The Blog

On Saturday, Austin had his first baseball game of the season; his first year without hitting off a “T”. The game is supposed to be 6 innings, with a player (7-8 years of age) pitching 2 innings, and coaches pitching the remaining 4 innings. That, of course, is not how the game was played this day. You see, due to poor weather conditions over the last 2 weeks, neither team had even practiced hitting yet, so both teams decided to play the game more like a scrimmage: coaches pitched at all times, every player batted once in an inning, and there were (essentially) no strikeouts. Some of the highlights of the game can be viewed below. Austins first hit of the season came on the 5th strike…         …but the remaining hits were within the formal rules of the game.              And […]

Looking back over the photographic records, the first instances can be seen in July, approximately 4 months after she was born. We don’t know what prompted it, but it brought us tranquility. It brought her comfort – and 4 episodes of Coxsackie. For nearly 4 years, Victoria has loved to suck her fingers. [singlepic id=480 w=480 h=480 float=center] When pre-school started, we began to place a small Band-Aid around her fingers to prevent her from sucking on them during the school day. Every morning, she would select a Band-Aid from the box, and (eventually) put it on herself. Every day, in the mid-afternoon, she would ask to take her Band-Aid off, so that she could suck on her fingers for 30-45 minutes while lying on the couch, snuggling with her favorite blue blanket – sometimes whe would nap, other times just rest in a euphoric trance. [singlepic id=1620 w=480 h=480 […]

The family enjoyed a very nice, cold, intermittently snowy Easter holiday this weekend, sharing the day with Grandma and Grandpa Waldron and Great Grandpa. Before the company arrived, the Austin and Victoria first enjoyed searching for Easter eggs and opening gifts from the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny decided to hide eggs specific too each child this year, which successfully prevented them from competing for, and arguing about, eggs and treats.   In addition to typical Easter basket fare (e.g. marshmallow and peanut butter chocolate covered eggs and jelly beans, each child received 2 wrapped gifts. Austin received a R/C helicopter… [singlepic id=4022 w=320 h=240 float=] …and a much desired LEGO Ninjago set. [singlepic id=4024 w=320 h=240 float=] Victoria received a Paw Patrol Pad… [singlepic id=4023 w=320 h=320 float=] …and cupcake crafts. [singlepic id=4025 w=320 h=240 float=] Austin was eager to assemble his LEGO set right away, and Victoria started […]

It is the Saturday before Easter, the date of the annual Town of Sullivan Easter Egg hunt. Nearly every every year, we have participated in the event, which is very well-organized by the town’s Parks and Recreation Department – a previous posting from our first time attending can be found here. This year, however, the radar looks like this: Yep – snow. No, it is not ‘sticking’, but there are 14 mph winds and the wind chills are currently 26 degrees…so…we will not be attending today’s event. We are looking forward to tomorrow though…

Keith: I love you, honey. Victoria: I love you too. No, you don’t. [emphatically] Yes, I do. Then why do you always choose Mommy to put you to bed at night? [she pauses – then exposes a playful grin while shrugging her shoulders] Just the way it goes.

Earlier this morning, Austin gave a short speech to all of the teachers in the Chittenango school district, to kick-off their ‘Professional Development Day’. And while Keith has reservations/concerns about using a select number of advanced students to over-inflate the confidence of teachers when they should instead be concentrating on the difficulties they have advancing the lives of children who do not arrive at their classrooms as ready to learn…it was an honor, nonetheless, for our boy to be selected to represent his entire school as a ‘presenter’. A few weeks ago, the principal of Austin’s school had called to ask if it would be okay for Austin to participate in the event – one student was being selected from each elementary school (and the middle school) to present to the audience what they liked about their school and their own personal goals; the principal had selected Austin. This was […]

Keith took the day off from work today to spend the day with the birthday girl; she had a busy day! After walking Austin to the bus stop, Victoria and Keith went to the coffee shop in town for pancakes (and sausage, for her). Later in the morning, after a bath, she went to the zoo, went out to eat for lunch, picked out her ice cream cake and came home – only to have her fall asleep on the couch. This was after she had a busy day yesterday too, when 3 families came over to the house to celebrate her special day. Her favorite gifts from the weekend included a new bicycle with training wheels and roller skates – each she has used in the house, because the weather remains damp and cool. If you ask her, Victoria will inform you, “I have been waiting my whole life […]

[cvg-video videoId=496 width=850 height=528 /](click small graphic above) (If you think this takes too long to load, you can access the same video here, but the pictures are not as clear as it is more compressed)

Keith has recently decided to begin audio recording conversations with the kids…inspired by some the wonderful moments captured spontaneously by producers of some of his favorite podcasts. Two weeks ago, while at breakfast at the local coffee house with Austin (in our customary seats with our usual orders), Keith recorded a conversation that he would not have soon forgotten, even if the recorder hadn’t been running: Keith: So, I have to tell you something buddy. Austin: What Daddy? Keith: I was reading something on the computer last night that was posted to facebook by someone I know in Colorado, and I thought what he posted was a great idea. Do would like to hear what the gentleman’s idea was? AJ: Sure. Well…what is one of the first things that I do when I get home from work? Give me a hug and kiss? Yes, I do that. But after that. […]