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Highlights

• Calan has a violin breakthrough
• The “Grands” come to visit for Christmas

December brought us music again just like it has in recent years. As usual we kicked off a few “family jams” where Mama and Dada get out Christmas books and play/sing songs. We also had Uncle Joe and his friend Patty over for some homemade nachos and to play some catchy tunes together in the living room. That’s always a fun part of the holiday season, and the kids especially love it.

We also got to witness some of mother nature’s work this month with one of the biggest wild fires in California history taking place nearby. The boys were curious, to say the least. We were relatively close to the fires as they swept through parts of Ventura and over the hills in Santa Paula. But the real effect for us was the smoke in the air for days on end. It was tough to be outside, and in fact, a couple of the Y football games were postponed until the end of the month. Even a YAC football week was canceled as it just didn’t make sense for anyone to be outside for any length of time. From a discovery point of view, Calan was particularly interested in learning about pirocumulous clouds that can result from large fires.

Gran and Grandpa came as usual for the holidays. We had lots of fun with them, continuing our traditions. I’m sure the kids will have long lasting memories of waiting at the top of the stairs with Mama, Gran and Grandpa while Dada goes down into the living room and confirms that Santa stopped by during the night. This year however, Evan slept in late for some reason, but Calan, as eager as he was, got a sneak peak at the tree before we carried out the aforementioned tradition. I guess older brothers have some perks. 

Calan

“I’m gonna be a grown up when I’m eight.”

After his first online class talking about inventors using patents, we asked Calan what do engineers and inventors get to protect their inventions? He replied “they get clear coat so their inventions are protected.”

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Highlights

• “Wang” the kitten joins our family
• Calan gets his quarterback groove on
• Evan marches on with treatment (rye)

November kicked in and we could sense the holidays coming around the corner. Sports activities were switching from basketball back to football again. Even though we continued to mourn Kitty’s loss, anticipation was in the air as we looked forward to taking in a new feline friend named “Wang”.

Certainly the biggest “deal” this month was bringing Wang home. After weeks of visiting the little guy at Jen’s house in Newbury Park, it was finally time for Wang to come join the family. (Jen was the doula for both boys’ births). Of course, as one would expect, he was an instant hit. A tiny ball of black and gray fur, with wide eyes he was certainly a fit for this family. It’s safe to say that this month Wang had more photos taken of him than the kids. Staying mostly in his cage for naps and during the night, he was a lot of fun for the boys during play time. Like any kitten, Wang loves to chase, pounce, attack and wrestle anything that moves. What we’ve liked about Wang as we’ve gotten to know him over the previous weeks and through what Jen has shared is his lovey-dovey side. When he’s ready to relax, he usually likes to cuddle in with anyone who is willing to sit still on the couch for a bit…especially when there is a pile of blankets and pillows.

Calan

Craving meat one morning, Calan asked eagerly for sausages. While waiting less than patiently, says “I’m too hungry for sausages.”

Talking about running for president one day: “I’m going to vote for myself when I’m 35. I was born in the United States and I’ve lived here more than four years.”

Hanging out in the office/guest room: “Dada, here’s something I’ve been wondering for years…actually something since I’ve been born.” Looking around the room. “Well, there’s no clock in here.”

“I’m glad I’m not a girl. Because if I had to have twins I would just…” (makes a face like someone passing out), “so I’m lucky I’m a boy…and Evan too.”

“People who want to get married, need to fall in love. So, they have to fall in love so they can get married.”

“If you do something for your allergies, it’s more important than getting poor.” Trying to make the point that you’ll die sooner from an allergy than you would from running out of money at the end of your life. Now, that’s deep.

Clapping for a big gain by the other team while watching football.
Dada: “Why do you clap Calan?”
Calan: “Because they didn’t make a touchdown.”

Dada: “Does your foot really hurt?” Seeing Calan limping around with a makeshift crutch.
Calan: “No I’m just pretending”
Dada: “Why is that?”
Calan: “Because I like to. That’s just what kids do; its part of playing.”

Calan:”Mama said we’re having turkey for Thanksgiving.
Dada:”Are you excited?”
Calan: “Yes, I think it came from a real turkey.
Dada: “How do you know?”
Calan: “Because there are two bones on top.”
Dada: “Why does that make you think it’s a real turkey?”
Calan: “Because I saw one like that on Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. “

Notable quotes this month:

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Highlights

• We say goodbye to “Kitty”
• Halloween 2017!
• Sport Court is ready

Our sweet kitty takes ill and we must say goodbye
Certainly the saddest thing we’ve had to face as a family of four was the realization that Kitty wasn’t going to get better and we’d have to let her go. As we crossed over into October, we’d just confirmed that our sweet little girl was sick with possibly cancer and the effect was that her lungs were filled with a thick fluid. Dr. Thomas at Pet Headquarters told Heidi that he was “surprised this cat was still alive”. After calling her in urgently, he was able to drain just some of the fluid very carefully and sent us home with his best guess prognosis of 3-6 months if we can keep her eating well enough and comfortable.

The lung draining seemed to make a big difference as Kitty’s eating picked up to where it had been a couple weeks prior. And while her breathing was still visibly fast and labored, we just knew she had to feel better with some of that substance removed from her hard working lungs. Dr. Thomas was really great in assuring us that we had options for treating her. The caveat of course was that any further diagnosis and treatment would be costly. What’s more, in doing so, there would still be no guarantee pursing specialized treatment would lead to a healthy cat. So, we kept close tabs on her and tried to both accept what her health reality was but also have hope that we could prolong a relative quality of life for her with our family.

We continued a daily antibiotics treatment and started an at-home dose of oral steroid each night. Not our (or Kitty’s) favorite daily ritual but we wanted to believe it could make a big difference for her. Unfortunately, by the second week of the month, we had more or less confirmed with a special pathology report that the substance in her lungs was consistent with cancer.

As each day passed, it was clear that the original steroid shot and medication we treated her at home with twice a day weren’t having the same effects as when she first started receiving them. As mid-month approached, Kitty’s eating started to fade just as it had before we got her checked out initially. Clearly, it was well beyond the finicky eating behavior that we were first suspecting weeks ago. For several days, we watched her eating habits and litter box closely, and things did not get better. We took her in and gave her some fluids on Monday, the 16th at Pet Headquarters along with another steroid shot. The hope was that it would stimulate her to eat something instead of just licking the tops of bowls filled with Tuna or creamy baby food. It reminded us of Cole in his final weeks, where he would eagerly”ask” for food, but when presented a favorite dish, would not eat it. In the 24 hours following this last pet visit, Kitty still wouldn’t eat and spent most of her time in Calan’s room resting. She wasn’t completely out though as she had moments where she would whisk down the stairs, roll over affectionately when you stroked her back and even responded for a second or two to a playful gesture with your hand or toy. But now, the hard discussions we’d generalized over before became more about plans and the tug-of-war between our hearts wanting to keep her around longer and the reality of when we would need to let her go. The when is so hard… The toughest aspect related to waiting as long as possible is not wanting her to slip into any dramatic state of suffering. As hard as it was, we worked through the emotions and even the logistics with our lives to come to terms that sooner would be better. Heidi’s friend Rachel gave us a good perspective when she said, it’s better to lose a few good hours towards the end with a sick animal than to risk making them suffer through many hours. Since Dr. Thomas was out of town, we called the Cat Doctor in Thousand Oaks to see if they could help us. They are bit more costly, but they were so great with Cole 5 1/2 years ago. We knew it would be a much calmer, more caring and less clinical experience there. We set an appointment for Wednesday morning the 18th with Dr. Cody.

