Camp-out

Tonight Pete and I are going on a "Daddy Son Camp Out". We don't know anyone else in the group, but it should be fun. To get in the spirit, below is a picture from one of our previous camping trips. Somehow, we haven't gone camping yet this year. I guess time flies when you move to a new house with two kids. We can still try to go again in October.

The Reason We Can Only Go To The Playground At 3am Or When It Is Raining

This is what happens when we go to the playground:

1. Pete slides down slide
2. Pete swings on swing
3. Pete climbs in equipment
4. Pete gets bored
5. Pete climbs up slide
6. Pete scales outside of slide framework
7. Pete scales swing assembly
8. Pete climbs on and around equipment
9. Other kids copy Pete
10. Parents give me dirty looks

Example: Pete standing on top of something he
should be crawling through --->

Bluemont Festival

We had fun at the festival in Bluemont. It is out west by the Shenandoah River. In the picture, Pete and Sam are playing with a contraption where you make music by hitting various objects with sticks. Sam liked this a lot. He played with it while Pete went to get his face painted with a bat. Some other things we did were climb on hay bales, throw beanbags, pet some animals, get balloons, see an old jazz band, walk through a caboose, play at the playground, visit the beekeeper booth, and get lemonade to benefit Katrina victims. Also, Sam started a rock collection in his stroller. Next year we will bring the wagon because there is a lot of walking.

Pete Likes Packages

Last weekend, Christy told Pete that there was something for him on the front porch. So he ran off. After a few minutes, I noticed it was quiet so I went to look for Pete. Here is what I found on the front porch.

Sam Ready for School

One evening last week Sam put on Pete's backpack and headed out the front door. We figured out that he was walking towards the bus stop. So we walked him to "the bus".

Lime

If someone tells you that Pete doesn't like to eat anything except pizza, that is not entirely true. He also likes limes.

Sam's Activity Names

Sam determines his own names to represent certain activities.

Recently we were playing Monopoly Jr. on the computer. There is an alligator in the game somewhere, because whenever we say "alligator" he runs over to the computer. And when he sees us playing the game, he says alligator ("ab-bluh").

Similarly, there is a character in Mortal Kombat 4 called Jax. So when we start walking down to the basement, Sam will say "Jax". That is his name for the game. And when we play the game, he points to the screen and says "Jax". Note, this game is not at all appropriate for children. If you find yourself getting punched or kicked by Pete, please note that I accept full responsibility and you can send me your medical bills.

Sam also likes anything with a hole. He will point to a hole and say "hole". Sometimes he says "hole" and you have to look at the object or landmark for a while to figure out where the hole is. I think in some cases, when there is no obvious hole, he is most likely referring to the holes in the porous membranes at the cellular level.

Mad Libs

Sometimes Pete is unpredictable, but not always.

For example, if you are doing Mad Libs and it asks for an article of clothing, he will always choose "underpants".

Walk by the Pond

Pete and I went for a walk one night by a local pond. We drove around to look for a fun place, and found a secluded pond in one of the places in Northern Virginia where they haven't built houses yet. Our loose objective was to go talk to the geese, or at a minimum convince them to go into the water. First we found some good feathers to bring home to mom. Then we traversed a few dangerous embankments to the far side of the pond. Pete saw a snake. He leaned down to pick it up, but it slithered away.

Me: Pete, you can't pick up a snake. It could be poisonous.
Pete: He's not poisonous, he's just shy.

We found a good piece of string on the way back to the car. We held the string between us, so Pete could pull on the string, if necessary. This was the system:

1 pull: stop walking
2 pulls: desperate emergency
3 pulls: Pete has a question

This was not the greatest system, since every time Pete had a question I was worried that it was a desperate emergency during the time between the second and third pulls.

We found a good pile of trash on the way back to the car. This was good, since we found a few more things to bring home for mom and Sam, such as a piece of red ribbon and some wood for a shelf.

Pete Logic

Breakfast conversation (7:00am):

Me: Pete, why are you banging on your head?
Pete: I'm waking my brain up
Me: Well, let me check if it is up
Pete: ok
Me: What is 3 + 9 ?
Pete: 12
Me: That's pretty good. How did you know that?
Pete: Well, 3 plus 10 is 13, so it's one less than that.

Figuring Out Words

Sam is at the point where he is trying
to communiicate with some words.
The way it works is, he says a "word"
and then you have to try to figure
out what it is.

Here is a sample conversation:
Sam: "da-zzj"
Me: "you would like a donut?"
Sam: "da-thj"
Me: "you want to dance"
Sam: "du-shz"
Me: "Fascism?"
Sam: "da-szjz"
Me: "you want to go downstairs?"
(Sam laughs)

When he laughs, it means you got it right.
Now it is time to start over with another word.

Sam and Friend

What is the difference between Sam and Chuck E. Cheese?

