Jamie had to keep a journal for school and it came home at the end of the year. There is some real genius in there so I'll be posting some examples here, spelling and grammar in tact (you will that both improved markedly over the year). Today's comes from November 10, 2010:
This will be a great day I. will hav fun at reses. I will not be coten by grels lunch will be yimy.
(He likes to run from the girls at recess.)
Monday, June 20, 2011
New sport
Well, Jamie had his first basketball game on Saturday. He went to a Y sports camp last summer and did some basketball, and we've played some dribbling around in the yard, but this was his first "organized" game of any sort. It was pretty chaotic and the rest of his team is pretty young, but Jamie actually did great and was one of the better players on the team. He almost had his first shot go in and made several good defensive plays including one where he knocked a pass away, then dove on the ground to get it and passed it to a teammate from the floor.
The problem was that we were playing against a team with Shaq and Kobe. Really, they were the Lakers and they had these two just absurdly good kids who were hitting pull-up jumpers off the dribble from 10 feet and everything else they tried too. Jamie was also hampered by two tendencies that we usually like a lot. One, from soccer he is a really good passer and almost always looks to pass to an open teammate. The problem here was that either his teammate could catch the ball or Shaq stepped in and took it away. He understands the traveling and double-dribble rules very well. These were not being enforced at all in the game, however. But Jamie, rules-follower that he is," sort of self-enforced them and this put him at a disadvantage. Still great start and he had a lot of fun. Pictures in uniform to follow.
Connor enjoyed the game by the way, he got snacks afterward.
The problem was that we were playing against a team with Shaq and Kobe. Really, they were the Lakers and they had these two just absurdly good kids who were hitting pull-up jumpers off the dribble from 10 feet and everything else they tried too. Jamie was also hampered by two tendencies that we usually like a lot. One, from soccer he is a really good passer and almost always looks to pass to an open teammate. The problem here was that either his teammate could catch the ball or Shaq stepped in and took it away. He understands the traveling and double-dribble rules very well. These were not being enforced at all in the game, however. But Jamie, rules-follower that he is," sort of self-enforced them and this put him at a disadvantage. Still great start and he had a lot of fun. Pictures in uniform to follow.
Connor enjoyed the game by the way, he got snacks afterward.
A couple more
Two more Connorisms:
Wheat things (wheat thins)
And one of our faves, repeated often at the pool: "Can you unfrog my goggles?" That is to say "unfog."
Wheat things (wheat thins)
And one of our faves, repeated often at the pool: "Can you unfrog my goggles?" That is to say "unfog."
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
More malapropisms
The boys speak beautifully. Connor has already picked up on Jamie's rapidly developing vocabulary. So it's fun to hear them get things wrong in pleasing ways. Most of them are Connor's. Jamie has actually cottoned on to this and likes to catch our eye as Connor does his thing and share a subtle laugh. Here are a few:
"Dark Vader" (makes a lot of sense).
"Out of balance," instead of out of bounds, in basketball (this is Jamie's).
"Babing suits"
"Diarrhea" for Diary, as in the books "Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid" (really changes the meaning.
And our fave, by far, just coined by Connor last night:
For couscous: "goose-goose."
"Dark Vader" (makes a lot of sense).
"Out of balance," instead of out of bounds, in basketball (this is Jamie's).
"Babing suits"
"Diarrhea" for Diary, as in the books "Diarrhea of a Wimpy Kid" (really changes the meaning.
And our fave, by far, just coined by Connor last night:
For couscous: "goose-goose."
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Attack bunny
As you may know Jamie recently earned his orange belt in tae kwan do. We have been so pleased by Jamie's enthusiasm for this. He really seems to enjoy it, loves the notions of rewards and ranks with the various belts and stripes and seems genuinely empowered by it, at least to judge by the variety of stern kicks that are delivered to the recycling bin on his way in and out of the house.
