Update

I put four chess apps, on the iPad, Z spent an entire afternoon* glued to playing either me or the 'puter.

* except for the three hours he spent running around and in the pool at Connors birthday.

Chess

At the end of a playdate, with a kindergarten classmate we know, they ended up playing checkers. It was cute the rules are simple enough to follow without much parental supervision.  After his friends family left, Z expressed a desire to play chess. And forty minutes later I am writing to say I lost, although I was mostly playing myself which is quite challenging. Z really understood, protecting pieces, threatening pieces, and check. So he managed to concentrate for almost an hour and was starting to think at least a move or so ahead. And he could see the moves I might choose, I think we need to this more often, it was super fun.

Bits and Bobs

I'm currently under threat to write a blog post or else.

I don't know what the or else is. Probably Mark will hide the ice cream, which frankly seems inhumane.

Zachary is barreling towards Kindergarten. He starts school in just under a month, which is completely mind boggling. But as I watch him it is clear he is incredibly ready. He's reading a smidgen, and writing (backwards) a lot. But he's also totally grown into his body, which is awesome. Swim lessons are hysterical. He might try the swim test tomorrow (which I think means he could be in the pool without getting yelled at? It is so hard to know...) but he's starting to get the hang of breathing, rather than gasping.

In other news, he is also exploiting language to the max. It is pretty fun to watch. He correctly segued in the middle of a conversation Monday. Especially funny because he was TOTALLY rude about wanting a snack. I called him on it, and we talked about other ways to handle it. And then he goes "Talking of rude, (my friend) did XX today in class."

Well, there you go. I guess he's paying attention some of the time.

It doesn't rain here very often! So here was a chance for Z to use his umbrella and enjoy the spectacle.

sparklers

July 4th 2013

IMAG0643, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

We went to a baseball game and afterwards enjoyed fireworks with a very patriotic mashup. And this weekend, we had sparklers before bed.