Thanks for all the feedback on Wren's bruised legs. I took him to the pediatrician this afternoon and she explained that the main concern with "excess" bruising is low platelet levels. If they suspect low platelets then he would need a blood panel (a full blood draw) which we could do at Children's.
However, she is not sure he needs it. Apparently, his bruises are definitely more than normal but in their location and size they could easily be "normal active boy" bruises. She showed me what to watch for - more larger bruises, bruises in locations that would not be common from falls and also [WARNING GROSS PICTURE] petechia which are a sign of low platelet counts caused by various ominous conditions.
If Wren gets more unusual bruises we will have his blood levels checked, but he seems to be just unfortunate (or prone to accidents) at the moment.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Anemia or Just Normal Wear and Tear
When I was changing Wren into his PJs this evening I was shocked to see the number of bruises on his little legs. He looks like he's been hit with shrapnel!
I know he fell over twice this evening (tripping on his Uggs in the dark on the way to the Lunar New Year celebration) and that explains the scrape but what on earth are all the other bruises?
I have been googling "child bruised legs" and "bruised shins" and see that this is a common concern for parents of mobile but stability challenged children but this picture looks far worse than any other posted on the topic.
Do you think he might have anemia? I am considering sending this picture to his pediatrician to see what she thinks.
From Bruised Legs to Brooding Looks
Now, last weekend Josh and I went out to dinner at Tilth and enjoyed a 5 course vegetarian tasting menu. Quite delicious and not overly filling. I love this picture of Joshua contemplating his reaction to a braised cauliflower dish.
Now, have to check that Frost's in bed.
I know he fell over twice this evening (tripping on his Uggs in the dark on the way to the Lunar New Year celebration) and that explains the scrape but what on earth are all the other bruises?
 |
| Wren's bruised legs. |
Do you think he might have anemia? I am considering sending this picture to his pediatrician to see what she thinks.
From Bruised Legs to Brooding Looks
Now, last weekend Josh and I went out to dinner at Tilth and enjoyed a 5 course vegetarian tasting menu. Quite delicious and not overly filling. I love this picture of Joshua contemplating his reaction to a braised cauliflower dish.
 |
| Joshua, contemplating the flavor of braised cauliflower at Tilth |
Monday, January 31, 2011
Bird of the Day
It was cold today, getting colder over the next few days as strange weather conditions hit much of the US.
But I don't mind because I am thinking about Hawaii!
This posting is for Mum, who portentously said "if this goes well perhaps we shall have to go to Hawaii again" and I thought "damn sure we will Have To Go Again."
Not having every been before this may be too bullish but even the birds there are brightly colored. After days of almost-sun and half-rain, any saturated colors will do. Actually, secretly, I edited this image below to pump up the saturation. I didn't feel the scan did it justice.
This morning, the sun broke through around breakfast time and I was struck but an urgent happiness and rushed to Whole Foods and bought fluffy white bread (which we never get) and made French toast. Then the sun passed and I returned to my running training, Cleopatra reading apathy - interspersed only by episodes of pinching my belly fat and looking at Josh in a perplexed way, to which he replies matter of factly: "carbs" or "small-things" or "Sugar" depending on what he is thinking at the time.
Anyway, from saturated fats lets return to saturated colors:
 |
| PLATE 38: Hawaiian Native Birds - Yellow, black and red honeycreepers. From Pratts field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. |
Extinct Bird of the Day: ULA-AI-HAWANE (top left)
From Pratt:
"Found in historic times only on the Island of Hawaii. Last seen early 1890s in Kohala. Extinct.
Other listings theorize that it was too dependent on the hawane palm to survive habitat destruction.
You might see it Bird of the DAY: IIWI (top right)
From Pratt (p 309) A nectar-feeder often found in flowerin gohia-lehua, mamane and many introduced plants like banana poke. Slow and deliberate in movements, keeps to the interior of leafy branches, rarely in the open. More difficult to see than apagane, with which it often feeds. Wings produce an audible flutter in flight....
In native forests above 600m. Common to abundant Hawaii, Maui, Kauai...."
From Wikipedia we learn:
"One of the most plentiful species of this family, many of which are endangered or extinct, the ʻiʻiwi is a highly recognizable symbol of Hawaiʻi. The ʻiʻiwi is the third most common native land bird in the Hawaiian Islands. There are large colonies of ʻiʻiwi on the islands of Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi..."
While not rare, it is threatened because of habitat limitations, diseases and also pigs which create wallows which serve as habitat for avian malaria larva. Avian malaria and fowlpox are serious threats to Hawaiian birds. Apparently 90% of exposed Iiwi die.
------
This weekend Joshua and I had a touch typing contest. Josh says he thought he was fast and I said I was too. Because he is Mr Always Right, he was right. He is a bit faster than me. He types at about 95 WPM at an accuracy comparable with my 85 WPM. I can type faster worse and he can type faster-faster worse. When typing antiquarian English typing tests we both scored in the high 80s but once the constraints of topic and crazy spelling were removed, Josh can do over 100 WPM with some ease.
His oddity is that he talks to himself while he's doing it, sometimes. Surely I can deduct 10WPM for that?
Hawaii and Serial Thrillers
Last night, as I took my place on the couch at 10pm Frost asked, "Mum why are the only shows you watch ones about Hawaii, serial killers and medical dramas?"
He is frustrated because my standard line is "No, you can't sleep on the couch because its my turn to watch TV."
He then counters with "I'll stay and watch too."
It being late on a Friday / Saturday / bedtime on a school night, I am not sympatico with this plan and explain that I am going to watch my child-inappropriate show. Frost understands this to mean something about Hawaii, serial killers or grisly hospital drama. I confess that he is not far off the mark but I throw in a few episodes of Parenthood, Masterpiece British dramas (about Serial killers or misunderstood troubled youth) and some odd Novas along the way. Last night I watched Criminal Minds but fast-forwarded quite a bit to collapse the 1 hr screening time into 30 minutes of edited-entertainment.
Is that sad that I don't even have the attention/time span for pulp television?
This morning, Frost has a cold and is collapsing on the couch reading 39 Clues Book 6. He is unable to get up to make his breakfast and hopes for french toast, which I provide.
"I am sooo tired because Alex and Eve left random appliances in my bed from a game in which I was some guy with my stuff and they stole my stuff from me. So I couldn't sleep last night because there was all this STUFF in my bed."
Last night, Josh and I went out to Tilth and enjoyed the 5 course tasting menu. It was tasty and the Dark and Rainy cocktail was sublime. Mental note: try and recreate it with gingerale and various unknown alcoholic ingredients.
This morning, I am going to pilates class. Courtney and I did a 6 mile run yesterday and I shall try and do another 3 today. However, I am also thinking of joining a gym so I can do the strengthening exercises recommended by my physio. I need attached weights to do them easily. However, I don't know if I have time in my life to go to gym too...
