Two Months - One Post

Forgive me readers for I have puttered out. It's been almost two months since I last blogged. I like to imagine our faithful readers getting up each morning, sitting down in front of the computer with a cup of coffee and a faint hope that maybe this will be the day that the Graves have returned to ignite their hearts and enthrall their minds with sarcastic tales of mundane events. That is why I participate in this blog: to amuse you and mock my family. Nothing else.

Anyway, a lot has occurred since we last blogged. So I'm not exactly sure where to begin. Cameron no longer hates day care. He doesn't exactly run into the classroom in the morning (it's more of a drowsy waddle), but he no longer cries when I leave. I think he's just given up on the fact that I care about him enough to rescue him from that evil place. He's just resigned to the fact that life sucks and his parents will abandon him three times a week. So that's been an improvement.

Cameron has turned into the most inquisitive mute I've ever met. Every word and sound is posed in the form of a question. And a very high pitch question at that. I want everyone out there to find the "high c" note in their head. I now want you to say the word "Dis" or "Dat" in that high c. As you near the end of the word, quickly switch to a high f. Congratulations - you now speak like my son. And he says this all the time. He wakes up in the morning, stands up in his crib, points aimlessly out into the room and says "dis?" Let me tell you, it's a hard question to answer. In all seriousness though, he is starting to develop some new words. I no longer think he will be as speech delayed as I was. So that's also nice.

Switching gears: Cameron loves him some music. It's kind of crazy how captivated he is by it. We go to a pool party in our neighborhood - he spends the entire day working his way from wherever we put him back to the stage where the local band is performing. Then he dances and signs for more. I took him to a sing along show at the library this week. Cameron stood with his hands in the air and danced almost the entire time. He slapped thunder sticks together like he was counting down to start a rock concert. At breaks, he clapped fervently and pleaded for more. It was crazy. While the crowd cleared out at the end of the show, the performers two kids (approximately aged 10 and 12) treated us all to a swanky jazz duet. I found this portion of the show extremely creepy. Just imagine child siblings dressed in formal wear singing love songs to each other, while machines shoot bubbles over the crowd, and the daughter mixes in some cartwheels. Somewhere that trucker guy from Little Miss Sunshine is standing up and cheering. But my son did not see the creepiness in this performance. He again made his way to the stage, raised his hands, and exalted the majesty that is child pageantry. I sometimes question the boy's taste. But then again, sometimes he has exquisite taste. For instance, he LOVES to see me perform the classics on guitar hero. In fact, right after his onslaught of questions this morning, he sprinted to the living room and dragged me the "guitar." And then I put on a show for him!! Whenever I finish a set and the digital crowd is going wild - Cameron will join in and run to the T.V. with a squeal of delight. It's a very symbiotic relationship we have right now. We're both in a really good place with me playing video games for hours. What can I say? Sometimes life has a way of working out.

I know this blog has already contained a lot of useless information, but I feel like I'm just getting started. We recently took a trip West. We visited Southern California for a while, then headed up to Seattle with some some friends for a long weekend. Cameron was sick(Strep throat) for the first few days of the trip - so that was pretty rough. But then his immune system prevailed and fun was had by all. I got to demonstrate extremely diminished skills in Rec League basketball game that featured 4/5 players from our high school starting line-up. My cousin's and I spent hours trying to accrue as many star coins as possible on super Mario brothers. Mindy and I put on a spades clinic for my parents. We got a night away from the little man - and were treated to an evening of gourmet meals, wine, and merriment with friends. My family conducted an intense So You Think You Can Dance Fantasy Draft (Go Sasha). And we took some family pictures (although Cam was still sick and was fairly inconsolable the majority of the time). Overall, So-Cal was great.

Seattle was also great. The friends we were "Summering in Seattle" with have a daughter about a month older than Cam. This young lady (June) was the friendliest person I have ever met. When she sees you she says "hi." You walk out of the room and come back, you're getting another "hi." It was awesome. Many of you don't know this but I was voted friendliest or "most likely to say hi" in high school. But hanging around June made me realize just how many opportunities to greet others I miss. Cam really picked up on it too. Boarding the plane to leave Seattle he said hi to pretty much every passenger he passed. I think that June really had a positive influence on him. The adults also had a great time cruising Seattle in a mini-van, drinking heavily after the kids were asleep (note: Red Hook sucks!), and learning a fair amount of paper airplane/Frisbee technique. Until Monte Carlo my friends!

Cam also got a little gangster up in Seattle. Let's just say that he got into his first rumble where he didn't just retreat and look at the other person like they were defecating on his blankie and he was helpless to stop it. Let me preface this story by acknowledging that Cam is a man of very diverse tastes. For instance, he really enjoys coughing noises, African American literature, the beats of Destiny's Child, sirens, burrowing himself, and tropical fish. So while we're visiting the children's museum in Seattle, naturally Cam is delighted to discover a fish aquarium. He sprints up to the aquarium and puts his hands on the glass. Well, the young man next to him was not enamored with the munchkins glee (or probably his existence in general). He reached over a pulled Cam's hands off the glass. Well, for the first time young Cam stood up for himself. He grabbed the brute's shirt, pulled it over his head, and proceeded to ground and pound him. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. But he did stand his ground and pushed the kid off of him. I have never been so proud :) If you want another good story, ask me about the brawl between brothers that occurred later in the museum. Good times!

Okay, I'm running out of steam. I'm aware that this was probably a very meandering, self-indulgent posting. And I don't care. It's your fault for reading it!