1) Owen getting better at crawling. A few days ago J set him down in the living room surrounded by some favorite toys so she could finish James' bath. A few moments later, a little blonde head peeked its way around the door...
No place is safe anymore. He routinely crawls over to the radiator vents and disassembles them. He climbs on and off the mattresses on the floor, and is especially interested in any books, shoes, or power cords that might be lying at infant level.
2) James' room is a baseball stadium. He runs the bases. (Making an L shape around the bed and frequently hopping over the younger brother who's crawled in to see what he's doing) and keeps up a constant stream of color commentary. George is most often the other player, although he's also sung the Take Me Out to the Ballgame tune using only the word Owen.
3) Throwing rocks in the stream. This is sort of the meaning of life for a little boy as it involves all five of the major elemental forces of little-boy-hood. (1-Throwing things 2-Getting dirty 3-Causing big noises/crashes 4-Climbing 5-Getting soaked). Today I only took James, but a few days ago Owen came along as well. He thought it was great fun, but for every rock he actually threw in the stream he tried to put two in his mouth.
4) Pearce sing-time. James has declared that Owen's room is "Pearce." He goes in, stands on the bedframe, sets up George and Steven, and then sings Sunday School songs to them. This would be really cute just on its own, but you have to know that for months and months James has resisted participating in the sing-time when he's in the church nursery. Some sweet woman comes in every week and sings to all of the little 3 year olds in the nursery, and J tells me that inevitably when she walks by there's a group of kids sitting at her feet and singing the songs enthusiastically while James stands off in a corner alone playing with George and Steven. She took to asking him whether he was singing along with the Sunday School songs or not, and James always made a point of proudly telling her that she refused. In fact, he even began to answer the question before it was asked. (She would pick him up at the nursery and he'd declare as soon as he saw her "Hi Mommy! I didn't sing today!") I don't know what clicked when we arrived at camp, but he suddenly decided that he was going to set up his own "Pearce" and has faithfully held singing sessions for George and Steven (none of the rest of us are allowed in) where he sings close to a dozen different Sunday School songs, all memorized, some of which we've never heard before.
5) James' crush on Lizzie. Lizzie is nine, and is still a little too young to be at camp. Her family started sitting with us during mealtimes, and she condescended to play with him. Now he constantly asks about her. "Hey, when we go to the music building will we see Wizzie?" "Hey, is Wizzie going to be at wunch?" "Where does Wizzie wive? Does she wive at 3-0-6? Can we say hi to her?" "Mommy, what do you think Wizzie is doing?" If you ask him about her or about what he thinks about her, he'll either run into his room and hide or he'll lie down on the floor and bury his face in George and Steven. And then, if he sees her on campus, he'll just about walk into traffic with distraction. This afternoon she was crossing into the cafeteria with her parents and James whispered "Hey Daddy, who do you see?" "I think I see someone we know...who is it?" "Can you tell me?" "You know who it is...who is it?" "Can you tell me?"
6) James' room is also a tractor store. There are tractors for sale, and the tractor is displayed up on a kitchen stool. Owen isn't allowed to play with the tractor, but he can come and visit the tractor store. Do you want to buy a tractor?
7) Owen's social graces. We love camp, and we love the people at camp. It's always a mix of some people we know fairly well and some people who we don't know, but suspect we'd probably get along with nicely if we sat down and had a conversation. But even with the people we know fairly well, conversation for J and me is always a deliberate effort. We weigh our words, we speak carefully, and we're socially self-conscious. We want to connect and make new friends, but the inner voice of our introverted selves would be fine to just keep to our own business and read quietly in the flats all afternoon. Not so with Owen. He smiles at anybody and everyone who passes by him, often smeared in cafeteria food and brandishing whatever utensil was carelessly left within his wingspan. All the little girl campers stop by and giggle at him, and he delights them each time with a goofy grin in return, completely happy to be the center of their attention.
