Our Trip To Carthage / Hannibal (Day Two)

We started off the morning going to the local church branch in Iowa.  The boys were not thrilled.  And Seth realized almost immediately that he can pull himself onto the metal chairs without any problem.  We made it through the sacrament, after which Katsu left with Seth.  Then Andrew had to get a drink or something and at that point, with Seth running down the halls, we decided interrupting a ward that much that’s not even our own is probably not worth the battle.

So, off to Carthage we went.  We didn’t think it opened until 12:00.  So we had considered heading back to Nauvoo.  But since the building tours are so scripted and long (reminiscent of mini-sacrament meetings), we didn’t think that would go so well.  Besides, we had been reading in the D&C scripture reader about Joseph Smith’s death and Andrew was fascinated (as he is about all deaths and morbid thoughts … we talk about death almost daily in this household), we figured he would love the trip to Carthage.

And he did!  Luckily, Carthage seemed to be open and packed when we got there.  Packed.  After waiting for a while to see the movie, we finally got in with the rest of the room completely full of teenage boys and a few leaders.  Seth was fine for about 5 minutes and then we spent the rest of the time in the foyer surrounded by a family reunion group singing hymns – a lot more up Seth’s alley.  We joined the group again for the outside tour and made it through the downstairs before Seth again pled mercy.

While the boys toured the upstairs (Andrew loved it, but even he was no match for the LDS missionary spiritual tour guide and came down early), Seth ran around outside completely in love.  And yes, he is carrying a mallet, which is the closest our boys have ever come to a comfort object.  Heaven pity the person who comes between the boy and that mallet.  Which made for great fun when Seth learned the wonderful joy of hitting the Prophet/Hyrum statue with it.

After gathering up the troops, we were off to Hannibal, which is just about smack-dab between the Lou and Nauvoo.  For the uninformed, this is Mark Twain-ville, where he spent some of his life and also has the houses that were inspiration for some of his books.  We decided to forgo the museum and just took pictures as well as walked a bit around the downtown.  We thought we broke the camera at one point while Andrew simultaneously threw a fit, but luckily, the world was renewed again upon finding one of the coolest toy train shops ever.

 

At this point, we decided to go.  We were starving … and my feet were killing me.  Yes, in all the rain yesterday, we had forgotten to put on bug spray.  And while Seth escaped with hardly a bite, and Katsu with just a few, Andrew had one smack dab between his eyebrows (and still has scars from when we went hiking and got bites like a month ago!).  I, of course, suffered the worst, with I think 28 total, 12 on one foot alone.  The picture does not do justice to the pain.

It was a fun trip and NOT easily forgotten.

Our Trip to Nauvoo – Day One

We decided to take a little road trip last weekend and see Nauvoo and the pageant.  Katsu and I have been there before, pre-kids, but have not seen the pageant, and it seems like something you kind of have to do when you’re only 3 hours away.  I had some reservations on how much the kids would enjoy it, but surely church things are family friendly, right (ha ha ha).

The drive was fine – very easy and the boys were great.  We stopped off at our hotel in Keokuk, Iowa.  Our portable DVD player broke on the way up, but really 3 hours without a DVD player isn’t a big deal (hopefully we can get it fixed).  After checking in and dropping off our things, we drove to Nauvoo.

And the rain started.  Big black billowing clouds and then pouring rain.  Cars were pulling off the road and it was almost impossible to see.  And of course, we were taking the little road right NEXT to the Mississippi River, where some of the land already looked flooded … at one point, one side of the road was blocked off from a fallen trip.  But we did make it to Nauvoo and by the time we left the visitor center, it had reduced to a very muggy sprinkling.

The kids mostly enjoyed the Pioneer Living Center – or whatever it’s called where they show candle making, etc.  Then we listened to the Nauvoo Brass Band.  Andrew fell in love and insisted on waiting during the break between shows and watching the entire second show as well.  By the end, the players all knew his name.  Seth was not so enthralled, so he toddled around outside and during the second act, I tried to get him to tour the drug store and then finally gave up and just strolled him up and down the streets till he took a nap. 

So, Andrew and Katsu went to the bakery for cookies, we tried to go to one more building, but the boys were unbearable by the end and fidgeting and crying and trying to touch the artifacts and run away.  We went to the brick making place to get Andrew a brick which we had promised him.  But even that talk was way too long and the boys were fidgeting and Seth was trying to eat into the plastic bag of sample clay.  We decided to give in and find somewhere to eat.

