Snow!

Snow Snacking

February's theme is SNOW!  On the 8/9th we got the biggest single dump of snow we've seen since moving here.  About two feet fell overnight, drifting to well above our 3-year old's height.  Our front steps disappeared entirely.  I towed Ro to the neighbor's house on snowshoes for some good stair sledding.  We've also had some good park sledding, yard sledding, and lots of "snow snacking."

Kids are funny and particular about things.  Some things in common: wholesale attempted boycotts on the vegetable food group, for example.  Some kids like to run around naked, some carry the same giraffe everywhere.  Our child refuses blankets.  

Ro has actually never slept with a blanket.  As parents we drank the sleep-sack kool aid so Ro spent his first year zippered into his own personal sleeping bag.  And the next year.  At some point he graduated to a sleep sack with foot holes but he had no interest in a blanket.  In summer we just let him go with PJs.  But now that it's cold and he's too big for sleep sacks he is still a blanket-free boy -- at least when he falls asleep.  Most nights we sneak in and blanket him after he's out.  If we don't he will happily sleep without one and happily wake up cold as a rock.  (Or grumpily wake up, but that's independent of blankets).

He also likes to dunk his english muffin in a glass of milk as if it were a cookie.  But I'm hopeful that's a passing fad.

D has been taking Ro to swim classes on Sunday mornings this winter.  Ro is not actually swimming or anything but he's getting more comfortable with the water.  This makes bathtime easier since he's willing to actually be in the water (on his stomach!  sitting or standing!).  His retro snow suit is making him more comfortable in the snow.  He can topple in a drift and stay mostly warm and dry.  See, he's a cosy snow angel!

Ro has a big bed now and has slept in it 2 of the last 3 nights.  He's so proud of it he couldn't wait to show his babysitter when she came, but I wouldn't be surprised if he opts for his crib sometimes for a while yet.  He likes to pretend he's a baby sometimes and upon discovering that babies wear onesies he insisted that he wanted to wear one.  I found an old one that still barely fit and he happily crawled around in it repeatedly.  But seeing him in a onesie made it clear just how much NOT a baby he is -- long legs, underwear, and all!

Our babysitter is back from her semester abroad and Ro has fallen in love with her all over again (she is pretty awesome).  The last time she came he asked for days afterwards when she was coming back.  He wanted to build another big messy fort with his "rascally" pal.  For our part that means we got a great night out last week for dinner and some live music at a guitar shop/bar.  Interesting combo!  



RoQuotes:

R: Cheese Louise [sic] that's fast

R: We are in the "Space Whale" [my car] and I want to call daddy's car "Homo sapiens" (later he wanted to name it Sylvia)

R: Dada, what's "meaning"?

(He also recently asked what's "proving" and now likes to prove things to us)

R: Mom!  You're sitting on the moon.  [I sat down for coffee on the red couch where he was playing with legos D made into a lander]
A: Oh, should I not sit here?
R: No, you don't have a space suit and it's too far away.

R: Mama, you're walking in my lake!   [the middle of the floor]

A: It's okay, I have special lake walking shoes

R: Oh, ok.

R: What are you making?

A: Cookie dough

R: Well, let me test it to see if it's delectable.  Testing is a good way to find out!

A: Look at the beautiful sunset Ro!

R: Yeah, it's because all the colors mix together

A: It's kind of yucky when it's grey out

R: But you're happy when skies are grey!

A: I am?

R: Yeah, cuz I make you happy when skies are grey 

[he loves the you are my sunshine song]

Pictures: (Ro's third bday through the present) are here 

January (in February)

Where did the snow go?

Someone aptly compared living with a three-year-old to having a live bomb in your house.  You ask them to to calm down and hang out for one second while you make some coffee, but when you turn around there is a smoking hole in the floor where your child once was.  A friend described it as like participating in a hostage negotiation situation.  Can I put on your socks?  OK, how about the left one first?  No, no, that's okay, we can do the right one first.  I'm going to touch you now, are you ready?  I tried to warn you!!!

