"How can my ass be wise?"
"Why are all the dogs attacking me with their noses?" followed by a gleeful giggle.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Santa Claus
Yesterday Yogi and his friend Martin were talking in the back seat. Martin asked Yogi if he believed in Santa Claus. This is a sensitive topic for Yogi because in April he caught us preparing for Easter and thus - in his mind - 'ruined all the holidays' for himself. He has expressed in the past that believing in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny gave him a 'warm feeling' that he no longer has and that he longs for.
I know, the kid is amazing.
So Yogi doesn't want to take away that belief from anyone else and so he treads carefully when the topic comes up.
Martin is a year older than Yogi so it was probably safe.
Okay, enough background. This is what Yogi said.
"I think Santa Claus is a warm feeling. He's like the spirit of Christmas you know? The spirit of generosity and the spirit of kindness."
My heart was in my throat. How could this child have such a beautiful, poetic understanding? Then he said:
"He's also the spirit of gingerbread people."
So there ya go.
I know, the kid is amazing.
So Yogi doesn't want to take away that belief from anyone else and so he treads carefully when the topic comes up.
Martin is a year older than Yogi so it was probably safe.
Okay, enough background. This is what Yogi said.
"I think Santa Claus is a warm feeling. He's like the spirit of Christmas you know? The spirit of generosity and the spirit of kindness."
My heart was in my throat. How could this child have such a beautiful, poetic understanding? Then he said:
"He's also the spirit of gingerbread people."
So there ya go.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
New vocabulary
Last week Yogi told me his friend Xander was a "girl magnet" and that Asher and Keller had tried to cure Xander, which seemed to work for a while, but the effect wore off. So apparently Xander is still a "girl magnet" which is a potential problem when you're eight.
He is full of interesting and funny stuff like this these days.
Last night at Therese's birthday party we were teasing him about being nutty or something like that and he yelled, "I need my medical records!" (He knew I'd been working on getting his medical records transferred from his old pediatrician to Kaiser.)
He still loves speaking in accents, and last night he was working on mumbling in French, British and American southern accents.
He's also been getting really good about talking about his feelings about being teased at school (by his "friends" who are going through their own stuff and can be pretty mean as a result.)
Today we talked about Santa Claus. He's in this murky place where I think he knows Santa isn't real, but is trying to figure out the implications of coming right out and saying that. Last Easter when he got his first big hit of the possibility that Santa isn't a physical being he told John he'd lost that "warm feeling" about the holidays and was sad about that. Geeze! I think I remember those kinds of feelings as a kid, but I never talked about them.
Nothing brings me as much joy as how fun, funny, unexpected and thoughtful Yogi is.
He is full of interesting and funny stuff like this these days.
Last night at Therese's birthday party we were teasing him about being nutty or something like that and he yelled, "I need my medical records!" (He knew I'd been working on getting his medical records transferred from his old pediatrician to Kaiser.)
He still loves speaking in accents, and last night he was working on mumbling in French, British and American southern accents.
He's also been getting really good about talking about his feelings about being teased at school (by his "friends" who are going through their own stuff and can be pretty mean as a result.)
Today we talked about Santa Claus. He's in this murky place where I think he knows Santa isn't real, but is trying to figure out the implications of coming right out and saying that. Last Easter when he got his first big hit of the possibility that Santa isn't a physical being he told John he'd lost that "warm feeling" about the holidays and was sad about that. Geeze! I think I remember those kinds of feelings as a kid, but I never talked about them.
Nothing brings me as much joy as how fun, funny, unexpected and thoughtful Yogi is.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Yogi is 8
We celebrated Yogi's birthday on Friday with a full day of activities.
John cheffed up a breakfast of peanut waffles with whipped cream which was shared by Yogi, John, me and G-Pa, who is visiting. (G-Ma was in St. Louis visiting (great) Gramma.)
After that we decided to open presents and Yogi got showered with LEGO and games for Wii and his Nintendo DS.
We played games for the rest of the morning, and then went to Bucaneer Bay in La Mirada.Bucaneer Bay is not quite a water park, but among other things it's got 3 great tube slides (one is a sort of free fall that we all braved) and a lazy river you can navigate with intertubes. Our friends Apollo (the kid) and Xander (the dad) were there so we met up with them and lots of getting-away-from-the-monster games ensued on the lazy river, with occasional forays over to the slides.
After we closed down the water park we went for dinner at Yogi's restaurant of choice, Homegirl Cafe. The food was exquisite, and after dessert Yogi and Apollo became volunteer busboys and cleared our table. The staff was very sweet and generous, and Yogi got a card and a birthday brownie which blew his little culinary mind ("Mom! This chocolate!! It's so intense!")
