Beach relaxation to junked (crashed) cars

Stacy stayed with us today and we headed for Shell Beach with three shovels (blue, yellow, and red), the dump truck and backhoe, bucket, blanket, cameras, sunscreen, and hats. There was a mother seal and her baby just off the beach and impressively high waves. We laughed as we arrived because there were so many families with parents aiming cameras at toddlers. The kids were all outfitted with hats, but many were otherwise skimpily dressed. (I guess you're cool if the kid doesn't get sun on his face.) It was an almost hot day and the women quickly reclined on the blanket while Jack got to work digging. We all took our shoes off. Jack and Stacy fetched water in his bucket and build a mountain to wet down. Jack discovered the pleasures of sand mittens. Soon he also had sand leggings.

Around 1:00 we headed for Two Fish, but they were sold out of lunch. Jack spotted smoke so we drove to find the fire. It was the Association burning slash behind the office. We discovered a whole lineup of machines in their shed and behind the fire station, three junked cars. Boy were they ever junked. Glass from the windshields scattered around, doors sitting where the front seats used to be, roofs next to the bodies, engines exposed and wires pointing out of door jambs. But air still in the tires! What are these doing here? Jack wasn't the only one fascinated.

Jack ate a big lunch around 3:00, devouring another turkey, cheese, chicken sandwich, a half a grapefruit, and two oranges. Stacy had to squeeze the grapefruit dry so he could drink all the juice. He put the little bowl on his head so his hair got a grapefruit-orange juice rinse. We gave him a bath. Lots of playing after the bath. Jack announced to me that he was going to cut up my dining room table. I think it is going into the chipharvester.

Jack is happy that he is going home to Chenery tomorrow. He looks forward to seeing Daddy and Ripley. But I think he has really enjoyed his week up here. It sure is over too soon for me.

Machines, machines, machines

Obviously, seeing these machines work was the most important part of our day. The machines were at Annapolis and Timber Ridge and they were taking out huge trees and many branches and chipping them up. There was a Bobcat, a Mini-excavator, and this huge "Chipharvester." Jack visited this site three times today.

But first we dug in our garden and mixed the compost up with the dirt. Then we transplanted some salal from elsewhere in the yard. We'll see if it is tough enough to survive our tearing it up by the roots, burying it, and then digging it up again.

At 10:00 or so, we drove off to the hardware store, but stopped on the way to visit the sheep and goats. Jack loved Jay Bakers. He found a wonderful new shovel and then we went upstairs to find child-proofing electrical outlet plugs and a lock for the kitchen cabinet under the sink. I warned Jack that the toy selection might be punk, but he immediately found a plastic boat and a little metal pickup truck. Then he sighted a large Tonka backhoe that he loved. I told him we could not buy it, so he said he just wanted to play with it here. He sat sweetly next to it still in its box and then left it without complaint. We also bought a matchbox garbage truck and some watercolor paper.

It was on the way home that we found the machines (visit #1). By the time we got home for lunch, it was about 2:00. Jack ate a big lunch: turkey and cheese on a piece of toast--all gone. Most of a banana and a strawberry and some of Nana's nuts. All topped off by a glass of milk.

Nana tried her best to read to Jack and get him to nap, but it wasn't going to happen. Jack had his new red round-tipped shovel in mind and was fixed on digging in our garden with it. We went out and watered the blueberry bushes and then ended up at the garden. Jack found a banana slug and touched it. We successfully dug in the garden without destroying the new salal plants. We had a nice conversation with Daddy about the machines and about the flood at the playground. We love our Daddy!

We were to meet Stacy up in Point Arena for dinner. On the way, we stopped by the machine site to get some photos (visit #2) and found the men were still working. It was hard to leave. Despite requesting that I replay and replay the "La-de-do-da" song, Jack fell asleep on the drive. Dinner was delicious and Jack did manage to wake up enough to have a pretty good meal. The Rollerville Cafe is a real winner. Stacy drove Jack home via the machine site, for visit #3. For some reason the working men were more friendly to Stacy than to me.

