The mouse and the cow

Daddy was working late today.



Wombat put his mouse in the school bus with all the pencils and said "Mouse is driving to find Daddy".

I said "Oh, Mouse, Daddy is at work."

Wombat said "Mouse is going to drive to Daddy's work to find Daddy!"

"OK".



Cow decided to come along for the ride. Because he and mouse are friends.



Mouse and Cow needed to drive the bus to Daddy's work, and so they needed to go outside....





.... but then they realized they didn't have jackets. So they couldn't go outside. And they were sad.





Then, they had dinner and felt better.

The joy of snow.

Last year, Wombat stepped out into the snow, felt the slippery ice under his booties and would go no further.  This year, Wombat discovered that snow needs shoveling, and now he LOVES snow.  He would get home from school or outing each day and yell "I NEED TO CLEAN SNOW!" immediately.  All visitors to our house ended up joining in the shoveling, and for that we are very thankful. :)

He is really good.  A few days ago he helped a neighbor dig out.  No, seriously.  He really did.
He is so good, in fact, that we got him his snow boots, his snow pants and a legitimate shovel.

And he is so good that he can show Daddy how shoveling is supposed to work.


Snow Shoveling Instruction from Olya on Vimeo.

Snow is Wet! from Olya on Vimeo.

Double Shoveling It from Olya on Vimeo.

It's a Jacket, Stupid.

Scene: Bedtime.

Iggy:  Elijah, it's time to go upstairs.
Elijah: Waaaaaah!  Noooooooo!

Iggy: Well, do you want to sleep down here?
Elijah: Yes.
Iggy: Get ready for bed then.  Where are you going to sleep?
Elijah: (points to a spot on our rug)
Iggy: Where is your pillow?
Elijah: (goes and grabs a small pillow; plops it on the spot on the rug)
Iggy: What about a blanket?
Elijah: (looks all around the room to find a blanket.  There are no blankets to be seen.)

Elijah heads upstairs.

Iggy: Are you going upstairs to get a blanket?
Elijah: Yes.
Iggy: No, no, you can't; you said you want to sleep here so you have to stay here.  If you can't find a blanket, then I guess you can't sleep here and we'll sleep upstairs.
Elijah (after a very, very brief pause): Daddy go get a blanket upstairs!


Iggy and I both silently applaud the kid for running circles around us and figuring out the logical puzzle we are trying to trap him in.  Iggy refuses to go get a blanket for Elijah. Frustrated and upset, Elijah collapses on his chosen spot on the rug.

Iggy (soothingly, grabbing a sweatshirt from a chair and draping it over Elijah): Here, Elijah; here is a blanket.
Elijah (takes a look at what has been draped over him): No! NO NO NO! (Throws sweatshirt off himself, gets up to his full height, holds the jacket like a piece of evidence at a crime scene and says, loudly, with a look of frustration, disbelief and a condescending voice).  THIS! IS! A! JACKET!!!!
Iggy: Let's play pretend that it is a blanket?
Elijah: NO! NO! NO, DADDY, THIS IS A JACKET!!

Iggy and I try not to crack up.  Iggy points at the sleeping bag in the corner.

Iggy: Ok, well, what about this? Is this a blanket?
Elijah: NO!
Iggy: Then what is it?
Elijah: (discovers he has no words to describe a sleeping bag.  But he is sure as anything that the word is not 'blanket'.  Getting more and more frustrated by the minute):  Aaargh... Ummm... YOU SLEEP ON IT!!!

Iggy and I redouble our efforts not to crack up.  Wombat is clearly really frustrated and cannot believe that we can't even tell the difference between jackets, sleeping bags and blankets.  Trying to diffuse him, I give him an actual blanket I just spotted on the couch.

Me: Here, Elijah, a blanket.
Elijah: (takes it with a sigh and goes to lie down with it over him.  Halfway to his chosen spot on the rug, changes his mind and runs back to Iggy): Look, Daddy!  Look! This! This is a blanket!! This.  This is.

Elijah shakes the blanket in front of Iggy demonstratively, until he is satisfied that Daddy had adequate time to memorize what blankets are.  And what they are not.

If he knew that nursing homes exist, I am sure he would be dialing the numbers to get Iggy and I into a facility for the mentally weak right now.  Thanks goodness we don't let him watch TV.

Me talk pretty

Elijah understands two languages, but speaks mostly one. He speaks Rushlish.

He can speak Russian a little, but only with English grammar. He has Russian word vocabulary and pronunciation down very well, and there are some words he mostly says in Russian. He knows their English equivalents, but uses the Russian ones, which causes some confusion with other English speakers. He will just insert these into an English sentence:

Slon (Elephant)

Oleni (Deer)

Zevayu (Yawning)

Oblaka (Clouds)

Shina (Car Tire)

Letit (Flying)

Dyadya (Uncle, or just a random grown man; sounds frustratingly close to Daddy to an English ear)

Zoopark (Zoo)
Mashina (Car, Machine, any sort of robotic thingy)

There are many more, I just can't think of them right now. It gets even more fun when he starts to try to decline/conjugate these in the English manner (Olenis, Zevayued, etc). I really need to make a conserted effort to teach him two real languages, rather than one jumbled Rushlish.

