Although Frost has ample Lego, I keep an eye on Craigslist for choice listings and garage sales where we might find mini-figures for Frost or construction Duplo for Wren. My ongoing search term of "Lego" has sparse offerings... every day or so someone lists an X-box game or a bundle of mega-blocks disguised as Lego but not much interesting.
But yesterday, I hit the motherload. I discovered that the Craigslist search engine does not search using the string in other words so my LEGO search did not include LEGOS. Silly me. I never thought a person would say LEGOS but apparently Americans like to pluralize Lego with an "s" and all their sales were listed in this way. I guess one could buy a single Lego block but most people want more which is why they stick on the S.
After I got over the sighing and rolling my eyes part, I have been enjoying catching up on all the LegoS I have missed and having a few more hits on my RSS feed.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Frost's First Sleepover
Frost slept the night at the school sleepover. It was the first night he has slept away from home and he did very well. I did not get a midnight call to come and fetch him and he didn't need to pee in the night.
He is very matter of fact about it but I got Wren to bed at 7.15pm and Josh and I watched a movie and had dinner alone! It was marvelous.
I can see more sleepovers in Frost's future.
After fetching Frost from the park after the sleepover we went to the zoo in hopes of seeing the Siamungs. They were looking rather sad and snuggling inside, probably because of the awful weather. They did not make the impressive hooting and hollering that Wren imitates whenever he sees a monkey.
After the zoo I took Frost and Wren to Kidd Valley for a chicken burger and they shared an Oreo Shake. Everyone was very pleased and it was a good way to start SUMMER VACATION! Yes, Frost has finished first grade and is now on break until September.
He is very matter of fact about it but I got Wren to bed at 7.15pm and Josh and I watched a movie and had dinner alone! It was marvelous.
I can see more sleepovers in Frost's future.
After fetching Frost from the park after the sleepover we went to the zoo in hopes of seeing the Siamungs. They were looking rather sad and snuggling inside, probably because of the awful weather. They did not make the impressive hooting and hollering that Wren imitates whenever he sees a monkey.
After the zoo I took Frost and Wren to Kidd Valley for a chicken burger and they shared an Oreo Shake. Everyone was very pleased and it was a good way to start SUMMER VACATION! Yes, Frost has finished first grade and is now on break until September.
Monday, June 9, 2008
The Deck Cometh (and so does cardiology clinic)
This past week we started our deck project. We have a contractor building a deck off the patio doors at the rear of the house. It is going briskly and OK so far although giving our builder clearer measurements on the plan would have saved a few mis-starts.
Right now, I am contemplating whether the stairs are in the right place or I should ask him to move them a foot to the right.
Anyway, the kids are fascinated by the project and very upset not to be able to get out the back door to the yard. Wren in particular is sad to be cut off from the stairs to the diggers in the cat-poopy sand box.
My shopping list from the hardware store:
1) More play sand because cats pooped in the sandbox.
2) More pipe insulation because Wren chewed and tore up the one we had bought.
3) A new float for the cistern because the old one broke off and made the toilet run all the time.
4) Deck sealant and stain from the Environmental Home Center when the deck is ready!
Meanwhile, on a less fun note, Wren has a sedated echo on Monday 16th June. He cannot eat from 4am onwards so he will have a grumpy few hours from 5.20am when he wakes up like clockwork till 7.45am when we have our appointment.
He looks so energetic and happy that I hope he is doing ok inside as well.
Right now, I am contemplating whether the stairs are in the right place or I should ask him to move them a foot to the right.
Anyway, the kids are fascinated by the project and very upset not to be able to get out the back door to the yard. Wren in particular is sad to be cut off from the stairs to the diggers in the cat-poopy sand box.
My shopping list from the hardware store:
1) More play sand because cats pooped in the sandbox.
2) More pipe insulation because Wren chewed and tore up the one we had bought.
3) A new float for the cistern because the old one broke off and made the toilet run all the time.
4) Deck sealant and stain from the Environmental Home Center when the deck is ready!
