Elena playing a giant drum with Eugene Taiko on Friday night.
Elena playing with Eugene Taiko
Posted by jonesey on Friday, 16 December 2011, 19:46What happens to a three-year-old when she refuses to take a nap
Posted by jonesey on Tuesday, 13 December 2011, 5:55I was making dinner in the kitchen, and Elena was looking at a book at the dining room table. She had been pretty quiet for a while, which is sometimes a sign that I’m going to have to clean up a big mess later, so I went in to check on her. She was out cold. I’m surprised she didn’t fall off of the chair.
Notice that she got to the last page of the book before "resting her eyes."
This, of course, is better than the other thing that sometimes happens when a three-year-old forgets to take a nap – a nice little meltdown about an hour before her usual bedtime. Not that my three-year-old would ever do that, but I’ve heard it happens.
Snow play and Christmas tree cutting
Posted by jonesey on Monday, 12 December 2011, 6:01It’s almost Christmas in Oregon, which means it’s time to go cut a Christmas tree!
It hasn’t snowed in the mountains for weeks, but it has been nice and cold, so I figured there would still be some snow for sledding. We decided to gather some friends and make a day of it.
We cut the tree first, while we had lots of energy. Since there was only about six inches of packed snow on the ground, we were able to walk into the woods after the tree in our regular snow boots. Much easier than snowshoes!
Shoveling it (in).
It took us a little while to find a tree that was short enough and full enough to make a good Christmas tree. Wild-grown trees are necessarily a little Charlie Brown-ish, but they always look great with lots of lights and ornaments on them.
The kids practiced their saw safety:
Like this?
Big brother shows how it's done.
Cries of “Timber!” rang through the woods, and we heaved and pulled the monstrous beast back to the van.
And then it was time for:
Sledding!
Sledding!
The kids loved the hard, fast snow. They are fearless. I, on the other hand, got jounced around hard enough that two runs was enough for me. I was happy to be the designated photographer.
After a peaceful ride home (Sylvan read aloud to himself from chapter books during the whole ride there and back), we took a quick break to go down the street and watch a little Thomas the Tank Engine with Señor Cupcake…
Señor Cupcake's mom says that Elena can come hang out with him any time. That sounded good to Elena.
… followed by putting up the tree!
No ornaments yet. Just a really soft tree skirt to rub our faces on. Did we mention that it was really soft?
No question about it
Posted by jonesey on Sunday, 11 December 2011, 6:13“Louis liked Boston the minute he saw it from the sky.” – E.B. White, The Trumpet of the Swan, chapter 14.
OK, not exactly what the author intended, but it's pretty nice this way too.
21st Century Schizoid Phone
Posted by jonesey on Saturday, 10 December 2011, 6:222000! 2000! TWO! THOUSAND!
Wait, what?
Still a phone booth, just not in the way the 20th century intended.
Note to pedants (I know all you pedants will read this far): I know 2000 is not in the 21st century. As an infamous man said about his bad decision in the year 2000: Get over it.
Sugarplum Fairy
Posted by julie on Thursday, 8 December 2011, 22:47Mini-recital for her first completed series of dance classes in the morning:
Not a bad first position plie.
This is what Miss E thinks "performing" means.
Followed by the Nutcracker Short and Suite this afternoon, a little present the Oregon Ballet School gives to the community every year. I appreciate it!
The sweetest Sugarplum Fairy, a very poised 16-year-old.
Elena held up her hand after the performance, wanting to make a comment during the question period, but she wasn’t called on. She looked at me and her face crumpled. “I wanted to tell her I dance,” she sobbed. The dancers were all standing around, ready for autographs and greetings. “Go tell the Sugarplum Fairy,” I suggested. Sometimes Moms really do know just what to say.
Five hot things
Posted by jonesey on Thursday, 8 December 2011, 5:54
San Diego. April 2011.
I worked on a grant application in my hotel room for 12 hours that day.
My creative wife. This project took her no time at all. She is amazing.
No, not the little girl, you sick puppy. *Behind* the little girl!
Thank you, Mr. Lawyer.
!
Sometimes they are normal siblings…
Posted by jonesey on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 6:05… and sometimes they surprise us by doing something like this:
Who, us? We always hold hands while we're walking to school. We're the best of friends, and we never fight, never yell. Heck, we hardly ever have a minor difference of opinion.
Why I Live 3000 Miles Away from People I Love
Posted by julie on Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 23:01I do wonder sometimes. I mean, southwestern Massachusetts is really beautiful. And northeastern Vermont? Ha-cha-cha! And then I’d see those people I miss so desperately this time of year much more often.
But then there’s my lovely home’s Walk Score of 77%, which falls into the “Very Walkable” category. It’s true. I love not having to get in the car to pick up milk, or go to the library, or pick up my son at Kindergarten, or go to rehearsal. I also think I owe it to my kids to show them a life spent biking and walking.
This video, though, will show you EXACTLY why I choose to live all the way across the country.
Elena’s first day of preschool
Posted by jonesey on Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 6:17[A post from the past. Explanation here.]
This one is from way in the past. March, 2009. I told you I had a stack of these things.
For the first few months of Elena’s life, she spent all of her time with her family. She was a pretty good-natured baby, so Julie even took her to work with her. Elena would hang out while Julie worked, occasionally asking politely for some attention.
At about six months, however, she started to be self-propelled. And to grab things. This new activity, while developmentally appropriate, was incompatible with an office environment, so it was time for Elena to start going to “school,” which is what everyone calls the kids’ preschool around here.
So we packed the kids into our newly-purchased double jogger (thanks Craigslist!) and rolled them over to school.
All smiles.
Elena napped in the jogger on the way over to school, saving her energy for the big day. When she got there, she met one of our favorite people in the whole world: Lori! Lori had been Sylvan’s preschool teacher when he started going to school, and she ended up being Elena’s teacher from the age of six months to almost three years.
OK Dad, I'll try this.
Lori predicted that Elena would be so excited that she would only nap about 20 minutes, instead of her usual hour and a half or two hours. She ate and drank everything that was offered. When she woke up from her nap (20 minutes, as Lori predicted), she was very sad. It was the first time she had ever woken up and not found a family member around. Lori, in her infinite wisdom, took Elena to visit Sylvan in his classroom. He touched her gently, introduced her around, and told his friends that he loved her very much, and she calmed down. Big brothers can be useful.
Elena’s first big day at preschool ended at 2:30 when Julie picked her up. She’s been going a couple of days a week since then. She’s in the “big kids” classroom now, with three- and four-year-olds. She is still sometimes sad when she wakes up from her nap, but she’s solving that problem by deciding not to nap at all. Ingenious.