I just got Sam down to bed, and then entered the bathroom to prepare for bed myself. I had only been in the room for a few minutes when I heard some whispering underneath the bathroom door (so as not to wake Lucy, who was asleep nearby). This conversation followed:
Sam [whispering under the door, apparently lying down on the floor]: Moooom, want to hear a joke?
Me [whispering back through the closed door]: No, Sam, it's time to go to bed. Go back to bed.
Sam [still whispering]: Pleeease Mom? [Pause] What do vampires call their girlfriends?
Me [relenting]: I don't know. What?
Sam [stage whispering under door]: Their fianc-fangs!
Me [still whispering]: That's a funny one. Good night, Bud.
I love that Sam is at an age where he loves to tell silly jokes that revolve around word puns. And I love that these jokes are important enough to him that he'll get out of bed and lie down on the floor so that he can whisper them to me underneath the bathroom door. I know that this joke phase probably won't last forever (it didn't last forever with my little brother C, although admittedly he still likes to try and be "punny" when he can). But regardless, I want to appreciate this joke phase with Sam now, as much as I can. I love his innocent sense of humor. He is a sweet, kind-hearted boy.
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Recent Summer Adventures
We've gotten to do a lot of fun things lately! Summer is off to a great start. Last month we got to ride on multiple ferries to-and-from Bainbridge Island, once for a trip to Bloedel Reserve and the other when J's brother B was in town. Here are some pictures of our trip to Bloedel Reserve:
J and Sam also attended a Mariner's game with the cub scouts.
Most recently, we went on an impromptu camping trip to Sequim over the 4th of July holiday weekend. It has been really hot up here, and we noticed that the weather was twenty degrees cooler on the Olympic Peninsula. J found a tent site at the John Wayne Waterfront Resort (he thinks it was the last site available on the whole peninsula). It wasn't the most secluded spot, but we didn't plan far enough in advance to get something spectacular. We did love having our tent be located across the street from Sequim Bay and the marina, though. We had a fun time overall, despite a few mishaps (including forgetting the key to our car-top storage bin, but luckily we found a locksmith who made a new key).
We also enjoyed getting to do some hiking while we were on the peninsula. We went to Marymere Falls on Friday afternoon (before we set up our campsite). The hike is short (a little less than 2 miles there-and-back) with only a very slight elevation gain. The waterfall is quite stunning, and both J and I agreed that the payoff was really rewarding, despite the minimal effort required by the hike itself.
The trail to Marymere Falls goes right by Lake Crescent. The water was really beautiful: it was a bright turquoise water in the deeper area of the lake. We played around in the water for about twenty or thirty minutes before heading back to our car.
After cleaning up our tent site the following morning, we hiked out on the Dungeness Spit. We didn't make it to the lighthouse at the end (which would have been a ten mile walk there-and-back!), but we did walk out for over a mile.
Lucy just woke up from a nap as we got on the ferry. She was a little bewildered as to what was going on.
We had a magical time walking through the trails at Bloedel Reserve. I love that there are so many different types of environments. Prentice Blodel was interested in exploring the different emotions that one experiences when out in nature, and I felt like each place at the reserve had a different "feel."
I felt like we were approaching a small English estate (like a miniature Lyme Park) when we came around the bend and saw this lake and house.
J and Sam also attended a Mariner's game with the cub scouts.
Most recently, we went on an impromptu camping trip to Sequim over the 4th of July holiday weekend. It has been really hot up here, and we noticed that the weather was twenty degrees cooler on the Olympic Peninsula. J found a tent site at the John Wayne Waterfront Resort (he thinks it was the last site available on the whole peninsula). It wasn't the most secluded spot, but we didn't plan far enough in advance to get something spectacular. We did love having our tent be located across the street from Sequim Bay and the marina, though. We had a fun time overall, despite a few mishaps (including forgetting the key to our car-top storage bin, but luckily we found a locksmith who made a new key).
Lucy is clapping her hands in delight about her first time camping!
Even though the resort was mostly a camping place for RVs, we did get a little tent site that was next to some lovely trees, a stream, and a cute bridge.