As parents, we really wanted Calan to understand what was going on at the times he needed to. Up until that final week, he knew Kitty was sick and that we were watching her and doing things to help her feel better. We shared openly with him when these things weren’t working. With Kitty not eating well and her working against her breathing problem, her condition could only get worse and possibly turn very quickly. This is hard to understand even for us grown-ups when you see your pet walking around, cuddling and hanging around with the family. Calan responded with moments of clear sadness, but also an understanding. When the moments were right, we talked about the process of putting a pet to sleep. We talked about what happens, cremation and what we could do to make it easy and comfortable for Kitty and even us. We let Calan make some of choices and answered all of his questions honestly. He felt exactly like we did, that we did not want to lose her, much less take the actions necessary to see that through and do what was right.

On Kitty’s last night with us, Calan decided to stay home from his group violin class so that he could spend more time with her. The evening was a good balance of family time and just being with Kitty. Calan offset his emotions about Kitty during the evening by getting outside and enjoying his new favorite game on the court, Badminton. He also had his gemstones to look at and talk about with us. We kept real and healthy conversations going about Kitty, following Calan’s lead when he had questions or wanted to talk.

The next morning, we watched as Kitty licked at her last bowl of tuna and hung out with us during breakfast and as we prepared ourselves for the trip to the Cat Doctor. One thing we had to be mindful of was Heidi’s work schedule in the early afternoon. We didn’t want to rush anything, but we needed to arrive at our appointment time (originally 9:30 but we changed to 9:45) on time so that we could have some time together after… Well, when we were finishing getting ready, Kitty threw one last wrench into the works. Often in the mid-morning, she will find a snoozing spot upstairs. Today was really no different. 10 minutes before leaving, she was resting quietly in Calan’s room. So, while the boys and Mama did their final tasks before leaving Dada hung out with Kitty for a few minutes. Calan came in shortly after, and then Evan. Just as the last six months, if the scene got a little too “lively” with Evan, Kitty would leave the area. So, we watched her walk through Evan’s room and on to the master bedroom looking around for somewhere to go. We closed some closet doors and figured she might just go to one of her spots under the window where she often like to sleep. This would be just fine, as in a few minutes we would come get her after the boys were settled in the car. But when Dada came back, she wasn’t in the room anymore. In fact, she was no where to be found at all in the house. After several passes, (eventually with the whole family back inside), and nearly 40 minutes of searching , we finally found her deep in the master closet, back inside and under the broken bottom drawer of a dresser we keep in there. It was her best hiding place to date, and she sure used it wisely! Reluctantly, we pulled her out and got her secured in her carrier. We were finally off…

The Cat Doctor was just how we expected. It was peaceful and quite, and not other pets came in the entire time we were there. There was just a couple helpful staff and Dr. Cody. He was perfect; a youngish family guy who was soft spoken and clearly understood the sensitivities of our situation: A boy and his family saying a much too early goodbye to their kitty. We settled into their special room and let Kitty out. While she explored the room actively, Dr. Cody explained to Calan just how the process works and the steps he would take to help Kitty pass slowly and effortlessly. We chatted with Dr. Cody for a bit about Kitty and how hard this all can be. He let us know he’s been on both sides of this conversation many times. Calan continued to be strong while also letting his emotions flow freely when he felt like it. It’s hard enough to see the family pet go, but having to see your child come to grips with it is just as hard. What makes it a special part of life though is being able to also see your child’s caring heart work through it with such composure and understanding. Throughout the whole time at the Cat Doctor we were so proud of Calan and how he handled spending his last moments with Kitty. He gave Kitty so many caressesses, hugs and kisses, from beginning to end. He watched her poke and crawl around the furniture of the room, and when she landed under a large wicker chair, he crawled down by her and beckoned her out with his treasure chest of gemstones he’d brought along. He wanted to be there and hold her in his lap as Dr. Cody administered the medication. There was no doubt that she felt our love, but Calan’s especially as she drifted off. Calan was very sad but also quite curious as he observed and took in the experience. Counter to this was helping Evan to manage his own understanding and behavior. Of course he couldn’t fully grasp what was happening and was easily distracted by other things in the room or the other cat roaming around outside the door. In the end, Evan paused just long enough, as he realized enough that we would not see Kitty ever again. This was good so we could all be together as we said our final goodbyes.  All of us in tears, in the quiet room together. Dr. Cody’s eyes moistened up a bit too as his own compassion for the situation poured through.

When it was over, we thanked the guys at the Cat Doctor for everything. We realized that many families may not make such a big deal out of all this, but we’re glad we did and feel we did it in a way that was perfect for what Calan needed. For the kids, we feel it’s a wonderful opportunity to grow their hearts and cherish something special. We told Calan that his love for Kitty showed so much, and that in his very young life, this is just the beginning of his life-long journey of getting to enjoy his love for animals, through good times and hard times. Maybe he doesn’t fully get that now, but it shows. As planned, after we left we went for some allergy friendly food at California Pizza Kitchen and then a rock and gem store down on Thousand Oaks Blvd. The kids made the transition just great, and things felt mostly normal again. Evan was still himself, needing a bit of attention (especially in the gem shop!), but these were just the right activities to help ease the pain and to move forward a little bit in the day. It was hard when Mama went off to work for a few hours, but we did what we set out to do. All the emotions were hard, but we remembered to be there for each other every step of the way.

The Sport Court is done…Enough
October started in traditional fashion this year, with eastern winds and high temperatures. Our back yard filled with excessive debris from the trees and the thermometer hit in the 90s many days and even ticked over 100 a couple of times. But when the weather was “normal” we took advantage and played outside on our newly finished sport court. The concrete cured, and we assembled our modular court tiles on top. At last, our playing surface was in place. Inviting a few friends over one evening, we got the goal put together, raised up and bolted into place. It was long awaited, but Calan could finally take some shots on his new backboard and rim. We also strung the volleyball net across the court for badminton, volleyball, etc. Calan picked up this skill in no time, taking a couple days to get a feel for hitting the birdie consistently with a racket. He really loved it. Evan joined in too, inventing his own game of trying to hit the birdie off his racket after flipping it up first. Soon, our hockey sticks and nets arrived, and the kids loved those as well. The nets doubled as small soccer goals, and by the end of the month, Calan had several new favorite sports to play. Of course, we couldn’t leave out the soft-tip, electronic dart board we’d had for years. We secured it to a tree and let Calan take it for a spin. He absolutely loved throwing darts and played many games against Dada and even Coach Wil when he came over for a couple basketball training sessions this month. The lights work great as well, so as nightfall crept in earlier each day, we found ourselves playing outside well after sunset. It was success, and it’s easy to see the kids (and Mama & Dada) will have lots of fun out there for years to come.

