Decker

Back To School

frithers — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:53:39 +0000

Hi all! So I’m wrapping up my first week back at school, and it’s been pretty awesome so far! There are some new kids in my class this year, and some friends returning from last year, too. I got a lot taller over the summer, so I am practicing my mad jungle gym climbing skillz - I can climb all the way up AND drop down now! We’re in new table groups this year, and I’m at the red group with 3 other boys, which is cool. Mom worked on the first day of school (she was the project parent), and Sutter hung out in the nursery. He got a little mad going to nursery at first, because he thinks he’s old enough to go to big kid school with me! Mom let him wear his little elephant backpack, and he got up and washed his hands at the sink just like me, and then when we passed the main classroom and went to the nursery he realized he WASN’T going to go to the playhouse with me, and I think he was kinda jealous. Mom and I told him next year he gets to go to big kid school, but I’m not sure he’ll be patient until then! Anyway, it’s gonna be a great year and I”m really excited to walk in the Walnut Festival Parade on Saturday night - we’re dressing up like pretend baseball players, and Mom says we might even see a guy named “King Walnut”. She says he looks like Senator McCain, but with a crown on his head. Moms are weird…

By the way - my dad is back from Chicago! I was really happy to see him this morning, and I showed him on my map puzzle where he had been this week. He brought me and my brother t-shirts (mine has a glow in the dark earth on it!), and magnets, and a toy fire truck and taxi. Dad is rad! (I learned that word from my mom).

Hey there, what’s cookin’?

frithers — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 21:04:14 +0000

Me! That’s what! (Or should I say, that’s WHO). Anyway, you may or may not know that this really awesome movie came out last summer about a rat who cooks. It’s one of my very favorites and ever since I saw it I have been getting into helping my mom and dad cook at our house. I got an awesome Sesame Street cookbook for Christmas and have made almost every recipe in it (my favorite is “Bert’s Tutti-Frutti Chicken Salad…man, I would have that EVERY night if mom would let me!) and my folks say I am becoming quite the chef! I even have my own puffy white hat and striped apron, that the Easter Bunny brought me this year. I wear it every time I cook, and then I totally look the part!

Up till now, the cooking has been mostly with my folks helping me out with the measuring and stuff. (They like to feel involved, who am I to stop them? I’m sure I could totally wield Dad’s blowtorch and roast some peppers quite easily all by myself, but then they’d feel left out, so I humor them - parents are so funny). But recently I saw a show about this 4 year old boy (like me!) who got up early and made breakfast for his mom and dad while they slept in, by pouring cereal in bowls for them and putting them out on the table. I thought, hey - that would be easy and fun, so I wanna try it! I talked to my mom, and she agreed to leave out the cereal boxes and some bowls and spoons that night, so the next morning I could get breakfast ready all on my own. And it worked out great! I went downstairs super quietly the next morning, so my little brother could go back to sleep. I knew that my parents would need to get up when “Word World” came on the tv (they had the channel the night before so I could just turn the tv on, and “Clifford’s Puppy Days” would be ready to go. I poured the cereal really carefully (I only spilled a little bit, and I cleaned it up!); my dad gets raisin bran and my mom and I got regular Cheerios and honey nut Cheerios mixed together. Then at 7 am (Word World time!) I woke them up and they were very surprised and happy! They liked it so much that I’ve did the same thing for them the next 2 mornings! (Not today, though - today was Saturday and weekends are different).

Cooking is pretty fun - I hope to get to try more stuff as I get older. Mom says I can light matches when I turn 12, so that should add some excitement to the experience! I think I’m ready for my own show on Food Network!

Divin’ Decker

frithers — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:07:08 +0000

Hi everyone! Yesterday was my last day of swim school, and guess what? I jumped off the diving board!!! At first I was pretty scared, and I stood out on the diving board for a long time, and no one could convince me that jumping off the board would be a very sensible or sane idea. Then my mom called out from across the pool, “You can do it, Decker!”. While this maternal encouragement still didn’t convince me, it did get some of the other instructors and lifeguards to start chanting, “Dec-ker! Deck-ker!”. I STILL didn’t want to jump, so a nice lifeguard came up and helped me climb back down. Then the other boy in my class jumped and came up with a big smile on his face! Wait, diving is FUN? So…another instructor came back up on the board with me, walked me out to the edge, helped me count to 3, and then helped me jump into the pool, where my teacher Jim was waiting to catch me! And … it really was FUN! So now I can’t wait to do it again! I am really brave!

