Christmas 2010

Christmas...what can I say; we made it through. It is such an incredibly busy time of year for us, that I have not had time to sit and write. It was very enjoyable all said and done. We finished our shopping way ahead of schedule, for the most part, but there just seemed to be an endless amount of things to accomplish, places to go and people to see. We kept the holiday music streaming in the background pretty much everyday from thanksgiving until Christmas, this coupled with our fresh Nobel Fir Christmas tree, and our home was filled with a little extra Christmas spirit this year.
  The hardest part about this Christmas season, was trying to convince Apollo to go see Santa. We showed him pictures of himself sitting on Santa's lap from the past two years, even had Santa send him a little Christmas video where he was talking to Apollo, watched all the animated Christmas movies, and still he did not want to go. Every night turned into a battle; "Apollo, look! Santa is on Dada's computer! Wanna see him?", "NO! I don't like him! Close it!" he demands, as he extends his hand out in front of himself and positions it to block out Santa, yet spreading his fingers ever so slightly to allow for a view of the bearded man, "Close it, right NOW!". It was time to change strategies. With a little help from one of our favorite Christmas movies, Elf, I encouraged Apollo to get super excited when he saw Santa on TV, "Santa! Santa! Santa!" He would scream at the top of his lungs...that is until we got to the mall, and there was Santa in person. "Dada, Apollo want to go home. I don't like him." It was our strategy to have the big brothers go up there with him, and Apollo could actually sit on Ian's lap instead of Santa. This sounded good in theory, however, once they began to walk towards Santa, Apollo went into full on 'fight or flight' mode; twisting and convulsing while screaming "No...no, NO!". Needless to say, Mel drug him up there anyway but had to stay by his side even for the pictures. The only picture where he managed to not be freaking out, is the one I posted here, where he decided to do his best impression of his dog Remi, by shoving his lower jaw forward, so he would have the same under bite as his dog. Well, at least we got a picture.
  A nine hour car ride, and we found ourselves in Southern California at my parents house for Christmas. We were joined by Uncle Gooch or "Goochie" as Apollo calls him, along with Aunt Debbie and cousin Alexandra. Apollo was excited to be at his Yiayia and Papa's house, and to our amazement, he even remembered their house when we pulled up in front; it has been 8 months since we were last there. "See Yiayia's house?"
 My favorite memory from this Christmas will be Apollo's singing. He is very intuitive and picked up on how much everyone liked his singing, and decide to grace us with his cute little singing voice several times a day. Apollo can actually carry a tune quite well! I am sure he spent a good 4 hours a day singing to all of us. Some times, he would invite you to sing along with him, but most times, if you joined in, you were quickly put in your place. "Mama! No sing Twinkle little star!...NO!!" while pointing defiantly at his mom. His favorite songs to sing right now are: Twinkle, twinkle little star, ABC's, and jingle bells. I am working on getting video of him singing and I will post it here when I do. For now, I will write his favorite versus as he sings them: "Twinkle twinkle little sar, how I what you what you are, up above the worl so high, like a dino in the ky, twinkle, twinkle little sar, how I what you are ....yeah!"

Let the holidays begin

I spend a good portion of my day in front of a computer, staring at spread sheets or blue prints, but from time to time, I will close out enough of my documents that I can see my wallpaper. It is a picture of Apollo. Some times, I see the picture and think, "Holy crap! I have a kid!...When did this happen? I am way to young to have a kid." Way too young...Melanie would certainly equate this with my maturity level. But the point I am trying to make is, there is this rush of excitement inside, I can only compare it to climbing out of an airplane at 13,000 feet getting ready to make a skydive. Its like a quick little adrenaline rush. It startles me at times, but then I cant wait to get home and see my little man.
  The Holidays are upon us, and Melanie has done an amazing job with the lights and the decorations. Our tree is up and the house is filled with the fragrance of Noble Fir...thank you Oregon! This is truly one of my favorite smells.

  Apollo's excitement levels are rising. He loves lights and is mesmerized by them. Our street has some very festively decorated houses and yards which makes it a fun time of year for Apollo. We have been talking to him about Santa and letting him watch some of the animated Christmas movies.  I can tell how much he understands and is excited about Christmas, by his mumblings in his sleep; "Dada... go see Santa?". We will see how much he really wants to see Santa when we place him on Santa's Lap this year. His first two years visiting Santa, he was absolutely fine. I am almost certain that this year might be a little scary for him. One of Apollo's recent developmental phases, is the ability to differentiate between unsavory characters. Not that Santa is unsavory, but a white bearded guy in a furry red suit that likes to have kids sit on his lap, is definitely a little creepy. In the past few months while reading stories to Apollo, he has started to express his disdain for certain characters in the picture books. It is pretty cute to watch actually. He will place his hand out in front of himself, fingers up, palm facing away, like he is saying "stop". He then adjusts his had forward and back to block out the figure he does not want to see.    He has especially been having a difficult time with the Finding Nemo book. If you have seen the movie or read the picture books you can totally relate to the scary characters. The first villain in the book that he does not like is, the scuba diver that captures Nemo. We sometimes have to close the book at this point in the story, and put it out of sight. If we make it past this first villain, the next is the dentists' creepy little niece who has red Pipi Longstocking pigtails sticking out of the side of her head, and a mouth full of braces complete with head gear. We still like the sharks at this point, but the little girl is just a bit much. So, I am thinking Santa might be too scary this year. 
  Conversations with Apollo are becoming more complex. I am constantly entertained with what he says, how he says them and the context that he uses words or phrases. Last night, Apollo and I were sitting on the couch discussing his "owee's". "Dada, see owee? thats a big one!" "That is a big one Apollo, this is a big one too." I reply pointing to another abrasion. "No Dada, that a little one." "What about these other two owee's?", "Those ones all gone dada." At that moment, Apollo lets a rather loud fart. "WOW APOLLO!! Thats a BIIIIIG owee!!" With a straight face he looks at me a bit perplexed and very matter-of-factly, proclaims, "No dada, that's a really big fart!"

