Editing and footage courtesy of Tito Marcus; muchas gracias!  Music is Loud Pipes by Ratatat

oct 21-23

Milestone alert: incredible bike riding happening!  Tommy got a big kid bike last Friday, and after 2 short practices, he was riding it like a pro.  He's consumed with riding as much as possible. Nothing has epitomized 'big kid' quite as much as seeing him ride independently on this bike.

Olive loves keeping up!  She's been jogging down the city streets, chasing after him in the bike.  I'm left pushing the child-free stroller.

Olive studying her shirt and saying "mummy."

The day we bought the bike, I couldn't get the training wheels off, so he spent an afternoon with them on. The next day they were off, and the fun began.

Oct 21
Face paint at school, practice braiding, and dance class.
To hear the soundtrack to our days lately, check out track 13 Ipi Ntombo, a catchy song we first heard in Tommy's dance class.  Olive will look at us and say, "hiya?" whenever she thinks she'll hear it.  Also love the new Elizabeth Mitchell and Dan Zanes album, Turn, Turn, Turn. Olive was entranced and sat through almost the entire concert before she got up to dance.

Grumpy butterfly and heart

Oct 22 

Practiced writing numbers 2 and 6. Loop of 6 reminded us of the pouches in the marsupials that we read about in the morning.
Played tic tac toe with numbers.
Played pictionary and captioned the pictures. Highlights were "scaredy cat" and "alien hovercraft"
Read book without words and T made up a story to describe pictures.
Baked squash seeds and bread, then biking to French St park

Oct 23 

School, lunch with Chris at Pete's Apizza, letter to David practicing spelling and writing, bike ride to library 

underground parking garage glamour shot

September 23

Petworth Coop: migratory patterns of butterflies, animals who use camouflage, caterpillar life cycle

Dissect nuts discovered at the Franciscan Monastery, open a seed pod and discuss dependency of some plants on butterflies, birds, and bees for pollination.  Others have seeds that travel.

Bike riding to Nina's house and create an invisible potion.

September 13- 20

learning knife safety while dissecting

We've been dissecting the fruits and lantern leaves we've found on our walks.  On this day we took the fruit and stamped them in paint to make pictures.  The paint colors got mixed as we talked about color combinations (yellow and blue make green) and explored why the paint didn't cover the crayon drawing. 

We've had an exercise in patience and science with a sea monkeys kit.  The eggs finally hatched, much to everyone's relief.  They needed some sunlight for the algae to grow. 

School continues to go well.  

Here's T's class, can you spot our superhero?

We've had two wonderful homeschooling fieldtrips this week.  The first was to Hillwood Estate and Gardens, the former home of Marjorie Merriweather Post.  She was quite a unique woman, and it was a treat to see her mansion and estate.  The museum houses the largest collection of Russian art outside of Russia. 

Here's a description of our class: 

In Fabergé’s Workshop: Explore the collection of Russian imperial art in the mansion.  Study a magnificent portrait of Catherine the Great and see objects that belonged to the Tsars and Tsarinas of Russia, including the intricate creations of imperial Russia’s legendary jeweler, Peter Carl Fabergé.  Afterwards, create your own Faberge-inspired treasure.

guess who wore a cape to Hillwood?

O listening intently in the Ergo

It's one of the few museums in DC that charges, so this was our first time there.  Afterwards the kids picnicked and played in the gardens.  

Later in the week we went to the Corcoran for a tour.  There were just 4 kids in our group, and it was a pleasure to get such a customized and private look at the galleries.  The guide really made it kid-centric.

A description of our class: 

Look, Listen, Discover 

Explore works of art by connecting paintings and sculptures with the five senses. Imagine the sound of thunderous waves crashing,the smell and taste of salty ocean water, or the feel of slippery sand between your toes.

crafting in the art studio after the tour

2 story slide

getting caped up

Chris was away for the weekend, so I sent him this picture of the sleeping littles.

Lola visited to help with co-op duty. Here we are walking home from the library.

Olive loves coloring.  I don't remember Tommy liking it quite as well at this age.

Half way finished with Dean's bday card.  I've never seen T have so much focus and determination with a coloring project. It's been inspiring to watch him concentrate so hard.

T has been doing tons of bike riding lately, and we've checked out some new parks, including Harrison and Hamilton. We played with Renzo this week for his first drop-off ever, and it was great seeing Tommy coaching and helping someone other than Olive. There was lots of time in the kitchen, making our meals of course, but also special treats like popcorn, brownies, and banana blueberry muffins.  Lola visited and there was some limbo playing!

Sept 11

I was the on duty parent today at Tommy's new school, so Olive played with Renzo. 

happy moment making music with Adrienne and Renzo!

It was tough for T to share me at school, and he even said he liked it better when I wasn't there.
Spent O's nap listening to Sparkle Stories and reading.

quiet time: listening to stories and reading fairy tales

writing and decorating thank you notes

We spent the afternoon working on thank you notes, and Tommy tested the laws of physics by swinging and launching figures from a popped balloon with a ribbon.

