Here's One From the Vault: Gymnastics

Helen and Connor took gymnastics lessons over the winter months. It's a way to make sure they can run around on Saturday morning without having my house look like Yosemite Sam just stopped by. Generally, it works.

For the most part, Connor goes to his class, and has some fun, but is not totally into it. That is, until the day he overheard my au pair telling me that the coach wanted Helen to join the gymnastics team as soon as she turned 5. At that point, Connor was completely offended that the coach hadn't said the same thing about him, and he decided he loved gymnastics, too. This photo still suprises me, given that he willingly went to the bar and smiled as soon as he saw my camera come out.

Helen adores her gymnastics class. And when my parents were here to visit, my dad agreed to go to class with her. Unlike Connor's class where parents are requested to wait away from the action (which is great for getting a little knitting done), Helen's class is an adult-child participation class.

Helen enjoys doing a ridiculous bear walk:

Hanging from just about anywhere:

Jumping:

And of course, her trademark flip, which she will complete just about anywhere at anytime.

Already, Helen has been requesting to go back to gymnastics, but I just can't bear to have a Saturday morning activity in an already packed summer. And, the weekday classes aren't an option since it would mean Connor would be stuck just watching her, which wouldn't be much fun for him.

Elaine

I Knew That and It's Not Fair

My house, and probably yours, too - if you happen to live with a four year old, is an unending chorus of "I already knew that" and "It's NOT Fair!". The former is generally used to mean "I'm ignoring you" and the latter is used to mean "I don't like it". As in...

Connor, you need to get your swimsuit on so we can go to the pool.
I already knew that.

The casual observer might think Connor didn't know that, given that he was, in fact, not putting on his swimsuit. If I take Connor's words at face, I'm led to think he's merely saying "I don't want to" or "I'm ignoring you" in a way that he finds more socially palatable.

The latter phrase comes up in the context of:

It's time to go to bed.
It's NOT fair!

You need to finish dinner.
It's NOT fair!

You may not have another dessert.
It's NOT fair.

This drives me nuts, because if anyone has it good, my kids do. We've been talking at length about the meaning of fair. Turns out, the concept is harder to explain than I thought. We also talk a lot about how in many ways, Connor is right. Life is not fair. Many arbitrary and somewhat capricious rules exist. And part of the work of life is figuring out how to maneuver along, constraints and all.

Taking to the Water

Helen loves the swimming pool. And that's a good thing, seeing as how she's been at our neighborhood pool twice daily since it warmed up. She goes in the early afternoon with our au pair and Connor, and then back again with whomever is available around dinner time. She waves and applauds when Connor hits the diving board, she jumps in from the side, and she constantly demands "hold my jacket" which is Helen Speak for asking someone to hold the back of her wet suit while she paddles happily around.

Last week, Helen began her first series of lessons. She told the instructor she was there to learn how to swim "all by myself - with no one touching me". And then she added "and then I can go off the diving board!".

Her lessons, along with Connor's are at 5:00. I signed them up for this series because my endearing memory of swim lessons at my own neighborhood pool growing up is how freakin' cold it is in the morning before the pool opens. As it turns out, the water is so warm right now, that even the morning lessons are probably bearable. But the evening lessons still rock because I can swim laps while the kids are in someone else's hands.

For the past few days, Helen has been loving her goggles, using them to go underwater and look at me or Ed. She can propel herself a bit, and let all her air out while she's beneath the surface. After one particularly deep swim, she came up, shook her head, and shouted to me "That was SERIOUS! It was A-MAZIN'!"

Yes, Helen, yes it was.

Play on Words or Hearing Trouble?

We play a lot of word games around here. That's what happens when you are blessed with children who talk non-stop. It provides a good way to keep some sense of order in the cacophony of my life.

It started last year when Connor, Helen, and I went through a mad stage of playing "woot toot" (a simple rhyming game) that goes something like this.

"What do you call it when your sister gets a cantaloupe?"
"A Helen melon!"

or...

"What do you call that blue thing up there?"
"A high sky!"

And let me just tell you, we played this at the park, in the car, but mostly, we played it in front of Ed because it provided an endless way to torment him. Because Ed? He's not really a fan of the game.

