e-LAH.

TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-28T21:30:00.000-05:00

So, I know some great people VIRTUALLY and every now and then we get to see them FOR REALS. And then one of them goes and TAGS me.

Acccck. It's like Internet HOMEWORK.

On a Saturday.

So here goes.

The RULES

Post these rules
You must post 11 random things about yourself
Answer the questions set for you in their post
Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

And I am totally going to break these rules because I don't know 11 people who blog anymore. Indeed the two I think of first are Tuesday and her husband. And Tuesday already tagged him.

So, I'll just post 11 random things and then answer Tuesday's questions. But first I want to note that I am only doing this because Tuesday and her husband are cool.

Random Stuff

I really hate most vegetables and there is no way that is going to change now. I am 42 years old. I don't care what cool recipe you have for squash or cauliflower or broccoli, I am here to tell you that I am convinced it tastes like shit and I don't want any part of it.
Here are the vegetables I like: peppers, onions, mushrooms (otherwise known as the Pizza three), asparagus, turnips, celery, some lettuces, cucumbers, spinach (raw; if cooked it needs to be in a lump of some ricotta mixture or creamed) and carrots.
I also like avocados and tomatoes but we all know those are fruits.
I have no interest in reality television.
I am evangelical about only a few things -- knitting with quality yarn, butter should be salted, and marriage equality.
My feet grew with each pregnancy. I wore an 8.5 shoe when I was married, a 9.5 after Henry was born and now I wear a 10.
Crowds bother me.
Concerts only interest me if they are the sort where the audience remains seated until the end and claps between songs, not during.
I love giraffes.
Who are these Kardashian people?

All-righty. That was easy.

Now to answer Tuesday's questions.

Why do you do what you do?

I do not know. Other than I have to work. I can't stay home full-time because I seriously do not like children. I mean I love my own. And I have loved being home with Charlie part-time. But if I were home full-time, I'd have to fill our days somehow and the only other people around during the day who want to hang out with a woman and her kid(s) are other women with kid(s). And the next thing you know you are surrounded by children.

Wow. That sounds awful. Especially because of the top of my head when I think about my friends and their kids, I do like them all. But there is something about the collective force of a roomful of children that completely drains my soul.

So I work to avoid children.

What questions keep you up at night?

What do I want to do when I grow up? Seriously. I want to find a full-time job again and I am not sure what that will be.

How do you think you are most like your parents?

I have my father's quick temper and my mother's inability to make a quick decision with confidence. (To her credit, my mother has improved greatly in the decision-making department. No more taking three years to decide on a sofa she'll end up hating.)

What comedian makes you laugh out loud?

Paula Poundstone's twitter/Facebook feed routinely makes me LOL.

If running ain't your thang, what is?

Jogging. Or "slow" running. How slow? A 12 minute mile is pretty speedy for me.

What song are you embarrassed that you like?

Air Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back

What's your favorite kind of smoothie?

Banana-strawberry-blueberry

What are you afraid of?

Not having a job.

What gives your heart joy?

Watching my children give each other hugs and kisses.

What's your next big goal?

Columbus 1/2 marathon. May 5, 2012. And thanks to a cold, I am now a week behind in my training.

I really don't know anyone else who blogs. But every now and then my friend Kerri will write a Facebook note, so I'll tag her if she reads this far. Oh, and my friend Nikki. And I'll break the rule about not tagging mere readers. If you've read this far and want to be tagged, you're it.

Questions for anyone who accepts this Tag.

If you had to vote in the Republican primary and all of the original candidates were still on the ballot, which nutjob would you vote for?
And why?
What is your favorite holiday movie and have you ever watched it during the summer months?
Peppermint or spearmint?
Woody or Buzz?
If you are not a runner what do you do to purposefully elevate your heart rate for at least 30 minutes a few or more times a week?
Where is your "happy place"?
Hey, are you on Pinterest.com? Am I following you there?
Have you read Bossy Pants by Tina Fey? If not, why not? Get on that already.
Where is your favorite cheese from? (That question is, admittedly, stupid. But it was an actual question used by my beloved employer as part of its enhanced on-line security set up. I am supposed to remember where my favorite cheese is from should I ever forget my password.)

chaos

2012-01-26T22:23:00.001-05:00

I am not a natural at this parenting thing. It's hard. And my skill set isn't well matched to the demands of the gig.

So when I have a night with the boys where the house gets trashed and everyone is loud, you'd think I'd end up curled up in the corner rocking back and forth.

Tonight was one of those nights where I managed to embrace the chaos. We had a sitter at the start so Brian and I could race downtown for a conference with Henry's teacher (very positive) and then Brian had choir rehearsal so I was left here with the boys for the end of the day. I think they managed to touch or move every toy in the house.

And then they helped me clean up. For reals.

Next a bath. Then some stories. It was crazy. But I decided it wasn't going to be bad, and it wasn't.

It was actually rather good.

Consoling

2012-01-21T23:00:00.001-05:00

I want to remember this.

Earlier today we denied Henry additional time with the Wii after a day filled with too much scream time. Because he is my son and thus has a short emotional fuse, he started to cry. Wail, even.

Charlie immediately went over to his brother hugged him and said "It okay. It bad dream Baba."

Henry cupped his brother's face with his hands and then patted his hair.

It heartwarmed me.

Next time: Rigatoni or Ziti

2012-01-18T18:42:00.001-05:00

Items not to forget

2012-01-18T16:46:00.001-05:00

1. Henry enjoys apples. And he takes great pride in his consumption. This was his greatest work to date.

2. Parents of toddlers who are not good sleepers may want to skip this bit. Charlie still loves his naps. He never balks at going up for nap and when I go to wake him at 4 PM, he would prefer a few more ZZZZZZZZs.

Bros at Joe's

2012-01-07T11:53:00.001-05:00

After-work Friday night visit to Trader Joe's. Fun for the whole family.

Wild Apple

2012-01-02T22:03:00.002-05:00

Four years ago I purchased a Bohus sweater kit from a yarn dyer and spinner in Sweden. It took me two tries to get the neck band and color work just right. Then I did a bit of the increase shaping for the arms and chest and that was it.

The project sat in my close and on my Ravelry page. Neglected.

So I pulled it out yesterday. And soon thereafter, I lost it. I had no idea what the hell I was doing. Four years ago I decided to break from the pattern, which calls for knitting the sleeves and body in pieces to be sewn up when finished. I decided to continue knitting it in the round. But I did not keep any notes. Nor did the stitch markers in the project appear to actually mark anything useful.

So tonight I did what any good knitter and nerd would do. I made a spreadsheet. I combined all of the instructions for the component pieces (back, sleeve one, front, sleeve two) so that I could knit them all together in the round. I included columns for stitch counts.

