Our trip to Cleveland

A virtual play date

There's a boy in Dash's grade, Max, who has been his favorite friend since kindergarten. For reasons unknown to me, his parents have rebuffed all my attempts to get the boys together outside of school. They love all the same geeky stuff and have been in soccer, track, chess, and engineering clubs together, but in four years, Dash has been to Max's home once and Max has been to our home once (not for my lack of calling, emailing, etc., believe me). I have been so frustrated on Dash's behalf. 

Tonight, Max called my cell number for the first time ever. The boys had made an appointment to meet each other virtually in the "Wizards 101" game. I put Max on speaker and waited until the boys found each other's avatars in the game, also for the first time ever. I was going to take my phone back at that point, but they were both so exuberant that their plan worked! I left them to play and walked away, listening to the laughter and joy erupting from their voices. 

Dash and Liam

These two cuties have been buddies since they were born. Liam just turned eight this past Monday -- happy birthday,  Liam! Whenever they've been apart more than a few weeks, Dash begs to visit Liam; they get along better than any two kids I know. When we visit with Liam and his family, the two boys disappear to run in the yard, check out new toys, or play non-stop Wii games. I hope they continue to nurture and share each other's interests and wish them a friendship that lasts a lifetime. 

Rainbow loom craze is at my home

Both Rosie and Dash have been making Rainbow Loom bracelets and necklaces on their looms. Even though I'm finding little rubber bands in random places all over my home and am regularly fielding demands for new colors, I'm glad that it's a craft that crosses the gender barrier. 

Rosie and her loom

Loop colors, separated in a compartmentalized bin

Dash's bracelets

A complex bracelet Rosie made for Grandma I

A yellow and green bracelet that Rosie made for Dash (his fave colors)

The kids have a few books that show how to make different designs and sometimes watch YouTube videos to improve their craft. I'm impressed with their dedication!

Dash's 8th Birthday Party

While making plans for Rosie's party, I am reminded that I forgot to post photos from Dash's 8th birthay party (I did this last year, too didn't I?). No matter, it makes for a great additional November post!

Happy 8-year-old Dash

Here's a photo of the birthday boy on the day of his 8th birthday! He's wearing a shirt that he was particularly fond of — one of his birthday gifts. We had about 50 guests this year, equally divided between adults and kids.

Before the hunt, all the guests had plenty to eat, including pizza, ribs, and Monkey's special grilled chicken wings. Many of our usual favorite guests arrived to celebrate!

Pre-scavenger hunt Dash and Carter, eating dinner

Michael and Matthew, eating pizza

Brent and Chris, two of our favorite party guests

The theme for his 8th birthday party was "scavenger hunt." We had a list of items that the kids were to find in the yard, with additional prizes for winners. It was a bit of a blur, but I think brothers Alex and Adam were the winners.

Gina holding Aoife (Brent & Chris's baby girl)

Along with the hunt, there was also a moonbounce; coupled with a warm June day, there were a lot of sweaty boys by the time we offered Dash's special donut tower.

Trevor, eating pizza

Alex, winner of the scavenger hunt (with his brother,
Adam, far right), sporting his medal!

Singing the "Happy Birthday Song"

Blowing out candles over the donut tower
— hope your wish came true, Dash!

 

Nick and his delicious forbidden donut!

Two generations of String/Twines!
Nick, Dom, and Alex are Monk's nephews and Dash's 1st cousins.

Many of our guests asked several times over the course of the party, "Where's Rosie?" She was holed-up in her room with a few of her friends the entire time. Only the rarest glimpse was caught of her, sneaking out to get a drink or use the bathroom. She had a good time, nevertheless!

Veterans Day

We thank all veterans for their bravery and their service to our country. 

Rosie and Dash's school had an outdoor assembly to salute Veterans today and I happened to arrive while all the children were lining up. After a moving speech, all the students staked their little flags into the soil all around the sidewalks. It was very sweet. 

First and Last Days of School, 2011-12

On their last day of school this year, I talked Rosie and Dash into wearing the same outfits that they had worn on their first day so I could take this comparison photo. They didn't protest at all, and amazingly, Rosie still fit in all the clothing, including shoes (although, I noticed afterwards that she had worn holes through the soles).

While they are standing in almost the same spot, I didn't get the exact angle from the original shot. I was pretty careful to scale the after-shot to an accurate relative size, basing the measurement on Dash's shirt from collar to shirt-tails.

They *have* grown quite a bit, haven't they? Cheers to my rising Second and Fourth-graders!

