Turtle Baby

Truth Be Told: I once had a camel in a headlock

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:47:00 +0000

Here's where not keeping up with the blog gets you. I'm forced to get back into my readers good graces by finally fessing up to a little-known secret.

I once had a camel in a headlock.

About a month ago, I was chaperoning my son and a buddy of his at a "petting zoo".

(That's my boy on the left.)

We were in the paddock sitting on the tractor-trailer on our way out into the reserve area where they kept the bigger animals. There were a couple of camels who knowingly waited at the fence for the inner gate to open before they started nosing for food. Since I was sitting toward the front of the trailer (the raised bed was the perfect height for a camel) they hit us up first.

I had Finn on my left and my boy on my right just next to the railing. Turtle had no interest in going first, so I was encouraging my other charge to feed the camel from his Dixie cup. With a sharp shreik, I looked up to see this camel with my son's laminated name tag firmly in its mouth. It was pulling him closer to the rail despite all the noise. I quickly broke the string and tried to console my kid. After checking the other boy, I looked up to see this camel happily munching away on this 6"x9" piece of plastic like a flat cud.

Many of my readers will know that I had a former career working with animals.

I had maybe ten seconds before that idiot camel decided to swallow and get a large piece of plastic stuck in its throat. After I realized what the vet might say..."Aah! Here's the problem! it was a large piece of plastic from Maury Elementary. There's a name at the bottom..." I quickly took action. Jumping up, I put this camel in a headlock under my right arm. I then used both hands to reach around his mouth and try to grab the plastic. After pulling up his big lips, I managed to grap hold between bites and slip it forward out of his mouth.

While consoling one frightened Turtle, I looked up at the mother who was sitting next to me (not so closely this time, I noticed). She called me crazy so I told her that I wasn't going to take that from some camel.

Hopefully, it earned the Turtle a little respect at school.

Busy Weekend pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:50:00 +0000

We continued our busy, busy weekend with a few more activities. On Sunday, we hit Butler's Orchard with the boys. Last fall, Beta spent most of the time on my back in a kid carrier. This time, he was racing all around with his big brother. We scored three pumpkins and a half bushel of apples destined to be many pints of applesauce. Just like last year, we also took a ride on the cool bus!

On Columbus Day, TurtleMama had to work. I decided to take the boys to a new park. In all the parks we've visited, I have never been to such an awesome toddler playground. It was all I could do to keep them close enough to each other to effectively play single parent zone defense.

We even took a ride on the carousel. The boys had a lot of fun!

A-do

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:14:00 +0000

Beta is creating his own language. He is adding a-do to the end of favorite items. So it is not just a bike, but a bike-a-do and not just cake, but cake-a-do. I think he may be saying "I do" as in bike, yea I want to do that or cake, yes please. He is certainly pairing many other words together including today "No mommy, I want daddy" when he wanted to hold his dad's hand walking across the street instead of mine. We have a very full and very fun weekend starting with Happy Hour here Friday night, a Birthday party and National Festival of Building at the Building Museum today and a planned trip tomorrow to the pumpkin patch - Butler's Orchard. It is phenomenal weather for all these events too, yea for fall.

Banana!

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:56:00 +0000

Beta's language has just taken off as of late, which is huge fun! Here is a clip of one of his favorite food items and songs. He is hard to keep up with in the dancing and bike riding domains as well. Now he is a talking guy on the go.

Soccer mom

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:21:00 +0000

And so it begins......organized sports for my boys......Is he not the cutest?
He loved it! Just look at that focus on the ball, and the nap after the drill work was awesome.

Labor Day 2008

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:05:00 +0000

We went to Vermont to visit Diane's side of the family over Labor Day. It was a blast. We got to go to Shelburne Farms one day to see the Farm Animals, then had a live performance for Erica's Birthday from Uncle Jom's Band. Sunday, we went to the state fair and got to see more animals, ride some rides, and eat fair food! Monday we had a picnic at Shelburne beach on Lake Champlain. We had beautiful weather and lots of fun with the siblings, cousins and grandparents. Can't wait to get together again soon. See the following link for pics http://homepage.mac.com/scott.douglas/PhotoAlbum17.html

First Day of School

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:39:00 +0000

Turtle has started Elementary School. He is in the 3 year old Spanish program at Maury Elementary School. He was very excited as you can see, and proud with his backpack and lunch box - Thank you Aunt Donna - Diego is so perfect since he is doing the Spanish Immersion class.
We are just 3 blocks from the school, so we plan on walking to pick him up/drop him off.

He has to wear a uniform - navy bottom, and white shirt.

He has an enthusiastic teacher, who does lots of singing, which Turtle loves.

We hope it will be a fun year for our growing guy!