The experts in this say you are supposed to assign languages to people - so there should be one person who only speaks to the child in Russian. The problem is, none of us speak pure Russian or pure English. We also mix the words, mostly use English grammar or, in Russian, conjugate English words acccording to Russian grammar, and any of us, if forced to use one language only in its pure form would have a hard time.

So how in the world are we going to teach the kid to speak properly, in two distinct languages? Has anyone else done this?! Help!!

Well Dressed Boys

Common wisdom dictates that boy clothes are just not as cute as girl clothes.  But I think that most boy clothes have way more personality than most girl clothes do.  To me many girls look like easter eggs, with over-the-top dresses and pink colors and ruffles and bows.  It seems impossible to find a girl outfit that has any edginess or personality or coolness to it.

But lots of cool clothes are available for boys in colors other than baby blue.  I just found Little Boy Chic, and am totally in love with the shop.  It carries many things that would look great on any guy - little or big.  As there is probably no chance to convince your husband to put on a jacket like this, let's try to get your son to appreciate it.  Start them early. :)

Appaman Moto Jacket

Music Shades Zip Hoodie by Mini Shatsu

 

 Fire Truck Half Zip Pullover by Dogwood

Union Jack Wrinkled Denim Jeans by Smash

Electric Guitar Del Sol 2fer Tee by Mini Shatsu

There is so much more in the shop; you have to go and check it out.  No girls allowed, ruffle-free zone. :)

The DC Building Museum

I love days that our daycare is closed.  On those days I get to stay home with Wombat.  I usually try to plan a little outing, because the last thing I want to do is be more boring than daycare.  Last time, we went to the National Building Museum in DC.

The LEGO architecture exhibit was still going on when we went, and the exhibit was awesome.  Not only was there a large number of buildings constructed from LEGOs, but there was a huge build-your-own-city area with large LEGO block bins for kids to play with.  I think it was mostly targeting school-age kids, but Wombat got right into it anyway.

(It's interesting that the LEGO blocks used to build these creations are nothing like the LEGO blocks in the LEGO toys.  They are much more realistic, and even more modular.  They really are just like bricks).

After a little while of building, we headed to the Play Place at the museum.  It's for kids under 6 years old, and it. is. spectacular.  They have a miniature cottage! Loads of ride-on trucks! Building toys! Dress-up clothes! More trucks! Pillows to stack! Books to read! A large space to run around in! Train set! All for free.

Elijah immediately rounded up every single ride-on truck in the place, naturally.  Other (obviously less organized) children immediately took advantage of his having lined up every single truck and started grabbing them from the line-up to play with, thus greatly upsetting Wombat.

Oh well, he still found his one and only love in this recycling truck. (By Sprig recycled toys, no less.  Not too shabby.  In general, all the toys in the play place were expensive, high quality, very very nice toys)  We didn't check out the book section in depth, but lots of older kids were using it and it looked quite interesting (with all the books very construction-related and therefore boy-friendly.)
 :)

 After more playtime, we decided it was time to eat lunch and take a nap.  The museum advertises a Firehouse Bakery on premises, but that really only consists of one drink counter and a fridge with sandwiches - nothing freshly made available.  So to get food, you would have to prowl Chinatown as your closest option.  As for us, after making a few unsuccessful pokes around the neighborhood, I dragged Wombat to Teaism to get our lunch (and a mango lassie).

Getting there: The place is right next to the Judicial Square metro stop.  Like, directly and immediately across from the Metro stop exit - you have to walk about 20 feet across a plaza and just like that, you are at the museum.   But if, like me, you decide that metro-ing seriously interfers with your naptime, then you can also drive in.  A nearby garage can give you daily parking for $11-16.  We found our parking on this website, printed out a coupon for the discount and were good to go.

Cost: Admission to the museum is free.  The play place is free too!  Any special exibits are nominal-fee: the Lego one was $5 for me and free for Wombat.

Food: not too many options at the museum.  There is a small fridge stocked by Fireside Bakery, and not much toddler-friendly fare.  However, loads of restaurants are just a few blocks away, including Teaism (OK, a bit of a hike) and the entire Chinatown.

Bathrooms: quite nice: large, easily accessible and well-equipped with changing tables.

Museum Shop: Not bad, not bad at all.  Loads of building/construction toys, including Melissa and Doug and Bruder trucks.  Also random curiosities for adults and older kids, plus of course adult books.  A large, very large children's toy section. Unfortunately, to great disappointment, the museum shop does not carry any of the toys that are available to play with at their play place.  So if your toddler falls in love with one of the trucks there, you don't have an option to just buy one to take home.  A huge revenue loss for the place, if you ask me.  Elijah liked that garbage truck so much I would have totally bought one for him - even with the museum markup (which, as it was, wasn't too bad).