Making the best of a long weekend

We've all been in the house together since Thursday morning, except for kids' playdates on Friday. Rosie had been asking to play with a new friend, Paige, and Finn had been asking about Dash. Dash rarely requests playdates and prefers playing on his own, which is okay by me, generally, but they needed to get out of the house! We were all getting on each other's nerves and were more than a little stir-crazy.

On Friday, Dash went to Finn's and I tried to take the girls to River Farm, but I swear, every time I try to get in there, it's closed for a private event. Same thing yesterday. I ended up taking Rosie and Paige to their elementary school's playground and believe that they enjoyed having it to themselves instead of sharing it with everyone in their grade for a change. We stuck around there until lunch and returned for Nutella sandwiches, fruit, and carrots before I set them up to play Just Dance 2 on the Wii. Two o'clock snuck up on us, and it was time to take Paige home. The girls weren't at all ready to part and were begging for an extension, so I accepted a bargain to drop them at Paige's until I returned from Finn's with Dash.

Dash and Finn had been peacefully playing Legos the entire time. Finn's mom expressed to me that for two boys that are so disruptive while in class, they played like quiet little mice. We exchanged several observations about their first-grade teacher and the negative comments on interim reports before Dash and I were on our way. Back at Paige's, we met her little brother, Chase, who is also six like Dash, but a year behind in school. True to their names, they were running circles around each other in the front yard, fast friends. I couldn't help commenting on it a few times—go, action verbs! We promised to schedule more play time for them all together soon, as it was such a great success.

Saturday morning, I left the house to make the first Jazzercise class since Wednesday afternoon, as they'd cancelled all the in-between ones for the holiday. It was PACKED. I managed to squeeze into a spot in the front corner and had a blast as usual! Harmony (today's instructor) is so easy to follow and doesn't crank her tunes too high. I wear earplugs a lot and wind up missing cues in other classes. Still fun!

When I got back and showered, we had already worked out that we would all take advantage of the lovely weather and walk to the library. Rosie has a biography project due next week and needed to pick up some books for research. To sweeten the deal for the kids, Monkeyrotica had found a walking path on Google Maps that cut through the neighborhoods and made the trip less than a mile one-way (by car, it's 1.5 miles). Rosie found her books and we each picked up another book or two; all the books ended up in my bag to carry home. It was close to lunch, so we walked another half-mile out of our way to get sandwiches at one of the few local delis (read Monkey's Yelp review). I don't think Rosie and Dash even noticed that they walked about 2.5 miles today, with all the exploring, leaf-kicking, and bird/squirrel/deer spotting.

It was such a beautiful, warm day—really a gorgeous weekend! I'm so glad we didn't just stay indoors, which is what might have happened if it had been colder.

Best laid plans...

This weekend was going to be a whirlwind of fun! Or, a whirlwind, anyway. We had plans to go out to a friend's housewarming party Saturday night and I was having a handful of girlfriends over Sunday afternoon for crafting. However, at dinner Friday night, Rosie was having trouble swallowing her food — her throat was hurting badly, and she's not much of a complainer so I told her we'd see a doctor in the morning if it still hurt.

The next day, Monkeyrotica went to visit Grandma I. with Dash, and I got ready for my aerobics class at 8:15 a.m. I had my gear on, Rosie dressed and in the car at 8 on the dot when the phones open at the pediatrician. The receptionist had put me on hold by the time I got to the parking lot outside the Jazzercise studio. At 8:18, the nurse picked up and gave us an appointment of 11:45. I was late for the warm-up, but got my workout in (while Rosie sat alone in a corner with my phone — must sanitize phone...)  and was home and did several chores before the appointment. Just in case the diagnosis was negative, I cleaned up the house as if guests were coming and set up a playdate for Rosie that afternoon. But, nope, she was positive for strep throat. Bummer.

I cancelled the babysitter (turns out the hostess for the housewarming party was sick, too, and cancelled as well) for Saturday, cancelled the playdate, picked up antibiotics at the pharmacy, and then let all the crafting party friends know that Rosie was sick but will have been on antibiotics for 24 hours by the time the crafting would begin. All but one friend backed out. It's the week before Thanksgiving! Nobody was taking chances.

Joan Arkham, a pal I met through DCist.com came with a gift for Dash! She bought herself this Uglydoll hat, not realizing that "one size fits all" meant "all children under 6 years." Check it out, it's barely fitting Dash (who is holding a Willy Wonka's Everlasting Gobstopper in his mouth, therefore the funny expression). We had a lovely time chatting over wine while I knitted another hat for Rosie (the last one was cute but much too large) and she organized negatives from recent vacations, which she is planning to scan over the next week.