That was pretty much our introduction to three years of age, starting 1 week before the magical date and followed by a phase so specifically parent-directed that only the designated "right person" was allowed to talk to him.  The depth of fervor that can be summoned for a particular plan is amazing, especially when that plan is: request different specific things until you find one your parents can't provide and then blow up.  Since those early weeks of three, things have gotten much better again and our lovely child not only speaks to other humans, he is positively delightful.  Just not this morning, which is what reminded me.

&Co…
January could be a do-over except I wouldn't want to risk it.  After a flu/cold, a second endless cold plus sinus infection, and the stomach flu I was ready to hide for a while.  Instead I had a grant due, our sewer grinder broke (twice) leading us to cancel a visit with friends, and my computer failed so badly I had to surrender the whole machine to tech services and limp along with a loaner through the first day of teaching.  During this time, D and R also got sick, D had (and has) crazy release deadlines, and R is starting to give up his midday nap at school.  I've decided this means February will be all sunshine and fluffy bunnies.  Hear that New England??  No more getting so cold you freeze underground pipes!

Here's what was great about January (besides that whole visiting cool people thing that I wrote about last month):
1) Flying lesson!  As a Christmas present (thanks sweetie) I got to fly around the bay area and Ronan got to fly "the pretend airplane" in flight school's immersive simulator.  He only crashed a few times.  I didn't crash the real plane thanks to an awesome instructor and the fact that flying a cessna is pretty easy as long as conditions are good and someone else tells you what to do.

2) Some CA friends came to visit us before a convention.  Fun!

3) We discovered a cool local B&B when our sewer grinder failed.  I never would've stayed there otherwise since it's only 10 minutes away from our house.

4) Grant submitted, woot.  And a postdoc started in my lab!  Classes have begun and I'm excited to finally teach a seminar (on my fav topic).

5) Everyone is now healthy, we have a kickass wood stove (not new, but ever appreciated in the winter), and on days Ro naps he is a total snuggle bug.

6) I just installed a fuzzy steering wheel cover.  Apparently I'm not supposed to admit this, but I LOVE it.  I'm terrible at remembering to bring gloves to the car and now I don't have to.

Oh right, this is a blog about Ronan. 

Ro is doing well according to his 3 year checkup (which happened a little late).  He's 30lbs and 34", and he impressed the doctor with his articulate pronunciation of stethoscope (or the fact that he brought his own).  

He's in seventh heaven when he gets to sit in the car and push all the buttons.  And he is thorough!  I usually don't figure out how to undo everything he has switched or activated until the next afternoon.  He likes to watch Land Before Time II on netflix (#1 isn't available), and has started quoting it at apt times, saying things like "tonight we feast" as we settle down to dinner.  He likes Thomas too and will emphasize points by saying things like "cinders and ashes, I have to go pee!"  Current favorite book: The Gruffalo's Child (Julia Donaldson).  It is not our favorite book because you can only read the same story for so many nights in a row before you want someone to lose the book.

When I started to write this a few days ago I wrote that he is totally potty trained.  The upside of this is no diapers.  The downside is that when he wakes up at 5am to pee, so do we.  He is particularly unautonomous at going to the bathroom and requires adult assistance every time.  (At night this is understandable since he's in a crib and half-asleep).  After I recently demonstrated to him what the pee-pee dance looks like (the crossed-leg wiggle) he invented the poopy dance which consists of spinning in circles.  Alas, in the last few days he's had his first ever accident at school, his first accident at home since summer, and a lot of avoiding the potty for mysterious reasons not related to discomfort.  Toddlers should seriously come with diagnostic manuals!

Braindana model

Ronan has the self-restraint of an alien being…if you give him two yogurt covered raisins he will save one for later, entirely of his own accord.  I am staring at one of his "saved" treats, and the only thing keeping me from eating it is that it's his, and I don't want to feel like a terrible mom.

RoQuotes from January:

A - What did you do at school today Ro?
R - I waited for you to pick me up.

[The jelly jar lid is missing]
R - I know, let's find it on a map!

