We discovered that we can get $1 kid scoops at the ice cream shop down the street on Tuesday nights. Hello, bargain. We were there with bells on.
Kevin opted for two scoops of lemon sorbet. I had chocolate peanut butter. Peter was given the choice between three sherbets and a frozen yogurt and opted for orange sherbet. In a cone, just like me and Kevin - because he's a big kid too.
Speaking of big kids, Lucy slept in the stroller the whole time we ate the ice cream, which is good because if she'd seen it, she would have wanted some too.
The ice cream was way less messy than you would have thought (thanks in part to the cool 50 degree nighttime weather). Even though we called it a cookie, Peter was indifferent to his ice cream cone...until Kevin asked if he could eat it. Peter then devoured the cone in three bites. Sadly, this trick doesn't work for, say, broccoli or spinach.
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March 2009
March 31, 2009
Children's Discovery Museum
Just as I promised yesterday, we visited the Children's Discovery Museum today. We also met up with friends Wyatt, Maverick, and Mariella, which only added to Peter's enjoyment. (We also ran into another friend, which makes me think Peter might be kind of a popular kid.)
Peter really had a great time at the museum, from the moment he realized he could climb on the fire engine parked just inside until we said goodbye to our friends in the parking lot.
He especially had fun in the kitchen/grocery area, which reaffirms my suspicion that he would really enjoy a nice play kitchen. I've started pricing some on the internet and they're frighteningly expensive - especially since I'd really like to avoid the bright pink plastic "microwave/phone/blender/breadmaker too!" models.
But more than the play kitchen, I think Peter (and sooner than you think, Lucy too) would enjoy a nice quality set of play food and kitchen tools. So, to the internet I go. Luckily, we have no space for a kitchen set-up right now, but Kevin's dreaming the dream and hoping for a three bedroom when we move to Swarthmore.
Back to the museum! A great time was had by all. I suspect that Peter just might pick it again for his Tuesday activity next week...and I won't at all be disappointed to return. (This time, perhaps via the light rail.)
she's on the move (but she has only one direction)
Lucy's really starting to move across the floor.
Unfortunately, her only direction seems to be reverse.
A few days ago I was folding clothes in our bedroom when I heard Lucy's "complaining because crawling is hard work" cries start to accelerate. Peter came running into the bedroom and said, "Lucy's stuck! Under the table!" * When I came in to rescue her, she was indeed stuck under the coffee table (clearance = 10 inches).
It seems that reverse is a popular mode of pre-crawling motion, though. Here's Peter at 5+ months in the same position.
*Peter doesn't really say things this clearly. This is, however, his intent.
March 30, 2009
"Emma, where are you?"
I expect this to be the new constant refrain from Peter for at least a few days. His dear friend (and our dear friends) are officially moved away. Of course, the two year olds were baffled why they were to give hugs when saying goodbye, since of course they'd be seeing one another at the park again tomorrow. Except...not.*
We spent today enjoying some terrifically sunny weather. Peter wasted no time in finding some water in which to splash (and sit), and Lucy occupied herself for what felt like forever, but was probably closer to five minutes, in the sand box. (And no sand was eaten!)
I'm thinking about making a rough schedule for our days, so that I can pack up and prepare for our adventures the night before. I'm just a disaster in the morning, and while Lucy wakes happy, she's kind of a mess about the time I'm stepping out of the shower.
Tuesdays are "activity days," in which we'll rotate through a few different activities, including the Zoo, the Children's Discovery Museum, and the Academy of Science. Unless it becomes too repetitive or the weather prohibits it, I'll let Peter choose our activity, and, when appropriate, our mode of transport.
Tomorrow, it's the Children's Discovery Museum via car.
*Peter might have hosted his first coed sleepover today, too, since the movers had taken Emma's crib and we offered Peter's room for a quiet place to nap. It's not like he uses it, anyway. But that's another story...
March 29, 2009
part of my "have more children!" campaign
I'm not sure anything could make me as happy as Peter and Lucy make one another.
It makes me think that a third child could make their heads explode. In a good way. It might be like Halloween night and Christmas morning and birthday parties every single day of their lives.
March 28, 2009
birthday + farewell party
We visited our favorite park today to help Emma celebrate her second birthday and to help her parents say goodbye to Mountain View.
If you can't tell by the sugar-craze-daze look on Peter's face, he had a great time, from the moment we arrived and he realized there were bagels, through the arrival of all of his friends, and straight through to the distribution of cupcakes (or, as Emma called them, "cake cups.")
