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Photos

Armadas, Large & Small

We had a waterlogged weekend, in the best way.

Midweek we received a long-awaited package from Grandma Nack–the famous Lego cargo ship! Finn’s been overjoyed with it, naming it “The USS Dubuque Iowa.” (“Well,” he explains, “It’s kind of like the USS Iowa, and it was in Dubuque.”) Henry’s taken over the smaller Lego boats, and on Saturday he was in charge of filling up the kiddie pool (“Kitty pool?” he asked, quizzically) for some high-seas adventure.

Later in the day we decided to visit the USS Hornet, a retired aircraft carrier famous for its service in World War II and beyond (e.g. recovering astronauts returning from the moon). Unlike the Iowa, which is currently sort of a floating construction site, the Hornet is a fully finished museum ship. After some nervousness below decks (maybe due to the haunting?), the guys enjoyed scampering around the flight deck. They especially loved learning about catapults & running down the old launch tracks, pretending to burst into the air. Finn was fascinated to learn that fuel-handling crew members wear purple shirts and are dubbed “grapes.” (He insists that the green-shirted guys must also be “grapes.”) Seeing the ships moored nearby was also a treat: Finn loved seeing the cranes & hatches (“Like my Dubuque, but more massive!”), and Henry liked one ship being named the Cape Henry. Here’s a gallery of the goings-on.

[Special thanks to our friends the Sturtevants for inspiring the trip by posting about their recent visit.]

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Videos

Happy Mothers Day!

Man oh man were the Micronaxx ever eager to bring Mom-O her first breakfast in bed! Well, to be honest, they were excited to sample the fruits of our “secret mission” to nearby Flower Flour. (Finn kept gleefully threatening to “ruin the beans” by disclosing what we were up to.) In fact, both guys were excited to the point of being train wrecks, nervous that somehow Mom-O wouldn’t share, or (in Finn’s view) that I’d get sidetracked changing Henry before escorting them upstairs (“Don’t get into the poop stuff–it’s always a big deal, and he gets upset, and blah blah blah!”). Happily, a few bites of sugary goodness restored their pluck:

My only regret is that I couldn’t find a tube of brown frosting with which to change “Mom” to the much more fitting “Mom-O.” 🙂

Afterwards we all delighted in the boys’ first boating experience–something they found especially exciting given our recent nautical exploring (more on that shortly).

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Photos

The Little House in the Big Woods

One of my big goals for Summer 2012 was to rehab the gazebo in our backyard. Ever since we moved in 6 years ago, it’s been in great-idea-waiting-to-happen suspended animation. It’s been piled with random outdoor toys, mismatched junky outdoor furniture, and other bits and bobs. A couple weeks ago, I embarked on the Great Gazebo Rehab, with a couple of small helpers by my side. After all our hard work, the gazebo looks fantastic and is ready for many, many hours of lounging. Here’s the gallery showcasing the completed rehab!

Finny started calling the newly-refreshed structure our  “Little House in the Big Woods,” thanks to Grandma Nack’s reading of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic book to the boys during her last visit. Clearly Finny absorbed a lot from the story, because after “sleeping” in the house, he and Henry would wake up, put their “hunting caps” on, and hunt wolves and bears, being careful to stay close to the house and not get eaten. After a successful hunt, they were quick to offer salted bear and wolf meat to me for dinner, before hitting the sack again to rest up for another big hunting day. Our actual house is now called the “Big House in the Big Woods.”

 

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Miscellaneous

Brothers teaching brothers

A brief anecdote from Grandma Nack:

When I was with the boys, I spelled their names, including their last name. Then I told them I had another name than Grandma, which was Pat. Finn looked at Henry and said, “Her last name is Grandma.” 🙂

In possibly related news, alongside “Sweaty,” “Nonsense,” and the other firemen, Finn now deploys Fireman Jim Nack. Go figure.

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Miscellaneous

The Morning News

Delmas Avenue, 7am: A beaming Finn just ran into the TV room where Margot and I were sitting. “Hey, I have four things to tell you dudes!” he announced.

“One is, ‘Jeez Louise, Fillmore’s eating cheese!’
One is, Stegosaurus eggasaurus.
One is, Rhino vyno.
And one is, Brontosaurus applesaurus!
I made those up while I was sleeping!”

So now you know. 🙂

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Photos

Green Thumbs

This weekend, the boys and I continued working on our gazebo rehab project. They “helped” me stain and seal the gazebo floor, and then we got to work on some landscaping.

