test garvin wordpress

When we were kids my sister and I both really wanted the game Hungry Hungry Hippos .  Our mom would not get it for us.  She denies this fact.  The other night Art showed the game to her and told her how to play.  She said, "Cool!" and even said, after playing two-handed (!) "I like this game!"  She could not understand, or believe, that she wouldn't let us have it.  Probably because she couldnt' find it at a garage sale, like all our other toys. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltljWakR66w&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]

As soon a I walked into the yard this afternoon i heard, "Papa! Papa!" And then Art started to jump up and down and shake his arms and make loud chirping noises. I did, too. We were both so excited to see eachother.

Jessica apparently lost track of Lew's half-eaten bananas...

I'm still in Fargo, but I just called and learned that uncle Josh came over today gave art a shiny new bike. Apparently they're in the living room right now all admiring it together. I accidentally broke Art's old bike. Jessica just put Art on the phone and he said, "Papa, Papa, Josh gave me a new bike. Will you not break it?"

I'm thinking about some of the similarities between what my day is like while Ben is covering the flooding in Fargo and what Ben's day is like.  Well, we are both working 14 hour days.  Actually, I'm not sure but I might be working longer days than Ben right now.  He's probably working through meals like I am, and though he isn't preparing his meals or cleaning up after them I'm not preparing or cleaning up as often as you would think...  We both have to be completely consumed in our work.  I'm sure he has to deal with a lot of gross situations in a flood zone.  Me too!  Try four poops by 8am!  I'm sure he's seen a lot of people crying out there.  Same here!!!  However I just see the same two people crying every time.  I bet there are a lot of dirty clothes and homes in Fargo right now.  Come take a look at my house!  You'll see the same thing.  Maybe the similarities stop there.  I'm sure Ben doesn't have a little boy playing ...

Lately I've been keeping a mental list of Art phrases that run in heavy rotation and without variation.  Things he says so often that even he knows it's a little goofy to hear it again. 1.  I want Lewis's whole body on my bed. 2.  But I don't want to see the moving chair.  [A demo at IKEA that has a robot sitting in a chair over and over.  Naturally, this phrase only comes up at IKEA, but it comes up many many times while we're there.] 3.  Let's go downstairs and have some gummy bears. 4.  Mama, I wanna watch a nature show. 5.  I wanna go in the basement with you. Anyone who has been a guest in our home, even for just an hour, has heard #5.  Some know that phrase only too well.  

I'm up covering the massive floods in North Dakota and western Minnesota for the paper. It's an amazing scene up here. Water everywhere, ice on every street, wind like crazy. It's like another planet. The river is expected to crest on Friday in Fargo, the highest in history, 41-feet.

Art looks at me this morning with a an apologetic expression and says, "I'm sorry, Mama.  But I have to go to work today." Meanwhile, he's wearing a lobster hat.

This morning, Art was looking out his window at birds. Lewis quickly crawled over to join him. Often Lewis gets near art and starts to gently paw and pat his big borhter, causing an unpleasant outburst from Art. I don't think Lewis' attempt at affection is always interpreted as such from Arthur.

I've got Lewis's bedtime ritual down now.  About 80% of the time it is flawless.  Not a peep after I leave the room.  About 15-18% of the time we have some fussing and the other times the mark has been sorely missed and we just have to start over.  Anyway, we read a few books, I sing him "By and By", a lullaby I learned in music class, then I hum the song for a while, rocking in the chair.  Take his sleepy but still awake body to his bed and plop him in.  A little more humming and patting and I'm OUT OF THERE!  80% success rate is not bad at all.  I would even go so far as to call it at 88%.   It reminds me a little bit of a magic lullaby I had going with Art about a year ago.  It was one I learned from a kid's songbook someone gave me.  It got to a point where all I had to do was start singing this song and Art would lay down.  He could be sitting up and trying to talk about something and I could start singing, "Bye bye, baby... Hushaby...." and he ...

We had dinner tonight with Josh and Ashley and our waitress grabbed a smiley Lew.

Right now (10:48pm) Ben is going into Art's room to wake him just enough to use the bathroom.  He's bringing a very floppy Art - oh! He just walked over to our bedroom door to show me the floppy Art! - to the bathroom so he can pee.  Ben said, "I love doin' this!"  Ben thinks that Art wraps himself around Ben more "ergonomically" when he's half-asleep.   Anyway, things are going well here at the Parker-Garvin house.  Art is still enjoying school for the most part.  He often doesn't want to go into the room, though, when we first get there.  Then, when I pick him up he doesn't want to go to the car.  The boy has trouble with transitions.  No, seriously.  It can be really frustrating.   Lewis has taken more steps and is guilty of standing without holding on to anything more and more often.  But he has not yet made the leap into true walking.  He has just stepped away from one perch to another a few more times.   I am so happy that it is warmi...

