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.

Post Partum

What? It means "after the party," right? Oh. Never mind.

So anyway, it's clear that I should not be the one selecting toys for the kids, because everything that Zach got for his birthday is way cooler than anything I have ever picked out for him in the past. He got such cool stuff that he and Luke have been fighting about it all week.

Example: Daniel and Eitan got him a Handy Manny toolbox, and when you push a button in the front, all of the tools bounce up and down and sing their little song. It would never have occurred to me to get one, but Zach and Luke are absolutely obsessed with it.


Then there's a little green Escalade from Suzi and Bill that pulls a horse trailer. When you push a button on the top of the Escalade, it plays a few bars of music with a country twang. Again - Zach is obsessed with it.

And don't even get me started on the tiny stuffed Dalmatian puppy from Janeen and Michael and Gavin. Luke and Zach are both crazy about him, and I actually had to take it away from them yesterday because they were both pulling on it and I was afraid they were going to rip it in half. Yes, it's technically Zach's, but I think they are going to take turns sleeping with it at night.

But it's a good little change of pace for them to have some new things to keep them occupied around the house. We need all of the distractions we can get while Dave is out and about, in the home stretch of election season, and while Luke is barred from the beach and swimming with his cast. So we're basically biding our time while we count down until May 19 and then life gets normal again. Right? Right?

Showtime - New and Improved

Long story short: Zach turned two, we had a cute little party at the park; I forgot to bring the camera, and our good friend Bruce (yep, that Bruce) took plenty of pictures and video to make up for it. So, thanks to Bruce, here's Beach Bucket's very first little video clip. *sniff*

It was a small gathering but the seven little boys who were there each appeared to have a rip-roaring good time. The older kids (Luke and Eitan and Luke's school pal William) ran around playing superheroes, while the younger kids (Zach, Eitan's little brother Daniel, William's little brother and Zach's school buddy Henry, and Baby Gavin) enjoyed time on the playground equipment.

Also we set up two big blue tarps and we had a dozen fuzzy playground balls, which at first the boys sort of ignored, but by the end of the party they had flying in every direction. Bruce even set up an impromptu volleyball game so the boys could pop the balls back and forth over the park fence.

Zach used to be at a little bit of a disadvantage with Daniel because Daniel talked up a storm very early, and Zach didn't have too much to say until about three months ago. But now Zach can totally hold his own. At one point Daniel was crawling inside a play caterpillar and Zach wanted to go inside, so Zach told him, "No...sweetie...it's Zach's turn...inside...caterpillar." Sounds like he's been spending a lot of time with me.

Also we can't thank Elizabeth enough for helping us set up and clean up before and after the party. Even during the party she was on top of things: There was a lady walking through the park with a dog (not allowed) who was off the leash (not allowed) and who made a little poop (the dog, not the lady) right near our table without the lady even noticing it. Elizabeth asked Dave for a plastic bag, then declared, "I'll take care of this. Salathes are good at this sort of thing," and marched over to the lady and very sweetly but firmly got the lady to deal with it.

We were also happy to have Suzi and Bill with us, even as they were preparing to leave for a big Alaska vacation. Bill took some pics, and if we're lucky, they won't get completely lost in the shuffle of all of the Alaska photos and we'll be able to see them when they get back.

One last little footnote: Try as we might, we cannot seem to convince certain people (ahem) that Zach's name does not have a "k" in it. Anywhere. Zachary. Zach for short. See? No "k." Anyway, when we got the cake it seemed perfectly fine but it wasn't until later that I looked more closely and saw that they had apparently written a "k" at the end of "Zach," realized their mistake, scraped off the last letter, and stuck an "h" on there. I'm not sure whether to be sad that they made the mistake or happy that they rectified it, sort of. Maybe next year, Zach can be in charge of decorating the cake and spelling his name on it - his way.

Ten Years

Dave, my beloved partner of (more than) ten years today, was in Sacramento this evening so we weren't able to have dinner together. At 5 pm I got the boys ready to go to the t-ball practice field, and our good friend Bruce (Eitan's dad) parked by our house to help me unload all of the equipment from our garage and wheel it down to the field.

After practice Luke begged Eitan to come over to our house, and one thing led to another and we decided to just have dinner together. (Brandi was out of town tonight, so Bruce was doing the single-parent thing too.) I watched the four boys at the house while Bruce ran down to the Mexican place around the corner and got food for everyone.

While we were chowing down on rice and beans and burritos, etc., I said, "Bruce, you know you're a good friend of mine, but I have to tell you, when I pictured my tenth anniversary, I didn't imagine that it would be you I'd be having dinner with."

