3.4, or We don't need no stinking schedule

Dear Corbin,

This month started off with the end of the regular pre-school year and Grandma Lam's birthday in the UP.  Both of those things meant that your schedule got totally thrown off, and it nearly made both of us crazy.

Grandma's birthday was on Memorial Day this year, and she turned 70, so she decided to have a big party for herself in Menominee.  She even rented the township Hall, and we had fun decorating it with lots of balloons.  Many of our relatives came, even some of her cousins that I had never met before.  The best part for us was that Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena flew in from Norfolk.  It was the first time they were meeting Miriam, so that was fun.  You and Uncle Alex ended up playing with pulleys, which you know about from one of the Charlie Brown encyclopedias and also because there are several hanging up on the Cottage roof beams. It rained a little bit every day, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.  Other than that, the weather was fine and you had fun with playing with your many, many diggers.

It was really nice to spend time at the Cottage.  Lena had never been there before, so we told her lots of family history.  Some day you'll have to learn all of those stories, too.  That's one of my favorite things about being at the Cottage or in Menominee.  I think that family history is so very important, and I don't think people pay enough attention to it.  Your history is what determines your present, and family history is part of that.  After all, Dad and I have our personal histories and family histories, and that all affects how we parent you.  Being able to understand that aspect of your life can give you a lot of insights.  I was a teenager when I started learning a lot about my parents' personal and family histories, and it changed both my relationships with them and also how I thought about myself.  I hope that when you learn about your history, it gives you a sense of pride, and strength, and maybe understanding.  Learning about my parents' lives has always made me feel proud of them and grateful for what their accomplishments meant for my life.  You come from some amazing people; I hope you're able to learn and appreciate their stories.

By the time we got back from the Cottage, though, your bedtime routine had crashed and burned.  Between being in a different environment and staying up late for bonfires, I think you were in bed later than 9pm most nights.  So once we were home, we had to embark on a bit of bedtime routine recovery.  We tried just going back to our previous routine first.  It worked until we tried to get you actually into bed and going to sleep, at which point you would suddenly discover that you were hungry, or had to go potty, or needed something.  My favorite conversation went like this:

You: Mama!  Mama!
Me: What do you need, Corbin?
You: I need to ask you something.
Me: What is it?
You: I don't know.

At which point I would valiantly refrain from having primal scream therapy right there in your room.  But then I had the idea to set the alarm on your alarm clock for 8pm.  When it goes off, we tell you that it's time for us to go downstairs and do chores instead of stay upstairs and talk to you.  Since we use a timer a lot otherwise, to mark bath time or dinner time or whatever, you've accepted that limit without too much complaint.  So now our nights are back to a pretty good routine.  Except for the fact that now we have time to do chores again, I guess.

You've started the summer session at preschool.  The first day, you were a little upset because it wasn't just like the regular school year.  They have you in a different classroom and your regular teacher wasn't there the first day.  You insisted on seeing your old classroom first, before you'd go into the new one. But once you got around the other kids you were fine and you've been having fun since then.

One of the interesting things that you're doing right now is changing your pronunciation of certain sounds.  You've been concentrating on getting your "sh" sound at the beginning of words as well as the end.  You will actually pause and correct yourself when you say a word wrong.  It's kind of amazing to watch your brain in action like that.  None of us have ever made a big deal about your incorrect pronunciation, but I'm happy to see you wanting to correct it yourself. You've got a couple of years now to really get good at pronouncing sounds, before you start losing your baby teeth and go back to mis-pronouncing "ash."

Love,
Mom

Playing shuffleboard at the Cottage:

 Trying to fly a kite with Uncle Alex and Aunt Lena:

Uncle Alex took these great photos of our resident bald eagle:

We went kayaking with Aunt Cele:

You, on the way home from Grandma's birthday party:

In the garage with Grandpa, waiting for the rain to stop:

Your collection of diggers:

Playing with pulleys:

We got this weird spiny melon from the grocery store:

At the Smith-Redding house:

Miriam sitting in the Bumbo chair, when you're not using it to be a turtle:

Looking for the leak in the Spiderman punching bag:

Your "scrap metal" pile:

Playing with your "electromagnet":