Just call him Drew-san

Tonight I was planning to have some salmon sashimi. Just a few slices. I had bought 1/2 pound of Wild Alaskan Coho from our local Co-Op and was slicing it to freeze in single servings and figured I’d just have a little nibble.

So I start to get out the sushi dishes when 5-year old Drew says, “Mom, what are you doing?” He then reaches his chubby, little boy hands (covered in marker from an earlier drawing episode) up to the platter with the salmon. He proceeds to stick said chubby finger into the piece and his eyes light up.

I knew right then, I would be sharing my sashimi.

You see, several months ago, my adventurous little eater tried some of a previous sashimi meal I was planning to enjoy (I ordered salmon online and while it was very, very good, the shipping was, quite understandably, pricey). Not one to shy away from new foods, Drew even used the soy sauce and wasabi, and liberally, I might add.

The result? He. Loved. It.

Tonight then, he was thrilled to eat the sushi and the sauce was even more popular than the salmon.

I guess I’ll soon be searching for chopsticks for kids. And, yes, some other affordable sources of delicious sashimi to help feed his habit…

  

 

Hard Duty in Florida…

You know, it’s rough. Going to a warm, sunny place with litte responsibilities when it’s cold and dreary at home. But someone has to do it. And frankly, it was our turn. Spending the better part of a week in the pool with Ben and Drew and many members of Bill’s family was a great way to pass the time.  We had a super time and can’t wait to go back…next week would be ideal…

 

Halloween

Halloween was a success in our house! That night, Drew was a wizard – and loved it – and Ben was a fierce ninja. At school, Ben was Julius Caesar and although I thought I was uber creative, there were two other Caesar’s there. Crazy!
It seemed like 5:30 couldn’t get here fast enough for the boys because they were ready to go get candy! They got some great loot from the neighbors on our street but we’re waiting for the year that they realize they can go around to other streets. I’m fairly certain that realization will bring buckets more candy into our home…

 

“I see Mommy!”

Many of you have read about Drew’s various adventures (blasting off in the bathroom, yelling out the car window for Allison, running around the house naked, losing his locker privileges, and more) and I apologize to keep writing about him. But I can’t help it.

He’s 3. He does funny things. And I get way too much material from his antics NOT to write about him.

Take today. Ben had an appointment at 2pm so I picked him up early from school to go. And, since Ben and Drew go to the same school, there was a small chance I could see Drew. Although really, it was a bigger chance because their classrooms are right next to each other. It was naptime though so really? The chances were even higher that I’d see him since he doesn’t nap at school. Ever.

So I walked in to the school and ran into the school chef, Erika (she serves the kids pesto sauce, feta cheese, and many other things I personally would like for lunch so yes, she’s a chef). She asked me with a gesture to the director’s office, “Who are you here for?” Before I could speak, I heard it…

Drew.

In Dr. Cook’s office. Again.

“That’s my mommy. My mommy is here. I saw my mommy.”

The little bugger must have seen me walk up from his perch in Dr. Cook’s office. I chose to ignore it knowing that it could be a small crisis if he realized I was taking Ben somewhere and not him. Also? We were late for our last appointment and I didn’t want to risk a speeding ticket to get there on time.

I get Ben, talk to his teachers a bit, and we headed upstairs. I see Dr. Cook standing outside the kids bathroom. I said to him, “Is he in there?”

Oh yes he was. I didn’t need to ask. I could hear him.

I asked if Drew was being naughty and Dr. Cook’s kind reply was, “Oh, he just wasn’t being quiet during naptime.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He told me with a big smile that it’s OK, that Drew’s not alone in doing this. Really? I’m pretty sure he is the only 3 year old regularly in the office for acting up. The kind man was probably just feeling sorry for me.

Oh well. Drew is such a sweet loving little boy that it’s hard to stay annoyed with him long. I’m counting on his teachers feeling the same way.

Until next time…

 

You know you’re short when…

Your husband gets your jeans confused with your 6-year old son’s. I know that when I can’t find a pair of mine to go look in Ben’s room. Yes, that’s sad.

