I call it “Dad-O & The Tramp.” 😉
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Fantastic Five!
On Saturday my Finny turned five. I can hardly believe it’s been five years since this dimpled, smiling, blond little person made us a family. Before we tucked in for the night on Friday, all four of us shouted “Adios, four!”, and when we awoke on the big day, we all said “Hello, five!” before wishing our guy a happy birthday.
Then it was off to breakfast in the hotel for a much-anticipated birthday waffle (seriously, he’d been talking about it for weeks!), followed by a very slow, traffic-jammy drive up the mountains for an afternoon of snowball fights and snow tubing. The combination of all that partying and the high altitude wore us all out, so we saved cake and presents for Sunday.
Here are some photos from our adventure so far. Happy birthday, Finny! We love you to bits!
[Note the triumphal unveiling of the giant Lego Unimog. 🙂 Finny went tearing around the room yelling “Iloveit Iloveit Ilove it” before doing “donkey kicks” of joy on the stairs. Now, if we can just finish building the thing before he’s eligible to vote, the success will be complete! –J.]
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A Tubetastic Birthday
Man, I’m too tired from today’s festivities (and the 10,000ft. altitude) to compose anything clever, so I’ll let these videos tell the story. 🙂
Snow-blown Hen:
Spinning in infinity:
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The Man From Snowy Finger
Mile-high greetings! After a fog-delayed flight (during which the boys behaved wonderfully; thanks, iPad-genie!), the whole fam arrived safely in Denver today. We got to visit Grandma & Grandpa Liggett’s apartment, bean each other with snowballs, and discover the burning of snow-caked hands.
The lads and Margot are sleeping now, I pray, but at any moment I could be called back to the room. Tomorrow we ring in Finn’s Big 5 with build-your-own “birthday waffles” courtesy of the Hampton Inn (something the boys have discussed for weeks!), then head towards Leadville for snow-tubing and more. We can’t wait!
*Man* do our haircuts ever come with a free helping of drama. :-p G-Man flashes through every emotion under the sun, it seems, only to end up chuckling at the business end of Barber Tom’s blower. Check out a taste of our Saturday:
[Previously: Extreme Makeover, G-Man Edition]
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Girls and Boys
Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave for work, the boys and I were chatting by the back door. A propos of nothing, Finny asked, “Mom-o, how do you tell girl and boy babies apart?”
I knew he already knew the (anatomical) answer, so, Jeopardy-style, I phrased my answer in the form of a question: “Well, Finny, girls and boys look different, don’t they? How would you tell them apart?”
F: “Boys have hair like this (pointing to his hair), and girls have curly hair like you!”
M: “Well, sometimes that’s true, but that’s not the only way to tell. What else is different?”
F: “Boys wear velcro shoes (pointing to his sneakers), and girls don’t (pointing to my flats).”
M: “True. What about their bodies? Do their bodies look different?”
Henry: “Girls wear lipstick!”
Dad-o: {now chuckling audibly offstage, in the TV room}
M: “Well…yes…but there’s one definite way to tell when you look at a naked girl baby or a naked boy baby, right? How do you go to the bathroom?”
F: “Oh! Yeah! Girls don’t have one of these! (pointing to his underpants…)
aaaaand, SCENE.
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Bouncin’ with Skynyrd
Perhaps you’ve glimpsed Happy Hollow’s famous “Froggy Double Shot” from afar, as I had—but until now I’d never gotten to experience the vertical mayhem. Here, won’t you join us? 🙂
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Of Semaphores & Nack Power
We’ve been enjoying all manner of hand jive at Chez Nack:
- “When I put my hand on my head & hold up an index finger,” Finn informs us, “that means ‘Treacherous Idea,’ and when I hold up my pinky, that means ‘Nice-Guy Idea.'” You can guess which one he holds up most of the time!
- Margot has taught the lads the phrase, “Who’s got two thumbs and…” So, out of the blue you’ll hear one of them ask, “Who’s got two thumbs [points to himself] and loves Thomas videos? This guyyyy!!”
- The other morning Margot asked for various shows of hands (e.g. “Who likes Oat Squares?”). And in a moment we’d all raised our fists in a show of Olympics-style Nack Power!
