Sunday, December 19, 2010

a very special message for mr. and mrs. rodgers

ho, ho, holy cow, the boy loves santa

So I showed the little man the video from Santa (see previous post) and he was just blown away. "How does he know that?!?!" He said, shaking his head in disbelief. "UNBELIEVABLE." When I plugged the images into the video, I wasn't sure if he was really going to buy into it. But he totally ate it up and loved it. Which is why this probably happened.

Friday night we had a long-overdue appointment scheduled downtown. His haircuts are sort of a big deal -- it happened by default. We used to take him to Kids' Hair. But then, Ed thought it would be fun to schedule their haircuts together at a place that had a pool table, and they could play pool together while they waited for their appointment. They did that for a while and really enjoyed it until the place got more popular and had to make room for more chairs -- goodbye pool table. Also, Ed realized he could save $30 a month and cut his hair at home. Hello #2 razor (and hairy bathroom floor)!

But since the little man had developed a relationship with his stylist (hehe), and we liked the job she was doing, we continue to get his hair cut there, even if it means paying for parking downtown. So we usually schedule it at about 5 or 6, we drive down there, call Papa when we get to his building, walk over to the barber shop, then dine on sushi, macaroni and cheese and salad at the Macy's cafeteria. Friday's haircut was no different only this time we asked Elian if he might want to see Santa (shot down last year and I think the year before that). But this year he said yes, and I had to do everything in my power not to do a little jig. I LOVE SANTA! and it just crushed me that my little boy didn't feel the same way.

Luckily, we cruised through the Santa line like nobody's business while the Holidazzle Parade suckers were watching the parade. There was a part of me that thought the little man might have second thoughts and want to turn around. After all, this appreciation for Santa was very new. Before Ed and I could even round the corner after the magic velvet curtain was parted, the boy was running to Santa with open arms. He jumped on his lap and was very quick to tell him that he got Santa's email. And began to chat up Santa complete with expressive hand gestures for a good few minutes. It's times like these that I wish I had a video camera built in to my brain, but we didn't even know we'd be seeing Santa. Hell, otherwise he would of worn his fancy Christmas sweater (wait, he doesn't own a fancy Christmas sweater).

Of course, the over-saturated Macy's photo doesn't do it justice, but as soon as my lovely assistant gets it scanned I will be sure to post it. As poor as my memory is these days, this was a Christmas memory that will definitely stay with me forever.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

test, test, is this thing on?!?

A few weeks ago, the little man had an opportunity to record a little ditty for Hormel. Can you say "Free Talent?"

When we got to the studio, he seemed a wee on the nervous side. And who could blame him? There were a lot of people involved in the production, both of the adult and children variety.

When it was his turn to record, I got totally nervous for him. He was sitting at the mic alone with big headphones on. One of the sound engineer dudes was in there helping him with timing. After a few practice shots, he seemed less nervous and did a fantastic job. About six or seven kids total recorded including two professionals and they ended up using our boy and the two professionals. Eat your heart out Justin Bieber!

Sadly, I don't think this is going to mean early retirement for us. Afterwards we asked him how he liked doing it and he said it wasn't as much fun as he thought it was going to be. I wish I could attach a sound file to this blog so you could hear it. But you're just going to have to settle for the pictures.



Tuesday, December 07, 2010

betsy ross junior

Lately the little man has been into creating flags -- and countries. Here are two of his latest pieces. One for the country of Macaluia (sounds a little Hawaiian, no?) and Cueblae. Now accepting applications for residency.



Monday, November 22, 2010

you're a good sport, charlie brown

For the past few months, we've been having a few issues with the little man's sportsmanship conduct. He's always been a bit on the competitive side, but lately, he's really been having a hard time with losing. A really hard time.

According to him, he does just fine when he plays with other kids. Somehow he manages to keep it together. But when he plays with us, there's a lot of "IT'S NOT FAIR!!!" a little cheating if he can get away with it, pleas to not count something that worked against him and an all out fit of tears when he loses. After a few ugly games of Sorry, we decided to put competitive games on hold for a while.

Each day he would ask to play Sorry, Skipbo or something else. And each day we would tell him we were taking some time off. We went a good three or four days of telling him we weren't ready to play games with him until he could be a better sport. Then this weekend we gave it a try. I must say the boy learned his lesson (at least for now). He was the ultimate good sport saying "Congratulations" each time he lost and even making jokes about his bad luck. I had to rig the Candyland deck after I won three times in a row -- c'mon, the poor dude can only take so much.

