Happy Day, oh 6-year-old...

Just a few more pictures from the big day for Will, the big 0-6. :)

Photos from Will's birthday party

Will's birthday party

Will's Mojo

"Mommy, Mommy, come here!"

Seriously, when you're trying to put a cranky, tired baby down for bed and you hear Will's dulcet tones reverberating from the bathroom right next to the nursery, it doesn't inspire shiny, happy feelings. So after some loud-but-hushed "Shh! Shh!" spit-fests, I go in there.

"What, Will?" I ask, opening the door. And then I see it.

His sweetly grinning little face pointing to the colorful foam letters that stick to the bathtub when wet. Yes, that's right: MOJO. That's what it says. I didn't even know he knew the word mojo. I just busted out laughing.

"Mojo?!" I ask. "How do you know what the heck mojo is?"

He smiles mischeviously. "You know, Mommy -- mojo jojo, I got the mojo." He says it matter-of-factly while shimmying his shoulders in a way that make me wonder if we have free movie channel previews of which I am not aware.

"Will, how..."

"I sounded it out."

Oh. Okay. Thanks for putting that pricey private-school education to good use...but I am still dumbfounded and laughing.

I did eventually discover that apparently Ron Stoppable says something about mojo on Disney Channel's Kim Possible cartoon, which he loves (and Ben and I kind of enjoy, too). But still, it was hilarious. I called Ben in, I got the camera, good fun was had by all.

Coolest kid's room...EVAH!

Will's room used to have a certain disheveled lameness to it. Yes, he had a twin bed taking up most of the floor space, and not enough shelves for his little mini-me library. His LEGOs were a particular problem, especially when we stepped on them.

And then the clouds parted, the sun shone through, and we saw the light...and it was named "IKEA."

Anyway, we decided a growing boy needed a room he could feel comfortable and happy in, especially because his once free roam of the house has been restricted since we generally frown upon strewing choking hazard toys throughout the house for his sister's sampling displeasure. So after a lot of thought, we went with this loft and desk from IKEA. You can't see the wall of shelves on the opposite side of the room, but it added MUCH needed storage space. He has his little electronic piano mounted to the wall on the other side of the window. The only thing missing now is really good lighting. That's sitting in the corner waiting for daddy to install it, however!

But the room has been like this for a while. What I'm really showing is Little Edison at his new computer. I wish I'd gotten a better pic of the unit itself in context -- the glowing blue and green lights really add an ambience to the room. (If you're curious, look a couple of posts down for a slideshow of the computers generation via daddy and Will genius.)

He loves his room, and I have to say it's gone from being one of the most impassable rooms in the house to being one of the most functional for it's main purpose, which, in this case, is being the HQ for a brilliant little boy.

When a toddler chooses her own clothes

Personally, I think she's got some style. Anyway, she was insistent about wearing that little yellow dress, and since it was a cool day here in Louisiana, we had to mod it a bit.

Regardless, Little Lady is definitely coming into her own. She has a lot of attitude, and pair that with an ever-increasing vocabularly, and there's been some major sassiness sprouting around here. (I mean, how could you NOT be sassy in that outfit?)

Please, do enjoy the tantrum photo (#3). She doesn't tantrum much, and this was a choice photographic moment. Tantrum in Pigtails, I call it.

Just so you don't think Little Lady Laila is MIA...

vroom, vrooom

Come see Will's big project...

Will and Daddy Build a Computer

And out with #2

This one hung on for a while, and believe it or not, *I* was the extracating parental faction on this one. He asked for a paper towel to get a better grip, and then said it was too slippery. So I took the paper towel and used it to get a really good grip on the tooth. I was just about to tell Will to grab on when he jerked backwards and it popped out.

The funniest part? He didn't jerk backwards to get the tooth out. He had gone without talking for like a full 30, 45 seconds. He couldn't take it anymore and had something to say, so he yanked back, impatient. He didn't even realize it was out until I was like, flipping out and waving it in his face. He then started leaping around like a fish out of water and called everyone, starting with Poppy, who he is convinced has a direct line to the Tooth Fairy. I'm not kidding. Poppy is a dentist, and Will says this gives him the hook up. I don't know if he envisions a secret dentist database with regional tooth fairy email and phone number info or what, but he is flat convinced.

Regardless, there it is, the Mack-truck-sized hole, and he is happy. (Even if he doesn't look it in the photo -- he just doesn't like the flash!)

Home's cool.

We've made a big decision. Will is going to be homeschooled next year.

This is in NO way a reflection on his school, which we still love and support. Rather, it's about Will. We didn't come to this decision lightly -- it was the product of a lot of talking, thinking, research, and introspection on our parts. But ultimately, we decided this is the best thing for him -- and for us -- right now.

Tentatively on the schedule for "first grade" is architecture (learning about styles and letting him do some basic design), computer programming (HTML mostly), lots of science, probably some photography, and of course math and handwriting. You might be noticing the abscence of reading, which seems pretty elemental for a first grader, but of course, Will gets reading all the time every day. He is a voracious reader, and while he's going to be reading books for fun, he'll also be reading to learn.

