Fashions by Maureen

I've been wanting to blog this for a long time now, and finally here it is.  I must brag about the talent to which I'm so closely related.  Sasha's Great Aunt Maureen is one of the world's unsung artists.  She is a woman of many talents, one of which is fashion design.  Witness: the extended wardrobe dreamed up and created by her for Sasha.  (For Taylor, too, though I don't have photographic evidence.)

We've received at least 2 boxes in the mail of beautiful, handmade clothing, of superb quality and custom fit for the Bub.  I have waited this long to post so that he could model them all.  He's had to grow a few inches and waited for seasons to change, but now he has officially fit into everything.  Here are some samples.

Note to Maureen: Thank you for the gifts of time and talent.  As you can see, they've been wonderful gifts for the parents and the boy.  Now... when are you opening your own shop?

Faux sheepskin jacket and elf hat (with matching mittens).

Shorts, and oh yes, the hat.  Outrageously adorable.  There's a coat to match, but alas I couldn't find a decent pic.

Yellow button-up: a lively pattern for a lively boy.  The monogrammed hat again.

Stuffing interesting things in the pockets of his froggy vest.

Sporting shorts in Hong Kong.

Shorts for spring

and summer.

Silk shirt, unparalleled fashion.

Karate pajamas!

Not really!
(Taylor has a matching set.)

Superman replaces his red tights with Fashions by Maureen.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane...

The Big Boy and His Bed

It's finally happened: the Bub has graduated from his crib!  We had doubts that it would ever happen because gee, Mom, why would a person sleep if getting out of bed was an option?

We initially attempted to let him sleep outside the cage crib while staying over at Nana and Zayde's house because they have a inflatable toddler bed.  "Maya's cozy bed," as Sasha calls it, because she was the first to use it back in the day when the Bub still fit inside a pack-and-play.  We spent many painful nights trying to make it work.  We'd put him to bed upstairs, close the door, and have a seat on the couch, pretending that this was going to work and the evening would belong to adults.  But then within a minute or two, we would hear the door open, and be greeted at the bottom of the stairs, "Hi guys. What are you doing?"  Like we were old friends and he was just a little late to the party.  We'd repeat this activity countless times until one parent finally gave in and went to sleep in the room with him.  We tried putting a child-proof lock on the door, but he would bang the door so forcefully that we feared the damage more than the roaming child.  Finally we just got another crib for their house.  And Grandma and Grandpa also had to buy a crib for him, too, when we came to visit.

In the early years of trying to get him to sleep, the experts recommended that kids stay in a crib as long as possible.  Until they outgrew it or began to climb out, risking their safety.  So we did.  Which is why all his peers sleep in regular beds while he still loves the crib.  (And though Sasha never showed any interest in climbing out, he wasn't any safer as a result: the crib was recalled 2 years ago, and the drop-side had two broken latches, so whenever some innocent person tried to lower the side, the whole thing would fall off.)

But this last weekend, something happened.  The Bub refused to sleep in the crib and wanted to sleep in the twin bed that Mama was using.  So we let him, and he slept great and only left the room once or twice. I think he fell in love with the freedom of waking up from a nap and being able to join the party on his own.  So we took advantage of the opportunity and put him in a toddler bed (formerly the crib at Nana and Zayde's).  I tried investing him in the process by letting him help me put it together with a wrench and a ladder.  He only got smashed in the head once.  (My fault. I may come from people who can build things, but you can't trust me to build something without a few mishaps along the way.)  The he helped take apart his crib and carry it to the trash pile.

The no-turning-back experiment had begun.  And guess what?  It's been a wild success.  He loves his bed and loves showing it off to any visitors.  We had one night of no sleep, but that was much better than expected and we're all delighted.  If there's one thing I continually learn as a parent, it's that kids are capable of much more than we give them credit for.  Still, though, I'm certain that waiting until he was almost 3 years old to make this transition was an excellent idea.

Imagination Library

Is it possible to not love Dolly Parton?

No.  The more you know about her, the more amazing she is. Yesterday, Sasha got his first piece of mail from her: The Little Engine That Could. That's right, she sent him a book. And she will send him more-- lots more.

But why, you might ask.  Let me help spread the word about Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.  She started a program in Tennessee that has spread to hundreds of communities in three countries to encourage children to read.  It works like this: the Library will send every kid, free of charge, one book a month for the first five years of their life. They cover the cost of the books and ask that participating communities cover the cost of distribution.  New York City is sponsoring it here, so I signed Sasha up last month. And he got his first book yesterday.

I remember reading this book as a child and the pictures look familiar even though I haven't seen it in decades.  And Nana said that she remembers reading the book as a child, too.  Three generations and going strong.  Cool!

Sun Lotion

Yesterday, I was in the kitchen, innocently making a smoothie, when Sasha came in saying, "Look! I put my sun lotion on!"  Just in time for sunset, he had found a jar of vaseline and put big gobs of it in his hair and on his face.  We tried washing it a couple of times with adult-strength shampoo, but he's still pretty greasy.  His hairdo this morning was quite the showpiece.  In fact, our waitress was very impressed with his styling.

