Less than Twelve Parsecs

This is a conversation that started as I was putting Mara in the car seat on a Friday evening pickup. It went quickly downhill after my highly intelligent joke. Mara is twisting around, as I try to buckle her, making my task impossible. I give her a glare, she catches on and explains: Mara : I was just trying to look at Gaius to make him laugh. Me : Well did it work? Mara : No. [slightly saddened] Me : Maybe next time you can also say something to make him laugh. Me: Something funny. Like... "Hey, sock!" Mara : Hey sock! Gaius laughs heartily. Me : See, it worked! Greg : Honey, you should be a comedian. Mara : Hey sock! Gaius : Hey sock! Everyone giggles, saying " Hey sock " over and over, until Gaius changes the tune: All : Hey sock! Gaius : HI sock! That sounds different, and it gives us a pause. A very short pause, because we pick it right back up: All : Hi sock! Gaius : Hi sock! Low sock! Mara bursts into song:     Hi sock, ...

This weekend we visited the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, Santa Cruz, and took their famous Steam Train ride through the redwoods. Lots of steam, plenty of fun, banana slugs here and there and overall a perfect day. The one thing we didn't get a good photo of: the steam engine! But check their website for that . The first Banana Slug close-up encounter. Mara was so excited about spotting the slugs from the train, until she got close to one. Her face turned into this:  The giant meaty slug refused to stick his horns out:  Here's us on the steam train: Gaius exhibited very good self control by walking *around* the puddle at the entrance of the kids barn, about 20 times: There was a covered wagon near the rail road station, so the kids got to pose with the paper rainbow trout and butterfly we made at the crafts table: Obligatory stern-faced caravan photo:  Spot the Banana Slug!  Here's a close-up - this one had his horns out ...

It's 5am and the whole house is dark. Two little feet shuffle into our bedroom, soft blanket trailing behind. Mommy gets out of bed to intercept. Me: Gaius, pui, it's night time! Let's go back to sleep. I'll come with you to your room. Gaius, in a sad voice: Daaaddyyyy... Me: Daddy is sleeping, Gaius. It's dark outside. I take him gently toward his room, trying to not wake up the rest of the family. Gaius, thoughtfully: Kaa-kaa. Nigh' nigh'. It takes me a moment to fully register what he meant: Me: Yes, the birds are asleep too. Everyone is asleep. Let's go back to sleep. <3 Here he is, this month, with various birds:

Gaius recently started to talk a storm. It's all fun and cuteness, like when he says " Bye-bye, My Trash Truck! ", or a never-ending steam of " Appah Sauce ". But recently, and much more life changing, he learned to say: No, Stop! It's a powerful phrase when you are surrounded by other kids and trying to set your boundaries or explain your wishes. However, imagine the effects this has on our morning routine: Me: Gaius, let's get ready to go to school! Gaius: Skoo! Me: Yeah! You want to see your friends? Gaius: Yah. Me: Let's take your jammies off. Gaius, suddenly stark serious: No. Me: Come, I'll help you take your shirt off, so you can put your play clothes on! Gaius, unmoved by my plea : No. I get closer to him and gently start lifting his pajama shirt. Gaius: No, Stop! He means it. Serious frown, and the whole shabang. I sit back, take a calming breath to give myself time to reason. Then I start name-calling...

Last night, Greg and Gaius went in Gaius's room for bedtime. After the lights were out and they were lying down, in the neighboring bedroom Mara had some sort of emotional breakdown when an item she wanted was two feet away (thus absolutely out of reach for ever and ever). Loud crying ensued, with crocodile-worthy tears. Here's the boys' assessment of the situation, from Gaius's bedroom: Gaius: Mara. Waah-waah. Baby. Gaius: Mara. Ice. Mee-Mee. Greg: Does Mara need ice and Amy*? Gaius: Yeah. * Amy is one of Gaius's teachers at school.

We've had a little fish tank for the past three years, and two of its long-living inhabitants are Zebra Danio fish. Last weekend, we noticed that the female had a veeery large belly. So Mara and I watched some YouTube videos on how they breed . It turns out they make fish eggs, not giving birth to live fish. This is called "spawning". According to the information we found, the parents are likely to eat the fish eggs if they see them. So, to avoid infanticide, we needed to place a net right below the parents that would allow the eggs to drop down quickly to safety. Here's our setup: We placed the lady and gentlefish in the tank with about two inches of water over the net. They started their little dance: Then we waited. About three days later, when we were about to declare that the fish parents were dancing just for fun, and that we would have to try again, our friends came over and spotted little dots in the water. At first, they were very sti...

Gaius has been talking with half-formed words for a very long time, but this week he started making whole structures. It all started with him asking for " My shoes"  last week   (see note at the bottom **). This Friday, Mara and Gaius were playing with some wood block and lining them up. She finished building and moved on, but Gaius came back after a while and a new realization came upon him. He started shouting with glee, pointing with his whole body: Choo-choo! Yes, the blocks were lined up like a train. He was ecstatic and wildly verbalizing his Eureka moment, dragging me from what I was doing: Choo-choo! Me: I see that you have a train there, Gaius, you're right! I sniff and make slightly non-enthused face for a split second:  Gaius, do you need a diaper change? Gaius nods and says a dismissive: Yeah. Me: Let's go get you a new diaper! Gaius is back to energetically pointing: Choo-choo! Me: The train will wait for you, we'll come back after th...