Quick pix

Gotta go to bed; just adding a few more pix from my dad's camera. Birthday pix to come.

Zach's baptism

Again, not many words to spare when a picture says it all. Here's Zach being very grown-up and cute this afternoon after the baptism.

More Xmas pics

The family at Christmas...

Watching Fred's magic show...

Movie night...

A few Xmas pix to "tide" us over

Home for the Holidays

Here we are, in chilly NJ, having a ball. Oh, and here's the gingerbread house that Luke and I made. It was not quite as enjoyable as it sounds because the first 20 minutes or so were completely frustrating as I had to dismantle the house three times and it fell apart on its own one other time. But once we got it to stay together, we had a great time decorating it. Next year, I'll be a pro.

Part of what makes the whole trip easier for me this go-around is that Zach is completely comfortable. First thing worth noting is that he insisted on walking the entire length of the airport, trailing Luke's little wheeled suitcase behind him. So here was this tiny, tiny person wheeling this tiny, tiny suitcase very purposefully across the terminal and through the baggage claim area. I thought he looked like the cutest person in the world, but it wasn't just me. He actually brought a smile to every single person who saw him.

Here at the house, Zach is thrilled to play with everyone and go all over the house, and he's been sleeping soundly all night long. Whew.

Today we went out to chop down a Christmas tree, and much to our disappointment, the tree lot was not selling any more trees. So we had to go to get some pre-cut trees from a store nearby, which turned out to be fine, because my dad did all of the dirty work while the boys and I stood huddled inside the little shop. The main highlight of going out, after all, was dressing up the boys and helping them put on their new boots (firetruck boots for Zach, pirate boots for Luke). Last night when they were in bed, their boots were lined up by the front door: two little pairs standing together, just waiting for the next adventure. Just looking at the boots made me feel all teary-eyed and sentimental. Can't wait to see what's in store next.

Snow Men

I've been stressing out for more than a week about how yesterday was going to turn out; with back-to-back parties and commitments, it was a day that was a little too jam-packed for my taste. We did make it through the day relatively unscathed, but I calculated that I had been going non-stop from 6 am when the kids woke up until 10:30 pm when I finally gave out. In comparison, today was so much more relaxing. We had a wonderful Hanukkah/Granddad's birthday celebration with Dave's family; then we went home feeling all warm and fuzzy and took some well-earned naps.

After that we headed out to the snow play/fireworks celebration downtown. Luke (somewhat surprisingly) really took to the snow, and held on to one little dripping snowball for at least 45 minutes. Zach was less impressed. The snow was packed down and super-slippery, making it almost impossible for a toddle-y toddler to walk without wiping out.


Truthfully, I had been a little worried about Zach and the fireworks. There has been so much going on this weekend, sleep has been a little off, and there was no way to prepare him for what was going to be happening. So we were cautiously holding him when the first one went off...and... he started giggling. And the second one went off, and he started cackling. And the third one went off, and he just nearly fell to pieces he was laughing so hard. It was one of the few times I am sad we did not have a video camera. So while Luke covered his ears, Zach laughed and laughed and laughed all the way through the fireworks show. When we got home, we were saying "Boom!" to him and he would laugh and say "Boom! right back, knowing exactly what we were talking about.

New Jersey, and cold weather, here we come!

Zach be nimble... * Updated 12/14

...Zach be quick...Oh, don't worry. I'm not going to go the poetry route again. But what I do want to communicate is that Zach has figured out how to climb out of his crib. At 19 months. So in other words, we are sunk. I've had conversations with all kinds of people, including both of my parenting teachers, and my assessment of the situation is this: He seems to have scared himself when he vaulted out of the crib the other morning in frustration (he wanted to get up; I thought it was too early) and he hasn't attempted it since. In five more days he'll be in a pack-n-play for vacation. And after that, we may have to go the toddler bed route (I've been talked out of the crib tent). This was all extremely alarming to me, until I mentioned it to my mom, who said nonchalantly, "Oh, you climbed out of your crib at 20 months. You were my only climber." Turns out I earned myself a little toddler bed before I was even two. OK, so now at least I know it's not unheard of. By the way, this here's a picture of Zach, not in climbing mode, at the Hanukkah carnival at Dave's family's temple. Isn't he cuuuuuute?

