Bath time for Power Rangers and Nighloks

 "Bath time boys!" Melanie calls out, her voice weary from a day full of cranky kids.
  Squeals of delight echo through the house as little footsteps scamper down the hall. Apollo has half his clothing stripped off by the time he reaches the door to the bathroom. Orion, unable to remove his own clothing, opts for trying to climb into the bath with his clothes and shoes still on. Melanie quickly scoops him up and starts peeling off his clothing, all the while Orion is kicking his legs back and forth in an effort to help get his pants off quickly, still vocalizing with delight.
  This is our nightly routine and typically the one time during the day when Apollo and Orion are guaranteed to have fun together. The sound of splashing and laughing uncontrollably fills the house. Water begins to cover the bathroom floor saturating the towels laid there for this very reason.
  This is one of the great rewards of fatherhood; watching your sons play, interact, make up games, and form a bond that will last forever.

                      ~

   Orion is shear joy. He is quick to smile, laugh, flirt, and play. There is passion in every step he takes. Music sends him into dance mode instantly, and he will squeal with excitement at the littlest things, yet he is insanely stubborn and prone to melt-downs when he doesn't get his way. The transition into the "terrible two's" has begun and from the sampling of tantrums that he has provided us with, I am sure Orion will surpass Apollo's benchmark of all that is unholy about toddlers.

   Orion is a great communicator. His vocabulary is building rapidly and his words and sentences are becoming clearer. His voice inflections often carry as much meaning as his words can provide. He sees and understands everything. At 19 months, his perception has exceeded that of his teenage brothers. He knows where every phone, cell phone, laptop, iPad, and computer is in our house. He is inseparable with Melanie's cell phone and walks around with it for hours at a time. After weeks of hiding my laptop in different drawers, and Orion always finding it for me, I have resorted to placing items on the top of one of three pieces of furniture in our house that are taller than six feet high, the refrigerator being one of them. I fear that it wont be long before he figures a way to reach on top of the fridge.

                           ~

  Apollo has made his peace with having a younger brother. As Orion has gotten older, Apollo has found that his little brother can be quite fun. Still, Apollo cant help being a big brother. He is both mentor and tormentor. Hero and villain. Protector and persecutor. Overall, Apollo means well, but he sure enjoys creating a bit of chaos. As Power Rangers Samurai is Apollo's favorite super hero show, he often pretends to be the Blue Power Ranger. Orion is sometimes a Power Ranger as well (at Apollo's bidding) and other times he is appointed a Nighlok; The Power Rangers Samurai's enemy.

  "Orion is a Nighlok today." Apollo announces, while swinging a foam sword around in the bath.

"A Nighlok? What kind of Nighlok is he?" I ask.

"Well, he is a weaner Nighlok, because he likes to play with his ding-ding."

Not what I expected to hear, but I have to give him an "A" for creativity.  

Where the heart is

  Not much more than a decade ago, my world was a much simpler place. I had only myself to worry about. I worked my ass off by day, and played hard at night and on weekends. A big part of me wanted time to stop so nothing in my life would change. My biggest challenge in life back then was getting to the drop zone early enough on friday evening to make the sunset load to kick off my weekend. For the next 48 hours, I would literally fall off the radar (pun intended). The summer weekends at Skydive Oregon were incredible. I would turn off my cell phone and forget about work and the outside world. I would jump all day and spend the evenings partying well into the wee hours of the morning with an amazing group of friends. After a few hours of sleep, I would stumble out of my tent or trailer as the first rays of sun light fell across the runway, and would do it all over again.

