Ski vacation

Just got back from Disney World (future blog! Promise!) but the kids had a break from school, so we finally got in the trip to Vermont we've been trying to take since about Christmas. Cruised up Tuesday morning, stopped for a quick Burger King lunch, and came out to a snowstorm that doubled our remaining drive time. But we made it ok, the kids inhaled Nana's spaghetti and meatballs and bread, and we were able to relax for a few days.

Relaxing initially consisted of drawing, reading, and playing lots and lots of Yahtzee. Jack can't get enough, which was pretty much the case with our family for a while growing up, if memory serves. I remember burning through entire pads of scorecards, finally photocopying blank ones to avoid continually trying to find places selling them. Think we might be still using those in Vermont, although the supply is running thin. Anyway. Where was I.

First morning in Vermont we got up and went skiing. Jack loves it, recently ranking skiing way above both baseball and swimming in his levels of enjoyment. Kate, I think, has fun, and is in good spirits before and after, but I am not sure she cares much one way or another. Maybe her age, maybe she just would rather stay in than be cold or bundled up in four layers, I don't know. Anyway, we dropped her at her 5-hour lesson, Jack and I did a quick run, and then delivered Jack to his 2-hour lesson. I briefly considered hitting the lodge, but it was 10 a.m., so instead I stumbled around on the bunny slopes until Jack was done.

By the end of his lesson, he was going on the lift for the first time, so when he asked me to go with him, I said, OK! Even though I was a little nervous. But if my 9 year old can do it, so can I. We got on the lift and rode up it like we were the only two peopl in the world. That high, it kind of felt like it to me. Then we made our way down, with minimal falling on my part. In three runs together I think he fell once.

Checked in on Kate and she was doing fine, but not long after that I got a call that she had had it. She made it 4 of the 5 hours (the only lesson choice for her) which I thought as pretty good. She happily showed me a picture she colored while waiting for me; in good spirits. By this time Jack, too, was weary, and we all slugged down some water bottles and headed back. Kate was acting goofy, putting on Jack's goggles and messing around, I think Jack and I were just drained.

But when we got home and parked in the driveway, there was a huge pile of snow that had built up from falling off the roof -- the pile was all the way up to the roof. And both of them got out of the car and immediately climbed up to the very top, clowned around, posed for pictures, grinned and laughed. Probably could have bagged skiing and just gone sledding on that behemoth. Funny and awesome.

And then we went to dinner at Black Rock, which is basically one of my favorite places to eat period and I have no idea how it came to be in Springfield, but there you go. I love the food and didn't mind being squeezed into a side of the booth with Baba and Kate (Kate wanted to sit next to Baba, so that's just how things worked out; ideally the two kids would have been on the same side, but whatever).

We reviewed the menu briefly, and I told Jack I would be getting the salad bar and would smuggle him a piece of tasty bread. (That's what we call white bread.) So naturally when it came time to order, and the waitress asked Jack if he wanted to add the salad bar to his meal, he said loudly, "No, my Dad said he would smuggle me a piece of bread." I am not sure whose jaw dropped more, mine or the waitress'. Later he told me he didn't know what "smuggle" meant. Hmm. Dinner was great, Jack and I had steaks, Kate had a hotdog, and Jack talked Dad into sharing his lobster, too. Oh yeah -- dessert. Jack got ice cream, Kate got a piece of chocolate cake the size of her head, and we all went home stuffed.

Not a peep out of either kids after their heads hit the pillow that night. Another nice Vermont ski trip. Can't do it all the time, but fun when we do.

Lucky penny

Kate came downstairs with me to help me move laundry into the dryer. She found a penny on top of it.

"It's a coin!" She said happily. "Can I have it?" Uh, sure, I said.

She smiled and danced off upstairs, singing. "This is my luc-ky day! I found a pen-ny...it is my lucky day-hey! I found a penny, I am going to put it in my wal-let..."

Kate the reader

Kate has really developed as a reader in a hurry. I feel like Jack either started slightly younger or it was more of a gradual thing with him, or maybe it's entirely due to her late birthday versus his early one meaning she was eight months younger than him at each shared milestone (starting school, etc.). Whatever.

