Monday, August 24, 2009
Bunk Beds
They have been ordered and should be here within a week. Now, painting and crib storage need to be done. Fun time.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Tae Kwon Do
We signed Jack up for Tae Kwon Do. The instructor says kids his age usually only last 20 minutes. Jack has stayed for 2 full lessons. He runs around and acts silly, which is pretty much all it is at this point. But, he did sit and meditate and has been listening fairly well.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Precious Gape...
Our boys LOVE grapes - in particular, green grapes. Jack calls them 'aw, gapes!'
Ben eats them by the gross; Jack likes to test the volume capacity of his cheeks & shovels in one grape after another.
Yesterday he was enjoying quite the handful of grapes. As he was down to his last grape and plodding along towards the couch, he jammed his toes very awkwardly against/into/on one of his toy cars left haphazardly on the floor (by him no less a few minutes before consuming said grapes). He let out a high, angry shrill.
I knew right away the kind of pain he was in. It was the equivalent to banging your toes against the foot of the bed, or against a door jam, or against the foot of the couch, the kitchen table, the bookcase...you get the painful picture.
Alex went to pick him up right away and set him on his lap to console our little guy. Jack was hysterical in pain and tears. His entire body turned red in pain and anger at the toy car that had injured his toe. Tears streamed down his face, his mouth open to the fullest extent...and to add insult to injury, the last grape he had just managed to smuggle into his mouth fell out onto the couch.
What made Alex and I explode into the 'silent' parent cackle was the fact that Jack, in the midst of all that pain and suffering and hysteria, quickly ascertained the grape situation, and shoveled it right back into his mouth - still in 'hysterics' over his stubbed toes.
The Jack-O-Meter. If he's still eating through mad, mad tears, that's just how much he loves that food.
Ben eats them by the gross; Jack likes to test the volume capacity of his cheeks & shovels in one grape after another.
Yesterday he was enjoying quite the handful of grapes. As he was down to his last grape and plodding along towards the couch, he jammed his toes very awkwardly against/into/on one of his toy cars left haphazardly on the floor (by him no less a few minutes before consuming said grapes). He let out a high, angry shrill.
I knew right away the kind of pain he was in. It was the equivalent to banging your toes against the foot of the bed, or against a door jam, or against the foot of the couch, the kitchen table, the bookcase...you get the painful picture.
Alex went to pick him up right away and set him on his lap to console our little guy. Jack was hysterical in pain and tears. His entire body turned red in pain and anger at the toy car that had injured his toe. Tears streamed down his face, his mouth open to the fullest extent...and to add insult to injury, the last grape he had just managed to smuggle into his mouth fell out onto the couch.
What made Alex and I explode into the 'silent' parent cackle was the fact that Jack, in the midst of all that pain and suffering and hysteria, quickly ascertained the grape situation, and shoveled it right back into his mouth - still in 'hysterics' over his stubbed toes.
The Jack-O-Meter. If he's still eating through mad, mad tears, that's just how much he loves that food.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Bunkie Bull
On a whim, Alex and I discussed possibly getting a bunk bed for the boys. Now before you gasp and/or scratch your head and go, "Aren't the boys a little too young for a bunk bed?" I'd like to share the following:
1)Their room could use space saving arrangement/tactic. Bunk beds are a perfect way to save space!
2)What kid doesn't want a bunk bed? It can be so much more than a bed! All you have to do is put a sheet over from the top bunk to the lower bunk and you've got a tent!
3)For those safety concerned parents wagging a finger and going, "tsk, tsk, tsk", I've got 2 words - toddler bed rails! Oh wait, that's 3 words. Shoot.
The bunk beds come apart so one day, when they are old enough to realize they'd rather not share a room with their stinky, annoying, meddling older/little brother, each will already have his own twin bed.
Also, if Jack decided he was too scared to sleep in the top bunk, there is also the trundle bed option. It's a large/deep dresser drawer type of module that sits below the lower bed & pulls out as a space for a 3rd mattress/bed - Jack/Ben could certainly use the lower level beds till one of them decides he is ready to sleep in the top bunk. I love the idea of a trundle all around. It's good for sleep overs, or when/if I need to sleep in there with a sick kid, or for my mom to sleep in after a long babysitting night instead of having to drive home late...etc.
We made a quick visit to a kids furniture store this afternoon and Jack was all over the bunk bed idea. There was one that had stairs leading to the top bunk instead of a ladder. The stairs also doubled as storage drawers (this MUST have been made for someone with ME in mind).
The only thing I could not get over when asking for information about the bunk beds was how much the trundle accessory costs! $198! And the sales guy was insisting this was a steal. Stealing infers someone is practically getting something for nothing. In this case, it would be the sales guy getting a whole lot of something for what probably cost him nothing and me getting ripped off!
I cannot see spending what is essentially $200 for one large/deep dresser drawer. I thought about Kramer's large dresser drawer and having the boys claim a drawer for themselves like those Japanese businessmen from that episode of Seinfeld instead.
