He's figured out my computer

Computers are so intuitive for my son that I opened my computer and found this picture and many, many others. He's figured out how to take his pictures and do silly things with the camera using a program called PhotoBooth. He's also quite good at turning on iTunes and playing some music. He's figured out how to start a slideshow and play music with it. It's NUTTY.



So I got an iPhone. I know. How much nerdier can I get? But here's the funny thing. He's totally figured that thing out without ANY training. He's figured out how to turn it on, use the camera and play music. It's crazy. But to add to the crazy stuff. Even Jordan can unlock the phone. Nutty.

During the church service

"Mom, how does a baby come out of your belly"

"Is God a boy or a girl?"

"Where does God live?"

My answers:
"We're in church!"

"God is both."

"God lives in our hearts."

Randy had sinus issues this morning so I took both kids to church. Having Cam in the pew all by myself has never been so exhausting!

He did great!

Here's an email from Cam's teacher:

Cam had a great first day of school! He made several friends and seemed to be happy all day.

Looking forward to tomorrow

Hooray Cam!

My little boy is a big Kindergartener

I just sent my boy of to his first big day of school! He was excited... Until he realized the walk includes some hills that can be a little tiring. I'm really happy that we can walk there... We met up with some neighbors along the way who are coordinating an official "walking school bus." The idea is you get enough grown ups and kids together that it's a safe and coordinated effort to get to school. I like that. We were already committed to walking to school so why not make it a social arrangement!

Cam was with us at work yesterday when one of our students asked him if he was excited about starting school. He said: "Yeah I'm excited. But my mom is REALLY excited." Dang that's funny. He had spent all day yesterday telling me how excited he was about going to school... I'm wondering if he was just humoring me.

By the way -- no tears from Cam... And I didn't cry either. On my walk home I got a bit nostalgic about my little baby boy. I'm proud of how he's growing up. I'm a little overwhelmed with the concept of my involvement in the public school system for the next 16 years. But I'm also excited to work with Cam's new teacher and help him build a good solid base for his education.

Some things work out... others don't

Today was insane. I woke up with the kids and ran right out of the house and trained people for almost seven straight hours. Cam was so good. He kept himself busy, he got really good at printing things out. We were very excited about Can's big day. He got to meet his new teacher in his new school. He also had his cool HSM 2 party.

So we ran out of work, I cooked up dinner super fast and the whole family ran out to the elementary school. We walk up to the school to see the class list. I immediately discover that Cam got the teacher I wanted. We grab material and head to the classroom. It turns out his classroom has AIR CONDITIONING!! That's pretty exciting. The school doesn't have air but I guess a few classrooms do. So not only did we get the teacher I had hoped, we got air conditioning. Wow.

Because I'm a little loopy, I've been keeping in touch with our new school since last Spring. I sent a number of emails that I wanted the new teacher to receive before the school year started. So when we met her tonight she already knew why I think it's really important to get to know Cam and make sure we're all on the same page. I can only hope we're making the right choices to help Cam calm down, relax about his world and enjoy life. Cam's teacher said she planned to call us this weekend and set up time to meet on Monday.

After the big-deal school meeting we ran home for Cam (and my) big High School Musical 2 party. We had a nice little turn out and a lot of fun watching the show. By the end of the movie, Cam was incredibly exhausted. I took him to bed and he crashed.

Suddenly I sit down for the first time and realize we forgot an important day. I feel horrible. Just horrible.

Yeah, it's silly

But we're going to have a High School Musical 2 party this Friday. How silly is that? We're kind of excited anyway. Having friends over (young and old) sounds like fun and a great way to warm up into our big school year.

The trick: Getting the house cleaned up. I have a feeling that's not really going to happen. I'm swamped preparing for another semester.

Plus, Cam is going to work with us this week and that cuts into my productive time. He starts Tae Kwon Do tonight -- he had an introductory session on Monday. He seems interested. Our goal: to help him learn self-calming skills. I hope it helps!

When Cam got back from his grandparents, he announced that he takes showers now. I had NO idea how much faster bed time can be with a shower instead of a bath. I'm almost considering getting Jordan to take showers!! SUPER fast! No one told me that!

On vacation

The boy is with his grandparents this week... And just like last year, the house was strangely quiet. I realize the girl is a lot louder these days, but there's an energy that he gives the house. It was kind of strange.

So now I'm leaving town... Off to speak on a panel at a conference in Washington, D.C. It should be pretty cool. I have a couple of really good friends there AND I get to stay at Uncle Jon's place! How cool is that?

Updates on Cam will resume when we all get back in town on Sunday.

By the way... So far on his trip, he took his first shower (and hopefully he'll be a shower taker from here on) AND he asked for us to kiss his sister when she wakes up in the morning. I think that's pretty darn sweet.

Growing pains

I think I've figured it all out... With the help of a big vacation, it has become clear that a lot of Cam's recent behavior is directly linked to his jealousy of his sister.

He's never been jealous before and I guess I didn't see it coming.

A year and a half down the line seems a bit late, but I guess it had to happen at some point.

Oh, by the way... Cam's old website is down... You know, the one I built with the help of Yahoo when he was a baby. Those were the days when I didn't know how to build web pages on my own and it wasn't easy to have your own server space. Anyway. I'll post the old site up online again someday.