We're Alive

We are all alive and doing okay. I'm just worn out by the pace of a nearly-three-year-old kiddo.

1.20.09

January 20, 2009 isn't a date Linus will commit to memory, but I shall carry the memory for both of us. He and I went to watch Obama's inauguration at Rich's and Lisa's house with other friends from the neighborhood. We watched the parade at home in the afternoon while eating lunch and playing. Linus was very interested in talking about Sasha and Malia moving into a new house. When the moving trucks were shown on the tv he was concerned that their trains and stuffed animals would be moved in.

At night all three of us attended a party hosted by other neighbors, Lon and Wendy. It was wonderful to spend time with friends and new acquaintances, reveling in the magic of the day. Linus got to bed an hour and a half late and passed out almost immediately. I was emotionally drained but still hyped up at bedtime. I have yet to have a chance to absorb and process all of the symbolism of yesterday and what it all means to me.

I woke up this morning feeling buoyant and very conscious all day that Obama was already at work tackling the challenges our nation faces at this time. Linus wanted to be the first to open the newspaper and pointed out the First Family on the front page. He named off Barack Obama, Michelle, Malia, and Sasha.

Parades

Since attending the holiday parade in December, Linus has liked to play parade. He insists on leading the way and distributes instruments to me as he sees fit. A few days ago I took him downtown for the Western Stock Show parade and now he tells us about steers, horses, and cowboys marching in our parades at home.

I was afraid we wouldn't get a good viewing spot and I'm no longer able to boost Linus up onto my shoulders. I needn't have worried; there wasn't much of a crowd where we went along the parade route. We met a nice woman from Colorado Springs who was there to photograph her husband riding by on horseback representing a group that worked security during the Democratic National Convention in August. She took the picture of Linus and me together. We don't have many pictures together, so each one is worth a lot to me.

The grand marshall was Baxter Black, a cowboy, poet, and humorist, known on NPR as the Cowboy Poet. When he rode by on a wagon pulled by horses, I yelled out to him, "Hooray, Cowboy Poet." I don't read his poetry or follow him in any particular way, but one doesn't get many chances to cheer for a poet. If Linus were older he would have been mortified. Tee, hee. Baxter Black did give me a big smile in return.

Matthew and Linus have been tending to me as I recover from having my wisdom teeth removed on Friday. I'm healing fine. When we remind him that my mouth is sore he tells us, "My mouth is sore too because I'm growing a new tooth." He has had the first of his two-year molars coming in for weeks now.

Pig Tails

I'm so glad I captured this shot of Chase cleaning paint off the back of Linus' arm. I see a lot of sweetness in this. The two had been painting on sliding glass patio doors with window paint, which Linus thought was so cool. Then they had fun wiping the paint off with wet paper towels. When I started cleaning Linus up, Chase jumped in to clean off his arm. Her pig tails are adorable. All of his girl friends have long enough hair that they can wear pig tails.

Linus and his friends have been playing so well together. It is really fun to listen in on them using their verbal skills. An example:

Linus: Can I have them when you are done? Would that be alright?
Chase: Yes, when I'm done.
Linus: Okay. Thank you.

Linus and Chase ate lunch together and before leaving the table he sweetly asked, "May I please be excused?" Langley was so impressed. This example of fine manners was cancelled out by how he drank his milk. She served each child their milk in their own little pitcher. This way they could have the fun of pouring their own milk into their glasses. Linus' pitcher was a creamer in the shape of an elephant. He loved it and proceeded to drink his milk from the elephant's trunk. This gave Chase the giggles and the two had a giggle-fest all through lunch.

We are feeling lots of bread love in our house. Thanks to my new high-altitude cookbook from Matthew, I've been cranking out loaf after loaf of delicious bread. Today we polished off an entire loaf of cinnamon raisin bread between the three of us. I guess I can't make that one too often if we are going to be so piggy about it.

