First Day of First Grade

James started First Grade today! Hard to believe this on two time scales: that summer is already over (at least the non-school part of summer) and that our boy is now entering the "real" grades. Of course, James' little sister was there to walk him in to his classroom and wish him well on first day. He told us this morning that he was "even more nervous than for kindergarten," though I have little doubt that he is already having a blast with some new friends.

The rocket is taking off.

James has enthusiastically embraced literacy. We have been simply amazed by not only how quickly James has learned to recognize words, sound out words, and spell words, but how much he loves doing it. Yesterday, James brought home what is probably his first written narrative (with illustrations!). He sounded out all these words himself! The English major in me would like to point out his use of the present progressive verb tense.

Finally...some photos of outdoor fun!

It's been a while since we've updated Jamie's blog, but that sure doesn't mean we haven't been up to some fun. Spring is finally here in Iowa and we sure have been enjoying it! Here are some photos of a couple family hiking adventures as well as a trip to one of my field sites with James. We went with our friend Andy, who took a number of these photos (all the ones with file names starting with "IMG" to be precise). James had a great time exploring and catching snakes. Soon enough he'll be my #1 field assistant!

Outdoor Fun

Outdoor Naked Fun!

We are hankering for spring. After a fall that seemed to extend summer well into mid-November, it seems winter is equally late in its departure this year. We've had exactly two sunny, warm spring days. It might snow later this week. We are just going bonkers in anticipation to start up our summer lifestyle: dinner on the porch, bike rides to the library, evenings at the park, etc. Given how dreary its been outside, though, a day like last Saturday, mid-50s and not entirely overcast, can seem downright luxurious. So we made the best of it with a little hike in a city park with our friends Freddy and Lisa. It was great to see the kids running around in the woods. But not five minutes into our walk we came upon a sandy shore along the creek and spent the next hour or more there. The kids slowly but surely lost their clothes, until they were stark naked, running in the shallow water and up and down the "beach." It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and we left just as the rain started up again. You can see some of the fun here:

Naked Fun at East River Park

One Smart Boy

James' ability to recall seemingly minor facts and events has often impressed us. Of course, he also has the amazing ability to "forget" that he was supposed to do simple things, such as put on his socks, within 10 seconds of the request. This afternoon, however, he offered a great demonstration of his impressive memory. I don't recall how the subject came up (his mnemonic abilities are obviously not genetic), but we were talking about a part of the Winnie the Pooh movie when all the characters fall in a mud pit and mistake each each other for mud monsters. This is similar to a book we had read recently called "Two Dumb Ducks" in which two duck friends fall in the muck and are able to scare off the pesky seagulls. Hoping that James might remember this book (and make what Becky might call a text-to-text connection in teacher parlance), I said, "That reminds me of a book we read recently." I had hoped that maybe he would recall the name of the book. Of course, his response far exceeded that as recalled the ducks' names, exclaiming "Carl and Steve!" Then, he went on to say how he really liked Carl's two sock puppets, named "Cornelius and Zanzibar." How this boy can remember the names of the sock puppets of the characters in a library book baffles me. But I suppose that's maybe what kids do best: baffle us.

Two Dumb Ducks:
http://www.amazon.com/Two-Dumb-Ducks-Borzoi-Books/dp/0375845763/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365904677&sr=8-1&keywords=two+dumb+ducks

Angry Birds

In recent weeks, James has become quite obsessed with Angry Birds. In fact, he seldom talks about Lightning McQueen or the Titanic anymore, so posessed in thoughts of Angry Birds is he. While the video game itself is a fun diversion, the cool thing that has come out of this is Jamie's artistic talents flourishing. He and his friends at school make many, many Angry Birds drawings and cut them out. He comes home daily with a stack of them. It's remarkably how quickly his drawing skills have improved during this time. The other morning, James made a museum of some of his drawings and we made a couple short films of him showing off and discussing his artwork. Enjoy!

Angry Birds

Fieldtrip to Chicago!

