Skyler Jargon

When Skyler is excited about something, usually when you have something that he really loves to eat and are about to give it to him, he says "ho ho hoooe....hey hey heyyyyyy."

Piano

Skyler has a future in music. he loves to sit and play the toy piano and he sings at the same time. not sure where he got this- if he saw it on TV-but as far as I know he just did this on his own. He is so cute when he does this. the cool thing too is this was one of the toys I got for shayna when she was his age, only he has gotten more use out of it. in fact, a lot of the toys that shayna did not like very much or use much are now getting a second revival through skyler. he also has a favorite stuffy toy he sleeps with - which happens to be the first present that Unle Mike and Aunt Christy gave Shayna when she was born. I named him bear (for Skyler) and that name has stuck.

Heat wave

We are experiencing a heat wave this week, high 90s every day and expected to be as hot as 101 or even 102 Tuesday and Wednesday. so that means keeping cool by using our pool a lot, impromptu stops for gelato, eating lots more ice cream then usual, and making shakes and frozen fruit smoothies. Shayna makes her own version of shakes and does things like adding food coloring to make it more funky (she made pink milk and a green milkshake last night). here are shayna and skyler sharing a shake she made:

Approved foods

Here are some of Skyler's approved foods:

1. Rice (see photo below)- made extra sticky so easier to eat with spoon
2. Ramen noodle soup, beef flavor
3. fresh apple- cut up in very small pieces
4. banana
5. Chocolate chip waffles: ripped into bite size pieces, he eats with fork
6. chicken nuggets- not always a sure thing-but he does prefer McDonalds over frozen store brand (of course)
7. popcorn (he LOVES and if you make popcorn you MUST share)
8. ice cream (again- if you eat you must share)
9. cupcakes or any cake of any kind or any sweet baked good
10. french fries (see photo above)
11. yogurt- Yo Baby brand
12. cookies- chocolate chip
13. oreo o's cereal
14. Mozzerella cheese sticks - Polly-O brand
15. rice krispie treats
16. pancakes


He says no to: pizza, breads (most of the time so far), eggs, fresh chicken (sometimes will eat it mixed in with rice in a stew form though), seafood, mac & cheese, grilled cheese

Shayna will eat everything he does, plus eggs (loves hard boiled and over easy/medium but hates omelettes) chicken, pizza, mac and cheese, grilled cheese, all shellfish (lobster, crab, shrimp, scallops) but no fish, no red meat at all (ie no steak, burgers, etc.) and loves fresh bread esp. French baguette or Italian, loves crepes (she would do well in the French mediterranean).

Alphabet

Skyler loves his ABC board book. He likes to point to pictures and you say what it is, or you ask him where something is and he will point to it.



He is really into letters right now. He likes to point to a letter and say what it is. If he can't say the letter yet, he says "A." He can say "O" correctly for O and can say "L" and sometimes will say "B" but pretty much everything else is "A" which he says with conviction. So you point to "E" and say "EEEEE" and he says "AAAAAA" you say, no "EEEEE" he says "AAAAAA."

Businessman

When we were in the hotel room during the power outage, Skyler amused himself.

1. He loved playing with the 3 lightswitches on the wall. Luckily they didn't do anything (?) as nothing in the room was connected to them.


2. Then he drank some coffee. No worries- it was just about empty. He grabbed the cup real fast and then Manny snapped the photo before grabbing it away. Both Skyler and Shayna love coffee (like thier parents!) 3. He had a very important call* to make:

*at home, all phones, both cell and land line are kept well beyond his reach, so this was a treat to him to actually be able to reach the phone.

Copycat

Shayna lost a tooth tonight. I asked her to show me where it was in her mouth, so she opened her mouth wide. Since it was on the top, I asked her to lean her head back so I could see. As she did so, she said "aaaaah" like the dentist asks you to. Skyler ran in and said "aaaaah" real loud and proceeded to do so for about the next 5-10 minutes. I think this is tooth #13 to be lost...although both Shayna and I have lost track of the exact count.

In the photo to the right, is Skyler with a kitchen towel over his shoulder, he was copying Manny (he was cooking dinner when this photo was taken). Manny puts the towel over his shoulder like this when he is cooking. So Skyler grabbed a towel and threw it over his shoulder too! Maybe he will learn to be a good cook like his dad.

