Halloween

At the end of last Halloween, Linus told me he wanted to be a turtle the next time. He never once changed his mind. About a month ago he said he wanted to be a sea turtle. I was going to sew him a costume, but then he asked for a hard shell. I chose to create it out of paper mache. He helped me tear up newspapers into strips and he stirred the paste, but he didn't like the messy part of dipping the strips into the paste. Sometimes he played nearby while I put on another layer and other times I worked on it while he was taking a bath or playing with Matthew.

As we got closer to painting it I asked him what color he wanted the turtle to be. I could tell that he was envisioning it as he gestured and described: "A white sea turtle. With a white shell and a pink front." So that is what I created for him. As he marched up the street to go trick-or-treating, I thought the costume suited him perfectly. He was a great sea turtle.

When we carved pumpkins, Linus only wanted his to have eyes. After Matthew carved those into it, Linus put pulp on the top of it to be stringy hair. He didn't want to have a candle in his. This is the first time that he had his own vision for his jack o'lantern.

Growing

Last week I started getting the idea that Linus might be having a growth spurt. He was sucking down milk all of the time, sleeping in, and tripping a lot. One day he even took a nap. Yes, a nap! It was a beautiful fall day and we were tackling a couple of new projects. We found a small book case in the alley and I bought a headboard for Linus off of Craig's List for $10. Score! We were cleaning them up and sanding them. After he got tired of helping with that, he hauled every single one of his plastic and wood animals outside to play. Quite a while later he announced that it was time for us to take breaks. He made a couple of trips into the house to bring out a cozy and books for us. I did need a break and I was touched that he'd gone to my bedside table and grabbed the top three books on the stack. So we rested and read books. Next thing I know, I realize he hasn't said anything or moved. He was leaning against my leg. When I pulled away and sat up, I could see that he was asleep. He NEVER naps any more! He was that tired out!

I took a picture of him napping because he looked so sweet.

By the way, he is awesome at sanding and staining. He totally gets the whole thing about going with the grain.

Rites of Autumn

Yesterday we had friends over to make caramel apples. Barrett, her brother Matt, and Linus played outside in between the batches of caramel. They dreamt up a game of tag in which the one who was "it" buzzed around like a bee. Linus is still proclaiming that he enjoyed the party and liked making caramel apples. This evening he asked why we had the party. I told him, "Because it is nice to do things with our friends. That is how we make happy memories."

After the guests left and I'd cleaned up a tiny bit in the kitchen, we headed to the front yard to rake leaves. Wednesday's snow and rain took down most of the leaves in our maple tree. The three of us had fun working and playing with the leaves. Just like last year, Linus got upset when we started bagging up the leaves. Sorry kid, but that is the point of all that raking.

On Friday I helped chaperone Linus' preschool class to a pumpkin patch. We walked the kids there, with each child holding the hand of a classmate or grown-up. We talked about the different sounds we heard as we stepped on dry leaves or wet leaves. The Pumpkin Lady at the patch told us a story and then the kids each got to pick out a little pumpkin for themselves. They all wanted to bring them home, but they will be decorating them in class this week. Last Friday I worked as a substitute for the teacher's assistant. She was out with the H1N1 virus, which then resulted in her having pneumonia. I loved playing teacher with the kids in the art room and I even got paid! The money will be applied to Linus' tuition. Langley teases me that I'll be teaching there next year and all the kids will want to be in my class. Very flattering. (In the class photo, Heidi, the lead teacher, is on the right and her assistant, Laura, is on the left.)

Independent Streak

Linus wants to do nearly everything for himself. If I get out a spoon for his breakfast he complains and doesn't stop until I put the spoon back. Then he reaches into the drawer and takes out the very one I'd chosen for him. I'm getting much better about remembering that he wants to use his skills. Of course I still get the whiney, "Mama. Take my boots off for me. I'm too tired to do it."

