Happy Winter

Two fun things happened last weekend (well, more than that but I'm speaking broadly). First, we met Santa. Second, we went to the snow. Santa was an accident. We were going to Country Club Mall to buy a sled for the snow. I figured this was pretty safe since Country Club Mall is the zombie of malls - it's dead and it doesn't know it yet. Also, it will eat your brain given the chance. So I figured there was no way they had the scratch to have a Santa there. Yeah - WRONG. We walked through the doors at 10 a.m. and there was "the chair" and the trees and the giant creepy fake Jack-in-the-box. Everything but the elves. Well, my 3 year old isn't stupid. He knows what all that means this time of year. So we were stuck between a tantrum and a hard place, as it were. But Santa wasn't going to be there until 11, so we had some time. Buying the sled took about 25 minutes. Jake was wearing his grey sweats and a pirate t-shirt, not an outfit I thought appropriate to meet and have one's picture taken with Santa. So I went to Ross and bought him the only outfit I could find in his size that wasn't ridiculous - jeans and a polo. By the time I got back, the line had formed and Steve and Jake were 3rd. Nice! A quick change and it was almost time for the jolly old elf to appear. When he arrived, he stopped and talked to Jake for a minute. He even complimented his nail polish: a fact for which I will always go back to Country Club at Christmas. By the time it was Jake's turn, he was actually glowing from the joy of talking to Santa. He told him he wanted knights and dragons for Christmas and took a great picture on his lap. He spent the rest of the weekend telling anyone who listened that he "knows Santa." Like they do lunch and go on vacation together. It was awesome. 3 is the BEST age for Santa!

Sunday we went to the snow at Adventure Mountain at Echo Lake. It's a really fun snow park/sledding area that we had been to last year. Only about 80 miles from home. We got there before the rest of the playgroup because I know my boy and snow and 2 hours was simply NOT going to be enough. We sledded for about an hour before everyone else came. Then we sledded as a group for another 1-1.5 hours. Jake went down all by himself most of the time! He tried Brandon's saucer and it went too fast for him (plus, I tried to stop him at the bottom and ended up splitting the poor kid's lip :-() but his sled got great use. We had lunch, made a snowman (that should be in quotes...), and had a great snowball fight. The snow was perfect, the day was warm and sunny, the company was fun - it was a great way to kick off the snow season! Of course, he didn't sleep at all on the way home (unlike his Daddy) so took a late nap at Ama's house, which made getting to bed hard. But totally worth it and we all can't wait to go again.

Coming up we have Hanukkah with the family (yes, I know it's been over for over a week), Christmas, of course, including a surprise addition to the requested knights and dragons, Uncle David's visit, and much more fun. Happy Holidays everyone, from our family to yours.

Tidbits from this weekend

This weekend Jake wanted his nails painted. Fingers and toes. Green. Like dark, Christmas green. Ooooo kaaaay. He actually sat still, with Alice in Wonderland playing, and let me paint them and waited for them to dry. By the time the show was over he wanted the polish off, which Steve had to do to preserve MY manicure, but it was awesome while it lasted. Sadly, no pictures.

Jake refuses to believe that pot roast is made from cows. Why? Because cows have "white stuff with black spots" on them and pot roast doesn't. Um, ok, the white "stuff" is fur/skin and under that white stuff.... pot roast. Daddy, spent dinner poking his pot roast and making moo-ing noises. Probably not helpful for our future vegan.

Jake is really into introducing himself, which is wonderful and a skill I wish I was better at. Other kids do not seem to know how to react. The conversation usually goes something like "Hi, I'm Jake!" .... long pause with no eye contact... "What's your name?" .... long pause. This weekend at Art Beast he added on to it, in a futile but darling attempt to start a conversation or just to be polite, "These are my parents: Mommy and Daddy." I can imagine the conversation next "Wow, my parents are named Mommy and Daddy too! How weird!"

There were a million other things that were cute beyond words. I really need to write them down as they happen somehow. I just love "3."

Halloween and other things

OK, I know I haven't posted in ages and I have no excuse. Bad Mommy. Jake was Super Why for Halloween and what a darling little hero he was! Daddy took him trick or treating and he and Lauren were out on the town for 1.5 hours! The haul of candy was amazing and he had a great time. I'm also happy to say that, other than the 2 pieces he had that night, he hasn't even asked for any of the candy. I'm also sorry to say that, because, let's face it, it's still gone - it's just on MY hips instead of his. The other picture is Jake all punked out for Crazy Hair Day at school. Billy Idol, eat your heart out!

