huck blog

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huck's best

August 28, 2009, 8:41 pm

BEST GAME EVER INVENTED:

He thinks of a number between one and 20 and gives me 21 guesses.

BEST CURE FOR CLAUSTROPHOBIA:

When I explained recently why Grandma Hottman can't fly on an airplane Huck said that all she needs to do is bring a parachute with her, because if she absolutely has to get off the plane she can jump out.

BEST WAY TO SAY HE HAS A GOOD MEMORY:

"I have a really, really long time ago remembery."

BEST EXERCISER:

Every Wednesday morning Huck and Troy have an adventure together and lately this means riding their bikes from 181st Street down to 145th to swim at Riverbank State Park and then back home. That's roughly 80 city blocks or four miles. Huck always walks in the door looking like he just came out of the shower, so wet and sweaty and tan and happy in the face, casually answering "Yep" when I begin asking all my questions like, "Did you really ride your bike all that way?!"

BEST AUDIENCE MEMBER:

Troy does incredible puppet shows every morning with Grover and Big Bird, and throughout the day Huck will say to me things like, 'Today at the puppet show ..." as if he really went to some theatre and watched professional puppeteers. The other day he begged me to do a puppet show like Daddy and tried to teach me how to do Grover's voice. After a few minutes of some gallant efforts on my part Huck said, "Just don't talk." I literally did a silent puppet show, which was humiliating.

BEST WAY TO PUT HUCK RIGHT TO SLEEP:

Huck loves human anatomy and always checks out several advanced books on the subject at the library. Troy has taken to reading these books word for word at night and every time he does Huck falls asleep very quickly and peacefully. I’m sure on these nights he dreams about small intestines and aortas.

BEST KNOCK-KNOCK JOKE:

"Knock knock." Who's there? "Sam and Janet." Sam and Janet who? (and in the most precious, off key little voice he sings:) "Sam and Janet evening ... you will find your true love ..." It gets 'em every time.

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pool party

August 23, 2009, 5:09 pm

Yesterday we got to spend the afternoon with Betty, Ariel, Lily, Brian, Tiffany and Kadin at our friend Jeimy's house in the Bronx and play in her back yard pool. "House," "back yard" and "pool" are all words that make us apartment dwellers giddy with excitement. All morning and early afternoon it rained very hard in Manhattan with no signs of ever stopping, but as we drove into the Bronx with two borrowed cars, the clouds parted, the sun came out and we were given a Pool Party Miracle. These first pictures are of Huck being attacked by a shark (Troy) underwater, a game which could have gone on forever as far as Huck was concerned.

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today at coney island

August 21, 2009, 8:12 pm

We just can't get enough of this place, even when there are literal red flags everywhere you look and lifeguards constantly blowing their whistles if you even think about going into the water deeper than your knees. And there's something fun about the deja vu of yet another perfect summer Friday at the beach that ends with us packing our things and running to take shelter from the incredible thunderstorm with hundreds of other really sandy, happy people.

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sweetest truth yet

August 20, 2009, 7:06 pm

After dinner just now there were two fortune cookies sitting on our table and Huck and Troy ate them quickly while reading aloud their fates. Huck's said, "A person's character is his destiny," and as I tried to define the words "character" and "destiny" to my cookie-loving four year old he said, "My character is a superhero." So I told him that meant he was going to have a superhero destiny.

Then he asked if I got a cookie. For some reason I decided to act very sad about the fact that no, I did not. I looked down and made my eyes very lonely looking and kind of sniffled. Huck's face dropped. This was unacceptable. How could he have allowed this to happen to his poor unfortunate mother? He looked like he was about to cry too as he climbed into my lap and hugged me very tightly, telling me over and over again that NEXT TIME we get two fortune cookies he and I will get them and NOT Daddy. I began to feel better with this news and gave him a brave smile before telling him it was time for his bath. He smiled back at me and said, "First let me comfort you a little more."

To quote a friend responding to a Huck story on Facebook the other day: be still my heart.

