Kansas, for a bit

Our trip to Kansas was quick and busy, providing me with very few pics to share. I was in a dear friend's wedding, leaving P with his Grams for one day and Grandpapa for another. (There were no tough and teary departures this trip! We typically won't leave P if he isn't interested in being left... but that is virtually All of the Time :) And since he couldn't really be an extra bridesmaid, we had to work this one out. So, after some serious heart to hearts ahead of time P was able to discuss his worries and figure out solutions. It was cool to behold.) In addition P was sick Twice while we were there, eating up a sizable amount of our trip.

But this busy-ness was accented with lots of outdoor play. P rode in his vehicles and on Gramps' ranger. We hiked in the woods, counting the Enormous snails and collecting branches and stumps to make the block set P has been wanting. He was Very Excited to use the big saw, but less than thrilled with the big volume. Armed with noise canceling headphones (thanks Uncle Cash!) he helped saw and scrub these sticks into beautiful stackers. He also made sure to keep Grams busy every moment of her day:) The night before we left he got to see Grandpapa again and Uncle Ian too (about whom he'd had a feverish dream the night before). As Ian and P played, P asked him "do you want to come back with us and have a sleep over?" He just luuuuvs his family:) :)

The color on the below video is a bit funky. P just adores the video option and buttons often get pressed :)

Zoo games with the Kid

P's imagination has been explosive lately. Where once he depended on E and I to string out the stories, we are now minor characters tapped for plot progression. Mere (though constantly required) back-up.

One morning he was the zoo keeper, capturing the wild lion. Danda liked this less than P did :) Eventually, Baby Brother and a dragon were also caged, together, much to BB's dismay and P's joy. There were various scenarios that had to be enacted, tickets sold, lions fed, all while P fed me BB's script for each and every possible plot. "I want Baby Brother to think that the dragon is going to get its own cage, but its not..." "I want Baby Brother to be scared that he's loose in the zoo and the lion has escaped its cage and the dragon is flying over him and he thinks the dragon will shoot fire at him but it doesn't it picks him up on his back instead and whooshes him out of the zoo. Ok? Go."

And on those rare and beautiful occasions that bring about a BB break, P builds a zoo for his elephant, who nurses the baby car and then they both receive presents (the orange blocks) from zookeeper Phoenix. Here he provides me with the dialogue for the monster car and is both elephant and zookeeper himself....

This stage has been the most fabulous yet, as a parent. I love recording his life here, but I hope I remember all of the stuff that is unrecordable. The little looks and mispronounced words and occasional moments of quiet concentration. Watching him grow is the most amazing thing Ever and he's really Truly left babydom behind now. I'm queen of nicknames, I love nothing more than a name picked especially for a friend and from this natural bent many, many lovenames have evolved for P. One of them is "baby." As we picked up sticks in the woods in Kansas I must have uttered this fondness at him and he looked me squarely and asked "Why do you call me baby?" Umm, its just a nickname, cuz you're my baby, not like gaga-googoo, just, um, ya know, my offspring. (Well handled as always I must admit.) P dismissed me by saying, "I'm not a baby. Don't call me that anymore. Call me "kid." And thus, a new nickname is born...

Fever

Play therapy would be the most apt name for what has been going on in our house the past few weeks. After P fell ill to a fever a few weeks ago, he caught another one in Kansas and had to travel back to NY with it. That time it was 106 for five days and he was miserable. When he finally felt like moving around his monsters were allll sick. He lined them all up on the couch and took each of their temperatures. Then he told them they all needed vitamins. He popped pills and pushed the thermometer around in infinite variations of this plot for Days. One evening over dinner we overheard him telling Baby Brother that BB had yet Another fever. Then he explained to BB that he needed to take some "low glycemic and vitamins." Heehee. E recently found out he has hypoglycemia, so there has been a Lot of chatter about food choices for Papa (initially ending in worried "he gonna Die if he eats that?" questions). Apparently, the little man has been listening to us blabber even more than we realized...

