A few more from the Real Life

Miles is soooo powerful that he doesn't even need knights! Or gods.

We will be working on our dance technique in Zimbabwe.

Catching Up

I need to catch up on posting some videos before we relocate to our slow-connection life in Harare!

Expressions of persuasion: Miles and his mother.

Eliza's fairy song:

Fairies. Fairies. The fairies fight a tiger.

The fairies fight it. The fairies do it.

Fairies. Fairies. Fai-ai-ries.

We do the fairies. The fairies kick.

And the tigers gr-scream.

Fai-ai-airies. Fai-ai-airies. Fa-ai-airies.

That's what it's all about.

Birthday Vids

Gray Goose & Gander

Mother Goose rhyme put to music (David's tune) with Eliza thrown in for fun.

Touche'!

Capturing Eliza

The days of Eliza's tiny voice and hilarious baby-ish expressions are numbered. We try to capture it on film when we can, but I feel I'm missing so much of it. In blogs and such, all her spunk and cuteness gets over-shadowed by Miles who has big 5-year-old ideas that take up more space and make adults think a bit. So when Eliza is presented with her brother, she's the picture of a little chirping nonsensical sidekick instead of the large personality who can hold her own that she truly is.

May Days

May pole dancing, cotton candy, clowns, draft beer... See, being abroad is not all that different. To quote Travolta: "It's the little things..." Like calling that inflated funhouse type bubble thing kids jump in  a bouncy castle. (What do we call it?) We're behind the high walls of the British Embassy instead of in a wide open park. And there are imitation Persian carpets on the ground instead of picnic blankets. And there's a significant number of Filipino nannies helping out with the big Jordanian families instead of just a mom & dad utilizing a serious off-road stroller to manage their two.  

Friends: Adam (Falastine's husband) and Leanna at the May Fair.                                                          

Ben (Caroline's husband) with Emily

Spiderman! Where are you coming from, Spiderman? Nobody knows who you are!

Roaring tiger, Eliza, with her future sister-in-law, Maria (Leanna's big sister). These friends of ours are leaving next month, moving to Copenhagen (where Adam's from). Falastine (who is Palestinian / Arab Israeli) is my pilates teacher and was my Arabic teacher last lear. We carpooled and have been doing play dates with the kids (and adult dinner-partying) for over a year. We'll miss them!! But Maria and Miles's sincere plans to get married (this was decided some 6 months or so ago and is discussed by them as a sure thing coming) ensure that we will see each other again.

 

Here we have some pre-bed wrestling or as Miles called it, Monster Attack. Or something like that. Miles prefers to go shirtless these days, as many superhero types, to show off his muscles. 

The Usual Stuff

Miles and Eliza have their own "language" of things that crack each other up or incite pandaemonium or refer to some kind of pretend game or whatever. I have failed to get it on video, and writing it out doesn't capture the tone which is half of it. Often it's a phrase they say together over and over like a chant. Here are a few attempts at getting it. 

They were chanting it up in the car while I was driving, but when I stopped Eliza was too preoccupied with getting out of the car to do it again.

Language creation in action.

An oldie but goodie...

Birthday in Review

I used to think Kindergardeners were really small. Miles is pre-K, but he seems so big. This birthday felt like more of a milestone than the last few. Enter the world of big boys!

Miles got an early gift of Spiderman pjs since the space pjs with the feet I'd bought him for xmas he'd insisted on wearing every night, if not all day every day. He called it his "Space Spiderman Suit." So, for days he's been wearing his new Spidey Suit (even under his school uniform, just like Peter Parker!)

I definitely splurged this bday because it really is so different from the others. He's more excited by things, had opinions of what he wanted, and was genuinely, magically enthralled about his gifts. He got a big castle with knights, a book with abbreviated classic stories on heroes (we read a story on Hercules slaying the Cacus monster, for example), a rocket-ship with alien and astronauts (possibly liked more by his sister), and a nerf basketball set (he got four baskets in a row first time ever playing - the highlight of my day, he said).