Dinosaur Ridge

We drove out to Morrison yesterday to visit Dinosaur Ridge. In the 1870's several dinosaur fossils were found for the first time here, including the Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, and Diplodocus. What was most remarkable to see on the tour were the dinosaur tracks that we could clearly see because staff shaded them in with charcoal twice a year. I don't know that Linus learned much about dinosaurs, but he had fun getting on and off the bus and doing a bit of climbing. Our tour guide was wonderful about helping him climb. Later last night Linus did talk about wanting to see real dinosaurs and I explained that they are extinct.

The wind was very blustery up there in the foothills, but we were fitted out in new knit hats from BryAnn. It was fun to all wear new hats at the same time!

We have visited the two preschools that we are considering for Linus for the fall. Both are parent cooperatives and are play-based. They are what we want for Linus, but both schools have waiting lists and use lottery systems to fill the slots, so we'll just have to wait and see if they pull Linus' name. I prefer Montview because it is close to our house, we've heard great things about it from parents we know, and it really felt like kid heaven. The playground has won awards and features a sliding hill and a great circular paved path that goes around the playground equipment. Kids were riding trikes and scooters around and around. The classrooms had a great vibe. The kids were active and having a good time and I liked what I saw of the teachers. Of course if he doesn't get in, he'll stay home with me for another year. I'd be happy about that, too.

Musical Beginnings

One of the interesting things I've noticed is that Linus sways or bobs around when he plays instruments. You can see a bit of this in this video.

Our New Life

With trains in our house, very little is the same as before. Strangely, Linus' favorite activity is to pretend to shop for trains. He loads all of his trains, cars, trucks, etc. into his shopping cart and has me ring him up at the kitchen counter. Personally, I'm rather bored with this, but I am getting better at remembering each engine's name. It seems that no matter what we are doing, Linus mentions the Thomas trains. Any time we walk anywhere he insists on leading the way and being Thomas and he relegates us to being Annie and Clarabell. It is nearly impossible to dress him any time before 10 a.m. because he is too busy playing to stop for even a couple of minutes.

Posted is a picture of Linus actually playing something else. He thinks it is funny to knock down the bowling pins. I have to keep reminding him to back up so he doesn't knock the pins over directly with his hands.

Tidbits:
When he left for work Matthew told Linus, "Have a good Wednesday." Linus laughed and said, "That's funny." Matthew was already gone when Linus repeated it to himself and laughed again.

We were dancing around pretending to do ballet and he told me, "You're supposed to leap way up in the air!" Then he said, "That might not be a good idea for me."

When we were decorating the Christmas tree he enjoyed unpacking the homemade ornaments. He kept exclaiming how cute they were. When he saw the one I made for his first Christmas he said, "I like this one best. Mama made it for me."

We were out shopping and while standing in a check out line he started up a conversation with a girl who was around four years old.
L: I'm wearing a coat.
Girl: I'm wearing a new shirt.
L: I got Diggity Dog.
Girl: I have no idea what he is talking about.

When Matthew returned to work after being home five days for Christmas, Linus and I both missed him. He said, "I miss Matthew. You miss Matthew. Matthew misses his self."

Today it is 60 degrees so Linus and I packed up a little picnic to eat at the Garden. We were watching the construction just outside the entrance and then Linus grabbed my hand to pull me into the Garden because "Matthew is lonely." Matthew joined us for a picnic and Linus told Matthew, "I miss you. It is fun when you stay home all morning. I miss you, but mama keeps me company."

Christmas Joy

Christmas 2008

If you were to ask Linus about Christmas he would tell you about getting trains.  He would likely tell you about Henry, Thomas, Gordon, and Salty.  He received trains from the Thomas line from Stephanie and us.  As soon as he had a few of them unwrapped, it took coaxing from us to get him to open up the rest of his presents. I found it delightful to watch and listen to him express his excitement and love for the trains.  I got a bit of video of it and I'll try to post it soon so you can hear him talk about loving the trains.  You can hear the joy oozing out of him in the tone of voice he uses. 

