Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Identity issues
So Jamie was clearly in a thoughtful mood after school yesterday. I took them to get ice cream to celebrate the first day of school. Out of nowhere, he began talking about our jobs. Then he said, "Dad, you remember how you once said maybe you would get a pickup truck? [it was just a passing moment of post-tenure imagining] It would be strange if you went to Rice in a pickup truck, especially if it was purple [my favorite color he knows]." Connor agreed. Then he went on, "I mean, no offense, but you're not the biggest guy in the world. All the other coaches at Westbury Little League, Coach Steven, Coach Darrell, Coach Jim, they're all much bigger than you and drive trucks, so it kind of makes sense. I think you would look funny getting out of a big truck." A big truck goes by and Connor says "Yeah like that one!" Jamie laughed and agreed. So there it is, no truck for little Daddy.
Back to school
OK, so back to school means back to blogging. To be honest I've been fearing the first day of school. Jamie was so anti-school by the end of last year and all summer he's been dreading its approach. He scowls at "Back to school" promotions at the store. One of his good friends shifted to home-schooling last year and so he is convinced it's our fault that he has to go at all. For his part, I think Connor, left to his own devices would like school just fine, but he goes along with Jamie of course. Also, it means he has to get out of bed before 9, which never makes him happy.
But the morning wasn't as bad as feared. Jamie didn't put up much of a fight and Connor wasn't too angry about getting out of bed. Here they are going into school:
But the morning wasn't as bad as feared. Jamie didn't put up much of a fight and Connor wasn't too angry about getting out of bed. Here they are going into school:
I was so happy when the got in the car and were in great moods. Jamie immediately said "I LOVE my teacher!!!" He never said anything close to that all year and contrasted it with last year when they had tests all day the first day. Connor has a substitute while he teacher is on maternity leave but he said the sub made him a helper and added "I know everyone in my class!" So happy boys. Today was a little bit of a battle because neither wanted to get up, but so far we are already off to a better start.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Swim boys
The boys have been doing great in swimming. Connor has been swimming in first heats, so he's against the better swimmers in his age group but has been plugging right along. In both meets so far he's gotten second place as a part of the "A-team" relay and then 6th in the individual free-style. He is extremely frustrated because he wants a first-place ribbon. He said after the last meet "I've never been first in my WHOLE LIFE!!" My efforts to remind him that this consisted of a total of 4 meets to date were for nought. We've got the last meet of the season tomorrow, so fingers crossed.
Jamie meanwhile has been plugging along. He moved up an age group now so he is swimming against 10 yos but has soldiered on and done a great job. The amount they have those kids swim is incredible so I'm really proud of him for keeping it up. I swam two lengths (25m) as a part of the father/son relay races at our pool on the 4th and I can tell you I was sucking wind by the end. Granted I also nearly swam myself out of my swim trunks I was going so hard. We never had a chance in Connor's but Jamie got to me in good order and I hustled and we won the heat. Jamie was very pleased, I got a bottle of wine and some respect, but it didn't help with Connor's first-place envy a bit.
Jamie's best stroke is the breaststroke so here he is at the last meet. He got 5th here, but it was second heat of three so there were some tough kids in there. You can judge from the time of the video that it's not to bad a time for 25m.
Unfortunately, I can't get video of Connor because I have to volunteer during the first half of these endless meets so we can leave by 9:00.
Here's another of Jamie practicing at the pool in Tuscany. One thing you can note is that he has a good racing dive. He's actually better at it than a number of the older kids. You can also enjoy the scenery a bit here. This pool was very much the center of the boys' lives in Tuscany. The first week we were there, it was freezing cold but they were undeterred!
Jamie meanwhile has been plugging along. He moved up an age group now so he is swimming against 10 yos but has soldiered on and done a great job. The amount they have those kids swim is incredible so I'm really proud of him for keeping it up. I swam two lengths (25m) as a part of the father/son relay races at our pool on the 4th and I can tell you I was sucking wind by the end. Granted I also nearly swam myself out of my swim trunks I was going so hard. We never had a chance in Connor's but Jamie got to me in good order and I hustled and we won the heat. Jamie was very pleased, I got a bottle of wine and some respect, but it didn't help with Connor's first-place envy a bit.
Jamie's best stroke is the breaststroke so here he is at the last meet. He got 5th here, but it was second heat of three so there were some tough kids in there. You can judge from the time of the video that it's not to bad a time for 25m.
Here's another of Jamie practicing at the pool in Tuscany. One thing you can note is that he has a good racing dive. He's actually better at it than a number of the older kids. You can also enjoy the scenery a bit here. This pool was very much the center of the boys' lives in Tuscany. The first week we were there, it was freezing cold but they were undeterred!
Friday, July 5, 2013
Long trip!
So the boys were great on the long trip back from Italy. Fortunately, after the last time I have a pretty good idea about what to expect and when there are likely to be breakdowns. Just like last year really, we had a long early morning drive before the first flight. Jamie had wanted to sleep and been very uncomfortable last time so this year I had them all set with pillows so they could be comfy. It helped that we had a bigger car too, so he could not touch Connor, which, when he's trying to sleep, invariably infuriates him. So they both sacked out for most of the 3-hour drive to the airport in Rome.
