Maine: The 3rd and Final Installation

So yes, the trip got better after that first night.

Saturday morning we set out with two immediate tasks on the agenda: (1) buy Tai some shoes and (2) get some yummy breakfast. Luckily, the all-night Wal-Mart that sells cold beer also sells cheap imitation crocs that sort of fit Tai. Good enough for a few days, anyway. And despite being led astray by the Days Inn desk clerk, we did eventually find ourselves a place to eat breakfast.

Luckily, we checked out of the Days Inn on Sunday morning and moved to a charming little B&B right on the edge of Bowdoin's campus -- walking distance from the center of this cute little college town. The B&B was very nice, but I think we appreciated it even more because of our Days Inn experience. (Again, no need to discuss who wanted to stay at the B&B all four nights and who decided to cheap out and go for the Days Inn.)

Tai was instantly thrilled with our new room. As soon as Minh opened the door Tai squealed with delight "feeeeeeen!" And there was, indeed, a ceiling fan right in the middle of our new *huge* and very clean room. He spent the next 2 days periodically requesting that we turn the fan on. And then immediately off. He was always kinda miffed that after we turned it off it took 5 whole minutes to actually stop spinning. He'd give me a mistrustful look as if to say, "Did you really hit the switch? It's still going..."

I can't stress how wonderful these new accommodations were. There were two full-sized beds, a desk and chair, and two wicker lounging chairs, and STILL plenty of open floor space to walk around and play. The bathroom was bigger than my kitchen and there must have been about 7 clean fluffy-white towels in there waiting for us. And they brought us *fresh* ones the next day! Imagine that!

We had a lovely time exploring Mid-Coast Maine as a family of three. We took Tai to see the water and lots of boats. We attended a peace fair that included live children's music and we did some shopping in Freeport. Whenever in doubt of what to do next, we let him play in a toy store and then paid the "admission" for the 30 minutes of fun by purchasing him a toy.

Although I hate to make sweeping generalizations, I am certain there is absolutely no foam soap in the state of Maine. I think it's a state law or something. I was continually (and unpleasantly) surprised each time I pressed a soap dispenser in a public bathroom and the palm of my hand was dosed with thick, goopy liquid soap.

We came to rate restaurants based on their ability to meet our needs as people dining with a 19-month old. A restaurant that served luke-warm, mediocre food, but with very fast service and lots of free oyster crackers topped the list. This, we've decided, is preferable to excellent food and slow service. Don't even get me started on the place with incredibly slow service and mediocre food.

By the end of the trip, Tai and I even had a "usual" lunch spot. It was --get this -- inside a store. And not like how Wal-Mart has a McDonalds or how Costco has a food court. This was a real restaurant, with waitresses and daily specials, inside a "variety" store that sold, as best I could tell, fabric by the yard, nursing scrubs, shoes, and dried spices. The service was lightning fast, the waitresses (and patrons) fawned over Tai, and the BLTs and grilled cheese were delicious. Just to further set the scene...Tai and I lunched there two days in a row and both times we were the only patrons under 70 years old. As we walked out, slowly passing each table of senior citizens enjoying American chop suey and cups of decaf, I felt like we were doing a public service. Every face he smiled at lit up with delight. It was like taking a dog to a nursing home.

Despite my tendency to highlight the "quirky" parts of the weekend, it really was a fun trip and I'd visit Brunswick again without hesitation. But it is good to be back in Massachusetts, the Land of Foam Soap.

Maine: Part 2

What "Vacation" Means to Tai:

(1) Spending lots of time in the car.

(2) Co-sleeping with mamma and daddy. Every night and for every nap. Waking at 6am and having two parents right there to talk to, immediately.

(3) Pooping outside the LL Bean Outlet in Freeport--there's nothing like and al fresco poop.

(4) Playing in several toy stores and leaving each one with a new trinket.

(5) Visiting the "ahh-muls" at the Topsham Fair. Baahing at the sheep and offering "tissue?" when a large cow sneezed in our direction.

