Jacoblog: May 2009

We visited our grandparents in N. Alabama these past ten days and we had a wonderful time. We built fires, roasted marshmallows and played in the pool and rode the lawnmower. And of course lots of other things.
Here are some photos of our stay. Grandma drew an outline of the sun and Jacob turned it into a sunflower with pollen and all. Jacob told grandma all about the bees and how they carry the pollen to the hive. Jacob also made the hopscotch game. Daddy roasted marshmallows for us and hot dogs too.
Casey tried everyday to get Milo to come to her, and finally succeeded!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Casey's developing sense of humor

Casey has been making a lot of jokes lately of a new kind (other than poopy jokes), like puns & stuff. One example is when she grabbed a little Betty Rubble doll & jumped on the bed with the doll. Casey then started saying "Betty on the beddy"

Another instance of humor was when I was singing Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up" while getting her out of her high chair. She sang back to me "Get Down, Sit Down" with a grin on her face...

Thursday, May 28, 2009

May Trip to Alabama

We have had a wonderful time with Josh, Jacob and Casey. Jacob saw the bird house unpainted and straight away asked if he could paint it. So, he did paint it the second day and I must say, for a five year old he did a jam-up job.

I did not have no "lovies" here for Casey, and as we all know she loves her Lovey. So, Michelle brought over a doll she had and gave it to her.

We built fires on days it was not muddy and wet, and even on days it did rain, Josh got out and built the fires. They roasted hot dogs and marshmallows until they were full. Jacob loves gathering the wood and feeding the fire.

And of course there was the snapping turtle fun and trauma!

Thanks for the wonderful time and sacrifices to come see us.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Turtle trauma

Jacob & I were playing chase when I almost stepped on a turtle. When Jacob nicely got close to pet the turtle, he got a big surprise!! I got the turtle to do the same thing to my shoe, finally, as you'll see here. Casey will never hear the "I had a little turtle, his name was Tiny Tim" song the same way again :D

Monday, May 18, 2009

"I had to do that."

One of Casey's teachers relayed this story to Josh today: when Casey woke up from her nap she bolted upright and let out a long, loud fart. She looked around, smiled, and announced, "I had to do that." Her teacher said they all got a big kick of out of that one!

Mother's Day Weekend

The weekend started out with a lovely brunch on Saturday morning with Greg, Amber, Maeve, Gage, and some of their friends. We played in the park and then took a nice walk through Frick Park. Here you can see Jacob going making a wish on a giant Dandelion, and below you can see Maeve looking very sylvan. Also check out Gage's super smile! We've only seen Gage a few times since he was born, and he's a delight!

Maeve holding Dandelions and Gage, Greg and Amber

Kids playing on the Merry Go Round

At the main playground at Frick park there is an old fashioned metal merry-go-round. The kids make it speed up or slow down using their bodies. It makes me physically sick to my stomach to watch in go around; also, it's scary. But Casey sat near the center like a princess and let the bigger kids speed her around. They happily obliged. Jacob got very good and running and jumping on the merry-go-round in order to enjoy his self-generated momentum!

Mother's Day Weekend, cont.

The weekend ended with a sumptuous Mother's Day brunch at Dan and Erica's house. Dan made yummy French Toast and Erika made grits with bacon. After Jacob took one bite of the grits he exclaimed, "this is DELICIOUS!" We all burst out laughing, since this is definitely not how Jacob normally greets his AM gruel! Josh made a lovely Frittata and a fruit salad with grapes and strawberries. Mama Newman made nothing and got to sleep in!

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Meeting Anouk and her family on the way to Dave Kaufer's Party

Last week our dear friend David Kaufer was honored with an elaborate fete at Phipps Conservatory. We dressed the kids up for the occasion and ran into Casey's good friend and classmate Anouk on our way to the party. Anouk is about to have a little a baby brother! There were more than 150 people eating the wonderful grilled asparagus, fruit, cheese, and crackers, ginger ale for Jacob, and a jazz band from CMU. As you can see in the little video I posted below, the kids really got into the music! When the speeches started Josh kindly took the kids home to bed; Roy, Marian and Bianca were kind enough to drop me home after the festivities were over!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Jacob and Casey dancing at Dave Kaufer's Party

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Jacob explains the revolutionary war

This morning I was cutting up an egg carton to use for a later art project. Jacob saw an American flag on the carton.

"That's the American flag."
"Yes, it is!" I replied.
"We got that flag because we won the game. If someone else would have won, we would have had their flag."
"That's right. We won the game."
"Who were the good guys?"
"Well, we think of ourselves as the good guys, but now we're friends with the other team, the British."
"I'm glad we got our flag."
"Me, too."

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma and Nana!

Hi Nana and Grandma. Happy Mother's Day! Today me and my daddy are making mommy a special breakfast. We're going to Dan and Erica's to celebrate. Daddy says we're supposed to let mommy sleep in. What is she supposed to sleep in? I'm eating a really good ice cream in these pictures. The cone was green. Can you see it? Green is my favorite color. Grandma, do you like green? Nana, I got your postcard. Thanks! I hope you were not too tired after climbing that wall, or mountain thing, or whatever. I got a lot of stickers today for being nice to Casey. Sometimes Casey isn't nice to me and then I'm sad. Oh, also, sometimes I'm bad and sometimes Casey is good and sometimes I am good and Casey is bad. Anyway, Happy Mother's Day! I love you. Bye bye.

