Paint It Black

This was how Patrick looked when I picked him up from summer school today. The teachers let the kids do their own face crayoning ("They were crayons, not paint!" Patrick will remind me). While some of the other kids painted crayoned themselves as Transfomers or Spiderman, Patrick decided to paint himself as a burning house. Oh yes, a burning house. Should I be worried? Thankfully the paint crayon all came off in the shower and his shirt came clean in the wash.

Autograph

Conversation with Patrick today as we left the grocery store.

P: Mama, how come nobody asked me for my autograph in there?
Me: Your autograph?
P: Yeah, my autograph.
Me: Do people ask you for your autograph?
P: Yeah, I'm a famous singer and dancer.
Me: Oh.
P: Do you want my autograph Mama?
Me: I'd love one!

I love that kid :)

Dancing Machine

I vow to take more videos with our Flip Camera. Because how cute is this little guy?

Be Thankful

Patrick came home yesterday with a little book he made at preschool this week. On each page he wrote something he was thankful for and drew a little picture. Here's what Patrick is thankful for:

• Mommy
• Daddy
• Our house
• A sinking ship
• A ship with a man on it
• Meteors
• Me (as in himself)
• Molly
• Me again

Oh. My. Goodness. It made me laugh so hard. Sinking ships and meteors? Where does he come up with this stuff? How do preschool teachers keep straight faces when they write in these books? This is definitely one that goes in the SAVE box.

In other news, I decided a few months ago that I wanted to learn how to sew again. I used to know my way around a sewing machine and patterns but somehow I forgot all of it. So a few weeks ago I bought a pattern, and some fabric and asked my mom for help in figuring it all out. She was happy to help me, and today, I made Miss Molly this little Christmas dress...



Whoo hoo for me!

True Story

Today when I was driving Patrick home from school out of nowhere he asked me "Mama, why is Sarah Palin hot?". Exsqueeze me? "Patrick, where did you hear about Sarah Palin?" I asked. And like he loves to answer me, he said "Mama, I know everything". Further probing did not produce any details about where he heard this so I let it drop for a while. I brought it up again this afternoon and he told me Sarah Palin was "Sean McCain's helper" and that they were running for president. Now we watched every debate at home but I am pretty sure Patrick was not paying any attention to these. A few months ago he started getting excited every time he saw Barack Obama on the TV, but I really don't think he knew there was a campaign going on, he was just excited because he was convinced that Barack Obama was from Morocco. So anyways, I questioned him about it again tonight and he told me he had heard about Sarah Palin from Andrea and Matt. As in my cousin Andrea and her new husband, who we had dinner with last weekend. I know we talked politics but I am confident "Sarah Palin is hot" and "Sean McCain" were never mentioned. I tried hard to contain the laughs. A quick phone conversation with Andrea confirmed that she and Matt hadn't whispered sweet nothings about Sarah Palin into Patrick's ear. So where on earth did he pick this up? I am guessing it had to have been at school today. Why are 4 year olds discussing politics with each other? I imagine he will learn all sorts of interesting things next year in kindergarten. Oh boy.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine grows with 2 little cuties!



Recently, I was whining to my mom about the fact that Molly pulls rubber bands and bows out of her hair, and is a general spaz when I try to comb it ir do anything with it. She reminded me that when I was young, I used to pout and whine while she did my hair, and I swore that if I ever had a little girl I would let her wear her hair however she wanted and I would never force braids or bows or anything else. And you know what? I totally remember saying it. Crap.

Rock N Roll All Night

The other night Patrick decided he was a "rock star". I guess rock stars wear sunglasses and jammies :) He serenaded us with rocking renditions of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Alphabet Song". Never mind that his guitar is actually a ukulele.



Patrick has quite the active imagination. We spend a large chunk of every day playing out some role play that he has decided on. It usually involved pretending we are firemen, or pirates, or some version where I am the son and he is the dad (I'll admit that one gets a little old, especially when he insists on me calling him "Dad" when we are out in public).

