The Beck and Cade Chronicles

All that stands between the graduate and the top of the ladder... is the ladder

2010-05-21T14:27:00.007-05:00

Beck Alexander Sosa (age 6) is officially a Kindergarten graduate!

He leaves Step By Step Montessori at the end of this summer for first grade. How'd that happen?!

Next stop: Armatage Montessori this fall.

Click below to see a slide show of graduation night highlights :

Macho Macho Man...

2010-05-21T07:16:00.007-05:00

Caden had his first (and quite possibly his last) dance recital last weekend with his friends from Step By Step Montessori. He even danced (after some pretty intense weight-lifting)!

See for yourself in this slideshow!

Luke Skywalker One. Vader Zero.

2010-03-16T14:30:00.002-05:00

It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Last month, Beck made an emergency landing at the Tria Acute Injury Care Center (if you ever have a broken bone - go directly there. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.) We got lucky that time; Beck had just sprained his finger. A little bit of tape for a few days and he was good as new.

But get this - you get a REALLY cool goody bag at Tria. Something Caden took envious note of when Beck came home from that visit.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon.

Cade "jumped" to the bottom of the steps (I'm told he was only on the second from the bottom, but I'm skeptical since there were no actual witnesses other than his duplicitous six year old brother...) and, of course, he landed wrong. Nanny took good care of him, iced it and hugged him up. But it looked like he was growing an egg on the top of his foot by nightfall.

So like any good parent, I had him pop some Ibuprofen and we all went to bed.

Well, I can't tell you how excited Caden was when he found out he was going to go to Tria himself in the morning. He went to sleep with visions of that goody bag dancing in his head all night long.

Either that, or he was just really excited that he wouldn't have to go to school tomorrow as evidenced they the note he wrote at bedtime:

{Begin Translation} Dear Ms. Brooke,
I am deciding that I will not go to school tomorrow. I broke my foot so I could have a stay at home day.
Yours truly, Caben. {End Translation}

When we finally got to Tria he was the patient-est patient there ever was. Not a single complaint. He was super proud to be there just like his big brother did before him.

He didn't want to take his sock off when asked because Beck didn't take his off when he was there! The doctor and I thought that made total sense... so after some ingenius reasoning (with a four year old) we resorted to what amounted to bribery... He finally relented when he heard that he'd get to have a picture of his foot taken and see what his own skeleton looked like! Now that was cool.

Oh. And then there was also the ride in the wheel chair...

When he got his cast on he declared:
"It's Darth Vader's mechanical foot!"

(He chose black for a reason!)

Apparently Lord Vader and Luke Skywalker had gotten into it with their light sabers yesterday and Luke finally beat his dad at his own game!

So:
One fractured metacarpel, one really cool goody bag and a couple of weeks in a cast. All in a days work for Darth Vader.

The Birdies are Sing-ing…

2009-12-15T20:58:00.009-06:00

When my Dad was a little boy, my Grandma Lennie used to wake him and my Aunt Sheri up in the morning by singing to them:

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until they grumblingly (I imagine) agreed to get out of bed. That was long before the advent of iPhones that you could simply dock in your iHome with a different pre-set alarm for each day of the week and a different pre-programmed iTune to wake you up… and then, of course, they had to walk up hill… both ways…to their one-room schoolhouse… in ill-fitting in snowshoes…

So it’s not hard to envisage that some years later my big brother and I, too, were awakened each morning by the sound of our father singing (in and oddly high-pitched tone):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until we sullenly (I know) agreed to get out of our bunk beds. I guess it’s sort of a family thing.

I realized this because six years ago, when I had my first child, I found myself opening his bedroom door each morning and singing (perfectly in pitch, of course):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, twee-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" Over and over again until he opened his sweet little eyes and smiled at me. (He’s only six now so he hasn’t figured out yet that it’s really not fun to get up early in the morning… there are still too many Pokémon to be played with at this juncture in his little life.)

When Beck’s brother was born two years after him – things didn’t change much other than the fact that I was way more tired in the morning and maybe not quite as “chirper” as I used to be. I just started singing for two each morning:

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" And it generally got the desired results.

Until this morning…

Yo see, now-a-days we all generally go to bed in our own bunk beds but we ultimately wake up together in a big pile of arms and legs in one king sized bed in the morning. (Okay, sometimes, Mommy or Daddy wakes up on the couch in the nook if some boy or other decides to play Karate Kid in his sleep… but generally we’re a team. Mommy and Daddy aren’t complaining– we figure we’ll take what we can get now… they won’t be climbing into our bed to snuggle when they’re in high school. We hope...)

This morning, Beck came up later than usual. The iPhone had already finished its third or fourth round (but who’s counting) on the snooze “button” and Caden and I were lazing in bed avoiding the inevitable. In fact Caden was still asleep (an alarm does nothing for a four year old that went to bed too late.)

So while Beck was cuddling with him… I asked him to start singing in his brother’s ear to wake him (passing on the family tradition, you know):

“The birdies are sing-ing… Tweetie, tweet, tweet-tweet… Tweetie, tweet-tweet…Tweetie, tweet-tweet…!" He sang his little heart out. And he got nothing but a couple of groans and a thumb popped back into Cade’s mouth in response. (Bonus! No finger up the nose… not this time anyway.) So, since Beck didn’t get the response he was trying to illicit… he changed tactics… with extremely effective results:

“The birdies are toot-ing… Tootie, toot, toot-toot… Tootie, toot-toot…Tootie, toot-toot…!"