A day in the life: Assorted videos

Just for fun on this Thanksgiving day, I have posted some little clips of Apollo moments that are typical of the day to day of Apollo. Keep in mind that it is hard to catch anything on video with this kid, because he knows what the video camera is and how to work it. As soon as he sees the camera, all he can say is; "(I) want to see Apollo." and he will follow you around reaching for it. I am trying to capture some of his cutest phrases to compile in a video which I will post here. In the mean time...enjoy!

Fall Festivities.

  I could write a couple chapters on all the things I don't like about this time of year, however, I will simplify it all in five words; shorter days, and cooler weather. All complaints aside, there are many things I do love about this time of year. Each place that I have lived, has its own charm for me during this season. In Southern California, its the Santa Anna winds that clear out the air; I love the energy of the wind. In Eugene Oregon, they have their own winds; I have spent many a late night in fall, walking the streets, watching the fallen leaves blow around, swirl and dance. In Bend Oregon, Its the first snow of the season and the first hard frost that kills all your plants that have not gone dormant yet...oh wait, that was one of my dislikes, (I do love the first snow though). In Santa Rosa, it is the splendor of fall colors, gifted to us by the vineyards. I know its a far cry from the show they get in places like Maine, but it is stunning none the less.
  This past month has been a whirlwind of visitors. Apollos' YiaYia and Papa, arrived a few days before Halloween. Apollo went with me to the airport to pick up his grandparents, and he was beside himself with excitement. He talks to his YiaYia and papa on Skype a couple times a week, so he could not wait to see them in person.     Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. In Bend, we had costume parties to attend and good friends to carve pumpkins with.

Now, we get our thrills dressing Apollo up and watching how excited he gets over the whole experience. Our neighborhood here is awesome. We have a couple hundred trick or treaters each year. Even many of the parents dress up. It reminds me of the street I grew up on in the seventies before the sickos started poisoning candy or sticking needles or razorblades in candy as well, and ruined the whole trick or treat experience. This year was was especially exciting; the world series was on, and the San Francisco Giants, were playing. They have never won a world series since they moved to SF in 1958, and this year, they were well on their way to winning, in fact they won their game Halloween night and the following night, they won the world series. Our neighborhood went nuts that night! People were screaming! Many could not contain themselves and ran out into the street, banging pots and pans. An impromptu parade ensued with kids on bikes or on foot, screaming at the top of their lungs, while I saw several adult men running wildly through the streets, "high fiving" one another, and hugging, while in the background, you could here fireworks and gunshots. It was a sight to see, and made me like it here even more.
  We took the grandparents around to see some of the sights, but really spent most of our time hanging out and enjoying each others company. A week is not nearly enough time for a visit. Uncle Gooch's visit overlapped with the parents, and he showed up on Halloween. It was nice having them all here at the same time.
 With the parents gone, and Uncle Gooch in town, it was time to head the coast for a fall camping trip. We had such a good time. We spent a few hours on Saturday fishing and caught some nice ocean fish, and harvested some mussels. Mel did a fantastic job of making some steamed mussels with the dutch oven followed by some fresh fish tacos with fresh pico de gallo made with tomatoes and peppers from our garden. So simple, yet delicious.
  I love these times we spend with family.  As I have grown older, my appreciation for life, family and loved ones has deepened. I have always had a special place in my heart for all things living, but there is something about having a child of your own, that will take you to a new level. I think it is important that Apollo knows who his family is. I remember spending time with my relatives that passed when I was still very young and I still feel connected to them because I have some faint memories and pictures to make them real.

Apollo pretty much talks non-stop now. He will repeat anything and everything that he heres. Some of our favorites right now are: "Whad da heck!"
"Oh my gosh", "Oh my goodness" (thanks Yiayia), and my personal favorite; "Brothers, busted!"
  In the same way that he mimicks speech,  I am possible even more impressed how much he notices and replicates, body language, movement, and motor skills. Melanie has been training Apollo's dog Remi, and it is one of the cutest things to watch Apollo throw himself into the mix. He will stand at Melanie's side, bent over at the same angle (as if he is looking down at his dog), his fingers closed upon an invisible treat, repeating "Sit! Sit! Sit!"or "Speak!". When Remi earns his treat, Melanie gives him the real one she had in her fingers, and then Apollo offers up his invisible one, which Remi always pretends to eat and then is rewarded with "Good boy, Remi!" When it comes to  iphones, flash lights, camera's and computers, Apollo watches, end memorizes every button you push or move that you make. He navigates through an iphone like he was born knowing how. He rewinds, fast forwards, stops, and presses play on my video camera to get to the parts he wants to watch. He is fascinated with lights of any kind and even more fascinated with how they operate. He even proclaims when he cant get something to work; "Maybe it needs batteries."

San Francisco Giants 2010 World Series Champions Official Locker Room Flex-Fit Hat

Simple pleasures

It is the simple things in life that bring us pleasure. We devote so much time to the pursuit of happiness, that we often miss what is right in front of us. For a toddler, the emotions swing quickly from one direction to another, and often to the extremes. They can be crying one minute, and the next, laughing hysterically. We obviously feel emotions a lot more intensely at that age.
  One of our new traditions that we have started here, is attending the Fleet Week air show which takes place over the bay in front of the Golden Gate Bridge with the pinnacle of the show being the Blue Angles. This was our second year attending and we will hopefully make it a long standing tradition. It is just as thrilling for Apollo as it is for us, and the best part about it is, it is FREE! We pack a picnic, bring some blankets, and pick out a spot on the grass in the waterfront park.  They have concession stands, souvenir stands and an inflatable amusement park for kids.
  Apollo loves slides and when he spotted one at Fleet Week, he went wild. He was a little tentative to go up the stairs at first so Melanie went with him the first time. After that, he was all to willing to go on his own. This slide has a huge drop to it. When you are at the top, it looks like it falls straight down. This didn't stop Apollo one bit. It was shear ecstasy for him, and so much fun for his mom and I to watch.

