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 Posted: Sun Sep 18, 2005 10:19 am
 I noticed that Sylvest seemed to have a bit of trouble seeing when he wasn't in water, so I took him to see the eye doctor. And now he has a pair of glasses to wear. And out of the few designs available for his prescription, he picked the generic nerd glasses. Y'know, round lenses with thick, black frames. They seem to fit him pretty well, though. And he seems to like them so I don't have much room to complain. It looks like he'll be ready to learn how to read soon. The very afternoon we came home with his glasses, he gravitated towards one of my books and started looking at the pages. He couldn't really read anything, but he did point out some of the letters that he recognized. I'm kind of glad that he can't read yet because the book he picked out- well, let's just say it wasn't written for children. I don't want him to get any weird ideas at an early age... not like I'd expect him to be all too interested in heavily detailed Greek and Roman mythology, anyway. Note to self: Remember to thank Raven for giving Sylvest the sea dragon. It made him extremely happy- he named it Wolfgang.
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Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:14 pm
Mama tried to make these things for me called "cookies" earlier, but I don't think she did it right. They didn't taste very good, and they're supposed to be a treat for li'l kids like me. Oysters are so much better. But Mama says we can't have them all the time 'cause they're 'spensive. I dunno what that means.
Lotsa people seem to like it when my good arms change color, so I try to do it a lot. But it tires me out and Mama says I shouldn't do it so much since it's an "avolutary reaction". I think that means I do it without thinking about it. Mama says that I turn dark colors when I'm sad or mad and brighter colors when I'm happy. Sometimes I also make dotty patterns, but I can't do that on purpose yet. I hope I'll get better when I'm older.
Did I tell you that I know the alphabet? A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P! Mama says I can put the letters together and make words like in the books she showed me. Sometimes my glasses fall off and I can't see the letters. And I'm not supposed to take them in the tank, but sometimes I do it anyway and Mama gets a little mad and says I can't feed Wolfgang.
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2005 8:35 am
I have become convinced that my arms and neck shall forever be covered in hickeys until Sylvest breaks out of his wonderful cling-to-Mama-with-all-of-his-arms habit. A lot of people don't seem to make the connection that the suckers on his arms = hickeys, so I've been getting more than my share of dirty looks lately. It's a good thing that the weather's starting to cool down a bit. Soon I'll be able to at least cover my arms with a long-sleeved shirt. I'd include a turtleneck... but even I know that there's nothing more obvious than a turtleneck sweater. Silly kid's become slightly addicted to the alphabet song. I did the exact same thing when I was little... brings back memories, obviously. We should probably start looking for books that he can read. I hope I pick ones that can keep him occupied. He's been spending a lot of his time at the mirror and trying to change different colors when he should really be engaging in more... educational activities. Maybe I should take him to the aquarium that just opened up last week. It's not that far of a walk, and I bet he would enjoy it.  Mama's been mumbling about stuff a lot. I can't hear all of it, but I've seen her looking at pictures of houses and throwing them away for some reason. I looked at one and it said G-A-M-B-I-N-O on it in fancy letters. The house was a lot bigger than my house and it had a lot of white birds flying around it that I think I've seen before but I don't remember where. Maybe we're gonna go live in one of those houses? But then what would happen to the house we live in now? And wouldn't it make it a really really long walk to the big house with other kids like me? We're not close to the beach, but I like it here anyway.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:34 pm
Went on a trip to the aquarium, where Sylvest got a new nickname that he insists on being called all the time now. Don't wish to say anything else; I'm exhausted.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:38 pm
Sayuri came by and gave us this adorable portrait of Sylvest in his Halloween costume! He's bound to be showered in candy when the day of trick-or-treating somes around...  Thing is, Sylvest doesn't seem to be all too fond of sweets. Hmmm... what to do about that...
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Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 9:29 pm
I noticed that Sylvest had been starting to grow out of his clothes and his hair was starting to obscure his vision, so I took him out to a nearby shopping center to get him a clothing and a new haircut (much to the chagrin of my thin wallet). It's amazing how large a price some stores can put on a hunk of fabric with a pattern printed on it. And even moreso when it comes to clothing that's more water-resistant... anyway, on to the clothing.
-New underwear. Nobody is going to see it, so I don't know why I'm writing about it.
-A dark gray T-shirt with a white skull-and-crossbones design on it (which I had to cut sizable holes in to accomodate for his extra arms). He's been on a bit of a pirate fix ever since that trip to the aquarium- personally, I think a Viking could kick the crap out of a pirate any day of the week- so he absolutely loves this shirt.
