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I know, he just sort of blends in
Probably you wouldn't even NOTICE him, he's so nondescript.
Conversation overheard by Shelley:
Christopher (while hiding inside a sleeping bag in the middle of our kitchen floor): Did you know I'm an international super spy?
Frank (without missing a beat): You know, if you're an international super spy, you probably shouldn't tell anyone.
Christopher: Why?
Frank: Well, because being a spy only works if no one knows you're a spy.
Christopher: Oh. Well, hmm. Probly if I were dressed like a knight, I could ask people a bunch of questions and they'd never know I was a spy. That's gotta work, right?
Frank: I think that would probably work.
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Daddy will be so proud
...as his son is turning into quite the little capitalist/entrepeneur.
After I suggested to Christopher that he'd be able to save money faster by doing chores for me (so he'd be able to get his Lego castle sooner) he practically shouted:
Mom! I have an idea! Let's try to see if there's a dollar.com
and then if there's a dollar on the site I could print it out
and then I could have a dollar!
I could print out a TON of them!
Sadly, dollar.com is not a site for attaining counterfeit currency, but I have to appreciate his ingenuity.
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Redemption
I saw this:
and was ashamed.
Until my mom sent me this which I shall probably be ordering promptly.
Thanks, Mom!
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Milestone
Christopher rode his bike without training wheels for the first time today! He'd been unwilling until now to try, but once he decided to, it only took a couple of sessions before he got it. Video below:
The yelling you hear is Christopher demanding, "Hold me!!!!!!" repeatedly. FYI - at the end, Frank is raising his hand not to slap Christopher, but to applaud him.
You can see another clip here. This second one is funny because Christopher just seems to be meandering along, humming and not paying much attention to his surroundings, which is both funny and a little scary.
After chasing Christopher up and down the street for 30 minutes, Frank was hot & tired, but happy & proud!
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Cool kid in the making?
Or, Christopher is a slave to fashion? You decide.
A few afternoons while walking home from school, Christopher has put one of the straps of his backpack across his body messenger-bag style. (The other strap just dangles, unused & unloved.)
We see a lot of the bigger kids wearing these messenger bag/backpack hybrids that some people messenger backpacks...I call them a sling backpack. mmmmhmmm. Here is an example of one:
The first couple of times, I just smiled to myself and didn't mention it, though today I asked him if he wanted one of these apparent status symbols. His first reaction was, "No, I don't think so, because with this one I can wear it either way."
Upon further reflection, he decided like a good little American that he'd perhaps like to have one bag of each type so he can choose based on his mood each day.
This is only the second time in his life he's wanted to do something because he's seen someone cool do it. The first was when he saw another 3 year-old swimming without any floaties and he decided to do it, too. The rest of the time, he couldn't care less what other kids are doing. We've tried to use the power of peer pressure to get him to do various things from potty training to playing catch with Frank, but his typical response to "All your friends are doing it" is a delighted and defiant, "But I'm not!"
Good for him, of course. We're just clever enough to see past the short-term irritation to appreciate that having a kid who's somewhat resistant to pressure like that is pretty cool.
As his current backpack was purchased at Target on clearance for $2.97, I don't feel too badly buying the mb for him.
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Daddy Scores Big Points
Why, Christopher, is that peanut butter in your hair?
You don't say! It was Daddy's idea? Why would we put such a thing on your angelic little head?
But I don't understand - how on earth would gum get in your hair?
Yes, it is a mystery.
Oh well, thank goodness your daddy knew what to do to save the day! (You were this close to your second buzz cut, buddy!)
Thanks also to our friends with other suggestions! I was planning to go right down the list, documenting it all in photographs, but happily, I was able to stop at Idea #1. Thanks, Daddy!
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New Fall Shows
Last night I watched Chuck and Journeyman (well, I DVRed Journeyman and watched it this morning. I had to save Heroes for tomorrow because Frank's out of town & we watch that together.
Chuck? Eh. Tries a bit too hard to be quirky. I like the actor but I'm not sure I like the show.
Journeyman? Thought I'd think it was cliche and ended up liking it! Definitely will be giving it another try next week.
Anyone have any recommendations for any new fall shows? (And please, only non-HBO and Showtime ones. We already watch 3 great Showtime shows.)
With Frank traveling so much, I have some time on my hands, and it's also nice to watch something during the day while I'm working or doing laundry or something.
I know what you're thinking: my life is glamorous!
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Hats off to the Rice Owls Band
The MOB's performance at the halftime show last night was hi-larious! It's always interesting to predict what type of performance they'll give, and you know it's going to be funny when the announcer starts by saying this:
"In the two years since the MOB last visited Austin, your team's demeanor — and misdemeanor — has changed. Buy a program at today's game. It includes Mack Brown's wrist-slap Top 10 and a photo guide to the next episode of 'America's Most Wanted.'"
What followed was a keystone cop-like chase of cardboard police cars after swaggering, chest bumping athletes wearing orange jerseys, resulting in their "arrest" and subsequent removal from the field. It looked like this (but much smaller from our seats):
After that, they poked fun at the Aggies, making some too-long joke about Reveille and Michael Vick, but they were soon back to jabbing us.
The audience loved it! When they were done, they were rewarded with a mostly standing ovation. A good time was had by all, except maybe by those back in the Longhorn locker room, the poor dears.
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Breakfast Recommendation
I'm not exactly in the know when it comes to restaurants in Austin, so you've probably already been there, but if not: you should eat breakfast at the Original Pancake House on Parmer Lane.
A bit of a wait and no atmosphere (it's in a strip mall), but the service was very friendly and the food was GREAT! All six of us in our party were very pleased with our meal.
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An argument for nature vs nurture
(I SO almost didn't write this post, but in the interest of telling it like it is, had to.)
