The Loud Family: Our Trip to the Good Zoo

I'm wondering what it is. I get this distinct feeling that, anywhere we go, we are the loudest group afoot.

We went to the Good Zoo this afternoon, which was a wonderful outing, despite happening without a lot of advance planning. We took in a laser show, a lights show, and the driving tour of the lights. As well as the animals, of course. Other families seemed to calmly move from one set of animals to the next, chatting to each other. We burst from one thing to the next with all manner of exuberance. I'm sure this is partly my perception, and for the record I don't see anything wrong with it. I just notice that we seem to be different in this regard!

Felicity at first was excited to see the piggie, but then when we approached the barn (or more accurately, I think, when she smelled it), she went right off the idea. However she was excited to see the goats (where Kwamai and Erol had dashed in the meantime). Neither Kwamai nor Felicity were game to have the goats lick the 25 cent feed off their hands, although Kwamai tried very hard to toss it to the smaller animals who never seemed to get any attention because of the one giant goat who practically lunged over the fence to gobble up any offerings. In the next stall was the llama. Erol carried Felicity over to see it, and she kept calling out to me "This is the Mama one!" We told her, no, llama, not Mama. "Chickens!!" she screamed as we passed the hen house... At the playground area and Kwamai led us all in imaginative games of pirate ships and sea monsters and space monsters and space walking. Well, then Felicity needed a potty break and that abruptly ended the animal expedition for her and me.

We spent quite a bit of time in the train exhibit in the main building. Felicity absolutely loves trains. She wanted to watch each area for trains to pop out of tunnels or disappear into them. Kwamai was more fascinated by the light shows. I have a feeling we may go another time before they come down in January. Sure would be nice to see if we get a good snowfall!

This Week's Update

Felicity has taken to grazing her way through the day. Meals are non-attractive, but she will ask for bits of things all through the day. At least she eats good food that way, so I'm not complaining.

I'm wishing I had one of those clicky-counters like I've seen ticket-takers use at concerts to keep track of how many times through the day I hear "Mama!" It is a sweet word, of course. Felicity these days repeats it about 10 times before she says anything else to me, often expecting a response each time. So it's:

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama?
Yes, honey?

Mama, can I have some pineapple?

She is also fascinated with the "There Goes A..." series, about bulldozers, firetrucks, helicopters, trains, trucks, boats, etc. Felicity's suggestion for a new video is "There Goes an Ice Cream Truck"! Sounds good to me.

As for Kwamai, he is bursting with imagination as usual. For several days we've had a military formation encamped in the living room. When I asked him what we might do around Christmas time to bring some cheer to those who need it, he suggested going to the Veterans Hospital (in Pittsburgh) to visit or Christmas carol. Kwamai has also been busy coaching Felicity in games they make up together, like how to carry the giant Winnie the Pooh through the house while standing back to back. This week he was begging to be sure he would get to go to the library with us (so that we wouldn't go while he was at Catechesis, which became a moot point because it was cancelled anyway.) He was excited about gathering up books for himself (excitement about books being a very heart-warming thing for me!) I tried introducing him to P. G. Wodehouse for his bedtime listening, but learned he is not really interested in fiction. So, I'll need to find more children's history, or something!

Kwamai Looking Handsome

Doesn't he always? And on a particularly nice fall day to boot.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Ok, so not only Felicity but I also had my bout of the tummy virus. Not fun at all.

I was telling Erol, the evening after Felicity got sick, that one moment she was as happy as a clam, and the next she was throwing up. A seriously quizzical Kwamai scratched his chin and inquired "Just how happy are clams, anyway?"

Last night Kwamai volunteered to clean up the entire living room, and put all the toys away. He then proceeded to tidy the dining room as well, and then swiftly went up to bed. All because he knew I was still recovering and it would make me feel better. What a sweet boy. I won't complain that I can't find a DVD I had on the couch. Everything turns up eventually.

I'm not sure that we are entirely out of the sick woods yet, but I sure hope so!

Kwamai's Feeling Better

Kwamai had some kind of a stomach virus that had him laid low for about 24 hours. Felicity threw up at almost the same time he first did, but that was all it was for her. Kwamai spent yesterday rather wiped out. So, a quiet day was had by all. We read books, talked quietly, napped. He is so polite when he's not feeling well! I'm glad to report he is feeling better this afternoon. How can I tell? He's back to composing lunch time songs. Today's theme? Going potty in one's pants.

All back to normal, thank goodness.

Hey, It's Good to Be Back Home Again

Well, Mama survived her first time ever being away from her kiddos overnight. Special thanks to Papa Grandma for making a special trip to help care for them! Felicity even developed a new repetitive saying while I was gone: "I want to tell you a secret." Kwamai didn't let on that it mattered to him that I was back, but before I left he was glued to me, literally following me everywhere throughout the house.

