Sick

Pepe and I have been sick. For Pepe, it started the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He was cranky when I picked him up from school at 3:00 pm for the drive to NH. He had fever that night but was fine, albeit low energy the next day. This kept going on until Friday, when I came up with symptoms. We both transitioned into runny nose and now are sporting a pretty bad cough. Yuck! For me, the worse is this feeling of lethargy, like I don't have energy to do much, and can't really eat. Today was much better though, and we are hoping we turned a corner. I don't think this was the swine flu, because I did get the shot and we also did not have the vomiting and diarrhea symptoms, but you never know.

Buni is coming tomorrow and I am hoping she won't get sick. We are excited to see her!

Andover party for Papi's 70s

This is late, but I just got a few pics and wanted to have them on the blog for Pepe later on. Papi's celebration happened on Oct 17th, the day before Baystate Marathon. Family cam over from California and North Carolina, and we got to see people we have not seen in a long long time, and also meet new cousins. Pepe had a blast as the center of attention, as you'll see..

School social

Pepe had his social at school on Monday. He was super excited and talked a lot about it. Last week he told me that he went with one teacher to "Johnny's" and I thought he went to a kid's house, until he clarified in a very confused "how come you don't get this mom" kinda voice that he went to Johnny's supermarket! Aha...

Monday morning he was up bright and early urging us to go to school. "Cmon mama, there are muffins, and green grapes." Mama not moving. And then, "mama, you know, there is coffee!". OK, I am in.

Here are a few pics from the gathering..

video

Untitled from Petru Sofio on Vimeo.

Holloween 2009

We attended a party at our next door neighbours this evening. We tried to get Pepe to dress up, but once again, he said he wanted to be: "Pepe". He did agree to wear a "trick or treat" shirt. Chris bought for him a costume with a sword but he refused to wear it (can you spell, Thank God???). Chris and I did dress up - that's for you to figure out who we were (see pics below). Hint1: we are a singing couple. Hint2: "I've got you babe".


Yes, Sonny and Cher! Good job!

Someone got A LOT of candy
Can you tell he already tried some of it?

It's Fall...

It's been rather chilly around here lately. We had to buy pants for Pepe - thank God for those adjustable waist Gap/Old Navy pants - and bribe or distract him in order to wear them. The boy does not like change. "I don't like new clothes", he says. He prefers to wear his old pants, which are 3/4 length now, and his crocs (with no socks). The other day I successfully put a sweater on him while distracting him with some afternoon activity. The sweater was on, and he did not even notice it (he hates sweaters). But then Chris made the mistake and commented on how good he looked in the sweater, and Pepe wanted it off. Now. I had a temper tantrum and stated that the sweater will stay ON. On it stood, but with tears. The interesting thing is that once you put something new on him (sweaters and coats excluded), those things are not new anymore, and he no longer refuses to wear them. I tried to trick him into "this are old pants", but it does not work.

We've had a few busy weekends. We visited Karl, Michelle, ROsie and Rowen in New Haven 2 weekends ago, and we had lots of fun. The kiddies played well, Pepe got to see two lighthouses (west ledge and 5 mile), we went apple picking/donut eating, and managed to play quidler in the afternoon. Pepe impressed everyone with his pizza eating ability - 3 slices/sitting, followed by chocolate cake and icecream. I wonder where all that food goes. But then I look at Chris...Last weekend we went to Grandma's house again. Chris and I got out for a night and played air hockey and fuzzball (sp) and I got my but kicked! Of well. We also saw a movie and had some dinner out. NICE! Of course, we caught up on Madman and stayed up way too late. Loved it:)

Next weekend is a surprise birthday for Papi - I will make sure to get pics, followed by my marathon on Sunday. I can't believe how quickly time is going by. Pepe is aware of that, and he told me that "Pretty soon I am going to be old enough and you and daddy can leave me", and "I will not get married but I will have kids; I will work from home and feed my kids pizza and apple juice. I will let them play all day long and they will go to school sometimes. I will get money from the money machine. You and daddy can stay, if you want". "Mommy you should have a baby girl, soI can play with her toys, because I like her toys. I will be good to her, and if she messes up my trains, I will set them up again".

Will be back with pics. Happy Fall!

