One, two, tree, sixteen, BOON!

I hate to brag. (Bragging will now commence.) My precious daughter has the fine motor ability to stack 16 wooden blocks. She starts out like most children. One block, now another, here's a third. She starts to feel like something special happens around block 7. She gets a little smile and says, "Uh oh, ooohh!" She selects another block and carefully places number 8. If she is on the floor or working at the table, the stack of blocks becomes to high to place the next block with her short, little arm.

She is not deterred. She stands up or stands on the chair and keeps on building. Each block builds suspense. She starts to say, "Uh oh, boon." Boon is her word for BOOM! She is trying to say, "Will my super special tower of blocks fall this time?" I say, "Mary, wow! You have so many blocks!" I count them and she counts with me. She says, "One, two, tree, seven, seven, nine, six!" Eventually the tower falls and she puts her hands in the air and says, "BOON!" Then she looks like this:

Garrett's occupational therapist says that Mary should be able to stack 6-8 blocks at her age. Like I said, I hate to brag, but I simply can't help myself.

Arrrr!! The Treasure She's Mine!

I know what you're thinking: Oh, my God, there is actually a new post! Perhaps you thought I had abandoned you forever. No, actually, I have been thinking about Those of You Who Read My Blog quite a bit. I feel a little guilty for neglecting you.

Following my Potter obsession and Post Potter Depression, I was busy entertaining summer guests and visiting my beloved Martinez and it's highly regarded inhabitants. I guess I was just busy. People had babies. I wanted to cook for them. People had problems. I wanted to talk to them. I got tired and wanted to watch mindless television instead of writing. Even if I was in the mood to write and had the time, I would have preferred to be writing fiction and pop psychology. I didn't write that either, but it was nice to think about.

But today something happened that I need to share with those of you who follow the goings on of Mr. Mo and Miss Moo. Today Garrett filled his bean jar. Allow me to explain.

For the past month we have rewarded all of Garrett's good deeds with a dried Garbanzo bean. He was having a little trouble listening to his mommy. So, I told him, "Garrett, every time you do something good, or listen to mommy, or act like a big boy, you will get a bean. When the bean jar is all filled up, then you can have a surprise!"

Garrett said, "OH! Okay! Maybe I can go to that toy store and get a guy." He was referring to his Pappo figurines, which depict various warriors, pirates and fierce creatures.

I said, "Sure, you can pick out a new guy." A week later we went to Walmart (I feel it is necessary to say here that I NEVER go to Walmart as I am against their impact of the American economy. However, I live in a small(ish) town and sometimes you have to do what you have to do to find a particular item. In this case I was looking for a Safety First bed rail for Mary).

At Walmart, Garrett spotted the many Halloween costumes on display. If ever there was a child who was meant for a costume, it is Garrett. Holy moly, he wears them all year long. He still wears his dragon costume from last year. While we were in the forbidden Walmart, Garrett spied a pirate costume that he Must Take Home! He was devastated when we did not take it home. It was all I heard about for hours and hours.

Finally, I said, "Garrett, if you fill your bean jar, you may have the costume." He was delighted that a solution had presented itself.

He said, "Okay mommy, I get my beans and we go get that costume and bring it home."

"Yes, that's the general idea, " I said.

Over the next few days and then weeks every time Garrett got a bean, he reminded me that he would get the pirate costume and bring it home. I started to worry that the pirate costume would no longer be available when the bean jar was filled. I spent my free mornings looking for the blessed costume. It was not to be found. It turns out that Garrett saw a pirate costume for an adult man, not a young boy!

Alas, pirate costumes started to appear. We are in the year of the third installment of Pirates of the Carribean, after all. There is no shortage of $30 Jack Sparrow costumes.

Truly, these costumes suck. They come without the boots. They don't include a sword. Hats are purchased separately. What kind of pirate would just buy a vest, a flouncy shirt, and some pants? Terrible.

While I searched for a reasonably priced, adequately suited pirate costume, the bean jar started to fill. Fliers advertising the sale of costumes arrived in the mail. Garrett started to request additional costumes. He poured over the fliers and said, "OH MOMMY!!! Look at this Spiderman one! I need a Spiderman costume too! Mommy! When I fill that bean jar, I need TWO costumes: Pirate and Spiderman. Okay?"