Out of the blue I discovered that he could cut pictures out with scissors. Linus' teacher suggested in her weekly newsletter that we give our kids some strips of paper to cut into small pieces. That sounded like good practice in cutting, so I pulled out some scraps of printed scrapbook paper and gave it to him for cutting. He cut out a few jagged strips, glued them together, and told me it was a tree. The very next morning I found him cutting out the pieces to an activity we got from the library. I was shocked and said, "Since when do you know how to cut so well?! Did you learn that at school?" He said, "No. I cut the paper yesterday and now I know how to do it." Amazing! It is interesting how kids can go from not being able to do something, to doing it quite well over night. He was pretty proud of himself.

Doesn't he look cute in his sweater? I love guys in sweaters. Linus chose his outfit, including the boots, and I chuckled to myself that he was dressed like Matthew. We got the boots secondhand from neighbors. They are a bit beat up, but still have a lot of wear in them. Linus wears them everyday now. I took the outdoor pictures on our walk to preschool last week. I enjoy our time together on our walk. He holds my hand much of the time. We talk about things we see, like the leaves falling off of the trees or acorns we find. It provides us some focused togetherness before we part at school.

Farm Animals

Erin and I took Linus and Grace to see the farm animals that were visiting the Children's Museum. It was a beautiful fall day after several days of rain. It was nice to get the kids outside. (Not that I mind rainy days.) Linus pet a duck, hen, rabbit, goat, and sheep. He also got to sit on the pony. He liked watching Grace try to put the rabbit's ear in her mouth. She tries to put everything in her mouth. He laughed when I told him about the time he put a duck's bill in his mouth.

We watched Grace for a few hours today and she gave us hugs for the first time. We were there when she woke up from her nap and she was so excited to see us come into her room to get her. I got her out and we were playing with her on the floor when she crawled up my leg to lean into me and snuggled close. Then she reached over to Linus and did the same thing. He was in heaven! He really loves Grace. On our way home he was sad to leave her. He told me that they could both sleep together in her crib.

Linus has been asking me, "Do you love me when I'm in pajamas? Do you love me in the bath tub?" etc. After I tell him yes, he says, "I love you when you are in pajamas," etc. He missed Matthew a lot last week. Matthew has had to work a lot lately and after a few days of this Linus gets mopey about it.

On Friday at preschool they got to paint with cars. He said it was fun to see their tracks. He likes to tell me how they say, "One, two, three; that's enough for me!" when they pour their own water. He says it is hard to say it and pour at the same time, but they are supposed to say it so they don't pour too much.

Loving Life

Linus is having fun nearly every minute of every day. He really enjoys attending preschool and getting to do fun, new activities. He told me he wishes he could go every day. Last Friday the kids got to make rainbow toast as part of a color lesson. They painted bread with dyed milk. After it was toasted, they got to sprinkle it with cinnamon and sugar and snack on it. He also likes to play house and dress-up. (One of the perks of being in charge of organizing the photos for the teacher is that I get pictures of Linus doing things at school. Here he is with Heather.) It is clear to me that he listens to his teacher because of things he tells me to do. For example, on his second day of school he firmly instructed me to walk up the stairs on the right side and when coming down to use the other side. One day I asked if he played with Oscar. He said, "No. He didn't know the rules and I know the rules. We were having circle time and he wanted to play, instead."

After one day of preschool, he started calling me mom instead of mama. What makes this strange is that he says it in nearly every sentence to me. "Read me this book, mom," and "I'm playing dinosaur, mom." I guess he is just trying it out. I was sad about it for a few days, but now I'm over it. I guess I thought I'd be his mama for longer.

I bought him some Playmobil toys off of eBay and he is in heaven with them. "It has binoculars (pronounced bi-noc-ee-yars)! He has a suitcase!" He had a butterfly flying around the plastic trees to all of the flowers and was calling out, "He's pollinating the flowers! Even the cute, little flowers! He's pollinating every flower!" The thing about those toys is that I have a ton of fun with them.

I also got him his first set of Legos to see if he could handle them. Ever since he hung out with his older cousin, Brandon, Linus has asked us several times if he is old enough for Legos. I got him a beginner set of Freestyle Legos and he was bursting with excitement when they came in the mail. Getting them was a very important moment in his life, which became apparent to me when he said, in a reverential tone, "It's my first Legos." Matthew and I both enjoy building with him.