I'm still planning to reschedule the larger crafting party, but it won't be this month! Perhaps the first week of December?

Wax on... wax off. Wax on... wax off.

Dash started taking karate lessons in July 2010 (over a year and a half ago) but I only put him in one class a week, was inconsistent about making it to all the classes, and then I took him out for the summer. Not the best way to learn something as complex and skill-building as karate, but necessary. With summer camp eating up most of our discretionary funds, it was a budget thing. When he went back to classes in September—twice a week this time!—most of his buddies from the previous class were already blue belts and he was still a white belt. Not a big deal, except occasionally when he saw that he had better form than the blue belts. Then it rubbed a bit.

HIZA GERI! (knee kick, to you and me)

Fast forward to this past week, when he told me that yes, absolutely beyond a doubt, he did want to take the promotion test for blue belt. I was dubious, because while he does have good form and can punch and kick with the best of the blue and white belt students in class (yellow belts, not even close yet, sorry), he has absolutely no recall for the Japanese terms that Sensei uses or the patterns in the kata. He watches the other students and faithfully does exactly what they are doing. I'm concerned that he won't be able to perform solo or be able to answer questions that are directed at him. He'll be required to announce the kata that he's performing, "tai kyoku sono ichi!" and to perform it solo without error, which he hasn't done yet. I decided that it was a good idea for him to go for the promotion, if for nothing else but to have the experience of taking the test under his belt (a hopefully blue belt, sometime soon enough). Sensei will let him try again and correct mistakes that he makes until he gets it right at a later time.

Dash has got the right feet and hands up, the blue belt doesn't.

He may have had a breakthrough today, though. I've been trying to figure out the best way to activate his memorization skills, and realizing that we are utterly failing with the flash-card method. The blocks, punches, turns, and steps in the kata have been confusing, and I floundered to give him something to visualize: "Imagine the shape you're following is like a capital I!" I told him. But the rest didn't make any sense.

Working on fighting stance (Dash has the right foot forward)

In the car ride on the way home from class today, I'd been really trying to figure out a way to break down the kata in a way that Dash could practice it in his head, anywhere. A pattern came to me and I got him to repeat it with me. There are 20 steps in the tai kyoku sono ichi and three stages with hands and feet working in unison.

The arm movements are:
1. block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch (ki-yai!)
2. block, punch, block, punch, block, punch, punch, punch (ki-yai!)
3. block, punch, block, punch, block (end)

The leg movements are:
1. turn, step, turn, step, turn, step, step, step (ki-yai!)
2. turn, step, turn, step, turn, step, step, step (ki-yai!)
3. turn, step, turn, step (end)

See the pattern? So easy to repeat once you get into the rhythm of it. Dash got so good at the repetition that once we were home, I pretended like I was a puppet and had him call out the moves while I performed them! I'll get him to practice himself a few more times every day before Saturday as well as get one more class in before then, and here's hoping he does well on his test!

Hey do you all remember what else is going on for Saturday? Rosie's bowling party! I've also got a cake to bake, goody bags to pack, and balloons to obtain. Can I have a clone for Saturday? I will definitely need two of me, for sure.

Parent-Teacher conferences were today

Rosie is in third grade and about to turn nine; Dash is in first grade and just six years old. When Rosie was six, she was in kindergarten and was having all sorts of issues adjusting to public school. She wasn't paying attention in class, she was pestering her classmates, she wasn't finishing her in-class work, and overall was having trouble focusing or making bad decisions and was very hard to motivate, so her teacher put her on a behavior contract. So, it's three years later and apparently, she's an ideal student! She's adjusted well, is polite, keeps to herself, works independently, gets her work done, is testing well, and the only complaint that the teacher could manage was that she wasn't keeping her desk tidy. I'm totally okay with that.

The conference with Dash's teacher was another experience altogether. The teacher started out with, "I'm really concerned about our little guy." Never the greatest opening, but I'd prepared myself given all the extra reading stuff he's been coming home with. The reading, or lack of progress in reading skills was really of most concern to her. She expressed that Dash is a very hard worker, super polite, well-liked by all the other kids and plays well with them. He's more of a people-pleaser than Rosie ever was and wants to finish his assignments and get the answers right. He seems to be having a retention problem? Or a recall problem? He has difficulty answering back facts you throw at him, or memorizing lists, data, or naming words. Flash cards are not getting him anywhere.

