Happy 14th birthday!

Science Olympiad :: Maryland Regionals

 

Ian and his partners medaled in their events at the Maryland Science Olympiad Regionals today at the University of Maryland College Park. They're on the B Team but collectively the team scored high enough to be 4th place finishers in the middle school division (large school category). 

• Solar System: 1st place
• Shock Value: 1st place
• Helicopters: 3rd place

We're bummed that he won't be able to compete at the State tournament at the end of the month because he's on the B Team ... even though he and his partners have consistently performed better than the A Team. But, you know, who's keeping track? ;)

Science Olympiad :: Frederick County Invitational

Ian joined the Science Olympiad team at his school and, although he's on the B Team, he's done quite well in the two invitationals they've been to so far. Today he medaled in both events he participated in at the Frederick County Invitational: 1st place in Solar System and 2nd place in Shock Value. Of course, it wasn't a solo effort; he worked hard with his partners to gain the knowledge needed to do well on the tests.

I think the thing that I was most pleased about, though, was seeing him interacting with his schoolmates. Changing schools during middle school is never easy and Rupert and I worried a bit about Ian's transition. It was really reassuring to see him dragged off by his friends to play cards the second he arrived at the invitational venue, and to see him high five-ing his partner after they got their medal. His social well-being is what he'll remember and take away from this experience more than any plastic medal.

Day 13 :: Thankful for ...

... my son. Happy 13th birthday, Ian! You are a great kid and you've certainly made being your parents a pretty easy job.

(Guess what his favorite food is!)

Looky What I Made :: Ian's necktie

Rupert's brother is getting married next weekend in Sebastopol; the entire family (especially the bride's mother) has been working up a storm to pull off what is, no doubt, going to be a phenomenal wedding. Rupert is a groomsman, I'm the stationer, Maya is the flower girl, and Ian is the (quite possibly the world's oldest) ring bearer.

My mother-in-law took Ian shopping for a necktie but they weren't able to find anything in the wedding colors. So I decided to get a little ambitious and make one. After what seemed like forever at Joann looking at fabric, Ian and I decided on a dark brown with some pink and fuschia circles -- just right for the wedding without overwhelming the bridal ensemble with too much more pink (the flowers, bridesmaid dresses, and the groomsmen's ties are fuschia).

I made the tie using the Purl Bee's tutorial, which was really easy to follow. Believe you me I am not an expert sew-er but I managed to hand-sew the tie in a day. I believe the tutorial is for a boy younger than Ian (who is almost 10), but I think it's just long enough. If you're thinking about using the tutorial I wouldn't make it for a boy taller than 4'8" without making adjustments to the pattern.

And I managed to figure out how to tie a tie (this tutorial helped); at least now I know I can tie a basic four-in-the-hand tie if called to do so.

[I'll post pictures of Ian wearing the tie after the wedding.]

Ian is a S-U-P-E-R S-P-E-L-L-E-R!

[Ian and his classmate F getting recognized as spelling bee qualifiers at last week's school assembly.]

I'd like to take a moment to brag about my son, the speller. Unbeknownst to us, the students at Ian's school (grades 3-5) took a written spelling bee qualifying test awhile back. According to Ian there were 60 words on the list (apparently they were 8th grade-level words) and they were allowed to miss 12 to qualify for the district spelling bee. There were many classes that didn't have any students who qualified; Ian's class had two qualifiers! In the end, three fourth graders and four fifth graders qualified out of a student population of over 400.

Today was the district-wide spelling bee for grades 4-6, so the qualifiers from Ian's school, the qualifiers from the other elementary school, and the 6th grader qualifiers from the middle school gathered together at the middle school library. There were about 15 kids there and we thought it would take awhile for the spelling bee to finish, but the first round knocked out more than half of them.

[Round 2]

Ian moved through the rounds (with a nice, clear voice, which was helpful to those of us in the audience; some of these kids are so quiet!) until it was just him and a 6th grader in round 4.* The word that knocked him out in round 5 (German words)? Rucksack. Not knowing the word or much German pronunciation, but recognizing that there are words in German that use -ch, he spelled it "ruchsach." I looked it up after I got home, but I think the German -ch is a soft sound (if there's anyone proficient in German out there, please let me know).

