General Grievous

Jack's fascination with evil continues. He is now a sort of fan of General Grievous, the Droid Army leader from the Cartoon Network's, animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

A few days ago, Jack saw a commercial for the series which featured General Grievous and instantly knew he was an antagonist. "He's a Bad Guy!" Jack exclaimed in much the same tone of awe as he did for El Honcho Macho in El Kabong Rides Again. I set the upstairs Tivo to record some episodes to see if Jack would like it.

Last night, we watched an episode before bed time and he was fascinated with the sweeping vistas of deep space and space cruisers firing at each other. "Wow!" he exclained. Unfortunately, his attention span left him asking, "Where is General Greivous?" over and over again when he wasn't on screen.

I know Jack eventually will be a big Star Wars fan, as his father was (okay, still is).

P-Wow

Tonight just before story time, Jack announced he had a friend name P-Wow who lives in outer space. According to Jack's description, P-Wow is red and green and is big. He lives waaaay up in the sky in a rocket ship. (Jack pointed up in the air for emphasis.) Jack said he stays with P-Wow on his trips to outer space because "P-Wow is mine friend." (Jack often uses the word "mine" instead of "my.")

P-Wow (Artist's Impression)

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner tonight here at home. Last year, I spent Thanksgiving in Baghdad, Iraq. The Embassy Dining Facility (DFAC) did a wonderful job decorating and serving food nearly continuously from from about 1100 to 2000.

Thanksgiving, Baghdad, Iraq, 2007

Of course, I was thankful at the time to be in a (relatively) safe location, with new friends and good food. But tonight, I am especially thankful to be back in one piece and with my attractive wife, loving son and my parents. At Day Care, Jack made a Thanksgiving Wreath to commemorate the holiday. Such a simple piece of artwork is very touching to me this year. I'm pretty sure Jack has little concept of Thanksgiving this year but I still think it's pretty touching.

Jack's Thanksgiving Wreath, 2008

This year, I invited my friend Mike and his friend Sarah over as they didn't have any special plans. Chasing Jack throughout the house while playing host was fun but it wasn't until all the guests had left, the dishes cleaned up and Jack was asleep in his crib that I began to think about what I was thankful for.

Thanksgiving, Jack with guests Sarah and Mike, 2008

I'm thankful for my families: the one I grew up (my mother, father, and younger sister) and the one I have as an adult (my attractive wife and son, Jack). I am happy to share a bit of both this year at home.

I am thankful for my friends (like Mike, whom I've known for ten years) who supported me with treats, movies and good wishes while I was deployed.

I am thankful for the love I have received from my parents. Their support and common sense approach to raising both my sister and I contributed greatly to the person I am today. I can only hope to pass some of that on to Jack.

I am thankful for my attractive wife, who endured a year long separation from me, in only the fourth year of our marriage, while being a single mother to Jack during his "terrible twos." Sometimes I think I had it bad in Iraq but I thought of how tough it was for her to be working full time and taking care of Jack.

I am thankful Jack has accepted me back into his life. I feel as if I never was away and I am very happy for that.

I am thankful for very good friends. In my youth, I used to think friendship was intensely personal, that it required day to day nurturing in order to endure. I know now friendship takes many forms. I have many friends who I don't see much. My best friend (and best man/god father to Jack) falls in that category but I know we'll be close to our dying days. Other friends, like my co-workers in Iraq, I likely will never see again but we bonded under the most uncommon of circumstances. And we will always have that most uncommon experience to ruminate about.

But mostly, I am thankful to be home. Time to get on with the business of living.

Rocket Ship

Jack is fascinated with rocket ships. A couple of weeks ago, while visiting his cousins, he absconded with a faded beige Styrofoam arrow that had been part of a bow and arrow set. The arrow no longer had its fins and Jack thought it made a fine rocket ship. His cousins let him have the arrow and periodically he plays with it.

His preferred method is hold it with one hand and count down, "One, two, three, nine, blastoff!" and throw it in the air. For some reason, he tends to mispronounce "blastoff" which ends up sounding more like "fiestoff."

Tonight before story time, I snapped the enclosed picture of him launching the "rocket."


