Aunt Lori

Lori came for a five day visit, and the kids were all in heaven, particularly Parker. Her years of visits and auntian indulgence are paying off, because Parker adores her. And now knows how to spell her name, too.



Lori left this afternoon, and Rachel and I discussed what we could do to thank her for her visit. Rachel wanted to do something thoughtful, but cheap, and so I suggested that she write Lori a poem of thanks. And according to Rachel, poem is just a fancy word for limerick, and so she got right to work knocking this out:

The kids had an aunt named Lori
Who was also an aunt to Corey
We got to go away
And come back the next day
And that's pretty much the whole story.

It's not much, but it's from the heart. Thanks Lori!

Damn Old

Michael and I went to my 20 year high school reunion this weekend. We flew down at 4pm on Sat and came back on a 7am flight on Sunday. I don't really stay in touch with anyone from high school, but reunions seem to be the kind of thing you go to so you never feel like you missed anything or have any regrets. So we flew down, took a cab to the Travellodge LAX, changed and then went downstairs to wait for the cab we had requested. 20 minutes later, we were still waiting and I was pretty damn annoyed at this point. Then a limo pulled up. It was for us. The cab was stuck in traffic, but he would take us, for the same fare as a cab. We were slightly embarassed but hopped in nonetheless.

A few moments later we were in Marina Del Rey walking in to the reunion. I recoginzed many people there, but they didn't have name tags like they did at the 10 year so I didn't know many names. A few people came up to me but we basically hung out with Area (Michael's high school girlfriend) and Chris Worth, a gal from high school theatre. I saw Lexi Webber, Jenny Russo, Peter Smith, Richard Chung, Todd Francis, Zak Cook, Amy Goodfriend, Lisa Valensvalia, Lynda Halligan, Doug Tomlinson, and others. It wasn't awful, but I'm not sure it was totally fun either. We stuck around for the door raffle which was good since we ended up winning $75! Then we had some cake, walked around a bit and then headed out. Even though it was only 10, it was late for us and were tired. As we were leaving, we bumped into Jenny Croslow (Class of 86), say hi, and hopped back in a cab.

After a quick bite at Denny's, we went back to our room where I quickly fell asleep.

New Shirt

Here's Parker, with his K, wearing his new shirt from Grammy and Ginny.

Muffins

At dinner tonight we had chili and corn muffins. Parker declared the chili yucky on sight, but when the corn muffins came out of the oven, he knew yummy when he saw it. He had three buttered muffin tops to go with his three spoons full of chili. At one point he paused as he inspected the muffin-top on its way to his mouth, and he remarked, "It's sure not a blueberry muffin."

Bathtime

Lions, and Tigers and Bears...Oh My

Well...not really bears. But lions and tigers...that we didn't see.

Yes, we took another visit to the zoo today. Aunt Lori, who is visiting, came along. With the exception of Eli's normal crankiness, everyone was in great moods and we had a good time. We ran into Farm (Parker's old nanny) and Felix, the boy from the nanny share. After a brief stop to look at the loud monkeys, they played together on the slides, rode the merry go round together and took a train ride together.

Aunt Lori was a good sport and rode the Tiger rollercoaster with Parker. He loves that thing! Lori said he is a "true Long" now because all Longs apparently love coasters.

Pete's a Pizza

Everyone woke up totally cranky from naps today. They were all screaming. This happens every day with at least one of them, but rarely happens with all three. So we had the perfect storm today, for whatever reason. After sitting and calming them down didn't work, I put on a video. Parker loves Pete's a Pizza. As did Miranda and Elizabeth. Everyone was quiet and happy. Yay.

So sad.

Today, I was prepping Parker for our trip this weekend. We are going to Santa Monica on Saturday for my 20th High School Reunion and Aunt Lori (god bless her) is staying here with the kids. So I was telling Parker...

"Mommy and Daddy are going to go on a trip." (He understand trip since mommy went on one to Utah.)

"We are going to fly on a airplane on Saturday and come home the next day." (He loves to hear about flying away on airplanes...Faster, Faster, Take off!)

"Aunt Lori will stay with Parker, Elizabeth, Miranda, and Zeke and take care of all of you." (He LOVES Aunt Lori.)

Then he says, "And Noe too?" looking at me confused. "Will Aunt Lori take care of Noe too?"

I figured this was going to come up at some point so Michael and I discussed what we should say. Unfortuately, we didn't quite nail it down.

So I say, "Noe got sick and went to the Doctor. She went 'bye-bye' and doesn't live here anymore."

Not sure if he understood that, but he didn't bring it up again.

So sad.

