So this post is not about Evan, just to give fair warning. No reporting on cute antics or whatnot, although I will try to post some more of those soon. No, this is a post that I am writing because it is something that I can't stop thinking about all day. And then I thought, "This is the sort of thing one would write in a blog!" So, here it is.
In my "Energy and Humanity" course, the Nobel Peace Prize was being discussed (since Gore and the IPCC won for climate change), and I had the students talk about this. Although I made it clear we were only discussing Gore's and the IPCC's award, of course some moron had to slide in a comment about this year's award, something to the effect of, "It's been made clear that they'll give the award to just about anyone," hahaha. Sigh.
So I kept mostly quiet about this when all the negative comments first circulated after the award, and of course I didn't say anything in class to the moron. But I think that one comment and the laughter afterward was the last straw, and I feel compelled to record my thoughts on this year's prize.
When I first saw the announcement, I was surprised - and very, very proud. It made perfect sense once I thought about it. Then the negative press started, and it just seemed to snowball. All along, I kept thinking that I just don't get what everyone is so confused about. Sure, it is very early in his term, and sure, he has not had a chance to do all the things he said he will try to do. But here is how I see it: Barrack Hussein Obama is a man who has, single-handedly, brought hope to hundreds of millions of people around the globe from many different nations and from many different cultures. He has made a significant fraction of the global population believe that a more peaceful world is a possibility. This is a feat that none of us could ever expect to come close to achieving in our own microcosms, nonetheless globally. It is a feat that is a critical step to achieving a world at Peace.
Hope.
I have a T-shirt from his campaign that says "Got Hope?" And Hope is what we got when we as a nation elected him. Hope is what the world got when us Americans decided to believe in this man. This is the campaign promise that was immediately fulfilled, and yet overlooked by so many nay-sayers after the announcement of this award. Since when did hope become something so invaluable? Especially for achieving a more peaceful world, it seems to me that hope is the most important thing to have.
So, I applaud the Nobel committee for recognizing the importance of the man who got so many people in the world to believe again in the possibility of creating a better world for our children.
I'm getting off my soapbox now. :)
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Telling Stories (the 3-year-old way)
So about 6 months ago, when Evan was 2 1/2 and talking up a storm and getting lost easily in the world of make-believe, we decided it would be a fun activity to "write stories." So every now and then one of us will write while Evan dictates a story. The most guidance we give is along the lines of asking "And then what?", and so far his "stories" have been inspired by whatever is on his mind at that very instant. There are many common themes that give insight into what is important to him. (Unfortunately, potty words seem to be at the top of this list!) The stories have yet to reflect some of the elaborate tales he comes up with when he is playing make-believe, but I imagine someday they will. The result of all this "story" making is a stack of papers that we have kept along with his mounds of artwork from school and home. So, before these get lost forever, I wanted to record some of them here. On top of simply wanting to preserve this memory, I also find these interesting because they give a glimpse into the simple world that is created in the mind of a small child. Sometimes, I wish I could just crawl into his head and see the world through his eyes. I have no memory of things ever seeming this simple, and I imagine that the shear joyfulness that Evan exudes must come partly from this uncomplicated point of view.
Crawled on the Window, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
The bug hits the screen. He plays on the firetruck with friends. His friends are Evan and Brooke and Katie and Malaki and Alexa, and Ms. Weichel was there. Ms. Vasquez was there too, and Ms. G, too. Then the bug crawls all over Evan. Then he crawls all over Mommy and Daddy. Then the bug crawls on the trees. The he drinks all your juice. Then the bug says sorry. Sometimes bugs say sorry. Some bugs hit Mommy. They get in trouble. Some bugs play on the poo-poo. That is yucky. The the bug says, "All done" and then he plays with Evan's PlayDoh.
The End.
The Lamp and the Balloon Took my Strawberry, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
Daddy was a yogurt and I opened him. Then the yogurt peed on Evan. Then it pooped on Evan. And the the lamp and the balloon took Evan's strawberry. And then Evan went to sleep in the yogurt. Then the yogurt and Evan picked eggs up off the ground.
