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
Uploaded by thehoneybees

Snow, Ice and Party

Yesterday was an excellent day! In addition to Ivo's Xmas show, the boys got to play out in the snow. Burl really like it, he's a trooper but somehow, the combination of all his winter clothes, his tendency to wipe his face with a snowy mitten, and his relative... stiffness all work together to make his minus-zero playtime short and a little gtustrating for him. He can't use his hands, righting himself is laborsome... it's COLD!

We also went to an excellent Xmas party last night:)

No pics tho - too busy getting busy!

2008-'09 School Year Snow Day #2

We're keeping our fingers crossed for another one tomorrow!!!

Whoo-hoo!!!

These pics are from 30 Nov.

Burl Snowpants Walking

Burl is pretty cute walking in snowpants... He looks like a starfish.

Burl snowpant walk
Uploaded by thehoneybees

22 November Snow that Stuck!!!

Pre Play

Play

Apres Play HotChocolate (Almond milk w ovaltine and a little chocolate syrup)

What a great day! After all this fun and a nap fr Burl and more snow fr Ivo & Grammie, we went to Richard & Marie's for a fun visit andthen out to eat supper! The boys haven't been out to dinner since Chrissy & Jeff's wedding!!!

Morning Has Broken

Well, this morning broke yesterday. It was COOOOLD ~ brr!

Sunrise and Frost

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Here's Burl later that day, surveying Grampie Doug's work site.

Burl

Burl

Burl