Another result of the recent viruses: a new germaphobe has been born. P became anxious if his hands touched Anything. He'd been heading that direction for a few months, but with the onset of the first fever he went into fist-clenched overdrive. It was pretty comical to watch him try to clamber atop the couch just using his elbows. It was not comical that this was his new reason to Not leave the house. No, Mama, there are Germs out there. A year ago we stood at the opposite end of this mental teeter totter and, in retrospect, I have to say I much preferred it:) He would return from the sandpit with Filthy hands and then happily shove dinner into his mouth with said dirt-magnets. E and I continued to wash our hands, buy new soaps and offer assistance amidst P's distinct disdain for cleanliness. After he fell ill a few times we reminded him his chances might improve if he washed when he returned home. Then this spring we were sick over and over again. We being plural here. I informed P that I was fairly tired of being ill, playing while sick (he was always better by the time I came down with the stuff and ready to play again just as my fever spiked) was not very enjoyable for me. What? Mama not play? I didn't mean it as a threat, just an expression of my needs, but however he took it, he took it Seriously. If I get mama sick and she won't play.... d'oh! I'm gonna wash my hands.

And so it began. Regular requests for antibac. Frequent questions about various object's levels of cleanliness. "Can I touch it? Can I put my hands in my mouth then?" After the recent fevers it got down right crazy. "Mama! My hands touched my shirt!" Or my personal favorite, asked after the cat walked Past Phoenix, a good 12 inches away, "Mama! Did you see my hands accidentally touch Danda's tooshie? Did I get her germs? I wanna wash my hands..."

And so it has gone. For Days now. Our repeated explanations that our house is Clean, everything in it, sweatpants, tabletop, couch surface and all, is clean, did nothing. We mopped. We washed toilets daily. We are Clean. But its become an Anxiety of sorts and reason hasn't been helping. We've had fabulous chats about germs and how important they are. That little bits of germs make us stronger, our body builds keys to keep large loads out from the little bits that we pick up (from couches sweatpants and tabletops...) Nevertheless, our hands are flaky from all of the sudsing and my mouth is tired from all of the reassurances. In addition to seeing Ethan's stoic side come forth in the child I'm now seeing his tendency to go to the extremes too...

So yesterday the circus came to town (a whole 'nuther post in itself:) We were psyched to go. Then, at the last minute P wanted to bail. What if he caught, queue the ominous music, a Germ. I smiled and said that living in fear of a little virus, or even a really big virus like the last one he caught, didn't seem like a life of Joy to me. That I would rather lick the sidewalk than stay in our germfree bubble. And so that's what we did. He walked me downstairs and watched with amazement while I licked a New York City sidewalk. I could think of nothing more disgusting. When I peaked up from smooching the concrete P was grinning. Hugely, grinning. And then he bent down and licked it too. This, I had to look away from :) But when he looked back up we did a little happy dance to be alive and well and headed off to the circus... me praying that we didn't just contract the worst imaginable and him happy to be a carefree kid again.

Flour Face and the Coop

P finally found the bulk flour at the co-op :) He loves the feel of flour so much that I found him lying down in it. This day's play got a little more messy than I prefer... (Why let a child play in flour, you may ask? Its one of the few activities he enjoys independently, making almost any amount of mess Worth It :)

Speaking of the coop, that's been something new in P's life. If you're really curious you can check it out: . Its pretty great. The produce is 24 hours fresh and mostly local, the walk is do-able, even with a loaded down cart and a three year old, and it has all of our "crazy" vegetarian foods :) But since its a shopper owned coop, the shoppers are also the workers. This creates a nice little community, for those who are, um, community minded. At three, P is still pretty P minded, so it has been an interesting exercise in commitment for us both.

As has shopping in small spaces. He was still in the sling when we last shopped at a coop (in Lawrence). When we moved here we had our groceries delivered and P never stepped into stores (places lined with foods he was allergic to or that we'd rather not purchase (which also saved me schlepping it up three flights of stairs myself :)) But the food options through delivery didn't align very well with our environmental stances, so we finally made the switch to the coop. And it is soooo different than food shopping in Kansas. Wide aisles and big carts? Nuh-uh. Top off the close corridors with novice workers shelving foods from enormous carts and forgettaboutit. Its become my little weekly exercise in Zen. Can I focus on the list while pretending to be Baby Brother from half an aisle away (cuz the cart usually doesn't fit where I need to be) while simultaneously making sure the tot parked by the appealing foods doesn't shove it all in the cart And still stay calm? Generally, no, I can't. But it gives a girl a goal.

