One Big Boy

That's what we have living in our house.  Jack had his 5 year appointment today and he is in the 90th percentile for weight and the 97th for height!  The child is 3'10" already.  At this rate he's going to be taller than me by 3rd grade...

I realized that I've never done an official 5 year update for my boy.  It's been a bit of a rough transition to this new year for Jack, with the anxiety of school and changing routines.  I am not always sure how I feel about this growing-up young man, this challenging and sweet boy who is thoughtful and studious one minute and a wild banshee the next.  Jack at five is oh so excited about his allowance-- and happily puts two of his 5 dollars in his giving jar each week.  He loves to spend his quarters on tattoos at Zagara's, and is crazy about hunting for treasure with one of daddy's treasure maps.  He is eager to help and teach his sister, and just as eager to take the toy she's reaching for, or keep on tickling her after she's yelled to stop.  Jack at five is all about pushing the limits-- of our patience, or of his own endurance.  He is, as always, reticent to take risks, but once he starts in he goes full force, and often too far.  He is convinced he can't read and doesn't want to try, but he loves numbers and math and is getting pretty good at adding and subtracting, I must say.  Jack at five has a hard time listening to our questions, or stopping one activity for another.  He loves to draw volcanoes and pirates and dinosaurs, and he will play "battle" for hours on end.  Or, to my chagrin, Fish Ninja and Dungeon Keeper, too. He is quick to say no when given the choice, and just as quick to change his mind and fall in love with an activity.  He's a constantly shifting bundle of long arms and fluffy hair and twinkling eyes and attitude.  He's so very very tired at the end of school days...

But inside and under all that frustration is this emerging little person, this boy who thinks everything through and cares deeply about "always making the right choices" at school, who is witty and wise and silly and loves to laugh.  Inside this boy I don't recognize sometimes-- is the little baby I carried and rocked and walked and bounced endlessly to sleep, the toddler who charmed everyone in sight, the preschooler with his soft-consonant voice.  And inside, too, is a really big boy-- I can see the outlines of the 10 year old, the 12 year old, the teenager.  I can see him in there.  In the shape of his shoulders and the set of his back, in a flippant tone of voice, in those great long feet and impossibly big clothes I fold for him.  All those incarnations of my little one, wrapped up in this in-between self, this five year old.   He's so busy trying them all on for size right now, fitting himself into himself... its no wonder he's overwhelming to me sometimes...

On this parenting journey I encounter these moments where I am acutely aware of my role as a guide.-- and how difficult that role can be for me.  Looking at my big-little boy, I struggle to find a way to point him down his road.  To let him search for the best way to be in this world, in his skin, yet also help shape and mold him, improve his behavior, help him learn and grow.  I want him to be a reflection of me, you know?  Of my values, at least, and my own preferences and ideals.  But he is emerging into who HE will be.  He is, every day, more separate from me. And I have to learn how to hold myself back and let him strive, let him be.  He is five.  He will never be this young again.  He is finding his path and walking a little ahead of me and I want to hold his hand and pet his hair and snuggle him right up but instead I will find a way to be his map, his guide, a signpost and a gate for him, as he keeps on growing up..

Frogs and Turtles and Cats

Fall is here.

 It's like someone flipped a switch on Saturday and mother nature turned on the autumn.  Leaves are changing out on the east side, bursts of red flecking the woods lining SOM Center road.  There is a chill in the air even when the sun is shining-- which it finally was, today.  Following on the heels of a grey and damp weekend, this evening was glorious and called us out for a walk.

We wandered into the light of our neighborhood,  and before long ran into some neighbors.  We were invited to join an impromptu playdate at Alissa and Suz's house, where the kids played on swings and climbed and met some new friends, and found this frog under a rock by their pond...

photo credit to Jack!  He wouldn't touch it, though.  Ivy-- she couldn't keep her hands off! :)

Then we booked it to Turtle Park to meet the Weatherlow-Rands for a chilly picnic in the magic of this little playground.  The children reveled in the plastic cars and boats and mowers, and Jack and Ivy teamed up to create quite an extensive castle.

Me, I got to talk to grown ups for a few minutes and soak in the fall air. We headed home sandy and tired, a stroller full of two barefooted children munching on granola bars and talking about the day.

A lovely evening indeed.

(Lest you think the grey and damp weekend was a bust, here is a photo from our quick trip to Woofstock on Sunday...We had a grand time wandering amongst the wonderful collection of dogs, and exploring the grounds of the Holden Arboretum.  It's so lovely out in Kirtland...  Ivy was most thrilled with the chance to get her face painted.  She also got a sparkly butterfly on her hand.  You should have seen her sitting oh-so-still while the young ladies decorated her...