1-20:
D - do you think I'm good at taking care of babies?
R - well, I could teach you

R- mama?
A-  yes?
R - when I say mama, say "pardon?"  (repeated often in many combinations)

R- hey mama, let's break the rules together.

Favorite words of the month: delectable and scrumdiddlyumptious

Some older quotes I found floating around:
10-27-12:  My brain wanted to think.  And it thinked!

10-28-12: D- Ro, want to water some plants with me?  R- First I want to play some lovely music [followed by harmonica hyperventilation]

10-28-12: Papa, see that box with the blue light on it?  Papa, that's called an amplifier.

11-13-12: 
D [turns on radio]
R- What's that?
D- That's a Haydn symphony
R- After that one I want Beethoven Nine Symphony


And if you're still reading, I heard this psychology joke yesterday...

Q: What did one psychologist say when he met another?

A: You're fine, how am I?

Unbaked sun power

Kneading "sun bread" dough

Happy Holidays

Santa and Ronan

Ronan is finally of an age for some of the stories around Christmas, so the web of lies (ahem, stories) has begun.  Initially skeptical that Santa Claus could come down our wood-stove pipe, Ro now knows half of "The Night Before Christmas" and left cookies out for "St. Nick" in two states.  He even sat on Santa's lap willingly, after seeing his best friend J had done the same.  Santa brought East Coast Ronan a mini-trampoline.  On the West Coast no one could keep track of all the bounty.  

On the flight out he was so excited he overcame shyness to talk to each pilot.  He charmed more than one grandma with his enthusiastic announcements he was going to see his nana and papa.  And he handled the long travel day at least as well as his parents if not better.

This December has come with a too-large dose of sad news and it makes me want to squeeze my little one extra tight.  I've had plenty of chances to do just that while we were both home sick on a short trip to Tahoe with friends, including naps on mama like in his early days. 

The more I get to know Ronan and the more he grows the more I wonder at this small person whose ways I know better than my own.  It makes me wish I could meet the three-year old version of all of my friends and family, to know you all in this way.  To see what delights and frustrates, to gather a rowdy gang for a party, and to be three myself, so that I don't have to chaperone!




RoQuotes:

A: Let's have a conference.  A family conference is when we all get together and talk about what's going to happen next.  Want to have a family conference?
R: No, because if you want I can tell you all by myself.  We're gonna watch television, and after that we're gonna go to Talia's house!

DP: Somebody's a little tyrant
R: It's meeee!

R: You know something?  I'm a hug monster.
D: Hey, did you know that I'm a hug monster too?
R: That's convenient!

A: Ro, do you know what you want to do when you grow up?
R: I want to be an A, just like you.  So I can be your mommy.

R: I want the blankey-blank video.  
[not a euphemism but a recording of a friend saying blankey-blank!]

R: Mama, did you hear that catastrophe?  When my lego skyscraper fell down?

Album Covers

Ro has to release an album some day, just so he can use this as a cover, right?  I know, by then there won't be those funny things called CDs with cover art, or he'll be in the kind of band that requires a violin or else a half-naked lady on the album front.  But it's not the only front-runner for an awesome band.  Awesome band name suggestions will be entertained.

FWIW, he's pretty good at drums for a toddler, and plays a mean kazoo!

Now we are three

A: How old are you Ronan?
R: [holding up chubby fingers that articulate only semi-independently] One...two...three!

Ronan is three.  We have been Ronan's parents for three years.  This seems right and good, and we have settled into our ways as a family that are trying and comforting, exhausting and replenishing.  The bonds we've formed are incredible to me.  When I have to spend an evening at work I itch to get home to see Ronan.  I feel pride when I think of him, not because I can claim responsibility, but because he is a part of me (that I love).  (For his part, he is proud of the crunching noises he makes when he eats things.  "Do you want to hear my crunch?" is a multi-weekly, if not daily, occurrence of late.)  It's hard not to sound trite with this kind of stuff because it's more universal than unique, but the process of growing up is still one amazing thing after another to me.

