July 2008
July is definitely giving December some competition when it comes to being busy. Here are the highlights for this month:

• We attend fireworks show at high school stadium for 4th of July
• Lilah and Luke enjoy riding Manu in what's become an annual visit to Mona's ranch
• Luke attends Lego camp and learns how to build all kinds of fun things, including a catapult
• Lilah performs three songs on the piano in front of an audience at our local street fair
• We celebrate Nicolas' birthday
• We return to Lake Tahoe and stay on a lakefront cabin for a week -- I created a separate page with more than 30 pictures to document the trip

Luke
There were all kinds of interesting Luke stories this month. Among them are Luke's newfound fascination with chess, which he still insists on pronouncing "chest." It's not like Luke totally understands what he's doing, but there's something about the game -- getting the board out, setting up the pieces, contemplating his moves, etc. -- that keeps him coming back for more. In the beginning he would become frustrated pretty easily so I changed my approach and really made sure that I just played the game a little faster and then showed him where to move his pieces when he got stuck. He likes asking about hypothetical situations. For example,  "what happens if I move here?" is a question he'll frequently ask whether the move he is thinking about making is legal or not. Then we go back and forth on what will happen and what might be a better move.

Another activity Luke really enjoyed this month was attending Lego camp. In this camp, there are two guys that take the kids through guided activities centered around building different structures, tools, and vehicles with Lego pieces. What I really like about the camp was that they not only taught the kids how to build different things, but also taught him the name of the different pieces and professions that use the skills they are learning. It was cool to have Luke come home and educate me on what all the different Lego pieces were called -- 2 x 4 brick, 1 x 4 plate, and so on -- and how "there are these people called engineers" that work on building things. It's definitely nice to see your child become engaged in what they're doing and become more interested in the nuances of what they're learning. One of the things Luke really relished building was a catapult, but I think what he liked even more was getting a chance to use his own catapult to knock down a set of Lego walls.  

This was also the month Luke finally learned to swim. I mean he's not to the point where you can just leave him on his own, but he can cover quite a few yards in the pool and is enthusiastic about getting in the water and showing you what he knows. It's great because it really gave him a lot more confidence in the water which obviously came in handy on our vacation to Lake Tahoe.

Lilah
Lilah had a pretty great month of her own: she got to perform three songs on the piano at our local street fair, she road Mona's horse Manu, and she took 3 seconds off her 25 yard swim time ;-). It still boggles my mind how much Lilah has changed since her young, shy preschool days. The fact that she had no problem performing in front of an audience at the street fair tells me that the "I'm scared," statement she typically makes before an event is more of an act than how she really feels inside. This became clear to me when the owner of the music studio thanked Lilah after performing two songs, but before the owner could turn to address the crowd and thank them for coming, Lilah told her that she still had one more song left to play. The owner apologized, of course, and let her play out her set. That was a great moment.

This month we also enjoyed another nice visit with Mona and Feroz. The kids really love doing this trip because they get to play with the dogs, float in the creek, and ride Mona's horse Manu. Lilah also enjoyed playing with the new addition to Mona's farm -- three very big and furry rabbits. Lilah is always asking us if she can have a bunny and obviously playing with Mona's rabbits didn't help discourage her from asking us again. For now, we just keep telling her she has a dog she needs to take care of and look after, but that rationale is wearing thin with Lilah.

The competitive side of Lilah is still alive and well as I found out when she told her latest pool story. Apparently, she now swims her free style faster than before because when she goes to swim her lap there is a boy that swims next to her that she is motivated to beat. She said that she used to swim her 25 yards in 33 seconds, but now she's 3 seconds faster because she tries to beat the boy. Right now they appear deadlocked as they each swim the length of the pool in the same amount of time. I'm sure that if she does beat the boy, I'll be the first to hear about it ;-).

Okay, that's about all I have time for this month...more next month...