Its hard work being fit!
Frost is hoping to get out of his soccer game today (due to cold, sleeping with debris and the temptation of lying wrapped up in fleece). I need to get them out the house at some point but that point looks pretty far away.
He is frustrated because my standard line is "No, you can't sleep on the couch because its my turn to watch TV."
He then counters with "I'll stay and watch too."
It being late on a Friday / Saturday / bedtime on a school night, I am not sympatico with this plan and explain that I am going to watch my child-inappropriate show. Frost understands this to mean something about Hawaii, serial killers or grisly hospital drama. I confess that he is not far off the mark but I throw in a few episodes of Parenthood, Masterpiece British dramas (about Serial killers or misunderstood troubled youth) and some odd Novas along the way. Last night I watched Criminal Minds but fast-forwarded quite a bit to collapse the 1 hr screening time into 30 minutes of edited-entertainment.
Is that sad that I don't even have the attention/time span for pulp television?
This morning, Frost has a cold and is collapsing on the couch reading 39 Clues Book 6. He is unable to get up to make his breakfast and hopes for french toast, which I provide.
"I am sooo tired because Alex and Eve left random appliances in my bed from a game in which I was some guy with my stuff and they stole my stuff from me. So I couldn't sleep last night because there was all this STUFF in my bed."
Last night, Josh and I went out to Tilth and enjoyed the 5 course tasting menu. It was tasty and the Dark and Rainy cocktail was sublime. Mental note: try and recreate it with gingerale and various unknown alcoholic ingredients.
This morning, I am going to pilates class. Courtney and I did a 6 mile run yesterday and I shall try and do another 3 today. However, I am also thinking of joining a gym so I can do the strengthening exercises recommended by my physio. I need attached weights to do them easily. However, I don't know if I have time in my life to go to gym too...
Its hard work being fit!
Frost is hoping to get out of his soccer game today (due to cold, sleeping with debris and the temptation of lying wrapped up in fleece). I need to get them out the house at some point but that point looks pretty far away.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
This is an Axe Cookie
I took Wren to Whole Foods today to do some shopping for my Cookbook Club dinner tomorrow night. They have changed the Kids Club free snack options so Wren chose a fruit leather from the snack area and then wanted a cookie too (cookies were on the old Kids' Club menu, along with pizza and fruit.)
I allowed him to choose a shortbread heart shaped cookie dipped in chocolate. As he started to eat it, Wren kept turning the cookie around and around. After a while he said "You are wrong. This is not HEART cookie it is an AXE cookie. See, you chop with it like this."
I showed him how you could turn it 90 degrees and it resembled a heart but he was emphatic that it was an AXE cookie. Next time I will get him the dog shaped cookie and see what he makes of it.
This evening, at bathtime, Wren wanted to see my vagina. I explained that was private and like the doctor had told him, you don't look at people's privates.
Wren, chancing upon the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" tactic, stood up and waggled his parts close to me and repeated his request. "I want to see where I came OUT" he explained.
I countered that his bits were always on display and that girls were more private privates. He said that its okay, "I don't want to see all the way INSIDE, just the part I came out." I said that it was hidden but it was "down there". He peered. I told him not to.
He said he must have been very small to fit down there. "Just this small" he showed me his fist.
"No," I explained "YOU WERE THIS BIG!"
"What the hell!" he said.
"Yes, you were large. But vaginas can get bigger when the baby comes out. Like your mouth is small but if you want to eat an apple it gets big."
"Oh," he said. Looking concerned.
I decided to get out before the conversation veered further off course.
Hawaiian Birding #1
Meanwhile, the Pratt Birds of Hawaii and Tropical Pacific which I bought from Abe Books arrived today. It is used but in perfect condition and came wrapped in a piece of beautifully folded archival paper. It felt like a present even though I bought it myself.
Unfortunately, reading Pratt is very depressing. Half of the Hawaiian birds in the field guide are EXTINCT. Hawaai Rail? Extinct. Kioea? Extinct. Hawaai Oo? Extinct. Its the most depressing field guide I've ever read. Imagine going around Seattle with our bird book and half the birds in the guide are marked EXTINCT. I'd say they should have two bird books - a LIVING bird field guide and an EXTINCT BIRD MEMORIAL GUIDE. Here is a bird list for Kauai. You can see the number of critically endangered species among those remaining, particularly among the indigenous passerines.
Also, a fair portion of the field guide is for Polynesian birds. There is some overlap but there are 4 or 5 pages of native Island birds (inland ones) and then an equal number of pages of introduced birds. This whole introduced birds thing is confusing. I mean, I understand people introducing chickens and pheasant but why on earth do people introduce Cardinals, Australian Magpies and Indian Mynahs? How about "I am going to live in Hawaii, I think I will bring some Sparrows with me?" Its just odd. I shall have to explore the process in more detail.
So, I was going to provide you with one Hawaiian bird per day but now, compelled to educate myself about the mass extinction, I am going to do two. One extant and one extinct.
Extinct Hawaiian bird of the Day: Kauai Oo
Extant Hawaiian bird of the Day: Kauai Elepaio
I allowed him to choose a shortbread heart shaped cookie dipped in chocolate. As he started to eat it, Wren kept turning the cookie around and around. After a while he said "You are wrong. This is not HEART cookie it is an AXE cookie. See, you chop with it like this."
I showed him how you could turn it 90 degrees and it resembled a heart but he was emphatic that it was an AXE cookie. Next time I will get him the dog shaped cookie and see what he makes of it.
This evening, at bathtime, Wren wanted to see my vagina. I explained that was private and like the doctor had told him, you don't look at people's privates.
Wren, chancing upon the "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" tactic, stood up and waggled his parts close to me and repeated his request. "I want to see where I came OUT" he explained.
I countered that his bits were always on display and that girls were more private privates. He said that its okay, "I don't want to see all the way INSIDE, just the part I came out." I said that it was hidden but it was "down there". He peered. I told him not to.
He said he must have been very small to fit down there. "Just this small" he showed me his fist.
"No," I explained "YOU WERE THIS BIG!"
"What the hell!" he said.
"Yes, you were large. But vaginas can get bigger when the baby comes out. Like your mouth is small but if you want to eat an apple it gets big."
"Oh," he said. Looking concerned.
I decided to get out before the conversation veered further off course.
Hawaiian Birding #1
Meanwhile, the Pratt Birds of Hawaii and Tropical Pacific which I bought from Abe Books arrived today. It is used but in perfect condition and came wrapped in a piece of beautifully folded archival paper. It felt like a present even though I bought it myself.
