juliloquy

innocence

We didn't tell the kids about the tragedy in Newtown, CT. We decided to see whether classmates would bring it up today, then ask them about it. (Background: Shmoo's class activity today involved bringing in a stuffed animal. Shmoo brought in Charlotte, the blue whale.) Here is our dinnertime conversation:

Me: Did you hear anything from classmates today that you'd like to talk about?

Shmoo: Yes! We weren't supposed to touch each other's stuffed animals, but [classmate] kept touching Charlotte! I told him not to, but he kept doing it. [And then Shmoo went into a lengthy description of the classroom's grievance procedures.]

We are so lucky.

Charlotte.

my dinner with Shmooie

Several weeks ago, Shmooie surprised me by saying "sometime I'd like to go somewhere, just you and me. Maybe to grab a bite to eat or something." (He has already mastered the art of romantic-yet-casual date-asking! Ready for college!) We finally got around to our night out last week. When I asked him where he'd like to go, he said, "there's this store? Where you can get food and eat it there or take it home? I think we've only been there once, but there's one near Grandpop and Bubbe's house." I figured out what he was talking about -- a new-to-Frederick regional upscale grocery store. We went there right after school.

  be still my heart

We had a perfectly upper middle class suburban evening.

Guess whose box is whose?
(Hint: the only green thing Shmooie consumed was the "mint chip" milk.)

Shmoo discovered a kids' seating area within which the Disney channel was playing, so it was kind of like dinner theatre. I was glad I always pack something to do in my purse.

22 across: MINOT! I believe this is the first time I've ever seen my hometown as a crossword clue.

After we ate, Shmoo helped with the grocery shopping.

And learned how the sticker-printing scales work while getting some special treats.

 

HPR and Roo had their own fun time at home, baking a double batch of cookies and Roo getting a bath all by herself. So a nice time all around!

I have a draft post about Shmoo's 7th birthday, but in the likelihood that it will never get published, here is a photo of the first annual punkin' chunkin event that was part of the early November festivities.

first date

Alicia, Shmoo's best friend, turned six yesterday. That morning, her mom contacted me, asking whether they could pick both kids up from Kindergarten and take Shmoo out to eat with them to celebrate Alicia's birthday. After running it by HPR, I agreed.* We both predicted (correctly) that Shmoo wouldn't like the surprise switch in plans, but that he would be fine.

Alicia's mom livestreamed the date! I posted one photo on facebook, but thought I'd put the other here.

Alicia's mom said Alicia wants to go to the same college as Shmoo. The subtext is that she heard people often meet their spouse at college. She's a planner!

And here is Shmoo's picture of his friend. Too bad her name isn't spelled phonetically.

*It was actually quite convenient, because I'm still sick and the two-mile round trip to school by bike/foot is a bit much for me at the moment. But I went to the doctor today and she gave me an antibiotic scrip to fight what apparently is bronchitis.

dramatic reenactment

A few days ago I tweeted this:

When we told HPR about it that evening, Shmoo asked again whether he could have another cod liver oil capsule. I hammed it up and said "I'm sorry son, you can't have more cod liver oil until tomorrow." He registered his complaint. HPR remarked that we needed to get it on film, so he grabbed the camera and voila.

just alright with me

We have been doing holiday festivities up proper around here. Shmoo couldn't be more zazzed about it all. We have watched Olive and the Grinch and Frosty and Charlie Brown. (Not Rudolph. Looks like someone's done some serious copyright restricting there; we can't find it free anywhere online.) Last weekend I took the kids to a live nativity with real animals, including a camel.  Shmoo's review: "The camel is big . . . and STINKY!"

As I mentioned before, the kids have been playing with their nativity sets. Shmoo has this one and Roo just received this one, both from my parents. Roo took baby Jesus for a ride in her toy stroller, along with a wind-up penguin. Also, according to Roo, the manger is where he gets his diaper changed. Jesus, not the penguin.

So you can see I'm trying to give the religious aspect of Christmas a lot of play around the house since public events focus so much on the secular.

It appears the religious theme has sunk in. The other day, Shmoo said, "If I ever have a son, I think I'll name him Jesus." (Anglo pronunciation). I nodded and thought thought to myself that could be a very satisfying name to give a child, and not for the reasons one might think. Imagine:

"Jesus! What do you think you're doing?"

"Jesus! Get off the cat RIGHT NOW!"

And of course my favorite: "Close the door! Jesus, were you born in a barn?"

guest post - Shmoo and Buddy Bear

Shmoo's class has a mascot, Buddy Bear, whom the kids take turns taking home for the weekend. They write/draw/tell about their adventures. HPR and Shmoo wrote up our weekend and here it is.

Friday

Buddy Bear and I rode to my house in the bicycle trailer. Mommy pedaled. I wore my helmet, and Buddy Bear was safe in the backpack. When we got home, we made soup and Buddy Bear helped. It had squash, apples, coconut, and cashews, and Buddy Bear put in the apples and stock. Then Daddy came home from work, and he was surprised to see Buddy Bear! We played Candy Land, and Buddy Bear won! Hurricane Rooster (my sister [Roo]) tried to wreck the game. It was so late, so we went to bed. We read The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins by Dr. Seuss. We liked it.