The Monday after Halloween Jake had his 3 year doctor's appointment. He's 38 1/4 inches tall and weighs 35 pounds. He is brilliant, perfect, and healthy, which we knew, but it's nice to hear. Unfortunately, he had to get FOUR shots. We will never do that again - it was just too much for his little system and he really felt yucky for the rest of the day. But he got a pumpkin muffin at Noah's and to go to the zoo with Mommy, so that was a little bit of an up-side.

While still a fan of pirates, Jake is starting to get more into knights and dragons (and princesses, but, thankfully, I'M still his princess most of the time!). He is asking Santa for "shining armor." So... the cheap stuff is easy to find, but if anyone knows where I can get armor for a 3 year old (preferably expandible), let me know!

Facebook questions (again)

I just realized I hadn't done one of these in almost a year, so here's the latest quiz:

Favorite TV Show: Clifford the Big Red Dog
Favorite color: What day is it?
Favorite saying: Okie dokie artichokie!
Best friend: Luren S.
Favorite music: Swing (this has been the case since before he was born. The first kick I felt was to Swing Session's Knock Me A Kiss)
Favorite song: I'm A Gnu (from John Lithgow's Singin' In The Bathtub CD).
Favorite instrument: Electric guitar!
Favorite toy: Bink, the monkey, or his pirate sword. The tinkertoys also count, since he makes pirate swords out of those too.
Favorite game: Pirate sword fight.
Favorite sport: Soccer or baseball.
Favorite foods: Macaroni and cheese. Tomatoes. Hot dogs. Not always in that order.
Least favorite foods: Meat and asparagus.
Favorite ice cream flavor: Mango.
Cake or icing? ICING!
Favorite book: Clifford's Halloween.
Favorite place to go: Fairy Tale Town.
Favorite animal: Dragons.
Favorite superhero: Iron Man. Although he's going to be Super Why for Halloween.
Favorite outfit: Anything with a guitar on it.
What he wants to be when he grows up: A super hero.
Favorite fruit: Apples.
Pet Peeve: Being told "no."
Stuff he's into: Superheroes, knights and dragons, pirates, martial arts, firemen/fire engines.

Any more questions for Jake? Ask them in the comments!

The Story of Cornfed

Once upon a time in late September, as the corn crop was rapidly disappearing from the farmers' markets, a little blond boy asked his mommy for some corn. "OK" his mommy replied, unable to resist her darling son's pleas for vegetables. So the kind mommy bought 5 ears of fairly funky looking corn, even though she had a baaaaad feeling about it.

That night for dinner the mommy was shucking the corn and discovered that her feeling had been right. For ever ear that she opened had a corn earworm caterpillar in it! Some ears had only been nibbled, some ears had been nearly devoured (up to 1/3 of the ear!), but in the forth ear the mommy discovered a caterpillar that was still alive!

"Wow!" cried the mommy, "Come look at this!" So the little boy rushed over and watched the green caterpillar in wonder. The mommy decided to keep the little bug so that the little boy could watch it grow and turn first into a pupa and then into a moth. So the mommy found a pint canning jar, a side effect of her new hobby, and placed the little caterpillar and the top 1/2 of the corn cob into it. Then the mommy put a knee-high over the top and attached it with a rubber band. Voila! Instant science experiment.

Days passed and the family watched the little caterpillar grow into a much bigger caterpillar. They soon decided that their little friend needed a name. The daddy suggested "Cornfed" because of the little critters preferred food. The decision was made and the name stuck. One day, the family noticed that Cornfed was spending a lot of time on the bottom of his jar. The daddy looked up on the Internet and discovered that Corn Borers, which is what Cornfed was, cocoon on the ground. Sure enough, a day or so later the pretty green catterpillar had turned into a little brown cocoon! Weeks past and the family went on with their lives, occasionally checking on their now less-than-exciting friend.

Finally, one night after the mommy and the little boy had returned from a visit to his best friend's house, the daddy, with a knowing smile, suggested that they check on their little friend. Sure enough, Cornfed had energed from his cocoon to become a pretty, fuzzy little moth!

The mommy and the little boy took the moth outside and released him from his jar. He was really new to the world and couldn't even fly yet, but he let the mommy and the little boy hold him as he fluttered and sputtered and tried out his lovely new wings. Cornfed had cute little fuzzy legs and big green eyes, just the same color as the caterpillar he had so recently been. Finally, after bidding the mommy and the little boy good bye he flew off into the night to live with the other "flutters." Happily ever after. Of course.

