the spauldings conquer the world (or at least try)

Reed = 6

2010-08-04T23:38:00.003-05:00

Reed turned six today, momentous enough for me to write for the first time in nine months. I can only offer belated apologies to my dear cherub Scarlett, whose 3rd birthday I neglected to muse about several months ago. She is no less loved. I will someday go back and post things to those days to make it look as though I was keeping up all along...

For now: Our boy is six! It is far too old. He is growing much too fast.

Wasn't he a toddler a little while ago? Doesn't he still suck his thumb sometimes in bed at night? Older as he may get, he is still as sweet and kind as ever, still loves his parents and sister, still has the voice and stature of a little kid, still wears emotions on his sleeve with hair that curls and a scowl when he's crossed. Reed is a rare gem. He just finished a mighty swim season with the York Manor Makos 6-and-unders, a team I honestly didn't believe he'd make (due to the requirement to swim a lap). He sure fooled me. He routinely swam eight laps in practice, added backstroke to his repertoire mid-season, and even won a heat in a meet. Reed then learned how to start riding a bike without training wheels last week, picking it up in a day or two and gaining confidence with each outing. A big-kid new bike was waiting for him as a surprise gift behind the guest room door this morning. A midsummer trip to Gram and Pop's country club pool proved the diving board was no match for him, and a 100-degree night in the tent at "Camp Singer" (Carrie and Steve's backyard) didn't quell his new fighting spirit either. He was once a reticent, stubborn, quick-to-wave-the-white-flag guy, and sometimes he still is. But part of his growth seems to be leaps and bounds in confidence and perseverance. This makes me proud.

While temperamental, Reed is a good boy through and through. He has a big heart and aims to please. He looks out for his family, friends, and cousins, wanting to ensure that they're OK and taking time out once in a while to spread a little friendliness around with a compliment for Ashley or a pat on the head for little Alex. He asks lots of questions. He loves books (we are reading "Treasure Island" together after having completed a 1950ish chapter book on animals of North America), and maybe movies even more ("How to Train Your Dragon" and "Toy Story 3" among a couple good ones we saw in the theaters recently, along with a video repository full of old animated Disney favorites led by "Peter Pan" and "Robin Hood").

He's still heavy into drawing and other arts and crafts, newly schooled in lacrosse, soon to be headed onto the soccer field. And unbelievably: a month away from being a kindergartener at the brand new West Towson Elementary. His birthday party (a Peter Pan pool party replete with water balloon fights, diving for treasure, and a pirate pinata) guests included best school buddies Ben and Vincent, plus all the cousins, Owen Becker, and the Barnett boys.

I have months more to catch up on, pictures to organize, stories to tell. The countless little vignettes each day -- the moments that make us laugh, or the sweet slices of life that remind us how truly fantastic Reed and Scarlett both are -- most of those are lost now. Time flies when you have a son.

To my favorite 6-year-old soon-to-be-kindergartener chum: don't ever stop being the nice boy that you are, don't ever give up, keep smiling and creating, acting silly and compassionate and sensitive and maybe even once in a while...bold. Your imaginative mind is something special; your drive to direct the action and produce volumes of sketches, costume ideas, SuperGarage projects with Pop, Lego masterpieces, dolphin shows and puppet theater and more is spectacular. You make us proud EVERY DAY. Relax, take it easy on your sister, listen to Mom when she asks you to do something, clean that pigsty of a room once in a while. We love you and will always hold you tight, even when you no longer want us to.

Holiday Pix at the River

2009-11-29T23:55:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Photo Ops

2009-11-28T23:53:00.000-05:00

Visiting the BWI Airport Park and Washington DC

2009-11-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

Water Damage Reparations Underway

2009-11-15T23:48:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

Halloween

2009-10-31T21:01:00.002-05:00

Scarlett was absolutely stunned that every house we went to trick-or-treating at tonight actually had candy for her, for free. Getting sweet handouts for wearing an Ariel costume may have been her single greatest revelation in life. She walked away from each stranger's door, huge grin on her face, saying, "Isn't it so nice of them to give that to me?" And when she received a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup from one, she remarked, "This is one of my favorite foods."

Reed switched gears from the knight costume Gram bought to a beat up old Spider Man costume from cousin Josh in the final days before Halloween. The mask got too hot so he decided to just be "half Peter Parker and half Spidey" according to him for most of the evening. We trudged through the rain picking up Nerds and Laffy Taffy and a cadre of other cavity causers with all the other revelers on Park Avenue, and the kids couldn't have been more delighted by the whole thing.

