Nick's Life: October 2014

Nick's school had a festival on a Friday night, which included an inflatable playground for the kids, lots of simple games, and some 'fair food'.  Nick and Thatcher got their arms painted, and ran with their friends for over two hours.  At one point Thatcher lost his shoes as another kid wandered off with the wrong pair, but we found them. (I was just happy we didn't lose Thatcher, but since the Nikes were brand new, it was imperative we recover them.) He nearly had a scuffle with some bigger kids over a place in line at one of the rides, but that worked itself out. He has settled into the new school with a circle of friends, and his teachers says he's doing great.

Nick's new verbal habit this month is describing things like this (can you figure out the name of his favorite ice cream place?): starts with 'The' and ends with 'Mix'.  And punctuating every question with, 'Get it?'

We carved pumpkins after picking them out at the local farm in Newnan. The boys still aren't really into the carving part... well, Nick carved his, but the other two were grossed out.  So the adults carved pumpkins this year.  My brother-in-law remains the master carver.

He's been roller skating a couple times now, and uses some contraption made of PVC to stay upright.  But he's getting better, and loves going to the rink.

Firsts this month: cavity (of course his mama got pictures at the dentist office), and first visit to a growler tavern (no he didn't drink, but he found some taps he liked!)

We took Nick to his first hockey game, an ECHL game, the Gwinnett Gladiators (same league as the Toledo Walleye.) We got seats down on the glass, probably the best hockey seats I've ever had. He still only pays periodic attention, like when bodies slammed into the glass in front of us. It was a good brand of professional hockey, and I'd do it again (you only see real fights anymore in the lower leagues!)

Pictures here from October.

- Jason

Family Pictures 2014

We finally had some family pictures taken this summer.  Here are a couple, including Nick's "Hollywood pose", his favorite.

Nick's Life: September 2014

Nick told an awesome joke this month: "What do you call a fish with ten eyes?  A fiiiiiiiiiish!"  Given he didn't hear it from us, it was pretty funny.  He's still full of quotes that we've never head before.  "I was right, it was a fart," which you know what happened just before.  And, "I'm going to pick up the post," which means he's going to the mailbox... don't know why he's talking like the British... I see less BBC in his future.

At the end of the month we went to Callaway Gardens, a beautiful park of golf courses, ziplines, greenhouses, lakes, and nature walks.  The rain stayed away for us, and we filled the first day with lots of walking, from the Butterfly house (the picture is Nick in the chair pretending to be a flower so a butterfly will land on him), to feeding fish (and hence feeding the heron), seeing a wildlife show about owls and falcons, and lots of impressive gardens.  The first day wore out our feet, and we rented a golf cart on the second day to see the rest of the park.  Our hotel looked like a Howard Johnson from the 1960's still awaiting renovation, but it worked for one night.  We also toured the vacation home of Franklin Roosevelt, which didn't interest Nick much, but it was very cool.  All this was just an hour from Newnan, GA.

The rest of the time Brandi keeps him busy, from swimming, to piano, to Spanish classes. And she's a part-time librarian at his school.  The teacher is still adjusting to Nick, as he pushed buttons often... she makes rules, he figures out how to get around them.  Give him cards to 'cash in' when he wants to ask questions, and he's going to use them all.  He has a great ear for piano.  And he's passed his first swimming class, now able to swim multiple strokes and dive.
And you'll see, he's learned how to photo-bomb.

Pics here from September.

- Jason

Nick's Life: August 2014

With the start of second grade, Brandi and Nick are settling into a schedule.  Time with his iPad has been cut, but he gets extra time with it on the weekend for eating some veggies... turns out he likes watercress! And a happy dance ensued!  Even if Brandi had to feed him like a dinosaur to get him to eat it.  Even with the passion for sharks, dinosaurs aren't totally extinct from our lives.  Nick says, "When I grow up, I can't get married to another woman, cause I'm gonna stay with Mama and we're gonna be paleontologists!" And when he creates dinosaurs from clay, those with moving parts are 'articulated dinos'.  Also on the food front, we went out for Thai and he ate spring rolls, pad thai, and beef jerky.  He also experienced Hibachi for the first time at the Kobi.

It was an overall adventurous month with the boys.  We went on a nature hike with Nick and Thatcher.  We also got to a new indoor pool at the South Cobb Aquatic Center, with a cool water slide.  Thatcher wasn't tall enough to ride it, but he snuck on anyway.  The boys loved the whirlpool, where Nick crashed his head into the wall and took the skin off his forehead, first facial scar for my boy.  Later in the month, we convinced Seth to join us, and we had all three for a day trip to SkyZone (where it's all about the slo-mo video), and then the Gwinnett outdoor pool with two waterslides.  And I didn't sunburn (thanks to Brandi's shellac, still not out of my pores.)'


At the end of my week in Atlanta, we went up to Knoxville together for the weekend.  Ended up downtown in a social district, where Nick played chess with a gentleman sitting in the park, and we had a great meal.  Nick was Shakespeare eating ice cream (which was better than the amateur Shakespeare in the park production, complete with southern dialects.)

Nick is excelling in school, mostly because Brandi has advanced him considerably from home schooling last year.  I love to hear him read, as he now mimics my inflections from years of reading him stories.  And we learn 'math facts' by racing against each other on the flash cards.

And he got posted on a social website for bold landsharking (also linked here)!

- Jason

Nick's Life: July 2014

We were all in the same place in July, with Brandi and Nick returning to Michigan for two weeks.  There were activities every day: Fireworks, Toledo Zoo, YMCA, Toledo Mud Hens, Toledo Speedway, Museum of Art, Imagination Station, parks and playdates, and some I've probably forgotten.  Being in the house with Grandpa every day, Nick became assimilated into the routine... wake-up early, wash cars, tie-up tomatoes, clean the pool, water the grass, etc.  It was a win for Nick, who got paid handsomely, and bought three Godzilla figures with his new money (sharks are still interesting, but Godzilla is big all of a sudden.)

He's an excellent swimmer, passing the test at the YMCA to swim in the adult pool.  He will do 5 or so laps alongside me, then head to the family pool with a water slide.  He's a better swimmer than golfer (what form? how about left-handed?), or ballplayer (still a bit afraid of catching but, man, can he throw long and straight!).  He's simply becoming an academic - everything he reads will stick, and he can recall it quicker than a GM ignition switch.  Listening and retaining, that's a different skill. Or remembering details (like his jacket on a chair, using the restroom when necessary, putting on socks.) 

I will remember this month for the line, "I need to tell you something," which is the preface to most of Nick's comments.

July photos here.

- Jason