Meeting our new Cousin

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:47:00 +0000

Beta is no longer the baby in the family! He got to meet his 12 week old cousin this weekend. Turtle was thrilled to have new playmates in the adults - his Aunt, Uncle, and Su. Beta loved the baby! He was so sweet with his new cousin - he kept coming over to give him hugs and see what he was doing. He even let his Mama hold the baby without too much jealousy. No this does not mean we are having a 3rd! It was super fun to see my sister thrive in her role as a mama and to meet my new nephew! Glad we get to see them again soon.

Talking away

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:26:00 +0000

Beta is really using his words now. He wakes up in the morning and does not cry anymore he calls out “mommy…mommy…mommy”! It is such sweet music to my ears that I forgive the 5:45 rising. He will also ask for milk and bubbles by name - clearly some favorite items. I also love to hear him call out his brother’s name, which he will do on command, but not yet spontaneously. He sure loves his older brother. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning and from nap is run to his brother’s room. One early morning I tried to get Beta to snuggle in the bed with me to get a few more minutes of rest, but he was having none of it and slid off the bed. I took a couple seconds to follow him in my drowsy before 6 am state. I looked in the bathroom – no Beta, looked in his bedroom – no Beta, went down to Turtle’s room and not only was he in there, but he had already climbed into Turtle’s Bed. As you can see from the picture he loves climbing.

Turtle is a nonstop talker and fun to listen to. He is a very enthusiastic learner, and wants to share all of the “tricks” from daycare now. When you tell him to pick a book to read before bed he will pull out 4 or 5 and say “Einy Meiny Miny Mo” to select his choice. He also has his own version of high five, on the side, down low, too slow. He constantly amazes me with his ability to apply and recall events. For example, as we are listening to weather forecast on the radio, he will say “Mama she said thunderstorms”. He was talking about 2 of something and 2 of something else and he blurted out “That’s 4!” without any prompting for adding them up from me. While we play games he is just thrilled with taking his turn and says "I am so lucky" when he gets a break of any kind. Unfortunately with all this talking, some talking back has arrived. When I told him it was time to do something after making a block tower he replied “No I not because I want to keep an eye on that.” He was afraid Beta would come and knock it over – which is of course what happened!

Beach Blog 2008

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:30:00 +0000

The highlight of my summer is typically a week at the beach with Dada's entire family. This year we had a new location - Corolla, Outer Banks NC. It was a huge adventure getting to the house as the paved road ended and you had to drive on the beach 6 miles to get there. Beta was way tired of being in the car after a 5 hour drive, but as soon as we turned onto the beach, he was enthralled by the bumpy sand ride and ocean view! The trip was worth it for sure. The boys both loved having daily access to a hot tub and a pool, not to mention tons of sand to dig in. Turtle could not get enough of jumping the waves and luckily had many family members to help him do it.

The boys got some special Nana and PaPa time while the cousins and siblings took hang gliding lessons at Jockey's Ridge - super fun to fly!

The beach has a sanctuary for wild horses and they came right up to the house. It was especially neat to see the foals.

Turtle could not get enough of his cousins and family members. They were a great help in caring for the boys as well as entertaining them.

I am already looking forward to next year!

A Family 4th

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:45:00 +0000

We started our day with a 4th of July Parade headed up by the Marine Corp Marching Band. It is so exciting to hear the drums and horns at a distance and know they are heading your way. Here they come

and there they go.

Next, we got to listen to some other live bands and eat hotdogs at a street festival of sorts. After nap we rode the bikes to a friend's house in the neighborhood for some water play and amazing ribs.

The kids are still too young and scared to attend the real fireworks show, but we watched a bit on TV. We had a fantastic family 4th!

Gym Gymboree

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:58:00 +0000

We have been attending fantastic birthday parties for Turtle's classmates at various "Little Gym" type locations over the past weekends. They are a blast for both kiddos and parents. These places have the art of birthday parties down to a science. The boys absolutely love the climbing, bouncing, and swinging opportunities. Dada and I both wish we would have had our videocamera available to record Beta on his first trampoline experience. It was absolutely hilarious watching him try to keep up with how fast he had to move his feet to keep his balance since he does not yet have the coordination to jump with 2 feet in the air. Our guys love to be physical and these gym experiences are inevitebly getting carried over into our home. I jsut keep praying that Beta will not fly off the couch and bonk his head. I certainly can avoid the gym myself if I keep pulling them around in the rocket ship/box - well not really, but.....

Saturday Lunch

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 16:30:00 +0000

It's been a busy Saturday so far. We got the whole family to hang in the backyard most of the morning tidying up after the fence build. The boys amused themselves with digging with shovels and hauling the dirt in the big Tonka truck. After a quick bike ride with TurtleMama we broke for lunch.

