Cole’s skills have really improved since last year, and it’s nice to see him playing with a team that are closer to his age and skill level. Last year, he was barely 6 on a U8 team that skewed toward the high 7 and even 8 year old level. Yesterday, on the way to the game, I had a discussion with him where it turns out he felt like he wasn’t very good at soccer because last year, they had told him to be “sweeper” and he didn’t know what that was. I asked if they had explained the term to him. They had not. I suggested to him, that this was poor coaching and had nothing to do with how good or bad he was as a player.

From what he told me yesterday, Cole’s biggest source of stress is that he doesn’t think I’ve done enough to let other kids know he’s my son. He’s not looking for special treatment, I think he’s just proud of me being his Dad. Which is really heart-warming. On the other hand, as a coach, it’s up to me to treat the kids equally – which isn’t a huge deal or very difficult at this level. Right now the kids are just out there having a good time.

For us, this year, the move (or should I say The Move!) really chewed up the summer. We had planned on taking a big vacation out to South Dakota, but then the move happened about a week before that was scheduled, making time and money an issue.

Mostly, I think our new pool will stand out in my mind about this summer. We all swam in it an awful lot. The kids’ swimming skills progressed dramatically, Cole in particular, I would say – he lost the floaties, goes off the diving board, and goes under water with no problem.

We were also fortunate to have a lot of visitors: Aunt Suzie & Kenza, my parents, Emily, Jack and the kids, and the Nesters, among others. Very nice to have a place where you can fit a few people. We’ve sacrificed a guest room in favor of an office, but the air mattress in the basement has served as at least a temporary solution.

But, now it’s time for the kids to start school. Harper in kindergarten already! Cole is starting in a new school, but hopefully starting in first grade will spare him from most of the “new kid” hassles. With any luck, we’ll be in this school system for a good long time, so I expect, barring the very unexpected, the kids will probably be old-timers in the system when all is said and done.

I’m not sure why a post on my birthday digressed that severely into a trip down memory lane. Probably because getting older makes me think a little more about growing up. Anyway, the past year has been an eventful one. The central fact of the past year has been looking for and moving into a new house – a colossal hassle that I’m glad to have behind me. I’m afraid that spending significant amounts time and money on that project has made me a little irritable about both. However, I do love the new house and the new neighborhood. After buying 3 houses in 10 years, I’m looking forward to regrouping and spending an eternity or two not paying any fees to realtors.

Family-wise, this has been a good year. The kids are at a really fun age. Harper is transitioning from “little” girl to “big” girl. (Scare quotes, because these things are relative.) She’s just becoming more of a self-sufficient person and will be starting kindergarten in the fall. Cole is going into the first grade and has been in tee-ball and soccer over the past year. And, of course, Amy remains cool.

Professionally, probably the most significant event was that I got to argue in front of the 7th Circuit; getting grilled by the preeminent Judge Posner. (Unfortunately, I lost that particular decision, but that’s still an experience not a lot of lawyers get.) We also hired on a new associate.

Today is demonstrating the coolness of having a birthday land on a weekend in the summer. This morning, I got to sleep in; the kids were eager for me to open presents when I got up. Then, I went for a nice run/walk along the Wabash Heritage Trail, and it looks like for the afternoon, we’re going to do some swimming and grilling with the DeWitts; probably have a few beers as well. Good times.

Hi, I’m Troy McClure. You may remember me from such educational films as “Two Minus Three Equals Negative Fun” and “Firecrackers: The Silent Killer”.

Harper, shortly after her fifth birthday, correctly counted down to negative one. I’m impressed. I told the kids, “two or three minutes until bedtime.” Harper responded, “Three. Because that’s longer. Then two. Then one. Then zero. Then negative one.”

In fact, it looks like this is going to be considerably more than three minutes. Because bedtime is a pain. And I’m tired. And the kids are playing Legos nicely together.

Cole has 20/20 vision. He is, however, moderately to severely color blind. The doctor has a book of those color dot pictures, and Cole only got one. So I guess that’s pretty significant, but in the grand scheme of things, okay.

Then Harper. She was so good and tried so hard to do everything the doctor asked. At one point she was too small for the equipment and had to sit on her knees to see through the machine. She has very good vision in her right eye, but her left eye is not great. It’s not a huge prescription, but I guess she has some astigmatism too. She has to get glasses that she’ll need to wear all the time and then she has to go get rechecked in four weeks. If her eye isn’t doing better, then she’s going to have to wear a patch over her good eye until her other eye improves.

My baby girl, the four-eyed pirate. Arg!

So we’re in the market for new glasses, preferably pink.