V-Day

Be careful, Mommy...I'm told yours looks just like this one.

I just got the best Valentine's Day card ever. See?

needy.

For all of you needy ones out there...

1. Declan started school. He loves his class and has a very nice teacher. He's truly excited about it.
2. Halloween!! Declan went as Luigi this year! We were going to do a store bought costume, but decided to make it ourselves. We think it turned out awesome and so does he!! ...plus the magic mushroom helps.
3. Thanksgiving time! Thanksgiving was a relative success this year. We didn't have to do a bird at all and as often as I see it, I will never understand why little kids eat so little on Turkey Day. i guess the voracious appetite kicks in in the teenage years!
4. Christmas! Christmas! Christmas! Little man made out like a bandit this year. He now has all of the Dinosaur Train toys (which are AWESOME if I may say). Nana was sick, so we actually had a 2nd Christmas (well, third if you count the Christmas Eve/Day with Maribeth's parents). We actually had to prep the holiday season with a much needed toy purge to make room for the anticipated loot.
5. Happy Birthday Mommy!! Congrats on the first day off (on your bday) since we've been together!)
6. Happy New Year! we were planning on staying in, but ended up over at a nice little house party. Thanks, Carol, Jason, Jennie and Greg!
7. I have no idea what goes on in Janurary, but i know we were all anxious about the crap snow coming soon...well, all except for little man.
8. HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, DECLAN!!! We celebrated the date with a trip to the Whitaker Center and a fine meal out at Red robin. We actually threw around some good ideas (hockey game, Crayloa 'factory' tour, Baltimore Aquarium. etc), but we feel we made an awesome choice. And so did Declan!

I think that brings everyone up to speed. I'm sure I missed some tantrums, elations, celebrations, and some other -tions too, but alas. Also, i was going to upload pictures, but i was a little rushed due to the popular demand of the readers :D

-Dad

It's been a while, but...

The Prince and the Papa is BACK!!

My reason for stopping this wonderful blog was that Declan started school...and for some reason, I felt that made sense. So I am here to say that we are back...well, we aren't just back...we're actually back in a rainbow-slinky-tentacled, bespectacled, crazy-hair kind of way.

A Pictoral Review of Recent Happenings

 Better late than never. Here's a montage of photos of our goings on over the last few weeks. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Forget all of the living ones, Declan took a picture of a dead one.

Butterfly bushes are torturous for cats when they're right outside the window.

This guy almost got stepped on b/c he was warming up on the walkway at night.

Lil man earned his green belt. Awesome job, bud.

"What? The world's in peril? I eat peril for breakfast--one spoonful at a time."

Lil man LOVES taking pics of his toys and animals. We seem to have an entire catalog of his belongings.

Classic!! Right after the cat whacked him.

Two of the people that make things worth while. :)

The pen people hope you enjoyed your stay!! Til next time!

He got me!

Lil man is turning in to quite the budding artist. While were out enjoying a nice Saturday lunch, he decided to draw me. And I must say...he's getting good.

Mr. McPiddlefingers

[Legacy Post- Originally posted 10/08]

Tonight is the weekly, ever-anticipated Family Fun Night here at the Swarr household.

After we got home we made dinner and decided to play a board game while we ate. The game's called Frustration. It's a knock of the Milton Bradley game, Trouble. We just got it this past weekend at a consignment shop and little man loves it.

So there we were, playing and munching on the living room floor, when the smallest of our number began to wiggle around with his legs crossed. Maribeth, using her acute powers of observation asked, "Declan, do you need to go to the potty?"

"Mm hmm," was little man's reply. And with that he stood up and ran off to the bathroom.

We could hear everything from where we were. We heard the seat lift, his pants unsnap and get pulled down. The 4 second stream of whiz...

Then...Silence. A good 6 seconds of silence.

"Declan?"

"Whaaat?" came a little sing-song voice.

"What are you doing?"

"Um. Washing my hands," he said with a hint of that oh-crap-I'm-busted tone.

"I didn't hear the sink," Maribeth said as she got up and made her way to the bathroom, "did you wash your hands in the potty?"

"Um. Mm hmm," was his meek response.

"C'mon. Over to the sink. You have to wash your hands," Maribeth said.






"...but I already did..."



I love Family Fun Night.

Outsmarted by a man half my size!!