  It was a magical time in my life. Selfish, and self-serving? of course it was. I do miss those days immensely, but I have to say the only thing I would trade that for is my little family. It is more work than I could have ever imagined. I don't think I have had a decent nights sleep in the nearly five years since Apollo was born. I cant remember the last time I took time for just myself. To get a spare moment to write a blog usually only happens late at night or early in the morning while everyone else is sleeping. Being sleep deprived, I am often falling asleep mid sentence while typing, only to wake up to a couple hundred comma's. But the part that is hard to convey is the amazing satisfaction and deep seeded love that I feel when in the presence of my sons. I am greeted daily when I get home from work from giggling boys running and hiding, or wanting me to chase them around the house or yard, just to scoop them up laughing hardily, and have their little arms wrap around my neck and hug me tightly. It is a just reward for the endless sacrifices made on their behalf.
 It is through the light that shines from Apollo and Orion that I can see how lucky I am to have such a beautiful and wonderful wife. I am fortunate enough that she gave me the most precious gift that a man can ask for. My sacrifices pale in comparison to the sacrifices that she has made for me and our sons, and for this I am forever grateful.
  Happy Valentines Day Melanie.

Zip it

There are certain things in a boys life that are in essence a right of passage. As a father, I try to warn Apollo about some of these events when they become age appropriate. It is inevitable that these things will come to pass, and I feel I can lessen the blow by forewarning my boys. This is one such story.
  ~Apollo, when you stumble across this story as a teenager, you will probably be very upset. With a few years of therapy and when you reach your mid to late twenties, hopefully you will forgive me for sharing this.~

  It was a dark and not so stormy night. By his mood, I could tell that Apollo was extra tired. Everything was a travesty. It had been a long day for him; up early, no naps, and full of running and playing. When he gets to this stage, we have learned that the best thing to do, is get him into bed. It was 8:30pm, and normally, this is early for him, but the symptoms told a different story. I took Apollo to his room, and he had brought along with him, his mothers’ Ipad. He was playing a game on it. I asked him to get into his “jammies”, which he did begrudgingly not wanting to stop in the middle of his game.

   It is important to note that Apollo’s pajamas are the full body type with the feet built into them. Apollo never liked these type of pajamas when he was younger. He hated to have his feet covered up. Consequently, we have never put him in these type of pj’s before. I guess that after watching Orion wear the “foot Jammies” every night for so long has changed Apollo’s mind. On a recent trip to Costco, Apollo spotted some “foot Jammies” in his size. “I want these!” he proclaimed with excitement. Wouldn’t you know it, he loves them. Having only two pairs, he is upset when both pairs are dirty and has to wear regular pajamas.

  Once Apollo had his jammies on, he started to play his game again. “Apollo, you need to go use the bathroom before you go to bed,” I told him. Okay, truth be told, I am not that formal with him. That is how Melanie would like me to talk to our boys. In reality I said, “Apollo, you need to go empty your ding-ding.” (Yes, “ding-ding” is what we call...it.) “My ding-ding is NOT full!” Apollo protested. “You need to go and try to empty it anyways. We are going to bed, so you need to at least try,” I replied. After a few minutes of Apollo debating with me, even to the point of almost breaking down in tears, he admitted that he thought Orion, would steal the ipad if he left it in the room. “Then take it with you, Apollo,” I reassured him. Off he went to the restroom, which happens to be right next to his room, with ipad in hand. The door closes. In the meantime, I am wrestling around with Orion on the bed, waiting for Apollo to return. About two minutes had lapsed, and then I hear Apollo yell out in distress, and can hear him jumping up and down. No words, just crying out. This is not unusually, for Apollo if he is extremely tired. The smallest mishap turns into a giant one. What popped into my mind at that moment is that he dropped his moms, ipad in the toilet, and was so upset that he couldn’t think to grab it and pull it out. I am also thinking about the wrath that Melanie will unleash upon me when she finds out that I allowed her ipad to get ruined.

  I race to the bathroom door, grab the handle and burst inside. I scan the room for the ipad, all the while Apollo is jumping up and down wailing. I spot the ipad on the counter, safe and dry. Perplexed, I turn to Apollo, “What, what, what!” Still jumping up and down and a look of horror on his face, Apollo brings his right hand around to his stomach level, and points down urgently. I then realize that his jammies are open and zipped up to his ding-ding, where he caught some skin! “Ouch! Okay, hold still!” quickly grabbing the fabric of this pajamas, and the zipper, and with a light tug, he was free. I zipped him up properly, and scooped up my defeated little man, who crumpled onto my shoulder, and carried him to his room to console him.