We are all enjoying his new books, toys, and games.  Diggitty Dog is his very first board game.  We played it with him this morning. Instead of rolling a die, one pushes on the dog house in the center of the board.  You count how many times the dog barks and that is how many spaces you get to move.  Something that was fun to discover was that the dog playing pieces have magnets in their mouths.  If there is a bone where your dog lands, you get to pick up the bone using the magnet and check to see if the color on the other side matches your dog.  I think it is fun to pick up bones using the dogs.

When Linus was opening up the gift bag from Matthew's aunt and uncle he said, "Martha and Bill are good at wrapping things!"  He found a painted picture included with a gift from Johanna in Green Bay and said, "How thoughtful of her."  He received a bowling toy from his cousins out east and he said, "I will play it with Chase."  It was gratifying to hear him express appreciation for his gifts.

For the most part he has played with his trains non-stop.  We had to tear him away to go for Christmas dinner at a friend's house and drag him off to bed last night.  Tonight he cried as Matthew pulled him away to get ready for bed.  He recovered when I read him one of his new books for his bedtime story:  The Little Engine That Could.  He was engrossed with the story, but troubled that some of the engines refused to help out.  Matthew put him to bed and he was out in no time at all.

Munchkin

We were out running errands today and I said to Linus, "Come here little munchkin. Are you my munchkin?" He said, "No, I'm your sweetheart."  I think he is both things.

I had the car radio tuned to a station playing only holiday music and they played Rosemary Clooney singing "Suzy Snowflake."  Linus loved it and got the giggles.  He was singing one line over and over as we walked across a store parking lot. As we entered the door he continued to sing out, "If you want a sleigh ride, wheeeeeeeee!" and the customers in the check out lines and the cashiers all busted out laughing and looked in our direction. It didn't phase him one bit. He kept singing it as we went in search of paper doilies. 

Tonight I found the song on iTunes. The first version I bought didn't have the "wheeeee" part. I listened to the 78 RPM version and that was the right one. I can't wait to surprise him with it tomorrow.  

Here Linus is helping mix the pancake batter for our Sunday morning ritual.

Cookies and Gift Wrapping

Linus has helped me wrap many of the presents we've mailed out.  Some of you might find your gift wrap cut crookedly and will wonder whether it is my handiwork or Linus'. You may also see tape put on a bit messy or you might even see his handwriting on the gift tag.  They all turned out great one way or another.

Tomorrow the three of us are visiting our first preschool that we are considering for Linus.  At the moment I'm feeling sad about it and don't want to go for the tour.  I'm not ready to send him out into the world without me. My friend, Paige, reminded me that it will only be about five hours a week and I'll be able to handle it.  I suppose I will, but it doesn't mean my heart won't break a bit when we reach this milestone next fall. 

Cookie Party

We hosted a Christmas cookie party on Saturday and invited our neighbors.  One of the best parts was that Erin brought six-week-old baby Grace over.  She has the sweetest little bow shaped mouth.  Two of our kid guests played most of the time while Linus stayed at the table rolling out, icing, and decorating cookies. I was amazed at his staying power.  He also ate a bunch of cookies.

  

It was so cute watching Linus try to share his toys with Grace.  He put his baby doll right on top of her.  Good thing the doll is so small.  He giggled each time he reached out and touched her.  

We are inundated with Christmas cookies right now.  I attended a cookie exchange Friday night and came home with six dozen cookies.  I only succeeded in getting one person to take cookies home from our party, so we have probably eight dozen or so. I sent a bunch of them to work with Matthew.

Lyz sent Linus a scarf and he was so excited about receiving a package in the mail that he could open right away.  (We've been stowing Christmas packages away.)  One would have thought he'd received gold in the mail; he was that excited.  He said, "It was thoughtful of her to send it to me."  Then he ran around the house wearing it rather proudly.