A year ago she was barely reading at all. Seems like just a month or two ago we were chortling over her deadpan reading of Dr. Suess. "I would not. Could not. With a mouse." But now, she's like a little Shakespearean actor, and she'll find books she likes and read them over and over, aloud, with emotion and emphasis.

"HI, it's your FRIEND, blue CRAY-on. I JUST want to SAY, I really LOVE your coloring on the WHALE...."

I think it would be fun if Kate takes an interest in acting. She's going to be in this talent show act with a bunch of other little girls singing and I presume dancing to "Hard Knock Life," so maybe that will help get her started.

Lucky

Jack and I were on our way to the batting cages today, when Jack out of the blue said, "I feel really lucky right now."

Why is that, I asked. "Well, today I got to go to Game Stop to use my gift cards on some new Skylanders. And NOW, we're going to the batting cages to hit some balls. And then we're having pizza for dinner."

"Tomorrow, we're going to watch the Broncos-Patriots game together, and I'm going to get to have a Coke or Pepsi" -- he has recently developed a taste for it -- "and eat mini hotdogs. And THEN, I get to sleep over at my cousins tomorrow night."

"And Monday is a day off from school!"

After the batting cages, I was looking at Jack's Nessie binder. I am not sure I have yet written about his current Loch Ness monster club he has formed with all his school friends, I will have to do that soon. Anyway, in the midst of all the names of club members he had written on the binder, I noticed, "My Dad." After which he had added "Home finder analyst." Basically, he explained, I help him research Nessie at home.

So really, I'm the lucky one.

Funny Kate

At Jack's swim practice today, Kate and I played Go Fish, as we often do. I won my second straight game. At bedtime I said, Kate, I had a fun playing Go Fish with you. She looked at me funny and said, "Me too, Daddy. Although, I don't think I've won in a long time!"

She had dry lips and I sent her down the hall for a drink of water. As she walked, no ran, no, skipped down the hall, she sang. "I am going... To get.... A drink... Of... WATER!!!!!" She skipped back, then skipped off again, still singing. "Getting...more...water!"

She has notes written on her bedroom door. One reads, "Do not come in." The second reads, "Do not come in unless you want to play with me. From: Kate."

I took her to the grocery store with me yesterday. Shopping with the kids can be difficult -- they generally want to buy things I don't want to buy, usually sugary cereals -- but I actually think I enjoy shopping more with Kate than alone. Because she usually has some amusing observations ("There sure are a lot of people buying fruit today"), questions ("Can I go say Hi to the lobsters?") or general remarks ("I like raspberry yogurt best. Is it time to get yogurt yet? Oh, no, we get that near the end. Can we get the scanner? Can I hold the cereal? I want to carry it. Here, I'll put it on the scanner...."). She's pretty entertaining.

I put Kate to bed last night. When she's sleepy she's very peaceful. We read her Magic Kitten book (this crazy book where a lion has changed into a kitty or somesuch but can do magic!). Sometimes she reads, and then she gets tired and asks me to read. But every minute or two she interrupts, because she's trying to follow along on the page but has lost her way. "Where are you? Oh, I see. OK." With Jack, sometimes we read together, but mostly he reads to himself. I'll miss it when Kate does the same.

Jack's teeth

Jack's dental issues have long been a concern, from the infected tooth he had to have pulled at a young age, to the ludicrous number of fillings he had to have when he was, I dunno, 6 years old. There were tears and wailing and discomfort. And Jack didn't have much fun, either.

So now we've moved on to a palette expander, not terribly unlike one I had myself way back when. For the last couple of weeks I've been using a little hook thingy to turn a wheel in it, with the result being it's moving his front teeth apart to make room for ones behind them. So he is looking kind of toothy these days. Also thin, since eating is difficult, especially certain foods (spaghetti...whoops), and he is not a kid who can afford to lose much weight.

But he has been a trooper about it. He lies down, opens wide, I turn the wheel, and sometimes it hurts. And he's sore. And I say, sorry, and he says it's OK. And a few minutes later he is playing like it's no big deal; I am the one shaken by the whole thing.