A Quiet Day

Except for first thing in the morning. We heard a noise and saw a backhoe chugging up Compass Close. Jack stopped eating breakfast and we had to hurry into his clothes. Out on the driveway, a dump truck stopped at our drive and the driver waved and blew his horn for us. We drove in Nana's car to Peter and Scott's house where we found the dump truck and the backhoe at work. Craig, the workingman, was transporting dirt from the new garage site around to the slide below the Bowman's house. We had a long talk with Peter and watched Craig work. Jack got to stand in the backhoe cab. When Craig drove the dump truck away, I put Jack into his car seat. Then Craig returned and started up the backhoe. He changed from a big bucket to a smaller bucket, which was an elaborate operation. Then he drove the backhoe up onto Crows Nest and started off. Jack cried "chase him." So we did. Craig went to another work site on the Sea Ranch where he told us he was early. So he talked to us again about the backhoe. We learned that he has another backhoe with a crawler track and that the tracks are now made of rubber. They cost $1000.00 apiece and wear out quickly. Craig works with a crew of six and they are very busy.

Jack and I went down to the Lodge to buy a newspaper and to retrieve the shingle that was blown off by the wind. We took it to the receptionist and told her to call the carpenter to replace it on the roof. She said she would and that he would need to use a new shingle. Jack remembered this and repeated it later.

When we got home, we settled in for a quiet day. Jack played with his trucks and workingmen. He explained the outlets in the upstairs guest room. The photos show some of his gestures. Here's a little of what he said:

"I gonna the ectricity. Comes out at night time. You can hear when you're sleeping. That machine and this machine can wake you up. Can make loud noises. Urrrrrrr. Urrrrrrr. Sleep on your bed downstairs. Go downstairs and sleep in your bedroom. Loud noise Urrrrrr. It's ony this generator woke you up. I can put this in there. No ant in your shoe either.

"That's fire truck. These guys are making noise. Watch them. Keep out of my job. There's a sign down there. Says "Keep out of my job." This 'tricity gets power. The smoke can come down this curtain line. Come out this piece. Can go "shhhhh". Steam can come out this power thing. Can go "whoops, can fall down the curtain. We are almost done cleaning up this job."

Swimming Jack!

Even more tired tonight! More digging, and then a long swim session with Jack and a rubber duckie at the Del Mar pool. The duckie kept riding his boat (my flutter board) from one side of the pool to the other, blown by the wind. Jack and I caught him and returned him to the upwind side. The stair rails were bridges that duckie really loved going under. We swam and swam. It was windy and overcast and I kept asking Jack if he was cold. "I'm fine."

Jack fell asleep in the car going home and returned easily to sleep once I got him on my bed. He slept for 2.5 hours. When he awoke, I joined him sitting on the bed with him in my lap. Through the pine boughs, we could see the ocean waves. We stayed there for another half an hour talking about things or just looking out the window.

Jack had a late lunch but ate a lot of whole-milk yogurt and granola. No luck on the fruit or the turkey and cooked cheese. We played in the house and painted three pictures, one of a playground.

When Mommie came home, we went to the lodge so she could photograph the sunset. Jack and I were supposed to wait in the lodge, but Jack couldn't tolerate not being with Mommie, so we ended up in the old barn talking about where the horses are now and whether the carpenter will come soon to nail the shingle back on the roof. Stacy got some lovely photos.

Jack ate a good dinner and had a fun bath. Now it's my turn. The photo shows our work site.

Now Jack is focused on firemen!

I am one tired Nana, probably because of all the digging Jack and I did below the dining room. Jack is not tired, but even more reved up than last night. Here's what we did today:

• Dug, dug, dug. Jack loves the plastic piping that Papa left down in that area. The smaller piece is a leaf blower or maybe a power roller. The big piece is definitely a power roller that can pack down the dirt. We had to dig down there three times today.
  
• Went to the nursery to look for Salal (they don't have it) and bought some compost. I will transplant some from other areas and look for a flat at Roger Reynolds.
  
• Went to the Association office for a brief meeting with John Fox and Haidi. I asked Jack if he could be silent as a deer during the meeting and we took the excavator and bulldozer. Jack felt shy and sat in my lap. Pretty soon he was asleep, silent as a deer. He continued to sleep thru the transition to the car and into the house.
  
