Thing 2 | SuburbanDaddy

The Understudy

It’s a rite of passage. The Kindergarten play. This time, it was Thing 2’s turn. The production this year was the Three Little Pigs as an opera.

Kindergarten Play

Thing 2 didn’t want to do any solo parts, so he chose to be one of the pigs in the background chorus. He performed well, but as you can see in this video, he looked like he was longing for more as he watches his friend The Wolf perform the starring role.

The kindergarten class does a repeat performance the next day, this time for the other kids in the pre-school with no parents there. I guess Thing 2 felt more comfortable because we received a call 45 minutes before showtime from the school, to let us know that the kid who played The Wolf didn’t come to school that day, and Thing 2 would be taking his place!

Well, of course we raced to the school to see it in person. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. This was one of those proud parenting moments you don’t forget. And luckily I also had the video camera handy.

He entered in The Wolf costume, looking a little nervous but excited. He waited patiently for his time to come then he did his stuff. Finally, he takes a bow and walks off the stage with his leading ladies on his way to super stardom. Watch out Brad Pitt, here comes Thing 2.

It’s Nature Not Nurture

There is much debate about whether gender specific behavior is innate or learned. Well, I think we can now put this debate to rest. At least when it comes this one behavior.

Thing 1 and Thing 2 take my iPhone every chance they get. They are adept at playing games like Angry Birds. And this weekend they found another activity for the phone which is definitely, no question, a male behavior that I assure you was not taught.

It’s a behavior that dates back to the first guy (yes, I’m sure it was a guy and not a woman) who made a photocopy of their butt.

Take a look at these two pictures I found on my phone. Now I know what all the giggling was about yesterday. They call them “booty shots”.

At least they are wearing pants. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they “learn” that part.

A Star Is Born

Sure it’s only T-Ball, but even at an early age the talent shows. Thing 2 accomplished an amazing feat in a game today. Playing first base, he single handedly retired the first three batters. He caught two put outs from the pitcher, and fielded one solo.

What’s the big deal? You need to understand how T-ball usually works. Outs are very rare. Especially outs that involve both a throw and a catch. Three outs in an *inning*? Almost never happens. Three outs in a *ROW*? Unheard of.

His coach, who has been coaching Little League for 10 years, called this the greatest defensive inning in the history of T-Ball.

The parents who were lucky enough to witness it will be telling their grandchildren about Thing 2’s performance today.

What I will remember is how he sprinted off the field at the end of the inning, all the way to where I was sitting with his sister, and exclaimed: “Daddy! I got 3 outs in a row!”. Priceless.

Touchdown Dances

A great Superbowl last night. Thing 1 and Thing 2 stayed up until 10pm watching the whole game. And they were cheering for the Packers so there was a lot to cheer about. Here they demonstrate their touchdown dances which we get to see after every score.

Classic Video

I’ve been converting the endless hours of analog videos from the last 7 years to digital format, and came across this classic from a couple years ago.? It’s so typical of how Thing 1 and Thing 2 play together still.

There Is A Resemblance

As her personality emerges, we’ve noticed a lot of similarities between Thing 4 and Thing 2. Both are easygoing babies who thrive on being around people. They are happy, smiley, and entertain themselves with their own voice. Thing 2 is still like this but when you compare these videos of a recent Thing 4 and Thing 2 when he was about the same age, the similarities are clear.

Here’s a recent video of Thing 4 in her high chair.

Compare with a video of Thing 2 in the same high chair four years ago.

Stay-cation Day Five

For those of you anxiously awaiting this final stay-cation post, here you go. There was an open house for Thing 1’s elementary school – he started first grade this week. He met his teacher, saw his desk, and and saw where the bus will drop him off. ?Thing 1 was most excited about the big gym and playground.

We also checked out the local high school which kicked off it’s first football game with an outdoor fair complete with moonbounces, music, and dunk tanks. The high schoolers were very impressed with Thing 1’s dunking accuracy – 7 hits out of 12 throws. The day ended with an end of summer ice cream party in our neighborhood.

Thing 2 marches to his own beat. Like wearing his hat like this

Stay-cation Day 4

Today I introduced Thing 1 and Thing 2 to one of my all time favorite activities:? Wiffle Ball! We played in the morning before it got really hot. Then to stay cool we checked out a new “luxury” bowling alley with some SuburbanNeighbors who found themselves also on a stay-cation after cutting their beach vacation short thanks to hurricane Earl. Thing 2 continued his bowling domination over Thing 1 with a nice score of 100. It’s good for the oldest to not win at everything all the time.

We wrapped up the day at the pre-school/kindergarten open house where we met Thing 2 and Thing 3’s new teachers.? A big hit was the petting zoo in the parking lot compliments of Squeals on Wheels.? It was not good to be one of the animals yesterday.? Besides being poked, prodded, pulled, and dumped on with grass and dirt by the likes of Thing 3 and scores of other kids, it was about 97 degrees in the parking lot with no shade for the animals.

Read more to see pictures of the day Continue reading Stay-cation Day 4