garrett is four!

It's hard to believe, but it really is true -- today Garrett is 4 years old. Here is a birthday interview conducted with him on his special day.

i love my living room

Finally, after living here for four years, I have found an arrangement for my living room that I really love. I have finally been able to discard hastily purchased or handed-down furniture and replace them with pieces that fit better. The room is more open now and consequently feels a lot bigger than it actually is. My new favorite thing to do is sit on the couch and admire it.




Though we still have to fill the holes left behind after we moved pictures and shelves around, we do have our favorite pieces hanging up now. I am really quite fond of every one of them: the two pieces of calligraphy my mom did for us (isn't she talented?), the collection of illustrations from the picture New York-centered picture book, One Monday Morning, and what I like to call "Our Life in Large Letter Postcards," which we finally got framed. (The latter is not on the wall quite yet, but when it is, it will likely reside in our entryway.)


I especially love to sit and admire the bookshelves, which are filled with countless, well-loved books -- they are so beautiful to me, it sometimes takes my breath away! It took a lot of work, but all of our books (minus the children's books, which mostly live in the boys' room) now fit, with even a little room to make them look pretty, as well as a little room to spare! We did our best to organize the books topically, and I love to let my eyes wander over the shelves and pick out my favorite clusters of books: the well-loved novels with worn out spines, the regional books (novels and travel/culture guides) we've collected from the places we've lived, the poetry (of course), the writing reference books, the Americana.

These photos were taken from my couch. What a great view, don't you think?

My eyes then narrow to pick out favorite titles: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, A Room With a View, Haven Kimmel's Zippy memoirs, the works of J. D. Salinger, The Complete Poems of E. E. Cummings, and The Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay... and if I don't stop listing them now, I likely won't until I've named them all!

Of course, as I look at these shelves, I realize that there are a lot of favorites not yet living there. Titles like Bill Bryson's At Home, David McCullough's The Great Bridge, Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, and Alexander McCall Smith's 44 Scotland Street series. Someday they'll be there.

And then there's the piano. We finally got a real piano stand (to replace the free x-stand that came with our purchase a few years ago), which makes it much easier on my back to sit down and play. It fits perfectly between the two windows, and is the first thing you see when you walk into the room. We're in the process of picking out a picture of Christ to hang above it, and I'm excited to see both music and our Savior together as a focal point of this room.

So now you know: I am in love with my living room. It is finally, in my opinion, a pleasant place to be, and if I'm not careful, I just might park myself here and never leave.

summertime bucket list

And so summer begins. Today was warm, but in an inviting sort of way. We spent most of it outside.

We started with a scavenger hunt. The boys always love looking for trees, leaves, flowers, flags, birds, bugs, and other things typically seen in the neighborhood when we are out and about, but actually taking note of what they saw added a new, enjoyable dimension to it.

Let's see, what's next?

"Look, Mom! I find somefing!"

Checking flowers...

...and bugs off the list.

The scavenger hunt turned into a walk to the playground which eventually resulted in an afternoon nap. When everyone woke up, we walked to the library, stopped at a few stores, then hit the playground again, this time with swimsuits so the boys could play in the sprinklers. I can't speak for Garrett and Caleb (who, 45 minutes after I tucked them into bed for the night, are still awake and dinking around in their bedroom), but I'm exhausted. I'm realizing, though, that exhaustion will be the price I'll pay for an enjoyable summer with these boys.

Here are a few more ways I plan to wear us all to the ground during the next couple of months:

• Walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Garrett has been begging to do this again for a long time, and now that the weather is decent, I guess it's time we did.
• Ride the tram to Roosevelt Island and explore the island once we're on it.
• The second section of the High Line opened a few weeks ago, so we'll need to check that out.
• Go see the new Curious George exhibit at the Children's Museum of Manhattan.
• Thanks to a sweet summer deal my friend, Whitney, found, we'll soon be making a visit to City Treehouse.
• Attend one (or more) of the Transit Tots programs (which run every Friday at 11:00) at the Transit Museum. Visit the rest the rest of the exhibits while we're there.
• Both boys can't seem to get enough of the zoos, and with several here to choose from (Prospect Park, Central Park, the Bronx, and the Aquarium), we'll likely be visiting all of them at least once.
  
