All about the Wii

We had a good 4th. Lamar was the last to be struck with the nasty summer cold we all passed around. To call it a cold really short changes the power of that virus. It made each of us feel really awful. So we weren't able to share in the festivities with our church friends as we'd planned. We did go to Mimi and Papa's and spend a little time with some other family members. Luke enjoyed showing off his Wii bowling skills. Again this year he was not a fan of the fireworks. We did not attempt going to an official fireworks show, though there are many unofficial shows in the area. I don't think the noise bothered him that much, but the unexpectedness just drove him crazy. He fell asleep on the way home and the last words out of his mouth were, "I am all done with the fireworks."

The Wii continues to be Luke's current obsession. I think all children obsess over certain toys or activities to some extent. Well that in extreme is Luke. He truly would play Wii every waking hour. No make that every hour. I'm pretty sure he dreams Wii.

So the other day I pulled out the play dough for a Wii break. Luke suggested we make people. Shocking, since making people is a favorite Wii activity. Here he is showing off our creations.


I think he's the green person at the top, and I'm the red person next to him with extremely long arms.

And here is Luke's photo of his work. That's Erik, Jeanie, and Maggie there at the bottom. He was quite opposed to the two-color people but we were running out of our medium.

I've mentioned before Luke's love for the Channel 4 weather team. We now have Wii characters for Lisa Spencer, Dan Thomas, Nancy Van Camp, and Tim Ross.




He is getting pretty good at Wii Sports. He's mastered the homerun as we documented above.

Then last Friday we had a houseful of company. Grandpa brought Luke Mario Kart and his cousins were happy to show him how to play. I'm pretty sure it's his favorite game so far even though it's pretty challenging. I am not a video game player. As a kid we had a Colecovision (showing my age) and I'm pretty sure I never played a single game. Video games stress me out. But after enough begging, I gave in to Luke's request "Can we do 2 player?" After several disastrous falls off a cliff (because it's a great idea to race cars on a rocky cliff. What are we teaching our children?) I admit I also love some Mario Kart. I couldn't believe how proud I was to narrowly beat Bowser and win the Mushroom Cup.

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One of Luke's favorite features is some racetracks have an audience cheering you on, an audience composed of all the Wii people he's created. On these tracks, Luke knows exactly where to crash his car so he can scan the crowd and announce who is watching. Yesterday he said, "Look Mom! Nancy Van Camp is cheering!" I'm fairly certain that moment could only happen at our house.

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Life is typically lots of fun around here and Luke is usually extremely amusing. I'm not thrilled that his favorite activity at the moment is a video game, but it's been a blessing this summer on long hot afternoons. I know it's a phase with Luke, and before long he'll move onto to something else. I'm pretty sure Thomas and Percy have been replaced by Mario and Luigi for now.

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Luke had a tough day at therapy yesterday in his social group. It's been a long time since he had a rough session. I'd forgotten just how devastating that can be. But experience has taught me that all things cycle with Luke and right now were in a season of him having some shyness and anxiety in a group setting. Just months ago he was the self-appointed lobby greeter at therapy. So we encourage appropriate behavior but don't overreact. Everyone on Luke's team has come a long way the past two years.

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Impossible to believe but summer school is nearly done. I'm so glad we did summer school. Mrs. Jenny was fabulous and he made a great new friend that will be in his class in the fall. Yesterday I went through his school bag and took out an ice cream cone craft he'd brought home and asked him about it. Luke was giving me all the details, and pointed out the sprinkles. He then told me a little girl in his class (name not given to protect her identity) who poured out all the sprinkles. He said, "And then she went to time out." I said, "Oh no. Did she cry?" And he said, "Yes, she cried." I said, "Oh, did that make you sad for her?" And he said, "No, it made me happy for her." Guess we need to work on empathy.