Lots of stuff

Dang, I haven't blogged in two weeks. Way too long, especially with so much different stuff happening....

- Jack got the "Madagascar" DVD, and now walks around singing "I like to moob it, moob it. I like to moob it, moob it.

- I turned Kate's car seat around so that she faces front rather than back. She was wide-eyed as I strapped her into it for the first time, as if to say, HEY, what's this new development? Ultimately, she still wailed a little on the way home, as she normally does when she's wearing her bulky winter Michelin jacket and strapped into the car seat, but at least she was facing forward. Jack wanted to hold her hand, which was kind of sweet.

- Jack had lots of fun with the Imaginext castle playset Santa brought him for Christmas, his "big gift." This was something we decided on a few weeks before, found it online, and then managed to get the last one at a store nearby. And a dragon accessory, plus a few other things. I think it's an awesome toy, and I'm not just saying that because I play with it for half an hour every night after everyone else goes to bed. The best part is that Jack likes it too.

- Emily cut Kate's bangs. I think maybe they were keeping her up, or at least I tell myself that, because when she was rubbing her eyes when I was putting her to bed, she may also have been trying to get hair out of them. She looks totally different but still extra cute. And her hair isn't in her eyes anymore.

- Jack let his Baba put him to bed. Mom and Dad stayed here over Christmas, and Jack decided he wanted Baba to read him stories before bedtime. The stories he got to read were a Backyardigans book involving cops and robots (Jack had read it a hundred times and kept correcting him -- "No, that's UNIQUA") and then I think a Curious George story perhaps; he kept asking Dad questions like, "Why does an elephant pick up food with his NOSE?" and Dad would come up with the same kind of explanation I would; probably some truth and some guesswork, which was kind of funny. After stories Baba just turned out the light and Jack went to sleep, unlike with us where he comes out of his room for about half an hour straight.

- Kate got sick; her first winter in daycare has been rough. She was home with a fever for a couple of days and slept a lot, woke up and drank liquids, slept some more. But it was really fun having her home, actually; I forgot how much I missed her, and I think she was happy having the run of the place and not having to worry about Jack taking toys away or whatever. Aside from being sick, she was happy, anyway.

- Aunt Linda visited, and it was funny how Jack and Kate both immediately took to her. Kate was nervous for maybe a few minutes and then I walked into the kitchen and there was Aunt Linda holding her. Jack only wanted to go out to dinner if he could sit next to Aunt Linda. Both kids, in fact, were great with all the visitors and such over the holidays.

- Jack and I went sledding in the neighbor's driveway. It was great, because it was a place for Jack to sled and he had fun. It was bad, because the kids are a little older and Jack tries to make friends but he can't really relate to them. But, it was still very sweet to see him try.

- We talked to Aunt Robin and Jack and Kate's cousins via Skype, enabling Robin to see Kate in the dress she'd sent and Jack to show his various stuffed toys to the camera. Plus we got to see Robin's dog Bailey.

- Dad and I played cards and watched the end of Casablanca together. Perhaps one day, 30 or so years from now, I'll be doing that again from the other perspective.

- Kate started walking around saying "Hi.....Hi!......Hi...." And sticking out her tongue. Tonight I thought she had something in her mouth. I crouched down: Kate, what have you got in your mouth? She opened her mouth wide, stuck out her tongue, and laughed at me.

Football with my son

Jack and I went to the Jets game on Sunday. A friend had tickets that they couldn't use and we got them last minute; one of the joys of living in the big city. I hadn't really considered taking Jack to an NFL game yet -- unlike baseball, it's not really conducive to small children, for various reasons -- but it was last-minute and so I figured what the heck. One day he'll be able to say he saw Brett Favre play, even if he doesn't remember any of it.

The drive down was great; Jack fell asleep after about 10 minutes. We parked, Jack woke up, and we headed to the shuttle bus. "Hurry, Daddy, hurry!" That bus took us what seemed like about 200 yards to...the edge of another big parking lot, which we needed to hoof it across to get on ANOTHER bus that would take us to the stadium. "Where's the stadium?" asked Jack. Five minutes later. "Daddy....where's the STADIUM." (As an aside, I think I now know why it's called "satellite parking." It has to do with the distance.) Needless to say, I carried Jack a lot during this, but mostly it was because I was hurrying -- not because he was whining to be picked up. He was great.

Finally at the stadium, the whining did begin somewhat. "Daddy, I'm HUNGRY!!!!" "Can we get some food now?" "But I'm HUNGRY....." I should point out that at this point we're standing in line at one of the turnstiles, waiting to get in. No vendors out there.

We get inside -- we went in the first gate we came to -- and were only about half a mile from our seats. We went up the longest escalator Jack had ever been on, which I think he enjoyed, and stared into a sea of people. Jack, to his credit, did not flinch. He said, "Can we get food now?" With the game starting in roughly 10 minutes, I ended up picking Jack up and hauling it toward our seats. When we were fairly near, and there was a food stand without much of a line, I put him down and we went over to get food. Hotdog, French fries, water for him, beer for Daddy. Ketchup, mustard, etc. And then I realized, OK, I need to hold two hotdogs, French fries, water, and beer -- AND Jack's hand. (The last one is the most important, I know.) Plus I need to be able to check the tickets because I only know the section number, I don't know what row or seats or anything. And then I notice that people are walking faster because the game's about to start -- it just occurs to me now that I missed the National Anthem, I'm kind of sad about that. Maybe that's why the line was shorter to get hotdogs. Oh well.

So people are walking faster and I have an armful of food and Jack at my hand and I don't know exactly where the seats are, and Jack says "Can I get one of those hats?" People are wearing these green Jets Santa hats, and I admit I kind of like them. And I say, Jack, the game's about to start, I've got a supermarket in my arms here, let's go find our seats, we'll go get a hat at halftime. "What's halftime?"

