Welcome Baby Edward!

Ok, people have been asking about our new baby Edward. Here's the information:

Edward
Born: 5:39pm 12/19/07
Weight: 9lbs. 3oz.
Height: 22 3/4 inches
Circumcision: Done

And, here are some pictures.

First Snow

Here's a quick peek at my handywork over 2 rounds of snow shoveling. Ethan came out with me the first time and he loved it.

Likes: Social Webs, Social Engagement, Social Energy

Dislikes: Social Isolation

Non-linear Narrative

I was listening to the radio and heard a new song the other day. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the band so I can't link to it.

But, the song was completely linear narrative. It was like someone wrote a short story (I would say Flash Fiction but that's typically got abstract elements to it) and then picked up a guitar. In other words, I was not impressed by it.

The music should be the driving force in a song. The lyrics do not need to take me from point A to point B, the music does that. Lyrics can supplement the story-telling but shouldn't beat you over the head with it. Non-linear lyrics, and even nonsequitur lyrics, make for a more interesting song in my opinion.

I have the same feelings about poetry. When you try to force a narrative story into a poetic form, you typically end up with a piece that sounds stilted. The lyricism of poetry (like music) means that your words aren't the focus. The words are secondary to the flow and emotions you are trying to draw out of your reader.
Caveat: Random snippets of pseudo-profundity about how dark your life is does not count. ;)

-y

Ethan likes to add the -y sound to just about everything that he says these days. These are all used a nouns.

Some of his favorites are:
Blankie
Cuppy
Chippy
Milky
Chairy
Bally

Some of my favorites are:
Worky
Underpanty
Penisy

Happy Birthday!

Well, Ethan is officially 3 years old. He's also officially a 3-year old.

The boy is precocious, inquisitive, active, loving, moody, friendly, and growing every day. He's only three years old but it seems like he already knows everything about this little world.

Today was a good birthday. Ethan was old enough to realize what a birthday means, and he's been very excited about opening his presents. So, this morning we opened all the presents from mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Jo, Grandma and Grandpa M, Grandma and Grandpa G. Yeah, that's a long list, just like there were a lot of presents. He loved opening and playing with all of them.

At church we told his teachers that it was his birthday, so they made sure to sing him a birthday song. Actually, they have been taking the nursery kids over to primary and they sang the birthday song to him there. He got to stand in front of the whole primary (he told me).

We held a small birthday party at our house after church. We invited Ethan's pre-school friends. One of them was sick so it was only 2 families. That was perfect for how crowded our house is getting. I had no idea how good of friends Ethan has become with his pre-school group but they all played together so well. They didn't take any of the normal time to get comfortable with each other. And they all ate dinner together at the same table, it was so cute.

After dinner, it started snowing. Ethan said that it was snowing because it was his birthday. He's so cute.

Unfortunately, after missing his nap because of church, and so much excitement during the day, bedtime was difficult. But, he's asleep now and tomorrow, he'll wake up as a 3-year old (still).

Artist

Alright, I've pretty much decided that I may not ever make a full post about my trip to Texas. That's not to say that I didn't have a blast going down there. I was very happy for the chance to bring Ethan down when the whole Hall side of the family was there to see Ethan. We've really been hoping for that kind of chance and I was thrilled it worked out.

When we got back from Texas, Ethan started drawing a lot of faces. He would fill whole pages with his face drawings. Since they are worth a 1,000 words (at least) I'm going to post one that we had especial fun with.
Ethan actually named most of the 'faces' that he drew and I prompted him with the rest.








Then, just the other day, we were drawing together again and he started to do some more faces. But this time they were a bit different. Here you can see his latest works. And, in case you couldn't tell, those are 'mad faces.'

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for my family, my home, my job, and my faith.

And turkey.

Fractured Fairy Tales

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your... ladder.

Ethan has a current favorite show. It's called Super Why. He likes to run around the house telling us "I'm Super Why Ethan." He loves to be a super hero.

So, in one episode of the show, Rapunzel for some reason couldn't/wouldn't user her hair for the prince to climb up. So Super Why went into the story and changed it so say 'ladder' so that Rapunzel could climb down and be with the prince. Then, one of Super Why's friends spelled 'cut' to give her a haircut.

It's definitely geared towards younger kids but they do a good job of getting Ethan to interact so at least he's not just sitting there staring.

Shapes

Ethan has been able to draw circles for a while now. He loves to draw pictures of circles and tell us that they are people's faces. Usually Ethan, Mia, or me.

But today, I showed him how to draw rectangles. We would draw 1 line. Then 2 lines. (Parallel) and then 1 line. then 2 lines (parallel the other way) to make a full rectangle. I was very impressed at how quickly he picked it up. He's a smart kid. I need to take more time to teach him things like this.