Saturday

We woke up early so we could go in Bucky Car to Daddy's work. We dropped him off and went to the "Egg Sandwich Restaurant." Then we went with Mommy to the beach [at Cunningham Falls], but it was closed. The other part wasn't closed, so we went there. We threw acorns into the water. The seeds sank, but the caps did not. We saw some huge birds in cages. The black vulture flapped and pecked at us, but it was in the cage. Maybe it thought we were after its food. There were also owls, hawks, and a falcon.

Then we went to the library in Thurmont. I like that one more than the one in Frederick. They had a snail race, and I guessed that the pink one would win. It did! I played on the computers a little. After that, we went to the nature center in Fountain Rock. We played in the playground and got soaking wet. [Roo] fell asleep, so we didn't feed the fish or turtles. I thought I saw a trout, and it was very big. There's also a lime kiln that dumps burnt lime into wagons.

We went to Daddy's work to pick him up. I bought some tattoos of birds like the ones we saw today. We went to a banquet at Daddy's work. I got two pieces of brownie. One was shaped like a cupcake. Then we went home and it was past my bedtime.

Sunday

It was so sunny that we went to Baker Park instead of Quaker Meeting. Sorry, God, but I wanted to play. We rode the bicycle there, and Mommy pedaled. We went to the fountain, but it had no water or bubbles! (On election day, someone put purple bubbles in it!) I jumped off the stage over and over. I played in the sandbox. I followed a girl in a moon dress. Then we rode home in the bicycle.

We were so sleepy that we took a nap! When we woke up, we made chocolate-chip cookies. Then Daddy came home. We had a dance party and listened to Shonen Knife. Then we wrestled and wrestled.

 

PS: The wrestling photo is from Friday. Today's wrestling photo revealed too much clutter.

he doesn't dig on swine

Only a short post today. We are exhausted from preparing for Shmoo's party, then the party itself (bounce house again this year, and s'mores, all in our own back yard), then packing up and driving 3 hours to PA grandparents' place.

Shmoo's quote to the crowd during his party. "I don't eat any meat except turkey bacon. My mom says I'm a veterinarian."

He turns 5 tomorrow!

to bump "grueling and thankless and monotonous" down a notch

Shmoo, today, on observing a nearly-empty sippy cup:
"My juice is at low tide."

Unexpected things Roo has labeled "tyoot" (cute):
a worm
a cicada
a spider (well it was itsy bitsy)

guess HPR will have to rename his blog

HPR has accepted a job here, so we will be moving to Maryland probably sometime in May. We are excited about the move, but sad to leave our Philly community. I told my boss today that May 8 will be my last day, although I want to help in the transition as much as possible and can probably devote some time to my employer after that date, too. I am about as weepy as they come, so I was a mess as I shared the news. Wish I could have kept it together a bit better. I have worked here six years with two consecutive outstanding bosses. I'm not sure what sort/level of work I will do after the move; might wait on that until the dust settles at our new place.

We have asked Shmoo what he'd think of living in a new house and he responded with an unreserved YES! He even started packing up his train set on Saturday. Yesterday as we were driving home from Quaker Meeting, we had the following conversation:

Shmoo: Are we moving now?
Me: No, not for a long time. We have to sell our house, pack up all our stuff, get a moving truck . . .
Shmoo: So, after quiet time?

I'm sure that two days after we've moved, he'll ask when we're going back to our house in Philadelphia. He will not be happy about leaving his school.

We're going to look for houses on Friday - we haven't even been to the area! (The park interviewed HPR by phone.) It turns out they are not going to pay for our move, so we have a lot of work ahead. I keep reminding myself that at least it's not moving to New Orleans with a 1-month-old Roo. That helps me keep it in perspective a bit.

Roo, of course, is oblivious to the news. She is too busy pretending to tuck in "beebee" strawberries beneath dish cloths, holding her finger to her mouth and saying "shhhhh." At age 18 months, she has become a complete mother hen.

So wish us luck in the next 6+ weeks! And visit us in Maryland! (Really.)

kid vignettes

We went to the Museum of Art on Friday, our first visit there since Rooie started walking. Gone are the days when we could buy a drink and listen to the jazz performance from the stairs in the great hall. The best part was when we got to the ramp near the gift shop (which has always been a favorite spot for da Shmoo). Roo started to walk up, then paused and you could just see "mind=blown" in her face. Descending was also very amusing, when fat little legs could no longer keep up with the body's inertia. There was much "uh-oh"-ing and dusting off of the chubby hands.
_____

This morning.
Shmoo [looking all around]: Where's the trash can in [Roo's] room?
Me [nursing Roo, therefore unable to gesture]: It's between the changing table and the crib.
Shmoo locates it and discards his used wipe.
Me: Shmoo, that was good listening.
Shmoo: Yep, my ears are up.

_____

Roo has begun using a version of "May I please" when she wants something. It comes out a bit like "bay'p-EEZ" in a whimpering, panicked tone, accompanied by leaning toward the desired object and fingers waving. HPR pointed out that all the work we've done to try to instill manners in da Shmoo are paying back now that the second child is imitating the first. For once, one facet of parenting is easy.

_____

Shmoo has been pretty exact in language from the start. It seems to be part of his personality. So his flubs are that much more amusing to us. Some recent examples are "I'm be-carefulling" and "I'm make-suring there are no ghostes." He also mixes up "braid" and "shave." Out of the blue yesterday, Shmoo said "[female relative] has whiskers. She has to braid them."