[Legacy post- Originally posted 11/08]

I love to talk to little man when I take him to school in the mornings. Obviously because he's my son, but mainly because you never know what he's gonna say. Case in point:

This morning for instance, I tried my hand getting him to see things in different perspectives. We were driving by a pond and I accidentally called it a lake. But that got me thinking...how he views a tiny puddle is different than how an ant would view that same puddle. Seemingly pointless information, but it may give him something to think about; analytical thinking is high on my importance list for him. So the conversation went as follows:

Me: "Declan? Did you ever think about how a small puddle would look to an even smaller ant?"

Declan: "No."

Me: "Well...let's say you're standing near a tiny puddle. And because you're so big, it's just a tiny puddle, right?"

Declan: "Yeah. Because I'm sooo big and the puddle is sooo small."

Me: "Now, let's say a tiny little ant walked up and stood at that same puddle. What do you think he would see instead of a tiny little puddle?"

Declan: "He'd see me standing at the puddle."

My kid's got one up on you Dora the uh...whatever

Dorer the Explorer? Dora the Explora? Well whatever it is, that show works on my nerves. Why is it that every character sounds like they're yelling all the time? How does saying 'Swiper, no swiping' actually stop the fox? When I repeat instructions to my child, over and over, it doesn't work! And what is Boots' name when he has his boots off?! Feet? Toes? Ok, deep breath. Sorry, I've been holding that stuff in for a long time (and please don't get me started on the cow and backpack).

Don't ask...

When Declan was younger I was one of those parents who always said, "I'll raise him right, watching Transformers, G.I. Joe and He-Man, none of this crap they have on now." But then reality sinks in (along with my wife's Mjöllnir of subtle influence), and he ends up watching good quality, age appropriate shows such as Blue's Clues, Calliou and Kipper. I was happy for a while, then the Dora kick started, followed by a long lasting disdain for pink shirts and orange shorts.

Eventually I saw a light at the end of the tunnel...but then her blasted cousin shows up and rekindles the black flame of despair.

However...just the other day, my hopes were met with irrefutable evidence that there will be life A.D. (After Dora, for those that were wondering).

Declan was watching Dora and the little bowl cut demon was summoning her map from the bowels of backpack (who, just in the last episode, ate map through the top of its head, by the way). So map pops up and Declan's looking at the screen and Dora repeats ten times where they need to go and how they're going to get there. And just before my eyes started to bleed Declan turns to me and says, "Daddy. I don't want to watch Dora anymore."

Clutching the sofa as not to fall, I swallowed my heart and said, "Ok. why not, buddy?"

He then looks at the screen and shaking his head, he says, "Because Dora's stupid. She has a map and she knows where to go, so why doesn't she just go around all the bad stuff? She's so dumb."

I held my child and cried as the angels sang down from the heavens.

So it begins

This morning marks the first time that Declan has gone downstairs to watch cartoons while I lay upstairs, still asleep and dead to the world. He was so excited to have found this, he woke me up to tell me. Thanks, i guess...

I'm here to catch your cartoon memories...

[be sure to click the links]

When I was a kid (and even now), I loved cartoons. My brother and I would devour them like the KiX cereal in our bowls every chance we had (both were kid tested, mother approved).

I know there were the norms such as Transformers and GI Joe, but sometimes it was the shorter lived cartoons that stuck with you, the ones that found themselves canceled prematurely or whose hopes were dashed by the whim of a studio exec on the other side of the country.

Some of the ones that I personally loved were Kissyfur, Rude Dog and the Dweebs and lest we not forget Inhumanoids and Visionaries. My list goes on and on all the way through the 90s

There are tons more that I remember snippets of and those, such as Inhumanoids which I thought went on forever, but were only one season. So I thought that it would be a good idea to keep a running tab of all of the cartoons that Declan loves, but have been seemingly (and some wrongfully, in my opinion) thrown in the back alley dumpster behind whatever studio brought them to life in the first place.

So here's the short list  thus far (some are clickable..follow the click...you know you want to)

El Tigre
Jakers - best theme song as far as I'm concerned :)
Jacks Big Music Show
Toot and Puddle

As of now, there were four shows he absolutely loved and they've played an integral part in his youth thus far.

Little buddy, I know the list will grow as you get older, but know this: I'm keeping track for ya.

Why can't I feed the child?

Apparently I have no concept of how much food a growing boy needs to eat. The reason I say this is because yesterday after lunch (a healthy dose of mac n cheese...go me!), lil man had polished off his accompanying Capri Sun in one shot and I had given him a glass of water because he was still thirsty. Let me clarify, a glass of water. Say it with me, a glass of water.

So I sat yesterday where I am right now, updating the blog, when I hear a loud crack come from the other room. Not a crash or a smash- a crack. I waited a split second to see if there were any other indicating noises to follow. There was, it was..."help!"

