Good bye 2011

Orion, Aka Hamhocks

We survived! The holidays are over, the last day of the year is here and all my family is returning to their homes. The decorations are coming down and soon, only the memories of 2011 will remain. This has been an interesting year for us, and by far the best memory for 2011 will be the birth of Orion. As we go into 2012, I anticipate and welcome new opportunities, new challenges, and new adventures.

Jet lagged uncle Gooch trying to get some sleep

What a great way to end the year, surrounded by family.We had many laughs, lots of great food, drink, and deserts. Apollo added to his repertoire of things "not to say" (courtesy of his aunt Debbie and Uncle Gooch), and kept us all entertained with his naughty and funny phrases.  I offer few words on this post but opted for some snapshots instead of some of the sillier moments of the past week, along with some Apolloisms. Enjoy! 

Gooch and Kim with the four boys

Apollo's phrase of the week was; "I'm gonna spank your big ol' butt!" (Thanks Deb!)

Honorable mention; "Shut Your Pie Hole!" (Thanks Gooch)

YiaYia's Favorite; "I need to check my email." (He gets that from his mom when she try's to get her iPad away from him.)

Apollo's favorite song and dance; written and choreographed by Apollo. Picture Apollo with his hip thrusted to the side, his torso twisted, one hand clenching his butt cheek, hopping in a circle, while singing (and in tune I might add), "Shake my body, and put it in the garbage..."

Gooch, Kim, and Orion 12/30/2011

Apollo, Aden, Alexandra, Orion, and Ian

  May the New Year bring you love, laughter, health and prosperity. Happy New Year everyone!

My Blue Skies

Port Hueneme California 12/26/2004

 
  It was a perfect December winter day in southern California. The kind of day that you could only wish for this time of year.

The sun was shinning bright. The sand was warm as we walked on the beach. There was not a cloud in the sky that day and the air was still. We watched the sun set in the flawless sky, silhouetting the Channel Islands in the soft evening ocean haze.

This was the spot. We were on the beach in Port Hueneme. This is where I would marry Melanie.

Unfortunately, it was not this day that we would exchange our vows. The plan was that 24 hours later, we would return to this spot, with a small group of family and friends, to be wed.

  What a difference a day makes. As we left the hotel late in the afternoon the following day, less than a mile from the beach, the winds picked up and huge black clouds rolled in. The sky's darkened. Lightning appeared on the horizon and glanced off the ocean. The seas were stormy, rough, and riddled with white caps. Waves of white foam crashed upon the shore in a thundering stampede; This was our wedding day. It was clear that the gods were angry. Due to the rapidly declining weather, we made a last minute change and decided to gather in a gazebo to preform the nuptials instead of the beach, as if this meager structure of posts, beams, and palm trees would some how offer a bit of protection from the elements.

Our wedding day;
December 27th, 2004

 We took our places surrounded by our loved ones, standing in front of my brother, Friar Gooch. As Gooch began to speak, the wind became stronger. Palm fronds vibrated and flapped violently overhead, as pieces of palm husk blew past us through the gazebo. Large rain drops began falling and blowing sideways. Now, at this point, had I been a superstitious person, I would have turned and ran. "Save yourself!" echoed through my head as my heart began to race. "This must be sign!" I thought. I am sure Melanie was thinking the same thing, however, we stood our ground and survived the initial onslaught of Mother Natures wrath. We exchanged vows and became husband and wife. As if to mock Mother Nature and her attempt to thwart off our matrimonial union, we all raced to the water and embraced the power of the elements.

The torrential downpour that followed over the next few days caused massive flooding and power outages. El Nino had shown his face in a fury not seen in recent decades.
  Our spirits were not dampened and in a couple days, we headed to Ensenada, Baja California, for little honeymoon with Gooch, his friend Zoe, Ian, Aden, and our newest furry little friend Diego, all in tow.
  This was the start of our married life together: December 27th, 2004. There are many metaphors that we can draw on from this experience as compared to our seven years of marriage. I am typically a "glass half full" kind of person, so the parallels I have made tend to be positive. As Melanie and I have made many plans for our life together, there are few that have come to fruition in the manner we had planned. We have weathered many storms together. Faced many rough seas. We planned for sunny skies but found stormy ones instead.

