Trash Can Fun

We seem to have fun with trash cans at our house. Luka still likes to say "trash can" in sign language, and Axel has a new trash can game. He sees it as one big container and he loves to put things in it: letters that go to his French fridge Leapfrog letter came (those are not cheap!), baby-safe cars, trucks, combs, and other smallish items. I have to check teh trash carefully before we dump it in the big bag for Monday's trash pick up! For now, I have moved it to the top of the filing cabinet.

Axel and Luka Updates

Axel is pulling himself up a bit more to stand. He is not trying to walk yet on his own, but we are trying to encourage him. Last night, he had a blast with Papa and Luka when he kept trying to pull down the curtains in the living room and Papa would playfully grab his foot to keep him from causing disaster. He has a fun time at music classes with Mommy on Wednesdays and likes all the songs and especially loves playing with all the instruments (sticks, shaker, drum, scarf). He is going through a "low growth" stage maybe, in any case, he often rejects even his most favorite foods. What is up with that?!

He went with Mommy, Sanya and Kylie to the Gymboree Play Gym last Friday and had a blast crawling around on all their fun stuff. He also likes going to our neighborhood park with Mommy when Luka is at school and playing in the tunnel, the little steps and the slide (Mommy still helps him go down).

Luka is doing well in PreK. His teachers are really nice. He loves singing English and French songs still and adores riding his bike (trike) to and from school. We read the knock-knock joke book for the first time in a long time and he loved it. He was laughing his head off. It is fun to see how his humor has changed and how he gets more and more of the jokes as he gets older. even if he doesn't totally get them all, they sound funny to him and we have a lot of fun with it.

He has a fun time playing with his neighbor friend, Grant who will be three next week. They often ride trikes together or play outside or at one of their houses (mostly at Grant's, I must admit, but sometimes here).

He is excited about his birthday party (one month away-see Luka birthday count down link to the left!) and Mommy is getting ready for the monkey-themed blow out at Gymboree Play Gym. We like that place!

A Turtle Sighting in Westminster

I saw a fairly big turtle on the Big Dry Creek trail (mile 2)! It had about a foot-long shell and it was jumping into the creek at mile 2 where the water is pretty churny. Obviously, someone had it as a pet and let it loose (bad, bad you people who think you want exotic pets). Poor thing. Well, it is warm out for now, so he will survive for now, I guess. I called the city just to let them know they had an out of place visitor. I suppose that happens more than the rest of think!

Luka - champion rock climber!

Luka (aged 3 years, 10 months, 4 weeks and 1 day old!) had his first experience rock climbing today. And, it was OUTSIDE, not in a climbing gym! He was so awesome! World Championship, here he comes! Corinne and Dan were taking Ada climbing (she has been climbing since last year and is now almost 4) and invited us to come. They had all the gear set up.

When we got there (Gregory Canyon Ampitheater) Ada was starting her second climb. The climb was rated a 5.4. She looked so great! Also, it was neat to see Luka encouraging her instead of being jealous. He was saying he wanted to do it too, but he was very excited for her success and sincerely cheering her on. They really are good little buddies and a good match in the world of pre-kindgergarten dare devil sports. :)

After Ada was done, Corinne took Luka up. She was already familiar with the climb and we thought it might be better for him to have a "teacher" rather than go with one of us (less likely for him to say, "No, I don't want to, etc." to one of his parents). No danger of that as he was really into it and did an awesome job! Corinne raved about how he was a natural. :) He has been wanting to do it for a while, so I guess he knew what he wanted! She said about half way up, he turned to her, at first serious, and then broke out in a big smile and said, "I'm climbing!"

He wore Ada's climbing helmet, special kid harness and cool flame climbing shoes!

Axel and Mommy had a fun time hanging out and watching everyone (and a pretty hike to get there) and Reynald did a climb too. Dan was a trooper in belaying everyone. A nice fall day and sunny, but a bit chilly for Dan and when we were out of the sun. Axel was a sport and fell asleep on Mommy at the end. Corinne and Dan were awesome to share all their knowledge and gear with us. Thanks, you guys!



Afterward, in the car, I asked Luka who the champ climber was and he said himself (since that is what I was obviously hinting at) and was excited to add on his own "And Ada too!"