Kiddo's First Parade

We took the bus downtown last Saturday night for the holiday parade.  There were many great high school marching bands, gorgeously lit up floats, and gigantic balloons.  Linus' favorite part? The tractors that pulled the floats.  Oh, and he kept talking about the flute players the next day. Flutes and trumpets.  The weather was perfect for standing around outside and when the parade finished up where we were, we hurried over a few blocks to see it some more.  Then we stopped for hot chocolate and bused back home.  We all went to bed late and on Sunday Linus told me he was still tired from the parade.

The pace around here is wearing me down.  Linus feels a need to go, go, go and then go some more. I told Matthew the reason moms send their kids to preschool when they turn three is because they can't keep up with them any more.  Plus, I need to find a boy or two for Linus to have playdates with. He needs kids who like to wrestle and play more physically.  Poor Chase really didn't want to wrestle with Linus this week.  Barrett handled it okay because she is used to it with her older brother. 

Shoveling and Shopping

I was so very happy that it snowed all day yesterday. It wasn't big, fluffy snow, but it covered the ground nonetheless.  We stayed inside and sipped mulled cider and decorated a bit. The high today was around 40, but that didn't stop us from shoveling the sidewalk when we had the chance.  Actually, I shoveled the sidewalk and Linus shoveled the lawn.  The snow here is so dry and light that it takes little time or effort to clear the sidewalk.  We hadn't had our fill yet, so I shoveled for our next door neighbor and Linus tackled her lawn.  He liked pretending that he was Thomas clearing snow from the train track and I was both of his coaches, Annie and Clarabel.  Then we went inside and I got him started on an art project while I worked on Christmas cards.  I cut out wreath shapes from construction paper (he chose orange) and he decorated them with stickers and coloring. 

After lunch we went to the mall.  He hasn't been there since last winter.  He was a delightful shopping companion for much of the trip.  He was mesmerized by the glass elevator and all of the pretty decorations.  His favorite shop window had motorized decorations.  Two were the kind that work using magnets:  an ice skating rink with skaters and one was a sledding hill with sledders zooming down it.  The shop also had a window with a train going around a Christmas tree, but it wasn't working until the shop keeper took pity on Linus and got it going again.  We were there a very long time watching the displays, but I couldn't afford to buy anything in the store. They had argyle socks in Linus' size (wouldn't that be cute?!), but I couldn't justify paying the asking price.  Maybe they'll be super cheap in January.  

On the way home from shopping he fell asleep in the car holding his stuffed Santa.  He received the Santa for his first Christmas from my friend Pat.  When we got it out with the holiday decorations yesterday I was instantly reminded of sitting across from Pat at Kavarna having lunch.  Linus was eight months old and sitting on our laps while we visited.  He was delighted when I pulled it out of the box.  

Here are some recent quotes from him:

Talking about one of his cars, "This is where gas goes so it can drive and breathe."

He was playing swimming pool and said, "The water is cold. I'm going to get polar bear."  He came back from his room with snowy owl and polar bear and said, "I got them because they both like to be cold."

He was coloring on some paper and all of a sudden announces that it is for grandma and grandpa.  A few minutes later I find him trying to open the front door.  He told me, "Hang it up so letter carrier can take it and put it in his van and go to grandma and grandpa."

He put on his snail necklace and said, "I'm wearing it!  It's so pretty!"

"I'm excited about Thanksgiving. We get to have rolls!"

Today he said, "I like turmeric because it's yummy and good for me."

Snowy Day

Saturday morning we woke up to find snow on the ground. He rushed to eat breakfast so we could go play in it before it melted.  It actually stayed around for a couple of days.  We bundled Linus up in his new snow pants.  Previous to this winter he has had snow suits.  He looked like a big kid in the snow pants.  The playground was a completely different experience with snow on the slide and jungle gym part.  We tried to get him to go down the snowy slide, but he refused. I could understand why when I climbed up there. It was so slippery up there.  The snow was wet enough to make snow balls, which never happens here.  Linus thought it was fun to play catch with them.  The best part was making snow angels.  He looked so cute backing up and then flopping down.

