Conversation

(Crashes and thuds heard in the bathroom)

Leonard: (knocks) Arthur, what are you doing?
Arthur: Pooing.
Leonard: Mommy wants to know why you have to jump when you poo.
Arthur: Just exercising.

Pilgrims had it good

Arthur reading comprehension assignment question:

Would you have liked to live in Pilgrim times? Why or why not?

No, because I don't want to eat all the food.

Grumpy

that Arthur locked himself in the bathroom and ate all the lime chips.

Stephen on his violin lessons

"I know I can do a good job without practicing."

Decrepitude

Yesterday I hurt my neck toweling my head.

Intelligence

Stephen: Remember that Hoth Star Wars thing at the bookstore?
Leonard: No.
Stephen: I remember. Ha! I'm smarter than you!

Kit Twisto

One of Stephen's favorite activities is dismantling his Star Wars action figures and reassembling them in different combinations. Today, he put Kit Fisto's head on Luminara Unduli's body. (Stephen says that the Luminara figure is, "just not well-designed" because the head is easy to pop off.) The new figure is Kit Twisto, Kit Fisto's wife, because, "every Star Wars character needs a wife. Isn't she pretty?"

Now that Lizzie is mobile

she likes to eat, whenever possible, catfood, leaves (which always makes her throw up), and electrical cords. Nothing else interests her as much.

Plague at 2332 Ardmore

Arthur goes down on the evening of Oct 4. 103 temp. Starts throwing up 2 days later. Never hits toilet or bucket, encases house in vomit. misses Tuesday-Friday of school.

Leonard has weird head cold all week and then diarrhea starting Saturday Oct 10

Stephen goes down Oct 9 throws up all over kitchen rug. Throws up a couple more times, but notable successful in target puking. This is a great life skill. Couple days of fever, but does pretty well.

Mimi goes up North on long awaited trip with Susanna who flew in for the occasion Friday night. Starts with God-awful diarrhea on Saturday and high fever. Up North sister bonding vacation is spent watching lifetime movies in hotel room. Susanna keeps trying to make it fun. Brings wine and cheese into room keeps up funny commentary about stupid TV then gives up and realizes the trip is just going to suck. The one attempt at sight seeing before the plague sets in is foiled by 45 mile an hour winds kicking sand from the dunes and Susanna, a contact wearer can't handle it. Susanna leaves Northwest Michigan without ever seeing lake Michigan.

Lizzie starts Sunday night with fever. Monday diarrhea and vomiting kick in (lots in the middle of the night) Threatened hospitalization on Tuesday, but hangs tough so wait and see.

Good times!

Arthur's Nails and Little Murder

At some point, without our realizing it, Arthur has stopped biting his nails. Mimi just noticed this.

Mimi had an opportunity to appear in the movie, "Little Murder," but withdrew herself from consideration when she realized they were looking for a body double for Lake Bell.

Vacation 2009

Lodging: The Homestead: Stony Brook Lodge #16 (8/23-8/27), Holiday Inn West Bay #310 (8/28)
Beaches: Sleeping Bear Point (8/24), Esch Beach (8/27)
Hikes: Empire Bluffs (8/27), Pyramid Point Lookout (8/28)
Activities: Pirate's Cove Mini Golf (8/23, 8/28), Dune Climb (8/25), Wilderness Crossing Glow Golf (8/25), The Homestead: Tubing & Par 3 Golf (8/26)
Meals: The Homestead: Cafe Manitou (8/23), Boonedocks (8/24), North Country Grill & Pub (8/25, 8/27), Moomer's (8/25, 8/28), Bear Paw Pizza (8/26), Boone's Long Lake Inn (8/28)
Wineries: Longview & Bel Lago (8/25), 45 North & Shady Lane Cellars (8/28)

Anniversary

Dinner at Due Venti. We're recording this because we couldn't remember whether the last time we went to Due Venti was on my birthday or Mimi's.

Closing up shop

Had vasectomy today.

Arthur is Seven

At noon: Suzuki Book 1 recital. Attendees: Mom and Dad, Uncle Chong-jai, and Sue Mutter.
At 4 pm: Glow Bowling at Thunderbird Lanes. Attendees: Breanna and Megan, Hannah, Chancer, Mason, and Sagely, Nia.

The take:
From us: tent, SimGolf, novelty traffic light, chipping/driving mats, plastic bow and arrow, disc golf discs, mini-disc golf set, laminator
From others: putting cups and green, golf lessons, music paper and book, Best Buy card, bowling pin from bowling alley (score!), radio-controlled dune buggy, toy crossbow, Star Wars legos, toy magic wand, magic set.