We all had a great time, made even better by good friends and great weather. I'm starting to get a little nostalgic about leaving Mountain View too, but rather than feel sad or sorry about our move, I'll just focus on the 150 or so days we have left.
March 27, 2009
March 26, 2009
contact sports
An amazingly generous preschooler let our posse of toddlers use his light sabers while we were at the park today.
Peter and Emma wasted no time and engaged in a quick sword fight.
(Also, check out the color coordination...skillful AND stylish.)
Sequoia highlights
I ought to write more, if only for our own memories, but I'm feeling daunted by the task. So, a few highlights:
Day 1
- We left at 5 a.m. Peter said, "airplane, where are you?" thinking that we were headed out on another cross-country flight. As we drove past the airport, he said, "Grandpa, where are you?" The memory on that kid is crazy good.
- I gave Kevin the general directions: get on 5 and turn left at the Carl's Junior. These were exceptionally accurate.
- We saw oodles and oodles and oodles of sheep and cows on the drive there and back.
- The kids were awesome on the drive down, sleeping for the greater part of the drive.
- We played by the river in the foothills and wondered if we needed snow chains.
- We decided we didn't need snow chains.
- We watched as visibility on the curvy mountain road approached zero.
- We arrived at our hotel room and within hours Peter was outside, eating snow.
- While Lucy enjoyed the snow, she didn't like it when Peter stuffed it in her face.
Day 2
- More snow play and a visit to the museum/Big Trees Trail. Sunny weather meant that melting snow rained on us from above.
- Peter expressed disappointment that there weren't more animals out.
- I realized we were asked to remove our child car seats to protect our car from bear invasion. Like the show chains, we decide to risk it. We're in the market for a new car, anyway.
- Dinner at the lodge becomes a par-tay when the D-R kids arrive, outdoor voices and all.
Day 3:
- On our way out, we visited the largest tree in the world. Peter was more impressed with the large stump on which he could jump again and again.
- Our drive home was about 2 hours longer, thanks to some overheated and bored kids who didn't quite understand why we had to stay in the car so long. "Home, where are you?"
Travel-with-children guides gently remind parents that kids really don't get beautiful scenery. This was so true with Peter, who could not have cared less about the gigantic trees or the mountains. The snow, on the other hand, was a biiiiig hit.
Lucy seemed to enjoy the trip, too, except that perhaps she's getting too big for the Bjorn. It's time to look to alternative carriers.
I might be reaching here, but I suspect the highlight for the kids would be the time they took a bath together. Such delight may never have been known by two kids splashing and laughing at one another.
March 25, 2009
did you miss us?
We arrived safely home from our visit to Sequoia National Park just an hour ago. We had a blast playing in the snow, enjoying the crisp weather, and checking out gigantic trees.
But now, there is a sleepy kid and a kid who should be sleepy but who is trying to crawl to eat some unsupervised paper and a daddy who needs to get caught up on some work and a veryveryvery sleepy mommy.
So, more tomorrow.
March 22, 2009
dear Sundays,
I kind of hate you. You really mess up our schedule and make our kids WAY cranky.
(To overcome our difficult Sunday, we're taking a few days off to visit the snow. We have chains for our tires and a trunk full of aseptic milk. It should be awesome. See you in a few days.)
he likes to share
He promptly brought it over for Lucy to examine.
She was, of course, curious.
And then she tried to put it in her mouth. (Obviously, there's no photo available of this awesome action, since I'd thrown the camera down in horror and had to keep my daughter from contracting some weird snail disease.)
Peter, "No! Lucy! No eat snails! Eat bunny cracky!"
(Well, I'm taking a little liberty with that last line, but he certainly did protest when her chubby fingers started bringing the snail mouthward.)
a gray zoo day
We knew we had to take advantage of the reasonably clear morning yesterday, since it threatened to rain and be chilly in the afternoon, so we planned ahead and headed out to the zoo.
Although we had our share of fog-drizzle and a few fat rain plops fell on our head, we escaped mostly dry and happy with a quick view of our favorite animals.
As you're probably well aware, we visit the zoo a lot. I wasn't sure just how well Peter remembered the zoo or its layout until yesterday, however, where he kind of surprised us by remembering where the lemurs and swans and otters and other hidden animal exhibits were. I mean, I guess I'm not that surprised any longer by what kids learn and how their memory develops, but it was pretty cool when we turned a ill-traveled corner and Peter cried out, "swan! where are you?" a good 10 yards before we came upon the swan exhibit.*
The coolest thing we saw yesterday were a few chimpanzees out on their playstructure, blankets draped around their shoulders like capes, looking not unlike my suffering-with-chills husband and his cozy blanket.