One is a wide-eyed character who likes cheese and thinks he can drive, and the other is a mouse.

Go Eagles

Tonight is the Eagles season opener. Better post some pictures for good luck.

A Break for Mom and Dad

Somehow we managed to get Sam into a swing and convince Pete to push him. So mom and dad get a 3 minute break until Pete pushes too hard and Sam kicks him in the head.

Ice Cream Shop

Pete likes to set up an imaginary ice cream shop at any playground with one of those little openings. Lately he has hired a new employee, Sam. When we took this picture, he had a special going with free toppings. Also, if you come back the next day with a coupon, you can get unlimited free ice cream and toppings. One thing I noticed is that he charges his family more than he charges complete strangers. We will have to clarify this policy with him.

Note in the picture, Sam punching in numbers on the imaginary cash register.

Brave Sam

Sam is getting brave with his activities. This is because he likes to do whatever Pete does.

Saturday he tried skateboarding, biking, and climbing the tree.

Popsicle

A conversation I had with Pete yesterday:

Pete: I want dessert
Me: Ok, while mom and I are eating dinner you can have a popsicle
-- pause --
Pete: I'm sorry you're not feeling well
Me: What?
Pete: Think about it
Me: I don't get it. Just tell me.
Pete: You said Pop sick ill

Sam Vocabulary Update

Sam will be 21 months on Sunday. He is doing pretty well with his words. He likes to point to balls and say the color. He can do purple, red, blue, and orange. Plus a few others not as clearly. Yesterday he went to Home Depot so he got a lot of practice with "orange". He's at the age where pretty soon Pete will know exactly what he is saying, but everyone else will be scratching their head.

He likes to say goodbye to things. When I came home from work, I gave him a kiss. I usually give him a kiss in the morning, so he said "bye bye". Then after he finished his dinner, he pointed to his plate and said "bye bye pizza".

Tree Climbing

Pete has figured out that he likes to climb the plum tree in the front yard.

Sam's not such a good climber. He sits at the base of the tree with some objects to keep him company and waits for Pete to come down.

Actually, Sam hasn't even figured out yet how to climb out of his crib. Pete was an early climber. One morning when Pete was about 18 months we heard some noises on the monitor that were gradually becoming more distant. Pete had climbed out of the crib, opened his door, and was working his way down to the basement (where we found him). Hopefully Sam is not reading this and getting ideas.

Last Day of August

Summer has come and passed
The innocent can never last
Wake me up when September ends

Kindergarten Continued

Pete had a good first day at Kindergarten.
However, he was disappointed to learn
that he has to go back each day,
with a few vacations mixed in,
until the year 2022.

Here is Pete with his teacher, Miss Kirsch:

Here is a picture of Pete at his desk:

His name card actually says his whole name, since there are two Peter B's in his class. So much for our idea of picking what we thought would be a less common name.

First Day of School

Today was Pete's first day of Kindergarten.

1. Here are Pete and Sam waiting for the bus:

2. Here is Pete in line to get on the bus:


Note: I have not included the photo of Pete driving the bus. The police have asked that we don't post any more photos until they have concluded their investigation.

Unpacking

The good news is that we have unpacked most of the boxes from the move. The bad news is that we have about 700 left.

Unpacking moving boxes is similar to unpacking Birthday gifts from my mom. First, there is the anticipation. You get really excited, because you don't remember what is in the box -- all you know is that it has an intriguing label like "Playroom". So you're thinking it is perhaps some board games, or maybe something cool like a dartboard. You daydream about inviting some friends over for some Pictionary, a little darts, maybe some Daiquiris. Then, there's the letdown. You open the box, and it just has some extension cords and a few manilla folders with old utility bills.

I had a dream last night that I was unpacking some boxes that I found in a corner of the basement. Then I find Pete in one of them.

Kindergarten Countdown

Pete is getting ready to start
Kindergarten on Monday.
He got a new Spongebob
backpack from grandma.
In the picture, he is trying
it on and Sam sees Spongebob
and is chasing him around the
room. I'm a little worried that
Pete will get on the bus and Sam
will say "Spongebob" and get
on behind him and before we
realize what happened they'll
both be off to school.

Dinner Quiz

Trivia Quiz

What will Pete say when you ask him what he wants for dinner?

a. surprise me
b. pizza
c. I've had pizza every night this month, so let's try something else tonight
d. anything you spend your valuable time and effort preparing for me would be fine

(Answer: b)

Sam's Item Du Jour

Sam develops unpredictable attachments to various objects. He will pick them up and not put them down until he becomes more enamored with another object or otherwise distracted.

The other day, Sam's object of the evening was a large piece of exercise equipment. He sat with it for an entire 30-minute episode of Wiggles. Then he wanted to take it into his crib, but we managed to pry it out of his hands in exchange for a tennis ball.

