Summer vacation, day 2

Started the day with Dunkin Donuts. It gives me an excuse to get iced coffee, plus they love it.

Then we went to Bruce Park playground. Funny today because Kate saw a preschool friend, leaving Jack feeling left out. I say funny because it is almost always the other way, with Kate forlornly chasing jack and some friend around. Jack, however, was a good sport, at one point pushing both girls on swings. He is a great big brother.

Both of them climbed things I didn't know they could climb. Kate climbed a rope tower thing that I was impressed when jack climbed. At 6. She then yelled for her friend to see her. "Look how high I am! Look, Georgia!"

Lunch, library (where Jack took out eight books), playing in the yard. Kate also did her summer workbook and asked if she could take the trophy stickers "because I did so well." I said sure.

I also saw her read a sentence she hadn't seen before (so I knew it wasn't something she had memorized). She is getting there.

Near the end of the day she played with her dollies, "because it was on my list of summer things to do."

Summer vacation, day 1

Summer is here, and the living is easy. Except for the kids being home all the time and this being the one week where we had no definite camp or travel plans. Emily was home yesterday, but we were still recovering from camping and basically moved in slow motion. Today Emily went back to work and summer began.

Decided to open with the Aquarium. It was on the list (yup, I had them make summer activity lists) and I had heard there was a new tank where you could touch a shark, so I dragged them along.

We had been there a few times before (we were actually members one year), but I'd don't think it had ever been this good. An albino alligator! That actually moved and swam and walked along the bottom of the tank, with his head resting on the surface of the water and his eyes blinking at us. He had really cool teeth, all craggy and jagged. And apparently they don't live long in the wild because of their color, due to both predators and sunburn! Really! Oh, the kids enjoyed it too.

Then we touched sharks and rays. Jack did, too, making him 36 years younger when he first touched a shark than I was. Kate didn't much want to and also couldn't reach unless I held her by her legs over the tank, which I feel would have been frowned upon.

Then we went to another touch tank, with starfish and horseshoe crabs and hermit crabs. We were lucky on the timing; the guy actually got to talk to us at length. He talked about how hermit crabs change their shells when they outgrow them, how horseshoe crabs use their tails to flip over (don't pick them up that way, their tails break). Jack told the guy he once scared birds away from a helpless crab; I am not entirely certain if it is true or not. Plus Kate touched a crab!

Then we saw the seal show. I don't think I had ever actually seen the whole thing (and didn't this time either because Kate got hungry and started whining about a snack), but it was pretty cool. Then we went to the play area and realized how long it had been since we had been there, because it was only for 5 and under and Jack couldn't go in. Kate played for 2 minutes and we left.

The day wrapped up with lunch, quiet time, workbook activities, baseball in the back yard, chasing balls over the fence into the neighbors' yards, frisbee, and helping them on the monkey bars. Jack made it to the fourth monkey bar, so just one away from the end. Kate did well as long as I held her legs from start to finish. We're working on it.

Funny Kate: she likes to draw pictures but (like me to Emily when I am writing a blog) she puts her hands over her work and says "don't look! You can't see!" then when it's finished she brings it out and says "close your eyes" before proudly displaying it. It's cute.

Oh yeah Jack also wrote a journal entry on camping, probably better than my blog, and concluded it by writing in bold and capital letters, I LOVE CAMPING. So we are going again in a few weeks.

Camping

Took the kids camping for the first time this past week. Time really does move slower at a campsite; we were there barely 24 hours but it seemed like a week's worth of stuff happened. Best to do the blog fairly stream of consciousness I think.

- On our drive to the campground, we stopped one of those upstate New York delis that appear every mile or so for sandwiches. First deli sandwiches for the kids. They ate them!

- Beautiful drive, perfect day. We arrived at the campground and as we were checking in the attendant mentioned the high winds. That would be an omen because literally just as we were parking the car in the lot near our campsite, we felt a drop of rain. I said to Emily, uh, that wasn't actually a drop of rain, was it? I was just starting to set up the tent when we heard thunder. To play it safe, we put everything back in the car. Good thing, because the skies opened up and it was a torrential downpour for almost the next hour. Some discussion about going to a hotel. Another hour of rain, or less, and we would have.

Sitting in the car in the parking lot, starting at the tree-filled woods, buckets of rain coming down, Emily and I shook our heads in disbelief and kind of laughed. I thought of Calvin and Hobbes, Calvin in a canoe with his father while sheets of rain came down. Dad: "It isn't very buggy, is it?" Calvin: "You're really reaching, Dad." We decided to play "I Spy," with Kate going first. Kate: "I spy with my little eye something....green." We all laughed, since we're looking at the forest. Jack gamely tried to answer. "Ooh! Those leaves?" Laughter. "THOSE leaves? What about THAT leaf? These leaves?...."

More rain. Emily: Jack, are you reading? Jack: "How else should we pass the time until we can camp?"

The rain mercifully stopped and we set up the tent. Walked around a little bit, decided which campsite we'd get next time (one directly on the water, where we'd later see fish swimming about).

As the sun was sinking in the sky, Jack said, "Can we go see the water? The sun looks really cool over it." We did. 

Kate walked around the campsite singing and having conversations with herself. She and Jack were totally comfortable playing around the site as we set it up. I thought about Scott and me playing with Fisher-Price adventure people while Dad and Mom set up the campsite, way way back when.

Started fire, started camp stove, made hotdogs and beans. Jack: "This is the best hotdog ever. Outdoor food is best." Kate also ate well.

Made smores. I made the first one, roasting marshmallow on stick. Kate ate the marshmallow, strangely uninterested in the chocolate and the graham crackers. Jack wanted to try roasting a marshmallow, and did. He also set his on fire. A brief look of stunned disappointment. I showed him how it was really tasty anyway. He ended up enjoying his smores. I am sure we also set marshmallows on fire as kids, I assured him.

We told ghost stories, me telling a revised one of Bill Murray's from "Meatballs," Jack telling one about "a ghost scaring Kate and she said I'm not scared....and then the ghost ate a smores." For Jack's story, he held a flashlight under his chin for a scary glowing effect.

Emily read Ladybug girl stories to both kids in the tent, and then we left. Most nights (including our practice camping night) they're awake for a while, saying they're cold, or warm, or thirsty, or can't sleep). This night, we didn't hear a peep -- both were asleep almost before we'd zipped the tent closed.

During the night I woke up at one point and heard Jack or Emily whispering. I felt for Jack, who was sleeping next to me, and couldn't find them. Apparently we were sleeping on enough of an angle that Kate was somewhere down around Emily's knees and Jack was basically on top of her, all three of them in the opposite corner of the tent from me.

Heard an owl around 4:30 a.m. Thought of Twin Peaks.

Morning, I woke and saw Jack sleeping, his stuffed monkey sitting against him, seemingly protecting him, smiling happily. (He always smiles, he's stuffed.)

Jack crawled into my sleeping bag at some point and we snuggled. His fuzzy crewcut kind of itched me.

In the morning Emily and Jack walked down to the water again. Jack came running back, excited. He'd seen a fish. He named it "Dorsal."

Breakfast was coffee, eggs, toast, bacon. Kate ate all of her eggs, which never happens at home.

We went for a brief hike, Kate singing happily in the same way she does sometimes when riding her bike. About nothing in particular to no one in particular.

Emily took Kate to a little playground near the beach, while I took Jack fishing. We had borrowed rods and tackle gear. I showed him how to cast and I was stunned to see him pick it up immediately; I expected the first hook to catch either me or him in the head. Nope. I fished too, at one point seeing a fish actually put the lure in its mouth, then let it go. I was either too stunned to jerk on it or didn't want to deal with trying to remove the hook without hurting him. But, it was pretty cool.

We fished for almost an hour without catching a thing and not only was Jack NOT bored or disappointed, he wanted to fish more. Pretty amazing.

We went to the beach and rented a rowboat. After some incompetent circling, I got the hang of it and we went over near our campsite. Then Emily rowed. Then JACK rowed, and did a credible job; he was so thrilled. He had his back to me but Emily said he had that proud look he gets when he does something new; the "I DID it" look. He rowed for a while and wanted to keep on doing it. A natural fisherman, natural boater, natural camper? Mebbe. Or I'm just a proud father, whichever.

Kate also wanted to row and we let her try. The end of the paddle caught her in the lip and she cried. Sorry, Kate. But she rallied anyway and sat on my lap while I rowed, her hands on my wrists. Happy again.

The boating was the best, because it was just the family, out on the water on a beautiful day, like there was nothing else in the world. It felt like we could do it forever.

We played on the beach, Kate and Jack completely unfazed by muddy pond/lake water, just like us as kids. They rolled around in the sand, jumped in the water, rolled around some more.

Time to leave, drive home, eat dinner at a diner, and stumble into our own beds exhausted. I put Jack to bed and as I said goodnight I said, Jack, I had a great weekend, I'll remember it always.

Jack: "Me too. I'll remember it at least until I'm 70."

Graduation

Kate graduated from preschool yesterday; she'll start kindergarten in the fall. For 7 years we've been dropping a child off at daycare in the morning and picking him or her up in the afternoon; now they'll both be in school.

The teachers there have been part of first Jack's and then Kate's life for most of their lives; it's crazy to think we won't see them anymore.

We sent Kate off to school in the morning in a beautifully colorful dress. Took some pictures on our front lawn; she looked tall and confident.

Showed up that afternoon, with cameras and flowers. Took our seats for the ceremony, and the graduates marched in. I think a year ago she would have run over and clung to us or something, but today she just smiled proudly and took her seat. They sang songs they'd been practicing (she's been singing them around the house -- skinaramink, Mr. Sun, Gonna build me a house, etc.), did all the hand motions for the sun going up and Mr. Spider going down and all that.

When they called Kate's name to get her diploma she got a big smile on her face, stood up, and took it from Mr. Brendan. Held it up to show us, then ran over, hugged us, and looked beyond us for one of her friends. "Georgia! Look!!!"

We had cake and said goodbye to her teachers, goodbye to the Greenwich Y childcare center. I am excited and happy for Kate, and I already miss the little girl who went to daycare.

