Farewell O' Tiny Boy

You may remember that almost two years ago, when Amanda went to California for spring and left us with orders to get fish (not from the Granger market), we got two hamsters instead.

It took me almost two years to get their names right. One is gray and called Nibbles and the other black called Tiny.

Tiny has now passed on. He was a good hamster to the kids. As best as he could be. Early on we had to separate the two, who although born as brothers began to fight. Tiny was a bit of a loner. He would stay in his home and was very nervous around people. He seemed to enjoy being held but we were all nervous he would bit us. So his brother Nibbles who was very social and only nibbled on fingers rather than bit them got more attention. Sometimes too much attention from Maya. She would wake him up as soon as she woke up, every single morning for over 600 days and would manhandle his cuteness. So I'm not sure who got the better deal: Tiny who was allowed to sleep in the mornings or Nibbles who got somewhat tormented by an 8 year old girl that loves cute little furry cuddly things. We all bet that Nibbles would get tired of getting all of the attention (the movies of him eating tiny pizzas and tiny burritos and tiny grapes and tiny muesli). We were wrong. The lonely Tiny departed first. Julian found him this morning behind his running wheel.

O' Tiny Boy the pipes the pipes are calling,
From glen to glen and down the mountain side,
Last summer's gone and all the roses fallen,
Tis you, tis you must go and I must go,

You've been a good hamster Tiny. O' Tiny boy, o' tiny boy we love you so.

The Paddington CD has been lost!

For quite a few years the kids have relied on a Paddington Bear story book on CD to go to sleep. I don’t know why they didn’t tire of listening to it over the years as much as I did. But now it’s been lost I don’t know where it has gone, honest!

So we found a replacement CD that we thought might do. It is a Children’s Yoga Relaxation CD. The kids find it pretty amusing. Tonight I asked them to lay down in their own beds after we read our obligatory 20 pages of a Wimpy Kid Diary. Then I tucked them in and put the relaxation CD on.

Cheesy relaxing music started to play and a lady on the CD told the kids in a soothing voice. Now kids “Close your Eyes”. I heard Julian grunt from across the hall, “Oh for crying out loud, I already had my eyes closed”. This caused some little girl across the hall in the other direction to burst out laughing.

Then the lady on the CD said, “Now imaging you are climbing the world’s highest mountain”. Another groan from Julian and Maya yelled, “Look lady, our Dad told us to go to bed, NOT CLIMB A MOUNTAIN!”. Followed by another round of laughter.

So to try to settle her down, I went into Maya’s room and tried to relax her by rubbing her back. The Relaxation CD was clearly not working. Then the lady on the CD said, “As you are climbing the mountain feel the wind blowing by your ear”. I couldn’t resist. I blew in Maya’s ear. She screamed with laughter.

We’ve gotta find that Paddington CD.

Newcastle Tooth Fairy Saga Continues

You may remember the story about how the ever late Newcastle tooth fairy finally dropped off a £1 in exchange for Maya’s tooth, but somehow managed to lose the tooth on the kitchen floor.

Last night I saw that Maya had left her tooth on her head board with some notes. This is what she had written:

“Dear Tooth fairy, for some strange reason I found my tooth on the kitchen floor. And I wanted to let you know that you can keep the tooth. xx Love xxx Maya.”

There was an arrow pointing to another note, on which she had placed the tooth, it said:

“My tooth is here because I just prefer having it out rather than under my pillow in case it gets lost.”

So I went down to tell Amanda that Maya seems to have lost faith in the tooth fairy being able to find her tooth under her pillow so she’s making it blatantly obvious. Amanda said that the tooth fairy has been extremely busy and tired lately. I asked her to tell that to Maya. So she went up, kissed Maya and told her that the tooth fairy was without a doubt doing to come tonight and do her job.

When Maya fell asleep Amanda came down and asked me what she should do because Maya might recognize her handwriting. I said my hand writing would be so rubbish it would be an immediate give away. So Amanda wrote this note for Maya. She kept it short:

“I was wondering where your tooth went!”

“Sorry, I have been busy. Love, The Tooth fairy”

Then the next day Maya showed me the note and said, “Dad, I’m starting to wonder about this tooth fairy.” I said, “Oh, really? Why?”. She said that the tooth fairy’s hand writing was very much like mom’s. I said, well that’ can’t be right, “I mean look at how small the letters are”. Then she said that she had asked the tooth fairy to leave her a picture of herself so that she could know that it wasn’t Amanda.

