Spring (April-May) 2015

Summer, finally!

Designated wagon puller

It's finally green and lush and summery here.  The garden is planted with new asparagus bare roots, blueberry starts, sungold cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and some colorful things Ro picked out.  We are raising tadpoles in the kitchen.  The school year has ended, summer research has started, and life is just a little bit slower than it was.

New photos (Easter through now in bottom half of the album).

We are expecting #2 any time in the next two weeks, so here are a few updates before we disappear into the land of sleepless nights.  (And hello to grandparents!)

Mother's day snuggle 

Popular seat!

Another great lap

Ro is at a remarkable age.  I've always thought 5 was a great age from my babysitting days (Ro turns 5.5 today) and oh how right that was.  From the parental point of view, his growing independence is amazing.  He wakes up and putters around until 7:30 when he gets one of us up.  He picks out his own clothes and dresses himself, entertains himself building things or flying an RC helicopter around the house, bikes around the cul-de-sac, and runs back and forth to the neighbor's house to play with T&J after school.  One particularly remarkable morning in April I stumbled downstairs at 8:30 to find he had already made some art on his easel, tried to make himself toast and thrown away the burned product, and unloaded the dishwasher (nothing broken)!  It hasn't happened again, but that's okay.  He also continues to exhibit surprising self-restraint.  On Easter he proposed that the right amount of chocolate bunny to eat each day might be about a half inch, and he actually stuck to that until the bunny was gone.  

We've started reading chapter books (currently Dinotopia and Harry Potter).  Harry Potter is definitely a little scary and advanced, but he seemed to be taking it in stride.  That was until Harry started breaking the rules.  Never mind Voldemort sucking the blood out of unicorns...it was Harry leaving Gryffindor after the night curfew that made Ro cry because it was all too much!  HP is currently on hold, and Dinotopia is at a much better level.  Ronan still likes to hear poems after lights out.  Current favorites: Why English is Hard to Learn (Anon.), Little Seth has Garlic Breath (Silverstein), Wayne the Stegosaurus (Nesbitt), and Ticklish Tom (Silverstein).  He is also obsessed with hearing (and singing) La Bamba.

Browsing Dinotopia with T and Gandalf

Babysitter Sara

Ro Quotes: 

SK [babysitter]: It looks like we are out of ice cream sandwiches for dessert
R: Well Sara, I think we have to consider the breakfast options

A: Not a lot of 5 year olds have swords, you know
R: Yeah, well it’s a relief that this one is only plastic

R: Uh, mom.  Do you really think you should wear a black shirt with a burgundy skirt?
A: Well, what do you think about that?
R: It kind of clashes.
A: What do you think would be a better color with this skirt?
R: Well, maybe gray.  Yeah, or maybe pink.

A: Star Wars is kind of a grownup movie, so it might be a little too scary

R: But why would they make a movie with bad guys and superheroes for grownups?
A: You know, grownups like that kind of stuff too
R: Really?  I thought they just liked boring stuff like newspapers and such.

R: What I really like about living here is we have a nice house and we also have a good network.

A: And after spears, people developed bows and arrows.
R: And after that they developed quiches.  So they didn’t have to hunt as often!

Subscript to school self-portrait (at right)
R: What's important to know about me is that I do not have a bunk-bed but I'm going to build my bed into one.  I do not really like fighting but I do like the fighting where it's kind of like kick-boxing.  I don't like other people being the boss of me.  I love running around, and especially galloping, and skipping too.  And also I wish I had a tail because then I would wind it up and squish it and launch myself upwards like Tigger does.

The long winter meant lots of pillow forts!

Winter (Jan-March) 2015

Another March, another Spring bulb show!

Picasa album: Photos mid-Jan through March 


It's hard to believe we've only been back home for three months.  Already we have settled deeply into life here, and serious winter.  It snowed today (March 27th) for most of the day, and we are really ready for Spring (ahhh...sun and warm temperatures the next day).  But the winter is not so bad and our lives are full.


Art:  Since our return, Ronan has been making tons of drawings.  He has a unique style, which is neat to see developing.  Here is an album of his art over the last three months (should be public access), and a few examples throughout this post!

