Casey can do new things now

Casey is getting older, day by day, and she's started to pick up a few tricks.  Tyler does too, of course.  I thought I'd write down a few because it's always fun to go back to see how they grew up.

Casey has been calling me dadadada for a while.  When I come pick her up from day care, she gives me a smile and crawls over to me, then lifts up hands in a clear sign of 'pick me up'.  Then she looks at me for a while and says "dadada..." a few times with a slightly confused look on her face.  It's very nice of her.

She's also started in with Mamama now, too.  She said mama before dada, but I think I'm the first one she actually spoke to.  

She has started to mimic us.  The game we had where we would clap whenever she shook the container of beano has evolved into the game where we clap for her and then she claps for us.  Then she claps for us and we reciprocate.  She also likes to mimic our head shakes.

She also did one of the most toddler things I've sever seen her do.  I was munching on an apple and I figured I'd give it to her to chew on.  I had eaten around the sides so it was vaguely bottle-shaped.  She was really into it for a while, she liked the flavor and could get her hands around it, but the problem was that she knew what she was supposed to do.  When you get something like that in your hands, you get your mouth around one end and suck on it, and then food comes out.  Well she tried that for about 3 minutes, grabbing and sucking, grabbing and sucking...but no food was coming out.  Then all at once, she stopped, put the apple down, and started crying.  She wanted food, and she knew how she was supposed to get it, but it wasn't working right.  It was very sweet and heartbreaking, so we gave her some apple for lunch.

Tyler is learning new things too.  Here are his jokes:

1) Do you have a mustache?  Because I mustache you a question.
2) Knock knock
    Who's there?
    Banana.
    Banana who?
    Orange.
    Orange who?
    Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

He's also started playing with Legos instead of just duplos.  He likes the minifigures a lot, especially Emmet and Wildstyle.  I've sent off for box of random lego blocks so I can build things that aren't just out of a regular set.

Other things:

1) I'm going to PAX this weekend!  The Penny Arcade Expo.  It's my first time going, and it's just an hour down the road.  I'm quite excited, hopefully I'll have as much fun here as I do at ReaperCon.
2)  I have also come to realize I haven't painted any Minis since last ReaperCon.  I should either start or just figure I'm too busy for it for now.
3) Because I've also started practicing the Piano again.  I've gone through my book of beginning songs, and am considering getting a better keyboard and taking proper lessons.
4) A reorg happened at work, and Jessie is a manager now!  Good for her!  I'm still in test.

-N

A Subtle Shift in Priorities

Well just take a look at how timely this blog entry is. Ha! Fantastic.

Recently, which is to say 'the last few months', I have not been enjoying the prospect of going to Judo. I would realize it was Monday, my normal Judo day, and my stomach would sink. Judo isn't that bad, not really, but compared to some of the other things I do with my evenings, it just always felt like a waste of an evening. We often spend a frustrating amount of time just talking about stuff, and I've never felt like my progress has been that marked. I got my black belt, I guess, but I still never really felt like I earned it, but just going to judo because it was 'judo day' hasn't really felt right in a while.

I sat down with Jessie to talk about my 'crisis of activities', something that comes up every few years, and she told me exactly what you'd expect her to tell me: if you're not enjoying it, then why are you going? We have our Kinect at home for exercise (and it keeps kicking my ass), there's no need to go if I'm not enjoying it. So for now, I've decided to take a hiatus from Judo. As Jess reminded me: I can always go back. They've been doing Judo for a couple of centuries now, I don't think they're going to quit anytime soon.

So I certainly don't lack from good uses of time in my life, or at least not fulfilling ones. Miniature painting continues to be great fun, and I'm getting better at it with every mini I paint. I even have a permanent home for my painting, now, as opposed to just keeping it in the library and moving it every time we want to play cards or something. I carved out a little corner of my studio and now have my stuff all set up for all the painting I could want. I also shuffled my studio over so it's now in the same upstairs room as the guest bed. We can use the old studio room for...other things.

There's also Piano, which I am attempting to be as diligent as possible about, because you know what practice makes, don't you? I did get a little down on it because, like most of my hobbies, it's not really leading to anything. I'm not going to any recitals, or joining a band, or anything. Though the better I get at piano, the easier it will be to compose music in the future, which is nice. Still, though, playing the opening to Journey's “Don't Stop Belivin'” is a pretty good way to end a day, so I keep at it. If anyone knows of a band in Austin looking for a piano player without a whole lot of time to invest...let me know.

But if I'm cutting back on Judo, perhaps it would be a good time for me to try doing something else with my time, eh? Maybe a little...VOLUNTEERING? Yeah, I know great minds think alike.

I scrounged through various volunteer listings online, hoping to find something that could make some use of my expertise. Something maybe with education, too, because I really, really like education. I ended up signing up for Austin Partners in Education. I start on Tuesday.

I'm volunteering! It's quite exciting. All I saw on the sign-up-form online was that they needed people to help with groups of two-or-three middle schoolers who need help learning math. Sounds up my alley, yes? But I had some questions, which I brought to the lunchtime training session I went to last week. Turns out this group has around 2000 volunteers (!) and what they do is one class a week, the whole math class meets with a group of probably 10 volunteers who guide them through the lesson for the day. The job is to ask questions, get them thinking, and generally show our excitement for the subject matter at hand. I can do that.

I'm coming in the the middle of the school year, which usually means I'll be replacing someone who couldn't make it through the year (Life happens, you know?) so I'm hoping that I'm up to the standard set by my predecessor. If this goes well, and I've only got something like 7 more classes before the end of the year, maybe I'll sign up for a full year next time.

Of course, right after signing up for this, the local community magazine came out with their summary of a boatload more volunteer opportunities, so I can certainly expand if I want. I may have to, if I'm going to help Sandlin meet her goal.

So let's see, what do you need to know about Tyler. He's coming up on his terrible twos. They're not really that terrible, cause he's such a great kid normally, but you can definitely see where the beginnings of a furious little id are going to create a few frustrating afternoons before we get him properly civilized. He doesn't want to share, he gets angry when he can't have is way...you know...kid stuff. On the plus side, the house next door to us sold, and we met the neighbors today while we were getting ready to take Tyler out biking. (We bike, he rides behind). They have a 9-year-old boy, and a 2-year old boy as well. Score! Jess made them cookies. They move in tomorrow. We know pretty much nothing more than that (except their names) but we are going to bring them cookies, so I expect we will be fast friends.

Tyler is starting to sing. You have to know what you're listening for, because he can't carry a tune yet and he only get's about 70% of the words, but we've heard him do 'Twinkle Twinkle', '5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed', 'The ABCs,' and 'The Itsy-Bitsy Spider', with hand motions and everything. He is also really excited because he gets to go to Disneyland for his birthday, or at least near his birthday, and Nana and Grandpa are going to be there too. Though to be honest, at this point the trip is about 30% for Tyler and 70% for Jessie. Also, we get to visit some friends in LA while we are out there, so good fun then, too.

-N

Busy Getting Stuff done

Just in case you're wondering why I don't blog more, its because I'm still spending all my time doing awesome stuff. I am, yes, still practicing the piano. I got myself a couple of songbooks for myself for my birthday. So I'm currently learning how to play the theme music from Super Mario Brothers. Yes, you should be impressed, it is very impressive. I can physically play about half of it, for now, but a little less than that with both hands at the same time, and essentially just the intro at the proper speed. So there's still work to do, but I'm really enjoying working on this song. I also got a book of radiohead songs, and I just have to figure out which one I want to learn to play first. And another book of exercise and basic songs to learn, to further expand my skills at a basic level. I'm still just playing on my keyboard, which is just wide enough for Super Mario brothers, though It doesn't use the lowest octave. Of course, I can just push a button and then it won't use the highest octave if I want. Electronics are great like that.

Also, paining miniatures. I've showed off a few of them to some of you over Skype, but I have yet to put up any pictures. They're pretty cool looking, if a little basic, but the process is very time consuming and cannot be rushed, which is part of what I like about it. You have to take your time, consider the process, decide what you want to paint on what surface...you know, ART. I find the whole thing pretty relaxing, and so I decided to invest a little more into our painting gear. I went out yesterday and picked up a bunch of random paint brushes (different kinds, so I can see what I like) some porcelain paint palettes (much easier to clean), and a few other odds-and-ends like slo-dry (for easier paint blending) and some finishing spray to keep the paint well set on the mini's when I'm done. I really like just going out and considering all the options and making decisions and...I don't know even going out to buy brushes yesterday was fun. Maybe because Jess was at home taking care of Tyler for me and, as it turns out, taking down all our blinds.

We're getting new windows put in in the near future. The nice fancy ones that the guy came to our house and punched through for us. Jess got down all the blinds, but we'll wait for a little bit before doing the curtains. We do need some privacy.

And then, of course, there's Judo. I've been doing more Shiai (sparring) recently, which still isn't a lot, but it's more than the 'none' that I've done before. I'm getting a little better, bit by bit, which is encouraging, though I'm still pretty far below most of my peers. I is encouraging, however, that whenever we get new students in that Sensei usually has them work with me. I like to think I'm a pretty patient teacher.

Anything else? Any other activities taking up my time? OH, that's right, my son.

Last weekend we went to Houston for Jessie's great-uncle-in-law's 90^th birthday. We learned that 1) Driving during Tyler's nap is a great idea. 2) Driving while he's supposed to be asleep is not. I also managed to pick up whatever upper-resperitory cough-fest Tyler happened to pick up from day care last, which is still making my voice a little croupy. But other than that, the trip was a pretty great success. Everyone was all excited to see Jess, and Tyler got to play with a couple of twin girls a little younger than he was. He was a little scared of them. I'll tease him about that when he gets older. We also brought back Jessie's Grandmother to stay with us for a while. Tyler eventually got used to her and even gave her some kisses on the last day she was here.

The comprehensive Tyler-dictionary is going to have to come to a close. He's learning a new word or two every day now. It would be difficult to keep up. He's using his words a lot more often now. Here are some highlights.

Nana: What he says every time we tell him we are going to Skype. He knows about grandmothers.

Areyou?: What he says when he is looking for things. Either Waldo in the waldo books or Daddy.

Doo-Doo!: This is the sound a train makes, and a lot of things are enough like trains (cars, rocks, pretty much anything he can push around) that they also make this sound too.

Yikes!: Luckly, this was what Jessie said when her antibiotic ointments took hold on her latest road rash. He's also picked up “Whoah” and “Oh no!” Nothing R-rated yet.

TeeBee: We let him watch TV when he's feeling bad and needs to relax, but he's also figured out that you can watch it at other times as well. He'll ask for it a lot. We generally just tell him no.

Ninite: Certain kinds of clothes are ninite clothes. They are the kinds you put on before it is bedtime.

We took Tyler out to a neighborhood festival this weekend where they had some pancakes, a hot air balloon, and plenty of booths selling arts and crafts. They also had a bounce house that Tyler was really into, even though he was the smallest one there. He was having fun getting bounced around by all the kids...and then the fan kicked off and the whole thing deflated. Which is scary, if you are small and don't know what's going on, and also potentially dangerous. Jess got to work pulling out some kids while other people (myself included) did their best to try and keep the thing from falling over too much. Tyler wasn't at the exit, though, so eventually Jess just dove in after him. She found him in a very unhappy mood, but having mama nearby definitely helped. Still spooky. He's been in two bounce houses in his life. Both deflated while he was inside. I'm not sure if he'll want to go into any more.

Tyler also got a haircut yesterday. His third. The second went just fine. The third was NOT fun. He didn't want the little cape thing on, and he did not like the clippers one little bit. There were many tears, but eventually we got through it with bubbles and patience. There's been a lot of trauma in his life this weekend. I'm surprised he's still this well adjusted.

Other Micro-news:

-Jess has had to go through her polygraph test. It was a horrible experience and she has to go back.

-Jess also is traveling in October for work. I'll have Tyler for the week. Planning to get him a tattoo.

-With all these activities, I barely have any time at all for Video games. Crazy, I know.

-Tyler, for those keeping track, will be 18 months old (1.5 years) at the end of this month.

-Also, Tyler sits in a Big-boy car seat now.

I'll probably write again in another two months when I have some time. :)

-N

P.S.: I have some pictures to share, too.  But photo upload seems to be wonky, so I'll try again later.  

Other Finger Exercises

One of the main reasons I haven't been blogging as much is that whenever I get a free 15 minutes or so, I've actually been indulging in a new, different hobby. I'm learning the piano. Again.

I don't have much of a recollection of playing the piano before. I can't have been that good at it, but my body clearly remembers a few of the tricks. I still remember 'doggy D', and whenever I put my hands on the keyboard, my first, third, and fifth fingers are always ready to hit the C Major chord. So far my strategy of 'make sure you practice every day, preferably before you play videogames' has been paying off. I picked up a book of instructional songs for adults to teach themselves, and it's been a great help in just lining up songs that push my dexterity a little bit at a time. I should put up some video (or maybe just audio?) later, but Jessie says she likes listening to me, so that's pretty good to hear. I keep thinking that if I still am doing this after a year I'll reward myself by getting a real piano. Probably an electric piano, or just a better keyboard. An upright at best. We technically could fit a grand somewhere in the house, but I'll save that until after I become a world-famous performer.

The idea that we should have Thanksgiving in Seattle catalyzed yesterday, and has quickly run away as a fantastic idea. It'll be neat to see the family again, of course, but I haven't really gotten to see much of the city, and I'm told it's a pretty cool place in spots. Also, Tyler did quite well on his last flight, so we're up to trying it again. Getting him his own seat is a real boon to his comfort, as well as ours and all those around us. It's an investment, but it's been a good one so far.

Jess played hookey today to go riding down the river on inner tubes with work-mates, drinking and generally having a relaxing time. I took over baby-caring-for duty, and Jess has been taking every opportunity to tell people how nice I am being to her, which is a kindness that I definitely appreciate.

Tyler's latest trick is that he really likes noticing when things are the same. If you're reading a book, and the picture on the front of the book is the same as the picture on one of the pages, he'll get really excited (if he remembers) and make you flip back to the cover to make sure they are the same. He also got really excited when he noticed that the cat on my 'darth vader kitty' t-shirt was the same as the cats running around the house. Both dee-dees.

My sparring (they call it shi-ai) in judo has never been very good. I'd mostly quantify it as 'really bad', and I've decided I have to face my fear of sucking at judo and just practice it more. After all, that's pretty much how you get better at anything. I get myself pumped up by listening to energetic music on the way in, and I'm trying to convince myself that, much like the piano, I just have to do it every day. Not a lot, necessarily, but every time needs a little more practice. I'll get there eventually if I put in the time.

-N