He did really well all weekend. There was one pretty intense game of Blockus when Papa won and the tears started flowing. He tried so hard to keep it together with deep breaths. It was hard to watch but I'm so proud of him for trying so hard. Let's cross our fingers that it lasts.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

quote of the day

PAPA: Mmmm, that smells good, what are you making?

MAMA: Vegetable stir fry with peanuts.

ELIAN: (From the other room) Did you say vegetable stir fry with PENIS?

Sunday, November 07, 2010

movie night

Last night we had movie night and watched Toy Story 3 (again). If you have not seen it, I can't recommend it enough.

The little man and I were in total snuggle mode on the couch. We got to the end of the movie when before heading off to college, Andy gives his toys away to a little girl (SOMEBODY GET MAMA A TISSUE!). I said to Elian, "So when you go off to college, do you think you might give Target to a little boy or girl?"

He responds, "I don't know. I'm not at that point yet." And there was more reflection and maturity in his response than I ever would've imagined. And I knew I wasn't blubbering because Andy was headed off to college, but that in about 12 fast years my little man will be.

(Unless he goes to the University of Minnesota and lives with Mama and Papa forever. I mean, not that I'm planning that...)

Friday, October 29, 2010

tick or treat

Every year my sweet friend Amy sends the little man a stash of Halloween treats in the mail. She knows he's like his mother and has a soft spot for "disgusting but good" sweets. And every year her selection gets a little bit more daring. It started with Pop Rocks, Razzles and the like. But then she ventured into the EXTREME sour category, the fun dips and the Hot Tamales Fire.

Well, this year she has completely outdone herself. Yes, this year my boy received a box in the mail with a skull and cross bones that said, "I Dare You: hot, sour and just plain nasty confectionary treats." How do you define "just plain nasty?" you ask. Well, you might think it's the Toxic Waste Hazardously Sour Candy. Or maybe it's the Pet Tarantula gummi candy. Or could it be the War Heads Super Sour Double Drops. No, my friends it would not. Because this box contained (wait for it, wait for it)....


Mexican Spice LARVETS - the original worm snax and lest you think they are real, the first ingredient listed is larva.

But wait, that's not all. Inside the box there were also some chocolate-covered insects which lists insect larva or crickets in the ingredients. And finally, and orange-flavored lollipop with a worm inside. We will be saving these goodies for Thanksgiving in Janesville where we will host a Thanksgiving Fear Factor with the boy and his cousins.

Part of the reason I get out of a groove with this blog, is that the little dude says so many funny things that it's hard to remember them all. Like when it came time to call my friend Amy and tell her thank you for the tasty Halloween treats. I just gave him the phone and let him say whatever he wanted. He said a pleasant thank you and ended the call with this:

"I'm going to save a chocolate-covered insect for you. WITHOUT THE CHOCOLATE!!!!"

Thanks Amy! You're the best. (Those are my words, not his, but I know he'd agree.)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

encyclopedia brown and the case of the missing orange ball

This post goes out to my friend Amy who gave my little man one of his favorite toys: The Ball Pounder.

I think she gave him this gift when he was around two year's old, but he's consistently played with it (along with another ball pounder given to him by my brother and his family) up to this day. Sadly, (and I never told Amy this) we lost one of the balls to the ball pounder probably just a few months after getting it.

That didn't stop the little man from playing with it. He would add things like marbles and various other items to try to get everything stuck and then marvel as they got loose and came down the path. But we always wondered where that orange ball went. I knew it had to be in the house. But I checked all of the possible places I thought it could be and could never find it. I checked EVERYWHERE. And then checked again.

Then a few days ago, the little dude was playing with a quarter when it rolled under the couch. We both looked under the couch with a flashlight and way back in the corner under the heat register, there it was. The orange ball. I can't tell you how many times I looked in the exact spot and never found it. I grabbed the flashlight, pointing it directly at the ball and said, "Look buddy!" and we just looked at each other and laughed and laughed.

Needless to say there was much play with the ball pounder after that. Marbles and all.

