Hurricanes and Pumpkins

Hurricane Sandy hit this past week and more or less kept us inside for about 48 hours.  We fared really well, all things considering.  The only damage we really had was a few downed limbs and lots of leaves to clean up.  Our power flickered once and never went off.  Compared to the news of New York and New Jersey, which are still turning power back on, without gas, and essentials, we were really lucky.  Even parts of surrounding towns got their power back on mid week.

We also had a house guest during the storm, Chris's sister Katie, who was visiting from Florida for a few days.  She flew up Sunday as the storm was beginning, on one of the last incoming flights to Logan.  

My school was canceled Monday and Tuesday and Sam had no school Monday and a delay on Tuesday.  Some of the teachers at school were relieved to come to work and have electricity and charge their electronics.

All the inside time was a little tricky with Sam and Katie, while Chris was answering flooded basements, leaking roof, and downed tree calls late into the nights.  He also got to shut of alarms from power going out and being restored, among other things.

Here are a few photos of the pumpkin carving we undertook while we were waiting out the storm.

 Scooping out the seeds.  He actually sustained attention to this task for a good amount of time.

 Here he's telling me, "Ok.  Now I figure out how to draw a face on my pumpkin."

 Here's the face he drew in marker.  I carved the face that I thought I saw in the design and left it at that.

Bad Moods and Cinnamon Fires

Sam had the beginnings of a cold this past week and this seems to be the cyclical time of year that we all come down with something.  Last year it was walking pneumonia, so I'm on high alert.  It was  the day after Halloween last year, after stuffing a screaming Sam into his lion costume, that he was sick for about 2 months on and off.  Looking back I feel a little guilty.  His screams may have been about feeling crappy, not about his dislike of his costume.    So this year I've been plying him with home remedies to ward off any impending germs.  He takes a couple of probiotics a day, has been having "tea" with honey and ginger, and any form of antioxidants I can think of (bring on the blueberries!).  

Since his naps at school are considerably shorter than those he takes at home, and he's in a whole new germ pool, I figured it was only a matter of time before he was sick.  It was no surprise when at 2:30 am the other night, I heard a scuffle from the nursery.  Since he had a bloody nose recently, I went to investigate.  Sam was standing in his crib yelling, "no boogies!  Go away!  All finished boogies!"  He was pretty congested.

He ended up in our bed, and he ended up being the only one who slept for the rest of the night.

That next night we decided to break out the humidifier, easier said than done.  It was no where to be found, though I had distinct memories of cleaning it and packing it away in the spring.

Chris checked closets, the attic (no easy feat), and eventually we decided it was in the cellar.  This would be my job to fetch, as I knew exactly where it would be.  Accessing it would be the issue.  Our cellar has become a chaotic storage facility with more items littering the ground than anything else.  I've tripped twice lately trying to get winter clothes and wrapping paper and I'm convinced it's hazardous to my mental health to be down there.  It's becoming a bone of contention.

"If I go down there, I'm going to end up in a bad mood," I told Chris.

"I know!  We don't want that, trust me." Chris told me.

"Bad mood?" Sam asked.  He was already wary of the mysterious humidifier.

"Mummy doesn't like the cellar, it puts her in a bad mood."

"No bad mood!  I don't want bad mood!"  Sam yelled.

"Me neither!" Chris said.

Sam started to cry.  "I no want to see bad mood.  Mummy no see bad mood.  Bad mood go away!"

"No, it's okay, we're teasing.  Mummy won't be in a bad mood."

"Bad mood no get mummy!  Make it go away!"

We realized this was now the bad mood had become a tangible basement monster that was clearly going to get me if I went down there.  So we set about trying to explain what a bad mood is, and then naturally, directly related it to the humidifier in his mind.

"No, a bad mood is when someone is grumpy or sad.  Mummy is just looking for the humidifier for your room."

"No cinnamon fires in Sammy's room!  No the cinnamon fires and bad mood!"

"Humidifier Sam."

"NO Cinnamon FIRE!  No BAD MOOD!"

We finally calmed him down.

