The drums post...

With the holidays approaching, I'm going through my archives in the hopes of finding some great pictures of Sam and Josephine to share with relatives. As I go through them, I thought I would post some of the more precious videos, such as this one from August of Sam trying out the drums. I think the kid's gonna have talent!




And then, a little longer of a session:



Finally, Sam contributes while Josephine takes the sticks.

Train day!

A good friend of mine is letting me borrow his prized Lionel train set so Sam and Jo can have a go. They played with it so well yesterday. Videos to come later, but for now, here are some pictures.

 In the middle of the tracks

 Josephine lets Noah and his reindeer have a close-up view

 Jo took a break and read a comic as the train went past

 They were fascinated by the whole endeavor, paying attention 

for an hour before we put it away until next week

Bridges and tunnels!

Christmas dancing!

Sam and Josephine emulate Schroeder and Lucy

I took this movie this afternoon and thought it was worth sharing. I wanted a picture of Sam's most awesome suit, but it did not come out so I included it here as well. 

Fall in Forest Hills Park

Snaps from a recent visit at the park. We had such a great time. Every moment I have with the children is precious.

Jo is Five!

Recent pictures from time with daddy

The last two times I've had Sam and Josephine, I've been blessed to have an excellent photographer present to take some fantastic shots I thought I'd share with readers of this blog.

UPDATE: The pictures did not format correctly, but I'm working on it!

These kids love to read and I can think of nothing I'd rather be doing than sharing information with them. Of course, the book we're reading here is Superman, but superheroes are information, right?

Mommy gave Sam and Jo these great blocks a couple of Christmases ago, and they are among their favorite toys.

Moments after this shot was taken, Sam fell to the ground gleefully excited he'd found a new way to knock something over.

The older he gets, the more Sam wants to build things. I can oblige!

After block time, we hit the road in the double stroller for the first time in a while. Sam and Jo were so excited. 

We walked to McGuffey Park. Josephine was happy.

The weather was perfect for playing in the fountain.

Sam and Josephine play nicely together, and this is one of my favorite pictures of the two of them together.

The kids are going to outgrow these swings so fast, so every time I get to push them is special.

September 2010

Jo was laughing in her sleep this morning. "Mama! I dreamt that Sam had music coming out of his butt!"

Simple math: We were talking about granola bars - two bars to a p

ack.
"What if I had five packs? How many bars would I have?"
"10."
"What if I ate one bar out of each pack?"
"5."
And so on. She's doing math in her head! She loves playing with numbers.

And words. And everything! It's hard to keep up with the things she says...

Meanwhile, Sam is all two: No no no and mine mine mine.
He does like to say now "That is my favorite" and "It's so beautiful" and "I love it so much" and other funny expressions. He also says "either" in his sentences all the time.

FYI, we have to move next week. Landlord foreclosing on our place. Sigh!

Jo loves her ballet/tap/gymnastics class!
And they both loved the pools this summer - see them playing lifeguard in the picture where Sam is pretending to blow the whistle and Jo is swimming in the grass - but Sam definitely LOVES water. Hope to get him in swim class soon.

The music at Daddy's house

When Sam and Josephine come over, one of our favorite things to do is play some music. Here's the cover for our forthcoming album.

I bought this piano for Josephine in Christmas 2008, but Sam's taken a real shine to it. He can sit for several minutes tinkling away. 

 

Sam likes to take my guitar picks from me to strum the strings, while I do the fretwork. One day I'll get him a little guitar and I'll try to teach him scales. I'd better learn them myself, first!

 

The drums are a big hit, of course. I picked up this kit from freecycle earlier this year. I need to get the kids ear plugs for when they play, of course.

Quick drop

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=270468&id=787552626&l=e91d0f1755

Posted these pics on my Facebook - click to see -

Jo's quote of the day:

‎"But why is it called a 'uniCORN, mama? It has a HORN, not a CORN." (Gollymolly, I don't know! Because the world doesn't make a lick of sense?!)

Cracking Me Up... or just Cracking Up?

1. So, we were settled down, and I started reading aloud.

There was an echo. Josephine was repeating everything I said as soon as I said it.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"I'm reading with you," she explained. Though, since she can't read, she was just echoing me. Every time I said something, she said it, too, and if I stopped, she stopped - !