Happy Mother's Day, Nana and Grandma!

Dear Nana (in China!) and Grandma (in Cullman!). Here I am eating the best ice cream ever (the Premium brand from Trader Joe's) in these special multi colored ice cream cones that daddy got me. Oh, and there is also a picture of me riding the "fish on a spring" at the park. I like to laugh a lot, especially with my dad and my brother. Grandma, I can't wait to see you in Alabama. Actually (Casey's new favorite word lately) I want to play with Petey and also Papa. Please can you make pancakes? And Nana, where is China? Is it far away? I will see you, soon, also, and I hope the playhouse has lots of toys in it for me. I love playing in the kitchen but my favorite is making pancakes in the mud. Also, I love all sweet things. Bye bye!

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Working Out

Josh just told me that he lost a pound in one day. Jacob overheard us and asked, "which pound did you lose?" Josh replied: "Hopefully the one around my belly."

The Mystery of Why Casey Want's to Get a New Car Solved

For the last 4 weeks Casey has been telling us, almost every day, that she wants a new car. Our neighbor Alan has a Nissan Pathfinder, and so sometimes she says "I want Alan's car." But mostly she just says, when she gets in the car to ride home from day care, "I want a new car."

I often ask her why, and one day she finally explained told me. She said "because we hit the bicycle."

Now, here is some back story. About 5 weeks ago a bike pulled out in front of us, not in an intersection, but just pulled out in front of us on a busy road. The cyclist was a Physics professor in his 80s. Our car hit the old Physics professor; he rolled up on our car a little bit, and then fell onto the pavement. We immediately called 911, stayed with him for about 20 minutes to see how he was doing, and then we drove him home. He kept saying, over and over, "I'm sorry. It was my fault." It was his fault, but it was hard not to feel really bad for the poor guy.

Anyway, during our collision with the bike a small reflector panel at the front of our car got cracked and now there is a small hole in it. Almost every day, after she gets out of the car when we're back at home, Casey inspects the damage. She crouches down, puts her finger in the hole, and says, "our car is broken."

And this is why Casey want a new car.

Meanwhile, a few weeks after our accident I saw the old Physics professor. He was biking alongside a narrow lane of traffic, in the pouring rain.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Tooth Fairy Strikes Again!

Jacob lost another tooth last week to match the one he lost last year. The night he lost the tooth I told him a long story about the tooth fairy's cave, and how she lived in the woods and used the teeth that she collected from children to decorate the walls of her cave. I thought it was pretty cool story. But the next morning, when Jacob found a $1.00 bill under his pillow he had a better idea. He said, "I think the tooth fairy has a machine that she uses to turn teeth into money!" Wow, that would be pretty cool! Great imagination, Jacob!

Learning Tower in Action

I've been really happy with the learning tower that we bought for Casey's birthday. This weekend I filled the sink up with soapy water and the kids played in the water for a long time. Casey called it her "water table." We also used it to make popovers, which would have been great but I took them out of the oven before they were done. The kids enjoyed them, nonetheless, and I loved being able to work with them both in the kitchen without the fear that one of them would fall off the stool!

Outing to Fox Chapel Flower and Wildlife Reserve

In the top photo Casey is sitting in the stroller which I was probably wrong to bring. Though it gave us a few minutes of peace from whiny wails, we had to push it over the terrain as if we were traveling in a covered wagon on the way to Oregon. How did those pioneers do it! At Jacob's school last week, I had to watch a one hour film on the importance of bringing kids into nature; I slightly resented the propaganda, though I shared the film's sentiments. I had to admit that on our Sunday AM hike the kids did come alive in the woods. Casey especially loves to run, and all three kids enjoyed the dirt and the water. This trail is famous for having loads of trillium and Virginia Bluebell, all of which was in bloom.

The weather was unseasonable hot (in the 80s) and so our stop at the creek towards the end of the walk was the trip highlight. Josh swung Jacob upside down in the water, which he loved, and Amon and Casey were more into throwing stuff in the water. Also, some of the trail had fences to protect the wildflowers from deer. Deer are basically pests in this environment, and are especially bad for erosion, etc., because they'll eat the roots that hold up the banks of the streams!

Saturday, May 02, 2009

love at first sight

A couple of nights ago, I hung out with Jacob for hours while Kathy neglected the family ;) At one point, Jacob began volunteering information about his day at Cyert Center, something quite rare, as Kathy can attest to. You normally couldn't waterboard school information out of him. (I guess waterboarding's not all that funny...) Anyway, he told me that a woman had come and read a book about penguins to his class and that she was from the library. He then exclaimed "I thought she was pretty and I only saw her once--isn't that crazy?!" I said that was cool, and that people often found other people pretty the first time they saw them. I then asked him who else he thought was pretty, and he said Michelle at school, Chris (another teacher), and sometimes Lilly--but not all the time :)

Jacoblog

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Ten Days with Grandma and Papa Gregson