Hey Kids! Comics!

Toe has been to the comic store before, but always to pick up things for Dad. Finally, after YEARS of waiting, he had his first trip to the comic store to actually get a comic of his own. The kid knew the drill... He walked right to the appropriate section and started browsing. It didn't take long for him to find what he wanted.

Then he had to wait while Dad picked up his comics. There were plenty of things to look at in the store (and he was incredible about not touching things, INCREDIBLE, I tell you).

The proud addition to comic-geekdom:

The drive home:

We ended up buying him three comics: a Cars one that he chose, a Muppet Peter Pan, and a Toy Story one from free comic book day. I was screening the other two comics on the way home while Toe read his. J looked over at us and said, "I turn my head and my family is reading comics in the car. This is a VERY good day."

Take what color you can

I have realized lately how much I appreciate flowers blooming in the summer. We regularly have gray summers at the coast. The warmer it is in the valley, the more the fog shrouds everything here. This summer has been especially gray, with temperatures in the mid-sixties most of the time. We have had a few absolutely perfect days, but many, many gray ones as well. As the rhododendrons, hydrangeas, wildflowers, roses, and other flowers (even dandelions! Toe has taught me the value of those) bloomed all over the area this spring and summer, I absolutely relished the colors because of their stark contrast with the cloudy skies and the multitude of greens ever-present. I think I love them even more outdoors than in my kitchen or living room, not just because of the allergy issues when I have flowers indoors, but because the colors are so joyful. Accents of delight.


We went to the Portland Rose Gardens a few weeks ago on one of our trips to the Zoo (there is a small train that does a loop between the two sites). It was, of course, a cloudy day, but it was the perfect day to see the place, and I drank it all in.

I think I take the clouds with me. I suspect I am like that character from the Douglas Adams book who is a Rain God and does not realize it.

On days when I do get to see some sunlight, I love love love the way beams of sunlight stream through the forest. Or on water. Or pretty much anywhere there are shadows and light and sparkles. On the train back to the Zoo, I got some of that, too. All I can say, is that light like that, air like that in the forest, makes me breathe more deeply and slowly...

And of course there are Toe and J, who bring their own color to any situation. I enjoy the color from them most of all.

Future traffic cop?

The kid is fascinated by the numbers and letters on license plates. We have to stop and read them as often as possible. This makes for some long walks if we are in a parking lot.

Even though he knows the numbers and letters on our cars, he has to stop and read them every time we come into the house from a ride.

Do I?

"Iiiiii love a parade!" I don't even know where that came from. I think it's a song, but Google informs me it is a 1932 short comedy. Oh no, indeed it is a song.

I took Toe to see the Regatta Parade on Saturday. We went with good friends and had a great time, but it was a strange experience for me.

When I was a kid, my father had a children's television show on the local cable access channel for a little over five years. Small town stuff, but he was a local celebrity and this meant he was in every parade in the region for a few years there. Subsequently, so was I. My memories of this experience are a lot of waiting before the parade started, and then a lot of waving. We only got to see who else was in the parade as we lined up. Mostly you saw the float/marchers/ car in front of you and all of the crowds. For years after I avoided parades like the plague.

But now I have a small son and our friends were going and I thought he might like it. I do enjoy watching the Macy's Day parade, but this was obviously different. Toe was won over immediately. It started and ended with fire trucks. There were also fire trucks in the middle. And there was a street sweeper at the end. Really, what more could you ask? Lollipops. He got to eat two.

My favorite was a group of baton twirlers and a marching band from Portland where the youngest looked to be in their fifties. The band sounded great and it was so nice to see people doing what they love. I do love marching bands.

It was fun to see so many people in the community out for this event, and so many people in the parade. It was a little long for me, but Toe enjoyed it thoroughly. And as I saw some kids ride past on various floats, waving half-hearted little waves in the heat (90 degrees in a town that has mostly seen 65 all summer), I was grateful to be on the sidewalk rather than the street.

Pier Pressure

A friend of mine has decided to start a theater. Seriously.

This is not a new experience for this area. The local River Theater was started with a dream and a couple of friends, a lot of elbow grease and overwhelming community support. Sadly, the River Theater closed after ten years and we have all felt the loss. There is another theater in town, but they largely focus on melodrama and musicals. My friend has stepped up to fill the gap. She created her theater company, Pier Pressure Productions, to do more edgy, unique theater. She started with Edward Albee's Zoo Story and At Home at the Zoo last year.