We started yesterday morning with a trip to the local nursery to find some flowering perennials to plant along the border of the gazebo. The guys really got a kick out of the huge displays of all sorts of flowers, shrubs, fruit trees, and veggie plants. We checked out some decorative fountains, prodded at some lily pads, smelled all kinds of flowers, and discussed what our favorite colors were. The color discussion led us to the plants we ultimately chose – some with purple flowers (a Henry favorite) and some with red flowers (Finny and I like those). We picked up some soil conditioner and mulch, then went home and got to work.

The boys got to break out all their construction vehicles and wagons in the process. Here’s a photo gallery of our project. Finny and Henry were excellent transporters, dumpers, waterers, and diggers. I think Finny’s favorite part was filling his dumptuck with planting mix and dumping it onto the freshly dug “old dirt.” When Henry wasn’t resting and watching from afar, he decided he wanted to be in charge of watering, which was fine until he “accidentally” watered his brother from head to toe!

By lunchtime, the three of us were dirty and hot, but very happy. We got our new plants in and had a fantastic time doing it. Now we can’t wait for them to grow!

[PS–The guys were so amped up from the ice cream I’d bought them in Santa Cruz that when the three of us returned to the hardware store for mulch, they ended up tearing around the garden section like maniacs. I had to secure them like this. 🙂 –J.]

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Babyslang

Slangtastic!

I loooove me some slang. But what do I love more than slang? The fact that our family generates our own slang on a nearly constant basis. John and I are both word lovers, and we’re also huge goofballs, which makes for a perfect combination when it comes to coming up with fun, unusual ways to describe otherwise dry, quotidien things. Here’s a fresh installment of slang from the Naxx, both micro and macro:

Poop rock: The fake rock in the yard where we hide a spare housekey. You can probably guess what the rock looks like.

Potty shot: Why simply “go potty” when you can take a potty shot? See also: “Sor-ry for potty rockin’” (with appropriate credit to the band LMFAO)

DPT: Short for “dipetorium,” which was our slang for diaper changing table. We still call the boys’ dressers DPTs, which is even better now that this is a completely obsolete term.

Monster style: Putting ones shoes purposefully on the wrong feet. I can’t even really remember why we call it “monster style” but the guys love it.

Beasts: Mom-O’s hair clips, which both guys love to wield as they chase Dad-O around, trying to “bite” his clothing.

“Buds in the car, buds in the car…”: This is our sing-song way of reminding the guys to leave their buddies (Leo and the two Ollies) in the car when we go out, so we don’t lose them. Born from the infamous “Pants on the ground” song that went viral a few years back. The full Micronack version is “Buds in the car, buds in the car. Lookin’ like a FOOL with your buds in the car!”

Brusha: Toothbrushing.  Heard at 7:15pm most nights, “Ok guys, time for brusha!” [See also “Sugarbugs,” as in “We’ve gotta get those sugar bugs off your chompers.” –J.]

Rubba: Eye rubbing by a tired Micronack. Heard at 7:30pm most nights, “But I’m not doing rubba, Dad-o!”

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Babyslang Transient Witticisms

Transient Witticisms: Literal Deliciousness

  • Food & Drink:
    • Finn wakes me up: “Dad-O, for breakfast I’d like a hobo sandwich.”
      “A… what?,” I ask.
      “Yeah,” he says, “it’s lettuce, hobo, cheese, and broccoli. Let’s go to the train yard!”
    • “Trees have nests for birds & squirrels,” Henry notes.
      “Yeah,” adds Finn, “and cupboards have nests of dishes.”
    • “Dad-O, a sucker would be delicious for Leo,” Finn opines. “It’d blow his mind–and his mind is made of meat!!”
    • Finn overhears me saying that in German housing there was “no bubble.” He’s incredulous: “The Germans don’t have agua??”
    • Finn’s skeptical that Leo could’ve been bathed/dried so fast. (Margot swapped Leos.) “I guess Mom-O must’ve put him in the panini press…”
  • Gettin’ Literal:
    • “A ten-story building?” asks a quizzical Finn. “Somebody must’ve stacked up a lot of books!”
    • Henry: “Dad-O, I dreamed about airplanes! They were flying.”
      Me: “Cool! And what were you doing during the dream?”
      Henry: “Sleeping.”
    • “Dad-O,” asks Finn, “can you get your blog out off your computer and put it onto your head?” (Interesting visual…)
Categories
Videos

Happiness is a Warm Gram

You know who loves being chopped liver? Me! 🙂

The lads had a terrific week with Grandma Nack. Normally the guys stick to me like white on rice, and every morning starts with urgent requests to hang out. Not last week, though: Finny would make a beeline into Grandma’s room, and Henry happily skipped past me to see her. I’d find them reading books (Mom started Finn on Little House on the Prairie, as she did with me at age 4) or rampaging on the pull-out bed (“Stunt Coursing!”). At one point Finn asked Grandma not to use the bathroom that sits between her room and his: “Well, I’d wake up & not know what that light was–and one time I looked through the key hole and saw a Grandma face in there!”