Events:
Moving home, return to school and work and new workplace
Sledding.  More sledding!
Our dear cat Maile died
Ethan's birthday
Bulb show
Visit from Autumn and her dad
Visit from Tata and Boo (and weekend in Connecticut with them)
Visit from Nate and family

Expecting
Ronan's little brother is due in 2 months, not long after the semester ends.  We are all looking forward to it and enjoying the relative calm before the storm.  I am looking forward to never being pregnant again!  

Ro Quotes:

D: Oof!

R: It was the airplane's choice to do that.  Not mine.

R: Do you know how good I am at making paper airplanes?  At school I'm even popular about it.

New words in common usage: filthy, precious, subnivean zone.

Ro and Autumn

Did you know vikings meditate??

Pajama and stuffy day at school

Jamming with dad

Winter (Nov/Dec 2014)

So much happened in the last two months!  Pictures are here (last 10 or so photos) and here (post-turning 5).

November:

• We got away to see a production of the Tempest in SF (with a friend as Ariel)
• We sailed the bay on board the historic Alma with Cousin T, passing under the Golden Gate bridge and out to Fort Baker where we enjoyed birthday cake #1
• After much anticipation, Ronan turned 5 years old, which we celebrated like pirates.  Pirates enjoy chemistry-themed parties at the Lawrence Hall of Science followed by cake and booty, right?  Ro’s grandpa turned 5+n years at the same time, leading to cakes #2 and 3.
• We enjoyed thanksgiving with family (turkey day 1) replete with cake #4 for my birthday.
• We then celebrated TD2 (turkey day 2) with many friends and a second round of cooking.

December:

• We took our third trip to Bear Valley this year, this time back at S&A’s cabin.  Ronan tried skiing (video here) for the first time, and much fun was had with remote monster trucks and glitter glue
• Ronan spent multiple overnights at Tata and Boo’s, while we did crazy things like stay overnight on a houseboat in Sausalito, watch movies, see Chanticleer, and go kayaking
• Ronan attended a messy but fun cookie decorating party!  I took another glass-blowing class with my dad.
• Pre-school finished with a kid concert featuring African songs and percussion.
• Christmas was a huge day for presents and a little overwhelming!  There were only a few tears late in the day.  D and I got each other art for Christmas — our first grownup purchases of paintings from the very talented Ellen Zucker (wife of my PhD advisor)
• We took a trip on the holiday-decorated “Train of Lights”
• We got ready to move!  Craigslist, donation runs, packing the container, shipping the car…
• New Years Eve gathering complete with a visit from G&B and S from Montana.

Early January:

• We spent the night “camping” in a rustic cabin right on the coast at Steep Ravine in Marin.  This was reserved 6 months in advance, before we realized our camping gear would be mid-cross-country trip!  Thanks to a gear loan we got to enjoy this lovely closeout to the year, complete with a “wolf moon” of incredible brightness lighting the sky and ocean all night.
• Throughout we had visits with many wonderful people, and inter-house dinners most Fridays.

Preparing inter-house dinner

Science:

Winter is a good time for nature in California, and on one bike ride Ro I found a swallowtail caterpillar on some fennel growing in the community garden.  We took it home and enjoyed learning how to take care of it and spot the signs it was ready to build a chrysalis (a big gloppy poop), which it produced right before building its case.  It didn’t hatch out, suggesting we caught it late enough in the fall that it had plans to overwinter.  We also enjoyed looking at lots of things under the microscope (from the undersides of different kinds of leaves to silverfish), found a strawberry sprouting leaves from its seeds, and had a blast playing with dry ice in the lab and at home in new and interesting ways.  Ronan has started folding his own paper airplanes, and his favorite models are the “dart” and the “sharp blades of the sky.”

Catching and holding dry ice bubbles!

Ramblings:

Five has brought so many new competencies and more confidence.  With these have come the first lies (usually about having washed his hands when he didn’t) and greater frustration if he doesn’t get his way (although he is starting to understand the concept of compromise).  All in all it is a really fun age.  We are slowly transitioning from caretakers to companions, and get to enjoy the company of this amazing small person (42” and 38.5 lbs as per the doctor, a few days ago).  I suppose it must be good, because we are doing it all again!