• Visited both fire stations and got complete tours of all seven or so trucks. Jack started off a little shy but soon was asking "where is your chain saw," "what goes into the engine," and "how do you climb up there"? He could not get enough explanation. The firemen were just great with him. One showed him their mask for smoke. They turned on the lights, sounded the siren, and showed Jack the inside of the engine on three trucks. At home, Jack played fire-related scenarios. The frog puppet from Four-Eyed is now a fire mask.
  
• Visited the bluff above the seal pupping beach. We saw mothers and babies and maybe the birds eating an afterbirth.
  
• Had pizza at the Gualala Pizzeria. Jack ate a pretty good dinner.

When Stacy came home, Jack immediately wanted us to take the new bag of compost down to the dig area. He is serious about that project. Love to Papa and Daddy. Jack misses you both. The photo is Papa and Jack walking down towards Shell Beach. Sorry I didn't take any photos today.

More shopping, more beach, more excavator

10:00 pm and Jack is just getting to bed. He's going strong despite no nap. His first waking words were about his excavator. We headed for Shell Beach in the morning before Papa had to go to his meetings. It's the beach with the tidepools, Greg! We saw a purple starfish and then found a sheltered spot for Jack to dig with the excavator. Stacy and Jack found a really long, huge piece of kelp and pulled it across the beach. When Jack was finally OK to leave, we drove to Gualala and ate at the Cafe Lala, handy for proceeding to Placewares and Four-Eyed Frog. The owners gave Jack a free frog puppet for not watching TV for a week or a lifetime, some chocolate, and tea for Stacy and Anne. We picked out only four books, including another Rosemarie Wells, a truck book, and another Henry Thoreau book. A few minutes for Stacy at a clothes store.

At home, we read and played and tried to nap only to be awakened by a wrong phone number. Upstairs again, Jack constructed an ant barrier out of all of the placemats and stuff in the bookshelf. We'll see if it works.

We took the excavator and the dump truck and shovel down to the area below the dining room where we will plant salau. Jack really did some serious digging and could hardly be persuaded to leave the site for dinner. Just as our order arrived in the bar area of the Lodge, Jack announced he was pooping. Anne ate her dinner and was ready to hold Jack when he and Stacy returned. The french fries were very successful and Jack also ate a little bacon and very little chicken. He has decided that avocado is yucky.

Jack opened all of the cabinets in the kitchen, quite an interesting effect. When he discovered a bottle of bubbles, we headed down for the bath. It's been up and down and up and down ever since with Anne and Stacy forgetting things and Jack announcing that he wants to come to when we go to fetch it. But now he is asleep and hopefully dreaming of playing with his beloved machines. I'll post more photos on Ofoto.

Beach Day--and Mendocino Toy Store

Let's go to Mendocino, said Stacy. Yes, said Jack, Alex, and Anne! Backhoe, dump truck, Buddy Boss, shovels, hats, camera, snacks, we're off. Green hills and cows on the right, sea stacks on the left, and the lighthouse past Point Arena. Let's go to that beach--Jack Rabbit, four Jack Rabbits! But not this beach, said Alex, Anne, Stacy, and Jack. Navarro River Beach, yes!

Dig a tunnel, said Jack, Alex, Stacy, and Anne. Make a mountain with trees! Make another tunnel, Papa! Lie on the log, said Anne. Walk in the river, said Jack and Stacy. Lunch, said Alex and Anne. Nap, said Jack. Drive said Stacy.

Mendocino and our favorite cafe. Anne carries Jack and we have lunch with Jack asleep in her arms. Where's Mommie? Watch her out the window get Jack's stuff. Now on to the Toy Store, where Jack zeroes in on two trucks in three seconds. Pay for them, says Jack. Look at this cute tractor, says Nana. Pay for them says Jack. Now Jack just wants to go to Sea Ranch to play with the new excavator and dump truck. How far to Sea Ranch? A music shop, soap store, long drive, and grocery store away.

Jack ends the day by snuggling into Papa's lap for the first time to read a book. Later, he reads a book to Nana, "Danger, stay out of my job."

Sea Ranch Week Begins!

Rainy day--Jack and Stacy arrive around 4:00 and Stacy gets everything in from the car while Jack and Nana play with the new backhoe and dump truck. Jack has a big poop and Stacy bravely does a "Jenny" on Nana's bed. Popa arrives after 6:00 and he and Jack prepare a fire. Jack crumbles newspapers into balls and tells Popa he is doing a great job.