We adapted. We found triumph in the face of adversity. Found joy in times of sorry. We found new life born from the ashes of death. We take our blue skies when we can get them, cherish them, rejoice in them and draw on their strength as they depart from us to make way for the new wave of storm clouds. Our resolve has remained strong, our bond strengthened and our love and respect for one another has increased with each storm we have conquered.
  These seven years have brought us many surprises. The biggest and best were Apollo and Orion; how they have blessed our lives and become the glue that binds us. I could not have foreseen them or the many twists and turns we have encountered along the way which brought them into our lives, yet it feels as if these two little ones have always been here and have always been part of us.

   If  I have learned one lesson in seven years of marriage, it is that we are survivors; that we will overcome and conquer. I know I can count on Melanie to be by my side, to follow my lead, or to take the lead when needed. For this I am grateful. I am surrounded by love and this family of mine is my blue skies.

  

A Grinch in the family

    The holidays are here. I admit that I do enjoy this time of year. My reasons are simple; First and foremost is spending time with family, not just my little family, but parents and siblings as well. Second would have to be all the lights and decorations that brighten an otherwise dark and drab period of short days and long nights. Last but to least is the smells of the season. I have been accused of being a super smeller at times and I don't deny that label...it is both a blessing and a curse. I love the scent of fresh cut fir trees, mulled cider, cinnamon, pumpkin pie, and Greek cookies. You probably have to be Greek to know and appreciate the smell of melomakarona (meh-loh-mah-KAH-roh-nah). For those of you that have not experienced these Greek Christmas cookies, especially when freshly baked in the home, just imagine orange and honey, with freshly ground cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, all combined together into one amazing cookie. The fragrance will dazzle your senses. Admittedly, for me, these are all distractions to take my mind off of the shorter days, longer nights, and cooler weather. However, once the holidays are over, I am glad to take all the decorations down and get rid of all the evidence of Christmas for another year.  
  The internet has helped to make the holidays a little more enjoyable for me these past few years as well. I hate going to the malls and stores while fighting the crowds, just to settle on purchasing a gift for the sake of purchasing a gift, hoping that the person never suspects that you made an impulse purchase, just because you were so tired of shopping. Fortunately Amazon, Ebay, and most any large store, are all just a click away. I can shop on my own time, find the best price, and a few clicks later, I am done. I don't think I would like the holidays quite so much were it not for the internet.

Orion with a Walmart Santa

  Orion is too small this year to really understand what is going on or to be able to reap havoc upon the Christmas tree. He does, however, enjoy all the lights. Orion adds to the Christmas spirit with his smiles and laughter. It is such an amazing and heartwarming, joyful experience to have a chronically happy baby. This kid is all smiles. I have not experienced a baby that likes to  smile so much, and one that is so easily appeased. If we would have had Orion first, and then Apollo, I would have thought there was something seriously wrong with Apollo. I would have thought he was possessed (or only inherited Melanie's moody genes). Don't get me wrong, Apollo is perfect to me. I enjoy every minute with him and love everything about his personality and how much he keeps me laughing. He was just a lot of work. So far, Orion and Apollo are so completely different, that I often question if they are from the same mother! (Okay, two jabs at Melanie is enough. She is going to beat me now). Orion is bright, alert, curious, and for someone that can not walk or crawl yet, he is constantly in motion. He grabs everything, which makes cooking or eating while holding him, a difficult endeavor. Melanie has resorted to strapping Orion to her back while she works around the house to keep him from grabbing stuff.
  Apollo completely dislikes Santa Claus. I am sure it is because he has such a good memory and was freaked out by last years (uneventful) visit to Santa. After all, an old bearded guy, in a fuzzy red suit and hat, that likes children, and smells of onions and cheese, is a little creepy. I could bypass the whole "Santa picture" thing, were it not for Melanie. Apollo has been protesting Christmas for the past two months now. He is convinced that Uncle Gooch lives in "Christmas" (Switzerland) and he does not want to ever go there to visit him. We have been explaining to him what Christmas is, why we celebrate it, and that it is a "day" and not a "place". We have watched a lot of different holiday movies, some of the classic animated Christmas stories, as well as some birth of Christ stories, to give him a well rounded understanding of Christmas. We have even read books about Christmas and looked at pictures of past Christmas'. Still, Apollo wants nothing to do with Santa Claus, or Christmas. As I am an opportunist, I have pounced upon these phobias like a puma on a lame deer, and used them for my own entertainment.