(Jake was asking me to make up a story last night. Of course, he misses our Cornfed and wishes he could stay with us, but he was also really good about understanding that Cornfed wanted to be with the other flutters and live his life. Hopefully this little impromptu project will begin a lifetime love of science and an understanding of, and empathy for, other creatures and their need for freedom. I have to say, though, I miss the little bugger too. )

Fairy Tale Weekend

Jake and I had a lovely weekend. We had guitar on Saturday and then he gave a wonderful concert at my mom’s birthday dinner that night. Sunday we went to Fairy Tale Town (where we are now members) for 2.5 hours! The attached pictures are from our outing. The Cheese Stands Alone was one of my favorite things when I was a kid. No idea where it comes from, but I've been trying to get his picture on it forever. I love the upside down one. He had a ball being a mouse, climbing all over the cheese!

Soccer or bust? Bust.

Last night was our first night of soccer class. Imagine if you took 40 cats of all different sizes, colors, shapes, breeds, and levels of tameness (ok, probably not a word, but bear with me here), dropped either LSD or meth (or both) in their water, and tried to teach them to walk backward with their eyes closed while tossing a ball. You now have a rough idea of what my evening was like last night. This was complete order and tranquility by comparison.

Here are five reasons why I hated the soccer “classes” we started last night. Well, let me say, first of all, Natalie, if you read this, I don’t blame you. It seemed like a fun idea. So here we go:

1. There were waaaaay too many kids. The sign up said the class was limited to 30, but if that was 30 kids, I’m David Beckham.

2. The guy was trying to get these kids to do things that they are just not physically ready to do yet. Walk backward with your eyes closed while tossing and catching a ball?! I’m not sure I could do that.

3. He gave them NO time to practice these new skills. No activity lasted longer than, say, 30 seconds. OK, I get that they have tiny attention spans, but you have to give someone time to do something more than 1-2 times in order for them to get it. How about “let’s all do this together slowly” once or twice. It was like boot camp.

4. The instructions were way too complicated and moved too fast. An example: ok, we’re going to start walking backward, when I blow my whistle we’re going to run backward, when I blow my whistle again you’re going to turn around and run forward to the white line, but don’t touch the white line, just stand by it. Uh, dude, I’ve lost you. I promise you my 3 year old stopped listening at “run.”

5. There was no time for free play. It was a one hour (yes, ONE HOUR) workout with no fun! Gabe, Jake’s guitar teacher always says (and I agree) “if you’re not having fun, you’re not learning!”

So, in conclusion, we enjoyed the 15 minutes before Coach Doofus started talking when the kids could just play with soccer balls. But I can do that at home or in the park for free and I’m sincerely glad that this is just a 4 week class and not an entire season. Maybe somewhere else when he’s 5 or so. Meanwhile, I got a little workout and Jake and I will kick the ball around in the park more often. Soccer CAN be fun, despite the night of tripped out cat herding.

New favorite picture

As with the family birthday dinner, the pictures at JC Penney were an epic fail on Saturday (how can you take bad pictures of my kid - he's so cute!?). However, luckily, we had a play date on Sunday and I snapped this one while he was out playing soccer with Jack. New favorite picture!

Birthday fun: Part 2

OK, the family party was not as much fun. No pirates. No treasure. And an epic food fail (the bar-b-que caught fire, with the chicken in it, so Sandra Dees got a call and a nice order at 5 p.m.). But Jake got his Clifford cake and everyone got yummy ribs in the end, so there you are. He also got some great presents, which he loves, including an awesome skateboard and a basketball net! Of course, my pirate obsessed son can turn anything into a pirate game. In the picture Binky is in the "crow's nest" and Jake is boldly sailing the pirate ship to glory. Obviously.

Tomorrow is his actual birthday so he will be getting his present(s) from Mommy and Daddy (and Binky) then. Also, soup, which was his requested dinner (I assume from all the readings of Little Bear that he just assumes you have to have birthday soup or he would have requested Mac and Cheese, which is his favorite food). Of course, it's also Ice Cream Tuesday, so he will be getting a sundae at B&R after dinner. And taking cupcakes to school. Wow, I kinda can't wait until it's not his birthday any more! However, it's amazing that my baby is turning 3! Expect the schmaltz-filled, teary post on the morrow.

