Fright Night

It is October 21 and, as far as I am concerned, the scariest part of Halloween is over.  We have carved pumpkins and survived.  No small feat.  Enter Brody.  If you've read these blogs, you know most of these stories are about Kai.  Kai does enter this story, but this one is mostly Brody.

Brody has been slightly obsessed with the pumpkins since we bought them.  He stares at them, says "Hi punkin!" to them, waves at them, tells every stuffed animal we own that we have "punkins" and if we are outside for even an instant - he sits on them.  Usually, I can intercept the pumpkin riding before it happens, but the if there is a second trip to the car for the groceries, I am certain to find him sitting on the big one and using the stem as a handle.  Or licking them.  Ever since I made pumpkin bread he really wants to eat them.  Today we went to Sam's Club which means at least three trips to the car and so I just decided to carve them and get this holiday underway.

Brody was ecstatic.  He was literally screaming with anticipation as we cut open the pumpkins.  Not sure what he expected, but seeds and goo may as well have been gold.  He helped scoop and dig out the goo and loved every minute of it.   Remember how I said he really wanted to eat them?  I have no idea what raw pumpkin will do to a diaper change, but tomorrow I am sure we will find out.  Actually, I am going to be in class tomorrow, so I will ask Ryoji when I get home.  Hahahaha.  I didn't even plan that one....

I TRIED to stop him from eating it and telling him it had to be cooked etc., but it was no use.  That kid chomped away. Since we were also dealing with knives, I had to prioritize my concerns.

I was slightly shocked at how comfortable Kai was with the knives.  He was quite dexterous.  I will file that fact away and choose to ignore it before it creeps me out even more.  Kai did not want any help and did his whole pumpkin by himself!   Major accomplishment for a kid who prefers to let other people do any form of work.  Brody really wanted to help, but I have parenting standards.  No going solo on knives until they are at least 5.  He did not concur, but once he agreed on a silly faced Jack, he helped a little by pushing out the pieces I cut. And then trying to eat them.

It took us till after dark to finish the silly things, so both boys got to see the pumpkin lighting.  Those battery powered candles are quite realistic!  Brody was so happy.  Kai was beaming with pride.  I was exhausted.  There was goo everywhere.  Stupid Martha Stewart's idea about using a shallow cardboard box lid to contain the mess is genius on Pinterest.  It only works if you don't trip over the cat trying to take the box to the recycle bin.

It was a fun evening.  I have pumpkin carving memories from my childhood and hope the boys will as well.  Letting Kai carve whatever he wanted turned out to be a great idea, too.  I guess I expected a face. Silly me.  It IS Kai.  Oh and the pumpkins?  Brody's is the silly smiling one.  Kai's?

It's a masked ninja.  With his eyes closed.

Hidden Abilities....

One of these days these blog posts will center around Brody.  For now, he's adorable and really can do no wrong, which is very boring.  Sorry.  I give it a few more months and he'll be holding his own in the blogosphere.  Until then, enter Kai.
Kai and school do not seem to mix.  Not sure why I am surprised.  School has an agenda that did not consult him, school has a defined timetable of events that occurs during the day, and most importantly, school has rules.  School also has tuition.  Which means school had better enforce said rules, or Mommy and Daddy will go nuts.  Back to my shock and awe of  the stresses of Kindergarten.
I was under the impression that Kindergarten was going to be a happy-go-lucky time where learning is fun and effortless.  His teachers assure me that he has fun while there.  Problem is that fun may be all he has.  He will not write.  Will. Not.  Last week the printing teacher told me to leave it to her and she'll manage to get him to do it.  Today she told me she is frustrated.  I kept calm and said I would speak to Kai about obeying.  Inside I am laughing. Lady- you've only had him 7 weeks.  Let me talk to you about frustration in 5 more years.
You've got to get his number.  You know, hit him where it hurts.  They can't threaten him (legally), but I can.

Me: "Kai.  I am going to tell you something."
Kai: "Is it about toys?"
Me: "Kind of."
Kai: :What?"
Me: "You are not allowed to tell your teachers 'no'.  You must learn to print and that is final.  No tv, computer or discussion of new toys until you are printing at school."
Kai: Stunned silence. Banshee screams of terror.  Head hits the table in a full out attempt to throw a tantrum. Apparantly this hurts.  He stops crying and asks "How long?"
Me: "Until you do it, and your teacher tells me you are good at it."

