally made such merriment that it was like a big party all on our own. I think because Jarom has Keahi he doesn't really think about having a lot of friends and doing a party like Keahi had starting with his 2nd b-day. It's nice to have a built-in friend. My favorite part of Jarom's big day was listening to him sing happy birthday to himself all morning. At first when he'd sing "..to you..." Keahi kept telling him it wasn't his (Keahi's) b-day but Jarom's so then Jarom started singing to himself in third person just to be clear. Sidenote: there are no pics because I forgot the camera on my son's birthday. Bad, bad mom.

Then on Saturday we went to Keahi's first soccer game where he scored his first goal--very chaotically and probably accidentally but nonetheless joyously--and then went to Chuck-E-Cheese to continue the birthday celebration. Then I went shopping with Bettina while Iz stayed home with the kids and made the Cars birthday cake--such a good dad. Jarom was very happy to get to wear his birthday crown--a road with cars on it--and get to open presents and have cake. We switched his dinner over to his new Cars bowl and plate and I don't think he'll ever eat off of anything else again. (Thank you popo.) He also got to pick out a couple of things from a rummage sale and chose a red sled and a blue chair. Today he tried to use his blue chair at the kitchen table and his head barely peeps over the top of the table. But he still enjoyed his sandwich sub-table style.

I think it's hard to let go of your birthday as a kid. Today he insisted that it was still his birthday and asked to eat more of his birthday--meaning the cake. But while he wants it to be his birthday everyday--who wouldn't--he doesn't want to grow up. The morning after B-DAY, he wailed, "I want to be 2!" I hear ya buddy. Sometimes I wanna be 2, too.
Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook: Jarom's 3rd b-day
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Detroit Science Center

I love the whole one membership card gets you into all the ASTC places all over the country and that I can take my two boys to the Detroit Science Center for free whenever I want. Or, rather, when they want. This place is a science geek's dream. We played with pendulums, tornados, electromagnetism, and played around in Kid's Town. I think the Jam room with the drums and guitars was my favorite place. Though the water rockets was a close second. Here are some pics and vids of our adventures in science.
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Sunday, September 6, 2009