(6) Sampling the grilled cheese and french fries off the kid's menu at several restaurants.

(7) Playing in the "dirt" at the beach.

Maine: Part 1

Kathy's brilliant idea: we'll feed and bathe Tai, put him in his PJs, and hit the road at bedtime. That way, he'll sleep all the way to Maine. Upon our arrival, one of us will pop into the hotel, set up the Pack N Play, and then smoothly transition Sleeping Beauty into the crib.

That didn't work.

We left at 7:15. Tai fell asleep around 9:30pm. OK, not a huge problem. He'll just be a tiny bit short on sleep for the night. We can still move forth with Operation Smooth Transition once we get to the hotel and get the crib set up.

Then we got to Brunswick. And got lost. No need to mention who's fault that was.

In an attempt to find the hotel, we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts to ask directions. Not only did the woman behind the counter have no idea where the Days Inn was (that turned out to be a mere 2.5 miles down the road) but my exiting the car woke Tai up.

When we finally found the seedy-looking Days Inn, Tai was wide awake and "all done car." So much for my Master Plan. Rather than wait for Minh to check in and set up the crib, I decided we might as well all go in. Just had to put some shoes on my boy. Shoes? Who wears shoes with pajamas? No one. That's why I didn't think to put any shoes on him when we left the house. Oy.

I'm not a germaphobe by any stretch of the imagination and I'm a liberal user of the 5, 10, even 15 second rule. But I didn't want Tai walking around the lobby of this place shoeless. That should give you some idea of the cleanliness of this place. So up on my hip he went. And there he stayed for the 15 minutes we had to wait to check in while two elderly women from Florida flirted with the 30-something desk clerk and asked him if the all-night Wal-Mart around the corner sold cold beer. (It does, by the way).

After dragging our suitcases and other gear through the smoking section *cough* and up the stairs (no elevator) we set up the Pack N Play in which Tai refused to sleep. The entire trip. It was too late spend time unwinding and a shower was out of the question because there were no towels in the room. (Kinda makes you wonder whether they bothered to change the sheets on the bed before we arrived....eew.)

No need to mention who selected this hotel.

So we all climbed into bed and, after much flopping around, Tai eventually (12:30am?) Tai fell asleep with his head on my pillow and his feet in Minh's ribs.

And that was how our vacation started. Don't worry, the trip got better after this.......

Cute AND Tasty

Before I inundate you with stories of our recent trip to Maine, I have to back up and mention that when I picked Tai up at daycare on Friday there was a formal "accident report" waiting for me to sign.

Apparently, Tai was playing with one of his little buddies and she suddenly decided that his left arm looked like a tasty treat. So she leaned over and helped herself to a bite. Ouch!

Luckily, she did not break the skin. Just left a big read mark which is now fading into a bruise. And my boy does not hold a grudge. This morning as soon as we pulled into the parking lot he started asking for her, as he always does. I'm glad to know that he's not upset with her. Or maybe he was just looking forward to his chance to bite her back :)

Headed North

Opportunists that we are, we're turning Minh's required meeting at Bowdoin College this coming Monday and Tuesday into a mini-vacation for the whole family.

We'll head north tonight at bedtime--Tai will be instructed to sleep the whole way there. And when he wakes up tomorrow morning, we'll head out and start exploring scenic Brunswick, Maine. I have visions of hiking, shopping, eating, and relaxing in mind. Monday, while Minh's stuck in a meeting, Tai and I plan to hit the beach!

Buttons and the kitties are being cared for by neighbors. And Buttons also has a paid dog-walker coming once a day to get her more exercise in the next 4 days than she's had in the past month! I fully expect to return to fatter cats, a spoiled dog, and tufts of fur all over the house (they always wrestle when we're away).

We'll be back Tuesday evening. With stories and photos to share.

There's Nothing a Chainsaw and a Few Volunteers Can't Do

Last Saturday we spent hours tearing down two play structures at Tai's school. And by "we" I mean Minh, my dad, and about 10 other volunteers. This is part of the new movement to stop young children from running, jumping, climbing, or generally having fun.