Monday, October 25, 2010

@#$%! where'd i park?!?!?

the great treat debate

Today, while pondering what treat I should put in his lunch box, the little man convinced me he should get not one, but two Hershey nuggets, arguing since whenever I put Dove chocolates in his lunch, he gets two of those. However, I told him, the Dove chocolates are much THINNER than the Hershey nuggets. These are NUGGETS after all. He then showed me with his hands that if you folded a Dove chocolate, it would be about the size of a Hershey Nugget and rested his case with a few kisses and hugs for good measure.

Let the records show, the boy got two Hershey Nuggets in his lunch.



Wednesday, October 20, 2010

double double toil and trouble

Last weekend the little man had a Halloween-themed birthday party. About a week before, he had told me he wanted to be a witch for Halloween. Apparently his friend Estella was going to be a Candy Corn Witch and I guess my little lemming thought being a witch was where it's at.

While I have no problem dressing him in a girly costume if that is his wish, I wasn't sure if he knew that it's typically girls who dress as witches. And considering he had already been teased at pre-school for playing with dolls, I didn't want him to be unprepared to face the macho five-year-old wrath who would undoubtedly be dressed as super heroes.

With the party fast approaching, Ed gave him a casual warning telling him there was a possibility that one of the boys might tease him since usually girls dress up as witches. And I'm proud to say, he didn't care. To quote him exactly, "Who cares what people think!" I think he was mostly excited to put green makeup on his face and to wear one of my black shirts.

After cobbling the costume together with a $3 hat purchase, one of my shirts and a recycled super-hero cape given to him at a party last year, he ended up looking a little creepy (maybe it was the botched makeup job). I don't think the kids knew exactly what to think of him. He came home from the party and proudly exclaimed, "No one called me a girl!"

Victory! Or is it?




Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

quote of the day

"Adam doesn't know how to whistle. Instead of whistling, he goes, (makes high-pitched noise). It's really annoying."

Thursday, October 14, 2010

early bird

So the little man's been wanting to get to school early so he can be the first one there. Why? So he can get the fake money in the Housekeeping Area (my little capitalist). Apparently, there are only a few bills to go around and usually one or two kids hog them. If he gets there early enough, HE gets the money and can SHARE with whomever he'd like. So for the past four or five days, Ed's been taking him to school a little earlier and thus, getting to work earlier himself.

This morning, he crawled into our bed and once again proclaimed his desire to get to school early. And then said, "Today. I'm going for the wheels." (Apparently the lego wheels are hard to come by as well.) And then he added, "If I can't get those, I'm going for the money."

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

quote of the day (or conversation with my little hoarder)

Elian: (Looking into recycling bin) Mama, you don't have to recycle those cardboard tubes. I'll take them!

Friday, October 08, 2010

2010 the summer of bravery

I suppose I should do a very quick re-cap of the summer since I have been absent to the blogging scene. It went as followed:

Work was slow, very, very slow. Do you see those tumbleweeds? But on the bright side, (besides the bright side of not working) I got to spend gobs of time with one of my favorite boys (my other favorite being Norman -- HA! I kid). We hung out at the pool by our house a lot and the little man learned to swim. Like a fish. Not only that, but he got brave enough to go down the yellow slide at the water park. And a few weeks before the pool closed for the season, he started going down the red slide. Yes, the red slide.

At the beginning of summer, he learned to ride a bike! Now he's like a two-wheelin' fool and there's no stopping him. With the patience of a saint and a stronger lower back than mine, Ed took on the responsibility of teaching him how to ride. They practiced in the water-park parking lot before the pool opened for the year. Baby step, by baby step, he got braver and braver. Before you know it, he's going off curbs and threatening to do wheelies and Evil Kenevil-style jumps.

We had our trip to Lake Tahoe which included a visit with old college friends and an emergency-room visit for the boy. And of course, our visit to the North Shore. I'd show you pictures but the Hernan-dos resident photographer has retired. He's all about the movies now. Nobody wants to see those boring ol' non-moving images. Ahem.

That about sums it up. I'm sure I've left out a "few" details here and there.

In other news, I just ate way too many homemade graham crackers from the farmers' market.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

kindergartner extraordinaire

My little man is a kindergartner. Not just a kindergartner, but a very enthusiastic kindergartner. Never in a million years would I have expected this.

In the months leading up to the start of kindergarten, he was far from enthusiastic. Adults would smile at him and ask in their high-pitched voices, "Are you getting excited about kindergarten!?!?" He would fake a smile and say, yes, but his heart wasn't in it. I knew he was dreading it.

