Happy New Year!

I was just outside cleaning up a little snow with Sam and I noticed how similar he looks to me when I was a young pup. I thought it would be a good time to bust out a photo of me when I was his age for comparison:





What do you think? Is he my boy?

Merry Christmas!

We've had a great Christmas here so far.  Sam really "gets" Christmas for the first time and even Will is having fun playing with all the new toys.  One of my favorite memories of childhood is seeing our presents Christmas morning for the first time.  Here are Sam and Will enjoying the same tradition:

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish you peace, contentment, good times and a the happiest holiday season ever!!

Sam's Favorite Video: A Honda Ad

Every night before Sam will go to sleep, he wants to watch this video on my iPod touch:



I have to admit- it's pretty fun to watch, and much more age appropriate than most of the content on YouTube. I've always loved chain reaction things like this- dominos or what have you. The video may be a little doctored or impossible (or maybe not) but it's still pretty clever. Hope you like it as much as Sam does.

Boo! (and sometimes Hoo.)

Once again, Halloween was one of those times when it became clear life is so much better with children. The excitement of seeing their friends, getting dressed up and eating candy seem to combine and yield pure joy. This year, Sam successfully walked up to the doors of neighborhood homes, knocked and gave the customary greeting. He got more than enough loot to fill his candy strip. William made it a few more houses than last year and then came home for bedtime. There were two minor fatigue-induced meltdowns but nothing that a little redirection couldn't resolve.

This year I got to pick the costumes again although I suspect this is short lived and Sam will probably have a strong idea of what he wants to be next year. Of all my ideas that met my criteria of being friendly, funny and cute, he chose to be a fireman. Poor Will was subjected to being his Dalmatian pal. One day I'm afraid he'll suffer an inferiority complex but for now, he was happy to go, "Unh, unh" when I asked him what noise a dog makes.

As promised last year, we laughed in the face of a bad economy and gave out full sized candy bars to all the kids who came to our door. A bit much some might think but Bob and I remember thinking a whole candy bar was really something special. Now that we're the grownups, we were glad to share that awe with all our little friends.

A Note from School

Sam has been doing really well at his new preschool. Today, he brought home this note for me:

"Papa play time" is what we do when Deanna is making dinner and I get them out of her way for a while. You should see him on the iPod touch- it's quite remarkable how well he can navigate his way around. Obviously, the teacher wrote what he was saying for this note, but there's no doubt the words were his own. I'm looking forward to the Father's Breakfast!

Tot on a trike

On June 1st, Sam will be participating in the Wellesley-Weston Pan Massachusetts Challenge Kids Ride. PMC Kids Rides became an official PMC program in 2005 as a way to include young cyclists in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge mission – raising money for cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.

We found out about the event when another mom invited Sam to join her son who is a classmate of Sam's. Together, we decided not only to have our boys participate but to form a team from the school by notifying the rest of the parents and inviting their kids to join us too. So far, I'm pleased to report there are 5 preschoolers on the "Friends of WMS" team.

To read more about the race, visit the PMC website here.

Philanthropy is an important lesson I want to teach our boys. And although Sam is very young and, truth be told, only understands the very basic concept, I think engaging him in efforts like this one sets a tone for our family.

Doing kind deeds for others is, among other things, a way to express my gratitude for the good health of our family. Getting sick is something that happens to good people for inexplicable reasons. Everyone deserves compassion from both relatives and strangers especially when faced with serious illness.

To support Sam's efforts to raise $1000, please consider making a donation.

And, if you're a stickler like me who is particular about the charities you support, check out Charity Navigator's review of this one here.

Three cheers for LOGIC from a 3 year old

A scene from lunchtime today:

Me: (cutting and serving Will a balanced and easy but definitely not gourmet meal of bread, chick peas and prunes.)

Sam: Mama, may I have a prune?

Me: Do you know what a prune used to be?

Sam: No, I don't. What?

Me: It used to be a plum. You can make prunes by dehydrating (simple explanation of vocabulary word here) plums. Pretty cool, huh?

Sam: So what did a strawberry used to be?

Tree Service

We had the nice folks from JT's Tree & Landscape out to our house this week to remove some dead trees from our yard. Their methods were a far cry from my limited familiarity with tree removal (which comes primarily from watching uncles and cousins drop trees with little more than an ax and a rope at the family cottage in Michigan). Sam woke up to the sight of no less than 5 big trucks in our front yard and he was thrilled.