However, Ed does join me in near constant word play where we substitute a similar sounding word for one that someone said, making a joke of it. For example, as we were traveling to visit my friend last Friday, Connor said from his seat in the third row of the car (which is most definitely NOT a minivan, but rather, an oversized station wagon) "I can see Helen's mouth and nose in your mirror" and I replied "you can see a mouse on Helen's nose in my mirror?". And laughter from all parties in the car ensued because my kids find me that funny. Ed and I play this game almost subconsiously. But lately, I can't decide if Connor is playing it with us, or if he really can't hear. A couple of days ago, Ed was talking about Bluemont park and said to Connor "you know, the one where we had your birthday party with boats" and Connor replied "what birthday party with goats?". Almost all of the time Connor does this (and it's starting to be rather frequent), he's pretty funny.

I'm crossing my fingers that Connor is testing out dork humor, of which I am a master, rather than having real difficulty hearing. After all, it has taken me TEN MONTHS to get Connor to the eye doctor that his pediatrician referred him to last August after he failed the vision screen (my excuses are many). That appointment is on Tuesday morning. I'm not sure I can handle the responsibility of making another speciailist appointment. Frankly, Helen used up all that I have the ability to make in her first year of life.

Cupcake Battle Week 3.2: Daddy Cakes in Topeka, KS

OK, so at first I was thinking we'd go to a cupcake store every other week, and then I thought maybe we'd go every week. But do you know what? When you're visiting your grandma and aunt, you get to go twice in one week!

After leaving my sister's house, we headed for my parent's house in Topeka. My mom knew about a cupcake shop that had recently moved to a bigger location - Daddy Cakes. Plus, a friend of mine suggested I go there when she read about these outings.



In case you hadn't heard, Topeka was recently ranked as one of the 10 best cities for the next decade in the country. And lest you think the list is completely bogus, it included standard gems like Seattle, Burlington, DC, and Boulder. I grew up in Topeka, and unless massive changes have taken place, Topeka does not belong on this list. As one of my friends recently said, Topeka is a great town to raise your kids in, and then watch your kids flee from.

But that doesn't mean I don't have a soft spot for this place I called home for so many years. And I really do hope this cupcake shop survives for a good long while (and the store was crowded the day I was there) because Topeka seems to be one of those towns where great things come and go, but never settle in. For example, there used to be a great Mexican restaurant near the University there that closed a few years after it opened. Topeka once built a huge performing arts center, only for it to sit basically unused. And I cannot even recall the number of minor league hockey teams that have tried to set up shop there, only to go through a season and be shifted on to some other small town who wants to make a go of having a team. Ed and I might be the only people still wearing our "Topeka Tarantulas" t-shirts. You have to admit, that's an awesome hockey team name.

Anyway, this store has great selection. And, because my mom was buying, we got to purchase a dozen cupcakes rather than the standard one or fewer per person. I was almost tempted to purchase the cupcake flavor that they created when they were on TLC's cupcake wars show, but the secret ingredient was seaweed, and I'm not cool enough to order a seaweed cupcake. Connor initially chose the vanilla ones with vanilla frosting, but when he sat down to inspect the box, he went for---wait for it---cookies and cream! This cookies and cream cupcake was WAY better than the one at the last store. Helen went for---wait for it---the pink one! Which was strawberry flavored cake and icing.



Even though the store was teeming with people, the little people weren't about to wait for Grandma to return from her errand. So I dropped the box right in the middle of the crowded store and they dug in.



Connor went with his standard two thumbs up rating:



And Helen decided to go with two thumbs down, though in this particular shot it looks like she might be easing up a bit and giving the cupcake a one thumb down, one thumb sideways.



I'm going with 3.5 stars - but they were better than Bakeshop. Selection was terrific. I love that they have three cupcake sizes (Daddy Cake, Baby Cake, and Petite Cake). But, the sugar in my icing wasn't fully dissolved - giving them a low score in my book on consistency of icing. I'm guessing they mistakenly took the sugar off the stove before it had a chance to fully turn into a liquid, though maybe this was intentional.

Thanks, Grandma!