Sequim Bay, just across from our camping resort
We also enjoyed getting to do some hiking while we were on the peninsula. We went to Marymere Falls on Friday afternoon (before we set up our campsite). The hike is short (a little less than 2 miles there-and-back) with only a very slight elevation gain. The waterfall is quite stunning, and both J and I agreed that the payoff was really rewarding, despite the minimal effort required by the hike itself.
Lucy fell asleep on the trail, but we almost got a good family picture in this shot!
The trail to Marymere Falls goes right by Lake Crescent. The water was really beautiful: it was a bright turquoise water in the deeper area of the lake. We played around in the water for about twenty or thirty minutes before heading back to our car.
After cleaning up our tent site the following morning, we hiked out on the Dungeness Spit. We didn't make it to the lighthouse at the end (which would have been a ten mile walk there-and-back!), but we did walk out for over a mile.
The sand spit in the distance
Happy 4th of July! We joked that it was ironic that we spent the morning of the 4th of July staring at Canada across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
An Ancient Art Conversation
While driving in the car last week, Sam and I had quite an intelligent conversation about ancient art; it left me feeling really proud of my smart, thoughtful boy, and also a little baffled that he made such keen observations and connections. I'll try and recreate the conversation as best as I can here. It was cute to see that he was thinking about ancient art and wanting to discuss things that he knows I teach to my students:
Sam: [Looking at my Rosetta Stone lunch tote] So, what is written on the Rosetta Stone?
Me: Well, it talks about a few laws, including saying that some priests (who are leaders in the Egyptian religion) could get a tax break. That means that the priests wouldn't need to pay taxes or as many taxes as other people.
Sam: Well, then I think everyone in Egypt would want to be a priest!
Me: Ha! Maybe.
Sam: And why was the Rosetta Stone written in three languages?
Me: Well, the Egyptians were ruled by the Greeks at this time, so they needed things to be written in more than one language so that both Egyptians and Greeks could understand the message. It's kind of like how your summer reading packet from the library has instructions in both English and Spanish.
Sam: I see. [Pause.] And remind me what was Stonehenge was made for?
Me: Well, we don't know for sure. Some people think that it was a calendar. Remember the summer solstice we just had? One of the stones at Stonehenge lines up with the sun rising on the summer solstice, so it may be a way to help tell the time of the year. But we also think it was associated with things kind of like funerals, because people are buried there. [Side note: I was going to explain that there are cremated remains, but Sam interrupted me.]
Sam: There are people buried there?!? [Pause.] Well, maybe they thought about people rising up from graveyards because of the sun rising.
Me: That is such a good thought, Bud! Maybe so! Did you know that the pyramids have a similar connection to the sun? The pharaohs are buried inside, and the slanted sides of the pyramid are like the rays of the sun.
[Our conversation was interrupted while we dropped Lucy off at her day care. When we got back to the car, Sam started things up again.]
Sam: So, what about those gray statues with big faces that are really tall (and we saw one in England) - where are they from?
Me: Like "Dum Dum" from Night at the Museum? Those statues are from Easter Island.
Sam: And what are they for?
Me: Well, we think that they might be protectors or guards. They might be representations of the relatives of people who have already died, and they now help protect and guard their family members who are still alive.
Sam: Well, why did they make all of the faces look the same if it is of a relative? Why didn't they make them look like the person? [These cute questions made by art historian's heart swell!] T
Me: Well, what if the relative died a long time before and the people didn't know what the ancestor looked like? Maybe they wanted all the faces to be generic and look the same, so that it would look like a person but not make the mistake of trying to look like the relative but not getting it to look just like them.
Sam: Well, why didn't they just ask someone what the relative looked like? Or just look at a photo of the person?
Me: Well, these statues were made a long time ago, before the invention of photography.
Sam: Before the invention of photography?!? Huh. I wonder who invented the photograph.
Me: Well, some people say that it was invented by a man named Daguerre, and the early photographs were called daguerrotypes after this man.
Sam: And how did they work?
Me: I don't know all about daguerrotypes, but I imagine that they were made with light burning an image into something like film. Remember how Dad has a film camera? Photos used to be taken with film, but now they are digital.
Sam: Right.
