Beware! Science!

Jamie has been going to a science class after school one day a week. When we first informed him of this (as with many kids, it is sometimes best to package something new as a fait accompli) he was resistant. But when I picked him up after the first day he was bubbling with enthusiasm, and said "I wish I could go everyday!!" Every week now, he proudly brings home the results of experiments with chemistry, magnets, colors, sounds, etc. One never quite knows what he will emerge with from week to week. Case in point: this week Sarah picked him up and he came running out with a bag of white powder and proclaimed "Mommy! We have to make sure to tell Daddy not to sniff this!!!"

Seems it is the hyper-absorbent chemical they put in diapers to soak up liquid, and would do bad things in one's lungs.

Brotherly love

We have been discussing summer camp plans with the boys. There is, by and large, great enthusiasm. Contrary to his increasingly obsolete reputation as a non-joiner, Jamie claims to have loved camp last summer. We assumed this was because of having his brother from another mother, Will, there. But he says he wants to go even if Will isn't there this year. As it happens this group is running a camp from the boys' old pre-school, as well as a place very near our house. We asked them and they were actually tickled by the prospect of being at their old stomping ground, perhaps because they can feel like distinguished alums now.

As we were talking about this, Connor suddenly says, in his sweetest, most heart-breaking little three-year-old voice: "Jamie? Will you take care of me at camp???" Jamie, of course, deferred answering by saying, "Connoooor (accompanied as often by eye rolling). You won't even be in the same group as me." We agreed, however, that Jamie could keep an eye on him in the playground and during camp-wide activities. Jamie wasn't overly excited about it but Connor then came after Jamie, arms extended for a rare fraternal hug. Reluctantly it was returned and good feelings abounded. For a little while.

The donut train

The boys and I have a Sunday tradition of going to get kolaches before Sarah gets up. For the non-Texans out there the kolache is a wonderful breakfast item of soft bread that can be filled with a variety of things including egg, cheese, sausage, potatoes, etc. It is significant in our household because while Jamie would never eat eggs under any ordinary circumstances, the egg and cheese kolache, which is in fact quite a substantial thing, is the one breakfast food he eats absolutely without fail.

On some mornings, we go next door to the donut store and bring those back as well. The boys like this of course and clamour for it constantly. Apparently it stays in their minds during the week as well. Last evening Sarah was sitting in her study listening to Connor playing with his train tracks in the next room. Both boys have the very appealing habit of voicing different characters when they get really into playing. Here's what she heard:

Connor says in an exaggerated, deep voice:

"Thomas, I want you to get the donut train. To bring donuts to people."

"Yes sir!"

(Sound of trains moving on track)

The kid has the makings of a great public servant!

The joys of Texas winters

We had a three-day weekend this week with MLK day so Jamie's BFF Will came over for the day. Now, time was having Jamie and Will together was an exercise in crowd control in miniature, because unless directed in some very defined way they could spin out of control fairly quickly. But suddenly, big boys of 6 and 5 that they are, they just disappear and play nicely for hours. By great good fortune there was a the day before and it's become quite warm. So Will arrived at about 9 and immediately announced he wanted to go outside and Jamie and Connor followed. We then watched in amazement as they stayed outside for the next 5 1/2 hours almost completely without a break. The real miracle was that not once did we have to tell anybody to include Connor, be nice to Connor, not to hurl any kind of projectiles at Connor. This was a nice change from the last time we hosted a play date when there were actually two friends plus Connor and Jamie. The only way I could keep them from turning on Connor was to put them all on a team against me in freeze-tag. This actually turned out to be a great exercise in team-building but 2 hours of it is exhausting. For me of course. They were fine.

Of all of Jamie's friends Will is by far the sweetest with Connor and as a result Connor thinks Will is his best friend too. It's a little heartbreaking because he never quite understands when Jamie goes over to Will's why he doesn't get to go to. When the doo opens and Jamie runs in, Connor just follows, only to be told that no, he can't stay. Whenever we ask if he wants to invite a friend over he just says "Will." He clearly has some buddies in his own classroom (in fact Sarah spotted a little girl kissing him repeatedly while they were waiting outside to be picked up yesterday) but Will is just cooler I guess.