So now I have a plan!

2012 is the year I finish the damn Bohus Wild Apple!

"But, you failed."

2011-12-06T23:02:00.001-05:00

It is not uncommon at bedtime for Henry to talk about the night Charlie was born. It was a big night for all of us and the drama of it has obviously stayed with Henry.

When I ask him what he remembers most, he usually refers to the actual birth itself. Tonight he mentioned the fast drive to the hospital at 3:30 in the morning. He recalled that I complained about the bumpy ride and kept telling Brian to drive faster because, as Henry interpreted it, I wanted the baby to come out "perfect."

"But," Henry said, "you failed."

"What do you mean by 'failed'?"

"Well, don't you remember what Charlie looked like in the beginning?"

Christmas Card

2011-12-04T15:22:00.001-05:00

Favorite Apps Holiday Card

Browse Christmas invitations and holiday cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Seven

2011-11-29T19:29:00.000-05:00

The First Born Son is seven. Fastest and slowest seven years of my life. At school he received a sticker and a pencil. When you are seven this is, to quote our Vice President, a BFD.

From his parents, he received a roller coaster game for his DS, a "sequel" to How to Train Your Dragon and a stuffed Angry Birds Pig made by the good people at Hartz. Yes, I bought my son a dog toy.

Oh, and there were cupcakes. Henry chose to visit the "build your own" cupcake station at the new Kroger down the street. This Kroger leans heavily on the food coloring.

Charles Wilkinson Smith, Professional Toddler ™, had a frosting accident (he dropped it) with his first cupcake so he refused to handle his replacement cupcake.

Henry got right down to business playing his new game.

I made him take a break for a picture. Happy birthday Henry!

Mahna Mahna

2011-11-26T21:56:00.001-05:00

Today was a great Henry day. We took him and three of his friends and their moms to see the new Muppet movie, which was excellent. I laughed and because I am a schlub, I cried. It's really good. Go see it!

Afterwards, we took the gang to Groovy Spoon. I think this day is in Henry's top five. So often we seems to say no to Henry as we order our lives around Charlie, our adorable and lovable least common denominator. It was great to have a day full of yes with Henry, especially when we get to see great friends too.

Tower!

2011-11-26T09:12:00.001-05:00

And, yes, he did knock it down.

My conversation with Henry

2011-11-25T21:50:00.001-05:00

Tonight before bed Henry and I were talking about the day he was born, which led to reminiscing about the night Charlie was born, which then led a discussion on how he and Charlie will only be in the same school for his last two years at Clinton Elementary. Henry asked about college and I told him that there was a chance he and Charlie would go to the same college. Henry then told me that he is pretty sure he will go to Ohio State. "And" he said, "you can visit me when you go to the gym. Except, you'll be old."

He said "old" like "oooollllllddddddd."

Turkey blogging 2

2011-11-24T16:57:00.001-05:00

The bird is done and the sides are in the oven. It is time for the best part -- GRAVY! Time to break out the chemistry tools.

Turkey blogging

2011-11-24T13:35:00.001-05:00

The bird, stuffed with aromatics (onion and apple slices, thyme, rosemary, sage, cinnamon sticks) and slathered with a stick of butter (mixed with more rosemary, thyme and sage) is in the oven to roast at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. The basting liquid is ready to go -- more butter, turkey stock, peanut oil and tawny port.

He said

2011-11-23T15:50:00.001-05:00

Henry: "Mama, I am going to pee now. Can you get me a snack? Say some milk and something like a banana. But not a banana."

2011 School Pictures

2011-11-18T19:32:00.001-05:00

I am totally biased, but these are some rather cute boys!

I am filing this under WIN.

2011-11-14T18:05:00.001-05:00

He was talking in the restroom during recess about a legitimate science question from a school book and using mostly anatomically correct language.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T19:53:00.001-05:00

Halloween 2011, a set on Flickr.

Click through to Flickr to see this years photos.

Missing Daddy Already

2011-10-16T13:57:00.000-05:00

Brian has left for a business trip this week. We're lucky that my mom (AKA "Gigi") is coming to hang out with us on Tuesday, but Henry and I have a plan for the next two days. It's called "Sofa Dinners and Movies."

We may not be able to accomplish the sofa part of the dinner tonight because we are having baked tilapia, but the three of us will watch Winnie-the-Pooh and then after Charlie's bedtime, Henry and I will watch a bit of Rango.

Then Henry will help me round up everyone's shoes and we'll make sure my keys are in the key pumpkin. And we will be all set for the morning.

Easy peasy.

All Ears

2011-10-09T20:47:00.001-05:00

all ears, a photo by e-lah on Flickr.

I think this may be one of the best photos I've taken with the new camera. Not shopped or altered a bit.

From Henry's School Papers

2011-09-29T21:34:00.001-05:00

Give up now. Brian and I have locked up the Parents of the Year award.

I found this in his backpack.

2011-09-28T21:39:00.001-05:00

And I will keep it forever.

Spoiler

2011-09-18T20:49:00.000-05:00

For the past two weeks we've been reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with Henry. Tonight I came home right after seeing a movie with my good friend Lori even though Brian told me to take my time because I didn't want to miss my turn. Tonight we read chapter 14, The Witch's Triumph.

I gave it my best effort, a deliberate reading with a mostly softened voice, letting the words tell the story.

When we finished, Henry said to me, "I know Aslan comes back. I. Know. It. I just know it."

For a second, I paused and my heart swelled a bit as I considered my six-year-old's faith.

And then the six-year-old added, "Because I saw Prince Caspian at Clubhouse this summer."

Haircut

2011-09-07T15:23:00.001-05:00

After our failed attempt at a haircut last week at Longview Barbershop, we started talking up the Cookie Cutter experience -- sitting in a fire engine, balloons, lolly pops!Charlie wasn't exactly on board. "No new haircut. Me 'fraid."But Dawn at Cookie Cutters did a good job helping Charlie remain calm while he held onto a kneeling Brian's hand (very tight grip, I am told). Charlie warmed to the experience once the sugar from the lolly hit his system.Just a trim up top to help keep hair out of his eyes. The curls in the back were "lightly" trimmed, so I only shed a few tears.

Weekend at Omah and Poppy's

2011-09-04T21:06:00.000-05:00

We are just back from a weekend visit to Omah and Poppy's house in Stahlstown, PA. We arrived on Friday and the boys got right down to business -- moving the rocks from the garden onto the patio wall.

Running up to the gazebo and around the backyard was also on the agenda. To keep them from running too far into the woods, I fed them some scary stories about bears and coyotes.