Let’s Go Fly a Kite!

frithers — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:41:23 +0000

Hi everyone! Who here likes the movie “Mary Poppins”? Show of hands? Well, I’m raising my hand, so I’ll tell you one of my favorite parts in that movie is when they sing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite”! And a couple of weekends ago, I got to go fly a kite for real, at the Berkeley Kite Festival! It was so cool - it was held in this huge park by the water, called the Berkeley Marina. We had to park super far from the park and walk for like 10 hours to get there, because a lot of other people wanted to go fly kites, too. But it was worth it when we got there, because the sky was FULL of kites! Giant squid kites, little kites with Elmo on them, and lots of neat colors and shapes! I even saw a space shuttle kite with a tail that spun like a flame! There were Japanese ceremonial kites, and a kite with a camera attached to its string! But best of all was MY kite! We got it as a present to our family from my preschool teacher, and it’s shaped like a friendly dragon. When we first set it up, my daddy, Cappy, and my mom all tried to get the kite up in the air, and it didn’t work. So then, my dad took the kite up onto another hill and handed the string to me, and it went SWOOSH right up into the sky right away! Cappy started laughing really hard, and said the kite must have been waiting for it’s master to take the string. Guess that makes me the kitemaster! Sutter seemed to like the giant kites best, and then he tried to wander away a lot, but I think he had fun too. And then before we went home, we stopped to watch these awesome ‘fighting kites’, where the strings had sharp edges (the people who flew them had to wear really thick gloves), and then they tried to get tangled with each others’ strings and cut down the other person’s kite! I was sad for the kites that got cut down, but it was still very exciting to watch. We really want to go back again next year - thank you Cappy, for inviting us!

In the Swim of Things - Summer 08 Edition

frithers — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:33:55 +0000

Hi everyone! Guess who’s in swim school again this summer? That’s right - Decker J! For the second year in a row, mom signed me up to go learn how to swim and be safe in the water, and it’s actually pretty fun! I have a different teacher this year - his name is Jim, and he is very funny. There is also one other boy in my class, and we both are learning all sorts of cool stuff. So far I have been practicing moving my arms like an octopus, and kicking my legs super straight, and playing ‘green light red light’ and I EVEN have been brave and tried to put my head/face in the water a few times! Mom and Sutter always keep me company hanging out in the shade by the pool, and my aunt Katil came along last week too! (I got a little nervous having an audience, and she reassured me that she wouldn’t watch, that she just came along to keep Sutter company so my mom could videotape me (aw Mom!). I don’t know, I think Katil may have peeked a little, but that’s ok!). Anyway - it’s a nice way to get cool on a hot summer morning! Swimming is hecka neat!

I met a real life superhero!

frithers — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:50:56 +0000

Hi everyone! Ok, it’s been like forever since I caught up with you all, and there’s been a lot of stuff going on! Like, for example…back in mid-May I got to meet: Jiminy Carter! My mom told me he used to be the President of the United States, which is kinda like being the principal of the country, like Ms. Raitano is the principal of my school. But she said now even though he isn’t the President anymore, he still does really amazing stuff like building homes for people who need somewhere to live, and telling people who can’t get along to stop fighting and use their words. She said he doesn’t wear a cape, but usually a sweater or a jacket with a tie. Anyway…I guess he also like to write a lot of books, and he just wrote one about his mom called “A Remarkable Mother” (maybe it was for Mother’s Day, like we made handprints and cards for our moms at school this year!), and he was going to be writing his name inside them for people who came to meet him at a bookstore in San Francisco. So, Mommy, me and Sutter joined Cappy, Pammy, Katil and Tully in SF and went to wait in line at the bookstore to meet Jiminy Carter! The line was really long, and we had to wait a really really long time. Cappy was very nice and bought me chicken nuggets and a shake and a cookie (Mommy said that a healthy meal was off the table that night, which makes sense I guess because we weren’t sitting at a table, but waiting on the sidewalk!). Then he went for little walks with me to keep me from getting too antsy in the line. I was a good kid and very patient, but Sutter got kinda squirmy so we strapped him into his stroller and the grownups all took turns pushing him around the block. Finally (Mommy said it was 1 hour later but it sure felt longer!) we got to start walking in so we could meet President Carter! Pammy and Cappy had already gotten to meet him the week before, when they were in Georgia on vacation, so they waited with Sutter outside while me and my mom and my aunts went into the bookstore. Once we were inside, we still had to wait but at least it was warmer. It was mostly grownups, so I saw a lot of legs, and then after we got our book we came out into an open area and there were these two men in dark suits with these funny flashlight/wand thingies, called the Secret Circus (although I didn’t see any acrobats or clowns!) and they waved the thingies at us and they beeped and booped and squeaked and then we got to get in line again. As we wound around the line, I saw a man sitting at the desk in the front and I asked my mom if it was Jiminy Carter and she said yes and I told her “he has a big smile!”. When we finally got to the desk, the President was really nice and he looked at us and asked my name and how old I was! My mom must have been hecka excited because she did that thing where her voice speeds up extra fast and gets all high pitched and she blurted out “This is Decker and he’s 4 years old and I just wanted him to meet a real life superhero!!”. Jiminy Carter said “Thank you” and “He’s a big one!”, and smiled at me and he was sooo nice! As we walked away my mom called out “Thank you for everything you do!!!” and then we met up with my aunts, and then we all went outside and all the grownups jumped up and down! (I guess maybe they were cold or something…SF does get chilly at night!).