Jack deploys his construction equipment and workingmen around the dining area and can't be distracted from the jobs. We have a great dinner with Jack eating well--salad, some chicken, even a little toast. Jack starts to say he wants to go to "Jack's house." We don't know if he means Chenery or the little house we rented for Stacy and Jack at Christmas. He never forgets anything.

Jack has a bath that includes the new backhoe and dump truck and his dinosaur figures. Stacy and Nana admire his perfect little boy body. After the bath, Popa explains to him how the toilet works and reads the construction alphabet book. Jack is pretty wound up and wants to keep playing with the new toys. Everyone is pretty tired. We hope it stops raining! We're going to have a great week but we'll also miss home!

A Two-Year-Old's Stream of Consciousness

Alex has been asking me what Jack talks about as he plays in the living room. I have attempted to transcribe a typical session. Jack often repeats a sentence or phrase and I have not captured all of his spiel, but this does give a flavor. [My notes are in brackets.] Notice that he refers to himself sometimes in the third person and sometimes in the first person:

“I’m going to go over there. The dump truck was parking. Nana, do you have your ear plugs in? It’s going to be loud. Jack has his ear plugs in. I gonna work. I have a jack hammer right there. Jack can push the red button. See this, that’s my red button, can push it. Take out this [Papa’s chain]. I’m going to go way this job. Nother job on the bridge. Jack’s going to go away bridge on the ridge. Finish this job. Go to bridge on the ridge. Bring my work gloves with me. I’m going to take Boy. Taking my stuff over there. Taking the garbage truck over there. [Jacks takes his toys over on the other side of the ottoman.]

"All cleaned up. My pick axe. I am bringing everything to the bridge on the ridge. I am taking a book so the workingman can read it. Taking Snow Day away. Read books. [Jack takes several books over the ottoman, including Mother Goose and Snow Day. ] “You will miss me, Nana. I am going to leave. He has his juice. Going to go away. See you later. Nana, Goodbye. I in construction. He’s going to put on his work gloves, work gloves. Come right back. I’m going to come over here again. I’m going to come over here now.

“Read a book. Better listen to a story. Jack comes over the candlestick. Better listen. [He’s looking at the back of the Mother Goose book which has a picture of a little rabbit jumping over a candlestick.] Workingman’s reading a book. Reading a book. Reading a book. He has stories to read to you. [Jack brings some books over to me.] He’s going to read a book. [Now he has the book titled Animals, Birds, Bees, and Flowers. He turns the pages.] Volcano. Workingman reading a book. Listen to a workingman reading a book. Sit on the ground, Nana. Read a book.

[After I get off the sofa and down on the floor, Jack changes the scenario and starts to play with his little forklift.] "A tree-trimming forklift. A chain goes into it. I need a log to push it. I took the forks off so I can put the chain on. I changed it. I want a log. [He goes over the block box and pulls all the stuffed animals out of the way so he can find a block.] I can use this [a block] for log trimming. [Jacks asks me to put the chain around the block.] Jack puts the chain in the log-trimming forklift so it can put it into a ditch. Into a big ditch.

[Now Jack is running back and forth. He attaches the chain to the forklift.] "Attaches to the wheel so it can drive. It’s pulling it. The log-trimming forklift is pulling the log away. The log-trimming forklift is pulling the log away. The log-trimming truck is going away. [Jack put s the little Playmobil man into the forklift.] He’s in the log-trimming forklift. Right there next to the barn. Where’s the ladder? Near the garbage truck. They need a flatbed truck, carries the ladder. Takes it off and puts it on the roof." [Jack wants Buddy Boss to “snap” onto the ladder, but his feet don’t fit. He asks me to help. I suggest that he just pretend, but Jack indignately refused. “I not pretend.”]

Little Working Men

Whoo-hoo, the new laxative is working! Two watery poops today that seemed to happen without pain. Jack drank the doctored juice down around noon and the poops happened later. He is cool with removing the dirty diaper but not necessarily willing to lie down for the change. It would be really nice to persuade him to lie down on the changing table and hold still!