Father's Day

I slept until about 615, maybe 630, which was ok. The kids knew to let me sleep in, which meant I was awakened by theatrical whispering ("Is Daddy still sleeping?") rather than talking. They disappeared, then came in a few minutes later to determine that I was awake or asleep.

Once I was clearly awake, they jumped up onto the bed with cards and gifts. Jack had seen a card in a store he liked, which he also decorated with pirate stickers, pictures of superheroes, and word balloon conversations between them all. Typical 7 year old boy stuff I expect. "Arr! I will shoot you!" "No! aaaaaaahhhhhh!" He and Kate drew me a card together...I think Jack did the lettering. I also got a picture of me Jack made at school, and a note saying he wanted to have another outdoor athletics day. Kate gave me a laminated paper tie which I will need to try to wear at some point. Maybe.

Jack thought it very important that I not do anything. "mommy should do it...it's father's day."

Kate wished me a Happy father's day about eight times. She also danced around the living room in her new clothes making up songs and band names. 

Jack and I played catch. We got lunch out and went to the L.L. Bean store to prep for next week's camping trip. We played "Plants vs. Zombies" on my new iPad.

I talked on the phone with, and then got a nice email from, my own Dad.

Good day.

We toured a zoo

Volunteered to chaperone Jack's class trip to the Bronx Zoo today. In the first place I wanted to help out on some class trip, and in the second place, I love animals. So I loaded up the backpack with water and snacks and sunblock, and hopped on the bus with the kids.

I was in charge of three kids: Jack, Kevin, Peter. Both were his friends, he'd mentioned them before. I shared a seat with Peter and Jack on the way there. Five minutes into the trip, Peter said to me, "Did you see the movie 'Speed'?" Uh...yes. Did you?

Jack was pretty happy that his Dad was one of the chaperones. A decent amount of parents went (1 for every 3 or 4 kids, plus some teachers, so I guess about 15ish parents), but a lot of those parents go on most class outings. So it was a big deal to him that I was there, and that was pretty cool. Everyone was pretty happy on the bus on the way down, the kids around us singing goofy songs like, uh, Wheels on the Bus.

One of the guidelines we were given was to stay with another group, so there'd be multiple adults if there was a problem. At the front gate, though, was sheer chaos of different class groups from schools and what have you across the New York Metropolitan area, I imagine, and we'd been standing around for 10 minutes when Mrs. Huhne (Jack's teacher) indicated we could go if we got in. Minutes later we'd ditched the rest of the class and were gazing at lemurs and lizards.

Kids like to run, so we did a lot of zipping about from exhibit to exhibit. What was funny to me was when they'd be fascinated by one of the information boards or signs, while a huge grizzly bear or giraffe was just across the way. Hey guys, look! A tiger! "Look Dad, if I stand next to this cardboard tiger we can see how big it is compared to us...."

We saw lots of animals...sleeping...because it was the middle of the day and it was hot. But the polar bear played with a big beach ball thingy while swimming around his watery home, that was cool. And the grizzly bears apparently fought a little bit, according to somebody else, but we only saw them walking around. The Lions lifted their heads and gazed at us as if to say, What are YOU looking at? The baboons put their faces up against the glass. Somebody said, "Rafiki!" which is the name of the baboon in Lion King I guess.

I doled out water and raisin snacks, then we met up with the other groups for lunch. I don't know if I've ever seen kids have so much fun eating lunch. I think they were just having a blast being at the zoo and out and about with their friends.

We saw more animals, blew some money at the gift shop, and I bought them ice cream. We took the bus home all intact and together, and then Jack and I came home, me to the work I'd been away from, and him to write a journal entry (""Me, daddy, and my class went on a field trip to the Bronx Zoo. Here is the story. I was in a group with Kevin and Peter. Here is our favorite places. Madagascar. Bears. World of Reptiles. Mouse House. Baboon Reserve." He also drew a picture of a baboon.)

Just before we went to pick up Kate today, Jack came over and hugged me. He said, "I can't tell you how much fun I had with you."

I'm not sure it gets much better than that.

Backyard camping

We got a tent and will be going camping for the first time this year. I did it a lot growing up, and then a little more as an adult, and want to do it with the kids too.

They're hearteningly game; the sleeping bags came from L.L. Bean and they immediately stretched them out in the living room and climbed in with their sleeping toys and books. They asked if they could sleep in them right away, and have sleepovers in each other's rooms, and so forth.

Yesterday, after the previous several days of rain had finally stopped, we set the thing up in the backyard. They spent the next several hours going in and out through the various entrances, bringing in toys and books and play food and the like. And of course their sleeping bags and camp chairs.

We said we could all sleep there at night, thinking naturally they'd give up after about an hour and we'd all end up sleeping in our beds.

We were wrong. Right after dinner they raced upstairs, washed themselves up and brushed teeth, and got into their pajamas. They climbed into their sleeping bags, Emily read them stories, and we prepared for the hour or so of fooling around followed by going inside and sleeping in beds.

But after the fooling around and talking and saying they weren't tired and whatnot, they fell asleep. Emily and I, seeing as the ground is really hard and the kids immediately traded out their camping pillows for our actual pillows, did not. Emily ended up stumbling inside around 2 or so. I remained, sleeping for half an hour here and there, waking up, sleeping some more, waking up.

The moon was really cool to see in the middle of the night. It got really cold at around 4 a.m. I heard birds by 4:30.

Jack had encroached on my area and I needed to slide him over. At the time he was sleeping on his back. He gave a little start, his eyes fluttering and his hands going up in the air, as I moved him over. It was like when he was a baby. 

Jack woke up  around 4. Snuggled against me, held my hand. Gave me a little smile and wave, then fell back asleep.

Kate woke up around 5. Sat up, asked where Mommy was. Lay back down, and went back to sleep. Neither asked to go in.

I woke up for good around 6, 'cause it was getting kind of light out there. They woke up around 7, and we all came inside. I made a lot of coffee, and gave the kids high-fives for their first campout.

Am already preparing for the questions to come:

"Can we sleep in the tent tonight?"

Good kid

I am not always as good a person as I want to be. Sometimes I don't put others before me and wish I did, sometimes I forget something thoughtful that I wish I had done. I think I'm better than when I was younger, but it's still something I want and try to be better at.

So it makes me glad when I see my children being better about it than I; makes me optimistic for the future and hopeful that whatever I and we have done wrong with them, we are doing some things right.

- Jack and Kate argue and bicker like any siblings, I imagine, but on several occasions recently I have seen Jack (who's older and should be better, Kate's only 4, I understand) be the bigger person (since he is). At the Great Strides CF Walk yesterday, she liked his sticker more than hers and was crying about it (she was very behind on sleep). He immediately traded with her, and I think he clearly liked the one he gave up better.

- On Saturday, at the Baseball League All-Star Day, his best friend Nick (at least it's his favorite friend, I think he might be closer with Brian, but Nick is the boy everyone loves...natural athlete, that's how it goes) was on the semifinal Tug of War team, and Jack wanted to stay around to watch. Nick's team lost in the championship, and I saw Jack go over and pat him on the back and say he was sorry or something. It's just not the kind of thing you automatically expect from a 7-year-old boy, and it was pretty cool.

- At the conclusion of the Great Strides Walk, eating our lunch, Jack noticed a big posterboard where people could write on it "Why they walked." He pointed it out to me, and I said, Oh, that's nice. I wasn't necessarily going to go any further with it myself, but Jack knelt down, grabbed the marker, and carefully wrote out, "I walked for my Dad's brother, Scott." Put the marker down, got up, and we all headed home. Feeling pretty great.

Mets game

Jack's first pro baseball game was in Colorado, and he was about 6 or 7 months old at most. We arrived in the 2nd inning, quickly moved from our crowded seats to an open spot way in back, and hung out with him for about 4 innings before clearing out. His second was Sunday, with us taking him to see the Mets against the team the Rockies may well have been playing 6 years ago, Arizona. So possibly it was his second Diamondbacks game.

This time we arrived an hour early, since I had no idea that you could park and walk up to their new Stadium from about 100 yards away like you were going to a movie. Whereas last time Jack was wearing, I believe, a sleeper, this time he was wearing a Mets jacket -- and not just any Mets jacket. Emily's, from when she was about 14 years old, which we had in our attic (and for some reason I knew this). It was a little big on him, but I don't think we'll ever be able to get him to wear another jacket, at least for a while; he's been wearing it every day and seems ridiculously happy (and Emily ridiculously proud).

We parked and headed in, Jack leaving his Little League ballcap in the car because he was determined to get a Mets hat. Right inside the gates, we bought an official program and grabbed a couple of pencils, just like Dad and I used to do every time we went. I wonder how many people do today? Anyway, we got the program, grabbed a couple of pencils, and went to the first Souvenir stand to buy Jack's Mets hat. And a stuffed Mr. Met for Kate. Uh, and one for Jack. (That evening they had a stuffed mascot party, with Wally, Molly, the Mr. Mets, and the Bridgeport Bluefish mascots...I don't know what their names are.)

Since it was lunch time, Jack also wanted to get food. Right away. But since we entered the opposite side of the stadium from our seats, I impressed upon him the need to get to our seats, first. "OK," he said. "Let's go now." Uh, don't you want to walk down close to the field? We finally convinced him to do that, which was kind of cool. I think we were more into it than he was. Citi Field doesn't have the presence or charisma of Fenway Park (uh, Obviously!) but it sure is shiny and new.

We found our way to our seats, sat down, and I immediately got up to get hotdogs and beer and lemonade. Came back, Jack ate the thing in 2 seconds, and I got up to get more. Finally we were full and only had to wait another 20 minutes or so for the game to start. We all stood for the National Anthem, removed our hats ("Why?" asked Jack. Sign of respect, I said.), so on and so forth. Emily helped Jack write the names of both starting lineups into the program, and when the game started, we took turns showing him how to keep score. It was awesome and we scored it for about three innings, which is probably how long Dad and I did it most games.