"Papa, there's JT trucks in our front yard!" he said excitedly. I have to admit, Deanna and I were pretty excited too. Perhaps it was because we've received so many quotes, and even when we accepted some of the quotes, the company would never return our call to begin work. Perhaps it was because it was 7AM and we were fearful our neighbors would be awoken by the noise of chain saws and stump grinders. Sorry neighbors- really.



The highlight of the job had to be the bucket truck, seen in action below. Of all the work we've had done on our little house since we moved in, I believe this one rates as the furthest from my (limited) capabilities. I *really* could have hurt someone trying to attempt any portion of this job. Mowing the lawn continues to be the handiest thing I do around here.

Love on a plate

Three years ago today we welcomed baby Samuel into our lives with a bit of drama and lots of hope for the future. It's been much the same ever since.

Yesterday we attended his birthday celebration at school. He got to dance with his teacher, Ms. Sonia, and have his friends sing to him. We even got to see him and the class do the hokey pokey! It was rewarding to see him having fun in that environment, one into which he worked hard to acclimate earlier this school year.

Part of the celebration was sharing his birthday cake with his friends. Anyone who knows me knows that food is an important part of my psyche. Making his cake was something I thought about before he was born. It's a means for me to express my adoration for him in the only art form where I have any talent. Staying up late Thursday night baking and making frosting from scratch was my pleasure and gave me a time to reflect on my special little boy. Early in the week he decided he wanted a guitar cake and so that became my task. The finished product was cute and tasted even better than it looked (if I do say so myself). And rest assured: any cake from the kitchen at Casa Dwyer is undoubtedly trans fat free! Tonight he gets another cake for our family celebration. This time it'll be an electric guitar served, almost certainly, with a rockin' solo by Bob who has become very adept at riffs and palming thanks to the toy guitar Santa left under our tree.

Happy birthday, Sam. Thank you for making this such a special day!

Merry Christmas!

Sommelier in Training Wows Wine World

Sam's latest party trick...

All Aboard the Christmas Train

What a busy weekend here at Casa Dwyer.

Sam's G-Pa and Sue came up yesterday and delivered the Christmas tree platform he built along with a toy train for the boys. Another great do-it-yourself project from the master (witness his previous work on our backyard shed here).

We all went out together and bought a tree from the local nursery on what was a perfectly cold day. Then last night, we had a few inches of snow! This morning it was nice to wake up, put lights on the tree, and watch Sam play with his new train:

Just treats, please

Last year trick or treaters were greeted by a front door that was anything but inviting. (Even Sam ran away!) Covered in plastic, with all the molding torn off, we could only play it up as a Halloween prank with a sign:



A house with no door is spooky you say?
Even more so when the owner’s away.
But if you’ve come this close without any fright,
You deserve candy and a Happy Halloween night!

This year we were armed with more than a new front door. We had welcoming lights and plenty of candy to give out to the many neighborhood children. I am also fairly confident we had some of the cutest trick or treaters in town to help give candy away. I pledge that next year we will really do it right and give out full size candy bars. One of us will stay home while the other takes the kids trick or treating so nobody ends up rebuffed by the "help yourself" bowl we left on the doorstep while we took Sam around the neighborhood.

Sam was quickly identified as a doctor but it was really a treat for those ladies who recognized him as Dr. McDreamy. Only the most observant noticed his name badge. Since last year, he's gained an understanding of "trick or treat" and he diligently said "thank you" to each of the neighbors who greeted him. Will was Pooh bear for a short time until he became a snoring lump of red and yellow on his Papa's shoulder. I have a feeling it's only going to get better.

The Riddle

One of Sam's favorite books is a Winnie the Pooh book with riddles in it. Here he is reciting one of the riddles:



In case you can't make out what he's saying, the riddle is:

Q: What goes up when the rain comes down?
A: An umbrella!

After that Sam says "Oh, I like that!" just the way it's written in the book as if it is part of the riddle. He practically creates the illusion that he can read since he's memorized so many pages from his books. Particularly entertaining is when he "reads" car brochures talking about "Xenon Adapative Headlights" and "Active Cruise Control".

For his next trick, I'll try to get some video of him identifying car makes and models. He's dazzled the neighborhood with his uncanny ability to spot Honda Pilots and such from great distances- even in the dark.