• My youngest sister, Chelsea, is coming in a few weeks to spend a month with us. With her help, I hope to brave one of the public swimming pools. I've never done this before, which is why I'm waiting for her to get here so she can help me wrangle both boys so I can still comply with the strict pool rules.
• On hot days we can visit the Brooklyn Children's Museum.
• Our local branch of the library is also air conditioned, so I imagine we'll spend some time there, too, especially since I just signed Garrett up for their summer reading program.
• And of course there are always the playground sprinklers. And the playgrounds for when the water is too cold and they need to warm up.
• I'd like to take the boys to the beach at Coney Island. If I do it on a Friday and time things right, we can watch an evening fireworks show as well.
• We'd also like to plan a family outing to see a Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game.
• These free summer arts programs in Brooklyn Heights look fun. Plus, it's right near the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which is a nice walk.
  

Whew. I'm sure there's more we can -- and will -- do, but this is enough to list for now. If any of my local friends want to join us on any of these outings, let me know. It's always merrier with more!

the first last day of school

Garrett on the last day of school.

Today is Garrett's first last day of school, and there will be many more in the years to come. But this one, perhaps because it is the first, is particularly bittersweet -- for me, not for him; I don't he think fully understands that there will be no more school until the fall, and even if he does, I'm not sure he sees what the big deal is. But I know we both have fond memories of the past year, and it's a little sad to see it come to an end.

We've come a long way since that first day in September. We survived a rocky beginning, made lots of friends, and received some much needed help with his developmental delays. Most of all, we've grown. Garrett is not the same little boy that he was ten months ago, physically or intellectually, and I am not the same sort of mother. We've both started learning the ins and outs of what it means to be enrolled in the public school system, and while it's been harrowing at times, it's also been happy and enlightening.

Garrett loved going to school, and he loved riding the bus to get there. He's been in a very good place at this particular school, and has been with very good people. He has learned what it means to work together and to be a part of a group, and his speech has improved in so many wonderful ways, I can't even begin to describe them here. I consider this, his first year of school, to have been highly successful, and I'm happy that he gets to go back to the same class in the fall for his pre-kindergarten year.

Garrett last week with his teachers, Ms. Christina (on the left) and Ms. Marilu (on the right), on the day we brought in cupcakes for an early celebration of his birthday.

a taste of summer

The Pre-K kids in Garrett's integrated preschool class are having their graduation ceremony today. Rather than make the younger students sit in a stuffy auditorium all morning, they let them have the day off. So, a few days ahead of schedule, the boys and I got a taste of what our summer has the potential to be like. Since we've all been craving a change of scene/routine, my goal was to spend as much of the day as possible out of the house (but to also make it home before the forecasted late afternoon thunderstorms arrived). Here's a glimpse of how things went down.


Wake up. Do all of our usual morning things like eat breakfast and get dressed. Threaten Garrett and Caleb several times that if they don't stop screaming/fighting/hitting right this minute, our scheduled trip to the zoo would be canceled.

Ride the R train; transfer to the Q. At the Prospect Park stop, get off. As we make our exit from the train, listen to Garrett tell me, "Ah, we did it. We here. Good job, Mom. High five."

Meet Whitney and Baby Blake at the entrance to the zoo. Once admitted, head straight to the barn to feed and pet the goats and sheep. Later, find ducklings and feed them, too.


Once we've exhausted the zoo (or been exhausted by it, take your pick), head across the street to Wendy's for lunch, where Garrett orders "chichen uggets, fries, and chapup."

Back to the train. Ride the Q and transfer to the D. Say goodbye to Whitney and Baby Blake. (Thanks again, guys! We had fun!) Ride all the way to Bay Parkway. Tell some poor lost souls en route that they've been heading in the wrong direction for an unfortunately long time and should get off this Coney Island-bound train and onto a Manhattan-bound one stat. Exit the subway and walk half a mile. Along the way, tell Garrett that we're going to a toy store and concoct a ruse involving getting toys for his cousin, Henry, so that he hopefully won't guess that I'm actually doing a bit of birthday shopping in his presence.

