Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Monday, April 09, 2007
John Hancock
We can see the John Hancock tower from our bus stop, and Felix was becoming very curious about it. A month ago he would say, at least once a day, "It would be really, really fun to go all the way to the top of the John Hancock!"and "You can't believe the John Hancock is really, really tall!"
Imagine the excitement when we told him that we would take him to the observatory. "We are going all the way to the 94th floor!" When we got off the elevator and went to the south windows Felix saw the Sears Tower and said, "Look! There's another John Hancock!" We'll take him to Sears some day but for now J.H. is still his favorite skyscraper. I took him back last Friday when he had the day off school. We were the last to get on an full elevator of tourists who apparently thought the elevator would automatically go to the observatory. Luckily Felix knew better and reached up high to select the button which read "94th floor observatory".
Imagine the excitement when we told him that we would take him to the observatory. "We are going all the way to the 94th floor!" When we got off the elevator and went to the south windows Felix saw the Sears Tower and said, "Look! There's another John Hancock!" We'll take him to Sears some day but for now J.H. is still his favorite skyscraper. I took him back last Friday when he had the day off school. We were the last to get on an full elevator of tourists who apparently thought the elevator would automatically go to the observatory. Luckily Felix knew better and reached up high to select the button which read "94th floor observatory".
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Various Animals
Some photos from Mom and Wolf's recent visit--and beyond!
Cosmo eats tiny Fisher-Price people for Grandma Nancy's entertainment; Cooper stands poised to leap clear.
Watching the seals and the otters at the zoo.
Two young rams head-butting.
Finally freed from the stroller, walkin' Cosmo can't contain his happiness.
More wildlife: ants.
Camel and bedouin rider.
Felix, nearly out of patience for photos...
...all done.
Felix likes getting cozy. ("You want to get all cozy.") Note Cosmo in lower left frame.
Cosmo likes climbing on Felix's bed. They both like wrestling.
A random picture of Marya, because she's always behind the camera lately.
Cosmo eats tiny Fisher-Price people for Grandma Nancy's entertainment; Cooper stands poised to leap clear.
Watching the seals and the otters at the zoo.
Two young rams head-butting.
Finally freed from the stroller, walkin' Cosmo can't contain his happiness.
More wildlife: ants.
Camel and bedouin rider.
Felix, nearly out of patience for photos...
...all done.
Felix likes getting cozy. ("You want to get all cozy.") Note Cosmo in lower left frame.
Cosmo likes climbing on Felix's bed. They both like wrestling.
A random picture of Marya, because she's always behind the camera lately.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Even More Random Observations
Some more random observations:
Felix has a calendar, and every morning he enjoys putting a star on the new day. This has led to some productive discussions about dates and so forth. The other day, as we were leaving school....
F: Good night, Miss Alex. Good night, Paula. Good night, Ford. Good night, Ian. See you tomorrow. Tomorrow will be Wednesday, February 28. Wednesday, February 28 is the last day of the month.
Miss Alex's jaw just about hit the floor.
* * *
At night, Felix is developing some amazing stalling techniques. Usually this consists of an urgent summons and then the whispered conveyance of some arcane fact. His memory is astonishing, though: often he'll discuss things that happened six weeks or even six months ago....
F: Daddy! Daddy!
K: What, Felix?
F: (whispering) You went to the mall and you rode a 136 bus [ed's note: actually a 36 bus] away from Ainslie. There were elevators there. There were alligators [escalators] and there were elevators.
* * *
We also talk a lot about manners. The other morning as we were leaving the building, a bus pulled into the stop. I really didn't want to miss it....
K: (shouting, running with Felix tucked under his arm like a football) Stop the bus! Stop it!
Someone at the stop told the driver we were coming and we made it on board. After we took our seats....
F: I said, "Stop the bus!" That wasn't very nice. [We've talked about how saying "stop" and "no" to your family is bad manners.]
K: Do you think I was rude because I didn't say "please"?
F: Yes.
K: You're right, I should have said, "Stop the bus, please!"