I was noticing this when I was trying to help him study for his karate test. I'd tell him, "Dash, 'hiza geri' means knee kick and 'mae geri' means front kick, okay? Now, can you tell me what 'hiza geri' means?" And he'd answer, "Side kick?" This would be after practicing these words for half an hour with him, at least once a week for the past four months. I was pulling my hair out. It could be that he's just a young first grader, with a June birthday — some of the kids in his class are as much as nine months older than him and most have surpassed him. Or, it could be an actual learning disability. What's amazing, though, is that if you read him a book or a short story, he'll have perfect recall on all the details in the narrative. He's also incredible with his recall for details —names, vocabulary, colors — in certain TV shows and movies, down to if you hear a random song playing in a grocery store, he can tell you what movie soundtrack that he'd heard it played on.

He's not just having trouble with reading, he's struggling with writing as well. Here's an example of the writing he's been doing in class. I'm sure there's an elaborate story here with incredible amounts of detail, because that's the sort of story he tells, but I can't decipher the strings of letters. After a quick scan, I think he's talking about going shopping with me at Target for all the toys he wants for Christmas, but that's a shot in the dark. Mrs. S told me that her heart went out to him on this one! He was working incredibly hard to express himself.

He's so charming, sweet, and obviously intelligent that the teacher and I are at a loss. We'll just keep doubling up with intensive reading and writing work at home and at school and hope that it sinks in. Maybe he just needs time and attention, like his sister. If he does need some outside help, we'll find it for him. Anyone out there reading this, does what he's experiencing sound normal? common? treatable with therapy?

What I'm actually hoping for is that things work out for Dash they way they did for Rosie. We struggle for a bit, let him know that he needs to work at this(skating along is not okay anymore) and when he's nine, this issue will be long gone. Exciting new issues will arise to replace them, no doubt!

Dash is reading, finally.

Dash, reading on his own, in bed. (Totoro photobomb!)

Dash is in first grade. At the end of Kindergarten, he still wasn't reading many words, despite having an amazing vocabulary, an incredible imagination, lots of work with flash cards, and a very book-friendly home. I tried to engage his imagination by telling him reading was like being a spy and solving secret messages, but he just wasn't interested. He loves to be read to, but reading the words himself just took too long and seemed to consider actually sounding out each word to get to the message in the story to be a chore. His generation wants immediacy! Heck, I can find a particular episode of Voltron (a cartoon series from 1984 that only lasted two seasons) on Netflix streaming within a minute, what's the point of slogging through a book?

Since he started first grade, his teacher told me initially that he would catch right up with the other kids, not a problem. That's what they do in first grade! A few weeks later, a message was sent home that he was being put in an intensive reading group to bring him up to grade-level. I'm not sure what intensive activities they're doing at school, but they've been sending home a pouch with a series of easy-reader books and we sign off every night that he's reading them to us. We are also doing our best to read 2 to 3 books of his choice to him a night. It doesn't seem like much, but since we have to wrestle books away from Rosie and she's been reading since she was four years old, I just figured that Dash would come around and pick up reading at some point. We hadn't been pushing him.

It's been over a month since Dash started coming home with that special book pouch in his backpack, but the extra work has finally paid off. Yesterday, after driving home, rushing to get Dash to karate class, rushing home to take Rosie to art class, I finally got to eat a delicious dinner (prepared with love by Monkeyrotica) around 7:30. While I was eating, I had Dash do his spelling homework next to me (homework just started this week). When he finished, I got out his book pouch and asked him to read me a few of the books. He still wanted to be read a book, but I was busy clearing the dinner dishes and putting away food before I needed to leave and pick up Rosie from art class at 8:30. I paused to put him in his pajamas and got him ready for bed. I handed him one of his favorite new books "Earth to Clunk," and suggested that he read it to himself. I returned to the kitchen and the dishes.

The door to Dash's room is right off the kitchen and his voice carries. I could easily hear him reading aloud. He's had "Earth to Clunk" read to him so many times that he may have some of it memorized, but he slowly (with a few shouted requests for help) read it all the way through! I was so thrilled that I was late picking up Rosie from class because I wanted to get a good photo of him with his book! Cheers, Dash, may you enjoy many more increasingly challenging books in years to come.

Dash Is Six Today!!!

Happy sixth birthday, Dash!!