Halloween
Needless to say this year, the weeks leading up to Halloween weren’t as “festive” as the years past. We got about 50% of the decorations up and missed visiting the pumpkin patch. But…we did make a return to the Halloween festival at the Y and had a fun night eating homemade pizzas and trick-or-treating, with the boys in full costume. Calan had settled on Harry Potter after becoming an official fanatic this year. He’d read through to most of Book 4 of the series and loved the idea of having a “good” wand, complete with the Harry robe, tie and glasses. It took a little effort to get his hair darker, but in the end he pulled off Harry pretty well. Evan’s love of Daniel Tiger carried through to his costume this year. His warm and cozy little tiger costume was just right for him. That said, there were times all the way up to getting dressed for trick-or-treating that he asked to be the Statue of Liberty again or Calan’s old skeleton costume. After eating some delicious pizzas that Mama made from gluten free crusts and watching some of the World Series, we headed out and met up with Carson and Dave Gaines down the street. The Rodriqueses were at another neighborhood tonight, but it was nice to be in a small group too. Evan still needs some watching of course, and a little guidance at the doors. He never had any issues running up to the doors with confidence; however, sometimes he would get distracted by scary decorations and forget to acknowledge the person at their door handing out candy. When he was focused on receiving treats, he often picked not one, not two, but three or more pieces. This always brought a smile to people’s faces, although one neighbor had to cut him off saying he needed some candy for the rest of the kids tonight. Evan also accidentally ate his first peanut M&M. It all happened pretty fast, but a loose one fell out of a bag and he ended up with it in his hand, then mouth. Mama looked up quickly, and fortunately, they are ‘safe’ for him to eat. Back at home, the boys relished going through their loot while Mama and Dada picked out the pure junk stuff and of course, anything with wheat or eggs for Evan…which was more than half of what he got.

Calan

Aside from his outdoor sports he’s discovering, Calan’s biggest sporting spirit inside is definitely football. With football season in full swing, Calan will get out his small Nerf football and begin inventing/re-enacting football plays. Not just your typical plays however… but any play that is LOUD. Beginning with the count, his quarterback will shout out the cadence, then it’s time for teh announcer and commentary to take over… again, at full volume. The high volume comes from the fact that every play of his is some kind of amazing throw or run for a touchdown. If there is a penalty on the play, then we’re sure to here the referee bark out the offending action to the imaginary crowd. And speaking of the crowd, there’s not shortage of hollers and cheers going on during this highly imaginative games.

Another funny thing Calan has picked up recently is him not remembering things. Almost as an excuse, if he doesn’t do something he agree to for instance, he’ll simply blame it on his memory. He’ll utter defeated, “I forgot.” Other times, it won’t be related to a defensive response and just a clear forgetfulness. For example, one day 30 minutes after hugging and saying goodbye to Mama as she went off to the store, Calan said, “Where’s Mama?” After reminding him, he said he honestly forgot that she left.

Along with his team basketball season going strong this month, Calan also got invited to join a practice with the older kids. Since Coach Wil helps coach the “D2” (8-10 year olds), he asked if Calan wanted to join their optional practice on Sunday afternoons. We jumped on the opportunity as Calan always shines when working with older kids. He lived up to this, as each Sunday you could seem him extremely focused and working hard to carry out the drills along with the bigger kids. This is something you just don’t see with the younger guys on his main team. You really start to see that Calan’s hard work is paying off, as often his form and success with the drills looks better than some of the older kids at times.

Calan also had a chance to pursue some of his rock hounding hobby one day this month. Mama and Evan headed down to Long Beach for Evan’s appointment, and Cala and Dada stayed back to spend the day together. After helping to clean up the yard following the first big Santa Anna windstorm of the season, Calan and Dada headed over to a local rock and stone yard, Thompson Building Materials. He’d been here before, but not with his new interest in rocks. We toured around the large lot looking at large bins full of small rocks and that a huge section full of large rock used for paving, siding, etc. We had fun trying to identify different types of granite and finding quartz veins in some of the rocks. He especially like the rocks underneath the cantera fountain area, since they looked even more interested when wet. From there we stopped b Taco Bell, a place he’s been wanting to try since it was safe enough for him. He absolutely loved the taste and eating there. A big treat, no doubt. From there, we headed over to the mountain across the fields from our neighborhood. It has a rock quarry on the southwest side of it, so we parked and hiked around the edge of it. It was fun scouting about, trying to find interesting rocks. Calan took his rock pick, magnifying glass and gloves. We didn’t find a whole lot, but nothing beats just being together and taking in the experience together.

Notable quotes this month:

After one of his basketball games where the ref did things a little differently, Dada asked, “Did your  game feel strange tonight or did it feel like a normal game?” Calan replied, “It felt normal…actually it felt normal but a little strange.”

Evan continued with his cute, but very intriguing artistic drawing and coloring this month. Again, his “pieces” are made from layering many colors densely into one small area. Sometimes, he’ll even add a glue stick layer on top, giving it an interesting smudgy texture. He even did a couple of these works on post-it notes. With his style of working so much into one spot, the stickies seemed to be the perfect sized canvas.

At Dr. R’s Evan was introduce to rye protein. With this, we’re getting even closer to wheat. He had a small reaction to in the office, but recovered pretty quickly. He was sent home with this new daily dose of what amounted to almost a dusting of the rye flour to eat with some applesauce.

One morning, we discovered Evan’s right front tooth was chipped. We traced it back to the night before, when he slipped while standing up on the couch (sigh). We believe he hit his mouth on his Alphabet Train car that was ALSO up on the couch at the time (sigh). The lost piece wasn’t very large given his small teeth, but it was certainly big enough to notice and change the shape of his tooth a bit. Thankfully it’s a baby tooth, but he’s still a couple years away from those coming out. We could only shake our heads and accept this is how his front teeth will be for awhile. Not to worry, he’s still the same silly Evan we can’t resist hugging and kissing every time we get close to him.

Notable quotes this month:

Eating dinner on a special night where the kids wanted to watch their Wild Kratts show, Dada asked Evan, “Are you hungry?” Evan responded with, “Yes… I’m hungry for Wild Kratts”

“Dada, you really lost your hair”

One morning just before Halloween, when it was really foggy and misty outside: “It’s raining Halloween!”

Running into the room really fast: “Ok! But…never mind!” Then ran away.

Dada: “Let’s put any of your loose cash in your piggy bank”
Evan: “Oh my piggy bank….In that case I need some dollars.”

“Don’t play football. It’s not football time. It’s cuddle time.” To Calan, after he started running around with the football one morning.

When Evan saw Rayah on Halloween, he kept smiling over her and wanted to be close to her. When we asked him about it, he said “She’s a…princess.”

[Show as slideshow]

Highlights

• Fall basketball season starts
• ROA classes begin
• The “sport court” gets concrete!

Sport Court is getting close
As usual, September ushered in the beginning of “real” summer weather here. Strings of hot days sprinkled throughout the month, but the kids definitely noticed the daylight hours decreasing. We got closer to completing the court for the back yard sports area, and the hot days gave even more sweat to the “blood, sweat and tears” needed to get this job done. After receiving several quotes, we finally settled on a contractor recommended from a friend to pour the concrete pad for the court. On September 29th, the crew came out and did the final preparations to the ground and then poured and finished the concrete pad. Calan loved watching the wet concrete oozing from the 6″ hose that wrapped from the truck at the street all the way to our backyard. He wanted to document the process as well, so he carried his camera around as he watched. He snapped photos and captured all the interesting angles of the works. The crew quickly filled and spread the “mud” into place within the wooden forms that outlined the court area. When it was all done, the hardest part began: waiting a solid week for it to cure. At least we could get the kids’ initials n place before the surface was dry.