This morning I saw him pulling jeans out of the dryer and holding a pair of mine up to a pair of Ben’s. What else was he doing? Chuckling.

 

Drew’s Obsession…

Drew is officially obsessed. Yes, he’s three but I know it’s possible. What is he obsessed with you ask? No, not Star Wars (although…it’s close). No, it’s not sounding like a dinosaur (again, close). And no, it’s not running around without pants after he goes to the bathroom (ditto).

It’s finding Allison’s house. Yes, yes, Allison (who very well may be reading this blog right now – one of my only readers, I believe). Allison is 8 years old. She is in Ben’s class at Montessori – where Drew also goes – and I happen to work with her dad (and mom sometimes, too!) at Bagolitas. Allison lives in a house that you can see from the road we drive home from school every day.

One day, after years of driving this road, mind you, I innocently said, “Ben, see that house up there?”

“Yes,” says Ben

Not to be ignored, Drew pipes up, “I see it, too, Mommy.”

“That’s Allison’s house, Ben” I said innocently, not knowing what would happen EVERY DAY on our way home. And, if truth be told, many other times when we are nowhere near Allison’s house. But I digress…

Every day since that fateful day in September, as we come over a hill on this gravel road, Drew says, “I see Allison’s house! Can we go to Allison’s house? Mom, I want to see Allison!”

Truly. It’s every day.

I’ve told Allison’s parents that I might have to call someday and let them know Drew needs to see the house. In fact that call could be made from their driveway. I’m pretty sure at this point, it wouldn’t surprise them.

Not a big deal, you say. Kids grab on to many “interesting” things. I agree. But this one gets better.

Last week after I picked them up from school, the windows were down, it was a gorgeous fall day. Crisp but not cold. Sunny and lovely. And loud, actually. Because why? My darling Drew started yelling – at the top of his lungs - out his window while we were driving down the road, “Allison! Allison! Where are you? Where’s Allison’s house? Allison!” This went on for several minutes. And I’m not exaggerating.

He also sees a house on our way to and from school that apparently reminds him of Allison’s to which he starts screeching, “Mommy! It’s Allison’s house!” It’s not, but it’s very hard to convince an obsessed 3-year old boy that he’s wrong.

I’m not sure what all this means and am hopeful that it’s not equivalent to harming small animals, if you know what I mean, but when I finally break down and call Allison’s mom on the way home to say we’ll be there in 4 minutes, I’ll let you know how it goes. If you can’t hear him shrieking with sheer joy from where you are, that is.

 

What to Wear…

I’m not sure about your house, but Halloween always brings many important questions at ours. The answers to these questions are apparently so important, they may actually change one’s (Ben’s) destiny. Let me start further back.

Ben is in 1st grade at Montessori where they, correctly in my opinion, teach peace, sharing, and all that good stuff. That said, kids are restricted a bit on what costumes they can wear on Halloween to school. I support that, too, because knowing Ben, if he was dressed as a Death Eater from Harry Potter preparing to take on Darth Maul and his cronies, the day would be filled with chaos. And trips to the principal’s office.

Ben’s fabulous teachers, Mrs. O’Sullivan and Mrs. Bonjour, gave the kids an assignment to come to their Halloween party as a hero from history. Great idea, no? The kids don’t tell each other who they are and are to ask questions to figure it out. Sounds like fun.

However, Ben is 6. He likes Star Wars. Dinosaurs. Planets. He Who Must Not Be Named (um…Harry Potter books, people). And animals. And at Halloween, he likes anything creepy and scary and dark because he’s, well, 6. Like the most ghoulish ghoul ever. Or a ninja. Or Dracula. None of whom could be considered “heroes from history.” Unless of course, the ninja helped protect Queen Anne from losing her head by King Henry. And I suppose Darth Vader COULD be classified as a hero from history: the 1977 Star Wars WAS a life-changing movie for many sci-fi folks out there. However, I’m fairly certain that my logic would not go over very well with his teachers.

