Notes circa 2011-07-05

Grafton is doing well in his new pre-school class, and seems to have adjusted without much distress.

"Step in Time", from the movie Mary Poppins, is his favorite song (and dance) these days.

Walked a dog by himself while on a hike with his friends, Ivorie and Grahm.

Flew a kite in the park, with a little help from Daddy, but was able keep it aloft for a while on his own.

Finally has given in to eating pasta, and strawberries and apples (once again). There were certain things he just wouldn't eat, but he's coming around, and willing to try more things. Still a solid "no" to salad or broccoli on his pizza.

Can throw a Frisbee in approximately the right direction. Has a pretty good arm when throwing a ball too, though a very non-standard arm motion (kind of a side-arm pitch, with a half rotation of his torso); it actually amazes me that he can throw the ball in the right direction with this technique.

Enjoyed playing in a lake this weekend, with his life preserver on.  He got scared once or twice when he fell over onto his stomach and couldn't quite regain his balance, but other than that he was fearless and enjoyed splashing around on his own. Had fun with Dad, filling up a "lake" behind a sand dam, and watching it self-destruct after it was breached.

Now very capable on playground climbing structures, using his hands and feet to traverse all sorts of ledges, bars, ropes, etc.

He's increasingly more willing to hike, and is even willing to lead us on the trail now. Roots and rocks of all sizes are no longer an issue, and he can pretty much run along rutted and uneven surfaces without falling. We don't really worry about him falling anymore, or at least we don't worry about him falling and hurting himself badly.

Trying to teach him how to get dressed and undressed, although he usually gives up pretty quickly and tells us he can't do it. Tonight, he got most of his clothes off by himself (the shirt required some help from Mom), including his socks.

We've been trying to teach him his letters, so that he can recognize and draw them. Not making much progress yet, but he does seem to be able to recognize "G".

At Home Depot today, he remembered from earlier trips that there are "race car" equipped shopping carts, and asked for it before we even saw one, as soon as we stepped out of the car.

We can now usually ask him to tell us about something that happened earlier in the day, and he'll remember the event and tell us something about it (e.g, seeing a bear run across the road in front of our car). Or he'll just remember something on his own and incorporate it into his play time (e.g., I told him about how Mom was at the repair shop getting an oil change, and why cars need oil changes, and he explained to me how was going to remove the old gas from his car and replace it with new gas; well, he almost got it...)

Carnivore Grandparents

Grafton, walking around with his toy phone, makes a call. He's talking softly into the phone, and I can't hear him, so I ask, "Who are you calling?"

He answers, "I'm calling Nana and PopPop."

"What are they doing, Grafton?", I inquire.

"They're cooking", he replies.

I laugh and say, "Yeah, we see them cooking a lot, don't we?" (they always cook a big meal when family is over)

Then he emphasizes, "They're cooking meat."

[Perhaps, this can only be appreciated by those that have attended a Tolopko family event in Otis, where there are usually no less than 3 types of meat dishes to choose from.]

Moving Up

Well, another milestone has passed. Grafton graduated from his Toddler 3 class this past Thursday. Ten months of drawing, painting, gluing, dancing, singing, laughing, and learning; reading book after book after book; playing with dinosaurs, bugs, space mud, sticky paper collages, blocks, buildings, race tracks, train tracks, a water table, and a sand table; wearing costumes, snow suits, sunscreen, sun hats, and rain coats; being outside running, falling, walking, climbing, digging, dragging, pushing, and pulling; taking care of the goldfish, and Wally the turtle. And all of this with his friends, Joe, Natalie, Gabbi, Amelia, Gavin, Landen, Tovah, Taylor, and the triplets, Aiden, Brody, Collin. And of course his (daily) teachers, Tina and Rachel, who did so much to care for, read to, talk to, listen to, play with, laugh with, comfort, and put up with our son, Grafton. We know Grafton will really miss his teachers and his friends (though many will be moving on to the next class with him). As time passes, we're quite sure Grafton will remember his time in Toddler 3. And if he doesn't, here are some pictures he can use to remind himself (thanks, Rachel!)

(all photos here, with a special treat at the end!)

Grafton begins pre-school on Tuesday. New teachers! More kids! Bigger room! New toys! More potties! Cheaper tuition! Can't wait!

Nothing Left to Add

"Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, 
but when there is nothing left to take away"

- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

While working on a pasta collage at school, Grafton completed his masterpiece when he declared,

"It's done, it only needed one thing!"

Clearly, Grafton figured out that it was easier to stop adding early on, rather than having to agonize later over what to take away.

This also reminded me of a scene from the movie "Six Degrees of Separation",  where Flan Kittredge provides the following anecdote during a dinner party, explaining the secret behind the great works of art:

I thought...dreamt...remembered...how easy it is for a painter to lose a painting. He paints and paints, works on a canvas for months, and then, one day, he loses it. Loses the structure, loses the sense of it. You lose the painting. I remembered asking my kids' second-grade teacher,

"Why are all your students geniuses? Look at the first grade--blotches of green and black. The third grade--camouflage. But your grade, the second grade, Matisses, every one. You've made my child a Matisse. Let me study with you. Let me into the second grade. What is your secret?"

"I don't have any secret. I just know when to take their drawings away from them."

Exploiting Loopholes

Grafton was watching a cartoon on PBS this morning, while we were getting ready for work. But anytime we let Grafton watch TV, he forgets to eat his meal. So I kept reminding him, "You have to eat your bareakfast, Grafton!" A little later, Mom comes in and tells him it's now time to put on his sunscreen, which he never likes. But instead of being physically evasive, as he usually is, he looks up and Mom and states, "I can't", then points to his cereal and explains in his most mature voice, "Daddy said to eat it." 

Looks like we're going to have to coordinate our parental orders from now on!

It's Hard to Recall

While at the doctors office, waiting for the doctor to show up, Grafton and Dad were looking at the ABC poster on the wall. It showed the full alphabet with a picture next to each letter. I was quizzing Grafton on his letters, and he got one, or maybe two, correct. But after a little while Grafton looked a little distraught, and said, "It's hard to remember."

I think this was the first time I heard him use the word "remember" on his own, without first being asked about "remembering" something in particular. I found it interesting that he was aware of his effort of trying to recall knowledge. I guess I just wanted to remember this moment myself.

Tuesday Notes

On our evening walk, we found some volleyballs sitting in a field and started playing with them. Grafton's getting pretty good at catching, if a (large) ball is thrown at his chest. He's got a pretty mean throw too, winding up his whole body and chucking the ball with a 2-hand sidearm pitching style. In the middle of our game of catch, he told us wanted to pee outside. We were very excited that he finally recognized his need to pee and telling us that he wanted to go. He also remembered something Daddy did on our hike together the previous day, at which time I told him how he too could pee in the woods, if he wanted. And he remembered. We scurried him over to a tree, but by then the urge was gone.

Grafton likes Jazz. When he hears it on the radio he tells us, "This is Jazz. I like Jazz." Tonight, he was fiddling with the iPod in his room and told me, "I want to listen to Jazz."

Johnny Cash is by far Grafton's favorite musical performer of late. It's all he asks for now, "I want to listen to Johnny Cash." Even though the Man in Black doesn't do Jazz. It only takes a few bars of music before Grafton is demanding we get out his guitar for him to play along.