Anyway, it isn't a lot of fun, but I am proud that he's managed as well as he has.

Sleepy Kate

Put Kate to bed tonight. She had stayed over at Grammy's last night and maybe stayed up a little late, so she was tired. I asked her what she did over there, and she answered in a sleepy, almost sing-song voice, with a little smile.

"We made cinnamon rolls with the milk on them," she said. The icing? "Yes. And my hands got all sticky."

What else did you do? "We played Life. But I didn't want to play for long. So then Stacey and I played with the baby--" (a doll) "--for about two minutes. And then we watched TV. And then we went to bed. And then Lyndsay came in, and her hair was so long! And it was so messy! But now it's fine!"

And then I kissed her goodnight.

Skating

Took the kids ice skating yesterday. Day off for all of us, Emily was sick, Jack had been saying he wanted to go for a while. So we piled into the car in our warm clothes and bike helmets (for the kids) and headed to the ice rink.

I am not a particularly adept skater. Emily and Jack are both better. But I manage, and while Jack made his way around and around, Kate and I went around the edge, gripping the rail as we went. Kate did okay, taking little steps, holding my hand, continuing on. Every so often Jack would circle by, offering tips, occasionally wiping out.

We probably did this for close to an hour before both were hungry, so we hit the snack bar. Burgers, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, French fries. I got a soda, they got chocolate milk...and hot chocolate. I said to Jack, are you sure you don't want lemonade or water or something? He maintained he anted hot chocolate. Halfway into the meal, of course, he asked to try my soda. And enjoyed it. The hot chocolate was OK.

As we were finishing our meal, Kate put her bike helmet on and walked (awkwardly, on skates) over to the rink. I said, uh, ok, you are ready? Jack and I were still eating. She went out onto the ice on her own as I wolfed down my last bite. Figured, well, she will be clinging to the edge when I get there.

In fact, when I got to the ice, I spotted her out in the middle. Walking slowly along, on her own, upright, near the cones in the center. She turned to look back at me, saw me, grinned.

So yeah, she kind of picked it up.

At one point they had to clean the ice, so everyone was kicked off. I thought they might want to go, but no. We grabbed a seat in the stands and watched the zamboni go round and round and round again.

Christmas time is here

On December 1, the kids started their Advent calendars, thank you Nana. Kate had been talking about it for a couple of days beforehand, and on the 1st she came down saying, "Jack! We can open Door No. 1!" We hauled out all the Christmas decorations, and I set up everything on the front lawn, including the Christmas Pig, while they decorated their rooms. They played with the Nativity pieces, no doubt faithfully re-creating the first Nativity (or having the animals chat together about football, one of the two), and also with all the stuffed toys we have accumulated over the years - Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, Penguiny, etc.

On December 7, we went to the Holiday Breakfast at school, where we ate bagels, drank orange juice, and watched A jovial Santa, played I believe by one of Jack's baseball coaches. One of Jack's friend's Grandmas played piano and a bunch of kids, including Jack, sang along to Carols - Frosty, Rudolph, etc. Kate didn't stand up, but she sat at the table holding the song sheet, singing along.

Afterward, we went to get our tree. Jack picked one. Then Kate picked one, then Emily picked one, then I picked one. Then we actually agreed on one and got it. On the way home, Jack said, "that's what I want for a job.  I want to pick up the tree, bang it on the ground, and wrap it up and put it on people's cars." I said, well, I don't think that's his full-time job...he probably does something else the other 11 months of the year.

On December 9, it was icy, and school was delayed. Then on December 10th, it snowed and school was cancelled entirely. We went outside and the kids made snow angels and went down the slide. We had a small snowball fight, and then we played "Abominable Snowman," where I ran at them roaring and they either ran away screaming (Kate) or hit me in the face with a snowball (Jack). That was fun. Then I said, let's go make a snowman, and I was going to just make a standard one, but Jack wanted to make an Olaf, from the movie Frozen, as we had talked about when we saw it. He talked me into it, we made Olaf.