The weather was great, as it was indoor/outdoor at our place. I limited the number he could invite, and he only wanted boys (another weird first). In retrospect, the mix of boys was pretty diverse, though they are still at an age where they don't really notice these differences (they all speak English, though for some it's a second or even third language): Lithuanian/Scottish, Iraqi, Jordanian/Spanish, Portuguese/Spanish, Jordanian, and English. 

Fe (with a little help from me) made a nice spread for the parents: taboule, fruit salad, chicken spring rolls, and crudite with spinach dip and cheesecake. (What do you feed such a diverse crowd at 2 in the afternoon??) The kids had decorated mini-pizzas, lime jello with jelly-worms, chips (the highlight of the party for Eliza), candy and cake. 

In keeping with the Alien Hunt theme, the kids were sent on a wild rampage, complete with capes or astronaut suits and swords and flag waving... The premise, as dictated to me prior to the party for my re-telling, was that we were on a spaceship headed out of the Milky Way, beyond even the Andromeda Galaxy to a yet unknown galaxy where planet Yikkup is located (Miles's fantasy planet). Next to Yikkup is planet Sirrius where we were to discover an evil alien...(this is the abbreviated version). 

The plan was that I was supposed to distract them while David hung an alien pinata I made (yeah, first time since 8th grade art class that I tried my hand at paper mache). Then he was supposed to create a trail of fluorescent slime... But they were too fast for us. They all went charging up with their various weapons ready to destroy it until the heavily breathing mother/master-of-ceremony showed up and made them takes turns in alphabetical order to be fair and in a valiant effort to reduce injury. 

Each got 2 tries with a broom (no blindfold), then we went for another round of three swings each, during which the pinata fell to the ground without breaking (aaaaaaagh....my plans for the dramatic spilling of red guts-like tissue paper with candy and prizes thwarted!!!). The whole time, it was all we could do to keep the other children back. They kept running in with their swords. It was a miracle no one got whacked in the head with the broom. Finally, David just had to give it one explosive hit, and they went running in - the usual death of pinata scene. There wasn't any fighting over who got what (I'd worried about that). I think because it all happened so fast, and they all got something, and immediately put it in their bag I'd gotten for them so it was kind of a mystery what anybody had. 

We quickly followed with pass-the-parcel which also kept them pre-occupied. That was supposed to happen earlier, but I'd luckily forgotten. I'd also forgotten how to play it, but we figured it out. It's a British thing, I think. The package is passed around while the "music" plays (in this case, the adult singing stops), then the child who has the package when the music stops gets to tear off the outer layer of wrapping paper and get a treat. There are lots of layers with an especially nice treat in the center (in this case a Ben 10 Four-Arms Alien action figure!!).

I was very happy that Miles never once threw a tantrum over not getting something. He wasn't in any fights and really seemed to enjoy himself all day. He told us in the morning that he wasn't 5 until he blew out the candles on the cake, and it wasn't until that time (though actually the wind prevented us from lighting more than one) that I remembered how last year he'd refused to admit that it was his birthday or that he was turning four. We even had to sing happy birthday to Eliza instead of him that year, and when people told him happy birthday, he'd scream: it's not my birthday!! But apparently, his excitement over getting "bigger" outweighed his anxiety over change this year.

Click here for the photos: Party slideshow

My videography was atrocious, but that's what happens when you have to simultaneously prevent kids from running into the danger zone. It was very fun though (as is evident by my hysterical wheezing). 

Haircuts and Island of Flies

Miles told me the other day that when Addy Daddy hugged him good-bye at the airport, he said, You still need a haircut. And I had to admit, he was right. Miles's shaggy, cool haircut just didn't fit his straight hair. And Eliza's "do" required barrettes at all times or else it was in her face. Almost every day Eliza would rip out her hairbands at school. It just wasn't working. Without Fe here in the mornings to do her thing, the only alternative seemed to be -- bangs.

So weekend before last, both the kids got cuts. M's is more conservative. No more sideburns. But he looks cuter, less shagged out, more his age. I was a tad shaken at the site of Eliza with bangs. It appears as though her baby blond is disappearing the way Miles's did. Now it's just long on the sides, like a flapper from the 20s.