"What bad mood look like?  I see it?"

"No sweetie, you can't see it, it's when someone is unhappy.  Look Elmo is in a bad mood!"  We got stuffed Elmo to show Sam what Elmo would look like if he was grumpy.

"NOOO!!!! No Elmo bad mood!"

This conversation continued to deteriorate until the humidifier was retrieved, and plugged in, but then was not allowed in Sam's room.

"Cinnamon fire make me cry.  Cinnamon fire and bad mood not in Sammy's room!  You take it out now pwease!"

So the cinnamon fire/humidifier resides in the hallway.  With an irrational fear of it (think side stepping the monstrous machine to get around it) and a fear of the bad mood which might not be far behind.

Armed with my 20% off Bed, Bath, and Beyond coupon, Sam and I went on a shopping trip a few days later, and found a friendly monkey "cinnamon fire" that is allowed to be in Sam's room.  Of course he is still sniffling, but the cold doesn't seem to have taken over.

 

And Annie, the cat, demonstrated a bad mood for us today as we wait out Tropical Storm/Hurricane Sandy.  She was royally pissed off when she finally came in soaking wet and meowing her head off.

"Oh, Annie mad!" Sam told me helpfully.

"Yes, she is mad."  I agreed, then jumping on my opportunity, "she's in a bad mood!"

"Oh!" Sam nodded knowingly.  "Yes, Annie in bad mood.  Annie wet, Annie no like wet.  Annie bad mood!"  Thank you Annie.  Think we might be good now.

Apple Picking Fail

We attempted to go apple picking today, but apparently apple picking season in the immediate area has ended for the season.  Since we didn't want to drive far to pick apples and run into nap time, we tried local, only to find out the hard way there were no more apples to pick.  So instead we choose a pumpkin and bought a bag of apples, and checked out the tractors, all fun activities.  We also arrived early in the drizzly morning so missed the crowds (and the sun).  Here are a few photos.

"Beep-Beep"

"Beep-beep," seems to be a large part of Sam's vocabulary these days, for better or worse.  For a very verbal kid, I think it just ties in with the vehicular obsession that he is growing further into, instead of out of.
We went to this very cool Whole Foods the other day, that has multiple shopping carts shaped like cars, with steering wheels.  The kids are actually up at chest level, so that you can see them (and whether they grabbing things off the shelves).  This was very delightful until Sam started yelling, "BEEP-BEEP," every-time another shopper walked in front of or near me.  Then it became a little embarrassing.  Most customers seemed to find it adorable and would smile at him like he was angelic.  He truly gets this habit from his father, and what I was waiting for, was him to yell, "you get out of the way donkey!" which is what he tends to yell in my car, after he has driven with his father for extended amounts of time.   He will also yell this at the playground.  Luckily those words didn't escape his mouth at the store, I think I would have just turned and fled.  I had to fly around the store, convinced he would say it.  Thankfully it was just, "BEEP-BEEP."

A few days later, we were driving home, and I asked Sam whether he had gone outside at school, since the weather was a little iffy.
"Oh yes," he told me.
"Oh good.  Did you hold your loop on the rope?"  (The children each hold a loop on a rope as they learn how to walk in line).
"Yes, I hold my loop.  You know what Mummy?"
"What's that Sam?"
"I say, boys and gwirls, you stop!  STOP!  Sammy dwop his loop!"
"Oh yes?  And did the boys and girls stop?  Did they hear you?"
"No," Sam told me sadly, "they no stop."
"Oh dear.  What did you do?"  I was kind of envisioning him potentially getting trampled by little feet.
"I yell, BEEP-BEEP, STOP!!!"
"Ahh... yes."
"Then they stop."

Full Moon

We were driving home from my parents last night and Sam was looking for the moon.  When he finally found it, he commented, "oh moon is big tonight!"
I glanced up and saw that it looked like it could be a full moon.
"It is big Sam.  Do you think it's a full moon tonight?"
He looked at the moon for a minute and then said, "oh yes, full moon.  Moon eats so much dinner!"