3 anecdotes

I found a piece of pink construction paper taped to the headboard of my bed the other day, with a heart shape cut out of it. Around the heart was written (in crayon) "Furr Dad love sekret Jild Fnd - I wot tll you Hoo mad this." [Translation: For Dad, love secret child friend. I won't tell you who made this.] (The J in "Jild" was backwards.) Elleda has been enjoying writing notes and in her journal she got from her tooth fairy "Trixie" after her second tooth fell out.

When we got back in the van to head home after Gabe's birthday party, Henry was singing (before we turned the music on) "Nothing's gonna change my world; Nothing's gonna change my world."--a line from the Beatles' "Across the Universe". I guess a song can get stuck in a two-year-old's head too. (That song has been in the news lately.)

I don't really have a cute anecdote about Gabe, but for several weeks I've been enjoying taking him out for breakfast on Friday mornings. That kid can eat! He'll eat his Mickey Mouse pancake, sausage and egg and then eat most of one of my pancakes. And he still has room for a donut if we have time. Claire and I have noticed that he has been acting out much less, and has been sharing and doing special favors for Henry and Elleda. Perhaps our "dates" have a little to do with that. Or perhaps he's maturing.

I've updated Flickr (and www.spitzer.us) with new photos.

December photos up

I just uploaded our photos from December to Flickr. You'll find details at www.spitzer.us.

We certainly did have a merry xmas. My parents came to visit for five days (that went by very quickly). And most of Claire's family joined us for dinner on xmas day; so we had a full house. The kids had fun playing with their cousin, and there were no complaints about sitting at the kids' table--Claire and I actually got to sit and enjoy our meal.

I neglected to blog about Elleda's first missing tooth. I believe she noticed it was loose in early December and it fell out about a week later. She was quite proud and excited. She cried at bedtime though because she didn't want the tooth fairy to take her tooth. So I suggested that she draw a picture of her tooth (since she loves to draw) and leave a note so the tooth fairy takes that instead. She did a great job drawing a little picture and colored a frame around it. I went out to get a dollar coin and Claire left it under her pillow with a little set of bubble-gum flavored lip balm. She was so excited the next morning that she came downstairs as I was leaving for work (around 5:30!) to show me. The lip balm (Claire's idea) was a big hit--she still caries it everywhere. But she still doesn't really understand money, so I think her golden coin is stashed away with her other treasures. (I don't think it occurred to her to spend it.)

Contest photos

I enjoy listening to The Apple Phone Show podcast and reading their blog.

They have a couple contests running right now.

As the entry to the first contest, I uploaded these two photos of Elleda and Gabe I took with my iPhone to Flickr.com.



This blog post is my entry to the second contest.

First family bike ride

A couple weeks ago both Gabe and Elleda renewed their interest in their bikes. Actually, in addition to the larger bikes with training wheels that they each have, they both also have a smaller bike with no training wheels. Gabe gave his a shot back when he learned how to ride without training wheels, but he found the smaller, lighter bike harder to balance. (I see that I blogged about him wanting his training wheels back in May, so I don't think he's tried to ride without them since then.) However the idea got planted, we found ourselves taking those smaller bikes to the park.

For Gabe, learning to ride his bike again was just like riding a bike. Because he could easily put his feet on the ground while sitting on the bike, he could stop easily. That gave him his confidence back. But he still needed our help getting started.

Elleda didn't want our help, and didn't even want us to watch. So we watched out of the corner of our eyes. (She really did seem to have performance anxiety--she did better when she didn't think we were watching.) She was persistent. I think she figured out how to ride (for the first time, without training wheels), stop and start without help in less than an hour.

I think seeing Elleda figure it all out for herself gave Gabe some incentive. Gabe announced proudly this week when I got home from work that he could start by himself.

So Saturday I took down Claire's bike from the garage roof and re-inflated the tires, and went out and bought a WeeRide seat for Henry and mounted on my bike. After everyone awoke from their naps we went for our first family bike ride. We were pretty ambitious: we rode probably a little more than a mile to the local Jamba Juice. The kids did great--no complaining, they stopped and walked their bikes across the street and through a busy parking lot, and (aside from the parking lot) they rode all the way there and back. I was especially impressed with Elleda--she's now quite confident on her little bike. I even saw her ride right off a curb.

Henry's catchphrase

I wrote the following in an email to a friend, and thought it worth posting...