Unfortunately, reading Pratt is very depressing. Half of the Hawaiian birds in the field guide are EXTINCT. Hawaai Rail? Extinct. Kioea? Extinct. Hawaai Oo? Extinct. Its the most depressing field guide I've ever read. Imagine going around Seattle with our bird book and half the birds in the guide are marked EXTINCT. I'd say they should have two bird books - a LIVING bird field guide and an EXTINCT BIRD MEMORIAL GUIDE. Here is a bird list for Kauai. You can see the number of critically endangered species among those remaining, particularly among the indigenous passerines.
Also, a fair portion of the field guide is for Polynesian birds. There is some overlap but there are 4 or 5 pages of native Island birds (inland ones) and then an equal number of pages of introduced birds. This whole introduced birds thing is confusing. I mean, I understand people introducing chickens and pheasant but why on earth do people introduce Cardinals, Australian Magpies and Indian Mynahs? How about "I am going to live in Hawaii, I think I will bring some Sparrows with me?" Its just odd. I shall have to explore the process in more detail.
So, I was going to provide you with one Hawaiian bird per day but now, compelled to educate myself about the mass extinction, I am going to do two. One extant and one extinct.
Extinct Hawaiian bird of the Day: Kauai Oo
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Cardiology update
Wren's cardiology clinic visit went well. He was very well prepared: for the first time he remembered what to expect, calling it "the doctor who uses the goo to look at your heart." He asked to hold the buzzer which they use to call you to the appointment and as we walked in he said "I LOVE this place."
The echo was quick and he lay still the whole time.
Most importantly, the results are encouraging. Dr Lewin said Wren appears to be in "a stable phase."
His gradients were almost unchanged from last appointment and he has gained weight and height. His pulses are strong (although I can't feel them very well).
We can go anywhere from 6-12 months before our next appointment, depending on how neurotic I get at the 6 month mark.
I have vowed to be calm so we can wait a long while.
Happy to have this over. Now there are no immediate impediments to GOING TO HAWAII!!!!
The echo was quick and he lay still the whole time.
Most importantly, the results are encouraging. Dr Lewin said Wren appears to be in "a stable phase."
His gradients were almost unchanged from last appointment and he has gained weight and height. His pulses are strong (although I can't feel them very well).
We can go anywhere from 6-12 months before our next appointment, depending on how neurotic I get at the 6 month mark.
I have vowed to be calm so we can wait a long while.
Happy to have this over. Now there are no immediate impediments to GOING TO HAWAII!!!!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Cardiology and the Winter Dark
**** WREN HAS HIS SIX MONTHLY CARDIOLOGY CLINIC TOMORROW****
I shall update tomorrow night.
Life in Seattle
Christmas has passed and only the odd spattering of holiday decorations remain up in the short dark days. Its supposed to be an El Nina year but we haven't seen much snow, just the days of half-light and rain interspersed with blinding cold days of sun where the falling temperatures are marked by our cars being frozen in with ice. On those days the doors to my minivan don't open and I have to pop Wren in through the front door and then clamber over the front chair to buckle him in on the way to preschool. The shadowed side of my car is always worse off and requires extra work with the ice-scraper.
These days, my mailbox is full of credit card offers as the major banks leap in to scoop up the debts of those overextended over Christmas (7 in the past 3 days).
The boys have settled back at school and I have finally become used to typing 2011 as the date. The mycology email lists are quiet. The mushrooms are sleeping but in their place the parent-lists are in a flurry of Sale and GIveaways as families reorganize and declutter after Christmas.
Mid-Winter Break in late Feb
Coming up is Mid-winter Break where the schools are off for a week from Presidents Day (Feb 21st-27th) and then there's Tax Season. For the first time in many years we have an appointment with a Tax Accountant. Now that I am working part-time our taxation is a bit more complex and we are going to see if someone else can do it better. Like cleaning your house before a house-cleaner arrives, handing the tax over requires organization and I am starting to make piles and lists of things I need to fill in the Tax Worksheet the accountant provided.
We are lucky to be going to Hawaii this spring. None of us has been before and we are going to Kau'ai. Mum is going to be joining us for a week away. I am terribly excited. So often, I have been on fabulous visits to family but the places are familiar. It is such a treat to be planning for a visit somewhere WARM and Tropical and new.
The Boys
With winter and the new games acquired at Christmas, the boys are in a screen-time pit from which I am going to have to extricate them. Frost is loving playing a Skate Game on XBox and Wren begs to be allowed to play iPad (Zombie Smash or PVZ or Sword Poker) or Kinectimals. We have an Xbox with a sensor which 'sees' his movements so he controls his saber toothed tiger cup with various gestures and makes loud thuds as he runs around the living room to simulate the cubs running around his favorite obstacle course.
However, they are not doing so well with alternative forms of entertainment.
Wren loves Magic the Gathering. He has a deck of creatures, spells, instants and mana which he carries around the house most of the time. He puts it in a little plastic sandwich bag when we go out and shows significant cards to strangers, failing to read the utter mystification on their faces when he explains that his Duskdale Worm is a 6/6 with Annihilator 3 (Frost told him that, although it is not strictly true). Whenever I am working, cleaning, cooking or reading Wren comes up to me and asks me to "Play Magic with Me?" He is remarkably good at it, playing about 50% of the rules most of the time. However, his emotional investment in his creatures makes it hard for him to let them die in blocking attacks so he sometimes lets damage through or fails to attack when it would be tactically wise.
My Entertainment
I have recently joined a book group which meets a bit over monthly. Right now we are reading Cleopatra: A Life. Those of you who know my alarming lack of historical backbone will be pleased to know that I am filling in my gaps of a particular era in history while reading a book with the cover showing a pretty girl. Win-Win in my book :)
I am also doing well with my running training. The first half-marathon I have registered for is the Whidbey which is on April 9th. I have reached the point of being able to run 6 miles easily at 10 minute mile or less and will do that a few more times before moving to a few 7 or 8 mile runs. I have a running buddy (Courtney) and friends in a running group (Lauren and her peeps) who are all more experienced than I and able to answer some of my basic questions.
For now, my main concern is that I will get injured as I increase distance.
Each longer run or run I go faster on, I get slight twinges in my calves / achilles that makes me feel they are not quite up to the task yet. I am not sure whether I have to keep building distance before adding speed or just do dedicated stretches and exercises for the calves. Research needed! This weaknesses a bit unfortunate as I love running faster. We shall see whether I can keep the tension between exertion over distance and pace within a healthy balance.
Wren and Math
Wren is interested in numbers. He spends a lot of time counting things. He counts to twenty with occasional omissions and can add numbers with some thought. Once, we were driving down the interstate and he said "If you have 2 and you have 2 then you have FOUR!" I asked him what you had if you "had 3 and you had 3?" and he said "SIX!" However, the next day he said "I can't remember" when I asked him the same thing.
He is very puzzled by the decimal system. He often says "O-one" for ten and "O-O-1" for one hundred. Today, he asked me "What is 1 - 1 - O - O dollars?" I explained that it was $1,100.
