4 O'Clock Wake up

Due to a cascading series of events my two children and I were awake at 3:30 in the morning a few nights ago.

These events included crying, having to pee, being hungry and wanting to play on the iPod.

Finally at 4:30 I figured, What the hell, this isn't working, and we got up.

My no TV in the morning ban was lifted for some PBS Kids at 7am.

I deserved it.

They may not have, but sometimes TV is more for you than them.

This led to lunch at 10:30.

And led to this child being so tired at quiet time that she purposely lay down to take a nap by herself.

This has never happened. Ever.

And this one slept for 3 hours. Another record.

I suppose this was like a fun mini-party to my kids: Up in the dark, illegal TV, maybe even a cookie.

Because last night it was 4am and Sadie woke up to pee. Then she said, Well, Mama, we might as well get up!

Nice try, I said. But no thanks.

So...

I have baby feet on my lap. Cranky baby feet. So getting up to get pictures posted is out of the question.

But I did take some today and will get them posted tomorrow. Promise.

I will tell you that Silas turned two. Well, you know that. But he also turned TWO.

Today we had two year-old meltdowns because (and these are only the ones I can remember):

He wanted to get in the car seat by himself.

He pulled the petals off his flower.

I had an apple.

The (mysteriously) wrong cup of water was handed to him when he asked for water.

Sadie tried to give him the toy he wanted.

He wanted pudding. (which he was getting)

The pudding had to be put in a bowl.

10 minutes later, when he was calm enough to want pudding again I set him up with his bowl:

Suction of bowl failed, spoonful of pudding fell on foot. Insanity ensued.

So bedtime was at 6:40 today. He needed it.

Hoo Hoo

Silas is cautious of anything that may be hot, which he calls hoo hoo.

When you give him something warm he says, "Hoo hoo?"

Then he'll feel it and answer himself, "No, no hoo hoo!"

And if it is hot he says, "Uh-huh, hoo hoo! Hoo-ooo hoo-ooo!"

YiYi Turns Dee!

Well, he's grown another year older on me. Stinker.

And while we have spent the past week telling him he will be "Two years old, SySy!" he looks solemnly back at us and says, No, Dee! YiYi Dee!

Which, it would appear, is what he thinks two is.

After all, he counts like this: Da, Dee, Da, Dee, DA! or Dee, Da, Dee, Da, DEE!

But every year is better than the last, so I'm not really complaining about another birthday.

You just want to absorb it all and not forget a thing. Which is impossible, you know?

When he woke up this morning he opened some presents.

Yes, for those of you who were offended by his green toenails, that is a doll. He was adamant that there be a doll whose eyes close to go NighNigh. Get over it, he has trucks coming out his ears.

Sadie's showing him the ropes with the baby bathtub.

Then we headed out for the first day of the County Fair. Wasn't it nice of them to hold it on his birthday?

He is just 36 inches and 2 years old today, of course, which is the minimum for riding the rides at the fair.

At first we thought he would be scared of the rides. But he had DeeDee there to be his partner, and all was well.

Then we saw Sadie's friend Laila and they all had a blast. What's with the alligators-wearing-hats -and-collars ride? I have no idea. But it was fun.

They took a trip in a rocket ship.

There, DeeDee, I've spotted the planet Qualasar. We shall land at once!

Playing in a bunch of corn. Do not underestimate the power of a box of dried corn. This kept them busy for half an hour.

Then it was home for cake later.

This is Silas wondering why the heck we are thrusting candles at him and singing.

Notice that I made a Pineapple Upside-Down cake, my first ever. Sy isn't a huge cake guy but this is gooey and fruity and I thought it might pass muster.

And I will pass along some hard-won advice. Do not decide to bake the cake in your springform cake pan. Even if the directions say to use a deep pan and you don't have one.

Just use the regular cake pan.

Promise me.

Well, unless you want the brown sugar and butter topping to drip out into the oven, causing a black mess and filling your house with smoke.

Then you should definitely go with the springform pan.

He blew out all his candles by himself!

And the cake was a hit.
With everyone.

Now it's onto his third year. Wow.

And, hey, Silas, I have something to say to you:

Thank you for being my baby YiYi, little guy.

You are so sweet and soft and squishy and have the cutest grin known to man.

Well, you're sweet when you're not yelling MeowMeow and attacking the cats with anything you have in hand.

And when you're not beating Sadie like a tiny blond-haired windmill.

But you are always soft and squishy and you do truly have the cutest grin known to man.

And the other stuff is par for the course for a two year-old, I've found.

Happy birthday, Sweet Boy.

Love, Mama

The Last Few Weeks

We have been gallivanting around the northeast for a couple of weeks.

The kids got to play where I played as a kid, swim where I swam, catch frogs and salamanders like I used to, see their cousins, play in New York City park sprinklers, see the best collection of dinosaur fossils ever, get lots and lots of attention and just have fun.

Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip. I only brought my iPod, so the pictures that look like they were taken in 1972? Yeah, those are mine. I depended on the kindness of the camera-toting grandparents and they didn't let me down.

Sadie at my rock. OK, so it's not really my rock. But it has always felt like it is.

Walking to the pond on our road.

Hanging at the beach.

Playing in Otter Pond.

Frogs, salamanders, we even caught minnows. Which reminds me, try not to stress a minnow out too much, it appears to make them catatonic.

Sitting with my "Baby Mermaid."

Cranberry Pond.

Pony rides. Silas objected to his, so Sadie got two.

Petting a Meow Meow.

Wearing the popular new dresses for Sadie and her cat, Frisky.

Silas destroying Grammy's dollhouse furniture. Everything he touched turned to something that resembled a jumble of matchsticks.

At the swings by the clubhouse.

Going to the children's museum.

Your local news team. Don't believe a word they say.

Climbing the curvy tower. Or whatever it's called.

The carousel! Sadie loves her a carousel.

Silas loved the carousel, too. For a minute. Then he got a puke face and clung to Grammy until the ride ended.

Picking wild blueberries.

We ignored the fact that there was a bear sighting right around there that morning. It wasn't right there. And we needed them for the next day's pancakes.

But we picked fast and brought a whistle, too.

My Mama didn't raise no fool.

Sitting in the clubhouse. Where I spent many an hour in these same chairs from the 1970s hanging around with friends and reading random books.

At the Museum of Natural History.

Sitting on a scapula, or something like that, of an Apatosaurus.

The playground in Brooklyn.

First real Italian ices. Scooped into those paper cups that get soggy so fast but are perfect for squeezing so you don't miss a drop.

And, as long as we're sharing all this I should tell you that I may never be invited back to Uncle E's house. When I heard the ice cream truck I got so excited for Sadie to go see it and get ice cream that I decided to ignore the fact that she was naked in the sprinkler in the backyard.

There was no time! I mean, seriously, remember that we have a lame ice cream minivan. And we've only ever seen that thing twice.

It was worth it.

Uncle E and Sophia. Look at that cuteness.

Cousins Nicholas, Sadie, Sophia and Auntie M.

Me and my bro. Tell me he couldn't pretend my kids are his.

It's good to be home but we miss you all.

I promise to try to refrain from front yard nudity if you invite us back.

Notice I said try.