It's very good to be home, and I have some appreciation now for what Erol must feel like being away from home (though not overnight) for such a large percentage of his waking hours.

Good, Loud, Morning

Somehow the attraction first thing this morning was having an Indian party, complete with raucous drum music. It was hard to capture video without squelching the creative spirit (!) so this isn't very long. Just extend it in your mind for about 30 minutes.

The Ugly Man

Felicity has a variety of plastic people that accompany her through life. One is the figure of a man with one of his hands extended. She has taken to calling him "the ugly man". I wondered about this, and finally she managed to explain, and I managed to understand that what seems like an eternity ago (this post reminded me is was actually May 8 of this year) as we were waiting for Erol to finish his work with the spring election, we were looking at a large mural outside his building. I vaguely remember saying that the man depicted on the mural was kind of ugly, and looked like Felicity's toy man.

Man, and I thought no one but Kwamai remembered obscure details from more than half his lifetime ago.

A Day at Salon Mom...

... can yield scary results!

Completely contrary to her usual, Felicity came to me this afternoon and asked me to put all of her hair elastics in. I do not claim any particular ability in the realm of hair styling. She seemed fairly pleased with the results, though!

Felicity Provides Liturgical Accompaniment

Today at the All Saints' feast day Mass we had an organist, but no cantor. So he simply left off playing the liturgical parts that required a cantor, such as the Alleluia verse.

Felicity didn't find this quite satisfactory, so while the priest slowly processed with the gospel book, she sang out:

Alleluia!
Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car
Alleluia!

I didn't dare look around to see if anyone else was stifling laughter.

Halloween Non-Costumes

I am not a Mom who likes costumes. I don't sew costumes, I don't buy costumes; I just don't do costumes. Needless to say I don't get very excited about Halloween.

Around here, kids generally get to dress up twice, if they want to: once to go trick-or-treating, and again for the All Saints party. Felicity wanted to be a cow, and we even had a cow costume left over from Kwamai's duds that came with him from Wisconsin. But I can't find it anywhere. She wanted to Mary for All Saints day, and since I just (ahem) took down some blue curtains out of our guest room, I was all set for that. I pulled out her white dress which is ankle length, pinned a valence around her head, and viola -- she is the Blessed Mother.

And here she is, veil somewhat askew, galloping exuberantly on her way

to Bethlehem, with one of her best buddies as attendant (ok, so she doesn't look like Joseph...).

Kwamai has been dealing with a cold-gone-asthma so he is still a bit iffy about whether he will join in festivities tonight or tomorrow. He plans to be a ghost tonight (get the nice easy costume theme?) and Jesus tomorrow (he says it is so he can boss all the other saints around. I think we need to work on some Christology issues there...)

Gesticulating

My genealogy research verifies quite well that Felicity has not the least drop of Italian blood in her. And yet she has really taken to "talking with her hands". Her favorite stance is the "two hands flung out on either side of her" position which emphasizes the end of her sentence.

So cute :)

Night School

I haven't quite figured out why, but it seems most of what could be seen as our academic learning and exploring happens at night around here. Of course there is learning constantly, but I mean particularly things that involve books. (My inherent bias shows!)

It might be because day time finds Kwamai expending energy a lot faster, and therefore he is in motion more. It is his time to be creative, to work on things on his own. It might also be because it is the time his friends are available to play, or the time when we are out exploring, erranding, working or what have you.

Tonight he used some measurement tools we got in a "learning sack" from the library. I read to him two very nice graphic "novels": one on Hercules' 12 labors and the other on King Arthur. He wanted me to read more, but my voice was shutting down. Then he went up for bed and listened to CD 5 of A Little History of the World. It was his second time through it; he keeps falling asleep before it finishes. He is up to the time of Galileo.

As I was busy reading to Kwam, Erol got to read to Felicity. "Just one more," she kept saying. She is a tiny learning machine, constantly taking in everything around her.

Evening learning suits me fine, as I tend to feel more settled at night, myself. I may need to continue to get books on CD for Kwamai to fall asleep to, however, as that is working so well for him.

Felicity's Order

Felicity has many of her favorite things in order here. Lined end to end are various statues and figurines. Lined up on the far right are the team of firefighters. And of course her favorite books scattered on the couch, which the former seem to be guarding.

I was just remembering when Kwamai used to line up all his cars "just so" as well.

I also have noticed that Felicity counts almost exactly the way Kwamai used to: she will count to 12 and then say "14, 16, 19" and repeat these over and over the rest of the way. Is this some standard small-child formula?

A Sweet First With a Sweet Girl

Tonight I read Cinderella to Felicity for the first time. Shall we all say it together? Awwwwwww...

She, of course, loved it. It is so funny how, without any coaching or much example from me, she loves pink, frilly & sparkly clothes, fancy shoes, purses and jewelry.

And of course, all of her toys are female.

She's our girly girl!