This year in California has been beautiful, fun, hectic, complicated, strange, and wonderful.  We tried to milk it for all we could, and we were especially glad to give Ronan the chance to spend time with family and friends.  Although we are heading back to a really cold January, we look forward to having a less transient home base.  It turns out that a year is a long time, and this one has been a memorable adventure.

Marin trail with friends

Ro Quotes:

Ro: I want you to get up and play with me

A: How do you have so much energy?  Did you steal it from your parents?

Ro: No, I just have it

A: Well can you give some to us so we can get up?

R: Then I’ll be tired!  Wait, I know.  How about I suck the energy out of dad and give it to you, so you can play with me?

A: And then dad will have a nap?

R: And then dad will have a nap.  [Mimes sucking out energy and re-distributing]

[while riding the bus]

R-I think I learned the pattern.  I think the light goes on when we are approaching the bus stop, and it turns off when we're going.

A: Make sure to put the lid back on so the dry ice doesn’t melt

K: You mean so it doesn’t sublimate?

[minutes later]

A: Look, if I shine a light on the bubble it’s opaque

R: Mom, do you mean translucent?

[We’re doomed around all these little nerd kids!]

R: When I’m a little bit older I wanna see uncle Bob and I want to go with him into a room where nobody else wants to be.  And I want him to whisper in my ear.

D: What do you want him to whisper about?

R: I want him to tell me how to be a magician!

A certain self-trust and seeing-is-believing attitude appears to have been paternally transmitted:

[Ronan is searching his room]

D: Whatcha looking for Ro?

R: Oh nothing

D: If you tell me what it is maybe I can help you find it.

R: Well, mom said my shoes were downstairs but I didn’t believe her.  But now I do.  

[We have for a while referred to the cats as Problem 1 and Problem 2 - link]

R-There are actually 5 problems in this family.  Problem 1 is Maile, 2 is Gandalf.  Three is dad, four is mom, and five is Ronan!  

R-Actually there are like 20 problems!

A- What, including all the ants? [meaning in the kitchen]

R- Yeah, and all the uncles and grandparents and godparents.

M [a friend] - What does nifty mean?

R - Nifty means awesome.  No, it actually means great.

Mispronunciation: Ro says Turbyl instead of Turbo, so we fly Turbyl-jets around the living room.

We've moved!  Actually…the unpacking has just begun...

Leaving CA

And arriving to snow!

Fall 2014 (Sept/Oct)

Eclipse watchers

Events
Fall has taken us by a storm (figurative, of course, since there is precious little weather here).  We camped with friends at Hendy Woods, visited with Ronan's best friend (and parents) at Bear Valley, and took Ronan into his first cave (not counting lava tubes).  We went on a family bike ride to the shore trail from our home with Ro on his own bike, drew on Madrone bark, and Ro overnighted at T&B's.  We visited the mini-Maker Faire, and were visited by David's parents who helped teach Ro chess and took him to the Carmina Burana.  Phew!

Captain Mossbeard

Pictures 
New pictures start here 


Quotes (the good part) 

I’m gonna pick up some pieces of love and put it in your nose

Sometimes I feel on the other side of the bed

Ah, indeed.  I really like this oatmeal.

When I get there I’ll be pleased, but I need to keep concentrating.

Well I'm sorry that that happened but there is nothing I can do to control the cats

We can be kings of the whole universe with big bulging horses

[Context: our friends use the word "bulchy" to mean robust/strong/amazing so now that's what Ro thinks "bulging" means]

A: would you like cake or cupcakes for your birthday?
R: well, anything sweet.  Like pie, or cake, or cupcakes, or lemon cake with whipped cream and strawberries, or raspberry cake, or like cake with raspberries on top, or just any kinda yummy thing, maybe with frosting on it or whipped cream.

Ronan, on the T. Rex:
If you were standing perfectly still, like as still as a bottle of Boont, then it wouldn’t be able to see you.

To J&H upon their arrival at our campsite:
Excuse me, I have a recommendation!
We request that you see the flattest camp site.  And the choices are… (leads tour)

Cocktail hour isn't just for adults!

2014 Summer (July/August)

Up above half dome and the valley

The weather has been one continuous summer since we moved here but we managed to do a few things to honor the fact that it is now actually summer…like take vacations!  

