Pick your poison

Lots of things have happened this week, but unfortunately the one memory that is likely to stand out is Luke swallowing a toothpick at the farmers' market. It was a complete accident, not a goofy stunt, and it was apparently as painful as it sounds. So he and I spent the greater part of the day on Friday in the emergency room, waiting for x-rays, waiting for the doctor, etc. Once they determined that it was not stuck in his throat, they gave him the all-clear to go home and eat popsicles. Clearly it was a traumatic event for him, and yet I'm still astonished at how completely wiped out it left him on Friday night. In fact, I have never known him to go so long without saying anything. But Zach was clearly loving his opportunity to have center stage.

Notable milestones from the week: Luke is about 80 percent there in terms of really being able to swim; apparently it just took a few lessons at school to give him the confidence jump-start he needed in the water. He's also made astonishing strides in being able to hit a baseball pitched to him. Oh, and he's all gung-ho about his new soccer team. Not that he necessarily likes soccer or anything, but there some other cool kids on the team, and there are uniforms and they're green!

Zach has a new fascination with the tricycle. His little legs can't quite reach the pedals yet but he knows what they're supposed to do and he is desperate to do it. (The only drawback is that Luke now has a renewed fascination with the tricycle; go figure.) One other little milestone for Zach is a fierce resistance to anything he doesn't want to do, which includes getting into the car seat, getting pajamas on, and getting a diaper changed. Only one of these three things is potentially optional. If you've heard him screaming, which perhaps you have, then you know why I'm about to turn prematurely gray.

Speaking of prematurely gray, or not, today is my last day in my thirties. Yesterday, to celebrate, Dave took me out to a beautiful lunch at the spot where we got married. While we were sitting there, I got a little misty-eyed, but it was entirely out of happiness, not because I'm sad about getting older. In fact, I'm looking forward to something new. Where are those 40's, anyway? Lemme at 'em!

Hazards of life

On Saturday we were about two blocks into our 10-block walk to our breakfast restaurant when my sandal suddenly felt strangely off-kilter. I looked down and saw that the leather sole had split open and the super-thick foam cushion had started falling off in chunks. "Do you want to go back and change shoes?" Dave asked. "Nah," I said, "It'll be fine for these few blocks."

In fact, my sandal not only was broken, but it continued breaking apart in spectacular fashion. Everywhere I walked I left large chunks and chocolate-cake-like crumbs of brown foam behind. There was an especially big pile outside the restaurant, and then under the table where we were sitting (blame the baby!). Finally, after we ate, I crumb-trailed down the hill to the closest open store to buy some new shoes.

As it turned out, there was a sidewalk sale that morning and all sorts of shoes were already out in bins at bargain prices. "Mom! You have to get these! They're green and they have DIAMONDS on them!" yelled Luke, waving a pair of kelly-green flip-flops with metal studs. "Bah! Bah!" insisted Zach, handing me a pair of silver ballet flats with a sparkling skull at the top. How strange to go shoe-shopping with the whole family. Luckily, I found a plain little pair of brown flip-flops, just what I needed to get on with my day. As Luke helped me toss the old crumbly sandals into the trash can, I realized that I had bought that pair right before our first family trip to Italy in 2000. Those sandals have sure seen a lot. I think, more than anything, they finally had just had it with me.

Why did I share that story? I'm not sure. It's just going to have to fit into a general theme of random-ness that I feel today. Anyhow...


Last night we went to the Sunday evening concert in the park with Hatcher and family, and as an added attraction Luke and I made a hazard light cake (a long-promised reward for a Pull-Up-free lifestyle). It was especially sweet to share that cake with Julie and Stu, because they, more than any of our friends, have been through much of the same thing and have changed their share of Luke's Pull-Ups. I loved watching Julie give Luke an extra-big hug and seeing Luke just beaming from ear to ear all night long.

Another random thing to relate is that while Zach doesn't necessarily have many new words, he is starting to sing Luke's Volvo song. You know - 'V-o-l-v-o, Volvo! V-o-l-v-o, Volvo!'" As soon as Zach hears someone singing it, he'll chime right in, "Ee-oh-ba-ba-ba, BaBa!" completely in tune. Last night while we were leaving the concert Luke was singing the Volvo song and Zach was acting as his echo. Before long we had attracted quite an appreciative crowd. (Granted, many of them seemed to be a little on the tipsy side. Well, OK, most.)

And here's what's amazing about Zach: He really just walks everywhere. We now have a total of four strollers and two wagons in our garage, and we might be just fine without them. When Dave goes on a walk with the boys in the evening, Zach really walks. When we go down to play at the school, Zach really runs. None of this wimpy stroller stuff for him. Looks like he's bound to wear through shoes even faster than I do.