Actually, it was to make way for *newer* play structures that are bigger, better, and have more things upon which to run, jump, and climb. Although we send Tai to a ridiculously expensive facility on the campus of a wealthy liberal arts college, we can't seem to escape the "we-desperately-need-volunteers" and "let's-hold-a-bake-sale" mentality that I thought only persisted at rinky-dink operations.

Anyway, last week panic struck The Center when they found out that the new structures were coming soon and they had "no money" to pay anyone to take down the old ones. Naturally, they turned to Minh. Naturally, Minh called my dad.

Long story short(ish), the new director of The Center managed to coerce several teachers and parents into helping out, so that it was not just up to Minh and my dad to disassemble these large structures on their own. My mom played with Tai inside the school and I played Gopher -- running to the hardware store and to Atkins for lunch. I left the real work to the others, including the very pregnant woman who was actually due yesterday.

In the end, the structures came down. No one lost any limbs. No one went into labor. And Tai had a fantastic time. It was almost fun. And when we return from Maine next week, there should be two new climbing structures in place.

Now if only we could get a tuition break for all that hard work...

You Should See The Other Guy...

Shakespeare in the Park, with cows...and C-5As

Last week Minh and I did something we've never done before. We attended a local performance of As You Like It, starring two of our good friends. Having never attended anything like this, we were not entirely sure what to expect. But a friend who's hubby was in the play gave us some pointers. Accordingly, we arrived armed with bug spray and sweatshirts.

The performance was held outdoors and spanned the lovely (if buggy) time of day from pre-sunset to just-after-dark. At intermission they sold brownie sundaes and soft drinks. This was also a good time to visit the "bug spray bar" they had set up with about 6 different kinds of insect repellent.

Throughout the performance, we could hear the cows in the nearby field mooing their hearts out. Minh thought that it was quite possible that there were cows mooing nearby The Globe Theater so we felt that this lent an authenticity to the performance. The two C-5As that flew overhead, however, detracted from the Old World Shakespearean feel of the evening.

After an initial 3 or 4 minutes of having no idea what anyone was saying and fearing I'd be lost the entire time, I managed to catch on to the Shakespeare Speak and was soon immersed in the storyline. I'm pretty sure this was entirely due to the actors timing, tone, and facial expressions and not at all a result of my high school English classes.

On the way home, Minh and I had an animated discussion about the play and the actors and which character I'd play*. Not that I'm an aspiring actor, that's just something I do. When I see a play, I decide which role I'd choose for myself. Doesn't everyone do that? During this discussion I commented that this outing was the most fun I've had in a long time. To which Minh replied, "That's pretty sad."






*For the record, I'd be Phebe.

The Influence of TV

I watched a lot of TV as a child, and I think I turned out just fine. It even comes in handy sometimes, like when watching the World Series of Pop Culture on VH1. And it's a fun party trick to be able to conjure up the theme song for almost any show that aired from about 1980 to 1995.

But it has its downsides too. Recently, my mother presented me with a typed, bound copy of the lyrics to a song I really liked as a child. But she provided no sheet music (not that I could have read it if she had) and my memory of the tune was fuzzy at best. But Tai was intrigued by the red folder holding the pages of lyrics, so I sat down and sang it to him.

Without realizing it, I sang it to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies. And it totally works! But it causes me to break out in a twangy banjo solo at the end (which Tai whole-heartedly enjoys). And I think it drives Minh nuts.* So he went online and found a little audio clip of the way it should be sung. I guess I should sit down and learn it. But at this point I'm not sure there's any going back. Tai follows me around the house with this red folder and asks me to "read" him the book. Having not had the time to learn the real tune, I fall back on The Clampetts for help.

What have I done to my son? Surely one day he'll be sitting in a kindergarten classroom and the teacher will start singing this song the right way. My poor child will probably try to correct her and add in the verse about Swimming Pools and Movie Stars...