- Lastly—and maybe most interestingly—Finn has devised a system of “go” signals, each tailored to one of us. For example, to tell us it’s “go time,” he taps both fists to his forehead, then points both hands forward. My sign is the same, except that I’m to tap my nose, then point. Mom-O to tap her ears, and Henry’s to tap his chin. (You can see the boys demonstrating variations in the sequences below.) Weird, eh? And yet it kinda works: Before school I’ll fix Finn in my gaze, tap my nose, and point towards the Ocho. And away we go!
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Leonine Greetings
And a very good morning to you. 🙂
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Rockin’ the Beach
Begone, ye seagulls: Gaze upon young Finnster’s air “guitar” and tremble!
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The name’s Nack, *Finn* Nack
Double-oh-four. 🙂
- Food:
- “Dad-O, I wish we lived in the United Steaks,” declares Finn. “Leo & I just *looove* meat!”
- “Dad-O, I don’t like McDonald’s pickles.”
“But you like other pickles, right?”
“Yeah, but McDonald’s pickles are made in China.”
What?? - Margot: (squeezing Henry’s toes) “This little piggy went to market. This little piggy stayed home.”
Henry: “No he didn’t!”
Margot: “He didn’t? What did he do?”
Henry: “He went to Mojo Burger! And this one went to the pizza place!” - Hair:
- “My hair got in my eyes, Dad-O,” reported shaggy Finn, “but I just put Leo on my head [he demonstrates]. He’s my hair clip!”
- Finn, trying to stall bedtime: “Dad-O, here’s a deal: go cut off your whiskers & do your homework, then come back and cuddle with me.”
- Science:
- Halloween fun with the tots: Margot: “What if grandma & grandpa were ghosts?” Henry: “Nooo! They have to be humans! (Silly Mom-O.)”
- Morning science questions: Finn: “Dad-O, why is Santa octurnal?”
Henry: “Yeah, like bats & owls & apostles?”
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A Great & Terrible Discovery
Oh boy… During a little car washing yesterday, Finn was like the bone-tossing ape in 2001: he chucked a sodden paper towel towards the trash, but accidentally nailed the garage wall—where it stuck! Man was he excited, and it was “game on” from there. I smile & wince (“swince”?) as I remember making that same discovery with my cousins & friends. Oh, the wet, kinetic mischief that followed… Well, enjoy, my boy. 🙂
- G-Man:
- “‘Steely Dan?'” Henry’s incredulous. “What do they steal?”
Me: “No, ‘steel,’ like metal.”
H: “Why do they steal metal??” - Hen, on hearing some hip hop: “Rap music?! Turn that off!!” He then cries ’til we give in & turn on Johnny Cash.
- Henry is mashing up “Peanuts” with Peter Gabriel. “Shock the Lucy to-night!” he sings.
- Henry’s midday requests: Some soup, Dave Brubeck, and a nap. #MyBoy
- Henry asks me to explain a Taylor Swift breakup song.
Me: “You’ll understand when you’re older.”
H: “Maybe I won’t want to understand…”
- “‘Steely Dan?'” Henry’s incredulous. “What do they steal?”
- Finnster:
- “I can easily make this girl’s voice with my body,” says Finn of Ellie Goulding. “I can’t make that Axl Rose stuff, though.”
- From deep within a pile of Lego forest police loot, Finn’s begun to sing: “Police Navidad!”
- Finn’s singing his bizarre version of Rudolph: “…You might even say it blows!” (He calls the character “The Ol’ ‘Dolph.)
- “Dad-O, when i grow up I want to be a policeman who acts like a ninja,” Finn tells me, “but not a bad cop like that Sheriff John Brown.” [from I Shot The Sheriff]
- I hear Finn singing: “‘…so call me maybe.’ Oh Dad-O, that song gets stuck in my head! I sing it at preschool, I sing it everywhere!!“
- The boys on “Dirty Deeds”: “AC/DC sound like pirates!” Of the Ramones’ “Sheena”: “These guys are old warriors! They’re berserkers!”
- I imagine our always-underfoot kids singing like the Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane”: “HERE I am!! (bom, bomp) FORM a human bar-i-cade!!”
- The boys are becoming a bit “pants-optional.” I now sing to them some modified Beatles: “Hey! You’ve Got To Hide Your Butt Away.”