Sam the Chair Salesman

We haven't posted pictures of Sam in far too long. He is really growing up quickly. Here he is in one of his favorites spots- on my office desk chair:



Here he is sitting on a chair I'm trying to sell on Craigslist:



Sam was a great helper this afternoon. We re-assembled the chair (it was sitting in a pile of parts in the basement since we've moved in). Then we took pictures of it and posted the ad. A little life lesson for my guy: Marketing 101.

PS- Here's the ad (while supplies last):
http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/fur/383904844.html

Update! The chair has been sold. Sam and I were successful in our first joint business endeavor.

Twins?

Here's a picture of Sam at 1 week to compare to Will's 1 week picture below.

Although (I think) they look very similar at this stage, their personalities are distinct. For example, our first trip out of the house with each baby was the same- a trip to a nearby Target. Sam had his first "melt down" on that trip- crying inconsolably while we practically ran out of the store. Will, however, snoozed through the whole thing. He continued to sleep through lunch when we got home.

Here's hoping that Will keeps it up. I think it's going to be tough taking care of these 2 guys, but Will's snoozy behavior makes it quite a bit easier.

The 'terrible twos' we'd only heard about

We are going on 3 days without a nap. I refuse to believe the veteran mom warnings I've been hearing that our days of sleepy afternoon bliss are over. This transition to the big boy bed is wreaking havoc on our (my) beloved afternoon routine. Sam figured out this week that a bed works unlike a crib. It offers FREEDOM! and EXPLORATION! because he can GET OUT AT WILL! Once this discovery was made, we dealt with running around upstairs for the first day. Then, we put a gate up at his bedroom door in hopes he'd at least be contained and eventually he'd fall asleep. In preparing this new safe environment, we tried to imagine what hazards he might uncover in his room if left unaccompanied and we eliminated them. But he outsmarted us. This afternoon while he was not napping, I heard several loud thuds and headed upstairs curiously to see what the commotion was about. What I encountered was a mess of two year old proportions.

Note the goofy look of surprise on his face as he trots over to his bed. Note the toys, books and wipes scattered everywhere. Last, note the biggest offender, the open diaper cream on the windowsill with the last of the container carefully finger painted all over the top of my vintage cedar chest. Thankfully, it wasn't the industrial strength variety that surely would have left a coat of impermeable white on the surface for all eternity. Silly you, you say for leaving all those stimulating items in his room. Well, I hear you and this evening we removed all the toys and baby hygiene items from the room so he can only be lulled to sleep by the sounds of his own humming. Tomorrow at naptime, I'm putting the blinds down and we'll try again. Until then, rest well my love, it isn't bright enough to play by the light of the moon.

This parenting thing's not so simple

Now that I've got the monumental responsibility that comes with having a kid of my own, I consider more of my actions than I ever did before. Thinking ahead about parenting decisions instead of employing the old shoot-from-the-hip-method will help us (I hope) make fewer decisions in need of overturning at a future date. Whether or not to celebrate Halloween is one such decision.

In my early years, I experienced the joy of dressing up as a princess and other benign characters to survey Grandma and Pop's neighborhood for treats. Later in my growing up years, say from the age of 10 on, my parents decided that we'd not celebrate Halloween because it was a pagan holiday with evil roots. Once they learned about the day's origins, my parents took the holiday seriously and thought it best for my sister and I to exclude ourselves from dressing up, parties and trick or treating. For me, it was like the blind person who loses her vision as a child-- I knew what it was like to have the fun of canvassing the neighborhood-- so taking it away was traumatic. To my knowledge, Sarah never got to trick or treat since she was so much younger when my parents had their revelation. That's traumatic too for a young kid-- having to explain why you're the only weirdo in 3rd grade who doesn't have a costume on. I'm not going to be overly dramatic and say all those missed Halloweens ruined my childhood (I can only speak for myself) but the whole thing would have made a lot more sense to me if I'd never been allowed to dress up and it was family policy from the beginning.

So these days, I know my parents' reasons and I agree with some of them. But I think just because you let your kids put on a costume doesn't mean next year they'll lead a seance. In my opinion, just as you can make Christmas all about Santa Claus if you so choose, you can also make Halloween just about the wholesome fun that comes with it. That's not to say we do the former, it's just an example of how the true purpose of a holiday can easily be separated from how one chooses to celebrate it. That said, Sam and his future siblings will get to celebrate Halloween within range of our watchful eyes, choosing costumes that are friendly, funny and cute.