So I went down and told Amanda that the tooth fairy needed to show photographic evidence. Maya was starting to get suspicious, which was amazing given all the missteps the Newcastle tooth fairy had made recently.

We were stumped. How do we get a picture of a tooth fairy in a form that Maya would believe.

I improvised. I went on google images and printed out a picture of a cute tooth fairy. Wings and all.

I brought the picture to Maya before she fell asleep and showed it to her. She said, “What is that?”. I said, “Well you asked for a picture of a tooth fairy”. She said, “Dad, I wanted a picture of MY tooth fairy”. 

So I said, “Well this one will have to do, Maya. Isn’t she cute?” trying to distract her.

She laughed. “Yes she’s cute but she has no mouth.” Sheesh, Maya was a stickler for detail! 

So I pulled out a pencil and drew in a small cute mouth on the cute tooth fairy. Maya laughed.

I don’t know if our daughter still believes in tooth fairies. Probably not. I think we blew it and the charade is up. But she does probably sense that her parents will go to great lengths to keep a good story going. 

That might be even greater fun. Here is the picture of Maya's tooth fairy.

10,000 hours

My kids like many others are spending a lot of time in front of a screen. Heck, I'm in front of a screen writing this and my glasses keep getting thicker. So last night to encourage him to do something else I asked Julian if he liked music. He said that he did. I asked him if he loved music. He said yeah, kind of. So I said, that people that dedicate themselves to music or anything else need about 10,000 hours to master their instrument or whatever they want to be good at. We did some simple math and figured out that it takes about 48 years or so if you just do it one hour a week. We also figured that a college student spending 3-4 years of 8 hours a day on their passion will be at close to 10,000 hours by the end. So I asked him what he wanted to spend his 10,000 hours on. Before he could answer Maya jumped in (she had been drawing and evesdropping). She said, "I'll spend my 10,000 hours on art, drawing, ice-cream and candy." Cracks my stuff up. I wonder how many hours I've spent on ice-cream ;-).

Julian on the Track

Here are a few more pic

Julian's first Track Riding: Manchester Velodrome

Julian's bike club and British Cycling had Julian try out track riding at the Manchester Velodrome. I've never done this, but it's like relearning to ride the bike. Track bikes are bare bones cycling: a seat, pedals, handlebars, 2 cogs, a chain and a fame. That's it! Notice that I didn't specify brakes. The bike is a fixed gear and you can't pedal it backwards so you stop by slowing down your pedalling, but you have to keep pedaling otherwise you'll get thrown off the bike. There is a sign that reminds you to KEEP PEDALLING.

Neat huh. Oh yeah and your pedals are clipped in so your feet are glued to the pedals.

Julian was pretty timid but loved it and warmed up to it towards the end. He wants to go back. Here are some photos.

Rubbish Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy is pretty reliable in Colorado. When Maya lost a tooth and put it under her pillow at night in the morning there was at least a dollar waiting for her. Tooth, money, reliable.

A week ago Maya lost a tooth here in Newcastle. She'd been putting it under her pillow for a few nights and no money had come. Then she complained to her mom Amanda that the tooth fairy hadn't been coming. Amanda was surprised and thought maybe the tooth fairy had been very busy and that Maya should try again.

So Maya put the tooth under her pillow again, but in the morning again there was no money. When she told her mom, Amanda was extremely surprised, a bit like she'd forgotten to do something. Amanda told Maya to try again. The tooth fairy will definitely come tonight.

So Maya put her tooth under her pillow one more time. This time in the morning there was a pound under her pillow, and one less pound in my pocket. Maya was delighted. Finally the tooth fairy had come.

Two days later she was making herself some breakfast and on the floor of the kitchen she saw her tooth! Shocked, she took it up to her mother and said: "Mom, I think the tooth fairy in this country is rubbish".

British Americans

Today we became British Citizens. For a first generation refugee this was a pretty special moment. I remember when my parents became citizens of the US in the early 90's. It was a very special moment for them. However, they didn't have a Queen to sing about!

