The[li]o[n]

This was entirely his idea, I think.

Theo tries to look like a fierce jungle boy

Not sure he pulled that off.

Bendaroos da bomb

We got introduced to sticky wicks at P.F. Changs, under the brand Wiki Stix. Well, they're also sold as Bendaroos, and Theo has been playing with his set a lot.

Hair

The First Cartoon

We found this on the chalkboard this morning.



The dialog is:

Theo: Ha I win
Mummy: Man you win
Ruby: [singing] mo

The kids have a Reading Rainbow DVD with a segment on the Egyptian mummies. Theo especially loves watching it, and apparently has fantasies of defeating a mummy. Ruby's is apparently dyslexic, but at least she's been studying the Scrabble dictionary with comprehension. Her commentary on the unfolding drama is well beyond her years--"om" is "a mantra used in contemplation of the ultimate reality." That, or she's secretly an Udnih (a dyslexic Hindu).

Either way, it's good to see that their multicultural sensitivities are firmly established.

The "Call Julia" note was yesterday's reminder from Theo to set up a play date with his friend in Kindergarten. He's been pining for her all spring break.

Theo sings Painting by Chagall

Painting By Chagall by The Weepies

Thunder rumbles in the distance, a quiet intensity
I am willful, your insistence is tugging at the best of me
You’re the moon, I’m the water
You’re Mars, calling up Neptune’s daughter

Sometimes rain that’s needed falls
We float like two lovers in a painting by Chagall
All around is sky and blue town
Holding these flowers for a wedding gown
We live so high above the ground, satellites surround us.

I am humbled in this city
There seems to be an endless sea of people like us
Wakeful dreamers, I pass them on the sunlit streets
In our rooms filled with laughter
We make hope from every small disaster

Everybody says “you can’t, you can't, you can't, don’t try.”
Still everybody says that if they had the chance they’d fly like we do.

We discover something exciting in Theo's mouth

Theo has his first loose tooth!

We told him about the Tooth Fairy. He says, "I know, maybe I'll keep it in an envelope so it'll be safe." He is really happy and excited about it too, because it makes him feel like he is really on his way with this growing up business. (I was going to write, "It makes him feel like a big boy," but that doesn't make him seem very big to me.)

Also, less happy but also located somewhat in the proximity of his mouth: there is a high possibility that we will need to have his adenoids removed. I've always noticed that he was a mouth-breather and that he always sounded clogged even without a cold. Recently, he's had two ear infections and strep throat, amounting to three courses of amoxicillin in four months. We went to the ENT doc just a few days ago, and sure enough his adenoids are in the way. He did a hearing test, and they used this instrument that measured the vibrations of the ear drum. The results said that in his right ear, there was dampening of the ear drum vibration because of excessive fluid behind the ear, which resulted in some hearing loss. The doc gave him a 10 day course of a cephalosporin to see if the fluid in his ear would clear. If it doesn't clear, then he's going to get a myringotomy as well.

Random picture:

The kids know how to compromise

Theo and Ruby have very different interests. Theodore likes explosions, cars, and play-fighting. Ruby likes pink, dollies, tea parties, and dressing up. I found out the other day how they're able to play so well together. It's a compromise--one minute they're playing house, then suddenly they're warriors.

So Ruby was in the living room, holding a dolly and pretending to cry. Apparently, the doll was supposed to be the one crying. She holds it up to Theo and says, "Theo, the baby is crying."

Theo leans over to the doll and starts very tenderly, "Oh, don't worry, baby, you're going to feel better--" transition to a fierce whisper here-- "after you fight the enemy."

Suddenly, the attack is on. There are explosions, projectiles, and war cries. And everybody is happy.

Theodore's dinosaurs

Theo enjoys the chalkboard as much as his sister does.



Notice the hat the dino is wearing. Ruby thought of that touch. The smaller dino is a baby tyrannosaurus, the larger was his dad, I think.

We experience global weirding

I'm not really that interested in typing about the weather. Mostly I wanted an excuse to post the following pictures, taken just a day or two after we had a snow day for school:

Dad builds the best winter fort ever

We went up to Grampy and Grandma's house in January. When we got there, the ground was already covered in snow, and then we got another foot of beautiful powder. On Sunday, we went sledding, and then Dad and the kids built a snow fort that was easily 30 feet long. It's hard to describe, but fortunately we have videos!