Meanwhile, on a less fun note, Wren has a sedated echo on Monday 16th June. He cannot eat from 4am onwards so he will have a grumpy few hours from 5.20am when he wakes up like clockwork till 7.45am when we have our appointment.
He looks so energetic and happy that I hope he is doing ok inside as well.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Pee Alarm and Falling over
As Wren approaches 18 months old he has become very strident. He knows what he wants and is very dogmatic about getting it. He wants:
1) To go everwhere with me.
2) To stop at every constructions site (or else he weeps and shrieks "digger, more digger" for the rest of the trip.
3) To eat any sweet thing he sees someone else eating. "more num num! Num num! Cookie!"
4) To have what Frost has.
5) To prevent Frost having anything he has.
6) To run very very fast (and fall over and hit his nose/knee/shin/hand) as he falls.
7) To poke snails and slugs.
8) To get up before 6am, regardless of when he goes to bed.
9) To eat dinner on my lap instead of seated in his high chair.
10) To hit the cats.
11) To Drag the toy digger, excavator and front-end loader around the house even when they are full of sand. He cries all the time as he drags them because they are too big to manoeuvre and jack-knife or fall over or pin his legs in bad ways.
He speaks all the time. Today he said Bean, bear, knife, sharp and many words I can't remember. I shall try and notice tomorrow.
1) To go everwhere with me.
2) To stop at every constructions site (or else he weeps and shrieks "digger, more digger" for the rest of the trip.
3) To eat any sweet thing he sees someone else eating. "more num num! Num num! Cookie!"
4) To have what Frost has.
5) To prevent Frost having anything he has.
6) To run very very fast (and fall over and hit his nose/knee/shin/hand) as he falls.
7) To poke snails and slugs.
8) To get up before 6am, regardless of when he goes to bed.
9) To eat dinner on my lap instead of seated in his high chair.
10) To hit the cats.
11) To Drag the toy digger, excavator and front-end loader around the house even when they are full of sand. He cries all the time as he drags them because they are too big to manoeuvre and jack-knife or fall over or pin his legs in bad ways.
He speaks all the time. Today he said Bean, bear, knife, sharp and many words I can't remember. I shall try and notice tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Now I can live in America
Today, I discovered that Safeway stocks Okra Pickles from Texas. These pickles taste just like pickles should and go a long way towards helping me feel at home in America. Finally, I have something to eat with cheese. By contrast, the bottled onions I bought turned out to be just bottled onions, no pickle at all! It was a sad moment. The only pickled onions I can find are cippolino's in the pickle bar (aka Olive Bar in US supermarkets). I have also found Lindemans SOUTH AFRICA Cab Sav at $6 a bottle! It is a delicious drink-now South African red at a great price.
When I bought the wine, Wren embarrassed me by saying "'ine, dada" very loudly and pointing at the bottle. Everyone must think we are regular alcoholics for our little baby to have wine among his first words.
Wren has decided to walk face first down stairs. Until now, he has been crawling backwards in the recommended "feet first" stance. Walking down stairs is much more dangerous and he has already fallen twice today. I am having to escort him down all steps. I should have expected this. For the past few weeks he has been "practicing" stepping up and down any change in grade saying "up-down" as he does it. Honestly, he has done it hundreds of times. Now I see that he was really working on something and feels he has passed the test. Josh says "he had to learn it sometime" but I wish he had waited until he was a bit more able to judge the implications of a fall.
This evening, Frost had his last Husky Soccer Team practice. I had failed to bring snack along so Frost was fake weeping about "how you should ALWAYS bring snack" and Wren was saying "num nums" and crying when I would not share the stick of gum I gave Frost.
I decided to stop at Dicks for burgers.
Dicks has very cheap, relatively good quality beef burgers. They are a bit of a local institution. Frost complained when I said he should share his shake with Wren so I decided to buy them both basic burgers - patty, bun, mayo and pickle. Frost said he didn't want pickle and he wanted strawberry shake instead of the normal vanilla so off I went. Five dollars later I had 2 burgers and a shake. Wren grabbed the burger from me and tried to eat the foil wrap saying "num nums" in a muffled shriek. I guess he was really hungry. I unwrapped it for him.