  The thing is, I have been warning Apollo for over a year, that that this would happen, and he needed to exercise caution when “zipping up”. I did not offer him an “I told you so,” Just held him while he whimpered and told him that he would be okay. I told him that I did this several times when I was his age and that back then, the zippers were all made of metal and did some real damage. Apollo escaped unscathed, with only his pride damaged.

  As Melanie was not at home when this occurred, I forgot to tell her about it that night. A couple days later, I remembered the incident and began to tell her about it while Apollo was in the room with us. “Oh Apollo, I am so sorry that happened to you. Dada told you that this would happen someday,” Melanie said empathetically to Apollo, “It must have been scary for you, huh?”

Apollo turned towards me.

“Zip it, dada! I don’t want to talk about it!” he snapped.

January Friends

 The echoing sound of songbirds squabbling as they dart in and out of the palm trees, bounce off the concrete buildings and asphalt pavement beneath my feet, as I step out of my work truck. If I close my eyes for a moment, I am far away from here... from where I am standing. If only for a second, it is magic. I block out everything else but the sweet melody of those dozen or so, feathered messengers promising that spring time is just around the corner. It is music to my ears; a momentary transcendence from the urban sprawl and sound of cars passing by on the nearby 101 freeway. I open my eyes and find K-mart standing before me. The usual "riff-raff" standing out front, a homeless man sprawled across the sidewalk warming himself in the late morning sun, and the occasional car racing through the parking lot in a hurry to go nowhere. I take a deep breath, hold it in for a moment, and let it out with a sigh, then head across the parking lot.
  Obviously the birds are completely unaffected by their surroundings. I wish I could say the same. I hurry in and out of the store and find that I am mildly irritated at the otherwise uneventful experience. I am not sure if it was the 40% higher price that I had to pay for the item that I needed, the slow moving cashier, or the solemn demeanor of the store employees. Needless to say, I was glad to be out of there and on my way. If not for the store's proximity to my work and the occasional urgent need of my daycare providing spouse in distress, I would avoid this place altogether.

 The day wears on and fades into night, and Apollo and Orion's voice have been reduced to slow and rhythmic slumbering breath, my mind returns to those birds. So excited, vibrant, playful and happy they were.  It reminded me of Apollo and Orion; playing carelessly, and not a worry in the world to trouble their  little minds. They feel safe. They know they are taken care of and every concern they have revolves around what they are feeling at a particular moment. They are not plagued by the daily news, or the burdens of paying bills, juggling finances, career, and family. It would be nice to be that carefree again, and I believe I would be much closer to a carefree state if it were not for my amazing boys. They are the reason I keep doing everything that I do. The pay off is that I get to watch them grow, and I get to be reckless and carefree through them.

  Orion has become quite expressive, when he is not smiling that is. He has a scowl that rivals that of his mother's. He stomps his foot when he is mad, and in cases of extreme discontent, he throws himself to the floor and has a few moves that resemble break dancing! (Foreshadowing the terrible 2's, I assume). But most of the time, he is happy and full of energy. Orion has a strange relationship with our dog Remi. He is the only kid, under 10 years of age, that can get Remi to play with him enthusiastically. Remi turns his nose up at other kids, including Apollo, but for some reason, Orion has the body language that illicit's a response in Remi that sends him into doggie manic mode. As Remi is an only dog now,  he has become selective in what foods he will eat from the floor or from a persons hands. If its not cheese, meat, or meat flavored he is not interested. But for some reason, he will eat all kinds of things that Orion offers him. He will eat a whole pack of graham-crackers, one bite at a time when fed by Orion, but I can offer him a graham-cracker at the same time and Remi will turn his nose up at me. The irony is that Orion is rough on Remi. He is not gentle like Apollo is. He pulls his hair, smacks him, and even lays on top of him and pulls his whiskers. Remi growls, and at times will give Orion a little nibble to back him down. But, as soon as food is involved, the two of them are best friends again.