Update

This will be a bullet point post, as I do not have much time to organize my thoughts in complete sentences that fit together nicely into paragraphs. So here it goes:
* This past months we have noticed a huge change in Pepe's ability to reason with us (and viceversa). I can actually explain things to him, and he listens, asks questions, thinks about what I say. He still uses some automatic sentences (I think he learns these at school) that come across as very polite (e.g., yesterday I told him that I swallowed water while swimming laps at the pool, and he said :"Oh, I am sorry to hear that"), but he is definitely at the point where he is putting thought into things he says, most of the time.
* He still does not have the ability to get outside of himself and understand other kids' feelings. When he is hurt, he thinks that everyone is hurt, when he is not, he thinks everyone is fine. The other day A. the 2 y old from across the street fell pretty hard and was crying. Pepe went to her and called her "booby head" (I later learned that the word means "your brain is not functioning well" - another gem from school) in her face. Chris was furious and close to giving Pepe a time out. I talked to him later and realized he had no idea what was happening. Kids really need to be taught these things - so many times we assume that they get emotions, feelings, etc bc of things they may say, but really, they don't have the ability to do so. They need to be taught how to do that. Repeatedly. It's clear to me now.
* I love to explain things to Pepe and talk to him. I think it's one of my strengths as a parent. I also love to be silly with Pepe, to regress and behave like a 4 year old myself. Sometimes Chris looks at us in disbelief.
* Pepe continues to be in love with music (fav now is Ryan Adams - he uses his thumb as a microphone and sings away) and drawing. He produces at least 20 drawings of lighthouses, traffic signals, and bridges daily. He can draw for hours at a time and he is really good at it.
* Pepe continues to dislike watching TV. He does watch a bit of Wiggles, or Clifford once in a while, but mostly when we go to New Hampshire. We do not have cable, and as a result Pepe has never watched any of the cable popular TV shows. At school, kids who watch those shows ask Pepe to play "Superman", or some other character, and Pepe does not want to do so. This causes some changes in his friendships. He is OK with that. "C is no longer my friend, bc he likes to play Superman and I don't. Now L is my friend and we play firefighters".
* Pepe's interest in lighthouses and traffic signals migrated to the other kids; now almost everyone is drawing lighthouses and traffic signals (as heard from teachers).
* Pepe continues to like going to school. He loves staying home much more, mostly because he pretty much get to do all his favorite activities.
* Everynight now Pepe wants to look at "books with words" when going to bed. Chris thinks he is going to read soon. I am not sure, bc he has a hard time with cursive letters and we are not teaching him - I believe this is school's job.
* His diet consists of mainly: pizza, mac & cheese, yogurt, yogurt drinks, pears, bananas, apples, crackers, cheese, peperoni, chips, popcorn, waffles, eggs, pasta and sweets. No veggies!
* He has a good brain and a funny personality!

* You can't take a pic of him these days....see, he turned his head again!

Pepe's drawings

Pepe is spending a great deal of time these days drawing lighhouses, bridges, and traffic signals. Here are some of his masterpieces...
Traffic signals:
Number 1 Bridge:

Memorial Bridge

Traffic signals: marble ligths and doghouses:

Lighthouse:

Another lighthouse (You may want to rotate your laptop...probably easier than me reuploading these picture)

4 years old check-up

Pepe had his visit with Dr Janet today. I was a bit worried she is going to ask him what he had for breakfast today (popcorn and a waffle), but she did not. He is 31.7lbs (13th percentile) and 41 inches tall (53rd percentile). So he is right where he should be in terms of height; in terms of weight, well, I would not want him to be like the average American child... Pepe had his vision checked, which was tough because he decided to play games with the medical assistant, but it worked out fine in the end. He had 4 shots today, which was a bit of a surprise - I guess some doctors like to wait on some of the shots. Pepe did well, he cried at the last shot, which was the most painful, but he settled down shortly after. No more shots until he is 12, yay. The flu shot is a mist, and he will get that in 2 weeks. After the appointment, we went to Dunkin Donuts to celebrate (Pepe loves their sprinkled donuts and I love their raisin bagels), and to Catch a falling start where we purchased a book and a few train tracks. Pepe seems tired as I write this, so I see a "5 minute nap" in our near future.