Summer Fun in the Sun...with a tangent rant

Well, summer's almost gone and I haven't really posted much about what we've done and I'm too tired and too old to even remember what all we did so here's a brief summary of our summer in GP. We love that we get to go to our community park and pool. BBQing in the summer is the best way to eat. Keahi and Jarom took a 2 week swim lesson at the pool and now Jarom is less afraid of going under the water and Keahi can do the backstroke across the width of the pool and loves to jump off the short diving board and swim/paddle his way to the side. I also love that each GP neighborhood has their own park which we can visit with a guest pass. So far GP Farms is my favorite because the splash zone is amazing for Jarom and the playground part is way bigger and involving for Keahi than ours. Plus we love playing in the sand and the little beach and Keahi loved trying to catch tiny ripple/waves with his kickboard. Too bad every time we went there I forgot to bring the camera. GP Woods pool was fun, too, with a rock climbing wall in one pool area. Keahi was pretty disappointed at the GP Woods pool that he didn't meet the height requirement for the 3-story high waterslide. At his growth rate it'll be a long while before he'd get a chance at it. Anyhow, here are some pics to remember our watery fun at the parks.
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Two other fun things we did outside this summer were Greenfield Village (part of the Henry Ford Museum) and the state fair (which is supposed to end after this year except that people told us they say that every year). Bettina and I took the kids to Greenfield Village on a day when they were having free train rides and activities--just exactly what the boys ordered. They got to ride a steam engine and watch all the black smoke chug out when the stopped to purge the boiler? maybe. They made engineer hats and bandannas--well, mostly I dragged them from playing at the Thomas train table for quick spurts of random stamping and coloring--and got to explore a real roundhouse with turntable. And we roamed through the time-capsuled village and looked at people riding old-fashioned bikes (with the one huge and one tiny wheels), farmers plowing fields with horse and marveled at the waterwheel and ducks--because somehow that was the most exciting thing for the kids. And we dashed back to the van when it began to pour down on us.
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Last Friday we joined the Kalcich family at the state fair. While we didn't do any of the carnival rides (too expensive and the kids didn't usually make the height requirements and one required shoes when Keahi was, of course, wearing slippers), the kids loved the inflatable bouncy houses/slides, the one woman variety show, the live animal show and the miracle of life exhibit. It always amazes me how much fun it can be jumping around with your friends and falling down. Over and over again. Luckily for us, the girl taking tickets was talking on her cell phone and didn't care that the kids went way over the 5 minute limit. The one woman show was pretty entertaining with the usual juggling, balancing, and magic acts. I particularly liked the illusion with the spinning spiral that makes her face look like it's shrinking or expanding. Keahi's friend, Zeke, even got to participate in part of it. The animal show they liked so much they sat down for the second showing after the woman and we had to drag them away from it to see other things. Highlights included a dog catching frisbees, a girl from the audience squirting milk from a goat into the dog's mouth--after squirting it all over the trainer's legs, feeding the animals, and playing with a little piglet--who ended up escaping the circle of kids and running around causing mayhem.
Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: State Fair 2009
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I had my own excitement when I clashed with an elderly woman who voiced too loudly her parenting advice to me. I had thought I'd left all the strangers with their parenting opinions behind in Grenada but it followed me to NY and now it popped up here in Michigan. I normally don't snipe back but this woman really annoyed me. While the kids were sitting in a circle trying to get the piglet to come to their side so they could play with it, Keahi squealed with delight each time it came by him. First he touched it gingerly with an index finger and then more bravely held his hand to its nose like the man had shown them. Then he grabbed at the hind leg for seriously a second. Then this woman yelled--and I mean really yelled--at him to stop grabbing the pig. When he did it a second time she then yelled at me, "You shouldn't let your child be so mean!" If she'd just gently asked Keahi to stop or pointed out to me that he was doing something she felt was bad, I wouldn't have snapped. But who yells at some kid like that? Or screams at the parent right next to the kid--not off somewhere ignorant of what havoc the kid was wreaking--that their kid is MEAN? So I snapped back at her that he wasn't being mean and that the Farmer Ben had shown them all that grabbing a pig by the hind leg is the proper way to transport it so that sometimes a farmer might grab 4 at a time. "Oh, well, I guess that's different." Seriously. I have never had the instinct to yell at someone else's kid or make just snap judgments about their behavior or their parents. What's up with that?

And that reminds me of the elderly woman in Brooklyn who cussed at Keahi. We were at the copy center that has snakes in an terrarium and two very fat cats, both of which make going there with kids so much easier. There's a stool that the kids use to stand on when the cats are too high up--either on the copiers or the counters. Keahi and Jarom were both standing on the stool, petting the cats when Keahi fell off and bumped into the woman's leg. I apologized, he apologized and I thought that would be the end of it. But she grabbed her leg like he weighed more than the 31lbs he weighs and started cussing loudly about how much it hurt and how rude he was and how I shouldn't take my kids anywhere if I can't control them. She insisted that kids shouldn't be in public and that I personally had no control over my kids either outside on the way here or inside. I kept apologizing and telling her that it was an accident and he wasn't being rude. And eventually her bile simmered down and I finished my business. At least another customer caught my eye and rolled his eyes at the bitter woman with understanding and sympathy. And I snidely warned the next mom who came in with her daughter who immediately got up on the stool to be extra careful she didn't fall off. All in all, I think I showed admirable restraint. Especially since on some days I could see where she might question my control--as if a parent controls a child like a remote or something--but this day they'd been perfect, holding my hands the entire way there. Plus they were wearing their elephant rain jackets. I've had people follow me across the block and into a store just so they could ask me to have them turn around so they could see the front. Just the other week, a guy--not a mom like you'd expect--at the Science Center asked where I'd gotten them since they were so cute. I can't count the people who'd turn and smile as we'd walk by in the downpour. These are magical raincoats that brighten people's rainy days. Just not this woman. And here ends the rant.
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Saturday, September 5, 2009