But then something happened. Maybe it was the pep talk he got from his cousin Isabelle, how much she LOVED kindergarten. Or it was the fact that we had finally decided which school he would actually be attending. Or, and I think this was the clincher, it was the kindergarten supply list that came in the mail requesting about 10 glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils and did I mention, glue sticks. As soon as he saw that, c'mon GLUE STICKS, he realized that kindergarten may actually be fun.

But even though his enthusiasm was growing, I was still a little nervous. He would be at kindergarten all day. Every day. Away from his Mama. And although I knew it would be good for him, I wasn't so sure he would feel the same way. In the end, we had decided he'd go to the larger K-8 public school. This going against everything the boy was about. He's never been one for crowds, chaos or play with large groups of children (hmm, I wonder where he gets that). I pictured him lost in the hallways, tears streaming down his eyes. I questioned our decision to take him out of his comfort zone and put him in this school.

But I'm pleased to report, ladies and gentleman (or lady and gentleman in the case of this blog), that he LOVES it. He has not once complained about the large class size, which surprisingly turned out to be not as large as I had thought at 24. And holy cow, you guys, you should've seen him confidently strut through the crowded hallways during the open house and lead me to the gym (taking the "shortcut"). He loves gym, he loves art and he loves science. We marvel every day how his brain has opened up to art. Not a day goes by that he wants to sit down and draw -- or practice letters. And it's not like I wasn't encouraging that in the past. I don't know what this art teacher said to this boy, but there's no stopping him now. Hooray, teachers!

And get this, he's now taking chess after school. So not only has he never complained about the long day, but he wants to go longer. When presented with a few options for after-school classes, he chose chess. My little nerd chose chess. And apparently he learned enough on the first day that he played another little boy a few times. His story about how many he won is forever evolving.

I am not convinced this enthusiasm is going to last forever. I know there will come a day when he doesn't want to go to school. They've been doing kindergarten assessment recently and Elian's teacher informed Ed that Elian was reading at a 2nd grade level. Add to this the fact that when he goes to bed at night he wants Ed and I to quiz him in math problems. The harder the better (shut up Ed). He's already getting division and negatives. So I'm a little concerned he may soon get bored at school going over what sounds letters make and 1 + 1, but I'm hoping he continues to revel in his mastery of it instead.

Holy crap, my boy's in kindergarten.


Wednesday, October 06, 2010

facebook killed the blogging star

I've been trying to figure out why the big ol' fat blogging rut? I blame Facebook. It's so much easier to post photos and one-sentence snippets about all of the amazing things my boy has been doing. Lazy? Maybe.

But if I didn't have to pick the little man up in a few minutes, I'd tell you all about the start of kindergarten. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.

Monday, May 10, 2010

quote of the day

Last night Elian and I were enjoying our new Sunday-night tradition: Minute to Win it. (I knew it was a mistake watching that once with my overly competitive, ball-obsessed boy.) A Cover Girl mascara ad comes on featuring a tight mini-skirt clad, long-haird blonde and he says:

That's what I want you to look like, Mama.

look what i got!

The Ballad of Mama & Elian from ehernandez on Vimeo.

Friday, May 07, 2010

worried mama

I was pretty anxiety prone when I was little (and ahem, right now). I remember when I used to get very nervous about something (or very excited), I could work myself up to a doozy of a headache. Seems I've passed on this not-so-enjoyable trait on to my little man.

Sadly, he's not very excited about going to kindergarten. Whenever we see people who find out he's five, they say things like, "I bet you're excited to go to kindergarten!" and he just looks at them, trying to force a smile, when I know he is terrified.

Last night we went to the Kindergarten Roundup at one of the schools we got into. We're still not 100% sure about our choice. We're on the waiting list at the Chinese Immersion school right by our house. One school that we did get into is pretty large (typical urban public school) and has a lot to offer in terms of extracurricular activities: band, theatre, sports, after school programs... The other school is a small, charming charter school. The kindergarten takes 20 kids and no more. It's a relatively new school so when we toured the 7th and 8th grade combined had like 12 kids. This school has no gym, no foreign language, but I think the big plus here is the smaller, more intimate setting, which if I had to choose a style for Elian as he is right now, I'd definitely go with that. Seems perfect for grades 1-4, but I wonder how much he'll miss the typical middle-school experience. And transferring out to a different public school at that point is difficult (from what I hear).

