desert island

We're in the car right now, heading back on the seemingly interminable drive back from the desert. Luke is exhausted and cranky; Zach is picking up a second wind after demolishing nearly every morsel of food in sight at dinner. Some brief tidbits from the trip;

Zach, upon first walking into the massive lobby of the hotel/resort: "What...a nice...airport!"

Luke, after jumping into one of the hotel pools: "Let's pretend this is my house, and it's flooded, and all of these people are here for a big party!"

Tori Spelling, at our hotel pool: Nothing more to say on that, except she was there and we saw her.

Dave and I are looking at this trip as sort of a milestone in our family life: It's our first real trip without a "baby." Sure, we had a stroller but we barely used it, if only to have Zach push it himself. But we had two bed-sleeping kids who were both able to talk and express their (strong) opinions and preferences throughout the trip. (Pool- good. Application of sunscreen - bad. Tiny desert bunny rabbits seen roaming the grounds - good. Leaving - bad.)

We love renting a house in the desert and it's always much better at least to have separate sleeping quarters and a kitchen, but we may soon be in a position where this hotel is the kind of place we need to stay with kids. Think seven pools, ping-pong, foosball, a sixty-foot water slide, and (most important for Luke the Extrovert), new people to meet.

Did I mention the water slide? We didn't even go on it the first day but once Dave got Luke started, Zach had to go, and soon it was a family obsession. Of course Luke the cautious one would never go by himself, while Zach was ready to go without hesitation. (Luke's cast was never once an issue, by the way). But for Luke at least, whooshing down the little tube fueled countless superhero fantasies. More than once we'd come out of the water at the end and he'd be yelling, "Fight the crime! Fight the crime!"

Would anyone believe just how fierce and fearless Zach is? He is 30 pounds of solid muscle, as anyone who has seen him holding his legs straight out on the hanging bars will tell you). At the pool, he has no problem jumping straight into the water (yikes) and he practices willingly dunking himself and then popping his head up, saying, "Zach - water dog." He is not just ready to swim, he's ready to take off and leave the rest of us in the dust.

Looks like we're pulling into town so I'll stop for now. Time to unpack this mess of a car and put some lotion on our dry, parched skin.

"My name is Luke, and I am an addict." "Hi, Luke"

As of this week, we've essentially de-baby-fied the house. We gave away the glider and we sold the crib (on Craigslist, five inquiries within six hours). I'm happy to have two boys in beds, and apparently Zach is too. He's been defying all expectations by sleeping until 7 am or 7:30 every morning. The only little moment of sadness I had was when the young father came over to buy the crib from us, and I wished him luck and told him that we had many happy ... memories ... of ... and I got this big lump in my throat and started choking up. So embarrassing! And unexpected, because the truth is I don't have that many happy memories of babies in that crib. My crib memories run more along the lines of: 2 am, 3 am, 4 am, 5 am - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go back to sleep. But the guy understood and I ducked out of there and let Dave handle all of the formalities.

On Saturday night we had the annual family campout on one of the local baseball fields next to a big park. Luke was in hog heaven because he had three little buddies to run around with and they were all carrying swords or light sabers and fighting off "bad guys" for most of the night. Zach and I enjoyed the dinner and time with our friends, then went home for a cozy night of sleep in our own beds, and then rejoined the motley crew in the morning. At 8:30 the fishing derby began and, after a quick tutorial on casting, Dave and Luke caught not one but two pond turtles. Then we all came home, muddy, cranky, and counting the days until next year's campout.

Today is election day here in California, which marks the culmination of Dave's first campaign as a solo operator. I don't want to speak too soon but at the moment it appears that his new company is a roaring success. Somehow he's managed to start his own new business, run a major statewide campaign, coach his kid's t-ball team, and be a great dad and husband every day. I don't know how he does it. The other day Dave had a meeting with a potential new client, and Luke wanted to know how the client knew to call Dave. "Does everyone in the world have your phone number?" he asked incredulously. Also, Dave and I had a good chuckle when Dave received a blind resume submission from a guy who wants to work in politics. The letter began, "I know that at your campaign group, you only hire the finest employees..." to which Dave, the sole employee, had to agree that the guy has a good point.