When we got to our stop, the driver opened the front door and let someone on, then started to pull out. We were at the back door of a double-length bus.
K: (shouting) Open the back door, please! Back door!
The driver stopped, opened the door, and we walked to the curb.
F: I said, "Open the back door!"
K: Was I polite that time?
F: No.
K: I said, "please." But I had to shout because otherwise the bus driver wouldn't hear me.
F: That wasn't polite.
* * *
The Designated Drinker, Jr.
Last Thanksgiving, we gave Felix his own tiny cocktail glass and some sparkling cider. He loved making toasts so much that, to this day, he will make a toast at the drop of a hat -- and it doesn't have to be with drinks, either. He'll toast you with a piece of toast. Anyway, the other day, he remarked....
F: You like to drink out of a cocktail glass.
And the other morning, he told Marya....
F: You want to make daddy a cocktail.
M: It's a little bit early. But maybe we can make him a cocktail later in the day.
* * *
Today, March 4, Felix strummed first a ukulele, then a guitar, while singing a few lines from "Never Did No Wandering" (from the "Mighty Wind" soundtrack). He doesn't know any chords, but just the act of singing and strumming together seemed significant. He even drew out the last line, "Never did no wanderin' after...allllllllll....."
* * *
From time to time, both kids surprise us by doing things we didn't know they could do. Yesterday, I was playing with Cosmo and he just casually started stacking blocks. They were cardboard blocks, too, the kind that are open on one end so they can nest -- and he even turned them so the opening faced down. And today, Felix put on his own jacket. Another, "Hey, I didn't know you could do that!"
* * *
Felix is turning into quite the jokester. Frequently, he'll simply invert something....
K: It's time to go potty.
F: It's NOT time to go potty!
...which, frankly, isn't all that funny. But tonight, he looked at his fruit salad and said....
F: This is a honey-DON'T melon.
* * *
Felix got into a star-sticker frenzy tonight. First, he put a sticker on my forehead, then Marya's, then Cosmo's. Then his plastic aardvark. Then each of our chairs. Then the couch.
F: I never seen a blue star on a couch before -- it must be wacky around here!
Then he came back to my chair, a little sticker-drunk.
F: You want to put a sticker on daddy's -- you already put a sticker on daddy's chair.
Then....
F: This aardvark must want a star. [another of his aardvark family]
* * *
Poor Cosmo gets short schrift here because it's easier and more entertaining to report Felix's blossoming conversational skills. But Cosmo is chugging right along. He's taking several steps at a time, once in a while a half dozen. He can climb like a monkey -- he almost got up on the window sill the other day. And he's hilariously headstrong. If Felix tackles someone, Cosmo takes a few steps and launches himself right after. He takes a beating pretty regularly -- Felix will sit on him on purpose and by accident -- but dusts himself off pretty well. In a couple of years I think he'll be holding his own. And we can't wait. Keeping the two separated -- Felix doesn't want Cosmo to play with his toys just as badly as Cosmo wants to play with his toys -- takes a lot out of us.
I think Marya's going to post some pictures now.
Felix has a calendar, and every morning he enjoys putting a star on the new day. This has led to some productive discussions about dates and so forth. The other day, as we were leaving school....
F: Good night, Miss Alex. Good night, Paula. Good night, Ford. Good night, Ian. See you tomorrow. Tomorrow will be Wednesday, February 28. Wednesday, February 28 is the last day of the month.
Miss Alex's jaw just about hit the floor.
* * *
At night, Felix is developing some amazing stalling techniques. Usually this consists of an urgent summons and then the whispered conveyance of some arcane fact. His memory is astonishing, though: often he'll discuss things that happened six weeks or even six months ago....
F: Daddy! Daddy!
K: What, Felix?
F: (whispering) You went to the mall and you rode a 136 bus [ed's note: actually a 36 bus] away from Ainslie. There were elevators there. There were alligators [escalators] and there were elevators.
* * *
We also talk a lot about manners. The other morning as we were leaving the building, a bus pulled into the stop. I really didn't want to miss it....