On Saturday, we headed to Powdermill for the dedication of the butterfly garden, a gift from Nikki and Dave in memory of Brian's sister Tina.

The garden is lovely. And, as you can see, it works.

It was designed by Martha Oliver, who gave happily identified the different plants and flowers.

[Note to e-Lah readers: If you ever find yourself in the Laurel Highlands, you should find time to visit Powdermill.]

Berry Good

2011-09-01T15:30:00.000-05:00

Today is the second day of no NBCC, which means no after school care for Henry. Charlie usually naps until the second we have to pick Henry up for the bus, so usually he is a little grouchy. Henry is grouchy if I am not at the bus stop with a juice box in one hand and a granola bar in the other.

I am weary of being hit up for juice, even if it is reduced sugar and organic and half veggie juice. Its still juice and there is nothing wrong with water.

So that is what I showed up with today -- water. Henry's first question after de-bussing, was "Do you have a juice box?" "No, I have water." "Okay."

Nice.

We walk home and the snack wars begin.

"Henry, I am cutting up some strawberries for your snack."

"Nooooooooooo. I don't want strawberries."

"Sorry, snack is strawberries."

Insert several minutes of whining.

Then both boys sat down and watched an episode of Peep and The Big Wide World. And they ate the strawberries. And asked for seconds.

Henry said "These are good. Did they, like, grow in a garden or something?"

I stand corrected

2011-08-29T20:01:00.002-05:00

Henry was an early talker, but he had some idiosyncrasies in how he talked. For example, the plural of "person" was always "persons." Kelly and I generally didn't try to correct him on that one; after all, "persons" is a perfectly valid word, even if it wasn't quite right for what he was trying to say at the time.

In fact, I picked up his usage of it, at least when talking to him, and I have found myself doing the same thing when talking to Charlie. Until tonight, anyway.

He was with me in our room while I was changing clothes before taking him on a short evening walk. In mid-change, I asked him if I should go outside in my underwear.

"Yes!" he said happily.

"No!" I said. "Persons don't go outside in underwear!"

He paused, and said, "'People.' It's 'people,' Dada."

All right, then.

First Baseball Game

2011-08-21T20:14:00.002-05:00

We took Henry to a Clippers game today. Here is what we learned. First, the seats behind left field are in direct sun for a 5pm start. So it was wicked hot. Second, Henry does not like it when his team is losing badly. It was 0-7 by the third inning. Did it matter to Henry that he just learned there was a Clippers baseball team less than an hour earlier? No. The fact that they were losing so badly so early in the game bothered him. Let's just say that one doesn't develop a "love for the game" such that spirits can remain high three innings into a pummeling.

So we walked around the very nice park and left. Brian had not yet seen the fountains at Bicentennial Park, so we headed over there. And Henry whined. We couldn't find a parking space right away. And Henry whined. Brian joked that we could always go home, drop Henry off with his Gigi who was watching Charlie so that he and I could continue with our evening unburdened by the complaining six-year-old. And Henry whined. And suddenly Brian's joke seemed like a good idea. So we told Henry that was our new plan.

He did not think we were serious until we laughed at him. At which point he called us "sa-sistic meanies." Huh? He said it again. "You guys are sasistic meanies." "Henry," I asked, "do you mean sadistic meanies?" "Yes. Sadistic."

Brian explained what sadistic meant -- taking joy in the infliction of pain on someone else.

I complemented Henry on a stellar vocabulary choice, then we dropped him off at home and left to complete our late weekend errands sans child.

Henry rides a bike

2011-08-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

Dreaming

2011-08-10T15:53:00.000-05:00

I have been keeping a mental list of features for the Bott-Smith Family Homestead v.2. Here is item one: neighbors upwind of us who are ferocious anti-smoking zealots.

*cough*

Sweat

2011-08-10T15:05:00.001-05:00

Charlie sleeps hard. He's not sick (*I hope*). He's just a head-sweat-er.

Wrap-up

2011-08-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's time for another list.

We had a great vacation last week. The kids saw all of their grandparents and cousins. There was an amusement park visit, Mineo's pizza and Pamela's pancakes. I am going to nudge Brian to do a post with pictures.
Charlie likes to inventory things. He is held back by the fact that he can only count to two. On a good day he can get to three. For items in excess of three, it goes like this: "One, two, three, six, eight, nine, three." And then he acts rather pleased that he brought it all back together with that three. How tidy! When he inventories two similar items, we hear the familiar comment "Same! Same!" And often, Charlie will swap "Same! Same!" for "Two ones!"
Brian may have just invented the best game ever. He'll have to share that news.
Henry has two and a half weeks before he starts the first grade. And his second front tooth is loose. If it doesn't drop by the first day of school. I am yanking it myself. Just can't miss an opportunity for the stereotypical first day of the first grade while missing those two front teeth.

Lost another one.

2011-07-26T07:43:00.000-05:00

Hoping the fairy will find us at Omah and Poppy's house tonight.

Jeni's

2011-07-16T19:21:00.003-05:00

Every now and then, you stop counting points. And you take the kids out for ice cream. Because it is summertime.

Style. He has it.

2011-07-15T18:35:00.001-05:00

Sloppy

2011-07-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

Henry said

2011-07-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

Me: Good-night Henry. Remember, we are going to the dentist tomorrow.
Henry: Yay!

Sick

2011-07-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

So the sore throat and general "ickiness" from Sunday has morphed into a full-blown summer sinus infection. Yuck. I think Charlie already has it. And Brian is likely at the very beginning.

Meanwhile, Henry, easily the healthiest member of our family, probably had this on Sunday. He coughed twice at around 10 a.m.

I will be visiting the old neti pot tonight before taking a cocktail of OTC medications that will either clear me up enough to let me sleep or inspire me to consider building a meth lab. Anyone's guess.

Good times here at the old e-Lah household.

Nap

2011-07-06T12:11:00.000-05:00

I am in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and cleaning up after lunch. Charlie is happily finishing his watermelon in the playroom.

After a few minutes, he toddles into the room clutching his woobie. He pulls on the leg of my shorts, looks up at me with those bright (but droopy) brown eyes and says "nap."

Fifteen minutes later, he is asleep in his room.

No fuss Charlie.

Yes, it is that easy.

The State of Our Discourse, Independence Day Edition

2011-07-04T18:19:00.002-05:00

As we drive past, Henry observes a father and his two young daughters walking across the Kroger parking lot toward the store.

Henry: They may be going to the Krogert.
B: "Krogert"?
Henry: Am I mispronouncing that? I probably am.

We have some work to do.

2011-07-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

A question from Henry's Sunday school worksheet:

"You grew several sizes over the past year. Your clothing for spring is all too small. The clothes are in good shape. What can you do?"

