Dancing Boy

Asa starts dance classes on Monday. This was the trial run of his new shoes, and his skills as a choreographer. I think it's obvious which style of dance most appeals, for now.  As M. said, his teachers aren't going to know what hit them!

For that matter, neither are we.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhkIzJZnY8A&feature=youtube_gdata_player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URC4o4yeb3M&feature=youtube_gdata_player

A Normal Day at Our House

Puppets and siblings and silliness.

The moment towards the end when it sounds like there's a purring cat is when Elias decided to use me as train tracks, complete with "vroom" noise.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUDZjw37z_g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Daddy and me at the Doctor

A guest post by Sheldon.

Daddy Asa took me to the Doctor today. I was a little nervous but not really because Daddy said he'd be right there the whole time, and that he's been to the Doctor a lot and it wouldn't hurt. Daddy gave me lots of hugs on the way there.

The clinic was set up at the Children's Museum. There were lots of kids and lots of lovies. We signed in and I got an ID  bracelet. It had to go around my neck because my legs are so short!  We waited on a bench for a couple of minutes, then a nurse called us in.

We saw Dr. Chris from Portsmouth Regional Hospital. He had Daddy weigh and measure me- I weigh 12oz and I'm 15.5 inches long- I've grown!  Dr. Chris asked all sorts of questions about how old I am, and what I eat, and whether I behave.  He took my blood pressure and listened to my heart, and everything sounded good.  I'm a very healthy turtle.

Dr. Chris and Daddy decided I was so healthy I didn't need a band-aid, but I did get a prescription for snuggles. I think that will be easy medicine to take. We also got a certificate with my name on it!

After my check up, I was so tired that Daddy put me in the Beach pail he'd gotten from the nurses. It was a nice place for a nap. But I'm looking forward to my snuggles at bedtime.

Almost Four

Almost four, no swimmies or life jacket or bubble.  Slight hesitation only due to it being his first jump off the day, into water that might be cold...? (Not in Poppy's pool.)

My little fish isn't little anymore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmg8nnC20-Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Summer afternoon

Yes,  I KNOW YouTube is giving you problems with that video. I'm working on it. Meanwhile: this.

This being a boy.

Not a toddler, though it hasn't been that long.  That title had been passed on.  Not even a very little boy, although still the smallest and youngest in his class.

A boy.

One who often doesn't need to be reminded of his manners.  One who tells stories - great flights of imagination - with words bigger than he is.  One who loves his friends and his family and is rarely loathe to show it, with hugs, kisses, or stroking hair (he always asks first).

One who used a public restroom all by himself today, and emerged glowing with pride. One who has learned to dress himself: long-sleeved shirt, shorts and socks with sneakers, but all put on facing the right way.  This is one who can button, snap and zip himself most of the time.

This is one who makes me stare in awe and amazement - how can this lanky child be ours?

And it makes me so much more grateful for moments like this - simple ones playing on the sprinkler on a warm afternoon, when for a moment, things slow down.

Laughter and Noses

Watch "20130525_123918.mp4" on YouTube

Spring Play

Every spring, Asa has to be convinced anew to play outside and get dirty. We spend at least a week running between the yard and the bathroom sink, and we end up going through a lot of hand soap.

Elias?  Not so much.

The Day When Everything Changes

Watch "April 19, 2013 6:15 PM" on YouTube

Passing on the Skills

Reading the dregs of Turkish Coffee. A skill acquired at Mommy's knee.

Super Asa!

It's becoming more of a workout to fly Asa like a superhero.  Good for the core: I lie on my back, knees bent, with him lying along my shins. Used to be, I could keep his feet off the floor.  No longer.

Today, I held his hands out in front and called him Super Asa. He immediately ran to the dress-up box for his cape, then back for the sequined belt.

As Grover would say, "And I'm Cute, too!" 

Note, please, that Asa dressed himself this morning. Overall straps and all.  Three-and-a-half blows my mind.

Tease

Elias can eat.

I don't know where he puts the nearly adult-sized portions that he can consume in one sitting, although I have had to let out the elastic on the hand-me-down pants from Asa... Asa's belly at 18mos was nowhere near Elias' at 15mos.

And now, lunch is not just a sporting event, but entertainment.  Food is offered and denied with great glee...

Date with my Boy

 At the Museum of Science in Boston.  Just a Mummy-Asa date on the last day of February vacation.

 

It's been a while since we've been to the Museum - since at least before we moved - but Asa led me directly to the dinosaurs.  And then to the trains.

 

 

As he gets older, though, there is more to explore in this place of miracles.  Like an exhibit on solar energy, in which one can use mirrors to focus light onto a sensor, and thereby make a machine whirr.  Totally engrossed.

 

Cause and effect again: the happy land of the three-and-a-half (!) year old.  Light and levers and simple machines and oh, the cogs were spinning, not just on the wall but in his mind.  "That one's like a train, Mummy, see, when the piston pumps?" (Who knew he was paying attention to those segments of Thomas and Dinosaur Train?  Thank you, PBS.)

 

 

Kinetics seems to be the order of the day.  This sculpture was surrounded by young people, entranced by probability and motion.  Science as art: perfection.

 

Of course, there are always the lessons that we didn't plan on learning... Look closely.



 

 

 

The official reason for the trip was to "see stars".  Asa is finally big enough that the planetarium seats don't fold up on him, but he's decided that the dark is too scary to face alone, so I got to snuggle my big boy anyway.  Such an amazing show; a journey out of Boston, through the Solar system, past the Oort cloud and out into interstellar space - views of our galaxy and représentations of the known universe.  I think both of our minds were sufficiently blown.

