The Creeping Kid

Picture of This Day

2011-11-26T22:13:00.001-08:00

I awake to find Kiernan playing soccer out on the lawn with Sandi on another beautiful post-Thanksgiving day in Virginia.

Saturday, November 26, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Picture of This Day

2011-11-25T20:15:00.001-08:00

What's the perfect activity for the day after Thanksgiving? Why playing on the beach and searching for treasures with Pap-Pap, of course.

Friday, November 25, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Picture of This Day

2011-11-24T20:11:00.000-08:00

Relaxing with Uncle Mason on a beautiful Thanksgiving afternoon.

Thursday, November 24, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Prehistoric Aquarium

2011-11-16T00:17:00.001-08:00

We have a wonderful huge roll of butcher paper. It was a gift from Sandi and Pap-Pap a good while ago. It's good and useful for when we have a couple of boys over and they all feel like drawing together. I love it.

Of late, however, Kiernan just wants to draw on his cheap sketch paper. A couple of days ago he started a project of sea creatures. These are modeled on prehistoric sea reptiles, but they are creatures of his own design. He's ending up with a large piece, yet he does not want to start with a large piece of paper. What he wants me to do is tape together pages from his sketch pad. So I started by carefully taping together six pages. He drew a bunch of creatures. Then I added pages to it and he drew more.Then he asked for three more.

I kind of like the reasoning here. Writing happens page by page. Word by word. Imagine if you were tasked with writing a novel and were given three hundred blank pages, already bound, and told to fill those pages. Thunk, right there on your desk. Intimidating, no? But say you're given a page at a time, or three pages. "Just fill these pages. Go on. You can do that." Well yeah, I can do that!

He's created a poster-sized mural and is excited about adding to it, and he's doing it bit by bit. I love that. I also love that he's making up the names himself, as he goes, but not out of thin air. He's referencing his various dinosaur books and cobbling together names of real animals for his creations. That's how we get such wonderful names as Opthalmodon, Protochelys, and Insectospondylus. These are names he made up, but he did so using research.

Furthermore, he loves to introduce each creature to us, and he knows how big each creature is, and this is consistent and relative. So Opthalmodon is as big as our house. Criptosaurus is two-times as big as our house. And Ceresioclidus is three-times as big as our house. He also allows for depth of image as a function of size portrayal, so he can have a creature that is supposed to be small appear the same size as a larger creature because it is closer on the paper. So Insectasquid might indeed be much smaller than Megaceras, but it appears similar because it is closer to the viewer. We don't know how to draw images in perspective yet, but he envisions it in his mind.

I've said it many times before and I'm sure I'll say it many times to come, I love the way this kid's brain works.

[Here he works on a different project, a page-mural of flying reptiles. I love pictures of him doing stuff like this. Intent and concentrating. Beautiful.]

And after all...

2011-11-15T02:10:00.001-08:00

Tonight as we talked about our days and weekends, we asked Kiernan about his trip to the Science Center. He said his favorite part was the Flying Monsters movie, which surprised and delighted me. I loved that part too. For one thing, it was a 3D movie I actually liked. For another thing, we bonded during it. But there were other parts of the adventure I liked better.

Like what you see above. Here we are in the little aquarium part of the center. We started up on the top floor, out in the open where you get to see the effect of wave motion on the kelp systems of the ocean.

Here's Kiernan observing the tank from that top floor with his friends Oliver and Mason. It's hard to capture what they're seeing with a camera, but here's my best attempt:

Kind of hard to tell through the glare of the tank glass, but there's a mesmerizing school of fish there that kept swirling around in a cyclone-like pattern. Around and around and around. Fascinating and cool, but it felt a bit like watching a fish tank from the top. So Kiernan's friend Oliver insisted we head down "into the tunnel" to better see the fish. We told him we'd get around to it. He persisted, politely. We repeated that we would get to it. He insisted, again politely. We relented.

Once down there it was clear that Oliver was right. It was a much better view. The boys grabbed these little placards showing all the fish and other life that could be seen in the tank. I have a better picture of this on my phone, but this one will have to do.

They parked themselves there and tried to identify every creature they could. Kiernan loves to do this at aquariums. Doesn't matter the size. This one at the Science Center. Various tanks at Disney World. The huge tanks at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The every day tanks at our favorite pet store, Kahoots. Doesn't matter how many times he's done it. He loves to look at the list of what animals should be in the tank and find every one.

I'm so happy he has found a friend who wants to do this too.

How cool is that?

A Day Off

2011-11-11T23:15:00.000-08:00

No school today because of Veteran's Day. One of the moms plans a trip to the California Science Center to see an IMAX movie and kick around for the day. I'm reluctant at first. The Science Center is way downtown and I've got a ton of things to do. Plus, I prefer to preview movies before taking him to a theater to see them. Plus, it's a 3D movie and I hate 3D movies. Plus, I don't think he's gonna like wearing those glasses. Plus, plus, plus.

I do a quick Internet search about the movie, Flying Monsters, and find out it's dinosaur--sorry, flying reptile, not dinosaur--related, and David Attenborough is involved. Kiernan was a pterosaur--Pteranodon to be exact--for Halloween and David Attenborough rocks planets, which should go without saying. I dither for only a moment longer and then commit. Friday at the Science Center with a bunch of seven-year old boys. Oy. Oh well, Dad. Take one for the team.

I don't tell him about the specifics beforehand. I just let him know before bed Thursday night that I've got a surprise for him for Friday. He wakes me up bright and early and his first words are, "Dad! Time to get up! What's the secret surprise?" Through the haze of waking up I tell him we're joining a bunch of his friends at the Science Center and seeing a movie called Flying Monsters but I don't know what it's about. He bounces off the walls as we get ready.

Upon pulling into the parking lot he sees the banner on the side of the building. He exclaims...

"Dad! It's about pterosaurs! I see Dimorphodon! I see Tapejara!"

He can't be more excited and I know I've made the right choice. Yeah, there's a lot of other things I should be doing today. So much to get done. But that exclamation makes it worth it. No matter what else happens this day, no matter that the day will totally wipe me out...it's worth it just getting to hear that tone in his voice.

There is no end to the things this kid will teach me.

Goodnight Africa, Night 111213

2011-10-28T23:45:00.000-07:00

I skipped a couple of nights, it seems. I have excuses. I shall not share them. Instead, here's a field trip picture.

The hand you see is that of one of the educators at this week's 2nd Grade field trip to a place called Tree People. The educator is calling on Kiernan to answer a bunch of questions and thus win the first of five prize rings for his class group. The educator selected him based on his singular ability to smile without teeth...

...and Kiernan had to answer a few questions about what trees need to grow. This would be repeated with other students over the course of the session, but Kiernan was the first to do it.

He aced it.

For the rest of the field trip he got to wear the Seed Ring.

Goodnight Africa! Can't wait to have you back home!

Picture for This Day

2011-10-25T23:40:00.000-07:00

Please excuse the blurriness of this picture, I snapped it late in the afternoon and today was an overcast day.

He got annoyed with me a little before this. Tuesdays after school are Oliver days, that is to say his best friend Oliver comes home with us after school on Tuesdays and the two of them get to frolic like mad for a couple of hours. After Oliver's mom picked him up Kiernan wanted to do a variety of things I said "No" to, like playing with a neighborhood boy and watching TV. As a result of my "No" answers he decided he was bored.

