October 21, 2009: Tons of Fun
The last couple of months have been such a fun time to be a part of Ivan's life. He just started preschool and is learning like crazy, he's into everything and he's becoming a confident, funny and very sweet boy.
To begin with, his mind is like a sponge lately. After he started preschool, we noticed that he started writing things on paper around the house, usually while Veronika was working on some of her correspondence. At first it was just his name but now he's writing the entire alphabet. He's also recognized a few words, although it's hard to say whether he's remembering them or recognizing the letters in them. His memory is scarily sharp. He quickly memorizes his favorite books and is becoming a worthy adversary at the game of memory. But the most fun application of his great memory is hearing the expressions and phrases that he picks up and repeats, in perfect pitch and context. Every day he says something that we remember and laugh about after he goes to bed, but here's a selection:
- "Mama, can we get Jungle Book again to watch? Or we could just go to disney.com for more swinging fun." (picked up from the trailer on another DVD)
- "That's my deal!" (said with purpose and sometimes a little defiance)
- "Preschool is what I've got going on tomorrow."
- (singing) "Who says I can't get stoooo?" (after listening to the new John Mayer song once)
- "Papa, you GOTTA check this out!" (said one hundred times at the Halloween store while looking for decorations)
Sports continue to be a major theme in his life. If you came to our house on any given Saturday, you'd have a pretty good chance of finding him in the kitchen, playing a game of pretend baseball by himself, using an empty Aquafina bottle as a bat and rounding the living room and dining room as the bases. He regularly throws bullpen sessions in the kitchen too, windup and all, with the kitchen cabinet acting as his catcher. Soccer is also a popular indoor sport. Needless to say, many a ball has been kicked or thrown onto the kitchen counter or dining room table, or whizzed by someone's head ("Sowwy, Papa"). All his practice pays off though. Whenever he gets a chance to play sports for real outside, he does very well and is very focused. His preschool teacher even said that he's the most fun to play catch with because he can throw well enough to reach a grown-up.
His latest obsession, though, is pretend fighting, which has been aided by his recent interest in movies. His favorite movies right now are Peter Pan and Kung Fu Panda and whenever we watch them, a half-hour of pretend fighting between Captain Hook/Peter Pan or Po/Tai Lung is sure to follow. Sword-like weapons are often required, as are my repeated death and reincarnation. Sound effects and mean fighting faces abound.
With such a busy house and a brother and sister to compete with, sometimes the best way to appreciate what an awesome kid Ivan is is to have some time alone with him. In the beginning of September, I had to drive to New Jersey to drop Digby off and decided to make a day of it. As luck would have it, the Mets were in Philadelphia for the weekend so I bought tickets to the game and brought Ivan along. We had an amazing day—we saw a terrific game and a rare Mets win and then headed into Philadelphia to split a post-game cheese steak at Dalessandro's. We were both on cloud nine all day, I think. There was no whining or crying, just lots of smiling and excitement and enjoying each other's company. It was a perfect day at a perfect time and I hope we can always find time to appreciate each other like that, no matter how old we are.
Posted by papa at 09:50 PM