Battleship!

How have we not done this before? We took the boys to the San Jacinto Battlefield today and to see the USS Texas. First we went up the 500 column (elevator to the top), with which they were moderately impressed. Far better was jumping off a stone wall, yelling "Geronimo!" Or sometimes for Connor: "I'm a man!!!" Then they bravely endured a nice nature walk and amused themselves by terrorizing ant hills, while Sarah and I looked at birds.

By far the highlight was the Texas though. First there was the hill.

Now as you look at this picture of sheer joy on Connor's face, remember that just the day before he had been so sick he could barely get off the couch. Next remember that about a half-hour before, he had been so tired he almost couldn't carry on with the nature walk, which was really far too long, in case I didn't make that point clearly before. But for Houston boys, used to the oppressive flatness of the land, any hill is a cause for intense joy. They took turns shouting "This one's for you Mom/Dad" and barreling down the hill straight into us.

The Texas itself was great too. First there is much climbing to be done, always popular. But best of all was that the gun turrets mostly still work. I can be pretty specific because there are a lot on there and they tried just about everyone moving aft down the starboard side and then forward back up the port side.

Project bedtime

So the bedtime ritual with the boys is complex and we've come to understand that it is their direct goal to make it so, all the better to delay the actual going to sleep. So at sometime as close to 7 as possible, in theory, they get into pajamas. At that point they are both entitled to cereal. Connor sometimes wants this, but Jamie always, and almost always two bowls. Then there is book reading with mommy or daddy, during which time Jamie consumes several cheesesticks. If they manage it, one of them can play Angry Birds or something on one of the phones while the other one is being read to. Failing this, while Jamie is being read to Connor will attempt to engage the non-reading parent in some activity including, but not limited to, legos, swordfighting, reading another book, playing a board game, or playing animals of some kind. Jamie may try this as well, but more often stands next to the reading area and throws a super ball against the back door, which he does habitually now, kind of like Steve McQueen in The Great Escape.

Then they brush teeth and head to bed to read books there by themselves. Connor makes several repeat appearances. Then, they go to the bathroom. At this point, on the very cusp of being in bed to go to sleep, they invariably ask if they can sit out with us for a few minutes. This is very much to be desired because it delays the whole program. As a result, when they do achieve this they are a) very willing to snuggle, having sensed that this makes us more likely to say yes, and b) willing to watch a few minutes of whatever we might be watching.

And thus it is that the two Costello boys, who could not possibly care less about clothing if it is not a t-shirt and pair of shorts, have become fans of the show Project Runway. They have watched just a few episodes of the current season but are quite into it. Connor was sick today and spent a good part of the day asking if we could all watch the Project Runway finale. I'm slightly at a loss as to what they like about it. I think part of it is the competition. They are compelled by the one winner/one person kicked off reality format and are very interested in who they think will win, who we think will win, etc., and make a point to ask about the results of the episode they saw when they wake up the next day.

Our wee Scots boy

Connor just proved he's got a little Celt in him. He was playing the Wii, and started moaning and saying "Owww.." Sarah asked what was wrong and he said his right arm really hurt. She said, "Is that a Wii injury?" to which he replied "No, it's a BIG injury!"

Confusing advice

So, on the topic of Jamie being brave, from the previous post, I thought I would also add that he has a lot to figure out with sports and advice from his parents. As with baseball, he spent the Fall playing on a soccer team that had to play a lot of older kids and it was rough at times but Jamie kept his head up and plugged away.

At halftime of one game he reported to me that one of the kids on the other team had been talking some trash. So I asked what he had done and he said he gave it right back to the kid. "Good," I said, feeling pleased at his spunk, "we don't start that stuff, but we also don't back down."

Later he reported this to Sarah, who asked what he had done. When he told her, she said,while of course understanding his reaction, "Well, that was wrong sweetie. Just because someone else has bad sportsmanship doesn't make it OK for us to have it."

Of course, we're both right to an extent, though Sarah more so, and Jamie seemed able to deal with that contradiction. Ultimately, I suspect he'll keep our advice in mind, but sort it out for himself.

