Spring has Sprung

photo credit-Dan Zen
creative commons license

Yesterday it was about 75 degrees Farenheit (24 Celcius) in the lower Midwest. The sky was blue and clear, there was a soft breeze, and no humidity. In short, it was a perfect day. I happened to get out of work early, and treated myself to a late lunch on an outdoor patio of a nearby restaurant.

Today I noticed all sorts of flowering plants, bushes, and trees springing up all over the place. Lillies, redbud, dogwoods, and one of my favorites, the forsythia shown above. The forsythia always seems to just start to peak around Sweet Pea's birthday, which is coming up shortly (she'll be 7).

I'll always associate forsythia with Sweet Pea, as this riotous yellow flowering bush was in full bloom when we went to attend her birth in the city she was born in, and fully in bloom a few weeks later when we brought her back home.

Somehow the explosive, in your face color that screams "Notice Me!!" and "I'm So Cute!" seems thoroughly appropot of our daughter. Sweet Pea is always full of energy, and she is always noticed when she enters a room (whether you'd like her to be or not). Although Sweet Pea is often a bit too loud, a tad too competitive, and a bit too demanding at times, I love her spunk. She has the drive and determination that, when harnessed a bit with maturity, will serve her well in life.

Although a lot of my blogging has to do with Buddy Boy, I just wanted to take a minute and give my second child (the one who I tell every night "You're my favorite girl in the whole wide world") a little bit of ink, too. I can't wait to see what both of my kids grow up to be.

Mad Science!

No, this isn't about the Geier's, or any other practitioners of scientific hocus pocus.

Mad Science! was the theme for Buddy Boy's birthday party with his classmates (was I only dreaming, or did we really have birthday parties when I was a kid that weren't "themed"-our parents would host them at the house, we'd play some silly games like pin the tail on the donkey or pitching clothespins into milk bottles, have some cake and call it a day).

As readers of this blog will recall, I was just a bit anxious last week that we would have enough kids coming to even have a party. My unspoken fear was that Buddy Boy was being ostracized already as the "odd kid", and that no one wanted to attend his party because of that.

Liz mounted a phone campaign to "follow up" with all of those that hadn't RSVP'd, and we ended up with 12 kids total, out of a possible 20. Certainly a respectable showing (I would have been satisfied with 6-7, including our own 2, so 12 was great). The scientist came in and performed most of the usual type stunts that kids like, while providing some education along the way. Things like demonstrating the amazing water absorbing properties of sodium acrylate (the stuff that's used in disposable diapers), a Tesla generator, how different metals burn with different colors, and (of course) fun with dry ice. All of the kids made their own 'slime', which they got to take home with them.

Instead of gifts, we had each kid bring a book, and then we had a book exchange. It seemed to go over well. One very thoughtful young girl, who admitted that she didn't like bugs at all, brought a book all about bugs that she thought that Buddy Boy would like. He ended up picking a different book, "Diary of a Fly'.

Two hours (three with set up and take down), no major incidents (I don't count the one kid at my end of the table who was eating the cake by putting his face in it-he was being encouraged by some of the other kids), all of the kids seemed to have fun, and Buddy Boy and Sweet Pea both liked it. Not a bad day at all.

Maybe we should sponsor a couple of Mad Science parties for all of the so called "scientists" spouting all sorts of idiocy regarding autism's causes and "cures". It might raise their level of science education.

Veni, Vidi, Villi

I mentioned in my last post that Buddy Boy wanted to go see the Body World exhibit at our local science museum. I've had mixed feelings about this, as this exhibit has been surrounded by some controversy, and from what I had heard it sounded like it was more sensationalistic than educational. But a fair number of people that I know had gone to see it and were favorably impressed, so after talking with Liz and with Buddy Boy we decided to go.

The exhibit, for those that aren't familiar with it, exhibits dissected human bodies posed in various poses. Most of these poses are somewhat artistic or athletic in nature. This type of exhibit has been made possible by a process called plastination that was developed by the founder/owner of Body World, Gunther von Hagens. There are 4 Body World exhibits, which in the US circulate between various science museums. These exhibits have been shown in some art museums in Europe, but in the US they are shown as 'educational' exhibits in science museums. They have made a lot of money for von Hagens, as well as the museums that host the exhibits.

Although the hosting museum did not do anything that I considered exploitave, and had some docents explaining some things in the exhibit, on the whole I was a little bit uncomfortable with it. I suspect my discomfort stemmed from the basic difference in how the bodies were displayed, as compared to my medical dissection classes. When we dissected bodies in school, it was a special class. We were admonished to always respect those who had donated their bodies so that we could gain knowledge, the bodies were always treated respectfully, and when we were finished with them at the end of the term we had a short ceremony in the lab to "thank" them for their contribution to our learning, after which the bodies were taken away for burial.

In contrast, the bodies in Body World are posed, as I stated above. I suppose in some ways this can be justified to illustrate how certain muscles are used in certain ways, but it struck me somehow as being located somewhere between voyeurism and pornography.

That being said, the dissections were all top notch, and there was certainly knowledge to be gained for those who approached it who had not had previous anatomy experience.

As we walked thru the exhibit, Buddy Boy clearly felt that this was my domain. Whenever someone near us would ask a question of someone near them, Buddy Boy would interject "You should ask my dad, he's a doctor!" I just smiled and kept walking.

There was one great "That's my boy!" moment during our walk thru. At one point there was a docent talking about structures that he pointed to on a coronal section of a person's abdominal region (kind of a one inch thick human CT scan). While pointing to the intestines he stated that a particular structure he was pointing to was very important to digestion, and before he could ask anyone to identify it Buddy Boy piped up "It's the villi!". The man looked up at Buddy Boy, smiled, and asked him if he knew why they were important. That was all the encouragement Buddy Boy needed.

Buddy Boy proceeded to explain that it was in the villi that all the important nutrients were absorbed, which then went into the bloodstream, and were subsequently carried throughout the body where they were needed. The docent put down the section, smiled, and said "I think that pretty much covers it". The six or seven people standing around him just looked at Buddy Boy in awe. I must admit that I was impressed that Buddy Boy had identified the villi from a cross section, though I suppose the hint that the structure was important to digestion helped a lot.

As the years go by, I wonder more what the future holds for Buddy Boy. Right now I'm wondering how to combine anatomy and farming into a viable career.

Birthday Celebration!

Buddy Boy turned 8 this past week. It seems like only yesterday I was holding him moments after he was born.

Next weekend we are having a "kids" birthday party on Sunday, to which we've invited all of his classmates. We haven't had a kids party in a few years, so I don't know if it will come off OK or not. So far, out of a possible 20 kids, we've received 4 'No's', 2 'Yes's', and one verbal yes (from a classmate) without a formal RSVP. I'm praying for a few more 'Yes' responses. Doesn't anyone know what RSVP means anymore????

But that's this coming weekend, and we'll deal with that then.

This past weekend we had our family celebration, which went well. In case you don't remember, Buddy Boy has a thing for farm machines (especially combines), and has narrowed that of late to all things 'John Deere'. Now while we live within easy driving distance of farms, we've never lived anywhere remotely rural. This hasn't stopped Buddy Boy from being fascinated by these machines, and there use in farming.

For Christmas Buddy Boy got (yet another) toy farm machine (A tractor with a sprayor type apparatus on the back), as well as a boxed set of 5 John Deere DVD's (we laughed when we found these-who'd of new they made such things) and the shirt he's wearing in the picture. When asked what kind of theme he wanted for his birthday, farm machines was what he wanted.


Evidently John Deere has a very good marketing department. Because besides the shirt, the toys, and the DVD's, we also found the plastic logo to stick in the cake, as well as John Deere plates and napkins for the cake.