So…there you go! I met a real life superhero! I didn’t see him fly or pick up anything heavy or freeze thingsh with his hands, but he had a super nice smile and was super friendly and I think it’s supercool that he tells people not to fight…he was almost as cool as Superwhy! (My absolute favorite superhero). Yay for superheroes!

Calendar Boy

frithers — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:11:30 +0000

Hey everyone! It’s Monday, May 2nd! That may not mean a lot to you, but trust me it’s very important! Why? Because EVERY new day is important, because every new day means a new date to mark on the calendar! Ok…I sense that some of you are not grasping just how amazing and cool and fascinating calendars are - well, let me tell you why they are the coolest thing in the world:

Around Thanksgiving of last year, I discovered that every day (and holiday) has a special day and number assigned to it, and there are these things called calendars which you can use to keep track of (and count down the days til) every different kind of day and event you want to! Birthdays, Xmas, school, doctor appointments, trips to Dad’s office in Berkeley…anything you want! There are 12 months in a year, and I can tell you them all by memory and spell them all for you too. There are only 12 months, though. Then when December is over you start all over again with January. I like calendars so much that I actually have my own collection! I have a calendar of Mexico from Papa Tim, a decorate-it-yourself calendar from Ellen (with stickers!), and Santa gave me and Sutter and Mom each our own calendars at Xmas, so that’s three more! Santa gave me Curious George and Sutter got Wallace and Gromit, and those two calendars hang up on our walls in our bedroom and we only get to take them down when it’s time to change to the next month’s page. Mom got Ratatouille, and she lets me take that one down sometimes and look through it and read all the different words and stuff on it. Calendars are totally cool, because you can practice your counting and your spelling and your reading and stuff like that! Mom lets me put stickers on her calendar too, to mark all the different stuff going on each week. And when I go to visit Pammy and Cappy, Pammy lets me mark each time with a sticker on her calendar too! When it’s the first day of every month, I also help call the different people in my family to remind them to change their calendars (grownups seem to forget to do that a lot!).

Also, in school we mark the different day every day with a cool marker on the bulletin board. Whoever is the star that day gets to mark the calendar. There are 12 kids in my class, so I always have to wait 11 days until it’s my turn to be the star. And I REALLY like being the star, so calendars and counting the dates is a great way to keep track of when it will be my turn again! Being the star is the best, because you get to be first in line to line up and leave at the end of the day, and you get to ring the bell when it’s clean up time, and when it’s circle time you get to help the teacher mark the date and ALSO you get to go look outside and check the weather and then come and report on it to the class and then put the corresponding cards up on the bulletin board too! It’s like the awesomest thing in the world to be the star!

I get to be the star again next Wednesday, by the way. That’s on May 7. That’s in 5 days. Yay!

I love CHRISTMAS!!!

frithers — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:14:57 +0000

Hi everyone!

