Super sledding

With BB happy to share his new sled ;) we were able to go sledding with Yoav the next day. The slopes were empty and the boys had a blast. It was so much fun, in fact, we went again the following day too!

The first day, P gravitated from simple down-hills to progressively steeper, more jump filled runs. The second day he was ready for the big stuff right from the get-go. Unfortunately, the hills had been run rather dry by all of these happy sledders by then. He slid straight down, happy as a lark, hit a dry spot, suddenly veered sharply left and BOOM! Hit a tree. D'oh.

He pushed me a few times after that and then saddled up for another ride while I was at the bottom of the hill. I looked up to see him skidding down, poorly placed, right towards another tree! I yelled to him as he shoved his leg out and stopped the oncoming collision from occurring. That was the last run he was interested in for the day :(

Despite the goose-egg to the forehead, he had a grand time hurling me downhill and making snow angels.



Yoav shared his sled with his Mama and (real) baby brother, Elie and P pushed them too!

BB's world expands...

So, the little pink monster (the miniature, mind you) is the sole proprietor of a construction site, a glorious antique chateau (sidewalk scrounge), a treehouse, a VW, a pirate ship, and of course, the red sled. Despite the numerous tortures he endures, he is a well gifted Baby Brother and so P decided to build him... the world.

After sculpting a false front on his Gordon train, giving it an all black pain job and shiny silver wheels, we made a train set for his newly created Steam Engine for BB. Then P added in the old cardboard buildings he so adores and whalah! BB had a house (a new, even smaller BB from play-doh was required to fit in the tiny abode and tiny steam engine), a school and a boat house (as designated by the old buildings). P's script for this world was as follows: The train comes to pick up BB for school. BB doesn't want to go but has to. He trains to school and then escapes and plays hooky at the boathouse where he sails the sea and makes friends with a friendly crocodile



who then comes home to live with P, his Mama and Papa. This was enacted with much gusto, new friends piling into the Schulton yard by the minute. It all ended with BB starting a Dinosaur Wildlife Refuge for baby dinosaurs who's mums had been carried off by large birds. A four year old's imagination is such a lovely place to live during the day:)

Historic Moments

P has never seen me watch TV before (der :) we don't even own one) But come last Tuesday, I told him we had a mid-morning date with history. Having pulled the victorious voting switch himself a few months ago (bad mommy moment: P was actually running a fairly significant fever that day.... But it was two blocks away and I pushed him, uber-bundled, in a stroller!) he has been informed each step of the way in this election and there was no reason to stop short of such an historic inauguration.

Nevertheless, I wasn't sure how much info to give the kid. P realized it was a happy time just because we won't have to see W's mug anymore, but there was so much more to it this time than the regular changing of the guard. Yet, when are racial strife and persecution appropriately introduced to a cluelessly all-loving, everyone is equal kind of kid? I mean, any time is a good time to promote the absence of prejudice, but what if there isn't any inkling that prejudice even exists?

So I queried said kid. Had he ever noticed there were lots of different shades/colors to people's skin? Nope. No recognition at all of the question. And, raising him in the enormously diverse borough of Brooklyn with friends of numerous backgrounds, why would he? Loving his innate assumption of equality (that he demonstrates every day in different ways) I decided to leave this subject to a later date and enjoyed the meaning of the moment quietly.

So we sat down (well, he stood) and watched (thanks to the NYTimes live video) some introductions ("Kinda boring, Mama"), the quartet ("This isn't Boring!!!!), and the new president's speech. While openly joyous that W was on his way out, I didn't think we'd been waxing too poetic about the new prez. Apparently, not so. As we watched Obama speak P quizzed me.

P: Mama, you love Obama?
Me: Umm, I'm very hopeful P.
P: (Long Pause) Mama, you wish you married Obama instead of Papa?
Me: (Insert guffaw) No! I wanted to marry Papa! I just wanted Obama to be president :)
P: (Another long pause) Mama, is Obama a gooder person that you?
Me: Hah! I'm the best P! Really, P, I try to be a good person, and hopefully so does Mr. Obama.
P (Nuther looong pause) Mama, is Obama a gooder person than me?