David Wright is the Mets' best player, and he wears the same No. 5 that Jack does for Little League, so he's now Jack's favorite player. And he got a hit his first time up, so he's officially now Jack's version of Jim Rice. Second favorite is the pitcher, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, and he might be my favorite Met after reading a story about him in Sports Illustrated a couple of weeks ago; he's a literate guy. (And baseball's only knuckleballer, apparently, after Tim Wakefield retired.) Was throwing a no-hitter until a fourth-inning bloop that I thought was foul, ended up throwing a shutout until the 9th, at which point he and the bullpen nearly blew it and two of the three outs were warning track shots, including the final one, a would-be tying 2-run homer that was caught with the outfielder's back against the wall. Emily and I breathed a huge sigh of relief, not wanting Jack's first remembered game to end as badly as it nearly did.

(I tried to remember my first baseball game. I think it was Chuck Rainey and the Sox winning by a 4-3 or 3-2 score. Yes, Dad? My best memory was us going to see the first game of a day-night doubleheader, the Sox losing badly, and us being depressed and not wanting the game to end that way, so we bought tickets to the night game outside the park and the Sox won a 4-3 thriller. If memory serves.)


After the game Jack got to run the bases with Mr. Met. Seriously! At Sunday afternoon home games they let kids 12 and under line up with their parents outside the park, enter through the bullpen, and the kids run the bases. Emily and I snapped pictures but were too far and they were too small. But I suspect none of us will ever forget anyway.

We got home with enough time for me to pitch to Jack in the backyard a little bit. I don't know if he pretended to be David Wright or not.

Catching up

Jack had his first baseball game of the season Saturday. It was on the "big" field where there are adult softball and (for all I know) baseball games; I guess the idea is to give the "Rookie" ball kids, which is what Jack plays, a chance to play on a real field (practices and the rest of his games are at a small field at his elementary school). This one had baselines, manicured grass, dugout-like areas, and an announcer calling out each player's name and number. Pretty cool. As we walked onto the field one of the kids was like, "We play HERE? Wow!" I was saying it too, to myself.

The game before ours ran late, so for 20 minutes the kids ran around and tossed baseballs in the air. There really wasn't enough room to have a practice and it was kind of chaotic with people walking around and wanting to get hotdogs and so forth. But it finally started, and it was great. The announcer (sounded like about an 8-year-old girl) called the names, the kids hit the pitches and ran to first, the fielding was generally poor. It's funny how kids field the ball the right way in practice but have no idea how to get the glove down in an actual game. It's different. I gather that's why in Little League I swung the bat fine in practice and didn't take it off my shoulder in a game the entire season.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and we even got Jack's bat back, which somebody else had brought home after his first practice. Afterward Jack posed for a picture and he and Kate got to eat ring pops. Forgot to mention, Kate was apparently in great spirits watching the game; on several occasions I heard her calling through the fence. "HI....DADDY.....Hi.....DADDDY....."

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Took Jack out on his bike today. He started up on his own each time, not needing my hand on the seat or his back to get him started. A big step for him. He's still not totally there yet -- easily starting up immediately -- but he gradually gets going and then can cruise along in complete control. Uses the hand brake to stop like a pro, too, which is a big improvement from a few weeks ago, when he was still using his face, knees, and the neighbors' lawns.

At dinner we talked about our favorite parts of the day. Jack said immediately, "Riding my bike!" That made me glad, since I can't see his face when he's riding (I'm running along behind) and wasn't sure if he was smiling happily with the wind in his hair or with teeth clenched in abject terror. I'm guessing it was the former.

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Jack has been calling us Mom and Dad lately. I'm not ready for it. 

Sick Katie

Sunday morning Kate got into bed with us, too early as per usual, and I noticed her feet were burning up. Turned out she had a high fever, which meant a day of staying home. It was lower by evening, but still enough that we planned to keep her home. Monday afternoon she was still under the weather so I took her to the doctor. They checked her ears nose and throat and couldn't find anything specific; "just viral" was the guess. So we went home again. But a day later, her fever was up again and she was wailing that her ear was hurting her. So I called to leave a message for her doctor (long story short: give me an antibiotics prescription!), who called me back and nixed phoning in the antibiotics but said I could bring her in again. Super. So off we went at 6:30 in the evening, Kate already in her pajamas, to get the last open slot of the day with her doctor...who looked in Kate's ear and said, You were right. She has an ear infection.

Kate's kind of funny at the doctor. At first she basically stood very close to me, almost hiding behind me, in the room. But then she sat happily on the exam table, drawing pictures with crayons. "What's THAT? And what's THAT?" She giggled when her ears were checked (the first time) and did a big "AH" when the doctor checked her throat. Going back the next day, it was a little different. She had been wailing for the past hour so her eyes were puffy and her face was red. She was in pajamas and teary so she looked like she'd just woken up. And she wanted no part of being there, but just sort of woodenly went through the motions of opening her mouth and gazing at the wall while the doctor checked her ear. It was almost like she was thinking, What am I doing back here? I was here YESTERDAY, and I TOLD you I was sick.

 I picked up the medicine and was home with it before Kate went to bed. She looked at it doubtfully, especially since it wasn't "pink medicine." I'll never forget giving Kate an antibiotic once -- a year ago, I think -- and having her spit the entire thing out down the front of her shirt as I started in disbelief. So you could say I'm wary of giving her new medicine. I smelled it and says, it smells like banana...no. I think, pineapple? Yummy. She took it doubtfully, but it stayed in. "Pineapple," she said, cheerfully.

Today she was home sick, again, but the medicine seemed to be doing its job. We went to the library (she took out two Ladybug Girl books) and the post office, and she felt pretty good. And I knew she was better because at home, when I gave her a sandwich and chips for lunch, she sang.

Great Wolf

Putting Jack to bed tonight, after our vacation to Great Wolf Lodge and Water Park, I mentioned that maybe he should do a journal entry or draw a picture of one of his favorite things from the weekend. And Jack said, "A journal entry; I like writing more than drawing." Which was mildly surprising, but OK. And I started to think, if Jack were writing this blog tonight, it might go something like this.

We ate breakfast and got into the car to go to Great Wolf Lodge. I was going to miss playing Wii, but the water slides looked pretty cool in the pictures Daddy showed me. Plus we ate lunch at McDonald's! They had a big play area there where me and Kate ran around. Daddy joked that we would just skip the waterpark and stay overnight at McDonald's. Silly Daddy.

Arrived at Great Wolf Lodge. Busy. Wooden animal carvings everywhere. They had this game called MagiQuest. You got your wand in a store, then ran around the lodge waving it at paintings and treasure chests of gold. It was awesome. Kate and I waved our wands and collected gold and ran around for about an hour before Mommy and Daddy reminded us there were a bunch of water slides.

We all got in our bathing suits and went into the water park. It was like being in an indoor baseball stadium or something. I was so excited I ran off on my own and scared my parents, who were still trying to find some place to put our towels down, half to death. After that, we started out in this little wading area with small slides. I thought Kate would be scared, but she went down a couple of decent-sized slides all by herself, throwing her arms up as she went and laughing happily as she splashed into the water at the bottom of the slide. "I did it!" she yelled to us, proudly. My sister is only 4. Later, Daddy told us that he and Kate went to a pretty high slide which he thought he could do with Kate, but found out at the top they had to go separately. He thought about walking down the stairs, but instead asked Kate if she wanted to do it, and she, her little mouth tight, nodded. And she went down on her own, and though I know she was really scared, liked it so much she wanted to do it again. And smiled proudly.

Daddy and I went up a long staircase to do a pretty big slide. We carried up a two-person raft to zip down on. As we put it in the water, I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. "Uh," I said "I'm not sure...." Daddy said, Jack, I'm right here with you, it will be fine. And then there were people behind us and we had to go. First I yelled, then I yelled some more. Then I laughed and laughed, and as we crashed into the water at the bottom, the first thing I said was, "That was GREAT. Let's go again."

There was a big wave pool, which was like being at the ocean, except the water was even warmer. I kept swimming out, letting the waves bring me back in, and swimming out again. Laughing and laughing. Floating on inner tubes, getting capsized, crashing into the water again and again. And going back for more. There was another pool where Daddy and I played basketball, and another where we just floated downstream while buckets of water dumped on our heads every so often. It almost looked like Daddy tried to get hit by the water because he knew it'd be funny for us, but probably not. It was funny.

At night, there was storytime, where we all wore pajamas and gathered in the lobby and somebody dressed as Violet the Wolf and another girl read bedtime stories. Incredibly, I worked my way through about 200 kids to get into the front row. Daddy and Mommy were way in the back with Kate up on their shoulders. Kate had her stuffed Violet the Wolf doll with her, and badly wanted to show the big Violet her toy that looked like her. When she couldn't get close, she cried. A lot. She was a little overtired from staying up late, waking up early, and not napping for a few days. (I wasn't at all tired, although in pictures on the last day my eyes were about 3/4 of the way shut.)

Before storytime one night, there was a lady making balloon animals. I made it up to the front while Daddy waited. When she asked me what I wanted, I asked for a dragon. She said she couldn't make that. I told her to ask somebody else. When it was my turn again, I told her, "I'm still thinking." Daddy seemed to groan. I ended up stepping out of line without getting an animal. Jack, what's up? Daddy asked. "I've moved on," I said.

There was a "Story Adventure" thing where you got your picture taken in a variety of poses and they put you in a book with Wiley or Violet the wolf. Daddy talked about how Kate did huge smiles and threw her arms up into the air to show excitement and all that. Sometimes she can be shy so it was pretty impressive.

I've got to say the thing I'll remember most about the trip was actually NOT the water slides, even though I went around and around and jumped in and out of the water again and again. The thing I liked most was the MagiQuest game. At one point I had to open a chest on one side of the hotel, then get to the other side in 30 seconds to open another one. Daddy laughed that there was a sign that said, NO RUNNING. I completed a whole bunch of quests and at the end there was a video that told me I'd earned Master Magi. Mommy said I beamed with pride. As I said to Daddy, "I can't believe I can do all this with just a wand and a computer! And I made MASTER MAGI!!!!"

