Wednesday, February 20, 2008

This Week's Happenings

Ari really got into his tooth brushing the other night. I think he's teething. Again. Still.
















For an indoor play day, with wet and stormy skies outside, Wednesday was rather full. Ari has taken to building towers and really using his mega blocks in the way God intended. He filled up his train with blocks the night before and built this tower on it in the morning while Sascha and I were in the kitchen.



















He got his hair cut this week. It'll probably grow out funny because I did it myself with a slightly dull scissors, while he sat on my lap, cringed and smushed his face into my chest each time the scissors came anywhere near his ears (where's the faith?). Not our finest moment. And there's one curl that's still an inch longer than the rest of it...it's too close to his ear, in his opinion. A solid "no". At least until Sesame Street comes on and he's distracted.












And it looks like the little bugger may have discovered dizziness. And how much fun it can be. He's taken to spinning and spinning and spinning to any music that comes on.

***funny video coming once the damned software works...serenity now, serenity now, serenity now***

Sascha joined us at Gymboree today (Friday). It's Ari's last day in the Level 3 class (Graduation Day!! - not really), which is for 10-16 month olds. They forced us to move up to Level 4 (16-22 mo's), even though he's really digging this class. Ari thought it was pretty cool to have Dad at Gymboree, "Hey Pops, look what I can do!"


Monday, February 18, 2008

Observings

It cracks me up how toddlers run to evade a parent during a game of "chase".

Belly first.

Prancing on their toes.

As if a string attached to the navel is the only thing pulling them along - and high stepping on their toes is the only way to keep up.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Hum Drum

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated anything here. I've even had a few people ask about it. And that's a little embarrasing...being questioned as to why you're so behind on a volunteer project. So what's my excuse? Not much going on? Bored with the whole blogging thing? A recalcitrant urge to shut others out of my life? No. Not really. For the past three weeks, we've been one of the following things:
a) sick
b) incredibly grouchy (we're talking a 10 day grouch spat. no. ari, not me. jeesh.)
c) sick again
d) exhausted and irritable (me this time)
e) out enjoying life

Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been all bad. Except for that dose of stomach flu we all came down with. Good God. I haven't been that sick in over 20 years...well, self-induced sickness (compliments of tequila) doesn't count. Oh, and that bout of incredible crankiness on Ari's part (I swear he turned evil for a while) wasn't too pleasant. But otherwise, things have been cruisin' right along here.

I'm getting a rhythm down with this whole cooking-shopping-and-feeding-my-family thing. And I don't resent it like I used to :). I've actually started to bake again and, thanks to a Cookin' Mommas of San Diego group, I've started to enjoy my mess-making time in the kitchen. Ari and I have a nice little social, get-out-and-explore routine...which clearly involves being exposed to several bugs, germs and mayhem-inducing viruses. Several people from back home have pondered at why we keep getting sick. Everyone just assumed that since the weather was nice all the time, then we'd be healthy all the time. Well, suffice it to say, the two (pretty weather and sickness) are not mutually exclusive. Ari, and by default, his parents, have been sick a total of 6 times in the 6+ months we've been here. This drives Sascha up the friggin' wall. He's not used to feeling poorly. Sascha was recently chatting with someone at work about this and they said this isn't status quo (a lot of people have been sick here this winter). One theory floating around is that it all stems from toxins released in the October fires. I'm doubtful, but it's nice to know this isn't "business as usual."

This past week has been a stay-at-home week, with Ari battling his second sickness in a month. This one's just a nasty cough with a runny nose - and he's pretty beat, lots of naps. So we're taking it easy hanging out in the driveway and playing with some water-filled Tuppeware, sorting laundry in the bedroom, playing with his books and animals, or "cleaning" (he spends a good portion of his day "cleaning"). The slower pace is actually kind of nice. I thought we had to be all "go-go-go" in order for him to be happy because that's what he has always seemed to need. But I think even he liked the slower pace...just hanging out with Mom. Our big thing this week was going to Home Depot for a field trip in the garden department. He likes to sniff the plants. And I finally bought a couple of house plants and planted them in little pots while Ari played with water in the driveway. It's amazing the difference a little green will make in your house. Just that one little thing makes it feel more like a "home" and less like a box.

Reading back over this, I'm thinking, "Why on earth am I publishing this? It's boring as hell." But such is life, I guess. It can't all be rocket ships and wizards. Sometimes it's just Thursday.


Post-water-play organization.
Ari "cleaned up" on his own. He stacked and organized the cups and emptied the Tuppeware. I didn't touch it, all I asked him to do was "clean up the water".

Happy Valentines Day

Hello All - Happy Hearts Day to you!

Below is a video of Ari playing with his V-Day gift from Grandma & Grandpa S. If you listen closely, you can hear him make the monkey sound. It's actually a pretty boring video...but not if you're a grandparent, I guess :).

On an off-note, it is absolutely pouring here this morning. It doesn't happen all that often, so I'm always giddy when it does. Even though we have to watch Sesame Street to kill an hour indoors. Ari's been sick lately, so resting inside doesn't bother him too much. The poor little guy took a 4 hour nap yesterday (plus an hour in the morning) - we finally had to wake him up at 7:30 last night for fear he'd be up until 2 a.m. No fear needed, he konked out again an hour and a half later.

I'll try to write an update for the past few weeks I've been off the blog...maybe this afternoon during the A-man's nap. Until then...


***sorry Mom, the uploader (AGAIN) is not working...