Luckily we've been friends for a long time and could have a good laugh over that one. Now Dave is home - oh, happy, happy day. Gotta go!!!

Pop Quiz

Question: Which adorable young man turned two today? Hint: He is sweet, shy, funny, gives enormous hugs, loves cats and dogs, and does a little two-step shuffle dance when he is excited. Need more? OK, he loves trains, trucks, water, balls - heck, any circular object -- and climbing up ladders to dizzying heights. Still more? He has massive greenish-blue eyes, wavy (yes, wavy) blond hair, and a smile that can melt the hardest heart. And when you ask him how old he is, he says, "Foo" - not because he can't say "Two," but because it's funnier than "Two."

Give up yet? It's Zach, of course, and boy am I glad to have a two-year-old. Dave is gone tonight so we had a very pathetic little celebration with just me and Luke and Zach here at the house. Everyone (including me) was in various stages of screaming and melting down, and we managed to have a collective calm just long enough to sing the birthday song over a jumbo cupcake. I'd rather forget about that and just think ahead to Sunday, when we're having the "real" party, and when we're all a little healthier and a little more rested.

Zach is a little volcano of words and opinions these days, and nothing or no one will get in his way. If I put something he wants out of reach, he'll calmly go and get a chair and move it over to where he needs it so he can climb up. There were two different times yesterday when he was very slowly and methodically dragging the chair from Luke's work table upstairs (yes, up a flight of stairs) so he could get closer to the water dispenser on the fridge.

On the flip side, he's happy, silly, and incredibly affectionate. Today we brought cupcakes to Zach's class and Luke joined Zach's little group for snack time. Apparently Zach announced, "Give Luke...big hug!" and wrapped him up in a massive bear hug. The teachers are all impressed with the openness and intensity of their affection for one another.

I am falling asleep rapidly here; it's been a long day with two rambunctious boys. Just want to say once again how happy I am to have this little guy.

I love you, my two-year-old boy.

Chillin

My day of parenting started just about 15 hours ago, and didn't really let up until just a few moments ago. So you can understand why I might be sounding a little bit jello-brained.

Today I was supposed to have the morning "off" but Zach was still a little sick-ish, so I kept him home and dragged him along on my day. I had made plans to attend a lecture on pediatric dermatology at a big skin care medical center/spa near us -- one that just happens to make my very favorite kind of sunscreen -- and they had promised some goodie bags for anyone who came to the lecture. So even though I had thought that the topic might make good column material at some point, I really went for the swag. It was billed as a "Mommy and Me" talk, and it said that children were welcome, so I figured, how bad could it be if Zach came along? Well, guess what? When Zach is tired and a little sick, he doesn't want to sit through a PowerPoint presentation on skin care. And no amount of raspberry juice or mini-bagels can convince him otherwise.

I basically spent the lecture chasing him around the top floor of the building between the two most interesting things he could find: the "Call Freight" button on the elevator (why did they put that one the lowest?) and the door to the "Use Only In Emergencies" staircase. When I finally managed to get him back into the lecture room, he discovered the blueberry-flavored cream cheese for the bagels, which he thought was ice cream. So while I was trying to keep him from licking it directly off the serving knife, he was alternately yelling "Want...ice...cream!" and coughing right into it. If it sounds bad, it's because it was.

So why didn't I just leave? Because I was determined to get the goodie bag, which they didn't hand out until the end. And as it turned out, the goodie bag was a massive waste of time. No sunscreen to speak of. But hey - anyone want a paper-clip-sized sample of stretch-mark cream?

The day got a little brighter when we got home because there was a big broken-arm care package from Uncle Joe waiting on our doorstep ("Spare Ulna and Radius Included," it said on the outside). It was clearly designed to thrill Luke to pieces (complete with Captain Underpants comic taped to the box) and drive me to distraction (candy, candy everywhere). Luke is most thrilled with a lollipop that has a grabber-arm attached to it. I guess he figures if you only have use of one arm, why shouldn't it be extra-long?

Speaking of treats that Luke has received since he broke his arm, Mom and Dad sent him a little stack of read-it-yourself books aimed at 1st and 2nd grade readers. This afternoon he and I sat down to read them and I was completely, jaw-droppingly, flabbergasted at what he can do. These are somewhat complex books (no "See Spot run") that he has never seen before and he just read them out loud to me as if he's been reading his whole life. I knew that he could recognize words but I imagined that most of his favorite books he had essentially memorized. Who knew that he could just plow through a book that he had never even seen before? Dave credits "Captain Underpants" with this development. He is so desperate to read it, and everyone is so desperate to avoid reading it to him, that it has forced him to learn to read on his own. This opens up whole new worlds for him...and me.

