Too many issues to tackle at one time

Me: (looking behind my nightstand) Huh - I have 2 hair ties back here.
Kevin: I hid them from you to punish you.
Me: For what?
Kevin: Because I didn't want to go to the Meaghers' house.
Me: Ohh, I see. But now you're glad that I forced you go to, right? You said you had lots of fun.
Kevin: Right. Did you look around? Is something else missing?
Me: I don't see anything missing. Why, should I?
Kevin: Yes.
Me: What else did you hide?
Kevin: Papi's blanket.
Me: You hid Papa's blanket to punish me?
Kevin: Yes.
Me: That doesn't punish me very much, actually. I do hope that you'll return it to him before he needs it tonight.
[half an hour later, we're still discussing the missing blanket in the midst of taking care of other things - I refuse to search for it and he refuses to tell me or Andy where it is - he finally says something to Andy while I'm out of the room and then I get called back in...]
Kevin: Mami?
Me: Yes?
Kevin: Here's the blanket. But it's not Papi's; it's yours; I was trying to trick you!
Me: Oh, I see. Are you actually just trying to keep me from getting mad at you for punishing me too much?
Kevin: Yes.

Suba-what?

Lady at key counter: What kind of car is this for?
Andy: A Subaru
Lady at key counter: What is the other name for it?
Andy: Outback
Lady at key counter: No, I mean what kind of car - Toyota, Honda, Chevrolet...?
Andy: It's a Subaru
Lady at key counter: I've never heard of that. *looks at catalog for the key blank it matches* Huh - Soo...buh...roo. Oh, Subaru. Sorry, we don't have that in stock.

Now it's time for a game called Props

If you live anywhere near here and are looking to buy a used car from someone who acts like a normal human being and who treats you like a normal human being, then go to Shoreline Motorcars in Glen Burnie.

Buying our car was so pleasant it felt more like buying a cherry pie from someone's grandma at the farmer's market than what I've ever known buying a car to be like.

My freedom is but a positive side effect

Kevin moved up to a new class in preschool/daycare for the summer. This new class has a summer camp format through August and the kids are over 4 years old so there is no nap requirement.

His second day in the new class, Kevin asked me if he could stay there all day every day. I made sure he understood what he was asking for and then talked to Andy about it. We agreed that as long as he didn't have to nap, we were ok with it. [When Kevin has to participate in nap/rest time, he falls asleep and then doesn't go to bed that night until 10pm - we try to minimize such behavior.]

Now in his second week of the new class, Kevin is thriving. He LOVES the activities, field trips and new friends. He prefers to be there over just about anywhere else. I couldn't be happier to see him so happy.

Yes, I now have even more time at home (or running errands or weeding the garden or what-have-you) with nobody else here but, honestly, I think my thrill from that is overshadowed by my glee at Kevin's thrill of being at school with his classmates and teachers doing fun things and learning and going on field trips and swimming and just experiencing all sorts of life.

Go for it, Little Dude.

Our New Ride

 

Some facts about Andy

These may help you interpret Kevin's interview responses.

Andy is 5'5" tall.
He has brown eyes and black hair.
He likes to eat salmon but loves to eat watermelon, potato chips and steak.
He likes to drink Coke.
His favorite color is red but he is not a fan of the Redskins.
He works at the government printing office warehouse (nowhere near the harbor.)
He is wild and crazy when it comes to making people, kids especially, laugh.
He is not a teenager. He is 40 years old.
He sings and dances.
He loves Kevin immensely.
Kevin loves him to pieces.

Father's Day Interview

Click here to read the 2005 interview.
Click here to read the 2006 interview.

June 2007

What is Papá’s name? Papá. No! Andy. Aguilera.
Is Papá tall or short? Tall
What color are Papá’s eyes? I don’t know. Brown?
What color is Papá’s hair? Black

What does Papá like to eat? Salmon. And should I add anymore stuff?
[Sure.] Lettuce, tomatoes.
What does Papá love to eat? I don’t know. Uh... fish?
What does Papá like to drink? Coke
What is Papá’s favorite color? Red, like the Redskins.