It took three hours to build the snow fort, especially since Dad was the only adult working on it. He started the pile of snow using a snow blower, then made it higher using a shovel. Then he dug through it using a hand hoe and a roof rake.

The first video was taken near the end of construction. Ralphie names the fort "Five Star Way" because it had five openings--one on one end, two on the other end, and one on either side.



The second video shows Ruby sledding through:



And finally, my favorite--a video from the inside:



They were out there for hours! Theo is built just like his dad. He never seems to get cold or get tired of the snow, even if he gets a big spray of it on his face while going down a big hill on a sled.

The kids enjoy Halloween candy

I've been kinda stingy with the candy. Even on Halloween night, the kids ate no more than three pieces of candy. On subsequent days they were allowed less than one piece each (they'd have to share a big of skittles or a miniature chocolate bar).

But I remembered when I was little, I used to eat tons and tons of candy after Halloween. So, I relaxed a bit, and I really mean "a bit." I gave each their own lollipop to eat. I also told them they were not allowed to bite into it. They were pretty happy anyway.

Candy trading is a big part of Halloween

We went trick or treating with family. Here are pictures of the kids:

Arkiha and Mikas are not in this first picture because they joined us about fifteen minutes in.


After we got back, the kids dumped all their candy and the bidding began. "I'll trade you a Hershey's for a starburst!" etc. Overall winners of the night: Sourpatch Kids, Now and Laters, and Reese's. Losers: Junior Mints, Tootsie Rolls, and raisins.


Also, see the post about the costumes on Ruby's blog.

Theo did have a birthday party

Unfortunately, we were so busy that we completely forgot to take pictures. EPIC FAIL!

The attraction of the day was the zipline. We were going to reserve it for last, but the kids immediately saw it and knew what to do, so for the full three hours (with the exception of birthday cake time), kids were lined up to go on it over and over.

We didn't take any videos of the actual party, but we took some post-party videos before taking it down. I can't imagine you'll get through the whole video. I think the better stuff is more towards the end, but all in all, it's different views of the same thing. The first minute make me dizzy.



We know that some parents took pictures at the party, and we are hoping that they'll send us copies. Til then, you'll have to be satisfied with a poorly shot video of Miss Pauline going down the zipline. Most of the action is in the first six seconds.

Theo does Sudoku

Theo completed this Sudoku puzzle with an explanation of how Sudoku works and minimal assistance. You can click on the top picture to get a better view of his work.

Theo starts kindergarten!

When he got home we asked him, what did you learn today? He first told us that in recess there are a lot of rules. The one he remembered most was, no one is allowed to climb on the climbing wall. He said he really wanted to climb on the climbing wall but he didn't do it because those are the rules. Then he said, "So I did pretty good at recess."

He said that during lunch he got a veggie burger, applesauce, salad, fruit, and milk. He finished everything except the veggie burger, not because he didn't want it, but because he ran out of time. Darned lunch lines. Fortunately, I packed a pretty good sized snack, consisting of three fig newmans, a few peach slices, a raspberry fruit leather, and a Yakult. Tomorrow, there aren't any good vegetarian options on the lunch menu so I will pack him my version of a bento box. When I get a chance, I'm going to purchase a small thermos so I can pack hot foods too.

During free time he played on the soil table, which he described as a green table with dirt and shovels. He came home with a little booklet of shapes that he drew and this picture:



I recommend clicking on it to see his writing at the bottom. It says, "My name is THEO TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AND Today is my first day of kindergarten at ____ Elementary School!" (The name of his school is omitted.) Theo wrote it out without any prompting or assistance.

Overall, it sounds like it's gonna be a good year. Here are a few more pictures from the first thirty minutes when all the kindergarteners congregated in the gym.

Random musings, since there is so much going on

Theodore loves K'nex. They are like legos, except they have rods and connectors as well as building blocks. He got a small box of them for Ruby's birthday from a nice friend who didn't want him to feel left out. Then he got a larger set a few weeks ago, on a day when he went to the doctor and got four shots, plus had to get a fifth stick to get some blood tests to screen for Celiac disease. It was negative, by the way.

He's gotten really good at following the instructions that come with the box. This evening he put together two helicopters, plus a third airplane-shooter thing that he made with some leftover pieces:





He received absolutely zero help in constructing the helicopters.