Kitty gets sick
A couple weeks into September Mama began to worry a little bit more about Kitty’s eating. Kitty had been a picky eater since we got her in April, but in the last month or so it really became more of a game to get her to eat well. Nothing would stick, so the big strategy became rotating different types of food and finding ways to “trick” her into eating more of the good dry food we had for her. By now though, it had become harder, and her weight seemed to be decreasing. She’d also not been herself for some weeks now as far as playing and running around. Otherwise, she was still very affectionate and cuddly, her usual purring machine in full throttle any time you shared time with her.

Not taking any chances, we scheduled an appointment with the vet. Calan and Mama took her in. This gave Calan a chance to be a caretaker, helping out to and from the vet, but also comforting Kitty during her stressful trip. At one point while they waited briefly in the car, Calan pulled out a harmonica and played softly for her. It was just too sweet to see him show his love and care in this way. Initially, the doctor said Kitty’s weight was fine, and that this time of year he sees a lot of cats and dogs come in with these kinds of symptoms. It essentially amounted to allergies! We had to laugh, given the allergy issues in this household already. He gave her a steroid boost, and said it should get her through. She did get a little better as far as her appetite and energy levels.

But then we noticed something a little more alarming. Her breathing was presenting as more pronounced, with her lungs expanding larger and faster than we could ever remember. The breathing didn’t sit right, so we made another appointment. This time we saw the other doctor at the vet. He did an x-ray, and it revealed that her “lung field” was nearly full of something. When the main doctor saw the x-ray a few days later he had us bring Kitty back again urgently. Things weren’t looking too good at this point, as the doc confirmed her lungs were filled with a substance that clearly shouldn’t be there. He suspects something like cancer. He was able to carefully drain some of this thick fluid from her lungs, but could only get so much with Kitty struggling through it. Our hope at this point is that she would do a little better with some of it out of there. We shared everything with Calan to make sure he understood what’s happening with Kitty. Since we don’t know exactly what’s going on, it was easy to just sort of “inform” him for now. He got it at a high level, but when you’re young you don’t fully grasp some of the possibilities of what it all means. Our goal going forward is to help Kitty feel better and as comfortable as possible. With Calan, there is definitely no shortage of help from him, as he truly loves his little cat and wants her to get better.

Calan

Calan is constantly learning and exploring new things in our big world. Recently, he discovered gemstones. Out of nowhere, it was like the beginning of an obsession. Fortunately, we had a bag of about 20 or so little gemstones that Mama had received in some home school supplies from another mom who had downsized her home “classroom supplies”. Calan had seen these before, but suddenly now he was taking to them with profound interest. Making lists and identifying each one’s name and properties, Calan studied them carefully. He learned about where they come from and the special meanings and symbolism each one carries. Whether these rocks, with their metaphysical “gemmy “powers” truly work, you can’t deny the calming effect they bring to Calan whenever he engages with them. Not that needs to calm down, but the sheer act of holding and staring at them no doubt has an almost meditative effect.

Calan is getting more in touch with his mind and body in this way too, when it comes to settling down for sleep. Every now and then, he’ll have what amounts to a challenge with falling asleep and anxiety at night. In the past, it might be a concern or “worry” over something related to big ideas or a catastrophe like a fire. As he’s getting older, the sleep difficulties come with other thoughts about life or just dealing with an active mind and wakefulness that doesn’t let you relax and sink into sleep. Working with Calan’s emotions about this, Mama introduced the concept of a “worry box” for him. It’s not a box of worries, but rather a box with things that can help calm or distract him from other prevailing thoughts at bedtime. Keeping it next to his bed, Calan’s worry box has items in it like fidget toys, a lavender pillow, notes with ideas for relaxing, small lights and other objects that just feel good to the touch. He may not be using the worry box each night in the literal sense, but we think that it just being there along with working through the “worries” together brings comfort for Calan at nighttime.

ROA classes started for Calan this month. His “second grade” workshops are underway. This semester, he’s in his favorite, Book Club again, along with a new drawing class called Da Vinci World. His third and last class is one of his other favorites, Martial Arts. We decided to do a little more curriculum at home this semester, so to  simplify things even further we kept the workshops to just one day per week.

He also had a game day play date with Augustine this month. Augustine came over, and the idea was to play a bunch of board games together with some special snacks. The boys did well overall, but at this age, there is still a sort of underdeveloped competitive spirit at play when playing games. This can sometimes bring about frustration if you don’t understand a new game or are not winning at a particular game. The fact that we did it though is all the success you can ask for with this.

A new basketball season got underway this month too. We successfully got most of the team back from the spring, with the other athletic and “aggressive” players on Calan’s team again. At first we didn’t have a coach, but in the final hours before the first practice we somehow landed our favorite coach from a couple seasons ago, Scott. The stage was set for a really fun and winning basketball season with “The Kobes” again. And as the season kicked off, we also changed our focus with Coach Wil for our weekly sessions. We moved our workouts to the Y gym where Calan could work with Wil more specifically on basketball; drilling movements, quickness building exercises, and of course, ball handling and shooting. Wil continues to be impressed with Calan, and is always excited to teach him. He loves his attentiveness and willing spirit to learn and absorb, and getting better every week. A teacher’s dream. 🙂

Notable quotes this month:

Not a quote, but a really nice gesture toward his brother: After seeing the movie Cars 3, Calan really wanted to buy some of the car characters. He picked a few out online and even used his own money. He kept asking when they would arrive, and was pretty excited the day they finally came to the door. Thinking he would be really possessive with them he surprised us all and brought them over to Evan and asked if he would like to play with them. Too sweet.

Said to Mama: “I might be inviting you and Dada over to my house when my kids are born.”

Evan

Notable quotes this month:

“I’m not playing basketball if someone is shooting a basketball on my head.”

” I can’t feel good” – After swallowing some allergy medicine too fast.

“I’m excited to have a cookie, but I want a hug from Mama.”

“It’s really night out there” – Looking out the window and seeing the early fall evenings getting darker.

“Mans don’t sleep…they wake up”  – When getting ready to go upstairs to nap.

“It seems I’m not a balloon.”

Invents the word Popious. “Poppy-ess ” Kids make up words, it’s a fact. But this is Evan’s favorite right now, and he uses it at random. It’s always said with a smile and followed by laughter.

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Highlights

• Calan turns 7!
• Another big Long Beach trip, to include the biggest food challenge yet
• We take a trip to the Moxi Museum of Exploration + Innovation
• Tee-ball season wraps up for Evan

This year, August marks the year of the great solar eclipse for North America. And just as the Earth continues to revolve around the sun, bringing about new seasons; so too do our lives cycle through seasons of change. A new birthday for Calan and the always welcome return of Gran and Grandpa make early August extra special. It also bids farewell to Coach Lynn and our four-days a week swim lessons. We also concluded Evan’s first tee-ball season and got a little crazy with peanut eating as we ended the month on a high note, successfully challenging Calan with the highest dose of peanuts ever: 75 in one sitting.

The Moxi Museum
This month we also visited a science and exploration museum called Moxi, in Santa Barbara. The place is designed for anyone intrigued with the intersection of science and technology and interacting with it. The boys definitely had fun in this hands-on  learning environment. Evan, especially had free reign to touch and interact with everything there. Their favorites included building their own pinewood derby cars and racing them down a long and highly elevated track. They also loved constructing abstract sculptures with large wooden pieces that fit together in ways that require some creativity. Calan built a big cave out of large cardboard blocks. The pneumatic systems that blow objects through a maze of transparent tubes was also a hit. The rooftop of the museum building provided a “garden” of scientific displays involving water and sound with an amazing birdseye view of Santa Barbara. There were truly countless exhibits and activities the kids could do to feed their curiosity freely. We were impressed with how clean and organized it all was, with surprises around every corner that captured your eye…and mind. From physics and geology, to fun technology and music, there really is so much within that you could easily spend the whole day there. We especially enjoyed following the kids, watching them interact and exploring each exhibit together. Their curiosity muscles really got some exercise on that day.

