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Nick is still struggling with the concept of staying 'under the radar'. Yeah, everyone wants an honest kid, but some parts of life require not drawing attention to oneself, and he still ducks low and runs through house with a handful of snacks to his bedroom whispering aloud, "I'm under the radar."
It was a big growth month for Nick, as we crossed the 100 lb. mark and measured roughly 6 inches taller than his friend Jack. He grilled dinner for us for the first time, making fajita steak for us on the patio. And Halloween was more like a teenager, as he hustled from house to house, filling about half a pillow case with candy. He's very polite with the neighbors but his sense of direction is still lacking... he'll walk right past people in their chair on the driveway with a bucket of candy like they're not even there. "Hey Shark," they holler before he wanders up to a closed front door.
He made nine baskets in a row on the backboard, so his hoops game is improving.
Nick's big adventure this month was live entertainment, as we saw 'Bring it On' on the stage at Notre Dame Academy. What teenage boy isn't entertained by a stage filled with teenage girls dressed as cheerleaders? No-brainer, as he was upset at the intermission thinking the show was over. The daughter of my coworker Bryan was the star, and she's quite the talent. Afterwards, Nick wanted to meet the star before we left, and he did... shaking, sweating and red, and I mean Nick, not Carly, he was amazed and stunned into silence at meeting her. Brandi and Nick went to see the show again the following weekend.
Not many pictures this month, so no need for an extra link. I missed most of it on a tour of Europe for work, from Turin to Gothenburg. His school picture is new, at right.
Jason
When natural disasters began at the start of the month, Brandi and Nick were assembling care packages to send to local organizations for people who had been flooded from homes in the south. Small toiletries, rags, and decks of playing cards delivered in three small boxes. A kind gesture.
He started school at Jackman Road Elementary this month, and all I've heard has been positive: the kids aren't as mean, the tech is better (using ChromeBooks in class), the teacher is awesome (Nick's only direct feedback for me on his teacher is, "Miss Sheridan is cute." I've advised him to lay low until he's making the grade.) Riding the bus is not as simple as you'd expect. On the first day, the bus pulled away from the stop on our street and Nick waved to his mother from the bus... never exited. After an hour ride and a call to the school, he didn't get off the bus because his past drivers would call his name or call out the stop; this driver doesn't talk. On day two, he tried to exit the bus three stops too early, but by then, the driver knew him well. Now we've got it down.
We went to Sidecut Metro Park for an afternoon. The river water level is way down, we were able to walk across the river on dry rocks. Along with being a dry summer, it was a cool summer, as we only swam for one week in June. So in late September, Nick and I took a very cold swim, where we did our annual re-enactment of the final freezing scene from Titanic ("Never let go, Jack!") Then, the weather got unexpectedly warm and we were the last pool still open in the neighborhood in the end of September, and we swam for an entire week. It's on to Fall activities now, and his mother has enrolled him in something every day: piano (two classes), karate, swimming may return, trying out Scouts... we'll see what sticks.
He seems like he still wanders from topic to topic in conversation, and can't merge into casual chat. Brandi was explaining that his orthodontist, Dr. Haerian, had moved to a new office. Nick injects a story about fish, some useless facts, that riled me up. So I cut him off and scolded him. Then I asked why he thought it was OK to change the subject. He says, "You were talking about herring, and I thought of fish." "Haerian, not herring! You know the guy!" Nick's mind is a mystery.
One of the photos here is him shoveling in a Chipotle burrito loaded with Tabasco. He's into the spicy thing now, three glasses of soda to get down his hot food. He'll probably have no taste buds left by his mid-twenties. And, first time out mowing the lawn this month, as we started mowing for Grandpa towards the end of the season. Along with helping me trim hedges, Nick's a good worker now, stays on task.
Photos here (in spite of the awful Shutterfly interface... time for a new photo site!) And I've finally uploaded some new videos in the Video Archive.
Jason
Oh, the things Nick will say. When he says a blessing before dinner, he's started punctuating it with the time of day. "Amen. The time is now 8:30." I have no idea why. Brandi stopped at Ulta with Nick in tow, and a young girl probably from the college was working behind the counter. He introduces himself, and asks, "Do you ever eat at the Penn Station Subs across from the mall?" She does not. "Have an 8-inch, and remember me," he says. Not the smoothest pickup line ever, but not the worst she'd heard, either. We're listing to the radio and Uptown Funk comes on, which Nick says we can't listen to during Lent (because they use the word Hallelujah.) Time to pull him from Catholic school (and we are.)
