tiny little balls

Like the rule goes, the cheap stuff or the stuff you don't buy? That's the stuff kids will play with. Case in point, one of little e's favorite games is "Dote Ball." This is played by kicking or bopping the SPAM beach ball up the stairs (the dotes) over and over until the ball lands on the second floor. Then you climb the stairs to retrieve it, kick it back down the stairs and start over -- batting away until it gets stuck again.

Another favorite toy? Tiny Little Balls. Every time we go to the park, we hunt for Tiny Little Balls. These are colorful little b-b-sized plastic balls that we find in random spots throughout the park. Our trip is not complete unless we find one -- it's like a veritable Easter egg hunt. Once we think we've found them all, we find four more the next visit.

Tiny Little Balls are great fun. You can scoop them up with your toy truck. Dump them out. Build a block chute and chute them down the slide. You can drop them through the hole of your ball-pounder toy and watch them all go down the ramp like tiny little gumballs. You can drop them on the floor and watch them scatter underneath all the furniture... Inevitably, every time I vacuum, I can count on sucking up at least three TLBs. Thankfully we have a bagless vacuum, so I can usually spot them in the clear cannister. In fact, just the other day Ed and I sorted through a few pounds of dog hair and dust bunnies just to save three little tiny balls.

Today, we hit the Tiny LittLe Ball motherload. I think we counted 22. Which if you've ever hunted for Little Tiny Balls is quite an impressive feat. You should've seen us -- cherring every time we found one, digging them out of sidewalk cracks with keys --- Little e was so excited. The highlight of the hunt was when he found a broken one. Because if there's anything he can appreciate more than a ball, it's a broken ball. You know what those colorful circles are in the begining pages of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" are, don't you?" Yes, those would be broken balls.

So we got home, counted our finds and added them to our ever-growing stash. Here they are in all their glory.

best. things. ever. volume 5

• How you say "for" instead of "to" like "I want to give it for Mama." And even in very subtle instances like together (forgether).
• How your enthusiasm for finding Tiny Little Balls has not died -- nor does it seem it ever will.
• Your freakishly accurate memory.
• Your freakishly heightened sense of perception (your ability to spot a ladybug, Tiny Little Ball or flea while being pushed in stroller -- "I SEE SOMETHING!! I SEE SOMETHING!! DON'T ROLL ME!!!")
• How happy, to the point of giddy, you get when I let you make cookies with me.
• How you say "windshield wipers" ("whimper wipers").
• The fact that you still call the stairs "dotes" even when you know the proper word, because Papa and I like it.
• How when I say something you really like the sound of, you say, "What Mama say?" just so you can hear it again.
• Hearing at 6:30 in the morning for the past couple weeks "THE SUN WAKED UP PAPA...THE SUN WAKED UP MAMA... I sleeped like a big boy!"
• How you lick my face like a puppy dog.

the end of an era

Elian's babysitter is spending a semester abroad in Scotland; her last day was Friday. I thought about finding a replacement for her. But now that the little man's getting older, it feels like he needs more play time with other kids. So now he will be going to pre-school Monday and Wednesday afternoons and one of his favorite sitters, Kim, will come to the house Friday afternoons.

I had mixed feelings about the whole daycare/preschool thing. They take naps there on tiny little plastic "cots" and I wasn't quite sure how he was going to take to that. His naps have been inconsistent to say the least. And I mean, I'd be dropping him off and shortly thereafter he would be taking a nap with a bunch of kids he didn't know. But today was his first day and I'm pleased to report it went really well. One of the teachers called me mid-way through the afternoon and told me he had slept until 2:45. Huh?? Whuh???

They have a "large muscle" portion of the afternoon where they run around like crazy and play with, hold on to your hats, BALLS! They actually have a pretty nice basketball hoop set up and Elian was very excited about that. When I picked him up today, he was all sweaty and drank about four little cups of water before we left the building. He chit-chatted my ear off all the way home about playschool and what he did that day. And I must say, although I say that I work from home, I hadn't really been able to do that. I would always leave when the babysitter got here and work from a cafe. But today I did work from home and man, it was weird being here without my little man.

Because none of my clients seem to get the work to me during my work hours, I often get it done in the evening or on the weekends sometimes leaving some of my "work time" open. That was the case today so I decided I'd take the opportunity to sew -- yes, I said sew -- my little guy a robot pillow case for a little pillow he could use for his playschool naps. And since apparently he told Papa the other day that he wanted a robot t-shirt like the one I made Papa, I made him one of those too.

