Babels on the Narrow Road: the leprechaun did it!

would you believe me if i told you, "i spotted a leprechaun and was chasing him to his pot of gold for the past two and half months. though "i was speed", he was devious. i spotted his pot of gold to help me buy toys, but instead, he entertained me with his music and then turned me into an orca! how does an orca write with flappers?" what's that? ... i should be a politician?

ok, i wasn't turned into an orca, nor can i blame a leprechaun chase. we've simply been ... sick. it's mainly been my lil' bro, but throughout jan & feb, it managed to catch up to all of us. poor little guy had 3 rounds of 'yuckies', one after another, including a fabulous ear infection. he must have lost "50 lbs" due to his loss of appetite.

but thankfully, we are all currently healthy (knock on wood!) ...

new year changes
on jan 3rd, i officially became a "preschooler"! i had been warming up to the idea over the holidays, and when the day actually came, i was sooooooooooooooooo excited, i could barely eat my breakfast! mommy was quite strange that morning as she kept stroking my face and telling me "you are all grown up now." i was like, "are we going to go to school yet??"

as we finished taking the classic "first day of school" ~~picture~~ photo shoot, mommy looked at me and said, "i might cry when i drop you off at school today. you are really 'big boy tobe' now!" see how strange she was that morning? "cry"?!? why was she going to cry because i was going to be gone for 3 hours?! i know for *certain* there are plenty a days when she wanted to rid me for 3 hours!

we finally made it to school (the WHOLE family). i raced towards all the new toys i was excited to play with, while they decided to 'hang' around awhile. it's true in the past, i've not wanted to leave their side/presence, but something about this place was different; it was school and ms. susie, my awesome teacher. finally, after 15 minutes, my entourage said they were leaving. mommy knelt down to kiss me good-bye, and i looked her in the eyes and asked, "are you going to cry?"

my "big 1st day" interview, with a hint of my true feelings about why i was excited to go to school

it's unfortunate that my positive changes weren't quite as 'positive' for lil' bro. mommy felt that art class was a good first class for the pair of them. below was his first day experience :)

it was filled with lots of tears (from thinking mommy was going to leave), followed by disinterest in any of the art stations (lots of "no! ... noooo! ... NOOOO!"), and at some point a tantrum (or two) was had because mommy didn't allow him to leave the room. the bright spot of his first art class? washing his hands, which were not dirty.

1:1
i try to 'block out' (i.e. not question) what mommy & lil' bro are up to when i'm in school two days a week. i fear they are having fun without me, so i just focus on the fun that i am having without them.

as it turns out, they have been sneaking off to parks without me! come on, how much fun can lil' bro *really* have without me?? isn't he just my shadow?

it appears he is starting to enjoy the swing, though not for very long. he doesn't actually 'play' much at the park, because he's fascinated by all big (construction, park maintenance, etc) & small (birds, dogs, etc) noises around him. and if it's not the noises, he's 'people watching' (i.e. other kids at the park & what business they are up to). when it's time to "go pick up ToTo", he's more than happy to oblige. why? because he's my shadow, and can't live without me :)

brother bonding time
more sick time naturally lent itself to more 'brother bonding' time at farms, hiking and zoos.

it also made us more cognizant of our "emotions", as displayed in the below video ...

v-day
and though i missed my first day of school, on valentine's day, because i was sick, i managed to still have fun "sharing the love", without sharing my germs. i look ridiculously happy (i.e. not really sick), likely because i got to eat an m&m cookie pop!

personalities & behavior (blah, blah, blah)
stuff that can't be captured on camera, sometimes proves to be more interesting.

i have said this before, but i'll say it again .. i'm COMPETITIVE. it's really reaching new levels now ...

while standing next to my lil' bro, i said, "i'm taller than asher."
coming out of the shower with my lil' bro, i looked at his naked body and said, "my penis is bigger than asher's. see? (as i tried to physically compare penis sizes)"
6 weeks into school, a progress report was sent home with mommy (was a mid-year report for my classmates who had started in sept). she told me my teacher had written some things about me, and started reading it. i quickly digested that "proficient in something" was better than "emerging in something". for items that ms. susie checked "emerging", i immediately set to prove her wrong. so if i randomly come up to you and say, "look, i can stand on one foot for 4 seconds", or "i can go up/down stairs alternating feet without holding the rail", you will know why :)

i am bathing in "love". it seems i have entered the '70's, and have lots of "love to give". i have decided "i love everyone i love", which translated, means, "i love everyone i know".

the other day, i shared a secret with mommy. i told her, "i love a girl." with much hesitation and a search for words (other than, "i'm taking you out of school!"), she calmly asked, "oh, really? who is it?" i looked at her and said, "you!" (as in "duhhh?! who else would it be?")

i love being a helper in the kitchen, still love the color blue, ocean animals, and am fascinated by living creatures great & small. somehow, heaven forbid, play doh entered our house, and i was allowed to play with it (gasp). here's what i did it with it ...

t-rex

mantaray

mommy has since 'changed our house rules'. play doh is allowed in the house, and i can 'dabble' with it under certain 'circumstances', especially because it holds my attention for looong periods of time. as it turns out, play doh was one of the ONLY stations asher was comfortable with in his art class ....

so about asher. art is ok, as long as it doesn't involve "icky" and "gooey" mediums. he does not like glue or paint. it seems to be a "clean/messy" preference.

he continues to be STRONG WILLED, especially when it comes to food. it's 'his way' or 'no way'. green colored food is typically rejected. sugar-tasting food is typically accepted. good luck mommy!

of his hundred or so words, "no" and "why?" are articulated without thought. they are often coupled together, but on occasion can be heard separately, especially "no". there are many intonations and forms of "no". and just when you think he's using it all inappropriately, you ask him if he wants a "cookie" and suddenly a "yes" comes out! asher's typical morning request is milk, until one morning, he looked at mommy with a little smile and said, "cookie?" :)

aside from food clashes, asher is actually quite agreeable. he loves to clean up toys and be my ~~help~~ servant. when we're asked to put on our shoes, he will quickly run and get my shoes for me. he will even try to help me put it on (!!), though he can't put on his own yet. he constantly thinks about me when i'm not around, and when i am, he's observing my every move and wanting to do everything that i'm doing.

he's in a phase (?) of being super social, saying 'hi' to strangers or trying to catch strangers attention. he's much less social with animals, though super curious.

and well, if you haven't already figured out, his immune system needs some vitamin c!

elephant seals
we've not seen them before, and all of us were fascinated. fortunately for us, the weather was beautiful that day, but for the seals, it amounted to inactivity and laziness. asher was our unofficial tour guide.