Rough Morning

Tai has traces of both urine and yogurt in his hair.
There's oatmeal on the bathroom floor.
There are peanuts in the high chair
and snots everywhere.

Apparently shoes are now the enemy (yesterday it was pants).
And being left at school by your daddy is just heartbreaking.

How was your morning?

I just saved $13.50

It's going to rain tomorrow. And at Tai's daycare they go outside everyday, rain or shine. So the boy needed some rain boots, and fast. My new favorite website has free overnight shipping, but even that wouldn't get the boots here in time for school tomorrow morning. Plus, the boots cost $20-$30 and I have a hard time paying that much for something he might only wear 3 or 4 times before he outgrows them.

So I called a local kids consignment shop and learned that they had gender-appropriate rain boots in Tai's size for a mere $6.50. Even if I bought the cheapest boots online, that's a savings of $13.50.* So I practically ran out the door, in the middle of the work day, to get those boots.

Now my boy has boots to wear tomorrow. And he really likes them. He was wearing them around the house this evening and was very excited to show them off to Minh when he arrived home from work.

Oddly enough, somewhere along the way, I must have developed a thing for green shoes. Without realizing what I was doing, I've purchased Tai three pairs of green shoes in the past several months (see photo). Someday I'm sure he'll tell his therapist all about it--how all the other kids had lots of different-colored shoes and he only had green.

*And for those of you who haven't studied Minh-conomics, that means I actually made $13.50 today and I rellay need to treat it like found money and go splurge on something.

"Don't take this the wrong way..."

That's how Minh started his proposal that he buy me the newest thing in hair-care because the Frizzies are just out of control.  Apparently, my hair is looking so tormented these days, it was actually distracting him during a recent staff meeting.  (So perhaps work should pay for this new endeavor, as my dry frazzled hair might actually be negatively impacting my co-workers' concentration and productivity?)

What remains a mystery to me, at this point, is:

(1) How Minh even knows about this new "hair phenomenon," especially since he doesn't have any hair of his own.

(2) Whether this really is the miracle product it claims to be.

(3) Which "flavor" he's buying me.

At some point in the near-ish future, I'll be sure to post a review. I know you'll all be waiting with bated breath. 

What did he just say?

Herpan-Coxsa-What?

Tai was a member of The Toddler Room for all of 3 days before catching his first disease. Last Thursday he was diagnosed with herpangina, (which sounds too much like Herpes). It's caused by coxsackie (which sounds dirty) and is similar to hand-foot-and-mouth disease (which sounds very much like a livestock issue to me.)

On Thursday our pediatrician (whom we love) warned us, "this is not a fun one." To which Minh quickly replied, "yeah, and RSV was a blast." And on Friday Minh was wondering what the big deal was--Tai already seemed much better. But later that night we figured out what the doctor was talking about. He was right, it's not a fun one (are there actually fun diseases?)

Long story short, Tai was pretty miserable for a couple days, not inclined to eat much, and (worst of all) too uncomfortable to sleep at night. But he's all better now and our only remaining problems is breaking his new habit of sleeping in our bed.

Dinner at the Farm

Last week we were enticed by an email invitation to come have dinner at our CSA. Since Tai absolutely LOVES going to the farm, we figured it would be a good time. And it was.

But after spending $12 on two very small sandwiches and $25 on a HUGE box of organic Maine blueberries, we still left hungry. Minh and I ended up eating frozen pizza that night after Tai went to bed.

The good news is we have enough blueberries in our freezer to last many months.

Leaving My Baby

Tonight I'm headed to Cambridge for a work thing on Thurs-Fri. Which means I'll be spending my first night (two nights, actually) away from Tai. Ever.

I used to make fun of parents who had 1 year-olds and had never slept away from them. Well, Tai is almost 20 months old and he and I have slept in the same building every night since he was born. Accordingly, this will be the first time Minh has done a solo overnight with Tai.

I'm looking forward to Hotel Sleep, all by myself. But I'm sure I'll miss Tai terribly. Yes, I am now the clingy mother that I used laugh at. At least I can admit it.

Happy Camper

Our trip went better than expected, which means I don't have any particularly interesting stories to tell. Tai slept really well, ate really well, and had lots of fun hiking, swimming, and playing with his friend Natahsa.

Best of all, we discovered two new people who like to play Maui. Unfortunately, one of them took to it so well that he kicked our butts several times.

It's Like We're Camping Already

If you live in South Hadley, don't drink the water. There's poop in the water.

Apparently E. coli was detected in our water and now we have to boil all our cooking and washing water and drink bottled water. What a pain in the ass it was to wash dishes after dinner last night. (We are soooo getting take-out tonight.)

Luckily, tomorrow we're headed here for our Second Annual Camping With-Child Adventure. It has to go better than last year's trip. It just HAS to.

Death Defying Dog

This past weekend Tai and Buttons and I had a lovely walk around the lake at MHC. Tai, riding on my back in the ergo, enjoyed frequently pointing out the water and occasionally suggesting that Buttons should "pee-pee." Buttons enjoyed trotting around off-leash, sniffing the smells left behind by other dogs, and taking a drink from the lake. We even ran into a long-lost doggie friend and walked with her and her parents for a while.

Since we were having such a lovely time, I decided we should take a little side-trip up the path that leads to the MHC stables, where all the Alexises keep their horses. We've done this a few times before and Tai always enjoys it.

So we said good morning to all the horses who were hanging out in their fenced-in pens. Each horse had its own space, separated from the others by a fence made of three horizontal planks, the bottom one being about 18 inches off the ground. We took about 10 minutes to walk all around and visit each horse. Several of them came right over to the fence as we approached hoping I had bought them their breakfast. Tai was having a blast and Buttons was being so good. She stayed near me, though occasionally ventured right up to the fence for a sniff and then returned to the middle of the path, with me.

And then it happened.

Apparently, the allure of tasty horse shit just on the other side of the fence was too much for Buttons. So she ducked under the bottom rail, into a pen that contained a horse. She immediately regretted her decision. The horse whose pen she had infiltrated was not pleased. Each time I replay the scene in my head it gets worse, so by now I can conjure up an image of the horse with fire in his eyes and smoke billowing out his nostrils as he reared up in the air directly above my dog.

It wasn't actually quite that bad. But the horse was clearly agitated and did start trotting back and forth a bit, and then started moving closer to Buttons. (Who was right up against the fence, frantically running back and forth, trying to figure out how to get back on the other side, and looking at me for help.) I, of course, was yelling for her to come to me.

After what was probably only 60 seconds, but felt like much longer, she remembered how to duck back under the fence. Of course, she ducked right into the next horse's pen and got that one fired up before taking a hard left and ducking out into safety.

After we hastily descended the hill back down the path around the lake, Buttons immediately ran into the water and took a quick swim. Then she got out, shook the water off herself, and looked me straight in the eye, and I'm sure she was thinking, "did you see what just happened? holy shit!"

Luckily, she was not hurt and I did not have to get yelled at by some stable boy about how I shouldn't have had my dog up there in the first place. I guess we got off easy and learned our lesson.

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!