So in the nanosecond it took me to traverse our grossly huge downstairs (did you hear the sarcasm?), I had about a million things running through my head as to what I might encounter. Nothing prepared me for this one. When I saw what the scene was, I physically had to stop to assess the situation.

I walked into the room to see Declan leaning over his water glass, which was still full of water. Over a dry table...over a dry floor. Then I saw the glass.

I asked him what happened and he said, "I bit it". Only after he said this did he spit the two remaining pieces of glass back into the cup. Amazingly, the kid didn't have a single scratch, splinter, slice or gouge. Tears, yes; blood, no.

Maybe today I'll try a three course lunch.

Sorry, readers.

I wish I could say that I had a good reason for not updating this since May...but I can't because I don't.

I will say that sometimes it feels like I have a monkey on my back.

I will keep up if you promise to read (and comment too!). Deal?

TV Time and Kids

I know there's a lot of back and forth on the subject of kids and TV. There has been for years. It happens in our house sometimes as I'm sure it does in yours as well.

Well today there was an article on Health.com about TV time and kids. Feel free to read it here. It discusses the effects TV has on young children and the potential adverse effect it has on them when they enter school.

The article focuses on a study done by the School of Psychoeducation at the University of Montreal, in Quebec. They've concluded the following:

Each additional hour of TV that toddlers watch per week translates into poorer classroom behavior, lower math scores, less physical activity, and more snacking at age 10

Apparently they conducted their study over a 7 year period on 1,300 kids and followed up with them in fourth grade to see how they were doing. The findings, they said were thus:

Each additional hour spent in front of the TV per week at age two-and-a-half corresponded to a 7% decrease in classroom engagement, a 6% decrease in overall math achievement, and a 10% increase in being bullied by peers.

They go on to discuss the actual detriment of TV itself and how the "overexposure" impacts children. Although researchers can't seem to agree on the physical effects, researchers are seeming to agree that TV is just bad.

However, the article, which I must say is very balanced and well done, does continue on to the other side of the fence, which was expressing criticism of the study. Their red flag, which is often my soapbox, was that the study omitted one major factor: what the kids were watching. The opposing Dr. said,

parents should distinguish between mind-numbing cartoons and educational programs such as Sesame Street. “Parents need to know that the best-quality shows have a curriculum,” he says. “They’re trying to teach your child something, anything from the letter k to skills like how to share or how to handle a conflict.”

Parents, it seems that the jury is still out. Once again the TV is caught in the middle; one side stating that TV is just bad bad bad and the other side saying that it doesn't matter.

My two cents: I think that both sides of the fence can agree on one thing: make sure that your children are watching stimulating, age appropriate programming. Don't let them sit in front of the TV all day watching inappropriate shows. Watch with them and work with them. The television, like any other source of media (newspaper and books included) can and should be monitored by the parents. Yes, I said parents. It is our responsibility to ensure that kids have a chance to be kids. They only have one shot at this wonderful thing called childhood. Don't ruin it for them.

Mantises or Mantisi?

The plural of mantis is actually mantes, but mantises is ok too. In case you're wondering why I need to know the plural of mantis, it's because we had well over 100 of these lil buggers erupt from the egg sack in our kitchen this morning.

And now I bet you're wondering why we had a mantis egg sack in our kitchen, huh? Well that answer is simple: Mommy had an awesome find which resulted in Declan getting a Praying Mantis Pagoda for his birthday. So we sent off for the egg sack and well, the rest you know.

So of the 100+ mantes (or mantises) we're going to keep about 12 of them (6 in 2 separate containers). the rest were released this morning and are more than likely bird food by now. So of that 12, I think we'll be able to keep just 1 through adulthood (as they will eat each other if left in the same enclosure).

Take a look and enjoy these pictures of the hatching. I'll have more to come so stay tuned.

Someone wanted a snack

Declan insisted on having a lemon for a snack this morning. My only stipulation: I get it on camera. One bite was all he had.

Review: Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland

I know what you all must be thinking, "Elmo? Grouchland? Really?" And the answer is...yes. To be honest, I'm a sucker for all things Henson. We actually started Declan on Sesame Street and The Muppet Show at a very early age. Now, thanks to our forced guidance, Declan loved not only Muppets, but puppets in almost all shapes and sizes.

So back to the movie. the opening sequence sets the tone. It's Ernie and Bert coming on screen and talking to the audience. They talk about audience participation and, of course, they have thier jibes back and forth. It totally sets the tone for the movie. ...And they make appearances throughout, stopping the movie in the process. It really draws you into the movie.