Even though he didn't win, I think it's pretty impressive that he made it so far, especially since he didn't study or practice at all, except for his usual reading. Rupert and I went into this with the attitude, which we shared with Ian, that this was for fun, to see what a spelling bee is like, and that there will be other years for him to try again (not that I didn't get nervous during the spelling bee!). Still, Ian was disappointed with his mistake and shed a few tears afterward. It was wonderful to have a supportive group of teachers and friends who shared how proud they are of him and his classmate. This was the first year fourth graders participated in the district spelling bee and they did so well.

We're really proud of you, Ian!

[Ian with his teachers, principal, and classmate/fellow spelling bee-er after the spelling bee.]

[Coincidentally, the winner's mother? I came in second to her in the fitness challenge two years ago. Weird, huh?]

* Ian did a funny thing in round 4 and asked for the pronunciation of the word "chagrin" and the moderator gave away a huge hint, which I'm not sure Ian heard but a bunch of us in the audience did. I'm not sure it was entirely kosher, to be honest, but the end result was the same, just one round later. Ian should've asked for the definition or the etymology, but what more can you do for pronunciation but say the word over again?

ack! already?!

the other day, one of ian's best friends came over to play. as they're sitting at the table waiting for dinner to be served, i hear them playing "truth or dare."

A :: truth or dare?
I :: truth.
A :: who do you like?
I :: like, kiss-kiss like?
A :: yeah.
I :: um, my mom.
A :: no. it can't be someone you're blood-related to.
I :: uh ... uh. i don't know. no one.
A :: c'mon. someone.
I :: i don't like anyone.

and so the conversation continues; A is very persistent with his question. clearly he likes a girl (and he freely shares who his crush is), but ian is so not into girls yet.

but hearing that A likes a girl makes me truly realize that it won't be long before ian develops a crush. i hope it starts off as a sweet puppy-love kind of crush, because i can't even begin to imagine the craziness that goes with teenage hormone-induced crushes. yikes!

what?? he's a tween?!

according to my parenting magazines, i'm now the mother of a tween. how did that happen? somehow eight years went flying by and my baby is a full-fledged boy with a capital "b". day by day he grows more independent and he's becoming his own person.

he's a fantastic big brother, although there are times when we hear a lot of yelling back and forth between the kids. he's an observant, bright kid, but he has his totally oblivious, "hello? are you on planet earth?" moments. he's well-behaved and mild-mannered, but he hasn't quite outgrown his only child, self-centered habits. we love him to bits, but he's a work-in-progress. no, i take that back. we, as his parents, are a work-in-progress.

i realize, watching him, that our nurturing is so crucial in these formative years. sure, by nature, he's a wonderful kid who will, no doubt, grow up to be a wonderful adult. but, as his parents, we need to set the example so that he can be a better adult than if he were left to his own devices. everyday is a new opportunity for us to be the best parents we can be so he can be the best kid he can be.

in some ways i feel bad for him, as i do with all first-born children, because they are the guinea pigs. mom and dad keep trying to figure things out, year after year. we mean well, really, we do, but we're bound to make mistakes. so, i apologize to ian for screwing up over and over again. and i'll probably keep on making mistakes even though i don't mean to. and, because he's a swell kid, he'll put up with me and rupert. thanks buddy! now, promise me you won't go crazy when you become a teenager.

donating his brain to science

when i was pregnant with ian i participated in a pre-natal study at cedars-sinai medical center. now that seven years have passed, they asked us to return for a follow-up (the study is looking at effects of pre-natal care and stress on children's development ... or something like that). that was in december. as we were about to leave, the researcher asked us if we'd be interested in going to uci for another part of the study :: having ian's brain scanned in a mri machine.



i thought it would be pretty cool to see ian's brain and he thought so too. so we drove down to irvine yesterday and had the scan done. boy, those mri machines are loud! ian watched a dvd while he was in the machine for 15 minutes; i got to sit around and listen to the clicking and buzzing.

the researcher complimented ian on how still and mellow he was. quite possibly the best scan they've gotten in such a short time. their study emphasis is on the hippocampus, a part of the brain that controls long-term memory. ian's was pretty large, and the researcher guessed that he had a good memory. now we have scientific proof about his pretty amazing memory.

next week we'll get a printout of his brain scans. i think i'll get it framed. ;)

[on a totally different note :: on the way home i dragged ian to paper source at south coast plaza. they were selling this great composition notebook from knock knock (which i can't find on either website) for $14.50. guess what? i got the same notebook at marshall's the day before for $2.99! back to paper source, i also got this label stamp, and these great papers. sigh. i love that store.]