It’s been a really long time since I caught folks up on my adventures, but the biggest thing for me right now is Christmas!!! I always knew that Christmas was pretty cool, but this year its total awesomeness has sunk in and I am having a great time! First of all, we got to decorate our house with all sorts of neat stuff. Mommy was kinda preoccupied this past week or so, so it was up to me and Dad to transform the house…and we were definitely up to the task! We all went to the tree lot together, and I picked a great tree, if I do say so myself. Then we brought it home and I got to help put all the decorations on (or at least direct the grownups where to put them - my step stool only goes so high!). My aunts Katil and Tully were over a couple of weeks ago to babysit while the folks were out, and we made ornaments together - so I got to hang those up too! We have a wreath on our door, all the Christmas season toys are out, and the Dickens Village houses are all lit up on the bookcase -it’s fun to look at all the little people! We’ve been watching all my favorite Christmas videos (Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Frosty the Snowman) and watching new ones too, like Elf. We’ve been reading Merry Christmas Little Critter, Santa Mouse, and a new one from Tully called Elmo’s 12 Days of Christmas. My little brother and I have a lot of different Christmas socks that we like to put on, and I even have a Christmas pillowcase! Daddy hung these nifty colored lights in our room, and there are pretty blue ones outside on the balcony as well. Overall - Christmas is great! Oh! And I got this really neat thing from Pammy, Katil and Tully called an Advent Calendar, and everyday you open a new window and you get to see a little picture! When all the windows are opened, then it’s time for Christmas!!

Let’s see, what else? Oh - last night the lights went out in our house, because the power was out on our block. So…we got to get out our flashlights and light a candle and pretend we were camping! It was really neat - I got to sleep in my sleeping bag (even though I was still sleeping on my bed), and I sat on my mom and dad’s laps downstairs and made lots of cool pictures on the ceiling with my flashlight - I like playing in the dark with them! Sutter didn’t have as much fun - he just went to bed early. Maybe when he’s older.

I love Christmas! I love winter! Happy Holidays, everyone!

My 4 Year Checkup

frithers — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:15:55 +0000

Hi everyone! Well, on Monday I had my 4 year checkup with my doctor. This time my little brother Sutter had his checkup appointment at the same time, so I had some company, which was nice. I showed him how to be a big kid and be brave for the nurses and the doctor. Because I’m a big kid, and not a baby, I got to do stuff that Sutter didn’t. Like, when they measure Sutter, he has to lay down on a table, but I got to stand up against the wall! Plus, I got to put this silly spoon over my eye and tell the nurse what kinds of pictures she was pointing to (that was sort of strange, but they seemed to think it was a fun game to play so I humored them). They told my mom that I am now 39 1/2 inches tall, and a little over 34 lbs! I’m getting bigger every day, and I tell my mom dad that when I am big like Daddy I will be able to reach the shelves and I will go to work at his office. (It’s good to have a plan).

The downside of this visit is that I had to get some shots. AND THEY HURT A LOT!!! Luckily, one of the nurses held Sutter so I could sit on my mom’s lap and hug her while they gave me the shots in my arm. Mommy said I was very brave (although I will admit that I cried - hey you would’ve too, trust me!) and then the nice nurse game me a special dinosaur glider toy for being such a good sport. So I guess some good came out of it. Apparently next year I will get more shots, but my mom says that’s a long ways away. So ok.

I love a parade!

frithers — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:57:02 +0000

Hi everyone! Guess who got to march in a parade on Saturday night? That’s right, ME, Decker J O’Steen! (Oh, and in tow with me were my mom and dad and baby brother). This weekend was the start of the Walnut Festival, and the city of Walnut Creek has a “Twilight Parade” where local groups get to march down the street and wave at people sitting on the curb. Me and my family marched with my preschool, and all us kids got to wear cowboy hats and red bandannas and wave glow sticks! It was a little overwhelming at first, but then I looked over and saw Pammy, Cappy, Katil and Tully waving like a group of crazy people and they kept following our group along the sidewalk, so I always had some friendly faces to look for. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to play a drum in this parade like all the cool big kids I saw in the high school marching bands, but maybe next time. Afterwards, we got to go to dinner and stay up late, and then we walked back up the street and I waved enthusiastically at all the last floats that were pulling up at the end of the parade route. I kept calling out to them, “Hooray! You did a grand job!”. Hope they liked the encouragement!

PS: I got to keep the hat! Neat huh?