I'll end with a cute thing that the boys do: When they're both running somewhere, Luke will be running out ahead and then he'll stop, turn around, and open both his arms up to Zach. Then Zach will run straight into his arms and say, "Luke... big hug!" Then they'll separate and continue running, and stop every few moments for another hug. It is hilarious and adorable. Sure beats fighting over toys or licking cream cheese knives. So as I fall asleep tonight, that's what I'll be thinking about.

As Quoted

I'm going to have to write quickly to smudge out everyone's memory of yesterday's blog, which involved some unsavory side effects of illness. I'm actually feeling better today, even though the boys are still a little fever-y. But let's move onward, and I'll spare you the details.

One thing I've been meaning to write more about is Zach's very amusing speech cadence. He speaks slowly, deliberately, so that we are often waiting to hear what ... the ... last ... word ... is ... going ... to ... be. For example, he's been very open about letting us know things that he likes. But he'll say it in such a way that you're in suspense until the very end: "I love....... this book." or "Hooray for..... diaper!" I got a good laugh the other day when he announced, "Hooray for Daddy...... 's car!"

Sometimes he breaks up the words the wrong way, which is also good for a chuckle. The other day I heard him calling a can opener a "cano... pener." He also has quite a few books that show a cat playing with a ball of yarn, which he calls, "A ball.......ayarn." And at the end of just about every book that we read him, he'll say, "Reddy...........gen." (read it again)

But one of my recent favorites is his conviction that the strongest possible way to say "no" to something is to say "No thank you!" So if I offer him something neutral, like, "Would you like a cereal bar?" he'll just say "no." But if I tell him it's time to get dressed and he'd rather do something else, he'll be saying, "No thank you! No thank you!" while running away at top speed. Today we went to a store to buy him a little kiddie toilet and I said, "Zach, should we get this little potty?" and he took one look at it and said, "No thank you! No thank you!" so I had to assume he was serious. Looks like we'll be saying "Hooray for ....... diapers!" for two more years.

Oh, what a beautiful morrrrr-ning...

Last night we hosted Shabbat at our house and by the time everyone left and we got stuff cleaned up, I was feeling a little green. Today I'm sick, Luke is sick, and Zach is sick. Here's a little snapshot of how our night went:

3 am: I wake up throwing up. Stomach flu, ugh.

4 am: Luke walks into our room for no apparent reason (explanation given: "My legs don't work.") Dave walks him back.

4:55 am: Zach wakes up, burning up with fever. Dave and I can't convince him to go back to sleep, so I drag myself out of bed to give him a cool bath.

5:45 am: The bath is over and he's raring to start the day. I take him downstairs to watch a video and we see the sun rise.

6:10 am: Luke comes downstairs, teary-eyed and burning up with fever, and carrying a bucket. A bucket?!?! "Daddy told me to bring it in case I needed to throw up." Somehow I manage to keep the boys occupied for another hour and a half while running back and forth to the bathroom.

Once Dave got up I took a short snooze, then Dave took Luke to the t-ball game despite his fever, and I put Zach down for what turned out to be a four-hour nap. I was pretty much a basket case, and I don't know how I would have taken care of the boys on any other day.

That's not to say we didn't have some bright spots. Luke is amazing all of us with his reading ability, and for a little while today he was reading entire books to Zach. Can't wait until that happens on a regular basis.

Also Zach is cracking us up with his constant narration of everything that is going on. He's not much of a TV watcher, but this morning I pulled out the Baby Einstein water video, and he seemed to enjoy it...sort of. He spent most of the time sitting on the couch talking about watching it: "Zach... watch... water movie. Zach... and Mommy... watch... water movie. Watching.... water movie." and so on.

Later Dave had a baseball game on, and it turned to a commercial that showed a man hitting a golf ball out of the grass. Zach got excited: "Man... hit... egg!"

Off to bed now, and hoping for some healing time.

In the Dog House

Just a quick broken-bone update: Luke is scheduled to get his cast on Wednesday. It's a good thing too, because he's not supposed to get his temporary cast wet, and even though I bagged it and taped it and wrapped a diaper around it to absorb water, it somehow got soaked in the bathtub tonight. Clearly we are cast novices around here.

Tonight Dave took Zach out for a walk and they walked past a woman with a tiny bichon frise. Zach pointed at it and said, "Not...a real...dog." He spoke clearly enough for the woman to hear him because her reaction was to laugh and protest indignantly at the same time: "He is a real dog!"

Woof.