At the playground, there is a particular play structure he pretends is a rocket ship. It resembles a small house and has a bench inside. He'll announce, "I'm going to outer space!" and will sit in the structure and make the same countdown. "Are you in outer space now?" I'll ask. "Yes," he says. Then, he jumps down off the structure and says, "I'm back!"

Nighty-night

Following the rule of "routine things done routinely" Jack's bedtime routine consists of a bath staring around 7PM, followed by drying up and getting dressed into his pajamas. He gets to watch a TV program, lately Tivo'd Pink Panther episodes, accompanied by some warm milk. Ideally, the program ends and I switch to quiet and story time. Lately, this hasn't worked as well as I would have liked; Jack develops a second wind just after his bath and it's very hard to get him settled down.

My attractive wife hasn't been feeling well lately so she has been going to bed early. By 8PM she's usually in bed, reading. Just after his TV program ends Jack announces that he wants to kiss Mommy goodnight. He pads into our bedroom and I help him into bed. He gets under the covers and, lately, puts both his hands behind his head as if to luxuriate. Then he give his Mommy a quick kiss goodnight and announces he's ready to go back to his room.

If all goes well, I read him some stories and we turn out the light. Lately though, he still has this second wind of energy and it's hard to get him calmed down. I suppose there are strategies espoused by experts to smooth things out. Having been back with Jack for a month and a half now I've seen evolutionary changes already in his development. And with that change, comes inevitable tweaks in his routine. As Rush lyricist Neil Peart wrote, "changes aren't permanent but change is."

California Academy of Science

My parents and I took Jack to the new California Academy of Science museum in San Francisco today. We had heard such good things about it from other friends; it incorporates an aquarium, planetarium, four-story Amazonian rain forest, South African Penguins, all in a newly renovated building.

Driving onto the 10th Ave entrance to Golden Gate Park was a quite a surprise as it now leads directly underground into a colossal parking lot. When I lived here eight years ago, this street entered directly into the park.

We arrived about 1030, one hour after the museum opened, to a sea of people who oddly resembled us: a mix of older couples and their adult children shepherding strollers and all the attending equipment that goes along with that.

Jack did well during the long drive over and took the waiting in line to enter in stride. I had prepped him for what we would be seeing. He was especially interested in seeing the "fishies" in the aquarium. He's a huge fan of the animated show, "Oswald" which chronicles the adventures of an anthropomorphic octopus and his best friend, Henry, a penguin. Naturally, he was interested is seeing examples of both animals.

After entering and getting our bearings, we made our way to the African Hall exhibit, which features stuffed animals and live penguin habitat. Jack was amazed by near real life examples of gorillas, zebras, lions, cheetahs, antelope, and other examples of African fauna. For some reason, he kept running back to the zebras. He pointed his finger and said, "elephants!" "No," I said, "they're zebras, buddy." He was insistent and I saw he was pointing just to the right of zebras. And there, in the simulated distance of the hand painted African Savannah, I saw a digital projection of a herd of elephants slowly making their way across the grasslands. It was very subtle but the movement caught Jack's eye. He was really excited to see them, albeit in the simulated distance. Smart kid.

The culmination of the African Hall was the live penguin habitat. Jack raced right up to it, his small size allowing him to weave between adults standing near the exhibit. When standing, Jack's head was still below the water level of the tank. I held him up to see the penguins standing on the simulated rocky shore. Periodically, they jumped off into the water to swim and dart around. Jack loved it.

After the African Hall we saw a massive swinging Foucault pendulum whose cable was suspended two stories above the main floor. I remember seeing a similar one with my father when I was a young kid at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, where I grew up. It was oddly comforting to see a similar pendulum with both my son and my father. Jack was fascinated and lingered much longer than I thought he would.

We then made our way down to the lower level where the aquarium exhibits were located. Jack was amazed and very excited to see so many fishes. We spend the majority of our visit down there racing from exhibit to exhibit. In addition to seeing fishes, Jack got to visit the tide pool exhibit and touch a star fish. He was a little hesitant but enjoyed it. At one of the last tanks, he saw a giant sea bass. It was bigger than him, easily. It slowly swam in circles, periodically coming right up to the tank much to the delight of the various kids watching it. Jack exclaimed, "it's my favorite!" and stayed to watch it swim around and around.