By the time we reached home he had eaten 3/4 of the burger.
In a weird coincidence we ended up driving home directly behind Joshua in the Subaru. What are the odds of that?
Josh was sad we hadn't bought him a burger but with groceries so expensive I feel compelled to eat what we have whenever possible. Today, I filled the minivan with gas and spent $72. Yes, seventy two dollars. Ouch.
We are going to be hiking in the wild bushes of local parks this summer, not in the wilderness 2 hours drive from here.
We are interviewing decking contractors. THe one we saw tonight said the deck could be made within 2 weeks. I like that thought. We would have to hold a deck warming BBQ ASAP.
When I bought the wine, Wren embarrassed me by saying "'ine, dada" very loudly and pointing at the bottle. Everyone must think we are regular alcoholics for our little baby to have wine among his first words.
Wren has decided to walk face first down stairs. Until now, he has been crawling backwards in the recommended "feet first" stance. Walking down stairs is much more dangerous and he has already fallen twice today. I am having to escort him down all steps. I should have expected this. For the past few weeks he has been "practicing" stepping up and down any change in grade saying "up-down" as he does it. Honestly, he has done it hundreds of times. Now I see that he was really working on something and feels he has passed the test. Josh says "he had to learn it sometime" but I wish he had waited until he was a bit more able to judge the implications of a fall.
This evening, Frost had his last Husky Soccer Team practice. I had failed to bring snack along so Frost was fake weeping about "how you should ALWAYS bring snack" and Wren was saying "num nums" and crying when I would not share the stick of gum I gave Frost.
I decided to stop at Dicks for burgers.
Dicks has very cheap, relatively good quality beef burgers. They are a bit of a local institution. Frost complained when I said he should share his shake with Wren so I decided to buy them both basic burgers - patty, bun, mayo and pickle. Frost said he didn't want pickle and he wanted strawberry shake instead of the normal vanilla so off I went. Five dollars later I had 2 burgers and a shake. Wren grabbed the burger from me and tried to eat the foil wrap saying "num nums" in a muffled shriek. I guess he was really hungry. I unwrapped it for him.
By the time we reached home he had eaten 3/4 of the burger.
In a weird coincidence we ended up driving home directly behind Joshua in the Subaru. What are the odds of that?
Josh was sad we hadn't bought him a burger but with groceries so expensive I feel compelled to eat what we have whenever possible. Today, I filled the minivan with gas and spent $72. Yes, seventy two dollars. Ouch.
We are going to be hiking in the wild bushes of local parks this summer, not in the wilderness 2 hours drive from here.
We are interviewing decking contractors. THe one we saw tonight said the deck could be made within 2 weeks. I like that thought. We would have to hold a deck warming BBQ ASAP.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Frost invents familial relativism
Me: Frost, come and sit at the table to eat.
Frost: No, pleeeease can I eat in the living room.
Me: Frost, come and eat with Wren and I. We all sit down together to eat breakfast.
Frost: Shannon, there is no actual way to do anything. There are just ways and the adults say "oh, we kind of want you to do this this way." So, you could say Frost, everyday I want you to sit at the table and then we sit at the table. There are basically infinite ways to do things.
Me: That's an interesting idea. Some people agree with you but come and sit down and talk about it.
Frost: See, there is no right and wrong way to do stuff you just make ways and tell other people to do those ways and that is how people do those ways but sometimes they say no and then they do it their own way. You just make up a way to do things and then you do it that way.
Me: But aren't there some occasions when there is a reason for doing things like other people?
Frost: Well of course, with the kids there are board games and they have rules but even then you can make up your own way to play it.
Me: But Frost, what about the reasons for our decisions. Sometimes adults have a way to do things because we know that one way is safer or better. The kids may not understand the reason.
Frost: That is half of what you say. Adults might have a reason to put on the kids. Like you want me to sit at the table. Kids might not understand but the reason is to be polite.
Me: Or, to be safe. For example, I might tell you we roast marshmallows on sticks or not run near the fire. The reason is to stop you getting burned.
