The Small Family     

Well, it’s not quite Independence Day yet, but close enough….

Our big decision of this week was to pull the plug on Theo’s swim lessons for the year. Miss Deborah is just going to make sure he’s still floating, and then we’ll try swimming again next year. At just barely three, it’s all a matter of cooperation--a three-year-old is capable of swimming if he cooperates. As you may imagine, knowing Theo, cooperation is not so much happening. He loves to go to his lesson for the play factor--he loves to get in the pool and splash and such--but he has no interest in cooperating with Miss Deborah to learn how to swim. And as Deborah explained to me, she can “force” a child to float, because it’s all about muscle conditioning, so their body automatically turns to its back and rises to the surface. But she can’t force a child to swim--the child has to cooperate. So, we’ll hope for more cooperation next year--and in the meantime, the $60/week we’ll save on swim lessons will be put to good use, and we'll just take Theo to our gym's pool regularly for fun playtime in the water.

Here’s a fun little Theo story for you. Theo can identify all one- and two-digit numbers--that is, zero through 99. He recently discovered 100. So the other day, he was playing on the floor with some foam numbers he loves, and he put together the 1 and two 0s and announced, “That’s 100!” I said, “Yes, it is. Do you know what happens if we put a 2 in front of the zeroes, instead of a 1?” He thought for a minute and said, “Twenty-hundred!” I said, “Close--it’s 200.” We continued with a couple of other numbers: 500, 700, etc. Then he picked up a foam G, put it in front of the zeroes, and announced, “Feo made G-hundred!” Hmmm, I’m not sure how much G-hundred is, but I thought it sounded like a fun number. :-)

He’s a little sponge these days, which a freakish memory for details. So much so that we’ve started calling him Dr. Reid. Anyone watch Criminal Minds? Chris and I got hooked on that show, thanks to my sister’s recommendation. Anyway, for those who don’t watch it, my favorite character is a late-20s genius named Dr. Reid who has an eidetic memory. He can extract minute details from a wealth of information and remember pretty much anything he’s ever seen. (I love this character because he’s so brilliantly quirky and so endearing! Cute as a button, too...) Anyway, sometimes we shake our heads at Theo’s phenomenal memory and said, “Okay, Dr. Reid, whatever you say!” Because I swear, that child remembers every little detail he’s ever seen or heard, and he will bring it up when you least expect it. It’s actually quite funny sometimes. One day, I was putting a Mickey Mouse episode on for him, which on our TV requires a series of steps. (It’s on our cable’s On Demand service, so it’s not as simple as just putting the channel on the TV.) Theo started reciting the steps for how to do for me, and I realized he sounded exactly like my Mom when she talks to herself (as she is known to do). I started laughing when I figured out that the last time she babysat him, she must’ve talked to herself as she performed the steps, and Theo was repeating it verbatim, even with my Mom’s vocal inflections. It’s like having a very cute, very accurate parrot in the house!

He also announced one day, “Number 11 is ‘Apples and Bananas’ at the gym!” I know he loves that song (“I like to eat apples and bananas…”), so I figured he meant it was Track 11 on the gym’s CD. So Chris and I started asking him, “What’s Track 1? What’s Track 2?” He actually recited every song title for each track all the way up to 25, never once repeating a title. The fact that he didn’t have a single repeat in 25 songs tells me that he probably does indeed know which track each and every song is. And the people at the gym have told me that he’ll tell them which track he wants to hear on the CD, so I’m guessing he really does know them all. Crazy, huh? It’s not as if he spends hours upon end there--he’s there for half an hour a day, maybe five days a week. I guess that’s long enough to memorize a CD if you’re Dr. Reid….

(Amusing side note: He apparently does not like the song “London Bridge Is Falling Down.” When we were quizzing him and we got to Track 21, he said, “London Bridge Falling Down. Feo don’t yike that song!” That was the only one he had any personal commentary on….)

And just today, he was looking at a cookbook Auntie Lisa and Uncle Chris sent us as a present. It's a Sesame Street-themed kids' cookbook, but the recipes are all provided by famous chefs (and they look really yummy!). Theo likes to go through and look at all the pictures and tell us what steps in the recipes he'll do, and which we can do. Anyway, at the beginning of the book is a row of 10 thumbnail images of the chefs: Alton Brown, Emeril LaGasse, Rachael Ray, Marcus Samuelson, Jamie Oliver, etc. The other day he asked me their names, so I told him each one's first name. Today, he came up with a couple of them, so I filled in the last few for him. Later today, he brought me the book again--and named all the chefs correctly. (And not in order--he did them randomly.) I guess it only took two times through for him to memorize all the chefs and their names. He must have a memory for faces--which he SURELY did not get from me!

Anyway, I can only imagine the minute details he’ll come home from preschool with! Kids' brains just amaze me....

Our big event of the week was a trip down to San Jose for Chris’s parents’ Fourth of July BBQ. They held it on Saturday the 2^nd, since the 4^th is Monday, so we went down for the day. We got to see much of Chris’s local extended family, and Theo got to play with cousin Nik. I think the pool was probably the highlight of the day for Theo. His teeth were chattering away, but he did not want to get out--he had so much fun playing in there with Daddy! Lots of yummy food and good company, so a good time was had by all!

We were pretty tired out from Saturday’s festivities, so we stuck close to home on Sunday. It was also blazing hot (103 degrees, anyone? It's supposed to be that hot for about six days in a row--ugh!), so about all we could manage was an early-morning walk to Starbucks and a mid-morning trip to a park that has lots of shade and mist to keep it somewhat bearable.

It’s late afternoon now, and we’re headed out in a bit to go to Grandma Diane’s house. Sun City, where my Mom lives, does a wonderful fireworks show on the 3^rd of July, so we’re going to go have dinner with my Mom and go see the fireworks. Although Theo is generally not a fan of loud noises, he did really enjoy seeing all the colors in the sky last year, so I think he’ll enjoy it. And it’s so close and convenient--much better than trying to find an overly crowded place for fireworks on the actual 4^th! Besides, he starts preschool the morning of the 5^th, and I don’t think we ought to keep him up past his bedtime the night before his first day of preschool. :-)

One last thing before I sign off. For those of you who know my sister and brother-in-law, they've had a bit of a setback. Charles finished radiation and chemo early this week, and although he was in tremendous pain (the effects of radiation apparently linger for several weeks post-treatment), we were all hopeful that he would soon be on the road to recovery. This weekend he went back into the ER for a fever, severe abdominal pain, vomiting blood, etc. Turns out they think he has developed either colitis or diverticulitis...and on top of that, he needs a blood transfusion. So any positive thoughts for the Gates family are welcome--as well as prayers from those who are so inclined. I know they will appreciate any and all positive mental energy sent their way!

Next week, I promise fun stories about Theo’s first week at preschool--and whatever other adventures we have. Stay cool--and happy 4^th! (Hmmm, five years ago right now, I believe Chris was dragging me around cobblestone streets in Boston’s North End--me clad in uncomfortable heels and he with a diamond ring in his pocket, looking for a good place to propose to me. Awww!)