Given the uncertainty of our future, things are relatively calm but Dave and I are still losing it a little bit at times. Example: Dave has kept a little running to-do list on our family white board, and he's been writing things down in his own jaunty little Dave shorthand - like "sprinx" for sprinklers. One of the items - "EQ box" - was up on the list for a long time until one day Dave finally asked me, "Do you remember what 'EQ box' was?" I had no idea, of course, and Dave mulled it over for a few more days before finally giving it up and erasing it. Couldn't have been that important, I guess. But if anyone has any ideas about what "EQ box" might have been, send 'em our way.

The good thing is that we've still been able to laugh about stuff - a lot. The other night Dave was trying to tell me about the Phone Call to the 14th Century and he got stuck on the "daylight savings" piece and he just completely lost it - tears rolling down his face, near hyperventilation - your classic Dave laugh-collapse. It's contagious, of course. Just one of the many reasons I love him.

Here's a good little thing about Luke (seen here also at the Hanukkah carnival, at the reptile-petting display): He has not complained about school at all this week, which is a really nice change of pace. Dave thinks it's because he learned that Zach will be joining him at school in January. That could be right, I guess, although I was thinking that maybe he's finally settled into a good routine with the "new" kids and teachers. I'm a little sad that we're going to miss the school's holiday show because he's been practicing the songs so earnestly. If you see him, make sure you ask him to sing "God Bless America" (complete with sign language) and "Jingle Bell Rock."

Closing episode #1: There's a kid in Luke's class who has a whole host of allergies. Luke is fascinated by the details, of course, and has been getting into deep conversations with the kid's mom about what it all means. The other day the mom said to me, "I didn't know Luke had so many allergies as well," and I said, "Excuse me?" and she said, "Well, he told me that he's allergic to nuts and to tropical fruits. He said that tropical fruits give him a 'high fever.'" Yeah. I'll leave that one alone.

Closing episode #2: Luke was asked to share one of his family holiday traditions at school, so he and I made spritz cookies. Before they served the cookies, the teachers asked him to say a little bit about the tradition. He told them, "I don't really want to say too many words. But I'll answer any questions."

Update #1: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Suzi came in less than 12 hours aft the post with "Earthquake Box," which was correct. Bobbie came in with the correct answer the following day.

Update #2: The other thing I meant to write about to illustrate that I was losing it, was that I had written a somewhat serious email to a friend last week and signed it "Keamme" - as in, my right hand was off by one key. She never said anything about it. Dave said, "She probably thinks you're so progressive, signing your emails with the Cherokee word for "Peace to all men."

Update #3: Luke spent some time the other day talking to my friend's son Ryan, age 22. It was one of those conversations that went on and on... Yesterday I saw Ryan and thanked him for spending so much time with Luke. Ryan told me, "It wasn't so much like having a conversation with a five-year-old. It was more like...being on the McLaughlin Group."

Holiday mash

Twas the month before Christmas
And all through the house
There was noise coming from everywhere
Even a small wind-up mouse.


The ornaments were hung
From the tree with care
All clustered at lower front-and-center
So the boys could grab them there.

But the kids were getting restless
And Mom was getting twitchy
So she said, "Let's go see Santa"
(Even though it's sorta kitschy.)

They headed over to Candy Cane Lane
(Right next to the new toy store)
It was covered with gingerbread and candy canes
And fake snow all over the floor.


The boys ran down the long ribboned lane
But the big jolly man was a no-show
His tall red chair sat empty that day
Because Santa was "stuck in the snow."


Luke, list in hand, was feeling let down
He had plenty of questions for me
But Zach didn't seem to mind at all
As long as the train table was free.