Oh dear.

In a matter of days, Garrett added yet another costume to his grand reward. I don't know how to tell you about this costume. He saw it on an episode of Scooby Doo. Some dude is wearing a gown-like robe with a scary rubbery mask, designed to frighten away those meddling kids. The monster raises his arms above his head, wags his tongue and says, "Bluh-blugh, blubbety blugh blugh blugh!!!!" Then he chases Scooby and Shaggy until he is unmasked by the clever Thelma, Fred, and Daffney. You can image my confusion when Garrett announced, "Mommy, when I fill that bean jar, I will get THREE costumes: that Spiderman costume, that pirate costume, and that Blugh-blugh-blughbetty-blugh-blugh costume," while waving his arms in the air so that I would be sure which costume he meant.

Oh dear again.

It takes a lot longer to fill a bean jar than you might think. Just try to fill one every time you think you are worthy. After 30+ days of listening to mommy, going to bed without milk, sharing with Mary, saying please and thank you, finishing every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, doing well at Speech Therapy, being a good boy at school, and generally being a 4 year old superstar, Garrett filled his bean jar!

Today I invited Garrett to wear his pirate costume (see below for where I found said costume). Today he wore it with pride. He let Mary wear the hat. He stared at himself in every available reflective surface of our house. To my utter astonishment, he did not ask for the Spiderman costume (which I have hidden away because I am a total pushover mommy), or the blughbity-blugh-blugh costume, which does not exist. Today he is simply Pirate Garrett, Master of the Sea, Earner of Beans.


P.S. I found the Pirate Costume at The Children's place. It still cost 30 bucks, but it is nice enough to last us all year.

P.S.S. I'll post a picture of Garrett in his costume tomorrow. Did you think you'd get a post and a picture all in one day?

Potter's Eve

You may have noticed the lapse in my writing this summer. In addition to hosting some very welcomed visitors, I have been too preoccupied with my Potter obsession to write about Miss Moo and Mr. Mo. You see, Mr. Potter and I have a very important date tomorrow night (July 21, 2007 Midnight). In preparation for the 7th and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I have meticulously re-read books 1-6, have carefully perused several "speculation" books, and have dutifully listened to all of the recent MuggleCast podcasts. I'm ready to have all the answers that book 7 promises to deliver.

My Potter interest will always be linked with the 7th month of my pregnancy with Miss Moo. At that time my back was killing me and I had some trouble sleeping. Some friends suggested that I read the Harry Potter books while I was resting. (Interestingly, I watched the first Harry Potter movie while I was timing my contractions with Garrett, so the thought of engaging the written Potter while waiting for Mary appealed to me.) Book 6 had just been released so I set out to read the lot and see what the big deal was about the famous Harry Potter.

Before too long I was wanting to "scourgify" the house instead of clean it. I wanted to incant "accio milk!" when Garrett woke in the night. Summoning charms would make life so much easier. I imagined little house elves emptying the diaper bin and picking up the toys. Oh, if only I had a wand and a house elf! I also spent wakeful moments considering the interesting perspectives of adolescents, such as Harry and his friends, and older and sometimes wiser seasoned individuals, such as Dumbledore and his colleagues. J.K. Rowling has a gift for relating the thought processes, motives, and emotional triggers of people of all ages. In short, there is a little something for everyone in the Harry Potter novels.

Book 7 is the only book in the series that I have had to wait for. But I am glad that I can say that I waited for it-- that I was part of an fan base that counted down the days for a much anticipated work of fiction. I often think of how thrilling it was for my grandmother to eagerly purchase the next L.M. Montgomery novel and discover what could be learned about the latest adventures and life experiences of her favorite literary character Anne of Green Gables. My grandma turned me on to the idea of reading when I was in grade school and lent me her personal copies of the precious early editions of her "Anne books." My own copies of Harry Potter won't be as special, but the thrill of watching Garrett and Mary open the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time will be great.