I could see from the way Elian was acting at the open house, that he was pretty nervous. By the time we got to the restaurant where we were going to eat dinner, he had a headache. So we got our meal to go and went home. This isn't the first time he's gotten a headache from being nervous. Come to think of it, I think he got one after we toured the Chinese Immersion school. He eventually told us that he was nervous about the open house and that the school was too big.

This just breaks my heart. Since he's been going to pre-school and childcare part-time, I didn't really expect the whole kindergarten thing to be difficult for him. But there you have it. But in all honesty, I think it might be harder for me than it is for him. Sniff.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

guest blogger alert!

Unbeknownst to Ed, he is a guest blogger at Hernan-dos today. From his email:

i was complaining about that chemical smell, and was telling elian that i was going to find out where it was coming from and then send them a letter.

he asked how i would find out. i said i would follow my nose.

he asked if he could come along, and i asked him why he wanted to.

he said, "two noses are better than one."

Monday, March 29, 2010

a letter to the neighbors

Dear Nature-Lovers-Who-Leave-Demi-Baguettes-On-Their-Lawns-For-The-Bird,

my four-legged black hairy bird thanks you.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

r-rated quote of the day

Elian's been really into planets and the solar system lately. Sometimes he likes to drop "Andromeda Galaxy" into conversations to impress the ladies. The other night we were pulling into the driveway talking about how we were going to look at the stars and see which planets we could see, when Elian yelled, "I think I see URANUS!"

Having the sense of humor of twelve year-olds, Ed and I began to giggle ("he said 'your anus...'")

But then, he said it again, "I DID, I SAW URANUS!"

(GIGGLE, GIGGLE)

And then, I SAW URANUS, URANUS, URANUS...

He would not stop saying Uranus and it was very funny, people.

Guess you had to be there.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

quote of the day (and why having an older mom is not so bad)

The setup: We're driving in the car and we spy a guy riding his skateboard down the middle of the street doing all sorts of jumps and tricks.

ELIAN: Lookit! He's not even wearing a helmet or pads or anything...and he's riding down the middle of the street.

MAMA: Well, he's older. Sometimes when you're older you do stupid things.

ELIAN: That's what I'm going to do when I'm older!

MAMA: Oh, no you won't!

ELIAN: Well, you won't see me -- you'll be dead.


CRICKETS... TUMBLEWEEDS...

Thursday, March 11, 2010

phase: teddy bear

When Elian was a baby, my Aunt Roberta made him this adorable fuzzy black teddy bear with movable arms, legs and head. He was immediately attached to his Ugli doll Target. And at such a young age, I didn't want to introduce too many stuffed animals in his bed, so we put the teddy bear on his bookcase where he sat and wisely watched over Elian's bedroom.

A few times I would take it down and show it to Elian and tell him how my Aunt MADE this teddy bear for him -- with her bare hands. He would politely comment that it was cute, but still he didn't seem to appreciate it much. In fact, he seemed a little nervous about it. So back on the shelf it went, relegated to room-watch bear.

But then last night something crazy happened. We were reading his "first words" Spanish book. We got to the word for teddy bear and Elian said, "I don't have a teddy bear, do I?" And I said, "Actually you do..." and I grabbed the Aunt Roberta teddy bear off the shelf and once again explained how she made it for him, how it has black fuzzy fur and brown eyes just like Norman... He looked and touched it with great interest as if for the first time. It was as if something in the teddy-bear region of his brain just charged up.

For the rest of our books, he clung to the teddy bear and bombarded me with questions:
How'd she make it?
What is its name?
How many teddy bears did you have when you were little, Mama?
How old are most kids when they like teddy bears?
Why are they called Teddy Bears?

And probably the best one:
Why didn't I like this teddy bear until today?

He told me he was going to sleep with it, along with two other teddy bears he has. I was skeptical. Normally, if he goes to bed with any animal besides Target, he usually calls downstairs and asks us to come and take it away. But last night he didn't. He slept the whole night with the big, black, fuzzy teddy bear. Then this morning, when he crawled into our bed he was carrying Teddy instead of Target. I imagine Target was feeling exactly how Woody felt when Andy got Buzz Lightyear.

We'll see where this goes. I won't be at all surprised if he changes his mind and the teddy bear goes back on the shelf. But even if this is a very short teddy-bear phase, it was amusing while it lasted.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

big-boy milestone alert!