 Orion continues to amaze us with what he comprehends and how he communicates his needs. He will do simple tasks that are asked of him because he understands what is being asked. My new favorite words that he has learned this month so far are, 'noodles' and 'Apollo.'
Orion moment of the week: While signing for milk, he says, "I wan' mull!" (I want milk). I do as ordered, pour milk in a sippy cup and slide it across the counter to Orion. A scowl forms across his brow, he shakes his head slightly from side-to-side, "No!...Cocow!" he demands, pushing his cup back to me. Cocow=Chocolate.

   I love the stages that both boys are at, but the fact that Apollo is now capable of carrying on long conversations which adds a new level to our relationship. He wants to know about everything, and has a great memory, but it is the drama and random comments that keep me laughing.
 With an extremely serious look on his face, and an 'official' tone to his voice, Apollo cocks his head to one side and says, "Dada, Xavier's house and school are both broken, so he wont be coming back to our house for a while."
I begin to chuckle, "what?" I ask wondering where this is leading.

"Dada, I'm serious, so you can't laugh, okay?" shaking his slightly cocked head slowly from side-to-side but keeping his eyes locked with mine, "you cant laugh. It's very serious."

"Okay," I agreed, fighting back the laughter, then excused myself to the next room so I could burst into laughter. Of course none of what he said was true. It was just a random story concocted by his friend, Xavier, but Apollo was so sincere because he truly believed he wouldn't see his friend for a while.
 Apollo moment of the week: On a recent after hours trip to my office, Apollo was asking me about my two computer screens and what was on each one and why. I was busy doing something and when I turned around, he was entering numbers into a spread sheet. "What are you doing Apollo?" I enquired. Apollo replied very matter-of-factly "I'm making money."

The Alpha and Omega

 It has been three years since I started this blog. A lot has changed in that time. I started the blog as a way to share my experiences from my perspective raising Apollo, with my family and friends. At that time, I never thought there would be an Orion. One kid was more than enough for me and I never expected that to change, yet here we are with another little miracle turning our lives upside down.
  I originally named the blog Apple G after the name that Apollo was calling himself at 20 months old. It has come time to rename the blog to honor both Apollo and Orion since Orion has unexpectedly joined our little family and has graced the pages of my blog for 2 years now (pregnancy included).

  To understand the new name for the blog, Alpha and Omega, let me explain how we picked the names, Apollo and Orion. When picking a name for Apollo before he was born, we wanted a Greek name to pay homage to my Greek heritage. It was hard to pick between traditional Greek names, and family Greek names. We wanted a name that would stand out but not be too strange. Greek mythology was the key; we found the name Apollo, and it was perfect.
  When Orion came along and we learned that we were having another boy, we decided that we would need to find another name with the same parameters that would go along with Apollo. After all, we couldn't have Ian, Aden, Apollo, and Steve ( or Phil, or Mike, or Dave.) As all three older boys had vowels for their first letter of their names, it seemed only natural that we would need another name that started with a vowel as well.

When we came across the name Orion, it was equally as perfect. It came from Greek mythology, had the same amount of syllables as Apollo, started with a vowel, and since Apollo was my firstborn and Orion would be my last, they aligned themselves with the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; Alpha and Omega. It may sound a little silly, but these are actually all the things we considered in picking Orion's name.
                     ~
  So here it is, 2013; new blog title, new adventures and new beginnings. 2012 was a pivotal year for us. We started the year thinking that we may pick up and move again.
As the year unfolded, we decided to stick around until at least Ian and Aden were out of high school, and look for new and creative ways to change some of the things that made us think about moving in the first place while taking advantage of where we live. As we go forward, I will shed some light on our newest quest as they begin to unfold.

 We closed out 2012 with a camping trip to the coast to celebrate our 8 year anniversary and at the same time reflect on the year that ended and talk about the year to come. With a new perspective, new adventures, and amazing children that shape each and everyday, we welcome the new year with open arms.
Happy New Year!

