A Visit to the Downtown Aquarium

Dear Jack,

I think if you could picture heaven right now, it would be an ocean. You love fish so very much. So for you, Monday was perhaps the best day ever. We went to the Downtown Aquarium. We got there when they opened at ten in the morning and other than a break for lunch, we stayed until four in the afternoon with no nap. You were such a happy boy.

I asked you and your sister to pose for a picture by this shark. Sydney immediately reached over to the shark. "I chuch shark!" you said. So both of you touched the shark.

The best part of the experience was that you got to share it with Gram, Aunt Rachel, Will, Jamie and your sister and me.

The Aquarium is special to Will because his daddy, your Uncle James, brought him and Aunt Rachel here on their Houston visit back when you were a very tiny baby in the summer of '09. Will likes to show his sister Jamie the places that Uncle James thought were fun. For you, though, I suspect that the draw will be Will and Jamie and that this is a special place for you and your cousins. I imagine that would have made your uncle very happy... that his son and daughter and his niece and nephew have a special place to go together.

The part that you and Will thought was the best, though, was the spot where you can pet the rays, the bamboo sharks, the horseshoe crabs and the starfish.

When everyone else was ready for lunch, you and Will needed more time with the fish, so we stayed behind and wound up visiting with one of the docents. I was explaining to the docent that you like to learn the names of fish the way other boys like to learn the names of dinosaurs or construction vehicles. The docent thought I was talking about Will until I asked you what kind of shark was in the tank and you said, "ba-boo shark." The docent looked completely surprised and asked how old you were.

I was quick to explain that your cousin Will is also very interested in ocean life. Will corrected me to expand that to "all animals." With that, the docent launched into a very interested series of spiels about the different animals in the room.

He let Will hold the Horseshoe Crab upside down. Will mentioned that he had heard that their tails break off easily and they can regrow them. The docent confirmed that and showed Will how the crab he was holding was mid-molt and that if the crab had lost his tail, it would regrow it during the molt. He then added that a Horseshoe Crab molts seventeen times and for sixteen of those, the crab is a female and on the last molt, some number of them will molt into males.

Seeing your big cousin holding a crab made you want your own turn. I was too busy helping you to get a picture, but you clearly said "huss-su kwab u-side down" and the docent let you hold one of the smaller ones.

He then showed us a bamboo shark egg and used the light on his phone to illuminate the baby fish and the yolk. How cool!

We then left the aquarium and went over to the Hard Rock cafe for lunch.

You were very cool about the whole thing.

After lunch, Gram needed in from the heat and Jamie needed a nap. You needed to see more fish.

We also saw the other animals they had, like the white tiger and the reptiles.

I had to take a picture of you and the milk snake. You know why? "Red touch black, friend of Jack!"

And of course they had jackfish in one of their big tanks.

You also found the pigeons extremely interesting and chased them all over the grounds.

Towards the end, you and your sister happily played in the fountains and then we took one last ride on the train and left.

Overall, a very happy day for a Jack.

Love,
Mom

Great Grandson

Dear Jack,

You are a great grandson. You are the fourth generation of this family, Nolen and Roberts.

I find it hard enough to imagine that your daddy was once your Gram's baby boy, but to picture that your Gram was once your Nana's little girl is one of those "world within a world" thoughts in my head. It works the same way with me to you: I can imagine you one day grown up with a baby of your own. But to imagine your baby's baby?

It is easy to me, though, to picture your great grandparents as the folks who played with and indulged your daddy when he was a little boy. I can see in the way they look at him that they adored him when he was little like you and they still think he's pretty special.

I have a hard time picturing the day when your great grandmothers were holding their own babies, but I can see them in my mind's eye holding your daddy when he was a toddler like you.

I think of the story Great Grandma Nolen tells when she found out we were expecting your sister. She told your Aunt Jessica, your daddy's cousin, "I'm going to be Great Grandma!" Jessica said, "But Grandma, you're already great!"

That's what a great grandma really is. She's a grandma who's been around long enough to be really great at the art of being a grandma.

Your Great Grandma Nolen and Great Grandpa Nolen and your Nana Roberts certainly are all great with you.

Love,
Mom

Happy Father's Day

Dear Jack,

What would the world be like if...

If all fathers were husbands before they became daddies.
… and kept their wives first in their hearts
… and loved their children more than they could ever say

If all fathers loved their children enough to discipline.
… and could do so with love and respect
… and always offered hugs and kisses afterwards.

If all fathers set an example worth following.
… and cooked and cleaned and ran errands
… and worked hard at work and played hard at home

If all fathers took pride in their children.
… and held them to high standards
… and encouraged them at every step to reach their goals

If all fathers read bedtime stories.
… and got on the floor to play with their children
… and went to tea parties and picnics

What would the world be like if all fathers were as wonderful as yours?

Love,
Mom

Spending Time Wisely

Dear Jack,

Before I had you and your sister, I would sleep half of the summer away and spend the rest on television, video games, and sometimes a good book.

That first summer with your sister, I found it difficult not to do the same. She was only six months old and I could sleep when she did and while we did swim lessons and at least one trip to Houston, mostly we lazed away the summer. The next summer with her, she was 18 months old and keeping her busy was important, so I made plans to do things at least twice a week and then she went to day care for a day or two a week and once again I slept or watched television. The summer after you came along, though, was a whole new ballgame. I was determined not to let having a second child slow down our family. I wanted to show both of you that I could do for two and not let either of you shortchange the other. That summer, we did a lot. I think the goal was getting out of the house at least two times a week with the other three days sit around and nurse days for you.