Long Beach Trip
It wouldn’t be accurate to talk about this month’s Long Beach trip without actually calling it two trips…And these trips had to be back-to-back. To be more precise, Mama and Evan had to do two trips down to Dr. R’s because it was Evan’s turn to wear the overnight allergy patch. Wearing this patch on his back with all of his known allergens pressed against his skin for 24 hours is an additional data source that Dr. R can use to better assess the degree of Evan’s individual food allergies. Calan did this as well. The patch itself isn’t too bad (except if it becomes itchy), but the logistics of being in Long Beach two consecutive days definitely takes some planning…patience and energy on everyone’s part. For Calan in 2015, we had stayed the night. This time, it was just easier for Mama and Evan to go down on a Thursday morning, then head down as a family the next day. Needless to say, Mama had quite a couple days, when you throw in having to teach Thursday evening. It all worked out though, and Evan successfully wore the patch, giving Dr. R and his staff some informative results. Naturally, some of these results were hard to look at for poor Evan. Egg, in particular always “lights up” pretty big, with a large, round red blotch. Evan received plenty of cortisone cream to help his skin feel better.

On the second day, after the patch was removed and analyzed, it came time for each of the boys to do a food challenge. For Evan, he kicked off a challenge with something related to wheat. For this one, it was buckwheat. The idea again is that if he can get used to buckwheat, he’s that much closer to accepting tiny amounts of wheat when introduced in the future. Mama had cooked up a couple of sizable buckwheat pancakes and packed them for the office visit. Not the greatest pancakes in the world, but not too bad either. Evan took his time eating them, and we worked hard to get him to down as much as he could. It wasn’t easy, but eventually he got enough and passed his challenge just fine.

For Calan’s challenge, it was a biggie. The long-awaited 75-peanut test. His, of course, was much more fun than Evan’s because he got to mix plenty of chocolate with the peanuts. This came in the form of Peanut M&Ms mixed with regular peanuts. Calan absolutely loves them, so he had no problem doing two sets of 35+ peanuts to complete the challenge. After running the hallways for five minutes, he did absolutely fine. This put Mama more at ease than anyone else. Looking back, 75 peanuts just sounds incredible when you think about when he started with actual peanut, and the tiny vials of peanut protein he’s lick off a spoon. A job well-done for everyone. From here, Calan gets to move to even more peanut “free eating” where he can (and is assigned to) eat peanut in a variety of forms. Dr. R stressed that contacting and ingesting peanut in many different ways (raw, candy, get it on your hands, etc.) is the best way to continue training his body and maintaining the tolerance he has built up. For Evan, it’s on to more buckwheat and tackling egg. He’ll also continue to “dose” a variety of tree nuts. Before leaving the hospital, Mama got a quick lesson on how to separate egg yolks from whole eggs and cook them up just right for Evan’s daily doses. Obviously the yolk is very closely related to the egg white he’s allergic too, so eating this daily will prepare his system for beating the egg white allergy. We’re all pulling for Mama to get through the tedious task of preparing these doses for months to come.

Calan

Bitter sweet as always, Calan said goodbye to age number six and cruised into age seven this month. Unlike the last six years, Gran and Grandpa were not here (yet) for his actual birthday. He had a pretty big day, nonetheless. In the morning, he ventured out with just Mama to the Airport Cafe to enjoy a big breakfast. Again, this isn’t something he’s always been able to do. But what better way to celebrate both your birthday and your peanut “graduation”. When they returned, it was time to get ready for the last lesson of the summer with Coach Lynn. It was lesson number 32 for Calan. He did well as always, and we did our photos and said our farewells to Lynn until next June. The middle of the day was fairly routine with lunch and Evan’s nap. We had a plan for Dada to take Calan to the beach in the afternoon…but with a surprise twist. After getting things ready for the trip, we headed out. Calan wanted to practice a couple climbs on the monkey bars at the park before going to Port Hueneme Beach. What he didn’t know however was that we would make a quick stop first. Dada told him he forgot something back at the house, then made a mistake turning onto the wrong street. Josiah’s street. After pretending to turn around in Josiah’s driveway, suddenly there was his friend bounding out the front door in his swim gear, carrying a birthday present. Calan’s face lit up, and he was instantly excited to learn that his buddy would be joining us on the birthday beach trip. Little did we know what was really lying ahead… Arriving at the beach, the kids had fun getting everything out and putting money in the parking meter. We stopped at the sandy hill leading down to the expansive beach, and the boys went down a couple times on their boogie boards. We found a nice. open spot on the beach. The weather was just right, with a few handfuls of people sprinkled along the beach front. The guys were having fun jumping waves, pretending to surf and playing with sand toys. At one point about 20 minutes in, Dada decided to go in the water about 25 ft out. Doing nothing different than any time before, suddenly got struck by a quick but sharp object. Running to shore, the pain intensified with every step. Josiah was the first to see the wound, with blood now streaming from it. He immediately said “it’s probably a stingray.” After that though, the boys seemed oblivious to Dada’s deep and debilitating pain despite informing them we needed to get some help. As it turned out, Dada slowly hobbled the 100 yards or so over to the life guard station. They cleaned the wound and wrapped it up. Seeing Dada in the distance sitting on the back of medic truck finally got the boys’ attention enough that they came over. Needless to say, our beach trip was over sooner than we wanted. Just getting home safely would be an adventure enough anyway! Back at home, Mama was preparing pizza for dinner (Calan’s choice). We asked Josiah if he wanted to stay a bit. We turned on a pre-season football game and opened Calan’s presents with Josiah and Evan. The kids had fun eating and playing with a couple of the games Calan got (velcro dodge ball and magnetic darts). It was a full day for sure, and Calan went to bed happy and tired.

Last year around his birthday, Calan suddenly broke through and learned to ride his bike on his own. This year’s he had a new feat as well. Up until now, he’d never been one to climb or hang on things that were more than a few inches off the ground. While other kids his age would traverse monkey bars and climb trees, this was just not Calan’s personality or within his confidence level. After “training” with Coach Wil however in July (and now starting one-on-one sessions with Wil), Calan is gaining a lot more confidence and ambition in using his body. Working hard on drills with Wil seems to have translated over to working hard on other things. Two prime examples are at the park. He set a goal for himself to do as many bars as he could on the monkey bars, and practiced several times a week, whenever we went to the park. He also started an intense determination to climb a tree there. It’s just the right height for his age, and after a couple weeks he finally built up the strength and confidence, and figured out how to pull himself up and move around the thick, crooked branches. Of course, he became obsesses with climbing and would try to pull himself up on anything he could find such as bars on workout equipment or our favorite, the top of the van! With this newfound physical ability came his desire to flex and show off his muscles. Doing pushups and mini “workouts” in the garage also fed this phase of showing how working harder pays off in the form of getting stronger and bigger muscles. We go with it, because whatever drives him is great.

Notable quotes this month:

Not a quote, but a really nice gesture toward his brother: After seeing the movie Cars 3, Calan really wanted to buy some of the car characters. He picked a few out online and even used his own money. He kept asking when they would arrive, and was pretty excited the day they finally came to the door. Thinking he would be really possessive with them he surprised us all and brought them over to Evan and asked if he would like to play with them. Too sweet.