Lucy's accomplishment includes gettin' the poops out while I made a quick bagel/coffee run and wearing her sun hat the entire day. Both were really helpful in ways I suspect only parents of infants can understand.
When the clouds really began to darken, we ran back to the car and headed out for tacos and our drive home. Even Lucy got into the spirit, chewing away on a tortilla in her highchair.
*It was cooler when Peter saw the mandrills and cried, "poopy!" when he saw their bottoms. He has a plastic mandrill in his menagerie of animals, and every time he pulls the ape out he cries, "poopy bottom!"
March 20, 2009
breaking routine
Peter's still fighting off a cold he's had for a while (or he's caught a new strand), which means that his sleep is disrupted, thus disrupting all of our sleep.
Today he shocked the pants off of me by taking a pretty long morning nap, falling asleep on the drive over to the laundromat (about 5 minutes) and staying asleep for the whole wash/dry cycle. In one sense, it was helpful that he was asleep since - while I did suggest he was a big help while doing laundry earlier in the week - a cranky toddler does not the best helper make.
Since his mood was still quite variable, I decided to skip Friday lunch with friends in favor of running a few errands. Luckily, his mood improved dramatically during the time we were out*, and I found that we'd salvaged a pretty fun day out of something that could have been a bit grim.
I had no idea whether to expect an afternoon nap or not, and decided when he pushed on through to 3 p.m. without a sleepy eye that we were skipping his nap and heading to the park instead. It was here that Kevin met us, coming home early from work with his own sickness, and we enjoyed a bit of fun in the California sun.
*He had a complete meltdown at one point, demanding to ride in a shopping cart, just as I spotted a giant orange WARNING and ticket on the dash of my car. It turns out our registration is expired. (Well...we knew this. It expired in August 2008.) Needless to say, I didn't exactly handle his meltdown with my full attention, as I was trying to figure out how many figures we'd be paying the State of California. It turns out it's not too expensive, thank goodness.
March 19, 2009
sunny day
We arrived early and stayed late at our favorite park today, watching with delight as all of our friends arrived, too. It was a gorgeous, bright and sunny day...too sunny, in fact, for the light sunscreen I'd used this morning. Sunburn in March? Yep.
We returned to the park after naps, joined by a home-sick-and-watching-basketball Kevin, and watched again in delight as our friends returned to the park, all determined to enjoy the same amazing spring weather that we wanted to soak up.
March madness, FD-R style
Yes, Jared, we're doing our crazy tournament brackets again this year. We're entering the eighth tournament in which Kevin and I brainstorm a host of competitors to fight it out, winner determined by the outcome of the NCAA tournament.
This year we're mixing it up a bit in that all of the competitors* are people we know**. A good percentage of these people are under 4, which makes the battles particularly interesting.
Some good first-round matchups include my dad ("Grandpa") taking on his accountant ("Timmy Taco One"), my nephew fighting his wife (Scott vs. Amanda), Uncle Jason taking on his dog, and me vs. Lucy.***
You can take a look at the matchups here, and follow along if you like. I'm warning you: it's so awesome, you might not even be able to handle it.
*Well, we have some rules, so the Final Four contestants from last year are making an appearance. Hello, Little Peyton Manning and Lucille Packard.
** Except we wanted to pick people that Peter would know, and he doesn't exactly know 65 people, so we included some other choices, like two of our 1 seeds, Elmo and Swarthmore. But, really, I feel like Elmo might becoming part of the family.
*** There's some truth to this battle. Every night.
March 18, 2009
the farm
We love the farm, and we're so excited to learn that a group of Peter's friends take a weekly hike to the farm. We've not yet been on time, and Lucy's melted down on the two trips we've taken, but I have every expectation of returning next week on time and with a better strategy for Lucy.
I tried to take some photos of the kids and the animals, but everysingleone turned out like the one above: pictures of backs. The faces I hoped to capture were far too curious about the animals and not at all interested in me. I suppose this is why we visit the farm, though.
Several babies were out - a kid, lambs, a piglet. Well...my knowledge of farm life is pretty small, so it's entirely possible we saw none of these and just smaller breeds of goats, sheep, and pigs. However, in Peter's book, we saw babies. And since it's springtime, it seems plausible.
