Our Friends Visit from Singapore

Over the second week of November, the Longs, our friends and neighbors who moved to Singapore earlier this year, came to visit in Chicago for a week after spending a week in FL for a family wedding.  It was so neat to have them right back in their home next to ours, and I quickly reverted to my old ways of calling them to see if they wanted to hang out after naps. Though some illnesses kept us from really seeing them for the first few days of their stay, we did get some quality time in.  

One of the nights we organized a "mom's night out" with Emily and the moms from the 'hood.  It was so fun to get out of the house and just relax, talk and catch up together.  We went to Crust on Division and it was a perfect place to hang out (though they had a brand new bartender on duty that night and when asked to make a Jack and Coke he asked, "what's in that?".  OK, that's an exaggeration, but only a slight one!). The organic pizzas and apps were yummy and Emily was happy to be back in the neighborhood and spend time with her good mama friends.

On Saturday, the Long's organized a double birthday party for their kids (who were born 2 years and 6 days apart!) and to see their friends and family. We were so happy to be able to attend! They had Kaya's Wiggleworms instructor, Tim, from the Old Town School of Folk Music come and play for the kids, and he had the room rockin'. The kids loved him! Here are a few choice clips of AJ dancing and generally doing his own thing during the performance.

Emily was like a kid magnet at the party. Here is a shot of her on the floor with both of her own kids along with our friend Erin's daughter all on her legs. They were so cute, and everyone really enjoyed the music. Thanks, guys, for a great party!

On Sunday the Holubs decided we had not had our fill of the Longs, and we crashed their place again (OK, they did invite us over for waffles...). AJ loved seeing his friend Kaya again and it was cool to see that he recognized Ashwin as another kid instead of a baby. All the kids had changed so much in these 5+ months. It was really crazy!  Kaya got some cool Dr. sets for her birthday and AJ got to wear one of the scrub caps. I'm not sure how long he kept it on, but my guess is it came off shortly after this picture was taken.

It was a full house since Emily and Eric also had Eric's mom & dad and sister & brother-in-law over, plus Emily's dad and stepmom and their son Fernando were there too. Here is a shot that shows a little of the busyness with AJ and his bike, Fernando, Eric and Ashwin's head making it into the shot. (I am conveniently hiding behind AJ) We did eventually leave and let them have some pure family time, but we really did love milking the visit for all it was worth. We can't wait for their next visit in '09!

AJ also liked reading some of Kaya's books over on the couch with Andy. I love to take pictures of these father-son moments, and they were having such a good time together.  I also noticed that AJ is starting to look older and older with more hair and all those teeth. For the record, I think he has 12 teeth now!  His 1st molars came in before the eye teeth, but I've asked around and I guess that's pretty normal. Just as I noticed how much more of a "big kid" Kaya is now, Emily and Eric mentioned numerous times how much bigger AJ has gotten as well. It's just so much fun to watch them grow and change!

A Special Peek

Last week AJ, Andy's mom and I had the special opportunity to see behind the scenes at Garrett Popcorn's off site factory. My friend Heidi has them as a new account through her job and so they said they would be happy to give she, her family and some friends a tour...and she invited us! Thanks, Heidi!  The facility was a lot smaller than I had imagined, but they are very clean and organized, so they don't need to take up a lot of space. They make the popcorn and then mix it in small batches and then it goes into the tins and get shipped out right away!  Here is a group shot and as you can see, hairnets are the lovely new accessory this Winter. Everyone's wearing them!  I loved how even AJ had to wear one... a testament to the fact that he finally HAS hair, right?  Hahaha

On our way out, our kind guide noticed that AJ was way more into the forklift than the popcorn, and he offered to let AJ sit on it!  I didn't even ask since I figured it would be some big liability, but since he offered, I popped AJ up into the seat!  At first he was a little nervous, but then he got into it and was using the steering wheel like crazy!  So fun.  We had a great time and each adult went home with a tin of "the mix". Addictive!

Fun at the MCA

The Museum of Contemporary Art has a program where on the second Sat of each month families with kids under 12 get in free and they have a bunch of interactive projects planned on a theme.  My parents told my sister and I about it, so we decided to try it this month and we had so much fun! I was nervous that the activities and projects would be way over AJ's head, but they were great for (almost) all ages and he had a great time. He got to make a book with pages fixed with colored tape and markers, and had his first experience with paint.

Here he is working on his project, a pre-cut cloud. He loved making colorful dots and I think he tried every color on the board!  I might try to get some of these paints because the applicator made it so easy for him to control without having to dip into anything and dripping all over. My fear of the paint drips is why this was his first and only experience to date! AJ was very proud of his picture and so were we. His cousin Karly (5yrs) painted a very elaborate cloud all about the city, and she got to get up and be filmed telling the camera about it. I think they will be playing the film for the next Second Saturday event on Dec 13th.