*Not to mention the fact that whenever Tai sees a cardboard tube, he holds it up to his mouth and does the theme to The Odd Couple ("dah do dah do dah doooooooooo")

Our New Toy

A mere hours after sending me a link and saying, "Hey, isn't this cool?" Minh ordered one of these. And then a mere 24 more hours after that it was on our doorstep.

And it is, indeed, very cool. We can now record videos of Tai doing anything anywhere, at a moment's notice (as long as we remember to bring the damn thing with us). And now you, dear blog-readers, may delight in the simple joys of childhood, such as eating sugar snap peas right off the vine at the farm:




The funniest part is that this new toy came with software that allows you to fancy-up your movies with music and graphics. Just one click of the mouse and the software automatically condenses a boring 4 minute video of Tai playing in the driveway into and Old Tyme Moving Picture*:




"Oh no," you might be thinking, "Now the blog will surely consist of nothing but videos of Tai picking his nose or splashing in the tub." But never fear, faithful reader. I can still recall the days when seeing endless pictures and videos of someone else's kid would bore the crap out of me. (To tell you the truth, even after you become a parent, it still gets a bit old when it's not your kid). And I remain committed to not boring the pants of my readers, so we'll be emailing videos galore to grandparents and anyone else especially fond of nose-picking videos (contact me to get on the mailing list). The rest of you can breathe a sigh of relief. Only the most spectacular videos will, occasionally, make their way onto the blog.



*Best enjoyed with the volume on. Minh would like to point out the coincidental synchronization of the trombone and Tai feeling up his own belly 16 seconds into the movie. Enjoy!

Registry Wars

When Minh and I were about to be married, we registered for a number of household items at Crate & Barrel. Although Minh balked at the idea of actually registering, he found immense pleasure spending the months leading up to the wedding constantly checking the registry online to see which items had been purchased.

In one of his many registry checks he found a new item added to our list. An espresso maker. Neither of us had added that to the registry, so we were perplexed. Even more confusing was the fact that it had been purchased. The quantity listed in the "wants" column was 0 and the quantity in the "has" column was 1. That just about summed it up--we didn't want it, but we had it.

It arrived soon thereafter and we discovered who the culprits were. Apparently, they went to Crate & Barrel with intentions of buying us something off our registry, but then decided they did not like any of the items we had selected, so they picked out the espresso maker instead.

We seriously did not want this thing. So, after the wedding we hauled this rather large and heavy appliance back to Crate & Barrel and exchanged it for items remaining on our registry. What pain in the ass, honestly. Luckily, we know the folks who did this to us well enough to not only admit that we returned the item, but to give them a hard time about putting us through that. And now they are about to be married.

Game on.

Minh happened to be at a meeting last month right near a Crate & Barrel, where these lovely friends are now registered. So he popped over to get them their gift. What did he buy them? An espresso maker? Nah, they might actually want one of those. Minh searched that store for the largest, most useless appliance he could find, and then made sure they had not registered for it. He even specifically asked the salesperson to make sure this item was added to their online registry so that the happy couple could log on and see this....

Oh, yes. They are now the proud owners of a counter-top pizza oven. At least, that is, until they haul it back to the store and exchange it for something they actually want.

Celebrity Spotting

Last night Kristen and I had the pleasure of attending a pre-reading reception with Augusten Burroughs (thanks to my neighbor who pulled strings to get us in!) It was a strange little event with Augusten standing in the middle of the room while small groups of people took turns accosting him. At one point, 15 people actually lined up to have books signed. Other folks made him pose for pictures. I felt bad for him.

Although Kristen practically makes Augusten Stalking into a part-time job, she was nervous being in the room with him and made it clear to me that she was content not to approach him at all. But I knew that if we did that I'd regret passing up the opportunity. So we went over and made some lame comments about liking his work, and his shoes.

