Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of Spring
Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of Spring
Today was the first hot day of the year, so the boys went at each other with spray bottles in the back yard. And it wasn’t long before they turned their sights on the cameraman (me).
On Sunday we took a trip to Franklin Square so the boys could enjoy some miniature golf. An unexpected sight while we were there was a freshly completed sand sculpture, celebrating Philadelphia. It was no Fukiage Beach Sand Festival, but it was fun to see, and reminded me of our time in Japan last year. Then we ended the day with dinner at Pho 75 in Chinatown. It all made for a very pleasant day.
Eidan’s preschool picture, April 2008 (2 years old)
Eidan’s preschool picture, April 2008 (2 years old)
Eidan got his report card for pre-school the other day. One of his teacher’s written comments was: “Eidan continues to be a joy in our classroom. His strong willed demeanor made potty training easy, but it also makes it difficult for him to be cooperative when given commands he doesn’t agree with.”
Yup, that’s our boy.
He was slow to start talking at first, but now he’s a chatterbox. We can’t always understand him, but that will come with time. My current favorite expression of his is “you scare me,” which he’ll say with a big smile anytime you show up unexpectedly.
Most kids get attached to a stuffed animal or a blanket, but not Eidan. He’s very attached to his Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks toy cars right now (from the movie Cars - he calls them “kachow” and “chicka chicka,” since those are their catch phrases). He carries them everywhere, and even sleeps with them. He was also very attached to Maria’s earlobes for a while, rubbing them as a way of comforting himself. She finally made him stop when it got the point where he was rubbing her ears raw.
He also really enjoys going to Kai’s karate class. While Kai’s doing his class, I’m with him on the side, helping him practice his own version of karate. The teacher is kind enough to let him borrow a helmet, a small padded practice sword, and a kicking pad. He has a great time flailing his little arms and legs wildly, pretending he is a karate master.
He loves books now. He doesn’t know how to read yet, but he’ll happily flip through the pages and look at the pictures. His current routine is to go to bed with a stack of books (this is after Maria and I have already read to him) and look through them by himself until he’s ready to sleep. He’ll usually sneak out of bed at some point too, and bring some toys in bed with him. Tonight it was a toy hammer and goggles. He’s asleep now, with the goggles still on, a race car in his hand, a stack of books on one side of him, and a big toy fire engine on the other. I’ll go in soon to take most of it away, so it doesn’t all crash to the floor during the night.
Kai rocks out
Kai refused to let me make a video of him dancing. I tried my best paparazzi camera-hiding technique, but as you can see, it got me only about 10 seconds of video.
Eidan rocks out
Who knew he’d develop a taste for heavy metal at such a young age. Click the image to watch.
Kai and his friends, waiting for cake at his birthday party
Kai and his friends, waiting for cake at his birthday party
We had a party at the house today for Kai’s 7th birthday. Maria and I barely survived the non-stop barrage of fart and burp jokes from 9 boys, not to mention the almost constant screams of glee as they battered each other with long balloons for 2 hours. Watch the video below to get a sense of it. Maria did a great job doing all the party planning - with a ring-pop scavenger hunt, bashing a piñata with a toy lightsaber, small Lego Bionicle toys for everybody, pizza, and ice cream cake - she knows the way to the hearts of 7 year old boys. They all had a blast - especially Kai - and no one was hurt, so I’d call it a success.
Preparing for the party really came down to the wire. Back in November we covered the living room in tarps, so I could paint it, and so I could do some remodeling around the fire place. Then I broke my hand, and then I re-injured my back, so the room ended up covered in tarps for months. Now my hand is fully healed, and my back is better enough that I can do things like stand and paint for about an hour per day, so last week I got back to work on it. I had budgeted enough time to finish in time for the party, but then Eidan came down with the flu and was home from preschool for two days, which threw a major wrench in the works. I still finished in time, but I was painting under a lamp on Friday evening to have the room ready in time for the party today. You can catch a glimpse of the fireplace in the video - that work is not done yet.
 Kai enjoying a ring pop at his 7th birthday party |
 Video - Total insanity at Kai’s 7th birthday party |
My sister’s boyfriend Paul with Eidan
My sister’s boyfriend Paul with Eidan
In honor of yesterday’s unexpected early winter snowfall here in Philly, I decided it’s finally time to post pictures from our trip to Newport this summer. The first couple of pictures below are from a performance of the Navy Show Band at the Newport Art Museum. The Museum hosts a summer evening picnic series of musical performances. The tourists come for the Jazz and Folk Festivals, and the locals go to the Art Museum shows. The rest of the pictures are from Hazard’s Beach, where the boys spent most of their days during our week and half stay in August. My sister was visiting at the same time, so her kids - Matthew and Alex - are in some of the pictures. They live in Texas, so it’s nice for the kids to have a chance to get together in Newport. I spent my childhood summers at Hazard’s, so I think it’s great the boys get to spend some time there too.
