Easter

Nicenice.
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

Went pretty well. The bigger kids snatched most of the eggs, but you two had a pretty good haul (though egg count is not a signifier of intelligence or future earning capacity, sadly, I mean, thankfully.)

We are making incremental progress on the reduce-the-whining-zero-tolerance parenting, which is also a good thing.

My new company is launching it's website in two days, so I have been even more busy than usual with work, and not spending enough time with the both of you.

I came home one day last week to pick up a computer cable, and you were both asleep for your afternoon nap. I went into your room and kissed you both, and that made my day (but you didn't know about it.)

You, young Kilian, are off this week and three days from last week for Easter/Passover. You keep asking if you are going to school, and we, groundhog day style, let you know that, no, young man, there is no school. Your friend Jay is coming over for a playdate tomorrow, and you asked about Kosei, and would he be coming.

Kosei and his family moved back to Japan because his father works for a big investment bank, and they no longer needed him in New York.

We have had one video chat with him, but I don't think that you understand that he is so far away. You got a little sad when Mummy told you that he had moved away.

I don't really know what to do here.

You, little girl, in addition to talking and being potty-trained, have developed some bad habits of your own, especially around ownership of items, like say, Papa's watch, that are beyond your payscale. While your reaction would suggest that we had branded you with an iron, we are hoping that the drama dies down as we ignore it.

To be clear, I love you both.

On Wednesdays.

Posted by Pops.

Godmother Mimi visits

Coloring
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

Kilian, your godmother Mimi came to see you from California.
You recognize her now, and you, as always, appreciated her doting.
Your vocabulary is an odd mix of Papa's words that sound funny coming from a three-year old, and an endless (and lovely) fascination with counting numbers and reciting the alphabet.
The number counting started in February, and the alphabet started two weeks ago. You are just beginning to ask about what letters make up what words.
Which means the end of spelling things we don't want you to hear between your mother and I.
Posted by Pops.

You learned how to say Papa this week

You learned how to say Papa this week
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

A variant on your mother's braiding technique is the afro-puff. Note the use of the singular here to denote but a single bob on the top of your head.
You are single-handedly going to bring this hairstyle back, nevermind what the haters say.
Posted by Pops.

Thomas the oddly-named Tank Engine

Train with Mummy
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

This track and "action table" consumes most of your in-house time, and you can see that you and Mummy are enjoying yourselves.
On the behavior front: we have adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards whining, bad behavior and crying, which has made March pretty rough, but being able to write this from the hindsight of April, it seems to be paying off.
The things that you do that we love:
1. You are a gentle kind soul, and very affectionate.
The more-than-slightly-longer-list-of-stuff that we are trying to weed out:
1. You are a Seinfeldian high-talker. And the volume is epic. So we are trying to teach you about using your "indoor voice."
2. You cry at a moment's notice for no good reason or because you didn't get your way.
3. You whine like Papa's first car that never got serviced.
This last bit is the hardest to take, so we have resorted to ignoring any statement that is made with your high-pitched voice. That ignoring is prefaced with "I don't understand what you are saying because you aren't using big boy voice." This seems pretty effective.
They are echoing the zero tolerance at your school, and the net result is that your demeanor has been much better this past week.
Posted by Pops.

Care hair bear.

Care hair bear.
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

Well, I, uh don't know what to say. Your hair is quite unlike your brothers, and closer to mine. Which is to say, insanely dense but straight. Thicket-like, if you will.
Your mother has taken to braiding it because it gets unruly (and we use that word in the nicest way possible, as opposed to you being unruly, which is a polite way of saying you're being a terror). When it comes out of the braids, this is what you get.
Also, *like* your brother, you rubbed off a lot of the hair on the back of your head when you were a little girl, so that part is shorter and thus even harder to tame.
On the behavior front, you have picked up a lot of curious habits, like breaking into tears when you don't get things that are not yours that you seem to have glommed on to. This includes scissors, your mother's jewelry, keys, iPhones, and remote controls.
Just so you know why you might be slightly bitter as a teenager, we explain why we are taking the items away, but we ignore the crying.
Nice hair.
Posted by Pops.

First day of Spring is broken

Vertical
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

Because it was snowing outside today, on this, the first day of Spring. You, Kilian, asked to see what it looked like, as it hadn't snowed for quite a while. Your sister wanted to do her first-thing-in-the-morning-go-to-the-bathroom thing, as she is accustomed to do.
This was the first day that she was off of her anti-biotics, so she was, uh, smelling better.
Posted by Pops

Our family in Vienna

Abdul-Malik visit 01
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

The Abdul-Maliks came to see us during their visit to the States from Austria. They brought a lovely noisemaking little car for you, Kilian, and an unspecified (I didn't see it yet) gift for you, little girl.
They had just come from Atlanta, where they saw real-Auntie Maryam.
Mummy made them lunch and you were only able to see them a bit, as it was warm enough for you both to go to the playground with Ilyana after school today.
Posted by Pops.

Sunday night tradition

Original Ray
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

Our is pizza. However, for reasons that are muddy, we served this up to you on Saturday.
Most of the time we go to Bella Napoli, and the price seems to adjust based upon who is serving us (sometimes $2, sometimes $2.15, sometimes they round to the closest number.) It is nearby.
Today, it was Original Rays, which is paradoxical, because there are about 20 Original Rays in Manhattan, and I will spare both of you jokes about this, as they have already been told and they are mostly unfunny.
You do love your pizza, though.
Posted by Pops.

Este loco

Este loco
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

This doesn't need much explaining, except to say that you share your brother's fascination with things electronic.
Posted by Pops.

Sharing

the quiet before the storm
Originally uploaded by The Kilian and the Riley

You two are getting good at getting along, but there is still a vague undercurrent of menace, I believe.
Or naughtiness, shall we say.
Posted by Pops.