After getting waylaid by some very determined Living Scriptures salesmen in the LDS book store, we finally got some sandwiches nextdoor and then had some fudge and Blizzards for dessert.  By this time, it was raining pretty hard again, but it was time for the pre-pageant festivities.  We took a quick picture at the temple and then drove to the parking lot at which point it was pouring.  Pouring.  So, we waited in the car as did everyone else.

Of course, at this point, Andrew HAD to use the bathroom.  So, Katsu and Andrew left to find the port-a-potties while Seth crawled around in the car and kept honking the horn, much to the chagrin of the neighboring car’s passengers (while the boy seemed amused, anyways).  By the time the guys got back, we decided to just go and get seats and sit on them under our umbrellas.

Which is pretty much how we spent the next couple hours.  Mercifully, the rain stopped about halfway through the pageant.  And the boys, while wiggly, sat still pretty well, even for the 45 minutes or so before the pageant started.  The crowd was somewhat sparse with umbrellas or makeshift trash-bag ponchos in tow.  And the actors kept thanking us for being there – kind of weird.  I really really enjoyed the pageant, though, so I guess it was all worth it.  Seth feel asleep about 30 minutes in, in the middle of the deluge, and Andrew feel asleep about 1 hr or so in.

The pageant was about Nauvoo, of course, and especially about one gentleman who came and ended up gaining a testimony.  I really enjoyed seeing about the faith of all the people who lived in Nauvoo.

Funny Things Andrew has said recently

- Nephi wants to go to the zoo, Mom.  He told me to tell you that.

- Are we having any friends over to play today, Mom … I want Joseph to come over.  <Me: Who is Joseph, Andrew?>  You know, Jesus’s friend.  (I think he was referring to Joseph Smith).

And no, all our conversations aren’t usually religious – I think it was prompted by going to Nauvoo this weekend.

- I have two sprinkles, just like you, Mom.  < Finally realized he was talking about freckles>.  You have LOTS and I have two and Daddy doesn’t have any.

- It hurts when I pee because the pee takes all of my blood out and then puts it back in again. 

Seth at 13 months (on Saturday)!

This is such a fun age but I am getting so worn out!  Seth is always running everywhere and getting into everything. 

I fish countless things out of the toilet EVERY day.  I recognize Seth’s particular scream that means “I am caught on top of something too high and I need you to come get me done”.  Seth keeps magically finding his baby book and turning through it too vigorously and ripping the pages.  And eating off the corners of other books.  And biting off pieces of soft balls.  And eating anything and everything possible.

A week or so ago I was changing Seth’s diaper, only to find 2 googly eyes staring back at me from one of Andrew’s art projects.  Nothing like feeling watched during diaper changes.  I have been watching Andrew’s art projects more carefully now.

Seth still climbs all over the place.  This Sunday he was trying to balance on the edge of the pew and doing a pretty good job of it.  The nursery leaders were asking me when he is going to start nursery – not till Christmas!  Of course, I am not going to see much of sacrament meeting for the next long while.

At home, he is always sliding down the couch, climbing in the windowsills a couple feet off the ground, and performing all kinds of stunts.  What a climber!!!  It’s funny, people are always asking if he crawls out of his crib … but he hasn’t tried, because he doesn’t spend all that much time in there and sleeps with me a lot of the time.  But he does start out naps and nighttime in his crib, and earlier this week, he wanted nothing to do with sleeping and jumped headfirst out of his crib.  Sigh …  That kid is tough though.  You have to do a lot to hurt him.  Like smash his fingers. 

Or hurt his feelings.  Seth is a pretty sensitive soul and especially in tune to principles of fairness.  He will cry in outrage if your voice is too loud or if you steal a toy from him or shut the door in his face.  But if you apologize, he will stop crying.

The cupboards are not safe.  He broke my crock pot and loves to drum on all the pots and pans and I have bruises up and down my legs from things that have been flung my way. 

Beside being a mountain goat (climbing and eating everything), Seth is moving forward in other ways.  He is starting to talk.  Mostly he babbles away in his own language, but I can usually tell what he is talking about with his pointing and jabbering.  He can say Momma, Dadda, ball, cat, yeah, hot, and not as well, Andrew and done.  Probably bye, too.

Seth loves playing with his popper toy – he runs and gets it when he hears me start the vacuum so he can vacuum too (he learned that from Andrew).  He is obsessed with the <real> vacuum and if I don’t leave the closet door closed, he will steal off with all the attachments and take the front cover off the vacuum and start playing with the bag.  He likes other toys, like his shape shorter, which he is starting to get the hang of.  Also, loves balls and can even dribble a bit. 