Skyler also sat through his second entire movie in the movie theater. We all went to the advance screening of "Monster House" Thursday night. Shayna will be recording her review at the Radio Disney studio tomorrow....so listen for it soon on 610AM Philadelphia/NJ*. His first official movie was Harry Potter.

*Manny and Shayna heard her on the air Monday night in the car listening to the radio

The Great Blackout of 2006

I am writing this on the laptop from our hotel room (using Wi-Free or WiFi). We have been without power since Wednesday at 12noon.

After returning from the Pinewood pool Wed. we quickly packed to stay in a hotel, grabbing essentials like contact lens stuff, bathing suits, laptop, DVD, cell phone charger, and microwave popcorn- then realizing much too late that we only had one regular diaper (worked out OK- I went back home the next day for more). It was worse then we thought and it turns out about 8400 homes in Bucks are still out of power. Wed. night the first few hotels we tried were booked but we wound up finding one with a nice outdoor pool and playground so we are making the best of weathering out the storm. ;-) Skyler had fun playing with the lightswitches (because he could reach them unlike at home) and hiding in the curtains.

Skyler's game

Skyler likes it when you ask him "where is the _____?" when looking at a book, or placemat, etc. He also likes playing "where is your ____?" or "where is mommy's ____?" (ie body parts like nose, mouth, foot)

He can identify and say some of his letters, mainly A and B.

Yesterday he said a new word: knee. Although it sounds a bit like "meeee" but he does mean "knee."

He also loves to be helpful around the house. He puts his dish/bowl/fork in the sink when done (no one told him to do this, he just started doing it on his own), he puts his dirty clothes in the laundry basket, puts trash in the trash if you tell him to, loves to help unload the dishwasher, and loves handing me clothes to put into the washing machine (which is helpful because I don't have to lean down).

Lobster

I brought home a surprise for Shayna from the supermarket today: lobster. Shayna loves lobster. Now that she is older she can eat it all on her own with no help cracking open the shells (Manny used to bring home lobsters he caught while scuba diving). She loves crab too- fresh crab not the processed stuff or even cold crab but fresh from the shell.

NYC

We went into NYC Saturday. Shayna had an audition for a short film. I always seem to have good luck and unusual things happen to me. This time it was getting to see a Broadway show for free! yes, we somehow managed to see "Rent" at the nederlander theater for free. We had stopped by to check it out since it was near the audition. We were chatting with the guy who works in the theater and next thing we know, he says "follow me" and takes us into the theater, hands us 2 playbills, and sits us down about maybe 15 rows back from the stage on the side. I really think Jonathan Larsen's spirit must have been smiling down at us. The play was extremely good, so good I had goosebumps. Afterwards, we strolled through Times Square, checked out the huge Toys R Us with ferris wheel inside, visited my Cousins Eleanor and Seymour, walked under the Helmsley Building, found the Phillipine Counsel (by accident of course), and stopped at the NY Public Library to rest. If she gets the part we will be back in early september for filming. They said we would know in a week.

Shark

We had just arrived in Ocean City and were on 9th street heading towards the beach when Manny said "pull over, we have to get that giant shark." So we made a U-turn and stopped at a tourist beach shop and bought the blow up shark float. Shayna had a BLAST riding it in the ocean. It elicited all kinds of corny jokes from passers-by. It easily deflates to take home.

Beach

We went on a day trip to ocean city, NJ Friday. Here are the kids enjoying playing on the beach & in the surf. Skyler likes to play right in the waves and was even knocked over a few times including one time flat on his back facing up with the water completely over his face. of course I grabbed him. He really loves the ocean and as soon as we get there he runs right into the surf.

Cool Dude

Skyler likes to wear sunglasses and hats. He found an old pair of Shayna's sunglasses (she has had so many LOL) and looked so cute in them. Then he started putting his foot in his mouth but I couldn't quite capture it on film - like the fairies he moves too fast for regular cameras. I have to get him a more masculine pair of sunglasses.

Our Fireworks

We had our own fireworks show on July 4th , after barbequeing and using the pool. I thought they were pretty good for fireworks bought in the supermarket and considering fireworks are not even supposed to be sold in PA. Skyler had a blast watching- screaming and cheering. Shayna got to light some sparklers. Here is a sampling:

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! Have a cupcake.

Good News

Some of our closest friends are having wonderful life altering events lately.

