A Fest Fit for a Kid

Thanks to the generosity of the Seattle Mariners, Lukas, Annabelle, Mrs. LIAYF and I, along with some good friends, spent the afternoon at Safeco Field here in Seattle enjoying their annual January FanFest and getting ourselves psyched up for the upcoming baseball season.

If you are a fan, and I for one am a big one, you can't help feeling a bit of optimism with the change of direction that new GM Jerry Dipoto has so swiftly implemented.  His ideas seem so logical and many are ones that long time fans have been calling for for ages.

As for our visit today, our whole party had a blast touring the dugouts and the clubhouse, seeing and hearing firsthand how the players prepare for, and relax after, their home games.  My favorite parts were seeing Kyle Seager and Robinson Canoe's lockers, as well as a private sneak peak at the clubhouse batting cages where future Hall of Famer Edgar Martinez and newly inducted member Ken Griffey Jr spent some so many hours perfecting their craft.

After that we toured the many exhibits set up for visiting fans before making our way to the kids play area to let Lukas, Annabelle and their friends burn off some much needed energy.

Of course, that made us all pretty ravenous, so we logically feasted on some ballpark fare, and before calling it an afternoon Lukas and I, along with our friends ventured out to Left Field with our baseball gloves and had a memorable game of catch together, covering much of the very same turf that so many big leaguers have also covered since Safeco opened bck in 1999.  It was a whole lot of fun, and Lukas really enjoyed himself.

Almost as much as I did.

Lukas and a good buddy, ready for outfield catch session.

True story - I have a jar of dirt in a special place in my garage from the initial groundbreaking of Safeco back in February of 1997. (it was parking lot so I guess in this case they torn down a parking lot, and put up Paradise.)

By the way, I was happy to learn that you can sign the kids up for the Mariners Kids Club for free this year, which has a lot of cool benefits.  We could have done it at FanFest today, but the lines were long so we'll just do it online

All in all, it was a fun afternoon and it certainly got me excited for the upcoming Mariners season, as different as it promises to be

Maybe this will finally be the year that the team returns to the playoffs.

Hope springs eternal!

Disclaimer: The Mariners provided our tickets free of charge, but did not ask for any corresponding publicity.

Episode II: The Force Helps Out

With the Jolly man, a couple days before surgery.

Happy Holidays readers.  We had a very Merry Christmas here at the LIAYF household, as you can see from the picture above.  That's despite the fact that Lukas was once again recovering from major surgery.

Even though I'm calling it major surgery, I'm not sure it can officially be called that (who decides that?), but we reached the six month time frame after his original Femur break, it was time for our little guy to get the plate and screws removed his right leg so that it can continue to grow and strenghten properly.  It took over an hour, so to all of us it was major.

The operation happened a couple of days before Christmas back at Seattle's Harborview trauma center with his original surgeon, and although he was able to go home that same day, he has been once again non weight bearing on his leg until today.

He will remain partial weight bearing for now, until he can finally heal enough to once again ditch the walker and wheelchair that he has spent so much time using over the past six months.

As we all know from experience, a big part of the healing process comes from happiness and distraction, which is why all the celebration of Christmas with the gifts and treats and extra love from Mrs. LIAYF, Annabelle, and I being home with him helped out quite a bit.

Another event that helped out came this afternoon, as we arranged to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Seattle's very best place to watch a movie, the iconic Cinerama movie theatre.  Mrs. LIAYF and I have watched many a movie at the Cinerama, including pretty much every opening of any hyped new Sci Fi film before Lukas was born and Annabelle joined our family.  But this was the very first trip there with Lukas.  And it was amazing.

We thought Star Wars certainly warranted loading up his wheelchair and arranging a time to view it.

That last part, came about because of some diligent legwork from Mrs. LIAYF, and also the generosity of the Cinerama and it's staff - who are 2nd to none.  The movie was actually sold out well into January, but after an email looking for ADA seats the Cinerama let us know we could attend today's show, and out of amazing generosity didn't charge us for any of the tickets!

We were blown away.  Not only by the Cinerama, but also by The Force Awakens. This was truly an amazing movie that held incredibly true to the original films, kept the action, adventure and effects coming non stop for the duration and left no one in the whole venue disappointed.  Don't worry, I'm not going to include any spoilers here.

And we have also counseled Lukas about spoilers once he retruns to school, as we are sure some of his classmates will not have seen the film.

Luke has been found...to have liked Ep 7.