At Toys R Us, head straight to the section with fire trucks. Compare different models while the boys push every "try me!" button, illuminating the aisle with flashing lights and loud battery-requiring noises. Make purchase and leave the store, feeling fairly confident that Garrett was so dizzy from the general awesomeness of such an enormous toy store (or perhaps just blinded by all those flashing lights) that he doesn't realize the fire truck I just bought is actually for him.

Walk to the bus. Resist stopping at another Wendys' for Frosties, not because I don't deserve one, but because I don't want to wait in that line. Climb aboard our bus and wrestle with Caleb, who had decided it would be a lot of fun to throw a big fit for a large crowd of people, until we get off to transfer to another bus. While we wait for the next bus, calm Caleb down by bribing him with animal crackers and forgive him his trespasses when he politely (and instinctively, I might add) says, "Day doo!" as he stuffs each one I give him into his mouth.

Board one final bus and ride it into our neighborhood. Get the boys home where everyone (except Caleb, of course) crashes into a semi-comatose state. Spend the rest of the afternoon recovering from the events of the day.


Did we survive? Mostly, yes. Will we survive the rest of the summer? Boy, I hope so. Garrett goes back on Monday for one last day of school, and then it's just us, summer, and the small arsenal of adventures I've been stockpiling to aid us in the battle of summer survival (with, hopefully, our sanity in tact). So, ready or not, here we go.

to move, or not to move

Sometimes I just want to run away from here, from Brooklyn, from crowded, dirty, urban life. Don't get me wrong -- Brooklyn is a thrilling and unique place to live, and I've enjoyed myself here, but it's also a physically and mentally exhausting place to live and the last four years are really starting to wear on me. I don't have what it takes, let alone the desire, to stay here forever. But for a variety of reasons, including Blake's job, his calling as bishop, and the fear of losing all we've gained in IEP services for Garrett if we crossed state lines prematurely, we can't leave just yet.

We can't leave, but perhaps we could make our situation here a little more comfortable. Our lease is up at the end of July, and the question of finding a new apartment in the neighborhood has been debated back and forth for the last several months. A place with more space, more accessible laundry facilities, fewer stairs or maybe even an elevator would not be unwelcome, especially after a winter as hard as the one we just finished, as well as last month's encounter with mice.

But lately the pull to stay put has been particularly strong. For one, despite all of its quirks and flaws (including the mice, which, thankfully, we've had no sign of since the exterminator's visit), we really do love our apartment as well as where it's located. We've looked semi-seriously at potential new apartments but I find that, in a city filled with ancient (or at least pre-war) apartments with odd layouts, signs of roach infestations, and penny-pinching landlords, that is a rather depressing endeavor. There is just so little available that 1) meet our basic needs and standards, and 2) are priced at something we can afford.

Our current landlord, assuming that we'd absolutely want to leave after the mice incident, offered, in an effort to entice us to stay, to renew our lease with no increase in rent. For the space we have, we're already getting a steal, so that's a proposition that's hard to pass up. Also, when you calculate the costs of moving, even just within the neighborhood, it gets pretty expensive pretty fast (think increased rent, security deposit, the fees for a real estate broker, a moving truck, and the inevitable expenses of getting settled into a new place, which, though small, add up quickly). Why move if the space and amenities you'd acquire do not justify the cost of doing so?

And then, acting as the cherry on top, there is a new laundromat going in right around the corner -- a distance that would be fairly similar to hauling our loads down to a basement laundry were we to live in a larger building, minus the elevator, and which would sure beat our current distance of three blocks.

Our current space is small, but, should it become necessary, we could fit another person here. Or at least sleep another person. How comfortable we'd all be is debatable, but you do what you have to I guess.

So to move, or not to move? That is the question.

Or, it was the question. The decision has since been made. And by now you can probably guess what our choice was.

We're not going anywhere, at least not yet.