Luckily, all of the candies and such are food coloring free and P can pick to his heart's content. Even better, the produce aisles are a gardener's nirvana with locally grown purple carrots and fancy eggplants, yellow tomatoes and on and on. P goes crazy with excitement here. We come home with newfangled somethings every week and then experiment in the kitchen. ("Mama, is it called a yuca cuz it tastes yucky?" nicely leads to Cubin inspired garlic yuca for dinner.)

Then there is our work shift. P and I do both E's and mine, amounting to every other week. Its about three hours of childcare in a beautiful room full of toys and books. Oh, and Other Kids. The Only downside for P :) So far, boys have Significantly outweighed girls during our shifts and a trend is appearing. The boys build things or drive cars or chase each other muttering playfully aggressive grunts. The girls sit quietly and rock in the little rocking chair. P generally ignores them all. Except for once when an older kid came in and he and P built an enormous structure together.

But all the extra effort appears worth it. P's become intricately involved in menu planning and food choices, spurring all sorts of learning. We're producing a lot less trash. And the community part is already starting to shine through too. P is seeing even more familiar faces while he's out, either shopping or working. This week as a "walker" followed us home (she returns the cart to the store) she asked about homeschooling. And, of course, her first worry for my kid was his socialization. "Well," I told her, "if he were in school he couldn't be chatting away with you right now..." Cuz after all, she wasn't three years old and P was therefore Totally into her :)

There's really nothing special about the below video. Other than he is playing By Himself :)

Uncle Seth and Aunt Alicia

We joined Seth and Alicia in Central Park before we headed back to Kansas. It never ceases to amaze me how much Fun P has with them and how Fun they really are! They chased and scampered and hid with him while he squealed with Joy. Still in the midsts of Peter Pan-demonium, P flew off of the castle into Ethan's arms over and over. Always up for fun, Seth rocketed off the rocks too (minus E's open arms :) They even ventured into the wet moat of the castle with the kid - now that's true devotion. And P knows it too. He feels the love so much that he can barely control himself, making things entirely more challenging for Seth (who went home with a chunk missing from his neck due to a Very Excited Phoenix) and Alicia :)

Not Back to School Picnic

Ok. I know the only thing that keeps many readers coming back are the funny videos or pics of P doing something heinous and hilarious, so I hate to post without squat here :) But lately I'm really enjoying being In the moment, rather than Viewing the moment through a lens. So, I apologize for the photo free post, more to come soon...


Once again, homeschoolers are kept in the loop of "normal social activites" by fabulous organizations run by fabulously organized parents. Parents whom I piggyback off the hard work of... by merely showing up at the NYCHEA "Not Back to School Picnic" empty handed... Were my child more socially dependable and myself less of a commitment-phobe this situation would be greatly improved. But until either of those two personality quirks transform themselves, our next "school year" will be surrounded by frequent "thank you's" to other magnificent mamas who set up wonderful get-togethers...

As P can now sit still on a sub, we schlepped to 110th street to the northern most part of Central Park for the NYC picnic this year. (Last year we limited ourselves to the nearby Brooklyn affair.) We were accompanied by our fun friends R and N, also unschoolers, who just happen to live 5 blocks away. (Yup, we're a more common type of freak than you'd think!) P would interact with Noah, a few years his senior, but wouldn't give the adorable Rachel (three) the time of day. Ahhh...

I was thrilled to see the area, the third most elevated spot in the city, rock strewn and gorgeously green. P had just received his new bike (re-read recent comment concerning lacking photo/video and adjoining apology...) and was certainly Not going to leave it behind, despite the enormous trek. But the hill proved a little too steep for upward or downward riding. However, it had wonderful woods that just begged to be explored. So while gazillions of other homeschoolers played pirate, capture the flag and picnicked together, P and I wandered off into the woods with... his bike.