Frost: Oh, then the reason to do things and the actual thing you are doing are actually the same thing, they are part of it. The reason is kind of mixed with the actual thing you are doing. It is to help the thing you are doing, to make it safer or better.
I am going to continue this conversation to see whether Frost's relativism is moral, cultural or simply opportunistic before I plan my intervention :)
I suspect he is realizing there is no reason for things like bedtime at 8.30 or eating some place versus another but rather than this being a source of rebellion, for now it is an observation leading to a great deal of discussion about my "requests".
Saturday, May 31, 2008
"MOVE!" and other conversations with Wren
Wren has become chatty. As we walk in the stroller he tells me things like "More, isis" (Iris) as they are all in bloom. "Num nums, nut, bite, ar, ar" [translates to Squirrels eat nuts and they bite and are fierce].
If he gets close to your face he starts to poke:
"Eye"
"Nose"
"Eeea"
"teeth"
At diaper change he announces "MORE POOP" even if the diaper is just wet. They he asks for "Dice, mine!" for distraction while I throw the diaper in the rubbish "uck uck."
He has added a whole number of words in recent days (some may be duplicates)
(right now he comes and grabs my leg and says "move" tearfully and signs "milk" and adds "mama")
He says:
move
hose
moose
'puter (computer)
knee
roller (the construction equipment)
a-row (eyebrow)
eeza (eagle)
crane (the bird)
ball
BITE
His favorite book is "go oof go" which we read many times a day.
If he gets close to your face he starts to poke:
"Eye"
"Nose"
"Eeea"
"teeth"
At diaper change he announces "MORE POOP" even if the diaper is just wet. They he asks for "Dice, mine!" for distraction while I throw the diaper in the rubbish "uck uck."
He has added a whole number of words in recent days (some may be duplicates)
(right now he comes and grabs my leg and says "move" tearfully and signs "milk" and adds "mama")
He says:
move
hose
moose
'puter (computer)
knee
roller (the construction equipment)
a-row (eyebrow)
eeza (eagle)
crane (the bird)
ball
BITE
His favorite book is "go oof go" which we read many times a day.
Monday, May 26, 2008
It is the season
I was cleaning my teeth this morning when Wren walked up to me with something squished between his fingers.
"NUK" he said.
I looked, it was a dead fly.
While I washed his hands he complained because he couldn't hold his Duplo dragon at the same time as being dangled over the basin. After he was done he clung to my legs because he was worried that the floor might be wet and he has fallen over enough times to learn caution.
When I was ready we headed off for our weekly shopping trip at Trader Joes. Wren likes Trader Joe's. He enjoys the snack hut where we eat samples, no matter how bizarre or enticing. Today was sliced hot dog. "Hot Hot" warned Wren as I poured coffee into an egg cup sized cup. I had to return a few times
Along the way, we passed by the hulks of BBQs set out on the sidewalk for adoption. Some looked quite enticing if you have a yen for propane while others are frightening dark maws which need commercial disinfection before I would offer them a hot dog.
This is the season for the dumping and replacement of BBQs. Tomorrow is Memorial Day - a traditional day for the Brats on the BBQ along with a keg and some rose if you're posh. Wren is too small for me to feel comfortable with a tub of fire on the back patio so we are not tempted by the offerings.
Its also the first whole week of sunshine and snails and slugs eating everything green shooting while the perennials grown inches overnight.
Wren is napping so I shall finish unpacking our groceries and plan the next batch of bread.
"NUK" he said.
I looked, it was a dead fly.
While I washed his hands he complained because he couldn't hold his Duplo dragon at the same time as being dangled over the basin. After he was done he clung to my legs because he was worried that the floor might be wet and he has fallen over enough times to learn caution.
When I was ready we headed off for our weekly shopping trip at Trader Joes. Wren likes Trader Joe's. He enjoys the snack hut where we eat samples, no matter how bizarre or enticing. Today was sliced hot dog. "Hot Hot" warned Wren as I poured coffee into an egg cup sized cup. I had to return a few times
Along the way, we passed by the hulks of BBQs set out on the sidewalk for adoption. Some looked quite enticing if you have a yen for propane while others are frightening dark maws which need commercial disinfection before I would offer them a hot dog.
