Thursday, March 26

Picked up Frankie from school, and it was raining, so we didn't play on the ball court. We went by the old place to pick up the last couple of things, and so that he could say goodbye to the old house and make sure we didn't leave anything important behind. Once he seemed satisfied, we headed back to the new place. We went to the new park and played until about 6. He kicked the soccer ball while some older kids were getting ready for soccer practice, and he kept saying "I'm on the team!" He's really ready for organized soccer, even though he's going to be a ball hog, and he's really going to have to learn to take instructions. I'm going to use the carrot of joining a soccer team to instill some of those lessons. He was very interested in the playscape, especially figuring out new ways to climb up (there are a couple of playscapes, and they have lots of different climbing apparati, all of which he is intent on mastering). He's really becoming a sure-footed climber, and he was very proud of himself when he made it to the top. After that, we went behind the school and discovered an area that has 4 or 5 playhouses - very cool. We played in those until a butterfly caught his eye, and he spent the next hour stalking it. The crazy part is that the butterfly wouldn't just fly away - it kept coming back to Frankie, landing a couple of feet away from him each time. That was just about the coolest thing Frankie had ever seen, or so it seemed by his reaction. I'll send you the pictures. After the park, we went to the store to pick up a roast chicken for dinner (his request, as usual). After dinner, Payton and Phoenix came over and the kids played. Their mom, Jennifer, is a marketing person for National Instruments - it sounds like she has basically the same job as you. The boys played together well, but Frankie still had issues with them touching his stuff. I think that's going to get better with exposure. I'll keep you posted.

They left around 8:30, well past all of their bedtimes, and by that point Frankie was too tired for a bath. We read two books, I told him a story about Frankie and Payton and Phoenix popping balloons, and he insisted that I include Ava in the story, which I thought was cute. He was out by 9:15.

Mom and Dad got into town around 10, and Dad said Frankie woke up around midnite, and Dad went in and rubbed his back and he went right back to sleep. I woke up around 7 this morning, and Mom, Dad and Frankie were already up playing. I think they're just going to play around the house today, but he was very excited about not having to go to school. He told me repeatedly that he did not have to go to Emmy's house today, and I think he was a little nervous until he was certain I was actually going to leave the house without him. And, as usual when MawMaw JuJu and PawPaw Frank are in town, he kindly told me to "Go away, Dada" before I left for work.