Finally!

HA! Finally I am back up and running. Have been having difficulties logging on AND finding the time... the latter is not a surprise. Xander has another upper respiratory infection. There was one night where he coughed all night long, literally. The next day Jason and I took him to the doc and were told that he simply had a very bad cold. Sigh. So we are doing the usual -- saline, humidifiers, vapo-rub, lots of baths. (He likes the last bit). Beyond the fact that the coughing sounds horrible and disturbs Xander's sleep, he and Jason sleep in the same bed and so it disturbs Jason as well. But everyone is sleeping peacefully for the moment.

The hard part about not being more regular with this is, of course, that the boys change and do so much so fast that I can barely remember day to day what they last did... but let me think now...

(This is Xander as 'Princess Atta' from 'A Bug's life. Why he is wearing winnie the pooh slippers with his wings is beyond me -- but the child knows what he wants and, especially in the land of make believe, I generally do not argue with him!)

Well one of the more interesting events has been Jason's creation of a new 'comix' strip 'The Adventures OR Captain Wavy Cape' I suggested that we might do something of the sort, casually, the other night and Jason was terribly excited. Nothing would do but we did it immediately. So while Tom played 'Hopper' (the bad guy in A Bug's Life) and was bounced on by Xander, Jason and I worked on his strip. That first night he drew six frames. The next day, with a little coaching from Mom on how to use Watercolor pencils, he very carefully added color. I include an image of his work. I am very impressed by the fine motor control involved in his work -- not just the drawing but the colored pencil. Normally Jason just slathers color on, not worrying about where it lands. In this case, though, after I had explained the challenges of reproducing his image, he worked very carefully and intently and kept the color exactly where it needed to be.

I have only included one frame from the strip, space being what it is, but one of the curious features of these first six panels is that there is no story -- not that one could tell just by looking at the strip. Each panel introduces one character -- Black Eye, the bad guy and his dog, Pegleg Sam the Pirate Man, Right hand hook and left hand hook, the pirate twins, Both hands Hook (aka Captain Wavy Cape), and the Joker Pirate. Turns out, when I talked to Jason, that he has an entire and elaborate storyline all thought out. Now I just have to help him turn it into a series of images on paper. The nice thing about this 'accidental' project is that it offers a way to teach about art and story telling. I have been having him really look at and analyze the films he watches, as well as the picture books we read, asking him to tell me what the images themselves, without the words tell him -- and whether the images do the job effectively. And besides, it is definately fun!

Xander, of course, had to help... so I gave him paper and water colors and water. When I checked on him, he informed me with great seriousness that he was 'painting with water' and making 'booteeful' pictures. He had NO interest in the watercolors at all, thank you very much! Periodically the young lord would command me to 'tear that one out, Mommy, so it can dry!' I would do so, of course, and he would look at it with great pleasure and say 'Isn't that a booteeful picture, Mommy? I did that!' Hmmm. Even in his art work, he knows what he wants!

Jason continues to amaze me. The other morning, early, I had been skipping channels, trying to find a weather report. I came across a bio of Stephen Hawkings and was watching it when Jason woke up and came in. He sat down and watched with great fascination and then, when it was over, proceeded to ask some very good questions -- like how do they know that what they think is right? And what precisely do Physicists study and why do they argue? Then he asked about Black Holes and what they were and had anyone seen them and if they hadn't then how does anyone know that they exist? I figured I will turn that whole discussion over to TOM!!!!!