(We also saw a lamb pee, which was a BIG HIT. Seriously, a parade might have sprung out in its honor if Peter has his way.)
March 17, 2009
trains, slides, swings, ice cream: yep, it's Tuesday
on the Caltrain; sliding games; sunshine swinging;
gigantic bruise; ice cream for Peter and Lucy
March 16, 2009
laundry day
In a catastrophic turn of events, the driers on our side of the complex are broken. And since we are a laundry-generating machine (especially so since the kids are poopin' and pukin' these days), Peter, Lucy and I headed out to a nearby laundromat to do some much-needed washing.
And for an afternoon, it was pretty entertaining.
Anyway, you can check out his helpfulness here. I'm not kidding when I say that he was really, really helpful. He also managed to impress a few of the laundry attendants, who complimented him on his cute looks AND his way with a drier.
cap'n Lucy
This is the only hat we've found that Lucy will keep on her head. We received it with a few other warm-weather hand-me-downs this weekend.
This might explain why Peter and Lucy are still battling colds. Things haven't gotten as bad as they were a month ago, but it's still sneezes, coughs, rivers of green mucus, and sleepless babies.
So, sick kids are the worst, but it's especially bad because they just want to go out and play but they can't because I don't want to infect their friends. Is it wrong for me to hope that their friends get sick, too, so that we can just have a posse of snot-nosed toddlers running around the playground?
March 14, 2009
the answer to Kevin's unasked question, why the dry erase markers?
pretty artwork!
One of the art media I like to let Peter use are dry erase markers. I knew Kevin always was skeptical about this ("but why let him use them? why not the crayons?"), but the fact is that once a kid gets a taste of markers, it's hard for them to turn back.
Anyway, I discovered a few days ago that Peter could open the drawer where we keep the dry erase markers and get them out himself, but I didn't think much of it, since he's pretty responsible while using them.
Yesterday morning, while I was trying to prepare lunch for four other mothers and five other children, Peter hit the stash of markers and started drawing. I was thankful that he found something to occupy his time so peacefully and went back to cooking and shredding chicken.
Then, it occurred to me that he was a little too quiet and engrossed in his artistic endeavors. I'll let him tell you why himself:
But really, clean-up is a cinch, because they are dry erase markers. Just a few swipes with a diaper wipe and he was cleaned up. And, Kevin, this is why I let him use the dry erase markers.
March 11, 2009
March 10, 2009
cursing doctors, healthy babies
I hinted earlier that Lucy's head might be in trouble. There's that whole bit about her flatheadedness, but more disturbing to our doctor was the fact her soft spot was pretty much gone by the time she was 4 months old.
Today we visited with the neurosurgery clinic at Stanford Hospital to have Lucy checked out.
Let me preface this entry by stating that I was so freaked out about the possible outcomes of this visit (including, but not limited to SKULL SURGERY) that I couldn't even process what was happening. Our visit to the clinic was only freakier, with wall charts detailing epilepsy medications and special scales for kids in wheelchairs.
Anyway, Lucy's perfectly healthy, just as we knew she is. Her head is nicely round, her features are symmetrical, and she's a happy little girl.
It took a nurse practitioner and a doctor about 20 minutes to come to this assessment, and this is a pretty generous estimate.
In describing Lucy's condition to us, the young neurosurgeon assigned to our case made mention of the "Bell Curve," and, perhaps catching the bemused glance that Kevin and I shared, asked if we were familiar with it.
Me, pointing to Kevin: He has a PhD in statistics.
Doctor: Oh, shit.
Yep. We made the doctor curse, which, other than Lucy's health was pretty much the highlight of our day.
Since we'd allotted 3 hours of our time for this appointment and had several hundred minutes to spare, we decided to celebrate Lucy's good health with cheeseburgers and milkshakes at a nearby diner.
March 08, 2009
a few things
I taught Peter some of the finer points of football yesterday. It all started with his silly insistence on kicking a touchdown, which was followed by a very very very rough description of how the game is played (quarterbacks throw the ball and running backs run the ball to the end zone...sorry wide receivers, you got axed), and ended with a lesson on post-TD celebrations.
As you can see, he took some of the lessons to heart, including the idea that he had to cradle the football. And shout "hooray! I did it!" when scoring a touchdown. And run backward when he's the running back.
We've had a few queries about what "bingaboo" really means, and frankly we don't have a firm grasp on it either. I tried to get Peter to define it, but as you can see, he's holding on to the secret of the bingaboo with tight lips. It may be genetic, since both Lucy and Peter possess the ability to bingaboo.