Thanks Jen and Bette for supporting us on this big day. Julian still became a citizen but had some important school work to do so could not get away. My lab was also wonderful. They brought me a tray full of tea, milk, scon (no the e is not pronounced) and a can of Pimm's. Wow, I sure enjoy being in England. They say, however, that the tray won't be coming every day from now on unless I get a granting agency to provide me with a butler. Now that's an idea.

-Chris, Amanda, Julian and Maya
British Americans
May 2015

Dada and his little kitty cat

It's always tough for me to leave my sweeties behind. This time to make it easier on me Maya packed a friend for me. Here's a picture. I'm in Iowa staying at the Burford House Inn, getting ready for the day. My little kitty cat friend is sleeping on the bed. If I had batteries he might purr a little too.

He reminds me of the other little kitty cat I have at home. I look forward to being back soon, Maya. Thank you for sharing your friend with me and helping to make my trip more special.

-Follow on to this posting:
The neurosurgery patient that I was working with in Iowa was pretty down so I left her Maya's kitty as a gift. It seemed to make the patient happier. Maya understands this on a rational level, but really misses her kitty cat emotionally. It's tough on her especially when she's tired, like tonight.

left hand right hand dilemma

Julian's teacher was concerned that because his writing was sloppy on tests that he might not be trying very hard. I was really concerned he had a sloppy attitude in class so we spent a bit of time talking about it, then we worked on some practice test problems.

We found that tests make him apprehensive, keeping him from completing all of the answers to the tests. When he does complete them he does just fine. He's a smart kid and he certainly seems to be trying his best, which as a parent is all you can hope for. So no evidence for a sloppy attitude or mind. So why the sloppy writing?

No matter how hard he tried to write neatly, he just couldn't do it. He was using his left hand so I thought well maybe that is not his dominant hand. I asked him to write with his right and it was about the same. I tried writing with my hand and my writing was so terrible his looked like it came out of a typewriter by comparison.

Turns out that in reception when he was deciding which hand to use he decided he wanted to stay good with both hands. So by trying to maintain his writing skill with both hands his ability to write with one neatly just didn't materialize.

I was blown away. How did I not know this about my son?

So we're now working on writing excercises. I'll get up early and leave him a funny book to copy as practice. He's also sticking with just using one hand.

It's a shame that folks assume certain things about our writing. My hand writing isn't great so I am typing this.

In this case writing sloppy writing is a reflection, no more, no less, of Julian actively deciding to write with both hands. Bless him for making his own choice and living with it. Makes you wonder how kids become right or left handed and whether we or they are making the right choice. What is the right choice even? There isn't one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handedness.

He just ran right out the door to play with a friend and has his right hand on the trigger of his Nerf gun. Go figure!

Maya's Book For Children's Author Delia Ray

Last November I was in Iowa City visiting a neurosurgery group led by Matt Howard. Scientifically it was a wonderful visit and I also got to meet Matt's wife Delia Ray who is a children's author. She has written several books for kids about the age of Maya and Julian. Delia sent me home with one of her latest books called Here Lies Linc. She asked me to read it to my kids and report back what they thought.

We've been reading it the last few months and the kids love it. It captures their imagination that a writer could tell a story about a cemetery mystery revolving around a haunted Black Angel in Oakland Cemetary in Iowa City. They are also mesmerized that their father has met the author.

Last week I was in Iowa City again for work, and I passed a letter to Delia from the kids. Delia and Matt took us to the cemetery at night to see the Black Angel. I attach a picture of me pretending to touch it, but not really touching it in case it is cursed. I don't think Delia is touching the Angel either!

So I came back with the pictures which put some renewed interest in the rest of the book by the kids. Maya was also inspired to write a book for Delia. So I've attached the book here as well. It starts off where Delia's book does but goes in some unpredictable directions (such as Linc and Lottie learning Karate and kicking some ... well, just read it.).

Thank you Delia Ray for inspiring my kids.

If you have a pre-teen, we cannot recommend Delia's books enough for your kids. But what's even more magical is the basis for the stories that Delia writes in the history of Iowa City or other parts of the US where Delia has lived with her family.

Best wishes,
-Chris

Here is a link to Maya's Book for Delia Ray:
https://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/chris.petkov/MayasBookForDeliaRay.pdf

Training for the Tour de France

Thought you might get a kick out of this. I had some work to do tonight so I set Julian up next to me to do some work too.

