Pachycephalosaurus

Straight up wrestling is not Felix's favorite. He will ask to wrestle but it will turn into some other type of combat that includes some kind of gimmick, such as becoming a transformer, or busting out his lightening powers, maybe picking up a toy hockey stick and using it as a gun. As for myself, I'm generally not a fan of the gimmicks. I don't get a lot of cuddle time with Felix and had hoped to use wrestling as a ruse to sneak in a hug. Tru saw through it until he (unwittingly) and I developed a wrestling game were the point was to wrestle the other one down and kiss their head or cheek as many as you could get in. It's one of his favorite games now.

Another game he came up with is "Pachycephalosaurus". About two weeks ago, while wrestling, Felix suddenly declared that he was a pachycephalosaurus, he lowered his head, got a running start, and speared me in the chest. I was not expecting it and he seemed very pleased with himself. It is also now a favorite game of his.

Getting to know more family

My biological dad flew up from Augusta, Georgia to spend 10 days in Seattle after 25 years away. We've been keeping in touch over the phone for the last ten years and he finally had a chance to come for a visit. Dave's son, Josh (19), joins the Navy next month and wanted to see Seattle and visit all the local family before his 4-year commitment. His daughter Hannah (17) was on a mission trip to Haiti and so couldn't join us but there is hope that she'll be up here in the next year.


I was telling Felix about them as we circled the airport drive to pick them up and Felix asked if his Uncle Josh was a he or a she, and when I said he, Felix asked if his hair was like Uncle Tyler's! Then he asked if he would chase him like Tyler does. At first he was so deadpan I wasn't sure what he meant but then I remembered the way Felix last taunted Tyler into chasing him down and tickling him. I wasn't sure what to say. Dana, the girls, and I had met them all in Florida some years ago and my shy teenage bio-brother, Josh had said only a handful of words to me then. Luckily, he surpassed the previous total of words just on the way home and we all got well acquainted. Both Grandpa Dave and Uncle Josh took to their roles very well over the next week as everyone got to know each other. Felix relayed all his vast knowledge of dinosaurs and transformers to a fresh set of ears (thank goodness, as mom's brain was melting from Felix's recent non-stop motor-mouth). They played and snuggled over books and Grandpa even held a few babies when the AMAT group met at my house for the monthly Toddler Baking Class. I thought these two bachelors would have culture shock when 9 moms, 9 toddlers, and almost as many younger siblings arrived but they seemed right at home. The biggest culture shock might have been the fact that we recycle so diligently here and we actually believe that global warming is real! Guess we are a bunch of conspiracy theorist nuts! (I'd like to think that we converted them to environmentalists and that they'll take it home and it'll spread like a virus across the South, but then I think they'd be hoping I'd be saved by now and that didn't happen over this trip either!) All in all, it was wonderful and Felix and I were both pouty and sad the day they left.

Easter 2009

As was requested, I've included a picture of Felix with his haircut a-la Dana. The "professional" haircut left the back of his hair stepped straight across along the bottom and over the ears with no tapering, and the top of his head choppy with tufts of hair at different lengths. I could only do so much with the Bettie Page bangs she'd given him.
This year Felix really got into decorating eggs. We had eight different colors and also some tactile adornments- such as spider legs that an egg could lay in. We also had one of those wax crayons that coloring won't adhere to so anything you write or draw will appear after coloring; Tru wasn't too into that. He preferred dropping the eggs into to the different colors and making new designs to which he would state "how cool is that?".
Felix was eager to see what the Easter Bunny had brought him Easter morning but he patiently lied in our bed, waiting until mom and dad where ready. This was our first Easter morning without Natalie and/or Megan which was a little sad, but it made for a pretty relaxing morning. Natalie did come down later in the day, and our usual hosting of Easter dinner for both sides of our family and some friends, didn't work out this year, but Aunt Annie and Susie and their families did come over.
This past week Renae's biological dad, Dave, and her brother, Josh, came up from Georgia for a visit. I would tell you all about it, but I'll leave that to Renae. I will say that Felix was pretty bummed when they left.
The video below was shot by Renae while I was at work. I can only speculate on what was happening but I thought it was cute so I posted it. I didn't know if Renae would.