Jackpot

When we go to the Fun Center, Arthur almost exclusively plays skeeball. But today, while Stephen and I were playing another game, he comes up to me and says, "I won 1000 tickets!" Sure enough, he had put his tokens into one of those wheel of fortune games of chance, something he'd never done before, and hit the 1000 ticket jackpot on his second spin. 1000 tickets really came out of the machine, and I'm sorry I couldn't get a picture of him trying to carry his winnings to the redemption counter. 1000 tickets gets you a disco light and two "Star Fighter Sonic Sabers." I kept telling him that this never happens, and he got very, very lucky, but Mimi is still worried this has started him down the road to gambling.

Get them young

Arthur: I'm going to name my daughter, "Etarbelec."
Leonard: Your wife might not like that.
Stephen: Arthur, just don't listen to your wife.
Arthur (shocked): I *have* to listen to my wife!

Late to Rise

The boys have been consistently falling asleep after 11 this summer. Some mornings they still wake up around 8 or so, but sometimes they understandably have trouble getting out of bed before 10. Today, I have to get the kids up for swim lessons. Arthur is no trouble -- he's already dressed. Stephen's resolutely trying to milk more shut-eye:

Stephen (eyes closed): I'm trying to get bigger. One way to get bigger is to get lots of sleep.

Can't Buy Me Love

Stephen: If you have zero dollars, then you have zero friends.

What Stephen Wants

Mimi: Stephen, do you want to go with Daddy and Arthur or stay here with Mommy and Elizabeth?

Stephen: Love. All I want just is love.

everything became shitty on May 4. Friday May 1 was the last really good day

Marriage Killer

So the best way to get Elizabeth to sleep is to lay down with her, nurse a bit and wait for her to drop off. Problem is I always fall asleep too. At about 9:30 pm. Leonard stays up by himself to the wee hours of the morning playing Spore.

Parenting is

scraping green mucous baby poo into a sample vial at 4 am.

Stephen Lookalike

Mimi and I both agree on this, though unfortunately we don't have a photo that really shows this. With his hair a certain way, Stephen looks uncannily like Rod Blagojevich. (And Mimi, with her hair a certain way, could've done Sarah Palin for Halloween.)

Stephen has not slept in bed for weeks

The boys got sleeping bags for Christmas. After the initial spate of floor sleeping, Arthur now will only very occasionally trot his out for a change of pace. But for quite some time now (weeks? months?) Stephen has not once slept in his bed. I think he's scared to, for some reason. He doesn't even bother with the sleeping bag any more; he just puts a couple pillows on the floor and sleeps on those. Last night, we did the tent thing -- putting chairs around them (Arthur tried too, since this was new) and draping blankets on top.

Chomper

Leonard is sick. Low fever, achy and sore throat. I am convinced he will contaminate the house and get Elizabeth sick. Weird spring snow storm last night and today. Arthur is on spring break and we are a little bored. We tried gas drops with Elizabeth and she has been less fussy today. I am stressed out by the silliest things with my teaching. I am hardly teaching so clearly I have no capacity for real work yet. The boys play endlessly with a nexium clip they have named "Chomper," and two rubber snakes named "Snakey," and "Snakey's Mom." I have been informed that Chomper's mom is deceased.

Pacifiers

Neither Arthur nor Stephen would have anything to do with pacifiers, but they have proven useful with Elizabeth.

Update: 4/20 -- as with many things, Elizabeth seems to have changed her mind about this.

The fleas are back.

Stephen is 4

Our contribution to the haul: Hot Wheels dinosaur Trick Tracks set. Star Wars Sarlacc Pit set. Hot Wheels color changers cars and "car wash." Mace Windu lightsaber. Plastic toy bow and arrow.

Pirate-themed cake and pinata

Guests: Mason and Sagely, Luke and Micah

Bad Dad

3 am last night, Mimi finds Elizabeth in bed with me, face down, with her head almost (Mimi would say not almost) under a pillow. I'm not going to be winning any SIDS safety awards.

Elizabeth Jane mannerism

Our daughter does this cute thing where she will pop one or both eyes open and, if she sees you looking back at her, she'll immediately scrunch her eyes shut. It's almost like she's pretending to sleep until you look away.

Three weeks later: we started this blog to help us remember things, but still I have no visual memory of this.

