Life in the Boonies

“Week of the Young Child” Fair was today and held at our local park.  Don’t know why it is called week of when it is just one day.  Of course Frank slept in late since we were planning to be somewhere.  He got up at 7:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed.  By 9 Frank was dressed in the cute shortalls and button-down shirt outfit grandma got him.  And just yesterday he decided he will tolerate a hat.  That only extends to the hat he picked, which is tie-dyed.  A great hat to match all your colorful needs.  The fair doesn’t start til 10 but Frank was eagerly climbing on his stroller and pointing at the door.  So mom took him out to the front yard.  He played on the grass, fiddled the garage door knob, and tried to chase a lizard into the brush.  Then we visited our neighbor who was having a garage sale.  Some chitchats that Frank grew tired of soon.  Then we packed up our things and headed out.

As we drove past the park, families with strollers, double strollers, walking kids, running kids filled the sidewalks.  All heading toward the park.  Probably no more parking left inside the park so we went to the nearest shopping mall and parked where many others did the same.  The park was big and had a train, a carousel, two big play structures, several play areas, a pond for crawdad fishing, a metal boat structure in the pond, swings, and a whole lot more.  Even at 10:15 it was crowded.  Lots of information booths and vendors set up on the grass.  Mom went to chat up at the booths and gathered bags of goodies from various local organizations, including a pair of shades.  Frank has not warmed up to them yet.  Then she found Frank and dad sitting by the inflated party houses.  Take off those shoes and lets go bounce.  That is just what we did, mom and Frank.  Dad took numerous pictures.  Then the carousel caught his eyes so we got out and headed towards that.  On the way we bumped into our friendly librarian who does our weekly Thursday programs at the library booth.  We smiled at her and she gave Frank a ball to throw.  Along the path we saw our favorite trampoline and found our tumbling instructor there.  Everyone we know is here!  We chatted with her and Frank crawled through a long tunnel.  Then he let her hold him while he bounced on the trampoline.  Another kid was in line for that so we didn’t linger too long.

Finally we made it to the carousel.  Dad did anyways, to save our spot in line.  Mom and Frank went to spin a wheel to win a yellow rubber ducky.  Frank was not so successful but the lady gave him one anyways.  Then we see dad chatting up our friend from the mommy’s club.  We joined them and it was hard to talk with the loud carousel music and our children making noises.  In the end, her daughter decided it was going to make her dizzy so they left before our turn.  Frank tolerated it while mom strapped him on the horse.  Then he was no longer a willing participant so we sat on the bench instead, waving to dad each time we passed him for pictures.  Mom really wanted Frank to ride the train but he was starting to look tired and the line was rather long.  We ate some snacks in the shade while listening to tellings of Dr. Seuss’s stories.  As we headed to our car, more and more people were still coming.

Frank seemed happy and awake when we got home.  He played with the purple balloon and helped mom sort all the information packets she got.  One neat thing we learned was that there are local programs for reading, music and stuff that are free for children 0 to 5.  Also there are free books and material sponsored by the city to get children ready for kindergarten and to promote the local schools by getting the parents familiar with their facilities.  We signed up for those mailing lists and looks forward to finding more fun things for Frank to be apart of.

A great nap today lasting for almost 3 hours.  If only everyday can be like this.  A really late lunch, some time in the backyard, a bath and the day is mostly over.  Not much appetite for dinner so off to bed.

So many things to update and it has only been a week.

Picky Eater
Gone is the child that eats everything put in front of him. Gone for quite some time now. But now Frank is especially picky about green vegetables. Anything green goes into the cup holder and then the cup goes on top to hide it. Yesterday we got him to eat some greenbeans as the other choice was bokchoy. Bananas have gone out of style. Maybe overdosed? Now breakfast is mostly bread and peanut butter. We rotate fruits. It could also be due to needing less to eat as Frank often stops wanting anymore.

Blocks
Frank is finally starting to stack blocks. His record is 5 blocks and that only happened once. He gets alot more joy from knocking them down, especially when mom stacks them up real high and gives crashing down sound effects.