She loved being a cat for the day....  and what fun to take her to the grocery store later where every grandma in sight exclaimed over her... and she obliged them all with a meow... like this:

Weekend in the City

We have had a marvelous weekend.  September has hit its stride with cool nights and crisp sunny days and this weekend, Cleveland put on its party dress and celebrated fall in style.  The city was alive with festivals and sunlight all weekend, and our family was out loving it every chance we got.

Saturday was the Sparx City Hop.  It is one of my favorite days of the year because for that day, downtown Cleveland becomes alive and busy and vibrant, the way it should be every day.  Trolley's tour around four downtown neighborhoods and people of all ages and colors ride around together, hopping on and off to see the houses, take walking tours, shop sidewalk sales, or take in an art festival.  I love watching the sidewalks full of people, love the way everyone talks together, love how this day lets me be a tourist in my own town.  Plus, its free!

We discovered this year, though, that two mobile, opinionated, independent-yet-impulsive children lead to a different City Hop experience.  The last time we did this day, Ivy was a little mush in the front pack and Jack could be strolled around.  We hit all 4 nieghborhoods and were out for about 8 hours, if memory serves.  This year, while children did love the trolleys and music, their objectives were centered more on exploring fire hydrants and steps, climbing on things, and spinning in circles, than on taking in restaurants, architecture, and performances.  It's slower going this way, and it took some serious adjustment of expectations on my part to realize that 2 out of 4 neighborhoods was going to have to do it this year.  Next year?  We bring a stroller, just in case.  And we see if a certain grandma wants to pick up the kids on the west side while Nat and I do the rest of the day on our own. :)

Daddy and Ivy on on the West 25th street trolley.

Ivy and Jack loved the Flamingo dancers at Market Square. "Mingoes!", as Ivy called them.  The kids spent some time imitating the dance on our way to the next trolley.

We took the opportunity to visit the observation deck of the Terminal Tower, which I haven't done since I was a kid, and Nat has never done.  We ate lunch there and the kids loved the view.  Well worth the price of admission.

We put Jack in charge of an old digital camera and he took his job very seriously...

This photo was taken moments before we heard Jack say, "Lick it, Ivy!"  Yep.

Climbing through walls at CSU.

Investigating the lights in the steps at the Arcade.

You'd never know they were exhausted at the end of the day, from this picture...

We headed home at 4, and despite the fact that there were 3 other art festivals going on in the area, stayed home for the evening.  You can only do so much in a day.... Next year...

Sunday, not to be outdone, brought a morning playdate with Tiffany, Greg and Jeff (and a spontaneous rearrangement of our living room), followed by a trip to the Ingenuity Festival.  The location has moved this year, from under the bridge to several warehouses and docks at the Port Authority.  It was pretty neat to visit a space I have never even laid eyes on, and we were pleasantly surprised at what a great venue it was for this event.  The warehouses were well suited to the random and often expansive displays of art and technology, which included an old bus-turned-movie theater, a giant cardboard castle to draw on, and free form sculptures from Lake Erie tumbled bricks.  We heard two bands, and enjoyed one so much that we bought a CD.  And the sunshine out on the Lake was divine.  We spent a good deal of time perched on folding chairs at the edge of the docks, watching the boats drive by and eating a snow-cone.  The children had a ball with each part of the experience, and managed to get themselves completely filthy as they sat and decorated that cardboard castle.  As we left, Jack said, "I didn't know it would have so much fun things there!"

On the way down the hill to get there...

Snow cone!  Jack has been wanting one of these since Wade Oval Wednesdays.  Some times its nice to make a kid's dreams come true.

Our view as we ate the Snow Cone.  Not too shabby.

Art!!

Jack enjoyed making a sock puppet....

She fell asleep before we got back to the van.  Poor, filthy little chicken.

This one?  Energy to spare.  I blame the snow cone.

Today has found us staying near home, cleaning and playing and recovering a bit (if you can call working on rearranging and cleaning our basement for two hours "recovering.).  It's been a marvelous weekend and I have never been so happy for a Monday off from school!

Timeless

I need to take a break from my regularly scheduled programming of laundry and dishes and vegging out in front of the TV to do a midweek blog entry, and tell you about our walk this evening.

No pictures, alas.  Like so many of the best things in life, this evening's walk was full of doing and being, with nary a phone in sight.

It was a sumptuous September evening.  The sun slanting through our neighborhood was brilliant and bordering on hot, but in the patches of shade a bit of fall-crisp touched the air.  The sidewalk gardens are more beautiful this week than they've been all summer, I think, crowding in their glory in one last, effulgent burst before fall hits for real. Flowers upon flowers, those great spiky stalks reaching above, shimmering a little with bees and gnats and the sunshiny air.