Any guesses as to why I took this photo?

 She just decided the other day that she wanted Henry down from his protected post, and she carried him around for days. Luckily, it didn't last too long or else he'd need another surgery. 

The need for baby doll fell away soon after we returned to Amman, due probably to its temporary misplacement. She never really took a shine to the new one, though she plays with both of them a lot. The old one (a hand-me-down from Samantha) went missing for a few weeks in February. (It was at a friend's house.) It was a quiet withdrawal. Eliza would ask for her baby and look around, but she never really fell to pieces in desperation (which she is apt to do these days over the tiniest of incidences, i.e. she wanted to flush the toilet herself!!!). One morning (she was in bed with us again), she said upon waking in a very calm tone of realization and acceptance: I lost my baby doll. I almost cried. But baby doll is back.

Here's Miles at violin last week. (I love his teacher. She's Cuban.)

Here's some typical play between the kids. Miles focused on creating his fantasy; Eliza along for the ride. You can imagine why Eliza's vocabulary includes such words as Saturn, annihilate, and capture. (This was pre-haircut. You see the problem.) 

M:  ...to save the island from bad...all the flies hunt...they get in the island...they get past the rivers...and the sharks...

E:   What's the ?? ...take the bugs?

M:  and they attack the flies with their energy...

E:  why?

M:  to keep you away from the flies...to keep you away from the flies...

M: ...and away...keep them away to the flies...don't know that the ?? do to them...they eat...

E:  Let me see. that.

M: they eat their island and they eat and they eat their island. They're eating the island of flies.

E:  They're eating the island of flies? ...yuck.

Miles in Class

Same Mother's Day -- the woman sitting is Miss Dina, the English teacher and the woman with the tired shuffling walk to help with Miles is the Arabic teacher, Miss Juliana. At the end of the last video, Miles is catching a kiss that I blow to him and blows one back to me but I accidently cut off his kiss to me. V cute. He does this often now when I drop him off from school....I have to catch them and put them on my cheek like he catches mine.

More Active Appreciation: Eliza's Class

They didn't exactly line them up in rows and put on a performance. It was supposed to be more of a demonstration of the kinds of activities they do with the kids. At any given time, there were one or two kids wailing. All the little kids wanted to be sitting with their moms instead of participating in the demonstration.

The woman with the long dark hair is Miss Iman who is the Arabic language teacher. She is always talking to Eliza in Arabic which I asked her to do and appreciate since it does seem to have helped Eliza to understand quite a lot. Miss Iman's daughter Jude is in Miles's class, and she always comes down to play with Eliza after her class before I pick them both up...to E's chagrin... I think J sees E as her personal doll to be carried around and pinched a played with. In fact, E seems to engender that behavior in other kids, as well.

I wish I could load up more, or a longer one, but it appears to be more than our connection can handle. What you missed are her singing some Arabic songs, recognizing shapes by their Arabic name, and an activity where she identified the color of the circle being held up and a classmate wearing the same color.

Night-time Performance

Transcription:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Once I caught a fish alive 

(segue into made-up song)

Two tige-e-ers

This my-y ba-a-rette 

(in fact, it's mine, note slight challenging expression)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Then I let it go again

(with a little prompting from mommy)

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Why... Sing with me!

Which finger did he bite?

This little finger on my right. Ow!

(segue into pretending she's a cat cleaning herself)

I want it baa.... (she's referring to the aforementioned tiny hair clip on which she'd been chewing)

...insert practical, callous mommy's unnecessary explanation for the obvious...as well as delegitimizing, modern-parenting apology...followed by successful distraction

That one. I want you to read the ant one. "Hey, Little Ant."

(...mother not hearing her daughter give the actual title of the book can only speak from her less specific memory...the one about the ants?)

yeah...the one about the ants

Family Event: The Flip

My first posted video! And Miles's first ever video! And Eliza's first ever flip over!

(If only I didn't have to listen to myself. How does David manage hearing all that incessant prattle? I vow to reduce my noise in all future videos if not in life in general. Wait. Am I prattling now? Doh.)