Vanity Hair

A couple of months ago Felix asked that we allow his hair to grow out; he wanted it longer like a couple of older boys in his class (one, coincidentally, is also named Felix). Though Renae and I didn't like how his hair looked, we let him choose how he wore his hair. But what became apparent was that Tru has phased vanity into who he is.
A couple of weeks ago our friend Kelly took her son Charlie to get his hair cut, and Felix, who's hair was fairly long by then, tagged along. Somehow Felix was convinced to get his hair cut. He told me later that he just didn't want it long anymore.

The pictures of him grooming are just before the haircut. He had it in mind how he wanted to look. By the way, the haircut they gave him was terrible. It looked like the haircutter's only goal was to shorten his hair. Upon seeing the sloppy job done I had mentioned out loud that it just would not do and fixed it myself. It looks much better and I openly congratulated myself on what a good job I had done. But as for Felix's vanity- I just don't know how that happens.

Half a Post

I'm only including the above picture because... well, who doesn't like a picture on a blog post? Actually, there is a short story I meant include in the last post but forgot, and who knows if I would have remembered it for the next post.
A couple of Saturdays ago, while Renae was in New York, Felix asked me if the following day was a school day. I informed that it was not to which he elatedly exclaimed "Yay-hoo", while raising his fist in the air. I then crushed that glee and let him know that the day after that would be a school day, to which he somberly expressed "no-hoo" with a weak, half fist-pump.

While Mommy's Away

Within Tru's first year of life I got this supercool idea to include my sleeping infant in a film of camera gimmickry. Two years ago I remembered it and went to post it when I discovered that I lost the tape. I figured it was gone forever until just the other day Felix's grandmother had included the short on her Facebook page from a file I emailed her soon after I made it. I now present the long sought secret video that proves the supernatural:
Renae is currently enjoying a vacation in New York City. That leaves Felix and me to fend for ourselves. In seriousness, I have been looking forward to this because I don't get a lot of love when mommy is around. And then, as my luck would have it, I caught a cold. I felt well enough except that by Saturday it really hurt to talk. Playtime was a lot of me trying to communicate and respond to Felix with hand gestures and whispers, and trying to alleviate his frustrations with my lack of enthusiasm.
Sunday I felt much better and we headed to the Burke Museum at the University of Washington, where we met up with Tru's pal, Finn, and Finn's parents. We had never been there but I told Felix that there was a casting of a full mastodon fossil there that he became very excited to see. The mastodon did not disappoint... however my picture will. Very soon after this picture a very nice gentlemen told us to cease with the taking of the pictures.

We sneaked (spell check is telling me 'snuck' is not a word) in another shot. I got Felix standing next to a casting of... I guess the equivalent of an apatosaurus radius, I don't know what names they ascribe to dinosaur bones. They're probably the same, huh? We also saw an allosaurus which I got wrong and Felix got right. As we approached it I asked him what he thought it was and he pointed out that it had longer arms (longer than T-rex) and three fingers on his claw-hands so it was an allosaurus. I said "I don't know, it looks a little small for an allosaurus". I checked the little placard and Felix was right. I should have listened to him, he dreams about being an allosaurus.
Afterwards we went to lunch at Schultzy's and Felix got a hot dog he didn't eat because it had a little black on it. And after that we spent some time with sister Natalie at a park before she went to work.

Alright, I'll try to wrap this up. It is true that I got Felix a camera for his birthday and this is a picture he took with that camera. It is one of many, many pictures he has taken... with his camera... not mine. Besides, Felix is really pleased with the picture he took.
And lastly, the picture below was taken by Renae before she left. I don't know a lot about what transpired, or where the class was, or who else was there, I do know this, though; I asked Felix if I could bring that picture to work and hang it in my office and he said no.