Here are a couple of videos of Mom reading to the guys. They’re not exactly action-packed, to say the least, but it’s fun to see the very first reading of Little House–and the thousandth of Henry’s “things that go” book:

Categories
Videos

Stunt Course!

We had a ball at the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival last weekend with our pals the Wiggii, future (heck, current) biking phenom Dillon Hall, and his folks & little sister. Our guys have been pretty indifferent to cycling, but the Finnster got caught up in the spirit of the day. Check out his ride on the “stunt course” (a term he’s been re-using all week for the various pillow obstacles he’s erected):

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Babyslang Transient Witticisms

Transient Witticisms: Legos, Run-DMC, & Robber Seagulls

  • Legos:
    • “Come on,” says Finn, drawing me towards our living room Lego zone. “Come see our Duplofications!”
    • One of our pieces snapped. “Honestly, Mom-O,” says Finn, shaking his head, “I… I’m just not going to happy up about that broken Lego.”
    • At bedtime: “Dad-O, my body is just hopping around saying, ‘I can’t wait to play with those Legos!!’ But I said, ‘Tummy, you can play with them mañana!”
    • Finn’s threatening his Lego guys: “I’ll throw you in the dungeon with Elton John & Flava Flav!” (Don’t ever let your kids watch TV.)
  • Music:
    • Run-DMC’s “It’s Tricky” comes on. “I know there’s Jam-Master Jay in there somewhere!” announces Finn.
    • Finn channels Florence & The Machine to request help with his burger: “Rip it up rip it up, Rip it up rip it up, whoOOOoah!”
    • Hearing “Sympathy for the Devil,” Finn observes, “I hear a bunch of hoo-ing.” We agree it’s sung by a team of [scrawny, coked-up] owls.
    • I’m trying some Chili Peppers “Aeroplane” on the boys. “This makes my mind blow away!” says Hen.
    • Henry’s confused by the song “Indian Outlaw.” “His baby is a Chippewa? Actually a baby is a fetus.”
  • Of birds & names:
    • I kinda wish All Things Considered were hosted, as Finn believes it is, by “Robber Seagull.”
    • I dreamt our boys hung out with Jason Segel (who, full grown, claimed to be two and a half). Finn’s incredulous: “Jason Seagull??”
    • “Dad-O, why is it called Twitter?”
      “Well, it sounds kinda like birds tweeting.”
      “Oh, so it’s called ‘blah blah.'” (Verbatim, I swear!)
Categories
Miscellaneous

New Techniques

John never uses simple words to describe things to the boys. That would be far too boring. He always chooses exciting-sounding words to describe things that are otherwise kind of dull. For instance, instead of learning new “skills”, the boys learn “new techniques,” such as jumping and spinning, putting Legos together in new ways, or playing new games. We frequently hear “Mom-o, Dad-o, check out my new technique!”

Well, it’s only Tuesday night and already this week the boys are working on several new techniques! Just this evening, Finny did a few somersaults, something he’s never done before! And starting yesterday, he and I started working on learning to read. He expressed a keen interest in understanding what words look like, so I told him we could work on a couple new ones each day so that he could put together the various sounds that letters make when you combine them into words. We’re working on easy ones that look like they sound, so we can sound them out: dog, up, go, big, boat. I’m so excited that he wants to learn more!

Henry’s working on a new technique as well, big-guy style. When I got back from my trip to Seattle last week, the first thing he told me was that he’d peed in the potty! He was so proud of himself. I’ve asked him a few times since then if he’d like to give it another try, and he’s agreed to try it a couple times.  Tonight, another successful “potty shot,” so I think we’ll start encouraging him more (and bribing him with stickers. Oh, and now that Henry’s getting potty shot stickers, Finny wants to get stickers, too. So Finny gets “word” stickers when he sounds out words successfully).

Categories
Videos

Pick-a-Brick & the Legendary Turkey Leg

Lego.com wants to test the bounds of my sanity: its Pick-a-Brick feature had me dancing on the edge of madness, clicking through *hundreds* of pages of pieces, choosing great & offbeat ones I thought the guys would enjoy. After I made my selection, we’ve waited (im)patiently for weeks as the literal slow boat from China inched closer with our bespoke loot. And what do you know, it finally came! Here’s a little “unboxing” video, courtesy of Mom-O:

Too bad you can’t see their initial excited freak-out upon realizing what the white envelope contained. It was much like this clip, wherein Finny got a birthday Lego ambulance from his friend Cyrus:

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Photos

A Legable Feast

What’s better than visiting Treatbot, the karaoke ice cream truck? Answer: Visiting Treatbot, then going home and building one’s own Lego Treatbot! Check out the mystery machine we built following our trip to “A Movable Feast,” complete with roof vents, a side-opening window, and what Finn assures me are whipped cream dispensers.