A New Class
We tried out a tumbling class (like Gymboree) last Friday. Frank was shy at first but was quickly attracted to testing out the colorful mats. He explored as mom and the instructor followed, bringing out things Frank pointed to with interest. Frank also watched all the older kids playing around. Finally he saw them on the trampoline and that sealed the deal. We climbed up there and sat around bouncing. Frank had a great time. When the session was over, Frank didn’t want to leave. As mom was getting her shoes on Frank walked back onto the mats and headed straight to the trampoline. We are looking forward to going again this Friday.

Balls
Frank likes them very much. He goes to get the green or purple ball he has when we ask him where is his ball. He also likes to throw it. On earth day, Frank found a picture of a balloon in his book and pointed at it several times. Later when we went to Home Depot they were giving away energy conserving light bulbs and the table was decorated with many balloons. Frank kept pointing and pointing. Eventually the lady offered one to him and we came home with a green balloon. He better not get the idea that everything he points to in the picture books mom and dad will get him at the store. We went out to play tennis again, even though it was drizzling. Frank was our ball boy. He fetch the tennis balls and bring them to mom/dad. Often he just sat down in the middle of the court.

No Sucky Thumb?
Frank kept pointing to the grapes so we gave him two before heading out to the store. We thought he wanted to eat them. Instead, he just held them. One in each hand. After visiting two stores and reaching home Frank still had the grapes. They were really warm by then. He didn’t suck his thumb the entire time since his hands were occupied so he didn’t fall asleep in the car even though it was nap time. When he finally went down for a nap it lasted over 3 hours. That is a new record. We tried to repeat this the next day but Frank ate the grape 10 minutes into the car ride. Oh well.

Very Fast
Frank moves with speed. He is also less afraid to wander off. At the playground he walked all along the path while mom called for him to come back. He almost made it to he street. That is when he wants to explore. At RiteAid mom took a moment to look at some toothbrushes and next thing she knows, Frank was no longer within sight. Mom ran down the isle and found him around the corner. He did it again and was on his way back down the next isle over when mom chased him down.

Playgroup and Park
Great playgroup this week. Frank played nicely and didn’t cling to mom. All the kids are mobile now and they were all over the playroom. Frank and Spencer had a head on collision cuz neither was looking and both going fast. Lots of picking things up and throwing it around. Mostly soft toys. At the park Frank is also able to play along side other kids. They climb up the structures and goes down the slides. When we have a ball, they will throw that around and chase it, etc. He might be showing some competitiveness as well. When one of the bigger kid was climbing up the big structure, Frank tried really hard and showed more drive to get up the ladder. They would go down the big twirly slide back to back and have a pileup at the bottom. Of course, Frank is still sliding down on his tummy.

Bangkok 8
by John Burdett

Strange story with a strange ending. Of course it takes place in Thailand. A marine is killed by snakes and a local cop teamed up with FBI tries to find the killer. They try to pin it on a rich and powerful man who has connections up to the U.S. President. The whole thing takes place in the red light district so lots of sex. The local cop is a Buddhist so lots of that as well. I finished it just to see the end, which was unexpected and strange.

Frank has discovered that his finger fits in his nostrils perfectly. He especially likes to test them out during lunch. Food stuck on the finger ends up in his nose. He smiles when mom tells him not to stick his finger in his nose. He can entertain himself with that and with flicking the sprout of the sippycup with his teeth to squirt water forward. He laughs and laughs even when mom and dad says no while keeping a straight face.

Frank is starting to run. He runs away when it is diaper changing time. Turns right around if he was heading this way and bolt in the other direction. He must understand what mom is saying. Sometimes dad chases Frank around in circles giggling up a storm. Frank is also falling more. Lots of forward falls where his legs are not going as fast as the rest of his body. Also he trips on all the toys on the floor. He is starting to learn to walk around things instead of trying to go through all that is in his way.

Frank loves to throw his balls. The big ones he like to pick up with two hands and carry in front of his face. He tries to run and throw as if that will give the ball more momentum. With the little nerf football, he likes to hold it behind his head. Sometimes he throws it forward. Other times, he lets go before swinging his arm out so the ball lands behind him. At the park Frank likes to throw the balls off the slide.

We are now starting to play on the big structure. Frank can’t get on this one without help. He has lots of upper body strength. He pulls up on the ladder thing while mom tries to get his foot into the right places. Then he pushes up and we do this for several steps til he has reached the top. Then he will climb to the twirly slide. Mom goes down with him so he can sit in front of mom. As soon as we land, Frank goes back to the steps again. And we do this til he gets distracted by something else fun. He likes to slide down sitting forward but mom is not sure if he can do it himself since he often tries to turn or leans forward.