"This is a very nice gift you and Dad got me."

Four! 4! Four years old! How did it go by so fast? He is so grown up. Here he is in his class today handing out treats to his friends and then showing the book he donated to the school in honor of his birthdays . It was the sweetest thing. Each kid said either "Happy birthday" or "Thank you" and he had to say "You're welcome" 24 times. He was concerned because his best buddy at Montessori is Jonah and the entire time Jonah was in the bathroom so he missed everything, including the song/dance Felix got to pick to do, Skip to My Lou. (See video below.)

Then, after school (while I went to Dusty's memorial service at the VFW) he went to Chuck-E-Cheese with his best friend Charlie and his family (thanks Kelly). He had a blast, got more transformers and won pirate gear (for next year's Seafair parade) and was glad to find that Natalie was waiting for him when he got home. We ordered pizza and breadsticks, his favorite meal apparently, and watched WALL-E after opening his presents. Ahh, the presents. I'm a little embarrassed at how the pile of presents this year resembled Rooney's. We'd been setting things aside for several months and then Dana still had to run out and buy Felix a...digital camera. (I'll let Dana explain that one in his next blog.) Anyway, Grandma Peggie sent some dinosaurs and a great dinosaur encyclopedia to settle all those conflicting facts in out-dated library material and Natalie got him a dinosaur book with a 3-D model he (we) can put together.

After eating 3 mini brownie cupcakes he was finally ready for bed and when I left to get Natalie to read to him he said he would just look at the stars on his ceiling (from the solar system model I got him) while he waited for Natalie, and then my little man, so sweet and polite said what is music to my ears, "This is a very nice gift you and Dad got me." What an angel. I'm just as spoiled as he is.

I know it's three weeks old but I'm finally getting around to blogging about Valentine's. This was Felix's first Valentine's Day at school and with Kelly's (Tru's good friend Charlie's mother) help he made "love bugs" rather than bringing cards. That is, of course, a tray of the love bugs in the picture. As Valentine's was celebrated at Felix's school on a Friday, I got to drop him off and pick him up. At school he made some kind of Valentine's headdress (pictured) that he had to wear for at least the rest of the day. Even when we went to Trader Joe's for our weekly shopping trip. (Felix waited very patiently to get to make that headdress and made a long beaded necklace with me at the Valentine party. He was a little shy with other moms that day but he was determined to get into one of the last spots open at that station. I was proud of his tenaciousness and patience. - added by RH 3/10/09)

Last weekend Felix visited his first art museum, the Seattle Art Museum, he liked it well enough; the lobby had Ford Taurus's in various states of a flip. I'm not sure why, anyway, Felix was amused by it. Here he is standing underneath one that is suspended from the ceiling.

As I probably mentioned before, Felix is really into dinosaurs right now. He is actually pretty adept at identifying various types of dinosaurs. Such is his love for dinosaurs that... well, here is the story: At around 5am the other morning, it's still dark and we are sleeping in bed. All of the sudden Felix exclaims, very clearly, "I'm pretending I'm an allosaurus". Because it was dark I couldn't see his eyes though I could tell he was facing me. I put my hand on him so that he knows I've heard him, he then raises his arm and has drawn his hand back with his fingers spread apart and curved as if to make a claw. I then do the same, but he didn't do anything else, as my eyes adjusted I could now see that he was still asleep. That whole scene was so cute, I almost woke Renae to tell her about it. Also, he said it so clearly I didn't even think that he might just be dreaming.