These are some pictures from the orange belt testing, which we attended. Really, it was quite impressive. Jamie has clearly learned a variety of fairly complex combinations of moves. We are also really pleased with the gentle version of tough love being practiced there and the focus on respect and attention. For his part, Connor is ready to start tae kwan do himself when he gets to Parker next year. While we were watching all the kids do their moves Connor was over on the side kicking and punching away. It was actually fairly tight in there so the spectators had to be pretty close to some of the participants, especially as the latter sat and waited their turn. Connor, being small, had gone to sit at the very front so he could see, but it also meant that he was partially out of our vision as we were in back. There was a very large teenage boy with a green belt testing and sitting right next to Connor while he waited. Well, someone else we knew there later told us that while the boy was sitting there next to him Connor had been practicing his kicks and punches on this kid who was probably literally four times larger. Apparently, the boy may have thought it was part of the test for the red belt because he just sat there stoically absorbing the blows. Perhaps it helped motivate him to break the wooden plank with a rear kick later.
Anyway, on the way home we asked Connor about it, and he happily proclaimed, "Yeah!! I totally crushed him!!" You have been warned.
Life as Connor
In one sense it can be pretty tough. Pretty much whatever he does, he's got Jamie there to deal with and Jamie is hard on Connor, there's no way around it. Really doesn't give him a break about anything. Jamie got to make his 4-year-old the world is the way I say it is because I say it is proclamations free and clear, we just nodded obediently. But when Connor says anything, "17 + 15 =12" for instance, or some metaphysical equivalent of it, he has Jamie to say, "Noooo, Connoooo, it's 32." Connor tends to stick to his guns and a fight ensues.
On the other hand, Connor sometimes leads a charmed existence. We think he's irresistibly cute, of course, but we have concrete evidence that other people do as well. He just gets things. A couple of weeks ago we were at the pool and we went over to the sort of little kids area, where off at one side there was a party. Connor had barely uttered the inevitable "I'm hungry" when a darling little 3-year-old girl, the birthday girl it turns out, sidled up and said in her squeaky voice to him, "Do you want some chocolate cake?" Off they went together. Winning.
Meanwhile the other parents at baseball, and even the older sisters of the players, have discovered that you can make Connor happy by giving him things. This happens most often when he's sad about something, so I will look over from the field and see that he has scored cookies or donuts or drinks or all of the above. He has made great buddies with the younger sibling of one of the kids on Jamie's teams and before we even realized it the other day he had gone off with the parents to the snack shack and been given all manner of things.
So Jamie may give him a hard time but life as Connor can be pretty sweet.
On the other hand, Connor sometimes leads a charmed existence. We think he's irresistibly cute, of course, but we have concrete evidence that other people do as well. He just gets things. A couple of weeks ago we were at the pool and we went over to the sort of little kids area, where off at one side there was a party. Connor had barely uttered the inevitable "I'm hungry" when a darling little 3-year-old girl, the birthday girl it turns out, sidled up and said in her squeaky voice to him, "Do you want some chocolate cake?" Off they went together. Winning.
Meanwhile the other parents at baseball, and even the older sisters of the players, have discovered that you can make Connor happy by giving him things. This happens most often when he's sad about something, so I will look over from the field and see that he has scored cookies or donuts or drinks or all of the above. He has made great buddies with the younger sibling of one of the kids on Jamie's teams and before we even realized it the other day he had gone off with the parents to the snack shack and been given all manner of things.
So Jamie may give him a hard time but life as Connor can be pretty sweet.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Fighting bunny
Connor is a very sweet gentle little boy. This is of course part of why we call him bunny. These days when we talk about bunnies he asks whether we mean him or the animal. Sarah said "I love you bunny" the other day and he asked this. When she said she meant him, he asked if she loved the animal bunnies as much as him. When she said no, he suggested that she should. Perhaps, she said, but I don't. He seemed partially pleased by this, while not conceding the fundamental principle.
On the other hand, he can be quite fierce and feisty for a bunny. Sarah was also toalking with him recently about what people do when they grow up. She said that people often do something they're very good at, but that they also need to practice. To Sarah's surprise Connor proclaimed, "When I grow up I want to be a soldier, because I'm very good at fighting!"
On the other hand, he can be quite fierce and feisty for a bunny. Sarah was also toalking with him recently about what people do when they grow up. She said that people often do something they're very good at, but that they also need to practice. To Sarah's surprise Connor proclaimed, "When I grow up I want to be a soldier, because I'm very good at fighting!"
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