Grade School

Oh, duh. NOW I understand what "grade" school means! I wish I could freeze time, Jack is getting so big. 

Historic day, Love finally won!

Jack Lost His First Tooth

Jack has been really excited to lose a tooth. A couple of weeks ago, his first tooth became loose and it was a very big moment. Yesterday, I picked him up from school and he excitedly handed me a little tooth box. Apparently he had pulled it (!) at school and they gave him the tooth box to store it in. 

In anticipation of the big event, I had previously painted a little wooden box gold and I made a pillow for the inside. Jack wanted to keep the tooth to share at school so we wrote a note for the Tooth Fairy with a request to leave the tooth. 

In the morning - 5:30am - Jack discovered that his note was gone and it was replaced with a note from the Tooth Fairy and five gold $1 coins. 

Cool Nunchuck Cooly

Jack and I are pleased to announce the arrival of Cool Nunchuck Cooly, or Chuck for short.

I was intrigued by the aquaponics of this new product called Aqua Farm and thought it would be a win-win-win to have a fish for Jack, a fish tank that I don't have to clean and an herb garden that I don't have water or tend to.

The idea of Aqua Farm is that the fish waste is converted into fertilizer for the plants that grow on top of the tank (no soil needed, just water) while simultaneously keeping the tank clean. It's like a self-contained ecosystem. Very cool.


The Aqua Farm. Fish on bottom. Herb garden will grow on top.

After Jack picked out a fish from Petco, we brainstormed some names. Jack wanted something "cool", so he definitively chose "Cool Nunchuck Cooly" because the fish needed a first, middle, and last name (that was not ours). And evidently nunchucks are cool. His nickname was deemed Chuck.
Setting up Chuck's house was pretty easy and we decided to read our bedtime books tonight by Chuck and celebrate his homecoming with three fish/ecosystem themed books.

CLICK HERE to see more pictures.

CLICK HERE to check out more about the Aqua Farm at their website.

Girl Time

When we came home from the fireworks show last night, we found Stella in the stairway. She seemed really scared to come upstairs and was likely freaked by the sounds of the fireworks. She finally did come upstairs and fall asleep at the foot of my bed.

Feeling a bit guilty this morning about how scared Stella must have been all alone, I decided to spend some quality time with my girl today after Jack was picked up by his Dad.

We went to Stern Grove where we can go off-leash around the park and small lake. Stella found a stick and two balls.

Afterwards we went to Park Chow and sat outside for breakfast where Stella got lots of attention from, well, everyone.

 Lastly, we stopped by a cool store and looked at (me) and slobbered on (Stella) all the t-shirts. Awesome bonding time.

Indepen-dance Day

July 4th BBQ's, shorts, and sunscreen. Nah, this is San Francisco so grab your Patagonia puffy jacket, long sleeve shirt, and let's celebrate Independence Day.

Jack spent the first half of the day with his Dad then we went to Fisherman's Wharf for some some windy, foggy fun in the afternoon. 

Luckily, Williams-Sonoma has an office directly across from where fireworks are launched for a warm front-row seat - and free parking if you get there early enough. 

Jack and I parked and walked down to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. The museum was a little scary for Jack with its sound effects and shrunken heads while being simultaneously entertaining with its interactive light exhibits, mirror maze, and laser maze (think Mission Impossible). In one exhibit there's a hall of computer screens that distort your image like a hall of mirrors. Jack had fun with his dance moves there:

Afterwards, we struggled to find a place for dinner along with the other 200k people waiting for the fireworks. We finally settled on a hot dog and cupcake. On our way back to the office, we stopped by the International Spy Shop and picked up a little toy that hides a small mustache comb "from the robbers" per Jack. When we finally took refuge from the wind in the office, the fireworks show was a great end to our evening.

CLICK HERE for more pictures.

Little Ninjas

Jack started expressing an interest in taking karate lessons last year. Figuring it was a phase, I didn't give it much credence until he didn't stop mentioning it.

So, I found a great karate studio and Jack has been a Little Ninja now for the past six months. The classes are a blend of light martial arts moves and fun physical games. The kids run around and do situps/pushups as a warm-up then "meditate" for a minute to transition into more focused activities.

One Martial Arts has it down: caring staff who took my initially hesitant but enthusiastic son onto the floor and encouraged him throughout the class making him feel integrated and comfortable, a rotating weekly focus (e.g. focus, coordination, fitness, manners, family, confidence) where they provide a small patch/badge for the kids to earn (either in that class or at home) and a worksheet of how to talk to your kids about that week's topic. Lots of positive reinforcement and promotion of life skills like leadership, role playing to stave off bullies and strangers, etc. Respect (for yourself, others, etc.), Focus, and Family are big themes throughout each class. Parents get on the floor for the last 5-10 minutes of each class with their kids. The teachers and junior teachers (older kids who are apprenticing as leaders and who help out during class) are amazing with the kids.

