Sunday, October 16, 2011

Dragon Bartender

To be a successful Dragon Bartender, follow these steps:

1. Ensure the cooler is the proper temperature by holding your hand in the ice water until it becomes unbearable. Then walk over to your best customer, saying "Ow!" and have her hold your hand until it warms up again. Repeat at least 17 times.





2. Prepare your beverages by placing them in the ice water until they reach the desired temperature. You may find that you need to transfer the beverages from one cooler to the next, and then to the next, and then back, for a minimum of 9 repetitions.


3. Now that your beverages are adequately chilled, you may begin transferring them to your "bar". If you do not have an actual bar counter, a cement pad will suffice.





4. Arrange the beverages in alphabetical order by flavor. Rearrange them by color. Rearrange them again in random order. Finally, arrange them according to popularity.





 5. Take your customer's order and supply the beverage of his or her choice. Remember his/her selection each time they approach the bar, and your tip will multiply exponentially.






6. Don't become so involved with your work that you forget to attend to your own hydration needs.






7. Remember, music makes the atmosphere. Crank the tunes!






8. After your shift, simply change into your PJs, hydrate some more, and prepare to sleep during the long commute home.







9. Collect payment from the party hosts before leaving the premises.






10. Be extra cute as you leave, so the hosts will request your services for their next party.






Thanks for throwing such an awesome party Paula! We had a blast!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Ferocious Hugs

Tyler's officially 1 and 1/2 years old now, where did the time go? A book I read said described 18 month olds bumbling around a room, randomly crashing into things and then taking interest in them. Sometimes it sure seems that way with Tyler. But certainly there are other times where he fixates on something in the distance, and goes for it. One day I raised the blinds in our bedroom and discovered Tyler has started a coin collection on the window sill. I knew he played with the blinds frequently, but didn't realize he was hoarding money. As soon as I found his window sill stash, he switched hiding places. Now he's stashing coins in the sound hole of our acoustic guitar.

In June Tyler transitioned into the toddler room at daycare. We were so excited for him to switch rooms, but he had some mixed feelings about it, I think because the room has older kids in it at the beginning and end of the day, and he seems to be intimidated by some of the bigger kids - they're bigger. And faster. And don't always look where they're going. So for a while, he'd lay on the floor and cry each morning when I'd drop him off. And of course he'd still cry when I arrived to pick him up, but that wasn't new (the "no, I was only PRETENDING to have fun before I noticed you standing in the doorway. Really, you are a horrible person for abandoning me here all day" cry.) One little boy, two months older than Tyler, would try to soothe him and invite him to play. One day I saw him offer his teddy bear. Tyler accepted it, got up off the floor and followed the little boy to go play with the dinosaurs. Another day, the little boy and his older brother lay
on the floor on either side of Tyler, soothing him and inviting him to play with them.

I was always in a hurry to drop him off at daycare so I could get to work on time, so each day I would carry him into daycare and put him into the lap of whichever teacher was closest to the door. And somehow I was letting him crawl into my arms and I'd carry him out to the car at the end of the day. But that's not the parent I want to be, in too much of a hurry to help my child develop independence and confidence.... And so the day came when I decided it was time for Tyler to walk into and out of daycare instead of being carried. Tyson made that same decision at the same time, without us ever speaking to each other about it. On our own,  we each experienced one false start. But the third day, I'd decided I was done carrying him. Ironically, walking into daycare turned out to be easy - he actually raced his friend in, pushing past him to get to the toy shopping carts, nearly knocking one over in the process. It was so cool to see him showing off for his friend. Walking out was a bigger challenge. Tyler not only threw himself on the floor, crying and hitting the floor in full tantrum mode - he actually ROLLED over and over away from me, rolling again and again until he bumped into the wall farthest from the exit. I couldn't get him to stand up. Tyson arrived but couldn't get him to walk out either. We pretended to leave, to no avail. The sobbing and writhing continued. Clearly, it really was the end of the world. I pleaded with Tyson "We can't give in now! We'd be rewarding him for throwing a fit!" And so we stood, deadlocked, until the director took pity on us and tried a different approach, saying "Here Tyler, let me help you! We'll do it together!" while pulling Tyler to standing position and walking towards us. But once he got to Tyson, he threw himself down again. I left the building to put his bag in the car, and when I returned, he was standing, holding Tyson's hand, and when he saw me, he ran towards me, and out to the car.

The next evening, with the daycare staff clapping and cheering him on, Tyler proudly ran through the halls and out the door, all by himself, grinning from ear to ear.