So we’re faced with the dilemma: buy two costumes (one “boring” one for school and one creepy, not school-approved costume for trick or treating) OR find one that can be modified just enough either by day or by night to please everyone. We’re going with the latter.

Lots of options were out there: Merriweather Lewis by day, Indiana Jones by night. Amadeus Mozart with a black suitcoat and big collar (or Beethoven – Ben is a HUGE fan of his 5th symphony. Seriously. No b.s., folks) by day, a vampire at night. Dr. Jonas Saulk by day, a doctor of death at night (he really liked that one perhaps due to the fake blood I mentioned we could use). You get the idea.

So what did I do today? Ordered Ben a creepy, scary, fierce gladiator costume for use at night. What will we do during the day, you ask? My darling son is going to be Julius Caesar by day. Please don’t groan too loudly, I don’t want him to hear. I haven’t told him this yet, you see. I think the only saving grace for me here is that the mask he’ll get to wear at night is really creepy by the high standards of a 6-year old boy. And then there’s the sword. Sword trumps fake blood. Duh.

Drew on the other hand is either going to be a wizard ($10 from Old Navy.com) or a chicken. The chicken is ABSOLUTELY adorable!!! but Drew’s head is so big that it barely fits. We like to say that it’s because he’s so smart, he needs a big head to hold his big smart brain (actually, if truth be told, we say, “check out the brain on Drew” but that doesn’t sound quite as p.c.). My friend Kim made this chicken costume and I’m terrified to tell her, “Kim, um, yeah. I had to cut the chicken to get Drew out. Sorry for the carnage.” So, we’ll have to see. The wizard is pretty cute, too – it goes down to his ankles and the hat (barely) fits his large head well. Plus, he’d get to carry a wand made from aluminum foil. High class at our house, don’t you know.

Here are a couple of pictures of Drew as a chicken and Ben wearing the wizard hat. I’ll keep you posted on how this turns out. Stay tuned.

 

Pretend Birfday

All week Drew has been talking about how Saturday was his “birfday”. We started out the week by saying, “Buddy, your birthday is in July – we have a long time to go before your birthday.”

We gave up around Wednesday, saying, “You bet. It’s your pretend birthday, Drew. What should we do?”

Drew really liked the idea of making a cake while Ben really like the idea of opening presents. Drew agreed that brownies would be delicious so…Friday after school we all trudged to Hy-Vee and got a brownie mix.

First thing Saturday morning (seriously, I hadn’t even had coffee yet), Drew donned his Bagolitas Helper Apron and we got baking. He poured the ingredients (mostly), stirred (kind of), and helped lick the spoon (quite admirably, really).

He’s still singing the “birfday” song today. At the top of his lungs. All the time.

 

“One, two, tfree, blast off!”

I was getting ready for work yesterday when I heard Drew downstairs in the bathroom. I’m not sure what he was doing in there but I strongly believe he was on the potty (I heard a flush soon thereafter).

He yelled at the top of his lungs, “One, two, tfree, blast off!” This exclamation was followed by “schhsch” sound effects.

I understand that the countdown and subsequent blast off is great fun for children, but it’s the first time I’ve heard it done while on the toilet. If I figure it out what he was doing, I’ll let you know.

 

A Day in the Life of Drew

7:30am: we wake Drew up with a backrub and hug (OR at 6:45am he wakes up on his own saying either, “I want my Daddy”, singing the Star Wars theme, or having dinosaurs talk to each other, and of course, roaring while doing it. Whichever vocalization he chooses, he does it over and over again).

7:35am: Drew is sitting at the breakfast table eating his breakfast and not making a mess (OR, he won’t stay in his chair, has cream cheese all over his pudgy little hands – and face! – and wants to give us a hug and kiss because ‘he’ll miss us today’ all while we’re dressed for work. Darting quickly away from your child in terror doesn’t seem right but getting cream cheese handprints all over my black shirt isn’t so appealing either).

7:45am: Drew is still nibbling away at breakfast talking with his brother, Ben (OR Ben, whose ADHD medication hasn’t yet kicked in, is stomping the floor, roaring – more with the roaring! – and making other animal noises, and saying, “Drew, can you do this?” Which of course, Drew attempts. Ben stops when we ask him – sometimes – but Drew doesn’t have that off switch yet so he keeps going and gets in trouble).