"What is baby brother doing on me?"

  Recently, Melanie and I were headed out on date night. Apollo was going to stay home with his older brothers. Once he realized that we were leaving, he wanted to come along. "Dada, I want to come with you!". "You don't want to come with us Apollo." I replied mockingly. "YES...I...DO!!", he refuted. "But we are going to Christmas, Apollo" I replied while exuding an air of pleasure knowing that he would take the bait. "NO! I don't want to go to Christmas! NO WAY! I am staying here with brothers!" he exclaimed. "But it will be so much fun, you should come with me Apollo." "NO WAY!! I am NOT going to Christmas! I want to stay HERE!"

  Then there are the moments that we need to put a stop to a melt down or attitude problem. "Apollo, if you don't stop freaking out, mama will put you in a 'time out' on Santa's lap!" Apollo will protest with a bit of desperation in his voice, "NOOOOOOOO! I don't like Santa! Mama, don't put me in a time out on Santa's lap!" He will instantly put himself in check though, and start whining about Santa instead of whatever else he was whining about, and in the mean time, Melanie will be putting me in check for making her the bad guy.  I can not convey to you the pleasure I feel when I can get Melanie and Apollo both fired up with just one sentence. It is pure satisfaction.
  Apollo expressed to me this week that he wanted me to take down all the Christmas lights, decorations and the tree, (but leave up the train that is around the tree, of course). "Why do you want me to do that Apollo?", I inquired. "I want you to to take all the Christmas stuff down. I don't want this to be a Christmas house any more; I want you to turn it back into a food house." (whatever that means. I couldn't make this stuff up) he continued. "If you take down the christmas stuff, then Santa won't come to our house."
 "But Apollo", I replied, "If Santa doesn't come, you might not get any presents." "I don't want Santa to bring me presents," Apollo insisted, " I want you to bring me presents!" 
  My favorite Apollo Christmas story for this year, came when reading Dr Suess' "How the Grinch stole Christmas"to him.  About half way through the story, Apollo asked me why the Grinch was stealing all the Christmas presents and trees. When I explained to Apollo that the Grinch didn't like Christmas, and he did not want anybody to celebrate Christmas, he paused for a few seconds and then replied, "Dada, I want to go in that book and live with that Grinch." I'm with Apollo, it would be fun to be the Grinch and steal Christmas. Apollo and I both walk around the house now singing, "Your a mean one, Mr. Grinch." 
  After all was said and done, Melanie got her way and had a picture taken of all her boys with Santa Claus. It took some bribing on our part, and a super nice old man dressed up as Santa, that offered Apollo some words of encouragement... and a sucker. After the pictures were taken, Apollo agreed that Santa was nice, but admitted, "I still don't like him."

Father Christmas, with the boys. 2011

  Here is a quick update on the battle to reprogram Apollo's language. Keep in mind that we have given Apollo alternate words to use in place of the naughty ones:
  While driving down the road, Apollo breaks into song, as he often does, but this time with his own twisted Christmas tune; "Jingle farts, jingle farts, jingle all the farts..." "Apollo!" Melanie interjected, "what did I tell you about using that word?" "Sorry mama," came his reply, and after a brief pause, he began singing again, "Tooter bells, tooter bells, tooters all the bells..."
  

Hey, we don't say that!

  Winter is definitely upon us; at least as far as northern California is concerned. I awoke early this morning with the intention of waking up Apollo to watch the Lunar eclipse with me. After bundling up, I stepped outside to look at the moon. The air was crisp and heavy. My breath escaped in a puff of fog that drifted slowly in the air for a moment, before fading into the dark of the night. Yup, I thought I was going to die...then I remembered that we used to live in Bend Oregon, and the cold I was feeling was probably 10 degrees warmer than their high temperature would be later this same day. Some how, this made me feel a little warmer inside. Still, it was bitter cold. I opted not to awaken Apollo, and instead chose to be miserable by myself.

