"And Other Things Like That"

We had a great Father's Day. Just so's ya know.

It started out happily, with Kiernan uncharacteristically letting me sleep in until 8:30 in the morning. Yeah, you read that right. 8:30. And yes...around here we consider that sleeping in.

As many of you know, Wendy is out of town on a business trip, so when Kiernan gets up it's 'go time', Father's Day or not. So him sleeping until sometime after seven in the morning was a big deal.

He came in and pounced on me to wake me up and we hit the kitchen for breakfast. Kiernan's favorite cereal is Raisin Bran. Please. I beg you. Don't say anything to him about this. Don't laugh. Don't gasp, "What about Fruit Loops?!?" Even while reading this on your computer at your desk. He'll hear it over the Internet and I'll have to go out and buy Fruit Loops. I'm shocked he hasn't found out about Frosted Flakes yet. And given the fact that his favorite bathroom reading is Calvin and Hobbes, I'm flat out flabbergasted that he hasn't gone on a hunger strike until we produce a box of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs.

I gave him a bowl of Raisin Bran (with extra raisins), and he gobbled it up. After this he asked to watch a video. I asked which video he'd like to watch, knowing the answer, and then started up his favorite planet dvd (Field Trip to the Planets, if you must know...Hey, something that might be fun for you, if you're looking for something to do, would be to buy that dvd and watch it every day. Every day. Every single day. Also buy the cd and listen to it, and only it, whenever you're in the car...lather, rinse and repeat). While that played I showered and made myself a coffee drink, by which time his video was over and I watched a show myself, relaxing with my latte. It being Sunday morning, I watched my second favorite sports show, "The Sports Reporters". Even though I totally respected Kiernan's time while he watched his planet video, he climbed all over me during my show. Such is Father's Day...thank goodness. We laughed ourselves silly.

Our teevee watching out of the way, we prepared for the day proper. We got into our swim suits and headed out to the beach. Kiernan loves the beach. Note that I did not say that he loves swimming, or the water. He loves the beach. He is nuts about playing in the sand. So...off to the beach did we head.

We found ourselves a nice little spot at Topanga State Beach, ate the lunch we'd packed (peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches) and then played in the sand for a few hours. Playing in the sand, incidentally, involves me digging holes and building sand castles and Kiernan jumping in said holes and on top of said castles. Over and over and over again. We also laugh a lot.

I'd love to build a whole sand castle someday, without it being pounced upon by Toddlerzilla. But really, I'm not any good at things like that. I can dig a heck of a moat, mind you, but I get to a certain point in sand castle construction and I have no idea how to make it any better. It has always been thus. So the fact that Kiernan bulldozes every attempt I make at a sand castle is really a welcome development. Really takes the pressure off.

After a few hours we made our way home and, after washing the sand off, spent the remainder of the day reading books and throwing balls. We spent some time on the phone later in the evening, making Father's Day calls and Birthday calls (Mason and Grance) and Mommy calls. Then we hit the sack.

Great Father's Day. The picture at the top of this post is a scan of the card Kiernan made for me at school. It was stapled to a little paper bag, inside of which was a palm-sized rock upon which was written, over Kiernan's awesome and ubiquitous solar system decoration, "My Dad Rocks". The second pic down is a lunch picture; the third a sand castle destruction picture with an air of contemplation. The picture below is a bonus shot of the two of us, not from this day but from the birthday party for Kiernan's friend William a few weeks ago.

The Kiernan and Nana Show

Here's another little slideshow test, this one of Kiernan with his Nana. I love these pictures because the two of them are so in sync. I'm kind of addicted to watching the two of them together in these picture, so in step, expression for expression. The set of pictures opens with a picture from my sister Hope's wedding, a shot of her with my stepdad John and my mom. I realize it doesn't go with the theme of Kiernan and Nana, but I couldn't resist, mainly just because I love the picture of my family. My intention is, of course, to post more shots from the event. Stay tuned for more.

In the meantime enjoy this little teaser from the wedding, followed by the Kiernan and Nana show.

I'm betting you all can guess which of the pictures of the two of them is my favorite.

Duck Day Alternative

Here's an alternate format for the Duck Day slideshow. It's still hosted by Slide.com but it uses the "sliding" format instead of the "collage" format. I got a couple of complaints about the collage thing.

I'm going to update the template of the blog soon, which will give me more options. Stay tuned.

Duck Day Afternoon

Here's a second attempt at a slideshow.

This one was made using a website called Slide.com. I like that I have a bit more control here, but we'll see how it goes.

These pictures come from my dad's house in Virginia. Kiernan's grandmother Sandi is a kindergarten teacher, and every year her class goes through the process of caring for and hatching duck eggs. This spring's ducks arrived just in time for our visit.

The smaller duck, the one Kiernan is holding most of the time, is named Furrball. The bigger duck, Fairutopia. I have no idea how to spell that. Apparently it's a character from a Barbie movie. Looks like there are benefits to having a little boy.