Since they have a birthday party this afternoon, we wanted to get them an early lunch. This means, TurtleDad gets to make and eat his lunch later away from prying eyes and hungry cries. For those of you who know me well, you're aware that TurtleDad knows his way around a kitchen. With the room to myself, I ask you: what could be better lunch on a busy Saturday?

Why a toasted Elvis with honey, of course!

If you're not familiar with this particular sandwich, let me fill you in. Take two slices of bread, some peanut butter, a very ripe banana, and some high-quality honey. (I used Buckwheat Honey--it has a marvelous malty flavor.) While the bread is toasting, slice the banana into thirds (longways). Smear the peanut butter on the bread and layer the banana slices. Give it a liberal application of honey and you're all done.

Let me tell you, this is one tasty sandwich!

What's that drink beside the Toasted Elvis? Why it's America's favorite...Tang!

It is a Saturday after all!

Happy Father's Day

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 01:37:00 +0000

To all the proud papa's out there, Happy Father's Day!

Beta Update

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:01:00 +0000

"No" happens to be Beta's new favorite word. He says it quite meaningful at times, but on other occasions he will say it even if he means yes in response to a questions. He is also saying "woof" for dog, "truck" for all big vehicles, "bye, hi, mama, dada, out, uh-oh, more, mine, and bump". He is just starting to imitate on command sometimes so there could be a big explosion of words soon.

I am hoping that the words will help reduce his frustration level at not getting his way, but..... He can really throw a tantrum already, which scares me. A full on stamp your feet and lay down on the ground and kick tantrum. He has also decided that the high chair is not a very desirable place to be as evidenced by his arch/scream upon attempts to place him in the chair.

He has shown his bright streak during book reading. His Dada has taught him to "knock Knock" during Birthday Monsters. He knows the right page and will tap his hand to "knock knock" consistently. He is pushing vehicles around on the floor to play. He loves bubbles and will pretend that his toy spoon is a bubble wand and blow on it after putting it in his pot. The boy can really jam to the Pixies, he loves music. The way he dances is by holding an arm out and twirling in circles until he falls over from getting to dizzy. He also loves riding any of the 3 bike combination opportunities he has - in the bike trailer, in the bike seat, or on his tricyle.

He is a climber. He can get up on the couch independently now - watch out! He is amazing at playgrounds going up the stairs and down the slide all by himself. If I try to carry him up stairs he will arch out of my arms and demand to climb up and not just climb up on all fours, but standing up to walk while holding onto the rail hopefully!

The great thing about all these advancements in communication and independence is that he can understand directions to help out - putting things in the trash can or assisting with the daily routine.

Turtle just amazes me with his imagination and recall of events. He'll state observations that let me know he is really paying attention. I'll have to blog more on his latest stuff later.

The boys are just full of energy and this following chasing game clip will clue you into why we are beat by 9 pm. They could do this game for a really long time. Trust me you get tired being the chaser before they are tired of being chased.

Memorial Day in the Big Apple

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:04:00 +0000

We decided that DC would not be the best place to hang for the long weekend.

After the boys daycare excursion to the National Zoo on Friday, we all hopped into the family truckster and headed north to visit friends in New York. It wasn't Turtle's first visit here--he actually learned to walk in Brooklyn. However, it's Beta's first time and he has really been enjoying himself.

On Saturday, we stopped off to visit Giles, Suzie, and Aaron in Brooklyn. Aaron brought his new friend, Monica. (Welcome to the Fiendz!) Since they live very close to Prospect Park, we all headed over for some playtime. I've heard that Brooklyn is in the middle of a pretty significant baby boom, but until you get to see things in action at a park, you have no idea how big it really is. There were maybe 300 kids running around the Harmony Playground with another couple of hundred parents. After running around for a bit, we headed over to a grassy spot to relax. The kites were dancing aloft in the steady breeze. After a great dinner, we had to say goodbye to our friends and drive over to Queens to the Lintern-Frye family abode where little Miss Tallulah was kind enough to share her kid space.

After a New York bagel breakfast, we all hopped the Metro to Flushing and hit the Science Museum. The exhibits were interesting, but the standard science museum fare. However, we did get tickets to their outdoor playground which was pretty cool. There were lots of water play areas where you used archimedes' screws to elevate water for cool splashy effects. Add in a nice sandbox, some cool ramps, slides, and musical "instruments" and the boys were tuckered out by lunch. After a nap, we headed out again...this time to another part of Queens to hit a beergarden. This wasn't just any old dump, but storied gathering spot for the local Czech community still going strong since it started in 1910. The Bohemian Citizens' Benevolent Society of Astoria had set up a nice band, with cultural dancers. The boys were really digging it.