For a while Elian's been talking about taking the guard rail off his bed. I've been a little hesitant because 1.) the boy is a total wiggle-worm in his sleep. There have many times when I've gone in there and his head has been dangling off the opposite end of his bed -- the only small portion of his bed not covered with his guard rail. and 2.) C'mon, if we take it off, that means he's getting even BIGGER. Can't we stop his growth by leaving his guard rail on (kind of like foot-binding Chinese women)?

So a few nights ago we took it off and put my body pillow that I used during my pregnancy on the floor to catch any possible falls and hooray! so far, so good. Now he's asking that we remove the pillow. Guess someone's too cool to have their Mama's body pillow on the floor.

The child can be so odd. He suffers pretty extreme anxiety about the tear in his blanket or the possible ruin of his beloved Ugli doll, so I wasn't sure how he was going to take the whole guard rail thing. I had learned while I was reading about when's the right time to remove the guard rail (because of his crazy sleep movement) that children can have a very hard time with its removal. It's sort of like a security blanket for some. But he's like Meh, get rid of it! So now my baby's sleeping without a net.

Sniff. He's getting so big.

family photo

The other day Elian received a note from school that he needs a family photo for his Spanish class. Thank goodness for tripods and self timers. Sadly, Elian's school friends will come away thinking his Papa has only half a head. If only I knew Photoshop. I'd love to create a thought bubble for Norman in this shot. Hmmm, what would it say?

Monday, March 08, 2010

another quote of the day

A conversation after preschool.

MAMA: The board said you went for a walk today. Where did you walk?

ELIAN: I can't remember. I was talking to Andrew so I wasn't paying attention.

MAMA: Mmmm, what were you talking about?

ELIAN: Wireless internet.

quote of the day

The other day I used the phrase "sounds like a broken record." I can't remember what it was in reference to -- probably something Elian kept telling me, over and over and over and over again.

One of my favorite things is when Elian repeats a saying that he's heard with a slightly-off twist. Today Chewie was squeaking her ball over and over again and he said:

"She sounds like a broken...a broken...a broken (searching for the right word)...a broken...you know, a big DVD."

Sunday, March 07, 2010

the baby playground has relocated!

Friday night Chewie! made her final destructive blow to the baby playground. There were many tears as the little dude headed out to soccer practice. While he was gone, I made an attempt to put it back together in its original form. Sadly not to his satisfaction (but I must say, somebody was a bit on the crabby side when I presented it to him).

Ed promised he'd help him make an even better baby playground upstairs. That way, Chewie! has less of a chance of knocking it over with her puppy happiness. So this morning, build a new baby playground they did. And I'm happy to report, the little man is happy. He proudly announced that this baby playground is v-shaped and really cool.

Ana Mama has her floor back. Alleluia!

Monday, March 01, 2010

pupdate

Chewie is adjusting very well to her new home. A little too well if you ask me. One of our biggest challenges has been keeping her off the couch when she sees that Norman gets to plant his furry butt there 24/7. YOU'VE GOT TO EARN IT, GIRLIE!

That and it turns out Elian doesn't like so much being bit and scratched in the face. Don't get me wrong, Chewie is doing very well with her training, but when Elian gets her riled up, there's no stopping her. The other day he screamed, "I DON'T LIKE HER!! I DON'T LIKE HER!!!" But I know he does -- he LOVES her. And so does Norman. Wait. Well, Norman's at least doing a great job tolerating her. And today when we were playing outside, I could swear Norman was making a small attempt at playing with her as she pounced around and ran circles around his achy bones. Chewie just loves Norman and she follows him around like an annoying little sister. As soon as she hears the jingle-jangle of his collar, she stops whatever she's doing and starts trotting behind Norman.

Ed is skeptical that I am getting the non-shedding dog of my dreams. AWe were told her mother was a standard poodle and her father may have been the neighbor lab who came over for a little boww-chicka-boww-woww. And if that's the case, she'd be in the labradoodle family. But according to my labradoodle research, the first generation labradoodles (half poodle, half lab) are more likely to shed. D'OH! Back to the pound you go, Chewie! I kid. We'll see. No dog could possibly shed as much as Norman.

Oh, and remember the Lego baby playground? That thing is even a bigger thorn in my side than before because now I've got a puppy who wants to gobble it all up and a little boy who screams any time the puppy goes near it. I can't tell you how many times I've fished the teeter-totter out of her mouth. Actually, our "Drop it" training has been so successful that I partly wonder how much she's taking stuff she shouldn't just so she can get a treat when she drops it. Hmmmm.