We make our way down the stairs. I wish I could say I saw Jack's eyes go wide when he saw his first football field and all that, but given all the stuff in my arms and the fact that the game was starting and there were crowds of people all around us, and that he's a couple of feet or so shorter than I am and was wearing a winter hat and big jacket, that is not the case.

I point out our row and send Jack in; he sits in the first empty seat. This reminds me of our first movie together, when he sat down on the aisle step. The things you forget that kids don't know, because it's new to them. We get to our seats, sit down, I unload all the food, and I point out Brett Favre.

There was a lot more. Jack being a little overwhelmed by the crowd roaring after big plays, like a lengthy bootleg by Brett Favre that seemed to take about 10 minutes (probably seemed even longer for Favre). Me explaining to Jack that, yeah, there'd probably be a lot of yelling because people get excited about football games. "I think I just want to watch it on TV," said Jack after that, although he gradually came around. Jack pointing out other Santa hats in the stands. Us actually seeing Santa (although I don't believe it was the real Santa because this is his busy time and he wouldn't have been able to take in Jets-Bills). Us getting up at halftime, going to the bathroom (that was a hoot; we're in this big stall so he can pee and he's taking off his clothes like we're home and he's about to have a bath. Jack, what are you DOING?), going to the gift shop and not seeing the Santa hats but seeing a small stuffed bear. In a Santa outfit. WEARING a green Jets Santa hat. When Jack saw that I think his little heart just filled with joy; I will freely admit that going to a game with his Daddy and seeing The Meadowlands and all that paled next to that little bear. In a Santa outfit. Wearing a green Jets Santa hat.

On the way back to our seats after that, with Jack fairly walking on air, clutching his little Jets Shop bag with his new toy in it, it was halftime, so it was even more crowded than it was earlier. Jack was a trooper; the biggest problem was that there weren't many 3 year olds there, and thus there weren't many people his size there, so other people weren't looking for him. I kind of walked along with him behind me, clearing a path while holding his hand, but other people would see me and not him and, you know, there was jostling. But to his credit, and partly because he was happy about having his bear, he hung in there. Didn't squawk. Didn't complain.

People are nice, too. No question there were scores of drunken fools there, but when one guy who I might at a glance have put in that category careened into us as we walked down the stairs and he walked up, the guy stopped, helped me get Jack back to his feet, apologized to Jack and to me, and made sure we were OK before heading on his way. That sticks in my memory.

We left a little early; it started to get pretty cold. I carried him a lot on our two parking lot hikes and two different shuttle bus rides. And we were on the bus when we heard the Jets win.

Which was just a bonus.

Funny stories

There's a stomach bug going around Jack's school. We heard about it when Jack explained how one girl threw up during snack time when they were eating crackers. "All over the table!" said Jack, excitedly. But not on your crackers? Emily asked. "Oh no. She threw up on Teddy's crackers a little bit." Did Teddy get new crackers. "OH, yes."

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Jack caught the stomach bug, of course. Got sick tonight. Told me he had to, so we went and stood at the toilet. For about 5 minutes, nothing. So I (wait for it).......closed the lid, and we left. Two minutes later, Jack had to throw up. We got there, but didn't get the lid up in time. Lesson learned.

At bedtime, he wanted some water. Emily gave him a tiny bit, but said he couldn't have any more, since he'd just been sick. Naturally, shortly after that, he got sick. As he sat on his floor before getting back into bed, he said sadly, "I guess I shouldn't have had that water." Emily also told me he said, "I feel bad for myself being sick." He's been coming out with some great comments lately. I need to write more of them down. I forget them and a day later they're gone.

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Kate was home most of the week. She also got sick once, and had other stuff going on, one of which I can't even begin to spell and won't try. It was odd being home alone with her -- I was for the entire summer, and then not from September through now, with her in day care. Whenever she was home with me (Friday through Sunday), either Jack was here or Emily or both. First afternoon, she seemed to just love running around the house on her own (no need to worry about Jack playing with toys she wanted, or whatever).

The last two days, it was books and more books. What she does is she walks up to me in her little pigeontoed way, and she's holding a book in her hand. Or she's sad or clingy or whatever, and I say, do you want to read a book? Why don't you go get a book? And she goes and gets one. Little block books, board books, typically little small things -- Kate-sized.

I generally sit cross-legged on the floor ("criss-cross applesauce," according to Jack, which is also a verb in Jack speak -- "Are you criss-cross applesaucing?"). She walks up to me, turns around, then backs up the rest of the way. Sits down on my legs like I'm her chair. Little smile on her face that I can kind of see as she backs up.

And that's pretty much how we spent the last two days around the house, her bringing me books, backing up to sit down, and us reading them. Over and over and over.

Binkit

When I was little I had a blanket. Kate doesn't have one (yet; we're going to have to change that). Tonight she was in her pajamas, just before going to bed, and I had just given Jack his bath. He was getting into his pajamas and his towel was kind of crumpled on the floor.

She went over to it. Picked it up. Walked a few steps away with it, still holding it. I took it back, thinking, ugh, wet towel. She came over to me and took it back. "Aaa!" she said, in protest. All righty, I'm thinking. She does love the Boynton book, "Dinosaur's Binkit," so.....

She carried the towel around with her for the next 10 minutes. At some point she was distracted and set it down for a minute, and Emily stowed it away.

Gonna have to get her a blanket, though.

The Grinch

Jack came into the kitchen yesterday morning; he'd been out in the living room watching The Grinch.

"Daddy, The Grinch isn't a person. He's a MONSTER."

"He is?"

"Yes. The song says so."

So there you go.