Seth is still obsessed with looking at high things – light fixtures, trees – and sharing them with you.  Also loves looking at family pictures on the wall or in albums.

Seth is completely and totally a mamma’s boy.  He doesn’t like me out of his sight almost ever … and he will come searching for me if I sneak out to go to the bathroom.  Or the store.  He’s okay if I’m gone for an hour or so, until he starts looking for me … and then, poor Katsu or babysitter.  I am the only one he wants to put him to sleep.  And for the most part, the only one to hold him.  It is tiring, mostly because I hurt my back from the constant holding and rescuing of Seth.

Seth has been really really miserable lately.  It seems like teething, but I can’t figure out which tooth is bothering him.  But he is generally unhappy.  Wakes up a lot.  Cries a lot at night.  Cries a lot during the day.  I feel for the kid, but I think he would feel a lot better if he slept more …

Seth has some eating issues.  He is not a big eater, first of all.  He much prefers water.  Which he drinks and spits half of it out as he drinks so the floor is always soaked somewhere as well as his shirt.  His doctor said I shouldn’t let him carry his cup around and drink even water all the time – I tried that for like two days and he was so broken hearted I couldn’t do it.  It is his true comfort object.

He also loves to throw food, which usually is how he shows he is done eating.  We are trying to teach him to say done, but it is usually the case that he throws all his food down and as we are removing the tray he will say done.

He also gags himself, if you are not feeding him fast enough or feeding him what he wants or he is done eating or he is upset.  In other words – alot.  To the point where he is throwing up.  It is very aggravating.  Oh, well.

Otherwise, he eats pretty well.  He really really loves eggs we found out.  So, he eats one every morning for breakfast that Katsu cooks up for him.  He also loves meat and string cheese (which we swear we heard him say, once “string cheese”, weird).  Not so much milk.  He was outraged that we put it in his beloved water cup, so we need to go buy him a new cup and try again.  My kids just don’t like milk.

We love Seth. 

Is Seth a Mountain Goat or a Puppy?

Inquiring minds want to know.

But seriously, how did I forget about this part of early toddler-hood?  So cute, so funny, so messy!  I love it.

Seth is a chewer, I guess.  This morning, he came across a box of macaroni that Andrew wanted me to cook (okay, so perhaps, he might have been given it by a mom who was trying to run some code for work to occupy him …).  He chewed a hole in it, poured the hard uncooked macaroni on the floor and started to eat it.  Silly boy.  He also has started chewing off the corners of books, covers and all (soft covers, but still…) if we aren’t watching.  He is like a puppy.

But then, he is like a mountain goat.  I rearranged some of the furniture and stuff in the kitchen and living room, trying to make some more open space to feel less cluttered.  Good point – Seth has been pulling over the cat’s food bowl and water bowl less frequently.  Bad point – because he is distracted, by his new favorite spot:

I also moved some of the appliances to the cupboard closest to the floor.  Seth found the crock pot and dropping it a whole inch to the floor where it promptly broke into several large pieces (and many many little pieces).  I have been thinking about buying a new one anyways … maybe I need Seth to destroy some more of my things so I can upgrade – like our kitchen dishes.  Hmmm ….

Last Week: Tanabata

So, not much to do a week in review last week.  We did some story time things.  I had a blood draw.  Grocery shopping.  World cup final on Sunday.  Not much exciting.

But Wednesday was Tanabata – a Japanese holiday celebrating something like two spurned lovers who were turned into stars and only meet once a year on Tanabata when their stars cross.  Don’t quote me on that.  (Although, I do finally have a book on Japanese holidays, so I at least know when they are the basic rudiments of celebrating them). 

So, the main thing is making wishes, writing them on slips of paper and sticking them on a bamboo tree.  The boys were tired, so we didn’t actually go to all that trouble like in years past (and our bamboo tiny plant looks sad from Joe chewing on it).  Our wishes were:  Katsu – do well on research, Amanda – graduate, Andrew – eat chips, and Seth – dance.  Okay, who knows what Seth really wanted, but he was dancing at the time, so …

In honor of Tanabata, that morning, me and the kids went to the Botanical Garden and especially to the Japanese Garden (okay, so maybe it was more in honor of free Garden Wed. morning instead of Tanabata …).  I tried to take pictures but this ended up mostly a nightmare in the Children’s Garden.  Seth desperately wants to be a big kid and climb up everything.  And keeping track of our diaper bag (I will not leave things just sitting there in a big city), Seth, and Andrew AND taking pictures is well nigh impossible.  Just know this – the Children’s Garden is AWESOME (and free twice a week for STL County residents – so double awesome).