On one day these two ducklings followed Kiernan and Sandi all the way around the house and up the driveway and back. I have video of that. I aspire one day to post video to this blog. I'm going to make a special request to all of you: don't hold your breath. It's taken me freaking years just to figure out picture posting.

Oh well. I'll get there.

In closing, I'd like to dedicate this little entry, and the pictures, to my dad, my stepmom Sandi, and my brother Mason. Tomorrow they embark on a ten day mission trip to Haiti, during which they will be doing all sorts of practical work for the community they'll be visiting. You can read about their upcoming adventure here. Please do send your positive thoughts and prayers their way over the coming days.

In the meantime, enjoy the ducks.

First Slideshow Test

Here's a test of one of the slideshow things I'm trying out. This one is a Picasa thing, done by uploading some pictures to Picasa Web Albums. Works okay but it doesn't give me a lot of control. I want something I can have running constantly, on a sort of loop, and maybe with a little better quality. I will be trying a couple of other programs. I know you care deeply about this.

Onto the above pictures.

The first picture is Kiernan with his friend Grace. She's the daughter of Wendy's business partner, who drove over from West Virginia to visit and do a little business while we were in Virginia at my Dad and Sandi's house.

Next is a picture of my current favorite t-shirt. I love that shirt. (Both of these first two pictures are Mason shots.)

The next picture is Kiernan playing ball with his Pap Pap. Next Kiernan striking a pose. Viva La Saturday Night Fever.

Finally there's a picture of me with Kiernan from a few months ago. We're playing this great game called Don't Break The Ice! Kiernan's Nee-Nee gave it to him for Christmas. Of the four "Cootie Games" she gave him, this was the one I was most excited to play.

Dinner Update

Tonight at dinner we had another cute little word-nerd conversation. It's a shorty, but I thought I'd share it.

Kiernan asked for one of his favorite sandwiches for dinner tonight: Peanut butter and Nutella. He has been on about wanting this for the last couple of days, so even though it basically amounts to giving him a Peanut Butter 'n Candy sandwich for dinner, I acquiesce. I make him a half sandwich of that, as well as a Gammy Special (jelly and cream cheese). I'm happy to have him eat the peanut butter, as his refusal to eat almost all meat has me a bit nervous about protein.

He is well into his pb&nutella when he looks at me thoughtfully and asks, "Daddy, what does 'often' mean?"

After a repeat I answer, "It means frequently."

I can almost detect a hint of sarcastic exasperation as he asks, "What does 'frequently' mean?"

I explain that it basically means 'a lot'.

He takes another bite, thinks for a moment, then says, "Daddy...I want you to make this for me more often."

I'm loving this, but is it any wonder my brain feels fried at the end of the day?

Brooklyn Is Not Expanding

In the previous post, wherein I related a couple of lovely anecdotes about how Kiernan questioned the lyrics in the songs I was singing, I mentioned that he had engaged me in a mind-blowing conversation yesterday. Below I shall present the transcript of said conversation.

But first, a little context. As many of you know, Kiernan is into the planets. He is crazy about them. He knows more facts about our Solar System than I ever learned in all of my years of school. I kind of wish that was a humorous exaggeration. It is not. He is just fascinated by the planets and wants to constantly read about them, draw them, and sing about them. He also loves asking questions about them.

Early in the evening we were reading books. He was reading a Solar System book his great aunt JuJu gave him during our recent trip to Denver. I was reading a book by the film director Kevin Smith. Eventually Kiernan realized I was doing something independently, and not paying attention to him. So he started excitedly telling me to look at the pictures in his book. I did so dutifully for awhile until I started to get frustrated. I was reading too, gosh darn it.

I finally said, "Kiernan, do I constantly ask you to look at my book?"

He said, "No. Your book is boring."

Given that my book has the word 'Boring' in its title, I found it difficult to argue this point.

And anyway, he proceeded to jump on my head at this juncture, so any argument I might have employed would have been moot. [Note to Kiernan's Aunt Amy: if you ever have an objection overruled...pounce.]

Anyway, later the two of us were eating dinner. After he had resolved the question of whether or not his daddy rocked and rolled, he ruminated for awhile and then busted out with the following query...

"Daddy, after the sun burns, what will it do after it burns?"

I think I had one of those sitcom moments where the forkful of food hangs in mid-air before your frozen open mouth.

He repeated the question. [In the dialogue that follows, 'X' is yours truly. 'K' is our intrepid Creeping Kid.]

X: "Um...after it burns, it'll go out."

K: "Will we miss the sun?"

[SIDEBAR: I cannot tell you how much I love that question. I cannot tell you how much I love the way my son thinks. The way his mind works. The answer is that the sun will go out when it's done burning, and his follow up question is about us missing The Sun. I love it.]

X: "Um...I don't know how to answer that. I guess so. But that's not gonna happen for a long time."

K: "Where will it go?"

At this point I'm scrambling. As I've intimated, at three and a half years old this kid has forgotten more about the moons of Jupiter than I have ever known about my own planet.