I don't know what tomorrow has in store, but I expect that they're going to miss the Big Apple when we leave.

Hopa!

Zoo Field Trip

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The boys have periods of intense sibling rivalry, but they can also be buddy brothers

just in time for a long weekend together. We are very fortunate to actually have a 4 day weekend because the boys daycare had a Friday Zoo Field Trip and Mama and Dada wanted to join in the fun. The cutest was the two of them sharing an ice cream cone.

Pure bliss!

Reading

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:19:00 +0000

It is fun when the kiddos start reading the stories back to you!

Bike To Work Friday

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Sat, 17 May 2008 03:21:00 +0000

It was Bike to Work Day here in our Nation's Capitol. I hooked up with the Capitol Hill peloton and headed over to the celebration at Freedom's Plaza. This was my first one and it was, of course, raining.

I've been a bike commuter for the better part of five years now. It is by far the fastest way for me to get to and from work. I started out as a fair weather cyclist. I didn't ride in the rain, snow, or bitter cold. Spring, Summer and Fall were biking months. I used the Metro in the Winter. After a couple of years that has changed. First, I started riding in sub-freezing weather. Then I began to ride in the rain. I suppose I'll have to pick up some snow tires before winter.

Anyhow, I didn't have much of an agenda in joining the official Bike to Work crowd. It was more to support WADA. Since I've been in DC, I've become more and more impressed with their efforts. With the help of the awesome DC Commissioner Jim Graham, there are new bike lanes. They've got a huge bike pavilion that will be built next to Union Station. They also just started the first in the US bike share program. Perhaps this is why Bicycling Magazine gave us the Most Improved City this year.

When I hit Freedom's Plaza, I picked up my free t-shirt and H2O bottle and started to look for familiar faces. I didn't see any, so I went to pick up my free donut holes and some juice before they started the program. Like I mentioned before, I didn't have too much of an agenda for being there, but I did want to introduce myself to another DC bike blogger, Gwadzilla. He takes snapshots of cyclists when riding and I've been pestering him to get out of NW and shoot some Capitol Hill riders. He's a distinctive individual, so I thought I could pick him out. While I was looking, I spotted Alan Heymann, and old friend on Councilman Graham's staff. Alan rides down to take law classes, so he's down with the biking.

After a bit, I spotted Gwad and introduced myself in person. He took my picture, so here's hope that I'll finally make it into his blog.

The program was good. They gave out lots of freebies. Rah, rah biking and all that, but I had to get on to work.

The weather broke for the commute home. I took my usual route, but something else bike-related happened to me that should be included in this post. I recently upgraded my steed from an old Breezer to a faster skinny-wheeled Jamis. The Breezer's been sitting in my shed collecting dust, but I've considered making a cargo bike out of it. Extracycle sells these conversion kits that add a couple of feet of usable cargo rack to any old bike. I had the notion that the boys would be able to ride on the back when they get older. Anyhow, I'm stopped at one of the lights on East Capitol and this hoon blows past me on his fat tired cargo conversion. I'm not a speed demon, but the new bike usually allows me to go at a pretty good clip. This cat on the longtail is really huffing it and leaves me in the dust.

I think I'm getting old.

Happy Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Tue, 13 May 2008 01:21:00 +0000

Seven years ago, a young couple walked down an isle to join each other in matrimony.

Seven years later, they no longer walk as a couple...

...they walk as a family.

Turtlebaby is LIVE

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:55:00 +0000

Whatever mess that was left after our site was hacked by the Erectile Disfunction Meds-R-US people seems to have resolved itself on its own. (Unless Ruby's been working on the site without telling us.)

In any case, it's nice to be back online.

I suppose we're going to have to go back and fill everyone in on the last few months. It's been pretty routine....

Each day, the boys wake us up too damn early. We all get ready for our day (a round of bananas, cereal, LOTS of coffee) and I help them out the door.

Everyone then moves to their separate corners to accomplish the day.

At 5:30 PM, we all get home and join back as a family. Then I whip up a quick dinner, bathe the boys, and it's storytime before pats on the back and goodnight kisses.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Time has marched on in an almost blur...and we've loved every minute of it.

Back up

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:18:00 +0000

Please work, we have missed you! Here are the boys playing motorcyle ride after a long Spring day of fun.

test

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:02:00 +0000

Maybe it fixed itself...

testing...is this thing on?

noreply@blogger.com (dcdouglas) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 01:22:00 +0000

We're happy to be back after our site was hacked.

(Thanks Ruby!)

I hope everyone was able to pick up their erectile disfunction drugs while we were away.

TurtleDad

Beta is One!

noreply@blogger.com (turtle mama) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 01:47:00 +0000

We are trying work out the kinks! It is very frustrating.