Smarties and Duds...

Last year was the first year Sekani trick-o-treated and I got away with calling the candy pieces, "counters." We simply opened the candy, counted them, then made a candy sculpture. At 4.5, I didn't think that plan would fly again, but as Halloween approached he mentioned that he was going to make a train with his sugar bounty. Sweet!!! Upon our return from the streets, he was allowed to eat 2 pieces (he chose Smarties and Milk Duds) and then he went to town and created a park with gumball baths, Almond Joy cars, and licorice swings. I think this tradition is a keeper.

A Happy Halloween...

To my surprise, October 31st unfolded as a really nice day. ("Nice" at this point in life means relaxing and without hurry or fuss.) Sekani woke up and proclaimed that he wanted to go to a museum. Mo and I looked at each other and agreed that it was a perfect day to visit King Tutenkamen at the DeYoung. So, Sekani jumped into his Sonic X superhero costume, I loaded the car with our laundry, and we were off to our ancient Egyptian adventure. Following the museum we hung out at the laundromat, and grabbed a bite to eat at the Beach Chalet overlooking Ocean Beach. Before we knew it, the clock struck and it was time to meet up with friends and trick-o-treat on Fair Oaks. On our way back to our car, Sekani sang and we smiled recognizing that it was truly a happy Halloween.

My Baby Turns 4

We celebrated Sekani's birthday at Soundroots School of Modern Music. Upon entering the school, a sign hanging on the shelf stocked with shiny instruments reads, "Please Touch." 

The kids had a rockin good time with music teacher Dominic leading games, inspiring dance moves, and tapping into everyone's inner rock star. Just keep those old records off the shelf...

Me Like Cupcakes

The moment they were all waiting for...

Rocket Man

Friends gathered around for the dance party to begin. Rocket Man preparing for dance-off.

Gift Mania

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful gifts. They have come at the right time since Sekani has dropped his nap and can now have "quiet time" with the new slew of toys. I'd like to point out the handmade peg board from Lucas. Brilliant. Sekani waits so patiently for me until I'm done playing with it.

Squeaky Clean

Lately my windows and chairs have been squeaky clean. Sekani has entered into my little helper stage. With no prompt from me, he will suddenly commune with the housecleaning fairies and grab our Seventh Generation All Purpose squirt bottle, paper towels and busy himself for 30 minutes. I learned to swap the paper towels for cloth towels after finding a mound of half used damp ones lying next to the empty cardboard roll. Waste or uninterrupted creative flow? I chalked the sacrificial paper towel roll to child exploration and chore training. I love this stage.

Four Year Old Entertainment

So if you are looking for an activity for your four year old to be engrossed in for hours, try repairing something like a leak in your basement ceiling, perhaps. I like to look for the positive in situations even in semi-costly home repairs. And the upside to our leaky affair was that Sekani sat and watched every move that repairman Luke made and even followed him up and down the stairs. Sekani says, "When the plaster dries it changes colors." I am grateful for my son taking note and building his skill set in construction while I get the chance to return a few more emails. 

Quotes of the Week

Driving into downtown Portland, "I just love blinking lights."

I wish I was a superhero so when a bad guy throws me down a well, I could fly out.

"Can we buy this toy?"

No, I'm saving our money.

"But Mom, money is good to use."

I want a toothbrush with Candyland on it.

Louse, Lice, Nits O My!

Eeww yuck. Yeah. Luckily my son escaped the recent "lice outbreak" of his classroom. As a child, I never got lice nor as a teacher, which was fortunate, except when your own child has been exposed to the havoc wreaking microscopic bugger and you have no idea what to do but scratch your head. Eeww yuck. Yeah. For the louse-challenged like myself, head lice are small parasitic insects that depend upon human blood for survival. They are the size of a rice grain, are chameleonic, and cannot jump or fly. Nits are the eggs that resemble a speck of pepper typically found on the nape of neck and behind the ears. Are you itching yet? 