MORE PHOTOS HERE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bodeux/sets/ Then, click on the Rock Climbing set to the right to see a slide show!

What a great day!

Eve's article on the web

An article Eve wrote on the web in a translation journal:
http://accurapid.com/journal/38review.htm

Don't Eat Pete!

Luka has been talking about Don't Eat Pete for a while. With his explanation, searching on the web and some ingenuity by Mommy, we figured out how to play. Here is how to play this exciting game:

- Download and print the Don't Eat Pete grid that Mommy made for Luka.
- Get Cheerios or other small edible items.
- Place the items on some or all of the numbers on the grid.
- Have one person leave the room so the others can choose which Cheerio on which number represents "Pete."
- Let the person come back and eat Cheerios one by one.
- When the person picks the Cheerio designated as "Pete" everyone say, "Don't eat Pete! Don't eat Pete! Don't eat Pete!" and then see the kids convulse in giggles and laughter.

We are going to try it with Axel next. We think he too can play Don't Eat Pete!

Luka's Birthday Countdown

Luka's birthday is coming soon. The milestones of fall/winter, as explained to Luka today: First, comes his birthday. Then, Halloween. That is followed by Thanksgiving, then Christmas and then New Year's (fireworks!). Very exciting all that!

Keeping Track of Axel

Axel had his year check up at the doctor today. (Okay, he is 13-1/2 months; it just took a while to get in there).

His stats are:

Weight: 19 lbs 12 ounces - 10th percentile
Height: 31-1/4 inchces - 80th percentile
Head: 18-1/4 inches - 50th percentile

Here is his ticker, updating his age:

Try-Athlon

Our First Ever Try-Athlon (organized by Cameron and Eve) was a great success! It took place on Sept 9, Saturday. A day that started out a little rainy, but turned out perfectly--even for the outside pool!

The kids had a blast swimming, then biking and then running. They loved the bibs, and loved finishing the biking and running stages through the balloon arch. About 15 kids and their families were there. We had magnets too that matched the bib design and the kids received those at the end; everyone had their name called. They also received a participation ribbon. And, of course, snacks at the end: Teddy Grahams and ice cream!

Kids ranged in age from 2 (almost 3) (Melanie) to 6 or 7, I'd say. Luka was right in the middle of the pack. He was very excited and pumped his fists when he'd finish an event. There were no "winners" per se and everyone cheered everyone else on. The event starts were staggered to get the correct ages together. It really did encourage "love of sports" without any negativity about "losing" (that can come from elsewhere in life!). It was truly a great success and we are all looking forward to doing it next year!

Updated photos from Eve of the event on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bodeux/tags/tryathlon/

And, these that one of the dads posted on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bells/tags/tryathlon/

Luka is in two of these dad's photos: one is of him running, in motion, with his gray t-shirt flying out behind him, and his orange athletic shorts, along with (of course) his cool Spiderman sunglasses. He is also in the group photo with all the kids listening to instructions.

I will still try post some more photos and the event logo too. I still need to reinstall Photoshop after my computer upgrade; I am only re-installing things as I really need them (too time consuming).

Luka Update

Luka moved to PreK today at school. Yay! I think he will like it a lot and he did well. They said he only wanted to go back to his Preschool class when they had nap (thinking he could more easily avoid it, I am sure!). He is going to go full time now (Mon - Fri). I think it will help him with the consistency, and right now, I just have too much work for him to go part-time. I think it will be easier on all of us. I am planning to get him earlier, around 3:30 every day. I usually am done working by then anyway, for the most part anyway (could always find something to do, I am sure, but have to call it a day and move on!).

He also did his presentation for show and tell, finally! Miss Desiree moved him up to PreK after he did, but wanted him to get the chance to do it before he moved up. She said that she was excited to have him do it because every other kid so far had just brought a toy. His was different, so she was happy to have him do it too. She was gone when I got to school to get him (will have to ask her later how it went) but I asked him. He said, "Mommy, the kids didn't even laugh (at what he thinks is the funny part of the ABC song)." I thought they might not (might not be funny to everyone else...;) But, it sounds like he did a good job and at least it was a good excercise for him to practice and see it through.