All along, we've been watching Christmas specials in the evening. Rudolph last Wednesday. Charlie Brown last Saturday, Santa Claus is Coming to town on Wednesday. I heard some commercial about, You watched them as kids, and now you can watch them with your kids, the kind of thing I would have scoffed at not so long ago. But here we are.

The Christmas Pageant was Monday night, where all the 3rd 4th and 5th graders would sing songs they'd been practicing at school. Frosty, Feliz Navidad, Silver Bells. Jack got to introduce one of the songs for his grade, representing the class, that was cool. He had a cold and his nose was twitching beforehand, we were waiting for him to sneeze, but he didn't. What was cool about the show, which we watched with Kate between us, was that she was fidgeting and complaining before it started, but once it began, she was totally engrossed, smiling and clapping and singing along quietly. She loves music, she sings absently almost all the time, it's awesome.

And that night they dressed up in red and white and were beautiful.

Thankful

Had my parents down for Thanksgiving. It's always great that the kids are so excited to see them. They didn't want to go to bed, and then Jack came into our room in the middle of the night to ask when they would get up. Hugs all around in the morning. Jack played Scrabble with Nana, while Kate, humorously, picked Headbandz to play with Baba (where you wear a picture of something on your head and have to guess what it is; Baba was a toaster).

We played Hearts, Parcheesi, and Chess; Emily and I, having each played a lot of Hearts back in the day, really enjoyed it. Even though Kate wanted to get points, and Jack didn't seem to fully grasp the goal, either. Later, out of the blue, he announced, "I really like board games a lot right now."

Went to Cathy's for Thanksgiving. The kids disappeared to play with their cousins for most of it. We reconvened at dinner, and for presents (it was also the first night of Hannukah).jack and Kate each got a present, and when we went home, they immediately began playing with them. Jack's was an electronics projects set, Kate's a Barbie makeup art set.

It isn't often that I see Jack completely enthralled by something. He'd make a project, show it to us, smile, make another one. At one point I was in the kitchen, he brought it out, showed me what he made, and we walked back to the living room. He looked down at the set in his hands and said, almost to himself more than me, "I love this." Like he was filled with wonder about how much he enjoyed it. I don't see that very often. It's pretty cool.

I put Kate to bed. She read to me. She has become a great reader, quickly. Kissed her goodnight, went to say goodnight to Jack. He said, "Tomorrow, will you play with my electronics set with me?" You bet.

Walking home

We walked home from school today. It was a little cold but beautiful, sunny and clear.

Kate was a little sulky initially, preferring not to walk. Jack, in contrast, would walk home every day if he could. So he made it fun for Kate.

"Kate, let's see what we can find for leaves, OK? We can find the biggest, or the most colorful?" They did that for a couple of minutes, then Kate got leaves in her sneakers and was irritated. So Jack said, "Let's walk on the sidewalk, and see what else we can find."

They spotted what seemed to be a piece of colorful glass fused into the sidewalk. "Look, Kate, it's a secret passageway!" Jack said. "We need to find the key!" They knelt down and sifted through rocks and twigs. "Is this the key?" asked Kate. "What about this?" "Ooh, that's a good key. Hmm, no it doesn't work."

We walked some more. Jack found a metal key ring. "THIS is the key!" They both ran back to the fused glass. "Yeah, look at this, that's great!"

Walked a few yards more. Played with more leaves. Analyzed the staples in a telephone pole. Careful, I said.

On the street parallel to ours there are two big columns on either side, like a gate or archway. "Stop!" Jack instructed to us. "We can't go through without the key." They both knelt to find the key. Kate came up with a stick, Jack a rock. Jack said, "We place the rock here--" (in front of one column) "--and poke it with the stick." Kate poked it. "There! Now we can go through." So we did. 

Came to the white stones on the border of a neighbor's lawn. Kate dubbed them the "Rocks of Joy," and jumped from rock to rock. Jack followed suit. I told them it was time to cross. Kate looked up. "Look, MORE Rocks of Joy!" We crossed, and they continued jumping from rock to rock.