Just before Thanksgiving Kai wrote a short “fill in the blank” style story at school. The topic was the journey of the Mayflower to the New World. When I was a kid we got the sugar-coated fairy tale version of happy pilgrims. I think Kai is getting a somewhat more realistic version of the story, and then is layering on his own matter-of-fact sensibility. Maria and I were cracking up when he showed this to us. There are several pages after these, about the pilgrims building houses, etc., but these first 3 pages are a good sample of his narrative. The guy in the first picture is vomiting.
 August, 1620: I am sailing to the new world. I feel home sick because I miss my home. I will take my one toy. |
 October, 1620: I am on board the Mayflower. I feel even more sick. I feel like getting off the Mayflower. |
 November 9, 1620: We saw land today. I felt happy because we reached land. I wanted to run in the sand. |
Just like the foolishness that’s on the cable news channels’ political talk shows every night (people in suits yelling at each other about the days events), these videos of the boys are cheap to produce and always get good ratings. And hopefully they’re more fulfilling.
This particular performance was actually going on for quite a while before I got the camera. What really got me was the boys disappearing between each vignette - if you listen closely you can hear Kai whispering to Eidan about what to do next. Click the image to start the video.
The Kai and Eidan Show
The Kai and Eidan Show
You knew these were coming: Halloween pictures of the boys (along with a cute but random picture of them in a laundry basket). Halloween is my favorite holiday, as it’s the only one that makes us go out and see our neighbors (but I suppose this is only true if you have kids and live in a kid friendly neighborhood). So much of modern life keeps our focus on just work and home, so I think it’s a good thing that we have occasions that focus our attention on our community once and while, even if it’s just the few blocks around our home.
For Kai’s solider costume, we had trouble finding a toy gun - the big retailers don’t seem to carry them anymore. But the huge inflatable gun we found in a costume shop turned out to be much better than a regular toy - it’s ridiculously over the top. Eidan’s spidey costume is a hand-me-down from Kai. Eidan loves it, and has worn it at least once a month since he discovered it in a closet after we returned from Japan, so it was an easy choice for Halloween. Kai painted and carved the Frankenstein pumpkin you can see in the background of the first picture - it won 2nd place in his grade’s pumpkin carving contest. The weird thing was he predicted he’d get 2nd place when we were on the way to school.
Our time spent hitting up people for candy was surprisingly brief. Both boys decided they’d had enough after about half an hour. But they had a lot of fun, and that’s what matters.
Maria and I came back from Japan several months ago with a fresh perspective, and a few new ideas. We’ve been kicking those ideas around, and we’ve decided to pursue one of them. I hate to be mysterious about what it is, but it’s not something I should discuss publicly just yet. I will say it involves building a web site, so I need to devote what spare time I have to working on it. Which means I need to give up blogging for a little while 
. I will provide an update in about a month.
But before I go, I should provide an update on the boys. Kai is the dilettante I’m referring to in the title of this post, and Eidan the ruffian. Kai is turning out to be a very bright but lazy boy. The other day when we got home from school, he rejoiced - “it’s sitting time!” I always thought of six year olds as inherently active, but Kai usually acts more like a bored teenager. If I can get him going on something - whether it’s playing legos, baseball in the yard, or something else - he usually has fun, but it’s like pulling teeth to get him in motion. Someone who’s better at getting him in motion is Eidan, who won’t hesitate to grab something like a toy plastic sword and chase Kai around the house with it, with Kai screaming in semi-mock terror.
Here’s a moment that captures both of their personalities: a few weeks ago when it was really hot out, Eidan stripped himself down to his diaper. Kai climbed in their red wagon, and Eidan grabbed the handle, straining with every ounce of his strength to pull Kai down the sidewalk. Kai laid back in the wagon with a juice box in one hand, pretending to crack a whip with the other, shouting “faster, faster!” They both couldn’t have been happier.
Eidan’s vocabulary has exploded in the past few weeks. It’s still hard to understand him, but that’s ok, because it’s very cute. For example, “big truck!” (his favorite expression) comes out as “zhig tuck!,” and “Kai” is “die.” When he’s feeling a sense of urgency he puts “aw” in front, so when he really wants Maria, it’s “aw mommy!” What I found really funny was hearing him repeat phrases that I don’t even realize I’ve been saying: one time when I put him in his chair and pushed him close to the table he said “there ya go!” I asked Maria where that came from, and she pointed out that I say it all the time.
Anyway - enough talk! Here’s a picture and a video of the boys to get you through the next month:
 Eidan and Kai sharing my desk chair |
 Kai reading to Eidan, with Eidan providing sound effects |
Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of Spring
