September 2012

This was a big, action-filled month!

Aloha!

September’s major event was our trip to Hawaii (timed for celebrating our 20th anniversary! yay!). We stayed at the Fairways Mauna Lani, where we’d stayed on the previous trip, and it was as fabulous as ever. The kids roomed together successfully, at Annika’s suggestion (her in the bed, Lukas in the crib), and ... well, at least when you get rousted out of bed at 5:30 in the morning, you’re the first group to the beach club and get your pick of the cabanas, amirite? That area of the Big Island is perfect for families -- several gorgeous beaches close by that are extremely well-protected by reefs, plenty of shade, and even a restaurant at the club beach for the days we didn’t feel like packing a lunch. I spent most of my time hanging on the beach with the little guy, while R. took Annika out swimming (her progress this summer was so amazing, we didn’t even take her floaty suit!), AND snorkeling! She took to that like she was born with fins -- LOVED it, loved it. She’d come back to the cabana telling me about all the fish she saw: “A yellow one and a blue one and a green turtle and a little red octopus!” (All true, btw -- that’s why it’s such a great snorkeling spot.) When she’s older, she wants to try scuba -- so she and R. can most definitely do that. Together. Without panic-prone me. Heh. Meanwhile, back on shore, Lukas enjoyed splashing in the surf, nobody got sunburned, we ate well and relaxed and had about as easy a time as you can have with small children. It was awesome, and we all can’t wait to go back -- we seem to have found our place there. 

Starting at a new school

Two days after we got home from Hawaii, Annika started at her new school, just a few minutes from home. She seemed to enjoy it (although her regular complaint when she’s feeling tetchy became that it’s “boring” because they “make me do work and I want to play jobs,” and we’re like -- yeah, that’s school, better get used to it, kid). She’s made some friends and picked up some new skills and phrasings, and the shorter day (9-3) plus the MWF schedule seem to be better all around. 

Extracurriculars

Looking for some fun stuff to do and a way to develop skills and burn off energy, I got Annika into is this one-hour tumbling class at the library/community center on Thursdays. Holy moly does she love it! All week she looks forward to it, and talks about Miss Jenna (the teacher), and shows us moves, and asks if “Benjermen” will be there (her favorite bombing-around buddy, whose mom I also like a lot). We get her to the class, Lukas and I hang out (me with a cup of coffee, him having his lunch) at the little coffee shop in the building, then we collect her, check out some books, and go to lunch at the diner. Thursdays are now her favorite day of the week. 

Also, based on her love of the summer mini-session of dance class, we started her at South Bay Dance Center for a ballet/tap class on Friday afternoons. It’s a bit of a hustle to get her from school all the way over there on time, but it’s worth it -- she loves the class, she’s really learning fast, and she has hung her entire heart on wanting to be in the recital this June. I don’t want her to get really hardcore into the world of ballet -- my own brush with that world serves as caution, for me -- but it is great to have something to work at, and a fun way to learn how to control and push your own body, plus it’s all about music and gracefulness, which everyone can stand to learn, no? 

And finally, speaking of music, there’s ABC Music and Me, a Monday-morning music class at school. It is a really fun blend of early music training (notes on the keyboard, how to read music, history and composers, etc.) and enjoyment -- lots of moving around, finding rhythm, and so on. She gets so excited for Mondays!

Teeth!

In Lukas news: Danger Baby got his two top front teeth in mid-September, so he’s even more prone to biting stuff (except legitimate food -- he still doesn’t care about that, just non-food items). Many more teeth ahoy, upper and lower ... 

Swinging!

So Lukas eats in the swing chair we got from M&H, which was also what we used for Annika. But she never really used it for a swing -- it was just the place where she ate. Him, though -- Mister Perpetual Motion -- it’s a dang amusement park ride. He leans forward, grabs the support pole, and pushes off to get himself started, then uses his own body to keep it going. He swings so hard that the whole apparatus moves (thus increasing the area of the debris field around him, of course) -- it actually kind of makes R. and I a little nauseous to watch how fast it goes, but Danger Baby loves it. (“Six a.m. and already that boy ain’t right.” --Hank Hill)

Uncle Jake and Aunt Jill visit

The kids’ Texas uncle and aunt did a tour of coastal California, from L.A. up to San Jose, and stayed with us for a few days. Much! Excitement! For Annika: New people to tell stuff to! New people to pressgang into various creative pursuits! For Lukas: The providing of much amusement to a guy whose arms are not already tired of keeping Danger Baby from harming self or others! Also, the basil crop was abundant in the garden, so we three girls “harvested” it (Annika’s phrasing) and Annika and I made a ton of pesto while J&J were in San Francisco for the day -- it was AMAZING, and now Annika wants all of her pasta to have pesto in it, heh. Anyway ... we had a great, low-key time together, and it was great to let the whole bunch get to know each other better. 

Wonder Woman

I’m not sure how this happened (maybe via the superhero thing in general?), but Wonder Woman has come into our lives, and the number of hours dedicated to watching clips of that (awwwwwwwwwful) 70s TV show continues to increase -- as does our consumption of WW picture books and our discussions of her powers and re-enactments of scenes, etc. Annika adores Wonder Woman so much -- it’s hard to argue with her as a role model, laughable as her total bunkum of a backstory is, so there’s that -- and it is hysterical to watch the kid bounding around the house yelling out dialogue (and out-acting poor old Lynda Carter, I can tell you that), fending off bullets with her imaginary cuffs, saving Lukas from bad guys. 

Fashion, Annika-style

We are now well past the days when Annika would just wear whatever I laid out, and the girl knows what she wants: Dresses and skirts, particularly and almost exclusively ones that “swirl.” No pants, no jeans, no plain shorts. She likes the way skirts move, and that’s what she wants to wear, and I’ve quit wasting my money on anything else and so should you all for the time being. Dresses that swirl! The end.