On the cross street near our house, there was a big, waist-level tree stump at the edge of the road, where a tree had been knocked down in a storm. They approached it reverently. "This is the thump-thump stump," Jack explained. "You have to pat it while singing a song to pass." They both patted the stump like a drum, singing a made-up song. We passed.

On our street, we passed a house with a lawn decoration of a turkey rising out of a pumpkin. They walked up to it and said hello to the turkey. I noticed the owner on her porch and warned them not to touch it. She said, it's OK, they can look. So they did.

We passed a guy walking his dog. The dog's tail whipped back and forth as she saw us. As we passed, Kate moved aside, I held out my hand to greet the dog. It flopped down on its back and Jack and I scratched its belly. Its tail went thump thump thump.

Reached home, having made a 10-minute walk in about half an hour. "See, Kate, isn't walking home GREAT?" said Jack.

Art

Jack and I do a lot of outside activities, either football or baseball or whatnot. Kate plays occasionally, but it isn't her first choice. Today, with Jack going to swim practice, I tried to figure out what I could do with just Kate that she would enjoy. And then I remembered she had been drawing pictures from the Hand Art book last week, so I suggested that. And her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously.

The Hand Art book enables you to make all kinds of animals whose heads or bodies start out by tracing your hand. A bat is made with two hands. And a butterfly, and... You get the idea. And it is hard for Kate to trace her own hand, so we did them together.

"You're a good tracer, Daddy," she said admiringly, as I traced her hand. Well, thank you, Katie.

We made elephants, dogs, bats, and giraffes. I made her a kitty that she loved. I know this because when I finished it and gave it to her, she said, " I LOVE it." Then we made pictures for everyone else. I made an elephant for Jack. When he saw it he looked at it for a minute, smiled, and said "Thank you." Very sincere. It was nice.

Saying goodnight to Kate, I said, it was fun making hand art with you, Kate. And it really was.

Good Dad, Bad Dad

Took Kate to gymnastics today. It was just us, Jack had a baseball practice. Usually he is along, and we listen to music and they talk over each other. Today I left the radio off, trying to do that a little more often, and Kate and I chatted about her day. She told me about drawing candy corns, and how they did this math thing with pictures of candy corns, and it was all very cute.

We talked about being important, because she said something recently about Jack being more important, which obviously concerned us. But I think, now, maybe it was a case where one of us used the remark in reference to getting ready for something, probably baseball, and he was "more important" because he had to be there sooner. Because today, on the way to gymnastics she said she was the important one. And I said, you are always the important one. You and Jack both are. Anyway, I got the sense she was meaning it differently than we initially feared.

Took Jack to a Haunted House deal at the Middle School. Thought it would be fun, scary, but fun. Well, he didn't have fun. Too scary for him. I don't blame him. It was scary, and they had zombies and ghouls and stuff groaning and moaning at us. I guess it was his first exposure to anything, you know, scary. And maybe he was too young.

He seemed OK after we had been out of it for 5 minutes or so. I kept telling him it was just people in costumes, some of whom we saw afterward walking around the halls. He nodded. And said, but it was still scary. And I said, yeah, I know.

Probably a bad call by me.

Team player

Jack had a couple of baseball games today. Beautiful fall day, sunny, almost balmy in the sun.

We dropped Jack off early for warmups, then showed up for the start of the game. As I walked up, coach said the other team didn't have enough kids, and Jack would be playing on their team in the first game. I was kind of like, uh, Huh? But Jack was ok with it -- he is very agreeable kid -- and he collected his stuff to go to the other dugout. His teammates clapped him on the back and stuff (saw one of them saying he should try to play bad on purpose), and the game started.

Jack, on the other team, played in the outfield, and then shortstop when their regular guy got hurt and had to move to the outfield. He got one chance, a wicked ground ball that got by him. At the plate he had a hard groundout, a walk, and a strikeout. His good friend Dylan knew how to pitch him, that's what I'm thinking. And his team won. One of them, I think the one he was playing on.