I just signed him up for a gymanstics class at the Broomfield Rec Center with his friend Johnny. It is 50 minutes on Thursday evenings for 5 weeks. They really liked it! Johnny's mom, Axel and I waited outside. We could watch through a big glass window. It is a nice gymastics center with all the gymnastics stuff (beyond me for the most part, but balance beam, etc.). There were a lot of girls and several classes or teams out there at once, but for Luka's class of 4 and 5 year olds, there were 3 little boys and 2 girls! So, that was great. The other little boy is also Johnny. It seemed really fun and they had a good time. Also, it being once a week seems doable and not too much then. Swimming at twice a week got a bit much for him (and therefore, for me).

Luka is very imaginative and always has some game of pretend he wants to play ("Mommy, you be a monster, Axel is the baby monster and you guys run after me making monster noise; Mommy, I am a race car and you and Axel are race cars too, etc. etc.").

Tomorrow is the Try Athlon that Cameron and I have put together for the kids. We are expecting 20 kids like 3 - 7 or so. Two lengths in the pool in Louisville, two laps around the park on bikes or trikes and two laps running. Should be a blast. Will try to post pictures. We have a log and everything: bibs for the kids, magnets for them to take home, participation ribbons, snacks, water, etc. If it goes well, next year we may try to make it an official event, not just for our friends. We will see how it goes! Luka is ready for this too! He is excited about the competition and ready to go!

Axel update

Yesterday, Axel said, "Wow! Wow!" very clearly when Luka and he and I were eating dinner and I gave him a little purple spoon to use to learn how to eat himself. Luka got excited and said, "Mommy, he said 'wow'!" It was really cute to hear it come out of his mouth!

He also said "uh-oh" when we were in PA--copying Grandma saying it.

He has started clapping when he is happy about something.

Tonight, both Luka and Axel really liked it when we sang the ABC's in French and danced around.

He is really crawling around a lot. I had to get rid of a big plant in the living room that he kept getting into - we'd play a game where I'd say "No, no, no, no, no!" and he'd laugh his head off...but he kept getting into it when I wasn't looking, so it had to go. He is really into his toys and playing with stuff: his big plastic trucks, bowls, containers where he sticks his head in and makes an echo noise, Baby Tad, his LeapFrog caterpillar, etc.

He has not been eating a ton lately. He wants to nurse a lot, but not eating much solid food. He has taken to accepting what is offered in his mouth (chicken, etc.) and then immediately spitting it out. !!! Luka did that too when he was little for a stage, so I guess he will get over it.

Otherwise, he is still the winner of the nicest baby award. He is very easy going and a sweet little man.

Bike ride: Breckenridge to Copper and back!

32 fun miles from Breck to Cooper and back! Luka and Axel where the champs in the Chariot (bike trailer), Eve did great, and Reynald is one beast of a bike ride pulling the kids and all their gear up and down all those hills! Fun, fun!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me! Plans for today: get a facial and a spa pedicure with Ann (we were born the same day and the same year and often go to a restaurant together--this is a new idea for our joint birthday celebration!).

Luka asked me, "Mommy, when is your party?" I told him Mommies don't always have parties and that I was going to the "spa".

Reynald gave me a dozen lovely orange roses and a card. He always writes great cards. 14 years together, two little men, and continuing to move into the future...!

I also got a card from Laurie Ann and one from Karen. They never forget. :) Thanks, girls!

Luka's ABC Show and Tell

It was Luka's turn to do Show and Tell today (a new thing for his class). The assigned theme was "Back to School." I gave him some suggestions (teach your friends some French words about school, sing ABC song in French) that were a no go. But, he liked the idea of playing his favorite song (really) for his friends at school: an ABC song with a British guy who makes a "mistake" as he firsts starts singing ("A, B, C....Zed...no, that's not right!"). Luka finds that hilarious.

We practiced, and his presentation is supposed to go something like this:

- Hi, guys, I am going to talk about the ABC's today because ABC's are something we learn in school. (Shows his paper, protected in plastic, with the ABC's that Mommy printed from her computer in different colors)

- I am going to play my favorite ABC song for you.

- Miss Desiree, can you start the song now? (She starts the CD....)

I am wondering how it really went, and will ask the teacher later today when I pick him up. In any case, it was a good exercise for him to practice his presentation and he was excited about it.

Update: he did not get to do it at school, so the teacher said we'd try next week. I hope it works out!