We're really excited, and he is too. We plan on keeping in touch with his friends from school as well as meeting new homeschooling friends. Adelaide will continue to go to her preschool program, and basically, things will be pretty much normal.

We're so at peace with this decision, which is a big contrast to the "tied in knots" feelings we were dealing with thinking about it all. Once we decided, it was like, "whew!" We could just relax again. We plan on using the money we'd set aside for tuition for things like more family vacations and supplies for school, among other things.

I fully intend to keep writing as much, if not more, than I am now, and while I realize this will be a major life change, I feel comfortable we can work it out. I think I may start getting up with Ben and working some before the kids wake up!

We're so excited to share this news with everyone. Thanks for your support.

Tooth-o-rama

Well, not the greatest photo, but you can definitely see the newly formed hole in Will's mouth. He was so excited to sign "the big tooth" at school finally. And the one next to it is super loose, as well, so soon enough, he may have a cavernous hole in the bottom of his mouth. And next month he'll be six...*sigh*...tempus fugit, right?

Man (or woman) overboard! What's their big secret?

Man (or woman) overboard - Cruise Vacations - MSNBC.com

Okay, so this article is about how hard it is to fall off a cruise ship. But these two people who fell off last week have piqued my curiosity -- they're seeking a lot of privacy about the circumstances of their little dive. My question: What do you think they were doing that they don't want others to find out about. My bet? A little Titanic "King of the World" action and a couple of hard drinks. What do you think?

Indoor Kids (and mommy musings)

Okay, so I realized I hadn't been taking many photos lately. It's interesting -- when I wasn't writing, my camera was always at hand. It kept me sane in some ways, I guess -- I HAD to be creative somehow, and the camera was a stop-gap until I realized there was no reason to quit writing just because you have kids to take care of -- quite the contrary, actually.

Anyway, I've been pretty busy lately, and that is good. I was nervous for a while after I left the editing job at the local parenting publication because I didn't really feel like I knew what I was doing. But I have made some amazing friends who have helped me along the way (Sharon Anne Waldrop and Gina Roberts-Gray, whose bylines you might recognize, have been amazing!) and I'm seeing some very real progress. I don't want to post about the assignments I have right now because they can always get bumped, but I will definitely post when they do run.

But of course, this is titled "Indoor Kids," to match with my previous "Outdoor Kids" post. The kids love being outside, but my creative kids can definitely wreak havoc...I mean, PLAY... inside, as well, especially during March Madness and deadline time! Will loves the new Sumo Lounge we got -- I am going to review it soon for my column that runs in Baton Rouge Parents Magazine, but I'll give you a preview right now -- it's AWESOME! For one thing, both kids can comfortably be on it at once, which is an absolute Godsend for my family since when Adelaide sees Will do something, she MUST do it, as well, which leads to him often reluctantly surrendering his seating preference to avoid shrill-induced hearing loss. But with the huge Sumo Lounge, they completely don't have to -- they just plop down on it together. Anyway, the photo of him at the top is on the big Sumo Lounger, as he is often found.

Adelaide is, of course, into EVERYTHING. You can see the train table behind her -- she loves it, which has induced a bit of a train-lovin' renaissance in Will. (See, the "you have it, I want it" goes both ways here.) Anyway, they both play on it, but his is more construction while hers is, shall we say, deconstruction. For a girl who would wear frilly dresses and patent leather mary janes every day of the week if I'd let her, Adelaide certainly does love crashing cars and trains into each other. Then again, she's surely been watching brother. You can also see her "Pata-pata," as she calls him -- the darn thing plays patty cake every time you touch it's foot. We knew when Will was 1 that he was showing architect/engineer tendencies. Adelaide, if we are again correct, will be a vet. She loves animals, live and pretend, and treats them like baby dolls. Anyway, she's always finding something to do, and I'm hopeful that as she gets older, it will involve more fun playing like this and less hunting for leftover Adelaide snacks on she's left herself, Hansel and Gretel-Style, on floors in nearly every room of the house.

Anyway, that's my musings today on my indoor kids. I had a bit of writer's block before I started this, and now I'm feeling better, so I'm off to do some paying work with my renewed flow of wordiness. :)

Outdoor kids

The kids love being outdoors, which is great in the spring and a killer in the summer...and fall...and late spring, too, really...down here in the deeeeeeeeeeeep south. But Will is apparently a prodigious batter (now to work on his catching skills -- he ducks when he doesn't have the bat in his hands) and Adelaide...well, she's just a little wild at heart, I think. She tries to sneak outside whenever a door is open, so we have to keep a close eye on her. And thank God for the alarm system that beeps whenever a door opens, because we've realized she can reach the door handles no problem now. (Everything stays locked now -- even when Ben's barbecueing, he has to knock to get it or else she will escape!)

