Thanksgiving Cousins

11.27.09 at Mike + Melissa's.

Thanksgiving Craft

Last Wednesday Buby had three hours of school and took My Sweets with him. He made the fantastico beaded necklace you see there around his neck, a hat {which he's gluing}, a dream catcher for his bedroom, and a drum out of a coffee can. He is extremely proud of his creations. So are we.

Thanksgiving Potluck

For the first time since Buby was born we travelled for the Thanksgiving holiday. Typically we host one or two full Thanksgiving dinners at our house. This year we switched things up since my mom had to work the day of and my little brother the day after. Plus, Mike + Melissa invited us to their home sweet home for a ginormous potluck. How could we pass up the chance to get silly with Sid, Lily and baby Mason? We've missed them since August -- and it felt like forever.


First of all, I want to thank my sister-in-law Melissa for hosting us all and including my parents and Billy. We had a fabulous time. At the end of the night I climbed into the car with two jammied-up, tooth-brushed kids all ready to go sleepy at Grandma DJ's house. Buby's initial commentary on the evening: "That was so much fun. I wanted to stay there forever." Haha. So dramatic that one.


The menu was quite appetizing, starting with a slew of appetizers courtesy of Grandpa J. Mike + Melissa made good turkey, gravy and Granny Smith apple stuffing. My Sweets contributed his green bean casserole {with bacon, shallots, garlic and parm}, butternut squash {served inside a pumpkin}, and amazing garlic mashed potatoes. I made homemade cranberry sauce and chocolate cream pie. Grandma DJ brought avocado-stuffed grape tomatoes {an appetizer}, fresh pineapple with blackberry preserves and coconut shavings {another appetizer}, apple-mango sauce, rolls, and cranberry-orange jello with walnuts. My mom served up homemade desserts, including her famous pumpkin cheesecake, my fave cherry crumb pie, and a strawberry-cream jello recipe borrowed from Aunt Pat. Yum!


This afternoon we visited with more family, including Buby + Bleu's GREAT Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill, GREAT Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim {in from VA}, Godmother Debbie {in from MD}, cousin Kelly, and of course the 3 lil' locals again. Tonight I twirled around to Taylor Swift with Sidney on my left hip and Bleu on my right. I bounced big boy Mas on my knee and saw Lily and Bleu starting to bond on their own. I said "Slow down, please" 5xs as ecstatic kiddies raced and giggled and chased each other in circles through three rooms and a hallway. Sid laughed at every one of Buby's jokes. Bless her. She totally gets him. Family is good. I couldn't help but think all day about Spencer, Parker and Grace {our other niece and nephews}, who we did not get to play with this Thanksgiving. We miss them terribly and can't wait for Christmas week. Can't wait!


Tomorrow we'll head over to a u-cut farm with Grandma + Grandpa "Kean" to officially kick-start the holiday season. It's tradition for them to help cut down our tree. This year we'll help them cut down theirs before heading back to the house for my mom's hot turkey a la king. YUM! And maybe some Christmas carols. 'Tis the season. Have a great weekend, everyone. Safe travels.




image from Martha.

Sweet Slumber

This is Buby the day before we left for Thanksgiving in Family Land. He read the books on his bedside table, slipped on his cozy "sleepy cap" from Uncle Billy, and drifted off into sweet slumber.



He likes to fall asleep with his reading light on. This is a new ~ and hopefully short-lived ~ phase. My Sweets and I flick the switch off on our way up to bed.

Thankful...

Buby working on his pincher grip last week.




Buby's nightly thankful prayer:



"I'm thankful for my health + happiness. My mommy + daddy. My baby sister Nola. My grandmas and grandpas. My aunties and uncles. My cousins and all my friends. I'm thankful for a house to live in, a bed to sleep in, food to eat, and clothes to wear. I'm also thankful for my books and toys and classes, which help me to learn and grow. Tonight I want to say an extra prayer for ____, ____, and ____. {Lately he mentions Uncle Pete, Aunt Yaya, Tom G., and Liam ~ who have been sick this year ~ and all of the babies in their mommy's bellies.} Amen."



