Picture of This Day

Rock Band hero. December 30, 2008.

Picture of This Day

Driving home from Arizona. December 29, 2008.

Picture of This Day

December 28, 2008. Phoenix, Arizona. Kiernan playing the game Guess Who? with his Farrell cousins at Gammy and Grance's house.

Word Usements

This post is basically going to be about a couple of interesting word usements Kiernan structured today, so I start it with the above photo, which has nothing to do with any of the rest of the post. I took the picture while Kiernan was watching an NFL game with his Gammy and Grance. Gammy is explaining that she wants the guys in the red shirts--the Cardinals--to win, and is providing her own four-year-old friendly play-by-play as the game progresses. Earlier in the day Aunt Amy was doing the same thing in the beginning of the Patriots/Buffalo Bills game.

But I've gotten off the point of this post, which is to simply record a few of the more interesting things Kiernan said to us today.

1. Earlier in the day, Aunt Amy and Kiernan were hanging out and playing, doing something or other together. Kiernan said to her, "I love you Aunt Amy."

Aunt Amy replied, "I love you too, Kiernan."

And Kiernan came back with, "Yes, but do you love yourself?"

Yikes. Seriously?

2. After Kiernan arose from his nap, Wendy decided she was going to do a little shopping. I gave Kiernan a choice. He could go shopping with his mother, or he could stay here at Gammy and Grance's house and play. Hmmm. Tough choice. He obviously chose the latter. Before leaving his mother kissed him goodbye and asked, "Is it okay with you if I go shopping?"

Kiernan replied, "If you insist."

3. Wendy returned from her shopping excursion and grabbed me, Kiernan, and Amy and swept us into the car so she could take us around the neighborhood and show us the Christmas lights. Years ago we made a point of driving around the area and looking at the Christmas lights. We would pile into Rance's pickup truck--before it got stolen, obviously--and tool around ooing and aahing at the yard displays. We forgot to do that this year, which is understandable. It's harder to squeeze everybody into a single vehicle, mainly because a car seat always has to be in the equation. So Wendy decided she'd get as many willing souls as she could and run out and look at the lights, even if it was after the fact.

As we drove around the neighborhood, Kiernan started asking Amy questions in the backseat. The first question:

"Do you believe in Jesus or God?"

Now, this little query was not preceded by any segue that I can recall. There was no warning. No preamble. He just busted out with the question.

Amy basically took the question in stride, answering, "No. I don't."

Kiernan came back with a clarification. "No. Do you believe in Jesus OR God?" We laughed inwardly, realizing that Kiernan was removing 'neither' as a choice.

Wendy and Amy quickly decided that since Jesus was at the very least an actual historical figure they could comfortably say that the answer was Jesus.

Kiernan came back with, "I believe in God."

We rode in silence for a bit, before Wendy and I asked Kiernan where this was coming from, where he had gotten all of this. He didn't answer for a bit. We asked again, with curiousity, where this "I believe in God" statement had come from. He finally said, "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Fascinating.

Before I could really form much of a thought about what had just happened, Kiernan asked his next question.

"Mom, do princesses and angels not die?"

It took a bit to suss out what the question was. It was hard to understand at first. But finally Wendy and Kiernan worked out that he was asking about the existence of princesses and angels. Wendy said she had heard of princesses. He pressed her on angels, asking whether she had seen one, and she said that no, she had never seen an angel. Then he asked,

"What about fairies?"

God I love this kid.

4. On the last leg of our Christmas light tour we stopped in front of a house with a lively yard. Wendy asked Kiernan, "Do you see the American flag lights?" A flag had been fashioned out of the lights. Kiernan answered in the negative. Wendy and Amy pointed out where the flag was in the yard.

At last, he said, "Oh. I was confused because there wasn't a pole."

Wendy said, "Oh. Okay. I see. You missed it because there wasn't a flag pole."

Kiernan: "That's why I didn't recognize it."

Those of you who aren't used to little kids will probably find this shrug-worthy, but I was just so tickled by both of these last statements, by the way Kiernan expressed his thoughts here. "I was confused because there wasn't a pole," and "That's why I didn't recognize it." That's why I didn't recognize it. He just uses words and concepts like these so easily, and I don't understand how he got to this point from his more rudimentary use of language, excitedly pointing at flags and calling out from the backseat, "Pole flag! Pole flag!" I am fascinated by the whole process, moving from that to "That's why I didn't recognize it." Said as naturally as can be. With a full grasp on the concept of the word 'recognize'.

There are other ways he could have gotten that across, but he said it that way. I just love it. I just love how he uses words.

That's all. I meant this to be a brief little post with a few quotes. I got carried away. Sorry about that.

Moving on...

Guessing Game

This morning Kiernan got a couple more precious hours of play in with his cousins before they had to head back to New Mexico. Above is a picture of him playing one of his favorite games, Guess Who?, with Sebastian as Thorstencito looks on and offers pointers. Guess Who? is this great game that is basically about using the process of elimination, as you would in a game of twenty questions. Kiernan has gotten to be really good at the game, routinely beating me at it, so we brought it with us to Arizona. When his cousins arrived he taught them the game and in short order they were hooked.

