Ben Can Read! and Jake is Jake

Benjamin read a book! By himself! They're the "Mat and Sam" books... He read a couple of them gleefully to us. He likes to switch a word occasionally and then see if we notice... He'll read it and then pause and you can see his cheeks curve as he tries not to laugh....

Tonight at dinner we had to each choose a bird to be. Greg chose an albatross. Jacob said, "Did you know they can sleep while they're flying?" He has random trivia for everything!!!

Jacobisms...

Just to document these so I don't forget them one day when Jacob's excelling in whatever field he chooses...

The other day we were in the car and Benjamin saw a truck with two scorpions on it.

Benjamin: "Look! It's a truck with two lobsters!"
Jacob: "Those aren't lobsters. Those are scorpions."
Me: "Jake, he's 4. They do look like lobsters."
Jacob: "Um, I guess... They do both have pincers and segmented bodies... but scorpions have a stinger and don't have antennae... they have hair for feelers."
Yep.

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On the way home from school, Jacob said he wants to be a scientist when he grows up. Or an inventor. Like the guy who invented the telephone was a scientist and taught during the day but made inventions at night. He'd go to work all day, come home and sleep for a bit in between, and then invent at night. :-)

The first invention he was pondering was how to make real life light sabers. He said (I can't verify this because I don't pay attention) that in Star Wars, the light sabers work with an energy crystal stuck in a handle and the energy crystal is kind of magical and creates the light. He said maybe he could take a regular crystal, put it in a handle, and then add tons of tiny mirrors all angled in just the right way so the light (and then added, "Maybe an LED light") would bounce off of all the mirrors and create enough energy in the handle that light would shoot out.

He's 7.

When I was 9 or 10 we had to come up with an invention in school. The best I could come up with was a cloth-covered ice pack because ice in the bag by itself kind of stings. This was the best I could think of. And it wasn't until years later that I realized it wasn't even a new idea...

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It's titled Jacobisms, but Benjamin pulled one out the other day.... He randomly asked us if 3 plus 4 plus 5 is 12. Well, that just stunned us a bit. :)

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Jacob's First Concert!

Greg and I absolutely love going to concerts. Love it. Not the big, screaming outdoor concerts packed with huge crowds and really well-known artists. Nope, we like the smaller venues with lesser-known groups. The ones most people haven't heard of. One of our favorite bands is Jukebox the Ghost. Jacob LOVES them. He passionately belts out the words to their songs. He'll sing the background music as well. When Jukebox announced a concert at totally crunchy, non-alcohol-serving venue, we decided this was the time. In case you don't know him well, Jacob is not your typical 7-year-old. We've been able to reason with him since he was two (or possibly younger). In a lot of ways (definitely not all), he's like a mini adult.

The concert was HOT. It was sweltering outside, and inside... it didn't feel like there was any air conditioning in the building. Being an old building with lots of tall, lovely stained glass windows, none of the windows opened. So, suffocatingly hot with no air circulation. We arrived at 7 and left at 11.... UGH.

But, Jacob loved it.

 Fists!

 Travis, Jacob, Chloe

 Kid fists!

 Before the concert started, the kids entertained themselves by making each other go cross-eyed.

 The way to get meat in a vegan place? Order Jimmy John's! They're freaky fast!

 Jesse setting up his drums.

 I don't like to use flash much during the shows... I think it's somewhat rude. The people behind us had no problem taking 20 or so photos during a song, each one with flash. 

 Okay, so not a very good photo of Tommy, but we kind of stalker-snagged him as he came into the room and we had a huge crowd of teenage fans closing in on us...

 Ben and Jake. After two hours of performing in a bajillion degree heat, he somehow doesn't look hot and sweaty. Must be the tank top.

 And Jesse with Jake. He is the happiest drummer ever. Jacob was so impressed with him.

 Jacob with his signed poster.

And... a late night Denny's run. Jacob could barely keep his eyes open, but he was hungry. While he was sleepily eating his food, I made him promise that he'll never decide it's not cool to hang out with his parents and that we'll always be concert buddies. 

Teaching Mom a Lesson

A few weeks ago (or maybe a month or two ago?), Jacob and I were in the drive-through at McDonalds. I guess I should back up a bit and start this by telling you a little about growing up as an asian person in a very un-asian community.

I haven't known many asian people. There just weren't many asian people around where I grew up, so it's possible I was one of the only asian people some of my classmates had met at that point in life. As a result, I've been told I look like just about any female asian person who has ever appeared on television. Kristi Yamaguchi? Connie Chung? Margaret Cho? Yes, yes, and yes. Do any of them look at all alike? Not in my opinion. Do I look like any of them? Not at all.

So back to McDonalds. Jacob watched the last season of The Sing Off with us. His favorite group was Afro Blue. As you can guess, most of the singers were black. As we approached the window, Jacob said, "That girl looks like a singer from Afro Blue!"

I looked. I saw no resemblance to any of the singers from Afro Blue.

Um.

Me: Why do you think that?

Jacob: Because she looks like a singer from Afro Blue.

Me: Um.... Are you saying that because they have a similar skin color?

