Flying High w/Friends .... Except When 'Mater Hurts Nathan at the Planet Museum'

nathan
--------------------------------- (above this line, Joey typed.  below this line, Mom typed while Joey dictated)
Nathan was crying because Joey hurt him with Mater, and Mommy said, "Give me it back, please."  

So, equals and the two equals of milk.  Oh no, no, no! The two equals of juice. 

And Mater was vroom, vroom on the floor.  And then he was flying and he was upside down.  And then he jumped over.  And Joey was coughing inside the bedroom of Mommy and Daddy.  And then Joey was crying because Daddy hurt his feelings because he told him to get on the bed.  So, he was crying because he said that he wants Mommy to give him a hug, so he could feel better.  So, now he could jump.  He can jump in the bed??  That's funny!  Jumping in the bed!   

The kitty-cat bounced on Mommy and Daddy's head, and Joey's head and Kaelie's.  And they said, "Ouch, ouch!  No, Kitty; Don't do that!"  The kitty said, "Yes, we could jump on Daddy's head and Mommy and Joey's head. But Kaelie's head? Turkey head, Kaelie?"  

Joey coughed again.  

-----------------------------------(above this line, Joey's dictation typed by Mom.  below this Joey's reply to Mom's question: What did we do today?).
We ride Mommy's car and go to the planets.  
-----------------------------------(above this line, Joey's reply to Mom's question re: what we did today.  below this line Mom's interpretation).
We went to the Virginia Air & Space Museum today with some of our favorite friends who we hadn't seen in over a month.
------------------------------- (above this line, Mom's interpretation.  below this line, Mom's comments).

About the Event:
We had an impromptu visit back to our neck of the woods this week, which allowed us the wonderful opportunity to meet up with some fantastic friends who we'd been missing for over a month.  We opted to go to the VA Air and Space Museum, a favorite of ours.  I wish I had more pictures and videos, but as typical, my battery died :-/  

First stops were the glow-in-the-dark room and the penny funnel, before heading to the planets where the kids had a blast chasing each other and pretending to be monsters (from outer space?).  Then we went around to the 'air' attractions.  

Joey, as you can tell from the video, wasn't so impressed with the airplane, which he was used to from our previous visits. Instead, he had noticed the paper airplane station, finally, and was eager to give it a try.  I sat Joey next to me, Kaelie in front of me, each of us with our own sheets of paper, and demonstrated how to fold the Jet style he chose.   Kaelie's was more like a loosely smooshed paper ball lol.  Mine was as expected.  But I was so pleased with Joey's effort.  No, it wasn't perfect, but he sure did get it to fly, despite its asymmetry!  Before heading downstairs, Kaelie finally noticed the conveyor belt, which she really enjoyed, as Joey did during his first visits.

Before leaving, we allowed the kids to play in the 'Clouds' - they really had fun.  Until Joey accidentally hurt Nathan when he had Flying Mater fly towards his face.  Result - a nick next to his eye.  Nathan was so upset, and Joey was so ashamed.  He felt bad to see his friend so hurt; he kept hugging him, kissing his hand and placing it over Nathan's eye, telling him he was sorry, and eventually offered him his beloved Mater.  Thankfully, Nathan felt better quickly and you would have guessed it never happened.  We all rode the Kid Coaster, snacked, and called it a day.   

I for one, am looking forward to some more adventures that we planned for October.  I sure hope they happen!  We'll keep you posted.

About the Post:
Joey's been asking to post to his "Great Adventures" so much! Poor kid, my own schedule seems to keep getting in the way.  The last couple times we tried, things seemed to keep coming up.  Since it usually takes him a while to get focused and type something,as well as extra patience on my part, and little distraction from our environment, this blog business is not so 'easy' to schedule as I'd hope. Joey really, really enjoys it, though, so I am hoping to do more on my part to at least allow him the opportunity to dictate to me more frequently.  Here's hoping for the best :-)  Also, in case you couldn't tell, the color is a deep purple - his choosing. 

If you have kiddos who would like to video/comment reply, I think Joey would love to make some online friends. If you are comfortable mentioning your location (continent, country, state, whatever makes you comfortable) and anything 'teachable', it would help make some geographic connections for him. Thanks!

There Was Blood; I Needed a Band-Aid!

joey went to 
--------------------------------- (above this line, Joey typed.  below this line, Mom finished his statement)
"Joey went to the bathroom because he needed a bandaid ..."
-----------------------------------(above this line, Joey's dictation was supposedly captured.  below this line Mom's interpretation).

Joey was trying to move his keyboard (electric piano) stand across the floor.  I'm not sure why, but in the process he stubbed his big toe, lifting the nail along the edge.  This caused it to bleed a little bit, so he needed to have it cleaned and a band-aid applied for aesthetics and good-measure.  

------------------------------- (above this line, Mom's interpretation.  below this line, Mom's comments).

About the Event:
As mentioned above, Joey hurt himself, and, of course, it was an event, since it resulted in blood. lol  Really, it wasn't a major hemorrhage or anything, but it is a sensitive area and the resulting pain can be quite uncomfortable - I 'speak' from experience.  Having to clean out the area, and it meriting a band-aid seem to have escalated the event in his mind.  I 'say' this because sometime afterward, he ran over to me 'out of the blue' and told me that he needed to have it written, like we did yesterday.  Despite the fact that I was working on the computer, you better believe I complied! lol

About the Post:
Yes, I'm pretty excited about this blog project, and I was overjoyed that Joey came to me and requested to have an event written like we did yesterday, as he put it.  Since his first post yesterday, he's had a couple comments and quite a few visitors from around the world, including one from his dad's hometown!  I've been anxious to share these tidbits with him, but there are other activities that take precedence, including my own obligations.  I did mention to him at one point today that he could share something with his online friends; but it was such a quick reference that right now I can't even recall what it regarded.