it's too healthy for me

AM: Pepe, would you like some water with dinner?
P: No water, is too healthy for me....
*
P: I am a little sad so I need something to make me feel better.
*
AM: I love you more than lighthouses
P: I love you more than lighthouses with decorations.
*
C: Pepe, you had lots of treats today, donut when we did the oil change, than crackers at the Y, a tofuti cutie, a popsicle, pizza...
P: Pizza is not a treat, that's dinner...
*
AM: Now you have to sleep.
P: But, I want you to stay with me. I am all alone
AM: You have your stuffies
P: But they don't talk.

first dentist appointment

Today Pepe had his first dentist appt. I know you are supposed to take kids at 3, not 4, but there you go, we are slackers on this one as well. We only got our act together after Pepe's 4 and 6 y old italian cousins had dreadful dental exams that included lots of fillings and some pulled teeth. Yikes! Chris took Pepe in today. We've talked about the upcoming visit for a while now. Pepe and I even played dentist, and he actually let me look in his mouth with a magnifying mirror and I could not see any cavities. Pepe was asked today whether he is brushing his teeth, to which he nonchalantly replied: "yeahhh????". Truth be told, Pepe brushes his teeth about 10 times/week, including morning and night. Chris thinks he associates teeth brushing with bedtime. I think he is just lazy when it comes to hygiene. Plus, he can't spit out the toothpaste, or mouthwash (he loves that stuff), so I have been a bit afraid of fluoride poisoning. Anyhow, Pepe did well today, no cavities, had a cleaning, and was told to brush his teeth coz otherwise he'll get wholes in his teeth! Guess that works better than saying if you brush your teeth you will have nice white pain free teeth.... Will see how that works out!

Bday celebration at school

It's been more of a birthday week than birthday for Pepe this year: small party on Sunday, celebration with Grandma on Monday, with Papi yesterday, with godfather Charlie tonight...And all involved presents. Plus, the kid computer from Buni is yet to arrive, and I bet there will be some other presents in Pepe's near future. This year we actually got him a couple of things, too. A big hit is this rocket game; it's got a foam rocket that you attach to something that looks like a mattress pump; you step on it and the rocket start flying in the air....sometimes ending up on top of the roof, in Pepe's case... You think this would be enough, but no, he keeps asking to go to Toys R Us or Henry Bears....Can you say early consumerism? Yuppp!

Pepe also had a celebration at school. Check out the pics...

"Yes, I like to dance, particularly naked...or as close to naked as they allow me..."

"I am really not as skinny as these pictures show, Buni. That cupcake...in my tummy...2 minutes tops".
"Yes, I love the attention, although I still have a hard time blowing candles..."



"Yes, I love having my picture taken over and over. Can't you tell?"

"Though I do love to sing. For real!"

More birthday pictures

Happy 4th birthday

Pepe is turning 4 tomorrow. Today we had a small gathering to celebrate. Pepe wanted "a small party with only a few kids". This was the first year where I let him tell me who he wanted to have at the party, and had to get over my guilt of not inviting every kid we know (or parents we know who have kids). It ended up beeing the neighbourhood friends, and only one friend from school; Pepe's favorite kidfriend is away on vacation. Not that Pepe missed him...

We celebrated again at "Froggy playground" with pizza, watermellon and a "crosswalk cake", per Pepe's request, all edible and made by MOI! V proud! In the am we packed the car and Chris put Pepe in near the cake. Both of us went upstairs to gather a few last items, and we returned to the car Pepe's face was covered in chocolate, "I has to see if it is good, for my friends, you know". ...

Here are some pics...

The cupcakes I made for his school celebration...traffic lights, as requested...
Having pizza with Freddy...
In the swing...

The cake...

Remember to put candy out of this kid's reach

Pepe comes in our bedroom this morning
P: Mommy, mommy, I ate all of these...
(shows me an empty box of tic tacs; i remember leaving it on my nighttable last night)
AM: When did you eat these?
P: Last night, you were downstairs, didn't you hear bang, bang, clunk, clunk????
If he tells me he has a tunny ache today, I might actually believe him....

