The Secret Lives of Amagasus

To all outward appearances, we are a scientist, writer, and cheese-loving toddler. But lock us in the house on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and we become the City of Mountain View's best hope for a gold medal in Olympic tandem couch jumping. 

Oh sure, the IOC is resisting our petition to add it to the official roster of olympic events, but we're sending them photos like these to prove the popularity of the sport in our our area, and illustrate it's potential as a major TV draw. And in case you're wondering, yes--those are the official team uniforms, and the two contestants in the photo above are executing a perfect Flying Cheeseater. 

How can you tell? 

Well, like almost all Olympic sports the feet are important, and as you can see, in this case, the contestant being lifted has his feet relaxed and legs apart. He's also smiling, which is essential (just ask the ice skaters), his shirt is about to fall over his head, but is not actually covering his eyes (tricky--even for experts), and he is not vomiting on his teammate, which is the true sign of a champion--particularly when doing a Flying Cheeseater right after lunch. 

His teammate on the other hand, contributes in a more subtle fashion. His gray t-shirt and weathered black boxer shorts are part of a calculated strategy to avoid distracting viewers from  his partner's flashy costume and flashier moves. His shaved legs help us to appreciate the toned, athletic musculature that is the telltale sign of the world-class couch jumper. And of course he has executed the lift perfectly and is smiling at his partner fearlessly--even with the knowledge that hot recycled lunch could come raining down on him at any moment.

Zeke, Your Hostess is Alarmed

This is the picture I should have posted last night. I originally left it off because you can't see Zeke's face, but it's too cute not to share. 

Why is Skye so wide-eyed? We can only speculate...

"Daddy, are you going give that kid a rabbit? I don't think you should give him a rabbit. Really Dad. I saw him in the bounce house. He's not that coordinated. He's going to squeeze the rabbit too hard. In fact, the more I look at him, the more he looks like a rabbit squeezer. I mean it Dad. Telling him 'gentle' isn't going to help. Dad? Are you listening? Dad? Dad? Daaad!"

Of Course I Took Him To The Party!

You knew I would. I'm a big talker, but at the end of the day, as much as I love cheese, I love my boy more. 

Zeke had a great time (stoic rabbit-holding pose with the birthday girl notwithstanding). He got to ride a pony, ride a fake train, bounce in a bounce house, pet things (although no, a lamb was not present--it turns out that was a total hallucination on my part), and yes--eat cake. Happy Birthday Skye! 

Decisions, Decisions

"Petting, jumping, cake! Petting, jumping, cake! Petting, jumping, cake!"

That has been Zeke's mantra for the past few days because he knows he is going to Skye & Fiona's birthday party on Saturday, where he will pet (lambs, not the other kids...although come to think of it I have no idea if there will be lambs, but I do know that the invitation implied there would be petting, and I think I saw a cartoon of a lamb on a Valentine's Day card on my counter, which must have melded in my subconscious with the upcoming petting event, and next thing I knew on the way home in the car the other night I blurted out to Zeke that he was going to get to pet lambs), jump (in a bouncy house), and eat (cake). So he's pretty excited. And I was excited too. But then today my good friend Ms. Anna Roberts sent me THIS (http://grilledcheeseinvitational.com/norcal). 

Now I have an ethical dilemma on my hands. Take my son to the birthday party I've been promoting, and that he will probably have a great time at, or re-route the Prius to the GCI (that's what the cool kids call the Grilled Cheese Invitational) so he can watch mommy go on a cheese bender in a building full of like-minded cheese freaks where in all likelihood he will be exposed to the graphic sort of cheese love that is entirely inappropriate for someone his age. Oh, I know it's wrong to think this thought, but I'm thinkin' it. I'll let you know where we end up...  

Shanti and the Jester

Look at these happy, frisky boys. Are they adorable or what? Just back from a walk to the coffee shop on Saturday morning. The weather was hideous, but we didn't feel like we could hold Zeke hostage inside the house anymore, so Shanti suited him up in last year's snow gear and took him for a puddle stomp/caffeine run while I took the dog out for a run run. We all came home soaked but happy. Warmed up with a hot bath then a trip to Pho Nan for giant bowls of hot broth, beef, and noodles. Good livin'.

But I don't want to go to the gym!

That's what Zeke says every time I tell him we're going to the YMCA together. 

I think it's because he doesn't dig the occasionally chaotic environment that is their child care facility. Sometimes there are three kids there, sometimes there are thirty. Sometimes (most of the time) he finds a nice friend to play with and is having so much fun that he has to be dragged away when I'm finished working out, sometimes he meets a big bratty bully who hogs all the toy trains. You just never know what you're gonna get. 

So this past Saturday morning we walked over to the Y, and I dropped him off at the child care center like usual. When I came back to get him an hour later, I could see through the glass that he was by himself on a trike in the outdoor play area. 

I walked in to get him, and expected the big "Mommy!" yell, and the really enthusiastic hug, because that's what I get when he hasn't had a great time (and I took it that since he was by himself he wasn't having such a great time). 

But there was no "Mommy!" There wasn't even a "Hey Mom." There was brief eye contact, and that was it. No indication that he was planning to get off the trike. 

So I walked over and stood in front of him. 

I looked down. 

He did not look up. So I kept looking down. 

"What are you doing Zeke?"

Silence.

"Zeke."

He looked up, giggled briefly, then put his head back down on the trike's handlebar.

