Helicopters, Airplanes, and Rockets

The boys' bath routine has evolved as they've gotten older. They now go into the master bathroom (the only one of six bathrooms in this house that has a bathtub), take off their own diapers, and sit on their potties to attempt to pee. No, I'm not officially potty training them yet. This step of the routine came to fruition when Liam kept peeing on the bathroom floor as soon as I took his diaper off. For quite a while, only Liam would pee in the potty, but now Graeme is also going almost every night. I think we may be getting closer to starting the real deal in a few weeks.

Anyway, then they take their vitamin. They sometimes then get acetaminophen for their molar pain. After that, the teeth brushing commences. They begin by "brushing" their own teeth, and then I brush their teeth to actually get them clean. One at a time, they stand on the stool, rinse with water, and spit. They just started spitting one week ago after their first visit to the dentist (which was hilarious and went much better than I expected). They are able to spit in the sink most of the time. Sometimes they completely miss and spit straight down, hitting their feet and the stool.

Finally the actual bathing starts with both boys in the tub. Even though I don't put much water in the tub, the boys usually manage to splash so much that the floor gets pretty wet. They particularly enjoy filling up their small rubber ducks with water and trying to squirt each other and me with them. Occasionally we get more attempts at Riverdancing. Somehow I'm able to clean them during all of the commotion.

Before Grandma Ar and Aunt Mar's visit, we did a technique called the Airplane when it was time to get the boys out of the tub. Sean and I would each hold a child in one arm and hold up our other arm in front of us as though we were flying. The boys would wear a hooded towel deemed the "cape" (or "cake" in earlier months), and also hold up one flying arm. Then we would all face the mirror and make a flying noise. After that, drying off would begin.

The routine became more complicated when we saw and heard a helicopter flying one day. That night, the boys decided that they wanted to be helicopters too. Holding one of the boys, I held my arm straight out to the side, made a sound that sort of sounded like helicopter blades while spinning around slowly. Then we "flew" like airplanes again, did the Helicopter with the other arm and opposite turn, and did the Airplane again. The boys loved it.

After our recent visit to the Singapore Air Force Museum, we had another addition to the flying simulations. At the museum, the boys enjoyed looking at a missile which Liam called a rocket because it looks like the rocket in his Things That Go book. The kids also have a toy rocket that counts down to blast off. That night, we added the Rocket to the Helicopter and the Airplane. They hold their hands together over their heads while we count down from 5. After one, we say "blast off!" and jump up in the air while holding the kids. They really love this one.

Graeme and Grandma Ar demonstrate the helicopter

Rockets ready to blast off!

After blast off, we finally dry the boys, then wrap their towels around them like togas. Then we support them as they stand on the counter in front of the mirror and yell "Toga, toga...". Finally, we apply lotion to both boys and eczema cream to Liam, comb their hair, and dress them in their pajamas. Most of the time we'll sing softly during the dressing part to help calm them down.

Toga, Toga, Toga, Togaaaaaaa!

Tonight I did bath time alone since Sean is in Hong Kong, so I have to do the parts separately for each child. I started to forget the Toga and was quickly corrected by Liam. While combing Liam's hair, I said that his hair was getting long, and Liam surprised me by saying, "need a haircut" without me mentioning haircuts. He then said, "spray with water, use scissors". I thought it was pretty smart of him to make the leap from my comment about his long hair to a description of what happens during a haircut.

Up soon - the Many Nicknames of Graeme, the Many Walks of Liam, and more.

Round and Round

Yesterday the boys played a new game after snack time. They had a messy snack of yogurt and watermelon, so they were only wearing diapers. Standing next to the dining room table, Liam began counting, "1, 2, 4, 5!" and then he took off running around the table. Graeme followed with "1, 2, 3, 5!", and he followed Liam (the counting still needs a little work sometimes). After a couple of laps around the table, Graeme yelled "Stop!", and they froze.

Then they counted again, and ran around again a few times. This time Liam stopped and said, "Take a rest", and he laid down on the floor. Graeme followed with his hands flat on the floor, and he rested his forehand on his hands and said, "I sleeping". A few seconds later, they popped up and started running again, giggling the whole time. The entire routine was repeated several times before they were finally tired. During the craziness, I ran and got the camera, so here are a few action pics:

Liam runs around the table

Graeme runs too

Resting

The boys were still in a good mood after running around, so I took some more pictures of them together (which is always a challenge). One of my favorites is now on the blog home page in the right upper corner - check out those huge smiles! Here's another favorite, the Glamour Shot:

Doing the sulky model thing

And finally a "normal" smiling shot:

We're good, we swear!