I really liked that bunk set though. Sigh.
1)Their room could use space saving arrangement/tactic. Bunk beds are a perfect way to save space!
2)What kid doesn't want a bunk bed? It can be so much more than a bed! All you have to do is put a sheet over from the top bunk to the lower bunk and you've got a tent!
3)For those safety concerned parents wagging a finger and going, "tsk, tsk, tsk", I've got 2 words - toddler bed rails! Oh wait, that's 3 words. Shoot.
The bunk beds come apart so one day, when they are old enough to realize they'd rather not share a room with their stinky, annoying, meddling older/little brother, each will already have his own twin bed.
Also, if Jack decided he was too scared to sleep in the top bunk, there is also the trundle bed option. It's a large/deep dresser drawer type of module that sits below the lower bed & pulls out as a space for a 3rd mattress/bed - Jack/Ben could certainly use the lower level beds till one of them decides he is ready to sleep in the top bunk. I love the idea of a trundle all around. It's good for sleep overs, or when/if I need to sleep in there with a sick kid, or for my mom to sleep in after a long babysitting night instead of having to drive home late...etc.
We made a quick visit to a kids furniture store this afternoon and Jack was all over the bunk bed idea. There was one that had stairs leading to the top bunk instead of a ladder. The stairs also doubled as storage drawers (this MUST have been made for someone with ME in mind).
The only thing I could not get over when asking for information about the bunk beds was how much the trundle accessory costs! $198! And the sales guy was insisting this was a steal. Stealing infers someone is practically getting something for nothing. In this case, it would be the sales guy getting a whole lot of something for what probably cost him nothing and me getting ripped off!
I cannot see spending what is essentially $200 for one large/deep dresser drawer. I thought about Kramer's large dresser drawer and having the boys claim a drawer for themselves like those Japanese businessmen from that episode of Seinfeld instead.
I really liked that bunk set though. Sigh.
Florida Imports
Last year the Chicago Maidy's obtained a 'gently' used, but albeit fully functioning 1989 model Gomoh XLS from Florida. Though a certain amount of 'breaking in' or 'getting used to' was required (mostly on my part b/c I am lame do not adjust well or quickly to change), at present day, am more than happy with the results. Also, Gomoh seems to prefer the Chicago seasonal weather as well as enjoy the smaller fellow occupants of the Chicago Maidy residence despite it's 'cozy' habitat.
The Chicago Maidy's, have on occasion, "rented" other models from South Florida such as Grannie, Pop-pop, and Mom-Mom with much satisfaction and was always sad to return these models after the determined rental time.
The other week, I was rattling off a list of places and things we'd like to do before the end of Summer - specifically, things we wanted to do for/with the little Maidys. One of these such items on the list was a trip to the zoo. To this, the older little Maidy chimed in quickly with a "no, Mommy, I go to zoo with Pop-pop."
Jack has a very specific memory tied to his grandfather and a trip to the zoo we took almost 3 months ago while visiting in Florida.
I'm not sure if this was strategic on his part, but we called Pop-pop that very instant to:
a)relay how much Jack would like another trip to the zoo with his grandfather b)display his ability to recall a specific memory from what equates in child years as a life time ago
c)to tug at the heart strings of the Florida Maidys to make the move back to Chicago so that these trips could be made possible any old time instead of a couple of times a year (as from the Three Stooges - nyack, nyack, nyack, nyack)!
On a more sober note, the whole event prompted a bit of melancholy in me.
The whole experience made me wish my dad was around to enjoy the boys too - made me wish my dad were around to join the trips to the zoo, or the casual walks around the block or breaks to the playground. I miss him.
The Chicago Maidy's, have on occasion, "rented" other models from South Florida such as Grannie, Pop-pop, and Mom-Mom with much satisfaction and was always sad to return these models after the determined rental time.
The other week, I was rattling off a list of places and things we'd like to do before the end of Summer - specifically, things we wanted to do for/with the little Maidys. One of these such items on the list was a trip to the zoo. To this, the older little Maidy chimed in quickly with a "no, Mommy, I go to zoo with Pop-pop."
Jack has a very specific memory tied to his grandfather and a trip to the zoo we took almost 3 months ago while visiting in Florida.
I'm not sure if this was strategic on his part, but we called Pop-pop that very instant to:
a)relay how much Jack would like another trip to the zoo with his grandfather b)display his ability to recall a specific memory from what equates in child years as a life time ago
c)to tug at the heart strings of the Florida Maidys to make the move back to Chicago so that these trips could be made possible any old time instead of a couple of times a year (as from the Three Stooges - nyack, nyack, nyack, nyack)!
On a more sober note, the whole event prompted a bit of melancholy in me.
The whole experience made me wish my dad was around to enjoy the boys too - made me wish my dad were around to join the trips to the zoo, or the casual walks around the block or breaks to the playground. I miss him.
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