Said to Mama: “I might be inviting you and Dada over to my house when my kids are born.”

Evan

Notable quotes this month:

“Dada, why do we sleep so many times?” One afternoon while going down for nap.

After nap on another day: “If my body wakes up I won’t have anywhere to sleep.”

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Highlights

• Evan has official consultation with Dr. R
• Calan starts new “fitness” training class
• Evan starts his first real swimming lessons

July is summer in full swing around here. This means lots of outdoor activities balanced with lots of indoor quiet reading time. And instead of “vacations” we take excursions to Long Beach. This month was our second family trip in as many months together to see Dr. R. It was fairly significant as it was Evan’s first big planning meeting with Dr. R. We talked through a basic outline of Evan’s treatment plan based on everything we know up until now and the blood work we did last month. They did an in-office skin test as well, and scheduled his overnight skin patch test for next month. We actually were able to get started on the plan by challenging peanut for Evan. He ate 30 of them with no problems! We’re on our way…

The boys also had a rare treat this month by going to see another sequel of one of their favorite movies, Cars 3. Evan did better than he ever has at a movie (given, this is only his third one in the theater). Only for about 20% of the film did he insist on walking around, only to be wrangled by Mama or Dada. We, along with Calan, were happy that this third release was much better than Cars 2. 😉

The Fourth of July this year turned out better than last year… simply because we actually had fireworks to watch in Camarillo! Our friendly neighbors also organized a small block party, getting permission to close off the street and moving out tables and chairs into the street. Everyone brought food, and the kids had fun running and riding their bikes around freely as the sun set. The display was a little extra special as well, no doubt making up for the cancelled show last year.

Calan

Along with swimming and flag football this month, Calan got an extra boost in his sports and “P.E.” curriculum. From a tip from a friend, we sat in on a group fitness session for kids here in town. Coach Wil welcomed us to his youth training session that he does at a gym three times per week. One of the coolest things to see was when we went to the very first class for Calan. We didn’t quite know what to expect, other than it would be a lot of drills and exercises to help kids become quicker, more agile and more powerful in their athletic movements. When we arrived, we walked into a converted warehouse where a big line of kids filled the far end of the gym and each kid was taking turns jumping through an agility ladder and around cones. A big muscular “football” looking guy was leading them through it as a crowd of parents filled another wall following their kids as they moved through the course. Upbeat music thumped throughout the large, elongated room, and you could just feel the positive energy as everyone was engaged, working with focus and having fun. The cool part came when Calan immediately jogged to the back of the line of kids and looked to see what they were doing. It was great to see him jump into a new situation so eagerly and confidently. On top of that, he was easily the smallest and shortest kid there. Coach Wil instantly clicked with Calan during his turns and helped him pick up the steps and patterns they were doing. It would be the first of many sessions to come during the month, including some football focused workouts with some older kids. Perfect for Calan as he’s always been one to step up (or down, depending), and meet the level of his peers around him.

While Calan’s own Y football team this season wasn’t the “greatest”, Calan and Dada have been playing lots of ‘throw and catch’. Calan got some new (used) cleats and gloves for football. The gloves definitely helped him over the hump of confidently going for and catching harder thrown balls. He definitely improved on his throwing as we analyzed throwing forms for fun and tried to learn them together. You simply can’t measure the amount of happiness (and great bonding) gleaned from playing and seeing your son grow from your involvement. Whether its football or academics, or anything, Calan is definitely a fun kid that way.

Calan continues to cruise through the Harry Potter series. He can’t finish the series just yet as the content gets a little more intense after Book 4. For now though, he whisks through the pages at rapid speeds that are almost unbelievable.  As a result of his HP experience, he’s become connected to the characters and the things that they do. His favorite of course, is the game they play in the book called Quidditch. These days, you often find Calan swooping around the house or backyard on his “broom”… or any stick he can pretend to ride on while capturing some kind of “golden snitch”.  Along with the summer book club gang books and his other “school” reading, Calan is earning lots of rewards through the library summer reading program!

Notable quotes this month:

“Evans are too little to walk down stairs” After tripping and falling off the bottom few steps one day. 🙁

“Catwomans are not allowed to get on birds.”

Dada: “In a minute we’re going to go get ready for bed.”
Evan: “No… It’s summertime.”

We have several remotes for our entertainment center. We call them different things to distinguish them from one another. Evan has a habit of taking off with the smallest remote that we call the “baby” one. One day, when it was missing again, Dada said: “Evan, what did you do with the baby remote? Where did it go?” Evan said, “It grew up.”

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Highlights

• A visit to the Reagan Library and Titanic exhibit
• Evan turns 3!
• A family trip to Long Beach

As is the case whenever Gran and Grandpa come to visit, we do lots of fun outings together as a family. This May/June visit was no exception. In their last few days before heading back to Oregon, we took a trip over to Simi to visit the Reagan Library and the Titanic exhibit going on there. It had been abound 10 years since we’d been, and we knew the kids would get a lot out of it too. And of course, it’s a “school” field trip for Calan. He’d recently been learning a little about U.S. presidents and some of the history there. A lot had changed at the library since we last visited. The kids loved exploring various rooms and the little sets created to show Reagan’s historical highlights. They took it all in, even if they weren’t understanding what everything meant. There’s a lot to cover in this large presidential library, so to a young kid it must feel like big city museum. So many different rooms and corridors leading to the next interesting stopping point. The big hits of course were the large hangar with Air Force One, the Marine One helicopter and other vehicles that made up President Reagan’s motocade. Getting to board the helicopter and plane was pretty exciting. We had lunch there too, so the kids got to enjoy some of their favorites such as a burger and fries, along with plenty of healthy snacks that were packed for our trip. At the end of our visit, we toured the visiting Titanic exhibit. It wasn’t quite what we expected as it focused a lot on trivia and artifacts taken from the big movie, but there was enough there to pique Calan’s interest and fire up his curiosity about the ship and its story. After the long day, we were all ready to get back home.

Fast forward to the end of the month, and you have our first big visit to Long Beach since last year with both Mama and Dada and the boys. Medically, this visit was a first because it was the start of the process for Evan to get going on his own treatment. On this trip, it was primarily about both boys getting their big blood draws done. They did great with getting poked and waiting around at the office. Exploring stairwells is always a perfect way to kill some of the waiting time. The second part of the trip was meeting with Dr. R to go over Calan’s plan as we get closer to peanut “graduation”. On the way home, we stopped at Red Robbin (Calan’s request). Unfortunately as is the case most times there, we had to wait a really long time for the food. Luckily, we were at a mall so we had fun exploring the mall for what felt like hours, only to come back to what amounts to mediocre food! We were happy to finally get something to eat though, and get back on the road after a the big day.