And at the beginning of August she found a space to house her new company. The space was previously an art gallery that hosted small acoustic bands. It is perfect for this kind of theater - very intimate. The place has two performing spaces, one has a 10x10 "stage" and the other is perfect for readings. She has been scrambling to get the space ready so she could host a showing of art by a very talented local director/actor/artist. After two weeks of preparation, she opened Pier Pressure Productions last weekend.

She is starting with some amazing pieces. Labor Day weekend the first theater piece will be presented: "A Portrait of Sylvia Plath." It is a three-woman biography, followed by a three woman reader's theater piece written by Sylvia Plath. I am in the latter with two of my close friends. We are three women, sharing three very different birthing experiences with the audience. Plath's poetry is so beautiful and the way she weaves the lives of these women together is pretty powerful. I have been enjoying the rehearsals and can't wait for an audience to see it. One of the other actors in my part went to see the biography section and said that it is amazing. I can't wait to see that.

And after Sylvia Plath, something very lighthearted: David Mamet's Glengarry Glenn Ross. The auditions alone for this piece are the talk of the town among the male actors in the region. Great director. Great script. Great actors auditioning (including J.). I am SO EXCITED to have this kind of theater happening in our area.

I really admire Susi for having this vision. I've been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to have a vision, and then take it to fruition. You have to not only allow the Universe to sing to you (or whatever you think causes inspriation), but then you have the courage to commit to it and the willingness to live with it for six months, a year, maybe longer.

I have not gotten a tattoo yet because I have never found the image that I want to be affixed to my body for a lifetime. I also often do not undertake ventures or ideas I have because I am not sure I am willing to live with it or with the commitment that it would take to get the project going. To dream big. To see the possibilities of a space and transform it. To bring people together. To make that leap...

Recipe

Take one child. Add... just kidding.

Toe loves to help me cook. So far we have limited it to things like muffins, strawberry shortcake, bread, and pizza.

Yesterday at the CF clinic, I was talking with the nutritionist about good foods for Toe. We want them to be healthy but also high in calories and fat. I was telling her about a new recipe I found for stuffed tomatoes that included cottage cheese, hard boiled egg, sunflower seeds, and...

"And onion!" added Toe. He was right. The nutritionist was a little astonished. I was too. This was not one Toe had helped me prepare.

A Little Too Much

Toe's first county fair was a great experience. We did the petting zoo, ate corn dogs and elephant ears, visited the reptile tent (My favorite! We saw a baby alligator that was adorable), did some crafts, wandered through the barns and exhibits. Toe especially loved looking at all of the animals. We had to go back to see the pigs, sheep, goats, cows, rabbits, and chickens twice.

On our way back to the car, we stopped by the carnival to see if any rides were appropriate for him. I told Toe that we could only do one ride. We walked all over and Toe decided he really wanted to go on the child roller coaster. Mind you, before this he had been on the swings and been swung around by his parents, but that was about it. I asked him if he was sure, he said yes. I informed him that this ride wouldn't allow me to go with him and asked if he still wanted to go. He gave an emphatic yes. I checked a few more times. Yes. Yes. Yes. I was dubious, but I bought tickets.

There were signs posted on this thing saying that you shouldn't force your kid to go if he doesn't want to, and to keep an eye on your child to make sure everything is ok. I asked the operater "Is he too young?" hoping he might say yes. He said, "Nope." Toe was really excited. He got on, no problem but looked concerned when he noticed I didn't follow him. Another kid got on.

I told him I was watching him and I would be right there.

And then the ride started. Three quarters around the first lap, we could see he was definitely not having a good time. Without a word from me, the operator pulled the thing to a halt, helped Toe off and handed me Toe's ticket. SO NICE.

I looked for a ride we could do together, but they were all adult rides or kid ones someone would do alone. And I now had tickets to spend....

We opted for the Tilt-a-Whirl. Large red strawberries you climb into.

And he loved it. He laughed like a maniac and I actually made the thing go faster. Right before we were done, he got a panicked look on his face and I asked him if he was getting dizzy. He said yes and I told him to close his eyes or look at my face and he did, and all was fine. When we got off, he asked to go for another ride. Look at that child's face. Exhausted, I tell you. I told him it was time for a ride in the car. Home. He was pretty happy with that.

