Sometimes a carrot is just a carrot

Snow day! Just in time for the holiday break, the last day of school was at first delayed (for O) and then outright cancelled (for both boys), with a covering of maybe an inch or two of perfectly snowball-packable white stuff. We all headed outside bright and early (the boys got to try out their new snowpants, which O indicated were "warm and cozy"), and set about making a snow man. O helped me roll out the three body segments, Z stuck in the arms, and both of them helped with rock eyes -- Meh contributed a carrot nose from our CSA box, which O positioned on the face.

Then it was time for sledding! No need to hike all the way to the school; Meh pulled out the disc and the boys took turns dragging each other up our little hill and then pulling each other down (with parental supervision of course) -- they didn't get tired of this for a good half hour, and it was interspersed with snowy time on the swing and a snowball "fight" (where O would ask for a snowball and then refuse to actually apply it until people turned around so he could smoosh it into their backs). Hooray for early exercise, and all in the comfort of our yard and away from the not-yet-plowed streets.

Soon enough it warmed up and started moving on to freezing rain, so we went back inside and got ready to greet our guests -- friends (and fellow bloggers) M, K, N, and J are visiting from Texas for a few days, yay! We all met up at the boys' favorite local sushi joint, though I neglected to confirm that N would share the boys' appetite for cucumber rolls. But it all worked out okay, and we then headed back to our place for an afternoon of kids playing, napping (well, J at least), and just getting to catch up. After some early O/N disagreements, the two of them became fast friends -- the costume trunk and little play theater hadn't gotten such a workout in quite some time, and there was quite the show by Buzz, the Princess, and, um, a horse. Oh, and there was also pizza.

By this time, things had warmed up substantially and all that was left of the snow in the yard was a rapidly melting snowman. As the snowman's head melted, the carrot nose fell out and somehow pivoted as it fell down into the snowman's bottom segment to become, er, something possibly indecent. O just kept asking why, of course. Because! Anyway, it was so good to see our friends for the afternoon, and hopefully we'll get to catch up again before they head back out after the long weekend. Have a great time in Seattle, S family!

O, brought to you by the letter Z

I didn't mention that last week Z had his dentist appointment, and did fabulous - no decay, good looking teeth, and he did awesome following instructions from the hygienist and dentist, letting them use the 'buzzy brush' and 'Mister Thirsty'. Go Z! This was particularly impressive as they were running so late that they actually gave Meh a gift certificate and offered profuse apologies for her, Z, and O (yup, he was already out of school for the day) for having to wait so long -- they were literally the last patients out of the building. On the plus side, both Z and O were given tokens to claim toys from the little gumball-style vending machines they have at the post-appointment checkout area; Z got a plastic ring and O got a superball.

Also last week, Z brought home my new favorite piece of completed "table work", where the exercise appears to have been to name, spell, and illustrate three things that begin with the letter O. I love his "otupus" (in kindergarten, they encourage kids to creatively spell out by sound; focusing on correct spelling comes later, once they've clearly mastered the sounds of the various letters), but our favorite is that he thought of including his brother -- and even gave him a little smile and a hat. Well done, Z!

Corporate Headquarters

Tonight, O asked me if we could go to "Mikkel". I asked where that was, and somehow we were able to walk through his logic to figure out that he thought that was the name of a store -- the store that makes nearly all of the cars and other vehicles that he's always interested in. From there it was only a short leap to realizing he was saying he wanted to go to Mattel. Note to self to investigate possible tours of their El Segundo headquarters the next time we're in Los Angeles.

Today was a very fun third birthday party for L, the son of friends J and S. They held it (apparently sight unseen beforehand -- brave!) in an area of Seattle I'd never really explored, though it was blocks from the grassy field north of Boeing Field where the boys and I have occasionally gone to watch planes land. Anyway, in the midst of this mostly industrial neighborhood was a giant indoor sandbox. No really, that's what it's called, and it looks like a converted airplane hangar or factory that has been covered with a foot or more of high quality sand. On one side of the complex was a volleyball match; on the other was a kids birthday party complete with many sand toys, vehicles, slides, and more. The boys and I had a blast, and the birthday boy was clearly having a ball as well (literally: he had a beach ball in hand for much of the event). Towards the end, Z and O both ended up way in the back corner where there were a pair of slides I hadn't even seen when we'd come in. It really does look like some kind of avante garde art installation seeing this much sand in front of solidly colored walls of nearly the same tone.
"aire de jeux de sable à l'intérieur"
(2013, assorted plastics with children on sand)