At the end, I did an adventure, where I had to fight a dragon. I tried to kill him twice but couldn't. Very hard. Next time!

I don't know if that's exactly what Jack would have written. But I think something like that is about right. I took a picture of him after he completed one of his wand quests. This is about typical of his smile, part happiness, part awe, part accomplishment, for most of the vacation.

Baseball

It was Opening Day for the Red Sox, and Jack, to his credit, put on his red Kevin Youkilis Red Sox T-shirt and his Red Sox hat. As far as I know he's about the only non-Yankee fan in his class. In the afternoon I asked him if he got any grief about it. He said no. Any comments? He said, "Yes -- Mrs. Murphy." (Assistant teacher.) I said, really? He said she said to him, "'You're a Red Sox fan?' And I said, Yes, my parents got married in Boston." And I said, Jack, good for you.

After school we watched the Red Sox lose their opener, but at least they tied it up with two outs in the ninth, so they showed some heart.

When the game was over, wanting to kill an hour before baseball practice but not do anything too strenuous, we went on a Secret Spy Mission. Jack got out his spy folder, which is a manila folder he's drawn pictures and written a bunch of code words in, and gave us secret code names; he was Eagle and I was Tiger. I think. Then we skulked about the house and the yard pretending to kill and eat bears and find treasure and such. Jack drew a picture of the "Egyptian Bear," which hibernates in the summer, and which made good eatin' after we cooked him up on our invisible stove. Jack asked me if I wanted the tail or a foot, neither of which sounded too appetizing, so I asked for a leg. It was a little gamey. Then we found treasure and drew a picture of that, too.

Then it was off to baseball practice. There are 10 other kids and almost all of them are Yankee fans who wear Yankee hats and their favorite player is Derek Jeter. But other than that, they all seem like pretty good kids. Some can't throw and some can't catch and some can't hit, but they were all pretty game and all of them seemed better at the end of practice than at the start. We finished with a drill where each kid got three throws from behind the pitcher's mound to a bucket at home plate, with closest throw winning. A couple of kids hit it and a couple who couldn't throw 20 feet at the beginning of practice were close, and practice ended with every kid having a smile on his face, which was pretty awesome.

In the car on the way home, since it was 7:30 and Jack hadn't had dinner yet, I asked Jack if he was really hungry. And he said, "No, I don't feel hungry when I'm having fun." Then we got home, he had two hotdogs and a bunch of chips and a yogurt and some red pepper and a piece of Easter candy and showered and went to bed. So it was a good day.

Planetarium

Jack and I went to the Discovery science museum and Planetarium in Bridgeport today. Another parent had mentioned it to me a little while back and I've been wanting to go there to check it out. She'd said the museum itself wasn't much but the kids loved the Planetarium.

We ended up getting there about an hour before the first Planetarium show, so we had plenty of time to see the museum. There was a trick shot basketball exhibit, lots of cool science stuff for kids where you pedaled a bike to make light bulb glow, or made drums and percussion instruments play by waving your hands in the air. There were lego things to build, and smaller versions of the Apollo Lunar Module, and more things of that ilk.

We built houses out of fake bricks and knocked them over, made a system of funnels and chutes and sent marbles down them, threw basketballs over our heads at the hoops. We "talked" to Alexander Graham Bell, and looked at cool light patterns through prisms, and guided an astronaut on a video surface of the moon. Jack climbed up into an astronaut space suit and grinned through the helmet as a I took a picture.

Some exhibits were "under repair," some were blocked off entirely, some just appeared incomplete. It was a rainy Saturday afternoon, and there were relatively few people there. The gift shop was a small section of the front counter with $2 trinkets that had very little to do with the museum itself. (Killer whale water pistols?) Jack happily bought a $2 bottle of slime, however, and another one for Kate. They love them! But you know, it was kind of sad. We had fun. And there weren't many people there. And it's clear the place isn't doing very well. Ten years from now? I don't know.

At the Planetarium, we saw a cool film about the Hubble Space telescope and some of the pictures it's been able to take of the universe. At the end was a Q and A and Jack raised his hands twice to ask questions, once about black holes ("Has a spaceship ever been in one?" No.), the next time about ...I forget. Maybe life on other planets, a followup to a question I asked. We then left and got food at the cafeteria. Which was a vending machine where we each had a bag of chips and split a sour patch kids. Tasty!

Second film was aimed at younger kids and it had this star going around the galaxy meeting other stars and planets and stuff. It was kind of hokey at first but ended up being pretty good. The Hubble one was for ages 8 and up and might have been a bit technical for Jack (though he had good questions). The second was for younger audiences and better for Jack, although several 4-or so year old kids had to be taken out, which by the way is why I didn't bring Kate.

So then we bought Jack's slime, and he picked out some slime for Kate, and we headed home. Pretty good way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon, even if not everyone does it anymore.

Homework

Jack does some reading with the 2nd graders, Mrs. Bernstein's class. He's a good reader. Yesterday he brought home a book and did his homework, which was to draw a picture of something from nature both from far away and from up close. He drew a leaf up close, and then a broad view of a similar leaf on a tree in our backyard.

As I was putting him to bed tonight, leaving his room, he suddenly remembered, "Oh! I forgot to do my homework for Mrs. Bernstein! I was supposed to write down three thoughts about an animal (and something else, I can't remember)." I said, well, don't worry, you can do it the morning. He seemed to accept that and I went downstairs.

Five minutes later he came down. "Mrs. Bernstein had said I was the best student, but then today I forgot to bring in my homework assignment from yesterday, and I had to share a book with someone else. And I couldn't really see it because it was at a round table." He was a little upset. And I said, Jack, it's OK, don't worry, we'll do it in the morning. See, I've written a note to remind you in the morning, and I put your homework book right by your backpack so we won't forget it. He said OK and went back upstairs.

Five minutes later he came down again. Emily was at a school board meeting, and he said to me, "Daddy, can you call Mommy so she can go to my classroom and get my composition book out of my desk? Because I need to write my homework assignment in that." I said, Jack, first of all, Mommy is at the middle school, so she couldn't get into your school or your classroom. And second, it's OK. We'll do it on a piece of paper and you can copy it into your composition book when you get into school. We'll have Mommy bring you in a little early. He nodded and I gave him a hug and sent him back to bed.

He didn't come down, but I'm going to go check and make sure he's sleeping anyway.

bike ride

Kate and I took her bike out today. She's into it right now and pretty good at pedaling on flat stretches and slight inclines. She sang the entire way, LOUDER in some parts than others.

"It's more funner ....I'm riding my bike.....it's more funner....than anybody ELSE ....I don't need help...I'm riding a bike...I can DO it ....I can ride my bike better than ANYone .....I am faster than YOU.....I am riding my bike ....."

This song lasted about 15-20 minutes....the entire bike ride. Interspersed with asides: "Daddy, look at that Squirrel! ....it's more funner ..... look at that flower! "

Weekend in VT

Spent the weekend in Vermont. We were only there a couple of days, but time moves slower up there and it's enough time for a lot of small things to happen.

- We threw the baseball around the front yard. Baba was impressed by Jack's arm, and rightly so; I am too. The hitting and catching need work, but the kid's got an arm.

- The three of us walked across the road to the brook. Kicked our way through the brush and reeds to stand near the edge of the muddy, quick-moving stream that used to be a lazy, slow-moving stream where we happily swam and made mudpies on the beach all summer. I tried to figure out exactly where the bank used to be but could barely place it; it's changed since Hurricane Irene. Jack and I each threw a stick in the water (Jack called it a pooh stick after "Stick Man") and watched them disappear.

- We paced around up behind the house, what we used to call the flat place. I spent some time looking for the old sandbox but couldn't find so much as a board. Did find a few rusted remnants of the swingset, what looked like the ...chair swing? I think that's what we called it. Pretty overgrown up there, with moss-covered trees criss-crossing the grass. Emily thought it'd be a nice place to build a house. We also went up on the back hill and found the white stone marking where Scott is. The old apple tree there has long since died and crumbled. I remember we had a tire swing on it.

- Kate made Baba jump out of his socks, according to him, on two occasions, by walking around and coming up close to him and saying "Rahhh!!!" She particularly liked doing it in the bear slippers.

- We found lots of old toys and games. (I remember Jack, when he and Kate were packing last week, saying to Kate, "You don't need any toys...they have GREAT toys up there." And so they do. We played (and ultimately brought back) a 40-year-old "Snoopy versus the Red Baron" game I found in the attic. I'm sure they'll have lost interest in it in a week or so, but we played it again tonight before bed.

- Nana and Baba got Jack a Lego contraption and Kate a "Make Your Own Tiara" set. Both were big hits. As Jack was using his, he said almost too himself, "I just LOVE contraptions!"

- Nana made pancakes, we all ate them. I mention this only because everyone sitting and eating the exact contents of a meal doesn't always happen. And, you know, pancakes.

- We went out for dinner, which started poorly but ended well, with kids eating and everyone happy. Then we headed home, but there was sentiment to look for deer, since it was almost that time, and we wanted to drop by Willis Wood's for maple syrup, so we did that too. As we parked he was walking around the corner of the barn, which for all I know he's pretty much doing 18 hours a day, and I was able to buy maple syrup and cider jelly right there. As I was heading back to the van I said, "So, you got any animals that small kids can meet?" And he said, "Sure, you got small kids?" So I went over to the van and opened the door and said, who wants to meet some animals? So Jack and Kate both piled out (and Emily too) and we all ran into the barn and got to see some lambs, including one that was just a day old. That seemed pretty cool until we turned around and got to meet another one that was just an HOUR old. Both kids, Emily, and me were duly impressed. Jack climbed up on the fence slats for a better look, Kate was equally interested until this one goat made noise at us like it wanted to kick us to death and she was understandably alarmed. As we left the barn and headed back Nana and Baba were just on the way in; sorry! I kind of forgot that even people who live in Vermont don't always get to see hour-old lambs.

Anyway, just another Vermont weekend. Jack didn't want to leave, which is kind of cool. But at least he got to bring the Red Baron game.