The Great Flood of 2010

2009-10-25T23:43:00.000-05:00

Fall fun

2009-10-25T23:37:00.000-05:00

Golf Lessons at the YMCA

2009-10-20T23:34:00.000-05:00

Apple Picking and a Fall 1/2 Mile Race

2009-10-20T23:32:00.000-05:00

Suds

2009-10-15T23:23:00.000-05:00

Camping at Cunningham Falls

2009-09-30T23:28:00.000-05:00

Scarlett Rising

2009-09-30T21:46:00.002-05:00

Two quick anecdotes about the littlest Spaulding:

1. She was driving Reed bonkers and getting a kick out of it. He finally stormed off in a fit of rage, yelling and screaming and hopping up and down. She looked innocently at Mom, smiled, and said, "He's crazy."

2. She touched the mole next to Kris' eye. "What is it?" she asked. Kris told her it's a mole. "Who lives in there?" she asked. Kris said no one lives in there. Scarlett said, "I think a chipmunk or a raccoon should live in there. Or maybe a squirrel."

End of summer

2009-09-22T22:28:00.003-05:00

Reed's 5-day preschool has started, Scarlett's in Rebounders and JHU Toddler Co-op, and the house project is finally done -- must be Fall! Our addition has turned out great and we are loving the new space. Reed and Scarlett both just claimed their own (new) rooms the other night after sharing a third-world bazaar since May. We still have a lot of organizing to do, furniture to buy, and grass to grow, but it has begun to feel like a real home again.

As Reed winds down drum lessons, golf lessons have gotten underway. His prolific art continues on a daily basis as we work through reams of paper and find stubs of crayons everywhere. Meanwhile, Scarlett continues to be on a princess tear. The big debate (already) was whether she should be Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, or Snow White for Halloween. We've coined her belly button "Beebs," she's in a serious hide-and-seek phase, and she's Mommy's right-hand errand girl while Reed is at school.

I should flag the Summer of 2009 as the Year of the Fish. Between beach trips to Bethany and the Outer Banks, daily trips to the pool along with a solid boost of confidence from some swimming lessons, and a few visits to the River, fear of swimming was all but eradicated. Reed was a pool shark, trying "dives" into the big pool, doing strokes all over the place, enjoying going under. Scarlett's favorite trick was to prowl the baby pool and then pounce into the 1' water, leaving her with a couple dings and dents throughout the course of the season. Reed reeled in a fish, too: a nice white perch on the creek dock with Pop's help and the Spider-Man rod. We complemented the water sports with a day in Dutch Wonderland, Scarlett's first Orioles game, tons of arts and crafts, and the constant buzz of saws and paint spray guns at our house. Summer was capped off when Reed, Pop, Mike, and I had our first camping trip a week and a half ago (pictures to come). We ventured to Cunningham Falls State Park near Frederick, MD and stayed in a cabin. Reed loved it -- especially searching for big sticks and toasting marshmallows.

Swimming in the creek

2009-09-22T22:00:00.000-05:00

Kayakers at the river

2009-09-22T21:58:00.000-05:00

The whole gang

2009-09-22T21:55:00.000-05:00

Surf brigade

2009-09-22T21:54:00.000-05:00

Beach bunnies

2009-09-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

Crazy glasses at the Outer Banks

2009-09-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

Bull and Fairy

2009-09-22T21:45:00.000-05:00

Reed-o is Five-o

2009-09-22T21:43:00.000-05:00

Reed's Big Day

2009-09-22T21:42:00.000-05:00

The Birthday Tribe

2009-09-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

Reed's B-Day Party

2009-09-22T21:39:00.000-05:00

Reed's Sports Birthday Party at the YMCA

2009-09-22T21:38:00.000-05:00

Dutch Wonderland 2009

2009-09-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

Summertime fun

2009-09-22T21:30:00.001-05:00

Reed's swim lessons

2009-09-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Bethany

2009-09-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

4th of July at Bethany

2009-09-22T21:28:00.000-05:00

Bethany Beach

2009-09-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

Dancing fools in the new addition

2009-09-22T21:26:00.000-05:00

The Hairy Princess

2009-09-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

Scarlett can't say F's very well, so she loves "hairy princesses" these days.

Son Rock Kids Camp concert

2009-09-22T21:23:00.000-05:00

With Marmee at Son Rock Kids Camp!

2009-09-22T21:22:00.000-05:00

Hey, where's our kitchen?

2009-09-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

Working the construction site

2009-09-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

Mom & Reed

2009-09-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

Girls on a boat

2009-09-22T21:17:00.000-05:00

River Rat

2009-09-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

Early on in our new addition!