Wren said: "Well, that is a lot of money. If there was a toy or a costume that was very very big we would spend ALL our money on it and I would ask you for it and you would say YES. It might be a Robot Monster Costume."
I am interested that he thinks I would say "yes."
Wren and God
Wren is also puzzled by God.
Frost saw a comic of a man, naked, holding a fig leaf in front of his pelvic area. I asked if he knew what it was in reference to. He had no clue so I told Frost and Wren the story of the garden of Eden and Eve and the Serpent. I also told them about the story of Noah and the Ark (and Dylan's song, Man Gave Names to All the Animals."
Later that day I told Wren to stop bouncing on the couch. I said "I have told you not to!"
He said "GOD TOLD ME I COULD DO IT!"
We had a talk about God and how many people think God made life and the world. I explained that some people think that there is no god, some people think that God is everywhere, some people think she or he is in the sky or somewhere far away, others think he lives in your heart or is like a holy ghost.
Wren said "I believe in God. He is a guy. He does not live in your heart because if he lived in your heart he could not make life."
He added: "God is an invisible Giant Ghost that Lives in the SKy. God is Called Fertility."
"Fertility?" I asked. "What does that mean?"
Wren said: "It is what God is Called."
"Uh huh." I said, quite confused.
"BUT! Wren continued. "Some people think God is in a Statue and not in the Sky!"
I was quick to grasp this one since we took Frost and Wren to a Hindu temple in South Africa and saw Shiva and Kali and Ganesha. I explained that the statues were like pictures of the Gods but that they were not really in the statue only. Still, perhaps my explanation of a Murti as an image which expresses a Divine Spirit but is not in fact its embodiment was too subtle for Wren.
Later, at the Aquarium, Wren told me "I think that God has Magic ways. If he touches glass in pointy ways he doesn't bleed. And in this Quarium, God did a good thing. He picked up each animal very very gently and put it in the Aquarium so we can see them."
The Quarium
We had an excellent visit to the Aquarium last week. We were lucky enough to come at Octopus feeding time and saw both octopi in paroxysms of excitement chasing a squid on a stick. It was quite amazing to see them in motion - they are extremely quick and dextrous. The one keeper poked a squid on a stick and kept it out of reach for a while until Homer, the one octopus, caught it with his tentacles. Wren also enjoyed seeing the river otters. One, in particular, was careful to pick up his tail and suck it whenever he went to sleep. Wren and I decided it was his "soft shirt" for bedtime.
Josh and Hiking
Josh is also thinking of greater things. He has often mentioned a desire to hike The Pacific Crest Trail. Recently, he has started planning to do some of the first sections on his own and has thoughts of doing the first section this Summer. I would drop him off and meet up with him 3 nights later down the trail. It is very high altitude and only open for a few months each year.
Its late and I am going to fold laundry. More on Frost and our wild winter life (not) with our cardiology update tomorrow.
I shall update tomorrow night.
Life in Seattle
Christmas has passed and only the odd spattering of holiday decorations remain up in the short dark days. Its supposed to be an El Nina year but we haven't seen much snow, just the days of half-light and rain interspersed with blinding cold days of sun where the falling temperatures are marked by our cars being frozen in with ice. On those days the doors to my minivan don't open and I have to pop Wren in through the front door and then clamber over the front chair to buckle him in on the way to preschool. The shadowed side of my car is always worse off and requires extra work with the ice-scraper.
These days, my mailbox is full of credit card offers as the major banks leap in to scoop up the debts of those overextended over Christmas (7 in the past 3 days).
The boys have settled back at school and I have finally become used to typing 2011 as the date. The mycology email lists are quiet. The mushrooms are sleeping but in their place the parent-lists are in a flurry of Sale and GIveaways as families reorganize and declutter after Christmas.
Mid-Winter Break in late Feb
Coming up is Mid-winter Break where the schools are off for a week from Presidents Day (Feb 21st-27th) and then there's Tax Season. For the first time in many years we have an appointment with a Tax Accountant. Now that I am working part-time our taxation is a bit more complex and we are going to see if someone else can do it better. Like cleaning your house before a house-cleaner arrives, handing the tax over requires organization and I am starting to make piles and lists of things I need to fill in the Tax Worksheet the accountant provided.
We are lucky to be going to Hawaii this spring. None of us has been before and we are going to Kau'ai. Mum is going to be joining us for a week away. I am terribly excited. So often, I have been on fabulous visits to family but the places are familiar. It is such a treat to be planning for a visit somewhere WARM and Tropical and new.
The Boys
With winter and the new games acquired at Christmas, the boys are in a screen-time pit from which I am going to have to extricate them. Frost is loving playing a Skate Game on XBox and Wren begs to be allowed to play iPad (Zombie Smash or PVZ or Sword Poker) or Kinectimals. We have an Xbox with a sensor which 'sees' his movements so he controls his saber toothed tiger cup with various gestures and makes loud thuds as he runs around the living room to simulate the cubs running around his favorite obstacle course.
However, they are not doing so well with alternative forms of entertainment.
Wren loves Magic the Gathering. He has a deck of creatures, spells, instants and mana which he carries around the house most of the time. He puts it in a little plastic sandwich bag when we go out and shows significant cards to strangers, failing to read the utter mystification on their faces when he explains that his Duskdale Worm is a 6/6 with Annihilator 3 (Frost told him that, although it is not strictly true). Whenever I am working, cleaning, cooking or reading Wren comes up to me and asks me to "Play Magic with Me?" He is remarkably good at it, playing about 50% of the rules most of the time. However, his emotional investment in his creatures makes it hard for him to let them die in blocking attacks so he sometimes lets damage through or fails to attack when it would be tactically wise.
My Entertainment
I have recently joined a book group which meets a bit over monthly. Right now we are reading Cleopatra: A Life. Those of you who know my alarming lack of historical backbone will be pleased to know that I am filling in my gaps of a particular era in history while reading a book with the cover showing a pretty girl. Win-Win in my book :)
I am also doing well with my running training. The first half-marathon I have registered for is the Whidbey which is on April 9th. I have reached the point of being able to run 6 miles easily at 10 minute mile or less and will do that a few more times before moving to a few 7 or 8 mile runs. I have a running buddy (Courtney) and friends in a running group (Lauren and her peeps) who are all more experienced than I and able to answer some of my basic questions.
For now, my main concern is that I will get injured as I increase distance.
Each longer run or run I go faster on, I get slight twinges in my calves / achilles that makes me feel they are not quite up to the task yet. I am not sure whether I have to keep building distance before adding speed or just do dedicated stretches and exercises for the calves. Research needed! This weaknesses a bit unfortunate as I love running faster. We shall see whether I can keep the tension between exertion over distance and pace within a healthy balance.