  It is hard to find time to sit and write these days. Apollo needs a lot of interaction. He often feels as he is competing for attention with Orion, so I go out of my way to make him feel extra special. It is interesting to watch Apollo's body language when Orion gets thrown into the mix. As soon as I pick up Orion, I see Apollo look at me and I can almost envision the wheels turning in his head as he plans a strategy to get me to put Orion back down. This will often involve climbing on to my lap, trying to wiggle his way in-between Orion and myself and putting his head or a toy in front of my face to block my view of his baby brother. When we call yiayia and papa on Skype, Apollo will act completely uninterested and he won't talk or be very engaging. As soon as we turn the camera towards Orion, it is a whole different story. Apollo will run across the room, and get in between the computer and Orion; "Thats my yiayia!" From these stories, it may sound like we don't pay enough attention to Apollo. The opposite is actually true. We go to great lengths to make sure we pay extra specially attention to him. Mel and I both spend one on one time with Apollo and we also involve him with helping out with his baby brother.
  As I was writing the paragraph above, I heard Melanie's muffled voice down the hall. That could mean only one thing at 7:30am. I hurried down the hall. Knowing that Apollo was awake, as I entered the room, I called to him, "Come on Apollo, lets leave mama alone." "Your too late", came an obviously irritated mother, "he already woke me up and the baby!" (Typical weekend morning). As I looked at Apollo to see his reaction, he stated very solemnly, "Mama and me are being mad at each other." As any father would do to try to diffuse the situation, I burst into laughter. I chuckled about this all morning.

 I love the unexpected laughs Apollo gives me. There is a certain naughtiness that comes with the three year old mentality and I am man enough to admit that I can totally relate to it. It is all about cause and effect, and testing the waters. Your own words are regurgitated back at you with an air of defiance. Sarcasm is well developed, and an integral part of nearly every comment. And every action deserves a very dramatic reaction. We are in the process of setting some boundaries with Apollo, especially in regards to inappropriate language. Butt, stupid, fart, and poop...all words he picked up from his big brothers and their friend, are used in abundance. It is worse than potty training to get them to stop using these words and phrases, especially when he thinks it is so funny, and it always makes his brothers laugh. You can imagine our horror when in the grocery he spots off with, "Your butt stinks!" or, "Mama, your a farter!" and then bursts into laughter. Yes, this has happened...several times. I am sure you can imagine the looks we get. We are making progress with adjusting his language, mostly by explaining to him how it is bad manners and that he can hurt peoples feelings with his words, and when he uses those words it sounds very ugly and offensive. Actually, what is really working is the fact that he loses a favorite toy for a week when ever he uses one of these words.

   Apollo is fully aware that these words are inappropriate. The funny part to me is that as soon as he says a word that he knows he shouldn't have used, he will very mockingly do an impersonation of my voice by trying to talk in a deep serious tone, while putting a scowl on his face, "Hey! we don't say that" and promptly start laughing.
    Of course with all the bad there is a greater amount of good. Apollos vocabulary is extensive. On occasion, there is a word he can not quite pronounce. Apollo will alter the word to his liking, and the resulting word is often hilarious. Part of learning manners, is learning not to interrupt. "Apollo, your interrupting me!", to which he will smugly reply, "No! Your inter corrupting me!"

The evil fog.

  Mother nature has unleashed her fall splendor upon the vineyards. The ebb and flow of color as it moves across one vineyard to another creates an ever changing canvas of unparalleled beauty. I mentioned in my last post that fall is not one of my favorite seasons. I have to clarify that I do love the beauty of the fall colors and I anticipate them each year here in wine country, however, it is the shorter days, longer nights, and cooler weather that I am not fond of. The rains begin to fall this time of year as well, which I do enjoy. We have had 2 inches in October and 1 5/8 inches in November thus far. The rains bring up the green grasses between the rows of grape vines adding to the spectacular color pallet. 

  As with most toddlers, Apollo relishes rainy days as it gives him a reason to wear his green alligator rain boots (not that he ever really needed a reason).  Melanie keeps her iPad propped up beside our bed. She has an alarm clock app that not only shows the time, but also shows the weather, using a sun or moon and clouds. Apollo will awaken at any given time of the night, and peer at the iPad; "Is the sun coming up yet?" he whispers. "Not yet, go back to sleep." I reply. As will often happen this time of year, the icon for the moon or sun will have clouds either completely blocking out the moon or sun, or wisps of clouds in front of them, only partially concealing them. Apollo looks for these cues to the weather. "But dada, the evil fog is hiding the sun! Is the sun going to burn off the evil fog so we can get up?" It is at this point that Melanie will kick us both out of bed and out of the room. In her defense, it usually is between 5:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. when this happens.  The 'evil fog' is a name that I provided Apollo with; after all... fog is evil!  