I simultaneously love it and hate it when he says, "I'm bored." I hate it because I just hate that statement. I think I always have been annoyed by it; I subscribe to the lyrics of the late 90s group Harvey Danger, who said in the song "Flagpole Sitta": If you're bored then you're boring...

I was teaching Health to 9th graders around the time that song came out, and so I heard the statement "I'm bored" an awful lot, and my annoyance calcified into full-on hatred. Not for the freshmen, mind you. They were teenagers. What can you expect. No, just for the statement. So when Kiernan says he's bored my knee-jerk reaction is a flash of anger. Or used to be. Nowadays I get a kind of glee out of it, because unlike some parents who feel responsible when their kid is bored and feel guilty and start tap-dancing, I just put it on him. "Figure it out," I say.

I've come to a peace about this. In fact, I kind of like it when he says, "I'm bored." I see it as an opportunity. A little part of me wants him to be bored sometimes. This is a chance for him to figure out what it means to entertain himself. Which, incidentally, he never fails to do.

Deprived of the easy solutions of watching TV or playing with his neighborhood buddy (the latter which he gets to do nearly every day), he sat down to draw. He did so grudgingly at first, of course, but in no time he was lost in what he was doing. What you see in the picture above is part of a monster project he's doing. The specific drawing above is a monster called Sea Terror and it's sort of a mini-project within the monster project, because Sea Terror is going to be huge and is going to take up at least seven sheets of paper. In that picture he's working on the torso and, in case you cannot tell, fully engrossed in what he's doing.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 10

2011-10-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

This week we're lucky to have Nana here for a visit.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 9

2011-10-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

He's not often crazy about having his picture taken, but he's been a real sport posing for these Goodnight Africa pictures every night. So tonight I told him he could make whatever face he wanted to make. "Really?" Surprise filled his voice. "Sure."

Thus, demon spawn.

Oh well. Could have been worse. And it kind of fits my state of mind tonight, truth be told.

October 24, 2011

A Sleep Song

2011-10-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Midnight trip to the restroom. I caution him to avoid tripping as he makes his way to the toilet, because many times when we make this trip he is asleep on his feet.

"I'm awake, Dad." He says this as if reassuring me. Letting me know any concerns I may have are unnecessary. He's got this. He looks at me to let me know he means it, and gives me a little smile.

Then, standing and doing his business he sings...

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.

I have no idea how he knows this song.

He sways a bit at he finishes, and then washes his hands and stumbles off to bed.

Goodnight Africa, Night 8

2011-10-23T23:25:00.001-07:00

Goodnight from the one-week mark.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 7

2011-10-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

An action shot for tonight's Goodnight. He's insisted upon sleeping on the floor all week, and thus must prepare his little sleeping area each night by turning the floor of his room into some kind of pillow bunker.

October 22, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 6

2011-10-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 21, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 5

2011-10-20T20:50:00.000-07:00

A goofball, but a loving and loveable goofball.

Speaking of goofballs...

While Kiernan's dad begged Kiernan to pick a book for nighttime reading, Pap-Pap helpfully stacked all of Kiernan's favorite sleeping-buddy animals on the bed. Thanks Pap-Pap!

Meanwhile, Kiernan chose a book he wanted to read for the morning, a new book his mom had left for him, and set about previewing it. He most emphatically did not want that one to be the actual pre-bed reading book. He wanted to save it for the morning. Uh-huh.

The kid loves reading and is particular. What's a parent to do?

BTW, we got to talk to Wendy tonight. Her safari is going well. She's having a blast with Claire and staying in a lovely lodge and seeing all kinds of amazing animals. Also, shock of shockers, she's eating African food!

Goodnight Mom! We miss you!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 4

2011-10-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Evo, of the Hero Factory, joins Kiernan for tonight's picture.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 3, video bonus

2011-10-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

A quick video version of our new Goodnight Africa series, made shortly after talking to Mommy before she boards her plane for Kilimanjaro. Sorry for the abrupt cutoff, it was a spur-of-the-moment situation and the batteries went kaput. The final translations, of Meow-Meow and Stripey: "We love you!"

The other adult voice you hear on the video belongs to Pap-Pap, btw.

Question of the Day

2011-10-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

"Dad, can I tell you what 'onomatopoeia' means?"

Goodnight Africa, Night 3

2011-10-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

Pap-Pap arrived for a visit today, so they posed for tonight's Goodnight Africa picture together. The red you see is not sunburns, or anger...just poor lighting and photography.

We got to talk to Wendy tonight, incidentally. She called while Kiernan was in the bath and we all got to talk on a stunningly clear phone call from Africa. Calls from our house to her office at CSUN should be so clear. Anyway, she called to say she's doing well and was about to get on a plane for Kilimanjaro and her safari adventure.

Bonus pic:

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Tigerland

2011-10-18T12:54:00.000-07:00

Kiernan is playing soccer again, and it's going really well. A night-and-day difference from the last time he did rec league soccer a couple of years ago. This time he seems to be having fun and actually learning how to play soccer. He's into the games and practices much more, and really focusing on his skills. He also has a really good pair of coaches this time around, which is making a big difference too. It's great to see him taking to a sport like this.

I'm trying a couple new methods of making and uploading a slideshow, since the site I used to use is shutting down in the spring and in preparation of that has disabled the create-a-slideshow option.

Here's test method two.

Tiger Oct15 - slideshow dvd

Looks like number two wins for quality. Unfortunate, since I had to use a website for that whereas I created the first one using Windows Moviemaker on my computer. I'll keep messing with it. For now enjoy the action shots from last Saturday's game!

October 15, 2011

Goodnight Africa, Night 2

2011-10-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

Mr. Clean loves and misses his mom.

October 17, 2011

Africa Update

2011-10-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

Just got off the phone with Wendy. She just arrived in her hotel room in Dar es Salaam. She sounds great, safe and exhausted.

October 17, 2011
1:15pm (PST)

Goodnight Africa, Night 1

2011-10-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

Today we took Wendy to the airport for her two-week trip to Africa. Tanzania, to be exact. She's going there to train some teachers and see a different world. We're very, very excited, of course. And we're also sad and full of concern, of course. We've never been away from her this long. We have no idea how much we'll get to be in contact with her during this time. It's an adventure for us all, to be sure.

So, in that spirit, I've decided to post a Goodnight Africa picture every night. Just a shot of Kiernan right before bed. One of our constants when Wendy travels is that we get on the phone at Kiernan's bedtime. This is important to all of us. Getting to say "I love you" and talk about the day even for a few moments. It's an important thing for all three of us, but it is an especially important thing for her when she's on the road. I know this first hand from the times I've been traveling. Getting to make that little bit of contact, right before he goes to bed...it's huge. I've had a couple of trips when I couldn't do this--my hiking/camping trips in Joshua Tree where there is no cell service whatsoever spring to mind--and I just went to bed feeling like a part of myself was missing.

I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that it won't be possible to extend this tradition to Wendy's Africa trip. I don't know if you people realize this, but Africa is a whole other continent. It's like on the other side of the world or something. It may even be winter there. Who can know?

In the interest of preserving the tradition, or at least a sliver of it, I'm going to post a bedtime image for each night. Hopefully his Mom will get to check these out during her travels, but even if she cannot, she'll be able to see them all when she returns, and know that each night we were wishing her sweet dreams right before our heads hit the pillow.

Keep in mind these will be quick shots, and they will be low quality and sometimes blurry since I refuse to use a flash even in low light because...well...blech. But it's the thought that counts, so no grousing!