Our conversation ended there, because we reached our destination. We actually arrived at the library; I needed to do some grading and we planned out that Sam read some books while I worked. I was so pleased with our little chat, and Sam again showed off his intelligence while I was grading: I was typing an explanation to a student about Hercules and his labor to find the golden apples of the Hesperides. As I briefly explained the mythology in a sentence or two, Sam looked over my shoulder, read what I wrote, and said, "Yep. That's true."
I looked over and said, "What do you mean?"
Sam replied, "I read about that in my book on Hercules. That was one of his missions to get the golden apples."
I told Sam that it was pretty neat that he already knew things that I was teaching to college students, and he seemed really pleased with himself. As he should be. I'm so lucky to have such a bright boy for a son.
Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about how Sam looks so tall and old. He's not really "my little boy" anymore (something that I loved to call him), and I need to get used to that. But I also am enjoying the more mature, grown-up way that he is able to interact with me. But I also love that he is still be a sweet, kind, innocent boy.
Sam: [Looking at my Rosetta Stone lunch tote] So, what is written on the Rosetta Stone?
Me: Well, it talks about a few laws, including saying that some priests (who are leaders in the Egyptian religion) could get a tax break. That means that the priests wouldn't need to pay taxes or as many taxes as other people.
Sam: Well, then I think everyone in Egypt would want to be a priest!
Me: Ha! Maybe.
Sam: And why was the Rosetta Stone written in three languages?
Me: Well, the Egyptians were ruled by the Greeks at this time, so they needed things to be written in more than one language so that both Egyptians and Greeks could understand the message. It's kind of like how your summer reading packet from the library has instructions in both English and Spanish.
Sam: I see. [Pause.] And remind me what was Stonehenge was made for?
Me: Well, we don't know for sure. Some people think that it was a calendar. Remember the summer solstice we just had? One of the stones at Stonehenge lines up with the sun rising on the summer solstice, so it may be a way to help tell the time of the year. But we also think it was associated with things kind of like funerals, because people are buried there. [Side note: I was going to explain that there are cremated remains, but Sam interrupted me.]
Sam: There are people buried there?!? [Pause.] Well, maybe they thought about people rising up from graveyards because of the sun rising.
Me: That is such a good thought, Bud! Maybe so! Did you know that the pyramids have a similar connection to the sun? The pharaohs are buried inside, and the slanted sides of the pyramid are like the rays of the sun.
[Our conversation was interrupted while we dropped Lucy off at her day care. When we got back to the car, Sam started things up again.]
Sam: So, what about those gray statues with big faces that are really tall (and we saw one in England) - where are they from?
Me: Like "Dum Dum" from Night at the Museum? Those statues are from Easter Island.
Sam: And what are they for?
Me: Well, we think that they might be protectors or guards. They might be representations of the relatives of people who have already died, and they now help protect and guard their family members who are still alive.
Sam: Well, why did they make all of the faces look the same if it is of a relative? Why didn't they make them look like the person? [These cute questions made by art historian's heart swell!] T
Me: Well, what if the relative died a long time before and the people didn't know what the ancestor looked like? Maybe they wanted all the faces to be generic and look the same, so that it would look like a person but not make the mistake of trying to look like the relative but not getting it to look just like them.
Sam: Well, why didn't they just ask someone what the relative looked like? Or just look at a photo of the person?
Me: Well, these statues were made a long time ago, before the invention of photography.
Sam: Before the invention of photography?!? Huh. I wonder who invented the photograph.
Me: Well, some people say that it was invented by a man named Daguerre, and the early photographs were called daguerrotypes after this man.
Sam: And how did they work?
Me: I don't know all about daguerrotypes, but I imagine that they were made with light burning an image into something like film. Remember how Dad has a film camera? Photos used to be taken with film, but now they are digital.
Sam: Right.
Our conversation ended there, because we reached our destination. We actually arrived at the library; I needed to do some grading and we planned out that Sam read some books while I worked. I was so pleased with our little chat, and Sam again showed off his intelligence while I was grading: I was typing an explanation to a student about Hercules and his labor to find the golden apples of the Hesperides. As I briefly explained the mythology in a sentence or two, Sam looked over my shoulder, read what I wrote, and said, "Yep. That's true."