We decided that our vacations this year should take advantage of being in California so we went camping, camping, and camping!  After Trudy (our camper van)’s ill-fated first attempt at making it to the mountains, we took a few local trips (to Wright State Beach and Portola Redwoods) and then spent a week in Yosemite in August (or rather at White Wolf, up on Tioga Pass Rd).  

Heaven!  We got a site right by giant granite boulders to scramble on, and went hiking every day.  Getting Ronan to consistently progress down the trail proved to be an interesting problem, and we figured out several tricks -- the most successful of which turned out to be taking turns hiding a water bottle on the trail ahead, and whoever found it got to hide it up ahead next.  Thus we leap-frogged our way to lakes, domes, and rivers.  (This actually worked better than m&ms)!  Just thinking about our campsite makes me happy.

We also had our first two day stretch away from Ronan (together) since he was born, camping with friends along the Tuolomne river on an overnight rafting trip that couldn’t be beat.  We are heading to Hendy Woods for one last camping trip of the season before we shift to sleeping exclusively indoors for a while.

This summer Ronan learned to bike (sans training wheels) and really got it down.  One of his camps was helpful with that (and also gave him a chance to try rock climbing) and he has continued ever since.  There are lots of paved paths near our apartment and we have toured them all many times.  

Another valuable (hmm) skill is that he is now also a junior barista.  It started on a morning I was sick and slow to get out of bed.  He went downstairs and powered on the coffee machine, dragged his ladder over to the mugs and got one down, dragged it back to the machine, and made me coffee.  Now he has his own small container of milk in the fridge so he can add the milk, and he has even started to carry it upstairs (ulp).  I can't explain how incredibly heart warming it is to be brought coffee by my four-year old, but it turns out that coffee is closely related to love and that it's sort of a peak experience.


New pictures (from July and August) start here

RoQuotes:

R: Dad you should kiss me when I least expect it.  No, not yet not yet!!!!

A: Could you climb up now?
R: Something is telling me no
A: What's telling you no?
R: Well....it's probably my brain.  Because my brain is the boss of me.

[just an odd turn of phrase for age 4.  Upon seeing a bridge:]

R: You don't see bridges made of of wood like this much these days 

R: Bein lazy is just wanderin around and doin whatever you want that isn't breaking the law or rules and stuff.

G: what did you do in Yosemite?
R: Well one day I rode my bike.  And another day we played pirates, and well, it is sort of a lot to explain.

Ro's first photo of us

June '14: Camping!

At home in trees (Tilden park campground)

Got Dirt? (Burney Falls campground)

We've opted to spend our vacation time this year exploring the beautiful state of California, and this month we kicked that off with three camping trips!

To aid in our wanderings we purchased (ulp!) a 20-year old VW Eurovan Weekender (previously) nicknamed "Trudy".  Some of us have been hankering for a camper van for a long time.  Alas, she spent our week-long vacation in the shop while we explored Burney Falls and Lassen National Park.  But we just made a quick trip to Portola Redwoods State Park and got to enjoy the ease of getting out of the house and back.

Pop-top peek-a-boo

Ronan loves camping and climbing around in Trudy.  What's not to love about getting really dirty, spending all day together, and throwing rocks in lakes?  Maybe getting "lost" on a trail that transformed a quick jaunt into a 4-mile slog with lots of uphill?  Eh, he handled that pretty well too.  A little ET role-play with an M&M trail didn't hurt.  

The best pictures from our week camping up North are here
Pictures of Ro since he turned 4.5 are here


Quotes:

[Ronan crawls into our bed in the morning for a snuggle.  I have a cat on me.]
A: I'm having some cat therapy.  Are you here for mom therapy?
R: Mom therapy doesn't work.  I need cat therapy.  Or maybe mom and cat therapy.

R: Too bad it's not small
A: What, the Mormon temple?
R: Yeah cuz if it was small I would rip it out of the ground and put it in my treasure chest.  And then I would take it out at night and look at it!

[Playing with a friend]

M: I get to decide about my safari truck
R: Oh yeah yeah. You're totally right.  But I get to decide about my feelings.

R: Can you maybe buy a new radio station and put Toccata and Fugue on?

