Jamie continues to have a great time playing basketball. We had our last game of the summer on Saturday and it was definitely Jamie's best. He's been doing really well on defense (the coach calls him a "bulldog" on D - imagine our little Jamie!), in part I think because it's a clear mandate - guard that kid. On offense, as I've written, he is just a little uncertain because they're aren't such clear rules, so he tends to defer. But this week his coach expressly told him to shoot and he took it to heart. He ended up only making one but took really good shots and clearly was becoming more confident and assertive. His basket was great, too, because he rebounded it at the defensive end, immediately turned up court, took it the whole way, got to the basket and made it.
It's cute to watch though because it's like seeing the two Jamies. While the ball isn't in play he's making silly noises, talking and laughing with the kid he's guarding and dancing around. AS SOON as the ball goes in play he shifts into game-face and concentration mode and doesn't break until the whistle. Really proud of our silly little bulldog!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Water levels
The pool continues to dominate our summer. It is actually wonderful because it is sort of the center of our existence. Our plans more or less come together around when we are going to the pool and how much time we are going to spend there. Connor has really come so far swimming this year, it's incredible to see. He is learning the front crawl, does a great doggie paddle and can jump in, go all the ay under, come up and swim to the side. He does back-flips under water and today, for the first time, he went off the diving board. It was sort of only halfway because he got 3/4 of the way down the board and then jumped sideways off and quickly got to the edge, but impressive nonetheless. Unfortunately, this is not allowed at the pool so the next time I told him he had to go to the end and jump straight off. He actually went out three times and just couldn't go to the edge and had to come back. So he's hit a limit clearly, but I don't expect it to last long.
One of the great things at the pool is we've gotten to the point where we know various people there so Jamie is often off immediately running around with his buddies. So it was nice yesterday when at the end of the day, most people had left so Jamie hung around with Connor and I. We had such a good time. We have these inflatable rafts and would throw them up in the air so that the came down Splat! in the middle of them and we would all laugh hilariously. Then we started playing a game, which may not sound good, but was fun. Jamie would take a water-ball, very soft to be clear and try and bean Connor with it while I tried to block him. Can't explain why it was so fun, but we just laughed and laughed.
One of the great things at the pool is we've gotten to the point where we know various people there so Jamie is often off immediately running around with his buddies. So it was nice yesterday when at the end of the day, most people had left so Jamie hung around with Connor and I. We had such a good time. We have these inflatable rafts and would throw them up in the air so that the came down Splat! in the middle of them and we would all laugh hilariously. Then we started playing a game, which may not sound good, but was fun. Jamie would take a water-ball, very soft to be clear and try and bean Connor with it while I tried to block him. Can't explain why it was so fun, but we just laughed and laughed.
Turn the page
Jamie is clearly very proud of his reading ability, and he should be. He absolutely tears through books and would keep reading all night if we didn't tell him to turn the lights off. One of our current bedtime rituals is that when we come in finally tell him to turn the light off, he asks what page of the book we think he's on. We inevitably guess much too low and he is pleased and we remark on how much he reads.
About half the time Connor has already gone off to sleep, but when he's not he too asks what page we think he's on. He hasn't quite got the point of the game however, because we'll guess 10 and he'll proudly proclaim, "No! 3!!!" I guess the important thing is that we're wrong. Sometimes, out of dumb luck, we're actually right though and Connor scrunches up his face and growls. Then gets the book and turns the page so we're wrong. Ahh, all can be well again.
About half the time Connor has already gone off to sleep, but when he's not he too asks what page we think he's on. He hasn't quite got the point of the game however, because we'll guess 10 and he'll proudly proclaim, "No! 3!!!" I guess the important thing is that we're wrong. Sometimes, out of dumb luck, we're actually right though and Connor scrunches up his face and growls. Then gets the book and turns the page so we're wrong. Ahh, all can be well again.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Camper of the week!
Hi all, sorry for the delay in posts, it's been a busy month. Good news is there's lots to catch up on. One of the main features of this summer has been the boys being in Kidventure camp. This is Jamie's third year and Connor's second. Jamie has always loved it in the past, and he's had a good time this year, but I think it may have run its course a bit with him. It's a very creative, artsy-crafty, activity focused place, which we like but I think Jamie is really wanting something more sports-focused. He does seem to have impressed them with his athletic ability and a couple of weeks ago got the best Sportsman award for the week, which pleased him very much. This last week he got an award for best Big Brother, which may have pleased us a bit more than him.
Connor, on the other hand, has been loving it. Now, our children often tend to be a bit reluctant about group activities. Let's face it, they come by it honestly. Sarah and I are not joiners, and we are not generally audience-participation types. But Connor's zeal for camp was such that a couple of weeks ago he got one of two camper of the week awards for the whole camp. Generally this was because he is an agreeable, kind little boy who has fun, but the icing on the cake was his performance of the Kidventure song. He had done it for us a bit at home, but we were getting reports from the counselors of much more enthusiastic renderings. Sure enough at the week end talent show and award ceremony, when it came time to sing the song, Connor marched, quite uninvited, up on to the stage with the counselors and sang so loud we could hear him over the entire group of 50 or so kids. His face was bright red and the veins in his neck were popping out! Sometimes he's still not a joiner, but when he does he really goes all in.
Connor, on the other hand, has been loving it. Now, our children often tend to be a bit reluctant about group activities. Let's face it, they come by it honestly. Sarah and I are not joiners, and we are not generally audience-participation types. But Connor's zeal for camp was such that a couple of weeks ago he got one of two camper of the week awards for the whole camp. Generally this was because he is an agreeable, kind little boy who has fun, but the icing on the cake was his performance of the Kidventure song. He had done it for us a bit at home, but we were getting reports from the counselors of much more enthusiastic renderings. Sure enough at the week end talent show and award ceremony, when it came time to sing the song, Connor marched, quite uninvited, up on to the stage with the counselors and sang so loud we could hear him over the entire group of 50 or so kids. His face was bright red and the veins in his neck were popping out! Sometimes he's still not a joiner, but when he does he really goes all in.
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