Trees and Leaves

Our leaves have finally almost finished changing colors and falling off.  Since we have like six of these bad boys in our front yard:

We did what any family would do on a nice sunny Saturday.  We put the boys to work.

Which turned in to, like most things the boys do together, a whole lot more play than work.

Buddy got in to the "run through the leaves" action

He might have gotten a little TOO in to it, really.  Here he is running over Dexter.

Always fun to have Daddy help you jump really high in the leaves!

After nap we went back outside to help Daddy blow leaves.  Dexter is pretending his penguin is a leaf blower, so he can blow leaves just like Daddy.  Ear muffs and all.

Cutest leaf blower in town

We had one hell of a big pile

Dexter pretending the leaves were a bed.  He even pretended to eat his yellow and brown M&M's when his pretend clock turned yellow.

Today was another gorgeous 60 degree day, so we took advantage of the warmth to go tag a Christmas tree and reserve it for pick-up later in December.  We went to a lovely little farm not too far from here in Maryland.  Their trees were great, prices were good, and we had fun tromping around the trees looking for just the right one.

Small child is NOT small any more

Hitching a ride with Mama

And with Daddy

7-8-9

We were listening to a Barenaked Ladies CD on Saturday morning and John heard the first song and broke out laughing.  That's awesome, he said.  And then he proceeded to sing it eight billion times to Dexter.  Who doesn't get the joke at all, and has no idea why Daddy thinks this is so funny, but will repeat it ad nauseum every day, just to make me insane, I think.

So we spent the entire drive (THE ENTIRE DRIVE) home from Philly on Sunday afternoon with Dexter repeating the following:

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-10......
WAIT!  What about NINE?
7-8-9
(insert forced laugh from Mama and Daddy)

Sometimes he'd forget the 7-8-9 part and just go on counting again.  Sometimes he'd continue counting to 20, and purposely leave out 16, with an evil little grin on his face.  Like there's some joke about 16 that only he knows.

We had a little overnight family vacation in Philly this past weekend.  Saturday afternoon at the Please Touch Museum.  Dinner at a cute little pizza place that wasn't used to having children diners, but nevertheless bent over backwards for us.  Sleepover at a hotel that nicely switched us to a room with a king sized bed and a long hallway leading to the room, that was a perfect place for Dexter's tent.  Sick child with a stuffy nose who woke up screaming like five times Saturday night.  Huge benefit 5K run and walk on Sunday morning for Alex's Lemonade Stand, where we met up with our friends and walked to help cure childhood cancer.  Small child who repeatedly asked to return to the Please Touch Museum, and would not believe us when we told him it still wasn't open.  Again.  Still.  Just like when you asked 30 seconds ago.  Even though you say it WANTS to be open, it still isn't.  Sorry.  Lunch at beep-beep-beep all done french fries.  Consumption of about half of Daddy's milk shake.  Naps for everyone Sunday afternoon.

It was a good weekend.

FIT

The class is called FIT 60, but it could more accurately be called DIE 60 or VOMIT 60.  I've been going for about 10 weeks now, twice a week, as it very conveniently falls on the same days and times as Dexter's school at the YMCA.  And at the end of every class I haul my ass out of the gym and drag my red face up the stairs to Dexter's class room and he sees me and smiles and runs over for a hug and touches my shirt dripping wet with sweat and suddenly he doesn't want to hug me any more.

Every evening, after I've had class and I get up off the sofa with a series of "ouch-ouch-ouches" I tell John what we did today.  50 sit-ups, followed by 50 tuck jumps, then 40 of each, then 30, then 20, then 10.  And then follow that with 21 push ups and 21 more sit-ups, with some walking lunges, and do six rounds of that.  He hasn't had the pleasure of listening to me bitch about today's workout where we ran a mile, then did 20 push ups and 20 squats, then ran a half a mile, then push ups and squats, then ran a quarter mile, then push ups and squats, then ran an eighth of a mile, then push ups and squats, then ran ANOTHER F-ING MILE.  Oh my dear sweet jesus.  I do not enjoy running.

And yet every Tuesday and every Friday I am there.  On time.  Water bottle full.  Ready to go.  Hopeful that maybe this time we won't have to run a lot.  Wondering if I'll be able to do whatever is asked.