Buddies

R: I'm so bossy I don't need to wear pants

R: Auntie Dawn knows all about history.  I think she grew up in that history!

R: I'm making something right now, so I'm not available for napping now.

R: I need room to zoom!

April/May 2014

Best friends reunited

HAPPENINGS
Time is flying by!  Since last update we spent a week in a house in Monterey with family (some of us dreadfully sick) and had close encounters with seals, ocean waves, and two seagulls dubbed "Nippy" and "Pippi" (Nippy was short for Nippy Breakfast).  We celebrated D's birthday a second time and Ro got to go to the aquarium.  We had another lovely family hang-out on Easter with an egg hunt and yummy food.  Most recently Ro and I spent several days in Madison visiting his best friend (well that's what Ro did while I was at a conference).  It worked out great and I got to spend evenings and most of the weekend hanging out with everyone.

SUMMER
Never again will we do a sabbatical on the calendar year instead of the academic one.  Lesson learned, and printed here as an attempt to avoid forgetting.  Did I mention that in addition to looking into summer camps to fill in the incomplete summer program we have to figure out a Fall program that will accept Ronan for just one semester?  Right, lesson learned.

MUSIC
Ro has pretty widely divergent music tastes, from dramatic classical to the theme to Frozen.  He walks around the house humming or singing absent-mindedly, and more often than not if you say anything about it, that's it, it's over.  In that context we have heard the Carmina Burana (O fortuna), the theme song to Jurassic Park, Jar of Hearts (Christina Perry…from the radio), Radioactive (Imagine Dragons), Let it Go (Frozen theme), and especially the Ride of the Valkyries.  He hums it loudly!!!

He loves dramatic music, and he likes to shock people with it.  He sings the Ride of the Valkyries to "freak out" his mom (honestly, it's wearing off), he loves the "2 Cellos" performance of AC/DC's Thunderstruck, and he especially digs the Carmina Burana.  Almost every day for 2 weeks he's asked me to put on the first part (O Fortuna) in the car on the drive to preschool, he rolls down his window, and he watches to see if the dramatic parts scare any pedestrians.  We have it on loud enough that the symbols often startle his poor mum.

Ro likes to rhyme and come up with homonyms, and we played a rhyming game in order to come up with our new version, the Carmina Pirhana.  Ronan is responsible for every word at the end of a phrase.  If you want to hear it in your head the first two verses have the same tune found early in the piece, then go higher for the last two, and the very last one comes back down.

Carmina Pirhana
These fish they bite/They bite at night/At least I think they might

These silver fish/These fish they wish/To eat you…mmm delisch!

You swim away/You swim all day/But they will find you anyway

Sharp teeth like knives/Part of a hive/You will regre-e-e-e-e-e-et that dive!

MEMORIZATION
Ronan has memorized lots of kinds of plants!  He can ID buckeyes, live oaks, redwoods, eucalyptus, scotch broom, bottlebrush, rosemary, basil, strawberries, poison oak, and many many others.  His plant interests are eclipsed, however, by his interest in makes and models of cars.  A typical drive home sounds like this (from him): "Honda, Toyota Prius, Fiat, VW camper van, Chevys (sic), Mini, Subaru, another Toyota Prius."  One day we just played spot the toyota prius and we drove past them faster than we could call them out.  Also, I never noticed how many VW microbuses/eurovans/westphalias there are here!

Quotes:

[Re the Tesla]  Yeah those are special, just like smart cars and fiats

A: Do you know what we celebrate on different holidays?  Well a birthday celebrates a person, and Earth day celebrates our planet.  And we're about to have Easter.

Wizard and sorceress

R: Easter celebrates candy.

R: Your nickname is Gross Paper and my nickname is Purple Mustard.

[While watching Frozen on the plane with headphones, starts waving hands wildly] 
"They're making true love again!"

R: Here's a good rhyming name:
Light switch night switch let's go
Light switch bite switch vacuum po.
Vacuum po for short.

R: Our socks are the same stripeness

R: [shoots toilet paper roll across room]  Try it!
A: Ooh, that's fun
R: Yeah, it's kind of like pottery with canon balls

Last month of updates in the 4-4.5 photo album, since Ro is almost 4 and a half!  New pics start here.