I answer, feebly, "It won't go anywhere. I think it will maybe turn into a black hole."

K: "What will the planets do? Why will it maybe turn into a black hole? What will the planets do if it's a black hole?"

X: "Well, the nature of a black hole is to suck everything in. Black Holes have a lot of gravity, so it will pull everything around it inside." [Forgive me, Stephen Hawking.]

K: "And after it does that, what will the planets do?"

At this point, finally, I was at a total loss. I mean, what do you say to a three and a half year old who has just asked you about the end of existence?

He waited a moment before asking his follow-up question...

"Will Jupiter get stuck?"

Do I really need a television when I have a kid like this?

The Songish Inquisition

Kiernan and I had a mind-blowing conversation at dinner yesterday. At least for me it was mind-blowing. I'm sure for him it was simply de rigueur.

But this post isn't about that. I'll post later about that conversation, since I took notes on it. Poor kid. His dad loves writing, and he is incredibly articulate...he's in for a life of Daddy taking notes while he speaks. Like he's growing up as the White House Press Secretary or something. Well, except for the little difference that Kiernan tends to tell the truth when he talks.

ZING!

Anyway, this post is about a couple of other minor, mini-conversations we had yesterday. They both center around songs. They aren't really conversations at all. Just questions he was asking.

The first took place at school. As I've said before, when I pick him up from school we usually hang out for awhile and read a book or two. After reading a book yesterday I was ready to get going, and I said, by way of conveying this, "Okay...time to hit the road, Jack!"

Then as I stood I proceeded to sing the song. I got to the "What you say?" part and the questions started.

"Who said 'What you say'?"

I think I answered that Ray Charles said it.

"Why did he say that?"

I think I said that he was surprised she was asking him to leave.

"Why does he have to leave?"

And on and on.

Later in the evening, for reasons I cannot fathom, I started singing, "Your momma don't dance and your daddy don't rock 'n roll." I really have no idea why. I sing all the time and often am not even aware I am doing it.

After a few minutes Kiernan asked, "Daddy...do you Rock and Roll?"

Great question. I chose to answer in the affirmative. I mean, I don't go out on the town and hit all the clubs. Or...well...any of them actually. I almost never go to concerts. I rarely go to bars. But seriously, after all, I totally rock at the game Rock Band. So I figure that deserves a yes.

Next he asked, "Does Mommy dance?"

That was easy to answer. "Of course. She dances with you."

About half an hour later, out of nowhere, Kiernan asked, "Why do they say, 'your daddy don't rock 'n roll'?"

I thought for a split second before answering.

"They are saying his parents aren't cool. This used to be a concern with parents and kids. Thankfully, for you, it won't be."

With a smile on my face and a heart full of smugness, I went on eating my dinner.

I can't wait to hear what my parents have to say about it.

UPDATE: Something just occurred to me as I reread this entry before sending out the update notification. His question about who said "What you say?" in the song is an interesting one. Keep in mind, I was singing the song; we weren't listening to a recording of it. I was singing it somewhat normally, no funny voices or anything. Yet somehow he still was able to suss out that the question was asked by a different character. I don't know why I find that so fascinating, but suddenly I do.

A Helping Hand

I'm still working on solving my little slide show conundrum (The Slideshow Conundrum...another of the lost novels of Robert Ludlum), but I had to share a little moment real quick.

I was just in Kiernan's room for the seventy-fifth time tonight. He should have been asleep awhile ago, but he's fighting it. I've done several water deliveries, a comprehensive full-body light tickle, as well as a couple fairly extensive Spider Patrols (more on that subject in a later post). I was on the verge of getting truly annoyed when, during my last water delivery, Kiernan very groggily said,
"Dad. I need help. I need help falling asleep."

My heart melted as he flopped down to his pillow, eyelids so heavy. I knelt beside his bed and stroked his hair. He was asleep in less than a minute.

Here's a Mason pic of Kiernan napping during our recent trip to Virginia.

Good Intentions and a Duck

I've got a ton of pictures to post from our recent three year tour of Europe, Scandinavia, and the Sub Continent...okay, it was only three weeks. And it only included stints in Colorado and Virginia. But it felt kind of like three years.

I have no idea how to best post all of these pictures. Maybe I'll do a slideshow using some Internet pic posting site, that is if I can resist the urge to comment five paragraphs per picture. Let's hope I can resist that urge, or else, again, I will put off posting the pictures forever. And you people deserve to see them. Especially the ones taken by my uber-talented brother, Mason. I'm open to suggestions. Let me amend that. I'm open to suggestions that do not involve opening MySpace or Facebook accounts.

In the meantime, here's two pictures that struck my fancy as I quickly sifted through the trip photos looking for some shots to print out for my monthly letters to Kiernan's great-grandparents. Enjoy them as a teaser.

The top shot is Kiernan rocking the easel while visiting his grandmother Sandi's kindergarten class. The bottom shot is him enjoying the company of the duckling Furrball...once a denizen of said class.