What does Papá do at work? Works in the harbor and people send him books

What do you like to do with Papá? Play with him.
How do you like to play with him? Because he’s such a fun, playful guy

Where do you like to go with Papá? To the birdseed store
What do you like to help Papá do at home? Fill the bird feeders and work in the garage

What does Papá do that makes you laugh? Do funny things
What kinds of funny things? Dances funny dances, he sticks out his tongue to make a funny face

How old is Papá? Fourteen. Oh, no, he’s not a teenager!
So how old is he? Twenty four

Is Papá a good singer? Yes!
Is Papá a good dancer? Yes.

Does Papá love you? Yes!
Do you love Papá? Yes!

Lollipop of Death

+

=

Death to the little suckers tormenting us for the past 4 months.

We tried everything we were supposed to - multiple types of baits w/ poison, peanut butter and jelly with boric acid, washing every dish and wiping every counter at the sight of the smallest speck of spill or crumb, etc. Nothing worked until the night I came home to find the ants parading across the kitchen floor creating a veritable superhighway between their nest (in the wall) and Kevin's bucket o' candy. The ants were mostly on the lollipops - not the dum-dums style pops but the flat kind with the clear wrappers. The ants squeezed through the space between the paper stick and where the wrapper is glued shut.

"Ok," I thought. "If you love those lollipops so much, you can have 'em!" I cleaned up the bucket o' candy and sprayed "deterrent" along their pathway back to their point of emergence where I placed a lollipop dipped in yummy but deadly boric acid powder. The ants were all over it! I placed another one at the back of the countertop where they often emerge.

This week I tempted fate - I put dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Lo and behold there was no ant superhighway across the counter culminating in a thousand-strong party of ants in the dishwasher. Woohoo!

Be careful what you ask for

Taylor: I know! Let's play a game where we pretend to fight.
Kevin: Ok. *smacks Taylor in the face*
Taylor: [crying] Ow, Kevin, stop it!
Kevin: Sorry, Taylor, but that's what you said!

Brother (4) and Sister (3) and Friend (5)

Taylor (brother): Mom! Alyssa pretended to cut her arms off!
Alyssa (sister): I was just PLAYING. I didn't really do it.

Taylor: Stop it, Alyssa. It's not funny.
Alyssa: *pause* Hahahahahaha!!!

Mom: What was your favorite part of today?
Taylor: Mine was having Kevin come over.
Kevin (friend): Mine was watching TV.
Alyssa: Mine was taking a bath with Kevin.

1-800-GIVE-LIFE

A number of years ago, a blood mobile visited our office building and I signed up to donate for my first time. I'm a wimp when it comes to needles or much of anything related to the medical field, so it was a big step.

Since then, I've tried to donate a number of times but was always deferred for a low hematocrit level. I've always had low iron but iron supplements had started giving me terrible migraines. I tried other dietary changes but was never up high enough to donate.

Until today.

I've been every day taking a multi-vitamin with iron and that with 3 meals of beans yesterday seemed to have done the trick. After getting an "Ok" on my minimum-but-legal level of hematocrit, the tech took my temperature. 99.8. Too high to donate! She took it again and it was lower. I was set to go.

I made it to the lounge chair and covered my face and twitched my feet, making the technician nervous. She wasn't the one getting her arm jabbed, so I don't know what she was talking about. After all of the prep work, she stuck the needle in and said, "Geeze! You squirted all over!" I thought she was joking but she wasn't. She had to change her lab coat and gloves and my shirt was stained.

That was just what I needed to feel comfortable.

Roundabout tagging

I've never been tagged for a meme. You know, one of those things where a blogger posts an answer to a question (often in list form) and then tags (as in, "You're it") some people to answer the same question on their own blogs.

You could say that because I read Betsy's blogs and she tagged "anyone else who tells me that they read this blog - you know who you are," I have now been tagged. Or, at least, I was back in January, when she wrote that and her answers to the meme.

It has taken me awhile and you all have been very patient (I'm sure you can't wait to read more self-indulgent posts) but here we go.

Five important details about myself that many of you may not know…or remember.

1) If money wasn't so available in my line of work, I'd rather be an administrative assistant. And I think I'd rock at that job.

2) I'd also rather be a librarian.

3) I would like to try being an environmental scientist, too. Half in the office (planning studies, writing reports, analyzing data) and half in the field (wading through streams, counting birds, searching for rare plant species.)

4) I LOVE to play sports.