Anyway, we put her on the plane at around 2pm, so she's probably about halfway there at this point. To say we're already missing her would be an understatement.

Good night and we love you.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-10-14T12:09:00.000-07:00

Random picture that came up in my wallpaper shuffling program. His expression here is so great and the picture just made me so happy this morning that I decided to post it here in the hopes that it would jump start me to get back to posting more updates.

Look at that face!

From 2007

First Day, Version 5.0

2011-08-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

First day of second grade. Second Grade! What? When did that happen?

Oh. Today.

I spent the last two weeks praying for the first day of school. Now it's here and suddenly I feel lost in my house. What am I going to do without somebody to show me dinosaur pictures and quiz me about their sizes and types for the next eight hours? I miss my boy.

Thank goodness for Monkey. She's the cat we're fostering for a friend of mine and she came and snuggled up next to me as I was cooling off from my run this morning. This is particularly sweet as she only got here a couple of days ago and has spent most of her time under the bed trying to figure out what this Murawski family thing is all about. She tends to only come out when Wendy--The Cat Whisperer--is home. So, it was nice. Bittersweet as it reminds me of Cali, and how empathetic she could be. I really miss her. It's nice to have a cat in the house again. I'll post some pictures of her when doing so doesn't reveal the underside of my bed.

So. Our boy is a Second Grader. Do you capitalize that? I never know.

It's Mom's first day of school too, and we're very proud of her too. She got us up and out the door early, anticipating that dropoff would be crowded and finding a parking space would be tough. Also she wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to carry the fifteen bags of supplies to the car. Those are supplies for Kiernan's class, incidentally. The school sends home teacher wish/need lists hoping that parents will grab a couple extra things as they do their back-to-school shopping. So that the teachers don't have to pay for school supplies from their own salaries. I mean, we can't have our tax dollars supplying our classrooms. No. That would be foolish.

I'm glad Wendy wants to contribute. I really am. I believe in that. But she doesn't just get a couple of the things on the list. Oh no. She makes that list her business. I can always tell there's gonna be some damage when she gets home from such a shopping trip and refuses help carrying stuff into the house. "Hey honey, I'll be right out to help--" "No. No. NO! I'm good. I've got it. Really." The woman really shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a dollar store.

Wendy was right to plan ahead by leaving early for the first day, today. It was a total zoo at the school. It felt like a concert, the place was so packed. Kiernan was cool until he lined up with his class and prepared to do the Pledge of Allegiance, which I like that the classes did outside. Every school day in Kindergarten started with the Pledge, outside at lineup. For some reason the First Grade classes did the Pledge inside every day, so I rarely saw it. I like it outside. I like to participate in that.

At any rate, he started to get a bit concerned before the Pledge. I think the weight of becoming a second grader was finally becoming real to him. A new classroom. A new teacher. Some new friends. His class roster looks great; it looks like a good class. Luckily his friend Oliver is with him. It was just that moment. That moment when you realize you're crossing a threshold. You could see it in his eyes. I suppose we'll be seeing that in his eyes every year. Some of it is fear of the unknown, the new. Along with the understanding that moving forward means leaving something behind.

I saw it last year. And the year before. I'm thankful for it. And it breaks my heart a little bit every time.

Grow, big boy. We love you and are so very proud of you.

Picture For This Day

2011-07-18T03:46:00.000-07:00

Swimming at his friend Oliver's house. Mom let him steal a few extra moments of fun at the end of their Saturday playdate. Is there any question why Mom's the best?

Saturday, July 16, 2011
Calabasas, CA

Pictures of This Weekend

2011-07-17T23:03:00.000-07:00

Wendy took Kiernan and a couple of friends to the movies this weekend. The movie they saw...

...was the Winnie the Pooh movie. They all had a blast.

Of course, the movie Wendy wishes she could have taken them to was...

...some other movie about a wizard or somesuch. I don't know. I've only read up to the Alcatraz book, so I can't say. Luckily the boys were fine with Pooh.

Where was I during all of this? I was helping a buddy of mine move a bunch of stuff across the Valley for a yard sale this weekend. So I missed the trip to the Pooh movie. Drat. Don't feel too sorry for me though. I did get to see the hugest sunflowers of all time, as they lived at the home of the folks that were keeping the yard sale stuff.

Also, don't be too concerned for Wendy. I sent her off to see that wizard movie late this afternoon. So all is well.

Night of the Author

2011-07-06T11:53:00.000-07:00

I've taken too much time off, so it's time to get TCK moving again. I'll start with a quick post about Author's Night.

One of the end-of-the-year activities at First Grade was Author's Night, where the families were invited to see samples of writing from over the course of the year. We came in and found our First Grader there at his desk with a shoebox full of his writing. This was especially exciting as writing is not his favorite thing in the world to do, to put it mildly, so to have a chance to sit with him at his desk while he paged through the stories and letters he wrote over the course of the year was pure pleasure.

Later he would take us over to the Writer's Corner to show us more of his writing that had been posted in the classroom.

After that all the parents went to the auditorium to wait for the kids to come in and sing a couple of songs to us, including "So Long, Farewell" from Sound of Music complete with hand signs. Great.

Finally we all went out to the lunch area and had a huge potluck. I didn't even have to cook, as Wendy decided to make some of her amazing cupcakes.

One more shot of the author with his beautiful mom.

May the Slides Be with You

2011-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

A couple Sundays ago, after he attended a showing of the children's show Ferdinand the Bull by Creative PlayGround at the Theatricum Botanicum, Kiernan stopped off with his mom at our local bowling alley for a fundraiser run by a friend of mine for a group called Yes iCan (International Child Abuse Network). We attended the event last year, and had a great time supporting a great cause. Unfortunately I couldn't make it this year, but luckily for me Wendy and Kiernan went to represent our family.

They didn't have time to bowl, but Kiernan got to meet some folks he recognized from a long time ago, and a galaxy far, far away...

Stay Cool

2011-06-22T23:55:00.000-07:00

Today Kiernan received his yearbook, on this his last Wednesday of First Grade. He came running out of the classroom to greet me and his friend Oliver poked his head out the door and yelled, "Kiernan! Miss White wants to see you!"

Kiernan went running back in and emerged a few moments later with his yearbook. I promptly put it in his backpack and he asked if we could go play at the play structure, which is something we let him do almost every day for a short period of time. It's good to blow off a little steam after school.

We headed over to the play area and he pulled out his yearbook and started reading it. In no time at all he was joined by friends, the kids he plays with after school most days.

I pulled out the book I'm currently reading, and tried to get a few pages turned. I found that I couldn't. What he was doing was too interesting. So I got a couple pictures and listened as surreptitiously as I could.

Little things like this are so great to me. Won't make much sense to most people, but they just tickle me. He was going through the yearbook, page by page, methodically. One of his friends wanted him to jump to the pages for their four classes of first graders. Kiernan didn't. Instead he went page by page. "These are the eighth graders he said," studying the page. He noticed a familiar face. "She's been in our class before!"

How to explain why this tickles me so? I have this thing about delayed gratification. I understand getting your yearbook and jumping to the index, finding your name and looking up the page numbers. I get that. But I prefer the anticipation of going through the book page by page. Wondering if you'll see yourself, or someone you know. He was taking his time. Finding the older siblings of his friends on the playground and calling them over. "Jennifer! I found your brother! Come look!" "Jaden! Here's your brother!" Remarking about various teachers he knew and kids he'd seen here and there.