Ronan turning three is still a lover of words, but now he delights in finding word connections.  
A few days ago he met a grownup Paula and said:  "I know another Paula.  The other paula is polli-nation."  For the record, I was shocked that he knew the word pollination at all.  When I said something was fragile he mentioned that there was one of those in "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (which took me a minute to even figure out).  He is starting to tell stories and although they lack plot arcs, they have plot.  And it is charming to hear what he comes up with.  

       R: I'm gonna eat you, says the possum.  But first I'm gonna put spice on your toes.  
       Here comes the spice!

       R: Mama, come help me.  I'm trapped by a vole.  And it put me in its mouth.  
       And it said "ooh, yucky". But the sign says no fighting with voles here.  (11/18/12)

He likes to use overly adult words and phrases, with greatly exaggerated intonation.  It's hard to really believe that's how he talks, but he does.  The only example I have is not the best:
       A: Ro look, there are pretty decorations.
       R: Oh, what lovely things.  (11/23)

Ro is kind and gentle.  He likes to pretend he's my mom and take care of me, which either involves petting my head if I'm fine, or offering me one of his gummy vitamins if I have a headache.  He is concerned by any baby he hears crying, and he wants to know why.  He loves bandaids and coldees.

He frustrates easily like most toddlers, but so far can be won over by explanations or distraction much of the time.  About a week ago foot stomping entered the equation when he's upset, so who knows what else three has in store.

Since last month, Ro dressed up as a lion for halloween and a birthday party and any other excuse to wear a costume.  We had a visit from friends and now Tata and Boo are here.  We had a pancake breakfast birthday party and nobody got hurt and most of the pancakes got eaten.  We have had no snow, but many early wood stove fires crashed out on the floor mat.  This Thanksgiving, I am grateful for all the wonderful people in our lives, and for the quiet time with a book or sketch pad I occasionally now enjoy!

Awesome birthday construction cupcakes (not made by me!)

Pictures: (since last time) are here 

More quotes:

R: Carry me daddy!
D: Are you a little sleepy?
R: No, I'm just a lazy boy.  

11/3
[After many iterations of "do you want to hear my crunch"?]
R: I want you to invite me to hear your crunch

11/15
R: I have a letter.  It says "Dear Nana and Papa, I love Nana and Papa and Mama and Dada"

11/15

R: I want facepaint

A: What do you want to be?

R: A sick giraffe

11/21

A: Do you want to come to lab with me?

R: Yeah, cuz I want to see oxytocin

Three years after life changed so dramatically, it is hard to imagine it any other way.  

We love you Ro!

October

Playing the air trumpet

Another busy month!  A lot of science happened, we had visits from Grossvater & Oma and Nana & Papa, there was a birthday party, trail-making in the woods, Music Together classes, a conference for mama, and some of bedraggled late-night getting-it-all-done-time.  

Fall is in full swing with colors everywhere, leaves on the ground, and a hard frost.  We harvested the basil just in time (for pesto!).  Now the beds are empty and it's just a matter of time (days? months?) before snow.

Ronan went on his first field trip (in a bus!) to go apple picking in a nearby town.  Although I couldn't chaperone, I've heard there was enough cuteness to die for.

Not much else to say this month except has it really been a whole month already?  Aside from that, I'll let Ronan speak for himself.

Pictures are here


Quotes
9/30:
R: I'm your mom.  So I will take care of you.

~
R: We're building a tower.  But towers usually have a big one of these [reaches arms up] on top.  Like a steeple.  

10/3: 
[holding up phone toy]

Fall!!!!

- Hi papa, how are you doing?
- Um, sure!
- I have a beard
- and I'm sorting laundry
- Bye bye!

10/15:
R: Will you dilly dally with me daddy?

~
R: I'm gonna pet you.  I'm your friend the rooster.

~
R: Daddy, I'm getting smarter.

10/18:
R: [motioning to toys] This girl is carrying a boy.  Because he ask-ed her to carry him.  Yeah, because he was too tired to walk.  Because he didn't have a nap today.  So that's why she's carrying him.