-A pair of thick blue jeans. Not much to say here... jeans are a staple clothing nowadays, and they can stand more wear than other clothing.
-A pair of pricey tennis shoes. Blue.
-Socks that will become waterlogged and fall apart within a few weeks. But it was either that or terrible-smelling shoes.
That's thankfully it for now. As for the haircut... it took several minutes for Sylvest to agree to take off the bandanna. I would have gone for the bowl-haircut style he had when he was 'born', but the barber more or less forced me to go for a different style that "compliments his face" and cost 200 gold more. Now his hair has more of layered look, and it "flows better," as the barber said. I guess you could say that it's more hydrodynamic. And at least it's not ridiculously short like this other poor kid who was in line before us.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2005 7:33 am
 ((Tell me if I've interrupted anything and this'll be deleted))
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 11:34 am
A woman dressed in sterile scrubs opened the door leading to various checkup centers to call into the waiting room. Looking intently at a clipboard, she began, "Miss... uhh..."
Mouse looked up from her months-old magazine, a knowing expression on her face- this had happened countless times before. "Pachinkorelli?" she inquired. The sleeping, octopus-armed toddler next to her stirred a bit at the noise.
"Yes... Pachinkorelli. Doctor Delnick will see you now... if you would please follow me." the orderly replied, looking both annoyed and relieved that the next patient's mother knew that she was the one who was going to be called next. Standing only a few more seconds in wait for the mother and child, she started down the hallway to lead them to where they were needed. Mouse scooped up the octopus lad and had to jog to make the distance before the orderly disappeared around the corner.
The routine began as they stopped in front of a small scale made just for children. "Now, if you would please have him take off his shoes and those, uhh..." The orderly had to trail off again, not knowing what to call the things that were being worn on this child's back.
"Oh, you mean his arms?" Mouse replied as she removed one shoe, then the other. "No need- they're attached to his body. But I'm sure you've seen more peculiar things... this is Gaia, after all!" She chuckled. "I'd hate to imagine having to study human physiology, as well as that of so many other types of people that arrive here."
As if to emphasize Mouse's point, Sylvest looked up at the orderly and wiggled his extra arms. "They's real!" he claimed, having been asked this by children at parks, daycares, and other such places.
"Oh... right..." the orderly managed to murmur back. Sure, she had seen odd things working here, but when that kid got older, he could... She decided to think of better things, like that immensely attractive elf angel who had stopped by the other week. "Step onto the scale, sweetie? Thanks... and he's 28 pounds. Some of that weight is probably his... tentacles..."
Mouse chuckled again. "I would imagine so! Though technically they're not tentacles... since his attributes are influenced by an octopus, they're just called arms."
"Right... well, the doctor will see you shortly."
And, surprisingly enough, "shortly" was the amount of time that was waited, as soon enough a man with flaming red hair and a sterile lab coat made his way into the room that Mouse and Sylvest had been led into. He smiled and shook Mouse's hand. "Hello... I'm Dr. Delnick. And this... is Sylvest?" he inquired, trying his best not to stare at the kid's... protrusions.
"S'My-tee Kwaken!" the toddler interjected.
"Yes, that's my bundle of six-armed joy," Mouse replied with a genuine smile, briefly tickling the toddler's ribs. "And to avoid any struggling with my last name, just call me Mouse."
Dr. Delnick nodded. "Right... Mouse. Just a routine checkup, correct?" He was confirmed with a sharp nod from the teen, so he continued. "Let's see, you don't have any allergies listed... no medications..."
"Yes, but I do keep him in a tank overnight," Mouse inserted.
"W- in a tank? Full of water?" the doctor replied.
The teen released an amused puff of breath and nodded slowly. "Yes, in a tank of water. Otherwise he would become dehydrated, and it might have an adverse effect on his blood circulation..." she explained.
"Oh-kay, then. Let's... just look at his body temperature," Dr. Delnick decided, using an ear thermometer to quickly (and mostly painlessly) see how Sylvest was doing. "Wh- Seventy degrees..." Quickly he got another thermometer out, just in case that one was broken. But he got the exact same reading as the first one. "Miss Pa- uhh, Mouse... this says that your child has a body temperature of seventy degrees Farenheit."
Mouse seemed intrigued and excited by this, and quickly snatched the thermometer out of the doctor's hands without thinking. "Oh, you're right! That means he must be cold-blooded, too... how interesting," she observed, and began to explain, "His physical appearance is highly influenced by the giant octopus... and it seems that his system is also very similar to one."
