Superheroes!

We have entered the superhero phase.  Uncle introduced the 'Teenies to the Justice League a few months ago, and while Caroline seems to be the only one who really pays attention to the cartoons, the boys both periodically climb up to the shelf where the remotes are held, select the Roku remote that Uncle uses, and hold it out to me asking, "Superheroes???"

But Caroline is definitely the biggest fan.  She got very excited the first time she saw my new DC superhero socks - she didn't immediately identify Superman, but was excited that I had "triangle socks" - Wonder Woman she recognized right away.  In fact, she likes them so much we decided to get her a pair of Wonder Woman pajamas of her very own.

(note the totally awesome skirt!)

This is before the red in her lips evaporated in the wash...

Caroline calls these her "Wonderman PJs" - a feminist already.  We bought the boys Batman and Superman PJs, but they are currently in an it-must-be-my-Thomas-the-Train-PJs-or-I-will-never-stop-wailing phase.

The other day, Uncle had the Justice League on in the living room while the kids had lunch in the dining room.  There was some sort of noise on TV and a very concerned Caroline called out, "Uncle! Oh no! Hawk Girl fall down!"without even seeing the episode.

The boys' current favorite superhero (or "better than average hero") is Lazy Town's Sportacus.  In fact, when we bought the Sportacus doll, they fought over it so much the first day that I immediately went online to buy a second one.  Of course, by the time the second one arrived, Daniel had agreed to let Max have Sporticustody, so now Max has two of those dolls.

See?  Daniel has Robbie Rotten, Max has the Sportici and they're both sporting the Tommy PJs.

But Max embraced the DC world the other day when he picked up a little gift box someone had given us that had Batman on it.  After turning it over a few times, he held it up in front of him so that I could see Batman's head on Max's shoulders, got my attention, and then lowered his voice to the bassest, gravelliest, scariest version I'd ever heard and said, "I'm Batman" with an affect that would've made Christian Bale proud.

And then he dissolved into giggles.

Ready for Paragraphs

Last night, during dinner, Caroline was her normal chatterbox self.  But as she kept talking, it occurred to me that she was pretty much narrating a perfect first grade "tell me about yourself" paragraph.  Here's (roughly, from memory) what she said:

"Hi, Mommy.  I Carenowine.  I hab two brothers.  My brothers Mass and Done-yo.  This my house.  I lib my house.  This Mommy Daddy's house.  Daddy at work at radio statiom.  Daddy work baseball game.  Mommy work school."

Just add a little bit about likes and dislikes (ok, and maybe sprinkle the verb "to be" in there a couple of times) and you're good to go!

A Night at the Ballyard

Ever since the baseball season began, the kids have been asking when they get to go to a baseball game.  Serendipity stepped in when our friend Lauren let us know she had some tickets to unload for the Tuesday night game and would let us have them for $5 each.  So we took three, to cover me and Uncle Kelly (and just in case we found anyone to go with us), and we brought the kids in on the "don't ask me how old they are and I won't tell you" rule.

Max was a little emotional (and he refused to wear his jersey for a while)

Caroline wore barrets in her hair for the first ten minutes or so

Caroline was first to put her hat on

She insists on wearing it backwards

Max settled in for some french fries

Making sure there's no garlic

Caroline likes the fries, too

Daniel and Uncle settle in

Looking cool with Mommy's glasses

Max is not a huge fan of the seats, it seems.

After we got bounced from our first seats, we went over to visit with Chelsea (or, as she's known in our house "Hartley's Mommy").

The boys were super excited to see her

Daniel thought she needed a Giants hat

Telling secrets?

Caroline yelling, "Go Giants!"

Max is sporting his version of a rally cap

Chelsea offered Daniel a kiss, and Daniel definitely took advantage of the situation.

and didn't let go!

We made it all the way through the fourth inning before we bailed out and headed home for bedtime.  And for the next few days all we talked about was how "we went to the baseball game!"

Success!

Opening Day

The 2012 World Champion Giants opened the 2013 season on the road this year on Monday, April 1st.  This was also the first year that I got a day off of work in honor of Cesar Chavez's birthday (which was March 31), so I coincidentally had April 1st off work.  Since the Giants were in Los Angeles and the game was being played during the day, the Giants opened the ballpark to fans and showed the broadcast on the big screen, offering us the perfect opportunity to take the kids out to the ballpark...for free! 

Luckily, Tom and Auntie Lee Ann were free to join us.  I dressed the kids in their Giants jerseys (except Max, who insisted on staying in his green and gold monster PJ top) and packed layers of jackets and hats and such because it was foggy and cold out.

It was not foggy and cold at the ballpark.  It was sunny and warm.  So my "free" day at the ballpark ended up costing $10 for parking, $20 for food, and $45 for Giants hats (Daniel insisted he needed a "bay-ball hat!").  

It was the best of all possible worlds - open seating, lots of room to run around, and the kids were totally excited to be AT the ballpark watching baseball.  Nobody to worry about blocking or spilling on, nobody frustrated that the kids are distracting them from the game at hand, and no foul balls.

Max got ahold of my phone while Caroline chased down a balloon

Daniel offers Tom a balloo

Usher Janine, contrary to her normal role confiscating such things, accepts a balloon pass from Daniel.

Caroline loves the hat

Daniel has decided that the best way to stay hydrated is to plunge his hand into the ice water and then suck it back off.

Max finally put down the phone and got into the balloon game

Caroline and Auntie

Daniel showing off his "bay-ball hat"

Oh yeah, and there was a game.

Max was a little hot.

So was Auntie.

Daniel went searching for an ice cube

I promise you that ice cube she's eating was not on the ground.

Caroline insisted on looking like Auntie with her shoes off and pants rolled up.

(until she realized that meant she couldn't run around)

They did watch the game a little

"Can we go home now, Mommy?"

And then there's another balloon.