Snow-bound

Ever since we slept in our gabled-roof Cape May bedroom this summer, and then in my parents' low-ceilinged attic at Christmas, I've had a hankering to hunker down (ed: hankering to hunker? hmmm) in a cozy cabin in the woods somewhere. So we're doing it tomorrow -- heading up to the snowy mountains to spend the night in a cozy cabin. Luke and I are both so excited we're practically ready to pop out of our skin. We're packing all of our warm clothes, we've borrowed snow gear from all of our more regular snow-going friends, and we're deciding which books to bring along that best reflect our snow/cabin theme. It's one of those quick, last-minute getaways that could either be great or a huge mess, but I'm thinking and hoping that it'll fall more on the great end of things.

Part of the reason we are getting out of town is that this is our last chance to get away before t-ball season gets into gear. Tonight we had an informal practice with our new team and we hosted a post-practice pizza dinner at our house afterwards (lucky for us - the practice field is at the school literally behind our house). The topics of conversation among the parents included, among other things, the fact that Dave was simply born to be a baseball coach. It's totally true. You should have seen him at practice, holding court with nine squirmy five-year-olds.

Funny story: Dave wanted the kids to do a little getting-to-know you exercise so he had them partner up with someone they didn't know, run over to the far playground wall together, and interview each other to learn their name, favorite color, and favorite food. So the kids enthusiastically ran to the far wall... and then somehow thought that their job was to interview other random kids on the playground. So they all came back buzzing about the new kids they had met ("I talked to a big kid - he likes the color blue and pizza!" announced Luke). Luke, by the way, calls Dave "Coach Dave" while at practice.

You may think Zach is simply a silent partner in all of this, but he absolutely is not. Here is a guy who literally had ten words at the beginning of the year and is now speaking in three-word sentences. "Mommy kiss Zach. Mommy hug Zach," he told me this morning, as I, well, kissed him and hugged him. And there are so many other sentences coming out of his mouth these days I can't even report them all. I just hope a few of them involve how much he enjoys the snow.

Water-logged

I'm sitting here alone in the house, wondering why no one else is on Facebook right now, and then I realize - duh! - it's 6 pm on Valentine's Day! People have better things to do. For instance, there were two birthday parties on the East Coast today that I sure am sad I missed. I especially would have liked the chance to get my hair and nails done and dress up in princess costumes and have my picture taken. Ah, to be a girl.

Anyway, I'm trying to relax a little after a few activity-filled days. (Dave just took the boys out to buy Zach a stuffed cat so he will stop stealing Chairman Mao from Luke - good luck with that.) Yesterday Juana and I took the boys to the aquarium, which was a great call, because both boys love it and it is something that I can't do by myself. Zach is totally freaking me out because (unlike Mr. Caution a.k.a. Luke), he will simply dart out into a street or parking lot if he sees something within 500 yards that he wants to look at (balloon, ball, dog, rock, truck, etc.). I had never even considered getting one of those child leashes (and I know they're controversial) but I'm actually finding myself wondering if it's a good idea for Zach. Evidently they make them look like a backpack so that people won't automatically assume that you're a bad mom. Anyway, the good thing about the trip to the aquarium was that Zach didn't seem to care whether he was with me or with Juana; all he wanted to do was go wherever he could run the fastest; and Luke was having a great time telling Juana all about the fish ("Juana, do you see this bamboo shark egg sac? Let me tell you about it...") and luckily Juana is a great sport who just plays along ("Really? That's amazing! I didn't know that!").

Today Dave and I headed down in the same direction to do a harbor cruise with the boys, and it turned out to be a great idea because it was sunny and a little crisp but otherwise perfect weather. The highlight of the cruise was riding past the famous buoy where all of the cool sea lions hang out. (Zach: "Hi seals! Hi seals!")

A little interlude: I know I shouldn't compare the boys, but I think it's incredibly interesting that while Luke talked earlier than Zach did, Zach pronounces words almost perfectly - no baby mistakes. For example, Luke said "sahz" instead of "outside" for several weeks, while Zach just says "outside" perfectly clearly; Luke used to say "wuh-waff" while Zach says "waffle," and so on. Also many of us remember how Luke used to say, "Wha you do-ning?" for the longest time; I can't imagine Luke letting Zach get away with that. I think he'd mock him mercilessly. That's why just about everything Zach says is pretty much spot-on.