Wren and Math
Wren is interested in numbers. He spends a lot of time counting things. He counts to twenty with occasional omissions and can add numbers with some thought. Once, we were driving down the interstate and he said "If you have 2 and you have 2 then you have FOUR!" I asked him what you had if you "had 3 and you had 3?" and he said "SIX!" However, the next day he said "I can't remember" when I asked him the same thing.
He is very puzzled by the decimal system. He often says "O-one" for ten and "O-O-1" for one hundred. Today, he asked me "What is 1 - 1 - O - O dollars?" I explained that it was $1,100.
Wren said: "Well, that is a lot of money. If there was a toy or a costume that was very very big we would spend ALL our money on it and I would ask you for it and you would say YES. It might be a Robot Monster Costume."
I am interested that he thinks I would say "yes."
Wren and God
Wren is also puzzled by God.
Frost saw a comic of a man, naked, holding a fig leaf in front of his pelvic area. I asked if he knew what it was in reference to. He had no clue so I told Frost and Wren the story of the garden of Eden and Eve and the Serpent. I also told them about the story of Noah and the Ark (and Dylan's song, Man Gave Names to All the Animals."
Later that day I told Wren to stop bouncing on the couch. I said "I have told you not to!"
He said "GOD TOLD ME I COULD DO IT!"
We had a talk about God and how many people think God made life and the world. I explained that some people think that there is no god, some people think that God is everywhere, some people think she or he is in the sky or somewhere far away, others think he lives in your heart or is like a holy ghost.
Wren said "I believe in God. He is a guy. He does not live in your heart because if he lived in your heart he could not make life."
He added: "God is an invisible Giant Ghost that Lives in the SKy. God is Called Fertility."
"Fertility?" I asked. "What does that mean?"
Wren said: "It is what God is Called."
"Uh huh." I said, quite confused.
"BUT! Wren continued. "Some people think God is in a Statue and not in the Sky!"
I was quick to grasp this one since we took Frost and Wren to a Hindu temple in South Africa and saw Shiva and Kali and Ganesha. I explained that the statues were like pictures of the Gods but that they were not really in the statue only. Still, perhaps my explanation of a Murti as an image which expresses a Divine Spirit but is not in fact its embodiment was too subtle for Wren.
Later, at the Aquarium, Wren told me "I think that God has Magic ways. If he touches glass in pointy ways he doesn't bleed. And in this Quarium, God did a good thing. He picked up each animal very very gently and put it in the Aquarium so we can see them."
The Quarium
We had an excellent visit to the Aquarium last week. We were lucky enough to come at Octopus feeding time and saw both octopi in paroxysms of excitement chasing a squid on a stick. It was quite amazing to see them in motion - they are extremely quick and dextrous. The one keeper poked a squid on a stick and kept it out of reach for a while until Homer, the one octopus, caught it with his tentacles. Wren also enjoyed seeing the river otters. One, in particular, was careful to pick up his tail and suck it whenever he went to sleep. Wren and I decided it was his "soft shirt" for bedtime.
 |
| The octopus chases the stick with a squid on the end |
 |
| He holds onto the stick to eat the snack |
 |
| Wren, posing as an octopus |
 |
| The Eye of Homer's friend |
Josh and Hiking
Josh is also thinking of greater things. He has often mentioned a desire to hike The Pacific Crest Trail. Recently, he has started planning to do some of the first sections on his own and has thoughts of doing the first section this Summer. I would drop him off and meet up with him 3 nights later down the trail. It is very high altitude and only open for a few months each year.
Its late and I am going to fold laundry. More on Frost and our wild winter life (not) with our cardiology update tomorrow.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
How Wren Plays
Wren and I have created a new game. It is called AirPorts. The game started with the Duplo airport and evolved into a world laid out on the carpet, three planes and various scenarios of baddies and goodies and excited animals.
Here is my participant observation of a few minutes of morning play. It begins when I have build a rough square structure from Duplo and Wren has named it "the Heekee Hole" for Baby Dinosaur to live in. Bad animals have threatened to attack.
Wren: "[Mama Dinosaur] is going to hide in the Heekee Tent. Now she is in the Heekee Tent! She is safe."
Me: Where is baby dinosaur?
Wren: He is in the Heekee Hole so he can't find anything to eat.
Me: He can eat coconuts that fall off the coconut tree.
Wren: They are too small for him. He is a giant fella.
Me: There are quite a lot!
Wren: Okay. Gawp gaup gaup. He ate all the coconuts.
Me: What!
Wren: He ate all of them.
Me: But I told you baby dinosaur can eat them.
Wren: Oh, uh oh. BIG DINOSAUR ate them. The baby girl can plant some more. She can go in the Heekee Hole. I am going to eat some really quick because of that Godszillary Guy coming.
[Wren brings a little Duplo girl into the Heekee Hole and munches 'coconuts'.
Wren: Mummy. Looks what comes running down.
Me: Is it a boulder?
Wren: It is a volcano. This is a volcano ERUPTING.
[The lego rocks enter the Heekee Hole]
It is coming into the Heekee Hole. Its falling.
[I squirt it with blocks of blue lego. ]
Wren: Now its cold. It still rushed in but it is cold.
Me: They can use it as a table now.
Wren: They will play with it.
Later, we went to Value Village and I found one of those 'excavation' kits where you get a block of plaster or sand and some tools to chisel into it. It was Egyptian themed. It said 6+ but Wren was very excited, having 'helped' Frost and Alex excavate a few weeks ago and been sidelined by the bigger boys.
We took it home and he dug and chiseled for a long while before I helped him get the sarcophagus out. Thereafter he painted all the pieces with the craft paints provided. It was a very worthwhile purchase.
 |
| The Lemurs get a ride to Madagascar |
Here is my participant observation of a few minutes of morning play. It begins when I have build a rough square structure from Duplo and Wren has named it "the Heekee Hole" for Baby Dinosaur to live in. Bad animals have threatened to attack.
Wren: "[Mama Dinosaur] is going to hide in the Heekee Tent. Now she is in the Heekee Tent! She is safe."
Me: Where is baby dinosaur?
Wren: He is in the Heekee Hole so he can't find anything to eat.
 |
| The Heeky Hole with coconut palm |
Me: He can eat coconuts that fall off the coconut tree.
Wren: They are too small for him. He is a giant fella.
Me: There are quite a lot!
Wren: Okay. Gawp gaup gaup. He ate all the coconuts.
Me: What!
Wren: He ate all of them.
Me: But I told you baby dinosaur can eat them.
Wren: Oh, uh oh. BIG DINOSAUR ate them. The baby girl can plant some more. She can go in the Heekee Hole. I am going to eat some really quick because of that Godszillary Guy coming.
[Wren brings a little Duplo girl into the Heekee Hole and munches 'coconuts'.
 |
| The BIG ONE who ate all the coconuts |
Wren: Mummy. Looks what comes running down.