We took it slow, the kids and I.  A gentle fall-evening mosey to Coventry Park, squinting into the sun the whole way there.  Stopping to exclaim over bugs, climb on walls, hop in and out and in the stroller, walk the dog, chase, tag, flop on the ground, giggle.  Our destination was merely a conduit for being out in the sun, getting us to the important part like popcorn gets you butter and salt.  We stretched our walk upwards of 45 minutes just to play for 10 at the park...

But what a grand 10 minutes!  We settled ourselves in the wooden car where the children contented themselves with an extensive, detailed, if somewhat repetitive drama involving our engine breaking down.  Again and again. Over the course of the game it required wood chip removal, water removal, wire removal, and addition of many, many containers of radiator fluid, as well as a new hood.  Twice.

Poor car.

It was remarkable to see Jack and Ivy working together on this game, both crawling into the tire-tube that served as the car engine, or clambering together up the double-height stairs to a platform they'd dubbed "the store" where they would gather up invisible bottles of fluid into their cupped hands.  I wish you could have seen Ivy carrying her pretend bottles back down those giant stairs.  Her little hands held so carefully before her, she would reach the top of a step.  Realizing she couldn't just step down, that she'd need a hand to steady her climb, she would gently "drop" the invisible cargo from one hand, sit down, and lower onto the next step... but not before quickly reaching to her side and scooping her pretend merchandise back up.  She had absolutely no idea what she was supposedly carrying, I am sure of it-- but oh, it was real to her!  So earnest, so determined, serious little face and those sweetly cupped hands right out from her chest...

We moseyed back in time to greet neighbors and dogs and the soft set of sun along Somerton, to stop and chat and watch the big boys ride their bikes. (Jack is in awe of two young men who ride the neighborhood in full police costume, handing out "tickets". He's ready to join up...) We were outside of time for just a little while this evening, and it was good.

So were my two tired little children who were both sacked out by 8:30 tonight.

Life is good, in so many ways.
Drink it up.

Dancing in the rain

Last weekend we went to Legacy Village on Sunday, to exchange some of Jack's new clothes, have some Chipotle, and spend time with Melinda and Will.  Evenings there are a bit of a tradition with our crew.  They know just how to dance on the stage and run to the stores, stopping to balance on curbs, follow lines and "ring the bells" (aka covers for the rain gutters in the walls). A lovely evening was had by all.  Then, at precisely the moment we emerged from Chipotle, the heavens opened and the remnants of tropical storm Isaac rolled in on us.  We stood, hemming and hawing, under the awning of the restaurant.  Nat debated going to get the van to pick us up.  Melinda and Will debated whether to continue their plan to get frozen yogurt.  Meanwhile, the children were darting out into the warm rain, delighted, dashing back to us and getting wetter by the moment.  We figured we might as well walk toward the middle, while everyone was getting wet anyways.... so off we dashed to the covered area by Starbucks. The children ran and splashed the whole way and were so wet by the time we reached the overhang, that we gave in and stood and laughed and marveled as they ran out with utter abandon to dance in the rain.

It was an impressive band of storms.  Thunder booming, rain sheeting almost horizontal, the tropical feel enhanced by the large-leaved planters across from us. The littles scooted into puddles and spun in circles, caught rain in their hands and rode the escalator up and down and it was the best, most unexpected, fifteen minutes of the evening.

 Moments like this, it is absolutely clear to me just how much these little beings enhance my life.  I need to dance in the rain more often....

Dinosaur Birthday: A retrospective

It was a grand day for a dino party.   The weather forecast, Eyeore that it is, predicted rain-- but for the 5th year in a row the sunshine held and our backyard was filled with the lovely madness of little people, cupcakes, and wrapping paper. 

Sixteen children, 4 babies, and their accompanying grown-ups were in attendance.

Once again I am awed and delighted by the village that surrounds our children.  I love these people, one and all.

What I loved: The dino-themed games, particularly our homemade beanbag toss and pin-the-claw boards.  I loved catching glimpses of these friendly T-rexes that the children helped to paint.  They made the party, in my opinion.  And it was so fun to have children old enough to really participate in the games.  We were all amazed at how well they waited their turns...

Here are the rest of the decorations.  Jack and I had a great time frosting his cupcakes together.  He carefully added the dinos, sprinkles and "lava" to each one.

And here are the kids, playing some of the games. 

Dino dig in the sandbox.  We hid little skeletons in there.

Attack of the masked dinos!

Ready to play pin the claw on the t-rex!

more digging...

Pinata time!

Waiting (extraordinarily patiently!) for the pinata to open.  And it took forever, by the way.  things ended with Nat beating it on the ground....

There was singing and frosting and an overwhelming pile of presents...

gathering to sing to jack...

Present insanity!  The harpies!!!

And my favorite-- people lounging in our yard.  I just love to see our home full of people at their ease, enjoying life and each other's company.