Because it would be a fraction of the cost of moving, and because for my sake it desperately needed to be done, we've begun the process of making our current apartment more comfortable and, well, liveable. On Friday we made a big trip to Ikea, and we spent Saturday assembling and arranging new furniture (the Hemnes line for the livingroom, and Trofast in the boy's room) to replace old pieces we'd outgrown. Aside from a recurring Ikea-induced headache and a few furniture-related bruises (yeah, I'm the one who helped Blake get all the new stuff up and the old stuff down two flights of narrow stairs), things are coming together nicely. We're not finished yet (a real piano stand to replace the free x-stand that came with our purchase is on its way, pictures have not yet been rearranged on the walls, and we've got our eye on a small desk for our bedroom), but I'm already loving the way everything is taking shape. It's nice to finally be able to follow the adage "a place for everything, everything in its place." Perhaps when things are a little more put together, I'll post some pictures.


To move, or not to move, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler to save a little money
And suck up the inconveniences of living in
A place we really are kind of fond of,
Or to take arms against the whole situation
And get the heck out of Dodge. To think, to sleep on it,
To debate the issue some more. Ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep what dreams may come,
Of when we've shuffled off this urban life,
Must give us pause...


Sigh. Someday I will get to raise my family in the suburbs (and I will totally ROCK this motherhood gig when I do), but for now it'll be this little apartment in Brooklyn. And, for now anyway, I am okay with that.

spilling the beans

And speaking of spilling the beans, how about we pick some beanbag winners? The Powers That Be have chosen the numbers 8 and 12, which by my calculations are...

(drum roll please)

...Shelly and Laura!

Congratulations! As soon as I have your mailing addresses, I'll send some beanbags your way.

a new green tie for one really great guy

On Thursday after school, the boys and I went into Manhattan to run an errand at JCPenney. Part of our mission there was to find a nice tie to give Blake for Father's Day. (I know it's completely cliche to give a guy a tie for Father's Day, but that is honestly and truly what Blake really wants. He's a guy who loves a new tie.) Our mission was successfully accomplished when we spotted a green paisley tie almost exactly like the one Blake wished he was given to wear for my sister's recent wedding. Part of the perk of this particular tie was that, thanks to the wedding, Garrett has a miniature clip-on version that is almost exactly the same. We purchased the tie and then walked down Broadway to meet Blake at his office after work.

Before we hopped on the subway to all head home together, Garrett announced that he needed to use the potty. The closest bathroom was in Blake's office building, so he took Garrett inside and up the elevator to the 14th floor (where the executive suites, and by natural consequence, the cleanest restrooms, are located). Because of the security clearances required to enter the building, Caleb and I opted to wait for them outside on a bench.

After Garrett had finished his business and as we were packing everyone back up to get on the train, Blake leaned over to me and said, "So, Garrett told me about my new green tie."

I blushed. "He did? Because that was supposed to be a surprise. What exactly did he tell you?"

"That I was getting a 'new green tie' for Father's Day that was just like his," Blake replied.

"Oh. Well. That about sums it up, I guess." I said. "I hope you like it."

It turns out that, even though Garrett, in all his excitement over giving his dad a green tie just like his for Father's Day, unintentionally spilled the beans, Blake did like his gift. He wore it today and, if I may say so, looked quite dashing.

I am lucky to have a man like Blake working by my side to raise our children. And Garrett and Caleb are incredibly lucky to have a man like him for their father. Between working full time to support his family, and spending what sometimes feels like the rest of his time serving as the father of our ward, Blake is an incredibly busy guy. But despite the challenging restraints on his time, he manages to make every moment count, especially in his role as a father. I often find him down on the floor with his boys building things with Legos or attempting to teach them amateur magic tricks, or outside showing them how to ride their scooters around the block. He sees to it that we have Family Home Evening every Monday night, and when my patience wears too thin, he's there to pick up the slack. I'd be lost without him, and so would the boys (especially Caleb, who recently turned into a little daddy's boy). Happy Father's Day, Blake! We sure do love you!

full of beans, plus more to give away

This year at school, Garrett has had two head teachers, three assistant teachers, one speech therapist, and a pair of bus drivers. They all more than deserve a great big thank you from us for making this school year such an enjoyable success for Garrett. So I started asking around to my teacher/former teacher friends for ideas for thank you gifts that we could present them each with on the last day of school. Based on their responses, I came to the following conclusions:

1. Treats often get tossed because they get more than they could possibly eat.
2. Sometimes the same thing happens to generic gifts, which can get lost in the shuffle.
   