Then we go to Elmo's room and his day consists of a great wake up song. Overall the movie is just fun and the pacing is great for younger kids....it keeps moving. Once Elmo's blankie (yes, blankie) get's whisked away to Grouchland, the movie really takes off. Grouchland is a blast (who doesn't like Oscar?).

I know this is a quick review that really skims the surface, but you really should check it out. As in most Henson productions, there are a lot of subtle details that need to be seen, so I won't ruin it. to sum it up even more simply, it's just plain fun.

Oh...and wait until you see who plays the villain. Well, I'll just say this: he used to be looking for man man with six fingers on his right hand.

Soft Serve Syringe

The pre-k physical is scheduled for this afternoon. Mommy and I have been prepping him by repeating that fact that he'll have to get shots. In the past, he's taken them like a champ. I don't think a single shot has made him cry (the anticipation is worse for him than the actual sticking).

However this time he is a little worried. I told him he'll probably have to get a few shots. He understands that being around more kids means being around more germs, so he's ok with the potential three or more stickings.

I know he's been thinking about it a lot because this morning, while we were sitting on the couch, he started rubbing his arm. I asked him what the matter was and he looked at me and said, "I wish getting shots didn't hurt. Getting a shot should feel like eating ice cream."

'I Spy: I Love You'...An Easy Cheater Book

Please allow me to begin by stating that I absolutely love the I Spy and Can You See What I See? book series. If you have yet to do them with your kids, you're missing out. Declan spends countless hours scanning the pages looking for skulls, sandals, dinosaurs and just about anything else you could imagine. Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick have done an amazing job on the I Spy series (and a solo Walter Wick on the Can You See What I See? series). That's why, when we found the Easy Reader I Spy series, we were thrilled.

Declan grabbed the first one he saw, I Spy: I love You, Easy Reader Level 1. We opened it up, equally excited. Him for obvious reasons and me for the reason any parent would and should be excited for their child: they found a reason to learn to read! Now, please let me fill you in on something: Declan can read if he wants to. The problem is, well, he doesn't really want to, so he doesn't get practice. It's not laziness, it just is the way it is. He'd rather we read There's a Monster Eating My House (by Art Cummings) than him read Dick and Jane all by himself. Can you blame him? He's a little boy. He requires more thrills and chills than, "See Jane. See Spot. See Spot run. See Jane run after Spot."

Unfortunately the excitement that came over me, realizing that one of my son's favorite books had been paired with my parental want of educating my child, fizzled and popped from existence when I opened to the first page. I was heartily let down by what I saw: pictures of the word next to the word itself. Any intelligent kid (of which Declan is one), will realize that the book is a visual scavenger hunt. The page on the left lists the things to find in the scatter of the things on the right. So why would he read the word when he can just look for the picture of what he sees?

I understand the concept, but that does not promote reading. None of the other I Spy books are set up this way, so that tells me it is specific to the Easy Readers. That's not easy reading, it's a way out for those kids who are smart enough to find it. I guess we have to see Spot run after all.

The results of this year's trappings

I don't have too much to say about the results of this year's leprechaun trap. I'll let the pictures tell this story:




The final count was 43 jelly beans, 12 'gold' coins and 8 peanut butter eggs. Bandit.

Who's Magical Now, Pointy Ears?

Beginning last year, it became a tradition to catch a leprechaun on St. Patrick's Day. Last year, we set the trap on St. Patrick's Day eve, but this year we decided to take advantage of the little bugger's want for beer and set our trap on St. Patty's Day (aka, Daddy didn't know when St. Patty's Day was this year and it sneaked up on him- oops).

No matter how you look at it, my alibi has merit: why catch a sober leprechaun on the way to a St. Patrick's Day party, when you can take advantage of one who's been thrown out on his shamrock for swimming in his Guinness well after last call and is now staggering home in a drunken stupor?

That being the premise of this year's trap, we decided to go with the good old standby: skulduggery. Here it is folks. The leprechaun trap for 2010...

I present you with The Pub Crawl:


We took an ordinary cardboard box and colored it to look like a bar:















Then I cut an 'x' in the door and angled the triangles inward, that way, he can fall in, but can't figure out how to get out (thanks, Mr. Guinness for the assist):

























Next, we place the trap in the yard:















Followed by some authentic scenting:















And, as I stated last year, the leprechauns, once they know they've been trapped, are able to disappear, but only if they leave a treasure behind.

My hopes are high this year, so check back tomorrow to see what we scored!