attention span expanding

It was only a few months ago that we last tried to take Peter to a movie theater.  Each time, with high hopes yet great trepidation, we left the theater early, or spent the time walking Peter around the lobby, or playing musical theater chairs.  Yesterday, something clicked… a LOUD click.  We went to the theater to see “Alvin & the Chipmunks“.  Peter knows the movie from our DVD copy, but he sat in his theater seat & watched, recited funny lines with the chipmunks, and genuinely had a great time.  I can’t wait to take him to more movies.

Lights… camera… ACTION!

blueberries!

Last fall, I took the kids raspberry picking.  They had such a blast, we went apple picking a few weeks later.  Since they continued to talk about it all winter long, we have been waiting in the wings for mother nature to bring forth more pick-your-own crops.  Strawberries were in season a few weeks ago, so we all squished our way through the rain-soaked strawberry fields.  Yesterday was prime blueberry picking season, so off we went to the farm once again.  The blueberries were huge, and the ones allowed to reach full ripeness on the bush are amazingly sweet.

This morning we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, Emma & Kathy baked banana blueberry bread, and the rest of the harvest was packed into a fabulous blueberry pie!  Blackberries are right around the corner… we’ll be there!

confidence

I attended our annual IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for Peter on Tuesday.  It was an excellent meeting between teachers, principal, specialists & parents. Peter’s progress is noticeable in every aspect of his school presence.  Rather than wait through the summer break, it was decided to let Peter spend more of his day in his mainstream kindergarten classroom for the remainder of this school year (under 3 weeks).  I was nervous about this decision, even though it is exactly what I was hoping would come out of this IEP.  I’m sure the school staff was just as nervous, but it was time to let Peter flourish deeper into new places & things.

Two days have now passed since this meeting.  On his first day post-IEP, Peter spent triple the amount of time in his kindergarten classroom, and yesterday it was quadrupled.  Peter proudly jumped off the school bus both afternoons  and gleefully told me that he had a great day.  Last night we ran to the mall to pick up a few items.  Peter walked next to me without holding hands very often, and I even caught him walking smartly with his hands in his hip pockets.  I’ve never seen this posturing before, and I have never seem him negotiate the world with such confidence.

It’s only been 2 days – and I know not every day will be perfect & strong, and there may even be days that I wish we hadn’t pushed him… but maybe not!

My pride in Peter & his newly found confidence is staggering.  My true hero doesn’t wear a baseball uniform or appear on TV or in the movies – he walks with his hands in his pockets by himself in the mall.

peter’s prodigious piano premier

It’s a moment I have thought about ever since it became clear that Peter has perfect pitch. I knew I would someday introduce him to the piano keyboard & see how quickly he grasps the concept of a musical scale, and the relationship of physical up & down on the keyboard and higher & lower pitches.

I set up a video camera next to the piano, gave Peter a quick (30 seconds or so) explanation of a C Major scale and how the keyboard works, and I then turned on the camera.  What you see here is unrehearsed, and quite literally Peter’s 1st time playing the piano.

[my apologies for the audio quality - Murphy's Law kicked in & the video's audio track sounds terrible - go figure]

red robin read

There were four adults in the room – all with mouths hanging wide open in disbelief of what they heard.

Peter came into the kitchen holding a balloon.  The balloon was from the burger restaurant Red Robin.  We were at friend’s house, so he had never seen this balloon before, nor has Peter ever been to a Red Robin.  He pointed to each letter in the Red Robin logo, and said…

“Rrr Eee D….  Rrr..Oo..B..Ii..Nnnnn”.

Peter read to us!  Peter read to us!

emma makes her performance debut

Bravo, Emma!  Grandma Charlotte is smiling down on you.  And you KNOW dad is proud as can be!

peter’s perfect pitch perplexes parent

This morning, my five year old son became suddenly agitated as he played with one of his favorite toys.  It’s a firehouse.  The roof is lined with five buttons.  Each button triggers a different electronic sound.  Peter began to yell, “It sounds different – it sounds different!”  I went over, and pressed each button. The bell button still sounded the bell, the siren still sounded the siren noise, etc.  He grabbed the toy back, and repeatedly pressed the fire truck’s horn button.  ’Dad – it’s not right anymore – it’s the wrong sound now”, he cried.  I listened carefully – the diesel horn tooted the note F.  I grabbed a screw driver & removed the battery compartment cover.  I pulled out the aging AA batteries & replaced them with fresh ones.  With the new batteries in place, the diesel horn still sounded an F… but one that was ever-so-slightly higher in pitch – less than a quarter tone in my estimation.  Peter smiled & declared, “Now it sounds right, Dad – that’s the right noise”.

I better keep a safe distance when making reeds!

it’s bedtime – do the math

Peter watches a little TV in my bedroom before he goes into his own bed to sleep each evening.  There is a digital clock on top of the TV.  AT 8:40 pm, I told Peter that we’ll watch the movie Wall-E until 8:50pm, and then we’ll shut off the movie and go to his room to got to sleep.  He watched the movie for a few minutes, looked at the clock, and reported to me that it was 8:48.  We need to go to bed in 2 minutes.

Wait – that’s MATH!  Real, practical math.  Hmmmmm…

peter meets mario!

happy new year – with butter & syrup!

When your daughter asks you for New Years Pancakes on January 1st morning, you do it!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Oboerista