Augusten, however, was not the only celebrity in the room. The other one was....me. At one point, a woman I don't know walked right up to me and said, "You're on the cover of Business to Business." Taken aback, I simply said, "No." And she looked perplexed. "Well," she said, "She looks just like you."

I, of course, went home and Googled Business to Business so I could see myself. And I don't think it looks anything like me. Minh said maybe a little, around the eyes. What do you all think?

Slurp Slurp

That was the sound Tai made drinking up his Cream of Everything Soup, with a straw. He loved it. That kid just consumed more vegetables in a single meal than he has in the last month (but don't tell him that!)

Despite being a slightly off-putting shade of taupe, the soup was really very tasty. I am looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow....

Several Interesting Tid-Bits...

...None of Which Warrant Their Own Post:


1. Saturday morning we took Tai to the JC Penney Portrait Studio for his first-ever professional photo shoot. Now I know why people do this when their kids are 3 months old -- they can't run away. Tai was not scared or freaked out at all, but wholly uninterested in sitting still on this little red dot in the middle of the backdrop, where the lighting was best. Five minutes into the session, the photographer actually called out to her colleague in a somewhat exasperated voice, "we've got a runner!" which made me (a) think of the "we've got a bleeder" line from There's Something About Mary and (b) wonder why she seemed at all surprised. Are there 17-month-olds out there who sit in one spot for more than 5 seconds?

2. When Minh requests coffee and donuts for Father's Day breakfast everyone wins. Tai and I especially like the chocolate frosted donuts.

3. After consuming his Father's Day breakfast of caffeine and sugar, Minh took quite a while to contemplate whether he'd rather spend the morning shopping at Costco or doing yard work. He really knows how to live it up. In the end he chose yard work and specifically requested that I help him with a labor-intensive task during Tai's nap. In this case, not everyone wins.

4. Later that afternoon we attended a 40th birthday party for a friend, held atop a hill in a beautiful grassy conservation area. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, there were balls to kick around and other kids to play with....and Tai could only focus on touching all the food that was laid out for the guests and picking up the giant knife that was set out with the dessert.

5. At that same party, Tai somehow lost his balance and ended up falling onto his butt --directly on another child's slice of rhubarb pie. (This is why we always have a change of clothes with us!)

6. In other news, the farm share is going pretty well. We've had two pickups so far and last week I picked strawberries for the first time in my life. The fruit and veggies are tasty and we've been forced to cook alot more than we had been. Our bodies are a tad freaked out about all the veggies though. The farm keep sending us emails with recipes for the veggies, but no information for how to deal with Kohlrabi gas.

7. On a related note, simmering in my crock pot right now are the following: chicken stock, garlic, onions, celery, broccoli, turnips, spinach, shredded carrots, and 3 very small beets. It started out as Cream of Broccoli soup and turned into Cream of Everything in the Fridge. I'm scared. Minh will get home before me today and he has been instructed to (a) add the milk (hence the "cream of") (b) taste it, and (c) call and let me know if I need to bring home a pizza. I'll report back on how it turns out, if I live to tell the tale.

Greens, Anyone?

We are officially hippy-dippy.

We just picked up our very first share of farm veggies. I parked my Subaru among the other Subarus and the Priuses adorned with rainbow bumper stickers and walked my Dansko-clog-wearing self right on in. Now all I need is a baby in a sling and a kayak on my roof and I'll be completely incognito.

Since it was the first day, we went as a family of three so that we could all get the lay of the land. And it was a good thing too--I'm not sure how just one of us could watch Tai and gather veggies at the same time. It was very crowded and Tai was toddling all over the place, inside and out, visiting the chickens and pausing only to ask for more free samples of hummus.

The eventual plan was to be that I pick Tai up from daycare on Wednesdays and then he and I go to the farm together. Now I'm not so sure that will work, but I'm willing to try. There's always the ergo.

As for the veggies themselves, we came away with lettuce, baby salad greens, braising greens, bok choy, radishes, and turnips. I sure hope Tai learns to like salad!