Guess he felt the happy vibes emanating from every pore of my existence that day and translated my immense relief that the great Bush Monster was being buried as true love :)

He was fairly riveted for the beginning of the speech, squidgeted and quizzed in the middle and departed for the tail end - but seemed aware something grand was in the air - he didn't ask me to stop watching with him :)

Another winter wonderland

E and I chat occasionally about new neighborhoods. Cheaper ones, with larger flats. But then there's a beautiful day - or a mound of snow - and we are so very thrilled to be by this lovely park that we know we aren't going Anywhere :) And so it was last week when the fluffy stuff started and P pulled me through the house on his way out the door (in his jammies ;)

After layers and a snack we headed across the street, P on his bike, BB in my bag. The wooded area just across the street would probably be laughable to a native of the Rockies, but for a New Yorker it is unbelievably outdoorsy :) Very few come through our monster woods and the paths meander up and down until they reach a... parking lot. But if you face the right direction, (away from the tops of the brownstones) its a full on woodsy experience - and P just loves it.

After frolicking on his bike in the snow and then obsessively picking powder covered flowers we headed home for hot cocoa.




But alas, what did my scrounger son spy at the bottom of the stoop? A free sled. A red rectangle sled, no less. Knowing there was limited space for such treasures (and that the chair he had rescued from the sidewalk last week with a "Mama, its USEFUL, it can't just go to the dump! We should take it in. Its a good thing, mama." had claimed a large footprint in our home) he instantly went into problem solver mode. The new sled was Necessary for BB. BB didn't have a sled, and this new one had a string that he could pull BB with and.. and.... and :)

So there went the hot cocoa plan ;) Back through the park we danced, even more snow adding more enchantment to the evening, with BB happily ensconced in his new chariot. Whenever P would hit a bump that would bonk BB, sliding the monster from his sitting position, P would stop, carefully replace his beloved and carry on through the woods. All the way through the woods we wandered to the good sledding hill beyond, reaching it just at dusk. It really was lovely.

P pulling BB




The boys (I swear, I'm practically clinical these days. BB is such a fixture in our home that I find myself referring to Phoenix and his monster in plural regularly...) ready for a ride downhill



By dark we were spent and headed home to our warm radiators, P enormously pleased with his new possession and BB enormously wet :)

Narnia

P's love of stories has expanded to longer and longer books of late. I think it really began with his adoration of the Hugo Cabret book Aunt Alicia gave him. The more developed characters suit his personality well - even if much is still lost on his young mind. So we began the Narnia series last month. I was extremely excited (as much as I love a good picture book I've been having book withdrawals lately with no time to read myself!) and also a little apprehensive that without pictures he would lose interest, thereby dooming future reads. Alas, there was no reason to worry...

After zooming through almost the entire second book (the most riveting, really, so I thought we'd start strong and go back from there) P insisted on our next library trip that we get all Seven books in the series. Then he spent days showing BB his stack "of big boy books, BB, pwobably too big for you, but I Love them." I'm not sure where the "big boy" designation came from (we are strictly non-agist around here :)but upon check out he told me he was nervous he wasn't allowed to check out a "big boy book." "Are they for grown ups, Mama, or for little guys?" I reassured him the series was for all ages that were interested, but he still translated that into BB being too "wittle" :)

Above, E caught us in bed on my birthday, starting yet another in the series...

Snowy Sunday

Phoenix is into E. I know I've said it before, but his adoration for his father just keeps growing. He still doesn't like it when I leave, but its becoming less and less of a big deal, and more and more of a big deal when E leaves.

