7

Oct

Crummy Cell Phone Pictures, Part II: Fun on the Oreo

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan and Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan and Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Kai on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan plays dead on the Awakening statue at Villanova
Eidan plays dead on the Awakening statue at Villanova

Last month I killed some time with the boys at Villanova for about an hour, while we waited for Maria to finish a meeting. They gravitated to the “Awakening” sculpture, known more commonly as the Oreo. We ran around on it for about 30 minutes. Then it was on to the pine trees nearby, where we tried to knock down pine cones by throwing already fallen pine cones at them.

1

Oct

Crummy Cell Phone Pictures, Part I

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Eidan at Kai's back to school picnic
Eidan at Kai’s back to school picnic

Eidan was the only miniature beach ball wielding, Mexican wrestler mask wearing toddler at Kai’s back to school picnic a couple of weeks ago. Every day for the past month or so he has insisted on wearing some kind of crazy outfit. This mask is his current favorite. He doesn’t even let us take it off for bed sometimes (we take it off after he falls asleep). He goes to bed each night with a different assortment of objects - last night it was rubber bands and a flash light. More typically it’s action figures or matchbox cars. Anything but a soft fluffy stuffed animal.

27

May

Memorial Day Weekend

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Eidan sprays Kai with water on the first hot day of SpringEidan 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.

Kai on the mini-golf course at Franklin Square Park
Kai on the mini-golf course at Franklin Square Park
A sand sculpture at Franklin Square Park
A sand sculpture at Franklin Square Park
Kai and Eidan getting the cameraman (me) wet
Kai and Eidan getting the cameraman (me) wet

12

May

Give Me A Race Car and an Earlobe, and There is Nothing I Cannot Do

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Eidan's preschool picture, April 2008 (2 years old)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.

18

Mar

Kai Rocks Out

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Kai rocks out
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.

15

Mar

Eidan Rocks Out

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Eidan rocks out
Eidan rocks out

Who knew he’d develop a taste for heavy metal at such a young age. Click the image to watch.

8

Mar

Kai’s Birthday Party - 2 Hours of Total Terror

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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Kai and his friends, waiting for cake at his birthday partyKai 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 piƱata 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 partyKai enjoying a ring pop at his 7th birthday party
Kai enjoying a ring pop at his 7th birthday party
Video - Total insanity at Kai's 7th birthday partyVideo - Total insanity at Kai’s 7th birthday party
Video - Total insanity at Kai’s 7th birthday party

6

Dec

Summer Beach Pics From Newport

Topic: Kai and Eidan
Tags: , , ,

My sister's boyfriend Paul with EidanMy 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.

Folks settling in for a performance at the Newport Art Muesum
Folks settling in for a performance at the Newport Art Muesum
The Navy Show Band performing at the Newport Art Museum
The Navy Show Band performing at the Newport Art Museum
Hazard's Beach in Newport, RI
Hazard’s Beach in Newport, RI
Kai and his cousin Alexandra
Kai and his cousin Alexandra
Kai, with his cousins Matthew and Alex
Kai, with his cousins Matthew and Alex
Alex, Matthew, and Kai
Alex, Matthew, and Kai
Kai on the beach with charcoal on his nose
Kai on the beach with charcoal on his nose
Alex and Kai
Alex and Kai
Eidan at Hazard's Beach
Eidan at Hazard’s Beach
Paul pulling Kai and Eidan across the sand
Paul pulling Kai and Eidan across the sand
Kai (with charcoal on his face) and Alex enjoying s'mores
Kai (with charcoal on his face) and Alex enjoying s’mores

26

Nov

The Mayflower Story, As Told By Kai

Topic: Kai and Eidan
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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.August, 1620: I am sailing to the new world. I feel home sick because I miss my home. I will take my one toy.
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.October, 1620: I am on board the Mayflower. I feel even more sick. I feel like getting off the Mayflower.
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.November 9, 1620: We saw land today. I felt happy because we reached land. I wanted to run in the sand.
November 9, 1620: We saw land today. I felt happy because we reached land. I wanted to run in the sand.

20

Nov

Cheap Thrills

Topic: Kai and Eidan
Tags: ,

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 ShowThe Kai and Eidan Show
The Kai and Eidan Show