Woody's Roundup

To understand this clip, you first have to remember that the life of a toddler is the life of many mini-obsessions. This one started with Pez dispensers, solidified by watching a movie and then furthered along by the purchase of multiple action figures. That's right, I'm referring to the Bub's love of all things Toy Story.

These days he has graduated to watching TS2 on a fairly regular basis. This after having viewing the original Toy Story and TS3 more times than Wisco and I should mention. And mostly we're not upset with this obsession, as it doesn't involve killing or guns and is deeply rooted in the notion that friendship is a highly valued relationship. That said, I think we'd both be happy to take a break from playing Buzz and Woody.

So here is the Bub is singing his rendition of "Woody's Roundup," the theme song of the tv show-within-the-movie that starred his beloved Woody.

Welcome, Maya!

Cousin Maya and her minders have arrived from Hong Kong for the summer.  She and Sasha got together and we've barely seen them since.  They are together from dawn til bedtime and I don't think I've seen them fight once.  Frankly, I'm amazed at how well they're getting along.  So well that everyone feels comfortable leaving them to play alone upstairs without supervision for at least 5 minutes at a stretch.  I suspect that Sasha is following more rules than usual due to Maya's modeling of good behavior.

They've been playing pretend with dolls and little people, building things with Legos and tiles, and running around screeching because an imaginary badger is chasing them. The Bub is even learning how to play games: Zoo Bingo (what a great game for older toddlers!), Red Light/Green Light and What's the Time Mr. Wolf?  He's getting the concept of taking turns and winning and losing.  And Maya shows incredible patience both with his learning curve and our fudging the rules for him.  I see a rousing game of Candy Land in the near future.

The photos below are courtesy of Alice, Nadya, me, and mostly Margot.

Playing "Red Light, Green Light."

Sasha didn't totally get the concept of red light.

Mr. Wolf chasing his prey.

Meet Solene.

Buddies at the beach.

Rainbow ices!

Losing consciousness after a hot day at the beach.

My pedicure courtesy of Maya (right foot) and Sasha (left foot).

After dumping the basket of Legos down the stairs, the rascals announced, "That's a big party down there!"

Watching Mandarin-English TV.

Bling.

And bling.

Behaving nicely at New Leaf Restaurant.  (Excellent food if you're in NYC.)

Maya fixing Sasha's pin while he's in the stroller because "I'm in twubboh" for running away.

Superhero Conversations

_____________________________

Superman: Do you like my red ass?

Mamu: What?

Superman: My red ass.

Mamu: What are you talking about?

Superman: My red "S," here on my chest.

Mamu: Oh yes, that's a very nice S.

_____________________________

At bedtime, in the crib:

If I throw Batman onto the floor, you will pick it up for me. 
--That's right.
If I throw it on the floor again, you will not pick it up for me. 
--That's right, too.
Batman will stay on the floor forever.
--Well, maybe not forever.  Just until tomorrow morning.
No. He will stay on the floor forever.

_____________________________

Hurry, Woody!  It's eleventy twentiddy clock!

_____________________________

Superman to the Green Lantern: I'm going home to be Clark Kent now.  Do you want to give me a hug?

Happy Feet: The 4D Experience

Sasha describes a movie for Mama.

Piggy and Sister Piggy

For Sasha's first birthday, Aunt Margot got him a Pillow Pet.  A pillow piggy to be exact.  As you can guess from the name, they are stuffed animals that turn into pillows when you undo a velcro tab.  He loved to stuff his face into it's squishiness (who wouldn't?) when he was younger.

Over time, Piggy has grown in importance and now ranks as Indispensable. We travel no distance without taking Piggy along so that Sashsa can sleep peacefully every night.

Since he was old enough to be unswaddled at night, Sasha will only sleep face down.  This has unfortunate consequences for Piggy: it stinks to high heaven after a couple of nights.  Given our lackadaisical attitude toward laundry, the stench will sometimes transfer to Sasha's hair and face for a not-so-fresh morning.  And to make matters worse, he does not want Piggy washed.  He has cried to see it get tossed in the washing machine.  He has grabbed Piggy out of the laundry basket and put it back in the crib.  He has even started sneaking Piggy out of the laundry pile to avoid an argument from the Moms.

We tried introducing a Ugli doll as a secondary pillow, but it was deemed "not soft" by His Highness.  We tried introducing an actual toddler pillow courtesy of Nana, but it was too puffy to sleep face down on.  So we did the only thing left to do and bought another Piggy.  We were afraid he would reject another one.  But no!  He loves Sister Piggy as much as he loves the original.  They were immediate best friends.  After naptime yesterday, the Piggies ran around the crib looking for mud to wallow in because "pigs love mud."

Here they are together in a photo I took for Margot to show the visible difference love can make.