"I'm a Mustang, Mom!"

The kid loves cars. Loves. Cars. he loves playing with them, watching them drive by, listening to them as he's falling asleep. He especially loves riding in the car because he can do some wonderful car watching there. He differentiates about a dozen different kinds of cars (and a few specifics) - Beetles, trucks, vans, campers, log trucks, dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, Mini Coopers, JEEPs, fire trucks, police cars, ambulances. We're working on PT Cruisers. He started noticing Mustangs while we were visiting family in Texas (apparently that's where the Mustangs go to breed) and loves them.

Yesterday on our way to the county fair, he told me he saw a Mustang. I asked him if he knew what a mustang was, a real one, and went on to describe that a mustang was a wild horse and that people named cars Mustangs after the horses. Toe said a few minutes later, "I'm a Mustang, Mom."

"Like the horse?" I asked.

"No, like the car," he said in the tone of voice that let me know I was silly for even asking. "Like the car, because I'm fast," he added. He's two, I tell you. So all day yesterday and today, he has been announcing that he his a Mustang, because he is fast.

Photo taken at a muscle car parade.

Skillbuilding

The simple act of cutting a piece of paper. I don't think about it very often, but as Toe held scissors for maybe the second time ever, I realized how many tasks we complete that require a multitude of parts and underlying skills.

First, there's how to hold the scissors. I had to explain which holes held which fingers multiple times. Not as self explanatory for a two year old as you would think. Toe wanted to just hold one side with each hand (which did seem easier for him).

Once he had his hand in the scissors, I had to show him how to open and close the scissors. This action apparently takes both hand strength and leverage. We are working on that. He also had a hard time knowing how to position the scissors so they would actually cut. I had to hold a pair of scissors to even remember what position I hold them in, it all comes so naturally and all looked so unnatural on his little hands. We did get his thumb facing up by the end.

His arm wobbled as he tried to get the scissors in proximity to the paper and I spent a lot of time putting the paper IN the opened scissors. It was a tricky prospect which required a lot of work on Toe's part. After he had made a series of cuts, he announced, "I'm good at this!" He felt the cutting experience was a complete success.

Yay for not requiring perfection of yourself the first time and for having the willingness to jump in and try something that requires a lot of new actions. His mother has a lot to learn from this.

I think about people like my brother who have so many additional physical or mental obstacles as they try to learn new skills, and I really feel for them. This is hard work!

Searching for the Perfect Shot

A friend once told me a story about a professional photographer who, having tired of taking amazing photographs around the world decided to spend a year taking photos in the woods near his house. He was a typical photographer (photojournalist even?) who had taken thousands of photos to get the right shot. He decided to spend the entire day searching and take only one photo a day. The perfect photo. Then he took the 365 perfect photos and published a book (of course, my critical mind immediately went to the question "What if he messed up the photo one day?" but I suppose in a digital age with a seasoned photographer, that's a moot point).

The friend went on to tell me that one day the photographer had to choose between an amazing waterfall photo (or some other beautful scene) and a photo of some muddy leaves that had something unique about them. The guy went for the muddy leaves. It was more indicative of that specific moment in time and he saw it as his job to capture location and time-specific moments.

Of course, this is my recollection of a story told to me many years ago, so apologies to both N. who told me the story and the photographer-guy wherever you are. The point is I feel like that photojournalist every day. I spend all of my time with this amazing human being who is learning SO much and growing so fast and everything that comes out of his mouth is both hilarious and insightful. What to share?

Do I tell how Toe walked into my mom's house yesterday and announced, "My daddy just bought you a birthday present, Uncle James!" (the birthday in question is 3 weeks away and we were hoping to surprise him) and then talk about how I am still in awe how much like a sponge this two year old is? Do I describe the strange jump-dancing he has adopted in the last week, which he does most of the time and constantly has me in stitches? Do I share stories of our last trip to the zoo, where Toe was SO GENTLE with the goats as he brushed them? Each day, the stories I want to share pile up, and I know, just like that photographer, I have hard choices to make.

Today it means, two posts. But I'll leave this one with a single image.

Fooky caves

On our last trip to the zoo, we walked through the sea lion exhibit (which Toe calls "the cave") and Toe said in a loud voice, "Ooooooooh, fooky!" Took me a second to realize he meant "spooky."