The other hit of the day was actually in the pit-stop area...it was in a meeting room that they had set up with snacks, drinks, short tables and chairs, and a pile of pillows.  Since this event is sponsored by Target, all the refreshments were Market Pantry (Target's brand) and the pillows were all red and white and piled on a huge bullseye rug.  AJ LOVED rolling around in the pillows!  He and my dad played around for a long time and every time I looked over he was either climbing, falling or laughing.  Karly and Kyra got in on the action too and they were so cute all playing together.

We will definitely be going back again, since this is a great free indoor activity for the cold months and is also such great cultural exposure. Thanks for making us aware this program even existed, Mom & Dad!

Quiet Time

Every once in a while Andy takes candid shots of AJ and I just hanging out. I love these pictures because they are just slices of our everyday life that get preserved in a picture, but I usually only like how AJ looks in them (I know, how vain). I think I like these enough to post on the blog because you can't really see my face, and AJ is just so precious pretending to make his important phone calls. 

Anyone who hangs out around AJ and I long enough will see me mush his cheeks, and in the picture where he's dialing, you can see why!  Squish!  Also note how he is busy and I sneak in a nuzzle...he's growing up too fast.

"Tick-o-Teet!"

As usual, this Halloween post is a bit delinquent, but what can I say...better late than never, right?  At least it's going up before Thanksgiving!

AJ loved Fall and everything Halloween this year.  He noticed the leaves turning colors at the parks and on our walks, he pointed out the pumpkins on everyone's stoops, and he talked non-stop about "halloween bats" (as opposed to baseball bats).
The week of Halloween, Andy and I took him up to Goebbert's Pumpkin Farm, the same place we went for our pumpkin last year. This year AJ knew what was going on, though!  He said, "pumpkin faaaarm!" all the way there, and when we got there he was all about the "yude (huge) pumpkin" on top of the silo.

Last year we basically just propped him up in the pumpkin pile, but this year he was all over the place!  Luckily we went on a weekday, so the place was all but empty and it was pretty easy to keep track of him.  AJ loved climbing into the wooden fire engine and the farm truck and pretending to drive. How exciting! He is so funny, turning the steering wheel and making the appropriate truck sounds.  Other than the enormous tractors at the MSI (see previous posts), these were probably the most life-sized trucks he has ever gotten to "drive". AJ then picked out a perfectly cute little pumpkin for himself.
We also saw a bunch of animals like pigs, sheep, goats, llamas and chickens, but for some reason I can't upload the video of AJ and I feeding the goats. He loved it. I was repulsed. I think in the clip you can even hear me say, "disgusting" after the goat licked the seeds out of my hand, leaving behind his gross saliva. Next year Andy can feed the animals and I will man the camera. Afterward, I did get to wash my hands, and then we had lunch and left with the pumpkin and some delicious apple cider doughnuts, YUM!

On Friday, Halloween started out with a trip in costume to a big park near my old studio space.
AJ was a carrot this year (I know, I have some kind of fixation with orange vegetables...don't worry, next year he'll probably want to be Thomas the Train or something) and this is the costume in transition.  Note the darker color of the hat.  I had made an earlier version of the carrot suit via a different method and Andy and I decided it wasn't "OK" since we couldn't stop laughing when we tried it on AJ the night before. Let's just say it was a little too phallic. So this is the next morning and I made the suit but was unable to make the new hat.  No one cared, and AJ actually kept the hat on the whole time at the park!  The party there was for my Stay at Home Mom's meetup group (SAHMs for short) and it was so fun. Tons of kids running around a park in costume is the perfect recipe for laughter. Here AJ is playing on the equipment and going up for another turn on the slide with Elvis, a ladybug and a skunk. I have become friends with a lot of these moms, and it was so fun to see all our kids playing together and commenting on each other's costumes! Our friend Nancy was there too with her daughter Izzy and she was the cutest ballerina. Afterward, we headed home to rest up for the big night...

Here's AJ in his complete costume with matching orange felt hat.
My mom and Andy both ended up getting in on the trick-or-treating experience, as we took AJ to my friend Kate's old neighborhood near Ashland and Montrose. Since our neighborhood has lots of apartments and sketchy houses, I decided to take her up on her offer to meet us in her old 'hood, which she said was a great place to bring little kids. We started AJ off by telling him to say, "Trick-or-Treat", then putting his candy in the (my) bag, saying thank you and then telling the people, "Happy Halloween" on our way back to the sidewalk.
 He picked up on it pretty fast, and after a few houses he was a pro.  Some people mistook him for a pumpkin (a thin, pointy pumpkin?), but most people got it and said he was a very cute little carrot. He went to way more houses than I thought he would, and we worked our way all the way up and down the street! AJ was very interested in everyone's decorations, and wanted to get a closer look by walking on everyone's lawns! He moves fast these days, and that's why most of my pictures are of his back. Good thing I made a 2-sided costume! 