Today the boys had a rough day. They are clearly missing Grandma and Aunt Mar, and are very whiny. Liam poured out his milk all over the floor at all three meals (oh, the challenges of teaching toddlers to drink politely from regular cups!), and Graeme followed suit tonight at dinner after watching Liam dump his. I was very frustrated with them, but one cute incident occurred which reminded me how sweet they are, even though they misbehave. They were sitting on the bottom "time out" step watching me wipe up the milk when Graeme turned to Liam and said, "Need a hug", and hugged Liam. Then Graeme said, "Thank you". I smiled, and took them upstairs for bath time.

More cuteness: At nap time, Liam pretended to tickle himself while laying in bed and repeated, "Tickle bug" over and over, a phrase he learned during Ar and Mar's visit. In bed tonight, he mentioned Elmo, and I told him that Elmo was tired and wanted to sleep, hoping that Liam would go to sleep too. Liam said, "Elmo sleeps on the fire truck", which I thought was clever since the boys watched "Elmo Visits the Firehouse" today.

I'll do that review of the bath routine in the next entry.

And We're Back

It's me again, after a long, long time. Sean's mom Arlene and her twin sister Marlene are back home after a three week visit with us. We had a great time with "Grandma Ar" and "Aunt Mar". Graeme did indeed go looking for them Sunday morning when it was time to go downstairs for breakfast. Arlene correctly predicted this in her last blog entry.

During their visit, we took a short trip to Phi Phi Island, Thailand. We stayed at a great resort, had fun at the beach and pool, and we were lucky enough to see an example of Earth's astonishing beauty. We rode through a small cove of Phi Phi Lae on a long tail boat, and the limestone cliffs were breathtaking. This picture doesn't begin to do this location justice:




So what else has been happening? After a spring full of plagues (dual mycoplasma infections, HMFD, and a couple of ear infections), June was much better. In July, the boys began cutting their final baby molars, so we've had some sleep disturbances and more whining and crabbiness than usual. They are also currently acting out(aka "showing their rear ends" as I say) since our beloved visitors have left. That said, we've had lots of fun and the boys continue to be hilarious at times. A few highlights from the past few months:

Choo-choo - Since learning to use scarves or hula-hoops to form choo-choo trains in Kindermusik, the boys will use anything of similar length to do the same. Each holds an end of the object and they walk around saying "choo-choo (name of object)". Favorites include Daddy's ties, a flexible tape measure, the hair dryer with its cord, and an extension cord.

Flashing - Liam became known as "The Flash" for a few days because he would wrap his towel around himself after his bath, then quickly whip it open and giggle. I'm going to see if I can find a Flash costume in his size for the American Club's Superhero Party for little boys this fall.

Counting - The boys can now count to ten, though sometimes they drop three and insert a number from the 'teens, like fourteen. Bizarre but funny, because they sound so sure of themselves when they do it.

Singing - Graeme especially likes to sing his ABCs, since we often sing this along with "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep" during bathtime to calm down. He is able to do a few letters in a row by himself, then I help him with a few, then he can continue. Two days ago he sang the opening of the Elmo's World theme song before his nap. Parents of preschoolers, you know what I'm talking about. I'll spare everyone else by not including a link.

Fun with play food - The boys continue to enjoy cooking with their kitchen and pretending to eat the play food. Play food is now much more multicultural than in the 70s, when I had plastic bananas, carrots and similar basic items. Now the sets include sushi and soy sauce, different types of pasta and sauces, more varieties of vegetables, plus Mexican food like burritos, tacos, and tostadas. The boys recently started playing a game during which they push a tiny purple plastic eggplant through the umbrella hole of their toddler-sized picnic table. One child lays underneath the table, and the other sits on the bench and pushes the eggplant to the first child. For some reason, they think this activity is hilarious, and therefore, it is.

Eggplant shenanigans

Fun with real food - The boys can put away a lot of food for tiny people. Grandma Ar and Aunt Mar couldn't believe how much food the little ones can eat. They each ate two adult-sized pieces of pizza recently, and Liam wanted more. They're still eating a good variety of foods, including chinese chicken and spinach noodles, broccoli wagon wheel pasta, and teriyaki chicken and rice. They love yogurt, fruit, cheese, and pretzels for snacks. Junk food has so far been limited to those important fatty foods, ice cream and french fries. They did have their first half-of-a-donut after we stumbled upon a Dunkin Donuts in the Phuket, Thailand airport of all places. Graeme didn't care for his other than licking some icing off the top, but Liam ate his and wanted more, of course. As Sean has said many times in the past, all food belongs to Liam. It must go to his cheeks, because the rest of him is skinny.

Talking - The boys have been talking a lot in the past few months. They just spent three weeks with three great talkers (Ar, Mar, and Sean, I love you guys!), and now the boys talk all day long, Graeme especially. Liam is slightly quieter in general, but when he talks, he tends to tell a long story about the topic. They enjoy describing what they or someone else is doing. This sometimes leads to them issuing commands, like Graeme's "Go that way!" when we're in the car. Their vocabulary is huge and even includes several "big" words like caterpillar, butterfly, oscillate, and parliamentary procedure. I'm only kidding a little about the last one. When they first said butterfly in front of Sean a few weeks ago, he asked them to say parliamentary procedure. They didn't do too well then, but yesterday they both said procedure with no problem. Parliamentary came across as something like "paritorry", but close enough. The most recent new word that mommy and daddy don't care for: Mine! Unfortunately it's used quite often when fighting over a toy.

