And now the paparazzi won't leave us alone!

A few weeks ago, we got the chance to film a commercial for Huntsville's Mayor Loretta Spencer, who is the mother-in-law of Uncle Mike (our personal voice of the Lone Ranger, for those of you who remember way back when Kieran was potty training). Mike needed some really good looking people for the commercial. And since they weren't available, he said we'd do. Haha. Just kidding. He really just needed a family with young children, and THAT we've got.

So we told the boys we were going shopping at Bridge Street, which is a wonderful outdoor shopping area. Mike said they wanted Connery in a stroller...which he hasn't ridden in for several months, I'm sure. We didn't know how easy that would be to pull off, but we asked him if he wanted to ride in "the spaceship" and he hopped right in. In fact, Kieran kept asking to ride in the spaceship, too!

The camera crew was very friendly and patient with the boys. They explained that we were supposed to stand at "Position 1" and walk past the cameras when the director yelled "Action." Easy enough, right? Well, the only problem was that we had to do it over. And over. And over. And over. And over. At one point, Kieran said sweetly, "Mommy, I'm getting tired of doing this."

The highlight of the day, according to Kieran, was when we took a break, and Loretta bought the boys ice cream. Fortunately, we weren't as close to the cameras in the next shoot, because Connery was COVERED in ice cream!

Our small-screen debut lasts all of 3 seconds, so I can't imagine shooting for a movie. But I guess we should get ready for that, because once the world gets to see our performance, they'll be knocking down our doors ;) Especially when they find out that we work for ice cream.

Here's the final product...
Kieran is walking wildly in it, so I think it must have been one of the later takes when he started losing his mind ;)

Thanks for the opportunity, Mike and Loretta! I mean, Mayor Spencer! We'll remember you in our Oscar speeches.

SuperKieran (and July photos posted)

(Yep, I finally posted photos from July! Seems like I'm always about a month behind... )

Kieran's theme lately has been superheroes. He's "all superhero, all the time." One day, he was coming downstairs and suddenly I heard Connery falling. I rushed to the stairs to find that he was upright and crying just a little. Kieran told me that as Connery was falling, "I saw him falling and I tried to hold his hand before he was falling. I was trying to be a superhero."

He's either a Jedi with a "lipe-saver" or Batman or Spiderman and once he said he was "fast like the Flash." He's already planning Halloween and wants to be IronMan one minute ("Conn can be The Crebble Hulk") and Jedi or a Storm Trooper the next (Connery says he'll be Obi-Wan). His present on Connery's birthday was a Transformer mask he asked about every day for two weeks at least. And he tells us a lot, "Tell me if you see a bad guy, and I will get him."
But he's still our little boy. One afternoon, Connery was sleeping in his room, and Kieran lay in ours. As I started to walk downstairs, he said, "Mommy, don't leave me here by my-thaylf." I assured him that he wasn't alone, that Connery was in the next room. "But I won't have anyone to talk to. Don't you see the drips coming out of my eyes?"

Needless to say, I brought him downstairs with me.

V is for Very Smart...

Every Thursday, Kieran brings something to school for Show and Tell, and each week it has to start with a different letter of the alphabet. This week's letter? V.

All week, I wondered what we'd find. I thought of violin, vampire--neither of which we had--which meant we had to search his closet for a vest. Thursday morning, I woke him and reminded him that we had to find something that started with a V.

"Vitamin starts with a V, Mommy."

I was amazed. I'm sure they discussed words at school on Wednesday, but even so, he remembered! And bringing vitamins to Show-and-Tell is perfect for the kid who asks EVERY day, "You know what we never got in a long time? A vitamin..."

But it occurred to me that he couldn't take vitamins to school, just like he wouldn't be able to take medicine. I told Sandy we'd dump the vitamins into a ziploc bag and let him take the empty jar. Problem solved.

"Kieran, you can't take vitamins to school, but we can let you take the empty jar."

"Noooooooooooo!" And he starts crying! I'm really surprised and start to explain to him why he can't take the vitamins themselves, and--Get ready, folks...--he says,

"Empty doesn't start with a V!!!!"

Can you believe that?? He was absolutely right! My 3 year old knew that empty does not start with a V!! And when I explained that he was right, but that he would take the VITAMIN jar, he immediately understood. "OHHHH! Alright, Mommy." Could a mother be more proud?

Well, it turns out, I was about to witness even more evidence that my son is brilliant ;) When we arrived in his class, I saw him write his name for the very first time! Apparently, they practice every day, so when we got there, his teacher--Ms. Johnson, who is WONDERFUL!--asked, "Kieran, come write your name, buddy." And he DID! She had to help him through a couple of letters, and it actually says
Kiera
N


but it's beautiful! Of course, I held my breath while he wrote it, and then I cried. One of his other teachers, Mrs. Kyliavas, who is ALSO amazing, let me have the sheet at the end of the day, so now I can frame it and embarrass him with it when he's older.

To top it off, when Ms. Johnson and I asked him who made him so smart, he revealed the big secret.

Philip.

So thanks, Philip, for being the single reason my son is smart. ;)

You must take vitamins, too.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday, Connery! The big TWO! And he had a party fit for a... cowboy! We invited some of our friends for some hot dogs, chili, cake and horse rides! Yep, soon after the party started, we gathered on the front porch to watch Comanche arrive. The looks on their little faces were priceless, and they kept saying, "A real horse! And a real cowboy!" (MANY, many thanks to the "cowboy" Col. Mike Parsons, one of our ROTC instructors at Butler!)