"That's--"
"I don't think I should stress you by letting you take his blood pressure- that would probably also be unusually low for someone who looks human..."
"...You do realize that I am a doctor, right? Not a marine biologist, or a veterenarian?" the doctor suddenly said, looking slightly annoyed.
"And what might you mean by that, Doctor Delnick?" Mouse replied, voice lowering in suspicion.
"I mean that perhaps you should take your child to one of those, instead of to me. I treat humans, or at least those that are much more human than your six-armed bundle of joy," Dr. Delnick practically sneered.
Needless to say, the teen was taken aback by this statement. "Wow. I would never expect such behavior from a doctor, of all people," she observed as calmly as she would managed. "I believe that this appointment is over. Good day, and be glad that I'm still going to pay you for what you believe was a waste of time." She scooped up Sylvest in her arms and walked out the door.
"Let's go, Mighty Kraken. There's a sushi bar just down the street that I know you'd just love."
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Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:01 pm
Quest Time A small letter from the Project is inside your mailbox today ! To Mouse
Dear Mouse,
It's probably time for your little one to grow a bit. We experienced that a difficult task often enables an Eden to gather the strength to become a child. As we all know they aren't like normal children anyway.
Well, Sylvest is an intelligent little boy and he has great abilities by having so many extra arms. Which job would be better than becoming a cook and being able to do a lot of things at one time ?
We think you should show Sylvest how to cook a nice recipe and it should probably come out well. Of course you're able to help, but he should really try to do a nice meal on his own.
Have fun,
~Lena
[ You have to work on this quest for at least one week time now and you should make at least four entries about it. ]
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Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:35 pm
Child Quest: Part 1- The Letter
It was rather ironic that Sylvest had caught a little cold the day after they had gone to the doctor... there was ink from his sneezing all over the house now, and it was no easy task for Mouse to clean it up. Thankfully, the octopus lad had agreed to help and was able to scrub over twice as much area as his mother, what with the extra arms and all.
No wonder it took the ink-stained teen two days until she actually noticed the letter that had gone through the mail slot in the front door.
"Ah, it's from Lena... wonder if Tyyne's doing alright..." Mouse observed as she cut open the letter and began to read. Her expression turned from interest from mild confusion as she read the task that was set for Sylvest that would apparently help him grow. "Cooking...?" Wasn't the toddler a little young to be learning how to cook? This would be... interesting, to say the least. Or at least that's what she tried to make herself think as she tried to push away images of the kid making a mess in the kitchen... or worse, burning himself on the stove, cutting himself with a knife, or any other sort of unfortunate thing that might happen to a child in the kitchen.
"Hey, uhh... Sylvest?" Mouse called.
"Mighty Kraken!" the toddler answered.
"Right... Kraken... uhh... how do you feel about... cooking?" she asked tentatively.
Sylvest looked up from scribbling with a marker on a piece of paper and answered, "S'for girls."
Needless to say, Mouse was rather taken aback by that remark. Must have watched a few too many old sitcoms... But she wouldn't allow herself to get too angry at her surrogate son. So instead of raising her voice like she would to a stranger, she plaintively answered, "Actually, a lot of men are really great chefs..."
The octopus lad looked back up and gave Mouse a clear 'What are you getting at?' look.
"Okay, fine, enough beating around the bush... or in your case, den..." Mouse sighed. "Let's just get to the point..." She brought the letter back up to her eyes just to make sure that she had read it correctly the first two times, and said, "Lena says that you should... try cooking something."
Sylvest looked like he had been asked to wear a pink tutu and prance about the neighborhood singing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star'. "No way! Kraken don't cook!"
"Oh, come on, don't make this hard..." Mouse pleaded. "If you do this, you'll get bigger! Don't you want to grow up?"
Sylvest said nothing.
"Fine... fine... do what you want..." the teenager replied, beginning to walk out of the room. "I never expected that the Mighty Kraken would ever be coward enough to back down from such a challenge..."
This statement peaked Sylvest's interest (and anger). Eyes narrowing, he said, "Nuh-uh! Kraken's brave!"
"Oh, really? Think you're brave enough to cook something?"
"Yeah-huh! Kraken cook two things- no, ten! Twen'y! ..."
To be continued...
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Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 10:15 am
So it begins... my kid's finally going to grow- hopefully. I've heard a lot about these spontaneous jumps in age, but I've never witnessed them myself. It should be an interesting thing to observe, granted I'll be able to witness it. The accounts I've heard have been different in each Eden child's individual case. Hopefully Sylvest's won't be too messy.
