Kids on airplanes

Leo and I were on the airplane and, since his feet exactly reach the seat in front of him, he kept kicking the seat. I told him someone was sitting in that seat and asked him several times to stop and he kept forgetting, of course. Finally I explained to him, "Do you know what that feels like? It feels like this!" And I started shaking his seat really hard. He squealed in laughter, "Do it again! Do it more!"

SICK SICK SICK!

We're all sick here. For the last 7 years or so, whenever I've gotten a cold, it's ended up being a long, drawn out cough. I also have a tendency to cough up these nasty phlegm globbers when I'm sick. Yes, I know that is more than you need to know. Well, Paul is sick now, and guess what, it's gooey.

Paul: coughing, spitting and generally making gross noises.

Leo: "It's disgusting. Ewwww"

Paul: "Yeah, I've turned into your mommy"

iPad

I couldn't resist. Terry showed me his iPad when I was in Portland and I fell in love. Another guy at the conference had one and let me play with it - a great substitute for the 5.6 lb MacBook that I lug around when I travel! So I ordered one. I was so excited, I told Leo, "Guess what I just got! An iPad!!!!" He didn't know what it was, of course, and I told him it could do anything and how cool it was. He replied, "Can it take an x-ray of your body? Can it take out your eyeball and glue your eyeball back in without hurting it? Does it have a microphone to hear food talk? To hear bacteria talk with real understanding?" Nope, guess it ain't that cool after all.

New book by Leo, 'wroten in Alien language'

Leo wrote a book which is "wroten in Alien language", which he reads in this video, titled, "Finding Drago". While an outrageous plagiarism of the Leapster book, it is a very emotionally charged version of this lovely Bakugan story.

What if I kill someone?

We got a free book from Playfair Toys as part of their push for child literacy (somehow I doubt Boulder literacy is down these days but we like books!) - Always. It's about how a mom tells her kid that she will always love him no matter what. I asked if Leo if I loved him even though he made a mess - he said yes. I said even if he didn't eat and he said yes. I said even if he drew on the cork floor with a pen and said yes. I asked if I would love him no matter what and he said no. I asked what he would have to do for me not to love him. He said if he killed someone I would not love him. I was stumped. We'd never talked about something like that before. I said what if it was a bad guy and he was trying to hurt Leo? We decided there could potentially be acceptable reasons for killing someone. We discussed car accidents where someone died. And then finally I told him that even if he killed someone and it wasn't an accident and it wasn't a bad guy, that I'd still love him no matter what.

Trouble

Today when I picked up Leo from school, he said, "You're going to be mad at me. Please don't be mad at me. I need to show you something." We went inside and he explained that he had brought in his Easter candy to school and had been giving it out to the other kids. At one point, he apparently told them to help themselves and in the ensuing fight over candy, the teacher went over, saw the candy and confiscated it. Leo had gotten in trouble (my bad) last week for bringing in a cough drop to school. This time it was candy.

He also said that he had tricked me. He was worried at home that his pockets were too small. He had pretended to put his Easter candy in a special hiding place in his bedroom and then asked if he could bring a backpack to school. He ran down to his room to get stuff for his backpack. When we were putting his stuff in his cubby at school, he got all secretive and said, "I'll bet you don't know what is in my pocket!" I asked him if he had candy in his pocket or anything edible and he said no. He played that little game with me and I eventually gave up. He wouldn't let me check his pockets and he claimed there was no food in his pocket. It turned out there was nothing in his pockets - it was all in the backpack. I saw him showing his backpack to his friend Louisa but he told me not to watch them so I left.

Anyway, I guess it was our first major transgression. He certainly knew what he had did was wrong. He hid it from me and the teachers. He gives people candy at our house all the time and its no problem, so I can see that he might have thought giving away candy at school would be similar. But he must have known it was against the rules because he hid it. I asked him why he tricked me and why he didn't tell me or the teachers what he was doing. He said he didn't know. He was very upset coming home today because he thought Paul would give him a time-out. I explained that Paul probably had a lot of sympathy for people who break rules because Paul was a rule-breaker and that it was me he should be worried about because I was such a goody-two-shoes.

We decided he would not get any candy or video or any treat today. And that I would put the candy up high somewhere so he could not access it. He said, "Mom, you can't do that because I can reach anywhere. You have to lock it up!"

Sperm in the Brain

Yesterday as we were trying to get out of the house, Leo set up a "locked gate" for me to get through to get out of the kitchen. I had to push buttons on his hand and twist a drum sitting on his leg and do all this stuff to get out. I wasn't really paying attention and did it wrong a couple times.

He later said he had a question for me. He doesn't usually ask that in a serious voice, so I took him seriously. He asked, "why do mommies and daddies sometimes forget things that kids don't, even when mommies and daddies have bigger brains? Your brain is so big it couldn't fit into MY head. Is it because your brain is getting old? And the tadpoles, I mean the sperm, I mean when you get old you don't have as many sperm branches."

