Benjamin Goes to Preschool

At the beginning of this month, Benjamin began attending classes at Redwood Village, thereby making the leap from toddler to preschooler. PRESCHOOLER! Wow, where did the time go? It seemed like just the other day that I found out we were pregnant with him, and now he's going to school. It seemed like we only just toured Redwood and put our names on the waitlist. In reality, it was almost two years ago. Yes, two years ago. Gotta love Los Angeles - the race to stay on your A-game begins with preschool!
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We'd heard that tears weren't uncommon on a child's first day of school, but Benjamin seemed to have no problems adjusting. As soon as we arrived, he saw his friend Nolan and his teacher Ms. Gisele and took off running with nary a backwards glance.

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When I picked him up that afternoon, the teachers said that Benjamin's first day went really well. He enjoyed playing with the other kids, managed to make it to the potty when he needed to, and didn't have any separation issues. They did, however, have two requests of me. They asked that I buy him a smaller lunchbox that was more proportionate to his small stature. They also asked me not to dress him in skinny jeans anymore because he'd spent the day hitching them up after they'd shimmied down below his bottom.
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Whatever could they be talking about?

Defying Gravity 2

As I've mentioned previously, Calliope's hair has supernatural powers. No, it can't read minds, cast invisible protective force fields, or teleport; it defies the rules of physics by refusing to lay down. So after seven months of watching her hair grow taller and taller instead of longer and longer, I decided it was time to put the smack down on it. My weapon of choice? Good old H2O.

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At first it looked like I'd been successful in my bid against its unnatural buoyancy. After drying completely, it managed to creep back to half-mast. Still, it was significantly limper than before. Haha, hair, take that! By the end of the day, however, it was back to its normal state of insubordination:
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I'll get you next time, Gadget!

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By the way, if you didn't understand that pop culture reference, then you are too young to be reading my blog!

Triple Whammy

Back in mid-July, we took our first vacation as a family of four. Our destination? The far-off locale of San Diego! The main purpose of the trip was to meet up with Vince's cousins at Legoland, but we squeezed in some quality time with our favorite San Diegans (San Diegites? San Diegolos?) Mike, Kelly, and Sydney Williams.
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The last time we saw the Williams fam was about a year ago when Calliope was a bun in the oven and Kelly had washboard abs. Now, Kelly's the one with a bun in the oven, and I have washboard abs - not! By the way, Kelly has since delivered her baby, a beautiful little boy named Brandon! Congrats, Williams fam!
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The next morning, we met Vince's family at Legoland. I couldn't help but think back to my first trip to Legoland. It was at the end of 2005, and Vince and I had just started dating. The only kid on the scene was Vince's nephew Ryan. Now, the family tree is just lousy with littl'uns! Above, clockwise from top left: Vince, cousin Ed, and bro-in-law Mike; sister Adele, Ed's wife Grace, and Vince standing behind cousins Ryan and Tyler and second cousin Hana (who was our flower girl!); Hana; Hana's lil' brother Jet; Grace and Calliope.
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Last time we were here, Benjamin was too little to do much, but this time around, he had a great time!

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Calliope was definitely too small to know what was going on, but we did manage to capture this picture of her next to a calliope of a different sort!

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After a long day spent running around Legoland, both kids and grown-ups alike were beat. With smiles on our faces and our tummies full of fried amusement park food, we bid adieu and headed our separate ways.

You may be wondering why the title of this post is "Triple Whammy" and not "Benjamin's Return to Legoland" or "Our First Vacation as a Family of Four" or "Legoland Schmegoland." Well, it was inspired by the veritable dirge my husband repeated over and over AND OVER to anyone who would listen all weekend long. "Hey, Ed, how've the kids been? By the way, I have a Triple Whammy." "Can you get me a tissue? I can't move because of my Triple Whammy." "I can't help you put the kids to bed... I have a Triple Whammy." And what is this dreaded Triple Whammy? A case of tuberculosis, a gangrenous toe and a fractured skull? A migraine and two missing limbs? Nope. The Triple Whammy that so incapacitated my husband was a stiff neck, a head cold, and (drum roll) a canker sore. At one point, I was so exasperated by his Triple Whammy-induced paralysis that I remarked that I didn't complain half as much even after I'd had a c-section. His response? "Well, you didn't have a canker sore at the same time." And no, he wasn't joking when he said that!

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You also may be wondering why it took me till now to write about an event that happened over two months ago. Well, canker sore or no canker sore, I've been busy dealing with a Triple Whammy of my own:
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Calliope's First Trip to the Playground (and my trip down Memory Lane)

With the end of summer near, we've been spending as much time as possible outside. Last weekend, we walked over to the neighborhood playground with our neighbors Shawn, Julie, Nolan, and baby Kieran. Up until this point, Calliope had spent most of our playground trips tucked into her stroller or into my sling, but not this time. This time she was gonna hang out with the big kids! We plopped her into one of the baby swings, pulled back on the swing, crossed our fingers that she wouldn't start screaming, and let go...

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Well, she did start screaming, but not in fear - in utter delight! With each pass, Calliope's pigtails fluttered like handlebar streamers on a bicycle, and she couldn't stop giggling, shrieking, and waving her fists in joy.

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Benjamin and Nolan wanted in on the fun, so we let them give her a push, but boys being boys, they fought over whose turn it was to do it. We wound up having to take them over to the big boy swings on the other side of the playground.
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As I watched them swing back and forth, I thought back to their first time at this park together:

.God, they're growing up fast!

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words...
. That one was worth exactly 70:
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Oh, Oliver, no matter what happens, no matter how many rugrats I have or how many years go by, you will always - always! - be my first baby.

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A (Self-)Portrait of the Artist as a (Very) Young Man

A few days ago, while I was puttering in the kitchen, Benjamin was around the corner in his playroom. I could hear him in there making all sorts of noise, and then all of the sudden, it got quiet. Then I heard him say in a soft, slow voice, "Eyes... Nose... Mouse..." Mouse? Huh? I ran over to see what was going on.

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The Boo was standing in front of his MagnaDoodle and had drawn upon it a face. A face with two eyes, a nose, a pursed little "mouse," and even some hair. I asked him, "Benjamin, who is that?" He beamed up at me, placed his hand on his chest and proudly replied, "It's Ben Ben!"
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Call me biased, but I think this self-portrait bears more than a passing resemblance to its subject - right down to the messy little mohawk!