Goodbye, Floaty Suit

Tomorrow afternoon, swimming lessons begin. This fact has Cullen swinging back and forth between excitement and trepidation. He loves the water, but has detailed and elaborate imaginings of every possible disaster that might conceivably occur at the YMCA pool. Every worst-case scenario - he has already thought through it, believe me.



We are off in just a few minutes to the pool for a little more practice going under the water. Every time he jumps in, goes under and springs back to the surface when we swim together, he seems so surprised that he has survived once again!



Here is a picture from yesterday, our last picture in his "floaty" suit with the foam built-in. I say "last" not just because he won't need it after this next week, but also because it ripped into pieces somehow not long after this photo was taken. We learned never to pull a little thread on a swimsuit while you're wearing it!

Short and Sweet Summer Break

We've been taking a little bit of a break from any and all structured learning over the past month. Cullen does a baseball skills class on Friday mornings, he still has taekwondo a couple times a week, and he begins swim lessons this coming Monday at the Y. Other than that, we've just been taking it easy for the most part.


I had been planning to begin our first grade year after a trip to the beach in early August, giving us a few more weeks off. Several days ago, as we rode in the car, Cullen asked me when we would be starting school again. When I gave him my answer, he actually started crying! I assumed that he was having such a great time being lazy that he really dreaded getting back into the school work. But NO!!! To my absolute astonishment, he begged to start right away, tearfully telling me how much he missed science and math, etc., like the subjects were best friends he hadn't seen in a long time! Sooo, we've moved up our start date a little! I'm just hoping he still has some of this enthusiasm a few months from now!


A little bit of "Fun School" is what we are doing this week, and next Monday we dive in completely. He is looking forward to history (once he understood what "history" means!) but not nearly as much as I am. That has always been a favorite subject of yours truly!


During our break and much of this week, I've been putting extra time into my little business. It is our peak selling time now, at the beginning of the back-to-school season. (If you're curious, follow this trail: http://www.drosonline.com/. ) Cullen helps where he can - he is really good at sweeping warehouse floors, rolling boxes around on hand trucks and sticking the packing slip pouches on cartons for me. His favorite task of all is trying to knock dents out of metal shelving with a rubber mallet! When he is not busy with manual labor, he works (plays games on my old laptop) at his own desk (a large empty cardboard box) in a corner of my office.

Notice the sign he made for his desk:
If you need fun and love and smiles, he's the man to see!!!
Just don't ask him yet how to spell "office"!

Odd Bird, New Words

Last night before bed, Cullen and I shared a little reading. He read Sheep In a Shop, to me, then chose for me to read the story of King Midas from a collection of classic tales and his favorite book, Tacky the Penguin.

Before we got into the story, we reminded ourselves what "tacky" means. As we got a page or two in, we talked about what "companions" means. Then Cullen stopped me after I read about Tacky's friends, how they were all so perfectly similar but "Tacky was an odd bird."

He put his finger to each penguin on the page and counted them off ...1..2......3...4......5.....then touching the picture of Tacky......6. "Mom, he's not odd! Six is EVEN! Don't they know that!?"

After he understood the other meaning of the word "odd" he seemed a bit relieved that the authors did, in fact, know what they were writing about! I'm just tickled he remembers the difference between odd and even and more importantly, that he caught and questioned the inconsistency with what he understood to be true. I hope he keeps and hones that ability, even though I know it will keep me on my toes!

Mirror, Mirror...

It occured to me today, as we cleaned out our little frog's home, that I have neglected to introduce you. I feel a little guilty about this, actually. I went on and on about the butterflies, but never once mentioned the frog, and she was here long before the caterpillars ever were!

We got our little tadpole in February from Grow-a-Frog and watched it daily with great whoops and delight at every little change. It stays in the water its entire life, just coming up for air. Originally, Cullen named it "Thomas" after the train, I'm sure. Thomas the tadpole sounds kinda cute though. Now that we have an increasingly fat frog, the name doesn't seem to fit quite so well. Cullen has been trying to come up with a new name that would also be okay if "Thomas" turns out to be a girl, which is what I think we have here. (Notice her lovely figure!) Today he decided on "Dookie." I think that is perfectly suitable and actually plays upon the little frog's unique personal talents! (grin)

Here is "Dookie" admiring her trifold reflection in the corner of her tank. Nowadays, we enjoy watching how quickly she snaps up her food pellets when we drop them into the water - just like catching bugs. I think we may have to come up with a bigger tank before too much longer. We may keep the red sand, though. Don't you think the color suits her?

Up-close Concrete

As I type, Cullen is still out in the back watching a crew and a very large, loud truck pour concrete under the deck. This is more exciting for him than you can imagine! You will notice he is still in his pajamas. I am not quite cruel enough to insist he come in and get dressed.

Even though he was instructed by his Dad to leave the men alone and not to disturb them as they worked, he has not been able to quite refrain from offering tips and advice here and there. Lucky for the men, the truck is pretty loud.

Over the past several days, he has spent quite a bit of time hanging over the deck railing, talking and watching and talking, as Mr. Carey built a retaining wall and prepared to pour the pad. To get to see the mixing, pouring and spreading is an incredible treat!

Though, Cullen is pretty concerned about our mailbox right now. It apparently had to be moved to allow the truck access to our back yard, and he seems unusually anxious to get it back in place as quickly as possible. He is definitely an "everything-in-its-place" type of kid - a smaller version of his Dad!

Moth-In-A-Box

Look what we found!

Chuck had set the trash out at night for early morning pickup, which did not happen in the early morning for some reason. When Cullen and I went out to the mailbox, this guy was hiding and sleeping just inside the lid of a cardboard box intended for the trash truck. He did not try to fly away when we moved him, but he did squirt a nasty-looking liquid from his hind parts in an effort to repell us. Well, it was repelling, but we were more persistent. He looked so furry, I wanted to pet him. Cullen was not inclined to touch the moth in any way whatsoever!

He is an Imperial Moth. I think of it as male, though I really don't know. Their adult life span is only a few days - emerge from pupae, find a mate, lay eggs if female, then die. They don't even feed as adults!

We let him crawl down and under the edge of the box to hide, and we left him there. We talked about the possibility that he might be hurt or just old and dying. Cullen said, in that case, maybe it would be best to let a bird come eat him. If his choices were to stay here hurting or go ahead and get eaten by a bird, well, being eaten would be better. "That would be healthier."

Well, maybe healthier for the bird, I told him!

Lazy Day Poetry

We've been taking it a little on the easy side today. (Or yesterday - I think it's past midnight.) After Cullen's first Baseball Skills class this morning, where he had more fun goofing off with a new friend than doing anything with ball or bat, we spent the day at home. Neither of us have felt completely well, fighting a cold-type bug, so we just spent time hanging out together. Dad is out of town, so I got all of the cuddling today!

After dinner and a few games - the old standard, Trouble, and our favorite math game, Sum Swamp - Cullen asked me if we could make some poetry together. Totally out of the blue! Well, I absolutely love poetry, serious to silly and all in between, so of course my answer was yes.

Here is one of our collaborative efforts for your enjoyment. He said that making the words fit into a poem was like doing a puzzle. Exactly! Cullen hopes you all find the ending as funny as he intended it. (???) He cracks himself up!

The snake woke up one day
And decided he wanted to play,
But whenever he came near
Everyone ran away in fear,
Until one little boy said,
"Hi, Snake!"

We read a little of Shel Silverstein's funny verse before going to bed. That was really not the best choice for settling down, though. We had to read something next that didn't make us laugh so hard.

Unexpected Inspiration

Several weeks ago, we visited the Atlanta Zoo with my sister-in-law and nephew, Justin. Here is a silly photo - one of the few times they stood still that day! (Yes, I know this is totally out of chronological order, but it's my blog, after all, and I can mix it all up if I want to!)



As expected, Cullen's absolute favorite exhibit area was the Reptile House. Frogs, snakes, lizards, and the like definitely rank at the top of his interest list when it comes to wild creatures.






Every visit, I am captivated by the gorillas.


One mother in particular made a significant impression on me, and if I'm honest with you here, she has been an encouragement and inspiration when I remember her these past few weeks. Seriously!



We watched her seated at the foot of a large boulder with her two very active little ones. I immediately identified with her because as we walked through the zoo that day, it had required tremendous effort and patience to keep up with two bouncing and chattering little boys! One of the young gorillas kept clambering up the boulder behind the mother. She would again and again reach back and grab his little ankle tight. She didn't pull him down; she didn't scold; she didn't even look toward him. With absolute serenity, she just spoiled any chance of fun the little one might have had by immobilizing him. Eventually, he would back down to the area he was allowed to play in. The second little one would sometimes, but not as often, begin to move away from the mother toward another group. She just as calmly would grab its ankle and hold on until it decided to just play where mom allowed.


I have read from several sources the importance of not engaging in emotional battles when enforcing the rules and boundaries with children, and I agree completely that it is the best way to handle a strong-willed little one. But I never in my life expected this to be modeled so perfectly by a primate mother!! She took great care to keep her children safe and was very persistent and consistent in enforcing the boundaries, and she never once let their antics ruffle her enjoyment of the afternoon sun. The gorilla children were doing exactly what children will do - test the limits. This didn't upset her in any way.



I want to be more like this mother!!!

Fly Away Home

We've been closely watching a nest of three little mockingbirds in a front-yard holly. Yesterday, they left the nest, though you can tell by this photo that they were still so young! In the afternoon, drawn by a terrible uproar of skwawking by the parents, I stepped outside to check on them again. The little one in the photo was the only one to be found. A scattering of still-downy feathers in the grass and the sudden departure of a large black and white cat did not come together for an encouraging conclusion to what must have just happened. The third little bird is shown here in a huge evergreen shrub that he may still be hiding in - I hope so, at least! Its parents were still nearby last night.

As far as Cullen is concerned, the other two youngsters figured out how to fly and have already flown off to make homes of their own. I just let him come to that conclusion and didn't tell him anything different. Maybe I am missing an opportunity to teach about the food chain and the stark realities of nature... He is probably perfectly able to think and talk about this - he is all boy, after all. Truth is, I'd just rather him have the happy ending for these little ones that he has enjoyed so much as we've watched them grow.


I have a rather bad attitude toward that cat right now, though.