Apollo, has mastered the art of talking back and sarcasm. There is no waiting until his teenage years for this kid. I enjoy hearing him use my phrases on his brothers (and to some degree, his mother) and in general conversation. "I will come over there!", "Busted!"(when Melanie calls one of the teens), "It's the police!" (when someone is at the door), "You don't love me!"(when asked to do something he doesn't want to do), "Don't make me shove this in your mouth!"(When he offers to share some food with you). 

  I can also figure out what has been going on around the house while I am away at work, by the phrase Apollo uses that he did not get from me. Recently, upon arriving home from work, I was bantering with Apollo and teasing him a bit. You can imagine my surprise when he spouted off, "Dada! Quit being an ASS!" Actually, It came out the way Apollo heard it, "Quit being a nasst!" As much as I would like to blame Melanie, this has Ian and Aden written all over it. (I am leaning more towards Aden as he does not always enunciate) 

Orion, is all smiles and giggles. He
squeals, screams and coos, and he smiles as soon as he sees his mom or dad. There is something very comforting about your infants voice (when they are not crying that is). My favorite thing is hearing Apollo laughing hysterically and Orion giggling at the same time. A child's laughter is infectious and fills the home with more warmth than the a fireplace. Orion rolls over like crazy now and is very proud of himself and his new found talent. He hates his car seat, hates riding in the car, but loves his swing, and loves music and singing. He is active and wiggly, yet loves to cuddle.
   There is nothing that I treasure or value more than my boys. I can not imagine a moment with out them. I look at Apollo and I can't believe how much of a little man he is becoming. His eyes are filled with wonder and excitement. Every moment is a victory or a tragedy. There is no grey area at this age. He wants to be completely independent yet he wants you to do everything for him. He is strong willed, yet giving and caring. He is amazingly insightful and perceptive and at times seems to have wisdom beyond his years. Just as I begin to panic inside that he is growing up way too fast, Apollo will turn to me, "Dada, I want to hold you." Crawl up into my arms, yawn, close his eyes and lay his head on my shoulder, and fall fast asleep...This son has burned off my evil fog.

A real bumble bee

Don't let Apollo and Orion's serious
looks fool you; they really were
having a great time.

  As a parent of a newborn and a toddler, it is easy to find all the things that make your baby unique, special, and just plain better than everyone else's baby. I know this to be true as I find myself doing this very thing. Truth be told, every baby, not just my own, is unique, and special, and yes, better than everyone else's baby. It is these feelings that endear us to our offspring and create a bond that is strong enough to get us through their teenage years. Well, at least Melanie says this keeps her from strangling our teens.
  As for Apollo, his memory, perception, comprehension, language skills, sarcasm, stubbornness and sense of humor, are the traits that stand out and make him so amazingly special to me. It is incredible to see how much of a persons personality is already preprogrammed and is manifesting itself at the first weeks and months of life. Having a newborn in the house has caused me to reflect back on Apollo as an infant. That kid was stubborn from his first breath. So many of his traits as an infant are present three and a half years later. I never thought that those first few months were painting a picture of Apollo's personality. It is funny to me when I look at his life in reverse, how the very basic personality traits were already there in the first month or two after his birth. In many ways, he has not changed at all. This bit of insight has allowed me to open up my mind to the blank canvas that is Orion, and watch as the colors and brush strokes begin to paint his personality portrait.

  As Halloween has recently passed, I would like to share with you a peek into the mind of Apollo. Around early September, Apollo began to speak about 'dressing up' for the 'costume time'. Somehow, he knew (here is that memory I mentioned) that Halloween was coming up. He talked about a few different ideas that he had for costumes. One day, out of the blue, Apollo declared that he wanted to be a bumble bee for the 'costume time'. My initial thought was "Awesome! Bumble Bee from the transformer movies! Super easy...that is one of the hottest kid costumes of the year!" This made perfect sense to me since he has a Bumble Bee Transformer car that was one of his favorite cars at that time. I grabbed his toy car and my lap top, and quickly pulled up a picture of the Transformer Bumble Bee costume; "Is this the Bumble Bee costume you want?" I started. "NO!", Apollo snapped back, " I want to be a REAL bumble bee, not that bumble bee, and baby brother can be a baby bee and Remi (our dog) can be a bee, and you can be the daddy bee and mommy can be the Queen Bee."

