This Picture is for Matt

I ordered Star Wars cupcakes for Garrett. The cupcakes are decorated with R2D2, c3PO, and Darth Vader. These must be the easiest plastic images that China can produce. But, wouldn't a young boy want to see Luke and Hans Solo? How about a Millenium Falcon? I'm not complaining because I got 30 delicious cupcakes for $11. I'm just saying, a hero is a hero and he deserves to be represented on a cake.

Official Shark Business

This is Mary's favorite hat. She puts the hat on and then proceeds to do Official Shark Business, such as filling the bathroom sink with water and washing all the toothbrushes. OSB also includes acquiring Garrett's toys, removing the pads from my headphones, and relocating most of my shoes. The upside is that she is very happy when conducting OSB; the downside is that she cunning and predatory. I think she prefers her Shark persona to her Spidaham persona. This evening she took a ride with Chris to pick up Thai food wearing the shark hat. The shark cruised into the restaurant and taunted the inhabitants until the order was ready. No one is safe.

Now, what name should we give this creature:

Growing Pains

Last night Garrett and I went through our bedtime routine and then I said goodnight. About 5 minutes later I heard him crying. I went to investigate and found him on his bed holding his leg. He said, "Mommy, my leg hurts."
"Where?" I asked.
He pointed to his knee and clutched it. "It really hurts mommy."
I said, "Oh, you know what, sweetheart, you probably have growing pains. You're just growing up." At this news he started to cry harder.
He said, "I don't want to grow up!"
"Don't you want to be big like daddy?"
"NO!"
I think he thought that he would go to sleep and wake up 6 feet tall. I gave him some pain reliever and a few more kisses. Then he said, "Mommy, I think I better sleep in your bed." Maybe he thought his bed would be too small by morning.

Poor Garrett. I think he will have a lot of growing pains.

Happy 5th Birthday, Garrett!

Garrett turned 5 today. When Garrett is more perceptive about the benefits of having a birthday, he will surely cry out in frustration that his birthday is in January. First of all, It's only 1 month after Christmas. The Christmas loot is still making Garrett's eyes bug out of his head, so the appearance of birthday gifts is like an aftershock of goodness. In fact, I only gave Garrett the gifts he received in the mail today and one gift from his grandparents. We're going to have some friends over for dinner on my birthday this Tuesday, so I'll give him our gifts then.

The second undesirable quality of Garrett's birthday is that it is in the dead of winter and he lives in the Midwest. The good news is that the kids at school experienced a welcomed relief from the winter doldrums as Garrett storm-trooped into class today with his Star Wars cupcakes and party paraphernalia. Yes, a good time was had by all. The bad news is that when we got home, the latest of a series of winter storms kicked in and we now have 6 inches of snow. It's not a big deal, since we were in for the day, but WHAT IF I had planned a birthday party? Nobody would have been able to come. In fact, this is the reason that I have not planned a formal birthday party for Garrett-- you just never know. Last Thursday school was canceled because the wind chill was MINUS 20. Can you just see us sitting at home with 30 frozen Star Wars cupcakes?

Here's how we are handling the situation. If the weather is above 25, we have a birthday moment--we invite a friend over to play an make treats and stick a candle in whatever we make. If school is open, we have a birthday moment--we spend 20 minutes wrapping ourselves in various forms of fabric and then grab the party hats and horns and head out. If the cabin fever is eating away at our brains, we have a birthday moment--we retrieve a birthday gift from the closet and celebrate its novelty. I'm ready to convince Garrett that toothpicks are miniature Tinker Toys. Don't worry, I'll put a bow on them.

I guess we can all be grateful that we have Garrett's birthday to spice up our Annual Midwest January Tundra Event. One thing is for sure: Garrett's birthday will always include surprises. Oh and my birthday is just 5 days away.... wonder what gift mother nature will bestow? Not to worry, I have her outsmarted. I'm making a dinner the day before in case I can't get to the store; I'm inviting our faithful and delightful neighborhood friends over for my birthday celebration because they can just walk here in the event of prohibitive snow; and, hey, since we won't be driving, I'm making birthday cocktails! Cheers!

