Didn't Rain on my Parade

It's been raining ridiculous amount here this week.  So much that John was draining some water out of the pool with the hose.  And while he was draining, ANOTHER rain storm came through.  And the level of the pool stayed exactly the same - water coming IN to the pool at the same rate as water EXITING the pool.

It rained so much this spring that strawberry picking season was delayed.  And it seems like it was really short.  So short we didn't go.  Which didn't make me sad because I hate picking strawberries, and Dex doesn't really eat them.  But Erin.  Oh, ERIN.  That girl can eat her some strawberries.  But still, not enough to justify going to pick.

We did go pick blueberries on Saturday, though.  Those are easy enough.  And Dexter likes them.  Our past couple years of picking he has picked enough to fill his belly, but put zero in his bucket.  But this year he was surprisingly helpful and managed to fill his belly AND Erin's belly, AND he even got 20 berries or so in his bucket.  I was impressed.

How many blueberries you got in there, chubby cheeks?

The running commentary from this one as he is picking is priceless.  "That one is blue.  That one is green!  OH - I forgot to look when I was picking!  I picked a green one!"

Lots of green berries still on the plants, so I think they will be open for another few days at least.

Everyone say "Blueberry!"

Cute Stuff here was pretty content to sit in the back pack and have blueberries shoved in her mouth every couple minutes.  After she was sick last weekend, she was still a bit dehydrated all week.  I think she pooped one time all week, and we were beginning to get a little concerned.  Blueberries turned her right around.

"Did you just take a picture of me eating a blueberry?"  he yells with glee.

Erin intently studying the blueberry plants.  "How do I get those berries from there in to my mouth..."

Ah, screw it.  I'll just try to eat this stick.  Someone will come shove a berry in my mouth soon, anyway.

No way!  Did my brother just TOUCH me?  ON PURPOSE?

Brotherly love makes her very, very happy.

In the afternoon I packed the kids up and headed over to a friends' house so I could get Erin an air conditioned nap (our AC got replaced on Saturday) before our big PARADE DEBUT.  We walked in the Darlington Independence Day parade on Saturday evening with our friends from the Bel Air moms group.  All the kids rode their bikes, and wore their Bear tee shirts.  So we Biked for Bear.  It was fun.  It was hot.  BUT - it didn't rain on our parade!  Dex said he had fun.  I have no idea what his favorite part was.  My guess would be the playground at the end of the parade?  :-)

Pre-parade dinner picnic.  What the hell, the kid has only pooped seven times today.  May as well give her some more blueberries...

Erin swiped Dexter's earmuffs for the parade.  Wasn't sure how loud it was going to be.

Dexter spent the entire parade, as he put it, "Behind the thing I REALLY liked."  Our friend Jordan's battery powered Gator.

Littlest Strider rider.  She was OMGCUTE

This is most of the group.  We are certainly not professional parade marchers, but we had a fun evening.  The kids were hot and tied and happy.  I was hot and tired and also EXHAUSTED.  And happy to come home to a new, fully functional, much quieter fancy air conditioner.

Love Wins

Dear Cristin and Clara,

How many times have you been married?  Three?  Four?  I lose count.  And how many times has that marriage been taken away?  Two?  Three?  I lose count.

That taking away is, of course, just in the court of law.  I know, in your hearts, you have been married since the very first time you said "I Do" so many years ago, even though the state only recognized the legality of that first union for about three seconds.

When I heard the news this morning about Prop 8 being reversed and the federal government recognizing your marriage, I sent you a message with tears of joy in my eyes.  Because no one deserves a legal marriage more than you two.  Nowhere have I heard a more heartfelt declaration of love and commitment than at your wedding in 2009.  Nowhere have I seen such an amazing couple.

I am celebrating with you today, dear friends.  I am delighted I got to see the day that love wins.

xoxo,
AMC

Missing the Funny One

Some of my favorite Dexter quotes from the weekend at Grandma's house, and from phone conversations we had while he was there:

Grandma!  I am not talking to you!  I am talking on the phone, and you keep interrupting me!

Grandma, why don't you know how to do very many things?  (This was after Grandma tried to get out of playing with Grandpa's trains by saying she didn't know how to make them work)

Me:  What's your favorite thing to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house?
Dex:  Play with Grandpa's trains.  I like playing with Grandpa's trains A LOT.

And then, just randomly hanging out in the living room on Monday morning before anyone else got up:
I like this house.

I'm glad, sweetie.  Cuz you're stuck there for a couple days.  Hope you're having fun!

Delaying Camp Grandma

Another year of Camp Grandma is in full swing.  Dex is in NY swimming and playing with trains and watching TV and going to bed late and playing with trains some more.  And also, I think he is playing with trains.  Basically, everything a four year old SHOULD be doing while on vacation at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We took both kids up for the weekend, and we were supposed to leave Dex there on Sunday.  But SOME small cute baby made our plans change, so Grandma got an extra day to sleep in because we stayed til Monday morning.  Just to wait out all the baby puke.  And make sure she was ok to travel.  I'm glad we did, because poor Erin was pretty miserable on Sunday.  Vomiting babies are no fun.  Even when miserable, she was still pretty cheerful.  Sleepy.  Pukey.  But pretty chipper for a sick kid.