Eventually he got to his class, and was excited about a candid picture of himself with a couple of his friends from another classroom. I just loved watching the process. The way he took his time.

Picture of This Day

2011-06-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

On the last Tuesday of First Grade, Kiernan arrived at school to find a bunch of his friends inside the classroom helping the teacher by decorating signs for the fair/festival to take place on the last day of school, Friday. Note the cardboard boxes in the back of the room. Teachers packing up for the end of the year.

I love how he walked in before school, saw his classmates working on something, and just jumped right in. Usually this precious time before school is for running around outside.

June 21, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-06-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

Today is the last Monday of First Grade. My goodness, where did this year go?

June 20, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-05-23T23:08:00.000-07:00

Today we started swim class, our yearly pre-summer ritual. He's back in the class with his friend Sam, who you can see in the background. It was really cool to see Kiernan jump right back in the pool and pick up just about where he left off. Also cool to hear him telling his swim teachers what he already knew, and what he remembered doing in the last swim class. The kid knows how to self-advocate. I love that.

We need to do more swimming this summer. Also need to buckle down and learn to ride that bike at last.

May 23, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-05-22T23:56:00.000-07:00

With his pal Oliver at the birthday party for his friends Max and Rachel.

Oh, what the heck, here's some more action shots from the party, held at a little gym party place. Texted to me from Wendy and made into a mini slideshow for your amusement.

Woodland Hills, CA
May 22, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-05-21T23:59:00.000-07:00

Wendy texted me this picture today, with the following caption,

End of a day with Mom.

Two things to note in this picture, other than the huge smile. A new Bionicle. And dinner. Appropriate given that today is supposed to be the end of civilization.

Mommy is the best!

May 21, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-21T23:20:00.000-07:00

On the bus home from the airport playing Cut the Rope or Angry Birds or something. Two peas in a pod.

Los Angeles, CA
May 10, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of this during the visit.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

Cousin Quinn watching the musicians.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

Sharing Mom's lap with his newest cousin, Quinn.

Denver, CO
May 7, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Kiernan's Uncle Mitch and Grandaddy Jake laying down the funk on Mother's Day.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-05-16T23:59:00.000-07:00

Today I volunteered to help the first graders with a huge project.

May 16, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-15T23:46:00.000-07:00

Had to pick him up from school early the other day. He was happy to see me, and then went right back to what he was doing. Gotta finish the book first, Dad.

May 12, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

Ah! This one is a mite better. I was annoyed at my camera angle in yesterday's picture, because it almost totally missed Aunt JoAnne. This one isn't great, but it's a bit better and gives you a feel for what I was missing. Mom on her sketchbook while her son was on his, this time with his cousin.

I just like JoAnne and her sketchbook. It's one of those cool things you see at these get-togethers. She makes no big deal about this. She's just there, quietly putting her mental pictures to paper.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

I love this picture, but I'm really annoyed that I didn't get a better angle on it, on that includes Aunt JoAnne over there on the right. I didn't notice it at the time, but now I can see her sketch pad in the shot with Dorian's sketch pad. I like that image. Sadly, I missed it.

Oh well, at least I got Uncle Mitch and Kiernan looking on with interest.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

With his cousins Dorian, Quinn, and Kelsey.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

Uncle Mitch joins us for one of our favorite rituals, reading right before going to bed.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 8, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-05-10T23:12:00.000-07:00

Before leaving for the airport.

Colorado Springs, CO
May 10, 2011

Mountain Boy: Activate!

2011-05-09T23:57:00.000-07:00

After the whirlwind of meeting Cousin Quinn and celebrating Grandaddy--never know how many d's to put in that--Jake's birthday, got down to the serious business of maximizing their playing time together. Not easy, since Dorian and company were set to head out to the airport this very afternoon. The boys did the logical thing and went out and played tennis on the mountainside driveway of the Weichel manse.

Here's how it went. An adult, usually Mitch but sometimes Aunt Jodee, would stand at the garage door and gently hit a ball to either Kiernan or Dorian. The boy would then hit the ball as hard as he could, in whatever direction he could. Another adult, usually me, standing down below the driveway would then run and get the ball and throw it back. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

This will probably come as no surprise, but the boys refused to tire of this game. Which fact was a source of constant and abiding joy to us adults.

Later, after Dorian left Kiernan discovered a new game: throwing pine cones off the back deck. This entailed venturing out into the wilderness below the deck to collect said pine cones. This was accomplished with no small amount of trepidation as Grandaddy Jake and Aunt Jodee were not ones to ever pass up an opportunity to tell Kiernan that they'd seen something like fifty bears wandering around the neighborhood just a couple of days ago. This freaked him out just enough that I had to constantly accompany him on these excursions, but not enough to deter him from venturing out to collect pine cones.

One time I was able to hang back long enough to get a picture.

Later that day we all sat down for one of Omi's excellent meals, and Jake brought out one of his gadgets, this little 20 questions thingy called the 20Q that guesses what noun you're thinking of with uncanny accuracy. We all had a blast with this little doo-dad, including Kiernan.

Incidentally, just between you and me, there is a 20Q app, available from the iTunes App Store. I'm not telling Wendy and Kiernan about this. It's hard enough to get them away from the iPad as it is.

Picture of This Day

2011-05-08T23:14:00.000-07:00

On the occasion of Grandaddy Jake's birthday party. Three young cousins posing for a picture. This is what I imagine is going on...

Quinn: Whoa. Hey guys. Um...There's an asteroid headed for Earth and it's about to hit us!

Dorian: What's that Quinn? An asteroid? I'm totally listening dude.

Kiernan: Ixnay ethay asteroidway alktay, ellasfay. Mom wants us to smile, let's mess with her head.

Happy Birthday, Jake.

May 8, 2011
Colorado Springs, CO

Picture of This Day

2011-05-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

This is the day Kiernan met his young cousin, Quinn. Here he is, demonstrating the proper way to deal with dandelions for the little one.

May 7, 2011
Denver, CO

Picture For This Day

2011-05-06T23:56:00.000-07:00

I love this picture. It's a morning-after shot of a new tooth space. He lost another upper tooth in the middle of the night. Luckily we found it under his pillow.

April 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

Another shot from the bookstore in Williamsburg. My culture warrior.

April 30, 2011
Williamsburg, VA

Picture For This Day

2011-05-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

One day in Williamsburg Kiernan and I spent a couple of hours hanging out in the bookstore while the women went shopping. He spent the bulk of his time reading a Shel Silverstein book called Where the Sidewalk Ends. He was engrossed in it. Often he would start laughing at a poem and want to share it with me. This was one he wanted to read to me. I was so proud. My son loves poetry!

He read this poem "US" to me and it just made me happy to be sitting there in the bookstore, having my son read to me a poem that had spoken to him. Beautiful.

Suddenly a word caught my ear.

"Wait," I said. "You like this because of the 'He has to pee' line, don't you?"

He got that impish look and smiled broadly.

I'm so proud.

April 30, 2011
Williamsburg, VA

Picture For This Day

2011-05-03T23:39:00.000-07:00

Here he is with his Uncle Mason. I took this picture surreptitiously through that little space in the headrest because sometimes Kiernan ducks out of pictures.

April 24, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-05-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

We headed up to Williamsburg for one last trip to the Cheese Shop when Wendy got back from work in Baltimore. Look at those fabulous women! Look at them!

