Pumpkin Carving

P has been in Halloween mode for a month now. Storefront decorations truly thrill him, and he's old enough this year to try to emulate these inspirational wonders at home. As our closet will only hold our, um, clothes, storing seasonal decor doesn't really factor into my homemaking job description. So P took things into his own hands. His wish for a spiderweb (see Iron Fairies) finally came true and he added it to his already decorated castle. Yes, that's right. He'd already finagled decor from his toy drawers and hung them with "S" hooks about the house:) Add to this the small squash and indian corn he chooses at our Monday co-op runs (and the leaves and nuts from the woods) and the kid has a full on fall decor thing going on here.

This week he found medium sized pumpkins at the co-op. (There were also Ginormous ones, I mean Crazy Big, but there was No way to get those babies home, or up four flights of stairs!) So he planned the remainder of our afternoon, we would carve scary pumpkins, preferably producing something with sharp teeth.

Unfortunately, last year's pumpkin carving problems haven't changed too much in the last year. P finds the smell of pumpkins noxious and the slimy insides disgusting :) So he excitedly made faces and directed the look of each pumpkin and then stood back, gagging, while I cut and scooped.

He did cut the teeth himself and also took the below pictures of the lit jack-o-lanterns. One is designated, by P, for the stoop (he reeeally wants to hand out candy at our house) and one for our table. He wishes they could stay lit 24-7, but after burning through a set of candles in one evening, is maturely limiting burning time to dark dinners :) I Love the zoomed in pic he took!

Abby and Bookgroup

Well, P finally bailed on acrobatics last week. I knew we were heading that direction, I had just hoped we'd leave town before he was actually done with it altogether:) So after a leisurely morning we headed to Benny's building for bookclub. We'd made a map of the world to play "pin the apple on the continent," and P carefully held it as we scooted.

After the book, the kids were ready to play, so we skipped the activity and watched them run wild in the corridors. As is the trend of late, P really wanted to play with his friends, not just play in his own little world. And so he tried to interact. But its so new to him. Most adults ask him questions or listen to his stories... or chase him and tickle him and growl and chase him some more. So, since no one was interested in his stories he took to chasing. And when the kids didnt' enjoy the tackling/tickling routine he took to... sticking his tongue in their faces. I have no idea where this came from, but it got a rise out of his companions each time, and so he continued!

So we had a little chat. That playing with friends isn't like playing with Froggy or Papa or Grandpapa or BB. I gave a few suggestions, he nodded his head and ran off. And Whalah! He really played With them. When a game slowed he'd suggest they chase one another. This usually worked. As the afternoon wore on, and P's energy reserves proved more resilient than his pals, the chase suggestion started to fail. And the tongue returned. So we chatted a little more about following his friend's lead if he wasn't sure what to play but wanted to play. A tough concept for a 3 year old, or at least this three year old, to be sure. But he must have really wanted to get along with his pals because he did it! And so the four kids spent the afternoon romping together, scheming about the little girl that lived down the hall (how could they get her to play with them?) and snacking.

We departed at the same time as Abby and the two skipped down the sidewalk holding hands. He also took turns with her on my scooter, each quipping "your turn!" every few seconds. He Adores this girl and they get along so well. I don't think the "girl" part of it features into his thinking quite yet per se, just that she's a bit older and good at expressing herself. Taking the testosterone laden push out of the equation doesn't seem to hurt either :)

API-NYC Halloween Party

Last Wednesday's Quest found us forging the trail to our first NYC API meeting.  I've been active with the group online for two years, but its never been P's bag, until it linked in his brain with a book we'd read about Halloween parties:)  

We trekked over with Yoav and his mama, reading said book en route.  P was So excited, but was immediately overwhelmed when we walked into the room.  And trust me, it was as low key as possible.  But there were a lot of new faces and he wasn't sure what the expectations were, so he stuck to my side and drug BB along for the nervous ride.  