In the Night Kitchen

So what is up with this book? It's on one of the scholastic video dvds we have so I thought I would get the book for Parker. I remembered the title, but not much else until I saw it. Then I had strong memories of it. Did my mom read it to me a lot? Did I see it before? I knew the words and even the pictures before I saw them and the dough airplane brought back very strong memories. Strange huh?

Speaking of strange...

I thought it was a bit odd that these bakers who sport hitler like mustaches were putting naked mickey in the oven. So I googled the book to see if I was the only one who noticed this. Apparently I was, but I learned of another controversy about the book from Wikipedia:

When Mickey (who looks to be about three years old) enters the Night Kitchen, he loses his pyjamas and spends much of the story fully naked.

Critics of the book object to Mickey's nudity, with some librarians drawing little pants on Mickey with a marker, or diapers with correction fluid. Some also take a Freudian interpretation of events, with the nudity, free-flowing milky fluids, and giant (allegedly phallic) milk bottle.[1] Sendak himself claims not to have been trying to be controversial; his decision to derobe Mickey was to avoid the "mess" that falling into the batter would make of Mickey's clothes.

Michael thinks the book is just plain weird.

I love Liz's backyard

We met at Liz's today for our twin/sibling play group. New (to the group, not to parenting) moms Rosa and Gwen came today with their kids Rocio, Junior, Carmen, Maddy, Laurel and Jacob. Everyone (all 15 kids) were very well behaved today. No major issues barring some rock throwing, dirt eating, swing coveting, and food sharing. All the older kids got along great today and it seems like the two year olds were the best behaved.

As the group gets larger and the kids get bigger (and more mobile...Sydney and Courtney were crawling today!), things might get a little crazy. But as moms of three...we live for crazy.

Have I mentioned how much I love meeting at Liz's house? It's like a park but with easy access to cupcakes, sippy cups and a bathroom!

Tinker Toys

Jenna gave Parker a set of Tinker Toys, and while Rachel and the girls were at music class this morning, Parker and I took the opportunity to bust them out. We keep them away from the girls because of the whole death-by-choking thing, so this was the first time Parker and I have spent messing around with them.

First we made a plane, and then we made a swingset. And when I say we, I mean I.



When I first asked Parker what we should make, he asked for a Triangle, a Square and a Circle. I thought that was aiming a bit low, and figured he would enjoy taking the Tinks out for a real spin, hence the plane and the swingset. He seemed happy enough to play with the swingset, but he may have been just humoring me.



Left to his own devices, Parker sees the Tinker Toy set as a chance to make letters, numbers, and lately plus, minus, and equals signs. Kid has a one-track mind sometimes, but it's hard to hold that against him when he says things like, "I made a Big T all by myself!"

Last Night

Yesterday was the end of bottles and formula. The girls drink wonderfully from a sippy cup, but we didn't think the transition would be easy. Which is why we waited for the weekend when Dad could do some crying it out sessions if they woke up demanding bottles. I slept in the back last night because I can't stand the crying it out stuff. I think I can do it, and then within like 10 minutes, I say, "Shouldn't we go in there? Just to check on them?" So out back I went.

This morning, I checked the monitors and silence. It was 6:30 (past when babies and little boys are awake) so I thought, "Ahhh, poor dad, he must have been awake with them in the middle of the night and now they are making up lost sleep time."

So I sneak into the house to tell Michael he can go get some sleep in the back now. I find him sleeping upstairs with Parker playing Letters in the room with the light on.

"How did it go?"

"They were up for about an hour from 2-3 and then again around 4."

"Really?!"

"No, they slept the whole night without a peep." (Michael always tries to fake me out but he is a terrible actor and he never convinces me.)

Yipee! Now, today has been another matter. Very cranky and thirsty babies refusing to drink milk from a sippy cup. Ah well...there is always tomorrow.

Speaking of cranky...the girls fight over the walker/rider from mom ALOT. They both want to sit in it and Elizabeth will not give up until she is there. She pitches the most major fit and then goes and sits on Miranda. Miranda just sort of shrieks until someone comes to save her. The whole thing is quite ridiculous.

Trampoline fun

Miranda practices her standing, and her bouncing. Then the other kids get in on the action. Don't miss Elizabeth's impeccable trampoline dismount. Miranda always leaves the trampoline face first, but Elizabeth has her technique down.

Baby Mosh Pit

And still...

Still loving it...

Here is our next rider/walker...

Gymboree and Jenna

Jenna was in town today so she came over to hang out and sit with the kids tonight. We did some errands and then went to Gymboree again. Everyone had a grand time. Then we came home, put the girls down, had dinner with Parker, put him down and headed out for some alone time. Very nice.

Jenna was so sweet she brought birthday gifts for the girls and even something for Parker. Tinker Toys! He made a L, a Triangle and a 1 right away.