I'm a big boy, and I lost my first tooth! It was wiggly for I'd say about 10 days. My friends at school said, "Cool!" It came out at Lennie's, and the tooth fairy gave me two dollars and a nickel. I spent it on candy. I wish you got to keep the teeth.
This is from a few months ago, just before school started. I had just put together my Hero Factory toys, which are my favorite right now. (I know this was just as school was starting because I needed a haircut.)
This is me and my dad.
This is my mom, catching a fish at Lennie's. That's my friend Jamie.
This is my brother and I painting in the garage. We like to paint, just like grandpa Paul.
Julian had his first Track and Field Day at his school earlier this week, and I got to hang out to play with Hula Hoops, parachutes and obstacle courses.
I snapped a few photos of him with his best buddies Alexander and Sydnie. Alex is a native Spanish speaker, and I love that their language differences don't create a barrier between them. I think they mostly talk in English, but when Alex's mom and I talk, it's all Spanish. I don't think they speak much, if any English, at home.
Anyway, they had a blast. Summer will be here in just a few weeks.
They also had a performance at a PTA meeting earlier this week.
"Lemonade stands have always been handy and nifty. I like to use them as project to raise money to buy toys. A couple years ago, I watched this cool Transformers thing. I saw one of the episodes and then a couple days later, I found Transformers Prime on Netflix. Then I started watching all the episodes and when I got to the end, I wanted to collect the toys. I got Megatron, then Wheeljack."
Yesterday, Julian and Mom went to our friend David's annual Kentucky Derby party. David taught Julian how to shake cocktails when he was just a baby, so they've always been good buddies. Julian had fallen in love with loquats during this bumper crop we had this year, and we've been making loquat lemonade and something called a shrub, which is made with vinegar and sugar. Julian sold both at the stand at the Derby party yesterday, and everyone loved his enthusiasm for his products and ability to sell a cup to just about anyone. He made a friend who became his business partner, too. They both made $16, and Julian knew exactly what he wanted to spend his money on: Wheeljack.
Nobody calls Avery "Avery Jack Sprat" except for Uncle Tom, but mama thought it would be a good name for a blog for the little guy.
So, for posterity's sake, here's a link to Avery Jack Sprat.
Another thing that Julian loves is science. Specifically, shows like Mythbusters that bring chemistry, math and physics alive. He thought of a question for the hosts of the TV show, which he wanted to record on video and email in. I tweeted the video and question to them, but never heard back. Seems like he'd be a perfect fit for the show!
Julian learned this dance to go with a Justin Bieber hit at school with friends like Judy, who is one of his best buddies.
They show off their "Baby" dance in our living room. We don't own the CD or even the mp3 (through iTunes), but the movie "Marmaduke" contains a scene with just enough Bieber for everyone's liking.
I tried to capture Julian on the day he turned 5. Video isn't as eloquent as words, but it's certainly faster for me to post in the few free minutes I can squeeze and more real-to-life because it's whatever I capture on my iPhone.
Happy (belated) 5th birthday, Julian!
Julian spent a lot of time last summer and fall enjoying Transformer fandom. The videos, the T-shirts, the "old school" cartoons that taught him about the differences between modern CGI and 1980s animation.
Sentinel Prime.
Hot Shot.
"Ratomis" Prime. (Not sure which one that is.)
Julian and Ian made a lemonade stand recently, and Julian made $18 from selling juice to the neighbors. A pretty good haul that he spent on a Transformers Play Doh set that he'd been wanting for his birthday but didn't get. (We'll work on the lesson of saving soon enough.)
Jetfire was a recent purchase at Anna's Toy Depot, a second-hand toy store that has tons of inexpensive treasures.
And here's Thundershock. As you can tell, we do a lot of Transformer review videos around here. I'll post one more post with a handful of videos from last summer and let the rest go to Transformer video review heaven.
Julian has been obsessed with Transformers for at least a year now. Sure, he loves playing with the toys themselves, but it's the vast library of Transformer reviews on YouTube that have truly captivated him.
It's a simple concept: Take a video of yourself or your hand while you transform the toy and talk about why you like it or don't like it. The majority of them seem to come from guys in that 18 to 40 age range who either loved Transformers in the first go-around in the 1980s or, like Julian, discovered them with this most recent trilogy.
There are a few, like Sean X Long, who have racked up millions of video views and are probably making a living off doing toy reviews. It's really fascinating.
Julian likes to watch them on my phone, on the iPad or on the TV (though YouTube on the xBox), and though it might seem like a classic example of the de-evolution of society, you wouldn't believe how they've impacted his vocabulary and ability to describe things.
He uses words like "articulation," "orientation" and "translucent" outside the realm of talking about toys, and he has a desire to capture stories, ask questions for the "Mythbusters" hosts and record important moments with a digital video recording device, whether it's a phone or a camera.
We went to Boise, Idaho, this Christmas to visit my new baby niece, June. I took a bunch of pictures while we were there, including of the long long long car ride we had to take from San Francisco to Boise because we missed our flight and couldn't get on another plane. My baby brother, Avery, was very patient, though.
It was all worth it to see that little cute Junie B!
