Indianapolis Children's Museum

Mojo & Mom on the Yule Slide - Indy Chilren's Museum
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Having fun in the Barbie exhibit

Barbie exhibit - Indy
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Had enough of the Barbie Exhibit

At the Indy Children's museum, waiting for Mojo to be done with the Barbie exhibit
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Baseball Bat

One of Rowan's first words was Ball. Then he somehow added the word Base to Ball to make Baseball (most likely influenced by his grandmother.) And last week, we went downtown to see the monumental baseball bat down at the Slugger Museum - he added Bat to his phrase, which is repeated several times a day.

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What a nice holiday.

It's been a great Christmas break - very relaxing and stress free. Maureen and Rowan seemed perfectly satisfied with and appreciative for their gifts from Santa and their very generous extended family. And they seemed not to get into major arguments about playing together (as much as a three-year-old and a year-and-a-half-year-old can.) No disappointments, no holiday blues, just plain nice.
Christmas eve mass was a bit of a challenge with Rowan - he is at the age where his energy is overwhelming and he must be on the move at all times. We had plenty of assistance as he was passed between Meemaw to Papaw, from Uncle Scott to Aunt Kathy, from Cousin Abbey to Cousin Gus, from Great Meemaw...you get the picture. That evening we did the whole cookies and milk bit with Maureen - of course she was amazed that all the refreshments were gobbled up by the time she awoke. Score.
Gift highlights: Fancy Nancy paraphernalia for Mojo
Sports oriented everything for Rowan
Evil Roy Slade DVD for Dad
Things Mom bought for herself for Mom
It's been the perfect respite at the end of a not-so-perfect year. We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, especially the family and friends who live out of town (in particular, the Dolberries and Carrie and Almost Uncle Gabe). Here's looking forward to a loving yet prosperous 2010!

Annie Leibowitz?

Her are a few shots Mojo took with her new Dora the Explorer digital camera:

The first of many Christmas disappointments

Maureen has mentioned only one thing that she wants for Christmas. A Max and Ruby Christmas DVD. She's had her mind set since Thanksgiving. She finally got a chance to ask Santa Claus for it yesterday during his visit at the Bonnycastle. This is one of those events that you block out how truly awful it is each year. The place transforms from a private men's club to Chuckie Cheese in a matter of minutes. They always have a creepy clown making elaborate balloon sculptures; and the clown usually has to be told to simplify his creations because the line moves at a snails pace as he replicates Michelangelo's Pieta for antsy children. The main room was already packed to the gills when we came in, so we had to park all six of us in the three available chairs next to the creepy clown. You could tell that Maureen was thinking over how she would handle her brief visit on Santa's lap. We were given forms to fill out with the child's name, age, what they want for Christmas, and their goal for the coming year. Of course Rowan's goal was to win the lottery for dad, while Maureen's was to contribute to the family finances. Both admirable goals for young children if I do say so myself!

Finally, the fat man showed up to a frenzy and made his way to the front of the room. They started to call the kids up, starting with the newborns to toddlers to have a brief, personal visit with Santa (with Mrs. Clause by his side.) Rowan really wanted nothing to do with this tradition - He opted out of the lap sitting, got his toy (a ball - yay) and got the hell out of there.

When it was finally Maureen's turn, she cautiously approached Santa, sat on his lap and was very, very good. Then the Jerk said to her (after being told what was filled out on the form), so, you want a DVD for Christmas. Maureen obediently said yes, and was escorted off his lap and handed a wrapped present. Now put yourself in a three-year-old mindset. What do you think should be in that package? Certainly not a pretty baby doll, right? Wrong. Under normal circumstances she would have been thrilled with this baby doll, but she was really expecting the DVD. Tears immediately started to flow.

We had to promise that he is coming back to our house on Christmas eve and that he will have that DVD for her. I told Mojo that I personally had a chat and he promised the DVD. She will get that DVD. After a half hour of convincing her that she will get that DVD, she started to love the doll.

Her Memaw was very happy to hear that she was naming the doll Karen until Mojo explained that her baby's name is just like that of her babysitter, Miss Karen. Oh, the brutality of an honest three-year-old. All was well after dinner and the children went to bed happy. Whew!