I, Bargain Hunter

Anyone who knows me knows I detest pictures of myself and try to delete as many as I can when allowed....which is why I'm always behind the camera documenting events instead. So it's more than passing strange for me to post a picture of myself. Especially alone. Shudder. There's just nothing natural about a solo picture. But, I wanted to share my newest--well, more like revived--love: bargain hunting. I love this top I got from my new favorite thrift store called Sunshine T.S. for, get this, fifty cents. Yup, every Saturday this summer they've got 2 color tags for just fifty cents and another color for half off. I love this place. I've also found a brand new with tags Ann Taylor Loft top for fifty cents and an Armani Exchange jacket for seven dollars. My other favorite place to find bargains is garage sales. These cream cords from Banana Republic that happen to fit perfectly came from an awesome garage sale for twenty-five cents. At this place, I also got sweaters and pjs for the kids for two for twenty-five cents. Love it! So I just had to take a picture of one of my new outfits that I got for a grand total of seventy-five cents. Why would I ever go retail?

Friday, September 4, 2009

Michevious Jarom

1st Incident: Starting about 2 months ago, Jarom has been staying up past his bedtime after being put into his bed. He talks, sings, climbs up his brother's bunk, and runs around his tiny room in circles like a crazed monkey. We've tried soft reminders, louder reminders, laying in bed with him to keep him still, and spanking. We've yet to find the right combination. Then, a few weeks ago he added a new one to his usual antics. We heard him moving around upstairs so Iz went to go check on him only to find him sitting up in his bed gazing out his window. When he turned around to face daddy, his adorable, michevious face was decked out Kabuki style. Iz discovered that he'd gone to the potty and decided to put baby powder on himself. And then decided to fill the sink, tub and toilet with the stuff. And then, for good measure, decided to apply it to his entire face. Iz said there were also streaks across the sleeping Keahi whom Jarom had probably attempted to awaken to join in the fun. That's our diaperless, Kabuki Jarom.

2ns incident: During his naptime, I heard him moving around in the bathroom upstairs so I went to see if he needed help getting his diaper back on before climbing back into bed. This is what I saw.



Again, diaperless. This time soaking wet. And covered in white bits. Yup, that white stuff all over him, the floor, and filling the sink and the toilet was toilet paper. He'd used up an entire roll in minutes. And when I asked him why he was wet (assuming he'd gotten in the shower or splashed himself at the sink), he calmly informed me that he'd stuck his head in the toilet. And since he isn't strong enough to flush the toilet by himself, it's safe to assume that was pee water all him and everything else. Keahi has never done this before. It has never entered his head as a possibility to stick his head into pee water. Why does that make perfect sense to Jarom? Who knows. All I know is it was a fun afternoon of disinfecting the bathroom.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Fun with Art

I've always been afraid of doing art with my boys. It doesn't take much imagination to see the possibilities--permanent markers on the furniture, paint on the ceiling, toxic something-or-other in their mouths and eyes. Markers and crayons I can handle. BTW, since we got here Keahi has started getting into copying pictures from books. This dinosaur from The Bernstein Bears was his first attempt. And yesterday he drew this Harold. Jarom is still working on perfecting his "fireworks" technique.



So it was a big step for me to spend $80 on art supplies including lots of scary paint. And it's been stressful for me as I try to contain my kids exuberance to protect our house. But it's been lots of fun, too. My friend, Keri, turned me on to this website: http://www.discountschoolsupply.com. It's fabulous. The kids loved using the paintsicles (really does feel drawing with lipstick) and Keahi suddenly got over his aversion to face painting. In a big way. Now he wants to cover himself from head to toe in paint. And using the bio colors to make instant silly putty was genius. It was Halloween in the house for an hour or so. I love Keahi's scary faces for the camera. So now I'm a convert to art with my kids. And luckily, this bio color washes out well. Lucky for my splattered walls, blinds, and my hair.
Click to play this Smilebox slideshow: The Boys and Paint
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