Snow Angel Lesson

I'm especially tickled by the way Linus backs up so much, says, "Plop," as he flops down, and how his legs go up in the air.  Too cute!  We got enough wet snow that the three of us went to the park and pretended we were in Wisconsin.

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a delightful celebration with Martha and Bill for the second year in a row.  Linus asked me several times why we were going to their house and I told him we were going to have a Thanksgiving feast with them.  Before we headed out to their place that morning Linus asked about the feast and I guess he thought we would eat the second we got there.  Shortly after we arrived he asked me about the feast again.  

I hung a guest towel in the bathroom that I cross stitched a number of years ago with a mouse in a pilgrim outfit.  Linus asked me what we were going to dress up as.  When I told him we don't wear costumes for Thanksgiving he wanted to know why the mouse was wearing one.  Then he wanted to know about Pilgrims.  I told him that a long time ago Pilgrims came to North America on a ship called the Mayflower.  I edited down all the details to this version of events: They got caught here in the winter time and didn't have enough food and many became sick. In the spring some American Indians taught them how to grow gardens and the next fall they celebrated together because they had enough food.  Apparently this was enough of an answer for him this year.

I told Linus he could try some turkey at dinner, but he declined.  He did, however, have both apple and pumpkin pie for dessert.  After dinner Bill put on some music and we danced around together with scarves.  He was asleep within five minutes of being in the car to head home.  He was really tuckered out.  I got him into jammies and then he played for a while.  After he ate a few leftover rolls, he came to me and asked to go to bed.  I can't recall that ever happening before!  When we went to bed we could hear him snoring very loudly in the next room.

Shrinky Dinks

Linus made his first shrinky dink yesterday.  He chose to do a snail pendant. I traced the picture and he colored it with colored pencils. We punched the hole in it together.  I asked if he wanted to turn it into a zipper pull or necklace and he chose necklace.  He selected the beads and slid many of them on without help.  We did a few of them together and he pointed out, "We're working together. We're a team."  He also told me I did a good job.  He wanted to spell a word with the letter beads. We didn't have an "S" so we couldn't spell Linus or snail.  He then told me he wanted to spell "me."  He is very proud of it and showed it off to his friend Chase.

We've had two play dates at home in the last week and he and his friends have played very well together.  The moms and I intervened hardly at all and Linus gives his friends hugs when they leave.  One of the best things about play dates at home is how excited Linus gets. He stands on the couch and watches out the window for his friend.  As soon as he sees them he starts squealing and runs to the door. Linus is playing with Chase and Barrett for the most part.  We don't have play dates with Lucero any more because I find her mom to be too taxing.

Project

One day last week Linus took his scissors and a ball of yarn downstairs. Then he came back up to get his little chair.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, "A project. I'm making Thomas." I continued doing dishes and then my mother's intuition kicked in and I thought I'd better go see what he was up to with those scissors.  He was cutting the yarn into many pieces.  I suggested he do it upstairs by me, but he said he had to do it downstairs.  While he was cutting he said, "I'm being careful. I won't cut my pants."  This was a risk as you can see from his technique.  Then he took some of the yarn pieces into my craft room and brought Winthrop and Bee in for a sewing lesson.  I watched him proceed to sit at my sewing machine, put down the presser foot, and pretend to sew a Thomas.  (He is all about Thomas and those trains these days.)  Then he made a Percy, James, and Skarloey.  He kept referring to it as "my Skarloey project."  Can you tell he hears about projects from me all of the time?

Singer/Songwriter

Due to the low light level and the poor video performance of the digital camera, the quality of this isn't that great. On the other hand, Linus makes up for it with his cuteness and talent.