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Photos

Battleship!

Break out the big guns: On Sunday we journeyed to nearby Richmond, CA (north of Oakland/Berkeley) to visit the USS Iowa, a famous battleship (or “battle boat,” as Finn put it) of World War II. We also checked out the cargo ship SS Red Oak Victory moored (and long ago built) nearby. Though Finn quickly tired of the cold wind, Salty Hen really enjoyed swinging his mallet aboard that freighter. (A bright career as a “deck ape” may await!)

Here’s our gallery o’ pics from the day.

Categories
Miscellaneous

Small Boys, Big Superpowers

Finny and Henry may not be card-carrying members of the Justice League, but they do have some freakish superpowers.

First, Henry:

  • Infantile super-strength: This is where it all started. For a little baby, his pushing and kicking strength was unbelievable! I got more than a few fat lips from that guy!
  • Choco-location: His uncanny ability to locate chocolate that has not been mentioned nor seen (by him) before
  • “There’s another one after this:” His innate knowledge that the (previously-unseen) video we’re watching will be ending within a few minutes, followed by him presumptively talking about the show we’ll watch next

Now Finny:

  • The Sandman: If Finn gets anywhere near sand (beach, sandbox, the park) he is somehow able to sequester enormous amounts of it in his clothing and then lay down a fine layer of grit ALL OVER the house. And this is AFTER we shake his shoes and clothes out before we walk in the door!
  • The Drunken Master: Finn is able to walk mere millimeters in front of you AT ALL TIMES, thereby preventing you from freely moving about. Regardless of whether he knows your final destination, he somehow manages to be completely in your way the entire time you’re trying to get somewhere.
Categories
Babyslang Transient Witticisms

Transient Witticisms: Food, Music, & More

  • “You don’t have to hold my hand, Finny,” I say.
    “I want to!,” he protests. “There’s a lot of people here & I don’t want to get captured!”
  • “Dad-O, do you see what I’m doing?” asks Finn. “I’m getting my muscles a little bit stronger & heavier so I can do special techniques!”
  • Music
    • I told the kids I’m visiting a guy named Stu today. “A Boy Named Stu??” asked Finn.
    • “Dad-O, when I’m older we’ll get a dog who *won’t* chew kids’ toys, and we’ll name him Paul Simon!”
    • “Pumped-Up Kicks?” Finn says incredulously. “I thought Kix were cereal.”
    • Listening to “Another One Bites The Dust.” Finn: “That Freddie Markery is a weird guy, Dad-O. ‘Hangin’ on the edge of your sink’?”
  • Chow:
    • I’ve raised a 4yo son who, in the middle of McDonald’s & out of the blue, yells “Captain Sullenberger? Captain Cheeseburger!!” I rule. 🙂
    • “When it’s your birthday, do you have to eat real food, or can you just eat cake?” asks a hopeful, birthday-eve Finn.
    • The boys brandish curly straws.
      Henry: “This is my sales tool!”
      Me: “Your… what??”
      Finn: “Yeah, they help managers!”
      (No idea, I swear!)
    • The lads are debating anatomy over breakfast:
      F: “Elephants are meat.”
      H: “Noo!”
      F: “*You’re* meat!”
      H: “But my *bones* are not meat!!”
  • Neighbor kids invite us to their treehouse. “It’s our secret lavatory!” Boy I hope that’s not true.
  • We’re playing pirates out back. “You make me peel potatoes, Dad-O,” says Finn. “I’m your galley sleeve!”
Categories
Videos

Presenting “Truck Show Firemen Everywhere”

The boys love watching homemade YouTube videos where kids show off their Lego collections. For weeks Finn’s been talking about creating “Truck Show Firemen Everywhere” (being very insistent about the specific title)–and now we’ve done it!

So, without further ado, please meet Jim, Nonsense, Sweaty, their “vehicle-shaped” vehicle, and more!

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Photos

Two Scamps, One Lamp

What makes Henry’s bunk beds even more fun at bedtime? A clip-on lamp that lets us read stories in bed! Click for a larger version.

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Videos

A Beach Boardwalk Blast

How does a solo-flying Dad-O manage the Micronaxx? By stuffing them onto rides for some seaside “super-dizzying”! Check out Sunday on the Boardwalk with our friends the Wiggii:

As for the choppers, hens aren’t really known for flying high, are they?