We then made our way up to the first level and had some lunch before heading out. Jack was running on adrenalin but finally conceded it was time to go home. I promised him we'd be back to visit again.

In the car on the way home, he announced, "I'm not tired," and then proceeded to fall asleep.

At the Park

This afternoon we went to the park or, as Jack refers to it, the "parky." My attractive wife and my mother also went. Whenever Jack leaves the house, he has to take a motley assortment of toys with him, usually so many that he has to struggle to hold them all. I think holding onto the toys helps him with transitioning from one activity to another. This time, he held tightly to a silver, robotic dog, given to him by our wonderful neighbors, Dewy and Day-Day (Jack's nicknames for them), who function as surrogate grandparents.

When we arrive, I always suggest Jack let me hold on to whatever toy(s) he's brought with him as they invariably get in the way of his climbing over the various play structures. He usually responds with "No, it's mine," or "I'll hold onto to it." It was the same today and he enthusiastically tackled the play structures holding onto his robotic dog.

When he got to the top level adjacent to a slide, he showed his dog to two slightly older girls. He turned the dog on and handed it over to them and they were amazed with it's robotic antics. Jack looked down on me and said, "I'm sharing!"

The girls then went down the slide and Jack followed. They went to another slide and Jack tried to re-engage the girl who was closer to his age. I couldn't help but think he was trying to impress her with the toy and maybe get some conversation. But she had lost interest and quickly ran away. Ah, the great game begins, Jack. Get used to it.

Next, Jack went to one of his favorite slides, an enclosed tube. Getting to it requires climbing several levels of play structure. He did so, still holding his robotic dog. What's funny about this, and other slides at this park, is their plastic construction is quite conducive to static shock. My attractive wife has a particular phobia/dislike of static shocks; I am less affected. Just after I got home from Iraq and when Jack's hair was longer, it would stand up on end as he slid closer to the end of the slide. I would always laugh which, in turn, would cause him to laugh. Today, even with his hair shorter, it still stood up.

Puffy

A few days ago, my mom was teasing her hair in the morning. Jack walked by the downstairs bathroom, saw her, and exclaimed, "Nanni! You're hair is puffy!"

Time Management

So we went to the park today with Nanni and Pa. Jack did his usual carousing around and showed off his new ability to climb several new play structures. After forty minutes or so, Pa asked if Jack was ready to go home. "Two more minutes," he responded. After ten or so minutes, he looked at me and said, "It's time to go home."

Nanni & Pa Visit!

My parents, whom Jack calls "Nanni and Pa," are here to visit for Thanksgiving. It's the first time I've seen them since returning from Iraq at the end of October (I saw them both when I was on leave last May).

We ate a great brunch after picking them up from the airport early this morning. When we got home, they gave Jack a new pair of Lightening McQueen slippers which Jack loves a lot.

Kickball

Jack loves to play "soccer" either at the park or in our condo association's back yard area. It's really just kickball. He makes this hysterical face when he's about to kick the ball which I tried to capture with my camera.

Tools

We are in the middle of a big house remodel. My attractive wife project managed most of it while I was away in Iraq and did a great job. The main effort was a complete re-do of our two upstairs bathrooms. They now feature beige colored 12 x 12 Travertine floor tiles, similarly colored 2 x 2 stone tiles in the showers and a brown and white Romanesque design tile mosaic running horizontally two thirds up the way of the shower wall. We had the granite sink counters installed earlier in the week and my contractor, Don, and I have been busy adding plumbing (faucets and toilets). We're in the process of finishing (and restoring functionality to) my attractive wife's bathroom. Until this project started I had never the term, "high performance toilet," before.

Jack has his own set of play tools which look and function quite realistically and he's been imitating all the activity around the house. He even wears eye protection. Jack knows our contractor, who he calls "Friend Don."

Pacifier

After last week's abortive attempt to go cold turkey on the pacifier, we have a new detente where Jack gets the pacifier only in the crib at night. Tanny, his day care lady, is under instructions to give in only when he goes down for a nap. We maintain a united front.

At the park, Jack will randomly announce that he's a big boy and doesn't need his paci but this self-confidence erodes when push comes to shove at bed time. No matter, some measure of progress and Jack seems okay with the new rules.