Lots of teeth coming out now. Top left canine is half way out. Top left molar is breaking surface. Bottom left molar has surfaced from the gums. Top right canine is also visible. Bottom right molar looks very swollen so any day now. Maybe that is causing this morning’s crankiness.

Several big falls occurred in the past week. No sustained injuries except for raising mom’s blood pressure. While sitting on dad’s neck, Frank managed to reach the blinds and pull so hard trying to get higher the piece broke off and he tumbled down dad’s back. Luckily he rolled onto the couch and landed on the cushion. He was rather scared from that incident. Fell off the bed again! This time it was like Five little monkeys jumping on the bed…. Frank stood up on the bed and was bouncing with his stuffed animal as mom was saying sit down. He lost his balance and sat, but too close to the edge. So, one fell off and bumped his head. Mama didn’t call the doctor cuz she knows he will say NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED.

City of Bones
by Michael Connelly

Another Michael Connelly book since I’m familiar with him already and I’m still waiting for some books that are on hold. The story was ok. It really didn’t live up to the other two books (The Poet and The Narrows).

This one stars the recurring detective, Harry Bosch. The mystery is one kid who was killed 20 years ago. A dog finds the bone and that starts the entire investigation. It was very much like a CSI/Bones type of story, although I don’t really watch those shows. So they find the kid was badly abused for the 12 years of life that he did live. Once they identified the boy, his father became the prime suspect. There are some twists to the story but the main plot wasn’t all that intense.

The part that intrigued me was the rookie female cop that Harry gets involved with. She dies in the story and that twist was unexpected and also unrelated to the main plot. The story also ends with Harry retiring from the force with his “murder book” of unsolved cases. I’m guessing there will be many other stories featuring him as a PI (like in The Narrows).

There is no doubt this time that Frank is teething.  You can now see the teeth.  Also last night mom found blood on the toothbrush at our bedtime brush-you-teeth-routine.  The bottom molars are breaking through and it looks pretty bad.  Frank is only marginally cranky and is still sleeping through the night.  We are glad he is taking it well.  The top two canines and the left bottom molar are visible.

Frank is getting better at feeding himself with a spoon.  Mom scoops up some rice and Frank takes the spoon and eats most of it up.  Sometimes he will give the spoon back and other times he waves it around until the rest of the rice is all over the floor.

Still no words yet but lots of sounds.  He definitely understand words.  Some of them are ball/qiuo, flower/hua, light/deng, bathtime, outside, shoes/xie, fish/yu, banana/xiangjiao, hungry, bird/niao.  Frank associates the pictures of the objects with the word and with the real thing.  When he points a picture of a ball and mom says the word, he will then go find his ball and bring it over.  When he points to a picture of a circle and mom doesn’t say ball but says circle, he continues to flip the pages.

We had a very pleasant weekend, with sunshine and parks and tasty things to eat. Saturday morning, Frank decided to sleep in ’till 7:30, and then we had breakfast and Diane and Frank set out sometime past 8. They played in the park, while I had a bath and then went off to find them later. They were walking (both) down a long path towards another play structure when I found them. We climbed around, slid down a few times, and mostly stood on the highest vantage point and discussed things loudly. Not the quiet, reserved boy, that one. This vantage point had a dandy steering wheel, which Frank drove as if he were piloting your yacht with a 10hp moter… a lot of oversteering! Then we all went off to Costco and found a lamb leg and assorted things to tide us through the week. Another park in the afternoon, and then we cooked up Indian things, diane mixed naan; we cooked up some aloo gobi (I had chana dal at the Pakistani restaurant last week, and wanted to try to replicate it. It was quite good, especially smeared on fresh-baked naan (baked on our pizza stone - still doesn’t look right, but tastes just fine). Frank was hootie, and ate it for a while, and then suddenly was SO mad (rejected his cookie, even!) and hollered through bedtime and then for a solid half hour before finally falling asleep. We’ve decided he was frustrated with his spoon, having no other idea what might have upset him so.

