Sigh

Exactly why what that teacher is doing in my previous post is so important.   This sickens me.   How can anyone be so callous?   A friend of mine in high school committed suicide the summer between junior and senior year.   Patrick was a football player and a band member.   When we went back to school in the fall, one of the other football players said about Patrick's suicide, "Who cares.   He deserved it."   Disgusting.   Ignorant, callous, repulsive.  http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44684938/ns/today-today_people/?ocid=twitter#.ToMOsNTl9QU

What I Want to Do

Yes, a departure from writing about my children.

Last week I went to work for a few hours to show off Charlie for a bit and to touch base with my substitute.   As I sat listening in horror (and quite honestly, a little amusement) at the insanity that my students have created in the last few weeks. I reconfirmed my belief that I belong teaching middle school.   I love the content of what I teach.  I love seeing students grow as writers and readers and some even discover that their passion is reading and/or writing.   What I love the most though, is seeing them change and grow.   7th grade, in my opinion, is one of the worst times in anyone's life.   Being 12 and 13 sucks.   You don't have the freedom you need to exercise the independence you want, but you also can't get away with being the cute little kid who doesn't know any better any more.   You are caught between wanting to engage in the games and hobbies of elementary school but know you will be ridiculed if you do.   You are curious about the things high school kids and adults do, but you can't or shouldn't do those either.   If you're like me, you're almost 6 feet tall and the boys are all 5.  It's just yucky.   But from my perspective, this is what makes these guys so endearing.   They are so awkward and cumbersome and struggling, but they are so open to learning and seeking out new connections.   My friend and former administrator Tina Boogren now has a job in which one of her roles is to observe teachers around the country.   I love this blog she wrote about a middle school classroom.   I get that this teacher may seem cheesy and the activity would not at all appeal to everyone, but when I look at my students and how much they desperately need confirmation that they have amazing attributes others notice, I think it would be incredibly powerful.  This teacher she writes about amazes me that she has set up such a safe culture in her classroom that kids are willing to speak this way about one another.   I want to be able to do this.   I have a new goal for my ELO class.

Thanks, Tina, for letting me share your blog.  Tina's Blog

Barrows' Boys Genetics Run Strong

Larry and Derran

Charlie

Derran and Cameron

Star Student

Cam is Star Student this week.   This means he got to create a poster with his pictures, answer a questionaire about himself, and bring a bag of his favorite books to share with his friends.   This week they are studying music and nature, so he brought some of his favorites like Rock-a-Baby-Band and Boom-Boom Goes the Big Bass Drum.   His favorite two books right now are Big Brother and I'm a Big Brother.   He had zero interest in these books when they were purchased for him months ago, but now... totally different story! See the translation of his answers below. 

TRANSLATION:

My name is:  Cam

 I am 4 years old.

My favorite color is purple.

My favorite food is macaroni.

 My favorite thing to do is Wii.

In my family I have Mom, Dad, Charlie, Cam.

 

2 Week Appointment

Today we had Charlie's 2 week appointment!   Here are the numbers and a comparison of Cam at the same age:

Charlie at 2 weeks:
Height:  1' 10'' -- 90.5%
Weight:  8lbs 15oz.  -- 56%
Head:  13.78" circumference -- 14.15%

Cameron at 2 weeks:
Height:  1' 9.65" -- 84.85%
Weight:  9lbs 1oz -- 62%
Head:  13.78" circumference -- 14.15%

Crazy that their heads were the same down to the hundredth of an inch! 

Charlie looks great according to the doc!  

Baths, Football, and Jealousy

Charlie seemed to love his "bath" tonight! We didn't get to fully submerge him yet because his circumcision is not yet complete,  but we got him in his little bathtub and poured warm water over most of him while Cam bathed in the big bathtub at his side.  It's the first time I've really seen Cam be jealous.   He started intentionally splashing so Derran and I would get wet while we dealt with Charlie.   He also claimed he had soap in his eyes and "cried" even though he didn't.   While I thought it was a good idea to bathe them at the same time so Charlie could benefit from the steamy warm bathroom, and we could watch Cam at the same time, I've decided we need to keep them separate.  Cam must relish his time playing with one of us as he bathes more than I thought he did.   

Charlie is now covered in Eucerin which will hopefully heal up his super dry skin and newborn rash.   The poor kid has peeling and flaking skin constantly.   Johnson & Johnson's does nothing for him, so we decided to stop being cheap and buy the good stuff.   I hope it helps.   I'm pretty sure we've burned through at least 16 diapers today, so what's another 8 bucks for lotion.  Babies are expensive. 

Aside from the bouts of jealousy, Cam's failure to listen to anything we say the first 5 times we say it, Cam speaking in a voice loud enough that his Uncle Nick can hear every word he says in DC all day long, and Cam's 45 trips to the potty because we allowed him to eat his weight in dried apricots on Saturday, it was a good weekend.  We spent Saturday with friends watching the CU vs CSU game and eating Carey's delicious food, and we spent today hanging out with Brent and my mom watching the Broncos.   Charlie woke up 5 times last night, so it was nice to have a very mellow weekend.   It's the first time since Cam was in a crib that he fell asleep before I left his room tonight, so maybe he didn't perceive the weekend as quite so mellow! 

It will be a bit busier of a week.   In fun news, Cam is Star Student this week, so we prepared his poster.   We let him do all of the writing.   I'm not sure this was the best decision as it's pretty much impossible to read, but he was quite proud.  I'll add a picture tomorrow.  I also need to do some serious grading and lesson planning this week.   Two weeks of a babymoon from work has been fantastic, but I'm going to have some serious regrets if I don't get on it, and my sub might hunt me down, too!  :D  

Milestone

The kid lost his umbilical stump today.   Ick.   I handed him over to Derran for a second and a little thing fell on the floor.  I stooped down to pick it up and made the discovery.  Ew.   Looks like the kid has an inny, but I think it might be herniated.   It's minor, but it is still raised up a bit.   I'll post a picture when it's a little less goopy.