~

Watch out...I pretend to bite

[the aftermath of that somewhat misconstrued nature video from last week]
R: These are my eggs inside a cave.  Try to steal them!
A: I got one
R: No!!  I'm a goose and these are for my babies
A: How about I take some for my babies
R: But we have the same babies.
A: And these eggs are for them?
R: Yes, and you're the mommy.  HONK HONK HONK.

10/21:
In a couple weeks, my daddy's beard is gonna turn gray.

~
D: What are you eating for dessert?
R: A frog?

Fun phrase: Tickle, pickle, pumpernickle.

Time Lapse

First

Second

Third

Holy cow!  I'd been meaning to head back to the woods by our old house for a while.  It's only now, though, seeing these pictures together that I realize how old Ronan is.  In my mind, he's actually much closer in age to the second picture...cheery and full of wonder for new things (and yet already his determined self).  Not that he isn't now, but at 2 and three quarters Ronan is into firetrucks and helicopters and Swiper the Fox.  His favorite books take longer and longer to read (like Thomas the Tank Engine, The Little Engine that Could, and The Cat in the Hat).  He's getting the past tense right (no more "I taked it"), and he's developed a real shy streak around new people even as he seems closer to his friends.  I've noticed, but it hasn't really sunk in.  

As autonomous as Ro is, compared to his friends he has no real desire to be independent.  He wants to do a few things himself (like that second car seat buckle that is "my job", and lord help you if you accidentally open his bandaid for him) but he also enjoys parental help -- getting carried up the stairs, having us put on his clothes, cutting his food in small pieces, and taking him to the potty.  Potty training is complete (except for sleeping), and was really pretty easy.

Just before the school year started, we all had a little camping trip to the field station (in Ro's words to go voleing).  I'm thrilled that camping with him is as much fun as it is.  Unfortunately we didn't find any voles, but my little field assistant is shaping up nicely!  Here is is inspecting a Sherman trap.

He seems to have completed the transition to his new preschool classroom and classmates quite well, but 9 days out of 10 he is not napping.  Catastrophe!  Most days he just falls asleep in the car as I drive home (or doesn't quite and has a meltdown later).  Today we headed across the street to our Music Together class on a napless day.  He sat in my lap for the first song, then turned to face me, hung his arms around me, and fell asleep on the spot!!  He slept through the entire class, including everyone singing (including his nap host), toddlers banging cymbals, a parachute game that incited some shrieking, and general glee.  When it ended I carried him to the car (still asleep), and he slept all the way home and into the house.  He still fell asleep a little earlier than usual.

Blue Hovse reunion

Last week we had a semi-planned, semi-impromptu greenhovse reunion in the blue house!  Hooray!   It was so fun to see everyone, and ya'll are welcome back any time, ok?

As might be inferred by the tardiness of this previously punctual update (and the lack of quotes below), this semester has hit me like a ton of bricks.  Fall is always like that -- research is in full swing from the summer, papers in the pipeline still need attention, and all of a sudden there are four lectures to prepare, hours of teaching, advising, and tons of students to meet with each week.  Add to that the department meetings, scheduled talks, and guest lectures and some days I don't check my email until 9:30pm when Ro is fast asleep.  Things will calm down, I'll relearn my "I can't do that right now" mantra, and too-busy will be the new normal.  But sometimes I'm not sure how it all happens.  Impressive, or insane?

New pictures starting here:  [picasa album]

RoQuotes:

9/11/12: [finds a mushroom on the ground] "Mama, is this a bolete?"

9/11/12: [talking about how we have to slow down for speed bumps]
R: Is that the word?
A: Is what a word?
R: I mean the seats word.  [referring to seat belts...we'd been talking laws earlier in the week]
A: You mean a law?
R: That word.  But I can go in the driver's seat when the car is parked.

9/23 [DS has been showing Ro the cello]
D: Let's go clean up the car.
R: No, I wanna play a Bach cello suite!

More "then and now" pictures (since it's now sort of easy to add them once again):

May 2011

Sept 2012

June 2011

Sept 2012