Henry's original answer:

"Buy more."

Read

2011-06-23T20:34:00.002-05:00

I wish I had a picture of this. Today Henry read to the Koalas (Charlie's class at NBCC). Henry had talked about it for a while. Last week I told him he needed to ask his teacher and Charlie's teacher if it would be okay for him to visit Charlie's room and read a book.

So last week he asked. Well, he didn't just ask; he made a pitch. It went something like this:

"Hello. My name is Henry Smith. I've been going to NBCC for almost my whole life. And then I went to Clinton. But now I am back and I would like to read a story to the Koalas."

Today was his day. I do not know the title of the book he read. He tells me it was a dinosaur book. And the director at NBCC told me Henry did a great job and that Charlie was over-the-moon happy to have his "Baba" read to him and his friends.

What a lovely moment shared by these two brothers!

After dinner, in the playroom, Henry said, "I bet I can make you scream Charlie!" And then he proceeded to pounce on his baby brother. Who screamed.

Sigh.

Sad but true.

2011-06-18T10:39:00.001-05:00

Henry: Charlie, what do you want to be when you grow up? Charlie: fire truck.
Henry: That is what you will ride. Humans cannot turn into fire trucks. Sad but true.

Sent from my iPhone

Dislike, Things I

2011-06-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

Emptying the dishwasher under duress because another almost full load is crowding our limited counter space.

Truck

2011-06-14T20:47:00.001-05:00

Truck, a photo by e-lah on Flickr.

Two things. First, for Charlie, everything is BIG. Even this truck. Its BIG. I think he uses BIG when he often means GREAT! or GOOD! Also, the "tr" sound isn't quite there. More of a "f" sound.

Bad bloggers

2011-06-14T13:07:00.000-05:00

Poor e-LAH. We have neglected you. Let's be honest. We've been seeing someone else.

Facebook.

Plus a little something-something (Twitter.)

But apparently we still have a handful of readers who are, I am told, disappointed int he lack of regular posts. So I will try to do better.

For now, here is a random list of stuff.

Henry has taken to the summer reading challenge from the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Last night he turned off the TV ON HIS OWN WITHOUT ANY ENCOURAGEMENT so he could read. Good boy.
Charlie's new favorite activity is working on puzzles. Or to hear him say it, "Pay-zuhls." Its very darling. But somewhere around the 17th time one has helped him assemble the Sesame Street jigsaw pay-zuhl, one thinks about where she can hide it when Charlie isn't paying attention.
Henry has successfully completed Kindergarten and is already in week two of his summer break. I am feeling rather lost most mornings. I miss the morning trip to the bus stop.
Charlie is in a big boy bed. It happened very quickly several weeks ago. Brian woke up before me, went to check on Charlie, came back to our bedroom and asked, "where's the baby?" The answer was: not in his crib. More specifically, Charlie was downstairs after rather easily escaping his crib and getting past the gate at the bottom of the stairs, which we often never latched because, well CRIB. Charlie has handled the transition very easily. He is rather proud of his new big boy bed sleeping arrangements.
Also, our little bald baby has hair.
Brian turned 41.
Henry finished soccer and aikido. No further Henry sports programming until September. Muffin gets the summer off.
Finally, Charlie likes kiwi fruit. A lot. After devouring one, he demands, "MORE WEEEE!" And it makes me ridiculously happy to oblige.

Henry said

2011-06-11T08:28:00.001-05:00

"Charlie, I have two balls."

Expectations

2011-05-18T07:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Henry was playing with his box of superheros. Charlie wanted to play too and grabbed the Hulk. Henry got angry and tried to get the Hulk back and screaming ensued. Henry did not want to share any of his superheros, which Charlie calls "Mans" (SuperMAN, Spider-MAN). I chided Henry a bit for not wanting to play with his brother. "Henry," I said, "you said you wanted a little brother."

Henry replied, "I did not expect it to turn out like this."

Charlie's Second Birthday Party

2011-04-30T20:44:00.002-05:00

Charlie's Second Birthday Party, a set on Flickr.

We had a great afternoon celebrating Charlie's second birthday. We kept the party small, inviting two families that we like very much who have children that we also like very much. It was a strange feeling to have a party with six kids and not have a single meltdown! Yeah kids!

Okay, I'll fess up. Likability had nothing to do with it. We picked this crowd solely for their looks as the accompanying pictures clearly attest. :-)

Quick Birthday Post -- Two Days Late

2011-04-28T20:41:00.000-05:00

Charles Wilkinson Smith (aka "Charlie," "Chuckles," "Chuck Monster Flash," "The Enemy of Productivity," "Charles the Destroyer") is two years old.

I often play a little game with him. I ask him if he is a grown up.

"Noooooo."

I ask him if he is a big kid.

"Nooooo."

"What are you Charlie?"

"Toddler."

Sometimes he throws me a bone and says, "Baby."

Charlie, you will always be my baby.

Ready for Easter

2011-04-23T22:03:00.000-05:00

Make lemonade.

2011-04-17T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am making a lemon pie (Weight Watchers recipe from two meetings ago). I used the juice of six lemons. While cleaning up the kitchen I find five lemon halves.

"Charlie, do you have a lemon?"

He grins and toddles off.

I figure, it's a half a lemon not a piece of fish or an egg. It'll turn up.

I return to cleaning the kitchen when I notice the dishwasher.

Impromptu Spinning

2011-04-15T09:44:00.001-05:00

Charlie is home today with a fever. We're not sure if he has what ailed Henry or something Entirely New and Different. But he is pretty much not himself. He has been content to be potato like on the sofa. He has refused most offers of food (a banana met with Sir's approval earlier) and drink. And he refused a walk!

Then, suddenly a few minutes ago, he turned to me and said, "'Pin! Pin! Pin!" and made a break for the back door. For those of you who do not speak fluent Chucklish, "'Pin!" = "Spin!" And "Spin" means twirling around in a circle on the driveway.

I suggested that shoes might be in order, so once we had him clad, we went outside and I started to spin around just like this -- really! Charlie, let out a loud "No!" followed by an "Up!" And I understood. We would not be "'pinning" side-by-side; rather in his sickened state, I need to do the work.

Here is a snippet. We did this for about 15 minutes. I almost threw up.

Sun

2011-04-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

The sun has made a few appearances so the boys have been outside and I have been stalking them with the camera. So enjoy!

That is quite an outfit.

2011-03-29T18:44:00.001-05:00

One rain boot, wool diaper cover, tie dye.

Totally needed the ears.

People of the Internet . . .

2011-03-26T13:17:00.002-05:00

Thank me for showing restraint. I am NOT publishing the picture I took of Charlie having his first official PRODUCTIVE pee on the potty.