April 30, 2011
Williamsburg, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-05-01T23:24:00.000-07:00

Switching planes at Dulles on our way back to California. Luckily we had plenty of time to make our way to Terminal C, because the hallway was decorated with the Solar System. We got off the inter-terminal train and walked with the masses like a herd of sheep until Kiernan saw the pictures. Suddenly he said, "The Solar System! I want to see this!"

He dropped back out of the crowd and took his time, going picture to picture. I'm up ahead, tapping my foot because I'm Mr. Nervous Traveler. Happily for him, his mom is Mrs. Savvy Traveler and was totally into the moment.

Look at them. How cool are they?

May 1, 2011
Washington D.C.

Picture of This Day

2011-04-30T20:38:00.000-07:00

Two great things about today. 1) Mom's back with the family after doing some good work in Baltimore. 2) Mom and Dad get lunch at The Cheese Shop in Williamsburg.

Hold up...let me throw in a third thing: 3) We got to share said lunch with [sister/aunt] Hope and Nana.

Happy times.

BTW, I begged him to give me a decent "normal" smile for the picture. He eventually did. But in the end I thought, this is a blog for him. Might as well honor his wishes.

April 30, 2011
Williamsburg, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-29T23:27:00.000-07:00

Out and about with Nana on this day, we went to her favorite garden store to get a couple of plants and see a huge fish. I mentioned this fish in a PoTD from a visit last year, when we again went to Ken Matthews' Garden Center with my mom. This is one cool garden center nursery store place. Kiernan was reluctant to go to this place, as he is almost always reluctant to run any errand not involving buying him a Bionicle. But I kept mentioning the gigantic koi. He didn't recall until we drove up and parked.

"Oh! I remember this place!"

He loved seeing the fish, which you can see in the photo above. See that big whitish fish right at his elbow in the photo? The big fish is beyond that, and slightly orange, and about forty percent larger than that white fish. That white koi swims. The orange big one...he cruises.

April 29, 2011
Grafton, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-28T23:25:00.000-07:00

Hanging with Pop.

April 28, 2011
Seaford, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

Once more up in Lego Paradise. This time with Pap-Pap.

April 27, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

Kiernan conveys his feelings on me taking pictures of him as he plays this morning with Sandi in Super Terrific Upstairs Lego Adventureland.

Actually, now that I think about it, I believe he learned this face from her! I'm certain I've seen her convey certain of her opinions on various of my doings in a similar fashion.

April 26, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Adventures in Eating Out

2011-04-26T23:31:00.000-07:00

Today my dad got a bee in his bonnet to try out a new restaurant called Hibachi Grill. He loves Japanese restaurants, or rather, he loves Japanese restaurants where the chef cooks at your table. He wants nothing to do with sushi, which is my favorite food, and this is fine because his wife and other son want nothing to do with sushi either. Neither does my son. Or my wife. So off to Hibachi Grill we went.

I tried pointing out that the ad seemed to me a bit--in the parlance of my brother--sketch. I mean it describes a restaurant that is a "Sushi Buffet" that also has "a HIBACHI and GRILL section where you can select your favorites and we will cook them for you on the HIBACHI at no additional charge." How about that? A restaurant that will cook your food for you at no additional charge. Pretty good! Or at least I thought so until I flipped the circular ad coupon from which I got this copy to the back side where the prices were. Guess how much for dinner at Hibachi Grill Sushi Buffet. Go ahead and guess. I'll wait.

Give up?

$7.99.

Oooooo-kay. Yes Virginia, I realize we are in Virginia and things aren't supposed to cost as much as they do in California, but eight bucks for a sushi buffet? Really? Um...here's my thing. There are things I will skimp on. Things I'll look for a deal on. Sushi is not one of those things. Why? Because I understand that sushi grade fish costs a certain amount, and if somebody is charging eight bucks for a buffet of it, they're gonna have to cut costs somewhere. And that somewhere is eventually going to be on the quality and freshness of the raw food I'm about to ingest. No thanks. Sushi is a calculated risk as it is. It's something I dearly love, but it is inherently a risk to eat raw fish. I don't need to up the ante.

But, what the heck, Dad wanted to try something new. I figured I'd just steer clear of the sushi.

Turned out not to be an issue. The place wasn't open for business yet, as we found when we got to the front door. Puts out coupons as happy as you please. Coupons that expire in four days. Can't be bothered to be open for business yet, though. Maybe consider giving us a clue that you're not open yet in your ad. Maybe? Just something to consider, Mr. Hibachi.

So Sandi and Pap-Pap scrambled and came up with a new plan, a different Japanese place with Hibachi cooking at which they'd eaten in the past. Kiernan, for his part, was pretty excited. He figured for a brief moment that the closed restaurant meant we would all have to settle for his favorite place, Burger King. Sorry buddy...no way.

We headed to the new place and had a great time. The top picture is Kiernan and Mason watching the antics of our chef with delight, with my dad watching them.

Before you judge this to be just another of my crappy pictures, let me lend some context. This is the moment in the meal when the cool hibachi chef paints a smiley face with cooking oil from his squeeze bottle on his grill then sets a flame to it. WOOSH! Next...

When those flames kicked up, a split-second after the initial surprise Kiernan slid out of his seat and backed away from the table. We're talking lightning speed here folks. He nearly wound up in the lap of the nice lady sitting at the hibachi table behind him. She smiled and took it in stride, offering to let him join her party. He declined, wedging himself behind the protective shoulder of Pap-Pap.

Overall it was a very nice meal, and a great time.

***

Addendum:

This morning we started our day by going to a lovely little donut place in Gloucester, a new place that is one of those new local gems that makes something amazing. It was in a long strip mall that was mostly empty but for three open businesses. All other spaces were vacant. What three stores were open? Well, there's the donut shop, Sunrise Donuts, as I alluded to a moment ago. The others...well...if I didn't know I was in Virginia already...

Anyway, the donuts really were good. Especially if you love actually tasting the lard when you're eating a donut. Mine was a mocha cream donut, and I kept wondering if it was also cream filled. Nope. That's the lard you're tasting. But seriously, it was a sweet little place with a lovely young lady working who was very, very helpful. Unfortunately unlike the ladies at the unlikely ice cream shop/convenience store near Dad & Sandi's house, she could not make coffee to save her life. Oof. Worst cup of coffee ever. However, the great sign on the carafe made up for it.

Ha Ha! They don't know how to use apostrophes in Gloucester! Bunch of rubes!

A sign like this really is a gem. It makes my day a little bit. When you see a sign like this, you don't expect you're going to see a better one in the same day. Remember when I was talking about finding out the Hibachi Grill wasn't yet open for business? We found out when we saw this sign on the door:

Ha Ha again! Funny sign. Yes it's wrong to make fun of people who clearly aren't yet proficient in English...but still, how funny is that sign! Rubes and foreigners...gotta love em!

But wait. Remember how I talked about reading from the circular coupon ad thingy? Remember how I riffed on them putting out coupons without yet being ready for business? Remember my mini-rant about sushi buffet prices and my little joke about no extra charge for cooking your food? I read and re-read that little coupon thingy. I pored over it looking for clues about the restaurant. It seems I missed one teensy little detail.

Right there, in bright yellow letters. At the very top of the ad.

My apologies, sweet donut girl. My apologies, folks who are about to open a new business. Your little grammar foibles have nothing on my idiocy. You have excuses for not being able to write perfect English. For my inability to read it, I have none.