We love the karate studio so much, that Jack had his 5th birthday party there, participated in his first tournament (second place in his group!) and went to their camp for a few weeks this summer.

Jack started with a white belt, then graduated to his Yellow belt, and is now on his Orange belt. At the Little Ninja stage, kids aren't taking tests to earn belts and instead graduate to the next belt every twelve weeks.

CLICK HERE for more pictures of Jack earning his Orange belt. The teacher ceremoniously removes the old belt and asks a few questions about what he has learned ("what is respect?" "what does focus mean?", etc.) and then ties on the next belt.

Click below for karate action Jackson:

The Mummy

Recently Jack has been asking questions like, "what happens after you die?" and "who was the first person on earth?" So, we've been discussing mummies and how the Egyptians treated bodies through mummification in prep for the after life (an absolutely fascinating topic, I think!).

We decided to make a mummy and sarcophagus, complete with jewels that s/he might need in the afterlife.

Sculpey is a great clay that's malleable into any shape and then is baked for 15 minutes to harden. Since it bakes for such a short time, we can do other things in the meantime and Jack doesn't lose interest in our activity. We chose white since the idea was to paint the sarcophagus in glitter paint.

Jack formed the mummy and a two-headed dog since mummies often took their pets with them. I went to work on the sarcophagus. We made a dog bowl and jewels.

Once baked and hardened, Jack wrapped the mummy in surgical tape and painted the sarcophagus and decorated it with beads.

CLICK HERE for more pictures.

Click the video below to see the finished product:

Pizza and Guinness

A friend of mine works for Family House - a wonderful local non-profit that provides a home-away-from-home near San Francisco hospitals for families of children dealing with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

They recently held a very cool charity event that Jack and I participated in one sunny day last weekend.

Family House partnered with Tony's Pizza Napoletana (the undisputed winner of San Francisco's best pizza, and noted by USAToday as one of the best in the nation) which was celebrating their fifth year in North Beach by attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records record of simultaneously tossing more than 250 pizza doughs into the air. We participated in breaking the record with 263 pizzas tossed that day!

Afterwards we rewarded ourselves with gelato and watched some of the World Cup. 

Check out more pics from SFWeekly (check out slide #5), CLICK HERE

And my iPhone pics, CLICK HERE. 

Magic Wands

Jack's preschool day ends at 2:15pm. After that he is in the "Butterflies" after school program. This quarter on Tuesdays he was picked up by another Mom and they carpooled together with her little girl to T-Ball practice. On Fridays, he took a movie making class to shake things up after the school day has ended. Here's a special screening of the final product:



You might remember that last year he also took the movie making class and produced a stop-action short with his friend Zoe: http://theblossomfamily.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-castle.html

81 degrees at 7:15pm

The City is experiencing a mini-heatwave this week and it makes icecream taste even better!

First Day of the Second Year of Preschool

Jack started his second year of preschool yesterday.

I always remember buying new school supplies and clothes before the start of each school year - it added a sense of excitement and confidence to that first day.

Jack and I carried on the tradition with our own shopping excursion. We came home with a new lunchbox and school clothes.

I was so excited - err, Jack was, I mean.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was a beautifully sunny warm day in San Francisco. Jack and I had breakfast at a new restaurant in the 'hood that we had not been to before, and then mostly hung out in the sunshine.

I came, I swam, I conquered

Jack loves the water but doesn't love water on his face, doesn't like to go underwater, or know how to swim so he clings to me most of the time when we are in a pool. I decided it was time for some swim lessons. We did swim lessons together when he was months old but he would be with a swim instructor this time. I was a little nervous about how he would react to my not being with him in the pool but I was quickly put in check with how much self-importance I place upon myself. He jumped right into the pool with the instructor and in the first 20 minutes they dunked right underwater together!

First swim lesson

Underwater together!

The Castle

Jack's preschool classes end at 2:15pm and then we pay for aftercare where the kids are looked after by teachers and read or do an activity or play outside. To add a little variety, I signed up Jack for two "enrichment" classes: IncrediBuilders (where the kids build with various materials) and Toy Story (where the kids make a little movie).

For Toy Story, Jack was paired with his best friend, Zoe, who was also taking the class. The teacher asked us to bring in two or three favorite toys so we brought in a castle and Superman car.

Here's the short (very short!) film that the kids came up with:

Almost Hillbilly Jack

 

A few months ago, Jack was pushed on the playground and hit his mouth on a concrete play structure. His mouth was bleeding and I was quietly flipping out until I identified that the bleeding was coming from his gum (just above one of his two front teeth) and it went away quickly. Crisis averted, I thought.

 

Jack complained that his front teeth were sore. That's normal after the trauma he experienced, I thought.

 

Then three weeks later his front tooth started to turn brown. I immediately took him to the dentist who said she saw three of these a day. Not that comforting. What's the prognosis? It could turn more brown, turn back to white, fall out, or stay in -- and we wouldn't be out of the clear for up to a year so it's mostly a waiting game.