  I can usually find humor in the smallest things, but at times, I have so much on my mind and on my plate, that I find myself laughing less. One of the biggest blessings of having Apollo, is I laugh all the time when I interact with him. He has reached the stage where he refers to himself in third person; "Apollo tired.", "Apollo needs chocolate." and my all time favorite to date; in the middle of a melt down while crying, "Mama, Apollo freaking out".  How can you not laugh.
  Manners are also being learned. There is nothing cuter than when you sneeze and your son says, "Bless you Dada". When you offer a helping hand you get a "Thank you Dada", and when I stop by home for lunch on a work day, and I leave to go back to work, "Dada, give you hug".
  Such a fun age. The laughter is contagious, the sweetness is heart warming and tantrums can be entertaining...if they are short lived.  Everything, is fresh and new. A dog racing around the house, or rain water dripping from the roof is a source of deep heart felt laughter for Apollo. It has helped me to take a step back and take a second look and realize, "yup, that is funny".
One of my favorite questions that Apollo asks me almost daily is, "Dada, did you have a good day?". "Apollo, everyday with you, is a good day!" I reply.

  At the end of the day, its the simple pleasures that rein supreme.
  

Happy Songs!

What an incredibly fun age 2 1/2 years old is! I have to tell you, there are some hard times with the "terrible two's", but the trade off is the personality development. I am totally amused with Apollo and his "ism's". The funny things that he chooses to say, the way he says them, and the timing, not to mention the facial expressions that go along with it, are absolutely priceless. It is my goal to capture some of these phrases on video in the next couple weeks, and post them here.  Each day brings a new sentence and a new surprise.  Some of our favorites right now are: "Dada..."or "mama, I gunna put you to bed!" (in response to being crabby I suppose). "Dada, you need a time out? I go get the chair!" Apollo's "time outs" consist of sitting on top of a bar stool in the middle of the room. He did indeed go and get the chair for me...he must have meant business! "I need a go poop!...again!", and one of my personal favorites;  "BRUDDERS!! TURN OFF RADIO!!! RIGHT NOW!!" A nightly ritual as the birds have radio that we turn on for them. When their timer turns the lights off, they will scream incessantly until someone turns off the radio. Apparently the "brudders" (Brothers; Ian and Aden) are completely deaf, because they never hear the birds. Its a good thing that Apollo reminds them. 

Oh, there are so many many more. I will save them for video. Speaking of video; as promised, I have posted a video of Apollo dancing on a boat from one of our favorite summer adventures. Apollo loves to dance and loves music that he can dance to. He now has his own playlist on itunes entitled: "Apollo's Happy Songs". He hand picked these songs himself and will ask; "Dada, play happy song?". 

This is one of his favorite happy songs. Enjoy!

The sweet smell of success.

 I am constantly fascinated with Apollo's developing communication skills. The day to day progression, at times, is seemingly rapid. The mind is truly amazing and I find myself enthralled in each new development.  You can see Apollo's wheels turning as he works out the details of each new problem and then you see the light come on when he connects the dots. The choice of words he chooses for certain situations, never cease to surprise me either. You realize very quickly, just how much a 2 year old is really listening to what you say, by what he repeats.

  As it turns out, we are full swing into the potty training phase. A big part of this, is a game of trust and communication between Apollo, myself and Melanie. We have turned to the use of bribes in the form of Disney's Pixar, Cars. This has been met with great success, and for the most part, Apollo is now potty trained. We have had our fair share of full on battles along the way, however, we are now at the point where Apollo wants to make too many trips to the potty, just to sit there for 5 minutes only to lean forward, peer between his legs and declare, "No poop!" It is all part of the learning curve I suppose.

     Last week, as we were just getting over the hump of Apollo wanting to use the potty instead of his diaper, he started to get a cold. We were sure that we would lose the battle here, and we would have to start over from square one, once he was feeling better. Much to our surprise, what ever little bug he had, may have played a part in his wanting to be potty trained. Apollo developed a mild case of Diarrhea, and quickly learned that, however bad he  was feeling, it was worse to feel that kind of mess in his pull up and was much simpler to use the potty. I do have an aversion to poop so, if you use your imagination, you can see the look of disgust as I wrote this past paragraph. I even caught myself typing lightly, as if the keyboard was some how contaminated with feces. Yes, I do laugh at myself in moments like these. Now that I drifted away from my thought here, let me return by saying, Apollo made about 15 trips to the potty that afternoon and evening. It took him a long time to fall asleep, and he was very crabby and restless. It seemed that I had barely fallen asleep myself, when Apollo awoke crying, "Dada..." he whined, "go poop." It was almost 1am. I drug myself out of bed, carried this fussy little guy to the potty and sat him upon the throne where he did his business, all the while crying. We climbed back in bed and the crying continued with unintelligible mumbling. The mumbling gave way "Owee, oweee, OWEE!". At this point, you start to worry that something is seriously wrong.
  "Apollo, what hurts?" I asked. "Maba..maba...dada, owee" he replied. " I can't understand you when your crying, can you tell me where it hurts?" This exchange went on for several minutes, and each time I asked the question, Apollo became more agitated, it was nearing 2am and none of the three of us were likely to get any sleep if something didn't break soon. "Apollo, can you show dada where it hurts?". To my astonishment, he stretched out his arm, formed a fist and extended his index finger. In one sweeping motion, he reached his arm around to his back side, and pressed his finger firmly into his pull-up and right between his cheeks; "DADA, RIGHT THERE!" he exclaimed in a very clear and urgent voice.  I couldn't help but laugh. It was off to the potty one more time, then into the bath, a generous helping of Desitin between the cheeks and back in bed at 3am. It still took a good 30 minutes for him to settle and cry himself to sleep. I barely closed my eyes, and my 5:15am alarm went off. It was time to get ready for work. I was exhausted, yet, I chuckled to my self all day with the memory of the pre-dawn events. In hind sight (pardon the pun), I now know that "maba" was "my butt"... I guess I was a wee bit too tired to translate toddler.