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Day with Kate

Kate and I spend Friday together, but often she naps, or I have to work at least some, or both. Today she didn't nap and I didn't work, so here was our day.

- Went to Dunkin Donuts, which is typically a positive start to the day. She happily got her shoes and jacket on and went to the bathroom, things that occasionally involve resistance. "C'mon, Daddy!" she hollers, as I tie my sneakers. She sings something or other in the car on the way there, and then we hear the dance song of the week on the radio (Love in a Hopeless Place, in case you're wondering...Jack erroneously calls it Love in a Homeless Place, which is kind of amusing), and Kate lights up even more. "Daddy, it's your song!!!" Waiting in line she danced around and announced which kinds of donuts she wanted. Momentary shyness when we had to sit at a table close to strangers. But she rallied when I explained her donut eating depended on it. We brought donuts home for Jack, too.

- Went to the liquor store, me for wine (medicinal purposes you understand) and her to see the parrot. As I'm browsing I hear her say, "Daddy, Daddy! He flapped his wings!" As I looked over, the store's pet parrot did indeed flap his wings. Thrilling for all of us.

- At home we did a puzzle, then Kate said she wanted to take baby for a walk. So we got the stroller out, popped her baby into it, and walked around the block with baby in her stroller. We both wore hats and winter jackets because it was cold, but baby didn't seem to mind. Her beatific smile remained fixed on her face.

- We had lunch. Kate made her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich and also had milk, a cheese stick, and an apple. I had basically the same, although one of us wasn't full afterward.

- After lunch we were going to draw, but first Kate took out a Peter Rabbit coloring book and gave us each a page. We colored with markers; she makes a very bright Peter Rabbit, with different rainbow colors for his ears, nose, eyes, cheeks, paws, sleeves, etc. Her Farmer MacGregor kind of looked scary since she gave him a red beard and green eyes. We colored for about half and hour and I've got to say it was really peaceful.

- We drew porcupines, with me following her lead (she learned how to draw one from an art book Jack brought home). If I did it wrong, or at least wrong in her eyes, she'd look at it, say "No, Daddy." I'd say, well, I already did it. And she'd sigh, and then say, patiently, "It's okay." We made porcupines with crowns ("It's a King Porcupine" she explained) and with other porcupines on their backs, and I got several sighs followed by, "It's okay."

- We went to get Jack, and she ran around the playground at school. About the happiest Friday we've had together in a while, I think.

Indoor soccer

Jack plays indoor soccer every Wednesday from 5 to 6, which means we pick up Kate from preschool early and zip up to his soccer practice. Some highlights from this week, which are actually applicable to most weeks:

- The first week I failed to bring anything for Kate to do, which was a mistake that I quickly corrected the second week. Since then I've brought books, card games, stuffed toys. They amuse her for, oh, 5 minutes. And then she wants to get water from the water fountain. And go for a walk (we go up and down the stairs outside the gym where they practice). And get more water. Today I brought her Doodle Bear, and a marker to draw on it with, and I think it kept her busy for about 10 minutes. Spread out in 1 minute intervals over the course of the hour. The highlight was when we put Doodle Bear into her jacket, which she loved so much she had to tell Jack. Who was across the echoey gym playing soccer. "JACK!" she yelled. "LOOK AT DOODLE BEAR!!!!"

- Jack and his friends greet each other before practice like it's been weeks since they've seen each other, instead of at school just two hours earlier. They run around like crazy in the hallway outside the gym before practice, then go in and do it all again during practice. And afterward. Jack guzzles water during practice and all the way home, then sleeps easily at night. Might be all the running around.

- I am not sure he'll keep playing soccer far into the future. Might be too young to say for sure, but I think he's more into just running around with his friends than filled with any great fondness for the sport. It's also interesting that he definitely seems to be a defensive-minded sort, rushing to make sure someone is covering the goal. (Arguably he runs from end to end more than anyone else there.) The competitive nature is there; he just seems to care more about keeping the other team from scoring than scoring himself. This evening he saved a couple of goals and assisted on another in a 3-2 win. And had a blast running around with his friends.

weekend with Robin

- on Friday, we went to Maryann's Mexican restaurant. Jack ate chicken nuggets and fries, Kate ate a lot of chips and Frank lemonade. I think maybe she had a bite of cheese quesadilla that we foolishly, as usual, ordered for her. Went home and set up Robin's bed since she apparently had been up for 25 hours straight. Both kids immediately climbed into bed and curled up with her; Jack knew better but I think Kate actually thought she might get to stay. As proved by her dismay when we explained that no, Robin actually needed to sleep. She was well out when we came down from putting the kids to bed.

- On Saturday, Robin and Jack and I went to see the film Hugo. Based on a kids book but not really great for Jack I don't think. Kind of scary here and there and stuff about orphanages and cages and robots and the like. But Jack said he enjoyed it and seemed to, so OK. After, we went to Applebees for lunch. More chicken nuggets for jack and a fun activity menu and sports on TV. And a chocolatey dessert. In the bathroom Jack made a joke that was pretty funny but I can't remember it now. We had pizza for dinner and watched Jack's summer camp video.


- on Sunday we went to yet another movie and watched the Oscars. Robin read stories to the kids, books she'd given them. And we stayed up too late.

- Monday we dropped the kids off at schools and Robin didn't cry too much.

Jack on vacation, Day 1

It's winter break so Jack is home all week. Here's today.

- Jack had a cold yesterday and blessedly slept in today. Stumbled downstairs after 7 for cereal and cantaloupe. Kate went to school, Emily went to work, and Jack's Wii Lego Star Wars character stumbled around the cantina while I got some work in.

- Took Jack out for a haircut at Mr. Ruvo's. We'd have had to wait for four other people so we decided to go back later. Went to Rye Eye Care to pick up my first ever pair of glasses. While we were waiting Jack spotted some red frames and said, "If I ever need glasses, I'm getting those." We patted a friendly dog that's always there for a while. We all enjoyed it. (Including the dog.)

- Went to the Rye Y where we recently got a family membership. Jack got his membership card and had to smile for a picture. He stood right up inches from the counter and beamed widely. We headed for the game room, and played pool (Jack's first time; all the way there he said, "I know how to play, I know how to play"; once there he said, "OK, I'm not sure how to do this"), foosball, and air hockey. He's really not tall enough for either pool or foosball, but we had fun anyway. I let him win at air hockey, which I typically do and only seemed fair since he'd lost the other two games. There was also table tennis but I'm not sure either of us are ready for that one.

- Went back to Mr. Ruvo's, encountering Jack's friend James and his Dad on the way out. Neil told me that Mr. Ruvo's labors under the belief that James' name is Patrick and apparently they've given up trying to correct him. This became amusing when Mr. Ruvo said to Jack, "How do you know Patrick?" and Jack said, "Huh?"

- Came home for lunch, which for Jack was the chicken fingers and fries Kate didn't eat at a restaurant two days earlier. Jack said, "Kate ate all of her food at the restaurant," then explained to me that he was kidding. I also told him about the Mr. Ruvo thing, and he said the next time he sees James he's going to call him Patrick. He's getting kind of an offbeat sense of humor, I don't know where that's from.

- Jack had quiet time in his room, reading and resting. He also played a little with his Star Wars figures, lining them up in groups of "people, monsters, and droids." He originally put Yoda in with monsters, which didn't seem right, so he made a new group of "Jedi masters." Then groups were further divided into "smugglers," "bounty hunters," etc. It was all pretty cool and I have no doubt Scott and I did the same kind of thing back in the day.

- We played the Wii racing game. My character, the giant monkey Donkey Kong, won a race and I celebrated, hollering, "You beautiful monkey!!!" This cracked Jack up.

- We went to the grocery store, noteworthy primarily for Jack asking to try the ham at the deli counter. And the cheese.

- We picked up Kate, who as always ran over to us happily. Or actually rode a tricycle over this time, whatever. When she saw Jack said very matter-of-factly, "Are you better, Jack?" As Emily says, she's very good at observing the social niceties.

Good day.

Jack, Kate

- I found a tiny flashlight for Emily to help her see her clock at night. Kate immediately claimed possession of it, and then Jack had to have one, so I gave him another one. They taped them to the wall in Jack's bedroom closet which they call their secret lair. When they want light, they turn on the flashlights. With any luck, they turn them off when they leave. Since I've also got a basement office cleaning project going on, I found some old cellphones and gave them to them, which of course enable them to expand Secret Lair Game to Spy Game, with flashlights, cellphones, and of course costumes -- typically Jack as Captain Rex and Kate as either Tangled princess, Cinderella Princess, or random pink-dressed princess. She has a Supergirl costume but that one doesn't show up as much.

- Jack had his 7 year old Doctor's appointment today. He's tall and thin and could read the trademark line on the very bottom of the eye chart. And is very ticklish and has an awesome laugh.

- Kate can spell "the" and is very proud of herself. And she sings as she's going to sleep sometimes, including songs Grandma sings to her about the Wise man building his house upon the rocks. And cracks Jack up by saying as she's going to sleep, "Mommy! Do you know what a VAMPIRE does? It SUCKS YOUR BLOOD. Yes!"

And she clearly has the best lettering ability in her entire preschool class.

Movies

Jack and I watched The Empire Strikes Back yesterday, which he hadn't seen. I think I'll let him describe the experience.

"Why doesn't he use The Force?"
"What's THAT?"
"I don't really get what The Force is."
"I don't like that Darth Vader."
"Why doesn't he tell him he's Yoda?"
"Why doesn't Luke use The Force?"
"Did he just KILL Darth Vader? He cut his head off!"
"If all the Jedi are dead, why is the next movie called 'Return of the Jedi'?"
"I HATE this! Darth Vader is going to win!"
"I know Luke is going to be OK, because he's in the next movie."
"Does he get a new hand?"
"What's going to happen to Han?"
"I hate this! Darth Vader is winning."
"Well, I like the battles. And the space parts are good."
"But I think Luke should use The Force more."