Patrick's birthday is coming up in a few weeks and he has been very carefully planning his birthday party (warning friends: it involves bowling). He will happily tell anyone (even those who don't ask) that he is three and a HALF, and that his birthday is coming up. And he will be 4. And he is having a party. And would you like to come? And when is your birthday? And how old are you? And what is your name? And on and on. Luckily most people seem more charmed than annoyed by his outgoing personality.

California Dreamin'

It was one of those beautiful California days today, the kind that makes you feel like it is a pleasure and privilege to live in this little slice of very expensive paradise. So we packed up and headed over the hill to the beach in Capitola. Patrick was thrilled to run around wild on the sand, Molly wasn't too sure about it all and made sure to stay on the blanket after deciding the sand was strange.

A little funny about the hat Patrick is wearing. He picked it out himself at the Gap insisting he needed a new baseball cap. Since the kid has a big noggin it is hard to find kids hats that fit him, this one did so we bought it. He will happily tell you all about the hat if you ask. It goes something like this... "See my hat? It says P-A-G. That spells 49ers baseball cap!".

Silly Stories

Just a few thing I wanted to write down so I don't forget them...

Before Christmas my Dad sent Patrick a card that played "Run, Run Rudolph" by Chuck Berry when you open it. Patrick thought the song was hilarious and has been singing it ever since. The other day he was singing it and her turned to me and said "Mama, you know who sings that song? Blueberry Chuck!".

And this morning when we left for school it was really cold and foggy. Patrick looked outside and said "Mom, it is really froggy outside!". I asked him how it got "froggy" and he explained "You know, when there are lots of frogs, and then they do this thing, and it makes it froggy".

He makes me laugh all day :)

White Wedding

Tonight while Patrick was taking a bath he noticed my wedding rings and was asking about them. He sort of knows about the concept of marriage, he's seen our wedding pictures but this was the first time he had really asked about it. So he was looking at my rings and excitedly asked me if he could get married when he grew up. "Of course" I told him, when he grew up and fell in love he could get married. I asked him who he was going to marry and he excitedly told me he would marry Brayden, his best friend at school. I had to stifle the snickers. I asked him what they would wear, and he rolled his eyes at me and said "jeans!", and I would wear my "wedding shirt and wedding pants". He rattled off the list of friends he would invite, told me that there would be lots of balloons and how exciting it would all be. I was laughing so hard at this point I had tears.

He also told me that tomorrow morning at school he was going to tell Brayden's parents all about his plan. I'm thinking that might not be such a good idea.

What Are You Looking At?

We don't get the paper so my mom will sometimes save a few ads for me (especially my favorite, Target). Last week she saved the Target ad for me along with the Toys R Us Big Book that comes out every year before Christmas. As a kid I loved reading through it over and over again, fantasizing about what toys Santa will bring (Easy Bake Oven? Barbie Dream House? Snoopy Snow Cone Machine?). When Patrick saw it he immediately wanted to look at it and he's been "reading" it all week. He'll sit on my lap and we'll go through it together, or he'll sit quietly on the couch and look through it and the Target ad. This afternoon he was reading the Target ad and staring intently at one page...



I asked him to flip the ad around so I could take another picture. Guess what it was he had been staring at?



Oh dear.

Every Breath You Take

My little guy is still having a tough time breathing. We were back in the pediatrician's office today for check-ups, but it turned into a 2 hour visit with oxygen saturation measurements and a breathing treatment by nebulizer. We came home with our very own nebulizer for breathing treatments for the next 2 days and then it's back to the doctor on Friday to check in. At least Patrick is pretty good about taking the treatments, I was never good at doing them.