Beatiful complex india

Dear Julian and Maya,

Here are a few pictures and a movie from Pune, India. I think Indians are the most efficient and polite road drivers on the planet. How else do you get millions of people around the city streets, but by breaking the rules. What amazes me is how few scrapes and accidents people have. I did try to encourage folks I talked to to wear helmets or volunteer for neuroscience studies. They also often have to share the road with large animals, which are also polite and unflinching when a couple of hundred two wheelers go zipping and honking by. Just be careful when you cross the street. Wonderful food. Amazing people. Beautiful, complex India.

Love,
Your dad

Life's a trip

I'm in a lounge in Delhi airport, loungin' and listening to The Ultimate Old School Hip Hop Playlist on Spotify. Currently I'm listening to 'Strictly Business' from EPMD.

It's quite fitting for what I'm about to tell. So let's turn up the funk and get experienced. Scratch a zip zip.

I'm returning from a trip that presented three firsts for me. First time in India. First time playing some demos for my lecture with a travel guitar. And the first time getting flown in business class, which I take to mean that finally, after all these years, I'm doing some serious business.

Now for flying in those seats you always imagine from behind the curtain. Well, as with all things it's got its perks and drawbacks. I know. You are thinking, why is this guy trying to sell me a bridge in Newcastle? Right! You're just bragging, boy.

Well, I am trying to be objective about this, so I hope you'll humor me. Plus I've got 5 hours to my next flight and I'm trying to keep from sleeping. I will however apologize for documenting a personal experience on the kids' blog. I made the rule that the blog is about the kiddos not me. I've always just been the narrator. But, if it helps I thought about the kiddos often and Julian was really curious what the experience was like so I sent him some pictures. I also wanted to document it at least for the two of us, before I forget.

Amsterdam to Delhi - Boarding Now

So, I hopped on a crowded flight from Amsterdam and Delhi. The 747 was completely packed so boarding I really did appreciate not having to do the usual arm-wrestle for the arm rest with the person next to me. Actually there was nobody next to me at all! The nearest seat was about 6 feet away. See the attached pics, Julian.

Glancing around and taking it all in, it quickly occurred to me that there is a certain air about the passengers. They seem to fly often, so not really the engaging sort. You try talking to them and they act as if they didn't hear a thing. Seriously. So if you're feeling a craving for company, well, business class is not the place for you. But if you want to stretch out, I mean really stretch out, then it can't be beat. It's like bringing a mattress on board.

The first thing that struck me as we were taking off was that at the nose of the airplane flying is like nothing I've experienced before. As the plane started to pick up speed on the runway I could really feel the front wheel below me bouncing on the cracks in the concrete during takeoff. As my teeth were about to rattle off I started to wonder why people pay for this?

After takeoff, however, the perk of being at the front became clear. It is really nice to have the engines behind you. Plus in the front you can see more things out the windows around the nose of the plane. But you also can't shake that feeling that if the plane goes down, it will probably be nose down first, and God won't care how much was paid for your seat.

The food and drink is not in larger quantities as I expected. But the food is frivolous in that they try to impress the passengers with some exotic stuff that didn't agree with my GI tract. So I had to make a lot of trips to the toilet which kind of defeats the purpose of stretching out. It felt like I spent equal time on the toilet. So the food experience is a bit like a sit down restaurant where nobody care that you're having a meal by yourself, with actual silverware and an actual plate and glass. There is also, thankfully, a toilet within reach if you need it.

The movie screen was as big as my office monitor. I thought that would be pretty sweet, but once you recline the distance to the monitor makes it seem as small as the one right in front of your nose in economy. The movie selection is also equal to what you get in economy, so I didn't get that "full-access-to-all-movies-since-the-beginning-of-time" realization I was expecting. Every time we fly off the Atlantic I never feel that I watch all the movies that I really want to. This time I felt that I had watched all one of them. Having a screen in the toilet would have helped.

The other thing I noticed was that flight staff seem to get promoted to business class only if they've mastered the art of perpetual smiling and the ability to remain pleasant next to a nuclear explosion. The way some of the business types treat the staff and how the staff give in to any nagging demand with a smile, well, it's just not healthy. I think the staff knew I was a business class foreigner. They also could sense it was my first and likely would be my last time in the posh seats.