Jacob: (Very patiently, the way you speak to someone who's a little slow...) No, I'm saying it because she looks like one of the singers from Afro Blue.

Me: (Still not seeing any resemblance at all) You know, sometimes people think people look alike just because two people might have something in common. Like people think Auntie Anne and I look alike because we're both asian. Do you think we look alike?

Jacob: No. (With a definite "duh" tone thrown in)

Me: Well, a lot of people do just because we're asian. A lot of people sometimes get confused when people have similar traits so they just decide they look the same. I was wondering if maybe you thought that about the person in the window.

Jacob: Mom. (A little exasperated by now) It doesn't matter. We are all part of the same big family. We are all God's children!

How do you respond to that? He definitely had me there. I should have known better.... I assumed he was only seeing color, which is something Jacob would never do. He is the most wonderfully color/size/status-blind kid ever. He truly only sees people. When Jacob's classmates occasionally make fun of or don't like another kid for reasons we as jaded adults see as obvious (not that we think it's right), Jacob is clueless about why the kids wouldn't like someone. He doesn't notice someone's weight, he doesn't notice someone's clothing, he doesn't notice if someone is "cool" or not. He forms his opinions based on how much fun someone is, if they're nice to him, and they only get bonus points for things like being able to talk Star Wars or  knowing funny knock-knock jokes.

How did I end up with such a cool kid? He is such a good person. I hope he never changes!

Recently Heard Around the House....

Jacob on 4/7/2012: The four types of germs are bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi.

Benjamin on 4/7/2012: It seems to me that these red cups have circle tops and square bottoms.

Jacob on 3/20/2012:  I think I'm getting better at staring because I can stare for longer and the nerves in my eyes aren't screaming to my brain, "Give me water!!!"


Benjamin on 2/27/2012: Chicken is from chicken and ham is from hamskers.

Lying for a Cause

Jacob's after school program at the YMCA is trying to raise money to help needy families. Jacob loves a good cause. He loves helping people and sharing what he has. He is a very generous little soul. He's interested in saving the planet, saving the world, and pretty much anything he hears about that will help someone. I love this guy. 

So, the YMCA has a contest between the boys and girls to bring in dollars and coins. So, a couple of times a week, we'll give Jacob our change or a couple of dollars to bring in. Nothing special. One afternoon, the program director made a point of thanking me for our donation. I said, "Um, you're welcome?" Pretty confused. She said, "Did Jacob not tell you? I asked him four times if you'd say it was okay and he said yes." "Um...." Jacob had donated $40 that morning. She said, "I wasn't sure so I didn't turn it in and I can give it back. I'm so sorry!" I told her not to worry and that I'd talk with Greg and Jacob that night. 

I got into the car and asked Jacob if he had anything he wanted to tell me. 

Jake: Nope.

Me: Anything you might have lied about?

Jake: Nope.

Me: Ms. Catherine said you donated $40 this morning.

Jake: Well, it was in my wallet so I thought you put it there to donate!

Me: Jake, you know we didn't do that. You put it there and you hid it from us.

Jake: No, I just didn't remember it was in there, so when I saw it, I thought you had said it was okay to give to them.

Me: I think you're lying.

Jake: No, I'm really not! I really thought you said it was okay!
Me: We never talked about this. You're lying.

Jake: (silence)

Me: Jake, I love that you like helping people. I do. I know you're lying, though, and you can't lie to us.

Jake: (whispering) I know.

Me: Why would you lie to me and to Ms. Catherine? That's just awful!

Jake: Well, it's just that... When I gave them the money I just felt really good.

(ARGH! How are you supposed to punish that?!?!?)

Me: Okay, well, we'll talk about it at home. (We were in the car so I couldn't actually look at him.)

I tried to change the subject and asked how school was. I only got quiet, very sad, one-word replies. This kid is so good at breaking my heart.

When we got home, Jacob got out of the car, walked past Greg and Benjamin, and put himself in the time out chair. I almost started laughing during his very serious, tragic moment. We haven't used the time out chair for Jacob for several years. Greg gave me a "What's that about?" look and I had him join me in the bedroom to talk. I was leaning toward not punishing him at all because he was already truly sorry. Greg pointed out that we can't just overlook lying. Sigh. Sometimes trying to be a good parent is very difficult.

When I went back to Jacob in time out, he was crying quietly (Way to go, Jake... Rip mom's heart into shreds). 

Me: Jake, you are such a good kid. You are a good person. You care so much about people and you want to help everyone, and I think that's wonderful. I'm happy that you wanted to give your money to another family. But you can't lie to help people. 

Jake: (sniffling) I know. I'm sorry.

Me: What do you think I should do?

Jake: You should punish me! (still sniffling)

Me: Well, what do you think would be fair?

Jake: No video games for two weeks! (And then he started to cry again... he LOVES video games and he only gets to play them on weekends.)

Me: Well, let's just do one week and then we'll talk a little more about not lying.

Fast forward to the next day. When I picked Jacob up from school, I asked him how his day had been. 

Jake: Great!

Me: Really! Why?

Jake: Well, I told Ms. Catherine I was sorry for lying and I feel SO much better!