Last week-end, the graduate student organization in my department organized a trip to Chicago. It sounded like fun and the itinerary for a bunch of nerdy science grad students was identical to that we would have selected for a toddler and preschooler (interesting). The organizers were gracious enough to let the whole family come along, so it was a roadtrip to Chicago! We had a great time, first visiting the Shedd Aquarium on Saturday and then the Field Museum on Sunday. The kids loved being in the big city, seeing the skyscrapers, busy streets, and all the other excitement that they don't see much in our small town. James said the highlight was seeing the T-rex bones at the Field Museum, the biggest complete fossil in the world. While the museums were fantastic, the highlight for Becky and I was probably going out to an Ethiopian restaurant on Sunday night. It's our absolute favorite and, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a single such eatery in the state of Iowa. We ate enough to last us at least six months until the next road trip. I've uploaded some of the better photos here, but be sure to check out Anna's blog for some great photos from our visit with Becky's cousin.

Chicago!

The Biggest Shark

I don't remember how we got on the topic, but the other night at dinner James wanted us to name all the fish. Becky and I came up with quite an impressive list, I must say. We then started discussing what are fish (sharks) and what are not fish (dolphins). At a certain point, I asked James if he knew that the biggest fish was the whale shark. He disagreed, insisting that the largest fish was the great white shark. We asked him how he knew this, to which he replied that his friend Theo had told him. We said that maybe we could look it up on the computer together or look in his shark book, suggestions that only frustrated James. He was absolutely insistent. In an attempt to end the argument, he simply declared, "I just know more than you guys."

If he thinks that now, what will he think when he's 17!?

Kevin

James has been very interested in the Titanic lately. It started with a YouTube video and then expanded to a book (which we once read three times in one day). While in New Jersey visiting family for Christmas we discovered their science museum had a Titanic exhibit. Eric and James went to see it and had a great time. Later that night I was talking with James. Here's how it went...

Me:      What did you think of the exhibit?
James:  It was amazing and sad.
Me:       It was amazing because it was so big. Why was it sad?
James:  Because a lot of people died.
Me:      They did and that is really sad?
James:  Did they all go to Kevin?
Me:      What do you mean?
James:  When they died did they all go to Kevin? (meaning heaven)
Me:      Yes they did. (smiling)

Snow and icefishing!

Believe it or not, it has been nearly two years since I've had a chance to play in the show! We had one morning last winter when me and my buddy Freddy went sledding, but that melted by afternoon. I've been real excited to get out there, but we left town right as the blizzard hit last month! Fortunately, it's stayed cold enough that all the snow is still here, so I got to play in it yesterday with my daddy. It was fun, but it was too cold even to make a snowman or snowballs!

And I got to do something really cool...go icefishing! My buddy Freddy and his daddy took me and my dad out to a spot here in town. It was real fun to be out on the frozen lake, especially when the dads pulled us around on a sled. I was curious about how ice fishing worked and pretty disappointed that we didn't catch anything. I guess we'll have to go again!

Snow and icefishing!

Music

I have tried, with varying degrees of success, to get James (and now Anna) interested in the same music as me. I'm not sure if this stems from altruism, a desire to share with the kids what I love, or if it's purely selfish: if they like what I like, then I can listen to what I like without a backdrop of whining. What's been remarkable about this is how James' tastes are so well-defined, even at such a young age. He knows what he likes and what he doesn't like. He likes "loud loud loud rock 'n roll" more than any lullaby or ballad, which isn't all that surprising considering his frenetic personality. His idea of rock 'n roll, however, is wildly unpredictable. For example, see my attempt to get him to appreciate arguably the greatest rock 'n roll album of all time:
http://jamessgangloff.blogspot.com/2012/03/some-things-kids-need-to-be-taught.html

Fortunately, we have found some common ground. For a while, James was digging on The Beatles, especially "Hey Jude". We've danced around the house to Andrew Bird and Beirut. At times, he also requested (repeatedly) "Ring the Bells" by his eponymous rock group, James (a song I regularly play and sing to him before bed):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHsBJPK6ek

He also enjoyed "No Cars Go" by the Arcade Fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P77GfpzqDvQ

This one was interesting because it sparked a conversation about why anyone would want to be in a place where there were no cars. James was incredulous, telling me, "I really like cars, you know."

