There was a day when the only song Jamie would listen to was "Jackson" by Johnny Cash and June Carter. Things have expanded a bit now and he has his own little playlist on the iPod. Mostly the stuff you'd expect, Beach Boys, Beatles, and some other hits of the 60s. Interestingly, they both seem to like the Ramones. At the first chords of "Blitzkrieg Pop" Connor begins thrashing around in his carseat.
Jamie likes to know what the songs are about and we find we appreciate the Beach Boys for the relative thematic directness that makes it easy to explain. In other cases he asks some interesting questions, such as: "Why Sloopy has to hang on?" The easy answer, that she comes from the wrong side of town, only prompts more questions.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Does it get any better?
We went over to one of my colleagues house for a barbecue on Sunday night. They have two kids, one of whom is a remarkable, preternaturally intelligent, thoughtful girl who just turned 10. Jamie absolutely adores her, and always has. She drew a picture of the two of them once and he carried it around and slept next to it for weeks. He gets a little shy around her, however. We had prepped him because she is a big Obama supporter (she went to the rally in Houston and is planning on attending the caucus tonight - we think she should be a superdelegate). We had him all ready to say "We want Obama to be president" (which we do of course) and even gave him some of the reasons why. But he clammed up when she asked him. All he managed was to ask me to tell her that he is good at baseball (which he is in fact).
Later, they sat next to each other at dinner and Jamie ate hamburger more efficiently than I've ever seen him eat of any food at one sitting. Then chocolate milk was offered and she came to pour the syrup into his cup. "Tell me when to stop," she told Jamie. He, however, clearly had no intention of doing any such thing, ever. The girl of his dreams, pouring as much chocolate syrup as he wanted? No way he was going to cut that short!
Later, they sat next to each other at dinner and Jamie ate hamburger more efficiently than I've ever seen him eat of any food at one sitting. Then chocolate milk was offered and she came to pour the syrup into his cup. "Tell me when to stop," she told Jamie. He, however, clearly had no intention of doing any such thing, ever. The girl of his dreams, pouring as much chocolate syrup as he wanted? No way he was going to cut that short!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Roar!
Connor's vocabulary continues to develop rapidly. He is working on animal noises in earnest right now. He started with a core group of "woooof" (dog) "mow" (cat) and "roar!" (big cat). Lately he has expanded to "moooo" and some kind of primal oinkish grunting for pig. Bird is the only one he doesn't replicate: he now says "bur-taaahhh!" with real relish.
He can then deploy these noises as a means of classifying the animals that he sees in the books he is enjoying more and more. So we turn the pages from one animal to the other and he makes a noise. What's funny is seeing an animal he's not sure of. He'll pause, considering, and then apply the label with confidence. It never seems to occur that he might need a new category. His default sound seems to be the roar. Some of the things he's roared at lately: a seal, a moose, the big caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a giraffe.
He can then deploy these noises as a means of classifying the animals that he sees in the books he is enjoying more and more. So we turn the pages from one animal to the other and he makes a noise. What's funny is seeing an animal he's not sure of. He'll pause, considering, and then apply the label with confidence. It never seems to occur that he might need a new category. His default sound seems to be the roar. Some of the things he's roared at lately: a seal, a moose, the big caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a giraffe.
Friday, February 22, 2008
A few steps back
Connor has a particular talent for moving backwards. One of the most appealing manifestations of this relates to his new fondness for reading books. He will, for instance, find you sitting on the floor and proclaim "Woo-woo-woo", meaning that he wants to go get the fire truck book. Having done so, he will situate himself a few feet in front of you and then back in, sort of like a truck backing into a loading dock, until he's plopped himself down on your lap, ready to read.
The backwards move can also be used in a very different way, however. Because we have a gate up in front of the kitchen a lot of food offers get made with Connor standing at the gate. He is very touchy, however, and if he doesn't like what's offered, or, worse if something is not provided quickly enough, he starts slowly backing away in horror. Cries and accusations of the most strident kind are soon to follow, we can be certain. Once the back-away has happened, we also know it's too late to make things up. He won't be appeased at that stage. And he's not to be mollified with a pacifier either. He'll just grab it and throw it angrily away, as if to say, "Don't try to buy me off with some cheap piece of plastic! Next time get me the fruit THAT I WANT! WHEN I WANT IT!!"
The backwards move can also be used in a very different way, however. Because we have a gate up in front of the kitchen a lot of food offers get made with Connor standing at the gate. He is very touchy, however, and if he doesn't like what's offered, or, worse if something is not provided quickly enough, he starts slowly backing away in horror. Cries and accusations of the most strident kind are soon to follow, we can be certain. Once the back-away has happened, we also know it's too late to make things up. He won't be appeased at that stage. And he's not to be mollified with a pacifier either. He'll just grab it and throw it angrily away, as if to say, "Don't try to buy me off with some cheap piece of plastic! Next time get me the fruit THAT I WANT! WHEN I WANT IT!!"
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
ELMO!!
