Current music:	Four Impromptus for Piano - Schubert/Perahia
Entry tags:	family, kids, photos

Miscellany

On school days William needs to get up around 7:30, to be ready on time. But I'm usually up around 6:30, and William seems to like the peaceful company, so he often gets up earlier and we just hang out. Matthew (like Amy) generally sleeps later, but sometimes he also comes plodding sleepily in (usually carrying his pillow with him, for some reason -- in case he falls asleep while walking, I suppose). I figure it's fair to give them until 7:30 with no responsibilities before starting our morning dash. This morning, both William and Matthew got up early, and at Matthew's request William read to him from a Big Book of Fairy Tales. This is the Gingerbread Man.

Amy has been away at a conference for the past few days, so I and the boys have been doing guy stuff and skimping on homework and so on. (Most of William's homework is in Chinese, anyway, so I can't do much to help or even tell him what he's supposed to do. I have been insisting he gets some done, but only a couple of pages are complete.) William and Matthew have dragged me to the playground every day, for baseball and soccer and basketball and general clambering on play structures and slides and swings and running around.

William's soccer team is doing pretty well this year. If I haven't lost track, we have won three games and lost one. (I am vaguely an assistant coach again, which again means tying shoelaces and retrieving balls from the woods, because I still don't actually know the rules of soccer.) They have got the concept of positions and passing and much of the basics, and often remember them even in the heat of battle. The games are fun to watch; especially little Gage, about half the size of the rest of the team (and about a third of his size is eyes) but who whirs around at about 90 mph with his legs spinning, exactly like a Flintstone cartoon character; of course this mode of transport is unsuited for non-animated beings and Gage falls down about every 45 seconds, but the part of him that isn't eyes is entirely rubber bands and springs and he rolls back to his feet without missing a beat.

William is doing pretty well. He handles the fundamentals pretty well, but lacks a killer instinct and isn't very aggressive about getting the ball away from defenders and driving to the goal. When playing our defense he works out fine, but on offense he tends to be rather passive and wait for the ball to come to him instead of taking it. However, he doesn't mind playing defense, and we have several power forwards already. Most importantly, William has a wonderful time at games and practice.

Even so, he's still more enthusiastic about baseball. We go to the park to throw and catch and hit most days, and he's improving. His batting is good; even though I am not good enough to adjust his batting stance all the time, he usually gets some good hits. He'll be playing baseball as soon as soccer season ends. This year he'll be a returning veteran; the teams are machine-pitch first and second grade, same as he was on last year.

Matthew is also keen on baseball, though not as obsessive as William was at that age. When William was four, he had been batting well for nearly two years; Matthew has just got interested. He throws well, and occasionally catches a ball if I can manage to throw it precisely into the center of his glove; much to his leaping pride and excitement. This is his last week in day care for the summer, as Amy now has the summer off and will hang out with Matthew (and William, when his school ends) for the summer.