For example, P now asks every morning where Papa is. He's starting to get his days of the week (vaguely, very vaguely, but he's really working on it) and is ever hopeful for Saturdays and Sundays (on those days, typically, E is up early, working at his desk, giving P the perfect opportunity to sneak up on his father and yell BOO!!). So he was rather miffed when E was missing from the house Sunday morning. A fresh snow had fallen in the night, and when E returned he mentioned that kids were out sledding. Heaven forbid P not try this, and he became fixated on getting a sled and hurling himself downhill.

Being the afternoon after a good snow, the hardware store had slim pickings and P's hope for a "wectangle sled" could only be met if we moved into a larger apartment. Upon further discussion he agreed to the "twirly-whirly sled" (the round ones) but upped the ante for a new snow shovel. (Our last snow found us at the hardware store too, but that outing was due to a snow shovel request from P. The only ones available that trip were Enormous, much too unwieldy for a little guy. So E had proffered a dustpan cum snowshovel. The kid agreed and used it all the way home...never to be touched again.) Now, holding his sled, he explained his need for an upgrade. The current "snow shovel" required him to kneel down in the snow, getting his pants wet and making it difficult from such a height to actually, well, shovel. He needed one, he explained, with a longer handle. Fortunately for him, the store now had a telescoping shovel, perfect in size for P.

Seth and Alicia had met us at the store and sweetly sat through P's very thorough negotiations. The kind of negotiations that end with E and I teasingly calling one another "oaks." At any rate, the child happily skipped out of the store to shovel and sled and we, despite hoping to store nothing more and spend much less, had to agree with the kid's solid logic:)

At the park, P blissfully played with his fabulous Aunt and Uncle. Ethan pushed him downhill in the sled, Uncle Seth packed snowballs and Aunt Alicia helped P learn clever snowball throwing tricks. As I re-joined the group, P called out to me, "Mama, look over there at that tree!" and then launched a snowball my way :) Pure heaven for P. He can feel sneaky, watch something explode, and hear someone scream in mock horror all in one fell swoop. After "surprise" attacking us over and over again, he set off down the sidewalk, shoveling scoop after scoop of snow.

Following steaming mugs of hot cocoa to ward off our chills, Seth and Alicia went to run errands and E headed to work. P was devastated. He had counted on the whole day with his father and just fell apart when E walked out the door. As I rocked him on my lap (after he finished clawing at the doorknob) we heard someone approaching on the stairs. E had forgotten his keys. Once P had him in the apartment, he stood between E and the door, saying E was captured and could Not leave. E sweetly asked P if he needed something. Was there something they needed to play or do before he went to work? Why did P need him to stay? To which P, sucking back his tears, replied "Because I love you." Needless to say, Ethan the Oak did not go to work on this snowy Sunday :)

Phoenix's Fabulous Fort

Our bedroom is on the small size. I think in real estate jargon its typically termed "nursery or office." But all we need it for is bed jumping and sleeping, so we've dedicated our larger rooms to eating (which we do A Lot) and playing (also, A Lot;) and left the "bat-cave" as E lovingly refers to it, to the beds. After two years of beds filling, quite literally, wall to wall to wall (they do not touch the fourth wall, which is the doorway:), my feng shui snobbery is getting the better of me. We plan to loft the twin, giving us some actual floorspace between the walls not covered by a mattress. To test out the idea, E and I took turns this weekend heaving boxsprings over our head to see what it would really be like. We liked it :)

P liked it even more. Pillows and blankets were piled about. His chairs moved to make room. Boxsprings were piled against the wall. Unused to clutter (since neither E nor I can stand it), the little man felt his house born anew. He started gathering everything up and re-piling it in the cramped bedroom, claiming the newly stacked beds his cave and the pile his "dump." He tossed anything and everything on said pile he could get his hands on. I looked on quietly as I put away laundry (our closet is in the doorway to the bedroom) until he went for the clean clothes :) He was fine with my preferred limit (not to wash all of the clothes Again, after a trip to the "dump") and took to scaling his house instead. He added pillows to the top, calling them his "bricks" and long paper rolls, calling them his "pipes." I quickly morphed into a nameless "work-lady." As in, "Work-lady, could you please help me lay these bricks? Work-lady, do you know how to lay pipe?" and "Work-lady, do you want to climb on the roof with me?" and lastly, "Work-lady, do you want to jump off of the roof with me?"