Things you love right now: robots, Science!, running, mazes, jumping, making up amazing stories, daifuku mochi, sausages, ice cream sandwiches, watching movies, dressing up as a superhero or a ninja, all of your silly-named stuffed animals (especially Flippy, Puffy-shubby, Totoro, Coochie-duck, *Happy-duck, and Squirmy), anything Lego, Wii games, Star Wars, Bakugan, frisbee, books, waking me up first thing in the morning and asking for TV and breakfast, kisses, hugs, and "family love" (group hug with lots of kisses).

*Happy-duck, a 2nd-birthday gift from Kellygo, long-beloved by Dash!

You're the sweetest little guy, happy to spread your affection to everyone while humming a tune (in fact, you're always humming or keeping some kind of dialog going, so it's super easy to find you!). One of your favorite games to play with Rosie is one where you make lots of baby-noises (hoo-hoo, coo-coo, hee-hee) and she plays your mommy—super cute. You still like to root for the evil guy in movies, like the Sith Lords, so we'll be keeping an eye on that.

In this past year, you left pre-K, started and finished Kindergarten, took after-school soccer, Spanish language classes, practiced karate, continued ballet lessons, and participated in the dance studio recital for the second year. You've expressed to us that you like running and jumping the best, so we'll be sure to sign you up for the track club during the next school year.

For now, you've got the entire summer ahead of you! You're looking forward to your summer camp, our family vacation, and many trips to the pool. You'll be starting First Grade before we know it.

I love you, little man!!

Goals for the summer: biking and swimming

School will be out for my kids in just one week and we are putting them in full-time summer day camp. Additionally, we are cancelling all extra activities (with their associated fees) that the kids have been involved in throughout the year, such as soccer, karate, Junior Jazzercise, Spanish language, art studio*, calligraphy, ballet, and tap.

Rosie's new bike, bought via Craigslist. A side note: the seller (picked for proximity only) KNEW me! I had met her and kids at a work party. How random is that?

 

What I would like to do for the kids this summer is two-fold: teach them to swim and ride bikes. I've been so busy shuttling them to activities and focusing on signing them up for stuff that actually getting out there and teaching them these skills has gone by the wayside.

Part of the block, I think, is that each of these skills is not something that they can do on a Tuesday and pick up the next Tuesday (which is typically how I schedule things). They need to practice for a little while every day for a week or two. I just watched a YouTube video that gave some great tips on how to prepare your child for bicycling, and it made so much sense! TAKE THE PEDALS OFF. Get your kid to practice pushing with their feet, balancing, and stopping (the new bike has a hand brake) all before the pedals get in the way. The video wasn't embeddable, but check it out here.

Rosie actually told me that she wanted to learn to ride a bike and to swim this summer, which is great! She really hadn't expressed much interest before. I think I can train them to ride bikes myself, but the swimming? Not so sure. I'll probably need to get private lessons or something, despite my training as a YMCA aquatics instructor 25 years ago. They are stubborn little creatures that refuse to put their heads in the water.

* Rosie told me that she will be very disappointed if she's not in an art class this summer...

Overbooked, Overscheduled, Oh!

Dash's karate kick!

Months ago, back at the beginning of the school year, I made a personal decision. Now that I had two kids in public school, which comes complete with the shorter days that make a working parent's nerves twang, I had to make a concession. Either my kids would come home from school and watch TV until 6:30 when I arrived, then quickly shovel dinner in and finish homework before they dropped; OR, I would shorten my hours so that I could be home when they got home. I shortened my hours.

When I first envisioned the extra two whole hours balancing away in my work-life scenario, they seemed like golden, glittering minutes, full of promise. I could choose after-school activities for the kids. I could go to the gym. I could get all those to-do lists of home-chores done. We could gambol in the yard, go for hikes, schedule playdates! So, you smart people, you already know the reality, don't you?

What really happened at first is that when I got home earlier, the chores started immediately, dinner happened much sooner, and then TV and homework and collapsing. No gamboling, no walks, no hazy crisp fall afterschool playdates. Perhaps what was wrong here was a lack of structure, I thought. I started to schedule activities.

Rosie and Dash were already taking tap and ballet classes on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively. Last summer, we added Saturday karate for Dash, while Rosie did Japanese calligraphy. They were also taking afterschool soccer on half-day Mondays, but that ended at 2pm and Grandma S picked them up (thanks, mom!!). Of course, I have my modern dance class too, on Thursdays. This winter, we added art classes for both Rosie and me on Saturdays and Mondays; soccer had ended, Rosie dropped calligraphy and I took a break from dance just for home-life balance with the art class. For Dash, we added a language class on Wednesdays, Spanish, and for Rosie we added Junior Jazzercise on Thursdays, which just ended. The Winter-term art classes just ended, as well. Have you lost track yet?

