October 2006 Archives

Kind of a slow turnaround. I blame the public school system. Folks blame it for a whole lot of other things, why not this? Brad and I are getting sucked up into the swirl of volunteering at Henry's school. It's fun, especially when we get to help out in the classroom. But it leaves less time for updating here. Oh, who am I kidding? I've gotten lazy.

The great buildup to Halloween is in full swing. Costumes are ready (skeleton for Henry, leopard for Charlie). Candy has been purchased, enough for 30+ trick-or-treaters, (yes, yes, we'll probably only get 10 or so). Pumpkins are on the front steps, ready for carving. Fake tombstones and bones peek up from the ground cover in the front yard. Fake spiders and webs are strewn; real spiders and webs clutter the porch ceiling. Our skeleton friend Ostrapot is back in the library window. Henry is excited; Charlie is delighted.

Not much else to report. It's all about the little things these days. New words for Charlie (plane, spider, box, gum, basement, pumpkin) and the cute way he shakes his head saying "No, no, no" as he runs away from us when it's time to get ready to go out. New skills for Henry (writing legibly with a pencil, pouring pancake batter onto the griddle, counting by 2's and 5's and 10's) and the cute way he imitates Charlie running around the house saying "Aaaah!" Finding a better sushi place, where I can actually stomach some sashimi. Enjoying lots and lots of coffee. A wonderful life for sure.

Wow. What's our problem? Why haven't we been posting much of anything here lately? Beats me! But who knows? Maybe this will turn things around.

Henry has been in kindergarten for almost a month now. To say he loves it would be a gross understatement. He's asked more than once why he can't go to school on the weekend and practically counts the hours until Monday morning. He thinks his teacher, Ms. Hafzalla, is the greatest. (Does every kid think the world of his kindergarten teacher? I certainly thought Mrs. Drake was great.) Two after-school activities start this week: chess club and Spanish class. Today was his first chess club meeting and it was like the icing on the cake for him. Even after the 20-minute walk home, Henry was visibly excited. When he walked in the door, the first thing he said was "Chess club was so great!"

Henry really seems to enjoy the routine of it all, too. Honestly, so do I. Charlie and I walk him to school every morning and stay for a bit as he plays in the playground. When the first bell rings, we leave Henry behind as he lines up with his class and walk over to Cafe Javasti, which is conveniently located a couple blocks from school. A meandering walk home gives me a nice two-mile walk every morning. So far, Charlie has been pretty content to ride along in the stroller, though I suspect he's going to want to get out and walk one of these days.

Speaking of which, Charlie has become quite the walker (and runner). He's talking all the time and has even strung a few words together into simple sentences ("throw ball" is a recurring favorite). He seems to be entering the "language sponge" phase of toddlerhood in which it becomes his life goal to learn as many words as possible as quickly as possible. I remember Henry walking around pointing at things and saying "that is? that is?" (his way of saying "what is that?"); that's just around the corner with Charlie.

Over the weekend, we went to our first Mariner's game of the season (their second-to-last game of the season!). Henry sat and watched almost the whole game, even passing on a visit to the play area so he wouldn't miss anything. Quite a change from last year. Charlie was in awe of the whole thing. He's had a thing for hats lately. Not that he particularly wants to wear them, he just likes the idea of hats. (He will sometimes put a Thing That Is Not a Hat on his head and, with a little smile, say "hat!" It's very cute, though not so fun for us if The Thing is, say, a handful of oatmeal.) Seeing so many people with hats at the ballgame was clearly a thrill for him. I took him to the Team Store and as I was looking at t-shirts for him, he practically leapt out of my arms to get to a hat he saw. I bought it for him and he wore it longer than he's ever been willing to wear any hat before. When we met back up with Kathy and Henry he was clearly excited to show off his new acquisition.