Legos in the Attic

2011-04-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

How cool it is to go on a trip for spring break and get to visit some grandparents? Pretty cool. How cool is it to get to have a borderline epic playdate during this visit to said grandparents? Awesomely cool. That was today. Awesomely cool.

This morning Ben's dad delivered him unto Pap-Pap and Sandi's house for his playdate with his old pal, Kiernan. Ben is one of Sandi's former kindergarten students, one of a few kids Kiernan met and befriended when we visited last year and joined Sandi's class for an after school excursion to a strawberry farm. Kiernan remembered a couple of those kids, but he remembered Ben most vividly, because Ben was the one into Bionicles.

The things that bring us together.

The first thing that happened in today's playdate, once the boys were reintroduced and their respective Bionicles were acquainted with one another, was the unveiling of Super Terrific Upstairs Lego Adventureland. Okay, that's not really what they call it around here, but I'm calling it that because I'm writing this. If they want to correct me, they can leave a comment below. Go ahead. I dare you. HA!

Super Terrific Upstairs Lego Adventureland--just rolls off the tongue doesn't it--is a little space my dad built into the attic area of the house for my brother Mason, when Mason was a kid. It's a cozy little area with a light and a fan, and a skylight. It also has about a million Lego pieces in seven hundred or so bins. The picture at the top of this post shows present-day Mason in said space with his nephew later on during today's playdate. You see Kiernan? See the outline of a dark square behind him? That's the door to STULA. Here's a shot of the little space from across the room and downstairs.

It's a pretty cool space, though somewhat tough to make out here. It exists over the kitchen (if you look down in the lower lefthand corner you can see the fridge door open) and can only be accessed by using the attic dropdown ladder in the hall. What you cannot see here is that Sandi and Dad have placed a tallish stepstool in the middle of the kitchen so that an adult could, by standing on the top step, peer into the space and watch the kids at work. That's one way I know it's a cool space.

Another way I know is from hearing about the exclamations of joy and incredulity that issued forth from Ben and Kiernan when Pap-Pap led them up there for the first time. Things like "This is the coolest place ever!" and "I want to live here forever!" were apparently said. I say "apparently" because I was sound asleep during the early hours of this playdate. I know what you're thinking. Lazy, right? In my defense I was up until about five in the morning recording a podcast. So I was out cold for a reason.

Okay. That was weak. Who am I kidding? I'd have been out no matter what. Sleeping in is one of the perks of visiting grandparents that you never think is going to be as valuable as people intimate it is. But it is. Oh yes...it is.

The important thing here is not my sleeping habits but the fact that I did indeed wake up in time to get a few pictures of the gang of two still enjoying Mason's Lego Attic Hideaway. Later when I returned from a long walk I got the top picture of Mason enjoying it with them too. The neat thing about this later visit to the attic was how Kiernan reacted to it. When I got back from my walk I noticed him down on the floor in the living room, playing with some other Lego pieces with Sandi. I glanced up to the attic window opening over the kitchen and saw Ben up there and heard my brother's voice coming from up there too. I opened my mouth to ask what was up and noticed my son's brow was furrowed. Sandi smiled, her eyes wide. Just then Kiernan called out something about going down to the beach now, and I could tell implicit in his voice was a sense of "at long last!" I don't think there was a response from the attic. Kiernan's brow furrowed more deeply and he made a gesture of clear frustration.

I waited to see what would happen. These are the times that try a six-year old's soul. Especially his. He has trouble managing it sometimes during a playdate, or on the playground at school, when his friends don't want to play what he wants to play and just keep doing what they want to do. This can lead to meltdowns. Anger. Gnashing of teeth.

Not this time.

After a few moments he disappeared from the room and I heard him climbing up the stairs and making his way back up into the attic where he reintegrated himself into the Lego playing (as you can, again, see from the first picture). I was pretty proud of him. He'd had some time of sulking, a bit of impatience and frustration, but in the end he didn't take his ball and go home. He worked it out. I love seeing that.

And karma smiled upon him, for in short order the whole crew headed down to the beach.

When I got back from driving Mason to work, I found Kiernan down at the beach playing with Ben in the little stream that leads from the neighborhood pond down to the York River. They had built a dam and were busy sending meteors down from the heavens to the sand houses they had built in the shadow of said dam. I could paste a number of panels from the best comic of all time, Calvin & Hobbes, to illustrate my absolute joy at watching him play like this, but I think you get the idea. Imagination ruled the day.

Not long after this the warning was given that the playdate was about to draw to an end. Even with a generous extension allowed by Ben's father, one that took the playdate up to the dinner hour, the boys were still insistent that they had not had enough time to play this day. Hours playing with Legos, a break for lunch, followed by hours playing with sand was simply not enough. They had to return to the Super Terrific Upstairs Lego Adventureland for one more round of building! This had to be done! But no, Sandi and Pap-Pap held firm. There would be no time for another round. By the time we got back up to the house and hosed off both boys, Ben's dad would surely have arrived for pickup.

In a last ditch attempt to sway them, Ben decided to dance.

This dance went on for a long time. A long time. At times hilarious. At times touching. It expressed one child's struggle against a universe that is about to deny him play. Finally his companion had to run in and interrupt. Give it up dude. Play while you can.

Eventually the boys got back down to playing--this time trying to dig an extensive network of tunnels with Pap-Pap's help--for a few more minutes until Ben's dad, inevitably arrived. As he made his way down to us at the beach, word reached the boys. They reacted by greeting him with open arms and showers of gratitude.

You didn't believe that did you?

Picture of This Day

2011-04-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

After finding his Easter basket on Sunday. First things first: read the book that was in the basket.

Happy Easter!

April 24, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-23T21:18:00.000-07:00

With Sandi and Pap-Pap after the egg hunt on Saturday at Denbigh Prebyterian Church.

April 23, 2011
Denbigh, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-22T22:45:00.000-07:00

At the bookstore today. Kiernan asked if he could climb into Pap-Pap's lap to read for a bit. How's that magazine now, Dad?

April 22, 2011
Williamsburg, VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-21T22:39:00.000-07:00

On the airplane, on the way to Virginia. Assembling his new Lego set.

April 21, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-04-20T22:33:00.000-07:00

Another Spring Break day, another playdate, more flying through the air. This time at a really cool park in our area.

Here he is the moment before, preparing to take flight.

April 20, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-04-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Spring Break playdate with his friend Oliver (in the background) at his friends Max and Rachel's house. They had a blast.

April 19, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-04-18T23:19:00.000-07:00

Drawing on the floor of the kitchen.

April 16, 2011

Laser Dad

2011-04-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we attended the birthday party of one of Kiernan's friends. The party was held at a local laser tag place called Ultrazone, a place that has a bunch of arcade games--witness Kiernan riding a fake motorcycle in one above--and three comically tiny rooms for pizza and cake eating, as well as a black-lit arena for laser tag matches. We've attended birthday parties there a couple of times, and Kiernan loves it.

First the kids are shepherded into a dark room and given instructions on how to play the game by the Game Master assigned to their party. These young men and women are really, really good at their jobs. They handle kids expertly, mixing in the requisite dumb birthday party jokes with the necessary rules of the facility ("You run, you're done" for example). After this the kids are separated into teams and go into a staging area where they get their vests and unhook their laser blasters. Finally they pour into the arena and start attacking each other.