I have to confess that I am a little worried about money coming in after May, but we might have found a solution in Luke. I did a scratch-off lottery ticket with him a few months ago (bad mom! bad mom!) and he won, so he wanted to do another one, and he won, so now he wants to get one whenever we go to the store. The other day I got him a ticket along with a little speech about how you don't always win, and that's why it's a game, etc. etc. So he took the ticket along to a playdate and I kind of forgot about it until I joined him at our friends' house and the two moms that were there were puzzling over the ticket. "I don't know how to read these things - I can't tell if he won anything or not," said one mom. The winning numbers were 24 and 28, and his whole ticket was 24, 28, 24, 28, 24, 28, etc. Turns out he won fifty dollars! By my count he has won at least $75 so far this year. Now I will be totally to blame when he has to go to Gamblers Anonymous meetings by age 8.

And now for today's moment of zen: Zach and I are driving in the car after having dropped off the baby sitter at the train station. Zach is sitting quietly, until out of the blue he announces, "Some foods...are very...crunchy." Okay, then. Carry on.

Cast-away

Today was supposed to be the day that Luke became cast-free. But once they sawed off the old cast and did a new x-ray, it was readily apparent that fate had other plans. I was standing behind the x-ray monitor at the doctor's office and as soon as the image of his newly naked cast-less arm came up, I didn't even need the doctor to tell me that he was in for more cast time. One bone has healed but the other bone still has a fractured part sticking out that just needs more time to grow back together. On the bright side, his new cast is shorter (below the elbow) and waterproof (hooray for baths, pools and hot tubs!). (This pic is actually of his old cast - a nice shot from Bill taken at Zach's party).

Before we go feeling sorry for Luke, though, let's think about all of the special treats, packages, and attention he's gotten just by virtue of being a generally outgoing and well-liked kid. This morning as we stepped out the door, we were greeted by a little pack of Play-Doh with a get-well-soon note for "The Mayor of Morningside Drive," which is what our neighbors call Luke. (That's right; we were literally on our way to get the cast off, and he's still getting presents.) Then you should have seen him when he got back to school with his new neon-green cast. As soon as he stepped past the gate, he was instantly surrounded by five giddy girls all wanting to look at his arm. One of Luke's friend's moms was planning to pick Luke up from school tomorrow for a playdate and she decided that she was going to make it a "cast-off" party for Luke. Instead it'll have to be a re-cast party, or something like that. As long as it involves Wii and treats he'll probably be happy.

All of this is not to overshadow one of the biggest developments of the week, which is that Zach has now moved out of his crib into a big kid's bed. I know there are some kids (and I envy their parents) who just love their crib and sleep in the crib until age 3 or something, but Zach the climber clearly had other plans. So he's now sleeping in a bed identical to Luke's and -- who knew? -- for the last three mornings he has slept past 7 am. I mean, knock on wood and all, but this seems like it's working out alright. Naps are another story, but if we're not waking up at 5 am I'm not complaining about much (yes, my standards are that low).

Tonight as Dave was putting the two of them to bed, Zach was sitting up in his bed proudly declaring, "I does going to bed! I does going to bed!" This of course had Luke absolutely collapsing with giggles, until he was able to correct Zach and get him to say, "I am going to bed!" Once we figure out what to do with the crib and get it out of their room, they really will be just two kids, sleeping in a room together. So long, baby-hood! It was fun while it lasted, but now we're on to bigger and better things.

Mom's Day

I don't know what anyone else has planned for Sunday, but it sure would be hard to top today in terms of pure Mom-lovin' activities.

Both of the boys had Mother's Day teas at school so I did one first with Zach and then with Luke. Zach was a little ambivalent about his party (see exhibit A at left). Even though I told him it was a "Mommy party" and all of the mommies would be there, he still clung to me as if I might take off any second. They had a little song and a snack, and the main highlight for Zach was eating a chocolate muffin and pouring himself a glass of lemonade that was full up to HERE (apparently no one noticed him with the pitcher in hand, so he just went to town filling a cup for himself).