All in all she's a very good girl. Crazy smart. So smart that her first night home with us she unzipped her way out of her crate. It went a little something like this:

SOUND: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
AMY: It sounds like she's unzipping self out of the crate.
ED: Oh, she couldn't get out... SHE DID GET OUT!!!

Her antics are pretty much what I expected from a puppy. But we love her and she's a great addition to the family. And just to torture myself I keep checking petfinder to see if her siblings have been adopted. There are just two puppies remaining. Anyone?? Anyone??

Monday, February 22, 2010

introducing, chewie hernandez



In a moment of weakness, we drove two hours out to the Brainerd shelter and picked up this bundle of happy energy. We had been considering getting Elian his own dog for a while. Norman will be 11 this year and he's not a big fan of playful childish antics. He's sort of like a grumpy old man. On top of that, he suffered a pretty bad seizure while we were in Florida and his inevitable mortality sort of hit home.

Elian is a boy who love, love, loves dogs. And he love, love, loves to get his face in Norman's face all day long, grab his head and give him hugs and try to get him riled up for a game of tug-a-war. In response, Norman usually retreats to the upstairs bed as if to say, "Nice try, kid." He's also super careful around Elian; he's afraid to take the other end of the toy -- out of fear of hurting Elian I imagine. We can have an intense game of tug-a-war going, I'll hand the tug toy to Elian and Norman will just drop it. I feel bad for Norman. But mostly I feel bad for Elian. Here he is uber-dog-lover who wants to constantly play with a dog and he has a dog who doesn't even want to play with him.

Over the course of a few months, I've been emailing potential dogs to Ed, and ladies and gentlemen, I successfully wore the man down. Again, I hadn't been very excited about the puppy idea, but I also felt like for Elian to truly feel like the dog was his, the dog would have to be pretty young.

We made the two-hour trip to the Brainerd shelter bringing Norman along for the introduction. If it didn't go well, I was prepared to go home puppyless. We also didn't want to build Elian's expectations. He had no idea we were even considering getting him a puppy, so I wove a tale about how we would visit this "place" where we could pet puppies much like we pet the kitty cats at Petsmart and Norman could have a chance to meet a puppy too! There was no mention of the possibility of bringing said puppy home. And he bought every word of it. He never even questioned why we'd have to drive two hours to pet puppies.

We called to make sure she hadn't been adopted before we left. Since the hours were 11-2, with a two-hour drive, it didn't give us a lot of time. We arrived there 15 minutes before close. Ed and Elian waited out in the lobby with Norman while I went into the kennel area with my blinders on to the other dogs out of fear I'd want to adopt all of them (there were a lot). I walked past several cages with people standing in front of them, worried that someone was in the process of adopting her or taking her out to meet her. Luckily, no one was in front of her cage. As soon as I approached it, she pounced to the door, tail wagging like her life depended on it (and I guess in some sense it could have). And it was love at first sight.

We brought her out to the lobby and happily Norman did not want to eat her! And Elian and Ed fell in love as quickly as I did. That's it, a few papers signed, an adoption fee and bada bing bada boom she's home with us. And I wish I could show you what I see from my computer right now. I'll give you a hint, it's totally cute.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

the beauty of legos

For Christmas Elian got a very large Duplo Lego set complete with balls and tubes from Ed's sister. It's perfect for him. Only problem is he gets way too attached to the things he builds.

He's been in sort of baby-playground building stage where he creates these elaborate playgrounds with tube slides, teeter-totters and climbing equipment for "babies" and wants to leave them up for weeks on end. They take up about a third of our rug in the TV room, so you can imagine my delight. I keep trying to explain to him the beauty of Legos. How you build something, take it apart, only to build something much cooler the next time. But he's not buying it.

Our current baby playground has been around for about three weeks now. Funny thing is, when his friend Solveig came over for a playdate the other date, she was immediately drawn to the baby playground. They played with it for a good 20 minutes which is like four hours in adult attention-span. A few days later, it sat and sadly no babies were playing at the playground. I asked him if I could put away and it was met with resistance to put it mildly. So there it sits. The baby playground.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

my sneaky valentine

As soon as I enter the house after walking Norman, Elian says:

"Tonight Papa and I are going to Home Depot to get some birdseed and Petsmart to get puppy some food (long pause -- as long as he could contain himself). But we're NOT going to Patina."