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.