After the cruise we went to lunch at a brewery, which could have been a bad call but wound up being fantastic, because one of the kids' menu items was a make-your-own pizza. They bring you all of the pizza ingredients, you put them together, and then they bring it back and bake it for you. Pretty good deal for them, considering you do all the work. So Luke made his pizza, and Zach ate two mini hot dogs, and the two of them traded jokes while Dave and I enjoyed an amazing hand-crafted brew. (Sample joke - Zach: "Luke! Luke!" Luke: "What do you want, Zach?" Zach: "Hi" and the two of them crack up. It's not so high-level yet.)

Then Dave decided to buy a growler of beer to take home, and he had to lug it on the shuttle bus to get back to our car. Apparently Zach was looking at the growler in such a "Dad, please" kind of way that the people sitting across from us couldn't stop laughing and wound up taking a picture. (My angle is not so good.)

Not only did Zach not want to get off the bus, he didn't even want the bus to stop at a stoplight. Every time the bus stopped moving, he would panic a little bit. "More bus! More bus!" he'd say, while frantically making the sign for more. Never underestimate the power of big, red vehicles.

Well now I'm finishing up, the boys are in bed, Zach has his new cat, and we're all hot-fudged-out from dessert. I remember a couple of bummer Valentine's days we've had in the past (infant Luke being up all night; one-year-old Luke having eye surgery, two-year-old Luke having hand-foot-mouth disease) so all in all this one stacks up pretty well. A harbor cruise and a growler? Now that's romance.

Word explosion

I asked Luke to help me write my shopping list today; it turned out to be a big boon for both of us. All I had to do was call out the spellings of a few food items and he diligently kept himself busy while I got a bunch of other things done. He's just a great kid, and he's even happier when he has a job to do.

So I mentioned that Zach has had a speech explosion; I guess I should have more accurately described it as a speech EXPLOSION. Here is a kid who just three weeks ago was basically only saying "buh" for everything. Now here's a sampling of what he's said (very clearly) in the past 24 hours:

"More hot dog....Please?"
"All done yogurt!"
"Open book!"
"Thank you, brother!" (when Luke pulled his balloon down from the ceiling)
"Turn off light!"
"Good night!"
Tonight when Zach and I were reading he pointed to a picture of a lemon and (just plain out of the blue) said, "Lemon!" LEMON!?!?! Did he really say lemon? I mean it's not like a food he eats all the time, and it's not exactly a word I've been trying to teach him. He just seemed to pull it out of thin air. He must have a lot of good stuff stored up in that head of his. We can't wait to see what comes out next.

Rainy Day

Question: If you go to a store with your kid, and every single person at the store stops to tell you how cute said child is, does that mean that he is objectively cute? Yes, I think the answer is yes.

We went to the store yesterday and Zach got all bundled up in his fireman jacket and rainboots, just in case there were any spare puddles that needed to be stomped. Yesterday's trip also marked a different milestone for going to the store... I took both boys with me and we did not use a cart or a stroller; they just walked alongside me, aisle after aisle. Pretty incredible, considering all of the distractions at the 99-cents store.

Zach has had a speech explosion in the past two weeks and it is astonishing to watch. He has everyone's name down now, and all sorts of one-syllable words, but the coolest thing yet is the two-syllable words that he is stringing together. Last night he was holding on to his beloved green water bottle and saying "Wa-ter bod-dle! Wa-ter bod-dle!" Oh, and the other day at a playdate he saw a cherry tomato and everyone in attendance (including our friend Danny's speech therapist) swears he said "tomato!" I still don't believe it, but they say the mom is always the last one to hear it.

We're off to Shabbat dinner with friends tonight; Luke and I are making red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I don't know if they will be up to, say, Joe's standards, but somehow I don't think the five-year-olds are going to complain.