2009-09-22T21:13:00.000-05:00

The Summer in Pictures

2009-09-22T21:12:00.001-05:00

I finally have an opportunity to post pictures from Summer 2009. Heads up.

First Day of 5-day 4s

2009-09-12T23:25:00.000-05:00

Orioles Game

2009-08-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

Reed Turns 5

2009-08-04T22:39:00.003-05:00

My "little bear" is growing up way too fast. Even he is taken aback when I tell him I'm not sure how much longer he will be my little bear, so I quickly rescind that notion and say he'll be my little bear forever.

He had an action-packed day: up at 6AM (par for the course), presents, dashing off to pick up paint for the addition, a visit to the music store for his gift of drumsticks and registration for drum lessons, a trip downtown to the Maryland Science Center and lunch with Dad, the farmer's market, Marmee's house, dinner and facepainting at Chick-Fil-A (his choice), and finally back home way too late. I asked him at lunchtime if he was having a good day, and he shook his head and smiled. "A great day?" I posed. Another shake and smile. "An amazing day?" I said. "No Dad," he replied. "I'm having an awesome day!"

His sports party at the YMCA this weekend was fun: soccer and hockey with Coach Chris and a gaggle of kids, then Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cake and facepainting by Ali and Ashley. Lots of art gifts, and I got him a black Ed Reed jersey so he can represent this fall. It's the last year of counting your age on one hand, Pictures, of course, to come eventually.

Princess lessons

2009-07-20T11:03:00.002-05:00

Reed told me when he grows up he would like to be either a daddy or a ninja. I said why not both.

Since he's quite musically inclined, too, Kris and I were talking about getting him some drum lessons this fall. Scarlett piped in, "Can I take princess lessons?" Makes sense to me.

My children

2009-06-16T22:32:00.003-05:00

Though a bum computer has made it a painstaking chore to upload photos to the blog (I am now on my work laptop), I feel compelled to at least jot a few notes about how great my kids are these days. Their innocent little demeanors, their earnest feelings front and center, their wacky insights and questions and wardrobe selections, their total joie de vivre all still feel so fresh and rare. It is a spectacular thing to have two small people so attentive to you, so reliant on you, so connected and always wanting to be with you, near you, doing what you do, understanding who you are. It's like I need to bottle up a little of this magic before they become sullen, disinterested teens hidden behind black eyeliner...

Reed just wrapped up his second year at Towson Presbyterian, and he did so sweetly and politely and with hugs and smiles and coy gifts for his teachers. He started with trepidation this year (some tears, as I recall) and finished like a pro; I suspect this will be the case for many school years to come. Sometime around April he finally decides this school thing is actually pretty fun...and then the year comes to an end.

He is still intensely fascinated with animals, musical instruments (lately fancies himself a hip hop DJ on his keyboard with headphones), and animals playing musical instruments. He draws constantly, and pretty well: creatures, clowns, ninjas, knights, musicians, dinosaurs, made-up stuff. I took him to an art class at the Walters this weekend where he learned about "imaginary beasts" and was delighted by the room of exotic animals in the museum (Dad, a narwhal horn!). He still sucks his thumb, loves to snuggle, and when I say "sweet dreams" each night he says, "I hope you have sweet dreams, too." It is a feat when we can get him to stay in bed past 6:30AM. He loves banging on things along with our builders working on the addition, and sometimes comes down in his own hard hat and tool belt to greet them. The kids wave and say hello to Hal Miller and his crew each day, bringing popsicles out on hot days.

The pool opened recently and Reed and Scarlett both have been little fish. Reed enjoys putting on his neon green goggles and gliding along face-down in the little pool, reaching down for toy missiles on the bottom. He loves playing "birthday package" in the big pool, doing push-offs and doggie-paddling out to me so that I can open my package only to discover it's "moldy meatballs" or "tortoise guts" and returning it immediately to sender (the wall). In between paddles and his frenetic attempt to keep his head above water, he chortles and is draped in a giant chlorinated grin.

Scarlett, meanwhile, showed no fear as she clambered up the many steps of the pool's water slide last weekend and swooshed down twice. The first time was a total riot. The second time she got a mouthful of water and decided that wasn't for her anymore. Still, she's done it two more times than her older brother has. She wants whatever he wants, and the two of them are great companions (building forts together, watching Dora and Diego together, sharing a snack), but she knows exactly how to push his buttons and can bring him to tears in a split second. She talks all the time, and loudly to make sure she's heard. She wants everyone to know that she is "the princess," no, "the little sweet baby," no, "the big girl," no, "so cute!" She clods around in way-too-big plastic princess heels, announcing that Sleeping Beauty is her favorite because she is purple, but that Scarlett is wearing Belle big girl underwear today.

