Sunday, July 14, 2013

Boys day out

Big bro had a birthday party to attend, so Sydney and Daddy got to hangout together today. All morning, I asked Sydney what he wanted to do. His answer alternated between 'beach' and 'pool'. I must have asked 20 times, and never got the same answer twice in a row. Dude changed his mind more often than I change underwear. We settled on 'pool'. With no big bro around, Sydney had his pick of the boats, shark, turtle and pool balls. After splashing around in the pool for about an hour, Sydney said, 'home'. So, home we went, took a quick shower and headed out to lunch. We hit the new 5 Guys hamburger joint. Again, with no big bro, we feasted on the peanuts. Apparently, Sydney really likes peanuts, especially when Daddy cracked the shells and broke out the peanuts for him. Sydney was eating them so fast, poor Daddy had a hard time keeping up and serving the peanuts in a timely manner. Sydney even tried to bypass a step, and tried to crack the shells himself. He ate a great lunch; tons of peanuts, one whole hamburger and some fries. All that eating (and swimming in the sun) made him so tired, he came home, marched straight upstairs, grabbed his 'pan-nings' and went to bed for a nap.

Trying to figure out how to get the peanut out of the shell

Halftime, time to rinse down the burger with some water.

Last bite!

Oh Sh!t, Ocean

We were in the car and Casey told me that he had to 'hang onto the handle'. I absentmindedly said,"The oh sh!t handle. That's called an oh sh!t handle." He then repeated, "Oh sh!t handle". Left with no other choice, I had to agree. Casey then paused, and said, "It's only for the beach; that's where the ocean is". That one had me puzzled for a few moments, until I realized, "Why yes, it's an 'ocean handle'"!!!!

Monday, July 8, 2013

Scouting Report

These days, they scout potential college and professional athletes younger and younger. I have heard of fifth graders receiving college recruiting letters. Therefore, I offer the first official scouting report for Casey Xue Xian Wang.

Casey was recently scouted at his first basketball practice with the YMCA Junior Lakers.

At 4 yrs, 5 months, and 45 1/2 inches tall, he has great height. As all scouts will say, "You can't teach height". For an athlete of his height, he exhibited great baseline to baseline speed. He also showed great defensive instincts, continually seeking out position on the low block, and quickly establishing deep post position on both ends of the floor. At this point in his maturation, he is strictly a right handed ball handler, but showed decent dribbling skills for a big. However, with any defensive pressure, or a momentary loss of concentration, or even an errant dribble off his own foot, he was quick to pick up his dribble.... and subsequently start again. (That's OK, they don't call double dribble- traveling violations in his league). Therefore, Casey apparently showed a great understanding of the rulebook, and will do anything within the rules to better his game. He had an off day shooting, (heck, its been virtually his ONLY day shooting). Although he did not shoot for a great percentage, (OK, he went 0-fer), his shooting form showed great promise. He did not let missed shots affect him. Like a true volume shooter, the misses didn't bother him nor affect the other facets of his game. He showed some skill as a chest passer, and at this point seems more eager to pass than to shoot. Perhaps an ideal teammate for the Kobe type players... He worked one on one with the coach on shooting basics; bent knees, feet spread apart, two handed ball grip, etc. Casey is a coach-able athlete, who patiently took instruction from the coaching staff. He showed good stamina, playing the entire game. Apparently, at this age, some athletes refuse to play, opting to stay with mommy/ daddy on the sidelines. Others will decide mid-game to bolt. Casey is a good teammate, and does not appear to be a locker room killer. He participated in all team huddles, and the post game handshake line. (Again, actions not to be taken for granted at his age).

Basketball from p wang on Vimeo.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

By any means necessary

As the saying goes, "There's more than one way to skin a cat". Sydney has been enjoying ice cream for quite some time now. Until recently, it's been limited to ice cream in a bowl. He gets messy enough when eating out of a bowl... Like everything else, eventually, you have to introduce new things. Recently, we intro'ed the cone. And what followed was a scene like nothing I was expecting. He didn't hold it upright, rather it started out horizontal, and he took bites out of the side of the cone.. Kinda like a normal person would eat an ear of corn. Next, he ate out the entire bottom of the cone, essentially making a tube.

What happened next can not be described in words...

Ice Cream Cone from p wang on Vimeo.