Now That's Dedication

So how was Dave's big race yesterday? Why, thanks for asking. He ran an amazing race. He cut four minutes off his previous best 10K time, which is almost unheard of, like cutting a half-hour off your best marathon time. Or something like that. Anyway, he has been training religiously and he whipped himself into lean, mean fighting condition to tackle this race and the many other challenges we have ahead. It has been very cool to watch because he gets excited about what he's doing and that happy energy spills over into all of his other projects. He is -- as always -- a great inspiration and a joy to be around.

Now as for my dad, I have this to say with utmost love and appreciation: He is totally committed to his role as grandpa. Totally committed. So when Luke was chatting with him about robots and asked him to build us a cooking robot, Dad took the request quite seriously and sent the attached picture to Luke. Luke's reaction was first hysterical laughter, then doubt ("Is that really him or a robot?"), then curiosity ("But how did he attach the buttons?"). We wound up calling on the phone to talk with the robot directly, and it was great to listen to Luke alternately laughing and asking as many questions as he could get in edgewise.

My question, by the way, is this: The clock says 9:25 in the picture. Do you think Mom and Dad were up to these shenanigans at 9:25 in the morning? Or were they a little giddy, staying up past Mom's bedtime, and this was taken at 9:25 at night? Cast your ballot and let me know.

Things are starting to get very exciting with Zach. He's really moved on to two-syllable words (e.g. "robot" "Lego" "water" "ladder" "people" and "pizza," to name just a few) and he will basically imitate anything you ask him to say. But his real delight is saying people's names. The other day after he and Juana came back from the park, Juana told us, "I think everyone at the park knows my name by now because he kept saying, 'Jua-na!' 'Jua-na!'" He also loves to say "Monique" ("Mo-meek") and "Marchie" ("Mar-ee"), the names of his two teachers at school. But his favorite thing of all is to say the names of our friends. When our little buddies Mia and Anna came over for dinner with their parents, Zach was chasing them around the house giggling and calling, "Meeee-a! Annnn-na!" Today he had even more fun when Wyatt came over for a playdate ("Wah-dit! Wah-dit!").

Tonight (and I don't know why I'm writing this because it won't make any sense to anyone, but it's just making me giggle) we were in the car listening to the Naked Brothers' Banana Smoothie. The lyrics go, "Cut up the banana, put it in a blender, and shake it all up, shake it all up." Zach was grooving on this song and he was trying to imitate it, but for some reason he was singing it as, "Up-up-up...Moon! Up-up-up...Moon!" and every time I thought we were finished with the song, he would grin and start singing, "Up-up-up...Moon!" and we would all crack up, so of course he would sing it again. I just love him. Now it's starting to get fun.

B is for Bdellium

If you haven't heard the Barenaked Ladies sing the Crazy ABC's, you should. This song has basically taken over our house. But it's OK because it's one of those songs that's fun for grownups AND it has Luke walking around saying things like, "Did you know that bdellium is a gum-like tree resin?"

The other day after the approximately 45th replaying of the song, I was humming to myself, "X is for Xi'an, an ancient Chinese river..." and Luke got on my case immediately. "Mom, it's an ancient Chinese city."

But my favorite part is when he walks around the house saying, "I'm just saying, you need to think outside the box a little bit. With a b-a-l-k-s."

A kid after my own heart, for sure.

Two Hearts

It might be a little unfair to unveil this picture now, because some of you might be seeing it later in a Valentine's Day card, but here it is anyway - the best I have to offer after a long week. I took the boys in the back yard this morning to take some pictures, to spectacular failure. Then Dave, awesome dad that he is, nonchalantly volunteered to take the kids down to the beach (along with the camera) and came back with two happy boys and a handful of pictures to prove it.

I have been such a lump of sickness in the past two weeks that I finally dragged myself to the doctor on Friday and he put me on antibiotics so I can get rid of this sinus infection once and for all. Zach might be headed in the same direction. So.... news? I think I had some, somewhere, but my brain can't seem to find it.