  All was not lost. What emerged from the other side of this little event, was an all too willing potty participant.
  With our little guy on the mend and eager to use the big potty, it was off to the beach house for Melanie's birthday. Ian and Aden both caught pretty good sized fish for their moms present, but Apollo was sure they were for him. In fact, he loved the fish so much, that he gave them both a big ol' kiss on the lips.  When it was time for cake, much to Melanie's chagrin, I placed 37 candles on the cake. Upon lighting them, Apollo chimed in with, "Light this bar-b-que!". It was priceless. His timing could not have been better. I am sure that to a toddler, 37 candles does look like a BBQ.
  Apollo was convinced that the candles were all for him. We had to relight the BBQ a couple times and let him blow it out.
  One side note to this trip: The previous week, Melanie, Apollo, Emily, and Olivia spent the day at the beach. Apollo was apparently very impressed with his cousin Olivia, splashing in the waves with her mom. This trip, when Melanie took Apollo to the water, he kept asking, "Go see ocean?". " This is the ocean Apollo." "No mama, go see ocean like  WeeWaa?" (WeeWaa is Apollo for Olivia). Yup he figured if his little cousin could play in the waves, he could too.

  Its unanimous in our family, we all love the beach. It is a little too cold at the beaches here for my blood, but it is nice that we are so close to the ocean and that we have so many opportunities to go there when we have nothing better to do. There is always something new to see or do at the ocean.  I long for the tropical waters and cant wait to introduce Apollo to them.  I feel that one of the biggest hurdles of toddlerhood (and my personal battle with coprophobia) is about to be overcome. Just the savings from not having to purchase diapers and wipes (you can never have too many wipes...or diapers for that matter)
can pay for a trip to Hawaii in a years time. Plus, the shear embarrassment of your kid pooping his pants in a public place where everyone can smell, and the anxiety of knowing you are going to have to remedy the situation and you aren't sure how bad it might be or if you have enough wipes; yeah...hopefully, all soon to be part of the past.

Cousins

 "WeeWaa! No Crying...'kay?" WeeWaa...That is what Apollo calls his cute little cousin, Olivia. What a treat this week has been for Apollo and Melanie (and the rest of us). Aunt Emily and Olivia flew down from Seattle and spent 4 days with us.
  Melanie really needed this little distraction from her normal routine. I had to work so I did not get to go do all the fun stuff that the two mothers and cousins got to do, but I did get to enjoy everyone in the afternoons.  This little visit helped me come to a few conclusions; First, the bossy gene...definitely from Melanie's side of the family. You cant chalk it up to the terrible twos, because Olivia is only 18 months, and is every bit as bossy as Apollo. Second, baby OCD. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but all I can say is, apparently certain colors go together, certain things need to happen in a certain order, and the lights need to be turned off when you leave the room! I am mostly speaking of Apollo here, and it is not all the time. Olivia does her share of this as well. Personally, I think it is very cute. Now that I reflect on it, Ian and Aden don't share any of those traits, so maybe Apollo got a bit of this from me. Third, can you say "wild". Wow! Olivia is non stop energy! She is constantly moving...and eating. Even Apollo had to keep one eye on her at all times or he risked getting run over by a tricycle or other type of kiddie toy. Apollo has his wild times as well, but he is a little reserved around other kids, especially Olivia.

  I  enjoyed watching the two of them interact, bond, and generally be mischievous together. It is times like these that you miss being closer to family. I would love nothing more than for Apollo to have a cousin close in age, to grow up with. A younger sibling is out of the question, as the last threads of Melanie's sanity, would come unraveled and break.
  I also enjoyed watching Melanie and Emily in their new shared roll of motherhood. I think this is something Melanie has longed for since Ian was born; a play date with one of her sisters and their offspring. I am pretty sure Melly had just as much fun as the kids. If she was a parrot, her eyes would have been 'pinpointing' with excitement, the whole time.
 "Bye WeeWaa. Bye Emie. See you!"
 
 

Goodbye, ol' friend

It seems only fitting that it is grey and gloomy out as I take the time to write this. Actually, the truth of the matter is; it is Sunday morning, I am at a beach house in Bodega Bay, looking out at the stormy ocean through the fog, and watching a light rain fall. The family left early this morning to attend church, and I have a few hours of work to do outside...weather permitting of course. :) I almost feel guilty...almost. As it is, I needed some quiet, undisturbed time, to reflect on the events of this past week and our furry little friends that have all past on.
  This past week, it was time to say goodbye to Nokia. For sixteen years, she has been Melanie's side kick. We note Nokia as Ian's dog, as he has grown up with her since he was a baby. Lucy, our Boston Terrier, is Aden's dog, as the two of them are about the same age. Remi, is Apollo's dog, which is fitting because he is so naughty!

