Short Term Memory

We all know that our Jory has his issues with food. His menu is limited and on top of that his desire to eat is just as bad. Tonight we took the family out to one of our favorite mexican restaurants for a change from the usual Friendly's or Johnny Rockets. Mira munches on the free tortilla chips and feeds me in the process because, well, mommy just doesn't eat enough. She nibbles here and there on her dinner, my dinner and Jory's dinner as well.

Jory on the other hand looks at his chicken fingers and immediately declares that he doesn't like them. No way is he eating them!! He eats a few waffle fries and thinks he is done. Us parents know he will be asking for potato chips or cookies as soon as we walk back in the door so we push and threaten and negotiate in order for him to get enough food to be acceptable. Every bite was a struggle and a tear. It was quite a scene and only a strong parent can deal with. I am sure many parents would have just left him sitting there and came back later. (if at all)

We finally gave up with the warning that he will not be getting anything after this meal. He will get his nighttime milk and it's bedtime for him. We pack up, take home the ice cream that he will never eat, bundle up and get back in the car. 4 doors close and the car is turned on. The next thing we hear is from Jory, "Mommy, can I have something to eat, please?!"

Rolling Bears

A recent conversation I had with Jory...  Some backstory: he's been collecting dice.  Yes, dice.  After we found some in the house he saw how excited I was because as he started rolling them I was calling the outcome like a casino croupier.  Now he just likes counting the pips and asking whether that roll would have made me any money.  Anyway...  (I have scaled back on the Craps lessons....)

J:"Oh man, I just rolled a hard 3"

R: "You can't roll a hard 3, you can roll a hard 4,6,8 and 10"

J: "Well, rolling bears is hard..."

I had to pause for a second at this comment... It then occurred to me that some of the dice I bought for him were from the hobby shop "scrap dice bin".  A specific pair of dice that caught my eye had little bears instead of 1's.  I have no idea what game these are from, but whatever, I knew he'd get a kick out of them.

R: "You're right, rolling bears is hard!"

(I found the game!  Link)

Pre-School Graduate!

After 3 years our baby boy is a preschool graduate! On Thursday Ryan and I attended our first of many graduations for our Jory. He was so adorable wearing a handmade graduation cap and marching around with the rest of his classmates. They sand a few songs and each child's name was called out and given a diploma. It seems like yesterday he was a little baby and now he knows all his letters and can even do a little reading.

He really has come a long way in all this time he has been there and we couldn't be any more proud of him and his progress. Kindergarten is a big step and although he seems a little weary of it, I am sure he will do great!

Purim 2009

Friday was Jory's Purim party for the parents at his preschool. They put on a little singing show like they did for Hanukkah. Notice the similarities of how well he performed! Ill tell you this, he will most likely never be an actor or a musician. He sure doesn't like to sing, either. This time he actually looked bored towards the end.

Purim 2009 from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

How do you make love?

I was reading Jory a book tonight about giving a gift for Mom for Mothers Day. At the end of the book the boy gives his mother a box full of kisses filled with love. As I am finishing up the book, of course Jory knows the ending because I have read it to him a thousand times already, he asks me a question.

"How do you make love?"

Now this is not a question I was prepared to answer with a 5 year old and certainly not tonight. Of course my mind is thinking that I have to come up with something quite good to hold him over until he asks me again.

To my relief he tells me that love is hearts. You give hearts for love. Then he asks me if I know how to make love. Do "I" know what? Oh god, my heart was dropping. Then he asks if I know how to make love in a toaster.

A toaster? I asked him how?

"You take a long wooden stick and put a strawberry on it and put it in the toaster. Then it makes a spark and that makes love."

Phewww.

I guess that was better than him asking how he got in my belly to grow and how did he get out. And how did Mira get out of my belly. Oh, the questions.

Happy Valentine's Day

Nothing like a little heart shaped lollipop to start off a birthday party day!

Class of...

The SCSD (Syosset Central School District) sends out newsletters every couple of months with blurbs and accomplishments about the neighborhood schools.  Here is the opening paragraph of the Kindergarten Registration Reminder:

Syosset School Disctrict resident children who will be five years old on or before December 1, 2009 are entitled to begin kindergarten in September 2009.  These children will form the Syosset High School graduating class of 2022.

Wait, what?!  I guess I just never saw it written that way.  Well, I graduated in 92, so I guess we're right on schedule.