5) I don't think any of the above answers are important to anyone but I find it intriguing that of all the things I could think of about myself, the first ones to come to mind are about having a job. Specifically, jobs that I don't have now and probably never will (which is ok by me.)

Creativity

Did you know there are lots of different ways to put toothpaste on your toothbrush? Two recent attempts at our house include putting the tube on the floor and then stomping on it. This results in copious amounts of toothpaste wasted - much too much to hide.

Another way is to put the tube on the front edge of the sink and then lean your belly on it to squeeze the toothpaste out. This works better than stomping on the tube, but still results in too much toothpaste to use on one set of teeth. If you have friends over to share, this method might work.

Growing up

I've asked Kevin whether he wants me to go on his preschool field trip to the zoo. One day he answered, "No." Then he said, "Yes." Then he said, "No." Then he said, "Yes." I pressured him the night before the permission slip was due and said that I needed his final answer. He said, "No." I was surprised. He said he didn't need me there. I'm cool with that but wanted him to know that other parents would be there so I explained that parents go on field trips to be chaperones to help keep all of the kids safe while the group is away from the school.

He said, "Ok, you can go to keep the kids safe but I don't have to listen to you - I only have to listen to my teachers."

Conversation

Dianne: Mine is 5% alcohol.
Amy: Mine is only 4.5%! But I've had two, so I'm up to 9%.
Dianne: Huh? That's not how math works. At least not when you're not drunk.
Amy: I'm not drunk! I can add four and a half to four and a half!

This is just the beginning

We once went to the movies and left Kevin with friends of ours (whose child is friends with Kevin.) We went to lunch a couple of times and to a musical and left Kevin with his grandparents. We went to a Bible study meeting once and left Kevin with a friend who was staying at our house for awhile and who Kevin has known as long as he's known us.

Never have we had a "real," teenage babysitter for more than an hour. And never have we not taken Kevin to a party with us.

Until tonight.

All I can say is... FREEEEEDOOOOOM!!

It's 5:45pm - do you know where your truck is?

While hurriedly getting ready for our night out for a friend's birthday, I noticed through the window that our truck was in the driveway across the street.

"Andy - why is our truck in the neighbors' driveway?"

"I don't know."

"Huh."

"Is it really?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's our black truck with all the stickers in the back window. And it's sitting in their driveway."

I went outside in my bare feet and backed the truck into our driveway. The neighbors weren't home and I didn't see anyone else out on the street, so we got away with it. Andy pointed to the flattened grass next to our driveway and said, "I think it went that way."

It's 7:31am - do you know where your kids are?

Kevin is not only still sleeping (a magnificent feat given that earlier sunrises have had him up before 6am for the past few weeks) but he's sleeping IN HIS OWN BED. He has been there all night.

Let's have a party! I sense Slurpees, pizza, mango and watermelon in the works for dinner tonight!

Since I got up, I've been in his room 8 times checking to see that he's still breathing. At one point he must've been having a dream because his arm twitched and I was afraid he was having a seizure so I stayed in there for an extra couple of minutes to make sure he was ok.

I know, but to spend the night in his room there must be something drastically wrong!

Maturity

For his birthday, Kevin received a hooded bear-design towel that Alyssa picked out. He asked to use it after his bath last night and then we had the following snippet of conversation:

Kevin: Why did Alyssa pick out this towel for me?
Dianne: Because she loves teddy bears and wanted you to have one like hers.
Kevin: Why does she love teddy bears?
Dianne: I don't know.
Kevin: I don't want her to like teddy bears. I don't like teddy bears.
Except for cute baby teddy bears. And Mama teddies and Papa teddies.
I don't like sister teddies.
Dianne: Ok.
Kevin: I'm not going to like teddy bears. I like....hmm.... (pause) What
is Alyssa scared of?

Perhaps we've moved on from the cutesy-type love to the more mature "I'll show her I like her by putting worms down her shirt" type.

A Neighborly Day

This morning I went to Rite Aid and in the parking lot I saw an acquaintance from church (one of few I know up in this area.) On my way out of the store, I saw the neighbor who lives across the street and I stopped to talk with her for a few minutes. This afternoon Kevin and I put flyers on mailboxes on our street for our upcoming "community" yard sale. I went the lazy route and didn't knock on doors this time, but I did meet 2 neighbors I'd never met before because they were outside working in their yards when I came by.