Happy Thanksgiving.

Photo Gallery: Bleu's Gym

11.23.09

A Peek

My Sweets spent part of Sunday stringing lights on the house. He usually tackles this the weekend after Thanksgiving, but the weather was as good as it's going to get for roof acrobats. Plus, we're travelling this year instead of hosting, and our street likes to light up on December 1. There's even a competition with judges.


Of course I'll still hang pretty window wreaths, candles, and velvet bows upon our return, but most of the work is done thanks to my Macgyver. He simplified big-time this year, and the result is every bit as lovely. It's our tradition that I run across the street carrying two jammy-clad tots wanting a quick peek at Daddy's handiwork before bed. I shout the 'okay' for My Sweets to flick the switch, and he darts up the side stairs to catch our reaction. The preview lasts about 2 minutes, and it takes our breath away every year.

Per His Request

11.22.09

Tight Squeeze

Photo from today.

Turkey Tree

Our turkeys may not have legs, but they do have the most fabulous rainbow feathers.

Sunday After Church

We followed friends to a Thanksgiving farmer's market and came home with a big bunch of fresh arugula, onions, garlic, mushrooms, baby potatoes, peanuts, and a pizza.

Bleu's Cross

Buby has an artist's cross from New Orleans hanging on the outside of his bedroom door. Now Bleu has one, too. Thanks, Grandma.

Three Wishes

• "I wish that we could stay together always." {to Grandma}

• "I wish with all my heart for my very own horse. My own horse that I could ride whenever I wanted."
  
  
  
• "I wish for a hot dog stand. A make-believe one."

Granny Nanny

Grandma DJ left this morning after breakfast. She spent three full days catching up with Buby + Bleu. Meanwhile, My Sweets + I attended a parent-teacher conference, grabbed wings + rings at an Irish pub we love, hit the next town over for some early-bird holiday prep, and dined at our favorite village steakhouse.


The kids were pretty much on Cloud 9. It's nice to see Bleu finally get clingy on someone other than me. Don't get me wrong... clingy is embraced here. But there's plenty to go around. I left the house twice without a single protest from Bleu, and twice she let Grandma put her to bed. That's groundbreaking.


When we pulled up to places in the car, Buby would shout, "Get me out first, Grandma!" Bleu responded, "No, MEEEEE!" They... are... so... competitive. Buby spent a lot of time keeping track of how much time he had left. For instance, every few hours he'd ask, "So you're here for one more day, right Grandma? And then you're leaving the day after that day? And then three days after that day I'm coming to your house? ALLLLright." Occasionally he'd turn to her and profess, "I love you Grandma. I'm happy you're here."


The only part of these visits I'd like to change is that Buby has a tendency to get a lil' fresh with me when Grandma is around. I can't figure out why he's so easily frustrated {just with me} from the moment she arrives until the minute she leaves. Perhaps because I abandon our regular routine {of playing, dancing, reading} so that the two of them can have their own. Not sure. Buby and Grandma do have a lovely visit ~ every time ~ and not even 30 minutes after she leaves he's right back to being my Mr. Sweet Pie hugs + kisses. Preschoolers!





Photos taken 11.19.09.

Thinking Inside the Box

11.19.09

Wake Up, Sleepyhead

I love how she wakes from a long nap all refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day. Buby used to wake up consistently cranky. It would take up to 30 minutes sometimes to gently ease him back into the day after a deep snooze. Bleu wakes up happy. She calmly calls out for me and then waits.

Bunny Circle

"Hi Bunny. My name is Jenny. And my favorite part of today is... when Buby asked me to do Bunny Circle with him."


You're looking at Buby's friend "Bunny." Honestly, I can't remember if he was a gift for Buby or for Bleu, but boy does our little man love this mini stuffed rabbit. "Bunny" splits his time between Buby's bedroom and the playroom, where he is included in all sorts of creative endeavors.