The next day, Yogi got his first stitches when he backed into a floor lamp which cracked (the glass sconce hit the window framing) and rained down on him causing 2 lacerations in his scalp and one on his knee. It was a pretty bloody scene, but when all the blood was cleaned up and our jangled nerves calmed, the wounds didn't seem so severe. To be safe we called the triage nurse at Kaiser and she said to bring him in for a look. So we went off to the emergency room and Yogi ended up with a stitch in his head and one on his knee. He was so scared, and so, so brave. I've never had the chance to see him display such courage and it was truly amazing. First were the shots of lidocane. He was talking and talking and trying to get the whole process to slow down, but we were in the ER so it was hard to put the breaks on things. He said to the doctor "Don't stitch me right now, I need some time to calm myself!" and he'd put his hands together and close his eyes and do deep breathing, all this amidst tears and sobs. The lidocane was administered, one in the head wound and one in the knee wound, and he held so still while he gripped my hand and wept. Soon it was time for the knee stitch which turned out to be not so bad after the lidocane. When it was done I said "It actually looks pretty cool." He bent forward and peered at his knee and proclaimed urgently, "No! That's not cool! It's not cool!" He wasn't yet ready to marvel at medical science and the healing power of the body at that point. Then the doctor told him he couldn't move his head when he was being stitched. He was especially scared of having his head stitched because he thought it would hurt more than the knee because it was so close to his brain. He was in position with his head on the pillow, and suddenly said, "I really want to move my head, I really want to move my head! Wait! Can I just move my head around first?" The doctor consented and Yogi shook his little head around and around as fast as he could, again while sobbing, and it was amazing and cute at the same time. He was so good at talking about his fear and communicating what he needed to do in order to feel more comfortable. From his bedside manner, it was clear that the doctor had never encountered a young patient who was able to articulate so much about his experience. When Yogi shaken for a bit the doctor said it was time, so he put his head on the pillow and the operation was over in 2 minutes.
He spent Sunday and Monday recuperating - no swimming, no baths. But Apollo ended up coming over Sunday night and they were racing around as they usually do so my motherly fears were able to calm even more, which was a relief.
So that is how 8 started for Robert Yogi Wenk Sylvain: Fun, exciting, scary, triumphant. It was such a privilege to share it with him.
John cheffed up a breakfast of peanut waffles with whipped cream which was shared by Yogi, John, me and G-Pa, who is visiting. (G-Ma was in St. Louis visiting (great) Gramma.)
After that we decided to open presents and Yogi got showered with LEGO and games for Wii and his Nintendo DS.
We played games for the rest of the morning, and then went to Bucaneer Bay in La Mirada.Bucaneer Bay is not quite a water park, but among other things it's got 3 great tube slides (one is a sort of free fall that we all braved) and a lazy river you can navigate with intertubes. Our friends Apollo (the kid) and Xander (the dad) were there so we met up with them and lots of getting-away-from-the-monster games ensued on the lazy river, with occasional forays over to the slides.
After we closed down the water park we went for dinner at Yogi's restaurant of choice, Homegirl Cafe. The food was exquisite, and after dessert Yogi and Apollo became volunteer busboys and cleared our table. The staff was very sweet and generous, and Yogi got a card and a birthday brownie which blew his little culinary mind ("Mom! This chocolate!! It's so intense!")
The next day, Yogi got his first stitches when he backed into a floor lamp which cracked (the glass sconce hit the window framing) and rained down on him causing 2 lacerations in his scalp and one on his knee. It was a pretty bloody scene, but when all the blood was cleaned up and our jangled nerves calmed, the wounds didn't seem so severe. To be safe we called the triage nurse at Kaiser and she said to bring him in for a look. So we went off to the emergency room and Yogi ended up with a stitch in his head and one on his knee. He was so scared, and so, so brave. I've never had the chance to see him display such courage and it was truly amazing. First were the shots of lidocane. He was talking and talking and trying to get the whole process to slow down, but we were in the ER so it was hard to put the breaks on things. He said to the doctor "Don't stitch me right now, I need some time to calm myself!" and he'd put his hands together and close his eyes and do deep breathing, all this amidst tears and sobs. The lidocane was administered, one in the head wound and one in the knee wound, and he held so still while he gripped my hand and wept. Soon it was time for the knee stitch which turned out to be not so bad after the lidocane. When it was done I said "It actually looks pretty cool." He bent forward and peered at his knee and proclaimed urgently, "No! That's not cool! It's not cool!" He wasn't yet ready to marvel at medical science and the healing power of the body at that point. Then the doctor told him he couldn't move his head when he was being stitched. He was especially scared of having his head stitched because he thought it would hurt more than the knee because it was so close to his brain. He was in position with his head on the pillow, and suddenly said, "I really want to move my head, I really want to move my head! Wait! Can I just move my head around first?" The doctor consented and Yogi shook his little head around and around as fast as he could, again while sobbing, and it was amazing and cute at the same time. He was so good at talking about his fear and communicating what he needed to do in order to feel more comfortable. From his bedside manner, it was clear that the doctor had never encountered a young patient who was able to articulate so much about his experience. When Yogi shaken for a bit the doctor said it was time, so he put his head on the pillow and the operation was over in 2 minutes.
