Banana Head
Hava had a banana for breakfast this morning.
Adventures of a spectacularly active, incredibly clever, and insanely adorable little boy.
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May 31, 2007
May 29, 2007
The Camera Died
It's a good thing Matthew has a 2 Megapixel Moto KRZR phone, no?
A replacement camera has been ordered. We're SO into spending money right now!
May 28, 2007
Simon the Big Kid
Simon remains an interesting case study in the behavior differences between two and (almost) three year olds. He ate steamed broccoli last night, chicken breast the night before, and has been snacking on *raw* carrots since the day before that (he has always enjoyed well cooked carrots). He no longer wants to sleep in the fort bed on his crib mattress but instead now sleeps on the twin loft bed (hooray! now we have a storage place for toys). He sat still and listened to music for nearly two hours on our way to Sacramento yesterday without complaint (he started to complain at that point but, still, it was remarkable).
He gets our jokes and returns them with enthusiasm. A game of "I've got your nose!" the other day turned into “I’m going to eat your nose! Ew! Bleh!" and is now played on us over and over. We took him out for sushi last week which he thought was just about the best thing EVER. After he had consumed all his vegetable and shrimp tempura, a good quantity of his miso soup, and three of Hava's avocado sushi he and Matthew had only avocados sitting on their plates. Simon told Matthew "Eat your avocado!" Matthew replied, "No! YOU eat your avocado..." And so began the I've-spent-too-much-time-in-Illinois-to-appreciate-the-avocado challenge (competition named, of course, by Hava who appreciates the avocado).
May 26, 2007
Cool Cat
The hardwood floors are almost finished being resurfaced, the kitchen cabinets are being attached, and the gaping holes in the walls are almost all closed. Deliveries containing the tile and bathroom furnishings will start to trickle in over the next week or two. Simon is terrified of the noise coming from the new house and, when we visit, will only stay in the front or back yards. We've ordered him a ceiling fan with a light for his new room -- that will be hard for him to resist when the time comes.
Simon has been spending a lot of time pretending to be a cat, coloring, talking about space ships, and playing but, in his free time, he managed to put together a Mother's Day slide show containing some of Matthew's phone photos from last year...
He's a very talented kitty cat.
May 25, 2007
Old MacDonald
Tonight Simon asked us to start a round of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Along the way we learned a little about his psyche...
"And on that farm he had a..."
Simon's answers:
"Swimming Pool"
"Filter"
"Light"
"Space Ship"
"Play Doh"
"Ball"
"Television"
Matthew: "Were there ANY animals on his farm?"
Simon: "Uhhh, no."
May 22, 2007
A Few of Simon's Favorite Things
Exercising (with a fan!)
Taking music class with his teacher "Julie Woolie"
Kite flying at the park with Daddy
Swimming and jumping in the water
May 20, 2007
Old Friends
Our friends Jody and Anatole came in to town for a visit. Simon and Martha hadn't seen each other since Simon was a baby but they became fast friends...
Simon has been really really good lately. We wish we had more time to report on just how sweet and silly he has been. We'd even like to report on how he is using the potty himself these days (not always successfully). Unfortunately, we're bogged down in tile, lights, fans, paint, sinks, toilets, and bathtubs.
May 15, 2007
It's a Bit Much
We will now admit that we haven't taken a single non-phone-camera photo of Simon in over a week. And the week before that all the photos came out fuzzy because some little urchin rubbed something on the camera lens. It isn't that we think Simon is any less cute this month than he was last month, no, we've just been a little preoccupied. Let's take a look at the next four weeks, shall we?
1. Celebrate Matthew's Birthday (as well as those of all the other men in Hava's family)
2. Remodel both bathrooms, the kitchen, and resurface the floors in the new house (no idea when these will be done)
3. Move in to the new house after floors are done but before our lease ends, June 13
4. Throw a birthday party for Simon and his wee friends on the same weekend we need to move out, June 10
5. Prepare for and leave on a two-and-a-half week four-destination vacation, June 14
Just the thought of getting everything done well (or at all) in one month is exhausting BUT (there is always a but) what is even more exhausting is that Simon has decided he can no longer sleep through the night alone. He also can't sleep well in our bed - at this point we'd be happy to give him the opportunity.
Luckily, Darienne (Mom of Calvin and Finn) took some really great shots of the boys playing in the park the weekend before last...
Everything will be easier in July.
May 12, 2007
A Big Day
Today was a non-stop Go! Go! Go! day here are Mountain View Kagle Central.