In Buby's classroom at school there is a large wicker basket full of cuddly bunnies, not unlike this one. When I first noticed it about a month ago I said something like, "Cute... do you guys play with the bunnies?" Buby sort of politely brushed me off, as if those bunnies were none of my business. Like they were a Need To Know preschooler thing, and I did not Need To Know. It was so unlike him. I figured maybe something happened in class, or maybe I just wasn't the right amount of cool that day. Either way, I let it be.


Out of the blue a few days later he volunteered that the "cute bunnies" are part of his closing circle ritual. Basically, one student gets up and chooses a bunny from the basket and then rejoins his friends on the rug. The children sit quietly {with legs folded pretzel style} and listen to their friends recount their favorite part of the day. Apparently, they can choose just ONE thing to talk about. ONE best part of the day, and then they pass the bunny onto the next child.


Last week before shutting down the playroom for the night, Buby asked me if I wanted to do Bunny Circle with him. YES! YES! YES! Bleu and I plopped down, eagerly crossed our legs, and listened as Buby went over the rules. "Now repeat after me, Mama.... " He went on to describe his lunch in great detail and passed the bunny to me. We all had a giggle, and then Buby bowed his head all bummed. I said, "What's wrong, Bub?" He said, "I always have more than one favorite part of the day, and I want to say more things. But... I can't." To which I replied, "Yes you can! Say everything you want to say." He said, "No, I can't. Adrienne {the teacher} said just ONE thing per kid." He's wonderfully sensitive like that. And like me, it appears he has trouble narrowing down his favorites.


So I offered, "Okay, at school you say just one thing. Here at home, you can say as many things as you want." He seemed perplexed by the lack of boundaries. "Or... at school you say just one thing. Here at home, you say THREE things. How about that?" "Yippeee! I like that idea, Mama. Thank you." And just like that, bunny crisis averted.



P.S. Parent-teacher conferences are Thursday. How fun!

Tuesday

Tuesday is my mom's regular day off from work, and it also happens to be our free day here. Buby + Bleu have come to expect a bit of Mom/Grandma phone tag on Tuesday. In fact, they start fighting over my cell as soon as it rings.

If my mom didn't live so far I'd invite her for a breakfast smoothie. Or a picnic lunch in the park. If she didn't live so far I'd invite her for a mid-day dance-a-thon, an ooey gooey afternoon snack, a quick trot to the library. If she didn't live so far I'd invite her for a fancy dinner party {grilled cheese + soup} and our rambunctious bedtime routine. Because, well, it's Tuesday and it'd be nice to have her here. In the flesh. Love you, Mom.






All photos taken 11.17.09.

Note to Self

Remember how Bleu danced around the playroom every afternoon to "Love Story." Free as a bird. On top of her world. Never letting go of this yellow craft-store rose.

Potty Talk

• She's been potty training herself for many months now.
• I refuse to officially get on board until after our big holiday road trips.
• After all, she's only 18 months. And I love diapers.
• Once we move to undies, I predict she'll potty train in less than a week.
• Not to jinx myself. It took a while with Buby.
• I'm still deciding what we'll use as rewards.
• She gave up the Baby Bjorn potty in favor of the padded seat cushion.
• She tells me if she has to pee or poo, usually before she goes.
• If she feels the slightest leak, she immediately strips down to nakie.
• She does not like to be wet or dirty, ever.
• She wipes, flushes, washes and dries with my help.
  

i heart

Organic cookie dough from Immaculate Baking Company. Because I can't always do from scratch, and I won't let the kids eat store-bought. I was introduced to the company on a Jet Blue flight, of all places.


Each pack of dough {found in the fridge aisle} makes 24 tiny cookies. My favorite is Chocolate Chunk~ all warm and gooey. Tom's is Oatmeal Raisin. Buby's is Vanilla Sugar. There are many more we have yet to try. I cannot wait to get my hands on the Fudge Brownie and Gingerbread Spice this holiday season. Mmm.