At Luke's class party, the kids sang three songs (You Are My Sunshine, Y-E-L-L-O-W Spells Yellow, and Mamma Mia). I'd like to pretend the songs were a surprise but Luke has been practicing them on me all week, so I kind of knew they were coming. The surprise that he had been nearly bursting to keep from me was a present that he made out of an Altoid tin. And I would have been surprised, too, had the mom sitting next to me during the songs not said, "...And I can't wait to see the jewelry boxes they made from the Altoid tins." Ooops.

But one of my favorite parts by far was the pictures that each of the kids drew of their moms. It was supposed to be an illustration of something that your mom likes to do. So Luke drew a picture of me -- wearing the dangle-y earrings that Dave gave me for our anniversary, which now seem to be emblematic for him of me being happy -- and it said, "My mommy is going to New Jersey to see her mom and dad." I am just fascinated and tickled that he sees me like that.

As I was lying here thinking more about the day, I was doing a little mental calculation: Turns out I am just about to reach the 2000-day mark of being a mom. Two thousand days -- and nights! How did I get this far? I think back on my first night of being a mom, in a hospital bed with Luke by my side, and not sleeping at all because I was just so awed and excited and nervous and confused. I was a completely different person then because at the time I didn't even know a fraction of what I know now, 2000 nights later. Just imagine how much more I have to learn.

Two Time's the Charm

We love birthdays around here; or at least I do, perhaps maybe a little bit too much (ahem). Anyway, since Grandma Bobbie and Granddad couldn't make Zach's party last week, we had a little celebration with them last night and Luke and I made brownies with chocolate frosting for the occasion. We had to frost them, of course, because what else are you going to lick off the candles if you don't have frosting?

Zach has so many quirky little sayings, it's hard to remember them all when it's time to sit down and write. (Like have I mentioned how he calls a car carrier a "car carrier- ier - ier - ier" and never seems to know when to stop?) But one funny thing about him talking so much is that 1) He can't get away with anything because he's constantly narrating ("Zach... going... downstairs") and 2) We know what he's been thinking about because he'll just pop out with random excerpts from his day. Like he'll be playing with his toys and he'll randomly say, "No, Cruz... don't eat goldfish. Those ... Zach's goldfish" (and I can surmise that his buddy Cruz was trying to pilfer some of Zach's lunch at school). Or he'll walk around muttering, "Rice and beans... then cake," as if to remind himself that he has to eat his dinner first. The other day in the middle of dinner, he stopped to say, "What happened... to heater?" -- which reminded me to tell Dave that Felipe had turned the heater around when he cleaned the boys' room, and apparently it had been bugging Zach all day. Zach later tagged along to watch Dave fix it, and he's been saying, "Daddy fix it... the heater," ever since.

Over to Luke for a minute: One of his favorite pastimes is drawing comic books, and his main hero is his alter ego, Robo-Justice. He's becoming quite handy at drawing Robo-Justice with his left hand, too. Usually while Zach is napping in the afternoons, Luke will dictate the plot to me, I'll write the bulk of the story, and then Luke will add the pictures.

Last night Zach was being super-cranky at bedtime and Dave called him "Crank-o-tronic," which of course captured Luke's fancy. So today he decided to draw the "Crank-o-tronic 800" and me (Mom). But what's that thing hanging down underneath my face? "Oh - it's your tummy, Mom." Sheesh. The nice thing is he made a point of drawing me with the special earrings that Dave got me for our anniversary.

My problem (just one? hahahaha) is that even though he can be a huge pain sometimes, I can't help falling in love with Luke over and over again. Like yesterday afternoon when we we making the brownies: He picked up the spoon to stir the batter, and out of the blue, he sang, "If I knew you were comin' I'd have baked a cake...How'dya do, how'dya do, how'dya do." I love that song because it reminds me of Grandma P., and it's so funny to hear it come out of such a little person. Somewhere I know she's smiling.