Tomorrow morning I will go to Border's bookstore where I have reserved my copy of Deathly Hallows. I will get my wristband and reserve my place in line for the midnight release of the book. I will head out to Border's at 10:00 pm and take a peek at the other muggles who are chomping at the bit for their book. At 11:00 pm I will attend the Border's Release Party where I will have to take in the experience as a deaf person because I intend to wear earplugs and avoid any gossip of spoilers or plot leaks. After obtaining my copy I will go home, put on my pjs, fire up the coffee pot, and finally learn if and how Harry Potter will triumph over the evil Lord Voldemort!

I will not write, call, read the news, check my e-mail, or anything of that sort until I'm done reading. I will, however, take time out to celebrate my sixth wedding anniversary. Chris and I are quickly learning sign language so that I can take my earplugs with me on our date-- 'cause you just know that the other people at the restaurant will be talking Potter and they'll reveal the end of the book or some tasty detail that I have been waiting to savor myself!

Happy reading to all you fellow fans. If you're not a Potter fan, this weekend would be a great time to run errands or take a trip; you may be the only person on the road. See you after "The End."

"Tay too, mommy" and Other New Sounds

I need to play a little catch up on Mary and Garrett's developments!

Lately Mary is saying "Tay too" (thank you) for everything. If I hand her a goldfish, she says "tay too, Mommy." Sometimes she says, "Oh, tay too."
She is no longer saying "ghee". She says something more like "he go" for "here ya go."
She is frequently asking where people are. She asks for her daddy all day ("where daddy go?"). When her daddy gets home she gets really excited and screams Daddy! and runs to him. Then she kind of forgets that she had been wondering about him all day. If I try to escape to another area of the house, she finds me. Or I can hear her all around the house saying, "Where mommy go?" When she wakes up in the morning she asks, "Where g-mamma go? Where g-daddy?" She had a visit from her grandmother and granddaddy Fraley and she is wondering where they went.
If I scold her and say, "Mary, no! Don't touch that." She responds by saying, "No! Stop!" She loves to tell me to STOP!
She has started saying "happy" and "scary."
She loves the Teletubbies, whom she affectionately calls "Bubbies."
She calls outside "side" and she wants to go "side" all the time. She likes to wear her snow boots and tromp around.
Perhaps the most idiosyncratic of all of Mary's expressions right now is "Bye-bye! See you!" She does it all the time. She says it to people at the grocery store, to waiters, to her shows (Bye-bye show! See you!") to anything that she leaves behind. When she's ready for bed she says, "Bauble of nilk! Night night. Bye bye see you."
Mary will pick up any telephone, which she calls a "hello", or anything that remotely resembles a telephone and start talking into it. She talks and talks and talks and talks! Then she signs off, bye-bye see you!

Jumbo Shrimp and Goldfish

Mary and Garrett started their swim lessons this week. Mary goes at 8:30 in the morning and I get in the pool with her. She's a Jumbo Shrimp. Garrett goes at 10:00 and he takes a class with an instructor and two other kids. He's a Goldfish. Those of you who have known me since puberty know that I DO NOT get in pools and I most certainly DO NOT wear swimsuits. Let my behavior this week, which included both the wearing of suits and the entering of pools, be a testament of my love for my children. One blessing is that the pool is indoors and I can avoid the heat which I also actively avoid.

First let me say that a baby in a swimsuit, exploring the water is about the cutest thing in the world. The children's pool at our aquatic center is wonderful. It can be entered the way you enter the water at the beach, where the depth gradually increases from 0 depth to 3 ft. 6 inches. It has a little dinosaur slide for the kids to go down and land in 2 inches of water. When we first entered the pool area, Mary said "ooohhhhh!" and immediately headed for the water with absolutely no fear. I almost failed to stop her. Our first class basically allowed her to explore the water and get comfortable with being in it. She loves to walk in the shallow parts and go down the slide. For our second class Mary and I stayed in the part of the pool where Mary cannot touch the bottom. I have to hold her in a swim position, with her face looking at my face, and encourage her to kick her feet.

