grandma & grandpa come to visit

Grandpa Alan and Kenny share a moment.

The other week, Grandma Jackie and Grandpa Alan (also known to Kenny as Grandpa "Toot Toot" for his signature greeting) came to visit. There was much playing, picture and video taking, and general merriment. Kenny also displayed his newfound love of climbing by crawling up onto beds, couches, stairs and anything else that got in his way.


Kenny climbs onto the couch. The technique isn't pretty, but it is effective.

Every time Grandma Jackie comes to town she likes to bring something from my old room in Atlanta with her. This time, she brought some sort of inflatable alligator that I don't really remember owning. Seeing that Kenny does a mean alligator impression these days, I couldn't resist blowing the big green thing up for him to play with. I'm pleased to announce that Kenny was amused by the air-filled reptile. He especially appreciated that it made an excellent place to drive his trains.


Kenny and his alligator friend/railway station.

Overboard found a fun activity for us to do during the visit. There was a special event being held at a club in the city called "Baby Loves Disco." Grandma, Overboard, Kenny and I packed up and ventured in from the 'burbs, only to find out when we got there that the event was sold out. No amount of pleading with the bouncers did us any good, and my days of knowing people at the clubs are long gone, so we had to devise a Plan B. Luckily, Overboard remembered that the Nature Museum was near the zoo and we went down to check it out.

This proved to be an excellent plan, as Kenny got to run around and play with lots of things, in addition to marveling at the wonders of the butterfly room.


"Butterflies!" Screamed Kenny. Many times.

Admiring the butterflies with Mr. K

Kenny had a few other "new" things that came to light during the visit. In addition to his climbing, Kenny also loves to mug for the camera and has developed what we call his "fake smile." It's often accompanied by a gleeful shout of "cheeeeeeeeeeese!"


The fake smile AND the alligator. Bonus!

The other new thing was a game where he covers his ears and suddenly Mommy's voice disappears, only to reappear when he takes his hands away. This was incredibly entertaining and brought on much belly laughing.

You can see tons of great pix by clicking here, and make sure to check out the video below for the now mandatory "Kenny's Video Highlight Reel: As shot by Grandma Jackie (for the most part)."

preschool of rock

Overboard "found" this on chicago.craigslist.com...

Need a bassist, keyboardist or vocalist for our band, Preschool of Rock

We play a grind-core, metal, punk mix. Songs include: Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star, Bah Bah Black Sheep, and Wheels on the Bus.

Band practice is late -- after afternoon nap. Graham crackers & milk provided.

SERIOUS INQUIRIES ONLY.


"Screamin'" Molly Becker


Kenny "Rhythm Engineer" Rolnick

grandpa kenny

Today would have been Overboard's father's 80th birthday.

There are many things in this world that can be categorized as "unfair." Kenny (and me, for that matter) not getting to meet his grandpa is one of them. Fortunately, Overboard and her family are never short on great stories, so Kenny will undoubtedly get to know his grandpa, much as I have.

In an interesting note, Reggie & Sarah welcomed their little girl, Zoe, to the world this morning. That lucky girl can say she shares her birthday with a very important man.

kenny's dating pool continues to expand

A number of our friends are pregnant right now, and interestingly enough, they're all having girls. Our Man & Woman in L.A., The Finch-Newtons, and even Kerry and Vince (who are expecting twins) are all prepping the pink paint and checking into ballet lessons. To this news, Kenny has but one thing to say: "Hellllloooooooo, Ladies!"

where my crackas at?

Kenny has a new favorite word, "cracker." This is usually pronounced, "cra-ka." It's not a new word, he's been asking for graham crackers for a while now, but it is his new favorite word. It gets used a lot. Like all the time a lot.

When he starts feeling a bit peckish, Kenny will wander through the house asking, "Craka?" This will then turn into a statement: "Craka." Which will then eventually become a demand: "CRAKA!"

I've confused him a few times with this exchange:

KENNY: "Craka!"
EVENKEEL: "Who you callin' a cracka?"
KENNY: [quizzical look on his mug] "Cracka? Craka. CRAKA!"
EVENKEEL: [handing over cracker] Word to yo mutha. No, seriously, she's in the other room, go say "hello."

kenny the snowbird

This is Cool Kenny on vacation.

