Family's Here

This morning, after a red-eye flight from CA, GK's parents and brother and sister arrived to celebrate his graduation.

My mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law arrive tomorrow.

I am so proud of GK and so happy to have so many from our family here to celebrate his accomplishment.

Much more on that to come. But for now, after the travelers nap, we're off to show them our fair city.

Father and Son

GK has talked about taking Van climbing and surfing since before he was born.

Before he could really crawl, Van would climb. Two or three days after he first lifted his little belly off the ground and began inching forward, he lit up the stairs in our basement apartment and succeeded right away in his first ascent.

Recently we were in Central Park bouldering with friends and after this skilled instruction:

Van didn't think it looked that hard and he pulled himself up on the side of the rock. Still working on his balance, he needed a little support. But here is Van's first aided climb; Rat Rock, East Face, Central Park, New York City.

Along with his quick temper and his intense focus on the task at hand, Van seems to have his dad's natural gift for conquering the rock. And now that the weather is warm and he can climb around in the dirt to his heart's content, his beloved baths are becoming an essential part of the nightly ritual.

In answer to GK's prayers, Van has always loved the water. He stays in the tub until he climbs out on his own (usually 30 minutes or more), loves having water poured over his face, and before he got too big he loved to lie on his back and kick and splash. We're pretty sure he'll make a seamless transition to the pools once they open and then to the nearby ocean.

Once we get him swimming, then we'll get him on a board...

Favorite

Van has many toys.

More than I thought he would have. Mostly from generous grandmas or uncles or friends, he plays with them all with great appreciation.

There is one that seems like his above all the rest.

Maybe it is the consistency of the reaction; a brightening of the eyes and face, a speedy crawl across the floor.

Maybe it is the length of play; long periods fiddling, chewing, patting, enjoying.

Some people have sophisticated taste in toys. They raise their kids on wood toys and classically beautiful toys. I always look at them in admiration.

Well, my boy is just like his mama I guess. Easy to please, maybe not too sophisticated, a little bit out of the loop of what is stylish or cool.

This book:

Complete with it's cheesy pictures, flashing lights and sounds, this book never gets old for my boy. He got it from his Mimi for Christmas. And actually, since I took it out of it's box, it hasn't worked quite right. Instead of singing the songs and saying the words, you hear this sort of droning that resembles a dying robot or something out of Wall-E.

As we lay in bed last night, in my best broken robot voice I sang the book's "song" to GK. We laughed until our stomachs hurt and said, "What a cool boy we have."

Update for Papa

Tonight on the phone, my dad said he wants more pictures of Van.
Just in general.

He's not a bloggie. Not even of my bloggie. But if I email him, he'll check this. And see these:

We're excited for you to visit Papa (and Grammy and Poppy and Mimi)!

Shhhhhh...

Listen...



What's that sound?

We had just ridden the Staten Island Ferry and were parked with some friends for a light picnic before heading back. At first I thought the noise I heard must be some cables or ropes hitting the railing in the wind. Hmmm. Nope.

*GK filmed this sideways thinking we could flip it, but we haven't figured out how. Regardless of the sidewaysness, it's still funny. If you think fingernails on a chalkboard are funny.

Nap

I love going in to get Van when he wakes up. He is always so rosy and happy to see me. Happy to be awake and just happy to be himself.

The other day when I went in to get him after his nap, I found him like this.

No pants.

Hmmm wonder what he'll figure out next.

Easter

My plan for easter went like this:

*easter program

*lunch after church

*take family pictures

We did Easter Baskets on Saturday just to make sure there was time for the important stuff on Sunday.

Because we live in New York, the Easter Bunny brought GK's and my baskets in "to go" containers. Good thinking.

*easter program- check

The kids sang "Jesus is Risen" complete with sign language. And "My Heavenly Father Loves Me" (which all the kids call "Whenever I hear the song of a bird") They sounded like angels as always, and I even got a few compliments on my finger puppets.

*lunch after church- check

Our church always puts on a community program and lunch for Christmas and Easter. This one was, as always, a success.

*family pictures- no check

Darn! Why is it so hard to snap a silly little picture when we are all looking so cute? Maybe because by the time church is over and the lunch is over Van (and GK and I) are dying for a nap. I always tell myself that before church is the time to do it. Well, some day I guess.

For now I'll just have to be happy with pictures like this:

It's the best you can do sometimes when your child never stops moving even for a split second.

But just so I wouldn't repeat the tragic mistake of only one blurry camera phone picture of his amazing Halloween Costume...

Yesterday I dressed him up again in his sailor suit from Mimi and after a few of these:





Got this:

Happy belated Easter! from one happy little sailor.