I'm still at a loss at how I'm going to teach him to cook something. It's true that he's smart, but I don't want him to hurt himself. And the letter says that I should provide as little help as possible... there's also the matter of finding a dish that he might enjoy so he'll look forward to eating it when he's finished making it. Here's to hoping that it's something I might like as well! We both need to try more new things.
Mama says that I'm gonna have to cook something, and then I might grow. Cooking might be for girls, but I'm still kind of excited- don't tell Mama, though! I've been watching some cooking shows on TV. "Iron Chef" is probably my favorite. Those people work really fast, but Mama tells me that I could probably go even faster with enough practice because I have more arms.
I hope what I cook isn't too yucky!
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Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 2:43 pm
Child Quest: Part 2- To Choose a Dish
...
Thunk.
"Huh-whaa...? Oh..." Mouse vocalized, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. She had fallen asleep at the computer desk again, and the noise was her head hitting the corner of the desk- that would surely leave a mark. The teen had spent most of the night online while Sylvest was sleeping, trying to find some sort of thing that would be fun to cook.
The cookbooks she had scoured over with Sylvest that afternoon heeded no results. At first she had gravitated towards cookies (having many fond childhood memories involving them), but a look of disgust from her son was a blatant reminder that he had no fondness for sweets. Which, unfortunately, drastically narrowed down the options.
Sushi was the second thing that came to mind- it was cute, and it used a lot of seafood! But that was put out of the question after it was discovered how messy such a thing could be, as well as how some sushi was made with octopus. Not knowing how such a thing would affect her child, Mouse decided to move on to other things.
Lasagna... pot pie... Ramen... banana splits... option after option in the cookbooks were scoured, each of them rejected or decided against. She would have gladly used one of the seafood dishes, but they were all a bit too expensive for her tastes. So her last resort was to scour the food-specializing sites on the world wide web for answers.
This teen was on her last rope- her endless clicking around had gotten her nowhere fast in the past four hours. On a whim, she typed up "oysters" on the search bar in the umpteenth cooking site she had visited...
...And, surprisingly, turned up a recipe that was reasonable, if not absolutely perfect. She took out a small piece of paper and wrote down the things she would buy at the grocery store that day.
"I'll have to leave out the bell peppers, though..."
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Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 7:13 pm
Child Quest: Part 3- A Helping of Onions... Chop-chop!
"Sylvest-"
"Kraken!"
"Hhh... Kraken... be very careful with this, okay? I mean, you could get seriously hurt, and I don't know if you have enough octopus traits for anything you lose to grow back."
"'Kay, Mama."
Mouse couldn't believe she was teaching a small child how to handle a knife, of all things. But the recipe did call for chopped onions, and she wasn't sure how much help she could provide for the task to still hold an effect. So here they were, Sylvest holding a kitchen knife in his top right octopus arm. They had practiced together with butterknifes and stick butter, but now was time for the real deal. The teen just hoped she wouldn't be marked down in universal history as the worst sane mother ever.
"Alright... just like you practiced. But start slow, okay?"
Sylvest nodded, surprisingly understanding the possible peril that could unfold in this situation. His grip tightened on the knife, and, with concentrated precision, made the first slice on the onion.
Shuk... shuk... shuk...
Childhood memories disrupted the tension in the air.
Slowly, the octopus lad increased his pace, shoving his first bit of precisely-chopped onions out of the way and started with another slice. His right hand readjusted his glasses, eyes behind them set in an expression of utter concentration. Two... three... four slices- each with increasing speed.
And then the octopus lad picked up Mouse's knife with another one of his arms.
This caused the teen to gasp in surprise, but she quickly recomposed herself as she took note of how careful he was still making sure to be. It seemed that although Sylvest could be a little bit overconfident at times, he could still get his bearings together and concentrate fully on a task without much getting in the way. Two nonhuman arms worked at two onions in nearly perfect sync to one another. It was all Mouse could do to not start humming a song to the rhythm that was being created.
"Okay, Sylvest... you can stop. Before onion chunks start flying everywhere..." she said in a hopefully nonstartling voice.
"'Kay, Mama." Sylvest gingerly set the knives down. "Kraken do okay?"
Not wanting to spare any honesty, Mouse replied, "You did awesome, Sy- Kraken. I think your cooking is going to be excellent."
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Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2006 6:05 pm
Child Quest: Part 4- Invertebrate Chef!
