Another Day at Play

Spencer spent another day at Play painting to his heart's content, eventually venturing out to hang out with his new friend, Caius, who will be joining Spencer at preschool this fall. The boys enjoyed stories, the train table and puzzles. Perhaps the thing Spencer loved most, besides painting, was the snack Caius brought, a Korean speciality that translates as "flower bread." Spencer gobbled it up. Thanks for sharing Caius!

Singing in the Park

A visit to Nana's house these days means a visit to Olympiad Park. Spencer was doing his best Gene Kelly impersonation today only instead of Singin' in the Rain, he was belting out Mary Had a Little Lamb as loud as could be. He tapped along with a stick in one hand for extra emphasis. I love how he indulges in his musical moods completely unconsciously and hope that he continues to do so for the foreseeable future.

Swinging with Zach

This Saturday morning, the El Segundo kiddie pool opened for the summer season. While waiting for the gate to open, the boys got a chance to practice baseball swings with each other's tees. Zach is already practicing his swing with a tee which ejects a ball into mid-air just like Goldilocks trying porridge: sometimes too low, sometimes too high, sometimes just right. Spencer was still learning the point of the auto-tee. If the ball just kind of flopped out and rolled away, Spencer would chase after it, "hit it" (on the ground) and then run back to the tee to hit the next ball that popped out (and then, usually, run after it as it rolled away to whack it on the ground). Hey, he's learning!

And he learned a neat trick from his friend Zach: throw a ball to your dad in the pool who will dive any direction to catch it (and usually go underwater)! There were laughs and laughs as both dads dove to catch each pass. But damn!, everyone agreed, that water was COLD!

After drying off and warming up, the boys hung out on the playground for a while longer and took a spin in the tire swing together (above).

The Pogos drove down to Nana's house after naptime and arrived with a tired (and hyper) Spencer in tow. Still insisting on doing everything himself, he took himself out of the car seat, grabbed his suitcase and wheeled it up to Nana's front door. Then he knocked until she opened it wide and greeted him with hugs and kisses.

No one reads the Spanish-language story books at bedtime like Nana...

Buddha, Buddha Everywhere

This weekend is the last chance to catch up with The Vision and Art of Shinjo Ito, a free exhibition at the Westwood Art Forum of the works of Japan's foremost 20th century Buddhist Master and Artist. Since I have been interested in Buddhism for a number of years, an interest reinvigorated during our trip to Japan last year, I didn't want to miss this opportunity to see the 16-foot long golden Buddha in person. Spencer, while admiring the Buddha, was more interested in climbing up and down the stairs both to prove that he could and to discover where they led. He embodies, as do all children, the Buddhist ideal of living in the moment. I wonder when we lose that quality?

One Cool Cat

The Los Angeles Central Library, whose beautiful 1920s building is a downtown landmark, was our first stop this morning. We headed upstairs to the children's wing on the second floor stopping on the way to admire the stunning domed mural. We had the place almost to ourselves and what a place it was. There were so many books to choose from, the biggest children's section I've ever seen. Spencer and I read a pirate alphabet book amongst others before it was time to head over a few blocks to music class. Our story today, Chicks and Salsa, was about a group of farm animals who, tired of the same old feed and slop, decide to gather ingredients from the garden for homemade salsa. Ole!

Mike spent the afternoon with Spencer while I went to the doctor's. On the way back from the park, he caught this mischievious look as Spencer strayed off the sidewalk onto a neighbor's lawn.

Splashing with Sadie

Spencer and I paid a visit to Sadie's house today where he promptly went in search of Sadie's toy guitar. He's figured out already at his tender age that ladies love musicians. He followed up his serenade with a dip in the pool, splashing around and trying to douse Sadie with a watering can. She wasn't so keen on the last part. Check back later for photos of the pool party.

French Alphabet

Inspired by our trip to France earlier this year, I signed Spencer up for a Maman et Moi class. So far he can sing the alphabet in French and recite his colors. Now he just needs to watch a few Pepe Le Pew cartoons to round out his French education. Sacre bleu!

Messy Art

Spencer spent the morning with his friend Jonah channeling his inner artist at Play. Dressed in a blue smock, he painted sheet after sheet of abstract creations going back and forth between one side of the easel to the other depending on the color he wanted to use. It was fun to watch Spencer and Jonah paint their masterpieces side by side.

After refueling with a snack of strawberries and blueberries, it was on to the play area where there were a number of interactive toys to captivate Spencer's attention, the train table being his favorite. Meltdown time approaching, we hopped back in the car for the ride home. We were able to carpool for once as Gillian put an extra car seat in the back for Spencer. The boys treated us to several high volume renditions of the ABCs before erupting in peals of laughter when they discovered how to roll down the automatic windows with their toddler toes. Soon everyone in the car was laughing. Those boys are irresistible!

The Arcade

"Mommy's not sleeping here," was Spencer's first observation this morning when he crawled back into bed with Daddy after waking up early. After a reassurance that Mommy was still on her camping trip, Spencer and Daddy chilled a moment while the sun came up on another blazing hot California morning.

We made it to Santa Monica not too long after for breakfast and for a walk down the Santa Monica pier. Now it was Spencer (not, repeat NOT his daddy) who insisted on walking into the bleeping-, blooping- and whirring-world of the Pier's arcade. Once he was in, Spencer was in. He delighted in watching a seven- or eight-year old playing the whack-a-mole and insisted he was next. And he was...and won four tickets. He also played "family bowling" -- a bowling game with the alley set about Spencer-height which turned a push of the ball down a 3-foot alley into a digital-display alley set up to show the results. Spencer got 6 pins down on his first try (and left a two-pin split...aargh!) but was never able to re-capture that beginner's luck. He still managed to get six or seven tickets for his efforts.

Spencer had to be pulled kicking and crying (literally) from the arcade to get back to the car before the meter expired and nap time approached.

Lucky for him, Spencer woke up only a few minutes before his mommy returned and the entire weekend was recounted for her in abbreviated detail.

The last stop of the afternoon was to the "Palms park" where Spencer played on the playground and eventually ran into the middle of its large field. "We should put the tee here," he observed, referring back to his favorite past-time, the baseball tee. "And hit the ball really, really far!" Yeah, thinking big Spencer -- I like it.

No Girls Allowed

Lydia joined some friends for a whitewater rafting trip today so Spencer gave her a big hug and a kiss as she was leaving just when he woke up this morning.

That meant one thing: the Pogo boyz were set to take on L.A., yo.

But it actually became a pretty low-key day. Spencer was sweating up a storm last night in the balmy summer heat. So we decided to look for some new (and cooler) pajamas. At the Fox Hills aka Westfield Mall, Spencer rode in some baby cars (sorry kid, daddy doesn't have any change), snuck his way to the food court, and charmed another set of sales associates ("Hello. I'm looking for some P.J.s for ME!" -- exact quote).

Spencer took one of his marathon near-three hour naps despite the heat in the afternoon leaving us just enough time to swim at the pool at the YMCA. He is getting braver in the water everytime we go there. The "water noodles" or "floaties" (big styrofoam tubes that look like pipe insulation) are Spencer's favorite. Not only did he insist on having one, he took the green one out for a spin, didn't like it, got a yellow one and then insisted on floating on his own. What big boy huh? His head went underwater briefly for a moment and when he came up, he sputtered, gave a little cough and then said, "I don't like that." Not SO big...(yet).