Time Machine: October 26, 2008

Since I really only started this blog in earnest this summer I thought it might be fun to dig back into some of our older photos and post them. So here are a couple of photos from the end of October 2008. I remember the afternoon well. It was one of those great fall days where the sun is shinning and the air is crisp enough to turn your cheeks red but not too cold. Owen and I spent a good hour just raking the leaves in our little front yard into a pile, jumping into them, laughing hysterically, and then raking them up again. Jumping in leaves is one of those timeless activities of childhood. Kids every where in every time seem to love doing - and I think as adults we love reliving those childhood memories by doing it again with the kids we love. It is one of those experiences that fills up your senses - the fall air, the smell, sound and feel of the leaves - and so it is easy to be transported back. We have been so busy this fall with Ken and I working opposite schedules and then the addition of Zora that we really haven't had a chance to get out and play in the leaves yet. Hopefully we will before it is too late.

Braids and Personality to Spare

I braided Zora's hair for the very first time this weekend. It's actually the first time I braided any hair of any kind. Just 2 small braids but for someone as hair-challenged as me I think it was quite an accomplishment. Lucky for me she is just so darn cute no matter what I do to her hair!

And here is one more picture - not so much for the braids but because it just captures her personality so perfectly, I think. This girl has personality to spare.
It reminds me of the quote by Emile Zola "If you ask me what I came into this life to do, I will tell you: I came to live out loud." And so far I would say that is a pretty good motto for Zora - "I came to live out loud."

The LIVESTRONG Birthday Bike Extravaganza!

Well, it's been over a week since Owen's birthday and I finally have a chance to post some pictures from his party. In July when Owen was full-on bike-crazy and watching the Tour de France with Ken everyday he got an invitation to a friend's birthday party that said "Do you like cake? Do you like Ice-cream? Do you like costumes? Then come to Kieran's birhtday party!" Owen announced that his birthday invitation would say "Do you like riding bikes? Do you like watching Lance Armstrong? Then come to Owen's birthday party!" And he never wavered. So we had a Lance Armstrong/LIVESTRONG birthday bike extravaganza. The invitation wording was a little different than Owen's original design, but it a bike-filled birthday. The kids all brought their bikes and they made custom number plates for their bikes. And Owen and Ken designed a bike obstacle course for everyone to ride (the highlight of which was breaking through the finish tape at the end - really it could have been a straight line ride of 50 yds as long as they got to break the tape and I think they would have been thrilled). And Owen asked his friends to bring a contribution for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and so his party managed to raise at least $100 for LAF, which I think is pretty cool. Especially because Owen, and even some of his friends, really got into the idea and were talking about it and excited about it. Every year for his birthday we have picked a charity and asked friends to consider a donation to that charity instead of bringing gifts and have also let family know that they are welcome to donate to the charity as part or all of a gift to Owen. But this was the first year that Owen really helped in picking the charity and felt some connection to it, I think. And it was the first year it was tied into the theme of the party. And everyone got a yellow LIVESTRONG wrist band for coming to the party. Unfortunately Ken had to leave for work just before the party started so he missed the fun. And I was scrambling all over to try to get the food ready and keep things moving (yes, everything was highly organized as usual. Fortunately Owen is still at an age where most of the parents stay for the birthday parties and all of the parents' really helped out). But Owen loved it and I think everyone had a great time. So despite the fact that we planned and executed the whole thing in 5 days (I know - Owen told us in July he wanted a bike/Lance Armstrong party but we didn't start planning until 5 days before his birthday - we never learn), and despite the fact that I was so sick by the time the party was over that I had to call Ken to come home from work early, I think it was a great success!

Making the number plates

Some of the finished designs

Our front yard littered with bikes (it's usually our living room)

Blowing out the candles (except it was too windy so he had to pretend).

If I Could Save Time in a Bottle

Owen turned 5 this past Sunday (I'll post about his "Lance Armstrong Bike Extravaganza party soon, I hope). It's one of those birthdays that seems so big. 5 sounds so much older than 4 for some reason. In so many ways it seems impossible that he could be 5 already. I know it sounds cliche to comment on how fast they grow up, but they really do. I admit sometimes the minutes seem like hours and the days like an eternity but then suddenly he is 5 and the years seem like they were just days.

I remember people asking me when he turned 1 if I felt sad that he wasn't a baby anymore. And honestly, I didn't. I was so relieved that I had made it through the first year and that things finally seemed at least a little easier. But these days I find myself wanting to slow time down. To linger just a little longer in this time where he is big and little at the same time. He is learning so much about the world around him and how to make his way in it but he still is filled with innocence and wonder. He can do so much for himself now and is no doubt his own person but we are still the center of his universe and he still wants to be snuggled and held and hugged and kissed.

These days he is practicing writing his letters and numbers and wants to try to spell and read everything he sees. He is interested in all things science and nature and says he wants to protect animals when he grows up. And he has a sense of humor that is truly funny. Sure, he still tells knock-knock jokes that make no sense, but sometimes he says things that are meant to be, and really are, funny. For example: my Mom always sends birthday packages and she always writes on them "Do Not Open Until" with the date of the recipients birthday. When Owen's package came 4 days before his birthday it was like a kind of torture to see that package every day and not be able to open it. So on Saturday he says to me "I'm going to make a card for Grammy."
"Ok. That would be nice."
"You know what I'm going to write on it?" he asks with a big smile on his face.
"What?"
"Do not open until your birthday."
I laughed so hard. And he did it too.

