Tomagochi - 'never give up!'

Joint Operations
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

While we were out doing errands Monday night, Michael asked for a 'Tomagochi.' It is virtual pet; you take care of it, and it grows and plays with you. In addition, it has the ability to interact with other 'Tomagochi,' through an infrared port. My first inclination was to setup a system where he could earn it over a few weeks. However, as he continued to describe it, I realized that it came with a social opportunity that would expire in 2 days when school was out. Apparently, it is all the rage on the playground, and kids have even self formed 'Tomagachi' Clubs.

He said he saw them at Walgreens, so we went there first. They were sold out. Then we went to a CVS, Drugmart and another CVS; none were in stock. Finally, I went to the source: Toys 'R' Us. Michael's first words when we found the 'Tomagochi' were 'never give up!,' and that made it all worthwhile. We talk about continuing to strive in the face of failure on a regular basis, but I believe it reinforced their conviction in the idea by seeing it payoff :)
R.A.Patton

Alex is taking to water like... well, like Michael does

Head Over Heels
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

We have been going to the pool quite a bit this summer. Michael loves it every bit as much as he ever has, but the big surprise is that Alex is taking to water like... well, like Michael does.

Historically, Alex went to the pool for the snocones; he still loves his snocones, and now he has expanded his pool diet to include hot dogs, but it is clear that he wants to be there to play in the water. I think the new zero entry to the pool has helped (Alex says "It's like a beach!"), but that cannot explain his new found enthusiasm for being catapulted across the pool, doing cannonballs and swimming underwater.
RAP

Nefarious, Odious or Dastardly

Homeward Bound
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Last Tuesday we had another epic contest on the diamond, and in this game I doubt anyone would challenge my use of words such as nefarious, odious or dastardly to describe our opponents. The coaching staff of "Reds I" were a bit sportsmanship challenged.

For this dispatch, that does not matter; what is important is what Michael did. In his first two hits the curse of the lefty struck once more. He hit line drives that went straight to first base. At that juncture I changed his stance; I dropped his left foot back and moved his right foot forward relative to the plate. The results of this strategem were encouraging: his next two at bats his hits allowed him to get to base.
RAP

Memorial Day 2005

Memorial Day 2005
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

We made our annual pilgrimage to the cemetery on Memorial Day. I'd like to stop by more often than once a year, but this last year has been busy. The boys were very excited about the flags; they went to the office and picked them up themselves. Unfortunately the ground was pretty hard, so I had to plant them in the ground.

At the markers, I had each boy say 'Hi,' and share something about themselves. Alex did the bare minimum and moved on. On the hand, Michael made sure that news of Captain Underpants was carried on to the next world. Since he had a captive audience, he went on for quite a while!
RAP

First Snocones

First Snow Cone
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional date that the outdoor pools open in the east; to some this means it is time to dive into summer, but to Alexander O'Donovan Patton it means that snocones have returned to his diet.

This year, the boys have chosen to color coordinate their snocones to their bathing suits. Alex is eating the green flavored one, and Michael is eating the blue flavored one. You may recoil at the idea that colors have a taste, but the snocone flavors clearly do not correspond to any natural taste, leaving color as the only thing that we can use to identify them by.
R.A.P.

Best Foot Forward

Best Foot Forward
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Developmentally, Alex has had a good spring. One encouraging thing that we have noticed is that Alex is playing outside a great deal more than he has in the past. In recent months he has been helping with baseball in the backyard, playing on the swingset and entertaining in the "Fun Club" on a daily basis.

Also, we have noticed that his fear of reading is subsiding. If Alex thinks he cannot do something, he recoils from it, and won't even try. That was the case with reading for a while, but not anymore. Something that has helped him is his enthusiasm for a comic book called "Gon." I bought him an issue and he loved it; now we are ordering back issues from the library to entertain him, and to fuel this fire. It is mostly wordless, but it gets him reading left to right, top to bottom and has made him feel like he can read.

I find the artwork non-aesthetically pleasing, but who am I to judge. He likes it, and the art has won the Harvey Award (which is why it is the library - win an award and they will stock you). No matter what style of art it uses, what is important is that it encouraging Alex to wade into reading.
RAP

A Full Day of Work and Play

Summer Begins
Originally uploaded by Jagrap

Due to Jenny's trip out west, we are bachelors once more, and oh how we are relishing our bachelorhood. It started with 4 hours in the office; the kids played games, I did work. Truthfully, I was more productive than I am most mornings.

Once we had completed our duties for the day, we headed out to Easton for some fun. First we went to Johnny Rockets for lunch. Once we had savored our meals, we spent 15 minutes at GameWorks. The grande finale was catching Madagascar at the AMC Theater.

The departure from Easton did not mean that our fun was over. When we arrived home, we quickly put on our suits and headed out to the pool. This was the first weekend it was open in 2005, and we were anxious to feel its wet embrace. After we dined on snow cones, we came home and practiced some baseball and ran in the sprinkler. A full day of work and play.
~R