Digging up Dirt & Possible Obstipation

Today was Ivo’s first ever soccer practice. It was sooo fun!

When we left the house, it was not even 12C – it was dark gray and a cold damp. From the time stepped out of the car in the parking lot to the time we walked up to the field, the sun came out and the temperature shot up to practically t-shirt weather.

Because it was so cool when we left the house and because it was sooo cold and misty-like-we-live-along-the-rocky-maritime-coastline – yesterday at minigolf (pics to come), the boys and I overdressed.

Burl often chooses, nay – demands, a fleece cap, so hats are an easy layer to get both boys to wear. They each had a long-sleeve t-shirt, topped with a short-sleeve shirt, fleece vest and jacket + the hats. Other kids were wearing shorts.

It was like we’d just arrived from another planet.

But FUN!!!

On his first water break, Ivo agreed to take off a few layers and to lose the hat. Burl made no such compromise for comfort!

My guess is that there were about 30 kids. This included the children of 3 of Ryan’s paternal cousins – it was as if the Lawrences had arrived to take over the mini-soccer league. It was like witnessing the reification of the joke about having enough kids to form a baseball team. Kind of neat.

And also, by the way, another of Ryan’s cousins, who has a 3 year old daughter lives adjacent to the field the kids played on!

These guys are all cousins.

That's right, Burl is palming the soccer ball!

Ivo Overheard:

• For the past week, since he was informed that he’d been signed up to play soccer, Ivo has been telling me in an insistant manner, “I already know how to play soccer.” He doesn’t see the difference b/w a class and a practice. He doesn’t feel he’s in need of a class, per se.
• The other day Ivo asked me what I looked like when I was little. “Like you,” I told him. The I showed him my 1st grade picture. Ivo’s been growing sooo much! –and his face is really kid-ding up. His jaw, cheekbones and eyes are looking so much longer, so much older!
• Ivo tells people, “I’m really smart… I’m a genius.” He told this to his dr on Tuesday.
• “I am talking and pooping at the same time. I can do this because I have a mouth and a bum-bum.” -while sitting on the toilet before a bath.
• When talking about his growing pains, which are located mostly at the bottom of his shin bone, he says he was in pain “all day night.”
  

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Speaking of poop. We seem to be in a diarrhea crisis or else the early stages of compacted bowels. I’m hoping for diarrhea. Gotto go.
Oh yea, TODAY WAS RYAN’S LAST DAY OF CLASSES!!!!!!!!! He’s partying in F’ton:)

Burl and Ivo at Connell Pk on Sunday, 6 June...

Burl: I digging up dirt
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What's It Called When You Smush Together 2 Words

Just a few pics... everything's great.

Everyone's really excited and happy. And by "everyone" I mean all of us and all of our aliases! Big Iron Man, Robin, Batman, Spiderman, Good Spiderman, Bad Spiderman, Green Guy, Big Green Guy, BumbleBee, Optimus Prime, Big Iron Giant Man, the list goes on...

A tiny installment of Ivo Overheard: Keep in mind, we're not really a privacy-first family, so while Ivo and Burl were brushing their teeth, I was peeing. Ivo indicated that he was about to launch into a bunch of female anatomy questions - which is nothing new to him or me but just some days a guy wonders more than others... Anyway, I told him I wanted him to brush his teeth and that I would like to pee w/o having to answer questions. Ivo said, "OK, ...I just like to learn a lot." In the past he's told me, "I just ask so many questions cuz I wanna know what's going on!!!" And I need to be better about nurturing Ivo's need to know and maybe peeing alone:)

The rest of Ivo Overheard can be expressed in 1 word, "Spreckles". Ivo likes sprinkles on ice cream, freckles on faces - Spreckles was a natural outcome. This morning Ivo was telling Burl, "Those black things on faces are called spreckles."

There have been black beers sighted at the camp. Big ones - hungry, I suppose. The boys and I may hit Fredericton this weekend instead. It's Ryan's last weekend as a stooodent!!!

Apparently June is the windiest month in NB! Here's Ivo flying a gigantic windsock at school today! In the first pic, I believe Ivo is trying to inflate the air-sock using nothing more than his own lungs.