The plate of brownies certainly helped his comfort level and he came out of his shell when he saw a little witch with orange hair, whispering loudly "mama!!  Look!  What's that?"  But he knew Exactly what she was and couldn't stop the smile from spreading.  

I asked if he wanted to leave, but he was determined to stay for a bit, however painful it seemed.  Then entertainment entered the stage and there was some song singing, alphabet making and bubble blowing.

 P always seems defensive when grown ups get up in front of him and tell him to clap his hands or sing this or that.  He plants the most determined little fists possible deep down into his lap and sits motionless.  Yet, he wanted to stay :)

Finally he fessed to only being interested in the goody bags given before departure (like in his book) so we took ours and headed out.  He was exquisitely pleased with the whole ordeal, despite how it seemed to me :)

New York Times

Benny's mum has written a great debut novel, "The Professor's Wives Club" (go buy it now!!) and Babble articles and interviews have followed. Smelling the scent of someone interesting, our Tuesday playgroop was featured in the Times a few weeks ago as it pertained to this amazing mum. The journalist interviewed a few of us moms while the kids played inside a fenced playground with Jo. While I said nothing interesting during the interview (and was duly cut from the story:), the little boy who masterminded the escape plan at the end of the article is, you guessed it, Phoenix. Check it out if you're interested - there's a great pic of the twins and their mom in the backyard we frequent and Benny and his mum: Article link

Sleepy Hollow

Each October finds us trekking through Tarrytown to the Sleepy Hollow cemetery. Graves are nestled on rolling hills that curve down to a river, complete with waterfall and wooden bridge. When we hiked in North Carolina at the Unschooling conference, P loved it. Ditto Colorado. Ditto the woods on my folk's farm. But he was so little last October that we weren't sure how much he'd love it this time around. Well, he loved it a LOT.

Added to the excitement of a day of splashing around fallen leaves were Uncle Seth and Aunt Alicia. They took the train north with us, during which time Phoenix didn't notice his parent's existence. He sat in the row behind us chatting with Aunt Alicia the whole time (gawd bless her:)

We've explored the same areas of the cemetery on our previous visits, so this time we followed the little road further back. We eventually found a lovely little waterfall with the necessary boulders for the water, and small boys, to bounce over. P was determined to cross the river WithOut the wooden bridge. He schemed and planned, searching the banks for jumpable spaces. But the middle was barren of big boulders. Undeterred he pulled me out onto the rocks, pointing out our impossible path. Seth, our saviour, had foreseen the dilemma, gone to the other bank and started rock hopping towards us. We found the closest rocks possible and passed P over. The victory gave him a heady dose of self assurance, propelling him precariously from rock to rock. At first E tried to keep a hand on P, but this proved impossible with him cackling and jumping out of reach. He was deliriously happy hopping over watery spaces, feeling like he was doing something unbelievably dangerous:)







After a final forge (following Papa and Seth's amazing waterfall leap) we wound our way uphill amidst the tombs.

We didn't make it very far. P became engrossed with little seed pods on the ground and, true to his nature, collected a zillion of them. (Have I mentioned his pack rat, coin collector side? Its fairly strong :) We chilled under some short trees that proved perfect for climbing. P has really been into tree climbing for a while now, but most trees in the park are trimmed quite high, ending the adventure before it begins. This was a whole grove of P sized trees and he climbed and climbed and climbed. Then he found a bouncy branch and jiggled it, giddy with his apparent strength. It was a short mental leap to torture, once again. He requested Baby Brother be placed on said branch and then jostled him out over and over with no end in sight to the activity:) But the last time we visited Sleepy Hollow, we didn't mind the closing time and had to climb a fence to get out of the place. So we were sure to leave on time, the memory of being locked in the only thing motivating P to leave his tree....