Why?  Why go through the torture?

I kind of love it, really.  Yes, I groan and roll my eyes and tell Geoff that this shit is worse than basketball practice.  Yes, I bitch when I get home, and yes I am still sore almost every time.  But I LIKE the sore.  I like knowing that I am making my muscles do some work.  I like looking back at my work-out and saying "Yeah.  I did that.  I totally did all that crap and I lived to tell about it."  And I like feeling, after ten weeks, that it's easier to do 20 push ups.  I like knowing that I can now do 50 sit-ups when ten weeks ago there's just no way in hell I could have.  And I like feeling, finally, that I just might be able to run without dying.

In short, I enjoy being FIT.  Vomit and all.

Naming Cars

The other day we pulled out a book from the movie CARS, complete with some tiny cars and a big "new rug" as Dexter calls it - ie, just a big-ass poster with pictures of roads and buildings.  I think it's supposed to be the town in the movie, but you know me and movies - I don't really watch them nor do I remember anything about them.  ALTHOUGH last night John and I were talking about Joepa getting fired from Penn State and I likened it to "The 'You can't handle the truth' movie with Jack Nickelson.  You know, the one with Tom Cruise in it."  John looked at me like I was crazy for a minute, then finally caught on to whatever that movie's name is.  So, hey, I don't always remember movie names, but sometimes I can remember stories.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with naming cars.  Sorry.  I digress.

So Dexter was all excited about these cars and the new rug and we pulled them all out and started playing and Dexter asked "What is that car's name?"  Well, dude.  I don't have the slightest idea.  I maybe, MAYBE, could pull the name Mater out of my ass.  But nothing else.  I've got nothing from this movie, even though I have seen it at least twice.

So I put it back on him.  "I dunno, Dex.  What do you want to call that car?"

And he told me the names of all of them.  Which I later repeated to John, while trying not to pee my pants.  Below is my version, not Dexter's.  Dex just named them as he told me where he was putting them on the new rug.

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This one?  This is Green Car-y

This one is Yellow Car-y

This one?  Fire Car-y

Here's Red Car-y

And here's Blue Car-y

Here's Bussy

And here's Another Blue Car-y

This one is Jeep-y

This one?  (Hold on while I laugh until I cry for a little while).  This is......  This is...  TOW TRUCK-Y

And this one is Another Blue Car-y

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And there you have it.  Come play with us.  We're fun.

Conversations With Toddlers

Recent memorable conversations with the little man...

Swinging in the swing looking at the horses:

Dex:  That brown horse with white stockings is looking at you!
Me:  Ummmm.  Yes.  Yes he is.  Who taught you about stockings on horses?

Still swinging in the swing:

Buddy:  (eating grass)
Dex:  Buddy, what is the deal with the grass?

Talking to Daddy:

Dex:  You went swimming in the really really really really really really really really really really really really (breath) really really really really BIG POOL and there was a sun place
John: (who lost interest after the seventh really) Wait, where'd you go?

Leaving the dentist:

Dex:  Your lollipop is just candy (he got a lollipop and a toothbrush at the dentist today.  He's never had a lollipop before, and he was trying to brush his teeth with it.  I had to explain how the whole lollipop thing worked)
Me:  Yes, that's right.  Do you like your lollipop?
Dex:  Yes.  You LIKE your lollipop.  It got littler and littler.
(PS - yes, I find it terribly ironic that Dexter got his very first lollipop FROM THE DENTIST)

Driving down the road:

Dex:  What's THIS road called?
Me:  Mill Road.
Dex:  This is Milburn Road.
Me:  No, not Milburn Road.  MILL Road.
Dex:  When we go to Milburn we will be on Milburn Road.
Me:  OK.  Yes.  When we go to Milburn we drive on Milburn Road. (Thinking:  Dude, are you totally my father's grandson?  I STILL don't know the real names of roads in Ithaca.  But I can damn well find Dentist Street.)

Driving to Wal-Mart:

Dex:  Where are we going?
Me:  We're going to Wal-Mart
Dex:  We are going to WAN-Mart! (he totally says things wrong just to irritate us)
Me:  No, silly.  WAL-Mart. (Thinking:  Your version is pretty appropriate, though, little man, given the vast majority of the clientele there.  Juan-Mart might be a good name for it...)