 



 

Of course, a trip to the museum store was in order - Asa wanted to get something for Elias.  At least, he did right up until we reached the book section.  Needless to say, this book now lives at our house, beloved possession of our little scientist, along with glow-in-the-dark stars and planets that now hang from the boys' room ceiling.  

 

 

 

First Novel

By Asa, age 3.5.

Verbatim.

(some illustrations by Mommy.)

Prepare for Man-to-Man coverage

Today, he is pushing a wheeled toy, on carpeting and hardwood.  Tomorrow, he and Asa are running in opposite directions. 

Yikes.

Watch "January 13, 2013 6:03 PM" on YouTube

Happy Dance

Not sped up in any way, just Elias' dance of joy.

Watch "January 12, 2013 6:55 PM" on YouTube

Playing with one's food: joy edition

Elias generally prefers to self-feed now; spoon feeding is not nearly good enough. 

So Elias plus squash = interesting mess. 

Watch "December 11, 2012 6:57 PM" on YouTube

Birthday Bug

So Elias' birthday was not all sweetness and light and presents and wrapping paper.  

Rather, it was a high temperature and a nasty cough that landed us in the Emergency Room late in the evening.  

We went through this once with Asa, and have the nebulizer routine down to a science, but this was Elias' first go, which made it a little nerve-wracking.  But our boy was a champ, charming patients and nurses alike, giggling and clapping and making faces.  

Having arrived at the ER around bedtime, the happiness didn't last the entire time.  And Elias, who has long been reluctant to sleep anywhere but his crib or carseat, finally consented to sleep in Mummy's arms, and then (as my arm fell asleep), on my chest.  Much as he had done exactly one year earlier, although he was a lot smaller - and lighter - then.  

Everyone is home now, the medications are being given, our smiling boy is smiling again, and should be recovered in plenty of time for his birthday party on Saturday.  

At which I'm sure he'll get presents; this time, though, I'll make sure none of them is pneumonia.

525,600 Minutes

This year went way too fast.

Not surprisingly, of course, because of everything that happened.   First there was this:

Five days later came the call from the Search Committee of the church, moving that process forward.  And, inevitably, moving us to New Hampshire.  New job, new house, new school for Asa, new church (for all, but especially Mummy)... an ordination, a baptism, a birthday...

A year.

Elias has been the least affected by this transition.  This year, as crazy as it's been, is all he's known, and he's just lived each moment joyfully.  He laughs and crawls and sits and chews and claps and laughs some more.  Lucky us.

For the rest of us, it's been a hectic year, skewing our sense of time and growth - the dearth of blog posts being a prime example.  So how do we measure, from one picture to the other?

In love.*

Which for you, little Elias, is exponential.


*in case you missed it: the title and response to this post are from the song "Seasons of Love", from the musical Rent.

Thankful

The 2008 election seems a long time ago.

It was before Asa was born.  A lifetime ago.

It was an exciting, an exhilarating time for us, but it was also a time of grief.  As wonderful as the legislative election was that year, in our view, that was also the election that brought us Prop 8 - a law that had no direct impact upon us, but that sent a tremendous shockwave throughout the LGBT community.  We were pretty used to having marriage equality fail at the polls, but to have an existing law repealed - to send thousands of couples into limbo - was horrifying.

What a long way we've come.

This election was huge in our house.  Living in a swing state might have had something to do with that, but given everything that was at stake this year, it probably didn't change all that much for us.

And like all kids, Asa picked up on the vibe.  More than that, he picked up on a lot of details, although we tried to shield him from some of the unpleasantness - some of the downright meanness - that an election year can bring out.  We talked about the President, we talked about the importance of voting, we talked about disagreeing without becoming unpleasant.  The morning after the election - with circles under our eyes and much less sleep than we'd have liked - we shared our delight in the outcome: legislative elections that weren't quite as spectacular as 2008, but the first ever victories for marriage equality at the polls - in four states.

So it wasn't surprising that at dinner the next night, Asa announced his plans to paint a picture for the President.  He'd paint a picture of the President's family, he decided - one that he could show to his mommies. (A heartbreaking statement on more than one level, that one.)  We were delighted, and encouraged him - M. promised to get out real canvas and good paint.  And then Asa thought for a moment, and said:

"I'm going to paint a picture for Mitt Womney, too."

I'm not proud of this moment, but it had been a long election season and I was tired; the first words out of my mouth were, "But honey, he lost."

"I know, Mummy.  But it might make him feel better."

Nothing like having your kid make you feel like a jerk.

Mitt Romney said a lot of things during the election that I found offensive.  His statements on women, his backpedaling on healthcare, his choices of surrogates were almost uniformly off-putting.  On LGBT issues, he was entirely uninformed.  (Yes, Governor, we do have families.  We do have children.)  I had been so horrified by his politics, by the strange chameleon nature of his campaign, that I could no longer imagine doing this man a kindness.  Politics had trumped humanity, as too easily happens.

Asa understood it differently.  He knows what it is to win, and what it is to lose.  He has felt both, and can empathize.  And in his loving, unbiased way, he tries to do what he can to make things better.

This year, I am thankful for many things.  For a renewed faith in our political system and our country's values; for the growing recognition of my relationship and our family.

But mostly, I am thankful for my children, who are better people than I am.

Trick or Treat!

Dinosaur, ready for candy.