Even though it is a very cool shot made with the Hipstomatic app on my iPhone.

That is all.

Good luck, right?

2011-03-22T13:29:00.003-05:00

My mom (Gigi) is home with Charlie today so I can get some more hours in at work. I called home around 2 p.m. just to see how things were going. All is well. Charlie is napping. Mom did share that while out on a walk this morning a bird pooped on Charlie's head. My first reaction was to laugh. So was Brian's.

YAGOS!

2011-03-21T18:15:00.000-05:00

Charlie likes Duplo Legos. He calls them "YA-GOS!"

Here is his latest creation (all by himself):

Never

2011-03-21T18:11:00.000-05:00

Some person, some very mean person, is threatening to cut off this little boy's curls.

Words

2011-03-19T19:04:00.001-05:00

IMG_6604 a photo by e-lah on Flickr.

Henry was the only kid at the childcare room at RPAC this morning (thanks spring break!), so he had the attention of both sitters.

And in typical Smith fashion, he decided to show off his vocabulary to impress girls. :-D

Hotel Life with Henry and Charlie

2011-03-07T20:54:00.002-05:00

In the weeks leading up to the trip, Kelly and I admitted to each other a few times that if Charlie was a troublesome sleeper, our chances of fun would plummet. If he dug in and refused to be in the hotel-provided Pack & Play, we were in for three very bad nights. Ditto if we weren't able to find a way to seclude him from the rest of us at his bedtime, and to do it so that we didn't wake him up between his bedtime and ours.

But once again (hooray!) -- we needn't have worried. He did great on all three nights, even though the secluded place for the Pack & Play was in one half of the bathroom, separated from the "business" half by a door, but still adjacent to our bedroom so we could easily hear him. (Yes, we made our baby sleep in the bathroom. DON'T JUDGE ME!!!)

And the hotel itself was fantastic. It's called the Boardwalk Villas, and it's meant to conjure up the image of an old-fashioned hotel in Atlantic City. The boardwalk itself goes around a large lagoon, with shops lining most of the perimeter and passenger boats traveling between the hotels (the Beach Club Hotel is on the other shore), Epcot and Hollywood Studios. I think the boat rides to Epcot were one of Charlie's favorite experiences that Disney had to offer.

Quick side story: On our first afternoon there, we really didn't have time for a park visit, so we went down to the hotel pool for a quick dip -- but we were chased out of the water almost immediately by an arriving cool front that took the temperature down to the low 60s. Henry protested, and Charlie protested even more, but we got them back into their clothes and set out for a walk around the lagoon just to see what would be around us for the next few days. When we got to the Beach Club Hotel, we took a few steps inside their fence to take a look at their pool, and Charlie promptly started taking off his clothes, figuring that it was time to try this pool instead.

Inside the hotel, as in most other places, Charlie was in full Henry-emulation mode. The walk from the elevator to our room was pretty long, but Charlie did all he could to keep up with his big brother. (We apologize to our fellow vacationers for the shrieking.)

We had mentioned to Henry that if he kept his eyes open, he would be able to spot some of Disney World's famous Hidden Mickeys in the decoration of the hotel. The hallway carpet had an amusement park theme, and Henry would proudly crouch down and point to whatever Hidden Mickey he had just found, and we would congratulate him for being so observant. Not wanting to miss out on the praise, Charlie picked up the habit during walks in the hallway of bending down, pointing to some random spot on the carpet, and looking up at us expectantly for praise.

I think that the experience of the hotel has been joyfully fixed in Henry's mind for the rest of his life. But it's a bit sad to think that Charlie won't remember this trip in the slightest. Good thing Omah and Poppy now live in Florida, and it's safe to say we'll be going back there again.

Next time: The parks!

He did this about thirty times

2011-02-26T08:17:00.003-05:00

A bad MORN rhymes with . . .

2011-02-15T10:05:00.001-05:00

After weeks of good nights, we had a bad one last night. I am NOT complaining. I read so many Facebook statuses from friends with children who have sleep troubles that I know how good we have it. Nonetheless, Charlie had a couple of overnight awakenings and Henry had two nightmares, which resulted in a 5:30 a.m. request for mama snuggles (granted.) Then Charlie decided to wake up for good a half hour early, thus ending Brian's attempt to get a few more ZZZZZZZs.

So our morning was a bit of a mish-mash. At the end of it was my panic over Henry's misplaced lunchbox. And in the middle was Charlie's comical effort to get Mister Rogers playing on the DVR that ended with him making what appeared to be his first porn purchase using pay-per-view. Note to self -- must investigate parental controls on DVR remote.

Rhymes

Henry, Charlie and the Bigheads

2011-02-12T14:35:00.002-05:00

(This is the first of several blog-episodes about Henry and Charlie's first Disney World. No chronology is intended or implied; it's just Stuff That Happened.)

We were a bit concerned about how Henry and Charlie would do with interactions with Disney characters -- Henry could be bored because he knows (intellectually) that they aren't real, and Charlie could be terrified because he believes that they are. I guess we needn't have worried.

I try very hard to be honest and thorough with Henry about how the illusions of entertainment are created. Usually we're talking about TV shows and movies, and the honesty is to keep his courage up. The Wicked Witch of the West holds no terror for him, since he knows it's just Margaret Hamilton in green paint and a fake chin. (The story of how Ms. Hamilton was severely injured during shooting helped too; it made her a lot more human. He can even point out for you the shot where the injury happened.) So he is very able to separate the actor from the character.

But as we got ready for Disney World, I started to fear that I might have overdone it, and that my Little Skeptic would be unimpressed by the folks in costumes -- that excitement over the interaction couldn't coexist with knowledge of how the costumes work. In the end, it turns out the six-year-old brain is a remarkable organ, able in a single stroke to speculate on the costumes work ("How does she see?") and also to feel the magic of the interaction with fantasy. For what it's worth, Donald is his runaway favorite, but he also relished meeting Stitch.

As for Charlie, we took the advice of our guidebook and ordered a Disney singalong DVD to watch during the week before our trip. These DVDs show children happily dancing and singing with the characters at one of the theme parks, which in theory would allow Charlie to see that the giant critters aren't dangerous. Either it worked like a charm, or it never would have been a problem in the first place.

Charlie became more and more excited with each encounter on our Magic Kingdom day, starting at the "Ohana" character breakfast and finishing with the Chef Mickey dinner that night. (Contrast his reaction with the poor girl about Henry's age who was crying under the breakfast table in her princess costume like Weeping Beauty.) To Charlie, all characters are "Mickey," with the exception of Donald, who is "Duck." He also likes to grab dog noses, so it's lucky that both Pluto and Goofy are good sports.