Season's change

For skipping school, our week has grown surprisingly busy :) So by Friday, we're ready to chill and stay close to home. In the past, P would enter hermit mode after so much interaction, but these days he retreats less and less. Occasionally, we join the homeschoolers meet-up in the park but usually I plan an uneventful day with a ride in the trees providing our biggest climax. But then Yoav's Mama suggested we meet briefly to return some items to one another and P loved the idea of seeing them. This is the kid who would be overwhelmed with one playdate a week just last summer :)

As trade time neared it no longer worked for our friends, their out of town guest had arrived. I was shocked when P was thoroughly disappointed (he's always seemed more relieved than anything else when an outing is cancelled, unless the outing is with Uncle Seth :) I walked into the bathroom as I validated his feelings. As he bemoaned the turn of events I offered up myself. "I'm still here to play with you and we can still bike in the park if you'd like" I called out. Me, always the ultimate trump card, at least he still had that. I was glad I was in the next room when he bellowed back, "Noooo, Frieeeeeends!!!"

Honestly, my jaw could have been cracked on the cold tile floor right then. The only thing that saved it was the simultaneous smile. It was the strangest mix of emotions. Joy that he was forming attachments outside of myself and just a twist of sadness that his focus would only continue to shift (its just a hop, skip and jump until he lives half way across the country, never calling, never writing, just like his fabulous father does to his parents:) The day I'd been waiting for was finally here, wax and waning of this growth aside, we had just hit a major milestone.

Setting out on our bike and scooter with BB (for his friend) under the autumn leaves, my attention to him was more keen, my enjoyment of him a little more sharp that afternoon. It really hit me, these days are numbered...

BBB's Dream House

After Quest Wednesday we have Thursday Acrobatics and Bookclub. P has been Loving acrobatics... until this week. The first two weeks he asked almost every day when we could go again. That gradually changed into excited exits Thursday mornings to eventually slower and slower exits. Last week he told me he wouldn't do what Allison tells him to do :) I told him fun was all we were after and if something wasn't fun he could just sit beside me until she gave fun instructions. He was satiated with this approach and mildly excited that the trapeze might be used again, so off we zoomed...

Its a bit of a hike, so we scoot to save time. Riding together on my scooter has opened up the city to us. P can't stand long journeys (outside of the woods, that is) and until the scooter entered our lives our traveling radius was fairly contained. Now, we just go :)

But as we turned down 6th street I knew there was trouble. I saw a colossal, colorful box sitting by the curb, the neighborhood approach to excess baggage in our tiny homes "SSSSStop!!!" Yelled P. And we have a deal that stop means stop, regardless of who says it, so I stopped.

And there it stood. A ginormous antique doll house. P informed me that he'd been asking the Universe for just such an object (true, I'd heard his requests) and here it was, looking for a new home. Leaves were roosting in the back and the second floor was trying to join the first but the windows had real movable, metal shutters and the staircase was handmade. P knows of my weakness for all things old and unloved (and free). And so we lugged it back to the house with an agreement that it would wait until after acrobatics and scooted down the block again....

I assumed Bookclub would be out in favor of the doll house, but P surprised me after acrobatics, jumping right onto the sub with one of his class buddies and happily bouncing to read books.

It was our first bookclub, something that has evolved out of Tuesday Playgroop. We read a book, see if the kids want to chat about the book at all and then do some fun activity. Then we all head to the playground to play. The kids were pretty riveted to Mike Mulligan's tale and enjoyed pasting squares and squashing markers around. At the playground, P ran with the kids this time. Usually, he grabs my hand and pulls me around. Or at least requires Lots of interaction. This time, he was really With his friends. And a cute little girl in a red toy coupe that P fancied. The car, not the girl. Or so I think :)

P enjoys a trike ride at the park:


When we got home we cleaned and fixed the house. And then he presented BBB with his New Home. Wanting furniture for BBB ("he needs a bed, Mama") he crafted seats and lounges out of his blocks. The front door would require a new hinge, so he put blocks there too and then hooked his marble-run bell to the front post for a doorbell. But something was still missing at BBB's new chateau. And so P began to build and build. Then, with gusto, he announced, "Baby Brother! Your new sculpture garden!"