 

We then went to the really beautiful Japanese Gardens and fed the koi, the kids favorite part.  The turtles and birds were stealing most of the food today.

Then, the kids played in two separate splash areas, one next to the Chinese gardens and one in the Children’s Garden.  I love splash areas.  I really really do.  Of course, only my kids seem to be obsessed with trying to drink the water (ick!).  Good thing I am not scared of germs at all.

Don’t you wish you lived in St Louis?  Visiting is always second best :-)

St Louis

This morning, Andrew said, “I don’t like St. Louis.  I want to live in Arbor.”  I have to say, I am surprised that a 3 year old still expresses this almost daily 5 months after moving.

Of course, I still feel the same way at least 50% of the time.  There are things we love about St Louis (the sun, all the fun things to do, there probably is something else …), but there are other things that we don’t like, too.  Like our lack of friends.  Like the lack of children around here.  And the oppressive heat and humidity.  Now, I remember why I hated being outside as a kid in Oklahoma.  And why I will NEVER like Texas.  We are on heat advisory today and yesterday.  That means the heat index will be 110 again.  Last night, when we watched the news at 9 pm, the heat index was still 102 in St Louis.  Yikes!  I didn’t realize St Louis was so hot & humid … silly me.

New Computer

I finally got a new computer.  I can’t believe the old one only lasted 2 years … I seem to have bad luck with laptops, but hopefully this one works better, especially with our new cooling pad.

Unfortunately, we’ve also been having internet problems, to the point now, where we are lucky if we have access for an hour a day.  The cable guy came out yesterday and was here for like 3 hours!  And he still couldn’t figure out where our lines were or why when they get to our house they are –5 dB instead of 0-5 dB where they should be.  He doesn’t think the technician who came in February connected us at all and we basically have been lucky to have any internet since then.  No wonder I have been having such issues getting any work done on my PhD (I like to use any excuse I can get).

Andrew is 38 months old!

Another month of Andrew-ness in our house.

We finally got 3 year old pictures taken at Sears. They turned out really well, but I finally contained myself and only got the portrait package so we only got one pose. I would have liked more, but we have no need for more pictures and our walls are already getting stuffed. But you can enjoy them! Andrew was being a pain most of the time - making weird smiles, talking in a weird voice, sticking out his tongue, pretty par for the course for a 3 year old, but they still turned out well.

Andrew has been a bit more challenging this month - the terrible threes (I keep hearing they are worse than the 2's - we'll see). First of all, he decided he is now too busy to use the bathroom to pee and has an accident every day. ARgggg! One day, he even sat in a chair and said to me "I have to pee, but I won't go to the bathroom". I convinced him that day, but he is not usually so convinced (or so vocal before the fact). We told him if he went 3 days without accidents he could go to the zoo or the science center (mostly because it is so hot, I don't have a lot of energy to go anyways, so it's the perfect prize). He might get a sticker for an accident-free day today but that will be his first sticker.

Speaking of busy, that is Andrew's favorite thing to say. He is too busy to go to time out, too busy to be nice to Seth, too busy to come to dinner and too busy to leave the house. He is getting really involved in individual play right now, which is really good, but boy - that kid is going to be a lawyer for all his arguments. Besides "I'm too busy", his second phrase is "No, but ..." which is his standard response to anything we say no matter what.

He really has a split personality (par for the course, I think) because the rest of the time he is really sweet. He gets this sweet smile on his face, cocks him head to one side, and will say "I love you" all the time, to all of us. When Seth is upset, Andrew will call him sweetie and try to cheer him up. He even says "Thank you" and "Please" in public! He is Seth's best buddy and tries to get him to go everywhere with him.

Favorite things this month - playing with his new friend Keinan (sp?) who unfortunately lives on the complete other side of the ward, like 20 minutes away. Special story times. Playing with the craft supplies. Watching Sesame Street or Berenstein Bears. Reading. Dancing around to music on the keyboard. Playing at spray parks. Cookies, ice cream, and chips whenever he can con us into it. Playing with Seth. Pretending to be an animal. Making a zoo with all the stuffed animals. Swimming lessons (and especially going down the slide). Nursery.