 Okay, I must admit that I was a bit perplexed at this point; mostly because I have no idea where he got this idea. Granted, we own the Disney Pixar Bee movie, but it is not one of Apollo's favorites and he had not watched it in months. Had we gone with his favorite characters, he would have been Dora and I would have been Boots, or possibly Lightning McQueen and Mater from the movie Cars. Maybe it was a documentary on bees or insects...the point is, I have no clue where he came up with this idea. When I asked Apollo what made him think of this, his reply was simple, "I just like to fly." I am sure this comes from his flying dreams. A good friend once shared a quote on Facebook that sums this up; "Flying dreams mean that your doing the right thing with your life." ~ Doug Coupland (Thank you Annie Mac!) It's been a while since I have had flying dreams of my own, maybe its time to make some changes.
  I would like to tell you that it is hard to find bumble bee costumes for little boys. There are lots of choices for little girls, but for boys, not so much. All said and done, we did go with the bumble bee theme. the only changes we made were that I was a bee keeper and Melanie was a bee hive...it seemed all too fitting.
  Orion is the smiliest, happiest baby ever. He seems to laugh and smile nonstop now while he is awake. His little legs and arms are constantly in motion as if he is running.  He is most content when he is in an upright position, either propped up sitting or dangling off the front of his mom. He is laid back and easy to please, as long as you keep moving.

 Orion is soothed very easy by singing to him. Apollo would get mad (and still does) if he didn't like the song you were singing. Orion has discovered his voice and is trying out various vocalizations and screams. He is able to reach out and grab hold of an item in front of himself, and has just started to roll over from his back to his front. He could have been rolling over for weeks now, but that would require that he is laid down to spend some time on his own. Melanie claims that he is way too cute not to hold all day long...and then accuses me of being the one that spoils him...

Okay, I think we are both guilty of being spoilers, but look at this face, how can you set this little guy down when all he does is smile and laugh at you?

La Fiesta!

Cutest cousins taking a walk

  The air has began to hold the chill of fall in the morning hours of the day. Wisps of fog stream across the vineyards like fingers on a hand attempting to pull the green from the leaves, as the sun crests the eastern hills surrounding Santa Rosa. The days are noticeable shorter now. Gold, yellow, magenta, crimson, red, orange and all the colors of fall are just beginning to work their way into the vineyards and deciduous plants and trees that cover the valleys and hills here; a preview of the explosion of fall colors that will paint the landscape in the month of November. I will admit that fall is not my favorite season, however, the show of colors here in wine country, really has given me a new perspective on this season...and the 75 to 80 degree days this time of year, are hard to beat.
  Apollo's Aunt Emily and cousin Olivia, flew down from Seattle this past week for a visit to meet Orion for the first time. Olivia is ten months younger than Apollo and is the only cousin he has that is close to the same age as he is. Apollo loves these visits and the two cousins are inseparable while they are together. To better understand Olivia, let me paint a brief picture of her family, the Ko family, and her home...from my perspective of course. Emily is very soft spoken, and quiet. Dennis, Olivia's dad, is quiet as well and both parents present themselves as laid back. Even their dog Zoey is "low key" while hanging out in the house. Pre-Olivia, The Ko house was like being in a library. Enter Olivia... Can you say "Tasmanian Devil"? I mean that in the most loving and cartoonistic sort of way. Full of energy, slightly naughty, and always in motion; just picture the Tasmanian Devil in a library and that is how I imagine Olivia at home. That said, Olivia is one of the cutest and sweetest little girls ever.

  I wanted to paint this picture of her to help explain how she wore Apollo out while she was here. I love watching the two of them interact, and enjoyed seeing the things they learn from each other. I also love seeing the similarities in a few of the personality traits that they share, giving credence to the statements I often make that Apollo's stubbornness and the fits come from Melanie's side of the family. Yes, I did just mention a few paragraphs earlier, that Emily is quiet and soft spoken, but that is only because she has mastered the art of self control and keeps her self in check; I happen to know the breeding stock, after all, I am married to her sister.