Now we're home, and John's at work, and Erin and I are wondering what on earth we are supposed to do with ourselves, without a four year old here to entertain us all the time.  We went to the grocery store today, but there's only just so many trips to the store I can make before John starts getting angry.

Here's a glimpse at what Dexter will undoubtedly be doing all this week.  I didn't take any pictures of him playing with Grandpa's trains over the weekend.  I am guessing it's going to look a whole lot like this (taken in April) only without the jacket and the fleece PJ's.

Erin with Aunt Jeanne.  She was not pleased about being with anyone but Mama, all weekend.  Poor sick baby.

Best attempt at a family shot.  It's pointless.  Like herding cats.

Wheee!  Dex was fearful the first few times down the new slide (he didn't want to go too fast).  But he obviously got over it pretty quickly.

He's a pretty fabulous swimmer these days.  And also can touch in the shallow end, with his shoulders almost sticking out of the water.  He is way too tall.

This one doesn't mind the water too much, for half an hour or so.

But she's also quite happy to cheer from the sidelines.

Bike riding in Grandpa's garage.  With sidewalk chalk roads and buildings to add to the fun.  Good way to make Grandpa clean the garage floor...

Hope Dexter has an excellent week, and Erin and I can find something to keep us entertained for a few days!

From Bored to Awesome in Four Easy Steps

If you're stuck in the house on a rainy Tuesday with a four year old kid who might be kind of bored and also loves books, know what you can do to kill a couple hours?

1)  Drive to the library

2)  Have child pick four or five books to check out

3)  Also pick up Book Club book you've had on hold for a week

4)  Go home

That's it!  This is how I was able to fix dinner tonight, with Erin playing upstairs and Dex reading on the couch.

PS - if you're a Grandma with a four year old kid coming to your house for a week, my suggestion would be to 1)  GET A LIBRARY CARD and 2) USE IT

The Questioner

The questions never stop coming from Dexter's mouth.  Most of them are questions he knows the answer to.  Why do we wash hands before dinner?  Why do I have to pee some times?  Why do babies cry some times?  All those questions make me insane, so I turn it back to him.  Well, what do you think, kiddo?  And he provides the correct answer.  We think he's just trying to have a conversation.  He just doesn't know how.

But I've had some doozies recently, that have made me think.  Such as:

Mama, why did you decide to make me a boy when I was in your belly?
(Followed by my explanation that I didn't choose.  The baby inside my belly chose all by itself.  I can't decide to have a boy or a girl).

Mama, what was I before I was a baby in your belly?
(Well, hon, you were an egg.  And a sperm crashed in to the egg, and then that turned in to a baby).

Mama, is there a nest?
???  WTF?
Inside your belly, for the egg.  Is there a nest?
(Mind you, this was a FULL DAY later, after the egg turning in to a baby discussion.  OOOOHHH!  No, there's no nest inside my belly.  The egg was in my ovary.  Which, I guess, is kind of like a nest.  But it's inside my belly.  Birds lay eggs in a nest outside their belly.  People keep their eggs and babies inside their bellies).
And then the egg cracks open, and a baby comes out inside your belly.
(Well, sure.  OK.  Kind of.)

Mama, do people come back alive after they die?
(Holy hell, child.  You are killing me here.  Where did THIS one come from?  OK.  Think for a minute. Well, some people think you come back to life after you die.  And some people do not.  I, personally, do not think you come back to life after you die.  I think you just die.)
Well, I think people come back alive after they die.  And when I die I am going to come back alive as a kid. In your belly.
(Ummm.  That's really going to hurt me, kiddo.  It's hard enough carrying a baby in my belly.  I am pretty sure a kid is not going to fit.)

Mama, what's your favorite thing?
(My favorite thing ever?  Well, I guess you and Erin.)
My favorite thing is ice cream.
(Wait.  Your favorite thing ever is ice cream?  Even more than Mama and Daddy?)
Yep.  My favorite thing is ice cream.  And this time I am going to get cotton candy.  Last time I got bubble gum, and I said that the next time I was going to try cotton candy, because I read they had cotton candy on the ice cream list.  So this time I am going to get cotton candy.
(Mind you, he has not yet asked if we can go to the ice cream store.  He is simply talking about going there, assuming that we're just magically going to go.  While the baby is napping.  When I explained we could not, he said he would go by himself.  When I asked how he would get there:)
I can drive the car.  I just have to lean really far forward so I can reach the gas pedal.
(We compromised.  I gave him some ice cream from the freezer.)

Because This

The other day John was lamenting that he was way behind on his house work.  The lawn mowing.  The deck cleaning and staining.  The garage organization.  The power washing.  The mulching.  The setting up of the swimming pool.  Etc.  Etc.  Etc.

I told him it doesn't matter.  I told him I don't care.  Because why?

