Shannon Phillips

Davy helps load the dishwasher, while Robin sweeps the floor…

(Not really. But they like to try to help, and that’s worth encouraging, I think!)

Robin loves to paint. He would do it every day, but I don’t let him, because the clean-up time involved afterwards is serious. He doesn’t like crayons or colored pencils nearly so much—it’s paints and brushes that really do it for him.

Here’s my favorite of his recent compositions:

The key to getting eye-pleasing works out of him is to provide him with harmonious colors, and to take the page away before it gets completely filled up. It’s also fun to ask him what the paintings are. “A yellow robot!” “A monkey-whale!” “Ants!”

Robin in the AM: “No! No potty training! I’m NOT a big boy! I won’t sit on the potty!”

Robin in the PM: “Mommy, you a beautiful lady.”

Parenting, it has its ups and downs.

For Father’s Day, Sam decided he wanted to drive down the Sacramento Delta and check out some of the cute little towns along the way—Isleton, Walnut Grove, and Locke. All of these small towns have done a great job of preserving their historic main streets, but the most interesting one is Locke, a town founded in 1915 by Chinese immigrants. It’s both interesting and picturesque—Sam took pictures, so I’ll post them when he gets them online.

I think Sam had a nice Father’s Day. He got a fancy Xoom tablet, which both of the boys are keenly interested in: “My computer!” Robin ventured, to which Sam answered with a snappy “I don’t think so.” Then Robin went around saying “I don’t think so!” for the rest of the day. But it was also interspersed with the occasional “happy Father’s Day, Daddy,” so that was sweet.

Also, it’s pretty clear that Davy knows Dada as an actual word now. Frustratingly enough, he doesn’t seem to feel the need to call for Mama when he knows that a piercing shriek will grab my attention perfectly well!

My mom sent me a bunch of photos from her visit, mostly of Davy, because as she notes: “Most of the ones I took of Robin are a bit blurry because he always seemed to be moving.” She did get a nice one of Robin though:

Star Trek onesie + epic combover = one absurd little doofus. But he’s got food in his paws so he’s happy.

Look at him smiling for his Nanita!

“I’m totally standing up! I’m totally standing up! Woooo!”

“What’s the weather like up there? Hey, got any food?”

And this one’s from a previous visit, when Davy was a bit younger. We’re at Chicken and Waffles, which is the place near Jack London Square where you go when you want to eat chicken and/or waffles. If it has another name I don’t know it.

Oh, okay, I ruined my own fun by Googling it. It’s actually the Home of Chicken and Waffles, technically, I guess. I guarantee you Davy ate some waffles, and some chicken, and was happy about it.

Appropriately enough, it’s “Hi.” He’s said it several times now in the appropriate context, so I’m pretty sure it’s a real word (unlike the “mama” and “dada” we sometimes get, which are probably still just babble).

We said goodbye to Nanita and Markie today (hope they have a good trip back home!) and are preparing to relax a bit after all the visiting we’ve done in the last few weeks. Robin also had his second observation day at the school today. He loved it, again. “Thank you for school, mommy,” he said as we left. He really is a sweet little guy.

We took Robin for his first visit to the dentist yesterday. Unfortunately, despite what I thought was a pretty good toothbrushing routine, he has cavities in each of his molars—and since these are teeth that he’ll keep until he’s ten to twelve, the cavities need to be filled. So that’ll be…not fun.

The pediatric dentist that we found is very geared to making the whole experience tolerable for small kids. Robin was scared of the chair at first, but he sat in my lap for the examination, and the dentist made a game of counting his teeth that won him over. He was ultimately very good and cooperative, and then we stayed for a little bit so he could play with the toys they had there. He left thinking that the dentist was pretty awesome. Of course, the actual process of filling his teeth will be a lot more challenging. Their plan is to give him nitrous and local anesthesia, and, if necessary, to restrain him using what they call a “papoose” (kind of like a straightjacket, actually). Ugh. Basically Robin has no fear of his next visit, but I’m dreading it.

On a more positive note, we’ve been seeing a lot of family lately. Last weekend was Sam’s grandfather’s birthday, and we hosted the boys’ Pappy and Aunt Betsy while they were in town for the event. This weekend we’re driving up to Carson City for a “celebration of life” memorializing Sam’s grandmother Elsie. And next weekend my mother and Mark are coming out for a visit. So that’s real nice for the kids.