Second Best to No One, Not Even Mona Lisa

Ryan: I was so tired that I pictured my self asleep. And that's what happened. Preschool is tough, but still lots of fun. I get to make cool stuff like picture frames. That's where the frame on my face is from. Mom told me not to play with it, that it would lose its adhesiveness. Well, I couldn't help my self. After all, I am only 3 years old.

The Ryan Chronicles 1

Let's check in to find out about the latest on life from the point of view our three-year old Ryan.

Kids seem to need shots about as frequently as cars need oil changes. Almost every "well" visit to the doctor's office involves some sort of shot. The most recent visit included flu shots.

The usual routine goes something like this. The nurse shows up with the needle. Child gets frightened and tries to squirm away. Parents help to expose area to be shot. For toddlers like Ryan, the area is usually the upper thigh. The child continues to struggle while the parent and nurse hold the child down while the shot is administered. Child continues to cry while the nurse tells the child that he can get a prize for being so brave.

Here's a recent conversation between Ryan and Dorothy.

Ryan: Where did you go?

Dorothy: I went to get a blood test.

Ryan: Did you have to get a shot?

Dorothy: Yes, they poked me with a needle.

Ryan: Who held you down?

Not Really a Deepak Chopra Fan, But...

I saw the following list on a recent blog attributed to Chopra about ways to slow down aging:

1. Change your perception of time. Don't be in a hurry.
2. Get restful sleep.
3. Eat fresh, nutritious food.
4. Take at least two multivitamins with minerals every day.
5. Practice a mind body technique such as yoga or tai chi.
6. Exercise regularly.
7. Don't put toxins in your life, including toxic food, toxic
emotions, toxic relationships, and avoid toxic environments or toxic relationships.
8. Have a flexible attitude to minor hassles.
9. Look at so-called problems as opportunities.
10. Nurture loving relationships.
11. Always have an attitude of curiosity, learning, and wonder and spend time with children.

These seem to be sensible points to follow whether you are striving to live longer or just living life to its fullest. Here is what a six-year old might say about the above list:

1. Are we there yet?
2. Do we have to go to sleep already?
3. Yea! Chicken nuggets and fries again!
4. Can I have another vitamin (gummi-vitamins, emphasizing the "gummi" part)?
5. Look at how high I can jump on your bed!
6. You can't get me! Na-na-na-na!
7. Is it okay to eat this? (crawling up from under the dining table)
8. I guess reading just one story tonight is okay.
9. You mean if we walk home now, we can watch some tv?
10. But I wanted to feed Mimi (our goldfish)! I never get to feed her.
11. Can I have a play date with Ben today?

We Will Rock You

Ryan's current favorite song is "We Will Rock You." He picked it up from one of the Disney "Move It" CDs. The song again matches his personality.

Here's an animation that moves to this song.

Now You See Me ... Now You Don't!

Wild and Reckless

Sometimes actions that are random do not seem to be so. Take what happened this evening when we went out for ice cream.

The place that we frequent under went a renovation some time earlier this year. They installed new ice cream counters that have a rail along the bottom to allow kids a step up to see the various canisters of ice cream. The kids think it's great that they can see the ice cream.

The minute we go into the ice cream shop, the kids are busy trying to check out all of the ice cream flavors. Naomi is usually deliberate and low-key in her search for the right flavor for the moment, but usually settles on some chocolate variation. Ethan often picks some variation between vanilla and strawberry. Ryan is a little more unpredictable. Sometimes he copies one of the other two kids. Other times it seems he bases his selection on color.

This evening, he settled on a flavor quite quickly. When he pointed out his selection, we had a good laugh. He was pointing to a flavor of sherbet called "Wild and Reckless."

Great Road Trip Scavenger Hunt - Items 13 & 14

We had lots of fun with the next two in different ways.

Firefighters having a meal in a fire station. In hindsight, we really didn't have much to worry about. The winning entries had photos that were not much different than ours. There were a couple photos that showed a table full of firefighters sitting down for a meal, but more often the pictures were like the one we took.

Our photo was taken with Fire Captain Paul Eckstein of the South Lane County Fire and Rescue station in Cottage Grove, Oregon. He almost looked lonely in the fire station as most everyone else was out on calls. We pulled up to the station mainly because we smelled food.

Turns out the Fire Captain was at the station working over a BBQ. So we had food on the grill but no crew to eat it. We didn't have a lot of time either so we improvised. That's how we got the photo.

Before getting the photo, we toured the station. The grill in the back "yard" of the station was a giant Weber appropriate for a fire station. Off to the left of the garage was a narrow hallway leading to a room where all of the chairs were lazy boy recliners. The recliners were lined up facing a wide screen flat panel television mounted on the wall. Immediately behind this room was the kitchen counter and in the kitchen were two fridges side-by-side. It was not fancy, more functional and had a feel that it was a boys' place.

What they say about fire fighters being really generous turns out to be right on the mark.



So what do you picture when you hear "merry-go-round"? Here's what we found.


The photo was taken at a local park in Albany, Oregon. I think we were trying to find farm machinery that we had seen from the freeway when we found the park. It's not often that you see an old-fashioned merry-go-round in parks these days. I can't think of any parks where we live that have such a play structure, but when we were kids it was one of our favorite.

Gone in 59 Seconds

Spit! Ethan is on a fluoride rinse program prescribed by his dentist. The poor guy. Last year he had a dental visit where we were told that he had 8 cavities. He just has teeth susceptible to cavities. He and Naomi brush the same way each day. Naomi's had nary a cavity.

Rinse. Rinse. Rinse. This goes on for a minute. Ring. Ring. Ring. We have a timer that goes off after a minute signaling that the fluoride rinse can be spit out.

At dinner last night, we were talking about telling time. This is something that we've had to really work on with the kids. They still have trouble sometimes telling time from a clock with old fashioned hands. I think that this is so because most of the clocks they see are digital clocks. It's pretty easy to tell time if the clock says: 7:45. You just have to know if it's 7:45 AM or 7:45 PM.

So at the dinner table last night I asked the kids, "How many seconds are there in a minute?"

Without hesitation, Ethan answered, "59 seconds."

"Why 59 seconds?" I asked.

Ethan was giggling, "I don't know."

Then I realized why. "Is it because of the timer we use to rinse?"

"Yeah, Dad. It says "59" whenever I rinse."

"That's really funny. Is it because when I start the timer it always starts with 59 seconds on it?"

What happens is that the timer starts with 1:00 on it, one minute, but the second that I start it, it shows 0:59 and continues to count down. Ethan had associated the 59 he was seeing as the time for one minute.