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OSHenanigans
aka, That Moment Right Before You Get Kicked Out Of The Hardware Store 🙂
Fortunately the patient staff at our local Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) are super good sports, and they let the boys & me kill plenty of time “horseando” (horsing around) with all manner of plungers, pipes, and more. Here’s a little gallery of our silliness from the other evening.
(Hat tip to our friend Tara for coining the term “OSHenanigans”)
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Tails from the Beach
“Look at my tail, Dad-O! I’m an awesome lion!!” 🙂
- Language:
- “Dad-O, why is ‘Leonard’ part ‘nerd’?” asks Finn.”
Yeah,” adds Henry, “and is ‘Peter’ made of poop? ‘Pee-turd!'” - “Ah-froot-erzayn, Dad-O,” Henry tells me. “That’s how fruit says Auf Wiedersehen.”
- Finn: “What’s the English word for guacamole?”
Margot: “Guacamole.”
Finn: “What’s the Spanish word, then?”
Margot: “Guacamole.”
This is blowing his mind. 🙂 - Finn explained family slang to his teacher today: “My dad calls me ‘sucka,’ and I enjoy it!”
- “‘Damn,'” says Henry, quoting his mom, then explains: “She’s talking about a little wall that holds back water.”
- Henry: “Dad-O, let’s give that road a hit!”
Me: “…?”
Finn, translating: “He means ‘Let’s hit the road!'” - The human bod:
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- I’m not sure the boys drew the right lessons from “The Little Engine That Could.” “Dad-O, we’ll grab those mean engines & pee in their funnels!”
- Henry spies me from the bathroom, his eyes twinkling: “I’m gonna use my large intestine!” Thanks for sharing, buddy :-P!
- We got an eyeful of elephant anatomy at the Oakland Zoo. “That guy must have a *really* big large intestine!” observes Henry.
- Finn’s resisting independence: “I’m not gonna poop by myself at kindergarten, or in high school, or even in *college*!”
- “I’m pretty sure I popped out of Mom-O as a 3-year-old,” says Finn, “’cause I don’t remember being a 1- or 2-year-old.”
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Gone Baby Gone!
Without any forewarning and without any fanfare whatsoever, Finny lost two of his lower incisors today while biting into a Rice Krispie Treat at a birthday party! Check it out below!
[I had no warning from Finny (no mentions of teeth wiggling, pain, etc.), so I was quite shocked at the party. In retrospect, I’d noticed earlier in the day that one of his teeth seemed to be turned, but I didn’t give it a lot of thought. (I mean, how much does one stare into other people’s mouths, anyway?) The teeth were utterly gone, leading me to think that Finn had simply eaten them, but later he reported, “I though they were hard Krispies, so I threw them into the grass!” Yeesh.
Now we have to figure out the going rate for teeth these days. (Half dollars like my parents got me are hard to come by at 9pm on a Sunday night.) We just don’t want to overpay lest the boys get any terrible ideas!
Oh, and Finn’s kinda fascinated by his new relationship with Leo, the lion blankie who’s always clenched his mouth. “You know what’s weird, Mom-O? Now that my teeth are gone, I can just pull Leo out of my mouth without opening it! He comes right through the hole!” –J.]
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Brotherly Negotiations
The guys continue to negotiate the finer points of sharing their toys with each other. Most of the time, sharing is still a pretty contentious topic with lots of grabbing, pointing fingers, pint-sized threats, and pouting.
However, there are a few golden moments when they are being super nice and polite to each other, saying please and thank you, happily exchanging toys. In those moments, I think what we’re trying to teach them is actually sinking in.
I also like to imagine Finn and Henry singing a little song like this: {sung to the tune of “Happy Together” by the Turtles}
Imagine me and you, I do
We share our toys day and night, and night and day
We play with matchbox cars, and Thomas too
We’re sharing together
Cars and blocks, and trucks and tools
We share together so nicely
The only pal for me is you, and you for me
We’re sharing together
I can’t see me sharing with no-one but you
yeah all our toys
When we’re playing, brother i’ll be so nice to you
yeah all our toys
Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba
Ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba ba-ba-ba-ba
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Can you spare a brother some bamboo?
‘Cause I’ve got a little panda to feed. 🙂
