First Note From a Gwarrel

Happy Fatherhood Friday!

Mom-E gave me the heads-up the other day that Big Brother came home with a note from a "gwarrel" (girl in Little Brother-speak) in his class.

For a few brief moments, I anticipated all kinds of brotherly teasing and yelling and screaming about somebody having a "gwarrel-friend."

However, according to Big Brother - who is an "Honest Abe" - apparently everyone in the class, the teacher included, received one.  (Making me think, "Wow, this gwarrel spent a LOT of time writing notes.)

Still, it was very cute and very sweet.  But don't tell Big Brother that.  He might scream and run for fear of "cooties."

And yes, we agree that Big Brother is cool.

Have a good weekend,
Busy-Dad-E

New 'Nastics

Well, we've started a new adventure in gymnastics, or 'nastics as Little Brother calls it.

And it's been a while since I've written about 'nastics.

We changed to a different gym, mostly due to a much less pervasive smell of feet, better viewing space, a more formal evaluation and feedback process the kids, to make sure they're in the right class.

Oh, and the fact that all 3 boys are now taking 'nastics, and the new gym's classes are such that everyone's class is on the same day in a 2-hour time block.

After taking a leave from gymanstics for a while, Big Brother has returned from the sidelines, and seems to be enjoying himself.

Little Brother has continued to enjoy his 'nastics.  He's really pretty strong, especially given that people accuse him of being Bab-E Brother's twin.  We were briefly worried this week when they changed Little Brother to a different class.  Although they moved him to the right one for his age, he is one of only 2 boys, and let's just say he has absolutely no interest in anything that could be even remotely perceived as gwarrely ("girly").

But in terms of energy, enthusiasm, and excitement, Bab-E Brother definitely takes the cake.

He has been drooling (literally and figuratively) about wanting to do 'nastics, having been relegated to watching Little Brother for months now.  Given his various attempts to do somersaults and other jumps at home and in the viewing area at the gym, it was clear to Mom-E and I that we should sign him up ASAP.

Bab-E Brother is energetic to begin with, but I've never seen him quite so fired up as he was for the first class.

The gym has a very cute little penned off area for the toddlers.  

And while all of the other kids were circled up sitting on their spots, Bab-E Brother pretty much started running around the area, jumping on mats, hanging on bars, etc. 

He was so hyper that he was "that kid."

You know, the one who needs to be simultaneously sprayed with the Ritalin mist-fan and shot with the Benadryl dart gun.

But fortunately, he did calm down (eventually), and without medication.

I was sure that afterwards, the teachers were going to try to sell us a harness for him.

(Insert reference to SNL Sketch with Mike Myers and Nicole Kidman - "My mother says harnesses are cruel."  "My mother says they're very necessary.")

He's very cute.  Bab-E Brother refers to 'nastics as "My School."  And one of his favorite parts is the hand (and foot) stamps they get at the end.

So much so that he informed Mom-E in advance of the class this week that he would NOT be taking a bath that night (to preserve his stamp).  Fortunately, Mom-E had transient occlusion of both of her ears with wax when he said that.

But it's been very fun to watch all of the boys frolick around, jumping in the foam pit, jumping on the trampoline, and in Bab-E Brother's case, pretty much jumping non-stop for a half-hour.

What has been somewhat less fun is chasing Bab-E Brother around the viewing area for the 1.5 out of the 2 hours that he is not doing 'nastics, because the anticipation and excitement seem to linger.

See you on Fatherhood Friday,
Busy-Dad-E

Creative Spelling

And, no, I'm not talking about "label" or "usual".

Let's face it, preparation for weekly spelling tests can be a bit tedious (aka it's the third week of school and we're already tired of it.)


And I'm only talking about what it's like for parents!

No doubt for kids it can be quite arduous, too.

This week, we were practicing words on Thursday afternoon for the Friday test.

Big Brother missed about 5 of the 15 words (in part because he was preoccupied with his Trio blocks).

But when we said we were going to practice them again later, he pretty much protested with a "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you have a test tomorrow and you still can't spell some of the words?" I ventured a guess to myself.

Fortunately, when later arrived, Big Brother was at least willing to work on his spelling words.

After spelling "bonus" correctly, Big Brother proceeded to write "poop!" at the bottom of the page.

And that's when one of those moments of parental spontaneity kicked in.

"You know what, Big Brother. Every time you spell a word correctly, you can write 'poop!' or 'pee!' at the bottom of your paper."

Surprisingly (or perhaps unsurprisingly), it worked as a motivator. Other than Little Brother and Bab-E Brother barging into the room just to be ornery, Big Brother maintained pretty good concentration. He got 13 of 15 correct, and got to write "poop!" a lot, which made him happy.

On the flip-side of the page below, we drilled on "label" and "usual" until he had them down, and he got to write "poop!" a bunch more times.

But I opted not to show you that, because you're probably already tired of seeing my kid's "poop!"

Hahahahahaha!

Have a good week,
Busy-Dad-E

Mini-Wuffins

Happy Fatherhood Friday!

The other evening, out of the blue, Big Brother decided to help me make dinner.

