Yesterday Kemper was having trouble with his electronic microscope. The light you put the slides over was flickering, so I suggested we try new batteries and see if that solved the problem. I dug out the appropriate size, did the switch, and had the old ones sitting on the table. Cannon wandered into the room, climbed up on a chair, picked one up, and said "battery" as clear as day. I have no clue where he learned that word; it's not like we work it in to our daily conversations or anything. It's truly a mystery.
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I was working on dinner the other day and Rowan came in asking for a snack. "No, because dinner will be ready in about 10 minutes." I turned around and found him standing right next to me with his hand in a big bag of dried cranberries. Again I said, "I don't want you to snack right now because dinner is almost ready." At which point he shoved a fistful of cranberries into his mouth, looking at me the entire time. Frustrated at this point, I shouted, "Put the cranberries away!!!" He immediately tossed them into the cabinet and said, "I heard you that time!", then hightailed it out of the kitchen. Sheesh. Selective hearing is going to drive me mad.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Flowers
This past weekend was both my birthday and mother's day. To be honest, I've kind of stopped having very high expectations for either event, based on previous years. But this year turned out to be very nice. Morgan and I had a great dinner at Tupelo, a relatively new southern restaurant in Cambridge. I got the stand mixer I've been coveting, and the kids were remarkably well-behaved.
On Saturday afternoon, Kemper and Morgan went out on an errand. Turns out Kemper had asked if they could buy me some flowers for mother's day. I didn't know this until after he presented them to me, but apparently he insisted on choosing red flowers because "red is the color of a heart". How sweet is that?
On Saturday afternoon, Kemper and Morgan went out on an errand. Turns out Kemper had asked if they could buy me some flowers for mother's day. I didn't know this until after he presented them to me, but apparently he insisted on choosing red flowers because "red is the color of a heart". How sweet is that?
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Water
This past weekend we went to Cape Cod. Morgan had a conference there starting Sunday afternoon, so we went a day early for a change of scenery. I was intending to drive back on Sunday with the kids. While looking at the news on his iPhone, Morgan learned that a water main had broken and there was a boil water order in about 30 communities in the metro Boston area, including ours. So the kids and I ended up staying put in the hotel for an extra couple of days.
I don't know if it was the enclosed space, the rainy weather, or if the planets were simply aligned in a very bad way, but I can honestly say that I was feeling like we'd have been better off having to boil all of our water at home than being trapped where we were. Cannon was actually perfectly agreeable. Rowan and Kemper, however, were pretty much horrific. Even allowing for the change of location, the lack of toys, etc., they were awful. By extension, I too was pretty awful. It was one of those times when I was convinced I am just about the worst mother on earth. It is so hard when I know my kids can be such sweet, polite, caring people yet they act so badly. You would think their parents had never taught them any manners.
This must be one of the down sides to being a stay at home parent. Breaks from the kids are few and far between, and "vacations" are anything but. Morgan at least gets a vacation from his job; I continue with my job, just in an unfamiliar place and without any of my usual tools of the trade. Yes, there's another adult to help out, but still. (And in this particular case, that extra adult was missing, as Morgan was in meetings all day.)
Hopefully I'll feel somewhat recovered before our next outing. On the up side, the boil water order was lifted the morning we drove back. So I didn't have to deal with that mess.
I don't know if it was the enclosed space, the rainy weather, or if the planets were simply aligned in a very bad way, but I can honestly say that I was feeling like we'd have been better off having to boil all of our water at home than being trapped where we were. Cannon was actually perfectly agreeable. Rowan and Kemper, however, were pretty much horrific. Even allowing for the change of location, the lack of toys, etc., they were awful. By extension, I too was pretty awful. It was one of those times when I was convinced I am just about the worst mother on earth. It is so hard when I know my kids can be such sweet, polite, caring people yet they act so badly. You would think their parents had never taught them any manners.
This must be one of the down sides to being a stay at home parent. Breaks from the kids are few and far between, and "vacations" are anything but. Morgan at least gets a vacation from his job; I continue with my job, just in an unfamiliar place and without any of my usual tools of the trade. Yes, there's another adult to help out, but still. (And in this particular case, that extra adult was missing, as Morgan was in meetings all day.)
Hopefully I'll feel somewhat recovered before our next outing. On the up side, the boil water order was lifted the morning we drove back. So I didn't have to deal with that mess.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Curse of the Not First Born
Poor Cannon. He's suffering the fate of the second (or later) born. Today I took him for his first real haircut. I had trimmed his bangs a while back, but this time he got the full cut at a salon. He did great, even if he had to sit in my lap instead of on the mini carousel pony they have just for kids. And while I did remember to save some curls for posterity, I of course didn't even think to bring the camera. Mind you, I don't know how I would have managed a photo with him in my lap, but I realized after we left that I really should have captured the event. I definitely have pictures of Rowan and Kemper at their first haircuts.