  Nokia has lived a long and happy life. It was the simple things that pleased her; retrieving any thing that you throw for her and never getting to the point where she had enough...Can you say "doggie OCD!" One of my favorite memories about Nokia, was how she loved to herd children. Any kid that walked by, would receive a little ankle bite, some times two or three, as they hurried to get away. This was horrifying for the unsuspecting child, and a great amount of pleasure for myself. Nokia never liked other dogs, including members of her own pack. She did tolerate Lucy, however, I am quite sure that she tolerated Lucy only for the fact that she was so submissive. Nokia loved to lay in front of the doggie door and not allow Lucy access to return into the house. She relished in the fact that Lucy would stand out in the snow all day, shivering, waiting for Nokia to move to let her in, and would never get into an altercation over it. Poor Lucy.
  Nokia had started to slowdown this past year. We could tell that old age was sneaking up on her rather quickly. She had lost a lot of weight and began to eat less and less. She had started to show signs of pain when she would try to stand or walk. Still, she would have moments of being frisky, even up to the last couple weeks. The past month, she deteriorated quickly. When she could no longer eat, nor walk across the yard with out needing to lay down and rest along the way, Mel knew it was time. It is such a conflicting battle of emotions that takes hold in times such as these. One part of you does not want to let go, or say goodbye, yet, you know that they are suffering, and miserable. Still, it breaks your heart to let go.

  It is far tougher when you lose one of your furry family members unexpectedly. By far, the one I have had the Hardest time with was Diego. He was such a proud little dog. He was a Chi-Pom, or Chihuahua, Pomeranian mix, and he looked like a little fox. Some how, this little dog carved out such a large place in our hearts, that, one and one half years later, I am still heartbroken and feel the void inside. Diego was so loyal and obedient, and so very smart. He shares the same birthday as Melanie, and I was begrudgingly talked into getting him, by Melanie, as wedding gift for her. Diego was present at our wedding, honey moon in Baja, and everywhere else we went (besides Greece) for the four short years of his life. I could write and write about all the things that I loved about this little guy, however, I will try to limit it to some of my favorite memories. Diego loved cats more than dogs. He befriended Guinevere, our little black cat, as soon as we brought him home. The two of them would Wrestle and play, until Diego adopted his own pet kitten; Bacchus. After that, Guinevere would have nothing to do with Diego. Diego and Bacchus would play for hours on end. They truly were best buds. I never grew tiered of these two stalking, chasing, attacking and wrestling each other. When Apollo came along, Diego was naturally jealous...that is until he discovered that Apollo was a constant source of yummy treats. As Apollo reached the age that he could start to feed himself, he always made sure that Diego would get at least the same amount of food (if not more) then he ate himself. I have a picture so vivid in my mind, of Apollo taking a bite of something, then leaning over in his high chair and reaching down to Diego to offer him a bite. Once Diego had a bite, of course Apollo would return this same piece of food to his mouth, and have another bite himself. We thoroughly enjoyed this constant exchange. Diego dug his way out of the yard one morning and was hit by a car and killed instantly. One of the saddest memories I have, is opening up the box that we had Diego in, which we had placed on the ground so Nokia and Lucy could say goodbye, and when Lucy saw him, she openly wept and whimpered. She loved Diego, and I have never seen this kind of compassion between animals before.
  Bacchus, like I said before, was Diego's pet. It was our intention to find a home for this 5 week old little kitty that found its way into our lives, but Diego wasn't having it. We grew to love Bacchus. He grew into a fine, large, beautiful, black cat with yellow eyes. We are sure he was meant as a yard ornament as he kept a constant vigil over our flowers and plants, and kept out any uninvited animals. He looked so stately lounging in the tree, or in a favorite place amongst the flowers. Bacchus met the same fate, in nearly the same spot, as Diego, however, Bacchus departed about 6 months earlier. We laid them to rest near each other, under a magnolia tree in our yard, where they would often play.
 Xerxes, was a little orange and white kitten, that I adopted for Diego, after Bacchus had past. Xerxes was sickly and only lived for a couple months. He was such a sweet little kitten and all our pets loved him. Guinevere was laying by his side when he past.

  Honorable mention goes to Pickles, Ian and Aden's cat. He was a very large, handsome, grey cat, that was tough and very spirited. He dominated the neighbor hood, and the house. Not one for cuddling, or being cordial, I have great early memories of Ian and Aden, yelling from their beds, "Mommy! Come and get Pickle! He is attacking us!" Pickles lost his life in the road as well. He was only a few years old, and left us long before Apollo was even a thought, however, he was worth mentioning here.
  I wish all these little critters that I have written about, could have lived out their complete lives as Nokia did. They had so much to offer us, and we loved them so completely in return. In believing in life after death, I have to believe that our pets will be there too. Their is no better example of unconditional love, than the love of a dog. I feel that we are loaned these animals to teach us the true meaning of unconditional love. I am lucky to have had them and cherish the memories of them. Until we meet again...Nokia; say hi to grandpa, Diego, Xerxes, Bacchus and Pickles for us.  Vaya con Dios, my friends.

Give me a break!

Every once in a while, I receive a rare treat via email from Melanie. Let me clarify; my treat is Melanie's horror. Melly has been baby sitting for the last couple months as a way to supplement our income. I often worry about her sanity. Apollo is a very demanding little guy, add a baby into the mix and another toddler...can you say "Prozac"? I could not do it and I am not sure how Mel does. I can barely wipe Apollo's ass let alone someone else's baby. Needless to say, Melanie reaches her breaking point with babies from time to time as well.

  The two little one's Melanie is babysitting now are; Kylie- a 6 month old little girl that comes some Mondays and every Tuesday thru Friday, and Sastia, a 2 1/2 year old Haitian girl that only understands French that comes over  occasionally on a Monday or Friday. The following is an excerpt from an email Mel sent to me at the end of one of her typical days:

Sastia just went home.

Her and Kylie both took naps at the same time while your baby ran around screaming and talking as loud as he could! I swear he can read my mind, he  is really tired but won't sit still!

 I mopped the kitchen floor and got all the birds out for like 5 hours and mixed soil with our dirt then planted my jade cutting...

We all sang songs and had a dance party

then we ate lunch and played with play-doh before sitting down to watch a cartoon.

