The last couple of weeks things have gotten pretty good with the boys' relationship. For a long time we have felt that the more the played together, the more they fought. Lately however, that's changed. Perhaps it's because they argue more or less continuously and so couldn't do it any more, but the fighting does seem to have leveled off, even as they have been playing more and better.
Jamie seems to finally see Connor as a potential partner in fun, and, while he is still pretty hard on the little guy, he is capable of great kindness towards him as well. The other day we were at a cross-walk downtown and Jamie just walked up behind Connor and gave him a real hug. Whenever he does this, or asks Connor to play, Connor's face lights up like the sun.
Last weekend we were all planning to go out to a nature preserve on the Katy Prairie, but Jamie got a last-minute invitation from a boy at school he's becoming quite chummy with. Connor was very unhappy he couldn't go to the party, but he and I went off to the Prairie anyway. It's quite a drive out there, so Jamie and Sarah were home for a good while before Connor and I got back. After a couple hours, Jamie announced that he was "Connor-sick," as in "home-sick."
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Tsunami anyone?
Connor has a wonderful approach to language. Like so many children he is a sponge, picking up expressions from Sarah and me, and Jamie of course, and TV and movies. Just today as he and Jamie were play fighting Connor told his brother he was a "miscreant." What's great about him, however, is that he is very un-self-conscious in trying out new vocabulary. He doesn't always pay a great deal of attention to whether he is particularly right. He used to do this with animals a lot. Upon seeing a giraffe, he would happily exclaim, "Look!!! A zebra!" and be totally unconcerned when corrected. Even now, he blithely calls dinner breakfast and lunch dinner. Sometimes one doesn't know whether he's mixing words up or just being eccentric. Ask him what he wants on a hot dog, for instance, " and he'll say "Ummmm. Ketchup...and pickles...and CHICKEN!"
Lately he has had a number of great malapropisms and idiomatic expressions. Here's a sampling:
Waffle = "Muffle". As in, "I want a muffle for breakfast."
Sneakers = "Fast shoes"
Fast = Speed, as in "I can run SO speed!!!!"
Aisle = Style
Hamburger = "Hang-ubber" (Cheeseburger, "cheese-gubber")
Burritos = "Doritos"
Pajama tops = "Topping" as in "I don't want to wear a topping to bed!"
And our personal fave:
Salami = "Tsunami"
What's bad about this is that they are so cute, and we know how soon they will be gone, that we not only don't correct them, but actively encourage them: "Who wants tsunami for lunch?"
Lately he has had a number of great malapropisms and idiomatic expressions. Here's a sampling:
Waffle = "Muffle". As in, "I want a muffle for breakfast."
Sneakers = "Fast shoes"
Fast = Speed, as in "I can run SO speed!!!!"
Aisle = Style
Hamburger = "Hang-ubber" (Cheeseburger, "cheese-gubber")
Burritos = "Doritos"
Pajama tops = "Topping" as in "I don't want to wear a topping to bed!"
And our personal fave:
Salami = "Tsunami"
What's bad about this is that they are so cute, and we know how soon they will be gone, that we not only don't correct them, but actively encourage them: "Who wants tsunami for lunch?"
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Fair play
Jamie gives Connor a pretty hard time. He wins every game they play, every race they run and is perpetually correcting how Connor plays, sings, talks and quotes movies (an important skill around here). Connor's opportunities for revenge are few and to be honest he's such a good-natured little fellow, and adores Jamie so much, that he rarely takes them.
A few days ago, however, the bath afforded an opportunity for a little gentle payback. Jamie has this squirty fish he plays with in the bath. He likes to set up targets and knock them down. Connor very rarely gets to use the fish. In this case Jamie tried to soften the blow for Connor by telling him he would be the judge in Jamie's game. Actually this was somewhat sensitive because his impulse would initially have been to have a squirt fight with Connor, which the latter would inevitably lose. The game was to squirt a particular tile on the wall from some distance. Jamie would get points for hitting it and the tile would get points if he missed and Connor would judge whether the tile had been hit.
Jamie, making some gesture to give Connor a stake in the game, asked how many ("how much" in Jamie speak) points he would get for hitting the tile. "Ummmm....Forty!!!" answered Connor. Then Jamie asked how many points the tile would get if he missed. I could see Connor's mind working but was surprised when he said, "Ummmm.... Two...hundred...and.... fifty-thousand!!! Jamie didn't quite know what to make of this and so pressed on, only to discover that within moments, even after some fairly accurate squirting, he was down 500,000 points to 120. He proclaimed "Connoo!!! That's not fair!" With a rather enormous grin, Connor answered, "Yes it is! That's why I'm the judge."
A few days ago, however, the bath afforded an opportunity for a little gentle payback. Jamie has this squirty fish he plays with in the bath. He likes to set up targets and knock them down. Connor very rarely gets to use the fish. In this case Jamie tried to soften the blow for Connor by telling him he would be the judge in Jamie's game. Actually this was somewhat sensitive because his impulse would initially have been to have a squirt fight with Connor, which the latter would inevitably lose. The game was to squirt a particular tile on the wall from some distance. Jamie would get points for hitting it and the tile would get points if he missed and Connor would judge whether the tile had been hit.