And finally, last week we lost a very dear neighbor. Dusty was 95 and lived in our neighborhood since it was built in the early 40's. (Felix and Renae regularly visited Dusty. At first Felix just feared this old man that required shouting in order to hear and always asked Felix if he was ready to play football but after some time he warmed up to him. When Dusty moved into assisted living Felix would make himself quite comfortable at his apartment and entertained a lot of the other residents. - added by RH 3/10/09)

After his death, Renae and another neighbor, Jennifer, were working on his memorial and got access to a lifetime of his photos, photos from when he was a baby in 1913, his time in WWII, the passing's of his first and then second wife, through his years in our neighborhood. He will really be missed. The below picture is from 1964, in front of his house, the house across the street from us. (This was Felix's first encounter with this part of the circle of life and it has opened up some questions for him but the hardest part for him was giving up so much of his time with me while I cared for Dusty and then helped wrap up things up after he passed. Hopefully things will settle down more now. - added by RH 3/10/09)

The Duality of Man

I saw a movie years ago where a Marine was being questioned by an officer on why the Marine's helmet displayed a peace sign and also the words "born to kill". The soldier answered he was trying to express the duality of man. Felix also expressed the duality of man, though he did it with a little more flair than the Marine had.
Every night Renae and I each take a turn reading to Tru. Usually Renae reads first, and then I come in and read until he falls asleep. The night this story concerns itself with, I read first. After reading about a half-hour, the norm for the first reader, Renae takes her turn. As Renae told me what Felix told her something that is one rich reward for parenthood. "Do you know why I love daddy?" Felix asks Renae as she lies down to read, "Because I just do." Renae soon begins to read and Felix interrupts her to say, "I really love daddy, mommy, I really love daddy". I wanted to cry.
The weekend before last, Renae, Felix, and I used our membership pass in it's last several days of validity to visit the Seattle Aquarium. We had a great time and ended our visit at the aquarium cafeteria. Felix is picky and didn't eat much. He had a hamburger that he didn't like. The hamburger was pretty good, but it wasn't what he was used to so he didn't eat it. Oh well. So we're driving home and Felix tells us he is hungry and that he wants to go to an "eating shop". We tell him he can wait until we get home. No! He wants to go to an eating shop. And to demonstrate just how much, he throws a tantrum. I really didn't want to hear it, Renae and I are trying to reason with him, explain his options, but Felix is unmoved. Actually he is getting very mad, he picks up and throws a book at us from the backseat. It was actually kind of funny. In the rear view mirror I can see him looking around for objects to throw. I'm kind laughing and thinking to myself 'Wow, he is really angry'. He's reaching for items but he can't get to them so he takes off his shoe and throws it. Bam! he got me, though only on my arm. It did kind of hurt though. Renae immediately turns back to him and sternly warns him to never throw anything at the driver. I think he realized he crossed a line. He settled down though he was still unhappy. As a reward for settling down, we took him to an eating shop. No we didn't.

Felix's new 'passion' is dinosaurs. Before I get into to that, I think I need to acknowledge the fantastic asset to society the public library system is. Anyway, after reading all the books on dinosaurs he wanted to see them at the Pacific Science Center. Here he is posing with a couple of feasting deinonychus's (I don't know if my plural is right).

He hasn't given up on space, however. He enjoyed a chance to sit in a replica of a Russian space capsule. Actually, I don't remember if it really was Russian.


And lastly, Renae made a little robot costume for Felix. I thought it was pretty resourceful of her, I was about to throw the box out.

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The holidays were a lot of fun with Felix. He really got into them this year. Each day he couldn't wait to open his advent calendar(s). One of his best friends, April, is Icelandic, so in our holiday traditions this year we included the 13 naughty little Icelandic Santas that come each day before Xmas Eve. These Jule Lads included such names as Door Slammer and Bowl Licker. It was really quite fun to explore a new cultural tradition and I think we'll keep it up. Felix enjoyed checking his boot each morning to see if one of them had left him a treat. (The only day he actually deserved a rotten potato, as is the tradition, was on Xmas Eve, and I just didn't have the heart to do it.)