Elizabeth Jane

Contractions start at 2 am, stop, then start again at 7 am. They are irregular (4-12 minute intervals) and short (~20 seconds.) Mimi's online search suggests this is not the real thing. On the other hand, the mucus plug went the day before. She calls to get the doctor paged, and it takes over an hour and a second page to get this response: if you think you're in labor, come in and we'll get this thing done, since I'd rather do it now than at 3 am. After my dad arrives to watch the kids, we head off to the hospital in the late morning (~11 am?). It is cold, in the 20s. Mimi tells me to take Detroit, not Parkdale (too bumpy), and since I'm underslept, I immediately and instinctively start to take Parkdale until Mimi stops me. As we approach 13 Mile, the low fuel warning goes on. Half-convinced we're going to get sent home from the hospital anyway and certainly in no danger of a car birth, we stop and get gas. At Beaumont, I pull into the South Deck and make two circuits around level 2, but Mimi thinks the second circuit is level 3. At registration, there is much confusion over whether Mimi is a Morris, a Kim, or a Morris-Kim. On reasons for visit, Mimi checks off, "Baby not moving as much as usual" under the impression that this was an either/or question (with the other option being, "Baby not moving.") In waiting, we read the Free Press -- the mayor of Romulus, spurned by George Clooney, tries to arrange to have him pulled over for speeding. In triage, the resident finds Mimi 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced, so it's a go. We make a command decision to forgo tubal ligation. Mimi decides that Doris Kearns Goodwin will be too tough afterwards and asks me to get Duma Key when I go home later for the boys. I run back to the car to get the camera, am told by the resident that cameras are technically forbidden in the OR but bring it anyway. 1:40 pm. 8 lbs 5 ozs. 19 in. When it's over we go to recovery where there is momentary uncertainty over "Elizabeth" vs "Elisabeth" and I flaunt my hospital knowhow by turning off the piped music. We go to our room, 6327. I flash my employee ID at the nurse in order to convince her I can help transfer Mimi from the stretcher to the bed. I leave to get the boys and find the house a disaster area. Stephen has emptied the toy chest (apparently so that he could hide inside it). After rejecting a couple of other dinner options, we end up at go-eat, which my mom isn't sure is celebratory enough. Kids are pretty great in visit despite our paranoid insistence they use antibacterial hand foam every few minutes. They enjoy raiding the pantry for popsicles and holding Elizabeth (at which point I realize I left the camera at home). Arthur insists he won the birthday prediction bet exactly (he actually guessed tomorrow, but he's still closest), so we are to stop at Kroger to buy popsicles. We bring home Elizabeth's footprint card to compare to Arthur and Stephen's. On our way out, we go by the nursery, but there are no babies there. I explain to the boys that the babies are only there when their mommies are asleep, and so the mommies must be all awake right now. We get home. Arthur poos. I have to auger the toilet. Basement is flooded. At bedtime, we read Icky Sticky Frog and Caps for Sale.

Vow of Silence

This evening, inspired by the Magic Flute, Arthur said he would take a vow of silence for a week. Failing that after about 5 seconds, he then tried for the rest of the day. Eventually, we convinced him to try to keep quiet for about 3 minutes, which he managed after a couple false starts.

Science and Religion Reconciled

"There was no God when the dinosaurs were alive." -- Stephen

Finding Mr. Right

"I don't know why you would marry Daddy if he doesn't do what you say" -- Arthur to Mimi

Tact

This has happened more than once recently with different people (e.g., the librarian). Stephen says, in too full earshot of the person in question, that so-and-so is fat. Arthur replies, also very much in too full earshot, that so-and-so *is* fat, but you shouldn't say so, because it'll make them feel bad. Considerate. And mortifying.

Deer hunting

Our kids wanted to know if they could go after having Bambi read to them.

Stephen's Oath

Holy Sternit!

Characters

Star Wars characters invented by the kids for Episodes 7-9.

Corsimph Skywalker -- Son of Luke Skywalker, though Corsimph doesn't know it. Luke is forced to kill him at the end of episode 8 when Corsimph turns to the Dark Side.

Darth Sangrous and Darth Ur -- Rival Sith Lords. Corsimph is turned by Darth Ur. For reasons unknown, Corsimph and Darth Ur have identical appearances, though they are not siblings.

Also, on those occasions they've make-believed they were parents, the kids' kids are always named, Mikey, Sally, and Logos.

Their composer pen names: Mons (Stephen) and Mintid (Arthur)