Henry can say "Uh oh!" (when he's in the mood), but while he babbles almost constantly, it's almost always the same thing: "wha-jeez-dyatch" (or something like that). He makes it work for him; we've thought he was saying "What is that?" and "Me touch that." I'm told the crossing guard at Elleda's & Gabe's preschool was convinced he said "What's up Dennis?" He reminds me of Elleda, who babbled past the age of two, and then skipped the one and two word stages and switched very quickly to complex sentences.

Henry is starting to understand too. He's very happy to bring things to Mommy, Daddy, Elleda or Gabe. And he certainly understands what items belong to which of us--he'll decide to bring Elleda her teddy bear, or Gabe his blanket, or Claire her shoe. (He very proudly brought me one shoe yesterday as we were getting ready to go out to the park.)

A Weekend Surprise

Not a weekend goes by where--after spending some sustained "quality time" with the kids--I'm not surprised by something they do. This last weekend the surprise that stands out in my memory occurred Friday evening, when Claire and I took the kids to the park. Elleda chose to bring the tricycle with extra wide wheels. It's very stable and so she feels confident going quite fast. Gabe wanted his "Razor" (scooter--more on that below), and I took one too so I could keep up. Elleda and Gabe had a couple races, and Elleda kept winning. (It didn't hurt that she kept giving herself a head-start before yelling "Go!") Gabe was getting frustrated, and Elleda noticed. So she let Gabe get a head-start and held herself back and let Gabe win, and called him the champion. I thought that was very generous (and shrewd), especially for a little girl who has a few months to go yet before she's five (and who also doesn't like to lose).

I've seen Elleda be that giving with Gabe before, and I've been a little concerned that she does it only to appease him (and prevent a row). But this time I felt she genuinely wanted to make him feel better, and realized that was more important to her than winning.

Sunday evening we all went "around the loop". Claire pushed Henry in his little "coupe-car", Elleda rode her two-wheeler (with training wheels), I grabbed a scooter (again) and Gabe got started on his bike (with no training wheels). (I think Claire talked them into riding their bikes. Gabe was a little reluctant and asked for his training wheels. We, of course, reminded him that he doesn't need them anymore.) Claire got Gabe started and he went about 10 feet (with me right behind trying to be ready) before stopping so suddenly that I bumped into him a little and couldn't catch him in my surprise. He fell to the side but was fine. But that was enough with his bike. Claire and I tried to talk him back on, but his mind was made up. Claire, Henry and Elleda kept going, and (after trying in vain to get him to jump on his bike and catch up) we went through the back gate and returned his bike to the garage and grabbed a scooter for him. There's no sense forcing Gabe--not that I could anyway--and we have to remember that he is only three. Then we took a short-cut through the neighborhood and caught up with the rest halfway around. We had a pleasant time finishing the loop. Elleda was quite confident on her bike.

Since I haven't posted in a while, I should write something about Henry. He's a happy little guy, who especially loves it when his brother and sister play with him. (They're both very good with him.) He doesn't walk around like he's expecting to fall anymore--he's practiced enough that he can do it without thinking. Now he's starting to run a little bit.

Aside from drippy noses, they've all been quite healthy for a good stretch now. I hope we can keep that going through the summer.

My Little Pony Live!

Saturday we took Elleda and Gabe (and Chloe) to see My Little Pony Live! (Jo babysat Henry.)

We managed to avoid the temptation to buy $15 coloring books, $10 magic wands, $5 balloons; the kids didn't try to talk us into anything. (Chloe did briefly, but I guess she didn't have her own money.) I'm not as disciplined when Claire's not with me--I bought Elleda a $20 program & coloring book when we went to Disney on Ice.

The show itself was cute. There wasn't much to the story (though I found it more coherent than the My Little Pony books that I always hope Elleda and Gabe don't pick for their bedtime story), and I didn't find the songs very catchy. But the kids seemed to have a good time.

I found out Sunday that it did make an impression on Elleda. She described the show in great detail (much more than I thought her capable of) to her Auntie Louise.

I survived the weekend

Claire met a friend in San Francisco last Saturday morning, and came back Sunday evening--so it was just me and the kids all weekend. This was my first time I did this with all three kids. Claire last took a weekend "off" sometime before Henry was born. But it was easier this time.

Elleda is quite eager to please and so for the most part she was no trouble. And Gabe was surprisingly on his best behavior most of the time. (I say surprisingly because most of the time Gabe's nature is to push the boundaries unless they're made very clear and he has no choice.) Sunday afternoon he came upstairs with me (while Elleda played with the computer and Henry napped) and helped me tidy up. He even picked up the whole wagon-load of Mega Bloks without even having to be asked.

