Yellow Belt

Island Boy earned his yellow belt today. I will be the first to admit that it was touch and go for a while - in fact really for much of the time. Would he earn it?

We knew he could do it, but would he?? Island Boy has been impressive at his kicks, punches and blocks - when he actually does his kicks, punches and blocks. So often there are better things to try or to think about (e.g. hmm...I feel like doing half moon pose! or hey, I think I'll do a forward roll! or the ever popular, "I'm thirsty!").

It's not an easy thing for a young gentleman of any single-digit age to remain focused for any length of time and since that is the primary requirement for earning belts at this stage, it was a challenge. A big challenge.

Still, somehow Island Boy pulled through and earned his yellow belt and we're very, very proud of him.

Chemically Enhanced

This article is pretty frightening. Chemicals on floors and other eating surfaces are not a good thing to have in your home if you have young children. No surprise there really, but for some reason we need to be reminded to get the chemicals off of our eating surfaces (yes, like it or not floors are eating surfaces when you have youngin's!) and out of our children's hands.

The article contains a number of easy hints about how to do clean up your act. Fortunately, it's really not all that hard (or expensive) to clean your home with natural ingredients and give your children non-toxic things to play with.

Crack Spider

Island Boy discovered a spider setting up shop in between our patio door and the track it slides on. Island Boy examined the spider at close range. The spider, naturally, retreated into the crack.

"Where is it?", Island Boy inquired. I explained that the spider was hiding in the crack.

He wanted to know more about what kind of spider it was and why it was making a web. We explained. That was yesterday. Today, the web had grown and I decided I'd had enough of the spider. We called in Daddy, aka Spider Removal Expert.

Daddy escorted the spider safely outside. Once outside, Island Boy gave us a detailed commentary about the incident.

"Daddy said it was a house spider and put it outside. The Crack Spider made a web and Mommy didn't like it. The Crack Spider is outside now." That pretty much sums it up!

Orange Belt

Island Boy graduated to his first real belt in Martial Arts class today. (Don't ask me how many belts they are - I have no idea!)

He's been taking classes since October when a new studio and a new instructor moved into our neighborhood. Perhaps eager to grow their fledgling business, the studio gamely agreed to accept students that were not-quite-three. There are days - and I'm only guessing here - when those instructors must ask themselves whether or not that was absolutely positively really really necessary.

It's true that Island Boy, like most now-barely-three-year-olds, can have a short attention span. Fortunately he is the youngest in the class and it is also true that he somehow manages to soak up some very impressive moves and snap to attention just when you fear that all hope is lost.

As the parents gathered for this class's first ever Belt Graduation Test and Ceremony, the children must have felt the excitement in the air. Although the parents routinely watch from the sidelines during class, on this day there was an extra current of energy running through the building and the children knew it. They reacted as expected - some wore their game faces and others pulled out nervous behaviors we had not seen before this day, but they all performed and, in the end, they all graduated.

Although at this age these children are still learning what it means to be "proud", every one of them was as proud as I've ever seen anyone as the rank of "Junior Orange Belt" was bestowed upon each of them.

Happy Birthday, Island Boy!

We celebrated Island Boy's birthday with the biggest cake you've ever seen. We didn't really intend for it to be that big - we asked the folks at the cake place how many the cake would serve when we ordered it and their estimate sounded right on target.

It started out when we asked Island Boy what he wanted on his cake.
"Sprinkles!", he responded.
We breathed a sigh of relief. Why? Because, selfishly, it meant that I could order a cake from a place that makes fantastic cakes, but not so much with the children's designs on them. And, naturally we asked about the number of people our cake would serve.

It turns out their estimate was WAY off. Perhaps it would have been on target had the cake been a single layer. Perhaps it wouldn't have been far off had it been a double layer or perhaps it wouldn't have been far off if everyone at the party ate as much cake as I like to eat.

However, THIS cake turned out to be a TRIPLE layer, ginormous (and very delicious) masterpiece. Did we have leftovers? Yes, yes we did. Even after giving some to just about anyone that walked by we had leftovers upon leftovers - so much so that we found ourselves distributing more around the neighborhood that evening. Too much cake? Not such a bad problem to have, really.

The bottom line is that the celebration was wonderful. Nearly all of Island Boy's classmates joined us for a party that was fun and even educational. All in all it was a very, very special day.

We love you, son. Happy Birthday!!!

Cabbages

Island Boy woke up bright and early and we asked him what he wanted for breakfast.

"Cabbages!"

Yes, our boy wants brussels sprouts for breakfast. That's my boy!

The Purpose of Statues

We were reading to Island Boy today and he asked what statues were for. It was such a good question we asked him to speculate and naturally his answer was much more brilliant than anything most adults would come up with. The purpose of statues?

To make the buildings dance.

I love it!