Playing together

The kids have been playing together a lot lately. Either Jack's reached an age he's willing to play with Kate, or she's reached an age where he likes playing with her; either way, they've invented a whole bunch of games which they readily play at random moments in the morning, afternoon or evening.

Castle. As best I can figure it, this game consists of pulling all the pillows, blankets, and stuffed toys off their beds and building a Stonehenge-like structure in the center of the living room. They also evidently need to wear costumes; Kate puts on one of her princess costumes, while Jack has been an astronaut, The Flash, and Captain Rex from what I've seen. (Regardless of costume, Kate refers to him as either "Knight" or "Prince.") Oh yeah, he also wears a Jets football helmet, which looks pretty interesting with The Flash costume, which he wore for Halloween. Three years ago. It's a little snug. Once the castle is built, they generally abandon it and go do something else, but for that 15 minutes of assembly, they play together quite nicely.

Lions. As the name suggests, they go around on their hands and knees roaring and growling. Sometimes it's a quick trip from "Castle" to "Lions," introduced to me by one of my children sinking their teeth into my ankle through my sock. This game typically takes less time to play than "Castle," probably because crawling around roaring and growling isn't as much fun as dragging half of their bedrooms down and building a tent in the living room.

Baby. I don't think I fully understand this game, since I'm not sure either one actually pretends to be a baby at this point. I've heard Kate ask to play "Baby" and I've heard Jack say OK, but the next thing I know someone is biting my ankle or clawing at me again and I know they're revisiting "Lions."

Spies. I think this is Jack's favorite game to play (well, next to "Castle"), but he knows not to ask Kate too often or she'll stick out her lip and go play with her dollies or something. I think the gist of this game is that they sneak around the house with weapons they've made out of cardboard (a sword, a spear, a frightening-looking raygun...actually, the spear is the most frightening-looking because it's an awfully jagged shard of cardboard) trying to follow me without being seen, as I apparently am Bad Guy. Sometimes this happens when I'm in the kitchen making pasta or something, and I turn around and they're there brandishing weapons at me, then when I turn and see them they say, "Run! Bad Guy sees us!" and scurry for the next room, bumping into each other and stuff. I am not, incidentally, supposed to actually engage the enemy or anything. You know, because they're not supposed to be seen. Because they're spies.

kate at the grocery store

I park the car and go to get Kate out. She's holding her Cinderella art pad and the special marker for it. I try to unbuckle her as she maintains a death grip on it, then take it out of her hands so I can get her out of the seat. You can color on the way home, I say, and she's OK with that.

(I should probably mention at this point that I had to work to talk her into wearing ordinary clothes for the store and not her Princess dress with a tiara and wand, which is the outfit of choice of late. She did wear it to Jack's pickup at school later that afternoon. I briefly considered my Spider-man outfit, but decided against it.)

We get the pricing gun, because she loves the pricing gun. I like it too, more or less, because the checkout line is a whole lot faster when everything has already been scanned. On the downside, we spend an epic amount of the time in the fruit and vegetable area, trying to weigh things and print out stickers and scan things and keep Kate from picking her lollipop stick up off the bottom of the cart, yes we went through the drive thru at the bank first and she had a lollipop at 10:30 in the morning, sue me.

Kate asked if we could go by the deli and get turkey. She likes to do this because the deli guy usually lets us try a slice, which she takes and greatly enjoys. If I make her a turkey sandwich at home, of course, she picks at it and barely touches the turkey, but I admit it does taste much better at the deli. So we got turkey.

Spent too much time picking out meat, leading to Kate wanting to ride in the cart. So I moved stuff out of the way, and put her in. Five minutes later she would want out. We cruised through the cereal aisle and she gestured wildly ("I LOVE this cereal! I LOVE that!") at every colorful cereal, most of which I'm fairly certain she has never tried. A similar story at the chips aisle. She saw Cheez balls and said, "I love those!" then remembered that Grandpa had brought buy a jug of Cheez balls the size of a Winnebago last weekend -- it will still be here when you visit, Robin.

Got Kate's yogurt, and she helpfully reminded me to get Jack's yogurt, which is different. Very thoughtful of her.

Checked out and headed home. Do you want a turkey sandwich when we get home Kate, I asked.

"No. Peanut butter and jelly."

Jack at day, Kate at night

Jack had a half day today. First we had lunch, then he read while I worked, then he wanted to play the Wii games, so we did.

Then we went upstairs to check out a couple of the games he'd received for his birthday, Pictureka and Story Cubes. The first one was a picture search game he got from a school friend, the second from Aunt Robin. First we did Story Cubes, where you threw nine dice with different pictures down, then told a story that linked all nine pictures together. Jack was immediately into it. He wanted to get the question mark, since that way he could end a story with "To be continued....?" When he finally got it, that was the highlight of the game. Later, he played it with Emily and it was going to be they would take turns telling stories, as we did, but instead he told one, then said, OH wait! I just thought of another one! He ended up telling 3 to her 1.

Pictureka involved turning cards and finding different things. I think he was most interested in the hourglass timer. I can't remember the game we played as kids that had an hourglass timer. Liar's Dice? Mebbe.

We played the games for more than an hour and cracked each other up with our stories. I know we also laughed playing the Wii (mostly because I'm so inept at Mario Kart, and my character, Donkey Kong, gets all upset, which makes us both laugh), but I think he might have had more fun with those tiny cubes.

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Put Kate to bed tonight. She really paid attention to the stories, "When Will I be Big," and "Ladybug Girl." Sometimes she's only half into them, tonight she really paid attention. "Who's that guy?" Willoughby. (Next page.) "And who's HE?" Uh, that's Willoughby in a different shirt.

I sang songs and she asked me to sleep a little, so I did, and I told her to tell me when to leave. We lay there for a good 5-10 minutes, and then I said, Good night. She looked at me, drowsy I think, and said, "I didn't say to leave." I said, I know, but it's time. She nodded, slowly, but understandingly, I think anyway, and hugged me goodnight.

Seven tomorrow

When he really likes something, he takes the time to draw and color a picture of it, like a recent "Tom and Jerry" sketch he did.

A scrap of paper and a pencil is a game - tic tac toe, hangman, a maze, "how are these two monsters different."

He brought home an extra penguin cutout from school to do with Kate. He made her a Santa note with a happy Santa in the picture.

We throw the football.around the backyard, and he can really throw, but his favorite part is running back kickoffs, and the big smile when he knows I can't catch him.

He loves the same Encyclopedia Brown books I loved when I was a kid.

I could write for hours, but it's his birthday tomorrow and I need some rest.

Ice Skating

Took the kids ice skating today. Almost didn't because Emily was tired and Kate was whining about something or other, but Emily rallied and Kate suddenly decided she wanted to go too, and there we were. We grabbed the bike helmets and extra padding for Daddy's butt and we were off to Playland's ice rink.

Waiting in line, a guy gave us two free passes on his way out, saying he couldn't use them since they expired tomorrow. I mean, sweet! Talk about a great sign. I figured the result of the two free passes would be that our kids would huddle in the corner of the rink while Emily and I took turns skating around, but no! They were great.

It was Kate's first time on the ice, and she was a little wary at first, clinging to our legs and stuff, but she toughed it out and then she was actually skating. And Jack, at first wary of the big rink, rallied too, and then he and Emily were going around the big rink, and then he and I went around, with him of course leaving me in his dust...ice shavings...whatever.

And the first time we went around I told Kate how proud I was of her and how proud Mommy would be, and then she looked across the rink and saw Mommy and yelled, "Mommy, look! I'm skating!"

And after an hour or so (my ankles think it was more), we got the kids juice boxes and cookies at the vending machine and I let Jack beat me at Air Hockey, and I got to play World Cup Soccer pinball for the first time in 15 years, and it was awesome.

Christmas blog

- My parents came down, and for Jack and Kate it was like they'd never been away. Jack showed Baba his Jets players mural he'd drawn. He had Nana read him the book adaptation of Charlie Brown Christmas, and impressed her by reading a couple of pages himself. Kate wanted to hold Nana's hand as we walked outside.

- We went to church, which had great singing and kind sentiments and beautiful flowers. It was a little long and late for the kids; Jack drew in the activity book he was given, but after finishing all the puzzles he elected to draw a series of Tic Tac Toe boards and convince us to play with him. Kate restlessly traveled from one end of the bench to the other, finally sitting next to Nana. Then Jack sat next to Nana, and there was a brief scuffle over who got to sit next to her until I asked Baba to slide closer to me, and they each affixed themselves to a side. She threw me a look of helplessness at first, then contentment; I think she and Kate were chatting at one point, perhaps about the flowers. I took both kids to the bathroom during the service. At the end, when we all held candles, Jack got a turn to hold one this year. He was a little nervous but when he saw he could do it he had a little smile on his face. It glowed a little, probably from the candlelight.

- We got home late, and since we still had to do letters to Santa (Jack made a nice picture of Santa on his note) and wash up for bed and I had to read Twas the Night before Christmas, it was a late one. Nobody got to bed early, but at least I didn't have to wrap presents or build an art table in the playroom this year. I think the kids were still awake close to 10, and Jack came in at 4 a.m. and maybe one other time. I had an image from A Christmas Story where the younger brother was sleeping under the tree hugging his toy blimp or whatever and thought that would probably be Jack later in the day. (It wasn't, but he was pretty beat.)

- Emily woke up early and went down and made coffee cake. And coffee. The kids were bouncing off the walls but I got them to hang out on the stairs...they kept wanting to peek around, very excited, but they were mostly good. Finally we turned them loose and Jack grabbed the Pokemon Ball toy first, which he is now completely unenthused by. He discovered the T-Rex pillow pet second and loves the thing. And I've hid his microscope under the couch until we can look at it carefully without losing all its little pieces in the chaos of the day or two after Christmas. Kate loves her Doodle Bear and Snow White princess doll; credit to Kate, who consistently for a month named those two things as the things she most wanted.

- I had this idea we'd go slow and careful with the presents, but naturally that's not how things worked out. They were always more interested in the wrapped present across the room than the one they had just unwrapped, which I think is an interesting statement about kids perhaps or maybe people in general. But everyone was really happy with everything and when the presents were finally unwrapped it seemed like they could probably play with them for days without stopping. As I write this two days later I have to bring out things and remind them about them, of course, but that works too.