Brave, snuggly Jamie

Jamie has become such a pleasant, sweet little boy. Not that he ever wasn't those things, but as many of you remember he was a bit, shall we say, prickly as a baby and a toddler. Then he went through a phase during the first years he was in school when he got very self-conscious about showing affection with us, especially in sight of the school. Well, those days are over. We tell people who didn't know him then, that when he was smaller he could be a real challenge at times and they just look at us like we're nuts and say "Him??!!"

He has such an easy affectionate manner now. He is always happy to have a hug, doesn't really matter where (well, perhaps not on the baseball field but otherwise). Whenever we say we love him, he very naturally answers "I love you too!" Especially now that it's cold, he frequently asks "Can we read a book on the couch and snuggle?" Or if he's watching a show, "Can you snuggle with me?" Sometimes, in real moments of benevolence he's even affectionate with Connor.

But we're also so often impressed with his bravery. Since last summer he's been playing on a traveling baseball team. For a few reasons they are playing up so he's been facing kids from 11 and under teams, some of whom are literally twice his size. It's kid pitch now and some of these kids can really fire it in there. But he just stands in and takes his cuts. In this picture he's standing at first base after knocking in two runs with a hard hit ball off a kid throwing gas.

Last night I sort of watched him marshal his resources in real time. He's playing in a rec basketball league at a nearby church and it was his first pracitice. When walked in there were kids and balls everywhere and it was a kind of chaotic, sensory overload scene that Jamie has never liked and that would frankly overwhelem anybody. A lot of the kids were older as well. He immediately, quietly, said, "I don't want to be here. I want to go home." And then "I don't want to play on this basketball team." I was a little extra worried because I couldn't stay because I had to go to a Little League board meeting. So we hung out for a while and met his coach and the rest of the kids on the team. They started to head to a hoop and I gave a little pep talk about how I always feel playing basketball with new people and, not because of the pep talk I'm sure, I could literally see him gathering himself. I sort of hung out with him for a little bit in the layup line and he said very nicely, "It's OK Dad, you can go."
Of course, at the point I didn't want to for anything in the world, but I dutifully marched off with my heart in my throat.

Books in bed

So our bedtime routine, all things being normal, is that we read books with the boys until about 8 and then they go to read books in bed for about 1/2 hour. With Jamie, voracious reader that he has become, this means that we hear absolutely nothing from him until we say lights out, at which point, invariably, he asks if he can finish his page and we, invariably, say yes. With Connor on the other hand, you really never know what's going to happen. Very frequently there are encore performances in the living room of one manner or other. Then there are times when he plays noisily with legos, trying to engage the reading Jamie and only annoying him in the process. Other times he goes into that particularly intense, silent play with his Playmobil dinosaurse. Other times he gets into bed and falls asleep in two seconds. Sometimes he gets into bed and falls asleep with a book on his face. Once in a while he gets lucky and gets to go up and read with Jamie.

Yesterday, I turned the corner into the room and found this:

It would be difficult to convey the intensity with which he was engaged with The Little Engine That Could. Sarah tried to ask him a couple of things and he just sort of blew her off and couldn't take his eyes from the page. He didn't quite finish before lights out and very seriously asked for a bookmark so he could pick it up in the morning. It's a page-turner folks.

Bunny homework

So Connor is in first grade now and has been adjusting to a moderate amount of homework. He gemerally does pretty well. It comes in packets that have to be turned in at the end of the week and he's motivated to do as much as possible early in the week to get it out of the way so that's meant that Thursday night doesn't have to be too painful.

One assignment the boys both get is a list of words, which they have to use in a sentence. Connor had this for the first time this week and got the concept immediately and churned out the following sentences. I transcribe them exactly here, and I think they give you a nice little window into Connor-world:

(Around) Look around you.
(Find) We need to find our Guinea Pigs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Food) Me and My Dad our goin to get food at the store.
(Grow) We our growing Planets in our garden
(Under) I play weth my guinea Pigs under the table.
(Water) Me and my family go to the Bech we go under water.