Jack had a really happy day today. We arrived early for my haircut and I gave Jack his surprise--two little Playmobile sets, each with a little working man and each a kind of forklift with accessories. These are a big hit, especially the forklift that raises the crate up high. Jack played happily with these while Marian cut my hair.Then he helped Marian sweep up the hair. We detoured on the way home to see the jackhammer on a backhoe up on Bosworth. Then we played with the new toys in the living room and in the dirt pile. We called Papa so Jack could thank him for putting the toys together.

Cute saying: Yesterday, when I asked to change the diaper, Jack said, "No, no, I'm still using it."

The Poop Log

Jack's been having some real serious troubles pooping this last week. All of us have now been privy to at least one of his painful sessions. Just awful and scary and really un-fun to the n'th degree for him.

Stacy found a new Pediatrician who she, Jack, and I visited today (Tuesday). Wow, what a great doctor. A really comfy office with a fish tank and lots of books. All of the nurses and aides were super-friendly and nice. They took their time with Jack and let us test everything first on Cutie (his bunny).

It was all very pleasant and non-rushed and really set Jack at ease. We told him what to expect and he was really super during the whole appointment.

The doctor basically said that it looks like he's eating well and drinking well and that the main thing would to be get a stool softener that could be added to his juice once a day. The goal would be to have consistent diarrhea for 1 week & then have us adjust the dosage until he was simply having comfortable, regular wet poops.

This treatment would last for six months. Time enough for him to forget about poops being painful.

She said it was actually good timing as he's not potty trained yet and that kids with this common issue who have treatment later on (4 or 5) end up having loads of trouble with accidents.

I felt that she was really reassuring and professional. She listened to everything Stacy and I said and had good, clear, reasonable advice.

Stacy was able to get the additive & we started his first treatment today!

Today he had 2 big hard poops. One very painful earlier in the day, and then another one that was less painful later in the day. The second poop seemed a bit softer to me than the poops I had been seeing.

Lets' stay posted.

Easter Brunch

A house full of parents and kids, a big dog, new toys, kids playing with his toys, chocolate, eggs with candy or pretzels inside, it was all exciting and at times too much for Jack. He is dressed in a light blue searsucker suit with a white shirt. It takes Nana forever to unwrap the chocolate chicken, which comes complete with two little chocolate eggs. Unlike Max, Jack isn't forced to hunt eggs before he gets a taste.

The new dump truck needs to be tried out at the playground, so Nana and Papa, Jack, and Ripley head for the park. Three minutes in the sand with the dump truck and Jack wants to return to the party. Good thing because the food is disappearing as people discover how good it is. Great job, Greg!

The children have a great time finding eggs and turning in one egg for a prize. Jack is easily perturbed if Mommie is out of sight, but he has a good time. By 2:00, everyone has left and Jack is snuggling down for a nap. Nana and Papa head for Menlo Park where Nana also takes a nap.

Jack and Ray, the Painter

The day began with our Glen Canyon walk with Ripley and Daddy. Back at the school, we noticed a smoldering log in the fire pit along with some empty bottles and trash. Greg found the receipt for a senior citizen discount on a bottle of vodka. Jack is very interested in fires and that became a theme for the day.

After a few bits of oatmeal, Jack and I walked to the Destination Bakery to order Hot Cross Buns for Sunday. Got a blueberry muffin for Jack and some decaf coffee for me and we settled into the seat by the window. Jack enjoyed watching some working men have their breakfast and then the street sweeper came by! We had such a great view of it sqirting, brushing, sucking up the dirt right in front of us. And then Rob and Taj showed up. We have met them before at the playground but this was a chance to play with Taj and talk to Rob. Rob works parttime teaching ESL at night and takes care of Taj several days a week. Taj is three months older than Jack and has similar linquistic agility. (He's even a little ahead of Jack.) The two boys delighted in playing with the Christmas lights hanging down the window and making funny noises at me. When it was time to leave, Taj gave Jack a big hug. Rob took my cell number and we'll get together on Wednesdays at the playground.

Next was the pet store to investigate all the different kinds of foods for guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, hook-billed birds, and wild birds. We picked out treats for Ripley and an ear of corn for the wild birds.