In the end Lukas LOVED the movie, as did Mrs. LIAYF and I. We were all very grateful to the manager of the Cinerama, who had helped make our afternoon so fun.

As I mentioned, Lukas' leg is healing.  It will be at least another 6 weeks before he can even participate in PE or Recess at school.  But, importantly, he IS healing and strengthening both his leg as well as his resolve.

At this rate, he will be stronger than ever in no time.

And ready for another epic light saber battle with his dear old dad.

A Super Girl

My Kryptonite - My powers weaken in her presence

Annabelle is all about Superman recently.  And it's pretty darn cute.  This love affair with Clark Kent's alter ego started with a Superman stuffy that she 'procured' from Lukas' room a couple of months ago.

Ever since then, she has been carrying him around, making him fly, and pretending to make him jump over tall buildings, or chairs, or counters, or sofas, or....well you get the picture.

That last part is probably due to the original and classic 1940's Superman cartoon episodes that we have let her watch recently, including the pilot.

"This looks like a Job for Superman!"

She couldn't say "Super" when she first caught the bug, so she just called him Haaman which was pretty cute for a while until someone to be left unnamed (sorry Honey) taught her to more closely enunciate "Super" and now she clearly calls him Duperman, which is still pretty cute I have to say.

And since she clearly shows preference for the Man of Steel, which doesn't seem to be fading away, Mrs. LIAYF and I have decided to capitalize on the opportunity.  When she finally mastered the art of potty training we rewarded our sweet little thing with girls Superhero underwear, including a couple of Supergirl pair which, of course, she prefers to the Batgirl and Wonder Woman panties.

We even pulled out a cool Superman emblazoned silver vest that we saved from way back when Lukas was 3 years old.  She rarely wants to take that vest, or another long sleeve super T, off.  Even begging to sleep in the T as a night night shirt.  How could I resist?

I'm not really sure how long the Superman obsession will last with Annabelle, but we will happily ride it out as long as she shows continued interest.  And, we really did need some additional Christmas gift ideas for her anyway.  What to get?

Mrs. LIAYF found a pretty cool print, with the Super logo, that said 'Superman was Adopted Too'.  How cool is that?  Obviously, that resonates with us.

This looks like a job for Superman, indeed!

Fashionably Late Halloween Post

Okay, I know it's probably lame to finally post Halloween pictures on Thanksgiving week, but I'm sure that once you actually see the kids in costume all will be forgiven.

First, there's the siting version....

Then, there's the standing version.....

There.  I knew all would be forgiven.  Who can stay mad after seeing cute kids? Not me, and not you either.

By the way, that's a Super Spy (ala Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt in MI) and, of course, Atom Girl (Lukas' superhero name for Annabelle).

Aren't they awesome?

Oh yeah, lots of candy was gathered....and consumed.  Although, it's almost Thanksgiving and we do still have most of it in our cupboard and not in Dad's waistline, which is a win.

Cheers.

The Amazing Magic Hands

Just because he spent the Summer in a wheelchair, it didn't mean Lukas wasn't having fun and being creative.

One of the cool projects he worked on was making a stop motion short, to enter into a kid film festival.

The festival was the First Film Fest and, even though it hasn't been judged yet, we are not really holding onto any notions that he will win anything with the film.  Rather, it was just a fun project that introduced him to film making, and the real labors that go into even a very short piece. Over 500 frames were shot for this short.

The film tells the story of a robot magician who is pleasing his audience and having fun at the expense of his owner, who was having a nightmarish dream.

Or was he?  Skynet has nothing on these Lego Robots.  Especially the incomparable "Amazing Magic Hands!"

Prepare to be amazed!

Wordless Wednesday: Good Night Beach

Proof I'd Do (Nearly) ANY Thing for My Kids

'Sausage', I might have actually liked

"Try this one Dad!" Lukas giddily asked me a couple days ago.

"What is it this time?" I responded, a bit leery about the request but not overly concerned.  I had, after all, just eaten dirt, rotten egg, and black pepper.  None were pleasant, but neither were they terrible. Mrs. LIAYF had eaten one flavored after an earthworm. 

Admittedly, that had not gone well.  

But I am Dad of the Iron Stomach.  Almost nothing phases me. Almost.

"Vomit!" he laughed.

And, because I'm a Dad, and game for nearly any challenge, I tried a Bertie Botts (Harry Potter) jelly bean of the 'vomit' variety yesterday.  Lukas and Mrs. LIAYF are reading the Harry Potter series together this Summer, taking turns on pages and so were well aware of flavored beans.  

I sort of remembered them from the movies.  But it seems like my memory is sketchy on a good day anymore, and was initially unaware of the different 'flavors'.

We picked the beans up at a toy store, while on a long weekend getaway to the ocean.  And after only a slight hesitation, Lukas and I each popped one in our mouths at the same time. I thought it couldn't really taste like puke, but ya know what? I was sadly mistaken.  

It was unquestionably one of the worst things I have ever tasted! We both spit them out at about the same time.   I had to fight the reactionary urge to empty the contents of my stomach right there, sitting in our parked car.  

One thing that has always given me the heebee geebees is the idea of eating a bug.  In reality I think this might have been even worse than what I imagined the bug would taste like.  

Yep, we learned a lesson with this 'experiment'.  I'm not sure what that is, but had a long and lasting laugh about the whole thing.  About 2 minutes after we stopped spitting. 

My advice?  Don't try this at home. Or even away from home.  

Unless, of course, you want a cool experience to remember and commiserate with your kid about for a long, long time.

How to Win Treats and Influence People

"I pee pee in the POTTY!" Annabelle emphatically declared earlier this evening.

I turned my head toward the bathroom just in time to see my sweet little thing doing what can only be described as a Frankenwalk in my direction while holding her little green potty above her head with both hands.  "Don't spill" I warned.

I knew what was coming next.

"Treat?" she asked, as she reached me in time to hold out said potty in front of me as verification that she had, indeed, clocked in this particular evening and thus she was entitled to her just compensation.

"Treat Daddy?" she again inquired, giving me a sweet look that, of course, I was no match for.  "Yes Sweetie" I responded.  "How about a Smartie?"

She liked that well enough.  "But now you have to eat some more of your dinner Sweetie" I tried to sound firm but loving at the same time.  It worked.....for a bit.  However, a few moments later, Annabelle was once again down from her dinner chair and headed to the potty.

And once again, she walked out the the bathroom declaring that she was owed a treat. She even gave herself a mumbling, but pretty darn cute "Hup hup huvay" as she threw her hands in the air.  After proper verification I once again rewarded her with a smartie candy. A pink one this time.

Now, while two pees in the potty in one evening is a pretty good output for a 2.5 year old, I was unprepared for what was next.  (No, it wasn't that.  We are still working on that one.) Annabelle, the prudent business woman that she is, apparently realizing that this whole getting a treat thing was pretty cool (especially since she has a very pronounced sweet tooth) decided that she was going to cut down on quality while increasing output.

No less than 3 more times, our tiny entrepreneur ran off to the loo and came out declaring that there was something treat worthy for me to see in there.

Not much, mind you, but each time there was indeed something in the bottom of that potty. After one of the last visits I joked to Mrs. LIAYF  "I think we should start calling her Squirt." as I focused trying to see if there was actually anything in there.

Then, after her last trip, and I again verified the contents I was amazed that she wasn't dry.  "Where is all this pee pee coming from Annabelle?" I asked, in all seriousness.

"MY BUTT!" came her emphatic reply.  Mrs. LIAYF and I just laughed.

Well, I did ask.

"Not quite Sweetie, but good job none the less! Have another Smartie."

They Saw The Sign, It Opened Up Their Eyes

As has happened countless times in the past few weeks, Lukas and I passed several groups of people at the Zoo today while in his wheelchair - only to hear them whispering behind us. Most of the time it was obviously about him, not matter how quiet they were trying to be. But we didn't mind.  Especially Lukas.

In fact he welcomed it.

Other times, we were actually approached by friendly folks who wanted to chat about our 8 year old's predicament.   But it wasn't always that way.

As I mentioned recently in a post here, our son is spending the summer in the aforementioned wheelchair because he suffered a spiral fracture of his femur and had a plate and eight screws surgically installed in a 4 hour procedure.  It was a freak skateboard accident, and we all have come to terms with what that means for our summer plans as well as our daily routine.

But Lukas is not one to mope about being confined to a chair with wheels as his primary propulsion device outside the home.  In fact, he has gone out of his way to wheel himself over to a pack of friends, or kids who were strangers for that matter and interjected himself into their conversations.  He so wants to be a part of all that is going on.

Now, they will most often include him in the conversation, save for a few instances which didn't deter him, but at first it was different.

In the first couple of weeks after his surgery, the reactions of people we passed out in public was very different.  It was Lukas who noticed it early on.  "Mom, why do all the grown ups look away when we pass?" he asked Mrs. LIAYF.  "And the kids stare at me, but don't say anything."

After his Mother had explained to him that people can be a bit uncomfortable seeing someone in a wheelchair and not knowing the reason (he has no cast on his leg, therefore it wasn't obvious what was wrong) that they are often afraid to say anything for fear of saying the wrong thing, it was decided that something needed done to rectify this situation. Maybe people would react differently if they knew what had happened.

And since we were all set for him to  wheel through our local 4th of July Kids Parade the next day, Mrs. LIAYF made Lukas a pretty cool sign to hang on back.  It says "I broke my leg skateboarding" along with a drawing of a skateboard.

This has made a world of difference in how he is interacted with out in public.  As I mentioned, as we pass people we are constantly hearing them whisper to each other.  "It say he broke his leg skateboarding." someone will invariably whisper to a companion.  They will then chuckle.

As I mentioned, many will now approach us and want to chat about the injury, commiserate by relaying their own broken limb story, or simply compliment him on his sign.  "Awesome sign dude.  That explains a lot" is a common response his will get.

Interestingly enough, another common statement we will get goes something along the lines of "Is that sign to deflect having to answer all the questions about it?"  To which they are often very surprised when we tell them it's for the opposite reason.

I can completely understand where these folks are coming from too.  Before this, I would have a similar reaction to someone else's child in a wheelchair.  I would feel really terrible for them and probably not know exactly what to say, especially if I didn't know the reason behind the confinement.

Still, I don't know what a person permanently confined to a wheelchair might think of such a sign.  Would they think that we are trying to make sure everyone knew that this was a temporary thing, rather than permanent?  Would they view that as a slight?  I'm not sure, although I hope not.

I think, if anything, this experience has opened our eyes quite a bit to the great experiences that can be had, despite not being able to walk.  Lukas has even commented a couple of times that he doesn't mind being in the chair very much.  That he can actually still have a lot of fun while in it.  In large part, that is likely a product of his well adjusted outlook on life, but it is also a result of realizing that happiness is a combination of many, many factors.

Of course, don't get me wrong, we will all be thrilled once the wheelchair is no longer needed.

But until then, we will all be happy to field questions from anyone reading his sign.  After all, it's not just an explanation, it's an invitation to interact.  Something we all thrive on.

Especially our very social boy.

Channeling Her Inner Herve

Cleared for taking off....

Annabelle is now 2 1/2 and what I can only describe as a force of nature.

A super cute force of nature, but definitely a force of nature.  She always likes to do things her way, and without help.  That will serve her well someday.  Now, at 2, it makes things 'interesting'. And, even though she can be 'strong willed' at times, I love every ounce of her.

In addition to being strong willed, she also laughs, hugs, and does tons of silly things.  But most of all she is very loving towards Mrs. LIAFY and I, and her brother too.

....Yeah, she loves her brootheeeer, and America too....

Sorry, I just had a Tom Petty moment.  But back to the post at hand, another thing Annabelle really loves right now is airplanes.  All kinds of airplanes.

Yep, she gets super excited anytime she sees an airplane, calling out loudly and pointing to it to make sure we see it too.

"DA PLANE, DA PLANE!!" she will call out, as if she were channelling Herve Villechaize aka Tatoo from the 70's/80's television classic 'Fantasy Island'.  I guess that would make me her Host, Mr. Rorke.

Although, reality check, if this were really an episode of Fantasy Island and I ran the place, you'd think I wouldn't have to change any diapers, would you?

Okay, although I am definitely not living an episode of Fantasy Island, I am enjoying that Annabelle is making leaps and bounds with her vocabulary recently.  It's fun that she can now verbalize clearly many things that she enjoys.

Like airplanes!

We had family movie night this past weekend, and since it has been difficult to get our sweet little thing to actually sit for some screen time (I know, rough problem to have) we decided to rent a movie that might pique her interest.  Like 'Planes', the Disney movie that is basically 'Cars' with wings.

Unfortunately, as much as she likes airplanes, her reaction to sitting still and watching them on a screen for an hour and a half was pretty much "Meh"(even when Dusty Crophopper was Free, Free Fallin!), except, of course, when there was a PINK! plane (supporting cast) - which I guess is all right, even if the result is that I don't get to sit through the whole movie either.

Once, during a moment of distraction from Planes, I noticed that she had gotten some stamps from daycare earlier.  "Those are pretty stamps Annabelle" I let her know.  It was at that point that she corrected me.

"Dadoo, Daddy.  Dadoo"

Apparently, she thought this was some permanent ink.

Or else she was once again channeling her inner Herve.