 

So far the tooth has settled on a medium brown color but thankfully it's still firmly intact. So far, so good I guess.

 

 

T-Ball

Jack's preschool class organized a preschool T-Ball team this Spring. His team was named the "Star Bears" and was a mix of kids from his Teddy Bear class with a few kids from the Starfish class - hence the name.

They received a great red baseball shirt and embroidered black hat and I bought him a little glove that came with a soft baseball. The team practiced each Thursday and had a game most Saturdays.

The Saturday games were amusing demonstrations of organized chaos. There were four volunteer coaches and a bunch of nudgy kids which made for a constantly moving and crowded field. Differently from the Star Bears, the other teams wore matching baseball uniforms and sometimes didn't even use the "T" in T-Ball and were able to bat at hand-thrown pitches. Nonetheless, everyone cheered on their kids - even when they often hit the ball off the T and ran furiously to third base. Or picked flowers in the outfield. Or chatted up the opposing team's first baseman when they made a run and had to be prompted to Run, Run, Run to second base. Everyone got a chance to be at the bat and to run around the bases. The games lasted an hour, no matter how many innings that turned out to be.

Jack definitely liked the idea of being with his friends and meeting new friends. He was the one chatting up the first baseman or twirling in the outfield or loudly yelling "MOOOOMMMM, I'M THIRRRRRSTY!" from the other side of the field during the game. He often watched the ball roll by until it occurred to him to chase it. Needless to say, he wasn't chosen to man a base or placed in the infield, but he definitely had fun in the sun and so did I.

CLICK HERE for more pictures.

Chinese New Year

 The Chinese (or Lunar) New Year was in February and Jack and I went to Golden Gate Park to celebrate.

We camped out on the floor of an auditorium to watch a dance troupe of women who performed ethnic and folk dances from China, Mongolia, Tibet, and throughout Asia. They were dressed in colorful traditional costumes and danced to the rhythmic drumming of live musicians.

The dancing culminated in an amazing performance of "lion dancers". To me, they looked like the usual dragon dances that you often see in Chinatown where you have performers under a dragon costume. But I learned something interesting - the Chinese lion dances have two performers (one at the head and one in the back) whose faces are covered by the lion costume. In contrast, the dragon dances have multiple performers and their faces can be seen because the dragon is held up on poles.

Afterwards, we walked over to the Botanical Garden where an author was reading two children's books (we bought a book on the Year of the Ox which is Jack's sign, and a fun one called Julie's Black Belt) and then potted a plant for the new year.

CLICK HERE for more pictures of our Chinese New Year fun.








Lion dancers, not to be confused with Dragon dancers!

Stella Turns 5

If Jack is 4, then Stella is 5. Our good girl is as cute as ever (she is in more camera phones than I can count), and even more stubborn. I never tire of hearing her snore at night - it's so comforting to hear her nearby. And I swear, when I look in her big brown eyes it's like she's communicating with me. Jack loves Stella and understands that she likes to be scratched, patted, is part of our family and therefore we take care of each other. Happy Birthday Stelly Belly!

Jack Turns 4

Jack turned 4 this year!

Birthday Crown

I decided to start a new tradition and make a good morning birthday crown. It turned out to be a bit more papal than I imagined but I will have many more birthdays to hone my craft!

At 4, Jack would rather jump and climb than sit and color. And at 46, I love a big party. So I combined our preferences and planned a big boisterous birthday party with all of Jack's friends, classmates, and their parents at Pump It Up.

Pump It Up is a birthday factory. After an introductory video, the kids enter Room #1 that has huge inflatable slides and bouncy houses. The parents and kids put their shoes and things on a rolling cart and bounce.

After 45 minutes, everyone is rounded up and moved into Room #2 where there are even more and impossibly bigger inflatables. The cart of your things is rolled right in after you. And you bounce again. And sweat. Eighties music plays in the background. And you sweat some more. In the meanwhile, another party has entered into Room #1 unbeknownst to you.

And after another 45 minutes, everyone is rounded up again for a group picture, puts on their shoes, and is herded into the birthday room full of balloons, pizza, and cake. The room is thoughtfully chilled to cool you down. All the kids have red cheeks from jumping and running around.

Jack was heavy into superheros, so all the kids received a mask, matching cape, and a Tootsie Roll with a tiny mask and cape of its own that was printed with a Thank You for the birthday guests.

And in the meanwhile, another party has entered into Room #2 unbeknownst to you. They definately have the birthday party factory thing down to an amazing science. And everyone had an amazing time.

Afterwards, Jack and his Auntie Linda and I drove home. Jack fell fast asleep in the car for a nap so I drove into the garage and let him sleep while Linda and I setup a table and chairs and unloaded the car of presents onto the adjacent sidewalk. We had a couple of glasses of wine and leftover cake while waiting for Jack to wake up. When he did, we opened presents together and read several homemade cards from his friends.

CLICK HERE for more pictures of Jack's special day.

Morning book with birthday crown:



Sliding at Pump It Up: