budding environmentalist

Trike rides around our neighborhood (and walks, trips to the store, etc.) have turned into community cleanup & recycling campaigns. I remember how this started. Last summer, before Milo really could even pedal his trike, we went around the block and Milo asked why there was so much trash on the ground. I told him that many people are lazy and inconsiderate, and it doesn't look like the city has enough trash/recycling receptacles for people to use. He replied, "Oh, oh...I have a basket," and so it began. Wonderful, right? Well, I must say that it takes a looooong time to go anywhere on that trike when every time Milo sees a piece of garbage he points, says "trash, trash," brakes, gets off the trike, picks up the piece of garbage, inspects it, asks "why do people throw trash on the ground," puts it in his basket, and waits for me to answer. When I give him the standard, "people are lazy and inconsiderate and it doesn't look like anyone's coming around to pick this stuff up," he says, "oh, oh, I'll pick it up...I have a basket," and off we go to the next piece of trash. In our neighborhood, that means 10 or 15 feet. What is one to do? I can't discourage this, but it's getting out of hand. I thought we had worked out an unspoken compromise: we can stop and pick up as many pieces of garbage that will fit in his basket, but now he's altered our route to incorporate stops at every dumpster and trash can in the area. Today, I think we emptied 9 baskets full:



In all seriousness, though, I am really happy to see him take such a an interest in keeping our environment clean and as long as he doesn't disagree too loudly when I declare certain items off-limits, I'm all for supporting his cause. Besides, it's hilarious to hear him bust out with statements/questions like, "oh, oh, rubber glove...you pick that one up; it's gross," or "where are all these people's mommies," or "don't these people have trash cans?" A little bit of trivia for you all...the most frequently littered item in our neighborhood: airplane-sized liquor bottles (the size they use on airplanes, not bottles the size of airplanes...cause that just might be ridiculous). The budding environmentalist at work:



Garbage or recycling?:



Before our biweekly (the two times/week version, not the every other week one) trike ride/community cleanup, we spent some time playing in the back yard with Mom, Esme, and Zelda. Pics:



While Esme rolled around on the ground laughing:




...Milo mobilized of portion of his fleet:


and played ball with me and Jill:





He shoots as if I've been teaching him how to play basketball (I haven't):



As I nursed my injured toe (from kicking the ground as I tried to kick the ball "high to the sky"), Milo drove around his Sprig Toys Discover Rig that he bought on a super, going-out-of-business sale with his b-day money from his grandparents. It's pretty cool...battery-free, kid powered lights and sounds...100% recycled bio-composite material...not quite the adventure rig I want...but hey, he's only 3:



Oh...speaking of me: in case you haven't heard/read, I will be riding again in this year's tri-state trek to raise awareness and money to help find a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Please follow my training at bikemeback, become a fan of my facebook page, donate and become a part of my ride, and/or pick up one of doodleandhoob's cool prints (proceeds to support my ride: 2008 version - 2009 version).

Ride safely and stop to pick up some trash!

Can a 3 y/o still be li'l?

***Note to self: Post more! Right. Perhaps I should take more pics of the kids, which would facilitate more frequent posting. Hmmm...***

Okay...first things first: So, we took a trip to Ontario over Easter (free vacation time...one benefit (perhaps the only) of working at a Catholic Institution) so I could visit the University of Toronto (Robarts Library on the right and the Faculty of Information on the left):



and the University of Western Ontario (Faculty of Information and Media Studies, North Campus Building):

So yeah...after much deliberation...Western it is:



So we'll be moving to London, Ontario this summer and I'll be back in school this fall (Woohoo! Back to criticizing how people do things, as opposed to trying to do them myself).

Anyway, on to what you really want: pics of the kids. Unfortunately, we don't have many new ones. People have been sick around here (sick people aren't particularly photogenic, or aren't willing to be photographed). And when I say sick people, I mean Jill, Milo, and Esme. For the first time in pretty much forever, people around me are sick and I have remained healthy.

A couple of shots with Grandma (from Easter weekend):





And Milo eating trail mix (in anticipation of a walk) on the back patio:



I'll upload some more photos from Easter weekend as soon as I get them from Grandma. Adam even took some officialesque, family ones.