Holy Moly, It's almost Christmas again

I can't believe another year has come and gone. The last thing I remember was dressing the kids up for Halloween, and now we are making plans for Christmas. Maureen is more in tuned with what's going on right now, especially in knowing all the words to various Christmas carols. Rowan doesn't really have a clue about what's coming up -- I can't wait to see what his reaction will be to sitting on Santa's lap this Sunday when the big fat guy in red visits the Bonnycastle Club.
It's going to be a fairly low-key holiday this year. We had bigger celebrations over Thanksgiving, with the Dolberry Family and Carrie and Almost Uncle Gabe (Kristin's sibs et al) in town. I only have to make it through Monday and Tuesday at work and will enjoy a five-day weekend. It should be a slow, short work week where I can get my office clean and catch up on billing.

Oh, my early morning buddy seems to be waking up now. More later...I hope.
See you cats later.

Most likely to succeed - part 2

Turns out that all the kids were named most likely to succeed. I call BS on that - but if it makes their kids feel better, whatever. We all know the truth.

PS: Rowan said "I love you" to me over the phone for the first time last night. Sweet.

Most likely to succeed

Maureen brought home a piece of artwork from her class today. It was a bigger that life-size outline of a girl, with Maureen's photo where the face should be. There were dabs of paint on the artwork, and photos of fruit, Dora, Juice, and other toys glued throughout. Also, there was a sign that says:
Maureen
- Most likely to Succeed
- Vice President of the Drama Club
- Friendship Club
- Lunch Buddy

Most likely to succeed? At what? Still proud of her, though I'm not sure if they did that on everyone's cut-out to make all the kid's parents proud. It's a mystery.

Happy Birthday Baby

Today is Kristin's 40th birthday!! Celebrate good times, come on! Let's celebrate yow!

Aw Man!

Budding artist?

Yesterday Maureen and I were talking about her cousins. We named all four of her cousins, all of whom she will see this holiday week at some point. She then asked me to name all of my cousins, which was a chore. I came up with 29, not counting spouses (I don't think I could successfully name the all spouses.) She then drew a picture of each of them. Some she asked, "who's next?" and she would draw the picture, not exactly knowing the person. Other times she would draw the picture and I would have to tell her who it was. The photo is of either cousin Jean or cousin Susie. I can't tell for sure. Neither can Maureen. Great fun! And if she doesn't make it as a visual artist, there' always her music to fall back on. Ha!

Funny Guy

Myrna Pancakes Psssssss

I was making pancakes for myself and Rowan this morning; Kristin is watching what she eats right now, and Maureen was still asleep. I had just made four - three for me and one for Rowan. By the time I took my first bite, Rowan was already chanting "myrna, myrna, myrna...". If you read a few entries ago, you will know that Myrna means More in Rowan-speak (a variation is Myrla). He went on and on while I fired up the pan, Kristin was now in the kitchen witnessing as Rowan's chant continued, "myrna, myrna, myrna...". Finally, I turned to him and asked, "What do you want?" This stopped his chant, mid-myrna. He paused and furrowed his brow. He took a deep breath and let out a slow and deliberate "mmmyyyyrrrnnaaaahhhh", in a George Bush, Read my Lips manner. Of course we cracked up. He wound up eating five pancakes this morning.

Photo session

Maureen's masterpiece

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More to the story

In regards to the mean girls story below, new data has been received by the folks in research and development. Apparently our sweet, innocent young daughter denied play to one of the perpetrators from the playground incident not but one week ago. Seems this young lady was unfortunately the third girl out and Mojo had leverage. Paybacks are hell?

I guess we have a lot of work ahead of us in the area of diplomacy.

I think the funny thing here is that we only hear bits and pieces about Maureen's day, and what we see as a big deal winds up to be just a blip on the radar. We hear only a few facts from Maureen, and very little from the teachers, so we are trying to put piece together the truths. It doesn't mean we can turn a blind eye on the things that we think are important, but we must sometimes sit back and see how Maureen handles these situations. And be there for support and guidance.

By the way, Kristin had a talk with Maureen, after learning about last week's events, about the rules for engagement in playground play, and how to best handle situations without hurting someone's feelings. We're on it.