Répéter!

I am fascinated by Jack's ability to watch or do something over and over and over again. The night I downloaded El Kabong Rides Again on my laptop, Jack wanted to watch it again and again. He still does. Last weekend, I set the movie to repeat and went into the kitchen to get some coffee. I stopped counting at seven repeats. Although by the seventh repeat he was only watching casually. If I stopped it though he noticed it immediately.

Also last weekend, we watch the same two episodes of Pinky Dinky Doo eight times in a row. And while there was some light playing with toys, Jack actually watched the episodes (there are two episodes per one thirty minute show).

He's also manic about Handy Manny. Since variety is the spice of life, it wouldn't be so bad (for me) if we had more. But I haven't told the Tivo to get more of them. As a result, Jack just wants to watch the one or two episodes of each show we already have recorded.

I think the repetition relates to the greater transitions problem. Jack doesn't like to stop doing one thing and transition to another. If we are home, he wants to stay home. If we are out, he wants to stay out. When I announce that we will be going to Day Care, you would think I announced there will be no Christmas this year. He's mortified. "Don't want to go to Day Care!" he'll announce. Yet, when we get there, all is fine when he sees his playmate, Jay.

It's tough to be (nearly) three.

Baby Journal

From 12 March 2008:

Jack: "Bees all gone!"
Mama: "Where'd they go?"
Jack: "Bees all gone in sky!"

Gas!

It is a truism that all boys and men think passing gas is inherently funny. When Jack does it, he says, "Gas!" and then proceeds to laugh hysterically. Maybe it's because he's eating grown up food exclusively now, I don't know, but he's got a lot of gas lately. And yes, it's stinky. He doesn't appear to be bothered by it, though.

ETA: Tonight (14 Nov) Jack passed gas in the bath and discovered a whole new way to laugh about this process. He was so amused by the first instance that I caught him several times try to do it again but his little colon was empty.

As If You've Never Been Away

While deployed to Iraq, I listened to a particular track from Ulrich Schnauss' album, Far Away Trains Passing By, called, "As If You've Never Been Away." (iTunes link). Schnauss' music falls into that hard-to-describe-ambient-techno-electronic-chill genre. At times very dense and German, the track in question is snappy, upbeat and, to me, very positive.

Listening to it in Iraq, I imagined re-integrating with Jack at home and hoped it would go smoothly. Today, at the park we were quite the team. I helped him conquer a new way of climbing on a particular play structure. At the top of the structure, he said, "I'm a big boy now," and, to my surprise, "I don't need Paci anymore" We'll see.

Still, I am happy at the re-intergration. Surprised, even, by how smoothly it's gone. As if I've never been away.

Baby Journal

My attractive wife started a Baby Journal on Jack's first birthday to record significant events. Written to Jack, it's an ongoing record we hope he'll read some day to see what it was like being a baby. There's some really good stuff, so I will periodically will begin capturing some of these past events (under the label, "Baby Journal"). Here's the first entry this this series:

From 1 June 2008:

My attractive wife was snuggling with Jack just after lights out. By this point in time, Jack had developed a special affinity for Bibi Bear, a tattered white teddy bear. When he started expressing interest in Bibi Bear, my attractive wife bought an identical replacement bear, just in case he lost it. As she gave Jack the bear, Jack responded, "This isn't Bibi Bear," -- and it wasn't! Even in the dark, he could tell the difference!

Earlier in the day, the journal records that while my wife was getting Jack ready for his nap, he hugged her neck. It was so nice and made her day.

Also earlier the day, Jack was wrestling with our neighbor, Alan whom he called "Aggis." Other things Jack said that day:

"Tata in 'ere?" -- Can I watch TV?
"Self."
"Amp." -- Elephant

Jack also claimed there was a monster in Mama's bathroom.

The Pacifier

This morning when I went in to get Jack out of his crib I resolved to start the de-pacifying process. I took it out of his mouth and said, "Pacis are for babies; you're a big boy now." Not surprisingly, he wasn't down with that logic. He threw a Class I tantrum. I held firm and kept the pacifier in my pocket. I finally distracted him downstairs with cereal with milk and repeated showings of "El Kabong Rides Again" on my laptop.