Yep, Dad. I’ve got two boys… and they’re ALL BOY.
My apologies in advance to my future grandchildren…
Thanks for the memory. I miss you.

One big happy family

2009-06-07T20:47:00.009-05:00

Beck finally moved back up to the top bunk again this weekend. Yeah! Must mean he's growing up (again) after six months in shared sleeping quarters in his little brother's lower bunk. Either that... or the fact that they're both grown two inches in the same time frame had something to do with it. In either case, it'll make bedtime go a little more smoothly - for Beck anyway.

A typical bedtime these days includes 1) Beck passing out in three to five minutes while 2) Caden stays up and chats with Izzy (our new kitten... blog fodder for another day... c'mon! I'm a working mom with limited time on my hands...!) or Caden reads a book (or five) or he pulls out all the Star Wars Legos (still the active obsession for both boys) or he just comes downstairs and hangs out with the 'rents and listens to the iTouch and rocks out... until Mom and Dad say, "Uncle!" and he typically, finally, agrees to go to sleep too... in OUR bed, with us... (but that's about an hour from now... Caden and Daddy are "working out" together downstairs right now... I managed to sneak away to the office while Beck sleeps peacefully in the next room!)

What prompted me to blog tonight - since I won't win any awards for "Blogger of the Year" in 2009? (Getting to the point...)

Beck decided that it was time to read the Bible again a couple of nights ago. A little background: About a year and a half ago we read a kids version: "The Eager Reader Bible - Stories to Grow on" ( I'm not eagerly promoting it... it pretty much scared the be-Jesus out of him - yes - I just said that... but maybe he just wasn't ready for it yet either...) But I thought it was important, since we don't belong to any church, that the boys still grow up knowing the stories of the Bible and understanding what religion is (if for no other reason than that they be educated about it when they enter the real world... how many fictitious books have you read with biblical themes in your life...?). So after the Eager Beaver debacle I bought a different edition - one I recognized from my childhood - "The Golden Children's Bible" - bigger, harder cover, less cartoonish.... It sat on the book shelf untouched for about... a year and a half. Until Friday night.

So Beck pulls it out (and decides it's time to sleep in his own bed again on the same night. Yeah!...). And we start with the story of "The Creation." The Golden Books version is quite a bit more detailed - but that just means they ask more and better questions, right?. Then we covered "The Garden of Eden", "The Serpent" and "Cain and Abel" (do you remember that they were the sons of Adam and they fought? Wow, brother's fight?! Okay - so with B&C at three and five - I don't let Cain and Abel kill each other (that's for Star Wars make believe)... but they do hurt each other... and boy does that bring on some more good conversation.

So, tonight God flooded the entire Earth and Noah saved one of each animal and started the world all over again. And Beck asked why? So we went back to the beginning.

God created Adam and Eve. They had babies who had babies who had babies... And Eve (that sneaky little sass) she convinced Adam to eat that forbidden fruit... which gave them too much knowledge and they were banished from the Garden of Eden and bad things started happening amongst all the people they created in the world because they didn't follow Gods simple rules... until God finally decided to put a stop to it and start over. Hence Noah's Ark.

Beck inhaled sharply and said, excitedly, getting it: "So everyone in the world is one big FAMILY?" (He totally honed in on that and not the "bad things happened to the evil people concept", whew!)

But, wow! I was so impressed with my little five year old. I have a sharp little boy on my hands! (Yes, Grandpa... I know you've been saying this all along...)

Then we get to go on to talk about how silly it is that some people fight with other people in the world, because, according to the Bible, which many people believe in... we're all brothers and sisters... aren't we? Then Beck yawned and climbed up to the top bunk...

Caden, on the other hand, just took my iPhone and is listening to the "Star Wars" soundtrack in his bed... it's only 9:45pm... At least he's in HIS bed. (For now.)

What Three Year Olds do when they SHOULD be sleeping...

I don't "wuv" you anymore!

2009-05-10T21:30:00.012-05:00

It's been a big week for Caden Sosa.

On Tuesday night, at about 9:30 (he never goes to bed before 10pm now that he's a napper again) he figured out his buttons.

He must have unbuttoned and re-buttoned his P.J.s twelve times that night. He made sure he nailed it. We were so proud!

Then, to make a perfect Mother's Day even more perfect, he decided to make today be the day he figured out how to say "L" instead of "W"! (ala "I wuv you, mommy.") Beck has been helping his little brother practice a lot lately, teaching him how to use his tongue to make the "L" sound and the like. And this morning was the big debut.

Caden lay in bed with us and he said, "Mommy, Mommy! I lllllLove you." He got it! Beck was right, some day he'd get it. And now my baby isn't as much of a baby anymore.

Sniff... Sniff... See for yourself...

Oh. Oh. Oh!

Happy Mother's Day! I'm the luckiest mommy in the world.

The Easter Bunny's Last Stand

2009-04-13T21:31:00.005-05:00

Easter was two days ago... yet somehow it never left my living room.

