Sunday, July 31, 2016

Assorted Musings

With summer coming to an end I think it would be healthy for all of us to take a look back at the "B" sides of Nate's summer. 

I don't think a day goes by where I don't receive an email from someone saying "Hi Scott.  I love the blog, it's the only thing that keeps me going in the morning, I'm super rich, here's a down payment for a home. I'm also writing because I would like to know more about the random things that have happened to Nate over the course of the summer." 

Now, granted, I've never actually received an email like the one above, but I know many of you are dying to send one just like it.  So to those people I say; I will accept your gracious offer of a down payment and here are some of the random things that happened to Nate over the summer. 

ALPHABET ROCKERS



A week or so after school was out Nate went to his first rock concert. During the school year a kids singing group called the Alphabet Rockers came and sang at an assembly. Nate loved it and as he watched Youtube videos and listened to their songs on Spotify, he became a big fan.

When he found out that they were coming to our local library to perform a concert he was psyched out of his little mind. Before the concert started he spotted THE Alphabet Rockers themselves and wanted to go meet them.  He was star struck.  When the performers knelt by Nate for this picture, he just stared at the singer on his right with a giant grin on his face like he couldn't believe the person from the Youtube videos was right in front of him.

Just imagine that same picture but Nate's head turned directly to his left and staring, unblinkingly, at the woman.  We had to call for him several times to get him to look forward for the picture.


READING RAINBOW

It's been the summer of reading for Nate.  Not only has he gotten into chapter books in a big way but reading clicked for him.  He can read just about anything now.  His favorite series of books are the Magic Tree House books.  I envy the woman that created that series since it's basically one book that she has published 50 times with different titles. Nate loves it though. I think he and Annie have read about 40 of them.  And while I know that sounds like I am being snarky, I AM NOT.

Nate has a fever and the only cure is more Magic Tree House.

P.S. Thank you to the primary for the great idea of head lamps.  Nate loves using it to read in bed.



I LOST MY TOOTH, LITERALLY

As often happens with kids, Nate seems to flow from one form of existence to another without warning and very suddenly.  I remember being shocked when he was suddenly old enough to start school.  It was just the day before that he was learning to crawl.  The same thing happened when turned 6.  One day he was a little toddler then the next he was 6 years old.

Well, it happened again this summer.  One day, he was regular Nate with all his Nate teeth in his little Nate mouth, then suddenly, his baby teeth just started falling out.  I don't recall ever being asked if this was okay.  


Thankfully, it has at least provided some entertainment.  Nate lost his first tooth pretty quickly and without much effort.  So we found it off that his next tooth stayed loose for about 3 weeks without seeming to want to come out.  Eventually, worried that he would swallow his tooth we told him we had to yank it out.  We tried to pull it out and even though it was loose, it wouldn't come out all the way.  The corner of his tooth was so firmly stuck that I began to get excited, thinking that if I could finally remove it I would be crowned king of England.  Sadly, I was not worthy and we had to leave it hanging on by an enamel thread.  

Later that day as Nate lay on the floor I noticed that it was gone. We looked around everywhere but couldn't find it.  After a while Nate finally said, "Guess I lost my tooth, literally!"

Eventually he told us that he remembers feeling something hard in his throat earlier so he kept swallowing until it felt better.  He swallowed the tooth.  It was like a time travel movie where we had gone back in time to make sure he didn't swallow his tooth but only ended being the reason he did swallow it! Following?


POKEMON GO!

You had to have seen this one coming.  For those of you who do not know what Pokemon Go is, I encourage you to open up a web browser and type in anything at all and something Pokemon Go related will pop up.  It's everywhere.

It really is perfect for Nate though.  With a cell phone car mount on his power chair we load up Pokemon Go and he can zoom around hunting for Pokemon on one of our phones.  He loves it.  We go to parks or just take walks around the neighborhood and it's great for Nate since it's so easy for him to participate.




It's also an equalizer in many ways.  Nate's #outoftowncousins are in town and he loves hanging out with them.  With Pokemon Go,  they can go out together and play WITH them.  Too often, when Nate goes to play with other kids, they just end up running around and Nate can't participate.  But with a game like this, he can not only keep up, but participate fully.

Tonight we spent some more time with his cousins playing the game.  And although I nearly suffocated while 5 children huddled an inch from my face to play the game on my phone with Nate, it was worth it.  Nate said it was his favorite part of the day.

It's been a great summer from San Diego to Pokemon and we are grateful for how much Nate is able to enjoy.



2 comments:

  1. Hi Scott, I really do love your blog and find Nate and your wife and you so inspirational. I love seeing what adventures Nate is getting up to and how your wife and you support in getting up to all sorts of fun as well as fighting for health. I wish I could say that I am rich and could pay for a down payment, but alas, I chose to be a teacher and live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. But your blog has made me laugh and cry and feel powerful and feel powerless and I just love that you allow others along for the ride! - jessica allred (from your BYU ward...)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Scott, I really do love your blog and find Nate and your wife and you so inspirational. I love seeing what adventures Nate is getting up to and how your wife and you support in getting up to all sorts of fun as well as fighting for health. I wish I could say that I am rich and could pay for a down payment, but alas, I chose to be a teacher and live in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment. But your blog has made me laugh and cry and feel powerful and feel powerless and I just love that you allow others along for the ride! - jessica allred (from your BYU ward...)

    ReplyDelete