The Eichenblog

“What’s a parade?” Isaac asks.

“Well, it’s when people walk through the street.”

“Well, there are some people walking through the street.  That’s a parade.”

“No.  That’s just people crossing the street.  A parade has people watching.”

“What’s a parade?”

“Well, I guess it’s people walking in the street and other people watching.”

“I watch those people, so this is a parade.”  Isaac’s logic is quite solid.

“Well, not quite.  A parade is a special show where the people putting on the show walk in the street.”

“What’s a parade?”

“I..  I don’t know.”

Point:  Isaac

—————

A complex rail solution involving three types of track

Isaac has been into trains lately.  We finally broke out the wooden tracks, which have been in the closet since his baby shower (before he was born).  He loves them.  They are the greatest toy.

He is very good at putting them together, too.  He usually prefers to have help, but alone he is perfectly capable of assembling a fun, exciting track.

His brother is also very good at knocking down bridges.

So far conflict has been minimal.  The joy of building tracks hasn’t translated into a need to preserve them indefinitely.  Gabezilla only serves to generate more building opportunity.

—————-

“Why are we going home?”

“Well, because we’re done with lunch and it’s nap time.”  A very solid answer.  And true.

“Why are we done with lunch?”

“Well, we were all full, and it was time to leave.”

“Why was it time to leave?”

“We were done with lunch, so we left.”

“Why are we going home?”

“Well, because it’s nap time.”

“Why is it nap time?”

“Well, Gabe is sleepy, and you get to have quiet play time.”

“Why is Gabe sleepy?”

“He just is.”

Pause.

“Where are we going?”

“Home.”

“Why are we going home?”

Pause.

Silence.

Point:  Isaac

—————–

Isaac has been loving the summer.  Temperatures above 80 F mean that it is water day almost every day.  We get out the little pool, we set up the sprinkler.

The boys play out in the water for hours on end.

He also likes the food.  I’ve never been a huge fan of corn on the cob, but Isaac loves it.  He always has.

Happy Kid

Play in water all day.  Eat corn on the cob for supper.

I love summer.

—————–

“Why are we going to Home Depot?”

“Why do you think we’re going to Home Depot?”  I’ll try the changeup.

“I don’t know.”

“Are we going there to get paint?”

“Yeah.”

“What are we getting paint for?”

“We’re getting paint for the chair.”

“What color is it going to be?”

“Red.”

“Why are we getting red paint?”

“I don’t know.”  A long pause.  ”Why are we going to Home Depot?”

“I don’t know.  Why do you think we’re going?”

“To get red paint.”

“Why?” I think I’m winning.

“I don’t know.”

Silence.

Point:  Tony

Current Score:

Isaac 457
Tony 3

“Eye?”

I know what comes next.  My eyes are already closed, but I tighten them.

A tiny finger presses against my eyelid. Harder, harder, until I finally back up.  A grinning Gabe giggles at the predicted reaction.

Gabe has been learning a lot lately.  His arsenal of words has grown significantly in the last month.  Body parts, shapes (mostly square and circle), and names are some of his favorites.

His language is certainly that of a toddler, though.  I doubt anyone but his parents could understand half of what he says.  Many words are contextual.  For instance, “bobbeebo” means bumpy-ball, one of his favorite toys — if he says it in the back yard.  If he says it in the kitchen then it clearly means popsicle.

“Eye?” always comes in loud and clear, pronounced perfectly.  Its inflection is always that of a question, but the translation is a statement.  Roughly translated this means “I intend to poke you in the eye, and this amuses me.”

——————-

Gabe has actually gotten better at standing up to his big brother.  Physically he seems to be catching up; growth slows significantly after two years.  He only rarely wins tug-of-war with desired toys, but usually can keep the objects that he really wants.

Better still, he is able to actually play with his brother.  One of their favorite games is running back and forth, just barely missing each other as they pass.  This, combined with yelling and a throwing things is a very good way to keep them entertained.

Following is a video taken a while ago.  I think this accurately demonstrates the boys playing together with their mother.