His first gift of the holidays was a pair of Transformer shoes from his big sister Natalie. This was the year of the Transformers and the only thing he told Santa he wanted was an Optimus Prime. When Santa asked Felix if he might want some trucks or trains, Felix said, "No, just an Optimus Prime Transformer." Then on Xmas Eve his Aunt Susie gave him an Optimus Prime and a Megatron so he figured everything else was just extra from that point forward. Christmas morning he opened a large Optimus Prime from Santa, wrapped in Transformer wrapping paper even, and exclaimed, "I got two transformers for Christmas!" Well, when all was said and done he had 7 transformers and mom and dad are becoming experts at transforming these sometimes too complicated machines, repairing torn off legs, and sometimes exclaiming, "He wants to stay a car right now." His last gift was a transformer lunch pail from his big sister Megan.

We spent Boxing Day (the day after Xmas) at my moms house and opened presents there, including, you guessed it, transformers. Mom hadn't even intended to give him some licensed transformers at first, she got him a Handy Manny truck that transforms into a workbench, but when he happened to catch her showing me the back up gift Bumblebee action figure hidden behind her back, she caved instantly. Now came the 27th and Felix woke and went to the calendar and his boot looking for what he might get next. Sadly, he cried like any middle class American boy, "there are no more presents for me to open"...he is now focused on his birthday in March.

A River Runs Through It

That footbridge is in a park across the street from us, it crosses the once tame Cedar River. The water level is normally at least ten feet lower than what you see in the picture. While we were there we heard a loud bang as a rather sizable fallen tree slammed into the center supports you see. I suppose that is why the bridge was closed. The flooding in our area closed Felix's school as the river engulfed the road and driveway leading to his school. Luckily, the school itself was unscathed, though it created a lot of anxious parents until we found out.

A little over a mile down the river from us sits the Renton library. It straddles the river. We had a great view of the debris that got ensnared in the flood water's grasp.

However, the flooding could not deter the spirit of the holidays as the school holiday concert (delayed due to Seattle Snow Storm 2008) was held at a neighboring school. With the holiday break, the snow days, and then the closure due to flooding, it's remarkable the kids remembered their songs. Felix thought the occasion called for a collared shirt, he even asked for it to be tucked in. This was Tru's first concert and he was a little tentative, but he made sure he stood next to one of his best friends at school, Jonah, and he was fine.

Our Holiday on Ice

We had a pretty busy holiday season, on December 20th we got together with all of Renae's family in Seattle. That was the first day of Seattle Snow Storm 2008. I don't know if that was the title the media gave it but it probably was. It was dry when we arrived at the hotel at around noon, but by 9:00 or so that night we had about six inches. Felix loved it.

We did some shopping that day, we trekked through the snow to the Westlake Mall. They have this display were an image is projected from overhead on to the floor. The image projected is interactive, I don't know how it works but the kids loved it. Look at that homeless guy sleeping on the floor in the background. I laid a dollar bill on the ground next to him.

The next morning we braved the snowy/icy conditions several blocks for doughnuts. Felix had his favorite: powdered doughnut chased with chocolate milk. In all my years of parenthood I have learned that kids really like sugar.

By Christmas Eve we received even more snow. More snow than I have seen in this area in the 13 years I've been here. Our house is in a bit of canyon and we tend to get a little less snow than surrounding areas, about two inches less. But you can see how high it comes up on Felix.

Before I get anyone telling me how little snow that is, and how they routinely experience several feet of snow, please note that in Seattle we don't see that kind of snow. We see maybe a couple of inches a year. Remember, this snow fall was given a title by the media!

Christmas Eve evening we went to cousin Rooney's were Felix scored an Optimus Prime, a Transformer. Transformers are Tru's new passion. That is what we play now when we wrestle; we pretend we are Transformers. But Transformers are not the "begin all, end all", they do have their deficiencies, such as not shooting black arrows. I only know that because Felix will stipulate that before play- "I am Optimus Prime but one that shoots black arrows".

Tru's sister, Megan, came for a visit over the Christmas holiday. He was very excited about her pending arrival and had a lot of fun with her while she was here. Natalie also stayed a couple of days. I had my first White Christmas ever this year where I didn't have to go somewhere else.