Today was the day.
The day of reckoning.
The final test.
The last showdown.
Today... one Sylvest Pachinkorelli, Eden toddler with the soul of an octopus dofleini, would cook a meal with no assistance, be it from parental figure or hand of any diety.
"Alright, kiddo... you ready?" Mouse asked, hands on her child's shoulders.
"Yeah!" the octopus lad responded.
"Okay. Everything's out, lined up, and set up. All you need to do is follow the instructions."
"Okay!"
"Be very careful with the knives, the oven, and when you're boiling the water."
"Got it!"
"Good. Now, let's go!" Mouse finalized- and with a push of a button on a CD player, a track of fast-paced jazz music filled the house.
Sylvest charged, rushing into the kitchen. His first destination was the table in the middle of the room, on which was posted the instructions. The toddler intently deciphered every word, and carried out the first step- preheating the oven. Three hundred and fifty degrees Farenheit. Sparing only a second to double-check, he then dashed to the cutting board as if there was a bomb upon it that he had mere seconds to disarm. Kitchen knives became brandished in two octopus arms in the kind of speed only a toddler could manage as a half of a green onion was quickly chopped into fine cubes by a barrage of precision cuts. They were set aside for later.
It was time for the next step. Sylvest lunged for a nearby saucepan, filled it with water, and practically threw it on the stove. One could have cut through the tension with an axe as the toddler waited several long minutes for the water to come to a boil. Exactly one-and-a-half cups of seashell pasta were poured into the pan. Sylvest stirred idly for seven minutes, trying to coax the pasta into cooking faster. Right when they became tender, they were poured into a drainer while the child's lower left arm reached for a skillet and set it on the stove in the saucepan's place.
A spoonful of vegetable oil was poured into the skillet, which soon enough responded with a light sizzling. Onion bits were cooked and stirred until tender, followed by a can of cheese soup, a bit of salt, and a spoonful of Dijon mustard. The macaroni and a jar of oysters (previously drained and cut into thirds) were added, and everything was stirred until it was all mixed well. The smell that issued forth was very good- different, but good.
All that remained was for the toddler to spoon the mixture into a casserole dish, sprinkle some cheddae cheese over it, and pop it into the oven...
"Well, let's see how it turned out, shall we?" Mouse decided, spooning some into bowls for herself and her child. But there was already no questioning it- Sylvest had obviously done an awesome job.
The toddler nodded with a confident grin, and accepted his bowl. Together, they tasted the first two bites of the first meal Sylvest had ever cooked- they collectively "mmmmmm"ed in satisfaction.
"Wow... this is really good. We should have oyster more ofte-"
Mouse set her spoon down and felt her throat with her hands. Coughing loudly, she managed to croak out an "Uh-oh..." as her cheeks began to swell and redden.
"...Mama okay?" Sylvest asked.
The teen was already dialing her doctor on a conveniently nearby phone.
An hour later, a masculine hand had scribbled something illegible on a clipboard and handed it to Mouse, saying, "Well, you're lucky that it wasn't serious. The swelling should go down over the next few weeks, as long as you stay away from shellfish..."
"Thanks, Dr. Gibbin," Mouse replied. "And thanks for coming over and helping me out... sheesh, to think I'd be allergic to my kid's favorite food!"
"Oh, it's no problem, really."
The teen's eyes drifted towards the bill, and probably would have swore very loudly if there wasn't a very innocent toddler standing next to her, genuinely concerned. "And here you go... seven... thousand... gold," she managed to say calmly, writing out a check.
"And thank you. I'll just let myself out... and if anything else comes up, you know who to call. See you around, Miss Pachinkorelli," the doctor replied, taking the check with a flourish and exiting the house.
"Yeah... bye." Mouse sighed and flopped backwards on the couch as she heard Dr. Gibbin drive off.
"Kraken do okay?" Sylvest asked, hoping that Mouse wasn't too mad at him.
He was rewarded with a ruffle of his hair. "Yeah... you did pretty good."((Oyster Macaroni and Cheese recipe gotten from here.))
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Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:44 am
Sylvest seems pretty satisfied with himself and one day he's playing alone in his room. You don't seem to bother at first and don't see him for a while.
Inside the room though, something strange happens. The toddler has moved into a corner and has covered his eyes with his hands. His octopus arms twitch in a strange manner and his whole body doesn't seem to work out right. He's glowing slightly and doesn't dare to moved, quite scared of himself. Finally he becomes unconcious.
As he awakes again, Sylvest notices that he has changed...
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