I can't. My Back Hurts.

2009-04-13T19:57:00.007-05:00

Ok. I know. I've been remiss with the blog. But I've got good excuses... ok. Maybe not that good... But at least this is something!

So, I've been struggling with some back pain lately. Lately being since about the time Caden was born three years ago. I ignored it because it was intermittent for a long time, a long time being about three years - give or take. Then it took a turn for the worse after the holidays this year. So to make a long story short(er)... I started physical therapy a couple of months ago (see... who has time for a blog too!?)

During all of this the boys have been hearing a lot of, "Mommy can't do that because it will hurt her back" and "No! No! don't hang from Mommy's neck like a Monkey! Mommy's back! Mommy's back!" and "Don't step on the cracks or you'll break you mama's back!"

You get the idea.

Tonight, as I was lying (gingerly) on the bedroom floor with Beck playing a little board game (or more to the point, getting my bum kicked at a little board game), I heard this conversation take place in the kitchen between Caden and Alex:

Cade: "Daddy, will you pway storm twoopers and Cody wif me?"
(Star Wars references from Caden who is playing with action figures placidly at the counter while daddy cleans up from dinner...bless him!)

Alex: "No, sorry Caden, I have to finish cleaning up the dinner dishes... But YOU can help me if you want too!"

Cade: "Uh. No. Daddy. I can't. My back Hu-wurts"

I laughed so hard I nearly broke my back!

(Sorry. No time for pictures - but the boys are just as cute as always these days!)

Special Friends and Grandparents Day at School

2009-02-22T11:29:00.015-06:00

Nana and Grandpa Coskran came to school on Friday to visit Beck and Caden's classrooms. Each year the students open their classrooms to their special guests and enjoy a snack with them and share their work with them.

Nana was specially invited to read the editorial she wrote for the Star Tribune in January. Beck recited "A Time to Rise" to everyone when she was done with her reading.

Both boys were really proud to have their Nana take center stage at circle time.

The other grandparents and special friends really liked Great Grandma Betty's idea too!

Forever indebted to George Lucas

2009-02-22T09:03:00.009-06:00

It's all Star Wars, all the time at our house these days.

I thought the Toy Story obsession was adorable... Then came Cars. I thought I'd never see anything so adorable as my two boys playing "Cars with eyes" for hours on end. But I've been proven wrong (again...). The Star Wars obsession is the best yet! I will forever be indebted to George Lucas for the memories!

Star Wars Galactic Battle, By Beck Sosa, Age 5

C3P0 and R2D2 under the Purple Death Star, By Beck Sosa, Age 5

Darth Vader of The Dark Side, The Artist

Light Saber fights are a pretty regular occurrence at our house these days. It's tricky business, this light saber fighting and war stuff. Explaining why it's O.K. to fight with light sabers (compare it to Olympic sword fighting?) and why it's O.K. to shoot each other with laser guns ('cause they're fake and Star Wars is just for pretend) even though that stuff is never O.K. in real life...

Star Wars is turning out to be a great lesson in understanding what it really means to be a good guy or a bad guy and what it means to be good or evil. It's WAY easier to drive these concepts home when there's a light saber involved! And, believe it or not, they actually find it much less frightening than reading stories of the same concepts from the children's Bible. It's hard to re-enact Cain and Abel without throwing rocks at your brothers head (and mommy won't let you do that for real or pretend!)

Check out this video clip:

Luke Skywalker and "Dark" Vader battle to the end.

Author's Note: Even Star Wars guys die with their tongues hanging out!

Just want to put it on "paper"

2009-02-22T08:58:00.004-06:00

These words actually came out of Beck's mouth at breakfast this morning:

"Mommy! I REALLY like EVERYTHING we're having for breakfast this morning!"

Just wanted to write it down. I may never hear those words again...

Don't worry about the Apocalypse - Beck Will Reconstruct the World!

2009-02-19T19:21:00.007-06:00

Beck has loved puzzles since his late Twos. But he shocked us all and took his love of puzzling to new heights at school recently. Ms. Rita had a picture taken of him with his masterpiece during the afternoon work session. (Beck attends Step By Step Montessori in Edina.)

Beck spent well over two hours, deep in concentration, constructing individual wooden puzzles of all the continents. But what was so amazing is how he took it a step further and pieced the completed continent puzzles together in their prehistoric form before continental drift pulled them apart!

Needless to say, mom and dad are pretty proud!

The Empire Strikes Dad (too)...

2009-02-15T19:17:00.004-06:00

Beck dumped out all the money in his piggy bank last weekend and spent every last (time- consumingly counted) dime online ordering Star Wars costumes...

This ones for you Miss Bwooke...

2009-02-02T20:18:00.007-06:00

My mommy may not be very hip anymore...

(My brother and I sort of cramped her style).

But I AM! Check me out!

Caden's first self portrait

2009-02-01T19:07:00.001-06:00

Caden doesn't like the fact that he painted himself wearing a headband. But mom is pretty proud!

Luuuuuuuuke... I'm your Father!

2009-01-25T13:06:00.003-06:00

See for yourself. Click PLAY.