Today, Frank woke us up at 7, and was a happy clam all day long. No easter celebrations here — we had banana pancakes for breakfast, and leftover pot-roast sandwiches for lunch. We mopped the floor and folded clothes while Frank napped, and then went up to the park with tennis rackets and Frank’s ball. Our tennis court is a giant cage, so we brought Frank inside and closed the door and then played tennis (sort of) while Frank wandered around the court. The wind blew his large-green ball into the corner, so he chased that some, and then hung out near the net and watched mom and dad hit the ball back and forth. Eventually he grew tired of watching, and went to bang on the walls so we let him out and rested while he climbed around. For dinner we had a salmon chunk defrosted, so after some debate we went off to the store for panko (bread shreds instead of crumbs) and made elise’s crusted salmon fillets. They were well received, even by Frank who didn’t like salmon the last two times we tried. Maybe this time it was because the other choice was green beans, which he rejected.

Frank likes his stories, or at least to start them. When we came downstairs this morning, he went right for the bookshelf and tossed two books before settling on his eating the alphabet one (from auntie em, it’s still a hit!) and finding the bananas on page two. (I got the hint and started breakfast.) He likes to find things for us to identify in his books, and then go find the real life one. Banana, pear, avocado - lots of things he likes in the eating the alphabet one, and he regularly points to the tomato even though he doesn’t eat them. (There’s usually a cluster on the kitchen table next to where he sits.) When he finds a ball in the book, he runs off to find his ball. Finds a fish, goes and points to the cod picture that grandpa engraved in a tree slice. Find a flower, and zips to the kitchen to point at mom’s orchid (now in lovely bloom!). Finds a bird, and goes to the sliding glass door to see if there are any hopping around in the backyard or on the neighbors roof. Over and over again. He doesn’t much like to listen. He brings a book to us, and we start to read, but not fast enough - he’ll flip through some pages, and then hop up and find another book. Mom sometimes has more success than I have… Dad is not a calming figure, apparently.

The History of Love
By Nicole Krauss

Nice story. Old man wrote a manuscript for a girl he loves. Now he is an old man. His story is published. He tries to find the friend he left the scripts with and somehow finds other interlinked stories.

A is for Alibi
by Sue Grafton

So this time I wanted to start at the beginning of the Kinsey Millhone mystery series. This one was ok. It was slightly predictable and some of the descriptions rambled abit. It was good enough that I will get the next one, B is for Burglar. As for private detective mysteries, I think I like Rozan’s Lydia Chin and Bill Smith series better. Perhaps I’m partial cuz Lydia is Chinese and works in NY and Kinsey works down in southern CA. =)

New things Frank has been up to:

• When mom blows her nose, Frank makes raspberries with his mouth. He must think it is the same since it sounds the same.
• Flip the light switch on and off. Also points to the light and then the light switch in the kitchen when sitting to eat.
• Play on the structures at the playground on his own. He climbs up the stairs and walks to the slide and goes down on his tummy all by himself. He also walks to the edge and stops just in time to give mom heart attacks.
• Walks around with his toothbrush like a big boy.
• Plays with the curtains and shades from his crib. He likes to look out there when waking up in the morning or from nap. Often he does that before taking his nap as well.
• Taking 1 nap. At first we tried putting him down after lunch so he doesn’t get too cranky by dinner time. It worked ok but he was only napping for 1 hour. Then after going to bed at night he would wake up again before we go to bed. So we thought maybe still 2 naps. Then he fell asleep in the car one day in the late morning and after being moved to his crib slept for 2 hours. That has worked the entire week and night sleep has been good as well. Onwards with 1 nap.
• Frank is really good at walking and getting back up after falling. When he reaches the top of the stairs he stands up right away and goes about his business.
• Loves to point. Sometimes mom can’t keep up with telling him what it is in English and Chinese.
• Toasts with his sippycup.
• Frank doesn’t throw food on the floor very much now. When he doesn’t want to eat something, he either hides it in the cup holder on his tray and then put his cup on top of it or gives it to mom. He still drops his cup frequent enough though.
• Loves bath. When mom says bath time, Frank goes up the stairs and walks into the bathroom and stands by the tube waiting to be undressed. He likes to splash with the cup and sometimes even try to drink from it. Surprised him when the water went into his mouth. Yucky bath water.
• Molars look swollen and canines on top have broken the surface.