Jamie, making some gesture to give Connor a stake in the game, asked how many ("how much" in Jamie speak) points he would get for hitting the tile. "Ummmm....Forty!!!" answered Connor. Then Jamie asked how many points the tile would get if he missed. I could see Connor's mind working but was surprised when he said, "Ummmm.... Two...hundred...and.... fifty-thousand!!! Jamie didn't quite know what to make of this and so pressed on, only to discover that within moments, even after some fairly accurate squirting, he was down 500,000 points to 120. He proclaimed "Connoo!!! That's not fair!" With a rather enormous grin, Connor answered, "Yes it is! That's why I'm the judge."
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Day one and no drama
Well, Jamie's first day seemed to go well. When I picked him up, he was extremely calm. There was some question about materials to come home and I think he wasn't sure exactly what he was supposed to have and whether he had forgotten something. Interestingly, he got just ever-so slightly teary as he tried to sort this out, which was I think just some of the emotion of the day coming out. Turns out it was our fault, we were supposed to send him with a back-pack, so on the plus side he ended up with something to reprove us with.
Anyway, we have seen that the general rule is that the boys still us very little about school and this held true. You can well imagine I was beside myself waiting for details but not much came. But I asked how it was and he said firmly, if succinctly, "good." I asked if he had made friends and he said yes and named the boy who sits next to him. He likes his teacher he says and that's about what I got. Not worst fears realized by any stretch.
Drop off today went smoothly as well, there was no sense of not wanting to go back and, to his credit, he has not mentioned his old school once. I even got to hug him before he went in to the class.
Anyway, we have seen that the general rule is that the boys still us very little about school and this held true. You can well imagine I was beside myself waiting for details but not much came. But I asked how it was and he said firmly, if succinctly, "good." I asked if he had made friends and he said yes and named the boy who sits next to him. He likes his teacher he says and that's about what I got. Not worst fears realized by any stretch.
Drop off today went smoothly as well, there was no sense of not wanting to go back and, to his credit, he has not mentioned his old school once. I even got to hug him before he went in to the class.
Monday, August 23, 2010
And they're off...
The boys are at school as we speak. Jamie seemed to do just fine. He was a little nervous clearly but not overwhelmingly so. He has informed us that he wants to be James at school and Sarah, hoping against hope asked if she could kiss him when she dropped him off. You can guess the answer.
We stuck around for a parent info session after we dropped him off and found an excuse to walk by the classroom. As it happened, they were lining up in the hallway to use the bathroom. Jamie saw us but played it very cool as we walked past, watching us but otherwise giving nothing else away. As it happened, the door we were going to exit by was closed, so we had to walk back by. He was similarly reserved when we walked by, but we wondered if he was beginning to fear we were going to do that all day. Which of course we'd like to.
For his part Connor was not thrilled, but it was a more of a I-don't-feel-like-doing-this reaction than any anxiety. He did claim he didn't like school because his teacher gets mad at him. The love-fest that the two of them put on every time we see them tells a different story.
We stuck around for a parent info session after we dropped him off and found an excuse to walk by the classroom. As it happened, they were lining up in the hallway to use the bathroom. Jamie saw us but played it very cool as we walked past, watching us but otherwise giving nothing else away. As it happened, the door we were going to exit by was closed, so we had to walk back by. He was similarly reserved when we walked by, but we wondered if he was beginning to fear we were going to do that all day. Which of course we'd like to.
For his part Connor was not thrilled, but it was a more of a I-don't-feel-like-doing-this reaction than any anxiety. He did claim he didn't like school because his teacher gets mad at him. The love-fest that the two of them put on every time we see them tells a different story.
Friday, August 20, 2010
First impressions
We went with Jamie to look at his new school and talk to his teacher yesterday. Sarah and I are both anxious about this, more than I think would even be normal in such a case, because he was so settled at a previous school. We decided to walk, in part because we are so pleased we can walk, and on the way he asked again in a very good-natured way about why he wasn't going back to St. Catherine's. We went over it with him and he pretty much accepted what we said.
When we got to school, it was very crowded and chaotic, but aside from slipping his little hand it ours occasionally Jamie betrayed no discomfort. We got to his classroom and he immediately walked all around looking at everything. We met his teacher and he was a little shy but responsive. His biggest thrill was discovering that there was a package of school supplies waiting for him and that he would have a table space all his own that he would keep throughout the year. When we were walking away he said he liked the classroom. My heart leapt. Then when we got home he immediately wanted to look through the supplies, which he did with great attentiveness. So, so far so good.
When we got to school, it was very crowded and chaotic, but aside from slipping his little hand it ours occasionally Jamie betrayed no discomfort. We got to his classroom and he immediately walked all around looking at everything. We met his teacher and he was a little shy but responsive. His biggest thrill was discovering that there was a package of school supplies waiting for him and that he would have a table space all his own that he would keep throughout the year. When we were walking away he said he liked the classroom. My heart leapt. Then when we got home he immediately wanted to look through the supplies, which he did with great attentiveness. So, so far so good.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
More from the swimmer
Connor keeps asking to go to the pool this week. Unfortunately, it is now on late summer hours and so is only open on weekends. But it's clear his swimming success is on the little guy's mind. He announced to Sarah today that when he grows up he wanted to be a lifeguard. She encouraged him and, thinking it would further reinforce it, told him she had been a lifeguard too. He was not pleased, however. His face went pensive and then he announced he wanted to be a doctor...and a swimmer.
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