Okay, technically it's his Grammy Shirley who is the snowbird - as she migrates south from Boston to Florida each winter. We felt that the snow around here had become quite enough, thank you very much, so we decided to migrate too (if only for a long weekend).

In a nice bit of weather shock, we left Chicago where it was around 28 degrees, and landed in West Palm Beach (on our way to Delray) where it was around 80 degrees. Somehow we coped.


Hint: this bird is not native to Chicago.

We weren't the only members of the family to converge in South Florida. Cousins Danny and Elise came in from St. Louis, Aunt Idelle came in from New Hampshire, Cousin Harriet came in from Boston, and Aunt Claire and Uncle Sherman made their annual migration from Israel. In addition, we got to see the Alters and even Uncle Maishe.

With all of the family obligations, we didn't do much sightseeing, it was mostly group gatherings to "ooh" and "aah" over (and around) the boy. Lucky for Kenny, he isn't opposed to such things, and can actually be quite the ham in front of a crowd (which is ironic in a kosher home, but that's a post for another time).


Kenny knows how to play to a crowd.

This time around, Overboard and I decided to book a room at a local hotel, so we got a suite that was listed as having a bedroom, kitchen and separate living room. This would be perfect, as we could put Kenny to bed at night, but retire to the other room to hang out and watch TV without disturbing him. Alas, the room was more like a loft, with all of the aforementioned rooms in one big space.

Consequently, we were forced to go to bed when Kenny did. Factoring in being on Eastern Standard Time, we were able to stay up an extra hour, but that still meant going to bed around 8pm and getting up around five or six. Let's just say that's a lot more sleep than we're used to. It was nice, but kind of odd. I don't think my body knew what to do with the extra rest.

I'd tell you all kinds of stories about what we did, but like I said before, it was pretty low key, so I'm bereft of too many exciting stories. Or any exciting stories, really. However, Grammy Shirley did score major points with the Percy the Train she got Kenny. He proceeded to play with it non-stop, rolling it over any and every available surface.


Kenny the engineer.

Kenny also received a fun new puzzle from the Alters and a dinosaur and book from Aunt Idelle that took a little warming up to. I tried to show Mr. K the joys of orchestrating "dinosaur attacks" on unsuspecting trains. This was pretty popular, especially when accompanied by the appropriate dinosaur sounds.

When we flew home Sunday we were greeted in Chicago by a thermometer that read zero degrees, with a nice windchill of, I don't know, -46 or something. At least it felt that way. Again, a bit of weather shock.

You can check out all our triptacular Florida pix here. Enjoy!

hello, my name is nenny

Kenny loves to point out the members of his family. He will jab a finger towards Overboard and announce, "Mommy!" Which sounds a bit like, "mah-eee." Then he'll gesture towards me and yell, "Daddy!" Which sounds a bit like, "dah-eee." Then he'll flail an arm or two towards Sadie and scream, "Sadie!" Which, of course, sounds a bit like, "say-eee." Finally, he'll point a finger towards his chest and announce, "Kenny." Which sounds quite a lot like, "nenny."

I love my boy, Kenny. Nenny too.

welcome back, evenkeel

"I don't know why Daddy can't seem to keep the blog updated, Kenny. It might be some sort of conspiracy. Or he could just be busy...You're right. Definitely a conspiracy."

Sorry for the extended "quiet period" around here. Life got in the way. But that doesn't mean Kenny has slowed down, in fact, it's quite the opposite.

For instance...

snowblower? we don't need no stinkin' snowblower!

Not when Evenkeel is so proficient with a shovel.

So it snowed on Friday. Again. This time around, we received about 8-10 inches, which is roughly double the previous snowfall. I dug out Overboard's car that morning so she could take Kenny to the doctor (bronchiolitis and a double ear infection! wheee!), but left the rest of the driveway for a later date, since I had to get to work.

Yesterday I dug out the front driveway, and this morning I did the back. Did I mention that when you leave large amounts of snow alone it gets heavier due to moisture, etc? Yeah, it does.