I call her my "Wump," which started because she loves it when I throw her on the bed and say, "whhhhump!" She'll say, "Mommy calls me LaLa, Gram calls me Lulu, and Daddy calls me The Wump." Potty training has been a breeze with her; she rarely has an accident and is out of diapers most of the time these days. Prizes of Pez or M&Ms go a long way. She's ticklish and very petite, a little ball of snickers and giggles after a bath where I pretend to be drying off my bowling ball under the towel.

Sometimes when I head upstairs to get them ready for bed, she'll rush to the top and shut the gate, saying: "You can't come upstairs unless you solve my riddle." She goes on, "What's pink and lives on the farm?" And before you can respond, she's belting out the answer. Same riddle every time, and she is generous enough to let me through even when I can't figure it out. They love playing in the bath and demand that I do silly voices and let them waterslide off the back lip of the tub (which Mom hates). And they can't get enough of dance parties: samba, rock, kids music, Dad's music, hip hop, you name it. Best of all, Scarlett still likes to waltz around in my arms to our tune of "Da da dee, da da dee, da da dee..." This makes me very happy.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blast off!

2009-05-08T23:54:00.001-05:00

Rocking at the Milkshake concert

2009-05-08T23:54:00.000-05:00

Scarlett's new spring haircut

2009-05-08T23:52:00.001-05:00

Fairy Princess

2009-05-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Enjoying a warm spring day

2009-05-08T23:51:00.000-05:00

Transportation Day at Co-op

2009-05-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

Artists at work

2009-05-08T23:47:00.000-05:00

Pirates at Privateer Day

2009-05-08T23:45:00.000-05:00

Reed was Runner Up in the art competition!

Easter at Gram and Pop's

2009-05-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

Easter morning

2009-05-08T23:43:00.000-05:00

Decorating eggs

2009-05-08T23:42:00.000-05:00

Wearing Dad's shirt, ready to paint eggs for Easter

2009-05-08T23:41:00.001-05:00

Riding the zoo carousel

2009-05-08T23:41:00.000-05:00

One of their favorite spots on earth.

Me and my girl

2009-05-08T23:39:00.001-05:00

Clowning around at a b-day party

2009-05-08T23:39:00.000-05:00

Reed's Art Show

2009-05-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

Snow fun

2009-05-08T23:33:00.001-05:00

Kung Fu Panda by Reed

2009-05-08T23:33:00.000-05:00

The characters of Kung Fu Panda (quite possibly Reed's favorite movie).

More Reed art

2009-05-08T23:29:00.000-05:00

Robin Hood

Lion

Sea Life

Wintertime Woodland Creatures

Selected art from Reed

2009-05-08T23:28:00.000-05:00

Spaulding Family Superheroes

Jungle Animals

Reed and Mommy

Teamwork at the Maryland Science Center

2009-05-08T23:25:00.000-05:00

Tired River Scout

2009-05-08T23:23:00.000-05:00

Warpaint still on, axe on lap

Brave River Scout

2009-05-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

Cousins playing

2009-05-08T23:21:00.000-05:00

Josh, Molly, Ashley, Reed covered in soap suds

Alex, Scarlett, Charlie in Scarlett's crib

I have to catch up on an entire winter and spring of photos.

2009-05-08T23:17:00.001-05:00

Here come some.

Dad Weekend

2009-03-20T21:38:00.002-05:00

I have the kids all to myself this weekend while Kris is in Charleston with friends. Whenever I have these occasions, which isn't often, I appreciate just how hard being a round-the-clock parent really is and I appreciate Reed and Scarlett even more. They are both at an age that is still completely full of love and wonder and fear. It makes me proud and at the same time nostalgic to see them becoming increasingly independent. When I dropped Reed off at preschool this morning, he started in with a clingy "I miss Mommy" sentiment and a few extra hugs for me. But then he spotted a friend, struck up a conversation, and I was quickly forgotten. It made me happy to see him comfortable without me, but I also miss my little guy who used to need me for everything. Scarlett is right on his heels, seemingly advancing through stages faster than Reed ever did surely in part because she can follow his lead.

As we had dinner tonight, I asked them about their day. Reed educated me on horseshoe crabs, and how they swim out of the ocean on warm summer nights to lay eggs on the beach and then return to the sea, leaving the eggs to hatch on their own and find their way to the sea. Life is one metaphor after another.

Scarlett, meanwhile, said to me, "You have stinky teeth." Also true, I'm sure.