The previous day, I had learned that Jay, Jack's day-care playmate, who is six months younger, is already off his pacifier. This gave me more angst following Dr. Morley's admonishment about Jack still using the pacifier the previous day during his doctor's visit.

In the late morning as I dropped him off at day-care, I told Tanny, who watches Jack and Jay, that I had started trying to get Jack off the pacifier. I told her to try and see if she could keep him off it during nap time. She gave me that knowing look: it's gonna be tough.

Later in the day, when my attractive wife and I picked Jack up, Jay's mother was there and I asked her how they got him off the pacifier. She said they did it cold turkey and the first week and a half was rough. Jack went up to my attractive wife and said, "I cried real hard today." Tanny said he really got mad at not having his pacifier. I told her I was going to try to continue the cold turkey approach. My attractive wife said we should limit to just nap and nighttime. We would report our progress to Tanny on Monday.

Since I now do the bed time routine I would be able to put this to the test. We started our normal routine of a bath and some Tivo'd kids show with milk. After the shows, we turn off the TV and have story time. I did not give him the pacifier. He only asked for it once but when it became clear he wasn't getting it, story time collapsed into a Class II (less severe) tantrum. He sulked off and started playing with toys and wouldn't have story time. Then he said he wanted to get into the crib and without Bee-Bee Bear, his beloved tattered white teddy bear. He became schizophrenic: "I don't want Bee-Bee Bear!" followed by, "I want it!" He asked for paci again. I tried the whole, "You're a big boy and don't need paci." He wasn't down with that.

He kept throwing Bibi Bear out of the crib saying, "I don't want Bibi Bear!" As soon as it hit the carpet, "I want Bibi Bear!" I tried to sooth him in the crib. "Buddy, it's time to go to sleep now." It was nearly 8:45PM and way past his normal bed time. Finally, he succumbed to laying down and I quietly made my exit.

I went downstairs and listened on the monitor. He resorted to a kind of mad lament, saying to himself, "I don't want Bibi Bear," followed by pathetic sounding cries and the word, "Paci." It broke my heart and made feel like the World's Worst Parent. I felt the pacifier in my pocket. After ten minutes of this, my resolve crumbled and I went upstairs. I rubbed his forehead, "Buddy, it's time to go to sleep," I said. He seemed to be exhausted. Maybe this would work, I thought. I quietly left.

On the monitor, the same pathetic mumblings. It was now 9:20PM, way, way past his bed time. All I could hear was the word, "Paci" uttered in despair. My resolve crumbled for the second time. I entered as Jack was getting ready to jettison his beloved Glow Worm doll, which issues soothing music, out of his crib. "Buddy, here's Paci," I said. "Thank you," he said and immediately laid down, calmness covering his body from head to toe. Poor guy, he was asleep before I got downstairs.

Jack, 1. Me, 0.

Doctor's Visit

Three days ago, Jack awoke with a runny right nostril and a teary right eye. "My nose is runny," he said as I chased him trying to wipe it. I tried to get him to blow his nose but he ended up blowing out of his mouth. Poor guy. Recent literature, and the advice of our pediatrician, recommend no cold medicine be administered to children under the age of five so Jack will have to muddle through what I think is a minor cold.

It was time for a flu shot anyway so I made the appointment and went to our pediatrician, Dr. Morley. He was there at the hospital minutes after Jack's birth in late 2005 and has been his doctor ever since. I told Jack we were going to Dr. Morley who was going to give him medicine. He seemed okay with this.

When we got there, the nurse took his temperature under his armpit. Jack first thought this odd and then funny. Then we were left alone a while waiting for the doctor. I told Jack to greet Dr. Morley. When Dr. Morley arrived, Jack greeted him and he was surprised. His face seemed to say, "You can talk now?"

Dr. Morley examined Jack's ears, nose and throat and listened to his heart and lungs and said everything looked and sounded fine so it was likely just a cold. And he would be getting a flu mist not a shot.

During the examination, Dr. Morley saw Jack's pacifier on the table. "Oh, he's still using that?!" he exclaimed. "Throw it away. Blame it on me. You'll need to do that now or you're going to pay for later in braces." I felt a little embarrassed.