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more truth

August 19, 2009, 10:26 am

Yesterday Huck and I were running some errands and as we entered a store with a fancy gumball machine he said to me, "You know what would make my day? If you would get yourself one of those gums." (He's not allowed to chew the big huge gumballs yet so he lives vicariously through me.) I told him if I could find a quarter I'd get one on the way out. Then he said, "Or a kiss. That could make my day." Happy to oblige, I bent down and planted one right on his lips. He wrinkled up his nose and said, "No. That didn't do it."

Thank goodness for the gumball.

[ 19 comments ] ( 63 views )

the truth

August 16, 2009, 6:30 pm

This morning Huck was in a little bit of a crabby mood and as we built an amazing structure out of Lincoln Logs and blocks he kept saying things to me like "No, Mama, not like that" in a very exasperated voice. Finally feeling too insecure about my building skills to go on any further I asked him to please speak to me more kindly. "You're making me feel like I'm upsetting you all the time," I explained sadly. To which he responded with very direct eye contact: "It's not just a feeling. You ARE upsetting me all the time."

Then I laughed really hard and got back to work.

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countdown

August 9, 2009, 6:25 pm

Huck starts pre-school one month from yesterday, which means our time together every single minute of every single day is coming to a close. I've stayed home with Huck since two weeks before he was born, and mostly I've loved it. But for whatever reason, this summer has taught me that I'm finally ready for a little change. Like Huck's two-and-a-half-hours-at-pre-school-everyday kind of change. In the meantime, there’s 29 more days to fill with all kinds of activities, some of which will probably cause me to glance at the calendar. Because it’s not always easy to spend all your time with a space alien.

For instance.

Many times a day he says, “My belly button told me …” followed by some made-up fact or downright lie. He explains, “My belly button has three signals. One tells it to talk, the other makes my belly button go out and in, and my third one tells it to paint pictures.” Oh, really? That's fantastic.

His latest imaginary friend is Michael Jackson. “Not the singer,” he’ll explain. “The four year old girl.” Oh, THAT Michael Jackson.

Everyday Huck dresses himself (in clothes I still pick out because that’s one of my favorite things about having a child and also because he has his father's fashion sense) and I’m not allowed to be in the room until he plays his harmonica, which is my signal that he’s dressed. Then I’m supposed to hoot and holler about what a big huge kid he’s become. For this I went to college.

When he gets a lecture about being too bossy with his friends (mainly Kadin) he explains that he was just acting in a play and that was what the script said to do. Where does he get that?

Recently our friend Gus began rhyming and calling Huck all kinds of variations on his name like Hucky and Bucky and Lucky and Ducky and then one I won’t print here. His dad Mark told him that maybe Huck didn’t like his name played around with like that and Huck said, “Oh, no, Mark, I like it! Gus, you can call me ANYTHING that rhymes with Huck.” So Gus did. Several times. While Mark and I tried desperately to change the subject.

It’s possible that Huck is deep down inside freaking out about the impending change in our lives, and this shows itself in two ways all day long. He’s either completely annoying in his behavior (because even bad attention is better than no attention) or completely inappropriately affectionate to me. Like when he hugged me passionately and said, “I just fell in love with you this minute,” and then proposed marriage, insisting that sons can marry their mothers when they grow up. The other day he said, “When I look in the mirror I think I’m beautiful like you.” And sometimes he gives me completely false compliments like, “Mama, you’re a GENIUS at math,” which is something I can honestly say no one has ever said about me ever.

Don't get me wrong: I'm crazy about Huck. Even on the days when I can't stand him I'm still crazy about him. I just think a little time apart doing our own thing with our own people might be fun. Really, really fun.

The other day I was excitedly talking to him about pre-school when he suddenly got very quiet with an uncomfortable look on his face. I asked what was wrong and he said, “Nerve-racking.” And then he whispered, “What does nerve-racking mean again?” I smiled and said, “Nervous?”

Yeah, that.

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