When Kate and her husband Carlos caught up to us with their son, Emilio, Emilio was not into wearing his costume.  He was ok, however, with wearing AJ's carrot hat, so the two of them walked down the sidewalk together and shared the costume. They were so cute! Here they are investigating a big pumpkin decoration. Kate was right and this was an awesome neighborhood to trick-or-treat in. Almost every house was participating and they were all decorated, some even had music and smoke machines!  There were so many kids walking around in costumes it looked like a movie set, as I had never seen so many trick or treaters out in one place at one time before. What fun!

I got away with not giving him any candy (Ha! Andy and I ate it all! I know, we're so mean.) so next year that will be new and exciting for him.

Gymnastics!

Last week Andy took the morning off and came with AJ and I to gymnastics class. He got to see all the fun that we talk about each week firsthand! Since there were 2 of us to "spot", we were able to take some pictures and videos...
Here he is walking on the blocks, Andy helping him walk across the beam, and a rare moment of AJ stretching with the class on the mat. He loves the beam and at home he lines up books or scarves on the floor to pretend they are his beam. As for stretching, he's usually so excited about being in the gym that he does not sit still for the group stretches. Somehow when Dad was there, he was a little more compliant, but we'll see how it goes this week!
So far, AJ can do a log roll, a forward roll, hang from a bar, hang from rings and walk on his hands and feet (which they call the bear walk in class). He loves running, climbing, rolling and balancing, and he likes his teacher too. Her name is Miss Dinene (da-neen) and AJ calls her "Deen!"
Here they are in a few video clips of AH hanging from the bar and doing his forward roll.

Transportation Obsession

AJ is in full-blown transportation-obsession mode these days. He loves all types of cars, trucks, construction vehicles, planes, trains, boats, you name it. He has several books showing all of these, and they are among his favorites. He carries certain car and truck toys all around the house, points out planes in the sky (even if they are mere specks), and gets excited about the trains and emergency vehicles.  

I think this obsession means that the Museum of Science and Industry is his new favorite museum since it has planes, lots of trains, and TRACTORS!  And AJ even gets to climb up and pretend to drive the tractors...very exciting! One of them even has a movie of what the farmer would see while driving the tractor through the fields. We try to get there early so that he can just climb in and do his thing, before the bigger kids show up and the lines form. There is also a great children's area called the Idea Factory (which I think I've posted about) which AJ does enjoy, but I think he likes the farm area and the train exhibit better...because when I ask him in the morning what he wants to do, he usually says, "Zee-um! Tain! Tacktor!" which I take to mean the MSI with the trains and tractors!

Kohl Children's Museum

The Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview is about 25 min away and TONS of fun! AJ absolutely loves this place and thinks each room is as fun as the next.  Every time we pull him away from one activity, he starts to get upset until he sees the next activity! I'm sure that the KCM will be a go-to place for us this winter as soon as the weather gets cold and the parks are no longer an option. Since my parents gave AJ a membership there for his birthday, we can go whenever we want all winter long! (thanks, Mom and Dad!)

This visit we took AJ to the Grocery Store area. It's so cute (if not inundated with corporate sponsorship) with mini carts and all the food in plastic or empty-container versions.  I think he selected fruit, veggies, a lot of milk, a bagel, a pizza and some meat. Then we had him put it all on a conveyor belt that I was at the other end of, so I collected and restocked the shelves with his "purchases".
This shopping experience helped out when we went to the pumpkin farm and bought apple cider doughnuts (that Andy and I were hoarding and didn't want to share with him this year!) since he pointed to them and said, "bagel!".

The main attraction was Let's Play Railway.  AJ is really into trains right now, so this was perfect for him and he was really excited.
There was a huge train engine that he got to get into and play engineer (click on the picture and see if you can see his little head up in the window).  He also got to play with a huge train set. He's starting to figure out how the train cars link together with magnets...

Also in the train exhibit was an area showing how corn is transported by trains. AJ loved "picking" the corn and tossing it into the barrel, and my mom and I had to race to stick more corn up on the stalks since he was grabbing them so fast! Then he decided to climb into the barrel himself. So funny!

In another area of the museum, there's a whole bunch of instruments where kids can explore sound.  AJ digs this area too. I took a couple videos of him playing a bolt-xylophone and a drum that shows sound vibrations with little confetti inside the drum.

I also have to mention that this was where AJ got his black eye that Andy blogged about recently. He stumbled and fell in a little boat and his face took the impact.  Our poor little guy was hurting and didn't want anything to do with the ice pack or the band-aids.  Luckily he healed up well and I'm sure will still love the museum since he talks about it a lot and always asks me to show him the train pictures!