Me: Is it a boulder?
Wren: It is a volcano. This is a volcano ERUPTING.
[The lego rocks enter the Heekee Hole]
It is coming into the Heekee Hole. Its falling.
[I squirt it with blocks of blue lego. ]
Wren: Now its cold. It still rushed in but it is cold.
Me: They can use it as a table now.
Wren: They will play with it.
Later, we went to Value Village and I found one of those 'excavation' kits where you get a block of plaster or sand and some tools to chisel into it. It was Egyptian themed. It said 6+ but Wren was very excited, having 'helped' Frost and Alex excavate a few weeks ago and been sidelined by the bigger boys.
We took it home and he dug and chiseled for a long while before I helped him get the sarcophagus out. Thereafter he painted all the pieces with the craft paints provided. It was a very worthwhile purchase.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Go Snow, Go!
We have some snow in Seattle. The boys are very disappointed that it is falling overnight and predicted to be washed away by a warm front by morning. Its been very cold recently - without gloves my hands were very painful running around Greenlake on Monday and I couldn't believe how red they were.
Frost wanted to play in it and hoped for a day off school. Wren wanted to watch.
Annual Checkup for Wren
Wren had his annual pediatrician visit this week. The pediatrician told him "When you were a baby we did not know what a big healthy boy you would grow up to be." It brings tears to my eyes. Of course, Wren has cardiology this month so I always get that superstitious "don't trust the future" feeling. However, he looks great. Here are his stats:
Age: 4 years (he told the nurse to put a 0 in for zero months)
Height: 41 inches (70th percentile)
Weight: 37lbs (70th percentile)
Hearing: perfect
Eyesight: 20/30
Other than the shot, Wren really enjoyed his visit to the doctor. She talked to him like he was a big boy and asked him his favorite colors, about his preschool and what he liked to read. He told her his favorite colors were white and black because white is no color you can see and black is too dark to see it. She said "he is really thinking!"
When we came home he wanted to play Doctor Dinosaur. All the dinosaurs lined up and were given well-child visits. They had their hearing tested, received a shot, had their feet checked for Plantar warts (Because Josh had one and it has greatly impressed Wren) and had splinters removed. They were also asked about "any problems in their body". At his appointment Wren told the doctor he had a sore in his mouth and she saw that it was a canker sore. He also asks the dinosaurs this question. It is very satisfying and we have many dinosaurs still lined up to receive treatment in the hospital!
Great Wolf Lodge
We also spent a night at Great Wolf Lodge last weekend, with Kindra and her family. It was lovely to see them and we spent a long time eating, swimming and wandering around with wands. It is interesting how kids suddenly change around adolescence. Mason (12) is so much older than Frost (9)right now!
Here are Wren and Cousin Charlie at the big bear.
Frost wanted to play in it and hoped for a day off school. Wren wanted to watch.
 |
| Snow out the window at 11.15pm. |
Wren had his annual pediatrician visit this week. The pediatrician told him "When you were a baby we did not know what a big healthy boy you would grow up to be." It brings tears to my eyes. Of course, Wren has cardiology this month so I always get that superstitious "don't trust the future" feeling. However, he looks great. Here are his stats:
Age: 4 years (he told the nurse to put a 0 in for zero months)
Height: 41 inches (70th percentile)
Weight: 37lbs (70th percentile)
Hearing: perfect
Eyesight: 20/30
 |
| Height: 41 inches |
 |
| Weight 37lbs |
 |
| Raise your hand when you hear the BEEP. |
Other than the shot, Wren really enjoyed his visit to the doctor. She talked to him like he was a big boy and asked him his favorite colors, about his preschool and what he liked to read. He told her his favorite colors were white and black because white is no color you can see and black is too dark to see it. She said "he is really thinking!"
When we came home he wanted to play Doctor Dinosaur. All the dinosaurs lined up and were given well-child visits. They had their hearing tested, received a shot, had their feet checked for Plantar warts (Because Josh had one and it has greatly impressed Wren) and had splinters removed. They were also asked about "any problems in their body". At his appointment Wren told the doctor he had a sore in his mouth and she saw that it was a canker sore. He also asks the dinosaurs this question. It is very satisfying and we have many dinosaurs still lined up to receive treatment in the hospital!
Great Wolf Lodge
We also spent a night at Great Wolf Lodge last weekend, with Kindra and her family. It was lovely to see them and we spent a long time eating, swimming and wandering around with wands. It is interesting how kids suddenly change around adolescence. Mason (12) is so much older than Frost (9)right now!
Here are Wren and Cousin Charlie at the big bear.
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| 4 Year old cousins. |
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy New Year Rambling
I am a failed blogger. Seriously. I just can't think of anything to write or its something I shouldn't write about. Here is a case of the latter.
Wren and I are in the car, driving to the Post Office. Its 5.15pm and all those unfortunate people who work all day are rushing home in the wet dark behind their streams of headlights. I am in the same stream of headlights rushing to make it to the post office before it closes so I can collect my EXPRESS PARCEL from South Africa. I have reason to believe it contains our Christmas Presents from Dad.
The presents are in the mail
As I drive, I brood. I worry that I have not heard from the family that my Christmas Presents for them have arrived. I fear the worst. This year I failed to fully insure and register the Christmas Box. After visiting South Africa this summer it seemed paranoid to spend $35 extra to make sure that it got there. I felt it would since they'd caught those thieves at Oliver Thambo Airport and sorted out the main problem. Anyway, I worry that the Christmas Presents, mailed December 5th, have been stolen. Dad is sanguine. He says they are probably still delayed due to the big freeze in the UK. I want to believe. I suspect Dad remembers the days when international parcels went by sea and took 6 weeks. Remarkably, his parcel to me has arrived within a week. This augers ill for my parcel reaching them and I start to think what Backup Christmas Presents I can send.
As we climb the hill in the stream of traffic I remember that I have left the masala sauce bubbling on the stove. I reach for my cell to call Frost and ask him to turn it off, but have left my cell phone at home after one of Frost's friends called to ask for a playdate and I talked to her while slicing onions. Now my cellphone remains near the onions, possibly near the site of the possible conflagration should the sauce burn and Frost not notice. I start to worry that Frost notices too late and tries to turn it off and then gets burned. I ponder turning around but the traffic is determined and evenly spaced. There is no way to get off this arterial without wasting more time than my direct route.
At the post office I learn that the parcel I have come to collect is still out for Delivery in the mail truck. He found me out but has not made it back in time. I learn that it is Tuesday 4th January and Not Tuesday 5th, as I had believed. I recall that an early sign of dementia is not knowing the date or day of the week.
Being called on my Twitting
At the major intersection where I must turn left, a cautious turner makes all of us miss the lights.
"You twit!" I exclaim.
"Why do you call everyone a TWIT when you drive a car?" Wren asks.