Here's how things look at the moment:

• Monday: nothing
• Tuesday: nothing
• Wednesday: Spanish, tap 
• Thursday: modern dance
• Friday: nothing
• Saturday: karate, tap
• Sunday: nothing

Only three days booked? My brain fired: must schedule MORE!!! What did I do? I signed the kids up for Gunston Soccer Club, a local competitive league. I sure had my rose-colored glasses on, because I thought that since some close friends who have kids (the same ages and genders as mine) were also registered, that all I had to do was request that we have the same teams for our kids and it would happen! I imagined carpooling and sideline flask-sipping with adult friends while our kids frolicked happily around the soccer fields.

Reality hit when I got their coach assignments and details about the league.  A gut-punch to the stomach: neither child was on our friends' team rosters. Carpooling? Out the window. I only recognized one parent's email address from either list. But the freak-out really happened when I saw the scheduling... Thursday practices for Rosie starting at 5:30 (with an optional Tuesday clinic), and game day Saturdays; Friday practices for Dash (at a different location) at 5:30, game day Saturdays—each child would have two games back-to-back, with times scheduled by luck of the draw. With two kids, you could potentially be at the soccer field for most of Saturday, worst case scenario.

What was I thinking? Dash already had two Saturday activities! And while Rosie likes soccer well enough, she wanted to continue with art or Jr. Jazzercise, which are scheduled on Saturday and Thursday, overlapping. This is a very popular soccer club! How do all the other parents do it?

In tears, I emailed Dash's coach and told him that I wished to withdraw Dash, sight unseen. He was very nice about it, even trying to offer scenarios for me to keep Dash in the club. I stuck to my message and said no, again and again. He finally got it and took Dash off the roster. Instead, I put Dash back into the Monday afterschool soccer, where there were no conflicts. Rosie will stay with Gunston for now—I'm curious to see how the club works and whether it's manageable for future seasons.


A quick recap of schedule to be (four days scheduled):


Monday: Dash, soccer
Tuesday: nothing
Wednesday: Dash, Spanish; Rosie, tap
Thursday: Rosie, soccer club practice; me, dance
Friday: nothing
Saturday: Rosie, soccer club games (starting 4/9); Dash, karate & ballet
Sunday: nothing

I've still got ideas bouncing around in my head. I want Dash to try the track team and Rosie to get back in art. I'm not sure this soccer thing is going to work, but if she likes it, that's what counts (I know Dash loves it). I'm here to give my kids opportunities to try different things and see what they're good at, learn to use their bodies and minds, practice and develop. I'm helping them become well-rounded little people.

But, y'know, I still need to be able to schedule a haircut for myself now and then. 

My Totoro Plush Is Done!

Almost three months ago, Rosie and Dash enjoyed watching Toy Story 3 on video. The one thing in the movie that stuck with Dash more than all else was that little Bonnie had a Totoro doll in her toy collection. Having never seen Totoro in doll-form before, but immensely adoring him from the fantastic Hayao Miyazaki film, My Neighbor Totoro, Dash wanted one. Badly. He knew I was capable of making dolls, and started asking me to make him a Totoro doll—and continued asking persistently, for weeks. I finally sketched it out, bought fabric and started at the beginning of November. Here's the initial sketch:

I cut out the parts, got a little burnt-out on the hand-sewing/embroidery necessary for the boomerangs on the belly and the smile, and put it aside for a few weeks after getting a little more than this far:

At the beginning of December, I'd sewn on and stuffed the belly circle, stitched the arms up and painted the pupils (with black & white nail polish) onto the buttons. All that was left was making the claws, the ears, stitching it all together and stuffing, so this weekend, I decided to finish it. Here's the final result:

And this is the happiest boy ever.

The importance of being cozy

Dash's favorite word, above all others at the moment, is COZY. He likes to be cozy, wear cozy clothes, and have fluffy, cozy stuffed animals with names like "puffy," "furry," and "fuzzy" around him. When he's "cozy," he becomes an adorable caricature of a happy little boy. He curls up into a ball, a sweet smile shows up on his face (pictured above), he might start bouncing around a bit, and emits giggles or what seems to him to be happy-baby noises, i.e., "hoo-hoo, hee-hee, aaaaah!"