Life-sized Llama

2009-02-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Reed asked me this morning: "Daddy, can you make me a life-sized llama?" I am learning many different ways to say "no" without actually saying "no."

Scarlett is 2!

2009-01-26T23:40:00.000-05:00

Scarlett on the Verge of 2

2009-01-24T00:30:00.003-05:00

It's the eve of Scarlett's second birthday party. Reed has been puking all night, which threatens to call the whole thing off. Two balloons have already popped. I figure there's no better time to catch up on the last couple months of Spaulding family wackiness.

I managed to let Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year pass us by without a single update or a photo. To be sure, we did celebrate them all, and in grand style. It was a musical Christmas -- electric guitars for Reed and Scarlett, a keyboard, and much more. New Year's Eve was replete with our 100' tall spruce falling on the neighbor's house in high winds, preceded by two broken ribs for dear old Dad on his new snowboard. Luckily, not so much drama for the rest of the family.

For Reed, the only thing mightier than the sword may be the magic marker. He's been drawing and coloring up a storm. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, farm animals, jungle animals, and knights fighting dragons are among his favorite subjects. He continues to be our animal-loving musician/artist, the intersection of the three coming in the form of elaborate renderings of animal rock bands (including recently an alpine animal band featuring a yak on drums, mountain goat on lead guitar, snow leopard on base, and some other type of goat I'd never heard of on keyboard). Lately he's gotten really into costumes, mostly the same kinds of things he draws (Ninja Turtles, knights, superheroes, musketeers, drummers, and so on). School seems to be growing on him ever so slowly. His preschool class put on a fantastic holiday concert for us, where Reed (shortest guy in class) was coined the star of the show with his silly dancing and loud singing.

Scarlett has transitioned smoothly from a pink phase to a purple phase. She has discovered princesses and baby dolls. Funny how nature works...or is it nurture? She has been excited about her birthday all week, saying "Scarlett almost 2," and "I get purple cupcake!" Her fierce independent streak makes some of her favorite sayings: "My turn!" "Don't want to!" "I do it myself!" and "Not me!" It's been an explosion of language for her in the past couple months, so that she's now quite chatty. I remember asking her around Christmas time if she liked Santa, and her response was, "Um hmm. And puppy dogs and belly buttons, too." We play peekaboo together even though I think she knows she's outgrowing it. I dry her off in the fluffy hooded towel after her bath and say, "Where's Scarlett?" and she giggles and replies, "Right here, Daddy!" She loves music from Milkshake and the Laurie Berkner Band, singing along when she can to favs like "The Jump Song," "Milkshake Rock and Roll," and of course, her perennial standby, "Baa Baa Black Sheep."

And so my sweet baby girl -- the smiley, ticklish, happy-go-lucky charmer -- is on the verge of 2. Reed just vomited again. We're on our fourth or fifth load of laundry, I'm not sure. It's 1 in the morning. My ribs are wrapped in a velcro Ace bandage girdle. And still, all seems quite good with the Spauldings.

Snow Day!

2009-01-23T23:21:00.000-05:00

Ravens

2009-01-23T23:20:00.000-05:00

Musketeer

2009-01-23T23:17:00.000-05:00

Native Americans

2009-01-23T23:16:00.000-05:00

Scarlett Babushka

2009-01-23T23:15:00.000-05:00

New Year's Eve 2008: Our tree. Neighbor's house.

2009-01-23T23:14:00.000-05:00

Christmas carols

2009-01-23T23:12:00.000-05:00

Scarlett wonders how that fat guy fit down here

2009-01-23T23:10:00.000-05:00

Christmas Rockers

2009-01-23T23:09:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve

2009-01-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

Celebrating Gram's 60th!

2009-01-23T23:01:00.001-05:00

Decorating Christmas cookies

2009-01-23T23:01:00.000-05:00

Checking out holiday lights in Hamden

2009-01-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Reed's Preschool Holiday Concert

2009-01-23T22:58:00.000-05:00

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2009-01-23T22:56:00.000-05:00

Some of Reed's recent artwork

2008-11-19T00:01:00.002-05:00

Farm animals

Our family on the beach

Toucan

T-Rex Chasing Diplodocus

Scarlett's Thanksgiving Collage

2008-11-19T00:01:00.001-05:00

Guarding the homestead Halloween night

2008-11-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

A chicken in her co-op

2008-11-18T23:59:00.000-05:00

The long arm of the law

2008-11-18T23:58:00.000-05:00

Halloween cousin lineup

2008-11-18T23:55:00.000-05:00

Wedding Crashers

2008-11-18T23:53:00.000-05:00