Cape Code long weekend

Our next door neighbours, K, Z, and their lovely daughters H and P invoted us over for a long weekend on the Cape. We fought the traffic on Friday and managed to get there around 2pm. After a yummy lunch we went to the "bay", where the ocean was calm with warm water, and I managed to take a swim while the kids played. Awesome. Yummy dinner, icecream, kids asleep, a game of Quidler - perfect evening! Saturday I was up early for my long run, and met everyone later for another day at the beach, this time at a site with huge waves. The kids and I had a ball, jumping in the water, running away from the waves, splashing and making a big tunnel. Pepe refused to wear his suit, and so the girls took their off, which made for some cute naked kids playing on the beach. No pics though:) Since we had such a great time, we decided to stay another night, and left Sunday after breakfast. Such a great trip.

Pepe was in his element during the trip. He had a hard time falling asleep alone in a new room, but once I told him that we would see lighthouses when he wakes up, if he sleeps well, he immediately obliged. He was up for a brief moment at 6am stating "I had the best sleep, now can we go see lighthouses?", and thankfuly fell asleep again. We did go see 2 lighthouses though, which was v nice. It was interesting to see Pepe playing with the girls. He adopted some of their playing style (since all his trains, tracks, etc were at home), and played doctor, and dentist - v cute.

I forgot to mention that on thursday we visited uncle Radu to celebrate his 72nd birthday! So good to see him and enjoy his company and a great meal. We also saw cousin Bianca who grew up so much!. Here is a picture of the cousins:

Pepe's first camping trip

Friday broke New England's rain streak. And so, we were off camping. I think Chris was secretly hoping that it would rain, and I would back out, as he was a bit "worried" (I hear from Papi that it's a Sofio gene) about how Pepe would handle the excitement. Sonia and Charlie, kidless kind souls joined us in this adventure. We were so lucky to have them. They took care of all the logistics: they rented the camp site, got directions, started the fire, cooked all the food, and cleaned up. Pepe did very well. He had tons of energy running around with some new friends, digging on the beach and even going into the water up to his neck along with a couple of kids. Yay! On Saturday we went into town and hit the dollar store where Pepe scored a gold set, some markers and paper, and bubbles, which was money well spent given that they bought us a couple of hours of guiltless kid ignoring time reading/napping on the beach. Pepe refused to go to bed at his usual time and everyone ended up going to bed at 9:30, both nights. Pepe slept v well in between Chris and I. Chris noted some difficulty turning from a side to another, for fear of disturbing Pepe. Not me! Fun was had by all. And for the $15 a night price, you bet will do it again. But next time we'll get some kiddos for Pepe to play with!

Here are some pics

randomness

Last night...we found Pepe reading his catalogues in our bed at around 10pm.
AM: Pepe, you need to go to your bed.
P: But, why? I am here to keep you company. We are a family!

Later on...playing with his penis...
AM: Pepe, you can do that in your own bed, when you are alone, not in public.
P: But, but, ....show me yours and I'll show you mine...
AM: ???????
(This conversation prompted Chris to ask lots of questions about where Pepe might have heard that sentenced.....no relevant answers, though).

####
AM: Pepe, how can you be so cute, what's your secret?
P: Well, I smile a lot...

####
AM: Pepe, this makes me feel sad..
P: Oh, don't worry mommy, I will draw you a picture when we get home.

####
P: No, you can't tell me what to do. You are not the teacher!

Catching up

Summer is finally here, though you would not say this by the rather low temperature, loads of rain, and grayish skies...Nonetheless, the summer spirit is here. We started going to the town beach, where Pepe was so happy to see some of his school friends, and I was happy to meet some of the parents. Although Pepe has been going to ACC for a year now, I only know a couple of the parents; most importantly, until Sunday at the Rez, I hadn't met Pepe's best pal's mother, E. She and I had a great time chatting away, even though I was falling asleep after a morning spent competing in my first triathlon. We've had a few visits at New Castle, where Pepe got to play with his beautiful cousins. I hope some pictures from those visits will come my way. We had a concert date with Papi and MJ and saw Los Lobos in Lowell, while Pepe had a blast with his favorite aunt Jessy. We've gone to a barbecue Bday party where Pepe played with "silly Kavech", but mostly explored K's toys while the rest of the kids played.


We also played with "the girls" - our next door neighbours.






















We went to Pepe's end of year picnic where Pepe received a beautiful placemat with pictures taken throughout the year.











So Someone played the guitar a lot...