Out came more blocks for a fence and external stairs. Then the mowers for upkeep around the property. And lo and behold! BBB fit in the mower. Oh ecstasy of all ecstasies! And so he mowed his own lawn and then was run over by another mower... It was Almost like a Barbie dream house moment.... :)

Watch P with BBB and view the sculpture garden and furnished house below :)

Coney Island

Our "field trip" last week was the beach with friends. (It seems silly to say "field trip" since we're class-free and out in the "field" most days :) but P likes the rhythm of designating one day for extra special expeditions... thus Field Trip Wednesdays. Aka, Quest Day).

We rode in style in the twins' car with toys and a kite in tow. The day was spectacular and the beach empty (homeschooling perk:). Still dreaming of a flying BB, P brought along BBB to tie to the kite's tail. A shark kite to boot - so that "BB would be scared right out of his monster suit." :)

But P was torn between the ecstasy of torture and the woe of worry. He wanted Baby Brother to be scared; scared of the sharky kite, scared of the immense height, scared of plummeting into the ocean, . But he was also worried about BB actually plummeting, being eaten by a real shark:) And so he very seriously watched Bitty Baby Brother lift off, squealed with delight, and then became very serious again. He wasn't alone in his worry either. Nini called out to the "little monster" asking him about the wind, if he was comfortable or possibly scared :)







All of the kids looked on for a while and then wandered off, except for the dedicated Nini. P eventually let her hold the kite string, briefly, instructing her to hold it Tight :) Then they said BB wanted down and the adventure was over...

We passed the rest of the afternoon frolicking in the surf and digging in the sand.





Oh, and combing the beach for anything recently expired. P was elated to find whole clams and crabs, pinchers and eyeballs and all. He really wanted to bring the whole specimens home, but remembering the stench after our last attempt to preserve jelly fish (can you spell STINK? Oh and combined with P's nose, whew!), agreed to leave anything with meat in it at the beach.

So we packed up and drove around the coast, past the beautiful Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the Statue of Liberty to a little mexican restaurant Leslie recommended. And ahhhhh! Happiness for a midwesterner! The food was phenomenal and I've noted the sub stop for future visits...

P was exhausted by the time the twins dropped us home. But remembering the jelly fish debacle, we boiled his treasure in hopes of a reprieve from the fishy smell the next morning. Finding the house too stinky, P entered problem solver mode. He suggested we freeze the shells overnight, that perhaps that would kill the smell :) He then went to bed, happily clutching his glorious green ocean glass treasure and dreaming of flying with BBB...

The Kipper Contraption

Almost everything lights a fire for Phoenix lately. Sometimes I find myself warily approaching a new book, wondering what impracticable enterprise (and mess) it will engender... And yet we read something new every day :)

And so it went a few days ago, as we read a recent library acquisition. In it, Kipper makes a contraption for his hamster who then rolls through to riotous laughter in our house. After two reads, P threw the book and his breakfast aside and tore into the playroom. He was determined to unravel each toilet paper roll in our house to achieve a comparable cardboard tunnel for a Baby Brother contraption. He then upended his drawers, tossing out object and calling out their new purpose in life. The machine grew and grew in his mind, with mini-BB swooping and falling and banging and rolling until he ended with a flourished fly into P's outstretched hands.

P, testing out the tunnel with BBB (that's baby Baby Brother) inside:


As he finished his toy tossing and his thingamabob description, he turned to me and said "Ok Mama? That's how it works. Now, build it!"

Structure has never been my strongsuit. A serious shortcoming in a sculptor :) And making a felt monster doll twirl around a rope into a jar that then sproings him out with bouncy cotton balls, well, I was pretty speechless. So while my mouth caught flies and my brain attempted to find the right wording that didn't include the words "that's impossible," P had a sudden salvational brainstorm.

"Let's use my beans to make the dirt and the mountains for my train tracks and build a forest from my blocks and have Baby Brother drive through it all!"

I could have gotten whiplash. This is the kid that Does Not switch gears quickly and will hold onto a preference or plan for forever. And he just gave me a get out of jail free card :)

So we shoved the contraption's contraband to the side and dumped beans and built forests.