Mister O's Wild Ride

Today when we dropped off mommy at work, O suggested we go to the "park by the pool". Impressive that he still remembers where we used to have swimming lessons many months ago. I luckily had a towel in the trunk to wipe down the damp slides and swings (another mom who showed up soon afterwards had a towel of her own; in this area I suppose we train ourselves that the odds are ever in our favor of rain or mist), and the boys had a great time swinging, running around, and yes, riding these dinosaurs mounted on industrial springs. O in particular apparently wanted to both test out some of his personal whiplash theories and see the images from my camera as I was taking them: Tonight was one of our favorite activities at the local community center: a parents' night out! The boys had a great time apparently running around in the gym "with a bunch of balls" (said Owen), then having dinner (pizza, which I don't think either of them actually ate), dessert (which they emphatically did eat, actually bringing it home in the car with us), and the beginning of a movie. Alas, mommy and I are such party animals that their film (which we emphatically approved of) was actually just starting when we showed up at the end of our date. Ah well, we'll have to bust out the DVD for the boys again soon -- but they and we all had a fabulous time!

Pretty as a picture

O sometimes has a hard time when we drop him off at school in the morning. For me, there's a bit of a ritual involving spinning him around upside down, and then either from the swinging or dizziness, he's either good for me to depart or maybe just can't walk straight enough to follow me. But he very sweetly waves and says bye daddy, and all is well. When Meh drops him off, it's apparently far more challenging, with the teachers sometimes having to peel Mr. Clingy off of mommy and momentary sadness as she leaves. (The teachers always mention when we pick him up at the end of a day that it lasts for all of a minute, but it's still the minute that she hears as she leaves.)

We've used a variety of other strategies to help him with the separation; mommy used to give him an object that she'd put "mommy sprinkles" on, and I'd find that object (sometimes a pebble) in his pocket later in the day. But still, I was a bit surprised to pick him up yesterday and find him on the playground vrooming a car (one of the teachers brought in his very own childhood matchbox set!) on a tiny green sheet of cardboard. When I asked if he was pretending it was a road, he looked at me, said, "no, it's a tiny picture of mommy", and turned over what was revealed to be a tiny business card with Meh's choir's picture on it.

The business card went to school again today, and when Meh picked O up, first one of the teachers commented that she didn't know Meh was in a choir. Then she reported that O had spent nap time (where he rarely ever actually naps) sitting quietly and looking at the business card. He does love his mommy!

Big Brother is listening

One of our many evening rituals is the reading of books. Each boy gets to choose one (or maybe two, but no more than five, tops!) book and we all sit on Z's bed for family book reading. Lately Z has been doing much of the reading, which has been great to see. O, always wanting to be like his brother, insists that he wants to "read" a book too, leading to varying humorous interpretations as he attempts to either recite a classic by rote (with hilarious missed, simplified, or altered recitations) or goes completely off script and tries to tell a new story based on the illustrations alone.

Lately, each of them also wants to have a book in bed with them; Z will actually try to read it with the lights off by holding up his Twilight Turtle; we may need to get him some kind of book lamp, though I fear he'd just turn it on and off all night as a toy. And again, O wants to be like his brother, often requesting the same book right after Z has asked for it. Last night, the battle was on for a Richard Scarry one. O was tearful when Meh explained to him that Z had requested it first, and she offered him a number of other books that of course weren't that one, and were rejected. In the end, mommy snuggles beat out the lack of the preferred book, while Z was reading it down on the bottom bunk. But when Meh got up to get out of O's bed when he fell asleep, something fell off his bed and to the ground: somehow, Z had covertly snuck the requested book up to O's bed after finishing reading it, so O could have it when he woke up. We were both amazed and touched -- what a thoughtful older brother!