The first official "friend" sleepover

2009-01-25T09:59:00.007-06:00

Cousin Olivia had a sleepover with Beck and Caden last night at our house. The mommy's and daddy's went to the Loffler Companies Holiday Party at the Metropolitan while Aunti Sheri and Cousin Viki presided over the ruckus.

It was great to FINALLY have a volunteer to help me out in the kitchen! Livi helped make pancakes, eggs and bacon for breakfast.

Then everyone played hard to work it all off.

Cousin Livi (a.k.a. Buzz Lightyear-Fireman-Pirate-on-Lightening-McQueen) and the boys played Ninjas and Star Wars. Despite the costume to the contrary, Liv insisted she was Yoda.

And then Livi honored us with a little ditty she calls "The Train" on the harmonica. She must get it from her daddy!

Nana's gonna go broke

2009-01-18T20:35:00.004-06:00

The amazing thing is... Beck can't really READ the poem yet (he IS still in preschool)... but he figured out that if he counts the number of lines in the book and then follows them as he recites it... he won't miss any of them.

Ca-ching! $ $ $

(Caden, in the background of the video, thinks Beck's performance is "excellent" too!)

Out of the mouth of Cade

2009-01-18T11:00:00.005-06:00

We were watching American Idol as a family on Friday night...

I must have been singing along...
Caden swung around and said to me:

"Sing it in you'we head mommy!"

What does he know!

It's not ALWAYS about B and C (despite the title of the blog...)

2009-01-17T20:02:00.007-06:00

So, we (A & D) decided that it was high time we got out more - alone. In December we decided to institute "Date Night" every other Tuesday night. We lined up sitters through March 2009 and headed out the door. Something we probably haven't done, together, sans kids, after 7pm on a weeknight in, let's see... how old is Beck now... FIVE years!

We've decided to leave it up to UrbanSpoon to decide where we go every other Tuesday night. (If we didn't, I'd likely keep us going to Salut and Broders Pasta Bar every chance I got!)

So we shook my (super-cool-new-can't-live-without-it) iPhone and UrbanSpoon landed us at:

Victor's 1959 Cafe at 37th and Grand Ave S. Cuban food. And Perfectly located! Still right within my coveted five mile radius!

Of course, my fancy new iPhone has a built in camera... Which... of course, we didn't use since it doesn't have a flash... (or video... okay, so it's not perfect. But even so, I still can't live without it). And we took these photos to share our newest dining experience with the always trusty (and pocket sized) Canon PowerShot (that Alex conveniently had in his coat pocket).

It started out like any other night out. A bottle of (cheap - but quite good) house wine. We had the Yuca Frita ANTOJITOS (an appetizer where the yuca is steamed, then fried, and served with a special garlic & lime juice mojo with lightly sautéed onions.) It was a little bland - but the mojo helped.

And the games began...

And kept going... and going... and going... (remember, this is a school night and we're not used to this whole being-out-after-7pm-on-an-empty-stomach-after-work-thing!)

Fortunately dinner arrived. Alex had some Cuban thingy with Shrimp (3 stars). And I had "old clothes" (4 stars). Who knew someone's old clothes could be so tasty! (I also had it for lunch the next day and was sad when it was finally all gone...) I'd rave more about the food... but I generally get bored reading food reviews myself, so I won't subject you to my writing about it. Your welcome.

Then the games continued...

And we debated about what to do for POSTRES (dessert). Go somewhere else? (What the ??? - no way! It was well below zero outside!) We finally settled (quite easily) on the Xango!Chango! (rich smooth cheesecake with a slightly tangy finish, rolled in a melt-in-your-mouth flaky pastry, tossed in a sugar and cinnamon blend, then served on a fresh guava puree) and a couple of Café con leches.

Oh... wow! Was that the smartest thing we did all night. (Since it looks like the cheap red wine probably wasn't...) It's worth it to go to Victor's for the Xango!Chango! alone!

And then of course, we did what every other patron that has ever visited Victor's 1959 Cafe has done... we wrote our name on the booth. Well, actually, we carved our name in it... the wood was so old that the ball point pen (given to us by the waitress... we're not complete hoodlums!) was sharp enough to actually cut through it!

All in all - Victor's was a roaring success and we'd go back in a heartbeat. I'm sure Minneapolis/St. Paul magazine will be knocking down my door for permission to reference my blog in their next review!

But more importantly, DATE NIGHT was a blast. Why didn't we think of it sooner?!

Caden has 20 teeth. Yep. They're officially counted!

2009-01-13T13:08:00.005-06:00

Caden made his first trip to the dentist today. He was an excellent patient and didn't complain one bit when Mr. Thirsty sucked all the water out of his mouth and made him gag.

He told Dr. Nelson (a.k.a. Doogie Howser) that he is a Pirate with yellow teeth and that "pi-wits" don't "bwush" their teeth! (Unless their mommies make them...)

Here's what we get for sleeping in until 9am on a Saturday morning...

2009-01-10T21:46:00.004-06:00

And this was just one of three rooms...

Beck is Famous today!

2009-01-07T12:15:00.011-06:00

At least, in the Twin Cities.

His Nana's guest editorial was published in the West Metro section of the Star Tribune today. Beck is a central figure in her article. We'll probably be reading the article at bedtime tonight instead of memorizing any new poetry (sorry Nana!)

Dollar in pocket puts poem forever in heart

(by Kathy Coskran)

Word Cloud courtesy of http://www.wordle.net/

I’m paying my grandchildren to memorize poetry. My mother did it, paid my brother and me a dime for “Grass,” a quarter for “O Captain, My Captain,” thirty-five cents for “Sea Fever.” It was the fifties, we were on winter break, driving from Georgia to California, five days each way, and missing a week of school. It was educational she said and the money we earned would be our vacation spending money. It was also a strategy to keep us from arguing over who crossed the imaginary line in the back seat of the car. We made it to Los Angeles and back in relative peace and with sufficient funds for cheap souvenirs, so it worked. My mother was a practical woman, but she also loved language; she knew what she was doing. I don’t remember what I bought with those dimes and quarters, but I still have the poetry. Fifty years later, I can close my eyes and the words come rising in my throat.

Which is why I am now paying my grandchildren to memorize poetry. Like my mother, I too believe in the power of language to soothe and to heal; to inspire and to calm. Poetry is to be spoken aloud, learned by heart; a poem spoken in the music of your own voice becomes a part of you, and if you learn it when you are young, you will have it forever.

At Thanksgiving this year, I gave each child a book of poetry, told them the story of my mother’s payment plan, recited de Regniers’ “Keep a Poem in Your Pocket” (“…and a picture in your head/and you’ll never feel lonely/at night when you’re in bed”) and promised to pay up whenever they learned a new poem.

That was on Thursday. Friday morning Beck who is 5 appeared at his parents’ bedside to recite Stevenson’s “Birdie with a Yellow Bill.” They had read it to him the night before and he had taken de Regniers’ advice to heart. Beck often has trouble sleeping and knows what it is to feel lonely at night when he’s in bed, so he said the poem to himself, over and over, until he fell asleep.

At 5 Beck discovered what poets and mystics have known for centuries: be present to the moment, give yourself over to the rhythm and mystery of your own voice, lose yourself in the hum of the words, and you will find that quiet place within. The little poem was a mantra for him, a chant, a meditation. The rhythmic combination of sound and sense slowed his fluttering heart and lulled him to sleep. He ran to tell his parents because he had just discovered that the most fundamental gift of our species, language, has the power to communicate inwards as well as outwards.

I gave him a dollar (2008 rates) and I’ve made several payments to my other grandchildren, ages 3 to 13, but they seem more interested in “the little poem [that] sings to you” than the money earned. At Christmas we heard “Jabberwocky, “ “Tyger, Tyger,” “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening,” The Man That Wasn’t There” and, of course, “A Birdie with a Yellow Bill.” Nobody asked how much their poem was worth, because they already knew. Money may have been the carrot, but it is love that keeps “a poem in your pocket and a picture in your head.”

40 is the new 30!

2009-01-04T13:10:00.008-06:00

So look who's 28! (ah-hem...)

Happy Birfday Daddy!

Picasso in the HOUSE!

2009-01-03T12:34:00.011-06:00

Our little Picasso was at it again this morning. (Still in his PJ's... a common theme at our house over the last few weeks).
As Caden was painting this canvas, he took a few moments from his work to tell us the story of his creation...

"Rain is coming down on the man. But the sun is melting with the snow. The man might be under the rain. Brown is for the stem of the tree. It is nighttime in the purple sky. And then it is morning time again."

Whose yer daddy?

2009-01-02T09:53:00.004-06:00

Caden:
"Hey BE-ECK! Wanna pwetend your da Daddy and I'm da Baby?"

Beck:
"No-OOO Ca-DEN!
How about YOU'RE the Baby and I'M the Daddy!"

Oh No! The Gazelles!

2009-01-02T08:47:00.006-06:00

Beck's Space Ship

A Dozen Gazelles Jump into Hot Lava!
By Beck Sosa (Age 5)

I asked Beck the other day what he thought he was REALLY good at. He said: "Drawing". I'd agree.

Then I asked him what he thought he wasn't very good at. He had a hard time thinking of anything for a while. Then he said: "Taking my medicine." I'd agree with that one too!

There's been a LOT of the pink stuff in our house lately... which leads to lots of time at home drawing and playing trains and cars and playdough...

Did you know that Gazelles like to jump into water but then they find out it's hot lava instead! And they all die?! Not very smart those Gazelles!

BEWARE of the snakes that will squeeze you until you are dead with your tongue hanging out!

2008-12-30T11:51:00.003-06:00

Beck and Cade, who are both home from school sick today with Strep throat... and Strep in the eyes (Caden - who knew?!?) informed me in no uncertain terms that when the snakes squeeze you to death you look like this:

Apparently, everyone who dies, does so with their eyes closed and their tongue hanging out.

Honest.

They wouldn't make this stuff up.

AT LAST

2008-12-28T14:01:00.003-06:00

Here's a quickie:

Alex and I were dancing (think waltz style) in the kitchen to our wedding dance song a few minutes ago... Etta James' - "At Last". (It's still playing in the background... Soso can only dance for so long when there's a football game to be watched... so here I am...)

We were all cozy and swaying to the music (waltz style) with #1 and #2 watching from the counter eating up the remnants of their lunch...

And Beck says: "Hey, you guys look like a teapot!"