I consider myself a modern, educated kind of gal, and one who has typically resisted gender stereotyping of any sort. When I found out that I was going to have a baby boy, I didn't listen too hard to the people who attributed certain behaviors to their kids' gender.
"Oh, never mind him pulling out all the flowers and kicking the dog. He's a boy." (Usually accompanied by an affectionate eye roll)
Surely, I thought, I'd be capable of raising a boy who wouldn't go out into the world thinking that it revolved around him; or if he did, it wouldn't be because he was a man. He'd be caring, wouldn't use people, would be self-sufficient, and would be able (and willing) to express himself verbally, while still being manly - whatever that means. I thought it was a great responsibility, and even a great honor, to raise a future man.
In large part, I was right in thinking that differences are generally explained by the fact that we are all different! There just aren't a ton of behaviors that can be explained solely by our sexes. There are a lot of behaviors, however, that can be attributed to the narrow roles we force ourselves and our children to play, but that's a topic for another day.
All this to say that, even though I still believe the above to be true, and will continue to raise my child as if it were, I might be wrong.
There are things that Christopher finds hilarious that I just don't understand.
One of these things has exhibited itself in the game that Christopher and I have been playing for the past few nights. Our cousins got us this GREAT dry-erase board with the elementary school tablet lines on them, and I've been thrilled to play a word 'game' with Christopher. I say 'game' because if I were to say 'We write and read together every night', I'm sure the activity come to a screeching halt.
Generally, I write some words or a sentence, and Christopher reads them. Then he thinks of some words and writes them down, using whatever spelling comes to him. So exciting for me as he's accidentally learning to read this way.
But (and I'm sure you can see where this is going) Christopher's first three words were:
toot
poop
burp (spelled brp)
I had to praise him for spelling them mostly right, but when his second round featured the same words, I had to tell him to come up with new words. The result:
tooting
pooped
I probably don't need to tell you that these words were accompanied by wild laughter.
Sigh.
In a further attempt to thwart the spirit of the law while technically adhering to the letter of the law, last night's "new" words were:
My mom & dad (who were so wonderful as to be cooking me lasagna at my own house last night!!) tried to look stern but looked away laughing at Christopher's persistence. I give my dad a lot of credit, too, because he really tried, actually saying, "Sorry, Christopher. I won't read that. I can't understand those words" before he cracked up.
Frank, upon getting a summary of the evening's events by email with accompanying picture, laughed and replied with three words: "That's really funny."
Of course.
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What you missed while our website was down
1. The Snake.
 Not to worry. I purposely took a closeup to make him look big. He was a Texas brown snake, maybe 10 inches long and about as big around as a pencil. Here's a pic of one in proper scale (though ours was *slightly* bigger.)
The darn thing wouldn't move out of the middle of our driveway (on which I needed to drive, as the name implies), so Christopher and I tried many things to urge him to scoot out of the way. Note: badminton rackets? Not so helpful. Stomping feet behind the snake is the best way to go. Plus then you can laugh at how fast the snake wiggles from side to side while only making snail-speed progress forward. For some reason it reminds me of this.
The funniest part? When the cute little thing started rearing its head and striking at me, and then Christopher jumped back and exclaimed, "It's a COBRA!"
2. The birthday.
But you already saw pics of that.
3. Christopher & marriage.
Bedtime conversation:
C: Mom, I really want to get married. but I'm really worried about one part.
Me: what is it, sweetie?
C: Well...(long pause)...do I have to kiss her to get married?
Me: (stifling snort laughter) Well, hon, you probably don't have to, but I bet you'll want to when you get that old.
C: (doubtful look)
(silence)
C: Did you do that with Dad? (nose wrinkled in disgust)
Me: Yes.
C: I'll have to talk to Dad about this.
Yes. Because I'm sure Frank will say something like, "Well, son, sometimes you have to take one for the team. I didn't want to kiss your mother but I knew it was just the first of many things I'd be forced to do against my will. Like getting drapes."
Actually, maybe that isn't too far off :)
I'm sure there were other things that happened, but I'm already dipping too far into the bucket as it is, so I think I'll quit now.
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Just when I think I'm out...
...he pulls me back in.
(Mis)Quote is from? Anyone, anyone?
So here are 2 pics that sum up our day:
 In celebration of Talk Like a Pirate Day
And, just when I thought Augustus Gloop had been laid to rest, Christopher came up with this - unassisted - during the silly word game we were playing tonight. It figures that this is the impressive word he'd (just about) get right:
Good times, good times. It's something like this that helps me forget how punky Christopher was acting all afternoon. This, and several glasses of wine.
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Another wow
This shoe trend - the backwards heel - by Marc Jacobs both confuses and intrigues me:
Thoughts?
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Wow
Frank sent me this link this morning, and it's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while: Infant Swimming Resource
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The Little Buccaneer is 6
Christopher decided this year to have a pirate-themed party, and only to invite boys. We limited the party's size this year - which I have to say was a GREAT idea - and the boys seemed to have a great time.
We inflated the water slide again, and this may will be the last year we use it in such a setting. Last year's party was a bit more manageable. What a difference a year makes!! This year, (many of) the same kids were hurtling themselves in every direction - with predictable results.
On the plus side, the boys were now big enough to give the pinata some really good whacks, though it took an older brother to open it up wide.
It was a great weekend. We were lucky enough to have our cousin S, who got to fly down from Tulsa by himself for the festivities (and enjoyed a Longhorn football experience as well!)
A couple of pics:
 Christopher preparing to blow out the candles on his treasure chest cake
 Christopher & his piratey pals
(got permission to post this, so no creepy smiley faces this time)
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Thank you, Paul!!
Many thanks to our friend Paul for fixing our website server!!! We appreciate it so much!
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