Other pics from Connell Pk tonight. My boys are the coolest little guys in the world. I don't ask them to wear sunglasses, backwards baseball caps or to be super-awesome, they just do it themselves!!! While at the park, both Burl and Ivo talk to as many people as they can - for as long as the people can be cornered into listening. I almost want to say Ivo and Burl assail strangers with their news and opinions... I shouldn't be surprised that my children TALK A LOT but it's always interesting to see them in action, telling people waaay too much about themselves, true and fantastic. Today, however, is special b/c it's the first time I can remember that Burl was understood saying something that usually needs context or translation; "I'm Robin. I fly."

Also, Burl's been suffering some mild allergies. I say mild, but what do I know? He's not quite been himself and when his nose runs (nearly constantly), he freaks out! Panic, anxiety... alarm. We're trying to help him deal/chill, whatever the kids say these days.

New blog I like: Language Log

Easter Monday on Easter Tuesday

And a little bit of et al-y'all. Read, "et alia" in a folksy twang.

Here is a picture I took out the living room window on Easter Monday at around 11am.

It was really really pretty. That is snow on the ground and on the window behind Ivo.

And really really upsetting.

We, who have grown accustomed to playing in the mud on snowless earth, did not even go outside. We stayed in, read books, ate candy and took excellent pictures of ourselves.

We did not do a big egg hunt. We kept running into and gathering eggs all long-weekend long. Inside and outside. One never knew when one might run into an egg full of chocolate.

Ivo and Burl got baskets with a chocolate bunny (which, as of Tuesday night, they're still both working on), a couple primate and oceanic figurines, plastic eggs full of play-dough and/or cchocolate, a book and a pirate book to share.

We had Friday 10 April through Monday 13 April off of school/work due to Easter. This, after having the first week in March off and 9 snow days this school year!!! A lot of holidays, special days, little miracles of togetherness, let's call 'em. But this one was especially luxorious, somehow. Just deliciously delightful. And we now have 2 proper swings!!!

We spent Friday and Saturday outside playing. Starting at the sandbox, over to the swings, around the yard, then to the mud!!! Burl sometimes skipped the first 3 steps and went straight for the mud.

A few things I want to remember are:

• After playing outside ALL DAY on Thursday, Burl woke up in the night and needed some coaxing and calming back into sleep. I asked him waht he wanted to do the next day. He thought for a couple seconds, "Umm... play outside." And we did. That was before the snow, which has melted mostly.


• Burl has started to sometimes say "IVO" - when refering to Ivo. He still exclusively calls Ivo "Woe-Wee."


• Playing at Grammie's church last Wednesday, Ivo's last day of school for the week and in many ways, evening 1 of our Easter holidaze, Ivo noticed what seemed to be cartoon renderings of the Stations of the Cross. Upon taking in the Crucifiction, a disturbed Ivo asked "Why they trying to kill that guy?" That's Jesus. "Why they killing Jesus?" Politics, I told him.
  
• Ivo's recently been introduced to the story of King Solomon. He likes hearing it. He wonders why they couldn't just share the baby and he is struck by the sheer reckless audacity that we call wisdom.


• Ivo loves and repeatedly asks to hear the origin story of Batman. He is coming to understand that some superHEROES have no superPOWERS - kind of...

Flight of the Conchords is on... more soon, I hope. I bet.

Ivo & Burl March Round-Up

Sandy might actually blog tonight.

Instead of my recent vlogging trend.

That facebook and it’s status updates… Makes me think of myself, the fantastic to the real, in sound-bites even more than I used to. It’s fun – but I just don’t think it’s enough. How am I feeling? – Indeed!

I do enjoy Word$craper though. Typo, intentional. I am always looking for a game, though, hint, hint:)

Although, we’ve had lingering sick and yick in the midst of a still unkind new season called Spring, which is teasing us more than half the time… Yes, we can see the first bits of tulips poking through. Yes, we are able to be outside without risk of frostbite. Yet, it’s swampy, muddy, snow-melty and wet. We still must wear boots and snow-pants-for-spring, fleece hats and mittens. Nevertheless, Ahh - the boys are talking and growing up a storm. It’s been awesome. So, w/o further ado,

Ivo Overheard March 2009

• Ivo has been waiting for summer “for a long time.” Probably since New Years. Today at home on the swings, where Ivo is super-happy “all day” – if he could, Ivo mused, “I noticed that Spring won’t ever come…” DELIGHTFUL! I told him, yes, it seemed that way but probably spring would come sometime... hopefully soon.