K: (shouting, running with Felix tucked under his arm like a football) Stop the bus! Stop it!
Someone at the stop told the driver we were coming and we made it on board. After we took our seats....
F: I said, "Stop the bus!" That wasn't very nice. [We've talked about how saying "stop" and "no" to your family is bad manners.]
K: Do you think I was rude because I didn't say "please"?
F: Yes.
K: You're right, I should have said, "Stop the bus, please!"
When we got to our stop, the driver opened the front door and let someone on, then started to pull out. We were at the back door of a double-length bus.
K: (shouting) Open the back door, please! Back door!
The driver stopped, opened the door, and we walked to the curb.
F: I said, "Open the back door!"
K: Was I polite that time?
F: No.
K: I said, "please." But I had to shout because otherwise the bus driver wouldn't hear me.
F: That wasn't polite.
* * *
The Designated Drinker, Jr.
Last Thanksgiving, we gave Felix his own tiny cocktail glass and some sparkling cider. He loved making toasts so much that, to this day, he will make a toast at the drop of a hat -- and it doesn't have to be with drinks, either. He'll toast you with a piece of toast. Anyway, the other day, he remarked....
F: You like to drink out of a cocktail glass.
And the other morning, he told Marya....
F: You want to make daddy a cocktail.
M: It's a little bit early. But maybe we can make him a cocktail later in the day.
* * *
Today, March 4, Felix strummed first a ukulele, then a guitar, while singing a few lines from "Never Did No Wandering" (from the "Mighty Wind" soundtrack). He doesn't know any chords, but just the act of singing and strumming together seemed significant. He even drew out the last line, "Never did no wanderin' after...allllllllll....."
* * *
From time to time, both kids surprise us by doing things we didn't know they could do. Yesterday, I was playing with Cosmo and he just casually started stacking blocks. They were cardboard blocks, too, the kind that are open on one end so they can nest -- and he even turned them so the opening faced down. And today, Felix put on his own jacket. Another, "Hey, I didn't know you could do that!"
* * *
Felix is turning into quite the jokester. Frequently, he'll simply invert something....
K: It's time to go potty.
F: It's NOT time to go potty!
...which, frankly, isn't all that funny. But tonight, he looked at his fruit salad and said....
F: This is a honey-DON'T melon.
* * *
Felix got into a star-sticker frenzy tonight. First, he put a sticker on my forehead, then Marya's, then Cosmo's. Then his plastic aardvark. Then each of our chairs. Then the couch.
F: I never seen a blue star on a couch before -- it must be wacky around here!
Then he came back to my chair, a little sticker-drunk.
F: You want to put a sticker on daddy's -- you already put a sticker on daddy's chair.
Then....
F: This aardvark must want a star. [another of his aardvark family]
* * *
Poor Cosmo gets short schrift here because it's easier and more entertaining to report Felix's blossoming conversational skills. But Cosmo is chugging right along. He's taking several steps at a time, once in a while a half dozen. He can climb like a monkey -- he almost got up on the window sill the other day. And he's hilariously headstrong. If Felix tackles someone, Cosmo takes a few steps and launches himself right after. He takes a beating pretty regularly -- Felix will sit on him on purpose and by accident -- but dusts himself off pretty well. In a couple of years I think he'll be holding his own. And we can't wait. Keeping the two separated -- Felix doesn't want Cosmo to play with his toys just as badly as Cosmo wants to play with his toys -- takes a lot out of us.
I think Marya's going to post some pictures now.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Grandpa Tom's Visit
At the Chinese New Year parade on Argyle. A bit wintry.
Moments after this photo was taken, the firecrackers started -- signaling the end of Felix's involvement with the parade. Maybe next year.
Poor Marya, now that we got our new camera -- she loves it -- she's not in any of the pictures. She didn't like the old camera, so I wasn't in many of those....
Friday, February 09, 2007
Random Anecdotes
Okay, I've done a terrible job of compiling stories and anecdotes lately -- but, salvaged from scraps of paper and my memory, here's a selection of exchanges with Felix over the last six weeks....
