Babbling, Chatty MJ

During dinner this evening, MJ was happily playing on his blanket, banging on CJ's Legos and babbling to himself. He usually stops  "talking" when I pull out the video camera, so I hid behind the island and secretly took this video. You can hear CJ eating his dinner (spoon clanking against the bowl) in the background. Check it out.

More Mobile MJ

Here's another video of MJ moving around, getting up on his hands and knees.

Mobile MJ

MJ is about 8 1/2 months and he's getting more mobile every day. He's not quite crawling but he's getting up on his hands and knees. He gets around pretty effectively by lunging forward, turning around, rolling over on both sides, and scootching backward.

We have a large blanket that we put on the floor for MJ to play on. It's folded a couple of times so that he won't hurt himself when he's rolling over or waggling his head. Trouble is, he's so mobile that he's off the blanket within a few minutes. He's also cleverly pulling on the blanker to make his toys come to him. It's hilarious!

We Went to the Circus!

In March, we had a chance to go to the circus through the Boy  Scouts and I jumped at the chance. I had only ever seen Cirque du Soleil once in San Francisco, and neither CJ nor Maki had ever been, so it was going to be the first for all three of us.

This was a regular circus show by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. We had tickets to a 3:30pm show. Maki's parents graciously agreed to watch MJ, so off we went. We found parking relatively easily and got there with a few minutes to spare.

Not ever having been to the circus as a child or young adult, I had nothing to compare this to, but we had a blast. We had great seats (thanks to the Boy Scouts!). While CJ liked the animals (the performing elephants, dogs, tigers, etc.), I found them not as interesting as the human acts. The 7 guys in motorcycles riding in a sphere was insane. The trapeze artists were incredible. And the trampoline dudes were amazing. I also loved, loved, loved the pirates.

Here are some cute photos of the boys in the circus hat that came with the super expensive popcorn. At least we got a cool hat! We'll definitely be going to the circus again!

CJ Lost His First Tooth

 

On February 9, at 6 1/2, CJ lost his first tooth. He had been waiting ages for the day when he could put a tooth under his pillow, get some money and brag to his friends about losing a tooth. To make matters worse, many of CJ's friends in school have already lost up to a half dozen teeth.

His bottom, right tooth had been wiggly for a few days. On February 9, before  he left for school, the tooth finally came out.

The tooth fairy came that night and gave him $5. Quite a stash. In addition, Grandma Josie sent him $10 in the mail. I told CJ not to get too used to getting that much money when he lost teeth. For his second tooth, the tooth fairy gave him 3 $1 gold coins.

My Favorite Photo in the World

Hands down, of all the thousands of photos I have taken in the last year, this is my favorite. The boys look so happy, they're all hugging and they're just so handsome!

CJ's First Pinewood Derby

One of the highlights of CJ's first year in Cub Scouts was the Pinewood Derby. Each Scout is given a little kit that includes a block of pine, 4 wheels, some nails for axles, and instructions on how to make a basic car.

Maki and CJ really got into making the car. They bought Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets and made the first, most basic car. But basic does not really explain the making of this car, which involved weeks of carving the wood, polishing the axles, carefully adding tungsten weights, painting the car, checking the alignment and balance, yada, yada.

Maki was really good about not doing the work by himself. Whenever he was in the garage, CJ was in the garage, but Maki definitely loved this activity.

CJ's car did pretty well in his pack. He came in 2nd among the Tigers (1st graders) and something like 13th in the pack. Not bad for a first timer and not bad for a Tiger, considering that CJ and Maki competed against 2nd - 5th graders, including many experienced dads.

Maki ordered a fancy scale because your car can't exceed a weight limit. He figures that between CJ and MJ, he's got 10 years of Pinewood Derby making -- so the investment will be worth it. :-)

CJ's car was very plain looking. It was just a light blue wedge with a copper stripe down the midde, but it was fast!

As you can imagine, the actual race itself was really exciting for the boys. But CJ just loved, simply loved, working on his car, in the garage, for hours on end, with his dad. And I guess that's what scouting is all about.

MJ came to watch CJ race

Here's CJ watching the races

I asked the Tigers if I could take a photo and this is what I got

Here's a photo of the judges; boy were they serious!

After the race, the boys got to race their cars themselves