Week 1: Georgetown Cupcake (Washington, DC)
Week 3.2: Daddy Cakes (Topeka, KS)
Week 2: Bakeshop in Clarendon (Arlington, VA)
Week 3: Smallcakes (Overland Park, KS)

Elaine

Changing Allegiances at the Ballpark

Among other problems, one of the major ailments affecting many folks growing up in Kansas and probably the western half of Missouri is the designation of being a lifelong fan of the Kansas City Royals. To bear this cross is harder than most folks can imagine. It might not happen so much these days, because the team has failed to field a quality product for so many consecutive years with two exceptions (the strike-shortened season of 1994 when they headed into the strike with something like a 14 game winning streak and 2003 when they flirted with the post-season pretty late in the season).

But I came of age when George Brett was chasing .400, when the Royals got a lucky call and went on to win the World Series, when - as another fan and I reminisced at Nationals Stadium last night - you had to get in line early to get a $4 General Admission ticket because they would definitely sell out.

So I root for the Royals. In good weather and in bad weather. I just can't break the habit. I'm happy to have the Nats around as my NL team, but my heart lives in the AL (although admittedly, these days I watch very few games and couldn't tell you the names of the starting line-up). Last night, I got to root for the Royals from sweet seats that a friend gave me. Here are two tips I will give to baseball fans in the area. (1) Games start at 7:05, not 7:35. This handy fact is printed on the tickets, if you bother to look. I chose not to look, but instead hallucinated about a conversation I had with Ed where he told me the game started at 7:35. For those wondering, he was in his seat for the opening pitch. (2) The Nationals have not decided to start playing at RFK again, and the subway stop for the current Nationals Stadium is Navy Yard, not Potomac. (But should you take my circuitous route to the ballpark, your kids can ride on the subway for oh, I don't know, an extra half hour.) We had so much time together as we traveled to the game that we were able to go over that we were all Royals fans. Connor diplomatically decided that since Daddy liked the Nationals, he would be most happy if the Royals won, but it would be OK if the Nationals won. By the end of the game, he changed his tune. But I'll leave you in suspense guessing as to what it might be.

As you might guess, the night started off a bit behind schedule. When I arrived at the (correct) subway stop with the kids, rain was coming down harder than I have seen in a long time and the wind was blowing so much that even in the subway system, there were few dry spots. Moms with two kids and one cat in a stroller look pathetic though, so we secured one of those coveted dry spots without having to throw too many elbows. And believe me, nobody wants to throw elbows with Helen. She can really put the hurt on your knee!



Predictably, the storm disappeared as quickly as it came on and my crew then headed to the seats, where Ed was waiting for us. It was 8:30. Naturally, Ed wondered where we had been, and I had to explain we had two long delays for transfers, plus, when did they move the stadium? Sheesh. But, the game was only halfway done and had been halted by a rain delay (thank you, higher power, for sending that storm our way - without it, I might've missed the whole game!). We settled into our seats with plenty of time to wait for the Royals comeback.

Since I received the tickets free, I figured the kids could have whatever they wanted from the concession stand. Oh, who am I kidding? I would've given them whatever they wanted even if I'd paid an arm and a leg for the tickets because I appreciate those rare moments when both kids sit quietly observing their surroundings, be it the on-field play or the popcorn.



Connor isn't particularly fond of loud noises (though he does put up with Helen quite well) so he sought refuge from the noise by clamping his hands over his ears when his hands weren't occupied diving into the popcorn container. Helen though? She LOVED the ballpark. I'm not sure she even knew there was a game being played in front of her until Ed tried to inform her of the basics in the 8th inning. She fit right in, soaking up the entire environment. Her first question:

"Mommy, why did you just say dammit?"
"Because I'm a Royals fan."
"Oh, me too."

Next, a drink salesman came by singing:

"Ice cold beer, soda, lemonade"
Helen gleefully shouted "LEMONADE!" only the stadium was so loud (not actually loud for a baseball stadium, but loud compared to Helen's constant talking) that only the guy in front of us heard Helen's request, rather than the salesman. I'm sure Helen is still offended by the slight. I'm telling you though, if you have a child who talks nonstop, go immediately to the baseball game. They can talk their heads off and you will not even notice it that much.