Apollo will not wear a diaper and is pretty pissy that I am making him wear shorts!

He wants to be naked all day.

Of course when sastia's daddy got here he took all his clothes off to show off "going pee in the potty". Then he ran around with his weiner in his hand screaming "Where's my peepee!"

Oh the shame of it all. They'll never be back!

so it's going fine I guess...

I laugh so hard every time I read this. It has been 3 weeks now, and Sastia is yet to come back. We hope she does return. She and Apollo are 1 month apart in age, and they have a lot of fun together! Plus she is such  a sweet little girl; maybe she can help soften some of Apollo's rough edges.

 Apollo is very bossy! He likes to be in control and everything needs to be done on his terms. I will claim responsibility for his control issues, however, the bossy part...well that is all Melanie. For the most part, Apollo is an only child. I say this because I have a sister and brother that were 6 and 8 years older than me, and I remember them seeming more like an aunt and uncle than siblings. So, I worry about Apollo having that only child syndrome. The one benefit that Mel and I have seen from her baby sitting, is that Apollo has had to learn that the world doesn't always revolve around him; not always, just mostly.

  Mel is off to a women's retreat this weekend for a much needed break. It couldn't have come at a better time. Apollo and I are hanging out and having some good bonding time. Ian and Aden are off to a cross country meet today, so we are hitting the town!

  A quick update in regards to my last blog:Mel did take Apollo to the pediatrician while he still had a fever, they did do a culture for Strep which came back negative. At this point, we are about 98% sure Apollo had Roseola. After 4 days of fever, it finally broke. A slight rash started to form and spread over next 2 days. The rash took on a lacy red look to it, which is indicative of Roseola. I like knowing the reason he was sick, unlike other times where you never know it was anything other than viral.

  One residual side effect to Apollo being sick; he was about 95% potty trained, but it has been a struggle this past week to get him back on track. He is readily peeing the potty again, but he is not ready to try pooping. As I write this, Apollo is running around with his hand over his naked butt; "DADA! I need this diaper NOW!" I had better go...before he does!

What's up Doc?

I understand that toddlers get sick. I also understand that this how their immune systems are built up, but enough already. Once again my little man is running a high fever; between 102 and 105. No other symptoms. No vomiting , no diarrhea, no sores, no noticeable infections, nothing. There were hives that came and went in a matter of minutes, the first time this happened, but that's it.  The first time, at 13 months old, his fevers lasted for over a week, after a few trips to the pediatrician, some tests were run and proved inconclusive. One suggestion was Mediterranean Fever, an inherited condition from people of Mediterranean heritage; that would be me. This past May, at 25 months, same thing. Two trips to the doctor, and $100 in co pays, and all you get is, "well it probably viral. All you can do is supportive care." Lame...I guess that's why they call it "practicing" medicine. If they had all the answers, they would probably refer to it as "doing" medicine. To me, practicing implies learning. What if airline pilots were "practicing" flying with a plane full of passengers? We would throw a fit! (If we survived).
  I am being sarcastic of course.I mean no disrespect here, as people in our family are medical "practitioners", and I have the utmost respect for them and the amount of education that they have had.  Still, it is just funny that we can transplant a heart, or make a baby in a test tube, or alter DNA, but we can't tell what is causing a baby's fever!

 Apollo started to develop a fever again on Tuesday this week. By bed time, it began to rise a bit. By mid-night, he was fairly hot. He started to get restless and began talking in his sleep, "Dada...I'll hold you". I did not give him Motrin at this point, as I know the fever is the body doing its thing. By 3:30am, Apollo was burning up. We gave him some Motrin. He started to cry and was very restless. As I was holding and rocking him, Melanie said to me, "Why don't you get up and walk him around?" Apollo heard, "Take him for a walk!"
  Despite his weakened state, Apollo immediately perked up. "Go walk! Mama, wake up! wake up! Go walk side!"
  Well, I tried to just walk him around the house a bit,  but as soon as we passed the front door, he began crying and pointing at the door, "Outside dada." What else could I do? I put on some shorts while Mel put Apollo in his jammies. I grabbed a blanket, and Apollo and I went for a walk...at 3:40am. Apollo showed me the moon, and the stars, told me about every car and truck we passed, said "hi" to the trees and talked and talked. I thought for sure a nosey neighbor would see us and call the police. 
  Its times like these that you feel so helpless and vulnerable. Your heart goes out to your baby and you would do anything to make them feel better (hence, going for a walk at 3:40am). Why aren't we in the Star Trek era yet where the doctor whips out his Tri-corder, and in a matter of seconds have a diagnosis? Oh yeah, I am sure they would just say; "Here's the problem; its a virus!".
  Day three of fever. Last night was rough. We were alternating between ibuprofen and acetaminophen and Apollo's fever was fluctuating between 103 and 104.5. Mel had me get in the shower with him for about 30 minutes at a cool temperature, to help bring the fever down a bit. We talked about going to the emergency room, but, after our $180 co pay, we agreed that would be a lot of money to spend for a diagnosis of "Its probably viral...supportive care...follow up with pediatrician in a few days..." Blah, blah blah!!!
  I want to give some credit here to my wife, as she is always accusing me of being very one sided in my blog, however let me clarify first, this is MY blog, about Apollo, so it is from my point of view and based on MY perceptions of events. When I say we- I am typically referring to Melanie and myself. I know that Mel will be thinking when she reads this blog about all the things I did not say about her and what she is doing, so, here is a little shout out. Well, Mel has done awesome through all this, especially last night. She has been writing down the time, when we give Apollo meds, his temperature, and how much meds. She also wakes me up to go get water, or juice. She is at home with him all day and has to deal with him and a 5 month old infant as well. Yeah Melly! Beyond all this, my point is; Melanie is my partner in crime and as much a part of these stories as I am. I am just the one behind the camera and behind the computer, so, I get to tell it my way.
Beam me up Scotty, I need to borrow a tri-corder.

