Let Me 'Splain

As I was deciding -- rather suddenly -- to begin blogging again, I began composing my first post in my head. I kept hearing Inego Montoya from The Princess Bride saying, "Let me 'splain ... no that will take too long ... let me sum up."

Obviously, it would take far too long to catch up on the last year-and-a-half, plus. So, I will sum up:

• Allen is 6 (can you believe it? Neither can I.)
• He goes to Kindergarten at Beaufort Elementary and loves it.
• He's reading -- a lot!
• He's still into Cars and Dragons (we're reading the How to Train Your Dragon series), and he's added  Dinosaurs and Star Wars to the mix (thanks, Uncle Josh!).
• We live with Nana, Papa, and Gigi.
• We still have Mia and Murphy, and have since added to the brood a mutt named Ginger, a Bearded Dragon named Buck, and an assortment of fish. Plus Nana and Papa have three dogs. Yes, we are crazy.
• He takes tennis lessons.

I'm sure there are other things I will realize after I start blogging more frequently, but these are the highlights for now.

Thanks for coming back and reading. I'll get to the good stuff now.

Books and other amusements

I missed my kid a lot today, since after I dropped him off at school, I didn't see him again (really) until after 5:00. Plus the shop was so quiet today! I only had four customers the entire day, and three of them were at the shop between 4:30 and 5:30. So I was very lonely.

Once I did finally get to see Allen and spend some time with him, he climbed into my lap, put his arms around my neck and his head on my shoulder, and said, "I missed you." It was so sweet.

For some reason, Allen is a little obsessed with the wolf in the story of the Three Little Pigs. He likes to say,

I'm gonna puff ... I'm gonna puff ... I'm gonna blow your house away!

And then he gasps twice and blows ("fffffffffffff"), and we "blow" backwards. So we had to do this like a million times tonight before bed. It was a rollicking good time (can you see my sarcasm dripping off the screen?)

In other news, Kristen and I are happy to announce that we are resurrecting the "Book(s) I Read" blog! Click on the link over there to the right to take a look at the newest post. Read it, and then let us know what your favorite children's books are.

In the meantime, have you watched Sing-Off? If so, who do you want to win? If not, you're missing out. It's a really fun show. Plus Ben Folds is adorable.

xoxo,

AHC

First Day of School Celebration

We don't celebrate birthdays ... or any other holidays for that matter. And we don't miss it. But we do tend to make "celebrations" out of what some may consider more mundane things. Like Allen's first day of "school." Kristen flew in from Chicago. She made a cake. We bought presents. Oh, and we watched the alligator in Nana's pond.

Here are some cute shots from the evening.

Allen and Daddy walking back from viewing the gator.

The cakes. It was supposed to be a whole teddy bear (a Build-a-Bear cake pan set from Williams Sonoma). Sadly, the heads fell off, and one body got stuck in the pan. So Kristen did the best she could. And it was pretty beautiful, I think! Allen loved them, and said, "I need to eat the eye."

Here's Allen looking at his book from Mommy and Daddy. It's Choo Choo by Virginia Lee Burton. He loves Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by the same author, and Nana just got him a Thomas the Train wooden train set, so we thought it was appropriate.
Mom and Dad's book was no match for Aunt Kissy's present: Skippyjon Jones and the Bones.
Nana's present was also better than Mom and Dad's: a wooden school bus with wooden children, bus driver, and dog(?) included. Very cool!
Obviously, Allen had a good time opening his gifts. And while he had a great first day (the director said he didn't ask for us at all, and that he kept going up to her and telling her, "I'm having a good time!"), his face lit up when he saw us come to pick him up, and he ran over and gave us huge hugs (and patted my back). So, he still loves us, which is a huge relief.

xoxo,

Owen, More Cuteness

First things first ... the promised cookie photos:


So I thought that Allen couldn't get much cuter than his comment about eating cookies "all all day," but it turns out that he can -- and he did.

This afternoon Allen talked to Nana and Papa for a long time, and cried the first time they tried to get off the phone. So they continued to talk to him about how they were going to take him to the park to swing on the swings and ride the see-saw, and play in the house that's there. Finally, they got off the phone, and he called Mom-mom's house to talk to Owen (more on that shortly). A short while later, Allen just started walking around the house crying. We asked him what was wrong, and he said "Park! Park!" The he said, "Nana and Papa!" I asked him if he wanted to call them, and he shook his head, and said, "No, see Nana and Papa!" I guess he thought they were coming right away to take him to the park, and he was very upset that they had not arrived yet. Poor little guy :(

Back to talking with Owen. Allen gets an absolute kick out of talking to Owen (and if you recall from an earlier post, it is hilarious because he communicates primarily in screams and grunts). So today, I decided to videotape it for your enjoyment. Because there is little that brings more joy than hearing a child laugh.

Allen has been broadening his horizons lately, as far as toys go, so instead of just cars to clean up each night, we have cars, blocks, books, markers, etc. Usually he's pretty good about cleaning up before bed, but last night we had a little issue with it, so he wasn't allowed to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom before bed. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do -- he was so upset, that he almost became inconsolable -- but with the difficulties we've been having lately, we decided to stand our ground.

Well, tonight, I felt so good about our decision. Because when it was time to clean up his toys, he hopped right off my lap and started helping. Not one complaint out of his mouth. Not only that, but he went right up the stairs, and asked to have a bath! Finally, we saw some positive results out of all this disciplining we're doing.

So we read our stories, and were saying our goodnights, when Allen decided he needed to add six more stuffed animals to his brood (they usually sit in a little shelf in his room). So we tossed them into the crib to join the others. We laid him in bed and started to cover him with his blankets, when he decided that each stuffed animal needed a kiss. He had to sit up, grab the animal, lay down, kiss it, and then repeat ... for each of the dozen or so animals in the bed! He even had to kiss "extra blanket" (the extra blanket we put on him when it got really cold here).

We finally got through it all, and turned off the lights. As we closed the door, Brian said, "And you thought you were done blogging today ...." It's true -- the kid gives me so much fodder for this blog that I'm never struck with writer's block.

Goodnight to you all!

xoxo,

Allen's "Book Club"

So, Allen's current favorite book is:

Aunt Kissy got Allen this book when he was about three months old. He didn't appreciate it then, but in the last six months or so, he has become increasingly interested in it. Within the past week, Walter has trumped Seven Little Postmen, a book by my girl Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon).

Strangely, I'm relieved, as we were forced to read Postmen for every nap and bedtime for about three or four weeks straight. It's not that I didn't like the story -- it's very sweet and it rhymes nicely -- it's just that it's not wonderful, and it's difficult to read with enthusiasm night after night.

Alas, I think I may be getting a little tired of Walter as well, but fortunately for me, there are four more books featuring the gaseous dog that I can purchase which will likely appease the kid. Have any of you read these other books? Are they as delightful as the original?

xoxo, kids ... it's past my bedtime (as usual)!