Ggetting bossy about the music on the stereo:
Felix: You want to listen to the other song that you just listened to after the other one.
Talking to Cooper:
Felix: You want me to pet me?
Felix: (Speaking for Cooper) Yes.
Felix: Okay. (Commences petting.)
Getting tucked in:
Keir: Let me tuck you in and make you all nice and cozy.
Felix: You don't want me to tuck you in. You want to sleep on the floor.
Keir: I'm sure you don't want to sleep on the floor. If you sleep on the floor you will be cold and uncomfortable.
Felix: You want to sleep on the floor and be cold.
The morning after a bad, weird dream:
Felix: (Sitting on the bed, sleepily introspective) You said you wanted to wear your yellow socks. You had an accident and you peed in your yellow socks.
Keir: Was this in your dream?
Felix: You had a bad dream. There was something in your bed and it was playing with you.
Keir: What was playing with you?
Felix: Your aardvark was playing with you.
Demonstrating how you can correct someone and still be polite:
Keir: Felix, do you want another cookie?
Felix: Excuse me! That is a cracker!
One morning on the bus, as we passed the playing fields at Montrose and Marine Drive:
Felix: Daddy! It would be really, really, really fun to play at the playground on Montrose Street.
Keir: You're right, that would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we have to go to school today. But tomorrow, if it's warm enough, you can wear your snowpants and run around in the snow and make snow angels.
Felix: Daddy, daddy!
Keir: What, Felix?
Felix: When the bus stops you want to go out the front door and get off the bus.
Felix already shows a real love of playing with words and language. He enjoys using nicknames, and creating them, too. He uses the first or last half of random words just for fun. The book Funny Little Woman becomes "The Funny Little Wom," for example. Cooper is "Coop"; Cosmo is "Cos" or "Mo."
An earlier version of the bad dream:
Felix: You were scared in your bed last night and something was playing with you.
Keir: What was playing with you, Felix?
Felix: You were scared in your bed last night and aardvark was hopping on your tummy.
After more discussion, Felix revealed that:
Felix: You heard the lamp make a bad noise.
(We're checking the wiring. )
Like many opinion-makers in the public sphere, Felix also enjoys making his own verbs. These often have to do with wrestling, nuzzling, or cuddling. "You're dadding me"; "you're armpitting me"; "you're duzzling me"; etc.
Cosmo is talking a lot, too, these days, though it's a lot harder to quote -- mainly consontant sounds, but more and more insistent, and sometimes sounding an awful lot like "mama" and "dada"....
All for now!
Ggetting bossy about the music on the stereo:
Felix: You want to listen to the other song that you just listened to after the other one.
Talking to Cooper:
Felix: You want me to pet me?
Felix: (Speaking for Cooper) Yes.
Felix: Okay. (Commences petting.)
Getting tucked in:
Keir: Let me tuck you in and make you all nice and cozy.
Felix: You don't want me to tuck you in. You want to sleep on the floor.
Keir: I'm sure you don't want to sleep on the floor. If you sleep on the floor you will be cold and uncomfortable.
Felix: You want to sleep on the floor and be cold.
The morning after a bad, weird dream:
Felix: (Sitting on the bed, sleepily introspective) You said you wanted to wear your yellow socks. You had an accident and you peed in your yellow socks.
Keir: Was this in your dream?
Felix: You had a bad dream. There was something in your bed and it was playing with you.
Keir: What was playing with you?
Felix: Your aardvark was playing with you.
Demonstrating how you can correct someone and still be polite:
Keir: Felix, do you want another cookie?
Felix: Excuse me! That is a cracker!
One morning on the bus, as we passed the playing fields at Montrose and Marine Drive:
Felix: Daddy! It would be really, really, really fun to play at the playground on Montrose Street.
Keir: You're right, that would be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we have to go to school today. But tomorrow, if it's warm enough, you can wear your snowpants and run around in the snow and make snow angels.