"It is a bad habit. Its what I say when I am frustrated." I explain.
"Are you mad?" He checks. Wren checks this all the time. It makes me mad when he checks all the time whether I am mad when I am not mad at all merely saying "no" or "ow" or some other less-than-thrilled emotion.
"You should stop doing it. Promise you will never ever do that again." he demands.
"Well, I don't want to but sometimes I forget. Like when you hit Frost on the head or in the tummy. I tell you not to but you do it again."
"That is not like that." says Wren.
"Well, it is a bit." I argue.
"No, its not."
"I shall try and stop saying people are twits when they are." I concede.
The Younger Generation are also Twits
We race home through the twits and arrive to find the sauce nicely reduced and in a good state. Frost is doing his Geography Homework. He has a list of questions. Instead of solving the geography puzzles by looking at a map to locate a certain Gulf, find the longest nation in South Ameria or determine which Hemisphere contains the most land mass - he Googles it. Apparently his Geography Quiz questions are common ones because all are answered on Answers.com or Wikipedia.
When I complain about his methods Frost says "I am doing research."
I notice him googling "What country is between Seattle and Anchorage" and grab the Atlas and tell him to look at the map.
"WHAAAT!" he exclaims in shock when he realizes that Alaska is north of Canada. "I thought Alaska was down there!" he gestures towards Florida.
"Um, no. You have to drive through lots of Canada to get to Alaska."
"Why is it America if its UP THERE!" Apparently Frost has no future in US foreign policy.
"I am sure some people in Canada wonder that too."
He stares at the map a bit longer before googling the next thing, something that would require turning to another map page instead of one-finger typing in a querey.
This generation is going to be real dumb real soon if they are without google.
Hawaii Bound
After dinner we sit in the man cave to watch a DVD on Kauai I borrowed from the library. Frost has been keen to visit Kauai but after viewing the DVD he starts to ululate with joy and shout about Guavas everwhere and going up rivers on a boat and boogie boarding and eating shaved ice. It has become real. We have booked a trip to Kauai this spring and since it was very pricey I am avowed to get maximum benefit by anticipating the hell out of the trip for the full 2-3 months lead time.
I have also vowed to learn Spanish. I have been embarrassed making calls in my Freelance work and hearing many respondents switch from Spanish to English when I flounder. Today, Wren and I learned to say Hola and Buenos Dias. Wren said it to 4 people. We also practiced counting.
Unfortunately, they don't speak Spanish in Hawaii or I'd make it a whole educational thing.
What else is going on?
My First Running Injury
I am training for my half-marathon. I am much faster than I thought - my faster pace seems to be around 9 minutes per mile for 4 miles - but I am weaker too as I have a mild calf-strain since the last run. It didn't happen in a dramatic fashion, just started to feel sore and really tightened up when I cooled down. I swam instead of running today which was good but I became quite waterlogged after 40 minutes and stopped.
We are talking about getting a dog this fall. So far, the leading contender is a puggle. However, looking at the price of these things I suspect a tulip bubble (or ostrich bubble, or alpaca bubble) and think we may get a small low-energy mutt. To make an analogy - we would like the lost sock. The one that is well loved, ordinary, and just needs to find a home. In an alarming development (to me) Josh would consider dogs in the toy category. You know, small fluffy things that sit on noble laps. I tend more towards the large loping breeds which are often wet and full of mud. Frost wants a corgi. Wren wants "a cutey".
Frost on Broadway in the Bathroom
Frost is starting a drama class. Josh gave him a man-talk and told him that the drama-geeks get the girls and so he should get ahead and learn his lines. Frost wasn't keen at first but I have since seen him talking and gesturing to himself in the mirror and I think he is making up lines. He also makes up and sings songs and sometimes dances in the middle of soccer matches leading Josh to announce "I don't think Frost has the right personality for soccer, I think he should get into drama as soon as possible."
He was frustrated with Frost who explained later that he was making up a song about playing levels of halo and forgot to look up.
Now, its time for me to get some tea and read my bookclub book. This is my first bookclub and although friends tell me that reading the book is optional, I plan to do my homework so I can nod sagely while chewing my cocktail.
Blending Nirvana
Finally, no catchup blog post can be complete without mentioning the Vitamix. I had a birthday and received a Vitamix from Mum and Josh and myself. I had expected to use it a lot but I had not expected the blending mania to catch me to quite this degree. Last night I made a curry which required coconut milk. Rather than using canned milk I used a coconut Frost and Alex had opened (drilled and hammered) and grated the pulp in a cuisinart food processor. I then added water to the pulp and blended it in the vitamix. Then, I poured the thick creamy mixture into the Champion Juicer and extracted all the liquid. We were left with some dry flakes of cocunut fibre and about 2 cups of coconut milk. It was amazing how fatty it was. When I scraped the vitamix container there was lots of coconut butter / fat in it which I ate.
I poured this coconut milk into the spiced sauteed onions and then cooked it down with squash, peas and tofu. Delicious.
I am also having blending failures. If you blend low-fat dairy yoghurt (for tzaziki) it turns into water. They must put some kind of emulsifier in which fails in the face of the vitamix's blending power. Similarly, soups can get too smooth and appear weirdly creamy. This is nice for me but Frost and Wren prefer chunks. Hummus is delicious and so easy - one can makes a whole cup of hummus. The kids favorite drink so far is a raw shake - frozen bananas, agave, a tablespoon of raw coconut butter, raw cocoa, vanilla, fresh nut milk and nut butter. They beg for more. I based it on the Thrive recipe for a chocolate shake.
Thank you Mum for the gift voucher for Thrive. I had lunch and spent the rest on blending supplies (coconut butter, raw coconut pieces, red rice.) Mrrmrmm
Wren and I are in the car, driving to the Post Office. Its 5.15pm and all those unfortunate people who work all day are rushing home in the wet dark behind their streams of headlights. I am in the same stream of headlights rushing to make it to the post office before it closes so I can collect my EXPRESS PARCEL from South Africa. I have reason to believe it contains our Christmas Presents from Dad.
The presents are in the mail
As I drive, I brood. I worry that I have not heard from the family that my Christmas Presents for them have arrived. I fear the worst. This year I failed to fully insure and register the Christmas Box. After visiting South Africa this summer it seemed paranoid to spend $35 extra to make sure that it got there. I felt it would since they'd caught those thieves at Oliver Thambo Airport and sorted out the main problem. Anyway, I worry that the Christmas Presents, mailed December 5th, have been stolen. Dad is sanguine. He says they are probably still delayed due to the big freeze in the UK. I want to believe. I suspect Dad remembers the days when international parcels went by sea and took 6 weeks. Remarkably, his parcel to me has arrived within a week. This augers ill for my parcel reaching them and I start to think what Backup Christmas Presents I can send.