• At dinner tonight – of which Ivo ate happily and heartily, a welcome sign of health – a dog ran through the yard, followed by a young girl, followed by a family cousin! Very exciting! Where the dog might have run got us to talking about the skunk den beyond the rhubarb patch. “What should we call the skunk?” Ryan asked. “Skunklas!” said Ivo w/o hesitation. When asked about the name, Ivo said, “Like ‘Douglas’ – Skunklas.” Did we ever laugh! Ivo has always been a good namer-of-things (-mostly-animals). He remains quite fond of a soft rubber dragon he got at the Science Museum in Taichung. It’s the color of mucous and long ago, Ivo named him “Nostril.” It’s a gift. The first toy Ivo ever named was a panda bear he called “Beak.”


• On having worn his Batman suit at school, “I just stayed it on.”


• Ivo loves animals. Any animal he likes and wants to embody which he knows doesn’t live in Canada he simply adapts, modifies even, to make himself believable. “I’m a snow-armadillo!” “I’m a Canadian Sloth!”


• A couple things Ivo said while he was feeling rotten: “BUT, I want to be dirty ALL DAY!”, the heart-breaking, “My brain is making me so angry I can’t stand it!” and “Mama, I like you but sometimes I can’t stand you because you gotto go and play with Burly…”, “BUT, I’m not even ti-orwd (tired)!”


• For a little over a month, Ivo has been categorizing events, actions, stories, characters and people into real/not real. He has noted that “Real life is harder.” This is quite something and something I want to write more about.
  
  
  Burly Babylon March 2009


• “Ready, Set, Go… (RACE)!” Burl enjoys saying this and running forward fast.


• Burl LOVES swings.


• Burl’s receptive language is outstanding. Burl can fill in the blanks, recite poems and sing songs. When reading his favorite book, This is the Baby, Burl enthusiastically shouts out the refrain of "No, no, no!!!" and "Yes, yes, yes!!!" as well as filling in the blanks of nursery rhymes.


• Burl can isolate a word out of a sentence or two, reproduce it and ask what it means. During a not-feeling-great booby-all-day-day, I told Burl that all this booby is making me nuts. He answered with a question, “’Nuts’ mean?” Narrowly avoiding falling into the snow, I said “whoa nelly!” Burl asked, “’Nelly’ mean?” And today when I got home from work, I told Burl “just a moment (for booby).” Burl replied, “’Moment’ mean?”


• Burl can answer questions and talk about feelings and facial expressions. He understands the link b/w them. He can make an angry/mad face, sad face, funny face, sleepy face, happy face.


• Burl’s expressive language is leaping and bounding. “Ooof! ‘owwy! (Oops! Sorry!)" - said with a coy shoulder shrug and Cheshire grin. Burl has gone from “Dee mee mee! Wowee! Wawu! (Just a minute! Ivo! Water! – meaning, “Here’s your water, Ivo!” to 4 and 5 word sentences.


• He makes comments about sounds he hears, cupping one hand over an ear Burl says, “Noise” – often as much a question as an announcement. We discuss what he hears – he usual will repeat the (new) word. Burl talks about some toys "no no noise" and other toys "noise" and broken toys, head shaking, "No no noise- now."


• When asked questions he doesn’t have a good answer for Burl says, “Nothing.”


• Burl tries to pick things up off the pages of books, often saying “Mine” or “My ____!” Sometimes he gets frustrated amidst the futility of it all but I think he’s getting the idea.


• Burl still - but not as often as when he was younger and tried to fit himself into his handheld toys – seems to not have the canniest of spatial perception.