Parents are allowed to play to, although the last few rounds I've preferred to be a witness only. Something about pointing a gun, even a fake one, at my kid seemed oogy to me. Last time we were there, probably a year ago, I just wanted to shadow Kiernan as best I could anyway. He seemed so fragile then. He still does in some ways, but strapping that vest to him this time brought home in a new way how much he has grown in a year.

At Ultrazone the kids have a match, then go out to see their scores, play more arcade games, cram into the tiny rooms for pizza, play more arcade games, then cram back into the tiny rooms for cake. After that they head back into the arena for their final match. In last year's final match a bunch of dads I didn't know decided to play, huddled to the side of the little black prep room and strategized, then dominated the kids. They basically camped at the opposing bases and kept knocking them out. For my part I was just saying, "Really guys? That's what you're going to do? At a kid's party? Jerks." But the techno music was pounding far too loudly for them to hear me. And really, a bunch of jerk dads who would do that aren't gonna give a hoot what sensitive stay-at-home dad thinks.

At this party, though, I knew all the parents and a couple of them encouraged me to play. One of them, we'll call her Julie, called me a chicken. Actually did the whole chicken wing thing and made chicken noises. Right. Like that's gonna work.

It did.

I played and I loved it! I was on Kiernan's team and I had a blast. I worked with him at times, stalking through the semi-darkness and watching his back. Other times he went off on his own and I did too. There was no base-camping (I think incidents like last year caused Ultrazone to reshape its scoring so that any one player can only knock out an opposing base once). It was really cool. Our team lost, badly, but it was really cool.

At the end you check your vest's digital readout to find out your codename and head out to the arcade area to see your score. What is that you ask? What was my codename?

Punisher.

You have been warned.

No pics from inside the arena because it was too dark and camera flashes would have been annoying.

[NOTE: I doubt this will interest most of you, but I've started writing a weekly column for a video gaming site I frequent called Quarter to Three. It's the same site for which I do the weekly podcast. This column is titled "Weekly Little Big Planet" and it's basically a chance for me to talk about what I've been playing, and often--but not always--how Wendy and Kiernan feel about it. If you're interested in video games, or my writing, check it out. Be warned, though, the language there is more likely to be more adult and NSFW than it is here.]

[UPDATE: In the column that comes out this Thursday I talk a bit about the trip to Ultrazone described in this post here.]

A Break from the Madness

2011-04-16T23:50:00.000-07:00

After spending Saturday morning at his friend's birthday party--you'll hear about that tomorrow--Kiernan needed to unwind with an impromptu playdate with his nextdoor friend Raudel. They did their usual Bionicle battles, but at one point they took a break and Kiernan started reading to his friend from one of his magazines.

Kiernan loves getting magazines. He gets so excited when one arrives in the mail, and I find this so enlightening. I love getting magazines too, especially my Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country, but sometimes I can view getting them as a chore. This is a weird thing to say, but some of the reading can be dense--I'm looking at you, New Yorker--and I'm a fairly slow reader. Kiernan's joy at getting a magazine in the mail is so pleasing to me. He gets a couple of them. One called Ask that was a gift from Renee. And the one he's reading above, National Geographic Kids, that was a gift from Nana and Pop.

I was cruising by the two boys, carrying laundry or something and not realizing they'd taken a reading break when I heard Kiernan read the following,

"Europe's six smallest countries could fit inside Rhode Island, with room to spare."

I love that my boy has this side to him. All these sides to him. Waging Bionicle war with his friends. Wrestling like a maniac. Pillow fighting. And taking a break to stimulate the mind.

Best kid ever.

Picture of This Day

2011-04-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

After school the other day, again playing with his friends from the neighborhood. They all decided it was time to do some serious drawing.

BTW, thanks to Sandi for this super great gigantic roll of butcher paper.

April 14, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-04-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Another shot from yesterday's fundraising carnival. This one without the semi-veiled political commentary, but with his good friend Oliver in transit through the bouncy house structure.

April 9, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-04-09T23:19:00.000-07:00

Goodness but does this boy love bouncy houses. In any configuration.

Today was the annual carnival fundraiser for Kiernan's school. As you may or may not know, it is necessary to hold events like this many times a year in order to be able to pay for such non-necessary things as art and music at your kid's public school. I could go into all the things our tax dollars are being spent on instead of education, but I don't want to turn this sweet little blog into something political.

Annnnyyyyywayyyy...Kiernan had a blast and the whale-ton of work by the parents just might save a teacher's job in the end. So there's that.

April 9, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-04-08T23:12:00.000-07:00

I recently worked on a project where I went through a lot of old pictures. I'm posting some of the ones I found during that process intermittently.

Here is Kiernan, in front of our next-door neighbor's house. Being helpful. Pulling weeds. And helpfully preparing to re-weed the yard.

January, 2006

Picture of This Day

2011-04-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Yeah, this is a terrible looking picture. That's gonna happen. Oh well. I had one of the settings on my camera all wrong. This will be a theme over the next couple of days. Fact is I need a camera smarter than I am.*

Anyway, Kiernan had a playdate after school this day. I brought both him and his friend Roberto home from school and they had a blast. This was at Wendy's behest. She wants him to have more playdates, and she's right to want this. Thank goodness she's good at setting these things up, because I for sure as heck am not. I can execute the playdate proper, but I'm terrible at working out the scheduling.

Here you see Kiernan and Roberto building a structure for Bionicles using the blocks Nee-Nee gave Kiernan many years ago. Cool to see the durability of this gift here.

April 7, 2011

*Apologies to Mitch.

Picture of This Day

2011-04-06T23:06:00.000-07:00

Assembling his Bionicles for the big showdown.

April 6, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-04-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

Another blast from the past. I considered trying to explain this, but I gave up on that. I figured if you know me, you'll get it.

January 2005.

Turning Gears

2011-04-04T23:18:00.000-07:00

Today after I picked Kiernan up from school I let him play for an extra half-hour because his mom needed a little time at home. We worked on his room this weekend setting up some new shelves, and she wanted to surprise him with the finished product. So I let him play and then we headed over to Trader Joe's to get a few staples.

Once at the store I told him he could bring in a book if he wanted to. He didn't respond, so I repeated myself.

"You can bring in a book if you like. Or two."

"Nah. I just want to think."

Sometimes I look at him in the back seat and see him staring off into the distance. I'll ask if he's okay and he'll affirm that he is. He's just thinking. I find this fascinating. My little Einstein. New theories to explain our existence are percolating in there, I'm sure of it.

Fast-forward to dinner. Wendy was out for a birthday dinner with Renee, so it was a boys' night. We did a little homework and talked a bit about the school day, just enjoying each other's company. We fell into silence as Kiernan read one of his Bionicle chapter books and I wrote in my journal. Reading is permitted if it's only two people at the dinner table.

Suddenly Kiernan burst out with a statement.

"You know that Calvin & Hobbes where Calvin says 'What's the difference between a garden slug and a two-inch long, living booger?'"

I'm surprised I don't have whiplash from the way I had jerked my head back and forth in reaction.

"What?"

He repeated the question. Keep in mind, this came out of nowhere. Out of a delightful silence in which we were reading and quietly enjoying dinner. He was not reading a Calvin & Hobbes book at the time and frankly I can't remember the last time he was reading one. It was not a gentle observation either. It came out in full-bore excitement. That is to say, loudly.

"Um..." was my next response.

"Well," he continued. "I thought of a difference! A garden slug has two eyes up here." He gestured to the back of his head. "And a booger doesn't!"