But he was soooo happy. Never mind the fact that this was one of those grand "socializing" opportunities, the ones he seems to despise (had it been a park full of adults I think he would have happily set up, center stage.) Cavorting over fallen logs and under the green canopy, he called out directions, accented with "sir!" His adventurous path wound uphill and eventually went in endless circles that he didn't seem to see:) My eventual dehydration finally convinced him to return to our picnic space, surrounded by a plethora of his fabulous friends. When he plopped down and leaned against me he was Hot. But not in a sweaty, dehydrated way. I asked him if he felt sick? Nope. He felt fine. He wanted to explore some more. So off we went again, leaving the friends behind. This time we found a steep decline, lined with mica. He's been hoping for a mica mine since our Colorado trip and his half-hearted exaltations at such a find had me reaching for his forehead again. His increasingly Warm forehead.

He insisted we shimmy down the path and forage for treasure. Two nice boys, about 9 years old, sweetly explained the mining system. It was intricately drawn, with certain rocks used as money, fantastical names denoting the sections of land claimed by various other kids. P listened intently, asking questions, and then he accepted a mining position beside one of the lads. Had they been older, they would have registered the wry grin on my face. P will dependably play with Anyone at least 3 years his elder. Give him a peer and he'd generally rather ignore their existence...

So we mined and chatted. P seemed quieter and quieter and his head, hotter and hotter. There was now no questioning he had a fever and I so informed him, strongly suggesting we head home with our treasure.

He agreed and immediately dropped the tough guy routine. He went from stoic adventurer to carry-me-pathetic in a heartbeat. As we topped the hill he announced he felt like puking. Great. Only 22 sub stops and we'd be right home :)

We made it home without incident (cuz you Know how much you hate to get on a sub that someone has had an Incident on:) and checked his 104 fever. He was such a trooper getting home too. If someone had schlepped me all the way from uptown with a high fever there would probably be an Incident ;) He must get this personality trait from his father, the stoic, as we have never actively encouraged false fortitude. "Buck up" and "Be tough" are as likely to come out of our mouths as "Eat your steak." And while it would have been completely valid for him to bitch and moan his miserable way home, it was certainly easier for Me that he silently listened to the lame 45 minute tale I wound all the way home.

So, moral of our back to school party this year: You can lead a homeschooler to a social event, but you can't Make him socialize :) After all, woods Are pretty peaceful...

Painting Fever

The week after Koons and before our recent 'ta town trip was a painting extravaganza. How serious am I? Well, I'm ordering new paint and just purchased new paper and glitter.... P painted Every day for a week sometimes twice a day, moving through various techniques and color combinations. By the end of the week he was painting entire stories through movement and very, very vague shapes. Were you to look at his "Family climbs a snowy mountain" you would most definitely Not see a family climbing a mountain. But as he painted it he described what each mark and squiggle was, and darn it if I couldn't follow exactly what he was doing. Oh! Yes! That is a cat, now that you mention it, sir...

(Speaking of sir, that is one of P's favorites lately. When adventuring or pirating he often says, in a deeper, more "manly" voice, "This way sir. Over yonder sir. Just ahead sir. Batten the hatches sir. Water, sir.")

Here's a pic of P's great mountain expedition:



That trip to Colorado Really inspired him (but, no thanks, he doesn't want to move there.) The vibrant blue squiggles are the people. Specifically, Mama, Papa, P, Baby Brother, Grams, Gramps and Danda. Then we all started up the mountain. Papa makes it to the top (the lovely blue blob at the top of the green path on the purple mountain:) Baby Brother makes it all the way up too, he eventually became a streaky blue falling blob because, alas, he fell off the mountain.

This photo shows P's painting of an elephant (left side of the picture, in case it isn't obvious to you :) . I'm ridiculously partial, but I think its the mosts lovely elephant I've ever seen with its chatty line mouth, elongated tail and bulbous ear :)


This painting had a wonderful story behind it about a grumpy whale (the bottom oval with the eye in the middle and the large squiggly body behind. But I'm afraid that my vacation from blogging has resulted in forgotten facts... But I do remember enjoying a very tall tale with this one :)



And then, of course, there were the times that paint was lovely, in and of itself: