Now one for Corey, who's now just a little older than two. :-)
Corey is a lot different than Nate and there's definitely nothing wrong with that. He's more stubborn, he doesn't have one thing he really gets into, he loves TV more than Nate at this age, he's way more into numbers. He wants things to be his way or the highway. He wants to do it all himself no questions asked. He's also super lovable and he's got a huge heart (Ok in that respect -- he's exactly like Nate -- both are big hearted kids.
But for now, for posterity's sake, I want to make sure that I say something about his "magic" (that's really the best way I can describe it). You can't see it in pictures, but if you're around him you know what I'm talking about.
Corey has this smile. His smile can just fill up a room full of light whenever he gets happy and looks at you --literally, I'm not kidding. -- and from the day he was born -- he's been smiling. It's something in his eyes that I've never seen. It's really hard to put to words, but it's there. And he whips that thing out all the time at everyone.
His smile seems to be his superpower. I've seen him charm the pants off an entire room of strangers. People everywhere gravitate toward him. People at stores when we go shopping fawn over him. When we go places people offer to be around him - and not just because they seem to like kids -- it's something about this connection he can make through his smile with people. You can't help but like him when he does it. It's truly a gift he has.
I can only hope as he grows up he uses this power for good. More on that later. I also want to talk about his immune deficiency later. Don't forget....
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
10,000 Times Better...
Nate's about 5 and a half now. He's in kindergarten and having some trouble getting his work done - he doesn't like doing classwork very much - he says it's boring. Actually I think it's because it distracts him from the fun he'd rather be having. :-)
Anyway, it's clear he's pretty bright and he reads so well that it amazes me. I am continually stunned at some of the stuff he can pull off considering he still seems so helpless. OK... so I know he's beginning to add and subtract so I'm curious what he can pull off, because from what I can tell, he does better than some first graders after only about 3 months of school -- so I ask him some questions at the table... what's 1+2, 2+2. I start some subtraction 8-2, 7-3 and I gradually get a little harder and harder.
(Now I'll begn the point of this entry) I suddenly ask him what's 9-9 to really throw him for a loop since he hasn't had anything like this yet. At first he answers: "8." No I say, try again. He thinks and you could see the light bulb go off in his head as this amazing expression of joy hit his face and he belts out "NOTHING!!!" It was such great look on his face when he realized the answer and he figured it out all by himself -- the smile, the sound in his voice. Dang. I think this sometimes why we have kids. I didn't know that was the reason, but with bit of aggravation they sometimes cause, kids bring this along too - and it's 10,000 times better than the bad stuff.
Anyway, it's clear he's pretty bright and he reads so well that it amazes me. I am continually stunned at some of the stuff he can pull off considering he still seems so helpless. OK... so I know he's beginning to add and subtract so I'm curious what he can pull off, because from what I can tell, he does better than some first graders after only about 3 months of school -- so I ask him some questions at the table... what's 1+2, 2+2. I start some subtraction 8-2, 7-3 and I gradually get a little harder and harder.
(Now I'll begn the point of this entry) I suddenly ask him what's 9-9 to really throw him for a loop since he hasn't had anything like this yet. At first he answers: "8." No I say, try again. He thinks and you could see the light bulb go off in his head as this amazing expression of joy hit his face and he belts out "NOTHING!!!" It was such great look on his face when he realized the answer and he figured it out all by himself -- the smile, the sound in his voice. Dang. I think this sometimes why we have kids. I didn't know that was the reason, but with bit of aggravation they sometimes cause, kids bring this along too - and it's 10,000 times better than the bad stuff.
Grow Up To Be a Daddy
Here's a couple of things Nate did awhile back that I don't want to forget.
We were sitting at the dinner table and out of the blue I asked Nate what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was about 4 at the time.
"An Astronaut"
"No..."
"A Fireman?"
"No..."
"How about a Policeman?"
"No..."
"Ok...The President maybe?"
"No. I want to be a daddy."
I just about dang near started crying right there. What an awesome thing to say, and it really touched my heart.
Of course you want them to grow up to be better than you, but it's still cool when you get to be an idol of sorts to them. If I keep this up, hopefully the kids will take good care of me when I'm in the home. :-D
We were sitting at the dinner table and out of the blue I asked Nate what he wanted to be when he grew up. He was about 4 at the time.
"An Astronaut"
"No..."
"A Fireman?"
"No..."
"How about a Policeman?"
"No..."
"Ok...The President maybe?"
"No. I want to be a daddy."
I just about dang near started crying right there. What an awesome thing to say, and it really touched my heart.
Of course you want them to grow up to be better than you, but it's still cool when you get to be an idol of sorts to them. If I keep this up, hopefully the kids will take good care of me when I'm in the home. :-D
Friday, October 10, 2003
Mozart's Music
This was funny. The other day I was playing classical music for Nate and Corey. I played them some of the biggies... The Blue Danube, Vivaldi's "Spring", the most popular of the Bach Brandenburg Concertos, etc. -- no response out of them -- "Yeah, that's nice, daddy..."
I remembered the movie Amadeus and how the narrator/antagonist in the movie went through all these songs with the person interviewing him. The interviewer didn't recognize any until he threw out Mozart's "Eine Kliene Nachtmusik."
So -- I tried that one and wouldn't you know it, they started humming and dancing and really enjoying themselves. It's funny -- there response typified the problem the narrator experienced with Amadeus. None of the things he wrote were remembered. Mozart's music, however, was still popular and still loved by the people years and years later. Out of all that other music, only Mozart moved them. :-)
I remembered the movie Amadeus and how the narrator/antagonist in the movie went through all these songs with the person interviewing him. The interviewer didn't recognize any until he threw out Mozart's "Eine Kliene Nachtmusik."
So -- I tried that one and wouldn't you know it, they started humming and dancing and really enjoying themselves. It's funny -- there response typified the problem the narrator experienced with Amadeus. None of the things he wrote were remembered. Mozart's music, however, was still popular and still loved by the people years and years later. Out of all that other music, only Mozart moved them. :-)
Tuesday, October 07, 2003
It's alive!
Hey... It's my first blog entry. Quite a momentous occasion.... :-)
I've been wanting to do this for awhile, because I keep hearing or thinking of things that I know I'll want to remember for the kids later. I'm around computers a lot, so I thought a blog would be an easy way for me to permanently jot down thoughts as they happen -- whenever I'm near a computer that can access the Internet. Hopefully, this will be as useful as I think it can be.
I've been wanting to do this for awhile, because I keep hearing or thinking of things that I know I'll want to remember for the kids later. I'm around computers a lot, so I thought a blog would be an easy way for me to permanently jot down thoughts as they happen -- whenever I'm near a computer that can access the Internet. Hopefully, this will be as useful as I think it can be.
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