Game 2, he was back on the Pirates. Drew a walk, got hit by a pitch. Played a couple innings at second base (he made his debut there a week ago but didn't have a ball hit near him), and it was pretty exciting. Had a hard, two hop grounder hit to him, threw him out at first. Tough play! Later, on a ball hit to short with two outs and runners at first and third, he covered 2nd and got the force. Little stuff, but not routine for 8 year olds, and especially for kids who seldom play there. Petty cool to see him make those plays. When he is in the outfield, you basically hope the ball isn't hit out there, because they are seldom played correctly by anyone. So we would watch games just hoping for good at-bats. It was kind of new watching for fielding plays. Fun.

After getting hit by a pitch, he ended up coming around to score. Close play at the plate; he came in standing up and we told him to slide next time. But he was safe, and his team won again.

Afterward, Jack told Emily he hadn't been sure about Fall Travel at first, because Coach worked them hard, and a lot of his friends from summer weren't doing it. (I had noticed he hadn't squawked much about missing a couple of practices recently.) But that now he was enjoying it. I told him, later, that I was really proud of him, taking one for the team. Lots of kids, I think, wouldn't have had as good an attitude about it as he did. Told him it was great seeing him make a couple of plays in the field, too.

Later, I got an email from the coach. He hadn't emailed me directly before; I only know him through this season. Just said, "What a great day Jack had. I don't really believe in game balls, but he deserved one today. He is a true team player."

Really nice to hear. I think we mostly want our kids to be really good at a sport, make plays, get hits, whatever. When Jack and I are out playing football in the backyard, I get impressed at a leaping catch or a perfect throw. (His, too! No, I kid.) I get excited when Kate rides her bike or, sometimes, climbs a tree too high, both of which also occurred today.

But being a good teammate? Trying hard, doing the right thing, earning respect of the coach? I like to think that I'll remember that stuff just as much as the hits, the catches, the game outcomes.

I'll tell Jack what the coach said, and I suspect it will be pretty much how he reacts when I praise him or compliment him for something. He'll nod, have a little smile on his face, take it in stride. Pleased with himself, but cool. Kind of the way he is. And tomorrow he'll pick up his stuff and go play ball again.

Comic convention

One of my kid memories was going to my first ever comic convention in Boston. My dad drove me and a friend 3 hours there, we arrived, spent all our cash in 15 minutes on a huge stack of comics, and said, OK, let's go. And we drove home.

So I got tickets for Jack and me to the Thursday date. He was pretty excited, telling all his friends and teacher about it. I picked him up early at school and he came running out. Emily believes Jack would be ecstatic for us to be doing pretty much anything alone together, and she might be right.

We drove in, chatting a little about baseball, swimming, comics. Guy stuff. Parked, found our way in. Gaped. The place was huge, there were thousands and thousands of people, it was a mob. Jack was really into the people all dressed up...we took pictures of him and cactus guy, Jack Frost, other stuff. The costumes were all pretty cool...some really get into it. A couple of Wreck It Ralph's, several Supergirls, lots of zombies. Lots of kids in costume too.

Best parts? Well, there was Jack playing with Legos with a couple of little kids in the Lego/Mattel area. Making an octopus I think. There was him digging through old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comics, finding ones he liked. Speaking like the minions from Despicable Me 2. Helping me find comics, sharing this cool freeze-dried ice cream, sleeping in the car on the way home.

Best though was us, hungry and exhausted with sore feet, buying a couple of hotdogs, sitting against a wall, eating them with a bag of Fritos and sharing a water. "Dad, is the comic convention once a year? Will we go next year, too?" Maybe we will.

Baseball again!

Haven't talked much about Jack's fall baseball season. It has been kind of strange,,with an erratic schedule, Jack being sick or otherwise missing last weekend's games, and the overall quality of play being shaky.

And Jack struggled at the plate the first few games, and I'm not coaching, so it is all a different vibe from the summer.