8) James' room is also a recycling truck. Since the water here is so nasty we always bring an enormous pack of bottled water to keep in the fridge. By several days in we'd already nearly filled up the recycling bin in our room with empty water bottles. Yesterday I walked by the bin and noticed it was empty. J said she hadn't taken in out. James, sitting on his bed, declared that he was driving a recycling truck with George. I later found every single empty water bottle in the underwear drawer of his dresser. In fact, I think he's started to ask for new water in his cup just so he can have another empty bottle to put "on his recycling truck."
9) Visits from friends. Pax, K, and Abby stopped by yesterday afternoon, and we got to see a personal demonstration of Abby's new skills. While they were visiting the Shewans also dropped in, and we had a lovely (albeit very warm) time catching up in our apartment. In fact, since we've been down at camp I've seen everyone in the family except Sam. I don't remember the last time we did that much visiting in one week.
10) Ice cream at every meal.
Monday, July 27, 2015
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Signs of Hope
Today is my brother Calvus' birthday. Calvus is a remarkable man, and all the more remarkable because he's such a young man (turning 24 today) who has already found a enviable balance in his life that most of the rest of us fight for in vain. And it may be wrong to suggest that he's found balance in adulthood, because he's maintained a wise and easy equilibrium from childhood almost uninterrupted.
He gives me hope that it's possible to have a desk full of books to be read and also a vibrant social life.
He gives me hope that I could be cordial and outgoing socially while also speaking wisely, judiciously, and saying nothing offensive or untoward.
He gives me hope that I could learn useful and fulfilling skills of husbandry, like gardening and baking, while still keeping up with a rigorous schedule of musical practice and intellectual life.
He gives me hope that I could have a joyful, loving, and genuine spiritual life while also subjecting questions of theology and spirituality to rigorous academic criticism.
He gives me hope that exercising self-control can look more like enjoyment than privation.
He gives me hope that one can love the outdoors in all seasons, even in Western New York.
He gives me hope that I might be able to get up early every morning while still maintaining civility to my wife and children.
He gives me hope that public kindness really does look more goodness than weakness.
He gives me hope that really learning the minutiae of a subject, whether it's Hebrew Grammar or the chemistry of breadmaking, will eventually pay off.
Calvus and I are very much alike. In the ways that we're similar, I consider it a high compliment.
He gives me hope that it's possible to have a desk full of books to be read and also a vibrant social life.
He gives me hope that I could be cordial and outgoing socially while also speaking wisely, judiciously, and saying nothing offensive or untoward.
He gives me hope that I could learn useful and fulfilling skills of husbandry, like gardening and baking, while still keeping up with a rigorous schedule of musical practice and intellectual life.
He gives me hope that I could have a joyful, loving, and genuine spiritual life while also subjecting questions of theology and spirituality to rigorous academic criticism.
He gives me hope that exercising self-control can look more like enjoyment than privation.
He gives me hope that one can love the outdoors in all seasons, even in Western New York.
He gives me hope that I might be able to get up early every morning while still maintaining civility to my wife and children.
He gives me hope that public kindness really does look more goodness than weakness.
He gives me hope that really learning the minutiae of a subject, whether it's Hebrew Grammar or the chemistry of breadmaking, will eventually pay off.
Calvus and I are very much alike. In the ways that we're similar, I consider it a high compliment.
Monday, July 20, 2015
Boys at Camp
Owen has become a grabber.
This afternoon when I brought him out from his nap I had set up shop on the kitchen counter in front of a big box fan overlooking the back field behind the flats. I brought him over to where I'd stacked my books and papers, hoping to finish the last few lines I had in my chapter before I changed him and got down to play.
He immediately started grabbing for the book. I held the book further away, but this made it hard to hold him and the book, so I leaned up against the counter. He grabbed the wireless mouse to the computer and threw it down on the ground. One of the plastic covers broke off and skidded across the floor. As I reached down to grab the mouse, he grabbed a pen on the counter, and through that on the floor. So I reached down to grab the pen after I'd put the mouse back up on the counter, and on the way down he grabbed the power cord to the laptop and tried to put it in his mouth. I took the power cord away, and went to retrieve the missing plastic piece to the mouse. He knocked down two of James' hot wheels cars as I was leaning past that section of counter, and I shifted him into my other hand. When I stood up again he was holding one set of index cards in one hand and he had my phone in his mouth with the other.