It was my birthday that day, so it was with a light heart that I left the dump behind and went to a movie ;) Two hours later, a happy child met me at the theater and when we wandered home, the bat-cave-dump had re-materialized into our little bedroom. Aww, isn't he a good husband?

Treasure hunter

P's outdoor treasures are displayed on one of our tables. His crystals live there, alongside sea glass, cicada bodies, clam shells, pebbles, rock salt (wha??? there's free salt crystals just lying about on all of the sidewalks?! and I can bring them home, Mama? Yayyyy!) and other crazy finds. He likes to add to his collection and then carefully look it all over. Notice the pretty yellow flowers? He heard Aunt Alicia mentioning that Uncle Seth is sweet enough to bring her flowers. Then he heard me teasing E that he's Never brought me flowers (there's environmental reasoning behind it, but its still fun to tease the guy:) Well, P took it to heart and has bought me flowers Twice since then :)

Sub rider take two

Another sub shot of the little man. Anyone notice he's wearing a Winter Coat in all of these outdoor pictures? Last year this time he was still Naked all of the time. Now he's dressing himself (ok, once!), willingly wearing his coat and hat, asking for mittens....

Life's a beach

Wednesday (our adventure day this week) was frigid. And I do mean freezing. I had it all planned out. We'd take a nice trip to the well heated Brooklyn Children's Museum, which is newly renovated. But after lunch, P said no thanks. A typical response when attempting anything out of the everyday for him. We had a nice chat about his worries (getting lost, security guards, getting taken on a train, breaking a rule at the museum. Heartbreaking to hear the serious worries of a four year old!) and how comfortable it is to do the familiar. Then I reminded him of all of his favorite things we had done, and how many of them had been firsts that he had been worried to go to. I told him I was willing to go anywhere on Adventure Day, as long as we had an adventure and expanded our worlds just a titch...

To my surprise he chose the aquarium. I mentioned that it might be awfully chilly by the water, but in light of his willingness to travel afar, I was happy to add layers:) His recent shark tooth acquisition and shark tattoo had him rather excited to show BB (who is extremely fearful of sharks) the shark tank. And do you know what the child did before we left? He dressed himself. Head to toe. His undies were on backwards and his shirts took him a while, but he did it. This is something he has shown No Interest in, despite my frequent offerings of independence ("P, here's your shirt. You want to put it on?" "No thanks, Mama, you do it." etc) For whatever reason, he finally felt the need to achieve this milestone. (He had me dress him today, so I'm not saying he's turned over an independence leaf or anything, but now he knows he can do all of it himself, which produced a surly smile and an attempted sulk;)

The aquarium was wonderfully empty and we had a lovely time. P is so dedicated to his monster. Whenever he learns something, he turns to BB and repeats it. If its something slightly confusing or surprising to him, he has the monster describe the situation incorrectly so that he can correct him and re-explain it over and over. They observed the frogs burrowed in their bedding and then saw a caterpillar drown in a water dish. I was slightly horrified, but P was simultaneously fascinated and zen about it. Once the bug finished twitching P easily moved on to another tank, explaining to BB that the caterpillar died, but here were some live crickets....



The walrus captivated P for a looooong time. It is a glorious creature to watch.



We eventually made it to the shark tank where P and BB petted the display skin and looked through the magnifying glass.



Then P was ready to go find crabs on the beach, and we were off...




There weren't any crabs on the freezing sand (we had found some there when the days were warmer) but plenty of other interesting shells to be had. So we gathered until our hands were frozen and then headed home with our new treasure from our seaside adventure.