Helen's next request to Ed was ice cream. This ice cream was a genius purchase, because she was so darn cute the camera guy came by and put her on TV, though apparently just the local channel since my parents didn't see her on their recorded version of the KC feed.

She ate her ice cream and waved.



Then she did a little jig.



Our old seats at RFK were frequented by the scoreboard camera so much that I don't think there was a game Connor attended where he didn't also appear on that scoreboard those first two years of his life. It's only fair that Helen sought TV fame when Connor went in search of french fries with Ed. As awesome as Ed is with the kids, he knew when he saw that enormous ice cream beginning to melt all over Helen that he better deliver her to me pronto before attempting additional snack procurement.

As the game continued, Helen decided she better start getting things ready for tomorrow. After all, it was a day game. She diligently wiped off all of the chairs in the row in front of us and a few in the row in front of that. She even enticed Connor to join her, despite the fact that he was enjoying the game from Ed's lap.





The 9th inning approached, and the Royals made a legitimate run at a comeback, ultimately falling short by one run. Ed kindly took the kids one aisle away so I could hope without distraction. I didn't ask him if he did this so the kids wouldn't be subject to the cursing that could possibly fly out of my mouth when the inevitable happened, and the Royals didn't win.

As we headed to the parking lot (yes, the free tickets came with a very good parking spot as well) I asked the kids how they felt about the Nationals winning. Helen was totally mad about it. That's why I love Helen. And for the record in sports, being completely irrational and stubborn is completely appropriate. It's why I'm still a Royals fan. Connor announced he didn't care who won and who lost. He was a Red Sox fan. I can't decide if that's better or worse than when he was a Yankees fan.

Elaine

Cupcake Battle Week 3: Smallcakes in Overland Park, KS

This week's cupcake tasting took us all the way to Overland Park, Kansas. I'd heard from my sister that Smallcakes put crack in their cupcakes, and I thought my team out to check it out. So, we flew across the country to do just that. Oh, and we also visited my family for the week.



The selection was fabulous, which means they had one that was pink and a bunch of other random flavors. The pink one came with either chocolate or vanilla cake, eliciting several "hoorays" from my youngest taster. And, because my oldest taster never wants to feel left out of anything that my youngest taster is loving, he chose pink frosting over a vanilla cupcake. It doesn't seem like Connor is keeping true to his goal of trying lots of flavors, but maybe he's going to breakout with something crazy at the next shop.



My sister and neices accompanied me on the trip. You can see my younger neice here, checking out the goods. She's been here before, and wasn't about to be tricked into something so boring as a vanilla, vanilla cupcake. She wanted something deluxe!



I chose "drumstick", my older neice chose "cookies and cream", I think that's what my younger neice chose, but I can't remember because I was so busy snapping photos of my sister who chose the world's messiest cupcake. It had some sort of gooey chocolate filling in it. All my life I have loved chocolate. I never thought of my sister as a chocolate lover--except for milk chocolate covered caramels. Then a few years ago she busted out with an incredibly decadent chocolate dessert at dinner and I was totally shocked and she informed me she did love chocolate. Only she likes the milk chocolate kind and I like the dark chocolate kind. That's how we roll on a lot of things. Similar, but not quite the same. My sister, by the way, can eat whatever she wants because about a week before this photo was taken, she biked across half the state of Kansas - about 200 miles.



My cupcake was sublime. There weren't very many nuts on top and I'm pretty sure the frosting has some lard in it. Which might be other people's thing, but it is not my thing. However, although I have never tested crack on my own, I do read stories about such people, and I didn't find myself running across the parking lot like a wild banshee, nor did my heart start racing, and I had no strange urge to commit any crimes. So, I'm going with my gut that there isn't actually crack in the cupcakes.

Although I was not terribly impressed by the shop, all five other people involved in the contest devoured their cupcakes, and the ratings were a nearly across the board two thumbs up. Helen is turning out to be a pretty harsh critic with another two thumbs down. That's the same rating she gave Clarendon's Bakeshop. A bit of a contrarian do we think? I'll give them 3.5 stars.