The End.
Oranges and the Alligator, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
Oranges hit and pinched Evan, Daddy, and Mommy. Then oranges took Evan's milk. And those guys found an alligator and bit him. They got a time out because they bit the alligator. And Big Oranges said "NO!!!" And those oranges took ice from Daddy's cup and they took Mommy's drink and got a time out. Then they ran outside and were happy.
The End.
Pee-Pee and Poo-Poo, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
A snake was crawling on that window. He is not crawling there anymore because he went on top of the roof and he stays up there. Then he says "The End." Then he says "poo poo" and "pee pee." Then he says "pee pee" and "poo poo" again.
The End.
The He-He Muffin, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
The He-He muffin kicked Evan's muffin. And He-He hit and threw a muffin on Mommy and Daddy. And He-He muffin hit Evan's computer. He-He muffin got in trouble, and he cried. He didn't say sorry. So He-He got another timeout, then he said sorry. Then he played outside.
The End.
The bug hits the screen. He plays on the firetruck with friends. His friends are Evan and Brooke and Katie and Malaki and Alexa, and Ms. Weichel was there. Ms. Vasquez was there too, and Ms. G, too. Then the bug crawls all over Evan. Then he crawls all over Mommy and Daddy. Then the bug crawls on the trees. The he drinks all your juice. Then the bug says sorry. Sometimes bugs say sorry. Some bugs hit Mommy. They get in trouble. Some bugs play on the poo-poo. That is yucky. The the bug says, "All done" and then he plays with Evan's PlayDoh.
The End.
The Lamp and the Balloon Took my Strawberry, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
Daddy was a yogurt and I opened him. Then the yogurt peed on Evan. Then it pooped on Evan. And the the lamp and the balloon took Evan's strawberry. And then Evan went to sleep in the yogurt. Then the yogurt and Evan picked eggs up off the ground.
The End.
Oranges and the Alligator, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
Oranges hit and pinched Evan, Daddy, and Mommy. Then oranges took Evan's milk. And those guys found an alligator and bit him. They got a time out because they bit the alligator. And Big Oranges said "NO!!!" And those oranges took ice from Daddy's cup and they took Mommy's drink and got a time out. Then they ran outside and were happy.
The End.
Pee-Pee and Poo-Poo, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
A snake was crawling on that window. He is not crawling there anymore because he went on top of the roof and he stays up there. Then he says "The End." Then he says "poo poo" and "pee pee." Then he says "pee pee" and "poo poo" again.
The End.
The He-He Muffin, by Evan Allen Chabot Miller
The He-He muffin kicked Evan's muffin. And He-He hit and threw a muffin on Mommy and Daddy. And He-He muffin hit Evan's computer. He-He muffin got in trouble, and he cried. He didn't say sorry. So He-He got another timeout, then he said sorry. Then he played outside.
The End.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
"I love My Evan"
Evan is 3 years and almost 2 months old now. This just might be my favorite age that he has been. But then, I recall thinking this a lot in his life. Not the first three months of his life, mind you. Those were ROUGH. But I remember thinking this at four months, when his smile and coos and laugh would light up the room, and his cries were always for a reason. I remember thinking this at 8 months, when he was crawling and drooling and SO easy-going. And again I thought this at 1 year, when he started talking and signing for real (communication at last!), and started showing signs of his clever and funny and sweet personality. And again, at two years, surely that was my favorite age. What terrible twos? I just had to explain to him why some rule was the way it was and he'd say "oh, okay." I always said that Evan got all the crying and fits and awfulness out of his system during those first three months of his life, because he has been the easiest and best and happiest kid in the whole world since them. (Minus teething and illness, of course!) But NOW. I mean, if you could just see this kid now. Granted, he is becoming slightly more difficult (atrocious threes?) but it is all part of his charm. He oozes personality, and everything he does is just so damned cute or funny or smart or both. Well, except for the time outs. Although sometimes he even finds a way to make himself cute during those...