Chef Phoenix

You know how I mentioned that P's life is expanding with new videos of late? And how I gave credit to both our society at large and P's Papa in particular? Well, I should have mentioned another accomplice. The library makes for an unlikely suspect, I know, but is a major culprit nonetheless...

We've fallen in love with the Mulberry street branch library in the city. The books are organized in the most amazing fashion, the space is modern and gorgeous, the tables and couch accommodating, the librarian is Fabulous and... its just a few blocks from P's fave gelato store and pizza place. So every Friday we go get a scoop, read for a few hours and then meet E for a slice. Its a great outing during the cold months. With one hurdle for me, and one blessing for P: the video section.

Yup, the cat's out of the bag, there are free videos to be had. So the last two Fridays, (its a recent discovery) P has chosen a video to bring home alongside his new books and pint of ice cream (the holiday special, peppermint (sans food coloring!) is in stock right now). This last week was Ratatouille. The movie contains a surprisingly complex plot, providing P with lots and lots of questions as to character motives and vocabulary choices. He wants me to watch it right alongside him so his constant questions can be answered. After consuming it a few times he was inspired to call himself Chef Phoenix and start cooking. Feeling one with the lead character, he was certain his novel food combinations would be tre-magnifique. He picked and pulled from the pantry and then started stirring. Then he offered me the first bite. Ummm, let's review the ingredients: multiple bean types and tomato sauce (inspired by his direction I cooked chili with his left-overs), crushed peppermints, ketchup, pickle juice, mustard, sunflower seed butter, chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds, zucchini, tomato chunks, sunshine drops and dry pasta. When I suggested that the cook usually tried his creations so he knew what changes he should make he told me "Not in this kitchen. In this kitchen, the cook lets the customer try the first bite."

What was most adorable was his certainty that his food would be delish. As he topped it all off with mounds of colorful sprinkles he told me he was making it to go alongside the chili. He then grabbed a serving utensil and four plates and served it up, "One for you, one for me, one for Papa and one for BB." Lucky, lucky us:)

Rocket man

Alien encounters with BB..

I've had Elton John stuck in my head. P's been psyched to do experiments and projects of late (as long as there aren't too many instructions or anything even slightly "teachy" going on ;) and chose to make a self-propelled rocked on Tuesday. After multiple attempts (the first rocket was too darn heavy, the second string too short etc etc) our rocket shot all the way across the playroom with a mini BB and P inside. Phoenix was thrilled and initiated countdown after countdown. After plenty of encounters on Mars, P snuggled down on the couch to explain all things alien (a recent fascination for the little man thanks to his Harold and the Purple crayon book) to his monster.

Tats for P

Only 4? I think I'll choose one more...

P sweetly, and carefully places a skull tat on BB's belly.

P had a heyday with the tattoos from Uncle Seth and Aunt Alicia the other day. The pirate tats are glow in the dark, adding extra fun to an already glorious process. BB and I were given some glowing skulls too, starting the ever fun game of charge and run. We count to thirty in the light and then race to the dark bedroom to freak out BB (and ourselves:)

Fave P Quotes

I rarely jot down P-isms anymore, but here's two that I saved from last week:

"Mama, I just figured something out. If you're running after somebody in a circle, then they're really running after you. If you're running in a circle. "

And then a few days after that revelatory remark....

A few months back, we received a bath-bomb with our soap purchase at the Iron Fairies. Knowing it would probably freak out P's skin, and that no one else ever luxuriates in the bath around here :) I sat it aside and promptly forgot it. P dug it out the other day and sat on his ladder smelling it. He turned to me with a huge grin and said:

"I can smell all the way back to when I got this!" He then explained that he could perfectly remember that day since he could smell it, all wrapped up in that bath ball :)

Bread Crumbs

While our stuffed artichokes cooked the other day, P longingly looked at the bread crumbs he'd just helped bake and told me they'd be "perfect" for his trucks. Thank gawd for his new table, making crumb play an easy reality rather than a pipe dream! The crunching sound seemed exceptionally satisfying to him as he slid his steam roller back and forth and back and forth....