From Ben's Gaming Blog: "Thrown Out of Wal-Mart"

This is reposted from Ben's gaming blog. I just couldn't get over it. Wow. One more reason to avoid Wal-Mart like the plague...anyway, hear it from Ben:

Things have been busy lately. My daughter got tubes in her ears on Monday, and fortunately, my Mom was able to come down and help out during that time. So I had to have her at the airport at 5 this morning for her flight out. I really don't need to be at work until 6:30 or 7, so I go to Wal-Mart to pick up some frozen meals for lunch and wander over to grab some donuts for the office.

I walk up to the only check out open in the store and the guy in front of me in line says "Do you work here?"

Me: "No."

WM Jerk: "Well, we don't open for another 20 minutes. How did you get in here?"

Me: "Through the door."

WM Jerk: "So you forced the doors open to get in here?"

Me: "No, I came in through the regular door closer to the side of the building."

WM Jerk, into radio: "We need someone on the Food Center doors right away. We have an intruder."

Me: "What? OK, whatever, I'm leaving."

WM Jerk: "You can't just leave that stuff there, it's frozen."

At that point I just walked out. After I was outside, I went over to the front doors and they didn't open, but there were no store hours posted and the regular (not-automatic) doors on the side where they keep all the vending machines were unlocked and propped open. I walked past at least 6 Wal-Mart employees while I was shopping and not a single one stopped me or asked why I was in the store. I should really never go to Wal-Mart. Bad things happen when I do.

Adelaide in her surgical duds

Well, Adelaide got tubes in her ears today. This is a shot of her before they took her in. Not so great quality -- I took it with my cell phone -- but she was really good while we waited. Afterwards, she was very fussy for a while, but all seems to be well now. Next week we go back for our follow-up and we're going to get her some custom-fitted ear molds for when she takes a bath or swims.

The doctor said she did have some fluid that drained, but that was normal and she didn't have an acute ear infection today. (That's good.) So here's hoping all is well in the ear department from now on!

Hilarity ensues...

Well, Ben was off work today, and I have been wanting to get a new headshot for my column that runs in the local parenting pub here. So we though, what the heck, let's go ahead and try and get this done. So we pin up my "backdrop" and I sit down, ready to try and get some shots...when Ham-aliscious (Hamalaide?) baby girl says, "Oh...a camera? They must want ME!" So she comes over and decides to diaper primadonna her way into the photos. This is only one of them, but it is one of the funniest to me. I think she'd be giving me bunny ears if she knew how. (It would, after all, be retribution.)

Or, as I'm sure my parents would say, it would be just desserts for the former childhood ham-it-up queen...yours truly.

Old timey shot

Yeah, it's prett stylized, but I think it's still a neat effect.

And soon enough, it will be school dances, with fights outside the girls' bathroom

When I picked Will up from school yesterday, I asked him, like I do every day, how his day went.
"Great!" He exclaimed happily. Then he paused. "Well, except recess."
"What happened at recess, baby?"
"I had to have a serious conversation," he says grimly.
I go into slight mommy panic mode. "Were you in trouble?" I ask nonchalantly.
"No."
"Then what happened?"
(HUGE sigh from backseat.)
"It was Madison and Jala."
Madison and Jala, incidentally, are two girls in his class who seem to fancy Will...sometimes quite possessively so. We've had some trouble before with Madison telling Will she didn't want him playing with other girls, and Jala has been sending home affectionate notes since school started. It would appear we are in the midst of a Kindergarten love triangle.
"What happened?" I ask him.
Another big sigh.
"Well, Madison didn't want me to be friends with Jala anymore, and Jala didn't want me to be friends with Madison. They were trying to make me choose!"
Drama.
"Well, honey, did you tell them you wanted to be both their friends?"
"YES!" he says, exasperated. "But they wouldn't say okay."
"Well, why didn't you just go play somewhere else?"
"Mommy, they were crying about it."
"Crying?"
"Yes. And they wouldn't let me go play until I chose."
Wow.
"So what did you do?"
"I wouldn't choose! And I didn't get to play at ALL at recess. They made me stay there with them and they cried about me not choosing."
Have I said WOW yet?
So we talked about what he could do about it, and I have to tell you, this was one very sincerely frustrated 5 1/2 year old boy. He didn't want either of them to be sad, but he REALLY wanted to just go play at recess. Eventually recess ended, and after his daddy got home last night, it seems they had a man-to-man talk about the situation. Will told me daddy gave him some ideas about how to handle it, and really, I think that's good. Because I'm a girl. And let's be honest -- all girls have had those moments where you keep a boy suspended in mid-air, waiting to find out what his fate will be, knowing that even though you're the one crying, you're also the one in control. But who knew advanced male manipulation was an elective in Kindergarten? Nah...he probably just gravitates toward the drama engenues. After all, the boy does love his mama.

Monkey see, monkey do...

 

just beautiful.