Make Them Walk the Plank!

This morning before Chris left for work, Garrett, Mary, and Chris were pretending to be pirates. The Scooby Doo Pirate Movie is popular in our house this week, and the kids want to play pirates all the time. Garrett likes to play the captain. This morning he was ordering Chris to make his prisoner walk the plank. I was the prisoner since Mary was first mate. While trying to brush my teeth, I pretended to walk the plank, express fear, and fall to my death. For dramatic effect, I then pretend to be eaten by sharks.

After the gruesome scene was over, Chris announced that he had to go to work. Garrett said, "No daddy, you play pirates with me."
"I have to go to another ship and scrub the deck, Garrett!"
"Can I come with you?" Garrett asked.
"No, I have to go to this ship alone! It's too dangerous."
"Are there bad guys?"
"Yes, lots of bad guys."
"But Daddy, I can help you. I can get them with my sword!"
"Aw, that's sweet of you Garrett, but I have to fight these bad guys on my own. Go enlist your first mate to help you out here."
"Ok, Daddy. I'll see you later."

Happy New Year!

Hey just a year ago, I started the Miss Moo and Mr. Mo blog. This year I will try to make some improvements, such as adding video and more pictures. I know some of you will be saying, "And don't forget to try to write more often!" Sure thing. I'll make a deal with you. For every comment you write, I'll write a new entry! My blog is sadly lacking commentary. And it's not like it's not being read because you all seem to know when I haven't been writing.

What exciting adventures will the new year hold for Moo and Mo? Well, this week Miss Moo is moving to the two's room at school. She is officially not a baby anymore. She is already talking up a storm, so I'm sure we'll start seeing lots of entries about the Life According to Moo. Garrett will start Kindergarten in January. I cannot believe it! It will be really exciting to see him experience a full day school program, but I will miss my little buddy! Hmmm... with all this growing up going on, I think I might have to start bugging Chris for the next little bundle. Don't hold your breath though; Chris is trying to count sheep in his future, not kids!

We hope that all of you have a wonderful year. As usual, we wish (and I pray) for you to have great times and even greater health. Cin cin, as the Italians say!

The Happy Ending

That last post (Here You Go, Mommy) was supposed to have a Part Two. It was to be the part where I get over myself and tell you that being home with Mary and Garrett are worth all the gray hairs and long days. That is true, but now I've lost the steam for telling the story. I will tell you the little moment that I experienced that brought me out of my funk. That first week of December was terrible, but it seemed so much more terrible because of the weather. The absolutely great thing that happened that week melted all the ice in my little world! I took Garrett to his OT appointment and played with Mary in the playroom adjacent to Garrett's room. Mary loves to play in there and we had a very nice time exploring all the toys. I love how she is naming all of her shapes and pretending to count. She is so pleased with herself. When I went next door to get Garrett when the hour was up, Garrett presented me with the best gift in the world. It was a paper reindeer. He made it by cutting out a shape that resembles a reindeer head; tracing his hands on paper and then cutting out those shapes; pasting the "hands" on the head to make antlers; drawing little circles for eyes; and then writing every letter of his name on it! He wrote his full name for the very first time!!! I couldn't believe how far he has come with his occupational therapy. When we started he could not use scissors, could not hold a pencil or crayon, and do anything except make hash marks on the paper. Now he can cut a complicated pattern and write all his letters. He was so proud! Since then he's been saying, "Mommy, I can spell my name. Look. G A R R E T T!" He also sings the alphabet like this: a (For Garrett!), b, c, d, e (for Garrett!), f, g, (for Garrett!), h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p. Q, r (for Garrett!), s, t (for Garrett!), u, v, w, x, y, z! It's partly a song, and partly a cheer. Mary has been singing a little song of her own. You may recognize it as Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star. It goes something like this:

(sung like a drunken sailor:)
Tweentle STAR!
Wonder what are...
Up high....
Spiderham!
In the sky!
Tweentle star....
Mommy.

It's a very catchy tune. You may find yourself singing it when you least expect it.