Connor has been sick over the past 2 weeks and is only now returning to his usual impish self. In the intervening time he got to watch a lot of Elmo as it was the one thing that seemed to make him happy during a time when he had a viral throat infection, some bacterial thing and was getting like three teeth at once. At the sound of the music he would begin rocking back and forth in a kind of Stevie Wonder-like dance.
He's not so happy, however, about the fact that now that he's better, the usual restrictions on Elmo are back in place. He's been trying in fact to take matters into his own hands. He grabs a hold of the remote, points it at the TV and starts pressing buttons while yelling El-MO!! El-MO!!!
He's not so happy, however, about the fact that now that he's better, the usual restrictions on Elmo are back in place. He's been trying in fact to take matters into his own hands. He grabs a hold of the remote, points it at the TV and starts pressing buttons while yelling El-MO!! El-MO!!!
Unqualified admiration and brutal honesty
It pays with Jamie not to get too invested in some of the emotions that he expresses from day to day. On the one hand, as noted before, he can be very mushy and this is certainly heartfelt and wonderful. So, too, is his admiration for some of the relatively simple things we do. At one point, I lifted the Ottoman in our living room in search of one of Connor's pacifiers and Jamie exclaimed, "Dad, you're the strongest person in the whole world!" Not long after one of the lights in the hallway outside Jamie's room went out. This was a source of some concern for him but when I said I would change it he came running out of his room and watched with rapt attention. As I screwed the new bulb into the socket, he exclaimed, "That's AMAZING."
On the other hand, he can be a little harsh sometimes. He got invited to a Build-a-Bear party recently and participated only in the most general sense of the term, not having much interest in stuffed animals, as some of you may know. He made a kitty cat, which Sarah thought would be a winner, given his super-kitty alter ego, but when he got home I asked him if he would take care of the kitty cat and he said, "No, I don't love it; It's for Connor." Interestingly, however, kitty cat has in fact become Jamie's real first stuffed animal and he sleeps with it next to his bed. He doesn't want it in his bed. One night he explained: "Dad, I have a plan with the kitty cat. I won't sleep with it because it will scratch me, but after I wake up I will take it upstairs and snuggle it."
The fact that kitty cat's fortunes can swing so wildly helps me deal with moments like the other night when I was putting Jamie to bed. He was being a little mushy and said "Dad, I love you all the way to Mars. I love Mommy all the way to Eris." (Jamie's very up to date with the planets) And then, sensing something in his metaphor, he said, almost like a discovery, "Dad, I don't love you as much as Mommy." Ouch. Oh, well, if kitty cat can come back, maybe I can make it to Eris.
On the other hand, he can be a little harsh sometimes. He got invited to a Build-a-Bear party recently and participated only in the most general sense of the term, not having much interest in stuffed animals, as some of you may know. He made a kitty cat, which Sarah thought would be a winner, given his super-kitty alter ego, but when he got home I asked him if he would take care of the kitty cat and he said, "No, I don't love it; It's for Connor." Interestingly, however, kitty cat has in fact become Jamie's real first stuffed animal and he sleeps with it next to his bed. He doesn't want it in his bed. One night he explained: "Dad, I have a plan with the kitty cat. I won't sleep with it because it will scratch me, but after I wake up I will take it upstairs and snuggle it."
The fact that kitty cat's fortunes can swing so wildly helps me deal with moments like the other night when I was putting Jamie to bed. He was being a little mushy and said "Dad, I love you all the way to Mars. I love Mommy all the way to Eris." (Jamie's very up to date with the planets) And then, sensing something in his metaphor, he said, almost like a discovery, "Dad, I don't love you as much as Mommy." Ouch. Oh, well, if kitty cat can come back, maybe I can make it to Eris.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Where is Connor's finger?
Connor has really continued to develop his vocabulary, both in understanding and speaking. He's sort of been working on two big fronts: body parts and forms of transportation. There is a Rescue Vehicles book of Jamie's that Connor is obsessed with. For fire truck he says, "woo-woo-woo". Whenever he wants to read the book he goes marching off to get it, happily intoning the fire engine noise all the way. He can more or less recognize and more or less name ambulances, police motorcycles and boats. Planes he's not so good with, still calls them boats. He also has a trains (joo-joo) book, which can be read infinite times. Here he takes particular pleasure in seeing a moon (MOOOON!!) cars (ahhhhh!!) and the bus. This he works really hard at saying. It comes out in two syllables: "Bah-suh". There is a conductor, too, and Connor relishes saying "All Aboard," rendered as "Ahhh-BOH!"
He is also slowly learning the parts of his face. One can ask "Where are your ears?" and he will point to one of them. And then the index finger invariably keeps going into the feature in question. We've learned to ask, "Where is your nose?" last. Also, ask "Where is Daddy's/Mommy's mouth?" at one's own risk.
He is also slowly learning the parts of his face. One can ask "Where are your ears?" and he will point to one of them. And then the index finger invariably keeps going into the feature in question. We've learned to ask, "Where is your nose?" last. Also, ask "Where is Daddy's/Mommy's mouth?" at one's own risk.
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