3. Thoughtful thank you notes and supplies for the classroom, however, are typically pretty welcome.
4. Gift cards are an easy out.

I wanted to put together something nice, but I am not a wealthy woman, which pretty much ruled out gift cards tucked into the thoughtful thank you notes I will most definitely be writing. In my head something homemade is oftentimes the definition of meaningful so I started to think along the lines of something I could make. If it was somehow useful in their classroom, it would be all the better.

And then it hit me. Beanbags! I have a truckload of dried beans and fabric scraps that I need to clear out, and if anyone can get mileage out of beanbags, it's preschoolers and those that teach them. And so I set to work making a few sets of beanbags -- a large one for the main classroom teachers, and a smaller one for his speech therapist to use. I think they turned out nice. (And yes, the bus drivers will be getting something different.)



Apparently I found a rhythm at the sewing machine because even after divvying a bunch out for Garrett's teachers, I'm still quite literally swimming in beanbags. Blake thinks I should make a small business of sewing and selling them, but I remain unconvinced that there is a profitable market for beanbags. I plan to keep some for my boys to play with (even as I write this they are happily tossing them around the room by the handful)), but what should I do with the rest?

Do you want some? How about a giveaway? I have two sets of six that I'd be happy to see go to a new home. (Seriously. Have I mentioned how I made way too many?)


Just leave a comment to enter (one entry per person please). I will randomly pick two winners on Monday, June 20th.

week in review

This week was sweltering hot. By Wednesday, temperatures were hovering around 100 degrees, with the heat index pushing them up even higher. The only way to make doing anything bearable was to find a comfortable place to sit, preferably with some semblance of a breeze wafting by, and not move at all, something I did my best to do a lot of. But that method will only work for so long, which is why at least a portion of every day was spent in swimsuits running through the park sprinklers. On one particularly memorable visit, Garrett fell in with a group of kids going down a makeshift water slide. Garrett had a blast; Caleb, who is still a little wary of this wet sprinkler business, found a comfortable place from which to watch.




On the hottest day of the week, Garrett's class hosted a family picnic at another local park. Garrett of course couldn't get enough of both the sprinklers or his special friend, Sofia. The potato sack was especially funny to watch him participate in. It took him awhile to figure out how to maneuver both hopping and moving forward, and once he did, the rest of the racers began rushing past him en route to the finish line. Garrett, thinking it better to keep up with everyone else rather than hop the race completely, just turned right around and joined the others. But even with his attempt at a shortcut, he still didn't win.




That same day was Stake Temple Day. After the picnic I started my day over again with another cold shower before heading up to Manhattan to attend a session. It was nice to be in the temple, partly because of the peaceful spirit that can be felt there, and mostly because it was air conditioned.

But speaking of air conditioning, our little heatwave served as the kick in the pants we needed to install our window a/c units. For the first time since we moved here, we have (thanks to my friend, Ashley, who moved earlier this year to a building with central air) an air conditioner for almost every room in the house: two smaller ones in the bedrooms and a larger one in the livingroom, which also helps to cool the kitchen. By Friday they were all installed, and we were living the good life. For probably the first time ever, I didn't mind the fact that I had to wait around all day for the UPS guy to come deliver my diaper order because for probably the first time ever, I got to spend a hot, sticky summer day at my house not feeling hot and sticky.

When the UPS guy did finally show up, he came bearing not only a supply of diapers, but also a soon-empty cardboard box that both boys quickly got to work playing with. Garrett, whose imagination runs wild these days, proclaimed that the box was a boat, a car, a train, a rocketship, a city, and a tunnel, though not necessarily at the same time or in that order.