A perfect Christmas eve

  I must admit that I love Christmas. I always have. I can still remember the magic and excitement that I felt as a young child. It was nearly unbearable on Christmas eve and in the predawn hours of Christmas day as my brother and I snooped around the tree to see what presents Santa had left for us. The world seemed so much simpler then. I can still close my eyes and see the house I grew up in like it was yesterday; Avocado green paint, wood shingled roof, and red brick accents. Multi-colored Christmas lights line the roof, and a white plastic, lighted nativity set sits under the eaves of a dormer over the living room. A painted plywood Santa with his green toy sack slung over his shoulder is attached to the chimney. It seemed that nearly every house had Christmas lights on them back in those days. Four decades have passed since my earliest memories of Christmas, some of them are still very vivid. They world has changed a lot since then. Its not as innocent as it once was, and everyone is trying to be politically correct these days so as not to offend someone; "Merry Christmas" has become "Happy Holidays," Christmas vacation has become winter break, and so on.

  Still, we try to share the magic of Christmas with our children. Apollo is old enough that he gets really excited for Christmas now, Santa Claus aside. He has no love for Santa. He finds him scary and only wants Santa's reindeer to bring him presents. This sets the stage for a month of teasing and joking about going to see Santa or moving to Christmas. "I will only go and see Santa if he has Rudolph with him!" he proclaims.
  Apollo is an incredible negotiator. He will try to negotiate his way out of his annual Santa picture. This year, he has decided that he wont be afraid of Santa when he is 10, but if we didn't make him go see Santa this year, then he would agree to go see him when he was 7 or 8. "You can go see Santa for me and tell him what I want for Christmas, dada."
  Orion is still too young to be affected by Christmas in any way, but he does enjoy a good party especially when it involves ripping open packages.

  This was the first year that we didn't spend Christmas with extended family. We chose to stay home with just our kids, and we had no family over. It was actually quite nice. We took Apollo and Orion on a Christmas eve tour of the neighborhood to look at all the Christmas lights and decorations. We decorated our bikes and the bike trailer with battery powered lights, bundled up the kids and headed out into the brisk winter air. Yes, I said brisk, and at 45°, that is brisk for Santa Rosa :).  Upon returning home, Melanie made hot chocolate and served them with candy canes. Orion fell to sleep soon after, and Apollo and I curled up on the couch together and watched Polar Express. About half way through the movie, Apollo's eyes grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep. It was a perfect Christmas eve.

800 days

It's official! Melanie has informed me that Apollo is by far the naughtiest child that she has ever had...I couldn't be prouder! That means that my genes coupled with my parenting skills are paying off!!
  I do need to clarify a bit though; it's not that he is a bad kid, he is just very commanding, demanding, and passionate about his opinions, thoughts, and feelings. He can be a handful at times and may need to be brought back down to reality, however, he really is an awesome kid with a wild imagination. But instead of running with the naughtiest kid in the world theme, I want to tell you one of Apollo's more endearing sides and leave the funny stories for another day.
  I can honestly say that Apollo looks forward to spending as much time as he can with me. Every night at bed time, without fail, Apollo asks me, "Are you going to be here in the morning?"
 My usual answer is, "No, I have to work in the morning."
 "Aaaaaaawe, I wanted you to be here in the morning when I wake up," he will reply in disappointment.
  Apollo had worked out the details on how I could stay home with him. He would often say something like, "I want mama to go to work  so you can stay home with me."
   Dont take that statement to mean that Apollo doesn't like to hang out with his mom, because he really does like hanging out with her, he just doesn't get to hang out with his dad as much as he would like. And lets face it, I am the fun one and mama is the disciplinarian.
   I usually respond to Apollo by telling him that I need to go to work so I can pay for our house, cars, food, bills, camping and other fun things. One night I explained to Apollo that his mama needs to stay home so she can take care of Mungie, wash our clothes, make us nice things to eat, and just to take care of all of us so we have a nice place to live. I also told him that his mama couldn't make as much money as I do right now, and that I couldn't do as good of a job taking care of all of us as his mama does. Apollo thought about this for a bit and then replied, "I want brothers (Ian and Aden) to go to work so they can make money for you, so you can stay home with me." Yes, Apollo is a genius, and wise beyond his years...now if only I can convince the brothers!