Other things Dex says wrong on purpose:

Dex:  You are wearing a long SLEE shirt!
(Daddy inevitably chimes in with NOOOOOO!  It's a SLEEVE shirt!)

Dex:  Your Paperizor makes PAPER!

More driving to Wal-Mart:

Dex:  There is a tomato on the Applebee's
Me:  Yes, you're right.  Wait.  A tomato?  Do you think there's a tomato on the Applebee's sign, or an APPLE on the Applebee's sign?
Dex:  An APPLE!
Me:  Right.  We're going to APPLEbee's
Dex:  We are not going to Tomatobee's
Me:  No.  No we're not going to Tomatobee's.  I don't know where Tomatobee's is. (All the while trying not to fall out of my seat with laughter)
Dex:  Tomatobee's is too far away

BOO

Happy Halloween!

It's been a busy Halloween day here - we hosted play group with our friends, most of them in costume (not Dex, he said no thank you).  Dexter went to his first swimming lesson since spring this afternoon, which went ok - the teacher said he only whined for half the time.  Our goal by the end of eight weeks is for me to be able to stay there and watch (currently I just have to leave or all hell breaks loose), and have the little man not lose his shit.  We'll see how it goes.

And then we practiced some trick or treating, and Dex rang our door bell a few times to practice, and then we sent him on his merry way to Mr. George and Miss Penny's house.  And he and Daddy came back about three seconds later to ring our door bell again and get some more treats, aaaaaaand... then he was done.  Do you want to go out to get more treats?  No thank you.  Want to stay here with Mama.

So, he went out to one house.  And he saw Murphy the dog, which might have been the highlight of his night.  Ah, well.  At least I only paid five bucks for his costume.

Happy Halloween!

Dragon.  Not a turtle.  Dragon.  Maybe could have passed for a dinosaur, but I think the wings make it a dragon.  We tried to pass it off as Puff the Magic Dragon, to make it cooler.  No dice.

Practicing.  He had it down.  Ring door bell.  Someone opens the door.  Say Trick or Treat.  Get a treat.  Eat the treat.  If he remembered, say thank you.  He forgot all of those steps at Mr. George's house - distracted by Murphy the dog.

The boys head off across the yard to Mr. George's house.

Yeah, that whole walking thing didn't last very long.

Dexter's punkin

Both our pumpkins.  John was a slacker and never carved his pumpkin.  My VT got some compliments.

Getting the full wing effect

When asked to show off his wings, Dex did this - his Chicken Wing dance

I'm not sure what kind of random Batman dance this was, but it had John crying with laughter

Happy Halloween, cute boy.  We love you!

Not New York

So this happened today:

And, yeah.  It's OCTOBER 29.  What the hell?  I moved AWAY from New York so this shit didn't happen.  Snow before Halloween is fairly well unacceptable.

We made the best of it this afternoon.  We made THESE PUMPKIN COOKIES and they were pretty well fantastic.  If we don't eat them all, we'll feed them to our play group here on Monday morning.  I made THIS PUMPKIN CURRY with some CAULIFLOWER RICE (minus the celery, because celery is disgusting) for dinner.  John was skeptical, and honestly quite sad when he saw me dump the shrimp in the yukky looking orange stuff, but he changed his mind after he ate it and declared it "pretty yummy."  Even Dexter ate about six shrimp.  That's my boy.

And we went out to play in the snow for a while.  It was BRRRRRR.

The boys enjoyed running around in the snow

Snowy cuteness.  Who refused to put on any mittens.

The pumpkins were not impressed

Please to be enjoying a video of cute small child running with funny looking small dog

And another video of John and Dexter making "triangles" in the snow.  It's way easier to do in the snow, as you can SEE your triangle

After playing in the snow, one requires a good dose of hot chocolate.  A little bit even got in his belly.

It was a good afternoon to watch football on TV and listen to music on the CD player.  Dex has been obsessed with music this week.  His little brain can't process two things at once, so we have been spending a lot of time just lying on the couch, listening to music.

It's not a bad gig, really, this lying on the couch thing.

Happy snow day!  And, yes.  It's still snowing.