He left and the nurse returned with the flu mist. As I held Jack on my lap, she inserted a small tube into each of Jack's nostrils and sprayed a mist in. He was fine with it and even laughed as the second nostril was sprayed. I was remarkably impressed how he took it all in.

As we walked to the car, I said, "You did a great job!" Jack repeated it back to me several times later that day, "Dr. Morley gave me some medicine. I did a great job!"

E Pluribus Unum

Many years from now, when people ask me, "Where were you when the first African-American president was elected?" I will say, why I was putting Jack to sleep. We had some milkies, read, "Zoo Parade," "Fire Truck," and "Numeros." When we were done, he turned off the light and said, "It's dark because it's nighttime," and I placed him in the crib.

My attractive wife was already in bed and had her Blackberry out and said, "Wow, Obama was elected." When I started Jack's good night routine, I knew Obama was ahead but I didn't think he would be called the winner until much later. Whatever side of the political fence you sit on, this was an historic night.

I tuned into CNN and caught Obama's acceptance speech and was truly impressed. After spending so much time in Iraq worrying about the Iraqi Provincial Election Law and waiting for it to be passed by the Council of Representatives, it was deeply gratifying to see our own election happen and with such a profound outcome.

As John McCain so graciously pointed out in his concession speech, we all are Americans and need to move forward together. It's more than just who was elected. As Joe Waldron wrote in a New York Times OPED, "Presidents come and go. Our nation, and our constitutional form of government, ones hopes, will endure."

E Pluribus Unum -- "From Many, One."

Potty Training

While I was in Iraq, my co-workers asked me what I would be doing at home while burning up accumulated leave. I said I wanted to Potty Train Jack. After all, I would be home for a month, how hard could it be?

My plan didn't account whether or not Jack was actually ready to be potty trained. For obvious reasons, my attractive wife did not dive into this while I was away. Shortly after getting home, I showed him #1. He was fascinated and insisted on trying then and there but his bladder was empty. I felt a golden opportunity had been missed (no pun intended).

Several times later over the course of the week, I asked him, "Do you need to go potty?" the term, at this stage, being synonymous with #1. Every time, Jack would emphatically answer, "No, don't want to go potty!" Then, while at the park, he announced, "I have to go potty but in my diapers." At least he had cause and effect down.

Then my parents sent me this link which explains what signs to look for in a child when they are getting ready, or at least when they are more amenable, for potty training. Jack had a few traits but not all. For example, he's more interested in taking things out of the toy box than putting them in.

Today though he surprised me. While on the phone with my attractive wife, he grabbed my pant leg and said he had to go potty. I followed him to the kitchen where he grabbed a toy piano in the corner by the sliding glass door. "What are you doing with the piano?" I asked but saw that it was on top of a trainer toilette. He started to sit on it but I asked him if he wanted to take off his pants. He said okay and took them off along with the diaper. He sat down but nothing happened. He exclaimed, "All done!"

I noticed that his diaper was wet and can only assume that he started #1 but then announced that he needed to go. No matter, small progress made.

Halloween

So this was Jack's first real Trick or Treat Halloween. He had two costumes to choose from: 1) a fireman (courtesy of "Dewey" and "Day-day", our neighbors) and a 2) a cow (courtesy of one of his cousins who wore it a few years ago).

Jack choose the fireman much to my approval. Thankfully, it didn't rain as much as the news predicted. We visited our condo association neighbors first. Day-day gave him a chemical glow stick much to Jack's excitement.

Then my attractive wife and I walked with Jack to an adjacent (and much quieter street). Many houses had wonderful decorations and even a few light and sound effects. Jack was pretty excited about the whole Trick or Treat concept, especially the promise of candy.

Jack would knock on the doors and then yell, "Trick or Treating!" Most people thought his costume was pretty cute. One lady said, "Oh, you get extra!" After getting candy, Jack thought the next logical step was to walk inside the house. We had to grab him each time and explain getting candy was not an invitation to walk inside. Nevertheless, most people thought it was funny.

The real treat was the last house we visited where the guy who answered the door was a real fireman getting home from work. He really liked Jack's costume and let him ring a fire bell attached to his front gate. He said goodbye to Jack by saying, "Have a safe shift!"