Now this may sound harsh.  It kind of is.  But I cannot bear the idea of him telling teachers "No."  The teacher told me he was polite and said "No, thank you" but etiquette does not enter the picture here. Kai tells me writing is the hardest thing and he hates it.  I explain that it is because he never does it and blah blah blah......then somehow or another the words slip out of my mouth "You cannot color well, so writing would be very hard."
Kai: "I can too color."
Me: "You never color and tell me it is no fun.  All your color pages are scribbles.  We could practice coloring to help your writing you know..."
Kai: "Okay."
I am a bit shocked, but get him some paper and crayons.  I tell him to draw some shapes.  He does.  Squares, triangles, circles- they are pretty good.  I explain that writing is all about crayon control and we try to shade in the shapes, staying inside the lines.  Enter the scribbles.  You know, the kind where the crayon tip is flattened out from pressing so hard.  We try a little bit of light shading.  Progress.  I told him to draw something- anything he wants. He then proceeds to draw this incredible picture of our house.  The house, the roof, the windows, the steps, flowers, oak tree, driveway- even the fence and the cats.  Acorn on the lawn.  Flippin acorns.  On the lawn.  I am stunned.  He has NEVER drawn a recognizable object in his life.  EVER.  Leave it to Kai to pull this talent out of thin air.
He decides we should write a story about the cats to go along with the picture.  I will "scribe" and he will illustrate.  Deal.  The story is of course about our very unusal cats who possess special abilities like combine harvester driving, tap dancing and in this case: crystal mining. So far, the story is about a page long, and needs two more pictures.  He tells me he can't wait to get up in the morning to draw them.  The cats are assembling a model snake train for crystal mining, and the "readers need a snake train picture to give them the full effect."  Of course they do.

Hush, Little Baby.....

I have no idea why Daddy cannot get them to bed.  Really.  It isn't that hard.  8:00- begin sleep sequence of PJs, brushing teeth, inevitable "I'm starving" snack, brush teeth again, tuck in, read book, re-tuck because they won't stay in bed, get glass of water for the parched mouths of babes and repeat reading sequence.  I mean, really- it is predictable as the sunrise and happens the same way every time.  So WHY upon WHY am I the only one who can knock 'em out?
I rarely entertain the insistence of "I'm not tired" or "But, I can't sleep" that is so often a chorus for Daddy.  Sometimes I hear Daddy trying his best to get them to bed and getting sucked into the whirlpool of "more water," a "different" book, "another" song- whatever.  Half the time (okay- more like 75%) Daddy falls asleep on the bed before they do.  Although humorous, it leaves me with a snoring husband and two wide awake shorties.  Me?  Okay, I have been known to rock my self to sleep with the baby, but at least he's asleep too.  And Kai- well, he hasn't slept since birth so that is becoming the new norm.  God help us- we try with that boy.  Brody needs a cuddle, a bear, his blankey, some water and a song in the rocking chair and he's out like a light.  8:29 p.m. sharp.  Then there's Kai.  Exhibit A:
Kai: "I can't sleep."
Me: "Lay very still and imagine you are floating."
Kai: Incessent laughter.  "This is fun!!!"
Me: Sigh.
Kai: "I can't sleep.""
Me: "Count sheep."
Kai: "Why?"
Me: Sigh.  Good question.  He's got a point. Why is it sheep?
Kai: "I can't sleep."
Me: Sigh.

This is our routine.  SO we started having him count whatever he wants.  No limit on the species here, we are equal opportunity types so he can go for it.  Once he got to 841 stag beetles.  I swear it is true.  It is highly possible he got further.  841 is the last number I remember. I woke up several hours later and he was asleep in our room.  Sigh.  Again.
Well, tonight he tells me he's had a nightmare because a shark came along and ate one of his counting bugs.  Poor critter.  We say a prayer and move on.
Finally- and I mean finally- Kai and Brody are alseep.  Somehow Kai resolved the nightmare of sharks and beetles and Brody got the rocking and song he needed.  The light, steady breathing of the two beautiful faces I adore is calming and pure.  I give them a good night kiss and thank God or their place in my life.  Daddy is near asleep himself and worn out from a long day of Daddy-ing. I'm worn out too, but for some reason it is okay.  I love these boys and their funny ways.  I also know I will see them in an hour or two when they wander into our room...Until then, sweet dreams to the men in my life.  I am having a glass (or two) of wine.