After a couple of rounds of the game this morning the kids decided they wanted to head outside for more tee ball. As the departure of the cousins grew imminent, tee ball was retired in favor of Red Rover, which was started by Aunt Amy. Inwardly I thought, "Red Rover? Really? Who is going to want to play that?" Well, as it turns out, everybody. Amy laid down the rules and the game was off and running, the kids having a great time dashing back and forth and breaking through the lines. The kids were uniformly disappointed when the game had to end. Good on ya, Aunt Amy!

All in all it was a great visit with the Farrell cousins, and I can tell that Kiernan is going to miss them. The only thing that would have made the visit better would have been for Cousin Dorian to have been here. Oh well, maybe next time.

Picture of This Day

Watching Ratatouille at Gammy and Grance's house.

Cousin Reader

Last night Kiernan's cousin Kelsey spent the night here at Gammy and Grance's house, while the other cousins went to the hotel with their parents. Kelsey was an absolute gem as she read with Kiernan before he went to bed. He was so happy to have her there.

Earlier in the evening a few of us were sitting around and talking. Kiernan sidled up to Kelsey and asked her, "How old are you?"

She replied, "Thirteen."

Kiernan processed this for a moment. He silently mouthed the word 'thirteen'. Then he said, with a mixture of awe and surprise and excitement,

"You're a teenager?!?"

Kelsey indicated that this was, indeed, the case.

Kiernan said, "I'm gonna be a teenager when I grow up!"

Just Cuz

Here's Kiernan with his cousins today. Brandon, Thorstencito, and Sebastian. Kelsey was elsewhere doing important teenager things, and Dorian is with his folks back in Oakland. I just cannot tell you how much fun Kiernan has had with his cousins over these last couple of days. He's just nuts about them. From running nonstop with the boys to reading with Kelsey. He's loved it.

This afternoon they all went outside to play with Kiernan's new tee ball apparatus. When I got out there, late in the game, I found Grance ensconced behind home plate and the cousins all taking turns at the bat.


Kiernan's cousins were definitely ahead of him when it came to hitting the baseball, but not a one of them cared. They were all having too much of a blast. It was so cool to see them all having such fun playing outside, being totally physical, and taking turns and sharing without much outside prompting from the adults. Oh, sure, we had to step in from time to time. But for the most part they worked it all out themselves.

I love this picture. I love the way he looks, his stance, the position of the bat, the look on his face. He looks like a major leaguer watching a ball leave the park.

A little while later we all had lunch and the kids started playing in the back yard around the pool. They played hide and seek for awhile, before taking a break and crashing out on the poolside chairs. I was amazed watching them play hide and seek in the back yard for so long. Not a lot of places to hide. At all. But they went on and on, playing the game.

Later in the evening, we all decided to let the kids watch a movie. A couple of the cousins wanted to watch Iron Man. A cool enough movie to be sure, but given that Kiernan almost had a meltdown one day at home at the very suggestion that we watch The Little Mermaid, since there's a slightly scary picture on the DVD cover, we figured Iron Man might be a tad too intense for him. Thankfully the cousins were cool with this, and everybody agreed to Ratatouille as the night's entertainment.

Kiernan still had a couple of freak out moments, but overall it turned out to be a good choice. It's really a great little film, and I really enjoyed getting to see it again.

Oh...and the kids liked it too.

[Picture Note: Keep in mind, Kiernan doesn't watch that many movies. So when he does, he is absolutely rapt. I imagine this is much how I look when watching a film that captures my attention.]

A Penitent Man

I missed the shot. Oh well. But I think the splash looks pretty cool, so that's something.

The shot I'm talking about is the picture I tried to take, but couldn't get in position in time to take, and that is Kiernan pushing Grance into the pool. Missed it. But more pictures and words will follow and you'll get the idea.

Tonight Grance went swimming. This was well after the sun went down, as I'm sure you are able to determine from the light in the above picture. We are in Phoenix, but good lord it is cold. It feels much colder than Southern California. It took a long time after my run this morning for me to feel like my fingers were fingers again. So the idea of swimming should be relegated to crazy town. Still, Rance will do it. He will go into that cold water without a moment's hesitation. It's really something to see. Fear of shrinkage means nothing to this man.

The other day Rance and Kiernan and I were all hanging out together, and Rance decided he wanted to take a quick dip in the pool. He made this a part of the game he has developed with his grandkids. The Doopty Doopty Doo Game. In the Doopty Doopty Doo Game, Grance invites Kiernan (or any of his grandkids) to push him in the pool. He does this by saying, "You'd better not EVER push me in the pool!" And Kiernan knows exactly what Grance means, because Grance is a master of tone. Then Grance goes out to the pool and does a devil-may-care kind of walk while saying some nonsense like "doopty doopty doo" and then Kiernan (or Kelsey, or Dorian, or Sebastian) pushes him into the pool.

The kids go nuts over this.

The other day when it was just the three of us, Kiernan elected to go out to the pool in his own swimsuit. I tried to talk him out of this, as it really is cold here, but he wanted to do it. So I thought, "What the heck. Mom's not here today. She's out getting a massage. What's the worst that could happen?" I figured Kiernan would make it two steps out of the door and turn around and beg for a sweater.

Nope.

Kiernan and Grance, both clad only in swimsuits, headed to the pool. Grance did his little act and Kiernan pushed him in. Then Kiernan said he wanted to go in too. I suggested he test the water first, thinking this would disuade him. Nope. He felt the water and declared it "fine". So, with my permission, he jumped to Grance.