Enough for now. I have a lot of catching up to do, so next I'll do a review of our new bathtime routine, complete with pictures. It's good to be back!

A Little Distracted - Okay a Lot Distracted

Hey, it can't be all Arlo Guthrie references...

Needless to say, we've been blogless for almost two weeks now and I'm sure our readers (both of you) are wonder where we've wandered off to this time. In a word, Thailand.

In several words, the usual. Work picked up, the kids activities are keeping us busy and my mom and her twin sister came to visit. Today is their 59th birthday (first time) and we're all going to Thailand for five days tomorrow morning to celebrate. More to follow on that.

In any case, the good news is that my mother is blogging her trip here:

http://worldtraveler-grandma.blogspot.com/

So if you want to keep up with us vicariously, here's your ticket.

Tiffany’s Restaurant Massacre

The seeds we plant in our children are sometimes twisted ones, ones that take time to germinate, root, grow and burst from their tiny minds in a tangle of shock and confusion. I know. I stumbled across cultural landmines from my childhood repeatedly in college. Things that my family (my father in particular) had said or done that I thought were just our family weirdness but in fact were a Dennis Miller-esque cultural sub reference. Yes, of course I have an example…

I was a Junior in college minding my own business sitting in my room in the frat house I lived in when my roommate/little brother comes in with our resident hippie brother (every house had one – the pot has to be grown somewhere – I never inhaled). They proceed to the stereo and put on the “song”. I use the quotes because there was a lot more talking than singing and it was a smidge longer that the 3:05 that Billy Joel’s hits are cut down to.

This was not shocking or intimidating to me. My roommate was the same guy who made party tapes with fraternity songs on them at twenty minute intervals to clear the room and bring in a fresh crowd when the “good” music started. His musical eclecticism was well known. I grew up exposed to the singer/songwriter set and my father’s penchant for Harry Chapin meant that I could stomach a seven or eight minute song without too much trouble.

All that said, the song starts up and it’s this guy talking about the song, or the name of the song or the restaurant it’s named after. It was amusing but nothing to really get my attention. When the chorus starts up, I realize this is Alice’s Restaurant. Like the Rocky Horror Picture Show or Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell, there are some things everyone encounters in college or did back then. I checked the box on my mental list of things to do before graduation and tuned back out.

About twelve minutes later, I heard something that yanked my attention back to the song. "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says Group W .... NOW kid!!" I stopped the tape (yes, this was that long ago) and rewound it. My roommate was confused and asked what the big deal was. I explained that when I was a kid and my brothers and/or I misbehaved that there was a bench in my father’s room that we would have to go sit on. Sometimes he’d even make us hold hands; that was the worst. He called it the “Group W” bench. Here is the original bench as it has been preserved for posterity. It’s far more uncomfortable than it looks. I know. Trust me.

Here’s a list of who sits on the Group W bench according to Arlo Guthrie: “there was all kinds of mean nasty ugly looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-type guys sitting on the bench next to me.”

Here’s a picture of posterity sitting on the original bench in December 2007. When my father sent this to me he noted that, “the occupants are miniature-sized reproductions.” You will note Liam has his hands up as though he’s been caught in the act, complete with a sheepish look. Graeme, on the other hand, is planning his escape or next shenanigan.

So, it’s time to plant some seeds of our own and see how old our children are before they encounter Arlo Guthrie. Behold the second generation Group W bench in all its teak glory. It’s backless for increased discomfort.


As you can see below, they seem to have forgotten already that sitting on the Group W bench is a punishment.

There Is No Joy in Muddville

It's a little scary the photos that parents can dig out of their archives if you provoke them. This picture came from my father with the quote, "The year you didn't strike out." Mighty Casey I am not...

From left to right, me in all my scrawny glory, my best friend down the street David Bowman, and my brother Matt.

Dance Fever

There's a war being fought in my sons' genetic code. It's not a battle for survival or against some malignant disease, unless you count social leprosy. It's a struggle between their mother's natural gift of rhythm and their father's fundamental whiteness. It's one that I hope her genes win. As Dan Quayle said, "What a terrible thing to have lost one's hipness. Or not to have hipness at all. How true that is." At least I'm sure that's what he meant.

What does it look like when white boys under three feet tall try to lay down the boogie and play that funky music ? No, that's something else. Anyway, here's baby dancing, oh and whining, and a penguin being bashed with a hammer. They're not really related, but they are funny, painful and funny as hell, respectively.