Then Phoenix rubberbanded his tiny Baby Brother into one of his trains and took him through the mountains. When he wanted to use a different train, one that had no seat for a tiny rubberbanded monster, invisible BB filled in perfectly.



Then, as Hurricane Phoenix hit the forests and destroyed the train tracks just in time for lunch, P grabbed full size Baby Brother and bounced him over to the dinner table. I'm thinking we should call the kid Gepetto, he would so love his monster to become Real.

Violin Virtuoso (aka The Wannabe)

P became quite keen on learning to play the violin a few months ago. It seemingly just came to him one morning. So when the the Ast twins pulled out their little violins and performed for their papa's birthday last weekend, P was beside himself. Impressed with them, but even more impressed with the idea of getting his grubby little hands on those pretty instruments...

They sweetly obliged and Uncle Seth even helped make a song out of it while P happily bowed. Then Aunt Alicia gave a go at it. You can see the twins beaming at her attempt. They are, quite simply, amazing little girls...

As the evening wound down, P and Alya hunkered down over a game of cards. She was patient and helpful, he was interested and earnest. Its the exact age gap that Naomi Aldort recommends and it is definitely the one that always brings out the best in P. I think any age gap would probably bring out the best in those twins though:)

Silly Stew

We have a favorite roasted vegetable soup recipe in our house. It usually finds P consuming large amounts of kale, carrots and such, so I try to make it regularly. But it takes eons. There's all of the chopping, then the roasting, and the boiling and the simmering and 5 hours later, all of the eating. So I only make it when P's peppy and in the mood to help chop.

This time he had fun making veggie people to wile away the hours :) The first was flat (squash base, brussel sprout ears etc) and the schnoz tended to squiggle. For the second, we wised up. We used his new fave, sunflower seed butter (YES!!! Finally! A fair go at nut butter, without the rage filled side effects from actual nuts!) to attach his decorations. He went wild with cigars and baseball caps. You name it, carrot guy got it...

Dragonflies on Friday

After a long playdate with an overly tired Malek and an overly grabby Phoenix, we landed in the park, alongside hundreds of dragonflies. From afar, they were just a haze of movement. Birds? Bats? Up close they were just beautiful, despite the shoddy pictures. P and I plopped down in the grass below them and watched in amazement. I swear, every time we leave the house there are bountiful biology lessons to be had. He asks millions of questions and forms hypotheses for each answer I lack. Later, we google and revise, or not, if he's really attached to his fabulous fantasy :)

Eventually we saw a homeschooling kid from acrobatics class wander past. He and his mom stopped to chat and snack. The kid was grabby with P's stuff and I figured P'd had about enough "sharing" for the day, so I quietly offered a bike ride down the hill. Nope, he wanted to stay! His acceptance of peers is growing....

After they left we lay in the grass and I rang my dad for his birthday. P snapped his bike helmet on BB and entertained himself by checking the solidity of said helmet. For my entire phone call he slammed Baby Brother's head into the dirt, chuckling.

The Iron Fairies

Speaking of Pippi and Princesses... P doesn't really fit neatly into our culture's lame "boy" category either. As much as I joke about the innate differences I notice at playgroup between the boys and girls, boxes really are only for consumerist swag :) Unlike me, P adores pink and princesses and often points out dresses he'd enjoy. At the same time, his greatest love is anything with wheels, add a scoop or claw and he's in construction nirvana. Urgh. That sounds like such a cliche'. He likes trucks and pink :)

I've gotta admit, blogging about him often feels like box building. Wordy walls that fabricate the internet idea of Phoenix. But its an impossible and inaccurate task because its just little snippets from the week that describe an ever changing kid. Like the subject of sleep. Had I allowed myself to wallow (online, that is, I wallowed everywhere else:) last year, describing the hopeless idea of sleeping longer than 45 minutes at a time, it would now seem inconceivable to read about P sleeping for 10 hours straight. But I guess that's the beauty of a journal. Tracking the one constant: change.