When I picked him up today, I tell him in the car that I made him a little surprise. All the way home it was, "What is it?.... Can I see it?... What is it?..." That's when I knew I shouldn't have said anything. So we get out of the car and he says, "Where is the surprise, Mama?" We're in the garage. I tell him it's inside and when we get inside I show the pillowcase and t-shirt to him. His face begins to fall. "Is...that...it?...Is...that...my....surprise??" I see the tears welling up in his eyes. Mustering up as much enthusiasm as I can, "Yes, buddy, don't you like it?" "Where's the cool thing?...(now crying)...Is there something else??" I asked him what he thought it was going to be and gasping between the tears he managed to spit out, "a...ball...." Later he told me he wanted a snack (apparently playschool makes him both thirsty and hungry). After he ate his snack he said, "I feel better, Mama...I do like what you made me...I was hungry and that's why I was sad." The end.

anything and everything

Yesterday Elian was about 85% back to normal. I think since he was feeling better, and no longer confined to his prison that was the couch, he wanted to do everything in the world.

We made a track for his cars. We made a ramp for his cars. We made a ramp out of blocks for his cedar balls. We went to the park and kicked the ball back and forth and hunted for Tiny Little Balls. We played basketball. We made a train track. And this was all before 1 p.m.

Oh, and he also had a very blue lollipop.

a green treasure

Look what we found at the park today. That's right, my friends. That's nearly a quarter cup of green Litte Tiny Balls. The little man would've totally peed his pants except for the fact that did I mention HE'S POTTY TRAINED!?!?

Now must go off and find a recipe that calls for a quarter cup of little tiny balls.

oh look, it's a letter from our friends!

Yesterday little e got a letter from his cousin Izzy in the mail. Guess what she sent him. LITTLE TINY BALLS! Hooray! Thank you, Izzy for watching your little cousin's back. (Again with the sideways pictures -- what gives?)

quote of the day

(Heard while eavesdropping on a conversation between the little man and the kind lady who was bagging our groceries.)

Elian: "Do you have balls at home?"

Employee: "Balls, sure I have some for my grandbabies..."

Elian: "Do you have big ones? I have some big, big ones. And I have teeny tiny ones too."

Employee: "Oh, you do? That's great!"

Elian: "Do you have a basketball at your house?"

Employee: "Yes, I have lots of balls for my grandbabies..."

Elian: "Do you have a marble thing at your house?"

Elian: "One that goes, round n' round n' round n' round n' round. BLOOP! in the hole?"

Employee: "Do I have what?"

Elian: "Do you have a marble thing? I have a marble thing...one that goes, round n' round n' round n' round n' round..."

Employee: "Boy, sounds like you have a lot of things at your house."

Elian: "Do you have a Home Depot by your house?"

Employee: (BLINK, BLINK)

Elian: "Do you have a grocery store by your house?"



(At this point the woman's eyes are glassed over and she's moved on to the next customer with great relief.)

ltb fairy

This morning when we went out for a tricycle ride, we found a large collection of Little Tiny Balls on the walk leading up to our front door. Where did they come from? Who put them there? We do not know.

Stay tuned...

a day in the life of a monkey

Yesterday we went to see Macy's "Day in the Life of an Elf." We figured we'd get there early, you know, beat the crowds, I mean it's not even Thanksgiving, people! WRONGO BONGO! We saw the line wrap around several corners and ropes and high-tailed it to the Macy's cafeteria. That'll teach us to think ahead. Looks like we'll have to pair it up with our usual pilgrimage to see Santa on our Secret-Visiting-Day when there are no crowds. Ha!

Elian loves to eat at the Macy's cafeteria. It's like Old Country Buffet to him where he can pick whatever he wants. Most of the heated items weren't out for the weekend so he couldn't get his regular macaroni and cheese that he gets when we visit Papa for lunch. He decided he wanted sushi instead. No, really. Sushi and a Granny Smith apple as big as his head.







I opted for a tiny sample of chicken-noodle soup and a giant spinach salad.



And Papa went for a pressed ham and cheese sandwich and some kind of grainy salad. Apparently he didn't feel his meal was photo-worthy.

After lunch, we wandered over to one of Mama's favorite places. The little man chewed bubble gum for the very first time (he'd tried a piece a few weeks before but never actually chewed it - just like Bill Clinton). It was totally funny seeing him swing his arms like he was Mr. Cool Guy chewing his gum. He tried to make eye contact with everyone we passed to make sure they knew he was chewing gum. It was hilarious. You can see how much he's enjoying it by the look on his face. It was probably the most stale gum ball on the face of the earth. I know because I chewed the other half (for about 14 seconds). Poor guy, his only two experiences with gum have been with totally hard and stale gum balls.