As one can see from his quotes, much of what he says is an exclamation. What an amazing time this is for him and for us to witness.

1st Day of Preschool

Linus enjoyed preschool, but he hasn't talked about it very much. On our way there he kept running ahead and then running back to me. He said, "I'm running because I'm so excited to go to preschool!" I allowed just the right amount of time to get there. Even with a stop to open acorns under an oak tree, we got there in time to take a picture and get him up to class. He was definitely nervous with all of the parents and kids waiting outside the classroom door. I tried to occupy him with finding his cubby and Chase's as well. Only half the class had Wednesday as their first day and Chase wasn't starting until Friday. I underestimated how much that mattered to him. Heidi and Laura had the kids sit on carpet squares to start the day. When Heidi asked if everyone was there, Linus called out, "Chase isn't here!" He seem troubled by this. I told him that Chase was starting on Friday and then class started and I left.

The house was so very quiet without him there. I didn't get much of anything done because I was thinking about him growing up so fast. I felt a bit competitive about sharing him with his teacher. He's mine, mine, mine! But I knew he was having fun. On a whim I stopped by a bakery and picked up a little cake to surprise him with after dinner. We celebrated with him and watched Obama give his health care speech to Congress.

When Matthew asked him about preschool he said, " "We made marbles. We did red, blue, and pink. We had strawberries and fish crackers. We ran around. And Heidi said we were the best cleaners!"

Pending Preschool

We baked cut out cookies this week. We haven't done that in many months and Linus has gotten quite good with the rolling pin and cutters. He chose to make lobsters, fish, ducks, and two styles of hearts. I focused on making Shakespeare cookies with this cool, wood cookie mold.


Linus starts preschool on Wednesday. We haven't had to hype him up for it because to him it is normal and a given. This is yet another milestone that he glides right into with no trouble. We'll see if that is still the case after a few days of the program. I've also been fully prepared. A couple of weeks ago we attended his class lemonade and I got to meet a number of his classmates' parents. The experience felt like one of those speed dating events where one spends five minutes with each person. While the parents chatted, the kids ran around the play ground and had tons of fun. Many of us had to haul our kids off crying to head home for the evening. None of them wanted to leave.

Heidi, his teacher, visited each child in their home for about a half hour. The point of the visit was for the child and teacher to get to know one another. After we let her in the door and Linus led her off to his room, I went into the kitchen to put away dishes and eavesdrop on their conversation. She talked to him about painting and asked if he likes to make a mess. He said, "No. Sometimes I do and then mama has to clean up after me and Matthew." Ha!

Before having children she was a first-grade teacher in the area. After her children attended preschool at Montview, she liked it so much she decided to teach there. I like her a lot. She and her assistant, Laura, have beautiful smiles and I think all of the kids will love them.

I also attended the Parent Orientation. Here we learned about our helping days, the kinds of snacks to bring, labeling clothes, the day-to-day routine in the classroom, and were warned that the kids will have runny noses from October to March. I got a bit emotional when I saw his cubby.

My third meeting was to learn about my specific parent job, which is being a Curriculum Parent. Another parent and I will do things to lighten the workload that Heidi has to take home, like cutting out things for projects, making play dough and gak, gathering materials for projects, etc. Heidi pulled me aside and asked if I could organize the pictures for her two classes this year. The pictures will be used for posting on a bulletin board so parents can see what the kids have been up to. At the end of the year each kid will receive a book with photos of their time in the class. I was relieved to receive this job and to not have to be on the fundraising committee. I have skills that could be useful on any of the committees, but I'll have the most fun with this one.

Frolicking at the Beach

Ocean

While we were out east for a family wedding, the three of us drove up to Maine and had a chance to take Linus to the ocean for the first time. He was most taken by the sea gulls. He became giddy watching them. He thought the waves were interesting, but he didn't trust them and got freaked out by them a few times. He thoroughly enjoyed a tidal pool, though. The water was warmer and the size of it was more manageable for him. He got coated in sand. I think the pictures from this visit tell the story better than my words can.