7:55am: Drew still at table

8:03am: Bill gets Drew down and rushes him into the bathroom to clean him up (often, this consists of holding Drew out at arm’s length and telling him to keep his hands to himself. Please!)

8:15am: Bill calmly gets both boys into his car and heads out to school (OR, Drew refuses to get dressed and runs around the house – usually without any pants – and gets chased by an increasingly irritated Bill)

8:30am: Bill drops the boys off at school hopefully without incident

8:35am: Drew’s day begins where he: sits in circle listening to Mrs. Kuehl (most likely he ‘gets’ to sit next to Mrs. Kuehl), listens to stories read by Mrs. Kuehl (often, he ‘gets’ to sit on Mrs. Kuehl’s lap during the story), lines up to go to music, Spanish, or art (usually, he ‘gets’ to be first in line right next to Mrs. Kuehl); after lunch is recess, then nap (when sweet 3-year old Drew sometimes ‘gets’ to spend at Judy’s desk outside Dr. Cook’s office – often due to ‘Fe Fi Fo Fum’ at the top of his lungs while other little boys and girls are trying to sleep).

3:30pm: Drew is picked up by either me, Bill, or Papa & G.G (my dad and step-mom kindly pick up the boys one day a week to give me another day I’m able to stay at work until 5pm or so); the person on pick-up duty is almost always greeted with a running hug - as big as his little body can give – and a huge kiss (wet, smacking, and sometimes involves tongue – I know, I know, ’gross.’ He’s 3. Give him a break. And it’s not really tongue – it’s more like he’s licking a lollipop that must best be stuck on my face. Again, I know, I know, ‘really gross.’ He’s still 3. We say, “Drewie, no licking people’s faces” like other people say, “no running in the house”).

3:40pm: leave school with boys and run errands where I often work up a sweat chasing him, carrying him (to avoid chasing), or trying to figure out the quickest, most efficient way of shopping for dinner with my two ‘helpers’.

5pm: thankfully arrive home and immediately turn on the very educational PBS Kids (Curious George, of course)

5:05pm: Drew tires of Curious George and realizes he’s thirsty so he gets a cup, opens the fridge, and tries to get water from our Pur water filter. He’s so successful he not only fills his cup – to the top – he waters the fridge and floor, too.

5:10pm: Drew decides water isn’t enough and needs fruit snacks, peanuts, or an apple that hasn’t been washed yet but he’s already started eating.

5:30pm or so: Drew and Ben sit down to dinner consisting of chicken marsala, steamed asparagus, a whole wheat roll, mango, and milk. Ha! While this is a fantasy meal, Drew actually would eat everything listed there except the chicken. I think he’s going to be a vegetarian. He’ll eat fruits and veggies all day and leave his chicken untouched (but he does like bologna – the healthiest ‘meat’ there is…).

6:15pm: the boys are often still at the table when Bill gets home or rather, they SHOULD still be at the table but Momma has given up all hope at this point and lets them run rampant.

7pm: after playing with Ben, Bill, and me, Drew gets his teeth brushed, goes potty (hopefully without missing the toilet – height will really have its advantages), and gets his jammies on. This of course sparks another nudie run around the house. And another chase.

7:15pm: after reading 2 or 3 books with a pj’d little boy in our lap, we turn off his light, rock him a few minutes more (often listening to more stories or informing me that “you didn’t kiss my mouth, you kissed my eye, silly mommy, why did you kiss my eye you’re supposed to kiss me here why did you kiss my eye?), and feel his little body start to relax and snuggle in closer.

7:20pm: stand up, give one more kiss and ‘I love you’ then lay him in the crib (where he often says, ‘leave the door open’ in the quietest whisper ever – I pretend I don’t hear him but Bill usually hears him loud and clear), walk out, and quietly close his door.

7:21pm: we realize what a sweet – and very busy – little boy we are blessed with.

7:22pm: open a bottle of wine.