The back driveway - 50% completed.

Overboard commented yesterday when I came inside that I looked very "angry" while shoveling. I retorted that anger was a good motivator in such situations. The more entertaining shoveling moment came when I was working on the edge of the driveway that meets the street.

As I shoveled, cursed and sweat, an 18-wheeler pulled up to a stop across the street from the house. This is not an everyday occurrence, so I was curious to say the least. This burly driver hops down, comes over and asks me for directions, since he apparently made a wrong-turn at Albuquerque or something. As I'm doing my best to give him directions that won't worsen his situation he looks me over and says, "You should get a snowblower." I was this close to retorting, "You should get a GPS system," but thought better of it since the guy had forearms the size of my thighs.

But back to today. Sadie and I spent a nice chunk of time digging out the back driveway. Well, I did the digging and Sadie did her best to "oversee" the project. This consisted of her barking at me, chewing on her red ball that she somehow located underneath a snowbank, and marking areas of snow for me to clear - much like a construction crew marks gas lines with spray paint.


Our forewoman and the shovel in question.

Sadie's snow shoveling route guidelines.

100% completed. Now I can nap.

There's a nice satisfaction that comes from seeing a job completed, but I still found myself leaning on the handle of my shovel, dripping with sweat, wondering if the truck driver was right.

Or maybe I'll just suffer through another few years of this and then make Kenny do it. When he asks me why we don't have a snowblower I'll just tell him, "You know, in MY day..."

Two more pix:

The icicles in front of the kitchen window.
Now, some will say that this occurs when the gutters are not properly cleaned, thus causing the water to flow over the sides. I don't care much for those people, and would request they not speak with my wife.


The snow must have bent in the wind and frozen in place. Maybe it's just me, but I think that's kind of cool. Probably helps that I didn't have to shovel the snow in question. Always a plus.

nice nice

For a long time now, we've been teaching Kenny the importance of "making nice nice" whenever he wants to touch Sadie, or just about anyone else, for that matter. This entails the art of being gentle and not so "grabby" when trying to pet an animal (or person).

Kenny will now approach Sadie at various speeds and announce, "NICE NICE" before attempting to pet her. The dog is generally opposed to contact from Kenny, unless it's during a meal, so we run a fair amount of interference during these encounters. Consequently, those bold pronouncements of intent come in rather handy.

We're still working on the subtleties of "nice nice" vis a vis not grabbing Sadie's tail or handfuls of Mommy or Daddy's hair.

It's a process.

practice practice practice

The hockey indoctrination rolls on...

Kenny has taken a shine to my mini-Stanley Cup and likes to carry it around. To prep him for potential future glory, I've taught him the proper way you hoist the Cup (but only if you've won it - otherwise it's just like Sadie's tail: no touch).

I am but so proud.


It's amazing how light it feels when you've won!

Kenny looks for a teammate to pass the Cup to.

Next we work on giving it a kiss while it's up over your head...

'ello

Kenny has embraced the word, "hello," but almost exclusively in the context of answering a phone. He loves to pick up my cell phone, put it to his ear and say, "hello." Of course, he tends to drop the "h" so it sounds a bit more like "'ello." As Overboard pointed out, think Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins (minus the chimney sweep, but occasionally with the same amount of dirt on his face).

Mr. Man loves to grab my cell phone and wander around answering it and pushing buttons. The fact that it's a flip phone makes it even more entertaining. I pulled out an old cell of mine that he can call his own, but it's not as good. No flip and no power. This leads to Kenny carrying it about five feet away, giving it a perfunctory "'ello," and then dropping it on the floor and walking away. So fickle, kids these days.

I have at least wizened up enough to turn the power off on my cell before giving it to him. This negates my ability to receive any incoming calls, but it also negates his ability to inadvertently call Jamaica or send someone a bizarre text message.

Random Person Dialed by Kenny: I got the oddest text a minute ago. It read: "SGSGGJSBASA."

He's not limited to phones, however. The other day at the doctor's office, Kenny picked up the computer mouse in the examining room, put it to his ear and said, "'ello." Perhaps he's just commenting on his desire to see more voice activated computer software. It's a theory.