Cold Spaghetti

Twelve Turkeys

In the chaos of the past two months, we had completely dropped the ball with Will’s 4th birthday planning. Actually, maybe that is not quite fair… we had been thinking about it and researching/discussing options, but not made any choices. We knew that any party had to offer decent bouts of physical activity. Ideally, it needed to include Kate. Because we didn’t want to be limiting in our invites, we wanted it to be flexible and open enough that the kids from the school could attend. We also wanted to limit the amount of work we had to do to a minimum — in the party planning, party hosting, and kid-watching departments. The weather is typically beautiful in November, but can turn on a dime… is it safe to plan an outdoor party, we asked? Do we want to rent a big inflatable and put it in the park? (We nixed this for the logistic, kid-watching, ease of event issues.) Maybe at a local gym? We’ve been to one of these and it was great — although it is sort of limited to a set number of kids. (We nixed this for time — too close to the date — and my inability to commit.)

Finally, we decided on Gymrompers. We attended a great 3-year old party there last year and it is a great place for a party… but maybe best for 2s and 3s? I am having a hard time with feeling like a bad Mom (are we choosing a place better for Kate than for Will?) but am hopeful it will be fine. Our worry is that Will (joined by older classmates) may descend into The Crazies and be too much for an indoor space (although it is a big indoor space.) Paul noted that this could be the case anywhere, so we shouldn’t sweat it. I think that I will feel guilty and second-guess myself no matter what I do.

Gymrompers was booked solid for weeks — but suggested the Friday morning after Thanksgiving. This sold us: family in town, folks wanting something to do, and two days after Will’s actual birthday. So, we finally have a date, time, and place.

Thank goodness I remembered the invitations. Without Paul’s reminder last night, they may not have gotten made!

Will made some fantastic TURKEYS — of the hand cut-out variety. On the back of each is the party information. He took great pride in decorating each individually.

For example, this one is happy (note smiley face) and has a tail. (Or is laying an egg, depending on your interpretation.)
This one is happy, has a nose, and one foot.

This one is sad (note frown), has three legs, two tails, and ten eyes (“his name is ‘Ten Eye.'”)This one is both happy AND sad (note smiley and frown), has a belly button, and one very big foot.
This one is also happy and sad (although the frown does look a bit like a nose) and Will tried to write the name of his friend “JAMIE” on it. Will prefers to write backwards, which is why he wrote the letters he remembered (JME) from right to left.
Here he is, hard at work with Nana. He did a GREAT job making his invitations!

2007 11 18

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He’s improving, but got stumped when asked for a witty title for this post

Paul is in one piece, minus an appendix. He went in sometime after 5am and was in recovery by 7:30 and in the room around 9am. Although the surgery went well, he had some post-operative complications with fever and trouble oxygenating. So, he may not go home today.

Right now, he is mostly comfortable, off oxygen, making jokes, and swollen from fluids. I am enjoying the room’s reclining chair and great internet to finish my fellowship application due tomorrow (does the universe try to time these things all together on purpose?) Although he has asked, I’ve refused him access to the computer until he is well enough to proof-read my essays (which means he’ll not be online for awhile). Paul’s Mom arrived this morning (pre-planned trip) and is here in the room, too. The kids are good and at school; we’ll bring them to see Daddy later today.

He loves the well-wishes so please feel free to send ’em on!

2007 11 14

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Paul Update

Paul is in the hospital awaiting surgery for appendicitis. He is temporarily happy on meds and will be happier when the offending organ is out. Keep thoughts positive for him and will update soon.

UPDATE: 1:21am. Paul is going in for surgery around 5 or 6am. His appendix had not ruptured (as of 7:30pm) so they are letting him wait a few hours to clear out some emergencies. I’ll drop the kids off at school and join him in the hospital. Apparently, they do these things laproscopic-ly now, so he may even get discharged later in the day! Keep hopes high for a quick recovery!

2007 11 13

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Impressive

It’s not that she can scramble onto the kitchen table is under 5 seconds. It’s that she can do it with her cup of cereal kept perfectly intact.

2007 11 09

For Today’s Parental Freak-Out Moment…

I bring you the following information from Consumer Reports. Lead is everywhere, existing in a ton of your household goods and children’s playtoys. Love that lead. Here is what they found:

Our lab tests detected lead at widely varying levels in samples of dishware, jewelry, glue stick caps, vinyl backpacks, children’s ceramic tea sets, and other toys and items not on any federal recall list.

Samples of a Fisher-Price blood pressure cuff that is part of a toy medical kit had surface lead in worrisome amounts. Parents should remove this toy from use.

And more on that…

Our tests found high total lead levels in three new samples of a red toy blood pressure cuff from classic Fisher-Price Medical Kits purchased in the New York area and three samples from the homes of employees of the Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

We detected the highest concentration of total lead, more than 10,000 parts per million, in a cuff that a child had regularly played with for the past two years.

Right. Like my kids. Because we totally have this set. The kids LOVE it. When Kate was a baby, Will used to give her daily check-ups.

Why oh why oh why are we still even manufacturing lead??

2007 11 06

What’s IN this season? Under 5 Art!

Self-portraits, decorated wrapping and tissue paper, earrings, paintings, votives, cards, and more graced La Divina on Saturday night. Will’s self portrait is in the middle of the top row, above. When Will told us about making his self portrait (the kids had a full discussion and study of the shapes and colors of their faces before making the pieces) he told us that he has a very LONG head. With each display were detailed documentation about the kids’ process in making each piece.