So we played, and we left
And went home without shedding a tear
But at dinner we thought, "There must be a way
to see Santa somewhere 'round here."

Lucky us - That very night
Santa was driving his sleigh through the town
Could we find him? Who knows?
We sped off with the kids buckled down.

Then we saw him - Hooray!
The flashing lights and crowd was the clue
We waited in line and Luke held his list high
Until our turn was due.



Then Luke sat on his lap and gave him the list
And talked and talked some more
(You might as well take your time with the guy -
It's not every day he's at your door).



When the time came for Zach he knew what to do
He climbed up to the bench next to me
And looked at the camera when Daddy said, "Cheese,"
Gave him a big smile and said, "Gee!"

Cul-chah

We took advantage of an otherwise quiet holiday weekend to cross some things off our perennial "Gee-we-should-do-that-someday" list. Saturday we took the boys to the tar pits, which was an eye-opener for Luke and didn't make the slightest impression whatsoever on Zach. Well, maybe that's not giving Zach enough credit. He enjoyed looking at the saber-tooth tiger models and saying "Meow, meow!" The only thing both boys seemed to notice equally was the somewhat long-ish drive (35 to 40 minutes) to get there (longer than we usually drag them on a regular weekend). At one point along the drive, Luke piped up peevishly, "Are we going to Palm Springs or China?" (which I think are the two longest trips he can imagine).

Sunday afternoon we headed up to the Skirball Cultural Center to see the now-famous Noah's Ark exhibit, and we were completely blown away (so to speak). There was plenty to keep both boys enormously entertained: building the ark, "making" the rain storm, pumping up lightning and wind tunnels, turning a crank to hoist pairs of animals up a big conveyor belt into the ark (see pic), climbing and exploring the ark through a series of rope ladders, and tinkering with all kinds of switches and gizmos to move parts of the ark or the animals.

The picture here with the zebra represents the most promising entrance ever to a museum exhibit. The boys were captivated instantly by the zebras' bodies, which are made with large attic fans that you can spin around and they make a very satisfying ticka-ticka-ticka sound. Between that and the crank-operated drums, we were occupied in that one little section for quite a while.

Dave and Luke and Zach also had a great time congregating in the nut storage house (insert nuthouse joke here). When you pull the rope, you can see into the upper chamber where there is a beehive and bees. Luke was a little uncertain about climbing up the rope ladders to get to the second story of the ark, but Zach had no hesitation about wanting to go up, and he paid no attention whatsoever to the sign that practically screamed out "AGES 4 AND UP ONLY!" Give it time, Zach, give it time.

Lots of things have happened since my last post, including a great visit with Mom and Dad, a nice T-day with Dave's family, and various unusual milestones. Luke crunched the back of his head on Hatcher's coffee table during a sleepover, resulting in an inch-long gash that is sure to leave a scar. We all worked together to put up a Christmas tree by November 24, the earliest in our family's history, and the most beautiful tree to date. Dave got so sick for a few days from some unknown virus or food poisoning that he had to stop and take a nap every time he walked up the stairs. And Zach added a most unexpected new word: Seeing Luke outside calling after our neighbor's cat Frodo, Zach has taken to standing out on the front stoop and yelling, "Ro-ro! Ro-ro!"

I think we're on the cusp of a Zach speech explosion, but there are a couple of funny things about how he's learning. One, he's suddenly started using all kinds of signs, even though he has new words now too. It's like the signs and the words came hand in hand, rather than one after another. Two, if I ask him to say a word he won't always say it, but if Luke asks him to say a word he'll repeat it instantly. He also loves to imitate Luke. Yesterday when Luke was shouting out to some question, "I know! I know!" Zach chimed right in with, "I know! I know!"

Also, after all of this time without speaking, it is immensely satisfying to feel like you're having an actual conversation with him. Example: "Zach, do you want a cookie?" "Yeah!"
(Smart kid, eh?)