He may be prone to to whining, he may be a bit bossy at times, and he has many other flaws just like the rest of us, but this boy has such a good heart. He is such a good, good person and I am so proud to be his mother. 

Our Chicago Adventure aka The One With the Missing Backpack

Last weekend we surprised the kids with a trip to Chicago. Actually, it was all Greg's idea and he was initially going to surprise me as well before deciding it was too difficult to prevent me from making plans for the weekend (true). The kids each got to make one guess each night for the week leading up to the trip. The guesses ranged from "Florida" to "George Bob and Papa's hotel" to "skocket." (The last one was Benjamin's... several of his guesses weren't real words.)


To make this trip even cooler, we decided to ride the train instead of driving. Trains score major cool points. The downside is that the train to Chicago leaves at 5:45 a.m. and the train back from Chicago arrives at 11:50 p.m. So..... Saturday morning, I woke up at 3:45 a.m. so I could shower before we left the house at 4:30 a.m. Benjamin had gotten to sleep VERY late Friday night (excitement will do that!). We assumed he'd sleep on the train ride there. Um, no.

So, we started our trip with a very tired, cranky 3-year-old. Oh, and hungry. We had snacks with us on the train, but nothing very satisfying -- cookies, chips, etc. Sugar, carbs.

Our first stop was the Shedd Aquarium. We took a bus there and discovered the line was pretty long even right after getting there an hour after opening. It was in the 30s. We decided to wait it out, not knowing it would be 3 HOURS before we actually made it into the exhibit areas. During those 3 hours, the kids waited patiently for a while, but then hunger and boredom took over. We did get them each a hot dog from a snack stand nearby. Benjamin entertained the college-aged people behind us, dancing to music from a phone and making monster faces at them. At one point he and Jacob were chasing each other around Greg and Benjamin did a face plant into the concrete.

Once inside, I think Jacob could have spent weeks in there observing and learning. Benjamin had other ideas. Plus, it was so crowded (we later found it was a free day to Illinois residents... eek!). So, we wandered around for a bit and then decided to go get food.

Exhausted, we checked into our hotel. It was very nice, and the front desk person assured us the hotel restaurant was casual and suitable for small children. Luckily, we were there at 5 p.m., because it definitely didn't have a "small children" vibe. The food was very good, Benjamin was getting antsy and he has no problem with causing a scene in a public place, so we high-tailed it out of there without dessert.

Once settled in our hotel room, we spent some time enjoying the view. We spent a little time in the hotel pool, which was quite crowded, and then went back to our room and ordered dessert from room service.

The next morning, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast buffet. There were kids running around and everything was very casual, so that was much easier with Benjamin.

Bellies full, we went to the Willis Tower. Once there, they said it would be a 2.5 hour wait. We asked the kids if they still wanted to do it, and they did. A very nice co-worker gave me City Pass coupons leftover from her family's visit to Chicago, so we had two adult and 1 child pass to the Tower. We went to the regular line because we had to buy a ticket for Benjamin. An employee there saw our City Passes and said we could go to the express line. I said we still needed to buy a ticket for Benjamin. He asked how old he was, and even though it says only children 2 and under are free, he said to go on. This probably saved us two hours in line, and Benjamin was free! Woo hoo! It still ended up taking us about an hour to get up to the Sky Deck, but so much better than what we initially expected.

The downside to it was that they packed people into the elevators. We had to take 3 elevators to get up to the top and 3 down. It was so tight I couldn't pick Benjamin up with everything else I was carrying, and he thought he was going to be crushed (he wasn't, but it was definitely crowded). On one elevator, Jacob was close enough to put his arms around Benjamin. It was so adorable. I could see Benjamin visibly relax when he saw Jacob. On the way down, he had had enough and just started screaming. Luckily, I was able to pick him up then. He later told me (lower lip stuck out) that on the elevators he looked and looked but just couldn't find us and that we'd left him. I said we had been right next time him and tried explaining that he just couldn't see our faces, but he didn't believe me.

Afterwards, we had some time to kill, so we hopped on a bus again. At some point we realized we no longer had Benjamin's Thomas backpack with his monster hat, the trip home travel snacks, and their Willis Tower lollipops. Thank goodness Piggy was not in there. Jacob had been the one carrying the backpack, and he was devastated. Benjamin started wailing a sad, low cry. We decided to give finding it our best shot. We tracked down the bus we had been on, thinking we'd left it in the back. The bus driver was very nice and remembered us. She said she didn't think we'd had the backpack with us when we got on, but said we could go look. I went to the back of the bus and asked if anyone had  a Thomas backpack under his or her seat. There was a collective, "Awwwww...." but no backpack. We then realized it had probably been left at the bus stop. We took a bus back to that spot and didn't see anything there. At that point, we decided it was probably gone for good. Benjamin kept asking, "Why did someone steal it?" I said maybe someone who didn't have food was able to get some food. He was still pretty sad and any time anyone looked at him, he would sadly say, "I lost my backpack."

The train ride home was much easier than the train ride there. The kids both slept for part of it. I had some lovely Kindle time. A wonderful trip, but so incredibly exhausting.