As we climb the hill in the stream of traffic I remember that I have left the masala sauce bubbling on the stove. I reach for my cell to call Frost and ask him to turn it off, but have left my cell phone at home after one of Frost's friends called to ask for a playdate and I talked to her while slicing onions. Now my cellphone remains near the onions, possibly near the site of the possible conflagration should the sauce burn and Frost not notice. I start to worry that Frost notices too late and tries to turn it off and then gets burned. I ponder turning around but the traffic is determined and evenly spaced. There is no way to get off this arterial without wasting more time than my direct route.
At the post office I learn that the parcel I have come to collect is still out for Delivery in the mail truck. He found me out but has not made it back in time. I learn that it is Tuesday 4th January and Not Tuesday 5th, as I had believed. I recall that an early sign of dementia is not knowing the date or day of the week.
Being called on my Twitting
At the major intersection where I must turn left, a cautious turner makes all of us miss the lights.
"You twit!" I exclaim.
"Why do you call everyone a TWIT when you drive a car?" Wren asks.
"It is a bad habit. Its what I say when I am frustrated." I explain.
"Are you mad?" He checks. Wren checks this all the time. It makes me mad when he checks all the time whether I am mad when I am not mad at all merely saying "no" or "ow" or some other less-than-thrilled emotion.
"You should stop doing it. Promise you will never ever do that again." he demands.
"Well, I don't want to but sometimes I forget. Like when you hit Frost on the head or in the tummy. I tell you not to but you do it again."
"That is not like that." says Wren.
"Well, it is a bit." I argue.
"No, its not."
"I shall try and stop saying people are twits when they are." I concede.
The Younger Generation are also Twits
We race home through the twits and arrive to find the sauce nicely reduced and in a good state. Frost is doing his Geography Homework. He has a list of questions. Instead of solving the geography puzzles by looking at a map to locate a certain Gulf, find the longest nation in South Ameria or determine which Hemisphere contains the most land mass - he Googles it. Apparently his Geography Quiz questions are common ones because all are answered on Answers.com or Wikipedia.
When I complain about his methods Frost says "I am doing research."
I notice him googling "What country is between Seattle and Anchorage" and grab the Atlas and tell him to look at the map.
"WHAAAT!" he exclaims in shock when he realizes that Alaska is north of Canada. "I thought Alaska was down there!" he gestures towards Florida.
"Um, no. You have to drive through lots of Canada to get to Alaska."
"Why is it America if its UP THERE!" Apparently Frost has no future in US foreign policy.
"I am sure some people in Canada wonder that too."
He stares at the map a bit longer before googling the next thing, something that would require turning to another map page instead of one-finger typing in a querey.
This generation is going to be real dumb real soon if they are without google.
Hawaii Bound
After dinner we sit in the man cave to watch a DVD on Kauai I borrowed from the library. Frost has been keen to visit Kauai but after viewing the DVD he starts to ululate with joy and shout about Guavas everwhere and going up rivers on a boat and boogie boarding and eating shaved ice. It has become real. We have booked a trip to Kauai this spring and since it was very pricey I am avowed to get maximum benefit by anticipating the hell out of the trip for the full 2-3 months lead time.
I have also vowed to learn Spanish. I have been embarrassed making calls in my Freelance work and hearing many respondents switch from Spanish to English when I flounder. Today, Wren and I learned to say Hola and Buenos Dias. Wren said it to 4 people. We also practiced counting.
Unfortunately, they don't speak Spanish in Hawaii or I'd make it a whole educational thing.
What else is going on?
My First Running Injury
I am training for my half-marathon. I am much faster than I thought - my faster pace seems to be around 9 minutes per mile for 4 miles - but I am weaker too as I have a mild calf-strain since the last run. It didn't happen in a dramatic fashion, just started to feel sore and really tightened up when I cooled down. I swam instead of running today which was good but I became quite waterlogged after 40 minutes and stopped.
We are talking about getting a dog this fall. So far, the leading contender is a puggle. However, looking at the price of these things I suspect a tulip bubble (or ostrich bubble, or alpaca bubble) and think we may get a small low-energy mutt. To make an analogy - we would like the lost sock. The one that is well loved, ordinary, and just needs to find a home. In an alarming development (to me) Josh would consider dogs in the toy category. You know, small fluffy things that sit on noble laps. I tend more towards the large loping breeds which are often wet and full of mud. Frost wants a corgi. Wren wants "a cutey".
Frost on Broadway in the Bathroom
Frost is starting a drama class. Josh gave him a man-talk and told him that the drama-geeks get the girls and so he should get ahead and learn his lines. Frost wasn't keen at first but I have since seen him talking and gesturing to himself in the mirror and I think he is making up lines. He also makes up and sings songs and sometimes dances in the middle of soccer matches leading Josh to announce "I don't think Frost has the right personality for soccer, I think he should get into drama as soon as possible."
He was frustrated with Frost who explained later that he was making up a song about playing levels of halo and forgot to look up.
Now, its time for me to get some tea and read my bookclub book. This is my first bookclub and although friends tell me that reading the book is optional, I plan to do my homework so I can nod sagely while chewing my cocktail.
Blending Nirvana
Finally, no catchup blog post can be complete without mentioning the Vitamix. I had a birthday and received a Vitamix from Mum and Josh and myself. I had expected to use it a lot but I had not expected the blending mania to catch me to quite this degree. Last night I made a curry which required coconut milk. Rather than using canned milk I used a coconut Frost and Alex had opened (drilled and hammered) and grated the pulp in a cuisinart food processor. I then added water to the pulp and blended it in the vitamix. Then, I poured the thick creamy mixture into the Champion Juicer and extracted all the liquid. We were left with some dry flakes of cocunut fibre and about 2 cups of coconut milk. It was amazing how fatty it was. When I scraped the vitamix container there was lots of coconut butter / fat in it which I ate.
I poured this coconut milk into the spiced sauteed onions and then cooked it down with squash, peas and tofu. Delicious.
I am also having blending failures. If you blend low-fat dairy yoghurt (for tzaziki) it turns into water. They must put some kind of emulsifier in which fails in the face of the vitamix's blending power. Similarly, soups can get too smooth and appear weirdly creamy. This is nice for me but Frost and Wren prefer chunks. Hummus is delicious and so easy - one can makes a whole cup of hummus. The kids favorite drink so far is a raw shake - frozen bananas, agave, a tablespoon of raw coconut butter, raw cocoa, vanilla, fresh nut milk and nut butter. They beg for more. I based it on the Thrive recipe for a chocolate shake.
Thank you Mum for the gift voucher for Thrive. I had lunch and spent the rest on blending supplies (coconut butter, raw coconut pieces, red rice.) Mrrmrmm
 |
| Frost asleep on the couch after staying up all night. |
 |
| Wren hiding under the blanket to play the iPad when he is already out of screen time. |
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