Our perennial favorite, without a doubt, has been Regina Spektor. James' favorite song this month is "Ne Me Quitte Pas" from her newest album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWXWivwhi14

This is a great, fun tune. At one point, I had played for him her earlier song, another great, "Hotel Song":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzoiQNvwf2E

The lyrics to this one, however, prompted a most difficult question from my 3 year-old: "Daddy, what's cocaine?" Oops.

Lately the kids have both been into the Laurie Berkner Band, a group lead by (you guessed) it Laurie Berkner that sings fun and goofy kids' songs. I like the albums and sing along with the songs, but, as James likes to say, "it's not my favorite." This morning on the way to drop the kids off at their "schooly", I was looking for something a bit more excited. Last week, I had picked up the most recent release from my favorite Canadian post-punk art-rock outfit, Do Make Say Think. James requested some rock 'n roll, so I tried out the first track: ten-plus minutes of jaggedy guitar-driven instrumental. Imagine my surprise when both he and Anna sat, in awe, as I danced (as much as one can while driving) and pumped my fist to the guitar line. They LOVED it! And you can too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9u7LxVcvx8

Summer Vacation

For the second half of July, the family spent a wonderful vacation in South Carolina. James & Anna got to visit with Grandma & Grandpa, play with their cousins Ceci & Caleb, and spend pretty much every day either at the beach or the pool. James was absolutely beside himself to see his beloved older cousins, jumping up and down and yelling "yay!" at the most mundane events. He and Anna both loved the ocean. Anna is fearless: she would just start walking down the beach, into the water, straight out to the sea without hesitation. She was utterly unfazed when the water was too deep for her and she went under, emerging with a huge smile on her face. You can see some of the photographic evidence of the fun here:

Summer Vacation in Charleston!

Good times with Uncle Mark

Uncle Mark came to visit this week. Despite being overwhelmed by the shear amount of energy and patience it takes to handle two toddlers (as I generally feel daily), he was terrific with his niece and nephew. James asked endless questions about pretty much everything his Uncle said and Anna gave her coy smile whenever he made a farting sound.

We spent some time at the pool in this heat wave, where James got to show off his recently-emerged bravery at handling the slide. Uncle Mark caught a few runs on video, along with this very cute photo of a boy in his favorite shark shirt:

The big slide with Uncle Mark

Summer Fun with James & Anna

Often, we create posts of exceptional things that happen with the kids. Today, I'd like to just post some photos of our normal (well, normal for us) routines: taking a bike ride to the farmer's market, playing outside, and playing inside a tent set up in the garage (don't ask why). Of course, the kids look pretty darn cute in all these situations.

There are also some photos of an unexpected adventure...yesterday Jamie's friend Freddy (and his mom) stopped by to invite us to "see the neighbor's train" out in the country. Having nothing else planned for the day, I immediately agreed, imagining that it was a cool model train layout or maybe an extensive collection of toy trains. It turned out to be both and so much more! Our neighbor, Bob, and his hobbiest/enthusiast friends, have taken a little piece of land out in the country and built a 1:8 scale model train that you can ride! There is a half-mile loop, winding through beautiful prairie and woodlands, and well over a mile of track total. James and I even got to drive the train, a first for both of us! Anna seemed mesmerized by the scenery rolling by (we went around 4 times) as well. James and I both thought how much Poppa would love this!

While on one of our excursions, I had what is quite possibly my proudest moment as a parent. Turning from the scenery, apropos of nothing, James declared, "Daddy, I wish I were a hobo."

I replied, "Me too, kid. Me too."

Summer Fun with James and Anna

Oh Boy!