I looked over and said, "What do you mean?"
Sam replied, "I read about that in my book on Hercules. That was one of his missions to get the golden apples."
I told Sam that it was pretty neat that he already knew things that I was teaching to college students, and he seemed really pleased with himself. As he should be. I'm so lucky to have such a bright boy for a son.
On Sunday I found this cute selfie of Sam on my phone
Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about how Sam looks so tall and old. He's not really "my little boy" anymore (something that I loved to call him), and I need to get used to that. But I also am enjoying the more mature, grown-up way that he is able to interact with me. But I also love that he is still be a sweet, kind, innocent boy.
Monday, June 29, 2015
Birthday Updates
A lot has been happening this month, and I feel like we have really thrust ourselves into the excitement of summer. To keep this post a reasonable length, though, I thought I would just focus on the birthday celebrations that we had for Sam and Lucy. We had a great time celebrating these two special people in our lives.
Sam wanted to have a Lego party this year, and once again we held it in our front yard. My Aunt J was in town to watch our local C cousins (her grandkids), and my Ant Bee and her family drove up from Oregon to see everyone. Sam was thrilled that his cousins M and Z stayed at our house. We had a fun time having a party and a family reunion on the same weekend! I didn't get to visit with everyone as much as I would have liked - I was scurrying around making sure the party games/food were in order, and then I had to leave to perform with my choir - but it was still fun to see everyone for a little bit.
Right now Sam is into Legos, Minecraft, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "Magic Treehouse" and "Secret of Droon" books, and playing "Hall of the Mountain King" on the piano. We have started piano lessons in earnest this summer (J and I are teaching him), and Sam likes to play a few tunes on the piano (which also includes Star Wars theme music and the beginning of "The Sound of Music"). He still loves to read and goes on "binge reading sessions" whenever I make a trip to the library. He also still loves to pretend, especially with his BFF Lewis. A few months ago, Sam and Lewis had a running imaginary game at school that they named "The Legend of the Ruby of Fire."
Lucy's birthday was a multi-day event, because we had a little dinner celebration (J's brother B was also in town visiting) one her actual birthday but then took L to the zoo later that weekend.
Sam wanted to have a Lego party this year, and once again we held it in our front yard. My Aunt J was in town to watch our local C cousins (her grandkids), and my Ant Bee and her family drove up from Oregon to see everyone. Sam was thrilled that his cousins M and Z stayed at our house. We had a fun time having a party and a family reunion on the same weekend! I didn't get to visit with everyone as much as I would have liked - I was scurrying around making sure the party games/food were in order, and then I had to leave to perform with my choir - but it was still fun to see everyone for a little bit.
Sam wanted doughnuts served this year instead of cake. We got some Lego brick and Lego figure molds and made white chocolate treats with them. We also used the molds to make crayons for the kids to take home in their goodie bags.
Guests included my visiting family members, plus Bop (and Gram, who was behind the camera for this shot)
The kids built towers out of candy lego bricks and also played some Lego Movie activities (crossword search and a maze) while waiting for the guests to arrive
"Pin the Head on the Lego Guy"
J was the Master of Ceremonies and helped to make sure that all of the activities ran smoothly. Here he is coordinating a Lego relay race.
Right now Sam is into Legos, Minecraft, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, "Magic Treehouse" and "Secret of Droon" books, and playing "Hall of the Mountain King" on the piano. We have started piano lessons in earnest this summer (J and I are teaching him), and Sam likes to play a few tunes on the piano (which also includes Star Wars theme music and the beginning of "The Sound of Music"). He still loves to read and goes on "binge reading sessions" whenever I make a trip to the library. He also still loves to pretend, especially with his BFF Lewis. A few months ago, Sam and Lewis had a running imaginary game at school that they named "The Legend of the Ruby of Fire."
Lucy's birthday was a multi-day event, because we had a little dinner celebration (J's brother B was also in town visiting) one her actual birthday but then took L to the zoo later that weekend.
We thought she would be excited to open her present this morning, but she was more excited to see Sam come into the living room while carrying a stuffed animal.
This is the little yellow chair that we gave Lucy. The bottom of the seat lifts up to reveal a small storage compartment, and today Lucy spent several ten minute stints placing her stuffed dolly (a darling hand-me-down from Cousin Z) in and out and in and out of the compartment.