I remember a running joke in our family was that there were no pictures of me as a baby or toddler. This isn't entirely true, but compared to the number of photos of my older brother, it certainly seemed like there weren't any of me. I swore that if I had kids, I would make sure the youngest would be equally documented.
There's one goal I can say I utterly failed to reach.
I remember a running joke in our family was that there were no pictures of me as a baby or toddler. This isn't entirely true, but compared to the number of photos of my older brother, it certainly seemed like there weren't any of me. I swore that if I had kids, I would make sure the youngest would be equally documented.
There's one goal I can say I utterly failed to reach.
Monday, February 08, 2010
Yeah You Right!
Well, the Saints won the Super Bowl last night. What a massive party there must be in New Orleans right now. I wonder if anyone will show up for work? I'm really not much of a sports fan, but even I watched the game. I'm really happy for the team, the city, and all the fans who have been following them since they were the Aints and fans wore paper bags over their heads at the games.
Meanwhile, the big boys turned 6 a few days ago. The party was on Saturday, and while it was essentially 3 hours of mass chaos, we all survived. I made my very first layer cake and it was only marginally lopsided. Of course, neither of the birthday boys liked it, but everyone else seemed to.
And both boys are getting much better at ice skating, even after just 5 or 6 tries. Kemper is super fast and not really afraid of falling. He's even goofed off with a hockey stick with surprising success. Rowan is still much more cautious, but getting braver. If I can figure out how to transfer video from the camera to the computer, maybe I'll post a clip.
Who Dat!
Meanwhile, the big boys turned 6 a few days ago. The party was on Saturday, and while it was essentially 3 hours of mass chaos, we all survived. I made my very first layer cake and it was only marginally lopsided. Of course, neither of the birthday boys liked it, but everyone else seemed to.
And both boys are getting much better at ice skating, even after just 5 or 6 tries. Kemper is super fast and not really afraid of falling. He's even goofed off with a hockey stick with surprising success. Rowan is still much more cautious, but getting braver. If I can figure out how to transfer video from the camera to the computer, maybe I'll post a clip.
Who Dat!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Words
As of this evening, Cannon's vocabulary consists of the following words (which he started saying in approximately this order):
ball
bye bye
dog
bath
dada
mama
uh oh
cheese
shoes
banana (sort of; this is more like "buhlala", but it's pretty clear that's what he means)
teeth
These are all very typical of first words. Except for the last one. That one I find rather odd. But hey, the reason he knows that word is because he loves to brush his teeth. He doesn't much like it if I brush them, but he'd do it all day if he could.
And speaking of teeth, Rowan lost his first one this evening. It was very exciting for all of us. For me, it really felt for the first time like my boys are growing up. Kemper was mostly jealous that he didn't have a tooth to leave out for the tooth fairy. And Rowan was just glad to have the loose tooth not bothering him anymore. I guess they really do grow up fast, don't they?
ball
bye bye
dog
bath
dada
mama
uh oh
cheese
shoes
banana (sort of; this is more like "buhlala", but it's pretty clear that's what he means)
teeth
These are all very typical of first words. Except for the last one. That one I find rather odd. But hey, the reason he knows that word is because he loves to brush his teeth. He doesn't much like it if I brush them, but he'd do it all day if he could.
And speaking of teeth, Rowan lost his first one this evening. It was very exciting for all of us. For me, it really felt for the first time like my boys are growing up. Kemper was mostly jealous that he didn't have a tooth to leave out for the tooth fairy. And Rowan was just glad to have the loose tooth not bothering him anymore. I guess they really do grow up fast, don't they?
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Love/Hate
One morning each week I have the privilege of driving carpool to school. I take this opportunity to walk the boys down to the building, check the lost and found, and chat with staff members. This is my favorite part of the week, as I get a glimpse of what they've been doing and hear stories from the staff.
The other day was one such day. Rowan typically darts off the second we enter the building, while Kemper usually hangs around me and says he wants me to stay all day. This time they both disappeared right away, leaving me in the entrance hall with Cannon as Hannah, one of the founders of the school, came in. She said, "Oh, I have to tell you the funniest thing I saw last week. Rowan was helping Kemper zip his coat, being all nice and helpful. As soon as the coat was zipped, Rowan shoved Kemper so hard he fell over, then ran off to do something else."
Yep, that pretty much sums up their relationship.
The other day was one such day. Rowan typically darts off the second we enter the building, while Kemper usually hangs around me and says he wants me to stay all day. This time they both disappeared right away, leaving me in the entrance hall with Cannon as Hannah, one of the founders of the school, came in. She said, "Oh, I have to tell you the funniest thing I saw last week. Rowan was helping Kemper zip his coat, being all nice and helpful. As soon as the coat was zipped, Rowan shoved Kemper so hard he fell over, then ran off to do something else."
Yep, that pretty much sums up their relationship.
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