Getting on the plane was a bit of an adventure, because you have to stand in 20 lines. Once I finally got our boarding passes I realized we weren't sitting together. I think here my bit of Italian worked well. I was as nice and charming as I could be in talking to the agent at the desk in Italian and she smiled, ripped our passes and gave us three seats on the bulkhead so we had loads of room. The boys were great for the 10-hour plane ride. Connor is a little tougher because he doesn't quite have the patience to watch movies a lot and he got fidgety for a while, but in the end we made it, and, as always, when we were getting off they were complemented on what good travelers they were.
We had to fly through Charlotte, so we got the bags, rechecked, got some food and headed to the gate. I put Connor's sweatshirt on the ground and made a cozy area for him to sleep. He promptly sacked out, face down, on his stomach for an hour. He was NOT pleased when I had to wake him up to get on the plane, but then fell asleep as soon as we were in the air. Being smart now, I positioned myself in the middle seat of the three so Jamie could put his head on me without touching Connor, so he actually slept most of the time. Later Connor admitted that he had no memory of the second plane whatsoever.
Our friend picked us up in Houston and brought us home. I suspect that if the pool had been open they would have asked to go to the pool, but there one request was some time snuggly with the guinea pigs, whom they had missed terribly. I didn't have the wherewithal to get a picture then, but here is a similar scene the next day.
Getting on the plane was a bit of an adventure, because you have to stand in 20 lines. Once I finally got our boarding passes I realized we weren't sitting together. I think here my bit of Italian worked well. I was as nice and charming as I could be in talking to the agent at the desk in Italian and she smiled, ripped our passes and gave us three seats on the bulkhead so we had loads of room. The boys were great for the 10-hour plane ride. Connor is a little tougher because he doesn't quite have the patience to watch movies a lot and he got fidgety for a while, but in the end we made it, and, as always, when we were getting off they were complemented on what good travelers they were.
We had to fly through Charlotte, so we got the bags, rechecked, got some food and headed to the gate. I put Connor's sweatshirt on the ground and made a cozy area for him to sleep. He promptly sacked out, face down, on his stomach for an hour. He was NOT pleased when I had to wake him up to get on the plane, but then fell asleep as soon as we were in the air. Being smart now, I positioned myself in the middle seat of the three so Jamie could put his head on me without touching Connor, so he actually slept most of the time. Later Connor admitted that he had no memory of the second plane whatsoever.
Our friend picked us up in Houston and brought us home. I suspect that if the pool had been open they would have asked to go to the pool, but there one request was some time snuggly with the guinea pigs, whom they had missed terribly. I didn't have the wherewithal to get a picture then, but here is a similar scene the next day.
Connor is a joiner
Well, more than the rest of us I think. Last year he won camper of the week once, basically entirely on the strength of the incredible enthusiasm with which he sung, belted out even, the camp song. Last week we went to see the Westbury 12yo All-Stars play. Jamie was of course very interested to see these kids, some of whose younger brothers we know, playing so impressively. Eventually their attention wandered. Jamie went off to play with a bunch of kids from WLL. I love seeing them have sort of free-range, unstructured time like this.
Connor meanwhile starting throwing a tee-ball against the wall, which he likes doing a lot now. I had my eye on him and then game but was startled and at first alarmed to see him surrounded by a bunch of big kids from the Bellaire All-Stars who were there watching the game. They were all laughing and at first I was worried they were making fun of him, but it turned out they were being really sweet and having a kind of mini-game with him at the center pitching. Very cute.
Connor meanwhile starting throwing a tee-ball against the wall, which he likes doing a lot now. I had my eye on him and then game but was startled and at first alarmed to see him surrounded by a bunch of big kids from the Bellaire All-Stars who were there watching the game. They were all laughing and at first I was worried they were making fun of him, but it turned out they were being really sweet and having a kind of mini-game with him at the center pitching. Very cute.
But as the game when on, it turned into one of the best Little League games I've evr seen and Connor especially got really into it. We were up 11-4, then gave up 10 runs in the 5th to go into the 6th down 14-11. We rally and Connor is chanting along with everyone "West-bur-y, West-bur-y!!!!!" With 2 strikes and 2 outs a Westbury kid hits a three run homer to put us up 15-14. Pandemonium in the stands, cats hugging dogs. Jamie's mouth was just hanging open and Connor was freaking out. Then Post Oak hits a 2 out, 2 strike homer to win it in the bottom of the 6th. Heartbreaking. Connor took it really hard. At first he was just in stunned disbelief, then he started bawling in the car and really didn't shake it off before falling asleep. It was the first of many talks likely about sports fandom being primarily about heartbreak.
Connor does the awesome dance
I think Connor has a good bit of performer in him. Here he is dropping an original number, choreography, lyrics and all. This is just in the courtyard of where we stayed in Tuscany. There's not too much I can really say about it in terms of explanation, so just enjoy...
Everyone's a critic
Jamie went to see one of our good friends in a dance recital recently. Now, as a rule, this is not the kind of thing that is of the least interest to him I'm afraid, but he went along pretty good naturedly and seemed a bit amused by the whole thing. The girls were all about 4-5 so the choreography was pretty basic and there was definitely a range of skill levels and attention spans, which Jamie noticed. He said Alana, our friend "is pretty much the best one out there. The rest of them or just sort of lurching around!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