On the Hunt

When I loaded the pictures from today's egg hunt onto the iPhoto program on my laptop, a funny thing happened: I scrolled through to the last picture, and then it bounced back to the very first picture in my iPhoto program, which happens to be the egg hunt from two years ago when Luke was three and I was in the hospital and Zach hadn't even made an appearance yet. Big changes since then, eh?

We made a smooth transition from last night's Seder with Dave's family (mmmm....matzoh ball soup...thank you, Suzi, for making enough for leftovers) to this morning's Easter festivities. The four of us muddled our way through Easter mass (with Zach nearly losing it over the fact that there was a balloon stuck up on the ceiling -- don't ask) and got back to the house raring to go for our Easter egg hunt. I had asked Elizabeth to come over because we wanted to see her again and I thought maybe I could convince her not to leave town if I made some Petros-style Greek sandwiches (thick-sliced slow-roasted beef, caramelized onions, goat cheese, arugula, and spicy mustard on crusty bread). Mmmmm. Well, I can't speak for Elizabeth, but I'm pretty sure I convinced Dave to stick around.

Anyhow, I had sort of forgotten that at Zach's age it takes them a while to catch on to the idea of an egg "hunt." So we basically had to hold his hand and physically walk him over to each egg: "Look at that egg! Isn't that a nice egg? Do you want to put it in your basket?" And that's fine with me for now. I'm sure by this time next year the boys will find a way to fight over the eggs.

OK, now I should probably admit that I've buried the lead: On Friday Luke took a sloppy spill over the edge of the patio steps while driving his little red coupe, and broke two bones in his forearm. He's wearing a temporary splint/cast right now while we wait to get the real cast on some time this week. But suffice to say, his t-ball career is basically over for the season, and swimming is out of the question unless we get a waterproof cast. He was pretty miserable for most of the day on Friday, but he had a good sleep that night in spite of the cast, and on Saturday he was philosophical about the whole thing. (It sounds strange to say, but with his baseball cap, and his cast, and his newly circumspect attitude, he seems much more grown up than ever.)

I'm sad for him because he just started getting really excited about making comic books - writing a few words and drawing detailed pictures - and now he's going to be struggling to do it with his left hand. Also he needs assistance with just about everything he used to do by himself - getting dressed, going to the bathroom, squeezing toothpaste on his toothbrush, etc. But parodoxically, he also seems to want to help out more. So this weekend he helped me prepare Easter eggs and hide them, plus he did a whole bunch of sweeping and mopping, all with his left hand. Maybe we're on to something here.

As I sit here writing, the boys have just gone to bed and Dave has turned up the monitor so we can hear Zach in his crib singing himself to sleep: "Twinkle, twinkle, little... staaaaaar. How I... wonder...you are." Now he's muttering something about his cat and some trains. It's a good thing he can't see us at the other end of the baby monitor, cracking up. Is this what our parents used to do after we went to bed?

Part 3: Happy Birthday To You, Dinner Roll

Before I mention Sunday's birthday mega-party, I just want to give a nod to one of my favorite parts of Dave's birthday weekend: At the t-ball game on Saturday, the team surprised Dave with cupcakes at the end of the game. He reported hearing some giggling, some "Shhh. Here he comes!" and when he climbed up out of the dugout, there was a gaggle of giddy Angels players, ready to serenade him with "Happy Birthday, Coach Dave." It was a great moment to watch because he was truly touched.

So the party on Sunday was part family reunion, part crazy kid mud splattering contest, part gorge-fest. There were 16 of us for brunch, all related, representing five different last names and four different states, depending on how you count. We had breakfast, brunch, dessert, and some foods that fall into all of those categories, plus some extra mud pies in the backyard.

I really didn't see Luke and Helena and Antonia for most of the party; they were either in the bedroom playing "Wrap Rug" (one of the games left over from their visit together last year, go figure) or outside in the back yard playing something that involved mud, the pillows from the couch, and my favorite afghan.





But somehow there was no argument from anyone when we finally announced that it was time for cake and singing "Happy Birthday" to Bill and Dave. Sadly, Zach conked out somewhere after the lunch course and slept all the way through the singing of the birthday song. It's too bad, because at the moment it's his favorite song to sing. Actually, he entertains himself (and me) by singing, "Happy birthday to you... dinner roll. Happy birthday to you, hot dog bun." I am sure there's some explanation for this but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Anyhow, Dave had asked for sunglasses for his birthday, and when Dad was helping Luke with the card he had some sort of burst of inspiration (inspired by the Aleutians, he says) and he and Luke hand-crafted some shades of their own special design. Would you believe they work better than you think? Well, better than what he currently has now, which is nothing.

