6.12 or, Happy 7th Birthday, Corbin!

Dear Corbin,

You turned 7!  Seven years ago, you were a little, scrunchy-faced baby, and now you're so big I can hardly lift you up.  Although, that probably says more about my lack of arm muscles, since you're still only the 3rd percentile for height and weight for your age.  We went to see a different pediatrician for your check up.  She's very cool; hopefully we'll see her for a long time.  She noted that you did grow since last year, so you're just on the small size it seems.  The only time I wish you were taller is when I want you to set the table, and you have to move the kitchen stool to get the plates down.

You got some fun presents for your birthday: a new LEGO set, and a new How to Train Your Dragon play set, and some books, and some spending money from Grandma and Grandpa Thorne.  You spent some of that on a set of How to Train Your Dragon DVDs, which we found at Target while waiting for you pink eye medication prescription to be filled.  Happy birthday!  Have some pink eye!  Ugh.  Birthdays are way better without the pink eye.

We had a party at the park for you.  You invited a handful of kids from school, most of which were girls.  We played some bocce ball, blew bubbles to chase, drew with sidewalk chalk, and did a scavenger hunt for little plastic animals and ninjas.  You all got cupcake frosting all over your faces, which was pretty funny.  It was nice to meet some of your school friends and their parents.  Grandma sees them every day, of course, but we never get to meet anyone.

It was Valentine's Day this month, of course.  You declined to pass out any Valentines at school, but you did enjoy getting a bunch of them from your classmates.  On the actual day, which was a Sunday, you and Dad and Miriam waited until I went to my yoga class, and then surprised me with chocolates and shiny earrings when I got home.  It was lovely.

You had a school fundraiser this month, the Dance-a-Thon.  I'm not always fond of the fundraisers that they do, but at least this one doesn't involve buying candy.  I made you do a little video and we emailed it to some folks to see if they'd like to send you some money, which they did, so we did a second video afterward to say thank you.  I have a love/hate relationship with school fundraisers.  I love our school, but I wish they would do one or two check writing campaigns per year and get it over with.  I would rather have you get a real understanding of how to support a good cause, instead of thinking that selling candy is the way to do it.  But we did get an update on the chicks that we donated through Heifer, so that was fun.  I hope that we help you learn how lucky we are, and what it means for us to be able to help others.

Love,
Mom

Your LEGO walled garden, to protect it from zombies:

3.10 or, A Picture Page

Dear Miriam,

Ms. Aida gave you a color-by-number coloring book as a gift.  You love it.  You want us to color with you all the time, which is fine with me.  I enjoy it.  You like to work through the numbers in order, and you're getting quite good at coloring within the lines.  I don't tell you that, though, because I don't want to encourage too much conformity.  Someone in your life will curse me for that someday, I'm pretty sure.  You're funny about how much you let us help you color, though.  Sometimes you want us to actively color with you, and then sometimes you lay your whole body across the page while you color.  I find it really amusing.

You've been doing some interesting free-style drawings lately, too.  Dad wanted to make sure that we saved a couple of them.  You're even able to write your name on them.

This month, we had a funny conversation about music.  We were running errands one day, and you wanted to listen to music.  So I put in a Pat Benetar disc.  We were a few minutes in and you said, "This is a girl!"  So when we got home, we watched a bunch of videos of female rock musicians.  Times like this I'm grateful for the internet.

You're still not sleeping very well, mostly because you want us to sleep with you all the time.  Sometimes I can tuck you back in and then go back to bed.  Sometimes I end up sleeping in your bed with you.  It rather drives me crazy, but I haven't seemed to find the right time to crack down on your sleeping habits.

So January went by pretty quickly.  It seems that time moves much faster now.  I don't know if that's how everyone feels when they get to be my age, or if I'm just bad at living in the moment.  People will tell you that I'm a creature of habit, too, and it's easy to let the days roll along in our usual rounds of chores and activities.

I did start classes in January for a certificate in Project Management.  The goal is to pass one of the project management tests, and then hopefully use that to get a better job.  We have to afford your favorite granola bars, after all.