Felix: Daddy, daddy!
Keir: What, Felix?
Felix: When the bus stops you want to go out the front door and get off the bus.
Felix already shows a real love of playing with words and language. He enjoys using nicknames, and creating them, too. He uses the first or last half of random words just for fun. The book Funny Little Woman becomes "The Funny Little Wom," for example. Cooper is "Coop"; Cosmo is "Cos" or "Mo."
An earlier version of the bad dream:
Felix: You were scared in your bed last night and something was playing with you.
Keir: What was playing with you, Felix?
Felix: You were scared in your bed last night and aardvark was hopping on your tummy.
After more discussion, Felix revealed that:
Felix: You heard the lamp make a bad noise.
(We're checking the wiring. )
Like many opinion-makers in the public sphere, Felix also enjoys making his own verbs. These often have to do with wrestling, nuzzling, or cuddling. "You're dadding me"; "you're armpitting me"; "you're duzzling me"; etc.
Cosmo is talking a lot, too, these days, though it's a lot harder to quote -- mainly consontant sounds, but more and more insistent, and sometimes sounding an awful lot like "mama" and "dada"....
All for now!
Monday, February 05, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Christmas in Salt Lake City, Part Two
Of course, Christmas wasn't ALL cold baths and trips to the emergency room....
Oscar and Felix mixed things up in the kitchen.
Wilhelmina and Marya did, too.
All three boys played a rousing game of skee-ball--well, Cosmo enjoyed watching, anyway.
A swollen lip didn't stop Felix from enjoying a good squishing.
And Oscar contemplated the miracle of birth and other chicken-and-the-egg questions.
Oscar and Felix mixed things up in the kitchen.
Wilhelmina and Marya did, too.
All three boys played a rousing game of skee-ball--well, Cosmo enjoyed watching, anyway.
A swollen lip didn't stop Felix from enjoying a good squishing.
And Oscar contemplated the miracle of birth and other chicken-and-the-egg questions.
Christmas in Salt Lake City, Part One
This story is old news to everyone by now, but not everyone has seen pictures. For Christmas, we went to Salt Lake City to visit Uncle Sean, Auntie Kirstin, Cousin Wilhelmina, and Cousin Oscar. Felix, as was documented earlier, couldn't wait. The visit, however, was more eventful than even he expected.
On Christmas Eve, we were getting everyone bundled up to go sledding--Felix's first ever sledding experience. It's hard to time these things exactly right with four adults and four kids, and Felix ended up being the first to be suited up. He was waiting patiently by the back door in his snowpants, parka, and snow boots when I looked at him and thought, "He must be burning up."
I was hurrying into my own boots so I could take him out into the yard when he cried out. Marya was first on the scene, and as I looked over her shoulder I saw that he had fallen backward down to the first turn in the basement stairs. Blood was coming out of his mouth. We could tell by his crying and the bleeding that it was pretty bad, so we rushed him into the car--Cosmo stayed with Auntie Kirstin and his cousins--and headed off to a clinic, Felix crying the whole way.
At the clinic they said the wound went through enough layers of tissue that it should be sutured by the trauma docs at the hospital, so we got back in the car and went to the hospital. I've already made this telling far too long, but perhaps the most memorable moment was when one of the doctors passed a thin plastic probe all the way through Felix's lip and said, "Yep, it's through-and-through." He'd bitten right through it.
They put two stitches inside his lip, in the muscle, I think, and three on the front, and left the inside open to drain. The staff were incredibly nice, and gave Felix first a tiny stuffed Chihuahua, whom he dubbed "John Henry the Little Dog" for his bravery (Felix was pretty brave, too), then a large stuffed moose, a fleece blanket with monkeys on it, a stuffed squirrel, and a stocking full of candy. With reinforcement like that, I'm guessing that, next Christmas Eve, Felix will suddenly find himself feeling a little bit clumsy....
Getting the stitches in was pretty rough, but, thanks to Versed, he doesn't seem to remember the bad parts. He enjoyed a nice popsicle before we went home, and then he slept for 4 or 5 hours straight.
