A New Lunch Buddy

Tah-dahhhhhhh!!

The strange fascination that is Angry Birds

This is noteworthy because in the almost 5 years that James has been going to school, he's taken 2 lunch bags to school, 1 of which lasted 4 years. They've been generic, sturdy, and free (we've been to some community events with great swag).

This year, as I whisked the kids through Target for some final back-to-school shopping, James saw the Angry Birds lunch box and stopped dead in his tracks and picked it up. "Can I have this, Mommy?"

I practically can count on 1 hand the times he's asked this, and it's never been for a school supply. Of course I got it for him. And marked it with his name. Which is a good thing, because another boy in his class has the same lunchbox. This makes me very happy.

Subconcious Memo

I had a weird dream last night. We suddenly had 3 children; same 2 plus another boy. He was younger than James, wild black hair, and always laughing and tearing about. You know how kooky dreams can be. I spent what felt like hours, wondering how we could be so stupid as to think we could handle another child, how I could keep forgetting about him, and where he was going to sleep and sit at the dinner table.

Just for fun, in the dream my husband phoned me to say that the music teacher (from our daughter's piano lessons, which she has refused to continue) got all excited because he whipped through 65 pages in the music book in one sitting and is a bona fide child prodigy!

I woke up very confused and then sighed with relief when I realized it was only real in the dream. Then I thought about it. Why did I have this dream?

Not long after, James woke up. As usual, he began his day with thumping the bed as he got out, announcing loudly "I want to use the bathroom!" After his pilgrimage, I had him play quietly in his room for longer than most mornings. It is Sunday, after all.

As I was slowly getting coffee ready and making breakfast, I heard James asking me for help. It was to open the package for a Mach 5 car he'd received almost a year ago. He thanked me, finished removing the car from the plastic, and began to play with it. Not so unusual for a 6 year-old, but it's a new step for James, who loves looking at things, but rarely plays with them.

This made me remember that his teachers and family have all noticed that James is starting conversations, and that talking with him involves less questions and more exchanges. That James is starting to draw pictures, rather than shapes, words, and random lines. Trying to engage others in play. Able to follow directions and make comments while he was staying on-task.

So now I am thinking that the real boy who's always been inside James is now coming out to play. And that it's so new that I dreamed about him as another child.

James, 2008

James, 2011

In Your Face

James has been testing us a lot lately. His schedule started to fall apart even before Spring vacation, and without the familiar people and routines he has started to test us all to see how far he can go.

You say "come on, James, let's go here" and he runs the other way, laughing. Even better, he'll sidle while looking at you with an expectant, gleeful look of anticipation. Stinker! I say that with love.

He will grab onto things and laugh, throwing them if you try to get him to put it back down. This afternoon I caught him petting another preschooler's hair, ignoring the boy's polite request to stop it.

He will ask to do something and, if met with a "no", he will smile big and reply "Mommy said ... YES!!!" Or I will ask him to do something and he will say "NO! I don't wanna!" and try a couple of tricks ...

The ultimate reminder of consequences of ignoring us *used* to be "Do you want to have a time-out in a corner?" Not so much any more. It works at school still, but not at home. The ultimate recapitulator is now the threat of making him take a shower, followed by hair washing and Darth HairDryer. But that kind of sets up a negative reinforcement for personal hygiene, so I can't really use that one. Unfortunately.

I keep telling myself this is a step forward. His teachers tell me most kids go through phases like this. And I would rather he be in my face, an adorable little boy pest, than quietly sitting in a corner, looking off in the distance into nothing that I can see, which is what he was doing at age 2.

Dino-mite!

We visited the Sonoma County Fair today. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful! They had a fantastic theme this year: Dinosaurs! (Okay, it's formally called "The Fair Before Time")

My favourite was the Hall of Flowers. It was truly amazing this year. My daughter adored the midway rides and the small dog races. James loved Clo the Cow and Dinosaur Island (aka the Reptile pavilion).

Dinosaur Island was very cool. They had all sorts of fascinating creatures on display, as well as mock dino skulls and heads. James really loved the heads. He saw a teen-age girl putting her hand inside one of the dinosaurs' mouths and squeal for her friends. He thought that must be pretty neat:


Because he kept doing it!



And when he got bored, he stuck his entire head in:



Boys!

PS: Does anyone else remember J.J. and Good Times?

Home By the Sea

We had the chance to stay with friends down by the beach recently. While not relaxing, it was a lot of fun.

We got together with two other couple friends and our kids, who are all about the same age, played together well and throughout the weekend. Yay playing together! Or near each other! Whatever!

James loved running around after all the kids. He loved exploring a new place. its wall-to-wall carpeting. The windchimes. The lamps that turned on & off with slider switches. Eating muffins for brekky.

Right next door was a school playground. It was a little rundown, but the kids still loved spending about an hour playing all over it. James almost immediately took off his shoes and plopped down to become one with the sand. Our friends' little boy (one month younger) did the same thing. How nice it was to see them playing side-by-side, doing the same things. Just like any two little boys.