He had his tonsils removed this month, before we get back to school. It was a success, and he healed quickly. There was no trouble with Nick spending all day every day on his laptop to pass time, and he moved to solid foods faster than expected. The hospital staff was great, even preparing Nick's shark for surgery.
Nick went with me to the Woodward Dream Cruise this year. Our friends lost their spot out front of the Church of the Little Flower, but we still sat close by the same spot. He saw an awesome race early in the morning between a Lamborghini, Corvette, Mustang and Ford GT. We sat for roughly 3 hours along Woodward, then went into Royal Oak for a pizza at Bigalora. Finished with another hour at Mustang Alley, where we saw every car we could imagine. He signed the wrapped Mustang at the display, and saw his first GT in person; he'd like a 1968 fastback. He called it the best day ever, and he did good lasting over five hours.
A few photos posted here.
Jason
We did see fireworks this year, drove down to Bowling Green on Sunday evening. What a great setup, so spacious there wasn't another familly within twenty yards of us as the fireworks rose above the intramural fields behind the football stadium. Easy parking, no annoying music, great show, easy out. Gotta remember this.
Also spent an afternoon at the park in Blissifeld to pass the time, being chased by the fire department who was cleaning the park for a fair the following weekend. We had pizza and ice cream outdoors afterwards, which was good, but not exactly quick. It was just a good day outside. A little time inside was spent seeing the movie Wonder Woman (Nick has deemed this one an all-time favorite), along with some Beach Pelini tea in a trip to the mall. Our swim time got going this month, after some light repairs to the pool liner. Next year we'll be due for a new one.
Nick has been into TV shows about war planes, so lots of Air Warriors lately. We've watched several shows on the P51 Mustang, A10 Warhog, B52 Bomber, and F15 Strike Eagle. Good to see his interest, which is piqued also from having just been in Georgia weeks earlier. It hasn't distracted from his love of cars, though, with a Ford GT on the screen most of the time.
He follows the fidger spinner craze, which is centered around collecting them. Nick has three so far. One Sunday evening, he finally decided to talk to the girl next door, Brooke, who is close to his age. They compared spinners for some time. He returns inside after an hour of chatting, and when I asked what they spoke about, the answer of course was, "Nothing". Good to see him making friends, he eased his way in slowly, and hasn't scared her off yet, apparently.
The month closed with hanging a basketball rim on Grandpa's iron post outside. The post has been empty since the old board rotted and fell off twenty years ago. After waiting for help that never came to get it done, we deivsed a plan to put it up ourselves. It's not perfect, but good enough. Nick was a big help, but he's still not a 'worker' just yet... his focus needs some polish.
Photos here from July.
Jason
Fayling came to Toledo for a couple of days to start the month, so he and Brandi entertained the kids with Kalahari, a birthday party at the Toledo Zoo for Aiden, and Greenfield Village. Thatcher officially endorsed Detroit pizza as the 'best ever' with a visit to Buddy's, so they should be more than honored.
Shortly after Nick finished school, the two of them headed south for family visits. At Fayling's new house, the pool kept the kids entertained between thunderstorms. An inflatable flamingo died a horrible death at the hands of the older boys, so enter the new giant inflatable Toucan. There was also a new Xbox game called Kinect Party. It kept the kiddos active as they got to be Godzilla attacking a city, jumping from spot to spot to avoid the hot lava floor, dancing around as skeletons that had been struck by lighting, and kicking and punching to pop all the balloons (the video game, not in the pool). It's a great game, highly recommended. Nick got a horrible sunburn the first day in the pool, so that put a kabash on the rest of the activities. Plan B was lots of TV, and it's clear that Nick has a lot of his mom and aunt in him with his preference for murder mysteries and new love of Ghost Adventures. We also got to stay for Seth's 13th birthday. We haven't missed one yet for Seth. That night the kids had a great time flying their whistle copters in the yard. A short jaunt to Alabama to visit Grandmama and Grandad preceded the Atlanta stop, where they saw Noccalula Falls for a day.
Nick's taste buds have expanded. He's ordering new items at Taco Bell, now favoring the Quesarito, and he likes Tobasco sauce on everything. Chipotle burritos are always welcome as well. A Subway visit is now always a footlong, with his expanded appetite, egg-white subs at the moment.
He wandered out and saw Brandi watching a video on YouTube about makeup application. The subject was a cross-dresser. Nick noticed, "She's cute." Once Brandi pointed out the person in the video was a man, a long pause was followed by, "What the f*@#!" Appropriate use and timing, even if not ideal.
Pics here.
Jason