- Mostly the kids spent the afternoon playing downstairs with the new Wii gaming system. Jack is really into it, making me wonder why I worried briefly he wouldn't be. Emily and I decided we could basically have given him nothing else. Emily kicked some tail on Just Dance 3 the other morning, and I'm planning on setting some track records on Mario Kart. You know, when I get a turn anyway.

The problem with writing these blogs two days later is I forget the little things, but I know that they were the best. One that I do remember is getting a book from Emily -- a book of this blog, all the way from Day 1 through last week or so. It's awesome.

Another came this morning, when we thanked Jack for giving up his bedroom so Nana and Baba could sleep there. He looked at us in confusion. "Well of COURSE I did. You TOLD me too. I didn't want to get GROUNDED."

Emmett Otter

Gave Emily "Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas" as an early Christmas present. Was surprised to find it and bought it as a gift, then realized we wouldn't want to watch it as much after Christmas, so she opened it early and we watched it tonight.

For us, it was just as good as ever. Smart, sweet, great voices and songs, pretty amazing puppetry too.

Kate was into it because I'm not sure I can show her anything on TV she isn't fascinated by. She always likes the girl characters best. I think she identifies with them, all of them. "I like the lady singing."

With Jack, we saw the difference in a kid growing up in a faster-paced, South Park/Phineas and Ferb world, for lack of a better term. (There's probably a better term.) He watched it, but it was clear he thought it was ... slow. Simple. Which it is! But that's the beauty of the thing.

But he kept watching, and at the Talent Show, where Emmett's Mom sings, followed by Emmett's Jugband, followed by the rock'n'roll Riverbottom Nightmare Band, Jack weighed in on that final loud, rude act.

"I have to say that this is the best," he said.

Emily and I laughed for a while, which was confusing to Jack and Kate. Kate's opinion on the band: "They sure have a long song."

So anyway, it's official, we're old, and our son thinks our music is too slow and lame.

Jets game

Took Jack to a football game today. He'd been to another one but wasn't yet 4 at the time and admits he didn't remember it. So I said, What? You don't remember us meeting Favre in the locker room after the game? And him giving you a game ball... A good laugh was had by all.

We bundled up, it being December, and headed off to the game. We left early, which was good since I got lost for a bit. But we made it there, and parked, and walked easily right up to the Stadium, like it was waiting for us. Me and my son, it was pretty cool.

Once inside, we immediately bought our winter Jets hats, as planned. Jack tried on one, liked it, and at the last minute decided on the other one. Classic Jack. I bought the simplest one there was. Classic me.

We bought hotdogs, found our way to our seats, inhaled the food, watched the game. Football live isn't a great game for little kids, because everyone stands whenever anything happens. We worked it out that I could pick him up at times, or he could stand on his seat with my arm supporting him, so he got to see a lot. We slapped high fives at Jets scores, and there were a bunch, and he insisted on a chest bump after a clinching touchdown, so I stooped down for that. The adult fans around us looked for Jack to slap high fives after scores, too. He obliged.

Best thing about having a kid at a ballgame: Family restroom! No lines! Excellent.

I think one of the highlights for Jack was a little beachball getting batted around. At one point in ended up near us, and he grabbed it. I think he was planning to keep it until I told him that's not how it worked. So he batted it up in the air and it went off again. Big smile. And a hopeful look in his eyes that it would come back to our section again.

At halftime we got popcorn, hot chocolate (it was pretty cold out), stuffed toy for Kate (Jets bear), stuffed Mark Sanchez (I guess it kind of looks like him...) for Jack. Took in a couple of cheerleader routines (Jack: "I guess they're there because girls like to watch the dancing."), watched the Jets score some more, but he was seeming pretty cold and tired, so we cleared out midway through the fourth quarter. He slept some on the way home, as well.

But when we got in the house, Emily noticed his big smile. And we both laughed as he described the Jets' first touchdown: "Sanchez threw it to Shonn Greene...but he actually kept it! And --" here he demonstrated by running across the living room -- "ran it in himself!"

So it was a big win for all.

Christmas stuff

- Today the kids and I built and decorated a gingerbread train. I assembled the pieces (and managed to keep the kids from breaking it), slathered the whole thing with icing, and told them to go crazy decorating it with candy. They fought a little over who got to put on what candy, and of course ate too much, but did a pretty nice job anyway. Took 10 pictures, 5 of which had Kate looking in the general direction of the camera, 5 of which had Jack looking at it. Oh well.

- The other day Jack decided he would keep a Christmas journal. Each day he's been drawing a picture and writing a line about it. First day was a picture of a present ("I love Christmas because I get presents..."), another day was a picture of reindeer, another day was a picture of the Elf on the Shelf, sitting on the mantle, and he carefully drew things on the mantle like a stocking holder, a stocking, and half of a picture of himself on the mantle. He was very proud of how he made half that picture of him. I guess at some point Kate ripped it out of the journal and he threw it away, which is kind of sad, but he then drew a new one of the elf in today's hiding place, which is on the Christmas tree.

- We've been watching Christmas specials at night. Jack remembers where the commercials were the previous year and points it out. I imagine I was the same way. Or no, Robin was. Yeah, that's it.

- Kate drew a Christmas tree today. Or rather, she wasn't sure how to draw one, and asked Jack to help her. He did. Pretty sweet. He drew the tree, she drew ornaments on it. And went to show Mommy.

- Jack's been reading a Peanuts Christmas collection book we have. When he reads a funny one, he laughs out loud. Then continues on reading it.

- We went to the Christmas breakfast at Jack's school this morning. Jack sat happily with Santa for a picture. Kate hid behind my legs. Both ate fruit and half a bagel, then really cheered up when they saw friends (Kate saw Sofia, one of Jack's friend's little sister). But that didn't compare to discovering that each child got a Beanie baby stuffed toy; Kate got a cardinal, Jack a komodo dragon ("..the world's largest living lizard...")

- I can't think of anything else right now but aside from Emily being really sick it's been a nice Christmas season so far.

Christmas Prep

- Yesterday I finished setting up our lawn decorations; arranging the lights on the bushes, the porch, positioning the reindeer, snowman, and dog. Jack came out at the end to help out. He helped moved lights around. I plugged everything in and turned it on from the porch as Jack stood on the sidewalk. "It looks TERRIBLE," he said. What? I said, stunned. "It looks AWFUL, terrible." I walked out to stand next to him, he broke into a big smile. "I'm just kidding," he said.

- Today we pulled out all the other stuff. Kate locked onto the musical dog who plays Jingle Bells and his ears wiggle. She played it over and over, then put him on the floor so she could dance while he played music. I think we need to get her her own CD player for Christmas.

- Set up all the stockings. Four red ones for us. Jack replaced his with the green Jets stocking that I think we got as a gift at some point. "THIS is my stocking," he said.

- Pulled out the Christmas plates, cups, placemats, hand towels, and the Santa Claus soap dispenser. The kids oohed and aahed properly, it was nice.

- Around 4 p.m., kids said they wanted to watch a Christmas show on TV. I said, well, we have do something first. They looked at me suspiciously. I explained, well, our kitchen isn't very Christmas-y, we need to make some things. Jack, go get red and green and brown and white paper, so we can draw some things: Santa, reindeer, trees, snowmen. Jack ran off, fully into the idea. Kate (sad): "I can't draw those things!" I said, I'll help you.

She drew the pieces of a snowman, then made its face. Her classic line eyes, then a triangle nose. "But I don't have room for the mouth!" she wailed. I showed her how to move the nose up a little, and then she drew happy smile mouth. We cut it out and hung it up. She was happy. Then we did Santa. Same deal. She drew her happy face. I added the beard and hat. I told her to draw his body. She said, "I can't." I showed her how it was just an extra, lager circle. She made it. Then I said, now arms and legs. She said, "This is how I make them," and did her stick figure arms and legs for Santa. Perfect, I said.

Jack drew a Santa on his sleigh with a pack on the back and a reindeer pulling it. Cut out white paper for the beard, mustache, and trim on his hat and gloves. Cut out brown paper for the sleigh, decorated his reindeer, gave him a Rudolph red nose. Kind of impressive. Granted, he also covered it in about half a roll of Scotch tape, because that's his style. We hung everything up in the windows and admired them.

And now our kitchen is Christmas-y.

Day before Thanksgiving

- Dropped both kids off at school. Kate and Jack fairly ran up the stairs to Kate's class, and by the time I got her bag and lunch into her cubbie, she was already down in Mr. Brendan's room, sitting at a table, drawing a picture. Probably one of her happy faces. Whisked Jack out the door and off to his school. We caught every light and Jack said he was using his light power to get us green lights. Sometimes I'm not sure if he's being serious or not.

- Picked Jack up first, then Kate. At Jack's school, he immediately wanted to take off his jacket, as always. I said no, as always, with it being cold and rainy and stuff. We zipped off to get Kate; when we arrived her teacher was reading the kids a story. She came over: "Daddy, can I sit and hear the end of the story?" I said sure, and she went over for about 10 seconds, then got up and started babbling away: "Do you want to see my brother's shirt? Jack, show them your shirt...."

- Went to the wine store. There's a parrot, so they ran off to see the parrot and wish it a Happy Thanksgiving. When it was time to leave, "Goodbye, parrot! Happy Thanksgiving!"

- Jack wrote a Christmas letter to Santa Claus for Kate. He drew a picture of Santa (it's a great Santa) and opened with a couple of lines saying he hoped Santa's family was doing well and the weather was nice or somesuch. He wrote down the two big things she said she wanted; earlier he'd explained to me how "Santa doesn't always bring EVERYthing you want, just some things."

- Took Jack out to Mr. Ruvo's to get his haircut. Mr. Ruvo reminisced how Jack had been getting his hair cut there since he was 2 years old. Yup.