Olivia, Melanie (with Orion strapped to the front of her, Emily, and Apollo

  Since the birth of Orion, Apollo has become acutely aware that he is "big" now, at least compared to his baby brother. I used to call Apollo, "little guy", but now I am corrected with, "I am not a little guy, I am a big guy now!" Still, he is very aware that he has to get bigger to be as tall as brothers and dada. On a recent trip to a local hispanic grocery store, Apollo (sitting on my shoulders of course) noticed some items hanging from the ceiling; "Those are pinata's dada! They are for the fiesta. What are they doing here? You are supposed to hit them with a stick...can you reach them since I am not tall enough?" To which I replied, "Apollo you are taller than me. You can reach them better than I can." I could feel Apollo stiffen up on my shoulders as he was angered by my answer; "Just because I am UP TOP, does NOT make me taller than YOU! I have to grow up FIRST to be TALLER!" Yes, not only did he put me in my place for insulting his intelligence, but he did so with Melanie's angered vocal inflections. As if this wasn't humiliating enough, I believe that Apollo tried to gouge my eyes out after this while demanding; "You reach the pinata's RIGHT, NOW!" (Once again, Mel's side of the family)

 
  Orion is coming along nicely. I admit that it is hard for me to interact with him for long periods of time at this age, as after about 15 minutes are so, he is looking for his mom and his next meal. I remember that with Apollo, it took until he was about 4 1/2 months old before he really enjoyed hanging out and interacting with his dad. Not to say that I dont enjoy every second of this little guy, I do, I just don't enjoy the fact that he needs to eat and I have nothing to offer.
  Orion has advanced from big smiles to laughing. There is nothing cuter than your infant smiling and laughing at you. It is the reward you get for having to change those nasty diapers. Orion will even smile and laugh while I change his diapers. I am quite sure that he is laughing at me,  more than just offering a smile of thanks. It could be the theatrics I offer up through gagging and telling him how disgusting he is for soiling himself. I imagine that his laughter is his way of saying, "Ha! Look who has to clean it up!"

"Silly Dada!"

Grandma Banana, Melly, Apollo, and Orion

The best way to ensure that family will come visit you, is to have a baby. I don't recommend having one just to lure the family in, but when a newborn arrives, everyone wants to meet him. September brought us Melanie's mom (or Grandma Banana, or Banana Nana), Melanie's sister Cassie and her husband Steven, and we finished the month off with a visit from Uncle Gooch.  We cherish every minute we have with our family members and wish we had more visits and for longer periods of time.  

Cassie, Steven, and Orion

Apollo is enjoying all the attention. He is fairly certain that everyone is coming to see him, and not his baby brother. It has been a great distraction for Apollo and he loves having all the extra people to boss around.


  Orion just had his 2 month check up. He weighed in at 13lbs 12oz, which puts him in the 89th percentile for weight. He is 23" long, which puts him the 51st percentile for length. He also received 3 vaccines that day. a few hours later, the poor little guy was crying incessantly from the soreness caused by the tetanus vaccine. Thank goodness for baby tylenol! Orion returned to his normal, smiley, happy self be the next morning.

  I am constantly entertained by Apollo's antics. He loves to banter, which he gets from his mom, and has a defiant sarcasm, that came from yours truly. I find this very entertaining, yet I know I will pay for  this when Apollo is older. I enjoy listening to Apollo talk. I love his voice and his vocal inflections. I love the phrases that he comes up with and the off the wall things he says. Apollo loves to ride on my shoulders. He will demand, "I want to go up top!" when he wants a ride. In a recent one on one conversation with Apollo sitting on my shoulders, while I was grilling corn on the BBQ, I told Apollo, "I have to check on the corn. If I burn it, mama will get really mad." 

 "I get really mad too." he replied. "you do?", I asked. "Yup... at mama." "When do you get mad at mama?" I inquired. "When she says 'no' to Dora." 

  In honor of Cassie, I have to mention her favorite Apollo saying; "I am going to put this car in my pocket for safe keeping." 

  Thanks to Uncle Gooch (and his ipad apps) Apollo's favorite saying is now, "Kiss my nice, feathery, butt!" 