And she did it for the whole book. It was crazy-making. It started making me laugh. Reading became impossible. It was pretty darn cute.

2. Again, going to bed, Sam went under a blanket and Jo said he looked like a ghost. Sam started babbling about "da ghost in the window" and "is scary" and I don't know what else he was saying, but Jo and I tried to tell him there was no ghost, ghosts don't exist, and he insisted that it did, "ghos not gone, ghos at window".

Here's the creepy part: When I came downstairs this morning, the basket where I keep my keys and sunglasses and address book by the door had been overturned, my keys were across the room - and none of us had done it.... ack!

3. We were going to Whole Foods.
"WHOLE Foods? Why is it called WHOLE Foods? Let's go to HALF Foods!" said Jo. hee hee.

Artist in Residence

Smiling & crying - kinda freaky, kinda cool... Definitely detailed - the irises have lines and flecks in them... I think it's a self-portrait. (Josephine)

Why My Kid is Brilliant

1. We were reading Fancy Nancy and the Book Report, which is about the character doing a report on a biography of Sacajawea.
Josephine: Is Fancy Nancy a real person?
Me: No.
Josephine: Then this book is not a biography, is it?

And she's decided to be Sacajawea for Halloween.

2. Jo brought home a coloring book picture of Minnie Mouse from preschool. All by herself, she cut it out, traced the cutout on another piece of paper, cut THAT out, and then proceeded to copy - draw Minnie Mouse on the blank cutout. And it looks amazing! I'm just so impressed she came up with this idea and executed it - and her drawing talent is awesome.

3. Her new preschool teacher, the very kind Mrs. Cook, told me that Jo's writing ability far and away surpasses other kids her age - "she's ready for kindergarten," she said.

4. As you can see in the picture, she loves studying Asterix books. Today she was reading the book to Sam. And asked me: What are Romans?
I explained about people in the area of modern-day Italy wanting to take over the world...

5. And this was just cute. We sat down for dinner the other, and Josephine, quite seriously, said, "And so, how was your day?" in this very adultish way. Too much. Too cute!

6. Oh, and Why does Sam have a shirt on his head? Because he's pretending to be a puppy, of course. And that last picture is Josephine's sad face...

Boy Locks Himself in Bedroom; Girl Hysterical

I'm trying to get ready for work. The kids are playing some game, as far as I can tell it's "go in and out of mama's bedroom and make a lot of noise doing it."

Then Sam slams the door shut - on Jo's head.

"WAHHHHH!!!!" she wailed.
"Oh, yes, yes," I say, inspecting the purpling bruise. "It's bad, but I don't think he meant it on purpose."
"YES HE DID, HE DID IT ON PURPOSE, WAH," she continued to yell.

I go to my bedroom to get Sam to come apologize and such - still need to put on deodorant - but no. The door is locked.

"Oh no," I say.
"What IS it?" Jo wails.
"He's locked in," I say.
Jo peels off into more wails. "LITTLE BROTHER, OH MY LITTLE BROTHER," she sobs. The night before, her babysitter had complimented Josephine's huge and impressive lung capacity while singing. "She can really belt it out! She sang for ten minutes!" the sitter said.
She had no idea.

"Sam," I say through the door. "Sam, can you hear me?"
"No," comes a soft squeak.
"Sam," I say, "unlock the door." I say it, even though I know I'm talking to a wall. Well, a door. He's learning a lot of words and concepts these days, but this might be above his head.
"Try to turn the -" Knob? Does he even know what a knob iS?
"Little brother!" wails Jo.
"Josephine, that's not helping," I say.

Now, I wasn't panicking, exactly; but I sincerely did not know what to do. I learned how to jiggle open certain interior door locks with the inside of a pen back when Jo was this age - she loved locking herself in her bedroom. But this particular knob looked very different... just not my area of expertise.

Flashes of a story about myself at this age locking myself in a church bathroom and the possible calls to the fire station came to mind.

"Sam, honey, turn the doorknob," I tried a few times.

And, eventually, he did it.
"I did it!" He exclaimed, rapturously.
"MY HEAD!" wailed Josephine, returning to her initial chant.
"Good lord," I sighed, giving them both a kiss and forcing them - nicely, of course - to hug and apologize.

And that was all before 8 am.