Sam wanted to be the same as Lucy, so he brought his green stuffed chair downstairs and sat next to her.
Sam is showing Lucy the book that he gave her as a present
She loves her new Elmo doll!
A birthday girl in her party dress and party shoes
She was very interested in the candle and after we lit it she opened her hands with the palms upwards, which is her way of querying, "What is it?" or "Where did it go?"
I remember that Sam was very timid and didn't want to eat his cupcake - he didn't know what it was, since I had never given him a sugary treat before he turned one. That wasn't the case with Lucy, though! She had already had some treats and knew exactly what we were giving her. She dug right in! In fact, she saw me make these cupcakes and smacked her lips together when she saw them sitting on our kitchen counter before the party!
These pigs are the first animals at the zoo that Lucy saw up close. She got so excited and couldn't believe her eyes. Pigs!
She loved the penguins! She laughed and kicked her legs in delight when they dove in and out of the water.
Lucy was somewhat bewildered by the carousel. She liked the horses and kept pointing them out to us, but she was was a bit overwhelmed by the lights and music.
Lucy is crawling around everywhere right now. She still likes to practice walking by holding onto our fingers, but she is also content to crawl. She likes to have her hair combed (she makes a little "ooooh!" sound when we brush her hair), but she also likes to run her messy food-laden hands through her locks while she eats during meals.
The word she consistently says is "Bam" ("Sam"), and she says this word almost immediately after she wakes up from sleeping. She wants to be near Sam all the time. We think she may have also said "Dad" a few times. She also says "uh-oh." She also understands a lot of words: hi, hug, pat-pat-pat, kiss, eye, nose, where, uh-oh, no, spit, bath, milk, and bye-bye. She tries to make the noises of a few animals: horse, sheep, cow, bunny (sniffing), fish (gaping mouth), monkey, and dog.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Standin' Tall series
When I was growing up, we read books (and listened to the accompanying tapes) from the Standin' Tall series by Brite Music. I especially liked "Dependibility," "Obedience," "Love," and "Happiness." My brother sent Sam some mp3 files of these tapes for his birthday, so it has been fun for us to listen to these stories and songs together. Sam seems to like the same stories that I liked when I was little. Curiously, my mom never purchased "Cleanliness" and "Self-Esteem" for her children. Perhaps she felt like we didn't need to work on these attributes?
After listening to snippets of the audio from these stories, J commented that he can understand why I latched onto certain characteristics in the books (and musicals in general) as a child. Perhaps the concept of dependability resonated with me? I'm glad J is getting familiar with these too. Just last night, when J decided to do a task right away, I teased him that he must have taken a "Do-It-Now Wafer."
We don't have the books that go along with these tapes right now, but just two days ago I found some YouTube videos which have the audio combined with pages of the books. Here are links to the videos (since embedding is disabled):
- Standin' Tall: Obedience
- Standin' Tall: Honesty
- Standin' Tall: Forgiveness
- Standin' Tall: Work
- Standin' Tall: Courage
- Standin' Tall: Happiness
- Standin' Tall: Gratitude
- Standin' Tall: Forgiveness
- Standin' Tall: Love
- Standin' Tall: Service
- Standin' Tall: Cleanliness
- Standin' Tall: Self-Esteem
- Standin' Tall: Dependability
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
Goals for the Summer
Write complete one-hour OSP tour (six objects?)
Read four Open University books:
- Viewing Renaissance Art
- Locating Renaissance Art
- Art & Visual Culture: Academy to Avant-Garde
- Art & Visual Culture: Modernity and Globalization
Books to finish:
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Crawling!
Last night, Lucy and I were in Sam's room while he was getting ready for bed. Sam kept scooting his books on the floor out of Lucy's reach, but she kept crawling over to get at them. She finally went all the way over to Sam's bookshelf so she could systematically remove all of the books onto the floor, one by one. Sam said (in a slightly joking but slightly exasperated tone), "Oh no! Why did we ever teach her how to crawl?!?"
And so it begins! We are now entering a new phase of keeping things out of Lucy's little mobile grasp.
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