Apollo and Uncle Gooch
flying a helicopter

I will let Melanie explain that one away to other parents, while I sit back and laugh. 

  

  As a parent, you try to provide words for your toddler to use as a means of expressing himself. One of the words I have provided Apollo with is "Silly". I will call him this when he is having a fit about something, or acting in up. The pay off now is that Apollo uses this word at the end of a sentence when he is "calling you out" on your nonsense. As Melanie puts it, he is using the word "silly" in the place of "idiot" since he has not learned the word "idiot" yet, however, the context is the same. Thanks to this bit of insight, whenever I here Apollo say "silly", I replace it with "idiot" (in my mind) and enjoy the fruits of my labors: "Thats not how you do it, silly!", That doesn't go there silly!", "I want the blue one, silly!", "Brothers are being silly, can you be rough with them?"

At the end of the day, I can't wait to get home and see my boy's. I anticipate the laughter, wrestling, teasing, stories, and conversations with Apollo. It does not matter how bad or long my day may have been, my mood is changed the moment I am greeted when I come through the door; "DADA'S HOME!" Apollo will yell out in excitement, with a broad smile that light's up his whole face...even his eye's are smiling. Then comes the giggles and the 'galloping toddler run', as he sprints across the room and leaps into my waiting arms. "Silly dada, I missed you so much!", Apollo proclaims....Silly dada? Hmmmmm.....?

What you looking at?

Orion's first camping trip

  I am the type of person that can find beauty almost anywhere, from the smallest insect to an amazing landscape. Even within a city like Los Angeles, a fledgling palm tree escaping the confines of a crack in the concrete, holds a certain amount of beauty and promise, in a seemingly toxic wasteland of pollution and population, and the ugliness of human kind. Nothing, however, can compare to the beauty I have found in my baby boys.
  I was unprepared for the wealth of emotion I feel by how amazing and precious these lives are, that I helped create. I find myself awake at night peering through the darkness of the night, illuminated only by a small nightlight in the corner of the room, at my perfect boys. Watching their chests rise and fall and listening to the soft sounds of their breath. Eyelids twitching as they dream.  I study every inch of their faces and watch the subtle expressions change in response to the pictures in their minds eye.

A boy and his dog; Apollo and Remi.

  I see so much of myself in Apollo's personality, not so much how I was as a child but more of how I am today.  I see a lot of Melanie as well, although Apollo is definitely an individual unto himself. I love seeing the contributions that we made, that were apparently preprogrammed, only to manifest themselves at the opportune time. I like to play a game with Apollo called "How did you get so cute?" I have tried to instill the answer into his young mind so his response would be second nature; "Two parts dada, and one part mama", I will tell him, hoping he will repeat it on cue. As Apollo is too smart to play along with this, he will instead say, "I am just Apollo!" The icing on the cake for me was in a recent set up of this question, Apollo decided to play along and responded with, "Two parts dada, one part mama, and all Apollo."
  My favorite Apollo saying this month as he was trying to console his crying baby brother while we were driving down the road; "Oh my gosh baby brother! Don't do the shaky lip! It makes dada really sad!"

Hanging off my mom...life is good

  Ah yes...baby brother. At seven weeks old, Orion is packing on some size. He is a healthy eater, and an easy baby. He is sleeping between 4 and 6 hours at night (for) now. His awake time has lengthened, along with the amount of time he can stand being separated from his mom, and he may actually smile at you  if the mood strikes him.
 Its about the time a baby starts smiling that you notice they can see things that we can not. I am talking about how they will smile and interact with someone in the corner of the room that is not there. Its kind of creepy when your infant looks over your shoulder and starts smiling and giggling. You can move your head to block their line of sight or turn them away from where they are looking, and they will twist and turn to gaze back where they were before. I have looked over my shoulder more than a few times expecting to see someone there. Its something you have to experience to believe, and maybe I am reading more into something than I need to be, but if you have seen an infant do this, you know how bizarre it is.
 I first recognized this phenomenon with Apollo, but I had forgotten about it until Orion started to do the same thing. It seems to be an intermittent behavior that disappears around four or five months. If only they could speak at this age, I would ask, "what you looking at?"...Alas, this question would be futile. Instead I opt to borrow one of Apollo's phrases; "You're creeping me out!"