"When I say 'Tar,' you say 'Heel.' Tar..."
"Tar!"
"No, you say Heel, silly!"
And today we watched the Carolina/Duke game with minimal swearing, although Peter did spend the greater portion of the afternoon saying "Duke," which became increasingly annoying and led me to tell him, "Dukey is poopy!"
March 07, 2009
Academy of Sciences
(I apologize for the crappy picture above. It's hard to take a good photo in an aquarium, what with all of those light-reflecting glass tanks. You get the idea, though.)
Even though the weather predictions were correct and it was beautifully sunny outside, we ventured indoors to the newly reopened Academy of Sciences at Golden Gate Park.
The Academy is billed as the only place on Earth with an aquarium, planetarium, and indoor rain forest "all under a living roof."
We went primarily to see the aquarium. Peter and Lucy are crazy about wildlife, but the aquatic creatures seem to really amuse and entertain them.
Peter went NUTS from the minute we were in the museum, darting here and there, climbing up to get better views, squeezing his little body to the front of fish tanks and glass displays. It was a little too crowded for him to go off so freely, especially since he seemed intent on climbing all over other people, so we had to reign him in a bit.
Lucy really enjoyed watching the fish swim by and her brother run around. What more can I say about her? She's possibly the easiest-going baby you know, until you try to take away some paper she's nabbed from an unsuspecting passer-by.
We plan on visiting several times during our last months here, especially since we're now members.
Kevin offers "It was superfun. Umm...I thought it was really funny when Peter held out his hand for the snake to come to him." Which reminds me: check out THIS video of Peter getting really up close and personal with a giant python.
Kevin adds, "Oh, and when (Peter) almost climbed over the fence to the living roof." Which was true...this kid is missing his climbing/running/hanging park days and tried to turn the Academy into his own playground. See?
March 06, 2009
dare I believe it?
The weather forecast for the next 10 days call for sunny days. I'm not exactly counting on it, but I am making tentative plans to be outside for 80 percent of next week. Zoo, farm, park: we're all headed your way.
The weather actually cleared up today, allowing us to enjoy a few hours of post-nap sunshine. I'm looking forward to the extra hour of sunshine that daylight savings will deliver on Sunday, even though I'm generally not looking forward to getting up an hour earlier.
Today we enjoyed lunch with friends after a visit to the mall. (New pants are in order, since I'm finally making a dent on the Peterweight, having lost all of the Lucyweight a few months ago.)
While at lunch, Peter went nuts over our host's two little dogs, chasing them, giggling at them, and doing his very best to actually pet them without really touching them at all. This is pretty much the same reaction Peter had with the cat skulking around the apartments, and I'm fearful that in a few months he'll be asking for a pet of his own. They bring him a crazy amount of happiness. I'm just not so big into the extra pooper in the house.
Lucy showed little to no reaction to the dogs, even soundly sleeping through a period of crazy barking. She was much more interested in all of the napkins being used, and how those napkins would taste in her mouth.
March 05, 2009
March 04, 2009
it's not that we don't love you...
...but we love to sleep in a bed that's not claimed by a growing baby and a thrashing toddler.
Sorry, Peter and Lucy, you've been evicted.
rain, rain, go away!
The rain, the constant threat of rain, and the ubiquitous puddles post-rain are driving me CRAZY.
I'm not the only one, judging by the crowd at the Junior Museum today. It was chock-full of toddlers and preschoolers and nannies and moms (and sometimes nannies AND moms, which to me seems like a waste of money, personally, because if I had a nanny I'd be at home asleep).
Peter had a blast playing with the balls and the blocks and checking out the peacock and snakes, so much so that I suspect we could visit again tomorrow and he'd not be bored.
We were joined by Emma and her family, who are just days away from moving, so we're enjoying all of the outings we can take with them. (Although apparently not enough to take photos...note to self: take out camera!)
When planning our weekend, I offered some choice words about weather, suggesting that perhaps the jet stream is "out to get me." Kevin was a little shocked by my reaction and suggested that I take a personal day tomorrow. I guess it's getting pretty bad. To remedy the situation, I've purchased a membership to a local children's museum in the hopes of keeping the vitriol to a minimum. It's our destination tomorrow.
Oh, and P.S. 10-day weather forecast: I'm not believing your promise of sunny skies this weekend and next week, not for a minute.
March 03, 2009
milestones
But mostly easier.
March 02, 2009
library afternoon
how we spend our time, book-reading-style