Ah. Good point, my little Einstein.

Picture For This Day

2011-04-03T23:14:00.000-07:00

We just had the good fortune of having Gammy in town for a couple of days. She returned home last night and we're already going through a bit of withdrawal. So I'm posting a picture I love from a visit to Arizona from a few years ago as a way of coping.

We miss you Gammy!

Phoenix, AZ
December 2005

Picture of This Day

2011-04-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

After finding his Easter basket on Sunday. First things first: read the book that was in the basket.

Happy Easter!

April 24, 2011
Gloucester Pt., VA

Picture of This Day

2011-04-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

Gammy took Kiernan to the park during her visit today. He made some new friends, as per usual.

Here he is sticking the landing

April 2, 2011

Fool's Advice

2011-04-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

It is April Fool's Day and I'm at Kiernan's school for after school pickup, letting Kiernan play with his friends as I am wont to do. As they are wont to do, they have just taken a break from freeze tag, or cheese-touch tag, or zombie tag--whatever they're playing--to snack from their lunch bags. At one point I hear Kiernan's voice ring out.

"There's an insect!"

All of his friends look where he is pointing.

"April Fool's!" His voice is filled with glee.

His little friend Jana, a cool little girl for whom the word "spunky" was invented, corrects him.

"No. That's a made-you-look." She pauses for a second. "You have to fool people."

I don't have a transcript for what follows, sadly, but it is basically a breakdown of what does and does not constitute an April Fool's joke. Unfortunately, I cannot say consensus is reached.

Happy April Fool's Day. The above story is not an April Fool's prank. Or a made-you-look.

Picture of This Day

2011-03-31T23:44:00.000-07:00

Kiernan with Gammy at one of our favorite restaurants, celebrating Mommy's birthday.

Picture taken by Mommy.

Happy Birthday, Wendy!

March 31, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-03-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Pancake Yoda. Courtesy of Nana.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Teaching Compassion

2011-03-29T23:27:00.004-07:00

After I picked Kiernan up from school today we stopped at the grocery store. We wanted to pick up some soup for Wendy, as she's been battling some nasty icky cold. As I drove the cart--in this case a large blue cart made to look like a race car so that your kid finds shopping less boring--to the cart parking area and prepared to take my boy and the groceries to the car, Kiernan made me stop.

A man sat in a short folding chair, a beach-type chair, next to the entrance to the store. A big old dog that looked like a golden retriever was lying down on a blanket next to him. The man held before himself a hand-lettered cardboard sign. The sign was asking for money, proclaiming that his dog had cancer. Furthermore, the sign stated that his dog was a "service" dog.

"Dad," Kiernan whispered to me. "Are you going to give him some money?"

I held my breath for a second. I never give people who panhandle outside of stores or next to the freeway money. Never. I don't believe in it. Wendy does. She buys five dollar gift cards from Subway and has them in her car and gives them out to folks like that. That's fine. That's her thing. I don't do that because I don't believe in doing that. We give a lot of money to charity every year, including charities that feed the homeless. That's how I prefer to do it.

"I wasn't planning to," I replied.

"But Dad," Kiernan said to me, his eyes wide. "His dog has cancer." He spoke so that only I could hear. My back was to the man, blocking Kiernan from his view.

The way he whispered that to me broke my heart a little. The idea of trying to lay out how we donate money to animal shelters and folks like Project Angel Food and Habitat for Humanity in that split second seemed utterly ridiculous. I have to admit, when I see a guy like that I don't believe his dog has cancer. I don't even believe his dog is a service dog. I'm cynical about stuff like that.

But what could I do in that moment. My son, looking to me, pleading with such urgency in his tiny voice. Looking to me for guidance.

"Do you want to give him some money?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

I took out my wallet and gave Kiernan a dollar, then I lifted him out of the racing car cart. He went over to the man and gave him the money. The man thanked us profusely, and we went on our way.

Was that the right thing to do? I don't know. But, at that moment, it was the best thing to do.

I learn from my son. He helps me to teach him too.

Picture For This Day

2011-03-28T23:23:00.000-07:00

Last winter we went up to Northern Arizona to see some snow. Getting warm by the fire was fun too.

Winter, 2010

Picture of This Day

2011-03-27T23:59:00.000-07:00

Mom/Nana sent us these Star Wars pancake molds for Valentine's Day. We tried them out this morning.

They go with my Darth Vader spatula perfectly.

March 27, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-03-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

A friend of his at school invited him to a birthday party. But not her birthday party. The party of her little sister, a girl who was just turning one.

I love this development. He's got a friend who is a girl. She invites him to the play place during her sister's party. He enjoys it.

I also love my recollection of taking him to these play places for toddlers just a couple of years ago. He had so much fun. Now...now he's such a big kid.

I realize this 'big kid' thing will be a recurring theme. Can't help it. I can't get over how fast time goes by.

March 26, 2011

Picture For This Day

2011-03-25T23:43:00.000-07:00

Just felt like posting this.

November, 2008

Picture of This Day

2011-03-24T23:04:00.001-07:00

Dentist time again. Clearly he's nervous about it.

March 24, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-03-23T23:59:00.000-07:00

Fundraiser at McDonald's yesterday for Kiernan's school. Here he is with his buddies, gathered around friend Matthew and Matthew's inevitable iPod Touch. Not pictured: Matt's mother Julie rolling her eyes with the regret that she bought the twins iPod Touches for Christmas.

Curse you Julie! :)

March 23, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-03-22T23:46:00.000-07:00

Hanging out after school again. This time I snapped the picture before one of his friends could rat me out. "Your dad's taking your picture!" Give me a break, kid.

March 22, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-03-21T23:42:00.000-07:00

Stopped to fill up the car and when I looked in the back seat I was just struck by how awesome my kid is. He was just sitting there not looking at me and lost in his thoughts as he finished his lunch from school (which always happens after school). So I just wanted to snap a quick picture of him. He caught me and foiled my plan.

March 21, 2011

Picture of This Day

2011-03-20T23:42:00.000-07:00

A chill Sunday with his Mom spent working on a school project (the reason for the messy coffee table) and watching movies. He objected to Peter Pan at first because he only wanted to watch his Bionicles video for the seven thousandth time. He further claimed he would not watch Peter Pan when Mom insisted that would be the first feature, followed by the Bionicle video later. Pouting ensued.

Followed by him watching every minute of Peter Pan and loving it, of course. The sight and sound of him laughing with glee as Hook fled from the crocodile was just beautiful.

March 20, 2011

Text of This Day

2011-03-19T23:47:00.000-07:00

Wendy took Kiernan to a playdate today, one he has been looking forward to all week. This one was at his friend Tanner's house, and was to involve pizza making. This is the text I got from Wendy when she first got there.

"Boys are throwing oranges and using light sabers. Kiernan is thrilled!"

Oranges and light sabers. Well of course. How foolish was I not to combine these things previously! No matter how good you are at playing with your kid, friends are always better. This is as it should be. Good times.

Picture For This Day

2011-03-19T23:24:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Aunt Amy...

Christmas 2005.

Picture For This Day

2011-03-18T23:30:00.000-07:00

Ah...memories of the famed Ball Pit.

Sometime in 2006.

Picture of This Day

2011-03-17T23:41:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day. The hat didn't even last to the car this year. It felt weird and too itchy. Also, he ditched the pin once we got to school. I think because it had the word 'kiss' on it. Yep...he's a boy.

March 17, 2011