There's lots to explore as an eight-month old.
Especially now that we're at camp!
We're here (mostly) for the next two weeks and my only responsibilities (mostly) are to watch the boys and practice, so that should be favorable news to those of you who like reading blogs. Our apartment (or, capartment, as James calls it) is sweltering hot, as usual, but the people are lovely and the campus is beautiful.
So far James has taken the task of teaching Owen about camp life very seriously. "Owen, this is a big rock. And it used to be purple, but now it is sparkly. And Owen, these are swings. You've never seen swings before, but I'm gonna swing on the swings with George and then we're gonna go frow rocks in the water."
There's ice cream available at every meal, and that's a nice little bargaining chip. More importantly, we don't have to do the cleanup or the preparation for any of the meals.
Today we puttered around the flats in the morning, then took a long walk over to the stream for rock-throwing. James found a huge spider under one of the rocks he picked up, and he's been very careful to examine each rock thoroughly before picking it up and throwing it ever since. Owen sat in the stroller for most of the morning and only occasionally lurched forward in an attempt to break his bonds.
Since we don't want to attempt sleeping the boys together, J and I have set up our mattresses in the middle of our big "living room." This makes for a big bounce pad, and James and Owen spent most of the hour before their naps laughing at each other jumping and falling off the mattresses.
One of these nights we'll let them stay up for singtime, but tonight they were both tuckered out from lots of exploring and in need of baths.
And it isn't even too hot here in the flats, as I sit beside a big stack of books and scratch off bits of reading I was hoping to do. Plus, it's a lot easier now that Owen isn't trying to eat my book.
This afternoon when I brought him out from his nap I had set up shop on the kitchen counter in front of a big box fan overlooking the back field behind the flats. I brought him over to where I'd stacked my books and papers, hoping to finish the last few lines I had in my chapter before I changed him and got down to play.
He immediately started grabbing for the book. I held the book further away, but this made it hard to hold him and the book, so I leaned up against the counter. He grabbed the wireless mouse to the computer and threw it down on the ground. One of the plastic covers broke off and skidded across the floor. As I reached down to grab the mouse, he grabbed a pen on the counter, and through that on the floor. So I reached down to grab the pen after I'd put the mouse back up on the counter, and on the way down he grabbed the power cord to the laptop and tried to put it in his mouth. I took the power cord away, and went to retrieve the missing plastic piece to the mouse. He knocked down two of James' hot wheels cars as I was leaning past that section of counter, and I shifted him into my other hand. When I stood up again he was holding one set of index cards in one hand and he had my phone in his mouth with the other.
There's lots to explore as an eight-month old.
Especially now that we're at camp!
We're here (mostly) for the next two weeks and my only responsibilities (mostly) are to watch the boys and practice, so that should be favorable news to those of you who like reading blogs. Our apartment (or, capartment, as James calls it) is sweltering hot, as usual, but the people are lovely and the campus is beautiful.
So far James has taken the task of teaching Owen about camp life very seriously. "Owen, this is a big rock. And it used to be purple, but now it is sparkly. And Owen, these are swings. You've never seen swings before, but I'm gonna swing on the swings with George and then we're gonna go frow rocks in the water."
There's ice cream available at every meal, and that's a nice little bargaining chip. More importantly, we don't have to do the cleanup or the preparation for any of the meals.
Today we puttered around the flats in the morning, then took a long walk over to the stream for rock-throwing. James found a huge spider under one of the rocks he picked up, and he's been very careful to examine each rock thoroughly before picking it up and throwing it ever since. Owen sat in the stroller for most of the morning and only occasionally lurched forward in an attempt to break his bonds.
Since we don't want to attempt sleeping the boys together, J and I have set up our mattresses in the middle of our big "living room." This makes for a big bounce pad, and James and Owen spent most of the hour before their naps laughing at each other jumping and falling off the mattresses.
One of these nights we'll let them stay up for singtime, but tonight they were both tuckered out from lots of exploring and in need of baths.
And it isn't even too hot here in the flats, as I sit beside a big stack of books and scratch off bits of reading I was hoping to do. Plus, it's a lot easier now that Owen isn't trying to eat my book.
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Plague and Pestilence
Well, we're all sick.
It started with Owen's cold, and James picked that up right away. Neither of them have been sleeping particularly well as a result, perhaps topped off last night when Owen was up every two hours. James already had his bad night of the cold, where he was up multiple times in the night. We tried to head it off by allowing him to take a box of kleenex into bed with him. When J went to check on him at 10 he'd already made a small mountain of tissues on the floor next to him that had been pulled out and wiped once, then discarded immediately for another. Both of them are holding up okay, but generally more shorter and more irritable than usual.
J picked up their cold yesterday, so she's been trying to conserve the few remaining tissues in the house in the midst of comforting both boys.
And then yesterday I came down with a fever.
So this morning, I was lying in bed shivering under the covers, Owen was up at 6, and James woke up in his mountain of kleenex concerned about whether his balloons had moved overnight. (Last night they came to a concert and a girl gave James a balloon. The tie broke off and we heard a wail of despair as it floated away, but then the girl had two extras that she gave to him.)
Now I'm off at a double service day in Buffalo, drugged up, while J holds down the fort with the boys back home. She was in a cleaning frenzy this morning. We go to camp on Sunday, and she was attempting to get all the laundry and dishes done that morning before cleaning the house and planning church services for the next three weeks.
I think we're all aware that if we can just get down to camp in one piece we can relax there without having to worry about cleaning or cooking for two weeks.
We just need to survive for another few days
It started with Owen's cold, and James picked that up right away. Neither of them have been sleeping particularly well as a result, perhaps topped off last night when Owen was up every two hours. James already had his bad night of the cold, where he was up multiple times in the night. We tried to head it off by allowing him to take a box of kleenex into bed with him. When J went to check on him at 10 he'd already made a small mountain of tissues on the floor next to him that had been pulled out and wiped once, then discarded immediately for another. Both of them are holding up okay, but generally more shorter and more irritable than usual.
J picked up their cold yesterday, so she's been trying to conserve the few remaining tissues in the house in the midst of comforting both boys.
And then yesterday I came down with a fever.
So this morning, I was lying in bed shivering under the covers, Owen was up at 6, and James woke up in his mountain of kleenex concerned about whether his balloons had moved overnight. (Last night they came to a concert and a girl gave James a balloon. The tie broke off and we heard a wail of despair as it floated away, but then the girl had two extras that she gave to him.)
Now I'm off at a double service day in Buffalo, drugged up, while J holds down the fort with the boys back home. She was in a cleaning frenzy this morning. We go to camp on Sunday, and she was attempting to get all the laundry and dishes done that morning before cleaning the house and planning church services for the next three weeks.
I think we're all aware that if we can just get down to camp in one piece we can relax there without having to worry about cleaning or cooking for two weeks.
We just need to survive for another few days
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Rooted in Design-Blogging for Books
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Tara Heibel and Tassy de Give’s book Rooted in Design. The printing and photography are exceptionally well executed throughout, and it’s certainly the most beautiful book to look at I’ve picked up in the last few months. I appreciate that it could function as a coffee table book without taking up the inordinate amount of space that most “coffee table” books require. Within the beautifully printed pages, however, are a feast of excellent ideas for the uninitiated hoping to bring some green life into their house. From wall mounts to suspended chandeliers and terrariums, Heibel and de Give provide thoughtful and creative ideas for decorating one’s interior home with plants, moss, and arrangements. Even a cursory thumb through the book gave me several ideas that I immediately brought to my wife’s attention. (We’ve yet to put them into execution, however.) Especially helpful are the 13 pages at the end which provide sufficient but not overwhelming details for looking after plants, watering, and pruning. I would suggest, were a second edition ever to be released, that the photographs be identified with common English names of plants and referenced alphabetically at the end of the book with the Latin names italicized beneath, instead of the other way around. I would also suggest that a wider variety of domestic settings be photographed, as the majority of the photos appeared to come from urban apartment settings of a uniform age and state of decay. (There were few photographs of the sort of suburban house which I inhabit.) I am very grateful to the authors for their guide to indoor planting.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
More Quick Hitters
I.