As I write this... our dear friends Steve and Andrea Craney are about to become parents for the second time. Andrea's water broke today and she is now in the hospital in labor and delivery. I hope everything goes well and she has or is having a smooth and easy delivery of thier baby boy. Big brother Mason just turned 3 in April. Manny and Steve have been friends for over 20 years. We can't wait to meet the newest Craney!

One of my oldest and best friends in the world, Jennifer Little, is getting married this August to Chad Palumbo. The wedding will be on a yacht with a cruise around NYC. I have known Jennifer since 9th grade/1982.

Our friends Murray & Melissa Resnick just celebrated thier son Adam's graduation from HIGH SCHOOL. Manny and Murray have been friends since about age 12/8th grade. Adam will be going to college in Florida this fall.

Family Projects, Hopes and Dreams

here are some things we are planning and/or hoping to do as a family in the next 2-5 years:

1. Move to Florida: live near a major city (ie within 40 minutes), near beach/ocean, house must have pool.

2. Travel: hoping to do some trips to Florida, Carribean (maybe Beaches turks & caicos; also st. martin), maybe at some point Europe esp. Greece, France.

3. Write a book or book series: we have some ideas for the storylines, plots & basic premise. I will do the actual writing, Manny will illustrate and we will all collaborate on the actual stories, plots, characters, etc.

4. Start a creative side business: Shayna and I are seriously considering starting an invitation business. Party planning would be my forte but I don't have the time now with running US Life Care.

5. Shayna's film/TV/theater career: still hoping and plugging away- submitting headshots & resumes by mail & internet to various films that are casting- we won't give up on this- you can't succeed if you don't try!

6. Getting back in shape and being healthy: we are very committed to eating healthy- lots of veggies, fruit, all low fat/ high fiber - very little red meat- lots of fresh fish-whole grain-lots of fresh food with no junk added. Going to the gym- step for me-laps for Manny. I know I will never be 25 again (my golden age) but hopefully can get down a bit.

7. US Life Care: I have been marketing electric wheelchairs HARD. I am getting good! I have 3 VERY good possibles right now.

(ok some of these are not goals of 2-3 years but things we are doing now)

Mommy Fix

I hug Skyler no less then 200 times a day. Not sure what people meant when they said boys are not affectionate. Skyler also has times when he will need a "mommy fix" and will run to me for a hug. then all is well with the world. Not sure what problems a 22mo can have, but I am the solution to all of them.

He also likes to put his forehead to your forehead where your noses touch, and then when you look at each other your faces are so close up it becomes distorted looking. this is something everyone has done at some time with someone, but to Skyler it is immensely funny. he will giggle, which makes you giggle, which makes him giggle harder.

Skyler also kisses my cheek and neck. Shayna used to comb and "do" my hair- that is a wonderful feeling. These are the immeasurable moments of parenthood I treasure.

Fireworks

We went to Peddler's Village Saturday night to see fireworks. July 4th is my 2nd favorite holiday (Halloween being my favorite) so I love taking the kids to the fireworks, festivals, and dressing them patrioticly. Glow in the dark jewelry and paraphenalia is a must also. Shayna and I also make July 4th cupcakes every year on the 4th, and this will be our 2nd year of setting off our OWN fireworks (our neighbor set off fireworks last year too so it was twice as much). I love relaxing in the pool while listening to our favorite CDs, smelling the nearby barbeques, playing with the dragonflies, and later watching fireworks with the glow of the fireflies all around us. In some years past we also enjoyed the 4th down the shore- watching the fireworks from the dock by our boat- and then having a blast honking our boat horn along with everyone else- then peeking out our front boat window to see the sporadic midnight fireworks. I just can not skip fireworks on the 4th- I feel it is my duty as an American to celebrate my country.

Here are Shayna & Nancy enjoying the fireworks:


Skyler with fireworks behind him. He had a blast and clapped at the end. He got so excited at the end he ran into the people sitting in front of us. Nancy's little brother David was there too, he is only 2 months older then Skyler. When we get them together they tend to run in opposite directions as typical toddlers.
After the fireworks we went into Giggleberry Fair (we were sitting near it) and let Skyler wander around. Here he is enjoying a mini carousel while Shayna rides with him as a good big sister.

After that, we literally laughed all the way to the car - which was a long walk to the other side of peddler's village. Then we laughed all the way home. I can't say exactly what/why we were laughing at but Shayna laughed so hard she got the hiccups! Manny also wondered why I roll down my window when I see a deer on the side of the road...