Birthday Fun: Part 1

ARRRGH, Matey! ‘Tis a pirate party for Captain Jake! Sunday the 19th we had Jake’s friend party. It was pirate themed, of course. It was on International Talk Like A Pirate Day, of course. I went completely, round the bend, stupidly overboard with the decorations, food, and games, of course. But it was so much fun! Here are the stats:

9 kids, 3 and under and 19 adults for 2 hours in our house and yard. Thankfully, the weather cooperated!
Activities included buried treasure (we had to build a sandbox under Jake’s fort for this, but it was totally worth it!), color your own pirate bandana (mostly the parents did this), sticker treasure maps, running around like a 3 year old and doing whatever (there was a lot of this going on).
Jake and two of his friends dressed like pirates. Xoe and Tia were darling, as, of course, was the birthday boy!

Jake got some great presents (opened after nap) including Tinkertoys, a book (pirates, of course), Lincoln Logs, a magnifying glass, and a potato plant to grow. It made me so very happy and grateful that we have wonderful friends who 1) appreciated all the work and creativity that went into Jake’s party and 2) got Jake toys that invite imagination instead of things that go “beep” and play with themselves (not like that, get your head out of the gutter!). It was a great day and I’m glad everyone had fun. I’m grateful for the gifts and everyone coming, but I’m even more blessed by the gift that is our friends!

Recipie for a spider

Jake has a new imaginary friend. His name is Ricky and he's a very small spider. A mere day after befriending this tiny arachnid, Jake decided that what he really needed was a talking spider (of course! who doesn't?) so he instructed me that we needed to "make" one. When I replied that I didn't know how to make a spider and asked him what we need, this is the recipie he gave me. Mind you, it's a bit like my grandmother's recipies in that it's just a list of ingredients with no amounts, but that is obviously because it depends on how BIG you want the spider to be, how much you want him (or her) to talk, and what you have on hand. So here it is, a recipie for a talking spider:

Sugar
Magic
Coins (specifically gold)
Jewels
Pepper
Ginger

For the record, I suggested none of that list (not even the ginger), it's all him. Where does he come up with this stuff?

Lessons Learned

They say you learn something new every day. Some days, the very lucky ones, you learn more than one thing. If that’s the case, this was a very lucky weekend for everyone in our family. Here it is, day by day:

Friday: On a non-Jake topic, we learned that Kiba’s heart is doing really well. We took her to the cardiologist for her 6 month check up and there was less enlargement of her heart than there was on the original exam. Better news than we could have hoped for! I also learned that a new toy horse can get a 3 year old through an hour long funeral. OK, he wasn’t in the room the whole time, but no one heard him.

Saturday: I learned that if you don’t cover your ears at a wild west show it can give you a headache. I learned what the giardia (a/k/a Beaver Fever) microbe looks like in stuffie format. I learned that if you have a toddler who needs to pee, the nice people at the Sacramento Railroad Museum will let you in to use the bathroom, even if all you show them is your Sacramento Zoo membership card. Bless their hearts. Jake learned how to drink a beer (root, obviously) and how to rock a coonskin cap.

Sunday: Jake learned how to ride a horse! Not just a pony-at-the-fair kind of thing, but a real horse. OK, Stormer had already gone 50 miles that day so he wasn’t exactly feeling frisky, but I think I can safely say that it was the highlight of Jake’s weekend. Possibly his year. I also learned that if you keep a 3 year old up to see the stars come out in the woods (insert air quotes: it was a bunch of dry grass, some oak trees, and a half-empty lake that reeked of diesel fuel) then you’d better be staying the night. I also learned that a 3 year old CAN cry in the back of a car for over an hour without stopping. I also, also learned that, even though the tag says surface wash only, you can wash a stuffed monkey with no side effects (other than a clean monkey). Thank God. This was a very information packed day.

Monday – Jake learned that he prefers bagel and cream cheese to chocolate chip coffee cake. He learned that he doesn’t like lemon juice straight and that raw ground beef has germs and mommy will freak if you try to eat it. Lots of cooking knowledge gained today.

Finally, over all, I learned about spicy poodles and sassy trees, I learned I can’t be trusted in a toy store, I learned that my child has a seemingly endless supply of creativity and charm, and I learned that every time I think I can’t love him any more, I’m always wrong.

Best kid ever

Said at the dinner table at Ama's Saturday night: "Mommy, can we go to the book store on the way home?"