Old Photo Friday

10 thoughts on this rad shot from 1985:

• We're somewhere Northeast. Either Boston, Connecticut or New Hampshire. My dad worked for Amtrak, and we road the rails. Mom?

• I look like the middle child of three boys in my hip Dorothy Hamill do. I can thank The Sound of Music, a velvet water pillow, and Big League Chew for that one. Immediately after "the chop" I started growing my hair to Crystal Gayle length.

• My mom had pin-straight locks like me, but she was swept up in permatopia with the rest of the world. I loved this look on her, but it would be her first and last perm. The chemicals caused her hair to fall out. A little bit.

• My brother Mark is wearing a v-neck sweater with an alligator logo. He would never, ever wear one of those today. Though I think he'd look really cute.

• Yes, that's chocolate ice cream around my mouth. Some things never change.

• I recognize the lens cap on the table. It's from my dad's vintage Minolta, the really cool one he let me borrow for photography class freshman year.

• Artificial flowers on restaurant tables always annoyed me, even as a kid.

• The photo reminds me of the word "slacks." When we went anywhere as a family, my dad either wore "slacks" or jeans with an ironed crease.

• There's an uneaten plate of food in front of my little brother Billy. What it was and why he wasn't eating it... now that's one of the great mysteries of our time.

• People smoked in restaurants in the '80s. Crazy to think.

Book Week: Parenting

As long as it's Book Week and I'm documenting our favorite children's books, I might as well share my #1 parenting title. Now, let me just say I'm not one to read childcare how-tos in my spare time {meaning after midnight}, let alone recommend them to others. It's just not me. Or Tom. I think I've only cracked open our What to Expect series once since Bleu was born... for an emergency reference on tick removal.


But a year and a half ago Barnes + Noble asked me to write a Toddler 101 guide, and of course the first step in book writing is always research. I needed to know what every "expert" on the spectrum was saying {that day anyway} about discipline, potty training, sleep habits, nutrition, safety, etc. before I ever picked up the phone or turned on my computer. I was weeks away from delivering Bleu, and it was exhausting... and a tad disturbing... to delve into all the opposing philosophies, conflicting advice, misinformation.


Out of many the books I had sent to me, one stood out as a breath of fresh air. It was the only one I couldn't wait to pick up each night. Of course Tom and I were already 2 1/2 years into raising Buby {AP style} and already instinctively doing much of what Dr. William Sears and Martha Sears discuss in The Successful Child: What Parents Can Do to Help Kids Turn Out Well. Still, I found all 16 chapters of his book captivating. Fascinating. Smart. I had to stop myself from highlighting the whole thing {an old habit}.


Sears defines a successful child as an attached child--connected not just to family but to the world beyond. He told his boys that their success in life will not be measured by the money they make or the degrees they earn, but rather by the number of persons whose lives are better because of what they did.


Every child is different. Every parent is different. Every child and parent finds a different way that works for them. Obviously. But for what it's worth... I like this book. I'm not sure why so many people in our parents' generation roll their eyes when we say we happened to like something we read in a parenting book. That's silly. If I'm having an exceptionally trying day {of whining, crying and rivalry} I can flip it open to any random page and read a paragraph and feel centered again. And more patient and understanding. Everyone wins.


When that Toddler 101 assignment was complete, I kept just three other reference books for my personal library, including Elizabeth Pantley's No-Cry Discipline Solution, No-Cry Sleep Solution, and No-Cry Potty Training Solution. She and the Sears' have a similar style.

Book Week: Art

I've had technicolor dreams of this book ever since a particular cocktail party last November, during which I had an intensely gratifying conversation about children's lit with a pair Brooklynites who know all about Buby's Pollack-y painting tendencies.


Both suggested we immediately snag a copy of Patrick McDonnell's Art for Buby. It sounded perfect. I've thought about it ever since, but just never got around to completing an order online.


Here's a review from Publishers Weekly.


_______


Art serves as a boy's name and favorite pastime in this cheerful sequence, which echoes Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon. McDonnell (The Gift of Nothing) lures readers along with antic visuals and a catchy rhyming text about "Art and his art/ Can you tell them apart?" The boy stands about an inch-and-a-half tall in the squarish pages, and in one Jackson Pollock-esque spread, he is indeed covered in his medium.