Next: Hotel Life with Henry and Charlie

Two ERs and Two Urgent Cares and an Ice Storm

2011-02-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

Monday morning, Chuckles awoke with a very drippy nose and a fever. He had shown some signs of an impending cold on Sunday night, so we were not surprised. Especially because so many of our friends' have sick kids. So we divided and conquered. Brian stayed home with Charlie, while Henry went to school and I set out for a hybrid day of a dentist appointment and a critical task at work that HAD to be completed by the end of the day.

Brian reported that Charlie was really just a slightly grouchier version of his typical self during the day. He took a good nap and had an adequate appetite.

At five, Brian drove both boys to my work and I swapped my parking pass (so Brian could park in the OSU garage to take Henry to his last swimming lesson at RPAC) for Charlie. I buckled Charlie into his seat and could tell immediately his day had turned south. I had planned to stop at the grocery to pick up a few things ahead of the ice storm we were expecting later that evening. But upon considering Charlie's condition, I decided to head straight home. Charlie is still in a rear facing seat, so usually I monitor him with a mirror and through conversation. A sick Charlie is still a chatty Charlie.

But not on this ride. He was very quiet and the mirror was out of place so I could not see him. I thought it likely he fell asleep.

When we arrived home, I went to get him from his seat and when I opened the car door, I was shocked by his appearance. His eyes were half open and his gaze was -- hard to describe -- but I'd say "empty." I unbuckled him and found his arms and legs to be floppy. He was ashen. And I noticed that his breathing seemed labored. I called our pediatrician's office, which was closed but the emergency on-call nurse said to take him to Children's Emergency Room. I texted Brian and left right away.

When I arrived at Children's, the ER was a nightmare. Packed. The line for the triage nurse/check-in was about a dozen families deep. I overheard that the wait time would be a minimum of four and a half hours. Looking around I realized that if Charlie did not have a serious illness right now, one or all of us (Brian and Henry joined us) would after waiting in that room for half the night.

Side note: Judge Vinson in Florida should have to sit his ass down in that waiting room on a night like that one.

So we decided to go to the urgent care near our house. That was a good idea insofar as it was not busy and were seen rather quickly. But it was a bad idea insofar as the quality of medical care available for a 21 month old. While good intentioned, the urgent care doctor did not seem comfortable treating a young child and advised us to go back to Children's.

We dropped Henry at our neighbors and headed to the Children's Urgent Care that is attached to Dublin Methodist Hospital. I just could not face the waiting room at Children's main campus. It was around 6 or 6:30 at this point.

At Children's Urgent Care in Dublin, we were seen right away and taken back to an exam room. A nurse checked vitals, took Charlie's history and assessed his condition. We had to wait a bit for the doctor, but we were still likely seen there far earlier than we would have been downtown.

The doctor did a flu test (negative) and a thorough exam and determined that Charlie had a cold. No other source of infection or illness was present and a bit before 10 we headed home.

About half a mile on our way, Charlie had a seizure. His eyes rolled back and he made a repetitive gurgling/choking sound while his whole body shook.

I lost it.

Brian kept a level head, turned the van around and got us back to Dublin Methodist's emergency room in a couple of minutes. By the time we arrived the seizure had ended and Charlie had the exact same appearance that worried me so much when we first arrived home earlier in the evening. I suspect now that he might have had a seizure while I was driving home.

The ER nurses and doctor at Dublin Methodist were quiet wonderful. They gave Charlie a chest x-ray, which was clear. They gave him some ibuprofen, which brought his fever down over the next few hours. Again, not finding any source of infection other than what appeared to be a classic toddler head cold, they discharged us around midnight with the instructions to (1) follow up with our pediatrician in the morning and (2) to go to Children's ER if he experienced another seizure as he would likely require a spinal tap to rule out scarier infections that might be causing the fever.

By the time we were discharged, the promised freezing rain had arrived and Brian drove us home very, very slowly. Several times while at the ER, Charlie cried out for "weeebie," his beloved blanket. [We have always called the blanket "woobie." In Charlie-talk, a more accurate representation is "weebie," so we'll go with that spelling from now on.] I had not brought it with us. So when we arrived home, it was the first thing we looked for.

And we couldn't find it. Anywhere.

Then I remembered that our wonderful neighbor brought Henry over to get a few things to make him more comfortable. Knowing my boy, I guessed he had taken weebie to both protect it for Charlie and as a comfort for himself as he worried about his little brother.

Brian carefully slid across the ice-glazed street and retrieved our very sweet older boy, his blankie and Charlie's weebie. I was holding Charlie upstairs, not willing to put him down until I could give him weebie and let his brother see him. Henry looked quite relieved to see that Charlie was peacefully asleep in my arms. He draped weebie on Charlie and then left with Brian to go to bed.

I put Charlie in his crib and covered him with weebie. And then went to "sleep" on the twin bed in Charlie's room. Of course, I didn't really sleep. It was a heavy doze while keeping one ear open to listen to Charlie breathe.

We did not go to the pediatrician Monday as it is far too treacherous outside. On Tuesday, we met with one of our pediatrician's partners as our ped is on vacation. She was very reassuring. Febrile seizures, while scary, do not cause lasting harm and do not bring any increased risk for developing epilepsy or other neurological conditions. But children who experience one episode of febrile seizures are more likely to have another one. So we just need to be careful about aggressively treating fevers.

Tomorrow we leave for Florida to visit Omah and Poppy in Vero Beach and then to pay homage to the Mouse. Charlie is perfectly fine. Well, his nose is still drippy. But he has been fever free since Tuesday. And I have packed an excessive amount of Children's Tylenol and Ibuprofen for the trip.

Not a lot of excitement with this post, but I want to remember this.

2011-01-28T21:41:00.000-05:00

Charlie's nap and bedtime routine recently underwent a makeover. Long past the time our pediatrician assumed Charlie had given up the bottle, Charlie gave up the bottle. Truth be told, it was my crutch not his, as he gave it up months ago at school.

But I liked it. I loved holding him and feeding him. It was a placeholder for his weaning from nursing far earlier than I would have preferred.

And it worked. Diaper change, jammies, lights out (or as Charlie says, "Darks!"), bottle = sleepy time. And Charlie has been a champion baby at going to sleep.

But he didn't need that bottle anymore. So we stopped a few weeks ago. Now I was hoping we would still get some good cuddling time, but Charlie had another idea. Now our routine is diaper change, jammies, lights out, then what I call the "walkabout." While his parent stays in the sliding chair and sings to him (my standard set is Puff, You Are My Sunshine and Scarborough Fair), Charlie wonders around his room. Occasionally, he comes over an puts his head on my lap, but mostly he just explores the space. And when he is done (usually after three songs) he walks over to his crib, turns back and says, "Nap."