If I've stirred your curiosity, there is an informative website www.pickyournits.com. It's the name of a mother owned professional service where she makes house calls and combs through the infected person's hair, provides toxic free remedies, and ample support during this lousy time. For future outbreaks, I feel a lot more prepared with the following items in my cabinet:

1. Dr. Bonner's Castile Liquid Shampoo in Peppermint (we use this product anyway)

2. Nit Free Terminator Lice Comb

3. Magnified Glass

4. Mint spray (I squirt this in the corners of our bedrooms to keep spiders away)

Check out www.pickyournits.com.

The Homemade Haircut

It started out as a trim. First we picked out his hair to full bush and Daddy turned on the razor, clipping a bit from one side and then the other. The issue was that it never seemed symmetrical, so then Daddy put a guide on the razor and decided to shave the top. (Mommy not happy about this impulsive decision.) Because Sekani has different textures of hair, straighter in the front, curlier in the back, it makes for a tricky operation. Not wanting his curls gone, I intervened with tears in my eyes. (We had a family portrait scheduled later that week.) I was surprised at myself about how upset I was with this haircut. Isn't it a rite of passage to go through life with some bad haircuts? The next day we have a conversation while Sekani looks in the mirror.

Sekani:  My curls aren't growing back.

Mom: Do you miss them (because I do)?

Sekani: No, I like my hair silly.

Mom: (Silently thanks her son for the fresh perspective.)

Rest in Peace Simon the Guinea Pig

As I was walking into Sekani's school to pick him up, his class was walking out, with a box. One of Sekani's friend's says to me, "He just looked different. Simon died." I joined the procession outside as the preschoolers kept repeating "Simon's dead." The director of his school had dug a hole for the box and each child got a turn to scoop the dirt back into the hole and say their goodbyes to Simon. "What are we doing?" asked one child. The director responded, "We're putting Simon back into the earth where most things go when they die." They bid their farewells-

"Bye Simon, I love you." 

"I can't think of anything to say." 

"Goodbye." 

A Sharpie Happy Accident

I recently discovered how to get Sharpie pen doodles out of my microfiber suede sectional. Why would I have such a tantalizing object lying around with an 18 month old galavanting about? Basically I forgot that my favorite art tool was up for grabs on the table after doing some robot drawings with Sekani. Yes, the artist is shown at right. The secret potion to removing the marks is rubbing alcohol and a lot of elbow grease.  After the alcohol, I took a water damped cloth to the scoured areas. And voila, stains gone. And Sharpie calls itself a permanent marker. Hah!

A Simple Request

Tatak Bakawa. That means can you turn the television on in Spanish. Put your ear on my mouth. TATAK BAKAWA. Okay?

My Son's President

1-20-09

For our Inauguration party, Sekani has voted for baking O shaped brownies with blue sprinkles. 

SELF IMAGE; SKIN AND HAIR

The conversation went like this:

Sekani: I want hair like Mommy. I want skin like Mommy.

Daddy: Yeah? I can understand that because Mommy is so beautiful. Do kids at school say anything about your hair or skin?

Sekani: No.

Daddy: Do you have any friends that look like you at school?

Sekani: No.

Daddy: I think your hair and skin are cool because they are a blend of Mommy and Daddy.

Sekani: Uh-huh.

Daddy: You know what's cool? When you get older, you'll find that looking different from everyone else is cool.

Sekani: OK. Do you want to see how fast this race car can go? Watch. Vrrrrrrrrrrooooooooo....

It's tricky not to project our thoughts on to our babies, but I was so grateful for us, as a family, to be having this conversation. It's only the beginning.

Puppet Party

Mid December, we hosted a holiday party with our cousins. They were such good sports about the party's entertainment-- BYOP (bring your own puppets, handmade puppets encouraged). The kids and adults alike participated and after all the puppet shows were performed, we had impromptu scenes such as this one...stage right. It was a good time.

Our puppet story began with Sekani's intro, "Once upon a time there was a big form of earth and it got turned into puppets and it turned into a puppet show..."

A HAPPY NEW YEAR...

One of the much anticipated parts of the holiday season is receiving photo cards from friends and family. If you didn't receive ours, well, it's not that our friendship has dissolved, rather mama got busy doing other things. And family photo ops rarely happen in time to send festive photo cards. So, here is our holiday hello from our family to yours.