TRANSFORMERS! Eee-Ooo-Awwwww-Ooooo-Eeeee-Oooooo

2008-12-26T08:20:00.007-06:00

Santa was good to Beck and Caden this year (well, he is every year since they're such good little boys.) He left a clue in the 25th door of the Advent calendar and sent the boys on a wild treasure hunt around the house. A few more clues later and they were unwrapping the presents that Old St. Nick and his reindeer had left under the tree (of all places - where would you expect to find treasure on Christmas?)

The hands down favorite for both boys was two TRANSFORMERS. (Not that either boy has seen or will see this movie any time in the near future... but it's like Spiderman, Superman or Star Wars... it doesn't matter if they've seen it - they're obsessed with the characters none the less! It must be a testosterone thing.)

Well, when Santa delivered BONECRUSHER and OPTIMUS PRIME, an 18 Wheeler Autobot that transforms into a really super cool red and blue robot... one of the "good guys", Beck and Caden Sosa couldn't have been more excited. (Well, maybe the two thousand-nine-hundred-eighteenth and nineteenth Cars movie diecast cars that Santa got for $3.49 a pop at Target were received with slightly more fervor... but this is Beck and Caden after all...)

Anyhoo...

They've been playing with these Transformers quite a bit (or I should say, daddy has been transforming them for them... they are a little tricky for preschool fingers to manage on their own). And everytime Cade wants to play with Optimus Prime... he tells us:

"I want to pway wif OCTOPUS PRIME now!"

Beck wants out of politics

2008-12-25T21:29:00.007-06:00

Yesterday morning, lying in bed, I looked over my left shoulder and found Beck wide awake staring at me intently, practically willing me awake.

He had something to say:

Whispering, so as not to wake up Caden over my right shoulder: "Mommy, I know what I want to be when I grow up!"

Me: "What's that, Bug?"

Beck: "I want to be an Ice Cream Man!"

I tried hard not to show my disappointment. Can you imagine what this will do for my diet!?

Rudolph WHO?

2008-12-25T20:45:00.014-06:00

Left to Right: Aunti Sheri, Great Grandma Lennie, Grandpa Ek, Great Grandpa Rudy

Earlier this week, Beck and Caden were sitting at the breakfast table, waiting for me to finish making their pancakes and pondering some very existential thoughts - for preschoolers, anyway. It all began like this...

Beck woke up earlier than the rest of the family that Sunday morning and went down to his "office" to color some pictures for us while he patiently (uh-huh, seriously, I really said patiently) waited for the rest of the house to wake. He made one for himself, one for Caden, one for Mommy and one for Daddy. When I finally crawled out of bed to make breakfast, he moved his creative genius to the kitchen to continue his work and await his flapjacks. He informed Caden and I that he'd be making more pictures for the rest of his family since he'd be seeing them over the holidays... starting with Grandpa Ek since he wouldn't really get to see him.

Now, my dad has been gone for over two years, but I try to keep his memory alive in the boys since they were so young when he passed away. So whenever they present me with an opportunity I jump at it. Today, in that vein, I quickly snatched a picture off of the board in the kitchen and showed it to them. It's a picture of my Dad and Aunt Sheri with my Grandparents, Lempi and Rudolph Ek. Dad probably wasn't much older than Beck in the photo...

The following conversation then took place:

Me: "Beck, do you want to SEE a picture of Grandpa Ek when he was just about your age? Here, look."

I handed Beck the picture.

Beck: "Uh-huh..."

Caden: "I wannoo see too!"

Me: "And look, there's Aunti Sheri and your Great Grandma Lennie. She was MY Grandma!"

Beck: "YOUR Grandma?"

Caden: "Whet me SEE!!"

Me: "Yes, now let Cade see too... and that man there, that's your Great Grandpa Rudolph. We called him Grandpa Rudy."

Beck: "Grandpa Rudolph?"

Me: "Uh-huh. He was your Grandpa Ek's daddy."

Caden: "WHET me SEE!!!!"

Beck FINALLY passes the picture to Caden...

Caden (with brows furrowed): "But MOMMY! Where are his antwers?????"

Daddy saves the world

2008-12-11T17:26:00.007-06:00

Last night was a long one at our house... Beck came down with a stomach virus that wasn't pretty (all over the hallway, in fact). Don't worry. There won't be any pictures.

No one got much sleep.

Mommy was out earlier in the evening and daddy the superstar took care of everything (and sweetly didn't even call mommy to tell her what was going on...). When he had cleaned up the mess (later reflecting that he never imagined in his life that he would willingly touch someone else's vomit...) and had Beck snugly (though greenly) tucked into mommy and daddy's bed for the night, the following conversation ensued:

Alex (gently rubbing Beck's head): "I'll stay home from work with you tomorrow, honey. I just have to email my boss and let him know that I won't be in."

Beck (worriedly): "But daddy! Who will fix all the computers?"

Puff Da Magic Dragon Revisited

2008-12-08T17:19:00.009-06:00

And they're on a roll today...

Caden is all about getting his name in lights (or on the blog at least...)

Here it is on my computer, Caden!

Happy Thoughts by Beck Sosa ala Robert Louis Stevenson...

2008-12-08T16:40:00.004-06:00

And Beck will not be outdone by his little brother...