Tyler took swimming lessons this summer. Tyler's slow to warm up to things, so a 30 minute lesson serves more to teach me what I should do with Tyler later, when he's ready. He's learned to climb out of the pool by himself, to kick, to blow bubbles, to move his arms in a crawl-like fashion, and even to go under water. Not that he does any of these things during the lesson. During the lesson, he climbs out of the pool, lays down with his cheek in the water, and goes to sleep. But on Sundays, when we spend a few hours there, he demonstrates the skills from the day before.

He's much more confident in his motor development class these days, and he actually loves to clean up. He practically pushes the other kids out of the way so he can pick up the toys and be the one to hand them to the teacher. He helps me at home with the laundry, moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer, or handing the wet clothes to me for me to hang. He also likes to take the washcloths out of the linen closet and bring them to me, one at a time. No clue why.

He's trying to figure out how to jump, that's very fun to see. He bends his knees, then abruptly straightens them, and moves his arms, but doesn't actually get off the ground yet. He still loves to read, and right now is particularly fond of a book about Halloween costumes.

That child development book I read indicated that kids this age aren't very affectionate. Tyler sure is. He gives ferocious hugs - runs to you and hugs you forcefully, growling at the same time. If you're not careful, he'll knock you over. But it feels so good to be hugged like that! He hugs Tyson and Vader the same way. He also likes to identify noses, eyes, teeth, and mouths, and hasn't yet learned to be gentle while doing it.

Tyler's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds since June. The first sentence I heard him say was in Virginia, as I strapped him into his carseat - "We go now." My favorite was when Vader was barking at thunder, and Tyler actually yelled at him "Stop talk!" Tyler's definitely entered the developmental stage of the "Automatic No". When asked a yes/no question, he emphatically says no, and shakes his head, quite convincingly. It's all to easy to believe him, and so we test him by asking contradictory questions. He vehemently shakes his head and says no to all the questions. H doesn't answer open ended questions, but he does make choices when offered. His favorite word right now is "off", referring to lights. He still loves ceiling fans, and watching the clothes in the washer and dryer.

Tyler has a favorite shirt - a turqoise tye-died shirt with a race car on it. Tyson says it makes him feel confident. He suddenly loves stuffed animals. He climbs on things now - he got up on the couch by himself today.  He's definitely a dog lover. And he likes dinosaurs, and says "Dinosaur - ROAR!" While he gives us those ferocious hugs.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

San Diego



For Tyson's birthday, Grandma Allaire (Anne Marie) took us to San Diego. Our first stop, appropriately, was Stone Brewing Company.


I love visiting breweries, but it never occurred to me how beautiful a brewery could be. The garden was amazing, and perfect for Tyler to explore while waiting for our lunch and later, for the tour.







On Friday, we visited Sea World. Neither Tyler nor I had ever been. We had so much fun! First we checked out the porpoises. I've seen them in the wild, but never this close!


We thought we should probably check out the kid friendly area. As luck would have it, the moment we arrived, a musical show began.

But it turned out, Tyler wasn't a fan.



Next was a Sea Lion comedy show. Tyler cried at first, but eventually got into it. It was so fun, and a good reminder that animals, even trained ones, have minds of their own.

Next we went to the shark tank. So cool! I'm trying to post a video here, maybe Tyson can get it to work.


After the sharks, we went on Tyler's first ride. Hopefully we can get that video up, too.

We watched the orca show, which included Shamoo. Tyler cried at the beginning, but just like the Sea Lion show, he soon got into it. Must be that he doesn't like loud music blasting...


On Saturday, our family indulged my intense craving for ocean. Tyler had a blast! He loved destroying sand castles by driving his new car through them.


A big group of young people worked together to build this dragon. They had all kinds of cool tools, and definitely had a good system going. As the day went on, other people joined in, forming a large crowd. The quality of the work began to deteriorate. Then the original group of people left, encouraging the newcomers  to finish it. The crowd dispersed within a few minutes. Tyson caught a couple of snapshots before a kid jumped on the head (no, not Tyler. Tyler appreciates fine art.)


When the boys started getting hungry, I worried my day at the beach would end early. I went foraging for food, and came back an hour later with delicious burgers, dogs, and ice cold fountain sodas. Tyler loved the hot dog.


After lunch, Tyler approached some little girls who had a wider variety of sand toys. He was quickly befriended by the whole group, and played with their toys for a while. Then I took him out to the breakpoint. I was caught off guard by how rough the water was, but even when a wave broke right over us, Tyler was focused, but interested. And so began my spiel, one Tyson will likely grow tired off far before Tyler does..."and when YOU turn 12, we'll go diving together so YOU can see the cities under the sea..." "In 11 years, WE can be dive buddies..." I can't wait!

The bottom line is, we loved San Diego!