   I have begun to tell Apollo how many more days until the weekend. "I have to go to work for 3 more mornings", I will tell him. "And then what?" he will reply with excitement building in his voice. "Then I get to stay home for two mornings." I answer. Apollo usually giggles with excitement.
  A few weeks ago Ian started a new job. We were all seated around the table having dinner and Ian was telling us about his first day at work. Apollo listened intently and leaned over to me and asked in a whisper, "Does Ian have a job now?" "Yes he does." I responded with out really thinking about where he was going with his question. "Are you kidding me!?," he reeled with excitement, "are you going to stay home with me now!" Unfortunately, I had to let Apollo down. He doesn't understand why his brother isn't going to be paying my bills so I can stay home with him. He feels that it his brothers responsibility to do that for us. (Like I said, wise beyond his years!)
  Apollo's requests and pleadings for me not to go to work have now turned into a definitive length of time. I am now continually told, "Dada, I just want you to stay home with me for 800 days. Then I will let you go back to work." (Tempting...very tempting!)

               ~

  The days are short now and the nights are long. The fall colored leaves in the vineyards have begun to drop and the green grasses have crept up covering the brown earth beneath the vines. The hills here have transformed into vibrant greens as the rains have breathed new life into them. Every season here has a beautiful color pallet, and winter is no exception. But instead of white snow and barren trees, we have green grasses and emerging flowers. Daffodils are starting to make a show along with  some of the earlier pink blooming magnolia trees. Winter is more of a 'pre-spring' in wine country.
   Orion is doing some transforming of his own. He is picking up many words and phrases. Although many of his words are not yet very clear, we understand what he is saying pretty easily, and we are surprised everyday by what he can say; "Mmm-light" he will say while pointing at the light switch. "Mmm-poop" while grabbing his crotch, means 'Change my diaper!' Not sure why he likes to put "mmm" in front of those words, but its pretty cute. His favorite color is blue and he likes anything that is blue. "I want blue", while pointing at a blue toy.

He will also point at anything blue that he sees and say, "Blue".  After spending too much time in the store on Saturday, Orion became restless and agitated. While in the middle of whining, I saw the 'a-ha' moment on his face. He had made the connection in his little brain on what he needed to say to get his point across; "Lets go."
  I was caught off guard and I thought to myself, 'he didn't just say that.' "What did you say Mungie?" I asked. "Let's go," he said, "Let's go."
 On top of his ability to communicate, Orion understands so much. We can ask him to go and do many things and he will run off and do them; "Take this to mama,"  "Go wake up brothers," "Bring me that toy". Orion also loves to get involved with the the chores, and will be the first (and only) kid in our house to jump in and offer to help out. He will often be right along side his mom helping to sweep, pick up toys, or washing dishes, or will even help in the yard by raking and picking up leaves.
  Our biggest fear with Orion is that he is a danger to himself because he is absolutely fearless. He climbs on top of everything and is unbelievably resourceful in finding and moving objects around to use to climb on top of things he cant reach while standing on the floor. We have to constantly move and hide things to keep him safe. At the same time we do not want to hold him back completely. We allow him to climb on things while supervised. We also use the opportunity to tell him when something is not safe to climb on and will offer him another place to climb instead. One night a few weeks back, I was sitting on the foot of Apollo's bed near the dresser. Orion entered the room, pulled out the bottom drawer of the dresser, stepped up on it and proceeded to climb up on top of the dresser. Once on top, he did his usual inspection of all the objects sitting on the dresser, and threw all the ones he did not like onto the floor. Once he was done he stood up, turned around, gave me his mischievous smile, and then leapt without warning from the top of the dresser, right towards me. I got an instant rush of adrenaline and quickly threw my arms up and caught him. This has become a daily game now and solidifies the fact that Orion is an adrenaline junkie.