This is the kind of video clip still shot supermodels fear most...

Caden Earns His First Dollar

2008-12-08T16:31:00.004-06:00

Caden's philosophy is...
if his big brother can do it...

then so can he!

(He accepts all forms of payment, Nana.)

2008-12-08T09:10:00.001-06:00

discovered ping.fm

Robert Louis Stevenson pays us a visit

2008-11-28T08:18:00.017-06:00

This morning, Beck woke up and tapped me on the shoulder. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as he said "Mommy, I have to tell you something!" I mumbled something akin to "uh-huh?" and he said:

"A birdie with a yellow bill

Hopped upon the window sill

Cocked his shining eye and said:

(At which point Beck also attempted to wink, which he hasn't quite mastered yet...)

Ain't you 'shamed, you sleepy head?"

Robert Louis Stevenson

Beck and Caden's Nana and Grandpa sent them home from Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with two wonderful books of poems and some financial incentive to memorize them (fifty cents for short poems, $1 for longer poems, etc.)

But that Beck Sosa, he's not in it for the money! (Although Caden sure is... he wants all the cash without having to learn the poems... we're working on that...)

As it turns out memorizing poems is the key to solving another little problem we've been having at bedtime of late! Beck has had some trouble going to bed - afraid he'll have bad dreams and the like.

Wouldn't you know, saying a poem over and over again to yourself as you fall asleep makes it so you don' t have time to think about being scared anymore!

From the mouth of my babe... Beck.

2008-11-26T19:23:00.007-06:00

"Do you have to get your brains sucked out if you go to outer space?"

I don't know... do you?

Picture of Beck at 3 years old - two years before he posed this question to us...
he's been pondering it for awhile I guess.

Puff the Magic Dragon!

2008-11-24T16:52:00.006-06:00

Oh Caden, Caden, Caden…
Could you be any cuter?!?

Those of you that know Cade, can imagine his sweet little voice singing this; his favorite new little ditty:

“Puff da magic dwagon… wived by da sea…"

"O-wet in da Autumn mist in a wand cauwed Honaweeeeee…!!!"
big deep breath...

“Oh…..”
and back to his favorite part which is yelled at the top of his little three year old lungs…

“PUFF! da MAGIC DWagon… wived by da sea…”

Are you smarter than a Five Year Old?

2008-11-21T13:23:00.009-06:00

Are you smarter than this Five Year Old?

So, a couple of mornings ago, as I’m helping the boys get out of the car to head into school, Beck and I have the following conversation:

Beck (making one last ditch effort to avoid going into school this morning):
“Mommy, can we listen to the “Portside Pirates” song before we go into school?”

Me: “Shoot! We could, but I don’t have the CD with me in the car!”

Me again (cleverly trying to appease him): “But tonight we can burn it onto my itouch! Then we can listen to it any time we want to - mommy always keeps the iTouch in her bag!”

Beck (in his 5 year old know it all tone): “It’s RIPP mommy. Not BURN onto your iTouch!”

Apparently, little ears are listening when daddy has to correct mommy about how we get music onto her iTouch. Clearly, hearing daddy tell mommy we “RIPP”, we don’t’ “Burn” CD’s in the twenty-first century, four-thousand nine-hundred ninety-two times has had an impact.

At least it has on Beck…

Birthday season comes to an end at Casa Sosa

2008-11-16T20:51:00.008-06:00

It has happened again... Another birthday season has come and gone. Why does it still take me by surprise when my boys are another year older every November 15th and October 20th?

Beck is 5!

Beck celebrated his 5th year in style at JW TUMBLES with 20 of his classmates from Step By Step and his brother and Cousin Livi. He had the time of his life and it was like Christmas morning in the living room after he opened all of the gifts he received from his friends (THANK YOU FRIENDS!!). I'm not sure what we'll do when the real Christmas morning arrives in a few weeks!?

Caden in 3!

Caden opted to celebrate his 3rd birthday with, Carson, one of his best pals from Step By Step at a little playdate at our house. His little friend Owen Stanley called in sick :( which meant half of his guests didn't show... but it was a great day nevertheless :) He had two parties in one day, lucky little monkey! He and Beck also celebrated their birthday's together with their Coskran and Ek families on the same afternoon right after nap time!

On to Anniversary, Turkey Day, Santa and Below Zero Temp season...

As the World Turns

2008-11-11T07:40:00.009-06:00

Picture this:

Sweet little, recently turned three year old, Caden Charles Sosa is sitting properly and quietly at the dinner table, as usual (ah-hem), having just eaten his entire meal without a single complaint (ah-hem) patiently (ah-hem, ah-hem) awaiting his turn at the "Who am I" game that ensues.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere... He pounds his little fists on his sea life place mat on either side of his big boy dinner plate, which is clear of every morsel, of course, (ah-hem) and yells: "DAMN IT!"

Alex and I look at each other with shock and amusement, and ask him what he just said again... and again he says "Damn It!" with just a little less force behind it and an “uh-oh, I might be in trouble look” to boot.

Do we laugh...(OH YES! But very quietly)?

Do we chastise him...(Yes, but not very hard)?

How do we explain to our little ape that it's not okay to say that... ?

Even if Grandpa Chuck (around whom the earth rotates) does !!?