Rainy Camping Trip

Last weekend the three of us went camping at around 9000 feet in State Forest Park. The campground we stayed in was gorgeous and just how I envisioned camping in the mountains. We were surrounded by tall, tall trees and ground squirrels scampered about. The park is also home to about 400 moose. Several things put us at a disadvantage:
1. I forgot to pack a flashlight. Fortunately, I realized this before we drove through the last major town and we stopped to buy one. We ended up getting a two-pack and Linus had fun playing with his in the car. He insisted he needed it to see moose. In a whisper he would tell us, "I'll hear a moose. Then I'll turn on the flashlight and see it." He was adorable about his quest to see a moose. He learned this animal tracking method from the Owl Moon book from Peter and Betsy.
2. The pump for the air mattress didn't work. That wasn't such a big deal, but it worked when Lyz was here in July. Matthew made a valiant effort to blow it up himself, but then I reminded him that at our high altitude there wasn't as much oxygen. He stopped blowing and when he stood up he felt lightheaded.
3. It kept raining on us. Rain shower after rain shower came and went. At times they were accompanied by lightening. If there is one thing I've learned very well here is that lightening is very dangerous at high altitudes. So I'd tell everyone to get into the car. Linus was troubled by this a bit. It was difficult for me to prepare dinner in these conditions. I finally decided that the hobo dinners could just have the rainwater in them!
4. The water jug leaked in the trunk. Apparently the seal is no longer any good. We were relieved that nothing important got wet from the leak.
5. I realized I hadn't packed diapers for Linus to sleep in. Uh, oh. The low that night was going to be in the high 30's and one doesn't want to get wet and risk hypothermia. We tossed around the idea of wrapping his lower half in an extra plastic bag I'd brought along.
6. We were rushing to make s'mores before it started raining again and failed. It was dark and the rain started coming down hard. We dove into the tent with the graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. We sipped the hot chocolate we'd managed to make and ate the individual ingredients. Things weren't too bad until I felt rain water leaking onto me. Our bedding started to get wet and then Linus wet his pants. We had to make the decision to sleep in the car. Matthew slept in the driver seat, I slept up front with him, and we tucked Linus into his car seat. Part way through the night, Linus woke up crying and ended up sleeping the rest of the night with Matthew. The two of them were wedged into the steering wheel.

When we got up the next morning it was quite chilly and it felt good to stand by the fire. Rain showers continued to come through and we decided we had to head home instead of staying for a second night as we had planned. Before we left we attended a talk about moose and drove around a bit in search of one. We did get to cook our hot dogs on the fire, but had to eat our lunch in the car because it started raining again.

One thing I will say about us: we are really good sports and quite good at maintaining a positive attitude. I'm going to figure out how we can weatherproof our tent some more and I think we'd like to rent a cabin there next summer.

Soccer

Soccer has ended for the season. Linus enjoyed it for the most part. The coach for his team bailed out on the kids and didn't show up for the final three games. The parents stepped in and coached them. My contribution was to tell each of them how they were doing great. For the final game, the staff person from the Y asked for a volunteer to distribute the participation medals. I jumped at the chance. I greatly enjoyed putting them around each child's neck. So far the only thing that Linus seems to have learned from the experience was how to blow bubbles with his spit and have them stick to his lower lip. He learned this from Isis, the girl in the middle of the team picture.

Time With Grace

Linus and I have been taking care of a friend's baby now and then. I refer to it as the Rent-a-Baby program. I get a dose of mothering a baby and Linus gets a chance to use his caregiving talents. Grace is nine months old. She crawls really fast and is starting to pull herself up to standing. She also claps and has started waving bye-bye. Linus is great with her. He has been known to pull leaves out of her mouth when her mother and I have been distracted. He knows to keep little things out of her reach so that she doesn't choke on them. He is gentle with her, likes to tell her about the world, and gives her kisses. He LOVES to feed her and is a pro at it. He doesn't put too much food on the spoon and even uses the spoon to catch the big drips on her chin.