When Zach finally woke up, he got a piece of the cake that he had been hankering for all day, plus some extra lovin' from all of the relatives. Then we all hopped in the pool at some point, and somehow we transitioned over to a pizza/calzone party at Elizabeth's place, and by the time we wrapped up the evening, Dave had flown off to Sacramento, the kids had been tucked in, and the rest of us were just plain tuckered out.

Part 2: A Cacophony of Cousins

Of all the places for a happy reunion with the Seattle branch of our family, who would have guessed... 8th Street by the lifeguard stand? Lucky for us, Auntie E made the decision to move just a few blocks away from us, which made for a fun (and convenient) long weekend with both sides of the family.

I don't know why I should be surprised by this, but I am always amazed that when the kids get together after not having seen each other for months or more, they just slide right into the comfortable relationship where they left off.

Luke and Antonia are best buddies, of course, and Luke and Helena are... hmmm, how to put this ... just like brother and sister. At one point they were curled up on the couch together, holding hands, and looking like the two closest friends in the world, except that they were complaining that the other one was bothering them. It's a relationship that only siblings or the closest cousins could have.

But the one very cool thing about this visit was that for the first time the kids pretty much entertained themselves. They'd disappear into the bedroom or the backyard for long stretches at a time and wouldn't be heard from again until someone needed a snack or a drink.

For the moment, Zach is a little too young to join in the hijinks, and generally the person who is chasing after him (me) doesn't get to participate either. On Friday I swallowed my guilt and had Juana come and babysit for Zach so that we could all go to the farmers' market together without Zach. (Going to the farmers' market with Zach involves lots of chasing and apologizing and paying for fruits that we hadn't intended to buy.)

The kids had a good time at the market, of course, but I think they had an even better time playing in the grass afterwards. Luke and the girls started playing "restaurant" and offering us various dirt-, leaf-, and stick-themed foods. At one point Helena asked Dad what kind of ice cream he wanted and he told her, "Ladybug." Without missing a beat, she replied (all business), "Cone or cup?" Something tells me this is a girl who has ordered a certain amount of ice cream in her life.

On Saturday we took the whole group out to the Skirball to see the Noah's Ark exhibit, and I can't speak for everyone, but Zach and I had a great time. Luke and Helena and Antonia spent most of the time scaling the rope ladders and clambering from level to level on the ark. Luke reports that they were playing "poor," as in, they were poor and they had to steal from the rich people. I don't know how they ever got an idea like that.

Zach seemed to be happiest when most of the crowd had left and he had the conveyor belt all to himself to send the animals up, up, up to the top and then watch them tumble all the way down the chute into the basket. For some reason it got funnier for him - and me - every time.

I hope the rest of the grownups had a good time. If they weren't totally exhausted watching the kids play on the ark, going out to our little Mexican restaurant afterwards probably did them in. It's hard enough to take one small kid to a restaurant but when you take the whole bunch, and they're a little rambunctious to begin with, and one of them is not yet two years old ... well, you take your chances.

Next installment: The Big Birthday Bash.

Part 1: New Jersey Comes to California

We kicked off our week of fun with Grandma Joan and Papa by taking them out to the (t-)ball game. At the game they got to see Luke and Coach Dave in action on what turned out to be a hot and dry game day.

Luke was probably as happy as anyone to have the game be over; he was a little overheated from all the activity. So he and Dad and I hopped into the air-conditioned car, headed out on the freeway, drove all the way downtown to Philippe's and stood in line, stood in line, stood in line until we were finally rewarded with yummy French dip sandwiches and cold lemonade.

On Sunday we had a lot of planning go into a big family-style dinner, and as you can see Luke worked just as hard on the menu as others did on the shopping and cooking.

When we finally got the whole spread laid out on the table it was quite the feast. Since it was the end of March it was still a little chilly for eating outside but most of us braved it, fortified by extra food and drink.


Luke and Suzi topped off the night with a little Candyland activity. All in all, a great night, but still - more fun to come.

More than a thousand words

So, like, if you have a blog, and you have so much going on that you don't have a chance to write for a while, how do you decide what to write about?

Oh, and April?!?! How did it get to be April already? Probably what happened is once Mom and Dad got here, more than a week ago, life just got better and everything started speeding up and going way too fast. Now Julie and Helena and Antonia are here - and we have the added bonus of having Auntie E in town - so we're having so much fun that there's no time to blog, really. In fact, there's just barely enough time to post some pics. As always, many thanks to Bill for sending these along. I have a few more from our big dinner together but they are still on my camera. More pics for another day -- or perhaps, to be saved for the family book at the end of the year.

"Stop and take a rest, over in our nest, stop and take a rest, at the end of the day..."