This is the season for the dumping and replacement of BBQs. Tomorrow is Memorial Day - a traditional day for the Brats on the BBQ along with a keg and some rose if you're posh. Wren is too small for me to feel comfortable with a tub of fire on the back patio so we are not tempted by the offerings.
Its also the first whole week of sunshine and snails and slugs eating everything green shooting while the perennials grown inches overnight.
Wren is napping so I shall finish unpacking our groceries and plan the next batch of bread.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Bread, bread everywhere
For the past 2 weeks we have not bought any store bread. Instead, I have been using the bread machine to make dough and then raising, shaping and baking it in the oven. This compromise lets me do the fun part while trying out many delicious and exciting dough recipes which take me only 5 minutes to toss into the machine.
Everyone enjoys the bread making. Right now we are waiting while the dough for "English Granary Bread" rises. Wren likes to climb up his step stool and peer into the machine and watch the dough mix. Frost likes to punch down the dough. Josh likes to choose peculiar but interesting recipes (like scandinavian spiced limpa - made with orange zest, caraway and fennel seeds). We all like to eat it hot with butter.
I do not usually promote things in my blog but I can highly recommend the book we are using for our bread machine technique and recipes. It is available through the Seattle Public Library (which is where our copy comes from!) It is called Wholegrain Breads by Machine or Hand.
Today, we are going to shape our bread into hamburger buns for vegie/lamb burgers for lunch.
NEW WORDS & PHRASES:
pop-orn
poop
pee
diaper
hose
wine ('ine, dada)
caw caw num num
go woof woof go (favorite book at the moment is Go Dog Go)
guk (yuk)
mango
eat
ball gone, up
Everyone enjoys the bread making. Right now we are waiting while the dough for "English Granary Bread" rises. Wren likes to climb up his step stool and peer into the machine and watch the dough mix. Frost likes to punch down the dough. Josh likes to choose peculiar but interesting recipes (like scandinavian spiced limpa - made with orange zest, caraway and fennel seeds). We all like to eat it hot with butter.
I do not usually promote things in my blog but I can highly recommend the book we are using for our bread machine technique and recipes. It is available through the Seattle Public Library (which is where our copy comes from!) It is called Wholegrain Breads by Machine or Hand.
Today, we are going to shape our bread into hamburger buns for vegie/lamb burgers for lunch.
NEW WORDS & PHRASES:
pop-orn
poop
pee
diaper
hose
wine ('ine, dada)
caw caw num num
go woof woof go (favorite book at the moment is Go Dog Go)
guk (yuk)
mango
eat
ball gone, up
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Verbal Explosion
Last night Wren woke up at 3am (again) after almost a week of sleeping through the night. It was either because he wanted to check I was home after Heather put him to bed or he was practicing speaking. This morning, he woke up with a whole new vocabulary.
We have just been playing in the bedroom (aka cleaning the bedroom and rolling around the unmade bed).
Wren said "tent?" [because josh and he play making tents out of sheets and blankets] Then he paused and added "Tent, MINE, Dada". I confirmed that Dada makes him tents. He said "Dada down" (pointing out the bed). I asked where Dada is and he said "Dada, bye-bye, car."
I was very impressed.
New Words Today:
Knee
Bite
Moose
Goose
Tickle
Old words I forgot
Juice
GO
Mum (drum)
We have just been playing in the bedroom (aka cleaning the bedroom and rolling around the unmade bed).
Wren said "tent?" [because josh and he play making tents out of sheets and blankets] Then he paused and added "Tent, MINE, Dada". I confirmed that Dada makes him tents. He said "Dada down" (pointing out the bed). I asked where Dada is and he said "Dada, bye-bye, car."
I was very impressed.
New Words Today:
Knee
Bite
Moose
Goose
Tickle
Old words I forgot
Juice
GO
Mum (drum)
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