Wow. The rapidity of the change was amazing. His eyes popped wide open and he made tracks for the towel I was holding for him. I had a momentary weird worry about shock, until I realized what had just happened. Kiernan and Grance had just had a true bonding moment. It was very cool. They had weathered an adversity together. I'd been on the sidelines, but they had experienced it together. Even as I wrapped Kiernan in his towel he was high-fiving his Grance. It was really cool, although I must admit that I did kind of feel like a wimp.

Tonight Grance went into the pool again, this time pushed by all of the grandkids that are present (which is to say all but Dorian). None of the grandkids followed him in this time, but they all pushed. Part of this was because we tried to take them all swimming at the hotel where Thorsten and Ceci and the kids are staying, but it didn't work out. We thought the hotel had a heated indoor pool, but indeed the pools, while heated, were all outside. And seriously, you don't really want to walk outside much right now, much less walk outside wet. So we disappointed the kids by deciding not to swim. Unfortunately this decision came after hyping them all up on the idea of going swimming.

So Grance made up for it by letting the grandkids push him into the pool at the the house. Crazy and great. I wouldn't have been up for it, but he was, and he suggested it.

The kids loved it, and it totally averted the disaster of disappointment. Nice.

I'm Dreaming of an Animatronic Christmas

Yeah, I know this is pretty random, but it was only the boys at lunch today--today being Girls' Day Out at the Spa--so you're going to have to expect a little absurdity.

Grance got home from the gym today and asked if Kiernan and I wanted to go out to lunch with him. Being interested in eating, we both said yes. We started considering what cuisine we might be after when Kiernan announced what he wanted for lunch.

"Pancakes!"

Done and done.

Grance took us to a place nearby called the Blue Plate Brunchery. It turned out to be pretty good. Serviceable breakfast food with just fine service and okay coffee. The two things it had going for it were that it was close and that it was not Denny's. Nothing against Denny's, I just wasn't in the mood for a chain and Rance indulged me. I ordered a breakfast burrito and it was good and flavorful. I'm always on the search for a decent breakfast burrito. I can't help it. I have to find out if there is anything in the world that beats the nirvana that is the breakfast burrito at The Corner Cottage in Burbank. It is a sad truth of life's imperfection that I live a good forty-five minute drive from The Corner Cottage, but then that fact is probably what will keep me from turning into one of those guys you read about who has to be lifted out of his house by a crane and buried in a piano box. So I suppose it works out, on balance. Still, so far nothing has come close to The Corner Cottage breakfast burrito. Not remotely.

But this was good enough, and very tasty.

We sat and perused the menu. Kiernan and I first discussed pancake options. Then I studied the menu for sides. While I was doing this, Kiernan was reading the menu himself apparently, for he suddenly exclaimed, "They have waffles!"

Our waitress, a pleasant grandmotherly lady, came to take our order, and she did something too few servers do. She addressed Kiernan directly when taking his order. She did this without talking down to him. She just said, matter-of-factly, "What do you want?" And he answered her in kind. "Waffles." Then they proceeded to go back and forth on his order with very little help from me. It was great. "I just want syrup and butter." "What do you have to drink?" "What kind of juice do you have?"

I love getting to be proud of him.

It was a very nice lunch, and on the way out we got to spend a few quality moments with the creepy animatronic Santa that was staking out the cashier stand near the door. This guy was about five feet tall, and if you stepped on the red button between his feet he would dance, or rather wiggle his hips, and sing. Kiernan found him surprising and hilarious. I, again, found him creepy. With a side of creepy. Hold the creepy.


[Picture notes: I consider this last shot our Westworld shot. You'll either get that or you won't, and that's okay. The others are just Kiernan and I goofing around. Westworld was the first picture, just what he did naturally as I took the first pic. Then I asked him to give me something for a silly one. He got all happy and surprised and said, "Really?" Like I'd just removed his shackles or something. I must say for a millisecond I was taken aback. Then he proceeded to amuse me and all worries faded away.]

Out and A'bat

Here's a couple of shots of Kiernan trying out his new tee-ball set on the day after Christmas.


Gammy and Grance gave him this cool little tee ball set. As today was a girls' spa day out, we assembled the set and set about learning how to use it.

When it comes to sports tutelage, Grance is a natural. I can say this from first-hand experience, as I have gone golfing with him many times. He is a natural at giving pointers and helping. Without ever getting in the way. I say this without sarcasm. I say, even that last sentence, without sarcasm. That one too. In fact, let me just institute a "no sarcasm" clause for this whole post. To include the sentence I just typed.

Phew. That was a close one.

Anyway, Grance immediately stepped in and helped Kiernan get his grip on the bat right and got him in the proper position. From there Kiernan's natural athletic ability took over, and he set about whacking the heck out of those baseballs. And, truth be told, out of the tee ball set itself. That's okay. He is learning. And let me just say, he's not just a reader, this kid. He can hit a baseball.


And, totally seriously, Grance was great with him. It was a beautiful thing to see.

Cheers for Cousins

Tonight, the night after Christmas, we reached another milestone: Kiernan's first seat at The Kids' Table.

Before I proceed, let us all just take a moment to consider personal history. When was the last time you really thought about The Kids' Table? As I loaded the pictures and worked the ideas for this post, I thought hard about it for the first time in a very long time. Tried to dredge up a few memories. Tried to nail down an overall impression from memory. It's interesting. I'm not going to expound upon all that I recall, but let's just say that I find it interesting how ambivalent I feel about the whole issue of The Kids' Table as I examine it in memory.