It's Hanukkah Time

It's that time of year and Jory's school has a special show for the mommy's and daddy's. This year they made themselves little candles and sang a bunch of Hanukah songs just for us. Our little pride and joy was the star of the show. He sang so wonderfully, we are going to sign him up for American Idol! (...just kidding)

School Hanukkah Party from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Tell us what you really think

Mealtimes are not very exciting for Jory. He eats a few bites and then asks to be excused. It's more like "I'm done, can I go watch TV?" We usually make sure he ate an acceptable amount of food and let him go especially if he asks nicely. At dinner last night he was being particularly antsy and we secretly were happy to let him go off to the other room for a few moments of peace while we finished our meal. Just outside the kitchen is a small wall where the wallpaper is slowly finding its way to the recycling bin. Jory had the brilliant idea of taking his sleeves and whack the lifting wallpaper to help it on its way. After many attempts to get him to stop and to get him to go watch his show, Ryan yelled out to him, "Stop Jory!!! Where do you think you live?"  Jory responds in a very quick, very sure, "A Barn!"

Table for...

The lack of posts from yours truly is not due to the kids not being funny.  In fact, they continue to be funnier every day.  But I get lazier.  Anyway, here's a couple of funny Jory-isms from tonight. We went out to dinner and we're on our way home.  Jory wants to change movies in the back seat theater and asks "What's N-O-D-I-S-C mean?"  It took us a second to figure out what he was spelling.  It's what the display shows when there's no DVD in the drive.


Then out of the blue he says, "There's four of us.  1, 2, 3, 4.  Yep, there's 4 of us, right daddy?"  I have no idea what he's doing.  "Yeah, there's 4 of us" ...  "Not 3 and a high chair like YOU said, you always say that daddy but there's four of us."  Once I stopped laughing I explained that Mira needs a high chair or she would not reach the table.  He suggested I just tell them we're 4 and a Mira.

Snuggles

Jory is a great sleeper once he is asleep. Even the late night screaming and the early morning whaling of his sister can't wake him. He does wake up for a brief moment sometimes when I go into his room before I go to bed to tuck him in and give him one last hug for the night. He does say something cute or often something simple like 'I love you, too, mommy.'  He always finds a way to melt my heart, even if he is talking in is sleep. 

Lately, at bedtime, Jory has been trying to find every way possible to get out of his bed and not go to sleep. He will say he hears dogs barking that sound like scary wolves or the shadows in his room are going to get him. He may even pull the rare 'I'm hungry.' No matter what, it's a ploy to keep himself from going to sleep.

Tonight he was having a particularly difficult time staying in his room and going to sleep. After the 'Im scared' trick and 'I want to sleep in your bed because it's more comfortable' and even the 'I'm thirsty' he finally came out of his room again. He was looking for me to show me what he had done to his light stick that was supposed to protect him from the dark. He somehow took the cover off, but that is not the point. I lead him back to his room and tucked him in. I gave him more hugs and kisses. He smiles at me and says to me, 'Guess what mommy? You get to give me extra snuggles now!'

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's superkids!

The other day was Halloween and of course, we did the yearly march of ringing doorbells and getting candy! The best part is dressing up. Jory and Mira were both Super kids. Jory was a handsome Superman. Mira was a very adorable Superbaby as her big brother would say. Although she can walk, it was definitely not on her agenda. Especially since she was up since 2:30am the night before with only an hour or so nap. At over 12 hours later, all she wanted was Mom-mie!Ryan came home early to man the house and do the important job of giving out candy. I took the Superkids out to fill Jory's pumpkin bucket with as much candy as possible. We went with our neighbors that we go with every year. It was lots of fun except for when I had to remind him that we get what we are given and we cannot ask for candy, especially M&M's. It gets embarassing when your son is asking everyone for them and all they have is Kit-Kats. Deal with it, kid! its candy!  








Halloween March from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.

Soccer Hero

Jory led his team to a 5-0 victory today by contributing 4 goals.  We are very proud of him!  Check out the pictures over at: http://picasaweb.google.com/techmoments/Soccer

It just never ends!

We have started a rule in our house that a child, particularly Jory, cannot come into Mom and Dad's bedroom before the first number on his clock reads a 7. We even ran to Target 3 or 4 times before we got the right one. He has actually been pretty good about it. Trust me, a wake up call from him at 6 in the morning is NO treat. 

Jory has been sick with a pretty high fever. You wouldn't know it if you walked in my home and saw him jumping off the couches or down the stairs. Honestly, his fever was pretty bad. A few days ago the fever broke and he slept really, really late. I guess his body was catching up and getting as much rest as it could. It was about 10:30am and I start to hear sounds out of his bedroom. I realize he was singing one of his songs that keeps him occupied until it is time to get mommy or daddy. For some reason it just went on and on. I mean, it was way past the hour of 7 so I was just waiting for him to jump out of bed and get me. This never happened. Finally. I decided to record his wonderful singing while I went in to get him. 

Untitled from Randi Shapiro on Vimeo.
I guess it would have paid for him to be able to tell time or at least know that the number 10 is way after the number 7. I just got lucky that morning and had quite a bit of peace.

Take the good with the bad

Lately Jory has been quite open about his bodily functions. He will tell me just after a belch that he burped. Laugh and then tell me, "That made me laugh so hard, I cant even stop laughing." 