Today one of the instructors said, "Would you like to encourage Mary to put her head under the water?" My eyes almost popped out of my head. Put her head under the water? They do know that babies can't breathe under the water, right? What if she swallows the water and drowns in front of my eyes? Good Lord. Another mother had the instructor dunk her baby because she didn't have the stomach for it. I didn't think I could do it either. But the instructor was very supportive and assured me that babies have an instinct to hold their breath and said Mary would be fine. I said, okay, here goes. It was probably the quickest dunk in all of baby swimming history because I was so nervous. Mary came up with her wet head, looked a little surprised and thought nothing of it. Whew.

When Garrett has his lesson, Mary and I watch from the mezzanine. Garrett likes to wave at us. We wave back. We clap when he does something impressive, like use a kick board and let his teacher hold him in a float position. The first time I handed him over to the instructor a wave of fear came over me. I said, "He doesn't know anything." I wanted to give the instructor his biography or something. Before you put my son in that pool, you should know that he has trouble holding a pencil. He'll probably want to splash the other children. He's very sensitive and you should tell him that he's doing a good job whenever he does the slightest thing. His birthday is January 31 and he's an Aquarius. Will that help? He's tall for his age and isn't as old as he looks. When he says, "My name-a-Garit," he's telling you that his name is Garrett. Two Rs, two Ts.

Fortunately, Garrett did just fine without me giving his instructor the 411. He's about as happy as a kid can be and he tells me ALL MORNING that it's Garrett's turn to get in the pool. Given the bliss that we are all experiencing in the pool, I took it upon myself to buy Chris a swimsuit too. When he gets in the pool it will truly be the summer of miracles.

Can't Buy Me Love

This story is almost too cute to believe. Yesterday we hosted a party for Isabela's mommy and daddy, who are expecting a baby next month. All the kids had a great time playing together, but Isabela and Garrett were particularly attached. Isabela "protected" Garrett from some of the other girls and Garrett supported Isabela's ideas for play. At one point Isabela and Garrett bumped heads and Garrett cried. Isabela cried because Garrett was crying and somehow felt responsible for the incident. In order to get Isabela to stop crying, I had to get Garrett to stop crying and tell Isabela that he was okay.

Today we went over to Isabela's house to pick up some of the remaining party supplies. It was a beautiful morning and we spent some time visiting in their beautiful yard. The kids disappeared into the house and played inside. After a while our parent sensors went off and we decided we had better make sure the kids were not getting into trouble in the house. We entered the house and witnessed this scene: Isabela was wearing a pretty dress, Garrett had been dressed in a sport-coat style jacket over his t-shirt and they were slow dancing 8th-grade style to instrumental Beatles music. They realized we were watching, got mildly embarassed and sat on the couch about 3 inches apart with their hands in their laps. It was so darn cute.

Back from washington, D.C.

Garrett and Mary and I just returned from a great visit with our friends in Washington, D.C. We spent a few days with the Fischer Family: Emily, Bill, Aidan (3.5) and Ella (2); and then a few days with the Lynch Family: Anna, Steve, Connor (2.5), and Kerrigan (15 mos.). With Garrett and Mary added to the mix it was a lot of kids, but they all played so well together it was actually an easier parenting situation than I normally experience. Of course a major factor in the ease of parenting was the presence of two other fantastic and considerate mommies (Emily and Anna). Garrett loved playing with the boys and having some other kids with whome he could horse around. Since Garrett was occupied playing with the boys, Mary was free to explore the new mecca of toys. I had many moments of pride in the families that Emily, Anna, and I have created.

We also had the joy of visiting with our "Fraunt" Heather, who drove from New York to visit with us and our children. I had a wonderful and rare opportunity to leave Garrett and Mary with Anna and Emily and go out with Heather for some lunch and shopping. I owe a debt of gratitude to Anna and Em for giving me the opportunity to a) visit with a friend that I rarely get to see, b) go with that friend to a lunch in a restaurant that was absent of wiggling children, and c) and shop with my very best shopper friend.

Garrett and Mary are busy talking about their new friends and are eager to return. I hope it will be soon!