Right before going to bed, Theo enlisted Ruby and me (Mom) to help with an important mission. He even had a script for us, it went something like this: "We have to fight the enemy. There are little green...I mean, BIG green ships that fly around and they're trying to shoot us down. But my airplane doesn't have any shooters, but yours does, and so does Ruby's, so you and Ruby have to protect me. But they shoot me down, but I don't die, but I am a little bit hurt. So I crash to the ground like this (makes crashing noises that only boys know how to make) and you and Ruby come and get me and bring me back to home base. But you still have to fight all the big green ships." There was very little exaggeration there, I think I just about replicated it. Ruby listened to the whole thing with big eyes then looked at me at the end and said, "Mom, I think this movie is going to be too scary for me."

In other news, one more week before school starts! This past Friday Theo and I went to orientation where we met his teacher and a few classmates. Afterwards, Theo got a haircut at a barbershop for the very first time. He thought it was really strange at first, and made a funny face when he saw the big chair that you have to climb up on. Anyway, here's the result:



TOO MUCH FUN. I love this age.

Chalking

Theo pulled out the chalks and paints I bought the other day. What a good investment that turned out to be. Sometimes I wonder why we don't play outside all day, but I usually remember once I'm worn out. I can't claim to be brilliant--all the drawing ideas came from the box, with the exception of mazes (Theo's idea), and bowling (okay, that was me).

Theo and Ruby have a house with an attic

The other day, Dad went up to the attic to examine the roof. The kids were permitted to climb up the ladder and take a look, but they weren't allowed to go all the way up because there were a few rolls of insulation lying on the attic floor, left there by the previous house owner.

This apparently left an impression on the kids because today they built a house with an attic using their bunkbed. Theo's bed, on the top bunk, was the attic. It doesn't look terribly impressive, but it kept them busy until I got dinner cooked.



I asked Ruby what they kept up there, and she said, with urgency, "All the pink stuff. But you can't touch the pink stuff because it will scratch you." Then Theo started putting the couch pillows on the top bunk, and he said, "Mom, look at all of our old stuff that we're putting in the attic!"

Bunkbeds are so awesome, so many possibilities! The other day the bunkbed was a spaceship and one other time it was a fishing boat.

We love our daycare

But one reason of many. Now that Theo is starting school this year, I'm even more glad he was in a daycare that let him get dirty, enjoy the outdoors, and be a kid.

Theo is getting stronger

Francis, too.

Theo also lifted the tailgate on the truck all by himself, but couldn't get enough momentum to shut it.

...writes a hopelessly proud dad.

Fun pictures

Two- (almost three-) headed monster. The real three-headed version is on Ruby's blog.


I like this picture. I think Theo is very handsome. Maybe he'll grow up to look like a camel, just like his dad.

Despite his mom, Theodore is starting kindergarten in the fall

In our county, children can't start kindergarten unless they turn five by September 1. Theo obviously misses that deadline, with his birthday in October. There is also a rule that says that if they turn five by January 1, they can apply for early admission. The application process consisted of a some questionnaires and a standardized test. I took Theo to take the test, but I didn't get to listen in or see any part of it.

I got a letter back at the end of May saying that Theo was not accepted. According to the letter, each kid is rated as Advanced (A), Proficient (P), or Basic (B) in six categories: reading, general knowledge, parent developmental checklist, mathematics, graphomotor/writing, and non-familial developmental checklist. You have to have an A in at least 4 out of 6 categories and no B's. Theo got A's in 3 categories and P's in the other three categories.

The thing was, he got a P on the parent developmental checklist...which was something I filled out! It was something of a true/false quiz. Answers could be given as Always, Sometimes, or Never, and for nearly every category, I really felt like it was impossible to circle Always, because who Always does anything? I mean, even grown adults do not Always "persist with tasks long enough to complete them" or "resolve conflicts appropriately." Anyway, I felt awful thinking that I was so fixated on the meaning of Always that Theo lost a very important point on his overall assessment and wound up being rejected for early admission.

So I wrote a letter of appeal saying as much. We got a letter back with a second rejection, but the explanation was a mess. It said,

Upon reviewing the file ourselves, we found Theodore scored in the Basic range in (#) areas. In order to be admitted to kindergarten, 4 of the 6 categories must be rated as Advanced and no category can be rated Basic.