And then we met Ray the Painter. He was painting the red fire alarm poll at Diamond and Chenery with a very fast drying paint and a small roller and brush. We watched him put three coats on the red parts and then do the blue police telephone box, with white letters for "Police Telephone." Ray told us he can paint 20 alarm posts a day, versus two a day for his predecessor. Ray loves the city and is proud of his work. Recently an older woman watched him paint the fire alarm and then remembered it when her house burned a few days later. She told Ray he saved her husband's life. When I told Jack we could buy him a small roller at the hardware store, Ray said, "No, I've got one you can have." Ray gave us a small roller, a small paint brush, and a grid to put in a bucket to get the excess paint off the roller. The roller is Ray's own personal tool.

Jack "painted" the kitchen doors one coat as soon as we got home. I told him he could have his lunch break while that coat dried. He then ate part of my chicken sandwich, some yogurt and granola, and some fruit. About 2:30, Jenny and Emma arrived for our play date. Shortly afterwards, we heard some trucks pull up and discovered that PG&E was there to make another pass at the hook-up work for the new house. Jack insisted that we go out to watch so we ended up across the street watching the jackhammering, shoveling, pick-axing, and throwing of debris into a dump truck. Emma watched for a while, but then wandered off to hug the tree in front of Jack's house. Jack and I watched the five working men fill in the hole with concrete until they put saw horses over the new cement and drove off in their three trucks. What a day!

Jack referred to fire several times in the afternoon. While we were talking to Ray, I pointed out the hole in the roof of the house that burned on Diamond Street. When we got home, Jack talked about the hole in the roof and later made up a story for Jenny about how sad it was that Jack's house had a hole in the roof. Jack had me read the Clifford the Firedog book in which the giant Clifford makes a hole in the roof of the burning building. We talked about the tree hitting the Sea Ranch house and making a hole. I assured Jack that we could get contractors to fix any hole and that a contractor had already fixed the hole at Sea Ranch. I suspect Jack will want to see the site of the Sea Ranch hole.

Emma and Jack returned to paint in the kitchen, first with water and the new roller and brush and then on paper with the last of the Kids Crayola paints. When Emma left, she grabbed Jack, wrestled him down on the floor to give him a hug and a kiss. Now Jack knows what it feels like--he's been doing that to Emma for months.

Our day ended with a good poop and me persuading Jack to let me change his diaper. I told him we really had to do it and it would be nice not to have a big struggle about it. I told him I would put the diaper on my head and then on his foot and then on his head and then on his bottom. He let me lay him on the changing table and remove the dirty diaper and clean him up. Then I started to put the new diaper on him, but he reminded me that I was to put it on my head. So I took it off of him, put it on my head, then on his toe, his head, and his bottom.

Zoo March

Jack and I went alone to the zoo on March 29. As we set out, Jack says "The giraffes will be so happy." We always visit them first; today one spread his front legs and bent down to nibble the grass. At the farm, we made friends with Irene, who cares for the large animals. She was concerned about an elderly pony who wasn't eating. She added some water to the feed and the pony ate it. Irene explained that she will mix some dirt and hay with the horse poop and compost it for use in the rose garden in Golden Gate Park. Jack asked Irene if the bull had ever gotten his horns stuck in a tree trunk (as happens in one of his books). Irene said no, but it could happen. We met Marjorie, the Llama and learned she eats something similar to Jack's oatmeal. Marjorie likes the smell of babies and she came right up to sniff Jack, who told her "Go eat your oatmeal." By this time Jack had already swept up the wood shavings in the barn and hauled them outside in the little wheelbarrow. Irene invited us to visit Marjorie any time we come.

As we walked across the zoo, we saw a backhoe and then a fork lift moving large crates up to the roof of the former elephant house with an arm that extended. The grizzly bears new home is almost finished and they have it blocked so we couldn't see any of the construction.

Jack really wanted to go to the cafe even though I had brought our lunch. He'd seen someone with a bag of pretzels. A small bottle of apple juice and a small bag of pretzels was $5.00 even with the member's discount. Next time I'll buy them ahead at a grocery store. After lunch we rode the train and then walked back past the penquins. There's a little statue of an elephant that Jack really loves. He tried to give it a pretzel saying, "Have a pretzel, elephant, we bought them at the cafe." He still had the energy to run off in the opposite direction from the exit but once we reached the car, he fell asleep almost as soon as we drove off.