A fan of The wizard of OZ

While dad was flipping all ESPN channels to squeeze out every little bit report on Brett Favre's magic last second go ahead TD, he saw the Wizard of OZ in TNT. That was one of his favorite movie in high school. His exchanged English teacher from Washington played this movie for his class and it inspired a lot of imagination. Dad could't wait to get Ray there. Certainly Tony followed.

Ray loved it, though we really missed most of the beginning part. Dad promised to get a full version DVD for Ray and Tony. However, this movie opened a great source for dad's draining bedtime story lib. The Wizard of OZ was extended into many periods, which made persuading Ray going to bed so easy.

a number mystery

Quite a while ago, Ray's teacher Miss. Betty told us Ray impressed her with counting number up to 20, though Ray forgot one or two numbers. That was a pretty good math development. But Ray always forgot number 13. No problem from 1 to 12, then jump to 14, a little shaky after 14 but the only number he consistently missed was 13.

This really puzzled dad. What is wrong with 13? Dad didn't send Ray to Catholic school. Is it the pronunciation?

Dad printed down the numbers up to 100. Guess what? Ray could go up to 100. But he still needs help on 13. Dad googled around but didn't get any answer. What a mystery!

Gangs of Kettleman Lane

Here we are. Wilson brothers, George, Aaron and me. Not everyone showed up today. But this street has a whole lot more boys than girls. So be careful when you are around.

Move up

It has been for a while we didn't go to Olsen Meadow park, owing to this brutal hot summer. Ray starts thinking about real monkey bar now.

Where was baby?

Ray saw a lot of old pictures with only Ray, mom, and dad. "Where was baby?" Ray asked.

"Baby didn't exist back then. He was not born yet." Dad replied with a plain but straitforward answer.

A while back later. Ray came back and said:"When I was a baby, baby Tony went to baby island. When I grew up to be a big boy, baby came back from baby island." This question was still hanging on his mind. It might be too abstract to let a toddler accept the concept of ethereal existance. Ray had to figure out his own way to make sense of it.

English delicacy

Ray and Tony often fight for toys, books, and anything. A rule set by mom and dad is that you can not take things away from the person who got it first, as two boys have to share many things.

Ray certainly is not happy as the side with more power.

There was once Tony got something fun first. Unhappy Ray made a comment:"We just don't like each other."

Then he sneaked a glance at mom and dad nearby, then said:"But we still love each other."

Our story while dad was away

While dad was away to China, mom took care of both Ray and Tony. She did a terrific job. Not only was the house well maintained, but also she told dad a few fun stories.

Here is one of them.

Mom was blowing a floaty, which could lift Tony in pool. After a few tries, she had little success. It was hard. While she was trying to figure out how to do it, Ray urged for help. What could a toddler help? Mom kept trying without taking Ray seriously. It just didn't work. Meanwhile Ray was insisting helping. Mom certainly was a little irritated by Ray's push. "OK, I will let you do it and see what is gonna happen." Mom thought.

Ray happily took it over and started blowing the floaty. Like a miracle, the floaty started growing and growing. So did mom's eyes. Then it was done. Ray gave it back to mom and said:"Here you go, momy."

This story was not over yet.

Tony saw all this and he was excited to help too. He pulled the two corners of the floaty so hard that the floaty was broken. It turned back to flat like it started.

These are our two boys.