Love,
Mom

6.11 or, Cozy January

Dear Corbin,

This month, you started chess lessons, after school on Mondays.  You got interested when Mrs. Scully offered to teach kids at recess.  We had played a few times using a little chess set that Uncle Alex got many years ago.  So when the flyer came home from school, I asked if you were interested, and we signed you up.  We'll see if you like it.  I hope that you do; it's a useful game to know.

We got your report card for first semester.  You seem to be doing fine.  You measure at mid- or end-of-year on everything except subtraction facts up to 20.  Your handwriting wouldn't win any awards right now, and your spelling is atrocious, but you're doing better and better at reading.  Mrs. Scully seems to approve of your classroom behavior, which is generous of her since you're still quite squirrelly at times.  It's always good to hear that your teachers think you are doing well.

We finally got some cool weather.  You got out some fleecy, long sleeved, pajamas for yourself one night.  You've been wearing them every night since then.  They have a button up top, which is a new thing for you.  I asked you what you like so much about them, and you said they were cozier than your other pjs.  You've also been sleeping in your knitted socks from Grandma Maria.  One night you couldn't find them.  You said "I can't sleep without my socks!"

Me: The ones from Maria? You really like them, don't you?
You: They're fuzzy and comfy.
Me: You know she made those especially for you.
You: Like...with her hands?!
Me: Yep, with her own hands.

You were very impressed.  It made me laugh.

You and Dad took your telescope outside to look at the full moon this month.  It was pretty chilly.  I'd like to do some planet viewing, but it's also been pretty overcast.  Dad feels like you'll have to get out of the city to really get any good views of anything.  Hopefully, you can do some star gazing this summer.

We were supposed to go to Big Bear this month and play in the snow with the Jorgenson's, but instead, Dad had to go to China.  So that put an end to that plan.  Which was not really so terrible, since the boots that I ordered for you, and the snowpants that I ordered for Miriam, didn't fit and had to be sent back.  We'll go in February instead.

We had a visit from my Aunt Irene, Cousin Sharon and Cousin Kimberly, from Grandpa Lam's side of the family.  They came out to spend some time in the sun, and came up to see us and the new house.  Aunt Irene brought an old photograph with her, to be returned to my Uncle Lee.  We don't have an address for him, but we have an address for one of his sons.  It's a photograph from the early 1950's, maybe, when Uncle Lee was in some kind of confirmation class, we think.  It's always interesting to me to see these old photos.  Uncle Lee and Grandpa Lam looked pretty alike as children, so it's rather like looking at a picture of him, too.  Someday you'll look back at photos of us, and maybe try to figure out the dates.  Although, lucky for you, you'll have Grandma's awesome scrapbooks to help you out.  And maybe these posts, too, assuming they don't get deleted when the machines rise up to take over the earth.

Love,
Mom

3.9 or, Deck the Bells with Jingling Holly

Dear Miriam,

You've gone into full Christmas music mode.  You have always liked singing to yourself while you play, and now you sing everything to the tune of Jingle Bells or Deck the Halls.  Instead of bedtime reading you want me to sing Christmas carols to you.

You had a cold this month, with a fever and a runny nose and a terrible cough that stuck around for much longer than we thought it should.  There was one night that your breathing sounded so hoarse that I got the humidifier out.  I think it helped, but it was a rough week or so.

I asked you what Santa should bring you.  You said a dinosaur.  I said, "Another dinosaur?  Don't we have enough dinosaurs?"  You said, "We need an allosaurus."  It made me laugh.

I had thought you might want another dragon.  I fixed our Toothless toy this month.  His wings had both been broken, and even though you still played with him, I thought we all might be happier if he was whole again.  It took longer than I thought, but they turned out well, I think.

You and Corbin helped Grandma and Grandpa pick out a tree, and then decorate it.  Corbin kept trying to tell you where to hang the ornaments, and you kept hanging them wherever you felt they should go.  That's pretty much how your relationship goes, these days.  We decorated our tree in the afternoon, and then we ended up at the Jorgenson's house and decorated their tree.  It was a funny day.

Dad missed that particular fun, because he was in China.  That trip plus the lack of snow here combined to make him forget to do his Christmas shopping.  I found it very funny.  He and Corbin had to go shopping the very week of Christmas to buy us presents.  He'll have to start using Thanksgiving as his mental milepost, instead of snow.  At least one of those things still happens here.