• Burl tells lots of jokes, clever punch-lines and knock-knocks, mostly. “Knock-knock?” Who’s there? “Orange.” Orange-who? “Ornage-Ironman!” and “Knock-knock?” who’s there? “No.” No-who? “No – YES!” Clever punch-lines now include “ALL DAY!” - which he cribbed from Ivo. We all say it now – it’s so funny. “My booby ALL DAY!” remains and is joined by others like “My cupcake ALL DAY!” “My swing ALL DAY!” Burl also uses "Tub-tub" as a punch-line too.


• Burl kind of likes eating like Cookie Monster – which we are all trying to temper cuz it is ridiculously messy as well as no small waste of food.


• Burl often talks in a Cookie Monster voice.


• Burl loves his family. He eats better, sleeps better and is just happier overall when his whole family is around. When we sit down to a meal, Burl counts everyone, starting with Doug, on his left, continuing around the table pointing, “1, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11…"
  
• Burl knows many letters by their names and as the first letter of someone's name and even a couple other letters that are the first letters of non-humans. When Pat-a-Caking, Burl says, "B da Burl."


• Burl will come running for food. "Wice! Wice!!!" he yells! He also loves "wice-wee-wees rice kri$pies."

Just a post from a year ago, Feb 2008.

Spring Swing Sing

Burl loved swinging sooomuch, in the morning atConnellPark he just giggledon the swing. At home, he sang little mesmerized, trancy songs:)

Swing swingsongburly 2009.03.28
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Ivo & Burl - Spring Swing!!!

Ivo and Burl swinging today! It's Spring!!!

Swing eyesclosed 2009.03.28
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It Upsets me that I Don't Post More

But what are you gonna do? Plus, I have many many notes...

Ivo and his schoolmates sang the O Canada at the Civic Center on Friday, opening the Slammers v Timberwolves game. It took me while to stop calling them the "Wolverines" -I just think "Wolverines" sounds cool...

Ivo has been practicing the national anthem for a week or two. (I'm working on video.) His favorite part is "O Canada, we stand on guard for thee..." He sings it in capital letters. Sometimes it sounds like "...on guard wall-e..." His interpretation is interesting in light of the fact that he doesn't know what it literally means. Oh, but he feels it!

These pics are from yesterday at Library Story Hour. It was extra special cuz Ryan go to come since his class was canceled due to storm.

A little Ivo Overheard:

• "But, I wanna be first all day!" - starting to think this super cute angry-sincere-desperate "all day" stands for "all the time." Ivo likes to be first, he's quite open about it!


• "I know! I can DRAW a stop-sign! How do I draw an octagon?" Solving the problem of no stop-signs amongst the blocks, emergency vehicles, Superheroes and Villains. He was planning out what the conflict would be - the trigger was the Villains wreaking havoc on the city, disrespecting traffic signs was only the minutest of crime.


• "hullabaloo." "It's a hullabaloo." "But I'm making a hullabaloo." "I just wanna make a hullabaloo." "Hullabaloo is this, 'WHAAAAA!"


• "I made myself up a peek-boo game for Burly... with the front of my hands!" The game consists of Ivo holding the backs of his hands over his eyes, fingers splayed, repeatedly folding them open at the knuckles, staccato, "PEEKABOO! PEEKABOO! PEAKABOO!" Cute. Burl does love that game:)


• "...all the firemen and firegirls..." while talking about the characters in the very popular Superheroes and Villains Game Ivo spins all day.


• Ivo's into phonics. He remarked, "I have a feeling Burl doesn't say 'el' like 'el' in 'elephant.' That's my feeling."


• "Not a HORSE "hey" - a HUMAN "HAY!!!" - Ivo's response to the taunt that "Hey is for horses."

Ivo's Good Timing

Ivo and I played his first game of checkers this morning. I will not go into the details of what it feels like to not be sure of the rules of checkers... but, there was a bit of confusion...

Anyway, Ivo liked the kinging part and when we finished he went on and on about how he was so happy that he had won. I said something about good timing to which Ivo replied "good timing to you, to you and your king..."

Pretty funny.

Burl is talking up a perfect storm!!! More later - gotsta goooo!!!!

Pics from 14 Feb2009 - Ivo and Ryan.