Extreme Home Makeover: Toddler Edition

We recently inherited a third-hand molded plastic playhouse. You know, the kind that blend into the beauty of the natural landscape so well? Oh wait, I mean the kind that stick out like a sore thumb and proclaim "a child lives here!" to all passersby.

Yeah, one of those. We have one now.

It's actually pretty cool. Once Minh graciously agreed to allow it in his beautifully maintained garden, I allowed myself to get excited about it. And Tai loved it from the moment he laid eyes on it (before it was even assembled).

But, being third-hand, it came to us "well-loved" and sun-bleached. We probably would not have been concerned about this at all, if our neighbor hadn't suggested a fresh coat of paint might do it some good. Suddenly I was scheming another complicated painting project (what is it with me and paint?) I had grand ideas of bright primary colors, while Minh wanted to paint it like you would a real house -- beige with muted accents of green and blue, or maybe maroon.

First Minh blasted the entire house with sudsy water from the pressure washer. Then he painted the door dark red. And then we realized how much (a) time, (b) effort, and (c) paint it would take to do the whole house (he used two cans of spray paint on the door alone!) So we opted to just do the door and shutters--a slightly less "extreme" makeover than we first envisioned, but enough to breathe new life into an old playhouse.

Finally, we cleared out a spot in the back woods and laid a bed of woodchips over some weed-blocking cloth. And Tai really does enjoy it. He has even learned to say "house" when he sees it.

BEFORE

AFTER ----->

Two Words

Last night I discovered the key to getting Tai to let me cut his hair.
Two words: Ice Cream.

Fourth Annual Chipping Day

Despite a rocky start that included a chipper that wouldn't chip, and extra trip to Home Depot, and 2 hours of a babysitter gone to waste, the Fourth Annual Pheasant Lane Chipping day was indeed a success.

For those who don't know, each year we all "chip" in with our neighbors and rent a wood chipper that will chew through a branch up to 6" in diameter. Since we live in a woodsy area, everyone tends to have fallen branches and annoying saplings to get rid of each spring. Everyone works hard all day long, chipping up everyone's stuff, and then we have a big BBQ at the end of the day to celebrate a job well done.

Tai's still to little to pull his weight on Chipping Day (maybe next year?) but he did get to inspect the chipper the next morning, before we returned it.

They Really Do Say The Darndest Things...

Yesterday at a Mother's Day cookout, a bunch of us were talking about the fact that our friend once made a rather inappropriate joke one morning at day care drop-off. Several times folks mentioned "the joke" and then I witnessed this exchange between a woman and her 3 yr old daughter:

daughter to mom: "Can you tell me the joke?"
mom: "No, honey, it's just for grown-ups."
daughter: "Why?"
mom: "It's about adult humor and you wouldn't understand it anyway."

[about 2 minutes pass...someone tells a kid-friendly joke to make the girl feel included]

daughter: "I know a joke!"
mom: "Can you tell it to us?"
daughter: "No, it's just for kids."

White People Don't Order Squid

On Monday night, Minh and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with the traditional Chinese Take-Out. I gave him carte blanche to order whatever he wanted and told him that if he put it under my name I'd pick it up on my way home.

Apparently, he was halfway through giving them his order (which included duck and squid) when the guy from the restaurant asked, "Hey, are you Chinese?" Once Minh 'fessed up to being Asian, the guy became very friendly and even discouraged Minh from ordering the baby bok choy because it was not as fresh as the Chinese broccoli. (You know that they gladly sell the wilty bok choy to the white folks!)

Not knowing any of this transpired, I was impressed at how very friendly they were at this restaurant (to which I had never been before). My order was not quite ready when I arrived, so they gave me a seat at the bar and offered me some tea. And the guy who sold me the food small-talked with me about the fact that my husband called in the order and then commented on my lovely jade bracelet (which, in case you don't know, functions like a membership card at most Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants).

The lesson? Even if you don't want to eat it, ordering squid over the phone can have hidden benefits. Go on, try it!