That is the signal that it is time to put him in his crib and cover him with his woobie.

And without any further discussion and certainly no protest, he goes to sleep.

I have mixed emotions about this. The independence he displays with this bedtime routine is a bit startling. I want him to want my cuddles a bit more. But on the whole I am so impressed with my little guy. He knows when he needs sleep. And he wants to sleep.

And every so often he throws his old mama a bone like he did tonight. Halfway into his walkabout, he toddled back to me in the sliding chair, put his arms up and said, "Lap." And he let me cuddle him for the duration of the middle song.

2011-01-27T21:48:00.002-05:00

You won't see much, since this was taken inside Henry's room with the lights out. But that sound for the first 10 seconds or so? A cross between a zipper and a bumblebee?

That would be Henry snoring.

Charlie eats lunch

2011-01-09T19:00:00.000-05:00

Henry said

2011-01-09T15:35:00.000-05:00

"Of course he has his soul with him; you carry that around in your stomach."

For the record

2011-01-06T17:07:00.002-05:00

Charlie's first sentence was "Binky stuck."

Chuckles would like a little privacy.

2010-12-27T21:52:00.002-05:00

Christmas wrap up.

2010-12-27T13:57:00.000-05:00

Stockings hung with care. Except for those too stuffed with goodies to be hung at all.

Do you remember the lifesaver books? They make a gummy version. Its awful. Henry loves it.

Opening the stockings.

Yippee! Charlie got a new toothbrush. A spiny Thomas the Train brush. Have we mentioned how much Charlie loves to brush his teeth? Could probably do a whole blog post on that topic. For now, I will note that it is not an uncommon sight to be chased from room to room by the short one with little hair while he screeches, "TEEF TEEF TEEF." This is why we have children's toothbrushes stashed in nearly every room. Woe is he who cannot come up with the goods when the little one wants to keep up with his oral hygiene.

Henry reaching down deep. And finding a woot t-shirt, or as he said, "Oh. Clothes."

Charlie plays with some ~~crap that used to be Henry's~~ re-purposed playmobile toys.

Wedgits! Thanks Omah & Poppy!

All of this wrapping paper? Yes, it came from criminal trees that deserved their fate.

This is the last year for the Santa Baby outfit.

Sniff.

Henry with a DS game.

I caved. He got a DS. Ten days ago he asked to "amend" his list to add a Nintendo DS. I said he could add it, but it was highly unlikely Santa could squeeze that in, as even Santa has a budget. I had inside information that "Santa" had no intention whatsoever of giving Henry a DS.

And then I dropped him off at his after-school/no-school daycare on Wednesday. And several of his little friends were playing with their DS's. And the look on Henry's face . . . .

Yes, I drove straight to Target and bought one. I simply could NOT have Henry thinking some big fat elf in a red suit liked Owen or Carter more than him. It will be easier to be ~~more hardass~~ less generous, when he knows the source of these presents.

Henry also got some Zhu Zhu crap. Here is the Zhu Zhu habitat.

And here is the cool little kid habitat that Omah and Poppy bought for the boys.

Just like the Zhu Zhu pets, I do not know how to turn the boys off. Next best thing, though, is a Wii induced coma.

Tidings

2010-12-24T22:47:00.001-05:00

Henry fell asleep around 9:15 or so. I guess. I fell asleep too. Brian woke me at 9:30.

And we got to work. Having done all of the wrapping on Wednesday, it did not take too long. We had too many things for Henry's stocking, so a few items went to the basement and we have a head start on 2011.

Tomorrow, I will not mind when one or both of my boys wakes me up a bit too early. Though, if I could have one last Christmas wish, please dear Charlie, sleep past 6 a.m. Please.

Cheesy? Yes. But, its kind of cute.

2010-12-13T20:43:00.000-05:00

December 8

2010-12-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

Henry asked to make an amendment to his Christmas wish list. He asked to add brains, courage, a heart and a trip to Kansas.
Yes, we are reading The Wizard of Oz again.

In other unrelated news, today the local all-Christmas-music-all-day-long radio station played Celine Dion's version of "Happy Christmas."

That is wrong on any day. But today, well, today it was more than wrong; it was sad.

Crazy kids at dinner

2010-12-07T19:33:00.000-05:00

Santa 2010

2010-12-04T12:39:00.000-05:00

Henry stands next to Santa.

They have a cordial discussion.

An agreement is reached.

Charlie, meet Santa.

Come, on Chuckles -- he is a nice man.

No dice.

Mama hugs.

A note about the stats

2010-11-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

Henry was holding at 19 teeth. Until this weekend. He has made enough progress on his first "replacement" tooth that we can credit him again with twenty.

He has also sprouted an adult molar, which takes us to twenty-one.

SIX

2010-11-29T09:26:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving

2010-11-23T23:01:00.000-05:00

I have so much to be thankful for, but right now I am very grateful that my kindergartner did not disappoint me. Behold -- hand turkey art!

Life is good.

Birthday Party

2010-11-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

Tired. This will be in list form.

I wish I could find a way to have a birthday party without cake or presents. I think it would be better.
Henry's party may end up being recalled by our circle of friends as the party that killed Thanksgiving week. One child vomited at the end of the party, another upon arriving home. One left early due to feeling a wee bit on the green side. Our neighbor reports that the local Kroger is out of ginger ale. I fear this party will be studied as an index case by the CDC.
Henry will be spending the rest of November and a good portion of December writing thank-you notes. This will be a good way for him to practice the use of upper and lower case letters, spaces between words, periods and that writing from left to right thing. While our kindy-kid may be reading at a first grade level, he has the penmanship of a serial killer.
Henry had fun and is now asleep in his room surrounded by new toys, brought by many wonderful and generous friends. Except for one toy. I have been playing with this. And I may take it to work with me.

Finally, here are a few photos from the party.

Here is Henry making an "announcement" that "soon, there will be cake."

Here he is is being comforted by his daddy after he started to cry when some folks laughed at his "announcement." And, yes, "some folks" included his mother.

Don't Laugh It Only Encourages Him

2010-11-21T14:47:00.000-05:00

Chuckles is sick :-(

2010-11-17T20:11:00.001-05:00

Charlie woke up at 2 a.m. on Monday after vomiting all over his crib. He was obviously distressed and had a bit of a fever. It was a rough rest of the night. Charlie had no interest in sleeping, except on me. To be honest, I didn't mind. Its been a while since he was this cuddly. He was pretty subdued on Monday as well. No more vomiting, but Monday afternoon, what was bugging him changed from reverse into drive, if you know what I mean.

