When Connor grows up...

So the other day, Connor walks up to me and says, "So, Dad. What do you think I will be doing in 15 years? A) sitting in my pool, in my mansion, counting my money or B) rescuing cheetahs?" Before I could answer he said, "Yep, you guessed it, it's B!" (For the record that's totally what I was going to say).

Over the weekend he and a friend were playing in the boys' room and they built a zoo for his stuffed animals. Here he is describing it, as well as performing a much-advertised show. We got updates about the starting time very minute and then a rather shrill announcement summoning us to the zoo. Enjoy!

Yes!

I've mentioned Connor's habit of giving a big "Yes!" and doing a double fist-pump when something goes his way, so I've videoed him here. I really feel like this should be an internet meme. He's playing it up a bit here, but you'll get the idea I think. Sometimes it's more subtle, even stealth as when he's secretly pleased about things. But one of the great things about is that it is marshalled for happy occasions both big and small. So you could get a "Yes!!" from questions ranging from "Are we going to Italy this summer?" (which implies, will there be a lot of gelato?) to "Can we have a sleepover?"to "Can I have eggnog with dinner?" to "Did I spell 'brain' right?" Anyway, enjoy, and when something goes your way give a Connor "Yes!!!"

Connor plays with gravity and inertia

One thing that the boys' very clever mother has learned to tap into is the power of novelty. This doesn't mean buying them new things all the time, but rather that the well-timed re-introduction of a toy can be very effective and bring much joy to all parties, alleviating some of the "I'm bored!" comments that drive parents nuts. Lately we've pulled out matchbox cars to some good effect, for instance. This is nice for us too because it brings back the old days when we would watch Connor send cars down a ramp for hours at a time.

But Sarah scored a real success last week in bringing out the marble run blocks from the closet. Connor has been playing with them constantly ever since. We are frequently (every 2-3 minutes in some cases) called upon to look at his creations and marvel at his skill in manipulating the effects of gravity. Here he is describing one of his more elaborate setups to date:

All-city

At danger of a braggy post here, but we got the news late last week that Jamie was selected for all-city orchestra! This was a bit of a thing because it was his first audition. As it happened he was sick and home from the school the day of the auditions, but he was determined to go to the audition. It was a blind audition and he admitted to me afterwards that he was pretty nervous about, but said it went really well. I said that sounds great and he replied that he was sure he wouldn't make it, but he wanted to see what the audition was like. When I asked why he didn't think he'd make it he said "Oh, Dad, there are a lot of really good players there!"

So the next day I was home with him when we got the news. I told him and he literally jumped up and down with excitement. So great to see him feeling proud of himself and knowing that he had worked so hard to earn it.

Brave boy

It's funny when one gets clear indications of the kids growing up, beyond the usual physical signs. Jamie has been drawn to climbing walls for some time, but to be honest, it was never much of a success his MO has typically been to wait his turn starting climbing, get to about 10 feet up and paste himself to the wall before coming down. I was rather skeptical then about him waiting in line, seriously for like two hours, at his school's Fall Festival, for the climbing wall. The rest of his friends were running around, playing games, winning candy. For a while I got nervous because I couldn't find him, but there he was just waiting. I was really afraid he was going to have wasted his time, but when his turn came he just zipped up the wall like a pro. Did it twice for good measure.

Hill!

Yes, Houston is very flat. So the other day we took the boys to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams at the Museum of Natural Science. It was a modest success. Jamie was very curious about what it would be like since he understood it was not the usual movie theater and asked all manner of questions about the format, the setup, the program. Connor wanted to know if there would be candy. Then we got in there and they were pretty fidgety at first. This turned into a lot of sighing from Jamie about being bored. Eventually I looked over and Connor had taken his shirt off and Jamie was starting to tickle him. This boded ill and pretty soon I felt I had fought the good fight long enough and took them out. Jamie then pouted because he said he actually was starting to like it. So back in we went. This time Connor got really impatient (he was apparently INCREDIBLY hungry. Because we don't feed them, of course.). But we made it through.

32000 year-old cave paintings, however, cannot compete with man-made hills. By far the best part of the evening for boys when getting to the museum early. Sarah had a meeting with someone so the boys and I had an hour to kill. For boys in the flattest place possible, nothing could be better than the hill by the outdoor theater in the park nearby so off we went. The game was to run down the hill and try and tackle Daddy, so you'll see me getting out of the way at the end, sorry for the shaky camera.

Why doesn't this work?

So Jamie's sudden mastery of riding a bike has taken a toll on Connor, who seems to think that one ought to be able to simply get on a bike and ride it as Jamie appeared to do. So he gets very frustrated with the bicycle for falling over. I have gently tried to indicate that gravity, not the bike, is to blame, but mostly I'm told to keep my ideas to myself. Here's Diddy helping him and making some progress though on the weekend of Jamie's birthday.