Anyway, the photos:
Home from the hospital and feeling relieved.
A day or two later.
The swelling went down pretty quickly, although he still has a small scar and a bump on his lip.
And then, the day after Christmas, both Felix and Cosmo came down with 104-degree fevers. Fortunately, there was a nurse-in-training in the house. Sean and Kirstin were incredibly helpful and energetic, and Wilhelmina and Oscar were remarkably patient given the number of times they were told to take it easy on their ailing cousins. Obviously we would have had more fun without the accident and sickness, but I can't think of a better home-away-from-home to have been in when it happened.
Even stitches and fever couldn't keep Felix from playing chase with his cousins--but I don't have a picture of that.
On Christmas Eve, we were getting everyone bundled up to go sledding--Felix's first ever sledding experience. It's hard to time these things exactly right with four adults and four kids, and Felix ended up being the first to be suited up. He was waiting patiently by the back door in his snowpants, parka, and snow boots when I looked at him and thought, "He must be burning up."
I was hurrying into my own boots so I could take him out into the yard when he cried out. Marya was first on the scene, and as I looked over her shoulder I saw that he had fallen backward down to the first turn in the basement stairs. Blood was coming out of his mouth. We could tell by his crying and the bleeding that it was pretty bad, so we rushed him into the car--Cosmo stayed with Auntie Kirstin and his cousins--and headed off to a clinic, Felix crying the whole way.
At the clinic they said the wound went through enough layers of tissue that it should be sutured by the trauma docs at the hospital, so we got back in the car and went to the hospital. I've already made this telling far too long, but perhaps the most memorable moment was when one of the doctors passed a thin plastic probe all the way through Felix's lip and said, "Yep, it's through-and-through." He'd bitten right through it.
They put two stitches inside his lip, in the muscle, I think, and three on the front, and left the inside open to drain. The staff were incredibly nice, and gave Felix first a tiny stuffed Chihuahua, whom he dubbed "John Henry the Little Dog" for his bravery (Felix was pretty brave, too), then a large stuffed moose, a fleece blanket with monkeys on it, a stuffed squirrel, and a stocking full of candy. With reinforcement like that, I'm guessing that, next Christmas Eve, Felix will suddenly find himself feeling a little bit clumsy....
Getting the stitches in was pretty rough, but, thanks to Versed, he doesn't seem to remember the bad parts. He enjoyed a nice popsicle before we went home, and then he slept for 4 or 5 hours straight.
Anyway, the photos:
Home from the hospital and feeling relieved.
A day or two later.
The swelling went down pretty quickly, although he still has a small scar and a bump on his lip.
And then, the day after Christmas, both Felix and Cosmo came down with 104-degree fevers. Fortunately, there was a nurse-in-training in the house. Sean and Kirstin were incredibly helpful and energetic, and Wilhelmina and Oscar were remarkably patient given the number of times they were told to take it easy on their ailing cousins. Obviously we would have had more fun without the accident and sickness, but I can't think of a better home-away-from-home to have been in when it happened.
Even stitches and fever couldn't keep Felix from playing chase with his cousins--but I don't have a picture of that.
Photos from December
All right, it's been a ridiculously long time since we've updated the blog. Way back before Christmas, I tried to post these photos five times in a row and Blogger kept crashing. But I really like 'em, so here they are:
Cosmo's angelic halo of hair. It's finally starting to lie down now -- a little.
Felix, also angelic.
There's something about laundry baskets that makes kids really happy. Cats, too. My associations with laundry baskets are somewhat less smile-inducing.
Felix is getting ready to audition for a spot on Project Runway. This is my favorite ensemble.
Cosmo's angelic halo of hair. It's finally starting to lie down now -- a little.
Felix, also angelic.
There's something about laundry baskets that makes kids really happy. Cats, too. My associations with laundry baskets are somewhat less smile-inducing.
Felix is getting ready to audition for a spot on Project Runway. This is my favorite ensemble.
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