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.