Dear Hazittle,
Finally! About three weeks ago you discovered you had a lil wiggler down in front. Not being keen on putting a finger in your mouth and wiggling it, fear keeping you from allowing me to check it out during the day, we had to designated 5 wiggles three times a day to keep tabs on that lil dangler. So, three weeks...that sucker was nearly sticking straight forward and in the end it was the all encompassing Hoosier desire for buttery sweet corn in the month of July that swayed you to rip it out on your own. Sitting at the lunch table you begged for me to cut the corn off the cob, seeing an opportunity, I said to just get that tooth out already. I asked if you'd like me to help. You screamed, "NO!" I gave you a napkin and you grabbed at it, whining that you were scared. We told you to do what you wanted, but if you closed your eyes and grabbed it you would have it out in no time. We acted as if we were ignoring you for a minute to give you space. The three of us watched from the corner of our eyes... You took a deep breath, squinched your eyes up all tight and secure and took that napkin and pulled, pulled and pulled. BAM! You declared, "I GOT IT! It is out!" You were very excited! but had a sort of mixed expression of freak out and happiness. To cheer or to cry.
The celebratory ice cream cone settled you into cheering! We all cheered for you. You ran to get your tooth pillow Aunt Linda made you. The next morning La Toothy Dienta, your tooth fairy, left you two dollars and a nice note commending you on your bravery.
You were particularly excited that she left the letter covered in fairy dust, which I caught you later picking off and sprinkling over your head in some sort of ritual spell you would not tell me of the details. Exiting times ahead as #2 is not far behind. You make everything so sweet and special. What a way to get ready to start school.
Love, Mama
Dear Hen,
Super development in the life of Henry. You have enrolled in summer skate camp! Step one, after signing up, was taking you to get a stunt wood of your very own choosing, a helmet and some shoes (those boats of yours just keep growing, currently you wear the same size as mommy and have been wearing my tennis shoes for a couple of months now). We are fortunate to have such a patient, helpful and accommodating skate shop owner as Johnathan at Rhett. Johnathan is also the skate camp instructor. He was super at helping you find the right size deck, Almost, and choosing your artwork, trucks and Spitfire Slash Pro-classic wheels at a 99 hardness, same brand daddy first used.
He took the time to explain each step of how the wheels and bearings slide onto the trucks, how the grip tape smooths on to the deck and the trucks attach and tighten and loosen on the deck.
In a situation where some kids would feel apprehensive or self-conscious about ones lack of knowledge in the face of an expert he helped you to feel relaxed and comfortable to ask any question with encouragement. A week or so later we found some awesome Vans and you were ready to go.
The week before camp you wanted to practice in the driveway each evening, learning to push and gain balance on the board, "dropping in" off the concrete downspout drain, and asking important questions like, "How do I pop up the board and get it? How do I carry the deck?" before jumping in at the skate park. The first week you were super stoked, and sweaty! Already you can roll into the ramps and are starting to pump and fakie on the ramps. A respectable fall and bonk on the head humbled your boldness a bit but you are getting back up, sweaty and resolved to keep on learning. You are getting better each day and most of all, you freaking LOVE IT. It is funny that Mommy and Daddy have a hard time not coaching you along, like a soccer parent or football parent. We have to remind ourselves it is supposed to be FUN! Duh! So we back off, drive you to the skate park and cheer you on when you do what you are going for and leaving the rest up to learning on your own.
Here are a couple of links to your first efforts. I have to figure out a way to load them directly. Until then...
https://www.facebook.com/lisa.f.thompson.98/videos/10160584297520484/
https://www.facebook.com/lisa.f.thompson.98/videos/10160571725385484/
We love you and are excited about this new hobby. I can't wait to see where you go with it.
Love, Mama