Little houses

We had a jam-packed day today, capped off with dueling holiday parties for Meh's work and mine. It has been bitter cold (well, for Seattle -- teens and 20s), and O's near-daily e-mail reminder from his teachers reminded us that the kids are still wanting to play outside and to dress appropriately. That meant hunting for lined jeans, mittens/gloves, and new hats. Alas, the local big box store was completely decimated (though we did successfully pick up a number of candies for Meh's holiday party - more on that in a bit). The boys were hungry, so (shock of shocks) we found ourselves lunching at a place that they hadn't been to in at least a day. Okay, maybe a week. Then we walked over to another store and successfully found hats, gloves (Z), and mittens (O). Success!

Friends A and J (and their son E) had invited us to come join them at a farm in the afternoon, so we headed straight there from our shopping. By the time we made it through traffic, O was conked out. So Z and Meh went into the farm while O and I hung out in the car -- but I spied Z again soon afterwards; what looked like decorative structures at the entrance are actually an array of 2/3 scale two-story play houses, and he was in love, going from house to house and checking out all of the rooms. He apparently made "snack" for mommy at a tiny kitchen table in one of them. I whispered to O that we'd arrived, and was greeted with a very happy wake up. With the bitter cold, the farm had actually gotten a roaring blaze going in their fire pit and was selling s'mores packs -- clever idea! O was delighted to eat both his and the marshmallow (actually a Peep, which as official s'mores roaster I discovered caramelizes much better) from Z's pack; Z was happy to eat just the chocolate and graham cracker, sans flame.

But wait, there's more! The farm had a bunch of animals, including the usual pigs, horses, ponies, chickens, roosters, goats, a very active herding dog, several peacocks, and even a greenhouse full of parrots and other exotic birds. And there was a virtual parking lot of kid-scale pedal-driven tractors; the boys literally jumped from one to another, pedaling once or twice and then abandoning them for the next vehicle. And, yes, there was a little train (well, a re-skinned tractor with some pre-recorded engine noises, towing a chain of wheeled cars). O was concerned that it was driving around without any kind of train tracks, but the concern went away very quickly when we went out for a ride in it - the boys were big fans, and even said hi and bye to Santa Claus (apparently the farm's owner) as we returned to our car after a chilly but very fun afternoon.

In the evening, we had the aforementioned holiday parties. Meh was awesome as always and had purchased the candies so all of the kids in attendance could make their own gingerbread houses as a craft activity. She even made a tasty frosting in piping bags that doubled as the mortar for both walls, roof, and decorative touches. My favorite were the pink peppermint thin mints, which worked perfectly for tiny little doors. The boys had a great time even if they declined most of the lovely potluck offerings. Mommy also got to sing some silly songs/carols that one of her coworkers had altered the lyrics of; O was thrilled to walk up to mommy while she was in the middle of singing, and Z talked about "mommy music" while running up and down library aisles. Soon after I ducked out for my group's own holiday dinner at a tasty Italian spot in the city. A busy day, but still a very nice one to spend almost entirely together, a rare event in our busy calendars!

Eighth Crazy Night

Happy eighth night of Chanukah! As promised, the boys got their sole non-shared unique gifts tonight: new bicycles! As I've mentioned, O has been eager to ride the little tricycle, so getting a bike -- and a Hot Wheels themed one no less -- was, like, Price Is Right "new car"-reveal exciting. Z was very pleased with his as well, and wanted to wear the new helmet (Cars-themed, natch) and climb on his Lightning McQueen-themed bike nearly immediately. Yes, we even put aside common sense (hey, it was raining -- and at least they had the aforementioned helmets "for safety") and let them briefly, and more or less carefully, ride the bikes on a few loop through the house.
O did somehow manage to crash once, but all in all, a very happy last night of Chanukah. Meh is going to attempt to take them both biking solo (brave mommy!) tomorrow after Z's school is over.

Favor in the morning, favor all through the night

With O's cough continuing to persist (and getting so bad as to make him actually barf a few times -- poor little man!), Meh took him to the doctor yesterday, and alas, he had a sinus infection. A round of the pink stuff is now in progress; he's been taking it like a champ and is already doing much better. He was talking today about having to take medicine for his "favor" (fever) -- I'm very glad that we were able to get it sorted and treated.