A list might be the best way to help me remember these times someday (in addition to my oodles of pictures and videos, of course), so here goes:
EVAN AT 3 YEARS, 2 MONTHS:
- He has a very dramatic sigh that he started developing when he was 2 1/2, and has now perfected. It is complete with an exasperated lifting and dropping motion of his arms, palms-up. He uses this in the following context - ME:"Should we make the square out of green playdoh?" EVAN: Dramatic SIGH with exasperated arm motion, followed by "Mommy. The square needs to be blue because the triangle is red and the star is yellow," followed again by the Dramatic SIGH. I swear he is about to roll his eyes at me one of these days, since he is so clearly astounded by my complete ignorance of all things Obvious.
- He likes to dance around behind me at the stores, and I let him do this as long as he does not touch anything and as long as he is not loud. So he walks and "dances" in a twisty-wiggly way while whisper-singing "I am hee-hee, I am oh-oh, I am poo-poo, I am Grandma, I am mommy, I am lee-la, I am ..." etc. etc. So I love the dancing, but I also love that he keeps up with me and listens still. He just has a grand old time dancing through the stores, but manages to stay out of any trouble. Kind of the story of his life.
- He can sit forever and listen to books, and already shows an affinity towards reading and writing. He knows all his letters and their sounds (thanks, Tad), and just wrote his name last week! (It was messy, and the "a" and "n" are debatable... but he IS three, so give him a break already.)
- He has the best smile of any kid I know. I'm not biased. You should see it.
- When I lie in bed with him to sing him song goodnight, we sometimes rest our foreheads on each others, or our noses, and he touches my face with his hand, and we sing like that. That is when I say "I love my Evan." Sometimes, he says "I love my Mommy." But other times he says "I love my poo-poo" and smiles.
- His teacher says he is the best artist in the whole class, which shocks her because he is one of the younger ones and a boy. Apparently, the girls are usually always better (of course!), but Evan is just a gluing and painting and cutting machine.
- When he hasn't seen me in a while, he'll come running, saying "Mom-meeee, Mom-meeee" in a deepish kind of voice. And he hugs better than any other kid too. A lot of times it is a full-body hug, legs and all.
- He is very bossy, so one of his favorite sayings is "Listen up, people!"
- When he is around a baby, he will be SO nurturing that it makes me ache for another baby just so he can have a sibling to care for. He will play with them by tickling them gently on the belly while saying "Tickle, tickle!!! HeeHeeHee," where the laugh at the end is the best part. It is an oddly forced laugh with a weird big smile and he gets very close to the baby's face when he does it. The babies LOVE this. He can go on like that more 10 minutes.
- His thought process seems to be close to that of an adult's by now, which is very amusing. I love hearing all the detailed steps to his reasoning about why, for example, he wants two pretend baby dogs for Christmas, one named Beena, and one named Trish. (The reason is too long to get into here.) Or why he needs a pretend castle ("NOT a real one, Mommy, that would be too big, okay?") with a REAL door that is big enough for small and big people to fit through. "But I don't need people because I already have people! But the door needs to be REAL, not pretend, so I can open it and put the people in, and then close it, and the open it and take the people out, and then close it. So the door has to be a REAL door, okay Mommy? Tell Santa. Don't forget."
- He named a dinosaur that came from a hatchable egg "playdoh playdoh bowl bowl bowl." His other dinosaur-from-an-egg is named "Zee Zee," and his alligator-from-an-egg is also named "Zee Zee." Although, recently Evan became very upset that they have the same name, and declared "OH NO!!! They have the same name! They CAN'T have the same name! Why do they have the same name!?" (Because you named them that, I say.) Dramatic Sigh. "Well, I can give them NEW names, Mommy. They can't have the same name!!" Dramatic SIGH with hand motion.