(That red hat Art is wearing is the Family hat.  One day I picked up Lewis from my mom's and she said, "He came in that red hat that I've seen everyone in your family wear at one time or another."  It's true.  We have all worn that hat at various times.  In fact, that hat is probably two or three years old and has outlasted almost every other hat in the house.  Definitely has stayed with us longer than any other  good   hat.  We've lost wool hats, hats with ear flaps, with nice pom-poms, fleece hats...  Art alone has gone through at least four hats this winter.  But that red hat perseveres!  Ironically, the hat Lewis is wearing is a hat Ben wore when he was a little kid!)

Jess says, "Please note Lewis's mouth in the swinging picture.  It was open like that for a good two or three minutes straight.  Or so it seemed.  That mouth!  It is just open all the time!

Jess says, "That thermometer is AccuWRONG.  We put it up on the sunny side of the house so it always reads a good ten degrees or so more than the actual temp.  But, hey!  It is a vast improvement over last week that was full of snow and got down to -2.  

"Next time, can you make a not stinky fart?"

We went to the kids museum, played with lots of stuff, then went next door to eat some tasty Chinese food and have our photo taken by a stranger: Then, we stopped by the paper so Art could meet folks and see all his artwork I hung up in the office. here's he's showing Jason, a photo editor ( and Papa of twin 2-year-olds ), how he made a huge painting:

Tonightt we made popcorn (clearly Ben and I were unable to stop our automatic popcorn-grabbing hands even long enough for the timer on the camera to go off) and we all sat on the big beanbag to watch Babe.   I love that movie!  I don't know why we thought it was a good time in Art's life to try watching a real movie but a week or so ago we thought Babe would be a fun one for him.  We both love it and, come on!  A pig that can herd sheep!?!?!  I'm not sure how much he's following but I know it's not a lot.  20 minutes into the movie he didn't know the pig's name (Babe), but hey, he is fascinated!  And it was just a fun experience to do together.  We'll finish it in the morning.  

This is a response Jessica just got from our doctor related to a question we had about Lewis' diet. Check out the totally wonderful typo: ------------ From: our doctor Date: Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 1:18 PM Subject: RE: question about Lewis Garvin To: Jessica Parker Hi sorry for delay . I was out of town for most of a week. Why don't you keep 2 day diarrhea of all he eats/drinks and schedule appt with him for follow up. Thanks. Vivian Orey

Lewis just has to have what everyone else is having! He was so happy eating small cubes of cantaloupe until I pulled out my big cantaloupe wedge. Then he just had to have a big wedge or else I would have to suffer through his nearly fatal shriek/whine/cry. So I gave it to him. And then he took a nice big bite... of the rind. Poor guy.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3495893&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1

As evidenced by this photo Jessica insisted on taking, I underestimated Lewis' hand eye coordination and the speed in which he was able to put his toy in my coffee cup. It was an incredibly fast and skillful maneuver I will be on the watch for tomorrow morning.

As Ben said, these are both things they are on the verge of doing but neither one of them is able to do. Art really just twisted the laces over and over, but it was the first interest he's shown in tying them. Lewis got a few spoons of yogurt into his mouth, but mostly he seemed to want to just put the spoon in and out of the cup. Good job, boys. - Jess

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=3464657&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=ffffff&fullscreen=1

Art had his first dentist appointment today. It was rather unremarkable. He didn't like leaning back in the chair, he opened his mouth for the hygenist to count his top teeth but wouldn't open up again for her to count the bottom. Then he wanted to get out of the chair and wouldn't get back in until Dr. Newton came in and suggested that he lean back in the chair on me. All smiles, he got back on the chair/mama and she checked his whole mouth. Everything looks great, she said. He got a toothbrush, toothpaste, special flossers and a bracelet, which he chose over stickers or rubber stamps out of a prize basket. Then he brushed his teeth in their bathroom twice, two more times at home and twice before bed. Bubble-gum flavored toothpaste is a hit. -jess

ONE SMALL STEP FOR LEWIS, ONE GIANT LEAP FOR HIS PARENTS Lewis Parker Garvin allegedly takes first step at approximately 3:02pm central time on March 3rd, 2009, in Minneapolis, Minn. (Garvin New Wire) This transcribed from a source who claims to be Garvin's 'Mama': "He was standing with his hands on the table with the footstool a foot and a half away. He looked at me and smiled and let go of the table and stepped to the footstool. He let go with both hands and made the "heeugh" sound and smiled. I looked at him and said, 'what did you just do?' He smiled and thought it was pretty funny."

http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf The Minnesota Press Photographers Association is having its first ever online print auction on eBay right now. If you're interesting in buying an amazing photograph to hang on your wall while simultaneously supporting photojournalism in Minnesota, please take a look through the images. Starting bids are $30, free shipping, and I'm guessing many images will be sold for minimum bid since there are more than 60 for sale. Go here to bid. thanks, ben.

n Uncle Josh pulls Art up the hill. Lew with his uncle.