On a somewhat related note, I noticed a slew of horror movies on tv this week. For me, it's like a sadistic curiosity. When I was ever drawn to one in the past, I inevitably ended up with nightmares and a feeling of dread in my stomach. This year I passed on the horror because I decided there's nothing good about putting such dark visuals into my head. And the same goes for Sam; as he grows up I want him to input good stuff like puppy dogs and canoe races. I realize there'll be plenty of negativity going in that's out of my control. Bob disagrees though. One of his favorite movies is Hannibal which, when I think about it, scares me a bit. He swears it's for the scenes of Italy. What's your take on the horror genre?

Progress aplenty

Sam just turned 21 months old and he's talking all the time, stringing sentences together like he was born to communicate. Today he awed us by showing off his counting skills. It brought a tear to my eye to see my smart baby boy feeling so proud of himself. All these months of counting the stairs on the way up to our third floor apartment did more than make me breathe heavy. I can't wait for the day we can count the steps as we climb up the one flight to his new bedroom.

To that end, progress on the house continues although slowly. This week, there were two remarkable milestones. First, our general contractor placed the yard sign in front of the house announcing the arrival in short order of a dumpster and plenty of workers pounding nails at 7:00am. The day that noise begins polluting my neighborhood I will listen closely to the sonata and kindly ask my neighbors for their patience as the days pass and the debris pile grows.

Although the GC hasn't started any of the remodeling work yet, our lead abatement contractor started and completed his bit this week. Admittedly I'm a bit of a lunatic about lead--ask Bob about the time I made him take me to Urgent Care because I was certain I was thinking slower as a result of poisoning myself while refinishing furniture. The doctor thought I had a screw loose but that had nothing to do with lead. Thankfully, there wasn't much of the stuff in our house compared to other similarly aged homes and we knew the deal before we bought it because we had the house professionally tested as part of our home inspection. In our real estate shopping we learned that many don't take lead seriously. We actually had one realtor tell us that lead poisoning was only a problem in the inner city where children were malnourished and relied on chipped paint to supplement their diets. Perhaps the ignorant biddy didn't know that all kids put things in their mouths regardless of hunger. Personally, I can't believe so many people would pay so much to get into the right school district and then jeopardize their children's mental development by leaving lead in their homes exposed. Perhaps they don't realize how serious it can be. To us, it was just part of the work required to make the house safe and habitable for our family. If you had a boy as smart as ours, I'm sure you'd do the same.

A cut, a dog and a Fourth of July blog

I have something to admit. I conducted a poll a while back and then disregarded the results. I feel guilty. I asked for your opinion and you were kind enough to offer it. I hope you know it wasn’t out of apathy. Bob went to see Barber Jen a couple of weeks back but I’d forgotten the camera so Sam prolonged the inevitable. We waited until we had the chance to make Sam’s first haircut the fun event we wanted it to be. Our guy went in looking curly and girly and came out a no-doubt-about-it boy. Here he is in the chair as Jen moves swiftly with her magical scissors. Thankfully Sam didn’t notice the Playboys in the old school waiting room. I swear there are big time man laws operating that place even if Jen owns the joint.

The patriotic bunch over here spent the 4th watching all American sports on tv. While true sports lovers were anxiously awaiting the big soccer game between Italy and Germany, we couch potatoes tuned into ESPN’s broadcast of the 2006 Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. Finally, a sport us Americans can win hands down! Or so we thought.

The funniest thing about the contest was the commentators who were dead serious describing the action like this was their big audition for Sports Center. They called the contestants “trained athletes” and reminded viewers “don’t try this at home.” We watched in awe and disgust as the contestants focused intently on the matter at hand: chowing pig parts and dunking the buns in carbonated slop so they could shove the whole vile thing into their gullets. By the time the 12 minutes were up, the Japanese victor, Kobayashi, had powered down 50+ hot dogs. Ever the marketeer, I pondered why Nathan’s would sponsor such an event; I can’t be the only one who felt nauseous after watching. Thereafter even the thought of a barbequed Tofu Pup made me queasy.

For those of you who read my gastric woes as suspected pregnancy, I am not but there is other happy news. My honey and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday. A few years older, a couple of hairs grayer but I’m still not feeling that 7 year itch. Thanks Bobby for being mine.