What I can report is that Zach is an amazing mimic right now. Tonight he was being awfully shy around Grandma Bobbie and Granddad but as soon as he and I went into my room he was saying "Gam-ma! Gam-ma! Gam-ma!" He's also learned his first sentence, or rather command: "Read book! Read book!" He'll say this while turning around and slowly backing himself into you, getting ready to park his bottom on your lap. It's irresistible. (Also worth noting, by contrast, was that Luke's first "sentence" was "Want cookie!") Zach is also surprising me by remembering little words here and there ("Egg!" "Ham!") and he will happily point to his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, fingers, toes, and belly button on request. Oh, and one extra note of cuteness: This morning after he woke up he took a drink from my water bottle and got his pajamas wet in the process. So he started a little song to himself (sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle": "Wet wet wet wet wet-wet-wet, wet wet wet wet wet-wet-wet"). It was enough to make Dave wake up laughing.

Luke must have grown two inches in the last month. Every time I look at him I feel like I barely recognize him, with his long legs and his grown-up-kid face. Last night while he was getting ready for bed I was interviewing him about what he wants to be when he grows up. Here's an excerpt:
What do you want to be when you grow up? A dad and a rock star.
What state do you want to live in? California
What do you think is going to be the name of the lady you marry? Lynn
How many kids do you want? Five
What will you name your kids? Jason and Wyatt for the boys; Sophia and Sage for the girls (I know that's not five but we got sidetracked after he thought of four names)
Where would you take them on vacation? New Jersey. Maybe where Martin Luther King lived. Maybe Ireland.
If you could have anything you want for dinner on your birthday, what would you have? Beer...
What?!?! I mean when I'm grown up.
OK, what would you have for your birthday dinner when you are a grownup? Beer, and of course a glass of water. Chicken and rice. Probably some meatballs and gravy like you guys had tonight. Salmon. And carrot sticks.
What do you want for your birthday dinner when you turn six? A hot dog, some spaghetti. And carrot sticks.

Mission: Possible

So it's 8:50 on a typical Saturday morning, and we're all sitting around in our pajamas reading (note: this picture was not entirely staged; the boys were really reading together) and Dave says, "What do you think about the crazy idea of just taking off and getting on a train and heading down to San Juan Capistrano for the day?" And I say, "OK!" and Dave takes off for downstairs, books us some tickets on the computer, and by 9:04 we are out the door, headed downtown to catch the 9:40 to San Juan Capistrano.

Of course this is an entirely ridiculous plan, because even if the traffic is perfect, and you make it to Union Station almost in time, you still have to park the car, and make sure everything fits in the diaper bag, and get Zach in the umbrella stroller, and help Luke fix his pants so they're not falling down, and put the ticket receipt into the little scanner so actual Amtrak tickets come out. But you have to give us an A for effort. We made it to the track just as the train was pulling away. And it was fine, in the end, because then we had an hour until the next train to wander around and enjoy Union Station -- which is really quite magnificent and seemingly underused -- and plan future trips.

When it was time for the next train, we made our way over to the tracks and you could feel the excitement building. I love this picture of Luke because he had just finished saying, "This is the most perfect train in the world!"

Once we got on board it was even better because we had one of those double-decker trains and we got a great seat upstairs with a table, and we made good use of the snack car, and we saw lots of things out the window that the boys enjoyed (other trains, backhoes, airplanes, boxcars, trash trucks, etc.). By the time we got to the mission, that trip seemed almost incidental. We just wandered around the grounds, looked at a few things, and soon it was time to get back on the train, which was OK because that was the cool part anyway. Zach slept the whole way home and I imagine that's how he would ideally like to sleep all the time - in my arms, being rocked by the gentle motion of the train chugging along the tracks.

Oh, and by the way, Dave is my ideal husband. Is that pretty clear by now?

Five

After the virtual picture explosion at Christmastime, I've gotten far behind on uploading photos. Blame it on the new camera and the constant uncertainty about where I've left the cord.

Anyboringbeginning, I just had to slide in these two photos. The first one is of our new weekend occupation: trying to find train-related activities that will thrill Zach to pieces and not bore Luke in the process. Turns out there's this cool mini-train railroad at a park nearby that offers free rides on the first Sunday of every month. So the other week we tried it out and even Luke had a good time. (Zach: "Toot-toot!")


Also we celebrated Luke's birthday with the West Coast family and Suzi made this super-cool Luke cake that seemed so sleek and moderne it reminded me of the Love statue.

Oh, and by the way, Luke reminds us that he's "almost" about to turn six.