We had to make our own fireplace so that we could hang up our stockings.  There is nothing a little imagination can't solve.

Our actual Christmas celebration was nice.  Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena and Grandma Maria came up.  Aunt Lena is quite pregnant, now.  This is the last time we'll see them before the baby is born.  We opened presents, of course.  Grandma Maria knitted everyone a pair of socks, which are warm and cozy.  You like to wear yours and then slip and slide all over the hardwood floor.  We had a nice dinner, although it was a near thing.  Grandma had bought Christmas crackers with whistles in them.  What a terrible racket they made.  You were supposed to hand them all around and whistle carols on them, but of course you and Corbin just made them shriek as loudly as you could.  So once we got rid of those things, it was a much more pleasant affair.  We did Cornish game hens, and you always like the little tiny drumsticks.

So it was a nice month, and a nice holiday, and a nice end to the year.  Our second Christmas in the Long Beach house.  We are all safe, and healthy, and together, which is all we really need.  Well, that and an allosaurus.

Love,
Mom


Re-winged Toothless:

December at the Beach!

Trimming the Jorgenson's tree:

Our "fireplace":

Christmas Day!

6.10 or, Christmas Happenings

Dear Corbin,

The first time I asked you what you wanted from Santa, you said a remote control blimp.  When I told you that you should come up with a second idea, you said, "A book of how to make potions.  Ones that really work, like you could make one and it would turn our house into a castle."  Which, let me tell you, was not what I was hoping to hear you say.  So I had to tell you that Santa couldn't do that either.  A couple of days later, we had been talking about astronomy and you said, "Maybe Santa could bring me a telescope."  To which I very gratefully said, "Yes, maybe he can."

This month, the Sharktopus wanted to have a picnic.  He tried to have a picnic with the Lost Boys, but he discovered that he didn't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at all.  He had to have a picnic with Eagle instead, and eat fish.

School had the Holiday Craft Fair this month.  This year, you went with Dad.  You made a snow globe, and painted a ceramic bird.  We don't really need more crafts in the house, but it's a fun fundraiser.

Grandma and Grandpa took you to help buy a Christmas tree, and then you helped Grandma decorate it.  You kept trying to tell Miriam where to put the ornaments, and she kept putting them wherever she felt like it.  That's pretty much the story of your lives together.  And then we put lots of presents under the tree, which always makes me feel both good, and also materialistic and terrible.  This year, we tried to go for just a couple of big presents, instead of a million little ones.

We made our living room coffee table into a fire place so that we had a place to hang our stockings.  Dad drew it and we all helped to color it.  It was actually pretty cool, and I saved it for next year.

Santa did bring you a telescope.  We bought the family a new Xbox, which is for everyone, but really only you and Dad play it right now.  Maybe Miriam will when she gets older.  You got some books and some toys and games.  We did have a disappointment when Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena and Grandma Maria came up to celebrate.  One of their presents for you went astray in the mail.  So your Christmas got extended by a few days.

We had a conversation afterward about the importance of remembering that part of Christmas is also giving gifts, and enjoying the pleasure that others feel when they receive them.  You and Dad and Miriam picked out a new shawl for me, and some awesome earrings.  I really love them, and I tried to help you understand that.  We also talked a lot about the charitable gifts that we gave this year.

One of the things that I put on your Christmas list this year was money.  You have asked at times for toys or video games, and I thought it would be useful for you to start controlling your own funds.  Goodness knows, it's never too early to start learning about how not to be a fool with your money.

Love,
Mom


Helping trim the Jorgenson's tree:

Holiday Program at school:

December beach trip: Cali Life!

Our "fireplace":

Christmas morning!

3.8 or, What's Cooking

Dear Miriam,

You had two Thanksgivings this year, one at school and one at home.  For school, you did the usual autumn crafts, which included an Indian head dress.  When you're old enough, I'll ship you out to spend a summer going to pow-wows with Becky and Sofia Chapman.  Fortunately, your Thanksgiving dinner at school was less controversial.