I finished Neuhaus' Naked Public Square a few days ago, and now the Amazon "Recommended for You" tab keeps on suggesting that I order Ann Coulter books. (No.) I much preferred Calvus' Sunday sermon on church-state relations to the Neuhaus analysis, but it was a worthwhile read as a classic in the field and as an interesting glimpse into the world of the early 1980s when the Moral Majority and Evangelical Conservatism were fresh forces. This was the moment when our parents were hearing college lectures, watching the news as independent thinkers for the first time, and casting their first votes. Some of Neuhaus' prophesies about the secular public square appear to be coming true rather rapidly, but there are other ways in which the role of Judeo-Christian moral discourse has influenced public discourse with disastrous effect. (Most notably, the responses to the Middle East.) If anyone wants to thumb through my copy, you are more than welcome to it. (Although Owen did eat part of the dust jacket.)
II.
I have the night off tonight! My BPO concert was rained out, and although I can't mow the lawn (to James' disappointment) I have plenty of other domestic chores that have been put off for far too long. The downstairs is finally swept, the laundry may yet be put away, and I can continue to responsibly clean my new French Press after every usage. It's a Bodrum press, and the filter detaches easily...so far I've noticed a marked improvement in taste. I also found out that you're supposed to stir the brewed coffee with a wooden spoon before plunging? I attempted this for the first time this morning, and J's analysis was "a much smoother, more even taste."
III.
My copy of Claudius the God arrived a few days ago, and I'm devouring it. Most of the book so far hasn't been about the Emperor Claudius, but a backstory about Herod Agrippa. (The Prefect of Judea who was educated at Rome and indirectly succeeded Pontius Pilate.) This book is just as good as the first so far, and the two together are absolutely my favorite new novels of the last year. I wish he'd written more!
IV.
James' new favorite game is Sock Wars. He tells me this every time we play, so I know that he means it. We drag three (exactly three) chairs into the living room, bring down all of my rolled up black socks from upstairs, and then pelt each other as hard as we can. Well, he throws them at me, and then I try hard to throw the socks close to him without actually hitting him. Two nights ago when I actually caught him in the face he turned me in for "hitting his eye." This goes on as long as I'll permit it, although the game periodically stops because he gets the giggles so violently, or because he can't return the socks fast enough for me to have any ammunition but he wants to see me throw before he'll make his attempt. We've been blasting music from Return of the Jedi both for research purposes (I have a John Williams show on Saturday night) and because it's fun.
V.
Owen has learned how to balance up on his hands and knees (Thanks, Aunt Jessica!) and to shake his head "no." He doesn't really differentiate between "no" and "yes" and he smiles an enormous smile no matter what he means, but he's looking rather eager to communicate whether he "wants to go to bed" "wants to eat more beans" "wants to wake James up" or "wants to get in the bath." (The answer is "no" to all of these, but really "YES!")
VI. The phonics wall is assembled. There are forty paper doilies taped to the wall of our back room with all the three-letter short-voweled words I could think of. My theory is that once we can get James reading on his own, we might actually have a chance of expanding our own reading materials beyond Curious George and Richard Scarry during his waking hours. But then again, Owen is starting to enjoy looking at books as well. (But mostly just eating them.)
Friday, July 3, 2015
Quick Hitters
I.
This morning I was shaking my fist at the gods.
I was getting ready to make coffee, you see, and the base to my already-falling-apart French press fell off. The adhesive was completely worn away, and the plastic would no longer fit into the frame. When the gods took away my coffee, that was when I began to make my complaint against them.
I lost a job yesterday. It's complicated and unofficial, but I was informed via phone call that I'd been made redundant by the hiring of a new full time music professor. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that I'd confirmed my return for next year with the previous Dean (who took a bolt as soon as the semester was over) and resigned one of my other teaching jobs so that I could free up my schedule.