After we babysat the first time he told me, "I want to keep Grace forever." It was only a matter of time before this conversation took place:

Linus: Will you have another baby?
Me: No, I don't think that will happen.
Linus: Why?
Me: Pregnancy is really hard on my body.
Linus: Was it hard when you were pregnant with me?
Me: Yes, but you were worth every second of it. I am so lucky to have you!

Scooter

We surprised Linus with a scooter. He had told me he wanted to have one and I found one for a good price. When he tells people about it he always includes that he and Matthew put it together. That made him very happy. He looked like such a big kid cruising down the sidewalk. He is even able to carry it down the stairs. When I pointed that out to him he said enthusiastically, "That's because I'm a big kid!"

Outside World

Matthew shared with me that tonight, while I was out running errands, Linus said to him in a deep, growly kind of voice, "Darth Vader!" I burst into tears. They were not the happy kind of tears. It breaks my heart that babyhood has nearly all faded away.

And to add to this, Lisa told me today that his face looks different. I'm not sure how, exactly, but I did notice recently how much longer his neck appears to be. Jean warned me about this one.

Peas!

Linus picked his first peas on July 3. It was a great moment of celebration. The best part of it for me was to see him share peas with each of us. To be honest, I like fresh peas so much I might not have been as generous as he was with them.

Camp

I have now dropped Linus off at camp three times. It still feels odd to be in my car without him. When I admitted this to some of the moms I know, several told me they turn up the volume on the car radio because it is so quiet without the kids.

At Friday's session he learned how to play Duck, Duck, Goose. He was so cute when he explained to me how to play the game. He said, "I went around all of the kids saying, 'Duck, duck," and then when I got to the girl I wanted to be my goose, I touched her and said, 'Goose,' and we ran around!" He also learned to play a game called Wicked Witch. It involved calling out, "Wicked Witch, what time is it?" The kids had to take the same number of steps as the witch said was the time and then at some point running was involved. I experienced an awkward moment when he asked me what a wicked witch was. All sorts of images went through my mind: the witch from the Wizard of Oz movie, the Salem witch trials, the fun witch imagery at Halloween. I wasn't quite sure what was an age-appropriate answer and I changed the subject. I still need to figure that out and talk to him about it.

I asked him if he counted his steps out loud and he said, "Sometimes. Sometimes I let the other kids count and sometimes it was too noisy for me to think of the numbers."

Later, when I overheard Linus telling Matthew about it all, I felt as though a new, older kid was in our house. Plus, we'd gotten a letter from Linus' preschool teacher that day and I'd marked our calendar with things like the Class Lemonade. How on Earth did we get to this point? All I can say is, "Wow!"

(Lyz took this picture of us when she was visiting. When I drop Linus off, I help him open up his lunch before I leave. On this day his vegetable was peas from his garden. He even shelled them. He also had milk, fruit salad, and a wrap filled with herby cheese, lettuce, and summer squash.)

More Cute Pictures from the 4th

Fourth of July 2009

We had a blast for the 4th. Lyz was here and she helped Linus decorate his trike for the kiddie parade that was held at Cheesman Park. He managed the whole route just fine and even rang his bell some. There was a great band to lead the parade and even a man dressed up as Abe Lincoln, riding one of those very tall, old-time bicycles. After the parade, Linus got to pet a police horse, sit in the driver seat of a police car, and check out a fire truck. (I was given an ID kit to prepare in case Linus is ever kidnapped. Just being handed the thing made the hair on my arms stand up. Egads.)

On the way back to the car Linus encountered a whole bunch of lady bugs on someone's boxwood. It was incredible to see so many in one place. He quickly made friends with many of them. He wanted to stay there forever and it was hard to get him into the car.

In the evening we celebrated at a cookout with friends. Linus was less nervous about the little fireworks this year, but didn't like the loud, screechy ones. The kids all played well together and it was fun to have so many of us together.