Life or something like it.

"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making other plans". - John Lennon.

 Here I sit in my hammock, next to my beach house in Kauai, watching the sunset...Yeah right! That is where I plan to be...some day,  in the mean time, this is my life.

  What a crazy chain of events that have led me, and my family to Santa Rosa. Just when you think you have hit rock bottom, the floor falls out from under you again. I can barely imagine how much worse it could be. It will be nice when the economy recovers, and that feeling of uncertainty becomes a bad memory from the past. Some how through all the gloom, if you look for it, you can always find a bit of light. It is all about seizing the opportunity, when it presents itself. We have been so fortunate in so many ways this past year. It is very humbling. We have the best neighbors we have ever had, we have spent most weekends this summer off on some new adventure (albeit, small ones at times), and have unexpected opportunities turn into fabulous weekends. Our most recent endeavor, is a little trade I made with a contractor I have befriended. My friend owns a beautiful beach house on the beach north of Bodega Bay. I am doing a tile Dolphin mosaic for him. In exchange, we get to spend several weekends in this beautiful home. Of course, I work, and my family plays...somehow I always draw the short straw. Actually, I don't really consider it work; it is more of an artistic release for me.

  What an awesome time to be in Bodega. It is the height of  the blue whale migration. The blue whales tend to be a little further off shore than the grey whales that we have seen in the past, however, they put on quite the display; an impressive spray of white mist that can be seen from over a mile away. You can definitely discern the calves from their mothers. We literally saw dozens of these! We couldn't really see the whales themselves, but it was still cool to know that they are out there.

  After several failed attempts at ocean fishing, and dismissing my advise (from a very reputable source), Ian finally broke down and asked a fisherman he ran into just how he was catching fish. Wouldn't you know it, Ian and Aden both started to catch fish once they took someones advice that was in the know. When they returned to the beach house with their catch of the day, Apollo was just as excited as they were. He was sure his brothers caught the fish for him. Apollo was able to hold the fish and pet them, and even had some nice bonding time with his brothers as he helped them clean their fish. This was especially nice to see since Ian and Aden tend to lock Apollo out of their room so they are not disturbed while they are saving the world via Xbox 360. Melanie, of course, was a very proud mama at that moment.

I have to give some Kudos to my friend for what a fine job he did on this house. It has a very feng shui feel to it. A perfect blend of stone and bamboo, clean lines, and an immense attention to detail. I could write several pages on how amazing this house is. Suffice it to say, it was like living in a very high end model home for a few days.

  Melanie couldn't resist the call of the built-in espresso maker. It wasn't long before she had Apollo addicted the the steamed milk she was making for him; "Mama! more cholk mulk!" Apparently, steamed milk tastes like Chocolate milk; who knew? We definitely felt a bit spoiled.

   We have done more fun stuff this summer than we have done in several years, even though this year, we have had far less money than of years past. Even on a shoestring budget, we have managed some great times.

   I know in a few years from now, Apollo will ask; "Remember that boat we used to have?" or, "Remember that beach house we used to have?". I will simple reply, "Yeah son, that was back in the old days before we moved to Kauai. Can you climb that tree and get me a coconut while I finish blogging about your surfing?"

Keep talking

  When I look back at the past 2 1/2 years, I am amazed at all that has taken place. So much turmoil and chaos, grief, joy, and bliss. It has been a year now since we left Bend, and the parting was bitter sweet. I cant imagine how life would be had we stayed in Bend, however, I feel we made the right move at the right time. There has been way too many ups and downs than I care for in the 1 1/2 years prior to the move and from that time until now. I miss many things about Central Oregon, but love just as many new things here. I hope to have as many fond memories of the North bay when the time comes to move on.
  Even with all the uncertainty that we have experienced on this leg of our journey, I am reminded every day of the little things in life that make it so special. Apollo is the one good thing that has been constant through out this time period, that keeps me grounded. I cherish every moment with this little guy and I am constantly rewarded with his sweetness, insight, development, and love. It is hard to be consumed with worries when your son is waiting for you the moment you come through the door, and greets you with; "Dada!" and runs into your arms. Then he tells me all about his day, drags me to his room to "dance" and play with his toys, read stories, and learn new words.
  Thanks to his uncle Gooch, Apollo has been immersed into "My baby can read". This program works! Apollo can read about 40+ words now. I am amazed how well he retains them. It has only been 3 months since we started this program, and the last month hasn't been real consistent, but I can pull out one of his books or cards that we haven't gone over in a couple weeks, and he will still remember most of the words. His curiosity has been peaked by his new abilities, so he wants to know what everything is called, and wants to see the name of the object written out. He knows most of the alphabet now as well. This is not part of the program, just and added bonus as he wants to know what the letters are called. He does not yet know that there is an order to the alphabet, but that's not bad for a 27 month old. He is quite the chatter box (thanks to Melly's genes). We cant always understand what he is saying, but he sure knows, and he says it with conviction.
  As, he learns the right way to say them,  I will miss the way Apollo pronounces many of the words and phrases he uses now. I will make an attempt to preserve some of those memories here, as it wont be long before he speaks clearly.Many of these Apolloism are all ready gone.
  Mulk=Milk. Wan baba= I want a bottle. Pake=pancake. Cookah=cookie. Cholk=chocolate. peas=please. Tane gue= thank you. Pitty truck= pretty truck. Elly=elephant. Showee= shower. Flowee= flower. Go brush= lets go brush our teeth.Go mono=Lets go somewhere in the motor home. Go home, see Remi?= Can we go home now and see my dog?. Do spido? = Can you sing Itsy bitsy Spider?.  Dada! no pince Apollo's feet's, kay?= Dad, stop pinching my feet!, Okay?!. Go side walk now?= can we go for a walk outside now?.  Put that  (accompanied by pointing and a noun)= I want that, right here, i.e. "put that Dada's shoes here!" as he points to the spot where he would like me to stand, or, "put that Remi on!" as he points to the blanket in which he would like his dog to be placed.