Chanukah has continued with much enjoyment by the boys as well as by us, though sometimes they start to ask about gifts before we've even had breakfast in the morning. They've done a great job of sharing the various gifts (perhaps in part because we made it clear that all of them except the ones for the upcoming last night of Chanukah will indeed be for both of them), and we've gotten to successfully play some fun new turn-based games from grandma, J, Uncle B, Aunt J, mima, and papa -- it's been great to see both of them start to understand the basic logistics of classics and new games alike -- sometimes they even encourage each other. My favorite is that they're still convinced (based on a few earlier games we've played with them) that when you win, you shout out the name of the game. Why not?

The rest is commentary

While I was out of town, Meh made a point of keeping a notepad at the ready to capture choice comments from the boys. A classic was shared earlier in the blog, but the rest were a fabulous present for my return.

Z: (pretending to be on the phone) Hi, I'm wearing shoes. I went to Michigan and the beach house.

O: The first point I have to tell you is they have gelatin. Next is not to get them. The third is not to eat them. (In regard to some kind of gummy "car snacks")

Z: 3...2...1... emission!

O: What was that book we read last night with the bunny and the old lady? (Goodnight, Moon) I don't like the goodnight nobody page. It's a little scary.

Z: (again pretending to be on the phone) Hello, I am [unintelligible]. I have Shabbat, bye.

O: What did you do yesterday Zachary? Can you tell me all about it?

Z: (one last faux phone conversation) Hi Owen. I think dad and mom went on the airport to London.

Two helpings

Happy Thanksgiving and Chanukah! Unfortunately, Mima had injured her back last week and couldn't leave the house to join the dinner at friends S and J's house, so O and I headed to the local grocery store to pick up an improvised Thanksgiving lunch (they even had some nice reasonably sized rotisserie turkeys) to bring to her. Z and mommy joined us soon after at Mima and Papa's house for the unexpected but very nice Thanksgiving part one. While there, Mima and Papa gave the boys some lovely Chanukah presents, including reversible superhero capes and masks -- a huge hit with all! There were also a vehicle-themed erector set (which the boys, gasp, wanted to immediately build into a fire truck), along with a fun new allegedly drop-proof (the boys almost immediately "tried out" that feature) Android tablet -- thank you to mima and papa for the fabulous gifts!

Later it was on to friends J and S's lovely home for Thanksgiving dinner. I brought challah (big shock), and Meh made both her yummy sweet potato casserole and an excellent dairy-free pavlova. There was an honest-to-goodness kids table for Z, O, and D & D's sons N and B -- not that any of them sat for an extended period. There was running around the family room (J was patiently moving things out of their path) and N helped "show" the boys how their new tablet worked (that is, playing one of the pre-loaded games that he was apparently already familiar with). But in between they did sit nicely at the table and color in some excellent placemat worksheets that J had found, and we had a nice and even mildly relaxing festive meal with friends.

Measured response

Chanukah starts tomorrow night, but today was O's school Chanukah party. Both Meh and I were able to attend with many of O's friends (though a few were already gone for the upcoming Thanksgiving break) and their parents. It was fun if chaotic, with a number of activities: arts and crafts, the kids singing and dancing to "I Have a Little Dreidel" (though they'd apparently not quite learned the entire chorus or any verses yet), decorating cookies (Meh brought her fabulous assortment of sprinkles, dragees, and the like), and then of course presents! The teachers gave each of the kids a fabulous set of measuring cups. O was super thrilled with his present -- in fact, he was so thrilled, that when he and mommy got home from the party, he immediately wanted to bake something (and he insisted on being in an apron while he did it). So they made some yummy sugar cookies (the recipe had been another gift from the teachers), or at least the cookie dough. I think he got bored while it cooled in the freezer -- though he did correctly insist on washing all of his fancy new kitchenware himself. As Meh responded to this last bit, "Yes!"

Chanukah comes earlier

Yes, yes, it's crazy early this year, and the first time in something like a trillion years that Chanukah coincides with the 150 year old Thanksgiving. But really Chanukah arrived even earlier for us, as grandma and J brought a number of gifts for the boys (in addition to their new favorite Museum of Flight space shuttles). Among the many presents was a childhood favorite of daddy's: a plastic bowling set. O was mostly about holding the ball and swatting the pins with it, but eventually he was catching on to the whole rolling thing, and we built out an alley between the kitchen and dining room.