Today our little Miss Molly is 6 months old. It's bittersweet (like so much of motherhood). I thought the time flew by when Patrick was a baby but now I know what it really feels like to fly through the months. Molly continues to be a sweet and dreamy baby. She absolutely adores her big brother, and he will do anything for a laugh from her including dancing like a monkey. Molly is a pro at rolling (but only from back to tummy), is starting to sit unassisted, and is thisclose to getting some teeth (note to self: take more gummy grin pictures before they are gone). We tried rice cereal this week, and while Molly was thrilled at the spoon the idea of it but the cereal made her completely gag and her first reaction is to spit it out. We got the same reaction on another try with butternut squash, I guess I'll just keep trying. She's still measuring in at the upper end of the charts, today she weighed 16 pounds, 14 ounces (75th percentile), measured 26 3/4 inches long (90th percentile) and those Murphy genes must have kicked in because her head has jumped up to the 90th percentile (44 cm).

Patrick weighed in at 33 pounds (fully clothed) and 38 inches. No clue what the percentiles are on that. He had his first vision test today, instead of letters they used symbols. There was a heart, a star, a circle and other easily recognized shapes. There was also a + sign, and I wasn't sure if he knew what it was called. When the nurse asked him what it was he said "A band aid!" and he repeated it again with the other eye. We both kind of laughed and I wondered where he got that from. One of the doctors was near the nurse's station when this happened and she overheard the exchange. She laughed about it but then realized that there is a red cross on boxes of band aids, and he was associating the cross with the band aids. Isn't that strange and cool? Almost every day I am amazed at how his little mind is working overtime and soaking everything up.

Oh, and I spent another $120 on copays today. That brings our total out of pocket costs this week to $208. And we still have another appointment on Friday. I need a rolling eyes smiley.

Magnum Opus

Patrick seems to have turned into quite the little artist (yay!). Between preschool and an art class he's been taking with Nana he brings home quite a bit of artwork, always with some interesting story about what it is. Here's a few of his masterpieces from the last few week, along with Patrick's description of what each one is.

"This is a bird in a nest" (Medium: cornmeal and pasta on construction paper)


"This is my favorite bubble monster" (Medium: cotton balls on construction paper)


"This is me with a lot of eyes" (Medium: googly eyes on construction paper)


"This is me, I am wearing a striped shirt and I have brown hair" (Medium: crayon and googly eyes on a paper plate and construction)


"This is me and mommy and daddy" When asked where Molly was he answered "Um, I think she's in your tummy" (Medium: paper on paper)


"This is a kaleidoscope" (Medium: sequins, foam, buttons and pom poms on cardboard)


"This is me and Molsie" (Medium: yarn, felt and googly eyes on cardboard)


"This is a beach ball" (Medium: tempera paint on paper)


"This is my favorite underwater sea family" (Medium: sand on construction paper)


"This is my family. This is me, this is daddy, this is mommy, this is Molly, this is Ella, this is Louie, and this is daddy's hair glue" (Medium: play doh on construction paper)


You must be asking yourself "hair glue"?


Yes, Patrick's family apparently includes hair glue. And since Tom's not sporting a Britney style weave or a Travolta toupee, we think Patrick is referring to hair gel. We have no idea why it made an appearance in the family portrait. Patrick's art teacher was both amused and impressed!

Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel

This morning out of the blue Patrick started talking about how Molly used to live in the sky, that she used to live in heaven and when she was born she came down to live with our family. My heart started bursting with pride, the tears were welling up and I was feeling all warm and fuzzy. Then he said... "Can we send her back?".

Artist's Life

The other day Patrick was playing with watercolors on the deck (oh how I love the school supply sales at Target this month!). We had a very serious conversation before he started about how paint was only for the paper, not for the house (there was an unfortunate incident with crayons and stucco earlier this summer that did not end well). Patrick was outside playing around, I was in the family room with Molly. I went out after a few minutes to check on him and found this:

When I asked him what he had done he said "nothing". Lord help me.


And while I'm on the subject of art, just when I was starting to worry that Patrick missed out on those artistic genes, he started drawing recognizable things! Here's a happy face he drew on his Aquadoodle.




And last week Patrick went to his first birthday party at Pump It Up. It's like Chuck E. Cheese for the '00s (what do we call that?), but full of large inflatable jumpers and slides. The birthday girl was turning 3, and her friends seemed quite impressed with the place.