Happy B-Day, Milo! So, yeah...Milo turned three about a week ago. And to answer the question I posed above...lil' kim is much older than 3. So is lil' Wayne and lil' Romeo. Not the classiest crew...and they don't know how to spell li'l (shouldn't it really be li'l'?). Maybe they actually have some growing up still to do. Li'l Abner was 19 and stood 6'3''. That's a pretty big li'l. I guess a 3 y/o can still be called li'l, especially when that 3 y/o "doesn't want to be a grown-up." Anyway...

So, yeah...we had a party in his favorite park with cupcakes, fruit, veggies, and all of his friends:



Since I missed most of the party in the park (I was at work, though I did show up unannounced and stayed for about an hour), we celebrated that evening with pizza, cupcakes, and candles:









If Milo looks less than enthused, don't assume that it's simply because he only had a cupcake (multiple cupcakes, btw) for his b-day. He seemed to actually love the cupcakes (and he did choose them). He was sick. Fever, running nose, etc. Poor kid. Though, he did seem to have a good day (extra time playing Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii!)

Something Milo never did as a baby (still doesn't really do now, aside from at bedtime): fall asleep on his own. Something he most certainly never did/still hasn't done:



The sound of the camera woke Esme up, though:



Milo seems to be quite the compassionate kid. He tends to comfort any of his friends who is upset. He doesn't like "mean" kids. And whenever Esme's upset, Milo usually shows up with a toy or a funny face. I'm so happy to see how good he is with her and hope his sweetness:





...continues.

What else...well, we went to West Rock Ridge State Park today to hike and climb rocks (one of Milo's favorite things to do, along with picking up rocks, throwing rocks, looking for sticks, playing with leaves, and anything else that might stretch a 2 mile walk out all afternoon). A few pictures from the jaunt:

almost poisson d'avril

April is shaping up to be a pretty big month around the Gavin/Bogart household. On Tuesday, April 7, we're heading up to Ontario for a short trip. I'll be visiting programs that week as a part of my decision-making process. Come Wednesday April 8, Esme will be 3 months old. Less than a week later, on the 13th, Jill will turn 32. I want to have my decision about school made by the 15th. Once that is done, we can begin making plans for the move (get student visa, find apartment, reserve moving truck, figure out citizenship/healthcare for Milo and Esme, make arrangements to sell the scion, donate/do something with the protege, ..., ...). But, more importantly for some little kid around here, April 24th is Milo's 3rd b-day. Unlike last year, he's well-aware of the fact that his b-day is approaching and he's been to enough b-day parties in the past year to understand what normally happens. Jill was stressing out about what to do for his party until she finally asked him what he wants to do. His answer: "go to his favorite park with his friends to play and have ice cream." Sweet. Little work and low stress.

Enough, though, about things-to-come...on to those having already been finished and documented:

Esme, circa 2 months old

Esme, just over 2 months old

Milo and Esme's uncle Corey and Aunt Alyssa came out recently for a visit. We didn't do much aside from playing Wii and taking a couple of short excursions, but it was good to have them nevertheless. A few photos from what was nearly a disasterous trip to the beach (Jill saved us from a MiloMeltdown by getting him into throwing rocks into the tide pools):

Just the other day, Jill and I were noticing that we didn't have much in the way of recent photos of Esme (meaning, we don't have a photo of her from every day as we do for Milo...er...did for Milo - our external hard drive has crashed and although I'm a librarian who specialized in preservation management and have repeatedly argued for the need for back-ups of digital files, I haven't been so diligent with our own files). Anyway...we decided to snap a couple candids:









...shot a few of her hanging out in her chair with her bunny doudou:

...and then, trying to get Milo some riding time in on his trike, we took Milo and Esme to the West Haven Boardwalk:

Milo channeling his inner David Hasselhoff (I'm still dissapointed that Milo's first words were not David Hasselhoff...I spent many an hour saying Ha-ssel-hoff, Ha-ssel-hoff, Ha-ssel-hoff to him to no avail, apparently):

Alright...that's it for now. I'll try to not allow 2 months to slip by before my next post. Cheers and cross your fingers for York and Queen's!