We had such a nice time with grandma and J, but their visit came to a close this morning. There were fun trips to some local parks (where, as usual, the boys primarily wanted to sit in swings or merry-go-rounds and have daddy push them - does that really consume any energy?), playing with games, reading books, baffy time, and general silliness. We miss them already and hope to see grandma and J again soon!

Flying Turkey

We've been having a very nice time with Grandma and J visiting for the weekend. Meh departed this morning for Portland, but the boys, grandparents, and I had a full morning: first, just in time for my concert this evening, we picked up my newly tailored tuxedo (talk about delayed use of a birthday present, which Meh had picked out for me, um, nearly 12 months ago - sorry Meh, and thank you!). Then we drove onward to the boys' nirvana, I mean, the Museum of Flight. As Meh and I have independently confirmed, getting the boys into the car is usually at least a fifteen minute stall-fest -- but when I mentioned we were going to see the planes, I can confidently say that I never saw them get their shoes and jackets on quite so quickly.

While our initial route was blocked due to construction, soon enough we did successfully arrive at the museum. As we got out of the car in the parking lot, I saw a cute little prop plane coming in for a landing and pointed it out to the boys. Suddenly, on the parallel runway further from us (but still within a hundred yards), a huge military cargo transport came buzzing in for a landing -- possibly related to the upcoming presidential visit? Anyway, it was quite the sight, and the boys (and J) were already thrilled before we'd even gotten inside.

The museum itself continues to be a big win for the boys, as well as an exercise in zone defense for any adult trying to keep track of them. The boys generally wanted to go in two opposite directions, but somehow the three of us were able to get them to least stay on the same level of the museum. There was running around, climbing into many planes (that they were allowed to; O later continued to ask if he could climb into some of the other planes, even the ones that were suspended from the ceiling), and in general talking about all of their favorites. The museum also had a pre-Thanksgiving art activity that the boys enjoyed, making "turkey rockets": turkeys made from tracing their hands on paper, taped to a cone of paper, then put the cone on top of a soda bottle and squeeze the bottle to launch it. Both boys made one that we're saving for mommy tomorrow.

We crossed over to the annex containing the space shuttle simulator (well, we actually had an extended intermission on the bridge itself, watching traffic go by underneath while snacking) and adjacent to the actual airplanes, and the boys were thrilled and surprised when grandma and J bought them space shuttle toys at the little gift shop. Actually, O was at first super happy and then distressed that he had picked out a different toy than Z -- and one that didn't involve removal from a cardboard box (they still do love/obsess over their unboxing videos). I had to remind him several times that he'd made his choice, these were very generous and nice gifts, and that they should be profusely thanking grandma and J!

At last the boys' stomachs were rumbling and it was time to go grab some lunch. We headed out for the usual, but when we arrived (and had to park blocks away -- this was the mall location, and Christmas shopping is apparently already in full swing) the manager was at the door apologetically turning people away due to "computer issues". So onward to the next closest location, and after all of this, O actually declined to order or eat any lunch. I think he was both exhausted and maybe full of snacks from the museum, but it was still impressive to see him politely turn down the waiter's inquiry for a drink or food. Z meanwhile ate everything on his plate.

I forgot to mention, yesterday was the launch day for a certain video game console I've been working on for the past few years. On Wednesday there were festivities and fireworks through midnight (though as with new years, I was exhausted by 9 pm and headed home), the unveiling of a giant plaque with thousands of names on it (with a tripod-mounted spyglass since it's hung from a second floor atrium balcony), and a big posterboard that everyone signed as they picked up their very own special edition launch console. Hugely exciting to see my third (!) console ship, though the big work remains ahead for my team to help game developers hopefully make hundreds of great games for it!