Here's Patrick with the birthday girl Skye and his friend Calvin. Moments after this picture was taken a small war broke out over who got to sit in the giant chair.

Picture This

A few out takes from yesterday...

The Secret Is Out

I ordered a present for Tom for Father's Day online and it arrived today. Patrick is always excited to see a package at the front door and he wanted to help me open it. I explained to him that this was a gift for Daddy for Father's Day and it was a secret. What was the first thing Patrick did when Tom got home? He blurted out "Hey Dad, your Father's Day present came and it's a XXXX!" (using Xs just in case Tom forgets and reads this, highly unlikely). He didn't give all the details but it was enough to spill the beans.

One more funny story, yesterday when Tom came home from work Patrick did he usual "Hi Daddy!" greeting. But then he added on "Uh, I mean hi Tom" at the end. Silly boy.

If You Are Irish

My mom sent this to me, and I thought it was too funny not to share since most of it is true, especially if you know my mom's full name ;)

What it means to be Irish:
1) You will never play professional basketball.
2) You swear very well.
3) At least one of your cousins is a fireman, cop, bar owner, funeral home owner or holds political office.
4) You think you sing very well.
5) You have no idea how to make a long story short.
6) There isn't a big difference between you losing your temper or killing someone.
7) Most of your childhood meals were boiled.
8) You have never hit your head on a ceiling.
9) You spent a good portion of your childhood kneeling in prayer (ya know ya were thinkin' about bein' bad whether ya did it or not).
10) You're strangely poetic after a few beers.
11) You are, therefore, poetic a lot.
12) You will be punched for no good reason...a lot.
13) Some punches directed at you are from legacies of past generations.
14) Many of your sisters and/or cousins are named Mary, Catherine or Eileen and there is at least one member of your family with the full name of Mary Catherine Eileen.
15) Someone in your family is incredibly cheap. It is more than likely you.
16) You may not know the words, but that doesn't stop you from singing.
17) You can't wait for the other guy to stop talking before you start talking.
18) You're not nearly as funny as you think you are...but what you lack in talent, you make up for in frequency.
19) There wasn't a huge difference between your last Wake and your last keg party.
20) You are, or know someone, named Murph.
21) If you don't know Murph then you know Mac. If you don't know Murph or Mac then you know Sully. Then you probably know Sully McMurphy.
22) You are genetically incapable of keeping a secret.
23) You have Irish Alzheimer's... you forget everything but the grudges!
24) "Irish Stew" is a euphemism for "boiled leftovers."
25) All of your losses are alcohol related (loss of virginity, loss of drivers license, loss of money, loss of job, loss of significant other, loss of teeth from punch...) but it never stops you from drinking.

Road Trip

OK, so we didn't really go that far, but today we went to Monterey to the aquarium (thanks Auntie Laura and Uncle Donald!). Molly did fairly well in the car despite Patrick talking non stop the entire trip down and back. Several people have mentioned that he is a chatterbox but it really sunk in when we were locked in a small box together. Not only does Patrick talk a lot, but he asks a ton of questions. I actually wrote some down on the ride back because they were too funny not to share. Among my favorites...

• "Is Pablo from the Backyardigans a penguin? The why is he blue?"
• "Do cats talk?"
• "Are we in a rain forest? Do you need tickets to go to a rain forest?"
• "If that is a farm then where are the farmers?"
• "Are we driving to Mexico? Are there Mexicos in Mexico?"
• "Daddy, can you show me your muscles?"

We had a nice day and enjoyed seeing the new displays. We even saw seals out in the bay eating squid. I'm still a little obsessed with taking pictures of jellyfish, check out my Flickr page for some pictures from today. Here's a couple of pictures from today, plus one of Molly :)

Clothes Don't Make The Man

This is why I do not let Patrick dress himself...



You will notice that the boots (mine) are two different colors. And he is not wearing any pants. Or anything else under there.

And for good measure, a picture of Molly. We're thinking her hair is going to be curly. When it's wet it is wild, just like mine. Poor child.