The Return of Sesame Street (week 214)

Sesame Street has been a big favorite of late. In addition to Trader Joe's Yogurt, drawing baseball stadiums, and playing catch, Sesame Street has emerged as a "Top 5" favorite in the Keisler Household. For the most part, Sesame Street is very much the same as it was (25) years ago. Big Bird, Oscar and the Count are still very much a part of the regular cast. However, Elmo and Mr. Noodle have emerged as major players...even edging out Burt and Ernie for coverage. The basic premise is still the same as we remember it (letters and numbers), but it remains a big hit--particularly the intro song--for both 1.5 year-olds and 4 year-olds alike.

The daily routine is also pretty reliable. Each day, Daddy sneaks out when it is still dark to go to the gym. When he gets back, the sun is up, the newspapers are on the walk, and typically the boys are either playing in their room with blocks, drawings, or little people...or they have made their way to the living room and have started-in on their Trader Joe's Yogurt. For me, it is almost always vanilla; and for Christopher it is always what is left over in the combination pack. Chris is not picky, but he demands that he be given his own spoon, and that he alone feeds himself his daily yogurt. He feeds his shirt, his hair, and typically the floor as well.

The big breakthrough for me this week was hitting on the left side of the plate. In the Second and Third innings of our Tee Ball game, I switched sides and hit from the left. We were hitting live pitching (mainly underhand from our own coach), and I wanted to try-out what I had practiced with Grandpa John when my parents were out of town. While I had to take a couple pitches in the Second Inning, I was able to tag the first pitch and pulled it into Right Field. I am officially a Switch-Hitter!

Christopher has also begun to attempt to communicate a lot more. He doesn't have many identifiable words yet. He breaks out the occasional wave and 'high'...particularly for dogs that he sees in the park. But he is certainly trying to communicate a lot more and responds quickly to words like 'bath time' and 'eat'. At 16 months, he is getting very close to breaking-out with a new stage of communication.

Christopher is also demonstrating a much more pro-active interest for participating in the games that we play. He has taken to running the bases with the bigger kids after Tee Ball games, as well as putting a whiffle ball onto the tee at home and trying to hit it off with the big blue bat. He also does his best to throw the ball, and seems to be developing his left hand for both feeding and throwing.