So Chuckles stayed home on Tuesday with Brian. Obviously, Charlie enjoyed his bonus stay-home day with Daddy.

Things were clear and we were all hopeful that this illness would be short-lived.

And then Charlie woke up from his nap rather suddenly.

Sheets had to be changed.

So we knew school was not going to happen on Wednesday. We did the parents-of-an-18- month old-in-daycare-who-can't - go - to - daycare equivalent of this:

We called in a Grandmother.

So today Charlie enjoyed a bonus stay-home day with Gigi.

And I think Gigi enjoyed it too.

Once again, things were looking positive. Until nap, when Charlie was awoken by his own production. Fortunately, there was diaper containment. That is our one positive sign that perhaps we turned a corner. Nonetheless, Charlie will be staying home with me tomorrow. A bonus stay-home day with Mama.

Can't say that I mind. Aside from the unpleasant manner in which he ends naps lately, he is good company.

Thanks Gigi for helping me get to the dentist today and get a 1/2 day of work in. Oh, and Charlie already misses you.

Rowling in the aisles

2010-11-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

see more Memebase

I like the music best.

2010-11-06T18:59:00.001-05:00

h/t dooce

Jeremy Messersmith - Tatooine from Eric Power on Vimeo.

Mid-Ohio Con with Henry!

2010-11-06T13:17:00.003-05:00

Henry and I went back to Mid-Ohio Con this year. As before, his endurance wasn't all that great, and we stayed for a little over an hour -- but in his defense, it's a pretty overwhelming environment.

On the plus side, Henry got to say hello again to Marc Sumerak, who writes 90% of the all-ages comics digests that Henry likes so much. Henry came away with another signed book, but sadly, Daddy did not think to get a picture.

On the minus side, Henry was just a little too shy to opt for a picture with Lou Ferrigno. Surprise of the day: I'm taller than Lou! Though he could of course snap me in half if he wished to, with or without green makeup.

However, Henry was willing to pose with Spider-Man (in the alien symbiote costume):

There were plenty of other schlubs in costumes:

But the winner for both originality and craftsmanship has to be . . .
Captain Ohio!

. . . and then we rode the bus home.

Brothers at Potbelly

2010-11-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

For the moment, we have cracked the code on happy meals out with the boys: bring food for Charlie so that he can immediately start eating upon arrival. It did the trick last night at Noodles & Co. and we likewise had success this afternoon at Potbelly. A well-fed Charlie is a happy dining companion.

Wizard hair

2010-10-28T19:50:00.000-05:00

How could he ever get sick?

2010-10-26T16:34:00.000-05:00

Mystery to me.

Oh, here he is playing in a trash can.

Please notice the stats (Henry's tooth count)

2010-10-25T19:05:00.001-05:00

Henry's lower left incisor has been loose for more than a month.

Today was the day. He lost it eating cereal at school. And he really lost it before lunch, when he could no longer find the tooth he was saving for the Fairy in his pocket.

Well, I did not go to law school for nothing.

To wit:

Lunches!

2010-10-25T08:27:00.003-05:00

My lunch:

Trader Joe's Mac-n-Cheese (leftover from Sat.), three slices of salami, egg (stitch shaped!), V8, yogurt. I am aiming for about 600 calories during the day (lunch and snacks). This comes to about 525, and because I generally do not like to eat the entire yolk of an egg, actually a little bit less. So I could stand to add about 100 calories. I think a crunchy snack would be a good addition.

Henry's lunch:

1/2 turkey & cheese sandwich (with pumpkin cut from cheese and "BOO" and bat from salami), goldfish mix, fruit strip, egg (car shaped!), milk and gogurt. A little heavy on the dairy, this lunch is.

Henry-and-Daddy Day!

2010-10-15T18:45:00.002-05:00

Henry had the day off from school today, so I took a day off from work and took him to The Works in Newark, Ohio -- a children's museum with lots of hands-on exhibits, as you can see below. Given the length of the drive to get there, it's an undertaking that really only works when you have the whole day to kill, but it was more than worth it.

Building a vehicle with K'Nex, then racing it on their model-car raceway:

Learning about the Ohio and Erie Canal, which ran past the site of the museum:

Making a dowel-and-PVC mosaic:

Playing the Xylophone Bench:

Mastering the Kinetic Sculpture:

And mastering the soda fountain at the restaurant, which is nearly as difficult:

Then we moved on to Pigeon Roost Farm, near Heath, for their pumpkin festival:

Here's the farm from the observation deck at the back, looking at the barns at the front:

Oh, and a quick Pro Tip: If you don't want to spend an undue amount of time finding your way out of the Corn Maze . . . take a picture of the map on your way in. (Henry says I was cheating. I do not deny this.)

My Pumpkin (with pumpkins!)

2010-10-15T13:57:00.001-05:00

Just pictures from this morning.

2010-10-15T13:57:00.000-05:00

Knitted pants

2010-10-11T18:49:00.001-05:00

The longies I knitted for Charlie finally finished drying. I fear I may have put a wee bit too much lanolin in the blocking water and then did a poor job wringing out the excess moisture because these took nearly four days to dry.

So tonight was my first chance to get some pictures of Charlie wearing his new wool pants. Of course, it was 85°F today.

In the process, I captured a few good pics of Brian with both boys.

Sesame Street is now diamonds!

2010-10-09T21:00:00.001-05:00

Observations from Henry on Santa and the Tooth Fairy

2010-10-06T19:41:00.000-05:00

Henry has a loose tooth. I've made it a habit to check on it after his bath. He is very interested in this tooth fairy business, especially the part about the cash exchange for teeth. I explained that the tooth fairy's current going rate is roughly $2. He then asked me what the tooth fairy looked like. I had to confess that I had never seen her. "Lots of magical creatures go unseen," I told the boy. He replied, "But I've seen Santa."

Okay, so he had me there. "Yes, but you don't see him on Christmas eve when he does his magic and delivers presents."

Henry seemed to think things over for a minute.

"The Tooth Fairy and Santa are NOCTURNAL!"

Time for bed

2010-10-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

As previously noted, Charlie is what many would call a "good sleeper."
He has transitioned to one nap very smoothly. Our only hiccup most
days is bedtime. And by "hiccup" I mean "it can't happen early
enough."

Tonight, this is how Charlie told us it was bedtime time. Actually,
we missed his first signal, which was when he grabbed his woobie and
went to the gate at the bottom of the stairs and rattled it, as if to
say, "Up there, I want to go. To sleep now, please take me."

So instead, he threw his woobie on the kitchen floor and then laid down on top of it. In defeat. So we took him up to bed. It was 6:30 p.m.

He likes the swing.

2010-09-30T17:58:00.000-05:00