And now I'm out both jobs, and two jobs' worth of income. It's a good thing I collect spare jobs for fun and have several others on which I can temporarily float by...
All parties involved have been gracious so far, and it isn't an appropriate time (or space) to get into details, but it sure has been a lousy 24 hours.
II.
Sick kids are terribly sad, and Owen was a very sick boy this week. He had a high fever and didn't sleep well, and there was something awfully wrong with the back of his head and ear. He went to the doctor, was sent home, and slept poorly some more. Now he's starting to look like himself again, albeit a little more pale in the face and tired-out. He's a sweet little boy even when he's sick...he'd be whimpering and obviously upset, and then if he saw someone make eye contact with him he'd give his best effort at a goofy grin...he's a trooper.
III.
It's back in the saddle for orchestra work. If anyone wants to attend a concert, drop me a note about one of these dates and I'll see if I can get you comp tickets
3 BPO 9 pm at the Bisons game
4 BPO 8 pm in Ellicottville
5 BPO 7 pm at Niawanda park
7 BPO noon at M&T plaza
8 RPO 7pm at Ontario Beach
9 BPO 7 pm at Knox Farm
10 RPO 8:30 pm at Geneseo
11 BPO 7pm at Artpark
12 BPO 6 pm at Artpark
14 Syracuse BQ 7 pm in the 1000 islands
15 BPO 7 pm in Clarence
16 BPO 7pm at the harbor
19 Syracuse BQ 6pm at Thornden Park
24 RPO somewhere really far away
26 BPO 8pm at Old Fort Niagara
Needless to say, if anyone wants to bring over a bottle of wine and some takeout Chinese food to our house, J would probably appreciate some company...
This morning I was shaking my fist at the gods.
I was getting ready to make coffee, you see, and the base to my already-falling-apart French press fell off. The adhesive was completely worn away, and the plastic would no longer fit into the frame. When the gods took away my coffee, that was when I began to make my complaint against them.
I lost a job yesterday. It's complicated and unofficial, but I was informed via phone call that I'd been made redundant by the hiring of a new full time music professor. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that I'd confirmed my return for next year with the previous Dean (who took a bolt as soon as the semester was over) and resigned one of my other teaching jobs so that I could free up my schedule.
And now I'm out both jobs, and two jobs' worth of income. It's a good thing I collect spare jobs for fun and have several others on which I can temporarily float by...
All parties involved have been gracious so far, and it isn't an appropriate time (or space) to get into details, but it sure has been a lousy 24 hours.
II.
Sick kids are terribly sad, and Owen was a very sick boy this week. He had a high fever and didn't sleep well, and there was something awfully wrong with the back of his head and ear. He went to the doctor, was sent home, and slept poorly some more. Now he's starting to look like himself again, albeit a little more pale in the face and tired-out. He's a sweet little boy even when he's sick...he'd be whimpering and obviously upset, and then if he saw someone make eye contact with him he'd give his best effort at a goofy grin...he's a trooper.
III.
It's back in the saddle for orchestra work. If anyone wants to attend a concert, drop me a note about one of these dates and I'll see if I can get you comp tickets
3 BPO 9 pm at the Bisons game
4 BPO 8 pm in Ellicottville
5 BPO 7 pm at Niawanda park
7 BPO noon at M&T plaza
8 RPO 7pm at Ontario Beach
9 BPO 7 pm at Knox Farm
10 RPO 8:30 pm at Geneseo
11 BPO 7pm at Artpark
12 BPO 6 pm at Artpark
14 Syracuse BQ 7 pm in the 1000 islands
15 BPO 7 pm in Clarence
16 BPO 7pm at the harbor
19 Syracuse BQ 6pm at Thornden Park
24 RPO somewhere really far away
26 BPO 8pm at Old Fort Niagara
Needless to say, if anyone wants to bring over a bottle of wine and some takeout Chinese food to our house, J would probably appreciate some company...
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