But it was an awesome weekend. Yesterday, things started to turn around for him at the plate. We had been practicing some, swing and stance and stuff, and he was looking a little more comfortable at the plate. Had a good at bat which resulted in a hard groundout to the right side, moving the tying runner over in the final inning in a game we won 3-2. Today, with only nine guys available, Jack played the whole game, made a couple of fielding plays and a throw home.... And in his first at bat, lined a double down the right field line, the best hit - and first double - of his career. Reached base each of his next three at bats, too, with a liner to center and a pair of grounders. 3 hits. A bust out game! Said a friend, and it's true.

After the game, I told Jack how great he played, how proud I was, and got a big grin. Then he went off to a birthday party, baseball probably largely forgotten. (Funny, because yesterday, walking home, same thing happened...Emily was praising him for moving the runner over, Jack smiled, then spotted a squirrel and started chasing it. Already moving on.)

Funny thing is, I mean, I'm proud of Jack anyway, all the time. Every time he's at the plate, in the field, being nice to Kate, helping around the house. Guess it's easier to get excited about a hit in baseball or something in public, but it's not a new feeling. Maybe baseball just reminds me of it.

Weather was nice this weekend. Sunny, warmer than you would expect, clear. Great weekend for baseball.

No noise

The last couple of days, maybe longer, I have been feeling like there is a little too much noise around me. It's noise I create, either the radio, or the visual noise of something like my cellphone. Just spending too much time immersed in it. I realize this is not a unique or new discovery on my part.

Today when the kids got home from school, reacting with joy to the Halloween doormat I'd put out, because it is NOT too early, I spent my time listening to and watching them. I gave them the Halloween window decorations I'd bought this morning, and watched them put them up in their rooms. "I'm making art this year," said Jack, as he carefully created a scene in his windows using the decorations. And he was, it was kind of cool.

With Kate, I had to move her radiator cover, help her stick the decorations on the window, move everything back into place. Her creations were more literal. "I'm going to make this cat about to eat this rat. And this bigger rat will be about to eat the cat. You know a baby rat is a mouse? Here's the owl on the roof of the house. And THIS big owl is its Mommy."

I walked Kate over to Daisy scouts at 5. We held hands, and she sang. I dropped her off, made sure she found a friend and a place to sit in the circle, waved goodbye.

I drove Jack to swim team tryouts in Rye. We always have the car radio on, but I left it off this time. We talked about baseball playoffs, school, recess, the upcoming comic convention. We had a few minutes to wait at the Rye Y, so we played foosball. He had his tryouts, and afterward said, "I think it was the best freestyle I've ever done. Sometimes I get tired, but I didn't get tired at all."

We drove home, again without the radio. Just chatting. He observes random things, the kind of stuff I do. Like: "That store....Arnold's Signs. It had this old wooden, dusty sign with a pole sticking out of the bottom. Like something in a Western movie or something. Couldn't a sign store have a nice, new sign?"

We picked up a pizza, and Jack said hi to the turtles. I told him the sign observation was funny, and he went off on it for another two minutes.

We got home and ate. Took a brief break from our no electronic devices to play a silly pinata game on Google.com. That was funny. Kids had showers, we read books, and went to bed.

Electronic devices are OK sometimes. Last night we danced in the kitchen to a couple of great songs, saw a funny music video with all different kinds of dancing.

But sometimes enough is enough. Turned off my phone a while ago, and now I'll turn off the computer and go look at the window decorations the kids put up. Right n

Great team

A rare slow afternoon at the Richardson household. But there was sun in the midst of rain, and so I cajoled Kate into going out for a bike ride. Brought along a wrench, because this was the day we were going to learn to ride without the training wheels.

We went to Rec Park, a small, lightly attended park within walking distance that had a huge tennis court. Jack learned to ride his bike there two years ago, probably about this time actually.

Kate and I had tried it without training wheels a couple of times earlier this summer. Hadn't really gone well. She would put her feet down immediately when I let go of the seat, or thought I was going to. I was encouraging and all, but she didn't really seem close.

But today, she rode for a few seconds after I took my hand off the seat. And I could see she was getting a little excited about herself, because she kind of smiled, and when I said, you want to try again, she said yes. She would ride for a few seconds, I would say, you're getting it, she would smile, and we would try again.