'Nuf said.

These are the moments

This is what cameras are for. Those moments, snippets of time, that you think you will always remember, but you don't. Moments that are normal and every day, but that are the stuff of which life is truly made.

Jake and Lauren (a/k/a LoLo) playing the pool. Ah, the final days of summer!















Jake at guitar lessons with Gabe. In the first they were matching the musical alphabet (A-G) and then Jake got to play guitar a little. We played a lot of "red light/green light" because Jake has a very hard time with "only play when you're asked." Of course, he's also only 3 (Steve would add "almost" but I'm going to spot him the month since he's such a good guy). I love that he's learning focus and self-discipline as well as guitar. I'm learning all about what motivates him, which is an unexpected benefit and a lesson that will, I'm sure, serve us well as he approaches school. So far what seems to motivate him the most is being self-directing. He will do what you want him to as long as there's the promise of getting to do what HE wants to after that. He also loves beating mommy at things. We had a competition Tuesday before ice cream night and he won. He got to have the chocolate-dipped cone with the sprinkles at B&R. I had to have a cup. I'm not sure which he liked more, getting the cool cone or denying it to me. I'm not sure what that means other than a few lessons in sportsmanship in our future!

Jake and the Fire Dragon

I know, it’s been forever since I’ve posted. Honestly, there have been quite a few things I wanted to post, but didn’t have any pictures (the old camera broke, a replacement has been procured) and just kept putting it off. I wanted to blog about Jake wanting, as his own idea and without ANY prompting, to take his BFF Jack’s mom flowers for having Jack’s birthday party (what a sweet kid!). I wanted to blog about the fact that his verbal skills have matured amazingly since he’s started the 3 year old class and that now he never. stops. talking. I’m sure there have a been dozens of other moments in the past weeks, but you know how they slip by. It all goes so fast.


Friday we went to the open house at Jake's school. It was Superheros and Princesses. Jake was dressed as "Super Jake" in his baby blanket (made by Carrie) and his bug mask. He was the hit of the party! He got his first face paint - a spider on his cheek. Sadly, the mean Mommy made him wipe it off before bed. Much crying ensued. This has become far more common lately.

However, there is one story that I have to write down. It was yesterday while we were driving from breakfast at Ettore’s (because the power was out at the house) to the park. I’m going to try to remember as much of it as I can, but it was pretty involved. There was a dragon hiding in the tree and he was following us, so I had to drive fast to get away from him because he was breathing fire. So I sped up. I made the light turning from Fair Oaks onto Howe, but just barely. I didn’t think the dragon was going to make it, but apparently there is a dragon shortcut that I’m not aware of because not only was he still following us, but he had caught up and was breathing fire right outside Jake’s window. Fortunately, I drive pretty fast (at this point I was picturing getting pulled over by a cop and having to explain that I was speeding because there was a fire dragon following us, can’t you SEE it?!) and we came to the bridge over the American River. There was some discussion of calling a fireman to put the dragon’s fire out. We called, but things were moving pretty fast by then. Daddy explained that dragons can’t cross running water (I thought that was vampires, but Daddy assured me it’s dragons) so we were safe.

Or so we thought! There was another fire dragon waiting for us on the other side of the river! At this point I’m still a little confused as to how it all happened. The fire dragon left us at some point and went to Ama’s to eat all of Jake’s cookies (OH NO!). He ate them all gone and I told him that Ama loves him very much and will get him more cookies. But that wily dragon got slime all over the new cookies! But fortunately for us there was a knight going to Ama’s and he defended Ama from further ravages of the fire dragon. Between him and the firemen and, I’m convinced, the placating effect of cookies, the fire dragon was changed into a water dragon and everyone knows those are super nice. So it all worked out. Fortunately for us, if not so fortunately for Ama’s cookies.

I don’t know whether I’m going to love 3 or hate it, but it definitely won’t be boring!

Almost 3

Since it's been since the 4th of July since I've posted I'm going to pick and choose my comments and still deluge a bunch of stuff and pictures. So here goes.

Jake is totally and officially potty trained! He was awesome and has done a wonderful, amazing job at picking up this important skill. I had no idea how freeing having him trained would be, but it's been just great.

Jake loves water. Whether it's Papa's house swimming and making funny faces or the Folsom Aquatic Center (thanks to the Sages for getting us hooked on this place!) it's been and will continue to be a fun summer!