Puddle Pedaler

The rain, the wind, the cold, nothing can keep the kid from the puddles. After picking our limit at the library (that's, um, FIFTY books, folks - and we do it almost twice a week lately! His story appetite is insatiable of late...) P suggested we head to the Big puddles that the recent rain had blessed us with. Spare layers in hand (and half the library dropped at our door) we biked to P's favorite muddle (its too mucky to classify as a puddle). The longing looks he garners from other kids as he splashes his way through messiness is just heartbreaking. One little girl actually stopped me (after her mom yanked her away from a puddle P inspired her to join) and asked me why P could go into the wet spots. Glancing down at her galoshes and then into her mother's raised eyebrow I mumbled something about spare layers and hurried after P...

I appreciated the fact that he didn't get sick this time (a common coincidence to puddle jumping? Or some nasty puddle secret I'm not privy to, thus the raised brow?). The kid was c.o.l.d. when he finished racing. Fortunately, it was nothing a fresh set of clothes and a warm bath couldn't cure.

He's so weighed down with wet in the video below he has trouble turning! I don't think you can see it streaming, but he zooms by with a smile big enough that he couldn't hide it even with his super-sulk:)

Tainted Love Claymation

Video is slowly creeping its way into our lives (with its dual saviors, common culture and E, flanking its introduction). I am simultaneously suspicious and excited. My biggest concern is P's apparent confusion about the difference between reality and movies. He gets the leap between story-world and our world, but movies look so... real! So, with E away playing in Atlantic City with his brothers, P and I played with a project I hoped would allay my worries...

Despite BB's true status of "magic" P realizes that the monster can't really walk on his own (thus the constant requests for me to "do BB!!!") (Even there, though, some confusion seems to reign. P often whispers to me, so that BB can't hear. And when BB goes missing in the house, P calls to him, demanding the monster tell us where he is. When the lost doll doesn't respond, P tells me to make BB talk, but appears confused when I say I can't respond with the location if I don't know where BB's hiding. So P moves onto helpful questions, asking BB if its dark or light, hot or cold, soft or hard... Its as if he thinks I'm channeling the thing rather than the actual soul of it :) Even though the monster's abilities aren't completely concrete in P's mind, lack of walking ability seems pretty certain. So we decided to make him walk, without my hands.

After the sculpting (for claymation) and script writing (you should have heard P's initial script plans! Oh, the heights of elaborateness! The kid is Hollywood bound ;) we proceeded to the filming. The special effect (BB falling) was necessary, as P is fascinated with the idea of the impossible becoming possible to the eye, but still not actually being possible. It all took eons. Later, as we edited on my computer and I showed P the initial results he was flabbergasted. "Why is it so short? We worked for so long!"

I'm afraid the results, slapped together and greatly aided by a four year old, are less grand than the four year old had hoped, but it certainly showed him how something unreal can look (kinda) real through movies. This, hopefully, will help me to worry less about this media messing with his mind.... Now if we could just cut the "stupid"s, "shut up"s and "idiot"s from kid's movies. Seriously, I'd rather my kid yell "fuck" really loud when he falls down than call someone stupid...

Ice Skating and Crystals

When adventure day rolled around this week we couldn't decide on our adventure. P really wanted to try ice skating, but he also really wanted to see the Huge crystals at the AMNH. While checking their website to look for pics of the rock collection we saw that the museum now has an ice skating rink. Bingo!