Overall:   The play place is great, but the rest of the museum is not really very interesting to a toddler (or to someone not into architecture already).  Not really worth a special trip, but if you happen to be at the Smithsonian/Chinatown during bad weather or a bad temper tantrum, the National Building Museum play place will save your day.  Definitely worth it to keep it in mind.

Glen Echo Carousel

 

 

Choooo Choooo!

We are going to the Toy Train Show this weekend, and if you are in the DC area, you should come too!!  There should be loads of model trains, with steam and real honks and train noise and complicated tracks.  And there will be a real train the kiddies can ride.  And it's only $7 per adult, and kids are free.  It really can't get better!

The Largest Train and Toy Show in the Northeast!

Dulles Expo Center

4368 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly, VA 20153

*** FREE PARKING ***

August 28-29, 2010

10:00a - 4:00p

Kids Under 12: FREE!

Adults Still Only $7.00 (good for both days)

Show Features

400+ Tables of Trains for Sale

100+ Exhibitors from Across the Country

Operating Model Train Displays

WVM Garden Railway Society - 30' x 50' G Gauge Layout

Piedmont Railroaders - 36' x 36' HO Scale Layout

Potomac Module Crew - 30' x 40' HO Scale Layout

National Capital Trackers - 24' x 48' O Gauge Layout

W&OD S Gaugers - 22' x 32' S Gauge Layout

Northern Virginia N-Trak - 16' x 28' N Scale Layout

Free Workshops and Demonstrations

Train on Time - Riding Train for Kids!

Hourly Door Prize Giveaways

Plus Much, Much More!

And while you are waiting for the show doors to open, ticket in your hand and impatient toddler at the ready, check out these cool train track demandments and designs on Wired's Geek Dad.  I think this one is my favorite:

"It's an ode to what got you into this predicament in the first place".

Oh-oh, he might be catching on.

Yesterday, we had this conversation.

Elijah (holding his toy dump truck): "fffffff-uck".
Me (cringing): "No, no, T-ruck.  Teeeee-ruck".
Elijah (giving me a sly look): "fffffffff-uck".
Me: "No! Teeeee-ruck!"

Elijah(with sly look turning to sly joy): "Fffff-uck teee-ruck!!"
and, before I can say anything else, he looks triumphant, throws up his hand and says:
"Ha! HIGH FIVE!!"
... and he high-fives me.  He looks very proud of himself.

I folded over laughing.  I couldn't help it.
So there you have it.  Not only does he say it, he now clearly gets that it sort of gets a rise out of people. Great. HIGH FIVE, Mom! Awesome job.

Except I didn't say "Fudge"......

Elijah loves trucks right now.  For months on end, he's been screaming "TWUCK!! TWUCK!!" at the sight of any large vehicle.  Really cool.  He's into it. We got him loads of twucks.  All was well.

But now his pronunciation of the word "truck" has changed.  He is replacing the first two letters of the word "truck" with a clear, drawn-out, loud, well-enunciated F.
To further complicate things, he started speaking in short phrases at around the same time.  Which, so far, has produced some delightful gems.  Replace the first letter with a loud "FFFFFFFF" and you get the gist.

"Mommy, *uck!"
"*uck down!"
"*uck home!"
"Dump *uck!" (sounds a lot like 'dumb *uck', especially when mumbled while wondering off)
"Big *uck!"
"Fire *uck!"
And, of course, when he is really excited about a truck,
"*uck! *uck! *uck!!"

We have tried to practice prounouncing "truck" with him, but all that has done is made him yell "FUCK!" even louder.  So we stopped.  Now we just try to avoid the topic, but it's difficult given that the stupid things are all over the roads.  Who knew that things usually used to describe trucks in phrases are so interesting when applied to, um, this area.  We totally are at a loss for what to do - the only thing we can do, and probably will do, is to try to record him saying it so we can play it back someday for our grandchildren.

Someone please help us.

Public Service Announcement

Please pay close attention, this is a public service announcement pertaining to your safety at this very moment.

A monster is on the loose.

Very little is known about the monster:
1. His (her?) name is WuggaWugga.
2. Monster lurks mostly under beds and couches. However, has also been seen on top of staircases that someone wants you to climb, or around corners when you are about to turn.
3. Monster appears to be invisible, at least to some.

At this point, we do not know of the monster's color, likes or dislikes, birthday gift preferences or any possible relations to The Muppet Show. However, we urge you to stay alert and send us any information you may have on monsters and how to deal with them.

The joy of reading

Reading Nook from Olya on Vimeo.

Coolest toddler video ever

Wanna thrill your toddler boy today?  Show them this climbing excavator video and revel in your parental coolness.  Fast forward to 2:45 for the real action to begin.  (via @kottke)