It has now evolved to a system where I like to have a plan and a purpose for every day. Sometimes our plan may just be for the morning and the rest of the day we can be lazy and do nothing. Sometimes the plan is to do nothing... I think I do actually have "recover from Houston trip" on the calendar. But we have a plan and while we may not stick to it exactly, it will keep the summer days from slipping through our hands.

Because that's how the time is going right now... through my fingers like sand in an hour glass. I want it to slow down. I want to be able to turn back the clock and revisit the golden hours of your babyhood. I want a "pause" button when you are grinning from ear to ear with a toddler level of enthusiasm that I am afraid you will soon outgrow. But I can't have any of that. So I just make sure that every single day is worth its sand.

Today we went to the Children's Museum.

You tested to see if pigs could fly, and if they did, what size parachute would work best.

You tried using scissors for the first time. I am always taken in by the phase in which the mouth is connected to the scissors and therefore must open and close in conjuncture. All children seem to go through it; it must be a similar neural path.

You played some drums at the Mi Familia exhibit.

You (well, mostly me, but it was your idea) turned some tubes into a short sword.

And none of this shows some secret Father's Day work we did today. It was a busy day. It was a tiring day. And just after your not-nap, it was a frustrating day. But it was not a wasted day. Not at all.

It was worth every grain, I think.

Love,
Mom

Ingredients for a Fun Afternoon

Dear Jack,

What do you get when you add two chef costumes from your Gram...


...to two bargain prices Melissa and Doug baking sets?


A fun afternoon of imaginative play, of course!

Love,
Mom

First Cousins, Once Removed

Dear Jack,

While we were in Houston, you had a chance to see your first cousins, once removed. That's right, we went over to the Langs.

Your Great Aunt Jennie Sue knows boys pretty well at this point. (She actually said, having eight, that if she doesn't, there's a problem!) So when she knew you were coming, she made a point to have the great big fire truck out and saved the box from her new glider rocker, just for you.

You enjoyed these treats quite a bit, but I think your favorite part of Aunt Jennie Sue's house was Noah. You don't say a lot of names right now. You call your sister "Sid-see" and you call your dad and me by name of course. You recently learned Mrs. Ford by calling her "my Ford" (to distinguish from that other Ford who comes with her, I suppose) and that's about it. You learned "No-wah" very quickly, though. You followed him all around the house and he happily played with you.

I encourage you and your sister to think of Noah as a cousin.... he is ten right now and of an age with your other older first cousins. His oldest brothers, though, I teach you and your sister to call "uncle." With Uncle Dave, for example, that's an easy distinction. His own little girl is less than two years younger than you, so it makes sense to call him "uncle." I feel like the same applies for the twenty-something brothers, Uncle Ben and Uncle Joe. Noah's teenage brothers, though, I'm not sure how to have you address them. John wasn't there to ask, but Pete was. His solution? He would like to be your cunkle. You know, your "cousin slash uncle." I thought that was perfect. Cunkle Pete.

Uncle Joe spent a good portion of the visit preparing a special treat. He said it was a little skit about Jesus's last hours and I have to say, I was intrigued. He carefully drew out one hundred circles and wrote the numbers 1 to 100 on them, saying they were gold coins of a sort. He wanted them to stand in for the 20 pieces of silver because, as he pointed out, you don't really know how much 20 pieces of silver was worth back then and what it would be worth now. It was kind of like inflation, I suppose.

When Uncle Ben came downstairs and was available to watch you go up and down the stairs (your other favorite thing to do at Aunt Jennie Sue's house), Uncle Joe put on his skit, which he gave me permission to video.

I was absolutely delighted by the show. Joe put so much effort into the props and he told the story so well. I felt incredibly special as I realized that he was creating this little entertainment for me. It had a Victorian feel... transporting me back to the days when family traveled from afar it would have been expected to entertain them using time and talents, not restaurants or videos.

I have missed Joe and your other first cousins, once removed. During those first years with you and your sister, I had less time than I wanted to give to all of them. But now that the two of you are older and there are uncles and cousins and cunkles a plenty to entertain you, I was so happy to get to go back and be their big cousin, just like I used to.

Love,
Mom

Chim Chiminey

Dear Jack,

Summer and I didn't feel like we were getting quite enough time with all we did while she in Georgetown, so I took you on a little day trip adventure and we joined Summer and her family at the Woodslands' Children's Museum.

The lighting in there is terrible, so my camera has a very hard capturing images. It didn't help that a certain two little boys were in constant motion. Firemen have to move!

I settled in with Summer's daughter in the little house in the middle. She and I have become quite taken with each other this visit.

You boys came into the house to do some chimney sweeping. The adults serenaded you. Of course! Chim-Chiminey, Chim-Chiminey, Chim Chim Cher-ee. A sweep is as lucky, as lucky can be!

I had planned on taking you and your sister to this same museum in just a few weeks when we are visiting Uncle Dave and Aunt Suzanne and I was afraid that going there twice in one month would make the second visit less exciting. After being there with you, though, I can tell that you are going to love going back.

Love,
Mom