If his big sister Rosie is nearby, this cozy activity will jump-start her maternal and dramatic instincts. She rushes over, announces, "Oh, what a cute little baby!" and gives him hugs or pretends to rock him to sleep; she might stage a baby-feeding session or cover him with more blankets or toys. Clearly, this is the type of attention he's looking for! They both soak it up and symbiotically enjoy the baby-play.

At five years old and a few days scant of eight, this is all pretend play, of course. Rosie has quite the flair for improvisational drama while Dash loves to channel memories of being a baby. Some days, I'll find him in a melancholy, nostalgic mood, pining for his "baby things." When I try to pin him down on what baby thing he misses, he won't really be able to specifically say. He just knows that he had "baby things" and that we gave them away. I'm pretty sure what he's missing is the Nuk. He was awfully attached to it, and while we weaned him off two years ago, he probably has retained faded memories of something he once had that made him feel comforted.

For now, he'll just have to stick with cozy.

I think I'll need a clone come November 13th.

(Stricken text taken from Leonard's tattoos in the 2000 movie Memento.)

Never answer the phone. How will I keep track of all this?

Fact 1. Male. November 13th is Rosie's 8th birthday. She has invited a select group of her friends, mostly from her 2nd-grade classroom, to go ice skating (thankfully, outside the home).

Fact 2. White. The ice skating party falls squarely over the lunch hour, so I'll be catering lunch as well as cake for the party. Solution: Pizza delivery services will help with this one, and I've asked a party guest's parent to make the cake.

Fact 3. First Name: John or James. Dash's karate class and his dance class will both be overlapped by the birthday party. Solution: We will do a make-up class later on for karate and a parent of one of Dash's playmates will deliver him to dance; Monkeyrotica will pick Dash up.

Fact 4. Last Name G___. Monkeyrotica has a dental appointment that overlaps Dash's karate and the beginning of Rosalie's party. Um, yep. And I scheduled it, I sure did.

Fact 5. Drug Dealer. Monkeyrotica's birthday is tomorrow (if you read my blog and you feel like it, wish him a happy day on 11/5!) and we are ALSO having a party for him (with his select guests) later in the afternoon on November 13th (yeah! two parties on the same day!!). Monkey will be prepping barbecue for it starting the night before, before and after the dental appointment, and all the way up till his party. I'll drop Dash off at his playmate's house and head to Rosie's party after he leaves for the dentist and will be back to help two hours before it starts.

Fact 6. Car License Number SG137IU. Um, I think I need to take Friday, Nov. 12th off! I'll be delivering birthday cupcakes to Rosie's classroom that afternoon and will very likely need the whole day to get the house ready and obtain supplies for the weekend.

I'm disciplined and organized. I use habit and routine to make my life possible. Between now and then, I'm planning to unpack the basement, make Rosie and Dash each a Totoro doll (already started), and maintain the entire house in a presentable state for guests. I keep telling myself:

"I can fit it all in! Of course, it'll all work out in the end and everyone will have a great time."

I'll be repeating that mantra in my head all the way until 11/14.

Who's Going to the Inaugural Science & Engineering Expo? Oct 23-24, Nat'l Mall

After talking with Rosie's 2nd grade teacher yesterday about how Rosie is academically soaring right now, absorbing everything, blossoming incredibly, and should be enrolled in extracurricular learning opportunities like foreign languages, music, etc., I was poking around online looking for lesson plans for piano (yes, I'm finally attempting this at home with Rosie, who seems interested and enthusiastic).

Instead, I stumbled on details for the first ever Science & Engineering Festival on the Mall, just two weekends away. I am entranced by the feats of science and engineering and highly encourage my kids to develop wonder and inquisitiveness about how things work in the physical world. Exposure to these exhibits might create some sparks with Rosie and Dash (who will be interested in the weapons and aircraft components)—just the thing!

I pulled these details from the USA Science & Engineering Festival's blog:

Date: Saturday, October 23, 2010 through Sunday, October 24, 2010
Location: National Mall, Tent #102 (in front of the Capitol Reflecting Pool)
Time: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM
Cost: Free and open to all
Age Range: Open to all

Saturday, October 23
10:00 The Mouse that Roared (Roain Egnor)
10:30 Reverse Engineer Your Brain (Louis Scheffner)
11:00 Nobel Purpose: NPR's Joe Palca Interviews John Mather (Nobel Prize Physics)
11:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
12:15 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
1:00 Nobel Purpose: NPR's Joe Palca Interviews John Mather (Nobel Prize Physics)
2:00 The Engineering Behind Disney's Magic (Lanny Smoot)
2:30 Bon Appétit: Better Eating through Chemistry
3:00 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
3:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
4:00 A: It's a Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer. Q: What is IBM's "Watson?"

