Connor on Christmas Day

.... still wearing the "Elmo shoes" (which he likes because he can easily put on himself)

New Wheels

Connor's first ride on his new wheels - a Christmas gift from Meemaw-Poppa.

(Transcript --

Poppa: "Wow, that is neat. Neat!"

Connor: "You try it, Poppa!")

O Christmas Tree!

"It's so high!" says Connor of the tree at the art museum. Very pretty.

Possum's Ridge

Each holiday season, a model train set is displayed. The buildings are modeled after real buildings in Mississippi.

Connor and other children enjoyed watching the trains run along the tracks.

Slide

At the park we met a sister of an old friend and her baby girl: Mandy and Hayden.

Firefighter Connor

Laurel Street Park

(this is a climbing wall)

Last week during a trip to Jackson, Connor visited a fun park.

Snacking Connor

On Sunday we found some strawberry Pocky in the Asian section of the supermarket. This a snack Connor enjoyed in Japan. He quickly finished them.

Here is Connor having a snack after his bath this evening. He is a carb-crazy kid, although he does enjoy fruit, cheese, chicken nuggets, juice, and milk.


He is growing and changing so rapidly, I realized I should post some pics for all our far-flung friends and relatives.

He is doing great at his little "academy" and we hear all kinds of new things from his experience there. This afternoon he was playing on the floor with his cars and I heard him say, "April .... May ...... June." I looked at him with my eyes wide and my mouth open.

"What?" he asked, noticing my expression. Several times lately I've caught him talking about "high school" (where his dad works) and also "Olive Branch." Oh and today, "Santa Claus," which we haven't spoken of much. Just now he told me to "Be careful." Yesterday morning he instructed me to "Cut it out," which he must have heard his teacher say. I think they've had some birthday parties there recently, because he's been singing the Happy Birthday song.

He sings us tons of songs that he must sing at daycare, especially when he's riding in the backseat of the car. He loves books and puzzles, and he loves and to run, jump, and climb. His dad recently got him a set of junior golf clubs, and they've practiced putting in the living room. He also got a small keyboard a couple of weeks ago that he really enjoys. It's perfect for him. He's so spoiled.

He throws his share of tantrums and finds himself contemplating (?) the error of his ways in his room from time to time.

He really likes trains and is of course also interested in airplanes and fire engines. The intensity of his obsession with Elmo has lessened, and he now sometimes enjoys children's programming on the local public broadcasting station (since we got our new television).

Favorite books: an Elmo color book and a Cookie Monster food book, a Candyland book from Aunt Shannon, Froggy books from Auntie Shane, "Good Night Moon" from Laura, and "Good Night New York City" (which I totally dig) from Maria.

He counts objects up to ten and identifies the alphabet, shapes, and colors, although he still often refers to red as aka (the Japanese word for it). It makes me wish he could keep up his Japanese skills -- I know there was an easy way for this to happen: stay in Japan. But I am very pleased that his language skills are developing in an English-rich environment. As an educator and a lover of words, I feel that a solid foundation in English is a definite asset in our day and age. I want my child to have the opportunity to be strong in the language of the world.

Connor stills exhibits a tendency toward lefthandedness - a southpaw, as Seiko would say.

Nice to See You Again

Saturday Connor was happy to spend some time with "Auntie Shane" who was in the area for some holiday shopping.

Playground

Eating an Apple

First School Portrait

Trick or Treat!

These are some other cute trick-or-treaters we saw on our street. A little bee:

Baby Yoda:

Tigger!

Happy Halloween!

Connor posing in front of our new house: I intended for him to stand. Instead, he mimicked me as I took the picture from this same position.

Keeping watch even as he is being photographed, he cuts his eyes to the left, scanning the horizon: a well-trained ninja.

What? You're still taking pictures? I should already be trick-or-treating!

The outfit includes cool ninja armbands that attach around the wrists with velcro. After trying them on, Connor exclaimed "Too fit! Too fit!" which is his abbreviated way of saying, "They're too tight, they don't fit." I figured, he's only two, he didn't even know what Halloween or trick or treating were a week ago, this was plenty costume for him.

A Chat with Poppa

Connor's grandparents visited him yesterday. He was happy.

Connor at the Park

Yesterday we visited a park in Memphis.

Connor Before Bed

Here you see Connor playing with blocks before bedtime. Lately he's been wearing a new pair of pajamas that were a gift from Dr. Rose. He really likes them, and we think they've been helping him to sleep through the night (they keep him warm).

Connor in the Morning

Here is Connor getting ready for "school" yesterday morning. Doesn't he look grown up?

This is where he goes each day. It's right next to where we live now (you can see part of an apartment building on the left) and isn't far from our new house either. Generally we walk him over.

wedding