Totally on board

Earlier this month, we packed our bags for our standing January date with the slopes of Steamboat and a visit with Grandma and Poppy.  With this year's marked lack of ear infections, perforated ear drums, ER visits, pediatrician visits and nightly hysteria over the sleeping arrangements, we could have easily called this trip a success by comparative standards alone.

Thankfully, it was independently outstanding, as well!  Due in large part to the fact that I discovered that I can become a competent snowboarder in four days or less, as evidenced by this video of me boarding with my dad on Day 4:

(Make sure you watch long enough to see me pass up the adult snowboarder and a whole class of older ski school kids...okay, so the ski school kids were stationary at the time, but I woulda smoked 'em regardless.)

My stint as a rebel boarder was off to an outstanding start when no other small kids signed up for a lesson on Day 1, scoring me an all-day private lesson in Boarding School.  In addition to the perk of all-day one-on-one instruction, it also meant a lot of quality piggyback rides to and from the boarding area by my teacher.  And the hookup with the coveted Spongebob Helmet! Teddy, I will remember you always!

After three days in lessons and three days of shredding the gnar with my dad, while on hold with the U.S. Olympic Committee to gauge their openness to a slightly underage member on the 2014 U.S. Snowboarding Team, he went online and ordered me this for my birthday:

'Til we meet again next year, Slopes of Steamboat.  'Til we meet again!

Back in action and fiver than ever

With more than a month since my last post, looks like I've got a lot of catching up to do!  Lots of big doings in these parts, not the least of which was my fifth birthday last week.  While I've got a bunch of updates to post, figured I'd dip my toes back into the Blogosphere with a photographic essay of The Big 0-5.

Photos from My Actual Birthday

The first photo of my career as a 5-year-old 

Tea and cakes with the ladies from the neighborhood

Wardrobe change for a riveting game of "Go Fishing"

The Official 2012 Party Dress, which I received for my actual birthday
because I consider sparkly apparel (or really dresses
of any kind) to be a SPECTACULAR present

The tent I got from my Poppy and Grandma, which I decided
would be perfect to go to sleep in.  And actually did.
For about five minutes. 

Photos from My Actual Birthday Party

Rowan: The 2011 highlights reel

Given her recent promotion to Age 3, now seemed like an appropriate time to release Rowan's 2011 highlights reel.

People say the two's are terrible but, Rowan, you make 'em look good.

On The Big Oh-Three and regifting

Yesterday we broke out the cupcakes and our best chocolate milk in celebration of Rowan's third birthday.   It was a festive occasion marked by a trip to library, lunch and ice cream at our favorite restaurant, homemade Elmo cupcakes, the receipt of a small Rapunzel Tower (which packed as much excitement as the big one we got for my dad's birthday), and a 45-minute tantrum sandwiched somewhere between all that.

Just to remind us all that she is not mellowing with age.

2008: The Original Birthday

2009

2010

2011

The small Rapunzel Tower was actually a regift of sorts, originally purchased for my dad's birthday back when my mom thought he surely would be open to receiving a more economical Rapunzel Tower if only he knew such a thing existed. 

Surely he was not.

(And for all of you who thought I was joking when I told you that my dad wanted the Rapunzel Tower for his birthday, I kidded you not.)

My mom explained that, apparently, it's the equivalent of asking for an Escalade and being given a Mini Cooper with the justification that they're both vehicles.

Which is how the modest-sized tower came to be thrown to the back of the closet and forgotten juuuuuust long enough to exceed Target's 90-day return policy.  So when Rowan's birthday -- which this year fell five days after her birthday party and two days into the start of Chanukah -- came around, my mom figured the little tower would be an acceptable (albeit modest and unrequested) gift. Only fitting for a time of year in which the glut of presents seems to make it  impossible for a preschooler to keep straight what they've gotten, who it's been from and what it's been for.

At least she's hoping that theory holds to be true, given that after much begging on my part for Santa to stop at our house this year, The Big Guy's decided to swipe a gift from our Chanukah pile to leave us by the fireplace on Christmas morning.

More pics from the 2011 celebration:

 

 

  

 

Pondering marriage

Although I have yet to turn five, over the past year or so I've received somewhat informal marriage proposals from two of my preschool colleagues. Which is perhaps why, as I stood at the bathroom sink on Sunday night brushing my teeth, my thoughts randomly turned to marriage.

In a voice that sounded concerned and deeply contemplative, I said, "But I'm not exactly sure who I'm going to marry."

My mom assured me that I have a LOT of time to figure it all out, to which I responded, "But I can't marry Daddy, right?"

She told me I could not and asked me if I knew why I couldn't marry Daddy.  To which I promptly responded, "Yes."

"Because he's old."

A tale of six monkeys

Rowan and her sidekick Monkey have a love that runs deep, dating back practically to her birth, which will be three years ago this Thursday.  At around the age of one, when crib luxuries like blankets and stuffed animals were no longer prohibited, Monkey became (and remains to this day) a sleep-time staple and constant school-time companion.

Even though he wasn't officially enrolled, Monkey was permitted to be a part of last year's class photo.

Around the time Monkey became the official sidekick, Mom quietly purchased a body double, who hid out quietly in the closet for those times when Monkey's whereabouts were unaccounted for.  And because you can never be TOO prepared, at some point, Monkey's body double got a body double, and the original Monkey became indiscernible from the others, but for emergency surgery in which a portion  of his head needed to be reattached to his body for reasons we can only assume were related to a little too much lovin'. And before long, all three monkeys were on active duty.

Then last month, tragedy befell our house when a) one monkey went off the grid for an extended period of time, and b) another monkey was assaulted with a pen at Rowan's school.  While the perpetrator was clearly an adult skilled at drawing monkey nostrils, the investigation never produced any solid leads.  But the two unfortunate events led to the decision to recruit even more monkeys to our household, so Grandma sent a triple pack. 

And while the Department of Common Sense sent a memo to my mom strongly suggesting that these new monkeys be put aside for an emergency, the joy of seeing Rowan's eyes the size of saucers at the sight of so many monkeys prevailed.

Rowan's response upon unwrapping a triple pack of monkeys: "It's too many monkeys!!"

For days after the receipt of three new monkeys, Rowan toted around one monkey in a Moses basket and the Box-O-Monkeys.

The resurfacing of Missing Monkey a few days later meant six monkeys on active duty. 

And so when it came time to select a theme for Rowan's Third Birthday, it seemed only too obvious:

In lieu of generic streamers and balloons, we decorated the party with a much more personal approach -- movie posters featuring Rowan and an unidentified member of the Monkey Pack. 

 

Nothing like sharing your birthday with a good friend.  Happy Third Birthdays, Rowan and Original Monkey.  Whichever one you are.

Holdout

So the good thing about having a dad who's still a kid at heart is that you tend to get a lot of really great toys.  The bad thing is that sometimes my dad thinks the toys are too great to actually hand over.

My mom says that one day when I'm older I should ask him about The Grape Ape piggy bank he bought "me" when I was a kid.  And then maybe he'll take it down from his closet and let me have a look at it.