All that said, tonight was Kiernan's first time being seated at the smaller table reserved for the children while the adults ate at a nearby, bigger table. We are visiting Wendy's family in Arizona, as is clear from the last few posts. My sister-in-law Amy is also here, of course. Today Kiernan's cousins joined us as Rance's son, Thorsten, drove here with his wife Ceci and their kids, Kelsey, Thorstencito, Brandon, and Sebastian.

Kiernan was so excited about the arrival of his cousins. After his nap, he wanted to immediately go outside to play tee-ball (Gammy and Grance gifted him with a tee-ball set for Christmas). When it proved too windy and cold to play that, he wanted to go back inside, at which point he realized that the real reason he'd wanted to be outside, out in front of the house, was to wait for the arrival of his cousins. So he got Grance to head right back outside with him so he could be there, in front of the house, when his cousins arrived.

The ensuing hours were spent running. And running. And running. Here's a picture from after dinner:


This picture, as I said, is from right after dinner. Dinner itself went off pretty well. Kiernan comported himself fairly well, considering this was his first time at The Kids' Table. To be sure, he was his usual finicky self when it comes to eating. He's the second pickiest eater I know. But overall the experiment worked out. I think if we had to vote, those at the table of the adults would have chosen as their favorite Kids' Table Moment the moment of the toast. We had just all, finally, become seated. We naturally launched into a toast. As we drank our toast we heard, from The Kids' Table in the kitchen, "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!" We looked over to see the four boys raising their plastic cups of milk in a toast. The four-year-old holding forth with impressive gusto. It was, I think I will say, an iconic moment.

After the boys were all excused from their table, they started running laps. I'm not kidding. Before dinner the running was all crazy and chaotic, rolly polly and pell mell. After dinner the boys took to running around the mid-section of Grance and Gammy's house. They went around. And around. And around. I know there had to be some elaborate ritual, race, or scavenger hunt going on, something discernable only to those under the age of ten, but to us it looked like a mini-sized marathon.

Later Aunt Amy asked Kiernan what his favorite part of the evening of playing with his cousins was. His answer, word for word:

"The running and the running and the running around the house."

Noted, young fella.

Yes, it was a crazy evening. But still kind of beautiful in its wholesale abandon. The above picture kind of pictures it, in that sorry stark way that flash pictures capture moments. The next picture is the same scene, seconds before, without the flash:


Not as clear. Not perfect. But it pretty much captures how I will remember this night. This night with a house full of the gleeful laughter and screams of kids and the barely-able-to-compete din of adults trying to hold onto adult conversations. A blur. I will remember it as a blur.

And that's not because of the wine.

Opening and Reading

It is typically late, so I'm not going to write a lot as it's been a long day. A good day, but a long one. Instead I'll just post a few pictures and caption them to give you a sense of this Christmas day, 2008.



The first thing we do here in Phoenix Farrell Land is tour past the stockings in a weird age-ordered Conga line and proceed to the Christmas tree area where we discover our Santa gifts. These are unwrapped gifts we get to discover before the actual opening of gifts commences. Kiernan's Santa gift this year was a set of planet books. The above picture captures his reaction as well as any words could. This picture shows what he did the moment he found his Santa gift.



Still reading the Santa gift. We have yet to move on to stockings, or have breakfast or coffee or even think about opening an actual, wrapped gift. Still reading. Guinea Pig stands vigil. No matter what new toys or action figures show up, it will always be Guinea Pig providing the first line of defense.


After unloading stockings, Kiernan decided to try some breakfast. Which around here means pie. In this case, pumpkin pie and mince pie. I am a total pie person. I am all for having pie for breakfast. But Christmas morning I always crave something savory. This craving makes me happy, because it reminds me of my mom, and gives me a sense of warmth I really cannot explain (and doubt I need to...you're all pretty sharp cookies). Mom always makes this amazing breakfast casserole. Full of sausage and cheese and fury. One year I requested the recipe from her, but I couldn't bring myself to bake it. It's hers and it reminds me of home and childhood. Better to long for it.

Kiernan has no such qualms. He enjoys his pie unfettered.


A couple of days ago I posted about the Planet Heroes, and I told you all about Earth Ace, the Planet Hero who represents our planet Earth. This is him, pictured above. Kiernan would receive two more Planet Heroes from Aunt Amy this Christmas day, Zip from Mercury and Dazzle from Venus. While they represent planets, there is no escaping that they immediately became stars in Kiernan's universe.

In the picture above, Earth Ace reads a beautiful card from Kiernan's Aunt Joanne and Uncle Mitch. This Christmas they gave to us by giving for us, expressing their love by donating to concerns they thought would truly concern each one of us. Grance and Gammy received the honor of a donation to a wonderful NPR show called Radio Lab. Aunt Amy's donation was to the excellent This American Life, another NPR show. Ours was all about Obama. Which was perfect for us.

In addition to the wonderful sentiment of the gift, Joanne employed her prodigious skills as a writer to pen heartfelt and moving letters to each of us explaining our respective donations, and in so doing laying out for us essentially what it is about us that she and Mitch and Dorian are thankful for. A gift straight from the heart.

Yeah. So I handed it to one of Kiernan's toys for safe keeping. Hey, Earth Ace regularly saves the Solar System. I think he can handle a card.