Sunday night he told Ken "Now that I'm five, maybe I can go someplace far away all by myself."
"Oh yeah. Did you have someplace in mind?"
"Well, you know the woods behind our house? I was thinking I could go there and take my notebook and see if I find anything interesting there and write about it in my notebook."

I know I can't slow down time and even if I could, I wouldn't really want to. There is so much more for him to learn, explore, experience and become. What I really want is the presence of mind to enjoy this time, and all the times yet to be, while they are here. Sometimes I get so caught up and bogged down in getting through the day that I forget to appreciate this time. And then he says something or does something or he is just being and I take a minute to stop and soak it in. And when I do, I'm blown away by what a fun, cool, curious, intense person he is and I'm grateful that I'm here to watch him grow and become who he is. And so my biggest wish for his birthday is that he holds on to who he is as he grows up and goes farther out into the world and faces all the amazing beauty and ugliness it has to offer. And that I can give him the room to do that despite that place in my heart that wants to hold him close to me and protect him and have him stay this age forever.

Pancakes for dinner

We had blueberry pancakes for dinner last night. Breakfast for dinner is one of Owen's favorites. Almost anytime you ask him what he wants for dinner, he will say pancakes. The funny thing is, he doesn't ask for pancakes for breakfast much these days. Maybe because we are always having them for dinner. Well, once every couple of weeks anyway. What is it about having breakfast foods for dinner that seems like such a big treat? I remember having pancakes or french toast for dinner when I was a kid and it always seemed like you were getting away with something - almost like you were having desert for dinner. I'd say it has something to do with the syrup, but I didn't even like syrup when I was a kid! Maybe it is all the carbs on the plate and the lack of vegetables (but Owen really likes vegetables so I don't think that's it either). Maybe it is just the fun of doing something that seems to break the rules a bit. When you are a kid it seems like there are so many rules (and rules that don't seem to make sense or have any real purpose - why are pancakes a breakfast food and not a dinner food anyway?) and adults are always telling you why you can't do this or that, that doing anything that seems to fly in the face of these rules is exciting. But we do have pancakes (or sometimes french toast) for dinner every couple of weeks or so, so you would think the novelty might wear off. But it doesn't. Maybe it's just that pancakes are really good - especially with syrup!

Big brother

Owen woke up early this morning (shocking, I know) and because I wasn't ready to get out of bed yet, we were laying in bed while Owen kept trying to talk to me and I kept trying to go back to sleep. After about 20 or 30 minutes we heard Zora in the next room. Owen jumped up and ran into their room while I tried to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to get any more sleep. As I was pulling myself out of bed, I could hear Owen talking to Zora. "Good morning Zo. It's ok, your big brother is here." Zora is still fussing. "Do you want to read a book. Here I'll turn on the light. Look Zo, here let's read this book. Do you want your big brother to sit in your crib with you?" Zora is quiet now. "Sit down Zora, sit here and listen to the book. Sit down." And he starts reading. I snuck in with the camera to snap a picture but didn't quite get a good shot because Zora heard me and immediately started to stand up. What I really need was a video camera or some sort of tape recorder. It was so cute to listen to Owen comforting, talking to and reading to Zora. Of course minutes after we all got downstairs he was trying to knock her down as she reached for one of his toys. That's the paradox of a big brother, I guess. One minute they are comforting and protecting you and the next minute they are pushing you on the floor.

The Gales of November

I've realized that as a parent of young kids you get the chance to learn (or sometimes relearn) all kinds of fascinating facts and pieces of information as your kids develop interests in various things. For example, I can tell you alot about dinosaurs, trains and creatures of the ocean deep. And most recently I've become quite an expert on Great Lakes freighters and the Edmund Fitzgerald in particular. It started in early August when we are on vacation at my family's place on Lake Superior. The freighters pass by there and most of the young kids in our family take an interest in them at one time or another. He gets excited whenever a freighter goes by and has a well worn copy of Know Your Ships, which is like a field guide for Great Lakes Freighters. Owen has heard of the Edmund Fitzgerald before but one night when we were down at my aunt's cabin she broke out an old record player and some old records - yes actual records. One of the records was Gordon Lightfoot. We listened to "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and Owen was hooked. The next day I remembered my Dad had a copy of a children's book about the Edmund Fitzgerald (The Edmund Fitzgerald: Song of the Bell by Kathy-Jo Wargin) so I got it out and read it to Owen. When Owen takes an interest in something he doesn't mess around. He wants to read about it, talk about it, make-up stories about it, etc. all day and night. When we got home to Madison we checked the same book out of the library along with a documentary called the Mystery of the Edmund Fitzgerald. When we went back to the U.P. over Labor Day weekend we went to the Valley Camp, a retired freighter that was turned into a museum ship that now houses the 2 lifeboats recovered when the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. Owen was beside himself. Now here we are almost 2 months later and he watches this You Tube video about the Edmund Fitzgerald set to the Gordon Lightfoot song over and over and over and has his very own copy of the Edmund Fitzgerald book (thanks Grammy!). He can sit with the book and recite it word for word, which is no easy feat - it may be a picture book but it is long with lots of text. And if you've called our house lately (or skyped with us), you may have been lucky enough to hear Owen's rendition of the Gordon Lightfoot classic. And if you're really lucky, I might just sing along with him.

Owen standing by one of the Edmund Fitzgerald's lifeboats on our visit to the Valley Camp