That led to first, a correction that tadpoles, sperm, and neurons all looked alike but neurons were in the brain. And that we only used a small part of the brain. And that people remember different things depending on what is important to them. And that there are fewer neural pathways when you get older and this is why kids brains learn so much faster than adult brains.

Our last hurrah in Hawaii

I know this is all out of sequence, but the day before we left Hawaii, we took a whale watching tour. Here's Leo driving the boat. Unfortunately, Leo managed to lose his cookies halfway through the tour, and right before we finally saw the whale.

Last Wed, Leo managed to lock Por-por out of her bedroom so that she had no access to her wallet, keys, etc. So he didn't go to school that day. They went to the library instead. On the way home, Leo got tired so he told Por-por his batteries were dead and he stopped walking and became unresponsive. It freaked Por-por out and she was unable to get him to respond. She considered calling 911. A nice passerby took them home in his car and Paul came home and I guess Leo finally got "his batteries changed" and all was well.

When they explained the story to me, Por-por told Leo she didn't understand what was going on and why he wouldn't answer her or move. She didn't know he "had batteries". Leo replied, "I'm a complicated boy".

A couple days ago, Paul was remarking about Leo's abilities to do all kinds of grown-up stuff. Paul asked Leo what he wasn't good at. Leo replied, "I'm not good at working a computer or driving a car."

IEA meeting in the news

Today we were featured in the ABC and Tribunal newspapers and this blurb from the Governor's website: http://www.jccm.es/cs/Satellite/index/notaPrensa1212682930232np/1193043084902.html and a little video at http://www.jccm.es/cs/Satellite/index/home1193041213924pg/index.html



President Barreda today received a delegation of representatives of the IEA

THE AGENCY THE INTERNATIONAL OF THE ENERGY STUDIES IN CASTILLA-LA MANCHA HOW TO ADVANCE IN THE INTEGRATION OF THE WIND ENERGY IN THE MAINS

The encounter of the IEA in Toledo supposes a recognition to the autonomic power model, based on the development of the renewable energies and the extension of the infrastructures that allow that development. Representatives of the Agency the International of Energía (AIE) today indicated their satisfaction to the power to celebrate in Castilla-La Mancha, concretely in Toledo, his 9º Scientific Encuentro that he will allow them, according to said the coordinator of the group, the Finnish Hannele Holttinen, to know the production systems of wind energy developed in the Independent Community and to try to advance thus in this field.

“Spain interests to us particularly since we know that it has a high level of penetration concerning the production of wind energy, therefore hoped that this encounter is very fruitful, because it does not give the opportunity to come and to work with the systems that already exist here”, indicated Holttinen after the encounter that the representatives of the IEA maintained with the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Jose Maria Barreda, in Toledo.

Indeed, Barreda remembered that, within Spain, Castilla-La Mancha is Community Independent pioneering in which to production of energies clean refers, while it remembered that the objective of the regional Government is to be able to produce, in 2012, more renewable energies of the consumed amount.

“And we are going to continue working in that direction, because we think that it is the suitable way”, among others pointed president Barreda, who did not want to take leave without before giving the welcome to Castilla-La Mancha to the delegation formed by 25 participants coming from 14 countries worldwide like Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Sweden, Spain, the United States or Norway.

Against this background, Barreda explained to the representatives of the IEA the important effort that Castilla-La Mancha is also realising in the development the dependent clean energies of the sun, like photovoltaic and termosolar, while it remembered that it is being experienced with biomass to give value to forest products “and of having in better conditions our mounts and to agriculture”

“But of course we are developing and much the Aeolian energy because it has a great potential”, it pointed the president, who hoped that the encounter of the IEA in Toledo concludes successfully “because without a doubt it is important to improve the systems of wind energy so that it is still more efficient”.

Recognition to the autonomic power model

The encounter of the Agency the International of the Energy in Castilla-La Mancha supposes a recognition to the autonomic power model, based on the development of the renewable energies and the extension of the infrastructures that allow that development. The Agency the International of the Energy is an international organization created by the Organization for the Cooperation and the Economic Development (the OECD) after the crisis of the petroleum of 1973, that it looks for to coordinate the political energetics of his Member States in order to assure reliable energy, purchasable and clean one. Its initial objective era to coordinate the measures that will be necessary to assure the supplying petroleum, particularly in emergencia situations, with the purpose of to sustain the economic growth of their members. At present, after the changes undergone in the markets of the energy, the Agency worries about the three more excellent aspects of the political energetics: security energetics, economic development and protection of the environment.

Take me back to Toledo

After 24 hours of travel, we have arrived in Toledo, Spain. It was two flights (with nearly 5 hour layover), a taxi ride, another 5hr layover as we waited for a train, another taxi ride and we are in this famed fortress town with tiny windy streets on a hillside surrounded by a river. Its incredibly beautiful and worth the long haul to get here. The train station is incredibly intricate and glorious - fancier than a nice church. I'm beat from little sleep on the killer European red-eye, but time ticks on and soon enough I'll get some sleep.