[BTW, if you are not familiar with This American Life, check it out. Especially if you love stories about people. It has been a staple of my life for many years now. And if you know This American Life, you really should give Radio Lab a spin.]


Kiernan was really a dream this Christmas morning when it came to understanding the whole concept of taking turns in the opening of gifts. He had a couple of moments where he wanted to jump in line, but by and large he was cool with taking turns. Part of the reason is captured in the above picture. He received a lot of books. And he wanted to pause to read them on the spot. On his own. He did not demand to have these books read to him. He sat right down and started paging through them on his own. Such a cool kid.


Here he is again, several gifts later and now on the couch, reading to himself again. I think this book is from Aunt Claudia and Uncle Jim. I just love the look on his face when he reads. I love the way he concentrates. Now, the look on his face when he opens toys, like the Planet Heroes toys mentioned above, is priceless in a different way. A jitterbug classic excitement that is completely infectious. But the look on his face upon cracking open a new book...I cannot get over that.



Finally a couple of simple pictures of him tearing into gifts. Just so you can see him doing that. Just so you don't think we relegate him only to reading and no classic kids-going-crazy-being-kids fun. He can tear wrapping paper with the best of them.



Once again, Happy Holidays and much love to you all.

Radiant Beams

I've just finished wrapping gifts and it's about time for bed. Before going to sleep I wanted to leave this little time capsule for you. I know it will be many hours before most of you read this and see the above picture, so it strikes me that this is a sort of time capsule.

I took this picture just after Kiernan fell asleep on this Christmas Eve. We are at his Gammy and Grance's house, as I've stated previously. Wendy came out to get me and Kiernan's Aunt Amy so we could see him sleeping.

Kiernan is really excited about Christmas this year. Previously he's been a happy participant in the activities of the holiday. He enjoyed the selecting and decorating of the tree. He loved the activities of opening gifts. But this is the first time he really seems invested before the fact. More to the point, this year he is specifically aware of the concept that Santa is coming, and that Santa is someone of import. He gets it this year. And this feels both fun and awesome to me. And by 'awesome' I mean that the power bestowed upon me as a parent to instill my child with the belief in myth inspires awe in me. Seriously. This is a strange and frightening power.

It's also fun. One night early in this process, when we were taking Kiernan to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he was almost totally asleep and he asked, "Have you seen Santa tonight?" He didn't quite get the timing of it all--time is a tough concept in general...sometimes he asks if it is a new day when he wakes up from his afternoon nap, but then I have the same problem when I take naps--but it was clear that since he was asking this question out loud, from beyond the veil of sleep, that the idea was powerful to him.

Anyway, he's had many interesting questions about Santa this year. He is definitely buying into the whole thing, and it's exciting and humbling to see that happen. Mostly it's just fun, though. One great thing tonight was that Aunt Amy loaded a Santa Tracker onto the computer and she and Kiernan went to the computer throughout the night to check Santa's progress across the world's skies.

Great stuff. That and Kiernan reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas' with his mom, Gammy, and Aunt Amy before bed, with me and Grance looking on.

He was taking turns with all of them, each reading a page. Kiernan read,

"He had a broad face
And a little round belly
That shook, when he laughed--"

And at this point he paused, and he gave a quick little aside to his mom. He said, looking up to her, "You'll like this part!"

Then he read the rest:

"Like a bowl full of jelly."

I cannot tell you how much I love that aside. I could spend pages extoling it. I won't. Instead I'll just wish you and yours the very best this holiday season. Love to you all. And of course...

Happy Holidays.


[Kiernan has just placed the angel on top of the tree at Gammy and Grance's house for the first time. He is perched upon Grance's shoulders.]

Into the Breach

A word here about the awesomeness that is Aunt Amy.

As I said in my previous post, we just arrived in Phoenix for our Festivus visit after a long drive from Los Angeles. The drive was only seven hours or so, though I realize the fact that my instinct to put quotation marks around the word only is telling. As I said, it was a long drive. Not bad, just long.

So it is great to get here and be greeted by folks like Gammy, Grance, and Amy. Gammy (Susan), after showering Kiernan with affection, immediately set about making me a pizza. I kid you not. She got down to making me a pizza. And Grance (Rance), after hugging on Kiernan, set about opening a bottle of wine for me. I tell you, coming to this place is like coming to some kind of resort.

And then there's Amy, my sister-in-law. There are people you see every so often, and when you see them it takes awhile for the two of you to warm up to each other. Amy is not one of these people. Amy is like a lightbulb. She warms up to you instantly. She lights up the room. This has always been a wonderful aspect of knowing her, from my perspective. But seeing it in action in her interactions with my son is just beautiful. There are other ways to describe it, but "beautiful" will do for now, at 2:30 in the morning.

We pulled up to the house here in Phoenix, and Gammy, Grance and Amy were waiting for us outside in the cold night, so excited to see us. Aunt Amy was dancing in the street. Literally. When we pulled into the driveway, Kiernan's first words were,

"Can Aunt Amy unbuckle me from my carseat?"

He just said this in a little, gentle voice. A voice that said that he just wanted to be with his Aunt Amy immediately. We all went inside and the two of them got to playing while we unloaded the car and I gave due attention to Susan's pizza and Rance's wine. I do what I can.