We went to the State Fair this Friday as well. We saw the dinosaurs (that roared too loud), the baby pigs, the petting zoo (goats, llamas, deer, sheep, wallabys, and donkeys, oh my!) where he hugged goats, and the RIDES! Jake is finally tall enough to go on some of the rides by himself. He particularly liked the jet ski ride and the jeeps. He wasn't too into the food, until I got a funnel cake. So Daddy and I picked up the slack.

He has gotten really into drawing with markers at the recently repainted table in his bedroom. He does lovely work, I will have to take some snaps of it to post later. Meanwhile, I'm sure I've forgotten about 1,000,000 things so I'll go think and get back to you. Enjoy the pics!

Pictures from the 4th of July

Thanks, Stephanie!

A totally unbiased post...

Well, I’ve always known that my baby was the smartest, sweetest boy in the world. Now I have proof. Examples, you ask? Sure:

Example 1: After less than a week, Jake is telling us whenever he needs to use the potty. He is completely over the “it’s scary” thing and peeing in a public potty Friday night at Joe’s Crab Shack was less of a problem than, well, the noise in Joe’s Crab Shack. Saturday after his nap, in his undies I might add, he informed me (in his usual post nap grump) that he was going potty and that he didn’t need my help. Sure enough, he took his pants and undies off, peed, put them back on (correctly!), flushed, and washed his hands without any assistance! See. Smartest boy ever.

Example 2: Sunday night I made pot pie. Which means my mom was over, of course, because who can resist my pot pie? No one. After dinner my mom snuck a piece of the crumble topping and Steve, jokingly, said “Bad Mom!” Jake, my hero, immediately told Steve “You don’t say she’s a bad mom! She’s a good mom!” Steve replied that he’d been talking to Ama and only kidding. To which Jake responded, “She’s not a bad Ama! You’re a bad daddy for saying that!” My little gentleman! Always rushing to a lady’s defense! See. Sweetest boy ever.

He also gave us a bit of a scare on Sunday. He fell off of one of the climbing towers at the park from about 4 feet (maybe 4.5). He landed on the rubber mat and had nothing more than a scraped elbow, but it was a scary fall to watch! I’m hoping to have more pics from the 4th of July to post this week. Then I can claim, and prove, smartest, sweetest, and cutest!

Let’s Get This Potty Started!! (May be TMI)

So we decided to take the leap and start potty training this weekend. We’d been building it up and getting ready for a few weeks so on Saturday morning we were off to the races.

Day One: “Big boy undies!” Of course, he chose the black undies with the Jolly Rogers on them. Much time spent on the potty, little to show for it at first. A little more drama than I would like. I was probably pushing too hard, not wanting to have an accident while we were at the market. But then on Saturday afternoon something “clicked” and he finally understood what it was that he was supposed to be trying to do and how, exactly, to get his body to do that consciously instead of involuntarily. Breakthrough!!

Day Two: Peeing on the potty all morning and once at the park on the wonderful invention, the Potette! Off to Brandon’s house after nap. Apparently Brandon’s potty is “scary” so we had a few accidents and more Mommy/Boy drama while there. By 8 p.m. I knew he had to pee, so I suggested the Potette, which we knew wasn’t scary. SUCCESS!!! We were at Brandon’s watching fireworks until 9:45 at night. Jake loved them, but (surprise) they we too loud. So he sat on my lap and I had to have my hands over his ears. I was allowed to clap, briefly, after each one, but then the hands had to go right back!

Day Three: It’s become routine. Sit on potty – pee. Poop is another matter. We’re still having issues with that one and had a few accidents on Monday. However, at Ama’s he felt something “in his pants” and we went to the potty and he pooped! YAY!! Not only did he poop on the potty, but he kind of asked. At least he was aware of something about to happen. It’s a step and I’ll take it!

Day Four: Off to school. Three pairs of pants and four pairs of undies. As of this writing (11:00 a.m.) he hasn’t had an accident and has been peeing on the potty! YAY JAKE! Also, while still wearing his night time Pull Up he peed and told me. Another step! Yay! Now all we have to do is tell Mommy before you pee!! But still, wonderful!

My guess (however, optimistic) is that he will be 98% accident free within 2 weeks! What a brilliant boy!

Swimming for Fathers' Day

Sunday we went to Grandma Lynn's to go swimming on Fathers' Day. Jake had a great time.