Mean girls

Mojo fell victim to mean girl speak the other day on the playground. It was the classic two against one scenario; to the effect of "You're not our friend anymore" or something much like that. Apparently Maureen pleaded with them, then cried and then told the teacher. When confronted, the perpetrators said they were only kidding. Yeah, some joke!
I realize this shit goes on, especially with little girls, but I didn't expect it from three year-olds. I know that these little girls are not mean (they are actually sweet), and don't understand exactly what they are doing, yet. It does make me happy that Maureen finds it easy to interact with others. We are trying to instill in her the need to diversify. I told her that she is exceptionally good at being able to play with others, and that if someone doesn't want to play with her, she can find plenty of kids who do.
I realize it will get much worse, when the mean girls realize what they are doing and purposely go for the jugular. I hope Maureen understands that she can rise above these petty insecurities, that she can be herself, and that people will like her for her wonderful personality.
I hope she doesn't become a mean girl herself. Mean girls suck.

Passing of a good friend

This weekend brought some sadness to this house amidst the joy of Halloween and our Autumnal walk through Bernheim Forest. On Saturday, with a heavy heart and stricken with guilt, I took our cat Jezebel to the vet for the last time.

Jezebel has been a part of my life for over seventeen years - I acquired her after a weekend house-sitting stint for my sister back in 1992. I was not a cat person at the time, but this kitten would not leave my side. She was a stray, found during a storm underneath a dumpster. My sister already had two if not three cats at the time and really had no room for another. This kitten was persistent in her affection, playful and we immediately connected. She was mine.

At that time, my life was in transition. I was less than two years out of college, living in my first apartment on St. James Court and very much living the life of a bachelor. She was the perfect pet - self sufficient - she did not require a great deal of up-keep. But she was always happy to see me and could not wait to lay on my chest and nuzzle her head against my chin. She was a very calming pet and always full of love. Jezebel made it through a total of eight moves and several roommates (and cat-mates and even bird-mates) and was there for me as I fully transitioned into adulthood. She was a part of my family.

Within the last two years, Jezebel had been on the decline. She was having glandular problems, was not grooming herself, and seemed less interested in litter boxes. Though never hostile with the kids, she did not prefer to interact with them, taking refuge in the basement. Finally, the last three weeks, she could not hold her urine and had a bad odor about her. She just wasn't herself. Though I will always second guess myself, I made the very hard decision to put her down. She was the best cat in the world and I am missing her dearly.

A beautiful Bernheim morning

Halloween with family and friends

It was so nice to celebrate Halloween over the weekend. Friday night we had pizza and walked across the street to the Bellarmine University Halloween party with Kristin's family. They line the campus with hundreds of carved and lit pumpkins, and they hand out candy to the kids. The party was cut short (for us) due to rain. Because we had to skip the Krispy Kreme station, Grandpa Paul and I jumped in the car for a quick stop through the KK drive-thru to provide the doughnuts at our house.

Halloween day was spent at my Dad's house for some clam chowder and yummy homemade yeast rolls provided by my sister Chrissy. The kids, including Cousin Claire, got to canvas Drayton Drive with their Papa Joe and Aunt Chrissy. Then we went to celebrate a little more with our friends, the Wards.

All in all, our little Belle and our Cardinal Quarterback had a great holiday. We will most likely hold on to the candy until after new years.

A guide to Rowan-speak - lesson #1

Myrna - more
Yeow, Eow - kitty cat
pssssss - please
hssssss - horse
huh-eeeen - Maureen
Ball -ball

They get their moves from Dad

Wow, check out that new golf club in the right hand corner

October funk

Runny noses. Slight fevers. Cackling coughs. The kids have a touch of the funk and stayed home from school yesterday with Kristin.

Some changes

Kristin quit her day job at the Girl Scouts and will focus on home life and real estate. Her last day at the GS office is tomorrow. This will be a big change for us, but more importantly, a big relief for Kristin. She's been working two jobs for several years now, and she deserves an easing up. She is looking forward to more time with the kiddos, and the chance to focus a bit more on her chosen career. I'm proud of her for making a good decision.

Sweet Duet

Mojo's Birthday 2009