Of course both Susan and Rance attended to Kiernan, but he and his Aunt Amy were immediately just thick as thieves. I love that.

So here's to the awesomeness of Aunt Amy. She rocks.


Picture notes:

The top two pictures are from a birthday party for one of Kiernan's friends, held at a local activity place for kids called Scooter's Jungle. The last picture is an action shot after Kiernan received his bike as a birthday present from Gammy and Grance. Aunt Amy provided the helmet. This helmet is extra special because she wore it while prepping for the Bar exam this year.

Cliche

We just arrived in Phoenix for Christmas with Kiernan's Gammy, Grance and Aunt Amy. Happy to be here. The trip--we drove from Los Angeles--took a good seven hours or so, with emphasis on the "or so".

Kiernan was great on the drive. I want to be clear on that. He has his typical four-year-old moments, because, well, he's four. But he did a great job. But I just have to say one thing...

That whole "are we there yet" gag we all see used ad nauseam in comics and television shows? Yeah. That's a cliche for a reason.

More later. Enjoy the brevity for now.

-xtien

Story Logic

The Planet Heroes are currently all the rage in the Murawski household. The Planet Heroes are a line of action figures put out by Fisher Price that are aimed at taking advantage of the fact that Kiernan loves learning about the Solar System. I'm convinced this is the only reason they exist. Kiernan was given one of these action figures by his friends Ryan and Kyra for his birthday, and because he's so nuts about all things planet this toy immediately became one of his favorites. This figure is called Earth Ace, and his planet is, of course, Earth. The other Planet Heroes are similarly paired with planets, and each one basically has a personality that somehow matches his planet. Zip is the dude associated with Mercury. Because Mercury is a fast planet. Rings is the fellow associated with Saturn, for obvious reasons. Daz is the Planet Hero that goes with Venus. She's a hot chick, because Venus is...um...hot.

Since Kiernan was so immediately enamored of Earth Ace, we went online and checked out The Planet Heroes website (surfing note: for some reason I can never see the site with Firefox, only Internet Explorer, so YMMV if you click on the above link). Surfing about the site we found voices to go with each Planet Hero, which is all well and good unless you're the person who has to then do those voices ALL DAY LONG. There are also three video episodes on the site that you can watch for free, as well as companion comic books that you can read or print out. We've read the comic books a few times and Kiernan has watched the video episodes a few times as well. I think they're fairly goofy, and clearly exist only for marketing purposes, but then again, what doesn't? Plus, he just loves these things.

In one of the episodes, a traitor infiltrates the ranks of the Planet Heroes. He is named Slash Red Giant (or something) and Commander (the sun) inducts him into the Planet Heroes group, or league...whatever they call it. What Commander doesn't know is that Slash Red Giant is working with Black Hole Professor Darkness, the nemesis of the Planet Heroes whose sole purpose appears to be to destroy the Solar System. At a crucial moment in the episode--erm...SPOILER ALERT--Slash Red Giant zaps all of the Planet Heroes with his gravity ring power (or something), trapping them.

Or most of them. For some reason Earth Ace and Zip are not at first trapped by the gravity ring power. From a screenwriting point of view this is so that Earth Ace can escape and come back to save the day with a Giant Space Cow (I'm sure you saw that coming). What about from a story logic point of view? Who cares, you ask? Well...Kiernan does.

The two of us were eating dinner the other night, and during a lull in our conversation, Kiernan asked the following question:

"Why didn't the gravity get Zip or Ace?"

Two things here.

1. There was no segue prefacing this . It just came out of nowhere. Sort of. I mean we are always talking about the planets at the dinner table. Have been for months. Our regular dinner routine consists of asking about the day of someone at the table, then launching into a story about the Interstellar Intergalactic Super Detectives. Kiernan gives me a story prompt, usually something about one of the planets stealing something that belongs to us, and I spin a tale about the planets. Again, we've been doing this for months. I believe I've mentioned this before, and I say that because I intend to write these stories and turn them into a franchise, and will use this blog as evidence that I'm not stealing from the Planet Heroes, which we just discovered on November 29, 2008. There. That should work as adequate evidence.

2. I have barely watched these videos myself. I'm not saying they are insipid, but let's just say I'm not the target audience. Plus, almost any time a video is on at our house--especially when Wendy is away on a business trip, as she is this week--I spring into action and go crazy trying to get stuff done, stuff I cannot do while entertaining what has to be the most high-maintenance four-year-old on the planet. Seriously. He demands live entertainment constantly. Even while sitting on the toilet. We have no one to blame for this but ourselves, of course, as we figured that reading to him was a good way to facilitate potty training. But still, I'm just saying.

So not really having paid attention to the Planet Heroes video episodes, it took me a good few moments to pick up on what the heck he was asking about when he asked "Why didn't the gravity get Zip or Ace?" I suddenly remembered Slash Red Giant (or whatever) zapping and trapping the Planet Heroes with his gravity ray. I subsequently recalled the fact that Zip and Ace hadn't been caught. That Zip tried to sneak away, that is until his boot creaked on the floor of the space station and Slash Red Giant zapped him. Earth Ace takes this moment to have a conversation with Commander about what he should do, a conversation right under the nose of Slash Red Giant that Slash Red Giant totally misses because, I don't know, he's busy cleaning his andirons or something. And he doesn't even own a fireplace. Not that I'd know this...