We've decided that the July 4th weekend will be potty training weekend. I've ordered pirate undies and we're talking about him dropping diapers and using the potty. Last night, after running around in the play pool au natural for a while, I gave him some big boy undies to wear. He was super excited about them. However, the only undies we have are SpongeBob (thanks Uncle Bri and Auntie Kirs), so I had to let him watch the show because he had no idea who SpongeBob was. He wanted to watch again today, but it didn't seem like it was going to become an obsession. I hope.

Yeah, he had an accident, but that's going to happen and it was a good demo of why you can't pee in the undies like you do in the diaper. I'm sure it will sink in over the long weekend. While I'm excited not to spend $80 a month on diapers any more, I'm a little freaked out at the amount of work it's going to be. Oh well, nothing lasts forever!

Beach Blanket Babylon

Jake has been bugging us for weeks to go to the beach, thanks to Dora and Diego's many adventures there, so we made the trip this Saturday. We ended up going to Moss Beach, which is supposed to be about 2 hours away. Google Maps has clearly never crossed the Bay Bridge (odd for a bay area company) and didn't know to add 30 minutes for bizarre traffic issues. It took us 2.5 hours. But it was well worth it! I can honestly say it's one of the neatest beaches I've been to and certainly the most kid- and family-friendly. There was sand for digging (wet and dry), rocks to throw in the water, 50-60 feet of tide pools with very accomodating hermit crabs (one came out of his shell and tried to crawl on my hand, until I dropped him), and little rivulets flowing down from the hills for kids who want water but are scared of the waves (like a certain 2 2/3 year old who shall remain namless - unless you look at the title bar of the blog). There were a lot of families there and we even had seals on the same beach, albeit a ways down, which is where I like my 1 ton marine mammals anyway.

It was a lot of work, but the beach was great - and 30 degrees cooler. Must remember that for later this summer. The only disappointment is there were no clam shells. And no sharks. I think he really wanted to see a shark. Maybe the aquarium next time.

We got there about noon. We stayed until 3:30 or so. Jake didn't nap on the way or while we were there. Needless to say, there was a brief crash when we got to the car. Mid-milk even.

Sunday we went to the zoo and I put up pickels. We'll see how they turn out and if Jake likes them as much as store pickels. All in all, a hot but fun weekend.

Thursday Daddy and Mommy got a guitar. Jake has to play it at least once a day. He' very excited to get his own real guitar (which he very much wants to be electric). I'm excited about starting lessons in a week, but sad to have to cut my nails off. But art - and parenting - involve sacrafice!

Shibas, shibas everywhere! What's a pirate to do?

For those who don't know by now, Jake is a pirate. Arrrgh!! Admittedly, a ver cool pirate. I just love this picture.

He went in a bounce house for the first time at a party we were at last weekend. He loved it. Not quite as much as he loved getting wet playing with a sprinkler that lauches a rocket, but a lot.

This weekend was the annual Shiba Party in Novato. We piled both the puppies into the car, with varying degrees of panic, and set off. Jake felt the need to narrate for Kiba when we set out: "Kiba, we're on the freeway. That's a truck, Kiba. They're loud. Kiba, those are trees..." It was so cute I thought I was going to pop something. He spent the whole trip petting her and giving her hugs. The girls did really well at the party, but we only survived because we still had the loaner pen from when Kiba was spayed. If you read this, Chris, THANK YOU. We owe you our sanity! Yesterday we just hung out at the house after the morning trip to the park and farmers' market. I filled Jake's pool and he and Kiba both went swimming. They're so cute together! They still have issues because she is incapable of remembering which tennis ball is hers and which is his and she does still get a little nippy, but most of the time Jake loves his puppy! She's even allowed to play pirate with us. Of course, she's the shark, but who can blame a 2 year old for a little type casting?

Bruises, Chickens, Pants, and other Miscellanea

I won’t post a picture of Jake from today because boy does he have a shiner! A “make sure we keep the Owie Report from school in case CPS comes by” kind of shiner. From his eye to his hair line on the side of his face. He fell and hit his face on the slide at school. I hear he was very brave about it. Unlike his skinned knee. Still, it looks pretty bad. Poor baby.

The pictures are from the Slow Food Sacramento picnic last Sunday. Jake had a great time! He got to see chickens, both in and out of the hen house, and even pet one. He also liked looking at the bees in the plexiglass hive. There was another little boy there his age, who had also brought a truck, and they played very nicely together. He also helped me make the pizza and I’m looking forward to the pictures going up on the SFS web site because I think someone there got a great one of him topping the pizza.