What the font

As discussed in previous blog posts, Z is a huge fan of words, reading them wherever he goes, and writing them like a champ on both his class work and whenever we have an opportunity to do art at home. Breakfast is punctuated by renditions of cereal box prose, featuring comments like "whole grain oats", "General Mills", and "it says 'Original' there!". Lately we've noticed some variations in how he's been forming his lower case A's, and we finally figured out that Z is emulating some of the various fonts that he sees. This picture is his attempt at some clearly Cheerios font-derived a's -- nice serifs, Z!

Today Grandma and J arrived for visit! In addition to a nice lunch with just the grownups (while the boys were at school), they got to see O's classroom and help the boys with baffy time. Though Meh is off to a weekend of choir performances in Portland tomorrow morning, the rest of us are looking forward to a busy schedule of activities, with my orchestra's concert tomorrow night and maybe a visit to the boys' favorite museum in the queue.

Cold play

Today we had a very nice brunch with mima and papa; O was particularly excited to taste some of their yummy Keurig hot chocolate, which was supercharged by adding both whipped cream and sprinkles. Then Meh and we parted ways, with her heading to work and the boys and I off to run a brief errand to pick up groceries. Of course it's never a "brief" errand with the boys, and they were wild enough (thankfully at least sitting still long enough to accept and devour free chocolate chip cookies from the grocery store's bakery) that we clearly needed to find someplace to go burn off energy afterwards. Lately I've been walking them up to Z's elementary school -- the dual benefits of them actually walking (exercise) and going to a playground without swings (more exercise; they're guaranteed to be doing more than just sitting there while I push them) has made it an attractive option. I've also mentioned O's renewed interest in his tricycle, so off the three of us went.

It was, shall we say, an adventure. O continued to want full independence on the tricycle (except when he didn't), and Z wasn't always interested in holding my hand. Somehow we arrived at the park at roughly the same time, at which point the boys ran around like wild men before it was time for snack. I miscalculated just how cold it's gotten; while the boys were fine with their heavy shirts and (somewhat light) jackets, I was freezing. Of course this meant it was time for an extra-leisurely snack. The boys found it super funny when I huddled way down in my jacket -- hah hah. Anyway, some more play time warmed us up, though it was finally time to head back home. Again, getting both boys to head the same direction and rate of speed was a bit of a challenge.

Friday night was the Seattle opening of my friend J's film, and I was excited to be able to take Meh on a date to see it while the boys had a fun evening with their favorite sitter S (seriously -- Z just smiled and said "byyyyye mommy and daddy" when he saw her). I was rooting for a full audience, and was texting live attendance numbers to J as we counted down to showtime; in the end, the theater was at about 90% capacity, hooray! Meh was a big fan of the film itself, even though the theater had to do a restart after accidentally showing the first few minutes with a bunch of the frame clipped. As the end credits rolled, a huge cheer went up from behind us for the assistant editor credit; apparently he's got family and friends in Seattle. It was fun to see the film again on a big screen in my own town, and encouraging to see people flowing into the theater for the next showing as we headed out afterwards. Congrats again to J!

Feeding frenzy

This morning, O declared to me that he likes to take "adventure bites". This (according to him) is apparently a term used by his teachers to describe taking a big bite of something; my guess is that the extra data he missed is that an adventure bite involves trying a food that the kids either don't know or don't strongly like the taste of. Anyway, after announcing this, O then showed me an adventure bite of cereal, and later on, one of candy. I suggested he try one of my sandwich, but he wasn't interested. Of course, he always follows his brother's lead; if I offer him food, he'll ask "did Zachary eat any?"

Mommy's craftiness has been in full force as we begin to prepare for "tiny" (current code name; O insists the baby's full name is "Tiny Tim"). Well, to be clear, I guess I'm still a bit superstitious and declare that anything pink and girl baby themed is really just for if there ever happens to be a girl baby visiting the house. Ptui ptui, salt over the shoulder, etc. Anyway, a number of Alice in Wonderland-themed blankets, bumpers, mobiles, and other decorations are already in production. Meh saw a cute flower-covered lamp in a catalog and decided that she could do it better. I would emphatically agree with the result, though there was the near-tragic moment when she was about 5 flowers short -- thankfully with the UPC sticker in hand from one of the flowers she'd gotten (at another location), I was able to pop off to the local Michaels and find a match. Success, and a fabulous lamp by mommy!

