Ghosts in the Machine

Occasionally my car will be a little wonky when I start it up in the morning... heat full blast in the middle of August, radio very loud on a station I don't listen to, blinkers blinking, wipers wiping... Makes one think there is a spirit haunting my vehicle. Turns out it's not a ghost, I have a munchkin infestation.

Langston's Words

I'm tired... but its been a while and I wanted to capture some of the words Langston has started to say. Here are the ones I can remember right now:

• Kitty Cat - sort of sounds like "Kay Kay"
• Bubba
• Hi
• Bye - this is his best word and it's usually accompanied with a wave
• Mama
• Dada
• Kahlil - sounds like "keal"
• Hot - sounds like "ot"

I don't know if we are going to get any more signs from him. He seems pretty happy with 'more' and 'all done'. Actually Kahlil has been into signs lately. He keeps asking us what different signs are... unfortunatley we don't know the sign for butter, or napkin, or half of the other things he asks. We did make up a cheese sign (waving your fists in front of your face like Wallace when he talks about cheese in one of the Wallace and Gromit movies) and everybody thought that was fun. But I think Langston is more into talking than Kahlil was at this age. We'll see - Kahlil certainly got over his taciturn ways much to our chagrin.

Langston has also started to take simple directions (when he wants) like "put that down" or "throw that away". Actually he LOVES to throw stuff away and I have to keep an eye on him as non-trash items end up in the can from time to time. He also likes to put his milk cup in the fridge... the way he gets down from the dinner table and takes the cup to the fridge right away you know it's an important job!

Take Your Kid to Work Night

I remember when my mom used to take me into work when I was little. I must have been adorable as I learned to ten key when I was ten. Then she was still taking me when I was a teenager. Word of advice: don't take your geeky teen son to your job as a computer mainframe operator in a hospital. I know your social security number and your medical history.

Anyway, I brought Kahlil with me on an HP errand. He immediately found an error in one of the equations on my co-worker Carey Yliniemi's white board.

He corrected it. I didn't realize he had picked up Darcy's Equation for flow through porous media from 'Blues Clues'.

I will start him on golf lessons next week before this gets out of hand.

Kahlil lightened up after a bit to try on this hat (also belonging to Carey). This is the look on his face the moment after he asked, "Do I look like a moose?"

I think he looks like an Irish version of Elmer Fudd in the 'What's Opera, Doc?" cartoon.

"Yes, Magic Helmet!

Yes, Magic Helmet!

And I give you a SAMple...!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQfNnSk1mAo

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Tonka Sledding

Who needs snow? Gravity + Tonka toys = Fun! Here, Langston demonstrates. Kahlil also put in several good runs ... backwards. I am sure there is a good reason we evolved with genes that make us find this kind of behavior enjoyable.

Teen Angst in a Three Year Old

Kahlil lost both of his bedtime stories last night. The first was taken when he refused to let go of the hose Langston was playing with. He got mad when told to go to his room and told us he was 'so mad he was boiling' and he was never going to talk to me again. The second book was lost, just a shot time later, when he again refused to do what was asked. We told him he had a choice... be good and come sit for dinner OR refuse and be sent to his room. He told us he would be 'good in a minute'. After the second trip to his room, apparently he worked out all is angst because we had a wonderful dinner. In fact he was Eddie Haskell polite. I hope sending him to his room is this effective when he's 13.

Langston has added 'SpaghettiO' to the end of some of his 'uh-ohs'.

Maybe they will be friends after all...

I have a couple cute photos to share...

Kahlil let me brush his hair while it was wet the other day. It gave him the total "Calvin dressed up for photos" look.

Langston is starting to discover shoes. No real surprise there. He was putting on Kahlil's shiny red shoes the other day. I think I have a similar shot of Kahlil wearing Jay's shoes.
For Jay's birthday, we gave him a new biking outfit... helmet (which he was in disparate need of), shirt, shorts, and socks. Jay promised to go on a bike ride with Kahlil after dinner tonight. Kahlil was excited about the new cloths and made Jay wear them all... and helped put on the helmet.

And finally a little video. It's possible they really will be friends.

How could I forget the SNAKES!!!

A good friend of mine, Sarah, is married to a herpetologist... a snake scientist. Bob works at OSU and has a snake lab on campus. For a several years we've talked about going on a tour of the lab and we finally did it last week! Sarah also invited fellow snake-o-phobe, Heidi.

Bob was great. He brought out a couple of the male red sided garter snakes for us to hold. Of course the kids were all over it. Wren, Sarah and Bob's daughter, was completely comfortable holding the snakes and showed us how it's done. Almost immediately Kahlil had a snake winding around his hand and settling in for a little quiet time. He seems to be a natural snake charmer. Jack liked holding a snake, but lost interest pretty quick. Not unusual for a two year old. Langston wasn't really into it as snakes aren't fuzzy like dogs, cats, and his favorite blankets.

For Jay and the two snake-o-phobes, Bob moved really slow and the whole time he was talking about the snakes and answering questions. He started with letting us touch them while he held them. This gave us a chance to feel their skin and see that they are not cold and slimy as they are often portrayed. Rather they are smooth and warm. Then we moved on to holding the tail to get a feel for how their bodies move; there are lots of muscles under that skin. Then, when feeling up to it, we could hold the snake and all both did it! I was very proud of us.

After holding the snakes, we went into the snake room where all the snakes are kept. There were dozens of aquariums with 2-5 snakes per aquarium. I'm guessing there were a couple hundred snakes in a pretty small space. They were all the same red sided garter snakes Bob studies... the females were big and several were about to give birth. The males, like the ones we held, were much smaller.

Then to end the tour, Bob gave us copies of the children's book that was written about him and his studies. He even signed them for us :-)

It was a great experience. I really appreciate Sarah and Bob being so kind and understanding. It must be strange to have job that some people find petrifying. And I'm totally proud of Heidi and I for going, holding the snakes, and showing our kids that snakes are nothing to be feared. I think we rock!