He spent Sunday and Monday recuperating - no swimming, no baths. But Apollo ended up coming over Sunday night and they were racing around as they usually do so my motherly fears were able to calm even more, which was a relief.
So that is how 8 started for Robert Yogi Wenk Sylvain: Fun, exciting, scary, triumphant. It was such a privilege to share it with him.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Trip for President
Yogi and Trip are talking on the phone right now about Trip being President when he grows up.
"Trip!" said Yogi. "You can't make all the rules! I know more about Congress than you do!"
"Trip!" said Yogi. "You can't make all the rules! I know more about Congress than you do!"
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Question of the day part 2
"How are angels different from those flying babies with bows and arrows?"
Friday, May 08, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Happy Easter! New videos and pictures! Fencing and more...
Finally, new videos and pictures of son #1!
Here he is at fencing class:
Yogi said to me that in fencing you're supposed to hold the tip of your sword up so you don't accidentally hurt someone.
"It's the way of the blade," he said.
Click the link below to watch more on the family YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/sylvainfamily
And some great pictures...
Yogi loves to play with the PhotoBooth app on the computer. This is a self-portrait:
Glasses were a gift from Granny Deb:
Yogi and John are writing a book together about a boy named Bobby Blinx. Here they are working on the first draft on a Sunday afternoon:
We have endless photos so...Coming Soon: A Flickr account to make perusal easier!
Here he is at fencing class:
Yogi said to me that in fencing you're supposed to hold the tip of your sword up so you don't accidentally hurt someone.
"It's the way of the blade," he said.
Click the link below to watch more on the family YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/sylvainfamily
And some great pictures...
Yogi loves to play with the PhotoBooth app on the computer. This is a self-portrait:
Glasses were a gift from Granny Deb:
Yogi and John are writing a book together about a boy named Bobby Blinx. Here they are working on the first draft on a Sunday afternoon:
We have endless photos so...Coming Soon: A Flickr account to make perusal easier!
Thursday, January 01, 2009
New Years Eve 08
We have two family traditions for New Years. One is a New Years Day Brunch which we have been doing for 4 or 5 years and which we are really looking forward to. Then we have a new years eve ritual that we stole/invented/cobbled together last year. It goes like this:
We bath
We write down things we want to give up for the new year
We take turns smudging the house with sage as we ring a bell 108 times to dismiss the 108 human weaknesses.
This year John is giving up Selfishness, Procrastination and Lazyness and Impatience. Shelley is giving up Impatience, Reasons for not exercising and meditation, things and clutter and perfectionism.
Yogi did this for the first time this year (giving rise to some impatience in John!) and he said he wanted to give up:
Anger
Impatience
Agitation
War and Destruction
Pain (for other people and me)
Selfishness
Buying Things I don't need
Cool!!!
We've had a couple trips to the snow and Shelley and Yogi made a ginger bread house that collapsed under the snow. Vids and story coming soon..
Right Shelley?
We have two family traditions for New Years. One is a New Years Day Brunch which we have been doing for 4 or 5 years and which we are really looking forward to. Then we have a new years eve ritual that we stole/invented/cobbled together last year. It goes like this:
We bath
We write down things we want to give up for the new year
We take turns smudging the house with sage as we ring a bell 108 times to dismiss the 108 human weaknesses.
This year John is giving up Selfishness, Procrastination and Lazyness and Impatience. Shelley is giving up Impatience, Reasons for not exercising and meditation, things and clutter and perfectionism.
Yogi did this for the first time this year (giving rise to some impatience in John!) and he said he wanted to give up:
Anger
Impatience
Agitation
War and Destruction
Pain (for other people and me)
Selfishness
Buying Things I don't need
Cool!!!
We've had a couple trips to the snow and Shelley and Yogi made a ginger bread house that collapsed under the snow. Vids and story coming soon..
Right Shelley?
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