Recovery weekend

Back from my last (planned) travel of 2013, it was super nice to have a family weekend together. We went to the park together, we snuggled at home together, we played on toy cars (shock of shocks), and we even got to go see our favorite local geek a cappella group give an excellent concert (bonus points: they had optional child care available at the venue; O spent most of the concert playing in their well-equipped-with-toys Sunday school playroom). Even though they're often busy and sometimes more exhausting than the work week, I wouldn't trade our family weekends for anything -- it is very good to be home!

Extended technique

Z brings home his school work in his backpack nearly daily; he calls it "table work", and will frequently recount it among his day's full schedule: "first we'll have table work, then recess, then lunch, then P.E., then get on the yellow bus..." We see a fabulous progression of his handwriting, counting/numeric comparisons, and overall reading and math comprehension. We also get to see some of Z's creativity in action -- here was an assignment he brought home this week. I love how he extended the drawings to add legs (and apparently dresses?) to the characters. We also had him bring home what I think was originally supposed to be a connect-the-dots of a turtle that he insists is now a giraffe, and he drew a tall tree next to it that the giraffe is "eating".

Many of his table work assignments have the standard "name:" and "date:" fields at the top, which he dutifully fills out each time. It's been interesting to see that on assignments that don't have these fields, he's been occasionally adding them and a blank line (not actually filled in with his name) to the top. Z definitely prefers a certain level of consistency/formality to his school papers!

Z's class photos came back today, and they did not disappoint -- not pictured here is the "extended" 3/4 length pose version we also got, where you can see that his sweater's sleeves were long enough that they were completely covering and obscuring his hands. But such a cute and handsome smile from our kindergartener!

Back in my day...

When you return to a place you haven't been to in a while, you tend to immediately notice the changes. So while I was only a mile or two north of where I live for basically all of my Los Angeles time at college, it was a bit of shell shock when I drove into a downtown LA that had somehow gone upscale in my absence. Granted, my time there even predated the Staples Center, but now there's this whole entertainment complex thing attached to it. And crazy constantly-expanding affordable light rail service, which I (gasp) actually even used as a convenient way to meet up with friends one evening. Though hey, at least the traffic and driving patterns have stayed pretty consistent.

Anyway, it's been a very productive and good trip to Los Angeles; as with New York, I thankfully got to spend some time with college friends in between lectures (both giving and attending), meetings, learning about new technologies, and catching up with the latest from many professional contacts and friends. I got to catch up with a number of friends from both college and post-college, including friends J and A and their son L (who is close to O's age and really reminded me of him; J reports that he was still asking a few days later when I'd come back to read more stories, so I must've made a somewhat positive impression). And I even got to go see my friend J's excellent new documentary film in an honest-to-goodness first run mainstream movie theater as an anonymous patron -- there was spontaneous applause at the credits! Congrats to J, looking forward to the Seattle premiere next week! But even more than that, definitely looking forward to and ready to be heading home tonight, to snuggle with the family first thing tomorrow morning with the boys wake up.

Play Date

With the weather beginning to turn cold and wet, it's important to be consistently expanding the repertoire of kid-friendly entertainment options. Meh had work today, so it was time to find a choice that involved an at least mildly constrained/enclosed play space. Enter this epic indoor playground with attached hipster-friendly food service (something seems inherently wrong about a playground serving craft beers, but who am I to complain?) and big screen TVs broadcasting college football, and we had a winner.

The source of the recommendation was even able to join us, as O's class friend J came out for play time with his dad M. (J had been talking about bringing O here for some time.) Needless to say, big win; the boys could hardly be bothered to sit for food, preferring to run, climb, hop, nest (Z found a particularly isolated corner of a giant tunnel; it took me a few minutes to relocate him, though when he spotted me he smiled and talked about daddy in the tunnel), and pneumatically launch foam balls at each other and other crazy kids. Here's a video I grabbed; somehow the audio didn't make it onto Flickr, but I'm sure you can imagine the placid quiet that would accompany this scene: I'm off to Los Angeles this evening for two (no, make that three) conferences. The boys were a bit concerned to hear that I'd be gone (Meh perhaps more so?), though O was quick to add that I should bring them back presents of chocolate. Time will tell.