Day 2 of Kindergarten

Water play

testing volume of different containers

little sis in big bro's shorts, standing in the designated foot bath

Bath with shaving cream, talked about pressurized contents

used the shower head like a seat belt

Read Mouse House
Used ruler to measure 1/8 inch, referenced in book
Used playdough to illustrate fractions
Free play with playdough
Long walk to Stead. T biked. Collected nature to study: fruit, dried lantern flowers, berries, feathers

playing with bungee blaster

she loved this, even after her chin got bonked

Saw beer delivery truck and talked about taps
Pitango for ice cream on the way home.

"Mo" ice cream!

raspberry lemon cone

September 9, 2013 First Day of Kindergarten

Tommy went to a new school today: the Petworth Coop. By all accounts he did great. Drop off was easy, and he didn't want to leave when it was time to go. O napped so early without her exciting brother around to distract her. I scrubbed the toilet, did laundry, and caught up with a former colleague. Hooray!
Tommy had lots of special snacks packed for school, and a note from Chris. We met Chris for a pizza lunch, but T was exhausted!  I think school took a lot out of him.

without bubble

with

couldn't pick just one of these

In the afternoon, we listened to Jai Uttal's music and stories. Both kids danced around. Then we drew scenes from the Hanuman story, cut them out, placed them in sequential order, and then T retold the story to Chris when he got home.

tried unsuccessfully to get a picture of O hugging T's orange kitty

5th Birthday

To my Tommy,
You are five today.  This is the age that you'll definitely have memories from, when you're old and white-haired someday. I spend my days studying you, so I'll tell you a few things about what I know.

You do big kid things like snore and clip your own fingernails and say words like 'diagonally,' but you're still our baby too, wanting to be carried often, fearing monsters, and loving laps. I watch you and Olive crack each other up as you play peek-a-boo, dance and bathe together, and tickle each other.  You are extremely patient with your little shadow and you even share your best, most prized treats (new library books, ice cream cones, magic stones, superhero capes) with her. You're currently teaching her how to jump, and use the hula hoop, and I love seeing you translate your lessons into 18-month-old-speak.

You love silly accents, voices, and faces and have quite a love affair with Strega Nona, who visits from time to time.  You're starting to understand jokes and have quite a repertoire of cow jokes from the back of your favorite yogurt squeezers. You love hot chocolate, but only when the barista makes a design in the froth on top! When you hurt yourself, I never know if you're going to try to tough your way through a really serious fall, or sob over a teeny bump.

You can be quite suspicious of new people and things, and can give well-meaning strangers who compliment you in the neighborhood the fish eye. Once you decide to open your heart to a new experience, however, you are joyful and so much fun to watch.  Your physical prowess continues to amaze both strangers and us. Recently you said you learned to swim last summer by watching a boy at the pool.  You can practically master things the first time you try them, like doing an underwater somersault, flipping into the foam pit, and blowing bubble gum bubbles.

Your current favorite role-playing games are ponies, superheroes, and kittens.  You love Richard Scarry books, sparkles, and the Ladybug Girl series. The inner workings of parachutes, cannons, explosions, and gadgets occupy many of your thoughts. You love any time you have with your Papa, especially wrestling, listening to his Star Wars stories, and cooking. The Nutcracker continues to have a hold on you, and you are currently working on memorizing your second autographed Elizabeth Mitchell album.

You show us such a fiery spirit in your resistance to eating and sleeping, to having your picture taken, and with your angry outbursts of sleep talking. Don't let anyone mess with Olive because you will be there pronto with a verbal attack, or maybe you'll dive bomb whoever has the Nose Frida at the moment.  But you're tender as can be with draping one leg over us before drifting off, ending each goodbye with a barrage of superhero kisses, and holding Olive's hand in the backseat of the car.  You sigh at beautiful things and can appreciate a good stick as much as a rainbow.

You teach me every day.  To have a light touch.  To forgive and forget quickly.  To see the humor and fun in it all.  To think quickly on my feet. To pay attention to my tone. To hone my skills at not directly answering questions. Thank you for being exactly the boy you were meant to be.  I will continue to nurture that boy, for I love you.

June Catchup

Some highlights from June...

don't know which is better, the huge hug or the fireboots/fairy wings combination

foam pit fun!

she's folded in half

hanging at Lock House 10

poolside

gorgeous summer light and gorgeous summer boy

Acorn Hill playground

Tommy, why are you eating your ice cream cone on the floor?  "Because I'm so tired!"

at Westminster

Now that it's winter, I hear endless requests for summer weather and pool time.  This is a kid who loves to swim.

I usually don't like the car seat in photos, but  I'll make exceptions for these next cute ones.

Olive kills time in Whole Foods waiting for big brother to finish camp.

Olive meets Nelson.  Tommy hadn't seen him since he was this big.

Olive and Renzo at PG Pool.  'Argh!' shirt courtesy of big brother's wardrobe.

ready for scootering

At Dumpstaphunk show at the Folklife Festival

making a summer solstice spider

Olive takes a turn on the Star Wars blanket.  See Tommy's turn here.

These two would quietly play while I showered.  Bliss.

new sleeping bag and favorite strawberry yogurt bar

they look similar here.  we can't resist photos of sleeping wee ones.

Tommy rocking a pink glitter flaming skull tattoo.  Oh, and there's a panda there too.

drumming

Tommy where are you putting those stickers?  "Nowhere!"

At the Fairlington pool

Tommy and Anya at her birthday party

post DC Noodles lunch with whole family and Lola