Because this:

Because you're an awesome, amazing, wonderful dad.  And that's really all we need.

Happy Father's Day!

The Most Amazing Thing

Every Wednesday this school year, or at least since December or so when Dexter lost his everloving mind for a while, I have come downstairs and hopefully looked out the window.  Hoping for clouds.  Rain.  Fog.  Snow.  Anything to cover up the sun.  Anything to keep the "wiggly sun spots" from appearing during swimming lessons.  Anything to help make things just a little bit easier for my boy.

I don't know why those sun spots were the cause of such fear and consternation.  I do know they caused some tears.  Screaming.  Non-participation in swimming lessons.  I tried logic.  I tried brute force.  I tried re-creating sun spots at home to get him used to them.  I tried bribes with peanut butter cups.  The last option was the most successful, but the only thing that really made swimming lessons tolerable was summer, and the sun being higher in the sky when we were there, and therefore not creating those nasty old sun spots.

And then we got a pink swimming pool.  And sat it under the awning.  And guess what was on the awning, right over Dexter's head?  And guess what caused him absolutely no fear or consternation at all?

Can you see the sun spots on his shirt and ON HIS FACE?

I TOOK VIDEO FOR PROOF (click for link)

Sigh.  This boy.  He is a puzzle.  I wish I knew how his great big brain worked.  His teacher is convinced that he simply tolerates all the less intelligent people in the world.  He is smart, and he knows he is smart, and he knows the right answers and exactly what to say in certain situations.  Because he memorizes everything.  And he just puts up with all the people around him, because they are not as smart as he is and he damn well knows it.  At least the kid is cute.

So I spent eight bucks on a plastic pool at Toys R Us, so Erin could have something to easily splash around in.  They had pink pools and blue pools.  Dexter, of course, chose pink.  But, hey.  If an eight dollar pink pool is going to get the kid over his fear of wiggly sun spots?  I consider it money very well spent.

Erin was amused for half an hour or so.

Save for the pink pool, this could be Dexter four years ago.  It's his swim shirt.  And the balls he used to play with.  And his shape sorting dump truck.

Erin is trying to figure out how to remove the ring from Dexter's head.  It's his hat.  He gets the pink one, of course.

The Graduate

Yesterday was Dexter's last day of preschool.  We are now officially on summer vacation.  For, like, three weeks.  Until summer school starts.  Dexter wants to know why we have to have summer vacation some times.  He likes school, and he'd much rather go to school than stay home with Mama.

Mildly anti-climactic last day of preschool photo.  Let's just call it "last day til July" photo.

On Wednesday Dexter's school had a graduation ceremony.  About half his class is going to Kindergarten in the fall.  The rest will come back to school for another year.  But everyone got to participate in the ceremony.  Parents were invited, so John took the day off work, took Dex to swimming in the morning, and then went to graduation with Erin and I.  Dex looked mildly apprehensive, but he participated in all the songs, Pledge of Allegiance, etc.  Apparently he didn't want to wear the white smock everyone was wearing, and didn't put it on until the very last instant.  And completely unbeknownst to us, he had been having a difficult time with practicing the songs with his class, because he thought the singing was too loud.  So his teachers were very proud of him on Wednesday that he kept his shit together, stayed with his class, and even sang along.

Here's a few pictures, and a (way too long) video.  I'm going back to Vimeo for videos.  Sorry, Dad.

HERE'S THE LINK to the video of some really terrible singing.  Dexter gets a kick out of watching it, though.  He giggles every single time.

Eight months

Erin is eight months old today!

She and I hung out in her room and played for a while this afternoon.  It's the first time I've seen her really roll around on the floor.  I think she's more willing to do so upstairs on the carpet.  She won't roll at all on the hardwood downstairs.  She would desperately like to crawl, I think, but can't get things working properly to make it happen.

Erin was a grumpy lady this afternoon.  I'm not sure what was wrong.  Fortunately a good afternoon nap seemed to fix the problem and she was her normal chipper self this evening.

Enjoy some eight month baby pictures, and a video.  Apparently the two people who actually watch videos here have been having issues with the Vimeo video hosting site, and viewing the videos posted there.  So I'll try today's video on Picasa to see how that works.  Let me know.  (Editor's note - it's a pain in the ass to upload video from Picasa, so it'd damn well better work perfectly)

Erin looking just peachy.  She LOVES peaches.  Devoured this one at dinner time.

After a very sad and scream-filled lunch, we went outside to distract from whatever was making the baby sad.  Apparently orange cones make her somewhat happy.

Which is good, because for most of the rest of the afternoon she looked like this.

Perhaps because she attempted to poke her ear out with a cone.

Even grumpy, she's still cute.

After dinner Erin ate her favorite dessert - a shape, with a little tiny hole in the middle of it.  Erin has mad skills, and it makes me giggle every time.

Behold, Erin's first instrument playing.  She's got talent!  (Video above, click to play)

Happy Anniversary tomorrow, Nonna and Grandpa!  54 years.  Craziness.