——————-

Pictures of Gabe are often described as forlorn.  I don’t understand why this is, but getting Gabe within range of a camera tends to give him a far-off look.

There are some that I feel show the true Gabe.

Gabe loves pretty shoes

An Excited, Well-dressed Gabe

A Sleepy Well-dressed Gabe

Gabe and Isaac Reading with Dad

Gabe getting a ride on the trike

——————

The best pictures and videos are so very elusive.  The picture of Gabe and Isaac riding the tricycle took months to get.  They’ve done this before, but it’s so fleeting that nobody has ever been able to record it.  Of course, it would be better on video, but there are reasons that this never works out.

One reason:

Great waves of change are sweeping through my life.

I will explain.

No longer will I place my compost in a big pile in the back yard.  Carol successfully procured a compost bin this week, which was set up earlier today.  It is already half full of vegetation, but will soon be filled with green, rotting goodness from my kitchen.

To move from a heaping pile of rotten food to a Dalek shaped barrel is indeed great change, but is there more?

Yes!

My second favorite backyard sitting solution has changed from blue….

To red!

The chairs are the same, but an hour and several cans of spray paint have turned them quite red.   Isaac picked out the color.  I like it.

Yet change continues to come my way.  Can I handle any more?

I believe I can.

Technology continues its march forward.  Installing the newest Google Maps on my Blackberry gives me access to something called Latitude.  It constantly uploads my location to an All-Knowing Google.  Log into Google and you can track my movements around town.  If I let you.  And if my phone continues to update its GPS location, which it usually stops doing once I go into a building.

And then there is the theme for this website.  I was bored with the old one.

Adding links to my favorite comics forced me to realize how most of the comics that I read stopped being funny a long time ago.  I read them out of some strange sense of loyalty.

Change for the theme is still in progress.  I will be adding more links.  I’ll be refining my collections of rss feeds.  Hopefully I will update some of the images.

There is no stopping change once it starts.  One can only slow it down, speed it up, or complain loudly.

Or maybe just accept it.

I like my red chairs.

I have decided to post only once a week.  There are several reasons for this.  First, I keep forgetting to update until really late Wednesday night.  That means my Thursday posts are ending up not as polished as I would like.  Second, my lack of camera means a lack of pictures.  That means my blog has to be composed of a higher percentage of creative writing.

Creative writing is hard.

I love doing it, though.  I’ll continue to update on Mondays every week.

I don’t expect society to collapse anytime soon.  Just in case, though, there are some things that a person should know how to make, so that survival after the apocalypse is more likely.  I have recently learned how to make two very important products of human civilization.

Ginger Ale

Recently I started a batch of ginger beer.  I have yet to sample it.  My laziness has let me to once again stall before bottling the brew.  I’ll get to it pretty soon, but until then I will need to survive on normal home-brew beers and a handy Ginger Ale taught to me by my friend Alton Brown.

This latest Ginger Ale is not a full blown brew like my other.  This ends up sweet and gingery, with only a touch of alcohol.  It takes about 48 hours to reach full carbonation and if left on its own I’m sure it would explode shortly after.  The short ingredient list makes for a pretty simple beverage.  My biggest complaint is that maybe the ginger flavor is too strong.  I don’t have a kitchen scale, so I had to guess on some measurements.  I guessed on the high side.  By a lot.

Barbecue Sauces and Marinades

I recently bought a DnD book from Amazon.  In order to qualify for free shipping I decided to purchase another inexpensive book.  I have now tried a couple recipes and have been happy with both.  The first was a barbecue sauce containing balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and a few other things.  It turned out great, and I’m really excited about putting together some more recipes and maybe composing my own sauce.  The book contians instructions on how to generate your own, unique recipe.

I have also tried a marinade recipe from this new book.  It was your basic lemon juice, oil, and spices recipe, but it seemed to really help the shrimp that soaked in it.  I didn’t have any problems with the shrimp drying out as it cooked and the flavor complemented that barbecue sauce very nicely.  More expreimentation is definitely needed.