Luke 6:40

So we're in the car recently and a song comes on the radio. Mitch says "Oh, I know this song." "It's Cecilia and the Satellite". I said that's correct and it's by Andrew McMahon. (I will forever believe that it should be sung by the band Phoenix, but I digress). Anyway, I said the scroll on my radio also says In The Wildnerness.

So naturally, I say that the word wilderness has a bonus letter. Quickly the conversation devolved into a 1st grade (now 2nd grade) grammar conversation about bonus letters, digraphs and the like. I asked what makes a bonus letter and the answer was it has to have a short vowel sound that precedes the double letter f, l, s and sometimes z. So we all took turns thinking of examples of bonus letter words.

The conversation between us went back and forth for a few minutes until Mitch finally says, "you know dad, sometimes I think we're the teachers and you're the student".

I couldn't agree more Mitch.. I couldn't agree more.

Now batting....

It's official!  The Twins of Anarchy have been signed by the Red Sox!!  Well, not the Boston Red Sox unfortunately, the Little League version of the Red Sox..  But hey, still better than being on the Yankees..

And it's so amazing to see them be on the field, taking grounders, catching pop ups, hitting off a tee against the backstop. It seems like just the other day Max was moving the toys away from Mitch because he couldn't crawl and therefore would have no toys to play with.. Now I can just envision them being in the middle of a 6-4-3 double play..

I'm just wondering when this happened... I mean, I throw grounders to them in the yard and we work on pop ups and hitting off a tee. However they never played T-Ball. There's something different when they're actually physically on a baseball diamond, in an infield position fielding ground balls.

Their first practice of the season was on Monday. And here is one of them, with his hat backwards in the ready position to field the ground ball. He watches it into his glove, scoops it up and takes it out and throws it right back into my glove like he had done it a thousand times..  I said "great job, that's the way to field a ground ball" while pointing my glove at him.. He points back with his glove in acknowledgement and starts to jog to the end of the line..

It was one of those moments that makes you proud to be a father.. But it was also kind of scary realizing that they're not always going to be my little boys.. They are going to grow up, and faster that I would like them to. They're already almost 8 which if you've been following this blog and/or just know their story, is an amazing feat in and of itself.

So I'll keep my dream alive of course of watching them at Fenway turning the double play for the Red Sox. But for now, I'll just enjoy pointing gloves at each other and being proud.

I Got This..

It's a simple phrase really..  I got this.. It could mean many things..  It could mean someone taking care of a meal.. It could mean someone grabbing a round of beers.. Or it could mean that you'll handle something and don't worry about it..  All relatively common uses for the phrase, but when it comes out of your six year old, time to step on the brakes and pull a George Costanza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d0uUFw5ggM

So recently we had another common occurrence, a separated birthday party..  Meaning, one twin was invited because it was a classmate of his and the other was not invited because more than likely the birthday girl doesn't even know he has a brother, much less a twin. And we're totally fine with this. In fact, we even like it. The reason is because it gives us a rare opportunity to have some one on one time.

It's at the movies and is a drop off birthday party (a whole new world for us). Mitch is the only boy out of about 10 girls. As my wife relayed the story to me, his parting words were "Don't worry mom; I got this".

Oh crap..

My 6 year old is telling my wife "I got this"? I'm not ready for this..  Granted this is the child that is much more independent. Although he still doesn't like to go upstairs when no one is up there, he's much more apt to play alone than need someone to play with him. And he's getting better..

But if at 6 he feels no fear heading into a birthday party full of 10 girls, what else will he feel no fear about?

First day of Junior High, the beginning of potentially the most awkward 2 years of any boys' life?  Don't worry, I got this.

First day of High School?  Don't worry, I got this.

That big game?  Don't worry coach, I got this.

First day of college?  Don't worry, I got this.

First big presentation at work? Don't worry boss, I got this.

We overtly want our children to be independent so they do not have to rely on us for everything.. However, we covertly wish they would stay young and innocent forever. Maybe that way we wouldn't have to hear the words "Don't worry, I got this". As Dr. Seuss so aptly put it, "Kid, you'll move mountains!"

I Can Do That

It really is amazing to watch little kids attempt to do something and fail miserably, only to see their faces light up with such pride when they come back to you having mastered it.

For example, Daniel had difficulty for awhile on the monkey bars. He just couldn't get past the first one and would hang, get scared and fall. Slowly but surely he would do 2 and then 3 and before we knew it, he was coming home with blisters on his hands because he kept doing the monkey bars over and over again.. He didn't care that got blisters.. He knew he had mastered the monkey bars and that, for him was like acing a test is for a student or a promotion is for an employee.

Recently, he's gotten big into snapping. So I showed him how to do it and of course, he couldn't.. But when I tell you that kid was snapping day and night, I'm not kidding. Everywhere he is snapping or least attempting to. And then one day, he comes to me and shows me how he can snap.. And quite well I might add! And with both hands, which is not easy at that age (at least I don't think).

You have never seen a child so happy and proud for an accomplishment as this kid is from learning how to snap. He shows everybody.

It doesn't matter how little the achievement may be or how mundane the activity.. Remember, everything is new for them. But I am sure these are not the first goals he will set out to achieve and succeed. Far from it.