I couldn't figure out what he was doing, but then I saw that he was actually glancing sideways--under his arm and across the playground. I followed his line of sight, and bingo...little blonde girl--also on a trike, exchanging long-distance glances with young Mr. Amagasu-Casanova. So cute. She would peek over at Zeke and he would turn away as quick as he could. Then he'd look right back over there and it was her turn to hide her face. And it wasn't once or twice. It was six, then seven, then eight times... Finally I told Zeke I was going to go to the restroom and that I'd come back for him in five minutes. Which apparently was fine with him because he didn't say a thing. 

When I came back things had cooled down. Zeke was with a bunch of other little boys, riding the trike through a row of inflatable bowling pins. And the little blonde girl was licking the plastic slide. What can you say...romance is never perfect. Not even when you're three. I do think the slide-licker made an impression on Zeke though. I was explaining to him tonight that we would be going to the gym again next weekend so Daddy could sleep in, and got absolutely no objection. :o)

Dinner at Darbar

This is Zeke showing off his very full tummy after we got home from dinner at Darbar tonight. My tummy was full too, but since I'm the keeper of the blog and he is the subject I made the executive decision to keep photos of my tummy off. 

Man that kid can eat. And he loves "curry rice" as he calls Indian food. Ate a giant plate of chicken tikka masala, along with some naan and a potato appetizer of some sort. 

We went out with the Fujiis to celebrate Shanti's last night in town. Tomorrow morning he leaves for Thousand Oaks, and though he'll be back on weekends, it still feels like a big thing. I'm not sure how Zeke is going to react to Daddy not being here every day. We've talked to him about it more than once, but I don't think he's getting what's gonna happen. He hasn't shown the level of alarm that would indicate he actually understands. We'll see...he might be fine. I'm just anxious to get through the next four weeks so we can get down there and be together as a family again. 

Thanks Moving Dude

So a Moving Dude came to our house today. Not the kind of moving dude that actually moves your stuff, but the kind that takes inventory of how much stuff you've got so he can tell the company what size truck they'll need and whether or not they need any special equipment to protect your stuff when they move it. (My guess is that his report was "Small truck. Zero valuables. They claim the dining room table is worth something, but I'm not sure I believe them. Maybe put a few pillows around it.")

So he's doin' his thing, prowlin' around the house, filling out some sort of list, and chatting with Shanti (I was in the bathroom listening in as I put on my makeup), when suddenly he comes to our TV cabinet and says, "No flat screen!?"

"Nope," Shanti replies.

"Not even one?" the moving guy inquires incredulously.

"Not even one."

"Man, I've got three, and one of 'em is 60 inches. I can't believe you don't even have one."

I cringed in the bathroom. Thanks for nothin' Moving Dude. Shanti has wanted a flat screen forever, and I've managed to hold him off, but now that you have just bragged in his face about how you have three and he has zero, well, I'm pretty sure I'm going to find myself in an electronics store is in the very near future, hearing my husband argue with renewed vigor about why he cannot be happy until he has a very flat, very large television set, and how all his friends have them, and shoot, even the Moving Dude has THREE. 

I don't have any new pix right now, so the photo above is entirely non-Moving Dude related--just a shot of Zeke and Daddy enjoying a little yogurt last weekend at the zoo. 

Resolutions Anyone?

Did you make any resolutions this New Year?

I did.

I make 'em every year. I'm really into New Year's resolutions. I usually make too many, but still, they help me focus on what I need to be doing. This year's highlights:

-Get my hemorrhoids fixed. I know...ick. But I've had these unpleasant butt accessories ever since I was pregnant with Zeke, and it's time to get them removed once and for all. I was hoping they'd just kind of go away on their own, but it's been 3 years now, and they've made it clear that a voluntary departure is not on the agenda.

-Embrace yoga. This one was on the list last year and did not happen, so it's been re-listed. I'm usually so comfortable with physical activities, but I fear yoga like other people fear skydiving. It looks like it takes a lot of patience and flexibility. I know it would be so good for injury avoidance though, so it's time to suck it up and go party with all the stretchy people.

-Go to bed earlier. I'm down to about 6.5 hours of sleep a night these days, and that's not cool. I just read an article about a study that showed that people who got only 7 hours of sleep are 500% more likely to catch a virus than people who have had 8 hours of sleep...and I'm not even getting 7! I want in on all that juicy immunity.

Oh God. Shanti just came in and told me that the dog got skunked. Gotta go. Midnight dogwash in the backyard!! Zadie smells so bad I feel like I'm gonna hurl...

Anyway, share your resolutions if you made any! Did any of yours overlap with mine?

We Love Global Warming!

Just kidding. We don't love it. But we'll admit to liking it a little on days like this past Sunday. That was some sweet sunshine we got our hands on. Pure and penetrating. Serious enough to merit ditching your hat, gloves, coat--and in Zeke's case, everything but underpants--by lunchtime. We knew it was going to be beautiful the moment we woke up, and decided it would be a flat out sin to spend even one minute inside, so we took Zeke to the SF Zoo, and then the beach across the street from the zoo. He counted the tiny jellyfish that had washed ashore, dug a few holes, then embarked on a major construction project that involved moving all the sand from the south end of the beach to the north end--one handful at a time. We were impressed by his ambition, but ultimately had to bring the project to a halt when it was time to go home. What an amazing day.