Stunt your growth

Paul just got back from Hawaii last night. Today we took a family hike since we haven't spent time as a family for 2 weeks and I leave tomorrow for Spain. Paul told Leo - "you're not going to grow up are you? You're such a perfect size now", and cuddled Leo.

Leo relied, "If you don't want to make me grow up, you have to give me CAFFEINE!"

The candy factory

Today we went to the candy factory with Leo's friend Sami. They took the tour and then walked into the obligatory store at the end of the tour. They were SO excited, running about like kids in a candy store.
Leo: "We could just take the whole store. Wow - Giant Lollipops (they are 1 lb, $20 lollies)! Now this is what I call LIFE!"

Tonight we were doing some art. Leo's sleeve narrowly missed a blob of paint. I pointed it out to him. He replied, "Yeah, I know it. I see it. Do you think I'm blind or something?" The attitude can't get worse than this.

Team of entymologists

Today Leo brought in a spider for show and tell. I asked if the other kids liked it and if they liked to catch bugs too. In Hawaii, Leo and 3 or 4 other kids spent a lot of time catching bugs. Leo even drew a picture of them all catching a slug one day. Leo said "No, I don't have a team here. They don't like to catch bugs". I told him maybe he could tell the other kids how much fun it was to catch bugs and he could teach them how. He seemed weary - "yeah, maybe".

I got a new treat!

Tonight Leo took four bunny grahams and put them in a cup with some water and put it in the freezer. He said, "I call it: the four bunny liquid treats". When I asked if they were liquid or solid, he said they were solid but that he had put liquid in the freezer. Then he said "psst - hello! It's working! I planned my treat to be easy to cut. It's easy to cut. I think its because its only a little bit frozen".

Firefox

Leo and I were reading a book from Mari - "The Way Things Work". We went through paper making, amplifiers, lenses, and then he asked if we could do 'forgetting'. I said that was a complicated subject and that we actually don't know much about why we forget things. He said, "Why don't we go into Firefox and type in 'why we remember and why we forget' and look it up on the web?" Umm, yeah, good idea!

He also had his first ski lesson today. My Hawaiian colleagues were here for work so I took them snowboarding and put Leo in ski school. He did GREAT! He went down the gently sloped kid area (with the magic carpet) 15-20 times. He didn't know how to stop so on his first run, he ran right into the fence. My dad has video of him trying to figure out how to turn around (he steps on his ski and then his boot comes out of the ski, then he takes off the other ski to fix them, then he lines them up along the fall line and attempts to get into his skis but every time he tries to get the second ski on, he starts sliding down the fall line). He was so excited about skiing and said he wants to go on the ski lift next and that he wants to come back. He also told me that when he carried his skis back to the lodge that he was even faster than the teacher. It was a great experience.

Whole house skyscraper

Tonight Leo got a cup of Haagen Dazs plus some of Porpor's. He said "do you know how big a sugar buzz I'm going to have tonight? As big as a whole house skyscraper!" I think we're getting bigger and bigger here.

Leo's new school

Today Leo got to spend one hour by himself at the new preschool. I asked him about it. He acted like an older sibling who was disgusted with a younger sibling: "Some of these kids are just like little babies. They suck their thumbs! They pick their noses." He then proceeded to explain one of the Montessori learning games, "They have this game that is SO BORING! All you do is pour beads from one cup into another". I explained to Leo that he had once wanted to be a teacher of one-year-olds and that this would be good practice for him. Hopefully that will help him with the attitude adjustment.

New Schools

Leo and I moved back to Boulder for good Saturday. Luckily my parents are here this month so they can help with his transition to the new school, which goes like this:
Monday - can't start on a Monday
Tuesday - come in for one hour with parents
Wed - come in for one hour by himself
Thurs - come in for two hours
Fri - three hours, etc

So Leo did one hour today and loved it. He immediately got along with a boy and a girl his age and was explaining to them that the picture of a clam in an ocean book was a kind of flatworm. I asked him later what he thought of the new school and he said he liked it and that when he went back to Hawaii, he wanted to take this new school with him. I asked him what he liked about the new school. He said it was more challenging. They have moon sand.

I'm so glad he is doing well with the transition. Of course he has his Poppop and Porpor to take him around to all the museums while this transition is happening. Meanwhile, I'm trying to rewrite the executive summary for my three year study, give incoherent presentations on it nearly every day, prepare three presentations for a DOE peer review next week, run a solar meeting with another lab tomorrow, and have the Hawaii guys up to our lab on Monday all day for more meetings, and deal with movers and meetings at Leo's new school before heading to Spain in a couple weeks. I'll be lucky to escape the next month unscathed.

HOME!

It's nice to be home! Boulder is quiet - sleeping here is incredibly quiet - all you can hear is the furnace kicking on. No sirens, no motorcycles surfing wet streets, no parties on the balcony above you. The grocery stores have few people, beautiful produce, organic food and everything looks nice and it's pleasant to shop! It's cold and desolate here, and very brown, but the snow outlines the Flatirons and the trails will be inviting once I have time to get out. Leo will be so excited to be back in HIS house with HIS STUFF and throw a baby disco party for his friends.