Aunt Cele and Aunt Alice came to visit, on what's becoming their annual trip.  This year, they helped Grandma set up her new ipad, which you've now been enjoying very much.  They spent a night down in San Diego visiting Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena, and one of Grandma's best friends who was also in town.  I'm so grateful that they make the time to visit.  I grew up around an amazing group of aunts, both by blood and by friendship, and I want you to have them in your life, too.  There will be times in your life when you need advice from your aunts.  Sometimes, you'll want them instead of me, and I'm good with that.

It was Grandpa's birthday this month.  He turned 80, which sounds old, but when I watch him play with you, he certainly doesn't seem old.  He does moan and groan when he stands up off the floor, but so do Dad and I, so I don't even know if that counts.

We had a nice dinner for Thanksgiving.  Our friend Chris Karbo came over to eat with us.  We made a turkey roast with vegetables, and had a lovely time.  None of your adults are really into cooking, but you and Corbin always like to help us in the kitchen.  You like to use the can opener, and you love to stir things.  You have burned your finger once, but I haven't let you do any knife work yet, so we've avoided cut fingers.  You do like to use the peeler, though, so we might end up with a peeled finger at some point.  I hope that you grow up to like cooking more than we do.  It's useful to like something that you have to do all the time.  I might like it more as you and Corbin get older and a little more adventurous in your eating habits.  Or I might just start taking you to restaurants all the time.

Outside of our house, the day after Thanksgiving is a major shopping day.  Inside of our house, it's the day that Grandma starts decorating for Christmas.  That means, all of the Christmas books came out, and all of the Christmas music started playing.  You have an especially loud, annoying electric candle that plays a couple of measures of different Christmas carols.  I keep hoping that it will somehow disappear, but it's stuck around for a few years now.  Now that you're a little older, Grandma can put out a few more of her Nativity sets, and more of the little snowy village.  We'll see if the dinosaurs come to Christmas again this year, like they did last year.

Love,
Mom

6.9 or, Eating Up Time

Dear Corbin,

Ah, November.  The month of eating.  Eating Halloween candy.  Eating birthday cake with Grandpa.  Eating a big Thanksgiving dinner.

Aunt Cele and Aunt Alice came out, on what's becoming their annual visit.  This year, Grandpa very carefully parked the motor home in the driveway, and they used that as their guest house.  It worked out well; we'll probably do that more in the future.  It's always wonderful to see them.  They spent a night down in San Diego, too, visiting Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena.  One of Grandma's best friends from Madison happened to be in SD, too, so they even got to visit with Carol.  And of course, they played with you and Miriam.  Last time they were here, they showed you fun apps on their iPads.  This year, we bought Grandma her own iPad, as an early Christmas present, so she loaded up all of the same fun apps on hers, and now you like to try and help her make words when she's playing scrabble online with them.

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday while they were here--his 80th birthday.  It's a bit hard for me to believe that Grandpa is 80.  It seems so old, and yet I don't think of him as old at all.  We have such a subjective view of time and age, especially when we see a person every day.  It's only when we stop and think about it that we realize what our perceptions are.  I think of Grandpa as young, because I watch him play with you and Miriam.  It's only when he moans and groans to stand up from sitting on the floor that I think he might be older.

You had the latest skills test at your gymnastics class.  Every few months they put everyone through a checklist to gauge progress.  You seem to be doing well; they've given you high marks on your abilities.  You always say that you have fun and like it, which is the most important part.

It was our second Thanksgiving in this house.  You and Dad both had off the week of Thanksgiving.  In preparation, we ordered some addition and subtraction flash cards, and Dad made some sight words flash cards, too.  So we made sure that you didn't just play video games until your eyes were bleeding.  For Thanksgiving, our friend Chris Karbo came over and we made a turkey breast roast with veggies.  It turned out quite well, which is always nice.  It was a nice day overall.  Then next day, I went to Target to see if I could find an Xbox on sale.  I have never shopped on Black Friday before, but I guess I just needed an extra dose of holiday craziness this year.

The day after Thanksgiving is also when Grandma can finally cry, "Christmas!" and let slip the decorations of the season.  You and Miriam helped her put out Nativity sets, and the little village.  With the weather these days, we're lucky to have all of Grandma's decorations, because inside the house is the only place that it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Love,
Mom