Then came the moment of truth...the birthday boy's turn to ride Comanche first. And. He. Wouldn't. Nope, wouldn't even touch him. He kept saying, "No wide, Mommy, no wide." Oh, well. Almost all the other kiddos rode him and loved it. (Frankie agreed with Connery and wouldn't get close.) Kieran couldn't wait to get on him, and when I asked what he thought about riding the horse, he said, "I think about being a real cowboy like the cowboy who had the horse, and I want a rope like him, but I want a green rope this time." When I asked Connery about the horse, he said, "Big." Pretty much sums it up, huh?

All the kiddos (except Philip, who got upset right before...)
I've also posted photos to our picasa site and videos to our YouTube account amysandy2000. Here's a video of Kieran riding.


And here's a treat for Aunt Jeannine. Connery's lucky to share his birthday with his "kaki." Wonder if she had a cowboy party, too ;)

Masi and Me

KellyMasi and Kieran share the same initials--KMP--and Masi and Connery share the same birth month. And they're both #2s! I'm sure they would both say that their big brother and sister are the best ever ;)

Masi turns 29 for the fist time today, and we wish we could be with her!! You're my favorite sister, Kelly, and the boys' favorite Masi!

(A little Gujarati lesson for you! In the Indian language, Aunt and Uncle are not enough...
Masi means Mother's sister (Masa is her husband)
-- The boys have KellyMasi
Mama means Mother's brother (Mami is his wife)
-- The boys don't have one.
Foi means Father's sister (Fua is her husband)
-- The boys have KirtiFoi and ScottFua
Kaka means Father's brother (Kaki is his wife)
-- The boys have NiteshKaka and JeannineKaki
However, when you want to show respect to an older person, you call them Uncle or Auntie.)

Again, Happy Birthday to the coolest Masi ever! Kieran says we'll come to your house. He'll help me find it.

Funny boys again...and June pictures

We've posted the June pictures to Picasa finally! And I promise July's not far behind. Enjoy them and the newest Boy Stories...

Connery Speak and Story Time:
Diya—dinosaur
Reem--green
Donda--downstairs
Duddy—dirty
Bug bike—bug bite
Wuwwy—Woody
thut—shirt
Ock, Mommy—okay, Mommy
Cabeb—Caleb
Pite-thup—pirate (I think he’s calling a pirate a pirate ship)
Yap—lap
Munnuh--Vitamin
Munnuh--Spiderman (Yes, pronounced EXACTLY like vitamin ;)
MUH-hum-nuh--Superman

Doing, Mommy, doing? That, Mommy, that? Why, Mommy, why? (A lot of questions sound like this.)

He’s asked “Why?” more in the last month than Kieran has probably asked in his entire life.

He likes to shakes his head no when I ask for a kiss. Then he waits for me to pretend to cry. If I don’t, he rubs his eyes and says “Wah-wah” like in The Wheels on the Bus song. When I pretend to cry, he laughs and he and Kieran (even if Kieran has been doing something else entirely) lean in and kiss me. It’s so much fun, he does it over and over. And I get lots of my boy kisses.

He has started singing “Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake your bootie.” It's syrupy cute. But the downside is that now he randomly calls Kieran "bootie" which infuriates Kieran...which in turn entertains Connery.

Recently in the car, Connery asked for juice and asked, “Why, Mommy, why?” when I told him we didn’t have any. This repeated several times, and Kieran suddenly asked, “Juice, Mommy?” When I told him the same thing, he said sweetly, “Okay, Mommy.” Then he asked again! I felt like I was in a hamster wheel until Connery asked again and then said, “Ock, Mommy.” ….Kieran was teaching him to accept whatever answer I gave!! Brilliant!

Kieran-Speak and Story Time...
I teached it from you.—I learned it from you.
Kinnical Goddens—Botanical Gardens
Strahl—Straw

"My hands are playing a game. I don’t want it. I don’t either. Don’t give it a-me."

Once, Kieran called a spider a “Short leg baby”… We had no idea why, but he explained. "Yesterday I saw a Long Leg Daddy, and this is a Short Leg Baby.” Get it? Daddy Long Legs? The way kids' minds work is amazing!

"Mommy, am I your best friend?"
"Always."
"But not all the time. Sometimes I get in trouble."
"But you’re still my best friend, even when you’re in trouble, Kieran."
"Okay."

We've recently realized how much he tattles. I really don’t think it’s because he wants the other person to get in trouble, but he doesn’t know how to handle the conflict that’s going on, or he just feels like somebody needs to know the crime that’s being committed. Like it’s just for the record. I always thought he was being helpful, you know, looking out for his little brother and all. But I’m trying to get him to stop and just try to “work it out.”

We’ve had some workers fixing rotted wood on our chimney, and Kieran asked what they were doing. When I told him they were working on our chimney, he asked, “We have a chimney?” and got really quiet for a minute. Then he softly asked, “For the big bad wolf?” I could tell that idea scared him, so I explained that that’s why they were fixing the chimney, so that the Big Bad Wolf couldn’t come down it. He said, “He will say, ‘Little pig, little pig, let me come in.’ and I will say, ‘Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin.” We walked outside to make sure Larry remembered to put the “lock” on the chimney, and he said he’d make sure we could unlock it for Santa Claus. Whew. I’m glad he thought of that!

And the daily question: "You know what we never got in a long time? A vitamin." He always asks the SAME way. Every time. And now Connery answers the question for him. "Munnuh."