Thomas' First Audition

Thomas passed his first try at an audition on 10/26.

Thomas started to learn piano with Ms. Shen, a Suzuki piano teacher in June of 08.  After about a year, it became very clear that he was talented at it.  I then started to look for a teacher that could take him up another level.  I went through a couple of them before we started working with Ms. Luba, a Russian-trained piano teacher in the middle of August. 

Ms. Luba made it clear that she would push all her student to try at various recital opportunities.  But she was not very keen to let him go to began with for the Jazz n' Light competition in Oct.  She felt they just started working together about six week ago. She was not happy with the way Thomas played the piece at the audition deadline. But Thomas insisted that he wanted to try the audition. He got very excited about it. So I pleaded for him. Ms. Luba very reluctantly sent in his application. At the last lesson before the class, she was still not happy with the way he played and wrote a list of things to correct for me to work with him before the audition.  She also expressed regret of letting him go since this would reflect on her reputation. So I never had any high hopes, but I did want to encourage Thomas' enthusiasm. It is also very good experience for him. I worked hard with him on Friday and Saturday according to Ms. Luba's notes. Thomas did kept his promise and listened to my instruction really well. He worked very patiently on a couple occasions during those two days in-between his succer, art and other activities.  He looked so cute in his suite and dress shoes on Sunday. It was a long drive, but quite scenic. I thought to myself to treat it as a fall outing and just enjoy the ride. Thomas was really relaxed. He was the youngest of a dozen kids who auditioned. He went in by himself. Chatted a little with the judge. Played his piece. Talked with the judge a Little more. When I saw him coming out of the room, he had such a huge smile on his face. He said: "Mommy: I think I passed the audition. The judge said she liked my play". That's more than what I had hoped for already. I was so happy for him.

Then, last Thursday, when we went to his lesson, Ms. Luba told us that he made second place at the audition and will perform on Nov 15th. But the committee wanted me to bring his birth certificate to verify his age LOL (Thomas, at seven and three months old, weighs 90 lbs and was 1.42 meters tall). It was such a happy surprise for me. Now the hard part: he will participate in the audition in Dec. If he passes that one, he will perform at Carnegie Hall. I try very hard not to get my hope up this time!! Here is the link to the recital on Nov 15th.

http://crescendofestivals.org/Festivals/jazz.html#

Forms, forms, forms

I took Thomas and Tyler to the vacation bible school offered by the church down the street from our house. There were two registration forms to fill out, one for each of them. As I started the one for Tyler, Thomas asked that he fill out the one for himself. Knowing what he knows and what he could write, I was not surprised at the request, but a feeling bordering surreality washed over me at that moment: my son, the six-year-old little man was about to embark on the most significant and mundane adult activity for the first time: filling out forms. I was very excited. He took over the writing board with the very first form that I know of (not sure he fill out any in school) that he was going to fill out himself. He actually used cursive!! (Photo will follow) Filling out forms accompanied all significant events of my life, big and small. Very quietly, I witnessed another milestone of my son's growing up.

Tyler's Spring Recital

Tyler loves to dance and sing. We have been taking classes since she was 18 monthes. Here are the two numbers she danced with her group at the Spring recital. Being the shortest, she was placed at the end of the line. It presented quite some challenges for her already technically challenged mommy. You will see why.

Alice Blue Gown

Sophisticated Baby

Piano: Progress in a Month

Thomas started learning classical pieces in March. After a couple of months, the piano teacher commented that Thomas was really quick in learning the notes with both hands, but he lacked "musicality". His sense of rhythm was not quite there. He liked to play a piece really really fast because he could!! The teacher said that this may take a while to improve, which caused me much anxiety. Then she added: "At least he was able to play that fast. Many student could not at his age". Well, I took that as a compliment, but it still bothered me to think that Thomas was not making beautiful music. I decided that I needed to inject myself somehow to help him along. I was relieved that Thomas did not only welcome my presence during his practice, he was actually thrilled with the attention. From then on, even a little hint of leaving him alone would motivate him to make changes. I recorded this piece when we first started in May:

This was recorded couple weeks ago. Can you hear the difference?!

Little Teenager

Thomas will be seven in a little more than two weeks. He complained about his shorts leaving marks on him and requested that I send those shorts to other people (we practice freecycling and pass the kid's clothes on to other families that could use them). I checked these shorts. They are mostly size 8 and 10. I do not know whether I should be happy or sad that I need to buy size 12 clothes for my soon-to-be seven-year old.

Pretty as Peony

During my fever of owning my first house, I bought a peony plant. I was told that it was very hardy, a variety for the gardening charllenged. It has lived up to its reputation ever since. This year, it came back with by far the biggest flowers.

Well, looks who's got hold of them?

Look who's gotten bunny ears?

I did not know you can also use peonies as cheerleading pom poms and other creative things.
It is so so sweet to have a daughter (sorry for the little bragging).

Good Manners

Thursday night, I was washing dishes while listening to C-Span radio. It must be something that I ate at dinner that did not agree with me and I was totally engrossed in the radio segments. I felt something "airy" escape me with not-so-subtle an announcement. Thomas, painting at the dinner table next to the kitchen, raised his head and said: "Mommy, that's very impolite. You need to say excuse me when that happens". I blushed and sheepishly said: "Excuse me". "That's good. Look, Mommy. I am teaching you good manners. You need to work on it. Pretty soon you will have really great manners and all your friends will love you". My mouth opened, but no words came out. I shake my head and said: " Yes. Thomas. Thank you". "You are welcome". He did not even raise his head from his art project.

I told myself under my breath: "You should see this coming".