Caleb, meanwhile, was perfecting the art of climbing out of his crib. We discovered this new talent of his on Friday when he joined his brother at my bedside first thing in the morning. Can I tell you how surreal it is to watch your your 21-month-old son walk nonchalantly into your room when you are pretty certain that you tucked him into a crib the night before? What the --? How did he --? Wait a minute -- isn't he too young to have figured this out already?! After he did it again during his Saturday afternoon nap, we asked him for an encore, which we captured on film. While on the one hand, he handles his escape in a relatively safe manner, on the other hand, this is the child who's already paid a visit to the ER with a concussion. We're trying to figure out our best next step (given our space, immediate room rearrangement is not really an option at this point). For now we're doing our best to get him out of the crib before he takes matters into his own hands.




On Saturday morning my friends and I put on a baby shower for our friend, Deborah, who is expecting her first baby (a boy) next month. Because we spread the assignments over so many people, coordinating the details was relatively simple. (Thanks to everyone who helped!) We served an assortment of cheeses, I made cake balls, and Emily made a pretty amazing diaper cake. The best part, though, was getting to spend the morning in the company of a group of women I have really come to love.



And if this wasn't enough to make for a week filled to the brim, I somehow managed to devour a highly addicting book: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Have you read it? Because, wow. You really should. It was absolutely riveting. Because it's the story of a WWII POW, a good chunk of the book was also pretty horrifying, and as such, there were times I just wanted to put it down. But I couldn't. Which was good because even though things always got worse just when you thought they couldn't, eventually everything turned out all right for old Louie Zamperini.

And now, my friends, I need/really deserve a nap. So here is the first full week of June, signing off.

photography by garrett

As you may recall, Garrett owns a small digital camera. In the months since it has been in his possession, his keen eye and talent have increased (as have, incidentally, the number of blurry and washed out pictures he takes). And, as so many of us in this digital age are, he is also incredibly prolific. By some standards, the combination of these elements now qualify him to open up his own photography business. The question is, should he? You be the judge.

Samples from the most recent camera upload:

"Around the House"

"The Great Outdoors"

"Portraits [of Caleb]"

"Self Portraits"

heath bar cookies

The muggy air finally cleared out, bringing temperatures back down to about what they normally are this time of year. I, of course, interpreted this shift in the wind to mean that I'd better use my oven before it changed and became unbearably hot again. And so I tried a new, and what turned out to be an incredibly tasty, cookie recipe.


Heath Bar Cookies (Because, seriously, who doesn't love Heath bars?)

adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe (I don't much care to photograph food. If you want pictures, click the link.)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (from eight 1.4 ounce bars) or 1 (8 oz) package of chocolate covered or regular toffee bits (I did a combination of regular toffee bits and chopped candy bars)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in the eggs and vanilla and mix until the mixture is creamy and very light in color. Add the flour mixture and stir to combine. Once it is about half-way combined, add the Heath bar/toffee bits and stir until all of the ingredients are mixed together. Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, scoop the cookie dough into about 1-inch balls, spaced about 2 inches apart (these cookies spread). Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

the g & c special report

Here's a sampling of what those two crazy boys known as Garrett and Caleb (or GarrettCaleb when I can't decide which one I'm talking to) are up to these days.

Garrett

• Has entered the phase where he is forever and always asking "why?" e.g. "Garrett, it's time for lunch." "Why?" "Because you're hungry." "Why?" "Because that's what you told me." "Why?" "BECAUSE IT IS, THAT'S WHY!"

• Is addicted to picking leaves off of trees, bushes, and shrubs.

• Is also addicted to mustard, and won't eat a ham and cheese sandwich without it. As a matter of fact, he won't eat bread period if it doesn't have a spread of mustard on it.

• Is always singing, which is absolutely and completely adorable. Nursery songs, Primary songs, cartoon theme songs -- you name it. If it has a melody, chances are pretty good he'll get it stuck in his head.

• New favorite show = The Backyardigans, which lends itself well to his love of singing.

• His new favorite word is "incredible."
  