When I read that, I thought first of all, it didn't seem like anyone addressed what I wrote about in my letter of appeal. Then I thought, "What if they are sending me the rejection letter for another child?" because in the original letter, it said that Theo didn't score basic in any of the categories. Then I thought, it is so obviously a form letter, because they couldn't even be troubled to replace the "#" with an actual number, and you know how form letters are often filled out by people who don't do the actual thinking.

So I called the Board of Ed and spoke with a secretary, who initially was treating me exactly how she would treat any other parent who mistakenly thought her child was smarter than all the other children. I explained to her though that I didn't think there was anything wrong with the process they used to evaluate kindergarten readiness. I really tried to emphasize how dumb I felt about overanalyzing the word Always. I had to explain a couple of times too, in a couple of different ways, because I felt like her responses to me weren't addressing my concerns. The words that I used that finally changed her answer went something like this: "I messed up when I filled out that questionnaire...it ended up reflecting me as a person rather than my son...because it was the last point he needed to get into kindergarten, I feel like I really messed this up for him." So she said she would talk to someone about it, and I thanked her.

I got a call back twenty minutes later from the same secretary. She said that the director reviewed Theo's file and decided to accept him.

Hooray for Theo! Time to buy crayons and notebooks!

Danny Boy

Theo has suprised Mama twice now by knowing lyrics to the song she happened to play. The first was Teddy Bears' Picnic. The second, and subject of this post, was Danny Boy:


Apparently he learns the songs at daycare. Thanks, Addy!

Centennial Park

We had a chance to go to Centennial park yesterday, and it was quite warm. Water and fruit snacks propelled the kids to new heights. (You can see higher-resolution photos if you click through to the album)



P.S. Leave a comment if you like/don't like this flash album viewer.

Zipline...

Big kids, even adults can ride the zipline...sort of.

Skiing

This is the most snow we've seen in a while, and the first ski trip for our immediate family. The kids had some difficulties the first day, but then Grampy and Grandma came to the rescue for day two. Wish we had more time!

Catching up with Christmas

Many of the pictures now on the camera were taken at Christmas or shortly after. I guess we've been busy (or lazy). Here's what the Christmas tree looked like. It is hands-down our favorite of all time.

Diego: Animal Rescuer

Theo loves the Diego show, so we pretend that we're animal rescuers a lot. Today, we took it to the next level.



You can see more similar videos at my youtube page and subscribe to the same.

Cell Phone Recordings

I found some old cell phone recordings of the kids. Enjoy.

We went ice skating

The Hermit Crab Passes

Theo's hermit crab, given to him almost two months ago*, has passed away. He never paid much attention to it, but I think, along with a fish at daycare, it is helping introduce him to death. "Why did the hermit crab die?" he asks. And that leads us into other conversations about us. A gentle introduction.

* Special credit for the commenter who guesses how many weeks a hermit crab can live without food or water.

Theo: Almost Reading and Writing

Theo can just about read, and he sometimes constructs his own sentences using the magnetized letters on the fridge. He also has a fondness for writing everyone's names down. Like his dad, he doesn't plan out exactly what he's going to write before he starts.

His sister is also very interested in the whole process. When he writes RUBY, she reads it: "Theo!". However, she did help him read the Pepe and Papa book the other night. Theo wasn't sure if "Papa" spelled Pepe or Papa, he said Pepe first. Ruby heard Mama encourage the "pa" sound, and immediately said Papa--but she wasn't looking at the book.

Mom makes a rockin' cool birthday cake

I made this myself. Well, the cake was from a box. But I made all the decorations and it was 98% percent edible (Diego is my 2% exception.)

Also, I thought the Diego action figure looked a lot like Theo.




Now here's a picture of all the kids. Unfortunately, little Eva (bottom right hand corner) got cut out of the picture. All you can see is her hair. So, Eva, you get a shout-out.



No, that is not alcohol you see in the background. It's rootbeer.

Singing for Fruit Snacks

If we ever have to live on the street, we'll be fine. We'll just put Theo and Ruby on a busy corner, and tell them they'll get fruit snacks if they sing.

Theo turns four

Theo turns four in a few days, but we had the party today. He got a digital camera (and so did Ruby, Merry Christmas) and all the kids took turns taking pictures. Of course 90% of the pictures are too blurry or contain little more than carpet. An additional 5% cut part of the target person out of the picture. So I guess I'll delete some, and leave some, and we'll see what we get. Here's some examples, the rest are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/tedgifford/sets/ .