So, my olive eating, monster hugging, violin obsessed child (expanding the box here) also digs fairies... and soap. Heavily. The fairies, I thought, mostly for the dust supposedly following them. The soap for the smell (of course:) and the germ fighting capabilities :) So when a friend proposed a field trip to a fairy filled soap shop it was a no brainer for us. P and I have (loosely, very loosely, we're commitment-phobes here) chosen Wednesdays for field trips each week. So off to the East Village we trekked last Wednesday to join other homeschoolers at the Iron Fairies.

(P's photo of Twinkle, homeschooling mom extraordinaire, who organized the outing:)



The Aussie who owns the shop has written three books describing fairies forged in iron by grumpy underground miners. Melissa read the first book to the kids and then described their soap making process.



Phoenix's fabulous schnoz excitedly smelled the herbs and spices available for soap scenting. (His choices: Cinnamon, (aka cimmanumum) and lemongrass.) He carefully held his heavy mixing cup and used the tiny iron shovels to count out smelly scoops. Then he quickly chose his oil (ylang ylang) and his base (aloe vera). He Loved dripping the juicy drops out of tiny vials and counting to thirty (per Melissa's instructions:) He then picked purply-pink (of course:) glycerin for his soap base and watched while the the iron forged burner cooked his glop.

While the soap hardened and the other kids took their turns cooking, P decided he Must have an Iron fairy. He picked Tia, the fairy of wisdom because "she's standing and has long wings". Afterwards, as we sat together in Wash Square playing with Baby Brother, he introduced BB to Tia, the fairy of wisdom.

BB: What's wisdom?
P: I think its where you go potty..
Me: (Intense laughter for a brief moment) Because I sometimes say "I have to take a whiz"?
P: Yah.

I love seeing his deductive reasoning at work :) Her beautiful box contained instructions on welcoming her to her new home. That she'd been underground her whole life so we were to sprinkle her with the enclosed fairy dust (much excitement at actually possessing Real Fairy Dust), make a wish and leave her where she'd see the first light of day. As soon as I finished reading the directions P said " I wish to stay with Mama forever. That's my wish." Awww. So sweet, right?

Well, after walking past the Halloween inspired neighborhood pharmacy window on the way home that night, P sprinkled the glitter over his new metal doll and carefully made his wish.

"Fairy of Whiz-dom, I wish for a spider web."

Its moments like this that make schlepping the kid all over the city for life expanding field trips really worth it :)


Tia's bed, carefully cloth covered by P, who also fluffed her pillow:

Pippi Longstockings

Having had my long, red hair often placed into braids as a child, an affinity for Pippi Longstockings was fairly required of me. But my admiration went much deeper than pigtails. Much to my mother's dismay, I wouldn't touch a dress or anything girly (she had three other boys, what did she need with a fourth?) - today's pink princess problem would have floated right over my plaited head, I loved Pippi. Her spunk, her independence, her bravery, her funky stockings (I said I wouldn't wear dresses not that I didn't adore decorative dressing!) We were Tomboy brethren. So when a friend recently quoted one of Pippi's unschooly remarks I knew I had to paste it here...

****************
...And then they went on to tell her that some nice people in town were arranging for her to get into a children's home.

"I already have a place in a children's home," said PIppi.

"What?" asked one of the policemen. "Has it been arranged already then? What children's home?"

"This one," said Pippi haughtily. "I am a child and this is my home: therefore it is a children's home, and I have room enough here, plenty of room."

"Dear child," said the policeman, smiling, "you don't understand. You must get into a real children's home and have someone look after you."

"Is one allowed to bring horses to your children's home?" asked Pippi.

"No, of course not," said the policeman.

"That's what I thought," said Pippi sadly. "Well, what about monkeys?"

"Of course not. You ought to realize that."

"Well then," said Pippi, "you'll have to get kids for your children's home somewhere else. I certainly don't intend to move there."

"But don't you understand that you must go to school?"