Weekend Report

Here are some things Pete accomplished this past weekend:

1. Invented his own language called Craimosho. If you have any questions about this, you will have to ask Pete. I don't speak Craimotian.

2. Taught Sam how to chew juice
3. Learned to climb the plum tree in the front yard, and make the tree talk.

Birthday Photo

Pete decided on Chuck E Cheese's for his
birthday dinner.

We did the booth where it takes your
picture for 1 token (even cheaper than
Wal-Mart!). When I brought it in to the
office, I found the same photo that we took
on his birthday two years ago. Here are
the two photos. It makes for an interesting
comparison. I'm just glad I'm not wearing the same shirt.

Future Economist

One of the gifts Pete got for his birthday on Tuesday was "My First Encyclopedia". He was reading it this morning when I was leaving for work.

Me: "What are you reading about? Rocket ships? Elephants?"

Pete: "I'm reading about Jobs!"

Here's Your Soda

Last time Pete was in the office, I told him to go ask Steve if he wants a soda. (I had told Steve that Pete loves to operate the soda machine, so he had been saving 50 cents for Pete's next visit).

So Pete gave Steve his list of choices, got Steve's selection, and took the money. He did a good job working the machine but, unfortunately, he somehow managed to drop the soda two or three times on the way back to Steve's office.

He gave Steve the soda and said "Here's your soda. Don't open it right away."

Pete is 5

Pete turns 5 today. He gets to pick where he wants to go to dinner tonight. Last I heard, he is agonizing between Chuck E Cheese's or Friendly's.

Last night we went to Tom's house to watch the Eagles game. Here is a picture of the last time he wore his Eagles shirt, during last season's NFC Championship Game. It's hard to see the shirt, since he found a pile of Mardi Gras necklaces and decided that the Eagles would win if he could put on all of them.

Last 28 Videos of Sam

Sam, when you grow up you are going to ask us why we have no video of you. The answer is that it is entirely your fault.

The last 28 videos we have of Sam are all as follows:

1. Sam has just stopped doing something wonderful and interesting, like stacking 14 blocks to spell verisimilitude while singing Ave Maria
2. Sam senses something, looks around, spots video camera
3. Sam runs toward video camera
4. Super close-up of Sam's eyeball
5. The inside of Sam's mouth

Sam Does What You Do

Yesterday at the pool Christy felt a mosquito on her cheek so she smacked it. Then Sam walked up to her and smacked her on the cheek.

Never Never Land

Pete has taken a liking to the word "never". Here is an example of a conversation:

Me: "Hey Pete, can you grab that magazine on the coffee table and bring it over here."

Pete: "NEVER!!!"

Pete's Dog Names

Pete likes coming up with names for things. Here is a picture of Pete with his dogs, and his names for them.


Wilvis
Dominos
Ground
Gus
Basket
Police Doodle
Plushy
Super Pal
Pillow Dog
Mini
Puppy
Tara
Pluto
Portrait
Snow Dog
Little Ground with Mustache
Hats

If you are really bored, you can try to match the names up with the dogs in the picture.

Sam's Personal Items

Sam always needs to have one thing in each hand when going for a walk in the stroller. This would seem reasonable, with a variety of useful implements such as a drink, a small toy, book, etc. However, the actual selection process does not involve standard logic. Here are the implements Sam selected on our last three walks:

1: left hand - fork; right hand - case for Casper DVD
2: left hand - TV remote; right hand - Pete's swim shoe
3: left hand - ATM card; right hand - tube from paper towel roll

Website Favorites

Here is a list of Pete's critera for carefully evaluating and adding websites to Favorites:

-- start of list --

(1) it is a website

-- end of list --

Mr. Folder

This is how we discovered that Pete knows how to type. A few months ago I was looking for something under Favorites. I noticed in addition the the Mike and Christy folders, there was a new folder called "Mr. Folder".


I said to Christy "why did you create a new folder of favorites called Mr. Folder?". She said "I thought you created it". Then we look over at Pete and he has that mischievous grin.

Nintendo - Clothing Optional

We rigged up the kids slide in the yard so it goes right into the kiddie pool. Pete likes to set up the hose so it's like a water slide. When we came back in the house, I was toweling them off when they both ran over and started playing video games. So I grabbed the camera and took this photo.

Chess Break

Here is a picture of me and Pete taking a break from packing for the move. He is getting better at chess. The only concept he doesn't really have yet is how to win. So far, we just play that you win if you take all of the pieces except the king. Whenever it's not his move, his singular activity is counting how many of my pieces he has taken to make sure it is more than how many of his I have taken.

This morning I'm in the shower and he runs in to the bathroom.
Pete: "Dad, dad, emergency".
I turn the water off.
"What is it?".
Pete: "Can the rook move multiple directions like the knight?"