Last night was a big moment, and a little unexpected. After his bath we were messing around and putting his PJs on. He took the pants from me and proceeded to put them on ALL BY HIMSELF. Woah! When did you start doing that? Oh, wait, just now! He also got his shirt on with out help. This morning he put his pants and shirt on by himself and tried to button the button on the polo. That gave him some trouble so I’m going to find him some of those toys to practice on. I’ll be buying shoes that lace before I know it.

Speaking of shoes, he got two new pair this weekend. He hadn’t out grown the old ones, they just fell apart. Odd for Stride Rite, but sometimes you get a bad pair. Getting chewed on by Kiba probably didn’t help. Will I miss the flashing fire engines? No. And while he didn’t outgrow the shoes (yet), he is definitely continuing to grow. When he swings on the swing in our yard (that he could barely stay on less than a year ago) he can drag his feet through the grass. Sigh.

His new favorite phrases include “That’s not good.” and “Wait your turn.” Oddly, I hear the last one more often at night when Daddy’s giving out hugs. As in “Mommy, wait your turn.” I’m next to last. There’s an order to the process, mostly in who goes first and last. No, he’s not at all OCD like Steve and I!

He has started watching The Backyardigans as well as his continued love of Dora and Diego. The parents are trying to figure out how to get the super catchy songs from that show out of our heads. Any suggestions (that don’t involve a Surry With Fringe On Top, Steve) are welcome.

It's a family thing

I want to take a moment to introduce the most unusal family dynamic I have ever seen. We were informed by Jake on the way back from Sonoma Sunday that Binky missed his daddy. When asked who Binky's daddy was, he informed us that Murphy is Binky's daddy. Later that night we got the entire family structure.















Murphy (bear) is Binky's daddy.
Merely (meercat) is Binky's mommy.
Magic Lion (lion, obviously) is Binky's abuela (grandma). However, it is unclear whether he/she is the parent of Murphy or Merely. Odd either way based on both species and size.
Meow (cat) is Binky's brother.
Wolfie (wolf) is their pet. As is Pony (horse).

And you thought Thanksgiving at YOUR house was odd.

Every day is Mothers’ Day

We had a lovely Mothers’ Day! I was awakened at 5:50 a.m. (good, by Jake standards) by a gentle tapping. My darling son climbed into bed with us, which is really rare, and Kiba joined. I had Jake cuddled in front of me, Kiba wiggling for pets behind, and Steve behind her. My baby wished me “Happy Mothers’ Day, Mommy.” Doesn’t get better than that! Our picnic was rained on, the Nut Tree closed just as Jake wanted to ride the train and the carousel (so he SAW them running, but didn’t get to ride – horrible timing!), and he didn’t get a good nap, but he was a super trooper all day and not ONE real melt-down. What a big boy he’s getting to be! Speaking of which, while we were at the carousel I stood him next to the “You Must Be This Tall To Ride Alone” sign and he measured 37.5” tall!! That means he’s grown 1” since March 28th! WOW! OK, now I get why all of his pants are suddenly floods!

We had been wondering why he was starting to include some “gibberish” words in his conversation. He used one at Ama’s Saturday night and I asked him what it meant. He replied that it was something “Eddie says.” Eddie is one of the boys in his class that was raised in a Chinese speaking home. He has very little English and the teachers have picked up a few words in Chinese to communicate. Apparently, so has my boy! He couldn’t tell me what it meant, but the fact that he’s picking some of it up amazes me!

Jake got his first skinned knee that was “Band Aid worthy” this weekend. It’s amazing to me that it’s taken this long! He’s constantly climbing things, jumping off of things, and running but this is the first one that’s bled. He was very brave (not really, but we told him he was) and got his spray of Neosporin and a bandage. It’s either a testimony to how cautious he is, not doing things he can’t handle, or how coordinated he is. I’m not sure which.

Last weekend we got Jake a kite (with a train on it!), which he loves flying at the park with Daddy. He has also gotten to be quite the baseball player – at least when it comes to batting. I showed him how to keep his eye on the ball and he now SMACKS it across the yard. And I have the bruise on my stomach to prove it! It’s amazing to me that this was my 3d Mothers’ Day and that I MADE the little baby who is turning into a little boy right before my eyes. You really are my sunshine, Sweetie, and the best Mothers’ Day present ever.