May 24 This year's mathematical challenge at
school was the timed subtraction test. 100 problems in 5 minutes. I
told Arno I'd give him the Pokemon White Version DS game if he made
100. Yesterday, he brought home a 99, which I figured was desrving. Let
the games begin!
May 8 Last night, I took Arno to the annual
games party that our next door neighbor Brian hosts. I've been going
every year if I am here, but this was Arno's first time. We started off
with the familiar Chinese Checkers (which Arno won), and then we joined
four others in a fun game of Pirate Fluxx. A nice step forward into the
adult world for Arno.
April 22 We all enjoy getting together with the
family of Arno's friends Janice and Shawn for an Easter egg hunt every
year. We almost didn't make it this year, because the Singharajes were
busy with Thai New Year festivities. But they invited us to their
neighborhood Saturday morning egg hunt, and the weather
cooperated brilliantly.
March 22 Today is the day Arno learned to ride
a bicycle without training wheels. He was thrilled.
March 20 We took a tip from my friend,
colleague and former manager Krishna, and watched the weather for a
likely chance to drive up to the Summit Ski Area at Government Camp on
Mt. Hood. Sunday worked out perfectly. They provide structured snow
tubing, which Arno loved. He loved having snowball fights, too.
March 19 I saw Arno spent a lot of time with
the Pokemon Ultimate Handbook
we borrowed from the library, and it was inexpensive, so I bought him a
copy. He decorated the cover with a handmade bar code saying, "Kids
library 503-415-8734 call now!" and another label saying, "Note: Book
has to b reternd on Saterday Sunday or Monday".
Today was the first time since last year's aborted skateboard class
that Arno, inspired by a Battle Force Five episode, got on the skateboard. I brought him to
the THPRD park by PCC for him to noodle around freely.
March 13 Arno
went to Erik Breiling's "Dangerous Animals Birthday Party". In the
spirit of the theme, he brought his plush snake, Slick, wrapped around
his neck. He was having a great time at this boisterous affair. At
previous birthday parties, he has wanted to go home after a half hour
or so, but this time, he didn't even want to go when things were
winding down. But then, disaster struck. Slick opened up at the seam in
three places. He cried miserably, and when he got home, he declared
that today was the worst day of his life. Bettina sewed Slick back up,
so he's fine now. But Arno will treat him more gently from now on.
February 20, 2011
Arno's
birthday
(he's
now
eight)
fell
on
a
Thursday, and coincided with
"Expedition Night" at Springville School. So we agreed to have the cake
celebration on the following weekend. Arno was fine with this, on the
condition that he get to open his present on his birthday. He was
delighted with his box-that-looks-like-a-book, the plush dragon and Gengar,
Kung Zhu DS game,
and
Pokepark Wii. He found
that the games fit inside the book-box, and like Eeyore
on his birthday, practiced putting them in and taking them out, and
forgetting that the box was not a book and being surprised to discover
that the book was a box.
We weren't planning to involve more people beyond family in the
birthday celebration, but it seems our friends the Singharajes want to
honor the occasion. We are touched and gratified. So, they are coming
over today for lunch and birthday cake, and then we are all going to Big Al's to play.
Arno's big birthday present came early, from Grandma. At his request,
she gave him a desk for his room. The desk is another big step forward
in making that room a real living space of his own. He uses it a lot,
and some of the fruits of his labor there go onto the walls, further
establishing his claim on the territory.
January 30, 2011
Saturday,
Arno performed
"The Secret Box" at Family Night at Westside Music School. He's decided
(but you can blame me) that he gets a toy for a good recital, and this
time, he wanted (and got) a plush Charmander.
Charmander, Arno will tell you, is a fire type Pokemon. The fire on his
tail keeps him alive. Arno was eager to show it to my mom over Skype.
Today, we went downtown to see Oregon
Children's Theater perform "Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly".
They did a great job and we all enjoyed it, though it felt a little bit
long at times, even though it was only about seventy minutes. It was
also fun just to be downtown, amidst tall buildings and so many people
dressed up more fashionably than what you see in the suburbs.
January 16, 2011
One of Arno's long-running games is a Pokemon Rescue Team
competition. Here are the current Rescue Team Rankings:
Meanies of Truth and Love
Waterfall Team
Team Space
Iron Team
Poke-heroes
Butterscotch
"Butterscotch" is my contribution. I get the biggest kick out of
"Meanies of Truth and Love". They are a sort of Dark Side rescue
team. They want to rescue all the world themselves, so they can
get all the credit, so they try to stop anybody else from performing
rescues.