Eric was away doing research this weekend - which left me with both kids.  This meant they accompanied me pretty much everywhere I went, including the bathroom.  (I will be really happy when this phase of parenting has passed.)  Here are a few conversations we had...

James:  What's that mommy?
Me:  It's a tampon.
James:  Why did you put the tampon on your penis?
Me (smirking and hoping the derail this line of conversation).  Well James, I have a vagina, not a penis.
James:  Why did you put the tampon on your vagina?
Me:  Because sometimes mommy's need to use tampons.
James:  Why didn't you just use toilet paper?

And later...

James:  Mommy can I have another tampon?
Me:  No James.
James:  Why not?
Me:  Because mommy needs them and that would be wasting them.  Why do you want one?
James:  Because tampons are cool.

Oh boy!  So many conversation I could never have fathomed having before becoming a parent.

Camping with the boy

Since our last camping adventure with friends our few weeks ago, James has been asking to go again pretty much daily. This is, of course, one of those things you dream about as a parent: your kid is begging you to do something that you love to do anyway. Maybe it's like when I go home and say, "Hey dad -- wanna have a beer and watch the hockey game?" Maybe someday James will make that request, too.

During the week, I had been debating if we should go. I was talking with my dad on the phone and mentioned that I was thinking of heading out and he said something about how "I'll never regret the time spent with James." Of course I knew that, but to hear it from my own father and think of all the hours and days he set aside to spend time with me (and probably, to some extend, my brother as well) solidified my decision. James had a rough week at his preschool, including several tantrums and some hard days. I thought that some one-on-one time, away from our normal routines and distractions, would be good for both of us. So we went camping, just for a night, at Chichaqua Bottoms Greenway, a conservation area in the next county south where I'm doing some of my snake research. Of course, it was fantastic.

Here are some photos of James displaying his usual unbound curiosity: handling a giant spider, scooping duckweed from the oxbows (he was really into duckweed, which worked out well since some of the waterways are absolutely choked with the stuff), and of course canoeing. Before we set off, James was in quite the "relaxing" mood, as you can see from the photos of him reclining as we waited for our canoe. I haven't seen the boy so calm and attentive for so long as he was as we paddled (or, rather, I paddled) down the quite waterways. It was a beautiful early summer morning -- warm but not hot, nice little breeze, no mosquitoes just yet -- and we had the place to ourselves. Well almost -- the turtles, snakes, and frogs kept us company which, for boys like us, is certainly good company.

My dad was certainly right. I can't imagine regretting time like this. Next time, Anna comes too.

Camping with the boy

When Mommy Grows Up

James has gotten very good at using the bathroom and no longer wears any kind of diaper. He does still, however, like company. On a recent visit he told me, "Mommy when you grow up you'll have a penis too." I told him I didn't think so but I guess we can all hope.

Rock 'n Roll James

James has been making up his own songs lately, usually about Hot Wheels cars. Enjoy a couple recent examples:

Rock 'n Roll James

The boy has his rock 'n roll moves down!

Camping Fun!

Last week-end, we spent a night and a day camping at Ledges State Park with our good friends from down the street Freddy, Ray, Lisa & Pete (and their dog Inge). James and Freddy are best buddies; even after spending all day every day together in the same room at daycare, it's an evening routine to hear James say, "Hey, I have an idea! Why don't we go to Freddy's house!" As we were parting ways on Saturday evening, after spending 24 consecutive hours with each other, James said, "Can Freddy come over to play tonight?" You can see from these photos that the boys had a great chance to get out their goofies on the camping trip!

Camping at Ledges State Park, May 2012

Happy Mother's Day!

James and Anna have some special wishes to share for Mother's Day!

From Mother's Day Greetings

Please notice James' new haircut -- he sure looks older with his hair trimmed. Becky & I were joking that Anna will need to get hers cut in, oh, maybe 18 months or so. Much love to all our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers! We hope you had a very wonderful day and we only wish that we could've spent it with you.