Buddy Boy had a good time. He's been wanting to go to the Science Museum to see the Body World exhibit, and after talking about it between us and with him, we took him. I think I'll save describing that for a separate post. Suffice it to say that it went well, and Buddy Boy had a good time.

After the museum we returned home for Chinese food, presents, and cake and ice cream. One of my brothers lives in town, so he joined us. We all had a good time, and Buddy Boy went to bed with a smile on his face.

I'm still anxious regarding what's going to happen next week (will anyone show up?, will he like the party?, will the other kids like the party?) but as I said, that'll have to wait for now. I'm glad that he'll have some good memories of this birthday, regardless of what happens next week.

Speaking of Magma

Today we celebrated Sweet Pea's 5th birthday. She's been looking forward to this for weeks. We've been counting down the days. My daughter has enough exuberance for the whole family. She gets excited over the most ordinary things. So when things out of the ordinary happen, she's over the top. Yesterday she says "Tomorrow's my birthday, everybody's going to be there, and I'll get to have CAKE! and ICE CREAM!, and PRESENTS!!!" I didn't think she'd ever get to sleep last night.

Rather than have a large kids party, we went with a fairly sedate celebration with just family (immediate family, aunt, uncle, and one great aunt). She wasn't sure what kind of theme she wanted for her party, but just said "Just so it's not BOY stuff." So we went with butterflies and flowers (all over the walls, with some butterflies hanging from threads from the ceiling), with a sun hanging from the light above the dining room table.

During the day today Liz did Sweet Pea's nails. Sweet Pea has been wanting to have nail polish for some time now, and Liz said she couldn't have it until she was 5. It was the first thing Sweet Pea showed me when I got home. "Look, daddy!" "It's pink, my favorite color!" "First we put on the polish, then we put on some oil, then we had to let it sit for a loooong time."

We had salad and pizza for dinner, then the required cake, ice cream, and presents. Sweet Pea had a great time. Buddy Boy had picked out a birthday card for her (with her favorite on it-Disney princesses). He can be very thoughtful, and does know what his sister likes.

Buddy Boy likes to talk (about things HE likes to talk about). He goes to social skills classes, which we think are helping him in responding appropriately to others, as well as getting his needs across.

We're sitting at the dinner table talking about my sister's dogs. Sweet Pea asks if they are females (they both are), and expresses the wish that they'll have puppies. I try to placate Sweet Pea by saying that they won't have puppies because they're both female dogs, and you need a daddy dog and a mommy dog to make babies. My sister decides to tell her that they both had operations so that they wouldn't have any babies (more information than I would have given, but oh, well). Buddy Boy jumps in with "So they won't have any puppies, Sweet Pea. And speaking of Magma, did you know that it isn't called magma once it's out of the volcano. Then it's lava. And there are 3 different types of volcanoes. You'd know this if you watched my videos, dad. There are cinder cones, composite volcanoes, and shield volcanoes... ." He then went on for about 3 minutes straight talking about volcanoes, the Pacific "ring of fire" where many volcanoes are located, how you can't always tell that a volcano is really dormant, etc. before we finally cut him off.

My wife's aunt (84 years young) loved it. I think she was about to pee her pants. All of us found it fairly amusing. I admired the way Buddy Boy was able to spot a brief lull in the conversation, say something related, and steer the conversation (even if a bit crudely) to a topic he wanted to talk about. It's good to know he's getting our money's worth out of those social skills classes.

So all in all it was a great day. Sweet Pea had a good time, Buddy Boy was able to cope well for most of the party (though he and Sweet Pea did argue a bit about a doll she got with blond hair-he does like blonds, after all). And I didn't have to get into a long description of getting a dog spayed, and why, and answer questions about people getting spayed, etc.

And in checking on the net before I posted, I found out that geologists generally agree that there are 4 different types of volcanoes (how could Buddy Boy have forgotten Lava Domes?). I can't wait to tell him in the morning.

Joe is 211