It was an amazing setting for a first time ice skater. (A family of tourists kept exclaiming at the fabulousness of it all. Even though we live here (maybe since I'm a transplant?) I echoed my thankful thoughts to P a number of times too:) And though the surface wasn't real ice, he certainly got a feel for it. And he liked it. A lot :)

Meanwhile, I couldn't skate an inch. I've been ice skating before, and while I'm certainly no champion twirler, I can usually make it around a rink. No such luck. I looked around and the tourist family was in no better shape, first-timers that they were. But P, well, he was kicking my butt! Then a few more adults trickled in and started sliding around the perimeter. Realizing I wasn't getting the hang of things, P started giving me tips ("Just push off with this foot, mama, and then slide like this...") in the sweetest whisper (heaven forbid he embarrass me by telling me what's what too loudly ;) Nope. Still couldn't move. I know that its just a matter of time before P starts seeing me as more and more human, but this inadequacy was coming on a little too sudden for my pride. So I sidled up to the skating dude in the corner and asked how I could improve my glide (er, move forward At All.) To my great relief, he informed me my skates were dull. D'oh.

Back on the ice with real skates the kid and I slid around the rink, laughing and falling and pulling one another about. It hit me then that we were Hanging Out, really just hanging and having fun.

Back inside P's recent questions about the moon, its size compared to the Earth, Mars and the Sun were most brilliantly answered by the inspirational planetarium. After plenty of nebula talk we headed to the "crystal section!" Our route took us past some large snails and shells and P requested I document his favorites so we can hunt for them and keep them as pets.



Through human evolution we went, the path adding to P's constant questions concerning the subject, onto Meteors. There, P denounced the meteors as "boring" and demanded we find some diamonds and crystals, pronto :)

While impressed by the size of many of the crystals, their subtle nuances of importance were lost on P, who most appreciated anything cut from its natural state into a gem shape :) The precious gems room had P zooming from case to case, shopping with glee. "I want that one, and that one and that one and that one and that one and that one..."



umm, yah, sure mama, its pretty, but where are the DIAMONDS???

Crystals

P is passionate about crystals. I vividly remember my mom receiving flowers when P was little(r). Lovely glass beads danced in the vase and P was mesmerized. He wanted them Sooo badly, but was still in the "everything in the mouth" stage. So we watched him like a hawk as he rolled and touched (and threw but did not swallow) the glowing spheres. He still has them two years later.

Since then there has been shiny pirate treasure aplenty in our house, starting with plastic, graduating to glass (once P entered his anti-plastic stage) and now, crystal. P has high hopes he will complete his collection with huge, real, diamonds ;)

So, on the way to the concert we stopped by a crystal shop. P was aglow surrounded by so many different crystals. He picked his way through the store, carefully selecting his favorites. Since then, he has kept close count of his new crystals, carting them everywhere. He loves to bury them in his beans with the great rocks from Uncle Seth and Aunt Alicia and then dig them out with BB and I. Sometimes, as in the video below, the large quartz crystal is much more than just a crystal :)

The Dan Zanes Concert

Brooklyn rocker Dan Zanes (rock god to kids everywhere) had a holiday concert on 42nd St this season. I've mentioned P's music/instrument obsession of late - but the little man doesn't really like crowds... So I asked him if he was interested in going and received an unequivocal Yes!!!

After a trip to a crystal store in the West Village (another post, another time), we headed to Times Square for P's first rock concert :) Tots toddled the isles as we entered and P experienced a little vertigo... But then he settled right in to his Front Row seat, able to ignore the masses. Yes, that's right, front row. (Come to find out -there is occasionally a benefit to procrastinating -you can actually see the beads of sweat on a dancer's face.) I, of course, wanted to document the momentous occasion, but as I pulled out the camera I made a fatal error. I asked E if he'd seen any signs concerning photography in the theater. Whoops! Big, Big pet peeve of P's. If there is a rule on a sign, there might be security guards. If there are security guards, P is not a happy camper. Oh, and he himself becomes a security stand-in - watching everyone like a hawk to make sure the sign is Obeyed. I have no idea where this quirk comes from, but its longstanding. (A few weeks ago we were headed to the library but P was happily ensconced in his jammies. He decided just to wear them on the outing. As he slid his boots over his footies he laughed and asked if he looked "ridiquiwus." So off we went, P wearing jammies Under his clothes. The minute he saw the guard at the library he panicked. I reassured him there were no rules concerning PJ's and libraries and we moved on to pick books. Shortly later, I turned from the stacks to see him hunkered under a table. He peeked out, with tears in his eyes, and said "Mama, I'm scared." This is the child that yells at the wind when it blows too hard. Hunkering isn't really his style :) Until it comes to authority figures. They scare the holy-moly out of him. Turns out, he thought the guard could take him away from me since he was wearing pajamas out of the house! We had some loooong talks about guards and the extent of their powers (or lack thereof) on the way home but nothing seems to truly allay his authority figure fear.)