Later on Christmas day, we had family and friends over and I managed to capture not one picture, sorry. But here is what it looked like from our front door Christmas morning. I shoveled our driveway with a little hand held garden shovel. Not really.
Lastly, I've included this picture from Dec. 26th of Felix with my hat on solely because I thought it was cute. We spent Boxing Day with Tru's grandma and grandpa in Mount Vernon.

King of the Potato People

A week ago last Thursday, Renae dropped Felix off at my work for the last half hour while she went to a meeting. I gave him a pencil and paper to keep him occupied and when he finished his picture he tells me "Look dad, I drew a picture of me". His first self portrait. Sorry my photography isn't very sharp, Felix is the little mass in the lower right hand corner. His aunt Lisa says that Felix is at the stage where he draws "potato people".
The next day Natalie came for a visit and Felix drew these creatures for her:

Xmas Photo Fun

Dana had this great idea to take a Norman Rockwell type photograph for our Xmas cards this year. Then, as he bitterly let me know last night, I took it over and become some crazy control freak! Surprise, surprise. Anyway, Felix was a little reluctant to wear the tuxedo I had found for him but his obsession for all things black won him over and he donned the suit and joined us in our home made portrait studio. Dana and I did our best to remain in character while Felix did his best to squirm out of the shot or grab at my 'nurses'. Luckily, we had secured my brother, professional photographer Tyler Wilbourne, to take the photos and we managed to get a few shots worthy of Dana's Big Idea. Here are a few of the rejects that I still adored. The prize winning selection will arrive in your mailbox next week.

Dana insisted I couldn't post the blog until the cards had gone out so I hope you are enjoying them now.

Prepping For Santa

This year we got our Christmas tree from Felix's BFF's grandmother's (did I use the apostrophes correctly?) tree farm. Charlie's mother has taken Felix there on days she watches him for us, so, being familiar with the layout, Felix was able to direct us to the perfect tree. This was our first year getting a tree without Natalie and/or Megan. We definitely missed them and the way they would name the tree before we hacked it down. Anyway, while driving out there we would ask Felix if we were going the right way. He'd look out the window, consider the terrain, and then inform us that we were not and that we had to turn around. When we did make it to the farm, upon pulling into the drive way, he did let us know that this was it. Later that day we saw Kelly (Charlie's mother) and told her how Felix kept informing us, when asked, that we were not going the right way and that we had to turn around. She thought that was very funny and told us that is because she always accidentally drives past the farm and then has to turn around.

As you can see, Tru is wearing a hooded sweat shirt. Apparently he decided to turn off his super-skin for the day, maybe it wasn't working, who knows. I'm just glad he wore something. Though I suppose I should just accept that he'll know when he is cold enough to wear a coat.

Renae and I had so much fun decorating the tree with Felix this year, he really enjoyed being a part of it. We figured out ways to have him involved in every part, from putting up the tree, picking which lights to use and stringing them, and then which decorations he wanted to put on and where. It reinforced something I've always believed: kids want to be involved and they want to be an active participant in their parents' lives, not just the other way around.

Why Does the Sun Shine?

This song has become a favorite of Felix's. He learned it from listening to Renae and me sing it to him. The day after I took this this little video I found the original version on the internet. It's by Tom Glazer, from and album called Space Songs, released in 1959. Some of you may know this song from a They Might Be Giants cover.

We spent Thanksgiving Day in Puyallup at Felix's Aunt Rachael's house. What you see him holding in the picture is about what he ate for Thanksgiving. Maybe not quite that limited, but he wouldn't eat any Turkey. I worry about the nutrition he is not getting due to his picky eating; he won't even eat a kids multivitamin. It's gotten to where I have to crush his multivitamin in his cereal without him knowing. He'll read this some day- I pulled one over on you, son. Renae recently purchased the book "Deceptively Delicious", it's the book Jerry Seinfeld's wife is getting sued over. I think it's misnamed, I think it should be called "Deceptively Nutritious". Wouldn't that make more sense? What is the deal with... Never mind.
Natalie gave Felix an early Christmas gift:

They light up when he walks and they feature Transformers. Awesome.