So I came up with something. That Slash Red Giant missed and eventually got Zip, and Ace escaped, and Kiernan said,

"Ace jumps back but the gravity gets the floor instead."

Which is totally what happened. Red Giant eventually becomes aware that Ace and Commander are having a conversation and tries to zap Ace, but Ace jumps back and the gravity power harmlessly slams into the floor.

Later in the episode, as Ace is riding in to save the day with Lunar and the Giant Space Cow, the Planet Heroes are released from the gravity and turn on Slash Red Giant. But the actual how of this isn't explained. It just kind of happens in the action of the climax of the episode. Whatever. It's just a marketing video. Again...not good enough.

"How did the Planet Heroes get out of the gravity?"

Again, I was stumped. So this time instead of making something up I just said, "I don't know."

And Kiernan replied with, "I think it didn't show."

Now, if you're still with me, let me say two more things.

1. Good for you.

2. Sorry this was so long.

I couldn't help it. I'm just crazy about this kid's mind. He tracks story logic in the things he watches, lets it bounce around his brain, and then later on starts picking it apart. Do you get how freaking awesome that is? Do you? He watched this video episode on the computer probably ten or twelve hours before, then out of nowhere at the dinner table he starts asking questions about the holes in the story. He gets that these are story problems, and he's not willing to let them just slip by.

I love it. What an amazing mind.

Next post: he does the same thing to one of my stories.

*Picture Note: Kiernan trying on his new planet pajamas, a gift from Pap-Pap and Sandi. He would wear them that night and all day the next day. No joke. All day.

Teachable Moments

Great little moment tonight that reminded me of something I've been meaning to post about for more than a year now.

Kiernan was taking his bath tonight and had just finished washing his hair. Washing his own hair, I might add. Something I didn't realize he could do on his own until his Pap-Pap--my dad--visited a couple of weeks ago. In point of fact, Kiernan didn't even realize he could do it himself until Pap-Pap's visit. It was amazing. I left them alone for a few moments in the bathroom during Kiernan's bath and by the time I returned Kiernan was washing his own hair. Basically because my dad introduced him to the concept that he could do it himself.

I'm telling you, there's nothing like the power of grandparents. Nothing.

As parents we can get so myopic. I don't mean this as a criticism. It is natural. We get used to doing things a certain way, and we keep doing them that way because when you're so close to growing life it's hard to tell when the changes are happening. It's also hard to know when it's time to break out and take a risk. Grandparents have perspective. They can see these moments and act on them in ways we cannot.

So my dad was visiting and helping with bath time and having raised two sons, and having taught years of first graders, he sensed that an opportunity for independence was upon us. So he taught Kiernan to wash his own hair. A simple, wonderful thing.

Tonight we were bathing Kiernan, and now he washes his own hair. This is still a marvel to us, and so we asked Kiernan how he learned to do this.

"Pap Pap taught me how."

Beautiful.

This reminded me of a year ago, when Kiernan left behind his diapers and adapted himself to the potty.

Now I realize that reading about potty training is not high on the reading list for of most of you folks. But I've been meaning to share this for awhile, so deal with it. A little more than a year ago we realized it was time for Kiernan to transition from diapers to using the toilet. Only we were about to embark upon a three week trip to Arizona, Alabama, and Virginia. The idea of negotiating the scary territory of potty training while on the road, and in the air, was really too much to handle. So we decided to hold off on formal potty training until after the trip. We agreed on this, and that was that.

The Grandmothers had other ideas. And they didn't even have to communicate these ideas. It was all telepathic.

First we were in Arizona, and Wendy's mom, Kiernan's Gammy, took it upon herself to whisk Kiernan off to the potty at any moment's notice. It was really superhuman. I can think of few other words to describe it. For the entire visit, whenever Kiernan looked the least bit interested in situations scatalogical, Gammy would rush him to the bathroom, set him up on the mini-potty, and read and encourage him for as long as it took. This was really the foundation.

We moved on to Alabama, where we continued this somewhat, but not as enthusiastically as Gammy had.

Next we moved on to Virginia, and it was in Virginia that the deal was sealed. We were at Dad and Sandi's house, and Sandi was somehow in on the Telepathic Grandma Link with Gammy, because as soon as Sandi found out what Gammy had been up to, she sprang into action. She did the whole "whisking away" thing that Gammy had done, but then she did one better. She busted out the Big Boy Underpants.

Whatever else you do in life, never underestimate the power of the Big Boy Underpants. Or, if gender merits, Big Girl Underpants.

Sandi showed up one day with a veritable stack of underwear for Kiernan to try on, and just like that he showed he was ready to make the leap from diapers to the potty. Getting to wear underwear--underwear like his ultra-cool Uncle Mason had worn!--in place of his diaper motivated him to adapt to using the toilet. It didn't matter that we were in the middle of a three week trip. It didn't matter that I was all worried about the logistics of the transition while on a trip. He was ready, and his grandparents intuited this. They encouraged him and praised him and helped him along. It was amazing. Because of them, adapting to using the potty was much, much easier for all three of us.

Anyway, I've been meaning to give Gammy and Sandi props for this for more than a year. Tonight's bathtime pronouncement by Kiernan, that Pap-Pap taught him how to wash his own hair, reminded me of this. So...all hail Grandparents.