You can see some the documentation below. (Although the class picture in the center was taken by me in front of the Nix Library a month or so ago.) Will made about 10 pairs of earrings! I bought 5. I thought Will would be thrilled with me wearing his creations… but NO! He keeps telling me that I can’t wear them because he made them “to raise money to buy animals for people who don’t have food.” When I explain that *I* bought them and gave money for them to buy the animals, he gives me a knowing look and says, “no you didn’t.” I wonder if he’ll accept the cleared check as evidence?
We had a great time at the event. We were lucky that Sydney, our old neighbor (whose beautiful Bat Mitzvah we attended two weeks ago) called and asked if she could come over Saturday. So Sydney came along, which meant Paul and I had a break from constant Kate-wrangling. I don’t think I would have been able to take pictures (or enjoy a gelato) had Sydney not been there!

These little paintings were awesome. Will had one called “dark” that our friend, adopted little sister, and Abeona curly-haired sub, Michelle took home.
I loved the cards!
Meanwhile, outside, the kids played. Ana decided she liked the lion outside of the sushi place next to La Divina. She sat on this perch, waving to people (“bye, have a nice night”) as they passed.
Kids, patrons, parents, and more… can you spot Will and Kate?

Will joined Ana on the lion. I heard her whispering to him, “Will, we can stay here forever. We can watch all the people walk by. We can eat all the ice cream we want…” Sounded pretty good to me. Enticed by her offer, or maybe just happy to get away from some of the excitement, Will stayed there for awhile. (Long enough for Emmy and I to giggle at the two of them deep in serious conversation.) Then, when her (totally awesome) boots slipped off, Will jumped down and put them back on her feet. (I was too hit by cuteness overload to negotiate the camera properly and missed the moment.)

Although the kids haven’t decided what animals they are going to purchase yet with their donation, they DID reach their goal… they earned enough to buy a cow!!

2007 11 06

American Gothic

The original:

Our version:

2007 11 04

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To Kate, who is almost exactly 1 1/2 years old

Tonight, Kate, you and I had a special talk where I asked you why you are trying to destroy yourself. I used to think that your attempts at destruction were about chipping away at my sanity, following in the lead of your well-practiced brother. But after tonight — when you (for the first time ever) pushed your legs under the table on the table leg so hard that you actually pushed the big wooden chair back on its two back legs and flipped the whole chair on its back with you and your booster seat firmly attached — I no longer believe you’re out to get anyone but yourself.Now that you have successfully thrown your self from two dangerous locales (your Aunt’s stairs and now our kitchen table), I am very worried. These things come in 3s, my superstitious Grandmas taught me, and my instinct says you’re going to give it one more go. At least.

While we had this Very Serious Discussion, you took the opportunity to put your toes in my mouth, fling your body on top of The Cat, and shout “ELMO” four or five times. I could tell you were listening intently as you rarely give that much attention or stay that still. This is not a sarcastic statement.
You are very clear about your likes and dislikes. Something you have decided to like, A LOT, is The Wubba Song. You remind us often of how much that song means to you. Like everytime we are in the car, when you shout “WUBBA!” until we play the song, even if we’ve just heard it 75 times in a row. Or, whenever you break into the study and start climbing things to get to a computer. When we race in the room after you, catching you with one leg on the desk edge perched and ready for the last leap up, you explain the whole event by saying, “Wubba.” You just wanted to watch it on YouTube, that’s all. Your love for Wubba even surpasses your love of The Imagination Movers, which has Daddy and I a bit depressed. (We really like grooving to “I Want My Mommy” and “Clean My Room.”)

You are finally turning the corner from last week’s bought of the Crud. It sucked. We slept very little, as you threw yourself around all night long. You were miserable and shared it well. We felt helpless, holding you tightly to try to keep you still long enough to fall asleep. Working to keep you warm in the cold snap (you refuse blankets), rocking you and walking you around for hours. Please show us some pity for the next few weeks while we catch up on rest.
At the Heifer International fund raiser last night, we discovered that you like gelato. And you like it A LOT. This is a surprise, since previously you’ve turned your nose up at all ice cream and gelato products (except once when you ate some of Dad’s bacio — chocolate hazelnut — gelato). I had a cappuccino gelato in a cone. I wanted you to try it, smashing a bit on your face so that you’d lick it off. To my surprise, you responded by grabbing the cone and licking it with intensity. We tried to scoop some off and let you eat it from a bowl, but you wanted NONE of that. If we so much as TOUCHED the cone, you let out some pretty serious sounds. It is going to take a lot of work to get you through the next couple of years in one piece.

I am constantly trying to get a decent photograph of you and your brother, together, in the same frame, facing the same way, with a fairly pleasant expression on your face. This, The Holy Grail of sibling photography, is as unattainable to me as if it were buried somewhere in Israel with a Templar Knight standing guard. After years of fighting it, Will has resigned himself to the fact that his Mother is a paparazzi, so when asked he generally compiles with simple requests. You, on the other hand, are a blur in most photographs. It is hard on me, as you are changing so much each day and I look to my camera to help hold you still… for just a little bit longer…

2007 11 04

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Monkeys in the Trees

Secret monkey moment. I couldn’t hear what Will was whispering to her.

And yes… we FINALLY got them hair cuts!! I’d almost forgotten that Kate had eyebrows and that a comb could, actually, go through Will’s hair.

2007 11 03

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