Turkey Day in the District

Snowing in Baltimore

One fish, two fish...

Winter Weather Advisory

Me: Harry, it might snow tomorrow. Are you going to wear your pajamas
inside out?
Harry: Nooo (with dimples)! Miss Diana was just kidding about that! What
you have to do to get it to snow is put ice cubes in the toilet.

And there you have it.

Cast List

Harry will be a soldier. He's thrilled!

What if he's not fabulous?

I had a moment of panic just before heading to see Miss Diana today for Harry's parent-teacher conference. I wondered what my reaction would be if I received any negative news about Harry. I hadn't considered that until 15 minutes prior!
Of course, I had been right all along. He is perfect. He's a pleasure to have in class. He's curious and interesting to talk to. He is well socialized. He knows the rules and he follows them. He could spend more time on his fine motor skills, but he prefers blocks and things like the other boys...but he can write his name and that is all he needs for kindergarten. He needs to count to 10 for K. He can count to 100. Harry reports that one friend calls him "a princess" and another hits him. I'm told "Harry is not a victim." He is learning to use his words, but he does hit back if necessary, and to my surprise, that is not to be discouraged. "Harry knows how to take care of himself." If someone tells him he drew something incorrectly, his responde is "You can draw things all different ways."
Miss Diana has Harry pegged to be Joseph in the Christmas play. Of course, she may have said this to all 6 of us (parents of boys) knowing full well they all want to be soldiers.
He's meticulous. He likes books. He's rough and tumble. He's a morning person, unlike his father.
There is concern again about his voice. I am honestly not sure what teh concern is. I know Sully thinks he sounds like a cartoon character. His doctor says that, like me, he has small nasal passages. I guess the issue is his voice is nasally...but most people understand him, especially when he slows down and enunciates, which we've been working on. He told Miss Diana we are working on his L's. He says Bow-ie instead of Bailey. All non-issues really. He'll be evaluated in kindergarten. If anyone disagrees, please let me know. I can understand him perfectly, but I usually know what he is saying before he says it, so I'm a bad judge!
Honestly, I think school is just Harry's nitch. I don't mean to sound like I am bragging above (I am!), but it's just his thing. He likes rules. He likes routine. He likes having people to talk to incessantly. He's in a well suited environment. We'll just have to sustain that for the rest of his life! An dprovide him with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

More corrections...

While listening to WTOP this morning on the way to school, they announced

...with Sy Robinson at the editor's desk

To which Harry quickly replied

Daddy, he messed up. they always say 'Kate Biel at the editor's desk'

Apparently there are no days off in Harry's world.

Guess where we are?

Correcting TV Shows

While watching Arthur this morning, talking about the planets...

Pluto isn't a planet anymore!

To which I immediately expect him to follow-up with...

so 8 will do fine

Things Harry Loves

Running.
Reading.
Rocks.
Rock Climbing.
The Beach.
Dogs.

He's awesome!

On the way home from the museum field trip:

I want to be a teacher when I grow up, so I can take people on
journeys.

Growing Up

Lots of new things in Harry's world this week.
Harry had a great Halloween. Lots of fun at the Abra Halloween party, then had some friends over at our house to "pre-party" before the neighborhood parade. The Dark Knight Trick or Treated with friends, even at dusk!, then we headed home to enjoy our company. After they left, around 7, I asked if he wanted to go back out. He said yes! This was a big surprise, because Harry doesn't even like being in the car after dark! The two of us walked the neighborhood and had a great time meeting up with neighbors, gathering treats and enjoying the great weather.
More activities the next day. Swimming for Ainsley, birthday party for classmate Maggie at a nature center, then off to PA for Brayden's 5th where a costumed Harry ran around with the other kids outside - again in the dark! This was HUGE! I love that Harry is confident enough to make friends with other kids, independant enough to take care of himself, and brave enough to do things even if they make him nervous.
Today was another first: first day at Taekwondo. Harry said he was "feeling a bit nervous." We are working on him understanding and managing his emotions. I suspect anxiety will be a lifelong issue for him, but hopefully one that will not get in the way. Harry waited for his class, and spoke directly to the teacher when it was time. He went off on his own (on the mat, which I was right next to, but still...) to join a class of about 20 kids that he did not know. He continued to speak to the teachers as necessary, he spoke up to spell his name after another kid did, and he made friends with a couple of the kids, especially a girl named Olivia. I've decided that Harry tends to make friends more easily with girls because he is very verbal. He can be physical, too, but he does like to talk! And talk, and talk, and talk...Moving on, he was able to get his own water and use the bathroom without any instruction. And he followed along, for the most part, even though the class was full of 5 and 6 year old purple, blue and green belts. Harry still likes the running part best, as he does at The Little Gym, so I think soccer may really be his thing, but we'll stick with this, at least for the rest of the month. I do have to say though that it's disturbing how Aryan the class is...especially for Alexandria.
And finally, I have to mention another first for Harry: Voting! They voted in school today. Ms. Theresa made a voting box. Barack Obama (or "The Rock Obama" as I am pretty sure most of the kids refer to him) won by a landslide.