Photo booth

This here's a pic-strip from a little escapade that Luke and Zach and I had with my Aunt Liz in Cape May. Liz gamely (get it? heh) volunteered to come with us to the arcade and she played along while Luke pretended to drive the cars and Zach tossed the skee-balls all over the place. Before we left, we decided to cram ourselves into a photo booth just for kicks. So we put in the money and before we could even get situated...FLASH! What?!?! It's taking our picture already?!?! How do we know if we're all in the... FLASH! Quick, everyone smile! Come on, Luke! FLASH! Alright, let's at least try to look good for the last one. Zach, look at the... FLASH!

I held off on packing the little pic-strip because I didn't want it to get bent, and then at the very last minute I tucked it into a book so it would stay flat. Then when we finally got home, I couldn't find it. I emailed Liz to tell her that I was mourning the loss of this world-class keepsake. "I'm sure it will turn up," she told me. So I renewed my search, and - voila! There it was, tucked into Luke's pirate book in his backpack. Now why I would have stuffed it there thinking it would be safe, I have no idea.

I love this little pic-strip because I know it's going to be one of those things that we unpack years later and say, "Hey - do you remember that summer in Cape May?" or "Can you believe I used to wear those ridiculous-looking glasses?" or "Do you remember when we used to print photos on paper?" But mostly I'm happy because Liz is in it. We hardly ever get to see her, but when we do it's always the best. She reminds me in so many ways of her mom, our beloved Grandma P. , who was fun-loving, loved kids, and had a great sense of humor. Also, this is the first time we've really hung out since I've been a mom, and I was so happy to discover that she and I think so much alike about so many different mom-things. She bonded with Luke and Zach immediately, she gave me a much-needed extra hand at the end of the week, and I think she doesn't even hold it against me that I kept forgetting to bring diapers along every time we went out somewhere.

So, Liz, from 3,000 miles away, this one's for you!

Cleaning out the fridge

Nothing much new to report except for a few miscellaneous things, so I'll just forge ahead:

Luke, watching our neighbor Michael head off for work in his Land Rover: "Michael, are you going to drive over some big rocks on your way to your office?"

Zach, after being told NOT TO DRINK THE BATH WATER AGAIN, takes a big gulp of bath water out of his play cup, gives me a huge smile, and says, "Mmmmmmmmmm!"

Luke, after waking up and coming into my room on a morning when Dave is not home: "How 'bout I pretend I'm Daddy and I just lie here while you say all of the boring things that you and Daddy talk about?"

Zach, after deciding that he only wants to walk down the stairs standing up, and hearing me say "Careful!" after every step: "Kee-ko! Kee-ko! Kee-ko!" on each step.

Luke, when asked how "Olympic Day" went at school: "It was OK. We did a relay and we did balance beam but ( big sigh) we did not do the steeplechase."

Ka

I haven't had much to say in the last few days because I've been too exhausted to lift my fingers to type. (Clearly Luke has picked up on this, because he's gotten in the habit of declaring, "I'm the exhausted-est in the whole world.") I'm still in recovery mode from a long trip and a long trip home. Mom and Dad were here for more than a week; I (reluctantly) drove them to the airport this morning. In almost a month of being with them, I never once woke up before Zach. This morning I needed to leave for the airport at 6:30 and wound up needing to wake up Zach to bring him along. A cruel and unusual twist of fate. What are the chances that he'll sleep late ever again?

Mom and Dad swear that Zach is saying words all the time; I'm either not sure or I'm just too skeptical. But one utterance that is consistent and clear is when he says "Ka," for "thank you." (Ka just happens to be an important word in my life, given that it's the only two-letter word in Scrabble that uses the letter "k.") Dave was laughing the other morning because when he got Zach out of the crib, Zach thanked him. "Ka." How polite.

I've got a random collection of pictures here today; one is from Dave's phone, two are from Bill-o. The other pictures are all downstairs on the desktop computer and - fitting in with today's theme - I'm just too darned tired to go and get them. So enjoy this for now.

The Kearnies

Folks, it's award season, which means it's time for the coveted Kearney Street Awards, also known as the Kearnies. Competition was tight this year but we managed to find some winners from among the crowd. Without further ado, the awards are as follows:

Most Likely to Make an Omelet from Leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs: Joe

Most Likely to Injure a Major Joint (special lifetime achievement award): Dad/Papa/Grandpa

Most Dedicated Corn-Eater: Lily

Most Likely to Offer a Free Massage: Sam

Most Likely to Suffer a Cycling Mishap: Eric

Most Likely to Walk Off with Your Car Keys: Luke

Three-Part Award: Best Activity Planner, Most Likely to Gift-Wrap Bed Linens, and Least Likely to be Nicknamed "Beer Can": Mom/Grandma Joan

Most Likely to Stage a Major Theatrical Production: Antonia

Most Enthusiastic Ocean Swimmer: Helena

Most Likely to Provide Water or Bike Rescue Services: Julie

Most Dedicated to Personal Fitness While on Vacation: Sara

Best Tummy Raspberries: Zach

Most Trips Up and Down the Stairs to the Attic: Me

A lavish awards ceremony will be held in California at the conclusion of this vacation. Everyone is invited.