So, P was Very Nervous I'd get into trouble taking pictures. We decided it was fine, as long as I didn't record any of the show, but P was still reticent to be photographed, at first. Eventually he hammed it up...




The show was fabulous. The music amazingly multi-cultural, the musicians so upbeat I thought they'd float. The little man, riveted but unsmiling :) As in most occasions where he is overwhelmed with happy emotions (birthday, xmas, Uncle Seth's arrival) he strikes a serious face that approximates a sulk. Its really hilarious. The show's close was P's favorite song and everyone was up dancing. I grabbed P and bounced him in my arms as he Fought his smile with his sulk. The face looks something like disgust (you can actually see it in the photo just above, where he's veering towards the hamming stage, but still attempting the disgruntled stage), and one of the dancers looked down, started to grin at us and then gave us a look of surprise instead. Yah, she's probably not used to getting a dirty look from the tiny front row fans....

We snapped a few pics amongst the neon in Times Square on the way to our sub



and then enjoyed Storynory.com (Brother's Grimm)on the way home. As P sat silent and still, only his eyes moving with his imagination, I wondered if all first concerts are fraught with such small dramas. I'd always imagined the Hollywood version of kids :) They go out for a fun time and laugh and smile freely, perhaps there is a melt-down about chocolates or a missed bedtime, but, generally, light little hearts. There aren't many melt-downs here, and chocolates are eaten whenever they are needed ;) but the light heart is definitely not P's story...

Nevertheless, he said he loved the concert :)

The Chalkboard

For whatever reason, P had decided he doesn't draw. But he wished he did :) Perfectionist that he is, paper has proved problematic. If he finally attempts a figure his frustration results in the classic rip, wad and toss seen in most movies. (Apparently a truly human reaction and not the dramatic ploy I always assumed it to be.) Feeling for the forests, we went with a chalkboard. And within the first week P made his first real drawing. Its a papa whale and baby whale below rough water and a many flagged pirate ship. There is plankton in front of the Papa's mouth, some swishy finger marks that are microbes and a fishing line. P was so proud he was torn. He didn't want to ever lose his whale (which started with just one eye but was reworked with two the following day) but wanted to draw some more. We decided on a picture of his picture and then he happily erased the board to draw another day....

Monster Magnets

P received a set of Monster Magnets from the Pumpkin Fairy. (As a tie in to the recent Santa conundrum post, the whole Pumpkin Fairy story was presented ala Jason Alexander's "Dad, are you the tooth fairy?" We read the book the week before, but, much like the ensuing Santa silliness, I think P's imagination ruled on Halloween too :) At any rate, he Loved the magnets and enjoyed making monsters to scare his favorite pink monster. But, big but here, his favorite monster leg was a single. As in, the manufacturers decided some monsters should not have matching legs and made a couple of singles. This greatly vexed P. So it was a happy day when Uncle Bric presented him with another set for Xmas. The old set came out of hiding and they all joined forces on the front of the fridge. Now all of the legs are "doubles" (a recent word acquisition that he uses as often as possible) and the little man is at peace :) Above, he attempts to make a multi-headed monster "to scare BB out of his monster suit"...