Safeway Organics

I have never been that great a fan of Safeway. (It was not the greatest store to shop at in Alaska growing up, and it was not that great in VA or CO either, in my experience). However, with their "makeovers" they have become updated and more interesting and there are always less people there than King Soopers, so that is a plus.

But, the latest thing that I think is a great assett about Safeway is that they have a very competitive line of their own organic products. It is competitively priced and so far what I have tried is good quality.

Today, I was impressed that they had organic ketchup in this brand, which so far no other grocery store that is not "health food" store has had locally. They also have a good selection of frozen organic veggies and fruit and French fries. We traditionally have gotten Alexia brand organic fries in large quantity from Costco, but they don't always have the kind we prefer (traditional crinkly fries). Safeway also has organic milk which is reasonably priced and other things.

(Now for the editoralizing....you can skip this part if you just wanted to the low down on Safeway's organics. :)

I suppose this is the beginning of the "corporate coopting" of organics, which is good or bad, depending on how you view it. But, as long as it is really organic and adheres to what that should really mean (USDA certified organic or similar), I think long-term, this is good for consumers, despite mourning the loss of some of the power the smaller farmer has regained with the rising deman for organics.

Newspaper or other articles often mention that Wal-Mart is getting into organics in a "big way" and this will profoundly change pricing and distrubition in this area, but do you think Wal-Marts core customers really care? Maybe Wal-Mart is trying to get at the more "affluent" market who values organics, but I really hate Wal-Mart and I am sure that a lot of the "new customers" they want to get with the move toward organics do too.

Why do I hate them? For all the cliched reasons: they squeeze prices down but have crappy products, they won't pay for workers' insurance but force the public systems to pick up the tab, blah blah blah.... But, mostly I hate shopping there because it is a big ugly warehouse and (snob that I am, I guess) I just think it is a creepy place to shop with scary people shopping there.

Articles and "the media" talk about how "everyone" shops there, but I can tell you, I only go there two or three times a year if I really have to and I would be glad if that store fell off the face of the earth. Also, I think it is absurd to say that we all want the cheapest possible prices at the bigger cost that Wal-Mart enforces (a favorite theme of news articles on Wal-Mart): terrible labor practices, crappy products that are cheap-o, and an unfriendly shopping environment. If I can (which of cousre I can, I can choose as any consumer can, where to spend my money), I would always choose to spend my money elsewhere, even if it costs a little more.

How did this discussion become an anti-Wal-Mart rant? Well, it is not like I love the Safeway corporation, but they seem more palatable than Wal-Mart and not disgusting to shop in, in any case. So, whether Wal-Mart has organics or not, I will not be dashing out the door to shop there. But, you should give Safeway a try for more reasonably priced organic products.,

PA Trip: Axel and Mommy

Axel and Mommy (me) took a trip to PA to help Grandma (my mom) close down my grandparents' house since they are both gone now. Highlights of our trip:

- Everyone thinking what a sweet little man Axel is (and they are right--he is the champion traveler and my little easy going man).
- Axel going to Mom right away--recognizing her from his trip to AK in June: outstretched arms to have her take him from Mommy upon arrival.
- Visiting Knoebel's (me, Mom, Axel) and going on the small merry go round (he did not like it), and the big train (he liked that one!). Eating ice cream there--Eve had peach/vanilla twist (soft) and Mom had choc/vanilla twist. Axel did not want any (he has the right idea ;)
- Visiting Oakland/Susquehanna to visit with Freida and Bob (great mac and cheese dinner and good conversation) and then a nice visit with Frederick and Bettty. Seeing Mom's house that she was born in, and her school when she was little. This was before the move to Indiana (PA).
- Visiting Lebanon Valley College and seeing a favorite professor and his wife, doing some other "business" related to fundraising, and donating some of Dearma's organ music to their organ program. (But not the part about running out of gas on Intersate 81! though that turned out okay too.)
- Giving away Dearma's muisc (organ, piano, voice, chorale, recorder, violin, etc.) to people who will use and appreciate it. There was A LOT of it (stacks and stacks and thousands of dollars!) and also keeping some ourselves (Mom and Laura, mostly).
- Going through Dearma and Popop's house and taking a few souvenirs and savoring our last time in their house where we spent our lives going. I have my own memories there, but Mom's go deeper emotionally and further back in time.
- Axel's friends next door (Emmy and Dylan) who helped us by baby sitting him a few times. He had fun playing with them and we had more time to do our "work".
- Driving our cool rental car (Mazda5) -- or at least cool to a mom of two who usually gets boring rental cars. Thanks, Priceline.com!
- Eating Mom's bread pudding.
- Seeing Tresa, Jan and families along with Butch and Mabel at Carly's birthday weenie roast, which we happened upon.
- Going downtown Danville and having fun visiting the Beiter's store, as well as other places.
- Our dinner at the Town Perk in Bloomsburg and Axel's love affair with our waiter. And, of course, their Treasure Chest and the fun zebra book he got from it.
- Seeing Karen L. and her parents when we arrived in Hburg before driving north.
- Getting up at 2:30 a.m. for the drive to make our plane for the trip back home out of Harrisburg airport (okay, that was not fun per se, but not too bad, and it was memorable).
- Coming home to Luka and Papa! And, Axel's happy face (a sweet crinkly smile around his nose when he realized he was again with his beloved Papa and brother!).