Learning Curve

Somehow when I pictured Luke teaching Zach how to talk, I had imagined sort of a soft-focus, Hallmark-esque scene with the two of them sitting together and Luke saying something like, "Say 'dog!' Say 'cat!'" and smiling in an encouraging fashion.

Instead what I got is the two of them wrestling on my bed, with Luke holding Zach in a head-hold, saying "Say, 'Stinky-Foot Head!'" and Zach saying "Icky foo-eh," and the two of them cracking up for a minute and then pounding each other. Apparently this is a y-chromosome thing that I just don't understand.

But Zach's position as younger brother has afforded him some important vocabulary lessons. He now knows how to say frequently needed phrases like, "Let go!" and "Mine!" and when all else fails, "No-no-no-no-no!"

This week we're muddling along through the start of school, the end of sleep as we knew it, and the continuation of colds; so you may notice some bad moods cropping up here and there. Nevertheless, the weather is trying hard to cheer us up with crazy 80-degree sunny beach days. Over the weekend, Dave was inspired to buy a bike trailer and get us out and about on the beach bike paths. When Luke first squished into the trailer with Zach (note to hard-core cyclists: we're getting Luke a real hitch for his bike soon), everything was fine. But then it was only a matter of minutes before the complaints started: "I'm too squished in here!" "Zach's taking up all the room!" "This is too boring!" "This is the most boring-est thing I have ever done!" and onwards from there. Sigh. Kid doesn't appreciate a good thing when he has it.

As I mentioned earlier, Zach's school experience has not been going well so far. Still, things were looking up on Friday when we were all home together and he seemed to be getting back in the groove. Then in the late afternoon I decided to go to the gym, and I dropped the boys off at the kids' club there. Fifteen minutes into my swim a staff member had to summon me out of the water to go and collect the puddle-y mess that was Zach, who had never once stopped crying since I left. Ugh. So we took the weekend off from any efforts to "leave" Zach somewhere, but tomorrow he's back at school to try it all over again.

Send prayers, folks.

Don't Ask

It has been a hard, hard week; made harder by a complete lack of sleep (why do these two always go hand in hand?). Zach had his first day of school on Tuesday, and it was so rough that the teachers suggested bringing him on Wednesday just so he would have come continuity; otherwise they thought that Thursday would probably be just as rough. So we dragged him to school three days this week and he cried almost the whole time, and it felt like it was just as rough on me, and there's probably more to say but I just don't really want to talk about it anymore.

Good things ... Celebrating Luke's birthday with the West Coast family last weekend ... watching Luke enjoy all of his new science toys, including the microscope from Grandma Joan and Papa and the chemistry kit from his buddy Wyatt ... helping Zach use his Barnes & Noble gift certificate (thanks, Unk!) to buy some trains that he has been dying to get his hands on, and watching him get completely absorbed in playing with them ... Taking the boys to see Dave's new office downtown, and having Dave come home at lunchtime and be home for dinner in six minutes flat ... Talking my way into a 5-cent-per-word raise on my parenting contract (I'm rich!!! I will buy a house on the beach! I will rule the world!!! Or maybe I'll go play some nickel slots.). Anyway, that's it for now. I'm going to go kiss some boys and then go to sleep.

Luke Turns Five!!!!

Here's Luke and Sam, showing off our four-layer sticky-sweet creation. Why is it that most of the grownups said "no thanks" to the cake? Hmmm.

I've also added a few shots from the birthday party at Joe's house: opening presents, enjoying dessert, reading "Captain Underpants" with Aunt Marie, preparing Gingerbread Manhattans after the kids had gone to bed.

Oh, and not to be forgotten, Zach's birthday present to Luke was learning to say, "Luuuuuuuuke!"

Luke is an amazing character. Sweet, funny, outgoing, talkative, curious, engaging ... and at times, a huge pain. Like yesterday, New Year's Day, when we flopped around the house most of the day and Luke was more annoying than he has been in a long time. But at some point he turned it around and became the sweetest, funniest boy on the planet. It was bedtime and I almost didn't want him to go to sleep because I was so entertained by his monologue on blood transfusions. Yeah, it's like that.

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

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!"