I was playing with his cars and tracks today. In the middle of a race we were having, he gets up and goes to the bathroom to pee. I was so proud that he did this on his own without any prompts. I was ready to praise him tremendously when he got back to what we were doing. He starts to pull up his underwear and shorts and farts. He comes running into the room laughing. Immediately he tells me, "Mommy, I farted in my hand and no poopies came out!!!"  

Wow, how do you respond to that?

Its official, Mira is ONE!

This past weekend we had her first birthday party. Mira is officially one now that she had dug into a birthday cake and opened presents. A year ago I couldn't even imagine that I would be planning a party for her. Now, I can't even fathom her turning 2, or 16, or 21 OH MY!
Here are a few pics from the special day. 

The birthday girl:




This was her cake. It was so georgeous and perfect, I started to cry when I picked it up.



Our little piggie couldn't even wait till after the candles were blown out (or lit) before she started to pick everything off of it and eating them. (notice her hand is on the cake here)

"Look Mama, I'm almost done! Gimme more!"


"There has got to be more here somewhere!"


"That's MY toy Daddy! Give it back!"


And here is big brother Jory recruiting his 2 girlfriends to help him catch butterflies.


Stay tuned. Mira's 1st year video will be posted soon!

A day at the Zoo

Yesterday we went to the zoo with friends of Ryans and we really had a great time. It was a bit hot and sticky, but when you have so many cool animals to see, it doesn't phase you. I think Jory's favorite part was the Butterfly Pavilion. Lately he has been almost obsessed with catch caterpillars and butterflies that this was right up his alley. Of course the 'zoo' we have at home doesn't compare to a whole roomful of hundreds of beautiful butterflies. 






Jory really liked going to the badger holes (or whatever animal it was) and looking out of the ground.

and here he is watching a male peacock with his open tail feathers. Jory wanted to feed him so badly but the bird just didnt like what Jory had to offer.

Hello? Helloooooo?

It's about 4:30 or so on Friday and I received a strange call at work.  The caller id showed that the call was from Randi's cell.  I answer but hear nothing in response.  Then I am able to make out some grunting, perhaps some fiddling around with the phone.  Oh, she must have accidentally redialed her last call, and she's in the car.  With nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon, I listen in a for a while.  I figure she'll eventually notice and apologize and we'll both go about our day.  Then I hear more voices, but not really words.  OH, ok, Mira must have grabbed mommys phone and hit talk.  I can see that happening.  I try and get a response.  "Mira! Mira, it's daddy!".  Nothing.  Then I hear "Daddy?".  OK, so it's the other one...  The conversation continues.

"Jory, wheres mommy?"

"She's upstairs with Mira"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm watching Little Bill"

"How did you get mommys phone?"

That last question was ignored, as were countless others.  The conversation went back and forth for five or ten minutes with me interrogating Jory, trying to understand the scene unfolding at home.  Then I hear Randi in the distance..

"Jory, who are you talking to?"

"I just called daddy at work because I had to ask him a question."

Randi heard him talking but assumed he was talking to the TV, unaware that he could have been having a conversation with anyone in her address book!  Jory was very proud of his accomplishment.  I'll expect more phone calls in the future.

A photo story

Today we went to Aunt Amy and Uncle Mitch's for Cousin Kate's Masters Graduation Party. We all had lots of fun hanging out and relaxing by the pool. We got Jory a safety vest and he was super excited that he could swim without someone holding him at all times. He was more excited about all the worms and caterpillars he found, and of course, brought home with him. Here he is showing me he beautiful new friends.Mira had her first dip in a pool and wasn't too thrilled. But her experience of the day was a chocolate chip cookie! Yum Yum!!"Oh, man, this is so good! What is it?""A COOOOOOKIE!!!!!!!!!""Hey! Where did my cookie go? It was right here!""That was so good. I need a nap now."

A Stupid drinking game

I am sitting here waiting for Jory to finish his chicken nuggets and he is actually doing a pretty good job this time. 3 out of 4 is not bad at all. He starts to say something to me and just went on and on. I was just listening and quite amazed at how many times this kid can say the word stupid in such a short amount of time. He was so matter of fact about it and I actually think he was waiting for me repremand him. I guess he was testing his limits. Today, he got a lot farther than he normally would have. This is what he said. Now get your beer bottles out and every time he says the 'bad' word, DRINK! 

You know, stupid is a bad word. Did you know that stupid is a bad word? When someone says stupid, I yell at them and say stupid is bad word. You shouldn't say stupid because its a bad word and I don't like people that say bad words. It's not nice to say stupid. If you say stupid, you are a bad guy and I fight bad guys.... 

This is where I had to cut him off because the conversation was going in a different direction. See my previous post.  

Were you drinking?Is your bottle empty?