Last month, we found our “dream” basketball court set-up for a pretty amazing deal on Craigslist. With the help of Grandpa, we were able to drive to Beverly Hills and pick it all up. It was a lot of work getting it, but well worth it. With the professional type hoop and the court surface to go with it, the system easily runs $8,000 or more. So, getting it for under $1,000 is beyond a bargain. Also, with so many extra court tiles, selling that surplus will pay for half the cost as well! Needless to say, we have a huge project ahead of us. For now though, the 6′ backboard, 10′ post and all the tiles will be stowed ready on the side of the house while we get to work demolishing a quarter of the yard. Lots of plants and bushes needed to go along with the old wooden structure (pergola?). When we bought the house nearly 10 years ago, we received a $1,500 allotment toward replacing this structure. I guess we’ll finally put it to good use! The timing is right too, as the wood is so rotted that the whole thing could be pushed down without much force. The kids helped where they could, especially Calan who loved the destruction part of it all. Painting and trimming out an unsightly shed was also something they were excited about. Phase one is done after just a few weeks. Now it’s on to ripping out grass and soil to get the ground ready, getting ball blocking nets in place, and the cables to hold the lights and shade tarp up. You have to it right, if you’re going to do it at all, right?

Calan

Some highlights to Calan’s first official summer month of 2017 included: starting a new season of flag football, getting back to swim lessons with Coach Lynn and doing a week long basketball camp with Josiah (through YAC). While these sports kept him active, he used his school and downtime to do a lot of reading. Mostly, this was the first few books of Harry Potter. The speed at which Calan can read these novels is pretty impressive, so it didn’t take him long to cruise through the pages of these thicker books. Also on the reading front, we kicked off a summer book club series with Josiah, Carson and Augustine. The first book chosen was “Shivers”, followed by a book about the Titanic. In fact, after seeing the Titanic exhibit, we all got pretty interested in reading and learning more about it. As a grown-up, you kind of reabsorb the meaning and all the facts that surrounded the big ship and of course its tragedy. As a kid, you wouldn’t think it would be that interesting beyond just a ship that sank. Calan, however spent lots of time reading stories and talking about the Titanic facts and events that lead up to the sinking. He was just as fascinated as we were. For school, Calan continued to progress with his math. In particular this month was long division and dividing decimals. He continues to show a knack and patience for difficult math problems for his age, often taking the initiative to both create and work out “fun” problems.

Notable quotes this month:

Dada: “What did you get? (At his birthday party )
Evan: “It’s for me!”
Dada: “Right, it doesn’t matter…just that it’s for you.”

Evan, you’re three now so that means you’re going to be five in two years. “Yes, and you’re going to be 10 in six weeks. ”

When Evan was about 18-months old and would hear a plane go by he would simply say “pane”. Now at three years old, when a plane goes by he says, “I think I hear an airplane.”

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Highlights

• Mother’s Day… with Dada
• Calan’s month of musical performances
• We take a train ride with Gran and Grandpa

As usual, May is filled with so many things in our family: Mother’s Day, music recitals, the end of a school year, the end of spring basketball, a visit from the Grands and Mama’s birthday. It’s a lot, so when Mother’s Day rolled around, Mama was content to have the boys out of the house. This was her wish, and pretty much entailed the whole day but then a whole-family meet-up back home for dinner. The boys and Dada made a big morning outing together running a bunch of errands (getting gas, shopping at Big Lots, returning some clothes to Kohls, and a stop at Home Depot). We also stopped by Dada’s old workplace (Xircom) and looked at where the outdoor basketball court used to be and then did a little drive around where Dada used to run in the Newbury Park condo days. After coming home for a lunch break and Evan napping, we headed out again. This time, we went geocaching around Camarillo. We looked up, hunted for and found three geocaches. Calan was neutral towards the activity at first, but really got into as we deciphered the clues we found online, and looked for the little surprises hidden in the areas we were searching. We capped our hunting expeditions off by playing in a great park we hadn’t been to in a while. We took our Tee-ball set, soccer ball and Frisbee and played with all of them after touring around the playground equipment. At home, Mama enjoyed her hours of alone time and getting a chance to clean part of the house in peace and quiet.

Something fun we did this month all together as a family (including the Grands) was take our very first Surfliner train ride. Finally, the Amtrak train that we’d watched come and go for years at the train station was ours to board and travel on. The kids loved it. Sitting up high in the upper deck, watching the landscape outside whirl by made for big eyes and wide smiles. We took the train to Ventura, just outside the fairgrounds. The plan was to then catch the next train back shortly after, but it never showed. We had to improvise a bit as we waited much, much longer than anticipated. And during most of the wait, we had no idea when a train would arrive, which we could take back to Camarillo. Customer service with Amtrak was not all that helpful Fortunately, we had some places outside the fairgrounds to explore and could view the beach from one vantage point. We also had plenty of snacks, while Gran and Grandpa made their way to a nearby coffee shop. Eventually, a train came, and we got on back towards home. The wait made this second ride all the more exciting. Aside from being “stranded”, it was just the right length of travel time for the kids and our own energy levels.

Calan

Calan had a big month when it came to recitals. He played in his string group recital with Ms. Diana one weekend. On another weekend, he got the special treat of joining Mama and being a small part of her spring studio recital. He’d practiced long and hard on his Minuet piece and was the first one to perform at the recital, held at a small church in Newbury Park. It was really fun to see him take the piece of music (Minuet in G Major) that he’d more or less taught himself the past few months, plucking it out at home nearly every day, and perform it for others in a recital setting. We were so proud, not just of his work and playing ability but that he took to the performance in a perfectly healthy way. We didn’t make a big deal out of it, supported it as something to do because it’s fun and he just went up there and did it. He said afterwards that as he played for the captive audience he was a little shy, and actually felt frightened while playing, and it caused him to just…smile. He added that he was feeling all kinds of emotions at once, and he didn’t know what to do… so he just kind of smiled as he played. Finally, at the end of the month he performed his solo violin recital (Minuet 3). Gran and Grandpa got to come to this one for the second year in a row. Just as before, he did a great job, making his family so proud.

Aside from his first piano recital performance, Calan had another significant first this month. It’s hard to believe that at over six and half years of age, he’s never had a real play date with a friend at someone’s house. He’d been to Josiah’s house for an hour, but only because they’re right in the neighborhood and their family is well versed on peanut allergies. This particular meet-up was for the afternoon with his friend from his basketball team, Lucas. After some arranging, we decided to have Lucas over. Because Evan is so young, yet old enough to want to join the big kids, Dada basically still had to chaperone the kids’ play time. The boys played in the backyard most of the time, with lots and lots of basketball and football games. Calan had fun showing Lucas his toys. One interesting thing that happened was a little bit of a peer pressure situation that Calan encountered. It was completely harmless, but basically Lucas talked Calan into doing something he would never do by himself. At one point, the older boys were hanging out in Calan’s room. Lucas saw Calan’s Easter candy from last month sitting in his basket. There were chocolates in there that Calan loves, but he knew to ask before eating them any time he wanted one. He’s great like that. But somehow, Lucas talked Calan into them eating several pieces of it without asking. To top it off, they must’ve known it wasn’t right because they tried to hide it. But six-year-olds aren’t the greatest at sneaking things like that, and Dada spotted the evidence of the shenanigans immediately. Again, no harm, no foul but it’s not often we see how another kid can easily influence Calan.

As the school year concluded for Calan he found himself coming into contact with some more new experiences… literally. In particular was his marine biology class. They learned about sea life just as a marine biologist does: hands on. This meant sometimes dissecting little creatures. Calan’s most daring task came when they learned about squid. He was fascinated by them, but having to cut one open on a small plate right in front of you, took some getting used to. Calan also continued his typing practice that he’d picked up this spring and applied it further. He had started a short story a couple months ago, and decided he would be like an author and make it into a much longer book. For a week or so, he worked on it nearly every day. He was really proud to show Grandpa, especially, when he arrived. Calan also went through the process of physically writing a letter, addressing an envelop, placing on the stamp and setting it out for pick-up at the mailbox. It’s not something his generation will do often in his life, but a pen pal letter to his friend Augustine at least shows him what it’s like. A bit more involved than sending an instant text on a smart phone. As for the school year, it was hard to believe that our little “Pickle” finished up first grade when the school year ended. He’s officially getting well into elementary school.