  I could go on and on as these are just a few of my favorites. It all goes so fast and I know I have forgotten some of the things he used to say. With out looking at his baby book, I am not even sure of his first word. I do remember the first word I remember him saying was; "ish" for fish. He was 10 months old and used to watch the fish in our reef tank and point at them and say "ish".
  Apollo also likes to count stairs as he climbs them. We have inadvertently taught him how to count. Imagine our surprise when Apollo looks into a field as we pass and says, "See five cows, mama?", lo and behold, there would be 5 cows. The first time we thought was a fluke, but after a few times...well that's just pretty damn cool!
  What an experience it is to watch each day bring new words, expressions and phrases. For now, I cant wait for Apollo to learn enough words to carry on a conversation. Just remind me of this blog a year from now when I cant get him to stop talking. I have been trying to get his mom to stop talking over the past 11 years, but I am certain I would have better luck parting the Red Sea.

I gotcha!

It turns out that some of the stereo types about California are true! All the women are a size 3, tan, and in great shape, everyone drives a convertible and everyone owns a boat and/or has a pool! HA!! I wish! It does seem like everyone (but us) owns a boat though,  and for good reason. There are several lakes in the area and lots of sunshine and mild to hot weather.
  Luckily, we have managed to make our way onto a couple boats and enjoy the water. So, we set up a weekend to take out our land lords party boat and wouldn't you know it; it happened to be the very weekend Ian and Aden were going to a completely different lake to go wake boarding with the church youth group. I was a little bummed when I learned they wouldn't be joining us (wink, wink). Truth be told, they did want to come with us to spend the weekend fishing and complaining, I mean swimming. We were fortunate enough to take an excursion to Lake Sonoma earlier in the week with a life long water skiing family, and they were quick to teach Ian and Aden (and Melanie for that matter) how to wake board. With their new found confidence and abilities, they opted to go wake boarding with their friends instead of camping on a boat with mom and dad. I think that is the first time that they have chosen to go with friends instead of us. (yeah!)

  Off to Lake Berryessa we went. It was about 100 degrees out and the water was the place to be. Keep in mind that we were in big party boat, not a ski boat, but what an awesome way to spend the weekend. We went from cove to cove exploring and swimming. Apollo was less enthusiastic at first about wearing his life jacket and even less excited about getting in the water... at first anyways. Mid day, Apollo climbed up onto my lap, while I was driving, and fell asleep. We decided to shut down the motor in the middle of the lake and let the boat drift. We spent the next few hours swimming and sun bathing, while Apollo slept.
  Lake Berryessa is pretty large. We headed up to the north western arm of the lake. There was a lot less people in this area. We found another little cove to dock the boat and take a swim. This time Apollo was happy to go swimming. To our surprise, he was eager to get into his little floating swim suit, and impatient when he had to wait on us to get him in the water. He learned to kick, splash, and bob up and down.  We worked on holding our breath and blowing bubbles in the water. We were astounded at the major advancements Apollo made that day.

To date, one of my favorite things that Apollo has learned, is the manner in which he has learned to communicate his trust he he has in us as parents. A couple weeks ago, while camping at the coast, and climbing over rocks, Apollo would stumble, and as he would fall, I would catch him and say "I got ya.". He immediately repeated the phrase back, "I gotcha". Now, when we hand him off to one another in the water, he says "I gotcha". When he is uncertain of himself, he grabs on to you,"I gotcha". Even at night when he wakes and wants to be held, "Dada, I gotcha" or of course, "Mama, I gotcha". I am a sucker for this, and I just melt when he says it.
  Potty training is in full swing, so of course, Mr potty frog, got to spend the weekend with us. Apollo loves to pee in his frog and has about as good as aim as Ian and Aden...actually, I think Apollo has better aim...much better. He has been working on number two as well. I would dive into ice cold water if I had to, to get off the boat when this happens. After all, I am allergic to poop.
  As the sun started to get low in the sky, we found a little deserted cove to make camp for the night. We cooked some hot dogs and carne asada for dinner, on a little portable grill, had an hour long dance party courtesy of Lady Gaga and Katy Perry, and then made up our bed for the night. We blew up an air mattress and placed it between the seats. It must have been 85 degrees at 10:00 pm. Too hot to sleep. We laid on the mattress and looked at stars, and shooting stars, the moon, planes and satellites. I have not slept in the open air probably since I was a teen. I mean to say, not in a tent or motor home, but under the stars. It was amazing. The only sounds to be heard were crickets and the occasional splash of a fish in the water. As the moon set, the star light became more intense and the reflection on the water was gorgeous. Morning came fast and so did the heat. We were up at 7:10 am, had a quick breakfast, and pulled out of the cove. I love the water early in the morning. It is like glass. We were surprised to see that very few people were on the lake in the morning with such pristine conditions. It wasn't until almost 11:00 am that we began to see more than a hand full of skiers out and about.

  Apollo had turned into a fish by the second day. "Swim now?"..."Dada, swim?"..."Mama, go swim now?". We swam, and swam, and swam. Apollo was all about sitting on the edge of the air mattress and kicking and splashing.
  We slowly made our way back to the marina. Taking one final swim, this time with shirts on as Melanie and I both over did it a bit with the sun, and the spf50 seemed to have little effect at this point. I would like to say that Apollo has a nice tan and no sunburn, though.
  We cleaned out the boat and headed off to the truck, wishing we could stay for another day.
  Apollo, some times so eager to go with the flow, put in his two cents as we headed down the dock; "Good bye boat, good bye lake, good bye big pretty boat...dada, I gotcha"