Wearing his blue baseball hat backward and attired in Dennis the Menace fashion, he reaches with a brush to fill the vast white space all around him with red, yellow and blue daubs and spatters, zigzags and spirals, drips and dots. Then he grabs a thick black pencil and doodles a flat house, a basic tree and a cartoon dog. All this activity wears him out, and when he wakes from a nap, he sees his creations tacked to the fridge: "Held there by magnets/ (stars and a heart)/ Put there by mother/ 'Cause mother loves Art."


The hero, drawn neatly in a clean black line, with his compact body, shock of hair and giant smile, recalls everybody from Richard Outcault's Yellow Kid to Bill Watterson's Calvin. McDonnell takes a familiar topic-an imaginative boy who loves to draw-and injects this volume with an exuberant comic-strip sensibility. Ages 3-6. (Apr.)

Book Week: 7 Sentimental Faves

01. Little Boy by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds.

I stop to read this children's book every time I'm in a bookstore. Or Target. No kidding... I flip through it all the time and even gifted a copy to our nephew Mason last June. Yet we don't have one of our own. Which is a shame, because it reminds me of Buby and all of the little dude moments we've created together over the past four years. The intended audience is infants to preschoolers, but something tells me Buby would love this one always. And we should just get it.

02. Someday by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds.



We've had this treasure a while, but I just started reading it to Bleu. Simply, it's a mom's vision of her baby growing up. Someday. The years zoom by fast when you're raising little ones. This I know. So I like books that remind us to pay attention while we still can.





03. I Love You This Much by Lynn Hodges and Sue Buchanan.



This may very well be the book that started it all. And by "all" I mean Buby's love of bears. I've read the oversize board book to Buby since he was a newby. Now he has a stuffed Mama Bear and Baby Bear who oddly resemble the illustrations in this book, and he tends to them every night. In our house, I Love You This Much is a classic. Ours came with a music CD.




04. I Promise I'll Find You by Heather Patricia Ward.



I plucked this title from a 50-cent yardsale bin last year. It's dedicated to all the missing children of the world and in memory of one child in particular. Right now you're thinking... too sad. But it's not at all. The book is incredibly touching, and it rhymes ~ always a plus in our house. The pages are colorful and alive. God forbid any of our children ever go missing for 3 scary minutes in the grocery store or at a concert, somehow I feel better knowing they've read it. And that we will go to the ends of the earth to find them.

A sampling:

• "If I had a little rowboat, I'd row across the sea. I'd row, row, row and bring you back to me."
• "If I had a little choo-choo train, I'd chug on down the track. I'd chug until I found you, and then I'd bring you back."
• "If I had a little rocket ship, I'd shoot up to the moon. Oh, that would be the fastest way, I'd have you really soon."
• "If I had a little motorbike, I'd ride across the land. I'd find you and I'd reach you, and you would take my hand."
• "And if I had no other way, I'd walk or crawl or run. I'd search to the very ends of the earth, for you my precious one."
• "So remember this my darling, for it is very true. If ever you're apart from me, I'll search till I find you."

05. I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak.

This puffy board book and I joined forces before Buby could even sit upright. It's short and sweet and always seemed to elicit a good laugh from our guy. It could cheer him up nomatter what and is still relevant today.



06. How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Bauer.

Turns out I'm a fan of illustrator Caroline Jayne Church. This is another lovely board book that My Sweets and I bought for Bleu girl on her first Valentine's Day. It counts all the ways a parent loves their child using basic nature comparisons to which our little ones can relate.

07. I Hope You Dance by Mark O. Sanders and Tia Sillers.



The song by Lee Ann Womack made me cry long before I became a mom. Then I had a baby, a son, and the words took on new meaning. Then I had another baby, a daughter, and the words hit me like a ton of bricks. It's timeless and a must-have for a mom of girls.