And one of the sweetest moments all weekend was after Gabe accidentally hurt Henry and then (with minimal prompting) cheered him up by playing "catch" with him for several minutes with their Dora ball. Henry ate it up (as he always does when he gets any attention from his brother or sister); he let out a big laugh every time Gabe gently tossed the ball to him and then would eagerly throw it back for more.

Bedtimes--which used to be the hardest part of being on my own with the kids--have gotten much easier with all three.

So that leaves mealtimes. Henry is at the age where he just can't resist throwing everything off of his tray, so we're constantly looking for new ways to distract him while we feed him. And Gabe and Elleda just can't sit still and eat. But even if they did all co-operate, I continue to have a deep dislike of preparing meals. But I had no choice, and I managed just fine.

It was interesting observing Elleda over the weekend. I can see a lot of myself in her. Several times she just needed to be by herself. And (also just like me) she likes to stay indoors. When Gabe was anxious to go to the park (and Henry was awake so we were ready) Elleda would invent a new game (or even let Gabe decide what to play) in order to distract him.

One other moment that stands out in my mind was Saturday afternoon while Henry napped (but after Gabe and Elleda awoke from brief naps), we curled up together on the couch and watched The Incredibles. What a great movie. I enjoyed it as much as the first time. It was over the kids' heads, but it was fun to try to explain it to them. It certainly kept their attention.

My bed was wiggling

Elleda came downstairs a little while after going to bed and said "my bed wiggled". Claire made a joke of it ("Was Teddy jumping on the bed?") and we both knew not to say the word "earthquake". (Elleda asks just about every night "Is there going to be a power-cut?"--we had a power failure at least six months ago. And she also asks almost every night "Is there going to be a fire?" since her class had a field trip to a fire station a month ago.)

I subscribe to a USGS email service, and a couple minutes later I got an email. It was an earthquake! (Neither Claire or I felt it--but we were both downstairs.)

1-on-1s with Gabe & Elleda

Yesterday (Saturday) Gabe and I dropped off the van for servicing and walked to the Silver Spur Restaurant for breakfast. (Claire and Elleda did the same thing a couple weeks ago--we stole their idea.) I didn't expect to enjoy breakfast with a three-year-old as much as I did. Gabe sat across from me at our table for two and ate most of his Mickey Mouse pancake (eggs and fruit--he gave me his bacon), and was very well behaved. And we were never at a loss for conversation. On the way back to get the van Gabe said he wanted to do something with "just Daddy, no Mommy, no Elleda, no Henry" again.

Then we went to "Blue Ball Park" and had fun racing on the steep, side-by-side slides. Gabe kept winning--he kept saying "ready, set, go!" after he already started down. He got scared when he went down so fast he lost control, flipped over onto his belly and landed face-down in the sand at the bottom. But after a little cry (and wanting his mommy) he was ready to climb right back up and go again.

Then on to Kaleidoscope where we shopped for birthday presents for John. (We got him a medal detector that we got Josh for x-mas that we heard he enjoyed, and a rocket powered by vinegar and baking soda--they didn't have the rocket-car we got Josh.) Gabe had fun playing with "the fastest cars in the world" with "simulated scale speeds up to 600mph."

Finally on to Costco to buy some patio chairs Claire had picked out earlier. Gabe wasn't able to help, but he didn't get in the way either. (He was drooling over a "big-boy bike"--he really wants to learn how to ride without training wheels.)

We got home just in time for lunch and naps. My morning with Gabe was a pleasure.

Then after some chores (including picking up a patio table Claire had picked out elsewhere), it was time to wake Elleda up for her surprise: going to Disney on Ice at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (Claire and I hadn't talked about it, but we both knew it was best not to tell Elleda we had these plans in advance so she wouldn't gloat to Gabe and get him jealous--Gabe is very sensitive to when things "aren't fair" in his eyes--he gets that from his dad.)

We listened to Here Come the ABCs (from my iPod in my car) there and back--I enjoy it as much as Elleda does. I take a lot of pleasure in her interest in the songs' titles and lyrics. I hope as she gets older we'll have fun talking about what tastes in art and entertainment we have in common (or not in common).

The show was fun, but unfortunately the "plot" was centered around The Incredibles. Elleda would have been much happier if it was about the Disney princesses. (They only showed Cinderella and Snow White in a parade, and her favorite Ariel wasn't there.) By my standards the show was quite blatantly commercial and mediocre, but I enjoyed Elleda's excitement and interest.

I enjoyed my 1-on-1 time with both kids. I'll have to look for more opportunities to do it again. (It will get more difficult to find the time as Henry gets older, and of course he should get some 1-on-1 time too; so all the more reason to remember to make it happen every couple months or so.)