Blimp School

A couple weeks ago, James became obsessed with the character Al Oft, the "Light Year" blimp from the "Cars" movies. He did some great things around the house and earned a toy Al Oft (which we had to order over the internet). Since then, he's become more and more interested in blimps. This past week-end, we got some blimp books from the library. We've been looking at these and answering LOTS and LOTS of questions about blimps.

After dinner, James decided that it was time to teach the family a few things about blimps. Here is a short clip of James teaching blimp school:

Blimp School

Word Play

James has started to notice words and play with language. He enjoys replacing the first letters of words with new letters and has recently taking to noticing words that sound similar, like "car" and "card," or words used in different ways, like "fire" and "fire truck." Today at dinner he and Becky were brainstorming different such connections, such as "juice" and "moose" or "Anna" and "banana." James had some creative combinations, but gave me a good chuckle when he proclaimed, "'Dog' and 'Byron Barton' -- they're the same!"

Note: Byron Barton is one of our favorite authors, writing such classics as "Trains," "Planes," and "Boats." We haven't read any of his books or mentioned his name, however, in at least a month.

Not yet, James...

James is not hesitant to get dirty. In fact, just last week we were at the park and he initiated some good old-fashioned mud play with his friend Freddy. This involved first walking tentatively in a mud patch (easy to find with our spring-like weather), sliding the mud patch, kneeling in the mud patch, and ultimately making mud angels. It comes as some surprise on the occasions when James overreacts to being a bit dirty, as he can do sometimes. Last week at breakfast, he gagged a bit on his bagel and spit up a small glob of half-chewed dough. He freaked out that there was some on his hand, which I immediately wiped off. Then, pointing to a small blob stuck on his lower lip, he exclaimed, "Daddy, Daddy! There's still some on my beard!"

Everybody is Happy Because the New Race Cars are Here

Below is a video of James singing his second self-composed song, titled "Everybody is Happy Because the New Race Cars are Here." (His first tune, "Jumbo Jet", is yet unrecorded.) Though she is not in the footage, his little sister can be heard singing harmony.

January 3, 2012