Sunday, October 24
10:00 Disney's TRON: Legacy Captured Live on Stage
11:00 Nobel Purpose: Joe Palca interviews Vincent Cerf (Draper Prize)
11:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
12:15 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
1:00 Nobel Purpose: Joe Palca interviews Peter Agre (Nobel Prize Chemistry)
2:00 What's the Buzz?: The Status of Pollinators in North America (May Berenbaum)
2:30 A: It's a Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer. Q: What is IBM's "Watson?"
3:00 Be a Bone Detective (Diane France)
3:30 The Scoop on CSI: Separating Fact From Fiction (Marvin Schecter and CSI Miami)
4:00 The Engineering Behind Disney's Magic (Lanny Smoot)

I know Rosie and Dash will love some of this stuff! Anyone planning to go?

School year scheduling

We've made several new scheduling transitions for the 2010 school year thus far, to move toward balancing the rocky mountain/valley that is our work-life, especially now that both kids are in public school. The changes all arose from my need to adjust my work hours, because getting home after 6:30 p.m. every night just was draining me, with only 90 minutes to spend with my family before they were all in bed for the night.

What we had been doing:
When Rosie started Kindergarten two years ago we made some big changes to make the timing work, first with Monkeyrotica changing his work schedule, arriving super-early and leaving super-early (and as a result, exhausted and going to bed the same time as the kids). Grandma S came to our house every morning for the past two school years to help Rosie get ready for school while I took Dash to daycare. The first year and a half, Grandma S also came after school to pick up Rosie from the bus stop, but when we moved Dash to a pre-K closer to home this past January, Monkey was able to make the bus in time.

What's the latest twist? 
Monkey still has his early-early workday, but I'm dropping both kids off at morning-care (a.k.a. school-age child-care or SACC). At work, I've shortened my days slightly to arrive home in time for the bus because I've decided that the after-school time between 4-6 pm are golden hours of family engagement time. Even this early in the school year, the kids are bringing home homework, which is best done while they have enough energy to complete it, not after dinner when they're starting to get bleary and surly. Also, many age-specific after-school activities, like sports clubs, scouts, art classes and the like are scheduled right when school ends, so if I want to get them to an activity, I need to be around. Monkey's already said that due to his complete disdain for all things sport-related, he's not schlepping kids to sports training. And the other activity that the kids were missing out on? Playing with the neighborhood kids. Today, after school, Rosalie will have her 2nd ever playdate with one of the little girls who lives one block over. Why weren't these happening earlier? Let's just say, out of sight, out of mind——by not being home earlier and visibly available, my kids just weren't socializing with the neighborhood kids (even though there are a dozens of them in their age groups). Starting this week, I'll be home every afternoon at 4! Yay!

Results: More family time and kids activities (and homework).
The activities are already racking up. Monday is after-school soccer for both and Wednesday is tap class (just Rosie). I want to get them both into an art class when it comes available, and maybe into track club. Neither of them have shown any interest in scouting, which is fine—that's a major time-suck what with all of the parent-volunteer work. On Saturdays we also have back-to-back Japanese calligraphy (Rosie) and karate (Dash), then Dash takes ballet in the afternoon. For each, that's currently 3 activities. Not totally overscheduled yet, right? There are still four free days in the week for family walks, bike rides, and outdoor fun! And, then just maybe I can fit in some crafting or personal activities, huh?

Back to the homework, however. Dash was out of school with a fever for three days last week, and I was completely blindsided by the nine make-up assignments that were sent home with him on Friday. I didn't even notice they were in his backpack until Sunday night after they were in bed! I'm becoming aware that we haven't really established our home as a place of learning, because the children truly struggle with the assignments. Groaning, flopping, distractions, sidetrips, stalling—Dash has been trying the works. This morning, I realized that I had a trick in my back pocket: their morning care. The kids are supervised by licensed childcare professionals for 1.5 hours before their bus arrives and they have a homework table. SCORE! I had no idea that I'd be calling on them so soon, but we were getting nowhere at home. Out of nine assignments, Dash scribbled out one yesterday, fighting it the whole time. Today, sitting down with the staff at SACC, Dash was working away on his homework even before I'd left the room. Warms my stressed-out, stretched-thin-mom's heart.

I'm feeling really good about all these schedule decisions! Which helps a great deal, because our basement flooded AGAIN last week and we have to replace the flooring, with three to four expensive days of repairs and installation ahead of us.