As for how this post went: Well, excellent, until someone got him worked up because they were going to the stores :-/  *sigh*  So much for him finishing even his one sentence!  He had shared with me what he wanted his first sentence to be, but from the time he told me to the time that he took off, I forgot the latter part of it.  (doh!) Yes, he played a little with holding a few buttons down and backspacing, but he did it much less than yesterday and was much quicker at typing his words today.  Also, although I gave him the option of choosing another font color yesterday, and he clicked on the font colors and decided on black; today, without my saying anything, he told me he wanted red, and when I pointed to the proper icon on the screen, he quickly clicked and changed his text to red, but not before me suggesting to him that he had various shades of red from which to choose.  Yes, I really am enjoying all the lessons that are coming from this activity!

For the record, text color is the only font manipulation I've introduced to him so far.  All the rest, I do, without even sharing the process, yet.  Any punctuation in his typing, and capitalization, is his doing, but I do explain to him how to make it happen, and may offer suggestions.  If we have time later today, he may decide to finish his earlier post.  Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised if it's 'old news' and his next post is unrelated.  I am curious to find out, though.  Time will tell :-)

PS - The pics were from after he returned.  The most we did to follow up was reply to Alex's post from yesterday's blog.  He added a video reply too.   Here's the link: http://joeysjaunt.blogspot.com/2012/09/im-still-pedaling.html?showComment=1347166408671#c2185298340226807804

If you have kiddos who would like to video/comment reply, I think Joey would love to make some online friends. If you are comfortable mentioning your location (continent, country, state, whatever makes you comfortable) and anything 'teachable', it would help make some geographic connections for him. Thanks!

I'm Still Pedaling!

Joey on his Bike.
Yes, he has a helmet & pads galore,
but they're still packed away in a moving box. 

hi! my name is joey.
--------------------(above this line, Joey typed, below this line, Joey dictated)
This is me on my bike, riding my bike.  Because I fall and I say, "I'm still pedaling!" like Sheep, like in Word World.
-------------------- (above this line, Joey dictated, below this line, Mom's interpretation)
Joey learned to ride his bike yesterday.  Of course, I didn't have a camera!  So, I told him that I'd record him today.  As soon as I stopped recording, Joey took a (minor) dive, but he recalled an episode of WordWorld in which Sheep learns to ride a bike.  When she falls, she keeps air-pedaling and cries out, "I'm still pedaling!" You can bet Mr. Hilarious took his cue from her and had me laughing with his perfectly timed impression.
-------------------- (above this line, Mom's interpretation, below this line, Mom's comments)
About the Video:
We bought a glider for Joey last October, which he used constantly up until about 4 months ago.  Life has been going through a number of major transitions since March, and although I was hoping to teach him to ride before he turned three, it just didn't happen.  For Christmas he received his Toy Story Bike, but we've mainly been waiting for him to grow into it lol.  Yes, as soon as it was bought, an overly-excited family-member allowed him to ride the training-wheel-equipped version of the bike, which he enjoyed.  I didn't want him to become dependent on the training wheels, though, so I took them off asap, and wouldn't let him ride until he was tall enough to plant his feet (ok, his toes) squarely on the ground to keep from toppling over.

His height and my schedule finally coincided last week to start his lessons.
1) Attempt One lasted about 15 minutes, but the biggest issue was my inability to hold onto his bike correctly.  I didn't realize, but somehow I was pulling the back wheel out from under him, preventing him from getting a good balance on his own.  Five tries was the deal, so that's what we did.
2) Attempt Two was a few days later and lasted about the same time, but he only tried about three times.  I corrected what I was doing wrong, and he was doing a good job keeping balance and pedaling.  On his third try I let go very briefly; he just didn't quite realize.  On his own he maintained his balance while pedaling, even if for a few feet, and his ear-to-ear grin as the wind blew past his cheeks was so worth the wait!  He was proud and so was I!
3) Several more days passed, and I finally took him again yesterday, Attempt Three.  I had his sister in the stroller with me, which probably motivated me to let go sooner, but that's all he needed!  On his first try he was pedaling and balanced - on his own - for a significant distance (several houses long!)  So neat! We stayed outside for more than two hours on the bike; three, if you include the tricycle and scooter.  Of course we went out again today.  My boy's getting big *sigh* :-)


About the Post:
Joey's been reading for a little bit, and practicing his letters since well before last Christmas, but he's had a curiosity for typing, and I wanted to encourage it, hence, the blog.  He's pecked for a few minutes, but we haven't sat to do much other than his name.  To get him to do the one sentence above took much longer than I had expected! LOL  But as a parent, it's always good to practice my skills in patience ;-)  He enjoyed running his fingers lightly across all the windows, almost like he would do on the piano.  He also seemed to relish at holding a letter and then timing the backspace button such that he didn't erase everything, only what he intended.  So, the one sentence was good enough for me, and him too, I think!  After getting that far, I suggested that he dictate (we've done this in his writing journal before), and he seemed to get a kick out of seeing his words produced so quickly.  I'm looking forward to seeing how this activity progresses with him.

If you have kiddos who would like to video/comment reply, I think Joey would love to make some online friends.  If you are comfortable mentioning your location (continent, country, state, whatever makes you comfortable) and anything 'teachable', it would help make some geographic connections for him.  Thanks!