- Afternoon project with the kids, making paper plate turkeys. From a website mentioned in an article Nana sent, so good job, Nana. Kate wanted to make a purple turkey, so she did. Jack opted for the more traditional brown with colored feathers. The turkeys were awesome.

- And then Jack also wanted to make a hawk, so we made basically the exact same thing, except Jack colored it black instead of brown (Black hawk? A town in his birth state of Colorado, incidentally), and also gave it angry looking eyebrows. And we didn't give it one of those weird turkey things hanging off its beak, of course.

- Ate pizza, read stories, washed up, went to bed. You know, just a day.

friday

- while Emily gave Kate her bath, jack and I sat and watched the fire. Jack said it looked like the blue flame was dancing to music, and he got up and demonstrated it dancing.

- I finished up Kate's bath. She didn't want me to take the band-aid off her knee, as usual, but it was time, so I ignored her thrashing and yanked it off. When she had settled down, she not only laughed about it, but mimicked her own protests. "And I said, 'no, don't take my band-aid off' and then I cried like this...'" Hilarious.

- I read them some goofy book called Chaucer's winter or somesuch, about a bear that doesn't want to hibernate. And doesn't! But his parents keep an eye on him. All winter! And I couldn't help thinking, they must really want to sleep. That's parenting.

I read Kate a frog and toad book. At the end of Toad's Dream, which is kind of a disturbing story, Toad wakes to find Frog visiting. You came to see me? Says Toad. I always do, says Frog. That part is nice.

Friday

As I turned out the light and tucked Jack into bed tonight, I looked up and saw the stars Emily had painted on the ceiling. Oh, the stars are beautiful tonight, I said. Jack, playing along, said "Yes. And look: the Big Dipper is out! .... And I think I see Orion's Belt over there...." I pointed out the stars that kind of looked like his initials. And he said, "And, look, there's a shooting star!"

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While I was making her lunch, Kate drew pictures. She showed them to me, and then explained, "It's me and you because we're home together."

We had a nice day today

Mommy took Jack to school; it was Friday, so Kate stays home with Daddy. And since Daddy's work is largely a Sunday through Thursday schedule, I don't always have to work so much.

We went to the grocery store to get fruit salad for Kate's Halloween parade at preschool (she doesn't go Friday, but she can come in for the parade) and dinner things. We got the pricing scanner, which she and Jack both love, and she scanned the items one by one. After each one, she said "I DID it!" And then, "I did it AGAIN! I did THREE!"

Back at home, we got her into the Supergirl costume. She posed and stuck a fist in the air and put her hands on her hips. She was into it. We drove to her school, she was happy all the way up to her classroom, walked in, saw the other kids in costumes, froze, and buried her face in my leg. First just saw shy, but then tears when I tried to talk her off the ledge. I won't go on too much about it, but it was bad. At one point all of her friends came over and circled around us. What's wrong, Kate? Kate? I said, well, I guess she's a little shy now. Them: Kate's NEVER shy!

Finally I got her to walk with me in the parade of kids. We lined up with her class. She held my hand and buried her face in her other wrist. Then, Mackenzie showed up in a dragon costume. This might be a boy she likes. She started to come out of her shell (almost literally). She talked to him. Then suddenly, the meltdown was over, and she was walking along, chattering away about her costume. "Maya, what are you? Oh, that's great! Mr. Brendan, what are you being? Oh, that's great! This is my Daddy...."

After the parade, and lunch in the classroom, we went to the party store to get a Halloween wig. Kate turned a few heads, still dressed as Supergirl. Lots of Aws and so cute! and so forth. Kate was kind of oblivious, fascinated as always by all the decorations and toys.

At home, Kate said, "can we do a project?" I don't do many projects with her, so I said sure. We dumped out her big art jar making a horrific mess, and she wanted to make a bird. So using glue and pompoms and pipe cleaners and googly eyes, we made a bird. It's the best things we've ever made together.

We got Jack at school, brought him to clay class, came home after that, made dinner, sent Jack and Mommy off to his Halloween dance. Then she drew pictures in the kitchen while I cleaned up, and we played music. The House of Pain song "Jump Around" came on, and we danced and jumped around. Kate hadn't heard the song before, and probably shouldn't again any time soon, but she laughed and jumped.

I read her stories before bed. As I was putting her to sleep she said, "We had a nice day today." It was half question, half statement, I think. I said yeah, we had a nice day. I kissed her goodnight and she went right to sleep.

pre-Halloween

- We drove by these wild decorations near Kate's preschool the other day. Kate always gets very excited as we drive by; there are all kinds of ghosts and skeletons and monsters. She lights up: "Ooh! I like the vampire the best. No, actually... I like ALL of them the best!"

- We went to Eden Farms in Stamford last week, and went through the Spooky House. It wasn't very spooky, but Kate enjoyed it, and I think Jack did too, until he saw an older boy saying it wasn't scary, so he took up that mantra too. So I of course pretended it was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. I dunno, Jack, I might have nightmares tonight. He looked at me with what appeared to be disgust. "How can you be SCARED? It's not real. It's not scary!" I said, well, what about these eyeballs in this jar? He looked at it doubtfully. Then: "No...THAT's not scary..."

- They went through the hay maze, around and around and around again. At one point Kate looked a little nervous (it was only shoulder high on her), so I went over to check. She looked up at me. "Oh! Hi Daddy." She was fine. Jack paused to fix a scarecrow whose head had fallen off, just like I did a few minutes earlier. Good boy.

- We carved a pumpkin last night. Both of them drew the faces they wanted carved, and I did my best to merge the two. Jack also drew a witch on a broom to carve into the back of it. Geez, Jack, I'm working with a serrated knife in PUMPKIN here. But it turned out OK anyway.

Acting up

Went to pick Jack up at his clay class. It's a weekly thing on Fridays, and I guess at pickup last week the teacher didn't have a chance to talk to me. This week she said she had to; Jack was looking downcast.

Apparently Jack and another boy (older, natch) were using the clay working tools to, uh, swordfight. There are a dozen kids in the class, the teacher said, and she couldn't keep an eye on all of them. And she said, "I never specifically said, 'Don't swordfight with the clay tools,' but I thought it was self-explanatory..."

I nodded and listened and looked sternly at Jack, and weighed in, "Yes, we frown on swordplay in our house, and Jack knows that," and so forth. And when she does I spoke sternly to Jack, saying, "Jack, you understand, right? You use clay tools for what they're for, not for fighting. And you won't do that again, correct?"

And Jack nodded seriously, and I apologized to the teacher, and she said, "They were both very good today, but I thought it was important that I speak to the parents." And I agreed.

And we got in the car and headed for home, but before we drove away I said to Jack, You know, I thought you were going to be kicked out of the class, there. Don't do anything like that again, and you listen to your teacher. And he nodded, and we headed for home.

But as we drove home I was thinking, Well, he's six.

poi

So I read Kate "Harold and the Purple Crayon" tonight, and we get to the part where Harold makes all the pies. And I say, as I always do, "poi," because that's the way Grandpa R used to say it.

And Kate says, "Daddy! It's not 'poi.' It's PIE."

So I keep on reading. And there were all nine kinds of poi that --

"DADDY! It's PIE, not 'poi'!" And she was laughing now and so was I.

belt

Emily got Jack his first belt last week. Thursday was a home day, and Jack was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but he wanted to wear it anyway.

So I found it, and he proudly put it on himself, and tucked his shirt in. I said, well Jack, you don't really need to tuck in a T-shirt. And I untucked it for him.

He looked down, then looked up, a little sad. "But then nobody can see my belt," he said.

So we tucked it back in, and he was happy.

Back in the habit

Haven't blogged in too long so need to write some stuff down. Like:

- In Week 1 of the NFL season, I had to give Kate her bath before bedtime, so I asked Jack to take notes for me. Here's what he wrote:

"Eagles win! .... Jay Cutler looking good. ... Falcons get big loose against Bears." (I think he meant "lose.") "Persi Harven get run back for t-down on first play of game." Thanks, Jack.

- Jack's first organized soccer practice! Considering Pee-Wee Soccer in Greenwich was mostly just running around (plus his Dad coached him his final season), this to me seemed like a bigger deal. And he did great, running and kicking and having the ball taken away from him and playing goal (because all the kids wanted a chance at playing goal, it was a little odd). And afterward he wanted to stay and take shots on goal, but we had to go because Kate had gymnastics. Which brings me to...

- Kate's birthday! It was basically a weeklong birthday, with the family over on Sunday, her actual birthday on Tuesday, and a party for her preschool friends on Saturday. Some highlights: I saw one present, the "My Little Pony" stuffed toy, and said, Oh, My Little Pony. Kate, indignant: "No. MY little pony."... The night before her birthday, she asked if she could wear her blue dress, the one she thinks is like Cinderella and she would wear every day if she could. It was dirty, , but I said of course you can, and washed it and dried it that night so she could wear it the next day. ... At her birthday, they did a "Hide and Seek" thing where they hid her for her friends to find her. Uh, they found her, when she started wailing for Mommy because it was dark where they hid her. OK, maybe that was a lowlight. ... She liked bouncing on the trampoline and walking on the balance beam. Of course, she'd been doing that that very morning, at her gymastics class. Which you can tell she loves because she smiles, pays attention, and does what she's told. It's stuff she doesn't love where she is more, shall we say, resistant. ... I put her to bed the night before her birthday and sang Swing on a Star with goofy voices. I could see her little cheeks crinkle as she smiled at me.

Kate at morning

Got up with Kate this morning to give her breakfast. She was kind of chatty as we sat in the kitchen, me drinking coffee and her eating cereal.

"When I grow up, I'm going to put that chair like that." (Indicating my chair, which I was sitting on at a slight angle.)

"And when I grow up, I'm going to drive to work and Mommy's going to sit next to me."

"What is Jack going to be when he grows up? Oh! He's going to be a scientist. I wish I could be a scientist." You can, I said. "But I don't want to me, I'm going to be a Mommy when I grow up." You can be both, I said. "Oh! I know what I'm going to be. A mermaid!"

(Looking at me writing all this down as she spoke.) "That's a lot of words, Daddy."