Connor and Jamie's relationship continues to evolve. They are often at odds over toys and Connor's tendency to want to copy and repeat everything Jamie does and says it's true, but more and more they have a great time together. Jamie can be really sweet and supportive of Connor. When he's in the right mood, if Connor reads something or does something well he'll say so genuinely, "Way to go bunny!!!" He's even starting saying, "Connor you're a genius!!"

20 minutes in the art museum

Guest entry from Sarah:

I had to visit the Menil Collection to set up a writing assignment for my students, so I brought the boys. We didn’t stay long, and they spent most of the time asking when we would leave. But when they did stop complaining and started looking at the art, they had some interesting things to say. Connor walked around saying “sculpture!” Jamie was intrigued by little bronze figurines of animals with antlers, and wanted to know how old they were and where they came from. He was also pretty interested in the religious art, thanks to his Catholic school education. Both boys stared in some awe at a painting of the crucifixion. Then Jamie saw a Dormition of the Virgin and asked if it was Mary, dead. I was pretty impressed that he guessed right, given how few of my students would have. There were a couple of good “St. George and the Dragon” panels which of course pleased the boys. We also looked at some Fayum portraits, and I was explaining to Jamie that they would get wrapped in with the mummies so the realistic portrait faces would show. At which point Connor piped up in his little voice, “I don’t want to die!” I decided that the Menil had been quite scary enough for the day, even without seeing the Surrealism galleries, and we left.

What did the rest of us achieve over the Christmas break?

Because I'm afraid it will pale compared to Connor. The boys went back to school yesterday after a 2 1/2 week Christmas break. There were lots and lots of good times, and lots of staying up late and the somehow it all seemed much longer than that, especially I think because Connor seems to have left St. Catherine's in December as a baby and returned a big boy. I'm not trying to be a bragging Dad, but what he accomplished in this period of time is really quite stunning. He has a) mastered using the potty, b) gotten rid of his pacifier and c) learned to read.

With the potty to be honest we were despairing. (Sorry if no wants to read about potty training but it's a big moment and this blog is partly to keep a record of the things that happen!) He had been at it in earnest since August and was still having accidents on a daily basis. This made for a long few months, to say the least. The first couple of weeks in December was the first time it seemed to bother him and he would say sadly, "I'm tired of having accidents." In retrospect, this was the turning point because it seems to have outweighed his disinclination to take the trouble of going to the bathroom. Now he has almost no accidents at all. Amazing.

With the pacifier, it was a day we had been fearing. We had lost all but about 3 of them by Thanksgiving and then in quick succession two more broke. We knew the last one would go and sure enough just after Christmas: snap! We were prepared for a major battle about not getting more because he seemed more into it than ever, but he accepted the news calmly and has just moved on. He talks about it occasionally and seems to harbour some hope that one of the lost ones will be returned but otherwise he really hasn't looked back for a moment.

Finally, the reading. He watches Jamie read and has been imitating him, but we thought it was just a matter of going through the motions. Then, last week he and Sarah were driving and he pointed out a Volvo in front of them. It looked nothing like ours and Sarah noticed that Volvos don't have logos on the back so she asked how he knew and he answered flatly, "I read it." Still, the boys have been noticing that our Volvo has the all over it, so she figured it was just recognition. Maybe so, but when they got home they pulled out a puzzle they'd never done and he pointed to the word "cool" and sounded it out perfectly. There are only very simple words he can get right now but he works out the sounds even with longer ones.

We still weren't totally believing it until Sarah saw his teacher after the first day of school yesterday and she marveled about Connor reading words. It was then that we stopped to admire what a big boy he seems to have become, all in the space of a Christmas vacation.

He's still our bunny though.