• He finds particular enjoyment, when on walks through the neighborhood, in scaring unsuspecting pigeons enough to make them fly away. "Caught 'cha!" he says as he waves his arms and jumps in front of them.

• Desperately wants a skateboard. He understands, though, that he won't be getting one until he's bigger. He needs to master the scooter first.

• In addition to continuing to receive speech therapy, he will soon also start receiving occupational therapy to correct a mild sensory disorder.

• Funny story relayed to me by his teachers at school: One day, during snack time, Garrett was sitting next to a little girl known for pushing everyone's buttons. Apparently she pushed Garrett to his limit, and in response he picked up his cup of water and splashed it in her face. His teachers, who aren't quite sure of the best way to cure this girl of her obnoxious habits, silently cheered him on.

Caleb

• Is a little monkey, as in "monkey see monkey do everything that Garrett does."

• Has graduated from the high chair and into a strap-free booster seat at the table.

• Knows what he wants and when and how he wants it. Everything must be done on his terms or not at all. He has very little room for negotiation and compromise.

• Does all his own stunts. And without any sign of fear or hesitation.

• Likes to help carry grocery bags up the stairs to our apartment, and as much as I love the help (and wish his older brother would help, too), the way he stubbornly goes about it is pretty dangerous and makes my heart stop. And, unfortunately, he cannot be convinced to do it in a safer way or not at all. Like I mentioned above, it's all or nothing with this kid.
  

• Knows all of the actions to "Popcorn Popping."

• Favorite show = still Blue's Clues. And whenever I turn on Backyardigans for Garrett, Caleb flips out and throws a fit. The concept of taking turns is still new to him.
  

• Prefers wearing sneakers to sandals.

• Also prefers walking to riding in the stroller. Oh, excuse me -- prefers dawdling to riding in the stroller. To his credit, though, the other day he walked all the way from our apartment to the library and back, a distance of about one mile.

• Loves to brush his teeth (the best part of which is, of course, getting to spit in the sink). Every evening, when I announce that it's time to brush teeth, he instantly drops whatever he's doing and makes a beeline for the bathroom where he climbs up on the toilet and turns the faucet on.

birthday season

Garrett is still basking in the euphoria derived both from his recent trip to Grandma's house, as well as our encounter with mice. (He begins most conversations with people either with, "Last day we go Grandma's house on a hair-pane!" or "We see a mouse in my house!") But the anticipation of another thrilling event in his life is beginning to take precedence: that of his upcoming 4th birthday. ("Next birthday I four! In June!" he'll tell anyone within earshot.)

His actual birthday is not until the very end of this month, but he is already starting to plan the particulars of how he'd like to celebrate. For example:

• He wants chocolate cake and chocolate cupcakes with green frosting, brown marshmallows and chocolate chips (I think he's remembering last year's cupcakes), or cupcakes with white frosting and strawberries (he picked these out the other day after eyeing the cover of one of my cookbooks). These should be adorned with candles shaped like sticks.
• We also must sing the "Happy Birthday Song" lots of times.
  
• There should be lots of balloons, with a few hung from the living room light fixture.
• And presents, specifically a fire truck with buttons and lights and that makes noise. (He has also mentioned that he wants Caleb to have the accompanying ambulance.)
• He wants to have "five friends" (he says as he holds up four fingers). When I ask who, he lists off Pierson, Joey, Roscoe, Sarah, Tommy, Baby Blake, Biff-biff, Daphne, and Michimu. When I ask him if he wants Sofia to come, he firmly tells me no.

Right now I'm doing my best to make as many of his dreams come true as I can. Whether or not he will have a friend party is still open for debate, but the month is young, so we'll see. For now I'll continue to let his excitement build up so that no matter how his birthday ends up being celebrated, he'll have a great day.

In the meantime, today happens to be my mom/Grandma's actual birthday. We all hope you have a great day, Mom! And if you could, eat an extra piece of cake for Garrett. I know he'd really appreciate that.


***

And on a mostly unrelated note, it suddenly turned hot and humid here. Consequently, the playground sprinklers have been turned on. Garrett's last day of school is not until June 27th, but I'd say that summer is officially here.