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Highlights

• We get a new kitty on Easter Sunday!
• We have a nice send-off for Calan’s basketball mentor and friend, “Coach Mark”
• Evan starts his first class ever (tumbling)

Meet “Princess Hera Seraphina”!
The biggest “event’ this month came when we finally decided on getting a cat for the family. Mama and the kids had gone to the library to look at some animals during the local shelter’s visit there. We also visited the boys’ dula at her home where she was fostering some young kittens. The boys had a chance to interact with them, and loved it. As it turned out, the library visit didn’t offer much opportunities to engage with many animals, so we had the crazy idea of making a special family trip to the large animal shelter in town. We’d never been, so it would a nice, new adventure for the family. In summary, the entire dog section proved to be too noisy and obnoxious, as countless dogs barked and jumped at their respective kennel gates as we strolled down the walkway around the outdoor shelter area. There were a few sweet and quiet ones, and while we felt bad for all the homeless doggies, the kids were definitely more interested in finding the kitties. We walked through a few rooms where the cats were housed (an instantly much calmer experience!), when suddenly we spotted a cat that looked very similar to Cole. The long, black fuzzy fur standing out behind the thin metal bars of the cage. As we approached, this cat’s own personality took over and she quickly impressed us with her loud and incessant purring. She was always really interested in the boys, peering out and pacing back and forth along the bars that held her in the eye-level kennel. At that moment, we thought “hmm”, IF we were to consider another cat, this would be a good start. We inquired about the process just to “see” how it worked in terms of adopting. We took some photos and got some more information about this cat, “Hera”. We would have to wait several days to adopt her though as her situation warranted family getting a first right of refusal before she could be adopted out. This was actually good as it allowed us to think about things during the week. By Easter Sunday, the day she was to become available, we took it as a positive sign that the shelter was actually open and we could go down again and officially get to know Hera. She picked up right where she left off on our first visit, purring affectionately with the boys’ attention, and accepted pets, rubs and kisses. She really “showed her goods” as one shelter worker phrased it. Without really thinking too deeply about it, everything just made sense to go ahead and adopt her. The boys were really excited, and watching the experience through their eyes helped erase all the emotional reservations that us parents had about getting another pet given we had lost two in the last 5 years in very difficult ways. When we brought our new kitty home we realized she is the perfect mix of what we really need right now in a cat, and a pet for that matter: Affectionate, but also a bit skittish and alert to her surroundings. Kind of a blend of Cole AND Desi… a cat that would cuddle up, but would also not enter into danger. Hera’s own curiosity seems to be overshadowed by her trepidation and concern for loud noises, fast moving objects and things coming at her that are bigger than she is (basically a description of Evan most of the time!). We were very happy to welcome our new pet and witnessing Calan, especially, take to her as his own in such a caring and loving way.

Aside from the big event of adopting a new kitty, Easter Sunday was just right this year. We kept the “festivities” low key. The one egg hunt this year was outside, where the kids had fun finding all the places sneaky Mama had put the eggs. Dada took the kids to the park to play with their new RC cars they each got while Mama did the hiding. The boys, Calan especially, had been asking for an RC car for some time. We went with a couple of starter models. They may not last long but they captivated each guy for quite some time after they received them. We also had a good family dinner, rounding out the memorable day.

This month brought the end to Calan’s private basketball lessons with Coach Mark. They had a great little relationship going during the past few months, Mark often connecting with Calan on the court philosophically and intellectually. For example, the why and what you’re doing as you develop your basketball skills and love for the game. Calan always quietly soaked up Mark’s words of wisdom and Mark regularly pointed out his appreciation for Calan’s mind to be attentive to such detailed instruction and deeper insights during his training. Sadly, Mark’s family needed to move back to their home state of New Jersey this month. As a send-off, we invited the Campbell family over for dinner with the getting a chance to get together. We had a great night, with the kids enjoying each other and the grown-ups hanging out. It made it that much harder to see them leave. Mark also loved interacting with Evan (and even gave him a few pointers on shooting and holding the ball). Evan always looked forward to seeing him at the end of lessons or around the Y. When we said goodbye at the last lesson, Evan showed sadness to the situation that we hadn’t really seen before. Mark handled it well and assured Calan and him that he would return to CA in the future when the time was right. With Mark’s departure from the Y, the “new guy” stepped in to run the weekly conditioning classes. A recent college grad named Kyle; we’ll see if he can take over for the private lessons as well.

Calan

Piggy-backing from his time with Coach Mark every Sunday morning and some serious one-on-ones with Dada in the backyard, Calan continued to progress and enjoy his basketball season more than ever. With his team all type A and dominant in their aggressive play and personality, Calan didn’t always score a lot of baskets in the game but he played with excitement that was sure to catch everyone’s eye. The best was when he would make a basket, he would run full speed to the other end of the court jumping and shouting with so much joy that you couldn’t help but smile and catch all the happy glances from other parents. He was definitely the most valuable cheerer for the season aside from his great improvement on hustling and playing better defense than he ever has. The kid definitely loves playing basketball, and is extra excited about being on a good, high-performing team as far as 6 year-olds go. One game they dominated, ended in a 29-3 (baskets) route. Also, to help celebrate Calan’s efforts and commitment to the game, we purchased some good basketball shoes for Calan. This was the first time we had made this investment in all these seasons. He selected them at Big 5 (on sale of course), but they are some nice Nikes. He looks forward to wearing them every time, and they always take us by surprise, as they are a size or two too big. This should ensure they get plenty of use in the next couple years. We also got the boys a couple of new basketballs while they were on sale. Calan’s ball that he’d used since his first season had finally worn down and was even taking on an oblong shape. That was its way of letting us know it was time to retire it and move on.

With school, Calan has continued on with mastering basic multiplication and adding more complex quantities of things. He primarily works fun little exercises in his workbooks. He also loves to make up his own math problems, often writing out made-up math problems to try and solve. Some are simple, but others can present a bigger challenge such as when he wants to multiply large numbers by other large numbers…bring out the commas! For reading, he’s been getting into the Boxcar Children series. Both boys hit the library a few times this month too, to take in a story time and small art project afterwards. Calan also continues to pluck on the piano (his Minuet song mainly) almost every day. If he keeps it up, the plan is to have him play in a spot in Mama’s recital next month. And of course this month, there was a focus on learning about cats and cat behavior. This had a lot to do with our new kitty cat family member.

Notable quotes this month:

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Highlights

• Calan takes piano to another level
• Basketball season starts
• Kids have adventurous visit to the plane museum

Calan
Calan continues to play the piano mostly on his own. He is obsessed with Minuet One, and on most days, the house is filled with him tinkering around with this song. As the days go by though, the tinkering (practicing) has evolved into the complete song; measure by measure, in-time, and correct note playing with both hands. Its been fun observing (and listening) to him work the song out by himself, with a few tips from Mama here and there. What really stood out though is when he got bored of just playing the song how it’s written and started exploring other ways to play it. One day, we heard him transpose the entire song (both hands) from G major to D minor… We commented that we couldn’t even do that without practicing hard at it for a bit!