- He gets to watch 1/2 hour of cartoons a day, and he almost always picks "Max and Ruby," which I hate. When it is almost time for the show, he comes up to me and asks me, "Ask my belly if it is time for Max and Ruby to be on," and he lifts his shirt to expose his cute little belly. I then have to lean down and say to his belly button "Belly, is Max and Ruby on?" Then I have to put my ear against his belly and listen to the answer. Evan looks at me expectantly with a hopeful joyous look and turns his head so I can whisper the "belly's" answer in his ear. So I whisper the answer, something like "The belly says Max and Ruby will be on in 10 more minutes." To which Evan will likely say "Aaaawwwwwwww." This process repeats as often as you let it until the answer is "The belly says YES!" At which point Evan breaks out in cheer and yells "YAY!" and starts chanting "MaxandRuby, MaxandRuby..." while he runs towards the TV. I suppose you see why I limit him to one cartoon a day! Also, I asked him one time why he likes Max and Ruby so much, and he said "Because Max does not listen to Ruby. Little kids have a hard time listening. I don't like to listen, but I do. Sometime I don't listen. Max does not listen, and I like that." You can see why I dislike this show, but I don't have it in me to take away something that brings him such pure joy. Plus, I am positive it is not doing any permanent damage, so who cares?
- His favorite animal is the dolphin, at least this week. Why? Well, "because the dolphin is blue, Mommy, and blue is my favorite color." Dramatic SIGH with arm motion. Of course.
- When he gets a fruit snack as a reward (10 "smiley faces" = 1 fruit snack), he has to take all the packages out of the box and line them up just perfectly before he picks one. He is kind of OCD about a lot of things and always has been, which is super useful when it comes time for cleaning. He seems to be getting over it a little in his older age, but he still has his moments.
Well, that is all for now. Mostly because it is late and I need to get to sleep. And because if anyone is actually still reading this other than myself, you are probably hoping I would just stop already. Everyone's kid is the best, blah blah blah. Well, start your own blog, then :) And, thanks for reading! Goodnight, blog!
A list might be the best way to help me remember these times someday (in addition to my oodles of pictures and videos, of course), so here goes:
EVAN AT 3 YEARS, 2 MONTHS:
- He has a very dramatic sigh that he started developing when he was 2 1/2, and has now perfected. It is complete with an exasperated lifting and dropping motion of his arms, palms-up. He uses this in the following context - ME:"Should we make the square out of green playdoh?" EVAN: Dramatic SIGH with exasperated arm motion, followed by "Mommy. The square needs to be blue because the triangle is red and the star is yellow," followed again by the Dramatic SIGH. I swear he is about to roll his eyes at me one of these days, since he is so clearly astounded by my complete ignorance of all things Obvious.
- He likes to dance around behind me at the stores, and I let him do this as long as he does not touch anything and as long as he is not loud. So he walks and "dances" in a twisty-wiggly way while whisper-singing "I am hee-hee, I am oh-oh, I am poo-poo, I am Grandma, I am mommy, I am lee-la, I am ..." etc. etc. So I love the dancing, but I also love that he keeps up with me and listens still. He just has a grand old time dancing through the stores, but manages to stay out of any trouble. Kind of the story of his life.
- He can sit forever and listen to books, and already shows an affinity towards reading and writing. He knows all his letters and their sounds (thanks, Tad), and just wrote his name last week! (It was messy, and the "a" and "n" are debatable... but he IS three, so give him a break already.)
- He has the best smile of any kid I know. I'm not biased. You should see it.
- When I lie in bed with him to sing him song goodnight, we sometimes rest our foreheads on each others, or our noses, and he touches my face with his hand, and we sing like that. That is when I say "I love my Evan." Sometimes, he says "I love my Mommy." But other times he says "I love my poo-poo" and smiles.
- His teacher says he is the best artist in the whole class, which shocks her because he is one of the younger ones and a boy. Apparently, the girls are usually always better (of course!), but Evan is just a gluing and painting and cutting machine.
- When he hasn't seen me in a while, he'll come running, saying "Mom-meeee, Mom-meeee" in a deepish kind of voice. And he hugs better than any other kid too. A lot of times it is a full-body hug, legs and all.
- He is very bossy, so one of his favorite sayings is "Listen up, people!"
- When he is around a baby, he will be SO nurturing that it makes me ache for another baby just so he can have a sibling to care for. He will play with them by tickling them gently on the belly while saying "Tickle, tickle!!! HeeHeeHee," where the laugh at the end is the best part. It is an oddly forced laugh with a weird big smile and he gets very close to the baby's face when he does it. The babies LOVE this. He can go on like that more 10 minutes.
