The Innocent Prayer of a (n Evil) Child

Now that Paige is all religious, Curtis has followed suit. So of course they fight over who's going to say the prayer (I don't think that either of them is as interested in saying the prayer as they are in making sure that the other one doesn't get to say it.)

This morning, we had the usual fight over who's turn it was. Curtis freaked out, and instead of just praying at the same time as Paige (only much louder) like he normally does, he took a more drastic approach. The second Paige closed her eyes, he grabbed a bottle of lotion and chucked it right at her head.

Are we the only family that has to pause mid-prayer to put their kids in time out?

Tactical Soccer Genius for Three-Year-Olds

I was happy to hear these words of wisdom from Curtis' soccer coach to his team during half-time.

Coach: Okay, soccer friends. I want to tell you a secret. [She leans in closely and talks softly.] You guys are doing really good out there. But here's the thing: you can't punch or push. You can't punch or push the Yellow Jackets [the other team] and you can't punch or push the Blue Sharks [Curtis' team].

This was bad news for Curtis, who's not afraid to throw an elbow or two.

Blair Waldorf v. Pee-Wee Herman

 

The other night, Traci came home with "The Roommate."  This was not too surprising, seeing that it stars Leighton Meester (aka Blair Waldorf) and we watched at least the first three seasons of Gossip Girl before we gave up on it. But we don't normally watch scary movies.

When Meester's creepy, stalking character put her roommates cat in the dryer, I said, "Uh, so why did you rent this?"

"Oh, I don't know," Traci replied.

By the time Blair Waldorf was stabbing the roommate's ex-boyfriend with a boxcutter, Traci had to read a book to distract her from the movie.

The next night, we watched "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," something that was a little more our speed. It's weird when you're old enough to say things like, "I haven't seen that movie in at least 15 years." But it's also weird that you can still know all of the words from a movie you haven't watched in 15 years.

One of my favorite lines:

Francis: Shut up, Pee-wee!
Pee-wee: Why don't you make me.
Francis: You make me!
Pee-wee: Because. I don't make monkeys, I just train 'em.
Francis: Pee-wee, listen to reason.
[Pee-Wee cuffs his hand around his ear in a listening motion]
Francis: Pee-wee!
Pee-wee: Sh! I'm listening to reason.
Francis: Pee-wee! 

Words of Wisdom from Young Women's Class

I was sitting in Sunday School when I noticed some remnants from the preceding Young Women's class still on the chalkboard:

1. Do not shank people

My heart filled with joy knowing that the youth of the Church are learning such valuable lessons.

Don't Forget About Me, Dad

 

Paige is off to kindergarten. Curtis is going to preschool. This kid's still at home, drooling and being generally quite likeable.

Scissor Kicks and Such

Only two kids on Curtis' soccer team scored goals on this, his inaugural game. Juan, who's five and at least a foot taller than all of the three year olds, scored about a dozen. The lone remaining goal was scored by little Curtis, who was as surprised as the rest of us to find himself right in front of the net when the ball bounced his way.

It was a successful first outing, despite a bit of apprehension on his part. He spent a lot of time being frozen where ever he stood, until his coach would lovingly say, "Curtis, go kick the ball." At which point, he would run and play and get knocked over (several times) and score a goal by accident. Then he'd go right back to standing until his coach prodded him on again. (After a while, I think he just liked the attention and I would catch him looking at his coach, just waiting for her to give him a little encouragement.)

Paige cheered for Curtis maniacally and unceasingly. He showed his affection in his customary way--he walked over to the sideline, punched her, and then went back to the game.

Good times were had by all.

Off to Preschool

Poor second child. With all the worries about Paige heading off on the bus to kindergarten, we barely paid any attention to the fact that Curtis was starting preschool this week.

Fortunately, there was less to worry about, given that Curtis has gone to that classroom for the past two years to drop Paige off. Traci says he walked in today, put on his name tag, and headed straight for the toys. No time to worry about Mom's tears when there's stuff to be played with.

Curtis also made his soccer debut last night. I met Traci and the kids at the soccer field, where he was to meet his coach and get his uniform. When he hopped out of the van, I was happy to see that he was already in one of Paige's old uniforms and his flip-flops. The first thing he said to me was, "I need my cleats, dad!"

"Alright, buddy. We're just here to get your jersey, so I don't think you'll need them right now."

Turns out he did need them. After the uniforms were distributed, the team had a short practice.We got his cleats on and he ran off to become an athlete.

He did pretty good for his first time. Dribbling the ball around the cones must have been pretty exhausting, since about every 30 seconds he would run over to me and say, "I need some more water, dad."

He also got a little distracted when the coach paired the kids up to practice passing. Here was the scene.

Curtis is paying attention. Oh, wait. His partner Beckham is filling up a cone with grass clippings. Now Beckham kicks it. But here comes a firetruck, so now Curtis can't concentrate. Curtis kicks it to Beckham but Beckham is sitting on the ground. Teamwork.

School, sport. Lots of big changes for our little guy.