Pictures:

1. The top picture is Sandi and Kiernan discussing life on the beach during our November visit.

2. The next picture, from the same visit, is Pap-Pap pointing at a polliwog. Actually, I have no idea if that is what my dad is pointing at. I just like the alliteration.

3. Next is a picture from a visit to Arizona last winter. Gammy and Kiernan are learning about varieties of cactus while out on a walk in Gammy and Grance's neighborhood. By the end of that trip Kiernan would be able to identify more cacti than I would have thought possible, both because I didn't know that many different cacti existed and because I wouldn't have believed a three year old could remember that many complicated names. All of this would come to seem quaint in a couple months when Kiernan started reading off the names of the moons of Uranus.

4. A final picture from the November trip to Virginia. Kiernan is out at on the pier with Sandi and Pap-Pap and his friend Helen (daughter of my friends Jeff and Kathryn).

Beachy Keen

I have no idea why I've decided to start this post with this picture, or why I'm posting it to TCK at all. I can't really explain it, other than to say that the moment I saw it it made me feel good. I'm going through all of the pictures from the recent trip to Virginia, deciding what to post and what to print out for inclusion in cards to Grandparents and Great Grandparents and others. I also need to isolate a few photos that Jeff has requested. As I did this the above picture popped up and made me happy. I don't really know why. It's a fairly pedestrian shot of me standing on the beach with one of my best friends and my brother as my stepmom Sandi looks on. But it pleases me. So here it is.

As indicated in my last post, we were on a recent trip to Virginia, a trip that was more or less a surprise. I'll go into some of the details at some point, possibly, but the picture above shows me the first full day in Virginia. I flew into the airport in Newport News with Wendy, Kiernan, and my dad. We got in and had a delightful crockpot meal that Sandi had waiting, and eventually got to bed. My brother Mason was supposed to show up with several of his friends sometime during the night, and apparently ended up arriving at around six in the morning. He and his friends pitched Mason's tent on the front lawn and crashed there.

I slept in, which is one nice part of bringing your child to visit his grandparents. I was awakened by another surprise: my very good friend Jeff's face. That's him standing next to me in the picture. The one without the headband, "Stop the War" button, and tie-dyed pants. He crawled up next to me on top of the bed and said, "Good morning!" Or something. The mixture of groggy and surprise has prevented me from remembering exactly what he said. Suffice to say, it was delightful to see him, and I was happy that I'd remembered to pack pajamas.

We ended up spending a good part of the day with Jeff and Kathryn, who have been friends for a delightfully long time, and their amazing daughter Helen. I'll include more pics of all of us later. For now, just a couple more beach pictures:


The original plan was for Jeff and Kathryn to spend the day with us kicking around Williamsburg. We all met and went to school and lived together there, so whenever we can we like to spend some time there together. Once again, pictures of said adventure will follow, but first you must partake in Jeff and Christien's hunt for the missing squid (pictured above, and below). The beach in question is just down the way from my dad and Sandi's house, located on the York River. Dad and Sandi have a bunch of beach toys at the ready, and included in these toys are a couple of plastic squid creatures. As we packed up the toys, Jeff and I became convinced that the green squid was missing. Nobody else believed in the green squid, but we would not let it go. We were sure it had been covered with sand.


We never found the squid, sadly. And nobody really cared except for us. So these pictures are really useless, except that I love the scene. I'm about to turn forty, and before spending a day in Williamsburg here I am digging in the sand in November with one of my best friends from college.

These are the things that make me smile.

Oh, and don't worry. The ensuing posts about the trip will definitely feature pictures of Kiernan.

Matters

We are in Virginia this week, visiting family. Right now we are at my mom and stepdad's house in Seaford, having spent the first part of the week with my dad and my stepmom, Sandi. I'll work on those pictures later, but I wanted to get up a quick picture of Kiernan with his Nana, right now. The above photograph is from last night, the final book before bedtime. This particular book is an informational volume about kittens, a book that probably belonged to my sister Hope. During this visit Kiernan is really into reading Hope's childhood books. It's always cool to see him get excited about books that are new to him, and doubly cool to see how keen he is to read something that specifically belonged to his aunt. But I have to say...Good Lord these old books are crappy! Not all of them to be sure. Hope's childhood favorite (and one of mine), The Monster at the End of This Book, still rocks the house. If Kiernan uncovers The Pokey Little Puppy I'm sure I'll be pleased. But so many of the new books we read to Kiernan are just so much better. Tonight Kiernan found this book called I Am A Boy. This one was apparently one of my old books. Holy cow. Just awful. And the kids in the illustrations look like a bunch of ventriloquist dummies. It's really kind of creepy.

I guess Mo Willems has spoiled me.

At any rate, I happy we are here at this time. It's always good to have some time with my folks, and it's especially good for Kiernan to get to spend time with them. He's loving the opportunity to goof around with his Nana. This evening before bed they basically had a kind of hugging competition. Great stuff.

These moments of joy, however, are taking place in the midst of sadness. My stepfather, John, is away with our family in Texas during this visit. His father, Kiernan's Great-Grandfather Dunn, passed away today after suffering a heart-attack two days ago. He was a wonderful man; one need only look at the way his son has turned out to see that. I ask that you keep my stepfather and his mother and his sisters (as well as my mother and sister) in your thoughts and prayers at this time.

Also--and this should go without saying but I'm going to say it anyway--don't wait until the holidays to let those you love know what they mean to you.

Hang in there, Dad.