Little Brother is often Mom-E's helper in the kitchen (particularly if it involves anything chocolate).

But this was the first time Big Brother extensively assisted with dinner.

His first request was that we make corn muffins.  Fine.

But as we put them in the oven, he made a special request for Wuffins, too.

And since he was extensively helping and doing an excellent job, the answer was an easy "Yes."

Only problem was that the muffin pan was "occupied" by the corn muffins.

So, being the resourceful soul that he is, he quickly suggested that we make "Mini-Wuffins", and we did.

As was the case with regular wuffins, they turned out quite well.  In fact, maybe even a tad better.

But I can't help thing that this would be a great item for a fast-food breakfast menu:

A 6-piece mini-wuffins with a side of maple syrup.

That was a definite advantage of the mini-wuffins - they were quite easily dunked in syrup, and less messy, because you can eat them in one bite.

The boys have always liked french toast sticks, so I figure if my kids will eat them, there's definitely a market for them.

So if anyone knows any big-wigs at any fast-food places, let me know, and we can make our case.

I'm already thinking of slogans like, "We Ain't Bluffin', We Got Mini-Wuffins".

Okay, I better stop now.

Have a good weekend,

Busy-Dad-E

Caught Red-Handed

The other night I peeked into Bab-E Brother's room, and found him fast asleep in the following position:

I wasn't sure whether to laugh hysterically, or be mortified, so I did both.

(And while I was immobilized by the humor/horror, Mom-E quickly removed his hand and he promptly rolled onto his belly.)

Happy (Almost) Wordless Wednesday,

Busy-Dad-E

Minty Hot Chocolate Connaisseur

Little Brother has a penchant for a number of things - coins, tiny plastic toys, blankets, ropes, even latex gloves (which, by the way, he now stores in an M&M Mini's container that I once used to store quarters).

But I digress.

One of Little Brother's favorite pastimes is afternoon hot chocolate.

It could be 3000 degrees outside, and the boy will still want hot chocolate.

And, invariably, he has to put something in it (besides the marshmallows, of course).

Perhaps the "mint" gene is X-linked, because he and Mom-E both really like their mint hot chocolate.

For a while, he was content to go with just the generic Starlight peppermints.

Then it expanded to Starlight spearmints.

Next, we crossed over to Tic Tacs.  But not just the white ones.  One night I found myself at the store with green Tic Tacs on the list (amongst many other things).  I figured it was for some kind of school counting project.  But no, alas, just Little Brother's wish to sample every flavor of Tic Tac.

(Dude, by the way, I'd pass on the orange ones.  But then again, maybe you'd like that.)

And this has been shortly followed by pillow mints.

Of course, it's not good enough to add just one thing.  You've gots to combination.

So, Little Brother's current recipe for that perfect cup of afternoon hot chocolate, to keep you hot on that hot summer day, is to "cool it off" with a refreshing combo of spearment Starlights and Tic Tacs, and finish it off with some pillow mints.

Enjoy!  Bon appetit!

Have a minty good week,
Busy-Dad-E

Riding Machine

Go Big Brother, Go!

Happy Fatherhood Friday!

After an entire summer of pretty much blowing off his bike, suddenly with the start of school, Big Brother suddenly had rejuvinated interest in mastering riding a bike with two wheels.

Little Brother and Bab-E Brother are also avid riders.  Little Brother has got the hang of riding a bike with training wheels.  Bab-E Brother has a Lightning McQueen trike that he powers Fred Flintstone-style with his feet.

Riding bikes at our house is pretty much like rush hour traffice on a busy interstate in the middle of a thunderstorm.  Our driveway slopes, making it not very friendly for someone learning to ride a two-wheeler.  That leaves 3 boys and 3 bikes to ride on a fairly narrow sidewalk leading to the front door.

(Translation: it's crowded, difficult to turn around, and everybody is frequently crashing into each other - often on purpose.)

So two nights ago after dinner we headed to a parking lot to give the boys more room to safely ride.

The result was amazing.

After two times of crashing pretty quickly after I let go, Big Brother just "got it."

Next thing you know, he's riding laps around the parking lot with relative ease.

Afterwards, we celebrated with slushies for everyone!

Last night we headed back for more biking.  This time he's riding even faster, and able to better control his brakes.

You can guess where we'll be again tonight.

He still has work to do.  He's a little more nervous - and hence wobbly with his steering - while riding in our neighborhood, but he's getting the hang of it.

But this major accomplishment so aptly summarizes much of child development.  It's not a linear process at all, but rather discrete with these quantum leaps.

This weekend he couldn't ride a two-wheeler.  This week he can.  Amazing.

In retrospect, I might've seen this coming.  Over the Christmas break, we did some riding.  Big Brother was able to ride about 10-20 yards before crashing, although turns weren't possible.

But it was clear during t-ball season that his coordination has really improved, and I suspect this translated to him being able to balance and ride the bike.

Needless to say, Mom-E and I are quite proud (and rightly so is Big Brother)!

Keep up the good riding, buddy!  We love you!

Have a good weekend,

Ride on,

Busy-Dad-E