It occurred to me during this visit that this cupcake battle might have two side effects, one intended and one not inttended. The intended side effect is that Connor and Helen are having a ball, even though Helen claims by her rating to not enjoy these cupcakes at all. The unintended side effect is that I might need to buy a new wardrobe at the end of this summer. I'll count this photo below as my "before" photo, even though I'm three weeks into this already.



Wrap up (in rank order - and week order at this point, but that will surely change):

Week One: Georgetown Cupcake (Washington, DC)
Week Two: Bakeshop in Clarendon (Arlington, VA)
Week Three: Smallcakes in Overland Park, KS

Elaine

Fairy Wands

Every time I attend a Waldorf festival, I see all sorts of handmade toys that I want to purchase, but then almost always convince myself I should just make the toys myself at home. Well...I've made a few toys in the past, but not that many. At Connor's Spring Dance last year, my friend Carrie had made a bunch of fairy wands. I loved them, but at $18 a pop, I added them to my list of things I ought to make instead of purchase.

I stitched the top of the wands on the trip up to New York and at our camping trip. Predictably, progress on the wands halted when I needed the wooden dowel for the actual wand part of the project. Luckily, my mom is the kind of person who knows that it's best to do a task when the opportunity presents itself, rather than waiting for what might seem like a more convenient time later.

Last week, while my dad took Connor and Helen to story time, my mom took me to a fabric store. After consulting with a sales rep briefly, I realized we should just head to Crate and Barrel for supplies (I'll show this project when it's done), but along the way I had mentioned I needed some dowels. My mom told me we were close to Hobby Lobby so we could go get them right now. Of course, I told her there was no need for an extra trip, that I could just get the dowels when I was back in DC, knowing even as the words were leaving my mouth that I was probably looking at another week before the almost finished project would be completed. My mom drove the car right to the store, we went in, got the dowels, and now I have these!



Now, let's see what sort of magic Helen and Connor can perform with them!

Elaine

Elements of a Great Father's Day

First, have your wife and children travel one time zone away. Have them return Saturday night at 10:00 PM, and make sure no one slept on the airplane.

Enjoy seeing 8:00 pass on the clock on Sunday morning without the sounds of any children accompanying that passage of time.

Receive handmade gift from son.



Receive kiss from daughter (not photographed).



And then spend the day beating your yard back into submission, heading to the pool and realizing your two year old daughter honestly thinks she will be swimming independently at the end of her upcoming swim lessons and seeing your four year old son dive off the side of the pool, cooking dinner for your family, and finally sitting down around 10:30 to watch the Daily Show on DVR.

Not so relaxing, eh?

Happy Father's Day. I had planned to serve the leftover Mother's Day ice cream cake to Ed for desert, but he ate it last night before I could tell him my plans.

Elaine

Easy Come, Easy Go

My mom has been faithfully printing out and saving everything I've ever written on this blog and the blog's predecessor. She compiles these blog entries into scrapbooks that I have thumbed through more than once. When I take them out, Connor and Helen get a real hoot out of the photos. When my mom gave me the first installment, I admit, I was thinking "What are you doing this for? Do you think the Internet is going to disappear?". Well, um, here I am, eating crow.

No, the Internet is not disappearing, but my freelance writing gig over at SVMoms is. A few days ago, all of the writers in the group received an email indicating the sites were folding as of July 1. This includes DCMetromoms, the site for which I have posted just seven times, but in those seven posts, I have enjoyed thinking about parenting issues and issues about living in DC that were not specific to Connor and Helen. I was bummed by the news, because I felt like I was just hitting my stride.

At first, it was unclear whether the site would remain on the Internet or not, and writers were encouraged to move posts to their personal blogs. Now, it appears as if the site will remain up, but no comments will be allowed, nor will any new posts go up. I have just finished copying the posts over to this site. I have entered them in the days I posted them over at DCMetromoms. I have labeled them "DCMetromoms" and all of the titles begin with DCMM:. It's not an elegant solution, but I didn't want the posts to be subject to randomly disappearing some day.

Lucky for me, some of the fine women who have been writing over at DCMetromoms a lot longer than I have been are planning to launch something new. So...maybe my freelance writing career will be saved. I hope so. I was having fun.