Then she wanted to go on the playground, and she did that, and I figured, this is great progress, and we will come back next week and do it. But then I asked her, do you want to try a little more? And she thought for a moment and said, "Sure."

And this time when I let go of the bike, she kept going. And was riding. Ad it was pretty awesome.

All the way home she said, "I love riding my bike! We have to show Mommy and Jack! They will be so excited!"

I put her to bed tonight, her reading me Harry By the Sea. And she gave me a big hug, a squeezer, and said, "We're a great team!" And then, to explain, "you know, learning to ride my bike..." And I said, yep, I know.

Birthday girl

Kate turned 6 today. The day began with Jack coming into my room and telling me I had to get up, because The birthday girl wanted me to. I said, ok. Went downstairs, and as is often the case, she was sitting at the breakfast table hiding behind the cereal box. Why, where is Kate? I said. And she laughed and said, "I'm here! Daddy!"

She opened her cards and presents, properly appreciative of most everything. I know she will like the Amelia Earhart book one day. Oohed and Aahed at the big-eyed stuffed toys, and then she and Jack played with them until school. They have a ceremony where the new stuffed toys are welcomed by the older ones. Pretty cute really.

At pickup in the afternoon, she was wearing a Birthday Girl hat. We came home and played the Princess and the Pea game, then she had Daisies after that (girl scouts). We brought cupcakes. When I left she was running back and forth with the other Daisies, playing a game whose rules only little girls know.

We went to dinner at Elevation Burger, her choice. We all said what the favorite part of our day was (for three of us it was dinner, for Kate it was running around with her friends). Then Kate talked for what seemed like a good 15 minutes, telling us who was sitting at each of the different tables in her classroom. I had asked who sat at her table, and she went above and beyond. "And at the YELLOW table it's Julietta and...."

Going back home, we briefly stopped to say Hi to cousins playing in the street. I think Kate picked up leaves, sang a song of some sort. Oh, I know: "I love being six....I am very glad to. Be. Sixxxxxx!" I know that at bedtime, after we read Frog and Toad for about the hundredth time, and we turned out the lights, she sang. The song went something like, "I love school....because at school....you see your friends....and on your birthday, you get a birthday hat! I....love.....school!"

When I left, Kate gave me a squeezer, which is what she calls a big hug. They are pretty awesome. Good night, Kate.

Special Day

Kate's birthday is coming up, so we decided to take her into New York City to have lunch at the American Girl Doll store. For those unfamiliar, this is a ridiculously huge store that sells merchandise related to ... American Girl ... dolls. And has a restaurant inside!


I woke up to hear Kate moving about her room, with various thuds and drawers opening and closing. I came out to find her dressed, in a nice purple dress that I hadn't seen since her first day of school a year ago, with a band holding her hair back. She was holding her American Girl doll, also wearing a dress and hairband. Ready to go, I asked. She nodded, "Yes, I just need to brush our teeth."

In the kitchen, Kate sang "Today is a special day...a special day..."

We took the train in, Emily, me, Kate, and her American Girl doll (also called Emily). Jack was at a friend's house. On the train, all the way in, we played I Spy, and Going on a Picnic.

At the store, Kate flitted about from display to display. "Ooh, look at THIS....and THIS...." She was most intrigued by the little stuffed dogs. We ordered one of them once and it was kind of lame, so we sent it back. But one of these, at least, was nicer, so we put that in the back of our mind for Christmas.

Naturally, "Emily" got her own hairbrush, and various hair accoutrements so she could have braids, and a clothing outfit.

Lunch was a very nice affair where we got several courses, including pastries, fruit, and of course chocolate milk. Kate was a little on edge here and there, but by the time dessert came, with a candle on hers, she was happy as could be.

Heading home from the store, she was tired, and I carried her. She put her head on my shoulder, and her American Girl doll's head on my other shoulder, and sighed. She was warm, a nice warm.

On the train, she lay down with her head on Emily's lap, and "Emily's" head on her lap, and sang something. Not exactly sure what it was, but it might have been, "Today was a special day ...a special day..."