Simon and Hava "swam" (e.g. jumped from the side and splashed a lot) in the warm waters of the indoor Palo Alto pool. From there the three of us drove over to Sunnyvale for a Preschooler Mother's Day Cooking Class. We made three types of sandwiches and three types of dessert, which we ate at a tea party. Simon GRABBED AND ATE the chicken (!) salad (!) sandwich (!) he made as well as part of a spinach tortilla and tomato (!) roll he put together. Right after the tea party we headed for San Jose where Hava and Matthew had their hairs cut. Simon was terrified at first and then he started to feel left out...
"Wash my hair! Please!!!" requests Simon.
Once we were all spiffy we drove a completely passed out Simon home and put him to bed. He woke up to be taken over to Cafe Yulong for some fish and leek dumplings and then whisked off to Expo Center to pick out toilets, sinks, faucets, a bathtub, a shower, and a whole lotta tile. Simon fell absolutely in love with a toilet and he wouldn't leave. We took turns watching him sit while the other one of us looked around...
"I like THIS one!" explained a very goofy Simon.
And, just in case you're aching for more home demolishment photos, here is Simon's room (foreground) and our shower (that hole on the other side of the wall). The floor, the sub floor, and the beam holding up that part of the house were rotten to the core due to a long term shower leak...
We really hadn't intended to gut the place but our wonderful contractor, Jacek, convinced us that it was (financially and aesthetically) the right thing to do. This is the same wonderful contractor we worked with on our townhouse. And, honestly, the rooms already look better - even without anything but bare wood.
May 10, 2007
From Scratch
We visited our home again yesterday afternoon to drop off a new faucet and garbage disposal for our contractors. Simon has visited the home every day this week and the hole in the kitchen floor totally creeps him out. Yesterday he asked a contractor if he was going to put a door where the hole is. A trap door in the kitchen floor! What a good idea. Unfortunately, that won't work so well with tile.
The kitchen
Simon's bathroom
Our bathroom
Next week they'll be rebuilding the kitchen. Our cabinets and counters are ready on Saturday. This week not only do they have to tear out the kitchen and bathrooms but they will redo the electricity in the house to support modern day appliances, help out the plumbing, and move the intake for the furnace to a more reasonable location.
May 08, 2007
Our New Kitchen
As of yesterday early afternoon...
At some point in the past 50 years, a rat family had taken residence behind the kitchen sink.
Ew.
May 07, 2007
All By Myself
Simon has always had a strong independent streak. If we do it, he wants to do it. Usually this takes the form of helping out so we're not about to complain. Simon loves to help unload the dishwasher. He knows where most things go and he is (relatively) gentle with the plates and glasses. He adores laundry day and makes a game out of throwing the wash at a dryer to see if he can make it in (or on) the machine. He can't wait until he is big enough to work the real vacuum cleaner but, until then, he'll pretend with his toy version. He is nearly obsessed with every stage of cooking. Our new kitchen will keep this in mind - the oven will be too high for him to open for another few years as will the knobs on the stove. Our eyes and ears are constantly on alert for the sound of Simon "cooking."
A few weeks ago Simon became strong enough (or interested enough) to open the refrigerator. Our first clue was the empty box of raisins and single crackers resting alongside the milk and vegetables. Last night he walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, grabbed a yogurt, brought it to the table and sat down to eat. He did all this as if it were second nature. Unfortunately, his master plan to take care of his own needs was foiled by the yogurt lid (that and he would have eventually figured out that he had forgotten to pick out a spoon).
Now this independent streak has REALLY squashed our hopes of potty training by the Disney Cruise/3rd Birthday. Simon knows it is important to us and, for the most part, it seems like he's using it as leverage. The problem is, there is nothing he wants badly enough in exchange for his cooperation. Without a diaper on Simon can and will "hold it" for five to six hours until we need to go somewhere. He knows that, most of the time, we will give in and put a diaper on him. He's remarkable that way. Yesterday, however, for reasons we can't explain, he took off his pants, walked into the bathroom, closed the door (for "pie-va-cy!") and sat on the potty. He then picked up the bowl from the potty chair, dumped the contents into the toilet and flushed. When we heard the flush we went in to check on his progress. Fortunately, he forgot to wipe or he would have successfully hidden all the evidence.
One wonders what he will be like as a teen.
May 04, 2007
The End of the Real Estate Saga
It was a VERY close call but we are now in possession of the keys to our very first plot of land on which sits our very first house. Construction (gutting the kitchen and at least one bathroom) starts Monday. The appliances we've chosen will be ordered today or tomorrow. We hope to have the 50+ year old hardwood floors refinished instead of replaced so two wood floor experts will give us their opinions and estimates this weekend. Time is tight. Our lease ends in Mid-June when we're on our two-and-a-half week vacation. We need to move out before we leave.