MidSummer update

1) Up top photos - Jo's funny hamming it up faces
2) I told Jo and Sam to sit down and they both sat on a step of the stool - too cute
3) You can't tell, but I made their dinner into little happy faces. It did not help Sam eat his, as you can see from the sorrowful big blue eyes.

Not pictured: Josephine laying her brother on the ironing board, draping him with a black silk drape, and singing in her opera voice: "You will die before I do!"

Also, Sam's language is exploding! Full sentences, imaginative play - his little cars take on personalities and give kisses - and the other night, "I take ballet, Mama? I wanna ballet!" Too cute. He's also not crying anymore when he goes to preschool in the morning. And working on the potty thing. They both love swimming but Sam adores the water, totally unafraid.

May Day

Sam - since I treat this blog as a babybook of sorts, I have to record these somewhat banal updates, and please forgive...
a) Sam has slept through the night for almost a week!!!!
b) this morning he ripped off his diaper and pooped in the potty - all on his own accord!
c) his vocabulary and sentences expand daily - but the funniest thing remains his 100 different ways to say "yes," which includes "Rar," "Rah," "Yez," "Yeah," "Jes," and more.

Josephine, meanwhile, has begun to... talk about herself in third person. I can hear her whispering to herself about herself as she does things: "And then Josephine opened the door. She looked inside..." She's NARRATING her life. Now, I remember doing this when I was about 8 years old - I'd read so many books, and I was often convinced I would be the subject of one. But I'm hilariously surprised at her doing this so young! It's soooo funny. And hopefully not a sign that she's narcisstic...

Lately, she's obsessed with death. "When will you die, Mama?" she asked me yesterday morning. I've also been asked to explain The Beginning of the World, Where is the Air, why the Sun gives Energy, and other items that I basically do not have any clue how to answer.


Gift update: I forgot to mention in my Wish List for the Kids a) art supplies (paper, glue, glitter, paint - they go through like crazy) and b) sheet sets, twin size. No Disney, please!

Presents

If you're wondering what the kids want/need, here's a couple ideas (pitches, beggings):

- Kid science books: Josephine is constantly asking about the nature of air and everything else; we've been discussing solid/gas/liquid and watching ice; but it would sure be great to have more materials, esp. since I don't always remember...

- They Might Be Giants also has a couple albums, science-related, for kids, that would be really fun

- Swim passes for the summer (about 20 something)

- Ballet/dance classes for the fall (about 45 for six weeks)

Thanks!

Josephine IS a Flower Name

Yes, it's true! I overheard at the local Southern States a lady discussing the Josephine strain of clematis - and I went beserk!

Jo is thrilled that her name is a flower name - she loves flower fairies, flowers - and we just looked it up - and yes, yes, it IS PINK!!

Actually quite wild-looking - the middle park fluffs open in May.

Quite fun, and maybe I can find her one...

I Wuv Oo

There's nothing as sweet as waking up to your little two-year-old quietly padding to your bedside, putting his head beside yours, and whispering, "Mommy, I Wuv Ooo." And then giving you a big kiss. And because he's two, doing it all over again a couple more times.

It's good to have these moments, because they fortify a person so that later when this same sweet boy is screaming about having to leave his new Spiderman swim shorts at home, well, you have a layer of sweetness to bolster your patience.

Josephine, meanwhile, is challenging my somewhat cursory knowledge of science: In the past weeks, I've been asked to explain - in factual detail - condensation ("Why do grapes turn into raisins? How? How does the sun dry things up? Why don't WE dry up in the sun?"), mold ("Why does it grow? What is it?"), the lifecycle of dandelions, how bladders work, germ theory, the difference between motor scooters, motorcycles, and motorized scooters, why wind happens, why rain happens, what causes thunder and lightning, when and why people will die, the ins and outs of poison ivy reactions, etc. Her mind is constantly curious about the workings and reasons behind EVERYTHING. Which is great, except I find myself struggling to recall middle school Earth science...

I've been delighted that in the past few weeks, babysitters and strangers alike have commented alike on how well-behaved Jo and Sam are, and how well they get along. I feel proud to have such sweethearts who play well together - even if it's only when they're being watched by others...

Spring and Easter 2010

These kind of go in reverse order... as you can see, I got Jo in a pair of overalls by offering the treat of being Sam's twin... Sam's friends dressed in a dress-up dress... Jo in her adorable handmade bunny ears examining eggs...