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Now an orange belt and participating in the advanced classes, Nick is into weapons and sparring at karate (I know this because I bought him a bag full of stuff that weighs more than him, including the black gi.) I visited the school for the first time on a Friday night for a Ninja Party, which Nick won from the school. Nick was called up upon to demonstrate a few moves, and he is amazingly attentive and structured in his karate class. His friends Will, Ali, and Aiden came along for the evening, and we went out for burgers at Quimby's afterwards.
Karate and piano were not enough to fill Nick's time, so Brandi decided to sign him up for Scouts. His friend Xander from Karate is in a troop at St. Clements Church, so that's where he joined. After the first evening, I put him on the phone with Brad to compare notes, since I know nothing of Scouts. Then I end up at a pancake breakfast and kid's service when Brandi can't attend. I connected with a kid named Brody who does impressions of cartoons. Good bunch, but I don't know how we keep up with another commitment.
He got a new XBox One for Christmas, and a new game that came out in January followed for his birthday, Railway Empire. So Nick peeled himself away from his laptop... to spend time on the XBox. It's been such a cold month, outdoors activity is limited anyway.
Word of the month: 'nipple-a-gyna'. Have no idea what it means, regardless of the context in which he uses it.
I've taken Nick's name out of the post titles, as I suspect he will not want to be the focus of this blog soon.
Pictures here.
Jason
When we were young, chewing gum in school was a bad thing, but apparently that's not true anymore. Nick says kids chew gum all the time in class. In fact, he has a kid in his class that 'deals gum', selling it for pencils or other non-monetary items. A gum dealer... first time I'd heard of it. They are also practicing yoga in school, and he showed us a few of his moves.
He participated in the school shopping activity for the holidays, purchasing some small gifts for family members. What impressed me is that every gift he bought had intent and purpose - something he knew we needed, or remembered us mentioning it. Nick's also expanding his independence in the kitchen, where he's cooking a little on his own. He now grills dinner for us with limited supervision.
Before we left for our trip, the pet crabs from last year passed away, about a month apart. Grandpa was happy about the timing, so they didn't die on his watch. We're not sure if it was age or stress, but Brandi certainly cared for them with great attention. She's become 'wis-ly' about raising crabs.
Our holiday trip was a success, with 5 warm days in Clearwater Beach, Florida. We stopped on the drive down, where Nick dropped my dinner on the hotel floor in his usual whimsy whirlwind. But I was able to relax, with two full days not wearing socks (that's a big deal for me), but a good portion of the trip still on my laptop. Working by the pool with a cocktail was so much more enjoyable. I got a little sun (literal sideburns). Nick had crab for dinner twice, but didn't see the girl he remembered from last year. He announced that it was the best place on earth ("Hot girls, hot cars, great food, the beach... the perfect place.")
I spent an afternoon with Donny catching up. Nick and I had custom donuts at the Donut Experience, and played billards one morning. Overall it was lots of walks, some building in the sand, and much needed relaxation.
On the way home, we stopped in Pinehurst for a visit with Lee and Judy, seeing the local sites and giving Nick a chance to blab at someone new about birds and technology.
The last stop was Christmas in Cincinnati, where Nick spent the afternoon playing with Noah, Mason and Myles, and I built a nativity scene from vegetables. Carrie's new boys, Gabriel and Ethan, were a treasure to play with, and I spent some time getting to know them from inside the playpen.
Pictures here from the adventures.
Jason
Nearly eleven years of writing this blog, it is at the end of the eleventh year that Nick has begun reading it on his own. At the moment he thinks chronicling his life is cool. We'll see how long that lasts. At some point he should be able to write this himself as he writing more for school. He wrote a poem for Thanksgiving that sounded like casual conversation ("Don't kick the bucket yet, you have reading to do!") but it certainly kept the reader's attention.
November is the month when we eat, a lot. Brandi's Thanksgiving dinner was amazing, as always. She also baked cookies for school, and for my office. It's the warmup to the holidays, but since we'll be traveling again at Christmas, she has to get the baking in early.
He's still at the karate school a couple days a week, and tested successfully for his yellow belt this month. I've still not seen him in action, but it's best that I don't interfere since this is his thing, and I am sure everything they do is different from what I remember. There's also a few pictures here from a school saftey program. All is well at school, and that's important.
I was gone again with business travel this month, missing most of the home activities on a whirlwind from NY to Chicago to SF for Mercedes. I attended the MSU vs. Duke game in Chicago, just a mile down from our facility there (maybe it will be the Spartans only loss of the season.) The trip ended on an exciting note, with our luggage being stolen right from our rental car in SF, outside of the facility. I was able to visit the Wine Train in Napa, albeit wearing the same clothes for the third day in a row.
Pictures here.
Jason
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
Karate and piano were not enough to fill Nick's time, so Brandi decided to sign him up for Scouts. His friend Xander from Karate is in a troop at St. Clements Church, so that's where he joined. After the first evening, I put him on the phone with Brad to compare notes, since I know nothing of Scouts. Then I end up at a pancake breakfast and kid's service when Brandi can't attend. I connected with a kid named Brody who does impressions of cartoons. Good bunch, but I don't know how we keep up with another commitment.