- His thought process seems to be close to that of an adult's by now, which is very amusing. I love hearing all the detailed steps to his reasoning about why, for example, he wants two pretend baby dogs for Christmas, one named Beena, and one named Trish. (The reason is too long to get into here.) Or why he needs a pretend castle ("NOT a real one, Mommy, that would be too big, okay?") with a REAL door that is big enough for small and big people to fit through. "But I don't need people because I already have people! But the door needs to be REAL, not pretend, so I can open it and put the people in, and then close it, and the open it and take the people out, and then close it. So the door has to be a REAL door, okay Mommy? Tell Santa. Don't forget."
- He named a dinosaur that came from a hatchable egg "playdoh playdoh bowl bowl bowl." His other dinosaur-from-an-egg is named "Zee Zee," and his alligator-from-an-egg is also named "Zee Zee." Although, recently Evan became very upset that they have the same name, and declared "OH NO!!! They have the same name! They CAN'T have the same name! Why do they have the same name!?" (Because you named them that, I say.) Dramatic Sigh. "Well, I can give them NEW names, Mommy. They can't have the same name!!" Dramatic SIGH with hand motion.
- He gets to watch 1/2 hour of cartoons a day, and he almost always picks "Max and Ruby," which I hate. When it is almost time for the show, he comes up to me and asks me, "Ask my belly if it is time for Max and Ruby to be on," and he lifts his shirt to expose his cute little belly. I then have to lean down and say to his belly button "Belly, is Max and Ruby on?" Then I have to put my ear against his belly and listen to the answer. Evan looks at me expectantly with a hopeful joyous look and turns his head so I can whisper the "belly's" answer in his ear. So I whisper the answer, something like "The belly says Max and Ruby will be on in 10 more minutes." To which Evan will likely say "Aaaawwwwwwww." This process repeats as often as you let it until the answer is "The belly says YES!" At which point Evan breaks out in cheer and yells "YAY!" and starts chanting "MaxandRuby, MaxandRuby..." while he runs towards the TV. I suppose you see why I limit him to one cartoon a day! Also, I asked him one time why he likes Max and Ruby so much, and he said "Because Max does not listen to Ruby. Little kids have a hard time listening. I don't like to listen, but I do. Sometime I don't listen. Max does not listen, and I like that." You can see why I dislike this show, but I don't have it in me to take away something that brings him such pure joy. Plus, I am positive it is not doing any permanent damage, so who cares?
- His favorite animal is the dolphin, at least this week. Why? Well, "because the dolphin is blue, Mommy, and blue is my favorite color." Dramatic SIGH with arm motion. Of course.
- When he gets a fruit snack as a reward (10 "smiley faces" = 1 fruit snack), he has to take all the packages out of the box and line them up just perfectly before he picks one. He is kind of OCD about a lot of things and always has been, which is super useful when it comes time for cleaning. He seems to be getting over it a little in his older age, but he still has his moments.
Well, that is all for now. Mostly because it is late and I need to get to sleep. And because if anyone is actually still reading this other than myself, you are probably hoping I would just stop already. Everyone's kid is the best, blah blah blah. Well, start your own blog, then :) And, thanks for reading! Goodnight, blog!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
My Shiny Brand New Blog
Really, a blog??? For me?
I can explain. It is simple, really: My Shiny Brand New New Blog makes me Happy. To be more specific, I am happy right now because of the existence of this blog. Not because of anything I plan to write or anybody I think will read this. Just because it exists and I made it and it is all mine now. And it really was so easy! They aren't kidding about that. So, yep, a blog for little old me.
I can explain. It is simple, really: My Shiny Brand New New Blog makes me Happy. To be more specific, I am happy right now because of the existence of this blog. Not because of anything I plan to write or anybody I think will read this. Just because it exists and I made it and it is all mine now. And it really was so easy! They aren't kidding about that. So, yep, a blog for little old me.
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