Virginia Wedding

In July, Tyler and I returned to Virginia for my brother Eddie's wedding. Tyson didn't get to go due to his school schedule, but Tyler and I had a blast. I'm getting better at flying across the country with a toddler in my lap. I ended up flying in Thursday night, and finally got to meet the newest addition to my childhood friend Susie's family - Allison. It was great to see Susie, Drew, Jessica, and their family dog as well. I didn't get to take any pictures, unfortunately. We spent an hour or two together that night, then hit the road before 7am.

We spent Friday catching up with my mom, sister, nieces, and my aunt, uncle, and cousins. We had a family dinner at Eddie's house that night, and got to spend time meeting Nanci's family. Tyler got to meet his uncle Roger for the first time, and found his beard to be quite fascinating. Tyler also went to his very first bachelor's party (mine, too, I guess) - a pool party at the hotel, where we got to spend extra time with Eddie and my nephew Matt.

Saturday was the actual wedding day. Despite double ear infections and the stomach flu, Tyler was an angel throughout the trip. Except for during the ceremony, which began with the sound of Tyler headbutting me echoing throughout the church. That room has great acoustics.

Here's pics from the ceremony.












After the ceremony, we headed back to Eddie's place for a fun and relaxed reception.

Grandma and Uncle Roger took a moment to catch up.


Here Tyler once again thwart's Aunt Jonell's sinister plan to quench his thirst. Aunt Jonell is still clearly the "Not-Mom". Tyler has not yet forgiven her for his trip to Danvers. It's okay. I was Payton's "Not-Mom" for a while, and she's clearly forgiven me.)

Speaking of Payton...


No, I didn't feed Tyler Mountain Dew. But Payton, Shelby and I DID try feeding him Mug Root Beer, and later, Dr. Pepper. He was begging for it, how could we not? May we always remember his face - the look of horror, then the face of one who's been brutally betrayed by the ones he loves. Clearly, not a fan of soda.


The presentation of Mr. and Mrs. Edward K. Glass.





It was so fun to see Eddie's best friends from high school and college - John, Todd, and Randy.




Here's the latest family photo, with four new members! (Now I just need to photoshop Tyson, Art, Cole, and Jill in. And my father. How'd he escape this? And you can't really see Eddie. Better luck next time...)


Evidence that Payton really has forgiven me for being the "Not-Mom" in her life. I think she got over it right around the time Cole was born...

A discussion between Matt and Roger quickly turns to the topic of music.

Like mother, like son - this kid can sleep just about anywhere. Except Massachusetts.



A touching moment with Grandma Glass...


Congratulations Eddie and Nanci! Thank you for letting us share in your special day!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Day at the Beach

Tyler and I came to Boston for a conference this week. Aunt Jonell, Uncle Art, and cousins Payton, Cole, and Shelby took great care of Tyler while I've been at work. Now that the conference is over, I"m actually getting to spend time with them.

I hope and dream that Tyler will one day be my "dive buddy". But to be a dive buddy (aka scuba diving partner), you probably have to like the ocean. So I've been eager to get Tyler to a beach to see if he likes the ocean. Today was the day.

Jonell and Art took us to Crane Beach in Ipswich, by Crane's Castle. This is where they brought Tyson and me when we were first engaged.

Jonell pointed out the beach peas growing in the sand just before we reached the beach. They bloom so briefly, so we were lucky to get to see them today.


Tyler's been a bit cranky since coming to Boston - we've messed up his sleep schedule, changed his living environment, and worst of all, we've taken him away from his dad. He's definitely acting differently lately, crying when I walk away, even though I'm within his sights, etc. The only times he's seemed truly happy and at ease are first, when skyping with Tyson, and second, when playing with the neighbor's puppy. Note even here, the suspicious look in his eyes...


When we first set him down in the sand, Tyler was as cautious as he always is in new situations.


Uncle Art quickly picked him back up to lead him closer to the water.


But when Art put Tyler down again, he was ready to go! He dragged Art towards the water, then went in far deeper than we expected.



We were sure the water would be too cold for him, but he loved it!




Tyler enjoyed playing with the sand, too.




Thank you Jonell and Art, for taking us to the beach, and thank you Tyler, for turning a cloudy, rainy day into such a fun experience!

PS Tyson, we miss you so much! It's not nearly as calm and easygoing here as I make it out to be. Best quote from Jonell so far, just minutes ago, regarding our current, cruel attempt to get Tyler to take a nap - after letting him wail for a solid 15 minutes, Jonell took pity on him and went to console him. She quickly emerged, announcing, "Tyler just threw a naked tantrum! He was so pissed off, he took his diaper off and threw it out of his crib!"

We love and miss you!