"Why?"

"To learn things, of course."

"What sort of things?" asked Pippi.

"All sorts," said the policeman. "Lots of useful things ~ the multiplication tables, for instance."

"I have got along fine without any pluttfikation tables for nine years," said Pippi, "and I guess I'll get along without it from now on, too."

"Yes, but just think how embarrassing it will be for you to be so ignorant. Imagine when you grow up and somebody asks you waht the capital of Portugal is and you can't answer!"

"Oh, I can answer all right," said Pippi. "I'll answer like this: 'If you are so bound and determined to find out what the capital of Portugal is, then, for goodness' sakes, write directly to Portugal and ask.' "

"Yes, but don't you think that you would be sorry not to know it yourself?"

"Oh, probably," said Pippi. "No doubt I should lie awake nights and wonder and wonder, 'What in the world is the capital of Portugal?' But one can't be having fun all the time," she continued...

Autumn Nights

The cool evenings are arriving earlier and earlier up here and P seems impervious to the cold thus far. And he's sooo fascinated by the dark (thanks to all of the children's stories that dub the dark dangerous) that we've been heading out after dinner for bike rides in the park. He likes riding in the Bike Lane with the other evening bikers:) Then we turn off into the woods and take dark trails, him trying to scare BB the whole way. It burns off the last of his energy and allows us time to smell the sweet fall air. He just loves it.

A few night ago our usually vacant path was obstructed by a film set, detouring us through the nearby field. We could have spent the rest of the evening watching the shadows of the trees dance on the dark grass as the crew changed the lighting and the wind blew. Finally, leaving the set behind, we turned up an unlit path through the woods and the juxtaposition of the film set, the deep woods and the Empire State building just across the river made me smile. Up ahead, P was smiling too. I could hear it in his voice as he said "zzzzrrrp! (His invisible fishing pole casting out) Baby Brother? Are you stuck in the tree top? In the dawk???"

Here's a couple of really short clips of him on his new bike. The lighting is awful since its dusk, but you can get the general gist :) I'm going to try and get some in the park this week, where he doesn't have to stop for streets or.... run into curbs... (and yes, he was just fine :)

Building blocks

P's buddy Yoav has these fabulous building blocks. Pieces of wood, really. They are cut smooth and cleaned - and they're infinitely stackable. So we decided to make a set when we were in Kansas. Seeing how "just a few" isn't really in P's vocabulary, we mad a ton. One ton too many to fly back with, so my dear mother mailed them (thanks again mom!!!) We just got them this week and P has been busy building. The above structure is a train station. In case you couldn't tell :) There's a load more of them, but its apparently just as much fun to knock things down as it is to build things up so...

Busy Thursday

Last Thursday would have found the Phoenix of old (ya know, the kid from about 2 weeks ago) hiding in his shell. But not this new guy. The friend lover. P saw pals almost every day this last week and actually seemed to enjoy it (after meeting friends in the city on Wednesday he raved about a little boy he's known for a year but never given the time of day before. At dinner he asked "When can I play with Milo again? He is my cutie-mush." Now, who knows what a cutie-mush is, but it sounded positive.) In fact, he's requested his birthday occur in NY and his five closest friends attend. E and I are still trying to pick our jaws up off of the floor...

So, after acrobatics class (the belly button one) we grabbed some hummus and pita pizza and then scooted to the zoo to meet a couple of buddies. P loves our neighborhood zoo for its groundhog tunnels, lily pads and giant spiderweb. (This pic from a previous visit:)



After watching the red panda and unusually active kangaroos we all had snacks and then P and I headed out to meet more friends in the park on the way home. He and Benny negotiate their bottle throwing game:




After more snacks and lots of wrestling they climbed their favorite tree and hammed for the camera.




I couldn't tear him away from them, despite it growing chilly and his patience growing thin :) I was so worried that as he grew tired and his frustration level rose that he would turn back towards our peer averse boy. But it didn't happen, we all parted ways with P asking to see them all again. Soon:)