Luka and Sharing

Luka defines "sharing" as "everyone else has to give me their stuff, but I can take all their toys/books/food, etc. from them or they are not sharing with me!" I guess all 3 and 4 year olds feel like that. But, it is funny to see the self-centered logic. :)

Axel's favorite books

Axel's favorite books are currently:

- Qu'est-ce qui fait Bêê ? A fun little story about a little sheep who tries to find others like him, and meets various other animals along the way. It has sections for Axel to touch like the sheep's wool, cat's whiskers, silk flowers, bunny's fur, etc. Axel loves it! This was a gift from one of our French relatives.

- Baby Einstein's Language Nursery book. This one was a gift from Cathy when Luka was a baby. He liked it a lot too. Each page has a simple image (duck, star, cow, bear, lamb, flower, train) and then has some phrase in 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Hebrew. For example, "This is a cow ~ C'est une vache." I always just read the French. Though sometimes the Japanese is fun to pronounce (Konnichi wa!). The best part of the book is the last page where there is a mirror and we get to say, "Je m'appelle...Axel!" (My name is Axel!) and show him the mirror. He gets really excited every time. What fun!

Movie: Axel & Luka Summer 2006

Go here to see the movie I made on JumpCut of Axel and Luka.

This is my first try, so I Have not totally figured it out, so click on the "Play" button if you only see the main title and black background. Then, it will start.

You will see: Luka on bucking salmon, Axel laughing, Luka fishing, and Axel's birthday!

Axel's 1st Birthday!

Axel had a great birthday and birthday party: August 6, 2006: He was one year old! He took a nap until 2:30, unconcerned that the guests were arriving at 1:30 p.m. Some guests inquired at to where the man of the day was, but understood that he needed his beauty sleep.

He woke up to see all these people at his house! And, a giant cake (bouncy "castle")! He ate some mac and cheese and fruit, and then was ready for some cake action! See photos below. Everyone sang to him twice - in English and then in French.

There was a chocolate raspberry Winnie the Pooh cake that he and the the other kids (led by Luka) admired very much (not being able to resist putting their fingers in it earlier! But, no real damage done :) There were also some "adult" cakes from Wild Oats and they turned out to be very good, including: a carmel apple cheesecake, a "down home" chocolate cake, lemon tarts, and a rustic fruit tart.

We had lots of friends come to celebrate with us.

Luka and his friends had fun in the bouncy castle and the kids seemed to like the "goodie bags" that Luka and I had prepared the night before: crazy straw, fruit candies, tatoos (of course), rings for the rings and frogs for the boys. What fun.

Axel went in the bouncy castle a few times with Mommy and/or Papa, but was not crazy about it. He'd had a big day and was more interested in crawling around on the lawn or checking out Papa's camping chair.

All in all, a very successful party to celebrate our littlest man!

See some photos below.

Axel Birthday Prince!

No - I don't want it! I am the birthday boy and can stick in my cake if I want!

Mmm - that IS good!

Little Explorer

Luka in Bouncy Castle Heaven

The bouncy castle - or in this case, "cake"!

Winnie the Pooh cake!

Birthday plate made by Mommy