Beck's Vote Counts!

2008-11-05T05:16:00.012-06:00

Last night at dinner, Beck informed us that he and his classmates at Step By Step Montessori each got to vote for our counrty's next new president too. Apparently, as Beck informed us very seriously, all but two of the children voted for the same nominee.

They all voted for "Rock Obama!"

Caden was given the opportunity to vote as well, after all, Step By Step IS a democracy. But he chose to be an absentee voter in this, his first election.
No I VOTED sticker for him.
He told us, with that impish little look of his: "For my vote I didn't talk to Ms. Brooke." No big surprises from Caden on Nov 4th!

Both boys agreed, however, without hesitation that the first thing President Obama should do when he takes over the oval office is add another "stay at home day" to each week. Can't say I disagree!

Leveraging candy

2008-11-01T21:57:00.005-05:00

Friday night. Halloween. Ooooohhhhh... Spooky...

I think I have a new favorite holiday! I've never been much for Halloween (at least not since I was ten or eleven years old). But I think that's changed now that Beck and Cade are old enough to get the concept of Halloween and trick or treating. It was so cute to watch them yell "Trick or Treat" to complete strangers and then use all of their little will power to take "just one" piece of candy... looking up beesechingly to see if they'd be offered more than that at this house.

Then coming home and weeding through the insane amounts of candy in those little orange jack-o-lantern buckets (that I had to carry the majority of the way when they got to heavy) looking for the perfect treat to have before bedtime. And then they were so tuckered out. I love halloween now...

The morning after...

Woke up to a car race between Chick Hicks and Mr. The King next to me in bed (Caden). But it was smooth sailing from there on out. All of our ealry morning conversations went somthing like this:

Q: "Can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "When you finish your breakfast"
A: "OK!" munch, munch, munch...

Q: "I'm done! Now can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "After you get dressed?"
A: "OK!" then "urgh, upmph, I can't do it!, uh, oh, there, I got it on!"

Q: "I'm dressed! Now can I have a piece of candy?"
A: "When your brother is done eating and dressed, then you can BOTH have one."
Q: "Caden, do you want me to eat that????!"

And so on until everyone was nourished and dressed for the day. I wish we had the power of candy on hand everyday. It sure makes the morning routine go smoothly!

Spagetti dinner...

At just about every dinner we end the meal with a game of "Who am I" or "I spy with my little eye" or "Opposites" or some joke telling. Tonight was joke night. And Caden was on a roll:

Him: "Knock knock"
Us: "Who's there?"
Him: "Corda-doo-daba!"
Us: "Corda-doo-daba (huh?) WHO?"
Him: "Corda-doo-daba BOAT!"
All of us: "he he he he he he he he he!"

Gotta love three year old knock knock jokes!

Vote for Beck Sosa on Tuesday, Nov 4th - See his plan to save the ecomony!

2008-11-01T09:20:00.011-05:00

If you vote for Beck this coming Tuesday you won't be disappointed. Watch the following videos to hear his plan for bailing out the economy in his own words.

Part One

Part Deux

A day in the life at Casa Sosa (last Sunday to be precise)

2008-10-30T20:31:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday...

Beck discovered the (not so) secret birthday presents (not so) hidden under the dining room table this morning.

SPIDERMAN boots!

Cade put his on immediately, barefeet, (too small-highwater) Buzz Lightyear PJ's and all, and started stomping around the kitchen watching them light up (because, of course, Spiderman boots have red lights that flicker with every step a little boy takes!) I think Caden may have a little bit of a shoe fettish.

Beck, on the other hand, set his aside and said he'd try them on later. He was much more interested in playing with the new cars he got for his birthday yesterday...

We saw our first snow today and Caden said: "And we can pway out in the snow and I will get snow on my head! And I will BAM into the snow wif my hat!"

Beck is slightly obssessed with the time and temperature lately - especially this morning with the first snowfall (if you can call it that) of the season. He's been marching around the house stating "It's 39 degrees" today. And he'll check the clock and tell us "It's 8:30." Then, a minute later (after staring intently at the clock) "It's 8 hundred 31"!

No one under the age of five got out of his pj's today - until bathtime. Then they put on new ones! Someone that recently turned three years old tried not wearing pull-ups all day. He only had to change his undies and jammie bottoms 5 times... better luck next weekend!

Out of the mouths of my babes recently...

2008-10-30T19:42:00.004-05:00

"I'm sowwy, do you want a hug, Beck?"
After punching his Ninja brother in the face... on accident of course! 10-19-08

"Hey, Beck! How 'bout we bofh be MOMMY tigers?!" 10-19-08

And the one that makes me proudest...

"Toot your booty off"
This one is repeated daily by both boys... as they giggle and say it back and forth...louder and louder.

The "New" Chronicles

2008-10-28T21:58:00.003-05:00

Welcome to the "new" Beck and Cade Chronicles! We haven't managed to update http://www.thesosas.com/ in almost a year so we thought we'd give blogging a try... makes sense, right?

So here it is. Our new attempt to record all of the cute things the boys keep saying and doing that we keep saying we need to write down before they grow up and we forget them.

And if I can figure out how to upload pictures... even more reason for you to become a follower!

Dana (and Alex)