Did I sleep stretched out? Nah. I think it's a gimmick. I am not convinced that anyone can actually sleep on a flight fully stretched out as in bed. Reclining and having the foot room is certainly without comparison, but what really would have been useful is a hidden toilet in the seat. Now I remember what I ate. Fish. Oh, yeah the lady taking care of me recommended it. Maybe that's the way they have fun with the PITA (pain in the ...) folks in that class.

(Stewardess smiles politely) "Sir, I would highly recommend the dynamite pita with a splash of mint grenades."

On the way out of the airplane you also see that the wait staff hold back the folks from the back that want to get off the plane. I wouldn't have minded staying put in the cozy seats a bit longer and letting the cramped economy folks deplane first. Instead I got those "what gives you the right you rich snob" looks.

So, did the experience spoil me for economy class? I'll soon find out on my next flight, since I don't expect to be given this opportunity again anytime soon. The experience is nice but if it happens too often nobody will appreciate it, just judging from the regulars. Better to know that you can fly in economy and long for the next opportunity to sit at the front, flying in style. Just brace during takeoff. Life's a trip.

Spotify war and gender confusion

Tonight was date night and music night at that. So Julian and I went to the music room and I grabbed the bass guitar while he got his flute. We played a funked up jazz song on Spotify and tried to play along to it. It was great. Julian on flute and me on bass. Maya was downstairs having her own music night. Then all of a sudden our song stopped playing and Julian and I went "what????". So we restarted it, but then it stopped a few seconds later. Turns out Maya was playing on the same Spotify account downstairs so we had a Spotify war. I think Julian and I won because after a few hundred times (at least it felt that way) restarting Spotify, Maya screamed from downstairs and then our song didn't stop. She says "I didn't play the song because I got fed up with you two! Snarl.".

Alas, the fun ended when Mamma came up and told us to go to bed. This was right as the jazz song had morphed into a heavy distortion guitar playing along of a Stevie Ray Vaughan song Couldn't Stand the Weather (quite fitting wouldn't you say?). But I will never complain about the English weather after having frozen my bottom in Minneapolis over Christmas at 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-23 degrees Celcius, or so).

So we went to bed and the conversation took a weird turn. Maya was trying to convince us that she's not a girl but a man. So Julian and I were like "WHAT? You're not a man, dude. You're a woman. You're female". She said, "NO, I am MALE and you two are FEMALE, geez how hard can it be to know what's male and what is female". I said, "EXACTLY! You're FEMALE Maya. You're a WOMAN." She said, "NO, YOU'RE A WOMAN! I AM A MAN." So I got tired of this bizzaro conversation and I asked Julian why Maya was acting so strangely. He said it was because on the way home from the dentist Maya had seen a haircutting place called ALPHA MALE GROOMING. She thought it was a great place for her to get a haircut and decided she was an ALPHA MALE that needed GROOMING. She thinks GROOMING is a fun thing.

Even now, we're in bed blogging and Julian is next to me ready for a story. We're waiting for Maya to come in too and listen to the story, but she's twiddling her thumbs or who knows what next door in her room. Julian said that Maya didn't know what an Alpha Male was, that Grandpa Bob was an Alpha Male. Maya screamed, "NO, I AM AN ALPHA MALE"... then she runs into our room, jumps on the bed and starts screaming apparently like an alpha male. Good night!

King Chadsky the Great

It's been a long long while since I updated the blog. So many times I've thought "geez that would be great to document on the blog". I won't be able to catch up on lost time but I can document a few recent things.

You know how every family has that really goofy and fun Uncle? Well the kids discovered they have one in Minnesota.

We just got back from spending a frosty winter with my sister Ana and her husband Chad in Minneapolis. Towards the end of our fun packed visit Maya decided to call Chad, King Chadsky. This video shows how she put a crown on him and chanted "All Hail King Chadsky". You can also see how this benevolent ruler gets his over-zealous subjects to simmer down.

Enjoy.

By the way if you have a fun story or memory of Julian and Maya (the only criterion for posting on the website), I'll give you the email address where you can just send an email (like I have) to update the blog with your story and pictures. It's easy. Let me know. All you need is the email address.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to better document the kids' lives. It's a bit of a balancing act trying to be a part of it and to document it but I'll do my best.
-Dada Chris